urbanSTL

In reading this Peter King (cnnsi.com) article, it appears as if the national perception is still that the Rams are on the block and their future here is very much in question. See the paragraph below, link to full article below as well.



http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/w ... index.html



Put simply, I really like what the Rams did, particularly in selecting Baylor tackle Jason Smith in the first round. And I applaud Billy Devaney, the St. Louis GM who is in an interesting and not very comfortable position there. The team might be sold, he's leasing instead of renting a home, and his future is anything but secure. The best thing he could have done for Billy Devaney was to have picked Mark Sanchez, which a large chunk of St. Louis wanted him to do. And he would have been justified in doing so because of Sanchez's talent and charisma and the fact that Marc Bulger might be on his last starting legs.

The way I am reading that article is that Billy Devaney's future in St. Louis is very questionable, not the Rams as a team. If the Rams are sold to new ownership, Devaney will most likely be the first person to go.

*cough* Sam Bradford?

Let's not start telling people they need to be fired just yet. I didn't know Mel Kiper Jr was a poster on this board. NO ONE can predict what these guys will do, not even the wonderfully quaffed Mel. Let's re-evaluate in a few years.

Taking shots at Devany is BS as well. He has made ALL the right moves since he has been here. He is NOT on the hot seat and is doing a great job winning back fans and pointing the franchise back in the right direction.

ChrisInDownTown wrote:Let's not start telling people they need to be fired just yet. I didn't know Mel Kiper Jr was a poster on this board.

Don't get me started on Mel Kiper... Ray Charles could throw darts at the board and make more accurate predictions. Mel Kiper is nothing more than an entertainer.

dweebe wrote:Supposedly Maulaga is that type and he might make the big hit, but then the next play he'll totally miss. Plus he's had off the field issues.



Everything I've heard is that Laurinitis is a fundamentally solid guy who doesn't make the sexy plays that get noticed and shown on ESPN. Laurinitis was on 101.1 the other night and he sounds like a good young man with his head on straight. In addition he'd supposed to be a great on-field and locker room leader.

The other knocks on Maualuga are that he's not smart enough to be the QB of the defense and that he's poor in pass coverage.



I think people are thinking that with a name like Maualuga, he must be the next Troy Polamalu or something. Laurinitis should be fine (I really wanted Aaron Curry in the first round though).

Grover wrote:^ interesting - does anyone know of a football stadium that adds to its neighborhood/urban surroundings? College or Pro? I'm not coming up with anything . . .

Alabama

UNC-Chapel Hill

Notre Dame, kind of

Georgia Tech

UT-Knoxville

Memphis (Liberty Bowl)

Kentucky, kind of

Marshall

Cincinnati (college)

Cincinnati (pro)

Pittsburgh (pro)

Grover wrote:^ I think that a lot of those are dubious. Sure Cincinnati's stadiums are in the city, but I don't believe they add anything to a "neighborhood." Why can't a stadium be built with street level retail?



Anyway, baseball stadiums have a great history of being located in a neighborhood with Wrigley possibly being the best. Football stadiums are just too big and when the league began making enough money to justify stand-alone stadiums they sought large open fields (or now vacant urban fields) on which to build. The problem with football stadiums is that they are only used a few times a year and therefore do not really add to a neighborhood. Some college campuses have stadiums near the center of campus - especially as campuses have grown around where their stadiums (which were built on the edge of campus).

You're right, in general, post-WWII certainly. I was just coming up with some counterexamples.



Post-peak oil is going to put a serious hurt on places like the Arrowhead, though. Time to start planning. FB used to be played in places like the Polo Grounds. Y'know. In a city.

The Sporting News wrote:
31. Georgia Dome, Atlanta



The odd roof makes this place look like an oversized circus tent. Is there any reason for a dome in this climate?

This is one of the dumbest things I've ever seen. The idiot writing for TSN must think Atlanta is located several hundred miles north of where it is. Or he has never been to an outdoor football game in the South.



Last year at Duke, during one of the September games, people were falling out in the aisles from heat stroke. At Mississippi State, it's SOP to have extra ambulances around for heat-distressed fans. September and October football are hell in the South. In addition to the heat, it's more humid than it is up here, and the angle of the sun is harsher because of the lower latitude.



The simple solution in the South is that you put your games at night until about Halloween, unless TV forces otherwise. (Every notice how LSU and Bama often play at night?) But the NFL TV contract is more ironclad.



Also, you get an astounding number of thunderstorms in Atlanta, throughout the year. Tons in the summer. You get a dry spell often in September when the NFL is beginning, but then when the cool air masses meet the hot ones the violent storms start back up. That continues through the winter, when it gets hot in the winter frequently. Recall the tornadoes that interrupted the 2008 MBB SECT.



In addition, the GA Dome was always intended to be multipurpose. Large BB events, motocross, Gun & Knife shows, and what have you. Hence, roof.

Grover wrote:The problem with football stadiums is that they are only used a few times a year and therefore do not really add to a neighborhood.

Clearly, you have misplaced your official RCGA playbook. Ours isn't a "football stadium," it's "an integral part of the convention center."

Indy's new stadium is right in the heart of downtown, I believe, just like the RCA Dome was.

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports ... enDocument



The saga continues..... Does anyone here think that a local buyer will step forward? Is it possible that anyone or group of individuals could come up with an estimated $500 million to buy the 60% share of the Rams that is inevitably going to be sold in the very near future? It was rumored that August Busch or Rush Limbaugh might be interested. I have not heard anything on that front. I hope somebody steps up. At that $500 million pricetag, the 60% share of an NFL team, is quite the bargain, all things considered. These franchises are cash cows.



The loss of the Rams would be a huge hit to the ego of our city. We have already taken in the chin with the loss of AB as a STL company. If the Rams walk, I would consider it to be a disaster, mainly because we will not likely get another team, ever. I agree with Bernie, do what we can to save this franchise. With all of the job loss, loss of factories and corporate headquarters, we can lose the prestige of having an NFL franchise.

New Rams stadium: where to put it? I say L.A.



I think that an NFL franchise is the least lucrative of any professional sport. There are only 8 games a year, leaving the hulking stadium underutilized as compared to baseball, basketball or hockey arenas. One only has to look at the Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis to see what a debacle this can become, 100's of Millions of dollars in subsidies, now a $47M operating expense shortfall. Taxes have been raised and will need to be raised again to cover this gap. It's very arguable whether any professional sports team is a net gain for the local economy when typical subsidies are accounted for, but due to the size of the facilities and the low number of events, NFL stadiums are especially suspect. I say see you later Rams!

^ Where would the Jags land? There do not seem to be many cities in the market for an NFL team. Maybe this will mean that whoever buys the Rams will keep them here. The fans are loyal and subsidies are drying up just about everywhere.

There are plans to build a new stadium in City of Industry which would host events such as the Super Bowl and a possible NFL franchise.

The reason Los Angeles hasn't had an NFL team for so long is that they refuse to make any public money available for a new stadium or upgrade of an existing one.

The NFL has wanted a team to return to the nation's second biggest TV market for a long time. LA has made it clear it will not subsidize the effort.



The NFL needs LA more than LA needs the NFL.

This is what worries me:

City of Industry approves proposal for NFL stadium outside L.A.

Associated Press





LOS ANGELES -- Council members in the city of Industry on Thursday unanimously approved a proposal for a professional football stadium intended to lure a team back to the Los Angeles area.



The vote helped clear the way for developers of the $800 million venue to begin talks with NFL teams about a possible move to the industrial and warehousing city 15 miles east of Los Angeles.



Majestic Real Estate Co. managing partner John Semcken said the company would begin shopping for a team on April 1, the deadline for opponents of the project to file a lawsuit.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story?id=09000d ... nfirm=true