The Los Angeles Rams have returned: Positive for the city

December 24, 1994, is an interesting date. Yes, it is Christmas Eve, but in the Los Angeles area, this date holds a signifi cant meaning. The Los Angeles Rams and the Los Angeles Raiders would both lose at home, their last home games in Los Angeles. The Raiders would move back to Oakland for the 1995 season, and the Rams would depart to a new home in St. Louis Missouri.

Starting on Christmas of 1995, fans asked a question, “When would we get another team?”

Since this day, team owners have threatened to move their team to Los Angeles every time that they are looking to fund a new stadium. Fast forward to Jan. 31, 2014, the Los Angeles times reported that St. Louis Rams owner Stan Kroenke purchased 60 acres of land in Inglewood California, a Los Angeles suburb. So from that moment on we discussed, are the Rams going “home?”

When looking through articles, watching TV shows and looking at social media, the move seems to go both ways. Some are interested and excited to see the Rams move back to Los Angeles, others are making not so nice comments about Stan Kroenke.

My thoughts are that this is a double edged sword: It is good and bad on both sides.

The Rams were in need of a new stadium for the past five years, some improvements were made, but when you compare it to stadiums such as Levi’s Stadium, home of the San Francisco 49ers, or the new U.S. Bank stadium for the Minnesota Vikings, the Edward Jones Dome looks like it is from the Stone Age.

I feel bad for the fans in St. Louis that truly do love the Rams, they have been burned by the NFL for the second time. The move to Los Angeles was going to happen but I did not believe that it would have been so fast; one more season in St. Louis may have been better for some fans. The true fans that loved the Los Angeles Rams need to show up for these next three seasons as the Rams will be playing in the Los Angeles Coliseum until their massive new stadium is completed.

One reason why the Raiders and Rams left after the 1994 season was the fans. They don’t show up if you aren’t putting a winning product out on the field. The Rams were a bad team in the years following the move to St. Louis, and they were seeking large amounts of tax money to build themselves a new stadium. And once the fans heard that the Rams were talking to the cities of Baltimore and St. Louis, most fans gave up and I do not blame them. The fans need to support the Rams in this move.

They are not a good team; they haven’t been in the playoffs since 2004 and it doesn’t seem like they are close to getting back. They have major holes at quarterback and wide receiver it is near impossible to win in the NFL with question marks at both of these positions.

Head Coach Jeff Fisher is another question mark. Some think he is a good coach, I personally do not. Fisher was the head coach of the Tennessee Titans for 15 years. He had about fi ve good seasons and 10 mediocre ones. I highly doubt that he will be the head coach of the Los Angeles Rams when they are opening up their new stadium in 2019.

But at the end of the day, I believe that this move is good for both the Rams and Los Angeles. The Rams are going home, to Southern California.

The great part of this move is that the taxpayers do not have to give a dime for the new stadium. Stan Kroenke is opening up his piggy bank and pulling out $1.8 billion to build this top notch stadium and to develop the area around the stadium to include stores and other attractions. The NFL is back in Los Angeles and it looks like it is going to stay there for several years to come.

I am encouraged to see this move prosper and prove that Los Angeles can be a football town.