San Diego Magazine / October 2004 / Winning and Losing

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Winning and Losing

THE YEAR ANNIVERSARY of the Cedar fire is October 26. My wife, Susie, and I are thankful for the new home being built on the site of our burned-out residence in Scripps Ranch. And my thoughts return to September 27, 1970, another day lived out in trepidation.

Of all the games I either covered as a sportswriter for the old Evening Tribune, or witnessed as a Chargers or Rams representative, over more than 40 football seasons, none approached the dark drama of the Chargers-Oakland Raiders game that Sunday. A fire in San Diego’s East County had been reported at 6:30 a.m. the day before. By Sunday, hot, dry Santa Ana winds and temperatures up in the 90s blew the fire west. Susie and our 18-day-old daughter, Allison, left the house in El Cajon and waited at Susie’s parents’ house in National City. I was assigned to cover the game.

Ash, wind and red-orange skies created an apocalyptic atmosphere at San Diego Stadium. Usually a sellout, the Raiders game had an announced attendance of just 42,000; it appeared to be less. Throughout the afternoon, the stadium P.A. paged East County residents to return to their endangered homes.

Charger Walt Sweeney started his 114th consecutive game at right guard, wondering every play if his home near Second Street in El Cajon would be there when he returned that evening. He attempted to get additional insurance on his residence early Sunday morning, but his agent said Sweeney would have to wait until the fire was contained. I telephoned my wife repeatedly during the day, alarmed at reports that the fire had turned, roaring up Mount San Miguel and toward the South Bay. Television channels 39 and 15 went off the air, their antennas on the mountain damaged by the inferno. Fortunately, the fire didn’t come close to where my family waited.

The game turned out to be a miniclassic Chargers-Raiders match. The superior Oakland team led 27-13 with five minutes remaining. Chargers quarterback John Hadl stunned the crowd with a 65-yard touchdown pass to tight end Jeff Queen, who had run the wrong pattern and suddenly was free in the Raiders’ secondary.

A few minutes later, the Chargers had the ball again. Wide receiver Lance Alworth, bothered by a hamstring pull —and distracted by a contract dispute that had put him in organizational disfavor —came to Chargers coach Charlie Waller on the sideline and pleaded, “I can beat Willie Brown!” In each of their Hall of Fame careers, Alworth and the Raiders’ great cornerback had waged memorable battles. But Alworth hadn’t come into this game until the fourth quarter and had not been a factor. Waller listened.

On the next play, Hadl’s 37-yard touchdown pass settled into Alworth’s arms, just beyond the lunging Brown. The game now was 27-27. In the final 1:51, Oakland drove to the Chargers 14- yard line, but George Blanda missed a 32-yard field goal with nine seconds left. Game over.

Two fourth-quarter penalties had contributed to the sour mood of Raiders coach John Madden, who stormed out of his postgame news conference. Blanda barely kept his composure when badgered to explain his shanking of a virtual chip shot. “I just missed it,” he sneered.

My wife and I, and many other San Diegans, would live through an almost identical scenario, with different results, 33 years later. On this NFL weekend in October of 2003, the Chargers’ opponent was the Dolphins, and the game— deemed unplayable in the smoke and ash fallout of the Cedar fire—was moved to Phoenix.

This time, the Dolphins won the game. And we lost our home.