With the lockout still looming large over all of our heads. Rumor and speculation about when it will
end seem to pop up every day from some “well connected source”.  In the midst of the excitement about a possible end to this bleak offseason one thing seems to remain lost amongst the collective conscious of fans out there….there is still a lot of work to be done. Especially for a team like the Rams, who are in a very delicate position.

The Rams made a huge leap forward last season going from 1 to 7 wins, but as the saying goes, “with great power comes great responsibility.” For the Rams, “with great strides come great expectations.” I am excited for this upcoming season, I truly am. But I am also going to lessen my daily intake of Blue & Gold Kool-aid. As fans we should expect more, and I do. But what is realistic. Will expectations be tempered enough to be pleased with another 7-9 record(assuming they play an entire season) knowing it will come against a MUCH tougher schedule? Or do the Rams need to win 8, 9 or dare I say 10 games for the season to be a success in the eyes of fans.

The Rams had a great season and I was cheering as loud as anyone and plan to do so again this year. However, as the season inches closer (God I hope) to kickoff I am taking a step back and reminding myself that there is still a lot of work to be done. While at the same time I can sit back and smile about the leap forward the Rams took in 2010. Here are some thoughts from a few others about the strides the Rams took in 2010 and the work that still needs to be done for 2011.

Links that I have deemed…worthy

It’s a stampede…here come the Rams.

Movin on up….but still some holes to fill

Avery running 4.4 40…great if he can last more than 8 minutes into the season

Kendricks looking to start fast…and finish that way too

Putting in work…players assemble in AZ

Just cause he shot himself doesn’t mean he can’t help the Rams

and having @sj39 on the team always helps

A wiser, or at least more famous, man than I once said that any publicity is good publicity. What I took away from this is that if you’re in the news, for whatever reason, you’re alive, you have a pulse…you’re relevant. This hasn’t been the case around Rams Park since their 8-8 2004 playoff season. The most press the Rams received back then was their name in the box score of yet another listless defeat.

There was no talk of Free Agents, let alone high profile FA’s joining the Rams. Such talked would have easily been laughed off.  No scribe, blogger on TV host came near to mentioning the Rams and a division title in the same breath. There was no need to write about what might hold this team back from a run at the NFC West because, well get serious no such run was taking place and shortcomings all over the field were holding this team back.

Not the case anymore. Now I am not so drunk on Rams Kool-aid to suggest the Rams are anything more than contenders in perhaps the weakest division in the NFL.  But hey, after years of the Sheep inhabiting the Ed, I welcome these Rams’ into my home on Sunday’s.  These Rams have buzz. These Rams have a young, legit QB who WR’s want to come and play catch with, a strong and growing core on D with a desire for more. These Rams are being talked about…and here is what people are saying.

Can you hear me now!  

Bradley Fletcher action figure comes with kung-fu grip

Can Bradford lead the Rams to the division title…?

…or will the D get in his way

Don Shula not just known for his steak houses. Knows a bit about football too

Alex Smith behind center…music to my ears. And potentially the move that wins the NFC West for the Rams.

FA Wide Outs, we got ‘em.  Alright…who you want?

So what if he’s too stupid to NOT shoot himself. He can catch.

From prison to St. Louis (maybe), what a long strange trip it has been

OIFPW part 2 (Mini-Camp West Coast Style)

Giving back…just a nice story

With no established receivers on the roster, the Rams seemingly can’t avoid being written into speculative internet headlines with every semi-available name-brand WR out there. Even one who is 34 years old and just spent the last two years in prison. So pardon us if we’re getting a little weary of it.  

A quick summary of why the Rams and Burress continue to be linked by every media outlet out there: (a) he has more career touchdown catches than all the other Rams combined; (b) Coach Spagnuolo may have fond memories from their days together in New York.

But for every mass-media story on Burress, there is a rebuttal from a Rams columnist.

A quick summary of our points of contention: (a) he’s 34 years old; (b) he spent the last two seasons in prison after shooting himself in the leg.

Additionally, Burress’ skillset is pretty much limited to lining up as the X receiver -- the same spot occupied by Danario Alexaner, Donnie Avery, and potentially Mark Clayton, all players the Rams have reasonable hopes for in 2011. He isn’t going to magically transform into a possession receiver, and even if he did the Rams have plenty of those already.

However, Burress’ pedigree as a first round pick, and the phenomenal comeback by the Eagles’ Michael Vick from his own prison sentence, give us two reasons to look deeper. Playing Devil's Advocate, I did just that and found a Hall-of-Fame comparable that opened my eyes. 

Locked out or not, where Bradford goes the Rams are following.

James Laurinaitis, Sam Bradford and Ron Bartell are reconvening their hugely successful player-run minicamp this week, only this time they won't be under the noses of the locked-away coaches and staff. They'll be deep in enemy territory, in Phoenix, Arizona.

The location change shouldn't faze many of the players. A good number of the 35 players who showed up at the Rams' first unofficial camp came here from out of town. Ron Bartell has been training here throughout the offseason and will play host, though no word on whether he plans on organizing a slumber party like Bradford did. The desert location is also much more convenient for Steven Jackson, who could conceivably drop down from his home in Las Vegas.

The camaraderie among the Rams' young players is more than just a pleasant note, it's a sign of respect that this team has for its common goal of not letting the lockout keep them down.

It's also in sharp contrast to many other camps around the league.

Some teams in the NFL are lucky enough to have respected veteran leadership in place -- Larry Fitzgerald brought the Cardinals (and surprise guest Donovan McNabb) together last month, and Matt Hasselbeck shrugged off his own free agency to run an orderly workout for the Seahawks.

For others, though, trying to jump on this trend for the sake of appearances, or simply for lack of anything better to do, things aren't going so smoothly.

Christian Ponder tried to get something going with the Vikings, but received a collective "meh" from many of the players who simply decided not to show. Trying to avoid the whole "who's here, who's not" issue, the Panthers' players managed to piss off their fans and at least one reporter by keeping a media-free police perimeter around their field. And the Niners fiddled with the idea of keeping the media out... now they're probably wishing they had, as all attention is now on Michael Crabtree and Alex Smith's very public (and hilariously pathetic) dislike for each other.

The leadership gap is obvious in situations like this, and these teams with ugly quarterback scenarios, brand new coaching staffs, or both, simply don't have the means to overcome it. At least, not until the judges and lawyers are done. 

The latest plans indicate that the NFL would be willing to wait as late as October to actually play a 2011 season. The longer this lockout continues, the more of a yawning gulf appears betwen the "haves" and the "have-nots" of the league.

Only in this case, we aren't talking about finances. We're talking about leadership. And whether it's the high-character veterans or the young stars, the Rams have it.

Reporters that inhabit the odd center of the sports/business/legal Venn diagram are descending on Saint Louis once again, in advent of tomorrow's decision from the three-panel Judgeship of the 8th Circuit Court. On deck: a ruling, finally, on whether or not to re-lift the Lockout, upholding or kneecapping the decision by Judge Susan Nelson. 

Link: Andrew Brandt of the National Football Post steps into the George Michael Sports Machine to offer a highlight reel of how we got to this point, and what it means moving forward.

DeMaurice Smith and several of the players will be in court as well to hear the reading of the decision. Presumably they have been keeping their game faces in shape during the offseason; they'll need it, given the two consecutive rulings by this business-firendly court in favor of the owners. Another pro-Owner ruling won't force the players back to the table though, not with the Tom Brady et al vs the NFL anti-trust case still alive in its own legal arena. Yes, they're still attending mediation, but even the league now admits that they don't expect any results from that avenue. (SBJ story: subscription required.) 

As the Lockout grinds on with more player-initiated workouts springing up here and there -- the Rams' next get-together happens next week in Phoenix -- the league's coaches continue to be stuck in neutral. The position almost demands a "control-freak" personality, so there can't be a much worse feeling than not being there when your players get on the field. Anyone talking to Coach Spags right now gets one unfulfilled wish, repeated over and over like Dorothy clicking her ruby slippers: "When the players and coaches get back together... get back together..." 

Video: NFL.com's 32 Teams in 32 Days talks to Spags 

For all of that wishing, though, Spagnuolo and the Rams were apparently not a part of the coaches' cabal that crossed picket lines to side with the players. And for his part, Bill Parcells thinks the coaches will be okay as long as they maintain their focus. 

However, there just might be a reason for hope -- or at least a reason to hope for hope -- with the late-breaking news that several key owners met in secret with Smith and several of the players. No mediators, no court order, no third parties of any kind between them, except perhaps a sommolier. More an more details have been trickling out since this was first reported -- the known attendees now include the power trio of Jerry Jones, Jerry Richardson and Robert Kraft, as well as a pair of elder voices of common sense, the Giants' John Mara and the Steelers' Dan Rooney.  

The timing of the meeting is curious, unless both sides think that tomorrow's ruling is already in the bag for the owners. And it very probably is. The Players would then be down to their weapon of last resort -- the "nuclear option" of a full-on legal assault on the NFL's anti-trust exemption. 

If you blow that exemption out of the water, it might mean a financial windfall for the players, but it could also destroy everything we know about competitive balance in the NFL: the salary cap, revenue sharing, even the NFL Draft itself. 

And if there's anything worth hoping for, here's hoping it won't come to that.

Torry Holt looks as natural in coach's gear as he ever did on the field. Just sayin'...

James Laurinaitis bringing the defense together. Sam Bradford acting like a coach on the field, barely a year removed from his draft day. If these examples of young leadership on display last week at the player-initiated minicamp at Lindenwood are any example, the Rams will be in great shape for years to come.

However, there's still a tangible difference between the example a second- or third-year player can set, no matter how ambitious, and the example that can be set by an elite veteran who knows in his bones the fine points of playing in the league.

The Rams haven't had that player on the roster in their passing game since the departure of Isaac Bruce. And while the crop of young receivers on the roster have shown flashes of potential, they haven't had that mentor nearby to teach them the fundamental consistency that separates good from great. At least, not until Torry Holt came to the Rams camp.

Leadership, Hungry, Driven.  It’s been awhile since anyone has used adjectives like these to describe the Rams. That is until this week’s OIFPW’s, or Organized Independent Football Player Workouts.  I figure since the NFL is on lockout status, and the players no longer have a union, there really aren’t teams right now.  So OTA’s cannot in reality take place. A lot of the members of the former NFLPA got together recently for OIFPW’s in their respective cities. Much to my delight and that of other Rams fans our local chapter of the OIFPW got together this past week.

These workouts are much different than the OTA’s that took place in previous off-seasons.  You know, the mandatory/voluntary OTA’s that all teams had and were put on by the teams and coaching staffs.  Where players just had to show up. This year we the fans are seeing the true colors of our teams and leaders because it has been up to them to organize the OIFPW’s and get ready for a season that may or may not come. This would have been a scary thought with Marc Bulger still at the helm of our ship and others like Richie Incognito, Claude Wroten and Alex Barron bringing everyone down.

Fortunately we have the” Four Pillars” on our side.  As we see Sam Bradford, James Laurinatis and others organize a rather large group onto the field and in the classroom these last few days. This is the leadership, hunger and drive we as fans have yearned for.

LOS LINKS!!!!

Ain’t no lockout gonna hold me down, Ain’t no lock out gonna slow me down, oh no…

If you’re going to follow an example, none much better than that of #18 an Co

Just like the USPS, "Neither Rain, Nor Sleet, Nor gloom of night" will stop THESE Rams

Leading by example, Bradford embracing his new role. The leadership they’d been lacking at QB

DX Missile hoping to blow up the NFC this year

Rams Workout Frenzy…thoughts on who’s getting it done.

Once upon a time this was the norm. If #8 and JL have their way it will be again.

It’s not quite OTA’s but it’s pretty damn close

Come one come all!

Rams O-line proving that just because there’s no football, doesn’t mean the work stops.

Don’t believe me…and you’re just dumb if you don’t. But just in case watch this!