Good Performances-Few & Far Between”

-0-
You see an effort like the Chargers put out at Arrowhead Stadium yesterday, and you wonder why it can’t be like that week in and week out.

 
Philip Rivers nearly ‘willed’ the team to a win in the rain-wind-and hostile environment that is Kansas City.

 
You think back thru the ashes of this (3-10) season, and outings like that have hardly ever occurred. Maybe the wild game in Green Bay was equal to yesterday, intensity, toughness and other components that help you to victory, or near-victory against a good team..

 
Yes the running game was a zero, Melvin Gordon’s 13-carries 45-yards. Yes, Malcom Floyd dropped a sure TD pass on a post pattern.

 
Yes, another game, another injury to the fragile left tackle King Dunlop. Yes, Chris Houston gave up 3-sacks, took a key penalty and allowed another pressure.

 
The shoddy run defense remained the same, allowing KC to slog their way to 150-yards on the ground, especially when it was a close game, as it got away from San Diego.

 
But there was effort, whether it was Melvin Ingram, or Jerry Attachou, big hits from Denzell Perryman, and a brilliant pick by Jason Verett, though he gave up 5-receptions too. Attachou had a sack, a tackle for loss and a forced fumble. You wish there could be more Sunday’s like that.

 
In the end, the Bolts ran out of chances, though Kansas City did alot to self-destruct. The Chiefs got as sloppy as the weather, interception, fumble, 3-costly penalties that wiped out big gains.

 
The record says (3-10), the losing skid is now 8-losses in 9-games. The offensive drought, no TDs in their last 22-scoring drives.

 
And as the national media builds a case that Mike McCoy could be-should be fired, his General Manager, Tom Telesco, with new contract in pocket, is doing a Dean Spanos imitation, staying silent.

 
Next Sunday is the final home game of the year. If you follow the conversation of Spanos and henchman Mark Fabiani, this will likely be the last home game ever for the Chargers, for those guys want to be in Los Angeles.

 
You see flashes from this team, but surely not enough. All we know is this misery ends in 3-weeks, and this team is in the running for the lst pick in the NFL draft.

 
Not a good team, not a good environment, surely not a good season, even if we gave the team a game-ball for grit after the KC loss.

-0-

“Good Performances-Few & Far Between”
You see an effort like the Chargers put out at Arrowhead Stadium yesterday, and you wonder why it can’t be like that week in and week out.
Philip Rivers nearly ‘willed’ the team to a win in the rain-wind-and hostile environment that is Kansas City.
You think back thru the ashes of this (3-10) season, and outings like that have hardly ever occurred. Maybe the wild game in Green Bay was equal to yesterday, intensity, toughness and other components that help you to victory, or near-victory against a good team..
Yes the running game was a zero, Melvin Gordon’s 13-carries 45-yards. Yes, Malcom Floyd dropped a sure TD pass on a post pattern.
Yes, another game, another injury to the fragile left tackle King Dunlop. Yes, Chris Houston gave up 3-sacks, took a key penalty and allowed another pressure.
The shoddy run defense remained the same, allowing KC to slog their way to 150-yards on the ground, especially when it was a close game, as it got away from San Diego.,
But there was effort, whether it was Melvin Ingram, or Jerry Attachou, big hits from Denzell Perryman, and a brilliant pick by Jason Verett, though he gave up 5-receptions too. Attachou had a sack, a tackle for loss and a forced fumble. You wish there could be more Sunday’s like that.
In the end, the Bolts ran out of chances, though Kansas City did alot to self-destruct. The Chiefs got as sloppy as the weather, interception, fumble, 3-costly penalties that wiped out big gains.
The record says (3-10), the losing skid is now 8-losses in 9-games. The offensive drought, no TDs in their last 22-scoring drives.
And as the national media builds a case that Mike McCoy could be-should be fired, his General Manager, Tom Telesco, with new contract in pocket, is doing a Dean Spanos imitation, staying silent.
Next Sunday is the final home game of the year. If you follow the conversation of Spanos and henchman Mark Fabiani, this will likely be the last home game ever for the Chargers, for those guys want to be in Los Angeles.
You see flashes from this team, but surely not enough. All we know is this misery ends in 3-weeks, and this team is in the running for the lst pick in the NFL draft.
Not a good team, not a good environment, surely not a good season, even if we gave the team a game-ball for grit after the KC loss..

“College Football-A Special Saturday”

-0-

College football is oh so special.

The ancient rivalry games, Ohio State-Michigan, USC-UCLA, “The Big Game” Cal-Stanford, the Civil War-Oregon-Oregon State, the Apple Cup with Washington and Washington State. In the Ivy League it’s Harvard-Yale. And even small college football, Lehigh-Lafayette, that goes back 135-years or so.

But it all pales in comparison to tomorrow in Philadelphia, Army-Navy.

It began in 1890 on the banks of the Hudson on a field that was more for rugby than the game we know now. In 1894, they donned helmets for the first time ever, because of the fear that anyone who suffered a head injury on the field, might suffer from instant insanity.

It had a different meaning in the early 1900s, with so many of our men off to the Great War, World War I.

In 1926, it travelled to Chicago, in a game that dedicated itself to those who died in World War 1, in a place then christened Soldier Field.

It played thru the depression, and into the 1940’s, when football’s biggest names were Army, Navy, Notre Dame and NYU, Columbia and Penn.

It’s been played in lots of different places, some at West Point,others at Annapolis, in Yankees Stadium, the Polo Grounds, and then Philadelphia.

The game is so important to so many, the Cadets and the Midshipmen, those who served our country, those retired, and those protecting us abroad today.

The greatest coach of the era in the rivalry was Red Blaik. Greatness is decided by those who seek to beat his record at West Point. Tom Cahill, Jim Young and Homer Smith were all there too. Navy’s legend may well be the one walking the sidelines tomorrow, Ken Niumatalolo, who has taken them to great heights. George Welch did well there, as did Eddie Erdelatz.

The games all have distinction. From the Game of the Century in 1945, when Army was ranked-1, Navy ranked-2. It was at this sight that President William McKinley became the first leader of our country, to attend the rivalry game. John Kennedy was part of the tradition too. And the 1963 game was postponed a week, after the JFK shooting.

There was an 8-turnover game by Army, in which they won. There was 60-yard field goal in a Navy win. There was a (0-0) tie. They’ve played in snow and in mud.

If you close your eyes, you can see the Blue and Gold of Annapolis, and the Black and Gold from the Knights of the Hudson.

You read the names, and the memories come rushing back to you, Roger Staubach, Glen Davis and Doc Blanchard, Pete Dawkins and Joe Bellino, Rollie Stichweh and this weekend’s great quarterback Keenan Reynolds.

There are two things I most remember about this game.

Coach Bobby Ross, who spent 3-years at West Point told me the meaning of this game, as he sat on the porch of the house he lived in on the post, Red Blaik’s house. He told of the many letters he received from former players, now serving, and one he got just a couple of weeks before the first rivalry game Ross would coach, detailing what the tradition of the game meant to those who were commissioned.

Ross got tearful in talking about the letter he would read to his players, the night before the game. The army captain, who wrote the letter in November to the Army coach, was killed in action in Iraq the week the game was to be played. Ross read the letter to his team to show them what the game meant for anyone and everyone, who ever walked on the post.

The other thing you never forget is the pregame and postgame ceremony, where they march on the field with their flags, and into the stands. And then the postgame salute, when players from both sides salute each other and the corps, regardless of who won, who lost.

The game has so much meaning, for these players, these men, will leave Annapolis and West Point and begin a career so very important, serving our country, in so many ways.

For this Saturday, forget the rankings and the playoffs, the Heisman ballot and touchdown passes, and just enjoy the color,pageantry, history of what the series means to our country, and the men who’ve gone to school there.

Army-Navy, very special Saturday.

“LA-1,000 Stories in the Naked City”

-0-

Oh to be a sports fan or a sports reporter and live in Los Angeles, if you didn’t have the traffic gridlock and summer smog. There’s always something going on in Tinsel town, Hollywood, the City of Angels.

Lakers…Where would be without the farewell-funeral tour of Kobe Bryant, his final year there, before the Lakers head into the abyss. Or are they there already?. This morning they are (3-19) headed for an even worse season than the last two. Do you know since opening night 2013, the Lakers have a composite record of (51-155). Nice job by Jim Buss-VP of basketball operations. Byron Scott is coaching himself out of the NBA by letting Kobe Bryant hi-jack a very young team and tolerating shooting nights, jacking up 3’s all over the place, going (2-15), (3-19) or whatever.

Clippers…In the aftermath of the wretched ownership of Donald Sterling, he of San Diego Clipper fame, they’ve captured the fancy of the town, have a personality coach, some great talent, but they just haven’t captured a trophy. Still not sure LA embraces them as “the team in town”.

Dodgers…Rich people may have money, and can buy whatever they want, but it does not guarantee an appearance in a World Series, last seen in Chavez Ravine in 1988, a long time ago. But do they have soap operas. The new breed of brain trust management upstairs, who want to make out the lineups, and devise strategy and want a yes man as a manager. You’ve got the Cuban Missile, the explosive Yasiel Puig, the embarrassment of the Aroldis Chapman-Reds trade now on hold, an overpaid outfield, the brilliance of Clayton Kershaw and Adrian Gonzalez, and the realization you just lost one of your aces because you wouldn’t give him a record setting 34M a year contract. “Always lots going on at Dodgers Stadium” as Vin Scully would say.

Angels…Rich person # 2 has really screwed this up. Arte Moreno thinks he knows baseball, and makes deals with big dollar signs attached to them, witness the Josh Hamilton transaction. Now he’s on the hook for an amazing amount of money for a risk player he ran off, though still has to pay. Huge contracts to a suddenly old Jered Weaver the pitcher, enormous investment in an aging and hurt Albert Pujols. When in doubt, blame somebody else, so GM Jerry DiPoto takes the fall. We know what’s certain in Anaheim, Mike Scoscia is still manager, and Arte Moreno still thinks he knows baseball.

Trojans…Oh for the days of John Robinson and John McKay when all you worried about was which restaurant to go to and what to order in Beverley Hills after the games. The Pete Carroll stretch of time was fun.. Woe is AD-Pat Haden’s life right now. The stain of the aftermath of the Mike Garrett-Reggie Bush-NCAA war had just left, and now Steve Sarkisian is suing the school for 30M for termination of his disability, alcohol issues. Winning the PAC 12 was a yearly tradition. Winning it now would be a welcome relief.

Bruins…UCLA’s syndrome, ‘love me-love me knot’ with football coach Jim Mora. Coaches have short shelf life’s, and you wonder if the NFL phone call might pull him away from Westwood. Has done a good job, but end of season fade jobs bother people. However they are no longer the ‘Gutty little Bruins of the Terry Donahue-Bob Toledo era. Mora has them playing tough guy football. Basketball, Steve Alford, the next one attempting to return them to glory.

Kings…Hockey royalty resides here. Great leadership and great paychecks for lots of players, but not a panacea, thanks to the sewage that spilled into their hallways last year, the Slava Voynov wife beating issue, Jarrett Stoll and cocaine, and Mike Richards and painkillers. This year, a top minor league goalie gets suspended on a 12-count domestic abuse case. Good team on the ice, need to rid themselves of bad people off the ice.

Ducks…Classy organization, good guys, but struggling to find what they used to be. Rumors continue of leadership change coming on the coaching side, but talent loaded team, with very family oriented values from Henry Samueli in a great building..

NFL…The Rams belong there, and it seems the Chargers or Raiders should co-share the new stadium. Do believe, despite the long absence without football, thanks Al Davis-Georgia Frontiere, in new yard ‘build it and they will come’.

Galaxy….Not sure where they fit in in the landscape of the market. They had the flash of the arrival of David Beckham, and won some games, but he’s gone back to England to do whatever retired players, married to a Spice Girl, does in his post playing career. Not really on the LA sports fan’s radar with MLS.

Chivas USA….RIP…franchise here for a day, then gone. You can’t even fool Mexican soccer fan. This was not Chivas Guadalajara was it?

Oh to be in LA and have lots to talk and write about. Always something going on. Like the old TV-show, 1,000-stories in the Naked City.

Need Help-Padres & Me”

Someone help me figure this all out.

I need a roadmap, a GPS system, a blueprint, a guide dog. Or maybe the San Diego Padres need that instead.

So the Friars trade away another high draft pick, the young veteran Jedd Gyorko, to the Cardinals for soon-to-be 31 year old outfielder John Jay, who has a good glove, and a career (.287) batting average as a slap hitter. Gyorko showed inconsistency in two plus years in San Diego, but also showed he can hit homers (49) in his 2-plus year span here.

Just asking though, how does this get us to where they want to be, out of last place, and back into the playoffs.

Let’s follow the trail marked by new General Manager AJ Preller.

A year ago this week, at the downtown Marriott, at the Winter Meetings here in San Diego, he went wild. When he was done, he had made seven trades, and brought in established bats like Matt Kemp and Justin Upton, the promising Wil Myers, the surprising Derek Norris. All that followed by the signing of James Shields and the opening week of the season trade for Craig Kimbrel.

And impressive haul, but at a very costly price I might remind you. So follow me on this.

The Padres swept aside 11-young players in all, including 7-pitchers, the bottom of the farm system, to make all those transactions. What followed was a disappointing season.

The off season has started in strange fashion too.

Preller acquired 11-young players, to replenish the farm system, but it cost him the top two relievers out of the bullpen, Kimbrel, and Joaquin Benoit. So he brings back some quality young players, to replace the players he jettisoned last December, but now there are holes on the roster.

He removes a lefthanded bat in first baseman Yonder Alonso, to go get back of the rotation starter Drew Pomeranz. I guess the Oakland A’s southpaw becomes the replacement for Ian Kennedy, whom they could not sign.

But now they need a lefthanded bat. Remember, Preller removed Will Venable and his left handed bat, in a late season deal with Texas.

So in need of a bat from that side of the box, he deals for the Cardinals John Jay, established veteran player. But it cost him Gyorko, one of the few deep ball threats still left on the roster, and 7M in cash.

See where all this is going? Making a move to make up for the last move he made, which he had to do, because the prior move before that created a vacancy on the roster.

The Padres still have Matt Kemp, his bat, big contract, bad hips and ankle. They still have James Shields, his massive contract, his 6-inning starts, and his propensity to give up homers. They still have the other Upton (Melvin) and his 16M a year contract for two more seasons, which they cannot give away.

Are the Padres better now roster-wise? Definitely not, with Upton gone, Alonso gone, Kennedy gone, Gyorko traded, and more to come. San Antonio, the Double A farmclub, looks like it might have a good team. I can’t say the same right now for the Friars. There don’t see to be many bargaining chips left to use to go get established major leaguers.

Sure they may be more transactions to come before Friday, but can anyone really describe what the Padres GM is doing. My favorite phrase from last winter, after talking to people from other clubs, “they’re all over the place”. It seems to be their mode of operation.

I’m trying to connect the dots on all these deals, but I feel like I have vertigo, getting dizzy trying to figure out what the game-plan is.

GPS, Mapquest, Rand McNally, a guide dog, something-anything. I need help figuring out what they are doing. Maybe Padres leadership needs help too.

–0–