Another week, another week on the road. This trip — which I am still on — is all about Misty’s side of the family. My trip started a day early with a stop in Vegas to see some sights and connect with her dad. We connected late last week at the airport and made the trip to San Diego. We made the decision months ago to have a West Coast Christmas, which is long overdue. Thanksgiving is always Kansas, but we shoot to make it out this way at least every other year. Covid effectively killed that idea for 3 years, and we were due by then. This is a long of saying it’s good to be back. The bonus is leaving the arctic frigid cold of home.
I love me a Cali Christmas!
The current X factor is our planned flights home on Southwest. Apparently they are having some schedule issues. We currently have a confirmed flight to Denver and a cancelled flight from there to Milwaukee. I may have a story next week. That’s in the future, let’s focus on the recent past.
Viva Las Vegas
I estimate I’ve spent 100-ish nights in Vegas over the past 15-ish years. Part of this is family. Misty’s dad lives here. Another part is friends (the family you choose), and Misty’s BFF lived here for a couples years as well. The biggest part is work related. Vegas and Orlando are the two places in the US that should host every convention. Both cities are destinations with big airports full of direct flights, drayage fee charges (what you pay people to move pallets) are most reasonable, and things just go the smoothest in these places. Bottom line: I’ve done Vegas. I have a big list of favorite spots on the strip and Freemont. This trip was unique in a simple fact: I went to TWO new places in less than 24 hours. Both sports related. You see where this is going.
Allegiant Stadium
That’s right, y’all, I went to the belly of the beast. We are using the term “beast” loosely as the Raiders miss the playoffs for the 18th time in 22 seasons. Earlier this season I met Dan, the scoreboard guy from Arrowhead. (a YouTube Interview on our Arrowhead Kingdom Podcast). Turns out his brother, Jay, works for the Raiders as a stadium tour guide. Jay was kind enough to invite the enemy for a tour. My career has consistently put me in industrial spaces, and I love buildings, and construction. Stadium tours are my jam.
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Allegiant Stadium is awesome. There, I said it. Mark Davis and the Raiders did an excellent job of capturing the Raiders and Vegas essence, which includes supreme luxury. They also captured the Raiders history quite well. The last major thing noticed were some nice details. Here are my favorite touches in no particular order:
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• A local Vegas artist produced 100s of Vegas themed paintings for the stadium. The best: Elvis imaged as a Raider player and Marylin Monroe as a Raiderette.
• The full night club in the north end zone. Vegas baby.
• Everything possible was black and white tile – impeccable branding.
• Built-in drink chilling cup holders in the end zone standing area.
• The CHIEFS flag buried under Allegiant during construction and pictured below.
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My absolute favorite part was the retractable grass field (seen below). Allegiant’s field rolls out into an open space until game day, which allows a domed stadium to have real grass that gets real sunlight.
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They join the Cardinals as the only NFL teams with this feature. This feature is so unique, less than a dozen places have it globally. By the way, the grass gets it’s sun in Lot J.
On a final note: I thank Jay and Beth for an excellent #RaidersTour.
T-Mobile Arena
My next stop: Golden Knights game at T-Mobile Arena, not confused with the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City. Jay joined me for the game and acted as another tour guide. The Golden Knights started in the 2017-18 NHL season, so they are a new franchise. However, they looked the part of old guard on game day. The team and fans are ripe with tradition. First, the Vegas pageantry in the opening. They truly lean into the medieval knight theme with a castle, joust opening and a guy in armor roaming the stands hyping the crowd. Anytime the mood dropped this guy would pick his spot, bang his sword on his shield and start a chant. The crowd also has a couple cool set interactions. During the national anthem the crowd yells “KNIGHTS” during the “…Gave proof thru’ the night…” part. It was beautifully Arrowhead-esque. The crowd also yells “SHAME” as opposing players head to the penalty box.
The game started slow with the first period ending 0-0. Second period saw each team score a goal. The final period brought the fun. Vegas scored 4 more goals including a short handed goal, which is when the team on penalty kill scores. A short handed goal is hockey’s most exciting play. It’s akin to the safety in football, inside the park homer in baseball, and half court buzzer beating shot in basketball.
Thanks again, Vegas. I always enjoy our time together!!
Another CHIEFS Win
I was not in Kansas City, but felt connected to this game. My brother in law and nephews went to the game, and so did a ton of Arrowhead Kingdom connections. It seemed like everyone headed to KC for the holiday this year. The real notable thing from this game was the weather. It was cold. So cold, in fact, that tickets were going for next to nothing. Tickets in the 300 level were going for under $50 and 100 level for under $100. All the tailgates systematically moved into indoor areas. The whole process built up to a classic winter game. A part of me longed to be part of the action. The bigger part of me enjoyed the 70 degree weather at a Poway sports bar. Pacific time always trips me out on game day. The CHIEFS played the early game, which meant a 10:00 AM local kick off time.
The First Quarter
The first quarter gave us an awesome CHIEFS effort. Cold weather (AKA playoff) games require a running game and solid D to secure victory. The CHIEFS brought both in impressive fashion. Seattle accomplished nothing on offense, punted twice and lost the ball on downs. Solid effort D. The CHIEFS put 7 on the board with a slick Toney shovel pass. That guy has electric potential, just keep healthy. Pacheco got the running game going checking the other cold game box. This was the type of effort we need as the playoffs near.
Quarter Two and a Couple Side Bars
My first highlight from the second quarter was the Karlaftis sack, which brings his season total to 4.5. Keep it going George. Mahomes dropped an absolute gem into Kelce’s hands at the 9:40-ish mark. Watching those two connect never gets old.
First Sidebar: the refs against the CHIEFS talk seems to gain steam every week. This week’s edition featured the “if you think Cheffers is bad be real afraid of Clete Blakeman” narrative. The penalties ended up not being a thing. Seattle took the harder earlier hits. I am happy the ref talk isn’t a thing for this one.
Second Sidebar: the Broncos and Rams played Christmas day, the gift no one wanted. Nickelodeon carried the game, which was the best branding of the weekend. The Broncos played the over-matched kid part so well the ax finally fell on HC Nathaniel Hackett. I don’t like to applaud people losing their jobs, but I think Hackett will be OK.
Butker capped the first half with a 47 yard FG, and it was never in doubt. It all makes me think the Dustin Colquitt talk was a net positive.
The Second Half
The CHIEFS took a 17-0 lead and all the game control into the second half. Again, indicative of a good playoff approach. It was nice to have some time to focus on the rest of the games and fantasy scores. That was until the late part of the 4th quarter when Patrick Mahomes reminded us all that he is Superman. Like, for real. Thanks for another iconic image, El Numero 15.
Media of the Week
I have a few for this week. The family movie night this week hit all my holiday classics. After that we started looking at stuff on YouTube. One of my all time favorites is the Guy on a Buffalo series. This band called Jomo & The Possum Posse made a set of 4 songs and matched up scenes from the movie called “Buffalo Rider” to make the series. I tried to watch the movie once. The song tells the exact story, and the writing is better.
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Start with episode 1 and enjoy the next 10 minutes.
Does this commercial ever get old? I sure don’t think so.
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Finally, this one is comedy and cold weather gold.
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Josh Kingsley — ArrowheadOne and Arrowhead Kingdom
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