My name is Lee Bedrouni, and I'm a Chargers sufferer.

"Don't you mean a fan?" some will ask and, to some subjective extent, yeah I'm a fan of the (now) Los Angeles Chargers professional football team. Man, that is still really odd to type that in full, particularly the "professional" part (I kid, you know what part is the weirdest to write in full).

I say that I'm a Chargers sufferer instead of a fan or, more preferably, a supporter (the colloquial term for human beings who follow and root for soccer teams that I think honestly makes more sense than a term so rooted in dogma it comes from the word, "fanatic") because, let's be frank, following the Chargers and being a fan (or a "fan", I don't really bother with that subjective binary, but we'll get into the differences in a moment) is to know what it means to suffer.

And I mean, truly, truly suffer.

I can regale the number of Chargers moments that are rooted in my memories that are painful as everloving hell. Last second collapses, mind-melting strategic miscalculations that lead to ruination, mistakes of all kinds, blown calls, terrible play, lack of effort, lack of skill, poor fundamentals, etc.

But that's not why I'm writing this piece.

I'm here to address the... I don't want to say "few" but I'm going to say "the less than normal amount of followers and commenters give or take this typical stretch of the Chargers offseason" folks who frequent this website and intend to do so despite the Chargers move.

Folks like me.

(NOTE: This is where those who are still in the midst of their absolutely acceptable and understandable emotional outpouring and grief can scroll down the comments page to explain why they will no longer follow the team. My piece is not intended to sway fans to remain, but to cobble together a code of solidarity and fandom that has some discernible form of dignity going forward with the team)



For those of whom are familiar with my general savagery in the comment section under my previous afroamongfew name, I imagine that this probably comes as a surprise. For someone so critical of the Chargers and oft-described as negative, I imagine plenty of you would think this would be the perfect face-saving opportunity for me to ride off into the sunset and emerge as... I don't know, a Raiders fan? I mean, I do live in Los Angeles after all. But that’s not the case.

I can't quite pin my feelings for why I'll continue to follow the team. I've made some wonderful friendships in due part to coming to this website and commiserating with many of the Chargers faithful on here and on twitter, and while I am fully aware that a significant chunk of the fandom, ergo that camaraderie, will no longer exist as of today, I still see a fan community worth preserving.

Though I do believe my fandom for the Los Angeles Lakers and Manchester City helped accept "broader" horizons for my fan allegiance, I have to imagine that there's something about the team, about the laundry, about the spirit of players like Philip Rivers, Joey Bosa, Jason Verrett and co. that's inspiring my decision to stick with this particular ship. At least I hope so because in the absence of reason that’s all that is left.

This is where I turn to you, remaining fans of the Chargers and frequenters of Bolts From the Blue, to advocate for what it means to be a fan of the Los Angeles Chargers in 2017 and beyond and if you know me and my writing, know this won't be pretty. Thus follows my suggestions (read: rules) for fan conduct and awareness in light of the relocation:

Suggestion #1) DO NOT harass ex-San Diego Chargers fans about being outspoken for choosing to no longer follow the team NOR why they choose to no longer follow the team

Like the Spanos family, most players just don't want to be San Diegans. That's fine: Just don't tell or suggest how San Diegans should act. — Ryan Barker (@grimmetal) January 13, 2017

You would think this would be f$%#&ing obvious given the highly emotional and incredibly controversial circumstances of the team's move to Los Angeles, but I've definitely seen fans on social media (here's looking at you, twitter) being complete and utter jerks, saying things to the extent of "you should have shown up to games if you were going to miss the team so much" and "hah, you were never truly fans to begin with".

Blaming San Diego fans for the stadium vote is a joke. The ship has sailed on subsidizing stadiums for billion dollar franchises — Gregg Rosenthal (@greggrosenthal) January 12, 2017

Personally, I've always hated the "genuine/legitimate" fan criticism. Sure, I admit that fans and supporters who are, well, more pollyannaish positive than my liking can irk me, but calling someone's fandom into question, i.e. questioning the legitimacy of their fandom, is a low blow and a cheap attack. Don't do this, ffs.

Suggestion #2) Being an LA Chargers fan "from day 1" is arbitrary and dumb

Even though I am in LA, I am not very excited for today's news about @Chargers relocating. I'll still be a chargers fan though. #GoBolts pic.twitter.com/4bQ6FX55jz — Adrián González (@Adrian_ElTitan) January 12, 2017

This goes against my own beliefs with regards to the Spanos family's stewardship of the Chargers franchise (more on that in a second) but there is definitely the chance that in a competitively weak AFC, the Los Angeles Chargers become competitive and, hell, reach a Super Bowl.

When/if ... When that happens, I'm going to be incredibly upset if I see people puffing their chests out to the tune of "I WAS ALWAYS AN LA CHARGER, SINCE DAY ONE." Like, do you have any idea how insensitive that is? Good grief. No, what we're going to have to act like is much like the German National Football (/sigh... soccer) Team fans behaved in the post-war era of international soccer:

Fandom for the Los Angeles Chargers is going to be a more personal, maybe small social joy, but a public (in their case, international, but in our case, regional) shame.

2018 Super Bowl Champions will be the LA Chargers. It just seems to fit the life of a San Diego sports fan. — Ted Dawson (@Ted_Dawson) January 13, 2017