But They Tried Hard

Well, the Patriots are going to the Super Bowl and the Chargers are going home.

In other news, it's cold in Green Bay.

Yeah, this was a real tough game to call.

But, you know, this Chargers season will still be considered a smashing success around here.

Why? Because we ask very little of our sports teams in this town. This is a town that goes wild when the Padres win the NL West, as if being champions of the most overrated division in baseball is something to boast about.

So the Chargers playing in the AFC championship game against what may be The Best Team Ever might be reason to build a statue of Norv Turner.

Well, if he weren't Norv Turner.

Which brings us to Sunday's game. We're not going to bore ourselves with the details of the Chargers' 21-12 loss, but what if Norv would have been a little more aggressive? If Norv would have gone for it on just one of those fourth-down calls in the first half, rather than settle for a field goal, it would have completely changed the tone of the game. If the Chargers would've scored a touchdown on one of those first-half drives, they would've come out with more confidence and aggressiveness in the second half.

But, of course, it didn't happen. And the tone of the game was set. As the game went on, it became clear that Philip Rivers had a better chance of scoring with Gisele Bundchen than he did of reaching the Patriots' end zone.

Many Charger fans were left wondering about LaDainian Tomlinson. He wasn't even listed on the injury report by the end of the week, and heading into the game, LT insisted he would be fine. But if you were five minutes late arriving to your favorite sports bar Sunday, you missed all of LT's contributions to this game. If this were a TV show -- and let's face it, that's what the NFL is -- LT's performance Sunday would be called a cameo appearance.

But at least LT should be in good condition to start filming more commercials any day now.

Meanwhile, it seems Nick Hardwick is whining about Patriots defensive lineman Richard Seymour. Nice to see the Chargers are still able to accept defeat with dignity and class.

We Love San Diego!

It's been a while since we've featured The Autumn Reeser Pic of the Day. Somehow, we neglected one of our favorites here at MLT.

But with the Chargers in the AFC championship game, the timing feels right to turn our attention to former Carlsbad High cheerleader Autumn Reeser. 

Why? Why not?

We think we might have read somewhere that Autumn Reeser is a Charger fan. But even if she's not, who cares?

And to the Patriots fans, good luck finding a woman this attractive in Boston.

Let's Get Physical

The Chargers-Patriots AFC championship game is just days away, and New England suddenly finds itself facing a potential distraction with one of its star players.

No, Tom Brady didn't knock up another Hollywood starlet -- as far as we know.

Randy Moss is in the news Wednesday, denying allegations from a Florida woman who claims Moss committed battery against her. The star receiver says the woman, whom he has known for 11 years, made the allegations in an effort to get money from him -- "six figures," as he put it.

"This young lady by no means is hurt. I didn't hurt her," Moss said.

So it comes down to another case of he said/she said.

Well, in this one, we tend to believe Moss.

Because, if you've ever watched Randy Moss play, you know he'll do anything to avoid physical contact.

Igor The Genius

You just knew somebody on the Chargers would say something stupid this week.

If you had Igor Olshansky in your Charger Stupidity Pool, congratulations.

Seems Igor got a little carried away, when talking about the Patriots after Sunday's upset win over the Colts. Said Olshansky: "Who? New England? Seriously, they're more worried than we are, I promise you. Believe me. They know what's up."

But this isn't the first time Igor's intelligence has been called into question.

Igor Olshansky ... Anthony Smith calling on Line 1 ...

As Good As It Gets

And by "As Good As It Gets," we mean: Enjoy it while it lasts, Charger fans, the victory celebrations end here.

Only one team will be celebrating after next Sunday's AFC championship game, and it ain't gonna be the Bolts.

Sunday's 28-24 playoff victory over the Colts was amazing on several levels, not the least of which was that the Chargers won despite a series of highly questionable calls by the officials that had conspiracy theorists salivating.

So if the Colts were beneficiaries of some head-scratching gifts by the officiating crew, what do you think the refs are going to do when Tom Brady and the Patriots line up against the Bolts? Seriously, why even bother playing this thing?

But getting back to the Colts for a second ... are these guys the most overrated frauds in recent memory? We were going to call this the Chargers' only legitimate victory of the season over a quality opponent, but we're not sure Indy qualifies. The Colts somehow managed to look just like all those putrid AFC West teams the Chargers beat up on this season. 

As for the Patriots, there's one simple reason the Chargers cannot win this game -- Bill Belichick. There's no way Bill Belichick will allow his resume′ to be stained by an AFC championship loss to Norv Freakin' Turner. 

And at this point, there's no chance of the Patriots taking the Chargers lightly. Belichick, the man who invented fleece outerwear, will have his players believing Billy Volek is John Elway before the week is over.

This AFC championship game also will provide an interesting gathering of convicted cheaters. Perhaps Bill Belichick* and Shawne Merriman* can get together before the game and compare asterisks. Perhaps Joey Greco can perform the ceremonial coin flip.