LA Rams HBO Hard Knocks is must watch television

Something borrowed, something blue

It may have required an additional load of $500 million from the NFL, but the SoFi Stadium – Sports Complex is or soon will be open for business.  Starting off at an estimated construction cost of $2.5 billion, the latest tally rose to a $6 billion figure. Was it worth it?  Well, based on the footage from Aaron Donald’s tour in March 2020,  to the latest tour by Goff, it’s certainly impressive.

SoFi Stadium is the premier NFL experience. The stadium not only has all the bells and whistles, but it’s raised the bar for the next 10-20 years on future construction projects. But it won’t be receiving the type of debut it deserves. You see, due to local regulations and NFL pandemic protocols, SoFi Stadium will be limited to just 15,000 fans in the stands, but may end up being empty altogether. While that will have some impact on the home team advantage, there are plenty of other changes coming this season. NFL teams will be encouraged to limit travel to a period as close to game time as possible. That will have serious consequences for the LA Rams, which we discuss in the future.

New uniforms = new era

The Rams’ new gold and blue logo was leaked on social media, which ignited a firestorm of negative reaction. Promising to revamp the logo, the Rams official release was no better than the leaked version. While the logo was subjected to fan outrage, it did serve to distract their focus from a rather pedestrian effort in the NFL Free Agency market. Over time, the outrage has quieted to seething displeasure. Will fans ever embrace the new look?

Perhaps not, but the hostile reaction to the new logo was rather fitting in one way. The Rams 2020 outlook must include putting all of the chaos and calamity of 2019 behind them. The Rams reconfigured the offensive line practically each and every week in 2019. And the team outright traded their two starting cornerbacks in mid-season.  The team even had to compensate for 20 injured players on a roster of 53.  That’s cutting it too close to the bone. It’s a brand new season, highlighted by the team’s appearance on HBO Hard Knocks: LA.  But to be honest, the LA Rams took harder knocks in 2019, and are all the stronger for it.