Rufus responds to Whitlock's column which was a response to Rufus' response
 

DAWES: FROM THE MAILBAG
Dec 27, 2005, 4:09:41 AM by Rufus Dawes

Q: Your nemesis Jason Whitlock came after you the other day in the Kansas City Star. Why does he hate the Chiefs and you personally so much? (Yeah, like that's a real question from a real person)

RUFUS DAWES: If you’ve learned anything from reading these pages since this site came online back in 1995 it’s that some media can dish it out but can’t take it. It would appear that these people are so thin-skinned that they’ve become translucent. I don’t know why I or anyone else would have to “force” Mr. Whitlock, as he contends, “to share some of my doubts,” as he writes, since he does it every day without any encouragement from me. (Kansas City Star, December 22, 2005) Moreover, why should a difference of opinion as it applies to Larry Johnson or any subject associated with the team be out of bounds, particularly if it comes from a Web site that is all-Chiefs?

Media are permitted to say all sorts of things with varying degrees of rancor and differing levels of accuracy, but when they are challenged the response is immediate. That response does not deny some truth so much as to say that nobody has the right to challenge them in the first place. Why should anyone be forced to pay homage to some local Torquemada who wants to rule the area sports world and slaughter everyone that doesn’t believe as he does?

The writer W. H. Auden penned the following hot and immediate response to some criticism he received and it appears quite appropriate in this case:

“The Ogre does what ogres can,
But one prize is beyond his reach,
The Ogre cannot master Speech.
The Ogre stalks with hands on hips
While drivel gushes from his lips.


Q: How can you say it’s not important that Larry Johnson blocks or not?

DAWES: This feckless month-long media hunt to expose Johnson’s blocking failure has no resonance beyond the Kansas City metro area. Most likely, this entire discussion has dragged on as long as it has and been blown out of proportion so some people could take another swipe at Johnson because he won’t speak to them. The trick is when something bad happens to make it fit with your original theory, or perhaps your disposition. Thus, if the Chiefs fall on hard times, it obviously must have something to do with Larry Johnson not speaking to us, or so they say.

OK, Larry Johnson missed a block. Larry Johnson wouldn’t be the first running back who didn’t block. There are guys in the Hall of Fame who wouldn’t, couldn’t, and didn’t. Barry Sanders is one. Do you think Eric Dickerson ever blocked worth a hoot? How about Tony Dorsett? What about our own Christian Okoye? Think he could hit a moving target coming at the quarterback? Walter Payton, Marcus Allen, Emmitt Smith, and Marion Motley (he was, according to NFL pioneer coach Paul Brown) were the premier blocking running backs in the history of this game; all the rest were average. Unlike my colleague Bob Gretz, who writes that LJ will improve his blocking in time, I don’t care if he does or think it’s of any importance in the long run as to the team’s success or failure.

How silly is it that for weeks now we’ve read and heard media – not all — gloating that it was so easy to get Larry Johnson to say something outrageous and foolish, then point out how wrong he was to say it. So, suddenly, they’re angry, not to mention surprised, that he’s gone quiet and doesn’t talk any more?

How many more times do we have to read or hear that Johnson is “angst-ridden” or some such babble? (Kansas City Star, December 22, 2005) Why, because he doesn’t talk to someone in the media? Yeah, he’s so “angst-ridden” he’s making travel plans for Hawaii to play in his first Pro Bowl. “The overpowering joy of the day was watching Larry Johnson run,” Kansas City Star columnist Joe Posnanski correctly exclaimed, a day after the victory over the Chargers. (December 25, 2005) That’s run, not block. The cacophony of sound emanating from the dampened throats of the Arrowhead faithful that day was not, “LA-RY, LA-RY, BLOCK!”

Listen, the next time you read or hear someone in the media say that it’s not important to him that Johnson talks, as one member of the media recently said, ask yourself why then is it mentioned in every article that appears on the guy? Maybe someone could have made better use of his time trying to talk to his dad, Larry Johnson, Sr., as Michael Lev of The Orange County Register did. (December 17, 2005) Maybe we could learn something about Johnson, Jr., other than he doesn’t talk to somebody in the media.


http://www.kcchiefs.com/news/2005/12...e_mailbag_cin/

So Rufus is calling Whitlock an ogre?

You know it's getting good when they each start the name-calling.

Go Rufus go

...and take Carl with you.

Torquemada = Spanish Dominican friar who was appointed grand inquisitor by Pope Innocent VIII (1487). Under his authority, thousands of Jews, suspected witches, and others were killed or tortured during the Spanish Inquisition.

(I had to look it up.)

both a couple dumasses

dumbassery at its finest

So what does this Bob Moore look like?

Could he kick Whitlock's ass?

Or would he be better suited for a slap fight with a mini-Whitlock?

Dinny

After round one Whitlock and Gretz return to thier corners. Whitlock is getting a quick shot of chocolate milk to get him going, and Gretz is sucking at Carl Peterson's teet to get him energized.

*ding*

Round 2 underway and Whitlock comes out of the corner swinging with a bag of cheetos in either hand, but Gretz is too quick for the portly reporter, he hits Whitlock in his second chin with an uppercut from a beef brisket and Whitlock is DOWN but wait!! He's back up, wait .........what is this..... Jason Whitlock is pointing to someone in the crowd for help............could it be!!!?? OH MY GOD IT IS!!!!! Jason Whitlock has called in his former high school teammate and secret lover Jeff George to continue the fight for him while he goes to get a Big Mac!!! Jeff George enters the fight swinging wildly with that powerfull right arm but Gretz is lucky because we all know that Jeff George cant hit anyone no matter how big the target is. Gretz is now pointing to crowd, he is getting tired from the breeze being put off by Jeff George's incomplete punches, and look who it is coming to the ring!! Larry Johnson and holy shit, he looks pissed!! Larry lays out George with one punch now he is LEAVING THE RING!! Apparently he is off to find Whitlock at one of the local area McDonalds. LOOK! There he is at the drive through! Johnson opens the door of Whitlock's obesity equipped Escalade and procedes to pound Whitlock into submission! We have a winner! Bob Gretz, the champion of KC media!

Of course, we all know that the next day Whitlock will write an article saying Gretz is a racist and the vicious media cycle starts all over again while the Chiefs will miss the playoffs AGAIN!

Just so you know, Kansas City is the laughing stock of all football media.

Oh, also, I watched a couple of games this weekend. When flipping between the KC game and the Dallas game, I noticed something very interesting. On third downs, Clinton Portis was in whether it was a passing down or not. I flipped over to the KC game, and noticed that Larry Johnson could not make the same claim.

Take it for what it's worth...

Whitlock specifically called out Bob Moore.

I think they ought to square off in front of the puking fish down on the plaza at high noon someday.

That's why I'd like to know what Bob Moore looks like so I can get the image of The Fridge vs. Manute Bol out of my head.

I'm no fan of either, but I give Whitlock the nod journalistically. He signs his real name to his product.

Dinny

ROFL That's going to leave a mark!

Where would we be without you to point out the self evident?

A Carl Peterson/Rufus Dawes/Fraud Fatlock-free KC in 2006

That is the ultimate resolution