Post by MizzouTiger on Dec 18, 2007 11:57:58 GMT -5
www.kansascity.com/sports/chiefs/story/406888.html
JOE POSNANSKI COMMENTARY
The fans are fleeing
By JOE POSNANSKI
Arrowhead Stadium hasn’t been like this for a long, long time. Here are some of my scribbled notes from the day:
No traffic. One scalper, and he’s looking to buy a parking pass. Barren parking lot. Where’s the barbecue smell? Stadium half-empty at the start. Boos. “Fire Herm” sign. More boos. Why is Eddie Drummond playing? Three people holding “Get … Over … It” signs. Now two-thirds empty. Three fans taunt Chiefs offensive tackle Damion McIntosh. He barks back. A “Bring on the Royals” sign.
Scoreboard’s final reading: Tennessee 26, Kansas City 17.
“What happened to home-field advantage,” someone asked Chiefs defensive end Jared Allen, who did not hesitate.
“It’s gone,” he barked. “We have no home-field advantage. That’s not a knock on the fans. It’s on us. We have no home-field advantage. We can’t win at home.”
Everyone knew coming into Sunday’s game that this could be the low point, not just for the season but for the entire 19-year Carl Peterson Chiefs era. The Chiefs had lost six games in a row coming in. The roads were still a bit slippery after the snowstorm. The wind chill at kickoff was 14 degrees. The Tennessee Titans play boring football. They play boring football better than the Chiefs, yes, but it’s boring just the same. Who would brave all that to watch this game?
People did. I suspect there were five types of fans at the game: (1) incredibly loyal fans; (2) incredibly frustrated fans; (3) people who paid way too much for their tickets to let them go to waste; (4) Titans and Vince Young fans; (5) people who got free tickets and figured, “Aw, what the heck.”
And there they were, about 45,000 of those fans, maybe even 50,000 at kickoff, all bracing against the cold, and dealing in their own ways with the end of this lousy season. The game itself went precisely as you might expect. The Chiefs played an ugly but reasonably effective first half — quarterback Brodie Croyle looked the best he has looked, which is the one good positive thing you could take out of this game. The Chiefs led by four at halftime. It was familiar. In eight of their last nine games now the Chiefs have either led at halftime or been tied.
At least 10,000 people left. They had seen this show before.
In the second half, the Chiefs did what they have been doing pretty much every week — they fell apart. They got outscored 16-3 in that second half, they gave up the big play, turned the ball over twice (Croyle threw two interceptions) and committed crushing penalties. They lost their fifth consecutive home game, first time that’s happened around here since ’76, when MacArthur Lane led the Chiefs in rushing and before “MacArthur Park” was released by Donna Summer.
“I don’t know what the hell is going on,” Allen said. “It’s like, one bad thing happens, and we just fall apart. … Maybe we’re just happy with playing close. I don’t know what it is. But it’s obviously a habit for us now. We’ve almost won a lot of games. That’s what we do. We almost win. Maybe there are too many people OK with that.”
There was a lot of talk like that in the locker room — angry talk, frustration, confusion. The Chiefs were 4-3 at one point this season, in first place in the AFC West. And while it was clear that they were mostly winning by using that noted football formula “Smoke plus mirrors,” nobody expected the season to just crumble the way it has. The Chiefs finished their home season at 2-6, their worst home record since the schedule expanded to 16 games. In the seven-game losing streak, they have been outscored in the second half 119-35. The Chiefs have not scored a single point in the fourth quarter in six straight games.
“Embarrassing,” Chiefs tight end Tony Gonzalez said, also for the sixth straight week. Gonzalez admitted that he has more or less run out of things to say. This season is the kind of football nightmare he never expected to be living. He’s almost 32 years old, he’s been playing for the Chiefs for 11 years, and he has never won a playoff game. Now, he looks around and wonders how things are going to get better. Sure it hurts.
“I don’t know how many more years I’m going to play,” he said. “Especially in this environment.”
So yes, the cup of frustration runneth over in the locker room and in the coaching offices and in the executive suites, too. But we’ve seen all that before. What we have not seen — not to this extent, not in a long time — is a mostly empty Arrowhead Stadium filled with negative signs and raging fans who vow to never come back. The Chiefs have managed in one traumatic season to alienate the city in a way that has not been true since the 1980s.
And this provides Chiefs president Carl Peterson with an overwhelming challenge. We’ve gone over his record again and again, but one thing Peterson has always managed to do is give Chiefs’ fans hope. When he arrived, he immediately hired Marty Schottenheimer, who could build a winner. When the team got better but could not quite break through and win the AFC West, he brought in aging legends Joe Montana and Marcus Allen. When Gunther Cunningham was coach and the team seemed to be drifting, he fired his old friend Gun and brought in thingy Vermeil and his offensive circus. When the defense faltered, he brought back his old friend Gun to save the day.
What now? This team has hit bottom. They have to start over. And the fans are quickly moving from anger to apathy. It will take some real magic to get people excited about this team this offseason.
“Major changes,” Gonzalez said. “They have to.”
It all makes you wonder what things will look like next year at Arrowhead. For 15-plus years, everybody wore red on Fridays, the Arrowhead parking lot smelled like Arthur Bryant’s at lunch time, the stadium was filled, the Chiefs were nearly unbeatable, and Kansas City’s identity was tied up in these Sundays.
Now? A fan e-mailed Sunday — he said that he had been a Chiefs season ticket holder for 40-plus years. He sat through the worst of times — through the Steve Fuller years, two strikes, the Todd Blackledge experience, the playoff heartbreaks. He gave up the tickets. He writes: “At 86 years old … I guess that’s enough.”
Lots of people of all ages seem to be thinking the same thing.
JOE POSNANSKI COMMENTARY
The fans are fleeing
By JOE POSNANSKI
Arrowhead Stadium hasn’t been like this for a long, long time. Here are some of my scribbled notes from the day:
No traffic. One scalper, and he’s looking to buy a parking pass. Barren parking lot. Where’s the barbecue smell? Stadium half-empty at the start. Boos. “Fire Herm” sign. More boos. Why is Eddie Drummond playing? Three people holding “Get … Over … It” signs. Now two-thirds empty. Three fans taunt Chiefs offensive tackle Damion McIntosh. He barks back. A “Bring on the Royals” sign.
Scoreboard’s final reading: Tennessee 26, Kansas City 17.
“What happened to home-field advantage,” someone asked Chiefs defensive end Jared Allen, who did not hesitate.
“It’s gone,” he barked. “We have no home-field advantage. That’s not a knock on the fans. It’s on us. We have no home-field advantage. We can’t win at home.”
Everyone knew coming into Sunday’s game that this could be the low point, not just for the season but for the entire 19-year Carl Peterson Chiefs era. The Chiefs had lost six games in a row coming in. The roads were still a bit slippery after the snowstorm. The wind chill at kickoff was 14 degrees. The Tennessee Titans play boring football. They play boring football better than the Chiefs, yes, but it’s boring just the same. Who would brave all that to watch this game?
People did. I suspect there were five types of fans at the game: (1) incredibly loyal fans; (2) incredibly frustrated fans; (3) people who paid way too much for their tickets to let them go to waste; (4) Titans and Vince Young fans; (5) people who got free tickets and figured, “Aw, what the heck.”
And there they were, about 45,000 of those fans, maybe even 50,000 at kickoff, all bracing against the cold, and dealing in their own ways with the end of this lousy season. The game itself went precisely as you might expect. The Chiefs played an ugly but reasonably effective first half — quarterback Brodie Croyle looked the best he has looked, which is the one good positive thing you could take out of this game. The Chiefs led by four at halftime. It was familiar. In eight of their last nine games now the Chiefs have either led at halftime or been tied.
At least 10,000 people left. They had seen this show before.
In the second half, the Chiefs did what they have been doing pretty much every week — they fell apart. They got outscored 16-3 in that second half, they gave up the big play, turned the ball over twice (Croyle threw two interceptions) and committed crushing penalties. They lost their fifth consecutive home game, first time that’s happened around here since ’76, when MacArthur Lane led the Chiefs in rushing and before “MacArthur Park” was released by Donna Summer.
“I don’t know what the hell is going on,” Allen said. “It’s like, one bad thing happens, and we just fall apart. … Maybe we’re just happy with playing close. I don’t know what it is. But it’s obviously a habit for us now. We’ve almost won a lot of games. That’s what we do. We almost win. Maybe there are too many people OK with that.”
There was a lot of talk like that in the locker room — angry talk, frustration, confusion. The Chiefs were 4-3 at one point this season, in first place in the AFC West. And while it was clear that they were mostly winning by using that noted football formula “Smoke plus mirrors,” nobody expected the season to just crumble the way it has. The Chiefs finished their home season at 2-6, their worst home record since the schedule expanded to 16 games. In the seven-game losing streak, they have been outscored in the second half 119-35. The Chiefs have not scored a single point in the fourth quarter in six straight games.
“Embarrassing,” Chiefs tight end Tony Gonzalez said, also for the sixth straight week. Gonzalez admitted that he has more or less run out of things to say. This season is the kind of football nightmare he never expected to be living. He’s almost 32 years old, he’s been playing for the Chiefs for 11 years, and he has never won a playoff game. Now, he looks around and wonders how things are going to get better. Sure it hurts.
“I don’t know how many more years I’m going to play,” he said. “Especially in this environment.”
So yes, the cup of frustration runneth over in the locker room and in the coaching offices and in the executive suites, too. But we’ve seen all that before. What we have not seen — not to this extent, not in a long time — is a mostly empty Arrowhead Stadium filled with negative signs and raging fans who vow to never come back. The Chiefs have managed in one traumatic season to alienate the city in a way that has not been true since the 1980s.
And this provides Chiefs president Carl Peterson with an overwhelming challenge. We’ve gone over his record again and again, but one thing Peterson has always managed to do is give Chiefs’ fans hope. When he arrived, he immediately hired Marty Schottenheimer, who could build a winner. When the team got better but could not quite break through and win the AFC West, he brought in aging legends Joe Montana and Marcus Allen. When Gunther Cunningham was coach and the team seemed to be drifting, he fired his old friend Gun and brought in thingy Vermeil and his offensive circus. When the defense faltered, he brought back his old friend Gun to save the day.
What now? This team has hit bottom. They have to start over. And the fans are quickly moving from anger to apathy. It will take some real magic to get people excited about this team this offseason.
“Major changes,” Gonzalez said. “They have to.”
It all makes you wonder what things will look like next year at Arrowhead. For 15-plus years, everybody wore red on Fridays, the Arrowhead parking lot smelled like Arthur Bryant’s at lunch time, the stadium was filled, the Chiefs were nearly unbeatable, and Kansas City’s identity was tied up in these Sundays.
Now? A fan e-mailed Sunday — he said that he had been a Chiefs season ticket holder for 40-plus years. He sat through the worst of times — through the Steve Fuller years, two strikes, the Todd Blackledge experience, the playoff heartbreaks. He gave up the tickets. He writes: “At 86 years old … I guess that’s enough.”
Lots of people of all ages seem to be thinking the same thing.