[PARAM]

There wasn't near the drama in life before the %#(^$^$ internet. I remember when I was in High School at Great Bend going to the library once a week to read the sports section in the Sunday LA paper which the library subscribed to!

This Week in the NFL with Tom Brookshire and Pat Summerall or Cosell's MNF halftime highlights, just to see the Rams highlights. And it often seemed like they showed them in order of time zone.....the Rams always towards the end.

Street & Smiths Preview, Sport Magazine, and the weekly Sports Illustrated (severly lacking) and The Sporting News (the best). I remember a picture from 83 or 84, of E.D. without his jersey, showing all the pads he wore. Something like 20 or 25 lbs worth. IIRC that was Sport Magazine.

Living in South Jersey as a kid, we got the NY and Philly channels, so I had a 50% better chance to see the Rams in the late window. It was a special treat when the Rams played the Giants, Jets or Eagles because they were aired locally. But the best was going to an Eagles game vs the Rams. I saw them in ED's rookie season. Still have the pictures and my favorite one is of Jack Youngblood all alone at the 50 as they were changing ends after the third quarter. Got some good ones of Dickerson and Ferragamo too. I had a Minolta X700 35mm with a 300mm telephoto lens. But that's one good thing technology has since provided...instant digital pictures!!

Yeah, it was much different before the internet. And considerably more isolated. I don't think I ever saw anybody sporting Rams gear in the N.J./PA area until the late 90's. I think the first Rams fans I met were my wife's cousins from So Cal. Makes me think we should appreciate one another much more than we do.

[PARAM]

On McVay being infallable that may be the perception of some. I know throughout his tenure, some have been loath to even dish out the slightest criticism towards him. It was Snead or it was one of the assistant coaches....the OL coach often was a popular target. And their defense was, "I'm not gonna talk shit about the guy who brought us to a Superbowl!!!" and later "......the guy who got us a Lombardi!!!!". And now even some of those who never criticized are talking shit. Funny the affect 5-12 can have on fans! But of course, we know he IS NOT infallable. Hell that's plain to see whenever he gets into a rut with his playcalling. First down? Run. First down? Run. Pass? Find Kupp. Down 14 to a rival calls for a trick play!!! Fake FG or jet sweep!!

However, the theory McVay himself put it out there that he was conflicted between taking a break or continuing to coach, I don't know how ANYBODY can know how that went public. When asked about it, he may have admitted it was the case (which in itself shows some honesty...dare I say dignity?).

On one hand it's been accurately noted everything is under a microscope in the current electronic age. Twitter, Snapchat, Tic-Tok, hundreds of team forums.....anybody with a keyboard can start any rumor they want. All it takes is somebody else copying and pasting and it's whisper down the lane. Plus very little escapes the media.

On the other hand, he stands accused of using conduits in the media to put shit out there. Worse, without significant proof of just that, he's labeled undignified. Me not we! Go figure. Sometimes the hypocrisy is so thick you can cut it with a knife. In times like this, 5-12 ohmygod, you need a machete!

[bremillard]

BACK BEFORE THE INTERNET AND THE 24 HOUR NEWS CYCLE & TWITTER
Following Los Ramos for decades back before the Internet was less complicated than now.
As a dedicated Rams fan, I bought all the Peterson's/Street&Smith NFL Annuals every August, memorized the new players' stats, Colleges, etc etc and then watch the General TV Media for Ram news.....and we ACTUALLY got some. IE. making the Mainstream News I can recall:
In December,1968 Ram Owner Reeves fired HC George Allen. Player/Leaders like Deacon, Merlin, Charlie Cowan et al demonstrate, threaten to hold-out, and Reeves caves and hires Allen back. This high-schooler was glad to see Allen reinstated.

1971, new Ram HC Tommy Prothro signs disgraced WR Lance Rentzel who got caught exposing his junk to young girls in both Minneapolis as a Viking, and in Dallas, where it got to be public knowledge and news. This high schooler knew, even at that youthful age that having a damaged fuck like Rentzel in OUR locker room was not good.

1979 Carroll Rosenbloom "drowns" in 3 feet of Florida surf. Within days, his widow Georgia fires son Steve Rosenbloom as Rams GM, and hires John DasVamir Shaw to run Los Ramos.

January, 1980 Georgia TheBlackWidow's new hubby, Domenic Frontiere gets caught red-handed stealing thousand of SBXIV tickets from the NFL and selling them to Western PA Travel Agencies. This 20-something Sales Guy cudn't believe all the fooking Steeler fans he witnessed camped at the RoseBowl that January Sunday morning. Domenic was charged & did jailtime....real jailtime. I was glad to see that!

In 1986 Georgia (Again) schintzing-out on generational RB, ED, and moving him off to Indy.

I'm probably missing some other pre-internet Rams stuff that made the Mainstream News, but my point is, Rams Fansdom was easier back then IE. we just wanted to see our team play well on Sundays....so yeah, like someone opined smartly.....dignity was important. IE. Even if GroundChuck Knox's teams fell short of the SB year after year, we had a helluva team that Ramsnation could all be very proud of!

TODAY:
Confusius Say: Man who lives in glass house should always get dressed in basement.
The non-stop internet buzz on the NFL, and our Rams is unrelenting. EVERYTHING gets exposed.....we all live in glass houses, and today we argue about it. Sometimes hatefully! Fuck, we argue now about how much money the Falcons paid for questionable 3rd overall CB pick the Lions made back in 2020....BTW, it's $3.681 MIL, as Detroit picked up $1.5 MIL to get the deal for Falcons' 5th Rounder done.
Fuck me....who knew about that kind of mouse-nuts shyte back in 1971???
Guys argue about if Cam Akers is a UFA next season, or if he lost a year of NFL service due to his Achilles injury in 2021. Clearly somebody has dimentia!
So IMO, it's tougher to just follow your NFL team in today's sizzling 24 hour internet news/podcast/twitter/etc environment.

Which brings me to TomSlick's smart line:
"Blathering to the media about retirement was not dignified."
I agree 100%.
ME: Hey Sean if you cannot stand the heat in my Rams Team's kitchen, after taking all those Stan Kroenke millions into your bank account, then make like the birds....
and flock off!!

Now some homer simpletons who cannot change gears within their cranium will say "Canuck hates McVay."
ME: Nope. I think he is one of the really smart Offensive minds in the NFL....
but that hissy fit he launched using his media buddy Peter Schrager as his news cycle conduit and accomplice was NOT dignified. SEAN McVAY: "It's ME! Not we."
Hey Sean...."leadership" means you also need to have some friggin' coping skills when things don't go your way. Like John F. Kennedy who authorized the Bay of Pigs disaster in Cuba......and then went on National TV to tell the American public that HE OWNED IT.
Now.....that's dignified.....and gutsy.
Whereas for me....watching that Peter Schrager suicide-watch bullshit....it was like:
Hey Karen! Get over yourself! My team just went 5-12, so keep earning your Kroenke millions by fixing things! Do your HC job.....or leave.

Where has Sean McVay taken ownership of that 5-12 shitshow from last season, huh?
The accepted buzzwards are "injuries of historic proportions."
Who wanted to shell out all those scarce millions to one Allen NewToy Robinson?
Who drafted gadget guy TuTu at #57? How have those McVay WR moves worked out for our team? Has McVay taken ownership? On TuTu...."I've got to use him better"
On AR, McVay is trying to unload AR (& his fat undefendable salary), but if we don't, McVay "is gonna use him better in 2023."

We had an Offensive Genius back 1999 thru to midseason 2005 named Mike Martz who also wasn't so good with personnel moves. Tell me cheerleaders....."Shoot we'll fix that!" and "Oh, I gotta use him better." Um, what's the fooking difference???!!!

Again, I have not lost hope in McVay's Offensive Smarts/Innovation......but I sure as fuck am not under the illusion that he is infallible.......nor beyond some criticism.

Okay....Cue the Alzheimer-diagnosing guy.

Dude...please never leave us. Your posts are all well appreciated by most of us. You have a great balance between FANaticsm, pragmatism, and sarcasm. Para is no dummy but he needs to be right...always, and always on his terms. OK Carry on.

[TomSlick]

1979 Carroll Rosenbloom "drowns" in 3 feet of Florida surf.

That is funny. Sad, of course, but, certainly, makes the point.