So I’m here on the first official Birddog road trip, in sunny (and sort of chilly) San Diego. My flight left Jacksonville at 6 on Saturday morning. A quick layover in Atlanta, and I was off. I’m staying with a friend (and fellow ’99er). I went out with a few of his friends last night. Today, it was the Chargers-Lions game followed up with dinner at my sister’s house. Pictures after the jump.

I live in Jacksonville, but I’m originally from San Diego. Half of my family still lives out here, but I moved away when I was really young. So while I’ve been to several Chargers games, this is the first Chargers game I’ve seen in San Diego. Naturally, I was giddy the whole time.

The game was a total blowout. It was awesome. Well, except that LT skipped pretty much the entire second half since the Chargers were so far ahead.

This is like the holy trinity of San Diego football:

There was a Billy Volek sighting:

This guy definitely had the best tailgater. He had this huge friggin’ amp blaring music, with a TV, a huge grill, and a giant inflatable football player. I don’t know where you get one of these, but it a pretty good way to announce to the world that you mean business with your tailgater.

This shouldn’t need any explanation:

This guy was patrolling my section. Yes, those are lightning bolt tattoos running the length of his arms.

The win clinched the division for the Chargers.

For as long as I can remember, the Chargers have had a cannon at their game that they fire off whenever they score. Apparently it just gets loaded into some dude’s truck after the game. I want to be that dude.

One of the fun things for me on these bowl trips is checking out what other sporting events there are in the area. Usually it’s the NBA; I saw the Rockets play the Sixers in 2003, the Warriors and the Nuggets in 2004, and the Bobcats and the Wizards last year. I actually sat 3 rows behind Dontrelle Willis at the Warriors game, which was kind of cool. Bowl weeks are so much more than the game itself. It’s a blast.