I'm old enough to remember watching the 1958 NFL Championship game with my dad. My grandad took me to the first home game of the Kansas City Chiefs, they lost that September day in 1963. It wasn't long before I had my own pair of season tickets, paid for with lawn mowing money. Rode a city bus down to old Municipal Stadium as I was too young to drive. Was there for the last game before Arrowhead Stadium opened, the double overtime game vs. the Miami Dolphins on Christmas Day, 1971. I was on leave from the Air Force and my best buddy was on leave from the Army, so it was an extra special Christmas, even though we lost in a heartbreaker. I still believe that was the greatest Chiefs' team of all time. Growing up my house, you were a Missouri Tigers' fan, my dad insisted on it. My mom was a huge sports fan as well, even today she watches a lot of football and Nascar.
After I got out of the service, I managed a bowling alley and later sold bedroom furniture for about 8 years. My wife and I decided to leave the cold midwest and move somewhere warmer. We landed in Las Vegas and I worked in dice pits downtown and on the famed Las Vegas Strip for 20 years. I helped open both Treasure Island and the Bellagio. Met a lot of famous people, many of them nice, many of them not so nice. I won a couple of football handicapping contests over the years. And I was regular in the sportsbooks during football season. During that time I came back to Kansas City and saw 29 games and the Chiefs had a 27-2 record in those games. The 2 losers were both to Seattle, one of them the famous Derrick Thomas 7-sack game. I told Carl Peterson a few times he might win a playoff game if he'd bring me in to town. He never took me up on it. They haven't won a playoff game since '94.
In 1998, we remodeled our family room and we made it a 4-screen media room. In our new home we have a 5-screen media room and with DIRECTV, we can watch 15-20 games on Saturday and 8-11 on Sunday. I'm blessed with a wife of 33 years who loves football, who understands football completely. I'm a lucky man.
After living in Las Vegas for 20 years, we moved to rural Missouri 4 years ago. The best thing about it is it's really quiet, which is good. Some of our new friends here have come over to watch football and many of them don't understand how we not only watch 5 games at once, but know exactly what's going on in each game. Believe me, it's an aquired skill.
I've kept fans and even a few media guys informed about the NFL Draft for nearly 30 years. I've always liked the not-so-exact-science of scouting. Like handicapping, it can make you look pretty smart or absolutely clueless. But I always give my honest opinion and if I haven't seen a kid play, I won't rate them using someone elses reports.
Besides watching well over 400 games a year, we also enjoy the NHRA & NASCAR, both on TV & in person. We like boating, traveling, movies & lots of blues music.
I hope you'll find something good every time you visit RICHSFOOTBALLREPORT.com. I'll do my best give you the most accurate and timely football news. Opinion, predictions and hopefully a few laughs.
Thank you,
Rich
Shameless Plugs II
RICHSFOOTBALLREPORT.COM: Monthly Archives for April 2009