In the first 90 minutes of availability, 40,000 tickets were sold for the Chargers-Saints game at Wembley Stadium in London, England. The NFL, acknowledging the intense demand, issued an additional 5,000 tickets to go on sale immediately.

Honestly, I am slightly surprised that the Brits are so excited the the NFL is coming to town. Europe is known to be huge fans of Soccer, but American-style football has yet to establish itself in the territory. But London is looking like its ready to rock when the NFL comes to town.

AJ Smith compared the game to a Super Bowl-type atmosphere, which he believes will serve his young team well. Smith knows that the NFL is going to play a number of games in the UK over the next three seasons, so there is no opting out. While the travel is going to be significant, the logistics of it all pleases Smith somewhat. The Chargers will play the Buffalo Bills the week before heading to London, so they'll fly directly there, rather than fly back to San Diego. The Chargers also have a bye week following the London game, so that gives them time to recover from jetlag and the stress of the all travel.

Want to see the game in person? Go check out Chargers.com for info.


Subscribe to this Chargers blog

Just an FYI, the blog is going under some construction. I'm going to be updating the layout within the next couple of days in preparation for the upcoming season. As always you can expect training camp reports and regular blog updates as we get going into the start of the new season. Bear with me as I update the layout piece by piece.

Subscribe to this Chargers blog

Normally having the best players meant having to pay out the biggest contracts, but the Chargers have been lucky; Not only have they had more hits than misses in the draft over the years, they have been especially good at finding value in the middle rounds as well as taking gambles on players who slipped due to medical concerns (See: Anthony Waters, Antonio Cromartie, Marcus McNeil, and Luis Castillo).

The Chargers have also drove a hard bargain when dealing with resigning their own players. Antonio Gates is not the highest paid Tight End in the game, but he is arguably the best. The same could be said about Offensive Guard Kris Dielman. The Chargers could not offer him the money a team like Seattle could, but Dielman nonetheless resigned with the Bolts. And Quentin Jammer, one of the most underrated players in the AFC, resigned with San Diego for what was a modest contract for a starting Cornerback.

It is because of the team’s wise cap management (frugality) that allows them a bit of breathing room come 2010. Unless the NFLPA and the league can re-work their collective bargaining agreement, it looks like 2010 will be an uncapped team for teams. This means teams like the Dallas Cowboys and Washington Redskins will be able to open up their wallets to potential free agents. This also means smaller market teams like the Chargers will have a tough time competing for those players. While I am not suggesting that the Spanos family is hurting for cash, I have a hard time believing their pool is filled with money like Jerry Jones’ is.

John Clayton of ESPN takes a look at some of the teams that will be most affected by an uncapped year, and he also examines which teams are best prepared to weather the storm. It turns out, San Diego might once again avoid the storm:

San Diego Chargers: The Chargers have done one of the best jobs of locking up starters in case of an uncapped year. The core group of the team is still young. San Diego has multiple starters who have been to the Pro Bowl and only four would qualify for free agency in 2010 -- guard Mike Goff, quarterback Philip Rivers, wide receiver Chris Chambers and defensive end Igor Olshansky. As long as he comes back successfully from knee reconstruction, Rivers won't be allowed to hit the market. His contract runs out after the 2009 season, and clearly the Chargers will either sign him to a long-term deal or, in the worst-case scenario, franchise him. The Chargers believe they have at least a two-year window to win a Super Bowl. An uncapped year in 2010 won't affect that window.

Subscribe in a reader

I feel like we have worn out the words "class act" when describing Ladainain Tomlinson, but its such an accurate description. LT is just a real cool dude who San Diegan's are lucky to call their own. In case you missed him at Gatorade's Tiger Moonshot Event down in Seaport Village, we've got some video for ya:



Subscribe in a reader

In addition to the fact that its simply the offseason, one of the reasons things have been a bit slow around here was because I was preparing for my first kickboxing fight. I spent three weeks in Thailand and came back to the States only last week. My fight was last Saturday and it was unforgettable. After training for almost 2 years, I was a big test and a huge relief to finally test myself in my first official fight.

The entire event was sanctioned by the California State Athletic Commission, and as a result I now have an official amateur record of 1-0. There were 15 total bouts that night, and my fight was voted "Fight Of The Night." I received gifts and sponsorships valued at around $800 dollars, but the best part of the night was walking away unhurt and a winner!

(That's me in the black and silver shorts:)

Fight Night 13 from Rob Zepeda on Vimeo.


Subscribe in a reader

Madden 09 will once again showcase the bleeding edge of football simulation technology, and I must say I am impressed every year with how life-like the animations are in this game. Working in the game industry myself, I understand how complicated motion-blending can be, but Madden pulls it off without any real awkwardness. Check out Ladainian Tomlinson break some ankles in this trailer...and is that Legedu Naanee? Who is #18? I also spotted Darren Sproles in this trailer. Did I miss anyone?




Subscribe in a reader

If you are in the Seaport Village area on Thursday, be sure to stop by and meet Ladainian Tomlinson. LT will be making an appearance between 11am and 6pm at the Gatorade Tiger event where you can enter a golf challenge for the longest drive in a golf simulator. There is going to be a chance to win a trip to New York City as well. Show some support!



Subscribe in a reader

Ladainian recently wrapped up shooting a commercial for Campbell's Chunky soup. LT takes the fans around with him as he personally shoots some behind-the-scenes video at the set in Los Angeles. With Norv Turner making a cameo, this is looking like it just might be the best soup commercial ever...

“I think Norv’s been doing a great job on the set. So good, that I’m kind of worrying about Chunky wanting to bring him back. That’s how it goes. Once they see you doing a good job with it, they ask you to come back over and over again, so he might not need to coach much longer.” - Tomlinson

Subscribe in a reader