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September 10, 2009
GO TEAM: With or without a new stadium, how is the Spanos family doing on Papa Alex’s $70 million investment in the San Diego Chargers back in 1984? Well, after 25 years — exactly half the age of the franchise — the investment has grown to $917 million, according to Forbes magazine. That’s still only good enough for a ranking of 24th out of 32 NFL teams, but not chicken feed, either. And this should make us all feel better: Al Davis’ Raiders rank dead last — No. 32, coming in at a paltry $737 million.
SPEAKING OF SPORTS: After Chargers linebacker Shawne Merriman’s almost-laughable weekend set-to with reality exhibitionist Tila Tequila, media around the world were all over the story. Not that accusations of battery and false imprisonment are laughable. But even in countries where American football makes no sense whatsoever, folks could pretty much see this one for what it was. My favorite take comes from TMZ.com’s Josh Hart: “What happens when you mix a big and bad scary NFL linebacker with a bisexual, attention-seeking reality TV star? It appears something called a ‘citizen’s arrest.’ I think I saw that on Andy Griffith once, and it was Gomer Pyle arresting Barney Fife. That sounds about right for this wild mess.”
SAN DIEGANS’ INK: John & Kate Plus 8 it ain’t, but a San Diego couple will get a shot at domestic television this month on WE tv’s new series Adoption Diaries. Jolie and Glen Buberl, who met on a blind date and married three years ago, found it impossible to conceive a child. They turned to the Independent Adoption Center, a birth mother chose them to adopt her child, and Adoption Diaries picked them for its September 26 show ... Perry Chen, the 9-year-old Torrey Hills prodigy whose fame as a film critic has landed him on network news and in national media, continues to score. He’ll be at the Anaheim Convention Center this weekend, the only child-critic invited to the Disney Fan Expo to interview filmmakers and preview movies ... Meanwhile: Solana Beach filmmaker Scott Held, whose romantic comedy Pushing 30 premieres September 26 at the San Diego Film Festival, is already getting major industry buzz. The day after the premiere, he heads to Boulder, Colorado, where the film will screen as a finalist at the Moondance Film Festival. Held doesn’t start small: He wrote, directed and produced Pushing 30 — his first film.
ITEMS INFINITUM: Money machine: The Multi-Cultural Services Network’s Familiarization Tour next week at the Town & Country Convention Center is expected to generate 13,000 room nights with an estimated return of $1.8 million in revenue to San Diego in the next year, according to founder Clara Carter ... The playoffs are nearly four months away, so we’ll have to settle for this, for now: Sport Magazine has named the Chargers Girls the best cheerleaders in the NFL ... The recently renovated Balboa Theatre unveils its newly restored 1929 Wonder Morton Organ with a public performance Sunday afternoon at 2 — five years and $1.1 million after the project began.
QUOTEWORTHY: “I had a really troubled upbringing, and some of the unfortunate things that happened are why I’m able to do what I do now. I’m built for everything that’s taking place now.”—Shawne Merriman, in the just-published October issue of Playboy Magazine.
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