So we visited there three times when I was a kid. I love my sport and so got into the Chargers (and Padres) when we visited, so much so that I participated in a fantasy football comp in the late 80s after studying a book in the few weeks that we were over that summer (not surprisingly my team was pretty poor).

I followed the Chargers on the weekly highlights we got in the 1990s, and kept up with them in fits and spurts since then, visiting the UT website pretty often. We got live tv coverage last year (on free-to-air tv, cable is pretty expensive and rarely subscribed to here still), and that helped me follow it more. Plus for the past year and a half now I’ve been teaching the history of sport at a University here. I co-teach a subject on the different football codes, so figured that any work time I spend following the NFL is simply a matter of research (grin).

I know from experience how important a good fan forum/blog can be re Aussie Rules footy, but it took me awhile to find this one. I’ve said it before, but BFTB has helped me follow the Chargers and understand the game immeasurably. I’ve written a bit about the passions of Aussie Rules fans and hope to be able to do some research re NFL fans (and maybe MLB) as well. I’m eligible for some study leave in a couple of years, and ideally could come out to USD or UCSD and spend a semester there – having a young family is a complication however. Hopefully I’ll be coming over at the end of May next year for a Sports History conference (at the Orlando DisneyWorld of all places) – if not next year then definitely the year after!