It's Never Too Early to Look to the Bye Week

The title of this post is intentionally vague so as not to alert any of the main stream media to the game I am about to propose.

Last week, Nick Canepa wrote a column called, Settle down Villagers, Philip Rivers is fine. He posted that... well Philip Rivers is perfectly fine. Canepa felt it necessary to do this because, according to him, there exists a contingent of Chargers fans, a village if you will, who are calling for Charlie Whitehurst to replace Philip Rivers.

Just how many fans were calling for Whitehurst?

Canepa, the U-T San Diego columnist since 1984, writes:

I’m constantly e-mailed by quarterback experts telling me Rivers can’t throw the long ball anymore, that he can’t make all the throws anymore, that he isn’t as accurate anymore.

So when his long pass to an open Robert Meachem came up short and was picked during Saturday night’s exhibition vs. the Cowboys -- and backup Whitehurst later came in and played well against Dallas scrubs -- the torches were ignited and a few Angry Villagers stormed the streets.

Angry e-mailers? Nick Canepa derived inspiration from a "few"crazies?

I don't have any friends who've asked for Charlie Whitehurst to replace Philip Rivers. I haven't heard a person on twitter who has asked for Charlie Whitehurst to replace Philip Rivers. I haven't heard of anyone here at BFTB asking for Charlie Whitehurst to replace Philip Rivers. Who are these people?

I'm not saying Philip Rivers isn't above criticism. There are elements of his game he needs to improve but I can't even imagine the scenario where I'm calling for Charlie Whitehurst to replace him.

But this isn't about Philip Rivers and Charlie Whitehurst, or their respective roles in the Chargers offense. This is about the longest tenured columnist at the local paper of a two team (professional) town mailing it in. To write a column based on a few crazy e-mails is just lazy.

So what is this really about? Let's play a game - kind of like a Choose Your Own Adventure.

As he's made abundantly clear, Nick Canepa hates writing pre-season football, so much so that he solicits ideas from e-mailers.This is where we join in on the fun.

I foresee another lull in the local news cycle when the Chargers take their Bye Week and don't play between the 16th and 27th of October. What will Nick Canepa write about? Sure, with 6 games under their belt, he'll be obliged to give a Chargers report card of sorts. He'll then pump out a column on the ALCS/NLCS. But then what?

Let's try to influence the ol' San Diego native

Every time Ryan Mathews fumbles a ball, takes a ding of some sort, or generally underachieves relative to LaDainian Tomlinson send an e-mail to Nick Canepa telling him that, "AJ Smith must bring back LT for one last hurrah!"

It's a tough league, the NFL, and one of the above is likely to happen to Mathews.

But the fun doesn't stop there!

Eric Weddle does something unworthy of his record setting contract? E-mail Nick and propose that AJ begin scouring practice squads across the NFL for a replacement.

Nate Kaeding misses a FG? Email Nick and suggest that AJ go get John Carney.

There's no shortage of lunacy we could send Nick Canepa's way this season and just maybe we could troll him into writing about it.

Once you commit to a course of action, share your manic fantasies with your friends (at least "a few"), and begin banging the keyboard angrily in unison. E-mail your rant to Nick Canepa here, take a screen-shot of it, and then e-mail the picture to me at: avengingjackmurphy@hotmail.com

If Nick Canepa bites on your Angry Villager story then I'll buy you a growler of beer*. Your choice!

*Does BFTB have a budget for things like this, John? Because I don't.