The Chris Townsend Show

The Bottom Lineby Aaron James, posted on Sat, Jan. 20, 2007

Objective journalism be damned. This week I'm ticked off and with good reason.

Martyball is back for another turn? E-FREAKING-GADS MAN!!

Bringing him back for another year is like asking Gary Cherone to come back for another stint in Van Halen.

Someone shove a rabies infested squirrel down my throat right now?

(Dean Spanos. I would hate to have been in your shoes on Monday morning).

You could just hear the collective regurgitation of rolled tacos throughout San Diego County when that decision was made. The New England game really wasn't Marty's fault but you know what? Someone other than the fans have to pay for this loss. A loss so excruciatingly unacceptable I'm not sure if true Chargers fans will ever get over this one.

Where's Dr. Joyce Brothers when you need her? S.D. needs a group hug.

I want retribution!! Let's bring out the San Diego Chicken, tar and feather him and sell him to El Pollo Loco in an attempt to fully elaborate just how ticked off we are at not playing for a shot in the Super Bowl. Bring back Dan Fouts for a pep talk. Have Chuck Muncie auction off his bifocals. Have Pete Holohan give a clinic on how to catch the damn football. Vincent Jackson, Eric Parker and Marlon McCree your attendance is mandatory!

San Diego sports fans have had a lot of bad teams to indulge themselves in over the years and they deserve better. Just watching the San Diego State Aztecs attempt to play Division I football is hard enough but after watching last week's ridiculous meltdown against an undermanned Patriots squad, San Diego sports fans were subjected to yet another Roger Corman-esque horror flick in a long history of botched games and shattered hopes that have tormented the good people of Americas Finest City for years now.

My cracked staff did some research the other day that shed some light on the situation. Of all the NFL cities that have both the NFL and MLB, only San Diego and Seattle have never won a single championship. And thinking back, at least Seattle has an NBA championship from the late 70's to hang their toques on.

San Diego? Nothing. Nada. Zip. Zilch. Nary a hint?

And I don't count all the MISL titles the San Diego Soccers won in the 80's anymore because for a time I did, because it was all we ever had. Teams that sport players with one name can't really be taken seriously can they?

Professional sports has been around in San Diego since the early 60's when the Chargers were inventing the West Coast passing offense as a member of the AFL. And yes we did manage to win one AFL title, against the Boston Patriots by a score of 51-10, but that was centuries ago.

Unfortunately, San Diego fans are inching dubiously closer towards that enigmatic group of cities hungry for a title of some sort. You can now lump San Diego fans in with Cleveland Indians, Chicago Cubs, San Francisco Giants and Detroit Lions fans as some of the more disgruntled faithful in the country. Quite a dubious distinction for sure.

But being a Chargers fan, with the kind of talent we had this year, it's really hard for me to accept a loss of this nature to an inferior Patriots team.

Yeah, I said it! Inferior. I don?t care about past Super Bowls. We had these guys and to quote Dennis Green.

"THEY ARE WHO WE THOUGHT THEY WERE AND WE LET EM' OFF THE HOOK!!"

New England couldn?t match our speed, our run game, our uniforms or anything for that matter. What they could match, and in essence totally obliterate, was our lack of poise and experience. If the Chargers make just one play or hold on to the ball one time last Sunday, the Bolts would be waiting for the Colts with open arms and a frothing mouth because Indy's a team the Bolts have had little problem handling in recent memory. Especially against Peyton Manning who we've beaten the last two games. On the road.

So I guess we'll have to sit back, take this loss like men and get over it somehow. The future is still bright for the Bolts but with this new winning image the Chargers are fostering, the fans' patience is about as strong as Eric Parker's pass catching ability last week. Which ain't too good...

Until next week...