Bonsignore: San Diego Chargers fans face emotional home finale
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Bonsignore: San Diego Chargers fans face emotional home finale
“Boltman” might have a hard time convincing fellow San Diego Chargers fans to have faith at Sunday’s final home game, which could be the team’s last in San Diego should it move to Los Angeles. (Stephen Dunn/Getty Images)
By Vincent Bonsignore, Los Angeles Daily News
POSTED: 12/14/15, 2:30 PM PST | UPDATED: 29 SECS AGO 0 COMMENTS
The text was from someone employed with the San Diego Chargers, sent to a friend associated with the team. It read, simply: “Your life savings is on the line. Are we playing in San Diego or Los Angeles next year?”
Talk about a risky proposition.
And no easy answer.
But as the Chargers and their fans approach what might be the last home game in San Diego Chargers history Sunday, uncertainty hovers over despair, which stands shoulder to shoulder with anger, disappointment, frustration and resentment.
“To think this might be it for the Chargers in San Diego, that’s incredibly sad,” said 30-year-old John Gennaro, who writes for the Chargers’ Bolts from the Blue blog and works for San Diego-based sports radio station the Mighty 1090. “And I think you’ll see a range of emotions expressed on Sunday.”
Rightfully so.
From the moment Barron Hilton moved his American Football League Chargers from Los Angeles to San Diego in 1961, the Bolts have been the crown jewel of sports in America’s Finest City.
From Lance Alworth to Ron Mix to John Hadl to Sid Gillman to Dan Fouts to Don Coryell to Kellen Winslow to Junior Seau to LaDainian Tomlinson right on up to Philip Rivers, the city of San Diego has rallied around their beloved Chargers. They are as much a part of the Southern California fabric as the Dodgers, Disneyland, Sunset Boulevard and the Gaslamp District.
But after Sunday, it might all melt away like a morning marine layer off the Pacific Coast shoreline.
And it’s left Chargers fans wondering exactly how to handle what could be the last home game in franchise history at 1:25 p.m. against the Miami Dolphins at Qualcomm Stadium.
And who and where to direct their emotions?
Is it Dean Spanos, who insists he’s fought the good fight trying to get a stadium deal done in San Diego, but has run out of options and has now turned his attention to Los Angeles?
Is it the political leaders in San Diego, who dropped one ball after another over the years and pushed Spanos into a corner so his only alternative was to plot a move to Los Angeles?
Or maybe it’s the National Football League, which drives hard bargains with its home markets, expecting them to foot a considerable amount of the bill on stadiums in order to keep their teams.
“There is a ton of blame to go around,” Gennaro said. “Starting primarily with the politicians, if not the current ones, the ones over the last 10 to 15 years. There were opportunities to make this work, but for whatever reasons, it was always mishandled.”
Meanwhile, the fans suffer. And as they tepidly wait for Sunday, they aren’t quite sure what their emotions will be.
“I think everyone is handling things in their own way,” said 51-year-old Rafael Alvarez, a season-ticket holder since 1992 and the head of Bolt Pride, a Chargers fan group. “We aren’t quite sure how this will all play out. We know Sunday’s game is the last home game of the season. But is it the last Chargers game in San Diego ever? It might be. And that is sad.”
On top of all that, there is apprehension.
A month before National Football League owners gather in Houston to presumably provide clarity, there is as as much uncertainty as ever.
The Chargers might get enough votes from fellow owners to move to Los Angeles, where they hope to build a stadium with the Oakland Raiders. Or maybe someone from the NFL will instruct them to make a deal with St. Louis Rams owner Stan Kroenke, who is proposing a stadium in Inglewood.
Or maybe none of the above happens, which means the Chargers stay in San Diego.
For the time being or perhaps permanently.
How the fans channel the emotion and uncertainty Sunday will be fascinating.
“I honestly don’t know how that will play out, but I do think we’ll probably see a split right down middle,” said Derek Togerson of NBC-TV San Diego “It will be a 50/50 funeral procession or a game like any other game, depending on how you see this playing out.
“And even the fans who think, ‘This is it, they are moving to L.A.,’ there will be a split. Half will approach it like, ‘It’s been a great run, thanks for the memories. Sad that you’re leaving and sad this will be the last chance I get to root for you.’ The other half will be like, ‘The heck with you, Spanos, for taking our team away from us.’ But then you have the fans who think this will all work out, the Chargers aren’t going anywhere, and this is just another game.”
If the Chargers actually do bolt to L.A. after spending the past 54 years in San Diego, they will do so coming off one of the worst seasons in franchise history.
As if adding insult to injury, they take a 3-10 record into Sunday’s game.
Which only complicates — or widens — the range of emotions.
“In many ways we’ve hit a low point,” said Scott Lewis, the editor-in-chief of the Voice of San Diego. “Look, we’ve had bad teams here in San Diego over the years. It’s a reality we’ve dealt with and are used to. But the losing combined with the negative feeling about the team, about how this has all played out, about how they might move to Los Angeles, it’s plunged this city into a malaise about football that I’ve never seen.”
And it will all spill out Sunday.
“I just think, for the most part people are hurt. It’s not even so much anger anymore,” longtime Chargers fan Chris Ritchie said. “It’s the kind of hurt in which you’re asking the Chargers and the political leaders: ‘Why are you doing this to us? Why is this happening?’
“The city can’t get it together. The team is on their way out of town. It’s a terrible situation. It’s sad, mostly.”
Bonsignore: San Diego Chargers fans face emotional home finale
“Boltman” might have a hard time convincing fellow San Diego Chargers fans to have faith at Sunday’s final home game, which could be the team’s last in San Diego should it move to Los Angeles. (Stephen Dunn/Getty Images)
By Vincent Bonsignore, Los Angeles Daily News
POSTED: 12/14/15, 2:30 PM PST | UPDATED: 29 SECS AGO 0 COMMENTS
The text was from someone employed with the San Diego Chargers, sent to a friend associated with the team. It read, simply: “Your life savings is on the line. Are we playing in San Diego or Los Angeles next year?”
Talk about a risky proposition.
And no easy answer.
But as the Chargers and their fans approach what might be the last home game in San Diego Chargers history Sunday, uncertainty hovers over despair, which stands shoulder to shoulder with anger, disappointment, frustration and resentment.
“To think this might be it for the Chargers in San Diego, that’s incredibly sad,” said 30-year-old John Gennaro, who writes for the Chargers’ Bolts from the Blue blog and works for San Diego-based sports radio station the Mighty 1090. “And I think you’ll see a range of emotions expressed on Sunday.”
Rightfully so.
From the moment Barron Hilton moved his American Football League Chargers from Los Angeles to San Diego in 1961, the Bolts have been the crown jewel of sports in America’s Finest City.
From Lance Alworth to Ron Mix to John Hadl to Sid Gillman to Dan Fouts to Don Coryell to Kellen Winslow to Junior Seau to LaDainian Tomlinson right on up to Philip Rivers, the city of San Diego has rallied around their beloved Chargers. They are as much a part of the Southern California fabric as the Dodgers, Disneyland, Sunset Boulevard and the Gaslamp District.
But after Sunday, it might all melt away like a morning marine layer off the Pacific Coast shoreline.
And it’s left Chargers fans wondering exactly how to handle what could be the last home game in franchise history at 1:25 p.m. against the Miami Dolphins at Qualcomm Stadium.
And who and where to direct their emotions?
Is it Dean Spanos, who insists he’s fought the good fight trying to get a stadium deal done in San Diego, but has run out of options and has now turned his attention to Los Angeles?
Is it the political leaders in San Diego, who dropped one ball after another over the years and pushed Spanos into a corner so his only alternative was to plot a move to Los Angeles?
Or maybe it’s the National Football League, which drives hard bargains with its home markets, expecting them to foot a considerable amount of the bill on stadiums in order to keep their teams.
“There is a ton of blame to go around,” Gennaro said. “Starting primarily with the politicians, if not the current ones, the ones over the last 10 to 15 years. There were opportunities to make this work, but for whatever reasons, it was always mishandled.”
Meanwhile, the fans suffer. And as they tepidly wait for Sunday, they aren’t quite sure what their emotions will be.
“I think everyone is handling things in their own way,” said 51-year-old Rafael Alvarez, a season-ticket holder since 1992 and the head of Bolt Pride, a Chargers fan group. “We aren’t quite sure how this will all play out. We know Sunday’s game is the last home game of the season. But is it the last Chargers game in San Diego ever? It might be. And that is sad.”
On top of all that, there is apprehension.
A month before National Football League owners gather in Houston to presumably provide clarity, there is as as much uncertainty as ever.
The Chargers might get enough votes from fellow owners to move to Los Angeles, where they hope to build a stadium with the Oakland Raiders. Or maybe someone from the NFL will instruct them to make a deal with St. Louis Rams owner Stan Kroenke, who is proposing a stadium in Inglewood.
Or maybe none of the above happens, which means the Chargers stay in San Diego.
For the time being or perhaps permanently.
How the fans channel the emotion and uncertainty Sunday will be fascinating.
“I honestly don’t know how that will play out, but I do think we’ll probably see a split right down middle,” said Derek Togerson of NBC-TV San Diego “It will be a 50/50 funeral procession or a game like any other game, depending on how you see this playing out.
“And even the fans who think, ‘This is it, they are moving to L.A.,’ there will be a split. Half will approach it like, ‘It’s been a great run, thanks for the memories. Sad that you’re leaving and sad this will be the last chance I get to root for you.’ The other half will be like, ‘The heck with you, Spanos, for taking our team away from us.’ But then you have the fans who think this will all work out, the Chargers aren’t going anywhere, and this is just another game.”
If the Chargers actually do bolt to L.A. after spending the past 54 years in San Diego, they will do so coming off one of the worst seasons in franchise history.
As if adding insult to injury, they take a 3-10 record into Sunday’s game.
Which only complicates — or widens — the range of emotions.
“In many ways we’ve hit a low point,” said Scott Lewis, the editor-in-chief of the Voice of San Diego. “Look, we’ve had bad teams here in San Diego over the years. It’s a reality we’ve dealt with and are used to. But the losing combined with the negative feeling about the team, about how this has all played out, about how they might move to Los Angeles, it’s plunged this city into a malaise about football that I’ve never seen.”
And it will all spill out Sunday.
“I just think, for the most part people are hurt. It’s not even so much anger anymore,” longtime Chargers fan Chris Ritchie said. “It’s the kind of hurt in which you’re asking the Chargers and the political leaders: ‘Why are you doing this to us? Why is this happening?’
“The city can’t get it together. The team is on their way out of town. It’s a terrible situation. It’s sad, mostly.”