And the Norv Watch Has Officially Begun

Norv Turner, meet the hot seat ... hot seat, Norv Turner.

In a weird game that the Chargers had no business winning -- they were trailing by nine points in the fourth quarter -- they managed to find themselves just 2 seconds away from a victory over the Carolina Panthers.

But Jake Delhomme's 14-yard touchdown pass to Dante Rosario on the final play of the game gave Carolina a 26-24 win Sunday, leaving the season-opening crowd at Qualcomm Stadium stunned. 

The expression on Norv's face as he squinted into the sun to try to see the result of the final play was priceless. Thanks to the isolation camera that Fox-TV used on that play, we got to see Norv's expression go from confused to hopeful to disgusted, all in a matter of seconds. And the final look that Norv exhibited as he started to walk across the field was one of perplexed resignation. It was a look that said, 'Hmm, where did I park my car? I could go for a nice turkey sandwich right about now.'

Carolina marched 68 yards on 11 plays over the final 2:27. And if that's not enough to disgust Charger fans, this little nugget might send them over the edge: The Panthers' winning score was their only offensive touchdown of the game.

Maybe it's time to revisit this remedy for what ails the Chargers.

Other notes from a busy Sunday of sports

• Nice timing by the Padres. Chris Young had a perfect game through 7 2/3 innings Sunday, but because it was Week 1 of the NFL season, nobody was paying attention to what was eventually a 10-1 Padres win at Milwaukee. Typical Padres, they can't do anything right. If you're going to flirt with a perfect game, perhaps it would be a good idea to do so on a day when people might actually be watching. If this game would've occurred on any other day, it might have helped sell some tickets on the Padres' upcoming homestand. It's difficult enough to hold the attention span of the typical Padre fan, but trying to do so in competition with a Chargers game is just a futile exercise.
  
• Hey, we hear there's this new sports-themed restaurant, called "CBS Scene," at Gillette Stadium, home of the New England Patriots. It's too bad CBS couldn't find time to promote the thing a little more during Sunday's games. After about the 12th plug, in which CBS showed video of the sparkling new place and recited numerous details about it, we were wondering what's next -- a detailed listing of the total number of restroom urinals at CBS Scene?