Social Distortion

The culmination of the post-Thanksgiving apathy, the rush of business from those that put work off until the holiday had passed, and the attempt to resuscitate brain cells lost over the four-day weekend started with a tremendous Broncos victory put me out of the loop for a few days… and while I was savoring the flavor of that glory, a few of the locals came through to ask what I’m thinking about the Chiefs.

I kid… of COURSE I’m worried about the trip to KC. At least 50 people have let me know the Broncos are touting a record of 1-16 in games played in December at Arrowhead. Granted it has been four years since we’ve seen that scenario, falling 27-31 under the guidance of Mike Shanahan. Great stat.

Guess what? I brought numbers of my own. See how these hit ya’.

- Mike Shanahan’s combined record as a head coach in December: 31-31

- Of those 31 losses suffered in December under the guidance of Mike Shanahan, 25 came on the road (80.6%).

- Mike Shanahan’s record in Kansas City: 4-12

The Broncos are struggling when they visit the KC? I’d suggest the Broncos may not deserve all of that blame… the numbers I found suggest Mike Shanahan’s teams struggled on the road, they struggled in the last month of the season, and they certainly struggled while playing at Kansas City. 

McDaniels is undefeated in Arrowhead. In fact, he owns a winning record against the Chiefs… 2-1 to be exact (including his years as an assistant in New England).

I’d also suggest the Chiefs aren’t enjoying the home-field advantage you assume they own: of their three wins this season, two have come on the road. Their only win at home this season came via the overtime shocker against the Steelers two weeks ago (27-24).

Regardless, we will get deeper into the Chiefs later this week. For now it’s midnight on Tuesday night/Wednesday morning, I’m catching up on my Dan Patrick via the DVR and I’m going to drag us through some announcements, news, links, and such as  I ride towards death from exhaustion… and I’d like to invite you all to come with me.

We’ll sleep when we are dead.

Seems a fitting soundtrack considering the topics I have in mind for the evening. Let’s start with the “social” aspects before we leap into the “distortion.”

- While I’ve been neglecting the stables I have been hard at work in managerial duties, namely working to build roads you can follow to keep track of the Fanball Sports Network. This week we unveiled our new Facebook page, loaded with any and all of  the sites and Network correspondents  I could con into the project. We are working hard to make that a convenient stop for any and all on the FB to enjoy the Network, and it’s open to any and all that want to participate. As a fan of the site you are welcome to come on in, leave notes and commentary, access all of the latest articles from the team, and you’ll find the FB pages for nearly every correspondent on the team. If you spend time on Facebook I’d be honored if you stopped in to check it out, and if you are feeling rather charitable, you can “Fan” the spot and grease my ego.

- We  aren’t leaving the Twits out of the picture. The Network also launched four new Twitter pages this week, one dedicated to each of the sports we cover. For those that enjoy the pigskin side of life, for the puckheads of the world, for those that like to let the net rip, or for those throwing cheese… we have you covered. You’ll find a ton of news not only from the Network but from all over the blogosphere on those pages. Follow us, we’ll follow you back, and we’ll do everything we can to insure you enjoy the experience.

- Since we are here and ripping through notes on social media… got a note from none other than Ryan Clady, the best left tackle in the NFL who happens to be cashing checks from the Denver Broncos. He has decided to put a focused effort on improving his Facebook status and has opened his own Fan Page on the network. To celebrate the cause (and help promote his charitable efforts, his community service, his personal and professional campaigns), he is asking any and all to “Become a Fan” of his spot and he enlisted his Facebook family to help out. Make sure you check it out and throw him some love if you spend time on the FB… you’ll be happy you did.

One last announcement (I promise)…

- Our friends at Celebrity Marketing recently asked if the Network would be interested in promoting their efforts to support charities across the nation, and with their recent success in helping professional athletes and celebrities involvement in these causes, we couldn’t resist. Our first venture hits on a local Denver chord as former NHL icon Ray Bourque has teamed with CelebritiesForCharities.org, in conjunction with NetRaffle.org, to provide an amazing opportunity for some lucky fan to spend some time with the former Avalanche great as well as Georges Laraque, the former enforcer of Montreal fame. You’ll find details at the link embedded there in the CfC name… it’s a wonderful cause and a chance to spend some time with some wonderful hockey greats. You can also find full details HERE.

How about some links?

- Vonnie Holliday was happy with the team effort in the Turkey Day win.

- Bronco greats Shannon Sharpe and Terrell Davis have been identified as semifinalists for this year’s Pro Football Hall of Fame class (Sharpe will be getting in… he should have gotten the call last year, but TD will be waiting).

- Josh McDaniels was compelled to apologize for the NFL Network’s lack of production. I’m sure the rest of the world was shocked and appalled to learn an NFL head coach might curse on the job… what an asshole, huh?

- Our good friend Kyle continues to fight the good fight at BroncoTalk.net, this week offering his thoughts on the squad as we ponder this week’s trip east.

- Nice to hear Ryan Harris is back and working at Dove Valley.

- Over at the Mile High Report, The Dude was happy with what he witnessed on the field and in the box score on Thanksgiving.

- Matt Prater was honored as the AFC Special Teams Player of the Week.

- Local boy-made-good Tyler Polumbus may be getting a new roommate.

- The defense is back in the mix as they prepare for Matt Cassel and the KC Sunshine Band.

- Former Bronco great Jason Elam enjoyed a short career in Atlanta.

- Lindsay Jones from the Post thinks Josh didn’t do Charlie Weis any favors.

- Sayre Bedinger with the Bleacher Report is already pondering what Josh will do in the draft.

- The NFL is thinking about moving to 18 games for the regular season, and we agree with Deadspin… we love football, but this might be asking too much.

- Sounds like the Chiefs are starting to wallow in their own misery, and it begins at the top.

- The Big Lead believes the Broncos, while sitting down in the ranks, could be looking at a solid spot in the postseason.

- Listen to Jason Whitlock and you may not be too worried about the week ahead.

- It’s not from MJD, but the Shutdown Corner asked Doug Farrar to come up with the best defensive players of the week… and he obviously forgot Brian Dawkins was working on Thursday.

- We’ve known this for a while, but Denver can run the football.

- And we’ll leave you with this, just for grins, with a small note to ponder…

… only two teams allow more passing yards per game, only three have fewer interceptions, and only one has a lower sack total and allows more yards per pass attempt.

Hopefully that will keep you smiling until we reach the end of the week. We’ll bring the buffets and the game preview then.

Thanks for stopping in.

Tags: Denver Broncos, Kansas City Chiefs, Week 13