“So Many Questions-Very Few Answers”

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Add a couple of more pages to the book you are writing on the Chargers-Stadium issues.

Now the City Council has made an offer to lure Dean Spanos back to the bargaining table, a lease deal of just $1-per year on a new stadium at the Qualcomm sight.

The last proposal, via all the work done with CSAG, would have had the Chargers pay a rent of 1M to use the new facility.

The City wants Spanos to come up with the developer for the Stadium also.

Unsaid is whether the $1 lease offer is just for the stadium, or does it mean all 166-acres of land at the Mission Valley sight? I don’t believe they would ever give the land away, makes no sense.

A bigger question is this. Can City Council turn around and do a financing deal, without putting it up for a vote?

The CSAG proposal would have needed a City-County vote of 50% plus one, to have the two governing bodies donate money into the pool.

How much did politics play into all this? Mayor Kevin Faulconer now has a City Council President Myrtle Cole heading up that side. They need six votes to get a deal like this approved, and she may hold sway to have other council members change their feelings and vote to get the deal done.

How could two of the most vocal critics, council men Scott Sherman and Chris Cates, change colors so quickly?

Both were opposed to Measure C-downtown, but both now believe the Q-site is the right site. Both were scorched by citizens for their anti-Chargers stance leading up to the November election, and now both are pro-Chargers, because it’s Mission Valley.

Both villified Dean Spanos and Mark Fabiani in the past for refusing to meet and negotiate, and now they want bygones to be bygones, and invite them to the table.

And now Spanos’ people leaked a response about being embarrassed the city would make the letter public before telling him, “infuriated” was the description a Chargers source used. Guess he can now feel how the city felt when Spanos let his mouthpiece Mark Fabiani unleash blistering criticism against city leadership earlier this year.

Again the question, how does that taste Dean?

Is Team Spanos in a bad financial way?

Seems to be, with reports Spanos is asking the NFL to waive a ‘debt-load’ rule, that would allow them to borrow the money needed to make a 550M payment, a transfer fee, for moving into the LA market.

Does Spanos go to the meetings today with hat-in-hand, asking for league help, since it does not appear he has real money to do real projects of this magnitude?

Where does Roger Goodell sit in all these negotiations?

Is he willing to vacate the San Diego market, 8th in size in the country, to allow a second team in LA, or does he really want to keep LA as a chip as an expansion franchise city, thereby creating another revenue stream for owners?

Is Goodell willing to vacate the huge San Francisco-Oakland TV market, by allowing the Raiders to move to the 40th TV market in the country, Las Vegas?

Will Goodell and other owners creatively come up with additional loans to help both San Diego, and the Oakland situation?

A 2-page letter from City Council is just the beginning of the volume of work that needs to be done.

And the biggest question of all. Will Dean Spanos tell the NFL he is not invoking his option to move to LA this January, but will retain the option to tell them on Janaury 15th in 2018?

I think he should. It would truly be a sign of faith he really wants to stay here, not take the money and run to LA.

So many questions, so many answers needed, so many complexities and agenda’s to work out.

“NFL Accountability-Have to Have It”.

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You will have to explain this one to me.

With everything out there in front of them, new home under construction, 70,000-season tickets, 90,000 turning out for games, and with the number 1-pick in the draft, why would the LA Rams take the road they took.

Los Angeles fans waited 21-years for the return of the NFL to their city.

The Rams franchise was beloved, even if prior ownership, Georgia Frontiere and John Shaw were not.

Stan Kroenke arrives with check book in hand, and is prepared to the spend his money to build a mega entertainment complex, including the NFL Stadium in Hollywood Park.

Now half a year removed from their arrival, fans are pouring out of games in the third quarter, booing the product. The team is staggering around trying to figure out who they are, how they should play, what they should run.

They are stoic in their decision not to force feed the top pick in the draft, rookie quarterback Jared Goff.

They let 3-top free agents from their defense, walk out the door as free agents. You don’t think Janoris Jenkins wouldn’t make a difference in the secondary?

They say goodbye to heart and soul guys like Chris Long, the pass rusher, and run stuffer James Laurinatis, salary cap casualties.

They lose a 2nd round draft pick, Tre Mason of Auburn to mental illness. Their 3rd round pick of a year ago, Steadman Bailey, is nearly mortally wounded in a drive-by shooting.

The offensive line can’t stay healthy, cannot stay on the field, and when on field, is pitiful.

They put a feeble, unimaginative product on the field, and then decide to finally put quarterback Jared Goff on the field as a starter, where he is promptly overwhelmed.

They are mocked nationally, booed locally. A source within the front office calls the place “Rams Junior High.” Top running back Todd Gurley says what they are running is “middle school football”, and says some teammates are mailing it in.

The coach-general manager relationship is termed toxic. And they are (4-9).

And now the coach, Jeff Fisher, is gone, in the wake of a (31-44-1) record. It’s been 12-seasons since the Rams were int he playoffs. Fisher, who built a solid reputation running the Houston Oilers, and then the Tennessee Titans, lost his way.

He was fired, and you wonder if the architect of all this, the GM, Les Sneed should be gone too.

Kroenke did not wait around. Tired of what he sees, he needs to see instant improvement, with whomever they bring in to fix this mess.

For some reason, Jeff Fisher lost his ability to lead, his creativity to be different, and the dynamics of things that made him once-upon-a time, a hot young coach.

Two things crossed my mind Monday when this all spilled out.

The Rams are bold, see their move from St. Louis to Los Angeles and the deal to build a stadium.

The other is the Chargers ownership here is timid. Dean Spanos cannot make up his mind on moving or staying, cannot committ to help one city or move to the other. And he lets this Mike McCoy coaching crisis go on and on.

So the Rams begin a search for a new coach. And the Chargers wonder if the next Raiders “home game” will be the one they play here next Sunday at the Q against the Bolts.

And to think, the NFL Network chose the Rams to be featured last summer on Hard Knocks. What has happened in season would have made for better television for sure. .

Accountability, part of the way the Rams do business. Not so much the way the Chargers operate.

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“Chargers Football…Mad or Sad?”

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Another game, another loss, in a lost season, in what has become a series of lost seasons.

Another game, and more serious and scary injuries, to wo of their best young players.

Another Sunday..and more rumors the owner wants to move, and might move, to Los Angeles.

And so it goes, as the Chargers get pounded by a really poor Carolina Panthers team, a shell of what we saw become a Super Bowl team a year ago.

Cam Newton looks mechanically flawed and in-decisive, odd for someone so experienced. They have no running game. The target passes to receivers are many times off target. The defense, the secondary, seems shaky at best.

And this mixed bag of talent beat the hell out of the Chargers, before beating them up.

It was a horrid day for Philip Rivers. Five turnovers, all on his watch, three picks and two fumble-sacks.

Of course he had accomplisses in this mess. The highly paid, under-performaing offensive line. When they were done, he had taken 5-sacks…10-hits and 10-pressures. It’s the fourth time in 5-weeks, Rivers has become a “pinata” for opposing pass rushers.

And the defense got ambushed early, when Cam Newton broke form, and ran the ball three times early in the game, by design, and picked on street free agents, scorching them in the secondary..

And we had the traditional two poor punts by Drew Kasor, giving Carolina what seemed to be awesome field position most of the day.

Yes Rivers tried to rally the troops, but that was when the Panthers took their foot off the pedal. But when it counted, Carolina regained composure and intensity and took care of business in the final quarter.

It is sad what Chargers football has become.

And then the scary injuries by what little star talent was left on the field. Crossing fingers that Melvin Gordon’s hip injury is a strain, and not something structual, like a torn labrum or worse. I cannot get the thought of the Bo Jackson hip injury out of my mind.

And Joey Bosa bounced off a sack attempt of Newton dropping like a sack of potatoes with a strained neck, and maybe a bit of a concussion.

And the leaky offensive line kept limping off the field during the game, when they were not taking penalties or getting beat by the Panthers edge rushers.

Tough to gauge whether Mike McCoy is a good coach. Hell, he has a better team on the injured reserve list than he has on the field.

Tough to blame GM-Tom Telesco. Not his fault for all these injuries.

Tough to say owner Dean Spanos though, does not deserve all the scorn he is getting in this community for what he has done, or not done, in the stadium issues, that just keep simmering out there.

Of course Spanos could deal with these issues, by saying he’s staying here for another year, to solve the Stadium issue, or he is firing McCoy, admitting, this was a mistake. But this is a man who struggles to make decisions, especially right decisions.

23-losses in their last 33-games. Sagging attendance. A battered roster. Wasting what’s left of the career of a great quarterback.

Only 3-more weekends left of this mess, and then a January to determine the future.

Future home of the franchise. Future of the Coach.

It’s like this team is hopeless, helpless, and to some degree clueless.

I’d like to be mad at someone, but I’m not sure who.

So we’ll just be sad for the time being..

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“49ers and QB-Gone Off the Deep End”

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The San Francisco 49ers thought they had it all, a perfect fit, a creative coach, and a dynamic quarterback.

Guess they were wrong.

Chip Kelly inherited a mess, and hasn’t made it any better. The 49ers entr play this weekend with a (1-11) record, half a roster, and a half-baked quarterback.

Kelly has a horrible team. What he is doing with his schemes, worked at Oregon, but haven’t worked in Philadelphia, and definitely don’t work in San Francisco.

Once upon a time, Colin Kaeperneck was viewed as something special. Not so any more, not on the field, nor now, off it either.

Kaeperneck got benched Sunday after going (1-5) passing for 4-yards and took 5-sacks. The last time I saw those numbers was when Ryan Leaf melted down in the rain in a Chargers-Chiefs game years ago, something like (1-15) for 4-yards and 3-turnovers.

The quarterback continues to play poorly on a really bad team, and continues to open his mouth.

Did he take a QB-hit on Pearl Harbor Day, when the Head of the Pacific Fleet, in a speech at the Arizona Memorial, honored the last of the living survivors, and those entombed by saying “You can bet the men and women we honor here today, who died on this fateful morning 75-years ago, never took a knee or failed to stand for the National Anthem.”

This is the same Kaeperneck who raised a huge issue in August about racial oppression, in the aftermath of “Black Lives Matter”, by sitting then kneeling, refusing to stand for the Anthem.

And the same Kaeperneck who ripped Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, saying you can’t make Ameirca great, because “America has never been great for blacks”.

The 49ers quarterback showed up at workouts wearing socks with a picture of a pig in a police hat.

And a week ago, he wore a tee shirt with the image of Fidel Castro, and pronounced how Castro did great things in Cuba, health and education. Guess he cut class at Nevada-Reno when they taught about the Bay of Pigs, political persecution, and murders.

Oh he has a right to say what he thinks, for it is a free country. But this oppressive country, protected by pigs, and saved by those who died in wars, has given him the freedom to say stupid things, play football, and make (11.6M) this year as a quarterback.

Wish he’d play better. Wish he’d shut up.

“Padres Pitching-You Have to Be Kidding Me?”

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Love the Winter Baseball Meetings. I had a great time covering them two years ago here in San Diego.

The chance to take part in all these big press conferences, when the free agent signings and big trades are announced.

And fun to sit in on the roundtable discussions with each of the managers to hear them talk about their teams, and to talk baseball philosophy.

And then there was Andy Green’s sitdown in the manager’s sessions yesterday just outside Washington, DC.

He did an admirable job in a horrible situation, the dealing away of players, the injuries to his pitching staff, and the rag-tag rotation he had to send out there. He probably learned alot as a first year manager.

And as the Padres conclude the winter meetings, having done nothing yet, to fix a young roster and a woeful starting rotation, you have to feel bad for Green.

Oh he’s the good solider, but what he said last night at the winter meetings made your head spin.

Luis Perdomo, the young Rule 5-draft pick, got progressively better as the year went on. He did finish with a (9-10) record, but a very high (5.71-ERA). And he is positioned right now to be their number one starter. The kid showed great heart, solid stuff, and battled, but I cannot get away from the fact he allowed 233-baserunners in 146-innings.

From then on, Green has to select a rotation out of rejects.

Christian Friederich, or so the manager says, will be his number two starter. What?

Friederich was (5-12) with a (4.80-ERA). His career record is (10-28). And by the way, he won only one of his final 16-starts from mid June on.

And the 2nd year manager then proceeded to trot out names like Paul Clemens, a journeyman’s journeyman, and Jarred Cosart, found wanting by 3-other teams, who is still in San Diego’s plans.

Clemens was (4-5) with a 4.27-ERA, prone to walks and home runs.

Cosart was (0-6) with a 6.00-ERA and is coming off surgery.

Cesar Vargas, a young off season acquisition, had a good outing or two, but was (0-3) with a typical San Diego 5.03-ERA.

Think about this. That 5-man rotation went (17-33) and registered a bloated (5.10) earned run average.

Oh still out there are Tyson Ross, coming off the compressed nerve surgery in the shoulder, who might be back in May or June, if they re-sign him.

Clayton Richard resurrected his mechanics, and gave them a (3-2) record with a 2.01-end of season ERA, but we’re talking about an aging pitcher with shoulder issues.

And of course, Edwin Jackson, who was unemployed half the season, before San Diego called. Yes he flirted with a no-hitter, and a good start or two, but he was typical Edwin Jackson, you know, walks, bombs and a (5.75) ERA.

I guess there’s always hope that a kid will arrive out of the farm system. And they do like youngster Danelson Lamet, who went (12-10) at three different levels. And Walker Lockett was (10-9) with a 2.96-ERA pitching through AA-AAA. One is 22, the other 24, and who knows if they are ready.

You can be excited about the international signings, and I know ownership is. They have to, they let GM-AJ Preller write checks totaling 89M in salaries and bonuses to sign 66-draft picks and international players. But realize these guys are 3-to-5 years away. Just because you are from Cuba does not mean you are the next star on the horizon. Ask the Dodgers about their failure rate with kids coming off the island.

And there is an opening day to be played at Petco Park, and a 2017-18 season before some of these young arms arrive.

Yes there is still a January and February to try and acquire pitching, but not many quality arms are left, and Preller does not have many prospects to use as bargaining chips to make deals.

I don’t know how the Padres avoid losing 100-game with this group on the mound. You may like Hunter Renfroe and some of the other everyday players, but they can’t score 6-runs a game, especially if this is your pitching staff. Will the Padres threaten the all time worst record ever in baseball, the back in the day (40-120). For Marv Throneberry’s sake, I hope not.

Maybe, the Padres should try this marketing plan, ‘Buy a season ticket, get to make a start in the rotation”

You have to be kidding me about this rotation?

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