Hoping the sun shines on the Chargers

A couple of weeks ago I wrote a column critical, of all entities, the sun.

Here was I, a mere mortal, spouting venom at that orb that has the unequaled distinction of being the center of our solar system. Since time immemorial the sun has been the guiding force in the solar system, keeping order by furnishing the warmth so important to life, and doing all those other tasks so ordained by its creator.

And there was I, in a few short paragraphs, vilifying it for its shortcomings in giving us a less than pleasant summer.

Now, while it is true that the just past summer was one of the least warm since records were kept, the criticism was a large mistake judging by what happened next. The newspaper had no sooner hit the streets and we saw a decided change in the weather.

The sun, in all its fury, unleashed a temperature rise that broke all records. We read where the thermometer at weather central in Los Angeles hit the 113 degree mark and then went out of commission. Worse yet, I was on the golf course last week on Monday and after nine holes I quit and went home. It was so unpleasant that the rest of the foursome followed suit and sought the relief offered by the nearest air conditioner.

The hot weather was, of course, short-lived. The days quickly took a normal turn and back we were to what we had laughingly called summer. This past Monday I almost walked off the golf course again, but this time because of rain. Once more we might ask, whoever heard of rain in Southern California in early October?

Santa Anas yes, as well as that condition called El Ni–o. But rain, no way. I like to say that our region most closely resembles Camelot than any other spot in California. In Camelot it rained at night. In the South Bay it should only rain in January.

On checking with the weather folks it looks like the nearest we are going to come to warm weather-that is before next July-is one or two mild Santa Anas. These will be liberally diluted by the presence of heavy fog and rain in some parts.

So I am going to repeat what I originally stated and that is the hope that Ol’ Sol will pick-up the energy offered by those Southern climes and when he once more makes his entrance into our half of the world he will have a little more than half a tank of energy to show for it.

These old bones are tired of shivering.

While we are in a lamenting mode, we might briefly touch on the just finished baseball season. Sometime back a Country Western group named Little Texas recorded a song called “What Might Have Been.” San Diego Padres personnel from players to peanut vendors are probably like those Texas singers: wondering what might have been.

All of us, who have an interest in baseball, might be able to recall one special game, or a portion of one game, that could have turned the tide of the entire season. Maybe it was a fielding miscue, maybe it was the inability to bring that one guy home or perhaps it was a pitch that was a little off the mark resulting in the other team taking advantage and beating up on our guys.

The Padres, however, can take solace in the fact that they took the other team right down to the wire. Like a tenacious bulldog they held on to the bitter end. But, in sports lore they say that good guys finish last and that there is no substitute for winning. Perhaps.

I’d rather just like to think that the Padres are like that tired old sun that I have been writing about. They just ran out of fuel.

But to all those readers out there who are sports-minded take heart.

We still have the Chargers out there. And from what I have seen so far, they seem to have a sufficient amount of fuel to last until Super Bowl time. Oh, please Chargers, don’t let me down.