Helping A.J.'s Kids

Amid the hysteria over the Chula Vista Little Leaguers, everything else kind of got lost in the shuffle over the weekend.
But we did watch some of the Chargers exhibition game Saturday night, and for a few moments we thought maybe Labor Day weekend was off to an early start.
On Channel 8's telecast of the preseason thriller at Atlanta, viewers were subjected to numerous -- almost constant -- scrolling on the bottom of the screen, reminding fans that tickets are still available for the Bolts' home opener against Baltimore. The scroll included the Chargers' ticket order hotline, and it also directed viewers to the team's web site to buy tix.
It gave the whole telecast a distinct telethon flavor.
At any moment, we expected Tony Orlando to make an appearance.
But compared to three hours of exhibition football, that wouldn't be such a bad thing.

Blue Man Group

The most amazing thing about Chula Vista's Little League World Series title is that a San Diego County team won a championship while wearing powder blue.
Something this team has never done.
Neither have these guys.
Nor this group.

Padres Finally Catch a Break

Chula Vista is one win away from the Little League World Series championship, and no one is happier than Dennis Morgigno.
Why?
As station manager of Channel 4 San Diego, Morgigno is the head honcho of Padres telecasts. And thanks to a quirk in the schedule, Saturday's Padres game at Florida was not a TV game, meaning no head-to-head competition against the kids from Chula Vista.
And there's more good luck for Dennis on Sunday, as the Padres' telecast will be over, or nearly over, by the time Chula Vista's championship game against Taiwan goes on the air.
When you watch any Little League World Series game on TV, the parents in the stands can be more entertaining than the action on the field. You'll see folks cheering when their kid does something great and you'll see moms and dads letting out a sigh of relief over the realization that their youngster just managed to not embarrass himself out there.
So Morgigno, like a nervous Little League parent, can breathe a sigh of relief that his baby -- the Padres games on TV -- has saved itself from some big embarrassment this weekend.
Thanks to that aforementioned fortuitous scheduling, the Padres miraculously avoided the indignity of getting pounded in the TV ratings by a bunch of 12-year-olds. And there's no doubt, the Chula Vista kids would've hammered the Padres in the ratings -- probably double what a Padres game would get -- had they gone head to head this weekend.
Then again, as lackluster as this dreadful Padres team is, we're surprised its telecasts ever get higher ratings than a test pattern.

It's All Just a Bad Dream

We've been asked why we haven't written anything on the Jake Peavy trade.
And our response is: what Jake Peavy trade?
We refuse to believe it's true.
We refuse to believe that Padres general manager Kevin Towers, who answers to the colorful nickname "KT," would actually pull the trigger on such a trade. KT couldn't be that stupid, could he? Trading a Cy Young Award winner who's still two years shy of his 30th birthday? Nah, even the Padres can't be this dumb.
It has to be just a bad dream.
We've made our fondness for Peavy well known here the last few years, so this is not something we can come to terms with very easily.
So, until we see Peavy pitching in a different uniform, we'll be clinging to the notion that it's just one horrible nightmare.

The Ted Ball Era

The Padres honored Ted Leitner on Friday night, celebrating his 30 years of calling the team's games on the radio.

On occasions such as this, media types will use words like "controversial" to describe Leitner.

And for the younger Padre fans out there, who wouldn't fathom the concept of listening to a game on the radio, the reaction likely was "Ted who?"

But seriously, we don't understand why Leitner still carries the "controversial" label. Perhaps in the 1970s and '80s, his schtick was somewhat controversial or edgy -- or what passes for controversial and edgy in this town. But the present-day version of Leitner is about as edgy as a bowl of jello.

And it's sad, really, because he used to be one of the few worth listening to around here. But now he has become just another Padre cheerleader/apologist in a town overflowing with such types. One of Leitner's cute, little gimmicks is to refer to the ballclub as "my Padres" when they're winning and "your Padres" when they're losing. Oh yeah, that's edgy.

Ooooooooh, he called them "your Padres" -- better write a nasty letter to station management!

How controversial can you be when you're the guy the team has chosen for years to emcee its opening day ceremonies?

Perhaps Leitner has merely mellowed with old age, resulting in a more dull version of himself. Or perhaps it's due to the fact that the Padres currently supply his only full-time paycheck.

"We Want Something Else! We Want Something Else!"

The big news out at Chargers training camp is that Antonio Cromartie has been sent to the principal's office for posting on Twitter without the expressed written consent of A.J. Smith.

The Twitter aspect of the story is mildly amusing, but Twitter is so yesterday. The only people who still bother with Twitter are 12-year-olds and media entities desperately trying to appeal to young people.

The part of this story that has us intrigued is Cromartie's complaint about the food at the team's complex. Our first reaction was that maybe the dude has been watching too many "M*A*S*H" reruns. Our second reaction was, what are the chances the dude has ever seen "M*A*S*H"?

Anyway, had he not been busted by team officials, maybe Cromartie's next "tweet" would've been: "I've eaten a river of liver and an ocean of fish. I've eaten so much fish, I'm ready to grow gills; I've eaten so much liver, I can only make love if I'm smothered in bacon and onions." Of course, that tweet would be done in difficult-to-decipher Tweet-speak short-hand, and we don't have the stomach to attempt what that might look like.

But the more we think about this, the more we think Cromartie might have a point about the food. After all, we are what we eat. And if the organization continues to feed the team crap, well, should we be surprised when they play like crap and under-achieve?

Perhaps Cromartie's solution will be to order take-out more often. We hear Adam's Ribs in Chicago comes highly recommended.

But for the love of all that is holy, don't forget the cole slaw.