Maybe It Will Be Like The First Rocky Movie
We went the distance and in the sequel we need to take the next step. A boy can dream, can’t he? Seriously, I would never have posted this before the game out of superstition. We all know that they print these things up for both teams and send the unused ones to underprivileged kids in Third World countries. I am not joking. But I think the Bolts deserved to wear this gear and I believe that the FAITHFUL READERS of Justice Is Coming did as well. I have no regrets. I don’t blame Norv or anyone else today. This was the first time since the mid ’90s where we didn’t hurt ourselves. I will peel the “LaDainian Deserved Better” sticker and replace it with something looking forward to next season. I also don’t want to get into a debate over Junior, Jughead Manning or any other non-Charger. We all have our opinions and the only thing we definitely agreed upon was that we want this thing to go further–all the way to the end. I can’t sit back and say “what if” over the injuries. Who knows if guys like Jackson, Sproles and Chambers would have gotten the chance if we were at full strength? As I see the Giants driving, I realize I need to let things go for 24 hours. There may be another “Justice” offshoot on the Most Valuable Network site, but I think those guys are from Massachusetts and I don’t plan on changing or getting into “flaming” posts with anyone. Until next time, which will probably be tomorrow, I leave you with my head held high. We didn’t beat ourselves and have nothing to regret other than the fact that we didn’t win. Philip Rivers played like a champ and so did the team he led.
Good night and good luck.
JIC,
RLW
January 20th, 2008 at 7:10 pm
What could have been. I dissappointed only with the belief that with a healthy LT, Rivers and Gates we would have beaten that team today and ended this greatest team of alltime bullshit. The D played great and the Pats ability to run in the fourth quarter was on the offense not being able to sustain a drive and give them some rest. What could have been. We will be back and this year will be a great learning experience for this franchise.
January 20th, 2008 at 9:16 pm
Hey Ross, I agree it been a hell of a trip this year. I will proudly were my Bolt hat tomorrow and look to next year. Great Stuff all year, and I got the joys of all four of my kids singing the Super Chargers Song, all over New Hampshire.
Phil
A proud Charger Fan in the middle of patriots nation
January 20th, 2008 at 10:19 pm
Hey Ross. Thanks for all the writing this year. Bummed we lost. The Patriots are a great great team. I can’t believe I’m saying this but I think I’ll root for them to finish undefeated. It’s either that or do what I did last year and avoid the Super Bowl altogether. Rooting for Eli would be just too much to stomach.
What do we need to do to get better for next season? Maybe a better team doctor. I think the injury to Jamal Williams ended up hurting us the most in the end. The Pats just ran us over. Great job by the secondary though. Who would have thought that, in the end, that would be the strength of the team.
Colby
January 20th, 2008 at 11:21 pm
Ross-
All I have to say is you summed things up here perfectly. Greatr job as usual.
-Kelly
January 21st, 2008 at 11:54 am
I saw this post on Deadspin…just thought you should know, they might SAY they send these shirts to third world countries, but it’s absolutely not true.
I used to work for the company that does the merchandising for the Cleveland Browns, among other teams. They also do all of the Super Bowl merchandising. If you go to Cleveland Browns stadium right now, you’ll find boxes and boxes of Seattle Seahawks Super Bowl champs shirts, hats, pins, etc.
I watched our people seal up the boxes and take them to storage that Monday. My only regret is not taking one before I quit that godforsaken job. If you post this anywhere, please don’t use my name. Thanks.
January 21st, 2008 at 12:08 pm
LT = class
January 21st, 2008 at 12:50 pm
That’s it..I’m not reading message boards anymore. There are “fans” on the UT website destroying LT for not playing. I’m embarrassed these people call themselves fans of this team, and I do not consider them to be fans. At least when we were 1-15, you had true die hards who knew something about football. There are even “fans”complaining that he should have been rooting the team on instead of sitting on the bench. What in the hell is wrong with these people? Giving LT pom poms wouldn’t have helped us any…he does his damage on the field. Some of these bandwagon California fans make me sick.
January 21st, 2008 at 1:15 pm
Anyone know exactly how much Williams played in this game? I was very dissappointed with our run D. I’m trying to figure out if our run D was sloppy because we were dropping more guys back to cover the pass than usual, and was wondering what everyone else saw. Usually I will rewatch games on Tivo, but I may not have the stomach to watch this one back any time soon, if ever. My buddy said that on the Pats last TD we dropped Williams back in coverage, butI find that hard to believe. I know I was screaming at the TV when we rushed 3 on the Pats first TD. That was just ignorant.
I never heard Merriman’s name mentioned, and the few times I did key in on him they were not double teaming him and Light was handling him one on one.
January 21st, 2008 at 2:08 pm
I agree with Kelly about Tomlinson and the bandwagon fans. Tomlinson is one of the greatest Chargers ever. If he says he’s too hurt to play, then I believe him. He’s been the most durable back in the game for years. Injuries finally caught up to him and some whiny punks with Internet connections are criticizing him for being a wuss or not being a cheerleader? Those people need to be put into prison for 5 years and be forced to watch the decade of losing teams we had before Tomlinson. Then they’d learn what it takes to be a real fan.
I’m pretty sure Merriman and Williams have been hurt for a while. They and Gates haven’t been their usual selves for about half the season.
That’s why I was so gungho that we needed to win this one. We’ve got a lot of great players but most of those players are injury prone. There’s no guarantee any of them will be good next year for any lengthy period of time.
Think about it. Merriman got hurt at the end of last season and he’s hurt again this season. S. Phillips was hurt for a gang of games last season. Olshansky finally made it through a season without serious injuries. You think he’s going to go for 2 years in a row? Jamal Williams had been pretty durable until this year … but he’s fat and he’s starting to get old - that combination tends to lead to injuries. Castillo gets injured all the time. Rivers was injured at the end of last season and he’s injured again. Gates has been pretty durable … but not this season. Lorenzo Neal had been durable until this season. Neal’s age has to be a concern. Cromartie hasn’t been injured as a pro but he missed most of his university career with injuries. Jammer had been durable until this year. I noticed he left the game for a bit and our run D went to pot again. He came back but I wonder how good of shape he was in.
The O-line has been fairly durable - I’ll give them that. Only Goff, because of his age, gives me concerns. But that’s pretty much the extent of our durable superstars.
As far as coaching and playcalling, I can’t complain. Norv and Cotrell did some things early in the season I didn’t understand. And there were some moments in the AFC Championship game where I was like, huh? Another pass to Neal? Why? I thought that Cotrell had broken into Norv’s office during mid-season and eaten that play. Another playcalling error I saw was we really had to go for it on that 4th down play late. But, the fact is we got beat by the Patriots because the Patriots are better than us, not because our coach messed up. Norv and Cotrell did a lot more good for us than they did bad. They taught us how not to be chokers, how not to do stupid things in big games. My bet is if Norv and Cotrell had been the coaches last season we would have won the Super Bowl.
January 21st, 2008 at 4:23 pm
When it comes to being injury prone, does this point to taking a look at the conditioning staff in any way?
January 22nd, 2008 at 12:39 am
I’m a pats fan, don’t shoot me. I just wanted to say that I used to dislike Philip Rivers and thought he was a loudmouth.
But after watching him play severely hurt against the Pats, I’ve got to give it to him. He’s got guts. Much respect to PR. Then I heard he had surgery on the one knee last week, and I was flabbergasted. Unbelievable and gutty performance.
Also, people knock LT, but as a competitor, one of the hardest things to do is take yourself out of a big game. It’s not like he was scared…the guy runs all over everyone in the league. He probably thought Turner would give the team a better chance. Hat tip to him.
I know you don’t want to hear it, but nice season guys. Way to come back from a rough start. The Chargers are going to be top of the AFC for the next few years, so you can look forward to that.
January 23rd, 2008 at 4:06 pm
Thanks for your comments Gordon. Anyone who knows about LT, knows that he’s not a cheerleader. He leads by doing what he does best on the field. He’s one of the few players in the league that doesn’t have to prove anything to anyone. No one works harder at his craft than LT. If he doesn’t think he can help the team win, as he did in the Colts game, he should earn that respect without question.
We get your Pats back at our house next year to return the favor! Hopefully it won’t be scheduled right after we play the Colts.