By CHRIS RASMUSSEN
It's not just stadiums under construction.
Sometimes, in successful years, it ends in a sudden and painful fashion, with a heartbreaking loss in the playoffs. Those are successful failures. More often, we know before the season begins that the team we root for is doomed. Those years, we watch out of habit rather than expectation, engaging in gallows humor and looking at any young players that will keep us hopeful for the next season.
The Chiefs are saving us all some time this year. They have a young quarterback who hasn't won a game in the NFL, a young and untested offensive line, a defense whose most talented player is a rookie and a moody star running back. Every rational Chiefs fan – even Chiefs management – knows this season will be occasionally excruciating to watch.
You wouldn't know it, but this is the best thing to happen to the Chiefs since Carl Peterson arrived.
The Chiefs too often thought they were one veteran away from playoff success when they really needed much, much more. Rather than ever test a young quarterback, we hired veterans from other organizations, sometimes with success (Green, Montana, DeBerg) and sometimes not (Grbac, Bono). In the last decade, we were never successful to be a plausible threat in the playoffs but too successful to get a truly great player in the draft. We were in NFL limbo.
Sometimes you have to hit bottom in order to know where you’re going.
Thankfully, the Chiefs’ completely fell apart last year. In part due to injury and in part due to age, the team was the worst since Carl arrived. Thankfully, it forced the Hunts, Herm and even (perhaps) Carl to face the obvious – the team needed massive overhaul.
Next year will be more of the same. Chiefs fans won’t just look at the game for the score but as talent evaluators -- assessing the progress of Dwayne Bowe, Brodie Croyle, Glenn Dorsey, Branden Alberts and numerous others. There are many ways to enjoy watching sports and looking for hope for the future is just one.
Hopefully, this won't go on for a decade, as it has with the Royals.
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"Rational fan" is an oxymoron.
The thing about the Chiefs sucking last year is that only one major player was hurt. They did hit rock bottom, but if they have a rash of injuries this season, they could easily struggle to win 3 games. Get ready for the TV blackouts.
How long ago did the Royals hit rock bottom? Did they? I'm honestly not sure that they have. How on earth does this team have a better record than four or five other teams at the moment? This team is better than a team with King Felix and Bedard (they've been hurt, but still)?
Dayton Moore seems to have adopted the same "limp along" strategy Allard Baird did. Look, Ross Gload is your first baseman. Your opening day SS has better stuff than your fifth starter. How the hell can we not be in virtual "open tryout" territory? I want to see ten day tryouts for at least 20 relievers before the end of the season. If you're going to leave Tyler Lumsden on the 40 man, bring him up and give him 5 starts. I mean, it can't get any worse, you might as well go with wish-casting.
Tennis, uh yeah...
I just heard Paul Splittorff comment during the Tiger's ten-run 8th inning, something along the lines of, "This is one of those games where the score doesn't really indicate how close the game was."
Yeah he really said that. Really.
MM
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