by Jeff Creps on January 29, 2010
Padres brass gathers at a Petco Park town hall meeting (Photo by Steve Adler)
On a chilly Thursday night, the Padres opened up the gates of Petco Park to fans for an Open House and Town Hall style meeting. Although the number of guests was expected to be around 1,000, more than 3,00o fans showed up for free hot dogs, the opportunity to meet players and a chance to roam the grass in centerfield.
Much of the Padres brass was in attendance. Owner and CEO Jeff Moorad led the evening flanked by GM Jed Hoyer, COO Tom Garfinkel and manager Bud Black.
Their message for the night was consistent and confident: we are here to win.
“We know you are counting on us,” Moorad said from the first base line podium. “Let me reassure you, this ownership has a plan and a passion for winning.”
Even with the recent struggles of the Padres franchise the fans were clear that they expect a winner. When the forum was opened to fan questions the topics ranged from a potential All Star Game at Petco, to a possible trade involving Adrian Gonzalez.
Hoyer responded: “We will never do anything that doesn’t make the team better.” Continue Reading →
by Craig on January 18, 2010
This is a time that I’m very glad not to be working in my old profession, sports talk radio. Oh, it’s an easy day to be a sports talk host, that’s to be sure. Open up the phone lines, throw out a couple of points, and then start punching buttons and listening to idiots wail. Grunt in semi-agreement and move on to the next caller.
Today’s the day when every jerk crawls out from under their couch to make a proclamation: I will NEVER go to a Chargers game again until…(fill in the blank). You must FIRE (usually the coach, but fill in the blank). We (meaning the Chargers) were UNPREPARED! We were OUTCOACHED! Get rid of (fill in half the roster’s names here) IMMEDIATELY!
Well, I’m not firing anyone in this column, or making any sweeping generalizations. Here’s what Sunday’s 17-14 loss to the Jets boils down to as far as I’m concerned:
Boys, you let us down. All of us. Fans, supporters, followers, season-ticket holders, coaches, other players, even those of us who chronicle your efforts in various media.
That’s all that happened on Sunday afternoon. The team was inspired defensively, their offense was hampered by an excellent Jets defense, but the loss came between the ears of the men wearing lightning bolts on their helmets. Continue Reading →
