What up y'all, once again I have fairly neglected this blog as I am a staff member(sports editor) of my schools newspaper The Mesa Press and therefore I forget about this blog. But anyways, here is the first post I have made in a long time. I'll cover baseball awards, the Chargers football season at the half way point and the return of San Diego's only winning team, the San Diego State Aztecs basketball team.
Padres
The Padres finished the season in fourth place in the NL West which produced the world champion San Francisco Giants much to the chagrin of San Diegans. There were bright spots though. The team had a strong second half and several young players like Yasmani Grandal and Yonder Alonso began to succeed and show why we may have gotten the better of the Latos trade with the Reds. Marquis, Cueto, Richard and rookie Casey Kelly showed flashes of brilliance in the second half all earning looks at being mainstays in the rotation next season. The best player on our team though, was Chase Headley. He finally realized his full potential and slugged 31 home runs, up 27 from last season. He also hit for a high average, and played excellent defense that earned him the National League Gold Glove award.The Padres have a lot to look forward too next season when several injured players return to the field. The Padres new owners have money now and should be players in free agency to target starting pitching and an everyday right fielder. Options for pitchers include Scott Baker and Edwin Jackson, outfielders include BJ Upton, Justin Upton, Andre Ethier and Michael Bourne. The team looks to compete next year and in two years may be competing for a championship.
Chargers
What can I say. FIRE NORV! Just like last season, the Chargers won a game they had to win in order to keep Turners job as head coach. Last year they beat the Raiders on the last day of the season and this past Thursday, they beat the Chiefs who have yet to lead 1 single second in regulation. Their one win came in over time against the Saints who are terrible and the Chargers blew that game in embarrassing fashion. After the Saints, they lost to the Broncos in the worst played second half of all time and went on to lose to the Browns... yeah the Browns. Norv may keep his job for now, but moving forward, he should be out after this season. Only thing that may help him is a Super Bowl victory although possible, not likely. The Chargers are currently 4-4 and one half game behind the Broncos for first place. The tough part of their schedule is coming up as they still have to play the Steelers, Ravens and Broncos on the road. Another 8-8 season might be coming and that should mean the immediate firings of both Norv Turner and General Manager AJ Smith. Possible replacements for Turner include Bill Cowher, Jon Gruden, Brian Billick or homegrown coaches like defensive coordinator John Pagano or our special teams/assistant head coach Rick Bisaccia. I'm hoping for a turnaround in this second half with better designed running plays and less turnovers from our two All Pros Rivers and Mathews.
Aztecs
Here's the big winner of San Diego sports. These last 5 years have been great for the Aztecs basketball team and now they are ranked 20 in the preseason polls. The team brings back high flyer Jamaal Franklin, clutch player Chase Tapley and three point specialist James Rahon. The exciting things about this team are the newcomers. Highly prized recruit Winston Shepard joins the team as a 6'8 SF/PF. Dwayne Polee Jr is expected to contribute immediately and help lead this team. Matt Shrigley is another compliment to Rahon as he is deadly from 3. This team is loaded with everything but maybe size. The tallest player going into the season is 6'9 but James Johnson, transfer, will be allowed to join the team in December and will bring his 6'10 size and toughness to the defense. The first game will be the battle on the Midway on Nov. 9 against Syracuse. Both teams are ranked and it is expected to be a good game. Lets hope the home court advantage can start the Aztecs on the right path to winning a Mountain West Conference Title and birth into the NCAA tournament.
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So there we have it, 3 teams, the bright spots of San Diego sports. The Sockers also have started their season at the Sports Arena and they are expected once again to dominate their league. Congrats to my alma mater La Jolla Vikings for winning their homecoming football game last night. If you would like to see my published article about the San Diego Sports Curse check out the like right here / http://www.mesapress.com/sports/2012/11/01/san-diego-sports-curse-continues-in-infamy/ . Im going to attempt to update this a little more often as it is fun to write about sports and the like, my next article in the newspaper will be about fantasy football and I will make a blog post about it too. Peace.
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