Sports Teams

 

St. Louis Rams

The St. Louis Rams are a professional American football team based in St. Louis, Missouri . They are currently members of the West Division of the National Football Conference (NFC) in the National Football League (NFL). The Rams have won three NFL Championships (two pre-merger , and one Super Bowl ).

The Rams began playing in 1936 in Cleveland , Ohio . The NFL considers the franchise as a second incarnation of the previous Cleveland Rams team that was a charter member of the second American Football League . Although the NFL granted membership to the same owner, the NFL considers it a separate entity since only four of the players ( William "Bud" Cooper , Harry "The Horse" Mattos , Stan Pincura , and Mike Sebastian ) and none of the team's management joined the new NFL team.

The team then became known as the Los Angeles Rams after the club moved to Los Angeles, California , in 1946, opting not to compete with Paul Brown 's Cleveland Browns of the All-America Football Conference . Following the 1979 season, the Rams moved south to the suburbs in nearby Orange County , playing their home games at Anaheim Stadium in Anaheim for fifteen seasons (1980–94), keeping the Los Angeles name. The club moved east to St. Louis prior to the 1995 season.

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1995–1999: Starting over in St. Louis

The 1995 and 1996 seasons the Rams were under the direction of head coach Rich Brooks. Their most prolific player from their first two seasons was the fan-favorite Isaac Bruce . Then in 1997 , Dick Vermeil was hired as the head coach. In 1997, the Rams traded up in the draft to select future All-Pro offensive tackle Orlando Pace . The Rams were very well known for their high powered offense in 1999 . Prior to the season, the Rams traded a second and a fourth round draft pick for future league MVP, Marshall Faulk . The season started with Trent Green injuring his leg in preseason that would sideline him for the entire season. Vermeil told the public that the Rams would "Rally around Kurt Warner, and play good football." Kurt Warner , who had played QB for the Iowa Barnstormers of the Arena Football League just a few years prior, synced up with Marshall Faulk and Isaac Bruce to lead the Rams to one of the most historic Super Bowl offenses in history, posting 526 points for the season. This was the beginning of what would later become known around the league as "The Greatest Show On Turf."

1999–2005: Greatest Show on Turf

Following the Rams win in Super Bowl XXXIV against the Tennessee Titans , Dick Vermeil retired and Vermeil's Offensive Coordinator Mike Martz was hired. He managed to take the Rams to Super Bowl XXXVI , losing to the New England Patriots . Mike Martz helped the Rams establish a pass-first identity that would post an NFL record amount of points forged over the course of 3 seasons (1999–2001). However, in the first round in the 2004 draft , the Rams chose Oregon State running back Steven Jackson as the 24th pick of the draft. Jackson has been one of the Rams' most successful running backs since the Rams' arrival in St. Louis.

Martz was criticized by many as careless with game management. He often feuded with several players as well as team president and general manager, Jay Zygmunt . However, most of his players respected him and went on record saying they enjoyed him as a coach. In 2005 , Mike Martz was ill and hospitalized for several games, allowing assistant head coach Joe Vitt to coach the remainder of the season, although Martz was cleared later in the season, team president John Shaw would not allow him to come back to coach the team.

2006–2008: Struggles

After the Rams fired Martz, former Minnesota offensive coordinator Scott Linehan took control of an 8–8 team in 2006 . In 2007 , Linehan led the Rams to 3–13. Following the 2007 season, Georgia Frontiere died January 18, 2008 after a 28-year ownership commencing in 1979. Ownership of the team passed to her son Dale "Chip" Rosenbloom and daughter Lucia Rodriguez.Chip Rosenbloom was named the new Rams majority owner. Linehan was already faced with scrutiny from several players in the locker room, including Torry Holt and Steven Jackson. Linehan was then fired on September 29, 2008, after the team started the season 0–4. Jim Haslett , Defensive Coordinator under Linehan, was interim head coach for the rest of the 2008 season.

John Shaw then resigned as president, and personnel chief Billy Devaney was promoted to general manager on December 24, 2008, after the resignation of former president of football operations and general manager Jay Zygmunt on December 22.

2009–Present: The Rebuilding Era

On January 17, 2009 Steve Spagnuolo was named the new head coach of the franchise. In his previous post as Defensive Coordinator with the New York Giants , Spagnuolo masterminded a defensive scheme that shut down the potent offense of the previously undefeated and untied New England Patriots , the odds on favorite to win the Super Bowl that year. In one of the greatest upsets in Super Bowl history, the New York Giants defeated the Patriots 17-14. In spite of his success as Defensive Coordinator with the New York Giants , Spagnuolo's first season as Head Coach of the Rams was terribly disappointing as the team won only once in 16 attempts.

On May 31, 2009, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that the majority owners Chip Rosenbloom and Lucia Rodriguez officially offered their majority share of Rams for sale. They retained the services of Goldman Sachs , a prominent investment banking firm, to help facilitate the sale of the Rams by evaluating bids and soliciting potential buyers. The sale price was unknown, but at the time Forbes magazine's most recent estimate listed the Rams' value at $929 million. In February 2010 it was reported that Shahid Khan , a businessman from Urbana, Illinois , had signed an agreement to acquire the 60% ownership interest of Rosenbloom and Rodriguez, subject to approval by NFL owners.However, a month later, on the final day to do so, then-minority owner Stan Kroenke invoke his right of first refusal to buy the 60 percent of the team that he did not already own.

Pursuant to NFL rules, owners are prohibited from owning other sports teams in markets where there is already an NFL team. At the time of purchase, Kroenke (d/b/a Kroenke Sports Enterprises), owned the Denver Nuggets , the Colorado Avalanche , the Pepsi Center (home to the Nuggets and the Avalanche ), and British-based London team Arsenal F.C. (which, being a soccer club, is exempt from the NFL's cross-ownership rules). Kroenke, a real estate and sports mogul as well as married to a Wal-Mart heir, also owned Altitude Sports and Entertainment . These interests violated the NFL's cross-ownership rule.

Nevertheless, on August 25, 2010, NFL owners unanimously approved Stan Kroenke as the owner of the franchise contingent upon his eventual divestment of his Colorado sports interests. Kroenke complied with the rule when he transferred ownership of the Nuggets, Avalanche, the Pepsi Center, and the Altitude to his son Josh Kroenke.

The Rams received the first pick in the 2010 NFL Draft after finishing the 2009 season with a 1-15 record. The team used the pick to select quarterback Sam Bradford from the University of Oklahoma . The Rams finished the 2010 season second in the NFC West with a record of 7-9. Bradford started all 16 games for the Rams after earning the starting QB position during the preseason. On October 24, 2010, running back Steven Jackson passed Eric Dickerson as the franchise's career rushing leader.

On January 18, 2011 the Rams hired Josh McDaniels , former head coach of the Denver Broncos . Coincidentally, McDaniels was the Offensive Coordinator of the New England Patriots team that went undefeated and untied until it faced the stout defense led by Steve Spagnuolo of the New York Giants . McDaniels replaced Pat Shurmur as Offensive Coordinator.

On February 4, 2011, Rookie quarterback Sam Bradford was named the NFL's Offensive Rookie of the Year. Sam Bradford received 44 of the 50 possible from the nationwide panel of media members. Bradford finished the 2010 season off with a 60% completion percentage, 18 touchdowns, and 15 interceptions. The last three quarterbacks to win this award were Ben Roethlisberger of the Pittsburgh Steelers (2004), Vince Young of the Tennessee Titans (2006), and Matt Ryan of the Atlanta Falcons (2008).

On January 2, 2012, one day after the Rams finished 2-14, head coach Steve Spagnuolo and GM Billy Devaney were fired. McDaniels also left the team and returned to New England to become offensive coordinator for the 2012 season.

On January 13, 2012, Jeff Fisher officially announced his choice of the St. Louis Rams over the Miami Dolphins to be the team for his new head coaching era. Three days later Gregg Williams , the defensive coordinator for the New Orleans Saints from 2009-2011, joined the new Rams coaching staff as the defensive coordinator.

On January 20, 2012, it was announced that the Rams would play one home game a season at Wembley Stadium , London, for the next 3 seasons. The first game is scheduled to be against the New England Patriots on October 28, 2012.

On January 23, 2012, it was officially announced that Brian Schottenheimer would fill the position as offensive coordinator and will be the third offensive coordinator that Sam Bradford has had going into his third season. Bringing in Shottenheimer also means a stronger run focus in offensive play calls. During his 3 years in New York he helped improve Mark Sanchez as a quarterback and helped lead the New York Jets to two AFC championships back to back.

St. Louis Cardinals

The St. Louis Cardinals are a professional baseball team based in St. Louis, Missouri . They are members of the Central Division in the National League of Major League Baseball . The Cardinals have won 11 World Series championships, the most of any National League team, and second overall only to the New York Yankees , who have won 27. They have played in 18 Fall Classics tying them with the Dodgers and Giants for most World Series appearances among National League clubs and second overall to the Yankees' 40 appearances.

The Cardinals were founded in the American Association in 1882 as the St. Louis Brown Stockings, taking the name from an earlier National League team . They joined the National League in 1892, and have been known as the Cardinals since 1900. They were called the "Perfectos" in 1899 . The Cardinals began playing in the current Busch Stadium in 2006. The Cardinals have a long-standing rivalry with the Chicago Cubs.

History

1880s–1930s

The Cardinals were founded in 1882 as a member of the American Association called the St. Louis Brown Stockings. The club quickly achieved success, winning four AA pennants in a row in 1885–1888. St. Louis played in an early version of the World Series , the first two times against the National League 's Chicago White Stockings, now named the Chicago Cubs . The 1885 series ended in dispute, but St. Louis won the 1886 series outright, beginning a St. Louis-Chicago rivalry that continues to this day. The American Association went bankrupt in 1892, and the Browns moved to the National League, leaving much of their success behind for the next three decades. The club changed its name to the "Perfectos" in 1899, before adopting the "Cardinals" name in 1900.

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St. Louis Blues

The St. Louis Blues are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Louis, Missouri . They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL). The team is named after the famous W. C. Handy song " St. Louis Blues ", and plays in the 19,150-seat Scottrade Center in downtown St. Louis. The franchise was founded in 1967 as one of the expansion teams during the league's original expansion from six to twelve teams. The Blues were one of the six teams added to the NHL in the 1967 expansion , along with the Minnesota North Stars , Los Angeles Kings , Philadelphia Flyers , Pittsburgh Penguins and California Seals .

St. Louis was the last of the expansion teams to officially gain entry into the league, chosen over Baltimore at the insistence of the Chicago Black Hawks . At the time, the Black Hawks were (and still are) owned by the influential Wirtz family of Chicago , which also owned the then-decrepit St. Louis Arena . The Wirtzes sought to unload the Arena, which had not been well-maintained since the 1940s, and thus pressed the NHL to give St. Louis (which had never even submitted a formal expansion bid) a franchise over Baltimore. The team's first owners were insurance tycoon Sid Salomon Jr., his son, Sid Salomon III, and Robert L. Wolfson, who were granted the franchise in 1966. Sid Salomon III convinced his initially wary father to make a bid for the team. Salomon then spent several million dollars on massive renovations for the 38-year-old Arena, which increased the number of seats from 12,000 to 15,000.

The Blues were originally coached by Lynn Patrick who, after a quick resignation, was replaced by Scotty Bowman . Although the league's rules effectively kept star players with the Original Six teams, the Blues managed to stand out in the inferior Western Division . Capitalizing on a playoff format that required an expansion team to make it to the Stanley Cup Finals, the Blues reached the final round each of their first three seasons, though they were swept first by the Montreal Canadiens in 1968 and 1969 and then by the Boston Bruins in 1970 .

While the first Blues teams included aging and faded veterans like Doug Harvey , Don McKenney and Dickie Moore , the veteran goaltending tandem of Glenn Hall and Jacques Plante proved more durable, winning a Vezina Trophy in 1969 behind a sterling defense that featured players like skilled defensive forward Jim Roberts , team captain Al Arbour and hardrock brothers Bob and Barclay Plager . Phil Goyette won the Lady Byng Trophy for the Blues in 1970 and New York Rangers castoff Red Berenson became the expansion team's first major star at center. The Arena quickly became one of the loudest buildings in the NHL, a reputation it maintained throughout its tenure as the Blues' home.

During that time, Salomon gained a reputation throughout the league as the ultimate players' owner. He gave his players cars, signed them to deferred contracts, and treated them to vacations in Florida . The players, used to being treated like mere commodities, felt the only way they could pay him back was to give their best on the ice every night.

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