Chargers Fans' Exasperation And SuperBowls - Some Facts Paint A Tough Picture

[biggestfan]

Originally Posted by Prestigious5150

We have had our heartbreaks but I'm hard pressed to find any team that shot themselves in the foot more than we have. Sometimes you make it to the right place but run into the wrong team (Super Bowl XXIX). And other times you just don't get it done. In 2006 we had the best team in the NFL by a wide margin. We dominated the Pats and ended up shooting ourselves in the foot. The same thing happened when we went 13-3 and lost to a Jets team we should have handled. Its like nothing ever breaks just right for us.

I still feel alot of it has to with with leadership. We lost two winnable games under two different coaching staffs. We lack the player leadership. We don't have the Ray Lewis Brian Urlacher Charles Woodson types that coach the players on the field and in the locker room.

[pacstud22]

Most of you guys are doing a good job of keeping this a stand alone thread. Please dissuade and/or report hijackers and spammers who are determined to see this thread merged into the Norv/AJ OmniThread.

Thanks.

[LKincheloe]

Originally Posted by marion butts

so youd rather be a team that has no talent and no chance to make the superbowl year in and year out or youd rather be a team that has a chance to make it to the superbowl but doesnt...or does it matter? to me it doesnt matter, though i think right now id rather be a fan of the 4-4 chargers than the 1-7 chiefs even if that means not having a chance to brag about my teams superbowl IV win.

These are our only two choices? Talk about setting your sights low. How about a perennial contender like the Steelers or Patriots?

[LongTimeOCBolts]

Originally Posted by Totally Bolted

Outstanding post MB. Perhaps the Post of the Month.

Perspective. The proper one makes a big difference.

I think that's ridiculous. What makes this the "proper" perspective versus the original one that I posted. Only one other team in the NFL has a drought worse than ours that does not have multiple SB appearances, or SB wins, or both. (The juggernaut Lions).

That is the "proper" perspective to explain why the fans have become extremely anxious.

Sheesh.

[LongTimeOCBolts]

Originally Posted by Prestigious5150

We have had our heartbreaks but I'm hard pressed to find any team that shot themselves in the foot more than we have. Sometimes you make it to the right place but run into the wrong team (Super Bowl XXIX). And other times you just don't get it done. In 2006 we had the best team in the NFL by a wide margin. We dominated the Pats and ended up shooting ourselves in the foot. The same thing happened when we went 13-3 and lost to a Jets team we should have handled. Its like nothing ever breaks just right for us.

Agree completely. This was the other point of my post. Not only are we second-to-last in SB appearances (if you factor in recent history), we also have had the talent to do SO much better, and have found every conceivable manner to avoid the SuperBowl . . . ..

Also, as another posted, and as I meant to include in the original, our teams' talents have included so many pro-bowlers ----- eleven (11) in one year.

It cannot help but be frustrating to the fans given all the factors described above.

[marion butts]

Originally Posted by LKincheloe

These are our only two choices? Talk about setting your sights low. How about a perennial contender like the Steelers or Patriots?

well of course ideally...if i could switch teams, i would obviously choose a perennial contender/dynasty with a ton of super bowl rings. thats not who we are. That sucks.

[marion butts]

Originally Posted by LongTimeOCBolts

I think that's ridiculous. What makes this the "proper" perspective versus the original one that I posted. Only one other team in the NFL has a drought worse than ours that does not have multiple SB appearances, or SB wins, or both. (The juggernaut Lions).

That is the "proper" perspective to explain why the fans have become extremely anxious.

Sheesh.

i just think youre setting the criteria to fit your needs. If you were unbiased and the 32 teams were sitting in front of you and were told to rank them from greatest franchise to worst, i seriously doubt the chargers would be ranked #31.

Ill ask you. what is the real difference between the falcons franchise getting to a superbowl in 1998 and the chargers franchise getting to the superbowl in 1994? Or the titans/oilers going in 1999...does this mean they have a prouder franchise than the falcons, than the chargers?

By regular season record we are ranked 17th in winning percentage. We are over .500 as a franchise although barely. The browns overall have a better winning percentage but of course that includes pre superbowl era wins. So im guessing in the superbowl era we have the best record of any team without a ring except the vikings, but you say we are worse than them because the vikings have made it to the superbowl more often than us.

so basically your argument is We suck as a franchise because we are a good team but cant get to a superbowl. Especially over the last 20 years (though i would say 8) because our team had a lot of probowlers and shouldve made it to some superbowls. and that makes us the worst team in the NFL when it comes to the superbowl era (when you eliminate any expansion team or any other team without a ring that has gotten there more recently even if said team has had a worse overall franchise) aside from the lions.

bottom line is it doesnt matter. we havent won a ring. We had a great opportunity in 2006 and we blew it. Id rather be a charger fan than a lot of other teams. Other teams have had just as much heartbreak and just as many talented teams underwhelm when it counted most and leave their own fans exasperated. Or the teams just have been flat out awful for so long, the fans are exasperated about that.

We all want a superbowl win. I think frustration over the past 2 years is at an all time high because we let some chances slip through our fingers, due to bad luck or bad play. I just think youre exaggerating how bad the chargers are. we are not #31. Your criteria is subjective. You have a right to be exasperated. But the chargers are not unique in this respect.

[BoltFanBo]

Originally Posted by thumper300zx

See also: All San Diego Sports outside of a defunct indoor soccer league.

Fact like, the Padres are the only team to never have a no hitter, but have been no-hit a bunch of times. They have been to the World Series twice, but both times faced teams that could not be beat.

See also: My entire sports fan life outside of soccer. The Sockers win like 10 championships and then I move to Utah (nearly 20 years ago) and their start up MLS teams wins a Championship in a matter of years. But the Jazz pretty much follow San Diego's suit as my major professional sports Basketball team.

This is so true, once you add in the inept nature of all SD sports teams, college football and BB up until lately, Padres, etc. San Diego has had no major championships for my entire 46 years of life. Sockers and the Gulls have been the only championship teams. Both on a much lower level. The OP mentions Detroit and NY both have had championships at other sports to offset their lacking in the NFL. It's damn hard to be a die hard SD sports fan.

[LongTimeOCBolts]

Originally Posted by marion butts

i just think youre setting the criteria to fit your needs.

If you were unbiased and the 32 teams were sitting in front of you and were told to rank them from greatest franchise to worst, i seriously doubt the chargers would be ranked #31.

Ill ask you. what is the real difference between the falcons franchise getting to a superbowl in 1998 and the chargers franchise getting to the superbowl in 1994? Or the titans/oilers going in 1999...does this mean they have a prouder franchise than the falcons, than the chargers?

By regular season record we are ranked 17th in winning percentage. We are over .500 as a franchise although barely. The browns overall have a better winning percentage but of course that includes pre superbowl era wins. So im guessing in the superbowl era we have the best record of any team without a ring except the vikings, but you say we are worse than them because the vikings have made it to the superbowl more often than us.

so basically your argument is We suck as a franchise because we are a good team but cant get to a superbowl. Especially over the last 20 years (though i would say 8) because our team had a lot of probowlers and shouldve made it to some superbowls. and that makes us the worst team in the NFL when it comes to the superbowl era (when you eliminate any expansion team or any other team without a ring that has gotten there more recently even if said team has had a worse overall franchise) aside from the lions.

bottom line is it doesnt matter. we havent won a ring. We had a great opportunity in 2006 and we blew it. Id rather be a charger fan than a lot of other teams. Other teams have had just as much heartbreak and just as many talented teams underwhelm when it counted most and leave their own fans exasperated. Or the teams just have been flat out awful for so long, the fans are exasperated about that.

We all want a superbowl win. I think frustration over the past 2 years is at an all time high because we let some chances slip through our fingers, due to bad luck or bad play. I just think youre exaggerating how bad the chargers are. we are not #31. Your criteria is subjective. You have a right to be exasperated. But the chargers are not unique in this respect.

This entirely, and I mean entirely, missed the point. You've set up many strawmen that I never said at all. For example, that we are worse than the Vikings. That's not what I said. My post was about SuperBowl history. They have four appearances, we have one. That's not "subjective." You said that my point was that "we suck as a franchise". Never said that, either.

The title of the thread, and the original post, stand on their own for what they said. Our SuperBowl lack of success (or even participation) surely has caused some of the impatience of the fan base. And as explained later, this is especially true due to the manner in which we have shot ourselves in the foot when we have had extremely talented teams.

Sure, you can make other arguments about the overall worth of the franchise -- but that's a different discussion.

[marion butts]

Originally Posted by LongTimeOCBolts

This entirely, and I mean entirely, missed the point. You've set up many strawmen that I never said at all. For example, that we are worse than the Vikings. That's not what I said. My post was about SuperBowl history. They have four appearances, we have one. That's not "subjective." You said that my point was that "we suck as a franchise". Never said that, either.

The title of the thread, and the original post, stand on their own for what they said. Our SuperBowl lack of success (or even participation) surely has caused some of the impatience of the fan base. And as explained later, this is especially true due to the manner in which we have shot ourselves in the foot when we have had extremely talented teams.

Sure, you can make other arguments about the overall worth of the franchise -- but that's a different discussion.

this is what you said

we have the worst SuperBowl history (factoring in appearances, wins, and recent drought) of every team in the NFL except for three expansion teams and the Lions. Factor out the expansion teams, and that leaves us looking down only at the Lions.

for some reason you think it matters if you lose your one superbowl in 1994 or 1999 or 2005 or 2008 or 1998. For some reason teams that have been a joke but went to zero or one superbowl and lost but with a shorter franchise history means we have a "worse superbowl history". For some reason you count the browns as an expansion franchise even though they were a football team from the beginning of the superbowl era until 1995 and never made a superbowl appearance and then again from 1999 to the present. For some reason, making 2 superbowls and losing both means your superbowl history is better as if had the chargers made a 2nd superbowl and lost youd feel better about our superbowl history.

the one thing i agree with is that we had chances, better chances than this year to make it to the superbowl and we didnt. I can also agree that our superbowl history is pretty awful and we are way overdue for another superbowl appearance and another superbowl win.

I also understand the exasperation you feel towards not winning one. Im a charger fan, i feel it too.