Dec 30, 2012; San Diego, CA, USA; General view of Qualcomm Stadium during the playing of the national anthem with United States flags on the field before the NFL game between the Oakland Raiders and the San Diego Chargers. The Chargers defeated the Raiders 24-21. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee/Image of Sport-USA TODAY Sports

First of all I want to say a big THANKS to all the guys here on BoltBeat!  Everyone has been doing an awesome job keeping us updated on all the off-season antics while I have been busy doing other work and mommy stuff.  Thanks guys!  That said, I have a few minutes in between doing stuff for other people today and of course my mind wanders to football.  I took a little field trip to the Q last week to see my new seats and let me tell you they are incredibly awesome.  So awesome that I could have just sat there all day for the next few months until our first preseason kickoff.  Unfortunately, they told me I could not live there for three months, so I had to leave. 

I gotta tell you, having season tickets raises the excitement bar up a notch.  It’s cool to know where I will be sitting for 10 home Charger games.  The worst part is the waiting.  It was already bad, but now that I have shady seats on the Chargers 40 yard line it’s excruciating!

The Chargers home regular season opener is Monday Nite Football on September 9th.  This is so far away, almost four months!  Nooooo!  But don’t panic, there are preseason games, and they are at night, so no drenched in sweat football games.  Our two home preseason games are on Thursday Nite Football.   The first game in an entire month before the regular season opener, on Thursday, August 8th.  Now, that’s only three months away.  Not bad, but still too long.  We still have OTA’s, Mini Camps and other off-season events to keep us from suffering too much.  The guys are at Chargers Park right now getting ready.  I am sure they think four months is too short, especially the rookies, so I will be patient.

On a side note, I’m thinking it would be super fun to invite a BoltBeat regular along to a game.   I’m not sure what my plan is, but I’m thinking some sort of “why I’m the best Chargers fan and I promise I will not start a fight” comment in the comment field.  I will put all the names into a hat and whichever one my dog grabs to chew on first gets a ticket.

I’ll keep you posted on that and other random stuff that is happening with our Bolts!

#IBelieve

ChargerGirl Cindi

“Bad news has never good timing”, as they say.

We were forced to experience the validity of this saying exactly one year ago, on May 2nd 2012. On this black Wednesday last year, it had been reported by the media all across the nation, that the linebacker legend and fan favorite Junior Seau died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the chest in his home in Oceanside, California. With his decision to end his life, he left behind four children, his girlfriend, his ex-wife and of course millions of fans all over the world which looked up to him.

I guess it was tough for all of us to believe those terrible news that had been spread out by pretty much every TV channel in the country. Junior Seau has committed suicide?

Junior Seau, the man who always had been known as enthusiastic, optimistic and always willing to fight and never giving up?

Junior Seau, the man who created his own foundation to inspire young people to face life’s challenges with enthusiasm, hope and dignity – he of all people has committed suicide? It definitely wasn´t easy to accept this horrible story.

Junior was not only the leader on the field and in the locker room, he also was a mentor to fellow NFL stars – e.g. to a man who we know as “LT”, Ladanian Tomlinson – and a role model to many, many kids out there. In 1992, he created the Junior Seau Foundation, an organization formed “to educate and empower young people through the support of child-abuse prevention, drug and alcohol awareness, recreational opportunities, anti-juvenile delinquency efforts and complimentary educational programs.” Since then, nearly $4 million has been distributed to organizations providing services to children and young adults.

I am not a father (yet), but I´m wondering what I would have told my son or daughter, when he or she came up with the question, why did Junior do what he did. How to find the words, that could explain to a child who looked up to him (as many kids did and still do), that a man who taught to fight and to never give up, did a exactly that: he gave up his life. A man who tried to inspire young people to see the positive aspects of life´s challenges, killed himself ´cause he – obviously – could not see any positive or bright aspect in his own life. Surely would be tough find words which could serve as some kind of “answer”.

In January this year, doctors announced that Seau showed signs of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). CTE is known to occur from repeated blows to the head. It carries with it symptoms such as dementia and depression.

According to his ex-wife Gina Seau and to 23-year-old son Tyler, Junior had wild behavioral swings in the final years of his life, along with signs of irrationality, forgetfulness, insomnia and depression. “He emotionally detached himself and would kind of `go away’ for a little bit,” Tyler Seau said. “And then the depression and things like that. It started to progressively get worse.” He hid it well in public, they said, but not when he was with family or close friends.

Seau is not the first former NFL player who killed himself and later was found to have had CTE. The NFL safeties Dave Duerson (Chicago Bears) and Ray Easterling (Atlanta Falcons) are others. These are all very tragic incidents, but football is a rough sport; I wonder if one day there will be a chance to completely prevent injuries like that in this sport…but I´m afraid there won´t be an easy way to accomplish that.

But also let us not forget, what an awesome football player he was. Although he never was a member of a Super Bowl winning squad, there are some incredible facts and highlights to tell about his football career – just to mention a few: All-American at USC, 5th overall pick in 1990 NFL Draft, 12-time Pro Bowl selection, named to NFL 1990s All-Decade Team, voted first-team All-Pro by the Associated Press 6 times etc. He definitely is one of the absolutely greatest linebackers of all time.

So, in the end, when it comes down to tragic incidents like this painful suicide by Junior last year, we got to look out for the lessons to be learned. And the best comment I got to hear on that matter, was Dan Fouts´ statement at “Junior Seau´s Celebration of Life” on May, 11th 2012. He said: “The lesson here is: If you need help, get help, it´s out there. All you have to do is swallow your pride and ask for it.” – Words of wisdom from a San Diego Chargers legend.

I guess I speak in behalf of us all, when I say: We will never forget you Junior; you have touched many lives and you were a tremendous source of inspiration for people all around the world.

R.I.P. buddy!

P.S.: Last year I created a Junior Seau memory on Youtube; maybe you wanna check it out:

Thanks very much!

Feb 21, 2013; Indianapolis, IN, USA; San Diego Chargers general manager Tom Telesco speaks at a press conference during the 2013 NFL Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports

Well, I got online and got to listen to lots of people asking questions.  I was in the queue to ask one of my questions, but my turn never came.  There were over 2,000 season ticket holders on the call, which was pretty cool.  Here are some of the questions that were asked and Telesco’s answers.  There was a lot of hello’s and how are you doings and random pontification that I did not include.

Q: What do you like most about your new home city?

A: The people in San Diego are so nice and are making me and my entire family feel very welcome.

Q:  What were your impressions of your first draft?

A:   It went very smooth and that was encouraging.  We did a lot of work in four months.  The staff did a great job.  The talent scouts, support staff and coaches, the whole process went very smoothly.

Q:  What are your plans for Philip Rivers’ blind side?

A:  We have some people here that can do what we need them to do.  We signed King Dunlap and he played well last year.  He handles himself well.  But like other positions, you need to explore what is out there.  You need to find the best 5 guys for the line.

Q:  What kind of role will Fluker be playing on the line?

A:  He brings a really physical mentality to the line.  He can protect the pass and run.  Reminds me of Dielman.  He’s a dual phase guy.

Q:  Who calls the draft pick once they are selected?

A:  We have one of our scouts call them first, then I call them.

Q:  We have had character issues with the line.  What kinds of things are you doing to ensure that players coming in have good character?

A:  There is investigation and research that we do along with talking to them and their coach.  The way it works in this league is that people come and go.  You build contacts.  We talk to our contacts and to the person coming in.  We let everyone know up front what our expectations are and that they need to be met.

Q:  Our schedule looks tough with travel.  Six 10am starts on the East Coast.  Do you change up the game plan when the schedule is rough?

A:  This is new for me, being on the West coast.  Typically we will start practice earlier and allow for travel, but I do not put too much thought and concern into it.  We just need to make a few adjustments that we probably would have made anyway.

Q:  What is up with the Tebow situation?  What are the odds he could come here?

A:   We are really happy with the two quarterbacks we have and we drafted a third.

Q:  Chargers offense has been very predicable the last few years.  Are we planning on introducing more plays?

A:  You win with repetition and running good plays.  Mike likes to move people around and find the best matchup for success.

Q:  The key to the season is the offensive line.  Is Clary willing to move over to guard?

A:  Yes, he is willing to move wherever he can help the team.

Q:  What are your thought on our running game and Danny Woodhead?

A:  Danny is a little player, but he is dynamic.  We will be watching him in training camp to see how his role evolves.

Q:  What kind of offense are we running?  West Coast, 7/7 drop and who will be calling the plays?  Head coach or OC?

A:  We are not sure yet, we are still working that out.  Certainly not a West Coast offense full blown.  Just aspects of it with a mix to make the defense not be able to gauge what we are doing.  For sure not a West Coast offense team.

Q:  Does current management have concerns about Rivers turnovers and lack of mobility?

A:  Concerns, no.   But things that need to be worked on, yes.  He’s got football awareness, so I don’t worry about that.  There are times people force the ball to make plays, we are working on that.  Ball handling, mechanics, footwork, fundamentals.  I think it’s nice that he has new eyes watching him work and giving him tips.

Q:  Bryant McKinnie had a physical today, what’s going on with that?

A:  We are exploring options.

Q:  Will Te’o be working in the middle and what are your plans for our new receiver?

A:  Manti needs to come in and earn a job.  But he will work well with Butler.  We expect them to be interchangeable.  Manti is an excellent third down player and we will see how it plays out.  Keenen Allen as some point has played in the slot.  Once we get him here and get him on the field we will know what we can do with him.

Q:  How is Philip Rivers going to maintain with no help?

A:  I think we’ve got him some help.  We’ve got a pretty deep receiving core, we’ve got Danny Woodhead and Ronnie Brown and Mathews.  Also, watching Philip and Antonio Gates is something special.  You could blindfold Philip and he would still hit Antonio 9 out of 10 times.

Telesco:  I’ve a guy can’t keep up with our work ethic he will not be here.

One big take away from this Q&A session was that our new management is not going to allow slacking.  Attitude problems, performance issues on and off the field are not going to be tolerated.  I like the direction they are taking and their attitude with expectations.  He definitely has a handle on the team and is steering them in the right direction.

#IBelieve

ChargerGirl Cindi