Dear San Diego Bars and Restaurants, where’s the Padre pride?

I’ve been to cities all over the country. Some are great sports cities, some aren’t. The one thing these cities have in common is they’ll ALWAYS have the local sports team on TV. They’re loyal to their city.

In St. Louis, the Cardinals and Blues are on. If they’re not playing? Their TV’s are permanently on the teams network.

North Carolina? Duke and UNC practically shut down the state. Even the Panthers command TV’s on Sunday’s.

Heck, Phoenix will have the D-backs and Cardinals on. They’re not known as a premiere sports city, but there’s still pride in their teams.

The issue at hand here is that local businesses are out of touch. The same businesses that benefit from having a major league team are either oblivious or simply don’t care enough to support them. Make no mistake, it’s GOOD for San Diego when the team is competitive. Fans drive down the street honking, hollering in support of the Padres (and previously the Chargers) when they make the playoffs. It’s a beautiful thing.

Below is a picture of a local bar (we won’t out them, but they know who they are) during the game on Tuesday night. This was taken at 530 PM or so during Manny Machado’s return to Baltimore. The Padres were leading 7-2 at the time.

When asked to turn the game on the manager said “uhh, sure ok.” Looking irritated. “What channel is that on?”

Really dude?

The problem is that this is the rule, not the exception. It wasn’t just this one restaurant that didn’t have the game on. Multiple places throughout the county have no clue what’s going on. Even if you don’t like baseball, you should have the game on. Don’t act as if it’s an inconvenience or a shock when someone asks you to put it on.

Whats the point? Well, there are thousands (if not hundreds of thousands) of casual baseball fans in San Diego. When bars like this one have the game on, it exposes them to a new generation of players that are exciting to watch. It generates buzz and excitement in a city that really needs it.

It also encourages ownership to continue investing. They’re spending more time and money in putting a winner on the field than ever before. The city needs and deserves a winner. If our expectation is that they do this, we should reciprocate by supporting the boys. At the very least, it’ll help expose potential fans to a young, exciting team. You don’t think Fernando Tatis Jr would turn a few heads? Come on. We’re on the cusp of something great.

Let’s hold every bar and restaurant’s feet to the fire on this! Padre fans can make a real difference. The organization does so much for this city, so let’s rally around them and make sure they get the support they need to continue down this road. We all want more players like Manny Machado and Fernando Tatis Jr, right?

To our local businesses: Change your behavior. You don’t need to be a super fan, but get the game on your TVs and support this team! When you do, you get bonus points for posting your excitement on social media.