You've got to leave San Diego to get a championship

[BlazingBolt]

"That's what everybody says: You've got to leave San Diego to get a championship, even with the Chargers. That's just the way it is.I think the fans understand that's the way it's going to be. They don't put their hearts and souls into it."

"I'm guilty of it, as a Chargers fan. When things are going really well, we're behind 'em. When they're not, we find something else to do."

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Tough time to be a San Diego Padres fanbill.shaikin@latimes.com

Twitter: @BillShaikin

[BlazingBolt]

Regardless of what I think of what this guy is saying I do have to admit a large percentage of our fan base is exactly like this. Does this make them bad fans? Does it make us overall a bad fanbase?

[shogun]

Unfortunately, until San Diego wins a championship, this article resembles the truth. SD is just too laid back compared to other cities. I can't put my finger on it, it is a great city..but I think the majority of us just don't give a F.

[ArtistFormerlyKnownAsBKR]

Which is funny because I live and die with the Padres and Chargers and I haven't lived in the city in 30 years.

[Panama]

Which is funny because I live and die with the Padres and Chargers and I haven't lived in the city in 30 years.

Yes, but you're a New Yorker, therefore you're intense by nature.

(If you're not in New York, apologies for the misunderstanding.)

[thelightningwill]

I don't buy the bull that we are fair weather fans. Tell me another major league city that has never won a Superbowl has never won a World Series title has never won an NBA championship has never won an NHL championship that has any kind of fanbase. Maybe Seattle is all I can think of.
For a city that has never had a team that won shit, us San Diego fans have been supportive as hell. Sorry for leaving out punctuation.

[richpjr]

I don't buy the bull that we are fair weather fans. Tell me another major league city that has never won a Superbowl has never won a World Series title has never won an NBA championship has never won an NHL championship that has any kind of fanbase. Maybe Seattle is all I can think of.
For a city that has never had a team that won shit, us San Diego fans have been supportive as hell. Sorry for leaving out punctuation.

Agreed. While I'll still root for the Padres, I am no longer emotionally invested in them. It's just to frustrating to root for a team that can't compete financially and in many years doesn't appear to even try seriously to compete. I used to go to 20+ games a year. Now it's maybe one game a season. It's tiring to be the AAA team for the Yankees, Dodgers and Red Sox. And while it's been proven over and over again that you can't just buy a championship by spending a ton of money on free agents, it sure does increase your odds. For the Padres to win one, everything has to align just perfectly in the draft, the modest free agent signings, health and player development. And if all those things happen and our home grown players turn into good players, we won't be able to afford to keep them and they will follow the money.

While it's obviously been frustrating being a Charger fan, at least they are trying to compete financially. We can question the competency of our owners and GMs, but the deck isn't stacked against us financially nearly as much as in baseball (though we do need to get a new stadium to be more competitive or we'll lose the team).

[ArtistFormerlyKnownAsBKR]

Yes, but you're a New Yorker, therefore you're intense by nature.

(If you're not in New York, apologies for the misunderstanding.)

LOL. Well, I grew up in San Diego and have moved all over the place, including seven years in NYC. But I live in Houston now. I've been this intense about my teams since when I was in SD. I guess NY did intensify things for me because I went out to SD in '05 (is that right?) for the playoff game vs the Jets when Brees was the QB. The long red-eye home with all the celebrating Jet fans buying each other drinks and wearing their stupid airplanes on their heads while I seethed may have upped the ante for me a bit LOL

[ArtistFormerlyKnownAsBKR]

I don't buy the bull that we are fair weather fans. Tell me another major league city that has never won a Superbowl has never won a World Series title has never won an NBA championship has never won an NHL championship that has any kind of fanbase. Maybe Seattle is all I can think of.
For a city that has never had a team that won shit, us San Diego fans have been supportive as hell. Sorry for leaving out punctuation.

The Chargers did win an AFL title (though they should have won more) and there's the Sockers. But I get what you're saying.

I don't think the issue is as much fans as it is ownerships. San Diego has been plagued with some pretty poor ownerships. And that has a spillover to the fanbase. New York and Boston fans have never been treated to fire sales or bait-and-switches by ownerships to get stadiums. Or constant threats to have their teams moved. It seems to me that all of the local teams have really struggled with the economics of making franchises work in SD. That's not to say that the ownerships didn't pay themselves first. They did, but that's about where it stops. There's never been sufficient leftover cash to make the teams competitive. If you ask me, I'd say that SD really wants the Padres to do well. The city is dying for that franchise to win a Series. In '84 and '98 people were coming out of the woodwork. But they've been heartbroken by the crap managements so many times that a lot of people have just sort of sworn them off. That business with PETCO is particularly bad because it involved the public financing and they've been burned. The new ownership thinks it bought goodwill by re-signing two broken down vets in Quentin and Street. They dont get it. IF they want to make it work in SD, they need to do much much more in terms of public outreach. That isn't just signing high dollar free agents, either.

The Chargers have been the better franchise for most of their history. And they've been on the cusp of big things a few times, but they can't get over the hump. In their case, I think it's less about money and more about a poor management style. Poor decisions. A lot of them.

[BlazingBolt]

Yet the padres have made the World Series twice and the Chargers have made the Super Bowl only once. Yeah afl title, but the afl was the second rate league at the the time and had what? 10 teams at that point.

[shogun]

I don't buy the bull that we are fair weather fans. Tell me another major league city that has never won a Superbowl has never won a World Series title has never won an NBA championship has never won an NHL championship that has any kind of fanbase. Maybe Seattle is all I can think of.
For a city that has never had a team that won shit, us San Diego fans have been supportive as hell. Sorry for leaving out punctuation.

I'm sure some San Diegans are supportive, but it most likely pales in comparison to other cities. The most spirited fanbase in SD that I've seen in the past 10 years is probably the aztec basketball team, but that is very recently. The aztec football fan support is almost abysmal. I went to a game with some friends of friends during the OSU game, they took over that stadium like it was theirs. They were very spirited, had chants, etc. I went with a group that didnt live in SD, and they who ran into many other traveled OSU fans that they knew. Do we have any kind of traveling support for any of our teams? I doubt it. The most fan support that I saw for the Chargers was in Michaels Pub in Vegas, and that includes SD.

10 years I was the only person at work with a Charger jersey. I was kinda laughed at for supporting them. After the 2004 season, alot of them started going to the games, rocking jerseys, etc. There's a new fan base that's been brewing since the Tomlinson days, but they are still very casual. A championship can cure this, but like everyone else, I'm still waiting.


It doesn't offend me if someone calls the SD fan base fairweather, because it is pretty close to the truth. We're number 1 in craft brewing and have the best weather. We're casual. Some people take pride in having a spirited, dedicated fanbase. We're just not that (Im sure there's a small minority in SD that is) If not being a fairweather fanbase means being like the people from 1984 in the gif below, then count me out. I'll gladly be called fairweather rather resemble these weirdos below.

[QSmokey]

I'm sure some San Diegans are supportive, but it most likely pales in comparison to other cities. The most spirited fanbase in SD that I've seen in the past 10 years is probably the aztec basketball team, but that is very recently. The aztec football fan support is almost abysmal. I went to a game with some friends of friends during the OSU game, they took over that stadium like it was theirs. They were very spirited, had chants, etc. I went with a group that didnt live in SD, and they who ran into many other traveled OSU fans that they knew. Do we have any kind of traveling support for any of our teams? I doubt it. The most fan support that I saw for the Chargers was in Michaels Pub in Vegas, and that includes SD.

10 years I was the only person at work with a Charger jersey. I was kinda laughed at for supporting them. After the 2004 season, alot of them started going to the games, rocking jerseys, etc. There's a new fan base that's been brewing since the Tomlinson days, but they are still very casual. A championship can cure this, but like everyone else, I'm still waiting.


It doesn't offend me if someone calls the SD fan base fairweather, because it is pretty close to the truth. We're number 1 in craft brewing and have the best weather. We're casual. Some people take pride in having a spirited, dedicated fanbase. We're just not that (Im sure there's a small minority in SD that is) If not being a fairweather fanbase means being like the people from 1984 in the gif below, then count me out. I'll gladly be called fairweather rather resemble these weirdos below.

Really no surprise. Would YOU want to go to Oklahoma, Michigan, Wisconsin, or Arkansas in the winter? Or come to San Diego (and Southern California...even within a few hours drive to Las Vegas)? Even a city like Seattle - beautiful as it is - ever been there in the middle of December? How about Denver - another great city - getting around during a not-all-that-uncommon November snow storm? Kansas City vs. San Diego...which city would you rather visit?

If I was a rabid fan of some other team, and my team was playing in San Diego, I'd be ALL over that. Going from here to any of the other places mentioned? Not so much.

Now, add that to the fact that THOUSANDS of people from just those places now live here, and all the "in town Bolt fans suck" stuff is really kinda comical. Relatively speaking, there aren't nearly as many San Diego team fans, percentage-wise, in this city as compared to others. And what's different about my situation is that I BECAME a Chargers fan after moving out here; I grew up in New York (Panama? Were you confusing me and BKR?) and 'morphed' from Giants' fan to Chargers' fan. Many (most?) fans don't do that. But I put NY in the rearview mirror when I left and embraced my new home full bore, which included rooting for the local teams. Part of the reason I would NOT root for the [Some other City] Chargers if they ever left San Diego.

Do I have any statistics or links or articles to back that up? No. It's just an opinion, of course. But one that has been shaped by living here for nearly 35 years.