I have a bit of a story this week, and I have been sitting on it for a while. Why the wait? That’s a good question, and there are a few answers. The first is because this is one of the most controversial topics I have covered in print. I must warn everyone that reading on may trigger severe reactions. This has potential to drive a stake of division between me and my readers. The second answer is this is important, and the world needs to come to terms with I am about to discuss in detail. Finally, the timing is right. A major event of this story occurred between September 29 and October 2 of 2015. My world was literally upended in a significant way.

Memories of the 2015 Season

The 2015 season is unforgettable in numerous ways, but 3 jump out immediately:

It started with a 1-5 start to the season in Andy Reid’s 3rd season. The 2014 campaign is the lone non-playoff season, and this was not how anyone wanted that followed.
The Chiefs played their first London game giving up a home tie against the Lions. This was the biggest home game to make the trip across the Atlantic. I know this because Adam Teicher brought it up in every column he wrote that season. At that point all the NFL London games were Jaguars, Lions and such giving up home games to half empty stadiums. The Chiefs gave up a home game at the venerable Arrowhead, and Teicher noted that often. It is most likely the biggest home field that has been given to London to date. Did I look any of this up? No because I didn’t care then, and I don’t care now. Clark Hunt was on the International Expansion Committee and played ball to grow the game. I fondly remember going to a soccer bar at 9 in the morning to watch the Chiefs pistol whip the Lions. Good times!!
We FINALLY — tha same year — we got to see the Chiefs come off the “haven’t won a playoff game in this long” list. Knile Davis returning the opening kickoff for a TD set the tone against the Texans in that one.

Then there was the week 3 matchup. There was absolutely no way I was missing this game. It was played 2 hours from my front door. This game burned itself into my memory. I am a sports fan and I love going to new stadiums. The local sports schedule is the first thing I look at when I plan a trip to a new city. My goal is always to fit in a game.

Chiefs vs Packers @ Lambeau Field

September 28, 2015

Lambeau was not a new experience for me this day. I had already been up a few times. The locals have a very kiss the rings attitude when they see visitors. The Chiefs lost this game, 38-to-28. I was stopped by a local on the way out for this quick exchange:

Local: “Sorry for the loss.”
Me: “All good, lots of season left.”
L: “Yeah. At least you got to see Lambeau Field.”
M: “Yep. This is a nice place and I enjoy it. I’ve been here before.”
L: “It’s still good you got to be in the best stadium in the league.”
M: “I like this place, but I am personally partial to Arrowhead and Dallas has a good one as well.”

He walked off shaking his head like I was a Florida native trying to educate him about snow. Lambeau Field has an aura to it. It is a venerable stadium, and you feel it when you walk through the door. However, that guy can buzz off, because Arrowhead does that too, and Cowboy Stadium is one of the coolest buildings, not stadiums, buildings, I have ever been in. Plus, that dude has never been farther than 3 hours from his house and has no clue what the world has to offer. And I called the stadiums what I called them.

A Great Place to Tailgate

Lambeau, like Arrowhead, does it right. In many ways I like it a bit more. Believe it or not this is not the controversy, so please read on. I have been to numerous NASCAR races, but my favorite one was the Autumn race I got to see at Bristol Motor Speedway. There was a carnival like fanfare in that area. A small town stopped in it tracks to welcome thousands of people for the race spectacle. Green Bay is like that on game day. Lambeau is right downtown so you can wander through a street fair and pop in and out of bars. Blaze orange and Real Tree are as much the colors of the Packers fans on game day as green and gold. It’s a redneck haven… and I love it. Plus, all the people are as nice as advertised.

Arrowhead is still a better place to tailgate, and it comes down to the food. You simply do not have the bulk and stature of BBQ in the Lambeau lots. I attended the game with a group of about a dozen and we did our own little tailgate. Our menu was sliced brisket, smoked provolone from a local cheese shop — yes, Wisconsin cheese is hands down the best — Kaiser rolls, Oklahoma Joe’s Night of the Living Sauce, pickles and onion rings. The only thing missing was the gas station and the talent of the cooks there. We did a good job and made a ton of afternoon friends.

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Quick Note About Joe’s

Kansas City natives know that we were knocking off the Z-Man sandwich by what I will call Joe’s. This is my favorite spot to have BBQ in KC, and Anthony Bourdain (RIP) agreed. The place used to be called Oklahoma Joe’s, but has since changed their name to Joe’s KC BBQ. They have spots all over town, but the OG is in a gas station in Mission, KS. One of MKE friends calls Joe’s his death row meal, which is fark, but makes the point effectively. We attended the AFC Championship in January 2020, and this place was our first stop when we hit town. Our car hit the parking lot as Paul Rudd was getting in his to leave. Ant Man — Brian Fantana — knows where to eat when he comes home.

Getting back to Bourdain I present this list from a 2011 Men’s Health article. Here is his full quote about Joe’s:

“People may disagree on who has the best BBQ. Here, the brisket (particularly the burnt ends), pulled pork, and ribs are all of a quality that meet the high standards even of Kansas City natives. It’s the best BBQ in Kansas City, which makes it the best BBQ in the world.”

Make sure this place is on your list for any trips to KC.

A Plan for the Leftovers

Anyone who has ever made a brisket knows that it goes a bit further than expected. The group of 12 and handful of sandwiches we handed to new friends put a major dent, but we still had leftovers. We carefully packed it up before heading into the game, and then used the drive home to discuss its fate. My wife and I each pulled one more sandwich out but decided that the rest should go to something substantial. We agreed that chili made the most sense. Making chili is easy: just drops all the ingredients in a slow cooker and stir every so often. Our approach is to make it mild and spice it up on the back end. This keeps it kids and everyone friendly.

We realized that the amount of chili we had was a tad more than we would expeditiously consume, so the next step was to share with co-workers. At the time I was new into a job, but thoroughly enjoyed my co-workers. I was part of a team of 5, so it worked great. My plan was to have a team lunch, and I would bring the main dish. I assembled the crew to announce the plan. The main dish was set, so the rest divided up the sides. My boss was bringing crackers and soda, the ladies were bringing the cheese and sour cream, and the guy was bringing hot sauces. The plan was made.

A Quick Note About MKE

I have written a few times about my travels. I have been over almost all the continental USA and Milwaukee is a great place. Enjoying the city made me decide to move there (here) and growing to love it has kept my family rooted. The summers are legendary, and the winters don’t bother me, but the fact remains: I am a transplant. The presence of many large companies has produced more like me, but I remain part of a minority. Most residents have lived here uninterrupted for their entire lives. I chose the place, so I understand. This makes being a Chiefs fan even more of a rarity. I have found over 200 like me, but this is Packer country. So much so that it was hard to find a place to watch the game.

The Chiefs are on TV all the time now, but in 2008 when I moved here it was the opposite. My intention was to simply find the local bar with Sunday ticket like I did living in Denver. This was incredibly difficult. Everyone in the local places were Packer fans, so there was no need for the establishment to spend the money. Buffalo Wild Wings it is. I love BWW and will write more about them in a future column. The last thing I will say about MKE is I have been the resident Chiefs fan at every place I have worked. My 2015 spot was no different. In fact, I was one of 3 non-Packer fanatics in the whole organization.

The Controversy

I will get to this controversy now. The final note I will give before revelation is that I have left out a key part of the co-worker lunch plan huddle. A food item to be more specific. Right now the reading group is divided into two distinct factions. The first group are those like me who were raised right in some proximity to Kansas City. They were most likely reading the side item conversation as noting that I was missing something key. The second group is about to be triggered in an aggressive way when I say this as fact: you have been eating chili wrong your entire life.

The Rest of the Story

The last part of the co-worker story included me mentioning a morning stop by the local bakery to grab cinnamon rolls. I immediately felt the air leave the room while 4 people looked at me as if I had an arm growing out of my forehead. Their question: why in the hell would you bring in cinnamon rolls? I genuinely felt like they were messing with me. What followed was a 30-minute conversation where I had to defend my childhood and entire upbringing. Every single school I attended served chili for lunch and a cinnamon roll was always on the tray. All my relatives home had hosted chili night and the cinnamon rolls were always present.

Forward to the next day when I bring in the chili and rolls for lunch. Every co-worker tried the combo, agreed it was good, and doubled down questioning my sanity. I found out that everyone had done their own basic internet research and found out this was a Nebraska and immediately surrounding area thing. From that day my boss had locked in his mind that I was from Nebraska, and my male co-worker started asking me questions like “do you eat cereal covered in water with a fork?”

Additional Research

Our watch party was still in the smaller stages at this point, so home parties for prime-time games happened. My wife and I hosted the group for the week 10 matchup against the Broncos. We made chili and had the cinnamon rolls. The crew started to arrive, and we dug into the food. Immediately the beginning of the line made a comment about the presence of the rolls. These were MKE residents that became Chiefs fans because things like DT and Tecmo Super Bowl. A few people back was guy from Chanute, KS who moved to the front of the line, dropped roll in his bowl, covered it with chili, and assumed everyone else had the same experience growing up. I realized that there truly was something to the shock of my co-workers.

Later that night I learned the most troubling truth: my wife, who I had known for 8 years at this point, always thought it was weird and never said anything. She is from California and thought it was madness. The first time she saw it was a one of my family gatherings in a large group setting. My extended family is huge, and we routinely get 70+ together for Thanksgiving. The chili dinner was a big to do at an aunt’s house, and she was too afraid to speak up. I am still a bit in shock from that day. As a note some of the crew from the game mentioned they include cinnamon rolls with chili moving forward.

Finality of Menu

Real speak here: I understand this is not everyone’s thing, but strongly encourage giving it a try if this is new information. I consider myself a student of life and try to learn something new as often as possible. At 34 years old I learned that I grew up with a weird, culinary tradition. I also want to be clear that there are multiple ways to enjoy this delicacy from the pour over to the dip to anything in between. It’s like ketchup and fries, they just go together. All things considered this is a fun story for me, and I hope y’all enjoyed the ride and try it some time. Uh… football game.

Chiefs vs Packers 2021

This game was historical in that it was our inaugural 17th game. The NFL schedule is very formulaic for the 16-game slate. Adding the 17th game is an extra wrinkle, and that drew a marquee matchup: Chiefs vs Packers, Super Bowl I rematch, Mahomes vs Rodgers. Except it became Mahomes vs Love for reasons that are well documented elsewhere.

Jordan Love was BAD for the majority of the game but did throw a TD pass late in the game. This was the equivalent of watching the totally lost intern finally find the bathroom at the end of an awkward first week in the office. Unfortunately, I am referring to the long pass play over #49 in coverage. I have to join the chorus: Dirty Dan needs to go. My lasting thoughts of the guy are incredibly fond as he has made huge plays for this team. I have this poster on my wall and it will stay there. Please do make sure to check out the rest of Chris Rau’s site. He is a KC based artist and friend of mine, and his stuff looks great on a wall.

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Arrowhead Kingdom Vibes in Chi-Town

I caught this game in Chicago and found my spot courtesy of Arrowhead Kingdom. Beck’s was a good experience in Chicago city proper. I got to sit next to a K.C. born transplant, which is always a fun experience for me. Even better was watching the win against a good Packers team. Jordan Love was bad and certainly missed some throws to Adams and others, but the Chiefs running game was working just fine. The KC-D stepped up, and it was great to see. Patrick Mahomes still looked off most of the game, but there were finally moments. The biggest moment in my mind was the game icing pass to Tyreek Hill on 3-10 just after the 2-minute warning. That play vintage Mahomes/Hill.

I maintain that this is a playoff team, and the Chiefs are in the process of turning the corner. This game was another important step. The defense did some good work, and almost upped it with multiple interceptions. Mathieu had a pick 6 hit him in the hands. The special teams stepped up in a big way blocking a FG and recovering a muffed punt. This was a 2/3 game with the offense being the outlier. I reiterate my stance: there is too much talent on this offense and the points are coming. Williams and Gore had a nice punch going against a good, disciplined D. The performance against that Hill reverse was the best indication of how good that Green Bay D executes. Next, the Chiefs travel to Vegas to take on the Raiders, and I expect a 3rd consecutive win. Here’s hoping for some offense to go with it!!

One More Note

The last thing I will add to my Chicago story is, I had a chance to catch up a bit with my cousin. He is about a year my elder and on my mom’s side of the family. His exploits include being a Chicago lifer, a a highly educated historian, with an elite culinary pallet. I cannot think of a single time I have disagreed with him when it comes to food or beer. A conversation with him is all that is needed to get the best spot for any food type in Chicago and the history of the place to get it. This was his first stop at Beck’s, but his thousandth at the intersection of N, Clybourne and Webster. That’s because it sits next to Pequod’s Pizza (pictured left), and they make the best pie in the city. Add that to your list for a Chicago trip.

Josh Kingsley — ArrowheadOne

You can also follow Josh on Twitter at: @mkechiefsfans