Chargers to L.A. inevitable? Hoyer named new Padres GM…that’s wicked cool.

We'll start with the news of Los Angeles getting closer and closer to breaking ground on a new NFL stadium in the San Fernando Valley. Last week the Governator signed a bill that will speed up the process to build a new $800 million stadium, which supposedly will be the site for Super Bowl 50 (as per NFL wishes). Obviously the stadium will not be built and then torn down after the event. The goal is to have a NFL team willing to relocate. Seven teams were listed as possible candidates. Let's weed some of the out right now, shall we?

Buffalo Bills: The Bills would move to Toronto before they moved to L.A. Last season they began playing a regular season game in Toronto and will continue to do so. It does not make any sense for the Bills to move far away from their established fan base, if indeed they are to leave Buffalo.

Minnesota Vikings: Even though they have had issues in the dome, the fan base of Minnesota is very loyal and would never allow the team to leave, especially after this season and all that Favre and Peterson are doing to put the team into Super Bowl contention.

St. Louis Rams: The Rams burned L.A. fans and were the red headed step child to the Raiders. Also, the potential new owners will be looking to keep them in St. Louis. What they will need to focus on however is putting a better field on the team. The Rams have been so bad for so long now, that fans have given up. Yet, if a quality product is put on the field, St. Louis fans will support them. Cardinal fans are some of the most diehard in MLB. They'll come back, if they have something to root for.

San Francisco 49ers: Are you kidding me? Do I even need to go on? The 49ers are a staple of San Francisco and even though their stadium is awful (not as bad as the Oakland Coliseum, but close), the fans would never let that happen. They would agree to a tax hike in San Jose to build a new stadium there before the team ever moved.

Oakland Raiders: Al Davis won't move them back to L.A. and after the crypt keeper dies, any new ownership, whether they want to move the team to L.A. or not will be met with resistance. The Raiders left a stain when they departed and it is my opinion that fans would not welcome them back. The team comes with a lot of baggage and I think, for whichever team eventually moves into the stadium, there will need to be serious consideration given to the fact that fans will want to make that team their own and I do not believe L.A. wants the Raiders back.

That leaves two teams that I think are the best and most likely candidates.

Jacksonville Jaguars: The team is hurting so badly economically that any opportunity to move to a location that will allow them to stay afloat would be warmly welcomed. Their games have been blacked out this season and the product on the field is not so good. Jacksonville, besides Green Bay and Buffalo, is one of the smallest markets in the league. A fresh new start in Los Angeles would be just thing remedy for the Jaguars. Also, I believe that L.A. would embrace the team.

San Diego Chargers: Issues with Qualcomm stadium and the city of San Diego continue to be sore subjects for both parties. New locations for a possible stadium come and go with the wind. When you speak to dedicated fans and ask them what they would think if the team moved, they say, "let them go." When the Chargers are competing for the AFC West title, the Q is packed. When they are not, you see a sea of the other team's jerseys. Also, San Diegans are no strangers to teams up and leaving them. Finally, the move would make the most sense geographically and economically. The diehard fans would travel to the new stadium, L.A. and Orange County fans would want to be a part of the scene, and so it would be a win-win for the NFL and Los Angeles. I certainly hope this does not happen. I think the Chargers belong in San Diego and that the best possible solution would be a stadium in North County, one that is close enough for L.A. and Orange County fans to come down to and support the team while San Diegans would still have the chance to keep the team in their county.

There is another scenario in which the NFL could get a team in Los Angeles and no current team, including the Chargers, would relocate to the San Fernando Valley. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has made it no secret that he would like to have a team in London. If this were to occur then it is highly possible that Los Angeles would get an expansion team and two additional teams would be added to the league.

Enough about the move, for everyone who saw the Chargers route of the Chiefs yesterday, don't get too excited, it was the Chiefs. For those who say "this is how we started last season" and are holding on to hope, start planning on next season, because even though yesterday's win was a dominant one, a few major hurdles remain. The first being a sense of loyalty to L.T. Norv Turner attempted, on four downs, to get L.T. a touchdown and failed all four times. It was pathetic. The defense, for the most part held their own, but once again…Chiefs. The third, and most important issue, is that the Broncos are flying high (in their balloon) in Denver and if they get past the Ravens this week, will amass a lead that I do not believe can be overcome, like last season. The Chargers will dominate the Raiders this weekend, but in order to get back into the race, they need the Ravens to step it up and bring the Broncos back down to earth, maybe in a nice, soft, grain field.

Final football note, my condolences go out to the family of Walt Daniels who died last week from injuries sustained after falling out of the Press Box prior to last Monday Night's game.

The San Diego Padres decided instead of history (hiring the first female GM) to go with Boston Red Sox GM, Theo Epstein's, protégé 35 year-old Jed Hoyer. You've got a mighty task in front of Hoyer, Good luck. Also in Padres news, CEO Jeff Moorad and the sales staff decided to send a mass mailing campaign urging former season tickets (of one I am which) to return in a highly glossed folder that came with a DVD of Moorad stating all the reasons why we should return. Let me share some of them with you…maybe you'll get excited and want to give the Padres your hard earned money:

1. They've kept the season ticket prices the same as 2009. How nice, they are not jacking up ticket prices from a team that lost 87 games and were essentially out of any race prior to the All Star Game. Come on, Jeff, you should be smarter than that. Lower the ticket prices and prove that you've got a decent squad for 2010 and then the fans will be willing to trust you.
   
2. Removed new membership and relocation fees. I've never heard of relocation fees and if you were charging new ticket holders fees to join, maybe that is why Petco was so empty last season.
   
3. Printed the day of the game price on season tickets instead of discount prices. The only people who ask to do this are ticket brokers who are trying to make a profit. Basically, you've just said, "okay third party ticket brokers, now we've given you a chance to hose our fans."
   
4. Given season ticket holders a "go to" account specialist. What did they do in the past, call an automated system? Was your customer service that bad in the past that you needed to revamp them with these new account specialists? Another reason why the stadium may have been so empty, but awful business practice if true.
   

He goes on to note some of the up and coming prospects. Whether or not they turn out to be good, I can assure you that up and coming prospects do not excite fans, especially in this economy. They want to know they are getting a bang for their buck and that bang is in the form of a big time, free agent…no, not like David Eckstein.

It is a desperate attempt, albeit a good and pretty one, I am just not sure fans are going to fall for it. From my days working for the Kansas City Royals, their fans knew that they could walk up on the day of the game and buy great seats behind home plate, thus they never bought packages. This is the future for the Padres unless they lower prices and bring in a big name that they can rally behind. In 2005/06, I was with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, California and even though they had a strong team, they brought in a few more free agents to make the team more solid. All that did was sell out the season ticket allotment for the first time in team history.

The last story I want to bring up is a "no good deed goes unpunished" tale. Hot tennis star Caroline Wozniacki (you remember her from the U.S. Open) was winning her first round match at the Luxemburg Open last week 7-5, 5-0 when she retired due to injury. She knew she was hurt and would not be able to compete in the next round, by retiring it would give her opponent the chance to go on. Well, she made the decision with her father/coach who came on the court to discuss her options with her. Too bad her dad could be heard on the open mike and thus a wave of bets in Europe for her opponent came pouring in, after the exchange. Wozniacki retires and a couple people make a quick buck. Gambling in tennis, like most sports, is a sin, but now Caroline's deed has come under fire. People believe her and her father had something under handed planned. I think that is ridiculous and I hope she gets better soon. Also, what casino's are allowing bets to continue to come in after the match begins? That's crazy.

Shout out to Mark McGwire the new batting coach for the St. Louis Cardinals. While others who took steroids continue to play, Manny, A-Rod, Pettitte, Big Papi and others, McGwire had to hide in the shadows (and yes I know he's never admitted it, but come on). He is one of the greatest hitters the game ever had and along with Sammy Sosa, helped save the game of baseball during their historic (although tainted) home run race.

A very not cool to Kansas City Chiefs running back Larry Johnson who has been throwing around homophobic slurs like hot potatoes lately. Now GLAAD (gay & lesbian alliance against defamation) is asking the NFL to take action. I certainly hope they do. Larry, come on man, I know you are frustrated with the way your team is playing and the decline of your career, but you don't need to use these words to express your emotions.

I think this is my longest blog to date. There was a lot to cover. Anyway, on November 5^th from 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm there is a "Kick Off" party for my new book, San Diego's Finest Athletes: Five Exceptional Lives, it would be great to see you there. Here is the link to register. There are only 200 tickets remaining before the event sales out. Click on http://sunbeltbook.com/BookDetails.asp?id=203 to reserve your spot today!

Okay…now it’s time to bolt ship.

I wanted to wait until tonight's incredibly important and eventual season ending match up with the Broncos was over, before I wrote this. I think reliving the nightmare would be pointless, but with a 3.5 lead to overcome and already one loss, there is no chance for the Chargers to win the division. Also, there is no way the AFC West is sending two teams to the playoffs this year. The question remains, what went wrong? The Chargers were picked as Super Bowl favorites in the beginning of the season and no one gave the Broncos a second thought. Well, what happened is simply, the Charger defense is awful. The secondary can't wrap up and allows a ridiculous number of yards after the catch. Tonight Broncos Quarterback, Kyle Orton, had no pressure, while Philip Rivers was running for his life. The defense is not the only negative element to this ship wreck, L.T. can't block, he can't run, and he has a bad attitude. The two turn over's Rivers had were simply L.T.'s inability to block the oncoming rush. How is it that the 5'6 Darren Sproles can block monster defensive ends and L.T. can't? This was L.T.'s best game of the season and he had 68 yards. Wow, I'm impressed. It's time that L.T. backs up Sproles for good. Finally, on the first scoring drive, when L.T. was benched for Sproles, he threw a temper tantrum on the side line. L.T. you have no right to complain. You don't deserve the ball. Someone call Atlanta and beg for Michael Turner back. Finally, the play calling was abysmal. The Norv Turner chopping block conversation needs to begin soon, not until after the season of course, because…well, this season is over for all intents and purposes and what are we going to do, promote Ron Rivera? Yeah right. Curious to see what the crowds look like over the next couple of games? Raiders and Philly games should be okay, but K.C., Washington, and Cincinnati; it's going to tough a tough sale.

The Padres may be looking to make history with the choice of their new GM. Kim Ng; assistant GM for the Dodgers is being rumored as the top candidate to replace Kevin Towers. Wonder if that'll be a blow to Tower's masculinity? I think Ng would do an excellent job and the Padres could use the positive publicity, but as a man, Towers might be a bit embarrassed that he is being replaced by Ng. She's been with the Dodgers for 8 years after working for the Yankees and White Sox. Keep your eyes on Kim Ng, she may be running the show soon enough, especially since CEO Jeff Moorad seems like a hands off guy.

Up the freeway from Qualcomm, well take the 8 to the 5 and then north from there, the Angels may have saved their World Series hopes with a fantastic come from behind, extra inning game vs. the Yankees while the Dodgers in Philadelphia had the game and a chance to tie the series until the bottom of the ninth with two outs and Jonathon Broxton on the mound, they blew their lead and are now down 3-1 to the Phillies. As predicted, the Freeway series won't happen, but let's keep our eyes on the Angels. A Phillies – Yankees series will bore anyone not on the east coast. A final baseball note, the Dodgers – Phillies game on Sunday night got a worse rating in L.A. then the Sunday Night Football game, Bears vs. Falcons…I think Dodger fans have jumped ship already. That's a nice thought for Padre fans.

Major props to the Aztecs for hanging in with #18 BYU in a losing effort. The game was much closer than the 10 point loss seems.

USD men's soccer is alone at the top of the WCC and looking good for a national ranking. Our American footballers may not be up to par this year, but our college footballers are on top of their game and look to continue their streak against Loyola Marymount this Thursday.

A prayer for Walt Daniels, a Qualcomm Stadium worker who, prior to tonight's game, fell 30 feet from the Broncos Press Box to the Loge level. Daniels' sustained a head injury and was rushed to the hospital. No further update has been given on his condition.

My final thoughts on this week in the NFL are as follows, Favre looked good as the Vikings remain undefeated. Former Charger, Drew Brees was lights out against the Giants and will be leading his team to the Super bowl, possibly against former Charger Michael Turner and the Falcons. P.S. Brady's back. Six touchdowns, five in the second quarter, are you kidding me? Thank goodness he's my fantasy quarterback. Raiders shocked Philadelphia, but Eagles fans are too busy cheering on the Phillies to care. Rams, Lions and Redskins suck. Finally, all teams other then the Dolphins need to stop using the wild cat. You can't do it.

A shout out to Pini Gershon, head coach for the Maccabi Tel-Aviv Israeli basketball team who threw an awesome tirade in the team's preseason charity match up against the New York Knicks. Pini refused to leave the court after being ejected for disputing a call until a Rabbi came down to the court and calmed him down. You have to see this.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=4574912

A not so cool to Steelers tight end Matt Spaeth for being cited in public for peeing in the street outside a bar after the Steelers win over the Browns on Sunday. Kicker Jeff Reed was arrested for public intoxication. Come on guys, you beat the Browns? Is it really a cause for that much celebration?

That's it for this week. I'm going to mope some more over the Chargers loss, but not for too much longer.

On November 5^th, the San Diego Hall of Champions will be hosting a "Kick Off" party to celebrate the release of my book, San Diego's Finest Athletes: Five Exceptional Lives, the event will start at 5:30 pm and last until 7:30 pm. The cost to attend is $15, but that gets you an autographed copy of the book, participation in the discussion on the book, sports themed snacks, and access to the museum. I hope to see you there. Please contact me with any questions.

 

Slow weekend in SD sports, Baseball sweeps, and Football blow outs.

Since the Chargers were on a bye week, next much to report there, however there is an interesting story developing, in which a Chargers season ticket holder named Patrick Cronin is suing the team, the city and just about anyone else he can think of over an incident in 2007 where he claims he was hit in the face by another Chargers fan, Donald Etheridge. Here is the kicker, or I guess, puncher, Etheridge claims that Cronin was actually the one instigating things and that he was known for selling his tickets to opposing teams fans. This is where I hope you weigh in on the comment section, my thought is, if you are a season ticket holder and you can't make a game, okay, offer the tickets to friends and/or family first, hopefully someone who is a fan of the team. If you need to sell them, put them on a local craigslist site or eBay, but once again, try, if you can, to sell them to a fan of the team. Understandable that through those sites you never really know who is purchasing and you are allowed a pass a few times…BUT, if you are purposely selling your tickets to fans of the opposing team, 1) you are not really a fan of the team because you are not using your tickets, you are just trying to make a profit and 2) you deserve to be punched in the face if the fans of the opposing teams are constantly ruining the experience for the other season ticket holders around you. I am 100% on Etheridge's side in this matter and think this guy Cronin held the tickets just to try and make a buck while the Chargers were hot in 2007. You can read the story by clicking on:

http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2009/oct/08/season-ticket-holder-sues-chargers-city-over-incid/?chargers

Unfortunately, there is more domestic violence to discuss and no, Tila and Shawne are not back together (however, it might help if they did get back together because the last thing Merriman hit, was Tila…allegedly). Former Padre and brother of Brian, Marcus Giles, was placed under citizen's arrest early last week when wife Tracy, claimed that she had been hit by him. Marcus was arrested on battery charges, yet, Mrs. Giles was unhurt. Domestic abuse is no laughing matter, despite my lame joke above, but what I do not understand is why these men (Giles and Merriman) were arrested when there was no sign of abuse on either of these women? How can someone claim battery when they were never actually touched? Obviously, in the horrific case of Chris Brown and Rihanna, that boy needed to be arrested. Let's say a male athlete who was hit by his wife or girlfriend, called 911, and made a citizen's arrest on battery charges…well, the media, especially the sports media, would mock him, but when the male athlete is accused of battery whether he touches the woman or not, it becomes a circus (Merriman case) in which social debates begin to take place. I am not sure why these two cases have occurred recently in San Diego and are so similar, but what I do believe is that Merriman's case, even though dismissed, could be part of the issue in decline of his performance (being off the steroids might have something to do with it as well). All I am saying is that facts should be checked and there should not be a rush to judgment in siding with the accuser without knowing all the details, especially when the accuser was not actually hit.

Okay, time to admit a few things: do I believe Bret Favre came back only for revenge against the Packers, yes, but do I believe he can still play, oh yeah. Who would have actually cared about the Minnesota Vikings, besides people in Minnesota, if not for Favre? Fox is playing all of their games, the stadium is sold out, and his jersey is selling like crazy and to top it all off, they are winning and by a lot. I still think, towards the end of the season, there may be a decline in performance, but Adrian Peterson will pick him up and the Vikings are a team to look out for. The Manning brothers are unstoppable. If you need to make some cash, go to Vegas each weekend and put your money on Favre, Eli, and Peyton. Don't put any cash on Brady and the Patriots. The Broncos played incredible defense yesterday and I think it is going to take another season until we see the Brady of old.

MLB Nightmare, this weekend, the Angels swept the Red Sox, the Dodgers swept the Cardinals, and the Yankees swept the Twins. That is a total of six potential, revenue generated games that will not be played because of the sweep. Only one series remains, and of course it is the lackluster series featuring the Rockies and Phillies. The scenario could not have played out worse for MLB. Here's hoping, for their sake, that the Angels and Yankees live up to the billing, because if MLB has to deal with another sweep in the AL League Championship series by either one of those teams, it'll really hurt. I still think the World Series will feature the Yankees and the Rockies, even though a So Cal freeway series would be nice, the Yankees are too powerful and the Rockies are built for playoff baseball (even when it is 20 degrees out).

The hockey season began, anyone notice? The Phoenix coyotes are playing despite being bankrupt. I know San Diego ran the NBA rockets out of town to Houston and Donald Sterling (slum lord, see: http://www.tmz.com/2009/10/10/west-wing-star-feels-heat-apartment-burns-up/) packed up the Clippers and left town, but the San Diego Gulls and hockey in general were always popular. I do see a positive opportunity for the Sports Arena, if there was a chance to get the Coyotes moved to San Diego. There would be an initial interest by San Diegans to attend and thus a positive flow of revenue. If the team could compete with the rest of the west, then I think a NHL team could make it.

I'm very excited that the 2016 Olympic Games will feature Rugby. Not so excited about golf, but despite Obama's effort and tax payer dollars, the folks in Rio are definitely going to spice things up with the addition of Rugby.

Let's wrap up this week with a "not so cool" to St. Louis Cardinal Catcher, Yadier Molina who is being sued for taking $90K for autograph signing sessions and not showing up.

An "isn't it ironic" moment goes to new Jets Wide Receiver Braylon Edwards. Just hours after your beef with LeBron James took place, you were shipped to New York. No worries though, you and LeBron will be together again when he signs with the Knicks next season and let's face it, the Jets are a much better team (even though I think Miami pulls off an upset tonight).

Last, my shout out goes to Sunbelt Publications for publishing my book, San Diego's Finest Athletes, which comes out this week. I am thrilled. The book looks great and I cannot wait for you all to read it. Reminder I will be doing a book signing at the Chula Vista Borders at 878 Eastlake Parkway in Chula Vista from 4 pm – 6 pm. I hope to see you there.

You can check out the book at www.sunbeltbooks.com where it is the featured book of the month.

Until next week…

No need to hit the panic button just yet Chargers fans…Padres season ends on a positive note.

We'll start with the Padres this week. Kevin Towers, the long time GM of the team and architect of some incredible NL West champion seasons over his tenure, is now gone. Who is going to replace him? No one knows. Is the team going to be dismantled? We'll have to wait and see. However, there are some hopeful numbers for our young Padre team. They ended the season 37-25 in their final 62 games. They kept the Dodgers from winning the NL West in San Diego, even though I think the Dodgers tanked the games so that they could win the title at home and sell out a few more games in the process (which they did). Heath Bell led the NL in saves with 42 (the Padres were 62-3 when leading after 8 innings). Anyone still missing Trevor time now? Kevin Kouzmanoff ended the season with a .990 fielding percentage, the highest ever by a third baseman. Finally, Adrian Gonzalez, once again, if not for the fact that he plays the same position as and is the same league with Albert Pujols, should have won the NL MVP this season.

Seems like there is a lot of hope for next season with all the young talent, here's the problem. The team will be operating on a $40 million dollar budget next season. Yankees third baseman, Alex Rodriquez, makes more than that. The Padres will have one of the stingiest payrolls in Major League Baseball next season. That's not to say they can't win, look at the 2008 Tampa Bay Rays. However, Kouzmanoff and Bell are due hefty raises and after this season, they'll be looking for their pay day and if they don't get it, there will be a lot of teams waiting with check book in hand. If this occurs you lose two major pieces to puzzle. However, it will all remain a mystery until we find out who will be the new GM. Will they want to come in and rebuild the team in their own imagine or realize that there are some signs of life with the squad they have now?

Finally, an alarming number for the front office, attendance was down 21% this year! That is an incredible down turn. I have worked in ticket sales for six years and have been able to sell everything from baseball to hockey to exhibition tennis. Beyond a new General Manager, the Padres desperately need a new sales staff with a new strategy for filling up Petco Park. San Diego has one of the premier destinations for baseball and the fact that they only had 3 sale outs (two of them thanks to Dodger fans) is unbelievable. The fact of the matter is, you have to price your tickets based not on what you've got in the past, but on what the fans are willing to (and can) pay for now. A combination of economic strife and poor first half performance turned Padres fans off from attending live games, but if you are sympathetic with the fans and create ticket packages and pricing that can fit their budget, you'll see a positive turn out at the games, which leads to concession and merchandise sales and most importantly, shows the fans that you care and understand and when things turn around for them, they'll be willing to pay more, provided there is a winning product on the field to go with that increase. I can guarantee that if these suggestions are not considered and the team performs equal to the way they did this year while the economy continues to be poor, attendance will continue to drop and so will the payroll for the team.

Onto our beloved, beleaguered, and bemoaned Chargers. Yes, they wanted to get off to a fast start and not have to wait until the last week of the season and an 8-8 record to win the division, however, it's looking like the mirror image of last season all over again (as I predicted a few weeks ago). I don't think it is time to panic just yet, as I knew that competition outside of the division would be rough. The test comes next Monday vs. the undefeated Denver Broncos at home. As long as the Chargers can hand the Broncos their first loss of the season, we'll still be on track to see the Chargers make a post season run. Yet, the defensive problems must be fixed immediately. Sunday night's game versus the Steelers was one of the most pathetic displays of defense I have ever seen the Chargers put on. Every Steelers scoring drive was at will and at minimum 75 yards. That is insane. Special teams came up big and after a shaky first half, Philip Rivers got the pressure that he enjoys playing under and along with Antonio Gates, brought the team to within a touchdown. Alas, the Charger defense could not get a crucial stop and what looked to be an exciting finish, fizzled out. There's no need to hit the panic button just yet, but this Monday's game will set the stage for the rest of the season.

A couple thoughts on sporting news going on outside of San Diego: After her major meltdown at the U.S. Open, Serena Williams is once again ranked #1 in women's tennis after winning an event in China this weekend. Hopefully she won the title without offering any of the lines people a tennis ball sandwich. The Bret Favre revenge tour got one step closer to accomplishing its overall mission, by beating the Packers last night. Yet, the prophecy will not be fulfilled until #4 takes the field in Green Bay and wipes the turf with the Packers for a second time. Remember Favre heads, he started quick with the Jets last season and fizzled out. Don't start anointing the Minnesota Vikings as the Superbowl Champions just yet. Today there will be exciting one game playoff for the AL Central Division title between the Minnesota Twins and Detroit Lions, it was supposed to be played yesterday, but as always the NFL supersedes and the Monday Night Football game took precedence. I'm not sure who will win, but I am sure that they will lose to the Yankees in the first round.

Shout out to the Manning brothers and Matt Schaub, you guys won me $690 this week in Vegas (and yes I know you were respectively playing the Seahawks, Raiders and Chiefs).

A not so cool to Cleveland Browns WR Braylon Edwards for punching a friend of LeBron James at a nightclub last night. Edwards is 6'4, this guy was 5'7. James called Edwards "childish" and said "it was like hitting one of his kids." Edwards will most likely be suspended. However, the issue here is picking a fight with James, who is the biggest star in Cleveland whereas Edwards has been nothing short of a disappointment for the disappointing Browns. Edwards may be run out of town for this.

Until next week. I hope to see you at my book signing at the Borders in Chula Vista on Saturday, October 17^th from 4 pm – 6 pm.