The Chargers May Need L.A., But L.A. Doesn’t Need The Chargers!!

No Comments February 1, 2017 Chargers By John Stellman

Why?

Why now?

Why ever?

Why like this?

Why in the first place

Why did Dean Spanos do what he did?

We Need Answers!

Why did he reject San Diego and move his team to Los Angeles?

Spanos had a captive audience. No competition from the Rams, Dodgers, Angels, Lakers, Clippers, Kings, Ducks or Galaxy.

It’s incomprehensible.

Mind Boggling

It makes zero sense.

In fact, in my January 19, 2017 article entitled: To Move Or Not To Move: Will The Chargers Stay In San Diego Or Bail, I closed with this conclusion:

__________________________

The Chargers aren’t going anywhere.

TRUST ME!

_____________________________

Confused?

I honestly believed that the Chargers would NEVER, EVER leave.

The league wanted them in San Diego.

A new facility would have guaranteed San Diego regular Super Bowl rotation.

And believe me, I am still scratching my head.

Don’t get me wrong. This isn’t all on the Spanos family.

There were enough mistakes to go around.

And there were plenty of culprits to share the blame.

The owner – YES.

The mayor – YES.

The politicians – YES.

The civic leaders – YES.

And whomever else I am leaving out – YES.

There has been a lot of head banging over several decades of fruitless negotiations to construct a new venue.

Ancient Facility

The Chargers moved into Qualcomm Stadium in 1967.

It would have celebrated its 50th birthday this season.

Not too surprising, only three other stadiums are older: Soldier’s Field (1924), Lambeau Field (1957) and O.co Coliseum (1966).

After playing in Fenway Park for five seasons, the New England Patriots have had five homes since: Alumni Stadium (1969), Harvard Stadium (1970), Shaefer/Sullivan Stadium (1971-1989), Foxboro Stadium (1990-2001) and Gillette Stadium (2002-Present).

Lengthy Battle

Meanwhile the Chargers have been actively pursuing a new venue since 2000, three years after the city tried to appease them by spending $78M to renovate dilapidated Qualcomm.

“I’d given it 15 years.

“There was so much uncertainty, so many unknowns on three different public funding sources that all would have been subject to vote.

“At the end of the day, there were too many obstacles to overcome,” Spanos suggested.

Spanos Surrendered

So when the National Football League failed to throw in additional funding, leaving a $175M funding gap, Spanos decided to throw in the towel.

“In sports, teams win and individuals lose.

“The Chargers were ultimately never willing to work with us as a team so we could achieved shared success.

“Dean Spanos made a bad decision, and he will regret it.

“San Diego didn’t lose the Chargers. The Chargers just lost San Diego,” said the mayor, Kevin Faulconer.

Nonetheless, Spanos admits that he never wanted to leave “America’s Finest City”.

Stubbornness

Unfortunately, nobody wavered.

If only egos could have been checked at the door.

Spanos family patriarch Alex, purchased the team from Gene Klein in 1984 and in 33 seasons under the Spanos ownership the Chargers compiled a record of 251-279.

During that span they participated in the post season eight times, including 1995 when they lost their only Super Bowl appearance to the San Francisco 49ers, 49-26.

Die Hard Supporters

The Chargers built a large and loyal fan bases over the course of five plus decades.

Families have passed season tickets down from father to son and eventually to grandson.

“There’s regret in not being able to come to a solution that would have kept us in San Diego. absolutely.

“But at the same time, there’s an incredible opportunity for us in Los Angeles,

“It’s going to be a challenge, it’s up to us to compete and take advantage and put a product on the field Los Angeles can be proud of.

“But we are up to that challenge, and my family and I are incredibly excited about getting started,” the owner confessed.

Meager Gathering?

The organization got a considerable boost from approximately 200 fans who showed up and warmly welcomed them at a Forum rally days after the announcement.

“I didn’t know there were this many Charger fans in L.A.,” said cornerback Jason Verrett.

“I know we’ve got to come up here and build a fan base.

“We’ve been in San Diego for 50 plus years. so I knew it wasn’t going to be super sweet or this would be sold out.

“But it was definitely way more that I thought would be here,” acknowledged running back Melvin Gordon.

Encouraging Turnout?

“Seeing this support, it’s amazing,” chimed in Joey Bosa, who hauled down the opposing quarterback 10.5 times in 12 games during his rookie season.

Whether or not that support translates to capacity crowds at the minuscule StubHub Center (30,000) is up to the Chargers.

“We must earn the respect and support of L.A. football fans.

“We must get back to winning,” Spanos wrote in a letter confirming the move.

Despite losing 23 or 32 games over the past two seasons, there is hope on the horizon.

Quality QB

Thirteen year veteran and five-time Pro Bowl quarterback Philip Rivers is solid.

He has passed for over 4,000 yards in eight of the last nine seasons. In five of those campaigns delivered 30 touchdowns passes.

With a healthy receiving corps – Keenan Allen, Tyrell Williams, Antonio Gates and Danny Whitehead – returning, River could have a monster season.

Gordon, who amassed over 1,400 all purpose yards and 12 touchdowns in 13 games. is also healthy.

The Chargers defense has also recovered from injuries.

Everybody Is Healthy

And Brandon Mebane, Verrett, Brandon Flowers, Manti Te’o and Juhlil Addae are healthy and excited.

So is Spanos.

“It’s an exciting time.

“It’ll be competitive.

“We understand that and accept it.

Struggle To Survive

“We’ll have to fight hard for everything we get.

“But that’s exactly what we plan t do,” the owner stressed.

“The Chargers will make our NFL tradition even richer, and give sports fans everywhere one more reason to be in Los Angeles,” said mayor Eric Garcetti.

What about their half century of tradition in San Diego?

The Chargers, now and forever more, belong in SAN DIEGO!!!

The Southern California News Group Contributed To This Article

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John Stellman

I was born with sports in my blood. I began coaching little league baseball at 15. I was the sports editor of my high school newspaper. I did football play by play for the college radio station. I broadcast high school basketball for a local commercial station. But baseball was always my passion. During the 1970's I covered the Angels for the Orange County Register. And now I am back where I belong...