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According to Huss" St. Louis Sports Online lead columnist and host of "Sportstalk" on WGNU AM-920 can be heard online at www.wgnu.net--time: (7:00-8:00 pm Tuesdays and Thursdays) hussonwgnu@aol.com |
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According to Huss" St. Louis Sports Online lead columnist and host of "Sportstalk" on WGNU AM-920 can be heard online at www.wgnu.net--time: (7:00-8:00 pm Tuesdays and Thursdays) hussonwgnu@aol.com |
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Memo to the players, coaches and front office staff of the St. Louis Rams, Earth City, Missouri: Gentlemen, please be advised that you are now officially out of excuses. On the first Sunday of December before thousands of empty seats (in the city that the rich and arrogant cartel better known as the National Football League calls a "hotbed of professional football"), the host Carolina Panthers defeated our Male Sheep 16-3 and in so doing, sweeping the season series between the two teams. In so doing, the Rams have lost five of their last seven games. More bluntly, if the National Football Conference playoffs started tomorrow, the "Super Bowl Champion St. Louis Rams" would not be invited. You may recall that roughly a month ago on a Sunday night, the boys from Tobacco Row came to the Gateway City for their annual visit. In that game, the Panthers defeated the Rams 27-24. We were told by the Rams Park spin that there was an excuse: All Pro Quarterback Kurt Warner, All Pro Running Back Marshall Faulk and #1 Place Kicker Jeff Wilkins were not available for the Home Team for this game. Fifteen days, later Faulk returned to the line-up by Washington defeated the Rams at the Dome on a Monday night. Six days later, the New Orleans Saints came to town to defeat our Navy and Gold Heroes. But again, there was another excuse; Kurt Warner was not available to play for the Home Team. Hence, with four games to go #13 began his workouts. All week, the spin from Rams Park was how great Warner looked and how the offense was back in synch. Coaches as well as television and radio talking heads were reading right from the Earth City talking points on how the defending Champs will make a comeback. Heck, even the football writers at the Post Dispatch in their Sunday morning pre-game edition unanimously selected the Rams as winners in this rematch with Carolina. The real folks in the know, the odds-makers dubbed our Male Sheep favorites in this match-up. Squawk radio hosts christened Warner as the Messiah and a return to the promise land. So on this first Sunday in December on a beautiful afternoon where the North Carolina meteorologists were predicting a half-foot of snow, George Seifert's team outsmarted and outperformed the Greatest Show on Earth. (Side note: isn't it good to know that the Weather Geniuses in North Carolina are as accurate as their counterparts in St. Louis when it comes to predicting snowstorms?) When the final gun sounded, the Rams had five losses. They provided another illustration of "Football How It Used To Be ". Seifert was kind enough not to invoke the "Same old Rams" moniker in his post-game remarks. The Rams remain a confusion and bad football team. On this Sunday, the Greatest Show on Earth bombed in Charlotte. This act was closed down early. Playing in his first game in six weeks, Warner was very rusty. His timing was off and his overall play was ineffective. #13 threw for four interceptions including the one that produced the only Panther touchdown of the afternoon: an 88 yard Jimmy Hitchcock third quarter run back For the first time in almost two years, St. Louis did not score at least twenty-points in a game. St. Louis should have won this game. However, when you commit eight turnovers, ten penalties and drop six passes, you simply do not deserve to win. Once again St. Louis beat themselves. Compare that to Carolina who committed their first penalty of the game with roughly three minutes remaining in the third quarter. This outcome is particularly difficult to swallow when you consider that Carolina threw two first half interceptions while in the St. Louis red-zone. These Panthers wanted to give the Rams a three-week early Christmas present. The Home Team would not accept this Southern hospitality. Rather, they allowed Carolina to win despite their sins. Mike Martz witnessed another coaching clinic by his counterpart, Seifert. The former San Francisco Coach is very adept in beating the Rams. In this match-up, Seifert kept the strategy simple: play fundamental, mistake-free football and do not allow the Rams offense on the field. This game plan worked much to the dismay of the Home Team. For the Gateway City Football Fans, their panic has now reached a fever pitch. With four games remaining, this match-up in Carolina was viewed as the easiest of the four and a must (and perhaps given) win. Now the Rams must run the table for the next three games and hope for the best. This will not be an easy task. Before traveling to Tampa Bay and New Orleans to close the regular season, the Rams will welcome the 11-2 Vikings (with three extra days of rest) to town for a late starting game. On the surface, Minnesota could get big time revenge from last January. (Incidentally, speaking of events at the Dome, shouldn't the Rams Management be ashamed of themselves and totally embarrassed for last week's inappropriate chastising of their PAYING fans for not standing up and cheering at their command? How dare any franchise, much less one that will probably raise ticket prices next season, insist that their PAYING faithful be forced to play "Duck-Duck-Goose" because someone in the front office or P R Department considers it appropriate. These PSL holders have made our local NFL Franchise multi-millionaires over their St. Louis tenure. If these PAYING fans want to boo inferior and unacceptable play, the Rams or some local talk radio gab-master/television talking head has no right to interfere. It is strikingly obvious that the local football fans are more astute than the majority of the lap dog local media when breaking down the spin that comes out of Rams Park. Thank goodness good ol' Joel Bushbaum is around to serve as Sheriff). With three weeks to go, a return to the playoffs is looking more doubtful. The Rams will need more than their gaudy Super Bowl rings and spiffy new uniforms to win. These three games will determine how the local sports fans will enjoy the first month of the year 2001: either watching the Home Team in NFC playoff action or counting down the days until pitchers and catchers report to Jupiter, Florida. Yet the Rams are now faced with the realistic possibility of starting the season 6-0 and NOT making the Conference Playoffs. This is almost unheard of. Was the 1999 season really a fluke? Shortly, the dreaded word "Choke" will start rearing its ugly head when it comes to the 2000 Rams. They and they alone can stop this train wreck. And-this time no excuses will be accepted. |
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