When you can’t get to SoFi Stadium, how can you have your best Rams ‘homegating’ experience?

When we were all confined to our apartments and houses there for a while during the pandemic, one of my first instincts was to invest in having the best home entertainment viewing experience that I could afford. If my home was going to be my entertainment center for the next indeterminate amount of time, then I wanted it to be the most comfortable experience possible — with high-quality visuals, and audio that didn’t require me to learn how to setup a surround system.

Because I’m probably not going to ever do that until it’s completely wireless and crystal clear like champagne glasses.

The result was the same as every time you buy a new TV, or any new product really: it’s incredible for the first couple of weeks and then the experience becomes similar to what you had with your last TV. You can’t even really remember how big your last TV was ... Was it really that much worse than this? Remember how much BIGGER the new TV was when you first got it?

Then the NFL returned in Fall 2020 and the TV started to feel like a good purchase again. That might just be the NFL effect. It was definitely a realization that watching games without fans in the stands is weird, but watching the games from home can be a tempting alternative when you can’t be there or if you were never the type to attend to begin with.

I’ve certainly enjoyed many games at home and if I were alone in that opinion, the NFL wouldn’t be the most lucrative show on television.

With so many Rams fans spread across the country and for a team that has had so many important historical eras and location changes over the last six or seven decades, that can lead to a wide variation of how each of you experience the games from your own homes. When you can’t participate in tailgating and in-person LA Rams viewing, what are your “homegating” traditions, likes, and dislikes?

What are your superstitions?

What Rams paraphernalia do you have adorned in the room?

On Twitter, fans shared their Rams-themed walls:

And their poorly-timed weddings:

And their ideal time zones:

This only brings up more questions, such as:

What is the best time zone for sports viewing?

Is it actually OK to have a wedding during the first week of the NFL season? I mean, I realize that the bride and the groom may not care, but surely you have a friend or a family member who is going to be find that annoying.

And is it better to have an Eric Dickerson signed jersey or a Marshall Faulk signed jersey?

The Rams open the season with a primetime game on NBC because the NFL is going to be persistent about showcasing the new $5 billion stadium and travel experience to people just like you — and people who don’t even know yet that they’re just like you. It’s the same reason why Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas will be the first game of the season on Monday Night Football this year.

And again, I’m sure you’ll be watching that game from your “new, still pretty cool, actually not that bad, you don’t at all regret it” home TV entertainment setup.

When the Chicago Bears travel to Los Angeles for that Sunday Night Football game on Sept. 12 at 5 p.m., what will be your “homegating” experience be like? Whether that’s your gear, your superstitions, your traditions, your pet peeves, your wedding plans, your jerseys that you’ll wear and will never wear, and of course whether or not it’s better to be in Mountain or Pacific. Let us know in the comments below.