By the way, mokler, you have at times been harshly criticized for being a "Warner fan, not a Cardinals fan." That is not my intent and I appreciate your participation here at ASFN.
Thanks, it's always nice to hear a kind word. I bring it on myself most of the time though, so it's hard to be too critical about things. I think passion is often mistaken for other things on both sides of an argument and I try(though often fail) to keep that in mind.
As far as the particular player thing and fantasy football now that you brought it up, I've become a lot bigger fan of the league in recent years. Fantasy football is a big part of that and ultimately, to me, a good thing. In the past, I was true blue, die hard Rams fan and it made for a boring postseason most of the time. Now, due in part to my fantasy team, I follow many players and the teams that they are on. I still gravitate toward my type of guys and in general I can watch most games on not be bored.
It used to be, if it didn't affect the Rams in some fashion I just didn't care about what was going on. Playoff implications, future matchup, common opponent...there just aren't that many reasons to watch other games a lot of the time. Now, I feel that I'm watching most games with a lot more of an open mind and generally enjoying it more. Speaking of Warner in general, I've got to see some great players because I've followed him around. If I was just a Rams fan still, I would be missing out on Fitz and Q and even the great year that Rackers had.
My guess is that most fans of the past were because of proximity. Nothing wrong with that but to me, it just doesn't hold water anymore. With free agents, coaching changes, philosphy changes and everything else about a franchise that seems to be fluid nowadays, I just don't force myself to go through things I don't like. The Rams are a perfect example of that.
I happen to like a passing approach to offense and for years the Rams were "Ground Chuck", "Ground Robinson" or just plain bad. They were my team and I wanted them to succeed and hoped that the players on the team would succeed but I have a hard time disconnecting from players when they move on. London Fletcher is a good example. I loved that guy when he was with the Rams and he was drafted by them so I felt like he was "a Ram". To this day, it pangs me to see him playing for Buffalo or Washington or as an opponent to a team that I'm rooting for. So, instead of rooting for someone and really caring if he does well on "my team" and then having him traded away or whatever and becoming the so-called enemy, I stick with my guys and just root for all of them. Right now, with Warner starting, I really cared if the Cardinals won or lost. When he's gone, I'll have my preferences for sure but just like watching the playoffs last weekend, my blood pressure won't go up and down with every snap of the ball.
I wanted Jacobs to do well and he had a couple of TD's so that was cool. I wanted Collins to do well but that fun little story predictably ended and it's gone from my mind now. I look forward to next weekend and seeing the elite teams show what good football's all about.
