Josh Kingsley
The CHIEFS are back in the Super Bowl!! Man,
that felt so great to say, I’m going to say it again.
The CHIEFS are back in the Super Bowl!!
I grew up a CHIEFS fan. My entire impressionable and pre-professional NFL existence based around ultimately losing. The CHIEFS made the playoffs sometimes, but never really hit contender status. It was always a — yeah, but — type of thing. Marty Schottenheimer got us wins with stout D, but never in the playoffs. Oh, and we never had a QB. Joe Montana joined and exorcised some of the demons, but it was during the buzz-saw Bills era and nothing was stopping their 4-peat of Big Game appearances. Later in the 90s Voldemort forgot how to kick. Dick Vermeil brought in Trent Green who slayed Ds with Tony G and Priest, but forgot to assemble a D good enough to force a single punt.
Times got really dark after that. Haley was yelling at fans, Pioli was Cold War wire-tapping, and the team eventually bottomed out in 2012. Then one day Clark Hunt woke up and put a stop to it all. He fully engaged, locked Andy Reid in his office and got the coach’s signature. Reid pushed for and got an Alex Smith acquisition. CHIEFS fan’s lives changed September 8, 2013. Not everyone recognized it, but it happened. That day I met the first of my Milwaukee fan crew. Honestly, that was the first day I recall having real, optimistic fun for my team. The next “best day” was April 27, 2017 when the CHIEFS took a QB in round 1. I like many went into 2018 expecting a fun season with a good new QB under center. What I didn’t expect was everything that happened since.
The Mahomes Era
I spent an 8+ hour drive over a couple days reflecting, and that was the only way for me to start this one. As a kid watching all the… stuff… above I put myself firmly in the “just one before I die” camp as a CHIEFS fan. The 2018 season let me know it was okay to believe in things like deep playoff runs. I always rooted for them, but cannot tell you with a straight face I truly believed. Mahomes’ first season as a starter won me multiple fantasy leagues (after ridicule during the draft mind you), and made me seriously use terms like expected playoff win, AFC Championship game, and even Super Bowl. To quote Hamilton’s track “My Shot”: for the first time I was thinkin about tomorrow. Playoff watch parties in 2013-2017 were fun, hopeful affairs. The ones since have been electric.
My favorite day as a CHIEFS fan is and always will be February 2, 2020. I was at the AFC Championship game a couple weeks before. The Milwaukee paper put me on the front page of the printed version the previous week. I was on the doorstep of my “just one” potential. That’s a ton of great days. Here’s the real kicker about Super Bowl LIV: the win isn’t what makes that day the best. My favorite part was the party.
Party Planner for Life
Groups of friends always have roles, and one of them is what I call the Chief Instigating Officer. It’s the person always up to do something and go somewhere. They often bring such things up, and almost always end up as the organizer. That’s me for just about every group I’m in. I can and will find every possible excuse to throw and party and take great pride in them. True story I once threw a party because my apartment got a new toilet. We TPed the place and celebrated nothing. I could care less about my birthday, but I fake it like a champ on the 5s and 10s. This stuff drives me so much I’ve made a profession out of it. I joined a wedding service company as a DJ in December of 2002, and became a wedding pro within a year.
The date escapes me, but the circumstances never will. I was a new guy which meant less steady work. It was a Saturday and I had a clear schedule. I cracked open a beer and my phone rang. It was my manager asking if I could work that night and if yes when. I told him I needed to take a shower and that’s about it. He asked that I do that ASAP, load my gear, start driving north and call him back. Well, OK. The call was brief. A DJ from Kearney, NE was MIA, the wedding already started, it was in Smith Center, KS, and he would text me the venue and couples’ names. In short, go in blind and save the day. I arrived with urgency, set up fast, crushed the party, and recognized a found calling that has been part of my identity since.
My Super Bowl
Ten years ago I would casually mention my rough plans for a CHIEFS Super Bowl. It was possible I’d trip it to the city to hang out. My ultimate working plan was Power and Light and KC Live. The raucous atmosphere always grabs me when I see game watches on TV. After that AFC Championship win over the Titans I faced a reality of deciding what to actually do for a Super Bowl featuring the CHIEFS. I called Misty shortly after getting back to the hotel for the night, and it was obvious. My Milwaukee crew was the answer. The only answer, really. We had seven (7) seasons of history that included the first playoff win in over 20 years plus the Texans comeback. It also included the Titans playoff loss, Patriots playoff losses, and the stupid Cheffers Steelers loss.
I cannot claim the lowest of lows, but those losses did suck plenty. We were all due for a win and we needed an epic party. Misty and I set our sights high aiming to use all our toys. Here were the key elements:
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I cannot express how much I enjoyed every last second of planning and executing that party. A true labor of loving it. The win was simply an exclamation point on the day.
Now I have a new task: beat the LIV party (the LV party doesn’t really count because of the Covid restrictions on fun).
A Proper Weekend
I went to the AFC Championship game, which was thankfully in Arrowhead. My plan was to hit that game regardless, so I made all the Atlanta arrangements. I talked on my podcast last week about the whole process of looking at the trip and gave my thoughts (not flattering) on Ticketmaster starting around 32 minutes. Motivation was high to see the CHIEFS play a conference final. Again, so happy it ended up with the two best teams in the conference (sorry Bills) in the correct venue –> Arrowhead. I made sure to engage in the time honored tradition of tailgating. Arrowhead Kingdom has really taken off this season, and I met a ton of new people. Some of my new friends include KC’s Donner and Blitzen and STM Catherine AKA TiCatMaster. There are many more, but I mention them because they were at the game too.
Catherine is a name I will be mentioning more in the near future. We have some serious interview and draft content in the works. The main thing I can say about her revolves around the party hosting skills. She, her husband, Charlie, Robert, Buddah, Mark and crew threw a heck of a tailgate. Their group, the 12th Man Tailgate Crew, are genuine and seriously fun people.
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The tailgate had the core elements: great food, party bus transport, an awesome DJ, heated tents and fun people. I tossed a photo booth into the mix, and we braved the cold as a unit. This group parties in the grass just in front of the Lot J gold section right inside gate 7. Stop by and hang a bit before your next game in Arrowhead.
Eric, Christian, Bryan, Tanya, Adrian, Shaynira, Drew, Anthony, Rachel, Shane, Alex, Ike, Hunter and Aleah appreciate you!!
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Game Recap
Seeing a game live provides an interesting experience. The atmosphere, especially at a place like Arrowhead, is electric in a way that TV simply cannot deliver. However, the TV experience provides the commentators, which the stadium experience cannot duplicate. It’s a weird trade off that’s ultimately positive. The toughest part is the missed details like players coming on and off the field. It also lends to the chance of missing injuries when the players walk off the field. I was trading messages with Alan (mentioned above) about the game, and we both admitted we did not understand the scope of injury trouble the CHIEFS had Sunday. We caught some of it, but it did not all translate, and we ultimately learned when watching highlights and commentary. The appreciation for the effort from the CHIEFS was high during the game and stratospheric on further inspection.
There were other things that showed quite well from the stands. The CHIEFS D, mainly Chris Jones, had a day. It was also clear that a running game simply wasn’t happening for either team. My final observation: Toub had special teams dialed.
Let’s be honest, the CHIEFS struggled with all three phases for large parts of the season. It was easy to find critique of the CHIEFS performance in these areas, and I often provided it. Our D failed to get pressure, often seeped rushing yards, and often allowed big time WR days. We didn’t consistently establish a run game, but that is as much and Andy Reid idiosyncrasy as an actual trend. Special teams was just a disaster, and not worth rehashing here. What I will rehash are my players and units of the game.
Spags and the D
I cannot think of anyone who has taken more heat than Steve Spagnuolo. The CHIEFS D under Bob Sutton was horrible and probably the real reason 2018 didn’t end in a Super Bowl berth. Yeah Brady, yeah the Hunt thing, yeah 55 offside, yeah OT. I got it, and I get it. Don’t give up 31 points in regulation and the CHIEFS win. Spags had a couple years like that, but he also lacked players. That was painfully obvious especially last season. Two sacks or a pick and the CHIEFS knock off the Bengals a year ago. The Spags guff creeped away, but the defensive ineptitude left quicker. I go back to my commentary about the Raider week 18 game being clinical. Five sacks is pretty clinical. Two interceptions is a win in the turnover column. The Bengals are a good team, and the CHIEFS beat them in large part by winning the turnover battle.
A major part of the defensive turnaround is the personnel. Veach overhauled the D over the last offseason primarily through the draft. This meant the CHIEFS starting 6 rookies most of the season. Reid and Spags took the rookies and threw them in the fire and often left them for dead. I spent zero time at CHIEFS practice or in the locker room, but feel confident saying the coaching staff led with positive reinforcement. (Collin Cowherd made an analogy like the one I show next talking about Zach Wilson last season – just note that this isn’t a true original.)
Off the Kids Menu
Restaurant kids menus have pedestrian food aimed to please picky eaters. At some point parents need to press kids to order off the adult sections or risk lifetime picky eaters. I have a friend who only eats chicken tenders, fried cheese curds and cheese pizza, and it’s downright obnoxious. Dinners with him make me want to cram coleslaw and sushi down my kids’ throats to ensure I don’t duplicate that experience for someone else. That’s obviously mean and I don’t do it, but I do challenge my kids to have a pallet. My daughter is almost 10 and knows how to order a steak and wants to get into sushi and spicy food. It makes me proud, but also makes me feel like I am raising a contributor in that she has an open mind. My son is little further behind, but he is 7 and once ordered lobster.
Why do I bring this up? Spags did cram sushi and sauerkraut into his rookies’ faces and also brought Gordon Ramsay in to scream at them a bit. It was rough to watch, but the O always picked them up. Mahomes and Kelce simply took their seats at the grown up table, giggled at the kids a bit, and allowed them to be young for a spell. Playoff time comes, and… BAM!… we have culinary artists. Jones and Clark did the heavy lifting with 3.5 sacks and took point on the Burrow abuse, but Watson and Williams closed out the game and another rookie, George Karlaftis, added his own sack to the bunch.
Kids grow up fast and if you blink they grow up on you. I think a bunch of CHIEFS fans blinked on these rookies.
The Bulletin Board
I have to be honest and tell you I loved the Bengals trash talk. Rivalries make sports awesome and we have lacked one. The AFC West is and will remain a joke until one of the other teams makes a serious run at the division. Being called a preseason pick doesn’t count, Chargers. A single Derek Carr crazy performance doesn’t either, Raiders. As for Denver… you know you’re just too easy. The Bills profiled as the challenger, but that fizzled. Cincy and Burrow seem the real deal. Our constant cliché is that the talented challenger will be back. Look at history. It’s going to be 1-to-3 teams dominating the AFC Championship for an era. The CHIEFS are clearly one of them. I genuinely believe Cincy has their spot locked up at the moment. Burrow gets a raise this offseason and their WR core is breaking apart. I think they figure it out.
Back to the trash talk. I had fun with it. The banter with my Bengal fan friends was a great way to spend a week. Now, it’s over and we exchanged our good wills. They, of course, throw in the refs digs because that’s what you do. Deep down they and the Bengals know the roughing call on Patrick was correct and the CHIEFS are the better team. Cincy did their job as the upper hand rival and ran their mouths. KC did their job and let their players talk before addressing. Aside from Eli Apple — who is a tool — the Bengals kept it mostly cheeky and are now taking their medicine. My absolute favorite was the Cincy Mayor Aftab Pureval’s paternity test video. That was funny I don’t care who you are. That stunt invoked the Kelce response below and Pureval took the response like a man.
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Patrick Mahomes
This dude’s a warrior. No other way to describe it. Rolling out of the pocket to hit Kelce in the end zone. Running for the game making first down. All on a high ankle sprain. I do not know what to add that his play on the field didn’t show. We are all witnesses to the greatest QB of all time.
Happy Trails TB12
Brady issued a simple goodbye video today saying he retired for good. Many think it’s another ploy and he will sign somewhere in a month. I believe him and loved the approach. The guy has 7 rings, but only gets one essay. I like it.
Since we are all keeping score at home, Tom retires with a winning record against 31 teams. The outsider is the Kansas City CHIEFS. Just sayin’.
One More for the Road
I moved to Milwaukee about 15 years ago with Misty. Our first apartment sat in a northern suburb called Germantown. That town gained notoriety over the weekend for a high school basketball game. The parents brought the noise and the announcer was over it. This video is poetry. The only thing missing is 4 letter word.
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Josh Kingsley — ArrowheadOne and Arrowhead Kingdom
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