More on a couple Chiefs things in a moment, but I did want to pound out my thoughts about the professional sports world as I occasionally do here in this all-things-Chiefs effort.
The baseball playoffs are going real good now, as they do every October, and I just wanted to point out yet another instance of evidence that the major league baseball world continues its competitive duplicity unabated -- namely that there are distinctive advantages granted to the Yankees and the Dodgers that no other team has.
This has been the case for many years now.
Sure enough, this year, not only are the Yankees and Dodgers appearing in their respective league championship games, but the New York Mets will be facing the Dodgers in their affair. How'd that happen, when last year the Mets were such a train wreck? The World Series will be featuring at least one New York or Los Angeles team this year. And if it is the Yankees and the Dodgers, the entire major league baseball world will be cheering this on and of course enabling the wicked deceit that goes with it.
I've already gone to the mat to elucidate this duplicity, most recently in this post. I will add that my good friend sent me an article written by a Bay Area sportswriter about how horrible the owner of the A's is, you know, to let them slip away to another town and all the rest of it. No. Not even. Please. "Bad owners" are a dime a dozen, and most sportswriters and fans like to heap vitriol on the ones that they think are just not as good as others are. It is just plainly stupid considering what the MLBers are really doing.
No, the problem is the competitive duplicity that is quietly embraced by everyone who wants to make money in pro baseball. The only way that happens is if the Yankees and Dodgers are always winning. And the only way that can happen is if they are patently handed the overwhelming advantages they have. Again, "What is good for the Yankees and Dodgers is good for major league baseball," is a principle that governs the majors, and when that is widely and articulately challenged then I'll pay attention.
Again, so much more can be detailed to prove this, and hundreds of thousands of tunnel vision fans and sportswriters who bleat about the fun they want to have that I don't like doesn't change this reality. Indeed that so many of them are brazenly enthusiastic about this possible renewed "classic World Series matchup" helps prove my point. The MLBers (again anyone who makes money from this operation) know there are millions -- and when I say that number I mean literally millions -- of fans who'll be much more engaged in Yankees and Dodgers success and therefore all will reap the benefits.
What does this have to do with the Chiefs? Why do I write about this yet again? One major reason is this here is just a platform for these truths to be expressed. I'm not a major influencer with this, but at least I can share here. It'd be nice if others would be bold and truthful about it.
Some of it is just amplifying the meaning of what we get to enjoy with Patrick Mahomes and company doing what they are doing in light of the competitive duplicity that seeps into everything professional sports. The gambling thing is already infecting the game, and if it isn't affecting game outcomes at least from what we can openly see, it is afflicting the people who watch them. The NIL thing in college sports is now doing some nasty things as to how college players consider themselves and their schools.
The Chiefs success is something to truly enjoy right now in spite of all that. They can take pride in the work that people like Clark Hunt and Brett Veach are doing as much as they are not as much hindered by the same impediments that the MLB has for teams not the Yankees and Dodgers. More parity and some meaningful limits on free agency are instrumental, of course, and the Chiefs have been fortunate to have probably the best general manager/head coach combo in the history of the game. Brett picks 'em and Andy coaches 'em. Both perform at Hall-of-Fame levels. (I can't neglect to add that Brett manages the cap restraints extraordinarily well, that is a critical part of the Chiefs success.) Oh, and we just can't not mention the HOF coaching of Steve on the defense. They are really carrying the team right now.
This year they have done wonders with reclamation players Mecole Hardman, JuJu Smith-Schuster, and of all people Kareem Hunt. And don't dismiss the impact Mecole Hardman has had. In the Saints game he had good kick returns and a couple nice gains on plays that use his abilities to the best.
I'm still taken by the whole Kareem Hunt thing. Don't forget how dominant he was when he came on the scene in 2017. Remember that opener against the Patriots, and that amazing long TD pass from Alex Smith to him to help them paste the Pats in that Thursday night game? He did everything a running back could do for the next year-and-a-half -- they're now saying Well, he's now 30 years old [or however old he is] and he probably doesn't have anything left in the tank...
Well, it appears he can do just fine in the offense of Andy Reid who just knows how to use him -- like he does with Mecole, and with JuJu, and with any player who joins, or rejoins, the Chiefs Kingdom.
Yes, I'm convinced the NFLers hate it. Why isn't this happening with the Giants, the Jets, the Patriots, and above all the Cowboys? The NFLers simply can't do what the MLBers are doing, and what a testament to the genius of Brett and Andy.
Next week we get the rematch with the 49ers, let's see if we can keep the party rolling.
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The posted photo is from Steve Sanders at the official Chiefs site. Thank you.
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