voiceofsandiego.org: Tom Shanahan... Chargers Game: Priceless

Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2007 | We can look up the value of a pro sports franchise in dollars by reading Forbes' annual reports, and the numbers are staggering.

But what about the worth of a pro sports franchise as a civic treasure to its community in a trying time?

How important was the Chargers' 35-10 win over the Houston Texans at Qualcomm Stadium on Sunday, a week after devastating wildfires first began to sweep throughout San Diego County?

"It didn't fix the problems, but it eased the pain for a couple of hours," said Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers. "The way the game was, with big plays by (Antonio) Gates, (Antonio) Cromartie and (Chris) Chambers, it made it an exciting game to watch."

Compare the front pages of the Los Angeles Times, a newspaper serving a Southern California community ravaged by wildfires, to San Diego's two daily print newspapers, the Union-Tribune and North County Times , and our online newspaper, voiceofsandiego.org.

All three in San Diego described with photos and words the relief San Diegans felt with the opportunity to lose themselves in a diversion from real life. The Chargers represented a civic treasure for football fans and non-fans alike.

But Los Angeles doesn't have a pro football team. The Times' front page had a story about investigating arson and a photo of three people holding hands as they prayed in the ashes of what used to be a church in Malibu.

Nothing wrong with reporting the news, but where were the signs of rebirth?

Without a pro football team to rally around on a Sunday, people in the L.A. area were left to their own inner strength to deal with the devastating events. Sunday was just another day.

The Chargers offered that feeling of turning the page and moving forward with invigoration that can't be measured in dollars. Priceless, as the popular credit card commercial says.

The Times even printed a column that said the game shouldn't have played, and it was only staged for the NFL's selfish financial interests. That's what you would expect from an out-of-town newspaper, which, if it had never abandoned its San Diego County edition, might have understood how the community felt.

"Everybody has different opinions," said Chargers running back LaDainian Tomlinson. "Some people say the game shouldn't have been played some say we needed the game to help us recover and start the rebuilding process. We felt, this whole organization, that playing this game would be best for San Diego County. They love football here, and it brings back the feeling of getting back to normal."

The Chargers stepped aside to let fans celebrate the firefighters first and the players second during pre-game introductions. Chargers outside linebacker Shawne Merriman wore a firefighter helmet to show his appreciation.

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, wearing a blue-and-gold Chargers jacket, led the pre-game ceremony honoring the firefighters. A thundering roar that was more than a football cheer was unleashed when Arnold said, "Go, Chaw-gers, go!"

More than 60,000 fans gathered at the stadium, which had served as an evacuation center for as many as 10,000 displaced denizens during the week, and tens of thousands more watched on television.

When Qualcomm Stadium opened as San Diego Stadium as a modern multi-purpose facility in 1967, "evacuation center" wasn't one of the multi-purpose uses the architects were supposed to include in the design.

But for a week Qualcomm was more than a home for Chargers, San Diego State football, the Holiday Bowl, the Poinsettia Bowl and the CIF San Diego Section football champion ships.

"Qualcomm was probably as full of Chargers fans as it's ever been," Rivers said. "Usually you have fans from the opposing team. I think it shows that sports in general and a professional sports team in town is something to get excited about. It shows you how much a team can mean to a town when it's going through tough times and how it create a little joy for a couple of hours."

As aging Qualcomm continues to rot, maybe some day the city of San Diego will wake up to the civic treasure it has in the Chargers, not to mention the economic impact worth millions to the city economy.

If we're going to continue to live with the continued threat of wildfires in this age of global warming, maybe a new stadium should includes pavilions that can double as shelters in emergencies and as tailgating venues in sporting times.

Last week, you couldn't put a price tag on the value of both Qualcomm and its primary tenant as civic treasures.

"When we were practicing in Arizona last week and watching the news, we saw how the place we play football was the home for 10,000 people without any other place to go," said defensive end Luis Castillo. "There are so many people in San Diego that deserve credit for getting through last week, and this game was a special win for all of San Diego."

Tom Shanahan is voiceofsandiego.org's sports columnist. He is the media coordinator for the San Diego Hall of Champions and he writes occasional features for Chargers.com. You can e-mail him at toms@sdhoc.com. Or send a letter to the editor.

Sinclair Lewis tried to describe mindless pollyanna boosterism in his fiction, but he had nothing on Tom Shanahan in this shameless piece of flacking for the San Diego Chargers. The Romans knew that bread and circuses work, and so do the National Football League and the Spanos family.

Posted by Fed Up | reply to this comment
October 30, 2007 11:17 am

To Fed Up: re "Bread and Circuses".. I need bread. I love circuses. Games are important. Football is not life. It is a metaphor for life. Secondly, the Spanos family gave one million dollars to relief efforts. Let's say that's only one percent of their annual take-home income. Have you given one percent of your annual income to relief efforts? ... ....."No". ... Thank you, no further questions, the witness is excused.

Posted by Northernmost Bolthead | reply to this comment
October 30, 2007 1:33 pm

Wow! I never realized a football franchize famous for draining the public coffers at every turn could be woven into such a "civic treasure" after playing a game during a state of emergency. Playing that game showed raucous disregard for welfare of evacuees using the shelter, the health of players from both teams and last but certainly not least the city's public safety personel still struggling to contain fires and looting.

Posted by Not Impressed | reply to this comment
October 30, 2007 1:45 pm

I didn't realize that lobotomized Boltheads could devise metaphors to support arguments.

Posted by Fed Up | reply to this comment
October 30, 2007 3:12 pm

I was an evacuee and I had no problem with the game being played at the Q. It's what the people needed to regain that sense of normalcy. During a crisis, we deal with it as best we can, but we don't stop living. Stop being overly critical and PC about everything. The fact that 60,000 fans still showed up to the game despite the disaster shows how much everyone is ready to move on.

Posted by Ron | reply to this comment
October 30, 2007 3:42 pm

Its funny when people say the Chargers are draining it when the CITY made the stupid deal in order to keep the Chargers in a stadium that is falling apart. If you actually WENT to the Stadium you would see how bad it actually is. The people who evacuated there wanted to go to other facilities because its simply too old. The only people who are don't think this meant anything are as out of touch as our City Attorney.

Posted by Impressed | reply to this comment
October 30, 2007 4:12 pm

Livivng on the East coast I can only see the devastation by what I see on TV and on the Internet. I think sometimes some try to give too much credit to the healing ,returning to normalcy,diversion from the devastation, etc.etc. to the Nfl,and or the Chargers.I also beleive that there are those that give too little credit to the positive influence the game being played had on the community. I beleive they collected 75g at the game. I am sure the positive effect is some where in between. I am sure to those who lost everything the game had little meaning,but to those that were displaced temporarily ,those that had their lives disrupted ,it probably was a return to normalcy,and or a diversion from the choas.Lets not condemn it for the positve effect it had,and lets not have it turned into some magnanimos deed done strictly for thepeople.

Posted by Ric in Delaware | reply to this comment
October 31, 2007 3:50 am

It is the haters that don't want things to return to normal... just because you don't like football don't take it out on those that do (FEDUP) The Bolts and the Owners have given a lot of money, time, and care to many in the community... that should count for something. Oh yeah it is never enough for you people, I forgot.

Posted by BoltDan | reply to this comment
October 31, 2007 7:09 am

I live in San Diego and was only affected by the fires by the air quality and in PB the air quality was bad for a few days. Just like the other 2.5+ million people who were not affected. The sky was blue and clear in most parts of the City of San Diego the day the game was played. Some people like me who watched the devastation on TV found this game needed to be played in San Diego. The great thing about last weekend is if you didn’t want to watch the game you had that choice. For myself I choose to watch and found it to be a positive influence for me and many others.

Posted by PatrickinSD | reply to this comment
October 31, 2007 8:24 am

I'm fed up with people like FED UP!!

Posted by boltdave | reply to this comment
October 31, 2007 12:10 pm

FED UP should get out of his porcelain coated library and try to experience life on his own, instead of readind about others.

Posted by FED UP IS A RAIDER FAN | reply to this comment
October 31, 2007 4:49 pm

FED UP... AKA Michael Aguirre didn't know the facts about the San Diego game being played here. If he did he wouldn't sound so ignorant.

Posted by FrankSD | reply to this comment
November 1, 2007 1:35 am

Don't forget people, Shanahan is still plugging away to keep his place at the media trough, for the free cold hot dogs and peanuts. This guy could'nt write a hard hitting sports story if his life depended on it. How about a story about the under-the-table payments Reggie Bush (local boy) and friends took during his USC days. Nope? Nothing but feel good rah-rah from Tommy boy. Shanahan, crawl back into your hole at the hall of champions. There is a stale beer with your name on it, waiting for you. What a shill. Porkman

Posted by PorkmanDelardo | reply to this comment
November 1, 2007 7:21 pm

Dont worry fed up we are not talking about the chargers moving to your town, so dont hold a f-ing grudge! it seems like North county times readers are always bashing the chargers for this reason, i dont get it.

Posted by Fed Up is probably from oceans | reply to this comment
November 1, 2007 9:05 pm

Chargers Game: Priceless

By Tom Shanahan