The Rams have spoken. They want to leave St. Louis.
While they have not formally requested an exist visa from the Gateway City, their most recent request with respect to improvements to the Dome is somewhere between comical and insulting.
Comical because the Rams want the CVC to come up with money to build a retractable roof on an outdated stadium as well as change some of the traffic routes of downtown St. Louis. Did I mention that meanwhile the Dome would not available for major conventions for perhaps two years?
The Mayor’s Office said a construction company hired to analyze the proposal estimated costs at $500-700 million. Pretty funny in these challenging economic times that someone would think it would be a good idea to even form their lips to utter the words “hundred million.”
Here is where the insulting part comes into play.
The Rams have mishandled this thing beyond any common sense. They see greener pastures in California or perhaps London, and that is fine. If they want to make more money, go for it. But find a way of doing it without insulting the intelligence of St. Louisans.
This proposal was dead on arrival in the eyes of any sane person, and yet they floated the balloon anyway. Fortunately there were enough elected officials who had no choice but to call timeout and let the public see for themselves what sort of patsies the Rams thought they had to play with. It is unfortunate that the Rams have taken this approach as they have gotten it right with new coach Jeff Fisher.
It will be hard for me to get behind the Rams and their venture to change the world at the expense of people who have either seen enough bad football or do not have the money to bail out a billionaire. If they want to go, then they should not waste our time.
While I understand they have to legally go through the mumbo jumbo of abiding by a poorly constructed contract on behalf of the taxpayers, they know there is no way their request will be honored, hence the adios.
The Rams have lived off of the taxpayers as well as football fans long enough. It’s time for them to finally give back. Every other pro sports team in town has done it and now it’s time for the Rams to make their contribution.
