i am a little worried.  big shoes to fill.  and definitely a key ingredient.

well.  i guess this means whit is retiring.  not happy.  but good to see noteboom and allen back.

Zooey wrote:

But..8/9 years? One of two sides won it all in 8/9 years. I don’t think anything matches that. You bring up individual sports, and there are probably more incidents of stretches of time dominated by a couple of individuals than there are in team sports, but I still doubt you would find 8/9 years.

ok. so i looked to the premier league to see any rivalries that could match that.

wenger vs ferguson. arsenal and manchester united. eight year stretch from 96 (wenger’s first season as manager of arsenal) to 04. sir alex ferguson won 5 premier league titles to arsene wenger’s 3. an extremely bitter rivalry. i don’t think it tops the lakers celtics mainly because traditionally manchester united’s most bitter rivalry will always be liverpool football club (that’s my club). but it was supposedly legendary (really before my time).

that stretch also included a season where arsenal went unbeaten. the only team in premier league history to do it.

but it lacks the added historical context that the lakers celtics rivalry brings.

Zooey wrote:

But the Lakers have placed numerous icons on that shelf, and if they get themselves another young star player, and some championship run, they are right back up there. They are going to slide, but they can afford to have some losing seasons and still own more of LA’s hearts than the Rams do, unless the Rams get out there and win another one or two Super Bowls in the McVay era.

i agree.  there’s still quite an uphill climb that the rams are facing.  it won’t be easy.  and if i was impartial, i would say that it wouldn’t happen.

but the rams just won the super bowl.  so i’m riding that wave right now.  haha.

i don’t think they’ll ever overtake the dodgers.  mainly because watching a dodger game doesn’t cost you an entire paycheck.

but the lakers.  the lakers are heading for a rough patch it looks like.  and let’s face it.  lebron will never capture lakers fans hearts no matter how good he is.  he won’t be regarded in the same light as kobe or magic or west or worthy.  he’ll hold a place quite some distance behind even shaq.

but the rams.  there’s a good chance donald and kupp.  maybe even stafford if he plays here long enough.  there’s a chance that these guys could be held in that regard by a younger generation of fans growing up watching los angeles sports.

is it a long shot?  yeah.  definitely.  you’re talking about at least one more championship.  at least.  and an even longer period of success.  at least another 5-7 years sprinkled in.  but that generation is young enough to not have been there during the lakers three peats and repeats during the shaq/kobe and then kobe/gasol eras.  instead it could be donald and kupp and stafford and ramseys that will capture their imagination.

again.  i don’t think the dodgers are a realistic possibility.  they will always come first.  and with their buying power, they will almost always field competitive teams.  and even if they lose, the dodgers are accessible in a way that the rams and the nfl will never be.

but the lakers?  i think there’s a sliver of a possibility.  they’re by no means there.   but the picture will be a little clearer come 2028.

and the rams must realize this.  there’s a slight opening there for them.

<p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>Before y’all get off social media &amp; go to sleep, Rams fans give me y’all best “Run it back” pitch for @VonMiller &amp; @obj so I can send it in this group message real quick 😂</p>&mdash; Jalen Ramsey (@jalenramsey) March 9, 2022

ag.  still thinking of you, man.  hope you make your way back to this board.  but i fear the worst.

wv wrote:

I suppose Deebo is the perfect modern RB-hybrid.   Every team would like a Deebo.

cordarrelle patterson is an interesting hybrid player too.

you know what i like about the donald top 10 plays of the season.

the play where donald just pushes the arizona guard back into murray (it was #4).  he does that in other highlight videos – like in the super bowl against cincy where he just gets underneath the olineman and just shoves him back and that olineman is helpless.  but what i like about this particular play is that it looks like he just slaps murray down into the turf with his hand.  he doesn’t push him to the ground or throw him.  but it’s almost like he slaps murray on the side and he just falls to to the ground.  it’s funny.

the other thing i like is that the top 2 plays.  he didn’t actually record a tackle or sack or record a turnover himself.  it was 2 pressures.  granted on 2 of the most important plays of the season.  but it highlights (to me at least) that it goes beyond just the numbers for aaron.  or at least the numbers that most fans pay attention to.

i remember a pundit (on espn i think it is) saying that one of the main differences with lawrence taylor is how much opposing players feared him.  or maybe it was randy white?  i can’t remember, and i don’t think i can find the video.  but he said something to the effect of opposing players feared that player so much that they refused to go on the field against him.  i’m sure that’s hyperbole.  but i wonder how much opposing players “fear” aaron donald.  what guard would want to go on the field and be treated like that?  donald will just get underneath them and just mow them down with regularity.  it looks pretty embarassing.  i saw the guy rag doll olinemen and then put his mitt on not just any player but guys like adrian peterson, cam newton…  guys who are athletic freaks themselves and just stone them where they stand.  if you play in the nfl you’re tough.  no question.  but it’s gotta be a little worrying when you line up and see aaron donald lined up across from you.

it reminds me of watching reggie white in his prime.  he’d take his right arm and literally shot put a 300 plus pound man across the field.  like throw him off his freaking feet to get to the ball carrier.  i remember just watching him in awe.  and now i get to watch donald do donald things on my favorite team.  my only team.  the freaking rams!

well.  kupp has only done it for one season.  maybe two.  so that hurts him.  granted 2021 was insane.  i mean arguably the best season by a wide receiver in history…  personally i would say the best.  but i’m biased.  i would also want to look at what percentage of passing yards on the rams’ offense was kupp.  what percentage of touchdowns on the rams’ offense was kupp.  and compare those numbers to other recevier seasons considered the best…  same for receptions…  i think seeing those numbers would be interesting.  and that’s not even taking into consideration his blocking ability.

davante adams has strung together four outstanding seasons.  he had a dip in 2019, but he only played 12 games that season.  same with tyreek hill.  he’s strung together multiple outstanding seasons.  and there’s also justin jefferson.  and he’ll only be 23 going into next season!  so it downgrades kupp in my eyes.

but i can’t help but think what kind of numbers kupp would have put up with stafford as his qb.  megatron put up hall of fame numbers with stafford as his qb.  and i’m sure megatron helped make stafford.  but i think stafford also helped make megatron.  and i think we saw it happen last year with kupp.  if kupp played with stafford the past five seasons?  what would we be saying now about kupp?

but regardless he’s up there.  i don’t know if i’d take another receiver over him.  i don’t really watch the other guys play.  but kupp seems to fit this offense so well.  not just with the catching and the running.  but with the blocking.  the run after the catch ability.  even rushing the ball…  he’s like a running back.  i don’t know that the above mentioned wide receivers can bring all those elements to the table like coop can.

wv wrote:

I dunno.  If i ‘had’ to play one version of the game, best I could do ….Donald is the best DT of his era.

.

i think what’s significant.  and yeah these discussions are kind of dumb.  how can you really compare across different eras?  but what i think is significant is that it’s gotten to the point where you can’t really compare donald to anyone in his era.  that’s how insanely great he’s been.  and so now it’s to the point where you have to compare across different eras and different positions.  there’s only one rams player that I HAVE PERSONALLY SEEN that i can say that about and that’s marshall faulk.

that’s how singular donald has been these past eight years.  it’s been a pleasure to watch.

Zooey wrote:

I like how Colin thinks.

if i was stafford and donald, i’d be willing to take a discount to give the rams some flexibility.  cuz if this team can get one or two more championships, they could easily get that money back in endorsements.

a dynasty would sell.  la would eat that up in a second.

zn wrote:

You know what it looks like to me. Brown is being positioned to ascend to coordinator. Either with the Rams eventually (given how often their coordinators get hired away), or maybe he gets hired somewhere else before being promoted with the Rams. And of course being positioned to be a coordinator means being positioned to eventually become a head coach.

that’s what it looks like to me.  mcvay thinks the tight ends coach is an important position.  mcvay himself started out as a tight ends coach.  wes phillips coached that position before moving onto an oc position.  and now brown.

si is reporting that one candidate is ra’shaad samples from tcu.

https://www.si.com/nfl/rams/news/rams-interview-rb-coach-rashaad-samples

• This reply was modified 2 years, 8 months ago by InvaderRam.