Had a chance to attend my second game at the EJD this weekend against the Green Bay Packers, and boy was I excited to get out of Huntsville, Alabama on Friday afternoon. Couldn't ask for a better birthday present from my girlfriend, who is a diehard Packer's fan ...
We arrived in St. Louis late Friday evening at our hotel, the Hyatt Regency at Union Station. Really nice place and an interesting setup considering it is connected to a mall. I was quickly surprised at seeing the abundance of Packer's merchandise for sale at many of the stores inside. But this was only the beginning of a startling trend: in a matter of two hours, I must have saw 100 Packer's fans in the hotel lobby and scurrying those the mall. Over the course of the next two days and nights, which were mostly spend sightseeing and eating great food, I saw thousands of Packer's fans. I was told that there was going to be approximately 20000 Packer's fans at the dome, so I expected this to some degree, but man, it was crazy ...
SO ALL THE PACKER'S FANS IS ONE THING, BUT HERE IS THE KICKER: I DID NOT SEE A SINGLE ADULT (SAW A FEW KIDS) WEARING ANY RAMS MERCHANDISE UNTIL SATURDAY NIGHT WHEN I RAN INTO A RAM'S FAN FROM VEGAS AT JOEY B'S (WAS THAT SOMEONE FROM THE CLAN, I DID NOT EVEN THINK TO ASK?). IT REALLY IS A SAD STATE OF AFFAIRS FOR ST. LOUIS RAMS FOOTBALL ...
NEVER WOULD I EVER BE EMBARASSED TO BE A RAM'S FAN. BUT FOR THE PEOPLE OF ST. LOUIS WHO HAVE ABANDONED THIS TEAM, IT IS EMBARASSING. TRYING TO EXPLAIN THIS TO PACKER'S FANS WAS EMBARASSING ....
So, we get to the dome on Sunday, and the entire area around the dome is filled with cheeseheads. Absolutely naueseating if you ask me. Forget the reports, there were easily 45000+ cheeseheads in the dome. I was way up in section 440, row TT. I would guess about 500 people fit in that section: I counted 38 Ram's fans. The entire lower section, filled to the brim with cheeseheads ...
As for the game, kudos to the Ram's fans that showed up. They were very loud, considering as few of us as their were. We made alot of noise when the Packer's had the ball, especially on third down. Surprisingly, the Packer's fans were very quiet when we had the ball: I know this is not their nature, so it makes you wonder if they felt sorry for us. I must have had fifty Packer's fans ask me what was wrong with Ram's fans and why they don't support the team. Many even apologized. What a polite and intelligent group of fans. I'd love to go to Lambeau for game ...
Great moment for Favre. Every fan in the arena was on their feet. He's a gamer ...
1. As for the game, I only have a couple comments. Bulger looked rough and he is not the same quarterback he was last year for obvious reasons. Let's hope he shakes this off. I am hoping we can win with this guy, but I am starting to have a little doubt due to his slow decision making and lack of mobility ...
2. Apologies to S. Jackson for saying he was not running with conviction a few weeks ago. I am starting to believe this was due to injury more than anything. Geez, what a beast he was this week ...
3. O.J. Atogwe is a gamebreaker, plain and simple. It seems Haslett has spent alot of time working on his ability to be a deep ball hawk. His continued development will allow us to take the deep ball away from alot of teams ...
4. What to know how special a player
Will Witherspoon is. There was one play, for those who didn't see it, where Witherspoon was lined up in the middle, then showed blitz off the edge, forcing Favre to change to a draw. Witherspoon immediately recognized the audible, moved back inside, and stuffed Grant for a loss. INCREDIBLE play by Spoon ...
5. Favre's comments on Haslett's D are awesome. I've never seen him have to make more changes ....
I really can't believe what I saw this weekend. It was truly sad. You don't see this in other stadiums. Look at Miami, who had zero wins coming into the weekend. Their stadium was packed full of fans who acted as if they won the Super Bowl when they got their first victory. Yes, the Ram's have fielded some average teams the past few years, but so what. What has happened to enjoying football on Sunday? What kind of message does it send to kids when we pack it in and sell tickets for a profit because we are struggling? It's really ridiculous ...
You think not showing up is going to spur management to make some changes? It will cause some changes alright, you'll see star players on this team heading elsewhere when free agency arrives. Why would up and coming young studs like
Brandon Chillar, O.J. Atogwe, and
Steven Jackson want to play here when it just adds up to another road game?
Somebody said it right and I can't remember who it was: it is easy to cheer a winner, anyone can do it. Only REAL fans can support a struggling team. It would be one thing if this team had quit on the fans, and quit on each other, but they are still busting their tails every play. The first half against the Pack was a clear indication of what we are capable of ...
So for those who sold tickets and sat on the couch watching the game, it's pathetic, it really is. There are people out there that would kill to be in your position. I understand the influx of Pack fans, but sitting front row on the 50? Absolutely pathetic. Greed is a horrible thing ...
But I'm sure you will all be back when we start winning again, or maybe not. Because I doubt this team will stay here much longer given these conditions. What would be the point?
I'm just glad I had a ton of very intelligent and very entertaining Packer's fans to help me along. And even more thanks to the few diehard Ram's fans I had a chance to interact with this weekend. It really did help on this long, sad journey ...
AND THANK YOU TO THE DIE HARDS ON THE CLAN! AWESOME PEOPLE!