Rams leaving St. Louis?

[mean]

Would be kinda interesting to have an NFL team outside the USA. Would it then be the IFL?

[warwickland]

Would be kinda interesting to have an NFL team outside the USA. Would it then be the IFL?

yeah, there's the ka-pow whizzbang factor.

[shinatoo]

This is just more big business exporting jobs for tax breaks.

[bobbyhawks]

Dang. Logic would say that the Cowboys would move to the NFC West, while the Rams would be in the NFC East and change names. I think that makes better geographic sense. It would destroy some great rivalries in the NFC, but the NFL will probably have to move to allow a single rivalry game per year on each schedule eventually. This could also be the excuse to move to 17 or 18 games they have been waiting for.

The London Lions would make the most sense, but that is not happening. The London Lords? Knights?...

[warwickland]

I heard 3rd hand that an NFL VP stated that the Rams have put forth the best argument OR are currently the best team for London. I'm just stirring teh stew, I know.

Another article...

LONDON -- The St. Louis Rams took the first step to becoming Britain's "home" team Friday, agreeing to play a regular-season NFL game in London in each of the next three seasons.

.......

"We've seen first-hand the increased popularity of the NFL not only in London but throughout Europe," Kroenke said in a statement. "

.......

"This year is a very competitive year for sport in the UK, especially with the Olympics in London," NFLUK managing director Alistair Kirkwood said. "Also, with the Rams having made an unprecedented commitment to playing in the UK for the next three years, we wanted to focus on them as our 'home' team without another game taking place.
"We would like to increase beyond one game per year as soon as possible and the five-year commitment by the owners to playing in the UK allows us to make that decision when we feel it is appropriate."

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/74827 ... xt-3-years

How, exactly, will the St. Louis Rams go beyond playing one "homegame" a year, not at home? What a shitty time for Rams fans. It's the sports equivalent of an open marriage, where one parter isn't OK with.

I think there are talks in oak paneled rooms - Kroenke and someone discussing how Kroenke can get in a position to either successfully hold St. Louis hostage for a billion dollar stadium or pull the eff out and land softly in London.

St. Louis isnt going to build a billon dollar stadium, and Kroenke suspects this. Or it could be that Kroenke dosn't get how luke-warm St. Louis is when it comes to this NFL franchise these days. Maybe he ends up flinching.

[KCMax]

Dang. Logic would say that the Cowboys would move to the NFC West, while the Rams would be in the NFC East and change names. I think that makes better geographic sense. It would destroy some great rivalries in the NFC, but the NFL will probably have to move to allow a single rivalry game per year on each schedule eventually. This could also be the excuse to move to 17 or 18 games they have been waiting for.

The London Lions would make the most sense, but that is not happening. The London Lords? Knights?...

Logic would not have the Cowboys in the East right now, with St. Louis in the West. I don't think they'd break up the Cowboys rivalries.

[chingon]

I have to say I love that StL is so mad about the Cards though, it's refreshing and awesome for me, a huge baseball fan, to find a whole city where the majority of folks aren't shitting themselves over the "greatness" of NFL football and laughing at the slow, boring old national pasttime baseball.

My (100% negative) feelings for the Cardinals fanbase aside, no one is worse than baseball fans when it comes to haughty dismissiveness and "shitting themselves over the 'greatness'" of their preferred spectator sport. When you ask someone why they like baseball you almost always end up on the receiving end of a clearly-rehearsed, 2-minute diatribe that reads like a child's attempt to imitiate the "commentary" on Ken Burns' "Baseball". So I have some sympathy towards football fans who respond to the same question with: "Baseball is gay, football kicks ass."

I just feel really suspicious of any evocation of sports fandom as somehow objectively better than another, including my own.

I say this as a baseball fan who thinks football is impossibly slow and boring.

[bobbyhawks]

Dang. Logic would say that the Cowboys would move to the NFC West, while the Rams would be in the NFC East and change names. I think that makes better geographic sense. It would destroy some great rivalries in the NFC, but the NFL will probably have to move to allow a single rivalry game per year on each schedule eventually. This could also be the excuse to move to 17 or 18 games they have been waiting for.

The London Lions would make the most sense, but that is not happening. The London Lords? Knights?...

Logic would not have the Cowboys in the East right now, with St. Louis in the West. I don't think they'd break up the Cowboys rivalries.

True, but if the NFL wishes to add teams or expand like this, someone's rivalries will be affected. Once a team is playing a full half season schedule in London, they will not force the team to fly back and forth between Seattle, AZ, and San Fran on such a divisional schedule. I'm guessing that a London team would probably correspond with other international expansion efforts, such as Tokyo, Toronto, Mexico City, other Euro cities, etc. If they don't just steal a team for a move to LA, one would think a London team could come with more than just a limp into international markets.

[chingon]

What a shitty time for Rams fans. It's the sports equivalent of an open marriage, where one parter isn't OK with.

I believe that's called a "gingrich" or "getting gingriched". Don't know the etymology. Probably some Middle English thing.

[KCMax]

Dang. Logic would say that the Cowboys would move to the NFC West, while the Rams would be in the NFC East and change names. I think that makes better geographic sense. It would destroy some great rivalries in the NFC, but the NFL will probably have to move to allow a single rivalry game per year on each schedule eventually. This could also be the excuse to move to 17 or 18 games they have been waiting for.

The London Lions would make the most sense, but that is not happening. The London Lords? Knights?...

Logic would not have the Cowboys in the East right now, with St. Louis in the West. I don't think they'd break up the Cowboys rivalries.

True, but if the NFL wishes to add teams or expand like this, someone's rivalries will be affected. Once a team is playing a full half season schedule in London, they will not force the team to fly back and forth between Seattle, AZ, and San Fran on such a divisional schedule. I'm guessing that a London team would probably correspond with other international expansion efforts, such as Tokyo, Toronto, Mexico City, other Euro cities, etc. If they don't just steal a team for a move to LA, one would think a London team could come with more than just a limp into international markets.

Not really. What rivals do the Rams have now? The Niners? I don't see how that would change if they moved to London.

[shinatoo]

Klusterfoken

[bobbyhawks]

Not really. What rivals do the Rams have now? The Niners? I don't see how that would change if they moved to London.

If they officially moved to London, I give about .0001% chance that they keep the Rams nickname. A move to such a large market would almost certainly require rebranding. The only reason they would stay in the NFC West would be because there is a slot there, and because any shuffling of teams will cause rivalries to be lost. Contrary to what their adoption of post-season overtime rules would suggest, I don't think the NFL is so naive as to limp into an international market with no regard for the fact that West Coast destinations are 4 to 6 hours further than East Coast. They would be guaranteeing that 6 of 16 games every season for the London franchise would involve one team or the other flying for ~38 hours combined in a single week. In the NFL, that cuts a huge divot out of rehab and prep time. Putting them in the NFC East or with only East Coast teams would drive that down to ~15 hours. Long travel times would be unavoidable, and smaller markets would be really tough to get to, but it is different when you do not have to schedule those teams every single year.

[kcmetro]

Why does everything have to be bigger and "better" these days? That's how I view this talk of London getting an NFL team. What is wrong with the NFL as it is now? Why do we have to bring in a city on the other side of the Atlantic?

Oh that's right...$$$.

[phxcat]

Please don't call it "pizza"

My bad- how about provel?

[phuqueue]

Please don't call it "pizza"

My bad- how about provel?

It should be illegal to suggest that provel can be eaten

[shinatoo]

Provel is a white processed cheese that is popular in St. Louis, Missouri. Provel is produced with Cheddar, Swiss, and provolone. Provel has a low melting point and, thus, has a gooey and almost buttery texture at room temperature. It is the traditional topping for St. Louis-style pizza. It is also often used in the preparation of cheese soup and served on salads, chicken and the Gerber sandwich. Some restaurants go a step further and use Provel for their pasta dishes with white sauce instead of the customary fresh Italian cheese and cream. Although popular in the St. Louis area, Provel is rarely used elsewhere.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Provel_cheese

I could never put my finger on it but that's what I hate the most about Imo's. One more lunch and learn in STL where I am forced to pay for Imo's and I'm going to go postal.

[bbqboy]

what's a gerber sandwich? that'a new one on me.

[warwickland]

I think you definitely have to be fed provel from an early age to like it. I actually remember not liking my dads imos pizzas he would bring home when i was really little (probably the natural response), but later in high school, and definitely college when I was away from it I started having weird... withdrawals? I think provel has some kind of protracted half-life inside you.

NY style with just the right amount of grease and fresh cheese is what I like the most, but sometimes I snap to, and there's an imo's pizza in front of me. There are other provel based pizzas i eat, though. Doesn't Waldo Pizza have one? If there is any satellite/outpost of provel it is Kansas City! I can think of three places off the top of my head that puts it on food, and I'm sure there are more.

[phxcat]

What is really disappointing to me is that The Hill is otherwise such a nice neighborhood, but the abundance of provel just gives it a sheen of- I don't want to say artificiality, but just somehow makes it not quite right.

[mean]

Doesn't Waldo Pizza have one?

Yeah, Waldo's main thing is St. Louis style pizza. Same with Leo's up north.