The news of the Rams' move to L.A. "almost immediately drew outrage from St. Louis fans, and disappointment from local leaders," according to a front-page piece by David Hunn of the ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH. St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay in a statement said that the NFL "ignored the facts, the strength of the market, the local plan to build a new stadium, and the loyalty of St. Louis fans, 'who supported the team through far more downs than ups.'” St. Louis County Exec Steve Stenger said he was “bitterly” disappointed. St. Louis stadium task force co-head Dave Peacock called his work with the NFL more “contemplated and contrived than I realized" (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 1/13). Slay "accused the league of turning its back on the city and its efforts to keep the team" (USATODAY.com, 1/12). Peacock said, "This is a byproduct of an owner who just didn't want to be here." The AP's R.B. Fallstrom noted task force co-head and attorney Bob Blitz "did not rule out legal action" (AP, 1/12). NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell during his press conference announcing the Rams' move said, "Relocation is a painful process. It’s painful for the fans, for the communities, for the league in general. In some ways a bittersweet moment, because we were unable to get the kind of facilities done we wanted in their markets" (AP, 1/12).
LONG SHOT TO RETURN? ESPN.com's Nick Wagoner notes St. Louis "has lost its football franchise" for the second time, and the "question now becomes whether the city will ever get another one." It seems like a "long shot that the NFL would return, but it’d be silly to rule out the possibility of it happening eventually." In fact, the league "will now need some city to serve as the leverage for the next group of teams that want to build a new stadium" (ESPN.com, 1/13). In Ft. Worth, Charean Williams notes Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones "left open the possibility of St. Louis getting back an NFL team in its future." Jones: "Don't rule St. Louis out. It's got too much backbone. It's got too much tradition. It's got a lot going for it. ... It's an NFL city. It just didn't have it right this time" (FT. WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM, 1/13).
NOT HAPPY IN THE LOU: ESPN Radio 101.1 St. Louis' Bernie Miklasz said, "I don’t think the city ever had a chance, really. The game was pretty much rigged. The more they lost and the more disengaged Stan Kroenke was, the more it just drained the fan support. The perceived (lack of) fan support became one of the reasons for letting them go." Miklasz added, "From a bottom-line business decision, this was an easy decision for the NFL. But it also happened to be a decision that, just from a human standpoint, was terribly unfair to St. Louis given the effort that was made here to save this team" ("Mike & Mike," ESPN Radio, 1/13). In St. Louis, Ben Frederickson writes, "This city really will miss its mediocre Rams. Stan Kroenke, not so much." The men with the money "get what they want." Frederickson: "Every time. A precedent has been set: If you are the home city of an NFL team that wants to move, do nothing, because it won’t matter in the end." Goodell, who turned out to be Kroenke’s "fellow con artist, ... painted quite the picture after the NFL mafia cleaned up the blood and paid off the witnesses" (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 1/13). In Illinois, Todd Eschman asks, "Did we really believe the NFL owners -- a cartel of stone-cold and uber-wealthy businessmen -- would ever deny the richest among them and block his wish to move the Rams to Los Angeles? Were we really naive enough to believe a new billion-dollar stadium would out-shine the glitz of Tinseltown and the depth of Stan Kroenke's pockets? ... Why did we ever allow ourselves to believe that the NFL's policy for relocation is anything more than window dressing and that Kroenke cares about anything more than making himself even richer? (BELLEVILLE NEWS-DEMOCRAT, 1/13).
GOODELL OUT FOR EVERY LAST DOLLAR: In St. Louis, Benjamin Hochman in a front-page piece writes the "feckless thugs in business suits decided St. Louis isn’t suited for the NFL, and just like that," the team is in L.A. Goodell, whose "heart is as black as a hockey puck, saw the St. Louisans trying to save the Rams and essentially laughed." The vote to move the Rams "was atrocious, an embarrassment to sport, something the NFL seems to be mastering in" (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 1/13). The POST-DISPATCH's Jeff Gordon writes the NFL "made up the relocation process as it went along, but that is a Goodell trademark" (STLTODAY.com, 1/12).
MISSED OPPORTUNITY: In K.C., Dave Helling wrote as a "political matter ... the push for a stadium in St. Louis could not have been handled more poorly." Any public project as "controversial as a stadium must have public support," and that support "must be obvious and overwhelming." Yet in St. Louis, at "every turn, local and state leaders tried to keep the voters’ voice out of the stadium debate" (KANSASCITY.com, 1/12).
