Stinky Pinkie: Bulger to Miss Next Two Weeks of Preseason

Being a Rams fan means that every good feeling that ever caused by the performance of the team will be followed by long periods of crushing disappointment. That was certainly confirmed by the events today at the Rams’ training camp.

Three days after an inspiring upset over the New York Jets in their first preseason game, St. Louis’s starting quarterback, Marc Bulger, injured his pinkie receiving a snap in this morning’s practice. So far, Bulger is expected to miss the next two preseason games.

It doesn’t seem like this relatively minor mishap is going to affect the Rams’ quarterback’s performance during this regular season. The next three weeks should give him plenty of time to recover Also, this incident will give new backup quarterback, Kyle Boller, some much needed playing time. So, it’s not time for fans of this team to panic about this yet.

However, this team is not known for having great luck, as of late, especially as far as Bulger is concerned. The last thing that fans who have spent the last two years rooting for a team that has only won five games need is something else to worry about.

 

Spagnuolo’s New Defense Impressive in St. Louis Rams’ First Season Scrimmage

In the small confines of the Harlen C Hunter Stadium at Lindenwood University, the St. Louis Rams held their first official scrimmage of the 2009 season tonight. A full squad of about eighty players was on hand to try to put their best face forward and earn one of the 53 spots on the team’s roster.

This kind of training camp scrimmage is a simulation of an actual game, the only real difference being that no one pays any attention to the score and the defensive players don’t actually touch or rough up the quarterbacks.

The team was divided in half; the defensive players wore blue, the offensive players wore white, and the team’s four current quarterbacks wore red shirts.

Ever changing offensive and defensive lineups took the field and played an actual game. The defense seemed much more impressive to me than the offense, which makes sense considering new head coach, Steve Spagnoulo’s background as one of the NFL’s most effective defensive coordinators.

Early in the game, on the first drive, Jonathan Wade pummelled new wide receiver, Laurent Robinson, with a particularly brutal hit that made all of the spectators seated around me gasp.

On Mark Bulger’s second drive, Quincy Butler made an impressive interception. Linebacker KC Asiodu also managed to intercept a pass from backup quarterback, Brock Berlin. Will Witherspoon effectively spiked a pass out of the waiting arms of Ronald Curry.

Despite just being a postseason scrimmage, the rough play on the field led to the leg injuries of two of the Rams’ defensive players. Both defensive lineman Adam Carriker and safety Eric Bassey ended up leaving the field on crutches.

St. Louis quarterbacks did not complete too many passes until receiver Keenen Burton stepped up his game towards the end of the game, catching two nice passes from Mark Bulger.

The Rams’ running backs also didn’t put on too many impressive displays this evening, although, to be fair, Steven Jackson didn’t make too many appearances during the game. His spot on the roster is pretty secure, and with him, at least the Rams’ running game is in good hands.

It remains to be seen whether the mostly ineffective Rams offense that was on display in this exercise was the the result of their sloppy play or an improved and effective defense. Of course, all the tackles and interceptions in the world won’t help if a team’s quarterback seems incapable of putting points on the scoreboard.

It seemed clear to all who witnessed the scrimmage tonight that the ineffectiveness of their passing offense is the burden that the Rams are going to have to overcome to compete in the NFL this season.

Still, watching this scrimmage, I couldn’t help but be impressed by the diminutive Spagnuolo. He stood in the backfield throughout the evening’s events, very involved in what was going on. He watched the plays develop, and commented on the performances of specific players as they left the field.

After about 10 drives or so, the team started to practice goal-line offense and defense, and various field goal situations. Second year kicker Josh Brown made a particularly impressive 50-yard field goal. With the way the collective Rams quarterback core looked in this game, his kicking skill could come in mighty handy.

Perhaps a little more light on this team’s actual condition will be shed on this a week from now, when the Rams take on the Jets in their first preseason game. For now, though, Rams’ fans had a fun night of free entertainment, one that gave many of us at least a slight bit of optimism for the struggling team’s prospects for success next season.

Steve McNair, Marking the Passing of the Rams’ Greatest Foe

I was awfully sad to hear about the untimely death of Steve McNair. I know that to eulogize one of the key players on the ’99 Tennessee Titans on a Rams blog may seem like a kind of blasphemy, considering that he came very close to beating our beloved football team in the greatest Super Bowl game ever played.

Indeed, he will forever be cemented in the memory of St. Louis Rams fans for the drive and tenacity he showed during that storied game.

McNair will hopefully be cast in history in his rightful place, as Joe Frazier to Kurt Warner’s Ali, the heart-filled, tough as nails warrior willing to give all that he’s got in one of the greatest contests ever.

The Nashville Police found McNair murdered today, next to an unidentified female. Details of this incident aren’t known, and wouldn’t be reported here by me if they were. I don’t consider the personal problems and foibles of professional athletes any of my business, as long as it doesn’t affect the quality of their play, and in his case, it certainly didn’t.

I just think that, as Rams fans, we should take a minute to reflect on the loss of one of our team’s greatest and most worthy foes in history. He was one of this era’s most innovative and underrated quarterbacks. Football isn’t near as much fun to watch when guys like him aren’t in it. Here’s hoping that he finds peace in a better place.

St. Louis Rams Fans Shouldn’t “Rush” to Judgement

The Rams are for sale now, and the search is on for rich buyers that would have an active interest in keeping the team in St. Louis. One of the names that has been heavily mentioned the last few days is Rush Limbaugh, the rotund right-wing radio talk show host who was born in southern Missouri, who is a vocal football fan and has many local ties.

Limbaugh doesn’t have enough money for full ownership of an NFL franchise, but he has expressed an interest in being a part of a group that would buy the struggling Rams. This revelation has caused panic among those football fans that don’t share his political leanings.

Now, I am not a big admirer of his, or at least, I don’t like him as much as he seems to like himself.  As a politically independent sports fan,  I have no problem with Rush Limbaugh being an owner of the team I root for. In many ways, I think his involvement with a football team might be a good idea.

Here’s why…

1. While admiring an athletic on-field performance, I never think about the owner of that team’s opinions about politics or about who they vote for. I would suspect that most people rich enough to own a team would be a little bit economically right-of-center, because, for some strange reason, wealthy people want to keep some of the money they earn instead of giving it all away to be wasted by the government.

This assumption does nothing to interfere with my enjoyment of any game. My guess is that most super-fans of sports teams have no idea who the owner of their team of choice voted for, and probably doesn’t care.

This is true for  players or coaches too; I don’t put much stock in their point of view on divisive political issues either. My view on this won’t change if someone who’s opinions are part of the everyday public record takes over one of these teams.

In other words, unless Rush Limbaugh is going to change the team’s name to the St. Louis Bush Voters or the St. Louis Abortion Protesters, I don’t see how his opinions on political issues could possibly be relevant to the team’s fan base.

If he puts a winning team on the field, who really cares about which corrupt politician some sports team owner tells you to vote for?

2. Like him or hate him (and I suspect that any reasonable person who’s actually bothered to listen to his radio show before condemning him, instead of just going by what the likes of Keith Olbermann say about him, could find plenty of reasons to do both), Limbaugh is very successful in his chosen field.

He hosts the most listened to and profitable radio show in America. He obviously knows a thing or two about how to win, and it seems the Rams could use some ownership has some things to learn about that topic. 

After 20 years as a well paid radio blowhard, Rush has learned a thing or two about giving loyal fans what they want, and a team that has only won five games in the last two seasons could stand to benefit from that kind of knowledge.

3. At least with a semi-racist like Rush Limbaugh in charge, we’d never have to worry about the Rams acquiring washed-up thugs like Michael Vick or Plaxico Burress.

4. With his physical assets, Rush could provide valuable information to the Rams’ players, like, for instance, helping them find the best restaurants in any city.

5. If any Rams players’ got injured, at least with Rush Limbaugh in the owners’ box, we know there would be plenty of extra OxyContin laying around.

In any circumstance, we wouldn’t have to worry about him being the only owner or even the primary owner of the team. Rush is neither rich or crazy enough to be that. 

However, his involvement and the ensuing free publicity could tip the scales towards the Rams staying in St. Louis, as opposed to them moving west to Las Vegas or Los Angeles. And if there’s one thing that Rush Limbaugh is good at, it’s tipping scales.

So, if this obese entertainer wants to financially help his home state, and if such an investment keeps the team that St. Louis loves from abandoning our city, I say that  we have no substantial reason to prevent him from doing so. Let’s not let divisive politics get in the way of keeping the Rams here and making them as successful as they can be.

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