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  • #1

    Rams Returning to MACOMB!

    Rams decide to hold camp in Macomb for 7th year in a row
    By Jim Thomas
    Of the Post-Dispatch
    02/23/2002 04:48 PM



    Despite rumors to the contrary last summer, the Rams are returning to Macomb for training camp. The team will train on the campus of Western Illinois University for the seventh consecutive season.

    "We're going to Macomb," coach Mike Martz said Friday. "I love Macomb. I think it's great. It's concentrated. It's removed. The people up there treat us very well."

    The Rams considered training elsewhere in 2002, with Southwest Missouri State University in Springfield one possibility.

    The Rams are scheduled to report to Macomb on July 26, with the first practice on Saturday, July 27. Camp is scheduled to break Aug. 14, giving the Rams nearly three full weeks in Macomb.

    "We're as excited about having the Rams back for their seventh year as we were in the first year," Macomb Mayor Thomas Carper said. "All indications are that the coach likes it here, and the team's been doing very well. So we must be doing something right."

    You are looking at one Happy Camper! This just made my year! I'll keep you all posted on details. Start making your plans to come see me here in MACOMB to cheer our boys on to another great year!
    Last edited by Guest; -02-23-2002, 04:52 PM.
    Tags: None
  • #2
    How about that!

    RAMS '02: This is going to be a very special season. Lucky you... :cool:

    :lid:

    Comment

    • #3
      Deffinately keep me posted, I have friends and family close to there and I would love to go. I didn't even know you could go to training camp untill I found this site. That will be an awesome summer vacation.

      Comment

      • #4
        Hmmm... I wonder if they feel like coming to Nebraska and practicing for just a few days...

        :shield:

        Comment

        • #5
          Forget it, Evil. If you want to see the Rams and former Husker Wistrom, you got to come here to Macomb. LOL

          Comment

          • #6
            Oh, and 28rulz, I will definitely keep you posted, you sound a lot like me. I look forward to meeting you.

            Comment

            • #7
              Now, MsWistRAM, will you be living up to your official "ClanRam Training Camp Representative" title again We definitely enjoyed your daily reports ;)

              Comment

              • #8
                Thaz right DJ, MsWistRAM.

                Roger that. :cool:

                :shield:

                Comment

                • #9
                  A Trillion Points for MsWistRam

                  Hey, I work on the "Who's Line is it Anyway" scoring model.

                  Comment

                  • #10
                    That would be great! A lot of people from Carrollton went to school in Macomb. I headed towards MO and have been in MO off and on for some time. I talked to my husband and I am pretty sure we are going to make it our summer vacation(to training camp that is). I look forward to meeting you as well.

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                    • #11
                      I'll see you guys there in about 2 years, after I graduate from high school and find the time and money to road trip to Macomb while in college (at the same school Wistrom went to ). :p

                      :shield:

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                      • #12
                        Just hitch a ride with other fans from the Husker State, I'm sure your parents wouldn't mind.

                        As for reports, yeah, I'll probably do that again. Pictures too.

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                        • #13
                          I love going to Macomb...it's the perfect atmosphere...it's unbelieveable. So many great people there. I feel another great year!!!!

                          Comment

                          • #14
                            Macomb is a GREAT little town!!

                            While they do have their fair share of bandwagoners, they also have a good amount of people who would be there every day during the "bad times".

                            I am not sure how many of the HUGE crowds came from St louis and further, but the crowds were tripled (or more) after they won the SB. The crowds (and partly finances) kept me away last year, but I have been there every year prior. I have an autographed polaroid of #10 Kurt Warner in one of my collections. Along with a pose with Will Brice, autographed TBanks, and a #94 Robinson. :-) Maybe the crowds won't be as bad this year with the way they lost the SB and the sure-to-be-changing roster. Hope to be there this year.

                            gap

                            Comment

                            • #15
                              Don't be so sure about the crowds. We had more visitors on average (at least it seemed that way to me) each day last summer than the summer after they won the Super Bowl. Of course that might have been because they had a shorter camp. I'm hopeful they will bring in another team for a scrimmage like they did with the Titans 2 summers ago. If you want to beat the crowds, come early in the week rather than a weekend.

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                              • kman
                                training camp updates
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                                any here at the training camp to report updates? Or hopefully someoen can post Jim Thomas updates..
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                              • RamDez
                                Officials in Macomb lament loss of Rams, wish team well
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                                By Jim Thomas
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                                There has been speculation nearly every year that the Rams would not return to
                                Macomb. Only this time, it really happened.

                                The news that Rams will hold training camp in St. Louis this summer instead of
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                                university and town officials. A glimmer of hope remained that the Rams might
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                                "The door will be left wide open, believe me," said Western Illinois vice
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                                "We wish them well," said Kim Pierce of the Macomb Area Economic Development
                                Corp. "We're going to miss them. But I hope we see them back in '06. If had to
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                                According to Pierce, nearly 200,000 visitors have come to watch the Rams in
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                                "It's normally a roll-up-the-sidewalk time before the fall semester started,"
                                said Jim Gardner, owner of the Red Ox restaurant. "With the Rams being here,
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                                But for Rams fans, coaches and players, and journalists covering the team, the
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                                Quarterback Kurt Warner once picked up a $1,100 dinner tab there after taking
                                out the entire Rams offensive line. He then posed for pictures with the sons of
                                one of the waitresses - both wearing Warner No. 13 jerseys - sitting on his
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                                Those kinds of experiences and interaction were priceless for Macomb residents.

                                "It's big-time for a small town like this to see pro athletes, and coaches, and
                                newspaper people and TV people and such," Gardner said Friday. "You folks down
                                there get that all the time."

                                Regular visitors to training camp became familiar with the homemade pies at the
                                Student Prince, the Mexican food at Diamond Dave's, or the karaoke nights at
                                watering holes such as the Parkside.

                                Spurred by the arrival of the Chicago Bears for three days for joint practices
                                and scrimmaging, Pierce estimated that Rams camp brought in $1 million to the
                                local economy last summer. Beyond that, having an NFL team train in a town of
                                about 18,000 helped put Macomb on the map.

                                "It's phenomenal the national recognition that we got, and just the friendships
                                that we made over the years," Pierce said.

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                                -04-09-2005, 03:14 AM
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                                Rams move training camp to St. Louis
                                by Nick
                                Rams will have training camp in St. Louis
                                Goodbye, Macomb; Hello, Earth City
                                BY JIM THOMAS
                                Of the Post-Dispatch
                                04/07/2005

                                The Rams’ nine-year run of training camps in Macomb, Ill., is over.

                                The team has decided to hold training camp in St. Louis this summer, team officials have told the Post-Dispatch. An official announcement could come as early as this afternoon.

                                The Rams held training camp at Maryville University in 1995, the first year for the team in St. Louis. The team actually practiced at Parkway Central High for one week that year because of a conflict with a soccer camp at Maryville.

                                But Macomb, and Western Illinois University, landed the Rams in 1996, and the Rams have trained there every summer since then.

                                The Rams plan to hold most of training camp at the team’s Rams Park facility in Earth City, with players staying in a nearby hotel.

                                Practice would be open to the public, although seating is limited to the hillside surrounding the field.

                                The team may not be at Earth City throughout the entire camp, because it is considering practicing in San Diego for a week prior to a preseason game against the Chargers in San Diego.

                                There were no specific problems with training in Macomb. In fact, the set-up at Western Illinois was ideal.

                                But the relative isolation of the campus, particularly in relation to St. Louis, was a problem. Getting to and from Macomb wasn't easy, and traveling to and from preseason games was draining.

                                In addition, the Rams have all of their medical support facilities nearby in St. Louis. In Macomb, injured players frequently would have to return to St. Louis for additional testing.
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