Watch the Spirit Drop in St. Louis

A review of Week 4 in the NFL, and now winter and reality set in for those sentenced to life in St. Louis. Without Mark McGwire, St. Louis sports fans are left to follow the Rams--losers of eight in a row at home. So far.

No Such Problems

One fan suffered a broken leg fighting for one of McGwire’s home runs, and another was pictured with a black eye. With all the punching, poking and kicking that has gone on in Busch Stadium, there won’t be any such concerns in the Trans World Dome when Ram quarterback Tony Banks throws his next pass into the empty stands.

You Mean Me?

A crowd of people in Washington got together and were heard chanting, “Norv must go.”

You can imagine Norv Turner’s reaction: Are you sure they didn’t mean Bill?

They were quite clear: “Norv must go,” was the chant after the Redskins opened the season 0-4 for the first time since 1981.

Can’t Be That Bad

It’s worse. Washington went with its third kicker in three games, Cary Blanchard apparently connecting from 37 yards. But hold on, there’s a penalty--on the Redskins for an illegal formation, which is tough to do in field goal formation. Pushed back five yards, Blanchard was wide left--the fifth consecutive miss by a Redskin kicker.

Standing Ovation, Please

* The New Orleans Saints are 3-0. Repeat, the New Orleans Saints are 3-0. Mike Ditka for president.

* Priest Holmes. Thought it would have taken Sherlock to find out what was wrong with the Ravens, but all they needed was a Priest, who ran for 173 yards--most in the league Sunday--in his first NFL start.

Sit Down, Please

* The Bears have led at halftime in all four games. However, they have been outscored in the third quarter, 44-0, and have lost all four games this year.

Titanic Sequel

Doesn’t take much for Irving Fryar to go down with the ship--just money. The 0-4 Eagles, an organization in chaos expecting to fire its coach at season’s end, desperate for a new stadium and with little chance to win any time soon because it lacks a quarterback, offered Fryar a three-year contract extension and he snatched it.

“It’s nice to know I’ll be able to continue on as a part of this organization a while longer,” Fryar said.

And if there’s such a thing as reincarnation, this guy was playing in the band the night the Titanic went down.

Empty Room

The Cardinals returned to St. Louis on Sunday, for a regular-season game for the first time since 1988, when owner Bill Bidwill moved them to Arizona. The Cardinals, who haven’t won a playoff game since 1947 and have yet to have a winning season in Arizona, knocked off the Rams, prompting Coach Vince Tobin to give Bidwill the game ball.

“I’ll probably have this one done up and put in a place of importance,” said Bidwill--no doubt alongside all of his other game balls.

A Little Perspective

The Bay area newspapers went wild after the 49ers beat the Falcons, upset that the team lost starting left tackle Dave Fiore to a season-ending knee injury. So instead of crushing Buffalo, New Orleans, Indianapolis and St. Louis in their next four games by 31 points a game, they win by 28.

Raidermania

Never a doubt, baby. The Raiders are 2-2 with a chance to post a winning record for the first time since 1995, and play the Cardinals, Chargers and Bengals the next three games.

“I feel like we’ve had the toughest first four games of any team in the league,” said quarterback Jeff George, and he’s not paranoid like all the other Raiders.

“To come out 2-2 is pretty good,” he said.

You might even call it a miracle, along with Sunday’s statistics against the Cowboys: Only four penalties and no turnovers. Maybe Al Davis really is letting Jon Gruden coach the team.