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Why Blackface Isn’t Funny and Other Halloween Tales

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By Doug Porter

A couple of football coaches from San Diego’s Serra High School have been in the news this week after photographs of them wearing blackface as part of their “Jamaican Bobsled Team” halloween costumes surfaced.

San Diego Unified School District officials have acknowledged “inappropriate activities” and are investigating the incident, which seems to have involved a non-school related party.

To nobody’s surprise the UT-San Diego has a letter to the editor today decrying the ‘political correctness’ of the situation.  Reader Jack Cohen opines, “The absolutely priggish administrator who said that we cannot tolerate the slightest insensitivity should be exiled to the next universe.”   [Read more…]

Who’s to Blame if the Bolts Bolt?

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In the quest for a new stadium, the public needs to meet the team at least part of the way.

By Andy Cohen

Last week, the venerable Chargers blog “Bolts from the Blue” ran a piece pondering the question of who will be primarily at fault if the team ends up leaving San Diego, its home since 1961, for the greener pastures of a new stadium in a new locale.  It’s an interesting question with few clear answers, but with plenty of blame to go around if the team does relocate.

Let’s be clear about something:  The Chargers cannot continue to play in Qualcomm Stadium indefinitely.  Contrary to popular belief driven primarily by civic pride, Qualcomm Stadium is the second worst stadium in the entire NFL, surpassed only by Oakland’s O.co Coliseum, which is truly a pit unmatched.  Not even Candlestick Park, which is scheduled to be replaced as of the beginning of the 2014 season with the new Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, comes anywhere close to being as awful as Qualcomm.  Candlestick at least has some charm to it.  It has some character; an intimate, festive atmosphere for fans.  The ‘Q’?  Not so much.   [Read more…]

Bolts’ Brass Must Decide on Mathews’ Future

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Chargers and SDSU football teams have given San Diego little to cheer about early in the 2013 season.

By Andy Cohen

So I’m breaking with my norm and reverting back to my roots. The 2013 football season is now in full swing, at the high school, college, and NFL levels. So today’s column is about football, and purely football.

The state of San Diego football at both the pro and major college level is a pretty sad one as I sit here and type this. And it’s depressing, because San Diego is one of the better football cities out there. We deserve better here; a better pro/college stadium, and better teams that the fan base can be proud to support.

But we’re being seriously shortchanged here in “America’s Finest City.” Our pro team is apparently back to its maddeningly foundering ways, and our FBS college team….well, as much as I love my Aztecs (and yes, I am biased and not at all afraid to admit it), what’s happening out there on the field of play is nothing short of embarrassing. I expect much better from this program at this point in the program’s post-Chuck Long development.

Can’t trust star RB

In the 2010, then General Manager AJ Smith traded up 16 spots in the first round to take Fresno State running back Ryan Matthews with the 12th overall pick in the NFL Draft. Matthews was talented to be sure, with plenty of speed and big play potential. Durability, however, was a major question mark. But then again, coming out of the University of Oklahoma, durability was a major question mark for Adrian Peterson, now of the Minnesota Vikings. That worked out OK, and the Chargers needed a feature back with the departure of the aging LaDainian Tomlinson. At the time, it seemed like a worthwhile gamble.   [Read more…]

Filner and Crappy Stadium Blamed for Chargers’ Loss

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By Doug Porter

There are a boatload of people who’ve declared their intention to run for Mayor of San Diego.

The Daily Fishwrap has hammered home the meme that ours is a city teetering on the edge of ruin following nine months of bullying and grabbing on the eleventh floor of city hall. Hotel executives are metaphorically scattered throughout the Gaslamp District with tin cups in hand trying stave off the looming economic disaster brought on by the former Mayor’s insistence that taxpayers be protected.

Into this power vacuum have stepped the San Diego Chargers, a professional football team owned by an ultra-wealthy family that believes it’s entitled to taxpayer assistance in building a new football stadium.

In case you haven’t noticed, there’s been a full court media press on over the last few days extolling the virtues of a recycled proposal for a downtown venue that would turn San Diego into a world class city overnight.  Former Mayor Jerry Sanders was on KUSI TV this morning saying, “We’ll find the Chargers a new stadium in the not-too-distant future, I predict.”

Yes indeedy, a new stadium will make everything okay.  Our long regional nightmare will be over.   [Read more…]

CicloSDias Recap: Streets for the People

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By Andy Hanshaw  / San Diego County Bicycle Coalition

As many of you know, CicloSDias happened on a recent Sunday, and call me biased, but it was a resounding success.

Bikes, joggers, skaters and people of all kinds started walking and rolling around 9:30 a.m. A little after 10 o’clock, councilmembers Marti Emerald and David Alvarez along with County Supervisor Dave Roberts and a few other event speakers addressed the growing crowd at Cherokee Point Elementary School to get attendees excited about this event. They speakers pointed out that everyone there was making history with this first-ever open-streets event for San Diego, and Marti Emerald even named it “CicloSDias Day” in District 9.   [Read more…]

CicloSDias San Diego – From Golden Hill to City Heights and Back

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Yesterday, Sunday, August 11th was CicloSDias in San Diego. Three friends and I – all on bikes – joined the celebrated 5.2 miles of open roads and streets just for bicycles and pedestrians, and we rode from Golden Hill, through North Park, over to City Heights – and back.

Weather was perfect, the streets were cleared of cars – except for the four that we counted along the way – and there was an enthusiastic turn-out for the event. Hundreds of San Diegans took part in the 6 hour free bike tour thr0ugh San Diego’s mid-city. Yes, hundreds – not the thousands that we wanted to see – came out. We wanted to see hordes on bikes – but were happy with what we saw and experienced.

Ever so often, there would be a few tents and the canopies of booths open to participants, some giving away gifts, others selling their bicycling-related products and services.
  [Read more…]

CicloSDias Comes to City Heights Sunday August 11

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Sunday August 11 is a big day for bicyclists and a particularly big day for bicyclists in the Mid-City communities. Four years in the planning, “CicloSDias will be the city of San Diego’s first open street event” according to Sam Ollinger. Sam is the Executive Director and Board President of BikeSD. Sam goes on to say:

With this first event, San Diego will join the ranks of 90 other cities around the U.S. in an attempt to showcase an apparently wary San Diego that no disaster will befall our fine city if she opens her street to people and closes it off to multi-ton motor vehicles for a few hours on a Sunday.

This idea to introduce the city’s residents to the notion of reclaiming the public commons and experiencing it without fear of bodily harm that may come in the form of an automobile barreling toward them at high speed…

  [Read more…]

Our Promising Bicycling Future in San Diego

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Don’t Miss
CicloSDias
August 11th

By Andy Hanshaw 

Ciclovía – a familiar term to any bicycling enthusiast, where popular roads turn car-less for people to play and literally rediscover their streets.

These open-street celebrations have trademarked bike-friendly cities around the world since the first Ciclovía was hosted in Bogotá, Colombia, in 1976, when the town closed one road to all cars and opened them for pedestrian use. Since then, the trend of people enjoying their streets without the stress of car traffic has made its way around the globe and into major cities where residents embrace these opportunities – in Bogotá, the Ciclovía still remains a city tradition every Sunday.

Since its conception in the late 70s, Ciclovías have swept the world, taking over main cities in Australia, New Zealand, Peru, Argentina, Canada and now, the United States is pedaling along. Turnout for Los Angeles’ “CicLAvia” has been recorded at 180,000 people, while San Francisco and Portland regularly draw 30,000-40,000 with their “Sunday Streets” and “Sunday Parkways.”.

We are finally getting in on the action, announcing San Diego’s first open streets celebration in history.   [Read more…]

YALLA: Using Sports to Connect Refugee Children, Families, to New Home

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By Dave Rice

Dajon and Yousif, two participants in YALLA San Diego’s Peace Builders Soccer League, greet me as I’m walking back to the grass field behind Meridian Elementary School in Granite Hills, a neighborhood in the eastern part of El Cajon. I’m here with a handful of others to take a tour of the program, guided by Mark Kabban, the program’s founder and program director, who started YALLA as a way to reach out to San Diego’s extensive refugee youth population through soccer while also strengthening their chances of educational success.

Soccer is used as a hook to draw kids to the program, Kabban explains, though all participants in the Peace Builders recreational program as well as YALLA’s (Youth and Leaders Living Actively) competitive soccer clubs are also enrolled in the group’s tutoring and academic programs. The group serves as a “one stop shop,” providing tutoring as well as counseling services and English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) programs to both children and their parents.

The program has been a big success in the refugee community, says Kabban as we walk through the three soccer pitches that have been coned off and hosting matches throughout the morning – as the midday sun beats down only one of the three set up farthest from the school buildings is being used by the oldest group of kids that are out today. 200 elementary age students, plus another 60 in high school currently participate in the program, but there is a long waiting list. YALLA provides one teacher and one athletic coach for each 20 students, but even with a lot of part-time and volunteer staff their budget can only fill so much of a need.   [Read more…]

Olympic Bid is Perfect Opportunity to Address Chargers Stadium Quest

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Discussions should start now to plan for Olympic stadium, regardless of bid’s success.

By Andy Cohen

San Diego Mayor Bob Filner wants to bring the Olympics to San Diego. Actually, he wants to bring the Olympics to San Diego and Tijuana.

This is not exactly news if you follow local politics at all. Filner has been rather vocal about his desire to bring the 2024 games to America’s Finest City, and even more adamant about it being a bi-national effort.

“Within a week we will announce our bi-national committee, the chairs and the membership from both Tijuana and San Diego,” said Filner last week during his periodic “Pen and Paper” session with the local media in response to a question about his proposal. There are outlines and timelines drawn up already, there has been contact with the various Olympic Committees, drafts of logos, among other things. “It’s really been moving along,” said Filner.   [Read more…]

The Game (A Rhyme Shared Before the Showing of “The Other Dream Team,” a Basketball Documentary)

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By Ernie McCray

I don’t know where
the Regular Joe is with games
but I have lived to play all the games.
Hey, what can I say,
starting when I was but a babe,
I spent the greatest part of my childhood age
catching something
or knocking somebody down
or vice-versa,
copping a Heisman Trophy pose
and sidestepping some clown
who’s trying to run you down
so he can knock you down…   [Read more…]

Lawsuit Seeks to Shut Down Over The Line’s Boozin Beach Tournament; Preferential Treatment Claimed

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By Doug Porter

A non-profit group has filed suit against the City of San Diego, seeking to block approval of a special-event permit for the 60th Annual World Championship Over-The-Line Tournament (OTL), scheduled for two weekends in July.

FreePB.org, a group that in the past opposed the city’s alcohol ban on beaches, is saying that the permit approval process was illegal and therefore null and void until an environmental review is conducted.

Their opposition to the OTL tournament permit was triggered by the city’s rejection of a permit for a beach event called the Leisure Olympics. FreePB asked for many of the same concessions granted to OTL, including exemptions from San Diego’s beach booze ban that would allow for individuals to bring their own alcohol and purchase alcohol from vendors. They also vowed to impose exactly the same “safeguards” promised by OTL   [Read more…]

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