Enter Club Mobile Party Limo Bus. It’s a fresh, new limo bus service… and it’s safe and affordable. 

From its indepedent stylings, to bass thumping, heart pounding feel when you’re inside the coach, you get a sense that the ride is better than the destination. And it is. Club Mobile prides itself on being the better ride. It prides itself on being safe and affordable.

The owner, Justin Merrill, has told me that there are tons of bus companys out there. His isn’t just another party bus, it’s his livelihood and his passion. He lives to serve customers whom are looking for a great time. And afterwards, he’s down to have a burrito or two with his customers. 

Working on his second bus now, Mr. Merrill’s business is booming, and I can see why. His party limo bus company is just starting to take off and I think he’ll do quite well for himself.

To book, visit his website: http://www.clubmobilepartybus.com or call him at (619) 733-1919. Prices vary by date, but average about $500 for a weeknight or weekend day trip.

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San Diego Wiki, inspired by the new-age community portal Wikipedia, is the ultimate San Diego resource page that hooks you up to all the information you need to know about San Diego. With interactive tools similar to functions on Wikipedia, San Diego Wiki encourages San Diego locals to add and update content – ultimately creating an accurate, interactive resource that provides the best information from your point of view.

Enter the San Diego Wiki portal and discover a plethora of topics and themes that will conveniently connect you to San Diego facts and information relevant to your lifestyle. Find everything you need to know about San Diego banks, transportation in San Diego, the best San Diego senior resources, opportunities for volunteering in San Diego, historical facts, annual festivals and events, and San Diego sports – from high school to the professionals. Browse through fun facts like movies filmed in San Diego and what celebrities reside in San Diego, or research private and public schools in San Diego – ranging from prominent pre-schools to prestigious universities. If you’re a current alumni or student of a San Diego school, add content about your alma mater and help San Diego Wiki grow into the ultimate resource for San Diego living.

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Following the 2008 San Diego Chargers was like going on an exploration of disappointment.  Four months ago the San Diego was perceived to be among the top five most talented football teams on the planet.  Then, two and a half months later they were perceived to be in the bottom five in the league.  After fighting back, they managed to fall back into the playoffs, only to lose in the second round.  It was disappointing that they were only 8-8 on the year, but then they were a Cinderella story.  However, Cinderella didn’t make it to the ball.  This final brand of disappointment was the worst kind because it was deserved.

The final game against the Steelers was predictable, ending with the best team standing.  There weren’t any questionable calls that mattered or even very many unbelievable plays.  The Chargers were an athletic west coast team who lost to a smash mouth east coast team in their stadium in the snow. 

“We got ourselves in a situation where we had to string eight in a row together,” Rivers said. “We had to play eight elimination games to win it all. That’s tough to do. We stump our toe one time in Pittsburgh and have a crazy third quarter and it’s over.  It’s hard fighting a battle up hill.” 

“The last two years, September didn’t go the way we’d hoped,” safety Eric Weddle said. “Doing it this way is tiring. We’ve got to be a complete team from day one next year.”

Unrestricted free agents include guard Kynan Forney, guard Mike Goff, linebacker Marques Harris, center Jeremy Newberry, defensive end Igor Olshansky and running back Darren Sproles. Wide receiver Malcom Floyd and cornerback Cletis Gordon are restricted free agents, and tackle Jeromey Clary is an exclusive rights free agent. 

The future is uncertain for this group of Chargers who have been together for a while now.  Is the window for LT’s greatness closed forever?  Will Shawn Merriman return with his same All Pro style of play?  Can Norv Turner continue to lead a team into the playoffs while answering still lingering questions about his abilities?  Who will we draft?  Who will we sign in the off-season?  These are all questions that will be answered in due time.  They are unavoidable things that will play out in the next year.  I only hope it won’t be disappointing to watch.

photos from www.chargers.com

Next Sunday, they’ll get a chance to gain more vindication against a team that narrowly beat them in a Week 11 defeat.  The Bolts, the AFC’s fourth seed, are headed to Pittsburgh to face the Steelers for another war.

“It’s just like playing Indianapolis again,” Chargers Head Coach Norv Turner said Sunday. “We’re familiar with them, they’re familiar with us. But the fact that we’ve played in the stadium, we’ve been in the weather, we’ve handled it once in terms of knowing we can compete and play in that environment, that will help us.”

Seven weeks ago sounds like not to long ago, but looking back at the Chargers then feels like looking at a completely different team.  The Chargers kept the Steelers out of the end zone and held a fourth-quarter lead in Pittsburgh before a Jeff Reed field goal in the final second gave Pittsburgh an 11-10 victory. 

“We did a great job defensively back there,” Turner said. “We had some missed opportunities on offense. As I said before the Indianapolis game, I believe we’re a lot better team now than we were six weeks ago or eight weeks ago. That’s going to be a part of it. You’re in the playoffs and you’re playing a team that’s got home field advantage and is an outstanding team. We’re going to have to be at our best.”

The Chargers have a history with the Steelers in big playoff games.  This weekend San Diego will return to the city in which they achieved the biggest win in franchise history. Their 1994 AFC Championship Game upset of the Steelers allowed the Chargers to advance to its only Super Bowl appearance.  Sure, they ended up getting creamed by the 49ers, but the fondest memories from that season were on the field they are returning to on Sunday.

The forecast for Pittsburgh next Sunday afternoon calls for a high of 21 with snow.  “That will be a factor in how you play the game and when you get in those games, running the ball and playing defense are critical,” Turner said. 

While the Chargers will make their fifth East Coast trip this season, they’ll have a little extra time to prepare for their long journey. If the Dolphins had won Sunday’s game in Miami, the Bolts would have departed San Diego Thursday night to play a on Saturday afternoon.  Fortunately, with the way things turned out, the players will have three full days of rest and three full days of practice before going to war out east. 

The Bolts won their final game of the season, but more importantly, the universe somehow decided that they should have the fourth best position in the AFC playoffs.  And, to make things even more perfect, this became reality all while making out of line trash talker, Broncos QB, Jay Cutler, pout like Darlene on Roseanne when she couldn’t get the family car on a Friday night because Becky had a hot date. 

It is very possible that the 2008 Chargers might go down as the worst division winning team in NFL history.  However, most of us are Padre fans as well and we can all admit, while not being completely ideal, this reality sounds like something only a fool would wish for:  go 8-8, host a playoff game, make Jay Cutler try really hard to hold back tears, somehow force the team who eliminated us last year, the New England Patriots, watch our home playoff game on TV because they missed the playoffs even with a better record, and have Al Davis spontaneously burst into flames (the season is not over).

This is all fun, but I can’t stop thinking about what this renewed sense of hope really means.  A team I love has a chance of winning a championship, and if this happens, I will be filled with an emotion that I have never felt before.  I know I want to feel this emotion badly, but I don’t think I will really fully understand why until it happens. 

I don’t remember when I started loving the Chargers; I just always have.  Compounded with the perpetually disappointing Padres, I have only truly loved teams that have never reached the top.  People that I know who have experienced the ultimate prize of a Championship always seem to have a different set of sports problems after their team wins.  Instead of wondering when they will finally get there, they wonder when they will get back.  They can’t connect with people based on a shared unknown; they now have to share a specific time in the past when things were perfect (unless their team is the current champ).  These people know what I am feeling, but they can’t make me feel what they have felt.  It is like being one of the guys in the group who has only pecked a girl on the cheek, when other guys in the group have already French kissed. 

At the end of the game on Sunday, Jay Cutler was still a Quarterback who had never made the playoffs.  He mistakenly talked ridiculous trash about San Diego’s Phillip Rivers, a Quarterback who has a resume that is completely out of Cutler’s league, and was forced to walk off the field still not knowing what it feels like to be him.  On the surface, one would probably think that he is the QB so he has control.  But I don’t know if that is completely true.  Cutler is the most talented player on the Broncos, but the rest of his team, for the most part, is not of playoff caliber.  He looked powerless all night on and off the field, and his facial expressions were eerily similar to those I have made alone looking in the mirror while washing my hands in my bathroom during commercial breaks through most of this season.  Phillip Rivers might be a winner, but Jay Cutler understands us more.

I hope the Chargers win the Superbowl this year because that is obviously the whole point, but more importantly, I hope they win so I won’t be able to relate to that pompous powerless jerk ever again.

photos from www.chargers.com

 Then, late in the third frame, the Bolts took back the lead on the first play of the last quarter when Phillip Rivers hit Antonio Gates on a rollout pass for a five-yard score to finish a crucial 12-play, 63-yard drive that put them back in the lead, 27-24.

After Shaun Phillips and Jyles Tucker had a combined sack of Garcia on third down, The Bucs punted the ball away to dangerous man, Darren Sproles, who made them pay. His 43-yard punt return put the Bolts in a great position, and four plays later Sproles caught a screen pass from Rivers and took it 32 yards down the field for a touchdown. Sproles’ score put the Chargers up 34-24 with 7:42 remaining.  

“Darren has been such a big part of everything we do,” Turner said. “He’s had big returns. Our guys know when LT or Sproles get a screen out there, if they’ll get out in front we’ve got guys who can make plays with the ball. He continues to do it.”

The Chargers weren’t done. Garcia had Tampa Bay on the move trying to make a game of it when his third-down pass was batted up by Quentin Jammer and intercepted by Antonio Cason. The Bolts’ rookie returned the INT 59-yards return of his second career interception as the Chargers walked away with a 41-21 win. 

Two weeks ago the Chargers were sitting at 5-8 in need of back-to-back wins as well as consecutive losses by Denver in order to have a chance at the playoffs. Now that’s exactly what they face.

“After everything that’s happened this season, we’ve got an opportunity to win this division,” Gates said.  “We’ve taken care of business the last three weeks and it all comes down to next week against Denver.”

The Playoffs unofficially start next week on the last game of the season.  Denver’s QB Jay Cutler and Phillip Rivers hate each other, LT has something to prove, and Norv Turner might have something to get excited about.  The last time they played, it was in Denver and the Chargers got screwed on a few calls.  Now, there is only one game to play and it is for everything.  Fair or not, it will be a great game.

Photos from www.chargers.com

With 1:19 left, Rivers hit Malcom Floyd with a 4-yard TD pass. Then his 10-yarder to Vincent Jackson with 36 seconds to go allowed for the Chargers to a 22-21 victory over the stunned Chiefs, who led 21-3 in the third quarter.

After their two-point conversion attempt failed, the Chargers still needed help from the football gods. Helped by a delay-of-game penalty, the Chiefs tried a 50-yard field goal on the final play. Connor Barth, KC’s 9-for-9 kicker before missing a 34-yarder in the first half, was wide left.

“I’m kind of speechless. Don’t know what to say,” Barth said. “There’s no excuse.”

There is no real excuse for losing.  Nobody wants to hear one try to justify failure.  Nobody wants to lose and nobody wants to stop believing in themselves.  The game on Sunday might have saved San Diego’s season, but probably not.  The only thing we learned was that the Chargers are a better team than Kansas City.  They marched into their house, got behind, and then came back because they believed they could.  It was a cliché sports movie, except without predictability. 

 The game was fun because not only did it allow Charger fans to feel like LL Cool J in the Mama Said Knock You Out video, it also opened a welcoming door of hope; even if only slightly.  Sure, the Chargers don’t have complete control anymore, but they did give their fans two gifts: a legitimate reason to watch a Broncos game not involving the San Diego directly after the comeback win and, more importantly, another week of football with meaning.

The Bucs host San Diego next week in Tampa Bay.  There is no real rivalry of note between these two teams, but it doesn’t matter.  The Chargers might be able to finish the season with a 500 record and that is something to believe in.

 Photos from www.chargers.com

It’s a place, not well known yet, but its location isn’t as inconspicuous as the name. On the corner of Fourth Avenue and E Street in downtown San Diego, and across from Horton Plaza, you’ll find Confidential. You enter from the corner–a modest entry way with corner pillar directly in front–a slight obstruction in front of the door that may seem a little awkward at first, but it’s really not that bad.

When you first look at the place, you might notice the beautiful upstairs lounge lined with a glass railing, or the solid looking bar down below. There are very solid-colored tables and chairs in a uniform pattern in the restaurant with low loungey, square couches on the left. What might also draw your eye is their giant screen which a video projection unit is charged at displaying fun images. It comes complete with modern decor and mood lighting directly above the dining area in the form of fancy, giant balls of light–the kind you might find at Ikea. It almost looks like your typical, hip, late twenties hang out with a brick-lined interior. In fact, they bill themselves as a social dining experience in a restaurant/loft. I like it.

Even the servers are beautiful. Women wear the latest in San Diego fashion: a uniform top colored in a light mocha, with dark brown boots that cover the ladies’ navy blue jeans. The men also wear form-fitting buttoned shirts that match the decor’s solid, earth tones. Solid.

Walking in may impress you, but there’s more in store for the casual patron–particularly when they dine.

As I entered and swooped up a table with some friends, I looked around and had a feeling that Confidential was a special place and the event I was at would be quite the memorable occasion–a fine experience for the Yelp Elite and their guests. I had seen it from afar and heard about it from friends, but I had never had the chance to visit. Maybe it was because from outside, it looked too expensive, or too posh for my taste. Looks are deceiving because the price is quite average for downtown and it feels just a little hipper than the gentrified North Park. Yes, it’s posh, but it does not feel like I don’t belong–the case you’ll find with places like Ivy and Hard Rock’s Moonstone lounge.

A beautiful blond server with her hair up walks up to me with a platter of Lemon Grass Marinated Chicken Skewers. Just like any other event that serves free tapas, I’ll take it. The food was quite good–very tasty. Not long after a man came with a spoon full of Mac & Cheese. It wasn’t until I was fortunate enough to be next to the kitchen door that I saw a plate of Beef Tenderloin come out. I quickly grabbed a few, tipped the man, and went on my way to share with my friends. The beef tenderloin was amazing and practically melted in my mouth. The flavor was awesome and savory.

It’s no surprise that the food is good. At the helm in the kitchen is executive chef Richard Sweeny, a food service veteran and amazing human being who makes delicious food. His talents were recently on display on Bravo’s Top Chef. Compliments are definitely in order for this man and his staff.

For dessert, I had s’mores. It was a very unlikely treat for a downtown joint that brought the feeling of friendship and fun back to the dining experience. The marshmallows also came on platters, lightly toasted over a graham cracker wafer and a sliver of milk chocolate. “Who does that?” I thought. Confidential does.

After the event we moved out to the patio and stayed behind to have a bottle of wine while the majority of the guests left. What better way is there to finish the evening than with a glass of red with friends? The server didn’t seem to mind.

In the end, the waiter dropped off the bill in a miniature manila envelope, similar to the kind used to courier legal documents. I remarked that Confidential impressed me once again and then we were on our way–only to wonder who we would share our secret with next.

Website: http://www.confidentialsd.com
Confidential
901 4th Ave
San Diego, CA 92101
(619) 696-8888

View from the loft

The ladies of Confidential

The Chargers Raiders game was the sixth game in team history played on a Thursday and the first in more than 11 years. The Chargers’ last Thursday night contest was played Oct. 16, 1997 in Kansas City. Coincidentally, three of the Chargers’ first five Thursday night games were played against the Raiders, the last two of which were played in San Diego in 1983 and 1986.  I think it is say safe to say that it should happen more often.

The Chargers couldn’t have picked a better time to try to snap their three-game losing streak. The Chargers 10 in a row in the month of December. San Diego’s last loss in December was a 23-7 season-ending loss to the Denver Broncos in 2005.

Vincent Jackson set a new career high with 148 yards receiving, Darren Sproles scored two touchdowns in a game for the third time in his career, LB Stephen Cooper set a career-high with two interceptions, Shaun Phillips set a new career-high with 2.5 sacks, LaDainian Tomlinson’s 25 carries was his second-most in a game this season, the defense allowed its second-fewest rushing yards of the season tonight (54) and lowest total net yards of the season (163), and the Chargers beat the Raiders for the 11th straight time.
 
The game, as in many NFL games, was dictated by the Quarterback play on both sides.  The Raiders’ DeMarcus Russell and Andrew Walter combined for a passer rating of 27.6, going 17 of 30 for 129 yards with no touchdowns and three interceptions.  Phillip Rivers on the other had a better day.  His 8-yard dump pass to Darren Sproles to cap off the second quarter 96-yard drive would have been enough to win the match up.

San Diego might have a chance to make the playoffs but they have to be perfect from here on out.  Sure, it always feels good to stomp Oakland at home, but the rivalry isn’t at a level where success can make up for a disappointing season.  Sweeping and dominating the Raiders should have been icing on a cake. 

The Kansas City Chiefs are up next and they always play well at home.  The first game against them this season was in San Diego and it was close.  Hopefully, after gaining confidence from the Raiders blowout, the Bolts can put together a nice winning streak and sneak into the playoffs where anything can happen.

Photos by www.chargers.com