San Diego Blooper Chargers

Where do I sign up for a part time job that pays 7 figures and I don't even have to be particularly good at it?
Not only that but I want full benefits and a raise just for showing up.

The More Things Change...

Front of a t-shirt I designed in 1993 re: the
Padres fire sale of all quality players.

I was a Padres Season Ticket Holder from 1993-2011, starting in the cheap seats at the Murph and moving with the team to Petco Park as a Founders Club Member and seats in the Toyota Terrace (ooh la la!). 

But my ties to them go back almost to their beginnings in the Nationa League.  In the early 70's I was a 7up Jr Padre.  For something like $10, I got to see about a dozen games a season and I was hooked.

I also hung out a lot at the Jewish Community Center and attended Summer Sports Camp there where among other things, I learned to hit from then Padres Derrel Thomas and Johnny Grubb (ironically Grubb was on the '84 Tigers team that beat my Padres in the World Series).

Handmade shirt worn to Padre games in 1993 

Those were some lean years, where Padre fans sought solace in the team playing spoiler to other teams trying to make the playoffs as we piled up 100 loss seasons while frequently drawing crowds of 5,000 or less.  Built on castoffs (many former Dodgers and Giants) we didn't post a winning season until 1979 and not again until 1982.

But I was a kid and back then and there was always tomorrow but tomorrow seldom came.  Things appeared to be on  the upswing with new ownership and a blockbuster trade in the early '90's but that was just a tease as ownership quickly sold off all of the marquee talent (McGriff, Sheffield, Fernandez 3/4 of the four tops, among others) to prepare for another sale of the team.



Handmade shirt worn to Padre games in 1993

Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.  John Moores buys the team ultimately convincing the community that the only thing holding the Padres back from being a dominant franchise and capable of signing stellar talent was the high cost they were paying in conjunction with Qualcomm Stadium and that having their own park would solve all of that.

Petco Park opened in 2004, Moores & Co flirted with success but ultimately the penny pinching legacy reestablished itself and today, two ownership groupd later, we're still waiting for a big league front office to emerge and deliver a big league team.

 

Fan reaction to the handmade shirts led me to design this shirt which sold very well!



EmbarrasSD?

Attending my final Chargers game of 2012
vs KC 11/01/12

Being a pro sports fan in San Diego is tough.

We are a small market which generally attracts ownership more interested in the "prestige" of owning a team than in building a winner.  They're nice enough folks but they put profitability ahead of  everything else meaning, they aren't going to invest in wins unless it increases the bottom line.

Fortunately we have alot of other things going for us in town so that we don't have to be fanatical about supporting losing regimes.  Some look at that as being bandwagon fans but you know what?

Fans are the only ones paying for the privilege of being part of the sport.  At the end of the day, win or lose, it's their cash and their passion driving the vehicle.  WIN OR LOSE, owners get paid, players get paid, concessionaires get paid and when the payday is perceived as "too little", they leave.

But when fans decide they are getting too little and move on, they are disloyal.  Some fans are so brainwashed, they parrot the same company line.  I for one have pretty much had it.  I don't know what I'm going to do with my 100+ Padre and Charger jerseys, t-shirts, ball caps and jackets but ENOUGH is ENOUGH!!

I am a fan but I am also embarrasSD.  If you are too, consider whether putting more money into the pockets of millionaire owners and athletes who are unwilling or unable to do what it takes to win and simply content to cash in on your love for the game is something you should continue doing.