If there is one place on the face of the Earth where mismanagement and incompetence reigns supreme it's the City of San Diego and its surrounding suburbs. From all the local governments to the sports teams, mismanagement and incompetence are the names of the game. The only outstanding constant in San Diego is the weather. As comedian Lewis Black joked, "The easiest job in the world is being a weatherman in San Diego." The punchline of his joke is when the news anchor asks the weatherman, "How's the weather?" The weatherman replies, "Nice, back to you." Yup, that's "America's Finest City" alright.
This blog originates from the San (Scam) Diego area, and specifically Chula Vista (Vicious). After over 50 years residency in the area this writer has seen the many foibles and misfires by the residents, sports teams, business entities, and local governments.
So where do we begin? The easiest and least harmful area of mismanagement are with the two major professional sports teams in the area, the San Diego Chargers and the San Diego Padres.
The NFL San Diego Chargers management has taken one of greatest football teams ever assembled and devolved it into a mediocre shadow of its once formidable self. The chief culprit is General Manager A.J. Smith. He is aided and abetted by the son of owner Alex Spanos: Team President, Dean Spanos.
In 2006, the team went 14-2, but lost to the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship game. So what did the team do? It fired head coach Marty Schottenheimer. The ostensible reason was that Schottenheimer tried to hire his son as an assistant coach. The real reason as that A.J. Smith did not like (read hated) Schottenheimer. The two men could not coexist in the same room. So A.J. went after a "yes man" and hired one of pro football's most mediocre coaches, Norv Turner. Turner is an excellent designer of offensive plays and is a very good offensive coordinator. But as a head coach he is mediocre at best. During his tenure the Chargers have had two outstanding seasons and three so-so seasons--with arguably the best talent in the league.
This year there is talk of firing both Turner and Smith. Especially when you consider that quality players like QB Drew Brees and Darren Sproles were let go without receiving anything in return. The drafts with the exception of 2004 Draft, which produced Philip Rivers, Shawn Merriman, and others, have been busts. There's not enough room to list the players that the Chargers have let go without getting much value in return that also have ended up getting Super Bowl rings (Rodney Harrison or Lance Alworth). Call it the "Jack Kemp curse." Kemp was picked up by the Buffalo Bills in 1962 for a $100 waiver fee. Kemp led the Bills to two consecutive AFL Championships in the mid-1960s. Looking at the success of players like running back Michael Turner in Atlanta and and Wes Welker in New England it's clear that the Chargers are becoming the best developmental team in the NFL--just like their colleagues the San Diego Padres.
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So where do we begin? The easiest and least harmful area of mismanagement are with the two major professional sports teams in the area, the San Diego Chargers and the San Diego Padres.
The NFL San Diego Chargers management has taken one of greatest football teams ever assembled and devolved it into a mediocre shadow of its once formidable self. The chief culprit is General Manager A.J. Smith. He is aided and abetted by the son of owner Alex Spanos: Team President, Dean Spanos.
In 2006, the team went 14-2, but lost to the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship game. So what did the team do? It fired head coach Marty Schottenheimer. The ostensible reason was that Schottenheimer tried to hire his son as an assistant coach. The real reason as that A.J. Smith did not like (read hated) Schottenheimer. The two men could not coexist in the same room. So A.J. went after a "yes man" and hired one of pro football's most mediocre coaches, Norv Turner. Turner is an excellent designer of offensive plays and is a very good offensive coordinator. But as a head coach he is mediocre at best. During his tenure the Chargers have had two outstanding seasons and three so-so seasons--with arguably the best talent in the league.
This year there is talk of firing both Turner and Smith. Especially when you consider that quality players like QB Drew Brees and Darren Sproles were let go without receiving anything in return. The drafts with the exception of 2004 Draft, which produced Philip Rivers, Shawn Merriman, and others, have been busts. There's not enough room to list the players that the Chargers have let go without getting much value in return that also have ended up getting Super Bowl rings (Rodney Harrison or Lance Alworth). Call it the "Jack Kemp curse." Kemp was picked up by the Buffalo Bills in 1962 for a $100 waiver fee. Kemp led the Bills to two consecutive AFL Championships in the mid-1960s. Looking at the success of players like running back Michael Turner in Atlanta and and Wes Welker in New England it's clear that the Chargers are becoming the best developmental team in the NFL--just like their colleagues the San Diego Padres.
The Padres are noteworthy for being the best developmental team in Major League Baseball and for bad timing in their only two World Series appearances against super teams like the 1998 New York Yankees and the 1984 Detroit Tigers. For the most part, the Padres as a small market team has accomplished much via smoke and mirrors and good major league managers Bruce Bochy and Jack McKeon. With exception of 1998, when the Padres spent money to rent elite level players like pitcher Kevin Brown, the Padres attempt to win with retreads and players past their prime. They traded good young players Jason Bay and Oliver Perez for a power hitter, Brian Giles on the downside of his career. Giles turned out to be a solid singles hitter and drew a lot of walks. But he was never the home run hitter he was at Pittsburgh.
Bruce Bochy was reviled by the local fans for making bone head managerial decisions. The truth was that he was hampered by a cheap skate general management that paid "sunshine dollars" to aging players like pitcher Fernando Valenzuela. Within two years after he left San Diego (or was invited to look for another job) Bochy managed the San Francisco Giants to a World Series Championship. The trade of homeboy and fan favorite Adrian Gonzalez to the talent rich Boston Red Sox (Bosox) for some prospects did not sit well with Padre fans. The trade was engineered by former Bosox underling/Padre GM Jed Hoyer (now Chicago Cubs GM) to former Bosox GM Theo Epstein (now Chicago Cubs President of Baseball Operations). Crony baseballism--ya think? The latest act inspiring fan anger and future Fan apathy is letting All Star reliever Heath Bell sign with the Miami Marlins.
The Padres are always crying poverty while raising ticket prices. Unfortunately, good weather doesn't pay the bills or draw cash strapped people to the ballpark. The Padres are simply not willing to put out a good product by paying free agents competitively or by retaining good young ball players. But it's also a vicious circle because local San Diego employers are unwilling to pay their employees competitive wages. Why? Because the good weather in San Diego is payment enough for living here, i.e., "sunshine dollars." That leaves little discretionary income for expensive diversions like Major League Baseball or NFL games.
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Sunshine dollars is the curse by the political and elite classes that rule the "America's Finest Tourist Plantation" as one public artwork proclaimed before the 1988 Super Bowl. But it's not only the undocumented worker that's underpaid, because except for the local elite, most all San Diego area workers are also paid with "sunshine dollars." Part II discusses the crap management style of the local governments in the San Diego area.
