I have been a loyal Daily Kos reader for a couple of years, and now I need your help. I have been a loyal Rams fan (first Los Angeles, now St. Louis) since 1975, when I was 7 years-old. That's before anyone even heard of Rush (fill in horrible nickname) Limbaugh. But now, I have read in several places...
Rush Limbaugh is considering buying the St. Louis Rams. Oh sh**!
http://www.sportingnews.com/...
Before I ask for some help, let me say a little bit about what this means to me. The first professional sporting event I ever remember watching on TV was a game late in 1975 with the Los Angeles Rams playing the San Francisco 49ers. Back then, the Rams were consistently one of the top teams in the NFL (this was the 3rd of their 7 straight division titles) and 49ers were kind of like the Rams are now. The Rams won easily on their way to a 12-2 record (they gave up less than 10 points per game in 1975 which I believe is an NFL record, at least post-merger), and even though I lived in Miami and had never been to Los Angeles, I WAS HOOKED!
I didn't know it was a big deal, but at the time, their starting quarterback was James Harris, and he was one of the few black quarterbacks to have ever played in the NFL at that point in time. I don't remember details of the game, but I remember lots of games after that one. I remember all the playoff losses to the Cowboys and Vikings, the other two top NFC teams in those years. I remember them making the Super Bowl by beating Tampa Bay on the back of Jack Youngblood and his broken leg. And I remember that painful loss to the Steelers which was only one of the greatest Super Bowls ever played.
I can't discuss all the memories I have ever had, but I can discuss 1999. That was the year of one of the other greatest Super Bowls ever played with the Rams winning 23 to 16 over the Tennessee Titans. That season proved to be amazing for a few reasons. First of all, the Super Bowl was in Atlanta, and so I made a pact with myself that if the Rams made the Super Bowl, I was going to the game!
The Rams were perennial losers at that point, so I didn't think much of it. However, as they started to win some games, I told my father he should come up from Florida and visit me. The Rams were playing Week 6 in Tennessee, and since he grew up there, I told him we could drive to the game and then visit his hometown of Humbolt (he hadn't been to there in more than 50 years). The Rams lost a thrilling game, but we had a great time seeing his old town. It was amazing how many people he grew up with still lived there and how many stores and places he recognized even after all that time. Small towns are sure a lot different from big cities that way, and I had never seen anything like that before.
That great season did continue after that loss, and come the NFC championship game, the Rams are playing to get to the Super Bowl. Unfortunately, Atlanta has one of its worst freezes ever, and I am lucky to find any place to watch the game. A local pizzeria had it on an antenna (barely), and so there I watched.
After all that, I had to go to the Super Bowl. So $3,000 later (cheap for what I expected), I had 2 Super Bowl tickets and my father came back up to Atlanta to join me for our second Rams-Titans game of the year. A 16-0 lead turns into 1-yard short (thanks Mike Jones) and the RAMS ARE SUPER BOWL CHAMPIONS!!!
I have absorbed a lot of lows since then, the Super Bowl against my now-hated New England Patriots, 5-31 in their last 36 games, etc., and I have always remained loyal. I've always loved the Rams, or so I thought.
Could I still love the Rams that have given me all these memories if they were to become owned by possibly the most despicable person in America (I only mean this in a political sense)?
This is where I need your help!
I don't know if I can give up my Rams, so I need ideas on how to keep Rush away.
Maybe we could adopt the Rams as the temporary official team of Daily Kos, to become permanent if Rush is the owner (that would maybe scare him away).
My father passed away a few years ago, and though he was not a Rams fan, he was certainly a fellow Rush hater (my parents taught us very well on politics). For both of our sakes, we need your help. I am open to suggestions, and since I also need personal advice on this, let me add a poll (4th item should say Post-Dispatch, sorry!).
Please help!!!