The More That You Give, The More It Will Take

To the thin line beyond which you really can't fake.

I know I used the "Fire On The Mountain" reference last week, but the Bolts are even more disappointing right now.  The Hurricane kept me from going to Cleveland.  Even before kickoff, this proved to be the right decision.  LaGuardia was closed on Sunday night and just opened up.  I would have been stranded.

As for the game itself, I would say it was a new low but the Chargers can seemingly always drop down another level.  Cleveland doesn't look very good, but neither do we.  Jammer continues to look slow and it's another mind boggling bone of contention that he hasn't moved to safety yet.  I'm not even that mad at Mathews' fumble.  It's not as if we have many more options.  If they had given him the ball on that 4th down call on the opening drive, he might have fared better than Battle.  Kevin Acee said after the game that Gates whifed on a block, but I didn't see it at the time.

Why, you ask?  I chose to watch the game in Manhattan at the new home of the NYC Charger Backers.  Dewey's Flatiron is a nice enough joint, but the other Boltheads clearly thought I was annoying and/or insane.  I showed up by myself and ordered three of the PBR tall boy/Jameson shot combos.  I threw my headphones on when it was clear no one wanted to hear my complaining.  Holy shit, did I look like fucking Cuba Gooding, Jr. in "Radio?"

Anyway, I'm not calling out anyone.  I know I'm not everyone's favorite to watch the games with.  Guys clearly were keeping tabs on their fantasy teams as well as watching the Chargers.  I think I heard someone say at one point that we needed some positive energy for the Bolts.  But we all know what a shit show this is.  I certainly pulled for them to win, but was not surprised that they lost or how it happened.

Meachem's drop was reminiscent of Bobby Duckworth's fumble on Monday Night Football in 1984.  No one got that reference on Sunday, either.  However, the Chargers never recovered from that just as they've let every obstacle derail them this season.

 

Rivers looked like shit again and I don't want to hear about Vincent Jackson anymore.  Philip was awful last season with Jackson "playing" 16 games.  I still maintain that Rivers developed some bad habits in that overrated 2010 season.  I call it overrated because he had the chance to beat KC (4 shots at the end zone), Oakland (fumble turned touchdown), St. Louis and Seattle that year.  The only game he "won" was the Houston game.  The Texans' defense wasn't too great back then and I am sure games like that one led to the hiring of Wade Phillips.

So Rivers is a mess and I don't even know if a new coach can fix him.  If not, we're really fucked because he'll be a Charger for a very long time.

I know I'm preaching to the choir, FAITHFUL READER, but are people really going to start the "Marty" romanticization all over again?  The 14-2 team didn't have any poise and it showed on 1/14/07.  As for the aggressive style that Pagano claims to want to inherit from Phillips, let's remember that the prevent at the end of the first half of that Patriot game helped us not put it away. 

Also, before I forget, are "Hopeisgone" and "Dick Shadow" criticizing the Bolts, me or both?  I may not live in San Diego, but I guarantee that I am "in the middle of this mess" as much as anyone.  I never thought I'd need to say that here in the Halls Of Justice.

Of course, Sunday's game was the latest in the "Norv's gotta go" saga.  I thought Craig Elsten's piece on the XX1090 page did as good a job as any in summing up this disaster.  Indeed, this is a team not worth investing much emotion in right now.  I know Craig thought that we'd at least win convincingly in Cleveland, as he should.  But if they had, they wouldn't be any closer to a legitimate contender.  Like the rest of The Legion Of The Lightning Bolt, I am sick of another year spent in purgatory.  If we aren't getting any closer to a Super Bowl win, then blow this thing up. If losing tonight would mean the firing of Norv then I am all for it.

I still think they'll wait until the end of the season.  Acee claims "that's not the way they do business."  Apparently, the way they do business sucks ass.  Maybe you'd want to change it up, Deano?

The turning point for me remains the last playoff loss.  It wasn't the loss itself that did it.  It was the fact that they lost AND beat themselves again.  I could have dealt with the latter, but not the former.  Up until that point, I rationalized that we were moving forward.  Since that moment, we've been worse than I could have ever imagined.  We've seen coordinators and coaches get the ax, but the The Organization remains intact in the name of "continuity."  At this point, it's synonymous with mediocrity.  I truly think AJ shouldn't be spared, either.  If Deano is holding on to what he did in the past, he might as well bring Bobby Beathard back.  I will be watching tonight and I could never root for a loss.  However, my rooting for a win has often led to just that result.  I am sure if the Chargers win, they'll say that they are right in the middle of things and that all their goals are still attainable.  Denver might actually play like a good team and make that irrelevant.

Philip Rivers wished for two things this offseason.  He wanted Norv back and Peyton Manning in his division.  Both those could spell his doom.  I actually can't believe Rivers said that Manning would force the other AFC West clubs to play better since 9-7 wouldn't cut it anymore.  Is that what we need for motivation?  That's as sickening as whatever is growing beneath Rivers' lip.  Anyway, I plan to write a column about how his 2010 season was a mirage tomorrow.  I'll probably run it at Bleacher Report, since I haven't done anything over there since last week.  Our power just came on last night, mind you.  That reminds me, I have to buy food and milk for the kids.  We can't eat the contents of our fridge any more.  

JIC,

RLW