“Is This Possible-How Would You Vote”

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The twists and turns of relocating NFL franchises.

Are they staying, are they going? Do they want to stay, do they want to leave? What’s fact, what’s fiction in the negotiations? Who to trust, who not to trust?

We just came through all those range of emotions weeks ago, with the disgraceful actions of Chargers owner Dean Spanos. We know the end-result, he, turning his back on his adopted home town, after 56-years of loyalty from a fan base that gave its heart, spent its money, loved its team.

Spanos wakes up as the most hated man in San Diego sports history.

And now this morning, new twists in the road of relocation.

The Oakland Raiders are very much ‘in play’.

The deal that would have taken them to Las Vegas is crumbling, has crumbled. Owner Mark Davis, who does not have enormous wealth has seen his financing plan go away.

Casino owner Sheldon Adelson pulled his 650M of financing out of the pot, unable to execute a power play to buy minority control of the franchise as part of the transaction. Unable to realize a segment of profits as part of the trade off for the investment. Unable to convince NFL owners to let a casino owner become part of their fraternity.

The backup plan has failed too. Now late night reports that Goldman Sachs, who was supposed to replace Adelson, won’t join the Raiders, because they do not believe there is a profit upside on the return from their investment.

Mark Davis goes back to Oakland, where the team is beloved, in a dirt poor market, with still no stadium solution in sight.

Exit Las Vegas, enter San Diego.

This city, jilted just two weeks ago by the greed of the Spanos family, has to respond quickly.

Mayor Kevin Faulconer, needs to invoke his favorite phrase ‘come together’, and pick up the flag and carry it to the top of the hill.

Declare San Diego a player for the Raiders. Go to Mark Davis, re-offer the City-County plan for a new Qualcomm Stadium in Mission Valley. Get the NFL to put its money back on the table, and see if there is a way to get Goldman Sachs to bring investors to the table.

The city loves the NFL, and I bet fans they would vote “yes” for a NFL stadium, even to house that team, yes that team “The Raiders”

It becomes our team. You don’t even have to call it the San Diego Raiders. They have a national brand. Just call them the “Raiders”. They will draw fans from San Diego and Tijuana. You know they will come from LA and Orange County. And those from Oakland do travel.

Can you imagine the possibilities. Good young team, in a new stadium, likely to sell out all home games.

Forget the history, that Al Davis era, the hate, the losses, the anger. This would become our team, and a good team.

And think of a sort of payback to the selfishness and stupidity of the shameful Spanos family. It would be some payback to Despicable Dean, if the Raiders became San Diego’s team.

Time for Faulconer to be bold, to make it come together. Bet San Diego would work together to make this happen.

Silver & Black in San Diego. Our team going forward. Why not?

Would it work? Could it work? Would you vote yes on it, to make it work?

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“America’s Finest City-The Beautiful Game”

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Everybody said the right thing. Now we wait to see if San Diego’s leadership can do the right thing.

Approve the initiative to move forward to build the 200M MLS soccer-Aztecs Stadium at Qualcomm, and give the development rights to “FS Investors” to begin the process of building out that land.

The pep rally on board the USS-Midway was impressive. City leadership was there to support the investment group. MLS Commissioner Don Garber was there to extoll the virtues of the San Diego market and the border relationship with Tijuana.

Much was made of the potential of the bi-city market. The ability to create synergy with Liga Mexico and the XOLOs team.

Landon Donovan, the LA Galaxy and the World Cup hero was there to talk about his career, and what it means to have grown up in MLS, and the stepping stone it provided to him to go abroad to Germany, and then come back and lead Team USA to new heights.

The competition will be stiff. San Diego is one of 12-teams bidding for the 2-expansion sights. Detroit’s offer is backed by Palace Sports, owners of the Pistons. The Tampa Bay Rowdies bid came from the same people who were part of the glory days of the NASL. St. Louis has great hockey tradition, and a wide open market with limited competition. Overcrowded Phoenix wants in. So does Charlotte, mid level-Sacramento and others.

But more than anything, San Diego seems right, financially, geographically, aesthetically.

Pele is not coming across the Coronado Bridge though. The English Premeir League teams like Manchester United and Chelsea won’t be on the schedule.

But knowing how popular the Columbus Crew and Chicago Fire are in their respective towns, shows the potential of how markets can emotionally link themselves to the MLS brand.

I don’t know if SD-SC, San Diego Soccer City, can rival what the Seattle Sounders and Portland Timber have become, but the potential is here to become something special.

Julie Veee and Bronco Segota and Ron Newman was a long time ago. The San Diego Sockers were spectacular in their time and space.

If timing were everything, then the vacancy created in this market has made this the right time and right place for an expansion team, because of the Chargers defection.

Now we wait to see if the Beautiful Game can play here in the beautiful weather. We wait to see if this mayor, that city council, can convert this corner kick of ideas to start the development of the Q-sight.

San Diego. Will it make this penalty kick and score, or do they wind up taking a Red Card?

“Many Things in Monday Notebook”

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MR. PADRE-FAMILY PROFIT…..Bothers me alot that the family of Padres star Tony Gwynn is auctioning off much of his baseball memorabilia. Thru 3-auctions so far, the family has taken in (831,000) plus….Guess I find it hard to believe, for all the hard work he put into the greatness of his career, the family would want cash, rather retaining his Hall of Fame ring. That’s been sold, along with MVP Awards, Silver Slugger bats, and the 3000th base hit ball in Montreal….Why would you not donate the most important artifacts to the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, or some key memorabilia to the newly constructed Padres Hall of Fame? Really disappointed for his memory.

DODGERS-SEEING IS BELIEVING….Raving reports coming out of Chavez Ravine about a more mature Yasiel Puig…..When last seen, he had been exiled to Oklahoma City for an extended stay, after the club tried, but failed to trade him….Now he has spent the winter working with a personal trainer, hired a chef, and is working out 5-days a week at Dodgers Stadium…His weight has gone from 255-to-less than 240…Will his great stats return?

HALOS-HELL OF AN OFF SEASON….They didn’t make the playoffs again last year, injuries and a poor pitching staff…but they look ready to bounce back…The Angels have added 4- role playing bats this off season…including Houston’s Luis Valbuena…Washington power hitting 2nd baseman Danny Espinosa, lead off man Cam Maybin, and catcher Martin Maldonado….Depth in the lineup and a pitching staff finally healthy.

GOOD LUCK TO GOOD GUYS…Nick Hundley leaves the Rockiest to be the backup catcher to Buster Posey and the Giants….the always smiling Adam Rosales, who hit 13-homers with the Padres, will do the same with the A’s….Pitcher Brandon Morrow is headed to the Dodgers, coming all the way back from shoulder surgery….Pitcher Cory Luebke, coming off 3-elbow operations goes to the White Sox.

FILE IT AND FORGET IT…What a bad week for the Lakers-Clippers…Luke Walton’s team, with illness and nagging injury problems, gets beat by 49-points, an all time worst defeat in club history….and then the Clippers get smoked by 46-by Golden State-a game in which the Warriors scored 86-points in a 24-minute span.

NOT SO GOOD SAN DIEGO STATE…The disappointments continue this Aztecs basketball season….Gut wrenching loss to Colorado State-blowing a 13-point lead at home…It’s the fifth time Steve Fisher has sat on the bench and watched his team lose a double-digit lead this season….They really lack a veteran leader on the floor.

RED HOT HOCKEY…The San Diego Gulls, ripped apart by roster call ups by the parent Anaheim Ducks, are (10-1-1) in their last twelve games…Goaltenders are so important….ex-Maple Leaf Jhonas Enroth has triggered this with a (7-1) record and a 1.76-goals against average…and the fans have responded, over 12,000 at the last home game.

FURIOUS FINISH AT THE FARMERS OPEN….Jon Rahm was the world’s numbe 1-Amateur player, coming out of Spain, heading to Arizona State….He now has his first win ever on the PGA Tour…2-eagles on the back nine blew away the field yesterday….the Spanish star wears his emotion on his sleeve.

OFF THE RADAR….Tiger Woods did not make the cut, but he played very well after a horrible Thursday…his first 9-holes opening day, and his 18-holes on Friday were steady….Must find consistency off the tee and keep it on the fairway….Now we see what he does in the LA Open…He is playing 4-tourneys in 5-weeks to get a ready on his game.

OFF THE RADAR-Part 2….Phil Mickelson had a good final 36-holes at Torrey Pines and climbed into contention after almost missing the cut….But it has been 2013 since he last won a tourney…same year Tiger last cashed a winner’s check.

SOCCER STADIUM…Over 20,000 fans showed up at the Q for the US-Serbia friendly, the first game under veteran coach Bruce Arena…He only had half his roster, injuries, and European committments, kept players away…but they have lots of work to be done after the 0-0- tie.

DJ IS OK….Donnell Pumphrey was measured at 5’9-169 for the Senior Bowl in Mobile…Too small for the NFL?…Played big on Saturday for the South team in the win over the North….83-all purpose yards, punt returns, runs and catches…More slot guy-return guy than slugging running back-but that’s okay.

PRO BOWL FOOTBALL…You like touch-flag football..that’s what they played in Orlando last night…Guees it’s alright-hopefully no one got hurt…

HOCKEY HONORS…Really cool to see the NHL bring out onto center ice yesterday the living members of the 100-greatest players of all time as the NHL honors its 100th year in business….The All Star Game…glorifided shooting contest-noth more, but So Cal hockey fans enjoyed the day at Staples Center.

CUT DOWN DAY…Very sad day for us at XETV-Channel 6…77-News side people, including yours truly, being cut loose as Bay City TV’s-owners, Televisa, decide to take the station into Spanish format on April 1st….Now you know what it’s like to get it on NFL roster cutdown day.

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Click her

“Hard to Believe What I See-What Players Are Doing

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We’ve lost one icon. Now another has the same disease.

And yet in baseball clubhouses across the major league leagues, it still goes on. Players stuffing smokeless tobacco into their mouth.

The story broke on Thursday night that Padres pitcher Randy Jones, the first great one, now an ambassador for the club, has been fighting throat cancer, brought on by years of chewing tobacco.

This comes on the heels of the sad passing of Mr. Padre, Tony Gwynn, who suffered terribly, from multiple surgeries for cancerous cells of the mouth, that eventually took his life.

And yet last week, you saw cans of smokeless laying around the Padres clubhouse, even in the off season.

Daily during the season, you’d see it on tables in the clubhouse, and see players load up before a game.

Ditto, the same for coaches, standing in the tunnel before going out on the field, putting a chaw in, then spitting on the floor.

Part of it may just well be the culture. It’s always been part of baseball. A bigger part of it may just be the addiction that is so hard to quit.

But you’d think the players of today would have gotten a dose of reality when they saw the disfigured face of Tony Gwynn rigth before he died.

Maybe Randy Jones can become the face of prevention, if he beats this cancer of the throat he has right now.

But the current day major leaguers don’t seem willing to admit they are putting themselves at risk.

It took the life of one of the best hitters in baseball. It has now afflicted the best starting pitcher San Diego ever had.

There should be a message in all this, but the message surely is not getting thru.

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“Saying Alot-They Are-So Am I.”

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What I Heard-What I Think on a Thursday.

Roger Goodell, the NFL Commissioner is taking hits from lots of sides. He told Fox-TV the NFL went the extra mile to try and keep the Chargers in San Diego. What he should have added was that Dean Spanos did not. Yes the league threw 300M into the pot to try and help finance a Stadium. Spanos never negotiated, tried to jam thru his own stadium measure, and lost. But he didn’t lose. The NFL is letting him move to LA to reap more riches, after he tried to rape San Diego. Goodell should have never allowed the NFL to give Spanos the “option” to go to LA, after they rejected his attempt to go to Carson. Bet he’d never say that.

Poinsettia Bowl says goodbye. Tough to put on two bowl games and fill the stadium in less than one weeks time. And yet that’s what the Holiday Bowl people did by launching the Poinsettia Bowl twelve years ago. Nice effort, not the greatest results. But it’s just not here, it’s around the country, where all these second level bowls play before crowds of 15-to-25,000. Sure it’s a reward for kids and teams and alumns, but it didn’t count for much in the big picture. 40-bowl games this year, scuffling to find (6-6) or (5-7) teams to play. Too many games, with a watered down meaning. I do like the idea the Holiday Bowl will zero in on their successful game, and maybe push for some unique intersectional games, like the Notre Dame-vs-Navy game coming up in 2018. Salute the San Diego Bowl people for trying.

Matt Slauson is honest as they come. He says what alot of Chargers players feel, the sadness in having to move to Los Angeles. The Chargers roster, in the midst of rebuild, doesn’t really have much experience on it. The young players have been here for 15-minutes, and a bunch of them will be gone before next season. The young guys have no link, no feel, probably not much knowledge of the heritage of Chargers football. But you can feel their disappointment, when Slauson used the term “fake excitement” when referencing how the team is supposed to feel moving to LA.

Phil Mickelson keeps talking, and keeps making stupid statements. Now he tells the fans to ‘toughen up’ to the type of criticism he leveled last week, that the voters let his friend Dean Spanos down by voting down Measure C on the stadium. Lefty should understand the loyal fans were made to feel ‘unwanted’ by this greedy owner, after 56-years of support, not the other way around. Of course Phil will enjoy sitting in the owners skybox watching a game in future years, while San Diego fans are left with empty feelings in an empty stadium. Phil should know all the facts before he opens mouth and winds up inserting foot.

Kalie Kissola plays for the San Diego Gulls. He is in the NHL tonight, less than a year removed from a great college careere at St. Cloud State. The Anaheim Ducks just called him up, to give him a taste of NHL life. It’s tough for the Gulls, because the roster is a revolving door with all these callups, but what it does, is give hot young Ducks prospects, a sneak preview of what it is like to play in the show, especially if they are needed for the end of the season playoff push, or the postseason games. GM-Bob Murray has a special blueprint, to reward the young Gulls with a look see at life in the NHL, and to get them ready for when the real call is made.

DJ Pumphrey is too small to be an NFL running back. At least right now, at (5’9-169), what he weighed in at the Senior Bowl in Mobile. But he is dart-and-dash quick, has good hands, and projects now as a third down receiver and a kick return guy. A year from now, after a season in NFL weight training programs, he grows to 180-keeps his quicks, he will probably run the ball.

Tee of time at Torrey Pines, and everyone of the big names has a question mark attached to their scorecard. Tiger Woods, coming off the back surgeries. Phil Mickelson off double hernia surgery. Jason Day, ranked number 1-in the world, expressing concern about back issues, at age 30. Ow-Wow.

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