By: Joey Bittick

First off, let me say that I am a believer. I believe the trinity of Steve Spagnuolo, Kevin Demoff, and Billy Devaney are truly the men to lead the St. Louis Rams out of the NFL desert that they are currently languishing in and into the Promised Land where that coveted Lombardi Trophy resides.

Some may deem me an idiot, a “Kool-aid drinker.” Those people we will call Group A. They are the ones who will never be happy with anything my beloved Rams do. Of course, when the Rams were the darlings of the NFL, in the midst of claiming their 1999 Super Bowl victory, they were the ones who claimed, “We knew it all along.”

Group A wants you to forget they were among those calling for Dick Vermeil’s head after the 1998 season, after only two seasons. They thought Kurt Warner was washed up and wanted him out of town for Marc Bulger, for he was their guy—at least until around 2007 or so when they wanted him gone too.  These people live for a reason to complain, and sadly, they cannot be helped, reasoned with, or swayed by logic… so I will not try.

Then there is Group B. These people have lost their proverbial way and hope to one day see the proverbial light. They just need a little bit of hope, and that is what I will try to give them here.

Group C are the stubborn lot, and it will take a bit longer to earn their trust.  They want a little bit more proof before they hand over their love and dedication, and they need the Rams Front Office to show them. I respect Group C because they will give credit when credit is due. I hope to help them see a reason to trust the current Rams regime.

Finally, we have Group D;  the eternal Rams optimists. I am writing this blog because I am a lifelong member of Group D. Sometimes our optimism can be misguided. Going into 2009, I thought, The Rams are going to really compete and prove everyone wrong. That was a mistake, to say the least.  But We are also the ones who took Dick Vermeil’s famous words to heart when he said, “We will rally around Kurt Warner, and we will play good football!”

We live and die with the Rams.

I think we are prone to extreme highs and sometimes extreme lows.  I do not ever remember feeling as down about my Rams as I did after the ‘09 season. I thought, Why do I put myself through this every year? I even contemplated finding an alternative to NFL Sundays, but when the playoffs started a few short days later, they were exciting.

I got to watch Kurt Warner have one last hurrah against the Green Bay Packers, and I remembered (in a bittersweet sort of way) watching Kurt Warner lead the Rams against the Minnesota Vikings in the 1999 postseason. I remembered watching that victory. It was the first time I allowed thoughts of a Super Bowl Championship to enter my brain.

And then the Saints pulled off the upset of the Indianapolis Colts in the Super Bowl. And so-called “experts” were hailing them as the ultimate Cinderella story. And then I got a bit angry at how short these experts’ memories were. For a mere ten years earlier, Marshall Faulk, Isaac Bruce, and the St. Louis Rams were in the final act of the original NFL Cinderella story…

Not to mention, their story had beautifully, almost scripted moments like “The Catch” by Ricky Proehl…

“The Pass” from Kurt Warner to Isaac Bruce in the waning minutes of Super Bowl XXXIV was a moment I thought would never, ever be topped…

Until, mere seconds later, when Mike “The Tackle” Jones made what was, in my opinion, the greatest play in the history of the Super Bowl…

And I jumped up and down.  And I hugged my father.  And I will never forget that moment.

Even now, when I think about hugging my father as the curtain dropped on the greatest moment in St. Louis Rams history, I have to choke back a tear. And I remember why I love the Rams and why I always will.

I know there are others out there who will say, “I am with you Rams, brother!” And it is those people that I hope will read this blog. And I hope those of us in Group D can reach out to those of you in Groups B and C and give you a reason to join us. Because, in my opinion, there is nothing better than being a Rams Fan.

And then, when Steven Jackson, Sam Bradford, Chris Long, OJ Atogwe, Jason Smith, James Laurinaitis, Steve Spagnuolo, Billy Devaney, and all of the others who are currently or will someday don the blue and gold horns lead us through this desert and into Lombardi Land, we can all truly say, “We knew it all along!”

We can say through the good times and the bad, we were all a part of Group Ram.