football

I'm not much of a fan...when it comes to sports with a high mortality rate that tend to invalid the majority of participants boxing is my poison of choice.

But childhood programming is hard to override, so I find myself tuning in whenever the Chargers are contenders late in the season (which has the extra benefit of insulating my fan's heart from the inevitable early-season doldrums).

My periodic fandom is helped by the team itself, which seems eternal- whatever the ownership or coaching regime, the Bolts can be counted on to combine a solid air attack with a pathetic defense. I can lost track of them for years at a time and it's like I never left. Getting caught up is never a problem because it's the same house with a new coat of paint.

I got hooked by attending games during the electrifying Air Coryell era, which was a time of yin/yang tension between the offense and defense: the former perennially leading the league and the latter trailing everyone except the inevitable sad sack franchise that simply didn't give a damn (usually Tampa Bay during their 'clown suit uniform' era).

Each game proceeded identically regardless of opponent- the offense scored at will, the defense played like they were paid according to yards allowed, and each season had the inevitability of Napoleon's Russian misadventure....great early promise freezing to death in an Eastern wasteland.

There's something comforting in the inevitability of their playoff collapses. I never have to worry about getting too invested, because even their Super Bowl appearances have an air of inevitability about them...they're like the scrappy Little League team from Pennsylvania that's just happy to be on the same field as the powerhouse from South America or Asia.

If your defense sucks the only way you win in the playoffs is by accident...