Sports fans along and east of the Mississippi River know what it is to wake up every morning without the late scores from the western half of the country. Newspaper deadlines in Kansas City passed while the games in San Francisco and L.A. were still under way.
Add another seven hours to that, and you see the situation facing a San Diegan vacationing in Paris in December. It was Tuesday morning before the Chargers results showed up in the International Herald Tribune. I walked to the newsstand a couple of blocks away, stopped by the boulangerie for our morning croissants and baguette, and opened the paper with a cup of strong coffee at our little table. (I had brought with us a pound of decaf, in case it was not available in Paris. Of course it was. Its reputation for history fools you; commerce-wise, Paris is very much into the 21st century.)
Our first Tuesday there, I learned that LaDanian Tomlinson had run 85 yards for a touchdown in the Chargers’ 20-9 verdict over the Kansas City Chiefs. The following Tuesday, Philip Rivers had hit Vincent Jackson with a 37-yard TD pass with 29 seconds left to defeat the Seahawks in Seattle, 20-17.
Yesterday, ironically, both these teams were on view in the NFL playoffs. Kansas City coach Herman Edwards last week became surly when questioned about his team’s presence in the playoffs, brought about when three other teams had to lose to give the Chiefs a chance. But that’s about how the Chiefs played yesterday, like water in a clogged bathroom vanity. The other three teams went down the drain one by one a week earlier, and the Chiefs simply swirled for another week before disappearing.
Seattle? What a hard Sunday this is for Tony Romo. The Chargers would not meet the Seahawks again until the Super Bowl, and after watching them last night, I don’t think the Seahawks will be the NFC team in Miami.
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