2024 Chargers News | Acquisitions | Transactions | Injuries

[Boltnut]

The move never bothered me, playing in a soccer stadium did. If San Diego bent the knee they would still be there. Probably would have hosted a couple of Super Bowls already. Oh well, now they have a brand spanking new practice facility and play in the best looking stadium now.
With the Niners moving, there wasn’t any hate towards the move. If you’re a fan, how can a move make you not be a fan anymore? They don’t owe you that. But the Sunday ticket and flock with the sheep.

The thing that bothered me was the lost tradition of easy tailgating. I used to go to 2 games a year. One with HS buddies... one with college buddies.

The HS buddies game was always around Thanksgiving. People had moved away... but would come back to local family on Thanksgiving. Early tailgate and catching up with old friends. I always made fried fish tacos. Another friend made carne asada. A third made chicken asada. They would bring their spouses, I would bring my oldest daughter. Almost all of these friends no longer follow the Chargers and have adopted their spouses teams... Eagles, Jets, Titans, 49ers, Seahawks.

My college buddies mostly still live here. So we would go down to OB, chow on breakfast burritos, and tailgate for about an hour before the game. We all did a shot of Patron before entering the stadium right before kickoff.

Driving all the way up/back to LA on a Sunday morning/evening seems like a really long day to me.
The fridge and cold Sculpins are 15 feet away from my couch. If I'm feeling super nostalgic, I'll get a breakfast burrito pre-game.

[Ghost of Quacksaw]

Disagree.

A team doesn't owe a community any allegiance, but citizens of that community owe allegiance to the team?

My two brothers no longer care about the Chargers .... they moved on.

I was preparing myself to retire as a Charger fan when Philip Rivers' career with the Bolts ended.

Justin Herbert made that impossible.

[Topcat]

"San Diego Chargers of Southern CA" is even better.
I can dream on..

How about just the "California Chargers!!!" It has a nice alliterative ring to it...if the California Angels can do it, we can too!!!

[CanadianBoltFan]

I was preparing myself to retire as a Charger fan when Philip Rivers' career with the Bolts ended.

Justin Herbert made that impossible.

Me too. After being a fan since 1978, I was becoming disillusioned with the move, not because I felt loss like the locals in SD, but the Chargers weren't wanted much in LA and playing in the soccer stadium with no home field was lame. I was considering if i should find another team but drafting Herbert saved me and kept me fully on board and loyal. Now i am fine with the set up in LA. Chargers seem to be steadily building a LA fan base and SoFi and The Bolt are awesome facilities. The Harbaugh star power and factor should also establish the Chargers more in LA.

I do sympathize with any SD boys on here though. Its a bummer. It happened with our NBA team up here in Vancouver, who got great support for an expansion team that was poorly run and had dismal results, but a new owner bought them and snuck them off to Memphis. I still believe Vancouver could have been a good basketball market as Toronto has proven to be.

[21&500]

How about just the "California Chargers!!!" It has a nice alliterative ring to it...if the California Angels can do it, we can too!!!

Even better.
although I'd imagine getting pushback from other CA teams.

[dmac_bolt]

Disagree.

A team doesn't owe a community any allegiance, but citizens of that community owe allegiance to the team?

My two brothers no longer care about the Chargers .... they moved on.

Citizens don't owe an allegiance. Its a choice we each make and we do it for ourselves, not for the team. We aren't "giving" to the team, we are taking from the team, its for us. Nobody is here on TPB yacking it up day after day about Charger this or that because they think it is somehow "giving to the team". We're doing if for us - we are selfish needy bitches and we are latching ourselves onto the Chargers notoriety, publicity, excitement, energy, success, fame, ... (whatever - fill in whatever your reason is here). It has always been about us and for us. You don't owe them anything, and they don't owe you anything - 100% correct.

The way I looked at, it helped me right after the move as any Charger fan born and raised with the team was traumatized by this change, is that the Chargers never got mad at me when I moved and stopped buying tickets because I:

(Forgot about 0. Played in loud ass rock bands and didn't buy tickets to anything for 8 or so years - if I didnt get in free, fuck em!)

1. Moved to LA south beaches (RB) circa 1992?
2. Moved to Michigan (metro) circa 1995
3. Moved to UK (midlands) circa 1998
4. Moved back to Michigan (diff suburb lol) circa 1999
5. Finally moved back to SD in 2000 in time to buy season tickets for their worst season ever (1-15). My last full season ticket package. On the weeks that I couldn't go, I literally had trouble even giving tickets away, so bad.

Then I met the lovely future Mrs Dmac, we went to a few single games vs season tickets. then we married and kidded up and stopped buying season tickets "for awhile", Then when kid became kids and childcare became a real consideration and flatscreens became a real viewing improvement, we stopped even buying singles after a couple more years.

And yet MY LOYAL CHARGERS STILL hung around San Diego for yet another 16 seasons, waiting for me to come back. And I planned to get there, I really did. I just ... sigh ... came up short.

They tried. Its not them, its me

[dmac_bolt]

I was preparing myself to retire as a Charger fan when Philip Rivers' career with the Bolts ended.

Justin Herbert made that impossible.

I remember a lot of guys saying that at the time. I never understood that thinking. I wasn't ever really all that attached to Philip. I liked him, loved him, appreciated him, that sort of thing., but my eternal Chargers love never was about him or specific to him in any way, if that makes sense. It was born 30 yrs before him, for starters. I knew none of ya would leave just because Phil left, you were all here long before him too.

[dmac_bolt]

Even better.
although I'd imagine getting pushback from other CA teams.

Fuck em, what are they gonna do about it?

[jamrock]

ESPN's Mike Clay ranks the Chargers roster at number 24.

[Topcat]

5. Finally moved back to SD in 2000 in time to buy season tickets for their worst season ever (1-15). My last full season ticket package. On the weeks that I couldn't go, I literally had trouble even giving tickets away, so bad.

The 2000 season...ouch...Ryan Leaf's final year with the Bolts when he was benched due to poor play and "injuries" and replaced by...drumroll please...Moses Moreno...and also Jim Harbaugh...Leaf also claimed to have injured his wrist, but was accused of lying about it so he could play golf...it also didn't help that he got into shouting matches with fans and with Bobby Beathard...ah, yes, good times...wouldn't it be poetic redemption if Harbaugh could go from that outhouse of a season to the penthouse with a SB win???

[Topcat]

ESPN's Mike Clay ranks the Chargers roster at number 24.

I wonder where he ranked the Chargers' coaching staff...that alone should be worth at least 10+ points...

[Velo]

ESPN's Mike Clay ranks the Chargers roster at number 24.

In 2004 the Chargers roster was universally ranked at the bottom by every NFL pundit. I remember listening to Peter King on Sirius NFL Radio during his camp tour. He said outside of LT, the Chargers had no playmakers. I remember him saying "sorry Chargers fans, there just isn't much hope for this season," or something to that effect. The Chargers won 12 games and the division title that season.