The NFL’s regular season has begun, and excitement’s in the air. The Chargers kick off the year against the Houston Texans on Monday night, and fans who had given up on the team are coming out of the woodwork to support new general manager Tom Telesco and new head coach Mike McCoy.
Voice of San Diego blogger Beau Lynott will be using this first season to evaluate McCoy against other successful NFL head coaches. Can McCoy improve on the 7-9 record that the Chargers finished with last season? The team’s schedule is much more difficult this year, so he’ll have his work cut out for him.
You’re reading the Sports Report, our weekly compilation of news and information for the San Diego sports fan.
FOOTBALL, FOOTBALL, FOOTBALL
• Scott Lewis and Andrew Keatts talked about the NFL’s concussion settlement with former players during this week’s VOSD Radio. Lewis has been covering this issue since Junior Seau’s suicide over a year ago, so his perspective is an interesting one.
• During my own weekly Chargers video podcast, I previewed the 2013 Chargers season and explained how the team could end up in the playoffs.
• The only Chargers player who is hurt enough to miss Monday’s game looks to be rookie linebacker Manti Te’o, who hasn’t yet recovered from injuring his foot in the team’s first preseason game.
• The Chargers’ original proposal for a downtown stadium is expected to be considered by the California Coastal Commission next month, but the team has taken the city’s mayoral race as an opportunity to pitch a new, much bigger stadium and a convention center. If it seems like the team is trying to get a new mayoral candidate on its side with the plans, it’s because that’s exactly what is happening.
• Power Rankings! Everyone loves them, but nobody knows why. They’re just a bunch of talking heads telling you which teams they like best, right? Wrong. Meet the NFL Power Rankings Consensus (Week 1).
Padres in the middle of another ‘Fall Training’
• For the third consecutive season, the Padres are playing meaningless games in September. Everth Cabrera, the team’s lone All-Star selection this year, is serving a suspension for taking performance-enhancing substances. Cameron Maybin, who was viewed as a future star when the Padres signed him to a contract extension after 2011, is ending another disappointing season with surgery.
• Will Venable signed a two-year contract with the Padres that will probably end up saving the team a good amount of money. Venable has had a career year, thanks in large part to the right field fences at Petco Park being moved in during the offseason. If he can perform at the same level for two more season, the contract he signed will be a steal.
• Uh oh. Every time a Padres player starts saying things like “I want to stay in San Diego, but I want to win,” it usually means that he’s not going to be on the team much longer. Chase Headley, who followed up a spectacular 2012 season with a subpar year in 2013, is letting the team know that he either wants top-dollar or he’ll go to a team that plays meaningful September games.
Stories You May Have Missed
• The San Diego State Aztecs had high hopes for this season, which include face-offs with powerhouse teams like Ohio State and Oregon State. Unfortunately, those games will matter much less after SDSU’s Week 1 loss to the Eastern Illinois Panthers.
• NFL quarterbacks have tendencies, just like everyone else. Grantland went through the trouble of graphing out where QBs most often throw the ball, and then broke it down by passer. Philip Rivers threw a lot of short passes up the middle last season.
• Tommy Morrison, a professional boxer who was diagnosed as HIV-positive in 1996 and continued to fight for years afterward, died at age 44 this week. Neither HIV nor AIDS were listed on the death certificate as the cause of death.
• GIF of the Week: This is your reminder, as you prepare to watch NFL games on Sunday and Monday, that football is a violent game (and that’s why we love it).
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I’m John Gennaro, contributor to Active Voice and managing editor of Bolts from the Blue. You can tweet me @john_gennaro or e-mail me directly at boltsfromtheblue@gmail.com.
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