Chiefs Blob Gretz = IT'S A TOUGH, LONG FIGHT

teedubya · 09-17-2008, 04:31 AM

IT'S A TOUGH, LONG FIGHT
SEP 17, 2008, 5:04:21 AM BY BOB GRETZ - FAQ

http://www.kcchiefs.com/news/2008/09...gh_long_fight/

Let me start by writing about the Battle of the Bulge.

No, not the pivotal moment in World War II when the Germans made a last ditch effort to turn the tide of the war with an offensive against the Allies in France and Belgium. This epistle is about the battle tens of millions of Americans fight on a daily basis. I’m writing about the fight to lose weight.

How many times have you said “Starting (fill in the date) I’m going on a diet and I’m going to exercise and I’m going to lose (fill in the amount) pounds.” That start-day comes, you are motivated and prepared and for a few days, you eat less and work out more. But then your will wanes and you sneak a little something sweet here, and a little something salty there. It’s just a little; it can’t hurt.

Before you know it, you are back where you started.

I use this tale in relation to where the Chiefs and their fans are after two games of the 2008 season.

Before all this got started, Herm Edwards spoke for months – make that years – that the Chiefs needed to get younger. When the bottom dropped out of last season and the team finished 4-12, it provided the perfect storm. The roster was trimmed, draft choices were accumulated and the rebuilding through youth began.

Based on the e-mail and conversations I had with hundreds of Chiefs fans, the strategy was considered a winner. Most liked the idea that the direction of the team was changed and a group of young players would drive the future.

When a team goes in this direction, there is no going halfway. That would be a giant waste of time. You don’t dip your foot in the rebuilding through youth pool. It’s got to be a head first dive into the deep end.

But it’s one thing to say you are going young and rebuilding. It’s quite another thing to live through the efforts. They are not pretty. They do not always go well. There are ups and downs that wreck the stomach and create anger, second guessing, panic and delusions.

I write this only because I’ve read the e-mails I’ve received here at kcchiefs.com and at my own website, bobgretz.com. I’ve heard a few callers on sports talk radio. I’ve seen the writings and heard the rumblings of various pundits. There is outrage, there is anger, there is second guessing, there is panic and there are delusions.

Going young suddenly doesn’t seem to be the way to go. Fans want the Chiefs to go out and sign somebody, anybody. Others want somebody fired. It doesn’t matter who. They just want someone called on the carpet, head placed in the guillotine to answer for being 0-2 and losing as badly as the Chiefs did last Sunday to the Raiders.

Listen, the team’s performance against Oakland was without a doubt woeful. It was not up to the standards the team established the week before in losing to New England.

But it was but one picture in a series of 16 pictures that will make up the gallery of the 2008 Chiefs season. Those pictures very well may be a series of ups and downs as young players get their feet under them and learn the business of playing pro football. What few older bodies remain will play their way out of the picture or suffer injury that steals their availability.

This is what rebuilding looks like. It’s a dirty, stinkin’, gut-wrenching business, as difficult as anything there is to do in the game of football.

Some would say the Chiefs aren’t rebuilding, they are building. But that’s semantics. What the Chiefs had here for the better part of the last 18 years was winning football. It wasn’t the ultimate success, it wasn’t championship football, but there were more victories than defeat. There was always hope of something better. Eventually, there was a desire for something more concrete than hope.

Right now the Chiefs are trying to re-build a winning football team, one that will be good for years and will challenge for a championship. They easily could have gone out and signed various veteran free agents and put together a more experienced team that would go 9-7, maybe 10-6 and slip into the playoffs every once in awhile.

Would that be satisfying?

From personal experience, I can tell you the only way to lose weight is to eat less and use more energy and that must become a lifestyle, not a momentary thing.

The Chiefs have made a lifestyle change. There are going to moments of hunger, but the goal is better health and a winning football team.

It’s not time to start cheating.

**007** · 09-17-2008, 04:35 AM

Damn Gretz. You don't pay attention to the fans at all do you.

teedubya · 09-17-2008, 04:41 AM

Option WR/QBs and "RR SP P" are what is frustrating us, Blob, you ****ing horses ass.

bringbackmarty · 09-17-2008, 04:41 AM

aww shit, it's only football y'all.

TN_Chief · 09-17-2008, 04:44 AM

Gretz, you stupid bastard...we're not 0-2. We're 13-22. That's Herm's record since he's been here. 11 straight losses. 0-2 sucks, but I think everyone is rational enough to handle it if it were an "isolated" occurence. But it's not an isolated occurence, it's a trend. Just like Herm's tenure with the Jets trended down. It's also a fact that when you look at the team's play there is absolutely no sense of a team moving in a positive direction together. Again, I think we'd all deal with the losses if we could at least fall back on the idea that "well, they did some good things out there and it looks like they're starting to get it". Nope...that's not the what's happening.

So **** off.

milkman · 09-17-2008, 07:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TN_Chief

Gretz, you stupid bastard...we're not 0-2. We're 13-22. That's Herm's record since he's been here. 11 straight losses. 0-2 sucks, but I think everyone is rational enough to handle it if it were an "isolated" occurence. But it's not an isolated occurence, it's a trend. Just like Herm's tenure with the Jets trended down. It's also a fact that when you look at the team's play there is absolutely no sense of a team moving in a positive direction together. Again, I think we'd all deal with the losses if we could at least fall back on the idea that "well, they did some good things out there and it looks like they're starting to get it". Nope...that's not the what's happening.

So **** off.

At the end of last season we gutted the roster, so as far as I'm concerned the 9 losses to end the season last year, and the two to start this season are unrelated as it relates to the talent.

However, the thing that's alarming is the fact that, even with a new, experienced OC, we are doing the same things offensively that we did before.

We are progressing talent wise, but we aren't progressing philosophically.

**Bowser** · 09-17-2008, 07:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by milkman

At the end of last season we gutted the roster, so as far as I'm concerned the 9 losses to end the season last year, and the two to start this season are unrelated as it relates to the talent.

However, the thing that's alarming is the fact that, even with a new, experienced OC, we are doing the same things offensively that we did bEfore.

We are progressing talent wise, but we aren't progressing philosophically.

The Chiefs are just plain scared to go down the field with any regularity. Nearly the entire game last week, the Raiders had 10 up in the box, with a safety deep, yet they never challenged down the field to get those guys off the line and open up some running lanes. Hell, we were more creative with our playcalling in the preseason.

milkman · 09-17-2008, 07:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bowser

The Chiefs are just plain scared to go down the field with any regularity. Nearly the entire game last week, the Raiders had 10 up in the box, with a safety deep, yet they never challenged down the field to get those guys off the line and open up some running lanes. Hell, we were more creative with our playcalling in the preseason.

I think that first series against Chicago scared the hell of of Herman ****ing Edwards.
I can almost hear the conversation.

Herman ****ing Edwards calling up to the coach's box, "Chan, what were you thinking on that series?"

Chan, "well coach, I was thinking that using a couple of play action passes, a couple of fake tosses and boot legs that we could get the defense off balance, get the ball downfield and move the chains, and perhaps score a TD."

Herman ****ing Edwards, "Well Chan, that's arena ball, and we can't win unless we use Dustin Colquitt, so don't do it again."

**HemiEd** · 09-17-2008, 09:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by milkman

I think that first series against Chicago scared the hell of of Herman ****ing Edwards.
I can almost hear the conversation.

Herman ****ing Edwards calling up to the coach's box, "Chan, what were you thinking on that series?"

Chan, "well coach, I was thinking that using a couple of play action passes, a couple of fake tosses and boot legs that we could get the defense off balance, get the ball downfield and move the chains, and perhaps score a TD."

Herman ****ing Edwards, "Well Chan, that's arena ball, and we can't win unless we use Dustin Colquitt, so don't do it again."

The scary part, that just might have happened. Maybe not just like that, but I am convinced Herm has a leash and collar on Chan.

**luv** · 09-17-2008, 09:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by milkman

We are progressing talent wise, but we aren't progressing philosophically.

Without proper training and guidance, the talent will cease to progress as well.

triple · 09-17-2008, 09:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by luv

Without proper training and guidance, the talent will cease to progress as well.

it hasn't really started. we have a bunch of young guys who are just raw and seem to be coaching themselves

**luv** · 09-17-2008, 09:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by triple

it hasn't really started. we have a bunch of young guys who are just raw and seem to be coaching themselves

I was figuring that they had good coaching in college, so the talent progressed there, but now there's no one to take them over the hump into the NFL level of talent.

bobbything · 09-17-2008, 08:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TN_Chief

It's also a fact that when you look at the team's play there is absolutely no sense of a team moving in a positive direction together.

Amen. This is my biggest concern. Not once, in the last 11 games, have I seen any signs of this team making progress. The offensive line hasn't gotten any better at all in 11 games. The QB can't stay healthy in 11 games. The WR's have regressed in 11 games. LJ has gotten worse in 11 games. The defense hasn't gotten any better (and to be fair, any worse) in 11 games.

This is not good. I haven't seen anything in 11 games that gives me any indication that we're moving in the right direction.

If we're losing and you can see the proverbial "light bulb" go on every 3rd game or so, then I can accept it. That hasn't happened.

milkman · 09-17-2008, 08:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bobbything

Amen. This is my biggest concern. Not once, in the last 11 games, have I seen any signs of this team making progress. The offensive line hasn't gotten any better at all in 11 games. The QB can't stay healthy in 11 games. The WR's have regressed in 11 games. LJ has gotten worse in 11 games. The defense hasn't gotten any better (and to be fair, any worse) in 11 games.

This is not good. I haven't seen anything in 11 games that gives me any indication that we're moving in the right direction.

If we're losing and you can see the proverbial "light bulb" go on every 3rd game or so, then I can accept it. That hasn't happened.

Again, you are missing the bog picture here.

The roster was blown up after last season, and we've gone from one of the oldest rosters to one of the youngest to start this season, so that whole "light bulb every three games" things wouldn't have it's first flash until this game against Atlanta.

The problem we have is that there isn't a single bulb to found among the coaches.

It's like they're trying to light a camp lantern while submerged in the lake.

triple · 09-17-2008, 08:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by milkman

Again, you are missing the bog picture here.

The roster was blown up after last season, and we've gone from one of the oldest rosters to one of the youngest to start this season, so that whole "light bulb every three games" things wouldn't have it's first flash until this game against Atlanta.

The problem we have is that there isn't a single bulb to found among the coaches.

It's like they're trying to light a camp lantern while submerged in the lake.

it's more like watching a group of preschoolers try to convince us they can build a rocket ship out of cardboard and trash cans.

09-17-2008, 04:31 AM	Topic Starter
teedubya Most Valuable Poster Join Date: Oct 2003 Casino cash: $9023042	Blob Gretz = IT'S A TOUGH, LONG FIGHT IT'S A TOUGH, LONG FIGHT SEP 17, 2008, 5:04:21 AM BY BOB GRETZ - FAQ http://www.kcchiefs.com/news/2008/09...gh_long_fight/ Let me start by writing about the Battle of the Bulge. No, not the pivotal moment in World War II when the Germans made a last ditch effort to turn the tide of the war with an offensive against the Allies in France and Belgium. This epistle is about the battle tens of millions of Americans fight on a daily basis. I’m writing about the fight to lose weight. How many times have you said “Starting (fill in the date) I’m going on a diet and I’m going to exercise and I’m going to lose (fill in the amount) pounds.” That start-day comes, you are motivated and prepared and for a few days, you eat less and work out more. But then your will wanes and you sneak a little something sweet here, and a little something salty there. It’s just a little; it can’t hurt. Before you know it, you are back where you started. I use this tale in relation to where the Chiefs and their fans are after two games of the 2008 season. Before all this got started, Herm Edwards spoke for months – make that years – that the Chiefs needed to get younger. When the bottom dropped out of last season and the team finished 4-12, it provided the perfect storm. The roster was trimmed, draft choices were accumulated and the rebuilding through youth began. Based on the e-mail and conversations I had with hundreds of Chiefs fans, the strategy was considered a winner. Most liked the idea that the direction of the team was changed and a group of young players would drive the future. When a team goes in this direction, there is no going halfway. That would be a giant waste of time. You don’t dip your foot in the rebuilding through youth pool. It’s got to be a head first dive into the deep end. But it’s one thing to say you are going young and rebuilding. It’s quite another thing to live through the efforts. They are not pretty. They do not always go well. There are ups and downs that wreck the stomach and create anger, second guessing, panic and delusions. I write this only because I’ve read the e-mails I’ve received here at kcchiefs.com and at my own website, bobgretz.com. I’ve heard a few callers on sports talk radio. I’ve seen the writings and heard the rumblings of various pundits. There is outrage, there is anger, there is second guessing, there is panic and there are delusions. Going young suddenly doesn’t seem to be the way to go. Fans want the Chiefs to go out and sign somebody, anybody. Others want somebody fired. It doesn’t matter who. They just want someone called on the carpet, head placed in the guillotine to answer for being 0-2 and losing as badly as the Chiefs did last Sunday to the Raiders. Listen, the team’s performance against Oakland was without a doubt woeful. It was not up to the standards the team established the week before in losing to New England. But it was but one picture in a series of 16 pictures that will make up the gallery of the 2008 Chiefs season. Those pictures very well may be a series of ups and downs as young players get their feet under them and learn the business of playing pro football. What few older bodies remain will play their way out of the picture or suffer injury that steals their availability. This is what rebuilding looks like. It’s a dirty, stinkin’, gut-wrenching business, as difficult as anything there is to do in the game of football. Some would say the Chiefs aren’t rebuilding, they are building. But that’s semantics. What the Chiefs had here for the better part of the last 18 years was winning football. It wasn’t the ultimate success, it wasn’t championship football, but there were more victories than defeat. There was always hope of something better. Eventually, there was a desire for something more concrete than hope. Right now the Chiefs are trying to re-build a winning football team, one that will be good for years and will challenge for a championship. They easily could have gone out and signed various veteran free agents and put together a more experienced team that would go 9-7, maybe 10-6 and slip into the playoffs every once in awhile. Would that be satisfying? From personal experience, I can tell you the only way to lose weight is to eat less and use more energy and that must become a lifestyle, not a momentary thing. The Chiefs have made a lifestyle change. There are going to moments of hunger, but the goal is better health and a winning football team. It’s not time to start cheating.
Posts: 36,825

09-17-2008, 04:35 AM	#2
007 Shaken. Not stirred. Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: London Casino cash: $12240126 VARSITY	Damn Gretz. You don't pay attention to the fans at all do you. __________________ My dear girl, there are some things that just aren’t done. Such as, drinking Dom Perignon ’53 above the temperature of 38 degrees Fahrenheit. That’s just as bad as listening to the Beatles without earmuffs.
Posts: 65,732

09-17-2008, 04:41 AM	#3
teedubya Most Valuable Poster Join Date: Oct 2003 Casino cash: $9023042	Option WR/QBs and "RR SP P" are what is frustrating us, Blob, you ****ing horses ass.
Posts: 36,825

09-17-2008, 04:41 AM	#4
bringbackmarty Gonna go back in time.... Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Kansas City Casino cash: $1285510	aww shit, it's only football y'all. __________________ https://www.facebook.com/The-Pheasan...6018120266009/
Posts: 3,085

09-17-2008, 04:44 AM	#5
TN_Chief Herm Edwards is...Kim Jong-il Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Eden Prairie, MN Casino cash: $10004900	Gretz, you stupid bastard...we're not 0-2. We're 13-22. That's Herm's record since he's been here. 11 straight losses. 0-2 sucks, but I think everyone is rational enough to handle it if it were an "isolated" occurence. But it's not an isolated occurence, it's a trend. Just like Herm's tenure with the Jets trended down. It's also a fact that when you look at the team's play there is absolutely no sense of a team moving in a positive direction together. Again, I think we'd all deal with the losses if we could at least fall back on the idea that "well, they did some good things out there and it looks like they're starting to get it". Nope...that's not the what's happening. So **** off.
Posts: 1,049

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