I had an affair this past week. How’s that for a hot out of the gate take? Not that kind. I love my wife and wouldn’t do something like that. My affair was on my career. There are a million jobs and we all have to work, but there are two types of job: office work and manual labor.
My degrees are an MBA and an Undergraduate degree in Marketing, and it does not get much more office path than that. I made the choice in college to follow the office path. That is where I have lived since. My professional career covers the spectrum of sales and marketing, and is closing in on a couple decades. So yes, I am an office guy. My work marriage is the corporate grind. Like most married people I dated others before settling down. At one point I was on a solid path toward manual labor. We broke up because I was in love with the idea of an office, but not because hated manual labor. I never stopped loving it.
My Love for Hard Work
I grew up on a farm. Hating manual labor was not an option. Most kids my age would get up on Saturday morning and watch cartoons. I would get up, turn on the TV, and be interrupted by my dad to come out and do something “more fun.” My best best examples are clean the chicken house or shovel the cattle barn. Both are shoveling crap with the knowledge of being right back in a week or two. So much better than watching Ninja Turtles.
This happened about every Saturday. The other thing that would frequently happen is this exchange:
Dad: you’re moving pretty slow
Me: yeah, this sucks and is hard
Dad: some day you are going to get a job and if you act like this you will be told not to come back
Me: alright, fine
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And I would get back to work. The cows and chickens can’t clean up after themselves, and this was the path we chose.
Constantly Employed
The comments from my dad stuck with me: be useful or be gone. It made sense. Why would anyone want to pay a lazy, non-productive employee? My first actual job was again working for my dad at his siding company, and it was the summer before my freshman year in high school. I was on a crew with him and two of my cousins, who are brothers. The older cousin had just graduated from high school, and chose this work until he joined the Navy. The younger cousin is a year older than me, and we were both playing football in the fall.
The coach demanded we participate in summer weightlifting, and to pick between 6:00 AM and 4:00 PM. We were due at the siding shop/warehouse at 7:00 AM, and normally worked until 6:00 PM. The choice was made for us: 6:00 AM. My cousin could drive because he was 15, so he picked me up at 5:45 AM every weekday morning. We crushed our weight routine, and went to work… and that was my summer.
I have not been without a job ever since.
Keeping with the Manual Labor
I did my tour with McDonald’s in high school, but got back to the construction world in college. My list of jobs included delivering paper for an office supply company, milking cows at a dairy farm, putting together hotels, roofing, framing, and also hanging siding. The majority of my time was spent at my dad’s company and the crew became my college Fraternity brothers. We got to have fun while improving homes, and I loved it.
My typical protocol, even then, was to have more than one job. I did some Hotel Management, Front Desk work and then also got into the wedding DJ world as well. Those were the things that put me on the office path along with my schooling, but the love for manual labor remaining. There is something quite pure and joyous in seeing your accomplishments in real time. Siding a house is seeing a bare wall… and then seeing it covered by your efforts. I love it.
My Project
Why did I fall off the wagon and see my mistress this time? –> My parents moved their businesses into a new commercial space.
Dad still does the siding and window thing, but he is winding down. Mom runs a promotional product company, and is hard at it. My parents are older now and never left Kansas (yes, they are reading this and agree with me), but they are open to the trends. The approach for the office is a trendy space, and I believe we hit the industrial open look that is all the rage.
My mom in particular keeps up on design trends. Her degree is a Master’s in Fine Arts, so this color scheme was all her. I was simply a validation that city based creative agencies look like this. My work this week included pulling down the HVAC duct work for cleaning, etching and sealing the floor, and orchestrating the move from the old office. I enjoyed it so much I question if I picked the right work, which is typical when I complete a project.
Chiefs Spin
I bring this up to talk about the running game. My choice to go the office route was based on the experiences mentioned, and the belief in it being the glamorous option. People tend to choose the glamorous option, and I am no different. The NFL is in a state where long TD passes and crooked scoring lines = glamor. Patrick Mahomes and the CHIEFS are part of this. Every sport has a glamor situation.
Baseball Glory
The sport of baseball is the most consistent when it comes to the glory stat. My high school age baseball coach would end the pregame pep talk with “remember, chicks dig the long ball.” Hitting home runs are impressive, and that is universal and timeless. The most revered records involve lifetime and season home run totals, and the contention is keeping people like Bonds out of the Hall for now. Appetite for homers is to the point where teams spend through the nose to improve player’s launch angles of hitting.
The reality is homers are great, but pitching wins post season series’ and titles’. A great pitcher is almost impossible to homer around, so teams must resort to playing D and putting the ball in play.
A look into the history NBA basketball as an evolution. The early days preached jump shots and defense. Next step added physicality, and it got to the point where Kermit George broke a guy’s head. The dunk became the glory tool, and that remains somewhat intact to this day. However, Steph Curry changed the game, and his analytics, have made the 3 point shot the flavor of the present. Curry’s 6’2″ frame is accessible for the average dude walking around. Most of us cannot dunk and never could, but we can all picture ourselves chucking up 3’s.
The thing about basketball’s trend is that it does win titles. The Warriors won 3 in 4 years, and Curry was twice MVP. Defense and high percentage shooting matter as well, but not as much as excellent 3 point shooting. The current champ Bucks shifted that for at least a season making way again for the big man. However, Giannis is really a guard in a center’s body, so we did not revert that far.
NFL Glory
When I was a kid the biggest names in football were arguably running backs. Emmitt Smith and Christian Okoye are who we mimicked on the playground. The QB was cool, but he could not do what Bo Jackson could do. Linebackers sacking the QB were tier 2. Tecmo Super Bowl showed the Nintendo playing world that Lawrence Taylor, Derrick Thomas, Bo Jackson, and Christian Okoye ruled the NFL. A good amount of the Chiefs fans in my Milwaukee group found the team via Tecmo Super Bowl.
The NFL today is all air raid. St. Louis Rams brought us the Greatest Show on Turf in the late 90’s/early 00’s, but they still ran the offense through Marshall Faulk. Faulk was the guy on the NFL commercials, and he was always carrying the ball. A RB going for an 80 yard TD was a day at the office. Analysts dissect that for a month today. NFL glory is WASP.
Championship Formula
Running the ball still wins Super Bowls. We, as Chiefs fans, need only look back to LIV. WASP got us back in the game, but Damien Williams gave us the lead and iced the game. Mahomes was game MVP, and it probably had a lot to do with his position. Williams had a massive impact on that game and its result. Maybe even more than Mahomes.
Andy Reid has a deserved reputation for overlooking the running game. His lone Super Bowl title came in a season with a great running attack. The AFC Championship game first half was arguably the best showing for CEH and McKinnon. A commitment to the run could have meant a 3rd straight trip to the Super Bowl. Reid and staff need to internalize, process, and learn from that. The Championship window is still wide open, and the path to winning is still on the ground.
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Josh Kingsley — ArrowheadOne
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You can also follow Josh on Twitter: @mkechiefsfans
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