inherently different

Archive for January, 2008

In my family, there are few things that are universally agreed on. We disagree on politics, religion, philosophy, and economics and those are just the things we disagree on before breakfast. But the one thing we all agree on is that the San Diego Chargers are the most exciting football team to ever grace god’s green Earth.

While my family has followed the Chargers since 1970, it wasn’t until around 1977 that we became fanatical about our belief.

See, in my family, Sunday was a day of worship and Our Lady of Guadalupe Cathedral and the San Diego Chargers often battled over our souls. When I was younger and forced to attend Church during an away game, I often spent a good portion of the service praying that Fouts, Joiner, Jefferson, and Winslow would find a way to win. For years my prayers went unanswered, but eventually, God himself started to believe in the passing game perfected by Don Coryell.

Of course, the late 70s brought touchdowns galore and a few trips to the playoffs, but the one thing that eluded the super Chargers was a ticket to the big dance.

It wasn’t until the early 90s that whatever forces that control the 300 feet between goal posts decided that enough was enough. Head coach Bobby Ross and pudgy, but crafty veteran quarterback Stan Humphries answered the prayers that had up until then been widely ignored.

Throughout 1994, the Chargers finally found a way to win when they weren’t supposed to. That had been one of the biggest knocks on them as a team. They beat Miami, then Pittsburgh to get an invitation to the Superbowl for the first time in franchise history. Unfortunately, the god of football still didn’t think they were worthy enough to win it all and they were soundly defeated by the San Francisco Forty-Niners in January of 1995.

While the Chargers made a few more trips to the playoffs in the 90s, they went quite some time before they won another playoff game. In fact, it wasn’t until this season that they finally shook whatever bad luck prevented them from putting it all together enough to get back to the playoffs. The 2007 Chargers won a close game against Tennessee, then came back the next week and upset the Indianapolis Colts to get an invitation to the AFC Championship game for the first time since 1994. Almost no one believed they could do it.

They started slow, and most people discounted them when they began the season 1-3. Most experts picked them to lose as many as 10 games. All season long they defied expectations and won while the experts didn’t believe they had what it took to win the tough games. And here they are…

Despite their various shortcomings, they found a way to win games they had no right winning. If there is any real justice in this world, this weekend the Chargers will continue to defy expectations and beat what many people believe is the greatest team ever assembled. The Chargers are 14 point underdogs and most experts believe there is no way in hell that San Diego can cowboy up and beat the New England Patriots on Sunday. Of course, no one thought San Diego would be in a position to be in the AFC championship game, much less win any playoff game so perhaps the experts don’t know everything. I know that San Diego is ready to win the big one… I just hope the god of football finally agrees with me.

Joachim “Johnny” Sanchez backed into the darkness of the covered alcove as two guards making their hourly rounds passed his hiding place. Under normal conditions he wouldn’t bother, but his most recent checkup revealed how far the disease ravaging his body had spread. When this news reached his daughter, she raised more sand than he thought she was capable of. If he was to enjoy his beloved cigars he had no choice but to hide from even his own guards. Justine had somehow convinced even the low men who patrolled the grounds around his hacienda to inform her immediately if they caught him sucking in anything other than the air he needed to survive.

Joachim had spent the better part of his 70 years dealing in the business of human misery. To complain about his current lot in life was not something he even considered. Just as he had been a plague upon the lives of thousands, his life was now plagued by an unseen demon that ate slowly from his lungs and justice at last was being served. He accepted this final fate as others had accepted their fates when they crossed his path. He was ready to die. He had made his peace with death even as his daughter struggled to convince him that conquering the disease with proper medical attention was possible. Long before his personal physician had told him that there was little that could be done, Joachim had decided that he would do nothing to avoid a meeting his maker to settle old accounts. He knew he deserved to die and cancer was better than a bullet to the back of the head. The more he suffered, the more likely his actions in this life might be forgiven in the next.

While it no longer amazed him how wealthy and powerful one man could become through trafficking in drugs and prostitution, the secret passions that fueled his success always did. Human misery had enriched his life and the irony was not lost on him.

Stepping further into the shadows he pulled out his leather humidor. Closing his eyes, he opened the case and pulled in a deep breath, sucking in the sweet, woodsy aroma of the Cuban cigars he preferred. Cutting the cigar quickly he chanced one more look out from his hiding place. Satisfied he wasn’t being watched, Joachim backed as deeply into the alcove as he could and struck a match.

As he brought the flame to the cigar, cold steel pricked the fleshy spot at the base of the back of his skull. Even at 70, though his other senses were failing, his ears were still sharp. The voice that whispered in his ear was controlled, businesslike and vaguely familiar.

“With your death, I put paid to what is owed.”

While Johnny considered these last words, the knife pushed its way into his brain and wiped out every thought from his head, save one… “I’m free.”

The Recipe For Ed

3 parts Sexiness 2 parts Beauty 1 part Class Splash of Ingenuity Chug!

What’s the Recipe for Your Personality?

Clearly this test is one of the most insightful blogger defining quizzes ever developed… how can something so completely irrational be so completely accurate? I tell you, I am amazed this quiz came back as accurate as it was…

swiped unapologetically from Nina.

I doubt I could be a bigger nerd than I am lately, but I do try. The red queen allowed me to get a blackberry curve and the inherent nerd factor that used to define me has now increased exponentially.

For those of you who know my real email address, I am no longer able to say, “I was away from my computer so I couldn’t respond to your email.” My clients and business associates can now instantly contact me and I can disappoint them in real time.

I have always been ahead of the… er, um.. curve… technologically speaking and this is the first time a technology has come late to my hands. Aside from losing my built-in excuse for not replying quickly, I do like the blackberry for what it is worth. Nice little gadget if you are into nice little gadgets.