The San Diego Microcosm

Last week, San Diego State's football team lost to Cal Poly. That may not say much to the average person (who would say "I didn't know Cal Poly played football"). But the Mustangs do and they won, beating the Aztecs at the Q (or the Murph, whatever you want to call it), again.

Ahh, San Diego sports. Truly, it is one of a kind. One of the most beautiful places in the country, in one of the largest cities and metropolitan areas in the country. But still, no wins, no respect and no one cares.

Okay. Not no one. Apparently ESPN's Page 2 editor Thomas Neumann took the opportunity to write about San Diego State (not the University of San Diego or UC San Diego people; but San Diego State) and it's losing woes as of late (which is actually as of, oh, since the beginning of time).

And of course I care too, being a born and bred San Diegan that barely remember the Padres fire sale, that remembers the 1996 and 1998 playoffs, that remembers the 1998 NFL Draft and Ryan Leaf and remember the 1-15 season for the Chargers back in 2000. I faintly remember the Super Bowl year (I remember sleeping through the final quarter of the game--I was eight). So I care. I've been there. I've done that and in San Diego, "that" is being bad at what you do in terms of sport.

SDSU is just kind of the main sticking point to all of it and is the microcosm that explains why any team in San Diego (save for the 1963 AFL champion Chargers) that no one has won a championship.

SDSU, like its professional compadres, has had more downs than ups in any sport, and it's really hard to discern why.

First, San Diego is a beautiful place, with a lot of beautiful people. The sunny days that occur throughout the year, the temperatures that don't dip below 60 degrees, the beach, and all the fit people, why wouldn't that attract more student-athletes to the universities here? Not only that, but the perfect weather allows athletes to train year round, in the most beautiful locales.

Second, San Diego is a place (as a whole) that allows young people to be young people (if you know what I mean).

Third, San Diego is in freakin' California, the fucking fertile crescent of talent in almost any sport played at the Division I level.

Fourt, the fans will be there if the teams start winning, guaranteed. And as Chargers fans have showed since L.T. turned this team around, the fans are as good as any.

So, why can't SDSU win? It's the same reason the Padres and Chargers don't win.

That perfect weather I talked about? Well, that's also the reason people don't go to games when teams in San Diego lose. There are so many other things to do in the city and county than watch a minor league baseball team try to compete in the majors. Or, to try to see a team comprised of community college players compete at the Division I level. So, from the beginning, getting support (and money) into teams is going to be harder than other places.

Also, this perfect weather has created a culture of easy-going-ness. San Diegans are laid-back, for the most part. Sure, they care about things, but when it comes to sport, why really invest yourself when you can just go lay on the beach and forget about awful things, like losing sports teams?

Yeah, San Diego is in California, but it's also California's most overlooked city. Dwarfed by Sacramento, San Francisco and Los Angeles, no one cares about San Diego and it's little teams. There's no attention. And why would anyone play in San Diego when they can drive two hours north and play in Los Angeles and get all the attention?

Bringing me to my other point; recruiting is a bitch for the Aztecs and for even the pro teams. Yeah, it's different for the pros (I'll talk about that in a bit), but for SDSU, it has to compete against the USCs and UCLAs and Cals and Stanfords and Arizonas and Arizona Statess and...you get the point. San Diego State isn't able to keep top talent in San Diego. They play for the bigger schools, with the bigger budgets, bigger fan bases and longer traditions.

And the same can be said for the pro teams in San Diego. Why play for the Chargers when you can play for the 49ers? Why stay in San Diego when you can go up to Chavez Ravine and play for the glamorous Dodgers or play for the always-pennant-contending Angels?

So, SDSU's struggles on the football field are like the shining example as to why San Diego has never thrived in sport. There are times when you think the team will get there, but it only lets you down.

Trust me, I'd like things to be different, but it's just our way of life. We're not lovable losers or sore losers. We're not hated cause we win. But we're San Diego. We love our teams as much as any. But we're also resigned to the fact that we'll never be a dynasty or maybe even ever get to be called "champion."

And that's okay, because as Oscar Wilde once said "Ambition is the last refuge of failure." In San Diego, we usually skip that ambition part and go straight to failing.