St. Louis lost the battle to keep its losing football team from moving to Los Angeles on Tuesday. The loss of its loser of an owner should help ease the sting.
This city really will miss its mediocre Rams.
Stan Kroenke, not so much.
“I’m going to attempt to do everything that I can to keep the Rams in St. Louis.†— Kroenke
Back when Kroenke, a native Missourian, used to talk to the Rams fan base through the media, the billionaire said he wouldn’t do this. St. Louisans should have known better, of course. A liar can’t help but lie.
Some were led to believe the member of the Missouri ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ Hall of Fame — no kidding — would fight to keep professional football in his home state. Or at least not fight to rip it away.
People are also reading…
But the problem was Kroenke’s actions never really seemed to match the assurance he gave the Post-Dispatch in a rare 2010 interview that took place after he exercised his right as minority owner to match a competitor’s bid.
Remember what he said.
“I’m born and raised in Missouri. I’ve been a Missourian for 60 years. People in our state know me. People know I can be trusted. People know I’m an honorable guy.†— Kroenke
Look at what he did.
Kroenke latched onto a regrettable clause in the team’s Edward Jones Dome lease that freed up the opportunity for relocation if the venue wasn’t in the top 25 percent of the league.
Former team president John Shaw made sure the item made it into the paperwork. Kroenke wielded it as his trump card. Meanwhile, he made sure his multi-billion dollar dream stadium in Inglewood, Calif., was shovel-ready, with or without the poor second team that will wind up being his tenant.
If only Kroenke’s desire to climb the Forbes ranking and claim Los Angeles matched his desire to own a winning football team.
In his 29-page relocation application — a necessary part of the league relocation guidelines that turned out to be an absolute joke — Kroenke cited the Rams’ to-the-cap spending as a way to knock fans for poor attendance. He failed to mention the Rams are 36-59-1 since he became the majority owner.
He also left out this noteworthy piece of information: Rams coach Jeff Fisher, the man Kroenke hired in 2012, was asked multiple questions about his experience overseeing the Houston Oilers’ transition into the Tennessee Titans during his job interview in Denver. He must have nailed the answers, because Fisher, who is 27-36-1 with the Rams, is about to become the third coach since the AFL-NFL merger to receive a fifth season after a sub-.500 record in each of his first four.
“There’s a track record. I’ve always stepped up for pro football in St. Louis. And I’m stepping up one more time.†— Kroenke
It was wild to track, wasn’t it? The low of Monday night, when reports of a Rams-Chargers partnership surfaced. The thrill of Tuesday afternoon, when the league’s Los Angeles committee recommended the Chargers-Raiders project in Carson, Calif., by a 5-1 vote. Then the disgust when we were reminded that this is the NFL, where money rules.
An initial hope was that Kroenke would be so stubborn he would blow it. Man, it was fun to imagine the league owners with a conscience tackling Kroenke and associate-in-greed Jerry Jones at the goal line.
There were unconfirmed whispers of collusion (rumors that Eric Grubman, the league’s point man on the race to Los Angeles, might be in line for a job with the Rams), and even some humor, such as a report that Kroenke threatened legal action if the league picked Carson.
To be fair, Kroenke probably views the threat of a lawsuit as a sign of his friendship. It’s his version of a handshake.
Eventually, the fun stopped, and reality hit. The men with the money get what they want. 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.
Kroenke’s fellow con artist, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, painted quite the picture after the NFL mafia cleaned up the blood and paid off the witnesses.
The amount of spin bordered on insanity. It would have been laughable if St. Louis wasn’t the city with the cement blocks strapped to its feet.
The way Goodell told it, Kroenke was leading the Los Angeles Rams home. People here know Kroenke turned his back on his home long ago.
The best part was when Kroenke stepped behind the microphone.
“Um,†he started “Well.â€
He recovered and muddled through excuses like a guy who hadn’t talked publicly since .... let me check again ... 2012.
Kroenke said he really tried to make it work here. He said it was bittersweet. He said this was the hardest thing he’s done in his professional career.
St. Louis knows better.
“I’ll do my damnedest.†— Kroenke
Turned out he didn’t give a damn. Good riddance, Stan.
St. Louis will miss your team.
It should celebrate losing you.
