World's Greatest Chief Fan

You may have noticed the title of this post is "World's Greatest Chief Fan." Then, you may  have thought to yourself "what an idiot the guy writing this must be. Doesn't he know its the CHIEFS not Chief? Moron."

LOL. I applaud your observational skills BUT THE JOKES ON YOU, IDIOT BECAUSE IT WAS AN INTENTIONAL TYPO.

I digress. I will explain later.

Anyway, I was going through some of my dad's old stuff and wanted to share it with you all, which can offer SOME (not ALL, don't pin every one of my quirky mannerisms on my dad) explanation for my behavior to this day:

Anyone who knows me knows that I am The World's Greatest Kansas City Sports Fan, including for both the Chiefs and Royals (along with anything else KC - Mavericks, Kings, Scouts, Blades, Phantoms, etc.). (You will also notice that I used the correct form of "Chiefs" in that sentence Mr. or Mrs. Sharp Observational Skills Person - now get off my lawn) My KC fandom is the direct result of how I was raised by my father. He was a Chiefs season ticket holder for a long time, and some of my earliest and most favorite memories are going to Kauffman or Arrowhead Stadiums to catch a game. We never needed nachos or fancy little gimmicks during the games (like those midget-sized Royals bats they sell in the fan store - what exactly is the point of those?!?) - rather we just watched the game and my dad explained the rules and complained about the refs (Tony Gonzalez was TOTALLY IN BOUNDS ON THAT TD CATCH AGAINST DENVER IN 1998 DAMMIT!). Everything I know about sports, I learned from him.

And so it was exciting to go through some of his old stuff and see the roots of why I root for all things KC. I grew up in KC, lived there until I was 22 when I moved away to finish college then grad school then grad school AGAIN then entered the workforce then my daughter was born and finally after 12 years away, I returned to my homeland. Through those 12 years, I maintained my KC fandom, which included starting this blog and suffering through crappy WiFi and low bandwidth signals in the mid-2000s when I was learning how to stream KC teams on the internet. So I relished the chance to sit down with my older brother and go through my dad's stuff and see if there were any amazing KC sports items to help us remember our dad and maybe provide some cherished memories. Below are some of the things I found:

Bo Jackson Tie: No explanation for this thing, but KXXR was apparently a short-lived radio channel that played "Today's rock & roll." What a phenomenal piece of history. I may wear this to my next Black Tie Event. The particular date on the back of the tie was Game 2 of the World Series between the A's and Dodgers. The Dodgers won 6-0. Not sure if that is significant as it relates to the tie.

 George Brett baseball cards: Apparently my dad was a huge George Brett fan (I never knew!) and some of these cards he collected were before my days of collecting cards. I wonder if my love of baseball cards came from my dad!

 George Brett Newspapers: Since we have already established my dad was a George Brett fan, it should come as no surprise that other George Brett items existed in his stuff. Below are some (full) newspapers from the KC Star of Brett's highlights in the early '90s, including when he got his 3000th hit. Awesome stuff! Also, please make sure you take a closer look at the Full House blurb in the upper left corner of the newspaper with Brett's 3000th hit - that is too funny!

 George Brett Button: MOAR GEORGE BRETT STUFF! Presumably this button came from 1980 when Brett had his historic year chasing a .400 batting average for the Royals. This thing is priceless.

 Jan Stenerud Personal Autograph: Jan Stenerud was the famous Norwegian kicker for the Chiefs and I can remember my dad always telling stories of him. He came well before my time, playing 13 years for the Chiefs between 1967 and 1979. It was pretty clear my dad always liked him, and finding this personal autograph (no explanation for how or why or where it came from) was very exciting to me.

 1981 Chiefs Sticker: Isn't this sticker and helmet style GREAT? I'm telling you, the 1980s were the best decade (although technically, the 1980s were the second-worst decade in the Chiefs existence).

 Autographed 1986 Chiefs Program: The 1986 Chiefs went 10-6, clinching the AFC Wild Card and winning their most games since 1971. Notably, the Chiefs beat the damn Steelers on the last game of the season to seal their playoff berth. SUCK IT PITTSBURGH. My dad had 3 of these team pgorams signed by various players - the one I took has Todd Blackledge (the last QB drafted by the Chiefs to win a game for them!), Carlos Carson, Paul Palmer, Henry Marshall, Jeff Smith, Stephone Paige, Bill Kenney, and someone I cannot figure out (Carl Maul? Cal Mauil? WTF). Pretty sweet find!

Please also note that although the picture on the program is clearly at Arrowhead, there is only a SINGLE Chiefs item worn by fans in the background. WHAT THE F*&%. Did people not wear team gear in the 1980s?!?

 AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST...

World's Greatest Chief Fan pin: There was no explanation for this pin, including the very obvious typo, but APPARENTLY MY DAD WAS THE WORLD'S GREATEST CHIEF FAN AND I HAVE NOW INHERITED THE PIN SO THAT MAKES ME THE WORLD'S GREATEST CHIEF FAN HAHAHAHAHA YASSSSSSSSS!. I will proudly wear this pin everywhere, and even change my email signature to read:
Matt Chrisman, World's Greatest Chief Fan, and son of the former World's Greatest Chief Fan.

I love this thing and I love and miss my dad. RIP. 

 So there you have it, some of the cool KC sports items my dad collected, which I now own, and which have helped explain not only the "typo" in the title of this post, but also the roots of why I love everything related to KC sports. Anyone claiming to be the best or biggest Chiefs fan better damn have some evidence to back their claim up!

Make sure you get to Arrowhead next weekend and cheer on our CHIEEEEEFFFSSS in the playoffs.