Haters won't stop me from rooting for Taylor - I mean, the Chiefs - this weekend

I’m a Kansas City native, but I have about the same feelings toward the Chiefs as I do toward Taylor Swift: I like them both, appreciate their talent, and prefer them to many alternatives - but you’re unlikely to find me spending my time and money filling an arena seat for either of them.

That said, I have my loyalties - to my hometown team, and to my ladies.

Let’s start with item 1 - the Kansas City Chiefs.

I am a fair-weather sportsball fan. A certain percentage of any sports segment I do on NPR is, truth be told, me playing the part of a curious public radio host (if curiosity can be fueled in part by ignorance, then it’s an authentic role, at least).

I really only follow sports when one of my hometown teams - the Chiefs or the Kansas City Royals - are within striking distance of the Super Bowl or the World Series, respectively. I watch football for the nachos and muscular men, and baseball for the beer and hot dogs - and the sing-along in the seventh inning.

AI promp: “I'd like some nachos and a tight end, please”

My husband knows this, of course. So when the Chiefs faced off against his Baltimore Ravens a few weeks ago, he completely unironically offered to purchase a purple Ravens jersey for me to go along with his.

I looked at him blankly.

An interfaith marriage is one thing, but root against the Kansas City Chiefs? Who does this guy think he is?!

Item 2 - Taylor + Travis, of course

I like Taylor Swift. I missed her NPR Tiny Desk Concert several years ago to my ongoing regret. And who hasn’t cried while sitting in the driveway playing Exile on repeat and thinking about a failed relationship, or while listening to Antihero and eating gummy worms in bed after a crappy day? (Sorry, was that too confessional…?)

But I’m not a Swiftie and I haven’t followed her career all that closely - until her world intersected with my hometown.

Among my Kansas City family, there is uniform support for the Chiefs as far as I can tell, but mixed feelings about Travis Kelce’s prominent relationship with Taylor. I haven’t been able to determine whether that division maps more closely onto our respective levels of intensity surrounding football, or in some way onto our varied political and ideological sentiments.

I accept that some people don’t like Taylor’s music, or, I guess, see themselves as some kind of football purists who are fine with kiss-cams but feel tortured by seeing images of a pop star in the crowd?

Okay, so I don’t get that actually.

I personally find the whole Taylor-Travis thing to be cute and way more interesting than trying to understand what a tight end is.

I’m grateful to the New York Times for performing a critical journalistic service through its analysis which found that she’s only on screen for mere seconds per NFL game. It’s hard for me to think it’s anything but a classic case of the boys getting annoyed because a girl has metaphorically shown up in their clubhouse.

But feel free to tell me what I’m missing!

Anyway, I will be rooting for the Chiefs, and for Taylor and Travis. Because this world is kind of a mess, and I’m here for any moments of joy and love, or even just distraction, that we can find.

P.S. - My husband - whose Ravens jersey is neatly folded in the drawer until next year - told me he “hasn’t decided” which team to root for this year. So feel free to recommend marriage counselors.