The St. Louis Cardinals and the city of St. Louis

St. Louis Cardinals’ fans are some of the best fans in all of sports, yet many of them of have been shafted this week.

Unless, you have had your head in the sand the past few days, you know that many St. Louis Cardinals have lost their football team. The St. Louis Rams are no more, and it is sad. It really stinks to see the city of St. Louis treated this way.

The same city that gives a standing ovation for the out of town player who played for the team for a time before. The same city that houses two successful sports’ franchises that are loved and adored just as much as any other team. Yet now this city’s fans won’t get to cheer on the likes of Todd Gurley and Aaron Donald anymore.

I am not going to pretend like I was the biggest Rams fan, in fact I haven’t been a Rams fan for a few years now. I have been an observer who wanted to see the team do well, but ultimately I was raised a Dallas Cowboys fan and have stuck to that.

While I wasn’t raised a Rams fan, I remember finding out that they were coming to St. Louis, and immediately wanting to be a fan. I remember receiving a St. Louis Rams pullover for Christmas in 1995, I remember playing as the St. Louis Rams in NFL Blitz. Most importantly, I remember the “Greatest Show on Turf” and the wonderful 1999 Superbowl Championship.

Seeing this city dragged through the mud makes me sick. It really stinks to see my fellow Cardinals’ fans struggling with the loss of their favorite team. It makes no sense to me, how the NFL and Stan Kroenke blatantly ignored all of their own “guidelines” and uprooted the team, despite the fantastic effort done by the Stadium Task Force.

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However, that today is irrelevant. I am an imported St. Louisan, who grew up adoring the city. Growing up, summer trips to Busch Stadium were a regular for my dad and I, and I have probably celebrated almost every birthday in this great city since I was a kid.

I chose this great city as a vacation spot after graduating high school, I chose this great city as a spot to get my feet wet after graduating college, and now living in the Metro East area, I will be raising my family in this great area.

One thing I know is true is that this won’t ever happen to the St. Louis Cardinals, thanks to the wonderful Dewitt family and the commitment previous owners have had to this city. The ownership of this team has been fabulous, and the Dewitts have taken it to another level.

This is the team that holds the biggest piece of my fandom, the team I spend hours thinking and writing about every single day, and the team that holds the keys to the success of the city of St. Louis. Without the Cardinals, I probably would have never lived in this great area.

This would mean that I would never have met my wonderful wife and never would have had the wonderful opportunity of helping her become a Cardinals and Blues fan. This great city is a great SPORTS town, not just a “baseball town”, as Bernie Miklasz has been telling you for years.

While the Blues certainly could draw more on a nightly basis, when these teams do well, the crowds are unbelievable. Not to mention the new scene down at Ballpark Village, that has given downtown a place to view all sports (see the gathering to watch World Cup soccer games).

So, if you are reading this and were a diehard St. Louis Rams fan, I am sorry that you have been treated so poorly. However, it is not over, this city will rise above this. So, instead of wallowing in the sorrows of losing your team, invest in the teams and owners of these teams who are committed to this city.

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One thing you can count on now is that the St. Louis Cardinals and St. Louis Blues will lead this team on from this. We need you to pick it up and go to games, and cheer these teams on as they work towards a Stanley Cup Championship and another World Series title.