As anyone who follows sports in this country knows, the National Football League just allowed the St. Louis Rams football team to move to Los Angeles (from whence they came here 23 years ago). The request came from the Rams' billionaire owner, Stan Kronke, a man who had the good business sense to marry into the Walmart fortune. He had some very nasty things to say about our city, including complaints about attendance for a team that has had eight straight losing seasons. Suffice it to say that he is despised in these parts.
Good riddance. Regular readers know that I don't like American football - so deliberately violent, so callous about wrecking players' brains from repeated concussions and then throwing them out with the trash. It hurts St. Louis' pride to lose a major league sports team but I'd rather see my taxes go to schools and infrastructure than to a new zillion dollar sports stadium .
The second picture shows a trailer near the stadium. Extreme discounts are available. The bottom shot is the 67,000 seat domed stadium where the Rams played. It's actually a physical part of the convention center. Maybe we can fill it with more monster truck shows or international soccer friendlies. (I still can't decide if soccer is an exciting sport or a college physics demonstration of Brownian motion.)
For man-and-woman in the street reaction click here. If you would like to read a cogent analysis of the greed and arrogance of NFL owners check this out.
Good riddance. Regular readers know that I don't like American football - so deliberately violent, so callous about wrecking players' brains from repeated concussions and then throwing them out with the trash. It hurts St. Louis' pride to lose a major league sports team but I'd rather see my taxes go to schools and infrastructure than to a new zillion dollar sports stadium .
The second picture shows a trailer near the stadium. Extreme discounts are available. The bottom shot is the 67,000 seat domed stadium where the Rams played. It's actually a physical part of the convention center. Maybe we can fill it with more monster truck shows or international soccer friendlies. (I still can't decide if soccer is an exciting sport or a college physics demonstration of Brownian motion.)
For man-and-woman in the street reaction click here. If you would like to read a cogent analysis of the greed and arrogance of NFL owners check this out.
I do believe this qualifies as the occasional rant.
Good luck to them in their new city!
ReplyDeleteComme tu le sais j'adore le Foot US, mais je suis d'accord avec toi, je n'aime pas que les franchises peuvent changer de ville comme ça (on se moque et on s'en fout des supporteurs)...mais c'est le business (que l'on retrouve dans tous les sports américains (les Dodgers de Brooklyn qui déménagent vers los angeles) ).
ReplyDeleteC'est la différence avec l’Europe, ou les clubs 'appartiennent' aux villes.
It only proves that everything is for sale and indeed soccer can be a brownian motion only not from the team you are supporting.
ReplyDeleteSounds like you may be well rid Bob.. I have to admit the HUGE sums they pay football/soccer/ball sport players in general, have always puzzled me.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't agree with you more Bob.
ReplyDeleteI've never gotten why football's such an obsession to Americans, but the way this particular owner has spat in the faces of the city is disgusting. The arrogant bastard deserves to rot in hell.
ReplyDeleteI heard this on the news yesterday. I'm with you completely on the whole football idiocy. If I had my way, St. Louis could have the Cardinals back. I'm sure I have some friends who would skewer me for saying that.
ReplyDeleteI know nothing about American Football or so little...
ReplyDeleteIt's all a business, so I can see the greedy owner moving to L.A. It wasn't necessary, however, to trash St. Louis. The fans there have done nothing but support the team, even when it wasn't very good.
ReplyDeleteGuess he had a guilty conscience and had to rationalize.
I wondered what your take would be. Putting aside your feelings about football and looking it only as a civic and economic matter, I suspect there is some reason to be disappointed at losing the team. Hartford lost the NHL Whalers to Charlotte back in the 1990s, and that has left a social and economic void in the middle of the downtown. Admittedly, there are many more home hockey games than home football games, but having a quieter CBD is usually not a good thing.
ReplyDelete