Fans’ Enthusiasm for Rams High--So Far : Football: Team starts a new era by opening training camp today in St. Louis.
The Rams will play the Rams in a scrimmage later this month, and folks here say, that’s entertainment.
Fans will pay $10 each--no breaks for kids--to watch Sean Gilbert shove aside Wayne Gandy at Kirkwood High School. The cost for parking has yet to be determined.
“They can get more than 10,000 people in there, and it will be full,” said David Pierce, Maryville University athletic director. “I had someone already ask for 2,000 tickets; people are nuts for football here.”
If you paid--that’s paid --LA-area fans 10 bucks each to watch the Rams scrimmage--would they come? Would anyone come?
“This town is starved for football,” said Mike Sigler, Parkway Central High School athletic director. “Ask me to name five Ram players and I wouldn’t have a clue. But fans here don’t care who the players are; it’s football.”
The fans of St. Louis, who have been without professional football since the Cardinals’ departure in 1987, are now hours away from seeing their new heroes step on the field for the first time. A soccer camp at Maryville University, which was scheduled before the Rams moved from Los Angeles, will force the team to open its training camp today at nearby Parkway Central High School.
“We haven’t even had a practice yet and people are excited to have us here,” Rams’ Coach Rich Brooks said. “The enthusiasm is there; it’s up to us to keep it.
“I know this, I’m not going to be a very happy football coach this year if we’re not in the playoffs.”
Brooks and the Rams, of course, have done no wrong in St. Louis. The local newspaper has covered the team as if it had won the most recent Super Bowl. Five TV stations were present for Brooks’ remarks Sunday, a repeat performance as he pointed out, after speaking to the same media gathering four days earlier.
“[Quarterback] Jamie Martin may not be able to throw until the end of next week,” Brooks announced, and the 10 o’clock news shows got their lead story.
Mention of the Rams cut a 30-minute wait at a local restaurant to immediate seating. St. Louis Ram baseball caps at Champs in the West County Mall have been selling fast at $15.99 each. Ram caps minus the “St. Louis” are going for $13.99. There are “Welcome Rams” signs everywhere.
The Rams are still unpacking, but the fans are ready. In anticipation of a large traffic jam today, a police escort has been arranged to guide the players from their Maryville dorms to Parkway Central.
“Do we order concessions for 1,000, 3,000 or 10,000? fans?” Sigler said. “The funny thing is, our high school marching band is going to the Rose Bowl parade this year, and the money we make off the Rams is going to send the band to Los Angeles.”
Notes
The Rams signed No. 1 draft pick Kevin Carter to a six-year, $10-million deal Sunday night, only hours before the start of training camp. The deal includes a $5-million signing bonus. Carter is a 274-pound defensive end from Florida, the sixth pick in the draft. Rams general manager Steve Ortmayer said the Rams also are close to signing second-round pick Zach Wiegert, an offensive tackle from Nebraska.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.