Thanks for the memories, but what now?

It is the end of an era. The Chargers are leaving San Diego.

I was born in San Diego, but being a military brat I only lived there about 3 of my 29 years of life. My mother was born and raised in San Diego and passed her Chargers fandom on to me. And I have been die hard. From staying up until 3am on school nights trying to listen to the audio broadcast of the game over dial up internet while I was living in Moscow Russia, to going to the gym at midnight to watch the Charger game when it was on AFN because it was the only TV on my FOB in Iraq, etc etc etc.

This team was a part of who made me me. I know football is just a sport, and I’m not actually on the team, and they haven’t even been that good lately. But I love the Chargers.

So what happens now?

I live in Denver and have been a displaced fan my whole life. I have been thinking about this day and this situation for a few weeks now trying to decide what I would do. I thought that because I don’t live in San Diego that I would be kind of upset, but that yeah, I would follow the team to LA and keep being a Chargers fan. I did not expect it to hurt this bad.

I don’t know about all of you, but I am going to take a few days and calm down and think about this. I really don’t know what I am going to do yet, but I am happy about two things.

1) I am happy this is finally over and we aren’t in limbo about this decision anymore.

2) I am happy that I don’t have children yet and I don’t have to try and explain this to a child. I do not know how you could have this make sense to a kid.

I do want to thank the Chargers for the memories though. There were definitely a lot of times that this team gave me some of the best memories I will have. I would specifically like to thank the players for those memories. There is no thanks in my heart for Dean Spanos, or any of the Spanos family for that matter. I honestly cannot wait for the day he no longer owns the team. He has broken many hearts and, thanks to his family’s “leadership,” wasted the careers of some very talented players.

As you all absorb this information and mull it over, please try to find ways to make some positive in this negative situation.

Don’t burn all your Chargers stuff. Burn a towel or flag, but donate the clothes.

Take your passion for the Chargers and (try to) give it to another local team and help them succeed.

Find other blood drives to attend so that we can still save some lives.

Pray for the families of the lesser staff, who aren’t making millions, or even hundreds of thousands, that will now either lose their jobs or be forced to move their families to LA.