The Thursday Dispatch

Kansas City Chiefs lose the Super Bowl

How can I start with anything other than the Super Bowl? Kansas City, my hometown team, was looking to set a new record by winning three SBs in a row. To date, no one has done that. That ceiling stands. Kansas City lost 22-40 to the Philadelphia Eagles.

It was a solid win by Philadelphia. Patrick Mahomes was never allowed to get into a groove. I could mention a few dropped balls that should have been caught, but that doesn’t account for the fact that Mahomes could not move the ball down the field. It was miserable to watch.

Philadelphia also provided fantastic protection for Jalen Hurts. Did we even get any sacks? I can’t remember, but I won’t look at the stats. I’m not a coach, but I know the crucial details. Hurts had excellent protection from our defensive line and moved the ball down the field almost every time he had it. They scored a solid forty points.

I like to say, “I grew up in the Cult of Kansas City Sports. It is not unique to my family. Up until the Mahomes era, the last time Kansas City won the Super Bowl was January 11, 1970—a month before I was born. The Chiefs had some good seasons, but not many. When they did make the playoffs, they could never make it to the league championship game. But the Cult of KC Sports requires loyalty, no matter how bad the team is.

Loyalty stretches to all professional sports in the city. The Kansas City Royals have been perpetually bad. Their 1985 World Series win was tainted by a bad call that led to a seventh game and Kansas City’s victory. The next one didn’t come until 2015. They are almost never at the top of the table. But I root for them, no matter how bad they are. Now, I’ll admit I won’t watch them if they are having a bad season. The games are too long to waste watching a bad team. (I rate the Royals as a good team if they are playing above .500 ball.)

Sporting Kansas City doesn’t have the widespread support that the baseball and American football teams do have. It is a latecomer to the city, formed in 1996. I guess those of us who include them in our cult following may be an offshoot or a sect from the central cult—like the Branch Davidians and the Seventh Day Adventists, although we are not stockpiling weapons.

It was easy to love SKC, but the last two seasons have been real stinkers. Maybe that will draw more adherents from the central cult. We love our underdogs. We have been riding a giant wave with Patrick Mahomes, and I hope he can do more magic for us, but in time, the Chiefs will return to being an underdog that only the Cult of Kansas City Sports can love.

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Latest News

• My roommate and I have signed a lease for an apartment in the Orenco Station neighborhood of Hillsboro.

• The big project I have been waiting on has finally started at work. I am busy updating documentation and meeting with the professional services team of our vendor to design our new cloud-based phone system.

Arts & Entertainment Update

Currently Reading

I am currently reading the following books:

• The Fortune of War, by Patrick O’Brian

• The Islam Book, by DK Books

• The Dead are Arising: The Life of Malcolm X, by Les Payne & Tamara Payne

I will have more to say about my reading in future newsletters.

Currently Watching

Here are the series I’m watching on various streaming platforms:

• Grimm (Peacock)

• Prime Target (AppleTV+)

• Father Brown (BritBox)

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