Chiefs vs. Raiders: Musings Of An Arrowhead Adventurer

Aaaah it’s Raiders week.  Considered one of the leagues most bitter rivalries, the Chiefs and Raiders have been in the same division since the AFL was established in 1960.

The Chiefs lead the series 54-47-2. The last time we played these assholes they beat the crap out of us 31-10 on our own turf.

A vivid memory I have of that game is walking across the lot having to deal with those demented Oakland fans. All my buddies and I could say were “who is playing next week?”, as the Chiefs had clinched the AFC West Division title and were headed to the post season…and certain destruction.

My first “in person” Raiders - Chiefs game found a wide-eyed, young Arrowhead Adventurer sitting in the back seat of my friend’s parent’s car on the way to the stadium, evaluating stories of Chiefs fans who had the guts to confront the fans in black and silver who found themselves sailing over the upper level rail to a not-so-soft splash down into a sea of red.

I’ve matured in those many years since, but  its a story I still wonder about to this day as the evil Raider fans shout me down at Arrowhead every year.

Some quotes I stole from Wikipedia regarding this age old rivalry:

  Those were my favorite games…I always likened them to a heavyweight fight. You knew you were going to get beat up, but it was fun. We needed the Chiefs. We wouldn’t have been as good without them.

—Ben Davidson, former Raiders defensive end

It’s something special. It’s not just media hype…You can sense it with coaches and players. Then you get out into the community, and you realize what a huge game this is for both cities.

—Will Shields, former Chiefs offensive guard

In Oakland…the games you always really wanted to come see were the Niners and the Chiefs. You grew up hating red…It goes deep. It’s not just the teams. It’s the organizations, you know, which organization is better? These are two teams that played in the old AFL against each other. Most of the history goes back to it. They’ve been AFC West rivals for a very, very long time. It’s always been the must-win game.

—Kirk Morrison, former Raiders linebacker

It’s a dark game. I characterize it as a lot of darkness.” When asked whether “dark” was meant as ‘a good vs. evil dark’—”You can read between the lines.

—Gunther Cunningham, former Raiders defensive coordinator and former Chiefs head coach and defensive coordinator, currently working as the Detroit Lions defensive coordinator.

Only one word: Blood.

—Harvey Williams (who was with Oakland that season after four years in Kansas City) in a 1995 NBC interview for the team’s first meeting in Oakland since 1981.

Basically it all boils down to the good guys vs bad guys. And that’s appropriate because in life as in football, the good guys don’t always win the battles. But we always win the war (see 2010 AFC West Division Champion Trophy) .

Kansas City has always had the philosophy of working together as a team. Oakland has always felt they could jam any talented free agent that may be on the market into an open slot and suddenly turn things around (such as this week’s quarterback addition of Carson Palmer to the rogues gallery of the NFL).

I have always been a proponent of confronting the opposing team fans head on! Scream at them! Yell at them! Quote statistics that your co-workers are sick of listening  to in your break room. Shove your way into the stadium, the rules of polite society are out the window when a smelly opposing  fan is blocking your way to the best panina bread sandwiches in the NFL.

Unless that opposing fan is wearing black and silver.

Then I strongly suggest you wait your turn or find another concession.

Leave the Raider butt kicking to the professionals in red and gold! And you shall live to see another game.

As I have said the last couple of games, this Sunday will be a key match up for us. A win will solidify my position that I didn’t waste my hard-earned buckage on season tickets this year. A loss likely won’t change my position either, but I’ll be a little quieter about it .

I’m a little worried about this one, as I claim direct responsibility for the last two wins, having been present in both Kansas City and Indianapolis for those two exciting turnarounds.

I don’t have wallet or the guts to fly to Oakland.

Still, I think we have a decent chance to keep the winning streak going.

But the following game I’ll be in amen corner for the return of San Diego to Arrowhead, a rematch I’ve been waiting for since last year.  I’ll bring stories of Arrowhead Adventures that will stir up any misplaced memories of the greatest NFL stadium in the world, or at least cure that nagging case of insomnia.

See you then!

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Tags: Chiefs Raiders Rivalry, Kansas City Chiefs 2011 Season