Unscrewed

Much has been made as of late about the Spanos Screwjob. Sadly, not since October 1998 has our fair city been so united toward one cause. In this case, it’s to show our scorn for a man who has quite possibly bumped Donald Trump into the second-most hated slot. But enough about Dean “I am shocked by the backlash” Spanos. Instead. I’ll share a few timeless memories of my life as a SAN DIEGO Charger fan.

It all started on January 2^nd, 1982. If you don’t know the significance of that date in not only San Diego but NFL history, stop wasting your time reading this and look it up. That was the first NFL game I watched start to finish and from that day, I was chasing the dragon, so to speak.

That chase led me to many places; a duck blind on the Rio Grande in 20 degree weather as I moved about trying for a better signal on my dime-store transistor radio while trying not to tip off incoming flocks…

Waiting in line as an eight year old at Toys R Us for Dan Fouts autograph and when I finally got to the front, thinking he looked about twice as tall as the Statue of Liberty…

Several appearances with the Seau Foundations’ “Shop with a Jock” celebration, as I signed autographs alongside guys like Tim Dwight, Natrone Means and of course, #55 himself…

Backstage and onstage with P.O.D. during a rally held in the Murph before the 2006 playoffs…

A semi-drunken live appearance on 101 KGB FM when I announced “Good Times, Bad Times” by Led Zeppelin and made an on-air dedication to my mom during a raucous tailgate party…

That time in Frankenmuth, Michigan when I was leaving the restroom at the famous Zhender’s restaurant; a guy in a Barry Sanders jersey took one look at my Seau jersey and hesitated a moment before deciding it was safe to walk by me…

The homesickness I felt when talking to my uncle John Duke on the phone, while a 900 miles away from where I sat I could hear the horns blaring on Highland after Dennis Gibson batted down his second end-zone pass to beat Pittsburgh…

Christmas Eve, 2000 being at the Murph for the fifteenth loss of the season, and still coming away with a smile because we knew we were no less fans that day than we were in 1994…

This is a sample, just a tiny sample; much like a picture of a parking lot at the Grand Canyon is a sample of its immensity. I still can’t wrap my head around the whole thing, Chargers football is something so ingrained in our identity, I still cannot picture life without it. I will say this, I am nowhere near as shaken as I would have been had this happened ten years ago, or even twenty years ago. It’s not that I don’t care anymore. (or is it?!)

It’s just that I have discovered so much more to care about, so much more to focus my thoughts and energy on.

For example:

A few weeks ago I took the family up to Mount Laguna. This was the third such trip in as many months. My sons and I had a six-mile hike in the Cuyamacas in which we saw almost three dozen deer while scouting for future overnight backpacking trips. I taught them more and I learned more than we ever could have by throwing our hard-earned money at Deano. It’s a safe bet to say neither mountain range will be leaving us soon…

Next month we will be renewing out San Diego Zoo memberships. A hundred years and Dr. Wegeforth’s vision has no plans to go to LA, where they already have a zoo…

I’m overdue for a trip to Point Loma. From there I can see my beloved mountains, miles into the Pacific and most important, tens of thousands of white granite reminders of what really matters…

Tacos el Gordo won’t betray me if I don’t build them a new restaurant…

I still have my five-string Fender bass; on which I have learned about 1/3 of Guns n Roses songs. The same band who put more fans in the seats at the Murph this year than any team save for maybe the Raiders…

My daughters won’t care as long as Frozen and/or Trolls are playing on a continuous loop in our home…

Our annual Knott’s Berry Farm trip is less than two months away. I can smell the fried chicken and boysenberry pie now. And yes, when I’m nearly three hundred feet in the air, both middle fingers will be facing northwest…

So yeah, I’ve got plenty to keep me occupied so I don’t dwell too much on San Diego no longer being an NFL town. But of all the wonderful things America’s Finest City has to offer, from the ability to at least partly experience every region on Earth, along with the cuisine to go along with it, you know what I love the most?

Pitchers and catchers report in 28 days…