In Support of the Move to LA

So my story is a little weird. I was born in raised in San Diego, still live here. But both my parents moved out here in the 70’s from Buffalo. I grew up being a Bills fan as my dad is a die hard and passed along his love for the team to me. It was also during their four straight super bowl years. Once I got a little bit older and started actually understanding sports, I immediately became a die hard charger fan. Most people scoff at me for being able to have so much passion for both teams and say that I can’t have it both ways. Well, I do. I love both teams tremendously. I already have been to two charger games this year and love every second of it. I also love to follow along and watch the Bills whenever I can.

But my whole point of this is that I could not and would not root for the Chargers if they moved to LA. No way no how. I don’t like LA, never have. I personally think, especially after talking to a lot of my friends who are charger fans, that they would lose a significant fan base. LA is Raider Nation, yes there are fans who like the Chargers in LA, but the majority of fans are Raider fans. Can you imagine a Raiders/Chargers game in LA? I bet you 75% of the fans would be raider fans. What kind of home field advantage is that? The Raiders already take up half of Qualcomm when they play in San Diego.

To your point about having the team benefiting all of California if it moved to LA. Wouldn’t a new stadium in San Diego and keeping the Chargers here in SD also benefit all of California? I mean San Diego is the third biggest city in California. Why can’t LA still build there stadium and get a new or different team from elsewhere? Wouldn’t that benefit California even more because there are two new stadiums in California and the state would now be the proud owners for four NFL franchises.

Also, if you are such a huge passionate Charger fan, wouldn’t you be even more excited and happy if the Chargers broke this so called curse of San Diego not being able to win a championship? I mean how many people in LA will really care if the Chargers actually win a Super Bowl?

As you can tell, I am really outspoken on this topic and have an opinion on it.

Of course i’d be ecstatic to see the Chargers break the curse in SD, but, as an LA guy, why would I not want to see them win in LA?

I’ll be honest: Most of the fans i’ve encountered in SD have been really rude to me when they find out i’m not from SD. I don’t know why, but it’s left a bad taste in my mouth.

As far as raider fans go, Yes, there are Raider fans here, but they have dropped off tremendously since the 90’s.I actually live in LA and see the populations. The Raiders have about the same amount of fans in LA as the Steelers do, and the Chargers, when you factor in Orange County, have more.

Games at the Q are 50% Raiders because they travel. The Charger fan base is so listless. Something needs to happen to give them a boost.

Like I said before, I am an LA guy and want to see the Chargers here. This puts me at odds with 95% of Charger fans, including yourself, but so be it.

I hope they have the same amount of success the Clippers have had.

Pretty much all my friends are and I can tell you one thing. I’ve asked that exact question of them (would you support the team if they move to LA?) and the universal response without fail has been, “no way in hell!”

If they had to move, I would prefer they be called the Southern California Chargers as well. But I wouldn’t want to see them in Downtown L.A., maybe Orange County and the City of Industry.
We have to face reality. If this stadium doesn’t get built down here, then the Chargers will be moving.

I think just for the benefit of the team and their success, the move makes them a more attractive destination, it gives them an even bigger fan base (fewer blackouts) and makes them a more viable Super Bowl contender.

Bro! You need to get out of L.A. There is only one more of an attractive destination for football, than San Diego. And that is Hawaii.The problem is the Stadium. If we would build a new one, we would get an immediate Superbowl here and we wouldn’t have blackouts because the seating capacity would be 10,000 seats less. As you have said, our fan base is already big up there.

The town is sports-cursed (Yes, I know the Chargers won an AFL Championship in 1963, but the AFL at that time was like the CFL now).

The AFL was LEGIT. You need to watch “Full Color Football” from the NFL network. Sid Gilman is the Grandpa of the modern pro-style offense. The AFL/AFC went 2 of 4 in the first 4 Super Bowls. The AFL was far and above of any other league that’s out there right now.

Bottomline. Most SD Charger would hate it the move b/c it would feel like we lost to LA and San Diegans hate losing to LA.

I would rather steal you. You should move to SD and go to the Charger game. I’ll buy you a beer(if your older than 21 of coarse)

LA is weaksauce…you want to claim San Diego fans are fair weather? LA fans have never supported an NFL team and never will. Have fun being a Jags fan for 5 years til they move somewhere else.

Three things: assumption that there is a big, free spending fan base in L.A. is fundamentally wrong. At the outrageous prices of tickets and parking, people in L.A. don’t have the money to go to many football games any more than people in SD do. The Rams moved because of flagging attendance and the number of Raiders games that sold out can be counted on one hand. If you build it, they will not necessarily come! 2. The San Diego Chargers have a very loyal fan base because…wait a minute, here it comes….they are the SAN DIEGO Chargers, not the L.A. Chargers. Sure, they might have a large fan base in Orange County, but is it large enough for them to travel all the way to downtown L.A. 6 or 8 times a year and sell out a huge stadium? Nope! The L.A. Chargers will loose a huge portion of Diego fans who are mad about the move, and trust me, there won’t be alot of remaining fans that will travel 2 to 2 1/2 hours to root for a team that they feel betrayed them. Don’t believe me? Surf the web for info on when the Colts left Baltimore and moved to Indy and the hard feelings that still remain there. You won’t find many former Baltimore Colts fans attending Indy Colts games. . 3. If Mr. Spanos and Co. sign an agreement to move to L.A., they will be at the mercy of the L.A. Colosseum and its surrounding area. The new stadium gets alot of press, but it is not, by any means, a sure thing, and spending multiple years at the Colosseum is a kiss of death for a team looking for sell-outs. Isn’t that right Mr. Al Davis. I have been a life long Charger fan, dating back to the days when they played their first games at Balboa Stadium. If they move to L.A., will I stay a fan……..NOPE!

As originally thought. At least the downtown site at any rate.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=jc-cole_nfl_downtown_la_stadium_concerns_100611

The NFL has expressed a host of concerns with the AEG plan in downtown LA. Not the least of which is cost. But also the “discounted” purchase price AEG is offering teams like the Chargers. NFL also isn’t thrilled with splitting the pie 3 ways (team, AEG, city of LA) instead of the usual 1 or if necessary 2.

Bad news for SD is the NFL has apparently warmed to the often overlooked Roski plan in Industry. They do like his desire to buy a team straight up and they like the set up of his stadium better. The NFL likes that it would be a destination in and of itself with the stadium and surrounding development rather than a piece of a downtown development.

He’s retooled his stadium proposal to make it a fair bit more appealing to an NFL team and more importantly the league. He’s now offering the land to build on free of charge, though he’ll own the land. And he’ll buy a portion of a team at market value now. He’s no longer asking for a land for team deal. Additionally he’s not asking for majority control of the team. As before he claims his project is shovel ready which most have assumed means he has funding lined up too.

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-1011-farmer-nfl-20111011,0,5838238.column

He also released an updated rendering.

i became a fan of the chargers when i moved to san diego. i didn’t grow up in SD, but once i moved there, i just felt like i belonged there. embracing the san diego chargers as my team happened naturally. and even now that i live in washington state, the san diego chargers are still my team because through my fandom i still feel a connection to san diego. i can’t separate the chargers from SD and if they moved i wouldn’t root for them. in fact, if they moved, i would hope that rivers got traded so that he could get his superbowl ring with another team (because if that punk eli manning fell bass ackwards into a ring then rivers damn well better get one).

i hear what you’re saying, Kevin A, but i just don’t agree with you. i tend to root for teams because i love the places that they represent. when they don’t represent those places anymore, i don’t really identify with them anymore.

That is all