[Elvis]

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/football ... 38081.html

Rams notes: Small but loud crowd cheers on Rams

Jim Thomas

Earlier in the week, Rams officials said they would be ecstatic if they ended up with 45,000 tickets distributed and 40,000 fans in the stands for Sunday’s season opener against Seattle.

But there must have been a late surge in ticket sales, or more action than anticipated on the secondary market — StubHub, etc. — because the team announced that 51,792 tickets were distributed for the contest, a 34-31 Rams overtime victory.

“Tickets distributed” represents the number of tickets sold or given away. It does not represent the number of fans in the stands, which probably numbered around 45,000 in the 66,000-seat Edward Jones Dome.

Even with the larger-than-expected turnout, it was still the smallest crowd for a home opener since the Rams moved to St. Louis in 1995. The next-smallest crowd for a home opener was in 2010, when 52,440 tickets were distributed for the Rams’ 17-13 loss to Arizona.

The largest crowd to see a Rams regular-season home opener in St. Louis was in 2001, when 66,046 was the announced attendance for a 42-10 triumph over Miami. The Rams were in the midst of their Greatest Show on Turf run at the time.

It was actually Game 3 of the season for the Super Bowl-bound Rams that season, with the team winning its first two games on the road against Philadelphia and San Francisco in contests sandwiched around an off-weekend because of the 9-11 terrorist attacks.

Although smaller in numbers, those who came Sunday made their presence felt.

“They were very loud,” defensive end Chris Long said. “I didn’t know the numbers. Somebody made a comment that there weren’t a ton of people there, but it sounded like 60,000 to me.”

Owner Stan Kroenke’s plans to move the team to Los Angeles has depressed the market to the point where only the hardcore fans are expected to show up this season. The fact that the Rams haven’t had a winning season since 2003 and went winless this preseason doesn’t help, either.

After the game ended with a dramatic overtime victory, several Rams stopped by the stands to slap hands or otherwise acknowledge the fans. Even though his day ended early with a knee injury, defensive end Eugene Sims borrowed a large Rams flag from a team employee and waved it to the fans.

“I was just showing appreciation to the fans,” Sims said. “They were part of the big win, and I had to let ’em know that they were part of the game, too. Hopefully, they’ll spread the word and they can come fill the dome in two weeks.”

After a road game at Washington this coming Sunday, the Rams return home Sept. 27 against Pittsburgh.

TAVON TIME

Tavon Austin ended the game with only 15 yards of offense, but he had a huge impact on the outcome. His 16-yard touchdown run on the first play of the second quarter gave the Rams their first points of the day, tying the score at 7-7, on a play in which he cut back to the left.

“It was an up-the-middle play,” he said. “I saw how the defense was flowing, they’re a fast-flow team. I had a great block by Stedman (Bailey).”

Late in the third quarter, Austin gave the Rams a 24-13 lead on a 75-yard punt return for a TD in which he tight-roped the left sideline to reach the end zone. A lot of teams don’t punt the ball directly to Austin, but Seahawks punter Jon Ryan did and paid for it.

“When I looked down (the field), nobody was right there,” Austin said. “I had to cut back, make a couple miss, had a couple blocks, and that was all it was about.”

INJURY UPDATE

Against Seattle, the Rams lost cornerback Trumaine Johnson to a concussion, and Sims and special teams ace Chase Reynolds to knee injuries. Sims is scheduled for an MRI exam Monday. Running back Tre Mason tested his sore hamstring during warmups but was placed on the inactive list. Also inactive were RB Todd Gurley, LB Daren Bates, WR Brian Quick, QB Sean Mannion and offensive linemen Andrew Donnal and Darrell Williams.

[OldSchool]

So ticket "sales" were down about 5k from last years average and there were about 7k of tickets "sold" that didn't attend the game. And we had a ton of Seagull fans there you could hear them all game long. While San Diego was 2k above last years average and Oakland was about 2k below last years average.

San Diego 93% capacity
Oakland 86% capacity
St Louis 79% capacity

[BuiltRamTough]

[Hacksaw]

The sideline seats were pretty packed. The endzone seats (walk-ins) not so much. Every time there was a field goal you could see a lot of folks dressed as empty red seats with a shiny square on their chest.
I thought the fans turnout was about what was to be expected. If they beat DC it could start filling up for Pitt.
I especially liked Claytons comment about out team.

[bluecoconuts]

45,000 fans? That's not very good, at least they were loud. I wonder how fickle they will be as the win-loss fluctuates.

[dieterbrock]

Got to hand it to the fans that did show up. Sure sounded like a full house.

[Ramfan46]

if they manage to go 2-0 there are no excuses in week 3 vs Pitt. I know Steeler fan6s will invade that joint though. I'm calling a 60/40 split vs them. They traveled incredibly well back in 07 and I expect the same this time.

[OldSchool]

Sorry but there are no reasons to not go see this team, none at all. There are excuses and pity plays and that's all it is. Woah is me look at how bad I have it blah blah blah. People act like the Rams are the only team that's had a long run of no success and that all those teams played to empty stadiums and its garbage. San Diego and Oakland are also both being threatened by their owners with moving their teams and each had better attendance. I really wish this whole thing was over but it has some time to play out, maybe people will start being honest about the situation but I doubt it.