Joe Posnanski: big SI Scott Pioli feature

[Reaper16]

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vau...10/1/index.htm

Story broken up amongst 8 pages, so I'm not going to copy/paste the full text here.

Figured this would be of interest to us all here.

[Dave Lane]

I thought early on in this season that the improvement would be greater than most thought. But I'll admit I didn't think it would be this good. I thought 8-8 9-7 type season with next year being a bigger improvement. I'm glad to admit I was wrong.

[|Zach|]

Thanks for the heads up. Looking forward to reading it.

[KcMizzou]

Originally Posted by Dave Lane

I thought early on in this season that the improvement would be greater than most thought. But I'll admit I didn't think it would be this good. I thought 8-8 9-7 type season with next year being a bigger improvement. I'm glad to admit I was wrong.

I was hoping for 8-8 and I'm admittedly a huge homer.

[KcMizzou]

Thanks for the link, Reaper. It'll be nice to read some Chiefs related stuff from JoPo again.

[noa]

Soft schedule and all aside, it's nice to see the Chiefs beat the teams they are supposed to beat. We weren't doing that for the last few years (lost to the Bill and Browns at home last year, and the season before that was an absolute joke). We're headed down the path so eventually we'll start picking up the unexpected wins, too. And then we'll be ready for a playoff run.

I think Pioli has us going in the right direction, but the article conveniently doesn't mention the Tyson Jackson debacle. That is a pretty big stain on Pioli's resume so far.

[KcMizzou]

Originally Posted by noa

Soft schedule and all aside, it's nice to see the Chiefs beat the teams they are supposed to beat. We weren't doing that for the last few years (lost to the Bill and Browns at home last year, and the season before that was an absolute joke). We're headed down the path so eventually we'll start picking up the unexpected wins, too. And then we'll be ready for a playoff run.

I think Pioli has us going in the right direction, but the article conveniently doesn't mention the Tyson Jackson debacle. That is a pretty big stain on Pioli's resume so far.

We're picking up "unexpected wins" this season, if you think back.

That's the thing about success, it changes expectations quickly.

[CaliforniaChief]

I said this leading up to yesterday's game and I'll say it now: Sunday's game was huge. And while San Diego's win definitely overshadowed it, I thought it signified something big. In a hostile environment, they took care of business. They appear to be improving as the season progresses, particularly at key positions like QB and WR.

I'm a believer in Pioli and his way of doing things.

['Hamas' Jenkins]

Joe Po has always been the master at writing 8,000 word fluff pieces.

I think that Pioli should be commended for separating the wheat from the chaff of the old regime, but almost all of the impact talent was already in place.

You could make a case for Flowers, DJ, Bowe, Hali, and Charles all making the pro bowl this year.

Top that off with Albert, Waters, and Carr as solid starters and Cox, Richardson, Studebaker, Williams, and even McGraw as rotational players, and the cupboard wasn't nearly as bare as many thought.

[RealSNR]

JoPo ****ed up. He said Pioli hired former Cardinals' defensive coordinator Todd Haley as head coach.

[T-post Tom]

Young George Willard got out of bed at four in the morning. It was April and the young tree leaves were just coming out of their buds. The trees along the residence streets in Winesburg are maple and the seeds are winged. When the wind blows they whirl crazily about, filling the air and making a carpet underfoot.

George came downstairs into the hotel office carrying a brown leather bag. His trunk was packed for departure. Since two o'clock he had been awake thinking of the journey he was about to take and wondering what he would find at the end of his journey. The boy who slept in the hotel office lay on a cot by the door. His mouth was open and he snored lustily. George crept past the cot and went out into the silent deserted main street. The east was pink with the dawn and long streaks of light climbed into the sky where a few stars still shone.

Beyond the last house on Trunion Pike in Winesburg there is a great stretch of open fields. The fields are owned by farmers who live in town and drive homeward at evening along Trunion Pike in light creaking wagons. In the fields are planted berries and small fruits. In the late afternoon in the hot summers when the road and the fields are covered with dust, a smoky haze lies over the great flat basin of land. To look across it is like looking out across the sea. In the spring when the land is green the effect is somewhat different. The land becomes a wide green billiard table on which tiny human insects toil up and down.

All through his boyhood and young manhood George Willard had been in the habit of walking on Trunion Pike. He had been in the midst of the great open place on winter nights when it was covered with snow and only the moon looked down at him; he had been there in the fall when bleak winds blew and on summer evenings when the air vibrated with the song of insects. On the April morning he wanted to go there again, to walk again in the silence. He did walk to where the road dipped down by a little stream two miles from town and then turned and walked silently back again. When he got to Main Street clerks were sweeping the sidewalks before the stores. "Hey, you George. How does it feel to be going away?" they asked.

The westbound train leaves Winesburg at seven forty-five in the morning. Tom Little is conductor. His train runs from Cleveland to where it connects with a great trunk line railroad with terminals in Chicago and New York. Tom has what in railroad circles is called an "easy run." Every evening he returns to his family. In the fall and spring he spends his Sundays fishing in Lake Erie. He has a round red face and small blue eyes. He knows the people in the towns along his railroad better than a city man knows the people who live in his apartment building.

George came down the little incline from the New Willard House at seven o'clock. Tom Willard carried his bag. The son had become taller than the father.

On the station platform everyone shook the young man's hand. More than a dozen people waited about. Then they talked of their own affairs. Even Will Henderson, who was lazy and often slept until nine, had got out of bed. George was embarrassed. Gertrude Wilmot, a tall thin woman of fifty who worked in the Winesburg post office, came along the station platform. She had never before paid any attention to George. Now she stopped and put out her hand. In two words she voiced what everyone felt. "Good luck," she said sharply and then turning went on her way.

When the train came into the station George felt relieved. He scampered hurriedly aboard. Helen White came running along Main Street hoping to have a parting word with him, but he had found a seat and did not see her. When the train started Tom Little punched his ticket, grinned and, although he knew George well and knew on what adventure he was just setting out, made no comment. Tom had seen a thousand George Willards go out of their towns to the city. It was a commonplace enough incident with him. In the smoking car there was a man who had just invited Tom to go on a fishing trip to Sandusky Bay. He wanted to accept the invitation and talk over details.

George glanced up and down the car to be sure no one was looking, then took out his pocketbook and counted his money. His mind was occupied with a desire not to appear green. Almost the last words his father had said to him concerned the matter of his behavior when he got to the city. "Be a sharp one," Tom Willard had said. "Keep your eyes on your money. Be awake. That's the ticket. Don't let anyone think you're a greenhorn."

After George counted his money he looked out of the window and was surprised to see that the train was still in Winesburg.

The young man, going out of his town to meet the adventure of life, began to think but he did not think of anything very big or dramatic. Things like his mother's death, his departure from Winesburg, the uncertainty of his future life in the city, the serious and larger aspects of his life did not come into his mind.

He thought of little things -- Turk Smollet wheeling boards through the main street of his town in the morning, a tall woman, beautifully gowned, who had once stayed overnight at his father's hotel, Butch Wheeler the lamp lighter of Winesburg hurrying through the streets on a summer evening and holding a torch in his hand, Helen White standing by a window in the Winesburg post office and putting a stamp on an envelope.

The young man's mind was carried away by his growing passion for dreams. One looking at him would not have thought him particularly sharp. With the recollection of little things occupying his mind he closed his eyes and leaned back in the car seat. He stayed that way for a long time and when he aroused himself and again looked out of the car window the town of Winesburg had disappeared and his life there had become but a background on which to paint the dreams of his manhood.

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

Joe Po has always been the master at writing 8,000 word fluff pieces.

I think that Pioli should be commended for separating the wheat from the chaff of the old regime, but almost all of the impact talent was already in place.

You could make a case for Flowers, DJ, Bowe, Hali, and Charles all making the pro bowl this year.

Top that off with Albert, Waters, and Carr as solid starters and Cox, Richardson, Studebaker, Williams, and even McGraw as rotational players, and the cupboard wasn't nearly as bare as many thought.

And you can add Gilberry and Edwards to that list.

I'm still severely disappointed with the 2009 draft but despite that, the Chiefs are competing for a divisional championship. This team would be so much further along IF Pioli had hit on even one player.

I'll be happy if Pioli can hit on more than 50% of his acquisitions in the future (draft picks and free agency) but IMO, the reason the Chiefs have taken a leap this season, regardless of schedule, is because of the work of Crennel, Pleasant, Thomas and of course, Weis.

Pioli may have put those people in place but they're the reason it's getting done.

[Dante84]

Great read. I love me some JoPo, fa' sho, yo.

[Dante84]

FYI - For those interested in reading Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson, you can read it for free here:

http://www.electronpress.com/freeboo...sburg_ohio.pdf

[BossChief]

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

And you can add Gilberry and Edwards to that list.

I'm still severely disappointed with the 2009 draft but despite that, the Chiefs are competing for a divisional championship. This team would be so much further along IF Pioli had hit on even one player.

I'll be happy if Pioli can hit on more than 50% of his acquisitions in the future (draft picks and free agency) but IMO, the reason the Chiefs have taken a leap this season, regardless of schedule, is because of the work of Crennel, Pleasant, Thomas and of course, Weis.

Pioli may have put those people in place but they're the reason it's getting done.

Well, to be fair he seems to have hit on two of those picks in 2009.

The 2nd rounder and 7th rounder.

You cant really judge a draft till 3 years after it happens, so its still possible to have Tyson Jackson turn into a good player and even though that wouldnt be 3 "hits" (due to him being drafted 3rd overall) it would be three players out of that draft that are playing a fairly big role.

Hell, no matter how much some still hate the "big trade" in the 7th round that brought Mr Occonnel here, he is still here and has made some recent contributions.

That makes 2 players that are already playing a big role in the turnaround and another two that are still growing into their roles on the team and one of those (TJ) having lost some significant time to injury after looking pretty good in the opener.

If we can (hopefully) yeild 4 players out of that class, it doesnt seem as big a failure as it originally seemed.

But yeah, we would be beasting on defense right now with my boy Orakpo!

Also, I think that this 2010 class should get almost as much credit as the coaches in this turnaround. When we were missing a c0ouple of the guys from that class, we seemed like we had taken a step back as a team. The contributions of Lewis, Moeaki, DMC and others is not to go unnoticed.

[-King-]

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

Joe Po has always been the master at writing 8,000 word fluff pieces.

I think that Pioli should be commended for separating the wheat from the chaff of the old regime, but almost all of the impact talent was already in place.

You could make a case for Flowers, DJ, Bowe, Hali, and Charles all making the pro bowl this year.

Top that off with Albert, Waters, and Carr as solid starters and Cox, Richardson, Studebaker, Williams, and even McGraw as rotational players, and the cupboard wasn't nearly as bare as many thought.

In the offseason weren't you one of the people bitching about our lack of talent and how we so badly needed to add talent? Weren't you one of the people who said Chiefs were a bottom team in terms of talent? Now you're acting like Pioli had an abundance of talent to begin with...
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