In L.A., Kevin Baxter noted Mexican soccer team Chivas de Guadalajara is the last team in the country “to exclusively field players of Mexican heritage and one high-ranking executive with another MLS team says Chivas USA may adopt a similar approach, hiring a Latin American staff, fielding a largely Hispanic roster and working primarily with Spanish-language sponsors.” MLS Chivas USA's “recent moves certainly seem to point in that direction.” Chivas USA's average home attendance “of 13,056 is worst in the league and the lowest in team history.” Its local TV ratings are “virtually nonexistent, averaging 5,500 homes per game over the last two seasons.” Sources said that Chivas USA and GuadalajaraOwner Jorge Vergara and club officials have “no plans to either sell the team or move it any further than Exposition Park, where a soccer-specific stadium could soon be built” (L.A. TIMES, 10/28).
POINTING FINGERS: In San Diego, Jay Paris writes Chargers President & CEO Dean Spanos’ “lack of getting his hands around a deteriorating situation which begged for bold action is inexcusable.” Instead of “ushering in a new era of Chargers football after last year's stinker, Spanos felt keeping his two trusted lieutenants was the path to respectability.” Spanos, in keeping GM A.J. Smith and coach Norv Turner, “proved his loyalty, or was it his frugality?” Paris: “If looking for someone to blame, Spanos is your target” (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 10/30).
END OF THE LINE? In Newark, Steve Politi writes of NFL Jets GM Mike Tannenbaum, “This has to be it for Tannenbaum, right?” He “can’t survive another season like this, not with the Jets showing no signs that 3-5 will become anything but 6-10 in a couple months.” Tannenbaum might have “built a team that reached back-to-back AFC title games in 2009 and 2010, but he’s also responsible for the paper thin roster now” (Newark STAR-LEDGER, 10/30).
