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Really interesting article about the demise of the LA Rams


Got_Wood

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This was cut and pasted from here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Louis_Rams

 

The late 1980s Rams featured a gifted young QB in Jim Everett, a solid rushing attack and a fleet of talented WRs. After an 11-5 record during the 1989 regular season, it was a team that seemed destined for greater things, until a crushing defeat at the hands of the San Francisco 49ers in the 1989 NFC Championship game.

 

1990-1994: The Demise of the LA Rams

 

The Rams never recovered from the humiliation. The first half of the 1990s featured losing records, no playoff appearances for the Rams and waning fan interest. The return of Chuck Knox as head coach, after Knox's successful stints as head coach of the Buffalo Bills and Seattle Seahawks, would not boost the Rams' fortunes. His run-oriented offense marked the end of the Zampese tenure in 1993. The strategy was for the offense to be steady, if unspectacular. Unfortunately for the Rams, Knox's offense was not only aesthetically unpleasing, but dull as well, especially by 1990s standards.

 

Everett left the team after the 1993 season to become quarterback of the Rams' rivals the New Orleans Saints and while he would post impressive statistics at times there, he would never play for a winning team again. The continued losing and uninspired play of the Rams, along with the loss of familiar players, further reduced the Rams fan base, which by 1994 had withered to the point where they were barely part of the Los Angeles sports landscape.

 

As became increasingly common with sports franchises, Georgia Frontiere, owner of the Rams, blamed poor front office decisions on their stadium situation. With Orange County mired in a deep recession resulting largely from defense sector layoffs, the Rams were unable to secure a new or improved stadium in the Los Angeles area, which ultimately cast their future in Southern California into doubt.

 

Georgia Frontiere attempted to relocate the Rams to Baltimore, Maryland. That deal was eventually nixed. Mrs. Frontiere then sought to relocate the team to the city of St. Louis. NFL owners initially voted to oppose the move. Owners of the Buffalo Bills, New York Jets and Giants, the Washington Redskins, the Phoenix Cardinals and the Minnesota Vikings opposed the move and argued that Mrs. Frontiere, who pleaded poverty as a basis for relocation, had "horribly mismanaged" the team. Nevertheless, Mrs. Frontiere threatened legal action and NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue acquiesced to Mrs. Frontiere's demands. The move left many in the Los Angeles area embittered toward the NFL. That sentiment was best expressed by Fred Dryer, who at the time said "I hate these people [the Rams and their owner, Georgia Frontiere] for what they did, taking the Rams logo with them when they moved to St. Louis. That logo belonged to Southern California."

 

Due to a number of factors, the NFL has repeatedly failed in its efforts to return NFL football to Los Angeles. Following the 1995 season, the Seattle Seahawks announced that they would move the team to Southern California. However the NFL, which had taken control of the Los Angeles market, did not approve of the move and thus forced the Seahawks to move back to Seattle, after Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen came in with a financial bail out package. On September 24, 2009, after almost two decades of political fighting, approval for a new stadium, currently named Los Angeles Stadium, was made in a 3-to-1 vote, more than likely paving the way for the NFL's return to Los Angeles.

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Someone should tell Fred Dryer that the Rams and their logo came from Cleveland before Los Angeles.

 

PTR

 

That's true, but it was for a short period from 1936-1945. And they received the Browns in 1946.

 

The LA area had the Rams for almost 50 years.

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Owners of the Buffalo Bills, New York Jets and Giants, the Washington Redskins, the Phoenix Cardinals and the Minnesota Vikings opposed the move and argued that Mrs. Frontiere, who pleaded poverty as a basis for relocation, had "horribly mismanaged" the team.

 

:unsure:

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That's true, but it was for a short period from 1936-1945. And they received the Browns in 1946.

 

The LA area had the Rams for almost 50 years.

Not from the NFL, they didn't.

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Do you always have to correct everybody?????? I am sure I will get blasted for this but sometimes your know it all attitude gets on my nerves.

The feeling is mutual.

 

Have a nice day ...

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AAFC anyone?

 

The All-America Football Conference (AAFC) was a professional American football league that challenged the established National Football League (NFL) from 1946 to 1949. One of the NFL’s most formidable challengers, the AAFC attracted many of the nation’s best players, produced one of pro football’s greatest teams, and introduced many lasting innovations to the game.
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The feeling is mutual.

 

Have a nice day ...

 

I am not a know it all though & I do not constantly correct people for silly technicalities on a message board. So I really do not understand how I get on your nerves.

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So when people are WRONG about FACTS you don't think they should be corrected?

 

 

In some cases yes. Does anybody really give 2 sh*ts if the Browns were received by the NFL in 1946 or accepted by the NFL in 1950. It does not matter man alright.

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In some cases yes. Does anybody really give 2 sh*ts if the Browns were received by the NFL in 1946 or accepted by the NFL in 1950. It does not matter man alright.

 

I do.. without history, proper persepective would be unattainable. :D

 

Actually, the Bills should have been the team from the AAFC to join the NFL, but George Preston Marshall, owner of the Redskins, didn't like us... :unsure:

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I do.. without history, proper persepective would be unattainable. :P

 

Actually, the Bills should have been the team from the AAFC to join the NFL, but George Preston Marshall, owner of the Redskins, didn't like us... :D

 

 

I stand corrected. :unsure:

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I think the point of this really is that a city (Los Angeles) had a team of their own (the Rams) for nearly 50 years. This team was taken from them, logo and colors and all, and people were bitter. From what I know, the Rams have never really been accepted by the fans in St. Louis. They had a great team initially with Warner, Bruce, and Faulk, but haven't done much since. St. Louis is a baseball city, and always will be. The Rams seem like the most logical choice to make the move to LA.

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I do.. without history, proper persepective would be unattainable. :D

 

Actually, the Bills should have been the team from the AAFC to join the NFL, but George Preston Marshall, owner of the Redskins, didn't like us... :unsure:

 

Marshall didn't like a lot of "people". Funny how things would have been drastically different if Buffalo gets in and Baltimore was left out when they (The NFL) accepted AAFC teams. No 1958 NFL championship game between the Colts and Giants in "the greatest game ever played"? No Johnny U? No Ralph? etc, etc.

 

Who knows??

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