[RamWraith]

By Bernie Miklasz
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
Sunday, Dec. 24 2006

For the first time since moving to St. Louis from SoCal in 1995, the Rams are
blacked out in the regular season and won't be seen on local TV. For those at
home staring at the flat screen, this means no Rams vs. Redskins, no Alex
Barron vs. the snap count. And those contests aren't nearly as compelling as,
say, Donald Trump vs. Rosie O'Donnell.

This disappearance from the airwaves, while annoying, isn't exactly a crisis.
There's no reason to roast your chestnuts over this. I received serious e-mails
this week from anxious souls, inquiring about the status of the Rams' lease at
the Edward Jones Dome, or to ask if team President John Shaw is scheming to
load up the vans for a move from Earth City back to Century City.

Please, stop it. This is the Rams' 12th season in St. Louis, and they've had
only four winning seasons, but have sold out 100 consecutive home games
(regular season and playoffs) until now.

The Blues? Now there's an attendance problem. The Rams do not have an
attendance problem. Falling 3,000 seats short of a sellout in a Christmas Eve
game pitting teams with a combined 11-17 record does not represent the death
spiral of a franchise.

What the Rams do have going is a run of on-field mediocrity and front-office
dysfunction, two negative forces that have softened the support.

The Rams aren't a horrible team, and compared with lost NFL colonies in
Arizona, Detroit, Cleveland and Houston, this dry spell is relatively harmless.
The offense has a Pro Bowl quarterback (Bulger), Pro Bowl running back
(Jackson) and Pro Bowl receiver (Holt), so there's hope.

Still, since losing to New England in the Super Bowl to end the 2001 season
with a crash, the Rams have filed one winning record, are 39-39 in the regular
season, and have lost two of three postseason games. And since their last
winning campaign, in 2003, the Rams are 20-26.

It's been a slow, gradual comedown from the Greatest Show on Turf years. We
were thrilled by the entertainment, the big stars, and the constant beatdowns
the Rams gave their opponents. From 1999 through 2003, the Rams went 56-24 in
the regular season, hosted five postseason games, won five postseason games,
triumphed in a Super Bowl, competed in a second Super Bowl, and averaged an
astounding 30 points a game over five seasons.

So when you follow up that legendary, scintillating act with 20-26, and
averaging 20 points a game (as the Rams are this season), the difference is
roughly that between Frank Sinatra and Frank Sinatra Jr. And given the
frustrating realization that this slide could have been prevented with
competent drafting and intelligent free-agent decisions, is anyone shocked that
the fans' enthusiasm has flattened a bit?

While it's fair to say that Rams fans were spoiled by the Greatest Show Era,
it's unfair to categorize the dip in the market as some sort of abandonment of
the franchise.

Other factors are at play:

Fans were turned off by the nasty and embarrassing Mike Martz vs. Management
feud in 2005. Martz is long gone, but some of the same problems remain, and the
organization desperately needs a shrewd football man to have the authority over
personnel decisions. This ad hoc committee approach must end, because fans are
disillusioned by bad draft picks and questionable free-agent moves.

Let's talk personality. The new head coach, Scott Linehan, is a smart guy, and
he'll likely develop into a good HC. But Linehan's dry-toast persona hardly
drives ticket sales. He doesn't generate any buzz over the team. There's
nothing wrong with being low-key as long as the coach wins, and Linehan is
still trying to get there.

It must be demoralizing for fans to watch the Rams defense get trampled, a
weakness that has been dragging down this team for too long. Over the last 50
games, which includes three postseason contests, the Rams have been squashed
for 7,050 yards rushing and 50 rushing TDs. Is this football or ballet? When
will someone at Rams Park realize that a defense needs strong, mean, corpulent
guys to stuff the run?

The atmosphere for home games at The Ed is dull and stagnating. The Rams have
been in this shop for 12 years, and they still don't know how to connect with
the fans, get them fired up, and create a true thunderdome. And there's nothing
uniquely St. Louis about the home-game personality; it's a generic experience.
We mostly get bad 1980s music and a numbing bombardment of commercials and
public-service announcements.

Finally, there's a little baseball team in town called the Cardinals, and they
just won their 10th World Series. And in 89 home games this season (postseason
included), the Cardinals drew 3,779,494 customers to the new Busch Stadium —
and at premium prices — and with fans scooping up pricey souvenirs — and
ordering special DVD sets to give as Christmas presents.

The Cardinals claimed a lot of discretionary income in our town, and the sports
dollar is stretched thin. But that's secondary. The Rams have leveled off in
the quality of their operation and performance. Accordingly, they've lost some
fans. It's up to the Rams to get them back.