So my Rams are about to retire David Deacon Jones' #75

Finally...

I tell you, it is nothing but dirty politics that has kept the team from retiring his number before this moment in time. More than 15 months ago, when we drafted Chris Long, the organization rolled out #75 for Chris. I saw it on HD video on the NFL network. The Rams did so for two reasons. The wanted to express their hopes that he would be the new Deacon Jones, and they wanted to express their hopes that he would live up his father's great standards. Of course, Howie wore #75. Some say he chose that number because of Deacon Jones.

Evidently, Chris turned them down. He didn't feel he should wear Deacon's number. He knew it was a number that should have been retired long ago. Instead, Chris chose #72 which has become very fashionable since Osi Umenyiora. {Incidentally, Osi is not listed on the Giants' depth chart. What the fucks up with that?}

Of course, when Chris showed up for work wearing #72, I thought about Kent Hill, and then I wondered why the hell we haven't retired Deacons number. Certainly, he is among our finest men, and probably the best of them all. He was just voted the most feared pass rusher of all time. Nobody disputed it either. He is the John Constantine Unitas of Defensive Ends. He is one of the Holy fathers of defense--like Dick Butkus--whom you just can't dispute.

Of course, I know the story of why we haven't retired his number until now. It has everything to do with Georgia. Deacon was the first of us to hate her guts. He hated the fact that she fired Steve Rosenbloom {we all did}, he hated the fact that she moved the team to Anaheim {I wasn't so much against that} he got louder than hell when she started talking about moving the team to St. Louis. She hated the fact that one of the greatest Rams of all time was one of her most outspoken critics. Deacon carries a lot of weight too. When Deacon speaks, we all listen.

Some will tell you that the popularity of Georgia's administration was doomed the second Deacon turned against her. She sure seemed to respond as if this were the case. Just like every QB in the league, Georgia hated getting hit by Deacon. According to rumor she flew to pieces every time he drooped a negative quote. In Georgia's book this all added up to one thing: We aren't going to retire your number, David. Take that!

Two good Rams wore that number after Deacon. Irv Panky was the next guy to wear Deacon's number. He was our Left tackle through the 1980s. He was a pretty good run blocker, but not such a good blind side protector. Jim Everett could be seen screaming at Panky in the huddle. Eric Dickerson though he was one hell of a guy.

DeMarco Farr wore #75 also. As you know, he was our runt tackle during the glory year of 1999, and he was one hell of a pass rusher. I want him to come back as our defensive line coach and pass on some of that martial arts knowledge he cultivated. Right now, he is the color commentator for preason Ram games on the Radio & Television, and he is the regular season color commentator on the radio. Evidentally, putting him on the radio team was not a popular move. I personally haven't heard him work since the "West Coast Bias" radio show. He seemed fine to me. I think it is unfortunate that they are giving him such a hard time right now.

DeMarco should be covering the event when the Rams retire Deacon's number (and his number). It will be interesting to hear DeMarco's commentary as he sees his old Jersey hoisted to the rafters. They should invite Irv Panky also. I understand Panky is a professor and assistant coach at the College of the Sequoias in Visalia California. That is approximately 40 to 50 miles due South of my home town. I would like to go by and visit with him some time.

In other news

It appears that we have a new field turf at the Edward Jones dome, which is good. Also we have new AstroTurf at our practice facility, which I consider a little strange.

Fred Smith of FedEx is going to try to bid on the Rams. The big problem is that he is a poor boy compared to Kroenke. Kroenke is 350% richer than Smith. Kroenke also has money on his wife's side of the family. Although Smith is a much more likely contender than Rush Limbaugh or Checkett, I still consider him a dark horse. Look for Kroenke vs. DeBartolo in the final. They may even decide to partner together.

Far more important than Fred Smith or the FieldTurf is the fact that La'Roi Glover decided to retire today. He is a 13 year vet turning 35. That is a bit old for a DT, but not unheard of. I respect his decision. There is no guarantee he would have made the team this year, but his absence leaves us with a hole to fill, IMHO. Our D-Line just got thinner. I don't like that. We better hope that this kid Orien Harris from the Bengals can play immediately. He's been around the league quite a bit since leaving U.Miami.

A short blog about whether the Rams might move back to Los Angeles

There are is still considerable doubt about whether the next owners of the Rams might be interested in moving back to Los Angeles or not. I grant you that nothing is certain. It's never over until its over. It ain't over till the fat lady sings.

With this said, let's play the micro economic business management game. You are the new owner of the Rams. You just laid down $500 million of your personal wealth to purchase an NFL franchise in St. Louis. You acquired $429m additional in collateralized debt. You have acquired 100% of the stock from Dale, Lucia, and Stan. You are now the boss.

You are now mortgaged up to your eye-balls for $429 million, and you just blew all your dry investment powder. If you default, the Bank gets the team. You loose your $500 million down. Now what are you going to do?

Option 1: Keep the team in St. Louis and pay down the debt of $429 million as quickly as possible from team revenues. This means slowly. Try to get the city of St. Louis to make serious improvements in the Edward Jones Dome so that greater revenues might flow. Bleed your other business ventures for capital such that the debt can be repaid quickly.

Option 2: You see that you have the open option to move the team back to the 2nd largest market in North America, where they have a history. There you will have a new state-of-the-art convertible domed stadium in Industry California. This can all happen in 2014.

Now what are you going to do, my business manager? You make the call, knowing for certain that it's your financial ass on the line. How are you going to reduce debt, reduce risk, and optimize returns?

You know what you do? You do point #1 in the short run, and you execute point #2 in the middle of the night Jan 1, 2014. That's how you pay off the team and make it your solid asset.

You see, this is a pretty devastating question when it is phrased this simply. You know these are very rich men we are dealing with here. Most of them got that way for a reason. They are very shrewd money men. They think as serious managers would. This is the biggest single reason to fear, if you are the city of St. Louis.

There is one other factor to consider. Just about every billionaire in the billionaire's club took a haymaker to the chin in September of 2008. Just about all these guys sunk a lot of money in CDOs and MBS paper. They also held considerable stock in financials. All of these investments have gone to shit in the past 9 months. You should read the Forbes report on billionaires. Believe it or not, they are in a lot of trouble right now.

What does this mean to the Rams? It means the next guy to own the Rams is very likely to a fellow whose personal assets are hurting right now. Said billionaire has such a deep love for the sport that he just cannot resist the irrational temptation to buy this team, even despite the fact that he can ill-afford to do so right now.

Consider this my friends and fellow Ram fans.

So there are more rumors about the Rams #2 pick

So fresh rummors have surfaced about the Rams' #2 pick overall in the upcoming 2009 draft. What are these rummors?

1. The New York Giants are said to be interested in the #2 pick. Why? The Giants have an excellent roster. They were the finest team in the league during the regular season. Eli Manning is arguably more talented than his elder brother, but his brother has plenty of things Eli doesn't have: 3 game breaking receivers and the most effective tight end in the league. Worse Plaxico Burris is probably going to do 3 years in prison, and this will effectively terminate his career. This legal case will also remove the 1 game breaking receiver Eli has. For these reasons, the Giants are said to be very interested in Michael Crabtree of Texas Tech. He is a legit game changing receiver. Unfortunately, he is also a top 5 pick. The Giants need a very high pick to secure this receiver for Eli. God knows they have the talent. They can afford to sacrifice this year's entire draft in the name of acquiring a great receiver.
2. The Vikings are without a quarterback , and it is rumored that they have three options in mind (A) Sign Kurt Warner, who is a free agent, but this is considered unlikely, (2) Make a deal for Mark Bulger--which is highly questionable as an option, (3) Trade horses to get a high pick and draft a QB. The third option is considered the most realistic option.

So what do I think? Deal the pick to the Giants if they want it. Deal Bulger to the Vikings if they want him. With the rebuilding program we must undergo over the next 2-3 years, we should consider acquiring a fellow like David Carr and/or Chris Simms. I would acquire them both. Both would be effective stop-gaps as we build.