The Nature of Chiefs Fandom, and a Projection

Josh Kingsley

I owe y’all an apology. My goal is to have a column out every Wednesday morning, and that didn’t happen. So, I apologize to anyone who looks forward to reading about my weird journey through life, but more emphatically I apologize to Laddie who has given me this awesome opportunity to share that journey. I am constantly blown away when I read the comments and it is really about how many look at the columns. Some may think my personal brand of superfandom is random nonsense, but I love connecting with kindreds and amused viewers.

The delay for this week is personal/business-ish in nature. I run a wedding service company, so that makes it business, but I love the industry so much and cannot truly view it as pure business, so there is a massive amount of pleasure that comes too. I have been a Wedding DJ for over 18 years at this point, and I still get the thrills as I get ready to welcome the wedding party to a reception. There are a ton of employees involved so it is clearly a business, but I have never done anything this fun. I run a business with my wife, employ fun people who are friends, and we are part of a national franchise of likeminded people.

Completely Loving Events

I will take a moment to give some details and personal philosophies. My company is the Milwaukee and Chicago franchise locations of Complete Weddings + Events. We do coordination, photo, video, DJ, photo booth and lighting services on people’s happiest of days. I consistently have a ton of irons in the fire, but this is the coolest job I have ever had. Wedding planning is an obscene amount of work and expense for couples celebrating their love. Helping make it money and effort well spent is a total joy, and I don’t see a world where I am not doing this.

This week was the annual sales and marketing meeting. It is set for roughly this time of the year, which matches up with the end of our busiest season of the year. Eighteen years ago, people got married in June and July, and that was how I remembered the family wedding scene growing up. However, in the past decade a shift has been made to September and October. I like to believe it is based on the grooms of the world digging their heels in to avoid sweating through tuxes in the dog days of summer. Take a bow gentleman, this is the one about the guys at a wedding. A good friend of mine’s dad describes grooms at a wedding and corpses at a funeral the same way: your presence is necessary, but it really isn’t about you.

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Florida Vibes

The conference was in Orlando this year. I love this trip as it is an annual shot in the arm reminding us all why we love what we do. It did provide a couple other nice things as well. First, I got to watch the game with some new people. Sports are a sense of joy in numerous fronts. They provide personal joy when you see your team win. But they also provide a social factor that is unrivaled. We are all just masses of atoms wondering the world in search of personal connection and sports is one of the shortest paths to it. In random social situations it is probably the fastest. A person wearing a Chiefs shirt is a friend, no questions asked. When I see one I immediately, almost instinctively generate a series of questions:

How are you a fan?
Did you grow up in KC or an area close like me?
Have you been to Arrowhead?
What is your favorite game?
Who is your favorite player?
Can we exchange contact information and be friends moving forward?

I got to meet a bunch of new friends in Orlando because I watched the game with the local Arrowhead Kingdom crew. My affiliation with the group has come up a few times in the columns, but I cannot stress enough how coo it is to have a comprehensive list of established friends in cities all over the country. It is the best place to find your friends you didn’t know you have in cities you have not been.

Universally Awesome

I also took some personal time in Orlando. My wife and I have done Disney multiple times and tabbed this week as a change of pace to Universal.

We brought some team members and included them as well. This sets the scene for a full day of the two parks (buy the two park pass – totally worth it) and a ton of rides. Universal is both incredible and different than Disney (and every other park I’ve been) in a distinct way. Many of the Universal rides are based in an incredible multi-media world. The designers’ mastery of the visual journey is impossible to describe with real justice. Just know that a rollercoaster can occur in a largely stationary seat with stunning movement on a screen.

All the above is before I mention the 3D element. A good number of the rides mentioned above include a 3D element. I truly enjoyed seeing the Green Goblin hurl a pumpkin bomb at my face but could do without Voldemort sending a snake at me. Stunning is the only way I can describe the visual experience. That all said I am a sucker for the standard issue roller coaster, and they do that well too. The Jurassic World Velocicoaster is top notch. It is the best coaster I have been on with the possible exception of the Montu in Busch Gardens Tampa. I must note it has been 20 years since I have been on the Montu, so Velocicoaster has to take pole position. The Hagrid Adventure coaster was 2, and The Mummy Returns was 3. Special shouts to the Simpsons and Spiderman rides.

Sheep’s Clothing

The trip to Universal put me in a weird spot: the uninvested party. I have read about half of the first book, seen over half of the movies, but have not gotten aggressively into Harry Potter.

I get it, I understand the draw, will never disparage, but remain an outsider. However, even I could recognize the effort, authenticity, and magical immersion to the experience. Universal effectively provided the chance to become a wizard, cast spells, dress properly, and live the series. I give mad props to J.K. Rowling for creating this world, and Universal for bringing it to life.

A Chiefs Fandom Perspective

I was the minority. My wife, our team members, and pretty much everyone else we shared space with were in awe. I was impressed but it wasn’t the same. Best way I can compare was watching the Packers win Super Bowl XLV. I live in Milwaukee, WI surrounded by Packer fans and have gotten admittedly partial. I watched that game, rooted loud for the Pack, and went downtown to celebrate. But in that moment, I told my it wasn’t the Chiefs and I could tell. It is just different and better when your team wins. I am glad I went to both and got to watch people I care about in utter joy, but I was longing to be in the Disney Star Wars galaxy.

The Chiefs Game

As mentioned above I got to catch the game with the Orlando watch party group. Kristina is an incredible host, and the Friendly Confines are what they are named. This place brought me good wings, casual game conversation, and cold, local beer. I am convinced I watch football to get the other two things. This was what I am starting to believe is a standard 2021 Chiefs win:

Rock solid Defense (seriously excited about this)
Masterfully scripted first Offensive drive resulting in an emphatic TD
Offense lacking finishing moves after the first drive
Game that seems pretty in hand throughout, all things considered

The Broncos are a better team than I anticipated and their D is legit, plus their offense has weapons. I expected this to be a tough game and it was, but it was in a grind fashion. I never questioned the Chiefs pulling off the win. It was a grind like any college class or job. The work and process aren’t fun, but ultimately the skills are there and comes down to making it happen.

Projections for Chiefs Season

Nothing much new here:

· Week 14: vs Raiders. Another beat down. WIN

· Week 15: @ Chargers. The Chargers took care of business against the Bengals. This feels different for them, and I mean more follow through. Justin Herbert is creating a fine rivalry, and I look forward to the future seasons. That said: Arrowhead Kingdom is coming hard this game, and the Chiefs will win. WIN

· Week 16: vs Steelers. Merry Christmas, hope you enjoyed Die Hard. WIN

· Week 17: @ Bengals. This features two playoff ambitious teams, which is remarkably differently than I looked at this game in August. WIN

· Week 18: @ Broncos. A Chiefs win means 7 years of beating Denver, and I expect that. WIN.

Projected Playoff Seeds in the AFC

Patriots: the table is set for them to run the table. A home and away against the Bills and road game against the Colts are the potential pitfalls, but this is looking like their year.
Chiefs: win out but fall short to the due to conference record.
Ravens: three losses in a row to the Packers, Bengals, and Rams weeks 15-17 send them 3rd.
Titans: another 15-17 slide, but good enough to win the South.
Bengals: the Bengals win 4 of their last 6 to cap a strong season and make it back to the playoffs.
Bills: always the bridesmaid, to the Pats.
Chargers: they hold off the Colts, Browns, and Dolphins to set up a return trip to KC.

Josh Kingsley — ArrowheadOne

Follow on Twitter: @mkechiefsfans

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Josh Kingsley