Looking Back:
One Week Ago? The Chiefs in Costa Rica
...There we were, sleeping in the Tropical Rainforest of Costa Rica. The early morning rain turned into a thick heavy downpour. When the rain stopped the Howler Monkeys started calling, with a distinctive blend of growls. It was four in the morning, and our night’s sleep was over. We were sleeping in the Tortuguero National Park on the Caribbean coast of the heavily forested small Central American country. This coastline is famous for the nesting grounds of the big sea turtles.
Yes, Irene and I were taking a dream vacation to Costa Rica (a Hawthorn Bank sponsored trip). We saw many sites and were excited to zipline over the Cloud Rainforest near the large Arenal Volcano. We were also pleased to visit with many of the Costa Ricans. Many spoke English (with an accent of course) and it was fun to have them ask us about the Kansas City Chiefs. (Irene wore a Chiefs’ T-shirt a time or two.) We heard several times, “We like the Chiefs, we really like Mahomes.” A couple even mentioned Kelce. I am not sure if they know where Kansas City is located, but they knew about the Chiefs and our famous QB. Fun, right?
Sunday’s Game: The Chiefs, as you know, came back and beat the Houston Oilers 30-24 in OT. They have won seven straight AFC Western Division titles. Very exciting. I joke sometimes and say Mahomes should ask for a raise. Watching the game, it was obvious there were many Chiefs fans at this away game in Houston. They used to say the Dallas Cowboys were Americas Team, but maybe that has changed. After being in Costa Rica it seems the Chiefs are at least ‘Central Americas Team’, and are fast becoming Americas Team.
World Cup Finals: The WC is over and Argentina beat France using PKs after two OTs. Argentina won behind the leadership (and goals) of the ever-famous soccer GOAT Lionel Messi. It was an epic game with France coming back after being down 2-0 at the half. We were pulling for Argentina and Messi. Messi’s career is coming to a close (he is 35, which is old for a soccer player) and he had won about everything else, so now winning the WC makes his career complete. It is similar to pulling for Jim Kelly of the old Buffalo Bills. Kelly was so good, but he never won a Super Bowl, even though he played in four straight. While in Costa Rica we spotted a few volleyball courts, a few baseball fields, and one swimming pool, but there were a ton of soccer fields. Every small town had a soccer field. Maybe that is why Costa Rica, a country of 5 million, made it to the WC.
Conference Change: Make sure you read about our Clinton School Board voting 5-2 to stay in the MRVC (Missouri River Valley Conference). The article starts on today’s front page. Go Chiefs, Go Cards.
