Up until the last year, I’ve never had to deal with a relocation issue of any of my favorite sports teams. I’m just a college kid so the Rams, Cardinals, and Blues have all been in St. Louis since the day I was born (1996). But I know what the pain of relocation feels like, at least sort of. My father grew up as a St. Louis Cardinals football fan, going to games with his family and suffering through all of the bad seasons. From 1977 until 1987 (last season in St. Louis), the Cardinals only posted a winning record twice.
Busch Stadium during a Cardinals football game.
My old man recalls it being really hard to root for the team since they moved to Phoenix but he remained a fan. Up until about 1995….when the Rams moved to St. Louis.
He became a season ticket holder instantly and is still one to this day. He witnessed the Greatest Show On Turf and the team’s first Super Bowl, something he considers very special because his father never witnessed a Super Bowl win with the Cardinals before his passing in the early 90s.
Kurt Warner celebrating the franchises first Super Bowl win.
A few years later when the team was going downhill, my father sat through every single home game of a five-season stretch where the Rams went 15-65, he was there. And I was too.
I went to multiple games growing up. My first game was the Rams home opener against the Rams in 1999. Granted I was two and half years old and don’t remember it, but according to my parents I was there. I went to several games throughout my lifetime; and when I wasn’t at the Dome, I was glued to my television at home. I can’t honestly tell you the last time I missed a Rams game. Where did I go a day after my great grandmother died? To the Rams game when they played the Falcons, because it’s what I enjoyed and what made me happy. The team was 1-13 at the time and I still wanted to go (they actually won that game too).
Rams WR Isaac Bruce after catching a touchdown against the Falcons in December of 2007 to go up 21-0.
It hasn’t been easy being a Rams fan the last few years. An overhyped QB and somehow playoffs and Rams occasionally came up in the conversation. But now, there’s a new, better quarterback and a better team overall and we are to the point where NFL experts are picking the Rams to have a winning record and make the playoffs; something they haven’t done since 2004.
We finally have a good team and a chance to make the playoffs this year! That’s exciting! One problem though, talks of the Rams moving back to Los Angeles has filled up the offseason and has gone into the regular season. In essence, this could be the last four months of ST. LOUIS Rams football.
A Rams fan holds a sign at a game in 2014 calling for the Rams to stay in St. Louis.
Of course most will say that they will root for the team if they move to LA because they’ve always been fans. That’s obviously logical and understandable. But I think of Kroenke moves the team, I’m not sure if I could take it. I feel like if Kroenke takes the team away from St. Louis, where Rams football has been a huge part of my life since birth and he just takes it away from me and so many other loyal fans in St. Louis, I don’t think I could root for a team with an owner who just ripped the team away from the city. Granted, it’s not like it’s the players fault if the team moves to LA, but it doesn’t help when players like Janoris Jenkins posts on social media that he wants to either play in the dome or move to LA (because he doesn’t like cold weather) or him tweeting that he “f**king loves LA.” Just imagine the older Rams fans like my father that suffered through the St. Louis Football Cardinals relocating and then the Rams if they were to move just a little less than thirty years later. You just can’t do that to people. What really sucks is it seems like every week there’s “new developments” on why the Rams are going to stay in St. Louis or why they’re going to move to Los Angeles. We don’t know what’s true or if it’s all just hype or what.
A digitalized picture of what a new stadium on the riverfront could look like for the Rams.
I want to say I’ll be able to root for the team if they move to Los Angeles, but I just do not know. I write on the team, watch all of their games, buy tons of apparel, etc and I feel like I just couldn’t continue that if Kroenke takes the team away from St. Louis. It would feel like he’s ripping away something that’s apart of me. Now if I didn’t root for the Rams, I’m not sure if I’d jump on the bandwagon of another team or what, but only time will tell. Hopefully the St. Louis Stadium Task Force can get it done and have us a new stadium on the riverfront. Here’s to hoping the Rams stay in St. Louis.
