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“Chargers-Now We Find Out”
1-Man’s Opinion on Sports
www.leehacksawhamilton.com

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It’s been a good season, at least on the field for the Chargers, though not necessarily off the field.

But Sunday we see how really good they are. They finally play somebody good, the Seahawks, in Seattle, where that home team is really good, playing before the sellout crowds known as the 12th Man.

The Chargers finished up last year strong, but that was thanks to playing the 3rd easiest schedule in the league. They’ve had a solid (5-2) start this year, with what few hard games they had interspersed with with bad teams. Thank goodness Cleveland and Buffalo are in the league.

But despite the nice record they’ve posted since November last fall (11-3), there are doubters out there about how good they really are. I’m one of them.

The Chargers went (2-5) vs teams with winning records last year. They’re (0-2) this season, having been smoked by Kansas City and then waxed by the Rams early on. Until you’ve started to beat good people regularly, going (2-7) means you haven’t prove anything.

Philip Rivers starts his 200th straight career game, chasing Brett Favre’s all time mark of (297). His stats are extraordinary (17TD-3 Int) and hardly any sacks.

Melvin Gordon and Austin Ekler have combined for (1283) all purpose yards, catching and running.

Rivers has down the field big play receivers in Tyrell Williams (21YPC) and Mike Williams (18YPC), plus the ever reliable Keenan Allen.

There is firepower everywhere, but the Bolts are not playing the slugs in the league going forward.

Seattle, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Kansas City, Baltimore are all ahead.

The Bolts have gotten wins against teams with a combined record of (9-28), again thanks to some bad people at the front end of the schedule. Going forward, the people they start playing, who are winning, have a combined record (24-13).

On top of all that is the venue and the team they play. The Seahawks defense is ranked 5th in the league. They go get quarterbacks (19-sacks), they pound opposing QBs (39-hits) and they take it away (16-turnovers). They’ve lost by 2-3-7 earlier in the season.

And the Pete Carroll factor weighs in with a (92-56) record as their head coach in the Northwest.

His once famous “Legion of Boom” defense is gone. Richard Sherman, Michael Bennett, Cliff Avril, Kam Chancellor, and Sheldon Richardson left in trades, free agency or retirement. Earl Thomas is gone for the year with a broken leg. There are 8-new starters on the defensive side of the ball, and look what Carroll has them doing.

The Kingdome used to be a nightmare of a place to go play, an insane asylum, back in the day. Century Link field is damn tough too, especially with the memory of the passing of owner Paul Allen still in everybody’s heart and mind.

The Chargers are (6-16) in games in Seattle, dating back to 1981, including having lost 6-of-the last 8-times then went to Puget Sound.

Rivers, a spectacular player and person, wills his team to win, ‘refuse to lose’ is my tag for him. But they may not have enough on both sides of the ball, regardless of how fearless he is.

It’s stunning, a future Hall of Fame quarterback like this, surrounded by an ever changing cast of players, has just 1-playoff win in 11-years. Think about that stat. My biggest fear is coming true, all the records, like Dan Marino, without a sniff of the Super Bowl or a ring. Eli Manning and Ben Roethlisberger, his draft mates, have multiples of them.

Seattle is a tremendous NFL city. The Chargers play football in a futbol stadium, where they are ignored by the media, mocked by opposing fans, and feel like they play 16-road games a year.

Sunday is a starting point to prove how playoff worthy they are. Or it might be the beginning of the same old-same old.

Rivers has never wilted in the heat and the hate that is Arrowhead Stadium or in Denver. But this may be tougher.

The Seahawks and its 12th man-fan mentality in the stands will be some challenge, as we find out whom the Bolts really are.

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“Aztecs Basketball-Sneak Preview”

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Brian Dutcher unveils his 2018-19 basketball team on Thursday night against Hawaii-Chaminade. He has lots of new moving parts and tons of raw talent. Some of his comments heading into first exhibition game..

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Excited to get guys on floor for an exhibition game.
Great to see guys go against someone else.
Want to see young guys infront of a crowd, bright lights.

Maui Classic has Chaminade in tourney every other year
Chaminade plays SDSU-Arizona in exhibition games-good for them
Maui wants Division 1-teams-powers in their tourney-Elite 8 field for sure

Young kids-nerve wracking as freshman-considering age-we throw lots at them.
Freshman recruits know they have to defend to get on the floor
Challenge teach Division 1-defense…they are long and athletic
They might have been biggest guy on their team-now guarding big guys-athletes
Move feet-get physical-and learn defensive systems.lots of adjustments

Won closed scrimmage at USC-wanted to play young guys-see how respond
We ran some complex defenses for kids-see how cope with it.

Have not had Nathan Mensah for 4-weeks-finger injury
Ed Chang is very good 3-point shooter-needs to work on defense
Chang-versatile-will contribute a lot
Adam Seiko-starting to hit 3’s…
Jordan Schakel feels more comfortable now with offense-can shoot 3’s
Matt Mitchell back for 2nd year with lots game experience.

Jeremy Hemsley-told him-be patient with young guys as leader
Learned a lot from Trey Kell-how to help freshman
Not given kids a lot of overload-wants to calm them down
Devin Watson-be a great leader-take care of ball-he will score
Veterans know not to yell at freshman

Washington State transfer-Malachi Flynn is tremendous practice player
Malachi is elite scorer-goes against Hemsley daily-helps him
We will have 4th year junior guard to run team next two years.
Tough for him to sit this year

3-chances to learn to play together under game situations before we play Duke in Hawaii.

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“Aztecs-New Mexico-Reunion”

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He was the last football coach to have a huge impact on a New Mexico Lobos football program, and that was a long time ago. Rocky Long isn’t big on history of where he’s been and what he’s done, but his exit in Albuquerque was pretty surprising, just as surprising as his elevation to be head coach at San Diego State. His Aztecs, who have struggled for four straight games, head into New Mexico to meet a staggering Lobos team. Coached by former Notre Dame coach Bob Davie, it’s been a trying two years for the Lobos since Davie took them to a (9-4) record just 3-years ago. In fact, New Mexico has had just 2-winning seasons in 11-years, and a composite (40-91) record, since Long was dismissed. New Mexico’s loss is SDSU’s gain. Long talked about his team and the road travelled at his weekly press conference.

Important conference game
We play close games-that what we play

Lobos have Arizona State transfer at QB-will start
Think they will change the offense some
We have to prepare for 2-types of offense.

Have seen some video of ASU transfer QB

Ryan Agnew will start..
Christian Chapman will play one series in first half and some in second half
Chapman looks better in practice-eon’t know if he will be 100%-we’ll see
Chapman won’t scramble as much as Agnew does
We will throw the ball more with Agnew that Christian
Christian-we have to find out what he can do
1-thing to look okay in practice-another thing to do it in game

Team gets emotional in wins and losses
We are who we are-very young-inexperienced-very inconsistent
Kids have played really hard-but make mistakes
We have peaks and valleys….that’s not going to change
You play 23-24 young guys-that’s what you get

What we’re not getting-big chunk runs as we had in the past
Humphrey-Penny would get to the second level-not getting 60Y runs
We have to get explosive plays throwing the ball now.

Ryan Agnew has made a lot of plays to help us win
Juwan Washington has a chance to play this week.

We’re playing okay on defense-but turnover ratio not in our favor
We have not caused enough turnovers on defense…just 9-takeaways this years
Yardage wise-playing better than last year..
Not giving offense a chance on short field this year.

We have tried bunch of guys back there on return games…can’t drop kicks.
Young guys have lots of talent-drop ball-go back out there
Veterans drop balls in practice-too-so we go with young guys.
Young kids make mistakes ..pressure situation..stress level…
Not going to use Juwan Washington to return kicks when healthy
Kick returns you can block and help return man
Punt return-chance you get knocked out-cover guys get there quick.

Going back to Albuquerque-not much of emotional rush-it’s business
I have a lot of friends there
Really tough to build New Mexico-New Mexico State-not a lot of recruits
Purely population problem…1-Division 1-athletes per 100,000-in state.
Not sure there are 10-Division 1-prospets in state.

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“College Football-Some Good-Some Bad”

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It has been a season of surprises and disappointments in college football here in Southern California. A couple of good teams, a couple of struggling teams, and fans staying away in droves.

SAN DIEGO STATE….We’ve come to expect greatness with the product that Rocky Long puts on the field, but when they lose we come away disappointed. The Aztecs are (6-2), but haven’t played well in 3-weeks, since that emotion filled win at Boise State. Yes they beat Air Force, struggled but edged San Jose, then fell apart at Nevada. A backup QB-Ryan Agnew, a cadre of young running backs led by Chase Jasmin, and backup fullbacks have held their own as the club waits for veteran QB-Christian Chapman and lead back Juwan Washington to return to play. What was supposed to a strength, a rock solid offensive line, hasn’t played all that well this mid season. And the defense, which used to stuff run games, chase quarterbacks, gets sacks and turnovers, isn’t doing it this year compared to years gone by. Maybe it’s the youth across the roster. Maybe it’s the lack of big play wide receivers. Maybe it’s too much stress on the run game. There’s still another tough road game to come, at Fresno. And yet a (9-3) record would be solid. Oddly, fans aren’t rallying around the program yet, despite the defection of the Chargers. They announce crowds of 30,000 or so at the stadium. Insiders say SDSU routinely inflates the crowd numbers, who show up. it is a strange relationship in our community.

USD…..One of the best 1-AA programs in the country, a non scholarship program, that gets post season bids, and has twice beaten scholarship schools in the post-season playoffs. It is a unique atmosphere at the school. They get degrees from a fine institution. The do put some players into the NFL. And quarterback Anthony Lawrence, a brilliant star at Grossmont High, stayed home to go to USD, and has now rewritten all the passing records in the Torero book, going over the 11,000-yard passing mark. They play in the Pioneer League, a loose knit group of non-scholarship schools scattered across the Midwest and South. Dayton and Davidson are among their competitors, but the town has not responded despite the great job longtime coach Dale Lindsey has done up on the hill. Last Saturday’s home game, where they won their 23rd straight home game, drew just 1,047 fans to Torero Stadium.

UCLA….The excitement over the hiring of Chip Kelly has worn off. Reality has set in. It will take time to rally the once proud Bruins program. And now some truth comes front and center, what Kelly ran at Oregon, when he captured the fancy of the nation with his video game offense, cannot be reproduced. They don’t have a run game. They are force feeding a freshman quarterback Dorian Robinson. They don’t play much defense. This (2-6) record, that started 0-4), is the worst mark since 1943 And crowds at the Rose Bowl have disappeared, They drew the smallest turnout since 1997, this past Saturday, some 41,848 showed up. This was a program that averaged 76,650 in 2014. A long road back surely.

USC….Clay Helton came on board and did well early, but the Trojans aren’t doing well now. When was USC at (4-4) last? A while back, almost 2-decades back. They are playing JT Daniels, an 18-year old freshman, who got hurt just a couple of weeks ago. The top running back is a transfer from tiny UC-Davis. They don’t seem to have put many players in the NFL in recent years. And the Trojan faithful isn’t real happy with the product on the field, or even the new look to the renovated LA Coliseum. And to top it off, they just played a home game last weekend, drawing just 47,406, the smallest turnout since 2001. The Pete Carroll, USC-Texas era, and crowds of 90,000 seem long ago. USC, not what it was prior.

It’s strange. San Diego fans, displaced Chargers followers, aren’t supporting the only team in town, SDSU. USD’s leadership cannot figure out how to market a really good small college program. In LA, they don’t like USC’s head coach, and at UCLA alums are wondering out loud what they hired in this new coach. Unless these teams start winning, there will get empty seats, and lots of them up in LA. What a strange fall this has turned into.

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“Dodgers Blue-Mistakes-Missed Opportunity”

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The Red Sox-Dodgers World Series is over.

Boston has another ring. Los Angeles has more frustration.

The Bosox big hitting team beat the Blue and its mistake prone manager.

The Red Sox can beat you anyway you want to play, small-ball or long ball.

The Dodgers did not hit, and their in season strength, home runs, and quality pitching disappeared.

David Price came up big again in this impressive series, making people forget the fact he was (0-9) in his career in postseason starts before this Fall Classic began.

Clayton Kershaw gave LA all he could, but the scoreboard will show he is (1-4) in closeout games in post season in his career.

But this series was in part about the Red Sox spraying hits all over Fenway Park and then in Chavez Ravine.

But this series also has to be about a second fall of mistakes by Manager Davie Roberts, the mishandling of the LA bullpen.

Call it mis-use, or maybe over-use, but what we saw last fall, in the series collapse against Houston, was revisited again with bad outings by the bullpen in this Boston series.

Or maybe I should say, bad decisions by the manager, when to use and how to use his bullpen.

A year ago, LA used the bullpen 32-times in that seven game series, in losing to the Astros. The bullpen a year ago had a (4.35-ERA) against Houston. Brandon Morrow pitched in all 7-games, and was fatigued. Kelley Jansen pitched in 6-of those games. The entire bullpen gave up 6-homers.

And now as we stumbled thru Sunday night’s game, the same set of glaring stats blinked infront of your eyes.

Roberts used the LA pen 25-times in this series. Jansen pitched 5-times, Ryon Madson was banged around 3-times. The 6-core relievers in this series had a combined (7.07-ERA), gave up 12-runs in 15-critical innings, and served up 5-home runs.

Pulling starters early, going to your key relievers early or asking them to go multiple innings, a couple of times, goes against the grain of how you used your staff during the entire season, a season that got you to postseason.

Pulling Rich Hill early Saturday night after he had given up just 1-hit, was ridiculous. Just like using Kenley Jansen multiple innings in multiple appearances. Last year it was abuse of reliever Brandon Morrow, including brining him in in the 3rd inning of a game, and asking a guy coming off multiple surgeries, to pitch multiple innings.

Sure its a pressure packed time in October, but to do radical things with your arms, makes no sense at all.

Kenta Maeda was a multiple inning guy, a converted starter, but he pitched just 3-innings. Ryan Madson allowed lots of inherited runners to score, and they kept going back to him.

Alex Wood pitched only 2-plus innings. Pedro Baez was made to work multiple innings. And it went on and on.

Yes the Dodgers were hitting (.191) in this series, but what happened on the mound made it even more difficult. Roberts sitting his big left-handed bats in games 1-2 further clouds his decision making responsibility.

Of course you could also sight the fact that the A’s, Brewers/ Astros, did some strange things with their pithing staffs this month, but it sure didn’t seem right at the most important time of the year to do so many unorthodox things with your pitching staffs. And none of those teams were playing last week.,

Maybe it was never meant to be.

Maybe Boston was always too good. They won 108 in the regular season, out dueling the big hitting Yankees. They stormed thru a pretty tough American League playoff series that included Houston-Cleveland and red-hot Oakland.

The Bosox wind up (11-3) in this October stretch of games. They went (7-1) on the road in the most important time of the year. They hit (.364) with runners in scoring position.

The left hand says it was a fun Dodgers season. The right hand says it was another October failure, triggered by the Manager’s inability to use his bullpen correctly.

So it’s 2018, and the Dodgers, for all the money they spent on players over the last group of years, have not been able to do what they last did in 1988, win a World Series.

We all like Dave Roberts, person, player, baseball mind. But Dodgers fans can’t like what he’s done the last two World Series.

1–mistake led to another, and another, and it just cascaded down on them, via the use of the pen..

Missed opportunities? No. Mistakes with the bullpen? Definitely yes.

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