JoPo's latest

[Dr. Red]

I just read Pos' column 'Cunningham needs to make changes among assistants'
http://www.kcstar.com/item/pages/chiefs98.pat,sports/3774f37a.b28,.html

Now I know that Pos' is the biggest Gun homer, but the article kinda confirms something I've been thinking about Gun's approach to his staff. [in a way it is a riff on the blind loyalty mantra].

Premise 1 - Gun was a D-Coord with great ability and understanding, some may say a guru.
Premise 2 - Gun sensed his guru-ness and hated interruption and second-guessing, particularly in the heat of battle. ie, don't whisper into his headset in the middle of playcalling.
Premise 3 - JRaye, Stock, and Schottsy Jr., while they talk a good game, don't have Gun's game time Skillz, Hops, what-have-you.

Conclusion - Gun is presently afflicted with 'guru-vision,' the assumption often made by those facile in their field of expertise that other's share their level of insight. Like the engineer, or attorney, or musician, etc., who waxes philosophic concerning their profession in casual conversation, oblivious to the fact that their musings are falling on deaf, unengaged ears, Gun talks at length with his Stooges who stare blankly, nod nervously, and hope no one notices that they are frauds. Gun assumes his remarks are being heeded, critiqued, and perhaps improved upon by these dunces.

Come game time, Gun recalls how he hated being interrupted and places his faith in the skybox brigade. Even when its clear that they can't make the right decisions, he figures that interrupting them will only fluster them and worsen things further. Better to hope for on-field execution, or a miracle, and clean it up in practice, out of the heat-of-battle.

Discuss amongst yourselves

[milkman]

JC - Could be. It appears that the Gun pretty much leaves things up to the guys in the booth during the game, and goes so far as to tell them to go with their gut feeling when they ask him a question. The Chiefs look good when the game plan they had works like it was drawn out and the other teams plays like we expect, but if another team switches things up the stooges are unable to make a game time adjustment to fix it.

[Cannibal]

Gunther was a DC guru in '97, but in '98 they fell flat and were a huge, undisciplined disappointment. It seems to me like a lot of players stopped listening to him back then.

[Dr. Red]

Believe me, I am worried as well about the 'stopped listening' possibilities. I had a soccer coach who taught us a lot for a long time, and we had a great deal of success. Then one half-time he continued to rant and rave about how crappy we were playing, when we weren't playing that badly at all. You could see it in the eyes of the rest of the team, the bubble burst and he had no more credibility. He never got that credibility back either.

[Go Chiefs]

Is it just me or is he maybe making this too complicated? For Christ's sake, this is not rocket science - it's #%&king football.

Why can't these clowns figure it out - go with what is working and stop what is not. Football is run, pass, catch, block, tackle and kick. Everyone single one of us on this board do 500 times more than this at our jobs and I would guess we do it average to good or better.

FOR THE LOVE OF GOD (in my best Chris Farley voice) Gunther pull your head out and flush these turds down the terlet.



[This message has been edited by WisChief (edited 11-29-2000).]

[redbrian]

Let's not act like this is all the fault of Gunther's assistants. Gunther [so far] has proved to be a horrible head coach. He makes bad decision after bad decision. There are too many for me to list while I'm here at work.

Peterson, C()nther, and the rest of the cronies need to be canned when the season over. It's been evident since the 98 season.

It's time to stop making excuses for these buffoons and stop the freaking bleeding.

[This message has been edited by Cannibal (edited 11-29-2000).]

[Cannibal]

I also don't see how JoPo can call Gunther a great motivator and loyal person.

The team has been as unmotivated as you can get. The Chargers and Niners had more heart than us and we were fighting for a playoff spot.

As for loyalty, I don't see how pointing your finger at all of your coordinators after a loss is loyal. This is especially so when no changes are made even after he whines and complains.<P>

[redbrian]

"JoPO" is a mongoloid motherf|_|cker by the way...

[Dr. Red]

Yeah, I guess you guys are right. The Chiefs are my fave team, but it is so clear that 'everything about them' sucks, that its time to forego looking at rational, do-able solutions, and throw everyone out. So long as the jerseys don't change, I think I'll be able to pick out which group of players to root for next year.

Now I'm not saying that Gunther needs to stay. In fact, if the lack of passion can be linked to a disconnect between him and the players, I doubt that can be fixed and he SHOULD go. But, 1) a team playing as well as the Chiefs were up until and including the Rams game doesn't IRREVERSABLY lose sight of that in one month, and 2) facts are, it is still highly likely that Peterson and Gun WILL be here next year. So we have to envision a scenario for success under those circumstances.

[stevieray]

Gun should have punted Stock a long time ago to send a message to his staff and team. Although with current staff we would probably mess it up!

Again Stocks unit allows a big play at the end of the game on a Punt return that costs the team. How can player have respect for a head coach that will not address the situation. Hell, Gunther could make ANYONE interim special teams coach till the end of the season and they wouldn't be any worse off than they are now!

Richardson although a classy and tough player should have been heavily fined for spiking the ball. Especially against a 0-11 team. Why show the arrogance agaisnt a pathetic team. Run the football, place it down, and ACT like you know you will win the game.

Its time to bench some vets that are declining in skills or will be leaving for greener pastures next year. Lets give some of our younger guys experiance and see if they have the skills to make it in the NFL. Hicks is a perfect example. If he didn't get playing time due to injuries last year, he would probably be sitting on the bench with our coaching staff having no clue to what type of player he could become. Winning three of the last four games against teams with losing records won't mean squat unless it is done with some of our younger players gaining confidence and experiance.

GUN get a clue!!

[redshirt32]

I think JoPo needs some smelling salts...