Cowboys, Chargers and a quarterback named Favre
By BARRY HALVORSON bhalvorson@journal-spectator.com

"Let's Go Chargers" went up as a greeting from Pekar's Bodyshop earlier this week after fans of the Dallas team took exception to the previously posted message - "How 'Bout Them Cowboys."

The original message only made it two days before coming down.

In making the change, Freddie Pekar said he had several reasons for the new greeting. In particular, he saw it as a good business move.

"I put the 'Cowboys' message up as a tribute to the season," he said. "They won the NFC Championship and made the playoffs, but just fell a little short against the Giants. I figured people would see it as supporting the team." In fact, the fans had just the opposite response.

"They thought I was making fun of the team," he said. "I got a lot of phone calls taking offense to the message. They didn't seem to think it was appropriate at all."

Pekar solved the dilemma by doing a favor for a friend.

"Larry Robertson is a good customer and a friend of mine," he said. "He heard about the problem and asked about changing it to the Chargers. His wife's sister lives in San Diego and has season tickets so I said sure."

In addition to supporting the San Diego team, Pekar is hoping to preserve a piece of his own childhood history.

"The Miami Dolphins had their perfect season when I was growing up and was really into football," he said. "I'd kind of like to see them keep their record as having the only perfect season. Besides, New England's had its share of success in recent years and it's time for someone else."

And depending on this weekend's results, Pekar is predicting a possible change in his greeting next week.

"Actually, now that Dallas is out of it I'd kind of like the Packers and Brett Favre to win the Super Bowl," he said. "I'm a fan of the Texans and Cowboys but when your teams are out of the mix, you have to root for someone and who doesn't like Favre."