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Times WiresThe Chargers could be in for a shock when they open training camp Wednesday.
After holding summer practices in cool ocean breezes the past 27 years at the bucolic UC San Diego, southern California's only NFL team is moving training camp 110 miles up the freeway to Carson, an industrial suburb of Los Angeles.
Camp Club Med is history.
"We'll survive," said defensive end Marcellus Wiley, who grew up not far from Carson. "But it's definitely not going to be the paradise of La Jolla."
Not even close. But it might not be horrible, either, even with oil refineries not far away.
The Chargers will practice at the new Home Depot Center, a nice coincidence for a team that always seems to be rebuilding. The sparkling $150-million center is a complex for soccer, tennis, track and field, boxing and beach volleyball, and it'll host the Women's World Cup final this fall.
Moving camp was the idea of general manager John Butler, who wanted practices away from the distractions of home, where players could better bond as a team. Butler died of cancer April11.
The Chargers signed a five-year contract to train in Carson. The move comes at an interesting time, when the NFL wants to put a team back in Los Angeles and the Chargers and the city of San Diego negotiate over a new stadium.
When the Chargers trained at UCSD it was considered the Club Med of camps, with cool breezes and million-dollar views of the Pacific Ocean.
"Oh yeah, it was cush," Wiley said. "It was so cush that some practices I had to put a coat on, it was so cold. ... Just the weather, the setup, you had an ocean view from your dorm room. It wasn't what you would expect when you hear the words "training camp."'
BRONCOS: A federal judge has cleared the way for a trial in a lawsuit filed by former team owner Edgar Kaiser against current owner Pat Bowlen.
U.S. District Judge Richard Matsch said Kaiser has submitted enough evidence to support his allegation that Bowlen misrepresented himself as the sole buyer of a 60.8 percent general partnership interest in the Broncos.
Kaiser, a Canadian financier, filed suit in December 1999 claiming Bowlen restructured the ownership makeup of the Broncos without providing him with a right of first refusal as agreed on in the 1984 sale of the team to Bowlen.
Bowlen, who bought Kaiser's interest for $65-million, bought the remaining 39.2 percent from minority shareholders a year later and included his two brothers and his sister in the purchase.
Kaiser wants the team offered back to him if he wins this case.
JETS: An agreement was reached in principle with first-round pick Dewayne Robertson, the fourth overall pick, the day before players report for camp. The defensive tackle's agent, Hadley Engelhard, said the contract probably would be signed today. The Jets open camp Monday, earlier than any other team but the Bucs, because they travel to Tokyo to play Tampa Bay on Aug.2. Engelhard would not reveal terms.
PACKERS: First-round pick Nick Barnett, viewed as the team's starting middle linebacker, agreed to a seven-year deal, with financial terms not revealed. He is the last of the nine picks to agree to a deal.
VIKINGS: Randy Moss believes his work ethic is just fine. The receiver appeared at an autograph session Saturday in Charleston, W.Va., near his hometown of Rand, and said he started his offseason workouts in March, switching from Minnesota to his training site in Florida. Moss, who has said twice that he only plays hard when he wants to, battles the perception that he is a loafer. "I might have lifted more than I have since I've been in the league. I'm ready to go," he said.
ARENA PLAYER DIES: An Arena Football League 2 player died after collapsing during a game in Wichita, Kan. A league official said Bakersfield Blitz linebacker Julian Yearwood, 33, had consumed two energy drinks just before he collapsed while sitting on the bench in the first quarter against the Wichita Stealth.