Is Rams Training Camp As Important to Fans As it Once Was

By Randy Gardner

**Randy Gardner photo**Is it just me or does the Rams starting training camp not seem to have the importance that it once did? The Rams camp started last Friday, as far as being open to the public, and I can honestly say that I haven’t heard of anyone who had intentions of going.

I know that the faithful will always go to camp and to the games but the group that the Rams need to target are the fringe fans, the ones that have disposable income to go to a game.

With a family of five, it’s out of my price range to go as by the time you buy tickets, pay to park and have a snack you’ve spent a bundle.

The Rams have to create more buzz around the franchise to make people decide to spend that extra money to be part of something that they can feel part of.

The perfect example is the Sporting KC soccer franchise. Once a team struggling in a smaller city like KC, as of now they have had 46 straight sellouts and only sell tickets to games a few months ahead at a time. They wear replica everything from jerseys, jackets to scarfs.

That’s the atmosphere that the Rams have to recreate. Winning will create it. The other negative is that there has been no clear statement that the Rams are here to stay—it’s always up in the air that they might move. How can you believe in something that might be snatched away at anytime. If you want the buzz you had in 1999-2000, create it by winning and being the people’s team.

Cards are In Way Better Shape than Red Sox

Onto baseball and the Cardinals, never count them out. Whether they’re 1 games back or 10 games back, the fans believe that they can do it. The Cards have a couple of big series coming up including the Brewers this weekend and then the Red Sox returning next week.

The Brewers could be a worry some series but the Red Sox have been horrible. I caught the end of the Red Sox game last night as they were losing to the Blue Jays 14-1. They are way under .500. How can you be horrible one year, win the World Series the next year, then be horrible again this year.

That’ s what is great about the Cardinals franchise, they are consistently good over a long period of time and almost always in the race. Now that the dog days of summer are here, and hopefully the steamy hot games of summer are upon us, all we can hope for is a smooth August and September and roll right into October baseball. All the way untill we are wearing those fall jackets to watch the games.

As I wrap it up, to all of you weekday and weekend sports warriors at all ages, take care of those nagging injuries and keep on playing. Life is short and you are only as old as you feel. I applaud everyone who still is in the game.

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