OK, the great experiment was fun for a month, but now it's time to get back to reality and find out what we need to know by the end of the year.
No, we're not talking about Arnold Schwarzenegger as governor.
We're talking about Doug Flutie as starting quarterback. Doug did win one game and pump some excitement into the Chargers' desultory season. But he's 1-3 and not getting any younger. He helped lose a winnable game Sunday with two costly fourth-quarter turnovers. That's been as much Flutie's NFL pedigree as the daring dashes and nimble scrambles to buy time.
Let's face it, time ran out on the Chargers' season a while ago. The same goes for Flutie.
But there's still time – four games against beatable teams – to make some decisions about Drew Brees and his place in the Chargers future.
For that matter, the same can probably be said for coach Marty Schottenheimer. Four games to show he can still energize and teach, and maybe pull out a few wins. As Schottenheimer made clear after Sunday's near-miss against the Chiefs, he's not into moral victories. "Losing is not acceptable, to me, or anybody in that locker room," he said forcefully.
That means it's time to put Flutie back in the bullpen and activate Brees, and see if he learned anything in his four weeks studying from the sidelines. And that way, Flutie's still available for a late-in-the-game change of pace.
John Lennon said it best: All we are saying is give Brees a chance.
It's not too early to lobby your favorite baseball writer to vote the Padres ticket on this year's Hall of Fame ballot. (Veteran members of the Baseball Writers Association of America vote.) This year's list may have set a record, with no less than six players who saw action as Padres – but starred elsewhere. New to this year's just-released ballot are Joe Carter, Randy Myers and Kevin Mitchell. Holdovers who previously failed to get 75 percent of the vote (needed for induction) are Steve Garvey, Goose Gossage and Fernando Valenzuela.
Sure, it would be easy to go along with the majority and vote for first-time nominees Paul Molitor and Dennis Eckersley. But think how much more original an all-Pads ballot would be.
Short stops: The San Diego State men's basketball team gets off to a promising start, comes home from a good showing at the Maui Invitational, and plays a 2 p.m. Sunday game at the same time the Chargers are playing at the Q. Who does their scheduling – the Montreal Expos? ... It's unfortunate that Wednesday's San Diego State-USD basketball pivoted on a technical foul. It's also surprising, because San Diegan Dave Libbey, the referee who called a technical on USD coach Brad Holland, has been one of the best college basketball officials on the West Coast for two decades, even working Final Fours. He's known for an even temperament. ... Shopping in Petco this week, we noticed a rack of Padres shirts, hats and memorabilia for sale, so they're apparently taking this partnership seriously. Does this mean we'll be able to buy dog food and and cat shampoo at Padres games?
