Me no wanna play!

Last year, before the NFL draft. Eli Manning declared that he would not play for San Diego - who had the first pick. He said that he would sit out. Here was a college kid who looked like he thought he was about the rules of the NFL and wanted to manipulate things to get his way. There were some reasons cited, leading to he felt he had a better chance for a championship elsewhere (by the way the Chargers wen to the playoffs last year). He, frankly, came off as a whiney, spoiled little boy - who thought he could do what ever he wanted because he was a "Manning."

I had a problem with this because he got away with it. The Chargers drafted him and then traded him to the NY Giants. So my dislike for Eli began. I knew he was going to be a good QB, but I didn't want him to be. Anyway, this brings us to last night. NY Giants vs. San Diego Chargers in San Diego.

The San Diego fans booed and booed. They yelled, and wanted him to fall flat on his face. I didn't want that. It doesn't matter because he played extremely well.

Here's why I didn't want Eli to fall flat on his face. I wanted him to play well, and I wanted the Giants to get beaten (which is what happened) because I wanted San Diego to show Eli that they were the better team. That all the way around, San Diego had much better players than little Eli gave them credit for; that they were better coached than Eli thought; that they would beat him and his team in spite of his best efforts. And that's what happened. It was close in the first half as it ended with the score of 21-20 in favor of the Chargers, but the Chargers took control and poured it on in the second half, and won 45-23.

I know Eli will be a good pro. But Dan Marino was one of the top QBs ever, and didn't win a championship. I can only hope that karma dictates that a) Eli doesn't win a championship and Peyton Manning does. Or, if Eli does win a championship that the Chargers win one first.

Regardless - the Chargers took Eli's best shot last night, and beat him down handily. I think it's time for football to have a curse like baseball does, and New York needs one against them rather than for them anyway. Who knows. 80 years from now maybe the Giants will be talking about the Eli Manning curse.