Kevin Faulconer has had private talks with Spanos and a team representative in recent weeks. Details of those talks werent made public.We need to hear from the organization what their concerns ar

MARTINSVILLE, Va. -- Dale Earnhardt Jr. arrived in the garage 90 minutes prior to practice at Dover International Speedway earlier this month. Some people who know him were shocked to see him so early.He admits as a driver, he would never have made it into the garage as the crews began working on the car. Now that hes out of the car recovering from a concussion, he has learned to enjoy everything about being outside the car.Im like, I dont know why I dont do this when Im driving the car? Earnhardt said Wednesday. Why do I wait until the last minute possible to come into the garage? Why is it such a pain in the ass to get up and come to the garage for practice?Once youre in the car, its fine. The whole process of getting up and coming into the garage seemed like such a hassle. Once I get back in the car, Ive got to get a whole new frame of mind.Earnhardt has not raced since July 9. He has missed the last 12 races and will miss the remaining six because of a concussion suffered June 12 in a crash at Michigan.Even out of the car, Earnhardt has tried to earn his paycheck: He made eight public appearances prior to the race Sunday at Charlotte Motor Speedway. He appeared Wednesday at a news conference where Martinsville Speedway announced a $5 million project to add lights.When I was driving, I really didnt enjoy everything I did outside the car, Earnhardt said. I did all that stuff reluctantly just to do the driving part. ... The pressure of racing made the majority of everything that came with it miserable. And I am probably responsible for controlling that.Being out of the car, Ive got to find a way that if Im going to race more, how to not feel so much pressure that it makes everything else intolerable or hard to do.Interacting with fans as he goes to the track each week, Earnhardt does have a suggestion for what they should not say.The wrong thing to say would be to give any kind of medical advice, Earnhardt said. We have people calling every day at JR Motorsports: Tell Dale to try this, tell him to try this drink, tell him to eat this. ... [They are] all those crazy hair-brained reasons why Im ill or what I need to get better.Earnhardt wont listen to the outside advice, trying to focus on the instructions from his doctors. He has spent his time doing exercises to help with the balance and vision issues he has suffered. He has lost 8 pounds.I feel good. I feel like I can get out there and do it. Im anxious for this season to get wrapped up and over with and get to Daytona.Im looking forward to going into Daytona and getting in the garage and getting into my suit and back into the process of being part of the team.With the break from driving, Earnhardt also has spent a little extra time helping plan his offseason wedding to fiancée Amy Reimann.We just want it to be a great day, the same way everybody kind of feels, he said. They just want everything to go right and not have any mistakes and ruin it. ... Its been really fun [planning] and nothing shocking.Some of the planning is pretty boring. Picking flowers and all that, I dont need to be in all that. I went to those meetings anyways, just to be supportive.Earnhardt turned 42 on Monday. He said he feels younger than his years, and age wont dictate when he will retire.I dont know if age is really a factor. Its really about the passion you have for it -- if you can get out of bed and get up on the wheel and want to do it, he said.?When you get up and you dont want it as much as the next guy, you have to start thinking about whether you belong there, whether the team deserves that kind of commitment. The team is going to go in there and work their guts out. They need the driver with the same attitude. Vans Old Skool Pink . The third-ranked Ivanovic, who won the event in 2008 and 10, served five aces and broke Wickmayer, also a former winner in 2009, five times. "The result looked easier than it really was," Ivanovic said. Vans Old Skool Wholesale . Burris threw two TD passes, including a key 15-yard fourth-quarter strike to Bakari Grant that effectively countered a Toronto comeback bid and led Hamilton to a 33-19 victory. http://www.vansshoesclearancesale.com/vans-sk8-hi-clearance.html . Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek defeated Nenad Zimonjic and Ilija Bozoljac 6-2, 6-4, 7-6 (4) on the indoor hard-court at Belgrade Arena. The victory improved the Czech pairs impressive cup doubles record to 14-1. Vans Old Skool Clearance . -- Chicago Bears cornerback Tim Jennings was selected Monday to his second straight Pro Bowl, while guard Kyle Long made it after a solid rookie season. Vans Shoes Sale .J. Jefferson has been charged with assaulting his girlfriend. SAN DIEGO -- Four city council members are offering San Diego Chargers owner Dean Spanos a lease of $1 a year for 99 years for the Qualcomm Stadium site as a starting point for negotiations for a new stadium.The offer will be in a letter due to be sent to Spanos on Tuesday, with copies going to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and the 31 other NFL owners.It comes six weeks after a Chargers-written ballot measure asking for $1.15 billion in increased hotel taxes for a new downtown stadium was soundly defeated, the latest twist in the teams long, bitter attempt to replace aging Qualcomm Stadium in Mission Valley.The Chargers have until Jan. 15 to exercise an option to move to Los Angeles and join the Rams in a stadium in Inglewood scheduled to open in 2019.Councilman Scott Sherman, whose district includes Qualcomm Stadium, shared a copy of the letter with The Associated Press on Monday evening.The hour is late, and the time to find a stadium solution is getting dangerously short, the letter started.The last two paragraphs read: Before leaving 60 years of tradition and loyal fans, lets give one last concerted effort to come to the table and hammer this out face to face, working together toward a common goal of keeping the NFL in Americas Finest City. If we fail to come to an agreement, at least we will know that nothing was left untested and we can part ways knowing that we gave it our all.We ask that the Chargers give San Diego fans another chance.It will be signed by Sherman, Chris Cate, new council president Myrtle Cole and Lorie Zapf.Sherman and Cate opposed Measure C but want the Chargers to stay in San Diego, preferably in Mission Valley. They hope the letter can get the Chargers to the negotiating table for the first time in 1 1/2 years.The Chargers rejected a city-county plan for a new stadium at the Qualcomm site in 2015, and then voters rejected Measure C.So heres another starting point, and lets not give up on 60 years of tradition and fan loyalty, Sherman told the AP.The Chargers didnt immediately respond to a request for comment.The tricky part, of course, is coming up with a plan to pay for a new stadium.Sherman and Cate said theyd like to see the Chargers, NFL and a development partner build a stadium. Both council members said they hoped it could get done with no public money.At the end of the dayy, 166 acres in the geographic center of the eighth-largest city in the country is the perfect spot to develop, Sherman said.dddddddddddd Im convinced we could get over 50 percent (of a vote) with that. This is all just a starting point to start the discussion. The way we laid it out with the lease, its a large incentive to come to the table.In 2004, the Chargers failed in their attempt to get the city to give them a large chunk of the Qualcomm property in exchange for privately developing a stadium.The cheap lease deal is as close as getting the land given to you as possible, Sherman said.The Chargers walked away from talks with the city and county in June 2015 and focused on a plan to build a stadium in a Los Angeles suburb with the rival Oakland Raiders. That plan was defeated by NFL owners in January in favor of the Rams Inglewood plan, but the Chargers were given the option of moving to L.A. If they decide to move, theyll have to make a deal with either the Coliseum or the 27,000-seat StubHub! Center as a temporary home.Mayor Kevin Faulconer has had private talks with Spanos and a team representative in recent weeks. Details of those talks werent made public.We need to hear from the organization what their concerns are, and if theyre even open to having a discussion for Mission Valley, Cate told the AP. These are things we need to hear from them about. The fans need to hear from them, too. What does success look like to them? We havent been able to have a discussion as a council with them. This lets them know were willing to have that conversation.Sherman said he hopes people with the NFL note that for the first time, four sitting council members say this is something we can support and move forward from here, something thats never happened before.Is this a final Hail Mary from City Hall?I think were going to continue to push as long as they havent called U-Haul and havent t moved the trucks up, Cate said. Were going to continue to have proactive outreach to the team to see if we can open dialogue. This is the opening salvo.---Follow Bernie Wilson on Twitter at http://twitter.com/berniewilson---For more NFL coverage: http://www.pro32.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP-NFL ' ' '