What are Los Angeles Rams fans to do without football?

What are Los Angeles Rams fans supposed to do without any football to watch? Is there life without Rams football?

The simple answer to this question is no. Life sucks without football. Especially Rams football.

While baseball is America’s pastime, football is America’s passion. There is no other sporting event like it. No other sport can keep a fans excitement till the end of game like football does. The “Minneapolis Miracle” is a perfect example of that and wow what a play that was.

Imagine what would have happened if Minnesota Vikings WR Stefon Diggs had decided to try to go out of bounds, failed to maintain his balance and stumbled, thereby causing the clock to run out instead. Fans would be still be talking the play, as they are now for the miracle that it was.

But once the Super Bowl crowns its champion, the New England Patriots or Philadelphia Eagles this year, football is over. If your team isn’t in the BIG GAME, who really cares? The only reason the non-participant football fan watches is because we know there isn’t going to anymore football afterwards—we need to get our fix in before we begin our long 5-month hibernation.

This year, the Rams had a remarkable season but flamed out when it counted most in the wildcard round against the Atlanta Falcons.

Yet unlike last year, Rams fans can be sincerely optimistic about the future in 2018 based on this year’s results.

Football fans know that a new season brings with it new challenges. All you have to do ask Dallas Cowboys fans what their expectations were at the end of last year and how they feel now after 2017.

There will be plenty happening to keep Rams fans coming to TST this offseason as the NFL continues to market the game as a 365-day sport.

What is the team going to do with DT Aaron Donald? Are the Rams going to keep CB Trumaine Johnson, WR Sammy Watkins, OLB Robert Quinn or ILB Mark Barron? It’s a pretty good bet that WR/PK Tavon Austin won’t be back.

Which then brings us to free agency and the 2018 NFL Draft.

Free Agency

As an old foggy with over 50 years of Rams football behind me, my take on free agency is generally that if the player was THAT GOOD he wouldn’t be a free agent unless he’s a product of a crummy ownership situation.

Last year the Rams hit a home run in free agency Will lightning strike again?

For Rams fans, the key here here is how much is Donald going to cost them against the salary cap. Without the money, there’s no way the Rams can afford to keep ALL the players heretofore mentioned.

Then of course after that is to focus on the draft.

The draft

The draft is a crapshoot. You never know what your going to get.

Those at the top of the draft are prospects considered franchise players. Those taken in the middle of the draft are “fill a need position” players. The hope is that if you get the right player, you might just put your franchise over the top with the missing link between mediocrity and championship hopes. Those going at the end of the first round really don’t have that many issues having made the playoffs with the current squad assembled from last year.

The key for Rams fans is to watch and see what they do in free agency. This will lead you directly to their need for position player they lost because of free agency and salary cap issues, leading to the expectation that the Rams will draft the “best available athlete” at the position they feel a most need at. Most likely a CB, ILB or OLB as my feeling is that the Rams will tag Watkins.

If you can stick around long enough to watch the draft (which is one of the most boring spectacles in sports), you can enjoy the 2nd through 7th rounds and the crowning achievement of the last player being selected named “Mr. Irrelevant.”

Don’t get me wrong. There are lots of people who love the draft. They compile stats and go over tape. They project out the future of a hundreds of prospects, from NCAA Division 1 to Division 3 college players. But when its all said and done, none of it means a thing until the kid plays in the pro game months away...if ever.

Boom or bust.

The experts are just talking heads. I have as much chance of knowing a can’t miss player as I do winning at poker—if you get the right cards dealt to you, how can you lose?

What’s left to do?

Without Rams football, the best that I can do is watch other sports.

I’ve got NBA basketball, knowing its going to be the Golden State Warriors against either the Cleveland Cavaliers or Boston Celtics for the title. Or I can go with the NCAA college basketball tournament, once teams are announced—all 64 which is way too many. There’s hockey, which I still don’t understand how it’s played, but love the fights. And baseball is just a time killer until September when the race really begins.

While I look forward to having something to do, its just not the same as Rams football.

Nevertheless, this year I have the added bonus of being able to watch the Winter Olympics. Around the home, I might even scope out to see if either my significant other or children have what it takes to become the next curling gold medal champion watching them as they sweep our wood floors. If they get mad at me saying “At best, you’re a bronze medalist in curling” BANG I get hit over the head with the broom. At that point, I might wind up finding out for myself if I have what it takes.

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So as we count the days down, each day brings us closer to the season ahead. And then, it’s upon us. That moment we wait for every year that seems like an eternity.

The glorious green grass of training camp...

That’s when the football fan truly wakes up from their slumber, knowing real games are just around the corner and that expectation that this will be our year.

Yes, there’s life without football but it ain’t the same without my Rams football.

We’ll make it. Eventually...