ST. LOUIS RAMS AND WIDE RECEIVERS

The Bear does not like to talk about "pencil neck" wide receivers. Who can forget the good old days when the mid summer football camp was enjoined and players lined up in their 1/2 shirts and shorts at various positions. Each position had its standard number of players interested in those jobs but when it came to wide receivers, you know way out there from the action, what you got was 25 guys just so anxious to catch the ball. Half of em would not be there when August 15th rolled around and pads were distributed for the real game of football.

The St. Louis Rams, my Rams, who are this week considered to be the very worst team in the NFL because of being decapitated by the tough Philadelphia Eagles, are taking on the defending Super Bowl Champs, the New York Giants here in St. Louis Sunday and suddenly there has been a rash of injuries at the WR position which has led to the team signing a receiver no one loved much when he last played here in 1998, Eddie Kennison. Coach Al Saunders, who I have always felt was a solid offensive mind had much to do with this having coached Eddie at KC. Earlier this year we had Reche Caldwell in camp and he has always been in my mind a good wide out but after cutting him, it appears he was not in the mix. There were many others who might have been considered. After all they would be replacing the worst receiver in St. Louis Ram history,
#83 Drew Bennett, who we paid considerable money to when he became a free agent having left Tennessee where at one time, he supposedly was their best receiver. Unfortunately the Rams liked what they saw. I can find no Ram fan who has anything good to say about Drew these days or last season. He is not too fast! He is not too fearless! He wears goooy white gloves. He misses assignments quite regularly. While we don't like players to get hurt, it would have been far better we hurt his feelings and cut this underachiever.

Now we drafted Ronnie Avery second and the fleet young man had only one game in the pre-season where he played any length of time and he performed well and showed some of the speed we expected of him. But alas, he's hurt too! So many Rams continue to have hurts or owiees or whatever, one might have to be concerned about training methods utilized by this organization.
Avery must and should be productive if he is ever healthy.

Keenan Burton will play this Sunday. He did not see much action in game one and did not see many passes coming his way. Of course Philly blitzed poor Bulger the Ram QB so often and so successfully that we might deduce his time as the starter of this team are numbered. Burton, who definitely has talent and according to his college coach, former Ram head man Rich Brooks, as much talent as Issac Bruce. Wow! I concur and feel he should be starting with Tory Holt!

Dane Looker is a solid four receiver, who can get you first downs and more and has longevity with the team and is a producer, not a talker. Dane is a solid citizen!

Now we come to our captain and smiling receiver, one who has been a sensation for many a year for the St. Louis Rams Tory Holt. Tory has had a lot of trouble in the past two years staying healthy but still producing good numbers. Unfortunately we think he and Coach Linehan do not connect and hopefully this is not true of Coach Saunders.

NOW: REMEDY We need to play the following: Starters: Burton and Holt Third Receiver:
Dane Looker Who goes fourth: Take your choice.

BIG REMEDY: We need a offensive line which can run block, pass block, stay healthy and show some toughness. We also need a fullback to protect our QB, especially against the blitzers. In case you want to see a good one watch Madison Hedgecock. Oh yeah! We waived bye bye to him a few years back and he led the Giants, along with their solid line to great things last year.
He is a winner! The powerless Rams didn't want him! He will be blocking Rams Sunday!

So what did we do when we went after a player in the first round this year. We signed a defensive player (not that our defense was good) instead of an offensive player, the starting left tackle of the Denver Broncos Ryan Clady, who should have been our first choice in the draft. We drafted ahead of Denver. Our line is already been exposed: Pace is semi-hurt playing LT at 75%. Our new LG Jacob Bell is out this week. Our center Leckey is very so so. Our RG Richie Incognito was a no show in game one and who knows when he will explode or get hurt again. Our right tackle Alex Barron is blamed for every mistake this line makes and is the only player who continues to struggle his way thru game after game. Our tight ends, led by Randy McMichael gave a decent account of themselves in the Philly game. Romberg will start this Sunday for Bell and can expected to give a fair accounting of himself.

WHEN WILL ST. LOUIS BRASS, GM'S, HEAD COACHES ETC. START TO REALIZE WE NEED SOME TOUGH ROUGH SMART OFFENSIVE LINEMEN TO PROTECT OUR QB OUT THERE AND BLOCK FOR THE GREAT STEVEN JACKSON? WE MUST GET TOUGHER TO WIN!
WE MUST SHOW UP HERE IN ST. LOUIS THIS SUNDAY AND TAKE OUT AFTER ANOTHER VERY PHYSICAL TEAM, THE GIANTS, WHO ARE VERY WELL COACHED! WE NEED TO PAY THE BIG BUCKS FOR QUALITY BLOCKING FULLBACKS AND UMONGIS LINEMEN WHO HATE THE WORLD!

Then our wide receivers will start to show up and balls will suddenly reach their mitts and yards and touchdowns will result!

The Bear will be in section 405 row 2 in the lower balcony scrutinizing every move by our linemen and fullback and hoping for something special to happen. It's too early to throw in the towel, but progress must be shown!