I can't embed it, so I'll just link to it.
You Don't See THAT Everyday Moments!
Saturday, October 17, 2026
Monday, October 05, 2026
A Pivotal Week 4 Chiefs-Raiders Game
It's been a while since the Raiders have been good. It was fun to have a 3-0 Chiefs visiting the 3-0 Raiders.
At the end the Raiders benefit from a bad call by the refs and it looks like they might steal the game, but before we can process what happened, the Chiefs D steps up and seals the game with a pick.
This game was back and forth.
Raiders up 13-10 at the half and get the ball first in the 3rd quarter. Drive down, kick and make a field goal on 4th and 7 from the KC 23.
But there's a Chiefs penalty. If they take it's 4th and 2 from the 18. Or they could decline it, keep the made field goal, be up 16-10.
Notably this is a different situation than it's 4th and 2, should you kick or go. In this siutation, the 3 points is a given. No chance of a miss.
Typically when I hear teams taking points of the board, it's because you got a first down via penalty. But imagine a hypotehtical new 1st and 10 from the KC 31. That's still potentially a gray area decision. On the one hand you keep the drive alive with a chance for a touchdown. On the other hand, you still might end up kicking a field goal later. You also could risk getting a sack and getting pushed out of fg range. I think most teams take the 1st down, but it's not guaranteed to be better than 3pts on the board.
Now this siutation was nearer the end zone, but a 4th and 2. I don't think it makes sense to trade 3pts for 4th and 2. If it's 4th and 1 and you have the Hurts-Kelce Eagles tush push, fine. But 4th and 2 to dial up a pass play?
I understand the logic that you need to score touchdowns to beat Mahomes. But there's so much time left. Even if KC scores to go up 17-16, you're only down 1 with the ball.
Anyways, they don't get it.
About a quarter later, Kenneth Walker runs for 76 yards leading to a Chiefs touchdown. Raiders respond with a fg, stop, and another field goal.
They're now up 19-17.
On a huge 3rd and 4, Mahomes launches a pass that travels 40 yards in the air.
Thornton catches and proves he is our new WR1 thriving in this role and it's gone. He's out 3-4 months, getting injured on the very play that swings the game.
On back to back plays from scrimmage Ken Walker runs for touchdowns. Not just back to back plays for the Chiefs. For either team. Raiders fumble on the kickoff.
At 3:33 it seemed like the Raiders had the upper hand. At 3:01 the Chiefs were up 11 points.
Friday, October 02, 2026
Friday, September 11, 2026
holy shit, is it 5787 already?
Look, if you want to dip your apple into her honey, I say go for it, but use protection.
Please Roshhashananananahashnanah responsibly.
Please Roshhashananananahashnanah responsibly.
Thursday, September 10, 2026
Calcutta Memory Lane
I went back to look at the Calcutta for the years where the Chiefs won the Super Bowl. I was curious if I ever owned them when they won it all.
2019
2022
Some initial observations.
I never owned the Chiefs when they won.
I always owned the NFC Super Bowl opponent. (49ers, Eagles, 49ers)
In 2019, even though I didn't own the Champion, I still won the Calcutta, which is crazy.
Then I went back to look at the history over the last seven seasons:
NFL Calcutta
2025: Dave
2024: Dave
2023: Kirat
2022: Mark
2022: Mark
2021: Dave
2020: Dave
2020: Dave
2019: Dave
The only times I didn't win the Calcutta were when the Chiefs won it all. So 7-year span where I at least saw my team win the Super Bowl or I won the Calcutta.
Saturday, August 22, 2026
2026 NFL Preview
Before we get into 2026, a look back at the last 7 years of NFL previews, graded by ChatGPT.
When you look at my Super Bowl predictions results, it's kind of amazing. For reference, here's how the Las Vegas Sportsbooks did over that stretch:
6 out of 21. I got 9 out of 21, except my strategy was basically spam my favorite team and they actually came through for me. The big question...will I stick with that strategy entering the 2026 NFL Season?
Let's mix it up this year and start with a different division.
AFC East
The Patriots went 14-3, went to the Super Bowl, and I still never believed in them. And yet, maybe I was right? And now Vrabel is seeing what it's like to be inside an NFL insider.
For years, you could pencil in Josh Allen in first place. They finish in 2nd place and fire their head coach. New coach bump?
The Dolphins blew everything up and are in complete rebuild.
The Jets have at least on paper, a chance not to finish 4th in the division which is really exciting for them.
Bills, Pats, Jets, Dolphins.
AFC North
Mike Tomlin and John Harbaugh are no longer coaching Steelers and Ravens.
Meanwhile, the Bengals are relying on consistsency and the fact that it's an even year. They're at least attempting to improve their dogshit defense.
Minter is a complete unknown. I've seen it pay off with Cohen and Ben Johnson, but I'm not convinced replacing John Harbaugh is as easy.
The Browns went 5-12 with Myles Garrett last year. That's probably the ceiling for them this year without him.
I think that Tomlin was good for a couple wins and the Steelers are going to get a taste of a losing record.
Bengals, Ravens, Steelers, Browns.
AFC South
You've got the Titans with Cam Ward hoping to make a year two leap.
You've got the Liam Cohen Jags in year two who went 13-4 but couldn't win a playoff game.
You've got Daniel Jones off an Achilles injury.
And then the Texans. Who kinda, maybe, seem like they could be this year's version of the 2025 Seahawks.
Texans, Jags, Colts, Titans.
AFC West
I was stalling as long as I could.
I moved to Denver in 2011. Then I moved from Denver to Kansas City in 2016.
For 14 straight seasons, I lived in the city that won the AFC West. Alas, I did not move to Denver in 2025. The streak is over.
But hey fun fact, the gray is Super Bowl appearance, the gold is Super Bowl Champion. My whole Chiefs life had been centered on 7 straight playoff losses and a playoff drought from 1993 to 2015.
But the first time I moved out of Kansas City (to Peoria) was in Summer 1994. Curse of Dave? I come back and we start winning Super Bowls?!
- - -
Anyways, back to the preview. the Broncos broke the Chiefs NINE year streak of winning the division.
The Chiefs were 6-7 entering Week 15 so things were not going great. When Mahomes injured his ACL, that was a wrap on the season.
But after week 8, the Chiefs were 5-3 and still had the number 1 Super Bowl odds. Sure they would go 1-4 over the next five, only winning the game where I took my boys to see their first NFL game, but...what's the point again? Ah yes...we used to just slot the Chiefs as division winners and feel good about it. Now we have to think about it.
The Broncos, whether I like it or not, are good. Good defense. Nix is good enough to go 14-3 and likely to get better.
The Chargers are kind of quietly looming. 11-6 last year. This is exactly the trajectory you want. Good QB, Good Coach, build on continuity and success. Instead of being a perennial hot pick in August and falling short, now the spotlight is seemingly on the Broncos and Chiefs, ironically making them an interesting hot pick for me.
And the Chiefs. Impossible to be objective about. I still believe in Mahomes and Reid. Bienemy back is good. Kelce is washed. In 2020 they lost the Super Bowl, in 2021 had the hangover season missing the Super Bowl, and then won the Super Bowl in 2022. This time around, in 2024 they lost the Super Bowl, in 2025 had the hangover season missing the Super Bowl. It's not that crazy to think their track record at least puts them back in contention.
The Raiders are last.
Three good teams in this division, all three could be in the hunt for the division title in November.
Chargers, Chiefs, Broncos, Raiders.
1 Bills
2 Texans
3 Chargers
4 Bengals
5 Ravens
6 Chiefs
7 Broncos
- - -
NFC East
John Harbaugh comes to the Giants...should we be expecting a Vrabel-like turnaround? I'm not convinced. I'll bump them out of 4th but not into playoff contention. (Editor's Note: This Giants prediction feels like the most Likely thing to be wrong.)
Commanders still have a ton to prove to me. I'm more in the camp that the Commanders playoff run that one time was a flash in the pan.
Cowboys...in the regular season I still think they're competent. Some curtains would help.
I think the Eagles are the most complete team and they've got the depth. Plus, getting rid of AJ Brown might be addition by subtraction.
Eagles, Cowboys, Giants, Commanders.
NFC North
4 winning teams last year. 2nd place, 3rd place, 4th place all had 9 wins. On paper, the places can feel like tiers, but in reality, sometimes they're razors.
The addition of Kyler Murray gives the team with the biggest question mark reason to get excited. So on paper all four should be roughly around 9 or 10 wins.
So we're looking for razor thin edges and it's like who do you trust? Well, Ben Johnson has been on the right side of winning over the last couple years in Detroit and Chicago. So Chicago still feels like they're ascending. The Lions without him feel like they might be descending.
The thing is it's tough to repeat. Bears got lucky last year, hard to be lucky twice in a row.
The Packers are intersting and seem like they should be good, offense and defense. I've been waiting for Jordan Love to go to the next level, he's 27, seems like this could be the year.
And the Vikings...do I really trust Kyler Murray to play all year and be great?
Packers, Lions, Bears, Vikings.
NFC South
I'm fucking done picking the Falcons man. I don't care if they win the Super Bowl, I'm tired of being wrong about them.
These teams mostly stink but someone has to win.
Saints, Bucs, Panthers, Falcons.
NFC West
The Rams were basically just as good as the Seahawks last year. Now they've added Myles Garrett.
The Seahawks got a parade. Not going back to back.
The 49ers practice facility is inside a nuclear reactor.
The Cardinals should be relegated.
Rams, Seahawks, 49ers, Cardinals.
NFC Playoff Teams
1 Rams
2 Packers
3 Eagles
4 Saints
5 Seahawks
6 Lions
7 Bears
Super Bowl LXI in Los Angeles:
Rams over Bills
Sunday, August 16, 2026
Starting QB for each Chiefs playoff win, all-time
1962 — Len Dawson — Houston Oilers — Championship, W 20–17 OT
1966 — Len Dawson — Buffalo Bills — AFL Championship, W 31–7
1969 — Len Dawson — New York Jets — Divisional, W 13–6
1969 — Len Dawson — Oakland Raiders — AFL Championship, W 17–7
1969 — Len Dawson — Minnesota Vikings — Super Bowl IV, W 23–7
1991 — Steve DeBerg — Los Angeles Raiders — Wild Card, W 10–6
1993 — Joe Montana — Pittsburgh Steelers — Wild Card, W 27–24 OT
1993 — Joe Montana — Houston Oilers — Divisional, W 28–20
2015 — Alex Smith — Houston Texans — Divisional, W 30–0
2018 — Patrick Mahomes — Indianapolis Colts — Divisional, W 31–13
2019 — Patrick Mahomes — Houston Texans — Divisional, W 51–31
2019 — Patrick Mahomes — Tennessee Titans — AFC Championship, W 35–24
2019 — Patrick Mahomes — San Francisco 49ers — Super Bowl LIV, W 31–20
2020 — Patrick Mahomes — Cleveland Browns — Divisional, W 22–17
2020 — Patrick Mahomes — Buffalo Bills — AFC Championship, W 38–24
2021 — Patrick Mahomes — Pittsburgh Steelers — Wild Card, W 42–21
2021 — Patrick Mahomes — Buffalo Bills — Divisional, W 42–36 OT
2022 — Patrick Mahomes — Jacksonville Jaguars — Divisional, W 27–20
2022 — Patrick Mahomes — Cincinnati Bengals — AFC Championship, W 23–20
2022 — Patrick Mahomes — Philadelphia Eagles — Super Bowl LVII, W 38–35
2023 — Patrick Mahomes — Miami Dolphins — Wild Card, W 26–7
2023 — Patrick Mahomes — Buffalo Bills — Divisional, W 27–24
2023 — Patrick Mahomes — Baltimore Ravens — AFC Championship, W 17–10
2023 — Patrick Mahomes — San Francisco 49ers — Super Bowl LVIII, W 25–22 OT
2024 — Patrick Mahomes — Houston Texans — Divisional, W 23–14
2024 — Patrick Mahomes — Buffalo Bills — AFC Championship, W 32–29
Pre-Mahomes (58 years): 9-18 in the playoffs
Mahomes era (8 years): 17-4 in the playoffs
Fincher vs Nolan
So I keep a running ranked list of their movies combined.
So I created a system to weight those ratings and rankings.
100 pts for 5 stars, 90 for 4.5, 70 for 4, 50 for 3.5, 30 for 3. And then bonus points for ranked spots on the list.
Monday, August 03, 2026
Human Analysis on AI Analysis
So in the six blog posts from 2019 – 2024, I either earned an A or B grade on my NFL Preview.
And then in 2025, a C+. Hard to have a dynasty last forever.
Also, Hoagie Central earned an average grade of B+!
And then in 2025, a C+. Hard to have a dynasty last forever.
Also, Hoagie Central earned an average grade of B+!
Reminds me of, "we're all the way up to don't buy!"
Hoagie Central: Your #1 source for B+ content!
Wednesday, July 22, 2026
Mark Fever 2026
I picked up Mark at the airport on Thursday night. First stop was KC Soda Co. where we each made a six pack of good stuff like Sprecher's, Boylans, etc.
Then we went to Scheels.
Here he is embodying championship spirit.
Here he is embodying wild-card spirit.
Here he is grabbing for a Rome Odunze jersey, I guess he wanted one.
At Scheels, we played mini bowling and I won 62-60.
Then we popped over to 810 Entertainment (named after 8-ball and 10-pins not an area code) because we wanted to play bocce. But instead these great dartboards caught our eye. Very funny because a year ago we really wanted to play darts and couldn't find a good board, and we just lucked into one immediately.
Look, at this point it's a little gauche to post our score in darts. But just for future reference, I won all three games. Two games of cricket and one of 301. Given Mark's competitive spirit, not the way he wanted things to go but hey, things could always turn around for him. (Foreshadowing.)
From there we went to Q39 South, our favorite jam. We ordered a freaking feast.
Full slab of ribs, Mr. Burns, Mac & Q with pulled pork, fries, street corn. It was amazing.
Also, Q39 was the site of of the 2026 Fantasy Football Owner's Meeting and was up there with the best of them.
We came home and played a bunch of games with the fam including Deadwood, Wavelength, Tsuro, Clubhouse Games and Mario Party on the Switch.
Friday was a work day so we caught up on somehings and hung out a bit during the day.
Then around 5 we went to Dave & Buster's with the whole crew. There we won the World Cup.
We ate some great bar food there and then afterward, the three adults went to Chicken n Pickle for some drinks and catching up.
Saturday morning we headed out at 11 to Blue Valley Disc Golf (aka Prairie Pass) at Pleasant Ridge Middle School.
I got off to a rough start. On the first hole, I threw it way right and almost lost the disc, but then recovered and had a makeable putt to win the hole and missed it. We carried it over. Hole 2, I missed a putt again, and so Mark was up 2-0. Holes 3 and 4 we tied. Hole 5, I had a great drive, was ready to go up 3-2, and I missed not one but two putts. Now I was down 5-0 after five.
Mark was up 7-0 after seven, and it was looking real bleak.
I won Hole 8, making it 7-1. Then I got it up to 7-3 after ten, so I felt like I had momentum. I was shouting, "I am the disc!"
We tied the next one. Mark won the one after that, so he was up 9-3 after 12 and had at least secured a tie at that point.
At this point, I was still calculating a path to victory that included winning the 18th hole, not losing any more holes, and then winning in sudden death. That was my path to victory. I did win the next hole, so it was 9-4.
Then Mark won the 14th hole. He won 10-4. Good buddy.
We came home and got the crew together to go out for street tacos at Taco Republic. The most impactful moment was me winning the fantasy football coin flip.
Mark was not pleased.
After tacos we played more games and booked an escape room.
Mark and I did pop over to Burg and Barrel to have a drink and name baseball teams and hockey teams.
And then the nightcap was breaking out of Y2K at Breakout KC with 15 minutes to spare.
Heck of a trip.
Tuesday, June 16, 2026
Calcutta Updates
Look after Mark pulled off the Quintuple Crown in fantasy football, it had me wondering if I really know ball.
But in the spirit of his Quintuples, let's check in on the last five years of NFL and NHL.
And just for good measure, 7 years of NFL Calcutta
It appears that perhaps not only do I know ball, but also I know puck.
Saturday, May 23, 2026
Abilene Work Trip #1
This job continues to be a blessing. And that includes my first work trip to Abilene.
I wished I could have seen Interstellar at the Paramount, looked like a cool theater.
Best thing I ate was the short rib at Cork & Pig. Worst thing was the sandwich at Bogie's cafe. (not pictured)
Thursday, May 14, 2026
Tuesday, April 07, 2026
A New Era
Remember this post?
Well, just in the last two weeks I've accepted the #1 job on my board, Illinois made the Final Four, and I'm breaking 100 at the golf simulator. And the job is remote, so I can hopefully live healthier as well. And did you see the clips of Mahomes throwing? Maybe things really are turning around.
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