July 23, 2010

San Diego columnist: If Chargers won't threaten move, I'll do it for them

Sports columnists carrying water for sports teams' stadium plans are nothing new, but it takes a special level of chutzpah to pull off what the San Diego Union-Tribune's Nick Canepa did on Wednesday:

Throughout their choppy, meandering eight-year voyage to discover welcome land for a new football stadium, the Chargers have fired no shots across bows and issued no threats. Nor have they asked for clearance at other ports, such as L.A.

The ultimatum, that they will find somewhere else to dock, has been provided courtesy of the media and those who see an NFL pirate under every shovel of dirt.

But, clearly, this is a passage nearing its conclusion, even if no destination has been clearly determined. My gut is that, if the efforts to get a downtown stadium built fail, this is it.

Follow the bouncing logic: 1) The Chargers haven't issued any move threats. 2) That's just media speculation. 3) I, a member of the media, speculate that they're going to move.

To top it off, Chargers stadium czar Mark Fabiani then asserts: "I defy anybody to look at this process and identify a threat by us. But, the reality is, after eight years and $10 million spent cycling through site after site, we’re not left with a lot of alternatives." Which may not be a direct threat, but it's certainly a non-threat threat.

UPDATE: I emailed Fabiani to ask what the Chargers would do if the downtown San Diego site falls through; he said, "We would try to revisit our options in Escondido although recently the site has been talked about as a new home for the Padres minor league team." And if that failed, "you'd have to sit back and take a long, hard look at where you are" and whether anything "might turn downtown into a success if you waited a couple of years." So, no threats there, for the record.