Bernie: Kroenke isn't the real issue
• By Bernie Miklasz
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/colu...cle_a2f4f83f-c1d6-5dfd-af59-56d9241d73b7.html
We’re in for an intense debate over the merits of building a new football stadium in St. Louis. Many will support the idea simply because a new venue is mandatory if our city hopes to remain on the NFL map. Many will understandably oppose the plan for economic or ethical reasons.
But don’t line up in opposition to the stadium plan for the wrong reason.
That reason being your personal feelings toward Rams owner Stan Kroenke.
Here’s my understatement of the new year: Kroenke isn’t popular in St. Louis these days.
Why would he be? Kroenke’s team hasn’t had a winning season since 2003, he doesn’t engage the fans, and he’s been plotting to build a new stadium near Los Angeles for a presumed getaway.
If an NFL owner ever went as far as conceiving a devious plan to intentionally poison an NFL market in a way that would expedite his scheme to pull his team out of town and head elsewhere, this would pretty much be the perfect formula.
The fans have every reason to be frustrated with Kroenke. But please don’t let those hardened, anti-Kroenke feelings be the reason you hate the idea of building a new
football stadium.
If you want to have an NFL team here, then a new stadium is absolutely necessary. To that end it’s important to keep the bigger picture in mind and take a long-term view. Yes, even if you’ve come to loathe Kroenke and his way of doing business.
I know it sounds crazy, but we have to put the Kroenke anger to the side and focus on the goal of keeping St. Louis in the NFL. That’s the true objective here. The only objective that matters.
This isn’t about making Kroenke happy by giving him a triumph in the stadium battle. This is about protecting our presence as an NFL market.
If the stadium initiative fails because of disdain for Kroenke, the NFL will leave town. And it won’t come back again.
I’d like to make few specific points on this:
1. Dave Peacock, who is working with Bob Blitz on the STL stadium project, made a great point recently. “You root for your team,” Peacock said. “You don’t root for the team’s owner.”
Peacock is right.
When the “Greatest Show” Rams were averaging an astounding 33 points a game and making it to two Super Bowls in three seasons, no one was scrutinizing the team’s owners.
We were rejoicing over the thrilling performances of Kurt Warner, Marshall Faulk, Isaac Bruce, Torry Holt and Orlando Pace. When the Cardinals’ “Air Coryell” teams were lighting it up in the mid-1970s, fans had no fuss with team owner Bill Bidwill.
You go to the stadium to support Robert Quinn, James Laurinaitis, Aaron Donald, Chris Long, Tre Mason and many other Rams players who are working hard to turn this franchise around. You don’t go to the stadium to support Kroenke.
2. A team’s fortunes can change. A loser can become a winner, and everyone loves a winner. When a team is lousy over an extensive period of time, the owner inevitably takes a hit in popularity. But if the team strings together winning seasons and playoff appearances, then all is well. That’s just the way it works.
3. Ownership can change. If you want a relevant example, look at the Arizona Cardinals. A chronic loser was transformed into a dynamic franchise after the aging Bill Bidwill put his son, Michael Bidwill, in charge. Kroenke owns the Rams now. It doesn’t mean he’ll own the Rams 10 years from now, or 20 years from now.
4. Kroenke can turn his image around if he wants to. Granted, it would be a major repair job, but a rehabilitation is possible.
A successful team would be the most important element.
A Kroenke commitment to play in a new stadium would improve the shaky fan-owner relationship.
Kroenke could help his cause by making an effort to communicate with the fans to show that he cares as much as they do.
Kroenke played a major role in bringing the Rams to St. Louis. And that shouldn’t be forgotten, especially if he keeps the team here.
5. If funding for a new stadium becomes a reality, it will put St. Louis in line to land another NFL franchise. This situation is insanely fluid. Keeping the Rams is an obvious goal, but I don’t rule anything out.
That includes the possibility of the NFL cutting a deal with Kroenke to let him move his team to Los Angeles, and redirecting another franchise to St. Louis.
As a cryptic Peacock recently told CBS Sports online: “We are inclusive with the Rams in all of our plans. And the Rams are our team, and that’s the team that we want playing here for a long time. But we are also respectful of the role the league serves, and the fact that they may have other perspectives and things going on at the league level that may result in a different scenario.”
That’s why it’s wise to take the emotions out of this. A commitment for a new stadium would be the best way to prevent the Rams from fleeing. But that stadium commitment also keeps the NFL engaged in St. Louis, and that could lead to a positive outcome — with or without the Rams.
Here’s one more thing to consider …
If the anti-Kroenke sentiment kills the stadium plan, then Kroenke will be a lot closer to getting exactly what he wants: a chance to move the Rams to LA, and with the league’s approval.
You can hate on Kroenke and take the risk of undermining the Peacock-Blitz mission. But that will also hand him a victory. He’ll win. And St. Louis will lose.
