Massive Distractions For Rams
December 17th, 2015
Could tonight be the final NFL game in St. Louis? It should distract the Rams.
So tonight, boys and girls, we could be watching NFL history. “Could be” being the operative term. And no, it won’t have anything to do with what happens on the field.
Tonight could be the final NFL game in St. Louis.
The Rams are one of three teams hoping to call Los Angeles home in 2016; Oakland and San Diego are the others, but three teams won’t be moving.
Recent developments suggest St. Louis, which has proposed building a new outdoor NFL stadium, is inching closer to keeping the Rams, though nothing is certain.
Joe only hopes this turns into a massive distraction for the Rams against the Bucs.
Tuesday, when Rams coach Jeff Fisher held his conference call with the Tampa Bay pen and mic club, Joe asked him how he is able to have his team locked in given the possible end of the franchise in St. Louis is looming and that it was the talk of his town.
Fisher comically tried to suggest to Joe the potential move was barely a blip on the radar.
“Well, the next game every week is a challenge and you’re focused on the next opponent,” Fisher said. “When you say ‘talk of the town,’ I’ve been asked [about a possible move] once, and that was yesterday. My focus is on Tampa. So it’s not a big issue right now. It may become so as the week goes on, but it’s not a big issue.
“We can only do what we can control and that’s practice and prepare for this game. That’s where it stands right now. We’ve been fortunate that we’ve had good attendance. [Fans have] been excited to come out and watch us play. They’ve hung through some tough times, but I think they were very excited to see us win the game last weekend.”
Joe has legal counsel that sets up shop in St. Louis. After the conference call, Joe texted his lawyer, a Rams season ticket holder whose office is three blocks from the dome. Joe asked him whether Fisher was indeed accurate, that the possible move was not major water cooler fodder in town.
The text reply Joe received was all of two letters.
“BS.”
Interestingly, today’s sports media column by Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch previewing the NFL Network broadcast of the Bucs-Rams game, included following:
That saga includes the Rams’ woeful performance on the field for more than a decade, owner Stan Kroenke’s refusal to directly address his team’s followers for nearly four years and now the chessboard-style maneuvering by a club that wants to leave and a city that wants it to stay.
This has been huge news in St. Louis but apparently won’t be addressed much on NFL Network’s telecast of the game.
A quick visit of news and sports sites out of St. Louis paints a completely different image than the sketch Fisher tried to draw up for Joe.
The reason why Joe brings all of this up is you cannot tell Joe the Rams won’t be distracted. It very well could be an all-consuming distraction.
Not sure if anyone has watched “Cleveland 1995” on NFL Network, the documentary about the Browns moving to Baltimore. The Browns were among preseason favorites to make a Super Bowl run under Bill Belicheat. Midway through the season, the team learned Art Modell was moving the franchise.
The team collapsed.
In the documentary, Belicheat spoke with authority that the news of the move completely Pearl Harbored the season, tore apart the team mentally, and that the news of the move proved to be an impossible barrier. The final home game was a total circus.
The difference between the 1995 Browns and the 2015 Rams, other than 20 years? The Browns knew they were leaving. The Rams don’t.
Players surely are in a fog wondering if they should re-up their leases, put their houses up for sale, pull kids out of school after Christmas, having wives and girlfriends hound them about buying California property, you name it.
While Joe thinks the whole affair is sad and stinks to high heaven (when has a league allowed a team to uproot and move when a city apparently wants to build said team a new stadium?), Joe hopes it is such a distraction that Case Keenum doesn’t know which end zone to throw to, and James Laurinaitis doesn’t know which color uniform to tackle.
December 17th, 2015 at 11:06 am
Yeah.. The players and coaches are so distracted!!! Very few I would think live in the crap hole that is St. Louis. My god.. Who wants to live in SoCal making good money and in there twenties. Makes me sick just thinking about it.. I can’t concentrate.
December 17th, 2015 at 11:09 am
Keep hope alive Joe!
December 17th, 2015 at 11:12 am
Balk for Bosa?
Nah….the Bucs are too good this year to get Bosa without a trade.
Could you imagine the look on Winstons face if he was told to tank the game?
December 17th, 2015 at 11:16 am
Maybe the depleted Bucs can pull this off.
7 wins for the Bucs would be like a Superbowl.
December 17th, 2015 at 11:31 am
I
December 17th, 2015 at 11:40 am
Don’t know all the specifics. Oakland is probably the poorest city to build new stadiums and that Bay area has a team in the niners.
San Diego has a bigger tax base but if state money has to be involved California hasn’t been a state that has financed public stadiums or the Raiders or Chargers would have new ones by now.
If St Louis builds a stadium the NFL should keep the team there.
December 17th, 2015 at 12:00 pm
This is hilarious! These guys would play in Afghanistan or Iran if the money was right – they could give two craps about the home city.
December 17th, 2015 at 12:05 pm
Bingo Lightning, though no question wives/ GFs would much prefer SoCal.
Uncertainty of near future the issue.
December 17th, 2015 at 12:06 pm
Every time we focus on the opponents weaknesses like injuries, backup QBs & distractions……we are making a mistake….hopefully the coaches & team doesn’t do that. Every NFL team can be ready to play and win regardless of what is happening with their team.
I imagine New Orleans was doing that when they saw what the Titans did to us….look what happened to them.
December 17th, 2015 at 12:07 pm
Sure the fans are freaking out about it. But the coaches and player most likely don’t care too much. It’s out of their control. Why would it effect them at all? Joe never really gave a reason why the players would care at all. Sure moving your family might be a pain in the butt, but going from misery to LA, isn’t a down grade.
December 17th, 2015 at 12:09 pm
Just heard rams are getting a new stadium…
So much for distractions
December 17th, 2015 at 12:12 pm
That’s funny. I think it would be impossible for “Son of Animal” (one of my favorite nicknames ever) not to know which uniforms to tackle. He’ll be seeing red. Bright shiny head to toe red.
December 17th, 2015 at 12:31 pm
I hope we don’t get blown out.
The red uni’s would make it extra humiliating if that happened.
Although, if we win then the red uni’s will look cool.
It’s all about context, bros.
December 17th, 2015 at 1:21 pm
L.A. is a shytehole. I would never want to move to L.A.
Other parts of Cali possibly yes, but I’d have to learn spanish in order to do just about everything during my everyday life. Naaaw I’m fine with where I’m at. 40 miles outside of RJS.
December 17th, 2015 at 2:23 pm
Those red uniforms will make the Bucs stand out like a sore thumb. The creamsicle uni’s would be more appropriate of the Bucs talent level wise.
December 17th, 2015 at 2:25 pm
Soo in the end, Bucs still have to win this game no matter what lol
December 17th, 2015 at 4:25 pm
The Bucs closed down the Vet, next is the Edward Jones Dome…. Rams suck #1999itwasacatch
December 17th, 2015 at 7:51 pm
Dan is old school.
Howard had forgotten about that game.
Curt Warner and Marshall Faulk in Ray Jay fighting against Sapp and Brooks and Alstott. Legends, one and all.
NEVER FORGET!