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Alleys are San Diego's last frontier
Life after pro sports, extreme Charger fans, Reader writers on Thanksgiving, the smell of the Padres crowd, San Diego seduces
A tour of San Diego alleys
- Jack Whalen hands me a beer. “I’m king of this alley,” Whalen says, then points west. “Down there, the king of that next alley is Tom Sweet. He’s 97.” Whalen has been king of this Pacific Beach alley for 20 years, ever since he rented the two-car garage in which we’re standing. By law, he explains, landlords must provide parking with beach rentals, but some rent out garages separately because there’s such a demand for them. All Whalen’s friends rent illegal garages. It’s an alley subculture.
- By Alex Finlayson, Sept. 16, 2009
"I’ve got a nephew — he’s only six years old, but I’m shaping him toward being a Charger fan."A San Diego Charger football game is one thing, fandom is something else
- Silva's powder blue coffin was trimmed with gold — Charger colors. His body was dressed in a jersey honoring his favorite player, Lance Alworth. (Not, however, the jersey that Alworth signed for Silva with his old Bambi nickname; that one still hangs, under glass, on the wall in the Silva home.) On his feet, his Charger shoes; on his head, his Charger hat. “It was awesome,” recalled his son Armando during a recent tailgate party in the Qualcomm Stadium parking lot.
- By Matthew Lickona, Dec. 2, 2009
Thankless children grow up into thankless adults. It’s right there in the Bible.Reader writers tackle the family Thanksgiving dinner
- By Barbarella Fokos, Don Bauder, Ed Bedford, Ernie Grimm, Eve Kelly, John Brizzolara, Matthew Lickona, Naomi Wise, Nov. 24, 2009
Mix says that too many athletes today have “dismal postcareer lives.”After the fourth quarter, where do they go?
- Ron Mix’s glory years came in the 1960s, when the Chargers were in the American Football League. Back in the day, Mix was listed at 6’ 4” and 250 pounds, known as a weight lifter long before football players commonly pumped iron, and nicknamed the “Intellectual Assassin.” On the field, he achieved something that’s never been equaled: in ten seasons, he had two holding calls against him. Off the field, he blazed a trail by becoming one of the few players to earn a law degree
- By Thomas Larson, Nov. 4, 2009
You can almost believe that all is well with America and that baseball is still our national pastime.Baseball anecdotes plus Padres songs
- Over at the nearby Friar Shack, kids 52 inches and under can order hot dogs, Smucker’s PB&J sandwiches, popcorn, cinnamon grahams, fruit cups, juice boxes, and milk for $1.50 each. The aforementioned Power Alley is a batting cage set up inside the stadium walkway, just a few feet from the Friar Fastball pitching cage. Get your tokens and test your skill: one for $3, two for $5.
- By Matthew Lickona, Oct. 14, 2009
The first friends Aaron and I meet in San Diego want us to go bike riding.My husband is slowly falling in love with San Diego
- The first friends Aaron and I meet in San Diego want us to go bike riding. It’s September, and we are invited — at 8:00 in the fricking morning — to join these folks on a ride around Mission Bay. I become nervous when I notice the spandex they wear and the enormous water bottles strapped onto their ten-speeds.
- By Siobhan Braun, Sept. 23, 2009