One less 10:00 a.m. game next season

[Tech_God]

With the Rams moving to L.A.

 

[Judge Fudge]

But if the bolts relocate then we move to the AFC? with Kansas city???

 

[Mariners_44]

But if the bolts relocate then we move to the AFC????

Not true. With the Rams going it doesn't matter who goes now, divisions stay put. They didn't want two teams in the same division to share the stadium (Oak & SD). One less 10am game is right!

 

[Mariners_44]

I do feel for the St. Louis fans, hate that feeling.

 

[Judge Fudge]

I do feel for the St. Louis fans, hate that feeling.

They Can join the Chiefs bandw errr... Fanbase

 

[HaroldSeattle]

Always think it sucks when a sports team moves, but if one of these team had to move, I glad it was this one. Now the Rams are back on the west coast, no one changes conferences.

 

[Screamin12th]

the only way the Hawks might have moved to the AFC is if the Raiders and Chargers got the stadium to share. They can't have two AFC west teams in the same stadium so that would have forced their hand for realignment. With the Rams and Chargers going the hawks stay put.

This is a painful day for fans in Stl and we all know it ( Sonics ). We have been there and felt it, but the big difference is the support for the Sonics was there. They were still selling or close to selling out Key Arena where as Stl was a empty house.

In my eyes though the Rams are where they should be, in LA. There is a team that i feel is not where it should be right now and that is the Cards but there is NO WAY IN HELL they ever move after the support they have gathered in AZ. Sorry Stl for your loss. Now the NFC West is almost a true "WEST" Division and say goodbye to a 10am game every season.

 

[Destroydacre]

Seeing as at least one team was going to go, the selfish part of me was hoping it would be the Rams, for the very reason of the Seahawks having one less early game every year. But I agree that it sucks that St. Louis is losing their team. I do genuinely feel badly for their fans. I wonder what will happen with Oakland now. The Coliseum is a dump, IMO they should move into Levi's with the 49ers and that would give them a very nice stadium to play in while also giving them time to come up with a stadium plan of their own either in Oakland or elsewhere. But who knows how things will actually unfold.

 

[jerseyhawksfan79]

StL fans are good fans and maybe one day they'll get another NFL franchise. I feel bad for them but on the flip side at least that early start is gone.

 

[dude82]

It's awful for the fans being left behind anytime a team relocates. I empathize with St. Louis football fans. They now face the same dilemma that Sonics fans faced. Do they continue to root for the Rams from afar, root for the nearby Chiefs or stop watching football altogether unless/until they can get a new team in St. Louis to root for? When the Sonics were stolen, I chose to keep an eye on the progress of getting a new team and pretty much stop watching NBA basketball in the meantime. I still haven't watched an entire NBA game since the Sonics were stolen and won't until there's a team in Seattle called the Sonics wearing green and yellow. I wouldn't blame St. Louis fans if that's the option they went with here.

 

[Tech_God]

I I still haven't watched an entire NBA game since the Sonics were stolen and won't until there's a team in Seattle called the Sonics wearing green and yellow. I wouldn't blame St. Louis fans if that's the option they went with here.

Fuck the NBA. It is dead to me until a team is back in Seattle.

 

[blstoker]

It's awful for the fans being left behind anytime a team relocates. I empathize with St. Louis football fans. They now face the same dilemma that Sonics fans faced. Do they continue to root for the Rams from afar, root for the nearby Chiefs or stop watching football altogether unless/until they can get a new team in St. Louis to root for? When the Sonics were stolen, I chose to keep an eye on the progress of getting a new team and pretty much stop watching NBA basketball in the meantime. I still haven't watched an entire NBA game since the Sonics were stolen and won't until there's a team in Seattle called the Sonics wearing green and yellow. I wouldn't blame St. Louis fans if that's the option they went with here.

This one is a little hard to me, since the Rams fans I know personally are fans from the Los Angeles Rams days, and they are happy to have them back, and I'm happy for them. But, for the fans in St. Louis, this is the second time a team has been taken from them (the Cardinals in 1988).

Who knows, maybe Jacksonville decides to try St. Louis instead of London.....

 

[Destroydacre]

Fuck the NBA. It is dead to me until a team is back in Seattle.

NBA is dead to me period. I'm hoping this movement to get the arena MOU amended for NHL first goes through and Seattle can become a hockey town.

 

[dude82]

This one is a little hard to me, since the Rams fans I know personally are fans from the Los Angeles Rams days, and they are happy to have them back, and I'm happy for them. But, for the fans in St. Louis, this is the second time a team has been taken from them (the Cardinals in 1988).

Who knows, maybe Jacksonville decides to try St. Louis instead of London.....

Seeing another fanbase lose its team is what kept me from getting too excited at the prospect of the Sacramento Kings relocating to Seattle, as unlikely as the prospect of that happening was to begin with. That was, in my opinion, just the NBA using the threat of relocation to a city whose fans are still reeling from the loss of their own team to force Sacramento to pony up the dough for a new arena. They toyed with Kings fans and with Sonics fans with that situation and I didn't like it. Yes, it would have been great to have pro basketball back in Seattle and it will be when it happens, but I'd rather get an expansion team when it happens and not feel like I'm rooting for someone else's team.

What sucks is that relocation seems to be the preferred option over expansion of all these pro leagues in getting teams where they want to get them. I know the reasons why they prefer relocation over expansion (the two main reasons being that they want to avoid overexpansion, which makes sense, and they want to be able to have leverage over a city that they're trying to extort for a new building, which should be illegal) and I even understand one of them, but it sucks for the fans that lose their team because another city wants one and is willing to foot the bill to house one. Even in cities where the citizenry seems fairly uninterested in their own team (Jacksonville), relocating the team is going to devastate the fans that do care.

 

[Screamin12th]

with they way the NFL is set up i believe expansion is a hard sell. They would make a lot of owners upset if one division has 5 teams and all the rest 4 because that really messes up scheduling. The only way i see it working is if they bring in 2 teams then make a east and west Division of 8 teams each then they could plug a team into the east and west divisions. this though is not Ideal. Having 4 divisions in each conference ( West, East, North, South ) makes it extremely hard for expansion unless you bring in 4 new teams into one conference ( NFC/AFC ). I mean they can make it work with one but it really would mess up so many things that they might shy away from it. So what i am saying is we got 32 teams now and unless they bring in a even number ( 2,4,6 teams ) i just can't see any expansion clubs with out a massive reformation of divisions. Not something i believe the NFL wants to do again any time soon.

 

[blstoker]

Seeing another fanbase lose its team is what kept me from getting too excited at the prospect of the Sacramento Kings relocating to Seattle, as unlikely as the prospect of that happening was to begin with. That was, in my opinion, just the NBA using the threat of relocation to a city whose fans are still reeling from the loss of their own team to force Sacramento to pony up the dough for a new arena. They toyed with Kings fans and with Sonics fans with that situation and I didn't like it. Yes, it would have been great to have pro basketball back in Seattle and it will be when it happens, but I'd rather get an expansion team when it happens and not feel like I'm rooting for someone else's team.

What sucks is that relocation seems to be the preferred option over expansion of all these pro leagues in getting teams where they want to get them. I know the reasons why they prefer relocation over expansion (the two main reasons being that they want to avoid overexpansion, which makes sense, and they want to be able to have leverage over a city that they're trying to extort for a new building, which should be illegal) and I even understand one of them, but it sucks for the fans that lose their team because another city wants one and is willing to foot the bill to house one. Even in cities where the citizenry seems fairly uninterested in their own team (Jacksonville), relocating the team is going to devastate the fans that do care.

I'm not thrilled for the fans that are losing a team. That really sucks. I would much rather still root for the Sonics than having to change my allegiance to the Blazers. Unfortunately, this is part of being a fan of a team though. We lost the Sonics, we were very close to losing the Seahawks. It sucks, but this is just the latest in a long line of professional sports teams moving.

Part of the reason this is happening now is because the NFL allowed a team that had been in LA for nearly 50 years to move out 20 years ago. So, my statement is for those fans that I know who have had to root for a team that abandoned them and now their patience is being paid off with that team returning home.

Each of the 3 teams that were contemplating the move have historical ties to Los Angeles:

1) San Diego Chargers. They were an AFL charter team located in LA in 1960. They went 10-4 that year, and lost the league championship game to the Houston Oilers. That was the only season they spent there, so I feel their historical ties are very weak, and it's a sad repayment to their fans to move the team back to LA after 55 years in SD.

2) Oakland Raiders. They spent 13 years in LA (1982-1994). They were the epitome of a team that holds their city hostage with threats to move. First from Oakland to LA, then back to Oakland when LA wouldn't build them a stadium. I had hoped this attitude would have died with Al Davis and it makes me irritated that it appears the Davis family was willing to put their fans through a 3rd move in 35 years.

3) St. Louis Rams. Originating in Cleveland, they spent 9 years there (1937-1945) winning the NFL title their last year. The prospect of the new Memorial Coliseum, as well as having to compete for fans with the newly formed, Paul Brown coached Browns, they moved to LA, where they would be for the next 48 years. before taking the vacancy left in St. Louis by the Cardinals.

I am not thrilled with any team moving, but if a team HAD to move, then the Rams would have been the team I would've chosen - since they still have plenty of fans there, and have a much more extensive history in the city.

 

[JMR]

St Louis has always historically been more of a baseball town anyway. I'm sure the die hard Rammers are pissed but they still have the Cardinals and will not take too long to get over it.

This is the 2nd time Jeff Fisher has been told to move his team....

 

[Wolvie]

Fuck the NBA. It is dead to me until a team is back in Seattle.

^^^^^THIS + a million

 

[Wolvie]

Geographically, it is ridiculous to have a St. Louis team in the NFCW, just as its stupid that there is a Texas team in the NFCE. Less travel is great for the Hawks so this is the perfect situation.

While it does suck for Rams fans, it is great for the NFL's bottom line. And there were a lot of games in St. Louis where they simply couldn't sell any seats. Cheap seats were selling for $30 there while the same ticket in Seattle would have cost $250+

 

[Mariners_44]

I look at this in two ways, one being bummed for St Louis fans. We all know what it is to have a team ripped from us, so I totally sympathize with that fan base. On the other hand I am kind of envious of LA because they had their team ripped away after roughly a 40-year relationship with the city. Although a different sport, how amazing is it that they finally get a team and its the same one that left in the first place. Imagine in a few years if the Thunder showed back up in Seattle, how sweet would that be of all teams to relocate they would be who eventually came home. Albeit a sad story in St Louis, what a fairy tale ending in LA.