http://www.stltoday.com/sports/columns/ ... 20df8.html
I was tinkering around with attendance figures the other day, and came up with a couple of notes:
1. In 2014, the Rams' 11th consecutive non-winning season, St. Louis had a larger average attendance for home games than the 1984 LA Rams team that won 10 games and went to the playoffs with future Hall of Famer Eric Dickerson setting a single-season NFL rushing record with 2,105 yards.
The 2014 Rams averaged 57,018 per home game.
The 1984 Rams averaged 54,455 per home game.
2. Between 1983 and 1989, seven seasons, the LA Rams made the playoffs six times and had the NFL's sixth-best winning percentage at .604. They were also No. 5 in points scored over the seven-year span. I think we'd all agree that this was a successful and entertaining stretch for the football fans of Los Angeles.
OK, now let's compare the average home attendance of the Rams' six playoff teams in LA to the 57,018 average at The Edward Jones Dome in 2014:
1983, LA: 52,780 ... less than the '14 Rams.
1984, LA: 54,455 ... less than the '14 Rams.
1985, LA: 56,242 ... less than the '14 Rams.
1986, LA: 59,285 ... 2,451 more per game than '14 Rams
1988, LA: 54,469 ... less than the '14 Rams
1989, LA: 58,846 ... 1,828 more per game than '14 Rams.
3. OK, this is even better. And funnier: Let's compare the Rams' home attendance in Los Angeles during the run of six playoff teams in seven seasons to the home attendance of the worst team in NFL history over five consecutive seasons.
Not that you need to be reminded, but between 2007 and 2011, the St. Louis Rams played 80 regular-season games and lost 65 times. That hideous 15-65 record is in fact the worst five-year mark in NFL history. There has never been an NFL team as hopeless and pathetic as the 2007-2011 Rams — not over a five-season stretch, anyway.
On the left-coast side, those six LA Rams teams that made the playoffs went 61-35. Between 1983 and 1989, the Rams competed in 10 NFL postseason games, winning four.
During that seven-season stretch only San Francisco (14) and Denver (11) competed in more postseason games than the LA Rams. And though the Rams went 4-6 in those games, only five NFL teams won more postseason games over that time.
Between '83 and '86 Dickerson averaged 1,742 yards rushing per season. Between 1986 and '89, QB Jim Everett ranked sixth among NFL quarterbacks in passer rating, and only nine league quarterbacks threw more TD passes.
That LA offense also had the wonderful Henry Ellard, who was not only a top 10 NFL wide receiver, but a dynamic punt returner as well. Those Rams teams had two Hall of Famers, OT Jackie Slater and Dickerson. They had a future Hall of Famer in pass rusher Kevin Greene (and yes he will make it to Canton.) Between 1983 and '89, the Rams had the league's No. 6-ranked defense.
Those LA Rams didn't win a Super Bowl or make it to one, but they did play in two NFC Championship games. They just had the misfortune of having to go against that 49ers dynasty, and also the '85 Bears who may have had the best defense in NFL history for a single season.
But during that time of franchise history, the Rams gave their SoCal fans six playoff teams in seven years, a .604 winning percentage, one of the greatest-ever running backs, and excellence on both sides of the ball.
And between 2007 and 2011, the Rams gave St. Louis fans 65 losses in 80 games. A team that was outscored by 922 points in those 80 contests.
OK, so let's close this out:
Over seven seasons those terrific LA Rams averaged 56,012 per game at home.
And the St. Louis Rams, who were the worst team in NFL history over five seasons? Well, they averaged 57,765 per home game.
That's right.
The team with the poorest five-season stretch in NFL history that plays in a mid-sized market drew more fans at home than the nation's No. 2 market at a time when the LA Rams were winning 60.4 percent of their games and going to the NFL playoffs six times in seven seasons.
This is true.
But just remember the lazy national-media narrative, and repeat it many times. And you too can get paid to be an NFL pundit:
St. Louis is a baseball town.
St. Louis doesn't support the Rams.
There you go. Keep practicing that.
You'll be on TV as an "insider" in no time.
Thanks for reading ...
— Bernie
I was tinkering around with attendance figures the other day, and came up with a couple of notes:
1. In 2014, the Rams' 11th consecutive non-winning season, St. Louis had a larger average attendance for home games than the 1984 LA Rams team that won 10 games and went to the playoffs with future Hall of Famer Eric Dickerson setting a single-season NFL rushing record with 2,105 yards.
The 2014 Rams averaged 57,018 per home game.
The 1984 Rams averaged 54,455 per home game.
2. Between 1983 and 1989, seven seasons, the LA Rams made the playoffs six times and had the NFL's sixth-best winning percentage at .604. They were also No. 5 in points scored over the seven-year span. I think we'd all agree that this was a successful and entertaining stretch for the football fans of Los Angeles.
OK, now let's compare the average home attendance of the Rams' six playoff teams in LA to the 57,018 average at The Edward Jones Dome in 2014:
1983, LA: 52,780 ... less than the '14 Rams.
1984, LA: 54,455 ... less than the '14 Rams.
1985, LA: 56,242 ... less than the '14 Rams.
1986, LA: 59,285 ... 2,451 more per game than '14 Rams
1988, LA: 54,469 ... less than the '14 Rams
1989, LA: 58,846 ... 1,828 more per game than '14 Rams.
3. OK, this is even better. And funnier: Let's compare the Rams' home attendance in Los Angeles during the run of six playoff teams in seven seasons to the home attendance of the worst team in NFL history over five consecutive seasons.
Not that you need to be reminded, but between 2007 and 2011, the St. Louis Rams played 80 regular-season games and lost 65 times. That hideous 15-65 record is in fact the worst five-year mark in NFL history. There has never been an NFL team as hopeless and pathetic as the 2007-2011 Rams — not over a five-season stretch, anyway.
On the left-coast side, those six LA Rams teams that made the playoffs went 61-35. Between 1983 and 1989, the Rams competed in 10 NFL postseason games, winning four.
During that seven-season stretch only San Francisco (14) and Denver (11) competed in more postseason games than the LA Rams. And though the Rams went 4-6 in those games, only five NFL teams won more postseason games over that time.
Between '83 and '86 Dickerson averaged 1,742 yards rushing per season. Between 1986 and '89, QB Jim Everett ranked sixth among NFL quarterbacks in passer rating, and only nine league quarterbacks threw more TD passes.
That LA offense also had the wonderful Henry Ellard, who was not only a top 10 NFL wide receiver, but a dynamic punt returner as well. Those Rams teams had two Hall of Famers, OT Jackie Slater and Dickerson. They had a future Hall of Famer in pass rusher Kevin Greene (and yes he will make it to Canton.) Between 1983 and '89, the Rams had the league's No. 6-ranked defense.
Those LA Rams didn't win a Super Bowl or make it to one, but they did play in two NFC Championship games. They just had the misfortune of having to go against that 49ers dynasty, and also the '85 Bears who may have had the best defense in NFL history for a single season.
But during that time of franchise history, the Rams gave their SoCal fans six playoff teams in seven years, a .604 winning percentage, one of the greatest-ever running backs, and excellence on both sides of the ball.
And between 2007 and 2011, the Rams gave St. Louis fans 65 losses in 80 games. A team that was outscored by 922 points in those 80 contests.
OK, so let's close this out:
Over seven seasons those terrific LA Rams averaged 56,012 per game at home.
And the St. Louis Rams, who were the worst team in NFL history over five seasons? Well, they averaged 57,765 per home game.
That's right.
The team with the poorest five-season stretch in NFL history that plays in a mid-sized market drew more fans at home than the nation's No. 2 market at a time when the LA Rams were winning 60.4 percent of their games and going to the NFL playoffs six times in seven seasons.
This is true.
But just remember the lazy national-media narrative, and repeat it many times. And you too can get paid to be an NFL pundit:
St. Louis is a baseball town.
St. Louis doesn't support the Rams.
There you go. Keep practicing that.
You'll be on TV as an "insider" in no time.
Thanks for reading ...
— Bernie