MVN - Most Valuable Network

Are the Chiefs Daniel LaRusso?

I love the movie “The Karate Kid”.  I simply love it.  I don’t know how much street cred that is going to cost me with the readers of this site, but so be it.  What’s not to love?  It’s a great story, some good characters, the greatest villians of the 80’s (the Cobra Kai) and a fantastic ending.  I own the DVD, and I watch it whenever it’s on TV. 

One of the writers I read frequently is ESPN.com’s Bill Simmons.  He is a New England fan, and has been comparing the Patriots this season to the Cobra Kai.  I have to admit, the parallels are eerie:  A unit of nearly unbeatable bad guys who are so good, no one wants to mess with them.  They realize that they are the resident bad-asses in the neighborhood, so they become bullies and shove people around.  Everyone loves to hate them, and everyone wants them taken down a peg, but no one has the guts to do anything about it.  A well-crafted analogy.

 That got me thinking, though - if the Patriots are the Cobra Kai, then the Chiefs are definitely in the role of Daniel LaRusso.  Think about it: the new guy who routinely gets his clock cleaned by the neighborhood bullies (Indy, Green Bay, Denver), who shows up with a fantastic looking bruise or injury on an almost daily basis (our impressive looking injured list).  There is no real reason to like him (Carl Peterson, aka “Count Chocula”), and he realizes that he will have to learn a new skill (the defense) to survive. 

Enter the man handling the role of Mr. Miyagi, Herm Edwards!  He is intent on teaching the student new techniques in unorthodox ways, and eventually, Daniel LaRusso catches on and figures out what Mr. Miyagi is trying to teach him.  The Chiefs’ defense imported some new parts and have seen a vast improvement, but like Daniel on the bow of the boat, there is still room to improve.  So while the defense is ready to advance to the All-Valley Under 18 Karate Tournament, the offense is still dressed like a shower and getting its ass kicked during a Halloween dance.

Mr. Miyagi and Herm Edwards both have plans that are not readily apparent to the average viewer.  Face it - when Mr. Miyagi had Daniel “wax on, wax off”, did you figure out he was learning how to block a punch?  Me neither.   Same thing applies to Edwards.  He knows what he’s doing in terms of gathering personnel and getting the right pieces in place, but the moves may not be obvious to everyone at first glance.

So Mr. Miyagi eventually teaches Daniel enough to not get him killed in the early rounds of the tournament.  Edwards is poised to put the Chiefs in that position possibly in 2008, and definitely by 2009.  I’m not sure if they can get by Dutch (the divisional game), Bobby (the AFC Championship) or Johnny (the Super Bowl), but I’m quite confident he can get us past psychotic Tommy (a playoff victory) in the very near future.  Hopefully, with a little luck and a well-timed crane kick, the Chiefs can finally give their fans the trophy they want.

This entry was posted on Friday, December 14th, 2007 at 2:22 pm and is filed under Analysis. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.