Is This Finally Felix Anudike-Uzomah's Breakout Year? + 4th of July Firework Follies
Can Felix Anudike-Uzomah become the impact pass rusher the Kansas City Chiefs need? Sterling Holmes and Matt Conner break down realistic expectations for FAU, which edge defenders must step up this season, and what it could mean for the Chiefs defense.
Video Transcript
Bottle rocket goes from one parking lot stop all the way across into another, explodes in the middle of his pants, literally a big black hole in his pants that just like It looks like some ACME, like a cartoon explosion.
We're in the emergency room for the rest of the holiday because my boy is Yeah, that, that probably wasn't a good thing for a junior high boy to have an explosion in his pants of that kind.
Anyway, welcome to Chief's Group Chat.
Not sure how you're feeling.
I'm here with my man, Sterling Holmes, early on a Monday after a holiday weekend.
on a scale of one to fourth, Sterling, how was your weekend?
Fourth.
Yeah.
Yeah, I didn't have a joke.
It was great.
It was lovely.
golf, golf I was like, yeah, fifth?
That's lame.
What am I, a Star Wars guy?
No, I was busy trying to talk to girls in high school.
key was trying to talk to girls in high school.
No, it was great, man.
Went and went and golfed a whole bunch.
Um- Okay kept the good times rolling from Friday into Saturday.
That was a lovely time.
Horrendous decision now.
I can see my, the error of my ways, but very fun at the time.
Ended up at a random person's pool party at some point, because I'm not gonna not crash someone's pool party.
I hear pool, I'm going.
I don't care if it rained a little bit.
Tarp's off, baby.
lit some fireworks.
Tarp's off.
we had bets on we're like in a cul-de-sac with some friends, and we were taking bets, 'cause all these kids were lighting off fireworks.
The over under was, does a kid get burnt before or after 8:30?
I took the under, for sure.
The kid's gonna get burnt.
Always.
And like, by like 7:51, like four minutes after we made the bet, it hit.
I'm not saying bad burns, but I'm talking like, you know you have a sparkler and the kid's like, "Ha ha, sparkles."
And then they grab the actual lit thing, and you're like, yeah, it's just dumb.
They're, they're, they're kids, they're dumb.
Yeah.
So they do.
I did that when I was a kid.
I remember it, because then I put my hand on a sprinkler system, which the water hurt worse, because then you have the power coming from the sprinkler- on said burn.
But again, kids are dumb, so I won that bet very easily.
So overall, hell of a fourth.
Nice.
Nice.
I have to admit, my fourth was a, a one, dude.
Zero, zero amounts of food that you would expect around the fourth.
Zero fireworks.
Zero n- no swim ti- nothing, dude.
Nothing.
I don't know who planned my fourth.
I Maybe my mom grounded me and I don't remember.
May- I, I don't know what was going on.
I don't know what decisions I I wasn't even drunk and then slept through it.
It's not like I homered it.
I just I don't even know.
Maybe I was just watching, like, America's Next Top Model season two.
I don't know what was happening here, but nothing fourth related.
I really don't watch America's Next Top Mo- although, well, hey man, I'm not yucking anyone's yum.
anyway, bad fourth for me, good fourth for you.
Hope it was a great fourth for TK.
Our man got married.
Killa Trav is, is it Taylor, is it Taylor Kelsey now?
What do, what do, what do we call her?
What's going on?
What, like, how much- I, I- of that did you take in, by the way?
None, 'cause I feel so bad.
I, I'm not a hater.
I don't care.
I don't care.
But it's- I like Taylor Swift but it's Travis, and it's, and it's- Yeah his, like, biggest day.
You gotta care to some degree that our man, like, locked it down.
Right.
Like, feeling good for the man.
Eh, I'm happy for him.
I'm happy for both of them.
But like, I, I don't It's not like I text him on the regular like, "Yo, what's up, Trav?
How you doing?"
Like, it's not my boy.
Like, I've talked with him.
Great guy.
I'm happy for him, but it's also like I What am I supposed to do?
I'm not invited.
I wasn't at the wedding.
Yeah.
I wasn't at MSG.
Yeah.
You know, I wasn't the guy on the dance floor who's absolutely getting it.
No, I, I don't, I don't know.
I, I'm happy for him, but I, all of these things, I, I, I never care that much about people's people I don't specifically know- Yeah their, their personal life.
Yep.
You know what I'm saying?
Like, like, like I like them.
I've interviewed these guys, I've talked to them.
They're all nice dudes.
Yep.
Like I, I'm happy for them, but I'm not like, "Oh my gosh, I can't believe it.
What a beautiful time."
Yep.
Yep.
That's just, that's where I'm at.
I, I just- No.
No, I get it, dude.
I'm, I'm with you.
look, I d- I just don't care about tabloid shit.
I don't.
I- Yes I c- I've got my own life to live.
Whatever those people wanna do is great.
I will say this, though.
Of all the commentary, one, I wish there was a button just to like sift that shit out of my Twitter feed or whatever else so I don't have to see those details, and I can like still look for news and do my job.
But otherwise, I will say this.
I'm sure it was a perfect day.
I saw a bunch of the guest list, just 'cause I have to pay attention to some of this, and I think they missed out.
Because as you said, if you would've been on the dance floor, like I th- I know you said you had an epic fourth weekend, but put you in the middle of all that business, I, I don't know.
I, I think something magic could've happened that didn't happen.
I don't know.
They should've known that.
You think I'm not throwing poppers at people's feets in there?
Bro, you and Machine Gun Kelly would've got something going on.
I don't know.
You think?
You and the Sandler?
I don't know.
Like, like- You, you think I'm not going to have parachutes that I light in MSG, and we all throw them up and then watch them come down?
Like of course we're gonna do that.
Whoever catches it and into the bouquet, we're catching parachutes.
That's Fourth of July, baby.
Why didn't they throw a Roman candle?
I don't know.
I, that's what I would've done.
yeah.
By the way, my favorite, firework memory, I'm 13 years old, we're playing Roman Candle Wars across this parking lot- my cousin shoots it, and it goes up another cousin's shorts, like all the way, like all the way.
Or, or, not a A bottle rocket.
Bottle rocket goes from one parking lot stop all the way across into another, explodes in the middle of his pants, literally a big black hole in his pants that just like, it looks like some Acme, like a cartoon explosion.
We're in the emergency room for the rest of the holiday because my boy is Yeah, that, that probably wasn't a good thing for a junior high boy to have an explosion in his pants of that kind.
Anyway, we're here on Chiefs Group Chat, we gotta get some Chiefs chatter.
and of course, we gotta, I wanna talk about this.
my, my boy Charles Goldman, I love him.
He's, he's a great dude, runs A to Z Sports.
He's been covering the Chiefs for a long time, and just a quality dude.
he posted something that kind of created a little bit of a, of a chatter over the weekend, and I think it's important to talk about for two reasons.
One, Felix Anudike Uzoma, his, his contract year is this year, and also the Chiefs have a need at defensive end.
And he just posted, "What's a realistic stat line for FAU?
Is it 41 pressures, 6 and a half sacks, and 7 tackles for loss?"
And look, here- here's the reason I bring this up, because Charles is- What?
Charles is normally a pretty measured Like, he's a very measured dude.
I mean, I, I really like him, I really like his coverage.
He's non-sensationalistic.
The fact that Charles went with 41 pressures and 6 and a half sacks was kind of over the top to me.
I was like, did his cat step on his keyboard when he was writing the stats?
I wanted to, I wanted to come to you with this because how much room is there actual for positivity and projections?
Like, the Chiefs haven't done anything, they need a guy.
FAU, he needs a good year.
He was a first-round pi- all that stuff.
Is it possible to look at this and go, "I actually think that could be in the realm of possibility.
I could be positive about this"?
Or is that, i- is that just too far of a stretch?
No, I- I mean, I think it's a possibility, sure.
But that's one of the most absurd, like, is that a realistic expectation?
No.
A realistic expectation would be, one, him making the team, and then two- Interesting two sacks, 2 and a half.
I mean, what has he shown you?
What have the Chiefs shown you about him?
I That's absurd.
Yeah.
If you're ever, ever, Again, I'm not saying it can't happen.
I'm just saying realistic expectation.
That, no, realistically, what have they shown, what has he shown?
Yeah.
That, that would No, he No, the answer would be no, that's not realistic.
I would just send back one word, "No."
there's a need.
He'll probably make the team because there's no reason to cut him.
The money's paid.
The- No other- You don't save, you don't save anything.
Yeah.
They need guys.
Yep.
I- The drop is huge.
Noah Minakhin, No- not even Malik Herring.
Like, it gets real ugly real fast after, like, R. Mason Thomas.
Right.
Like, real ugly.
E- Ethan Downs is probably the next in line maybe.
Right.
Tyrique Smith maybe.
I mean, but we're reaching there, dude.
I mean, Ethan Downs and Tyrique Smith are the kind of trivia questions in five years that you're like, "Think of the most random..." Yeah.
Yeah, and so- So that's why I'm like, I think there's room here maybe for something.
There's probably room.
I don't know where he fits in the, i- i- in the, in the lineup.
Is he, is he filling in for George on the other side?
Because I think one side where, you know, Dana and Amin and all those guys are now gone, I, I think you're looking at a Ash Ngalati first and second down Mas- or Mason Thomas third down.
Yeah.
Like, I think there's gonna be, in the aggregate almost- Yeah is one spot, right?
Yeah.
George plays the majority of snaps, but he won't play every snap, obviously.
He'll have, he'll have a few plays here and there.
Now let's also hope no injuries transpire, 'cause that'd be devastating for this defensive line.
Oh, my goodness.
but, but, but FAU, I- I've always liked the four snaps he got a game, because he'd play, he'd make, like, a play or two each of those four snaps.
You're like, "Oh, look.
He's flashing a little bit.
Nice."
And then you don't see him, and then he's injured.
Yeah.
And there's no consistency.
It, it just We haven't seen anything from him to say, oh yeah, no, he is gonna blossom.
Yeah.
Sure, it's a contract year.
Sure, there should be opportunity.
I think the, the most positive you can be with FAU is this regard.
He was always a unique stylistic player for KC, for Spags' defense, right?
He was always unique.
They've shown they might switch it up a little bit by the drafting of R. Mason Thomas.
Yeah.
And so if they will give R. Mason Thomas a chance, an opportunity, does that mean we will see more FAU, that he will now get more of an opportunity?
Because he was more of that Joshua Uche to an extent, right?
He played in a weird system at K State.
It was a 3-3-5.
Yeah.
It, it, it did him- That did him no favors coming in.
No.
I, I actually thought it was gonna help him because I thought, okay Long story short, they knew, teams knew that he was their guy in that weird defense, and he still was able to be effective.
So I thought, okay, you can go to the Chiefs and do anything.
He'll pick it up and be fine.
I think there's more of an opportunity for him this year.
I just think that if we're going realistic, we're looking at a slight rotational piece, two and a half sacks.
If he go, if he goes over, you're thrilled.
If he goes under, you go, "Yeah, not surprised."
What are your odds then on 'Cause you just said it.
If, if there's an injury there, I mean, you're Like, what do you even do, you know?
They bring someone up.
If Ngalati goes down with something, if, I mean, Karl Lofton, God forbid, I mean, it's over at that point un- The, I, I think, I think they would just- Bring someone, I think they would trade for someone at that point.
Or, or you're gonna look at, like, Peter Woods.
I still, I have a bad feeling.
I don't think they will a ton, but last year Chris Jones I think was like almost 50% was played at, at edge.
I know we laugh, 'cause that one year they actually tried him almost exclusively at edge.
Yeah.
And it was like three games, and they're like, "No, this is bad."
Yeah.
But he still plays 40 to 50% of snaps at edge.
Yeah.
Like, I, I know it's just not his primary spot anymore.
The nervous part of me goes, they'll play a lot of Chris Jones at edge with, like, Omar and Kyries and Peter Woods in the middle.
Because those are, we're assuming here, I'm assuming Peter Woods, Tonga, and Chris Jones are better than FAU.
Omar, Norman, Lott might be better than FAU too, right?
Yeah, yeah.
And so you're sitting here going, "Well, then how do we get all these guys on the field?"
Probably kicking either Peter Woods or Chris Jones outside.
Yeah.
A- and so, that, that's part of my concern, dude, if you will, is, is, is Chris Jones will play more edge than we'd like to see him play.
Yeah.
Because they don't trust FAU.
Yeah.
I, I think that makes a lot of sense.
And also if you're, if you're surveying the land, so to speak, like, what's out there?
What else is out there for you to really bring in without trading for someone?
But, yeah, I, I think you're right.
I think there's more versatility inside to go outside if needed and, and then that'll be the thing.
one more FAU note, I just wanna ask you, hamstring injury pre-season, out for the entire year.
Is that, is that weird?
I mean, I'm, I'm no doctor so I'm asking you, 'cause I know you know more than me about hamstrings and doctoral things.
like, does that just sound funny to you that you're out for the entire year with that?
It does sound funny for the whole year.
It was apparently a brutal hamstring though.
Like, there, there are levels, right?
Like, there, it's not just a, oh, I got a little- Sure I got a little strain.
Yeah.
No, there, there, there are some bad ones, and that was I think a ba- a bad one.
I think it's funny to an extent.
They also had the procedural move to do it because they, at that point they thought, oh, we have Aminuhu and Mike Dana and all these guys.
Yeah.
They didn't wanna use a, you know, a designation to return from IR on him.
I get it.
I do think it's a little weird, but again, there's no reason to cut him, because monetarily it doesn't, it does you no good.
Yeah.
He's just kind of stuck in purgatory.
He, he, he is one of those dudes that I, I could see him, and that's why I think with the R. Mason Ti- Thomas, draft, maybe Spags is willing to adjust and, and go outside his comfort level a little bit here, which I think FAU's outside his comfort level to an extent.
Although FAU actually had looked fine in, in, in, again, such a small sample size, but against the run it wasn't like it was this utter disaster of like, oh man, he can't stop anyone.
No, he, he was fine.
Honestly I thought, like, okay.
But again, small sample size.
If they're willing to change things and adjust and try and get more juice, I could see FAU playing more.
I just He feels like a guy that goes to another team and turns into a productive player.
I'm not saying, like, a star.
Like, I'm not, I'm not saying, oh yeah, he, he turns it up.
Sure, sure.
But I'm saying, like, I could see him going to the Eagles and being like a six sack guy.
Yeah.
Right?
I could see him going and, and doing something along those lines.
A- and sometimes it is scheme dependent, right?
We've, we've seen it so many times with New England where guys would go away, they were horrible, but then when they were there they were great.
Right?
I mean, heck, we might look back and say Tershawn Wharton was great in KC and then horrible in everywhere else.
Like, we, we- Yeah we might have that conversation.
That, that could happen.
But yeah, I don't know.
It just, the whole FAU situation's been a, a whirlwind of unfortunate results based on I feel like everyone wanting it to work because the hometown kid- Yeah went to K State, there on draft day, got drafted by his team.
I- was it a slight reach?
Yeah, but he probably was in the R. Mason Thomas range too.
It wasn't like this was, like, a third rounder that went 31, right?
Yeah, yeah.
I think that myth is overblown, that the Chiefs, like, did this ultra reach for this kid just to make the crowd happy or something.
He probably would've gone 40 wide You know, he probably gone, like, where R. Mason Thomas went.
Yeah, yeah.
Right?
So I don't know.
I root for the kid.
I want it, I want it to work out, but it's getting close to midnight real quick.
one more defensive end thought from me.
If the Chiefs were gonna make a move coming into training camp, I gotta say the one name out there to me that's interesting is Manny Ogbo.
like, like, the Chiefs have been in on him before.
Obviously Ogbo played for the team I think 2019.
They came back around after COVID, I think 2022, and wanted to bring him back in, and he kind of flirted with them publicly and then, and then he signed with the Dolphins.
At this stage, obviously he's, like, late career.
No one would expect anything.
But if you only need some rotational snaps there or raise the floor for the levels of security, I think he's a familiar face that Spags goes, "We wanted him, we liked him, we actually tried to re-sign him the first time.
Go back and get him a second time."
At this stage it may be worth just bringing in a veteran to raise that floor so you're not looking at Tyrique Smith going, "Boy, we may need him to be something."
Leave some of those guys out of the loop.
Anyway, that, that's interesting to me.
but again, we're talking fringe signing anyway.
Yeah.
I, I think it's interesting.
I, I am still not upset, but I, I wanted the Chiefs to bring in Cam Jordan so bad.
I don't know how realistic that ever was, 'cause he, knowing him, he probably just wanted to go back to- New Orleans.
He's played his whole career there.
Yeah.
He didn't want to Har- he didn't want to Harmon Killebrew this thing, where you play all your, y- e- one team your whole career, and you're like, "All right, Lash, just go to the Royals," right?
Like, he didn't wanna do that.
And so I was like, okay.
I, I get it.
But i- it's funny how I'm sitting here going, man, almost wish Mike Danna was here.
I mean, that's not a stretch to think he'll be back at some point.
I mean, I You know, it can't take much to trade back.
The Chiefs have traded back for people before like that, Mecole Hardman, Mike- or, Derek Nnadi, et cetera.
I mean, you know, yeah, they can get their guy if they want to get their guy, if that's their guy.
yeah, by the way, I just got a Harmon Killebrew rookie over the weekend, so yeah.
Hard?
That's an interesting, Yeah.
Yeah, dude.
Yeah.
I love Man, I'm so into vintage.
I love, like, vintage cards.
It's just, like, a side hobby.
I'm into it.
Uh- I love that yo, anyway, let me ask you this.
We're talking about FAU, he's in a contract year.
I wanna talk about, just a couple other contract y- By the way, th- this year, think of the free agency.
You're like, man, Brian Cook, man, L- you got Chanelle, you got, Jalen Watson.
Of course, Trent McDuffie was on top of that.
I was looking at next year's free agents and I was like, "Okay, he could go.
Who cares?
Who cares?
No big deal.
Yeah, see you later.
do you need me to pack your bags?"
Like, the list, it's like, Rashee Rice is the, is the big one, and of course, half of KC seems ready for him to, like, yeah, please get out of here when you're done.
and then, like, the next one is Chamari Conner.
Like, that's the very next impactful f- I'm looking at the difference going, bro, this, this off-season was a lot of bleeding and a lot of change.
Next year, there's like, there's a great ability for the Chiefs to start retaining its players and like, like, really moving forward with continuity after, like, this seismic off-season sort of change.
but I didn't know what you thought of, like, guys in contract year like that.
can we talk Conner?
Not me, but the other- Y- y- yeah.
I, I, I think what's interesting about that is you, you can view it two ways.
A, hopefully not a lot of changeover, but two, that means you had a bad draft class.
Yeah.
That means you didn't hit on guys a- and you don't care about bringing them back.
That, that's also what that means.
Sure.
I, I like Chamari Conner probably more than the average fan because I view him as a safety, not as a slot corner.
Yeah.
He's not good in the slot, but the team putting him there is not his fault, right?
That's, that's not on him, that's on the team or other guys behind him that, again, maybe aren't good enough to take that role.
I thought there were guys good enough to take that role last year.
Didn't happen that way, so it is what it is.
I think Chamari Conner's fine as a safety, and I don't think he's gonna be expensive.
So I think if you wanted to bring him back, you can.
Same point, they don't bring back guys in the secondary.
They don't.
Juan Thornhill, Brian Cook, Jalen Watson, Josh Williams, Trent McDuffie.
You get one, you get one contract here and you're gone.
Justin Reid, Tyron Matthew, even if you're a free agent, like, you get one contract if you're a secondary member, then they move on.
Yeah.
So I don't know, maybe they think CRW can be that guy.
does he have one more year left after this?
I can't remember if he's on the same- cycle.
He's on a No, he is not gonna be an unrestricted free agent.
I think he's got one more.
I think he's a- Got it restricted free agent this year.
And so maybe they, they just view him as that sort of guy.
Sure.
If they move him to safety this year, right?
And try and rotate, just keep pushing it back there and- Yeah that's the way they, they, they choose to go.
I, yeah, I don't know.
I, I thought Chamari Conner's had a bad rap for a while, just in Chiefs Kingdom, which I thought was a little unfair.
but everyone else, I mean, FAU now, Rashee Rice, I, I don't think you deal with.
I, I just, I just don't.
You, you can't trust him.
Yeah.
The amount of money that he's gonna want, and then if he's not happy, then what do you do?
Right?
If he's not happy because he's not getting, was it JSN money, which he said he wanted?
Do you, do, do you wanna deal with that?
Yeah, you just can't.
That does not seem like a smart financial decision to me personally, but again, if he's okay on a I don't even know what you'd feel comfortable paying.
Like, I, I, I have no idea.
Uh- You almost need something incentive-laden that gives you, like, major, major protections in there.
But again, is that just gonna make him Right.
Yeah.
So, and then the other one was, is it Jalen Moore is a free agent this year?
Well, Jalen Moore's a free agent.
Yeah, yeah.
And so, I, n- no There's just- I don't know not a lot to be concerned about in terms of losses like that.
I- if he plays great, he probably gets paid.
If he pa- plays bad, you go, "Okay, just go with Esapole."
Right.
Right?
There's not, there's not a great situation for Jalen Moore to be in.
Well, it, it is a good situation for him, 'cause he could get paid by another team if he plays well, right?
Yeah.
Who else is out there?
Christian Fulton, I think, is gone.
Yep, Fulton's one year left, you know, and then you're getting into, into the Mike Caliendo's and, and- Yeah, well, Dr- Drew Tranquill's probably on his final year.
If you had to restructure for this year, I just can't imagine that he's- Yeah you know, you're not talking contract year terms.
You're just talking, like, final year maybe.
Yeah, the, the Chiefs are in a weird spot, honestly.
The more you look at it, the more you're like, "There's some, there's some holes."
There, there, there may be- Yeah more holes than I've wanted to believe.
But also, they've covered those holes with Patrick and Travis and Chris and Andy Reid.
Yeah, yeah.
Right?
A- I'm not saying Veach has done a poor job.
I think Veach has done a great job overall.
I, I do.
I, I, I think expecting him to be perfect every single draft and, uh- Yeah that's just not the, the, the nature of, of the beast.
Every team has holes.
Yep.
But do your strengths outweigh the holes?
And they have, outside of last year- Yeah which was a multifaceted, utter disaster.
Yeah, yeah.
But by the way, ba- You're not gonna fi- Oh, go ahead.
Go ahead.
What was I gonna say?
I was gonna say, you're, you're not gonna fix everything in one off-season, and they didn't go out and bring in a ton of new faces necessarily.
Like, their big signings were Alohi Gilman- Yeah Kyries Tonga, and Kenneth Walker.
Yeah.
The backfield was the big one.
But- Yeah and they fixed that.
a, real quick on Shemarie, I just think if there's one player who has the ability to completely rehabilitate his image this year, and like really change the narrative going forward, it's him.
Like, it's the positional thing, it's the contract year, it's still being young and on a rookie deal, and like the f- the fresh start the whole defense is gonna get, now he's gonna actually be a veteran leader with so many younger guys coming in behind him.
He was still around for some championship experience.
I just think, I think he stands at a nexus where things could turn for him in a more dramatic way than it could maybe for anybody else on the roster, that a year from now we're referring to him in a totally different way than we are, like right now coming into training camp.
That's a great call.
I, I think I would agree with you.
I, I think- Yeah he's probably the guy I'd, I'd dab as well, just because again, you're, you're, you're right.
I think he's a good safety.
I'm not saying he's Tyron Matthew, but I'm saying he's, he's a, he's a, he's a good safety.
Yeah.
He's not a good starter.
We're gonna refer to him as a positive asset, we're gonna, you know, people are gonna like having him on the field.
He's, he's needed.
He's needed in a position of need and yeah.
And also it says something about him that the Chiefs coaching staff trusted him to try and take on a larger role.
Yeah.
They kept trying to feed him more and more, kind of the opposite of Jayden Hicks, where Hicks is like, "W- we want less from this."
Zero trust.
Yeah.
Zero trust.
Yeah, zero trust.
yeah.
Hey, Sterling, I wanted to give you a chance here.
I, I, one of, one of the notes I made about the show, I feel like everyone knows all the hallmarks of KC.
The places to go, the places to eat, the places to visit, that kind of thing.
But, you know, as a, as a voice for the town about the town, by the way, you're gonna be at Fan Fest later on, as a part of You're everywhere, dude.
You're everywhere.
I wanted to get you- Michelle Branch Wait.
Wait, Michelle Branch.
I was gonna start singing that Thousand Miles song, but that's Vanessa Carlton.
I don't- Yeah.
Yeah.
I've got- No, Michelle Branch is," 'Cause you're everywhere- Where to me to me" "When I close my eyes, Sterling, I see."
Is that good?
That's good.
That was great.
Oh my gosh.
Bro, give me three, give me three hidden gems in Kansas City.
Places, I don't care if it's a place to visit, a great bar, a, a hole in the wall place to eat, some long-standing place that's overlooked, a new, whatever it is, I feel like let's do a service to our listeners, viewers, readers, interpreters, whatever.
yeah.
What places deserve a shout-out there?
There's a couple.
I'll start with Mugs Up, out in Independence.
Mugs Up Root Beer in Independence, it's not the same like mugs that you get in the store.
It's, it's- Yeah called Mugs Up.
It's been in Independence forever.
I remember going there, my, my dad grew up in Independence, my grandpa obviously lived there, and so we'd go.
It's a old, old drive-in where I'm pretty sure, I don't know if they still do, they used to make the root beer like in the basement.
Like I don't know what, what happens.
I don't care.
It's the best root beer.
It's super unique.
it's almost unlike normal root beer where it's like super sweet.
It ha- I just, Mugs Up, if you've been in Independence, it is incredible.
Also, their burgers are like this almost like ground beef, called Zip Burgers.
Z-I-P, Zip Burgers.
They are amazing.
All you need on them, mustard, pickle, onion, the little loose ground beef on a bun.
Get a couple of those, get a root beer, you're having yourself a nice little trip.
That's all I'm saying.
Yeah.
That's all I'm saying.
So that's number one.
Okay.
number two, I'll go with a sandwich.
People know this place.
People love this place.
I don't think it's necessarily unknown, but not enough people know about this.
The beef nooner at Gates.
Okay.
So I know people have thoughts on Gates.
If you don't like it, you're wrong.
Okay?
I love Gates.
It, it's electric.
The issue is I don't think people know how to order all the time.
People order- So what's a beef nooner?
A beef nooner is beef brisket on the bottom and then chopped burnt ends on top.
Like chopped fine beef, burnt ends on top.
Yeah.
Almost like a, I don't know how you describe it, a delectable deliciousness on top of brisket.
It's, it's just a meat mountain.
Then you get the extra hot barbecue sauce from Gates.
Throw a couple pickles on that joint.
Next thing you know, ooh-wee, you're transported.
Like I'm, it makes, it turns you into Charlie Wilson.
Like that's all you're, you're going, "Ooh-wee," like that's all you're doing.
I, I turn into Charlie Wilson in the Gap Band when I take a bite of that sandwich.
It happens.
You have a good ooh-wee, by the way.
Thank you.
Like that's a real nice, yeah.
Ooh-wee.
Yeah.
Like you just gotta, you gotta, it's just, you gotta really get into it.
And, the beef nooner, I like to get it lean as.
Beef, beef nooner lean as, that means lean as possible.
Lean as?
Lean as.
L-E-A-N dash A-S.
Lean as.
So not lean ass?
Not lean ass.
'Cause if I eat that I probably don't have a lean ass.
No, no, this is, this is a lot.
Probably the caloric intake is pretty, pretty high on this bad boy.
But it's okay.
Okay.
So lean ass- Meaning lean ass, not lean ass- Yeah, lean ass high- It means lean as possible.
Okay.
'Cause I, I, sometimes you want the brisket to be a little, little, little on the lighter side, a little, little thinner, huh?
So beef noodle lean ass, extra hot barbecue sauce at Gates.
If you order that, you will be thoroughly, thoroughly impressed.
Promise.
That's a Sterling Holmes guarantee.
You got one more?
The Sterling, the Sterling stamp.
Yeah, I, I, I do, I have one more.
The Sterling stamp.
You I'm trying to hit the gamut of everything.
Um- You're being so democratic with this.
You're like trying your- I'm trying.
I'm trying.
Okay, here, here's a, a fun one.
I love this coffee shop.
Okay.
Okay?
Hi Hat Coffee in Westwood.
I think it's Westwood.
it's a really cute coffee shop.
It's like a little brick building.
Been there for forever.
I, I'm sure a lot of people know about it, but Hi Hat Coffee, it's one of my favorite coffee shops.
It's super cute, it's super fun.
something about it, every time I go, it puts a smile on your face.
Like go in the wintertime, right?
You know, you have the, the, the roof.
You have It's just a cute, cozy place.
I like it.
See?
I can do other things too.
That's good.
That's good.
Cute cozy.
You normally don't talk about those kind of things, but you've got a softer side to you.
Maybe we don't see it.
No.
Maybe just a few people.
Just a few.
Yeah.
Do you order a lean ass coffee there?
No, I want full ass there.
I want whole milk, so I want I get it, I get full.
I'm trying to, for basketball purposes, you gotta get that ass.
It helps boxing out, right?
You know?
You're right.
You're right.
We're no longer getting as high in the air, so you gotta play the low game.
Right.
You gotta stay to the ground.
Right.
Hey, I wanna talk a little World Cup with you.
You're covering FIFA Fan Fest, tonight.
USA plays tonight.
This whole red card situation, my friend, what a debacle.
I just, just the whole thing, so much drama, lots of opinions flying around.
I, I honestly, I'm not even sure what to think about it.
I feel like if I even offered anything about it, it, it, like my, my take, my like I feel kind humbled before it all, like, like where I'd, where I'd say I'm not exactly sure what, you know.
I mean, it all looked unfair to me.
It all looked silly to me, then coming back around on the decision feels silly, and also good.
Like good for the USA's chances, obviously.
What are you thinking about all of it?
I mean, you gotta be there tonight watching, talking, covering.
Yeah.
Yeah, it'll be fun.
I think the red card was absurd to begin with.
Yes.
I personally felt it was a situation where he let everything go in the, in the first half.
Fine.
It'd be like if a, if a ref let everything go in football in the first half, just everything.
Just, "Hey, you can be physical."
Yep.
And in the second half you get a slight tug on a jersey, and not only do you get a 15-yard penalty, they say, "You know what?
That's targeting."
And you're like, "Well, I, I didn't What?"
Yeah.
Yeah.
"How's that Why am I getting thrown out for that?"
And then also, "Now I gotta play with 10 guys, and you can't play next week."
What?
That seems egregious.
I, I understand if it would've been a yellow.
I do.
You still can't, accidental or not, you can't go spikes into a dude's ankle, like, or, or foot.
Like, there's, that's, that probably could've been a yellow card and I'm, I'm, I'm like, "Yeah, that's fine."
Red was egregious and I think part of the reason why, and maybe I'm completely off base here, with the game being played in the United States, I don't think he wanted to make it come off as he was being a homer or, or, or helping the home team.
And so he went so far in the other direction to prove a point of like, "Look, I'm not, I'm not a, a homer here.
I'm not getting swayed by the American home field advantage."
"So I'm gonna do a red to prove a point."
That's how I almost viewed it, which I thought is- egregious.
I'm thrilled it got overturned.
Yep.
I'm surprised it got overturned, full transparency.
I, I This is fairly rare.
He must've gone to Lubbock, you know, where Brent Swordsby went and, uh- that judge and got an injunction and all that.
Maybe to Alabama for, for Betty Okko.
It's possible.
But I, I think for me, the whining, the complaining from Belgium, from other countries, absurd.
Like, I'm proud to be an American where we don't complain about that, to where if another team, like let, let's say like, what was it?
Holland from, the Nether, or from, Norway, right?
Let's just say hypothetically he got a red card.
And let's say the United States are supposed to play Norway.
I mean, yeah, I guess it's kind of nice that you don't have to face them, but don't you wanna beat Norway with their best players?
Like, don't you want to beat them with Holland so that way you can prove a point of like, "Yeah, man, there's no what ifs.
There's, there's no-" Yeah, no, no as- talking about that."
You don't want an asterisk on a game.
Yeah.
I, I, and maybe I'm, uh- I also- Maybe I'm, I'm just too American.
But bleep you, Belgium.
Stop being soft.
Dog, I am not eating a waffle.
I'm not eating a crepe.
I'm not eating anything Belgium at all.
No chocolate until this game's over because- Bro, that's a lot of lean ass stuff.
That's good stuff.
Yeah, I kind of like Belgium, honestly, but still.
Yeah, it's a lot of good- For this particular match I'm, I gotta act hard.
I, you know, it, it's just, um- When these scenarios come up in sports, it's just, like, this is one of those situations to me where it's like this is not a good look for anybody.
This is not a good look for No matter how it turns out, it all just looks so silly, and it's almost worse the more you mess with it.
So, like, I get what you're saying, where it's like, "Hey, I'm an American, I want the best to play for America.
Screw everybody else.
It was wrong in the first place."
And I totally understand all of that, but it's almost like this gross stew where it's like you can't just keep throwing ingredients in it or stirring it a certain way to try to, like, make it taste good.
The more you do, the more it just looks like further corruption, further weirdness.
the You can't negate one bad decision by, like, making another one that other people think looks Like, it's just a further spiral, and I just wish when they would've reversed it, at the very least, if FIFA Like, if you're gonna reverse it and it's a rare decision and all that, I just wish someone would've come out and said, "Yo, we screwed up in the first place."
Like, like to go back to the original- They basically- and own it- But no one cares in that way.
Yeah.
They, they basically did.
They said that VAR, they weren't allowed to slow it down to that sort of way and, and, and, and make a call based on that, right?
So they basically did a- admit that there was a flaw in the process that happened.
The issue is no one cares because all they see are the headlines of overturned and it's USA.
So- Yeah they basically did come out and say, "Hey, we were wrong.
This shouldn't have been called.
This shouldn't have h- or shouldn't have been called especially because of the way the process went of calling it."
Sure.
And yet everyone else is like, "Yeah, no, no, we don't care though because it's the United States and, and, and bleep 'em."
That's basically what it feels like.
And so now I'm even more proud.
I'm gonna wear my American flag pants on there, okay, on stage.
How many pairs of American flag pants do you have?
One pair of the pants.
Just one pair of pants.
Do you have shorts?
I mean, why wouldn't I?
Do you have more than that?
Unmentionables?
Well, I, I- Do you have an American flag unmentionables?
Well, I have a lot of red, white, and blue.
I have a lot of red, white, and blue, okay?
All right.
Yeah.
I've- Nothing wrong with that I've got flag, I've got flag boxers.
I don't know.
Yeah.
Maybe, maybe more than that.
I don't Maybe a tattooed.
I can't say anymore.
I was gonna say something too with- Special reveals for special people, for lean yeah.
But it shows off- It's like- my lean ass real well.
I'll just say it that way.
And so for me, n- I'm excited for this match.
I'm excited for the United States to win, for them to move on, and to prove a point we're back.
'Cause three things, three things: God bless America, God bless our troops, and ladies and gentlemen, start your engines.
The greatest thing Kevin James ever did was that right there.
It wasn't Mall Cop.
It was that.
Mall Cop.
I love it.
What percentage of Kevin James films have you seen by the way?
Oh, I don't, I don't know if I even saw Mall Cop.
I may- maybe 1%.
That m- that movie m- might be amazing- but I feel like it's not based on the r- on the r- on the reviews I've heard.
I'm just glad we're talking about Mall Cop so much.
I've never said those words together so much in my life.
Yeah.
How many Kevin James movies have you seen?
I, I mean, probably zero.
Um- Yeah, I don't think any.
Yeah.
What TV show was he in?
dude, I don't know.
King of Queens.
It's like, Oh, yeah, yeah.
Our producer says King of Queens.
I couldn't have said it, although I will say for a time there it felt like the comedy formula for every network was like, find me a large comedian, put him with a disproportional wife, and that's the setup for this comedy.
Right?
Right?
Yeah.
Like, I feel like there's probably 10 of those out there.
Well, yeah, Hitch.
He was in Hitch.
Hitch was a good movie.
I'll give you Hitch.
Uh- I've never seen Hitch.
I have to admit.
Hitch is good, so I've seen one.
Okay.
hell, Adam Sandler still does this.
I know he's not like the sturdiest guy, but every movie with Adam Sandler is like, how You just gave yourself a legit nine and a half.
Sorry, Adam, you're not a bad-looking guy, but you're not even trying in the movie.
You're wearing basketball shorts and a polo in a movie.
Yeah.
So- He's always wearing, like, Tommy Bahama shirt from Andy Reid on, on Yeah.
And then, yeah, some sort of Anyway, we're off the rails here.
We're off the rails.
But that was the, that was the By the way, that was the move, was like average at best looking guy and then like smoke show wife, and that's gonna be the premise of the entire movie.
Yeah, yeah.
Or TV show for seven seasons making the same jokes.
yeah.
hey, one more.
we're just three weeks away from, less than three weeks from the start of training camp.
Real quick before we get out of here, prediction, will the Chiefs make any moves before training camp that move the meter at all?
I don't mean like they've signed some guy no one's ever heard of and, and whatever.
I'm just saying like do you think there's gonna be a single notable move before the players show up at Missouri Western?
No.
Okay.
I think the only ones you're looking at is like wide receiver probably.
Oh.
You're probably looking at, like, Stefon Diggs and, oh my gosh, the Brandon Aiyuk situation.
Wild.
that dude- We, we should have talked about that, but we were too busy talking about lean ass.
That's fine with me he's turned into Antonio Brown.
Yeah, yeah.
It's, he's off the rails.
With Antonio, Antonio Brown production.
Yeah, he's off the rails.
Diggs is gonna be way too expensive.
Um- Deebo, same with him probably look, I'm just g- I'm just gonna say, man, it's interesting to me.
I Maybe, maybe, maybe Kareem Hunt joins his teammates in camp.
I could see it.
Is that kind of a needle mover?
It's a name you've heard of, which is what I said.
I set the parameters on this.
Don't question my I'm the one who said I've got the question before we leave attacking me on my quest- Get out of here.
Go to Fan Fest.
Folks, you've been listening to the Chiefs Group Chat.
stay tuned with all things Trilling Homes around KC.
he gave you some great hidden places to go, and then go hang out with him at Fan Fest if you're listening here.
Patrick Allen is not here.
Should have been here.
He sets up Chiefs Group Chat and he's not here.
We don't know what's going on.
If you see Patrick out in the wild, he's gone missing, so let us know if you see him and call the number you see on your screen.
There's no number there.
Anyway, my name is Matt Conner.
Sterling Holmes.
For our producer Sean and for the missing Patrick Allen, thanks so much for listening, and we're out.
