When I moved to Dealville, the St. Louis Rams were in the NFC Championship game vs. Tampa Bay. In one of the uglier games I've ever seen at the pro level, they win 11-6 to go to the Super Bowl. Being in LA, there was muted LA Ram fan response in the papers, but that was it. Anger toward Georgia (Insert current last name) continued.
After the Super Bowl victory, the possibility of the Rams in LA ever again would only occur if a Super Bowl would be here...and in a rule, the only way to gouge cities for cash and free hotel rooms is if that city has a pro team. So, I went on eBay and began getting items that people were more than willing to unload. They'll never move again.
Rams magazines, cocktail glasses (1 bar face mask, naturally), a cap and jersey all came easy and cheap. In the pre-YouTube era, VHS tapes were purchased: copies of classic Rams games from folks talking about them like they were a favorite but cancelled show.
On the rare chance I'd be at a bar watching NFL games and find a Rams fan, we'd reminisce of the old days. I was playing more reporter than anything, but such folks liked the walks down memory lane. They were swanky days. I'd go home and play Madden (where I'd moved the Rams to LA, naturally).
A little over 10 years ago when this blog began, it didn't take long to sneak in a Rams reference here and there. If this, too, was to give a current focus with a "swanky days" lens, then the Rams would be one of those references. Even if it was under the guise of the Steelers winning their first Super Bowl since XIV, when they played the Rams.
But then the Rams stopped being good. Having Mike Martz as your head coach will eventually lead to that result. So, rumblings, if even for a light joke, for posting the "Ram It" video, occur. More teams played the LA gambit and then get new stadiums...well, St. Louis' stadium is only 10 years old. No way they'd leave now. But the seed is there. You'll note one of the links to the right of this page is "LA Rams highlights" - it's been that way as far as I can remember. We daydream.
In 2012, with Frank McCourt having "no money to pay" the Dodgers, the team was up for sale. Stan Kronke was one of the folks bidding for the team...and if you think he WOULDN'T move the Rams if he had the Dodgers, you'd be a fool. More talk discussed. At a UCLA basketball game at the Sports Arena, Doc Gold and I mused if the arena should be torn down for a Rams stadium. Made little sense with it so close to the Coliseum, but still...it isn't impossible to think that, right? (It's not because, in the near future, it will be torn down in actuality, this time for a soccer stadium for the MLS. I thought LA already had a team, but forgive me for not knowing shit about US soccer leagues. It hasn't happened yet - Bruce Springsteen is scheduled for multiple dates in the arena this March).
But two years later, in news that might have been quiet across the country but was a foghorn here, Stan buys the land of Hollywood Park. A lot of it. The stakes, immediately, are raised. We could talk (and so many on AM radio did, stuttering while saying the same points over and over, slower and slower) but nothing really had to be said. The deal was done.
Since then, oh has it been a pain. NFL owners, writers, all keeping their usual storyline of having the LA bargain chip without actually sending a team to town. Said windbag writers, waiting to tow (literally) the party line, saying it wouldn't "make sense" for a team to be in LA. No one cares about the NFL here, because...well, they say so is the only reason given. "The 2 teams they had left and can I eat the rest of these chicken fingers in the press box?" was the tone of each waste of ink.
So Stan, and those of us who waited so long for the Rams to return, played the dance. We'd either remain mum on the subject, or rapidly educate those who didn't think it should happen. The NFL fan of 2016, and the future, holds no sway. Deals are made, you're a fan or not, they don't care. They get theirs, you maybe get some, and possibly, a taste of satisfaction along the way.
But the Rams are here now. For real. And count me as one of those fans, too - I have to replace the worn eBay items with the real thing, hopefully in proper colors. (I refuse to buy St. Louis era shades of blue and gold) But it happened. Wrongs can be righted. These are glorious days in Dealville.
As I wrote, 2 years ago: Yes. The Los Angeles Rams. This time, for real.
