Greener Pastures

Tim's Favorite Blogs

The Weather
Ruffle Your Shuffle
Eschew Obfuscation
IM Earthling
Silk Road
The Huffington Post
Talking Points Memo
American Progress
Citizens For Ethics
Crooks And Liars
Common Cause

Media Matters

Blog Directories

Monday, December 28. 2009

San Diego is NOT a pro sports town.

“WHAT,” you ask? “We got the San Diego Padres and the San Diego Chargers, that’s two professional sports teams and the Chargers are doing so well they have the first round bye in the playoffs this season! Shut up! We got pro sports!”

Well, before I put forth my hypothesis, let me just remind everyone about the last time the San Diego Chargers, with a 14-2 record, had a first round bye in the playoffs. It was the 2006 season. The Chargers sat out the first round, facing the New England Patriots on January 14th, 2007 in the second round.

The Patriots had beaten the New York Jets in a rout the week before, surprised they had played so well against the Jets. As I recall, few people expected the Patriots to win in the playoffs, a foolish assumption considering the caliber of the Patriots. The best teams figure out a way to win, regardless of everyone else’s expert opinions.

The Chargers, on the other hand, under the coaching tutelage of Marty Schottenheimer, had the best record in the NFL that season and were playing so good, everyone — EVERYONE — predicted the Chargers would win their first Super Bowl in 2007.

Cynical as I am, I even thought it was possible! Heck, the memory of Bobby Ross’s deer-in-the-headlights stare when the Chargers played well enough to lose to the San Francisco 49’ers in Super Bowl XXIX had been erased.
 Remember the score? Let me revive the horror for you: 49-26. It was like a community college team giving NFL champions an easy scrimmage.

But a 2007, Super Bowl XLI appearance — let alone win —was not to be.

On that nice day in Sunny Sandy Eggo, during the second round of the playoffs, in a stadium once called “The Murph,” the Patriots played up to everyone’s expectations that season — meaning they weren’t playing at their Super Bowl winning level — and the Chargers, well, they played like a wild card team that got backed into the playoffs due to the unexpected loss of another team.

The Chargers should have beaten the Patriots in a near rout. Their passing game was good to great, their running game, with an uninjured LaDanian Tomlinson, was probably the finest in the NFL. Head Coach Marty Schottenheimer was the winningest coach in the AFC at the time.
 Yeah, I know, “winningest” isn’t a real word.

On the other hand, the Chargers had Marty Schottenheimer for a head coach, the losingest coach in NFL playoff history.
 Yeah, I know, “losingest” isn’t a real word.

Between the bonehead errors of the players, and the shocking play calling of Schottenheimer, the Chargers needed a miracle field goal to at least tie the game. Nate Kaeding’s 54-yard attempt at the end of the game fell three yards short and the Patriots found themselves playing for a spot in Super Bowl XLI. No consolation for Chargers fans, but the Pats lost to the Indianapolis Colts that next week and the Colts went on to win the Super Bowl.
 I distinctly remember Pats quarterback Tom Brady being interviewed after the game, genuinely surprised his team had won.

So, there are no great expectations on my part about a first round bye in these playoffs. But, the Chargers are playing on all 12 cylinders right now, like a well-tuned Mercedes-Benz 600SL.

Back to the original thesis: San Diego is NOT a pro sports town. Ever since moving here in 1992, I’ve been annoyed by the local TV network franchises’ decisions to feature infomercials and syndicated reruns when the national networks are advertising double-header football extravaganzas every Sunday during the NFL season.

Today, for instance, there should have been a double header on Channel 5, the local FOX affiliate. According to their online schedule, we should have seen the Carolina Panthers playing the New York Giants and we in San Diego love to see the Giants get beat ever since Eli Manning dissed the Chargers by refusing to play for them if drafted by the Bolts.
 The Giants, having a good chance to make the playoffs, were spanked by the Carolina Panthers, who have nothing to gain by a win other than dignity and pride. The score in the Giants final game in Giants Stadium: 41-9. ¡Chupame la pija Eli Manning!
 My choice today was to watch the Baltimore Ravens self-destruct and give their game to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
 It would have been great to see my Green Bay Packers beat the visiting Seattle Seahawks in Lambeau Field, or the Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the once invincible New Orleans Saints, but it was not to be.

As for the afternoon game on FOX Channel 5, there were none. What, were there no NFC games starting at the 4 p.m. Eastern Time slot?

Actually, there were a few and the national FOX network chatted about double headers today, but what did we get in San Diego? Not football. Poker Stars … eh … and a Kevin Kline movie, Life As a House. I like Kevin Kline, but this is football season and who wants to watch a heart-warming movie about a dying man making up with his ex-wife and estranged son? I only cry when the Packers lose to either the Bears or the Vikings.

In a pro sports town, both network affiliates with the NFL football contracts would show both games. One thing I like about Milwaukee, WI — and someone please tell me this is still true — we didn’t get infomercials, syndicated reruns or heart-warming movies when there were football games to be aired.

Here, once in a while we get two games on the same channel, like today, but not often.

The difference is, in Wisconsin, regardless of their season record, the Green Bay Packers will always have sell-outs in Lambeau Field. You can’t even realistically hope to buy Packer season tickets — ever. In San Diego, you can probably get a ticket to every game, with the exception of the annual Raiders game. Between the Raiders Nation and everybody who hates them, those are impossible tickets to purchase unless you go see a serious scalper.

Wisconsinites are serious pro sports enthusiasts. Due in part to the nasty winter weather. It makes more sense to stay indoors and watch football than go outside and ride a mountain bike or something. Although my friend Bill Stace, still a Milwaukee resident, plays golf in the snow. Bill, that’s not dedication, that’s obsession and I would bet there’s a 12-Step program for it.

Here in San Diego we can spend a Sunday afternoon in December at the beach — catching the rays on a warm sunny day. Consequently, many people choose to do something other than watch TV, sports or otherwise. I’ve been to many a Super Bowl party where most of the revelers are hanging around outside the house because the weather is so nice.

Sadly, people who have no interest in football or sports in general show up at these parties for … err … who knows why … and often enough the bathrooms are always in use so it’s much easier to walk behind a bush and evacuate one’s bladder.

You know, I’m trying to watch the game and listen to the commentators calling the game during the Super Bowl and all these other people are talking while the game is on. They keep quiet for the damn commercials, which seem to be the highlights for most super Bowls, but DAMMIT! I’m there for the game!

And the food.

This was supposed to be about why the San Diego Chargers will soon be the Los Angeles Chargers. There won’t be a new stadium for the Chargers in Downtown San Diego, or anywhere else for that matter and I’m guessing once the contract the team has with the city expires the team will move north. There were hundred of millions of dollars in upgrades done on the current Qualcomm Stadium, once called Jack Murphy Stadium, so the Chargers have been obligated to stay through the 2020 season. I doubt they will stay that long.

Both the Chargers and the NFL have been making noises about how nice it would be if the Chargers were located in L.A., with it’s much larger audience base. The NFL has told San Diego there would never be another Super Bowl played at the Q. San Diego just isn’t appealing to the pro sports leagues. Even the San Diego Clippers of the NBA preferred playing second fiddle to the Los Angeles Lakers and moved their franchise north. The Clippers still suck as a pro sports team, but now they do it with more revenue.

Chargers fans in San Diego are talking about the future of the team — in San Diego. If “this” happens, if a stadium gets built in this location or that, if the Chargers win a Super Bowl, the Chargers will likely stay. I don’t believe that. One entity or another has rejected every offer for a new stadium and quite frankly, the grass is greener in Los Angeles.

The Chargers owners, the Spanos Family, know that. They also see the tepid ticket sales, especially if the team isn’t winning. I know people with season tickets who can’t give a ticket away most games. People in this town have other, in their minds better, things to do than spend a Sunday Afternoon in Qualcomm Stadium. The Spanos Family knows that too.

San Diegans talk a big game about keeping the team in town, but the reality is, the community as a whole hasn’t been willing to support the team through thick and thin, at least not since I’ve lived here. Remember the controversy surrounding the last round of negotiations between the city and the team over the upgrades to the stadium?

And then we found out about the ticket guarantee; the city would pay for any unsold tickets of any games that had attendance under 60,000. For ten years, starting in 1997. The mayor at the time, Susan Golding, called it “felony stupid,” which was ironic because she was in on the negotiations. Her political career in the Republican Party was over after this flap, but that isn’t so bad for her; last I read, Susan Golding was a well-paid consultant — for the Spanos Family.

The Chargers want a new stadium. There’s nothing wrong with Qualcomm, other than normal wear and tear, but the team wants a new one. Their primary reason: a new stadium generates more revenue — so they say. Maybe it does, I don’t know really, but the team can cite stats to prove it.

My theory: what the Chargers, i.e. the Spanos Family, really want to do is move the team north, to greener pastures. I’m betting by 2015 the Chargers will be playing their home games in the new stadium being built in the Los Angeles suburb of City of Industry. It isn’t about a new stadium anymore, it’s about leaving San Diego.

C’est la vie.

Posted by Tim Forkes in Sports at 00:01 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

Trackbacks

Trackback specific URI for this entry

No Trackbacks

Comments

Display comments as (Linear | Threaded)

No comments

Add Comment

Name
Email
Homepage
In reply to
Comment	Enclosing asterisks marks text as bold (word), underscore are made via _word_. Standard emoticons like :-) and ;-) are converted to images. To prevent automated Bots from commentspamming, please enter the string you see in the image below in the appropriate input box. Your comment will only be submitted if the strings match. Please ensure that your browser supports and accepts cookies, or your comment cannot be verified correctly. Enter the string from the spam-prevention image above:
	Remember Information? Subscribe to this entry
Submitted comments will be subject to moderation before being displayed.