Chargers party like it’s 2008 all over again and the Famous Joey Jinx

The Broncos, despite all the preseason chatter that they were going to be awful this season, are 3-0. Our Chargers are 2-1. Granted the Broncos should be 2-1 as well if not for a crazy, heads up, lucky play by Brandon Stokley against the Bengals (who actually should be 3-0). Regardless, it looks as if we are going to have a mirrored season to 2008. The Chargers and the Broncos will beat up the Raiders and the Chiefs, while losing to teams with more talent. At the end of the season, they will battle it out for the AFC championship. At least we now know where the season is headed and so, each week, we'll do our Broncos tracker (we don't need to worry about the other two teams in this division…unless Matt Cassell gets traded to the Raiders and JaMarcus Russell is sent to the UFL). As I foresee it, by simply looking in the 2008 mirror, it'll be up to Rivers and the boys to beat the Broncos in order to win the division. That's it.

I do see next week's game versus Pittsburgh as a possibly positive match up for the Bolts. Even though San Diego has never won a regular season game in Pittsburgh, the Steelers are beat up right now. The weather will not be too bad. Rivers is showing that he is going "to go all Philip Rivers" on any team with a weak secondary by airing it out to Malcolm Floyd, Vincent Jackson and Antonio Gates. Chris Chambers has the best gig in the NFL right now. All he has to do is line up and run. He certainly isn't catching anything. Darren Sproles will continue to shine in his starting role, as I believe, despite what L.T. said in the preseason, his best days are behind him and who knows if he'll be back in the lineup and if he is, how successful will he be? Anyone missing Michael Turner as much as I am?

As I wrote about in my second blog, I still feel the Chargers will win the division, but I think we're in for a bumpy ride, just like 2008 (unless we play the Dolphins each week).

Well, the MLB season for San Diego is coming to an end. The Padres have had a pretty impressive September so far. Adrian Gonzalez hit his 40^th Home Run last night. If not for the fact that he plays the same position as and is in the same league with Albert Pujols, Adrian should be considered for the NL MVP. Alas it was all too little too late and the best we can do is hope they beat the Dodgers and Giants this weekend. Come on, sales staff at the Padres, why haven't you taken my advice? Let's get some fans in the ball park this weekend to end the season on a high note. Let's see some end of the season deals.

Now is the part of my blog where I share my super power with you, my reading public, all 10 of you. This power was first discovered when I was a young man. I would predict that something was going to happen in a game and then complete opposite would occur. Example, in 2002, I thought there was no way the Anaheim Angels would overcome their deficit in game 6 of the World Series to the San Francisco Giants. I turned off the television and walked away. To refresh your memories, it was the bottom of the bottom of the seventh, the Giants were eight outs away from winning the series, and then, the Angels scored three runs in the seventh and three in the eighth, winning the game and then winning game seven. It was incredible. I didn't see it though. Since then, the power has increased in strength. Only a few people, until know, knew about it. It has frustrated and angered them because when I become so certain about the outcome of a game, the opposite more often than not, happens. My best friend, Jeremy, has coined it the "Joey Jinx." As we sat at the Dolphins-Chargers game yesterday and Kaeding was set to kick a field goal to tie the game after the Chargers came up short on a drive that I had predicted would end in a touchdown, I made the fatal mistake of discussing how clutch he's been this season. He missed. If any of you read my last blog, I predicted the first night of Monday Night Football games would be boring blow outs, they were excited nail biters. I also said that Roger Federer would win the U.S. Open Final. Nope. It's a terrible gift. Each year though, it seems to get stronger and more powerful. Anyway, I have now shared my secret with you…it should make reading my blog a bit more interesting. You can start to follow the strengthening of my powers.

Interesting stories from the rest of the world in sports: I watched the Australian Rules Football Grand Final on Saturday night. It was an amazing match. I know Americans will never care for soccer, especially when they try to sell us on the fourth chipmunk, David Beckham and his toothpick wife as being the saviors of the sport. No thanks. However, Aussie Rules is a great sport with awesome hits and a competition level that is intense. The passion for the sport down under is unmatched and I think it is great that ESPN Classic showed the match. I highly suggest following the sport next season.

I don't want my blog to get into politics, but I do want to mention that our President is flying to Denmark to fight for Chicago's right to host the 2016 Olympics (and party). Are tax payers paying for this trip? Is he going for any other reason than to meet with the International Olympic Committee? I just lost my job last Thursday; I think there are more important issues facing our country right now than Chicago getting the 2016 Olympics. Maybe it's just me?

In tennis, the women's game is about to get a blast from the past as Justine Henin will return to the sport. With Kim Clijsters winning the U.S. Open and showing she's still got it after becoming a mom, I think the Williams sisters will be spending more time on their fashion lines then on the court. Who's next, Steffi Graf? Martina Hingis? Jennifer Capriati?

A shout out to Japan's Kimiko Date Krumm at 38 year-old tennis player from Japan who just became the oldest woman to win a WTA tournament. She won the Korea Open Title. Her last title came in 1996 in San Diego. Oh and the record she broke, previously belonged to one Billie Jean King. Not bad company, Krumm. The drought is over. Also a shout out to my high school, Edison High in Huntington Beach, CA. The football team should end up being ranked 2^nd in the state after a huge win against Servite this past weekend. Oceanside High also beat a very good Long Beach Poly team.

Final shot out to my friend Joel who predicted the Jets would have a great season and I told him he was crazy…Joey Jinx strikes again.

That's enough for this week. A final update, my book signing will be at the Borders in Chula Vista on Saturday, October 17^th from 4 pm – 6 pm. Last blog I reported that it would be on the 10^th. I hope you can make it. In the mean time, check out www.sunbeltbook.com/BookDetails.asp?id=196 to order you advance copy today!

Padres…playing well down the streak, too bad it’s to keep from ending up in Last Place

For the few people who are actually going to Petco to see our Padres play or flipping the channel between football games and the U.S. Open to catch the score, the boys have actually been playing pretty well. Too bad the only fight they are in is with Arizona to keep from ending up in NL West cellar (again). At least this season we don't have to suffer the embarrassment of 99 loses. In fact, the Pads have won 11 of their past 14 series. Promise for next season? I think so, but there is still a lot of work to do, to get back to contending for the NL West championship. I'll wait until the end of the season before I voice my hopes and thoughts for improvements to the roster next year. In the mean time, even though we are all focused on the Chargers right now, maybe we could dedicate a few minutes to see if the Pads can end this year on a positive note. A quick comment to the Padres sales staff, the Milwaukee Brewers have their $1 upper deck seats. Give it a thought. The average attendance at Petco has been around 18K. Not good. The Angels and Dodgers (and yes I know they are in the playoff hunt) are more than doubling that on a Tuesday night. The Padres had 18K sold (much less than that in the Stadium) this past Friday vs. a division foe.

A quick follow up from last week's blog on the discussion of Shawne Merriman and that girl that accused him of something (I don't remember her name). Anyway, charges have been dropped and "Lights Out" will be dropping Raiders QB JaMarcus Russell to the turf all night, tonight.

Prediction for tonight's game, Chargers vs. Raiders…Chargers will win by 14 which is kind of a bummer because the game will not be competitive (nor will the Bills and New England game which precedes it). If not for an amazing finish to the Bronco's game yesterday – head's up Brandon Stokley – the rest of the division would have been 0-1, aiding in the Chargers smooth ride to the AFC West Title. There will be a few bumpy games, but not too much to stress about until the Playoffs. Regardless, beat down Al's boys tonight. Another prediction, 3 ints for the Charger's secondary in this game.

Since this is the SD Sports report, I opened with San Diego topics, but what a weekend in sports in other parts of the country! I have to begin with Serena Williams. I am a huge tennis fan. I spent the last three summers working in the front office of the Newport Beach Breakers of World TeamTennis and have met both Serena and Venus Williams. Even if you don't follow tennis, you heard about Serena's incredible melt down on Saturday night. If not, let me paint the picture for you. It's match point, Serena has been playing pretty poorly against the resurgent, Kim Clijsters, but as she's done so many times in the past, Serena looked as if she could have begun an epic come back. Yet, on match point, she was called for her second foot fault of the match (previously in the match she had smashed her racquet and received a code of conduct violation) and she lost it on the poor, little old lines lady. To paraphrase the rant, Serena threatened to shove a tennis ball down the lines lady's throat while wielding her racquet and dropping a number of f-bombs. Needless to say, Serena received a second code violation which cost her a point and the loss of that point; cost her the match, sending Clijsters to final (which she won). Serena has since been fined and the matter is being investigated. Remember, we are talking about tennis here, not the NFL. If you haven't seen it, check it out on YouTube. Williams joked about it last night on the VMA's. Even though she lost her cool, she apparently has not lost her sense of humor.

The Favre revenge tour got off to a great start yesterday as the Vikings dominated the Cleveland Browns. Whereas, Favre's numbers were not overly impressive, he did what he came to Minnesota to do, hand the ball to Adrian Peterson. Favre did toss his first Vikings TD to rookie WR, Percy Harvin (who is young enough to be Brett's son). Look for the wins to continue as next week Favre and the Vikes face Detroit (who, for the most part held their own yesterday against the Saints) and the following game against the 49'ers. Then, it is time for the Packers to come to town. I will be watching this one closely, but it'll be four weeks after this initial contest, in which the master plan will reach it's pinnacle, as Favre returns to Green Bay (hopefully to a chorus of boos – like Kayne West last night at the VMA's).

By the way, as I announced here last week, there will be a second heir apparent to the Brady thrown. When I had published my blog last week, Tom and his Giselle had not made the announcement. Well, not two days after posting, they did. I might just be starting out with this thing, but I've already got one breaking story under my belt.

Another Prediction: Roger Federer wins Grand Slam number 16 tonight (I know, bold prediction, right?).

Finally, a "Not Cool" shout out to Fox NFL Analyst, Chris Myers for his comment yesterday during the Detroit – New Orleans game. Myers was giving the line up for the Detroit defense and when he came to line backer Larry Foote, formally of the Steelers, he noted, "Going from two Super Bowls in Pittsburgh to the winless Detroit team -- that's like going from dating Beyonce
to Whoopi Goldberg."

That's it for this week. As always, please leave me comments about the report and let me know what you think. Are there any other sports topics you think I should be discussing? Also, I will be signing my new book, San Diego's Finest Athletes: Five Exceptional Lives, at the Borders in Chula Vista on October 10^th from 6 pm – 8 pm. I hope you can make it.

I believe you Shawne…What I can’t believe is Padre’s “fans”

 

I was having lunch at the ESPN Zone in Los Angeles with my friend Jessica before going to see the Dodgers play the Padres (more on that later) at the Ravine when what do I see scrolling across the wire, Shawne Merriman arrested for choking his girlfriend. Like, as I am assuming, most Charger fans, I thought to myself, "Here we go again." After the game I read a little bit more about the story and noticed the photos of Shawne and former reality star Tila "I'm Allergic to Alcohol" Tequila, having a grand old time at a night club in San Diego. Then I saw Shawne's statement and after analyzing the time line, it is more than probable that Tequila in fact had too many Tequila shots and was not fit to drive. It seems to me that Shawne did the respectable thing by attempting to not let her leave. Whether Ms. Tequila is just using this to get her name mentioned again (look I'm doing it) or the alcohol impaired her judgment so, that she believed she was being abused, the fact is, I believe Shawne and hope that our favorite captain of the defense will actually get through a full season this year, but Shawne buddy, Tila Tequila? You can do better than that.

Speaking of the Chargers season, I mentioned last week that I was going to talk a bit about my feelings regarding the upcoming year for the bolts. Preseason was a bit shaky, I have to admit, but a few players did stand out. The first being our go to guy if our go to guy goes down, Billy Volek. Volek was incredible during the preseason and I am certain he could be starting for many other teams (San Francisco, you might want to look up his agent's number). Also, Larry English's name was called so many times at Qualcomm during the two home games, that the fans have quickly dubbed him a favorite. Beyond preseason play however, the fact remains that the Chargers play in the AFC West.

Let's see, if my math is correct that is essentially 7 bye weeks. One actual bye week and the six freebies we get from the Broncos, Chiefs, and Raiders respectively. Oh no, the Raiders just traded for Richard Seymour (Seymour hasn't even shown up to Oakland yet and is considering retiring over playing for them). Here is my major problem with that; we also play the Browns, Bengals, and Redskins (at the end of the season when they'll already be out of the running because of Philadelphia and the NY Giants). What are the Chargers going to do when they get to the playoffs and have to face actual competition?

I know it'll be fairly easy to coast through the year, but, and I hate to say it, the Chargers are going to have to play go-for-the-jugular, Patriots-style football. Run the score up. Keep the first string out on the field even when you are up by 30 points. The path is certainly paved for the Chargers this season to the playoffs, the question is, will they be ready for the caliber teams they'll be facing in the playoffs? I certainly hope so or else this season will end as the last few have, preseason hype and expectations dashed by the inability to raise to the competition level.

As mentioned above, I went to Dodger Stadium on Sunday and saw the boys in blue take on our Padres. I had my SD hat on and a Padres shirt. I was sitting in the Beach section where you get a free Dodger towel and sit behind Manny Ramirez (two sections above Manny Ramirez) all for $45…and people actually paid it. The sales staff at Petco are all going to start calling Dr. Conrad Murray soon to get some Propofol to help with the sleepless nights due to their lack of ability to sell…anything. And the Dodgers are selling these seats (I was sitting next to a vent in which the smells that we coming out of it where none to pleasant) for $45 and people are paying for it. Oh, and the team is winning. I forgot to mention that part. Oh and they keep signing veteran players to help improve their team while fostering their young talent. Alas, there are still plenty of great deals at Dodger Stadium…deals to justify making the drive up from San Diego to see your team take on their hated rival in a series that they…won!

But, no…you didn't come. None of you came. In a sea of blue, I was one of very few Padre fans representing. It was pathetic. The Dodger fans were actually nice to me. I think they felt bad. I cheered by my lonesome, looking around for someone in an SD hat or jersey to high five with or just give a smile to…since, the Padres won the series (did I mention that). So, I gotta say Padre Nation, I'm a bit disappointed. L.A. isn't that far and besides, you could've stopped and taken your picture on the Hollywood walk of fame before going to the game.

Okay, enough San Diego rants for this week. Let's look at some other news going around the World of Sports. The U.S. Open's men's draw is, as expected, boring. Andy lost (I think I jinxed him). However, the women's draw is looking very exciting. The semi finals could have three out of four players who are unranked, including the comeback kid, Kim Clijsters and the American sensation, Melanie Oudin. I still think Serena will win, but I'd love to see Oudin and Clijsters in the final. Derek Jeter remains hitless in his last two games. He only needs four more to become the all time hits leader on the Yankees. This is the part of the blog where I admit my man crush on Derek Jeter. Hopefully he gets it by the end of the weekend. Finally a shout out to Tom Brady, my fantasy football Quarterback in all three leagues, it looks like his knocked up his amazingly hot Brazilian wife Gisele Bundchen, but Tom, please a beg of you…focus on the season. I need to win my league(s).

Last week I began a column for the San Diego Jewish World. You can read my first story be visiting www.sandiegojewishworld.com and scrolling down to the sports section. Until next week…