K.C. Chiefs: “D” is For Determinism
There have been times in my life when I have thought some things were preordained. You know, like meeting a person you just knew you were supposed to meet. A chance event… or happenstance meeting like that, can feel like destiny. I’ll never forget the misbegotten line between Marty McFly’s parents from the original Back to the Future, “My density has popped me to you.” Sometimes this “destiny” spills over into sports… like when I was a kid, I thought Sandy Koufax was “supposed to” win a World series… and “that’s” the reason why he did. Not because he was incredibly gifted… or had a great work ethic and supporting cast… or envisioned himself achieving such heights.
Reality
The lines between reality and fantasy can get whirly-blurred fairly easily for a child and we adults are not much different when it comes to our favorite sports teams. Right now, you wouldn’t be able to convince me that the Kansas City Chiefs are not somehow… and in some way… “supposed to” to win the Super Bowl this year. The “signs” are too overwhelming.
Signs
The SIGNS. That’s always what it is with these mystical types, right? Signs. You might as well be trying to interrupt an argument between a tarot card reader, a telephone psychic and a bartender (because bartenders “know” the truth) about the “real” reason K.C. will it all this year. The signs are just too “huge” to be argued… or ignored.
NFL’s Best Records, Week 10:
1- Cowboys
T2- Chiefs, Patriots, Raiders
5- Broncos
6- Texans
7- Seahawks
8- Falcons
9- Giants
10- Washington— nick wright (@getnickwright) November 14, 2016
One good sign is that the Chiefs are sitting atop of the AFC West right now. Wait. What? Oh yeah, and another little thing… they are also sitting atop the whole dang AFC as of… NOW. In fact, only the Dallas Cowboys have a better overall record than the Kansas City Chiefs.
Serendipity
You could just back off of the whole “signs” prattle and give a good accounting of what’s happening with the Chiefs by calling it “serendipity.” Then again, that doesn’t really give credit where it is truly due… to general manager John Dorsey. As Jason Seibel had so ardently spelled it out in his article called, “That Game Between the Kansas City Chiefs and Carolina Panthers Was So Ridiculous That…” in which he points out that Dorsey has used his first pick in the draft for the past four years to bring in the following group of players. It just so happens that all of them are playing lights out right now including, Eric Fisher, Dee Ford, Marcus Peters, and Chris Jones.
Last 3 1st round picks for KC:
Dee Ford – leading NFL in sacks
Marcus Peters – leading NFL in INTs
Chris Jones having a GREAT rookie year— Mike (@vidae01) November 13, 2016
Excellence
The important point here is that not all… if any… of that which can be attributed to the precipitous… the spontaneous… the extemporaneous… nor the serendipitous-ness. No coincidences here, no intuition, it’s simply that John Dorsey is excellent at what he does.
Plus, it doesn’t hurt that he has a Fifth Dimension to rely upon when necessary.
Determinism
What these Chiefs are… is… determined. They appear to have learned some lessons from last year’s 1-5 start too. Not necessarily football lessons… but lessons about never giving up and never giving in. In his post game interview, Andy Reid said,
“In a game like this, it’s easy to pop the balloon and deflate. At the start of the game you blow it up and then things don’t go right, it’s easy just to go “eeh” but this crew here’s got some character. Does that mean you win every game? No.”
However, Coach Reid goes on to say that these Chiefs have “determination” and that no matter what happens they don’t give up. Now, it’s not a huge reach to go from determination… to… self-determination.
Smith said Berry spoke about turnovers at halftime. “For him to go do that after we sat there and talked about it at halftime was crazy.”
— Pete Sweeney (@pgsween) November 14, 2016
We’ve known that Eric Berry was a “put-up-or-shut-up” kind of leader but this game was a clear case of Berry taking control of the destiny of a game.
Reid on Berry: “He’s the leader on that defense. No question about that. I thought it was a phenomenal play.” (1/2)
— Pete Sweeney (@pgsween) November 14, 2016
Andy Reid goes on to make it more specific:
Reid on Berry (cont): “I hate saying you expect that from him, but he just wills himself like no other.” (2/2)
— Pete Sweeney (@pgsween) November 14, 2016
The Will
“He wills it”… so doesn’t that sound a bit like self-determination? It’s one thing to have determination but when you can take hold of a situation by your thoughts and speak them out loud and then manifest them out loud… that’s playing with the “destiny-cards” isn’t it? Boy, oh boy, if I was a kid who was a Kansas City Chiefs fan right now… I’d be all in on, “Pay Eric Berry whatever he wants.”
“He was a possessed man. He told us we were going to get a turnover when we went out there.” – Marcus Peters on Eric Berry’s INT.
“Possessed?” Hmm?
Like I said, right now, you wouldn’t be able to convince me that the Kansas City Chiefs are not on a track to win a Super Bowl this year.
The signs are just too overwhelming.