Column: Bumbling Rams have losing down to a science
Reporting from SEATTLE — Give the Rams some credit. They at least know how to stink.
If you’re going to be bad, you might as well be as bad as the Rams are now, their record an embarrassing 4-10 after another whimpering loss, this time by a 24-3 margin to the Seattle Seahawks at CenturyLink Field.
The defeat was their ninth in 10 games, each week looking more hopeless than the last. The previous few weeks transformed the franchise into a full-blown clown show, as Jeff Fisher was baited into a silly public spat by Hall of Famer Eric Dickerson and the team was booed by its home fans, setting the stage for a coaching change.
Disaster? Yes, only something strange happened as this on-field catastrophe unfolded.
The recent chaos accomplished what the Rams’ early season victories failed to do, making them relevant in the country’s toughest sports-entertainment market.
Los Angeles is talking about the Rams in ways they haven’t spoken of them since they moved from St. Louis, not as a novelty item, not as a cultural symbol, but as an actual football team – a really bad football team, but still a football team. The conversations are passionate, so much so that the Rams responded by firing Fisher and replacing him with their special teams coach on a short week.
Back when they were 3-1 — they were actually 3-1, you can look it up — they didn’t inspire nearly this much conversation. While the city embraced their return, it had trouble connecting with any of the personalities on the team. And in a personality-driven media market, this bordered on fatal.
Fisher rarely smiled and his gruff voice was monotone. Jared Goff was a rookie wanting to avoid ruffling any feathers and wasn’t playing. Todd Gurley was supposed to be the best player on the team but had nowhere to run and often behaved as if he wanted nothing to do with the media.
The packed stands at the Coliseum indicated the fans wanted something or someone to cheer, except the noticeable lack of buzz around town was a sign they didn’t know how or where to channel their excitement.
“At some point, you want to change the conversation from just being an event to supporting a terrific, winning team,” said Kevin Demoff, the team’s chief operating officer.
The Rams instead changed the conversation by being so awful they could no longer be ignored.
Dickerson ignited the fan base’s dormant passion by feuding with Fisher over the team’s refusal to grant him sideline passes. Fair or not, Fisher became a vessel into which fans could release their pent-up emotion. And what started as questionable outrage over how the fans treated one of their former greats turned into an evaluation of Fisher’s merits as a coach.
“It’s very tough here,” receiver Tavon Austin said. “Your rope is very short, I can say that.”
The saying that there’s no such thing as bad publicity was again proven to be true, as the controversy inspired conversation. This says something about our city, but that’s a sociological examination that should be undertaken by someone smarter.
The disappointing season also expedited necessary changes. Regardless of his win-loss record, Fisher wasn’t made for this market. Los Angeles craves Showtime and Mannywood, not defense-oriented, smashmouth football.
They will now have an opportunity to find a new coach who will not only win games, but can also properly guide Goff, in whom the franchise has made a substantial investment. The clock is ticking. This team’s real launch date is in 2019, when it will move into its new stadium in Inglewood. By then, the Rams have to be fielding a product that will convince season-ticket holders to pay thousands of dollars for personal-seat licenses.
Ideally, the Rams would have made news by reaching the playoffs. Short of that, this was the best-case scenario. They wouldn’t be drawing this much attention if they were 7-7.
Follow Dylan Hernandez on Twitter @dylanohernandez
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