Hallelujah!!!

Somebody tell Tim Sullivan it's a miracle! Gates feels he might possibly be at 100% for the opener. In fact, he feels at the present rate of progress he'll definitely be ready. What a wonderful thing to happen in these his twilight years.

This Is More Like It.

Here's an article from Vinnie Iyer at The Sporting news that tackles the exact same subject as the Don Banks article I linked last week. Unlike Don's article, however, Vinnie focuses on the Chargers and not just how fucking awesome the Patriots are. Thought I'd pass it along.

The Sky Is Falling!

Some of you may have seen this little slice of hysteria Tim Sullivan submitted to San Diego Post Dispatch Intelligencer this morning, and I gotta say, the doom and gloom is pretty fantastic. Antonio Gates-due to his horrific TOE injury-could very well not be long for the world of professional football is the tone Sullivan sets with this statement:

He is aware, however, that his glory days could be dwindling.

This is what Gates actually said about it:

“You always worry,” the Chargers' transcendent target said yesterday. “That's just part of human nature. I wonder if I can still go out and be the (No.) 85 that people are used to me being in the past. I think that's part of the challenge.”

Sounds like a guy who realizes his days are numbered. Or maybe it sounds more like he's answering a baited question. Seriously, do we have to dress this up as an actual issue? Gates is still a young man. They said from the get-go that he would need the whole offseason to recover. Camp has just started. We spent last season establishing our receivers more. We could survive if Gates has to miss a game or two, or even three. Why does Tim Sullivan want to freak us out? Of course, I fully appreciate the irony of my asking for more Charger coverage and then crying about the coverage received. I am, however, never afraid to delve head first into hypocracy. It's a gift. Go bolts!!!

Quick Couple Of Things

I'm very intrigued by this Waters kid. Supposedly another Cromartie type situation; first round type of talent who suffered amajor injury in college and dropped to the third round. I still think MLB is our weakest link on D, so it should be exciting to see if the guy can make an impact. I mean, sure, it's not very likely that he could supplant a natural talent like Wilhelm, but on the other side, he is black which can be a real bonus at the position.

As for this Cason guy, what's the fucking hold-up there? Didn't we draft him like 28th or some such bullshit? I thought we were past this sort of thing. In the past I would have been ready to blame the team, but something tells me that agents are starting to worry that the rookie coffers might get handled a bit before too long so it's time to make a few last desperate grabs at that particular jackpot. Whatever the case, let's get this kid into camp and start getting ready for some football. You know, what with how they disbanded the Pro Baseballers and whatnot.

Oh yeah, and Jeremy Shockey went to the Saints. And he's a douche. But he does make them better. But we're still going to whoop on them in front of the Limeys. Go Bolts!!!

What Have You Done With Nick Canepa?

Last week resident A.J. Smith apologist-nie lapdog-Nick Canepa wrote a rather intelligent and actually insiteful piece regarding OTL and the San Diego beach drinking bans. This is it. Needless to say, I was rather blown away, but thought hey, even a blind squirrel finds his nuts or some such bullshit as that.

Imagine my surprise to come across yet another piece that did not make me want to buy reading glasses just so I could poke my eyes out with the stems. Here's Nicky's article detailing the recent comings and goings of ex-San Diego QB Drew Brees. It's a fluff piece for sure, with very little weight, but since I'm sure you all recall that letting Brees walk after two excellent seasons did not make for warm feelings toward our B.A. G.M. A. J. That fact in itself makes the article interesting. I fully expect to see a follow-up in the next couple of days where Nick makes sure to remind everybodythat Drew Brees is the Anti-Christ so A.J. had to let him go. I do like the part where he asides that Brees should have been traded after 2004, hinting at some sort of player devotion that obviously lives within A.J.'s heart. Bullshit. But otherwise a decent little, non-offensive read. I always like to hear that Drew Brees is doing well, even if I wasn't as devastated as many when he left. You know the people that still pine for Brees? They're the ones who thought Billy Volek should have started the AFC Championship game last year, and the same ones who force the rest of us to explain ourselves to sports fans from other cities. Still, Brees was always a likeable guy who you could tell was trying hard and it's nice to see him over the bullshit. Just as it was nice to see Steve Finley at Petco for the ten-year anniversary the other night, even after the team railroaded him into leaving all those years ago, it's nice of Drew to keep a presence in a town that still likes the guy an awful lot. Of course, I still can't wait for our boys to mop up the Saints in front of the Limey's this year! Go Bolts!!!

A Little Taste.

A.J. Smith runs a pretty tight ship, there's no getting around it. Never has it been more apparent than this offseason. The current roster appears to be a who's who of mouthless do-gooders. Seriously, after the last couple of years replete with DUIs, drug arrests and off-duty cop target practice, this off-season has been downright lame. Philip Rivers needs to kick Jay Cutler in the balls so I can see the Chargers in print. Wait, does that make me intolerant towards diabetes? I should knock on wood here, though, seriously. It's a good thing that our boys are media-unworthy this time of year. It's just that with the Sadres (see what I did there?) performing so poorly while still being as boring as ever, one begins to jones for some Charger love as though it were that first smoked rock of crack in the morning. I have it on good authority from Josh Hamilton that morning crack is exteremely jones-worthy. Anywho, I was pleasantly surprised to find this little gem of an article from SI's Don Banks on the interweb today and figured I'd pass it on.

Sure it's sort of a Patriots fluff piece in a Chargers uniform, but at least Don was kind enough to interview A.J. about his philosophy on creating a team that matches up with the Pats instead of interviewing Belichek and asking him why the Chargers are such whimpy New England fanboys. I could also take offense that Don acts like the Patriots have casually owned us in the play-offs the last couple of years when that is not quite the truth. No, instead I'll just go ahead and be happy to have a little national attention for my team going into the year.

On another related note, I'm going to have to go ahead and admit I'm finding it harder and harder to fault our B.A. G.M. A.J. on some of his personel decisions. I might never forgive him for Harrison and Donnie Edwards, but after Shane Olivea's off-season douchery and the unfortunate fate of Terrence Kiel, it's becoming more and more apparent that A.J. has his finger on the pulse of his team. I will not, however, get over his gun-slinging Don attitude any time soon.

Bring on training camp! Go Bolts!!!