Per EscoWhitey’s request I have assembled a breakdown of the 14 team LWCFFL.

I rank the teams from best roster to worst in my humble estimation….

1. Brazilian Bombers
2. Frightening Lightening
3. Mr. Meaner
4. Goldminers
5. Nature’s Finest
6. Mia Mamma
7. Divorced ‘Til February
8. I’VE HAD IT UP TO HERE!
9. The Sopranos
10. Fudgy Biscuits
11. Ted Dawson
12. Mr. Sunshine
13. Singeltary For President
14. Lance

Now let me explain my rationale…

I really don’t see much a of a difference between team #5 and team #14. Honestly outside of the top 4 it’s hard to say that anyone has any real advantages.

The top 4 are the top 4 for the simple reason that they have 3 or more studs. 3 Studs in a 14 team league is enough to get you into the playoffs. I break down each roster according to three categories, Studs, Solid and sleepers. I do not account for Kickers or Defense.

Going into the draft I had the following “studs”
7 QB- Brees, P. Manning, Brady, Warner, Rodgers, Rivers, Romo
11 RB- Peterson, Turner, D. Williams, Jackson, Forte, C. Johnson, Jacobs, LT, Westbrook, Slaton, Jones-Drew
10 WR- C. Johnson, A. Johnson, R. Moss, L. Fitzgerald, R. White, S. Smith, G. Jennings, Wayne, Boldin, V. Jackson
2 TE- Gates, Witten

1. Brazilian Bombers
Studs- Jones-Drew, Calvin Johnson, Witten
Solids- McNabb, McFadden, Ginn Jr.
Sleepers- S. Smith NYG
(#1 because of McNabb who is just on the cusp of being a fantasy stud. He seems to be a fantasy stud every other year. Is this the year? I think McFadden will have a monster year as well)

2. Frightening Lightening
Studs- Rivers, Tomlinson, Jackson
Solids- Addai, Keller
Sleepers- Crayton, Engram
(Maybe it’s just because I am big Chargers fan but I see this team putting up a lot of points)

3. Mr. Meaner
Studs- Warner, Forte, Fitzgerald
Solids- J. Lewis, Stewart, Evans, Z. Miller, E Royal
Sleepers- Austin
(Warner + Fitzgerald = playoffs)

4. Goldminers
Studs- P. Manning, Jacobs, R. Moss
Solids- T. Jones, Ward, Cooley
Sleepers- McGahee, Morgan
(How did Christa draft such a good team? By bidding on every player I bid on! I wanted Jacobs, Jones and Manning but when she is bidding off someone else’s notes I felt absolutley helpless to beat her. It was unfortunate indeed.)

5. Nature’s Finest
Studs- D. Williams, Westbrook
Solids- Schaub, Barber, Bowe, Daniels
Sleepers- Moore, Walter, Cassel
(Sigh. Pretty much nothing went my way. I didn’t get any of the players I wanted so I have talked myself into this team being a good team. I do have three running backs which is more than anyone else but if Schaub and Cassel are hurt all season I am screwed.)

6. Mia Mamma
Studs- Rodgers, Slaton, Wayne
Solids- White, Bryant,
Sleepers- D. Hester, Graham
(I am a huge Slaton fan after he helped deliver me a championship. But he went for a steep price (48). If a second RB emerges this is a playoff team.)

7. Divorced ‘Til February
Studs- Chris Johnson, Steve Smith (Car)
Solids- Ryan, P. Thomas, Berrian
Sleepers- F. Jones, Hixon, Quinn
(C. Johnson is my pick for RB MVP this season. S. Smith is my favorite reciever of all the studs.)

8. I’VE HAD IT UP TO HERE!
Studs- Turner
Solids- Cutler, Avery, R. Rice
Sleepers- Bennet (Chi), J. Davis, S Greene, Cotchery, S. Rice
(This team is mostly about sleepers. If Ray Rice and James Davis are as good as I think they will be and if Jay Cutler is as good as everyone in the national media thinks he is this team has a really good chance.)

9. The Sopranos
Studs- S. Jackson
Solids- Grant, Houshmadezeh, Welker, Edwards, E. Manning, Favre
Sleepers- Washington, Breaston, Winslow
(I see bounce back years for Grant, Edwards and Houzmanicky.)

10. Fudgy Biscuits
Studs- Brady, A Johnson, Gates
Solids- Portis, Parker
Sleepers- Harvin, Nicks, Buchalter
(The lack of RB depth and strength is the only thing keeping this team out of the playoffs.)

11. Ted Dawson
Studs- White, Boldin,
Solids- K. Smith, Marshall, A Gonzalez, Shiancoe
Sleepers- Stafford, Moreno, Wells
(You need a stud at RB or QB. You can only start 2 WR at a time. But The potential with Wells and Moreno is HUGE.)

12. Mr. Sunshine
Studs- Peterson,
Solids- Palmer, R. Brown, Bush, D. Jackson, Olsen, Carlson
Sleepers- Ochocinco, Flacco, Bradshaw
(If Palmer is good so is ochocinco and so is this team.)

13. Singeltary For President
Studs- Romo, Jennings
Solids- Gore, L. Johnson, T. Gonzalez, Owens, Holmes
Sleepers- D. Brown, Mendenhall
(Most people like Gore and think higher of T Gonzalez and TO. Not I.)

14. Lance
Studs- Brees,
Solids- Colston, Lynch, R. Williams (Dal), Ward, Clark
Sleepers- McCoy, Stuckey
(The first 3 games will be tough without Lynch but then this could be the team to beat. Although an 0-3 hole is no fun.)

You may think that fudgy biscuits is kind of low based on having 3 studs but after those three I see a real lack of depth that precludes me from moving him up. But as I said at the beginning I do not see a huge difference between teams 5 and 14, especially since team 14 has the highest scoring player in the league.

In the world of blogging, much like in the world of economics, supply and demand is an undeniable principle. Production of an unwanted product is, in the simplest of terms, worthless. Therefore the next few weeks will feature a few miscellaneous blog posts of varying subject matter to see if there is any more demand for Daniel’s Den to stay open.

The first topic to try out is in the category of Sports Thoughts.

There are certain columnists that I read simply because I loathe them. Bill Simmons, Pete Prisco, Jason Whitlock and Peter King are at the top of my list.

Peter King makes his predictions every season as to who will win the Super Bowl. The past 6 seasons he has predicted the Patriots 5 times and the Saints once. He’s been wrong every time. This season he again predicts the Patriots to win the Super Bowl. Good luck with that Peter.

Of course like Peter I too am a “homer” (but unlike Peter I don’t get paid to be an objective journalist) so you have to keep in mind my bias when reading my predictions…

NFC-
West
Cardinals (4) 10-6. No one in this division will come close to catching the Cardinals who have only gotten better since playing in the Super Bowl last season.

Seahwaks 8-8. This is a huge improvement that comes from having a healthy Hasselbeck. I wouldn’t be surprised to see the ‘Hawks make a run at the wild card.

Rams 6-10. The Rams are still a full season and a great draft away from being relevant again.

49ers 5-11. I like coach Singletary but you have to have either a solid QB or a dominating Defense to win in the NFL. They don’t have either.

South
Saints (1) 12-4. The Saints got every bad break you could get last season along with a terrible D. When a Defense plays as poorly as this one did last season they have no where to go but up. The frustrating season of 08 awards them an easier 09 schedule, which they will handle nicely.

Panthers 9-7. This is a team that could have been in the Super Bowl last season if not for an epic QB fail.

Falcons 8-8. Yes they were a fluke last season. They will return to mediocre this year.

Buccaneers 3-13. The collapse collapse that was overshadowed by the Broncos collapse is not forgotten in this ranking. The Bucs have a rookie QB, 3 weak Running Backs and a coach who is graduated high school 5 years ago. Three wins is optimistic.

North
Packers (2) 11-5. This was the best team with the worst record last year and now Favre in the division they will be extra motivated.

Vikings* (6) 10-6. Favre started out last season on a tear… which progressed to his bicep and basically ruined the Jets. What will hurt the Vikes this year is that eventually justice will prevail and suspend the Williams twins for 4 games.

Lions 6-10. Huge year for the Lions who could sniff the playoffs in 2010. The Schwartz is with these guys. Matthew Stafford won’t be a bust but will have to endure the growing pains of the rookie starter.

Bears 4-12. Cutler, Cutler, Cutler. This diva will drive a once proud franchise to the grave just like he did with the Broncos. He’s a curse. He’s a cancer. He’s a clown. Enjoy him Chi-town.

East
Redskins (3) 11-5. The only way you win in the NFL is with a great QB or a great Defense. The Redskins require the latter. Fortunately they have the latter with a D that allowed the 4th fewest yards in the league last season. The offense also ranked a respectable 19th. Campbell is finally playing a second season under the same coach. The continuity will cause him to make huge strides.

Cowboys* (5) 11-5. Getting rid of T.O. might seem like it would leave a gaping offensive hole but when your team is as balanced as the Cowboys are it really won’t have much of a negative impact. The biggest obstacle to the cowboys succeeding is the question of Romo
s physical stamina. He seems to regress as the season goes on and with an early BYE and an extremely difficult month of December it could end up being another season of “missed it by that much.”

Giants 9-7. The only reason the Giants finish above .500 is because they make no west coast trips and instead have 3 teams coming from the west coast.

Eagles 6-10. So many people are predicting huge things for the Eagles and I just don’t get it. They finished 9-6-1 last season. The Tie was to the BENGALS! This team lacks leadership, as demonstrated by Andy Reid’s personal problems. Lacks intelligence, as demonstrated by Donavan McNabb’s highly publicized ignorance of basic NFL rules. And lacks character, as demonstrated by the signing of Michael Vick. Add to all that the death of their long time D-Coordinator, Jim Johnson and I see nothing good happening for the Eagles this season.

AFC
West
Chargers 12-4 (1). The only games the Chargers should lose are @Pitt, @NYG, @Dal and @Ten. West to East trips are difficult. Cowboys beat the Chargers simply because the stupid scoreboard hinders Scifres mad skills. That being said I have plenty of reservations regarding the motives of Ron Rivera. I would not be shocked at all to see the Bolts blow a game in Oakland, let one slip away against Baltimore and then lose at Pittsburgh to start the season 1-3. This would be the perfect scenario for Ron Rivera who would then be promoted to head coach as Norv Turner would be the fall guy. Given the likelihood of a 1-3 start ending up like that I cannot help but believe that Rivera wouldn’t allow such a thing to happen via some poor defensive play calling.

Chiefs 7-9. The Chiefs brought in two key pieces during the off season. First of all they have a new Head Coach, Todd Haley who used to be the Offensive Coordinator in Arizona. Second they brought in former Patriots QB Matt Cassel. Adding those two to Dwayne Bowe could make this team explosive.

Raiders 6-10. JaMarcus Russell + Darren McFadden + Darrius Heyward-Bey = An awful lot of first round draft money. Now can they put it all together? Probably not this season, but if Tom Cable is coaching them next year I think they might finally have a shot at a .500 season.

Broncos 4-12. There is no doubt in my mind that the Broncos got the better end of the Jay Cutler deal. Kyle Orton is a winner (much more so than Jay Cutler) and those draft choices can go a long way to fill in the missing pieces of the defense. And a lot of missing pieces there are. The front three and the two outside linebackers combined for just 82 tackles last season. That’s 11 fewer than inside linebacker DJ Williams had himself. I don’t want to hear another word about how great “shutdown” corner Champ Bailey is. He had exactly 1 INT last year and the broncos pass defense was 26th in the league.

South
Texans 12-4 (2). This is probably the biggest reach of all my predictions. The Texans have been on the precipice of the playoffs for the past couple of seasons and the departure of Tony Dungy in Indy along with an NFC West schedule makes me think this is the year. Schaub, Slaton, Johnson and Daniels make this one of the most potent offenses in the league. Provided those 4 stay healthy this team could put on quite a show.

Titans 11-5* (5). The Titans had a dream season last year and I’m still not quite sure how. They finished 13-3 with the 21st ranked offense and the 7th ranked defense. Kerry Collins is a sub-par QB and the D has lost Hayensworth. How big a difference will it be? 2 wins is my guess.

Colts 8-8. This is a prediction based more on the greatness of Tony Dungy than any other factor. A lot of folks are under the impression that Peyton Manning is the coach of that team. Well last years numbers tell us that the offense was the 15th in the league while the defense was the 11th. In other words the defense was better than the offense! How does Peyton Manning have anything to do with that? Manning has 1 Superbowl ring. But so does his brother. Roethlesberger has 2 and Brady 3. Manning might be good at dancing around and the line of scrimmage and hurling the ball over 60 times a game but he’s not the reason why the Colts have been a factor for the past 7 years. That’s Tony Dungy’s doing and he won’t be around this time.

Jaguars 6-10. If the Jaguars won this division I wouldn’t be floored at all. I have no confidence in them (as evidenced by my 6-10 prediction) but I have really nothing bad at all to say about them. I also have nothing good to say about them. It is often those types of teams the shock the snot of you.

North
Browns 10-6 (4). The Ravens were going to be my pick to win this division until I noticed what they lost (read more on that further down). So I instead went with the team that added. The Browns added head coach Eric Mangini. They added 3 new Offensive lineman and 160 tackles with linebackers Bowens and Barton. They also will likely allow Brady Quinn to be the QB from the get go. If Jamal Lewis blows out in the first 3 games I think we will see RB James Davis pulling a Steve Slaton-esque rise.

Steelers 10-6* (6) The defending champs somehow ended up with the 3rd easiest schedule in football this year. It’s Tila Tequila easy. And I still don’t think they will win more than 10 games (but it’s impossible for them to miss the playoffs). Fact of the matter is that their offensive stars, Roethlisberger, Holmes, Ward and Parker are not good. This team wins on defense and they will continue to do just that.

Ravens 7-9. The Ravens lost defensive coordinator Rex Ryan. They lost two Offensive Lineman. They lost 3 key contributors in their defense. And Lorenzo Neal isn’t there to aid in the run-blocking anymore. Flacco survived last season simply because they never asked him to throw the football. He will have to this year and I just don’t see anyone on his team who can catch it.

Bengals 2-14. I have tried to help the Bengals many times over with positive predictions but to no avail. Marvin Lewis is entering his seventh season with the Bengals. How unbelievable is that? There are only 4 other coaches in the league who have been with their team longer! Wow. This has got to be his last season in orange and black.

East
Jets 11-5 (3). I am a big Rex Ryan fan. Love the guy. Love that he brings with him players from Baltimore that he believes are leaders. Love that he is a run and stop the run coach. Will such old-school tactics work in the division that features the poster children of the shotgun spread in New England and the innovators of the single wing (AKA “Wildcat”) in Miami? Only time will tell. But at my heart of hearts I truly believe that Old School will conquer New School in the long run in every area of life. So why not in football?

Dolphins 8-8. Even though the Fish have the toughest schedule in the NFL and even though they are famous for their “Wildcat” formation they are generally speaking a very balanced football team that aims to Run and stop the Run. It won’t be enough to get them back to the playoffs but at least they will have a decent season.

Patriots 7-9. Ahhh the golden boy of the NFL returns. Tommy Boy Brady comes back after missing virtually all of 2008. As far as I’m concerned the Patriots were finally exposed in their SB loss to the Giants two seasons ago. They were exposed as a team who frantically runs up the score simply because they can’t play defense. This season they will follow that exact same model but to no avail. The Patriots seem to have forgotten that when they were winning Super Bowls it wasn’t because they had an offensive machine, but because they were balanced and actually tried to stop other teams from scoring. Now they think it’s a video game. Outside of Randy Moss on offense and Adailus Thomas on Defense there is nobody (including pretty boy Tom) that I would want on my team. That’s not to say that they aren’t a good team, Bill Belichick works very hard to make them a good team. but the roster just isn’t that talented and this season facing more physical Jets and Dolphins teams they are going to fall back down to middle of the pack.

Bills 6-10. They added T.O. and he added a reality TV show to his eccentric lifestyle. Enough said.

So there you have it my predictions for the 2009 NFL season. Enjoy.

This past weekend we saw yet another new stadium proposal for the San Diego Chargers. These things sure do seem to come and go don’t they?

The primary argument behind building a new stadium in San Diego seems to be that “if you don’t build it, that Chargers will leave.” I don’t know about you but I don’t respond well to threats. And now as a newly registered San Diego voter I finally have a say in the matter!

The City of San Diego in 1998 approved the San Diego Padres the ability to build a downtown ballpark. In 2004 the Padres began play in Petco Park and the skyline of San Diego has seen tremendous changes since. Off the top of my head I can name about 5 new Hotels and at least 15 new housing developments that all came along with the construction of Petco Park. To say that the ballpark didn’t benefit the city of San Diego is only possible if you had never experienced the before and after of the east village.

So even though Petco was pitched in the threatening fashion of “if you don’t build it the Padres will leave” we can look at the positive benefits of the ballpark and say that they could have just sold us on those alone and we would have built it.

Is it possible for the San Diego Chargers to do the same?

Can they stop trying the threatening sales pitch and start trying to entice us?

Clearly the primary obstacle towards enticement is when you ask for public dollars. So rule number one for the Chargers is to have this thing privately financed.

The second thing the public needs to see is that it will benefit them in some way or another. Meaning it needs to be profitable for the city but also accessible to the local public. For instance I was reading about the New Yankee Stadium recently and the disgusting amount of public dollars that went into a place that most of the public cannot afford to attend. The Yankees representative countered with an argument that “90% of the non-suite tickets cost under $100”… How he could say this with any amount of sincerity just goes to show how much disconnect there is with corporate heads and the general public. $100 is about as much money as I can afford to spend on an entire season worth of baseball tickets and this guy is championing that price as if it were something affordable. What a clown. But with regards to a football stadium where a mere ten games a year are played how can you provide a benefit for the general public along with profitability for both the city and the investors?

And then there is perhaps the biggest question of all, where can you do all of this?

The latest proposal, seen here, is to redevelop the current qualcomm site. This is a ridiculous idea for many reasons, primarily because the mission valley area is already swamped with condos, retail and office space. Retail giants are shutting down left and right, condo sales are plummeting and what do they offer us? More retail and more condos. Huh?

Clearly this isn’t going to work, especially not on the current Mission Valley location.

A lot of talk has been made of Chula Vista and for good reason. Chula Vista has a tremendous bay front area that is largely undeveloped. They have breathtaking natural vistas along with convenient freeway access and tremendous untapped potential in the tourism industry.

But I don’t particularly care for Chula Vista nor do I have a voting ability there.

Here is the way I see things…

As far as profitability concerns I think any development needs to be aimed at the tourism and convention industry. The one thing that San Diego isn’t going to all of a sudden lose is its beauty. It should continue to be one of the most attractive sights in the world for hosting conventions as well as for vacation destinations. Initially a football stadium doesn’t seem like it would have drastic impact on the tourism and convention industry but when you take a look at the new Cardinal stadium you might be surprised.

Then there comes the issue of how will this benefit the general public? I think you have to sell it as much more than a cash cow with tax revenues. I think you need to literally design a stadium with a public service in mind. Consequently I propose that you incorporate within the stadium/convention center complex three things… 1. A fire station 2. A homeless shelter and 3. A school.

I’m sure that things are initially laughed at but lets take a look at the possibilities here using location near Petco Park as an example.

Presently right outside of Petco Park is a lot of parking lot space followed by a bus depot and the Father Joes villages. The state of California is facing all kinds of budget cuts which means fire stations, schools and shelters are getting shut down. What if those three things were maintained in large part by private entities? Between the Petco location and where I am referring to with regards to a football stadium is the location they are currently attempting to build a library/school. That’s one. On the north side of the complex they could build a fire station to replace the current one on Island (which was left standing while most of the surrounding buildings were destroyed). And then near where Father Joe’s primary ministry is you could incorporate a shelter and rehabilitation center, which would also have automatic low-skill job opportunities within the convention center and stadium.

It’s a win, win, win scenario (that hopefully helps the Chargers win as well).

The reason I wrote this blog entry is because last week I was contacted by a gentleman who is working on a development plan of his own. He did not tell me any of the details of his plan, just that he would like to get in touch with Chargers fans and Season Ticket holders and start promoting his agenda. I told him I would try to get a conversation going on my blog and that I would let others know that if they are interested in learning more they can sign up to receive emails about his plan by emailing him at rick@trippdevelopment.com

Let me know what you think about my ideas. Will it ever work? Could it ever work? Or is it only a matter of time before the Bolts bolt?

Carrie Prejean here is your 15 minutes. Be careful though, whatever you say can and will be used against you in a court of public opinion.

Perez Hilton
Opposite Marriage
Politically Charged Question
Second Runner Up

All these names and phrases that I never would have given a second thought to are being hurled in my direction.

Who elected Carrie Prejean to be the voice for protecting marriage and how can we recall her?

I remember the bumper stickers and T-shirts of W’s face in mid-dufus appearance with the words “Not my president” printed on them. Those always disgusted me because it was a demonstration that the wearer had no concept of respect for the elected officials and the process by which they are elected.
While I admit I feel like making senator Boxer or Fienstien t-shirts in similar fashion I realize that the reality is that they ARE my Senators and I have to work within those rules.

But when it comes to a pop-icon being forcibly labeled as my representative through a completely non-democratic process I get really ticked off.

And that’s where we are today.

It’s been a little over a week since the Miss USA pageant forced its way back into relevancy with the most contrived controversy since Don Immus and if you haven’t taken sides don’t worry, they’ve already picked one out for you.

In this corner weighing in at 118 pounds we have the new, unblemished face of the Christian Right Wing Conspiracy… Miss Carrie Prejean!

And in this corner weighing in at a slightly pudgy 192 pounds we have the new, lisp-accented voice of the Radical Left Wing Conspiracy… Mr Perez Hilton!

Yup Left and Right have brand new champions. Of course the Left’s champion isn’t new, he just finally found a way to be listened to. That way was by picking a fight with the new Miss Right. And the new Miss Right would have never been Miss Right if she had been able to put together a cognitive response. I guess that’s why she has been chosen to be Miss Right.

I am not a fan of Miss Right.

I really do not want her representing me.

Let’s break it down…

First of all there is the answer to the question, “Vermont recently became the fourth state to allow same-sex marriage. Do you think that other states should follow suit, why or why not?”

“Well I think it’s great that Americans are able to choose one or the other. We live in a land where you can choose same-sex marriage or opposite marriage. And you know what? In my country and in my family, I think that I believe that marriage should be between a man and a woman. No offense to anybody out there but that’s how I was raised and that’s how I think that it should be between a man and a woman.”

I have to be honest and somewhat agree with Perez Hilton… This answer is terrible. Mostly because it failed to answer the question but worse than that, what she had to say was contradictory.

First of all she tried really hard to say something PC with her “I think it’s great that we live in a land where you can choose.” comment. You would think that this half of her answer would be satisfactory to Mr. Left. Don’t they want to be permitted the freedom to choose whatever gender they would like and have it be considered marriage?

Evidently the second half of her answer though was the only thing that people want to focus on… “I think that I believe that marriage should be between a man and a woman… [because] that’s how I was raised.”

Letting slide the “I think I believe” and focusing on the reason for her thinking she believes as “that’s how I was raised.”

I don’t want someone representing me because they were raised a certain way. I want someone representing me who understands why they believe what they believe and why they were raised a certain way and most importantly why something is right and why something is wrong.

I loathe the fact that Miss Right is now making the media rounds taking pride in her inconsistent, irrational answer.

What bothers me is that we share so much in common.
1. We are both beautiful
2. We are both from San Diego
3. We are both Padres fans
4. We both claim to be Christians

So you might think that I would be proud for her to represent me. But with every new interview I see of her I cringe. Every new article in the paper that she is speaking at a church, or on a talk show or whatever makes me feel like I’m getting robbed of my voice.

I wonder if the Left feels the same way about Mr. Left. How can they be happy to be represented by such a nincompoop? Within moments of the pageant finishing he was making youtube videos calling Miss Right some of the foulest things you can describe a woman as. And he’s glamorized for it? He clearly violated the ethical guidelines of pageant judging and has used this platform for self-promotion. Is that the kind of person the left wants representing them?

I think I believe that the problems our nation is facing can all be summarized in this micro sampling of pop-politics.

Problem #1 Nodody gives any real thought to why they believe what they believe.

Problem #2 There is an automatic stereotyping attached to pseudo-celebrities that is supposed to be indicative of the whole.

Problem #3 That aforementioned stereotyping is exacerbated when those representatives make mistakes (which they are more prone to do with magnifying glasses on them).

Problem #4 There is a two-fold problem of people allowing the representatives to represent them and of people who are unwilling to have the representatives representing them to get out from under that representation.

Problem #5 There is no tolerance for freedom of speech on either side.

Can anyone disagree that these problems are real and that they are in fact problems? How can we put an end to this?

If it weren’t for youtube, facebook, twitter etc. perhaps this debate would have never surfaced.

But while the blogosphere appears to be the great cause of this quandary is it possible that the blogosphere is also the solution?

Can we, through the continual publishing of our own voice, be able to breakdown the false representatives over us?

It seems pretty hopeless when I check my stat sheet but I really don’t know what else to do.

Suggestions?

With the NFL schedule being released yesterday and the Draft coming up in just a a week and a half I thought I might make a place for new comments about the Bolts.

First I’ll give my quick take on the schedule…

The first thing I learned about the schedule came from a High Schooler who left me a voice mail exactly 5 minutes after the schedule had been released. His exact words were…
“Daniel Balcombe! The Chargers are going to lose to the Titans on Christmas Day, Christmas Day you better be warned!”
So I looked and saw that Christmas Day is on a Friday this year. Once again I figured the NFL must have it out for the Chargers. But after seeing the rest of the schedule I think it’s pretty fair (especially when compared to how brutal last year’s was).

They only play back to back road games once. (@ Cle 12/6, @ Dal 12/13)
They only play at 10AM local time once. (@KC 10/25)

The strangest part of the schedule though is that all of the division games are finished by week 12. Which means if we don’t have a 2 game lead by then it could be very difficult to make up ground.

My thoughts on the draft is that they should go Linebacker first pick. OL needs some help but time and time again I see guys drafted real late or not at all who become solid OL. I think it has to do with coaching more than physical talents.

RB should probably be addressed but not until 3rd round at the earliest. LT still has good years in him.

I would also like to see the Chargers trade Vincent Jackson and release Jamal Williams. Somebody needs to take a stand against Drunk Driving and I don’t see why the Chargers can’t be that team.

Of course if they release Williams they have to go DT with the first pick. DT and LB I think are your highest priorities. Those positions, contrary to popular opinion, were the most glaring weakness last season.

When we left for our trip I left my car at my parents house so my brother could use it. The very next morning he text me to tell me I had received a parking ticket.

eegads!

Come to find out the ticket was given at 3:47 AM for not having a front license plate.

That’s frustrating. Really frustrating.

Since I am not one to stay silent about frustration I made sure to write a letter and include it with my fine.

This post is called playing with fire because I realize the increased possibility of reprisal acts from the city of Poway. Nevertheless I will not allow the tyranny of the overpaid meter maids to silence me!

here is what I wrote…

Dear City of Poway Parking Administration,

I include this letter along with the $30 fee I must pay for not having a front license plate on my vehicle. I feel I must also voice my opinion about the obvious misappropriation of police resources.

I lived on Robison Blvd for the past two and half years. In less than one calendar year there were 3 drunk drivers who struck other vehicles on this block. One of those times my car was struck. On a different occasion my other vehicle was struck by a hit and run (I assume that driver also was intoxicated) while it was parked on Frame Road. All of these events occurred between the hours of 1 and 4 AM. Clearly the city of Poway is having problems enforcing the drunk driving laws. It seems to me the only way you can catch drunk drivers is if they happen to wreck their vehicles on Robison Blvd.

Why do I bring this up? Because I come out on a Tuesday morning to see that my vehicle has been ticketed at 3:47 AM for not having a front license plate.

It’s quite bothersome that police officers are patrolling the streets in the wee hours of the morning searching for parking infractions rather than out there protecting innocent lives against the recklessness of intoxicated drivers.

I respectfully ask that there be a reassessment of Sheriff department prioritiese

And had a fabulous experience. Wow what a great trip.

Thank you all so much for your tips but thanks most of all to my beautiful wife, Athena, who planned this best birthday present ever!

Alright readers here is what you have all been waiting for, a vacation recap! Oh joy.

OK so we started out on Tuesday, March 31st by going to Disneyland. Why? because we have passes and an early flight out of John Wayne airport. Flying to DC is about 100 bucks cheaper out of Santa Ana than it is out of San Diego. I don’t know why it just is.

Wednesday

We got to DC around 6PM and took a cab to our Hotel, the beautiful Sofitel, Lafayette Square.

After checking in we went for a walk to check out the area. We weren’t expecting to do as much walking as we did. It was rainy but not too cold (50’s) so we took an umbrella and strolled past the white house to the Washington Monument then to the WWII Memorial down the reflecting pool to the Korean War memorial, up to the Lincoln memorial and then to the Vietnam veterans memorial. After that we stopped at the constitution gardens  before getting back into our hotel around 10 PM cold, wet and tired but soooo excited.

Best- Lincoln Memorial. Reading the Gettysburg Address and his Second Inaugural address was awe-inspiring. What stood out most to me was his understanding of the providence and justice of God. Clearly Lincoln believed the civil war was due (at least in part) to the sins of slavery. I kept trying to imagine a political figure today speaking these words and the outcry there would be from so many people. How dare you blame Katrina or 9/11 on God’s providence and judgment for America’s sins?!?! And yet here etched in stone are Lincoln’s words making a striking similar accusation. Also there is a great Lincoln exhibit down below that is small but very informative.

Worst- crowds of highschool classes at Lincoln memorial with absolutley zero interest in anything other than the statue and yelling at each other in unreasonably high volumes. I was really disappointed in most of the school crowds everywhere I went because these herds generally demonstrated an irreverence that was completely unbecoming of the memorials and monuments. This was the same at the WWII. Primarily I think this is a matter f the herd mentality and not the individuals themselves. I do think that most of the kids, if they were in smaller groups or with their families would be much more respectful.

Best Secret- Constitution gardens. The crowded masses of Lincoln and WWII were non-existent at Korea and the Vietnam wall had fewer people as well. But there was absolutley nobody at the constitution gardens which was great. There on a little island in the middle of a figure 8 shaped pond is a tribute to the signers of the Declaration of independence. Each autograph is carved into stone along with their state and occupation. Very cool.

What I learned- For starters I realized just how ignorant I was of the cause of the Korean war. Seeing this made a trip to the American History museum much more interesting. The Vietnam Wall was staggering. Seeing the real cost of war by the number of lives lost was incredible. At WWII the emphasis that Americans rose up to battle as liberators not as conquerors was quite thought provoking.

Thursday-

The time change of waking up at 7AM (4AM pacific) hurts. I didn’t really get used to this. We went off to our tour of the capitol which had been arranged via Duncan Hunters office months in advance. This just in… LAME! the “tour” consisted of a movie followed by getting into a group of 50 and stopping at 3 different points (Rotunda, Statuary and Crypt) before being dispersed. However the brand new capitol visitors center was terrific and had a great exhibit in the “emancipation hall” on breaking up the history of congress into different eras. This was far more informative than the tour itself. Once you get into the Capitol visitors center you can go to all the places the tour takes you so my advice is to skip the tour and explore on your own. After the tour we took a tunnel over to the Library of Congress where we looked at a Gutenberg Bible, Jefferson’s Library, An exhibit on the forming of the “big 3″ (Declaration of Independence, Constitution and Bill of Rights) and an exhibit on Lincoln. There were several other exhibits we never got around to as well. We stopped at Duncan Hunter’s office on the way out and picked up some gallery tickets so that we could see the congressional chambers (which we did on Friday). We walked from there to the Air and Space Museum then stopped at the old post office pavilion for some lunch and a great view of the mall. After resting for a couple of hours at the hotel we went to an NBA game where one of the worst teams in the league, the Wizards, beat the best team in the league, the Cavs. Lebron put up something like 31, 9 and 6 and made it look soooo easy but fate was on the Wizards side this night!

Best- The new Capitol visitor center with it’s incredible history of congress probably impacted me the most. The only reason we left the exhibit was to go to the tour and I really wish we would have spent that tour time on the exhibit.

Worst- Clearly the tour. Too many people, not enough information, hard to hear.

Best Secret- Probably the fact that you can get gallery passes from your congressman. This is a good move and I highly recomend it. Also most people don’t know that there is a pretty cool view from the Old Post office pavilion tower. Not a lot of standing in line, no cost, just a nice easy to get to elevated view. There is a height restriction in DC so the only peaks that stand out are this and the Washington Monument.

What I learned- SOOOO much about Congress its history and how it all works. Also a lot about Lincoln and Jefferson at the Library of Congress.

Friday-

Bad weather = good luck! We had a tour scheduled for 8:45 at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. This is about as early as you can do anything because almost all the Smithsonians open at 10AM. The tour was interesting but it’s basically like watching paper get printed. For some reason in my mind it never really clicked that there were millions of dollars being made before my very eyes. By the time the tour ended it was really starting to rain so there weren’t too many people around. We decided to stop by the Washington monument to see if we could get some tickets. Ordinarily there is a long line to get tickets right at 9AM because they get taken up very quickly. Well when we got there at 930 there was absolutely no line and strangely they only had tickets for 1 time slot, 11 AM. We got our tickets and headed over to the Museum of American History to kill some time for an hour. Man I wish we would have had more time here. We pretty much only did one exhibit, “The price of freedom: Americans at war”. This exhibit gives a brief history of ever war America has been involved in. We went there because Aunt Beth had mentioned Cher Ami. A stuffed pigeon that was involved in WWI. Odd but ok. What really peaked our interest however was the progression from WWII to the Cold and Korean War and finally Vietnam. This was very informative and compelling but we had to head back over to the Washington Monument after just an hour here. The view from Washington Monument was breathtaking. Absolutely worth waiting in line for (but we didn’t have to).  We had lunch at the ESPNZone (Hooray for Buffalo Chicken Sandwich)And then changed hotels to the Mayflower, which Athena really liked because there was a view of the Gap. We then went back to the Capitol to go into the chambers. Even though it wasn’t in session (how could we possibly expect them to be working on a Friday?) it was great to actually see in person this place I have seen so often on TV. We then went back to the Library just in time for a 345 tour which was far better than the Capitol tour. it was better for several reasons. First of all they gave you a little headset so you could hear the tour guide. Second the tour guide was a funny old lady who just sort of rambled on and on about random stuff in the library. Less a tour and more story telling; I found this to be much better than the typical script to Capitol tour guides tell. And since we had already been to the LOC we just sat on a bench and listened as she walked the rest of the tour around to different sights we had already seen. HAHA!

Best-  Tough to decide. I really really liked the war exhibit so I will go with that.

Worst- Time Change. It’s not so bad when waking up but for some reason at 9AM I was extremely sleepy.

Best Secret- Inside the Washington Monument are hundreds of stones, each a separate monument to Washington, from all 50 states and several countries. They slow down the elevator to show you some but since they won’t let you take the stairs you really miss out on this. On your way down try and get as close to a door as possible so you can see these.

What I learned- Mostly it was stuff about the Korean and Vietnam war. The fact that we fought so violently  to stop the spread of communism and the socialist philosophies and their destructive tendencies has completely been forgotten. It’s frightening to me how we will remember those who died but forget what they died for.

Saturday-

This day had some seriously long walking. This was the main day of the Cherry Blossom Festival which meant CRAZY crowds. We started out by walking to the WWII memorial. just before we got there an old Asian woman tripped coming towards us and slammed face first into the ground. When the people she was with got he up blood was streaming down her face so we had to call an ambulance which was  just about about 150 yards away due to the parade. I don’t know why I am telling you this it just stood out in my memory. Going on from there we walked to the tidal basin and began a long walk around it. The trees were all in full bloom bringing out literally tens of thousands of gawkers like ourselves. Lots of stopping to take pictures of pink flowers. We finally made our way around to the FDR memorial which was interesting and pretty but not all that compelling to be honest. I guess this is probably because FDR wasn’t Lincoln, Jefferson or Washington. Maybe the fact that he was much more recent a president tarnishes his legacy in my mind. Or maybe it’s simply because I don’t necessarily believe his policies were that great for our nation.  A little after the FDR is a monument across the street to George Mason. If you keep going around the Tidal Basin you eventually at long last find the Jefferson Memorial! Super cool, super huge and super odd that at the base of the memorial we find 200 people in tights doing yoga! Seriously. As part of the Cherry Blossom Festival there is a stage set up with several different acts scheduled to perform. Well at the time we got there the act was a giant yoga session. This made for some interesting photos but was kind of disturbing. The monument has several of Jefferson’s writings including and most importantly excerpts from the Declaration of Independence. We made our way from them back towards the Parade route. We found a  good spot at the back of the Museum of American history to sit and watch the marching bands and roller skating super heroes pass by but I quickly became bored so I went into the history museum to go see the Star Spangled banner which I had missed from the day before. I had to stand in line for about 15 minutes but I preferred it to watching the parade. Athena preferred the parade. When the parade ended we made our way to the Japanese street festival which occupied a full square mile of roadways! yikes. After seeing that this Japanese Street festival featured several booths selling Gyros, Hot Dogs and Funnel cakes we decided that our exposure to Japan was enough and we should get back to America. So we went to the National Archives where you simply cannot be find anything more American than the big 3! The original Declaration, Constitution and Bill or Rights (Nicolas Cage had returned them). Wow. So cool to be see these. They were far more faded than I had expected but still to be able to see our founding documents was so special. After this we went back to the hotel and rested before heading off to the Baseball park to watch an exhibition between the Nationals and the Orioles.  For the amount of people crowding on to the metro I expected a lot more people to be at the game. Seems to me like they must have transportation issues. Great ball park, but not as beautiful as Petco. We ate at 5 guys per Lynn’s suggestion and were most satisfied.

Best- The Cherry Blossoms along the Tidal Basin. These really are worth braving the crowds to see.

Worst- The Parade. LAME but some of that was due to the high wind gusts and their inability to break out the giant balloons of Hello Kitty.

Best Secret- the George Mason monument. This is a beautiful Monument to the writer of the Virginia Declaration of Independence which sounds an awful lot like our 1776 one. In fact Jefferson basically used the exact same words! A lot of interesting little facts about Mason in a beautiful garden setting. If you are at Jefferson or FDR it’s certainly worth the brief walk to see this.

What I learned- George Mason refused to buy into to original declaration of Independence because it didn’t do enough to abolish slavery. A Virginian, colleague of Jefferson of great standing who was also an abolitionist. Cool beans. But because of his stance and unwillingness to compromise he takes a much smaller role in our history books. Even cooler! It’s amazing that here is a man whose ideals were all the good of both Jefferson AND Lincoln and we hardly know him.

Sunday-

We had decided ahead of time to go to Arlington National Cemetery. The books suggested we buy a tourmobile ticket in order to avoid the long walks between the biggest sights. We knew there was a tourmobile kiosk near the Washington monument so we made that our first destination of the day. What we didn’t know was that there would be 26,000 people running in a ten mile race that ended at the tourmobile kiosk. ooops. Tourmobile obviously can’t run shuttles through 26,000 people so the kiosk was shut down. Oh the frustration of plans not coming together. So we metro’d over to Arlington deciding to get our tickets there. Upon arrival we found what seemed like anouther 26,000 people wanting to buy tourmobile tickets. We would have no part in this. Despite our incredibly aching feet we decided to walk to the main Arlington sites. First stop, JFK and the eternal flame. Even though this is a cemetery with signs posted to be quite and respectful there were a number of senior citizens who were loudly calling for their friends. The crowd here was just too much. We snapped a photo, read his quotes and then quickly moved on to the tomb of the unknown soldier. Thankfully here the extremely disciplined guards demand respect so the mood is much more appropriate. The changing of the guards is  a sight not to be missed. Watching as each action is done to perfection all out of respect to fallen soldiers is tremendous. After this we viewed the memorials to the Challenger and Columbia Space Shuttle crews as well as to the Marines who attempted to free the Iranian hostages. Then in a stroke a great fortune we decided to take the very long walk to the 9/11 Pentagon victims memorial (more on this later). After leaving Arlington we went back into the city to the Building museum. It was nice to find a museum that felt like a museum (by this I mean there were hardly any people). The lack of people is due to the lack of interesting things. The building itself is probably the best part of this museum. There was a pretty cool movie about (I swear I am not making this up) rest stops on highways in Norway. We also were able to construct a 7 foot arch out of foam blocks but only after a couple of strangers stepped in to help us (weird story). The primary exhibit here was called “green communities” and was about building environmentally friendly cities. I quickly grew sick of this especially the part about the evils of detached single family homes. Give me a break! Coming out of there we rested at the National Law Enforcement Memorial. This is a great memorial to the men and women who have lost their lives in the line of duty. Tragically that number has increased by 6 in just two separate incidences during the past few weeks. After this we spent an hour and a half in the National Gallery of Art. I was really impressed by how up close and personal you can get to these priceless works of art. I’ve been in many galleries where you are kept far back but here you could (if you wanted to get tackled by a security guard) just reach out and touch the paintings. I’m not exactly an art lover but I did appreciate a couple of different pieces. Roudin’s “thinker” and the sculpture to Robert Gould Shaw were cool. A couple of famous Monet’s were nice as well. Most of all though this is a gorgeous building and if you are into rotundas than you should stop by this one. We left the national Gallery and went back to the hotel. We were totally exhausted and basically ready to crash. While laying there flipping through my book I discovered that Union Station is the number 1 visited thing in DC. I couldn’t believe this so we had to go see it. Fortunately it was just a metro ride away so we didn’t have to walk much and even more fortunately they had a Pizzeria Uno!!!

Best- The Changing of the Guards at the tomb of the unknown soldier has to be viewed at some point in every American’s life. It is quite a tribute. And to think they do this every hour of every day no matter what the weather conditions are. Wow.

Worst-The Green Communities exhibit at the Building Museum. It was advertised all over the metro but just like a movie trailer the best scenes we had already seen! No good.

Best Secret- The Pentagon Victims Memorial in Arlington. Far and away the best secret of not only this day but the whole trip. Arlington is packed with tourists but they are all too fat and lazy to do any real walking. The only way you can get to this memorial is by walking quite a distance or if you are able to drive in the cemetery (which you may only do if you are visiting the grave of a loved one). The memorial marker is very simple, just a pentagon shaped marker about 4 feet high with all the names of the victims on it. In front of that are all of the gravestones for the military men and women who died (I think there were about 35  and almost all of them had fought in the Persian Gulf War). And one had the address Romans 8:35… “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?” We felt truly grateful to be able to stand on these grounds and remember the tragedy of September 11th.

What I learned- I learned that you can do so many things in DC for free. You really don’t ever have to buy a ticket for anything especially the tour buses. Almost everyone suggested that we buy a tour bus ticket but we kept putting it off and putting it off and when we finally were about to do it we were unable. And we were very glad that we didn’t. If you are in decent shape than I suggest you skip the tour bussing and just walk it. Yeah your feet will hurt and your legs will ache and you will be exhausted at the end of each day, but you see and experience things you can’t possibly experience just driving by.

Monday-

This was our last day. Our flight was at 4:45 and so we knew we would have to get back to our Hotel to pick up our luggage around 3 to make sure that we got there in time. It was a rainy day so we figured we should probably chose something that we could stay in all day. We narrowed it down to three different museums… The Holocaust Museum, The Natural History Museum or the Newseum. The first two are free but the third is a brand new Museum dedicated to journalism. It just opened last year and costs 20 dollars to get in. We decided that since we hadn’t spent money on a lot of things we would try out this Newseum (plus we didn’t want to leave on a gut-wrenching note). So we got into the Newseum around 10 AM. We figured that if we got bored we could always scoot out and do the Natural History Museum. Well we certainly didn’t get bored. This place was amazing! Athena had to basically drag me out at about 2 to make sure we weren’t late getting to the airport. I could seriously write an entire separate blog about how coll the Newseum is but I probably shouldn’t. Instead I will just insist that if you have been to DC already and are looking for something different to do the next time you are there you really should invest the 20 bucks (18 for AAA members!) to see this place.

Best- Tough call between the Berlin Wall and the 9/11 tribute. The Berlin wall exhibit was very educational as to what impact journalism had in bringing down communism. The 9/11 exhibit actually has the Antenna from the WTC there. Also a great exhibit of photographs from the only journalist who died covering 9/11. His cameras were found with him and they developed the photos and have them on display there.Oh and there is a great exhibit of Pulitzer prize winning photos. Wow!

Worst- The “4-D movie”. Don’t waste your time. This is designed pretty much just for kids and added nothing to the place.

Best Secret- On the top floor there is an exhibit housing hundreds of front page newspapers from the past 500 years! That’s not a really a secret but what might be is that the one featuring Hank Aaron breaking the Home Run record is autographed by Hammering Hank himself! (This matters to me because he is my favorite non-padre baseball player so it was a really cool surprise).

What I learned- The impact journalism has on our lives is tremendous. At first I didn’t expect much from this museum but each exhibit demonstrated all the more how powerful information is. Growing up in a society that has the freedom of speech and a free media is something I think we all take for granted to some degree. We often make fun of and blame the media for different social ills but in reality we should be very thankful for the free flow of information that is so readily accessible to us all.

Ok so that is a recap of our trip. if you want some specifics about different aspects of touring DC feel free to ask I love talking about this stuff.

My beautiful wife has been working furiously behind the scenes to create a wonderful birthday present for me. This time she may have outdone herself. She’s planned a trip for us to Washington DC.

I am so thrilled about this trip that I can little think of anything else.

We’ve already made several different arrangements for tours of certain government buildings as well as acquired tickets for a couple of different sporting events but the final itinerary is far from set.

So I bring it to you, the people, to help us determine how best to spend our days.

For all who have been to DC I ask you to give me a list of the top 10 things we absolutely MUST do. Also if you have any tips or anything like that we would love to hear it.

For those who have never been but have wanted to go I ask that you give me a list of things you think would be most fascinating.

I promise to give a detailed blog report on how the trip went after we get back.

The Chargers beating the Colts on Saturday was an amazing game. But was it my all time favorite Charger memory?

5. Chargers defeat Denver to win AFC West 12/28/08

This was an incredible game simply because of all that it took for the Chargers to get there. At 4-8 the Chargers season looked completely over. I remember leaving after a brutal loss to Atlanta feeling like this was the biggest waste of a football season ever. While I knew it was mathematically possible for the Chargers to still make the playoffs I also knew the chances were microscopic. But there we were 4 weeks later tailgating in the Qualcomm parking lot waiting for a Sunday night game that would decide which team was headed to the playoffs. There was so much confidence in the air and after the first quarter the game was never in doubt. The crowd was terrific, loud, boisterous, and jubilant. Never had an 8-8 team been so beloved by it’s fan base.

4. Chargers defeat Colts in 2007 playoffs to advance to AFC championship game.

The 11-5 Chargers heading across the country to face the defending Super Bowl Champion Colts in what would be their final home game in the RCA dome. The Chargers suffered injuries to their three main offensive stars meaning it would take heroic efforts from Billy Volek, Michael Turner, Darren Sproles and Legedu Naanee to win this game. Well that’s exactly what we got as the Chargers drove down to take a 4 point fourth quarter lead and the defense was able to stifle Payton Manning on 2 more possessions where he could have won the game.

3. LT breaks record for Touchdowns and points in a season against Denver. 2006

The catalyst of the Chargers dominant 14-2 season was the unbelievable MVP performances of LaDainian Tomlinson. In just the 14^th week of the regular season (13^th game) LT stood two touchdowns away from tying Shaun Alexander’s record of 28 TD’s in a single season. We all knew he was going to break the record at some point during the next 3 weeks but it didn’t seem likely to happen in this game. Although he was able to tie the record with a few minutes left in the 4^th quarter it took a Shawne Merriman forced fumble at the 7 yard line with a little more than 3 minutes left to play to get him back into the game in prime position to score the record breaker. What was so cool about this game and this season was that every single time the Chargers got into the red zone the crowd would chant, “L.T., L.T., L.T,”. We knew exactly whom the ball was going to, the defense knew exactly what was going to happen, but nothing could possibly stop him from scoring. When you follow a fumble with a record breaking TD against the hated Denver Broncos you have the recipe for an incredible memory.

2. Chargers defeat Pittsburgh Steelers in 94 AFC championship game.

The great thing about this playoff run was that it seemed like the entire city was pushing for the Chargers. There were lightening bolts everywhere you looked. Having to go into Pittsburgh didn’t seem like a good situation at all for the Chargers, Pittsburgh was the dominant team that season so when Dennis Gibson batted down the Steelers last chance at victory I honestly think the entire city of San Diego erupted into jubilation.

1. Chargers defeat Colts in OT January 3^rd 2008

Just a week earlier my Dad asked me, “was that the greatest game you’ve ever been to?” (refering to number 5 on my list) I had told him that I actually felt the LT record breaking game was more memorable and a greater volume, but as far as significance this game certainly had meant more. Then came this game, a memory that will be difficult to beat.

I wasn’t supposed to go to this game. All week I had expected to be watching it on my couch. Then the strangest thing imaginable happened. I got a random text from my good friend Ted Dawson asking me if I knew of anyone who was looking to go to the game (He had thought I was going). When I told him that I wanted to go he graciously offered me the tickets. I repeatedly declined telling him I couldn’t afford it but if there is one thing everyone knows about Ted it’s that he doesn’t take “no” for an answer; even when it comes to giving tickets away.

I sent a text message to both of my brothers saying “the first one to reply to this message gets to go to the game with me.” My brother with the blackberry won by defying California’s newly written “don’t text while driving” rule.

My Dad and my uncle Bruce, along with Matt and Eric Simila, Paul and myself all got down to the stadium around 2PM. Mom had put together a great spread of food and we sat around ate, drank and played some hearts for a couple of hours. There was a strange feeling of confidence in the air. Even though most, if not all, of the national media wasn’t giving the Chargers a chance in this game the 68,000+ fans who were there all had the same thought in mind… “We own Payton Manning”. We kept saying it over and over, not as though we were trying to convince or reassure ourselves but actually in a way that we truly believed it. What we could not believe was that again we might have to win without LT who had suffered a pulled groin near the end of the Denver game.

Our seats were up there; row 15 of about 25 in the upper view pretty close to the main scoreboard. Sure they were high but with the exception of a small corner of the near endzone we could see the whole field. It didn’t matter how high we were, what mattered was that we were there! We felt a tremendous amount of responsibility in being there. We knew that part of Manning’s success is due to his ability to communicate to his offense up until the very last second. We knew that if we, the crowd, could somehow hinder that ability we could certainly win this game. Remember, “we own Peyton Manning”.

The first offensive play LT runs right side for a 15 yard gain and the crowd goes nuts! We knew he was fine. He’s going to be great. We are going to win.

Drive stalls.

Mike Scifres boomed his first of 6 jaw dropping punts inside the Colts 20. Now it’s our time… cheering, screaming, clapping, chanting… false start! We were doing our job. Third down came up and Manning threw a bomb down the right sideline falling harmlessly to the ground. But out came the dreaded Pass Interference flag. These flags seem so arbitrary and unduly thrown at Chargers it has become quite tiresome this season. The crowd responded with utter disgust raining down a chorus of “boos” and expletives on the officials we were all so certain were out to get us. But the defense stepped up! With the Colts just about 7 or 8 yards away from a legitimate field goal try the defense prevented two passes in a row and forced a punt that went for a touchback. “We own Peyton Manning.”

Only able to gain 7 yards on this possession again we were able to witness the incredible power of Mike Scifres who put the ball all the way back to the Colts 15. The San Diego football fans are smarter than a lot of national media gives us credit for. The booming punt didn’t just move the Colts back but it also motivated the crowd who were so loud that  on the Colts very next play committed their second false start.

Here came the only legitimate scoring drive of Peyton Manning’s night and it came by aiming passes at whichever wide receiver was able to get himself into Tim Dobbins zone. Tim Dobbins has been absolutely awful in coverage all season long. This game was no exception. As Anthony Gonzalez ran out of the Cooper occupied zone and into the Dobbins zone Manning delivered a strike followed by a complete miss tackle and 36 yards later The Colts found themselves in the Red Zone where it’s pretty difficult to stop them. 3 plays later it was 7 nothing Colts. But hey we all know the Colts are going to score. We just need to score more, right?

The Chargers next drive got them to midfield but that’s it setting up another terrific Scifres punt that put the Colts at the 3 yard line. Unable to do anything from this far back and aided by another crowd induced penalty (delay of game) the Colts had to punt from the very back of their endzone. Sproles returned it to the Indy 44 where just a few plays later LT ran in it for the tie!

The Colts would then drive the ball down for a field goal to take a 3 point lead. The next alternating possessions again pushed the Colts back to within their ten via Mike Scifres incredible skills and the Chargers, courtesy of Hunter Smith’s shank job got the ball back in Indy territory again. This time setting up a Sproles TD run. At this point is was pretty clear that we wouldn’t be seeing LT in the game again and that it would take another heroic effort from the bench to win this thing.

Even though Eric Weddle dropped a sure pick-6 near the end of the half the crowd was very excited to be going into the locker room up by 4 points. 14 to 10 at the half. We can win this!

The Colts didn’t look very good on offense. “We own Payton Manning” was beginning to be chanted a little in the stands and then the unthinkable happened. A school yard trick play that had been set up all game. Seeing that the Chargers were substituting Manning quick snapped the ball and caught Cromartie completely off guard as he was looking to the sideline to get the defensive signals. Easiest 72 yard TD in history. The Colts were up by 3 but there was plenty of time left.

Not for making mistakes though.

And that’s what started to happen. The Chargers were able to mount an impressive drive on their very next possession but it ended suddenly with a Sproles fumble at the 2 yard line!

It’s OK, there’s lots of time left.

Not for making mistakes though.

And that’s what happened again as the Chargers again drove the ball down the field only to have Rivers throw an INT in the endzone!

Is this it? Is this how it’s going to end with mistake filled football?

We’ve been to that opera before, it starred Marlon McCree and Eric Parker, we don’t want that lady tuning up again.

The Colts got the ball at the 20 and put together a 13 play 6 minute drive that looked to be effective enough in running the clock out to limit the Chargers to one final possession.

The possession was stopped in horrible fashion when the Chargers needing just 10 yards for a field goal chance got sacked on third down forcing Mike Scifres to have to punt again on 4^th and 19 with just 2:50 left on the clock.

The Chargers would need something special here and they got it with what I think was the most amazing punt I have ever seen. A 52 yard bomb that hit at the 2 yard line and bounced directly sideways out of bounds. Unreal!

Now if we can just stop them. Addai runs for 6 yards on the first carry! Noooo! You know they have to run it there you gotta stop him! 2 yards on the next carry! Ahhh. Peyton Manning now needs only to get his team 2 yards and the game is over!

The crowd mans up. This is it. We need to do something, force a false start, a delay of game, anything to prevent this from ending right here. After watching the replay over and over I am convinced that the crowd was the cause of what happened next.

The Colts blocking tight end, afraid of committing a false start and unable to hear Manning missed the snap of the ball and Tim “I couldn’t cover a one legged midget” Dobbins came around the corner untouched for sack at the 1 yard line forcing a punt and a final chance.

Hunter Smith then launched a rocket of a punt 63 yards but in doing so he completely out kicked his coverage which had to be back to prevent a block. Sproles was able to dart 26 yards all the way to the Indy 38 where two 11 yard completions from Rivers to Gates set up the game tying filed goal attempt. And here was Scifres biggest play of the game. Mike Scifres is not just the punter but also the holder for field goal attempts. This is usually an easy job since David Binn happens to be a machine when it come to delivering accurate long snaps. Not here though. The snap was low skidding just off the dirt where Scifres was able to, in one perfect motion, pick it and place it in a perfect hold for a perfect kick and a perfectly tied game that would go into overtime!

We all know how overtime works in the NFL, but not all of the player do. So thanks to Donavan McNabb we had to listen to the referee explain OT playoff rules for what seemed like 10 minutes. Finally he asked Payton Manning, as the visiting team captain to call it. Manning, afraid to get the call wrong, deferred to the guy standing next to him (I have no clue who it is). He said, “heads” and as the coin was tossed into the air the entire stadium in one voice yelled out “TAILLLLLLLLLLS!” and as the coin hit the ground settling into the grass the crowd went completely silent. It was as though we were on a submarine afraid of being destroyed by torpedoes. It was more quiet than any moment of silence I’ve ever experienced. It was sooooo eerie. All eyes were on the video boards as the camera focused in on the coin. Blurry, blurry, blurry, CLEAR. There it is. It’s, it’s it’s… What is that? The coins they use are completely foreign to the fans so we have no idea if it’s heads or tails. In fact it seems like the only guy in the stadium who knows what it is, is Kassim Osgood who claps his hands together and grins ear to ear. Finally the referee says, “It is tails.” And the crowd roars an unbelievable roar.

Just get into field goal range! You can do this.

-1, incomplete, 13 yard pass first down!

6 yards, penalty, crap it’s holding… on the defense! First down!

2 yards, 8 yards first down!

Incomplete, 2 yards, Incomplete but that has to be PI! Defensive holding again? YES! First down at the 35! This is it! We’re in field goal range; just get a few more yards!

No gain but another flag, crap this looks like holding. We are going to be out of field goal range! Wait, personal foul? Face Mask? Defense!!!! The 20 yard line!!!!

Kick the ball now. Don’t wait just kick it!

Rush for a loss of 2? Noooooo! Kick it!

Sproles to the left, he just lost 2 yards going to the left?!?!

Wait he’s got room. He breaks a tackle, He’s got one guy at the 8, he cuts inside!

HE IS IN! HE IS IN! WE WIN! WE WIN! YESSSSSSS!

Screw the high fives this is hugging time!

What a game! What a moment! What a memory!

It’s the classic situation where you might find yourself saying, “Stranger things have happened.”  And yet as I sit here today the fact of the matter is that as far as NFL playoffs are concerned nothing stranger has ever happened.

The Chargers have been everywhere this season; I mean that in terms of both their play and their travel. They have been on a strange path to say the least, becoming just the first team ever to make the playoffs from a 4-8 record. Becoming the first team ever to overcome a 3 game deficit with 3 games to play. Becoming the first team ever to make the playoffs while a team with 3 more wins than they have stays home (hehehe).

And now the pre-season darling to win it all is right there in contention to, well, win it all.

But will they? I know the answer to that question and so much more in my magical look into the future…

Lets start with the NFC-

Atlanta at Arizona- The Falcons, along with the Ravens and the Dolphins are 3 teams that absolutely no one expected to turn around so quickly. Every one of them is being coached by a new head coach and being led by a new Quarterback.  How is it possible for teams with such terrible records to turn things around so quickly? It’s called the unbalanced schedule, and it makes some teams appear much better than they actually are.  In addition to your 6 division games each team also plays an AFC division, an NFC division and then 2 games determined by your record. Those two games match you up with whoever finished in the same place as you of the remaining intra-division teams (example the Chargers won the division and now must play the first place from the AFC south and the first place from the AFC east next season in addition to playing all the AFC west, north and NFC east teams). The Falcons last season were a last place team so they played two other last place teams this season so they got Philadelphia and St. Louis. But where they really lucked out was on their division draws by getting the weak AFC west and the poor NFC north.

promise I won’t take this long on each team’s break down but I want folks to understand exactly how the division scheduling works and why it is so difficult to keep winning divisions (because every time you win a division you end up playing two extra division champions).

That being said I highly doubt that either the Falcons or the Cardinals are legitimate threats to accomplish anything this postseason or in season to come.

So who will win in this battle of overrated birds?

The Cardinals will win by at least two scores. That is the boldest prediction you will find anywhere but I am supremely confident in it. While most folks are all over the Falcon bandwagon I’m all over comparisons. Like Rookie Matt Ryan verses 2 time MVP Kurt Warner. Like Rookie head Coach Mike Smith Vs super bowl experienced Ken Whisenhunt. Very few players on either team have much Playoff experience. But while Michael Turner has been to the playoffs 3 straight years now Edgerin James has had a few trips himself as a member of the Colts.

Clearly the Falcons have had a better season, clearly they have beat better opponents and clearly they are everybody’s favorite to win this game, but the 6-2 home record for the Cardinals is enough for me to believe in them to win one game.

Eagles at Minnesota-

I personally believe that the NFC North is the worst division in football.  While clearly both west coast divisions had awful records I attribute much of that to injuries and the fact that both had to travel to the east coast an unreasonable amount. By contrast the NFC north teams have very little travel and yet still the best they can produce is a team with Tavaris Ferotte at QB as their champion. I think the true measure of divisional strength is the quality of Quarterbacks and while Aaron Rodgers may be good some day the other three teams in the division all start backups! I’ll take the third best quarterback in the league (even if he doesn’t know the rules) over that team.

That would give a match up of Eagles going to the Giants.

I love it when teams play each other 3 times during the same season. It’s delicious. This season the two teams were road warriors with both games going a TD either way. I think the road team wins the rubber match and the eagles go back to the NFC championship game as the Bills of the 2000’s.

Then there is Arizona going to Carolina.

Carolina wins this game by 3 scores. It’s ugly. Not even close. yuck. Avert your eyes.

NFC championship game I think belongs to Carolina as the Eagles, playing on real grass for the first time in a month, are slowed down a lot more than they could have imagined.

AFC-

Ravens at Dolphins-

This game already happened earlier this year and the Ravens killed the Dolphins. Part of it comes from the fact that the Dolphins last season were just about the worst team in history until they beat the Ravens. But last year’s Ravens were a product of a lot of bad luck, bad breaks and bad coaching. They fired their coach, got a soft schedule and brought in one heck of an offensive coordinator who believes in running the football, while continuing to maintain their reputation as an elite NFL defense. That’s what it takes to win in the NFL. The Dolphins meanwhile have survived on gimmicky plays and one of the softest schedules in history. They won 5 straight to get into the playoffs but in three of those games they scored just 16 or fewer points showing that teams have picked up on how to play against the “wildcat”. Baltimore already showed they can handle high school football tactics. I expect them to do it again.

Colts at Bolts-

You already know who I am picking here but maybe I will surprise you with why. I never thought I would see the Chargers do something like this but I honestly think they are going to go for Mannings knee. I think the manning-crazy-media made a huge, huge mistake by “breaking” this story about how he had to have 80 staples in his knee instead of 20. He’s just made himself so much more vulnerable.

The Chargers struggle against mobile QB’s because their linebackers are inexperienced. Manning is not a mobile QB, thus they do pretty well against him. The home field advantage really helps neutralize his greatest strength and playoff Norv does seem to be craftier than regular season Norv. Finally PR is on fire. He’s the best QB in the league and is eager to show it.

Chargers by 9.

That means the Chargers go to Pittsburgh where they have never won in the regular season but have done OK in the Postseason.

I expect nothing less this time around. The Chargers pound a weak O-line on Defense and their overachieving D-line gets run over by a motivated and rejuvenated Chargers front. This time it’s Nate Kaeding who delivers in the clutch to get the Chargers back to AFC title game.

where they face…

Baltimore who upsets the Titans.

Titans had a nice run in them but have struggled mightily down the stretch. Kerry Collins is no match for Ed Reed and company. LenDale White has worn out and the only score the Titans can muster is with Vince Young running an option formation. zzzzz

The Chargers get the AFC title game at home where the loudest proudest fans enjoy a demolishing of epic proportions. Chargers win by 20.

I’ll give you my SB predictions later.

Let’s see what you’ve got for the postseason…