I SUBSCRIBE TO THE U-T SAN DIEGO BECAUSE I HAVE FRIENDS WHO WORK THERE, PEOPLE I CARE ABOUT, PEOPLE I LOVE, PEOPLE I WANT TO HAVE JOBS, but there are mornings when I wonder, “Do I want to keep doing this?” Today’s U-T is one of those moments. When I pulled out the sports section, I was greeted by a large color photograph of Chargers’ coach Mike McCoy, and a big, black, bold headline under his photo that read: “HOPE’S ALIVE FOR 2015” The sub-head on Kevin Acee’s column read: “Abundant possibilities ahead for Bolts with solid signings, cap manipulation.” Inside sports there were three full pages on the Chargers. Since I watched the game last Sunday in KC, I know the Chargers’ lost and are out of the playoffs; a fact confirmed yesterday because the two NFL playoff games were Arizona/Carolina, Baltimore/Pittsburg, and today’s two games, Cincinnati/Indianapolis, and Detroit/Dallas, do not feature the San Diego Chargers. Since I’ve been around this town as long as U-T sports columnist Nick Canepa, I know the Chargers are number one because in 1961 they became San Diego’s first major professional sports franchise. (The Ted Williams/Bobby Doerr Padres beat the Chargers here by 25-years, but they were “minor league”, and therefore don’t count.) While I concede the football team’s standing, the Chargers are done for 2014. With Spring Training closing in and the Padres having had a sensational off-season in trades, with more new players yet to come, if I’m the U-T San Diego sports editor, the Padres are on the front page of sports, not the football team. And, if I’m devoting four-pages of my Sunday sports section to a single subject, those four pages and subject are not the Chargers. Because I am a reasonably intelligent person, knowledgable about sports and other “things”, I know the NFL’s standing among the drudges who write about sports is huge (on “drudges”, see *Samuel Johnson), but in the U-T’s case it’s way, way, one-sided, but four-pages on the Chargers in sports today is too much! Oh, the two NFL playoff games yesterday that saw Carolina and Baltimore advancing, were found on page D-7, with today’s two games on the following page. In fairness, the Padres did get an entire page, that would be D-12. So, let me end this mini-Sunday morning before I go to church rant by saying to Mr. Burnham and Mr. Shea, close the deal with Mr. Manchester – buy the newspaper! *Samuel Johnson gave us the eternal gift of the first English Dictionary, and drudges” is the word he used to describe, with affection, those who toiled with him for nine years to produce that incomparable dictionary – published 15 April 1755. sandiego.padres.mlb/
Posted on: Sun, 04 Jan 2015 16:25:18 +0000