Where It’s At With Big Matt
Greetings, Addicts. Love you, love your show.
Three years ago I left my beloved Kansas City, the heart of Chiefdom on Earth, to move to New York, home of some of the most obnoxious teams (and fans) in the country. For some, switching cities can mean switching allegiances. For me, it could not. I started missing my Chiefs pretty much the second I left. It didn’t help that the Giants won the Super Bowl about a week after my arrival. The Chiefs had lost their last nine games, Herm Edwards was blaming the players and talking rebuild, and King Carl was heading into an unprecedented 20th year of leather jackets and smug smiles. To top it all off, Jared Allen was on the way out. It was a tough time to be a Chiefs fan.
I needed a place to vent. There are only so many angry phone calls a man can make (or his friends will answer). So I started up Big Matt’s Chiefs Chat. Some of you probably know me from there, although I’m sure most do not. It was my refuge. My sanctuary. What started as drunken ranting became an actual passion for writing about the Chiefs. And here I am, two-and-a-half years and one regime later, writing words that thousands will read about a team that could actually compete. I’m not taking that for granted. This is an exciting time.
I won’t bore you with my fan credentials. We’re all big fans, otherwise we wouldn’t be scouring the internet for Chiefs news in the middle of the summer. Suffice it to say that I own a giant headdress, and I like to wear it. Preferably while shirtless.
It wouldn’t feel right to post to an audience that knows nothing about me, so I thought I’d use this opportunity to give you the broad strokes. Bullet points: a blogger’s best friend.
*My favorite Chiefs of all time are James Hasty, Dale Carter, and Kimble Anders. I’ve been rocking the same Dale Carter jersey every Sunday for the last 15 years. I can count the amount of times its been washed on my fingers. No toes necessary.
*I think all the post-draft talk of “team speed” has been ridiculous, especially considering our front seven might be the slowest in the NFL.
*Dwayne Bowe does himself a disservice every time he opens his mouth, but he’s still very talented. Prediction: 1300 yards, 10 touchdowns. Yeah, I’m that guy.
*Like all of you, I love Brandon Flowers and can’t wait to watch Eric Berry. Our secondary should be great, and this is indeed a pass-first league. The problem is, our pass-rush still sucks. The best secondary in the world can’t overcome a lack of pressure. I’m firmly in the “pass rush is the most important part of defense” camp. So while our secondary will undoubtedly be exciting, I’ll be more interested in what’s going on up front. It’s more important to our success.
*I like to use nicknames. I’ll try not to throw too many of them at you right away, because I know that could be confusing and maybe even annoying. Let’s start with a couple easy ones: Tyson Jackson is Tin Man (stiff movements) and Demorrio Williams is Speedwagon. As in, REO.
*My dad attempted to buy a brick at Arrowhead that said “Big Matt’s Chiefs Chat”. They said they’d have to get back to him. About a week later he received an email saying the brick had been vetoed. Somebody somewhere in Arrowhead does not like Big Matt. I think it’s Ron Edwards. Just a hunch. He hasn’t responded to any of my letters.
*I really like Alex Magee. I even started a Magee fan club, The Mageeks. I think I might be the only member. There used to be another guy, but the club started to feel crowded. There was a messy breakup. You know how these bench player fan clubs get. Too many egos. Anyway, we (I) are currently looking for new members. If Magee has a good year t-shirts will be made and distributed. I’ll pay for them. I know a guy.
*The glorification of NFL owners grosses me out big-time.
*I’m a Todd Haley fan. As a person, I like him. I spent most of last season making excuses for him. This season, that will stop. Haley needs to be better. A lot better. I think (hope) he will be.
*There are probably people reading this that are better at player evaluation than me. I am often wrong about players, just like anyone else. My biggest strength, if I have one, is that I try to stay as unbiased as possible. If I’m particularly curious about or interested in a player, I will watch him every snap of every game until I’m satisfied I know what I need to. By way of an example, I watched Glenn Dorsey exclusively for the last 12 games of the 2008 season. I’d been reading everywhere about all the double-teams he was drawing, and I wanted to see for myself and know for sure. The result? Dorsey wasn’t getting doubled. Unless you count a double-team as being blocked with two arms. In that case, he drew frequent doubles.
*If the Chiefs make the playoffs this year, I’ve vowed to get a tattoo to commemorate the occasion. I’m open to suggestions. Willing to get pretty ridiculous. The best idea I’ve heard so far is getting Mike Mazlowski’s face tattooed on my face.
*My favorite part about Chiefs blogging is writing about the men in charge. Trying to discern their strengths and overall character is fascinating to me. With respect to that, Pioli has been a tough nut to crack. I definitely don’t have him figured out yet. I mean, did any of you see Dexter McCluster coming? I certainly didn’t. Who are you, Scott Pioli? I intend to find out. Spying is not out of the question here. Does anyone know where I could get one of those small mirrors on the end of a stick?
*Prediction: 7-9. And I’m OK with that….as long as someone on our team hits Tim Tebow really, really hard.
I could go on all night, but I think I might lose you. I’ll save my various William Bartee stories for another time. For now, let me just say that I’m honored to be contributing here at AA, and I hope you guys like what I have to offer. Paddy is watching my every move. He says if I screw up there will be dire consequences. I think he means it, gang. I keep finding fingers in my mailbox.