Farmer's Field, Downtown Los Angeles

We're less than 48 hours away from my surgery, so I don't have much time to pen a lengthy analysis of what just happened today. However, I did want to acknowledge what took place.

An assortment of dignitaries were on hand today in Downtown Los Angeles for a formal announcement that Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG) was officially planning a billion dollar facility to be located adjacent to the Staples Center and L.A. Live! The explicit objective is to acquire one or two NFL franchises. The stadium will be titled Farmers' Field. Farmers insurance will pay $700 million plus for the naming rights if there is one NFL team in residence. They will pay close to $950 million if there are two NFL teams in residence.

Two teams are considered a serious possibility at this point, and there is a consensus that neither will be the Vikings or the Jaguars. The odds-on money favorites are the Chargers and the Rams.

Both Tim Leiweke and Casey Wasserman were available for extensive radio interviews after the fact. Both claim that the NFL is completely in favor of putting one or two teams in the city of Los Angeles, and would like to do so before Super Bowl 50 so that 50th anniversary Super Bowl can be played where it all got started.

The most important thing was the galvanic reaction that happened on 570 AM 710 AM and 1090 AM. The first two stations the Fox Sports and ESPN affiliates here in Los Angeles. 1090 is an independent sports station, and the voice of San Diego.

As you know, I have been bullish on the return of the Rams ever since Georgia died. I have smelt a return for multiple reasons, the most important reason being Stan Kroenke's eternal participation in the L.A. stadium committee and the rapid response by local entrepreneurs to Georgia's death.

However, I was just about the only one back in 2008-2009. At that time, no serious sports caster on TV or Radio in our local market believed that the NFL was returning to the Southland in the foreseeable future. This attitude began to change gradually as evidence accumulated. Still, I would say the official position of the Los Angeles jock-o-ratti was one of skepticism.

Now the situation has officially changed. The sports casters in this region are now officially fired up, and they are rallying the people. I think there is now a great sense of expectancy and excitement about what is happening.

On the other hand, the attitude of the San Diego media is grim, serious, and sober. They are now officially worried that the Chargers will split town unless something is done very, very, very soon to break ground on a new state-of-the-art facility.

Probably the most amazing thing I heard said during the entire day was this: Super Bowl XXXII was played in Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego on January 25, 1998. Since then, there has not been a Super Bowl in California. There won't be either.

All of the facilities in California are now officially 3rd rate out-dated and out-moded scrap heaps. Candlestick has long been considered the worst facility in the league. Right behind it is the decrepit Oakland County Coliseum. Both the Rose Bowl and the Coliseum in Los Angeles are great historical landmarks, but they are far from the first rate facilities in this era of Cowboy Stadium.

If AEG goes through with this construction project, Los Angeles will have the greatest sports facility west of Dallas. That is exciting as all get out.

So Kroenke done fucked up now

And it really pisses me off also.

I wrote a piece for the Bleacher Report earlier today summarizing Stan Kroenke's latest moves in front of the NFL Finance Committee. No need to re-write the whole piece here, I'll just give you the link.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/390269-so-ann-walton-kroenke-is-the-next-owner-of-the-st-louis-rams

You have to be amazed by the gall of billionaires. I suppose they never would have become billionaires if they didn't have a ton of gall, though.

Basically, Stan is throwing out one of the most brazen attempts to flaunt the cross-ownership rules we've ever seen, and he might even expect the NFL to go for it. This is enough to make the common man shake his head in amazement.

Stranger thing still: I pick up a commenter on the site, who I have seen before, who appears to have some legal background. He argues like a counselor retained by Kroenke. Of course, liars for hire never see anything wrong with their client's proposals... publicly, that is.

The crying shame of it is as follows: I am being forced to publicly make the case for Khan, when I actually favor Kroenke as owner of the team. Bouy... if this cat Armen is actually a lawyer for Kroenke he aught to be fired quick. He's a backfire bomber.

Personally, I think the Cross-Ownership rules are a crock of shit which belong to a bygone era. I have no idea what validity they may have had either in the past or the present. I find it difficult to understand why the NFL would maintain these rules at all. Makes no sense to me.

Perhaps the NFL was once afraid of becoming a wholly-owned subsidiary of Major League Baseball or something. No need to worry about that now.

The worst part is that we can expect the Rams' ownership limbo to continue for something like another 12 months, I am sure. Kroenke's first proposal, which is preposterous, is described by sources inside his camp as "a first offer in a complicated negotiation".

That sounds like this negotiation is going to be quite time consuming. It looks like Ram-fan aren't going to get a speed resolution to our ownership muddle. Looks like we can't move forward aggressively in rebuilding the team.

Oh well, it's much the same. There is no guarantee either owner would have approved a front-loaded 44-47 million dollar contract for Brandon Marshall anyhow. Neither of these gents may have wanted to spend $7.25 claiming Alan Faneca on waivers. We probably would have missed out anyway. Life sucks if you're rebuilding the Rams right now.

And what about Khan?

Having created a very stupid set of bylaws, the NFL may well have a legal problem on its hands if they suddenly and magically wave the rule (one time only) for Enos Stanly Kroenke. Under the current set of bylaws, Khan can reasonably expect the NFL to reject Kroenke's proposal. Khan should also be able to petition for a speedy verdict on his own bid to buy the Rams, as he is the first guy waiting in line.

So, if I am the Commish, how would I unfuck the situation? Okay here's how it goes:

1. Start by rejecting Khan's proposal for financial reasons. The Finance Committee already stated they didn't like a couple of leverage devices Khan is using in his bid. Do this first. Do this before anything else.
2. Destroy the cross-ownership bylaw entirely. Talk the guys into it. I think it will be easy. Ask them to explain why this rule exists in the first place. Just do away with it.
3. Let Kroenke buy the team outright. No fucking manipulations or disco dancing. Stan owns the Rams, the Avalanche and the Nuggets.

Anyhow... I'm pissed. My franchise is twisting in the wind. We've been left hanging during the uncapped year. Now is the time to sign those front-loaded contracts. We're fucked.

So how about Bill Polian?

I have a novel idea for turning the Rams around. How about if the new owners (presumably Enos Stanley Kroenke and maybe Ed Roski Jr) hire a good fellow named Bill Polian to be our new President and General Manager? Let's make the Rams his team. Let's give him total control.

For those who don't know Bill Polian, he was the mind behind the Buffalo Bills of the 1990s, the early Carolina Panthers, and current Indianapolis Colts.

Buffalo was a pitiful farce of a football team. Polian constructed the best team never to win the Super Bowl. They totally dominated the AFC for a half a decade, and went to 4 straight Super Bowls. Truth be told, they should have won at least two of those games.

The Panthers had no existence or history at all before Polian constructed them. They got to the NFC championship in year 2 of their existence. They won the NFC in year 7.

Now the Colts... What can we say about the Colts? They were relentless loosers before Polian. The Colts blew one #1 pick after another block buster trade before Polian showed up. The people of Indianapolis used to sing a Blues song called "Lord Help our Colts". The Colts are the finest team of the present decade. They are the best and most consistent winners, year after year. They are the 2000s equivalents of the 1970s Raiders, but they are clean and much more loveable. I believe the Colts are he model franchise. They are the model we should all aspire too.

Polian has been NFL executive of the year 5 times. That doesn't give him nearly enough credit. Who has been better than Polian in the past 10 years?

Polian is probably happy as hell in Indianapolis. The Colts may well be on their way to a 2nd Super Bowl victory this year... If they can get past the Saints. What if they should win the big one again?

Do you think Polian might be a little weary of the easy life? Do you think Polian might want one more mountain to climb? Do you think Polian might crave one more encore performance? Do you think he might want to turn around a 4th organization from lousy to great? He probably already has a spot in the Hall of Fame--a rare thing for an executive--but maybe he might want a little more glory.

Memo to the new Boss Stan Kroenke: Please try to seduce Bill Polian somehow, and get him to take the job.

Do you want to know why the Rams are moving back to Los Angeles?

I considered naming this blog entry "A tale of two moments", but this title was far too abstract. Fools might have thought it a love sonnet. Not so. Its a rational argument explaining why the Rams are moving back to Los Angeles. Some might call that a love sonnet. I don't think so.

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.

Quick refresher on the sale of the Rams

I have been tweaking my new.google.com custom page lately to bring me information of fellows like Stan Kroenke, Eddie DeBartolo, and Fred Smith. I have also setup a custom alert for news about the Rams and the sale of the Rams.

I have been shocked at how little information has come across my desktop. Right now there is very little to report on this subject. A couple of weeks ago, several published reports indicated that Fred Smith of FedEx is not actually interested in buying the Rams. He never was. Sources close to Smith indicated that all reports of Smith wanting to buy the Rams were false. They were probably invented by individuals who knew he fit the profile of a man ready to graduate from a minority ownership position in one franchise (the Redskins) to full owner of another franchise. Smith never had an interest in doing the deal.

Given the fact that Smith's full net worth is just about $1 billion at last record, it is unlikely that he would be able to make the transaction happen. We are no longer living in the year 2006. Free and easy promiscuous junk leverage is not obtainable by anyone anymore... Except maybe the U.S. Federal Government. He would need to produce a total package of $500 million (if he bought at a nice discount) just to acquire Dale & Lucia's 60%. He might be able to find a bank that would give him $250m in loans, but then he would need to pay out $250m in pure cash. That is a lot of dry powder for any active entrepreneur to come up with these days. And then he would be partners with Stan Kroenke... Ergo, it does not surprise me that Fred Smith is not in it.

See, I told you so! I still say this comes down to Eddie DeBartolo vs. Stan Kroenke for the title. The two may even choose to partner together. It would be interesting.

Back on June 23, my boy Tim Kutsarits published an interesting piece indicating that a final sale was going to happen sooner rather than later... Although I don't know what that means. He references a Mike Silver piece on Yahoo which I just can't find. Accord to Silver's sources (hear-say evidence is inadmissible in a court of law) Kroenke is intent upon buying the Rams. He just isn't in a hurry, and he isn't going to get involved in a bidding war. He wants somebody else to negotiate a low price and then use his right of first refusal to claim-jump.

But what about the cross-ownership ban in the constitution? This is the real story. According to Klutsarits' reading of Mike Silver's sources (hearsay!) the NFL will waive its provision against cross-ownership. Kroenke will be allowed to purchase a controlling interest in the Rams. What about all the stock, as in 100%? Who knows... Klutsarits praises Kroenke as a model owner. I don't know about that. The Denver Nuggets have frequently been good. They have never made it to an NBA final yet in their history. The Lakers just played in their 30th and won their 15th. Jerry Buss just won his 9th. He is a model owner.

Surprisingly quite in all this is Eddie DeBartolo. I haven't heard a word from him since the original Mike Silver story on the Rams for sale. He claimed only marginal interest at the time. He said he was more interested in buying the Bucs, because he lives in Tampa. He reminisced about the wars between the Rams and 49ers. He claimed he would never be motivated by revenge on his evil sister or brother-in-law. He quoted many arguments against Los Angeles as an NFL city.

We'll see. Every smart buyer plays coy. As far as totally forgiving and forgetting about his sister stealing the apple of his eye from him... BULLSHIT! BULL FUCKING SHIT! I don't believe it. Further, there were a considerable number of rumors floating in the Los Angeles smog, shortly after that event, that DeBartolo was investigating the real estate where the old Los Angeles Forum sits (along with other locations in Hollywood Park) for the purpose of building a large structure that would not be a shopping mall. You go figure what that means. They also said that he approached Skip, er... Dale with a proposition immediately. He was rebuffed because Skip knew he would move the team. Dale wanted to make St. Louis a component of the deal. We know that constraint has been removed.

Silver himself does not believe the NFL wants to put a team in Los Angeles. Los Angeles is the best blackmail tool the NFL has ever had. Every time any team wants a concession or a better stadium, all they have to do is threaten to move to the 2nd largest market in North America. The Vikings have done this at least 6 times now.

We shall see. I stand by my basic business management 101 analysis. Anyone who lays down $557 million is going to want to recoup fast. That means going to the 2nd largest sports market in North America

So the Rams are for sale aye?

I remember back in late November or early December of 2008 when Yahoo! Sports reported that Eddie DeBartolo had approached Skip Rosenbloom with an offer to buy the Rams. The report stated that Skip & his sister had serious tax problems. Inheritance tax on a $929 million NFL franchise is a bitch. Actually the two had only inherited 60% of the total shares of the Rams. Ergo, their collective fortune was a mere $557m or so in stock. Still, inheriting that much stock in anything will cause the IRS to climb up your ass.

Worse, Skip and Sis have no real wealth of their own. Skip (Dale Rosenbloom) is a director of producer of various small Hollywood movies you probably haven't heard of. He's doing okay, but he is rich by no mans estimation. His sister is a Mexican housewife in East L.A. No bullshit.

I should mention, in passing, that I know his name is Dale Rosenbloom. I also know that Dale's nick-name is Chip not Skip. We like to call him Skip out here, because he is the Ram owner that NFL historians will skip over when and if they need to write a page or two about Ram history for a website or PDF. I know that's not nice, but he is very unlikely to own the team for two full seasons of NFL play. Come kick-off time in September, I expect this deal to be done. Hardly a footnote in the book.

The IRS doesn't want the stock. They want the money. The NFL constitution would not allow the IRS to own the franchise anyhow. Should the IRS seize 60% of the Rams, NFL HQ might well dissolve the Team. However, the NFL would never allow it to reach that point. A purchase would be arranged well before that moment. Ergo this brother sister tandem had no choice: Sell out and pay the IRS.

Skip denied the Yahoo! report vehemently. He said the team was not for sale. He said he felt an obligation to his dead father to keep the team in the family. He would be the owner. He did not declare the report an outright lie, but he came close.

Fast forward two weeks. Jimmy Johnson of Fox Sports, the former architect of the Dallas Cowboy dynasty, announced on the air that the Rams are (in fact) for sale. He personally knew this to be the fact of the matter.

Then a few weeks later we hear that the City of Industry has given Ed Roski Jr. preliminary approval to build an NFL stadium (and they did explicit say NFL in the city documents) inside the borders of the City of Industry. The East side of the City of Industry, near Wallnut to be specific. For those who don't know much about Los Angeles, Industry is a small chunk of L.A. County in the south east. Make no mistake: Industry is L.A. just as much as Santa Monica is L.A.

There were speculations about the Vikings coming to town again. No, that isn't it, said everybody with a connection to the Vikings. There are no thoughts inside Viking HQ about moving to Los Angeles... or the City of Industry.

Ghee-wiz, what the fuck is this thing Roski is doing then?

Then rumors began to circulate about cash flow problems. Dale doesn't have any money. Guys like Orlando Pace and Torry Holt were pulling down a lot of money. A lot more money than Dale makes. It was questionable whether the Rams could carry their contracts, or eat a loss from a late release, and still pay the #2 pick the sort of cash this player to be named later would be expecting from his draft position. Pace and Holt, two potential Hall of Fame candidates, were both released. We took an unglamorous Left Tackle, the exact player we absolutely needed most. The Rams have an evil history of taking the glamor boy over the guy we need... at least during the past 28 years. But it just so happens that Jason Smith is a guy who will command less money that Marc Sanchez, both in the long and the short run. Cash was impacting the movements of organization quite a bit. Probably for the better.

Rumors again circulate that Dale is not selling the team, but he would be interested in listening to offers if there might be a St. Louis investor interested in keeping the team at home in St. Louis. You could hear the gentile breeze in the trees as not a human sound was made.

Then one week ago, the St. Louis Post Dispatch reports that the Rams are for sale. Skip and his sister have retained the services of the famous investment bank Goldman Sachs (the place Henry Paulson game from) to organize the sale, handle the legal paperwork, do the escrow, and maybe even settle their tax problems. This information was intercepted as it traveled from Goldman Sachs HQ in New York to NFL headquarters on Park Avenue.

Most important of all, the report contains the stipulation that Skip is willing to sell to any investor or group. There will be no stipulation that the buyer must keep the team in St. Louis. Now suddently, there are parties publically announcing that they are interested. Immediately, the St. Louis Post Dispatch, the Kansas City Star and the San Francisco Chronicle are alive and buzzing with rumors that all potentials buyers want to move the Rams back to Los Angeles. That includes Stan Kroenke and Dave Checkett, despite what they are currently saying... or not saying.

So what is the score? Everybody believes that there are three prospects to the sale. One is quite public. The other two are known and silent.

The public guy is Checkett. About 100 pieces have been written about this guy in the past week. A careful consideration of these pieces indicates that Checkett is a pretender to the throne. He is not a serious contender for the title. Checkett doesn't have much money. He is the chairman of the St. Louis Blues. Hocky is a poorboy sport. The money is nothing like the NFL. It doesn't even compare to Baseball and Basketball. Checkett cannot do the transaction himself. He has been public about his intent to form an investment group to assemble the money for the purchase. The math cannot work out. Unless Checkett can get Kroenke to sellout, he has 60% of the stock availible for purchase, grand total. The NFL constitution declares that 1 owner much own at least a 55% controlling interest in the team. I do not see how an investment group can buy 60% distribute shares, and put 55% in one man's hands. It won't work. Checkett's group will not be the purchaser of the Rams. It may not even tender a serious offer.

The consensus says that Kroenke is the owner if he wants to be. He already owns 40% of Rams. He is worth $3.5 billion. His wife is probably worth more than he is. The main problem is that he owns the Colorado Avalanch and the Denver Nuggets. The NFL constitution prohibits him from buying the Rams. Why? Denver is an NFL city. The Broncos live there. John Elway is a great fan of the Nuggets. He often introduces them. Paul Allen was allowed to own the Portland Trailblazers and the Seahawks because Portland is not an NFL city. This is a bizarre rule that is basically outdated and outmoded. Nevertheless, the NFL is probably not going to budge. If Kroenke is willing to sell a majority share in both of these franchises (subject to their league rules) he could buy the Rams. Otherwise, he is out by NFL constitution.

One fellow commented to me "Never under estimate the power of politics in these affairs!" Very well said. The NFL wanted Paul Allen in the NFL clubhouse. It is a billionaire club, and they wanted connections to Microsoft. Ergo, the NFL found an easy way to get around the rules. Kroenke is a good man. The NFL might like him. Then again they might not. He isn't as big a fish as Allen, make no mistake about it. Will they bend or get around rules for Kroenke? I doubt it.

So why would the NFL be interesting in politically excluding Kroenke, or making his acquisition difficult? Because they want to move the Rams back to Los Angeles, that's why.

One of the persistent, consistent, pernicious thorns in the NFL's arse has been the absence of NFL football in the 2nd largest market in North America. The NFL has opened numerous negotiations with the city of Los Angeles to do a deal. The City of Los Angeles has been incredibly cocky and stupid in their dealings with the NFL. They have always advanced plans to refurb the Coliseum and put the team there. The NFL is not interested in that. They have always said no to that deal. There are reasons the Rams left the Coliseum in 1980. There are reasons why the Raiders left the Coliseum in 1995. There are reasons the Trojans would like a new house right now. The Coliseum is Fu-KAKTA.

This all brings us to Eddie DeBartolo Jr. The last time I saw Eddie, it was Summer 2008. He appeared at the Hall of Fame in Canton to present Fred Dean for induction. I have never seen Eddie look so sad. He always looked invigorated, vibrant, competitive. At this time, he looked like a sad old man who just finished crying for 3.52 hours. His eyes were red and puffy through the entire visit with the NFL network and ESPN. He looked damn depressed. It looks as if being outside the NFL is killing Eddie.

Eddie lost control of the 49ers in the year 2000. The circumstances of this loss were murky indeed. There are rumors and counter rumors. The facts of the case are these:

1. Eddie was involved in a corruption case with Governor Edwin Edwards of Louisiana.
2. In 1998 Eddie paid Edwin $400,000 for a river boat casino license.
3. Eddie wound up in an FBI sting
4. Edwin went on trial for extorting $400,000 from Eddie for this license.
5. Eddie was charged with failure to report felony political corruption.
6. Eddie was fined by the NFL and banned from controlling the team for 1 year
7. The reckoning moment came in 2000 when he gave control of the 49ers to his dear sister Marie York.
8. She had previously run the Pittsburg Penguins, which was Eddie's way of getting around the NFL rules.
9. She became the second female owner of an NFL team after Georgia
10. The 49ers pretty well collapsed after 3 years.
11. Denise never gave the team back to Eddie.
12. We do know that there was an ugly-ass family fued between Denise and Eddie.
13. The details are only partially public. You can read one interpretation of the timeline here.
14. Eddie is not allowed to have any involvement with the 49ers by his dear sister and brother in law.

Not much is know about Eddie's current wealth. He does seem to retain a controlling interest over his father's financial empire. This includes a lot of real estate, malls, and gambling casinos. Shit... Casinos? Yep, he likes to gamble also. That usually means mafia.

We should remember that Georgia was a Las Vegas showgirl. She had 5 husbands prior to Carrol Rosenbloom. Those fellows were shadowy Las Vegas figures. That usually means mafia. Rumors about Georgia being involved in a plot to kill her husband and steal the Rams from Steve Rosenbloom have circulated ever since 1979. These allegations are still talked about today in Los Angeles sports bars.

I was going to come out in full support of Eddie. Whatever else you want to say about him. Eddie took a dastardly joke of an NFL franchise and he made them the first team to win 5 Super Bowls. It has taken the Steelers some 14 years to pass the 49ers, even though they once started with a 4 championship lead. If you are a long suffering Ram fan you have to like that record... if it heads your way. Unfortunately, this other information, which I never dreamed about, causes me to wonder. I really don't like this kind of corruption around my team.

However, it should be noted that Eddie will come to the NFL with a compelling package deal. He has said he will move the team to Los Angeles. He claimed he would personally build a state-of-the-art Dome stadium on the West Side of L.A., somewhere near LAX. That is right where the NFL wants it. He may not need to do this, now that Ed Roski is at work.

The NFL is smart. They know Eddie will return with blood vengeance in mind. Nobody hates like family. He will stick it to his sister every chance he gets. He will re-stoke the feud between the Rams and 49ers which once dominated NFL football on the west coast. This would re-invoggorate football on the West Coast, which is badly in need of a stimulus package. He might even be able to do it again... He might make the Rams Champions.

We'll see what Roger Goodell does about this. This is going to be the first real acid-test of his administration. Both Eddie and Georgia represent a shadowy underbelly of NFL history which the late Commissioner Rozelle allowed to creep into our fabled and beloved sport.

I want the Rams back in Los Angeles, and I want the Rams to win a lot of championships here, in my town. But not at any price. I am not willing to sell my soul for this victory and this return. I am hoping my team will be cleansed of the corruption that once ensnared it by this pending sale.

http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/news/ci_12496059

http://www.stltoday.com/blogzone/bernies-extra-points/bernies-extra-points/bernies-5-minutes/2009/06/june-1-kroenke-is-best-hope-for-st-louis-rams/

http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/football/other_nfl/view/2009_06_02_Dave_Checketts_wants_to_lead_group_to_buy_Rams/srvc=home&position=recent