Thursday, January 12, 2017

Professional Football: The Chargers to L.A. Charges up no one.

After the St. Louis Rams decided to relocated to Los Angeles, there was always a rumor that another team was going to follow.  Today we found out just who that team is going to be:

The San Diego Chargers  who immediately revealed that they are 100% incompetent by unveiling one of the worst logos in recent memory.  "I know, we'll make it like the Dodgers, but with LIGHTNING!"

Good on you Dean Spanos.

As is expected, jilted San Diego fans have decided that the best way of handling this is to deposit their already-purchased jerseys on the front doorstep of the Chargers' San Diego offices. This is both a worthless gesture and somewhat silly.  The fans have already paid the money for the jerseys, part of which went to the team, and now they even lose the utility of using it to catch paint stains, or as an expensive toilet paper.

In a stupid move designed to show for some reason that "football is family" I wouldn't be surprised if the Chargers gathered these all up, laundered them, and donated them to some homeless charity.  You know, for the good of the community that they're abandoning.

Not that the good people of Los Angeles are going to care.

It's always felt that the NFL has been pining to get back into the LA market not because of a groundswell of fan support, but more because Roger Gooddell feels that a major sports league should have teams in LA.  Certainly, judging by Rams attendance this season, it's not because the fans are clamoring for the NFL game day experience.

This is really all about TV markets and owner revenue.  The simple matter is that LA has more televisions than does San Diego or St. Louis, so (theoretically) higher ad rates can be charged.  And while this might be true initially I'm willing to bet that if the product stays sub-par (which, given both of the owners of these teams it's likely to do) Los Angeles is a town with too many distractions to reward bad teams with high ratings and continued sell-outs. In short, both teams need to start winning and they need to do so fairly quickly.

Contrast this to Houston, which has about the most bone-headed fan base in all the NFL.  Bob McNair is still making money hand over fist, is selling out NRG, and has a better than average chance (in my opinion) of getting hundreds of Millions in upgrades to his playpen because Houston is 1. Ran by idiots 2. Has a collective inferiority complex the size of the Grand Canyon.

LA won't be burdened with both of those things however, despite the fact that the city itself is, by all accounts, also governed by idiots.

One last thought.  These moves (especially the move from St. Louis) illustrate the idiocy that the NFL continually shovels that the teams are a vital part of any community, and that residents of any one town have some sacred obligation to be a fan of their "home town team".  This, is crap.

Because the minute a better offer comes along that will project more money into the pockets of the owners any franchise is just as likely as the next (excepting a very few, like those in New York) to pull up stakes and leave for greener pastures.

As bad as your college team might be right now, it's very likely they're going to roll up the sidewalks and start playing in St. Louis, since they have a shiny stadium that's sitting empty.

Just another data point proving College Football > NFL any day of the week and twice on Sunday.

Were I a San Diego Chargers' fan I'd go out and get me some Aztec tickets as quick as I can.  And for as long as Chargers are in town I'd find something better to do on Sundays.

I guarantee you that the good people of Los Angeles will.

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