“Chargers Front Office-Responsibility-Accountability”
-0-

The scoreboard does not lie.

The Chargers, heading to Los Angeles, have lost 25-of their last 35-games, are losing players, running off players, but not replacing players.

Chargers President of Football Operations John Spanos, and his running mate, GM-Tom Telesco, have their hands full.

A roster full of injuries three years running, the reality that they wasted alot of money on free agency, and now the defection and the jettisoning of a wide variety of veteran players.

And if you are keeping score at home, that draft board given us by Spanos-Telesco, isn’t that impressive either.

The latest to exit was starting linebacker Mantei Te’o, headed to the New Orleans Saints as a free agent. Telesco dealt 2nd and 4th round picks to get the linebacker from Notre Dame. His career was followed by injuries to both feet, and then last year’s torn Achilles tendon.

By the third and 4th years of a draft, you expect those players, selected early, to be cornerstones of your roster. There are holes everywhere on the roster now.

The Telesco-Spanos first draft was 2013. The only survivor is wide receiver Keenan Allen, a third rounder. Gone are OT-DJ Fluker, the high number one pick, the 2nd round guy Teo, and the 4th rounder CB-Stevie Williams.

In 2014, they took Jason Verrett, who still great upside, though a trail of injuries. It sure looks like 2nd rounder Jerry Attaochu is a washout. Gone are center Chris Watt and DT-Ryan Carrethers.

Yes 2015 still has most players here, led by RB-Melvin Gordon, LB-Danzell Perryman, plus Kyle Emanuel and Craig Mager. Gone is DE-Darius Philon.

2016 looks to be a bonanza based on all the things we saw of DE-Joey Bosa…TE-Hunter Henry, and later draft pick, LB-Jatavis Brown.

If you add in the last draft of the fired GM-AJ Smith, in 2012, only Melvin Ingram is here as a big time player. Gone are DE-Kendall Reyes and Ladarius Green. In fact 6-of-7 are out of here.

So going from 2012-thru-2015, of a totral of 24-picks, San Diego has just 4-impact players…Allen, Verrett, Gordon and Perryman.

Your scorecard reads thusly:
2012…Ingram…1-of-7 left.
2013…Allen…2-of-6 left
2014..Verrett-Attaochu…2-of-6 left
2015..Gordon-Perryman…4-of-5 left.

Sum total…24-players…only 9-left on the roster.

Philip Rivers is the last remaining member of Chargers football, when the franchise was an AFC West power.

They’re all gone, the ones around him, retirement, injury, run off as free agents, those who chose to leave.

It won’t get good till the football people in charge of bringing players in here do a better job.

John Spanos wants to be boss. Tom Telesco wanted to be the General Manager. 4-impact players out of 24-picks.

You are what the standings say you are. The scoreboard does not lie.

Not a very good team, not a very good roster, and now not a very good track record.

Accountability-Responsibility. Own it, because you caused it.

“NBA-Do They Care”

-0-

It happened twice inside of a week.

It’s happened in the past in the NBA, and it’s brought a rebuke and then a fine from the league office. And yet it keeps happening.

The elite in the NBA west were supposed to play this past week in San Antonio. The former champion Golden State Warriors, against the legendary Spurs, closest thing we have seen to a dynasty in a long time.

Exciting sneak preview of maybe the NBA Western finals? But it didn’t happen.

Golden State sat its stars. Already without an injured Kevin Durant, coach Steve Kerr did not dress Draymond Green, Steph Curry and Klay Thompson.

San Antonio, ailing with injuries, did not have Kawahi Leonard,Pao Gasol nor LaMarcus Aldridge, all out and hurt.

End result a game that looked like something out of preseason in mid-October.

Of course Spurs coach Greg Popovich has pulled that stunt down the stretch a couple of years in a row, leading to the playoff games. His response was, if the NBA does not want to put it players at risk from injuries due to fatigue, don’t make us play 3-games in a 3-nights, or 4-in-5.

Then the Cavaliers did it on Saturday night in Los Angeles. Clippers vs the Cavaliers. Cleveland coach Tyronne Lue was there, but his stars were not, at least not in uniform.

A designated rest night for LeBron James, Kevin Love and Kyree Irving. The Clippers won a lopsided game against a bunch of Cleveland fill-ins.

You won’t lament the guys who pay courtside costs of 1,000-a seat. But what about the fans, who shell out 90-dollars, or 60-dollars for 35, to sit in the upper deck. The average ticket price in the NBA is 97-dollars.

It might be their only game of the season, and I bet they come from families-backgrounds, where entertainment dollars are few and far between.

They bought tickets expecting to see LeBron lineup against Blake Griffin. They got LeBron dressed in his suit, sitting on the bench, next to the other members of the Cleveland Big 3, who won rings last year, all watching, not playing.

The fans showed up, and they were the ones paying.

Coaches site the health of the players for moves like this. How about the financial health of the fans too?

Just another example of corporate greed of pro sports. The Cavs-Warriors-Spurs won’t think much about it. They have another game to get to.

The league won’t think much either, too busy counting profits at the gate for tickets sold.

It would be nice if the fans got some consideration too.

-0-0-0-0

Frantic-Fractured Friday”

-0-

So what’s it going to be today and the rest of the weekend?

Are you watching 36-March Madness basketball games in two days?

Are we keeping tabs on the 32-teams that have started the National Invitational Tournament also?

We have the a full slate of 15-exhibition games each day in the Cactus League and Grapefruit Circuit.

You have the showdown series at Petco Park too, as Team USA tries to get to the finals of the World Baseball Classic that start Monday at Dodgers Stadium.

Check your out-of-town scoreboard to see if there’s another 30-or-40 point Lakers loss, or a Clippers win as the NBA jockeys for playoff spots.

Ditto too for the NHL, teams fighting to the final slots in the hockey post season.

We have 43-cars starting Sunday in the NASCAR Monster Energy 400 in Phoenix.

There’s the upset marred ITP-WTA tourney at Indian Wells.

The young guns are off and running on the PGA tour at the Arnold Palmer Bay Hill Invitational.

Yes a potpourri of things to choose from.

How do fans follow it all on the 500-plus channels on your TV, or your cable, on Direct TV?

Who would ever have thought we’d have as busy a weekend like this?

Take a look at my Hacksaw’s Headlines page on my website (leehacksawhamilton.com)…and you’ll know why I had a headache late last night.

How do you keep up with all this stuff? How are you going to watch it all?

A frantic and fractured Friday for sure.

Have your self a great sports weekend. I expect a full written report from all of you on Monday.

-0-0-0-0-

“All Things on a Baseball Thursday”

-0-

Padres….Heading into the final two weeks of the Cactus League, and you have a Padres team with a collective (.226) batting average, and a team (5.26-ERA) from the pitching staff. It’s not that they don’t look ready, it’s they don’t have enough players.

So as we head towards opening day, they don’t really know who is their starting second baseman. Do you choose Corey Spangenberg, who has range and a glove, but not a strong bat, or use Ryan Schimpf’s bat, but is a guy with little glove.

Ditto at shortstop, where they think there is some upside to Luis Sardinas, who looks like a young Jose Reyes, but he cannot hit a lick. Eric Aybar has hit, but is surely not a strong glove.

Over at 3rd, that was a strong season for Yanger Solarte, but they think he might be be better at second , than third, so who plays the hot corner?

Moving to left, now Alex Dickerson looks to be starting the season on the DL with a back issue. He had some pop, hit in the (.250’s) but he does not have health.

Oh they can sell Jabari Blash to the fans again, but we saw this movie last year, some power, bunches of strikeouts. So that’s four positions with question marks around them.

And even if guys had locked down jobs, none of those guys are stars.

As for that bloated ERA, that’s what you get when you load your staff with rejects, retreads and rehab cases.

Jered Weaver is trying to get by on guts and guile, and an 84mph fastball. Trevor Cahill is being stretched out to go back into the rotation, but it will take time to determine whether he can do what he did as a young Oakland A a bunch of years back. Who really knows if Clayton Richard can be what he used to be?

Christian Friedrich struggles all the time. We have not seen much of JhoulysChacin, and most all the kids have been sent back to the minor league camp.

Please don’t try to sell me Paul Clemens nor Jared Cosart again either.

We know Luis Perdomo is at the front of the rotation. Poor Andy Green knows nothing beyond the fact opening day is coming, and he has a bunch of number 4-5 starters who will have to be given the ball.

The Padres, more questions than answers, and running out of time to figure it out.

The novelty of the opening spring training has worn off. The WBC will be over shortly, and the Paderes will start playing real baseball soon.

Yes, the video board looks great, it’s a beautiful ballpark, and a destination point for families. And yes this is a melting pot of fans, so there will be some nice crowds out at the yard, but let’s be real too.

How do you think the numbers .226 and 5.26 play out over a 162-game schedule?

“When’s the Best Time to Play? Would They All Play Then?”

-0-

Petco Park was rocking Tuesday night.

Songs, flags, chants, yells. Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic did not disappoint in the opening game of the second round of the World Baseball Classic.

So much for the idea, these are just exhibition games.

Ask the fans who stood and let the umpire have it, cheered, booed, caught foul balls, dove for home run balls, drank and ate and bought lots of gear.

Guys diving for ground balls. Players stealing bases head first. Screaming line drive home runs. The dugouts emptying to salute Yadier Molina’s rocket shot home run.

Even Puerto Rico manager Tony Pena getting ejected for night long barbs with the home plate umpire over balls and strikes.

Much has been said and written nationally about these games, this global tournament.

You sat in the dugouts yesterday during the workouts, and you were impressed with what the players said. Wearing their hats, with their country flag on the side, putting on that jersey, means alot.

They called it, ‘their Olympics’, and they were not meaningless phrases.

But the great debate will continue. Is the 2nd week of spring training the right time to hold this baseball festival? How concerned should teams be that their pitchers have to amp it up and go 4-or-5 innings in these games, when normally they’d be throwing 2-innings in a Cactus League game? And what about the injury factor?

Tons of big names decided not to play. Team USA is without Clayton Kershaw. Bryce Harper watched the games on TV, not from the USA dugout. And it’s the same with lots of other teams.

Some players weren’t ready for the intensity of these exhibition gmes. Pitchers for sure weren’t going to put themselves at risk for this, no matter how much they love their country.

Would baseball be better served to play this tourney, the final week of spring training, when most everyone is in game shape?

Could you put the tourney around All Star game week, but would that mean shutting down all of baseball for a good 10-days to play all the games?

Is the end of the season the right time, after players have grinded thru a tough 162-game regular season?

Do you play in post World Series, but in what venues then?

There are no solid answers. The WBC is evolving, stupid rule changes not with-standing. But you can feel the spirit, get grabbed by the energy, experience the passion, on the field and in the stands.

It would be something if all the great players, representing all the flags, were included on all the rosters, for all the games.

Finding the right time on the calendar is the next big thing for Commissioner Rob Manfred to figure out, because baseball has come upon something really special, regardless of which flag you wave, which song you are singing, which beer you are drinking at Petco Park.

The World Baseball Classic, a pretty cool place to be.

-0-0-0-0-