“A Win as We Lose”
-0-

 
It was a flashback Sunday. Lots of Powder Blue in the Stadium. Fans wearing Christmas gear. People carrying sings.

 
The Chargers piling up more than 400-yards in offense. The defense getting after it.

 
It was the farewell game, a win, to what has been a miserable season. Luckily for the Chargers, the Miami Dolphins are in a state of disrepair, so it was a struggling team beating a really bad team

 
Philip Rivers survived sacks and hits to throw for over 300-yards. Danny Woodhead put on a show, catching and running for 4-TDs.

 
Antonio Gates reached back and caught a bunch of passes, and Melvin Gordon chugged for yardage before getting dinged.

 
The defense brought the heat to overwhelmed quarterback Ryan Tannehill. The Dolphins patchwork offensive line, lost its top two players, Mike Pouncey and Brandon Albert, and it was disaster time from that point on.

 
These players and coaches work too hard not to get positive results. For just the second time in 10-weeks, they celebrate a victory Monday.

 
But in the end, it is still a lost season. They are still attempting to move to LA. The Chargers have only beaten the downtrodden this season in getting fo 4-wins
.
It was heartwarming to see Mike McCoy call timeout with a minute left, so Antonio Gates, Eric Weddle and Malcom Floyd could all come off the field to ovations.

 
Who knows where we go in the next three weeks, in terms of an NFL vote. Everyone has an agenda, from Dean Spanos to Stan Kroenke.

 
There were surpises. Spanos did not go on the field at the stazrt of the game. His wife and son went down.

 
CBS-TV’s broadcast team kept making comments about “Chargers last home game possibly forever, but never gave details. I’m sure fans in Boston, or Chicago, Seattle or Miami don’t know much of the details, whose the villian, how it got to this point.

 
Maybe they didn’t know, maybe they were told not to put anyone in bad light, not the owner, not the mayor, not the NFL.

 
On field anlayst Scott Kaplan, my former teammate could have made some strong comments about the history of bad governmental leadership and the state of bad Chargers ownership, but he must have been muzzled on Sunday, though he talks about it Monday-thru-Friday.

 
It was an emotional McCoy, who hugged the soon to be departing players. Rivers got choked up talking about the long road he, Gates, Floyd and Eric Weddle have traveled.

 
For 3-hours we enjoyed the game, as it used to be at Qualcomm. By late evening, we were dealing again with the reality, ownership greed, and the discourteous way the Chargers have treated the fans

 
A win is better than a loss in the NFL, but the city still appears to be about to lose its franchise. We can feel well about all the great memories those players gave us, but we cannot feel well about what is just ahead.

 
-0-

“Good Bye Bolts”

-0-

San Diego loves its Pro football team, but Sunday might be the final time they ever see it here in America’s Finest City.

It’s a love affair that started with the outlaw American Football League, flourished fast, and then became part of the NFL. There have been good days and bad days with this franchise, but the team colors and logo are forever part of the fabric of this community.

Chargers football was Sid Gillman and those Wild West days in the old AFL. It was Keith Lincoln’s 329-all purpose yard afternoon in 1963, when the Chargers blew out the Boston Patriots and Babe Parilli (53-10) to win the AFL title. John Hadl, Ernie Ladd, Paul Lowe, and Earl Faison.

Chargers football was all things “Air Coryell”. It was Dan Fouts 400-yard passing days, blood on his uniform, the battles-brawls with the Raiders. It was the (41–38) playoff win in the old Orange Bowl in Miami, a week before the disheartening Ice Bowl loss in Cincinnati. Never has there been a combination of Winslow-Joiner-JJ-Wes Chandler-James Brooks-Pete Johnson.

Chargers football was Bobby Beathard-and-Bobby Ross, the guys who ended the ‘Decade of Decline’ and led the Bolts to the Super Bowl game against the 49ers. It was the huge AFC championship game win in Pittsburgh, it was the party that night in the rain at the Stadium. It was Junior Seau bringing together a special bunch.

Chargers football was ‘Martyball’, the mix of Marty Schottenhieimer-Philip Rivers-LaDanian Tomlison, and a (14-2) season and drive to the AFC-Championship game in New England..

Chargers football has also had its down times. The drug plagued teams of the 70’s. The awful Ryan Leaf years. The disappointments of Jack Kemp throwing 6-picks in back-to-back AFL championship games; the Dan Fouts 5-interception playoff games; Steve Young’s 6-TD game; Rivers and Tomlinson both trying to play on injured knees in Foxoboro, and now this season’s tailspin..

Never has there ever been a team logo though that better fit the personality of a franchise than the Lightning Bolt. From those early days in the AFL-Hadl-Rote- Kemp, to Fouts, and Stan Humphries, onto Drew Brees and Philip Rivers, lightning strikes thru the air anytime, anyplace.

And now they play their final home game of the season on Sunday, and what many feel might be their final home game in this city ever.

San Diego has loved its pro football team for more than 50-years. Isn’t it sad, the owner loves money more than he loves the fans, the franchise and the Chargers legacy.
 

“Let the Bowl Games Begin-Good and Bad”

-0-

It used to be the postseason when you could not wait.

College football was great then, the anticipation of the great nationwide matchups every New Year’s Day. The Cotton, the Sugar, the Orange, and the grand-daddy of them all, the Rose Bowl.

Of course there were other bowl games like the Bluebonnet Bowl or the Tangerine Bowl, and even our Holiday Bowl in San Diego.

But New Years Day was so special. Ohio State-USC in the Rose Bowl. Nebraska or Oklahoma most every year in the Orange. Texas or Texas AM in the Cotton. Alabama forever part of the Sugar Bowl.

Woody or Bo, Bobby Bowden, Bear Bryant, Darrell Royal, John Robinson or John McKay, and even an occasional sighting of someone from South Bend, like Lou Holtz. We’d start at 9am with the early games, and watch right thru 11pm that evening, overdosing on football that one given day.

It’s different now. The college game is electric these days with all the great quarterbacks, athletes, and state of the art offenses.

But it’s really different now with 40-bowl game, 80-teams, including some guys that went (6-6) or even (5-7), who had to be chosen to fill out slots. And then you see empty stadiums, really empty stadiums, and you wonder what’s the end game here.

Sure it’s fun if you play at Western Kentucky or Ohio University or Western Michigan or Utah State to go to the post season. And in some cases,you get to go to exotic places like Hawaii, the Bahamas, Yankees Stadium.

But all in all, the games leave a lot to be desired, because hardly anyone ever watches. It’s not because the Final 4-playoff has siphoned off all the media coverage, of course it has based on the money and the importance of the ratings, it’s just many of these games are not on anyone’s radar any longer, because there are too many of them.

Yes, I’ll catch a glimpse of BYU-Utah, because that is a pretty good historical rivalry. Pitt-Navy interests me to watch the final game ever before he goes on board a ship as a commissioned officer, quarterback Keenan Reynolds. I always root for the underdog, and Mike Leach has done such a good job at Washington State, you shouldn’t ignore the Cougars-Miami game in the Sun Bowl.

Of course I will watch Christmas Eve somehow, when the Aztecs play the Bearcats at Aloha Stadium. Christmas in Honolulu sounds special, even if no one pays attention to the Hawaii Bowl.

There will be dandy matchups a week from now, once we get beyond the prelims, like Oregon-TCU at the Alamo Bowl; Jim Harbaugh and the men from Michigan in a in the Citrus Bowl against Florida.

USC plays here against Wisconsin in the Holiday; Boise State faces Northern Illinois in our Poinsettia; and you better believe they’ll get their Big Boy pants on when it is Stanford-vs-Iowa in the Rose Bowl.

Of course the world will watch Clemson-Oklahoma and Alabama-Michigan State in the Final four matchups.

It seems really different though, to have so many bowl games, so unimportant, clogging up the road to the games we all know and love.

Heck my alma mater, the Ohio Bobcats get to play Appalachian State in something called the Camellia Bowl. Of course I will watch it because I bleed Green & White, but I bet none of you can even tell me where Appy State is located and what conference they are in.

So it kicks off Saturday with 5-bowl games, and we go from there. Make sure you call me right around New Years Eve, when the real bowl games are played. 40-bowls, 80-teams, too much for me, even a football junkie, to cope with.

-0-

“Dodgers Facing a Blue Season?

-0-

 
They’re almost all gone, the frontline pitchers, who were up for bid in baseball free agency.

Gone to Arizona, arriving at Fenway Park and to Chinatown, but not to Chavez Ravine.

The first wave of free agency is nearly complete, with the superstars getting mega contracts.

The Los Angeles Dodgers, with the highest payroll in baseball, have a real problem now.

It’s not because of a rookie manager they brought on board. It’s got nothing to do with the constant crisis that is Yasiel Puig. It surely does not involve the health of the legendary Vince Scully.

It’ the pitching staff, the one that gave you Clayton Kershaw first, Zack Greinke second, in any three game series, any weekend matchup the Dodgers would play.

Kershaw, at age 25, is every bit the equal of the greatness of Sandy Koufax. Greinke was as close to being a Don Drysdale, in forming a great 1-2 combo at the front of the rotation.

Greinke is gone. Took the biggest payday he could, regardless of whether the Arizona Diamondbacks have enough to get a diamond-studded World Series ring next October.

Left behind is a patch-work package of post-surgery pitchers, recycled high mileage veterans, and untrustworthy young kids.

The LA front office loved Greinke, and offered him what would have been a record 4-years worth 120M, with an option for a 5th season. The 32-year old righthander loved being Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid with Kershaw. But when he saw what the Red Sox gave pitcher David Price, the demands changed.

Price went to Fenway Park for 32M a year, on a 7-year, no trade deal. Greinke was not going to accept less, and the Dodgers decide they weren’t going to offer more. End of relationship, good luck in Chase Field, it’s the Diamondbacks problem if you break down. LA was not going to guarantee that kind of money to a pitcher who would be age 37 when he gets his final payday. Six years of investment was offset by six years of risk, knowing the history of pitching breakdowns.

However LA turned around and signed aging Mariners pitcher Hashishi Iwakuma, to a 3-year deal, worth 45M total, with all the bells and whistles, including a no-trade proviso. They guaranteed him that deal that carries him to age 37, and he has already had arm issues. So they won’t take care of the greatness of Greinke, but they are willing to gamble on Iwakuma?.

You look at the staff on paper, and you cringe, once Keshaw has made his start in the rotation. Hyun-Jin Ryu is coming off shoulder surgery, and has lots of miles on his arm, an arm with a bad history. Brandon McCarthy has fought thru terrible injury adversity in his career, and is a warrior but limited. Brett Anderson cannot stay healthy, not in Colorado nor in Oakland, and then not in LA.

Beyond that, young Mike Bolsinger faded a third of the way into the season. Carlos Frias was drydocked with back issues. The kids, Zach Lee and Joe Wieland, were found wanting and never made a mark infront of the clubs execs.

The remaining free agents won’t come cheap. Johnny Cueto and Jeff Samardzija both went to the Giants, for a combined 220M investment, so everyone’s price went up. The next tier of guys expecting phone calls are led by ex-Reds and Giants pitcher Mike Leake, and former Padres starter Ian Kennedy. But they are 4th or 5th starters in people’s rotations, and yet they might be slotted into being the next guy up after a Kershaw start. Doug Fister-Scott Kazmir anyone? Don’t think so.

Maybe Japanese free agent pitcher Kent Maeda is the one they land, in hopes he can be a Ryu, a Hideo Nomo, or a Chan Ho Park. But you never know with pitchers from abroad.

The Dodgers have issues. No 2nd baseman. A 3rd baseman coming off microfracture surgery. Age-injury-attitude problems in left and in right. A huge question mark about the kid in center And a productivity question even behind home plate.

The next wave of prospects, led by pitcher Julio Urias could be two years away, and what happens between now and then? Kershaw and lst baseman Adrian Gonzalez cannot do it all by themselves. LA steadfastly refused to put their blue-chip prospects in off season trades.

Granted the season does not start next Monday, but Dodgers baseball is surely not what they thought it could be, especially after what Arizona and San Francisco did.. You’ve got Greinke’s money to use, but no one out there comes close to being half the pitcher Greinke was.

The biggest spenders in baseball lost the arms race on marquee free agents. They’re on the brink of a losing season too.

–0–

“Dodgers Facing a Blue Season?”
-0-
They’re almost all gone, the frontline pitchers, who were up for bid in baseball free agency.
Gone to Arizona, arriving at Fenway Park and to Chinatown, but not to Chavez Ravine.
The first wave of free agency is nearly complete, with the superstars getting mega contracts.
The Los Angeles Dodgers, with the highest payroll in baseball, have a real problem now.
It’s not because of a rookie manager they brought on board. It’s got nothing to do with the constant crisis that is Yasiel Puig. It surely does not involve the health of the legendary Vince Scully.
It’ the pitching staff, the one that gave you Clayton Kershaw first, Zack Greinke second, in any three game series, any weekend matchup the Dodgers would play.
Kershaw, at age 25, is every bit the equal of the greatness of Sandy Koufax. Greinke was as close to being a Don Drysdale, in forming a great 1-2 combo at the front of the rotation.
Greinke is gone. Took the biggest payday he could, regardless of whether the Arizona Diamondbacks have enough to get a diamond-studded World Series ring next October.
Left behind is a patch-work package of post-surgery pitchers, recycled high mileage veterans, and untrustworthy young kids.
The LA front office loved Greinke, and offered him what would have been a record 4-years worth 120M, with an option for a 5th season. The 32-year old righthander loved being Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid with Kershaw. But when he saw what the Red Sox gave pitcher David Price, the demands changed.
Price went to Fenway Park for 32M a year, on a 7-year, no trade deal. Greinke was not going to accept less, and the Dodgers decide they weren’t going to offer more. End of relationship, good luck in Chase Field, it’s the Diamondbacks problem if you break down. LA was not going to guarantee that kind of money to a pitcher who would be age 37 when he gets his final payday. Six years of investment was offset by six years of risk, knowing the history of pitching breakdowns.
However LA turned around and signed aging Mariners pitcher Hashishi Iwakuma, to a 3-year deal, worth 45M total, with all the bells and whistles, including a no-trade proviso. They guaranteed him that deal that carries him to age 37, and he has already had arm issues. So they won’t take care of the greatness of Greinke, but they are willing to gamble on Iwakuma?.
You look at the staff on paper, and you cringe, once Keshaw has made his start in the rotation. Hyun-Jin Ryu is coming off shoulder surgery, and has lots of miles on his arm, an arm with a bad history. Brandon McCarthy has fought thru terrible injury adversity in his career, and is a warrior but limited. Brett Anderson cannot stay healthy, not in Colorado nor in Oakland, and then not in LA.
Beyond that, young Mike Bolsinger faded a third of the way into the season. Carlos Frias was drydocked with back issues. The kids, Zach Lee and Joe Wieland, were found wanting and never made a mark infront of the clubs execs.
The remaining free agents won’t come cheap. Johnny Cueto and Jeff Samardzija both went to the Giants, for a combined 220M investment, so everyone’s price went up. The next tier of guys expecting phone calls are led by ex-Reds and Giants pitcher Mike Leake, and former Padres starter Ian Kennedy. But they are 4th or 5th starters in people’s rotations, and yet they might be slotted into being the next guy up after a Kershaw start. Doug Fister-Scott Kazmir anyone? Don’t think so.
Maybe Japanese free agent pitcher Kent Maeda is the one they land, in hopes he can be a Ryu, a Hideo Nomo, or a Chan Ho Park. But you never know with pitchers from abroad.
The Dodgers have issues. No 2nd baseman. A 3rd baseman coming off microfracture surgery. Age-injury-attitude problems in left and in right. A huge question mark about the kid in center And a productivity question even behind home plate.
The next wave of prospects, led by pitcher Julio Urias could be two years away, and what happens between now and then? Kershaw and lst baseman Adrian Gonzalez cannot do it all by themselves. LA steadfastly refused to put their blue-chip prospects in off season trades.
Granted the season does not start next Monday, but Dodgers baseball is surely not what they thought it could be, especially after what Arizona and San Francisco did.. You’ve got Greinke’s money to use, but no one out there comes close to being half the pitcher Greinke was.
The biggest spenders in baseball lost the arms race on marquee free agents. They’re on the brink of a losing season too.

–0–