Well...we did it! Les and I sang the National Anthem at Arrowhead Stadium yesterday, and it went great! It really was so much fun for us both, but me especially. Those who really know me know that there aren't very many Chiefs fans who are any bigger fans than I am. I have stuck by the Chiefs all through the hard times in the 70s and early 80s when being a Chiefs fan wasn't very cool. Back then you had to be a Steelers, Cowboys, or 49ers fan to be cool. Okay, it wasn't a Chiefs game (hopefully the exposure will help us get a Chiefs game sometime!) but it was the "hallowed ground" of Arrowhead. Most NFL fans recognize the "hallowed ground of Lambeau Field" in Green Bay as kind of the storied and historic stadium in the NFL, but Arrowhead is no less important to me.
Walking through Gate E into the main entrance to Arrowhead I began to feel like a little kid again. With bronze busts of Neil Smith and Jack Steadman greeting us as we walked in, I began to feel giddy. This was it! We're goin' in! What do you mean? No bust of Derrick Thomas or Len Dawson (two of my most favorite Chiefs). Well....that was just the beginning!
We waited for a while in the lobby after Marty (not Schottenheimer, but the nice lady at the front desk) called Les's friend Shaun who is the Assistant Box Office Manager for the KC Wizards and got us the gig. Soon thereafter, Suzanne (I think her name was?) came to get us and escort us to the field. (Les tells this story on his blog at leslankhorst.blogspot.com too. It's better.) Les went with her and I stayed behind as I thought she had said she would be right back. Soon Les calls back to me, "Alex....you GOTTA SEE THIS!" So I walked around the corner and Les points to his right as Melissa moves back. There it was. THE LOMBARDI TROPHY!!!! Right there in front of me. "That can't be the real thing", I thought. It was so long ago, and before even MY Chiefs days. But, yes, the Chiefs had won a Super Bowl....Super Bowl IV to be exact. But there was no glass case. Nothing. It was standing right there in front of me next to bronze busts of so many of the Chief's players of the past. Suzanne and Les both started laughing as I was standing there with my jaw literally on the floor. I was in shock! My mind was racing so fast I didn't realize for a second that it really was the real thing. I'm still giddy thinking about it! It didn't even say "Super Bowl" it sayed something like "The National Football Championship Trophy".
A little bit of trivia....
Do you know who actually named "The Super Bowl"? Why none other than the founder of the AFC and one of the most influential figures of modern-day football, as well as the recently deceased owner of the Kansas City Chiefs, Lamar Hunt.
Oh...I almost forgot about the National Anthem and the soccer game. We stood near the 50 yard marker and faced the crowd with a camera in our face as we stood and sang the National Anthem to a crowd filled with mostly Spanish-speaking Mexicans. I joked to Les later that we should have sang the Mexican National Anthem as well! You see, most Americans who pay attention to sports news may know the name David Beckham as he was the most heralded European Soccer player of his generation and he recently signed with the Los Angeles Galaxy of the MLS and is married to Posh Spice of The Spice Girls. But most of us NON-Hispanics don't know the name Cuauhtemoc Blanco. To put it this way...he is the David Beckham of Mexican soccer. He is the Michael Jordan of the NBA. He is the star and hero to millions of Mexican soccer fans and he plays for the Chicago Fire who was our rival team that night. There were as many (if not more) fans there rooting for Chicago simply because he was on their team. It was an extremely exciting game with Blanco getting 2 yellow cards and getting into a heated argument with an official. The Wizards finally came out ahead 3-2 in close match. Another great part of the night was that we got to share it with our dad. Dad's been a soccer fan all his life having grown up in Holland and played soccer all through his youth. He even coached me in junior high. It was fun going to our first major league soccer match together.
It was a night to remember. Thanks Shaun!
Peace.
Alex
Walking through Gate E into the main entrance to Arrowhead I began to feel like a little kid again. With bronze busts of Neil Smith and Jack Steadman greeting us as we walked in, I began to feel giddy. This was it! We're goin' in! What do you mean? No bust of Derrick Thomas or Len Dawson (two of my most favorite Chiefs). Well....that was just the beginning!We waited for a while in the lobby after Marty (not Schottenheimer, but the nice lady at the front desk) called Les's friend Shaun who is the Assistant Box Office Manager for the KC Wizards and got us the gig. Soon thereafter, Suzanne (I think her name was?) came to get us and escort us to the field. (Les tells this story on his blog at leslankhorst.blogspot.com too. It's better.) Les went with her and I stayed behind as I thought she had said she would be right back. Soon Les calls back to me, "Alex....you GOTTA SEE THIS!" So I walked around the corner and Les points to his right as Melissa moves back. There it was. THE LOMBARDI TROPHY!!!! Right there in front of me. "That can't be the real thing", I thought. It was so long ago, and before even MY Chiefs days. But, yes, the Chiefs had won a Super Bowl....Super Bowl IV to be exact. But there was no glass case. Nothing. It was standing right there in front of me next to bronze busts of so many of the Chief's players of the past. Suzanne and Les both started laughing as I was standing there with my jaw literally on the floor. I was in shock! My mind was racing so fast I didn't realize for a second that it really was the real thing. I'm still giddy thinking about it! It didn't even say "Super Bowl" it sayed something like "The National Football Championship Trophy".
A little bit of trivia....
Do you know who actually named "The Super Bowl"? Why none other than the founder of the AFC and one of the most influential figures of modern-day football, as well as the recently deceased owner of the Kansas City Chiefs, Lamar Hunt.
Oh...I almost forgot about the National Anthem and the soccer game. We stood near the 50 yard marker and faced the crowd with a camera in our face as we stood and sang the National Anthem to a crowd filled with mostly Spanish-speaking Mexicans. I joked to Les later that we should have sang the Mexican National Anthem as well! You see, most Americans who pay attention to sports news may know the name David Beckham as he was the most heralded European Soccer player of his generation and he recently signed with the Los Angeles Galaxy of the MLS and is married to Posh Spice of The Spice Girls. But most of us NON-Hispanics don't know the name Cuauhtemoc Blanco. To put it this way...he is the David Beckham of Mexican soccer. He is the Michael Jordan of the NBA. He is the star and hero to millions of Mexican soccer fans and he plays for the Chicago Fire who was our rival team that night. There were as many (if not more) fans there rooting for Chicago simply because he was on their team. It was an extremely exciting game with Blanco getting 2 yellow cards and getting into a heated argument with an official. The Wizards finally came out ahead 3-2 in close match. Another great part of the night was that we got to share it with our dad. Dad's been a soccer fan all his life having grown up in Holland and played soccer all through his youth. He even coached me in junior high. It was fun going to our first major league soccer match together.
It was a night to remember. Thanks Shaun!
Peace.
Alex
1 comment:
Awesome man. Oh, and Shaun spells his name like this.
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