I guess I'm asking those who currently live in the LA area this question. During the preseason, all the chatter was about who was going to win the hearts and minds of the football fans of LA......the Chargers or the Rams. I think that battle just might have been fought, is over, and the Chargers never were really in the contest.
I hear nothing about the Chargers in the LA media or in the national media for that matter.
It's all the Rams, the Rams, the Rams. McVay, McVay, McVay. Gurley, Goff, Donald.
From a pure business and marketing standpoint I always thought Spanos had lost his mind when they decided to become renters in the Rams new stadium.
And even worse, to try to make LA a 2-NFL team city when that has typically not worked in the past. As though moving 100 miles up the Freeway was going to change their fortunes. As though IF there were Chargers fans in LA they weren't making the short trip to San Diego to support their team already (for those who don't know, LA to San Diego has become essentially just one huge metropolis).
I'm not anti-Chargers. In fact I just love Rivers; terrific player, great personality. I just feel like it was a huge mistake on both the League and the Chargers to make that move. And, worse, the Rams have made ALL the right moves this season (after stumbling badly in year 1) to simply take the oxygen out of the room for local team coverage. They hired a cool, glib, brilliant, made for TV Millennial rock star for a HC. Gurley is SO comfortable in the spotlight and just has a natural way of saying all the right things. Goff is Mr. SoCal laid back (not to mention a budding star Q
. And of course, the Rams are winning, putting up big numbers, blowing teams away, and are so very entertaining to watch with their high speed D and innovative and exciting big play offense. The Chargers? Not so much.