First off, I am not feeling so great. I had to have a minor surgery that has actually taken a lot out of me, so this won't be the longest post. However, I will try to give my thoughts on what is going on in the world of San Diego sports to the best of my ability. I am hoping you saw my interview on Channel Six on Monday morning with Marc Bailey. It was a lot of fun and Marc is a class act. What I found a bit humorous is the story that preceded my interview. It had to deal with more Charger fans getting arrested than Raider fans at this weekend's game. That is probably because the game was in risk (yet again) of being blacked out. So, a good number of tickets were purchased by sponsors and given away. When you are not spending any money on the ticket, you have more for beer. That is possibility number one. Also, I am sure the tickets were just given out to basically anyone who wanted to attend. A final thought is that Raider fans are no longer making the trip down the 5 from Oak town to see their team get beat (for a 13th consecutive time). At some point, even the most die hard, dedicated, Darth Vader mask wearing Raider fan has to realize that it is not worth the cost of gas (or plane ticket), admission, hotel, etc…to come San Diego just to see their team lose to the Chargers…again. Even my Dad who is a long time Raider fan and lives in San Juan Capistrano did not bother to drive the hour down to Qualcomm to see this game. This brings up another topic, look at the upcoming opponents, beyond the Eagles (which should have a good turnout from PETA) the Chargers face the helpless Chiefs (now with Charger throw away Chris Chambers), the Bengals (who are off to a good start, but I am not sure Bengal fans are ready to take the paper bags off their heads just yet), and the Bingo caller led Washington Redskins. Sponsors, get your check books ready, you're going to be buying a lot of Charger tickets this season. By the way, on eBay right now for the Redskins game, the average price for a pair of tickets is $75, that is less than face value for one.
As for the game, I know I have been skewering L.T. lately and I'm going to do it again. Yes, I know he had two touchdowns, but they were pretty much gift wrapped and my 95 year-old great grandmother could have got through those holes. Also, they were playing the Raiders. Let's see how he does this weekend against the Giants defense. Now with Chambers sent to play in KC, the wide receiving core of Floyd, Jackson, and Gates is about as awesome as you can get. All the Chargers need, in my humble opinion, is a running back that can block and help protect Rivers while he airs it out to one of those guys. Every once in a while, toss in Sproles for a run to mix things up, but just let Rivers do what he does and throw the damn ball. Don't bother with any of this "wild frog" crap. Give Rivers time and protection and the Chargers will be back in the wild card hunt (notice I did not say divisional race, because that is not going to happen this season).
I just finished an article for the San Diego Jewish World on Sid Gillman and found an interesting nugget. Gillman was the first head coach when the Chargers were Los Angeles and then moved to San Diego. He was also general manager during his eleven seasons with the team. His record was 87-57-6. Do you realize he still holds the record for most wins as a Charger coach and the highest winning percentage? No one in the team's history, besides Don Coryell even comes close and even Don was 15 wins shy of Gillman's record. The Chargers have had 14 total head coaches only 6 have winning records and 2 of those 6 are Schottenheimer and Turner. I know it is a bit of an aside, but man, the Chargers have had some bad coaching over the years. On to baseball drama…in the bedroom, not the diamond.
Screw the World Series, boring…is it as funny to you as it is to me that both the Dodgers and Padres are going through mirroring, team shattering divorce scandals? Jaime McCourt cheated on Frank (which, I only have met Frank a couple of times, but he is a really great guy) and John Moores cheated on Becky. Even though the details are sensational in both cases, TMZ is only focusing on the Dodgers situation. That could be a good thing for Padres fans. However, the bottom line is, in an effort to pay lawyer fees and such, John Moores had to sell a major portion of the Padres and it is possible that Frank will have to do the same with the Dodgers. The people that actually get hurt the most, in this particular case, is the fans because the quality of the players decreases since there is a lack of funds to field a team and the NL West will once again become the joke of MLB…all because Moores and McCourt felt the need to go outside their marriage for a little extra lovin'. I hope this new law making it illegal to divorce in the state of California actually wins at the ballot boxes next November…for the sake of our sports teams.
In related news, CBS broadcaster Jim Nantz was ordered to pay $864,000 in alimony to his now ex-wife after admitting to an affair with a 29 year-old. What happened to the sanctity of marriage?
Major shout out to former San Diego High School star, Meb Keflezighi (I hope I spelled that right) for winning the NYC marathon this past weekend. He was the first American to do so since 1982. He is now being considered a favorite to medal in the London Olympics of 2012 after his run which he completed in 2 hour, 9 minutes and 15 seconds. Just incredible.
I would also like to thank Bill Walton for his years not only representing San Diego as a basketball player (even playing for our awful Clippers), but as an ESPN analyst. He always made the games more fun to watch. Walton is stepping away from the mike due to increased back problems.
My favorite story of the week: Our favorite slum lord, Donald Sterling agreed to pay $2.73 million dollars to settle allegations that he refused to rent to Hispanics, African Americans, and families with children in his 5,000+ apartment units that he owns in Los Angeles. The amount is a record since the enactment of the Fair Housing act which prohibits this type of discrimination. Maybe now Sterling will have to sell the Clippers. That would be a good thing.
Finally, did anyone notice that Brett Favre completed his mission this past weekend? He can now retire a happy man. Another Super Bowl ring? Screw that. He wanted to beat the Packers in Green Bay and he did. However, that is not the best part of the story. Security had to be beefed up significantly in the sleepy town of Green Bay and armed guards were designated to protect Brett specifically from the moment the Vikings plane landed on Saturday until the moment he took off on Sunday. You could tell with the chorus of boos that rang down every time he got into the huddle, that there is no love loss for Brett in Green Bay. I guess there will never be a retirement ceremony for Favre now and if they did build a statue, they would need to hire security to protect it. Hope it was worth it, Brett. The whole state of Wisconsin wants your head on a cheese platter.
That's it for now. I guess I ended up having more to say that I thought. Hope you enjoyed it. Also, please come out to the San Diego Hall of Champions this Thursday, November 5th for the launch party for my book. The party starts at 5:30pm and lasts until 7:30pm. There will be door prizes, snacks, a discussion on the book, access to the museum after hours, and an autograph session. For more details visit: http://sunbeltbook.com/BookDetails.asp?id=203
Oh and if you did not get the A-Rod reference in the title, it was reported by an ex-girlfriend that he has two portraits of himself in his bedroom as a centaur, half man, half horse.
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