[Hacksaw]

There are some good guys out there from St.Louis who are hurting. No doubt about that. I truly respect those that are taking the high road because this is not an easy thing to endure when the Rams have become a part of there lives. The ones that really strike a chord with me are the family guys talking about not being able to take their kids to the game and share those moments. I feel for them the most.

Spot on, and I can relate. My kids are grown now and would rather experience things with their friends,,, and football just isn't in their life experience anyway. Bummer

[Elvis]

I think /zn/ makes some good points.

A lot of good St. Louis Rams fans are hurting. We all get that.

But we've also been trolled quite a bit on the subject over the last couple of years. (This is the internet, it has trolls.)

So it's a weird mix of feeling bad for my friends in St. Louis, enjoying the comeuppance some of the trolls are getting and being super excited the Rams are back.

It's all happening so fast. It's only been three days since the vote in Houston but it seems much longer. And i think that's what we have to remember, it's only been 3 days, feelings are still really raw. It will calm down, for all of us...

[Hacksaw]

I hope my happy doesn't calm down.

[Hacksaw]

The level of civility was actually impressive, but that was mostly due to OUR reserve. Once relocation talk began, lines got drawn between us. The true nature of many started to show through,, on both side of the line of debate. It became a dirty scrum.

Yeah, I wanted to start celebrating the prospect of a move to LA earlier this season and that's when people turned on me. I was told I had to mute my excitement, which was just not possible. The good news is that excitement got me here, where I was able to share with other like minded fans. For me, it's all ended far better than I could have expected. I'm at a place with other long time fans, and our team is finally home.

Sensitive bunch back there. In the end we not only took our ball, but we took our team home too.

And agreed. through out all of this, we now have a seasoned, mature, dedicated, passionate, enduring fan base and this forum turned out to be the cumulative sum of all the best from all the boards who are very like minded regarding our team. We may have different opinions on strategy and personnel, but that is what makes it great and informative.
deiterbrock in his usual simplicity to cut to the chase said "Wow. It's like all my favorite RRF posters in one spot." That sums it up nicely.

[Elvis]

The reason John Shaw was adamant about the top tier clause being part of the lease was because of the market they were leaving to move to the smaller market. He understood that if the team did not continue to have a top tier stadium in St. Louis the move from Los Angeles would handcuff the team financially for years to come.

Thomas Eagleton who was the point man for St. Louis a former Senator and VP candidate in 1972 for a New York Minute agreed to such demands because they were building a stadium with no team because they lost on their expansion bid when they felt they were a shoe in.

Absolutely.

Without that top-tier clause, St. Louis may never have had a 2nd NFL team.

That clause may well have gotten them 21 years of NFL football they wouldn't have otherwise had...

[max]

Two things on this thread:

1. I remember an interview with John Shaw where he said the top tier clause was a consolation clause that STL threw in cause they wouldn't agree to something else (I forgot what Shaw really wanted). So the top tier clause was pure serendipity for Shaw and the Rams. Shaw is a very lucky guy. He graduated from my alma mater, NYU, and he admitted he never went to class and just scrapped by. Somehow he got connected with Georgia when CR suddenly perished in that suspicious accident. Well, ever since then he's led a charmed life. He's probably a pretty shrew guy, but he ran the Rams into the ground and led a extremely dysfunctional organization. He hit the lottery again when Vermeil decided to make a comeback, and again Shaw was shocked that he pulled it off. That was it for Shaw. He made money for Georgia, and hired DV. Everything else he did was awful, especially for Rams fans.

2. The only people I feel for are the young kids in STL who have grown up with the Rams and have never known another team in STL and who truly love the Rams. I could care less about guys like Karraker, Bernie, or any older fan who was a STL Cardinals fan and would turn into a Jags fan the second they stepped foot in STL.

[snackdaddy]

I know the St. Louis fans feel they've been crapped all over. But the fact is, the majority of Ram fans all over the world are LA Rams fans. There are a lot more people who want them in LA than St. louis. They say the thousands of fans who support the team prove they're worthy, but there are much more in LA.

Its kinda like the presidential elections. If 100 million people voted and the winner got 51 percent of that vote, that means there are 49 million people who did not want the guy to be their president. Thats a lot of people. But they're still the minority. And most times in this country, majority wins.

[/zn/]

I could care less about guys like Karraker, Bernie, or any older fan who was a STL Cardinals fan and would turn into a Jags fan the second they stepped foot in STL.

But, Max, that includes guys we know like Ag, Dak, Jim Fadler, and Mike Franke. Good people. I don't know how you feel about guys like them, but I respect their feeling...I can't help it. On some boards the St.Louis/LA thing was a war, and I avoided that completely. On some it wasn't like that at all.

I assume that here, links to other boards are permissable:

http://theramshuddle.com/topic/board-re ... -nfl-vote/

http://theramshuddle.com/topic/the-last ... ed-to-now/

http://theramshuddle.com/topic/sorry-to-hear-that-mike/

[max]

I could care less about guys like Karraker, Bernie, or any older fan who was a STL Cardinals fan and would turn into a Jags fan the second they stepped foot in STL.

But, Max, that includes guys we know like Ag, Dak, Jim Fadler, and Mike Franke. Good people. I don't know how you feel about guys like them, but I respect their feeling...I can't help it. On some boards the St.Louis/LA thing was a war, and I avoided that completely. On some it wasn't like that at all.

I assume that here, links to other boards are permissable:

http://theramshuddle.com/topic/board-re ... -nfl-vote/

http://theramshuddle.com/topic/the-last ... ed-to-now/

http://theramshuddle.com/topic/sorry-to-hear-that-mike/

Yeah. I love those guys too. Especially Ag, didn't know he was from STL. He's one of the best.

[Hacksaw]

David Hunn ‏@davidhunn 25 minutes ago
Nixon, at press conf today: "We're not talking about building a stadium for football" anymore.