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“Teams in Town-Padres-Chargers”

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Lots to tell you about coming off this weekend about the teams you follow.

CHARGERS….The NFL is all about roster churn, especially this week with the NFL free agency window open.

..JAHLEEL ADDAE is gone. The might mite tough guy safety released by the Bolts-not wanting to pay him (5.5M) this season. He was a thumper but didn’t make a lot of plays to warrant that kind of salary. He’ll land on his feet for sure, but at a reduced rate. Maybe he bounces back to the Chargers, though they tried to get him to take a cut and he said he’d test the market first.

..BOLTS now some 35M beneath the NFL salary cap, with the release of Corey Liuget coming before Addae was cut loose. Look for more veteran players to be let go as the NFL’s new business year kicks in on Wednesday

..DENZEL FERRYMAN signs a 2Y-12.5M extension to say, though injuries have taken toll on him.

..JASON VERRETT….will look outside. The Bolts will not pay him 8.5M he earned last year, not with playing just 25-games out of 80 over five years because of injuries.

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PADRES: Halfway thru the Cactus League and observations.

..FERNANDO TATIS…He’s hitting (.313) but not playing everyday. Still a couple of more weeks to go before decision time where he goes.

..FRANCISCO MEJIA…He’s hitting and hitting a lot and hitting for power. Four homers already and a batting average (.385) as of Sunday night. Is he good enough calling games to keep him on the roster and does he push Austin Hedges for playing time? Stay tuned.

..CHRIS PADDACK….4-more shutout innings…3-good outings and he looks like he is pushing himself into the rotation after 2-strong seasons in the minors coming off elbow surgery. He might be the biggest gem GM-AJ Preller has found.

..MATT STRAHM…..The front office believed he has enough stuff to go back into the rotation. 4-good outing in a row, highlife by 3-more shutout innings this weekend. Looks like he becomes the 3rd starters in the rotation.

..CAL QUANTRILL…He needed a decent outing and got one on Sunday, with 3-strong bullpen innings. However, he still has put lots of base runners on this spring. He needs another two good outings.

..LOGAN ALLEN…A setback for the lefty over the weekend….a bad outing…just 1-plus innings and 6-runs…first shaky outing of the spring.

..LUIS PERDOMO….Pithing himself back to El Paso…ha lost his ability to make pitches…ERA now at (13.50)

..BRYAN MITCHELL…One good outing…one bad one….he needs two solid starts to position himself in the rotation, otherwise he is a bullpen guy if the survives the final roster cut.

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“Chargers-Get Better-Get Younger-Get Worse”

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Here comes NFL Free Agency at the start of next week.

There go the Chargers, standing at the crossroads of how to make a good season better, knowing full well they are still deficient in lots of areas. They have (25M) cap space right now, but can clear more cap room.

Here’s a look at Chargers decisions to be made beginning this weekend.

WR….Tyrell Williams can walk out the door as an unrestricted free agent. He earned (2.7M) last year. In a wafer thin crop of free agents out there, he might get a big time payday. You cannot ignore (17YPC) and big TD plays. Of course you can’t ignore dropped passes, poor blocking and holding penalties. Someone will bid up his contract. I doubt the Chargers want to give him 5M a year, much less 8M. Of course they could do that if they opted to walk away from Travis Benjamin, earning (5.2M) a year, a supposed big play kick return-punt return-pass reception guy. 3-years after the signing, not much to show for the investment. They could release him, clear cap space and go back into the market for a different player.

TE…Likely time to say goodbye to Antonio Gates (2.5M) and re-assign his money to another position to stockpile salary cap cash.

DL…Corey Liuget has been cut loose. They were not going to pay him a roster bonus on top of the 4M due on the final year of the contract. A quad injury and a 4-game suspension pretty much wiped out his season. He could come back but has to take a pay cut. But the issue, is he a difference maker any longer? Brandon Mebane went thru a tough personal crisis with the death of his infant daughter, but then again, was he really a standout for the (4.5M)-he was paid?

LB….Injuries robbed them of talent, and the fact they seemed so undersized doesn’t bode well for bringing them all back. They will likely try to re-sign Denzel Perryman, will likely leave Jatavus Brown out there unsigned for awhile.

DB….Jason Verrett cannot stay on the field. His medical history is one thing, 4-major injuries in 4-years, and so is his cap figure (8.5M) so now the tough call. They’ve paid him all this money, and he has played just 25-games, missed 55-games, in those four years. They want him back at an affordable price, but who knows his market value for everyone knows he’s always hurt. Adrian Phillips has grown from a special teams player to a rock solid safety, and deserves a pay bump from the (1.5M) he earned last year.

OL…You saw Philip Rivers get knocked around at the end of the season and in the playoffs. The RT position needs to be shored up, but offensive lineman are few and far between in free agency. The team probably has to address that in the draft. The two year siege of injuries on high draft pick Forrest Lamp is over, and they believe he becomes their right guard. They have to fix the leaky RT position.

RB….Melvin Gordon is still under contract, but will likely wait to talk about an extension till he sees what Le’Veon Bell gets on the open market once he exits the Pittsburgh Steelers. We know the (63M) package Todd Gurley got from the Rams, so that’s a high water mark for now, but that will likely change. But the Gordon story, that’s an issue that can wait.

WHERE TO GO…The Draft is loaded with defensive players, and that’s where the Bolts should go when April rolls around. In free agency, leading tackler Jamie Collins, the ex-Patriot-Brown, was just released. He’s an ideal big body-run stuffer you can probably sign for a 5M a year package. The Ravens CJ Mosley is out there with a high price tag likely attached to him. The ex-Broncos Brandon Marshall bears looking at too.

Along the OL, the Rams Roger Saffold and the Steelers Ramon Foster are the best names, but they are more guard than tackle. Lamp played tackle at Eastern Kentucky, maybe you sign a veteran OG and move him out to OT.

If you say goodbye to Antonio Gates, pass catcher Jared Cook of the Raiders headlines a limited free agent list at that position.

The interior of the defensive line is not sexy, but there are big bodies out there who have played well in the past, ex-Jet Sheldon Richardson, ex Packer Mo Wilkerson, ex Patriot Danny Shelton…all younger versions of Mebane.

WHAT TO DO….Get Verrett to take a payout. Re-sign Phillips for the secondary. Re-sign Perryman. Move on from Mebane. Say thank you to Gates. Release Benjamin. Sign Liuget to a smaller contract.
Sign a free agent inside linebacker. Draft defense (LB), defense (DT), offensive line (RT) early on.

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“AAF Football-What We See-What They See”

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The Alliance of American Football, the new spring league, has reached the halfway mark of the 10-game schedule this weekend.

Some good games, some bad games. Some big plays. Some really bad crowds.

A chance to grow football players, but a likely failure in gaining fan support, with some terrible home turnout crowds.

Some big name coaches having an impact on players, like Steve Spurrier and Mike Martz. Some bad situations, like coaching upheaval in Atlanta and bad weather in Salt Lake City.

Bill Polian, the founder of the AAF, and San Antonio GM Darryl Johnston…talked to the nationwide media about the startup season, where they are, where they might wind up.

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Signing players…no policy to allow NFL teams to sign players….we expect our players to stay committed to our teams thru the season and our playoffs….They can leave once OTA’s start in April.

Johnny Manziel situation…We had feelers from people close to him…we are in the process of doing due diligence…50-percent completed…not ready to comment on his status.

NFL talks…we have had specific talks with them about getting access to young QBs-WRs on rosters and on development squad….We have bandied it about but no deal in place…we want to be complimentary to the NFL player development….Coaches feel new CBA prevents them from developing players….Lots of discussion about it….procedural things to be solved.

Hits on QBs….Yes we are concerned and have talked to officials about protecting the QBs…the San Diego QBs-took big hits…..we are using college officials who need to grow on the job.

Defenses-vs-Offenses…..Defenses are ahead of schedule…building offenses takes time….teams have moved the ball up and down the field, but red-zone scoring is a challenge right now….Teams have had 21-play drives…..offenses have been much more efficient……Our teams cannot run the ball very well….Think second half of season offenses will open up.

Passing Game…..Remind their players work on jugs machine…catch more balls…too many dropped passes…

How measure new league…TV numbers surpass anything we remotely dreamed about-a huge success….ratings are holding…San Antonio-Orlando remarkable at the gate….Birmingham-Salt Lake plagued by really bad weather…Coaches-GMs done tremendous job getting players-teams ready….We have moved beyond a curiosity factor-holding fans….League is developing parity now.

Outlook going forward…Expansion-relocation…is not on the front burner…lots of work to do to solidify our markets…no thoughts to relocation….Because of weather-don’t have a real handle on some of the markets and how well be supported…we expect our players to wind up on NFL off season rosters when our season is over…Need to get the 8-teams on solid footing their own communities.

Surprise in launching…Our hope we could put product on field..real football….for real football people….for real football fans…Thing is so gratifying is these players play hard all the time-it is professional football…these guys are men playing professional football…Fans seem intensity-physicality-competitiveness…it has to be real football…

Rules…I think ‘sky judge’ we are using has been exceptional….best official is the guy whose name you never call…New innovative things are working-we are thrilled about that.

Start up…We got up and running in just 9-months…Our priority was getting product up and running….League wide marketing is behind what we needed to do from a football standpoint…

Money issues at start of season…The payroll issue was purely a mechanical one….New investor coming on board helped us….but they were separate occurrences…just a coincidence…Tom Dundon-new investor-is engaged everyday with us-future is solid and bright.

San Diego Fleet situation…..Crowds have been terrific…it’s a good team…Mike Martz doing a heck of a job with adjustments…this will be a great race to the wire in the West and the Fleet will be right in…

Start up….True start up is challenging but we had foundational elements in place thanks to Bill Polian….GMs feel like they had ADD daily…so much to deal with aside from just football calendar….Biggest thing learning…coming into camp…try not to disrupt chemistry…have to scramble to find players if you get injuries…Two major challenges….time element…we had 9-months to get up and running…..When I was with Carolina Panthers it took 14-months…USFL was a 24-month startup…..Big challenge was finding practice facilities for all of our teams….Incredible field walk out at Alamodome to see the crowd….Hit jackpot to bringing 8-teams into San Antonio for joint training camp….Turned out great-hard deal to find hotels for the 8-teams…get practice facilities…

Why have past leagues not succeeded….WFL-USFL-XFL failed….Investment we have it guarantees us long-term in mind….You cannot live from day to day…need to see over horizon….Tom Dundon as lead investor gives us vision….NFL Europe succeeded-but nobody knew because of time difference….Players did not become well known in Europe….but Kurt Warner-Jon Kitna-Brad Johnson did when they came back here….we’re trying to do what NFL Europe did-do it here…fans get to experience it here…now.

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“Aztecs Basketball–Where Are They Now?”

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They play a final home game against Fresno State on Wednesday. There’s a road game still at Nevada before they open Mountain West Conference play.

They are looking at a 20-win season, but still have stretches of streakiness.

You think they have put it all together….but then they got hammered at Utah State. And there are still the bad early season losses…and the stretches of time when their outside shooting deserts them.

Does Coach Brian Dutcher know what he really has with this team heading to the conference tourney?

Dutcher’s quotes:

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Where did the season go…just 1-home game left
Jeremy Hemsley-Devin Watson held up hand a lot of banners over the years.

Our success to the season will be based on 3-games next week in the tourney.

I feel good abou8t our team-winning at Utah State is hard-winning at Nevada.
We’ve gotten better because our defense has gotten better
We are #1 in point allowed and in field goal shooting defense
We must rebound every game
We are sharing the ball much better.

Manage the emotion vs Fresno-this is a real rival-they beat us twice here.
Justin Hutson has done a good job building on what he was given
Emotions will be high because it’s senior night and it is a good rival.

We are playing for the 3-seed-in the MWC tourney and good matchup.
I can sense in our lockeroom about focus-intensity-edginess.
I can demand they get up on defense-play physical on boards.

Conference tourney is a 1-and-done situation-they will be ready to play

We may try some different things at Nevada to see what we can do.

Jeremy is one of my favorites-he plays hard-practices hard
He’s enjoying every minute of his senior year.
Devin Watson came from USF…he’s hard to guard…very smart on floor
Point guards have to pick and choose when they score.
I want him to be confident-aggressive-studies game hard.

We’ve been in the NCAA tourney 7-of-last 9-years-we know what it takes
We like pressure games.

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