"You are what your record says you are." (Bill Parcells circa 1986) In professional sports, it is that simple. When millionaire athletes square off against millionaire athletes, the better team always prevails. Winners win. Losers make excuses. Close calls, moral victories, and could-have-beens all mean the same thing. The job didn't get done, and now it is time to spread the blame.
Not to do the "running man" on the grave of Herm Edward's head coaching career, but the thing that bothered me the most about the losing was the fact that Herm never owned up to it. No matter how the loses piled up, no matter how gut wrenching the games would end, and no matter how badly he would f-up the end game management, you could never tell it by listening to Herm. According to him, we were actually doing just fine. We were always getting better. We were always getting closer. We always on the verge of taking the next step, and he was always there to tell us that the next game was going to be the one that was going to show just how much progress we have made. Nothing was ever wrong. No player ever made a mistake. No coach ever called the wrong play. We were supposed to lose because losing was somehow part of his ingenious plan. There was never a reason to hold anyone accountable because despite the worst two year run in franchise history this is exactly the way he wanted it, and no one was at fault.
If anyone was to blame, it was the fans. We were the ones who needed "to get over it." It was our fault for not accepting losing because "that's life." The more Herm talked, the more we all came to realize that it was all he could do. Talk. Whether he actually believed it himself or not, he would spout off a truck full of horse sh*t that would make Bernard Madoff blush. It got to the point where Herm stopped talking about football all together. If you asked him any question, his answer would be long and confusing and drawn out and not have any relevance to the question and have nothing to do with football and would eventually make you forget what question originally was asked to begin with. It was his greatest gift. Herm would deflect all the criticism by simply confusing us with stories about his upbringing or preaching to us about life or talking about anything besides how poorly he was doing his job. He would hide behind his reputation as a "man of great character" and use it to deflect away attention from his own coaching ineptness. It's no wonder why he never made anyone else accountable. How could he when he was too busy ducking and dodging any accountability himself.
No one knows what the Todd Haley era will bring to the Kansas City Chiefs, but we can expect one thing. If he is anything like his mentor Bill Parcells, if Scott Pioli truly believes he found the right coach for this young team, and if he is to be the head coach to bring this team back to prominence, he will bring a level of accountability that hasn't existed at Arrowhead since Marty Schottenheimer was patrolling the sidelines. Maybe it's a product of the "Show Me" in our Show Me State motto, but as Chiefs fans, we don't need to be told how good it can be. We need to see it with the results on the field. That is something that either Herm couldn't understand or knew he couldn't deliver, but something that the Pioli/Haley regime has already embraced. The new GM and coach aren't going out on a media blitz selling themselves to this town. Instead they are shutting down all communication with the media and telling us nothing. Which speaks volumes. Instead of campaigning for support like politicians, both men are basically saying that "it doesn't matter what we say, the results will speak for themselves." What a novel concept? Go out and do everything possible to win every game and let the W's and L's define your successes and failures. Don't try to win the media. Win the fans, and the only way to do that is to put a winning product on the field. Don't duck accountability. Instead hold yourself, your coaches, and the team accountable, and that is the only thing that will count in the end.
The honeymoon period hasn't even started yet. We are still driving away from the wedding chapel believing that we've just married the most hottest, the most coolest, and the most "she won't ever try to change me"-est chick on the planet. Who knows what the future will bring? Two years from now we can either be talking about how this was the best decision or biggest mistake of our lives. But either way, we will at least know one thing. That tangible results will matter over excuses. That Haley will stand by his record and not try to deflect the blame onto everyone else but himself. That in a business where teams are judged by their wins and losses that those results will no longer be treated as if they don't count. Hopefully, we will have successes. Definitely, we will have accountability and that may be why this move makes the most sense. Todd Haley may or may not be the next Bill Parcells, but we know one thing. He learned under Parcells. He believes in the Parcells Way, and that way is to be as brutally honest as possible regardless of whose feelings might get hurt. Having a coach who will tell it like it is will be a refreshing change for this town, and after putting up with all of Herm's lies, I for one am ready for "The Truth."
Zack Greinke is special; special arm, special talent. The type of special that makes you wonder how a skinny lanky kid who looks like he's just past puberty can unleash a 97 mile fastball that makes the catcher's glove pop so loud you can hear it from right field GA and follow it up with a 65 mph Uncle Charlie that make major league batters buckle and duck like the ball is coming right for their faces only to fall safely into the zone for strike three. The type of special that can carry an entire team, town, and pitching staff. Even his career reads like an after school special. Achton Kutcher is probably shopping the script of a high school phenom who breaks down under the enormous expectations of being a first round draft choice and comes back to resurrect his career by toiling in the minors, in the bullpen, and eventually making himself the Ace of the team as we speak, No better way to put it. The kid is special. So special that in a down economy signing him to a 4 year $38 million dollar makes you feel as if you've picked him up on special.
Unfortunately, Zack Greinke is also very special. Not the type of special that says he's destined for greatness, but the type you call him so because that is the politically correct way to call people like him. The type of special that makes a kid with his talent walk out on his team in spring training even though he was living every kids dream. The type of special that makes you wonder how a player can perform under the scrutiny of professional sports when he openly admits to not being comfortable in front of large crowds. The type a special that might make you wonder if the Royals made the right move by signing a player with all-world talent and exactly one solid season as a major league starter to a multi year deal.
But that's not the type of special I want to focus on. I want to believe that if Zack isn't all the way back that he is back on track. I want to believe that this city has accepted Zack for all the ways he is special and that this town has a special relationship with our Ace. There might not be any other place in the Majors where a kid with his enormous talent and his debilitating flaw can thrive the way Zack has, and there can be no better reward for Zack, the Royals team and franchise, and this entire city than to know that for the next four years that we will all be able to be a part of his amazing journey. To finish what he started. To know that it was all worth it. To see Zack become the front line starter we all know that he is destined to be. For the next for years, every fifth day when Zack takes the mound, we all know that we will be witnessing something special.
Even as a 43 year old, overweight, balding white guy, Scott Pioli is the most beautiful man this city has ever laid our collective eyes on. Not only that but he's also the smartest, funniest, the most charismatic, most football knowledgeable-est, and 3-Super-Bowl-winningest GM ever. His jokes are funny. His stories are captivating. He has the perfect smile. He strong yet sensitive. He's humble yet confident. He's kind and caring, but at the same time, he always knows exactly when to stand up for himself. He loves puppies. He's good with kids. He volunteers at the local nursing home. He is everything, every football fan would ever want from their GM.
Having a new GM in town has made me rediscover my love for the Chiefs, and it's time for this town to believe in this team again. Sure we have supported the team, filled the stadium, and stayed with them out of convenience, but for the better part of a decade, being a Chiefs fan has been more about getting wasted before the game, eating a ton of artery clogging grilled meat, watching the team lose, and then complaining the rest of the week about how we never thought this team was any good anyway. This isn't the way it used to be, but it's almost as if the 1997 playoff loss to the Broncos irreparably damaged our collective psyche, and we have felt betrayed since. Every time we went on a nice winning streak or started the season with 11 straight wins or had the best O-line/fantasy RB in the league or finished 13-3 or received the ultimate back door playoff berth or had any kind of success, we refused to get sucked in because every time we tried the memories of Elvis Grbac inexplicably chucking the ball into the endzone to Lake Dawson on fourth-and-1 (When he had plenty of time and only needed a yard to move the chains as Rich Gannon, the rest of the team, and every Chiefs fan sat there numb. And instead of celebrating a playoff win against our most hated rival, we went home in silence to spend the rest of the night crying under the covers in our bed. At least that's what I did.) would come rushing back and serve as a reminder of what can happen if we emotionally invest too much. Kinda like that guy who thinks he's living the perfect life with the perfect chick until one day he decides to come home early from work (Flowers, bottle of wine, and sex toy in hand) only to walk in on her and her ex-boyfriend stinking up the sheets. He should leave the cheating ****, but instead, he takes her back and wastes the next ten years of his life trying to recapture the feelings he once had for her. (I realize that this analogy may make no sense to alot of people, but for many it will make perfect sense. We didn't lose a game that day. There was a feeling of betrayal. Like we thought we were living the perfect life until reality kicked us in the groin. Yes, that day still stings, and No, I never walked in on my old lady.) He keeps trying to fall back in love, but every time he does, all he can think about is the sound of the bed springs bouncing being drowned out by her voice as she is screaming someone else's name in exstacy.
Get over it already! We finally dumped the guy we've blamed for destroying this team, and we hired the best (Let me repeat best. It's not even close. I have been as critical of Clark Hunt as anyone in this town, but I cannot say one bad thing about this hire. Clark needed a HR, and he hit a walk-off 550 ft. 3-run moonshot over the fountains off Mariano Riviera in the bottom of the ninth. This isn't even an arguable point.) personnel man in the NFL, period. No qualifiers. He's the best. He's not only that, but he's also:
1. Not Carl Peterson. For a lot of people, it's about getting Scott Pioli. For a lot more of us, the most important thing was to get anyone who isn't named Carl Peterson. We associated every bad memory about this team with this man. It's wasn't about the decisions he was making anymore. As long as he was making them, we knew that it wasn't going to work.
2. Has a singular focus. The "Patriot Way" wasn't about being popular (They had the biggest **** in the NFL for a coach.) or being loyal to players (Ask Lawyer Malloy and Drew Bledsoe.) and fans (If you don't believe me, here is a link describing their new stadium. http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/partone/081121 by a Patriots fan no less.) or about being high character (Randy Moss, Cory Dillon, Rodney Harrison) or being honest (Spygate). It's about one thing; WINNING. Win and you silence all the critics. Win and you'll fill the stadium. Win and all the secondary stuff will take care of itself. Win and this town will know you as a winner. The Patriot Way is the Chiefs Way now, and the winning can't come fast enough.
3. Can be trusted. This town never really trusted Carl. Maybe it was his slimy hair, the snooty tone in his voice, or his Matrix-like leather trench coat, but we always thought that Carl had other reasons for the moves he made besides delivering the Lombardi Trophy. That's not the case with Pioli. I've heard more people on the streets and in the media profess their trust for Pioli in the week he has been in charge then the 19 years Carl was on the throne. (Let's hope that if Scott Pioli doesn't own a leather trench.)
Scott Pioli will have failures. Everyone does. He will make a bad decision, hire an incompetent coach, sign a bum, and draft a bust. He will do things that we won't agree with and say things that will piss us off. But that's now right now. Right now, we can't think about that. Right now is a time for hope. A time to think that our investment in this team will be paid off with wins in games with Roman Numerals after them. A time when we can care about this team and feel good about being a Chiefs fan again. A time when our new GM hasn't done anything wrong, hasn't made any mistakes, and hasn't done anything beside being Mr. Perfect.
Can anyone tell me where the Royals youth movement went because I can't find it. The organization has been selling us on a bunch of young and unproven (and supposedly talented) prospects learning to play baseball at the Major League level for the past two years, and I bought it, put in storage, and waited patiently for it to become the promised contender that has eluded us the last two decades. Now after an offseason in which every move the Royals have executed has made them older, more expensive, and presumably better, I can't find the youth movement anywhere. I've looked everywhere; in the outfield, the infield. There isn't a youth movement to be seen, and I, for one, am wondering where it went.
Look at the line-up we finished up with last year as compared to the projected one come April 6. (Yes, I did actual research for this one. Don't get used to it.) There isn't a youth movement to be seen.
Alex Gordon - Coming into 2009, he is the only everyday player under the age of 28. One player. That's it. The rebuilding process we have been so eager to embrace, so patient to live with, and so willing to accept has yielded us one position player. It's not like Gordon has lived up to one tenth of the hype so far, but at least he still has a spot in the everyday line-up.
John Buck - At 28, Buck can't hide behind potential anymore. At any age, I can't believe he has played as much as he has. He brings nothing to the plate. nothing behind the plate, can't hit for average, can't hit for power, can't throw out base runners, and basically can't justify why he keeps getting the starting nod over Miguel Olivo except for some lame excuse on how he calls a great game. (Which is the equivalent of saying a chick has a great personality.) The catcher of the future, now is begging for one.
Alberto Callaspo - Am I to believe this guy can't get playing time over the worst hitting SS (Tony Pena) and worst fielding 2B (Esteban German) in modern baseball history? If not then what the heck was he ever doing on a major league roster. I don't buy it. I seen too many flashes of talent to believe that this kid is that bad. There's got to be something besides baseball that's keeping him on the bench. And I don't buy the DUI theory that's been floating around. Seriously, are people really trying to tell me that Jose Guillen can fight his teammates, coaches, and fans and still not be pulled from the line-up, but Callaspo fails a breathalizer and the Royals feel morally obligated not to play him?!?!?
Mark Teahen - We traded a player who struck out looking with 2 outs in game seven of the NLCS and followed that up by a being a major part of the two worst back to back regular season collapses of all time in Carlos Beltran, and I still think we got the short end of the swap. Beltran will always be a loser who isn't worth half the money he hustled out of the Mets, but at the time he was traded away, he was considered one of the most talented players in baseball. A huge bargaining chip that we could use to replenish our roster. What did we get back? A catcher who is begging for a spot on the team, and a third baseman/outfielder/first baseman who the organization doesn't think is good enough to be an everyday third baseman/outfielder/first baseman and who has been a part of trade rumors all winter. If we get anything of value for Teahen, it would be a miracle. Right now, I'd take a box of uncooked Sheboygans and a parking attendant to be named later.
Billy Butler - There is no other way to say it. The signing of Mike Jacobs is Dayton Moore's way of telling Doughboy "Hey fat ass, get away from the buffet table and find a treadmill. Mix in a salad periodically. If you want can't run, can't play the field, and can't do anything besides hit, you better be able to hit 30+ HRs a year. I'm not waiting any longer. I've inked a guy who hits with better power than you and who can actually play a position in the field. If you want to get called up from Omaha again, you better get your act together."
The entire off-season has had one underling theme. Every move was made because one of our "pieces of the future" ended up being a "piece of crap". We've been sold a bill of goods and when they failed, we replaced them with serviceable, if not spectacular, veterans. Now we are left with a bunch of players who may be legit everyday major leaguers, but at the same time, have no upside what-so-ever. For better of worse, the team we have on opening day will be as good as this team will ever get. I don't have problem with that. When things went wrong, Dayton Moore had to do everything in his power to improve the overall talent on the team.
What does disappoint me is that we have wasted the last two or three years waiting for a youth movement that was an absolute failure. The youth movement never got better. They just got older. The talent was never there. What we saw was a mirage, a farce, an advertising campaign from a franchise that couldn't sell tangible progress so they sold us hope. Now the youth movement is no where to be seen, and now all I'm left with is with a bunch of free Mark Teahen and John Buck T-shirts to throw in the pile with my Jeremy Affeldt Ts and a Tony Pena bobble head doll. A bunch of junk memorabilia celebrating a bunch of worthless players. Well at least I've got something out of the youth movement. With the way no one is talking about it anymore, it may be the only evidence that it ever existed.
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