so i was there for the monday night game. Loved every second of it, stayed in the rain the whole time, and i still cant talk. After listening to all the talk radio, bloggers, and main stream sports talking heads i just dont think people outside of arrowhead truley understand what happened. by no means do i think this is Kansas Citys ticket to the superbowl. we are still lacking in frontline talent at ALOT of positions and depth at almost EVERY position, but this has truley changed my attitude. this win said so much to me as a life long chiefs fan i just cant understate it. from the return of the crowd, to the rookies overperforming, to the defense actually showing a pulse when the game mattered(and thats the BIG difference) Ive always been what i would call a "realist" as a chiefs fan. Chester mckglockton(sp......who cares) was not setting us up to go undefeated. Joe montana was not taking us to the superbowl. rookie (x) was not the next best thing.

 This game was different for me on a profound level. i truely bought in. since the Marty days i have never been 100 percent behind management/coaching( i literaly stayed home from high school the day he retired) From  gunthers lack of overall knowledge, or petersons instant gratification fasination, vermiels lack of defense or herms lack of discipline i have had concerns about the direction we have gone for years now. this was different. i truley bought in to what was on the field.

The fourth down STOPS(and yes it needs to be plural) were just amazing. People seem to forget that SD drove down the field twice in that 4th quarter and both times the defense/crowd stepped up. not once but TWICE. the first drive ended around the 30 with 6ish minutes left and my heart was pounding then. i PRAYED that the offense would find a few first downs and salt the game away. didnt happen so SD got the ball back and marched down the field again, and Again the defense/crowd stood out and i swear people outside of arrowhead just dont appreciate that. after the last 3 years of constant losing and 8-10 years of crappy defense this was BIG. 2 4th down stops to win the game. i could care less about the stats. when the game down to the line that Kansas City Defense stood up. after all the SHIT they have gotten and after all the wasted picks and talent on that team they finally showed up. and that is already the biggest story for KC (perhaps for the year) and its week 1. everything else was expected. the running game showed up with big plays. the special teams were actually special. but the defense. what to expect from them. well apparently they have bought in. the yards against.......i could care less. the points against....thats what mattered. making plays when they mattered.

The moral significance of the defense coming up and WINNING a game is not appreciated. there is a TON of "talent" on the defensive side of the ball. johnson, dorsey, jackson, flowers, berry. etc. etc.

Again. im not predicting a superbowl and im not even predicting the playoffs.....this year. but OMG i have been converted to the new regime. they know what they are doing and they know how to get there. there is nothing that speeks to this then one simple fact then the fact that

"The defense held on to a lead"

i mean seriously..

seriously..........a non-marty team won with defense....

i mean seriously.

there was something different about the win on monday night and it wasnt just that i was there.

the defense bought in and was an asset.

BE WARNED AFC WEST

The Young Talent on KC Found out how to win and that CANNOT be Under appreciated.

So it wouldnt suprise me if i was completely wrong here but i dont think the problem with our defense is on the dline. everyone talks about how dorsey and jackson dont create more sacks. and the running backs running free is all because they suck. unless im mistaken the job of the dline in the 3-4 is not to get sacks but eat up blocks on both running and passing plays. its the job of the LB/s to get the pressure on the qb and to hit the rb behind the line. from what i saw in both atlanta and tb the dline was doing a MUCH better job of eating up blocks then at almost any time last year. i mean tyson jackson was actually visible in both games. that didnt happen all year last year. dorsey is doing a very good job of eating olineman which should be freeing up the LBs.

The real problem with the defense is the LB/s they are slow and out of place too much. seriously, did DJ even play against Tampa? he didnt make the stat sheet AT ALL. nothing. hes not even listed for anything. great job. its no wonder he didnt start last year. yeah demarrio isnt making game changing plays but at least he was there every game. yeah Tamba gets "pressure" on the QB but he should have 12-15 sacks each year but he doesnt. vrabel knows what he should be doing and is in the right spot but he just isnt fast enough. and i could care less about just about any of the other LB/s not NFL talent. maybe NFL heart but the physical attributes are missing. Hopefully sheffield will turn into a pass rusher but who knows.

I just dont think people understand the positions, what there responsibilities are, and they see that we have 2 high first rounders and the defense is still struggling. we probably do need an upgrade at NT but i think if our LBs were better the defense as a whole would be much better then the results so far. 

If im predicting where the attention will be next year in the draft and free agency i dont see a bigger need on this team then adding 2 new starting LB. one on the inside one on the outside. and i dont mean someone already on the team. new talent needs to be added at that position over any other position on the team. 

 So im tooling around the various KC sites and i cant help but notice a feeling that everyone has a bad taste in there mouth after the ATL game. Alot of negativity about the offense and the first series on defense. The KCStar is FULL of negative articles which are partly true but I totally dont get this. there are too many positives in the FIRST preseason game of the year. The difference from last year is obvious.

     If you remember last year the offense this early was HORRIFIC, absolutely terrible. Yes TJ looked like 2.7, yes the pass protection(im looking at you entire right side) was bad, and again with the dropped passes. But when JC came in, and when they started getting DMC involved the offense started to flow. We didnt see this until week 8-9-10 of last year not preseason game one. I think TJ will be wonderful when he is the backup and a change of pace type back not the lead man. Plus the type of lineman we have are pulling, light footed players better at getting outside not pushing the dline around. as the season goes along the running game should be extraordinary and that can only help the passing game. Now there werent many highlights in the passing game. Very vanilla followed up with drops and bad protection. DMC again looked good. but other then that who knows. in a full game though. if JC had continued running around the ATL defense, the protection would have gotten better and the recievers would have been facing more pass friendly coverages. we are going to be a run first, playaction pass team. not quite Marty-Ball but same principle. Get the run going to open up the pass. Overall i didnt see anything out the Offense that i didnt expect and was excited to see JC and DMC run wild.

     The defense was definately ahead of where i would have thought coming in to this year nevermind where they were last year. Hali was getting pressure even if he was not getting the QB down. The first drive of the game was not pretty but I put alot of fault into the emotions of the players. I think they were nervous. This IS supposed to be a better defense and they were trying too hard and thinking too much. After the first drive and only giving up a FG i think the defense relaxed and the run d stepped up. the pass d was good all game but we are going to have trouble with good TE. Arenas isnt big enough and the LBs dont have the speed to cover. The days of the BIG play though are over. with berry and eventually lewis (and im definately a lewis koolaid drinkier. guy shoulda been drafted in the 2nd round but ran a slow 40 time. he sure looked fast enough last night) in the backfield the corners wont have to worry about where the help is. The help will be there, and hopefully that will lead to an increase in coverage sacks. Boy wouldnt that be nice.

     The special teams. well the missed 50+ yd FG who knows. Thats where 3/4 of Succops misses where from last year. He's going to be fine. The return game. Wow this could be fun. Arenas is a playmaker and it showed. yeah holding whatever that was still a very good return for the TD. explosive possibilities everytime he touches the ball.

There were just way too many positives for me. we are lightyears ahead of where we were at last year. we were playing a good team on the road in the first preseason game but there was definately progress from where we were last year.

the sky is falling. so this game sums up our season to come. bad oline leads to random QB shuffle. Who can scramble enough to stay healthy. Cassel? Mr. Sacked Most '09? well getting hit in the legs is never good. he tried to play through it but just  didnt work. chalk up another chiefs qb to bad oline. Green, Croyle,Huard, Croyle,Cassel..........well next in line. Brokie is going  to see some time. and if he is going to see some time then Thiggy is guaranteed to see some time. maybe a 5th from jax looks real stupid?

Okay so TG was traded as you all are aware of for a 2nd round draft pick next year. personally i think this is probably about as good as we were going to get. they say the value when trading is anywhere from 20% to an entire round down for a next year pick. so that 2nd would roughbly be a 3rd this year. a few reasons why this is a good thing for everyone involved.

1. Yes it is a pick next year and people are thinking we need help now. Yes we do need help this year. ALOT of help this year and a 3rd rounder this year......not going to provide that help. we are ALOT farther away from being a competative team then a 3rd or even 2nd round pick this year.

2.I know everyone wants to say we can compete in the division this year but it just isnt going to happen. not with the schedule we have. not with SD getting a healthy merriman back. just not realistic. 2nd in the division sure but not winning it and not getting a wildcard. this does give us ammo for next year and thats a good thing.

3.This actually is a good way of maximizing the value for TG. HOF TE at the age of 33??? HOF TE is great, age of 33 is not...at all. especially when there is so much value with a 2nd round pick. these players might have issues that prevent them from being 1st rounders but they come much cheaper and there is ALOT of talent in the second draft. Pioli was brought here because hew is supposed to be good at evaluating that talent.

4. i hate to say this but really what good was TG going to do for us? Haley/NE offense does not feature the TE. yeah, he would/will have a tremendous season because he is that good but you dont win SBs with TEs. Just not a huge impact position compared to many many others. i mean we won 2 games this year with him.............

5 This is not going to be packaged for more picks this year. sorry to tell you this but i seriously doubt we are going to turn around and get what some 5-6th round picks this year for a 2nd next year??? package it to move up??? how pissed would you all be if we traded TG so we could move up 15-20 positions into the second??. 

6. your all high on crack anyway:) j/k obviously....some of you are switching over to heroin to stop feeling. haha  

all told you have to have some faith. yes other then DT TG is probably my favorite all time chief and he will deffinately go into the HOF as a Chief and be a part of the Ring at the stadium. this is what he wanted. and getting the pick for next year maxamized his value. i know its not what everyone wanted because we all had pie in the sky expectations for the new regime but lets not forget how bad we really were. Everyone wnted herms head on a platter. we won 2 games. yeah we were "competative" but come on now. this is not going to turn around overnight. i seriously doubt we are going to be the dolphins of this year especially with the starting schedule we have. we are BUILDING an Empire and as the saying goes. it wont be built in one day(saturday)

Seems like alot of people are either upset/disappointed/suicidal over the fact that Romeo Crennel doesnt appear to be coming to KC to be DC. Everyone is having a VERY acute case of short term memory. first off when clark started the whole process of hiring a GM it was stated that anyone talking about the interview would immediately be out of consideration. then, sorta out fo no where, we hire pioli. next we run through every possible HC possibility out there from The Tuna to  The Chin to The rat and everyone in between. the entire time its Haley and what did haley say in ALL of the interviews leading up to his hiring??? im not interested RIGHT NOW, im focused on the Super Bowl. im Happy where im at. blah, blah, blah. Thats pillow talk baby to get people to stop forcing the issue before its time. same goes with the vrabel/cassel trade. no real news about it. some spectulation, then when it seems dead, bam we make the trade. now this. Crennels agent comig out saying, not interested at this time. maybe later, need to focus on the hip/rehab. hmmm sounds pretty familiar. maybe like say a new company line. "I Know Nothing" thats my story and im sticking to it. now dont get me wrong the agent making the statement has to put a dampener on the situation but look at the way the organization has been run so far. im not betting a house payment or predict March 9 as the signing date but i still think Crennel will be here in some capacity this year. he wont stay in cleveland and there areny that many options out there outside of TV and i never got the feel he would make a good TV person. anyway just a thought.

so i believe thats what clark hunt stated when questioned about the staff. 95% complete. not 100% complete but 95%. now with the list of coaches nothing jumps off the page and says "hell yeah hes the man" or anything remotely close to that. sounds liek there are alot of veteran coaches who have coached in alot of places, for alot of men, with variying degrees of success. i like the veteran attitude the coaches seem to have especially considering the lack of experience we have EVERYWHERE else on the team, owner, GM, HC, many many players. the one part of this that remains is where is that other 5% is it just finalzing whoe goes where. whos DC whos LB coach, whats gaileys role?? thats not what i think i believe that Hunt/Pioli/Haley are waiting for one more piece. Romeo Crennel. If you bring Crennel in to be the DC then this new staff takes on a WHOLE new look. Crennel is an outstanding DC and if you put him on top of the pyramid the defensive coaches start looking alot better. Plenty of experience (vampire muir included) and plenty of knowledge. all of the coaches have had sucess at one ore more of there stops. maybe not the most recent but if crennel comes in then gibbs isnt DC he might be LB coache, Pendergast could be assistant DC or whatever. i hope this is the other 5 %. crennel is out of action now. i dotn know if hes already had it or waiting to have it but he is getting his hip replaced and stated he would look at whats availiable after that was done. if im him there isnt anything left as attractive as the situation here in KC. i think Crennel is the last 5star recruit that can make or break a recruiting class. if he goes one way then the class jumps up if he doesnt then its just a mediocre class that needs retooled again next season. hopefully hes coming to KC because then this coaching staff starts shining a little more the people are currently giving it credit for.

i couldnt resist. finished writing the last post and went to espn and saw this.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=gallo/090213&sportCat=nfl

yeah first 2 paragraphs are perfect as too why i dont want matt cassel not to mention the picture of what cassel would look like if detroit traded for him.

http://espn.go.com/i/abcsports/mnf/2001/1005/photo/s_mitchell_i.jpg

best part of espn is the page 2 stuff because its a smart funny look at the situation. gotta love it.

So this is a tangent off of another post the other day about whether or not to draft Michael Crabtree. Personally I think it should be either Crabtree or Curry probably Curry but thats not what im wondering. what I want to know is how do you think the Chiefs should head into the draft. im throwing out the possibility of a trade because thats ridiculous to assume we could predict that trade and it is going to be very hard to trade this pick anyway. So....

1. Should they take the guy with the most talent, upside, and highest ceiling?? im calling him BPA

or

2. Should they take the guy that fits what the team wants to do, or position of need??

Now this is the #3 spot in the draft. Going to be getting ALOT of guaranteed money in the form of the signing bonus and just alot of money in general. This is a player who should provide impact on the team both imediately but probably more importantly long term. This is the High Profile pick for the team and alot of how we feel the draft went is based on this pick. #3 you cant miss and wind up with a so-so player if not an outright bust so what say you. what should the strategy be???

I dont understand everyones crush on the 3-4. yes pittsburgh runs it well as does baltimore. yes it is the flavor of the month in the league right now but so what. i dont think it really matters one way or the other what scheme you run. be it 3-4, 4-3, cover 2, man 2 man, prevent, or fg block on every down....well okay maybe not that but still. I hate how everyone tries to copy whatever won most recently. pittsburgh wins with 3-4, giants won with 4-3, indy wins with offense, balt won with defense.

IT DOESNT MATTER WHAT YOU RUN, JUST RUN IT BETTER THEN ANYONE ELSE

run a 7-1-1-1-1 (this way your always prepared for the QB punt) for all i care just make sure you have the coaches to teach, and the players to execute. that is the most important part of this. execution. plain and simple

with all of the young talent on this team, especially on the defensive side, i am NOT in favor of switching defensive schemes. you need consistency to win. you need to know your job like the back of your hand and if you have to relearn everything well then the last 3 years have been even more of a waste then the horrible record shows. thats why teams like oakland, detroit, cincinati, and on and on are consistently bad. to much change. i know there needed to be change here in kansas city. 20 years under carl was just too much but we dont have to destory everything. Herm did bring in some good young talent, they were getting better as the season went on. even the defense showed glimpses....for plays maybe not for games, or halves, or quarters or drives but still. there is talent there. we already have a new HC we are going to have a new DC at the very least and there will be alot of new players this year im sure.

with everyone switching and picking up 3-4 players there should be more 4-3 players out there. its already going to be hard to draw players to KC considering how bad we have been and how much change is going on. the less we have to compete for these players the less we will have to pay. i really dont want to have to overpay for FA to come to KC. anyway yeah i dont want to switch.........and i hate matt cassel.(just going to throw that in there :)

So it now appears we have our head coach. Todd Haley. thats great. not sure how i feel about him but im all for it now. i will trust piolis judgment. what im wondering though is we have all these young players, especially on defense, and our defense is horrible. now not many people were fans of the last defensive coaching staff, gunther, krumrie(although i guess hes still on the team???), and the guy that went to the Texans. secondary coach. probably the best we had. so we now have a new head coach and we will soon have a new d co-ordinator. with the new influx of blood how will the young guys respond. rather then list them all one buy one im going to group them into 3 groups. lineman, linebackers, secondary......yeah duh but whatever.

secondary

this seems to be the most solid grouping. flowers, carr, and leggit all seem like gound young players that can be apart of the secondary for a while, page and pollard both young as well and while there may be some who arent the biggest fans of both they are still pretty good even with whatever short comings they have. this is still definately the strongest group of players.

lineman

this is the one that gets the most blame for last seasons sack dibacle. hali, dorsey, mcbride, tank, babin even though hes older and a free agent. this group did not do alot but this group does have alot of talent. everyone knows the stats 2 first rounders (dorsey, hali) mcbride in the second tank in the 3rd. thats four high draft picks in the last 3 years. so while the results definantley werent there the talent should be. its not like kansas city reached on all of these players when they were drafted. i mean alot of people saw something in most of these guys. especially dorsey. but none were huge stretches where they were drafted. so this group by far has underachieved given the talent that SHOULD be there. maybe not all of them are going to be stars in the league but they should be more then just stiffs. i think this group has the biggest upside. if someone can come along and get something out of this talent i think they have a very high ceiling. this is where i hope KC gets a good d coach who has a d-line background possibly. i want someone to come in and teach these guys how to use there talents. they are all still young and yes, they put up a historically bad season but i dont think talent is as bad as the outcome. i think a new dcoardinator helps this group the most. by far

linebacker.

this group is just as bad as the dline if not worse in my opinion. look around the league. yes there are jared allens, and albert hanyswoerths getting sacks but it seems a majority of the high level sack artists are linebackers. harrison in pitt, porter in mia, demarcus ware in dal, merriman of years past, this is where the sacks come from. if it is the lb getting the sack. or letting someone on the line get single coverage tacking up a blocker. i think these are the key component to getting pressure on the qb. there are very few teams who get pressure consistenly just rushing the front four. yeah giants of 2007 but they had ALOT of talent on the line and its just not that common. think of the talent we have on this unit as well. DJ first round pick.......donnie, 2nd round i believe and not really a part of this years team. getting old and wont be back. demario williams??? didnt get much of a chance early but i thought he started to show up later in the season. not really sure about him .he might just need a chance but not someone i really want to rely on. rocky boiman??? weston dacus??? curtis gatewood??? and pat thomas...........seriously.........thats who we have........i mean i dont want to get personal with anyone in specific on that list but the list as a whole????? wow......there just isnt anything there. i mean DJ has his moments, demario who knows but anyone else. im sorry but uck. no thanks. next please. Not only did this group not have any good results but there really isnt anything there to build on. I mean there is no hope based on who is there. DJ would be the only one id hold on too and my gripe wouldnt be that strong. there has got to be an infusion of talent on this group. i think of any position on the team this is the one most lacking. with the right coaches i believe the dline becomes better with the players that are there, but the linebackers? no i dont think any coach could do much with the talent we have there. I also  think the improvement of linebacker  would greatly improve the already steady play of the secondary and help the dline immensley. if there is one positoin i want fixed this offseason line backer is it.

This is my fix

1.   Sign a FA linebacker, Dansby/Vilma/Scott. whoever. i think they need to invest some of the salary cap room we have on this position. its a position of leadership and i think we need outside help. dont really care who it is but i want a starter. i want a yound talented player at this spot and any one of them would do.

2. Draft. 1st round    2 options here

      A. Draft Aaron Curry #3. kinda high to spend this pick on a LB but Curry seems pretty solid. i dont like the fact that he really just showed up this year but everyone everywhere seems to like this kid. i think this is along the lines of a pioli/ne pick as well.

      B. second option for the 1st round pick would be trade down get another pick and take maualuga/laurinitis. dont care which one. the draft is pretty much a crap shoot anyway. rey seems the higher prospect so we could probably get more trading farther back to still get laurinitis but if there is a big difference then take rey. dont care.

3. 2nd round. draft max unger. helps 2 positions on the team center and guard buy getting niswanger to move over.

  3rd -4 round draft wr and o tackle.

  from that point on take BPA including dlineman and secondary for depth.i dont think we need to put anymore picks in these two positions

4. as far as the dline goes im not really in favor of signing peppers/ haynesworth. i dont think haynesworth will be availiable anyway i think he wants to stay and i think tenn wants him to stay. peppers though?? i just dont know. he is a huge talent but i dont want to miss on both North Carolina guys. i mean we tried ryan sims and yeah just no thanks. i think peppers had a contract year. i dont think he wants to win as much as he used to and he going to start being a cancer. already whining about stats at carolina. plus hes going to want BANK and i just think we have the talent atong the dline. i know im going to get ripped for thinking the dline isnt far away but whatever.

5. none of that is going to be that expensive. from that point feel free to sign defensive Player X or offensive Player Y at whatever position. there is help needed else where on this team but i think investing in a fa linebacker and going LB in the first HUGE a return. i think it would be much larger then just the new player because if the linebacker group plays better i think everyone else plays better.

so it seems most on here are pretty evenly split. either Matt Cassel is another QB find by NE or hes the second coming of scott mitchell. as the headline says im NOT in favor of trading for cassel and there are MANY MANY reasons. most revolve around Tyler Thigpen.

1.   Cassel 7th round draft pick for NE

       Thigpen 7th round draft pick for Min

while NE has a better history drafting qbs (i dont really agree with this. they got LUCKY with Brady and anyone who says otherwise is retarded) that doesnt change anything. they were both unhearelded players soming out of college.

Advantage: PUSH

2. Cassel didnt start a game in college. Thigpen started 3 years in college.

that means Thiggy has MORE experience then Cassel. yeah cassel has riden the bench for a few years behind Brady but really how many reps did he get??? How much attention did they pay to cassel while he was there. same thing goes for while he was at USC. yeah he was behind Palmer but what good was that. he wasnt able to beat out anyone since high school and he only got to play because of an injury. Thigpen on the other hand started 3 years in college. thats three years of reading defenses in live game situations. 3 years of hopefully leading his team to wins, and leading the players on the field.

Advantage: Thigpen

3.   Cassel age 26

       Thigpen age 24

so even though Thigpen has more experience on the field he is YOUNGER. more years to grow. more years to learn, and more years to produce.

Advantage: Thigpen

4. Cassel costs KC: at worst what a 3rd?? probably a 2nd or maybe a 1st??

    Thigpen cost KC: Nothing, hes already here. and he was a waiver wire pickup and unless im mistaken that cost us nothing.

Advantage: Thigpen

5. Cassel last year had an amazing season with probably the BEST supporting cast out there.

2008: games 16, completion % 63.4, tds 21, ints 11, yards 3693, qb rating 89.4

rushing stats. 73 att 270 yard 3.7 avg 2 tds.

all pretty good but not great when you consider his oline, and wrs. he had plenty of time to make his desicions and execute the play. plus there was a quote in the boston globe that stated "55 percent of the Patriots' passing offense came after the catch this season" matt cassel is a product of the system. he is graham harrell, and chase daniels rolled into one. 

Thigpen last year had an amazing season with Probably the 2nd WORST supporting cast. yeah dbowe and TG. but no oline, inconsistent running game with less then average pass blocking skill. and a defense that was horrendous and couldnt get the other team off the field.

2008: games 14, completion % 54.8, tds 18, ints 12, yards 2649, qb rating 76.0

rushing stats: 62 att, 386 yards, 6.2 avg 3 tds.

this is taking into account the atlanta game which was horrible, granted. but hey first real nfl action for the kid. and you cant deny the improvement from there.  and the rushing stats??? no contest. more yards fewer attempts. push on the tds.

given the surrounding cast and lack of real playing time for either. cassel has a better comp percent, tyler Much better rushing and avoiding the rush.

Advantage: Thigpen (if only barely)

6. Salary. Cassel, probably franchised = 14Mil at LEAST and i believe its more then that

Thiggy. $370,000. yeah we will need to resign him at a later date for more then that but not anywhere near that amount

yeah kc is already under the salary cap so we do have the money to spend on him but why would you?? with all the holes you already have on defense why spend this much on a QB with as little proven in the NFL as the QB you already have??

and the last argument i have is this. Thigpen has already been here a year. he knows the players(depending on who stays). and the players already know and probably trust him.

That being said(sorry it took so long) i dont think KC should even remotely be interested in Cassel. Not for the price in picks, the price in money, the supposed IMPROVED performance from the qb position, or the additional change to the team. alot of change already.

Take the player that made crappy lemonade out of cowshit instead of the player that made lemonade out of filet mignon.

so alot of people are in favor of trading LJ but with the extra baggage he carries i just dont see much value in him alone. The answer to this, i think anyway, is to package LJ and a draft pick to get something better. LJ and a 3rd to detroit for there #22. or LJ and a 3rd for NE 1st??? not sure of the "Values" of these picks in regards to LJ but i just dont think we will get much for him straight up unless we package him with a pick. If we can do that then i think he has MUCH MUCH more value becaue then the team getting him can consider him a "throw in" and rationalize the trade. If im missing something real obvious in this please let me know but from where i sit this would be the best option and i would LOVE to hear possible package deals.