...and so it ends, Chargers 24 -Steelers 35

Probably not the one play we ran during the 3rd quarter

The Chargers kick a FG and position themselves to go into the half with a lead....but then the dreaded "Prevent" defense rears its ugly head and right quick we're down 10-14 going into the half. I don't remember who posited the ol' maxim that, "the Prevent defense, Prevents you from Winning", but boy does it ring true. It would be a harbinger of things to come.

The 3rd quarter began with an old fashioned 8 minute drive which was quickly followed by a big Sproles return and an even bigger tipped Philip Rivers passed, picked off by Larry Foote.

When the 3rd quarter was all said and done we had possessed the ball for :17 seconds....1 play...and 2 turnovers.... and a season slipped away.

Upon reflection it's worth noting that when you have to look at all of these little moments within the contest and you begin to play the "if this, if that game".....it quite simply means that you weren't the better team. The better team won out today.

Forthcoming will be the 2008 Season Obituary...it seems fitting, as I purchased the Headstone for 2008 back in August.

A FINAL NOTE:

When the game was over, the house cleaned up and family and guests gone for the night I walked outside and sat down on the patio. In one arm I held my little Daughter who came into this world during the Chargers' preseason (a baptism by fire) and in my hand a mug, from which I drank the cup of coffee of the year (Blue Mountain Jamaican of which my brother had no business buying for me). The moon slowly crept over the easterly mountains, full, bright, and orange. I hadn't seen a moon look like that since a spring break in Punta Penasco (Rocky Point).

Here I sat, in mid-January, short sleeves, bare feet, outside and watching a killer moon ascend into a crystal clear star filled sky induced by our all too frequent Santa Ana Winds ( they are becoming more frequent, so it seems). I thought, boy am I lucky.

I just spent the whole afternoon with some of my best friends watching a football game. College friends and family....high fiving and cursing...eating, drinking, laughing. Thanks for spending the day with me. While it was not the outcome we wanted I couldn't have asked for better company to suffer through it with me. I thought about this good fortune as that moon appeared from out of no where and realized that it was a sign... a sign of future days and and seasons...a sign of hope. Maybe this was the obituary? Better put that headstone up so they know we were here......

Thanks Big Fella