Beginning with the Baltimore Ravens, the Los Angeles Chargers have quite the canoe ride ahead to steal that silver football in February. But if we can’t have fun during the playoffs, what’s the point?
This article is simply to get your boltage charged up. I wrote in my first article of the season that this is not the same old same old Chargers. Now they are 12-4 and it’s the Bolts’ turn to stun and overwhelm their opponent. Their foes are as menacing as Darth Vader, but with concerted effort and one clean shot, the Bolts can blow up any Death Star.
The calling out of former San Diego fans
I’m calling out old cranky pants San Diego fans, including myself, to stop sulking in our tents, and stand with Philip Rivers, Antonio Gates and Co. Don’t think for a minute that there weren’t faithful fans north of San Diego who traveled south to the Jack/Qualcomm for years — as far north as Canada (that’s me: after leaving San Diego, I now see the Bolts live in Buffalo, but also Detroit, Atlanta, SoCal, etc.) LaDainian Tomlinson and Dan Fouts and Kellen Winslow can root for the players, but you can’t?
Philip Rivers still lives in San Diego, drives almost three hours to and from work. Where do you think he left his heart?
It’s go time
What I envy about the Chargers’ players isn’t their talent nor their celebrity nor their money, it’s that their life work is going to come down to 60 minutes of combat, and win or lose, they have a rare chance to define who they really are, as individuals and together, as a team.
Defensive end Joey Bosa #99 of the Los Angeles Chargers (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)
Drama is defined as “character in action”, and the Chargers’ players are going to define their characters, in action. That will be a drama worth watching.
Have you wondered why the original Los Angeles Chargers logo has a horse on it? Because a knight’s horse was trained not to just ride into battle, but to charge into the fray. So a war horse is called a charger.
The Haka
The Maori warriors of New Zealand have a war chant they enact, the Haka, and you may have seen it, for example, when the New Zealand All Blacks rugby team challenges their opponents pre-game.
The Haka is very effective in raising the blood and unifying the team. Fiji, Samoa, and Tongan sports teams also employ war chants. A classic Maori Haka includes these lines:
I die, I die! I live, I live! An upward step, another… the sun shines!
Remember this was a war chant. But sports is a civilized metaphor for war, where on a sporting field, the vanquished are resurrected and go home for fish tacos and a brewski.
For fun, here is a Chargers war chant for the playoffs:
CARSON, CA – SEPTEMBER 17: Los Angeles Chargers fans are seen before the NFL game against the Miami Dolphins at the StubHub Center on September 17, 2017 in Carson, California. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
Chargers’ SoCal Haka: “Together on three..”
This game is not a game, this game is who we are, Together. (“Bolt Up!”)
Here we make our stand, to the end, Together. (“Bolt Up!”)
We take to the field of battle, for we are Warriors of the West, we are Brothers, we are Together. (“Bolt Up!”)
Our defense is thunder, our offense lightning.
At home or road, we lock and load; (“Bolt Up!”)
Live or die, we let fly: Defense grips it, offense rips it. (“Bolt Up!”)
We are war horses, we are Chargers: (“Bolt Up!”)
Together on three, two, one – Together!
It sounds best after a couple of Corona’s. In the end, I threw my hair back like Joey Bosa and not only do I not have any hair, I hurt my neck. Do sports writers show up on the injury report? If so, it would be for falling off the bandwagon, for jumping to conclusions, foot-in-mouth, and stretching the truth.
Just for fan fun, here are my favorite metaphorical locker room speeches…
Short movie clips that sound the Charge:
Aragorn’s Battle Speech from Return of the King (Lord of the Rings). Best locker room speech ever. “Win one for the Hobbit”.
Braveheart (Mel Gibson as William Wallace) rallies the troops — from down by 24.
Henry V “Once more unto the breach” (Kenneth Branagh), a fourth-quarter sideline rant.
Thor charges his opponents in beast mode, a literally electrifying performance. The Chargers, and their fans need to own this kind of supercharger boltage.
Source: “Los Angeles” – Google News