Josh Kingsley
I completed my record over the weekend in beautiful Cancun. Misty and I spent a nice little 4 day stretch hitting the pool and hanging out, but also made the day trip to Chichen Itza.
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That “excursion” to the Mayan empire’s cultural center ended up being a long, but totally worthwhile, day. The place is an architectural masterpiece well deserving of it’s place on the list of of 7 modern wonders of the world. World history at it’s finest.
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I mentioned last week my goal aside from relaxation was making new connections. My columns have a constant travel theme as it’s in my DNA. My two main reasons for travel are work and inability to sit still. I generally like working and moving, so by extension I like travel.
What makes me love travel is making new connections. Most connections end up short lived and span a conversation of the trip. I am always open to them becoming more long term (and have many of them), but I expect single serving friendships (points for whoever names the movie in the comments first). Some of my favorite conversations in my life happened on a random night at a random bar in a random place.
Here are my guerrilla (I may start using this terminology) friends from Mexico.
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Strike First, Engage Tactically
I often find myself initiating conversations with random people. Resorts offer an easy in with a simple “where are you from?” type softball question. I had three such interactions. The first was with a couple that were obviously Brits. I could tell by the language, slang terms, etc. My go to “where you from” quickly yielded the London area. This provided the easy segue around their football clubs. The conversation got fun quickly as it revealed we each picked one of 3 massive rivals. Nice people.
We had another conversation with a Welsh couple in the pool literally before we packed up to leave. These two were around our age and shared a similar interest in traveling with the purpose of enjoying food, drinks and night life. We most likely end up personal contacts with them if we met toward the beginning of the trip.
The last convo I struck up was at the end of the CHIEFS game with a guy from Montreal. That city is my biggest Canadian blind spot, so we covered that. This guy was interesting in his love for NFL and complete indifference with any soccer clubs at all. I’ve met plenty of Canadians that feel this way, but he was out of place with the other conversations. He does not have an exclusive team, so I made the CHIEFS pitch. Most Eastern Canadians gravitate toward the Bills and Patriots due to proximity. This guy was adamantly against the Pats and not sold on the Bills. I think I did a decent job pitching the CHIEFS while discouraging the Bengals, and ultimately felt like a Christian helping someone pick between becoming a Catholic, Methodist, Lutheran, etc. All I know is they aren’t picking the devil and I’m good with that.
A Time to React
I also met others where I was reacting to the approach. This is a less frequent space for me, and Misty thinks because I talk a lot. Not sure, but she may be on to something. Here are those stories.
The Game Day Antagonist
Our resort had a sports bar, so we got to take in the game with a small crowd. I met a few groups of CHIEFS fans from KC. We traded pleasantries and had some chants. It was a good watch party from the moment of kickoff. Things really ratcheted up when a guy walked in with a Trevor Lawrence jersey. He was immediately the loudest and friendliest guy in the bar, plus I liked him immediately. The other instant was the presence of a deep language barrier. He doesn’t speak any more English than I do Spanish. Enter Misty, who is fluent in Spanish. She quickly relayed 3 important details:
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I no longer liked the guy… I loved him. He was having fun and was a great sport all day. His sons both spoke English, and we all ended up in this 5 person, multi-language, game spanning conversation about football, soccer and family stuff. I reiterated my position that Estadio Azteca is the only choice for the 2026 World Cup final, but found out Mexico expects it to go to LA and SoFi. By the end of the conversation they pressed Misty and I to come to Mexico City and stay at their house after a Cruz Azul game.
I saw the comments last week about Mexico being unsafe due to the cartel activity. I appreciate the concern, which was unfortunate validation of something I knew. We were careful and aware, and I always feel better with someone who speaks the language. The cartels are reality and it quite simply sucks. It’s truly unfortunate because I feel like I experienced the real Mexico last Saturday.
Chichen Itza Guide
My last guerrilla friendship was our tour guide. I wore a CHIEFS hat around the whole trip. Our guide had his face buried in a clip board checking people onto the bus when we arrived. He looked up and his face lit up as he said, “finally, a CHIEFS fan!!” I made sure to get a pic with him and his water bottle. There’s not much more to the story. He was incredibly knowledgeable and professional the whole day. Great experience.
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Closing Time
The last comment about the trip, which came on the heels of the NFL’s international schedule release: show more love to Mexico. I have deep empathy for season ticket members losing home games, so I suggest such things with caution. The NFL game provides 16 teams a year an extra home game with the 17th regular season game. I want to see the NFL schedule more international games. Take the opportunity to grow the sport in other countries. The opportunity to do it is now while the extra game on the schedule is fresh.
How ‘Bout Them CHIEFS!!
The CHIEFS entered Saturday a heavy favorite over a red hot Jags team with a stud young QB and a former Andy Reid assistant. In other words they kicked off a game they expected to win but had to take seriously. My main focus going into the game was the game control and efficiency. The key to winning any game, but especially playoff games is control of said game. Jacksonville started the game with the ball and promptly gave it back 3 plays and one minute later. That speaks to the planning and preparation of DC Steve Spagnuolo’s unit.
I take game day notes on my phone to prep for recaps. My approach is typically to write stuff I notice and compile later, but I had a plan this time. I specifically watched for the first third down, which came on the 10th offensive play at 9:27 on the clock in Q1. That’s control, during a “take what the D gives you” sustained drive. The second drive resulted in a FG, but also after an 11 play drive and Mahomes played half of it injured. I can’t dock the efficiency points/commentary for that drive.
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The D took care of business in the first half. On paper 10 points looks somewhat loose, but the TD drive was an exceptionally short field. Kickoff coverage was a disaster especially in the first half. The TD drive started with a short, 39-yard field. Do the Jags score a TD if it’s 75 yards? Possibly. However, that 19 yard Travis Etienne run means much less in the Jags half of the field. Coverage simply has to be better. The positive on special teams (AKA the team liability all season)? Butker and the placekicking unit were sniper accurate.
That’s a great sign.
THE Drive
Patrick Mahomes took a drive off. Yes, a drive as in, ONE. Chad Henne got the nickname Henne-Thing Is Possible the last time Patrick took a seat. That was the end of the Browns game a couple playoffs ago on a storied 4th & 1. Saturday he galvanized that name and also his spot in CHIEFS history. Chad became a trivia answer in 2021. He possibly reached legend status against Jacksonville, here in 2023.
The Mahomes injury stalled the FG drive and sucked the air out of every room CHIEFS fans occupied. Spags’ D stepped up big forcing a punt with a 10-7 after the injury. The Jags punt team did their job as well pinning KC on their own 2 with a backup QB. Chad Henne has now completed his doctorate and following is his dissertation:
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That drive changed, saved, cemented, extended the CHIEFS season. An alternate universe somewhere has us all recapping a motivated Jags D forcing a quick punt, Lawrence driving a TD on a short field, and the CHIEFS down, and the Arrowhead crowd quieted before everyone truly processes the moment. That horror story of a scenario was 100% on the table.
Now, thanks to Henne’s heroics, we have a world of potential back in front of us. Let’s also address the other hero.
Patrick the Warrior
We are constantly short of superlatives for this guy. Let’s add this to the lore. Patrick slammed his sideline coat on the ground before heading to the locker room for eval, because, you know, he had a HIGH ANKLE SPRAIN, which is arguably the worst athletic injury short of tearing or breaking something.
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When he returned, was he the same swashbuckling, first down running force we normally see? No. He was the make the kill and win the warrior at another level. My favorite moment of the Chichen Itza tour was when the CHIEFS fan guide took us to the warrior stage. He said something to the effect that “the Mayans were violent conquerors who killed anyone in their way – sorry but it’s true.” The warrior stage is where the soldiers brought all the prisoners to lop their heads off and display them as a message to potential challengers.
The stage had carved walls with images of jaguar and eagle heads on men. Our guide’s note was simple: if you see that guy in battle, run or die. The biggest, baddest, best warriors wore that head decoration. Jaguar head gear in particular came from the warrior actually killing a jaguar and wearing its head.
Patrick Mahomes mercilessly slaughtered a jaguar last Saturday. This Sunday he will wear it into Arrowhead and cut the Bengals off at the knees. Football is a violent conquering sport and we all know it. For the record, that, and not dirty intentional ankle targeting by the Jags, is why Patrick’s ankle is the key to the ultimate war.
Closing Out the 2nd Half
The CHIEFS added another TD via laser to MVS…
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… and FG via execution to achieve the 27 points. Spags’ D spent more time on the field than preferred due to the offensive slide, but held firm when needed. Playoff games have a tendency to decide on turnovers. The CHIEFS took 2 and gave none. A Bengals fan friend (I have friends for every team) sent me a text about a close call. I disagree with him. The CHIEFS beat a solid team on an upward trajectory by controlling the game, playing efficiently and taking the ball away.
On to the next battle. I head to KC for this one and will be back next week with Mayan like battle stories.
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Rapid Predictions
Eagles over 49ers
CHIEFS over Bengals
K E L C E BOWL!!
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Media of the Week
Our flights were all Delta and on new planes. Delta does a great job with their screens and movie libraries. My focus this round was 80s cop movies. Specifically Beverly Hills Cop and Lethal Weapon. Both hold up impeccably as action movies featuring young, legendary actors.
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I cannot think of another action movie that fires me up as much as the end of Lethal Weapon starting with the hostage scene. Great way to stay in battle mode for Arrowhead this weekend.
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Josh Kingsley — ArrowheadOne and Arrowhead Kingdom
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