A few observations from Oakland

I just got back from the Bay Area and for 3 consecutive years or so, trips coincidentally got scheduled with the Rams in town. Though I absolutely hate attending preseason games, even those games allow you to see a few things of interest. Of note is that the day of the NFL game with a MLB infield on it are ending this year. I wanted my kids to say they saw this dinosaur in its last year of life.

I also had a second goal. For the last 3 years I wore Mark Barron's jersey and though I was never personally an autograph hound, I do like to have the players sign my jersey and for years, this has been the case with the notable exception that I couldn't even get Mark Barron to see that I was the ONLY @#$%& guy at ANY game, including the Playoffs and the Super Bowl that was wearing his @#$%& jersey. So knowing that my guy (John Johnson III) would be in street clothes, I felt I had a decent chance of him signing my new jersey.

Ironically, my official Rams Jersey from the official Rams store, which was officially a rip off at over $300, didn't have the III at the end of Johnson. I had posted that oversight on his Twitter feed some months back but got no response.

So as we went into the Oakland Coloseum for the last time, I was immediately pleasantly surprised to see RAMS FANS everywhere. I knew that the Rams were gaining in popularity given their style of play, their success and the KC game, but to see so many fans at a meaningless PS1 game, was remarkable. Of course, the $35.00 price tag for Row 3 50 yard line seats made it quite cheap to go.

As we enter the stadium, I see these two walking in front of me:



Let's see here, what would the parents of a 300 pound DT look like? I figure that this HAS to be mom and dad and though I am normally someone that doesn't interact with strangers, I've never had that problem at football games. I immediately ask them if Greg was their son. The both nod and are beaming. Mom says she is extremely excited to be at her son's first NFL game. It was cool to see because at the end of the day, most of these guys are just overgrown kids with parents who put in the long hours shuttling their kids here and there and to see it payoff with a spot next to Aaron Donald is pretty amazing.

We roll to our 50 yard line seats and I immediately see JJIII. One of my kids is also wearing a JJIII jersey and he is asking for him to sign. Within 30 minutes of entering the stadium we both get our jerseys signed. I tell him, WTF with the "III" missing from the "Official Store" jersey. He says "My parents saw it on my twitter feed and they were LIVID". I told him that was ME dude and this is that @#$%& jersey.



As far as the game went, a pretty boring affair with a few standout performances from where i was sitting: Taylor Rapp = Stud. He seemed to know what he was doing and moving well. Nsimba Webster, from Eastern Washington (whats up with EWU being WR university), he looked like a playmaker, I see him as a PS candidate on this loaded Rams roster.

Though the OL was unimpressive, I did like David Edwards after EVERY SERIES he was on the sideline picking the brain of either Havs or Big Whit. Regardless if the guy ends up good or not, I appreciate someone who knows where to look for answers.

For me, the best part of being in Oakland was seeing, up close, how amazingly talented this Rams team is. The game was an aside, as I glanced up and down the sidelines and seeing who was in street clothes, from AD99, to Aquib, Marcus and Weddle, Clay Matthews, Whit, Havs, Goff, Woods, TGIII, Cupp, Everett, Cooks, Fowler, I couldn't help shake the feeling that we are loaded for bear.

This team will win the division (a thought echoed by D Farr who I spoke with before kickoff) and when we get into the playoffs, I'll take my chances on a team that loaded.

On my way out to one of the cash lots, I noticed someone had posted a sign on several thousand! cars in the parking lot:



Who ever did that had some serious cajones.

PS sorry about the rotation on the photos, I tried flipping them around and couldn't get it right and its preseason so I don't want to spend the time to figure it out!



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/14/2019 10:01PM by stlramz.