And you were there, and you, and you, and you….
By Rams Nation's Rudy Hiers
0-4? The worst start to a Rams season in 40 years? Excuse me, but when did
Rod Serling become the commissioner of the NFL? I’ve just passed the signpost
up ahead, and I don’t like what’s recently been submitted for my
approval.
At first glance, everything has appeared normal, I mean Randy Moss is still
a felonious thug, Sebastian Janikowski is still driving around drunk, and Ram
fans still despise the 49ers, but if I didn’t know any better, I’d
swear the Rams have hopped into a DeLorean, cranked it up to 88 mph, and have
whizzed on back to 1996. What’s next? Biff Tanner officiating today’s
Ram-49er tilt?
Rarely has a team’s play been more frustrating to so many, than what
has transpired during the opening month of the 2003 Rams season.
Seemingly, what could go wrong, has. Those who could get injured, have. Play’s
that should have been made, weren’t. Penalties that shouldn’t have
been called, were. Good bounces went flat, all breaks went bad, and the Rams
shot themselves in the foot more than Barney Fife. No disrespect to any franchise
the Rams have faced this year, but seriously, this Rams team is too TALENTED
to be 0-4 at the moment. Right?
Well, if I may take off my Blue and Gold glasses for a moment, no, they aren’t.
While it is undoubtedly true that the Rams talent base ranks in the top tier
of the NFL, their talent alone can’t guarantee victory.
This isn’t your grandfathers 3 yards and a cloud of dust NFL any longer.
These days, the line between winning and losing in the NFL is so narrow, the
focus needed so exacting, that once you start to stumble, that fine edge that
was joined at the hip with you in victory, now becomes the face on 1000 milk
cartons in defeat. It literally can’t be found anywhere.
Speaking of milk, the Rams can’t spend any time crying over what’s
been spilt the last month. They have to look forward and adjust the ballasts
attached to this season. They need to look inside themselves, and rekindle the
fire that has burnt bright the last three seasons.
They need to let go of the Super Bowl 36. It happened. It’s over. They
cannot beat themselves up about it any longer, for it has shredded the team’s
very soul. They are haunted by it.
They need to sit back, close their eyes, and reminisce about the sandlots of
their youth. A place where plays are written in the dirt, cars are dodged, and
bicycles and dogs are just extra defensive backs. A place where we hid our good
school pants from our mothers because we tore the knees out playing tackle on
the concrete, and for some, a place where we lost our first tooth, or broke
our first bone.
They need to rediscover the little boy in all of them.
Find him, and the wins will come.