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.

SDSU needs on-campus football facility

Let’s face it: The more the Chargers lose, the less chance they have of getting a new stadium because their bandwagon will fall apart if they don’t start winning.

Where does that leave San Diego State’s football program?

Without a place to play, if the Chargers don’t get a new stadium the Aztecs can share with them.

The solution for SDSU is to build an on-campus stadium, such as the Aztecs formerly had at Aztec Bowl.

San Diegans used to pack that place to watch SDSU succeed under the likes of the great Don Coryell as head coach.

A new campus stadium with about 30,000 seats would put the Aztecs on par with Mountain West Conference foes such as Colorado State and Wyoming. Both of those universities have such-sized stadiums within a long pass from campus.

The SDSU campus appears to have an area fit for a new stadium directly east of Cox Arena and north of Hardy Avenue. A couple of buildings would need to be relocated on campus, but I’m sure the theater department would also love to have a new building in the process.

There would be many advantages of playing on campus. Among them in the location we have mentioned is the fact that multitudes of students would be within walking distance of such a facility (and could certainly serve to help SDSU build a home field advantage it does not seem to have at Qualcomm Stadium.)

The former Aztec Bowl also served as a site for a high school football game of the week. A new stadium could serve as a central location for the high schools to play and could be an ideal locale for the Channel 4 San Diego telecasts on Friday night.

I’m sure the high school players would love to play at a college facility; not to mention the fact it would be a great recruiting tool for the Aztecs.

It’s never too early for SDSU officials to be planning the future. If the Chargers leave town, the Aztecs are going to be out in the cold in football … unless they come up with such a new stadium, preferably on campus.

This week’s prediction:

No. 24 Cincinnati 34, SDSU 17