The Morning Report
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The NBA and NHL seasons have begun, which means that I am already starting to dread the “dead zone” of San Diego sports. The dead zone is the months between Chargers football (usually in January) and Padres baseball (usually April). The hours, days, weeks and months go by without a single local professional game to go to, or watch on TV. Conversation around the water cooler comes to a grinding halt, and small talk at parties comes almost entirely about the unchanging, unending San Diego springtime weather. It’s terrible. It’s scarier than any Halloween I’ve ever experienced.
I usually pass the time by becoming a fan of the Los Angeles Clippers, and I suggest other San Diego sports fans do the same. It’s a franchise that has more San Diego roots than the Chargers, more star players than the Padres and has a legitimate chance of winning a championship sometime in the next few years. Selfishly, I’m hoping to create enough groundswell to convince the Clippers to return to their original home in San Diego, so we can bring the dead zone to a close.
You’re reading the Sports Report, our weekly compilation of news and information for the San Diego sports fan.
Chargers Silent During Bye Week
• The Chargers remain at 4-3 after a week off, which saw many of the team’s players and coaches return to their hometowns to relax and get away from football for a while. If, like me, you paid less attention to the NFL and more attention to the outside world because of the lack of Chargers on your television screen, here’s a handy post of everything you missed to get you caught back up.
• I made the case that Chargers center Nick Hardwick deserves to go back to the NFL’s Pro Bowl for the first time since 2006 if he continues playing as well as he did in the first seven games of this season.
• Kyle Posey did a wonderful job explaining the Chargers’ offense’s one weakness this year: scoring touchdowns near the goal line, and offered some solutions to the problem as well.
Padres Busy as the Red Sox Win the World Series
• After not winning a title for 86 years, the Boston Red Sox finished the 2013 MLB season by winning their third World Series in the last decade. The best part of the story might be Red Sox pitcher Ryan Dempster throwing batting practice to anyone left at the stadium at 3 a.m. after the deciding victory.
• Clayton Richard rejected the Padres’ outright assignment, which would’ve sent him to one of their minor league teams, and has become a free agent. Richard had a fantastic first season with the club in 2010, the prize of the Jake Peavy trade to the White Sox, but has been getting worse every season since. He finished the 2013 season with a 2-5 record and an ERA of 7.01.
• The Padres gave up on another lefty pitcher when they traded Colt Hynes to the Cleveland Indians for cash. Hynes had a solid minor league career but could never find success in the majors. He finished 2013 with a 9.00 ERA out of the bullpen with San Diego.
• Angels first baseman Mark Trumbo is apparently on the radar of Padres GM Josh Byrnes, but I can’t for the life of me figure out why. As Gaslamp Ball points out, Trumbo offers only a little more value than current first baseman Yonder Alonso and the pieces the Padres would likely give up in a trade would make this deal a loss.
Stories You May Have Missed
• The San Diego State Aztecs baseball team celebrated Halloween with their annual Halloween Baseball Contest and Game. Lucky for us, someone was recording video of the event and posted it online for us to laugh at and be jealous of. Boy, that looks fun.
• Gaslamp Ball reader del4rel did an excellent job explaining Biogenesis, and its effect on Major League Baseball. Everything you’ve ever wanted to know about baseball players taking performance-enhancing substances can probably be found here.
GIF of the Week: Gio Bernard’s touchdown run last night was kind of insane. Too bad the Bengals lost to the Dolphins.
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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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