Sam Mellinger | Disastrous start exposes disconnect between Chiefs leaders, fans
 

Sam Mellinger | Disastrous start exposes disconnect between Chiefs leaders, fans
By SAM MELLINGER
The Kansas City Star
The Chiefs Kingdom Apocalypse is in its third day now, and the takeaway isn’t that there are so many fans screaming their panic and anger — it’s that there are so few fans preaching hope and patience.

It’s not that so many fans are frustrated with their team — it’s that seemingly so few are giving that team the benefit of the doubt.

In this, the Chiefs must face something much worse than losing two football games. They must confront the question of whether they’ve lost their fans’ trust.

That’s a remarkable thing for Kansas City’s most important institution besides barbecue — the only thing in town that can unite black and white, rich and poor, Mizzou and Kansas.

The Chiefs have every conceivable advantage to build a consensus of unanimous support in this region, and they’ve blown it with a series of image and football blunders that turned the franchise into something unworthy of its fans’ confidence.

Think about it. How many of your friends believe the Chiefs will turn it around? How many trust the organization will put in the work and write the checks and make the sacrifices to hold off what feels like a disastrous season? How many outside the Chiefs’ offices are saying the current alarm is misplaced or premature?

In the 24 hours or so after the Chiefs embarrassed themselves in Buffalo, and colleague Kent Babb and I each wrote scathing takedowns in return, I heard exactly one fan stand up for the team. Kent says he heard from two. That’s out of hundreds of emails and Tweets we received from people who love the Chiefs and no longer feel the love back.

Unless we’re only hearing from a (very) vocal minority, this is a problem bigger than a shoddy defense and limp offense, worse than bad draft picks and Jamaal Charles’ knee and even Matt Cassel’s passing.

This is about the fundamental relationship between fan and team, where fans give their unwavering time, money and hope in exchange for the team not taking advantage of them.

In many real ways, that relationship is now broken in Kansas City, and the Chiefs are closer than they should be to what started happening with the Royals in the mid- to late-1990s.

Let’s pause for some context, and the obvious counterpoint that the story would be completely different if the Chiefs were 2-0 or even 1-1 or perhaps even 0-2 with competitive losses.

Winning makes everything better, losing makes everything worse, and being blown out makes everything worst of all. The Chiefs can “fix” a chunk of their image problem by winning next week in New Orleans; do that, and the conversation around town changes.

All of those things are true.

So is this: this season’s losses are exposing underlying issues that have been cooking for years.

There is a disconnect between fan and team that just shouldn’t exist in this market and this sport. The NFL makes sure every franchise has enough money to compete, and fans here don’t believe the Chiefs are using it. The NFL makes sure every team has hope, and fans here are remarkably quick to lose theirs.

Some of that is football, and fans cheering for a team with a bottom-half quarterback in a league dominated by elite ones.

But some of it is emotional, too: fans cheering for a team they’re no longer convinced has their best interests in mind. Clark Hunt doesn’t have his father’s charisma or everyman appeal, and has come to be known more for his salary-cap space than anything else.

The fact that Hunt doesn’t live in town is largely irrelevant for a lot of reasons — he has a place here; his father never lived in KC, either; and in 2012, we have access to things like cellphones, email, video conferencing and a private jet – tools that connect him to this market in ways his dad could only dream of.

But perception has a way of becoming reality. In other words, fans have never felt that Clark is one of them.

As the losses pile up, you could say essentially the same thing about the Chiefs. There is an eroding bond here, not in terms of how much fans love their team, but how much love they feel in return.

Losing two games is bad.

Losing that trust is much worse.

at least the media is putting the heat on

Lasers.

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Like the premise, don't like where he went with it.

He keeps insisting the problem is that the Chiefs are cheap. That's not the problem. The disconnect with the fans is his stubbornness to stand behind certain decisions to prove he's right. As I've said before, the biggest problem the Chiefs have is the most expensive guy on the field. If you replace that $63M with a first round pick, you save yourself $40M and you get a better player and a much better team. Case closed.

Yes, it is.

If you're spending money like crazy at least the fans can see you're trying. You may make mistakes but you care.

It's not an argument, it's a fact: Clark is cheap, Clark doesn't win, Clark doesn't care.

You can teach Clark how to run a business but you can't teach him passion...

Unless that first rounder is Jamarcus Russell.

Seriously though, they going Major League on us or what?

We gonna have a die hard night coming up?

good article, bad situation. I know it hated when someone says this but I've been watching this team since the mid 70's and don't remember a time as depressing for Chiefs fans. IF there's relief in sight I don't see it.

ok, fess up CP. Who was it? Blackbob?

Hell NO LMAO

No, Kent said they stood up for the "team" which would include the players.

Bob's newest thing is to throw the players under the bus because they should be professionals and know how to overcome Romeo's shittier-than-shit coaching.

About time they start sounding like CP.

As the losses pile up, you could say essentially the same thing about the Chiefs. There is an eroding bond here, not in terms of how much fans love their team, but how much love they feel in return.

Losing two games is bad.

Losing that trust is much worse
_______________________________________________________________

Exactly how I feel...

The TRUST is lost.

Has been.

FOR OVER A DECADE.

THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO BELIEF THIS TREND WILL CHANGE OR THAT THE MAN IN CHARGE EVEN CARES.


PERIOD.

You, as owner, have to change that.

And if you don't realize it's already happened or have any idea how to fix it that's a dead relationship.

QUIT TRYING TO EMULATE A WINNING FRANCHISE AND START FIGURING OUT HOW TO BE ONE!

Yep, when your QB sucks, the fans lose hope. They know you have to have a good one.

That's why I refuse to spend anymore of my money on this franchise.

No more ridicilous parking fees of close to $30.

No more spending money on merchadise/jerseys etc.

No more paying $75+ for tickets.



I'm really close to just saying F-ck the Chiefs.

This team used to be like a member of my family that I loved unconditionally. They are just mailing it in. Running Cassel out there for four years - four years! - illustrates that they seem to have no interest in becoming a great team.

I dropped my season tickets last year already... no longer going to chiefs or royals games, nor buying any of their gear until Glass\Hunt sells or gets a clue.

^ This minus the big letters.

The current regime and situation is really just an extension of the end of Carl's reign. I wouldn't take Carl back for anything. But I could already see back then that Herm's "I'm an NFL guy...not a Chief's guy" shtick started us down the road of disconnect. We haven't had a guy that cared about the fans and played the P.R. game of pacifying the fans since....yup...Marty. Marty played fans like a fiddle, but it grew old when the playoff losses mounted up.

Two questions that any future GM or leadership regime should be asked by Clark Hunt that should have been asked of Pioli when he was interviewed:

1. Are you committed to winning...period...or are you committed to winning by way of a particular model that you think produces championship teams?

2. Are you committed to reviving the fans of Kansas City's love of this team. I"m not talking about a guy who can't coach a team or a glorified cheerleader. I'm talking about guys that know how to coach a team, manage a staff AND realize that part of their job is leveraging their platform to rally fans behind the team. I swear...Marty had some terrible teams that played way above their heads because the 12th-man was completely rabid for the team. That kind of emotion does feed players. The current situation is NOT the fans fault for choosing not to cheer the current product. This is 100% management's fault for holding the fans at arm distance and constantly insulting our football intelligence - that goes for both Carl and Pioli.

The big letters are all I can really do.

They're free...

QB or bust

Perhaps related to that, but I really want to know his QB philosophy.

What are your thoughts on drafting QBs in the first round?

How do you evaluate college QBs?

Would you have made the trade Washington did this year for RGIII?

If your drafted QB busts, would you immediately draft another, or would that give you second thoughts about repeating the strategy?

How important is it to have a QB ranked in the top third of the league? How does having a lower-ranked QB affect a team's chances of winning a Super Bowl?

Refute this statement: The NFL has become a QB-driven league.

There you go.

This isn't the first time the team has been like this. From the time our SB champion team started to age in 1973 until Marty came along, this franchise was one of the worst in football. I personally think Lamar was into building the franchise. Finishing Arrowhead Stadium finished that build. After that it was on cruise control. Clark Hunt is probably too young to remember when his father had the Chiefs as the #1 thing in his heart. He was just into too many things. I think Clark sees the whole thing as a legacy, a burden he can't unshackle. We need an owner that will set a direction for this team to follow.

I love you Sam.

James Madison huh?

His footwork is some of the worst I have seen. He will need alot of coaching up.

His footwork must be awesome, then.

What is Mellinger talking about? Disastrous start? Is he serious?

Last year after two games KC scored 10 points and gave up 89 points.

This year they've scored 41 points and gave up 75 points.

The offense is 4x better than last year. The D is giving up a TD less per game.

Improvement!

It's a process.

Agreed, Atlanta is a very good team as they proved last night. Buffalo has one of the most improved defenses in the league.

People are overreacting.

yea Buffalo's improved defense

the same improved defense that Mark Sanchez had the game of his life against and threw for 3 touchdowns.

Buffalo is not a good team. they are like 8-8 at best and wont even sniff anything in their own division.

And we can't even hang with them. That's how bad we are.

There ya' go.:thumb::evil:

This is ****ing reeruned and pisses me the **** off! THIS IS YEAR FOUR FOR PIOLI WE SHOULD BE COMPETIVE WITH THESE TEAMS WITH A CHANCE TO BEAT THERE ASSES AT THE END OF THE GAME AT LEAST BE COMPETITIVE!

We are getting blown the **** out first two games of the season just like last year with little to show that we are a better team even with the return of JC EB & TM. It's ****ing bull shit and embarassing.

Teams that start 0-2 from the merger get about a 11% odds of making the post season. Regardless if we are in a shit devision we still would have to face a real team in the playoffs just to get blown out if we got there. We GOT NOTHING to show that we can play with the big boys in this league.

So what if we win some games? How many times this year are we going get blown out again?

Yeah, Mario Williams and Mark Anderson don't count as an improvement. :rolleyes:

Buffalo might have the best DL in the league.

they still gave up 48 points to the JETS

that's not improved. We just make teams look better than they actually are.

L.A.Chieffan is our KnowMo

ROFL

Not even close

40+ years without a championship
19 years since a playoff win
29 years since drafting a QB

This kind of record really shortens the leash of ownership and management.

The peceptions of being under the cap, of building a team that is juuuusssst good enough, of making do with a back water qb, the arogance, paranoia, and media manipulation just present an image of a franchise that is tone deaf. A lot of goodwill has been burnt.

That's quality leadership!

Bills took advantage of the shortcomings of the Chiefs defense, that their sub package can't guard against the run. I thought Stevie Johnson was going to have a career day. Chandler had another big day because our base defense can't cover the pass.

The front office treats the fans like shit. You don't win games, continually seem to lie and undersell, the fans are gonna turn on you.

I've never in my life felt this way about the Chiefs. Even during the Herm years, you could see that the change was for the better. I don't really see this ending well. Shits gonna get bad here in KC. I've never cheered for a loss, but I legit hope we get our dicks kicked this weekend. Just to see if Clark or anyone has any balls.

I don't think it's a question of hope at this point, Mr. O.city. Honestly, our chances of winning that game are slim and none and slim left town ... on account of getting behind on his season ticket payments and slim would like to keep the knees he was born with in basic, working order.

FAX

I bet Scotty felt on top o the world after Monday night 2010.

Not so much now.

If someone really wanted to rustle Pioli's jimmies, they'd email the Dimitroff gif to him. He would snap.

HE ****ING GONNA TRASH ARROWHEAD

http://www.tiphero.com/img/tip_pages/candy_wrappers.jpg

LMAO