Is this it for Rams?
• By Jim Thomas
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/foot...cle_bee7f539-b38f-5970-ac0b-0e9cbf83c881.html
There have been 207 Rams games played in the Edward Jones Dome — playoffs, regular season, and preseason.
Isaac Bruce was there for the first one in 1995, a 28-17 victory over the expansion Carolina Panthers.
“We played the entire preseason on the road that year,” Bruce recalled. “I believe the first regular-season game (Green Bay) was on the road. And then we finally had a couple of home games in Busch Stadium.”
Four to be exact. But then, on Nov. 12 of ’95, what was then called the Trans World Dome opened for business.
“I was so excited about being in the dome because the threat of the cold weather was something I was not looking forward to ever since moving from LA,” Bruce said. “And I believe that day we may have had snow flurries if I’m not mistaken or some kind of sleet, freezing rain.”
It was in fact a chilly 42 degrees at kickoff that day, but in the climate-controlled dome Bruce caught nine passes for 110 yards and a touchdown.
“Just the christening of the dome was special,” Bruce said.
Offensive tackle Jackie Slater, known as the Eternal Ram because of his amazing longevity, made a ceremonial start that day in what was his 20th NFL season. He played only a series because of a severe elbow injury. He was carried off the field following the game, no mean feat considering his size. And never played again.
D’Marco Farr was there that day, too. Early in the fourth quarter, he had a strip sack of Panthers quarterback Kerry Collins. Defensive back Torin Dorn scooped up the fumble and raced 26 yards for a victory-clinching TD.
“And Torin Dorn had a baby that day,” Farr said. “That was one of the coolest memories of my life.”
A couple of things stuck out about those early years in the dome:
• How hard the original surface was.
• And how loud the crowd was.
“The turf was brand new,” Farr said. “It was rock-hard. The old AstroTurf, I mean, literally it would tear your skin right up. The shower after the game, everybody was screaming.”
To this day, Bruce says he still has scars and bruises from turf burns from long ago.
“My daughter, she asks me about them every now and then,” he said. “How did I get this, how did I get that bruise.”
The noise and adoration that showered down from the stands more than made up for the burns.
“I thought Busch Stadium was loud,” Bruce said, laughing. “That new one was pretty loud. I think just the way that noise hit the roof and came back down. Just being in the stadium and hearing the noise the crowd made. And they were cheering for us.”
During the Greatest Show on Turf years, there wasn’t a louder place in the NFL. The team would take the field to the sounds of Led Zeppelin’s “Kashmir,” and you could almost see the knees buckling by opposing defensive backs — bracing for the near-impossible task awaiting.
But that glory is fleeting. That moment in time passed. Coaches came and went. There were more losses than victories. The chants of “Bruuuuuce!” are now replaced by “Gurley! Gurley! Gurley!”
Game No. 208 in the building comes tonight against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. If owner Stan Kroenke has his way, it will be the last game the Rams play in the dome. And in St. Louis. He wants to move the team to Los Angeles in 2016.
With only two road games remaining after tonight — at Seattle Dec. 27 and at San Francisco Jan. 3 — this could be it. There have been encouraging signs on the relocation front, and progress has been made in the financing of the proposed St. Louis stadium. But there are no guarantees. No one knows for sure.
Certainly not Adam Timmerman. An anchor of those Greatest Show offensive lines along with Orlando Pace, Timmerman made it a point to get to Sunday’s contest against Detroit. You know, just in case.
“That’s kind of why we got the whole family down here,” Timmerman said, standing on the floor of the dome with his family after the 21-14 Rams win over the Lions. “Thursday’s gonna be tougher to make with school and everything going on.”
So he loaded up the family in the small airplane he owns, and flew down from Cherokee, Iowa, for Sunday’s game. You know, just in case.
“I hope they stay for my own selfish reasons and that,” Timmerman said. “But you never know how it’s gonna go down. I’ve heard a lot of rumors. I think it’s all rumors at this point.
“But anyway, we hope the Rams stay. I’m sure the fans are hoping that, too. It’s been kind of a long season. I think people probably just want to get it settled — are they staying or going? It’ll definitely be sad if they don’t stay.”
Farr feels the same way.
“I’m lighting a candle,” said Farr, now a local radio personality and a game analyst for Rams radio broadcasts. “To go from LA to Busch Stadium to here. It was packed when we showed up in ’95, and then we weren’t very good — and you know — you start hearing boos at home.
“To the Greatest Show on Turf era to where it was the loudest place on the planet. To now. I can’t believe it’s the same place. I really can’t.”
The Rams lost about 10,000 season-ticket holders between 2014 and 2015 when Kroenke’s plans became clear. So there will be thousands of empty seats for Thursday night’s potential farewell.
And once again, the product on the field has fallen short of expectations. At 5-8, the Rams are assured of their 12th consecutive nonwinning season.
“Honestly, I was looking for more out of this season with the team,” Bruce said. “I was looking to be probably hosting a playoff game this year. I was really thinking that. There’s been some bright spots, but I just think overall we underachieved this year.”
Bruce keeps up with the relocation news, and on that front he has been encouraged by recent developments. There is a whole generation of young adults in St. Louis who grew up watching the Greatest Show and the Super Bowl XXXIV champions, Bruce said, and it would be a shame if that were taken away.
“Considering where they are and what we’ve been going through these last 12 seasons, just those memories that we had,” Bruce said. “I think it really touched, made a huge impact, in St. Louis.”
The glass is always half full with Bruce, so he’s hoping for the best on the stadium plan.
“One way or another, we’re gonna have the last game in that dome,” Bruce said. “Hopefully, I’m around to give it one last kiss before we do anything with it.”
Ideally, Bruce said he plans to come back to christen a new stadium in a few years.
“Without a doubt,” he said. “I’ll be the first one on the flight.”[/u]
