Bernie Miklasz: The Rams don't like the local media. Waaaaaa!

[finishthehat]

I'm a little baffled why there isn't more reaction to the fact that the whole basis of his column was a lie, one he failed to check out. Simers was not in the box.

It's not different than Albom and the Final Four, is it?

 

[Mizzougrad96]

I'd like to know who would pony up $1 billion for a franchise fee in this economy, especially in L.A., which is blase about having a team to begin with.

Somebody will pay up. If they can get $800 million for Houston, they'll get at least close to $1 billion for Los Angeles.

 

[outofplace]

I'd like to know who would pony up $1 billion for a franchise fee in this economy, especially in L.A., which is blase about having a team to begin with.

Somebody will pay up. If they can get $800 million for Houston, they'll get at least close to $1 billion for Los Angeles.

The economy is very different now than it was when they got $800 million for Houston.

 

[Armchair_QB]

The thought of St. Louis media being hard on the Cardinals is pretty forking funny.

No city in America has a larger collection of self-delusional idiots than St. Louis.

Harsh. It's a 24/7 baseball town which wears rose-colored glasses, constantly.
It is what it is. Doesn't make them evil. As towns go, the general population
is more pleasant than in the majority of major cities. Population carries a huge
chip on shoulder because Chicago passed them like a fast train a century ago,
but that's understandable. Onward.

They're fanatical about being from St. Louis. Men, women, old ones, young ones.

And they expect you to be excited about it, too, maybe more.

And the local media wears kneepads to the game so they don't have to waste time putting them on in the pressbox before they go into the clubhouse.

 

[longtimecomin]

Some quick points.

1) Bernie is a good guy, good reporter and a solid pro. He obviously dropped the ball here on the Siemers thing and I generally agree that the media complaining about how restrictive the teams they cover are with access does little or no good. But he's done a great job for a long time.

2) I agree that at it's heart, St. Louis is a great baseball town. It's tough to top all that tradition that has been passed from generation to generation. But that doesn't mean it isn't a good sports town overall. The Rams filled that awful Dome for every game for the first 12 years after the move. Can you blame people for not wanting to show up for that mess?? Let me put it like this: Pittsburgh is first and foremost a football and Steelers town, but that doesn't mean it isn't a good sports town overall. Plus, the Blues have had a very solid following for more than 40 years, save for that year after the lockout.

3) I don't see how the St. Louis media wears knee pads more than the media in any other town. How many really "tough'' media towns are there? Chicago would be one. Maybe Philadelphia. Some would argue New York, but I've seen New York reporters who can be just homerish as a guy from small-town Indiana. You would think the world doesn't exist outside the five boroughs.

4) Yeah, there is a little insecurity there. I get a kick out of how some St. Louisans get so envious of Chicago. But that doesn't mean there aren't some great things to do there.

The Post-Dispatch is hurting like a lot of papers, but the sports staff still is very good. The beat writers on the Rams (Jim Thomas is one of the great guys in our business), Blues and Cardinals are excellent. Vahe Gregorian is a superb feature writer and college guy. Bernie and Burwell make a nice combination of columnists. They have totally different styles and points of view.

 

[Screwball]

Somebody will pay up. If they can get $800 million for Houston, they'll get at least close to $1 billion for Los Angeles.

McNair paid $800 million because he paid nothing for the stadium. Houston paid for that.

L.A. isn't paying for a stadium. The owner is going to have to pay for that, or perhaps sell all or part of the team to the private party that builds a stadium. If the NFL decides to pay for the stadium, the league could recoup the money by charging the owner, but the league isn't getting another $1 billion on top of that.

 

[doubledown68]

No city in America has a larger collection of self-delusional idiots than St. Louis.