FanHouse Bobby Ross

In "Rough Draft," lawyer-turned-writer-turned-football-player Clay Travis recounts his experience training for the 2008 NFL draft alongside some future pros. The following is Part 10 of 10 (read Chapter 9 here) installments that FanHouse will roll out every weekday leading up to the 2009 NFL Draft on April 25.

At 6:35 in the morning, gray mist encircles the stone barracks of West Point. First-year cadets stand in the hallways counting down the minutes until formation, Cadet Caleb Campbell tucks in the corner of his bed, the green cover tight and without wrinkles. He adjusts his hat and steps outside of Eisenhower Barracks room E313. It's 6:39 in the morning. Look quickly across the timeless cadet procession standing in the courtyard, past the parade ground bleachers that say Beat Navy, and it could be any year, any time, but only one place: West Point at morning.

Man, winning really has changed the San Diego Chargers. Or more specifically, their fans. In the five years between Bobby Ross and Marty Schottenheimer the Chargers were 23-57, with guys named Whelihan, Harbaugh and Leaf handing off to Brown, Means and Fazande, and throwing passes to Martin, Jones and Graham. Good times.

Now, six year later -- and a year after Martyball was relegated to the scrap heap -- San Diego fans aren't a happy bunch. Not winning playoff games under Schottenheimer was one thing -- he did manage to go 47-33 during the regular season -- but getting crushed early in the season, with the same guys that went 14-2 last year, well, that's just too much.

The San Diego Union-Tribune's Michael Stetz took a look around the internets and found some of the league's most despondent, dispirited fans. A sampling:

"In all sincerity, this is one of the lowest times to be a San Diego fan. Our city has seemingly endured worse (I remember the '03 season, when the Padres and Chargers were both laughingstocks), but this year was supposed to be different. . . . "

Yeah, the Padres aren't helping things. Psychologist Richard Lustberg has some advice on how to cope when your team stinks: To get over the "loser blues," Lustberg recommends that downcast fans begin following another team.

Oh, it's that easy, huh? Of course, that doesn't do much for you if you're into San Diego sports. Instead, I suspect fans will put all their energies into getting Norvell run out of time town. Misery loving company and all that.

That's the rumor, at least.

Army coach Bobby Ross has resigned and will make the announcement at a 3 p.m. news conference, the Times Herald-Record reports. Ross will leave the program after three years and a 9-25 record. He is expected to be replaced by offensive line coach Stan Brock.

Seeing as how these fact-checked newspapers sometimes get things wrong, we're calling this a rumor until we hear otherwise but since it's in print, we're here to let you know about it.

Ross came in with high hopes, having been a successful coach both in NFL and college stops. However, coaching at the low-talent, more rigidly academic service academy proved difficult. It didn't help that Ross went just 1-5 against rivals Navy and the Air Force.

Perhaps he should have been more innovative on offense, following the lead of both Navy and Air Force? It sure works for other low-talent upstars like Boise State and Houston. The whole disciplined approach thing is good, but you gotta find ways to move the ball and score when you don't have the horses.