
Nick Canepa
The San Diego Union-Tribune's senior sports columnist Nick Canepa, a native San Diegan, graduated from San Diego State and began working for the Tribune in 1971. He ed the sports department in 1974 and covered high schools, SDSU athletics, the Clippers, the Chargers, wrote a TV-radio column and became a general sports columnist in 1984. He has covered nearly every major sporting event in the world and has been given other news assignments, such as the Republican and Democratic national conventions in 1988 and the Republican convention in San Diego in 1996. Canepa was a member of the staff that won the 1978 Pulitzer Prize for reporting on the PSA plane crash. He lives with his wife, Teresa, in San Diego.
All Stories

The Union-Tribune’s Nick Canepa grades the Chargers following Sunday’s 6-0 win over the Patriots: Quarterbacks: CJustin Herbert has to be telling himself: “How bad is New England’s offense when we...

To compete with the big boys, SDSU’s Sean Lewis has to be different – and brilliant
Sez Me …While not our prodigal sons by definition, the best of them do leaveth.That’s not changing.Some of our best high school football players get homesick or don’t find the...

Nick Canepa’s report card: Offense average, coaching worse in Chargers’ latest close loss
Quarterbacks: DOnce again, Justin Herbert ran the ball effectively (had a 35-yarder in the fourth). Justin started out fine until he was stopped on a brutal non-call. Three points at...

Most bad NFL teams fire their coaches. Not the Chargers, who remain loyal to the blundering Brandon Staley.
Sez Me ... Know how you can tell if you have a bad football team? When it consistently loses close games.Know how you can tell if you have a bad...

Giving thanks for Chargering, old friends, new coaches, OTL and the ‘PPR’
Thanksgiving has arrived at our table, a day for (what would you think?) giving thanks.I always do my part. So while I still can buckle my belt, here goes. My...

Nick Canepa’s report card: Secondary, running back, coaches flunk inexcusable loss to Packers
The Union-Tribune's Nick Canepa grades the Chargers following Sunday's 23-20 loss to the Packers:Quarterbacks: ACL (Another Close Loss)Chargering at its finest (or worse). A beyond horrible defeat to a bunch...

SDSU needs a splashy hire to make ripples in college football, put butts in seats
Brady Hoke deserved to "retire." Kind of like Caesar retired. “Et tu, J.D.?"But then, he didn’t deserve the "hire back" in the first place.Hoke was a bad hire back by...

Peter Seidler brought light and hope to San Diego, believing we all could be champions
The San Diego sports scene has lost its light. Our hope. The candle who was leading us to our way out.Padres Chairman Peter Seidler has been taken from us, and...

Nick Canepa’s report card: Leaky defense spoils another ‘A’ effort by Chargers’ offensive stars
The Union-Tribune's Nick Canepa grades the Chargers following Sunday's 41-38 loss to the Lions at SoFi Stadium: Quarterbacks: AJustin Herbert’s broken left finger is down to the Band-Aid stage, and...

Caleb Williams ranks among the best college QBs ever. Too bad USC is defenseless.
Sez Me (Heisman Trophy edition) …Caleb Williams speaks Hun on the field. Ruthless. A one man Plundering Herd. Off of it, he’s a hound dog, crying all the time.Football players...

Cheating can only get you so far in football, where physicality comes first
Sez Me …The University of Michigan’s football program is cheating. Sign stealing. Allegedly. Going to great lengths to do so. Perhaps. Maybe a lot. Maybe a little. Maybe not.In any...

Nick Canepa’s report card: 5 groups earn A’s as Chargers rout Bears
The Union-Tribune’s Nick Canepa grades the Chargers following Sunday’s 30-13 win over the BearsQuarterbacks: AThis was the real Justin Herbert, not the imposter that the teacher saw the past three...

With puppeteer as GM, Padres must hire manager who has no strings attached
Sez Me …Marion Ette. the name.Ette is the rumor mill’s latest leader in the clubhouse to become the Padres’ — what, 21st? — manager in A.J. “Gepetto” Preller’s decade...

Nick Canepa’s report card: Backs and receivers make the grade, but Chargers’ effort falls short again
The Union-Tribune’s Nick Canepa grades the Chargers following Sunday's 31-17 loss to the Chiefs in Kansas City: Quarterbacks: FIt’s not true Justin Herbert asked trainers to do a Ronnie Lott...

Chargers’ Justin Herbert has great traits, but doesn’t win enough games
Sez Me …Peter, the famous NFL general manager in the sky, is breaking pie with Leonardo da Vinci in a heavenly pizzeria.Peter: “da, if you’re drawing him up, who makes...

Nick Canepa’s report card: Chargers quarterback, O-line, coaches fail prime-time test vs. Cowboys
The Union-Tribune’s Nick Canepa grades the Chargers following Monday's 20-17 loss to the Cowboys at SoFi Stadium:Quarterbacks: FIt may be more difficult for Justin Herbert to play on the road...

Bill Belichick hasn’t lost his touch. He’s lost his quarterback, and that’s even worse
Sez Me …Has Bill Belichick lost it? Lost his touch? Lost his mind? Lost his edge? Lost his chops? Lost his will to win?Yes.He lost Tom Brady, who had all...

Padres are standing pat, and he’s starting to believe in the San Diego Sports Curse
Sez Me …San Diego doesn't need any old exorcist. It needs the Charlemagne of exorcists, a man who did so much despite having a son named Pepin the Hunchback. And not...

Nick Canepa’s report card: With Khalil Mack leading the way, Chargers get it done against shorthanded Raiders
The Union-Tribune’s Nick Canepa grades the Chargers following Sunday’s 24-17 win over the Raiders at SoFi Stadium:Quarterbacks: BJustin Herbert has hitched his star to an ambulance. WR Mike Williams is...

Padres Summit aims to get to the bottom of club’s problems, which is … well, it ain’t chemistry
Sez Me …One of the biggest and most important meetings the world has known since Malta and Yalta will take place Monday. Somewhere, in a secret, leakproof location, a Padres Summit...

Nick Canepa’s report card: Justin Herbert gets an A+ for Sunday’s win. Coaching? Not so much.
The Union-Tribune’s Nick Canepa grades the Chargers following Sunday’s 28-24 win over the Vikings:Quarterbacks: A+ Justin Herbert was brilliant, having one of the great statistical games in team and NFL history....

San Diego State has ‘The Show’ – and now the No-Show. Things need to change.
Sez Me …San Diego is the Sports Entertainment Capital of What San Diego Prefers.When it comes to football, there is but one grave that can hold this body down.Tedium.And we...

Nick Canepa’s report card: Quarterback, coaching, secondary all get Fs for Chargers’ effort in loss to Titans
The Union-Tribune’s Nick Canepa grades the Chargers following Sunday’s 27-24 loss to the Titans in Nashville: Quarterbacks: F+Sacked on the third play of the game, Justin Herbert’s response was OK....

Aaron Rodgers’ torn Achilles shows QBs are always one hit away from injury, irrelevance
Sez Me …The NFL’s basket is enormous, and yet far too small to hold all of its good eggs. They fall out and break.Some, to my great sadness, are Faberge....

Nick Canepa’s report card: Chargers’ O-line, coaches fail season-opening test against Dolphins
The Union-Tribune's Nick Canepa grades the Chargers following Sunday's 36-34 loss to the Dolphins at SoFi Stadium: Quarterbacks: DIt didn't take Justin Herbert long to find Keenan Allen with a...

New play-caller, top-tier talent could keep team from Chargering this season
Sez Me …Chargering isn’t merely a Sherlockian Great Grimpen Mire to escape. It’s become one of the NFL’s inevitables. All but impossible to avoid. Similar to riding a camel out...

As home team falters, it’s time to Mr. Padre
Sez me ... Wake up, you disillusioned wallflowers, and bloom. me outside this lousy Padres dance to get a different, perfectly legal kind of high from inhaling Tony...

Work of Art puts San Diego High legend Powell on Canton’s doorstep
Sez Me …No other sports news last week even threatened to part my gray hair. It was joyful. It was deserved. The vintage port had rested long enough and was...

Ex-Aztec Matt Araiza can help any NFL team needing a leg up. So why is he still a free agent?
Sez Me …How do we get a leg up on the Matt-Araiza-getting-kicked-in-the-teeth situation? Must we be podiatrists and dentists?I don’t know about being bewitched, but as the remarkable Lorenz Hart...

Aztecs left twisting as conference realignment swirls
Sez Me …What’s going to happen to San Diego State athletics is a revolving enigma, a whirling mystery Vitamixed into a filthy, slimy frappe, inside a maelstrom, placed on a...

Don Coryell, a part of football’s fabric now and forever, finally gets his bronze bust
Sez Me …Don Coryell was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame less than 24 hours ago.And it was at least 24 years too late. Don retired in 1986....

NFL soap opera premieres in Denver, where new coach throws old one under the bus
Sez Me ...It’s called “The Code.”And Sean Payton broke it.Take that back. Godfathered it. John Wayned it. Trumped it.The undrawn line was crossed. Deliciously.And the Broncos’ head coach, smart and...

Padres will shop, sure, but it’s hard to imagine them as big buyers at the trade deadline
Sez Me …Heads up, Padres. A rather wicked sticky wicket this way comes.It’s the MLB’s Aug. 1 trade deadline, the fateful day you look in the full-length mirror to see...

It would’ve taken more than another Murph to keep NFL, other major sports here
Sez Me …The NFL is back. It’s just not back here. We ran out of runway in 2017 — and, if anything, that airstrip since has suffered from shrinkage.Training camps are...

Sunny Peter Seidler thinks Padres can still win division
Sez Me …So, you make me an optimist.I blush. There’s not enough time to thank everyone involved in this historical error of judgment before the band starts playing, but I always...

When does the buck stop with A.J. Preller?
Sez Me …When I first heard last Thursday’s game in Pittsburgh was delayed due to “unhealthy air,” my exaggerated olfactory sense suggested the smell was coming from either the Padres’...

Don’t be fooled: third time isn’t the charm when it comes to the NBA in San Diego
Sez Me …“Won’t get fooled again.”— The WhoYes, we will. Of course we will. Come on. Don’t you know who we are, Who? We are San Diego, where fools rush...

By plotting to leave Mountain West, San Diego State’s headed in the right direction
Sez Me …It appears quite possible Horatio Alger is about to come through the transfer portal.With its jalopy stalled in the dark Mountain West tunnel since 1999, San Diego State...

LIV Golf, PGA Tour merger was inevitable; so is the blowback
Sez Me …Has golf become a good walk soiled?I don’t think so. But some hate this merger and see it as the latest among sportdom’s revolting developments, that the game’s...

Sample size is big enough, Padres stink
Sez Me …There is some good news amid the disheartening rubble of a wannabe civilization.The Padres are digging a hole so deep, they’ve discovered Jimmy Hoffa and Judge Crater, the...

NFL continues to foolishly push the envelope with TV, return rules
Sez Me …The NFL is America’s 51st state.It is modeled after the State of Denmark, which may be OK for diehard visitors, but where there’s always been something rotten —...

Padres skipper isn’t the one to blame for club’s hitting woes
Sez Me …The Padres’ problem is not that Bob Melvin has forgotten how to manage baseball. It’s that so many of his players have forgotten how to play it.Properly.Baseball is...

Only thing major about MLS is the fee to establish a team
Sez Me …The other day I got in the car, turned on the radio, and the first three sports channels I tuned to were talking soccer. Shaken, I looked around....

Padres should act like they’ve been there before – even though they haven’t
Sez Me …It obviously is hard to act as though you’ve been there before when you haven’t been there before.Almost overnight, the Padres awkwardly have segued from a half-century of...

Jets go the Rams Way, but this one won’t lead to a ring
Sez Me (88th NFL Draft Edition) …It was weeks ago when Aaron Rodgers started spreading the news.That he wanted to be a part of it.That he wanted to wake up...

Truth – and sure-thing QBs – are lacking as NFL Draft approaches
Sez Me …We have arrived at the NFL Draft Showroom, and although many models are handsome, provocative machines on the outside, the aroma of lemon can be masked by the...

Juan Soto or Shohei Ohtani? Here’s who I’d sign
Sez Me …Pardon me for getting ahead of myself, which in this calendar year is easier than getting around myself.But there are questions the size of giant meatballs that will...

Bigger is better, but not when it comes to the NCAA Tournament
Sez Me ... During my frequent hikes into the wild, all too often I can’t see the greenwood for the green. But it doesn’t take 20-20 to realize we don’t...

Truth trumps fiction as San Diego State prepares to play for NCAA championship
“When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.”— Arthur Conan Doyle's "Sherlock Holmes."This is one of those insane moments when fiction preposterously becomes fact,...

Accomplished reporter Jim Trotter embarrassed his boss, Roger Goodell, and lost his job
Sez Me …This past week, the NFL con artists painted with their true colors — greenback dollar and yellow stripe.During Roger Goodell’s annual, thrilling State of the NFL Address Q&A...

Column: After decades in darkness, San Diego State deserves its One Shining Moment
We’re in a San Diego State of mind. All because the Aztecs gave up losing for Lent.Lent isn’t over and neither are they.San Diego State’s men’s basketball team went ugly...

Aztecs, Padres can deliver one of the biggest weeks in San Diego sports history
Sez Me …The righteous physician of fate finally has given Choke City the Heimlich.Starting this morning, San Diego, Silicon Bank By The Sea, Proprietor of 101 Ash St., the City...

There’s nothing lucky about San Diego State’s NCAA Tournament run
Twitter was all atwitter. The Aztecs got screwed.Actually, San Diego State’s men’s basketball team did not. A bit of luck finally found them, and they haven’t had much of the stuff...

Situation with QB Jackson has a whiff of collusion
Sez Me …Lamar Jackson isn’t Colin Kaepernick any more than Don Knotts was John Wayne.The situations between the two NFL quarterbacks — one present, one ex — clearly aren’t the...

Padres’ struggles renew rumors of poltergeists in Peoria, San Diego Sports Curse
Sez Me …Oh, my sainted aunt! The San Diego Sports Curse may be alive! Damn the chains, grab the kids and run for the Lagunas! No time to remain calm. Get...

Padres owner Peter Seidler should be praised for big spending, thinking
Sez Me …“The minute you walked in the t, I could see you were a man of distinction, a real big spender.”— "Big Spender" in “Sweet Charity”, a musical by...

Holding call ruined the Super Bowl
Sez Me …The holding call should have been put on hold.Maybe for Flag Day, another time, another place, another moment. The Super Bowl completely lost its breath — and, with...

Defense wins championships, so take the Eagles in Sunday’s Super Bowl
Sez Me …More people will watch Sunday’s Super Bowl XVII than the Trumpian count of 5 million-and-counting who attended Padres FanFest.But, by the time pitchers and catchers report to spring...

Column: After decades-long delay, Air Coryell is cleared for takeoff. Next stop: the Hall of Fame
Air Coryell was delayed.Its engines were running like mad, but for once — and for much too long — it was stuck on the tarmac.Ulysses wasn’t as overdue. And much...

Where others were finding coal, Bobby Beathard was digging up diamonds
Sez Me …Bobby Beathard has ed at 86, killed by Alzheimer's that destroyed the greatest and most resourceful professional football mind since Pudge Heffelfinger was paid $500 to play for...

Column: Former coach Anthony Lynn doesn’t have room to talk about Chargers
Sez Me …Just where does Anthony Lynn get off going off?He was a part of the problem he didn’t come close to solving.If you own the largest building in the...

Sean Payton wasn’t, and still isn’t, the answer for the Chargers
Sez Me …Sean Payton is not a Junior Mint that can drop into an operation and magically stave off a misbegotten infection.Payton is the easy answer — for a whole...

Nick Canepa’s Chargers grades vs. Jacksonville Jaguars
QuarterbacksFChargering, Judasing, whatever you call it, Justin Herbert found himself up 27-0 and then a big part of one of the worst losses in team history, which is saying a...

NFL’s lack of powerhouse teams makes Coach of the Year too close to call
Sez Me …The way most NFL owners operate their organizations — which is more hack Lizzy Borden than surgical Michael DeBakey — the day may come when the Coach of...

Nick Canepa’s Chargers grades vs. Denver Broncos
Union-Tribune columnist Nick Canepa grades the Chargers after their 31-28 loss Sunday at the Denver Broncos.QuarterbacksBBy the time the bell rang in the Denver classroom, Justin Herbert knew the Ravens...

Hamlin collapse brings to light darkest part of the game
Sez Me …Football is a drug, and I’m a junkie. I love it.But I love my family infinitely more, so, in a way, you can call me a hypocrite. Because...

Nick Canepa’s Chargers grades vs. Los Angeles Rams
Union-Tribune columnist Nick Canepa grades the Chargers after their 31-10 win Sunday against the Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium.QuarterbacksA-Justin Herbert threw his first TD in three games, a...

Coaches pay the price for NFL owners’ mistakes
Sez Me …The majority of NFL owners in the select group of weasels are loyal. To Dollar, Almighty. All Evil, Root Of.But they have no idea how to spend it wisely...

Nick Canepa’s Chargers grades vs. Indianapolis Colts
Union-Tribune columnist Nick Canepa grades the Chargers after their 20-3 win Monday night against the Indianapolis Colts on the road.QuarterbacksA-Justin Herbert, after miles of throws, finally, officially, is a playoff...

Coach Staley deserves credit for getting banged-up Chargers to precipice of playoffs
Sez Me …I never have changed my mind’s clothes on Brandon Staley’s performance as head coach of The NFL Team That Used To Be Here — you know, the Judases/L.A....

Nick Canepa’s Chargers grades vs. Tennessee Titans
Union-Tribune columnist Nick Canepa grades the Chargers after their 17-14 win Sunday against the Tennessee Titans at SoFi Stadium.QuarterbacksAWinning matters. Justin Herbert gets the grade because of his brilliant final...

From first salty word to final breath, Paul Silas was all about honesty
Sez Me …I am coming close to reaching the deepest recesses of my sadness.Paul Silas has ed at 79.And there was only one Paul Silas. Uno. He was patented. In...

Nick Canepa’s Chargers grades vs. Miami Dolphins
Union-Tribune columnist Nick Canepa grades the Chargers after their 23-17 win Sunday against the Miami Dolphins at SoFi Stadium.QuarterbacksA+ Justin Herbert, terrific on the first drive, came away with an empty...

Peter Seidler isn’t shooting for Mars, just elusive World Series
Sez Me …Elon Musk is a billionaire who wants to go to Mars. Peter Seidler is a billionaire who wants to go to the World Series.Both are not easy to...

Nick Canepa’s Chargers grades vs. Las Vegas Raiders
Union-Tribune columnist Nick Canepa grades the Chargers after their 27-20 loss Sunday against the Las Vegas Raiders on the road.QuarterbacksA-Justin Herbert was hit on his first attempt, fumbled, and...

CFP finally getting it right, Perfect Dozen
Sez Me …In war, a Dozen is Dirty. In the cutthroat world of college football, 12 somehow feels clean. Four is filthy.It isn’t the norm in the greedy game, but...

Nick Canepa’s Chargers grades vs. Arizona Cardinals
Union-Tribune columnist Nick Canepa grades the Chargers after their 25-24 victory Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals:QuarterbacksA-minusThey came out in their all-whites and Justin Herbert was searching his pockets for a...

So many great prep football players, coaches from San Diego left off lists of California’s 100 best
Sez Me …When we who play the newspaper game put preps into the sportswashing machine, it’s wise to use the delicate cycle.One of the first things I learned in this...

So many things and people to be thankful for
Bon appetit! Or, if you prefer the Italian, as I do, mangia bene!It’s Thanksgiving Day. So what do Americans do? Eat. And watch football. While I’m all for that, I wonder...

Nick Canepa’s Chargers report card: vs. Chiefs
Union-Tribune columnist Nick Canepa grades the Chargers after their 30-27 home loss Sunday night against the Kansas City Chiefs.QuarterbacksBPlaying yet another road game at home, Justin Herbert thought Christmas fell...

No Charger earns A from Professor in first semester
Sez Me …With a 17-game schedule, the NFL really doesn’t have a true halfway point.So, now that The NFL Team That Used To Be Here — you know, the Judases/L.A....

There are no great teams in NFL …. parity stinks
Sez Me …“Great” is on IR and looks like it may retire.There are no great NFL teams. Hasn’t been one for a while. Future dynasties are for discouraged archaeologists to...

Nick Canepa’s Chargers report card: at Falcons
Union-Tribune columnist Nick Canepa grades the Chargers after their 20-17 victory Sunday over the Atlanta Falcons:Quarterbacks: B-plusMissing his top two wideouts, Justin Herbert, looking healthy after the bye, found himself...

Rich was one of the great characters, RIP
Sez Me …There are people content to spend their lives behind the ropes. Dion Rich spent a great amount of his long life finding a way around them.His epitaph should...

Preller has work ahead to keep Padres on upward climb
Sez Me …I hold no regrets for anything untoward I’ve written about Padres General Manager A.J. Preller. And a whole lot of it hasn’t been good.There have been some claps...

Nick Canepa’s Chargers report card: vs. Seahawks
Union-Tribune columnist Nick Canepa grades the Chargers after their 37-23 loss Sunday to the Seattle Seahawks in Inglewood:Quarterbacks: FJustin Herbert’s fourth was terrible, forced and picked. He found himself...

Dodgers lose, spoiled fans want playoff format changed … figures
Sez Me …This isn’t about the Padres so much as the Dodgers, about their juvenile flock, about baseball.But allow me to say I did wake up the morning following San...

Nick Canepa’s Chargers report card: vs. Broncos
Union-Tribune columnist Nick Canepa grades the Chargers after Monday's 19-16 overtime victory over Denver:Quarterbacks: D+Justin Herbert oversaw a horrible football game, a flag-waving mess he helped make messier. Unusually inaccurate,...

Aztecs football has become a long, hard watch … boring
Sez Me …Sometimes honesty is diamond-hard, better left — as often said — unsaid. Especially during times when the Sword of Truth is too dull to cut any ice.It’s rough, but I...

Nick Canepa’s Chargers report card: at Browns
Union-Tribune columnist Nick Canepa grades the Chargers after Sunday's 30-28 victory in Cleveland:Quarterbacks: A-Down 7-0 after 3 minutes, Justin Herbert overcame plenty — including one of the worst play calls...

Hey Tom, bad football has been around awhile
Sez Me …Allow me to turn up the volume for you, as Tom Brady responds to the question of parity coming to the NFL:“I think there’s a lot of bad...

Nick Canepa’s Chargers report card: at Texans
Union-Tribune columnist Nick Canepa grades the Chargers after Sunday's 34-24 win over the Houston Texans.Quarterbacks: AIf cracked rib cartilage is good, then 31 other NFL starting QBs should ask for...

If Staley’s seat isn’t hot, it should be
Sez Me …Ah, the scents of early NFL autumn, especially the smell of smoke surrounding Fredo Spanos’ family outing, barbecuing tender excuses on the head coach’s hot seat.Is Brandon Staley’s...

Nick Canepa’s Chargers report card: vs. Jaguars
Union-Tribune columnist Nick Canepa grades the Chargers after Sunday's 38-10 loss to Jacksonville at SoFi Stadium.Quarterbacks: IncImpossible to grade. Justin Herbert fought through a painful rib cartilage injury but obviously...

ing Greg Lee, magician of UCLA’s dynasty and San Diego educator
Bill Walton wasn’t near his usual 7 feet of exuberant self. He was down, and talking around emotion, as if he were a man who had just lost his best...

Padres looking like team that could be headed for Cabo in October
Sez Me …The Padres can be a hard, frustrating follow. Far too often, I feel as though I’m binge-watching C-SPAN with pink eye.I can see them playing in the middle...

Nick Canepa’s Chargers report card: at Chiefs
Union-Tribune columnist Nick Canepa grades the Chargers after Thursday's 27-24 loss to Kansas City at Arrowhead Stadium.Quarterbacks: B-Justin Herbert started great, but then came some inaccuracy when he wasn’t pressured....

Nick Canepa’s Chargers report card: vs. Raiders
Union-Tribune columnist Nick Canepa grades the Chargers after Sunday's 24-19 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders in Inglewood:Quarterbacks: AJustin Herbert, playing at home before a crowd my mole estimated as...

Hate to say it, but Judases might be really good
Sez Me …It must be said, no matter how it hurts the Angry Villagers’ intangibles — such as feelings and pride.The Judases — you know, The NFL Team That Used...

Broncos will use home-field edge to win brutal AFC West
Sez Me …We are but a few days away from ribbon-cutting the 2022 NFL season, and there is something evil swirling around the ample acreage in my skull that could...