It’s time.
I remember Super Bowl XXXVI. Clearly.
I remember how the Los Angeles Rams, then in St. Louis, lost to the New England Patriots to the field goal that passed through the uprights as time expired as a freshman in college. I remember the allegations from Rams players that the Patriots were far too prepared for the Rams’ offense especially in the red zone. I remember.
And I don’t care.
I know this is Los Angeles fans’ first taste of this. I know that by and large so many of them don’t care about the franchise’s history in St. Louis. That so many don’t acknowledge the two Super Bowls there and the one championship and the Greatest Show on Turf. That many (fairly) still harbor hatred for former Rams Owner Georgia Frontiere and yet (strangely) harbor logically opposed admiration for Stan Kroenke. That many who celebrate the chance to appreciate the Rams in person spend time trolling the St. Louis fans who lost that same ability.
And I don’t care.
I know this is just a game. It’s just sports. It doesn’t matter in the larger scheme of the things I care most about. It doesn’t mean anything to my family outside of my own allegiance. And that the Rams are set up to make a future appearance in the Super Bowl likely at least to the degree that it’s likelier than others doesn’t matter.
I don’t care.
Because I do.
Turf Show Times was launched in September of 2006 with the proper words heralding the birth:
Good morning and welcome to the Turf Show Times!
For the next 11 seasons, we chronicled a team that didn’t produce a single winning season. We covered the football. The relocation. The efforts to fill in everything in between the losses and the injuries and the frustration of a fan base split apart by location, split apart by excuses and split apart by waiting for something better.
And now we’re here.
And I don’t care.
Because I do.
I care that we’ve all spent this much time paying attention to this franchise, this team. I care that so many people have looked to the Turf Show Times team so often on this website, on Twitter and Facebook and Instagram (and for future people on TikTok). I care about the time the staff here has put in for so often little more than praise that I don’t give them enough and that the public often balances with the crap that the public sphere throws out these days. I care that when I see the Rams’ team photo for the Super Bowl that I see so much.
I see WR Cooper Kupp wishing he weren’t just part of a photo but part of a game. I see CB Marcus Peters not giving a fuck because he’s Marcus Peters. I see RB Todd Gurley cheesin. I see DL Aaron Donald with the face that best represents his Pittsburgh-born grittiness.
I see a team to be proud of.
Not because they won. But because they made it happen. They made all of this happen.
From LG Rodger Saffold to DL Michael Brockers to LS Jake McQuaide (yes, the long snapper). The guys who have only known this franchise that came in when they were supposed to and even when they weren’t to make this team better even when it didn’t happen. They made it happen.
From LT Andrew Whitworth to CB Aqib Talib to DL Ndamukong Suh to WR Brandin Cooks. Guys who were expected to come in and take the success they knew elsewhere and make it known to these Rams. They made it real.
From the role players to the undrafted free agents to the rookies to the assistant coaches to the training staff to the entire front office and beyond. They had to work to make this team as good as it can be. They did.
I care about this team. And the fans. And our readers. And our friends. And the Ramily. And all of it.
I do.
I know it’s corny and arbitrary and ultimately meaningless. But I don’t care.
Because I do.
Go Rams.
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