Thursday, May 25, 2006

Summertime Blues

A horrendous 9-7 season has ended. The stunner of Drew Brees departure is easing. The Draft is over. Rookie Mini-Camp is over with a Veterans Mini-Camp coming up next month.

The City of San Diego decided they are willing to let one of only 32 NFL teams in the Nation leave town; after 45 years!!! Oceanside or Chula Vista/National City think they can compete with Las Vegas, LA, and San Antonio to get the Chargers. The County will try to come up with a proposal.

A.J. Smith still carries the title of Genius and Marty remains as stubborn as always.

Ryan Leaf's a Coach? And Doug Flutie retired.

Living on a Lake in Texas with the temperature hovering around 95 degrees and no real news or excitement coming out of the NFL right now, it's time for a break from the Chargers.

I have some of my children and their families coming to visit for awhile. One of our Grandsons will spend a month with us. Additionally we will be off to my High School Reunion and when the Summer begins to wind down (and Texas REALLY gets HOT), we will take a trip to Yellowstone National Park.

We will be home and "ready for some football" come September first. Season tickets for TCU football and NFL Sunday Ticket for the Chargers will bring us back to "normal."

I appreciate all of the Raider fans reacting to my last Blog about why I hate them. They continue to show their stupidity by thinking I would allow their ignorant rants to be published on the Blog!?!? A couple were actually from civil, intelligent, mature, and courteous Raider fans and their comments are posted.

In light of all of the above, I am giving myself permission to only update the ChargerTom.com web site as significant Chargers stories develop.

I will continue to monitor for transactions involving Chargers players and ex-Chargers, including Coaches, but unless something really important or really interesting comes up, the site will not be updated until Training Camp in August. This will be the first time in over 14 years of publication that I will be taking a couple of months absence from the web site. SEE EVERYONE IN AUGUST. GO CHARGERS!

Tuesday, May 02, 2006

Why am I such a Raider Hater?!?!

I think one of the most amusing things I have ever done was create the "Official Raider Haters Universe" page on my web site.

It drives Raider fans and web site snobs absolutely crazy.

Unbelievably the majority of the "web site" snob critics are Chargers fans with their own web sites or who spend their days writing on Chargers forums and their criticism is that the "format and style" is not as "professional and attractive" as their sites. ITS SUPPOSED TO BE CRUDE TO MATCH THE THEME DUMMY!!!

It also accomplishes its primary mission of giving a few smiles and chuckles to fellow Raider Haters and stirs up the passion in Chargers fans and fellow Raider Haters world wide.

Who could ask for more?!?!

In spite of the fact that I state on the web page that Raider Fans should not bother to send me emails with rants about how many Super Bowls they have won IN THE PAST, or what their overall record against the Chargers is -- THEY DO IT ANYWAY. That ought to tell you something about their ability to read and comprehend!

They don't seem to realize that their emails simply confirm all of the jokes on the Raider Hater page have them as real life examples. Number one -- they can't SPELL. Number two -- most are Homophobic because accusing me of being gay is a running theme? Number three - they almost always threaten to kick my ass. Number four -- they are so mad that you can tell their rage is going faster than they can type and most of what they say in incoherent, and Number five -- they defend their pathetic football team and organization in spite of the current facts.

Yes, it is easy to see that I do, in fact, hate the Raiders. But the REAL truth of the fact is that I hate the Raider FANS.

Until my retirement a few years ago, I was a Chargers Season Ticket Holder for many years and attended lots of games before buying my first Season Tickets. As a matter of fact, I watched the Chargers play at Balboa Stadium when I first joined the Navy in 1961. Even though I retired in Texas, I still have the DirecTV Sunday NFL package and fly my Chargers flag in the front yard every game Sunday. And thousand of people know about the ChargerTom.com web site and its devotion to MY Chargers.

As far back as I can remember, the Chargers-Raiders games have been just like going inside an out-of-control insane asylum.

My experience has been that Raider "fans" are, for the most part, not "fans" of the Raiders in the football sense, but are "fans of the gang mentality" that has been created. Most of their fans didn't grow up watching the Raiders play football and learning to admire their team and wanting to support them. Instead, most grow up watching the local gang bangers, drug dealers, and other intimidating thugs dress up in their Raider gear. So naturally when they began to grow up and these types of people were their role models, the Raider gear and being a "Raider fan" was just part of the overall persona they took on.

I have been to Chargers games at home, opposing EVERY team in the NFL over the years. I have been to Chargers games in the stadiums of other NFL teams during away games. I have never seen the fans of any other team have a mission to "take over" the stadium -- except the Raider fans. That's because its not about their team, its about maintaing THEIR image as gangsters.

As bad as the reputation of fans in "Philly" is, and as fanatic as the fans of "America's Team" the Dallas Cowboys are, none of them set out to attend a game for the PURPOSE of causing hate, discontent, disruption, and mayhem. The Raider fans do!

See how many fights there are in the parking lot and stands during a Raiders game. See how many innocent families are injured by their fighting. Listen to the language used in the stands in front of women and children. Watch them sneak down to sit in expensive seats when they only paid for nose-bleed. Smell the pot and see the booze being consummed in the stands. Watch that they ALWAYS run in packs. And notice that win or lose, the parking lot will contain broken beer bottles, overturned trash cans, and damaged cars -- all compliments of the Raider "fans."

I have lived all of this, and much much more, for forty plus years and I KNOW what I am talking about and its getting worse.

Now for the punch line ....

I do NOT maintain the "Official Raider Haters Universe" web page because I hate the Raiders -- I do it because I think it is funny and I hope to give others a laugh or too also. ITS FUNNY - thats why!!!

There are pages and complete web sites devoted to poking fun at the President, the Republicans, Celebrities, gas prices, ugly people, beautiful people, and everything in between. I'm just poking fun at the Chokeland Faiders and their band of thug fans.

Lighten up people -- its HUMOR!!!