In Australia, significant sporting events are preceded by a Welcome to Country conducted by an elder of the indigenous nation who are the traditional custodians of the land on which the event is taking place, followed by a smoking ceremony in which smouldering masses of leaves, grass and soil are carried around the playing area so that the smoke can spiritually purify it.
I'm the absolute most casual Chiefs fan possible -- my dad likes football, and he was born and raised in KC, so he comes by it honestly, but I only keep track of the team just enough to be able to have a conversation.
And even I know that the 11-1 Chiefs are like seven plays away from being the 4-8 Chiefs. I find this very funny, knowing that they've basically been no-hustle-all-luck this year. It's a good story. But you're right, bragging is insane in this circumstance.
Or who knows, maybe And Reid and Patrick Mahomes truly are the greatest of all time, and they're just seeing how many times they can bet against their own spread and still win a championship. Call it the Double Black Sox: throw the game but still win.
My hometown Vikings are 9-2 with the quarterback equivalent of an adjunct professor, and we're also like a 5-6 team but for a handful of plays.
I'm an incredibly unsophisticated football viewer, but it feels like there's something structural about football that drives these situations because I'm often baffled how 60 minutes of game play is reduced to about 2 minutes of game-deciding outcomes, often in the last quarter of the game.
My internal conspiracy theorist tells me that this is what the NFL wants because it drives fan engagement via "exciting" outcomes. If I was actually a conspiracist, I'd probably also question the rise of sports betting as having some influence on these outcomes as well.
But I also question why the opponents with "bad luck" also tend to have worse records than those with "good luck" -- are we maybe just refusing to concede that maybe the lucky team isn't just better? Or maybe that teams generally are more closely matched than records would suggest and that close outcomes are a natural outcome of this?
I don't expect the Chiefs (or the Vikings) to make it far in the playoffs. Buffalo managed to beat them pretty handily and I don't think the Chiefs are capable of a playoff victory over them and are probably in real peril with Baltimore, the Chargers or the Steelers.
I was a Patriots fan who lived through the kind of sad 90s and then the two dynasties. In the years between Super Bowl wins 3 and 4, I particularly started to find the chip on the shoulder of fellow Patriots fans insufferable. (And I wasn't even living in New England anymore.) Once you've lived through multiple championships in a short amount of time, you need to lose the anger from the bad years. If Ravens or Packers fans acted like that, no one would take that seriously even though over a decade passed between their most recent Super Bowl wins.
C'mon. Pro football fans are just about all boors these days so why pick on the Chiefs' fans? After all, the poor bastards have to live in Kansas goddamn City, they need something to feel good about
KC resident co-sign. Of course there’s plenty of normal and nice people who like the team, and it’s also true that some of the loudest Chiefs fans are indeed the fucking worst
One of the comments at the YouTube video on Luck made me think of Freddie's last NFL related article.
"One of my biggest gripes with sports fans, particularly with the NFL, is how often people feel things that did not happen could not have happened. Lamar is seen as a loser and a choker whose playstyle does not lead to playoff success, but of course if he ever happens to get lucky all of that will dissipate. I’ll never get over how drastically people’s perceptions of Giannis and Jokic changed after their title runs, or how far Harden’s perception has dropped since his prime ended without that title stamp. I spent my entire childhood pounding on tables saying Stafford was better than people thought him to be, only to watch him leave my team and enter the conversations I long wanted him in because he found some team success.
I could talk endlessly about player perception in the NFL and its relation to luck. So many fans don’t get it. Excellent video."
Hi Helena - funny enough I’m not interested in Google search results, but Freddie’s specific opinion on this matter. Which, subsequently, is why I follow this newsletter and not a Google search feed. Great advice though, really kind of you to chime in.
I live in Brisbane and our Australian Rules men's football team is the champion team in the Australian Football League. I mention this with due modesty and humility. :-)
"Here’s the thing about Chiefs fans: they root for the Yankees and pretend they root for the Marlins. They root for the Lakers and pretend they root for the Hornets." Lmao get em
As long as you're not one of the Halloween dress-up Raider fans. My best friend from college is a die-hard and I've always respected the team dating back to Lyle Alzado and Jim Plunkett's years. As a Texas Longhorns fan, I will suggest that y'all don't draft Quinn Ewers, but I do love the guy and he'll do well if he lands somewhere that matches his abilities and physical attributes.
Was going to post something snarky about Freddie liking the Bears, but – severe transgression though that is – this season just being a Bears fan is probably punishment enough.
I am a Bears fan. My daughter (going to KU) wants to be a Chiefs fan.
Is disowning enough?
Doesn’t KU have a football team? Maybe she can look into being a fan of that
She has. It’s kind of a dreary affair. They shout Chiefs slogans at home games
The Jayhawks FB fans do that? Hmm, that's new to me. Been to numerous KU vs. Texas games over the years, but I guess only one or two in Lawrence.
KU football has never been something fans go out of their way for. KU is a basketball college, and a big one at that. But football, not so much.
What were you expecting? A stadium-wide chanted apology?
1) Is the Seminole’s war chant considered racist if the school pays reparations to the tribe?
2) If the Chiefs start including a land acknowledgment before every home game, where does that place them on the racist scale?
3) I still think the Washington Redskins should have changed their mascot to a potato.
In Australia, significant sporting events are preceded by a Welcome to Country conducted by an elder of the indigenous nation who are the traditional custodians of the land on which the event is taking place, followed by a smoking ceremony in which smouldering masses of leaves, grass and soil are carried around the playing area so that the smoke can spiritually purify it.
Land acknowledgements just make it extra cringe.
I'm the absolute most casual Chiefs fan possible -- my dad likes football, and he was born and raised in KC, so he comes by it honestly, but I only keep track of the team just enough to be able to have a conversation.
And even I know that the 11-1 Chiefs are like seven plays away from being the 4-8 Chiefs. I find this very funny, knowing that they've basically been no-hustle-all-luck this year. It's a good story. But you're right, bragging is insane in this circumstance.
Or who knows, maybe And Reid and Patrick Mahomes truly are the greatest of all time, and they're just seeing how many times they can bet against their own spread and still win a championship. Call it the Double Black Sox: throw the game but still win.
My hometown Vikings are 9-2 with the quarterback equivalent of an adjunct professor, and we're also like a 5-6 team but for a handful of plays.
I'm an incredibly unsophisticated football viewer, but it feels like there's something structural about football that drives these situations because I'm often baffled how 60 minutes of game play is reduced to about 2 minutes of game-deciding outcomes, often in the last quarter of the game.
My internal conspiracy theorist tells me that this is what the NFL wants because it drives fan engagement via "exciting" outcomes. If I was actually a conspiracist, I'd probably also question the rise of sports betting as having some influence on these outcomes as well.
But I also question why the opponents with "bad luck" also tend to have worse records than those with "good luck" -- are we maybe just refusing to concede that maybe the lucky team isn't just better? Or maybe that teams generally are more closely matched than records would suggest and that close outcomes are a natural outcome of this?
I don't expect the Chiefs (or the Vikings) to make it far in the playoffs. Buffalo managed to beat them pretty handily and I don't think the Chiefs are capable of a playoff victory over them and are probably in real peril with Baltimore, the Chargers or the Steelers.
The Raiders are not the worst team in any league where the NY Giants exist.
I was a Patriots fan who lived through the kind of sad 90s and then the two dynasties. In the years between Super Bowl wins 3 and 4, I particularly started to find the chip on the shoulder of fellow Patriots fans insufferable. (And I wasn't even living in New England anymore.) Once you've lived through multiple championships in a short amount of time, you need to lose the anger from the bad years. If Ravens or Packers fans acted like that, no one would take that seriously even though over a decade passed between their most recent Super Bowl wins.
C'mon. Pro football fans are just about all boors these days so why pick on the Chiefs' fans? After all, the poor bastards have to live in Kansas goddamn City, they need something to feel good about
I've visited Kansas City a couple times and thought it was great. Way more character than I expected
Kansas City is genuinely pretty great.
Chiefs fans, however, are indeed the fucking worst.
KC resident co-sign. Of course there’s plenty of normal and nice people who like the team, and it’s also true that some of the loudest Chiefs fans are indeed the fucking worst
One of the comments at the YouTube video on Luck made me think of Freddie's last NFL related article.
"One of my biggest gripes with sports fans, particularly with the NFL, is how often people feel things that did not happen could not have happened. Lamar is seen as a loser and a choker whose playstyle does not lead to playoff success, but of course if he ever happens to get lucky all of that will dissipate. I’ll never get over how drastically people’s perceptions of Giannis and Jokic changed after their title runs, or how far Harden’s perception has dropped since his prime ended without that title stamp. I spent my entire childhood pounding on tables saying Stafford was better than people thought him to be, only to watch him leave my team and enter the conversations I long wanted him in because he found some team success.
I could talk endlessly about player perception in the NFL and its relation to luck. So many fans don’t get it. Excellent video."
I am politely and honestly interested in an expanded explanation on why Freddie thinks the Tomahawk chop is racist.
Think that's something you might Google? There are a few results for that.
Hi Helena - funny enough I’m not interested in Google search results, but Freddie’s specific opinion on this matter. Which, subsequently, is why I follow this newsletter and not a Google search feed. Great advice though, really kind of you to chime in.
got it. Me, I figured I’d google, look at pros and cons, and assumed deBoer just thought the con side had stronger arguments.
I live in Brisbane and our Australian Rules men's football team is the champion team in the Australian Football League. I mention this with due modesty and humility. :-)
"Here’s the thing about Chiefs fans: they root for the Yankees and pretend they root for the Marlins. They root for the Lakers and pretend they root for the Hornets." Lmao get em
As someone born and raised there, I couldn't understand this one...
In Philly we’d be booing after this win and calling WIP (local sports radio) to have our coach fired (-;
The Chiefs' continuing series of narrow escapes remind me very much of last year's Eagles and I hope they get similarly exposed
Try being a Raider fan living in Dallas for thirty five years. It’s like I’m stuck in amber cursed to listen to Jerry Jones prattle every GD day!!!!
As long as you're not one of the Halloween dress-up Raider fans. My best friend from college is a die-hard and I've always respected the team dating back to Lyle Alzado and Jim Plunkett's years. As a Texas Longhorns fan, I will suggest that y'all don't draft Quinn Ewers, but I do love the guy and he'll do well if he lands somewhere that matches his abilities and physical attributes.
Nah, I predate all that. I started being a fan during Ben Davidson/Daryl Lamonica era. My favs were Stabler & Blanda.
Was going to post something snarky about Freddie liking the Bears, but – severe transgression though that is – this season just being a Bears fan is probably punishment enough.
Go Chiefs!!!!
My only comment is man, if you hate absolutely dominant teams crying about being disrespected, never watch college football.