NOW THAT I've made airline and hotel reservations, the Spanos Goofs and I are going to be in Indy together for the Chargers' final game of the season.
Craig Kelley, the Colts PR director, e-mailed Monday to say that if I needed a parking pass, I should get it from the Chargers. No problem, I had already taken it for granted the Goofs and I would be car-pooling.
I also imagine we'll get together on The Times' credit card for dinner Saturday night at St Elmo Steak House, and then maybe catch a nightcap at the Slippery Noodle Inn.
Drinks with the Goofs in Indy -- now won't that be a hoot, the old man and the son who was born into power, talking about their latest coach, and how they knew all along this was the right guy for the job.
It will be just like spending time with the McCourts.
Speaking of the Dodgers, Philip Rivers now has something in common with Jose Lima, pitching a bunch of chokers to their first playoff win in seemingly a million years.
Now here's a real brain teaser: Who wins the next playoff game? The Dodgers or the Chargers?
ALEX SPANOS and Frank McCourt are very much alike, two image-minded men who think they are sports experts because they were successful in other businesses. When they fail, they blame others, bringing in a new coach, GM or publicist.
The Dodgers' newest publicist began work Monday.
When Spanos bought the Chargers in 1984, as he recounted in his book, "Sharing the Wealth," he wrote, "we'll spend whatever it takes for productive personnel, and, within five years, deliver a Super Bowl to Chargers fans."
I wonder what McCourt will call his book -- "Borrowing Everything I've Got?"
Now 24 years later the Goofs' father/son quest for a Lombardi Trophy continues -- the Chargers compiling an overall mark of 177-206 under their leadership.
Marty Schottenheimer became an NFL head coach the same year Spanos bought the Chargers, and working three less seasons while in between jobs, Schottenheimer is 200-126.
Schottenheimer, the poster coach for flopping in the postseason, has more playoff wins than all the teams mismanaged by the Goofs.
The Chargers were 14-2 under Schottenheimer, the No. 1 seeding with home-field advantage until the Super Bowl, but gagged in a divisional playoff game against New England. Someone obviously goofed, so Schottenheimer was fired.
The Chargers are much better off this season, we're now being told, finishing 11-5 and knocking off the mighty Titans.
