I have been a Chargers fan for 12 years now. Almost exactly 12 years, actually. At this point 12 years ago, I was so amped up about the first-place Padres (sound familiar?) that the idea of adding more sports into my life (I was still a very new sports fan) seemed amazing. I was on board the Ryan Leaf express, and have been hanging with the team through the ups and downs ever since.
For the past 3 seasons, I've been watching from Philadelphia and haven't been to any games at Qualcomm Stadium. However, even watching on TV I noticed something that seems to annoy me more and more with each game:
Why the heck won't the Chargers change their kickoff song? Isn't everyone a little bit tired of the intro to "Crazy Train" by now?
This song is now 20 30 years old, and for the 12 years I've been a Chargers fan I'm positive that it's been played on every single kickoff (after every score and at the start of every half). I'm done with it. There are much better options that will get the fans much more pumped up.
Obviously one of the prerequisites of being chosen for the kickoff song is a sense of building tension and an overall ass-kicking rock riff. Oh, and it all needs to take place in about 30 seconds. The first 30 seconds of the above song is a decent choice. At least it won't feel outdated.
Now here's a good choice. Builds right away, current, fans can sing along to it easily.....much better than "Crazy Train".
The super-Indie choice! Tell me the first 30 seconds of that song don't have it all. Nice little lead up, a rhythm that's nearly impossible to not stomp your feet to. It's perfect! Who cares if nobody knows who the band is? That totally doesn't matter, right? RIGHT?
Fine, I'll go back into my Indie cave.
It would never happen, because Rock is the understood genre for all-things-NFL, but a good hip-hop song with a good beat like this would totally work.
The point I'm getting at here are that there are choices, tons of them, and we don't need to sit through "Crazy Train" another hundred times again this season. Please, whoever is in charge of the music at Qualcomm, consider other options. Most of the fans at the game, and the ones hearing the song on TV, will thank you.
Give me the song you most want to be the new kickoff song in the comments below (from my short list or anywhere else). Good ones get Rec'd.