Aside from the flood of e-mails demanding that I be wedged into a baking pan and roasted at extreme temperatures, last year's inaugural Turkey of the Year Award was deemed an unabashed success.

As for all that hate mail, it turns out that ageless New England Patriots linebacker Junior Seau, the Oceanside native and 2006 Golden Turkey winner, still has more than a few supporters in North County. Some let us know they were a bit peeved at Seau's selection.

But we're not here to talk about insincere "graduation" speeches or ill-advised retirement parties.

There was a plentiful supply of fresh turkeys from which to choose in 2007, so here we go again, starting with a Chargers organization fully stocked with plump candidates and finishing with this year's Golden Turkey.

The source of that 5-5 smell wafting from Murphy Canyon is the office of Dean Spanos. The Chargers' CEO, apparently inspired by his team's playoff pratfall against the Patriots, staged his own tragicomedy when he conspired with general manager A.J. Smith to fire, no re-hire, no fire, no re-hire, no fire, coach Marty Schottenheimer.

By the time the Ouija board confirmed that "fire Marty" was the right thing to do, all the best available coaches had been snatched up. Much of that talent consisted of top Chargers' assistants fleeing the rudderless organization for better jobs.

So when the Chargers finally decided to go shopping for a new coach, all that was left to choose from was a Salvation Army assortment of retreads and hand-me-downs.

That's how an uninspiring Norv Turner gets a third try as a head coach and emerges as San Diego's most despised villain since a quarterback-who-shall-not-be-named was well on his way to becoming one of the most spectacular busts in NFL history.

Speaking of quarterback busts, Year 2 of the Philip Rivers Experience has been like "Groundhog Day" in its recurring, excruciating gaffes. At least in the movie, Bill Murray eventually figures out how to disguise all his flaws and fool Andie MacDowell into thinking he is suave and sensitive. Maybe Murray can throw 20-yard out patterns, too. Rivers? We're not so sure.

Meanwhile, Smith continues to be victimized by his legendary stubbornness. The latest case study is that of Donnie Edwards, the Chargers' perennial tackles leader who believed he was underpaid. Smith believed Edwards, a linebacker criticized in some circles for making too many of his tackles "downfield," was expendable.

Who was right? Well, is it a coincidence the once formidable Chargers defense now has more holes than a moth-eaten afghan?

More Turkey of the Year candidates:

> Jerome Habel for being booted off the San Diego State men's basketball team and now playing "pro" ball for the San Diego Wildcats.

Counting San Diego State, Habel, the Larry Brown of college power forwards, had attended seven schools in seven years, giving an altogether different meaning to the term "Rhodes Scholar."

Habel would have been one of the Aztecs' top players this season, but instead is playing for the Wildcats in front of crowds that consist of the night janitor and scoreboard operator.

Hey, at least Habel's getting paid. We think.

> Nitroglycerine-tempered Padres slugger Milton Bradley for taking the verbal bait dangled by rogue umpire Mike Winters, going into buffoon mode, getting thrown to the ground by manager Bud Black, twisting his knee and missing the team's stretch run.

> Padres fans for, inexplicably, cheering Barry Bonds' 755th home run after mercilessly booing him all series.

> Padres closer Trevor Hoffman for costing the team a playoff berth with two blown saves.

> Padres owner John Moores for stocking his taxpayer-funded ballpark with rookies, reclamation projects and whatever else can be found in baseball's bargain bin.

> Padres general manager Kevin Towers for telling us how all those offseason additions (David Wells, Marcus Giles, Jose Cruz Jr.) he found at the Dollar Store will propel the team to the NL West pennant.

> Owner Ahmed Zayat and celebrity trainer Bob Baffert for acting as though the new Polytrack surface at Del Mar was akin to quicksand and, amazingly, selectively slowing only their horses.

> San Diego State president Stephen Weber and athletic director Jeff Schemmel for allowing the support of the school's football program to go from apathetic to an honest-to-goodness, voted-upon proposal to disband it. Think that would ever happen in, say, Alabama?

> And, finally, to our 2007 Turkey of the Year, iron-fisted local high school sports boss Dennis Ackerman for running the San Diego Section of the California Interscholastic Federation as if it were a Sicilian "family organization."

Ackerman, who bears only a slight resemblance to Marlon Brando, made veiled threats to Orange Glen High officials as they contemplated the case of Sergio Castillo, a Patriots soccer star Ackerman had "recommended" sit out because of possible rules violations.

"Sergio's participation at this time and with the uncertainty of his status will have severe ramifications for amateur soccer throughout the San Diego County …" the CIF said in an ominous e-mail sent to Orange Glen officials.

The CIF made the recommendation to bench Castillo after, according to Ackerman, "Someone had called in questioning his eligibility. …"

As Castillo sat out four games, the CIF, supposedly, was investigating whether he had compromised his amateur status while playing in Mexico over the summer. Ackerman would not say what rule Castillo might have violated, who the CIF had talked to in Mexico or why the investigation was dragged on for weeks.

"We're looking into a number of issues," Ackerman said at the time over background noise that sounded suspiciously like computer solitaire.

Orange Glen conducted its own investigation and eventually played Castillo despite Ackerman's warnings, and a few weeks later the Patriots won their first Division II section championship.

One of Ackerman's favorite sayings is "rules are rules." Who can argue with that? Certainly not Tri-City Christian baseball coach Ken Bouchard, who twice notified the CIF by fax of his team's intention to participate in the postseason. Bouchard claims he has the receipts to prove the faxes were sent. Ackerman says he never got them and the school should have called to confirm the faxes arrived.

Because of someone's faulty fax machine, the 14-12-1 Eagles were not allowed into the playoffs.

Ackerman showed amazing flexibility and dexterity in shifting the dates of the section baseball finals on short notice when it was announced the CIF had been booted in favor of an NCAA regional tournament at San Diego State's Tony Gwynn Stadium.

But when the girls lacrosse final conflicted with a major East Coast tournament many top San Diego players hoped to play in, Ackerman refused to change the date of the event despite the pleas of players, parents and coaches.

"We'll look into it for next year," is another Ackerman favorite.

In choosing our top turkey, it's one of ours, too.

- Contact sports editor Loren Nelson at (760) 740-3551 or lnelson@nctimes.com.