Whitlock: Sign in Chiefs’ locker room is a childish distraction...

[DaWolf]

Sign in Chiefs’ locker room is a childish distraction

Let me translate the sign and one-win distraction stunt that’s hanging inside the Arrowhead Stadium practice facility:

“Losers question our qualifications to fix this franchise. Winners do what we tell them to do to avoid getting fined, cut or losing access to our self-promoting, unenlightening off-the-record conversations. And in keeping with our tight-lipped approach on talking about in-house matters, we have no comment on Larry Johnson.”

Scott Pioli and Todd Haley hung their “losers and winners” sign in an all-access location because they’re trying to intimidate players, assistant coaches, support personnel and the media.

Their sign read: “Losers assemble in small groups and complain about the coaches and other players. Winners assemble as a team and find ways to win.”

You might think the sign is intended for Larry “Tweet Tweet” Johnson’s edification. Not true. Larry isn’t around. He’s still suspended. You might think it’s simply a hostile reminder to players to keep their mouths shut about any glaring errors made by Egoli and Haley. There’s some truth in that.

But Pioli and Haley were thinking big picture when they hung the sign. It was for everyone’s edification.

Don’t buy Haley’s Thursday excuse that the hallway where the sign was posted is “sacred” and that the media shouldn’t have reported what the sign said. A Chiefs employee tweeted a picture of the sign. At one point Thursday, Haley said he didn’t even know what Twitter is.

These guys are in over their heads. Haley is taking the bullet for a sign that I’d almost guarantee came from Egoli’s head. No way the sign went up without Pioli’s approval. It took 24 hours for Pioli and Haley to figure out the sign makes them look Mickey Mouse and hypocritical.

LJ talked smack on Twitter. Pioli and Haley responded on a public bulletin board.

If you question them, you’re a loser. Remember Pioli — like Charlie Weis, Romeo Crennel, Eric Mangini and countless others — stood around the pile while Bill Belichick and Tom Brady racked up Super Bowl tackles. Pioli was credited with several assists. Plus, his father-in-law is none other than Bill Parcells, one of the 10 best football leaders of all time. And Haley’s dad was a legendary personnel man for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Plus, Haley’s coaching godfather is none other than Bill Parcells, one of the 10 best football leaders of all time.

Pioli and Haley have great résumés. Unfortunately, in their short time in Kansas City, they haven’t demonstrated they have a clue about leadership.

Pioli is adept at swinging deals with his dad and his former New England cronies, concocting rules that allegedly create a football-only “winning” environment and leaving the impression that King Carl Peterson was a warm-and-fuzzy charmer. Haley is good at yelling, one of the best the league has ever seen.

Leadership? Not so much.

“Winners assemble as a team and find ways to win.”

That comment paints the picture that Pioli and Haley are interested in solutions offered by their players. We know that’s not the case. They hit town with a clear message:

“You guys don’t know anything about winning. We have all the answers. Shut your mouth, do as you’re told and we’ll win games. Oh, and Mike Vrabel, who is mad as hell about being sentenced to this hell hole at the end of his career, is going to teach you about preparing to be a champion.”

The reality is Pioli assembled a terrible roster, Haley has mismanaged it, and Pioli and Haley’s leadership “style” has stripped the team of the primary tool necessary to play the game at a high level — emotion.

You can play baseball, basketball, tennis, golf and poker without much emotion. You can’t do it in football. The game is just too barbaric and stupid. Where you have to go mentally to play at a championship level, you can’t get there without heavy doses of emotion.

That emotion generally begins by giving players ownership in the direction of the ballclub. Out in San Francisco, Mike Singletary turned immature tight end Vernon Davis into a team captain. In Denver, Josh McDaniels flipped receiver Brandon Marshall into a fan.

Haley probably made a mistake canceling the Bowe Show, the on-field gyrations of receiver Dwayne Bowe. The Bowe Show needed editing, not a pink slip. Brian Waters needed to be redirected, not disrespected.

It’s worth mentioning again that other coaches have faced the crisis staring at Haley and Pioli. Dick Vermeil almost flopped in St. Louis because his first two years, he had all the questions and answers. Tom Coughlin almost bombed in New York for the same reason.

Vermeil and Coughlin changed. They realized today’s NFL is a partnership with the players, who have little fear and increased leverage.

Will Pioli and Haley change? I don’t know them well enough to offer a credible guess. They remind me a little bit of legacy frat boys. Those guys never change. They think success is their birthright and people without their bloodlines are beneath them.

The childish sign they posted at the practice facility is an indication Pioli and Haley are in no mood to do any self-evaluation. They know exactly what they’re doing. And if you question them, you’re a loser.

[petegz28]

Originally Posted by OnTheWarpath58

OK.

http://stats.washingtonpost.com/fb/l...iving&rank=232

Christ, he doesn't even lead the team in drops, Wade does - and he's played one less game than Bowe.

God damn, dude. It was just a figure of speech.

[Willie Lanier]

Respectable journalists allow events to dictate themselves and cunningly sprinkle in wit and originality with opinion.


Terrible journalists hungrily grab at scraps and forcefeed bad jokes, obvious "how I feel"s and distracting bias to band-aid their flaws.

[Marcellus]

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

It's not the presence of a sign, it's the content.

You think the Raider's "Commitment To Excellence" signs have made a big impact on their team?

How about Notre Dame's "Play Like A Champion"? When was that last Championship?

[Marcellus]

Originally Posted by Willie Lanier

Respectable journalists allow events to dictate themselves and cunningly sprinkle in wit and originality with opinion.


Terrible journalists hungrily grab at scraps and forcefeed bad jokes, obvious "how I feel"s and distracting bias to band-aid their flaws.

Whitlock hasn't used a word of fact in a column since he weighed 250 lbs. I believe it was an 8th grade lunch menu he put together for the Jr High Times.

[MadMax]

Originally Posted by DaWolf

Sign in Chiefs’ locker room is a childish distraction

Let me translate the sign and one-win distraction stunt that’s hanging inside the Arrowhead Stadium practice facility:

“Losers question our qualifications to fix this franchise. Winners do what we tell them to do to avoid getting fined, cut or losing access to our self-promoting, unenlightening off-the-record conversations. And in keeping with our tight-lipped approach on talking about in-house matters, we have no comment on Larry Johnson.”

Scott Pioli and Todd Haley hung their “losers and winners” sign in an all-access location because they’re trying to intimidate players, assistant coaches, support personnel and the media.

Their sign read: “Losers assemble in small groups and complain about the coaches and other players. Winners assemble as a team and find ways to win.”

You might think the sign is intended for Larry “Tweet Tweet” Johnson’s edification. Not true. Larry isn’t around. He’s still suspended. You might think it’s simply a hostile reminder to players to keep their mouths shut about any glaring errors made by Egoli and Haley. There’s some truth in that.

But Pioli and Haley were thinking big picture when they hung the sign. It was for everyone’s edification.

Don’t buy Haley’s Thursday excuse that the hallway where the sign was posted is “sacred” and that the media shouldn’t have reported what the sign said. A Chiefs employee tweeted a picture of the sign. At one point Thursday, Haley said he didn’t even know what Twitter is.

These guys are in over their heads. Haley is taking the bullet for a sign that I’d almost guarantee came from Egoli’s head. No way the sign went up without Pioli’s approval. It took 24 hours for Pioli and Haley to figure out the sign makes them look Mickey Mouse and hypocritical.

LJ talked smack on Twitter. Pioli and Haley responded on a public bulletin board.

If you question them, you’re a loser. Remember Pioli — like Charlie Weis, Romeo Crennel, Eric Mangini and countless others — stood around the pile while Bill Belichick and Tom Brady racked up Super Bowl tackles. Pioli was credited with several assists. Plus, his father-in-law is none other than Bill Parcells, one of the 10 best football leaders of all time. And Haley’s dad was a legendary personnel man for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Plus, Haley’s coaching godfather is none other than Bill Parcells, one of the 10 best football leaders of all time.

Pioli and Haley have great résumés. Unfortunately, in their short time in Kansas City, they haven’t demonstrated they have a clue about leadership.

Pioli is adept at swinging deals with his dad and his former New England cronies, concocting rules that allegedly create a football-only “winning” environment and leaving the impression that King Carl Peterson was a warm-and-fuzzy charmer. Haley is good at yelling, one of the best the league has ever seen.

Leadership? Not so much.

“Winners assemble as a team and find ways to win.”

That comment paints the picture that Pioli and Haley are interested in solutions offered by their players. We know that’s not the case. They hit town with a clear message:

“You guys don’t know anything about winning. We have all the answers. Shut your mouth, do as you’re told and we’ll win games. Oh, and Mike Vrabel, who is mad as hell about being sentenced to this hell hole at the end of his career, is going to teach you about preparing to be a champion.”

The reality is Pioli assembled a terrible roster, Haley has mismanaged it, and Pioli and Haley’s leadership “style” has stripped the team of the primary tool necessary to play the game at a high level — emotion.

You can play baseball, basketball, tennis, golf and poker without much emotion. You can’t do it in football. The game is just too barbaric and stupid. Where you have to go mentally to play at a championship level, you can’t get there without heavy doses of emotion.

That emotion generally begins by giving players ownership in the direction of the ballclub. Out in San Francisco, Mike Singletary turned immature tight end Vernon Davis into a team captain. In Denver, Josh McDaniels flipped receiver Brandon Marshall into a fan.

Haley probably made a mistake canceling the Bowe Show, the on-field gyrations of receiver Dwayne Bowe. The Bowe Show needed editing, not a pink slip. Brian Waters needed to be redirected, not disrespected.

It’s worth mentioning again that other coaches have faced the crisis staring at Haley and Pioli. Dick Vermeil almost flopped in St. Louis because his first two years, he had all the questions and answers. Tom Coughlin almost bombed in New York for the same reason.

Vermeil and Coughlin changed. They realized today’s NFL is a partnership with the players, who have little fear and increased leverage.

Will Pioli and Haley change? I don’t know them well enough to offer a credible guess. They remind me a little bit of legacy frat boys. Those guys never change. They think success is their birthright and people without their bloodlines are beneath them.

The childish sign they posted at the practice facility is an indication Pioli and Haley are in no mood to do any self-evaluation. They know exactly what they’re doing. And if you question them, you’re a loser.

No need to read anymore of the thread I'll lay it out for ya. Whitlock dumb.toopid fat,fat,toopid,fat,he read CP, fat toopid retard, derr fat ass bbq, toopid, fat, It's the same ol ****in shit you guys post anytime he writes an article. Tell me where I'm wrong. You don't agree and he's fat and stupid, yea I'm sure some get the point. I have nothing against Pioli or Haley but they have done some really stupid things IMHO. And JW has every right to criticize them.I'm just sayin it gets really old that your opinions are soooo much better than anyone elses. WTFE I know I'm not popular here and I usually just read and make little remarks, so carry on do what you do..LOL

[Willie Lanier]

Encouraging emotion plays a intrical part in developing a winning mentality, provided its properly channeled.

Allowing a touchdown to go down 14-0 should evoke the emotion of either shame or anger, depending on the player's personality type. That can improve performance in the short term and determination in the long term.

Bursting through the pile to put your boys into an overtime game should ignite great pride and excitement.

Catching an easy floater to chip the defecit to 24 should not bring out an ear to ear grin and a bicep flex.

I love Dwayne's boyish enthusiasm as much as anyone, but attempting to teach him to channel his talents and potential to become a number one receiver (by merit and not by default) one day is not the wrong method in my opinion.

Without doubt I oppose suffocating players' personalities to the point of becoming a bore on par with Bill B, but teaching developing psyches to control their joy elation or depression in an effort to unnlock their full potential just makes sense.

For the record, Haley wasn't my ideal choice as a fit for this team, I much rather would have seen Gruden (here comes the complete lack of support) and his proven hard nosed mentality as a head coach, but he deserves some time to lay a foundation and prove his credentials, and half of a season doesn't qualify.

[Bunit]

Originally Posted by Mecca

Last year Bowe caught 86 passes...this year he's on pace for I believe 46, man Todd Haley sure turned up his career.

Had Tony G to help him out.

[GoChiefs]

LJ tweets:

"My way of joking is to tell the truth. That's the funniest joke in the world."-Muhammed Ali

A subtle jab?