By sharonannette on January 16, 2017
I spent Friday, January 13th, curled up in the fetal position on my couch, tears streaming down my face.
It was not where I expected myself to be.
Just 24 hours before, the San Diego Chargers had dropped a bomb: They were leaving their home of 56 years and relocating to Los Angeles.
The Los Angeles Chargers. It feels sacrilegious writing it.
Holy hell. pic.twitter.com/aGX30CFHAf
— Annie Heilbrunn (@annieheilbrunn) January 12, 2017
Having covered this story for the last few years, I always knew it was a possibility they would leave, but emotions and reason had been toyed with for so long in this mess that it was best to tune out the talk and opinions of others. Even those whom I considered sources seemed tangled in the uncertainty of an outcome. So I just waited.
I was at Chargers Park, the team's practice facility on Murphy Canyon Road, when the announcement hit. A handful of fans were scattered in front of the building. News trucks lined the street. At 8 a.m., the Chargers posted a letter to their website, declaring their move.
A letter. After 56 years. A. Letter.
From that second on, it was work mode. I stayed at Chargers Park until the sun went down, talking to crying fans, shouting fans, shocked fans. I watched as people unloaded their gear in front of the building, a symbol of their detachment to the team they had been loyal to for so long, that was now leaving them for another city. Nothing meant more to me on January 12th than being able to connect with fans and document their stories on such a historic day in San Diego sports.
Friday brought tears.
Perhaps it was the fatigue; maybe it was the uncertainty of not knowing what's next (I'm a sports reporter in a city lacking sports in an industry dying by the second); maybe it was my 11-year-old nephew calling, asking questions I couldn't answer. Maybe it was this video montage I watched, the one with Lance Alworth and Dan Fouts and Don Coryell and LaDainian Tomlinson and Philip Rivers and Antonio Gates sharing common ground in Mission Valley, all running across the same field, and knowing that this dysfunctional stadium — the one we love to hate — holds so much history and so many memories and now, she is empty.
I cried.
I was surprised at my reaction. I'm a reporter. I'm a grown woman, crying over football, a sport riddled with greed and capitalism and concussions and physical violence. But football has always been part of my identity, part of my family, part of my relationship with my dad, and over my years of reporting, I've met so many fans who have tailgated at The Q for decades. Rain or shine, in good times or bad, with friends and family members.
All of it gone.
The NFL is making it easier for fans to disengage. The greed and manipulation that for so long was hidden behind the scenes is now front and center, flashing across our social media feeds. This move shouldn't have happened. We know it. The NFL knows it. Fans know it. But it did, and a price will be paid.
The Chargers have an uphill battle in the City of Dreams. They are overwhelmingly not wanted, first of all, and second of all, they are displaced. They are between two homes. They must learn the city, make connections, build foundations, history and traditions that don't exist. They must win — not flash-in-the-pan winning, not winning sometimes, but Championship or near-Championship winning, and consistently. So far, partly because of team blunders, and partly because it's simply a terrible move, it's not going well. In less than a week, it has become cool to hate the Los Angeles Chargers, and if LA is good at anything, it's having a mob mentality and adopting a "you can't sit with us" attitude. Can it change? Absolutely. But whether mild apathy is that much better than major apathy remains to be seen.
San Diego fans are faced with a dilemma: Are you supposed to care about this team or not? Do you drive 150 miles to the sterile Stubhub Center — with no history and no ties, except of the futbol sort — to watch your ex-team play next season, or do you show Dean Spanos what you think with your dollar by not buying tickets? What about the players? Do you stay in it for them? I won't tell you what's right or wrong. No one can. What you feel now might not be what you feel six months from now. It's uncharted territory for us all. Even us newspaper folks are wrestling with decisions of how, if at all, to cover this team going forward.
And that's a wrap. pic.twitter.com/D8jZSmYzDZ
One more thing: I've been covering the Chargers since 2009. I've built relationships with the team's front office employees in that time, lasting relationships with some excellent people. These are hard-working folks who have dedicated decades of their lives to work for the San Diego Chargers, often for wages that fall far short of industry standards. They have put roots in San Diego. They have kids in our schools and spouses in our workforce. They have toiled tirelessly for this team through birthdays, deaths, divorces. Yes, that is their choice, and they won't ask you to feel sorry for them. But imagine devoting most of your adult life to Dean Spanos and the Chargers and then getting this thrown on you, while possibly losing your job or facing unemployment or being asked to move. It's not easy, and these guys are exhausted, sad and scared too.
There are people in this world fighting wars, fighting cancer, fighting hunger and pain. Losing an NFL team does not compare to any of those things. Not even close. But the loss is an emotional one, and for many, it cuts to the core. Losing a football team is losing the opportunity to carry on traditions and history that families have upheld for generations. It's like losing a friend — a really fun friend, a friend that drove you nuts sometimes but that could always be counted on to pull you away from the problems in your life for a few hours. It's a friend that's happy to see you and scream with you and do ridiculous superstitious dances with you. Every Sunday, you could connect with that friend. That's what football is — it's connection. It's a thread that links people together.
Now, that thread is tainted with shared contempt for the ones who took it away. The anger and hurt will pass, eventually. Football Sundays will be tough at first; perhaps with time, they will get easier.
But the friendship …
Well, that will just never be the same.
Posted in: behind the scenes, chargers, Uncategorized
Drew January 16, 2017 at 5:56 pm | Reply
Love you Annie! We will get through this together as San Diegans.
Cameron C January 16, 2017 at 7:24 pm | Reply
A huge part of my heart suddenly got up and left to Los Angeles on Saturday. I will never support the LA Chargers as much as I did the San Diego Chargers my whole life. A sad story of selfishness and a money thirsty owner. Thanks for being classy to the city of San Diego, Dean. Thanks for a press conference. You broke up with your partner via a letter on social media. Very mature of you. It won't take long to become aware that LA is way worse of a city than SD, environmentally and reliability. Funny thing is, the majority of the people in LA don't even want the Chargers. While the vast majority of sports fans in SD, whether (previous) Charger fans or not, would agree that the Chargers should have stayed and built a stadium in Mission Valley. Mayor Faulconer had an approved plan to build a stadium there, but after initially losing LA last year to the Rams, the selfish side kicked in and deciding to blind side that idea and want the 'downtown or nothing' idea was adopted. Simply shows how greedy Mr. Spanos is. He is in a world of his own, self-centered, caring for only himself and his family. I have been a die hard fan and a huge supporter of the San Diego Chargers for 25+ years. My family had season tickets throughout my childhood, going back to 1996. Though a part of me still cares for the players and how the team is structured, I will not fully support the Los Angeles Chargers. I despise the ownership. RIP San Diego Chargers.
Jim grant January 16, 2017 at 8:35 pm | Reply
As Deion Sanders said when talking about football " never love something that can't love you back"
Rebecca Orona January 16, 2017 at 9:00 pm | Reply
You nailed it Annie! I've lived in San Diego 48 years and grew up watching the Chargers. I looked forward to watching them every Sunday. I still can't believe it! Such a sad time for San Diego 😢. Best of luck to all of you!