Tag: Game Day Reports

This past game was my final Chargers game for the season and as I wrote last year, there is a tremendous amount of uncertainty surround this franchise.  Will it be the San Diego Chargers or the Los Angeles “Re-branded Team”.  A rumor was spread on social media during the middle of the Raiders game that Dean Spanos has planned to re-brand the team for the eventual and inevitable move to Los Angeles.  That made quite a stir for Charger fans in the ether of the internet, but you wouldn’t have noticed it at Qualcomm stadium since it was essentially a Raiders home game and hardly a Charger fan was to be seen.

But to the point, there is a lot of uncertainty when it comes to the future of this franchise.  There is no stadium deal in the works and the last, best chance at a new deal, a ballot initiative, was voted down in the November election.  Relocating to Los Angeles is still on the table, but if you read the reports on the internet, sharing a brand spanking new stadium with Stan Kroenke’s Rams is a less than ideal situation for Spanos, something that he would only consider as a final option when all the other San Diego alternatives have been exhausted.  And now, that seems like the only possibility left for the Chargers.

For what do they get if they move the team to Los Angeles?  They will undoubtedly double or triple the book value of the franchise the moment they change the address on their stationary, but they will also have to build their fan base from the bottom up as the second class tenant in a city that now belongs to the Rams.  The core of it’s current fan base, San Diegans, will not support this team.  They will not buy season tickets.  They will not buy merchandise.  They will not travel north to see a game.  So the worse case scenario for Dean Spanos is to move to Los Angeles and start over in a city rife with teams competing for the sports and entertainment dollar.  And this city doesn’t support losing franchises, not with so many other teams to choose from.

So as the season winds down, so does the doomsday clock.  What would you do, if you were the owner of the Chargers?  Me?  I would exercise the Los Angeles option, but choose to play the next two or three seasons in San Diego until Kroenke’s stadium is built.  Yeah, it’s not ideal, but it gives Spanos a few more years to try to work something out here and if nothing comes to fruition, then I would make the move up north.  I mean the Chargers should be in San Diego.  It’s what the owner wants.  It’s what the NFL wants…so they say.  And it’s what Charger fans want.

But in the end, this has to be a business decision…and the NFL is all about big business.

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Speaking of the game…the 10-2 Raiders were in town to play the Chargers in a game that had a lot of significance in determining the outcome of the AFC West.  There was a lot at stake for the Raiders and their fan base turned out in droves to support their team.  The Chargers radio announcers estimated that the crowd was 80% Raiders fans and that might not be too much of an exaggeration.  It was a sea of black clad fans cheering for the visiting team.

You would have expected the Raiders, whom some consider to be the second best team in the AFC, to come in and plunder the hapless Chargers, but that didn’t happen.  In fact, it was a tightly contested game with the Chargers essentially leading or tying the Raiders well into the fourth quarter when the Raiders scored two field goals to win the game.

Final Score: Oakland Raiders – 19, San Diego Chargers – 16

A most competitive and entertaining game and well worth the price of admission.  And another thing well worth the price of admission…the hottest dance team in the NFL, your San Diego Charger Girls.

Got to love the Charger Girls wearing their blue velvet Christmas uniforms…there’s nothing better than that to kick off the holiday season!  Oh, and you know what my favorite stocking stuffer is?  The Charger Girls!!!  Okay, enough of the bad puns.

Let’s begin our final game day report with the Captains: Marissa, Bridget, Teran and Delani.

Continue reading “For The Chargers…What Tomorrow Brings, No One Knows”

Week 13 of the NFL season and what have we learned so far?  There is no more relevant metric than turnovers and to put it simply, if you turn the ball over you’ll lose the game.  Or as former Dallas Cowboys lineman Dave Widell has said, “Turnovers are like ex-wives.  The more you have, the more they cost you.”

Proponents of football analytics believe there’s a fairly strong correlation between turnover differential and winning percentage, namely that 44% of the variation in a team’s winning percentage can be explained by their turnover differential.  And this past Sunday, the Chargers lost the turnover battle when Philip Rivers threw two untimely interceptions, one of which was returned for a defensive touchdown.  Consequently, the Chargers lost the game to the visiting Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Final Score: Captain Fear – 28, Boltman – 21

There’s another truism in the NFL and that is…if your team has a squad of hot cheerleaders, you’re going to have a great day regardless if you win or lose.  And yeah, I had a great day!

Well…the season is winding down and for some teams, it’s winning time…the final push for the playoffs.  And for others, it’s time to evaluate players, coaches and staff for next year.  There’s only four weeks left in the regular season and the Chargers are barely alive in the playoff hunt.  With a 5-7 record, they’re the 12th seed and need to improve six places in order to make the postseason.  Unfortunately, the three other Western Division teams are among the top six seeds and it is not likely that the Chargers will be able to overtake any of them.  Oh well.

So let’s begin this week’s coverage of the Hottest Dance Team in the NFL with the Captains: Bridget, Teran, Marissa, and Delani.

Continue reading “Untimely Interceptions Doom The Chargers”

It was an unseasonably hot Sunday in Southern California…perfect weather for some football.  The Miami Dolphins made a cross country trek to battle the San Diego Chargers in a game that was played more for pride than a chance at the playoffs.  Both teams, sporting mediocre records, are long shots at making the postseason considering that there are three better teams in the AFC West with seven wins each.  Realistically this was a game that had little playoff relevance, but that doesn’t mean it was a game played without entertainment value.  For surely, it was…especially if you were a Dolphins fan.

In a tightly contested game, Philip Rivers threw three touchdown passes to move past John Elway for eighth place on the career list with 301.  But he also threw four costly interceptions, included two bad ones in the final four minutes that sealed the fate of the home team. 

Final Score: Dolphins – 31, Chargers -24

It was the Chargers’ Salute to Service game and as you would expect, the Charger Girls wore special military themed uniforms for the event.  And because the Chargers play in San Diego, where the weather is always good, the Charger Girl uniforms were damn skimpy…uh, um…damn sexy.  See for yourself!

With a 4-6 record and three aforementioned AFC West teams with 7 wins, it appears that the Chargers playoff aspirations are at an end.  There’s just not enough games left in the season to improve in the standings.  But that’s okay…I still have the Charger Girls to justify the 120 mile trek down the 15 freeway.

So let’s begin this week’s coverage of the Charger Girls wearing special military themed uniforms with the Captains: Bridget, Teran, Marissa, and Delani.

Continue reading “Philip Rivers Turns San Diego Into Pick City”

On a balmy autumn Sunday, Melvin Gordon rushed for 196 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Chargers in an outburst of scoring that proved to be too much for the visiting Tennessee Titans.  Charger quarterback Philip Rivers chipped in 275 passing yards and two touchdowns and a resilient Bolts defense added two defensive scores to top off the points spasm.

Final Score: San Diego Super Chargers – 43, Tennessee Tuxedos – 35

With the victory, the Chargers improved to 4-5 on the season and kept their thin playoff hopes alive.  Remember this was a team that was leading in the fourth quarter of three of the first four games, only to lose in a most tragic fashion.  The boys in blue could easily be 7-2 and among the division leaders, but alas…they are not.

So, let us turn our attention to the state of the Tennessee Titans.  Although their record suggests mediocrity, you can see positive things happening.  Second year quarterback Marcus Mariota is showing the tremendous potential that inspired the Titans to draft him second overall in last year’s draft.  He threw for 313 yards, three passing touchdowns and had one rushing touchdown.  But he also threw two costly interceptions, one a pick six to Charger defensive back Brandon Flowers.  However, you could see the promise in the young signal caller.

And the Titans have a good rushing attack with the resurgence of running back DeMarco Murray, the old Dallas cast off.  Even though the Chargers held him in check for most of the game, Murray is the second leading rusher in the NFL and I am not too ashamed to say that I am riding him to a fantasy football championship…but I digress.  Yes, good things are happening in Tennessee.

But enough football chit chat…bring on the Charger Girl photos. Well…here you go!

Last game, I was able to sneak a few posed photos of two of the Charger Girl lines at the Bud Light Power Party and this week I photographed the other two.  Here’s a few teaser images from this week’s shoot.

I’ll post the remainder on my personal blog on Friday.

Well, let’s begin this week’s coverage with the Captains: Bridget, Teran, Marissa, and Delani.

Continue reading “Chargers Run Over the Titans En Route to Victory”

The Chargers have an annoying history of losing games they are leading in the fourth quarter.   Four times this season, the Chargers took a lead into the fourth quarter, only to lose three of them in a rather disappointing fashion.  Mistakes, lack of effort and poor execution have led to what can only be called as three epic meltdowns.  It’s not that the Chargers opponents played exceptionally well in coming back…they did enough to win, sure enough…but it was the way the Chargers played in the last few minutes, essentially giving those games away, that has caused so much disappointment and frustration.  The opposing teams didn’t win the game; the Chargers lost them…and lost them…and lost them.

And history has a way of repeating itself, at least in San Diego.  Before a nationally televised game, the Chargers dominated the defending Super Bowl Champions for 3 1/2 quarters, taking a 19 -3 lead into the fourth quarter.   On their first possession of the fourth quarter, the Broncos were penalized in their own end zone, giving the Chargers a safety and a seemingly insurmountable 21-3 lead considering how poorly the Broncos’ offense had played up to that point.

And then the tide turned.  With 8:18 minutes left on the clock, the Broncos scored a touchdown on a short pass to wide receiver Bennie Fowler to cut the lead to 11 points.  The sleeping giant had awoken and started moving the ball against Chargers defense.  The hometown fans breathed a sigh of relief when a touchdown pass from Siemian to C.J. Anderson was called back and a fumble two plays later was recovered by the Chargers with 3:43 left on the clock.  But the meltdown was only beginning.

Unable to get a first down or milk the clock, the Chargers punted the ball back to the Broncos with 3:03 left to go.  I tried to reassure my fellow seat mates that, surely, we would win the game, leading by 11 points with only three measly minutes left to kill…but I was on slippery ice.

The Broncos moved the ball down the field, taking a two and a half minutes to kick a field goal…and yet they were still 8 points down.  I mean the Chargers should be in good shape as the Broncos took almost the whole remaining time left to score one measly field goal and they were still down by a touchdown and two point conversion.  All we had to do was recover the onside kick and kill 30 seconds…something that should be rather easy to do…but nothing comes easy for the Chargers this season.

With 27 seconds left, the Broncos recovered the onside kick and Charger fans could sense another fourth quarter meltdown.  Even head coach Mike McCoy sensed the obvious and assumed the universal sign of despair by holding his head in his hands.  Given the past history of this year’s team, if the Broncos scored a touchdown, they would surely score the two point conversion to send the game into overtime and we would find a way to lose another game…badly.

But a funny thing happened…the stars aligned just right, world peace broke out and a Charger made a play.  On the last play of the game, a desperation heave by Trevor Siemian was knocked down by safety Dexter McCoil at the two yard line to preserve the victory for the Chargers.  The San Diego Chargers found a way to win.

Meltdown averted…just barely.

Final Score:  Gnarly Dudes – 21, Super Bowl Ringwraiths – 13

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Whew!  I need a break…so let’s take a look a this week’s lead off photos from Thursday Night Football!

Night games are always a challenge for me to shoot.  I have to use a flash, which decreases the number of photos I take and for each photo taken, I have to use a lower shutter speed and blah, blah, blah…what does this mean?  Nothing much…just…never mind.

Let’s begin our regular coverage of the Absolutely Fabulous San Diego Charger Girls with the Captains:  Marissa, Delani, Bridget, and Teran.

Continue reading “Fourth Quarter Meltdown Averted As The Chargers Find A Way To Win”

San Diego, CA. (October 2, 2016).  The Saints came marching in and snatched victory from the jaws of defeat.  Yep…they sure did.  Looking to exploit a weak Saints defense, the Chargers took a 13 point lead deep into the fourth quarter, only to turn the ball over twice in their own territory.  The Saints, led by former Charger quarter back Drew Brees, scored two touchdowns to turn what should have been a humiliating defeat into an improbable victory.

Final Score:  Beignets – 35, Crispy Fish Tacos – 34

I heard an odd statistic on the drive home.  The Chargers are 1-2 this season while leading by 13 points in the fourth quarter while the rest of the NFL is 25-0 in similar games.  That’s quite an indictment against the Chargers, who cannot seem to finish games strongly and win.  This past Sunday was particularly disappointing in that the Saints were a team without a win, playing on a short week and reeling from a crushing loss to division rival Atlanta on Monday Night Football.

This was a winnable game…a game that the Chargers should have won easily.  But Melvin Gordon returned to his fumbling ways, putting the ball on the ground late in the fourth quarter and on the next possession, a fumble by Travis Benjamin with 4:50 left in the game, set up the dramatic come from behind win for the Saints.

So disappointing.  But Sunday wasn’t a total loss…if you see what I mean.

We begin this week’s coverage of the Charger Girls with the Line Captains: Marissa, Delani, Bridget, and Teran.

Continue reading “Snatching Victory From The Jaws of Defeat in San Diego”

Tour De Force: \ˌtu̇r-də-ˈfȯrs\ noun – an impressive performance or achievement that has been accomplished or managed with great skill.

This past Sunday, the Jacksonville Jaguars roared into town to play the San Diego Chargers, who were fresh off a disappointing meltdown loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.   Things would be different this week as the Chargers stormed out to a 35 point lead and never took their foot off the accelerator.  Philip Rivers threw four touchdown passes, tying a career high, and Melvin Gordon ran for 102 yards and another score.  A strong defensive effort by the home team doomed the hapless Jaguars, who crossed midfield only six times during the game. This game was over at half time.

Final Score: Navy Blues – 38, Teal Blues – 14.

However, the news wasn’t all good.  For the second week in a row, the Chargers lost a key player for the year due to injury.  Versatile running back Danny Woodhead tore his ACL and joined Keenan Allen on injured reserved.  Who’s next?  Philip Rivers?

Well…on to the good stuff…the hottest dance team in the NFL, your San Diego Charger Girls!

I play fantasy football (five championships and counting!) and I have never seen a beginning to a season like this, where there have been so many serious injuries to key players…star players. It’s mind boggling. Let’s hope this misfortune doesn’t plague our favorite sideline entertainers, our beloved cheerleaders.

Okay, let’s begin this week’s coverage of the Charger Girls with the Captains: Marissa, Delani, Bridget, and Teran.

Continue reading “The Chargers Ride The Jaguars To Victory”

The Chargers closed preseason against the San Francisco 49ers in their annual Salute to the Military game.  Special performances and appearances by current and former military personnel highlighted the festivities.  San Diego is a military town and the irony was not lost in that this game would be played against the 49ers, whose controversial quarterback, Colin Kaepernick would be heavily featured.

In a surprisingly high scoring affair for a week 4 preseason game, the Chargers took a 21 – 9  lead into the fourth quarter only to surrender three touchdowns to lose the game.

Final Score: Sourdough Sams – 31, Bolt Men – 21.

Okay, so 49er Christian Ponder was a star for a day while leading his team to victory, but in the whole scheme of things, none of this really mattered as anyone of significance, except for the aforementioned Colin Kaepernick, did not play.  What does this mean?   Not a whole lot.  Anyone who made a difference in this game is not likely to be on the team come the regular season and if they are and playing meaningful minutes…your team has big time trouble…including the aforementioned Colin Kaepernick.  This was a scrub city game, through and through.

For me, the highlight of the evening was seeing the Charger Girls in military themed uniforms.  Woo!  Hoo!

Now before we all get excited and everything, I want to take time to mention the lengths I had to go to get these shots.  Once again, the game management people, in all their wisdom (sarcasm) decided to place a HUGE stage with flood lights in front of my section, which virtually obliterated our view of not only the field, but the Charger Girls as well.

Yeah…that’s my seat with the clear bag…and you can imagine the view at eye level.  (Click on the image above to see my field of view.)

This has become an ongoing issue over the years, but as long as they continue to obstruct the view of our section, I will mention this stupidity for all to read.   Good luck in getting my vote for the new billion dollar stadium ballot measure.  Of course my vote wouldn’t matter, because I live in Los Angeles….LOS ANGELES.  Maybe it will someday…when they move up here and want another public subsidy.

Okay, I’m stepping off my soap box…until next time…which I hope is next season, but I fully expect it to be sometime later this season when all of this happens again.

So let’s begin this week’s coverage of the hottest dance team in the NFL with the Captains: Marissa, Delani, Bridget, and Teran.

Continue reading “The Charger Girls Salute To The Military – NFL Preseason Week 4”

On Friday, the Arizona Cardinals flew into town to play the San Diego Chargers in a game that saw the home team mount a stout defense and kick four field goals en route to a 19-3 victory.  But before we get ahead ourselves, this was a preseason game and the starters for both teams played sparingly. This contest looked like a typical preseason game…lots of errors and uninspired play.  On their second series, Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer threw an interception to defensive back Brandon Flowers, who returned the pass for a pick six.  That would be the only points needed to win the game for the boys in blue and there were more than 50 minutes of game time yet to play.  Several Charger drives sputtered to a premature end, forcing them to kick four field goals…which was a good thing for Josh Lambo fans, but for most of us the lack of big play touchdowns was somewhat of a disappointment.

But hey…its a preseason game.  And I didn’t drive 120 miles to see second and third string football players struggle to secure a roster spot.  No, I came to see the new crop of Charger Girls and I was not disappointed.

For the San Diego Chargers, 2016 is a season of change.  I know several season ticket holders, long time fans, who have changed their allegiance and no longer support the team because of the attempt to relocate to Los Angeles.  That may still happen and judging by the number of empty seats at Qualcomm stadium, things look bleak.  And while the Chargers are desperately trying to secure approval and funding for a downtown San Diego stadium project, that seems to be a long shot at best.  So what does the future bode for the home team?  No one knows for sure…but things cannot remain the same.

We hope that it is a season of change for the play on the field.  Melvin Gordon, the second year running back, has looked surprisingly good this preseason.  We hope that he is fully recovered from microfracture surgery and becomes the dynamic back that fans hoped he would be when he was drafted last year.  And there is a new sense of urgency and hopefulness in that the team can be competitive in an AFC West division that looks more open than ever and that success on the field can propel voters to approve the downtown stadium ballot measure in November.

For what is the alternative if the ballot measure fails?  Will the Chargers take the NFL’s one year offer to move to Inglewood’s two billion dollar stadium?  Or will the Raiders snatch the option to relocate to Los Angeles if the Chargers pass on the opportunity.  And if they do, what does that mean for the Chargers.  Will Southern California support three NFL franchises within 100 miles of each other?  Certainly there are the numbers…people and dollars, sure…but that’s a tough sell if you don’t put a competitive product on the field and we all know what happens to teams that don’t.

So, this year is shaping up to be monumental for the Chargers…the team and its fans.

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Let’s see if I got this correct and start our coverage off with the 2016 Line Captains: Marissa (welcome back!), Delani, Bridget and Teran.

Continue reading “Chargers Kick the Cardinals into Submission – NFL Preseason Week 2”