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‘QUESTIONS FOR THE FANS
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Been doing this Sports Website for over 15-years.

Have always wondered if the hard-core followers I have read this website and my column?

Time for you to take 5-minutes and respond to my questions.
Just type in a short answer.
Always interested in what fans have to say

**Fill it out and Email it back thru my website: www.leehacksawhamiton.com**
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LETTER GRADE FOR THE SEIDLER FAMILY OWNERSHIP OF PADRES?

DOES AJ PRELLER DESERVE A CONTRACT EXTENSION WITHOUT A WORLD SERIES APPEARANCE?

DOES BASEBALL NEED A HARD SALARY CAP?

HAVE THE DODGERS DESTROYED THE COMPETITIVE BALANCE IN BASEBALL?

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DO YOU FOLLOW THE CHARGERS SINCE THE MOVE TO LOS ANGELES?

ARE YOU STILL AN NFL FAN?

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IS THE NEW PAC 12-A BETTER FIT FOR SAN DIEGO STATE OR TOO MUCH LIKE MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE?

WHY DON’T FANS-ALUMNI-STUDENTS GO TO SDSU FOOTBALL?

HAS THE TRANSFER PORTAL AND NIL PAYMENTS TURNED YOU OFF?

WILL AZTECS AND GONZAGA BASKETBALL BECOME WEST COAST POWERS?

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WHICH OTHER TEAM IN TOWN DO YOU GO SEE…SDFC SOCCER…SD WAVE SOCCER…SAN DIEGO GULLS HOCKEY?

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“PAC 12-FOOTBALL…NOW WHAT I EXPECTED”
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The turmoil in College Football..will just not end.

Overwhelmed by the chaos of the Transfer Portal and the money-tarnished NIL war.
Beaten down by Lawsuits, injunctions, players asking for additional years.
Turned off by agents, players going back on their word, breaking contracts.

Now this.

Welcome to the new Pac 12-Conference, releasing its College Football schedule and format.

It has been alot of hard work, dodging lawsuits, ill-will, lost loyalties, and tattered relationships, we get all things about the 2026-football season that kicks off in late August.

Yes an 8-team league, led by the troubled Oregon State-Washington State programs, both under financed with weak products on the field.  The days of Mike Riley-Dennis Erickson and Tommy Prothro in Corvallis are a distant memory.  So is the same in Pullman where once upon a time NFL-QBs Jack ‘The Throwing Samoan’ Thompson, Mark Rypien, Drew Bledsoe, and Ryan Leaf  made things happen.

Left behind after USC-UCLA-Oregon-Washington and everyone else departed, the Beavers and Cougars decided to try and wrap the Pac 12-flag around themselves and the league invited others to join them.

So now membership includes the Aztecs and legendary Mountain West flag-carrier Boise State, plus the other refugees, Colorado State-Utah State-Fresno State-Utah State and add on Texas State all make up the 8-football teams.  Come next winter, Gonzaga will join in basketball.

But at first glance this does not overwhelm people.  No way this new Pac 12 resembles the historic conference that had the Trojans-Bruins-Ducks-Huskies and others on Saturdays.

Now the bizarre part of the schedule release.  Because there is no one to go schedule for a non conference game, the new Pac 12 will have a ‘flex game’ as the final game of the Aztecs schedule.  In simple English for you, it means SDSU will play one of its conference partners a 2nd time in the same season.

You really think Southern Cal-UCLA or Oregon-Washington a second time late in the season would not tarnish a rivalry weekend?  How trashy is that.

You’d rather have that second in season matchup, than trying to play Stanford-Cal-Southern Cal-Arizona-ASU-BYU-Utah as a non conference game?

Off the field we now find the new look Pac 12-TV deals, won’t bring in the kind of revenue people wanted, even with 3-different network partners.  Reports say the rights deals will give each new team (6M) a year.  Yes a bump up from the (3M) they all used to get in the MWC (3M), but it’s far less from the (10M) USC-UCLA got in the final years before they left.

Of course now, the Trojans and Bruins just got checks for (62M) in Big 10-fees.  Egad the new guys in the new Pac 12 are so far. behind the curve.

Oh by the way, last week’s announcement that the new Pac 12 will be part of the Group of 6-puzzle, meaning they are not equal to a Power 4-Conference that locks in playoff spots and more paydays.

Sorry to say, San Diego State is no different than Western Michigan, James Madison or Coastal Carolina even if it has its mail delivered to the Pac 12 this season.  Some national impact eh?

And as a side note, the Mountain West is in the middle of this brutal lawsuit with the new Pac 12-demanding not just the exit fees and the NCAA March Madness  units they got, but poaching fees from the Pac 12 to the tune of 110M.

And the MWC has taken shrapnel too.  That conference stretches from Hawaii to North Dakota, Northern Illinois to New Mexico and everywhere in between.  Poor Air Force-Wyoming-sure seems to get worse for them.  And the emotional damage, UNLV left behind in all this.  And the MWC new media payday nets them just (3.5M) a school, just a few dollars more than they got when Boise and SDSU state brought recognition to the league.

Dark time right now in the two conferences.

I feel awful for John David Wicker and all those who worked so hard to secure a future for SDSU athletics.  They did not get a just return for all they put into the project.

Poor Sean Lewis-does not really get the chance to ‘Finish the Climb’ in football either, playing the same old-same old each fall.  What’s changed… nothing, except losing all your star players when someone from the outside comes and takes them in a payday.

College football is broken. Greed is good I guess.  Seems the only purity in the game might be in an Ivy League-Saturday afternoon a-la Harvard-vs-Yale.

Tell me if I am wrong, the new Pac 12 resembles MWC 2.0.  Nothing to get excited about regardless which banner you stand under.
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“PADRES-WAITING GAME”
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“Help Wanted-Pitching”

That’s what the sign outside the Padres spring training camp should read, because they are on the clock in attempts to find established front line pitching for a very thin rotation.

The rumor mill was working overtime on Tuesday, that the last name free agent pitcher on the market, Zac Gallen, was in the Padres target sights.

It makes no sense at all for a wide variety of reasons.  All the Padres fans on Social Media were losing their mind that this potential deal was about to happen.

How?  Not possible.

Gallen is a warrior of a starting pitcher.  Rock solid reliable.  A (66-52) career record with a (3.58-ERA)..despite a (13-15) record last year.

Gallen rejected a (1Y-22M) qualifying offer from Arizona, to go on the open market.

Gallen would cost any team that signed him, including the Padres, a 2nd and 5th round draft pick plus 1M-in international signing money.

Gallen is represented by super-agent Scott Boras, who seldom does creatively financed-lower priced home discount deals for any one.

And yet fans have gone wild this guy is coming to San Diego.

Really?  You think Boras is letting this guy come here for 5M-or a pile of deferred money on a multi year deal?

Gallen could wind up in Baltimore or with the Cubs, who have money to spend.  Or he could go back to Arizona on a 1-year deal, maybe close to the Q-offer he turned down, bet on himself, and go back on the big money market next year, without any form of compensation since he cannot be given another Q-offer.

The Padres are financially tapped out.  As of this morning, they are at (224M) in payroll and have a 9M-luxury tax bill coming.  So how are they going to afford a 10M or a 15M or a 20M-Zac Gallen deal?  How do they afford to give up that compensation in addition to the financial check they’d have to write?

There are not many names left out there on the pitching market.  Chris Bassitt-Toronto…Lucas Gialito-Red Sox..Zack Littell-Tampa Bay…aging Max Scherzer-Toronto…Walker Buehler-ex Dodgers…Jose Quintana-Milwaukee…Jon Gray-ex Rangers…German Marquez-ex Rockies…Griff Canning-ex Angels.  They headline what is left, but many of those names have red-flags because of elbow-shoulder surgeries.  So does ex-Dodger Julio Urias (60-25), coming off a 2-year domestic abuse suspension.

And we revert back to the original questions: do you think any of these guys are coming here for minimum contracts with incentive clauses tacked on ?

Do you think the Friars owners are going to let AJ Preller take on another big contract, with a franchise that has been bleeding money while winning and selling out Petco Park?  And do you think an incoming owner would want to take on more debt since the Padres have squeezed every dollar they can out of the fans at Petco Park?

Love the passion of the fans, but maybe they need to stop drinking Red Bull or cutback on coffee and get off twitter.  They have the Padres in on every free agent possible, everytime a name surfaces in the rumor mill.

The only alternative is to get a ‘yes’ from Yu Darvish, that he will give them back the (14M) owed this year since he cannot pitch due to surgery.  Or they trade Jake Cronenworth and reallocate his (10M) to go get a pitcher.  But if you do that-you create a huge hole in your defensive infield.  How does that help the big picture?

Or maybe Preller plays Magician, does both-gets 24M-in budget space, and goes shopping and gets a Gallen-type pitcher.  But that’s alot of moving parts.

But then again, which pitcher-at-what price?

The waiting game continues.

The sign out front of the property at the corner of Trevor & Tony should read..’Help Wanted-Pitching’.

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“SUPER TEAMS-RETURNING HOME”
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The Seattle Seahawks returned home on Monday, with the Super Bowl Trophy the first thing off the plane at Sea-Tac Airport.

The New England Patriots flew home to a blizzard, getting off the plane with one of the worst batterings in modern day Super Bowl history.

Closing comments from what we saw Sunday night:

SEAHAWKS..A complete team put together with successful drafts, and unique trades and street free agent signings.  GM-John Schnieder had 13-home grown draft picks in his starting lineup at kickoff.  Add in 10-veteran players added via trades for free agent signings.

SAM DARNOLD..The headline read ‘From Bust-to-Beloved’ and that says it all.  In the postseason, he shed the reputation as panic stricken, and finished with a postseason that included (5TD-0 Turnovers).  He got away with a couple of near interceptions early, but then became dangerous with all this targeted throws the final 3-quarters.

KENNETH WALKER..That (135Y) rushing night came with power, explosiveness and patience to wait for holes to open or seams to form.

PASS RUSH..They came in waves, rushing four, then bringing blitzes off the end.  What that side of the ball was done, Seattle had 6-sacks, 8-tackles for losses, 3-takeaways and 11-QB pressures.  It was non stop all night.

PASS DEFENSE..Devin Witherspoon and friends were relentless.  The two picks, the pick six-TD, and 8-pass deflections.  The Patriots could not get anyone open.

BRAIN DRAIN..It begins now as Mike MacDonald has to replace Off Coord-Klint Kubiak, and his QB and RB-coaches, all likely headed with Kubiak to the Raiders.

PATRIOTS…A great season, going from (8-26) over two years till what happened on Sunday night.  A learning curve of a season for very young players who endured 4-quarters or problems.

PATS OFFENSE…What offense?  At the start of the 4th quarter, New England has been outgained (295-to-78) with 7-three and out possessions the first 8-times they had the ball.  Could not run it.  Could not protect the QB.  And no help at all for an overwhelmed offensive line.

DRAKE MAYE…A very good second season but a very bad postseason Super Bowl game.  He has to get rid of the ball quicker.  The six sacks came on 4-coverage sacks, the other two were mob scene gatherings in the pocket.  He will learn about the clock in his brain, and throw it away.  His 4-game stats were staggering (4Int-7Fu-21 QB sacks).  He will learn from it.

WILL CAMPBELL..It was pretty bad all night long for the rookie 1st round pick…2-sacks and 14-pressures.  The general consensus, he’s not big enough or long enough to play left tackle, but will wind up as a very good guard, maybe a center.  It was painful to watch.

DEFENSE..Give them credit, they were on the field for 65-snaps thru 3-quarters before the roof caved in.  Great secondary coverage, alot of heart from the group upfront, but on the field way too much.

THE FUTURE..This was a unique opportunity-missed to win a Super Bowl.  Believe this.  The Chiefs bounce back.  The Bills still have Josh Allen.  The Chargers bring in new offensive coaches to work with Justin Herbert.  And Denver’s Bo Nix has another year under his belt.  The AFC might be a very tough place to repeat for the Pats.

HISTORY…There have been some bad Super Bowl blowouts, Doug Williams landslide Redskins win over the Broncos…Steve Young’s 6-TD night vs the Chargers…and this one.  But the worst one sided affair had to be the 85-Bears torch job (46-10) over the Patriots with McMahon-the Fridge and the Ditka led roster.
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From Mount Rainier to Mount Hood and everywhere in between
Seahawks Nation-Here’s your Super Bowl Trophy.

The Seattle Seahawks defense earned it..or rather took it to the New England Patriots,in a lopsided Super Bowl Sunday night win.

I projected, no I told you so, that Seattle would win, it would be a defense first victory, and it was.

Into the 4th quarter, the Seahawks had a (297-78Y) advantage in yardage.

Their defensive front was in Drake Maye’s face all night.  The wide receivers were smothered by a Seahawk secondary all night long.

The final 8-minutes of the game were meaningless because the game was so one sided from start almost to the finish.

The rest of the metrics were so dominant.  The Seahawks had 6-sacks…2-interceptions..a fumble recovery…a pick 6-TD…4-pressures and 5-hits on Maye.

The Patriots snazzy second year QB had no help, no run game, his top receiver Stefon Diggs and tight end Hunter Henry disappeared  for most of the night.

Seattle’s QB-Sam Darnold completed his resurrection season with a solid day, combating a pretty good Patriots defense, that ran out of gas.  He got a great night from a developing star RB-Kenneth Walker.  Not all his gifted pass catchers had good nights, but the Patriots defense had something to do with that.

New England had quite a run, going from an (8-26) record over two falls, to go on a (16-1) heater this season.  Nothing bogus about beating up a really good Chargers defense, beating a Houston defense, and surviving Denver’s defense and the snow to get to the Super Bowl.

Mike Vrabel did a great job leading New England.

The bigger story is the roster construction by GM-John Schnieder, who had 13-draft picks who started and who brought in 6-critical veterans in free agent or trade deals to build this roster.

But that was a great-complete-dominant Seahawks football team.

It was shocking that the greatness that was Kansas Chiefs football was not back here; neither was the champion last year-the Eagles, or the explosive LA Rams and the feisty 49ers.

So from now till opening day next fall, the baton has been passed to the people in the Pacific Northwest, where they bring the Trophy back to share with the legendary 12th Man fans at that madhouse of a stadium.

Seahawks = Super Bowl Champion.  Earned it.  Took it.
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