Bernie: How long can Rams fans wait?

[V3]

No other fans would like their team's owner to send veiled threats of relocation just so he can get even more rich. None.

 

[Alan]

Until I'm dead. +20 years.

 

[RaminExile]

This is just the way Kroenke is. Arsenal fans in the UK call him "Silent Stan" and absolutely clamoured for him to actually say something at their AGM. He just doesn't like publicity maybe. He's not going to say anything just because Bernie says he should.

Every year we get all enthusiastic and hopeful - and usually with good reason. Its not all hype. We should have been better this year but a combination of mistakes, confused thinking re our offensive and defensive schemes, gameplans and personell (I'm looking at failure to utilise Tavon Austin, Stedman Bailey and Zac Stacy) early season, injury to SB8 and TJ Mcdonald and a lack of depth in our secondary has all meant we're already talking about the draft...again.

Every year it seems to be some different brand of bad luck. Curse??

 

[LesBaker]

But we all know that he won't. As soon as he commits to staying in St. Louis, he loses all his bargaining power. Same goes for word of the Rams moving. Kroenke is too savvy a business man to show his cards now, even if his plan is to stay in St. Louis. Btw, his fence sitting is a positive. Too many fans in St. Louis see him as Bill Bidwell to notice.

That's not entirely accurate though, I'll explain. And I hope everyone reads this because it's important.

SK bought 30% of the Rams under the condition they moved to STL. Also look at he said:

This is from an ESPN article just before the sale when he got the remaining shares from Chip and Lucia and when people were all over the webernets saying he was buying the team and taking it to LA.......

ST. LOUIS -- Billionaire Stan Kroenke says he wants to keep the Rams in St. Louis.

"I'm going to attempt to do everything that I can to keep the Rams in St. Louis," Kroenke told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "Just as I did everything that I could to bring the team to St. Louis in 1995. I believe my actions speak for themselves."

The comments are his first since announcing he wants to buy the 60 percent of the team he doesn't yet own.

"There's a track record," Kroenke told the newspaper. "I've always stepped up for pro football in St. Louis. And I'm stepping up one more time."

Later in the article he adds this:

"I'm born and raised in Missouri," Kroenke told the newspaper. "I've been a Missourian for 60 years. People in our state know me. People know I can be trusted. People know I am an honorable guy."

That's saying enough and he knows it. A word to the wise is sufficient they say......

Anyway he wanted the CVC to win the arbitration. If he won then he doesn't get to own the stadium the Rams play in......and that's what he wants and anyone who has paid attention knows that.

The Rams are moving.......into a nice new stadium somewhere in the STL area.

 

[Pancake]

He's full of himself. He makes it sound like he sacrificed something for St. Louis football. He's profited greatly. The citizens of St. Louis are the ones who sacrificed.

 

[V3]

But we all know that he won't. As soon as he commits to staying in St. Louis, he loses all his bargaining power. Same goes for word of the Rams moving. Kroenke is too savvy a business man to show his cards now, even if his plan is to stay in St. Louis. Btw, his fence sitting is a positive. Too many fans in St. Louis see him as Bill Bidwell to notice.

Who the hell cares about bargaining power when you're one of the richest men in the world? Does he really need an extra $100 million or so? It would make ZERO impact on his livelihood. How about doing something because it's the right thing to do or because you have a passion for it? It's obvious he doesn't care about the fans and I seriously doubt he even cares about football. To him it's just another investment. You can argue about how he has every right to do it but if you want to know why there's a disconnect between the Rams and the fans, that's a MAJOR reason right there. I know MANY people who aren't going to spend any money supporting the Rams until they commit to staying. The fans are the hostages in this negotiation. People arguing that the fans need to show up are basically saying the fans should just succumb to Stockholm Syndrome or they aren't "real fans".

 

[bluecoconuts]

That's not entirely accurate though, I'll explain. And I hope everyone reads this because it's important.

SK bought 30% of the Rams under the condition they moved to STL. Also look at he said:

This is from an ESPN article just before the sale when he got the remaining shares from Chip and Lucia and when people were all over the webernets saying he was buying the team and taking it to LA.......

ST. LOUIS -- Billionaire Stan Kroenke says he wants to keep the Rams in St. Louis.

"I'm going to attempt to do everything that I can to keep the Rams in St. Louis," Kroenke told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "Just as I did everything that I could to bring the team to St. Louis in 1995. I believe my actions speak for themselves."

The comments are his first since announcing he wants to buy the 60 percent of the team he doesn't yet own.

"There's a track record," Kroenke told the newspaper. "I've always stepped up for pro football in St. Louis. And I'm stepping up one more time."

Later in the article he adds this:

"I'm born and raised in Missouri," Kroenke told the newspaper. "I've been a Missourian for 60 years. People in our state know me. People know I can be trusted. People know I am an honorable guy."

That's saying enough and he knows it. A word to the wise is sufficient they say......

Anyway he wanted the CVC to win the arbitration. If he won then he doesn't get to own the stadium the Rams play in......and that's what he wants and anyone who has paid attention knows that.

The Rams are moving.......into a nice new stadium somewhere in the STL area.

To be fair, he's a businessman, so he'll say whatever he needs until he's ready to commit to one or another. He could be pushing so hard to look like he wants to stay knowing that it wont happen, so he can save face later on. Or he could just not care at all, and doesn't want to lose even more fans until he finally does move. There's a lot of things that could be going on.

Like any other businessman, I wouldn't believe a word he says until he does it. I do think he stays in St. Louis, but I wouldn't be thinking either way until it happens. Fans in St Louis aren't exactly making it an easy choice to stay either, so I can see either happening. Again though, I do believe the Rams will stay put.

 

[Stranger]

Bernie just loves the opportunity to pounce.

 

[Thordaddy]

To be fair, he's a businessman, so he'll say whatever he needs until he's ready to commit to one or another. He could be pushing so hard to look like he wants to stay knowing that it wont happen, so he can save face later on. Or he could just not care at all, and doesn't want to lose even more fans until he finally does move. There's a lot of things that could be going on.

Like any other businessman, I wouldn't believe a word he says until he does it. I do think he stays in St. Louis, but I wouldn't be thinking either way until it happens. Fans in St Louis aren't exactly making it an easy choice to stay either, so I can see either happening. Again though, I do believe the Rams will stay put.

That's bigotry bc,pure simple and CULTURED.

Stan has goals money is only one and FWIW I'd bet it's not even #1 on his list, I'm a business man BTW and there are a few others here who are as well

 

[Sum1]

Yeah, tired of losing.. that's for sure.

I just don't know if the dome will ever consistently be packed full of loud Rams fans.. It's almost as if the majority of the Rams fans live somewhere other than St. Louis, including myself. I wonder if the Rams move elsewhere at some point in the future. I like the Rams being in St. Louis but is it best for the organization? I'm not sure.

This doesn't make sense.

The dome HAS BEEN FULL CONSISTENTLY in the past.

I hate it, but it's true...there are a lot of fans in this city that root for this team but just won't go to the games until they win. In a lot of cases it is hard to argue the reasoning.

My brother loves watching Rams football...but now that he has kids he simply doesn't want to give up an entire Sunday to go watch a poor product. How can you argue that? Going to a noon game essentially dominates the entire day. I mean, I live 15 minutes regular drive time from the dome...but for a noon game I am out of bed by 9am...eat, shower, feed the dogs,etc...by 10am I am out the door. By the time I drive down there, park, and walk to Baer Park it is 10:30-10:45. Have a couple beers and wait for the rest of my family to get there and go inside...game ends around 3:30ish...by the time you get out of the dome and to your car it is almost 4pm...then it is another 30-45 minutes of sitting in the car until you get home.

I'm as die-hard as any of you on this forum...but I have sat in my seat many, many Sundays thinking of things I could have/should have been doing instead.


Also, you think using the losing as an excuse shouldn't count? Look around the league to some of these teams that are having down years that haven't come close to the nonsense the Rams fans have endured. The friggin Steelers had empty seats at some games this year...and they are still in legitimate PLAYOFF CONTENTION! People just don't want to waste their time and money to knowingly be disappointed.

 

[Sum1]

He said "eventual" bandwagoners. The ones who will show up when they're good (and they will be), but couldn't give a shyte about them when they're not. And there are plenty of those types of fans out there. No doubt about it.

This is true...

It's like a friend of mine who is from St.Louis who I was talking with years ago about the Rams getting into the playoffs...he told me he wasn't a Rams fan but a Colts fan...Fair enough, I asked why that is. He says he really like Peyton Manning in college so when the Colts drafted him he became a Colts fan. He did say he was excited and cheered the Rams when they won the Super Bowl but wasn't a die hard....well, this same friend moved to KC about 4 years ago...now he's a die-hard Chiefs fan and denies that he was a Colts fan before.

...same doucher is a Yankee fan as well and also never liked hockey until he heard the Blues are a favorite for the cup. Weird.

 

[bluecoconuts]

That's bigotry bc,pure simple and CULTURED.

Stan has goals money is only one and FWIW I'd bet it's not even #1 on his list, I'm a business man BTW and there are a few others here who are as well

So you think he's not going to keep all options on the table just because? That would be pretty stupid of him. I don't know many successful businessmen who do that.

 

[BigHornRAMM]

Stan owns half the professional teams in Denver (Nuggets+Avs) and I've grown used to no press whatsoever. He is the anti Jerry Jones.

I can't remember the article, but I read if Stan moves the team to LA it will cost him over 10 million. Chump change to him, but it's something. I'd really hate it if he moved the team to LA. When is the soonest he can do it? I heard he may move when they do a uniform change, so 2015 right?

 

[fearsomefour]

Pointless to talk about what Fisher and Snead are trying to do then quote the loses dating back to 2004. We are all aware of it and I dont anyone is informed with this years Rams team by what happened in 2004. I just think St. Louis is not a big city with a ton a wealthy people that are going to be able to fill up a stadium no matter what. It is what it is. Win and they will come. An article talking about how bad the team has been the last decade serves no purpose. Ever forward.

 

[Thordaddy]

So you think he's not going to keep all options on the table just because? That would be pretty stupid of him. I don't know many successful businessmen who do that.

That's not what I said, I said FWIW that judging a man by the content of his wallet instead of the content of his character is bigotry and is a cultured attitude , sadly though bc there's somoebody "out there " who considers YOU a dishonest rich SOB JUST because you've succeeded to whatever degree you have and it surpasses them, WHICH is as unfair and bigoted as anything as well.
Keeping ONES OPTIONS open and hoping to maximize them is not vested in businessmen alone, but they sure get vilified for it.
Now................ if Stan decides he doesn't care if it costs him a few more million dollars to keep the football team in the city of the iconic heroes he was NAMED FOR if he decides he has a goal to do something extraordinary here, you've laid out the premiss that he's stupid, I say he's a man who has objectives and one OF THEM WAS to bring this team to St.Louis,it was a precondition to his partial purchase, he called favors to get a stadium worked his tail off to get it done.
His accountant is a millionaire, and the money is only good for buying what you want ,so IF HE wants this team here , it's what he's gonna do, and that wouldn't be any more stupid than you buying a big screen.

 

[LesBaker]

To be fair, he's a businessman, so he'll say whatever he needs until he's ready to commit to one or another. He could be pushing so hard to look like he wants to stay knowing that it wont happen, so he can save face later on. Or he could just not care at all, and doesn't want to lose even more fans until he finally does move. There's a lot of things that could be going on.

Like any other businessman, I wouldn't believe a word he says until he does it. I do think he stays in St. Louis, but I wouldn't be thinking either way until it happens. Fans in St Louis aren't exactly making it an easy choice to stay either, so I can see either happening. Again though, I do believe the Rams will stay put.

Let's go with this.

Pay attention to what he does, not what he says. Your right people can say anything and often do.

Which is good to do in life anyway. What people do means more that what they say. Especially in this case.

Look at his modus operendi for his entire sports franchise owning career, what are some things that are always true.

He doesn't talk to the media very often, he hires people to operate the clubs he owns and he lets them mostly do what they feel is smart.......and he always owns the venues his teams play in.

That's why they gave the city a stupid crazy proposal that the CVC would never agree to and that no arbitrator would say was fair. They need to get out of the lease to build their own place.

 

[tonyl711]

the Rams sold out every game for the first 10 years here, and there was some bad football in those years, some very good too. but when you go on a 10 year run like they have been on fans have every right to keep their money. give any team in the league our record for the last 10 years and see how often they sell out, New Orleans sells out now, but when their team stunk they had very small crowds and even put bags over their heads. when the Rams were winning the dome was a venue other teams didn't want to go to, start winning and it will be that way again.

 

[Mister Sin]

Great read, and i couldnt agree more with it. While i think all of us who gather here are not your typical fair-weather fan, we are however, in the minority in that we truly love this team and will stick with it. Unfortunately for the rams, they need a new facility, and they need to put together some winning teams if they want to make some $$$. Like they said, the Rams arent going anywhere.

 

[A55VA6]

People are spending their money on the Cardinals and Blues rather than watching the Rams. Product on the field needs to improve big time. Or at least consistently play good football.

 

[CGI_Ram]

1. Stan is the best owner any fan could ask for. He's not cheap.
2. Despite the record, there was a talent gain from 2012 to 2013.
3. Put the Rams in any other division, particularly the AFC, they would be right in the hunt despite losing their starting QB.
4. I'm not in love with the OC and particularly the DC, but Fisher and Snead deserve patience. This is a massive rebuild. I just hope they have the unbiased approach to make coaching changes where needed. Fishers stubborn side could lead to his downfall.
5. I'm not worried about the fans. St. Louis is a SPORTS town. It's a bruised fan base on the football side, that's all. It will heal.