The Morning Report
Get the news and information you need to take on the day.
Liam Dillion isn’t concerned about the San Diego Chargers moving to Los Angeles, and neither am I.
With Tim Leiweke out of the picture, there’s no organized ownership group in L.A. that would be willing to pay for a stadium in exchange for partial ownership of a team moving to the City of Angels. There also isn’t a stadium project that has realistically come close to meeting the demands of the league or the city. The NFL has said in the past that it will not have a team play in the Rose Bowl while a stadium is being built.
As Dillon points out, Los Angeles is more useful to the NFL as leverage for teams to hurl threats than as an actual location for a franchise. L.A. has had new stadiums, or stadium renovations, for the Dolphins, Vikings, Colts, Panthers and Rams in just the last few years. The Chargers would probably be on that list too, if someone could come up with a realistic plan for the new stadium and how to fund it. So far, all we’ve heard is threats about a move to Los Angeles — and we’re not scared anymore.
You’re reading the Sports Report, our weekly compilation of news and information for the San Diego sports fan.
Melvin Ingram tears ACL, Chargers Fans Panic
• Melvin Ingram, the Chargers’ first-round draft pick in 2012 and the best pass-rusher on the roster, tore his ACL during the second day of OTAs and is expected to miss the entire 2013 season. The team signed pass-rusher Thomas Keiser Thursday, but is still chasing free agent Dwight Freeney.
• Chuck Muncie, who was part of the San Diego Chargers’ 40th and 50th anniversary teams and is considered by many to be one of the 10 best Chargers of all time, died this week of a heart attack at the age of 60. Muncie was perhaps better known in the San Diego community as a former drug addict who turned his life around and dedicated himself to helping troubled youth with the Chuck Muncie Youth Foundation.
• There may be three months until the Chargers are playing any real football, but the oddsmakers aren’t waiting around. They’ve already picked Mike McCoy’s team to finish with seven wins in 2013, and they’re ready to take your money if you think they’re wrong.
• Kevin Acee thinks Chargers fans will like Jeromey Clary, right guard, a lot more than they liked Jeromey Clary, right tackle. I’m just happy that the team hasn’t lost one of its lesser-known team leaders.
Bring Back the Brown, San Diego
- The San Diego Padres, who will wear their brown-and-orange uniforms for ‘80s Night tonight, were one of two last-place seeds in ESPN’s tournament of MLB uniforms. They are currently trailing the No. 2 seed Chicago Cubs by a wide margin.
- I predicted that the Padres would be at a disadvantage at home on Thursday against former Aztecs pitcher Stephen Strasburg, in his first MLB game in San Diego, and that proved to be true. Strasburg got the win after giving up just one earned run in seven innings.
- Over at Padres Public, AvengingJM shines a light on Dick Enberg’s failing vision and implores the Padres and Fox Sports San Diego to pass the torch to a younger play-by-play announcer. As someone who watches a lot of Padres games on TV, I can’t figure out what Enberg has to offer anymore besides a known name and legacy.
- Bob Scanlan has been doing fantastic post-game recaps at Gaslamp Ball all season, but his reaction after Huston Street blew a save to the Tampa Bay Rays on Saturday was legendary.
Stories You May Have Missed
• Flinder Boyd went to Slovakia to chase his dreams of playing professional basketball. What he found was one of the strangest, chaotic, most depressing environments he had even known. He also found the best way to make money playing basketball in Slovakia: betting on your own team and winning.
• In a wonderful “I guess our rivals aren’t so bad” story, Jeremy Affeldt was accidentally paid an extra half-million by the San Francisco Giants and returned the money despite the fact that he could’ve legally kept the cash. I think the most amazing part of this story is the fact that his agent recommended he give the money back to the team.
• GIF of the Week: It has almost nothing to do with sports, except it was spotted at a sporting event, but I can’t stop watching this reverse-GIF of a guy eating cotton candy.
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I’m John Gennaro, contributor to Active Voice and managing editor of Bolts from the Blue. You can tweet me @jmglion or e-mail me directly at boltsfromtheblue@gmail.com.
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