JAY PARIS

Staff Writer

SAN DIEGO -- Think you have Y2K problems? Consider the plight of Chargers coach Mike Riley.

"My date for the night is Joe Bugel," Riley said.

If sharing a beverage with an offensive line coach -- while watching game films, no doubt -- doesn't sound like a grand evening, well, tough. But because of the NFL's concerns about just what will happen at midnight this evening, Riley finds himself with Bugel in Denver, instead of ushering in the new year with his family in Del Mar.

Hardly a bubbly switch. But when the NFL barks, its teams fall in line.

Usually, the Chargers would depart for Colorado on Saturday for a Sunday game at Mile High Stadium. But they will be in the friendly skies this afternoon, racing the clock before the calendar turns to 00.

"I think everything is going to be OK," quarterback Jim Harbaugh said. "But I know so little about that -- ignorance is bliss."

The NFL doesn't take such a carefree stand. Not when there's games to be televised and playoff teams to be determined. So it's making sure no club cuts it short by arriving some 24 hours before kickoffs.

All 15 visiting teams, and game officials, are arriving for road contests a day early. And once visiting squads, like the Chargers, touch down, they must touch base with an NFL representative. The Chargers' links to the NFL are club officials John Hinek and Ed McGuire.

Jeanne Bonk, the Chargers' chief financial and administrator officer, has spearheaded the team's efforts to not get bit by the Y2K bug.

"Our major focus was on the road trip," Bonk said. "Secondarily, is the operation here at the facility and at the ticket office. We've done a lot of computer upgrades in order to be compliant. But with the facility being recently constructed, that was a help."

Because, Bonk added, many Y2K safeguards were built in. At Mile High Stadium, it works just the opposite way, although the results are similar.

Old age (Mile High was originally built as a baseball stadium in 1948) in this case, is a good thing

"This stadium is somewhat unique in that it is almost all manual -- there's no date-related or date- and-time-related items," said Gail Stuckey, the Broncos' director of stadium operations.

Stuckey said the Broncos did test the scoreboard, sound system and some other internal mechanisms.

The stadium's antiquated three elevators?

"We checked them, but there was nothing to be done," Stuckey said, with a chuckle.

But Saturday morning's meeting at Mile High -- before the Chargers' light practice -- is no joke.

"We will go out and test everything," Stuckey said, about the New Year's day walk-through.

CBS isn't taking any chances in broadcasting the game. It has its own generator at the stadium, to make sure the contest will still be beamed across the nation regardless of the local power source.

The Broncos will have but three emergency generators on hand at Mile High -- for a crowd that should number about 70,000. And those spectators would get use of only one, which will light some of the areas used to exit the stadium.

"If we have any kind of failure Sunday during the game, there is no way we can handle everything," Stuckey said.

Each locker room, he said, will have access to one generator. That will drive the lights, heat and hot water.

But Stuckey isn't predicting a sticky situation come Sunday. If …

"As long as we get power from the sources, we shouldn't have any problems," Stuckey said. "But the stadium is ready to go; we are not anticipating any problems. We checked, double-checked everything that needs to be checked. Our big concern, should we lose power, is fans' and players' safety."

The Chargers feel relatively safe landing at and leaving from Denver International Airport. It was sent through a Y2K test in April, and came through with flying colors.

"That was a plus," Bonk said. "But we've made contingency plans if something did happen."

That includes reserving buses to charter their players back home -- a ride of some 1,000 miles.

"That would be miserable," Bonk said.

The club also has reserved rooms at their hotel in southeast Denver for the night of the game, something that is never done on away games.

"You want to be prepared if something happens," Bonk said. "But you can't prepare for the some of the doomsday scenarios. But we think we are in pretty good shape."

Unless, of course, you're Mike Riley -- considering his millennium date.

CHARGERS NOTES -- Coach Mike Riley said QB Ryan Leaf is expected to undergo exploratory surgery Jan. 11 on his ailing right shoulder. Leaf has been unable to practice since warming up before the Seahawks' game on Dec. 12. Leaf tore his labrum on the first day of training camp and had surgery July 26. Leaf was placed on IR Thursday, and was replaced by OL Reginald Nelson from the practice squad. … LB Junior Seau (abdominal strain) didn't practice -- he hasn't worked this week. Riley said Seau is "very questionable" for Sunday's game in Denver. … Others not working were LB Gerald Dixon (ankle), CB Darryll Lewis (hamstring), RB Natrone Means (knee), FS Michael Dumas (toe) and SS Rodney Harrison (shoulder). Means, Dumas and Harrison are out for the Denver game; Riley was optimistic about Lewis, but not so about Dixon. If Dixon, the nickel linebacker, can't go, he'll be replaced by Michael Hamilton and Greg Jackson.

12/31/99