The co-owner of the St. Louis Rams, Georgia Frontiere, passed away yesterday at the age of 80 due to complications from breast cancer which was first diagnosed 4 years ago.
Frontiere, a former dancer, singer and showgirl married multi-millionaire and then-Los Angeles Rams owner Carroll Rosenbloom after the two were introduced in the late 50s by Kennedy patriarch, Joe Kennedy. Rosenbloom died in 1979 in a drowning accident that to this day is shrouded in mystery, after which Frontiere was able to successfully wrest control of the Rams from Rosenbloom’s son Steve for whom he intended to leave ownership.
Frontiere, then engaged in what was nearly a 15-year campaign to move the Rams, which was the first NFL franchise on the West Coast (relocated from Cleveland) to her hometown of St. Louis. In what could charitably be called corporate sabotage under her ownership, she was able to convince the NFL that the Rams were no longer financially viable in the Southern California market (after nearly 35 years playing in the L.A. Coliseum they had since moved to Anaheim Stadium in 1980) and was thus able to take advantage of a sweet-heart stadium deal when St. Louis ponied-up tax-payer dollars for a new domed stadium to facilitate their move in 1995.
Shortly thereafter the Rams moved to St. Louis and the Raiders who had relocated from Oakland in the early 80s returned to the Bay Area. Although constantly talked about and used as a bargaining chip both in the NFL and in the byzantine world of Los Angeles
City politics, there has not since been an NFL franchise in Los Angeles.
For this Gen-Xer who grew up listening to Bob Starr and Dick “Scooter” Bass broadcast the Ram games on K-ABC radio and who was acutely aware of the tradition of the team (Kenny Washington, Bob Waterfield, Norm VanBrocklin, the Fearsome Foursome, Lawrence “of Los Angeles” McCutcheon, Jack Youngblood, perennial quarterback controversies, etc.) – and of a team that along with the Lakers and the Dodgers formed about as interesting and dynamic a sports landscape a city will ever experience and then thinks of the 2nd largest city in America that would actually rather not have an NFL team …. for the woman owner that liked to give out crystals and stuffed animals to her players, this is her legacy.
And this is for Pops. A soundbyte of which was a staple on the show of another L.A. sports legend, Jim Healy.
Georgia Frontiere…. R.I.P.
Frontiere, a former dancer, singer and showgirl married multi-millionaire and then-Los Angeles Rams owner Carroll Rosenbloom after the two were introduced in the late 50s by Kennedy patriarch, Joe Kennedy. Rosenbloom died in 1979 in a drowning accident that to this day is shrouded in mystery, after which Frontiere was able to successfully wrest control of the Rams from Rosenbloom’s son Steve for whom he intended to leave ownership.
Frontiere, then engaged in what was nearly a 15-year campaign to move the Rams, which was the first NFL franchise on the West Coast (relocated from Cleveland) to her hometown of St. Louis. In what could charitably be called corporate sabotage under her ownership, she was able to convince the NFL that the Rams were no longer financially viable in the Southern California market (after nearly 35 years playing in the L.A. Coliseum they had since moved to Anaheim Stadium in 1980) and was thus able to take advantage of a sweet-heart stadium deal when St. Louis ponied-up tax-payer dollars for a new domed stadium to facilitate their move in 1995.
Shortly thereafter the Rams moved to St. Louis and the Raiders who had relocated from Oakland in the early 80s returned to the Bay Area. Although constantly talked about and used as a bargaining chip both in the NFL and in the byzantine world of Los Angeles
City politics, there has not since been an NFL franchise in Los Angeles.
For this Gen-Xer who grew up listening to Bob Starr and Dick “Scooter” Bass broadcast the Ram games on K-ABC radio and who was acutely aware of the tradition of the team (Kenny Washington, Bob Waterfield, Norm VanBrocklin, the Fearsome Foursome, Lawrence “of Los Angeles” McCutcheon, Jack Youngblood, perennial quarterback controversies, etc.) – and of a team that along with the Lakers and the Dodgers formed about as interesting and dynamic a sports landscape a city will ever experience and then thinks of the 2nd largest city in America that would actually rather not have an NFL team …. for the woman owner that liked to give out crystals and stuffed animals to her players, this is her legacy.
And this is for Pops. A soundbyte of which was a staple on the show of another L.A. sports legend, Jim Healy.
Georgia Frontiere…. R.I.P.
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4 comments:
Dean,
My first taste of the NFL came from rooting for those Rams of the 1960's when Roman Gabriel was the QB, Dick Bass was in the backfield and the "Fearsome Foursome" of Rosy Grier, Lamar Lundy, Deacon Jones and Merlin Olsen played some great D. The Rams move to St. Louis and the Chargers picking my pockets with a stadium upgrade that didn't really secure their future in San Diego wrecked my enjoyment of the pro game for many years.
I know we're not supposed to speak ill of the dead, so...
Ding Dong! The Witch is dead. Which old Witch? The Wicked Witch!
Ding Dong! The Wicked Witch is dead.
Wake up - sleepy head, rub your eyes, get out of bed.
Wake up, the Wicked Witch is dead. She's gone where the goblins go,
Below - below - below. Yo-ho, let's open up and sing and ring the bells out.
Ding Dong' the merry-oh, sing it high, sing it low.
Let them know
The Wicked Witch is dead!
As I posted somewhere else, I don't know whether to hate her for moving my childhood team away, or thank her for tearing away the pretense that the NFL is anything more than a business.
- Mongo
Old-school Rams fans, after today's game, it dawned on me that Norv gets to coach the AFC team in the Pro Bowl. I just hope Norv (or whoever the Charger coach is) doesn't make it the same habit that was Chuck Knox's in the '70s.
To this day, I am suspicious of leis.
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