NFL flirts with L.A. again.: Seems like the Chargers exercised their escape clause with Qualcomm Stadium, and the same old folks in L.A. are trying to woo them north. Never mind that people in Los Angeles could either care less about NFL football or root for an out-of-town team.
The Chargers were originally from LA, weren't they? Even if it was only a season or two 40 years ago.
posted by salmacis at 04:10 AM on March 05, 2003
They did in fact play their first season (in the AFL) in LA, only to move to San Diego the next year. LA Chargers still just sounds odd...
posted by bcb2k2 at 06:55 AM on March 05, 2003
I think they should change their name to the LA Riots
posted by mick at 01:11 PM on March 05, 2003
Looks like, even with a possible move in the Chargers near future, it's not keeping big-name free agents from liking the team. As far as the team itself goes, with a good set of wide receivers (Boston would definitely help) to go with a growing QB and a star runner, they could make some noise this year, their possible last in San Diego.
posted by bcb2k2 at 01:14 PM on March 05, 2003
Speaking as an Angelino, what can I do to keep the NFL out of my city? Their rolling into town will result in either a) reworking the Rose Bowl to accommodate luxury seating, possibly ruining one of the best stadiums in which to see a football game or b) a publicly funded stadium taking millions of dollars away from schools, police, etc. All to subsidize a coterie of millionaires. Already, the proposal asks for 160+ acres of LA real estate, gratis, which they can develop into shopping malls and hotels. Plus, without an NFL team, we get the network's premiere NFL games on Sunday and never have to worry about a black out. Or miss the network's second game because the local affiliate is showing a post-game locker-room show. Want to see a live game? SD is 2 hours away, and there are two teams 6 hours to our north, and 1 team 6 hours to our east.
posted by herc at 02:15 AM on March 06, 2003
Los Angeles Chargers....just doesn't sound good. Of course, neither does Los Angeles Colts, but that's old news. One thing I could never really get is why, for all the people in LA, nobody really cared about football. Other sports seemed to at least have some type of good fan support. At least it's not like the situation in Atlanta, where only one team, the Braves, is deemed worthy of support (although a second could be coming with the Falcons). Finally, I really hope this doesn't play out to where the Chargers decide they're moving to a new city, but have to play a full season in San Diego before leaving. That whole Browns situation in 1995 was just too painful to watch...
posted by bcb2k2 at 12:15 AM on March 05, 2003