Sunday, August 20, 2006

Chiefs Pre-Season Note

The exhibition schedule is in full swing, and for any who happen to come across this site I just want to make a brief note. No comments will be offered here about any of these games because I pay no attention to them. The obvious reason is that they don't count, but I also don't know anything about them because (a) they mostly feature scrubs struggling to make the team, (b) key players get injured and I'd really rather not see that, and (c) I wish to sustain my sports celibacy on its regular basis.

There is good reason for this deliberate and I must say blissful ignorance--for instance today in my LA Times was a huge spread about cheating in sports. One article described what the Bronco linemen did in the 1998 playoff game the Chiefs lost by four points. They put Vasoline all over their jerseys, and all the officials did was try to wipe it all off with towels. If they broke the rules, why were they allowed to continue to play the game? It is funny, as much as I lament that loss, I had just known nothing about this incident. Knowing about it now certainly doesn't make me feel any better, but it does give me good standing upon which to remain blissfully ignorant today. Why deal with that stuff?

Of course I enjoy my team to the extent that I will pay attention to their regular season games, and just for that three hours allow my emotions to bang around in my gut whereever they may go. Yes I will feel abjectly crestfallen after some games, like last year's New York Giants game. I will feel particularly elated after some games, like the clutch Patriots victory.

I will say that all I know about this year's team is that we have a new coach, Herman Edwards, and I hear fine things about him. We drafted a decent QB from Alabama that may have that promise of being developed for I think the first time ever for the Chiefs. And as I walked by the magazine rack, I noted that of the five fantasy football publications, Larry Johnson was on the cover of each and every one of them. I don't know if that's a good thing or not. Is there a jinx to that? Or will he actually be as good?