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“Chargers-Chiefs-Arrowhead Stadium-The Scene of the Crime”

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They play for all the marbles tonight in Kansas City, a big time game for the Chargers, an equally big game for the Chiefs.

Arrowhead Stadium, one of the really great football only venues in the NFL, old as it may be, as noisy as something new, like Century Link Field in Seattle or ATT-Stadium in Dallas.

The Chargers-Chiefs, a fierce rivalry that dates back to the old days of the AFL, you remember, Hank Stram, Sid Gillman, Don Coryell, but that was a lot of 3rd and long passes ago.

But Arrowhead Stadium has been the scene of a huge Chargers win, some awful Chargers losses, and the place where careers came to an end.

The best day for the more recent Bolts came in 1994, when then Chiefs coach Marty Schottenheimer created an angry mob mentality in the stands. It was a Sunday night where a Chargers team came together, emotionally, personally, in a game that highlighted, sacks, cheap shots, penalty flags and fists raised in the air.

The Chiefs played defense like they were shot out of a cannon. Derrick Thomas, Neil Smith and all went after Chargers QB-Stan Humphries. The noise, the pass rush, the hits. Late in the first half, with emotions running high, near blood boil, Thomas sacked Humphries hard. As they were getting up, Smith kicked Humphies, who responded. Offsetting flags flew.

Schottenheimer came storming off the sidelines on the field, wanting Humphries ejected. Chargers offensive tackle Stan Brock came across the field , put a fist into Schottenheimer’s chest, nearly knocking him down. More flags flew.

The Chargers scored, and went to the lockeroom with Coach Bobby Ross raising his fists towards the hostile Chiefs fans. The second half belonged to the Bolts. They ran the ball down the Chiefs throat, depositing KC in the parking lot, boarding the bus with not just a (14-13) win, but a unifying spirit that would carry them to the Super Bowl.

That night, that atmosphere, galvanized a Bolts team, driving them to where they have never been since, a game on Super Bowl Sunday.

Arrowhead has been the home to heartbreaks too for the Bolts. Near wins, derailed by wild kick returns. A Paul Palmer 92-yard kickoff return on the final series of one game spelled defeat.

An 85-yard punt return by Tamarick Vancouver in overtime led to another Chiefs win.

Arrowhead was scene of the end of the career of a Chargers exec. Steve Ortmeyer, the GM in the late 80s, was summoned home as his team was pounding out a cold weather win in KC. A night where Marion Butts carried the ball 39-times for 176-yards in 9-degree weather. Ortmeyer was fired hours after the game, leading to Alex Spanos’ hiring of Bobby Beathard.

Arrowhead was also the sight of the beginning of the end of the career of QB-Ryan Leaf. No one will forget, playing in the rain in 1998, and Leaf going (1-15), passing for 4-yards….2-interceptions…2-fumbles…2-sacks..in an ugly blowout loss. The was followed by a lockeroom blowup, his eventual suspension, and all the off field junk he got himself involved in as his career plunged into the gutter.

It’s all part of Chargers history, as they head into Kansas City tonight.

QB-Philip Rivers has had more success than any other Chargers QB in history…(13-13) vs Kansas City…even a (5-7) record at Arrowhead. It’s never been easy for him when he sees Red & Yellow. Yes a (424Y) passing day on opening day this year, but only 5-300 yard games in 26-starts. He has a (36-31) TD-Interception ratio..has taken 56-sacks in those 26-games..and has just a career (84) passing rating when those fans are screaming that Tomahawk Chop chant.

This may be a different year. Yes they’ve moved to LA. The anger-hurt feelings-resentment towards Dean Spanos, will never leave San Diego.

But the appreciation of the greatness of Phillip Rivers, the respect that should be shown towards GM-Tom Teleseco, building this roster, and newly minted coach Anthony Lynn, driving home a different culture, are all reasons to think the Bolts could deposit history in the trash can, and win this game.

The Chargers have had statement game victories this season. At Seattle, at Pittsburgh, places that used to be house of horrors places to play in for the Lightning Bolt.

The history won’t mean all that much when Patrick Mahomes comes to the line of scrimmage, or Rivers attacks a leaky Chiefs defense.

But it is important to know. The last Bolts team that won an emotionally charged game in Kansas City, wound up going to the 1995-Super Bowl.

That was then. This is now. Why not now?

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“Aztecs-Ohio-Bowl Game Worth Watching”

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The Mountain West Conference and the Mid American Conference are leagues cut from the same cloth. In the shadow of big time football (Pac 10-Big 10)….located in the same neighborhood of lots of high school football recruits (California-Ohio)….and a league with some quality veteran coaches (Rocky Long-Frank Solich). Both play pay-day games against bigger name teams too.

So when the Aztecs lineup to face the Bobcats in the DXL–Frisco, Texas Bowl a week from Saturday, it may be like looking at yourself in the mirror.

Both have a history of pounding the football. Both play rugged defense. Both live off chunk plays from their run games. Is their much difference between the Red & Black and the Green & White?

Coach Rocky Long addressed all that in his weekly press gathering.

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..Been a long time since we played a game
..Thursday we put our game plan in for Ohio
..Good deal-lots of practice time
..Bad deal is more film I look at-better Ohio looks
..We get lots of snaps-this is almost like spring ball
..Bye week before win at Boise was more about getting players healthy
..We don’t change a lot style wise coming out of bye week.

..Ohio is run team first-really good at it.
..QB is really accurate with the football-Nathan Rourke
..They put stress on our defensive front-we must control line of scrimmage
..We have to control run and still hold up in zone defense
..We put 8-or-9 upfront-then they will go after our QBs

..They run spread offense-do a little speed action
..They zone read with RB-Ouelltette and Rourke
..They threw ball really well-especially early in season.

..QB-Nathan Rourke is from Canada…kids develop later once get to US.
..Comes out of spread offense-from high school-knows passing game

..Bobcats lineup pretty standard coverages-execute well
..They don’t blitz…they just play hard.

..We will rotate the QBs-Chapman starts-Agnew will play some
..Offensive line..played 1-senior and 4-young guys
..They did not play to our expectation…why we didn’t score as many points
..Injuries upfront-all healthy…all coming back next yer

..Our philosophies same as Ohio but formations different
..We run 2-backs…they run one with the QB.

..This game will be decided at the line of scrimmage.
..We’ve played some teams that have similar schemes..Nevada-NMexico-UNLV
..Ohio is really patient..theuy’ll take 3-or-4 yards run ball…stay with it.

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“Baseball Agents-Good & Bad”

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Day two of the Winter Baseball Meetings in Las Vegas, and all anyone wants to talk about are the marquee free agents, Bryce Harper and Many Machado.

Sure there have been some big trades, the Paul Goldschmidt deal to St-Louis, and there have been some mid-level free agent deals.

And there will be some more trades, talent for prospects in all likelihood.

And though this is a fun time for fans and maybe the media, it’s not a fun time for GMs, especially if your club is facing the tough decision, keep a quality player, or move him a year early before you lose him to free agency.

That’s what Goldschmidt to St-Louis was all about, and it happens in lots of major league cities on the US map.

The landscape of the game has changed to the point that hi powered player agents call a lot of the shots, and the all powerful baseball union carries clout too, with what they’ve negotiated thru the collective bargaining agreement.

Agents are good, helping shape deals, repping players, giving them advice, finding them pay-days.

The Union has done a phenomenal job with its clients, especially in terms of escalating salaries, termination fees, no trade clauses, health care and pensions.

But the power on their street corner has caused problems for clubs.

Now across the baseball landscape, teams hands are being forced. Move a key player before he becomes a free agent.

Trade a guy in his walk year with the hope you can get a bundle of young controllable prospects you can hang onto for a group of years to come, and hope they can play..

It’s happening everywhere. Teams say goodbye to players they really don’t want to part with, knowing the salary structure in the game won’t allow them to keep them going forward.

Baltimore had to move Machado. Pittsburgh did the same for cornerstone star Andrew McCutchen.

Cleveland is about to tear up its great young pitching staff. Arizona is being forced to purge its roster.

Of course you can scream at your local owners, you’re making money, you have a great TV contract, there is blissful revenue sharing checks you get, so ante up the money and keep your players. And there is some truth in that.

But in baseball, where Bryce Harper and Manny Machado’s agents are asking for 10Y-300M deals, the stars get paid well. But it drags up the salary structure of virtually every other player on the roster.

Do you know the average salary this year of players was 4.8M, a big jump from 4.1M in 2017 and 3.96M in 2016.

The bare bones minimum in baseball, the starting salary is 545,000 per player the first time he is on a roster.

It’s amazing how many mid-level players make 10-to-15M a year. It’s stunning utility men get 7M.

Everything in baseball keeps going up, including ticket prices. And there seems to be no end to it.

Fun time to see which players your teams GM will get. Sad times too, especially in a bunch of smaller markets, knowing your team can no longer afford to keep young talent.

Pittsburgh-Kansas City-Minnesota, even the Padres historically have said good bye to talent yearly. Not so much the Red Sox-Yankees-Dodgers, where they sign them, trade them, pay the luxury tax for them.

Agents and the Union are good, no doubt about it. But this money-contract issue has gotten so out of hand, it hurts lots of teams and hurts the fans, who follow the teams too.

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Padres-Winter Meetings-Game Plan”

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It will be a fun four days at the Winter Baseball Meetings, but whether ti will be a fruitful four days for the Padres, remains to be seen.

You do recall three years ago, when GM AJ Preller stole all the headlines down at the Convention Center, making all those middle of the night trades at the San Diego version of the Winter Meeting swap shop?.

The deals that netted him the likes of Matt Kemp, Will Myers, James Shields, then Melvin Upton, Craig Kimbrel just before opening day.

It was exciting, but it turned out to be a failure. From what we thought was a pennant contender, the Padres became pennant pretenders, big contracts, and big time bad attitudes in the clubhouse.

He wound up getting rid of all them, some in buy out deals, here’s my money take my bad contract. He got some talent back in other deals. But it set the club back.

His second year was all about investing huge amounts of money, some 91M in all, to sign all those bluechip players from Latin America. That is the promise of the future, but there are still games to be played this year, much like last year’s 96-loss season.

His 3rd off season brought in Freddy Galvis and Chase Headley, both expensive acquisitions, one gone, and the other possibly leaving too, again a waste of money. He spent, maybe badly overspent, for Eric Hosmer to be his first baseman, when he had a first baseman on the roster, in Myers.

Preller always seems to have a roster in flux, looking for something else to add, while giving long suffering fans another summer of sad-sack baseball.

So what does have to show for all this wheeling and dealing over the last three years? Will Myers, Matt Strahm, Francisco Mejia and Craig Stammen., All those trades, all that money wasted, and not much of a major league roster to show for it. No one holds the GM accountable.

So as the talks in the suites and hallways begin in Las Vegas, Preller has a great bargaining chip in Will Myers, possibly a better fit in the American League. He has holdover catcher Austin Hedges with many clubs, needing receivers. He has some surplus young minor league pitching, but that is supposed to be part of the future isn’t it? .

But he has holes lots of places on this team’s roster, and now he has a credibility problem, because in the big picture, the losing continues and we’re still at least a year away from the key kids in they farm system arrives. And there’s no guarantees they will all be stars immediately.

Yes Preller may have spoken to the Mariners about James Paxton or Kyle Seager, and to the Mets about Noah Syndegaard, and to Cleveland about Corey Kluber or Trevor Bauer, or even free agent Nathan Eovaldi, but at what price? Going to over pay again, like he did to get rid of the bad payers he traded for before?

He needs to find pitching, and settle on a spot for Myers to play if he keeps him. Maybe he can find a gem of a pitcher on a short term rental in free agency. A Charley Morton, a Matt Harvey, a Clay Buchholz, an Anibal Sanchez or a Matt Shoemaker.

The GM needs to find quality starts and quality innings from a veteran starter or two to compliment the kid pitchers. Guys who have pitched well in the past and might have bounce back ability to do it again.

Signing Garrett Richards, the ex Angels ace, may be a steal, but like so many of the kids in the farm system, that’s a 2020 arrival.

The week will revolve around the free agent frenzy led by Bryce Harper and Manny Machado. The trade rumors are swirling involving Zach Grienke, Madison Bumgarner, Yasiel Puig and more. But the Padres are not players in that market level of star players.

This will be an important four days for the team. The Padres brass needs to make the right decisions, as we wait for 2020 arrive, they better be prepared to give San Diego fans a better brand of baseball than we have seen in Preller’s past three summers.

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“Questions Worth Asking”

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CHARGERS….This is a pretty talented offense that Philip Rivers is running, now averaging (399YPG) and that’s without any contributions from their tright ends. Think where they might be if Hunter Henry had not gone down?

NFL-MVP….You could root hard for Rivers to win the award, but the monster season Chiefs young phenom QB-Patrick Mahomes (41TD) is putting up, and the career records Drew Brees of the Saints, and the legendary season of Rams QB-Jared Goff will likely relegate Rivers to a 3rd or 4th place finish.

CHARGERS MVP….Yes Rivers, with RB-Melvin Gordon a strong second, followed by the highly productive WR-Keenan Allen.

UNSUNG MVP…Might well be OC-Mike Pouncey. What an acquisition in terms of productivity, leadership, fire, toughness. Have not had this type of trust upfront since the Nick Hardwick days.

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR…Lots of candidates, but Derwin James, the big play safety has to be right up there for consideration. Sometime safety, sometime linebacker, always making plays, downfield, and even in the backfield.

GOODBYE WHIS-NO….Ken Whisenhunt, thought to be going home, to his Alma Mater-Georgia Tech as head coach, won’t be. He withdrew after his first interview. He’s done a masterful job, surrounded by the greatness of Rivers.

HELLO BOWL GAME….San Diego State lost 4-of its last five games, and still got to a bowl game, where they play Ohio University out of the Mid American Conference. This is not the same Aztecs team we have seen in recent seasons. Rocky Long rebuffed comments about the metrics of his team being down in virtually all key categories this year compared to the last couple of years. Numbers don’t lie, neither do 4-losses in 5-seasons. Do they?

AZTECS-BOBCATS…When they get to the Frisco Bowl in Texas, SDSU will face an Ohio team with the same personality, run the football, and play strong defense upfront. The Bobcats have over 3100-yards rushing with QB-Nathan Rourke, lead back AJ Oueltte, and two other backs. Can the Aztecs 3-3-5 package shutoff this run?

OLD SCHOOL FOOTBALL…..Frank Solich, the Ohio coach, the former Nebraska boss, is the oldest coach in the country (74). Long is not far behind (65). It’s not age that makes them great, it’s experience. Right?

BYE WEEK…The last time Long had a week to get his team ramped up, SDSU went into Boise and choked off the Broncos, QB-Brett Rypien and RB-Alex Mattison. Given two full weeks he may have some tricks up his sleeve for Ohio’s spread-read option package. Can he do it again with this struggling team he has?

SOMETHING MISSING…You cannot get away from all the end of season losses, and player rumblings about the lockeroom attitude and lack of veteran player leadership. Maybe it was an abberation, only time will tell. But something is not right onthe 2nd floor of the football offices at SDSU?

MISSING USD….Oh I wish there was a way USD football could be truly ranked as an NCAA-Division III-team, not a non scholarship 1-AA school. Could you imaging record setter Anthony Lawrence and the Torerors lining up to play annual champion Mt Union, or Wisconsin-Whitewater in the semi-finals of the Division III playoffs. AD-Bill McGillis-fight for change?

SADNESS….Thoughts go out to legendary Chargers coach Bobby Ross over the loss of his nephew Drew Ross, killed last week in Afghanistan. He was a career officer, and on his second tour when he and 2-soldiers were killed by an IED explosion. It reminds us, freedom int the US is not free.

SADNESS….Former Chargers team trainer Gary Losse has passed of Parkinson’s at age 69. He took care of Bolts players from 1981-thru-1998. He was caring, inventive and troubled. His medical career was sidetracked when he became addicted to painkillers, a fact he hid from other team physicians. He had suffered from catastrophic knee injuries while quarterbacking at Wisconsin. He left football, entered medicine, and evolved into a special surgical career. Sadly the football issues impacted his health issues and his career.

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