San Diego Sports Rising Toward Next Decade

Maybe I'm mathematically challenged but to me, 2010 ushers in a new decade. The purists say the new decade begins with a one. Poppycock, we're just placing the one in the tens column and doing so for the first time, so it's a new decade and that's all there is to it.

So, as the year/decade come to an end, there will be a series of posts that look back on the previous 10 years, the highs, the lows and some of the people who made the San Diego sports scene what it is. The first five years, of course, included my attempt at operating SanDiegoSportsTown.com, which gave me a close look at everything that was going on around here and provided some perspective when I became a more casual observer in the succeeding years.

I will say this. I like where we are heading into 2010 much better than going into 2000. If there were a president of San Diego sports, that person would be overwhelmingly re-elected. Things are really looking up. Consider where we were 10 years ago:

-- the Chargers had Ryan Leaf at quarterback and were in the midst of a period in which they and the Bengals were the worst franchises in the NFL,
-- the Padres were barely a year removed from a World Series appearance and were heading downhill.
-- the SDSU football team was headed for collapse and the basketball programs were among the nation's worst,
-- all of the USD athletic programs were mired in mediocrity.

Happily fast-forward to the present:

-- the Chargers have a legitimate shot at the Super Bowl behind a team that's still relatively young and with better line play has room for improvement,
-- the Padres have promising new ownership and an interesting foundation of young players to build around,
-- the SDSU football program is on the comeback trail and the basketball programs are now annual conference contenders and post-season participants,
-- all of the USD athletic programs are mired in mediocrity (but the middle of the decade was so good that .500 is no longer acceptable).

Things aren't perfect. As noted last week, the annual PGA tournament lost its sponsor and marquee player, the women's tennis tourney is no longer and the Holiday Bowl will struggle to maintain relevance. But I trust the Century Club and Holiday Bowl folks to come through, because they always do, and everything else is just so good right now.

I'll come back Monday or Tuesday with a list of some of the decade's memorable moments.