| In Los Angeles, there is only one process that’s good enough for the locals. The whole tank and rebuild policy doesn’t really fly here. Building slowly doesn’t work either, both when it comes to downtown real estate or the area’s leading sports teams. Think of this what you like, but the reality is L.A. sports fans think they deserve better than to wait around for success and they aren’t on board with trying to get there via hidden gems and canny draft policies. When it is Hollywood, and it is sports, the method of operations is to go big, or to go on a fast-track to irrelevance. Splashy trades, monstrous free agency contracts and a steady diet of incoming star power is what gets notice in these parts and it is just how things have been done for as long as anyone can remember. That’s how the Los Angeles Rams have gone about it and that’s why they’re here, five days away from a home Super Bowl and favorites to lift the Vince Lombardi Trophy at SoFi Stadium on Sunday. Staking big on Matthew Stafford last offseason, Jalen Ramsey before that, then Von Miller and Odell Beckham Jr. mid-campaign, was perfect in keeping with the L.A. way. “It was all worth it,” running back Cam Akers told me this week. “Us not playing it safe worked out for us. You’ve got to take chances. You’ve got to take risks.” However, if the Rams’ big swings bring a title to Tinseltown this weekend, it would actually buck the most recent pattern of how SoCal star signings have panned out. From the Los Angeles Convention Center, where most Super Bowl themed festivities are taking place this week, you only need to glance along the street to Crypto.com Arena to spot evidence of an ambitious project that seems destined for an unsatisfying end. The Lakers went for broke before the current NBA season, adding Russell Westbrook as a third superstar alongside LeBron James and Anthony Davis, on a mega deal that required getting rid of both draft picks and some talented pieces. The reward has been paltry. L.A. sits in ninth place in the Western Conference with a record of 26-28 – and Westbrook has been disappointing enough to get booed by his home crowd and benched by head coach Frank Vogel during last weekend’s overtime win against the New York Knicks. In baseball, the Dodgers went all in before the 2021 campaign, acquiring Max Scherzer and Trea Turner in a bid to clinch back-to-back titles and giving up their top two prospects to do so. That didn’t pan out either, going down to the mid-budget Atlanta Braves in the National League Championship Series. For the Rams, it is paying off – even better than hoped for. “It has already been validated,” FS1’s Nick Wright said, on “First Things First.” “If they hadn’t picked Stafford, Odell wouldn’t have picked them. They wouldn’t have been good enough midway through the year to go further all-in and trade for Miller.” Stafford has changed the face of the franchise, and his efforts had him in the MVP conversation deep into the season. When crunch time came, he unleashed a game-clinching drive to seal a victory over Tom Brady’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers as overtime loomed in the divisional round. Ramsey came at a cost of two first-round picks and a fourth-rounder from the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2019. Stafford cost two first-round selections, a third and Jared Goff with the Detroit Lions. When you consider that Goff himself required a blockbuster trade up in 2017, well, the Rams haven’t exactly been holding back. And here they are, with only the Cincinnati Bengals standing in their way. In the Rams’ locker room, especially among the players who were themselves part of it, there is an appreciation of the forthright attitude the team took in chasing success. “I’m extremely grateful for that opportunity,” Ramsey said. “It was bold, it was worth high value. I just hope that I have held my end of the bargain.” This weekend, Los Angeles will be a 4.5-point favorite with FOX Bet. L.A. going in heavy has a lot of precedent. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Wilt Chamberlain and Davis all came aboard in mega trades. Shaquille O’Neal and James arrived as monumental free agent decisions. Wayne Gretzky’s 1988 trade to the Kings changed hockey history. David Beckham’s 2007 arrival to the LA Galaxy transformed Major League Soccer. There are countless times when the big move didn’t work out either, but this is L.A., and having a short memory is virtually a requirement for living here. The fans agree – and though the Rams were outnumbered by San Francisco 49ers supporters twice in a month, the locals are firmly on board with the bid for a Super Bowl. “We like stars here,” L.A. student Krystal Sierra told me on Tuesday, wearing a newly-purchased Stafford jersey. “It’s the only way to get people interested in L.A.” |
