We all know the Chiefs stink. Carl Peterson getting fired (or resigning or whatever) isn’t going to fix our problems. We still have a complete clown for a coach.

I had said to myself that I wasn’t going to blog about it anymore, but watching the hatchet job he does every Sunday, it’s difficult to keep quiet.

Now that Clark Hunt has done the right thing in getting rid of Carl, he should follow up by removing the coach who single-handedly has dealt this team loss after loss over the pass two years. Watching Miami’s Tony Sparano coach his team to a possible playoff berth one year after their abysmal Cam Cameron 1-15 season assures me that with the right leadership, ANY team can turn it around. There are folks who will say that Carl was the problem and that Herm should be given the chance to “get his guys”. Well, I think that Herm could fill every coaching slot with “his guys” and draft for another 2 years and we wouldn’t be much closer then than we are now. He’s just a bad coach.

He was a bad coach in New York. He lucked into the playoffs on the heels of Dick Vermeil’s guys his first year here and has since turned the Chiefs into the AFC’s version of the Detroit Lions. In fact, if the Lions didn’t exist, I doubt there’d be much discussion as to who the worst team in the NFL is.

Clark Hunt has shown that he’s got the stones to do the right thing. He should do it again and get rid of Herm, start anew and renew the loyal Chiefs fans’ faith in 1 Arrowhead Drive. I think that 2-14 is a good enough excuse to blow it up. Let’s now see if Clark Hunt will do it.

Let’s hope that next week’s second half meltdown to the Bengals is the final time we have to watch Herm stomp the sidelines of the field acting like he cares when he really has absolutely no clue how to coach an NFL team. For the sake of the organization, it’s time to let him go.

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I went to see the tragic Chiefs game today with my future brother-in-law, Tyson.

We arrived at the game and the thermostat on my car read 60 degrees. By the time we finished grilling up our burgers, the temperature had dropped at least 20 degrees. Since this was Tyson’s first game ever (and we’d already dropped the $22 for parking - straight-up highway robbery), we weren’t going to let a little cold Canadian air chill us out.

We froze with about 25,000 other people - starting the first quarter and half of the second quarter up in the Northeast corner in Section 339. The Chiefs looked good…a little TOO good. And then I remembered (as did they) that they were the Chiefs, and they are only capable of ONE half of football per game. Unable to stand the cold anymore, we mosied down to section 112, but the wind was just as cold there.

Something happens to the Chiefs when they go into the locker room. Herm’s speeches must be the most mind-numbing, heart-breaking, soul-sucking stories because the team that emerges in the second half doesn’t look a THING like the one that led San Diego 21-10 at the half.

I feel like I’m the only sane person in a city full of crazies. I know that Carl Peterson is mostly responsible digging the grave of this once great franchise, but Edwards is the guy who came and desecrated that grave, stole the gravestone, and replaced it with a bunch of garbage behind the guise of “a defensive mind”. I’m sorry…”defensive-minded” coaches do NOT blow a 21-10 lead with 4:55 left in the game.

This team is a mess. People say that firing Edwards won’t solve the problem. I think they’re wrong. See: Miami.

Also, wasn’t it interesting that Carl Peterson was suspiciously missing from Willie Roaf’s halftime presentation of *GASP!* a framed jersey? This type of thing is the stuff that King Carl lived for. A chance at the spotlight to honor Willie Roaf - one of his minor successes in a long string of absolute failures. Was Peterson’s absence a sign of things to come? We can only hope…

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3 years ago, my buddies had an idea. Since most of us were in town during the holidays and since most of us lived in either Gardner or Olathe we should have a football game on Thanksgiving weekend. Thus, the Gardner-Olathe Annual Turkey Bowl was born.

This year was the first year I was able to play. In 2006 I was in Council Bluffs with Alli and in 2007, I had just had that back thing happen to me and I wasn’t really in any state to play.

I had thought that my absence was perhaps the reason that Gardner had won back-to-back games. I learned today (as they went back-to-back-to-back) that Olathe SUCKS at flag football. Two hours later, I’m defeated, demoralized, cold, wet and REALLY tired.

But it was a lot of fun.

I figure, while I’m still young, I probably should take advantage and still play. My sore body would suggest otherwise.

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In their last 20 games, the Herm Edwards-led Kansas City Chiefs have won once. That’s five percent.

What kind of league has the NFL become where not a single person is held responsible for this type of futility? I really wanted the Bills to score again, just to drive home the point that the Chiefs really are as bad as their 1-19 record reflects.

I don’t want to hear about “promise” and “potential”. Because promise and potential doesn’t get beaten 54-31 in Arrowhead Stadium. There are other words that describe teams that get beaten by that margin at home. But I won’t print those here.

Herm Edwards and Carl Peterson should both be fired. Peterson’s horrid decision-making is finally to the point where it is affecting ticket sales, which is the only reason that he’s been around so long. Clark Hunt can no longer ignore the awfulness of the Chiefs when 20,000+ fans walk out of the stadium halfway through the 3rd quarter (and those were the ones that actually showed up).

But I feel like I’m just repeating myself. It’s really getting old. Not that winning a game would change anything other than just extending the pain of the Herm Edwards era by giving us some smidgen of false hope in a coach who couldn’t effectively coach a Pop Warner team to a championship and a General Manager who should be arrested for theft, larceny and the robbery all the hopes and dreams of Chiefs fans in this city.

But I’ve said this before…it’s nothing new.

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Last week, instead of going for overtime, Herm goes for two to win the game. That’s fine. I have no problem with that call.

I do, however, have a problem with NOT going for it on 4th & 2 in Saints territory with 5 minutes left in the game, especially when New Orleans hadn’t had much of a problem controlling the ball. I just don’t get it.

Actually, I do get it. He’s an awful coach. HORRIBLE even. The Saints fan sitting behind me during the game said, “I don’t understand why you guys are running the ball at all. The only thing the Saints can do is defend the run.” Watching the game, I had to agree with him. Thigpen was once again efficient and effective as a passer and would have been even moreso if not for several dropped passes. (I mean, really, D-Bowe…how about you put up TWO hands to catch the ball instead of just the one?)

It’s getting old that I have to keep saying this, but Herm Edwards cannot coach in the NFL. It took a decent offensive coordinator to make this bunch of clowns actually put any semblance of an offense on the field (not Herm’s doing) and yet the Chiefs still have yet to compete in the second half. This is a head coaching problem. I don’t know how many ways I have to say it. Herm is the biggest problem. His philosophies and approach to the game are antiquated and INEFFECTIVE. There’s no doubt that Carl is a larger part of the problem, but let’s be honest: with Herm Edwards, the Chiefs will not return to the playoffs.

Bring on The Chin.

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The Chiefs still stink.

I semi-predicted it before it would happen on Twitter. Herm and his ultra-conservative garbage offensive and game planning led to the Chiefs’ meltdown today. At home, they won the turnover battle and Tyler Thigpen turned in another great game. Jamaal Charles was effective.

Unfortunately, Edwards’ and Chan Gailey’s offensive plan for the second half was lay down instead of putting their foot on the throat of the Bucs like they should have. This lack of a killer instinct always has been and always will be Edwards’ downfall. He can’t close.

And that’s why he should be fired.

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His lack of a statement regarding the truth behind Larry’s situation is disgusting.

I was listening to Nick Wright from What’s Wright on 610 this evening and he really was laying into Larry and the whole front office for continuing to stand by a guy who has been anything but stand-up. This is now Johnson’s fourth altercation in which his opponent was a woman.

Where are all the men in these clubs? Why hasn’t someone stood up to Johnson’s mistreatment of women and knocked him out. It’s not like he’d be easy to knock down…just look at how he breaks tackles these days. You’d just have to tap him on his glass jaw and he’d fall over.

It’s time for the Chiefs organization to make a stand. Larry Johnson’s price tag doesn’t equal his production and it certainly isn’t worth the trouble. The season is lost anyway…we might as well reclaim some of our character in the process. Johnson should go. It’s an insult to the loyal female fans at Arrowhead that we continue to put up with his diva-like antics.

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Playing for Pizza
by John Grisham
RATING: 7 out of 10

Remember back in the day when the world clamored over when the next Grisham book would come out and how great it would be? I remember reading A Time to Kill and The Firm years ago and devouring them as I marveled at Grisham’s ability to make legal proceedings accessible and to make lawyers seem a little less…um…lawyer-y. For about 6 years during the late 80’s and early 90’s, he dominated the book world. His books now come a little less often, but are still putting plenty of coin in his pockets.

Grisham has written 16 legal fiction books and 4 non-legal fiction books (as well as a single legal non-fiction book). Playing for Pizza falls into that second non-legal fiction category and focuses on an American football player who has managed one of the single biggest failures registered in the history of the NFL (think Lin Elliott).

Rick Dockery is a typical anti-hero…lazy, physically gifted, a real schmoozer. But he’s also tainted goods. No one in the NFL will sign him so he flies the coop off to Parma, Italy where they play real American football (not that silly stuff we call soccer). Apparently, Italy has a league that allows 3 American players per team (Grisham apparently discovered American football while researching another book in Italy) and the competition is probably equal to that of large-high-school football.

The title of the book comes from the way that most of the players in the league get paid…with pizza and beer. Most of the Italian players are athletic guys who just enjoy the game. Oh, to have players that enjoy the game…

Anyway, you can imagine what happens. But predictability is not the biggest sin of this book…the story itself is interesting and Grisham’s descriptions of the food and the cities of Italy made me miss it very much. The story is light on character development and it just made too many leaps where there were opportunities for great storytelling. The book reads more like a screenplay and, frankly, it will probably be better as a movie. Actors will (hopefully) be able to capture the nuance and subtlety of the characters’ feelings, which was one of the major omissions from the book.

Still, it’s a quick, enjoyable read; it just leaves you wanting a little more. It certainly could have been longer, only clocking in at less than 250 pages, giving Grisham more room to develop the characters, but like I said, it’s something that actors will be able to overcome in a movie (as long as they are decent).

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So the coverage is probably better over at Arrowhead Pride, but I thought I’d give my thoughts. Earlier in the week, I predicted:

• Offensive line: 3-4 players
• Wide receiver: 2 players
• Corner/Safety: 2-3 players
• Running Backs: 2 players (1 fullback, 1 running back)
• Defensive line: 2-3 players
• Quarterback: 1 player (perhaps Michigan’s Chad Henne in a later round, if he falls)

The Chiefs ended up taking:

Offensive line: 3 players (counting the final TE as a lineman, since he looks to be the second coming of Jason Dunn)

Receivers: 3 players (2 receivers, 1 TE)

Corner/Safety: 3 players (2 corners, 1 safety)

Running Backs: 1 player

Defensive line: 2 players (although most significant was #5 overall Glenn Dorsey, who looks like a beast)

Quarterback: 0 players (not a massive surprise because all the good guys were gone and they have that Thigpen kid as well)

I didn’t expect the Chiefs to pick 2 tight ends. It seems that Carl Peterson can’t stay away from them. I’m assuming that they are a “best athlete at the pick” type of thing, but we’ll see.

When I saw the breakdown today (I didn’t watch all 8 hours of the draft today, what with church and all), I wasn’t all too thrilled, but as I look closer, it seems like Carl and Herm did the best they could - the best of the last several drafts for sure. Here are my quick-hit thoughts of all the picks.

Rd 1 / Pick 5 - Glenn Dorsey, DT, LSU

The belle of the ball. Beast. Will compliment Tank Tyler and free up Tamba Hali to run freely. I foresee the Chiefs moving Turk McBride to the edge for some games next season as a possible Jared Allen replacement.

1 / 15 - Branden Albert, OG, Virginia

I hope Albert turns out to be the stud tackle that everyone thinks he’s going to be. Even if he ends up being the next Will Shields, that’s a big win for us.

2 / 4 (35) - Brandon Flowers, CB, Virginia Tech

The best part of his ESPN.com overview: “he plays far bigger than his size indicates and faster than his 40 time suggest.” We need a stud corner to replace the crappy age we have out there now.

3 / 10 (73) - Jamaal Charles, RB, Texas

Backup plan in case Larry Johnson doesn’t recover from his foot thing? Maybe. Charles was a good player on a decent Texas team. He’s no Ricky Williams or Priest Holmes, but he could be decent enough to take more of the load off Larry.

3 / 13 (76) - Brad Cottam, TE, Tennessee

This guy is big. 6′ 7″ 270 lbs. He sounds better than Kris Wilson.

3 / 19 (82) - Dajuan Morgan, S, NC State

I suppose the Chiefs need some depth at safety, but this guy will sit behind Pollard and Page. Special teams, here he comes.

4 / 6 (105) - William Franklin, WR, Missouri

As much as I hate the Chiefs drafting players from Missouri, their receivers are good. And we need depth at receiver. I hoped that we would take one earlier.

5 / 5 (140) - Brandon Carr, CB, Grand Valley St.

A corner from a no-name school. This guy is going to be Carl’s gem of the draft.

6 / 4 (170) - Barry Richardson, OT, Clemson

I don’t like that the line on this guy was “not mean enough”, but tackles…hey, we need lots. Maybe Herm can put some mean into him.

6 / 16 (182) - Kevin Robinson, WR, Utah St.

Yay. Another receiver that won’t make the team.

7 / 3 (210) - Brian Johnson, DE, Gardner Webb

This guy gets props for going to “Gardner Webb”, which is just south of Olathe. No wait, that’s Gardner.

7 / 32 (239) - Mike Merritt, TE, Central Florida

He’s listed as a tight end, but they’re saying that he’s probably more of a guard or a 3rd tackle type guy. “Very slow and lacks athleticism.” Sounds like they drafted me.

There are too many guys on the second day that we’ll need to see in pre-season to properly evaluate. What should be noted is that KCChiefs.com is one of the worst team sites in the NFL. Stuff is hard to find, the user experience sucks, and it just looks like it came straight out of Penn Valley Community College Web Design 101…FROM 1995.

KC firm VML…you should be ASHAMED at the horror that is your nested tables and excessive use of…what is that? REALPLAYER? The Chiefs took a step backwards when they abandoned the Happy Cog design that Zeldman did for them. I suppose that’s par for the course and just another example of where the front office’s heads are at.

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