1-Man’s Opinion–Tuesday…. “Free Fall-Organization Failures”

Posted by on November 10th, 2015  •  0 Comments  • 

The whole nation has now gotten to see what Chargers fans have seen for the last year and a half, the unraveling of a franchise.

Bad teams, made bad mistakes, make bad plays, and lose, and so the Bolts now have a 5-game losing streak, sitting at (2-7) on the season, having lost to another bad team, the Chicago Bears.

It started with the street alley beating they took from the Raiders, and it’s gotten worse since. A bad loss to Baltimore, and now this, losing to a virtually all rookie Bears team.

And it was another last minute setback, like so much of this season has become.

Four more players went down with significant injuries. By halftime, Philip Rivers had lost virtually all his down the field receivers. The defense kept blitzing, kept giving up big plays, and died on the field.

Jay Cutler took Chicago on a 93-yard drive, covering 15-plays, and 8-minutes. Then he drove them again, using big ‘chunk’ plays to get them the winning touchdown, thanks to a marvelous 1-handed Zach Miller TD catch. Of course, he was wide open in the secondary.

There were the assortment of Chargers mistakes, including the stupid spike the ball penalty by receiver Stevie Johnson, the flag against offensive guard DJ Fluker, three penalties on three plays earlier in the game. Donnie Inman fumbled a completion, then dropped a pass. Trustworthy Danny Woodhead dropped two passes also.

Rivers took 10-hits and back-to-back sacks late in the game, and even Superman at quarterback cannot get it done, when the team around him becomes Kryptonite.

Chicago survived its own calamites. It seemed they were in San Diego territory all night. A missed field goal at the 29; a fumble at the San Diego 15; a Cutler interception at the 30; another missed field goal at the 15; and 3-bad penalties themselves.

There are problems everywhere, a battered roster, to a bad defense, to an owner who wants to leave, after poisoning the relationship with the city and fans.

At times this looked like a preseason exhibition game in August, not a game with meaning in November. And just think, the Bolts still have to play Denver twice, Kansas City twice, and go to Oakland to meet the Raiders.

They’ll get a very high first round pick by virtual of the roster that Tom Telesco has put together. The season is starting to resemble the Ryan Leaf (1-15) season, and who could have ever thought you’d say that about a team that has Philip Rivers as his quarterback.

I am haunted by two things. Seeing Rivers get knocked around and trying to rally this team, is like watching Dan Marino in Miami, when he got beat (62-7) in his final game against Jacksonville.

And I see an eerie comparison to what happened 20-years ago this past weekend. Art Modell announced he would move the Cleveland Browns to Baltimore, and they never won a game again after that announcement.

This mess is not on Philip Rivers; it may not be even on Mike McCoy. It’s bad football, bad injuries, bad leadership, and now the whole nation has seen the demise of the San Diego Chargers.

1-Man’s Opinion on Sports-Monday “Whose Fault is this Chargers issue?”

Posted by on November 9th, 2015  •  0 Comments  • 

Monday Night Football is upon us.  Used to be exciting, and some weeks it really is.  Not tonght though, this matchup of the Chargers and Bears.

Oh there are some storylines.  John Fox, the Bears coach, and his long respected relationship with Chargers coach Mike McCoy.  Fox had a young McCoy on his staffs while with the Carolina Panthers and Denver Broncos.

And once upon a time, there was some lightning in the rivalry between quarterbacks, Philip Rivers and Jay Cutler.  Of course, that was when the Chargers were winning and the Broncos believed they were pretty good too.

Things aren’t the same anymore on the field.  The Chargers have become a mid-level team despite the greatness of the quarterback.  Cutler moved on from the Broncos to the woeful Bears, his career not having gone the way many thought it would coming out of Vanderbilt.

And something else is no longer prevalent, home field advantage for the Chargers.

Bolt fans are selling their tickets to out of town fans.  Witness the huge Gold & Black turnout when the Steelers came to town, followed by the overwhelming color scheme at the last home game, Silver & Black cheering the Raiders.

And now a likely sea of Blue-and-Orange, the Bears colors dating back to the days of Geroge Halas.

I doubt you see Seahawks fans selling their tickets.  Nor in Pittsburgh or in New England.  Of course those are winners.

But they sell out in Buffalo and Tennesse amongst other places, and those franchises have been losers for an extended time.

So why is this happening in San Diego?

A combination of disappointing seasons strung together.  Maybe it is because this is a melting pot of people from so many other places, therefore there are lots of fans from other teams living here.

Maybe it’s the constant barrage of negativism from Mark Fabiani, chief spokesman-obstructionist of owner Dean Spanos.

Maybe it’s on Spanos himself, for alot of bad decisions made with this franchise, on his watch.  His actions towards the Mayor and the city-county effort to build a new stadium.  Or his failure to put out the AJ Smith-Marty Schottenheimer oil fire.  Or even further, refusing to solve the divorce that came after the Super Bowl season with Bobby Beathard and Bobby Ross.

Lots of history with this owner too.  The ticket guarantee and other issues, the constant whining about the Stadium and others, that just keep resurfacing.

The Chargers spent a chunk of the summer trying to sell us-tell us, season ticket sales were up.  This from a franchise that secretly with-held that information in past offseasons.  What was happening was the reality the Bolt fans were buying tickets to re-sell to the fans of the other clubs.

And of course, the Chargers stance, they sell 25% of their tickets to fans in LA, when the real truth is the ticket brokers are in Los Angeles, and they are selling tickets to those out of towner fans, coming here to see their team play in the sunshine.

It’s tough when the Chargers next road game, is actually a home game tonight against the Bears.  Not too good when your quarterback has to use handle signals to call audibles at the line of scrimmage in his own stadium.

You tell me who is to blame for what this has become?  A losing season with a team that has lost any semblance of home field advantage.  A team whose owner keeps talking about Los Angeles not San Diego.

Enjoy Monday Night Football.  You probably won’t enjoy the atmosphere at Qualcomm Stadium though, unless you wear Blue and Orange-Da Bears colors.

 

—0—

1-Man’s Opinion Column-Friday 11/6 “NFL-Dirty Dollars-Dirty Decision Makers”

Posted by on November 6th, 2015  •  0 Comments  • 

It doesn’t feel right at all to you.  It feels downright fraudulant.  In fact, considering who was involved, it’s borderline disgusting.

The NFL is scrambling after Senator John McCain exposed them in their latest money-grab, the Pay-for-Patriotism advertising campaign.

It’s another item to add to the checklist of shady business dealings executed by the NFL, Roger Goodell, its ownerships, including Dean Spanos.

McCain unearths information that as part of the Department of Defense’s marketing plan to recruit people into the military, the Government spent 6.8M in taxpayers dollars over a 4-year period, to advertise in NFL Stadiums.

The Chargers received 435,000 in advertising buys thru the DOD, as the Military became an in-stadium sponsor of Chargers home games.

What we saw were great emotional military displays, fly overs, full field flags, salutes to Wounded Warriors, military honored in skyboxes, featured on the big screen scoreboard.  All things designed for us to extend an emotional thanks for all who have put themselves in harms way against global terror.

Now we find out it was staged.  It was a sponsored advertising campaign.  It was the NFL teams charging big money rates for the military to sponsor all this.  Pay for the Patriotism display at selected home games.

It’s shameful, that the mega-profit owners of NFL teams, have to stoop so low to create this ‘love the soldier’ image at home games, when it reality, it is ‘love your money’, and here’s an idea.

I have no doubt this came out of the NFL league office, some marketing executive creating this special emotional attachment imagery to an in stadium promotion. all the while making sure teams got a cut of the DOD advertising budget.

The Chargers are no less guilty than any other NFL team.  Assume Robert Kraft and Jerry Jones and many others, in addition to Spanos felt good about the on-field presentation, and even better about the profits they made.

In an era when we weep for those who died, and those who suffered life changing wounds by serving their country, does this not make you sick to your stomach?  It should.  It would if one of your family members was a victim of snipers, or shell fragments or the trauma.

The NFL, without regard to moral obligation, just seems to go on and on.

A year ago, there was the scandal about how much the NFL profited from the Breast Cancer weekend, where everyone wore pink, everyone stood up for women victims of breast cancer, only to find out the NFL and its manufacturers took a large volume of the money taken in, rather than send it on for cancer research.

Need we remind you of the Dallas Super Bowl ticket scandal in the Cowboys stadium, the ticket prices for seats that didn’t exist, or were constructed with limited views just before game day, that led to lawsuits.

And though they never admitted to anything, we have the 935M concussion lawsuit for all those players with CTE, brain damage, Alzheimers-Dimentia, and those who committed suicide.  You don’t really believe out of the goodness of their heart, the NFL owners just decided to write a check do you, or was it because they knew, and their was evidence out there, that was going to show up in lawsuit discovery?

Power and greed corrupt.  I’ve believed it for a long time.  It seems we are revisiting that issue again with the “Pay for Patriotism” promotion that has been uncovered.  .

Roger Goodell says his office will investigate.  They may order the money returned, or maybe donated to Military families in need.

Pick a word to describe it.  Disgusting, Dirty, Corrupt.

Playing off the emotions of the fans and the flag, while pocketing big profits.

It would be nice to see a formal NFL apology, on every NFL TV-broadcast on a given week, when all this is sorted out.

The NFL reaching a new all-time low.

 

-0-

1-Man’s Opinion-Thursday–11/5 “Chargers-Mid Season Report Card”

Posted by on November 5th, 2015  •  0 Comments  • 

The Chargers have skidded to the mid-season of the NFL schedule, a team going in the wrong direction with an owner trying to go take his franchise out of town. A midseason report card on the (2-6) Bolts.

Owner…Dean Spanos used to be a special guy…active in the community….available….now reclusive…borderline despicable because of what he has allowed Mark Fabiani to do in the community on his behalf….and his franchise is falling apart on the field…..Grade (D)

General Manager…Tom Telesco still gets passing grades because the top of his draft boards have brought quality players here…but you need more than an occasional impact player….Only 4-of-17 draft choices have had positive impact on team. By January, the Chargers will have won just 1-playoff game with Rivers at quarterback in 7-years. His free-agent signings and cash outlays for bonuses are a disaster….Has turned Chargers into the Colts-great quarterback-soft team….Grade (D)

Coach…Mike McCoy…..Guess we’ll never know how good this team could have been and how good he could have been with his creative genius since injuries have destroyed the team…..But injuries are part of the NFL and he is (20-20) now in two and half seasons with that quarterback….He must win next year to keep the job….Still believe Frank Reich can be good with weapons….John Pagano era should be over…I said day they hired McCoy-best guy going into the best situation…..Situation going in wrong direction…Grade (C).

QB…Philip Rivers….Without him this would be the Detroit Lions or Jacksonville Jaguars, but I fear his career is headed the way Dan Marino’s went, losing (62-7) in his final game….Everything about the player and person is special…Grade (A)

RB…Melvin Gordon is learning on the job, about fumbles, hits, blocking etc…Still great upside with his explosive talent…..Who knows how good he is because he has no help upfront…but then again neither does Todd Gurley and look at his numbers coming off knee surgery with the Rams…Danny Woodhead does all he can with his God-given talents….Grade (C)

WR…Keenan Allen has a fine career ahead of him now that he has learned what it is like to be a pro…Malcom Floyd in farewell tour….rest of receivers have been pedestrian-though Stevie Johnson needs to get ball more…Add in productivity of Antonio Gates-Ladarius Green and group is good …Grade (A)

OL….A disaster from tackle-to-tackle…Have to question long-term health of King Dunlop….DJ Fluker playing with great heart….everyone else injured…Stunning Orlando Franklin misses 1-game in career in Denver-then has three different injuries in San Diego in eight weeks…Pass protection shaky-run blocking awful…Not all their fault because they are hurt…Grade (D).

DL…This is not player problem-it’s organizational problem…have failed to address defensive front in past five drafts at top of draft board….Corey Liuget cannot do it by himself….none of young players they brought in is a difference maker….Grade (D).

LB…You see flashes and say Melvin Ingram and Jerry Attaochu can create havoc in the blitz package…Virtually nothing from the Inside backers….Mantei Te’o injury issues for 3rd year in a row-he’s no Luke Kuechly is he…..Donald Butler never been the same since early career…Grade (C).

DB…Jason Verrett has stayed on the field and grown into shutdown corner…Eric Weddle, in contract year, has missed more tackles than I have ever seen…Brandon Flowers woke up an old man who cannot run anymore….Jahleel Addae is great at blasting people after the catch and run is made…Grade (D)

Special Teams…Josh Lambo is rock solid…Mike Scifres not what he used to be-age-injury…Jacoby Jones unemployed-leaving with lots of their money….Other teams get guys who make big returns-not this franchise….Kick cover units almost as disgraceful as return units…Grade (D)

Franchise….This won’t be a (1-15) type season like the Ryan Leaf era, because they have two wins so far, but this is a miserable feeling around this team, its leadership, its football people….Atmosphere at Stadium turning sour with fans selling their tickets-next road game for Chargers will be Monday night ‘home’ game vs Bears….Flash back to the season Art Modell announced he was moving the Browns to Baltimore-Cleveland didn’t win a game after that…..Chargers don’t seem to be the same either with all this ‘move to LA mojo’…..Grade (D)

1-Man’s Opinion Column-Wednesday “Royals-are-Kings”

Posted by on November 4th, 2015  •  0 Comments  • 

The World Series parade was something to behold, 30-years in the making, the trip down Main Street-Kansas City.

Royals fans, who dressed as empty seats for a decade and a half are back wearing their colors, cheering their team, drawing over 2.7M to the Stadium this year.

It hasn’t been an easy trip. Hated owner David Glass, poor baseball leadership, nickle and dime budgets, 17-losing seasons in an 18-year span. It takes time to fix all the wrongs, all the mistakes made, but it finally got done, and done right in Kansas City.

The Royals got there thru years of losing, following by astute drafting, complimented by key international free agent signings, and then those ‘fill in the blanks on this roster’ deals.

It wasn’t this way always in KC. The era of Dennis Leonard, Dan Quisenberry, Hal McRae, George Brett, Willie Wilson, Brett Saberhagen, Mark Gubiza was a long time ago, 30-baseball summers ago.

But out of all the losing, from 2002-to-2006, seasons of 100-100-104-and-106 losses, eventually came high draft picks, and then General Manager Dayton Moore.

All that losing begat four straight high draft picks, that panned out. Alex Gordon (2), Luke Hochevar (1), Mike Moustakos (2), Eric Hosmer (3) and Dan Duffy, were all taken as top of the first round selections, and became the cornerstone of what the Royals are at this hour, championships.

The Caribbean connection brought them World Series MVP-catcher Sal Perez, SS-Alcides Escobar, and the arms Kelvin Herrera, Yordano Ventura and Christain Colon.

Then there came the rentals, dealing other minor league prospects in packages that rented Johnny Cueto, Alex Rios, Ben Zobrist, Edinson Volquez, Wade Davis and Lorenzo Cain.

In a 24-month span, it arrived, almost simultaneously. A wild card spot and a World Series berth in 2014, a runaway first place season and now a World Series ring in 2015. A far cry from all those lousy hot-humid-bad baseball summer nights that stifled the spirt of the fans in the early 2000s.

I looked it up. The Royals payroll to win the World Series was 110M-dead middle on the MLB spending charts, ranked 15th, right next to the San Diego Padres, who spent 110M to get worse, finish lower in the standings, and never see the real October.

Look at the youth and the cross section of talent from everywhere on the Royals roster. Compare it to the Padres, impaled by bad contracts they took on, looking now at a barren farm system because they dealt so many prospects away, empty results in the international market, and reeling with age and injury.

The flashy phrase these days is ‘the Royals way’, just like a group of years ago, it was the ‘Tampa Bay blueprint’. Still to come will be the ‘Cubs Creedo’. You can call it whatever you want, when it works.

For the Padres fans, it sure looks like they screwed this thing up, and the Padres and Royals are a long way apart, more than just the 1,605 miles it takes to drive from Petco Park to Royals Stadium.

World Series ring for one…..Cracker Jacks booby prize for the other.

 

 

—0—