Television deal will kill SDSU recruiting

Let’s say you are a top high school prospect and want to play college sports where you can get a lot of television exposure.

If so, then you can forget about attending San Diego State.

The television deal that the Mountain West Conference has is eventually going to destroy some teams – and SDSU could be at the top of the list.

The conference has a ridiculous deal whereby most of its teams have conference games televised on a network called themtn.

Only 1.2 million people nationwide get the channel. The number is extremely low in San Diego because you must have Cox Communications digital cable to watch themtn.

Whenever SDSU football or basketball games are televised on themtn., there probably aren’t 1,000 local households watching … or able to watch.

Sadly, any top recruit who wants his or her friends and relatives see them play on TV will want to go to a school where people actually get the channel which televises their games.

This certainly works if you are on networks such as ESPN, CBS, NBC or Fox.

Too bad San Diegans can’t even watch their own team play. In the long run, this will kill recruiting … and possibly the already downtrodden SDSU athletic program.

Chargers look Super for one Sunday

Philip Rivers served as a perfect example of why the Chargers were able to demolish the Denver Broncos, 41-3, Sunday afternoon.

In a postgame interview with CBS-TV, Rivers simply pointed to his clean white jersey as to why the Chargers won so easily.

Even beforehand, commentators on the NFL Today on CBS had pointed to the Chargers’ offensive line for the team’s poor start this season.

All those questions, at least for a week, have been answered.

The inability to get the ball to LaDainian Tomlinson also has been answered … at least for a week.

Antonio Gates and Tomlinson, the team’s go-to players, accounted for all but five of the Chargers’ first 107 yards from scrimmage.

Then there was the defense. Surprise, surprise; it actually learned how to tackle.

Then there was the special teams’ play, which accounted for a touchdown on a fumble return by Brandon Siler.

Then there were the Broncos, who have lost six of eight at home (not exactly the powerhouse they once were.)

This week, Raider Nation comes to San Diego. Beat Oakland and the Chargers will be no worse than tied for first place.

That tells you how weak, and winnable, the AFC West is for anybody.