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Back in 2009 there was some talk here at AP about the Chiefs drafting Mark Sanchez with the number three pick, some of you were pretty high on him at the time. I am a die hard Trojan fan, (SoCalChief, should be a dead giveaway – but I’ll spare you the full resume) so I felt that made me qualified to comment on him. I wrote a piece before the draft exposing Mark Sanchez for what he was, here it is if you’d like to see it. Chris gave it the front page treatment, so perhaps he thought there was something to it as well. So what about this Barkley kid…

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This is not about Fantasy football (okay, maybe a little bit) but let me begin with a confession; I do it for the fix, the high, the buzz. I'm an addict who has no self control so I spinelessly bend to the will of my keeper. The first step to solving a problem is to admit it, so here I go: My name is SoCalChief and I'm a Fantasyaholic who spens countless hours mock drafting online. Inasmuch as I would love to use this post as some sort of self-help testimonial therapy, the real reason I'm taking a break from player rankings and mock drafting, is that the later of the two has revealed an interesting phenomena about our own Matt Cassel. Let me explain.

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...and it looks like I may have to consummate that marriage soon. I need a little marriage counseling from the guru's of Buffalo Rumblings before I make a fool out of myself in the proverbial bed.

 We have an interesting rule in our fantasy football league, it's called the Player of the Future tag (POF). If you draft a rookie and declare him your "POF" you are stuck with the guy, for better or for worse, for at least two years (amongst other detriments). The good news is you get to continually re-draft him in the 12th round every year moving forward. I figured Spiller being a top ten pick this year had to be a stud, and given the Bills need for a spark on offense, I figured it would be sooner rather than later.

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Act 1 scene 1 of "The Red Carpet"

The Scene; The Kansas City Chiefs are on offensive, a red carpet has been laid out with velvet ropes, banners, mood lighting, and many other assorted types of fan-fair creating a warm and inviting environment for the many visitors to the backfield on a particular afternoon in the late summertime;

(Queue "Academy Awards" type music)

 

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Are you broke but need to barbeque for your Sunday football friends? (Assuming you have some) Are you tired of firing up the ‘ole grill just for frozen hamburger patties? (a real crime, in my opinion) Because I'm an unemployed S.O.B. this happens to me all the time. Here's a simple cure;

I wrote this after the company I worked for closed down last year right at the start of football season. (I've since found a new job) It's the BEST I've ever grilled. I know you KC folks might have your own ideas, feel free to comment!

-SoCalChief

 

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Ummm...I pick bachelor number two!

 

I was looking through my various fantasy football leagues to make sure I could accommodate the multiple drafts I have scheduled in the coming weeks, somehow I ended up in FOUR fantasy leagues this year which is about three more than I should be in. You know how it goes, you invite your buddies then they invite you, next thing you know you're spending your entire Labor Day weekend in a bunch of cyberspace draft rooms instead of on a boat or in front of a grill. The good news is that by shear volume I should be able to draft a playoff team this year, unless of course I find myself being the donkey (again) in four out of four.

"Donkey" is a term taken from the poker world that fits most suitably to fantasy football as well. Both are vices, if you don't believe me check with a divorce lawyer about half way through the football season. Every league has a least one donkey, many have more. Let me give you a tip for spotting them; if you can't figure out who the donkey in your league is, it's probably you.

Many of you reading this are probably experts at spotting the donkey(s) at both poker and fantasy football so to you they will need no introduction, but for the rest of us, let me indulge "Jeff Foxworthy" style. Pay close attention kiddies, there will be a test at the end;

 

If you play in more than three fantasy football league's and think that will increase your chances of making the playoffs.....You might be the Donkey.

If you draft Darrius Heyward-Bey in the first round just because Al Davis did......You might be the donkey.

If all of your friends won't stop begging you to join their "for money" fantasy league.....You might be the donkey.

If you've had Brett Favre on the top of your draft board...since March....You might be the donkey.

If you ever in your FFB history drafted Deon Sanders "for his receiving potential"....you might be the donkey.

If you are the first in your league to draft a kicker, tight-end, AND Defense.....you might be the donkey.

If you tell your wife you were having an affair to cover-up your all-night "sleepover" draft party with your buddies........you might be the donkey.

If your idea of "draft preparation research" only includes Sportcenter....you might be the donkey.

If during the draft you have to ask your league commissioner to pause the clock because you spilled beer on your copy of NFL Fantasy Football magazine.....you might be the donkey.

 

Ok class, its time for the test. put away those books and keep your eyes on your own monitor. Don't panic, its multiple-guess. 70% is a passing score.

 

 

 

Poll

As a loyal Chiefs fan, how many Chiefs players can you draft without being a donkey?

0%

We're still rebuilding....drafting ANY Chiefs player means you're the donkey.

0 votes

17%

As a 'loyal fan', you can get away with ONE, just make him a reserve.

6 votes

20%

Come on, we all know there are TWO fantasy studs on the Chiefs roster.

7 votes

38%

LJ, Bowe, Cassel...sounds like THREE to me.

13 votes

0%

Don't forget Charles, he's a triple threat...carries, recieving, and kick returns. That's FOUR.

0 votes

14%

And what about our new kicker...whats-his-name...thats FIVE

5 votes

8%

A true loyal fan would not limit his support of the Red and Gold...RELEASE THE HOUNDS!

3 votes

34 votes | Poll has closed

Let me first say (with some amount of shame) I own exactly ONE Chiefs jersey...its a #88 away.

 

I'm in the real estate business which heavily involves the creation and execution of contracts. A contract very simply put is a promise where one party agrees to some specific action and the other agrees to specific consideration. The key word is "promise" the "contract" side of it merely binds the parties legally to that promise.

 

Tony made a promise to the Kansas City Chiefs which if you peel away all the layers means he made a promise to the consumers of Chiefs football...we the fans.

 

I loved Tony Gonzalez and to some small extent always will but I'm not going to accept the table-scrap he just handed down as fair "consideration" to relive him of the promise he made to the Chiefs and their fans.

 

I was talking to my twelve year old daughter about Tony leaving the chiefs, she’s not really a football fan but she knows I love it so she humors me. I hope some of you have kids this age as well, if so, try this experiment; Explain what Tony did and ask your kid what (s)he thinks about it. You will probably have to explain what a contact is, try doing that without using the words "promise, commitment, or obligation". You can't fool a kid they still believe a promise is a promise. It takes a few years of witnessing “adults” and “role models” constantly backing out of commitments to taint a kid into accepting that behavior. Some of us even rationalize it to the point where we think we understand why they are doing it and even feel like they deserve to be let free of their obligation because “we” couldn’t provide them with more than what they asked for.

 

I doubt there was any language in Tony's contract that said "as long as the team is competitive" or a "Super Bowl contender clause", and he certainly has no reason to have a beef with the ownership or management of the team. Tony was simply being selfish putting his own desires ahead of the promises he had already made.  Condoning and even worse rationalizing this behavior will only encourage star players to continue to shop for championships as the twilight of their career grows near. More and more will do so even in the middle of their careers. Does Deon Sanders ring a bell?

 

As long as we fans continue to support athletes as they shop the better markets for a championship table-scraps are all we are going to get and more and more athletes are going to feed them to us along the way. I want Tony Gonzalez to get his championship ring but only if it’s with the Kansas City Chiefs. I feel no obligation to cheer him on simply because he said a sweet “goodbye” to me as he ran to the waiting arms of some other team. This is not sour grapes its just holding someone accountable. Athletes need to fulfill their standing obligations before they go do their ring shopping and not resort whining their way out of tough situations.

           I’m a man and I’m not afraid to admit that I was horny for Aaron Curry. My sincerest apologies to the lady members of the Arrowhead Pride for being so kachino, as my latino sister-in-law often reminds me, its just that there is no better way to describe it. Curry is big, strong, fast, athletic, tenacious and I wanted him badly…yep, horny says it all. As much as this is true I couldn’t help but feel a few things nagging at me as the draft drew closer and closer which I dismissed as being the small and very manageable cravings for the likes of Crabtree, Monroe and Smith. I would later discover that couldn’t be any further from the truth.

            As the dust settled and the alcohol dried up some clarity returned where there once was only beer and sorrow. A quick inventory of the situation uncovered it wasn’t just a bad dream, day one was complete and all we had to show for it was somebody named Tyson  Jackson…. Not that I don’t know who he is, I just always considered him to be a player who would soon be lost amongst all the other “not Aaron Curry” defensive players drafted on day one.

            Its several hours later now and the nagging is back but this time it feels a little different, I realize it’s the twisted and often insane reality of college football grinding on me, not a bunch of “if-only” players we could have had in he draft.

 

“What the hell happened with Rey Maualuga!?!?”

 

One team passing on him is a mistake, practically every team passing on him is an indication. I think only the Panther’s and Cowboy’s didn’t get a shot at the big time Linebacker from USC…..but wait a minute there were a few of them from that school, the others were drafted, why not Rey? He was the stud after all?

I’m a die hard USC fan, I’ve seen every play that defense made every season Rey was on it, how come I don’t know the answer to that question? Oh yeah…I just realized, I do.

At USC Rey Maualuga was a gambler. He was able to take chances and make the big plays thanks to the superior talent that was there to get his back if he didn’t make that big hit. Big hitting doesn’t win games, being where you’re supposed to be when you’re supposed to be there does and there’s not much glory in that.

 

Sorry my friends humor me another paragraph or two.

 

I’m not going to try to sell you on Aaron Curry being another Rey Maualiga, at least I don’t think I am anyway. What I do know is that Wake Forrest beat Navy in a bowl game last year ….Yeah, Navy. Their signature regular season win was against ….Clemson?

 

I’m a big-time Pac-10 homer so read this opinion with that knowledge ; The SEC is the toughest conference in college football.

 

In the SEC they play the game smash-mouth style and down in the gridiron trenches. I’m not trying to suggest that the best teams come from the SEC, only that they have the toughest competition from within their own conference. The SEC is the proverbial “unstoppable object” in their run based offensive strategy and the “unmovable object” on defense.

 

OK folks, let me tie it all together finally….and in just one sentence;

 

We don’t need a playmaker on defense…we need an every play maker.

 

Players like that don’t come from USC, not very often anyway, and even less often from schools that polish their defenses against the “massive” offensive lines of the naval academy. (Note sarcasm)

 

I think you all get my point now, Tyson is an SEC hound and we all wanted a glamorous celebrity. I get it now, or at least I’ve sold myself on this load of crap I’m now feverishly shoveling your way. I think I may have Scott Pioli figured out, he's trying to build a team, not just sell tickets.

 

Let me respond to a few of your comments in advance;

 

Yes, I am just trying to feel better about the Jackson pick, and its working.

 

No, I don’t think big time playmakers are always overrated…only when they are the entire game plan instead of just being the difference makers.

 

No, I don’t have a bunch of stats, specs, and numbers to regurgitate so I can appear to know more than I actually do, I leave that to you number crunchers…go ahead, sink my ship with your facts. All I’m offering is a hunch backed up by about fifteen years of love for college football and hatred for the SEC.

 

Let me end with some words from my good friend Oscar Wilde;

 

“What is a cynic? A man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.”

The MHR, or Mile High Report for those who have not been there, is the unofficial site for the Denver Bronco's. They too have had some serious descussion about Mike Shanahan coming to Kansas City as our new head coach. Check out the candid conversation here;

http://www.milehighreport.com/2009/1/21/731555/mike-shanahan-to-kansas-ci#comments

Also, I put a poll on the MHR to see what the verdict is among Bronco fans, please resist the urge to vote yourself as it will spoil the results, the poll is about what Shanahans old fans think of him. Click "results" to by-pass voting and see the reults. Here's the link for the poll;

http://www.milehighreport.com/2009/1/22/732424/curious-chiefs-fan

 

The MHR and AP have done some cross-blogging before, a hot topic on both sites is calling for it again; Should Shanahan go to the Chiefs?

I've read the AP blogs and comments and those from the MHR as well and am still on the fence about it. I'd like to poll you folks. Please answer based on how you would feel about it, not on whether you think it will happen or not.

Thanks for straightening me out! 

-SoCalChief

Poll

Should Mike Shanahan be the new coach of the Chiefs?

8%

No, ANY coach would be better than Mike.

17 votes

54%

No, I don't want the Bronco's to have to play against KC with Mike leading them.

106 votes

23%

Yes, he is a great coach and the final piece KC needs to win.

46 votes

6%

Yes, beating the Chiefs would be easier than ever with him at the helm.

12 votes

6%

Who is Mike Shanahan?

13 votes

194 votes | Poll has closed

How many clues do you need to guess correctly?

• I’m only 54 years old.
• I have a 5 – 3 record in the playoffs and a 80 – 64 regular season record.
• I built and coached my team to a Super Bowl without an all-star quarterback.
• At one time, my offensive strategy built an offense that scored more points than any team in NFL history although that record has since been broken.
• Although I am an offensive guy my teams are known for having tenacious defenses.
• My coaching tree has lead to six of my former assistants becoming head coaches in the NFL, five are still head coaches in the NFL.
• I am not currently coaching a team but may be coaxed in to coaching again.

 

Alright Arrowhead Pride, what do you think about this guy as a candidate?

We’ve heard it a million times;

 

“Offense may win the game but defense wins the championship.”

 

Its sounds cliché but for the most part this old adage rings true. Just ask the Steelers, Ravens, and Buccaneers, three teams who have won championships in recent years based primarily on a strong defense and a “just don’t screw-it-up” offensive mentality. These old smash-mouth teams are solid, albeit a bit boring for viewers with attention deficit disorder, and very hard to assemble.

 

What’s that you say? You don’t have a franchise leader on defense, a ton of cap space for defensive free agency acquisitions, and three to four years to build one of these championship teams? No problem. Introducing the high-flyin’, ankle-breakin’, jump up and ‘restle-the-ball-way-from-‘ya, possession receiver. The solution to your all of your championship needs.

 

That’s a mouthful. Let’s just call them a “money”, for short.

 

The Arizona Cardinals got themselves a big time money named Larry Fitzgerald.  It must be nice to be able to just heave the ball down the field while brimming with confidence that your money will adjust his route on the flight of the ball, out jump the defender, wrestle the ball right out of his hands, and gallop in for a score. Imagine what it would be like to be able to run the ball twice for a total of two yards then just fling the ball anywhere in the same zip code as your money and watch with excitement as he bounces off defenders and picks up 18 yards and a first down. Hey, I bet there’s a lot teams in the NFL lacking in defensive prowess that would love to have a money of their very own!

 

We all watched Larry Fitzgerald take matters in to his own hands (pun intended) throughout the playoffs and in doing so give Arizona a berth in the Super Bowl for the first time in franchise history. There will be another money entering the NFL in a little over 90 day, his name is Michael Crabtree. After watching Fitzgerald this post season half of the franchises in the NFL have got to be drooling over the thought of getting a money of their own and the Seattle Seahawks are sitting pretty to pocket Crabtree, the biggest money in the draft…unless, of course, some other team were to trade up to a spot just above them and pick Seattle’s pocket.

 

I know what many of you are thinking, we want that money too. Believe me my friends, so do I. Unfortunately, no matter how good that money is he can do nothing for us when our quarterback is scrambling for his life in the back field or when our offense is sitting stagnant on the sideline while our defense lets the opposing teams mediocre running game grind minute after minute off the clock as they unabatedly score. There is good news; somewhere in the NFL there is a general manager who is jonesing to go Mike-Ditka for Crabtree. Scott Pioli just needs to find out who that is and help him get his fix…for a small price, of course.

After a disappointing early exit from the playoffs in early January 2007 Herm Edwards came up with what would prove to be a brilliant strategy: putting the Chiefs in to full-on rebuilding mode. Letting the veterans retire, move on, go where they must. Picking up a bunch of young players that are huge on potential and small on experience. Not over-investing in free agency until the new identity of the team comes to fruition. Yes, its pure genius. No other coach could have possibly had the moxie or intellect to pull this one off. Nobody but Herm could have done it. For this reason and no other Herm Edwards, whom many agree is below average at game planning and game management, deserves to continue to be the head coach during what will prove to be the most critical years of a reborn franchise.

 

Not just any franchise mind you, but a franchise whose ownership has made a statement as to just how dedicated they are to winning by making the single greatest hire of any NFL team in the 2009 season. A franchise with the second youngest roster in the NFL, plenty of cap space for free agent acquisitions, the 3rd overall pick in the upcoming draft. and perhaps the single greatest home field advantage in professional sports.

 

Fans have nothing to fear as the game planning shortcoming of Herms will most certainly be addressed. Chiefs new GM Scott Pioli will get Herm a team of crack assistants who can handle the planning for Him and game management will not be a problem as the team is certain to perform so solid that Herm will never have to worry about facing a tough decision in a close came with playoff implications. Oh and Herm will also ...BLOOOOAAAH……

 

Sorry, I had to go throw up.

 

I just couldn’t type it anymore. I was trying to fool myself again, just like I have been for the last ten years. Fool myself in to thinking that if we do a few things better that it will be enough to win consistently and win when it counts. Fooling myself because I think Herm is a really nice guy and I don’t want to feel bad if he loses his job, even though I know that if this opportunity for our team is mismanaged it will set us back another five to ten years.

 

“Winning is a habit, unfortunately so is losing. You don’t try to win some of the time, you try to win every time you go on the field.”

-Vince Lombardi

 

Does 6 wins and 26 losses over the last two seasons sound the right habit?

 

Sorry folks, I didn’t intend to be so long with the first part of this, but sometimes you just have to lay it all out in front of you and stare at it for a while.

 

There is so much at stake for the Chiefs. They have a great opportunity to finally be a serious contender, and for many yeas to come. How long has it been for the Chiefs, almost forty years? Just because Herm Edwards started the process doesn’t mean he deserves to be the one to finish it. Any coach would have done what Herm has done over the passed three seasons with the exception of completely blowing the few opportunities we did have to get in to the habit of winning. We absolutely can not afford to look back at what a coaching prospect has done and be satisfied, we have to figure out what a prospect is capable of doing with our opportunities moving forward.

 

Herm is a nice guy. I don’t get the impression Bill Belichick is a nice guy. Why would a complete train-wreck like Randy Moss seek to play for a tough guy like Belichick when he could play for any nice-guy coach he wanted? Answer; because athletes want to play for winners first and nice guys second. I'm not making a point about Randy Moss here, just about the desire to win.

 

In closing, I want to call out a plea to Mr. Clark Hunt and Mr. Scott Pioli in the hopes that by some miracle they read this;

 

Please gentlemen, you owe Herm Edwards nothing, you owe yourselves and the great fans of the Kansas City Chiefs nothing less than the highest and greatest use of the opportunities that lie in front of us. Please don’t go most of the way there and stop.

Please find someone who will get us in the habit of winning.

From the FanPosts. -Chris

 

The science of pressure is amazing. Pressure can turn a lump of coal in to a diamond, and it can turn a quarterback in to a lump of coal.

 

I am a Southern California native and have been a Trojan fan my entire life. I never miss a single play of ANY game, period. I re-watch most Trojan games over and over again. My friends and family talk Trojan football everyday, all year long. Allow me to share two tidbits of information we have agreed on all season; This years Trojan defense was the best in the Pete Carroll era and Mark Sanchez is masquerading as an all-star college quarterback.

 

I have read throughout the Arrowhead Pride comments about using the #3 pick to grab Sanchez assuming Stafford goes to the Lions. Being a SoCal local with great knowledge of Mark Sanchez I wanted to take a minute to try and completely strike the idea from anyone’s mind. Let’s take a break from the “should we take a QB, LB, OL, etc” argument and simply discuss Mark Sanchez. The easiest way to do this would be to compare Mark Sanchez situation at USC with Joe Flacco’s situation in Baltimore.

 

Everybody seems to have fallen in love with both of them. We hear about Sanchez’s numbers this season and his big Rose bowl performance. We hear about how Flacco is a rookie leading his team deep in to the playoffs. What is lost in both accounts is how neither of these quarterbacks have had the kind of pressure put on them that absolutely defines an all-star quarterback, except of course Sanchez in the Oregon State debacle.

 

Thanks to the Trojan defense…

 

USC enjoyed a lead at half time in every game this season except one. USC’s offense never had to overcome a deficit larger than 7 points in any game this season except one. USC’s offense never had to put together a fourth quarter drive to keep their hopes of winning alive in any game this season except one. Mark Sanchez never had to worry about an interception costing his team the game in any game this season except one. If you want to see the real Mark Sanchez, go back and watch this game.  You can change “Trojan” to “Raven” and it almost perfectly describes this season for Joe Flacco as well. Well, almost throw me a bone here.

 

I know what the loyal to Mark Sanchez folks are all simultaneously screaming at this point, “THAT WAS ONLY ONE GAME”. So was the Rose bowl. We only have ONE season of Mark Sanchez by which to judge him as the #3 overall pick and as it turns out the Oregon State game was the most important game of the season for USC. Whether we trade down or trade up my friends, if we get Sanchez we will still be using the #3 pick or spending resources (I.E. trade) to do it.

 

I am giddy with excitement about the new Kansas City Chiefs. We WILL be competitive. We WILL be a force to be reckoned with for many years to come. We WILL make the playoffs. How big of a heart breaker is it going to be when this happens and the real Mark Sanchez shows up when the game is on the line?

 

Because I am a Trojan fan let me close by saying how happy I am for Mark Sanchez, his stock is WAY up and he is going to have a big payday because of it. He is definitely making the right decision coming out now, If he did stay another year at USC and come out in next years draft with Tebow, Bradford, and McCoy, we would all be calling Mark Sanchez what he really is; a 5th round pick just like John David Booty was.

Some random thoughts on the Chiefs QB situation I would like your comments on;

 

• Drafting a QB is high-risk and expensive. Historically, more first round QB’s bust than pan out. Isn’t the evil that you know better than the evil that you don’t know? Thigpen has shown some signs of quality play, we could get an insurance policy in the late rounds.
• Could Matt Cassel be a solution? I can’t see New England needing him next year and with Pioli’s relationship with the Pats perhaps we could get him without giving away the farm.
• If things don’t pan out in the QB position the 2009 season is not going to be a whole lot better season than 2008 was, next years QB class looks much better than this years.
• With a solid O-line and a dependable defense ANY QB can look good, here are some names where I think the team makes the QB look better than they really are; Flacco, Rothlisberger, Pennington, Ryan, Romo, E. Manning, Garcia AND Griese.

 

Here’s my view; Thigpen starts next year unless they get Cassel in which case they compete. If a veteran is brought in he should be a back-up only, why rebuild around anything other than a young QB with some potential. Draft defense and offensive line. Get a QB in 2010 if Thigpen busts, by then we will know exactly who the new Kansas City Chiefs really are.