In St. Louis, Newest Ram Fans Party : Welcome: In sports bars and restaurants, city’s football faithful finally have something to celebrate. But, they remind Frontiere--Missouri is the Show-Me State.

They were devastated in the fall of 1993 when the NFL didn’t award them an expansion team, frustrated last January when the New England Patriots didn’t move here and emotionally drained from six exasperating months of negotiations with the Rams.

So it’s no wonder St. Louis-area football fans cut loose Tuesday night, filling sports bars and restaurants for parties celebrating the deal that is expected to bring the Rams to town next season.

But this is not Charlotte, N.C., or Jacksonville, Fla., a community that is just glad to have an NFL team.

St. Louis fans are not naive. They’ve been burned before by Bill Bidwill, the St. Louis Cardinals owner who neglected them for many years and then bailed on them in 1988 when he moved his team to Phoenix.

They’re well aware of Ram owner Georgia Frontiere’s reputation for putting the bottom line ahead of the offensive line, for caring more about greenbacks than running backs, and that philosophy simply won’t fly here, some say.

Folks are glad the Rams are coming, they’ll support Frontiere, her front office and team, they’ll spend their money on personal seat licenses (PSLs), expensive prerequisites for buying season tickets that were already being hawked Tuesday night on television ads featuring exciting Ram plays from the 1994 season.

But if Frontiere expects fans to have a blind loyalty to the Rams, to make a commitment to the team without a reciprocal commitment, then she’s in the wrong place.

“We’re excited about the Rams coming, but Missouri is the Show-Me State,” said Rod Donaldson, a 38-year-old from St. Louis who joined the festivities at Walter Payton’s Americas Sports Bar downtown. “I know Georgia has roots in the community, and her talk (during Tuesday’s news conference) is appreciated, but that will only go so far.

“The Ram organization is going to have to do more than talk. They have to put a good team on the field. We’ll go with this for a while, but if they don’t put an emphasis on having a solid, winning team, then the excitement will trail off.”

Larry Taylor, a 44-year-old from St. Louis who joined Donaldson for the party, said the Rams will have a honeymoon period if NFL owners approve the move during the league meetings in March. But it will only last for about a year, he said.

With all the money St. Louis is putting into the team--taxpayers financed the new domed stadium, and fans are being asked to raise about $67 million through the PSL campaign to pay for the Rams’ relocation costs--fans are expecting something in return.

Maybe not a Super Bowl championship, but at least a franchise that will take some of the enormous profits it expects to make and invest them back into the team to keep it competitive year after year.

“Georgia is not here for her love of St. Louis--it’s a business, and we’re paying through the nose for it,” Taylor said. “Football is entertainment, and it will pay off, but what makes it really pay off is when it’s good entertainment.

“St. Louis has always been a good sports town, but it’s also a town that loves winners. The (baseball) Cardinals always put a winning team on the field, and that’s what the Rams have to do.”

Still, there are several fans, including 31-year-old Bryan Herrick, who are willing to cut the Rams a little more slack. Yes, rooting for the Bidwill Cardinals was a drag, but it sure beats having no one to root for.

“I almost can’t believe this is happening,” Herrick said. “To have an NFL team back . . . it’s one of those things you really don’t appreciate until you lose it. Even if the Rams went 4-12 last season and aren’t that successful next year, we still get to see the San Francisco 49ers and (quarterback) Steve Young, and players like (Buffalo quarterback) Jim Kelly and (Miami quarterback) Dan Marino. This is going to be great.”

Added Suzanne Shrader, a 27-year-old lifetime Ram fan who grew up in Newport Beach and moved to St. Louis last year: “This is just totally awesome because my Rams are coming to St. Louis. You never know what the owners might do, but if they look at the whole picture, they’ll realize this is what’s best for the Rams.”