FROM THE PUBLISHER | Patrick Mahomes, and tolerating 2020 | Opinion

It’s usually been a crummy time. The pandemic received worse than ever, and so we needed to hunker down once more. My mother died in June. Enterprise was crummy. The election went on and on, a miserable charade. Folks screamed at one another. All of the stimulation of a school city within the fall — tailgates, McCain exhibits, Landon lectures — evaporated. I went as much as campus, invited to provide a speech in a enterprise class, and it was like a hospital. Quiet and form of somber.

The soccer crew fizzled because the season wore on, so the electrical energy within the air on the town short-circuited. Basketball…effectively, we misplaced to Fort Hays State. Bzzzt.

Look, work and household are at all times fascinating — and at instances, all-consuming. However finally it’s important to unwind. There have been a few good books, there was Netflix, and Hulu, and Amazon. They helped. The puppies, Lola and Bruce, are their very own type of antidepressants.

He’s a magician. Each single time he touches the ball — which implies each time the Chiefs snap it — I’m compelled to look at carefully, as a result of there’s a great likelihood he’ll do one thing inconceivable to consider. He’ll run a method and throw it the opposite. He’ll throw it along with his different hand. He’ll underhand it, sidearm it, lob it, or zip it. He’ll match it into an area no one else can see. He’ll run round and backward and sideways and ahead, after which he’ll pretend throwing it and preserve operating, simply sufficient for a primary down. He’ll get out of bounds when he’s speculated to, or he’ll keep in bounds if he has to.

He’s not good, and — notably since I’m publishing this now — he may throw 4 interceptions and lose at present. My apologies prematurely. The Chiefs aren’t a dominant crew, however they’ve been just a bit higher than practically everyone they’ve performed this season. It takes a variety of luck to get to a Tremendous Bowl, and a bit of extra to win one, and so the percentages are that they received’t try this once more.

I care about that, however probably not that a lot. I’ve by no means been a die-hard Chiefs fan. I grew up when the Royals have been nice and the Chiefs have been mediocre, and so I by no means received that invested. For professional soccer, I rooted for the Minnesota Vikings. I appreciated watching Fran Tarkenton scramble round and make one thing out of nothing. Come to think about it, Mahomes has a little bit of Tarkenton in him.

I care way more about Okay-State soccer and basketball, which implies the emotional burden is heavier. With the Chiefs, it’s all gravy. In the event that they lose, I can simply get off the sofa and say, “Rats!’ and make a sandwich. With the ‘Cats, it takes me a day or per week or most of my grownup life to recover from a loss, relying.

Anyway, the purpose is, there’s a promise whenever you sit down to look at Mahomes and the Chiefs. The promise is that this: Give us three hours, and concentrate, and also you’ll see one thing wonderful. You’ll see one thing you’ve by no means seen earlier than, one thing that can make you chuckle and shake your head, and holler, “Hey, Angie, watch this!” and possibly gasp.

That’s a heckuva deal in 2020.

So, whereas I’ve received the microphone right here, I’d wish to take this chance to thank the tv networks, and their advertisers, and all of you good of us paying your cable payments, for creating the highly effective incentives to make the NFL play video games once more this fall.

I assumed there was little likelihood we’d make it via a season in a contact sport in the midst of a viral pandemic. However, as has turn out to be solely obvious, soccer — whether or not faculty or professional — is basically only a tv present, and the present should go on. With Mahomes at quarterback, that’s most likely the very best leisure on the display screen. That present has made the autumn of 2020 tolerable, and I recognize it.