Boot Camp Mid-Season Report Card

The 2007 St. Louis Rams have officially been given the name Rams boot camp. So at the halfway point in the season here’s my boot camp report card:

Headlines… Marc Bulger has been the toughest soldier of all this year, sufferring two broken ribs in the first battle that took place in our home battle field. Sargent Linehan and the rest of the lieutenants on the squad decided to give him a rest and make Gus Frerotte our captain for a couple of weeks. This didn’t quite work out so they put Bulger back in last week, really a tough match that ended the first half of the year on a bad note.

Steven Jackson, our captain of the marines, went down as well early in the season. His ship was nearly all destroyed when Orlando Pace, and nearly the rest of anchoring crew went down with injuries. Pace is done for the year, and in to replace him is Alex Barron, who has some experience protecting ships, but mainly on the right side, not the left. He’s been making adjustments. Brian Leonard came in place of Jackson for a little while, but he couldn’t quite match up to the brilliant tactics of opponents.

Strategies…It hasn’t really been the strategies that this army has used, but more of the lack of available artillery that we have at our disposal. This infantry has been nearly demolished by others, that the backups have had to come in a do the job. They haven’t quite succeeded in doing so.

The land around us…Our region is very rough, there is a tough terrain that sits on the edge of our living quarters that scares the men at night. They look out their windows and think they see turf arising out of the rugged lands, but all it is is their imaginations. Back in the day when this squad was turf squad, a great turf squad that people would watch and people would cheer for. It’s become nothing but rugged terrain, and washed up memories. Memories of the greatest show on turf.

Reality sets in…These men fighting for a common cause have to realize that this is no longer the greatest show on turf. But rather a sad showing of what can happen to people when they think in the past and even try to live there. The injuries have amounted and they play a role, but not as big a role as our minds.

So there it is, my mid season boot camp report card. It’s a bit poetic, I know, but when you’ve dealt with some of things I’ve dealt with as a Rams fan, you’ll get it.