When it comes to sports, the Kansas City Chiefs are your car. Assuming you're a fan of the team who occupies Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday's in the fall, you ride with them in good times and bad. You literally are with the boys in red until the wheels fall off. Like any fan, you're in the passenger seat hoping for a smooth and safe trip, in this case to New Orleans. The driver? Matt Cassel.
Whether it's a good thing or not, Cassel has the keys to the car and he's settling in for another road trip. The big and only important question is if he can negotiate the excursion successfully.The reality is Cassel doesn't need to drive the car 90 MPH while he swerves between lanes and trucks. He just needs to take what the road gives him and occasionally make that tricky merge. If he can do that, the car is good enough to get him the rest of the way.
Last year, Cassel didn't have much of a chance. Before the first exit on the highway was even in our rear view mirror, the radiator was acting up, an axle was busted and the antifreeze was low. He drove the car about as far as anyone could've reasonably expected, but finally the damn car just gave out.
All we were left with was Tyler Palko to get us home, which put us in an automobile equivalent of the Hindenburg.
However, this year's model has been substantially upgraded. The interior is much nicer and this bad boy has a brand new coat of paint. The engine has been reworked and sounds beautiful. Now it's just a matter of getting it out on the open road and seeing what this puppy can do.
We should all make sure to buckle our seat belts and maybe even hold onto a handle, because this car could ride a little rough at first. That can happen when so many brand new parts are put in, especially when the mechanic is brand new and just getting used to this particular vehicle.
However, it's time to also just recline the seat and pray for the best, because there's nothing left to do but tell Cassel everything is going to be alright. Whether it's terrifying or not, he has the keys and doesn't plan on giving them up anytime in the near future.
If Cassel can just do his job and not try to make record time, this car is going to be just fine. It's a beauty and compared to the rest of the jalopies around us, it looks like the best of the best.
Now, if you'll excuse me I hear Cassel honking the horn. I need to grab my bags and some Valium.
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ALSO PLEASE READ THIS:
I know some of you have been following my posts very loyally and I appreciate it more than you know. Some of you may also know from talking to me that I'm 23 years old and went to school in hopes of becoming a sports writer.
Last week, I was given some of the best news of my life. I have been writing an NFL preview magazine entitled Total NFL for the last five months, and it was approved to be on newsstands in New York City starting the last day of June.
I will have a website up within the next week for people outside of that area (which I'm sure includes most of you), so they too can purchase the magazine. It's $7.99 like most of the other ones (Craig, it's $8.49 for Canadians, but I'll knock off that pesky $.50 cents if you're interested haha) and I will ship for free right to your door.
It's 176 pages (five pages per team, including analysis on every draft pick of the past two seasons), without a single advertisement. You may recall months ago that I wrote a post on here asking people their opinions on who's overrated, underrated, etc. I used that knowledge to help me form my piece on the Chiefs. Each of you had a part in the process, and I thank you more than you'll ever know.
Please keep an eye out for the website link, which will be posted on here multiple times in the coming days and weeks. Also, if you just can't wait and really would like to order or just have a question, my email address is MVerderame439@aol.com.