Drafts and Stuff

Before I dive into the Chiefs draft, I'd like to mention how terrible the Mavericks looked last night. The Mavs are a team I like quite a bit. I wouldn't call myself a die-hard Dallas fan, but in a sport that is almost entirely star-driven at this point theirs is a team that I've grown to like over the years. Maybe it was Shawn Bradley (the best player in the NBA) that did it. Maybe (read: Probably) it wasn't.

Mark Cuban has become every fans wish to be the owner of their favorite team. He lavishes his teams with the best of amenities. He sits courtside with the team. He bought the team because he was a fan of them (and had a shit-ton of money), which is obviously every other fan's dream. Mostly, he's assembled a crew of likable guys (Antoine Walker notwithstanding), and they've become a perennially competitive team. But watching them this year, especially after the Jason Kidd trade has made one thing evident: This team needs to be blown up. Maybe if these Mavericks were in the East, they'd have a shot, but I don't think so. When the Kidd trade happened, I didn't think it was the wisest move--as I personally think Devin Harris is going to be a pretty damn good player--but I certainly didn't think it was going to be this ineffective. They're aimless and lackadaisical--and I don't think it has to do with the pot. They just aren't built to win a championship.

That said, I'm moving on to the Chiefs' draft...

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You know when you are sure you're going to get fired? Everyone who makes decisions at your job is leering at you, and you feel certain the axe is going to fall? Then they give you a raise or do something nice, and you're wondering what the fuck is going on?

Well, that's how the Chiefs draft was to me.

Anyone who ever reads this knows my confidence in Carl Peterson is nonexistent at this point. When he hired Vermeil, I thought that they were going to the Super Bowl in three years fueled by the fact that Vermeil's teams had always gone to the Championship Game in Year Three of the Dick Vermeil plan. Well, in Year Three they looked amazing for the first nine weeks of the season, then they looked vulnerable, then they lost to the Colts (Goddamn You, Peyton Manning!!!) in a game in which the Chiefs failed to force Indy to punt once. Now the Chiefs are awful. That last flash killed any hope I had for the Chiefs succeeding in the Carl Peterson Era.

Now I sit through every game, knowing the Chiefs will find some way to lose. I watch their moves every offseason, certain that they will do nothing but make the team worse, bit by bit. I watch him trade draft picks away for a coach who was hated in New York for being unable manage a game, only to have that coach prove unable to manage a game.

Then they trade Jared Allen away (and if you go back and read any of the Chiefs posts I wrote during the last football season, you'll know how I felt about Jared Allen), for draft picks, which historically the Chiefs would have squandered.

Then this happens, and the experts are saying this, and the only team getting an A from Mel Kiper is the Chiefs.

What the fuck?

They drafted the guy I've wanted them to draft since October or so (if Jake Long wasn't available) with their highest pick. They were able to address their offensive line issues (hopefully, Branden Albert is able to learn the tackle position well, which I'm not sold on necessarily, but I've got to hope) with two possible starters being drafted. They got a steal of a corner with Brandon Flowers in the second round. They took out an insurance policy for LJ in the form of Jamaal Charles. They got a raw TE in Cottam, who has a lot of upside.

Now I'm no expert, but I'm kind of shocked that they seemed to do so well with their draft.

Can I start to hope again? Am I that abused wife in the Lifetime Movie (probably Meredith Baxter-Birney) who keeps coming back for more after her husband repeatedly beats her and then apologizes, saying he'll never do it again?

I guess so.