Chiefs Kent Babb dismantles Fat Scott - Page 20

FloridaMan88 · 09-16-2012, 05:36 PM

http://www.kansascity.com/2012/09/16...-big-with.html

Chiefs will never win big with Pioli in charge

By KENT BABB

The Kansas City Star

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- Scott Pioli pushed his way through a doorway, into the Ralph Wilson Stadium tunnel and then, alone, disappeared into the Chiefs’ locker room.

As the team he built was enduring the final minutes of death-by-Ryan Fitzpatrick, an embarrassing 35-17 loss to the Buffalo Bills, the Chiefs’ general manager walked toward a few minutes of solitude. Days like this are lonely when you’re the king, and maybe he embraced what is obvious to so many others who saw Sunday’s loss: that another team he constructed looks lost and unprepared. No injuries and no excuses, no former head coach to blame, and no safety net below the Chiefs’ most powerful football man.

The Chiefs’ problems are with their coaches and players, but the bigger issue is about the man who brought in those coaches and players. Yes, this game and this season are on Pioli, and there’s no denying that anymore. And there’s no more denying another truth, whether you’re ready to read it or not: The Chiefs will never win big while Pioli is this team’s boss. His priorities are too misguided, his insecurities and denial too immense to allow Kansas City’s favorite team to win the Super Bowl that he was brought here to claim.

Pioli is now in his fourth year of trying to justify the hype that earned him accolades in New England, respect within the NFL, and a multi-million-dollar job as a GM. Expectations were unreachable, maybe, but Pioli has done himself no favors by obsessing over trivial details, spending too much time trying to feed his addition to his own reputation, and engineering a team using the “discount football” philosophy that has made the Hunt family richer but has gotten the Chiefs only marginally closer to a Super Bowl.

Days like Sunday should be behind the Chiefs. This roster is so much better than the one Pioli inherited in January 2009. He’s responsible for that, too. But how much better could it be if Pioli weren’t so consumed by off-the-field nonsense? He arrived nearly five years ago and promised to curb a culture of losing. Instead, Pioli now oversees an organization shadowed in a culture of misplaced priorities and anxiety — and, yes, more losing.

Now in his fourth season as GM, Pioli has spent too much time trying to justify his decisions, rather than trying to improve them.

He whines to outsiders that the Chiefs’ salary-cap shortcomings are misunderstood? Well, spend more money, as team chairman Clark Hunt has said Pioli is authorized to do. Pioli excuses himself for his biggest mistakes, such as saying he just didn’t do his homework before hiring former coach Todd Haley? Well, why not? And he says privately that drafting a quarterback in the early rounds isn’t the point; it’s about drafting the right one. Well, Scott, then draft the right one. These things are big parts of Pioli’s job, but instead of acknowledging that, he chooses to tell himself — and, through back channels, you — that things are just fine.

In Scott We Trust? Not anymore.

Pioli cares more than you can imagine about what others think; about how his gilded reputation still shines nearly five years after it landed him this job.

He calls opinion-makers in Kansas City to plead with them to share his side of the story in exchange for a nibble of access, and he spends his own time compiling ultimately meaningless statistics in an attempt to spin unpopular draft choices and questionable spending habits into a more favorable light. He hints to anyone who’ll listen — in exchange for agreeing that you didn’t hear it from him — that the Chiefs’ playoff run in 2010 and a brief winning streak last season weren’t a result of Haley’s coaching. Those, he is convinced, were results of the magic of former offensive coordinator Charlie Weis two seasons ago and, last year, the motivating skills of Romeo Crennel. He obsesses over public relations, attempting to manipulate the message large and small. Pioli is as responsible as anyone for the misconception that Haley ruined the Chiefs and that, by firing him last December, Pioli helped to save it. How does that narrative look after the Chiefs’ second consecutive blowout loss?

Pioli craves credit and validation on good days, and he wants to hide and blame others after days like Sunday.

He worries so much about trivial matters that it’s impossible to think that such an emphasis hasn’t been an obstacle to the Chiefs’ success. He was concerned enough about what cornerback Brandon Flowers might’ve thought if Pioli had signed Brandon Carr to a richer contract that this factored into his decision to let Carr leave Kansas City and sign with the Dallas Cowboys.

Win, and nobody cares about how many dollars the Chiefs are under the salary cap, or which coach was responsible for past success, or why a free agent was allowed to walk. Lose, and all anyone wants to talk about is going to war with your first head coach, a new and considerably less shiny reputation built on micromanagement and insecurity, and stubbornly sticking with quarterback Matt Cassel just because you drafted him in New England, traded for him in Kansas City, and signed him to an extension.

Pioli has, for years now, learned from far too many mistakes. Haley. Sticking with Cassel. Thinking he can control every ounce of information. A growing number of unimpressive draft classes. The way front-office employees are treated and how bizarrely secretive everyone is expected to be. Pioli wasn’t brought to Kansas City to learn from trial and error; he was hired because he was advertised as being smart enough to avoid learning things the hard way.

Crennel is now the Chiefs’ head coach, and few people inside or outside the organization after last season would’ve suggested that elevating Crennel would be a mistake. But after an 0-2 start in which the Chiefs’ defense — Crennel’s baby — has allowed 68 points and has no idea why, that hire now looks like another blunder.

Fair or not, Pioli’s job is to anticipate days like this, put aside emotion and past allegiance in New England and with the New York Giants, and hire a coach who can take on one of the NFL’s most talented rosters and avoid this kind of start. This is the tradeoff of cashing those big paychecks, of sitting in that sprawling office, and taking on the role of one of sports’ most powerful men.

Pioli is a very bright man. He has made the Hunts a mountain of money and built the Chiefs into a team that should begin each season as a trendy playoff choice, and those things are enough to keep him employed for the foreseeable future. He has a cushion of otherwise undeserved job security because of this and because the Chiefs believe you’ll keep filling Arrowhead Stadium, keep tuning in to disasters like the one broadcast in Kansas City on Sunday, and keep believing that better days are ahead.

Maybe they are, but assembling a team at a discount and prioritizing things that don’t really matter only builds a team with a limited ceiling. As long as Pioli is in that office, your expectations should have a low ceiling, too.

**New World Order** · 09-17-2012, 01:35 AM

What if we did a billboard right along I 70 around the Chiefs stadium? I believe its 1k- 1500 for a month, we could easily come together and get that, 1 month would be all we need.

Picture of his face then "Are you tired of the same old thing? Fire Scott Pioli" etc..

Otter · 09-17-2012, 01:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

Only when applicable.

Oh, and a little advice: Every time you reference that grandfather, who was born 100 years ago, is essentially smarter than you and gave you wise advise that you admittedly ignored on several occasions apparently, only makes you appear as a bigger dumbass than previously thought.

Just a heads up.

Thanks for heads up Mr. LA. We're different creatures and if we ever meet I'll buy you a good micro-brew if ya let me and we'd probably get along fine face to face. You have a big ego, which is most likely needed in your line of work that I don't get along with too well.

Love ya Dane!

Otter · 09-17-2012, 01:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BossChief

Have you taken a glance at the club section lately? Those seats are 2:1 more expensive than the average seat in the place and they are almost completely empty and with the way this team has started the year, they will only be more and more empty going forward.

The premium seating in the stadium is where the real money is and that's why they added so much more premium seating when they did the renovations.

It wouldn't matter if the third level is empty and nearly all of the LL seats are already paid for via STH.

The REAL way to hit these guys where it would possibly make a difference is with their TV deals and sponsors.

Those can be effected by their target audience revolting due to valid reasoning.

I haven't been to a game in Arrowhead since 2003. How are those seats filled if their so expensive and the team sucks?

**DaneMcCloud** · 09-17-2012, 01:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Otter

Thanks for heads up Mr. LA. We're different creatures and if we ever meet I'll buy you a good micro-brew if ya let me and we'd probably get along fine face to face. You have a big ego, which is most likely needed in your line of work that I don't get along with too well.

Love ya Dane!

My post wasn't meant as an insult.

Hammock Parties · 09-17-2012, 01:47 AM

Quote:

he spends his own time compiling ultimately meaningless statistics in an attempt to spin unpopular draft choices and questionable spending habits into a more favorable light.

Jesus. ****ing. Christ.

He's Carl II, Nerd Edition.

Carl had someone do that FOR HIM.

**BossChief** · 09-17-2012, 01:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Otter

I haven't been to a game in Arrowhead since 2003. How are those seats filled if their so expensive and the team sucks?

They are a ****ing ghost town.

That's my whole point.

Id have to crunch the numbers, but just one example is that for the price of one game ticket in the club section, you can get season tickets in the upper level.

My point is that "just dont show up to the games" probably wont have as big of an impact as some might think.

Clarks profit in the ticket sales comes in if/when the team is actually worth paying good money from the rich parts of Kansas and Missouri (and even more so, corporate sponsors wanting the luxury boxes he just built) to watch.

Taking it a step further...even if he were to sell out the gold club level with the necessary CONTRACTS that are required to purchase them...that amount pales in comparison to the REAL money which is from the TV deals and sponsors.

Otter · 09-17-2012, 01:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

My post wasn't meant as an insult.

No worries mate.

Otter · 09-17-2012, 02:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BossChief

They are a ****ing ghost town.

That's my whole point.

Id have to crunch the numbers, but just one example is that for the price of one game ticket in the club section, you can get season tickets in the upper level.

My point is that "just dont show up to the games" probably wont have as big of an impact as some might think.

Clarks profit in the ticket sales comes in if/when the team is actually worth paying good money from the rich parts of Kansas and Missouri to watch.

I'm not familiar with the economics of Arrowhead either but if people stop paying for parking and $10 beers it's going to make a difference. The corporate box seats only go so far.

It's bed time for me and yes, **** this team. I'm sick of them too.

Hammock Parties · 09-17-2012, 02:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by saphojunkie

I love this. I love it. I was at a bar with Chiefs fans today, and I actively cheered for both the Stevie Johnson touchdown and the return TD by McKelvin.

The most excited I've been about this team this year was Cassel's pick six in preseason.

I knew it was the beginning of the end.

mikey23545 · 09-17-2012, 02:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

Only when applicable.

Oh, and a little advice: Every time you reference that grandfather, who was born 100 years ago, is essentially smarter than you and gave you wise advise that you admittedly ignored on several occasions apparently, only makes you appear as a bigger dumbass than previously thought.

Just a heads up.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

No ****ing way.

There's FAR more to being a great head coach than just X's and O's. There's the ability to be a nice, normal human being and managing people.

Haley was none of the above.

This is you saying that? Really?

**DaneMcCloud** · 09-17-2012, 02:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikey23545

This is you saying that? Really?

Go **** yourself, you worthless ****ing maggot.

**BigMeatballDave** · 09-17-2012, 02:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cassel's Reckoning

The most excited I've been about this team this year was Cassel's pick six in preseason.

I knew it was the beginning of the end.

My brother and I laughed out loud when they returned the kick for a TD.

All we can do is laugh now.

Brees is gonna throw for 400+.

I'm actively rooting for blow outs now.

No one should keep their job after this mess.

BURN BABY, BURN!

BillSelfsTrophycase · 09-17-2012, 02:33 AM

Hammock Parties · 09-17-2012, 02:34 AM

It's so nice that we're all in this together again.

Missed you guys!

Titty Meat · 09-17-2012, 02:35 AM

GoChiefs was right

09-16-2012, 05:36 PM
FloridaMan88 Mahomes: We Are All Witnesses Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Miami, FL Casino cash: $-697094	Kent Babb dismantles Fat Scott http://www.kansascity.com/2012/09/16...-big-with.html Chiefs will never win big with Pioli in charge By KENT BABB The Kansas City Star ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- Scott Pioli pushed his way through a doorway, into the Ralph Wilson Stadium tunnel and then, alone, disappeared into the Chiefs’ locker room. As the team he built was enduring the final minutes of death-by-Ryan Fitzpatrick, an embarrassing 35-17 loss to the Buffalo Bills, the Chiefs’ general manager walked toward a few minutes of solitude. Days like this are lonely when you’re the king, and maybe he embraced what is obvious to so many others who saw Sunday’s loss: that another team he constructed looks lost and unprepared. No injuries and no excuses, no former head coach to blame, and no safety net below the Chiefs’ most powerful football man. The Chiefs’ problems are with their coaches and players, but the bigger issue is about the man who brought in those coaches and players. Yes, this game and this season are on Pioli, and there’s no denying that anymore. And there’s no more denying another truth, whether you’re ready to read it or not: The Chiefs will never win big while Pioli is this team’s boss. His priorities are too misguided, his insecurities and denial too immense to allow Kansas City’s favorite team to win the Super Bowl that he was brought here to claim. Pioli is now in his fourth year of trying to justify the hype that earned him accolades in New England, respect within the NFL, and a multi-million-dollar job as a GM. Expectations were unreachable, maybe, but Pioli has done himself no favors by obsessing over trivial details, spending too much time trying to feed his addition to his own reputation, and engineering a team using the “discount football” philosophy that has made the Hunt family richer but has gotten the Chiefs only marginally closer to a Super Bowl. Days like Sunday should be behind the Chiefs. This roster is so much better than the one Pioli inherited in January 2009. He’s responsible for that, too. But how much better could it be if Pioli weren’t so consumed by off-the-field nonsense? He arrived nearly five years ago and promised to curb a culture of losing. Instead, Pioli now oversees an organization shadowed in a culture of misplaced priorities and anxiety — and, yes, more losing. Now in his fourth season as GM, Pioli has spent too much time trying to justify his decisions, rather than trying to improve them. He whines to outsiders that the Chiefs’ salary-cap shortcomings are misunderstood? Well, spend more money, as team chairman Clark Hunt has said Pioli is authorized to do. Pioli excuses himself for his biggest mistakes, such as saying he just didn’t do his homework before hiring former coach Todd Haley? Well, why not? And he says privately that drafting a quarterback in the early rounds isn’t the point; it’s about drafting the right one. Well, Scott, then draft the right one. These things are big parts of Pioli’s job, but instead of acknowledging that, he chooses to tell himself — and, through back channels, you — that things are just fine. In Scott We Trust? Not anymore. Pioli cares more than you can imagine about what others think; about how his gilded reputation still shines nearly five years after it landed him this job. He calls opinion-makers in Kansas City to plead with them to share his side of the story in exchange for a nibble of access, and he spends his own time compiling ultimately meaningless statistics in an attempt to spin unpopular draft choices and questionable spending habits into a more favorable light. He hints to anyone who’ll listen — in exchange for agreeing that you didn’t hear it from him — that the Chiefs’ playoff run in 2010 and a brief winning streak last season weren’t a result of Haley’s coaching. Those, he is convinced, were results of the magic of former offensive coordinator Charlie Weis two seasons ago and, last year, the motivating skills of Romeo Crennel. He obsesses over public relations, attempting to manipulate the message large and small. Pioli is as responsible as anyone for the misconception that Haley ruined the Chiefs and that, by firing him last December, Pioli helped to save it. How does that narrative look after the Chiefs’ second consecutive blowout loss? Pioli craves credit and validation on good days, and he wants to hide and blame others after days like Sunday. He worries so much about trivial matters that it’s impossible to think that such an emphasis hasn’t been an obstacle to the Chiefs’ success. He was concerned enough about what cornerback Brandon Flowers might’ve thought if Pioli had signed Brandon Carr to a richer contract that this factored into his decision to let Carr leave Kansas City and sign with the Dallas Cowboys. Win, and nobody cares about how many dollars the Chiefs are under the salary cap, or which coach was responsible for past success, or why a free agent was allowed to walk. Lose, and all anyone wants to talk about is going to war with your first head coach, a new and considerably less shiny reputation built on micromanagement and insecurity, and stubbornly sticking with quarterback Matt Cassel just because you drafted him in New England, traded for him in Kansas City, and signed him to an extension. Pioli has, for years now, learned from far too many mistakes. Haley. Sticking with Cassel. Thinking he can control every ounce of information. A growing number of unimpressive draft classes. The way front-office employees are treated and how bizarrely secretive everyone is expected to be. Pioli wasn’t brought to Kansas City to learn from trial and error; he was hired because he was advertised as being smart enough to avoid learning things the hard way. Crennel is now the Chiefs’ head coach, and few people inside or outside the organization after last season would’ve suggested that elevating Crennel would be a mistake. But after an 0-2 start in which the Chiefs’ defense — Crennel’s baby — has allowed 68 points and has no idea why, that hire now looks like another blunder. Fair or not, Pioli’s job is to anticipate days like this, put aside emotion and past allegiance in New England and with the New York Giants, and hire a coach who can take on one of the NFL’s most talented rosters and avoid this kind of start. This is the tradeoff of cashing those big paychecks, of sitting in that sprawling office, and taking on the role of one of sports’ most powerful men. Pioli is a very bright man. He has made the Hunts a mountain of money and built the Chiefs into a team that should begin each season as a trendy playoff choice, and those things are enough to keep him employed for the foreseeable future. He has a cushion of otherwise undeserved job security because of this and because the Chiefs believe you’ll keep filling Arrowhead Stadium, keep tuning in to disasters like the one broadcast in Kansas City on Sunday, and keep believing that better days are ahead. Maybe they are, but assembling a team at a discount and prioritizing things that don’t really matter only builds a team with a limited ceiling. As long as Pioli is in that office, your expectations should have a low ceiling, too.
Posts: 50,164

09-17-2012, 01:35 AM	#286
New World Order Choco Favre Join Date: Jul 2012 Casino cash: $-1185235	What if we did a billboard right along I 70 around the Chiefs stadium? I believe its 1k- 1500 for a month, we could easily come together and get that, 1 month would be all we need. Picture of his face then "Are you tired of the same old thing? Fire Scott Pioli" etc.. Last edited by New World Order; 09-17-2012 at 01:44 AM..
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09-17-2012, 02:33 AM	#298
BillSelfsTrophycase WHAT IS YOUR MAJOR MALFUNCTION Join Date: Oct 2009 Casino cash: $10009313
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09-17-2012, 02:34 AM	#299
Hammock Parties I'll be back. Join Date: Nov 2002 Casino cash: $850478	It's so nice that we're all in this together again. Missed you guys! __________________ Chiefs game films
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09-17-2012, 02:35 AM	#300
Titty Meat Inmem 2.0 Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: My house Casino cash: $-1132442	GoChiefs was right
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