Sam Mellinger

The Kansas City Star

The plan the rest of the week is to write only about winners, which means no more Chiefs, but instead something on Sporting KC for tomorrow’s paper and a road trip to Fort Worth for K-State’s game on Saturday.

Plans often change, as you know, so I’ll be on alert if Romeo Crennel makes any more superficial moves he justifies by basically saying he wants to send a message.

Anyway, this week’s reading recommendation is Michael Lewis’ The Big Short, a fascinating look at the financial crisis through the eyes of a few outsiders who saw it coming and made a fortune off Wall Street’s arrogance and stupidity.

This week’s food recommendation is the pepperoni and jalapeno at Pizza 51.

Let’s get to it, and as always, thanks for your help.

@CelloJordan How do you write - week in and week out - about the Chiefs’ terrible play and not plagiarize yourself? #twittertuesday

Well, full disclosure, I have taken to trying out lines on Twitter and then using the best ones in the column.

In my defense, eight more games like this and we’re going to start having columns in the paper that describe the team as the (expletive retracted) Chiefs.

@ronhostetter You probably already have this one, but… The Chiefs pretty much admitted to a bunch of errors today, right? #twittertuesday

Yes. And like I wrote in the column, that’s the encouraging part of this. For all the talk about ego, here are two men each admitting and trying to correct major mistakes.

That’s worth something, and shouldn’t be ignored. But it’s also far too late.

@hollandjoel In all seriousness, could this #chiefs team be the worse in NFL history?

No.

The 0-16 Lions are, by definition, the worst team in NFL history. You can’t be worse than losing every game. You can get close — like, say, go 1-15 and never have the lead, your only win against one of the worst defenses in NFL history, a franchise shook by an unprecedented bounty scandal — but you cannot be worse than oh-and-sixteen.

Impossible.

No matter how much it looks like the Chiefs are trying to prove otherwise.

@dinderlied When are you guys going to start questioning about the O-line? Ridiculous how many tackles in the backfield I’m seeing.

I’ve heard this more and more the last few weeks, but with the notable and enormous exception of the Oakland game, I think the line’s been pretty decent. Branden Albert, in particular, has been fantastic.

The guys at Pro Football Focus agree, ranking the Chiefs as seventh in pass blocking and 15th in run blocking.

To paraphrase the brilliant Cory Booker paraphrasing the brilliant Jay-Z, the Chiefs have 99 problems but a block ain’t one.

@thillsman #TwitterTuesday Did you see this vid of Cassel? http://tylr.us/7Y Do you have any embarrassing YouTube videos we need to see?

This is tremendous, and is another brick in the point that Cassel — if not for the $60 million contract — would be worthy of your sympathy as a good man who works hard and tries to do the right thing but just isn’t up for the job he’s been selected for.

And to answer your question, I’m absolutely thrilled that camera phones and especially camera video phones weren’t really a thing when I was in high school or college. You can’t understand the grief this has saved me.

@patronaut0709 #TwitterTuesday Hello, I’m a #Chiefs fan and I live in #Pittsburgh.

You have a tremendous opportunity this week, to regale your friends about how the Steelers offensive coordinator is extremely sensitive about his past as a golf coach, once told a borderline Hall of Fame lineman he could win two games with 22 guys off the street, came panicked to a reporter with paranoia about his phones being tapped, and may or may not have grown a disgusting beard and worn a disgusting-er hat as a silent protest against what he saw as an overbearing boss.

Because, lets be honest, you’re not going to do much trash-talking this week.

@tigerdan4 The #Chiefs starting qb in the first game of 2013 will be __.

A rookie. I truly believe this. I’m just not sure what other option the Chiefs will have, and they should be picking high enough in the draft to do it — with a backhanded benefit that a lot of the other teams at the top of the draft have already invested in young quarterbacks.

Speaking of…

@MooreGregarious At what point is it acceptable to hope for losses in order for better draft pick and management change? #TwitterTuesday #Chiefs

About a month ago.

@kansasXCcup4K5K Next playoff appearance, Chiefs or Royals?

Early frontrunner for Kansas City Question Of The Week.

This is a hard question for me to answer, actually, because maybe this is just my optimistic nature but I don’t think either team is as far away as it looks at the moment. The Royals are a pitcher or two and a few breaks away from competing in a winnable division, and the Chiefs still have a young and talented nucleus that should be competing in a mediocre division.

I actually think both teams will be in the playoffs within three of four years.

But if I have to pick one, I’m going with the Chiefs.

@EricHe1091 TT: does the santana trade effectivily eliminate the chance we sign sanchez, marcum, or some other free agent?

No, which is why I gave the trade my qualified endorsement.

If Ervin Santana has an ERA above 5.00 and leads the league in home runs surrendered in a pitcher-friendly park and is paid $12 million as the Royals’ centerpiece offseason acquisition, then the organization isn’t giving fans a reason to take it seriously.

But if Santana is supplemented by, say, a Jeremy Guthrie signing and a trade for James Shields, Jeremy Hellickson, Matt Moore or even Rick Porcello, well, now we’re talking about something more serious.

@mjones99 Who wins the big contest this week, Sporting KC or Houston?

Well, Sporting sure continued the Kansas City trend of sucking at sports on Sundays, huh?

Losing by two goals in Houston is hard to explain, really, except with the vague lament about the hex the Dynamo seem to have over Sporting. I know this is a non-soccer fan take, but I do think the MLS playoff structure is a bit goofy with the goal-differential instead of just playing a winner-take-all or best-of-three thing. But in that context, asking Sporting to win by at least two goals tomorrow night in a game where Houston knows it only has to not lose by two is a pretty big task.

Not impossible, but definitely not something to expect.

@ApexToApex Why does it seem the Houston Dynamo have the number of Sporting KC? Can’t beat them. Ever. Frustrating.

No clue. But I was looking forward to being able to write about a local team playing for a championship.

I wonder when that could happen…

@abkck 100% chance Klein plays this week, right? No way Snyder lets him sit.

I don’t know about 100 percent, but I’m expecting him to play^.

*^ Maybe you heard me mention this on Danny Parkins’ show yesterday, but the NCAA should look into how it handles injuries. The rules and incentives are set up in a way where it’s wide open for a coach to not tell anyone what the injury is, find a school-friendly doctor to clear a key player, and put him in the lineup no matter what.

I think you guys know where I stand on Bill Snyder, and I can’t stress enough that I’m not saying he’d do anything sinister, but it’s delusional not to see how the system is set up for all coaches. It really is something that should be addressed.*

I’m also expecting K-State to win on Saturday — I’m headed down to cover the game — with or without Klein. I believe in Bill.

@Eric_Clarkson Though a KSU v. ‘Bama championship would be great, is it wrong to secretly hope the Cats play ND so we can see the Irish crushed?

I like how we’re just assuming K-State is in, no matter what, but, sure, lets go along with this. The most interesting game, to me, would be K-State against Oregon.

Oregon is fascinating to watch, so much speed and so many options it almost boggles the mind, but I don’t think the Ducks have really been challenged physically. K-State would change that. Also, I think it would give K-State the chance to show its own offense is pretty badass — check out this link passed along by my guy Tim Fitzgerald.

@flexyrexy TT: Nobody’s been dissed by the BCS more than KSU. If they win out and miss the NC, shouldn’t Snyder tell every1 to kiss his ass?

This would receive my whole-hearted endorsement.

@jsoloff On your rec, started listening to Black Keys. I like El Camino, but can’t get into Brothers.

That’s unfortunate, because Brothers is the greatest album in the history of the known universe. I like El Camino, too, but one of my favorite things about the Keys has always been their different sounds and this is the first album in a while where all the songs have the same basic sound — though Little Black Submarine may be my all-time favorite song of theirs.

To each his own, I suppose, but if you don’t like Brothers then I’m not sure you’ll like their older stuff, either. But just for kids, give a listen to Thickfreakness and Rubber Factory — or, if you want specific songs, try I Got Mine, 10 AM Automatic, Your Touch and Girl Is On My Mind.

@theGeneric1 Is it acceptable for a grown man with no kids to be excited to see the movie “Wreck-It Ralph”?

You’re asking for a friend, right? I’m not sure what “Wreck-It Ralph” is, and I’m not going to Google it to find out, but just by reading the title and the context of your question, look, I think you know the answer.

Look into your heart and accept what you see.

@MrT_Ott #TT only player on Mizzou’s offensive line to start all 10 games is a Freshman. What would their record have been no injuries?

5-4?

I understand the argument about the Georgia game, where Mizzou competed hard and wore down late, but I don’t think a full offensive line would be the difference in that game, certainly not Alabama or South Carolina, and you’d have to do a lot of convincing to change my mind on Florida. I’ll give you the Vanderbilt game.

As my man Blair Kerkhoff points out here, conference realignment has been tough for a lot of schools and Missouri so far is at the top (or bottom) of that list.

I expected the Tigers to do better than they’ve done so far, but they still have the kind of resources and motivation to make this thing work in the long-term.

@TheJeffReport if you had to watch one for eternity between 05 Royals 19-game losing streak, and this Chiefs streak, which one would you choose?

New frontrunner for Kansas City Question Of The Day.

And I’d take the Chiefs streak, only because football games are more superficially exciting and you didn’t give me a third option of “chewing a bag of wood screws.”

@pchpaman SP is easy to hate now, but in 2008 was the slam dunk choice. Assuming he’s gone how do we make sure “Pioli” doesnt happen again?

Well, maybe this sounds strange, and maybe it’s stupid, but if and when Clark Hunt fires Scott Pioli I think he should conduct the search for a new GM in most ways the same way he conducted the last search.

Scott is a smart guy, more than qualified for the job, and like you say the absolute consensus pick as the game’s best GM candidate. He may very well go off somewhere else and become wildly successful, learning from mistakes in Kansas City.

But when I say Clark could do worse than conducting the search the same way, I mean that Clark basically did everything he could to identify and interview whoever NFL people thought was the best candidate. Maybe there was something in the interview process that could’ve foreshadowed some of the problems, but basically you have an owner who hired the best guy available and then largely tried to stay out of his way.

I hope he does that again.

@jlmacn913 #TT actually heard someone say on the radio the @kcchiefs should have never fired Herm! Do people forget he beloved Croyle?

I’m telling you: losing makes people crazy.

@fezz816 why isn’t Daboll catching as much flack for awful OC job this year? Think he’s fired at end of year as well?

I heard this a lot, too, and, sure, if you want to crush Daboll go ahead. But right now it feels a bit like getting food poisoning at the restaurant and then calling in to complain that the service was slow.

@TarH2O23 did you stock up on Bob’s 47 since Nutcracker Ale comes out tomorrow?

I don’t know if I’m supposed to admit this out loud, but really, the only Boulevard beers I seek out are Pale Ale (the staple of the Mellinger household), Tank 7 (if you don’t like it then we can’t be friends) and Saisson-Bret (makes me drool just thinking about it).

The seasonals are good, and I’ll pick up a Sixth Glass or whatever every now and then, but for the most part I don’t get too crazy with the other stuff.

But here’s a random recommendation for the beer nerds out there: Widmer Brothers’ Black IPA. Hard to find, but worth the search.

@BobbyCave Was the response from Bud Adams a way of deflating a potential @saveourtitans movement? Can and/or should Clark learn from this?

Yes. Absolutely Clark should do this. The Chiefs seem to be worried that no matter what Clark Hunt says, short of firing everyone, fans won’t be satisfied. And, toward that point, a few of the people with Save Our Chiefs have told me that this is absolutely the case, but no matter how many banners are flown this is still a minority of fans.

Clark Hunt standing up^ and saying everyone must be held accountable, that all levels of the organization are being evaluated, and that the results of this season are unacceptable would be well received by a lot of fans.

^ I have my suspicions about why he hasn’t done interviews — read the last section of this column.

@TheWalka1 #arrowheadpride says Pioli still confident in Romeo. This is BS. Both need to go so we can get Sean Peyton.

People. Sean Payton is not coming to Kansas City. Just trust me on this, and save yourself some aggravation.

@TheNumber65 How many of us would have to donate $1 apiece to buy out Pioli? #Chiefs

The Chiefs guard Pioli’s contract like it’s the identity of their emergency quarterback, but my guess is about six million of your friends.

@ronhostetter the way they handled the NY Marathon sure was a cluster, wasn’t it? #TwitterTuesday

Well, look. The obvious answer is, yes, it was an enormous cluster. But I also think a lot of the criticism isn’t very thoughtful, or at least not very sympathetic. This was a once-in-a-lifetime conspiracy of Acts of God, and the people in charge of the marathon had well-intentioned motivations to hold the race — it could’ve driven much-needed money to the area, and provided much-needed emotional relief.

At least from my very outside perspective, the people in charge wanted to exhaust every possible way to hold the race. Their errors were in optimism, I think, and I don’t want to hold that against them.

@ZCRUTCH because the Chiefs are to the point they are irrelevant, do you have any recommendations on how to spend our Sundays?

Well, there should still be a few more weeks of good weather, so Loose Park is beautiful. Shawnee Mission Park has a pretty good off-the-leash dog area. You could race go-karts at Sadlers, play pop-a-shot at the Quaff, jog along the trail in Brookside, or, you know, watch other NFL games.

Fair warning: other games often feature TWO teams that score touchdowns.

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