The Kansas City Chiefs are getting the city ready for football season. Unlike the last couple of years, there is a genuine sense of optimism surrounding the Chiefs and it appears club officials want to take advantage of that.
The Chiefs have put an emphasis on interacting with their fans this offseason and that's evident in the days leading up to Monday Night Football.
Here are a few things the Chiefs are doing with the fans and the city this week:
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First is the back to football bash at the New Arrowhead on Thursday evening. Chiefs owner Clark Hunt, GM Scott Pioli and the following players will be available at the event to be hosted at the Arrowhead Stadium:
- T Branden Albert
- LB Derrick Johnson
- RB Thomas Jones
- G Ryan Lilja
- C Rudy Niswanger
- T Ryan O'Callaghan
- G Brian Waters
- C Casey Wiegmann
- LB Mike Vrabel
Those players will be signing autographs on Thursday from 5:45-6:45 at Arrowhead Stadium.
Also scheduled to be at the event is KC Wolf, Chiefs cheerleaders and the Anheuser-Busch Clydesdales.
The best part of all of it: Free parking.Yeah, you take what you can get these days.
It's all going down at the Founder's Plaza at the renovated stadium.
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Second, is Red Friday. If you've lived in Kansas City for anytime at all then you know about Red Friday. It's the day before a Chiefs game and many local businesses encourage you to wear red to support the Chiefs.
The Chiefs are going to be painting the town red with a handful of fountains around the city. My favorite might be the one off of Meyer and Ward Parkway -- that'll look pretty cool in red. They're also hitting the Plaza, the Northland Fountain and others.
They're also lighting up a few buildings in red including the KCP&L building downtown and the Marriott downtown. For you Kansas folks it's the 7101 Tower at I-435 and Metcalf that will be lit up.
Here's where a bunch of other live stuff is going on this Friday:
- Chiefs Live at the Power and Light District – At lunchtime, downtown workers can catch Josh Looney and the Chiefs Live team at the KC Live! Stage at the Power and Light District (14th and Grand). Fans can also watch "Chiefs Live" on kcchiefs.com
- KC Wolf and the Budweiser Clydesdales – At approximately 5:00 p.m., KC Wolf and members of the Chiefs Cheerleaders will take a leisurely ride around the Country Club Plaza as he gets ready for football
- Red Friday at Zona Rosa Shopping Center – Chiefs Ambassadors will be on hand to sign autographs; and Chiefs Cheerleaders will sell and sign copies of the 2010-2011 Chiefs Cheerleader Swimsuit Calendar. The Chiefs Rumble will also perform.
- Warpaint at Town Center – Warpaint and members of the Chiefs Cheerleaders will join fans at the 810 Zone as the workweek draws to a close and all eyes turn to football.
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Then there's Monday Night Football. The Chiefs are playing the Chargers and they're asking you to be in your seat at least 30 minutes before kickoff for some sort of surprise. The Chiefs aren't saying what the surprise is at this point.
My guess is that it's to celebrate the opening of the renovated stadium, MNF back in Kansas City and so that when those ESPN cameras pan over the crowd there aren't a ton of empty seats.