There's always next year

I saw my first Charger game live at Jack Murphy stadium when I was only a few months old. I grew up hearing the stories of legends like Air Coryell, Charlie Joiner, Rolf Benirschke, Sid Gilman and Dan Fouts.

When I was 8, I carved a pumpkin with a big lightning bolt surrounded by a12, 20 and 55—the numbers of Stan Humphries, Natrone Means and Junior Seau, respectively. At 9, I watched the Chargers defeat the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC Championship game to go to their first and only Super Bowl.

I waited 13 years since the last time Chargers were AFC champs, and now I have to wait at least one more. After the Chargers were beaten by the New England Patriots 21-12 in last Sunday’s game, their hopes to go to the big game were dashed.

But I’m not disappointed. After the first month of the season, no one thought that the Chargers would get as far as they did.

Before the start of the season, many football experts thought that the Chargers would go all the way this year, but when they started off the season 5-5, everyone thought that they had completely lost the moxie of the 14-2 team they were the year before.

I was right there with them. I wanted Marty back. I was ready to trade Philip Rivers. I wanted Merriman to start taking the steroids again. They needed to do anything to get the fire back.

And somehow, they did. After their slow start, the Chargers won eight straight, including their phenomenal win against the Colts two weeks ago.

After that, I started to believe my Chargers could do anything.
The Chargers were up against the “perfect” Patriots and all the networks wanted the Chargers to choke, so I knew the odds were not in their favor.

But something deep down told me they had a chance. Even with three of their star players injured, I felt that they could be the ones to knock the Pats off their pedestal.

They didn’t win, but no one can argue that they didn’t come close. Sports experts predicted the game to be a blowout, but the Chargers managed to hang in there, despite LT sitting out for almost the entire game. No, they weren’t effective in the red zone, and there were some questionable calls made by Defensive Coordinator Ted Cottrell, but Philip Rivers played like Peyton Manning (and better than Tom Brady) and our defense held the Patriots to 21 points—something that only happened once during the entire 2007-2008 season.

Regardless of what happened on Sunday, I am proud of the Chargers and everything they were able to accomplish this year. This Chargers team is young and General Manager A.J. Smith has most of them contracted through 2010. They will continue to improve as they mature. If they have consistency with their coaching staff and play with as much heart as they did during the last few games of this season, they will be the best team in the NFL.

Maybe next year, when I’m 23, I will watch my Chargers win their first Super Bowl.