Wild, WILD Outlaws. KSW's Expansion Franchise.

[kswgrad2012]

Stan Kroenke: "L.A. Was The Right Move."



Rams owner Stan Kroenke

November 9, 2011
ESPN SportsCenter


St. Louis Rams owner Stan Kroenke is speaking with the media at Rams headquarters in St. Louis right now, about the impending move to Los Angeles. According to Kroenke, "L.A. was the right move." SportsCenter takes you live to that press conference right now.

Quote:

Stan Kroenke: "The St. Louis Rams and I announce today that we have finalized our relocation plans, which will take effect January 1, 2012. The decision did not come easy, as we dotted our I’s and crossed our T’s at every step. All five bid cities intrigued us in their very own ways, but at the end of the day there was always one particular city we felt was right for our organization. Los Angeles is a modern, sophisticated city where culture runs king. It’s a place of diversity; of attraction; and most of all, of fun. Many sports franchises have called L.A. home for years, and we feel the St. Louis Rams will fit right in. For nearly 50 years the Los Angeles Rams were the fan favorite of many Los Angeleans and others in the Southern California area, but the divorce from the city in 1994 was met with anger and distress, and many former fans continue to hold resentment to the Rams organization today. We hope today that a return to the place the Rams rightfully called home will be the first step to healing those old wounds. To those in St. Louis, we thank you for nearly 20 years of service, and we hope to have your support in the future. And to the City of Angels, we hope to be welcomed back with open arms.”

That was Rams owner Stan Kroenke announcing the Rams’ plans to relocate to Los Angeles, CA effective January 1, 2012. The move will certainly be met with criticism from those in St. Louis, but many feel this is the best move for the Rams to make in order to help the franchise grow, as well as spread the brand of NFL football to new places. It was rumored that the Rams seriously considered a bid to move to Portland, OR, but that the NFL would have likely rejected any Portland proposal. It’s evident now, the NFL badly wanted a franchise in L.A.

Back to St. Louis now, Stan Kroenke and many Rams officials will be fielding questions from the media.

Quote:

Local Journalist: "Do you expect the relocation process to run as smooth as the Jaguars' relocation process?" Kroenke: "We are hopeful that it does. We know that the Jaguars plans have been in motion for a few weeks now, but we can finally say today that we had already been in talks with Los Angeles city officials for weeks before yesterday's announcement, so we're already far along in the process." Local Journalist: "Will the team return to its former 'LA Rams' moniker?" Kroenke: "Yes. The team will return to its roots, being the Los Angeles Rams. At this point it is not known if the uniforms will be redesigned, but we do know that the team will return to its original Blue & Gold color scheme. We'll be working with Nike during this process to design a look that is modern, but recognizes the team's L.A. history." ESPN Reporter: "Mr. Kroenke, I work for ESPN. After having been without an NFL team for nearly two decades, do you feel L.A. is ready for an NFL team again? And do you think you guys can do it alone?" Kroenke: "Well obviously we feel LA is ready for a team, or else we wouldn't be making this move. LA is the second-largest market in the nation, and there are some die-hard football fans here. While we know gaining fandom is not an overnight process we do expect many in the SoCal area to embrace the team, as they did 20, 30 years ago. This will also give us a chance to reach a new generation of fans. One that heard of their elders going to Rams games as a child, but they themselves not having the chance to experience that. We want to reach those people too. Whether we can do it alone or with the cooperation of another LA franchise is not a concern to us. We're just ready to do the best that we can in our new location." ESPN Reporter: "Mr. Kroenke, I also work for ESPN. It was rumored over a week ago that the organization strongly considered a move to Portland, Oregon. Can you elaborate on that at this time?" Kroenke: Yes it's true, we did consider a move to Portland. We visited the city in late September, early October, and we left with great impressions. We felt the city would do great supporting an NFL franchise, but there would be initial issues getting a stadium deal done. There isn't a stadium nearby ready for use and both parties were miles apart in stadium negotiations. Playing at Oregon State or the University of Oregon temporarily wasn't an option either as the distance to Portland would have been an issue, not to mention the numerous logistics that would have to be resolved to play in a smaller collegiate stadium while an NFL-sized stadium was being built in Portland. Overall we liked the city, but it wasn't a reasonable relocation option at this point in time." Kroenke: "That will be all for questioning. Have a great day."

Back here on SportsCenter, Stan Kroenke has explained it all. The reason for moving to L.A., the reasons for not moving to Portland, and the expectations the organization has as it prepares for its move. To recap, the St. Louis Rams will be relocating to Los Angeles, CA at the end of this year, and will return to its former "Los Angeles Rams" branding. They hope to be ready for the start of the new league year in March, and the NFL Draft in late April. They will be moving into newly-constructed Farmers Field, as that facility is just about ready for business.


Stay tuned to ESPN, ESPN.com and the WatchESPN app for continuing coverage on the St. Louis Rams moving back to Los Angeles. For now we take you back to regularly scheduled programming on ESPN. Tune in to SportsCenter at noon here on ESPN for more coverage of this story, and tune into ESPN2 for "First Take" with Cari Champion, Skip Bayless and Stephen A. Smith.

[kswgrad2012]

LA Rams Tribute

In the spirit of the Rams moving back to Los Angeles, I thought I'd take a trip down Memory Lane. Not exactly during my time period (I was born in the 1990's), but I thought it'd be fun to take a look at the team that was, the Los Angeles Rams. Here are some cool photos I found on the internet. See if you recognize any.

[kswgrad2012]

LA Rams Tribute (cont.)

More cool LA Rams photos.

[kswgrad2012]

LA Rams Tribute (cont.)

These two videos I thought were well put together. The first one I thought was hilarious, the second one I found inspiring. Especially for L.A. fans in real life. Enjoy.

[kswgrad2012]

On a side note, you guys should be thankful . I ALMOST moved the Rams to Portland. There seemed to be a public outcry for the LA Rams to return , so I gave in. Don't assume this will be the team I'll play as, however. Moving a team to L.A. made it easier for me to determine what create-a-team (San Antonio or LA) I was gonna play as. That'll be announced later. But had I moved the Rams to Portland, let's just say my decision would've been a lot more difficult.

Anyway, more news coming later. Enjoy.

[Manning2Harrison]

Eric Dickerson, Roman Gabriel, the Fearsome Foursome.

I spit on the grave of the Wicked Witch of St. Louis.

[kswgrad2012]

"I'm BACK!!!"


My apartment right now looks like this:




But thankfully today I was able to get back this:




Expect Tulane/Outlaws updates to resume THIS WEEK. At last.

[R1zzo23]

Just read through this thread and I'm excited that you are going to start updating it again. I'm glad you don't plan on playing as the LA Rams and am really hoping you run with the San Antonio team.