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San Diego Sports Scene-Questions Worth Asking”

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Just some random thoughts off the top of my head.

CHARGERS….It’s been 18-months since the team moved, and in that time, I have seen exactly 1-fan wearing Chargers gear, a tee shirt, anywhere in public. No jerseys, no hoodies, no pennants…nothing. Has a divorce of a team and its fans ever been so pronounced?

CHARGES….Big sports store in North County Fair, still has tons of Chargers jerseys hanging from the rafters, all at 75% off the sale price.

CHARGERS….Philip Rivers is closer to retirement than ever, and no closer to going to a Super Bowl. In LA they keep writing about all the promise the team has this year, because they won 9-of-12 at the end of last season. But none in the media up there, or even here in San Diego wants to write they finished strong by beating non playoff teams, had the 3rd easiest schedule in the league, and won only 3-games against playoff teams. And this year’s schedule is tougher. How come no one writes that?

CHARGERS….If special teams is so critical to a team, how come John Spanos-Tom Tedesco-Anthony Lynn cannot find a quality field goal kicker, either in free agency or the draft. Special teams have been poor for years and no one does anything about it.

PADRES….This is what you get when you force feed pitching prospects at the major league level….good one outing-don’t get out alive the next outing. Th learning curve will continue to be steep but I think the kid arms, Luchessi, Lauer, Kennedy, Nix, have had more good innings than bad ones, so you keep giving them the ball to start. Have to keep sending them out there sink-or-swim?

PADRES….Wish I could be optimistic about the other two young arms, both on the DL. Danelson Lamet could miss half of next year with that forearm surgery. And Luis Perdomo got to a plateau, and never got off it last season, and has regressed since then, and now is hurt.

PADRES…He’s gifted, having learned to play 5-different positions over a couple of teams and that speaks volumes about Will Myers, though staying healthy has been an issue, and staying hot has been a challenge. Good player, but not great player yet?

PADRES….Logan Allen and Cal Quantrill are the next two young arms to be brought up, as soon as the rosters go to 40-players on September 1st. The last month of the season will be like Cactus League exhibition games.

AZTECS….I wonder, with the new lease SDSU has, and the promise to help the city find events to fill open dates at SDCCU Stadium, if San Diego State should consider starting a Stadium division within their Athletic Department. Hire people to specialize in helping market and book events at the Stadium. I wonder if the Holiday Bowl, or the Sports Council should get involved. It seems the Padres and Petco Park have taken a lot of the events that used to go to the old ‘Q’. SDSU needs more people-more resources doesn’t it, to execute this?

TOREROS…A real challenge for USD to figure how to get its football team on people’s radar. Yes it might be Division 1-non scholarship, and yes it’s had great success in postseason of late, but how do you expect it to grow in stature, when you don’t even schedule a media day for the 5-TV stations or 3-sportstalk radio stations to go to?

UCSD…A messy ending to a nice coaching career for Bryce McManus, who won 7-NCAA titles in Division II-III for the Tritons. Fired for a minor violation, holding pizza parties for his women’s soccer team. A travesty, axing his job, for a rinky-dink violation. Repay the money, freeze his salary, but fire him, that’s over-reacting. Isn’t it?

GULLS…..A unique hiring. Andy Zilch becomes the team’s broadcaster. He came after spending a couple of years as the broadcaster for the AHL-Utica Comets. Already here, the first voice of the then Mohawk Valley Comets, yours truly, from back in the day in the 1970’s in the Eastern Hockey League.

DELMAR….They did a great job the first time, now they get to do it again. Del Mar becomes part of the horse racing rotation for the Breeders Cup. It comes back here in 2021. Congrats to the great leadership of Joe Harper and the Thoroughbred Club. You ever sampled summer horse racing there?

HOLIDAY BOWL….A feather in the cap to their leadership. Notre Dame-Navy this fall, headed to a likely sellout of more than 60,000 for its October game at SDCCU. You going?

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