'Bolts need shock therapy

It was suggested to me, someone who considers San Diego to be her hometown, that I use this space to argue for why the San Diego Chargers shouldn't have told David Boston he was free to seek a trade.

The little nagging voice popped up in the back of my head: Why should we care? Why should anyone care? Do we even still have a football team in San Diego?

Over the last couple of years, the status of the Chargers has forced their fan base to sink into a state of denial. We'll take just about anything in order to save face.

This year, it was okay that the Bolts finished 4-12 because quarterback Doug Flutie won "Monday Night Football's" Monday Night at the Mic competition by playing some mean drums on the Barenaked Ladies' "The Old Apartment."

The year before, it was fine that San Diego ended up 8-8 because quarterback Drew Brees beat Jeff Garcia on "NFL Wheel of Fortune," proving that he was paying attention in his college English courses.

The San Diego Chargers, though, don't need a band or an English teacher. They need a football team that produces results. That Super Bowl appearance was almost a decade ago. Even then, I was at a Super Bowl party in which I was the lone Chargers fan, watching them get routed 49-26.

Oh, yeah, and we keep getting to pick first in the draft all the time.

Where to begin?

The popular tactic among disgruntled football fans is "blame the quarterback." No doubt Chargers fans lean toward this one with the specter of the Ryan Leaf-Peyton Manning choice still in their heads. Brees may not be posting stellar stats, but I've liked his brains since he played at Purdue. This is a quarterback who, I believe, actually has a sack to his credit somewhere. He even caught a touchdown pass last year. Behind him is Doug Flutie, who proved with the Bills that he's not totally incompetent. I don't think either of them is a lost cause.

If Brees can step up his interception-to-touchdown ratio (last season it was 15 INTs to 11 TDs) to the point where he's throwing more scores than picks, he can turn the corner. Plus, and I hate to sound cliched, he has a strong heart. I've read interviews with him during the Chargers' slide and he's the first person to beat himself up for a cheap loss.

Would I look at another quarterback? With Eli Manning coming up (draw the parallels where you will), of course I'd take a look. I just wouldn't count out the two that are still standing.

It doesn't matter if it's Brees or Joe Montana calling the shots, though, if there's no one to throw to. Donovan McNabb has nothing to work off of in Philadelphia, and the Chargers face a similar situation.

Nobody doubts the power of LaDanian Tomlinson, who was the leading rusher in almost every game last season. This man can truly get the job done and he was a standout even on a dismal team.

However, when he ranks third on the 2003 season passing statistics, and Flutie is listed on the official site as the season's second-best rusher (two touchdowns to Tomlinson's twelve) and isn't even the starting quarterback, there's something seriously weird happening on the field.

So what about David Boston?

The former Arizona Cardinal averaged 12.6 yards per touch in the 2003 season with seven touchdowns. Given that a first down is 10 yards, that's some pretty good yardage. The previous year in Arizona, he averaged 16 yards per, but only one touchdown. He also got the ball 70 times in 2003 as opposed to 32 in 2002. Boston's getting the ball more, and even though the numbers look like they're going down, at least he's doing something.

Boston led the team in receiving yards and touchdown receptions, and his 70 pass receptions were second only to Tomlinson's team-record 100. His 14-catch, 171-yard feat on October 5, 2003 was the single best game by any AFC receiver last season. Given that he continues to produce toward the top of the Chargers' offense, letting him go would be a stupid move unless they can get something out of a trade. With a team that's not winning games, you don't generally get rid of your number-two receiver.

Besides, who are they going to get to replace him?

The Chargers' other wide receivers are Grant Mattos and Micah Ross. Ross has only two years of experience. 2002, in fact, was his only real year as he played in only one game in 2003 before being cut by Jacksonville. In 2002 he was Jacksonville's fourth WR all season, with no catches.

It seems the team has no clue what to do with rookie Mattos. He was released on the final trim of the team's roster only to be re-signed to the practice squad a day later, and then promoted to the active roster 16 days after that. He has no receiving stats, his six games of Chargers action having come on special teams.

So the Chargers are going to let David Boston go and replace him with the fourth-string wide receiver who's never caught a ball or the rookie who has no stats? If you can make sense out of that, you're smarter than I am.

Not to mention it might help if the quarterback gets some protection from his friends. In 16 games, the Chargers took 29 sacks. When your quarterback is getting decked more than once in a game, your defense needs to wake up. There's only so much head trauma a person can take.

The Chargers also need to convert. Of the 13 interceptions, the 'Bolts got their hands on in 2003, a grand total of one was returned for a touchdown. If you include the extra point, that's seven points out of a possible 91 that they managed to exploit.

If I went on about all the disappointing numbers coming out of the San Diego Chargers, this column would be a lot longer. You'd probably want to get a soda or a sandwich and come back.

The fact remains that since Junior Seau left San Diego to go to Miami, nobody really notices the Chargers anymore. You can't exactly blame them. The Chargers aren't giving anybody any reason to pay attention.

Whatever happens to Boston isn't going to decide their fate. If and when they decide to step up, that's when we'll start to care.