A Letter to the Rams From the City you Left Behind:

If you love sports, it is hard not to love the month of October. The month of October brings us so many of the sports that we love. We have the MLB playoffs and the drama that comes with it. We have the start of the NHL and NBA regular season, marking the only time of the year where we have all four sports at once.

Now usually, I am super excited for all of it. But this year, things are a little different.

Don’t get me wrong, I am fully enjoying betting on the MLB playoffs, and waiting for fights to break out between Boston and New York.

I am fully ready for the heartbreak that comes with being a Blues fan. I am bought into the Blues this year. So much so, in the midst of writing this article, I am mapping out the parade route for when we win the Cup.

But football. Yea, football feels different this year.

Maybe it is because I am in medical school and don’t have as much time to watch the games as I would like.

Maybe it has to do with the people I am surrounded with. Perhaps their lack of love for sports, has made me less interested.

Or, could it be the obvious?

The obvious conclusion being; the Rams are finally good again, and I am not really sure how to feel about it.

With a lack of direction, I could handle this confusion in a few different ways. I could just ride the high and shut up and be happy. Enjoy the possibility of winning a Super Bowl or going undefeated.

Or..

I could go and talk to a Bills fan and tell them how I feel. Explain to the them me own personal analogies of what it feels like to have a team leave your city. Tell them my feelings and maybe try to sneak in some talk about why I think the Packers should trade Aaron Rodgers.

Right? I could do that. But why would I?

Instead, why not a write a letter to the city that I call home. Yes, that’s a right, a letter to the Rams from the City they left behind.

In this letter, there won’t be any shots at Stan Kroenke, or jokes about the one that Dan Gilbert wrote to Lebron. Instead, I’ll explain the complicated feelings that the city of St. Louis has with the Rams.

BUT!

Before we begin, you should know that I have been sitting on this idea for a while. I did not just wake up one Saturday morning and feel the need to complain to people who probably think I need to go out more.

No!

Instead, I have given this a lot of thought. I thought about making it a segment when I did radio last year, but it felt soon. I thought about writing about this before the season had started but, it felt too early. With the Rams off to their best start since 2001, now feels like the right time. It’s time to hear from someone from St. Louis who was there for it all.

Mostly the bad, some of the good and of course, the end.

Alright, enough with the movie opening credits, let me go ahead and just get started.

But before we talk about the present, allow me to take you back to the beginning.

St. Louis Has Football Once Again!!!

You see, when the Rams relocated in 1995, they brought an energy to the city that was dying for NFL football. When the now Arizona Cardinals left St. Louis in 1988, they left a void in the city that Rams were able to fill.

At the time, the city was just excited to have football back. Of course, we had the Cardinals and the Blues, but before the Rams had arrived, we did not have football at all.

BUT Zack what about the T---….

See, if you are not from St. Louis, this is where you will probably show it. Listen, I know what you are going to say.

You are probably thinking.

Well Zack, What about College Football and the Mizzou Tigers? They play in Missouri?

To that I would say:

First, they do not play in the city of St. Louis. In fact, they play three hours West from St. Louis, making it hard to get excited about.

Second, I never got the impression that college football mattered in St. Louis. Unless the Tigers were really good, they weren’t talked about.

So, to say that Tigers were important in St. Louis, would be like saying that a girl is in love with you, because you matched with her on a dating site.

You might have drawn her attention for a minute. But in the grand scheme of things, she probably didn’t care.

What was I talking about again?? Oh that’s right.. The Rams!

Regardless, the city was just ready to have football again. We weren’t worried about the team itself, but just more excited that we had something to cheer about. Winning wasn’t the number one priority when the team got there. It was more about filling the void of football that the Cardinals had left.

1999: The Year that Changed:

But, that all changed following 1999 season. The narrative shifted, and just having football back, wasn’t going to be enough.

In the 1999 season, the Rams would go on a magical run. After losing starting quarterback Trent Green to a torn ACL, back-up quarterback Kurt Warner and the Rams would go on to win the Super Bowl.

At the time, we felt as if we were midst of something that was going to last forever. We not only had a football team, but perhaps one of the most electric offenses in NFL History. We felt invincible and did not see an end in sight.

But of course, the end did come.

Just two years later, a 6th round draft pick from Michigan and a coach who was once fired from the Cleveland Browns would bring it all to end.

Yes, that right, the start of the New England Patriots dynasty, ended the only good football the Rams ever had in St. Louis.

Now that brings us to the present day. The Rams are now gone and are never coming back. As a fan of a team, it is hard to rationalize what you are supposed to do.

I can’t speak for everyone in St. Louis, but I have viewed this a multi-step AA like process.

At first, I went through the, Did we taste the Champagne too early Phase:

That maybe, our success came a time where we hadn’t yet established expectations.

Perhaps, we tasted success at a time where we should have been just happy to have football.

I mean hell, the Browns just won their first game in over two years and they celebrate as if they won the Super Bowl.

Could I make the argument that winning right away provided unrealistic expectations? Listen, I know it sounds crazy, but maybe I am just trying to justify some sort of logic. Maybe winning a Super Bowl in just the five year, was a bad thing. Maybe it gave fans the expectation that winning was easy, when it wasn’t. That winning is the expectation, and anything else wasn’t worth our time.

I don’t believe this, but I mean hell, this is like a divorce. And every kid goes through that phase where they think it is their fault. I think these thoughts are normal right?

This brings us to the reality phase and now you have to deal with the Break Up

For the longest time, I have compared the Rams leaving St. Louis, to getting dumped by your first love.

Of course, not just a normal break up, but one that is weird and hard to explain to people.

Like she still wants you to call all the time, buy her stuff, and cheer her on after she just broke your heart.

Right? That’s weird, but that is how It felt at first. I felt like I was supposed to be happy that she left and just accept that she was happy with some new city. That, I was supposed to act as if nothing had happened when in fact, things were never going to be the same.

Things were different, and as a fan of the city, can I really still cheer for the team?

I mean hell I don’t know. Although my analogy is entertaining, is it really that accurate?

I mean, I don’t live in St. Louis anymore, does it really matter where they play? It’s not like I could go to the games even if they happened to be in St. Louis. In fact, it’s not like I can’t watch them either. With packages like Sunday NFL Ticket, you really don’t have to live close to watch your favorite team.

Why should it matter?

This bringing us to the final stage.

My Conclusion:

To the people reading this who don’t follow sports, perhaps this sounds obsessive. Perhaps, caring about something as silly as where a team plays is stupid and waste of time. Perhaps, there are more important things to write about, like how much the NFL needs Jay Cutler, or how awful the Arizona Cardinals are.

Maybe you’re right, but that’s not how I view it.

I view this topic as one that matters because I view sports as the glue of our community. Sports bring people together who otherwise wouldn’t say a word to each other. I know it sounds cheesy, but that is why it matters. The rams brought people together and with them gone, perhaps, so are those relationships.

When the Rams left, they burnt me and the city of St. Louis. We were tricked into believing that this was going to be a marriage but instead, it was nothing more than a fling. In fact, we were just a pawn that was used to build up the anticipation of a team finally back in L.A.

And Unfortunately, that is where our story must end. I wish I could make up a happy ending, but I can’t. With this story, we (city of St. Louis), aren’t prince charming but instead the one she left behind.

I wish I could give you a definite answer, but there isn't one. Maybe one day, but not today.

-Zack

Let me know your thoughts here: betweenrotations@gmail.com

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