Virgen’s View: Costa Mesa welcomes L.A. Chargers

The San Diego Chargers’ transformation into the Los Angeles Chargers has been a public relations mess and not well received in Los Angeles.

But the story is very different in Costa Mesa.

When the Chargers announced their move to L.A. this week, Bill Plaschke of The Times immediately penned a column featuring the statement: “We. Don’t. Want. You.”

But in Costa Mesa, it’s more like: “We. Want. You.” And, “We’ll. Love. You.”

You won’t find very many Chargers’ haters in Costa Mesa, or in Orange County for that matter.

The city is welcoming the front office and practice facilities with open arms and a blind eye to that lazy attempt of their new logo that would make Dodgers’ fans laugh.

In L.A., the Chargers will take a backseat to the USC Trojans, UCLA Bruins and the Rams. Even Raider Nation will still have a greater following than the new L.A. Chargers.

The Chargers want to fight for L.A.

In Costa Mesa, they won’t need to fight at all. They can find great success, or at least acceptance.

Aside from the high school football teams, Orange Coast College is the only football show in town, and it seems to be more known now for a conflict over a teacher being singled out for criticizing Donald Trump than any player it puts on the field at LeBard Stadium.

The new training facility on Susan Street, between Sunflower Avenue and South Coast Drive, will be sure to attract football fans, most whom will welcome the Chargers. The Chargers’ offices will also be there.

Costa Mesa is known as the City of the Arts, yet it has attracted sports, extreme and entertaining, in the form of the companies Vans, Hurley and Volcom. There’s certainly room for the Chargers.

Roy Englebrecht called his boxing and mixed martial arts show Fight Club OC, and though you’re not supposed to talk about Fight Club, it’s found success in Costa Mesa.

If anything the Chargers will find some comfort here. There is certainly hope.

Mayor Katrina Foley spoke with Chargers owner Dean Spanos on Thursday and came away with excitement.

“He seems genuinely excited for the move,” Foley said. “There are many factors involved for why they moved to L.A. For us in Costa Mesa, it will be great to have an NFL team here and NFL players around town and involved in our community. We are not big like San Diego and L.A. This has a bigger impact in Costa Mesa. Their influence will be more prevalent here than in cities like San Diego and L.A.

“What I loved about our conversation was that he initiated and volunteered that they do expect their team to be part of our community. That will benefit Costa Mesa and other parts of Orange County.”

The high school football coaches in Costa Mesa, Mike Bargas of Estancia and Glen Fisher of Costa Mesa, are excited.

Bargas is a San Francisco 49ers fan, and Fisher loves the Chicago Bears, but they won’t mind rooting for the Chargers now.

“It’s awesome,” Bargas said. “It’s great for the city. Hopefully, with them being in Costa Mesa, we can forge a relationship. At the very least, we can go to the practices. I think it’s cool for the city. It will fire up people about football, in general.”

Fisher says he noticed that the Chargers were generous with activities in San Diego and expects the same in Costa Mesa.

“I’m excited about that,” Fisher said. “All of us will benefit from that. It will be great. This is a really good thing for this community.”

The Chargers’ new offices and training facility in Costa Mesa seems like a perfect fit, but Sam Farmer, the Times NFL writer, says it is most likely temporary as the team is already looking for new digs.

But it makes sense for now. The Chargers chose Costa Mesa because it had available office and field space, which is actually difficult to find in Southern California, Farmer said.

Also, the new facility and offices are close enough to San Diego so that players and employees who live there, and haven’t decided when and where to relocate, can commute.

So the Chargers could move away from Costa Mesa, maybe when they can play in the new $2.6 billion stadium that they will share with the Rams in 2019.

Enjoy the Chargers while you can, Costa Mesa. Or maybe show them so much love they won’t want to leave.

STEVE VIRGEN is sports editor of the Daily Pilot.