Heard on KTCK (the Ticket) this morning

[atcchris]

Dallas sports-radio, on the Dunham and Miller show... it kind of expressed my feelings as a fan of what I would like to consider to be an elite NFL football club...

They were talking about the Plowboys.. and as one of a handful teams who do not have a losing record all-time vs them.. I think we can match our heritage up against theirs...

Their take was that there were two types of fans nowadays... one type that seems to be happy just to make the playoffs, and the other which is not satisfied unless we're playing for (and winning, sometimes) championships.

In the 70s, during our time of 7 consecutive Western conference championships, we were at least contending for the NFC crown every year. We didn't back into things... and we didn't consider it a success to just make the playoffs. When we finally went in '79, even after a 9-7 season, we had every chance to win the Super Bowl, and perhaps should have.

So.. what kind of fan you are determines your outlook on our current team. I have tasted the ultimate.. why should we be satisfied with anything less than the greatest show on turf?

I think the point they made was that Parcells doesn't seem to have an urgency to restore the Plowboys to their former glory... does Martz have the urgency with the Rams? Or is he just satisfied with backing into the playoffs and a one-and-done post-season?

I'm afraid his mentality (and some of ours) is that we should just be happy to be in the playoffs most years.

Not good enough for me. We're no Arizona or New Orleans.

[AvengerRam_old]

Re: Heard on KTCK (the Ticket) this morning

I don't think Martz has the mentality that making the playoffs is enough. Just the opposite. I think that he has the mentality that his team is always going to be a Super Bowl contender. That's why he doesn't lower the "level of difficulty" of his strategy even when injuries and defections lower the talent level.

[Nick]

Re: Heard on KTCK (the Ticket) this morning

While I certainly don't think we should just be happy with a playoff appearance, I don't see much logic in comparing the Rams' postseasons with that of Arizona and New Orleans, who boast only one season in the last ten years where they've reached postseason play. Clearly our record is better than that.

But as some people tell it, this team could be on a downward swing into mediocrity, and if that is the case, I can't help but wonder if some people would start appreciating those playoff appearances a bit more if they do in fact become less frequent.

[thoey]

Re: Heard on KTCK (the Ticket) this morning

Nick, my answer to your last question is "No"... I am not happy with it because I do not feel we made enough of our situation while we were on top. In these days of the salary cap, you only get your fifteen minutes of spot light (5 years) every so often.

Ask any team in the last 5 years to name the top couple of feared teams in the NFC and (IMO) the Rams would be near the top of that list. Explosive offense, good enough to very good defense, Sucky special teams for the most part.

One SB win, and one SB loss. Two first round playoff exits. (BTW, I am not really counting this year in that 5 year span. I think we are in rebuilding mode already.)

Now, if it is our time in the darkness, if we have to rebuild, I can live with that. Clean house, I won't expect too much for a while and I will be ecstatic when we make it back to the playoffs.

Until then, I am not going to enjoy squeaking into the playoffs just to be embarrassed. We had too much potential. We did not live up to that potential. That is not a successfully run team management.

[Nick]

Re: Heard on KTCK (the Ticket) this morning

In these days of the salary cap, you only get your fifteen minutes of spot light (5 years) every so often.

Which, to me, is why we should appreciate the playoff appearances (do not read as "be content with them").

We had too much potential. We did not live up to that potential. That is not a successfully run team management.

Did we? While I don't think anyone would argue that we should have won it in 2001, what are the other "too much potential" years that had? We had a horrible defense in 2000, and we all know the story with 2002 and 2003. I guess I'm not seeing where this team was one that should have taken 3-4 titles because they were so dominant... :disappoin

Keep in mind we only lost the 2001 SB by three points on a last-second field goal, and very easily could have beaten Carolina despite horrible defensive play had we nailed the OT field goal.

[atcchris]

Re: Heard on KTCK (the Ticket) this morning

Thoey

My point exactly.. and the point they were making on the ticket... if we're in danger of being mediocre for awhile, just clean house and fix it right. Don't have a long, slow decline before the inevitable.

[thoey]

Re: Heard on KTCK (the Ticket) this morning

Nick, we have hashed this before, and we will continue to disagree. I respect your opinion, but mine is equally important. There are a lot of us that feel 1.5 SB's isn't enough with what we had...

[Nick]

Re: Heard on KTCK (the Ticket) this morning

I respect your opinion, but mine is equally important. There are a lot of us that feel 1.5 SB's isn't enough with what we had...

Alright, suit yourself. Obviously our opinions differ, and that's okay.

[Curly Horns]

Re: Heard on KTCK (the Ticket) this morning

I don't think Martz has the mentality that making the playoffs is enough. Just the opposite. I think that he has the mentality that his team is always going to be a Super Bowl contender. That's why he doesn't lower the "level of difficulty" of his strategy even when injuries and defections lower the talent level.

Wishful thinking and bullheadedness are considered strategies?

Just curious......

;)

[RamTime]

Re: Heard on KTCK (the Ticket) this morning

You know I respect everyones opinion to but Jesus Christ when are some of you Granite Skulls going to get it? Notwithstanding the best offenses this game has ever seen, we didn't fail in 2000 because we had a bad defense. Now listen carefully because this part of the test is going to be on the finals!

We failed in 2000 because Martz was not capable of disciplining a few unruley players and neede the luury of an off season to get it done. Once again proving that he cannot function on the fly. You can believe that or you can continue to blindly bop along believing that the entire Superbowl champion defense forgot how to play football over the off season.

In 2002 Mart was to busy kicking stones and saying shucks, golly gee we should have won that one instead of using that Superowl loss to put fire in his team. For Christ sakes he even admit's this!

IF THIS ISN'T THE BIGGEST WASTE OF TALENT IN SPORTS HISTORY THEN WTF IS?

[RamDez]

Re: Heard on KTCK (the Ticket) this morning

You are all correct.

This is the quandry or the Rams and their fans. We were a great team .... yes. We can maintain a dynasty ..... no. But then Everyone thinks the Pats have a dynasty (I dont)

Those that slate the Rams and martz for what he has acomplished always hold the pats up as an example .... but in the same breath tell us that the Rams should have beaten the Pats in the superbowl?????? To me, thats a contradiction.

The fact is that this game is 50% tallent and 50% luck.

You have to be healthy to compete in the NFL.

[atcchris]

Re: Heard on KTCK (the Ticket) this morning

Those that slate the Rams and martz for what he has acomplished always hold the pats up as an example .... but in the same breath tell us that the Rams should have beaten the Pats in the superbowl?????? To me, thats a contradiction.

I think it underscores the difference between us and the Pats... I think it's the difference between Martz and Bellichek. Martz did little with a lot, and Bellichek did a lot with not as much. That's my opinion. I certainly believe that if NE had Martz and we had Bellichek, we'd have won the SB at least 3 of 5 years, and maybe 5.

The fact is that this game is 50% tallent and 50% luck.

I have always said that luck is simply a measure, after the fact, of events. Who knows whether or not said events occur, and which others would have happened that didn't if Martz remained as OC (or left, because he had obvious ambitions to HC). They make movies about those kinds of things, and they are never quite satisfying in the logic-check.

I guess what you're saying is that although we had the superior talent, "luck" went against us, while NE got all the breaks. I dunno. I think you make your own luck. That's what the above was trying to say.

I also know that we didn't live up to potential, and I am getting no indication other than Martz trying to hang on to something he never really grasped in the first place. And if he doesn't do something drastic to repair the team, we're in for a long dry spell. Actually, I am so down on him that I cannot believe that he is even the guy who is able to repair this team, if His Royal Highness would even begin to believe it needed repair.

[RamTime]

Re: Heard on KTCK (the Ticket) this morning

also know that we didn't live up to potential, and I am getting no indication other than Martz trying to hang on to something he never really grasped in the first place. And if he doesn't do something drastic to repair the team, we're in for a long dry spell. Actually, I am so down on him that I cannot believe that he is even the guy who is able to repair this team, if His Royal Highness would even begin to believe it needed repair.

One would think that we are 1 loss away from the house of cards coming down on Martz. Unfortunately that’s not in the Rams script. We are going to have to suffer through the inevitable embarrassing season followed by a few rebuilding years. In the meantime you will hear from the Martz brain trust “I bet you wish Martz was here now.” Of course most understand the absurdity of this utterance however who will be able to keep themselves from crawling through the phone lines in search of this brain trust remains to be seen. Just like Iraq burning the Kuwaitis oil field upon being kicked out of the country, what more damage will be inflicted by this regime? I want to be clear on something. Like Phony Clanks I stopped blaming Martz for his own shortcomings. There comes a time when your supervisor realizes he has made a mistake in hiring you and must replace you before you tumble the entire empire. Like Vermeil with Clanks. On a much higher and more costly level is what we have seen through this most disappointing era in Rams history. It's time to blame the front office for allowing this keystone regime to continue unchecked.

[HUbison]

Re: Heard on KTCK (the Ticket) this morning

Their take was that there were two types of fans nowadays... one type that seems to be happy just to make the playoffs, and the other which is not satisfied unless we're playing for (and winning, sometimes) championships.

How sad for the Cowboys that they only have these two types of fans. Fortunately, the Rams have all kinds. For example, there are those who would prefer that the Rams just tuck tail and give up the rest of the season. In the mind of these fans, this team has no possible chance of winning a SB. In fact, the minds of these fans have decided that this team will not even win a wild-card round, 1-and-done, if you will. And then there are those fans, who never see a Rams loss as a good thing. Never. No matter what the situation these fans will not rest until they stripped their throat raw yelling at a TV set in order to give whatever support they can muster to the Rams. If they go 1-and-done, so be it. But the playoffs means at least one more week, one more game, one more chance to scream at a TV in hopes that the Rams will pull out another one. If not, offseason and a chance to rest the voice and buy a bigger TV. But if they can, then there's at least one more precious game.

I'm not saying one's any better than any of the others, but for me...give me just one more week.

[RamTime]

Re: Heard on KTCK (the Ticket) this morning

How sad for the Cowboys that they only have these two types of fans. Fortunately, the Rams have all kinds. For example, there are those who would prefer that the Rams just tuck tail and give up the rest of the season. In the mind of these fans, this team has no possible chance of winning a SB. In fact, the minds of these fans have decided that this team will not even win a wild-card round, 1-and-done, if you will. And then there are those fans, who never see a Rams loss as a good thing. Never. No matter what the situation these fans will not rest until they stripped their throat raw yelling at a TV set in order to give whatever support they can muster to the Rams. If they go 1-and-done, so be it. But the playoffs means at least one more week, one more game, one more chance to scream at a TV in hopes that the Rams will pull out another one. If not, offseason and a chance to rest the voice and buy a bigger TV. But if they can, then there's at least one more precious game.

I'm not saying one's any better than any of the others, but for me...give me just one more week.

I am hearing it again. Just because a fan points out deficiencies in a team Or points out when they under achieve, or points out that it’s not a very good football team in no way means they don’t want to see their team win no matter how they come about it. Right now, and after all the rotten luck in the 70’s and the monumental waste of the recent past, I think the football Gods owe us Rams Fans something. Something like a Patriot Raider QB tuck and a Tennessee KO return on the last play of the game to propel us to a superbowl game where we will face an inferior coach with a lot of talent and referee’s pre briefed by the NFL to tread lightly on penalties against the Rams vaulting us to a superbowl that we never should have even been in. So as long as I believe in my football Gods I will hope the Rams make the playoffs where everyone starts 0 – 0 but the luck part of it continues towards evening itself out. You know what? I will take that superbowl win as cheesy as it may be and smile all the way down to get my 2005 superbowl champion sweatshirt.