Protest Against Chiefs Name Goes National Today

I just saw this on Facebook. Seems the protest against our Chiefs name is, in fact, not just going public but actually going national. From CBS News.

Protest calling for Chiefs to change name and stop using tomahawk chop planned ahead of Super Bowl

A bit of the article:

A Native American rights group is planning a protest on Sunday urging the Kansas City Chiefs to retire the team's name and stop fans from using an in-game tomahawk chop ahead of Super Bowl LV in Tampa.

Alicia Norris, co-founder of the Florida Indigenous Rights and Environmental Equality (FIREE), is one of the people leading the demonstration set to take place near Raymond James Stadium, where the Chiefs will play the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for the championship. Norris told CBS News that the use of the name and chop are "dishonorable and disrespectful."

"The Indigenous people of this land have already had a mass genocide approach with regard to their culture and way of living," she said. "And when you further dehumanize them and objectify them, it just kind of falls in line with that extinction of who they are."

It goes on:

It's not just Native American rights groups calling for the change. The Kansas City Star posted an editorial this week urging the Chiefs to abandon the Native American imagery. With millions set to tune in to the big game, the newspaper's editorial board had a message for people unaware of the Chiefs' traditions.

"For those fans, a message: Many Kansas Citians will cringe along with you when spectators do the chop," they wrote. "We embrace the team's on-field success, but don't think a corrosive chant has much to do with it. It isn't fair to ask groups offended by these symbols to wait even longer for change."

With this, ladies and gentlemen, Kansas Citians--including Chiefs fans, of course--I can tell you, it will only be a matter of time now. Wait for it. The only question is how long it will take but it will be sooner than later. Count on it. Like it, agree with it, understand it or not, the Chiefs will be renamed and soon. It's all but done. You can take that to the bank.

The Kansas City Chiefs are going the way of the Washington Redskins, at least in name.

As our Dad used to say, it's all over but the crying.

HUGE, BREAKING CHIEFS/ROYALS NEWS

Fantastic! Incredible!!

Patrick Mahomes joins Kansas City Royals ownership group

GREAT, GREAT NEWS!!

He's definitely here to stay!!

GO CHIEFS!!!

GO ROYALS!!!

GO KANSAS CITY!!!

Changing Our Chiefs' Name?

There's a great article out today on our Kansas City Chiefs. It gives background--again--on how they got their name (everyone should know by now) but more. It also tells why it really MIGHT be racist and wrong and then finally, what we could, in fact, change the name to.

KC Chiefs: 

Three alternate mascot names we could live with

I have to say, the proposed names pleasantly surprised me. I didn't think anyone could, would or did, yet, come up with any good options but these 3 sound great:

1. Blues (not the Smokin' Blues, just the Blues, however)
2. Qs (as in BBQ) and
3. Bucks (after Buck O'Neill)

Great ideas, as I said. I could definitely live with any of those, at least. (But Wolves?  No. Please, no).

GO CHIEFS!!!

At least for now.

A Friend Makes A Great Point About the Chiefs Parade Tomorrow

A friend wrote today on Facebook about our Kansas City Chiefs parade scheduled for tomorrow. I think he has it right.

Realtor, photographer Bob Travaglione:

DO THE RIGHT THING! Cancel the CHIEF'S Victory Parade on Wednesday! Move it to Saturday! We are on a Collision Course with a Major Ice and Snow Winter Storm on February 5, 2020! We waited 50 Years, why can't we Wait 3 More Days for the Safety of the Team and the Public? As a Photographer, we will have much better Photographs for the History of Kansas City Archives on a Non Snow and Ice Day! Plus that weather can be Deadly! It Ain't Worth Doing It! Don't Blow this One Day! There are NO DO-OVERS!

It makes sense. On Saturday, there isn't a forecast of snow, it's supposed to be warmer and far more could attend, all 3. Someone out there said the NFL requires any celebration like this is required to take place within 3 days of the win. That seems bizarre but I don't know if it's true. I can't imagine why they'd care, have this rule or why it effects them. I would also think they'd make exceptions for weather, as in this case, or other situations.

I don't think it will happen but it's a good thought. The current forecast does, yes, call for snow, but the expectations of total snow inches is about one inch.

Meanwhile, there is this:

Everything you need to know about Wednesday's Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl parade and rally

Anyway, GO CHIEFS!!!

Go Chiefs!!

51 points in 57 plays!

41 straight points!

GO CHIEFS!!!

And now, on to the Titans!

Chiefs Rightly Get Some Great Press This Weekend

I saw this Associated Press article in today's New York Times. I had to search it out. Turns out, it was all over multiple media sites.

Chiefs Become a Destination For the League's Top Agents

A bit from the article:

The Kansas City Chiefs needed a playmaking safety and signed coveted free agent Tyrann Mathieu.

They needed help at cornerback and signed Bashaud Breeland and Morris Claiborne.

They had to address the pass rush and extended the contract of defensive end Frank Clark.

That aggressive approach to roster turnover speaks volumes about the job Chiefs general manager Brett Veach has done in Kansas City. But it also speaks volumes to the fact that the Chiefs, for years a franchise that struggled to lure top talent on the open market against higher-profile teams, has become a destination for players seeking playoff glory and Super Bowl rings.

"I wanted to come to a team that had great talent, great core players," explained Mathieu, who signed a $42 million, three-year contract in March. "Any time you can play for an organization that has a great history and obviously a great quarterback that's really going to take this league over, really by storm — really this was a no-brainer for me and my family."

In fact, that may be the biggest reason everyone seems to want to play in Kansas City: the unique combination of an innovative players' coach in Andy Reid and quarterback Patrick Mahomes, whose record-setting debut as the starter portends postseason success for years to come.

"They've got a good ball club and the best offense in the league," said Claiborne, a former first-round draft pick who signed a $3 million deal late last week.

It goes on.

Yes sir, it's great. We're sitting on the doorstep of what could and maybe should be one stellar football year here in town.

Sure, they lost last night. 

They played their B string, at least. Mahomes played the first half only. The first half of the first quarter.

Stay tuned.

For anyone out there, KC blogger or whomever, who wants to poo-poo this team needs to stay tuned.

They'll likely be eating crow soon enough.

On the Way to the Super Bowl...

Check out the latest article on the NFL playoff games and who may be going to the Super Bowl.

Ranking the possible Super Bowl LIII matchups

In four of these, the pick is our Chiefs, with the number one pick being Chiefs vs. Rams!

16. Colts vs. Rams: Nothing wrong with Andrew Luck vs. Jared Goff, and this would be a fresh matchup. Just not a lot of sex appeal and the Rams have a limited fan base.

15. Colts vs. Saints: Same deal, except New Orleans has a much larger fan base and wouldn’t be far from home. This is also a rematch of Super Bowl XLIV. Blowout potential is higher than you’d like.

14. Colts vs. Cowboys: What we’re saying is there really are no terrible potential matchups left. Nothing wrong with these two teams, and the Cowboys are the Cowboys — very popular and very polarizing. But neither team feels Super Bowl-worthy this year.

13. Chiefs vs. Cowboys: This would be fun, but there’s not much to it and Kansas City would be a clear-cut favorite.

12. Chargers vs. Cowboys: This is basically on the same level as Kansas City-Dallas, except the Chargers are chasing their first-ever Super Bowl on the back nine of Philip Rivers’ career and there’s a better chance this would be a close game.

11. Chargers vs. Eagles: Everything we just said about the Chargers, but now you’ve got the Nick Foles magic and Philadelphia chasing back-to-back championships — something nobody has done in the last decade.

10. Colts vs. Eagles: Andrew Luck and the Colts might be slightly more of a draw than the Bolts.

9. Chargers vs. Saints: Philip Rivers vs. predecessor Drew Brees would be interesting, but I’d be concerned about a potential New Orleans blowout. The Saints would practically be at home against a team that lacks a fan base.

8. Chargers vs. Rams: Even though the two franchises lack large fan bases, a battle between two teams from the same city would be pretty damn fantastic.

7. Chiefs vs. Eagles: Philly going for the repeat against the league’s highest-scoring team in a battle between former colleagues Andy Reid and Doug Pederson.

6. Patriots vs. Rams: Can the Patriots beat the team they defeated in their first Super Bowl in order to win their sixth?

5. Patriots vs. Cowboys: This would be a freakin’ ratings bonanza for CBS. Quite possibly the two highest-profile teams in the NFL, but I’d fear a New England blowout.

4. Chiefs vs. Saints: Patrick Mahomes vs. Drew Brees in a battle between the league’s two most valuable players, and it’d probably be close.

3. Patriots vs. Saints: Tom Brady and Drew Brees are two of the most accomplished quarterbacks in NFL history, and you’d have an interesting dynamic with New England chasing its sixth Lombardi Trophy in essentially a road game only 400 miles from New Orleans.

2. Patriots vs. Eagles: This would mark only the second time in NFL history in which teams met in back-to-back Super Bowls, and this one would be especially intriguing because Philly is once again led by Nick Foles while the Patriots are trying to bolster their incredible legacy.

And the one we really want to see:

1. Chiefs vs. Rams: When they met during the regular season, the two most lethal offensive teams in the NFL only combined for 105 points in the first-ever NFL game in which both teams scored 50.

...with Chiefs going all the way, naturally.

GO CHIEFS!!

Ink On Our Own "Magic Patrick" Mahomes

Our own Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes is getting lots of great press after that come-from-behind, overtime win last weekend against the Ravens.

First this one from no less than Sports Illustrated.

Patrick Mahomes History of No-Look Passes

You certainly have seen the play by now—you would have had to go out of your way to avoid seeing it. It was late in the first half of Sunday’s Chiefs-Ravens game, a second-and-1. Patrick Mahomes zigged to the left, then zagged back to the right, evading the rush as he scanned the field. Then, with his head pointed squarely downfield, he slung the ball across his body, firing it diagonally across the hash marks and painted field numbers to his left. Receiver Demarcus Robinson, crossing the field, made the catch at a spot where Mahomes had given zero outward indication he was going to throw.

“Look at the magic of the quarterback,” Tony Romo said on the CBS broadcast while watching the replay of the 17-yard pass to Robinson. “Moving around, dancing, then throws it—like, almost, no look. That’s incredible.”

Not done there:

Where Patrick Mahomes Gets His Cool

What can a person say except...

GO CHIEFS!!

Patrick Mahomes & Our Chiefs Get More Great Press

Yessir and ma’am, our Chiefs are getting yet more great press, what with being led by the magic and strength that is and that we get from and with Patrick Mahomes.

Top storyline for each Week 10 NFL game | Yardbarker.com

What they have to say:

Arizona Cardinals at Kansas City Chiefs: Patrick Mahomes, NFL MVP?

The answer is a resounding yes. It’s also highly unlikely that this second-year quarterback will somehow take a step back in the MVP race Week 10 against a two-win Arizona Cardinals team. We’re honestly just running out of expletives to define what Mahomes has done for the 8-1 Chiefs on the season.

In addition to already breaking multiple records, Mahomes is completing 66 percent of his passes while leading this offense to an average of 36.3 points per game. He’s on pace for 5,400 total yards and 55 total touchdowns. It’s now up to Patrick Peterson and the Cardinals to somehow slow him down at Arrowhead come Sunday. Good luck with that.

GO CHIEFS!!

NYT Celebrates Our Kansas City Chiefs Today

Yes sir, the one and only New York Times has a very prominent, front sports page article on our own Kansas City Chiefs, our Patrick Mahomes and how we naturally, rightly like--love?--him.

‘He’s Ours. Patrick Mahomes Is Ours.’

Fans of the Kansas City Chiefs, accustomed to football disappointment, now have the most exciting player in the N.F.L. on their team, in their town.

And it's a great and of course, true article, we love our Patrick Mahomes and all this winning he's doing but in the print edition of the paper, the headline reads: "Kansas City finally found something to love."

Excuse me?

Excuse me, New York Times.....  Excuse us??

We have LOTS to love around here, make no mistake.

We love our Kansas City Chiefs, for starters. And that's all the time, not just when we're having a stellar season, like right this moment. Sure, we prefer winning them all, including the Super Bowl, like anyone and everyone else but we love our team ALL THE TIME.

Going on, we love our Kansas City Royals. For sure. Absolutely. And that's all the time, too. Sure, we prefer "going all the way" seasons like 1985 and 2015 but we love our team, let there be no doubt.

Going on from there, things we Kansas Citians love:

Our barbecue

The

Country Club Plaza 

All our fountains

Being the "Paris of the Plains"

Ward Parkway and our boulevard system

4 seasons--especially now that winters are milder

Mostly clean air, nearly all the time

Low traffic

Having and being two cities, not just one

The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art

Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art

Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art

Union Station

American Jazz Museum

National WWI Museum and Memorial

Kansas City Museum

The Arabia Steamboat Museum

Negro Leagues Baseball Museum

Arthur Bryant's Barbeque Restaurant

Joe's Kansas City Bar-B-Que

And a lot more, to be sure.

So thanks, New York Times for the article and coverage but please, ladies and gentlemen, give us more credit than this.

Please.

Quote of the Day -- Timely

Not only was H.L Mencken correct here but he and his quote are extremely relevant and poignant now, what with sports figures taking a knee about justice and injustice in our nation.

Tonight's NFL Sunday Night Football Game

Roger Goodell and the NFL are, today, tonight, playing this video as a commercial during their Sunday Night Football game on TV.


The NFL stands with its players.

In Case You Don't Get or Agree With the Silent NFL Protests

One picture. One example.

Again, this is just one example. There are many, many more.

Links:

12 year old Tamir Rice shot 'within two seconds' of police arrival

John Crawford: Police Gun Down Ohio Man Holding Toy

La. cops stun, shoot and kill Alton Sterling

NYPD Kills Man For Selling Untaxed Cigarettes

Video shows officer who killed Philando Castile 

firing 7 shots into car

N.F.L. Players and Owners Unite in Face of Trump Tweets

Tom Brady Joins Anthem Demonstration 

as N.F.L. Protests Trump

Dozens of players kneel, coaches link arms in solidarity

See It: NFL Players Kneel During Anthem 

After Trump Comments

Former NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue: Trump’s comments are ‘insulting and disgraceful’

NFL to air 'unity' ad in response to 

President Trump's comments

Here's two teams, anyway, that aren't "taking a knee" during the National Anthem:

Report: Seahawks and Titans will both stay in the locker room during national anthem

An Example of Why Black Lives Matter

One example. Just one, of many.  Many.

HERE'S THE BIG NFL QUESTION!!

If the Chiefs can beat the Patriots, at home, in the season opener, who CAN'T they beat?

GO CHIEFS!!

Kansas City's Connection to Today's Super Game

All hail, George Toma.

George Toma, 88, to help prepare 

Super Bowl field for 51st time

What a guy.

A bit from the article.

Super Bowl LI will be played on artificial turf in Houston, the birthplace of fake grass, but there's still work to be done for George Toma, the veteran groundskeeper who has helped prepare the field for each of the first 50 Super Bowls.

Toma, who turns 88 on Feb. 2 but continues to work as a consultant for the NFL, watched from the sidelines as an all-star crew of groundskeepers from other NFL teams applied logo designs to the stadium end zones, one of the many tasks that will occupy hundreds of workers leading up to the game Feb. 5.

"This is one of the best artificial fields that we've played on," Toma said of NRG Stadium's new field, which was manufactured by TurfNation of Dalton, Ga., 90 miles northwest of Atlanta.

While discussing some of the innovations he has helped bring to field preparation, such as using lasers to ensure straight lines and splash guards for use by field painters, Toma also took a moment to recall the first Super Bowl in 1967 between the Chiefs and Packers.

He said he stood next to two Packers equipment managers, a father and son, speculating on what Green Bay coach Vince Lombardi would do the next day to beat Kansas City.

And what a history he has not just in his industry but with this biggest of all NFL games.

This man has helped prepare every 

Super Bowl field 

Everyone should have work they do they enjoy, they love, like this and this man. It's not wonder he's still going strong at 88.

Thanks for all you do, Mr. Toma! And thanks for representing Kansas City and doing it so well!

Links:

Did You Know There Is A MLB 

Groundskeepers Hall Of Fame?

George Toma inducted in the Major League 

Baseball Groundskeeper Hall of Fame

KC legend Toma earns groundskeeping honor 

| Minnesota Twins

Highway to Hell

Republicans, swept into power, controlling all of Congress, now about to end Obamacare and supporting Russia's Vladimir Putin; know-nothing, emotional, insecure, vindictive Donald "The Chump" Trump wins the presidency; Right Wing, Eric "Pretty Boy" Greitens wins the Missouri Governor's office, still vowing and pressing to foist "Right to work" laws on Missourians so we can all work for less for the already-wealthy and corporations and they can further bust Unions and all the rest and now this.

Chargers are moving to Los Angeles 

after 56 years in San Diego

I tell you, the world is coming apart.

It's all going to Hell.

The common denominator in all of it is money. We are drowning in money. We're being bought. And sold. All over. Politically and in all other ways. I need to write a book. It would be titled "Money and Capitalism Are Smothering America."

Holidays With the Chiefs!

Our own Kansas City Chiefs made a "top ten" list yesterday and in none other than the New York Times.

The 10 Most Important N.F.L. Games

It seems not only is it one of the top ten most important games left in the season but it's also going to be a big Christmas gift for all us fans. What they had to say:

There are six weeks remaining in the N.F.L. season, and more than 90 games to come. Some will be crucial, and some will be 60 minutes of garbage time. But which are which?

Thanks to The Upshot’s Playoff Simulator at nytimes.com, The New York Times can quantify that.

Every game counts in the standings, but some are much more likely to affect the playoffs than others. A game like the Jets at the Patriots on Christmas Eve does not look too important: The Patriots are a lock to make the postseason, and the Jets are a huge long shot. The Browns at the Steelers on Jan. 1 might turn out to matter a lot to Pittsburgh, but it will not affect Cleveland’s playoff chances, which are zero.

But a handful of games are likely to be crucial for the playoff hopes of both teams. These are the biggest games left this year, according to The Upshot’s simulator.

9. Broncos at Chiefs, Dec. 25

The Raiders, the Chiefs and the Broncos are in a dogfight for the A.F.C. West, as well as wild-card consolation prizes. Of all the games left on their schedules, this ranks as the most important, although the Chiefs at the Broncos on Dec. 4 is 11th on the list.

GO CHIEFS!

In the meantime, happy Thanksgiving to all. Here's hoping for more great wins this season.

CHIEFS COME BACK!!

Yes sir! Our own Kansas City Chiefs were down and down by a lot, even into the fourth quarter but tied it up in the last few minutes of the game and WON IN OVERTIME!!

Chargers vs. Chiefs 2016 picks: Experts think Kansas City will win opener

So to all the unbelievers and Chiefs (and Royals) haters out there, especially the ones who blog, SUCK IT.

Notes on the St. Louis Rams

You likely saw the breaking news on the St. Louis Rams NFL team:

Rams relocating to Los Angeles

First, this is certainly, absolutely no time to gloat, as a Kansas Citian.

Sure, we're happy to have our team but no way do we want to put down St. Louis for losing theirs. No way. That's just ugly.

Second, it's got to hurt. And in so many ways.

--It's the 2nd NFL team the city has lost.

--It hurts tax revenues.

--It hurts the city's image both internally and externally--how they see themselves and how the nation might.

--It's got to hurt their downtown and business and businesses and hotels and restaurants, you name it.

That said, I have to admit, I was hoping they could keep the team. I just wasn't for a new stadium for them.

Sure, if they wanted to pay for it themselves, have at it. I wasn't for them keeping their team at any price. I specifically wasn't for Missourians, statewide, having to pay any state taxes just so wealthy people could have a new stadium.

But all of us pay for it?

No way.

So now this is settled. For them. Now. And it hurts and it's ugly but so be it.

What occurs to me now, however, is that, next time the owners of either our Royals or Chiefs want us all, again, to cough up hundreds of millions of dollars for stadium renovations?

Oh, hell no.

My position remains the same for us, as well.

If the wealthy want a new stadium or stadium upgrades...   they can darned well pay for it themselves.