Tomlinson 23 Redskins 17 F/OT

Brees looked really 'off' today.

Gates was dropping passes...

Good thing LaDanian was ready to run and had 2 really nice long td runs...

Happy Thanksgiving

Here's my family's bird... about an hour left to cook... looking yummy!

Happy Thanksgiving To Everyone!

Happy Thanksgiving

Hope everyone has a fun and safe Thanksgiving holiday... I'm going to be enjoying a couple of concerts during the next week... Static-X on Saturday night and Clutch in Minneapolis on Tuesday... should be a good time...

Charger news:

Good news regarding Gates' injury... just a slight sprain and he is expecting to play this Sunday...which is good. The Chargers have an early game against the Redskins... the Raiders barely eeked out a win against the Skins last week, so hopefully the Chargers can be a little more impressive in their win...

Charger Domination

This is the Charger team that we should see each week....

Gates went down, hopefully it isn't anything serious or else Charger Domination won't continue....

Kick off coverage is going to kill the Chargers unless that is addressed SOON!

Brees looked especially sharp... 28-33, 339 yds and 4 TDs...

Makes Me Laugh

I think the comedian is Tim Cavanaugh (but not sure) and the Bob & Tom Show on morning radio will occassionally re-air one of his on-air bits and in that bit, which is all pretty funny, when I hear this line:

"You know what they say about Monday's? It's the first day of the weekend!"

It always makes me laugh... I don't know why, but I figured I'd post it up because of that....

First Half Review

So the first half of the NFL season is in the books...and technically a little more than half the season has gone bye. But this week is week 11, the first week after all teams have had their byes, as did the San Diego Chargers, so it seems as if the second half really starts this week, because all teams have the same games played now.

The Chargers are 5-4 and could very easily have been 9-0 but even winning 2 of the games they should have won, they would look even more respectable at 7-2...but that does not matter anymore. The Chargers had a tough first 9 weeks and the Chargers can make their move in the next few weeks to position themselves for a playoff run - they play 3 of their next four games at home and none of the opponents seem too threatening (Buffalo, Washington, Oakland, Miami) then conclude the season with what appear right now to be big time games (Indy, KC and Denver) with the first two games being on the road. The Chargers really need to win these next four games so that 1 and maybe even 2 losses out of the last three games won't be too critical in the playoff picture... of course the Chargers merely need to win and they will control their own destiny....

Charger fans have been critical of Marty Schottenhiemer's style... only 2 games have the Chargers dominated an opponent for the full 60 minutes. The Chargers have had leads in most every game and have tried to sit on the lead only to see it dissapper... and that is why Marty does deserve some of the flak that he is getting. This Charger team looks very talented and to see games that the Chargers should easily dominate in, eek out a win is unacceptable. Marty needs to loosen the reigns and let the offense dictate the game...the New England game is the pattern I think the Chargers should strive for...total ball control, unrelenting drives that lead to scores...

My mid-season prediction for the Chargers - I think they go 5-2 and finish at 12-4 and in the playoffs. Hopefully the Broncos will start their latter season dive and the final game of the season in San Diego versus the Broncos will be for the AFC West title....and the Chargers prevail!

(BTW Picture Caption: San Diego Chargers running back and former TCU running back LaDainian Tomlinson, second from right, stands with his mother, Loreane Tomlinson, right, and his wife, Torsha, on his left, during halftime of the TCU-UNLV game, Saturday, Nov. 12, 2005 in Fort Worth. Officials with the school said no one has worn his No. 5 jersey since he left, and no one will in the future without Tomlinson's approval)

First Snow

Yesterday we got our first snow of the season...and it wasn't the nice gentle snow dropping from the sky on a slightly brisk, yet not too cold of day... it was a windy and cold and the snow hurt when it pelted your face. That's about how I remember winters... I hate winter....

Soon To Retire

Well to all my faithful blog readers it appears as if my status in society is about to change... I just recieved an email from the British Lottery Headquarters notifying me that I've won $2.5 million. Of course I've never heard of the British Lottery nor recall ever entering it, but it has to be legit because I got an email...never mind that it fails to mention my real name, address or even any identifying characteristics of myself, I am so overwhelmed with joy that is all inconsequential.

Because it is an European Lottery (as the email explains) the money will be dispersed from their London bank after I send them a check for only $5,000. The email further explains they are ready to process my claim IMMEDIATELY and if I fail to respond in a timely manner my winnings could go to someone else, so needless to say I had to mortgage my house over my lunch hour to come up with the necessary funds to send off post-haste.

I can hardly wait to receive my winnings and let me tell you, there will be a big party at my place when it comes....

/end sarcasm font

The End Is Near

Starting tomorrow, the venue I work at is hosting 7 football games from Thursday thru Saturday. I will be working most of them... but after completing the last game on Saturday, I get some 'downtime'. We are primarily a 'football' venue and once football concludes for the season, whether it be collegiate or high school, most everyone has less demanding daily workloads....

I'll get busy in late January and remain so until June but until then, it will be nice to not be so busy...

Chargers Win.... Barely

The Chargers escape with a win...

Charger faithful unhappy with coaching.... rightfully so...

Tomlinson is awesome....

Rest up this week and begin Charger domination in 2 weeks....

Chargers At NY Jets

Well today is the day that the San Diego Chargers can avenge the heartbreaking playoff loss that ending their season last year to the NY Jets. The Jets are a different team this time... their starting qb, Pennington, is out for the season, his backups have been banged up consistently and the Jets team as a whole is not as formidable as it was last season.

The Chargers 'should' have no problems today. I think Tomlinson, Gates and Brees all have good games and the Chargers look good as they go into the bye. Chargers 35 Jets 12.

War On Drugs - Wasting Money

Just got hold of some interesting facts regarding America's most costly, ineffective 'war'... the War On Drugs and I thought I share them:

- More than 500,000 Americans are behind bars in federal, state and local prisons for violating a drug law. The United States represents 5% of the world's population but 25% of the world's prison population. The U.S. has the highest per capita incarceration rate in the world. Definately not the 'land of the free' as advertised.

- The War On Drugs costs taxpayers roughly $40 billion annually in direct costs and tens of billions more in indirect costs. That's over TWENTY times the amount we spend on quality after school programs that help kids stay out of trouble.

- After more than three decades of the Drug War, drugs today are cheaper, purer and more easily obtained than ever before.

Mandatory sentencing is filling up America's prisons faster than ever with people that don't deserve to be behind bars. A first time offense will lead to a minimum sentence of 7 to 21 years, whereas manslaughter, robbery and even assualt don't carry such harsh sentencing guidelines. Meaning a non-violent drug offender has his life literally changed/ruined because of one mistake they may have made - which often times is merely just getting caught - whereas a violent criminal is often back on the streets in less time, a total 'skewed' judicial system severely punishing people for a moral decision rather than punishing true criminals in our society, the sex-offenders, murderers and other violent criminals.

Chargers 28 Chiefs 20

Chargers made the game interesting, but it should have never came to that... Chargers haven't had their bye and have had a brutal schedule.

If all goes as the 'master plan'... that I've set out for the Chargers, they should beat the Jets handedly next week, have their bye and begin the domination....

Broncos are still over-rated...

The Chargers should be 8-0...

Antonio Gates is awesome...

And don't give up on Tomlinson....the reason the Chargers look so good is because every team they play has to devote at least 3 players to cover Tomlinson on every play... and if you choose not too, be prepared to lose...


In conclusion... Go Chargers!

PS:

Bazooka Joe inspired post.

Random Thoughts

Ok, so I've been slacking...but for good reasons... it's the fall and I'm fairly busy at work.. but I got a little free time, so here are some random thoughts from me...

1. I don't listen to country music, but have had to work a few country music concerts here in the past few months and is it just my imagination or are all these "popular" country music acts just taking rock 'n roll songs and countrifying them?

2. I was really happy that the Yankees and Red Sox both got beat and didn't make the World Series. It was a rare treat to see the national media literally deflate when both teams failed to make the Championship series. I was hoping for a better series, but two years in a row and only 4 games needed to wrap things up. Congratulations White Sox.

3. A friend recently acquired the Mad Season DVD of their live performance at the Moore Theatre... it is awesome. Only about 40 minutes, but I enjoy it very much. I was never a big Alice In Chains fan, but this collaboration is really good, imo.

4. Some football talk: The San Diego Chargers should be 7-0 right now. I think the Broncos aren't as good as all the hype, nor are the Steelers. Living smack-dab in the middle of Viking country it is kind of fun being the person who supports a 'real team' for a change...and I get no qualms from Viking fans...they understand that their team stinks. The Randy Moss trade didn't work out as well as they all hyped it when it happened.

5. Gas prices - sure is odd how gas prices rose during the hurricanes and the 'line' the media and producers were citing was that they were merely passing the increase(s) down to the consumer that were being initiated from other sources...yet now all oil/gas producing companies are coming out with their 2nd quarter and 3rd quarter finacial reports and all are reporting record profits - Exxon/Mobil with a 75 percent revenue increase from this same time as last year, Royal Dutch Shell had 67 percent increase and BP, 37 percent. And none of them intend to increase production - and why would they? They will make a truckload of money as long as they can keep prices high.

6. Have you ever noticed that when a person is attending college, many feel they are 'superior' and smarter than everyone else? Many college students think they have all the cures to the world's ails...just that no one will listen to them... I remember going to college and thinking of how much money I was wasting listening and learning things that I will never, ever use in the real world...

7. Do all movies suck these days? I know, there is probably a good movie released every now and then, but for the most part, I think that 99.9% of all movies coming out of Hollywood these days is pure garbage.

8. The same goes with music...I like the 'heavier' sounding stuff, I won't deny that, but watching the music video channels I notice that a lot of these newer bands just scream...as if that is all 'heavy' music needs to be. But I still think there is a lot of good music out there, it just isn't getting played on the radio... I currently have been listeing to the latest Static-X, Pennywise, Fu Manchu and of course, Clutch - who I will be seeing live on November 29th, in Minneapolis.

Alright, that's it for now...

I know I forgot a score prediction last week... so I'll do it now... Chargers 31 Chiefs 20.

Week In Review

As I mentioned last week, my wife and kids were going to be out of town for 4 days...so I was left home alone...a very rare occurance for not just hours, but multiple days... so here's what I did - and note, it would have been more exciting, but I had to work 3 of the 4 days:

Thursday:

Didn't do too much, went over to a friend's house, drank some beers and played Madden '06.

Friday:

Started out after work, went out and had some food and drinks with a buddy then went to a local bar and saw a band play. The band was pretty good, my friend got trashed...went to the weekly card game around 1:00 AM and played cards until 3.

Saturday:

Worked from 10 AM until 5 PM. Went home, napped for an hour, then went to a friend's house watched Game 1 of the World Series. Drank some beers. Then went to a bar within walking distance of my house and hung out with some buddies - shut the place down at 2 and then stumbled home.

Sunday:

Chargers game on at noon...man that's too early when you stay up so late! Game 2 of the WS and off to bed.

No work on Monday and was good to get some rest in before going to work...

So yeah, nothing too exciting and if you eliminate the time I slept, the time I was actually at home for those four days was probably less than 2 hours...

Heartbreaker...

Chargers 17 Eagles 20

Chargers lose a game that they easily had locked up...

1. First half penalties...again. Almost every play there was a flag.
2. No LT - the Eagles had 11 guys on Tomlinson on every play.
3. Brees looked good.
4. Defense looked good - biggest surprise there.
5. One play and the Chargers went from almost assuredly winning the game to losing it...and even then if Caldwell hadn't fumbled on the last Charger play, the Chargers were still in position to force overtime or possibly win the game... bad breaks at the wrong time.

Perusing many Charger forums, some are thinking the Chargers are destined to lose, that the coaching is what is costing the Chargers their 3rd loss this year, all after leading in the fourth... I think the Chargers are still a good team and this Philly game is the last of the really 'tough' ones for a while. Frustrations from this week's loss should be taken out next week with a KC beat down...

Let The Party Begin

Our daycare provider is taking today and tomorrow off. No school for the kids, so my wife is taking the kids to visit relatives in the cities. I have to work, so I'll be at home alone for the next four days... I'll try and take it easy tonight and tomorrow, but I make no promises for Saturday after I get off work...

Chargers Dealing

It looks as if the Chargers are positioning to move Phillip Rivers - or at least that's my speculation. They traded with Miami to get A.J. Feeley, to be the backup QB. I'm guessing they may make the trade in the next week or two (before the deadline) for a team that is in desperate need of a starting QB right now but also look to fill that spot for years to come...which could be any number of teams... Baltimore, NY Jets, Arizona, Chicago...

The Chargers also traded disgruntled OG Toniu Fonoti to the Minnesota Vikings. Fonoti started the season as a starter on the Charger line, but after breaking his hand and being replaced and then outplayed, wanted to be traded. The Fonoti was a first rounder 3 years ago, and although a respectable run block for most games, but a very poor pass blocker...and not to mention gaining weight each year and this season coming in extremely heavy.

I like both moves, except the Chargers aren't really getting a lot in return... two seventh round picks (one from each Miami and Minnesota) and Miami also gets Cleo Lemon, the Chargers 3rd string quarterback. But I think these two moves are just positioning for a bigger deal with a team and terms to be named later...hopefully for some secondary or defensive line help and some high picks next year...

Chargers 27 - Raiders 14

Moss went down early...

Tomlinson dominated....

If you let Tomlinson dominate you, which he can, you will lose...

Give the ball to Tomlinson....

I love when the Chargers prove me wrong and they do it all the time...

So I'm picking against the Chargers from now on... ;)

(As David Puddy would say..."Got to support the team." ... I'm just not committed enough to become a face painter right now... but if I have to, I will...

Chargers at the Raiders

San Diego travels to Oakland tomorrow, the Chargers coming off another last second loss to Pittsburgh on Monday night sit at 2 -3. While the Raiders beat the Cowboys two weeks ago and are coming off their bye week.

The keys for San Diego's success remains the same... keep the defense off the field. Effectively move the ball and control the tempo of the game. Unfortunately, Charger-Raider games typically are close fought contests and the Chargers, this season, are unable to come out on top of those such tilts, again, primarily because the defense can not make the big stop or play to stop the game winning drive. The Chargers are a good team, but until they prove they can win a close game, until the defense can prove they can stop a team when it needs too, they will remain just a good team, but very beatable.

Raiders win in a close game 31-28...Janikowski has been missing so far this year, so it might leave the door open a crack for the Chargers to eek out a win...