The Best Party EVER
Written by: Chris Rubio
You can picture it, can’t you? You’re out there on the dance floor grooving to your tune. It’s a wedding, someone’s Party, a night in Vegas, or a house party. The DJ or the band is rockin’ the tunes, more importantly your tune. As the DJ, you often ARE the Party. It’s an awesome responsibility, but everyone remembers the moments when you do the job right. You may not be the dance type. You are in that corner with your buddies out there telling those jokes, bustin’ on one of your friends, or laughing about some embarrassing old moment everyone knows.
Come on, you know what I mean, it’s THAT moment. Everyone knows the details of what happened and can finish the next sentence. Now you’ve got the picture! It’s funny; sometimes it might take a minute, but before you know it, you realize, “Hey, this is one great party.” There’s good music, good friends, and a few libations to loosen things up. The next thing you know, you realize this Party is better than a great party. You find yourself at the best Party Ever! Don’t just listen to me on this. Click on the link and listen to Norma Hunt describe it. Wouldn’t you hate to be the one who missed it?
We are amid the best Party EVER. Our team has not played a road playoff game for the past five years. Think about that. As a starter, Patrick Mahomes has never not played in an AFC Championship game and has never played a road playoff game in his entire career. This defies logic. What happens is that annually, the Playoff Party is always at Arrowhead Stadium.
Annually, we host the best Party EVER. I’ve been to every championship game during this run, and incredibly, the Chiefs could have won all five. They faced Tom Brady and the nearly invincible New England Patriots in the first of the five in January 2019. After starting the game down 14-0, the Chiefs battled back to take the lead late in the game and had the game won. They had a Tom Brady interception and a trip to the Super Bowl in their hands. However, they “Chiefed” themselves, and Dee Ford was called for being offsides by no more than a fist, thereby reversing the interception. A penalty in that spot was the kind of mistake Chiefs fans had grown used to over the years.
Oddly, walking out of Arrowhead on January 20, 2019, after witnessing so many prior playoff disappointments that night, was quiet but hopeful. Previous losses featured fans calling for the coach’s head or a trade, banging on the walls on the way out of Arrowhead, or calling for the firing of a coach. Walking out that night, it was quiet but different. We all knew that the kid would bring us back there again, and sure enough, he did just that and has done that for five straight AFC Championship Games. The kid always brings us back; you don’t want to miss this!
Arrowhead Stadium is an unbelievable fan experience. I highly recommend going to Arrowhead, especially during the playoffs, for a life experience you will never forget.
The Stadium holds the record for being the loudest Stadium in the NFL, recording 142.2 decibels at its peak. When Arrowhead Stadium is rocking, the entire fanbase is moving and grooving to whatever song is playing. It feels like the building shakes.
The fan experience at Arrowhead is created by this love affair between the local fans of these Chiefs and an ownership team that understands this passion and has created a winning culture. Yet, despite the size of the crowd, the Chiefs seem to retain a family feel to the experience, which brings us to the Hunt Family.
Lamar Hunt founded the Chiefs. He was instrumental in merging the American Football League with the National Football League. He owned the Dallas Texans (that became the Chiefs) while in his 20s. The AFC title trophy gets its name from Lamar Hunt. Hunt has been credited with giving the Super Bowl the perfect name. Somebody initially called Super Bowl 1 the AFL-NFL World Championship Game, not the Super Bowl. Lamar’s most important gift to the community was in the life partner he chose, Norma Hunt.
Some have called Norma Hunt the matriarch of the NFL. She was a wife, a mom, a grandma, and reportedly a major sports enthusiast. Until she died this past year, Norma Hunt was one of four living people to have attended every Super Bowl and the only woman to have done so. It’s highly appropriate to think of her as the Mom of the Chiefs. We all have Moms; sometimes, we are gifted in knowing another Mom so unique that we can consider her a second Mom. These extraordinary ladies have this “it” factor, that unmistakable Mom love that connects us seemingly as a family forever. They were born to be that second Mom. Norma Hunt was this second Mom to the Chiefs Kingdom. As an example, there are videos of Norma Hunt attending pregame tailgates in Arrowhead Stadium to be with the fans. For the first time in the history of the Kansas City Chiefs, Norma Hunt will not be present at any tailgate or for the start of a football season or a Super Bowl.
The Chief’s family. and Chiefs Kingdom won’t ever be the same without Norma Hunt, and I hope the team finds a way to commemorate our second Mom all season long somehow properly. I can’t wait for a magical moment to happen this year, and when it does, I will reflect on Norma Hunt and wonder if this Angel is pulling the strings for us, leading us to be the first repeat Champion in 20 years. The best Party EVER has turned into a five-year party with seemingly no end in sight. Let’s embrace these days and be thankful for the family that connects us as Chiefs fans.
