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KANSAN.COM
Daily Debate
Should St. Louis Rams fans continue to support the team despite a move to Los Angeles?
▶ EMMA GREEN
@emmalee_green
▶ MATT HOFFMANN @MattHoffmannUDK
is, the Rams would not have made it to the 1999 Super Bowl, and while it's easy for Rams fans to be shortsighted and angry, history will always credit the St. Louis Rams — not the Los Angeles Rams — with a Super Bowl ring.
St. Louis residents knew for awhile that Rams owner Stan Kroenke wanted to move their beloved team to Los Angeles, but when it became final on Jan. 12, it was still a stab
AP PHOTO Rams fans cheer for their NFL football team at a news conference at the Forum in Inglewood, California.
Being a sports fan is about more than geography. If you're a Rams fan, it's perfectly acceptable to be upset at owner Stan Kroenke and the NFL for tearing the team from St. Louis and transplanting them into the entertainment-rich market of LA, but that does not mean you should stop supporting the team.
AP PHOTO
Perhaps now more than ever the Rams need your support. In an already sports-rich market dominated by the NBA's LA Lakers and Clippers, along with the NHL's LA Kings and two MLS franchises, the Rams will be desperately fighting for relevance. Convincing Californians (who also have the San Diego Chargers and Oakland Raiders) to bake in the hot LA sun inside of an NFL stadium instead of hitting the beach or touring Hollywood is no small task.
That's where "absentee fans come in.
a DirecTV commercial, you've heard them touting the ability to watch games out of market. This means two things.
Just like voting for your hometown mayor in college, the Rams are going to need your support from afar. If you've ever seen
So Rams fans; be mad,
1. Americans are gluttons for punishment.
2. "Absentee" fans are everywhere.
St. Louis, it's time to upgrade those television sets; DirecTV is expensive.
The Rams are not the first team in the history of the NFL to move cities and they certainly will not be the last. The NFL has Vikings fans from Kansas, Steelers fans from Seattle and Dolphins fans from Philly.
There will be Los Angeles Rams fans from St. Louis. It's time to honor the past and look toward the future.
Rams fans should not forget about the history made in the Edward Jones Dome. Legends like Marshall Faulk and Kurt Warner should not be forgotten by the city of St. Louis because the Rams decided to move the house. Without the support of St. Lou-
Both the city of St. Louis and the state of Missouri offered to provide millions of dollars to a new riverfront stadium, even though they still owe
in the back to the city and fans that had worked so hard to keep the team.
and get angry; let out those frustrations, but, at the end of the day, realize the St. Louis Rams are forever in the history books, even as the "Greatest Show on Turf" takes its talents to the City of Angels.
approximately $100 million on the Edward Jones Dome.
In a letter to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay claimed he had never met Kroenke, although he had been mayor since 2001, a year before the Rams first began talks of stadium upgrades.
Kroenke never cared about St. Louis, the Rams, or their fans; he only cared about the money the Rams could make him. As former Cardinal Lance Berkman once said, "No matter what people say, it's always about the money."
It is shocking that in the last 14 years an owner has never met the mayor of the city his franchise calls home, but maybe it isn't as surprising because Kroenke also owns four other sports franchises.
As backstabbing as Kroenke's proposal to move the Rams was, even the most dedicated Rams fan can't deny that the team had been failing St.
Louis for years.
The Rams last made the playoffs in 2004, and since then, they have only finished one season with a .500 record or better. From 2007-2011, the Rams had the worst five-year in the history of the league (15-65).
The glory days of Super Bowls and the "Greatest Show on Turf" are long gone. It has been over ten years since the likes of Kurt Warner and Marshall Faulk last roamed the Dome and the Rams stood a chance of being competitive.
Despite being horrible for years, the Rams still drew thousands of fans every Sunday, proving that the fans hadn't given up on them. St. Louis loved the Rams, but sometimes we have to give up things we love.
After years of supporting sub-.500 teams and an owner who couldn't have cared less about the fans, it's time to say goodbye. Move on, Rams fans.
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