Rampages down Pat

I got a text with a meme in it from a friend the Monday after the Eneffelle division championships were completed last Sunday.

It was a photo of Forrest Gump. Above the photo were the words, “and just like that,” below the face was, “we are now all Rams fans!”

My exact reply was, “Damn straight!”

Belicheat and Co.

You may be able to tell I am no fan of the New England Patriots. I begrudgingly admit they are good—if not even great.

I just don’t care for a coach (Bill “What Cheating?” Belichick) who pulls out borderline (if not outright) illegal plays whenever possible. I get that whatever edge you can get in professional sports basically falls under the “all’s fair in love and war” category, but stealing other team’s plays and signals? To me, that’s cheating—and it has happened on several occasions including 2007’s “Spygate” when the Patriots were caught taping New York Jets defensive coaches’ signals from a place they were not authorized to be in.

According to the Wikipedia article on “Spygate,” Eneffelle Commissioner Roger Goodell later told U.S. Senator Arlen Specter that Belichick had been videotaping other team’s plays and signals since Belicheat (OOPS, Belichick) became the Pat’s head coach in 2000.

These kind of “win-at-all-costs” antics make one believe that talented pretty boy and headed-for-the-hall-of-fame quarterback Tom Brady actually did participate in “Deflategate.”

By the way, having that many “Gates” attached to your team doesn’t exactly help with your squeaky clean image.

Then there are the Rams, the other team in this year’s big game.

I personally do not like rooting for any team from Los Angeles. I don’t like the Dodgers and really dislike the Lakers.

That could be a whole other rant though.

Ram-page

The Rams, as their name implies, seem to wander around a bit.

The team began in 1936 as the Cleveland Rams. They won an NFL Championship in 1945 then promptly packed their bags and headed to L.A. The team stayed there in the sun until 1994 when they left for the Archway City of St. Louis. The move to St. Louis was prompted by an out-of-date stadium and a supposed lack of fan support.

While in St. Louis, the Rams would win Super Bowl XXXIV then later lose Super Bowl XXXVI to, you guessed it, the Patriots.

So there is no love lost between the Rams and Patriots.

The Rams last 11 years in St. Louis were firmly in playoff drought territory and the team failed to even post a winning season in their last four years there.

In the midst of all this losing, a debate arose over the condition and suitability of the stadium in St. Louis.

As with most of these debacles, the city was held hostage to provide tax dollars to renovate or build a new stadium.

If you have lived in a city that has had a football team abandon their “home town” to move to a shiny new stadium somewhere else you know the angst—you love your team but … they’re leaving … and it’s the money-grubbing owner’s fault.

At least that’s how I felt when the Houston Oilers two-stepped their way to Tennessee.

I am sure that’s how Cleveland fans felt when the Browns bolted for Baltimore.

But sure enough, the Rams, who had stunk for so long while holding their hands out for tax money, up and moved back to L.A.

A scant three years into their new L.A. experience the Rams have gotten good—good enough to make this year’s Super Bowl.

You think St. Louis fans appreciate that?

I have read some articles that would make you think not … and that is putting it mildly.

A lot of St. Louis Fans were apparently rooting for Missouri’s only remaining NFL team, the Chiefs, to make a Super Bowl return and slam the Patriots down in the process. Some were rooting for the New Orleans Saints to put the Rams Super Bowl hopes to rest and, if not for a really bad blown call during that game, that is what might have happened.

There are not a lot of happy football fans in St. Louis and some of them have even “sworn off the game.”

Commercials for the Win

So it’s a tossup who you want to win the Super Bowl.

Let’s see … hate the Patriots. Don’t respect the Rams.

I think what I will do is go to a Super Bowl party, eat some good food, visit with friends—and completely ignore the game.

Maybe I’ll watch the commercials though, they are often the best part of the Super Bowl anyway—and who doesn’t like Doritos?

 

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