So, I am out at lunch today. I don't have much time to eat. I have to have my car alarm looked at. It has been malfunctioning like a moefoe. I have to grab something quick and eat at SafeandSound1.com, around the corner and up the way from my apartment building. I will eat lunch while the mechanic fixes my problem.
On the road East to Canoga Park from Callabassas, I stop at Del Taco, a small MexiCali fast food chain we have here in SoCal. There is a 16-18 year old Mexican kid walking the drive through line, taking orders with a nice computerized PDA. The major chains do this at lunch to expedite orders. He asks me what I would like. I quickly place my order. I am shocked that the bill comes to $10. You know our sales tax just hit 9.75% here in Los Angeles County. Its astounding. In any case, the kid notices I am wearing the brand new 2009 edition of the Chris Long #72 Jersey in White.
He says to me "Man that's a nice jersey! My dad would love to have one of those! Do you think they are coming back?"
"I don't know, but there is a lot of talk. I suspect something is up." I reply. I wanted to guard my optimism.
The kid replies "Everybody is talking about it. My family is pretty excited. Most of the adults in my family remember going to the Ram games when they were younger."
"I'm jacked up too." I replied.
A dude honks his horn behind us. We are holding up the lunch line of cars with our conversation about the Rams returning to Los Angeles. This all took place in the West San Fernando valley, about 30 miles or so from the target zone in the city of Industry. Less, if DeBartolo builds on the site of the current Forum, or the old Hollywood race track. The date is 7/9/2009, about 5 days after Steve McNair was murdered.
I should mention that this was a full-blooded Mexican kid, from a full blooded Mexican family. These are the folks who don't watch football, according to Leigh Steinberg. He doesn't know many Mexicans. These guys were beaming with pride in the days of Joe Cap, Roman Gabriel, Anthony Munoz, Jim Plunkett, and Tom Flores. Oh did I forget Mark Sanchez?
Ad meanwhile, the Los Angeles Times is printing a very nice and nasty edgy shot at the city of St. Louis. This is a piece in the Sports Section. It is nominally about the UFC. It has a hidden agenda. After painting what rancid sport the UFC presents, the LA Times delivers the payload.
And I quote:
"Budweiser did research in St. Louis and became a UFC sponsor after learning males 18 to 34 couldn't name 10 St. Louis Rams, but could name 10 UFC fighters," he says, the Rams obviously just not the same without Georgia Frontiere.
That's a shot across the port bow. Might even have a triple enterder in there. I am trying to decide whether T.J. Simers is actually smart enough to craft a triple enterder. He is a very clever wordsmith if he did this intentionally.
So what is the significance of this? No team has been treated as badly or ignored as much by the Los Angeles Times as the Rams. They have pissed me off a few times. This is the woman scorn. This is love turned to hate. This is boycott protest. But, at the first glimmer of hope that we might get our old team back again... Pow! Shots fired to remind the the Rams organization they ain't doing so well in St. Louis.
You might say they are lighting a match. Why? We want 'em back, that's why. When the L.A. Times begins to join the murmur, an interesting moment has been reached.
I wish I could find the link... Recently, a young local sports talk dude published a blog in which he chastised Southern Californians for continuing to cheer for the Rams. He slapped the Raider fans, but only in passing. The real subject of his ire were the Ram fans. He wanted to know why the entire Hollywood Hills (where he was raised) exploded with mad cheers the very instant Mike Jones tackled Dyson on the 1 yard line early in January 2000. The mad uproar went on for some 15 to 20 minutes. "Isn't this the moral equivalent of going to the wedding of the chick who dumped you years ago?", he asked us all.
What was left unsaid was palpable. The entire tone of the piece was clear: Said sports talk dude fears that the City of Los Angeles will throw a huge ticker-tape parade if the Rams return. He wanted to bitch slap us, imposing his view that this would constitute a total capitulation humiliation if we did that.
Okay, we have been warned. Now fuck off. little buddy.
Why should this dude believe such a thing might happen her in Los Angeles? Because it is precisely what the city of Oakland did the second the Raiders returned. They went mad. They haven't regained their sanity yet. The Raiders currently enjoy the 3rd best homefield advantage, according to the NFL Network. If the Rams return, you watch L.A. go bonko. The nation is going to be shocked. You all will shake your heads in disbelief.
As I sit here on the Thursday night in July of 2009, I can tell you that the crescendo is building. The murmur is rising to more than a murmur in the background. People are jamming the drive through lines at Del Taco talking about the Rams returning. Ed Roski is a rolling out his pocket book to construct a state of the art NFL Stadium with no guarantees. If he builds it they will come. I mean both of them theys.
Honest, good people of St. Louis, we don't have anything against you. We respect and like the fact that you took care of our Rams for us. We are glad you enjoyed them as much as we did in 1999. Maybe you enjoyed it even more. We now have a brotherhood. I would propose joint custody of the kids, but you know we can't do that to them. You can watch them on TV like we did.
Next time I intend to tell you about my Apartment Manager, Anthony Daily, and my Chiropractor Dr. Gary C. Kerr who practices in the prestigious and expensive 90025 zip code. He used to crack Steve Rosenbloom's back when he was the general manager. He also worked on Jack Youngblood, Fred Dryer, Hacksaw Jack Reynolds, Nolan Cromwell, Jim Youngblood, and the incomparable Merlin Olsen.
