Rams Fans United - Los Angeles Rams Fan Discussion Forum

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/football ... c2305.html

LA fans flock to see Rams practice

By Jim Thomas

OXNARD, CALIF. • The setting was surreal and almost certainly unreal for Rams fans keeping tabs in St. Louis.
Twenty years ago, the Rams stepped off busses for their first training camp practice in St. Louis to a standing ovation from fans.

On Monday at Dallas’ training camp headquarters, Rams players stepped off their team busses for a training camp practice against the Cowboys ... to a standing ovation from fans.

Asked when’s the last time that happened to him, Rams quarterback Nick Foles chuckled and replied: “Probably in high school.”

Foles’ high school memories not withstanding, the one difference between 2015 and 1995 from a Rams perspective: These were Los Angeles Rams fans this time.

“They told us there were going to be a lot,” Rams tight end Jared Cook said. “But I wasn’t really expecting that many. With the Rams, this used to be their home city. I wasn’t expecting to see that many people. It was pretty cool.”

There were 7,739 fans present for Monday’s session, or nearly 5,400 more than attended Sunday’s Cowboys-only practice session.

Officials did their best to keep the Rams fans seated on one side of the complex, which includes two 100-yard playing fields, and Cowboys fans on the other. There were at least as many Rams fans present Monday as Cowboys fans, if not more.

They chanted “LA Rams! LA Rams!” Then they shouted “Kroenke! Kroenke! Kroenke!”

Rams owner Stan Kroenke, who has yet to show up for a Rams training camp practice in St. Louis this summer, found the time to show up in Oxnard for Monday’s session.

He watched above in a tower with Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, a strong Kroenke ally.

Wearing blue jeans, tennis shoes, a powder blue long-sleeve shirt and a Rams cap, Kroenke came down from his tower and strolled off the field after practice with team exec Kevin Demoff — as usual — serving as his wingman.

When asked by reporters for his thoughts on all the LA Rams fans in attendance, Kroenke laughed and kept walking.

These practice sessions on the outskirts of Los Angeles might all have been just a “coincidence,” as the Rams continue to insist. But for fans in St. Louis struggling with the possibility of the team’s relocation to the West Coast, Monday was not a Hallmark moment.

Ten days ago in St. Louis, during a practice session at Rams Park televised live by NFL Network, Rams fans were told by team security to either discard their large pro-St. Louis/anti-Kroenke signs or take them back to their cars. There was no such prohibition Monday, with fans waving large team flags, toting signs, and one carrying a huge “Fathead” poster of Kroenke.

Tom Bateman, who’s with the “Bring Back the Los Angeles Rams” fan club, termed Monday’s gathering of LA Rams fans: “A call to arms. We had fans coming all the way from El Paso, obviously northern California, some fans from Arizona and Nevada. It’s a pretty amazing gathering. Stan Kroenke made his case to the NFL. Now it’s our turn to make our case to show that the fan support here for the Rams is still very strong.”

Among the LA Rams fans in attendance was Inglewood mayor James Butts, who made the 60-mile trek to Oxnard to watch the team he hopes will be playing in his community in 2016.

Except for the Hollywood Park casino, all the land has been cleared in Inglewood for the 292-acre site — an area Butts boasted is “larger than the Vatican” — for Kroenke’s stadium and real estate development plan.

“Actually the utilities and sewer connections have been dug (on the site),” Butts said. “And the connections are being made.”

He said construction on Kroenke’s proposed $2 billion stadium can begin “in 118 days” — which would be mid-December.

Butts said the throng of LA Rams fans at Monday’s practice “sends a huge message to the Rams’ popularity here in Southern California. First of all, the Rams are the team that most of us as children grew up with. Roman Gabriel, Jack Snow, the Fearsome Foursome. That is part of our DNA.”

But why, Butts was asked, is he trying to help take a Rams team out of St. Louis — a Rams team that the Los Angeles area made very little effort to keep in terms of a viable stadium plan in 1995?

“I love St. Louis,” Butts said. “I have a beloved cousin and her children in St. Louis. And they’re absolutely Rams fans. But the reality is this: If the Rams choose to relocate. We’re there. Period.

“My apologies to St. Louis, but we are doing everything we can to do our part to let the NFL know that we want to be their solution. We don’t want to be an alternative. We want to be their solution.”

Coach Jeff Fisher’s parents live not far from Oxnard, and they attended Monday’s practice. He even had dinner, a home-cooked meal, from mom and dad on Sunday night.

During practice, Rams fans cheered loudly nearly every catch or play made by a Rams player, even for some plays that bordered on the routine. In the middle of practice, wide receiver Kenny Britt took the time to slap hands with several fans hanging over a fence and even signed a couple of quick autographs.

Fisher and Cowboys coach Jason Garrett brought both teams together at the start of practice and emphasized that they were there to get work in — not to fight. There were only a couple of very brief “scuffles,” if you’d even call them that.

Tempers flared once when Rams cornerback Trumaine Johnson made an overly aggressive hit on a Dallas receiver, but the players quickly were separated.

There was a noticeable police presence, with officers ringing the field inside fencing that separated fans from the field. There were problems associated with the crowds last year when the Oakland Raiders came to Oxnard to practice against the Cowboys.

As for all the Rams fans, Fisher said: “The Rams used to be here. So we’ve got a lot of Rams fans obviously. It was great for them to come out. ... I remember last year when we played the Chargers (in San Diego) we had a great group pulling for us.”

But does Monday’s turnout and the mere presence of the Rams practicing in Southern California signal anything bigger to fans in LA?

“No,” Fisher said. “I don’t read between the lines. We open against the Seahawks, and our focus is on getting better so we can compete with them.”

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/13458 ... p-practice

Big fan turnout welcomes Rams at Southern California workout

OXNARD, Calif. -- The way their long-suffering Southern California fans see it, the St. Louis Rams are considering restoration, not relocation.

From the moment they stepped off the team bus Monday, the Rams were serenaded by several thousand jersey-wearing, flag-waving fans celebrating a Southern California homecoming. They chanted "L.A. Rams!" while the players took the practice fields in Oxnard, an hour west of Los Angeles, and they held banners reading "Welcome Home!" and "We Missed You!"

The Rams are in Ventura County for three days of workouts at the Dallas Cowboys' training complex, and they're providing a tantalizing appetizer for fans who know the franchise is weighing a return to Los Angeles, its home for 49 years prior to 1995.

Although a decision won't be reached for several months, the fans who never left seized the chance for a reunion after two decades.

"It was live," Rams tight end Jared Cook said. "I just couldn't believe it, man. I think we had a lot more fans than Dallas."

"I grew up here and went to school here. It's a great area, and ... they miss their pro team. I think it's understandable, and that's why there's so much talk about the potential of bringing a franchise here."
Rams coach Jeff Fisher
Shouts of "Whose house? Rams' house!" echoed through an Oxnard crowd packed with jerseys of players ranging from Los Angeles favorites Vince Ferragamo and Jack Youngblood to St. Louis stars Robert Quinn and Nick Foles.

Rams coach Jeff Fisher has stayed well away from the relocation drama, which also encompasses the Oakland Raiders and San Diego Chargers as the three clubs jockey for new stadiums and untapped riches. However, Fisher is a Los Angeles-area native and USC product, which gives him extra insight into the passion in the stands.

"I got to go home, and Mom cooked me a home-cooked meal last night, so that was good," said Fisher, the Los Angeles Rams' defensive coordinator in 1991. "I grew up here and went to school here. It's a great area, and ... they miss their pro team. I think it's understandable, and that's why there's so much talk about the potential of bringing a franchise here."

Even Rams owner Stan Kroenke turned up at the Cowboys' training complex, which encompasses most of a hotel just a few miles from the Pacific Ocean.

Kroenke got to meet Foles, his new quarterback, for the first time before watching the joint workout with Cowboys owner Jerry Jones from the observation tower between the practice fields.

"I feel sorry for the St. Louis fans, and I appreciate them taking care of our team. I know for sure [the Rams are] coming back because Kroenke knows how much value they'll have to bring them back here."
Rams fan Ray Soto
Kroenke declined to speak to reporters, but he couldn't help seeing a poster of his own oversized head floating through the crowd or hearing the chants of his name from fans such as Ray Soto.

A Rams devotee since 1960, Soto made the two-hour drive from Bakersfield to Oxnard to attend practice with his son and grandson. While his brothers gave up on the team after its move to the Midwest, the Lompoc, California, native stayed faithful to the franchise.

"I feel sorry for the St. Louis fans, and I appreciate them taking care of our team," Soto said. "I know for sure [the Rams are] coming back because Kroenke knows how much value they'll have to bring them back here."

Kroenke, a billionaire who owns a home in Malibu, rarely attends camp in Missouri. He has purchased land in Inglewood and partnered with developers to build a palatial football stadium capable of housing two NFL teams -- but he has done it all without explicitly saying he intends to move the Rams.

Inglewood mayor James T. Butts Jr. also turned out for the Rams' Oxnard trip. He said the stadium site is getting utility and sewer lines, and he believes it will be ready for construction in mid-December.

Butts was impressed -- but not surprised -- by the fan turnout in Oxnard, about 60 miles from the flattened acres in Inglewood where that state-of-the-art stadium could begin to rise this winter.

"I think it's a huge message to the Rams' popularity here in Southern California," Butts said. "The Rams are the team that most of us as children grew up with. Roman Gabriel. Jack Snow. The Fearsome Foursome. That is part of our DNA growing up, so there is no team that can claim they are more integrated into the psyche of the people that were old enough to attend football games than the Rams. That's hands-down. And then would come the Raiders."

For this three-day engagement, the Southern California fans organized $30 round-trip bus rides and packed the parking lots several hours before practice. They plan to wrap up each day with food, drinks and partying at a nearby restaurant.

Without definitely picking a side in the three-team derby for Los Angeles, Jones realizes the Rams matter greatly in L.A. and beyond.

"What I do think is [the Rams] have such a traditional visibility and a traditional following here in Southern California," Jones said. "And that's the main positive that they have -- and that they've got a great owner and they've got a great franchise. It's a good thing for the NFL to have these teams that have the qualifications they have to think about this Los Angeles market."

http://www.turfshowtimes.com/2015/8/18/ ... as-cowboys

Rams-Cowboys Practice Reoprt

By EddieP  @iAmEddieP_ on Aug 18, 2015, 10:30a +

The first day of the Rams-Cowboys practice was full of support and welcomed sights.

Monday was the first of the Rams-Cowboys joint practices in Oxnard, Calif., the home of the Dallas Cowboys' training camp.

I was in attendance and watched the Rams' offense go up against the Cowboys' defense. The defense practiced on the farther field. I was not able to catch that session, though I did notice a few things that occurred on that side of the field.

Let's get straight into the notes and observations:

Practice Notes:

Left Guard Rodger Saffold and linebacker/speacial teams ace Daren Bates were not dressed and did not participate. Bates was wearing a bulky knee stabilizing brace and was walking with a noticeable limp.
Running Back Todd Gurley was dressed, but he assumed his regular rehab routine – individual and position group drills.
First fight of the practice belonged to the defense against the Cowboys' offense.
Second fight broke out after a few of the Cowboys' defenders got a bit too aggressive with Brian Quick. He still has on the yellow, hands-off beanie on his helmet.
During 11-on-11's, one Rams defender clearly got a sack on the Cowboys' quarterback. But, like I said, I was too far away to clearly see who it was.
Rams' receivers had a good day against Dallas' corners. Chris Givens beat Morris Claiborne on a slant during one-on-one drills. Both Kenny Britt and Stedman Bailey made multiple contested catches. Tavon Austin repeatedly won his one-on-one match ups. He also had a beautiful touchdown catch during 11-on-11's.
The offensive lined had mixed results. I did not notice many issues with pass protection, but they had a few issues opening up holes for the running backs. For example, on the first play of 11-on-11drills, Tre Mason had no room to work with. A few plays later, he broke off a big run to the left side.
Center Tim Barnes began practice with the starters. He did not stand out, but he did not draw attention to himself. I guess you can say a offensive lineman's job is done well when you go unnoticed.
The rams rotated Barnes and Barrett Jones with the one's. Jones had an up and down day. He held up well at times, but when he got pushed back... he got PUSHED BACK!

Flocking is about as pun-ishable as the Embraceable Ewes.

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/columns/ ... 63253.html

Tipsheet: Rams-Chargers deal makes most sense for NFL

By Jeff Gordon

Rams owner Stan Kroenke could end all the Los Angeles drama by cutting a suitable deal with San Diego Chargers owner Dean Spanos.

Bringing Spanos into the Inglewood fold would snuff out the Carson project and leave the Raiders stranded in Oakland. Thus far Kroenke and Spanos haven't seemed inclined to strike such a deal, so this resolution is something the NFL would like to broker.

Los Angeles Times reporter Sam Farmer has pointed to this possibility. It certainly makes sense, especially with Farmer predicting that Kroenke has the nine owner votes needed to block Spanos and Spanos has the nine votes to block Kroenke.

As much as many owners like the Carson stadium proposal — and the possibility of keeping current California teams in the Golden State — stiffing Kroenke would be no small task.

As we often note, Stan has a team, the land and the money to make the LA move happen. He is the first man to check all of those boxes in the past two decades.

The Rams-Cowboys joint practice in Oxnard, Calif., gave him another chance to lobby Cowboys owner Jerry Jones — who watched first-hand as Rams fans showed up in force to welcome the team back to SoCal.

Commissioner Roger Goodell prefers traveling the path of least resistance. Putting the Rams and Chargers in Inglewood would follow that route, since the Raiders lack Kroenke-like resources to challenge the league.

Since Goodell's bungling of the previous expansion process led to LA becoming barren for the league, brokering a Rams-Chargers deal would be a make-good opportunity for him.

The NFL could turn around and tell St. Louis "nice try", thus turning this market into leverage for teams (like the poor Raiders) looking for a better deal.

It seems like the obvious solution to a tricky problem. But then again, Goodell's track record suggests that his office sees no obvious solution to any problem.

Chargers/Rams makes the most sense across the board. Why would LA want that train wreck of a franchise in the Raiders?

It seems like the obvious solution to a tricky problem. But then again, Goodell's track record suggests that his office sees no obvious solution to any problem.

Is it really that gratifying to take shots at Goodell? Hasn't the league become the most popular and successful under his watch? True, he hasn't handled every single instance perfectly but the endless criticism is tiring.

dieterbrock wrote:Chargers/Rams makes the most sense across the board. Why would LA want that train wreck of a franchise in the Raiders?

Actually, Rams to Inglewood, everyone else stays where they are makes the most sense IMO.

The NFL won't want to leave San Diego vacant so if the Chargers move to Inglewood, at some point in the future there will be 3 teams jammed into SoCal.

LA doesn't need two NFL teams.