Kudos to Channel 4's Jenny Cavnar!

Jenny Cavnar, the excellent sports reporter at Channel 4 San Diego, deserves major kudos for standing up for what she believes in.

According to a very low-rated radio station, Cavnar defended a family which prayed in a restaurant over their "$1.19 macaroni and hot dog," which is certainly their right under the U.S. Constitution.

How did this all come about?

One of the morning people on a radio station not ranked among the top 37 in San Diego gave his "fed up" for the day to the family praying over its $1.19 macaroni and hot dog plates.

He said he sent out emails to friends, and that Cavnar disagreed with his stance.

Since he didn’t know the names of the people praying over their macaroni and hot dog, he gave his "fed up" of the day to Cavnar for defending the family’s right to pray in public.

Well, since his radio station is ranked so low, this morning guy better fear for his job soon in a competitive market.

If he is given the boot, then maybe he’ll be giving thanks if his family can even eat $1.19 macaroni and hot dogs when he’s out of a job.

Then it may hit home to never criticize someone for what they can or can’t afford financially.

Chargers need top pick in training camp soon!

The Chargers need to get first round draft choice Antoine Cason in training camp … soon!

The last thing they need is a prolonged holdout like they did with Quentin Jammer when he was the fifth pick overall out of Texas seven years ago.

Cason, the 27th overall pick out of Arizona this year, is a cornerback like Jammer.

If you remember, Jammer fell hopelessly behind his first season after holding out virtually all of training camp.

The same could happen if Cason stays out for a long time this summer.

Cason could definitely fill the third cornerback role that Drayton Florence held until becoming a free agent after last season.

But if Cason holds out too long, there may not be much of a spot for him when he comes to the team this year … just ask Jammer!

Best Super Bowl chance: Brees or Rivers?

Of the first three quarterbacks taken in the 2004 NFL draft, two have won Super Bowls and one has not.

The haves are Ben Roethlisberger of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Eli Manning of the New York Giants.

The have not is Philip Rivers of the Chargers.

Now another question looms on the horizon: Which of the last two Chargers’ starting quarterbacks will win a Super Bowl first?

Will it be Drew Brees of the New Orleans Saints or Rivers?

Brees took the Saints to the 2006 NFC championship game; Rivers led the Chargers to the 2007 AFC championship game.

Neither has played in the Super Bowl.

We know for a fact that Rivers has the cast around him to reach this season’s Super Bowl.

Ditto with Brees in New Orleans; especially now that the Saints have traded for former New York Giants tight end Jeremy Shockey.

Who will win the Super Bowl first? Brees or Rivers?

It’s your call.

Chargers: Super close, or Super Bowl?

The Chargers are going to be one of two things this season:

Either they will continue being the Don Coryell-style Chargers of the old days, or they will finally become the Indianapolis Colts.

The Coryell Chargers?

Like the current edition, they had great talent, went well into the playoffs but never made the Super Bowl.

The Colts?

They couldn’t beat the New England Patriots for years before finally besting them in the AFC championship on their way to a Super Bowl title two seasons ago.

The Chargers certainly have the firepower with LaDainian Tomlinson, Antonio Gates, Philip Rivers, Chris Chambers, et al on offense. And the defense is top-notch with the likes of Jamal Williams, Shawne Merriman and Antonio Cromartie.

Perhaps the biggest question mark the Chargers face as rookie training camp begins today focuses on injuries.

Center Nick Hardwick, tight end Gates and nose tackle Williams are all still nursing hurts from last season. Their progress could determine early-on how well the Chargers do.

It would be shocking if the Chargers don’t make the playoffs. The other three teams in their division … the Denver Broncos, Oakland Raiders and Kansas City Chiefs … are all in down cycles.

The Chargers of the 1980s or the Colts of 2006?

We’ll see; come January and February.

Padres don't appear to be good sellers

So the Padres are sellers instead of buyers this year.

What goods do they have to sell?

We saw the answer was “not much” when Tony Clark was traded back to the Arizona Diamondbacks for a minor-league pitcher.

After all, what else could you expect to get for someone batting .239 with one home run and three RBI in 88 at bats?

Now the Padres’ most likely candidates to go are pitchers Greg Maddux and Randy Wolf.

When you consider their recent fates, it’s doubtful they could bring much more than Clark in a trade:

Maddux: He’s winless in his last 12 starts and has been the victim of some bad luck. But when you consider he couldn’t hold a 3-0 lead against Minnesota at Petco Park last month, some of it is certainly on him.

Wolf: In his last six starts, he’s 1-5 with a 6.82 ERA. Considering he tends to be injury prone in the second half, his value isn’t exactly going through the roof, either.

So there you have it. The Padres are sellers with little of value to sell.

So much for baseball interest in San Diego this summer.

Bring on the Chargers!

Adrian Gonzalez: All Star on, off the field

It’s nice to see Adrian Gonzalez of the Padres finally getting some recognition as the team’s lone 2008 All Star.

If you haven’t heard of Gonzalez and live off the West Coast, join the majority. The big boys at ESPN, Fox, etc. just simply don’t promote anything or anyone west of the Mississippi.

Here are a couple of things you would know about Gonzalez if he played on the East Coast:

He’s fourth in the National League in RBI (71) and sixth in home runs (22), despite playing his home games at a pitcher’s park called Petco Park.

He’s also a well-above average first baseman defensively and was the first pick in the nation by the Florida Marlins in 2000 out of Eastlake High School in Chula Vista, Calif.

Jon Sciambi, the outstanding play-by-play announcer of the Atlanta Braves, hit it on the nose over the weekend when mentioning that players like Gonzalez get overlooked on the West Coast.

“I think there is reality as it relates to the East Coast bias,” Sciambi said on the SportSouth telecast of a Padres-Atlanta Braves game.

Gonzalez credits much of his turnaround in the past year or two to his religious faith.

You can find out more about Gonzalez, an All-Star on the field and off, by visiting his new Web site at http://www.agonzalez23.com/

Troy Hirsch: New Fox 5 San Diego sports director

You’ve heard about the gals who will work for "Fox 5 San Diego" when Channel 5 San Diego officially switches to the Fox network in August.

You’ll have former CNN reporter Arthel Neville and former Channel 6 weather/traffic gal Chrissy Russo working "Fox 5 Morning News." At night, you’ll have Kathleen Bade (formerly Channel 8) reading "Fox 5 News at 10" and Susan Lennon (formerly of KUSI) doing weekends.

What about the guys?

That’s where Troy Hirsch comes in. He will soon be introduced as the sports director; becoming the first male in the lineup.

Hirsch formerly worked for Fox Sports Northwest and most recently as the sports director at KSWB-TV (Channel 5) before the Channel 7/39 reporters began doing nightly news on Channel 5.

So what does this all mean for San Diego?

We will now have six stations doing news in the morning – and all six producing their own shows at night.

Considering that news viewing continues to go down, it’s surprising that the number of telecasts continues to rise in San Diego.