Seems like everyone hates the Kansas City Chiefs. That’s how it is with winners | Opinion
Think on it
The Kansas City Chiefs: the most disliked team in America?
Are people tired of seeing them win? Should others get a chance to win championships? Should championship limits be imposed? People in Kansas City are unlikely to agree. The Chiefs’ second Super Bowl title came 50 years after their first victory in 1970. What did people think of the Chiefs during those five decades?
Our leaders claim that we will be winners because of actions they take. Popular entertainments and sports such as mixed martial arts and professional wrestling promote winning above all else. Our economic systems are based on success. People compete for huge rewards.
Are people tired of winners? When other teams won several Super Bowls, did people tire of them winning? Do people resent the Yankees or Dodgers? Should we resent their success because they create winning teams? Those who fail to win can always do better next time. If you find a winning formula year after year, should that be criticized?
Think of one or two reasons to explain those feelings. Whatever reason you attach, that gives each of us the chance to reflect on our feelings.
Give it some thought.
- John Becker, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Spags’ skills
Everyone knows the Chiefs have a great head coach, and so do the Bills. The Chiefs have a great quarterback, but so do the Bills, the Eagles and many other teams.
But what the Chiefs have that no one else has is the best defensive coordinator in the NFL. Steve Spagnuolo is an aggressive coach who shows that the Chiefs’ defense is head and shoulders over anybody else’s. No one can refute this, and Coach Andy Reid should have had Spags at his side while accepting the trophy.
- Roger Kratochvil, Mount Olive, Illinois
Rebalancing
George Mason University professor Frank T. Manheim’s Jan. 22 guest commentary “Antidemocratic moves of Josh Hawley, Democrats are just symptoms of our real problem” (9A) decries “pernicious polarization” in the electorate and the antidemocratic moves of coup plotter Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley, as well as of Democrats.
Manheim slams Democratic Party politicians for wanting to get rid of the Electoral College, but he ignores Americans now disenfranchised from that system (which was created to appease slave owners).
Worse, he bemoans Democrats’ supposed intention to pack the U.S. Supreme Court, ignoring that Republicans with minority-party status already packed the court with a radical, corrupt six-member GOP majority.
In fact, former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell chortled that his proudest moment was stealing a Supreme Court seat from President Barack Obama, ignoring that McConnell actually stole that seat from the American people.
The corrupt court is already packed. Any effort by Democrats to address this would be rebalancing.
- Lyndall Caldwell, Kansas City
Unhoused help
Kansas City’s Office of Unhoused Solutions needs an exponential budget increase. Getting folks off the street and into homes is a major priority. The office’s hardworking staff of five must expand to meet thousands of hurting people’s needs.
However, addressing hunger does not cure homelessness. A quote in Sunday’s front-page story, “KC’s homeless camps,” about unhoused trafficked women, concerned me. I’ve learned that traffickers can control their “workers” by isolating them and depriving them of basic needs. A lack of food likely only increases such forced dependence. I don’t see how a volunteer who brings in food would tie a woman to her captor, as the city program’s coordinator alleged. I’d hope the presence of a friendly face would give her a link to the outside world and safety.
City workers can’t do it all at present. They need funds for their lifesaving endeavors. They also might have a small army of volunteer helpers at hand. Why can’t the city and lay helpers work together? If doughnuts and fried chicken don’t help an ill woman on a park bench, the city could offer better ideas.
Why aren’t dietitians and mental health workers hired to help? Why haven’t more shelters been set up? Why do mental health and substance programs have waiting lists?
- Janice Stallings, Kansas City
Title fight
Over the course of his book “Worst. President. Ever.: James Buchanan, the POTUS Rating Game, and the Legacy of the Least of the Lesser Presidents,” Robert Strauss concluded that No. 15, James Buchanan, left the most to be desired as the nation’s chief executive, primarily because he failed to take certain actions that could have prevented America from sliding into the Civil War.
But I must note that Strauss’ finished product, which I reviewed for the weekly newspaper I work part time for, was published in October 2016, before Donald Trump assumed the duties associated with the highest office in the land. With this in mind, then, based on the ugly way Trump’s first presidency ended and the already ugly start of his second term, were Strauss to decide to come out with a second edition, I think “The Donald” would have an excellent chance of going down as the Worst. President. Ever. not once, but twice.
In any event, were I able to ask him, I am quite sure that No. 22 and No. 24, Grover Cleveland, wouldn’t want to see his name mentioned in the same sentence as No. 45 and No. 47.
- Rick Nichols, Leavenworth