Bulger out

Marc Bulger's officially been ruled out of the Cincinnati game. He's had a setback in recovery from the concussion he received in the Seattle game.

Bernie Miklasz is pretty much all over this. He mentions something I worried about a couple of posts ago: Brock Berlin, your new Rams starting QB, hasn't gotten many snaps in practice and is going to be rushed into action. Scott Linehan's made a mistake there. He gambled wrong hoping Bulger would be fine. Berlin should have been prepared sufficiently to play Sunday.

Bernie also opines that Bulger ought to be shut down for the season. There's a lot of good reason for that. The nature of his injury, the fact the Rams have been long out of it, the chance to see if Berlin has got anything, the fact that upcoming opponent Green Bay has one of the league's best defensive lines, the fact that upcoming opponent Pittsburgh has always had a tough defense, the $65 million investment the Rams currently have in Marc, and securement of a very high draft position, top 5 for sure, for 2008.

The minuses? Dooming the team to 3-13, possibly denying the Big Dead a chance to make the playoffs, forcing Rams fans to watch Brock Berlin and/or Todd Bouman (who is in fact on the team now).

I haven't had strong feelings about automatically shutting Marc Bulger down, but there isn't much it can hurt now, other than Marc's and the team's long-term futures. It'll show strong character on Scott Linehan's part to go ahead and shut Marc down, put player welfare ahead of your own record. Go ahead and do the right thing here, coach. Give Marc the rest of the year off. The fans will understand.

Madden NFL 08 predicts a wacky game

The Madden NFL 08 prediction for the Cincinnati game has the Rams blowing a 21-3 4th-quarter lead, 2 TDs each for Steven Jackson and Funfundachtzig, Marques Hagans returning a kickoff for a TD to tie the game at 28 in the last 30 seconds, and the Bengals then returning the kickoff in overtime to win the game 34-28.

That'd be a fun recap.

Bulger: questionable at best; Rams: dead

Good news never lasts long with this year's team.

Marc Bulger did not feel well after practice yesterday and has been listed as questionable for the game at Cincinnati. Given that Marc's recovering from a concussion, and Scott Linehan and staff are exactly right that you DO NOT want to take chances with that, it looks very likely that Brock Berlin - Brock Freaking Berlin! - will start, and he'll be rushed into action at that, since I doubt he's gotten that many snaps in practice.

So either: Steven Jackson takes over the game and rushes for about 250;
the defense completely dominates the trenches, forcing at least 5 sacks and at least 5 turnovers;
or the Rams get completely killed dead.

What a season.

Make it Hagans

It'll be Marques Hagans returning kicks and punts at Cincinnati. I like that decision a lot. Hagans was outstanding in preseason and we've been wondering ever since then what he's got. We'll find out the next four weeks.

Also, Darius Vinnett was promoted to the main roster to replace Tye Hill. I imagine he'll be the dime back and play on special teams. Todd Bouman will be added to the roster as 3rd-string QB. That's fine, just as long as he never has to play.

Corrections

Torry Holt didn't beat Lewis Sanders on his TD catch against Atlanta Sunday. He beat Chris Houston, same as on the 38-yard catch at the start of the drive. Isaac Bruce beat Sanders for his TD.

Also, I'm finding I have an annoying tendency to call Jonathan Wade "Jonathan Hall" instead. I have no idea where that comes from; one of those mild brain disorders, I guess.

Will get those errors fixed as time permits.

Dante Hall done for the season

High ankle sprain.

Article

With Brandon Williams also unlikely to go Sunday, Jonathan Wade could be the kick returner, punt returner and guy who's supposed to cover Ottantacinque on passing downs. Good luck, kid.

As for Hall, I'd like to see him come back next season. He blew the first game against San Francisco, but when the guy's ever at 100% (which wasn't that often this season), he's proven he's still a game-changing player.

ESPN mock draft / Jake Long

Todd McShay's first mock draft for espn.com is out. The top five projected picks:

1. Miami, Glenn Dorsey, DT, LSU
2. New England (from the Idiot Whiners), Darren McFadden, RB, Arkansas.*
3. NY Jets, James Laurinaitis, ILB, The Ohio State University.
4. Atlanta, Brian Brohm, QB, Louisville.
5. RAMS, Jake Long, RT, Michigan.

Scouts Inc. says the Rams' top need areas are OL, CB and DE.

Quoting McShay: "The season-ending injury to Orlando Pace and the Rams' overall poor play along the offensive line this season make Long a real possibility with this pick. He is unquestionably the most dominant offensive-line prospect in the 2008 class."

Must not be much of a class, then, if you ask the War Room. "Michigan OT Jake Long is playing like a late first- or early second-round pick after looking slow and stiff early this season. He's moving his feet much better and blocking with much better knee bend and leverage."

So, is he the most dominant OL prospect in the draft, or a guy who's had to improve to get into the first round?

The clear pick in this scenario as far as I'm concerned is Chris Long of Virginia. McShay, as I suspect a lot of mock drafters who value poetic license over accurate analysis will do, has Chris going to Oakland two picks later; of course, that's his dad Howie's old team.

But for the Rams, it's certainly more crucial to develop a pass rush that doesn't require blitzing on every play, which is currently the case, than it is to acquire a third tackle. Yes, the Ram offensive line has had an awful season on the field, and if Jake Long were indeed a top-5 quality pick, which appears to be far from the consensus right now, he might be a no-brainer. But it isn't like this is the Rams' first-string failing. It's not even the SECOND-string. Milford Brown, Nick Leckey, Brandon Gorin, Rod Pettiti et al. are third-stringers at best. Odds are good none of them will make next year's team, because the line will be healthier. Orlando Pace will be back next year to start at LT. Richie Incognito and Mark Setterstrom will return to start at the guards. It'll be the line that dominated down the stretch of the 2006 season, except PLUS Pace.

Alex Barron is competent enough at RT that the Rams shouldn't cough up a top-5 pick to replace him. If you bring Long in, it's to replace him, as if that wouldn't be awkward in the locker room. And what if Long doesn't beat Barron out? You've used your top-5 pick on A BACKUP?

The Rams clearly need to improve their depth across the offensive line. But their starters are fine. Though personally I'm fine if the Ram draft goes: DE, WR, OL, OL, OL, OL, OL, OL, OL..., the one pick they don't need to use on the o-line is their first one. Between the 2nd-day picks and veteran free agency, the team ought to be able to put together the nucleus of a young, deep, capable offensive front.

* If that pick pans out, it'll rival the greatest draft steals in NFL history, which include Dallas giving up chump change in 1977 for Seattle's #1 overall pick, which became Tony Dorsett, and the Houston Oilers pulling a similar stunt in 1978 to get Tampa Bay's #1 pick, using it on Earl Campbell. It'll also likely add 10 years to the length of the Patriot dynasty of cheating and whining. Hoo boy.

12-0, with a loss

Upon further review, the Patriots did in fact win the game in Baltimore Monday night because of a mistake by the officials. Peter King's Monday Morning QB column this week proves it, though he, along with much of the rest of the national media, is actually busier trying to justify the Patriot win.

Just a couple of posts ago, I mentioned I was surprised to see that assistant coaches could call sideline timeouts, like Rex Ryan did Monday night, inadvertently erasing a 4th-down stop by his defense in the process. As it turns out, they can't.

Here's the relevant passage from King's article:
New England ball, fourth-and-1, Baltimore 30, 1:48 left, Baltimore up 24-20. At the last second before the snap, Baltimore defensive coordinator Rex Ryan calls timeout. The play went on, with Baltimore stuffing Tom Brady for a loss and, theoretically, that should have been New England's last gasp. One problem. Only the head coach is supposed to be able to call time on the sidelines. But in this case, the league has interpreted the rule on a last-millisecond timeout call that the side official cannot be responsible for seeing whether it's the head coach or another coach who calls time. So it's technically legal for Ryan to have called the timeout, and the league's point is the head coach is responsible for controlling his bench. In this case, Brian Billick has to be responsible for his sideline, and when Ryan calls time, the burden is on Billick to accept the call because it happened on the Baltimore sideline.

The timeout clearly should not have been given. Furthermore, the NFL's after-the-fact "interpretation" and King's blind acceptance of the explanation are pure, unadulterated bullshit. The side official cannot be responsible for seeing whether it's the head coach or not? Let me get this right, he's got the credibility to be able to say a play came up three inches short of a first down, he's got the credibility to call pass interference on a DB who's forty yards away, but he's not expected to be able to tell these two guys apart?



















Bullshit. The timeout shouldn't have counted, and New England shouldn't have won. The NFL's weak CYA effort and the press' round-the-clock efforts to pander to the Patriots show their lack of impartiality and integrity.

Bulger's back (good news)

Marc Bulger's passed the neuro-whatever tests and has been cleared to play Sunday against Cincinnati. Article

Marc's return, and hopefully his good health for the rest of the season, has averted a QB Armageddon that would have seen Brock Berlin starting and backed up by Todd Bouman. Bouman visited Rams Park but left without a contract after the news on Bulger came out.

Please, please, please, let's keep Bulger upright.

Tye Hill out (bad news)

But there's ANOTHER season-ending injury for this team, and given Sunday's opponent, it almost couldn't have come at a worse time. The Rams are going to have to try to slow down TJ Houshmandzadeh and Funfundachtzig without Tye Hill, who's out for the season now due to a dislocated wrist. Article

This means we're going to see a lot of Jonathan Wade Sunday. Ron Bartell technically steps in for Hill, but rest assured the Bengals will be in a lot of 3- and 4- WR formations, which will keep him at nickelback. Oh, great, Quatre-vingt-cinq vs. Jonathan Wade. At least Wade has the speed.

What the hell do the Rams do when Cincy goes 4 wide? As the article states, they have only THREE healthy CBs now! From the options the article lists, I'd lean toward promoting Darius Vinnett from the practice squad.

I see a lot of soft zones in the Rams' future.

Scary close prediction

I meant to link to the ESPN.com/Madden Football prediction for the Atlanta game, but I've lost track of the page. Interestingly, Madden predicted a 31-17 Rams victory, with McMichael and Holt scoring TDs.

Not too shabby.

End the sideline timeout

Baltimore defensive coordinator Rex Ryan's last-millisecond timeout, which canceled a 4th-and-1 play where his defense stuffed a Tom Brady QB sneak, which in turn would have ended New England's undefeated season, is the last straw for me. The NFL has got to get rid of the sideline timeout.

The sideline timeout simply causes too much chaos. I was surprised last night to see that the head coach doesn't even have to be the guy to call the timeout. Who on the sidelines CAN'T call a timeout? The waterboy? The cheerleaders? These last-second timeouts from the sidelines create confusion not only on the field, but highly importantly, in the stands and wherever fans are watching TV. We see a 4th-and-1 play run to completion, then find out it doesn't count because the last-millisecond timeout came and they couldn't stop the play in time. We see a game-winning FG get kicked, then find out it doesn't count. They couldn't stop the play in time because a timeout came in from the sideline at the last second. (I think Mike Martz, as Rams HC, was a lobbying force for changing the rule, but I don't want to discredit him where it's not due.)

It used to be only the team captain on the field could call timeout. Specialization made that difficult, especially on defense, so the rule changed to let any player on the field call timeout. Apparently unskilled enough to coach their players to avoid a Chris Webber scenario, coaches wanted to be able to call timeouts from the sidelines, so they didn't have to worry about miscommunications or the players making dumb mistakes like calling TO's they don't have.

Then last week, Joe Gibbs makes the dumb mistake of calling timeouts back-to-back while trying to call cutesy timeouts to freeze Buffalo kicker Rian Lindell.

That didn't work, and neither do sideline timeouts. They only create confusion for the fans watching the game. They should be eliminated posthaste. Timeouts should be called only by players on the field of play, where everybody can see what's going on.

12-0, still whining

Of all the gall...

I'm tuned in to the Monday night post-game press conference last night, and there's Tom Brady, complaining about the officiating in New England's skin-of-its-ass 27-24 win at Baltimore. Whining that his receivers were getting grabbed downfield.

Hey, buddy, that's how you got your FIRST Super Bowl ring!

No Patriot player, fan, or writer has any business complaining about last night's officiating. The benefit of the doubt ALWAYS went to the Patriots. Rex Ryan's STUPID last-second timeout got called in time. More on that in a bit. That saved Brady getting stuffed on 4th-and-1. Another 4th-and-1 play failed, but was called back, properly by rule, by a false start. The refs then bailed Brady out again on 4th-and-6 by making a defensive holding call that's in the dictionary next to "ticky-tack". Jabar Gaffney's TD catch was close enough to call either way; naturally, New England got the call. The officials flagged Baltimore THIRTEEN times for 100 yards, New England? just 4 times for 30.

New England LOST that game THREE times but all three times got the referees' gracious permission to try again. The timeout was a correct call, the holding flag was cheesy. Five of New England's first downs came via penalty. And instead of being thankful that his team's lucky enough to remain undefeated, Brady instead is whining about the very officials who made his latest win possible.

Just shut the hell up.

QB emergency!

Berlin at QB?

OK, the Rams' injury woes have now graduated from the ridiculous to the absurd. Marc Bulger AND Gus Frerotte may be out for the Cincinnati game. Frerotte is out for sure with a shoulder injury. Bulger can't be cleared to play in light of his concussion until he can pass the neuropsyche test. Can we all help him study?

Because without Bulger, your starting quarterback against the Bengals will be one Brock Berlin. Ironically, Ryan Fitzpatrick will be watching from the other sideline.

Desperately seeking a backup, the Rams are going to sign Todd Bouman, who has all the qualifications to play QB here. Which means he's played for Linehan, and in Bouman's case, Jim Haslett, too.

RamView is in a rare position here. Thanks to my annual participation in the Preseason Challenge, I've actually gotten to see Todd Bouman play. And he's awful. You want an interception every other throw, Bouman's your guy. Frankly, I don't know why Haslett even let him through the door at Rams Park. Wasn't he watching when Todd chucked one INT after another every preseason? I guess not.

True, you're not going to find many veteran QBs this time of the season, but Bouman is just a poor QB. I'd sooner bring back Tony Banks. A little research shows Jared Zabransky, the rookie FA from Boise State, is available. I'd sooner go with him. Capable college QB, played in a complex passing offense, good athlete, quick release, fast and can run. Why not use the opportunity to bring in a young guy and see if you can turn him into something special instead of falling back on an old retread, an incompetent one at that?

The second half blues

Third-down success falls in second half

All five of the 2nd-half 3rd-down plays mentioned in the article were pass plays, even though THREE of the downs were third-and-two. I tried to put some of the second-half problems against Atlanta on Linehan getting too conservative right away after halftime, then trying to "turn the switch" back on.

What we see here is the Rams' coach, probably correctly, can't trust his running game to convert a 3rd-and-2 when they have to, at a time of the game they should be taking over the line of scrimmage and Jackson should be running it down the defense's throat. This is starting to develop as a theme of the Rams' second-half offensive failures.

More reason to improve the offensive line and line depth this offseason, and make sure it stays improved.

Carriker, Chillar, Eric Moore

An everywhere guy

Chillar's stock rises

More from Moore

I thought Adam Carriker was the defensive MVP against Atlanta. His sack moved ATL out of long FG range; the next play was a turnover. His TFL of Norwood forced ATL into long-yardage downs and they ended up settling for a FG. And the biggest play was the pass knockdown (second? I thought he had two) with Atlanta inside the 10, trailing 21-16. They ended up turning the ball over on downs. It's not a stretch to say Adam saved the Rams 14 points. Huge, clutch game.

I agree that this has been Brandon Chillar's best season, the last 4 to 6 weeks in particular. But I see little to no chance he'll return next season. The Rams already have a lot of money tied up in Will's and Pisa's contracts, and Chris Draft is already here to step into the starting role in 2008. Brandon's worth a nice contract. I just think he'll get it from another team.

Wade illegal touch penalty

Jonathan, when the referee asks you if you committed an infraction, you say no! Humorous...

UPON FURTHER REVIEW

In an impressive hustle play, Rams cornerback Jonathan Wade downed a Donnie Jones punt at the Atlanta 5 on the final play of the third quarter. The teams switched sides, walking all the way to the other end of the field. The Falcons offense huddled for the next play. Meanwhile, the officials huddled, and huddles some more. Although there was no flag thrown after the play, referee Peter Morelli then explained that Wade would be penalized for illegal touching. (He had gone out of bounds and then came back in to down the punt, which is a penalty.)

So why didn't the flag come out earlier?

"During the break, apparently one of the officials asked Wade if he'd gone out of bounds, and apparently he told them that he had," Linehan said. "So they changed the call after the commercial break."

Rams 28, Falcons 16

Rams earn first home win of 2007
I misheard the announced attendance; the Rams claimed 62,000, not 52,000. That's right where I would have expected them to announce, given the 3,000 tickets that went unsold. It's also nowhere close to the actual attendance, which I'd put at 40-45K.

Jackson's dash is exclamation point
The game-clinching run is part of the video highlights at nfl.com. It looks like Steven got it all on his own at first blush, but keep an eye out for blocks by Klopfenstein and Owens. Klop basically seals three guys in at the corner.

NFL GameCenter/video highlights

Frerotte comes back strong vs. Falcons

Rams finally get it done in the Dome

Rams rediscover longer passes

RamView

Payroll report

USA Today appears to have updated its NFL salaries database to include this season. I find this one of the best and most useful features of any online sports coverage. Click here to for the Rams' salary database going back to 2000.

Several interesting things jump out reviewing the salary information.

* Marc Bulger is the second-highest paid player in the NFL. He earns $17,502,040 this season. That's not the team record, though. Orlando Pace earned $18,000,000 in 2005 ($15M in bonuses), and still has the highest base salary for a season, $6,000,000 in 2004.

* How many of these guys are going to make the Pro Bowl this year? Dwight Freeney, Bulger, Leonard Davis, Gaines Adams, Robert Geathers, Corey Redding, Derrick Dockery, Reggie Bush, Chris Dielman, Larry Johnson. Freeney would, if he weren't out for the season; who else? Maybe Dielman?

Those are the ten highest-paid players in the NFL, and maybe 2 or 3 of them will be in this year's Pro Bowl.

* The Rams' second-highest-paid player is Drew Bennett. $9,505,400. Granted, his $7.5M signing bonus greatly skews this statistic, but at his current pace, even factoring in for the two games he missed due to injury, Bennett's going to collect $264,000 PER CATCH in 2007. (Randy McMichael projects out as a MUCH more economical $118,500 a catch.)

* Then there's the part I really shouldn't have paid attention to. Compare '07's total payroll to '06's. It's $4 million less. So let me get this straight. As a "small-market" team, the Rams got $5 million after last season from the NFL's profit-sharing agreement. They're paying their players $4 million less than last year. Georgia bought a new house.

AND THEY RAISED MY TICKETS TEN BUCKS A GAME??!??!? FOR A TEAM THAT'LL BE LUCKY TO FINISH AS HIGH AS 3-13??!??!?

And they wonder why they're having difficulty selling out games.

Marc Bulger and concussions

Concussion will keep Bulger out of the game

As best as I can tell from combing through old RamViews, this is Marc's second concussion. He suffered the first in an infamous home loss to the Big Dead in November 2005. Considering the number of shots he takes, he's fortunate that concussions have not been a recurrent or chronic problem. Most of the injuries that have sidelined Marc over the years have been to his shoulder.

It's the right thing to do to keep Marc off the field until he's completely clear of any effects of this current concussion. Concussions mount up, though; the very best thing the Rams can do to save Bulger any future problems is to field a decent offensive line in front of him.

Awakening the blog

Let's face it, a blog that isn't updated frequently and regularly sucks, and that's been the second-largest flaw of RamBlog so far. (The largest: predicting a Philadelphia-Denver Super Bowl.)

So starting today, I'm hoping to kick RamBlog up a major notch and have at least a post a day, like I should have been doing all football season to have a blog worth a damn.

Never too late to start, I say.

TV out for Sunday, too

Sunday's game against Atlanta has been blacked out locally, the third (but last) of the season.
Article

At least 3,000 tickets unsold.


Apparently intent to turn St. Louis into a football wasteland, KTVI won't show any game in the 12:00 slot, even though they're allowed to. No NFL on TV in St. Louis this Sunday until 3:00. KTVI would rather air two infomercials and "Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery". KMOV's already locked into Kurt vs. the Browns in the late slot and will run SIX infomercials against KTVI's noon-to-3 non-football lineup.

Ouch, baby. Very ouch.

Update: Bulger out for Sunday

Just hit the wire. Brock Berlin will back up Frerotte. Not looking pretty.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — St. Louis Rams quarterback Marc Bulger failed medical tests and has been ruled out for Sunday's game against Atlanta.

The news came Thursday, four days after Bulger sustained a concussion against the Seattle Seahawks. Bulger left in the first quarter and was held out of practice Wednesday.

Bulger said Monday he felt much better and expected to play against the Falcons, but backup Gus Frerotte said Wednesday that Bulger looked groggy.

The Rams (2-9) took steps in case Bulger was not cleared, and elevated Brock Berlin from the practice squad as the potential backup behind Frerotte. St. Louis has gone with two quarterbacks on the active roster all season.

The Associated Press

Bulger still sitting out practice

Fresh word from Jim Thomas out of Rams Park is that Gus Frerotte practiced with the starters again today (Thu 11/29) and Marc Bulger sat out again. Article, for however long the link is good

Thanks to the stupid Thursday night game, (great matchup, but Thursday night is a stupid time for a football game, always has been, always will be) our office football pool picks are due today, and I'm going to have to reluctantly circle Atlanta for Sunday's game. It's really looking like Bulger won't play, and Frerotte is a proven non-commodity. And I don't trust Scott Linehan to have the sense to put the game in Steven Jackson's hands Sunday instead of Frerotte's.

What a season.

Simmons still whining, but I know how to beat N.E. now

Bill Simmons held a marathon chat on espn.com for the Jimmy V Foundation yesterday and continued to find ways to whine about refereeing in Patriots games.

He played enabler to Justin in Peabody, Mass.:
Justin (Peabody, MA): It seems to me the refs are looking for Offensive P.I. against Randy Moss now. Anything close, they call it. I have this bad feeling they will make an awful call against him in the playoffs and it could cost us.

Bill Simmons: I will only say this - Moss isn't allowed to raise his hands in the end zone, but opposing d-backs are allowed to maul him on every play. In the Miami game, he caught 2 TD's with guys pulling his arms down - no flag. It's like he's being officiated the same way NBA refs officiated Shaq back in the day, where there's a degree of difficulty brought into it for him.

then moaned some more:

Bob (Green Bay): Is it just me being a Green Bay fan or do they possibly have the best shot at New England. I see them as having two physical corners (Harris always played Moss pretty well when he was in Minnesota). They also have the front 7 to get to Brady and keep pressure on him. And they also have enough offense to put points on the board. Not that they are a better team, but I think they have as good a shot as anyone.

Bill Simmons: And you know they'd get all the calls...

Boy, Bill, wouldn't it be a crying shame if a team did get brutally screwed over by the officiating in a Super Bowl? Wouldn't it be a catastrophic, unthinkable, titanic, SUPER BOWL XXXVI-sized disaster?

It dawns on me right now how somebody's going to beat New England. They'll have to Belichick 'em. No, I don't mean steal their sideline signals; I mean "cheat" the way they did in Super Bowl XXXVI. Mug their receivers every play and bet the league and the refs won't be willing to turn the game into a 4-and-a-half hour festival of flags and judgment calls. Wade Philips, Mike McCarthy, Mike Tomlin, Jack del Rio, or anybody else with a shot at the Patriots this postseason: I am begging you, please do this. Beat Belichick at his own game. Mug the N.E. receivers. Rough up Brady. Make the refs throw the flags. When they don't, you have leveled the playing field, and you can pull off one of the all-time upsets.

One coach couldn't pull this off - Tony Dungy. After complaining to the league a couple of years ago about his WRs getting manhandled by N.E., a complaint which helped him gain a title of his own, he'd have to sell his soul to get away with turning around and winning games with the same kind of defense he complained to the league about. Anybody else, though, is fair game for this "strategy" and represents a chance to deliciously, though overduly, avenge the Rams by stealing a Super Bowl from the Pats the way they did from us.

Rough 'em up, clutch and grab 'em, and you may be clutching the Lombardi Trophy after the game.

Marshall's jersey to be retired

Rams are making Faulk the last to wear No. 28 (for however long the link's good)

Marshall Faulk's jersey will be retired at halftime of the Pittsburgh game 12/20. Marshall will be in town as part of NFL Network's exclusive broadcast of the game. (I'm just guessing there won't be as much complaining about the limited availability of that game as there has been for tonight's Green Bay-Dallas tilt.)

This is a good P.R. move on several levels. The Rams are staring a big season ticket renewal drop-off in the face, so it's best to have the PSL holders thinking about the good times with the GSOT as the season ends, rather than thinking about the team finishing 2-14 or 3-13. Also, the Rams have never really taken root in St. Louis. They've attracted bandwagon fans but can't be said to have developed the core following that makes football special in other cities. They need to start establishing some tradition here in St. Louis, start connecting with the town. Marshall Faulk is -our- football history. He's -our- superstar. He's a reminder the Rams have been champions and aren't the Big Dead all over again. The Rams suck ass this year, but we'll always have the Greatest Show. The organization that honors its past in a city deepens its connection with that city. And if they want to keep selling tickets next year, if they want to get back to selling out games regularly, the Rams had better start connecting better with St. Louis. This is a good start.

More in a bit.

Jason Sehorn on TV

Zap2it.com reveals that Jason Sehorn will appear on tonight's episode of "Women's Murder Club," and you shouldn't need a diploma from P.I. school to figure out that show stars his wife, Angie Harmon.


Let me guess... they work together to track down a prisoner who escaped custody after Jason failed to tackle him?


Jason's imdb.com profile, btw, includes the "Tonight Show" episode where he proposed to Angie and an appearance in the Molly Shannon "Superstar" movie as "Man in Pink Tutu", but not the infamous Super Bowl XXXIV pregame feature where the cast of "The View" ogled his ass.

This is still a good site for Angie Harmon wallpapers, though I guess they broke the link to the fine picture I had up earlier.

Bill Simmons: STFU!

Most weeks, I'll eat up just about anything Bill Simmons posts on espn.com.
(I even read his NBA columns, and I don't watch, or care about, pro basketball.)
His Boston bias is nauseating - there's what ESPN needs to make sure it covers,
the EAST COAST viewpoint - but that's easily squared with the fact that Simmons
is a terrific writer with insightful comments and rare wit.

I ain't swallowing this week's column, though, a beyond-the-pale diatribe Simmons
spends entirely by complaining about the refereeing in last week's Patriots-Colts
tilt, whining that the referees were -trying- to screw the New Englanders, and now
somehow I'm supposed to feel sorry for the poor 9-0 Patriots and their suffering fans.

You want to complain about the refereeing in a pivotal Patriots game, Simmons?
Scrutinize a game that -really- counts for something, like Super Bowl XXXVI. The
pivotal play of that game should have been called back because Mike Vrabel whacked
Kurt Warner in the head. Ram receivers were getting clutched, grabbed and tackled
without the ball all game long while every official's flag remained planted deep
in his pocket. They stopped the clock once during New England's game-winning drive
when they shouldn't have, and they let the clock run out after Adam Vinatieri's
game-winning FG, when it should have stopped and given the Rams a chance to return
the kickoff.

THAT was a screwjob, Simmons - one that laid the foundation for the run your
team is on now. The Internet's biggest Patriots cheerleader pissing and moaning
about officiating is about as ridiculous as politicians who hold $5,000-a-
plate fundraising dinners at night and complain there's too much money in
politics during the day.

Pace not retiring

Orlando Pace says in an interview with the Post-Dispatch published today that he intends to return next season. As the article mentions, it's not a crazy question to ask him - he's played 11 years now and has missed most of the last two with major injuries.

It's great to know Orlando's intentions early since it could have had a major impact on the Rams' 2008 draft strategy. Without Orlando, they probably would have to look for a tackle with their likely top-5 first round pick. With Orlando, although he didn't look like his old self before his injury, they're still set at the starting tackle positions and just need to fill out the depth. They can do that with a later draft pick or a veteran FA signing. I'd think about doing both. The timeline in the article has Orlando fully recovering by May, easily in time for training camp.

So I'm definitely ruling out offensive line (no guard or center out there's worth a high first-rounder) for the Rams' first-round pick in April. I'll continue the evolving process of elimination in future posts.

Top Rams so far in 2007

I was just thinking back to July when I put together a top-ten list of the Rams' most indispensable players. It went like this:

1-Jackson, 2-Bulger, 3-Holt, 4-Wilkins, 5-Little, 6-Witherspoon, 7-Carriker, 8-Tinoisamoa, 9-Pace, 10-Bennett.

Now that we're nearly at the halfway point, the question is, which Rams are having the best seasons? My choices:

1-Torry Holt. I know he's been off this season due to his knee injury, but he's almost the only Ram capable of finding the end zone this year. The brief burst of offensive play-calling competence in the 3rd quarter of last week's game shows what the Rams would be getting out of Torry if they used him correctly.

2-Will Witherspoon. Isn't always where he needs to be, but he's having a solid season. The Seattle game, in which he was all over the field and was credited with 16 tackles, showed Will at his best.

3-Donnie Jones. A big sign your team is terrible is when the punter is one of the best players. Jones is averaging over 50 yards a punt and has been one of the few pleasant surprises this year. He's the only Ram with a realistic chance to make the Pro Bowl. I'd rate him higher if his first punt every game wasn't a clunker, if he weren't outkicking his coverage, and if he'd punt fewer punts in the end zone.

4-Tye Hill. Subtract one long Steve Smith TD (where Smith illegally pushed off), and Hill would be having a fantastic season. The freak back injury also knocked him down a bit. He's not getting beaten by anybody, and opponents are throwing away from him. He's been a terrific pick.

5-Cliff Ryan. Another terrific pick. Ryan has played with a high motor, and his emergence as a force stuffing the run has improved the Ram run defense by a lot.

6-Adam Carriker. His game hasn't leaped off the page the way Ryan's has, but Adam has been strong against the run and is really coming on the last couple of weeks. He has definitely validated his first-round draft status.

7-James Hall. Like the rest of the defense, not much of a pass rusher, but he has been solid against the run and has quite a few tackles-for-loss. Opponents run at Leonard Little, not at Hall. James has delivered on his end of the defensive line. Ryan, Carriker and Hall are big factors in the run defense's noticeable improvement.

8.....Chris Massey. Yep, it really is this desperate at this point, that I have to list the long snapper as one of the Rams' best players. But once again this season, Massey hasn't messed up a snap, and that competence and consistency is an oasis in this wasteland of a season.

9. OJ Atogwe. Tackles better and stops the run better than last year. Biggest improvement seems to be in getting his coverage assignments down, which he was bad at last year. I can't come up with a long pass completed against the Rams because Atogwe screwed up and wasn't there to help, though Steve Smith's TD against Hill might have been an instance.

10. Dante Hall. Lost the 49er game with a boneheaded fumble, and has missed about half the season with an ankle injury, but has also shown the quickness and ability to make people miss that he was brought here for, and which has made him one of the Rams' few legitimate weapons this year.

And that top 10 goes a long way toward showing why the Rams are the pathetic 0-and-7 that they are. The QB's not there. No RB is there. No offensive lineman is there. (I'd put Alex Barron at 11.) The lead pass rusher's not there. And if Marc Bulger and Steven Jackson and Leonard Little and some of the others who are supposed to carry the team don't get to where they're outplaying the team's kick returner, punter or long snapper, it's going to continue to be a very, very long season.

Cut Claude Terrell NOW

He's run around Rams Park in a Michael Vick jersey.
He's attended team meetings with a bowl of cereal in tow.
He's mouthed off to the head coach.
And now, he's assaulted his wife.

If Scott Linehan doesn't cut Terrell today, he really doesn't deserve to coach here anymore.

You can't keep character cancers like Claude Terrell on the team. You just can't. Claude is step #1 toward giving the Rams locker room a good cleaning, like the one it got when Dick Vermeil came in.

If Linehan won't throw out the bad apples, somebody else will.

Update: Terrell was cut Tuesday afternoon. Good move, though overdue.

Draft buzz: OT/Jake Long

So, as it's developed since the last time I blogged, the Rams, instead of having an inside track at the NFC West title or a playoff spot, instead have an inside track at the #1 overall pick in the 2008 Draft thanks to a horrid, injury-filled, poorly-coached 0-6 "run". So now we're seriously entertaining what the Rams should do with that very #1 pick, or a top 5 pick, at worst.

The perils of the Ram offensive line this year make it logical to consider it as a need area, especially the tackle position, which is breaking down with age and injuries. Orlando Pace has missed significant time in two straight seasons and is hardly a lock to bounce back and play like a Pro Bowler in 2008. He didn't look that strong this preseason, to tell the truth, and his Hall-of-Fame career may be on the wane. Todd Steussie is closing in on 40 and he'd be very within reason to call it a wrap after '07. Alex Barron's showing he can play either tackle position, and has shown excellent durability as the Ram offensive line's Last Man Standing, but he's too inconsistent to be considered a star player. Adam Goldberg and Milford Brown are guards who sometimes run around dressed as tackles and have no business there. Brandon Gorin hasn't been around long enough to know if he's remotely a long-term solution.

That's not a pretty picture, but I don't think it calls for use of a high draft pick, either. If Pace bounces back, you have your starting tackles back, and you just have to find a veteran FA or a late-round draft pick to back them up. It's a little gnarlier if Pace doesn't come back for some reason. I'd argue that should mean moving Barron to LT. He's got experience there; he isn't lost at the position; there's good reason to think he'll be good there. With Barron at LT, you're looking for a RT and OT depth, neither of which you would use a first-round pick on. I'd only use the first-round pick on an OT if Pace can't come back and Barron is judged as best to use at RT. Then you'd want to use the high pick on an elite LT, stick him in the lineup like the Browns have with Joe Thomas, and let the QBs fall where they may.

Which brings me to Jake Long, currently NFL Draft Countdown's #1 prospect in the draft. Should the Rams draft Jake Long if he's on the board? This 9/17 War Room "Draft Dish" in the Sporting News gives me pause:

"Widely hyped as the best offensive tackle in the nation and a likely top five pick, Michigan's Jake Long (6-7, 313) is not the elite athlete NFL teams prefer to have at left tackle and more likely will play the right side. He is tough and competitive, but his stiffness and lack of quickness limit him."

Reports like that make me back off the idea of the Rams drafting Jake Long. You don't use a top five pick on a right tackle. The Rams definitely do not need to have a pick that high turn into Robert Gallery, who leaps to mind when I read War Room's analysis.

With no other college tackle currently emerging as a top-five overall candidate, I recommend against the Rams using their first-round pick in 2008 on an OT.

Roster shifts

How do the Rams figure to compensate for all their missing players?

Offensive line: Alex Barron to LT for Pace; apparently Milford Brown at RT in Barron's place; Claude Terrell at RG for Incognito.
Analysis: While I like the Barron move, I don't understand the Rams staff's hard-on for Brown. He can't play guard, so let's move him to tackle? I would go with Adam Goldberg at RT and Andy McCollum at RG, preferring his veteran savvy to the knuckleheadedness of Terrell. Brown is distinctly the weak link here; don't look for Randy McMichael to run many patterns Sunday. Maybe this year.

Secondary: Lenny Walls steps into the starting lineup for Hill. Jonathan Wade remains nickelback. I assume Darius Vinnett is the 4th DB.
Analysis: Not good. I'd be ok with Walls covering the 49ers' off-receiver, I think Arnaz Battle, but he can't cover Darrell Jackson, and Ron Bartell hasn't proven ready to move into that line of fire, either. I'd rather pull Jerametrius Butler off the street and plug him in, not that that's going to happen.

LB: Chris Draft replaces Pisa. Draft is a consummate veteran. Not only should the Rams not miss a beat here, if Draft maintains his run discipline, this could mark an improvement for the run defense, and maybe turn a light bulb on for the constantly overpursuing 5-0.

D-line: Wroten, who I'm disgraced to say is still employed here, and apparently will be all year, may be replaced by Victor Adeyanju moving inside or by practice squad pick-up Louis Leonard. I can't think Victor is going to be too effective inside except maybe as a pass-rusher. He's coming off an injury, and he seems too small for the position. I figure LaRoi Glover will have play a lot more than they want him to, and Adam Carriker may be on the field all day, spelling Glover when he's not playing NT. Cliff Ryan better have ice bath reservations after Sunday's game as well. Thanks to Wroten the damn idiot, the Rams are going to be undermanned here at least until L. Leonard is up to speed.

There might be a couple of bright spots. If Barron looks good at LT, the Rams will be secure at that position for a long time. And Draft has potential to improve the LB play.

But that's a couple of bright spots in a dark, deep hole, because the Rams look completely outmanned in the trenches. Leonard Little and James Hall had better show the hell up, which neither did last week. Marc Bulger had better get himself in sync. And fitted for a flak jacket.

I fear the Rams' engine is missing too many parts to even start, let along run smoothly.

Circle the wagons!

Good grief, this season has gotten off to a rough start. Facing all but a must-win against the 49ers on Sunday, the Rams are going to have to do it without:

* Orlando Pace, out for season, LT, starter;
* Richie Incognito, 3-4 weeks, RG, starter;
* Claude Wroten, idiot, DT, 2nd-string;
* Pisa Tinoisamoa, at least 1 week, WLB, starter;
* Fakhir Brown, 2 weeks left in suspension, CB, starter;
and now?
* Tye Hill, 4-6 weeks, CB, starter.

For crying out loud, half the secondary and now almost half the offensive line gone!

Hard to see anything good coming out of this. Even with the offensive skill players intact, you would now have to figure a 3-5 record at the bye week would be exceptional given the injury circumstances.

2007's shaping up as a lost season.

Cut Claude Wroten NOW

Word is leaking out that Claude Wroten is about to receive a 4-week suspension from
the league for violating the league's substance abuse policy.

Gee, I wonder what drug that was, considering he was arrested prior to the 2006 NFL
Draft Combine for possessing an amount of marijuana large enough that he was going
to be charged with drug dealing.

Claude came into the NFL and Rams Park with strike one already. Then he got arrested
this past offseason for kicking in his girlfriend's door. Strike two.

This suspension? Strike three. Wroten has proven unworthy of the unwise risk the Rams
took drafting him.

Get his worthless ass off of this team now.

Rams predictions audit trail

Here are the 2007 predictions for the Rams by various publications and pundits.
Could be fun to come back to this at the end of the season, assuming I can find it...

Pro Football Weekly - 3rd place, NFC West (Jim Thomas predicts 2nd place)

Sports Illustrated - 2nd in the West, with same 9-7 record as Seahawks, but failing
to make playoffs in favor of Seattle and also 9-7 Dallas.

Sporting News - 8-8, third place behind the Whiners and Seattle.

ESPN Radio - Mike Greenberg: last place, but 8-8.
Mike Golic, 9-7, 2nd place behind Seattle.

TMQ - last place, record of 5.8-10.2. Don't ask. TMQ sucks anyway.

RamView - tie for 1st with Seattle with the two meeting again in the playoffs.
Hopefully that three-game series will go as well as it did in 2004. I have the
Rams losing to the Saints in the divisional round.

RamView's Super Bowl? Broncos over Eggles. Find somebody out there predicting THAT one.

2007 predictions

Thought I'd better get my '07 predictions out there in the unlikely event any of them turn out
to actually be right. I hope they don't get accidentally deleted or anything if they turn out too bad.
Just saying...

NFC West:
1. RAMS 2. Seattle 3. Whiners 4. Big Dead
Rams and Seattle meet a third time in the playoff wild card round.

NFC South:
1. New Orleans 2. Carolina 3. Tampa Bay 4. Atlanta
Saints will blow out the rest of the South and knock off the Rams in the divisional playoff.

NFC Central:
1. Chicago 2. Green Bay 3. Minnesota 4. Detroit
Lions could surprise this year though I think they're a year away.

NFC East:
1. Philadelphia 2. Washington 3. Dallas 4. NY Giants
Washington's the NFC surprise team; Dallas is the NFC disappointment; Philadelphia? The NFC champion. Predictions hinge mightily on McNabb and Portis returning to past form for their teams.

AFC West:
1. San Diego 2. Denver 3. Kansas City 4. Oakland
The Chargers seem too talented not to do well, but look out for Denver. I'm picking them to
go on a road upset run of Indy and New England and then beat Philly in the game after that.

AFC South:
1. Indianapolis 2. Tennessee 3. Jacksonville 4. Houston
Titans the AFC surprise team; Jagwires the team most difficult to predict.

AFC Central:
1. Baltimore 2. Pittsburgh 3. Cincinnati 4. Cleveland
Cincy's soft defense will make it tough for them to crack this division for a postseason spot.

AFC East:
1. New England 2. NY Jets 3. Buffalo 4. Miami
Brady BLA BLA BLA Randy Moss BLA BLA BLA Belichick BLA BLA BLA. But I am NOT going to be a lemming and pick them to win it all like everyone else.

MVP: LaDainian again
Comeback player: Donovan McNabb
First coach fired: Romeo Crennel
AFC Wild Cards: Pittsburgh & Denver
NFC Wild Cards: Seattle & Washington
Super Bowl: Denver over Philly

The Preseason Challenge is not dead!

....even though it may look like it right now. I took a lot of the blogging off-line
and need to get week 2 up on the Preseason Challenge blog. That may be all
the farther I get, though. It's really a challenge for a person with more free
time. I think blogging each game was too ambitious, in retrospect. I could have
more quickly knocked off the one-page summary of each week's action, and
maybe got to week 3 that way.

I get through Saturday to watch as much as I can before I'll give it up for '07.
And, no doubt, try again in '08.

Why isn't this coming out in the proper size? Is Blogger going to be as big
a piece of crap as the Yahoo blogging tool? 'Cuz I really don't want to move
and repost everything again.

TMQ sucks

Note: this is a politically-oriented post.

In the past the magic of the Tuesday Morning Quarterback column has been that
Gregg Easterbrook didn't stick to just football. Especially since a lot of his football
shtick has gotten tired and repetitive, the non-football material has proven an
interesting and fun change-of-pace.

But not this year, now that Easterbrook has seen fit to inject some kind of smartass
liberal commentary into the column every week. Maybe I've been tone-deaf, but I
hadn't noted any politically partisan material within the column before. TMQ mostly
left politics out of the column or played it like a libertarian when he included any.
This week, we have him calling Iraq the worst foreign-policy mistake in US history,
and wisecracking in haiku that Matt Millen makes Dick Cheney look competent.

Gee, call me a neophyte, but it takes about 20 seconds of research to see that Vietnam
cost the US nearly 20 TIMES as many lives as Iraq has. A foreign policy mistake that
manages not only that, but to deeply divide a nation for generations domestically, is
EASILY a bigger mistake, and makes me wonder if Easterbrook was visiting another
dimension, or drinking blueberry almond martinis, during the years 1965-1975 or something.
If you feel like getting all political, TMQ, spare me the misinformed liberal myopia that equates
Iraq and Vietnam. That is nowhere near the level of intellectual honesty I have come to
expect from your column.

The US also entered the Spanish-American War at the behest of newspaper publishers -
there's great decision-making! Kennedy's Bay of Pigs fiasco took planet Earth to the
brink of total nuclear war; that was a good risk! How about the Clinton administration
ignoring genocide in Rwanda? How many innocent civilians perished there? A MILLION!
Not a good decision in hindsight! How 'bout Korea? How 'bout the Battle of New Orleans
being fought after the British surrendered? How about the entire Carter administration?
How about Truman letting Stalin run roughshod over Eastern Europe following WWII? The US
got kind of scooped there, didn't it? Wasn't it a bigger mistake that intelligence that would
have led to bin Laden's capture prior to 2001 wasn't followed, as opposed to that which
has happened in the aftermath?

And calling Dick Cheney "incompetent" in anything other than pheasant hunting is little
more than an impetuous liberal diatribe. He is certainly fit to do the job and is never described
as less than the most powerful VP in US history, never described as other than one of the most
politically adept VP's, and if you believe a VP's role is to advance the President's policies,
he has done that beyond question. That Cheney has been a singularly effective Vice President
is not even for those diametrically opposed to administration policies to argue against. I didn't,
and don't, like much of anything about Al Gore's politics, but have never called him an
incompetent Vice President. He was quite successful in the role itself; granted, determining a
Vice-President's success, though we can all agree Agnew was probably a failure, is about as
precise as projecting regular-season results from NFL preseason games.

Hey, I got it back to football! TMQ, I'd request for you to do so as well. The Web already has
millions of places to find strident liberal commentary; Tuesday Morning Quarterback has no call
to serve that market.

End rant.

Tickets! Get your tickets here!

The Rams for the first time have announced how many tickets are still unsold for each game on this season's home schedule. Just over two weeks from the home opener; it's not sold out. The Whiner and Big Dead games aren't even close, and need I remind that I need a sellout for the Big Dead game because I will be out of town and may not be able to RamView it.

The only games sold out are the Packer and Steeler games. Expect a lot of road fans those two games.

This is getting embarrassing, St. Louis. Get it in gear!

(I had to type this info in because Blogger left an inexplicable gap when I copied the HTML)
(Then Blogger dumped all the spacing I carefully put in. Hey, Google, it was crap like this that
made me dump the Yahoo blogging tool)

Sept 9 Carolina 1,800
Sept 16 San Francisco 4,250
Oct 7 Arizona 4,100
Oct 28 Cleveland 3,000
Nov 25 Seattle 2,500
Dec 2 Atlanta 4,300
Dec 16 Green Bay sold out
Dec 20 Pittsburgh sold out

Maybe if half the home games didn't fall after Thanksgiving...

Buy this week's Sports Illustrated

Sure, the August 13 issue of SI has got Barry Bonds on its cover, but
the Rams-related content inside more than makes up for it. There's a
good article about Steven Jackson, which to me, marks his arrival as
an elite RB in the national press. The article points out his historical 2006
statistics and praises his toughness, durability, upbringing and work ethic.
It also sheds a little more light on Steven's relationship with Marshall Faulk.
Steven says Marshall "could have helped me out and he didn't" his first
season, and he considers Torry Holt and Isaac Bruce his mentors vs. the
public impression that Marshall filled that role.

Just as good, earlier in the magazine, is a Jim Beam advertising section
featuring an interview with Mike Jones about The Tackle. Jones' description
of the play is so good you'll feel some of the rush come back that you
got the first time you saw the play. Mike is now the defensive coordinator
for Hazelwood East High School.

So go buy the issue; it's worth it.

Rams close training camp to public

stltoday.com article

With high temperatures near 100 degrees predicted for Tuesday through
Thursday, the Rams have prudently moved practices indoors. Though Friday's
crowd fit easily in the practice facility, they're probably making the right
move by also closing training camp to the public until further notice. You don't
want to turn fans away and you can't create a safety risk indoors for fans
and players.

There's "only" a high of 95 predicated for August 12th, which was going to
be the last practice I was going to attend, but I'm canceling that plan, which
completes RamView's training camp coverage for 2007.

Is is too much to hope the Post-Dispatch will turn open the information faucet
a bit wider and get more camp details out now that the fans can't attend?

Trouble for two ex-Rams

Ryan Tucker was suspended for this season's first four games for violating
league steroid policy, and has owned up to it... Cleveland Plain Dealer article

Anthony Hargrove jailed for shoving a policeman in Buffalo... stltoday.com

Site announcements

First, I'd like to announce that Jimmy Kennedy has been added to one
of the all-time St. Louis Ram teams. Guess which one.

I'm still on track to hit tomorrow afternoon's practice. Report should
be up tomorrow night, probably late.

RamView for the August 10 game in Minnesota will run late
due to other commitments I have that night. (Note to self: add
Red Bull to grocery list.)

Last and certainly not least, I will be attempting the Preseason Challenge
again this season; that is, to watch every preseason game (they're all
televised). I successfully pulled this off in 2004. 2005 never made it past
week 1 because my satellite equipment died. I only made it through the
first three weeks last year before I ran out of time and the regular season started.

TiVo, DirecTV and my ability to handle sleep deprivation willing, (Note to
self: More Red Bull) I'll make a hard run at it this year and return to past glory.
All to be documented for posterity at preseasonchallenge.blogspot.com by game,
and with luck, pages here once again for each week.

NO EXCUSES, St. Louis

The Rams' home sellout streak made it to 95, I believe, before
ending with a non-sellout at last year's final home game against
the Redskins. So we head into this season wondering if the schedule's
going to be filled with TV blackouts. In fact, the schedule's seemingly
engineered to help the Rams sell out games. The last two games, which
often are the hardest ones to sell out, are against the two teams on
the schedule whose fans "travel best", Green Bay and Pittsburgh. Those
seem guaranteed sellouts because of likely large road fan contingents.
The scheduling process is a great mystery, but it's plausible the Rams
asked for those games late because they're worried about failing to get
sellouts, and the league did them a favor.

Well, I'm here to say St. Louis has absolutely no excuse not to sell
out the whole home schedule. Look at Buffalo. They went 7-9 last
year, drafting one pick ahead of the Rams in the first round. They
had the #30 offense last year. This offseason, they've lost Willis
McGahee, Nate Clements, London Fletcher, Takeo Spikes, Darwin
Walker, not to mention Matt Bowen :P. All this while raising ticket
prices an average of 12.5%. And at last word, they still have Anthony
Hargrove on their roster. Yet...

The Bills have already sold out their first five home games.

The Rams have every promise of an exciting offense, they more than
adequately replaced their most significant player lost (Drew Bennett for
Kevin Curtis), they have league elites at WR, RB, and QB, two of whom
they have locked up long-term, they play indoors, and a large number
of this year's seats are cheaper than they were last year (except mine,
of course).

There is no excuse whatsoever for St. Louis not to sell out every game
this year, so step up, people. At least sell out the Big Dead game; I have
to be able to record it because I'm out of town that week.

Ex-Ram notes

The Browns are betting Ryan Tucker will make a strong comeback after a 2006
season marred by psychological issues. Tucker had a stable, productive offseason
and seems rejuvenated. Before his problems, he was the team's best lineman of
the expansion era. (Sporting News, 7/30/07)

Brian Young will miss the first few weeks of training camp with a broken foot that
required a screw to be inserted. He is not expected to be in any danger of losing
his starting job. (PFW, Aug 07)

He wasn't a Ram long, but I thought it worth mentioning that Tony Fisher has
been cut by the Jets. He was attempting a comeback from a blown ACL he suffered
last year against the Chiefs.

ESPN's HoF idiocy

Yet another reason ESPN must be destroyed: today's top 50 Hall-of-Fame candidates list
from players on current rosters. This kind of article can either be an interesting exercise
or a joke. ESPN's, of course, is a joke, as it considers Isaac Bruce an also-ran in favor of
several rookies from last year - Reggie Bush, Vince Young, Matt Leinart and AJ Hawk.

It's fine to put a rookie on such a list if they've had a truly dominating season. None of those
fellows did. Bush's 1200+ combined offensive yards comes closest. Good, he's 60% of the
way to something Marshall Faulk did 4 times. Put him in the hall! Leinart and Young finished well
behind Tony Romo in passing yards - Romo was 15th in the league - despite having 40 and 20 more
attempts respectively. Neither had a QB rating north of 75.0. Both have more career INTs
than TDs. Put them in the Hall! Hawk was only the THIRD-leading tackler among rookies last
season, so I guess Demeco Ryans and Ernie Sims are going to the Hall, too, though they
weren't on ESPN's list.

Bruce's exclusion is more annoying given some of the veteran WRs ESPN took the time to
include. Hines Ward is one of my favorite non-Rams, but at the same point for his career, Isaac
has 5 more TDs and a whopping 1500 more yards. I agree that Ward is on his way to the Hall.
But so is Isaac.

I don't even want to talk about Randy Moss and TO being on the list. They have done more
psychic harm to the game than they have made up for with their statistics. Isaac has a
higher career yards-per-catch than T.O., by the way, and has more Super Bowl rings than
both of those jerks combined.

Which brings me to Rod Smith, who ESPN specifically states is on the list, ahead of Bruce,
because he has a second Super Bowl ring. I like Rod Smith. I hope he makes the Hall of Fame.
He had a great Super Bowl XXXII: 5-152 with an 80-yard TD. Thing is, that second ring's
practically a freebie for Smith, who had no catches in Super Bowl XXXIII, only a fair catch
of a punt. That's why he should be in the Hall over Isaac?

In career stats, Bruce is pounding Smith in yards per season (1029 to 949), yards per catch
(15 to 13.4) and TDs (Rod is 12 behind in one season less than Isaac). Over 12 postseason
appearances, Smith is 49-860, 6 TDs; Bruce is practically there, 44-759-4, in just 9 postseason
games. And he went 5-56 in Super Bowl XXXVI playing most of the game with broken ribs.

Not that Pro Bowl recognition should be important, but the score there is Moss & T.O. 5,
Bruce & Ward 4, Smith 3. Isaac's got nothing to apologize for there.

ESPN did have the sense to include Torry Holt, a stone-cold HoF lock right now, and Orlando Pace,
who I can't call a 100% lock, but who'd better be on a list that already has Johnathan Ogden and
Walter Jones. Steven Jackson's also on the list, very prematurely, but again, if Reggie Bush is on
it, Steven damn well better be.

Bruce's exclusion is even more annoying considering the inclusion of Adrian Peterson, who hasn't
taken a pro snap and didn't survive his final season in college, and Calvin Johnson, WHO HASN'T
EVEN REPORTED TO CAMP YET. Or DeMarcus Ware, who's apparently there on the strength of
tying for 9th in the NFL in sacks in '06. (Shaun Phillips, Aaron Schobel and Aaron Kampmann await
their HoF credentials from you, ESPN.) One of those guys ought to be left off for the time being
in favor of Bruce, of one of the most accomplished and hardest-working WR's in the game's history.

Bulger, Carriker signed!

Exciting and good news from Rams Park that the team has signed
Marc Bulger to a richly-deserved contract extension and has also
gotten first-round pick Adam Carriker signed to a deal. stltoday.com article

Bulger's contract is 6 years, $63 million, which means I damn near nailed
it with my guess on Wednesday.

Sounds like I short-changed Carriker with my previous estimate, though.
With Marshawn Lynch getting $19M at #12 and Lawrence Timmons getting
$15M at #15, Adam's probably in the $17.5M neighborhood, vs. my guess
of $14M. All we know right now is that it's a 5-year deal. Adam has agreed
to it but hasn't signed it, so he's missing the first day of camp. Looks like
I'll get to see his camp debut tomorrow.

Great work by the Rams front office, getting everyone in camp essentially
on time, and getting Bulger locked up with a contract that's reasonable in
the current market without breaking the bank.

Zygmunt: Bulger priority #1

Jay Zygmunt wisely identifies signing Marc Bulger to a contract extension
as the front office's #1 priority right now: stltoday.com article

Well, wait: what about signing Adam Carriker?

Anyway, the article mentions that the Rams have offered Bulger, currently
the 11th-highest paid QB in the league, a contract that would make him
one of the highest-paid QBs in the league and the highest-paid Ram ever.

Any way you slice it, the distinction of highest-paid Ram ever currently
belongs to Orlando Pace. The 7-year, $53 million contract he's on right
now is the largest total Ram contract I'm aware of. His $6 million base salary
in 2004 is the largest in team history, as was his total salary of $18M
in 2005, which included $15M+ in bonuses.

Using the recent 6-year/$60M deals for both Tom Brady and Drew Brees,
I figure Marc'll average no worse than $10M a year over his deal, and his
agent wouldn't be crazy to ask for $12M. Bulger's age, 30, is important, too,
with regards to the length of the contract. He'd probably want 6-7 years.

This would be a big jump over Pace, but the salary cap has really ballooned,
too: the Rams and Bulger ought to be able to agree on a contract in the
six-year, $mid-sixties range. If things break down, that's the gauge I'm
going to use to decide if the Rams are being cheap or Bulger's being greedy.

Brian Leonard signs

The Rams have signed RB Brian Leonard to a 4-year contract.
stltoday.com article

With Stephen Davis gone, Leonard plays a critical role for the Rams as
a back who can keep bashing the defense while giving Steven Jackson
some rest. As with Jackson, I think Leonard is initially going to surprise
a lot of defenders with his speed as well. Good that he'll be in camp
on time.

The article also mentions that the team is meeting with Adam Carriker's
representatives today, so hopefully that deal is close to getting done as well.

Re-estimating the Carriker contract

As a handful of 2007 first-rounders are signed, and the Rams, in sheeplike fashion,
wait for the picks around Adam Carriker to be signed, I see that my first estimate
of his contract is off by a country mile. Turns out Kamerion Wimbley's contract is
much different than most rookie contracts and is a very bad one to use as a baseline.

Let's use Haloti Ngata's, then, with the additional bonus that he's a DT just like
Carriker. He signed a 5-year, $11.9 million contract last year, with about $9.3M
guaranteed. Three picks later, Tye Hill came in at 5 years, $10.2M, $7.7M guaranteed.

Enter this year's #15 pick, Lawrence Timmons, signed by the Steelers, who have all
their picks in camp on time. CBS Sportsline reports he's getting 8% more bonus money
and 19% more total contract money than Hill.

Assuming it's a 5-year contract, then, Carriker's probably looking at a contract in the
neighborhood of $14M total, $10M guaranteed.

Let's quit screwing around, make it happen, and get the man in camp.

Training camp reports

I'm hoping to hit training camp on the following dates:

Sat. 7/28 - 3:00
Sun. 7/29 - 9:20
Fri. 8/3 - 3:00
Sun. 8/12 - 3:00

I think the best day to be at training camp will be for the
intrasquad scrimmage on 8/4, but I unfortunately have a
prior commitment that day.

All contingent on weather, my ability to drag my carcass
out of bed, etc.

Rams sign more draft picks

A busy weekend in Rams news includes the signing of the rest of the day 2
draft picks: Dustin Fry, Clint Ryan and Ken Shackleford. That leaves the
top two picks, Adam Carriker and Brian Leonard. Let me say right now, if the
Rams screw around and wait for Buffalo to sign Marshawn Lynch (#12) and
the Jets to sign Darrelle Revis (#14) so they can make Carriker an offer,
they're doing him and the team a great disservice. The Rams HAVE to hit
the ground running with Carriker, and that starts with having him in camp on time.

Ryan has a legitimate shot at a roster spot behind Carriker, while the Rams'
offensive line looks deep enough for Fry and Shackleford to both end up on
on the practice squad. The problem is, if another team swipes them off the
Rams' practice squad, the Rams have basically wasted a draft pick. Might be
best to keep at least Fry on the main roster, though the Fakhir Brown suspension
tightens up the roster by forcing the Rams to keep a DB around whom they
might not otherwise.

Fakhir Brown suspended 4 weeks; 2 for Wroten?

CB Fakhir Brown got a four-game suspension from the league over the weekend
for an unspecified violation of the substance abuse policy. (My guess: weed.)
Assuming his appeal fails, the pressure will be on Tye Hill and partner to contain
Steve Smith week 1, Darrell Jackson week 2, Joey Galloway week 3, and oh crap,
T.O. and Terry Glenn week 4. Throwing in Jason Witten makes week 4 look like
an awful good week to start Tony Romo in your fantasy league.

None of those first three WRs are size guys, though, and I think Tye Hill can handle
them. No, he's not going to hold Steve Smith to 2 catches for 20 yards, but neither
should he give up 9 catches, 180 yards, 3 TDs. A positive of the Brown suspension
is the potential for it to become Tye's moment to shine.

Same for Ron Bartell, who'd certainly be a candidate for #2 CB the first four weeks.
My guess, though, knowing Jim Haslett's affinity for veterans, is that Lenny Walls
gets most of the snaps and is the Opening Day starter, with Bartell as the nickel.
That's not the best combination they can throw out there, thanks to Brown's
off-field stupidity, but they don't necessarily have to get shelled for 350 yards a
week, either. Though I'm dreading Dallas.

On the topic of suspensions, I can't believe Claude Wroten or Dominique Byrd would
be looking at any worse than two weeks from the commissioner's office, in light of
Sam Brandon getting 2 for domestic violence, which is worse than what Wroten will
be charged with, and Jared Allen (2nd DUI) getting his suspension reduced to 2 weeks.
I'd originially thought Wroten and Byrd would be up for 4-week suspensions, but there's
obviously some wiggle room.

Chris Chandler wins something!

In case his whole 2004 season had you wondering what the heck Chris Chandler
is exactly supposed to be good at, we learned the answer this weekend.

Celebrity golf.

Chandler won the American Century Celebrity Golf Tournament in Tahoe this
weekend, shooting a 67, which helped him land a winning modified Stableford
score of 78. Just under his career QB rating of 79.1. Mark Rypien, also a
former Ram QB, finished fourth.

Chandler won $125,000 for his victory. I think I caused that much property
damage watching him the time he lobbed six picks in Carolina...

I have a feeling the Dome won't do very well

sportsillustrated.cnn.com is running a poll right now to determine which NFL team offers the best fan experience. It's mostly questions about your team's stadium and gameday atmosphere.

There's no way the Rams are going to score well at this. The Edward Jones Dome, designed to be all-purpose and generic, has mastered generic blandness, right down to the changeable name of the facility. The poll asked for something that makes your team's stadium unique, and I couldn't think of a thing. Generic blandness pervades the Dome, to the concession stands, to the halftime entertainment, and certainly into the stands, at least to those fans who haven't actually sold their tickets to aficionados of the visiting team or gone home with 9:00 still left in the game.

I'm dumb enough to think/hope the new video screens and improved sound will help raise the excitement level in the stands. The team is certainly poised for an exciting season. Atmosphere at this year's games is clearly in the crowd's hands. Let's hope they don't spend all season sitting on them.

Why is St. Louis a baseball town? Besides the 100-year tradition, that is, their baseball team plays in a baseball stadium. Their football team, on the other hand, plays in a convention center. They replace the FieldTurf every year now so they can have motocrosses and boat shows.

St. Louis got itself back a football team in 1995; that was a very big win. The bandwagon overflowed from 1999-2001. The next step, though, becoming a town that's dedicated to football, win or lose, is proving elusive.

Bulger's bank account needs a boost - Fox Sports

I can't say I disagree with this article one bit.

So what the hell's the holdup? The Rams have the cap room. They have tons of money. They should have a very good idea what the rookie class is going to get paid. Marc clearly wants to stay, and his agent's not Carl Poston. (Poston would probably ask double-Peyton-Manning money for Bulger.)

Excerpt from the article:

Could the team leader hold out of training camp?

"We'll see if that will happen," Bulger said. "I don't think that will happen. But you never know. I don't want to rule anything out. The Rams have been good to me. I've been here my entire career. I hope it will work out."

I'll say right now, that if Marc Bulger decides to holds out, assuming his demands are reasonable, it'll
be the first time I'll ever approve a Ram player holdout. And I ripped Marshall Faulk in 1999.

Other than Bulger making Poston his agent, which he of course hasn't done, I can't even come up
with a comedy reason that his deal hasn't been extended by now.

Get it done, John Shaw. Yesterday.

Keith Jackson signed

The Rams signed Keith Jackson to a three-year contract on Monday, so
both 7th-rounders are aboard now. stlouisrams.com

Five draft picks remain to be signed: Carriker (1), Leonard (2), Fry(4),
Ryan (5), Shackleford(6).

Jackson and Ryan, along with one of last year's preseason favorites, Tim
Sandidge, are expected to compete for a backup spot behind Adam Carriker
at what's popularly being called the nose tackle position.

Jackson's got a great shot at making the team, certainly a better shot than
many 7th-rounders ever have. The Rams are weak at the position and he's
competing with essentially two other rookies. And right now I don't know how
much the team should count on Claude Wroten's ability to stay out of trouble.

If Jackson shows the heart and hustle he seemed to be known for as a
Razorback, he'll hit the practice squad at worst and has a legitimate shot
to make the regular roster.

Rams' most indispensable

1. Steven Jackson. I wonder how many people know he had more offensive yards
than LT last year. He's as valuable to this offense as Marshall was to the GSOE,
and he's already putting up similar numbers. And his backup is just a rookie.

2. Marc Bulger. Definite Pro Bowler and probably one of the three best QBs in
the league, but he's not the focus of Scott Linehan's offense, and Gus Frerotte
is a serviceable and somewhat proven backup.

3. Torry Holt. As much as anybody on this team, the Rams go as Torry goes. Their
worst games have been the ones where the offensive plan inexplicably doesn't look
for him. When the Rams don't get Torry going early and often, they're more often
than not in for a bad day.

4. Jeff Wilkins. Like I said in the entry about the NFL's most indispensable, a clutch
veteran kicker is worth his weight in gold. How would your stomach feel with Remy
Hamilton lining up a 39-yarder to win the game?

5. Leonard Little. Lord help the Ram defense when it doesn't have Leonard at 100%.
He's been their only real pass rusher for what, three years? James Hall should help
this year, but even then, if LL were out, the Rams would get so little pass rush
Haslett would be better off dropping 11 guys into coverage.

6. Will Witherspoon. The Ram defense can't afford to lose much; it certainly can't
afford to lose a playmaker of Will's quality.

7. Adam Carriker. The Rams are relying heavily on the Nebraska rookie to come in
and contribute immediately. With the Claude Wroten saga playing as we speak,
the Rams absolutely have to get Adam in training camp on time.

8. Pisa Tinoisamoa. The noticeably-bad defense dropped off even more noticeably
when 5-0 was unable to go last year. He's a lot of the defense's heart, and the
guy likeliest to be the defensive tone-setter.

9. Orlando Pace. Don't mistake this as a slight to Pace. It's a tribute to the youngsters'
fine performance down the stretch last year without him and to the unit's depth. And
now with a healthy OP joining the young battle-tested line that closed out last season,
they have a shot at becoming something truly special.

10. Drew Bennett. I wouldn't want to have to rely on Dante Hall too much as a receiver.
And Bennett's being counted on so much as a red zone weapon right now, the Rams
can't afford him becoming a fumble-fingered free-agent bust they can't rely on. I think
the offense would lose confidence if he doesn't get off to a good start.

Honorable mentions: Tye Hill, Randy McMichael, Mark Setterstrom, Isaac Bruce, Dante Hall

NFL's most indispensable

espn.com ran a list of the NFL's 10 most indispensable players today,
so I thought I'd take my own stab at it.

If indispensable = the player his team can least afford to lose this season,
here are my choices.

1. Peyton Manning. His leadership and brilliance cover up a lot that is wrong with
the Super Bowl champs. They're about as deep at RB as the Rams are at DT, and
I don't see Jim Sorgi or a run defense WORSE THAN THE RAMS' LAST YEAR making
up the difference if Peyton ever gets hurt.

2. Drew Brees. He's not even top 10? Do you see Jamie Martin coming in off the
sideline and the Saint offense not missing a beat? With Brees out, opposing defenses
would stack against the run, and the Saint defense doesn't have the big-play
ability to compensate for the downgrade at QB.

3. Frank Gore. Even with Darrell Jackson aboard, there's no way the Whiner passing
game could make up for losing Gore, who's their whole offense. Their defense should
carry them to a few wins this season, but Gore would still be a crushing loss.

4. LaDainian Tomlinson. It's just silly not to have the NFL's best player on this list.
He's the reason San Diego is a playoff team. They could afford to lose Antonio Gates
a lot sooner than they could afford to lose LT, Michael Turner or no.

5. Carson Palmer. He was nowhere near 100% and still got the Bengals to a
respectable 8-8 record last year. With Palmer at 100%, the Bengal offense is
the next best thing to the GSOE.

6. Larry Johnson. I know he had 400 million carries last year, and the Chiefs appear
prepared to rely on him exclusively for offense this season. The problem is, they don't
have an offensive line anymore. LJ's going to have more games like last year's playoff
in Indy. KC's depleted o-line makes LJ less valuable, and therefore less indispensable.

7. Tom Brady. Brady's one of the best, so he's worth listing, but the Patriots are good
enough to win many ways without him. Hey, they won one Super Bowl with him turning
in probably the worst performance ever by a Super Bowl "MVP", didn't they?

8. Clinton Portis. Hey, 10-6 in 2005 with him, 5-11 in 2006 without him. If he's back
100%, the 'Skins are 2007's surprise team.

9. Devin Hester. Seriously, with Grossman still running the offense and Thomas Jones
shipped to the Jets, the Bears may need a lot of TDs out of this guy to return to the
Super Bowl.

10. Jeff Wilkins, Josh Brown, et al. If you're a fan of a team with a solid, clutch veteran
kicker, go thank God for that guy right now. Because if your kicker gets hurt this season,
there is bupkus out there to replace him. And that can dramatically change your team's
fortunes.

Comparing with Jeff Chadiha's list:
Brian Urlacher: I left him off mainly because the Bears have a ton of defensive talent;
Antonio Gates: Extremely valuable and his absence would retard the Charger passing
game by a lot, but no way is he San Diego's most indispensable player over LT;
Julius Peppers: A good pick for having 1/3 of Carolina's sacks, I might have thought
about him longer if I thought the Panthers were a league-dominating offense;
Michael Vick: Yeah, he's so valuable, most football fans today feel the Falcons
would be better off without him;
Walter Jones: overrated;
Champ Bailey: great player, but this season he has a Pro Bowl-quality counterpart
in Dre Bly.

The Rams' stars - Bulger and Jackson - don't make this list because they're both capable
of making up for the other's absence. They'll be on my list of the most indispensable
Rams coming out in a few minutes, though, inconsistent with this list, Jeff Wilkins
won't be on the top...

Wroten F's up

By now, it's old news that DT Claude Wroten was arrested last week
for kicking in the door of his (ex-)girlfriend's apartment, a misdemeanor to
join last year's marijuana possession charge that knocked him down two
rounds in the draft. If he's found guilty of the charge of destruction of
property, I fully expect him to get a 4-week suspension from Roger
Goodell along with whatever niceties he has coming from Louisiana's
judicial system.

Goodell should suspend Wroten if he's found guilty. He'd deserve it. This
isn't his first run-in with the law recently. And the NFL cannot tolerate
an image of its players physically intimidating women. Claude's a hair-drag
down the stairs short of being Lawrence Phillips right now, and even though
he's short of that distasteful distinction, he's still the knucklehead he was
when the Rams drafted him.

That's the chance the Rams took drafting a knucklehead, and they pumped
up the risk this offseason by planning to rely on Wroten a lot more in the
DT rotation. Now, even if Wroten gets off without a suspension, the Rams
are going to have to get a plan B, or better, in place so they can tolerate
his next inevitable screwup. They're probably pumping their fists in Carolina;
Kris Jenkins' plummeting trade price probably is on the way back up.

Thanks, Claude.

Add in Dominique Byrd's December bar fight and March DUI, and it hasn't
been a sterling off-season for the third round of the Rams' 2006 draft class.
Byrd's actions are exactly the kind that make NFL players look bad, exactly
the kind of thing Goodell intends to drop the hammer on. (Wroten's actions,
too, for that matter.) He also seems at risk of some kind of league suspension,
and deserves such if he's found guilty. The thing with Byrd is, (huh, my
Pandora.com's playing "Tush" right now), he's a lot more expendable than
Wroten is at DT because of the acquisition of Randy McMichael, and he
could just get cut.

Character still counts, and it'd behoove the Rams to (re-)remember that
on future draft days.

Draft signings / 5th WR competition

The Bears became the first team to sign a first- (or second-) round pick
from this year's draft by signing TE Greg Olson to a 5-year, $10.7 million
contract.

I don't know how valid this extrapolation is, but if you compare Kelly Jennings'
(#31 in 2006) contract to Kamerion Wimbley's (#13) last year and Olson's
(#31 this year), I figure Adam Carriker's (#13) contract will be in the area
of 26.5 mil for six years with a 10.5 mil bonus. But I am far from a guru at that stuff.

The Rams have already signed 3rd-rounder CB Jonathan Wade and 7th-rounder
KR/WR Derek Stanley. Wade's expected to compete for the 4th CB spot behind
Tye Hill, Fakhir Brown and Ron Bartell, and boy, if he doesn't beat out Mike Rumph,
I think we can say that's a pick that's not working out well.

Stanley is probably competing with Marques Hagans (remember him?) for a spot
on the practice squad, but it's not out of the question for either to become the
5th WR. Dane Looker's good work as Jeff Wilkins' holder kept him very safe last
year, but Donnie Jones used to hold for Olindo Mare at Miami. The position between
Looker, Hagans and Stanley probably comes down to who contributes best at WR,
as Dante Hall's backup returning punts, and on kick coverage teams. At the moment,
those are all advantage: Looker.

Required Reading & Gridiron Greats

I've started a Required Reading section on the main page to highlight articles
that are worth everyone's time and attention, whether or not they're about
the Rams specifically.

The first entry is Matt Crossman's sobering article in last week's Sporting News
about ex-players who will never fully recover from the effects of concussions
suffered throughout their careers. I hope the article will inspire everyone to
think twice when they see that big hit during a game or hear someone argue
that the officials aren't "letting them play" out there.

The published article also had a subarticle about Gridiron Greats, which has been in the news lately
thanks a lot to Mike Ditka's public efforts and Congressional testimony, along with NFLPA executive
director Gene Upshaw's threat to break some of their necks. Rather than inspiring that sort of
action, I hope reading the Sporting News article will inspire everyone to make a donation, as it
has for me.