[max]

I caught the aftermath.

Apparently, King told Bernie it ain't going STLs way.

Bernie was going nuts.

Anyone hear the whole interview?

Missed it. Hopefully it will be up as a podcast later...

[Hacksaw]

Six Men Could Determine the Rams’ Future

Posted by: Bernie Miklasz in Bernie Miklasz, National Football League September 1, 2015

http://www.101sports.com/2015/09/01/six ... ms-future/

Good morning.

During my three-week downtime, I made calls and fired off emails to many of my contacts around the NFL, asking what they’re hearing about the potential Rams’ move to Los Angeles. I was surprised by some of the speculation, buzz, and bits of information. Frankly, some of it prompted a “whoa” reaction on my end.


The NFL is trying to decide between two competing plans. The Oakland Raiders and San Diego Chargers are partnering to fund a new stadium in the Los Angeles suburb of Carson. Rams owner Stan Kroenke wants to move the Rams to his proposed stadium-entertainment complex in Inglewood, near LA.

Since no one would talk on the record, and considering that it was impossible to confirm the information, all of this is speculative. For whatever it’s worth, here’s some of what was passed on to me. Trust it at your own risk:

At NFL headquarters the Carson plan had seemingly emerged as the preferred choice, but that could be changing. The momentum seems to be shifting in favor of Kroenke/Inglewood.

Why? Concerns over the St. Louis market and the long-term support of an NFL franchise.

The St. Louis’ Cardinals’ domination of the STL sports market.

Concerns over the St. Louis economy and the level of corporate backing here.

Concerns over the legal battles and ongoing challenges that could jeopardize the St. Louis plan for a new football stadium on the north riverfront.

The wide-ranging appeal of the Kroenke complex, which would feature the stadium and an “NFL Disneyland” concept that would include NFL Network studios, and a new headquarters for the league’s expanding advanced-media operation. Peter King of Sports Illustrated’s “Monday Morning Quarterback” was the first to mention how the league is intrigued by the attractiveness Kroenke’s total-package pitch. That said, the Carson plan would also give the NFL eight acres of land to house the NFL Network and a variety of league-related businesses.

Look for St. Louis stadium task force co-chairman Dave Peacock to ramp up an effort to directly engage NFL owners to reaffirm the soundness of the STL plan and give assurances that the stadium will happen here.

If Peacock takes his appeal to the owners, he will aggressively address the concerns over the St. Louis market and the fan-corporate support. The relentless Peacock is determined to counterattack the apparent anti-STL misinformation campaign that’s apparently gained some traction.

This will get interesting.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell was said to be sympathetic to the St. Louis cause but could be wavering.

This could be an alarming development, but who knows what Goodell is really thinking? In his public comments Goodell has repeatedly praised the STL efforts but won’t allow himself to be backed into a corner; the commish always leaves some wiggle room to avoid giving the appearance that he’ll back St. Louis.

But Goodell continues to have conversations with Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon. The last time I checked with Nixon, he remained confident in his belief that Goodell will treat St. Louis fairly. Goodell has encouraged Nixon to finalize the stadium financing, with the obvious implication being a positive outcome for St. Louis. After offering so much positive reinforcement will Goodell really turn his back on Nixon? I’d be surprised. But then again, we should know better than to trust the NFL.

If Goodell is losing clout with the NFL owners, his opinion on Inglewood vs. Carson may not matter.

The commissioner has been in a full damage-control mode for a while now, trying to recover from mistakes and questionable handling of a number of controversial issues including the Ray Rice scandal, “SpyGate,” and “DeflateGate.” And while it would premature to speculate that Goodell is in danger of being removed from his post, he’s taken on one of the league’s most powerful owners, New England’s Robert Kraft, in the DeflateGate mess. Kraft had been Goodell’s strongest ally among owners, but losing Kraft’s support would leave Goodell vulnerable.

Even if Goodell is secure in his job for now, it doesn’t mean that he’ll operate with his usual authority. For the longest time NFL owners have pretty much followed Goodell’s lead on important league matters. But if Goodell has lost power, the owners won’t be as inclined to listen to him. And if the owners aren’t willing to rubber-stamp Goodell’s recommendations, his view on Carson vs. Inglewood may not count for much.

NFL insiders say there’s a good chance that the St. Louis NFL future will be determined by the six-owner committee that’s overseeing the Los Angeles process.

If that’s true _ and I believe it’s entirely possible _ then this would work in STL’s favor.

Here’s the committee:

Clark Hunt (Kansas City)

Robert Kraft (New England)

John Mara (New York Giants)

Bob McNair (Houston)

Jerry Richardson (Carolina)

Art Rooney II (Pittsburgh)

There are no mavericks in this group. The six are strong, old-school “league” men with established reputations for getting deeply involved in league affairs, and serving as an NFL Supreme Court, striving to do what’s right and fair. All are said to be sticklers for following the NFL’s policies. They don’t profile as the type of leaders who would roll over for Kroenke just because he has a lot of money and is suddenly trying to sweet-talk them to curry favor after remaining in the background as an aloof and disinterested league member for many years.

For St. Louis to keep the Rams (or get another NFL franchise) someone has to to stand up to ensure the legitimacy of the relocation guidelines. Someone must stand up to call Kroenke out for what he is: a brazen opportunist who helped move the Rams from LA to St. Louis to cash in for enormous profits _ and now has the audacity to attempt to take the same franchise back to Los Angeles to reap a massive financial reward for a second time.

If the league allows Kroenke to get his way, this will be one of the more egregious examples of uncontrolled greed in NFL history _ an owner who has victimized two NFL fan bases for his personal financial gain.

Here’s what Kraft said about St. Louis at the NFL’s March owners meeting:

“From my point of view, if they come up with a (stadium) plan that looks pretty good and a strong financial package, I think we — the NFL — have an obligation in my opinion to be able to have a team in St. Louis,” Kraft said. “We have to be very careful and responsible to different markets who really step up and do what they want to do (to keep a team) If they do, we have a responsibility to make sure there’s a team in that market.”

And this from Rooney in an interview with the Los Angeles Times:

“That’s why we have a process and why it’s incumbent on the league’s committees and league staff to manage the process so that, to the greatest extent possible, we exhaust the possibility of a team remaining in its home market,” Rooney said. He added: “I think we’re comfortable that we could stop a team legally from moving if it didn’t go through the process.”

I could be wrong, but I don’t see Kraft, Rooney, Mara, Hunt, Richardson or McNair as the type of individuals that would sign off on such shameless debauchery.

Moreover, Peacock has good relationships with most of these committee members, and they are willing want to hear his case. And Nixon would seemingly have an ally in Hunt; the Gov. has always been supportive of the Chiefs’ needs.

If you want the Rams to stay in St. Louis, you must hope for two things: (1) the successful financing and land acquisition that will make the STL stadium a reality; (2) that the decision will ultimately come down to the strong recommendation made by this six-owner committee that represent our town’s best chance for fair treatment.

As always, thanks for reading …

–Bernie

[Elvis]

About 20 minutes into the 7am hour September 1:

[Elvis]

Jags to St. Louis starting to get a lot of play. Peter King mentioned it and Vinny B. has been talking about it:

[Elvis]

Jim Everett weights in:

[Rams the Legends live on]

But Goodell continues to have conversations with Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon. The last time I checked with Nixon, he remained confident in his belief that Goodell will treat St. Louis fairly. Goodell has encouraged Nixon to finalize the stadium financing, with the obvious implication being a positive outcome for St. Louis. After offering so much positive reinforcement will Goodell really turn his back on Nixon? I’d be surprised. But then again, we should know better than to trust the NFL.

Bernie is so dishonest. In my opinion the positive outcome is StL will get a future team and I think Nixon even sees this as the writing on the wall. He is a living example of a hack job a man who creates a straw man at every opportunity so he can appear on the moral high ground as he beats up his own created demon like he is some kind of hero. So whether it be Stan, Goodell or the NFL. Bernie is a hack who needs to create his own straw man so he can keep readers attention off of just how divisive and petty he is. Of course he can't admit what he knows and what so many of us know the positive outcome is StL will get a future team. As for him to do so would be honest reporting and he can't create his own villains and appear to be victimized only to be the voice of the little man if he reports honestly.

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (AP) – Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon says he is confident in St. Louis as an NFL city, even if Rams owner Stan Kroenke succeeds in moving his franchise back to Los Angeles.

After visiting Chiefs practice Wednesday, Nixon was asked about the Rams. NFL owners had met in suburban Chicago a day earlier and discussed the relocation of at least one team to the West Coast, and the Chargers and Raiders joined the Rams in presenting proposals.

Nixon said regardless of what happens, the city and state feel good about the future of the NFL in St. Louis. The proposal for a new, $998 million open-air stadium to be built along the riverfront was announced in January.

Seat licenses, state tax credits and other incentives would help pay for it. About half the money would come from the team owner and an NFL loan program.

http://fox2now.com/2015/08/12/missouri- ... -nfl-city/

[Stranger]

Bernie is so dishonest. In my opinion the positive outcome is StL will get a future team and I think Nixon even sees this as the writing on the wall. He is a living example of a hack job a man who creates a straw man at every opportunity so he can appear on the moral high ground as he beats up his own created demon like he is some kind of hero. So whether it be Stan, Goodell or the NFL. Bernie is a hack who needs to create his own straw man so he can keep readers attention off of just how divisive and petty he is. Of course he can't admit what he knows and what so many of us know the positive outcome is StL will get a future team. As for him to do so would be honest reporting and he can't create his own villains and appear to be victimized only to be the voice of the little man if he reports honestly.

Bernie has deep psychological issues. I find him very hard to read, and almost impossible to watch or listen to. A lot of hate pent-up inside.

[The Ripper]

Bernie fails to realize that St Louis waived the rights to relocation so in essence by not having the dome top tier they agreed to the Rams relocation. That waiver removes all home market requirements in the relocation guidelines.

[moklerman]

Between Bernie, Joe Buck and any of the other media members lambasting Kroenke, don't they realize they're only potentially hurting the future of the NFL in St. Louis? I mean, if this is the treatment an NFL owner gets when he hasn't even left, it has to bring into question the viability of an NFL team in that market. There are many other more important things of course but this response from the media from St. Louis is not very professional IMO.

On top of it all, it suggests either an uninformed point of view or disingenuous one.

[Hacksaw]

Between Bernie, Joe Buck and any of the other media members lambasting Kroenke, don't they realize they're only potentially hurting the future of the NFL in St. Louis? I mean, if this is the treatment an NFL owner gets when he hasn't even left, it has to bring into question the viability of an NFL team in that market. There are many other more important things of course but this response from the media from St. Louis is not very professional IMO.

On top of it all, it suggests either an uninformed point of view or disingenuous one.

Totally agree. They just keep shooting themselves in the foot. No wonder Kronke want's out.