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I was born and lived the first 11 years of my life in San Diego, so the news that the San Diego Chargers are moving to Los Angeles hurts. On the plus side, I have the Bears to be disappointed in. So, you know, there’s that.

Here’s what I posted to Facebook last night shortly after I heard the news:

Just before you discover girls, sports is the infatuation for a lot of boys. It was for me. And my team was the San Diego Chargers. As a kid to say I loved the Chargers would not be an overstatement. Lance Alworth was my hero. I even painted lightning bolts and the number 19 on the sides of a face-maskless helmet I found. I ran around our neighborhood wearing that silly looking thing playing catch with any friend who was around, pretending I was the great AFL receiver. My loyalty passed into adulthood. I have a collection of Chargers hats, shirts, jerseys. Even a stuffed bear. Sadly, professional sports team owners don’t share that kind of loyalty. Fans who give their heart to a team are not valued unless they buy billionaires new stadiums. So my Chargers are going to announce they are moving up the 5 freeway to Los Angeles. Somewhere deep inside that little boy with the goofy, hand painted helmet’s heart is breaking.