Tradition Tuesday: Tradition Week Matchups Re-Cap, The Year 2003

Jew. Lie. What a month. It's good for hot dogs, fireworks, MLB All-Star games, and occasionally being warm out. It's also a swell time to hang out inside while drinking beer and reminiscing about football games, which is what brings us all together this evening. Two thousand three was quite a year for The Tradition, as Denver came to KC first for a change, and December meant a trip to Colorado. And both contests were something else. A look at the matches after the jump.

The Bronco faithful invaded Kansas City in October of '03, armed to the ceiling with Old No. 7 shirts and new-fangled Denver jerseys. After their departure, I never could get the foulness that paraphernelia left behind out of my house, so I wound up having to move. But as always, times of the good variety were had. I do believe the Mayor may have been in attendance, but the brain cells relegated to covering that weekend retired long ago, so I'm not sure who all was present.

The important part is that our hungover selves matriculated out to Arrowhead Stadium listening to pre-game radio stuff, and I believe it was the Mayor who asked what the over/under was on Dante Hall references before we got to the stadium. Given that Hall had been having an incredible season, the total was nine by the time we parked the car. I also do not recall if any of our crew needed tickets for the game, but I'll assume they did not, because this was a hard game to scalp for, considering the rivalry, coupled with the fact that both clubs sat at 4-0 at kickoff time.

Once the contest was underway, the squads exchanged punts, and the Broncos lit the lamp first with a Jake Plummer-to-Dwayne Carswell touchdown pass. The Chiefs would waste little time with an equalizer. Though they went three and out, a Deltha O'Neal punt fumble would result in an extra Chiefs possession, and Trent Green would connect with Tony Gonzalez for a touchdown. Denver would then go three and out, and the Chiefs failed on a chance to take the lead as O'Neal picked off Green, an exchange both sides were familiar with. Jason Elam would thread the uprights twice and Morton Andersen did the same once, leaving the Broncos ahead by a tres at the break.

On the other side of the locker room, things didn't look so pleasant; Shanahan and company doused the Chiefs with three consecutive Portis carries, the third of which went up the gut for 65 yards and a score. The Chiefs and Priest Holmes countered with a touchdown of their own, making it a one-possession game again. The teams were held scoreless for a few, until another Jason Elam field goal gave Denver a six-point edge. And then there was magic. Magic in the form of an eight and a two.



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For that game, we sat in the visiting team fan section, and it totally blew. I've only been surrounded by more orange and blue in Denver. The worst part about it was that a lot of the dudes around us were complete tools, especially this one half-drunk Mexican fan. So when Dante took that one to the house, I went nuts, making sure to rub it in everyone's face, and chant "Five and Oh-h-h-h" in a Tomahawk Chop cadence. It was epic, partly because I said a silent prayer to my pops before the punt for a little help from above. One way or another, it was delivered.

Denver in December, however, was not quite as fun. Just before jumping on the highway with my (now-wife) girlfriend, we swung by the store so that I could procure an Eddie Kennison Chiefs jersey. Some of the Bronco fans thought it a shrewd and gutsy move. Others did not like it one bit. In the half-day spent at InVesCo, I was called every name in the book, pelted with peanuts for the duration of the game, had a beer slung on me, was challenged to fights, and even politely told off by some of the less intoxicated. It was a pretty rough game, as Portis donned his overly gay championship belt and went off, making the belt even more obnoxious. (Editor's Note: By nature, I hate most every guy that has ever put on a Broncos helmet, but Portis is likely in the top three. He wasn't in Denver for that long, and didn't do a ton of damage against the Chiefs, but I've just always hated his attitude and persona. Massive, massive tool.) That game was a bruiser, though. I think he crested the 200-yard mark and netted five rushing TDs. The Chiefs did a decent job of staying in the contest early. Holmes and Portis duked it out with a pair of early scores a piece, and Kennison caught a Green pass for a score, which was oh-so-savory, and my blatantly loud cheering and jersey flaunting won me zero fans.

I had super-high hopes as the Chiefs took their 21-17 halftime lead, plus second-half kickoff reception to the field. Denver had other plans, though. Their four rushing touchdowns in the third and fourth quarter combined dwarfed the mere six points (a Green TD rush, no less) KC would tally, and the loss, like the rest of them, was a bitter, bitter pill to swallow. The parking lot scene was pretty fun that year, though. Old No. 7 held up a Rent-A-Center at gunpoint before making the trip up, and he arrived with a generator, a television, several couches and several grills, making our niche rather living roomish. Turned out to be a good thing for his kid brother Young No. 19, too. Amidst heavy intoxication and a ticket SNAFU courtesy of the stadium, 19 and his bad influence, the Catfish, were given the InvesCo boot, leaving them to pass out on the couches in the lot.

All in all, it was a good year Tradition-wise. A one-point victory for the Chiefs at home: very savory. A 45-27 throttling in Denver: not so much. But the Chiefs did manage to maintain most of their winning ways for the season, going 13-3 and obtaining a first-round bye in the playoffs, asterisked with home-field advantage throughout. Of course, in KC, 13-3 translates to immediate elimination, but what can you do? Beyond heavy drinking, anyway. The alleged blocks in the back during Hall's game-winning return make that game the most talked about contest to occur since we've been doing this thing, and the game of Troof (or at least the first half of it) was the closest we've come to watching KC win in Denver. That is, it's up there with the 9-6 OT contest from two years ago. One day, my friends. One day.