Single post
jump to replies
Since football season is back… little story: I was a big-time #NFL fan and followed the #Chargers as they were my local team (grew up in the Inland Empire between Los Angeles and San Diego). As a “Make-A-Wish” kid, there were some wealthy fans that would invite us to their luxury suites to watch the game.
But, as an adult, when the team left San Diego, it was a huge betrayal. I tossed my coats, shirts, jerseys, etc., into the trash. I basically enjoy a couple of things with the NFL now: the 49ers and Patriots losing. Honestly, enjoying a negative isn’t enough to maintain a fan. I’ll watch the Super Bowl if someone invites me to a party. But otherwise, I’m at best a passive follower of the sport nowadays.
7 replies
back to top
@bryan I was a Broncos fan in San Diego and let me tell you, Chargers fans are some of the most delusional in the game! It took them leaving San Diego for many to snap out of the “This is THE year!” fantasy they lived in. Spanos would never spend enough to make that team great. He just cherry picks players and coaches that’ll put meat in seats. The same year the Chargers tucked tail was the same year the Broncos won the SuperBowl. My shit talking game was on FIRE. Pinnacle moment as an NFL fan.
@bryan We’d watch the games at the Garage Mahal* every Sunday and I got to LOL viscously at the epic Philip Rivers 4th quarter meltdowns. A dude almost kicked my door down after the Ed Hochulis call that gave Denver the game many years back. Those dudes were RABID for the Chargers and I had front row for their annual ritual of hope then misery. I miss it. I just watch Redzone now. It’s on the RB-TV app.
* My friend/landlord’s epic man cave, bbq patio.
@Unabart the only shot the Chargers had was Super Bowl XXIX. I was still in High School (1995) and Chargers lost by 23... (49-26). This was the start of my 49er hate. They sadly never improved.
My extended family was Dodgers fans and I went to many games becoming one myself. I still get to enjoy at least one major sport! So far, the Dodgers have never betrayed me... just had many many bad years before their reduced-season COVID win.
@Unabart side note: mentioning Philip Rivers is kind of sad. Dude has some of the best stats but with Chargers never had a team built to support him. Totally wasted.
Rivers is like Angels having Shohei Ohtani for years (actually Shohei is a far superior athlete but the point is you can’t just have 1 star player carry the team). Angels threw his talent into the wind… Dodgers are killing with Shohei because they spend the money to win on the rest of the team also.
https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/28021754/barnwell-ranks-best-qbs-never-reach-super-bowl-philip-rivers-no-1
@bryan Rivers was awful at playing the clock. Always stepping it up after it's too late. Also, having LT and Gates helped his numbers a lot too. Coulda, woulda, shoulda.... never did and he has to own most of that responsibility. Doesn't matter how many completions or yards when the scoreboard tells a different story. How many rings? Zero. There's the number that really matters. He was decent, but with those numbers he should have shut his mouth out there and produced wins not stats.
@bryan He’ll undoubtedly go to the hall, even though I am of the belief that you need to at least have earned a ring to get there, especially at QB. Not saying he was bad, but take away his 2 prime weapons and you have to wonder if those numbers would have been as great. I think Jeff George could have looked impressive with Gates and LT instead of being the sack dummy he was. Stan Humphries got SD to the bowl, which was an epic boat racing by the Whiners. Gotta win when it matters to be elite.
@bryan In sports, the fans are competively loyal to their teams. The teams, OTH are not loyal to their fans, their city, because the teams consist of players owned by billionaires— as playthings. It would be nice to have teams be as loyal to their fans, their cities as their fans and cities are to them. It’s not a game, it’s a business. Once you see that, it’s less exciting.