Something Stinks in Kansas City
By author
The Chiefs game last Sunday sucked. Aside from the 9 yards per carry Jamaal Charles averaged, I had a hard time grasping the fact that this was the same team I had seen dismantle the Titans just two weeks ago.
That is all I am going to say about the game. We all know how we feel about it, so to spend 1000+ words going over and over that disgraceful showing would not only be pointless, it would be sadomasochistic.
Before I get to my main points pertaining to the title of this post, I need to get some words in prefacing not only why I am surprised at the current situations the fans and Chiefs organization face, but how baffled I am that not a week removed from the best season in recent memory where our beloved Chiefs won as many games in one year as they had in the previous three that there is such a state of unrest and uncertainty about where this team is headed based only on very thin reporting, skepticism, and pure speculation.
More after the jump
I think that it is fair to say that more than any other team right now, I hate the Jets. Rex Ryan to me is the anti-coach in that he represents everything that I hate about people and football in general. His cocky loudmouth attitude is not only unprofessional, but it gets under my skin. He is an arrogant narcissist, and smugness I find the most deplorable attribute in human personalities.
I bring up the Jets to start because when I say that I love and respect the way the Chiefs designed their current business model for dealing with the media and that it embodies everything I think an organization and team should exhibit. I want you to understand why. The Chiefs are direct, do not lose their cool in the press, do not sell their players/coaches out to the media and do not air out their dirty laundry in front of people. They are the opposite of the Jets, so to speak. Or at least try to be. My reasons for liking this mode of public relations is that as a fan you can really focus solely on where the team is going and what happens on the field. You are not inundated with trash coverage about a bunch of immature imbeciles or drama queens trying to make everything about them and thus detracting from the point of the sport.
So, with that said, something really does stink in Kansas City right now, and it’s not the West Bottoms.
As soon as I found out that Weis was leaving, the very first thing that popped into my head was from “The Sound of Music.” Funny, I guess because I just saw if for the first time (my girlfriend is a huge fan, and she got it from me for Christmas so I had to watch it) and when it was official that he was leaving I just heard “So long, farewell, auf wierdersehen, goodbye!” I know that we have had a better year, but if we want to continue to overlook the Indianapolis, Buffalo, second San Diego, both Oakland, and Baltimore games as far as offensive inadequacy then I guess we should be upset that Weis is gone. I for one am not. I do see progress with this team, but as a coordinator Charlie Weis plain did not get this his squads ready to play week in and week out.
I know that there is a lot of speculation around how much of this was Todd Haley, and how much was Charlie Weis, but ultimately the blame has to fall on the offensive coordinator. There have been bad play calls, play designs, and misuse of key players all year. If you are the person in control of the offense then it is your responsibility to ensure that these things do not happen. So Weis, go and cry about it over a greasy pizza if you have to and try to explain how none of it was your fault, that you are such a lame duck that your head coach had to take over play calling for you. All that is doing is proving how ineffectual and impotent you really are because you cannot even stand up for yourself against someone who was once your peer for several years.
If that’s even what really happened.
I guess you really can never have your cake and eat it too. I wanted my team to be close to the cuff and keep things in house, and I got it. My problem with this is that I do not believe that this should entitle “Haley and Friends” to outright lie to the media. It is one thing to say that you have no comment on something or tell the truth, but to lie just breeds more speculation and then BAM you have the exact same situations that make people (and I mean myself here) hate teams like the Jets. Tell us the truth or do not tell us anything at all. Really, I don’t care why Weis is leaving nearly as much as I care about the fact that he is leaving. For me this just needs to be about football and this team getting to where we don’t lose eight straight playoff games.
Yet perhaps this is not Pioli’s or Haley’s fault. Maybe there is no way to escape speculation, phantom sources, and outlandish accusations in the 24 hour news media. Maybe you can do everything right and still lose in the arena of public opinion. Maybe if you do not give people a story they really will just make one up. Either way it stinks.