It was a long year Addicts. The changes in the off season seemed promising, the crowds were there during the preseason, my seats even moved down to the lower level, something that would not have been possible three seasons ago.
The loss in the season opener to the Raiders kind of put a damper on things, the clouds never really parted for the rest of the year.
Still, I had a blast.
There is no stadium like Arrowhead, and no team like the Chiefs. And there never will be.
So without further adieu, I’ll launch my yearly TWENTY FIVE THINGS I WITNESSED, SMELLED, ATE, AND WOKE UP TO AT ARROWHEAD IN 2009!!!
1. I sat in a drenching rain, protected only with my 99 cent Bass Pro pauncho, and watched the worlds biggest wet t-shirt contest on the jumbotron, and could think of no other place I’d rather be.
2. I watched wonderboy Matt Cassel limp off the field before the season even started, and wondered if we had another Brody Croyle on our hands. And felt kind of sick to my stomach.
3. I saw an awesome flyover, and laughed with my fishing partner Jen who can throw the football farther than most guys I know, and waited after the game for her to find a jumper for the dead battery in the rental we returned to after the game, and my faith in the Arrowhead crowd was once again reinforced as person after person stopped and asked if I needed help.
4. I played “peanut poker” in the aisle 23 rows from the field.
5. I leaned over the rail and watched a cocky Larry Johnson strut five feet from me before the game, with his shirt tail hanging out in his usual fashion and wanted to leap the rail and stangle him.
6. I went to the largest attended draft party in Arrowhead history, and met the new cheerleaders, and talked with the veterans, and posed with my favorite Jenna.
7. I saw Jamaal Charles walk five feet from me as I leaned over the rail before the game and smile and give me a head nod.
8. I saw a fight in the parking lot.
9. I walked behind two Raiders fans and talked trash as they pretended not to know I was there talking trash, with a hint a fear deep down inside of me.
10. I broke out in a drenching sweat as I approached the gate and realized I didnt remember bringing my ticket, then found it in my pants leg pocket of my cargo’s and then chugged my “Jack n Coke” and crushed the can.
11. I sat with my girl Lori in the parking lot after leaving the Cowboys game five minutes early in disgust, only to hear “TOUCHDOWN KAAAANSAS CITY” on the way to the car, and ate warmed up bbq and drank a “Jack n Coke”, and then got pissed all over again when we lost in overtime.
12. I heard a drunk sounding “Grigsby” predict a “Chiefs Win” an hour befor the Steelers game started and laughed my ass off.
13. I dragged myself to the Steelers game because nobody would buy my tickets, and watched them play like the championship team I wanted them to play like, then asked several fans in my section if we actually had won when the game was over. They assured me that indeed we had and I “high fived” till my hands were raw.
14. The back of my head was on the recieving end of a tailgaters errant pass, and I picked myself up off the pavement and laughed and ate a hamburger the thrower gave me until the National Anthem started.
15. I woke up in an official NFL KC Chiefs chair that I had won in a golf tournament in the warm sun on the parking lot, and looked at my watch, and ate another hotdog, and went back to sleep.
16. I walked to the stadium in the middle of thousands of tailgaters, and remembered my “Arrowhead Surviver” days and knew in my heart the fans hadn’t changed and smiled.
17. I left my Larry Johnson jersey on the trunk of my car in disgust.
18. I found my Larry Johnson jersey I had left on my trunk , now on my hood, not where I had left it four hours earlier and smiled. You can’t give the damn things away anymore. 🙂
19. I ate some of the best BBQ in the world, Arthur Bryants, LLC’s, and tried to get some Oklahoma Joes but they close on Sunday.
20. I saw a drunk guy walk all the way down to the field rail, yell something undechipherable at the players, stagger half way back up the section, then throw up and collapse in the mess. The funny thing was nobody really paid attention.
21. I helped change a tire on the parking lot, then grabbed a spare Parrot Bay and headed on in to the game.
22. I just barely made it to the concourse restroom again this year. But this time JUST barely. I mean it was CLOSE.
23. I was upset to see the “Ring of Fame” had been removed, then happy to see it on the new HD ring that replaced it.
24. I looked over my shoulder as I drove away from the last game of the year, and once again wondered how many more years I would be doing this, and knew it would be as long as God blessed me with living in Chiefs County.
25. I made this list once again this year and realized that as usual, most of my adventures had nothing to do with the football game on the field, and everything to do with the best stadium, the best fans, and the best football city in the NFL.
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