It was an unseasonably warm day in San Diego. 83 degrees to be precise. While most of the country was busy shoveling snow and wearing multiple layers of warm clothes, I was putting on sun block and wearing shorts as I strolled into the friendly confines of Qualcomm stadium. I was there to watch a pivotal game between two powerhouses of AFC West football.
The Kansas City Chiefs were in town to play the Chargers in a game that had post season implications. With a win, the Chiefs could essentially claim the AFC West title and slam the door shut on the on again, off again Chargers. But a funny thing happened along the way to the division title. Chiefs starting quarterback Matt Cassel had an emergency appendectomy on Wednesday leaving journeyman Brodie Croyle at the helm.
Now let us take this opportunity to recap Brodie Croyle’s record as a starting quarterback. It’s 0-9. That’s zero wins and nine losses.
Make that 0-10.
One week after getting their butts kicked by the Oakland Raiders, the Chargers played one of their most complete games in franchise history. They thoroughly dominated the Chiefs in all facets of the game. After four quarters of play, the Chiefs had a paltry 67 yards of total offense while giving up 426 yards to the Chargers. Equally startling was the time of possession, which favored the Chargers, 40:10 minutes to only 19:50 minutes for the Chiefs. As a consequence, the Chargers defeated the Chiefs, 31 – 0. With the win, the Chargers keep their slim playoff hopes alive.
Perhaps it was the heat that did in the Chiefs. Oh, I’m not talking about weather. I’m talking about this kind of heat.
I got into a little bit of trouble the last time I mentioned the Charger Girls in such cheeky fashion. Last year during preseason, I entitled an article, “Hot Sweaty Charger Girls”, but I had to mollify my editor who thought the title was too provocative and I changed the title to “Hotter than a California Wildfire”. But the tongue and cheek reference to the sizzling hot look of the Charger Girls is genuine. This is a good looking squad and they are talented dancers as well.
So let us start this week’s coverage of the sizzling hot Charger Girls with the Line Captains: Tiffany, Katie, Giselle, and Ashlie.
I do want to say that Katie is one of my favorite Charger Girls to photograph because she always gives me some interesting looks.
Halloween was two months ago, but when the Raiders come to town it always looks a little bit like a horror show. I saw a guy in the parking lot dressed up as a 10 foot tall grim reaper and a Raider fan sitting behind me wore a skull mask. Now I know the Raiders wear black and are supposed to be pirates or something, but what’s with all the skulls and death imagery? For God’s sake…its just football!
Qualcomm became a house of horrors as the Raiders took the football and smashed the Chargers in the mouth…again and again. It was perhaps the most pathetic game I’ve seen the Chargers play against the Raiders. The Men in Black rushed for over 250 yards and their defense thoroughly dominated the Chargers offense. And their fans came out in force to support their team, turning Qualcomm stadium into a home game for the Raiders. It was a house of horrors, indeed.
The Raiders ghost ride the whip in celebration of defeating the Chargers, 28 – 13.
It was alumni day at Qualcomm and several old time Charger players were introduced to the fans before the game. And in what must have been a first, former Chargettes (60s – 70s), Chargerettes (80’s) and Charger Girls (90’s onward) were on hand for the player introductions. The Charger Girls were celebrating the 20th anniversary of the founding of their organization and wore throw back uniforms to commemorate the event.
Now last year, I mentioned that I didn’t think that the Charger Girls ever wore such a uniform, but I was incorrect. I found a photo of the Chargettes who cheered in the 60’s and 70’s.
Love the white gloves and the saddle shoes. Stay classy San Diego!
Well let’s begin our special throw back uniform coverage of the Absolutely Fabulous Charger Girls with the Line Captains: Tiffany, Katie, Giselle and Ashlie.
The San Diego Chargers have a rivalry of sorts with the Denver Broncos. There’s a lot of history between the two clubs and the past few years, the Broncos were the Chargers main competition for an AFC West Division title. And to make matters worse, there was bad blood between the two team’s signal callers, until Jay Cutler whined his way out of Denver last year.
One week ago, the Broncos defeated the AFC West leading Kansas City Chiefs in convincing fashion, so on paper this week’s game looked like a good one…an important one if you have aspirations for the post season. It has been typical of the Chargers to start the season out slowly, losing to teams that they should have easily beaten. So this game was a must win. And with a Monday Night Football audience, it was a chance to prove the Chargers belonged on the list of contenders for post season honors.
So on a cold California evening, the Broncos took the opening kickoff and drove the length of the field to score a touchdown and then they promptly gave up the next 35 points to the Chargers before scoring a meaningless touchdown in the fourth quarter. The Chargers bucked the Broncos, 35 – 14.
Late Fall is vacation time for me and one of the places that I love to visit is San Francisco. Arguably one of the most beautiful cities in the world, it is even more spectacular when the weather is nice. And it was very nice this past weekend.
With temperatures in the high 70’s and beautiful clear blue skies, San Francisco was the place to be last Sunday…and I am not speaking only of the weather. The St. Louis Rams were in town to play the 49ers in a clash of NFC West powers. In a game that that ebbed and flowed, the 49ers and Rams fought each other to a tie at the end of regulation. In overtime, a Joe Nedney field goal sealed the victory for the 49ers.
And while the game was good, the San Francisco Gold Rush cheerleaders were spectacular.
Candlestick Park is not in one of the more scenic parts of San Francisco, but as a football venue it has its own unique charm. The patina of rust and grit make for a nice blue collar atmosphere. Football is a blue collar sport and that was one of the criticisms I had of the Rams back in their Anaheim days…that Rams football became too much of a wine and cheese type crowd event. So, it was refreshing to come back to the Bay Area and see some blue collar, rough and tumble football. And the fans…they look like they’d just been released from a methadone clinic, but they were hard core fans and that’s good enough for me.
I arrived early to meet up with Rex, our Bay Area correspondent. We were there to photograph a performance of the Gold Rush in the Bud Light Goldmine. That’s one of the great things about going to a game a Candlestick Park.
After their performance, the Gold Rush signed autographs and posed for photographs with the fans. I took the opportunity to take a few posed photographs for our readers.
Rex informed me that it was Junior Gold Rush day, so I made my way to my seats to await the Gold Rush’s pregame performance.
In a titanic struggle between two NFL powers, the Chargers fought through an inconsistent first half of play to come from behind and defeat the AFC South leading Tennessee Titans. Things did not bode well for the Chargers when the Titans blocked a punt for a safety on the first series of the game, continuing a trend of poor special teams play. But Philip Rivers and his rag tag band of receivers fought valiantly to overcome the Titans, who were buoyed by the return of quarterback Vince Young. In the end, the Chargers found enough courage and consistent play to score two touchdowns and two field goals in the second half to defeat the Titans, 33 – 25.
And if that wasn’t enough excitement for the 59,260 fans in attendance, it was also Halloween! And you know that means…the Charger Girls dressed in their Halloween finest!
For readers of this blog, the Halloween game is one of the most anticipated of the year and the articles that are derived from this special date are amongst the most viewed on our site. And I can understand why. Not only do you have all this Charger Girl goodness, but you have them all gussied up in some of the sexiest and most alluring attire in the NFL.
Enough hyperbole. Let’s begin our special Halloween coverage of the Charger Girls by introducing the Line Captains: Tiffany, Katie, Giselle, and Ashlie.
Giselle suffered an injury last week and wasn’t able to perform, but she was back this week with her shoulder all taped up, toughing it out. Welcome back, Giselle!
We have a lot of awards to give out this week, so let me introduce this week’s Charger Girl of the day…second year Charger Girl Natalie as the alluring Cleopatra.
The Chargers and the New England Patriots have a rivalry of sorts…if you consider consistently losing to the Patriots a rivalry. This week was no different. The Chargers fumbled, bumbled and stumbled their way to a loss and perhaps a losing season.
It wasn’t that the Patriots were moving the ball consistently against the Chargers…they weren’t. It wasn’t that the Chargers offense couldn’t move the ball against the Patriots…they did. But when the game mattered the most, the Chargers played sloppy and turned the ball over while the Patriots executed. The Patriots took advantage of four first half turnovers to take a 10 point lead at half time. That lead was pushed to a 20 – 3 advantage in the fourth quarter before a furious Charger comeback effort fell short. Final score, Clam Chowders – 23, Chargers – 20.
If the Chargers don’t find some answers soon, things will start to look bleak. Well, at least the Charger Girls sizzled in their pink breast cancer awareness tops.
Let’s begin this week’s coverage with the Line Captains: Tiffany, Lauren O., Katie, and Ashlie. Line Captain Giselle was injured and not in uniform today, so second year veteran Lauren O. took over for her.
When I was in the Bud Light Power Party, I overheard part of a conversation Katie was having with two Patriot fans, who also happened to be Boston Celtic fans. I had to point out to them that she was also a former Laker Girl and to even the most die hard New England fan, that was impressive. It’s all good in the Power Party.
This week’s Charger Girl of the Day hails from Highland, California and was an Inland Empire 66ers Spirit Girl…introducing the statuesque Brianna.
For the past several years, the Phoenix Suns have held a preseason game in the city of Indian Wells, California, which is just a stone’s throw from Palm Springs. One interesting aspect of this game is that it is played in the outdoors at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, better known as the home of the BNP Paribas Open. So, I was interested in covering this event since it would be played in a unique setting and would feature the Phoenix Suns Dancers, one of the hottest dance teams in the NBA.
Kari Herrick, the Manager of the Suns Dancers, allowed me exclusive access to the squad as they prepared for their Indian Wells visit. In this article, we will give our readers a glimpse into all that is involved in preparing for game day from the perspective of a Suns Dancer. What is it all like? Long hours, hard work and being an ambassador of the organization from the moment you arrive. So, please enjoy our article on a day in the life of a Suns Dancer.
Last week I was in Arizona to see the Cardinals play the visiting Raiders, where the red birds survived a last second field goal attempt by Oakland to preserve the victory. This week, the Cardinals flew into San Diego to play the Chargers in a game that had long term significance for both teams. But from the get go, only one team proved to be a serious contender for post season honors.
The Chargers thoroughly dominated the Cardinals, exposing their lack of a strong running game and an NFL caliber quarterback. For the Chargers, the return of running back Ryan Matthews from injury and the reemergence of a dominating defense offered a glimpse of what this team can be when healthy and playing with fire.
The Chargers scored first on a touchdown pass from Philip Rivers to tight end Antonio Gates. The Cardinals evened the score on a fumble recovery that was returned for a touchdown by safety Kerry Rhodes. But that would prove to be the highlight of the day for the visitors from Arizona as the Chargers would score three consecutive first half touchdowns to essentially put the game out of reach. The Chargers shocked the Cardinals, 41 – 10.
In another shocking development, I was not hassled for a second consecutive game so I was able to get some electrifying photographs of the Charger Girls, the hottest dance team in the NFL.
As is customary, let’s begin our coverage by acknowledging the Line Captains: Tiffany, Katie, Giselle, and Ashlie. 
Unlike the game on the field, the competition for this week’s Charger Girl of the Day was a close one with three girls providing me with some outstanding images. But in the end, one set of images stood out a tad more. This week’s Charger Girl of the Day is a rookie from San Diego, introducing Hannah. 
I like visiting Arizona. The drive from Los Angeles is relaxing and not too long. The people are nice. The venues and professional sports teams are more fan friendly (e.g. camera policy). And the cheerleaders are hot. It makes for a nice overnight trip.
My good friend Max, our Arizona Correspondent, invited me out to catch the Raiders game. Now, I was out at UOP Stadium in April to cover the 2010 Arizona Cardinals Cheerleaders auditions and I was in awe at the facility. It’s an amazing venue and I wanted to see what it was like when packed with cheering fans, so I quickly accepted Max’s generous offer.
When the Raiders come to town, it’s always a bit of a freak show with all the bizarrely dressed Raiders fans. It makes for a great photo and Max ventured among them to take a few shots of these colorful individuals. I used to be a Raiders season ticket holder, so it was nothing new for me. As Max worked the crowd, I went in early to try to avoid heat stroke. It was very hot and I was not accustomed to such blazing and intense heat. It reminded me of that scene in The Chronicles of Riddick, where Vin Diesel’s character is trying to escape the intense solar storms on the prison planet Crematoria. Arizona in the summer time is an inferno without the flames. But they have a cool new stadium that’s a must see.
As I entered the stadium, I was immediately hit with a rush of chilled air. It was quite refreshing and my senses were overloaded with the sights and sounds of all the fans in attendance. Visually speaking, UOP Stadium is brilliant. The outer facade with its metallic silver skin resembles a coiled snake. And the inside seating areas and inner concourse are well designed for functionality and aesthetics. It’s a beautiful stadium inside and out.
But when the game started, one design issue became apparent. The acoustics were terrible. Perhaps that was due to all the raucous noise the Raiders and Cardinal fans were making as their team’s fortunes ebb and flowed. It was as loud as I have ever heard at a sporting event. As for the game, it was surprisingly suspenseful, a back and forth affair right until the very end. Raider kicker Sebastian Janikowski missed his third field goal of the day to seal the win for the Cardinals, 24 – 23.
And for those people interested, I was able to snap a few photographs of the beautiful Arizona Cardinals Cheerleaders. Like UOP Stadium, the ACC are a must see too.
Let me say that even indoors with air conditioning blasting on full, it seemed a tad warm. Perhaps it was just me suffering the lingering effects of the heat, but I think it can get quite warm inside, especially with all those rabid Raider and Cardinal fans cheering their team. I must say that the sight lines in the stadium are great and aside from the hardcore fans standing up all game long, you can get a decent view of the Arizona Cardinals Cheerleaders because there doesn’t seem to be as many people (photographers, sound men, game officials, and NFL types) along the sidelines. So, I was fortunate to get the type of photographs that I like….clean backgrounds.
So, let’s begin our coverage of the Arizona Cardinals Cheerleaders by introducing my Cheerleader of the Day, Amanda.
If you have read my previous article, you may remember my odyssey in trying to take some meaningful photographs of my beloved Charger Girls. You see, the Chargers changed their camera policy this year to a much more restrictive policy, but failed to inform the ticket buying public of these changes. Thus began a series of events, which would be worthy of a Greek comedy.
Now, I am a law and order type of guy. I believe in complying with the rules and regulations. I am not anti-authoritarian by any means and I don’t believe it is better to ask for forgiveness than permission. I want to abide by the rules. But the problem was, how can one comply with the current rules and regulations when they are not published anywhere, when the organization (The Chargers) publishes conflicting and out of date information.
That was the Catch-22 circumstance that I faced the last two preseason games (you can read more about it here). After a lengthy discussion with the manager of guest services, my legitimate question of what constitutes acceptable photographic equipment in some small part forced the organization to revise and publish online a new set of guidelines, just in time for the first home game.
Well, now that a more descriptive policy was defined and let known to the public, I purchased some new equipment to comply with the new policy, which I must say is amongst the most restrictive and anti-fan friendly in the NFL.
In a letter of complaint to Dean Spanos, the President of the Chargers, I reminded him of a Los Angeles Times article which noted that the average attendance to NFL games was down for a third consecutive year and that a few NFL clubs, such as the Dallas Cowboys, were actively trying to create a more fan friendly environment to increase attendance in a down market. I guess high ticket prices and consumer acceptance of HD televisions is cutting into the bottom line of NFL teams.
Now, that makes sense…that is to try to make a fan’s experience at an NFL game more enjoyable…perhaps in the hopes that fans will let other people know of their enjoyable experience so that that excitement might generate even more interest in attending a game. Gee, you think sharing photos of your game day experience with family and friends might be a good idea?
There is a lesson to be learned for NFL team owners and that is, if you make it less enjoyable for ticket buying fans to come to your venue, less people will come out and spend money in support of your team. In a down economy, the Chargers should be reaching out to fans to ask them what they want in an experience that entices them to support the team with their dollars. If I was the Spanos family, I would be asking my season ticket holders what value can we add, so that I, as a fan, renew my season tickets and encourage others to buy. Going to an NFL game is a luxury, not a necessity.
And if my point is falling of deaf ears, the Chargers failed to sell out Qualcomm stadium for first time in years and the game was blacked out locally. There were thousands of empty seats, but those in attendance were very loud as the Chargers mauled the Jacksonville Jaguars, 38 – 13.
So, where did my odyssey take me? I bought some new equipment to be in compliance with the Chargers new restrictive, non-fan friendly policy. I am an experienced photographer and I can adjust to the changing dynamic to get the goods. It just makes it more difficult and more time consuming to get the same type of results. There’s always a little learning curve with new equipment and I had to replace my old CRT monitor, so the color balance of these images is still in a work in progress as I try to calibrate my new LCD monitor.
So with new camera equipment in hand, let me introduce you to the 2010 Charger Girls, one of the more compelling reasons to attend a Chargers game.
As is customary, let’s begin our coverage with the Line Captains: Michelle, Katie, Giselle, and Ashlie.
This week’s Charger Girl of the Day has always been a very remarkable Charger Girl. A former NBA cheerleader and a striking Marilyn Monroe look alike, this week’s GGOTD is Katie, a two year veteran and first year Line Captain.
