A few things about the draftfest

[jjchieffan]

I want to start out by thanking George for the tickets. I enjoyed going even if we didn't get the guy I wanted in round 2. I asked George if it was okay for me to do a ten things in thanks for the tickets. He gave his blessing, but I think that I will mix it up a bit. Instead of a ten things, I'm just going to tell it in a story format.

When I got the tickets, I had a couple of buddies in mind to join me that are diehard fans. Unfortunately, both of them already had plans. I have a friend that lives in KC that I work with at times, so I invited him and he was able to attend. His name is Brian. Brian, as it turns out, used to be neighbors with Stevie Ray. We both looked for him last night, but never saw him. It was pretty spread out. We had access to the concourse, several lower level sections, the field, and the locker room. Brian had friends that were meeting him there and they didn't find each other until 7:30.

The draft was being broadcast in several locations. Both jumbotrons, the TV screens at the top of the lower level, and a couple of viewing areas in the concourse. They had the volume muted on the field until the Chiefs drafted up, then they turned it on. Everyone was cheering when we traded up. I heard several people get excited and I heard Oliver's name a lot. As soon as the pick was announced I heard a lot of groans an saw a lot of confused faces. I didn't hear or see anyone cheer the pick.

There was free food and drinks. Well, soda and water. Your first beer was free too. The food was burgers and hot dogs with chips, peanuts, soft pretzels, cookies and popcorn. Brian's friends were season pass holders who had been several times in the past. They said that the food was better in the past. They have catered it in and it was usually pretty nice. But it was free. It was good. I'm not complaining, just mentioning it because they brought it up.

]They had a bunch of activities going on on the field. We went down there and checked it out. You could attempt to kick a field goal, but neither of us tried. The locker room was also open. I went down and checked it out and snapped some picks. They had chairs sitting in the lockers and some had their gear in it. I sat in Mahomes locker(wearing my Mahomes jersey) and got my picture taken. So that was pretty cool. I heard that there were players doing photo ops but I guess I missed them. I asked who the players were, but nobody could tell me. I guess that they were probably 3rd stringers that nobody outside of CP would know anyway.
I assumed going in that it would be for rounds 2 and 3 since that was what was being done. Unfortunately, they shut it down right after pick 64. So I was relegated to listening to round 3 on 810 until I got to Clinton and lost signal right after pick 98. Go figure! But, I got home and jumped on CP to find out who we picked and saw the general consensus was that he was a good pick. It was a 3 hour drive home for me, so leaving after round 2 wasn't all bad. It would have been pretty late when I got home if I had stayed until the end.

George gave me contact information for his guy at the Chiefs. I emailed him with questions. He responded with his number and asked me to call him. He was very helpful. I had assumed that it was in the practice facility, like it was every year. He let me know that it was actually in Arrowhead this year because of it being on night 2. He made it sound like it would be back in the practice facility in the future. He also told me to come in at gate 5 off of Raytown Road. That was a big help too. It took me right there. He also made sure to tell me that if i told them that I was there for the draftfest that there would be no parking charge. There were people at the gate collecting parking fees for the Royals game, but they let me right through like he said.

Overall, It was a fun experience that I would like to attend again someday. Brian's friends said that they thought that it was better in the practice facility, mainly because it was too spread out to find people they knew. But not having the previous experience to compare it too, I thought that it was just fine. After all, if it was at the practice facility, I wouldn't have gotten to go down in the locker room. Thanks again George.