Turner moves practice to water park

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Thursday, Aug 21, 2008
By Casey Pearce, Chargers.com

Every day when the Chargers start their team meeting, at least one voice from the offensive line suggests that Head Coach Norv Turner take the team to a water park. It became a running joke … until today.

Thursday morning when the team gathered for their 8 a.m. meeting, rather than watching film and speaking X’s and O’s, Turner canceled the meeting as well as the team’s 9 a.m. practice and told them to get on the bus.

“I was waiting for Norv to give the punch line,” safety Clinton Hart said. “Then we went outside and the busses were there. It was a fun morning.”

As soon as Turner made the announcement, his players erupted in cheers and ran out of the meeting room. They spent roughly an hour and a half riding water slides and tube rides and enjoyed the wave pool at Knott’s Soak City in Chula Vista.

“These guys have worked so hard,” Turner said. “It was good to give them a day like this.”

Knott’s Soak City opens to the public at 10 a.m. but opened its doors early and allowed the Chargers free reign of the park. That allowed some pretty big men to push the rides to their limits.

“We got four big linemen in one of the inner tube rides and we thought all the weight was going to carry us over the side a couple of times,” defensive end Ryon Bingham said. “It was really cool of Norv to give us a break and allow us to get out and just have a good time as a team.”

Chargers guard Kris Dielman even accomplished something that Knott’s officials said they’d never seen. Most park visitors stop far short on the “La Jolla Falls,” a simple slide with a steep drop off, but Dielman’s ride carried him all the way to the end.

“I guess when you get that much weight going so fast it just carries you,” laughed Marcus McNeill.

The Chargers still held their Thursday afternoon practice, but they were appreciative of the way Turner mixed things up and allowed them to have a little fun on the last day of training camp.

“Norv has such a great handle on this team,” wide receiver Chris Chambers said. “He pushes us hard but also rewards us like he did today. It’s been a great camp. We got a lot of good work done during the offseason and it just carried over into camp. Today was a great way to close it out.”

Casey Pearce, Chargers.com

Quarterback Philip Rivers takes a plunge down a water slide Thursday morning at Knott's Soak City.

	Thursday: Norv Turner Head Coach Norv Turner speaks to the media at the conclusion of Training Camp Thursday. Play
	Thursday: Antonio Gates TE Antonio Gates comments on returning to team drills today, he also told the media what his favorite water slide at Soak City Water Park was. Play
	Sights & Sounds: Soak City Water Park Sights & Sounds: Soak City Water Park Play
	Chargers.com with Marcus McNeill Chargers.com with Marcus McNeill at Soak City Water Park. Play