For those who love sports, there's at least one team you've rooted for your entire life. It could be a basketball, football or baseball team. The one organization you devoted yourself to being a fan for life. Maybe you chose that team because of your favorite player, location or family influence. Every time you watch that team play, you get a rush of intensified emotions. Each season, you live through plenty of good and bad moments on game day. Fanbases are tested over the years with loyalty of sticking with a team. Well, a curve-ball (no pun intended) was thrown at me when my favorite football team relocated.
It's nearly been almost two years since Los Angeles (formerly known as San Diego) Chargers moved to a new city. The change has left many fans shattered and broken. The city of San Diego feels different without their beloved Chargers. To this day, I can still recall hearing the news break out about owner Dean Spanos choosing to relocate the team. Then all the viral videos surfaced across the media with fans throwing their gear in the trash and burning jerseys on the streets. Most of the fanbase felt demoralized having the Chargers leave "America's Finest City" after 56 years.
Even though I disagree with the move, I am a Chargers fan forever. I've spent a big portion of my life living in San Diego (originally I'm from Palm Springs, CA). Over half of my entire family resides in San Diego. Over the years when I would visit family, I had the blessing attending many Chargers games on Sundays at Qualcomm (now SDCCU) stadium. I am passionate for all of my favorite teams, but for the Chargers, that passion is amplified and charged up (pun intended).
Each game has me on the edge of my seat. The team frequently tries to come back from behind in the second-half which contributes to nervousness, stress and I'm pretty sure overall bad health for me. Yet I can't deny how sweet those victories tasted over the years when the Bolts found a way to win. To San Diego fans I probably sound disgusting right? How could I possibly still root for the Chargers after the way they left? You're likely wondering if I'm some kind of heartless robot that felt no emotion when the team left San Diego.
Trust me when I say that it hurt me just as much as the next person. I honestly cried for a couple days. I tucked away my gear into the deepest parts of my closet. I questioned my loyalty of whether to just give up on the Chargers. I started to reminisce on all the memories I had associated with the team. My heart was crushed into a million pieces. I just knew that even though something felt broken, it could be fixed. I wasn't weak, I was strong. My mindset flipped from negative to positive. I loved my Chargers and was not about to let some owner's decision ruin a team I've believed in my entire life.
There is no doubt it sucks not having the Chargers in San Diego. I wish I still lived in a convenient location where I used to be only 10-15 minutes away from the stadium. Now if I want to watch a game, I have to travel two hours away. A bit of a sacrifice, but worth it. Despite the fanbase being divided up, I'm still holding on to what I love in the Chargers. I view this situation the same way I think about the current presidential administration of the United States. I may respectfully disagree with many of the positions the President has echoed, but that does not ruin all the things I still love about being this great country with my patriotism.
Let's not forget that the Chargers are not the only franchise to relocate at some point in their history. There are some sports teams arguably bigger than the Chargers will ever be (Raiders, Dodgers, Lakers, Rams, Warriors, Giants, etc.) that have moved to other areas and remain intact with strong fanbases. Why are the Chargers chosen as the one team people bash on for the move? Let me be very clear that I am not defending Dean Spanos by any means. Its just ridiculous to me on the amount of hate the Chargers have received yet no one blinks an eye for all the other teams that moved. I think maybe fans are lashing out at the team because of the information available on the media. Who knows, but regardless the decision has happened and can't be undone.
I chose to remain loyal to my team. They still have the same players. The Chargers still wear the same colors on their uniforms. No management is going to scare me away from being a fan. I will take the hardest road for this team. It's just not the same without rooting for the Chargers. There's just a part of me that stays faithful. I can't change what other people feel. I only have the ability to make that change in myself.
Luckily, through my journalism major, I've had some wonderful opportunities. In recent months I've volunteered with the Associated Press and work with one of their main sports photographers Gregory Bull. He's shot photos for the Olympics, NFL and other sports venues across the globe. Over the summer and throughout the course of this year, Bull invited me to both pre-season and regular season games for the Los Angeles Chargers. So I've been hanging out on game days at the StubHub Center in Carson watching games directly on the field (thank you, Greg).
As I said before, I am a Chargers fan for life. People will talk and say what they want but I stay devoted to my team. Nothing will take away from what they mean to me. Every season is new and exciting. I'm just glad to still play a part in it all as a fan.
