Kansas City hasn't seen a championship from the Kansas City Chiefs or Kansas City Royals since 1985 when KC's baseball team went all the way. I was barely alive at the time so I can't say that I've got a lot of memories about that year.
The Chiefs came close in January 1994 when they went to the AFC Championship game but other than that KC hasn't been close to a championship. In fact, I remember as a kid my Dad telling me we would get school off for the Super Bowl parade if the Chiefs beat the Buffalo Bills in that AFC Championship game. (Yeah, as a kid, that was a big deal.) To this day not getting that day off still stings. It just increased the disappointment level of that game.
Former Royal and current MLB Hall of Famer George Brett this week appeared on MLB Network's Studio 42 with Bob Costas (airing on Friday, Nov. 12) about championships and what the 1985 World Series did for the city.
"It was more than I ever thought and what I never realized, I'd never been in a town where they'd won a world championship. In Kansas City, the Chiefs won before I got there. In L.A., I never went to the Dodgers' parade or anything like that. But I never knew the impact of winning a world championship and what it has on the city. Never. That's the first experience. It gives the city so much pride, it's something special. And that's what playing sports is all about. I mean, it's the pride in your teammates and the pride in your town you represent and you want to do it very well, but it was the greatest three-day celebration that I ever experienced in my life."
There's an entire generation of Kansas Citians that have never experienced this. Isn't that wild to think?
In Kansas City, it would appear right now that you're more likely to get that from the Chiefs. They're in first place in their division and are generally regarded as on the way up. The coaching staff has been around championships and the GM, Scott Pioli, has also been involved in multiple championships.
But then you've got the Royals who have turned into a joke around Kansas City because of the last 20-plus years. Some could argue they're close than the Chiefs because of the young players they have coming up in the farm system.
Having never experienced it, I can't say what it would mean. I can't imagine the feeling when your team is a champion. Kansas isn't my team but I could see what it did when they won the basketball title a few years ago and how people to this day talk about it.
We're not sure when that feeling will come to Kansas City. Maybe this year with the Chiefs. Maybe next year with the Royals. Or maybe the year after that.
....Or maybe another 25 years.
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