It's been a busy couple of weeks for your roving field reporter. I've been on the road visiting the various new faces and landmarks of San Diego sports. From the old home of some of the best teams I've ever seen, to new get-togethers in new places, to a long road trip out to Arizona for the beginning of spring training and a brand new season. Here's some of the scoop that I brought back:

You can always go home again

The first stop on our traveling road show was Qualcomm Stadium, home of the AFC West champion San Diego Chargers, and former home of the NL West champion San Diego Padres. The fact that I've never had so much of a mouthful to say in that sentence should tell you that we've been having some pretty good years in San Diego sports of recent, so I thought it prudent to go back and revisit where it all began.

Sitting in the parking lot of the concrete goliath known as Qualcomm Stadium at Jack Murphy Field, I'm reminded that it's likely this stadium will be empty within the next few years, if not demolished entirely. That thought always fills me with a sense of sadness. This is the stadium that I grew up with, where all of my favorite memories have happened. And unlike some of the great old stadiums that other people have mourned, "the Q" doesn't have history on its side. I'm going to miss it if/when it goes, because it's the monument of my childhood and the last bastion of that past.

I headed into the Chargers Pro Shop to pick up my Philip Rivers Pro Bowl jersey. Only to discover that a) the Saints and my boy Drew Brees were getting creamed, b) the new Pro Bowl jerseys are ugly, and C) Rivers wasn't playing in the Pro Bowl due to a foot injury.

Little did I know that the Chargers were also going to lose four coaches and one head coach, hire Norv Turner as the new HC, and land Ron Rivera -- the hot head coaching name -- as a linebackers coach. I'm not going to say any more about that, because I'm still so confused that I can't get my brain around it. Let's just hope that the cabal of Spanos and Smith knows what they're doing.

I just sat in the parking lot playing old 1998 championship music.

New heroes, same conversation

The next weekend I spent my first year at the Padres' FriarFest, their preseason get-together for fans to meet the players and mingle with one another. Apparently it's been going for a couple of years, but this is the first time that I ever went. I learned a valuable lesson: I should've been more prepared. Because the turnout for this whole weekend was crazier than I expected.

I spent the day making my own baseball card, throwing pitches off the visiting bullpen mound, having my first hot dog of a new season, buying an autographed Ben Howard jersey and mingling with the baseball players. Which leads me to the most interesting event of that Sunday...

Meeting Chris Young.

Let me take a moment in praise of Chris Young. When we traded my boy Adam Eaton to Texas to get him, I didn't want to like him. He wasn't Adam, and I was prepared to hate him. But he spent all of last season winning me over. He pitched like a champion, and he became one of my favorite players. And I told him as such, when I got to meet him at FriarFest, and get his autograph. Chris is one of the sweetest people I've ever met. He's very charming, and very adorable.

Stating the obvious: he's also really, really tall.

Summer sunshine...and more new guys

I just got back from a weekend spent at Padres spring training, surveilling the pitchers and catchers in a whole new year. It was an interesting time with all the new faces that were there, and old ones that I was used to that weren't. I've been used to Bruce Bochy as the manager of the Padres for a long time, but I was also looking forward to seeing what Bud Black could  bring to the table.

I also got to see two members of our 1998 championship team: Wally Joyner (as usual), and Carlos Hernandez. I was shocked to see Carlos but glad to. It always makes me happy to see these guys. I can't believe it's been almost a decade since then.

We've got an impressive group of pitchers: Young, Jake Peavy, Greg Maddux, David Wells, Clay Hensley... I was impressed by what I saw. It was pretty cool to see Maddux, a man I've heard about for the longest time, in the flesh, on my team. Of course, Wells is still the biggest laugh riot in the universe.

And I got to meet Chris again. My respect for him only grew when I saw that he made a point of coming back out of the clubhouse, on his own time, to sign autographs for every single person that wanted one. On both days that I was there. He's an equally impressive guy as he is a pitcher.

I also got to exchange words with our new manager. A friend of mine is an Angels fan, so I told her I would try to find Bud Black for an autograph, and I did, with all the courage of a five-year-old. He didn't seem to mind.

"Thanks for your support," he said, clapping me on the shoulder.

Anytime, Bud. Looking forward to it.