It's Jerry Week And Then It's On To Preseason
With year officially starting and so many new visitors to the Halls of Justice, I have pledged to put my other obsessions towards the end of each post. However, it's fucking "Jerry Week," the week between his birthday and passing. Some call it "9 Days of Jerry" or "The Days Between," but that's a little too close to actual deification for me. Nonetheless, it's one of my favorite times of the year since it celebrates my favorite type of music. Actually "Elvis Week" will be next week, but that's only because he died on the 16th.
Anyway, there's a lot to discuss within the world of the San Diego Chargers. I have a feeling now that the world of social networking is so prevalent in way Boltheads connect, that each official post here will just be the starting point for a week-long discussion preceding each game. That's the way it should be. When I started putting my Lighting-laden angst out into the world via my writing, I never really thought there would be so many people to respond.
After my most recent post, I cited the U-T link where Ryan Mathews admitted that the pressure of "replacing" (he always claimed on record that is precisely what he was NOT doing) LT got to him. How did he respond, you ask? By not being ready for the upcoming season. He was winded during drills that other players (who don't have nearly as much to prove) found simple. Those last few clusterfucky days before the lockout officially ended, I heard the NFL Network guys saying that any player who didn't keep themselves in shape for it to end right about now was foolish. I mentioned last time out that Warren Sapp was saying something about Mathews not working out enough with the team during the lockout. Did anyone else read that at the time? I admit I haven't been as focused as usual but I would have noticed something like that coming over the Mojo Wire.
So there's one huge piece of our team I'm concerned about, more for what it might say about Mathews than his resulting physical condition. Gates and English are on the PUP list, where one of my old 1995 heroes, Aaron Hayden resided. No, that's not who I named my son after by the way.
However, I think I have finally realized that it is not my readiness that matters anyway. As I mentioned last time out, this has been one crazy month for the Warner clan. Thankfully, my father-in-law appears to have survived colon surgery and on a lesser note, my DirecTv was finally set up in our new place. Unfortunately, the guy who installed it drilled a hole in a sewage pipe accidentally. So when a different guy shows up to repair the pipe, the first thing he notices is my 1994 Super Bowl poster. "You gettin' sick of Philip Rivers, yet?"
Daniel Chang, one of the many benefactors of the original incarnations of JUSTICE, sent me a link to 
Speaking of basketball, I was very happy to see the Heat LeLose. Although after the series was over, I don't think I wanted it to happen nearly as much as others did. You can certainly make a lot of comparisons between the Chargers and the Mavericks. Unfortunately, they at least had a Finals appearance before this year to go with all their first-round implosions. I don't know if we have the mettle that Dallas showed, but I do know that time is running out to show it. This has also been a turbulent time for yours truly, FAITHFUL READER. This week, The Warner Family will be renting a nicer condominium in a nicer town here in lovely Suffolk County. The DirecTV will be coming with us, although I'm not always so sure that's a positive. I would have led with the death of Clarence Clemons, but my father-in-law has been going through a tough time after his most recent colonoscopy and the passing of the Big Man quickly went off my radar.. However, it appears for Sam's dad that there may be a surgical solution in a couple of weeks so keep your fingers crossed.
The season hasn't officially been given a start date, but that doesn't mean I haven't started thinking about football. Sarah's 5th birthday is the weekend the Bolts will be in town to play the Jets, so I'll have to miss that one. I'll be honest, I don't think I'd have a great time at that one, anyway. As I told my buddy Mike, a die-hard Jets fan, if we win I'll complain that we can't beat them when it matters and if we lose I'll bitch about that. Plus, it might be hard to bring a cardboard LaDainian head with "Judas" written across it into the stadium. However, I'll be watching in a bar in Boca Raton after we return from Disney World that morning. Sadly, that seems an appropriate place for me to view that game. I am hoping to hit the Week #2 game at Foxboro with my buddy Bam Bam, provided that he doesn't mind leaving his fellow Pat fans to sit in the Charger fan seats I will undoubtedly buy from the team. Dick Lewis, the Chargers' Director of Player Outreach claimed by phone that he will get me a Rivers autographed ball to replace the Tomlinson one I sold last year. I saw PR interviewed on the NFL Network and asked about Eli Manning's absence on the aforementioned Top 100 List. Of course, they were trying to lure him into bad-mouthing Sheli and Rivers wouldn't take the bait. He mentioned that Manning had a ring and had played at a high level for the last few years so he probably didn't lose too much sleep over it. I think many Giants fans might dispute the second part of that statement, but Rivers was just being his diplomatic self. I actually had to explain to a Giants fan this past weekend at a wedding I attended that Rivers really wasn't a trash-talker in the negative use of the term. He told me that it was weird how Rivers was so much better than their QB but that they had won a Super Bowl with him. Yeah, wierd.
Lastly, I leave you with my most recent 
Welcome back, FAITHFUL READER. Justice Is Coming will be a little more disjointed than usual. As many of you already know, Sammy and I have been trying to raise our 2-week old son, Aaron, while still giving the proper love and attention to our 4-year old, Sarah. Thanks for all those congratulations about the newborn. I am finding it a lot like trying to get reception on an old television with the rabbit ear antennas. When you finally get the picture right, you realize that you the only way to keep it that way is to stand in front of the set with your hands on it. That's what it's like at night with a baby. I guess it was the same way the first time around, but I can't remember. He's awesome, but I am happy that this is the last time we'll be doing this.
