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Yesterday was the first time I had been to a game at the Q since 2008 when we lost a close one on Sunday night against Peyton Manning's Colts. Of course yesterday's game on the field was a debacle. But it was actually the worst fan experience I have ever had in all of my years of attending professional sports events.
I have been to many games at the Q over the years and have thought "Yeah, OK it's old and doesn't have all the amenities but it's not bad.' No longer true. It's now just awful. Obviously the structure is old but it's dirty. It needs a power wash in the worst way. Nothing seems like it's been painted recently. Frankly nothing looks like it's been updated in years. It's like some run-down college crib for a half-assed program. Might even look like the stadium in the original 'The Longest Yard' (oh to have had Richard Kiel for a handful of plays yesterday. Maybe we would have at least broken one frickin neck).
We unfortunately got nosebleed seats so you have to take this into consideration. We checked out the concessions options on the concourse and it was the typical 'upstairs all the same choices' windows, which is fine but even those had about 5 options and that was it. And the menu signs themselves were of the painted on plywood variety that had maybe last been painted in 2010. Not even the option to buy beer at a window, which ya know, kind of makes a food-beer purchase a little more convenient than standing in line at the window and then getting in a second line at the beer cart. Of course, neither place accepts credit cards....as in WTF it's 2015?! I can't think of the last time I went to a game of any kind where the cart vendors weren't even equipped with card readers. And of course, good luck finding an ATM because you'll walk all over creation to find one. My wife did not want any of the options upstairs so she sent me in to see the Alumni event (more on that later) and went downstairs to get food. So they had turned the escalators off so she had to walk down those, stood in line forever, got her second choice bc they were out of what she wanted and then had to walk back up the circular ramp deals. She went downstairs about 15 mins before the gametime and returned mid-first quarter. We didn't bother with beers or anything else bc it would have meant missing too much of the game. One thing I see at other stadiums and arenas in recent years is that they have made a greater attempt to create concessions accessibility so people can get what they want, spend a lot of money and get back to their seats without missing too much of the games. Now of course, the concourses of this older structure are fairly narrow which somewhat limits the ability to do that but there are solutions. They choose not to invest. You're not making money, Spanos? Look in the GD mirror on that one. The scoreboards are a joke, not only in terms of size but in terms of capability. You can't really see the video if the sun is out and the old lightbulb setup for out of town scores and marriage proposals might as well be the Fenway Park scoreboard. Nobody, I mean nobody is running such crappy scoreboard/video setups.
Now, as for the game itself....if you bothered to go or watch on TV....well, I pity you. Those who paid to watch that shitshow were suckers. I was a sucker. But this is largely a team of no heart and no pride MF'ers. It's not just lack of talent. The drops by the WRs were just ridiculous. Our return game is just ridiculous (Herndon's drop? No comment). Our defense is just a sieve, making the broke-ass Chiefs look like the Patriots. Have you noticed that we have spent the whole season inside our 20 yd line? For all the yards we piled up early in the season, we sure haven't spent much time on the opponent's side of the 50. And echoing BoltX's mantra (which I've supported), it's one thing to see these games on the tube but another to see them in person. You pick up on things that you just can't perceive on TV. One thing that is visually obvious (and even my wife said something) is that when you see us and an opponent line up on either side of the ball, our guys are just smaller. It's like HS kids playing Ohio St. They just look smaller, so it's no wonder they get pushed around all game long. To the people that are down on Rivers, give me a break. That guy was scrambling for his life all game. We know he's not a mobile QB, so to expect things from him on the run is just stupid. Every play he had guys in his face within a second. There might as well have been only a center lining up on the OL to snap the ball for as good as the rest of those clowns did him. Gordon also shows flashes of being able to get things done and can keep moving when he takes a blow from a defender...just like Ryan Mathews. But he rarely gets a chance bc our line just gets pushed back into him. Any yardage he gets is all on him. So, BoltX, I completely agree. Every draft choice in the next draft needs to be 100% trenches with maybe an ILB thrown in. Reich's playacting was predictably crap (Oh wow, he did put in one *crazzzy* dazzle dazzle play) and McCoy's conservative management was awful. You're losing your ass 19-3 and you punt on 4th from midfield with 9:57 left? Really? Was the big comeback going to start with 5-6 mins left??? All that said, we were only down 12-3 with like 4 mins left in the 3rd.
So, the only and I mean only positive yesterday was the LT jersey retirement. His words were humble, classy and heartfelt. The LT, LT, LT chants from the crowd were electric and reminded me of better times. Of course, even that moment was marred. I knew LT was going to mention the ownership and I knew that was going to be greeted with boos. But it was the right thing for LT to thank them. And while I share everyone's feelings about the ownership, I was sad that LT had to hear any boos at all during his moment, especially when they had nothing to do with him. It was great to see the banner with his number raised among the other Chargers all-timers (of course I will also say that I believe some numbers are missing, but whatever). Another lackluster aspect of the day was that they didn't even run a highlight tribute with some of his greatest runs/greatest moments. What? Are you kidding me? Who wouldn't do that? Not that you could even see them on the crappy screens. And for LT to have to watch that giant dump the team took on the field was very sad to me.
My final gripe is about the 'Alumni' ceremony before the game. I'm sorry, but while there were some awfully good Chargers players in attendance, there were a lot of scrubs that had a cup of coffee with the Bolts that were out there. Some guys I didn't even remember were on the team. Really? Those are the alumni we want to celebrate? Seems to me a lot of guys didn't come bc this ownership simply doesn't offer them anything.
It was a sad day all the way around. SD fans won't go to that stadium, in part, bc it's junk. People even show up for the sucking Padres bc the venue makes for a great experience. SD fans also won't show to watch the crappy Chargers product, especially with uninspired, uncreative game planning/coaching and an ownership that is invisible while being openly hostile to the people that have made it happen for them. So hooray for self-fulfilling prophesies. If it weren't for Chiefs fans that stadium would have looked very, very empty. They didn't take over like some of the other teams have this year but they sure were there once it got to 19-3.
This is the end of my rant. I don't really know what to think. A new stadium is a must, but the owners don't deserve much in the way of public financing bc of the slack way they present their organization and create a fan experience/connection with the team. The whole day just felt Mickey Mouse. Go Iger!
I have been to many games at the Q over the years and have thought "Yeah, OK it's old and doesn't have all the amenities but it's not bad.' No longer true. It's now just awful. Obviously the structure is old but it's dirty. It needs a power wash in the worst way. Nothing seems like it's been painted recently. Frankly nothing looks like it's been updated in years. It's like some run-down college crib for a half-assed program. Might even look like the stadium in the original 'The Longest Yard' (oh to have had Richard Kiel for a handful of plays yesterday. Maybe we would have at least broken one frickin neck).
We unfortunately got nosebleed seats so you have to take this into consideration. We checked out the concessions options on the concourse and it was the typical 'upstairs all the same choices' windows, which is fine but even those had about 5 options and that was it. And the menu signs themselves were of the painted on plywood variety that had maybe last been painted in 2010. Not even the option to buy beer at a window, which ya know, kind of makes a food-beer purchase a little more convenient than standing in line at the window and then getting in a second line at the beer cart. Of course, neither place accepts credit cards....as in WTF it's 2015?! I can't think of the last time I went to a game of any kind where the cart vendors weren't even equipped with card readers. And of course, good luck finding an ATM because you'll walk all over creation to find one. My wife did not want any of the options upstairs so she sent me in to see the Alumni event (more on that later) and went downstairs to get food. So they had turned the escalators off so she had to walk down those, stood in line forever, got her second choice bc they were out of what she wanted and then had to walk back up the circular ramp deals. She went downstairs about 15 mins before the gametime and returned mid-first quarter. We didn't bother with beers or anything else bc it would have meant missing too much of the game. One thing I see at other stadiums and arenas in recent years is that they have made a greater attempt to create concessions accessibility so people can get what they want, spend a lot of money and get back to their seats without missing too much of the games. Now of course, the concourses of this older structure are fairly narrow which somewhat limits the ability to do that but there are solutions. They choose not to invest. You're not making money, Spanos? Look in the GD mirror on that one. The scoreboards are a joke, not only in terms of size but in terms of capability. You can't really see the video if the sun is out and the old lightbulb setup for out of town scores and marriage proposals might as well be the Fenway Park scoreboard. Nobody, I mean nobody is running such crappy scoreboard/video setups.
Now, as for the game itself....if you bothered to go or watch on TV....well, I pity you. Those who paid to watch that shitshow were suckers. I was a sucker. But this is largely a team of no heart and no pride MF'ers. It's not just lack of talent. The drops by the WRs were just ridiculous. Our return game is just ridiculous (Herndon's drop? No comment). Our defense is just a sieve, making the broke-ass Chiefs look like the Patriots. Have you noticed that we have spent the whole season inside our 20 yd line? For all the yards we piled up early in the season, we sure haven't spent much time on the opponent's side of the 50. And echoing BoltX's mantra (which I've supported), it's one thing to see these games on the tube but another to see them in person. You pick up on things that you just can't perceive on TV. One thing that is visually obvious (and even my wife said something) is that when you see us and an opponent line up on either side of the ball, our guys are just smaller. It's like HS kids playing Ohio St. They just look smaller, so it's no wonder they get pushed around all game long. To the people that are down on Rivers, give me a break. That guy was scrambling for his life all game. We know he's not a mobile QB, so to expect things from him on the run is just stupid. Every play he had guys in his face within a second. There might as well have been only a center lining up on the OL to snap the ball for as good as the rest of those clowns did him. Gordon also shows flashes of being able to get things done and can keep moving when he takes a blow from a defender...just like Ryan Mathews. But he rarely gets a chance bc our line just gets pushed back into him. Any yardage he gets is all on him. So, BoltX, I completely agree. Every draft choice in the next draft needs to be 100% trenches with maybe an ILB thrown in. Reich's playacting was predictably crap (Oh wow, he did put in one *crazzzy* dazzle dazzle play) and McCoy's conservative management was awful. You're losing your ass 19-3 and you punt on 4th from midfield with 9:57 left? Really? Was the big comeback going to start with 5-6 mins left??? All that said, we were only down 12-3 with like 4 mins left in the 3rd.
So, the only and I mean only positive yesterday was the LT jersey retirement. His words were humble, classy and heartfelt. The LT, LT, LT chants from the crowd were electric and reminded me of better times. Of course, even that moment was marred. I knew LT was going to mention the ownership and I knew that was going to be greeted with boos. But it was the right thing for LT to thank them. And while I share everyone's feelings about the ownership, I was sad that LT had to hear any boos at all during his moment, especially when they had nothing to do with him. It was great to see the banner with his number raised among the other Chargers all-timers (of course I will also say that I believe some numbers are missing, but whatever). Another lackluster aspect of the day was that they didn't even run a highlight tribute with some of his greatest runs/greatest moments. What? Are you kidding me? Who wouldn't do that? Not that you could even see them on the crappy screens. And for LT to have to watch that giant dump the team took on the field was very sad to me.
My final gripe is about the 'Alumni' ceremony before the game. I'm sorry, but while there were some awfully good Chargers players in attendance, there were a lot of scrubs that had a cup of coffee with the Bolts that were out there. Some guys I didn't even remember were on the team. Really? Those are the alumni we want to celebrate? Seems to me a lot of guys didn't come bc this ownership simply doesn't offer them anything.
It was a sad day all the way around. SD fans won't go to that stadium, in part, bc it's junk. People even show up for the sucking Padres bc the venue makes for a great experience. SD fans also won't show to watch the crappy Chargers product, especially with uninspired, uncreative game planning/coaching and an ownership that is invisible while being openly hostile to the people that have made it happen for them. So hooray for self-fulfilling prophesies. If it weren't for Chiefs fans that stadium would have looked very, very empty. They didn't take over like some of the other teams have this year but they sure were there once it got to 19-3.
This is the end of my rant. I don't really know what to think. A new stadium is a must, but the owners don't deserve much in the way of public financing bc of the slack way they present their organization and create a fan experience/connection with the team. The whole day just felt Mickey Mouse. Go Iger!
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