Top 10 Reasons The Chargers Lost To The Steelers

Did anyone watch the playoff game yesterday? Having been a lifetime Chargers fan, that was one hard game to watch. Only one offensive play during the entire 3rd quarter? Unheard of. After half time, it was so quiet on my street after I sneezed I heard my neighbor two doors down say “Bless You”. Immediately after the game, I started to look for something or someone to blame. It is only natural. Being very superstitious by nature, I thought of all the things we did differently this week as opposed to last week. Here are my Top 10 Reasons why the Chargers lost to the Steelers in the playoff game:

1. I wore the wrong hat. I have several different Charger hats. I wore the 2006 AFC West Champions hat, and I should have just worn the classic blue Chargers lightning bolt one.

2. I wore the wrong jersey. I have been wearing my old school powder blue LT jersey every Sunday, and I recently purchased a white Philip Rivers one. I also wore it all week, rather than only on game day.

3. I didn’t drink beer during the game. As part of my New Year’s resolutions, I am not drinking any alcohol or soda until I lose 25 pounds. I should have waited until after the Chargers won the Super Bowl to start my training.

4. I put out different types of snack foods for the game. We usually have friends over, or we go to their house to watch the games. This time I made a tray of turkey, ham, smoked cheddar, and colby-jack to nibble on, along with our standard chips & dips, fresh fruit, and pizza after the third quarter. I think the deli tray was the wrong move to make during such an important game.

5. I cleaned the garage prior to game day. My garage is used as a resting place for anything that doesn’t belong in the house. I have a work bench that you usually can’t see the top of since it is the designated drop of point for the tools and accessories that I have just used on a project. I cleaned it a week ago, as part of my Clean & Organized New Year resolution. I should have waited on this one too.

6. My wife painted my son’s face with little blue lightning bolts. I am a true fan, but not a face-painter. My wife is also a true fan, with face-painter tendencies. Caught up in the moment, she painted my son’s cheeks for the first time this season. Wrong move.

7. My wife bought Football Helium Balloons. Why didn’t I pop them prior to the kickoff? No one in their right mind buys helium balloons for football games unless you have a kid with a birthday on game day. My son’s birthday is in May.

8. I used the wrong coolie cup holder for my drink. I usually use my official Chargers can holder, but I was being a good host and gave it up to my buddy. Instead, I used my “Old Guys Rule” one.

9. I made breakfast for the family in the morning, instead of our usual bagel run to Einstein’s. I know that a lot of sports professionals keep to the same routine, especially on game days. I think it was Eli Manning that has 2 McDonald’s cheeseburgers before getting to the stadium on game day. I think he must have stopped off for a couple of Whoppers this week as well.

10. Confidence got the best of me. I watched all the pre game sports shows, and it seemed like no one was giving the Chargers any kind of chance to win that game. The Steelers had the #1 defense, and they couldn’t get past the 8 losses we had this season. I believed that this was the year we finally got to the Super Bowl for our first Victory. We have an outstanding team. We have more than one facet to our offense. If we can only keep this team together, stay healthy, and learn from our mistakes, we can do it. As we say every time we get eliminated from advancing to the Super Bowl,
There Is Always Next Year.