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

[JMR]

Geographically, it is ridiculous to have a St. Louis team in the NFCW,...

That's nothing. The Atlanta Falcons were in the NFC West until 2002.

 

[Anointed One]

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.....

Same here... I use to actually like the Rams in the early 80's when they were in Los Angeles... I lost interest in them when they moved... I was a huge fan of Wendell Tyler, Jack & Jim Youngblood, Nolan Cromwell, Fred Dryer, Vince Ferragamo, Jack Reynolds, Drew Hill, Billy Waddy... That team was fun to watch... I do feel bad for St Louis but I liked them better when they were in LA...

 

[PolarVortex]

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.

St Louis has lost four major sports franchises beginning with the MLB St Louis Browns who moved to Baltimore in 1954. The NBA St Louis Hawks moved to Atlanta in 1969 and the NFL Cardinals left in 1988. The MLB Cardinals are the only major sports franchise that has been able to sustain success there and that is primarily because the Cardinals have been a competitive team for most of the past 90 years. They will be gone too if the team ever goes in to a sustained tailspin.

The Blues will be next. St Louis is economically depressed and, unlike previous decades, the city is no longer a top 20 metropolitan area in the United States. Of the top 100 most populated metropolitan areas in the USA, St Louis ranked 86th in population growth over the last 20 years. It just ain't happening in St Louis and until they find a way to stimulate their economy, it will continue to not happen and no sports franchises will be expanding nor relocating there.

 

[Anointed One]

That's nothing. The Atlanta Falcons were in the NFC West until 2002.

Yeah, Miami Dolphins are another example... They're in the AFC East w/ NE, Buff, NYJ which aren't anywhere near Miami...

 

[Anointed One]

St Louis has lost four major sports franchises beginning with the MLB St Louis Browns who moved to Baltimore in 1954. The NBA St Louis Hawks moved to Atlanta in 1969 and the NFL Cardinals left in 1988. The MLB Cardinals are the only major sports franchise that has been able to sustain success there and that is primarily because the Cardinals have been a competitive team for most of the past 90 years. They will be gone too if the team ever goes in to a sustained tailspin.

The Blues will be next. St Louis is economically depressed and, unlike previous decades, the city is no longer a top 20 metropolitan area in the United States. Of the top 100 most populated metropolitan areas in the USA, St Louis ranked 86th in population growth over the last 20 years. It just ain't happening in St Louis and until they find a way to stimulate their economy, it will continue to not happen and no sports franchises will be expanding nor relocating there.

Yep... Plus it's been a baseball town... Always has... Always will be imo...

 

[SonnyCID]

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.

At least the Rams were given a decade to figure it out. After Katrina the Sonics never stood a chance.

And personally, my bro-in-law comes from a huge family of Rams fans in LA so at least they're going "back home". But it still sucks for the good fans in STL.

 

[SonnyCID]

Yep... Plus it's been a baseball town... Always has... Always will be imo...

That's because they win.

 

[dude82]

That's nothing. The Atlanta Falcons were in the NFC West until 2002.

As were the New Orleans Saints and Carolina Panthers. Whoever was in charge of divisional alignment and naming at the time was not geographically inclined. The only team in that division that actually belonged there was the 49ers.

 

[PolarVortex]

That's because they win.

Exactly. The only MLB franchises with a better track record of winning are the (fucking) Yankees and the Dodgers. Take the element of winning away from the Cardinals and the franchise would have abandoned St Louis a long time ago.

 

[Judge Fudge]

St Louis has lost four major sports franchises beginning with the MLB St Louis Browns who moved to Baltimore in 1954. The NBA St Louis Hawks moved to Atlanta in 1969 and the NFL Cardinals left in 1988. The MLB Cardinals are the only major sports franchise that has been able to sustain success there and that is primarily because the Cardinals have been a competitive team for most of the past 90 years. They will be gone too if the team ever goes in to a sustained tailspin.

The Blues will be next. St Louis is economically depressed and, unlike previous decades, the city is no longer a top 20 metropolitan area in the United States. Of the top 100 most populated metropolitan areas in the USA, St Louis ranked 86th in population growth over the last 20 years. It just ain't happening in St Louis and until they find a way to stimulate their economy, it will continue to not happen and no sports franchises will be expanding nor relocating there.

The blues are wining too.

Right now 5th in the Western conference

 

[Destroydacre]

That's nothing. The Atlanta Falcons were in the NFC West until 2002.

If I remember right, Atlanta, New Orleans and Carolina all played in the NFC West (that's right 60% of the West division played in the Eastern time zone) and Arizona played in the NFC East.

 

[blstoker]

If I remember right, Atlanta, New Orleans and Carolina all played in the NFC West (that's right 60% of the West division played in the Eastern time zone) and Arizona played in the NFC East.

It's even worse than that. From 1995 (when Carolina came in the league) until they restructured the conferences in 2002, San Francisco was the only west coast team in the NFC West (Atlanta, New Orleans, St. Louis & Carolina). So that's actually 80%. I'll never understand why they didn't move Arizona to the West once they brought Carolina in, but that's how it was.

Those old divisions were just messed up - but I guess that's what happens when you are more concerned with "traditional rivalries" than you are with geographic accuracy.

So, now there will be 8 legitimately Western teams to fill the 8 West division spots.

 

[MrS]

Is denver really west? Kc?

The real problem with a geographical alignment is that 70% of the teams are on east of the mississippi

 

[dkmightyhammer]

As a fan who always has to fly to NFL games from Canada I'm happy to have a division rival in L.A. If I go to a game it's going to be as part of my vacation time and I'd much rather hang out in L.A. for a week than St. Louis. So now any road game for the Seahawks that I chose to attend will be in a nice warm weather city. Bonus for me and my family!

 

[dude82]

It's even worse than that. From 1995 (when Carolina came in the league) until they restructured the conferences in 2002, San Francisco was the only west coast team in the NFC West (Atlanta, New Orleans, St. Louis & Carolina). So that's actually 80%. I'll never understand why they didn't move Arizona to the West once they brought Carolina in, but that's how it was.

Those old divisions were just messed up - but I guess that's what happens when you are more concerned with "traditional rivalries" than you are with geographic accuracy.

So, now there will be 8 legitimately Western teams to fill the 8 West division spots.

You hit the nail on the head. There are still some glaring geographical issues in the alignment of NFL divisions (Dallas being in the east when it's geographically west of St. Louis and south of pretty much every other south team except Houston, Indianapolis being in the south when it's geographically north of Cincinnati, a north division team, etc.), but it's a whole lot better than it used to be. They could fix this stuff, but they won't because they think people are so stuck in their ways that moving teams to divisions that make more geographical sense would melt their brains. People are pretty flexible. They might whine about the changes at first, but they'll adapt.

 

[jerseyhawksfan79]

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

I still follow the 76'ers.

 

[Tech_God]

I still follow the 76'ers.

 

[jerseyhawksfan79]

I'm so embarrassed . I miss the Sonics!

 

[blstoker]

You hit the nail on the head. There are still some glaring geographical issues in the alignment of NFL divisions (Dallas being in the east when it's geographically west of St. Louis and south of pretty much every other south team except Houston, Indianapolis being in the south when it's geographically north of Cincinnati, a north division team, etc.), but it's a whole lot better than it used to be. They could fix this stuff, but they won't because they think people are so stuck in their ways that moving teams to divisions that make more geographical sense would melt their brains. People are pretty flexible. They might whine about the changes at first, but they'll adapt.

Even without shifting conferences - the divisions should look like this (geographically), IMO

AFC East

Baltimore Ravens
Buffalo Bills
New England Patriots
New York Jets

AFC North

Cincinnati Bengals
Cleveland Browns
Indianapolis Colts
Pittsburgh Steelers

AFC South

Houston Texans
Jacksonville Jaguars
Miami Dolphins
Tennesee Titans

AFC West

Denver Broncos
Kansas City Chiefs
San Diego Chargers
Oakland Raiders

NFC East

Carolina Panthers
New York Giants
Philadelphia Eagles
Washington Redskins

NFC North

Chicago Bears
Detroit Lions
Green Bay Packers
Minnesota Vikings

NFC South

Atlanta Falcons
Dallas Cowboys
New Orleans Saints
Tampa Bay Buccaneers

NFC West

Arizona Cardinals
Los Angeles Rams
San Francisco 49ers
Seattle Seahawks

I will admit - I expected the NFC to be all messed up - but really it looks almost like it's set up properly. The AFC needs to shuffle 3 teams around

 

[Anointed One]

I'm so embarrassed . I miss the Sonics!

Me too... I follow King James and Golden State but root against Oklahoma like there's no tomorrow...