ESPN Gave Up Live Mornings?

I recalled, it was last year prior to the Olympics that ESPN, with much fanfare, announced that their morning Sportscenter shows would now be 'live'. Now I don't usually watch ESPN at all unless they are airing live sports for the obvious reason, I have grown tired of hearing about the Yankees, Red Sox and the rest of the east coast teams...not to mention they barely acknowledge hockey and place the NBA as the premiere sport...because of course they are covering the NBA for their parent company, ABC. But I digress...

This morning I had a fair amount of 'slow work' (as I call it) where I am essentially sitting around waiting 2-5 minutes before I need to hit a button and/or change some media or whatever... so I turn on the ole' ESPN just to kill some time and, besides, there is literally nothing worth watching on television in the morning. It wasn't even 1 hour and I begin to notice that ESPN is just re-airing the same Sportscenter over and over and over again...just like before. You know, I thought at the time of the announcement that ESPN would not be able to fill an entire morning with enough fresh material to justify going live...but I also thought that since ESPN is more about fabricating stories and sensationalizing most anything I thought they would be able to put enough garbage together to fill 3 hours with little problems... well it looks like that experiment is all but over.

The live ESPN Sportscenter obviously left quietly and with little opposition and I don't know if anyone knows exactly when because no one was watching in the first place. The facts remain the same...there are very few times that would justify a live morning sports show.

As a sidenote...many people in this region have had their eyes opened as to how shoddy and inaccurate ESPN's reporting actually is during the entire Favre saga this summer. I haven't trusted ESPN for any sports news in quite some time and there are so many other reliable sources a person could go to get the right information. If you want some speculation and opinion, tune into ESPN ... if you want the correct story and the facts, you will need to get your sports news from some other source.

Money Talks And You Walk

I'm not really going to be detailing anything that everyone with a clue already knew, but it is just another example of what fame and fortune is worth in American society...

Donte Stallworth just pleaded guilty to DUI vehicular homicide, accepting a 30 day jail term and settled out of court with the victim's family. Donte Stallworth is, of course, an NFL football player... he got bombed and killed a guy in Florida early one morning and now will have to serve a short sentence and pay a large sum, but in the end, will walk away pretty much free and clear...

Let's compare that to the fate of the guy who killed Anaheim Angels pitcher Nick Ardenhardt. First, the suspect in the Ardenhardt has not seen daylight since his accident, while Stallworth had been free and will remain free until his sentence begins. And some might be quick to point out that the Ardenhardt suspect has a past of DUI convictions and was driving under suspension at the time...but those are just minor obstacles for a skilled lawyer.

In the end, I am willing to bet that the Ardenhardt suspect has a sentence that will put Stallworth's to shame...and why? Of course it is because he isn't rich and famous...once again proving that you can kill someone and get away with it as long as you have money...

Big Surprise: Favre Wants To Play Again

Brett Favre stunned the sports world in an interview last night by saying he was considering playing again next season.

Brett Favre's "official" status as to whether or not he will play next season has been upgraded from retired to "maybe".

Umm... why still the charade Brett?

Anyone notice the 'big lie' in the article that Brett said? Brett said he didn't attend the Viking's OTA's because he didn't want to have a media circus ... HA HA HA... quit lying Brett, you are the ringmaster of the media circus and you will take any opportunity to create a media circus. The real reason you weren't at the Viking OTA's is because you are lazy and selfish. If you can possibly skip the entire preseason and just show up week 1 is your dream gig.

I wonder if Brett is going to demand his own suite in the Metrodome where he will prepare for the games and go to during halftime and afterwords...

Vikes Impose 'Deadline' To Favre

If it wasn't real when I mentioned it earlier, it is now public... the Vikes imposed some artificial deadline to Brett Favre stating that they want to know this week if he is going to play for them or not... How silly the Vikes are... Brett Favre will grace the Metrodome with his presence when he is ready to and you will welcome him with open arms and great fanfare.

UPDATED 6/9/09:

Reports are that Favre's family and 'entourage' has booked a block of hotel rooms in Green Bay the weekend the Vikes play the Packers (Nov. 1). That should all but squash any doubts about Favre's intentions about 'retiring'.

Sunday O' Sports

Yesterday I was feeling ill and pretty much just laid in bed all day to rest up...and while I lied around all day I was able to monitor/watch a full days worth of sports and it was pretty entertaining...

First was the French Open...although I was not up early enough to watch the beginning, I did wake up in time to see Roger dominate the 3rd set and win his 14th major title and his career Grand Slam, making him probably the greatest tennis player ever... As I have stated earlier, I do like Federer and I was happy to see him finally win the French...I was kind of hoping he would beat Nadal to really validate his win, but maybe next year!

Then I dozed off until the afternoon and watched Tiger Woods light up the back 9 at the Nicklaus hosted Memorial PGA event to win it. It looks like Tiger is getting his stroke back...there are 3 majors left to be claimed this year and I think Tiger could...should...be able to win 2 of them if he continues to play like he is right now.

The evening session had me watching the Lakers-Magic game...you know what the lamest rule in professional sports is? It's the NBA rule where a team calls a timeout under the opponents basket and then is allowed to inbounds the ball on their end of the court. That is exactly what happened last night and if the Magic would have won the game because of that rule it would just further illuminate at how lame that rule is. In what other sport does a team get rewarded 3 quarters of the playing field for simply calling a timeout? The Magic got a loose ball with .7 seconds left in the game (a tie game), call a timeout...because they then get to inbounds the ball on their side of the floor, they almost convert a buzzer-beater play. This rule has been an NBA rule for quite some time and no one must see any problem with it because it is just the NBA's attempt to make every game 'close' and if it means they have to sacrifice fairness to achieve that, then they will do that... the NBA is lame...

And the nightcap was the Faber-Brown MMA fight... now I am not a big MMA guy, but for some reason I have followed "The Califonia Kid" Uriah Faber. He got beat by Mike Brown, a guy who I thought caught Faber with a lucky shot to win the lightweight belt, but there was little doubt who won the fight last night...it was Brown, who had threatened multiple times to secure a submission hold on Faber. Faber, for the most part, tried to keep the fight on their feet and any time they went to the mat it was Brown who was the aggressor. Faber landed a few decent shots, but nothing that slowed Brown down. Overall, not a bad MMA fight.

There was my day in bed in front of a t.v.

Merriman Vid

Shawne Merriman posted a video showing him warming up for a basketball game on 6/6/09 ... I hope that's a good sign that he will be good to go for the 2009-10 NFL campaign...


VID 00037.3GP on 12seconds.tv

Some Quick Bits...

I will be fairly busy with work the next 2 weeks and then like usual, I plan to take an extended break from work...only seems proper, not? Since my blogging has tapered off I figured I better get something 'fresh' up there now or else it will look even more desolate than normal. Anyways, here's some quick notes, thoughts, what-have you...

I normally don't tune into late night television anymore. When I was younger I did watch Carson and Letterman on NBC but once Leno started, it seemed as if I grew tired of the late night talk shows and barely would watch any of them. For some reason...probably because there was no sports on...I tuned in the premiere of Conan O'Brian on the Tonight Show. I've seen Conan a few times and think his schtick is o.k. but after after the first 30-40 minutes of the show last night, I know that I will be making no extra effort to watch his show with any regularity.

I have been able to watch a fair amount of the French Open...I'm not a Nadal fan, I am a Federer fan... I didn't have to work yesterday, yet woke up at my regular time of 7 AM. I couldn't immediately fall back asleep so I turned on the Tennis Channel and there was the Federer-Haas match underway...at this point, Federer was down 2 sets...I thought to myself I'll unfortunately watch Rog lose and then go back to sleep...but of course Rog didn't lose, he rallied back and won the match and I didn't even bother trying to go back to sleep then because I had became so involved in watching the match. Although I don't think Roddick has enough of 'it' anymore to win a major, but for some reason I feel sad when he loses. To me, I think Roddick is a guy that you can tell just has a good work ethic and every major he comes out and tells how he is ready...but then you watch him play... He has the huge serve, but so does everyone and now they can return his serve and he seems to struggle to break players. But I also cheer for American players and he is probably our best American player right now... I have zero faith or confidence in James Blake, I am hoping a younger American player can quickly ascend the ranks and take over the world #1 rating.

I better not forget to include a Favre mention...I can't find the speculative link, but I do believe 2 weeks ago there was a story that said the Vikes were giving Favre an ultimatum, that they needed to know by Friday if he would be having the surgery or not on his arm or else they weren't going to offer him a contract...of course Favre hasn't said jack-squat because he will come and play for the Vikes on his schedule... I mean, don't they know who he is? I just kind of chuckle at reading the article because it had that language of the Vikes trying to leverage Favre...haven't they seen the bullshit this guy does every offseason? You will not push him around and if you try he will instantly contact the media and make sure you are set up as the bad guys ala Green Bay Packers.

Some quick Charger notes:
- A developer's plan to build a new stadium for the Chargers in Mission Valley was rejected by the Chargers. They say it is too unrealistic.

- The Chargers announce their plans to commemorate their 50th anniversary. Lots of special activities going on...fans will get to select the 50 greatest Chargers, 20 greatest Charger moments and much, much more....should make the season a fun one at the very least with all the 50th Anniversary stuff surrounding the team.

Well, that's about all I have for now... I hope to get on when I can....

I also hope everyone has a safe and pleasant summer!

Memorial Day Weekend 2009

So I hope everyone has a safe and enjoyable Memorial Day weekend.

This is an odd Memorial Day weekend for me because I have worked every Memorial Day weekend for...hmmm.... probably, at least, 13 years...but because the school system has altered it's schedule I no longer should be working Memorial Day weekend...

So what do I have planned for this, the first Memorial Day weekend I have had off in over 10 years? Absolutely nothing and I am looking forward to every moment of it! The weather is suppose to be nice so I'll likely fire up the grill a few times, maybe go for a bike ride or three, make sure to have a good supply of suds and just (hopefully) have a nice quiet and relaxing weekend....I am almost salivating in anticipation for it to begin...

21st Century Children

I have 2 children, a soon to be 12 year-old daughter and a soon to be 7 year-old son. Since their birth I have tried to 'compare' their childhood experience to mine...not to evaluate or rate which experience is better or worse, but just in a general sense. Comparing my children's childhood experiences in today's society with what I experienced when I was younger.

Let me preface everything with this, I love my children unconditionally...and the following will likely appear as more of a negative dissertation towards them and the children of today, but it is not. It is just my observations and opinions. Yes, my children have angered me but they also have brought joy to my life...and those with kids probably can relate. I have never hurt my kids, not even a spanking - which might be a factor in development of respect and attitude, but I'm no expert.

What has spurred this blog entry is my daughter. My daughter is of the age where she now essentially hates me...which I think everyone as a child goes through...the dislike of their parents. Of course we all know that this is in words only but it still hurts everytime she says it to me and I also know that she is saying it in an attempt to anger me...but here is the differences between her childhood and mine...

First, my daughter is a slob and lazy. Yes, kids are oftentimes not the tidiest and with little to no responsibilities it is easy for them to adopt a routine that allows them to essentially do nothing. My daughter not only does not do anything around the house to assist the family, if left alone for any amount of time, she will have the house completely trashed with shit strewn from top to bottom. If you are able to get her to clean up, rest assured that a mess of almost equal size will be left behind and anything that was 'cleaned up' is likely lost or broken but, most certainly, not put away properly. I was always under the impression that girls were neat and clean, but I am clearly incorrect. My daughter's bedroom is testament to that. Not only is her room littered with trash and clothes at almost all times, she is so lazy that instead of simply putting her dirty clothes into a hamper, she oftentimes chooses to 'hide' her dirty clothes in her closet or in shelves...or where ever...why? No one, including her, I think knows for sure. Comparing her current 'lifestyle' with my childhood, I don't recall ever getting punished for having a unclean room or trashing the house...why? It never was even a consideration. Oh sure, I know there were probably times when I made a mess around the house but the magnitude that my daughter mess makes greatly outweighs anything I ever did. But again, it was never even a consideration when I was young to leave a mess after doing any activity...it was a simple rule, you take something out you put it away, you make a mess you clean it up. My daughter not only laughs at such foolish notions, I think purposely makes even a bigger mess knowing it bothers her parents. The floor around my computer desk is littered with snack wrappers, chip crumbs, popsicle sticks, ponytail holders, jewelry and more and there is literally a garbage can right next to the desk ... so instead of reaching over and dropping her trash into the garbage can, she elects to throw it on the ground...that's how considerate she is.

Excuses and lies: Nothing is my daughter's fault. My daughter has an excuse for everything. You could catch her lighting the house on fire and it wouldn't be her fault. If she gets a poor grade in school, it is my fault because I didn't help her enough. The excuses that come out of her mouth every single day is astounding. If she doesn't have an excuse handy then she just reverts to lying and a lot of the times it is both... she has an excuse for something that is usually a lie. More than once I have flat out told her that I don't trust her and I think she is lying and she will storm off saying how she hates me and that no one ever believes her...but to date, she has yet to do anything that has proven her to be even remotely trustworthy.

Cares about nothing, respects nothing: My daughter does not have one thing that she cares about or that she cherishes. Nor does she respect anything that you may have cherished or cared about. Her mother and I had a fair amount of games that we had when we were children. These games were (obviously) about 20 years old, but could still be played and in as good as shape as you could ask for a game that would be that old...all the pieces still present and boxes in good shape. None of those games are even playable today. My daughter has wrecked, lost and ruined every single board game I and my wife had as child. These games, that we took care of starting at her age and held onto for 20+ years was all for naught. You can walk through my house and find a piece from my Risk game here, a Monopoly piece there and so on. The sad part is that any game that is given to my daughter can be played one time and just one time only because after that first time the game can not be played properly because pieces will be lost or broken. My daughter got Attack Uno for a present a year ago and I remember our entire family unpacking it and playing it...having a good time. A week later I found Attack Uno cards throughout the entire house and she came up to ask if I would play it with her and I simply said that we can not play a game that is incomplete and that game has never been played again. To me that is just sad... I had multiple games that I literally played hundreds, if not thousands of times and here my daughter can't take care of one game long enough to play it more than once. But it isnt' just games, it is essentially everything...my daughter cherishes nothing. There is nothing that is 'special' to her or at least enough to have her care about it. She has been given 'special' jewelry, books and items ... all are often shoved into drawers, lost or broken, but in any effect, if asked to produce any of these special items, my daughter would be hard-pressed to do so.

Social life: my daughter almost races home after school and when gets home will close the doors and stay inside waiting for her mom or me to return home from work. She does not want nor does she even consider doing anything with anyone else outside of school. Once and a while she has gone to a movie or to a friend's house, but for the most part, she is content to stay home and inside the house. For the past couple of summers she has stayed home during the summer break from school and what did she do? Nothing. She NEVER left the house and stayed hunkered in everyday. Again, comparing it to my childhood (once again, not right or wrong, just a comparison), when it was summer time and I was her age and it was a nice day, it would be extremely odd if we stayed in the house for the entire day. Usually, I would get up and be outside for the entire day and return home when I was literally totally tired. I recall biking across town to watch a movie, play with a friend, go to the park, go on a bike ride, go to the Dairy Queen...just go anywhere! To stay home on a beautiful summer day seemed totally wrong when you have your own 'wheels' and the entire summer to explore the world. My son is adopting the same attitude towards summer time ... On a beautiful summer day it is easy to find my children...they will be inside the house. There have been times during the summer, on a beautiful day, that my children will literally be driving me nuts and I begin to get upset with them. I then will say "You guys have an entire garage full of bikes, skateboards, scooters, water guns, balls, bats, gloves, frisbees, chalk, an endless amount of toys to play with outside, parks and playgrounds and instead of doing ANYTHING else, you two kids are going to choose to stay inside this house and drive me insane?" And that is what they will choose. Yes, to me I find it extremely odd that as a child they would rather stay inside the house and get screamed and yelled at by their parents when, what would clearly be a more entertaining and enjoyable time for them is a viable option, they would rather stay inside the house and make my day even more miserable. You say then, they just want to be with you, to do things with you...yes, I know this and don't get me wrong, I do enjoy spending time and doing things with my kids. Here is the difference though; you see, if I was to go outside on a beautiful summer day to just stand in the front yard and not do anything...that's right, just go outside and stand in the front yard and nothing else, my children will almost run me over to get outside. While I stand in the front yard, doing nothing, the kids will get out the bikes, balls, skateboards, whatever and begin to play and have a grand old time. But the second, and I literally mean the SECOND, I set foot inside the house again they almost trample me over to beat me inside the house. When I was a child, especially during the summer, I never expected my parents to be outside or do anything with me outside...and why should they? As a result, I have already come to the conclusion that I will NEVER go outside during the summer until my children have enough sense to do so on their own.

Which leads me to my final observation...my children have little or no respect towards their parents and especially not me. I am only their cook, butler, chauffeur and provider of funds for them, but that is it...nothing that would deserve even common courtesy. The way my daughter talks to me on a daily basis would have had her beaten to a pulp if she was raised my parents when I was a child. Very little is 'talking' from her. It is demanding and when demanding it is RIGHT NOW! Not tomorrow and not in 5 minutes, I mean right now and even if her demand is spoken in a civil tone, if your reply to her is anything less than what she wants to hear she will instantly erupt into a screaming tantrum. An example will be as follows:

Her: "Dad can I get on the computer?"
Me: "Can you wait 5 minutes so I can finish what I am doing?"
Her: "NO! And thanks Dad, now I am going to fail my science class because of you. Now you see why I hate you!"

My daughter on more than one occassion has 'needed' some things from school...not just one thing, but a plethoria of things. On one particular occassion she needed an entire list of items for some school project...and not for next week or tomorrow...RIGHT NOW! This list was like going on a scavenger hunt...there was not one store that could possibly have all the items and after all was said and done the bill was $30. But because of her screaming tantrum, I got her items for school but am hard pressed to believe that a teacher would require their students to get this entire laundry list of stuff for tomorrow...but of course my daughter just follows up with and excuse/lie ...and why not? She has her own personal chauffer, cook, butler and provider of funds to cater to her every whim....

To conclude, I just am perplexed... I know it will likely get worse before it gets better... but I just don't know why my children (especially my daughter) will make the decisions that she does. My daughter has done very few of the things that I considered normal for when I was a kid. Instead she has chosen the exact opposite. If I knew her when I was 11/12 it would have been almost laughable to have a conversation with her...

Me: "I'm going to the baseball diamond to play ball, what you going to do today.?"
Her: "I'm going to stay inside all day long, leave garbage and my personal items all over the house along with any of my parents things that I want to get into and then when my parents get home I am going to DEMAND that they take me to a store and buy new shoes because I don't like these ones."
Me: "Well, have fun with that...I'm going to go play."

Just makes me sad that this is a child and that is the decision she chooses to make rather than do ANYTHING else....what makes it even more sad for me, it is my child. I would feel sad for any child that's life is such as hers....but at least she has her personal butler, cook, chauffeur and free money....

Media Whore, Favre, Loving It!

The 2009 edition of the annual Brett Favre retirement/unretirement tour has got to be one of Brett's favorite of all time...and a person can clearly see he has honed his retirement/unretirement tour to be the biggest, best ever.

Yesterday the St. Paul Pionner Press reports that Favre is going to meet with a surgeon and have a minor surgery on his torn bicep.  Then this morning, ESPN reports that Favre is not going to have surgery at all and instead is going to rehab it.  Both media outlets use unamed sources for their information...which leads me to believe that the source for both articles is Brett Favre himself.  

This is totally his m.o. ... as with the leaked cell phone text messages from a year (or so) ago, anyone with a brain knows that Brett Favre was the source behind that.  So why wouldn't Brett Favre have two different "sources" saying two totally different things?  Favre is getting his ultimate wet dream... every single day his name is being mentioned and each report seems to contradict the previous.  Favre probably thinks he has successfully put up a big enough smoke screen where some people actually think he will remain retired... don't be fooled.  Favre will be with the Vikings when Favre wants to be with the Vikings and not a day sooner.  Anything he can do to keep his name in the media until then is all that Favre wants now because he is a self-centered media whore...as he continues to blatantly display.

Clutch - Sioux Falls, SD - 5/12/09

It was a windy day but the rain held off. Clutch was the 3rd of a 6 band lineup that was headlined by Slipknot, Korn and The Used.  

I don't recall all the songs or the exact order but they played, but the ones I do remember being played were: Burning Beard, Child Of The City, Elephant Riders, Marcus, Mob Goes Wild, Profits of Doom (w/Wino(?)), Red Horse Rainbow and ended with Electric Worry/Dollar. In all had about a 50 minute set. A friend and I drove 3 hours to see Clutch.  

Got there just as the band in front of them was wrapping up, got some beers and enjoyed the show. They had, who I think they called Wino, as a guest guitarist that played during the Profits of Doom and actually was hanging out in the crowd after Clutch was done. So we got some pics with him and talked about the show/Clutch a bit. He said he could have hooked us up with tickets for the Des Moines show that was the next day (yesterday) but unfortunately we couldn't discard our other obligations to take him up on the offer.  

IMO, Clutch was the best band on the card and we even left during Korn's unenergetic, uninspired set...cheaper beers were far more important than watching mainstream noise. If there was any downside to the show was that we didn't get to see more of Clutch... but I still had a good time...

Not Minding The Twitter

So it's been a couple of weeks for me on Twitter and I'm not minding it at all.  I was apprenhensive when trying it out because of all the things I have heard and the whole "What are you doing?" tagline ... in which I thought those that would be associated with Twitter are seen as people that are obsessed with posting everything that they are doing and, at the same time, obsessed with what everyone else is doing all the time ... well, if that is what really is going on, everyone would have "On Twitter" as they're posts... 

What I like about Twitter is that it does add a more timely, abbreviate blog to my blog...and I like that part the most.  When I started my blog in 2004, blogs were just hitting the scene and I, at first, was collecting and posting news articles, primary about the Chargers which was something unique at the time.  Well, it wasn't a year and then RSS feeds started in full swing and 1 million and 17 sports/news/blog sites now take care of that so there was no really purpose for my blog to continue to do so...especially when I now just automate the process like all those other sites as well.

So then I began to add more commentary about whatever...but also remain focused on the Chargers...and this is what I plan to continue to do for the foreseeable future.  But what Twitter does is allow me to quickly post an article, web site, whatever with a quick comment ... which is oftentimes all any of them deserve, yet I think it is 'blog worthy'.  I have always felt that I wanted to have 'quality content' on my blog ... I did not want to merely have 1,000 links I think are cool and have someone sort through them.  Here, anytime I see anything worthy of my attention, I can have it posted on Twitter in seconds...which is probably one of Twitter's most redeeming qualitys ... it is quick and simple.

I just wanted to post a follow-up to let everyone know, that it looks like I'll be using Twitter with some regularity...

NFL Announces AFL Legacy Schedule

The NFL announced a "Legacy Schedule" that will celebrate the AFL's 50th anniversary, of which, the San Diego Chargers were an original team of the AFL.

Original AFL teams will don uniforms from their AFL era.  The Chargers have selected to wear their 1963 uniforms, the year the Chargers won the AFL championship.  The Chargers are in 3 AFL Legacy games (8/14 at Oakland, 10/19 vs Denver & 10/26 at Kansas City) and will still 'get' to wear their powder blue throwbacks for an additional 2 home games.  So we will get to see the Chargers in their light blue uniforms almost as often as their newer uniforms

There are 16 Legacy games in all featuring all the old AFL teams...Miami, NY Titans (Jets), Boston Patriots, Cleveland, etc... I think it will be great to see the Tennessee Titans wearing the Houston Oilers colors....just because it was a team I remember as a kid that I no longer get to see today...

 

Lots Of Good News From Charger Camp

Charger mini-camp wrapped up this past weekend and seems like there was lots of good news coming from the team...

- Cromartie appears to have fully recovered from a hip injury that slowed him all of last year.

- Norv Turner says that LT "Looks great."

- Merriman says he will be ready for opening day... won't speculate on the future.

- Darren Sproles did sign the Chargers contract tender last week as well.

Tradition Of Losing Continues

This past weekend's Kentucky Derby was a thrilling one with a long shot, "Mine That Bird", thrilling the crowd coming from the back of the pack and blasting to the front on the final turn and beating the field impressively... and, which has been a 5, 6 year tradition for me... no money for me.  Sure, I don't bet a lot and I most certainly rarely pick longshots...but I have usually made some money on a triple crown event at least once every other year...but now, I am easily on a 15, 16 race drought ... well, maybe the Preakness will treat me better...

But in case you missed it, here is the video from the 2009 Kentucky Derby and just watch how Mine That Bird just launches itself into the lead...almsot like a switch was turned on...

Favre To Unretire Soon

The draft is over and NFL teams will be starting up their mini-camps soon... so that means only one thing... Brett Favre is about to unretire...AGAIN.  His first move to unretire was accomplished, get released from the Jets ... and now he will be able to sign with any team that he wants too.  Wild speculation his struck this region that Favre will be able to now sign with the Minnesota Vikings...the Packers were able to block that move last year, but now nothing can prevent Favre from signing with any team that he wants too...

I am keeping my fingers crossed that he does indeed sign with the Vikings ... because he sucks and there is nothing more funny then listening to the rabid Viking fans... right now the Vikes (as picked by said rabid fans) will go 13-3 and win the NFC Championship... with Favre (or any "decent" qb) the Vikes will be penciled in as the next undefeated Super Bowl champs ... so I enjoy watching that all come crashing down every season... and adding Favre into the mix would just make it even that much more entertaining...

I hope the Lions have a decent secondary that can play outfield and pick Favre off 6 times each game they play...

Draft ... Rehashed

Because the draft is this weekend and is rage on the sports talk...I figured I should at least acknowledge the draft's existence on my blog to have some credibility...so I will simply cut and paste my thoughts on the draft that I posted some time ago... 

I'm not a big 'draft watcher' and don't get into the draft hype that every sports program on the planet has been hyping for the past 2 weeks. All the hype surrounding new players and every fan thinks their team will hopefully make the right moves that will improve the team. Don't get me wrong, when I was younger, I use to watch and follow the draft as much as anyone, but after doing so for a few years a person begins to realize that after the draft day itself the draft holds little to no luster afterwards. Now begins the contract negotiations, hold-outs and injuries...all the feel good stories of the draft are instantly erased and it all turns to money now. 

Sioux Support UND's Use Of Name

I did a quick search through my blog and was surprised to see that I haven't commented on the University of North Dakota nickname battle.  UND's athletic programs are named the Fighting Sioux and because the NCAA is a hypocritical organization that puts money in front of any decision they make...will ban UND from any athletic post-season tournaments unless UND change's it's nickname or get the support of the two Sioux tribes in North Dakota, the Standing Rock and Spirit Lake tribes.

I have never thought the nickname is that offensive and, in fact, I thought that having a school use your name as a moniker would be kind of cool...even a memorial.  Also, the local protestors...at least the most vocal...always were non-Native Americans ... mainly white teachers and students.  It seemed to me that this group of people was more offended then the Native Americans themselves.

To prove that sometimes the vocal minority and the political correctness can oftentimes be just noise and not be true representatives of the truth...the Spirit Lake tribe voted in favor of having UND keep it's Fighting Sioux nickname by 67%...that's 2 out of 3 tribe members supporting the name.

The Standing Rock tribe has yet to hold a referendum, but the nickname supporters obviously focused on one tribe and will now set their sites on the Standing Rock tribe.  UND has until the fall of 2010 to get the support of the Standing Rock tribe and I wouldn't be surprised if a vote is taken there around this time next year.

Playoffs: NBA vs NHL

Playoff time is here the NBA and the NHL which means for the rest of April sport junkies, like myself, will be able to watch 'meaningful' games in both sports on a nightly basis until the later rounds deplete the schedule...

I have always contended that the NHL playoffs are second to none.  The NFL, sure, is my favorite sport and their playoffs is as good as any, but because the NFL plays so much fewer games and their playoff system is a single game elimination method, they don't have means to ratchet up the intensity of each game a team plays.  There is absolutely nothing wrong with the NFL playoffs nor am I advocating change, I would just like to preface my remarks to assure everyone that I think the NFL is, right now, the best sport for a fan top-to-bottom.

The NHL and NBA playoffs essentially start at the same time and if you listen/watch the sports talking heads they will preview and 'break down' each sports playoffs and speculate who should, could or will win it all.  To illustrate one very prominent reason as to why the NHL playoffs are better than the NBA playoffs is the fact that there is true parity in the NHL.  The sports talkers, when talking about the NHL, a person could have read/listened to 10 different media talkers and likely gotten 5-6 different picks as to who they think could win the Stanley Cup.  You then also factor in that it is not uncommon for a #8 seed to upset a #1 seed or, at the very least, make a very interesting series out of the opening round of the playoffs.  With the NHL too, if a team has a 'hot' goalie right now, that alone could mean a deep push into the playoffs.  With the NBA you could have read/listened to 10 different talkers there and gotten the same result... this years NBA finals is (allegedly predestined to be) the Lakers vs the Cavaliers with the Lakers winning it all.  I do believe that is what most will agree will still the scenario after the opening weekend of the NBA playoffs but with the NHL playoffs, people begin to question and reevaluate their initial playoff assement.  

The intensity level in the NHL is also very evident, even in the opening games and series...whereas with the NBA, more than one team will easily dominate the inferior one and most everyone watching is seeing an uneventful, blasiase game ... even if an NHL game turns into a blowout, the action is still present during the game and you can still see an effort being put forth by both teams...with the NBA it doesn't seem as noticeable...

Sure, I'll watch the NBA playoffs but right now, I am watching as much NHL as I can and filling whatever 'down time' I have with the NBA...

The Rush For Glory And Profit

Anyone that has seen the national news the past few weeks know that this region has been fighting the high waters from several rivers from historical flooding.  The high water marks are the highest ever recorded for several of the rivers around here.  But the people of the communities in this region banded together to battle the water and for the most part, damage hasn't been as cataclismic as original forecasters feared... the effort was immense... schools closed for almost 2 weeks, the city of Fargo essentially shut down for 5 days with 1 day under near martial law...where travel within city limits was banned with the exception of emergency vehicles...so it was a pretty extraordinary event...

Things have begun to return to normal as the rivers began to return to their normal levels, so what does that mean?  It's time for one thousand and six 'Flood Volunteer Celebration' parties.  Just his week there are 2 "celebrations" honoring the community and flood fighters ... I'm not sure when I am going to host mine, I'm still lining up entertainment, sponsorship and getting the t-shirts printed, but hopefully I can make some sweet money off of an event that was essentially the adverting of a catastrophe...it seems like the fad.

2009 Charger Schedule Set

The 2009 NFL schedule came out yesterday so everyone can finally make their plans for the fall to insure they don't miss a game... at least that's what I do with the Chargers...

The Chargers' schedule doesn't look all that easy, playing the NFC East and the AFC North teams...

Here's the low-down:

Week 1 - at Oakland - The final game of the opening weekend, on Monday Night...NFL's kickoff to celebrate the AFL's 50th Anniversary

Week 2 - vs Baltimore - A team that went toe-to-toe with the Steelers in the AFC Championship last year

Week 3 - vs Miami - The cinderella story of last season

Week 4 - at Pittsburgh - The Steelers are the defending Super Bowl Champs - Sunday Night game

Week 5 - bye - The Chargers are again screwed with an early bye week.  Any bye week before November is useless

Week 6 - vs Denver - Chargers make their second Monday Night Football appearance against the most hated team in the NFL...the Denver Broncos

Week 7 - at Kansas City 

Week 8 - vs Oakland - All done with regular season games agasint Oakland before Thanksgiving...wow!

Week 9 - at NY Giants - Time to crush Eli one more time.

Week 10 - vs Philadelphia - I can't even remember the last game the Chargers played against the Eagles.

Week 11 - at Denver

Week 12 - vs Kansas City - No AFC West oppenents for the remainder of the season and it's not even December!?!?! 

Week 13 - at Cleveland 

Week 14 - at Dallas - Chargers get to visit the new Cowboys stadium

Week 15 - vs Cincinnati 

Week 16 - at Tennessee - On Christmas day...prime time

Week 17 - vs Washington

Seems like an odd schedule to me... the Chargers are essentially done with their divisional games by the end of November.  I was listening to John Clayton on Mike and Mike (ESPN Radio) this morning and he made it sound as if the Chargers first 1/2 of the schedule looked easy...but there are 3 tough games and thinking you are going to run the division isn't likely either...

I had high hopes for the Chargers last season and they barely scraped by at 8-8.  I think the AFC West remains weak, the Chargers slide by again and go 10-6...maybe 9-7, probably win the division...

On Twitter

Because I love to jump on the bandwagon (usually not) and I have a fair amount of free time that I wish to use on yet another internet item I decided to check out the 'Twitter'.

Twitter is just like most every other 'social' internet entity...the more populer the entity gets, the better it is and the more the communtiy participates, the better it is. Of course that is until it is eventually compromised and raided by spammers, bots and all the 'junk' that usually force there way into any popular internet activity.

Regardless...it is actually a pretty quick way to post up a quick thought, reaction or whatever... so anyways, if you can view my 'tweets' in the sidebar to the left...

Jay Culter Is A Whiny Cry-Baby

I was wondering the other day, when I would see another self-absorbed, whiny, cry-baby NFL player that could fill the void that, with the temporary retirement of Brett Favre, currently exists in the NFL.  And then the Jay Cutler drama was delivered.  

So let's review what has happened so far...

It all started out when the new Bronco head coach apparently tried to work Cutler into a trade that would get Matt Cassels to Denver.  Cutler puts his house up for sale in Denver, refuses to go to offseason team meetings and cries like a baby that how could the Broncos dare do this.

Next, the Broncos with new head coach Josh McDaniels, personally meet with Cutler, McDaniels even comes out and publicly states that Cutler is the Bronco's starting quarterback.  Cry-baby Cutler's next move was to demand to be traded from Denver and the Bronco's, I'm sure getting sick of his bullshit, are more than happy to oblige and begin to 'shop' Cutler around ... but now, today, Cutler says he didn't ask for a trade and wants(?) to stay in Denver?

So this situation couldn't have worked out better for the Bronco's... now they are willing to trade Cutler, but Cutler continues to flip-flop and basically display at what an immature, whiny person he is...so regardless of whether the Bronco's give a shit about Cutler's feelings - which at this point they shouldn't - do they want to continue to have this guy on their roster?  If you keep him, you obviously know what you got... a whiny cry-baby quarterback who led a team that had a 4 game lead in their division with 4 games to play and lost the division (only time in NFL history that has happened).  Is he really worth the hassle?  But now, he is essentially 'damaged goods'.  Every NFL team on the planet knows the situation in Denver has reached critical mass...the Broncos, again, I would have to think are sick of his bullshit and are going to trade him away.  So my secret wish is for Cutler to get traded to some shitty team...like Detroit or the 49'ers and for him to continue to suck and get the shit beat out of him via being sacked and knocked down 100 times a game.  But, and more importantly for my own personal delight, the Broncos need to get worse ... they need to draft a quarterback that sucks even worse than Cutler and become an even worse team then they were last year. 

A final interesting fact about this whole 'drama' is that Cutler's agent is the same agent as Brett Favre, Bus Cook.  And anyone that has done some quick reading on Cook can see a pattern of ineptness on the part of Cook in many of the clients he handles...with two primary exhibits, Favre and Culter, being prominently displayed the past 2 offseasons.  So, if I was to give any credit to Cutler during this whole saga, it may have a lot to do with the dolt he hired as an agent...but then who is dumber?  Cutler for hiring a moron or Cutler for listening to a moron...guess it all still is Cutler's fault and he is a whiny, cry-baby moron.

Let me conclude by saying I know of no finer organization for this whole episode to happen at than the Denver Broncos.  Regardless of how this whole thing ends, it is likely that the Bronco's team will have some aftermath that will hopefully effect their performance on the field and the end result would be that the Bronco's suck even more.  As I have publicly declared many times, my two favorite teams are the San Diego Chargers and whoever is playing Denver.  So this entire drama has been nothing but good news to me and I hope it only drags out longer and becomes more bizarre and complicated....just keep my Charger team away from it at all costs!

Countdown Is On!

The San Diego Chargers preseason is set... yippee... 4 meaningless games that a fan can take nothing from.  But the NFL did also announce that the Chargers will play the final game of the opening weekend as part of a Monday Night Football double-header against the Oakland Raiders.  So without further ado... the countdown to the kickoff for the San Diego Chargers 2009 NFL season has begun...

The Great Flood Of '09

As most anyone that has been paying attention to the national scene is aware, the Red River of the north has been flooding for the past week hitting a record crest of almost 41 feet in Fargo.  As a result, many of the communities along the river have been at high alert with emergency and first responders at maximum preparedness.  Schools have been closed since last week Wednesday and remain closed through this week.  Hospitals, senior citizen homes and special needs people have all been evacuated.

The river has crested in Fargo, so as long as the dikes and levees hold, most citizens should make it through with little or no problems...which will be good...

So, sorry for infrequent attention here but hopefully things will return to normal some time this time...

In the mean time, here is a live 'Flood Cam' that is on the Moorhead, MN side of the Red River pointing towards Fargo ... you can see how high the water really is...

Once Busy, Now A Break

Sorry for being absent recently... but I have been extremely busy at work.  Things are settling down but that just means I want a break!  So I'll try and get back to my blogging duties shortly, but it may remain sporadic for a short time here...

Chargers-Tomlinson Agree To Terms

It is over...finally.  The San Diego Chargers and LaDainian Tomlinson have agreed to a new restructured contract yesterday.  The article states that the team's president, Dean Spanos, was a key figure in keeping Tomlinson and had every intention of doing so.  Reports are that Tomlinson will not take a reduction in pay this season but the $17+ million he was to get for the next 2 years has likely been "restructured".  

In the end, it is great news for us Charger fans that couldn't bare to see LT don a different team's uniform.  Tomlinson is probably the greatest San Diego Charger player in the franchise's history and to not make every effort to keep him in San Diego just seems so wrong.

I'm hoping next season he returns to his past form and regains his status as the NFL's premeire runningback.

Ending Cro Speculation

As quickly as the rumor of Antonio Cromartie potentially be traded was started it is quickly dismissed.  Just proving that no one really knows for sure what the Chargers have in store for any of their players and that the media continues to speculate only the worst for many of the big-name Charger players.

Chargers: Still Have LT, Cromartie To Go?

Free agency in the NFL is underway and the San Diego Chargers still have LaDainian Tomlinson on their roster.

Of course that is little guarantee that Tomlinson will be with the Chargers.  Very few think that the Chargers will keep Tomlinson on the roster with his current contract ... but who knows, that might be just what the Chargers intend to do.  A report came out last week stating that the New Orleans Saints have an interest in Tomlinson, so of course the Chargers could be trying to get Tomlinson to renegotiate his contract and then just simply trade him, to try and get some value for him because of course the alternative is to just simply cut him and get nothing in return.  These are all 'doom and gloom' for Tomlinson and the Chargers, which is all I see the hear or read these days.

And to further the 'doom and gloom' theme... a story out yesterday hints that Drayton Florence, recently cut by the Jacksonville Jaguars, is looking to come back to San Diego and, apparently, Antonio Cromartie played so crappy last year the Chargers may be considering trading him.  Are you kidding me?  Cromartie had a team record 10 interceptions 2 years ago ... the entire defense, as a whole, sucked last season and a (seemingly) realistic plan is to trade Cromartie and re-sign the guy that Cromartie beat out for the job 2 years ago?  Color me crazy but I hope that isn't what the thought process is for the Chargers.  Getting D-Flo back would probably not be a bad thing, in my opinion, but trading Cromartie, I think, is a bad thing ... Now if some team is going to over-value Cromartie and make an offer the Chargers can't refuse, then I could see the viability of doing that.  I know Cromartie's year last year was a total contradiction to the 2007 season.  I was hoping it was a year to 'grow' for him and that he comes back this season with the mindset to redeem himself.  Of course that could all be wishful thinking but so far this offseason there has been a shortage of anything resembling 'optimism' in the press in regards to the Chargers.

Chargers Franchise Sproles

The Chargers placed the franchise tag on Darren Sproles yesterday, a move that most knew was coming.

The status of LaDainian Tomlinson with the team is the next issue for the Chargers. The Chargers say that by franchising Sproles it "...does not affect our ability to negotiate a new contract with LT. We’re hopeful of getting a new deal done with him." I think some news regarding Tomlinson will be known within the next week because of the Feb. 26th cut deadline.

Many state how Sproles isn't big enough to be an every down back ... seems like a reason to keep both Tomlinson and Sproles. The brutal truth, though, is that the Chargers would likely put them self into financial hardship in regards to signing new players if they have both Sproles and Tomlinson signed to expensive contracts. Sproles is now guaranteed at least $6.6 million for next year and Tomlinson's current contract is at $8.8 million and the Chargers would obviously like to 'restructure' Tomlinson's contract so it doesn't cost them as much against the salary cap.

If Tomlinson is still on the Charger roster after Feb. 26th that, then, would be sign that the Chargers and Tomlinson have potentially agreed on either a trade or, more likely, a new contract. So now its time to just wait and see what happens...

Favre Retires, Soon To Announce Coming Back

Breaking news, breaking news...

Since A-Rod's steroid use and admission have dominated the sports media Brett Favre had his annual retirement announcement to make sure sports talkers haven't forgotten about him.

As with the previous, what(?), 5 off-seasons Favre has retired or said he is going to retire or alluding to retiring.  We should then expect a press conference in June or July from Favre to announce that he just quite can't hang it up just yet, that his desire to play football is just too great to ignore that he will indeed be coming back to play football next year.

Of course some NFL team will sign him and he will start next season for some poor team... Favre has no desire to show up for mini-camps and do any offseason work...he just wants to saunter into some NFL lockerroom on game day and heave bombs up all afternoon to pad his consecutive starts as well as his other records.  He has no intention of being a 'team' player which is clearly shown by his yearly ritual of retiring and unretiring and never being totally honest with any team that he has played for.

Most Of Clemens' Lawsuit Dismissed

In what is likely a sign of how successful Roger Clemens and his crack legal staff, headed up by hayseed Rusty Harden, is going to be in their defamation case against Brian McNamee, most of their complaint was dismissed in the Houston court that it was filed in due to lack of jurisdiction, citing that most of the 'defamation' ocurred in New York and not in Texas.

It just goes to show that Clemens and his hicksvilled lawyer have no idea what they are doing and what to do next...just that they need to do something, anything to prove to everyone that Roger didn't roid up.  Well, they would better off if they just slipped away quietly and leave things as they are.  There is nothing they can do that will change people's minds, it is as much a fact that Clemens used steroids as it is Barry Bonds, A-Rod, Canseco, McGwire, Sosa, etc...

Deadlines Loom For Chargers

The day is quickly approaching for the San Diego Chargers, the day the Chargers will be forced to publicly declare what their intentions are with the greatest runningback their franchise has ever possessed, LaDainian Tomlinson.

February 19th is the day all teams must announce their franchise player. Of course the Chargers don't and won't need to franchise Tomlinson, but if they do put that tag on Darren Sproles, which most think will happen, then it will only add to the speculation of what's going to happen to LT.  Would the Chargers dare go into next season with 2 high-paid runningbacks?  Would this be a move for the Chargers to try and get Tomlinson to renegotiate his contract to keep him in San Diego or just the opposite, a move that signals his days are numbered?  No one outside of the Chargers management knows for sure, but most everyone can agree that Charger fans are greatly anticipating whatever decision is made in regrards to Tomlinson and regardless of what that move is, it will likely polarize many a Charger fan ... some want LT to go, others can't bear the thought of Tomlinson playing anywhere but for San Diego.

What is also of interest, to me, is how this entire process is going to 'shake out'.  If there have been lines drawn in the sand already or not, if egos and money are factoring in or if there is any actual dialogue between the Chargers and Tomlinson to work something out that is in the best interest of both parties.

I think most everyone that has followed this story since the end of the season knows the situation... if the Chargers cut Tomlinson by Feb. 26th he will likely get picked up by another team and not make nearly the amount of money he once was as a Charger.  The Chargers will likely get little or very poor trade value for LT because other teams know the Chargers situation and surely won't offer to pick up LT's hefty contract and offer up high draft picks or proven players.  So if the Chargers cut Tomlinson this month, both parties walk away with neither side essentially gaining anything.

I still contend, that if both the Chargers are sincere in their wishes to keep Tomlinson in a Charger uniform for his entire career and Tomlinson is sincere in his desire to end his career in San Diego, then both parties need to sit down and make a deal that both sides can benefit from.  Now if one of the sides plays hard ball... like the Chargers not offering a fair contract or LT not wanting to renegotiate or with minimal reductions... it would show that clearly one side was not truly sincere in their public statements and in either case, it is a lose-lose situation for us Charger fans.

Chargers 50th Anniversary

Last week the Chargers announced that they will be wearing a commemorative patch on their jerseys next season to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the team and the AFL.

There will also be 2 weekends when the Chargers will be playing one of the 7 other original AFL teams and will get to wear their chosen throwback during those games.  The Chargers have chosen to wear the uniform from their 1963 AFL Championship team.

Hopefully the Charger team that takes the field next season can be good representatives of the Charger franchise during this anniversary season.

A-Rod On Roids

It is becoming pretty clear that every player in Major League Baseball was on steroids from the late '80's through (at least ) 2003.  Alex Rodriguez was outed by a Sports Illustrated article using, what were to be confidential, drug tests conducted in 2003 by MLB.  He then came out and publicly admitted that he did use steroids during his 3 years with the Texas Rangers.  He did not offer up anything that he may have used steroids before or after that time frame, but did not say anything to discount that possibility.

Seeing Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens fight a losing battle both in the courts and in the media, A-Rod is trying to side-step all that by offering his excuse for doing so and apologizing for doing it.

In the end, apologies or not, it doesn't change the fact and the perception by many, of which I am one now, that think Major League Baseball was just a bunch of juicers for the better part of a decade and a half.

NBA - Ultimate Sellouts

With the help of TNT's coverage, this year's NBA All Star festivities should reach a level of over-hype, over-production that no other event should attempt to rival. The end result will likely be a ton of TV gimmicks to try and make the NBA All-Star weekend appear entertaining and to further ruin any sense of genuineness that a person may have towards what they are watching, it likely will have some advertisement plastered all over it.

The NBA is adding a game of HORSE as one of the weekend's activities but because the NBA, with the help of TNT Television, are willing to sell any portion of their product to the highest bidder ... so instead of spelling HORSE, the contestants will be spelling GEICO.

Add a rising, swiveling set and EA sports showing "futuristic dunks" it just shows what lengths will be done to try and do anything to get people to watch. I recall last year's slam dunk contest was as close to a buzzkill as you could have gotten ... so now they are going to try and do anything to 'spice it up'.

Bonds Pleads Not Guilty

Yesterday they unloaded the evidence against Barry Bonds and today Bonds goes in and pleads "Not Guilty".

All this time and money is being spent to prove to the world that Barry did cheat because his possible punishment;

Bonds faces a sentence between probation and two years in prison.

Certainly this would not warrant much federal attention if Bonds, himself, wasn't such a prominent figure during the steroid era. But the same is with the Clemens case ... it must be done. If not, there will always be someone out there that is willing to give these two roiders the benefit of the doubt just because they saw some 'contriteness' in their public apologies or, which is more likely the case, have some personal involvement with them that has skewed their opinion to the point of blindness.

Bonds' Evidence Released

The Feds have finally unveiled the evidence they have to use against Barry Bonds to prove that he lied about his steroid use.

Among the evidence is not 1, not 2, not 3 but 4 alleged positive tests for steroids from Barry Bonds.  Bond's trainer, Greg Anderson, who sat in jail for a year instead of testify against Bonds, has said he will not testify in this trail... but the evidence that was released has a recorded conversation with Anderson describing how he injected Barry with undetectable steroids.  There is also doping calendars and notes.  

I didn't need any more proof to convince me of Bond's roid use ... Sure, he may have some super lawyer that might get him out of a perjury charge but having these sort of evidence, especially the positive drug tests, is the death-nail.  Any and all Bonds' supporters always would be quick to say "He never tested positive...".   Well, now we have proof that says the opposite ... what's your excuse now?

Charger Credentials

The fine folks at BoltYou.com have asked if they could post items from my blog on their site ... after confirming that they have indeed read my blog - I have been asked this request before and after I make sure the person has read my materials, I usually do not hear from them again - it does appear as if you will be able to read my Charger related blog entries on BoltYou.com.

But I need to make sure everyone that has read me in the past and will read my entries in the future can better understand my tact and angle with the Chargers and also, because many of my pieces are opinionated, validate my opinion based on my personal thoughts regarding the Chargers.  So I present "My Charger Credentials":

First, I am not a professional writer  - although I am fairly certain many wouldn't need me to point that out.  I do believe I have the record for most run-on sentences as well as the longest run-on sentence in the history of writing - which has yet to end for I am still in the process of writing it.  My use of punctuation is also a bit abnormal but once you can decipher the sentence and it's bizarre characteristics, I've been told, a point can be found. 

Now to the important part...my history with the Chargers ...

The year is 1980, I am 10 years old.  I live in North Dakota which is in Minnesota Viking territory.  My father, who has watched football since his youth, was a big Johnny Unitas fan and his favorite team (still to this day) is the Minnesota Vikings.  For a couple years now, each Sunday I would sit down and watch the Vikings with my father.  My father would often times turn the television off with disgust or merely just get up and stop watching.  After the Vikings were done, the television was all mine and I would stay tuned to watch more football.  The 2nd game each Sunday, during this particular season, often had the high-powered offense of the San Diego Chargers.  Now most everyone knows how that season ended ... with the Chargers winning a playoff game in Miami that many consider the greatest game of all time only to travel to Cincinnati and lose in a low-scoring, incredibly cold game and get ousted from the playoffs.  But the damage had been done.  I instantly fell in love with the Chargers and have been a Charger fan ever since.

For most of the beginning of my Charger 'fandom' watching Charger games were a bit difficult ... since (roughly) 1984 thru (again roughly) 1991 I was in my teens, the Chargers sucked so didn't get to many games on television.  This period of time was also before Thursday and Sunday night games ... you typically got the team in your region (the Vikes for me) and 2 other games on Sunday as well as a Monday night game ... But then 1991 came around, I had turned 21 and the NFL was available on satellite at several bars and I could watch the Chargers every Sunday.

Almost on cue, Bobby Beatherd - (at the time) former GM for the Washington Redskins - came to the Chargers, brought Stan Humphries with him and like a "bolt of lightning" the Chargers were in the Super Bowl in 1995 (after the '94 season).  The ride that season was incredible, especially with the AFC Championship win against the Pittsburgh Steelers being the pinnacle.  It was a game the Chargers weren't suppose to win.  No one, NO ONE, had the Chargers winning and even after it ended my roommate, and fellow Charger fan, were so excited that we hung a Charger blanket as a backdrop and took pictures of us celebrating in front of it.  It was an incredible season and year that season.

I can not say for certain, but I am fairly certain that I have watched almost every San Diego Charger football game for 18 years now.  I know there may have been 1 or 2 games here or there where something has prevented me from watching ... and that was agony, because regardless of what was so important enough to keep me from watching the game, my only thought and concern during that time was wondering what was going on in the game.

I have met one of my favorite and an All-Time Charger Great, Kellen Winslow.  I remember Tony Martin, Natrone Means, Marion Butts, John Friesz, Jim McMahon, Doug Flutie, the Micheal Vick trade, Eli Manning trade, Dan Fouts retiring, Bobby Ross and of course, from the man I have 'borrowed' his moniker, Junior Seau.

Because of this history I have had with the Chargers, I have become a very pessimistic person when it comes to the Chargers.  Oh sure, I love giving the Chargers credit when credit is due, but because I have been a Charger fan for close to 30 years now the number of times the Chargers have disappointed me greatly outweigh their successes.  Has this tempered my passion for them?  Absolutely not.  I would even subject myself to watch the Chargers during the Ryan Leaf era (and shortly after his departure) where the only thing on the agenda for those Sundays was going to be a Charger ass-kicking ... and the Chargers on the receiving end of said ass-kicking.

One only needs to read this past year's recap of the Chargers season that I posted to my blog to see my disbelief in the Chargers ... but anyone that followed the Chargers this past season had the same sentiment.

What I have is a passion for the Chargers.  I do not have 'homer' glasses on in which the Chargers can do no wrong.  I try to 'call them as I see them' when it comes to Charger related matters but of course with my own Charger biased.

I was not happy to see Rodney Harrison go.  I was not happy to see Junior Seau go.  And I will not be happy if LaDainian Tomlinson ends up finishing his career anywhere but with the Chargers.  I understand the circumstances and have already posted my thoughts on that matter.

I am a Charger fan first...a critic second with both positive and/or negative thoughts on any Charger related news.

Clemens DNA Found With Syringes

Word is that tests have confirmed that Roger Clemens' blood was found with the syringes and gauze that his former trainer Brian McNamee turned over to the feds to corroborate his story and as further proof that Roger Clemens used steroids.

Is there anyone out there that still doesn't think Clemens used steroids?  As it has been stated by several media folks already, it is almost to the point now that the more an athlete comes out and tries to deny their history of steroid usage the more likely they are lying.  

My unofficial tally, so far, is anyone that has been accused of using steroids have either came out and admitted using roids while the others have been caught lying about using roids.  Either way, I think most everyone has underestimated at how widely steroids were used in professional baseball.

Super Bowl XLIII Afterthoughts

So it's been almost 2 full days since the Super Bowl ended, so things are slowly returning to normal.

Overall, I thought the game was alright...but I do think the officiating did it's best to insure the Cardinals lost.  The 2 horrible calls, against the Cards, in the third quarter were just ridiculous ... the 'roughing the passer' call on a third and long when everyone in the world was expecting an intentional grounding call and then a roughing the kicker call when the Cardinal player was running into the holder, not the kicker, on a Pittsburgh field goal attempt were the officials making sure no one forgets who really determines the outcome of the games.  Sure, they put their whistles away after both of those horrible calls, but the damage was already done.

I also am beginning to think there is a calculated effort to make the Super Bowl game close and exciting.  For many years, from the 80's through the 90's, most Super Bowls seemed to have been over by halftime ... now, there hasn't been a blowout Super Bowl in such a long time, most everyone almost expects a good, close game.

I didn't pay attention to a single commercial, but from most of the 'buzz' from those that still care about the commercials said that most sucked...as usual.  Which gets me to my other point ... how many Super Bowls need to happen with sucky commercials for people begin to no longer make any sort of deal about them?  I think it was in the '80's when a Super Bowl actually had a good set of commercials and since that time the Super Bowl ads have not lived up to the hype since ... but every year people get all stoked up to watch the commercials ... and year after year the commercials suck.  I am happy that I pay no attention to the commercials (or the halftime act) because the best thing that might possibly happen is that they won't suck...but not likely.

Downside to the Super Bowl... the Steelers won.  Now, I don't really have a problem with the Pittsburgh Steelers but I have always had a bit of angst for the Pittsburgh Steeler fans.  Several times in my life I have been at a location where multiple football games would be airing and fans would be watching their game... without question, one of the loudest, brashest and rudest group of fans are the Steeler fans.  I knew a guy who was an alright guy until he was watching the Steelers play football ... then he was a complete asshole ... no lie.  I would hang out with him all the time and have no issues with him, he was funny and a great guy to hang with, but I quickly learned that I could not watch football, more specifically, Pittsburgh games because this guy just morphed into a total dick.  So with the Steelers win, yet again, only will amplify the dickness of all these Steeler fans making it miserable for the rest of us...

Hopefully they don't make the playoffs next year and that will shut them up for a little while... or probably not...