History Repeats for Rams

It sounds like a final score from last season.

Rams lose, 21-3.

And who beat them this time?

The 49ers. And the Cowboys. And the Vikings and the Packers and the Bears and the Lions and the Redskins and the Giants and the Eagles and the Cardinals and the Broncos and the Chiefs and the Steelers and the Browns and the Oilers and the Dolphins and the Bills and the Patriots and the Jets and the two new teams who haven’t beaten anybody yet, the Carolina Panthers and the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Altogether now, they voted in bloc Wednesday to block the Rams’ planned move to St. Louis.

Twenty-one-to-three against--and the Rams were favored.

When’s the last time that happened? The 1975 NFC championship game? Or was it 1976? Maybe 1978?

But this time, Ram fans aren’t jumping out windows or banging their heads against the shag carpeting. They aren’t rejoicing, either--much too early for that--but they are smiling, or at least smirking, at the brightest piece of news they have heard since Flipper Anderson was running up that tunnel in the Meadowlands, toting the winning touchdown, a mere 62 months ago.

For more than a year, John Shaw and Georgia Frontiere have had the city of St. Louis in one vise--tightening it slowly, excruciatingly, another notch for each new outlandish demand--and Orange County football fans in another. Squeeze here, squeeze there. Harder, harder. Who says there’s no blood in these stones?

Wednesday, the vise was placed on the other foot. Now, it is Shaw’s and Frontiere’s turn to squirm. Two can play the extortion game, as the NFL owners reminded again with their rousing call to arms--arms that are now extended for a $25-million grab of the Rams’ no-longer-personal seat licensing booty.

Want to move to St. Louis, do you?

Well, before you even think about passing ‘Go,’ please place $25 million on this collection plate.

Then make sure to indemnify Fox Television for any financial losses it may incur while broadcasting NFC games without a team in the Los Angeles market.

Then won’t you be so generous as to pitch in and help good neighbor, citizen and buddy Al Davis, build his dream stadium near Hollywood Park? We know you’ll want to give generously and give often.

While the league was at it, it should have asked Shaw to bungee jump from the top of the Big A. Or join the NFL Speakers Bureau. Whatever it takes to make him uncomfortable. Because, as we all know, no one franchise is bigger than the NFL--except, maybe, the Raiders--and no one franchise is going to push around the owners of the greatest sports league in the Western Hemisphere.

Not for free, anyway.

The official vote was 21 votes against, three for and six abstentions. Those abstaining were NFC West rivals Atlanta and New Orleans, who aren’t quite sure they want to trade yearly junkets to Newport Beach for long weekends in Missouri; the Chargers and the Raiders, who like having the Rams around because it makes them look better; Seattle, so sorry about Chuck Knox; and Indianapolis, which stole the Colts from Baltimore in 1984 and now doesn’t know if that was such a smart idea.

Joining the Rams on the “yes” ballot were Tampa Bay and Cincinnati. This tiny fact speaks volumes. Among NFL owners, there is an unspoken rule of thumb whenever issues of importance are placed to a vote: If the Rams, the Buccaneers and the Bengals are for something, it can’t be good for the league.

So, they voted accordingly.

Next stop for the Rams?

The courtroom, of course. St. Louis officials promise antitrust litigation will be filed, but such a court case could take months to be resolved. In the meantime, the Rams have football games to play. In 1982, Davis moved his Raiders from Oakland to Los Angeles, filed suit and fought the war from there. The Rams could do likewise--move to St. Louis and tell the league, “See you in court”--but Shaw said Wednesday he wasn’t inclined to play it that way.

The Rams’ other option isn’t necessarily Anaheim. At the moment, the Rams are a team without a home. Pending litigation, they could play at any one of a number of Southern California sites--the Coliseum, the Rose Bowl, Dodger Stadium, Titan Stadium, Mile Square Park, The Pond parking lot. Meanwhile, the Raiders are contemplating playing in Anaheim while construction at Hollywood Park is under way.

So, if we’re lucky, the 1995 NFL season could see the Rams playing at the Coliseum and the Raiders at Anaheim Stadium.

Culture shock will be measured on the Richter scale.

Say what you will about Leigh Steinberg, but his motley Save The Rams brigade did the job, impossible as that assignment seemed two months ago. He assisted in the movement that kept the Giants in San Francisco, and now he has mustered nearly three times the votes he required in the Rams’ custody battle. Steinberg went in needing only eight.

“To Leigh’s credit, he’s two for two,” said one dismayed St. Louis fan, Bryan Herrick. “I wish we had him when (Cardinal owner Bill) Bidwill was threatening to leave.”

On the morning of March 16, the Rams remain in Southern California. That’s more than we had reason to hope, up to and including the morning of March 15. Steinberg called it “a beautiful day” and expressed the hope that Frontiere “comes back and renews the relationship with the fans and has a happy relationship with everyone.”

And the Rams go 16-0 and Chris Miller plays every down and Wayne Gandy makes All-Pro and the Vince Lombardi Trophy gets renamed the Rich Brooks Trophy.

You won the round, Leigh, and a fine round it is. Let’s not push this thing too far, OK?