Saturday, January 30, 2016

Today My World Changed

  
Today my world changed. What seemed impossible yesterday now feels not only possible but probable. Dean Spanos did what I never thought he would – he reached out to the San Diego Chargers fans. Disdain and disregard has been the Pablum fed to SD fans over the past year. Spanos was taking his team to LA, one way or another, whether they wanted him to or not; San Diego was history. 

He refused to negotiate with the City of San Diego regarding a new stadium any longer. To his credit, he had been trying for 13 years. As I understand it, the City refused to ante up the bucks Spanos wanted to build a new stadium; they couldn’t even agree on where it should be built. The City residents were conflicted about whether or not they wanted to have their taxes raised to pay for a new state-of-the-art stadium for a team that couldn’t make the first round playoffs for years at a time. There was no doubt in my mind a new stadium would have been approved and built in short order had the team been able to get at least a 10-6 season on a semi-regular basis. Had they made the Super Bowl, the fans would have insisted on a new stadium – immediately! But, instead, we saw a 14-2 Coach get canned because he wouldn’t kiss Spanos’ ring, and watched as Pro Bowl player after Pro Bowl player go to other teams to help them win Super Bowls. My husband and I would watch the playoffs and say “he was a Charger”; “he was a Charger.” 

What caused me to move Spanos to my feces list was his proposal that the Chargers and Raiders share a stadium. WTH? There is a hard and fast rule among most Charger fans; we don't lose to the Raiders; it is not acceptable. They are the underbelly of the NFL. Most SD season ticket holders I know gave their tickets away to the Raiders games because it was not even safe to be in the stadium with them and their fans. And now Spanos basically wants to get in bed with them and wanted us to watch? At that point I sadly decided I would offer to help them pack for wherever they were going; I was done. Spanos had broken my heart.

We have heard many rumors, read many opinions from sportscasters, season ticket holders, and the general public. Spanos, however, remained silent, leaving us all believing SD was a distant memory and he was anxious to breathe LA smog. Until yesterday. Shortly after hearing the news Spanos had reached an agreement with the LA Rams, he sent out a press release saying that although he had reached an agreement, his heart was still in San Diego and he wanted to stay here not just this year, but for years to come. 

I honestly didn’t think he had it in him. It could be a ploy, as some think, but I want to believe him. I want to believe he wants to be here as much as the Charger fans (and most of the players) want them to be here. So, I woke up to sunshine and am ready to buy season tickets for the 2016 season, and encourage residents of San Diego County to do likewise. Today my world changed.

1 comment:

  1. Well, for your sake then, I hope it works out. The Spanos family has never been committed to San Diego other than as a venue for the Chargers. If he recognizes that the Chargers only sold-out games in LA would be played against the Raiders for Raiders fans I see that as less of a conversion and more of halfway good sense.

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