"IS THIS PHILADELPHIA?" I heard a fan scream on his way into the men's restroom at the StubHub Center in Carson, CA. It wasn't—because, you know, it was Carson, CA—but you could be forgiven for thinking so. To say there were more Eagles fans than Chargers fans would be the ultimate understatement; they absolutely took over the place. LA's newest sports team was frantically booed as they walked out of the tunnel and onto the field. Powder blue jerseys could just be made out in the immense sea of green. I heard the loudest, most needless "Fuck the Cowboys" chant of my young life. Jason Peters of the Eagles rightfully called it a home game. I've never seen a home team outnumbered like that in an NFL stadium. Except the last time I saw the Chargers, that is. That game came in December of 2014, against the Patriots and in the Charger's former San Diego home, Qualcomm Stadium. It wasn't quite as egregious as yesterday's showdown—I'd say it was about 50-50 New England and San Diego fans. I gave the Chargers the benefit of the doubt for a few reasons. Patriots fans travel pretty well; San Diego has a disproportionately high number of Boston transplants (and even a couple Patriots-only bars downtown); and what New Englander doesn't want to take a vacation out to SoCal in December? That one instance was easy to forgive, but it was emblematic of a bigger problem for the Chargers over the past few years: getting their fans into the damn stadium. It all begins with Dean Spanos, entitled bastard and unfortunate steward of the former San Diego football team. Read an excellent and prophetic piece from The Ringer here that serves as a laundry list of his misdeeds, but in a nutshell, his obsession with being respected and taken seriously led him to fire anyone with talent that wouldn't be a yes man, and he attempted to extort tax payers to fund a massive new stadium that would cement his "legacy" (wait, who are we talking about again?). As a result, the team started losing games, Spanos started losing the fan base, and things got pretty bleak near the end—like, this bleak. Spanos gave San Diego a final ultimatum last year: fund the stadium, or the team is going to LA. The tax payers said no, and it was off with the Chargers. Never mind that LA is one of the most apathetic sports cities on Earth. Never mind that almost no one in San Diego would support a team belonging to the guy that ripped football away from them because of his wounded pride. This was never about bringing the Chargers to a better market—it was revenge and spite, through and through. There isn't much left to say unfortunately, except that all of the predictions came true. No one in LA gives a shit (myself included—my ticket was free). San Diego fans are spurned and rightfully refuse to undergo the six-hour round-trip drive and $100 dollar tailgate parking to put more money in Spanos' pocket. As a result, the team can't even fill the comparably tiny StubHub center regularly. And after the away team invasions of the past few weeks, the secret is now out that opposing fans are more welcome at home games than Chargers fans are. There may have been a glimmer of hope before the season started, but if you saw what I saw in person yesterday, you'd agree: the LA Chargers are doomed.
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