Go Chiefs!

Daniel and I went to the Chiefs season opener tonight. It was a lot of fun, but every time I go to a game I feel like a foreign exchange student observing strange American rituals. Daniel's family have been season ticket holders since he was a kid, but whenever I'm offered a ticket I usually defer to someone who would appreciate the game more than I would. Thus the experience of an NFL game, let alone at the loudest stadium in the country, is not real familiar to me. Most of the KC traditions seem so commonplace to locals and American sports fans in general, but if you can see them from the outside you can recognize how strange they really are. Fireworks are going off and the graphic on the big screens reads, "Rise today. Change this world." I was feeling inspired and then remembered this was all for a football game. What does football have to do with changing the world? I'm not saying there's not a correlation. I'm just not seeing it, so I'd appreciate some help here. Then there's the military presence. I support our troops and gave them a standing ovation when they entered the field, but again I'm missing the link between the armed forces and football. Are they fighting to protect football and all aspects of American culture we hold so dear? The military and football seem to have always gone hand in hand somehow as further demonstrated during the national anthem (tonight as sung by Billy Ray Cyrus). This time the graphics on the big screen were pictures of Mount Rushmore, the Statue of Liberty, and one of the domed government buildings with the words "democracy" and "justice" fading in and out. It looked like a commercial for the US, but created by Eastern Europeans from their stereotype of what they think America is like. Apparently we are just as cheezy and cliche as our stereotype since this was created right here at home. Then there's the cheering and chanting. I still can't decide if the "Tomahawk Chop" is offensive or not. The Chiefs have done away with a lot of their racially offensive traditions and the Chop remains. Does that mean it's politically correct...enough? To chop or not to chop? Then of course the touchdown song, "Da-na-na-na-na Nah Nah Nah Hey! na-na-na We're gonna beat the hell outta you. You! You! You-you-you!" If I'm a foreign exchange student and I hear 80,000 people first chanting like Native Americans and waving their arms then proclaiming that they're going to beat the hell out of whoever "you" is, I'm freaked out. Even more so I'm wondering how everyone all knows the same chants and when to perform them. Maybe foreign exchange student is a bad example since soccer (other futbol) has a lot of these same types of rituals during their games. Maybe alien/extraterrestrial is a better example to highlight the strangeness of our traditions.

Now that I've made my case for why I can feel like an outsider or observer during the oddity of NFL football, let me say that it was a fantastic night. It was a Monday Night Football game AND the first game at Arrowhead since the completion of all the new renovations, so needless to say there was a lot of pomp and circumstance that was right up my alley. We took our seats on the club level in the end zone. I felt guilty for having such incredible seats knowing that there are die hard fans out there who would kill for them. They dimmed the lights in the stadium and began the pregame hoopla including lazers, fireworks, and KC Wolf zip-lining from our section onto the field. At the start of the second quarter the rain and lightning started. Thanks to our covered seats we were protected and able to stay high and dry and comfortable throughout the entire game. (Felt guilty, but grateful, at this point as well.) I actually watched the game and understood what was going on. I stood up, clapped, and cheered during the plays. Wearing a borrowed Chiefs shirt from Daniel, I think I pulled off the appearance of a fan pretty well. It was a fun and exciting experience. Not bad for a Monday night.

KC Wolf ziplining onto the field.