“Bad Season-Team-Leadership”

 

 
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The losing continues. The solution is nowhere to be found. The cause, right infront of you.

 
Welcome to Los Angeles Lakers basketball, where ‘Showtime’ was special, first at the Forum, then at Staples Center.

 
Lakers basketball was about West-Baylor-Chamberlain. It was Magic-Worthy-Cooper-Nixon. Then Shaq-Kobe-Gasol and the likes.

 
Now Lakers basketball is losing, blowouts, bad shots, bad attitudes, and more than anything else, bad leadership.

 

The Lakers banners and jerseys hung from the rafters, are the only symbol left what was the great era ownership by Dr. Jerry Buss. Now it is an era of error by his son Jim Buss, who has delivered us last place finishes, lottery picks that don’t pan out, and a parade of coaches, hired to be fired.

 
Since opening night of the 2013-season, the Lakers have a composite record of (58-158). Think about the history of the word ‘awful’ in NBA history, and the Philadelphia 76ers (9-72) record comes to mind back in the day. The terrible Sacramento Kings teams. The demise of the Boston Celtics. The poorly run New York Knicks.

 

 

They ended a numbing 10-game losing streak last night with a win over the woeful Minnesota Timberwolves.  They’re still (10-41), very un-Laker-like.

 
But this is the Lakers franchise, where things like this only happened to other people in the Association. Right infront of your eyes, including those in the $1500 courtside seat, they are witness to this shameful product.

 
Kobe Bryant is in his farewell tour. Some nights showing flashes, other night’s firing up shot after shot, failing to hit. And then the nights he is so banged up he cannot suit up.

 
The Lakers have given us back to back lottery picks, Julius Randle of Kentucky, and Ohio State’s DeAngelo Russell, both with talent, both overwhelmed by this next level of play, both with reps of being whiners.

 
The growth is painfully slow, and there is agony watching their attitudes on the court, playing little defense, missing shots, and sitting and laughing on the bench in the midst of 27-point blowouts at home.

 
The rest of the roster, assembled by GM-Mitch Kupchack, is a mixed bag of young guys cut from other teams, D-League plays, and limited talent because the league says you have to suit up so many on game night.

 
Coach Byron Scott, a throwback to better days, is failing badly here, just like he failed as a head coach elsewhere. His glory days are behind him, and if he were not an ex-Laker, he’d be gone too.

 
But who should go is Jim Buss. They need leadership, and whether that comes from Kupchack, who knuckled under to Buss’ power move, or somebody from the outside, remembering Phil Jackson was available once upon a time, something has to change.

 
Good will and great days years ago, carries only so far. The Lakers have this TV channel, and the highlites are not game night against whomever they will lose to next, but rather yesteryear, and all the videos of Magic-Bird-Jordan.

 
The Lakers are no longer a destination point for marquee free agents. They think they can make a run at Kevin Durant a year from now if he leaves Oklahoma City. Did Lakers tradition carry the day last summer when they tried to lure the Trailblazers LaMarcus Aldridge? Don’t think so, then, or in the future.

 
Kobe vacates the first week of April, leaving behind cherished memories of 81-point nights, great years with Shaq, great fights with Shaq, and the time with the Zen Master-Jackson.

 
That’s all that’s left of Lakers basketball, the memories. The word bad is everywhere around that team’s practice facility and game night tipoffs.

 
Living in the past. That’s all the Lakers have going for them right now.

 

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“The Kid QB-Can Do”

 

 

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So what are we to make of Cam Newton, the heart-the soul-the smile of the Carolina Panthers?

 

 

The diverse and dynamic athlete, who has driven the Panthers back to relevance from the decay and obscurity they had been.

 

 
The athlete with the big cannon arm and the bigger than life ever-present smile.

 

 
Quarterbacks with promise come and go. For every Cam Newton there has been a JaMarcus Russell of the Raiders. For every big play he makes, you think of the failures of a Vince Young in Tennessee. For the spectacular athlete he has become you wonder whatever went wrong with Robert Griffin III. For all the hype he got coming in, he made it, but Johnny Manziel has not.

 

 
There will always be critics everywhere. Cam is a showboater. Cam is a hot dog. Cam is self-serving. Cam is too full of himself.

 

 
The preening for the cameras after all those touchdown passes and runs, 47-to be exact this year now, you must give him credit. His talents allow that to happen. He makes all the plays, without a lot of household names around him. Can you name me any of his star wide receivers? Does anyone outside of Mecklenberg County know who his tight end is. Bet few can name the group of running backs he has. And his offensive line, nameless and faceless are unidentifiable.

 

 

Should we be offended he is so active? No we should be impressed with his raw talent. Should we hold it against him, he always smiles? No, it’s a byproduct of all he puts into the game and what he gets out of it? Do we know very much about him? Yes we do, from the end product at Blinn Junior College, at Auburn, and what he has become in Carolina.

 

 
Yes he made an immature comment about being an ‘African American quarterback who scares people-because you cannot compare anyone to him’. Maybe it came out wrong, came out sideways, came out stupid.

 

 
But as they kickoff come Sunday, know this. He has played in big games all his life. The stage has never seemed too big for him. And the end result is he wins.

 

 

We respect and enjoy the business like style of Peyton Manning, the fire and tenacity of Tom Brady, the class and leadership of Philip Rivers, and the play of the other really good quarterbacks in the NFL. But this guy is different, as a player and a person.

 

 

Cam Newton plays the game with ‘joy’ and I think that’s pretty neat. Enjoy the theatrics, for his backs it all up with his greatness.

 

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“Bolts-Believe it or Not’
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So it’s a new day, and the story is constantly changing. Friday showed us all the uncertainty in the on-going sage of the Chargers, to Los Angeles, to San Diego, to whomever gives them a lucrative deal.

 
In a span of 24-hours, Team Spanos bought an option to buy a business building and 5-acres of land, for a practice facility in Santa Ana.

 
Then Friday morning, they reached agreement on a ‘tenant deal’ to move into the Rams new Stadium, getting reduced revenue, but not having to fork over 1.3B in construction costs, nor territorial transfer fees.

 
When all appeared lost in San Diego, the Chargers owner, announced he would commence talks with the City, to see if there was a way to build a new stadium, either downtown or in Mission Valley, some 4-months after the City-County coalition stood shocked when the Chargers walked away from the negotiating table.

 
Of course, caught in the middle of all this, is the Raiders franchise, looking like a homeless transient, pushing a shopping cart out of the Oakland Coliseum parking lot, blocked for the time being from going to LA and possibly even San Diego.

 
And if the theatrics weren’t overwhelming, this Sunday night tidbit, that Mark Fabiani is trying help steer Raiders owner Mark Davis to Las Vegas, where the CEO of the ‘Sands’ is proposing an NFL-UNLV stadium.

 
The Chargers are trying to divert the Raiders out of Southern California obviously, still with the mistaken idea people in LA and Orange County are attached to the Bolts. Doubtful, in that LA seems to be donning Rams colors from this moment forward.

 
So as talks hopefully start this week between the City-County-Chargers negotiators, we now get to watch the leverage game.

 
Do the Chargers hold the paperwork they have about LA-Santa Ana over the head of the Mayor? Does the Faulconer-Roberts team flash a Raiders logo at the Spanos family with the threat, if you don’t do a ‘fair deal’ with us, San Diego will embrace the Silver and Black, and good luck being the 2nd NFL team in LA and the 8th team on the sports radar, located below the Dodgers-Lakers-Rams-UCLA-USC-Clippers-Kings, maybe just ahead of the LA Galaxy

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Spanos, who is afraid of the San Diego print and electronic media, is using all types of vocabulary about dedication to get a deal done; that San Diego is where the heart really is, etc, etc, etc. He’s trying to undo all the acidic things he let Fabiani say about San Diego over the last 9-months.

 
If indeed he firmly wants us to believe his dedication to stay in America’s finest city, then Dean Spanos needs to do the following.

 
Meet with the credible media face-to-face, not his PR-employees. Answer all the tough questions, fair or unfair, and then go to the negotiating table to share ideas, not make demands..

 
And he should also show us his dedication, by opting out of the Rams deal, backing away from Santa Ana, and adding another 100M of his own money to match the 300M-NFL money, leading to a favorable vote on a new “Q”.

 
That would be a legitimate committment to stay here.

 
Did I not tell you a month ago, that if the Carson-LA plan blew up, fell part, fell short of the votes, Spanos would resurface down here, trying to play the role of ‘saviour’. He wants you to believe he is doing you a favor by now attempting to keep the NFL team here.

 
Not at all costs, just an expensive cost to the city, the county, the fans who will get PSL bills in the mail with season ticket orders. We are now where I thought we would be..

 
A rich man wanting to get richer, after dumping on his city, his fan base, and his integrity.

 
I kept saying his legacy would be based on leaving in the middle of the night to go to LA, or being the catalyst for building a new stadium. His scorched-earth policy, burning all his credibility currency in San Diego, is right there infront of everyone to see.

 
Now we see if he can change his business methodology, and show San Diego Chargers fans loyalty.

 

 

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“Dishonest as the Day is Long”.

 
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I thought of Dean Spanos yesterday as I waited for the PGA golfers to tee off at Torrey Pines. Thought about the beauty of San Diego, this golf course, the game of golf.

 

 

Somehow in the middle of all that, the owner of the Chargers came to mind, and because he loved golf, for some reason or another, it popped into my mind the story of him getting thrown out of Pro Ams for cheating.

 

 

And then came the Email shortly thereafter back in the Media Center, that Spanos had entered into an agreement to buy a 5-ace tract of land in Santa Ana, to build training camp fields and a practice facility, “if they decide to relocate to LA”.

 

 

Of course they are still in ‘weighing all the options mode’ over at the Fortress, telling San Diego to be patient, while all the time continuing to negotiate to find the best deal possible for their family, their football family, for the Chargers, San Diego fans, citizens, civic leaders be damned.

 

 

Mayor Kevin Faulconer, whom I cornered for a 1-on-1 series of questions, answered me bluntly, no the Chargers have never returned any of his five phone calls since the one five minute conversation he had with Spanos right after the Houston vote that killed the Carson project. So much for Spanos following up on all those statements in the past year about wanting to be in San Diego.

 

 

And when you hear that ‘being in San Diego comment’ echo again, remember these are the people who threw hand grenades at the Mayor and the CSAG committee in all the different works putting together the Mission Valley project. And these were the people who hired the spokesman, Mark Fabiani, who said the team was ‘agnostic’ about where to build the stadium, intimating they had no strong choice, while now they talk about a downtown initiative.

 

 

And yes they authored 9-different sets of ideas about a new stadium, in different locations, freshly printed sales slicks, without ever attaching how it would be financed.

 

 

Staying in San Diego included buying land options in Carson, doing a deal with their decades long enemies the Raiders, sabotage the Rams package in Inglewood, trying to sink the Mission Valley plan and refusing to come to the table for word one of possible economic talks.

 

 

They continue to try and play the leverage game too, thinking the LA carrot will make this mayor change his mind about financing. Faulconer told me directly the 350,000 city-county loan won’t be reworked, and he will not bypass any public vote on the financing even if it is a deal breaker, because it is the proper thing to do politically.

 

 

Everytime something comes out of the Chargers office, it is couched in deceit, full of private agendas, and obviously laced with lies.

 

Now, even as they say ‘thinking about their future’, is the late night report the NFL has urged them to accept by this weekend a ‘tenant’ deal with Stan Kroenke in LA, because Spanos does not have the money to become equity partners.  So much playing with the big boys.

 

 

That’s who they are, and who the leader is. The owner of the Chargers, once known to cheat in golf too. A good day at Torrey Pines ruined by the latest chapter, song-verse and press release from the Chargers ownership.

 

Dishonest as the day is long.

 

 

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