This article is the “counterpoint” to Big Matt’s piece from earlier today. Make sure you check it out if you haven’t yet.

If there is anyone that still hasn’t read Kent Babb’s piece from this weekend, shame on you. Go read it right now, it is fascinating and a really great read. I mean, the picture it paints of the Chiefs organization is the stuff movies are made of.

The scene: Arrowhead Stadium

As a local reporter leaves the latest boring Chiefs press conference, he is pulled into a back hallway by a wild-eyed man. This man clearly hasn’t shaved in a month and, by the looks of his clothes and hat, he may not have bathed or changed clothes is just as long.

“Kent, I need to talk to you, but it’s not safe to talk here. The buildings are all bugged and I think they’ve gotten to my cell phone too.”

“Coach, are you okay? You don’t look so good,” the reporter replies.

“Shhhhhhhh!!! Don’t even call me. I’ll find a way to get in touch with you. In the mean time, I’ve figured out how to fight back. A few more Tyler Palko starts and their attendance numbers should bottom out. That will hit them where they’ll feel it: their precious bottom line!”

And with that, the wild eyed coach turns and disappears into the shadows, leaving the reporter to ponder just what is going on inside this organization.

Meanwhile, upstairs in the secret Arrowhead surveillance room, Mark Donovan turns to Scott Pioli.

“Well Scott, you were right. Haley’s gone rogue. What do you want to do? Put him at the bottom of the river? Hold his family hostage?”

Pioli replies, “No, not yet anyway. He’s so far gone at this point nobody will believe anything he says. We’ll just fire him.”

“Are you sure? I’m kind of bored with firing people at this point,” Donovan questions.

“Yes, we’ll let it go for now. The media will get over a firing a lot faster than a whacking, so it’ll mean less questions for me to not answer. Now get on it! Oh, and Mark, did I hear that your secretary had a birthday yesterday?” Pioli quizzes.

“Yes, she turned 40.”

“That’s what I thought. Make sure she cleans out her desk by tomorrow,” Pioli demands.

“But Scott,” Donovan reasons, ”she really is a great secretary, the best I’ve ever had.”

“You know that doesn’t matter; if they’re old, they’re fired. It’s the only way we can win football games. Now excuse me, I have to take this bucket full of cash up to Mr. Hunt so he can roll around in it.”

“Of course Scott, I don’t know what I was thinking,” Donovan mumbles as he leaves the room.

Later that day, as Donovan’s secretary carries her belongings out to her car, a tear running down her cheek, she reminisces about the good old days when GM Carl Peterson would greet each employee at the door as they came in to work with a big hug and some home made baked goods. Ah, those wonderful days of yore when working for the Chiefs was like a warm slice of heaven.

End Scene

Makes a great story, doesn’t it?

Now, I’ll be the first to admit that the Chiefs front office has made some mistakes, but I think things may be just a little less sinister than what the media is making them out to be. My thoughts after the jump.

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Note: this post is part 1 of a point-counterpoint between optimistic Chiefs scholar Lyle Graverson and Pulitzer Prize-winning fake journalist Big Matt Finucane. The subject matter is Kent Babb’s brilliant piece in The Star yesterday regarding the work environment in the Chiefs front office. Read that article. I mean, I’m sure you already have, but read it again. 

“A great moment in coaching.”

That quote tells quite a story. We’re fresh off yet another losing season, one rife with failures by the men in control of this franchise. They’re being skewered, rightfully, for the counterproductive way they run the front office. And the team president is so tone-deaf he’s bragging about the GENERAL MANAGER OF THIS TEAM finding a candy wrapper on the floor and obsessing over it for a week.* He calls it “a great moment in coaching.” This, after the Chiefs were just forced to fire their actual coach mid-season.

*Can you imagine Pioli displaying that candy wrapper in triumph? What did he say? Was he smiling? How hard did the staff laugh at him after he left the room? 

Donovan may seem like small potatoes, but the fact that Pioli forced Denny Thum to resign so he could promote this guy is heartbreaking to me. Thum was with the team for 36 years. They went through his call log and then unceremoniously forced him out the door. A good man forced out to make room for a company man.

But hey, the results speak for themselves, right? From Donovan’s bio on the Chiefs site:

With the Chiefs, Donovan has leveraged his 12 years in the National Football League to bring an organization-wide focus on improving the fan experience through improved customer relations; expanded relationships with radio and television broadcast partners; and a transformation of kcchiefs.com to the foremost online destination for Chiefs information.

Customer and media relations are listed as his accomplishments? What is this, a joke? There is no team in the league doin’ it worse on either front. And that last part is all kinds of hilarious. Almost as funny as “establishing the stadium as a major player in the national sports and entertainment scene.” Or how about “under Donovan’s leadership, Arrowhead will once again host concerts with tour stops for both Kenny Chesney and Taylor Swift slated for 2011.”

Impressive. Most impressive.

Further up and further in, after the jump:

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Mark Donovan

We told you this morning that a former Kansas City Chiefs employee has filed a complaint accusing the club of age discrimination. We reached out to the team for comment and received a statement just moments ago from the PR department.

From Chiefs President Mark Donovan:

“The allegations in the lawsuit are both baseless and ridiculous. The plaintiff’s claims are completely false and we intend to vigorously defend ourselves.”

This is pretty much the response we expected to get. The Chiefs really can’t say much more in a case such as this.

It will be interesting to see how this situation plays out. We’ll keep you updated.

The Kansas City Chiefs have promoted Mark Donovan, who joined the team as chief operating officer in 2009, to President, the team announced today.

Donovan will have complete control over all business dealings involving the Kansas City Chiefs and he will report directly to Chiefs Chairman and CEO Clark Hunt.

“Mark has been a critical member of the organization since joining us in May of 2009, and I am delighted to promote him to president,” Hunt said. “With Mark directing the business operations of the Chiefs and Scott Pioli running the football operations, I believe we have one of the finest executive teams in professional sports.”

Donovan will be responsible from everything to bringing concerts to Arrowhead to improving the fan experience during games at the stadium.

Donovan was responsible for the recently revamped KCChiefs.com and the team’s partnership with Sports Radio 810.

The position was recently occupied by Denny Thum who retired suddenly following the team’s Monday Night Football victory over the San Diego Chargers.