Gone-zalez.....sorry, had to do it

Big #88 has moved on and since we have pretty poor Safety play we'll go ahead and kneel, bow our heads, give the sign of the cross, and say.........thank God !!!!

Typical Quentin Jammer 'form tackle'......Typical Clinton Hart?

Chargers win in Gonzalez trade [UT-Bolts Blog]

Quote of the Week...and the week only just started

“I feel great, and I look amazing,”
Merriman said last week.

What a great quote!
A brutally honest self-assessment. We wonder if he cracked a sideways smirk as he said it? We can live with it either way as long as the bravado is accompanied with QB pressure.....Cromartie won't survive this season without it.

Chargers to gather Monday for start of official conditioning
[San Diego Union Tribune-Kevin Acee]

Cholla Cable Comments on Craziness

I open up the UT and what do I see.....Cholla! I hear his righteous proclamations in my sleep and now I have to read his opinions in the Sports section....

“It's a crazy time in this division,” Oakland Raiders coach Cholla Cable said Tuesday at the NFL owners' meetings.

Its only crazy because of that kid up in Denver, and by "kid" I mean McDaniels....Cutler is the "Crybaby". Yea real crazy! The only thing crazier would be that lard ass QB in Oakland developing some game.

Nice. Real Nice Cholla! The least you could have done was get some Black Widows slapped on the side of that Silver n' Black helmet. You useless C@#T!

For more about Cholla and how consistent the Chargers are:

Chargers are a model of consistency in topsy-turvy AFC West
[SD Union Tribune-Kevin Acee]

There's some good stuff on Aztec ace Stephen Strasburg over at 619 Sports. Craig Elsten is calling for the head of DC area writer Thomas Boswell. The charge....Blasphemy!
[619 Sports]

Editor's Note:
Apologies for the randomness of the Cholla reference..there are a select few who will understand. To attain enlightenment the following may provide it for you....... but probably not.....funny none the less.

LT remains sounds better than LT's remains

LaDainian Tomlinson stays put.

A crazy few weeks we've seen here in San Diego. From the AJ Smith mocking incident to the drama filled merry-go-round provided by the UT's Kevin Acee and XX1090's line-up of hosts. It had become awfully draining to listen to the "pundits" as well as shortsighted fans lend their expertise on the issue. I felt that LT was coming back all along (ok-so there was SOME doubt) because it made practical sense: the Chargers have needs on both sides of the ball so why create yet another hole by eliminating your workhorse running back?

But the last week brought a new set of intrigues. We heard from LT's mom on The Scott and BR Show.....and then the same show provided commentary from Drew Brees.....the sort of commentary that may have led you to believe that two buddies talking behind the scenes had come to some sort of "too-good-to-be-true" reunion agreement. Then Acee reported Friday night that the offer was on the table for LT's taking.... and then SI's Peter King gave his 2 cents... which generally doesn't count for shit especially considering that cap "experts" (that horrible word again) were saying that the Saints were in no position to pay a player like LT.

Let's take a step back.........and acknowledge that history is our best teacher (this is the post I was going to write, my predicted outcome, before I saw the good news).

AJ SMITH DOES NOT SIGN FREE AGENTS TO BUILD THE CHARGERS.........HE USES THE DRAFT.

The above statement is half true. AJ Smith doesn't sign free agents..... from other teams ......he signs his own. From AJ Smith's point of view he made an excellent acquisition in the form of retaining Darren Sproles through use of the franchise tag (buying himself time to negotiate a long term deal). AJ added to the team.

Now LT was not a free agent but the minute it was decided that his salary hindered the Chargers' future plans (signing Rivers, et al.) he became expendable and was viewed as a Cap-Casualty thus an ex-Charger. What has AJ done? He added a RB, who wasn't supposed to be here, to his roster....... at the price-tag he desired. How tricky..... AJ added a player during the Free Agency signing period.

Remember Kris Diehlman's free agency a couple years back? He shopped his services but ultimately returned to sign a new contract with the Chargers. AJ considered that a free agent addition.

This was a calculated gamble on AJ's part and he did his absolute best to blow it by insulting LT and making him feel unwanted. This team would have taken a step backwards had we lost LT and then felt compelled to use our 1st round pick on a running back. Disaster averted.....

Let's cross our fingers for Rey Maualuga.....

[Chargers.com]
Chargers, Tomlinson agree on new three-year contract

[SI.com]
Jim Trotter: LT, Bolts agree to restructured 3-year deal

[SD Union-Tribune]
Tomlinson agrees to restructured deal with Chargers

...oh yea...the Chargers also added ex-Dallas LB Kevin Burnett. Read all about it...

Anatomy of a Pissing Contest

What a shit storm. Below is a comprehensive list of links to stories regarding Chargers' General Manager AJ Smith and his public spat with LaDainian Tomlinson. The Country should not know that AJ Smith is San Diego's GM! I never knew that the GM of the Patriots was named Scott Pioli...didn't know it until his name made the news as a possible replacement in KC and he was ultimately hired. Pioli is the guy who built a dynasty in NE but nobody knew him....which is the way it should be.

Note to AJ Smith: General Managers should be seen and not heard.

There is a lot of info below. I would recommend listening to the XX1090 audio files. Jim Trotter is the former Charger UT Beat Writer and currently writes for Sports Illustrated. Kevin Acee is the current Charger UT Beat Writer. They are frequent visitors to Darren Smith's afternoon show on XX1090 and provide some good background. I think the most interesting aspect of this story is the XX1090 interview by Acee on January 22nd. He had the opportunity to give the context in which AJ gave his quote but he did not. He in no way disavowed the idea that AJ was "mocking" LT......but as the shit hit the fan.....he went ahead and published an article on 1/25 where he said there was "NO WAY" that AJ was mocking LT. So which is it I wondered....

The resulting storm that fans rained down on SD caused Owner Dean Spanos to REQUIRE AJ to apologize to LT. What does this mean? Who knows....

January 14, SI.Com, "Chargers handling L.T. like a journeyman, not a Hall of Famer", Jim Trotter.

January 17, Union Tribune, "Chargers ponder LT's fate", by Kevin Acee

January 21, Union Tribune, "Draft day homework is already well underway", by Kevin Acee.

January 22, Union Tribune, "Window of opportunity always open if you have a top QB" by Nick Canepa.

January 22, XX1090, Darren Smith interview with Kevin Acee.

January 22, XX1090, Darren Smith interview with Jim Trotter.

January 23, Yahoo Sports, "Time for Spanos to 'flex' on Smith", by Michael Silver.

January 23, The "WHTNEP" San Diego Sports Fan Collective, "AJ Smith: Front Runner for Douche of the year."

January 24, Union Tribune, "LT can resolve predicament by making a cut-in his pay", by Tim Sullivan.

January 25, Union Tribune, "Abrupt? Egotistical? Smith can be both. Bud did he mock LT? No." by Kevin Acee.

January 25, Union Tribune, "Tomlinson-Smith saga must stop now, Merriman says", by Kevin Acee

January 26, XX1090, Darren Smith interview with Kevin Acee.

January 26, Chargers.com, "AJ reaches out to LT".

January 26, Union Tribune, "Smith calls Tomlinson in effort to clear the Air", by Kevin Acee.

AJ Smith: Front Runner for 2009 Douche of the Year

You can click both excerpts to view the entire articles from the Union Tribune but the meat is found below with intriguing comments by AJ Smith in Gold and a statement from LT's website in Blue. My assessment is that AJ Smith is a cocksucker....what's yours?

Union Tribune Article by Nick Canepa (Thursday 1/22)...Click Here For Full Text

The talk about the Chargers now centers on LT, and whether he'll be back next year, and partner Darren Sproles, who is an unrestricted free agent, and whether he'll return. But the Chargers are starting to talk contract with Rivers, whose deal expires after the 2009 season. And if they don't get him signed, they can have 10 running backs and it isn't likely to matter.

Smith has some tough decisions to make. Rivers might be one – if Smith didn't have a brain, and he does. Think he would have allowed Drew Brees to walk if he didn't have Rivers around?

“You think I wouldn't like to have Michael Turner around or Darren Sproles tied up for six years?” Smith says. “It's like I'm penalized for drafting. I try to sign guys to keep the window going, but sometimes an agent is going to say, 'Let's look around.' Kris Dielman did. I was sick. But he eventually signed back with us.

“I'm not looking forward to the things I have to do. I know bullets and shells are coming. It goes with the job. I'm aware of the community. I know what the pulse is, and I'm not afraid of it. I know I'm not 100 percent right. I'm not good at community relations. I know they're going to hate me. Nothing I can do about it.

“We're not good enough yet. I have to do a better job. We'll probably miss the playoffs along the way. That's how it is. It's on me.”

It's on him, all right. To keep Philip Rivers salaried – and standing upright.

What a freakin' crybaby! We have a diva GM....the next article excerpt is really bad, as in condescending and DICKED....

Union Tribune Article by Kevin Acee (Wednesday 1/21)...Click Here For Full Text

A.J. ON LT

Smith empathized, yet was typically unmoved by the sentiments expressed by LaDainian Tomlinson on his Web site Wednesday.

Tomlinson's statement was actually not anything different than what he had said in previous weeks on the topic of his time in San Diego possibly coming to an end.

The statement read:

“I have been getting a lot of messages on my site regarding me leaving San Diego. I feel that I need to make it very clear that I have NO intentions of leaving San Diego. San Diego is where my career started and where I'd like it to end. I have nothing but love and the upmost (sic) respect for this team, the players, and the Spanos Family. Me being traded is completely out of my hands. I have ABSOLUTELY no control in that decision making. All I can do is wait and see how it all plays out. As for now, I am a Charger and will be until I am told otherwise.”

Smith, who has acknowledged he is contemplating whether to release or trade Tomlinson or renegotiate his contract, was later asked about Tomlinson's statement.

“My first reaction was we both have similar feelings,” Smith said. “I have no intentions of leaving San Diego. San Diego is where my GM career started and where I'd like it to end. I also have nothing but love and the utmost respect for this team, the players and the Spanos family. I have absolutely no control over how long I will be with the Chargers.

“As for now, I am the Chargers' GM, and I have major decisions to ponder for the organization now and in the future. My recommendation to Dean Spanos will be what's in the best interest of the team – both short and long term. That's my job. That's what Dean hired me to do.”

If you're going to cut a San Diego Icon and future Hall of Famer at least do the guy right on his way out the door. LT doesn't deserve to be treated like this. If he's done he's done but you don't have to be a douche AJ!

Any thoughts?

Chargers Post Game Press Conference

Wouldn't it be refreshing if Chargers Beat Writer, Kevin Acee, went on the warpath against Norv Turner's suspect play calling and game management? If only we were in Iraq... (actually...we are in Mess'O'Potamia aren't we?)...