I'm tired of it.

I'm just not sure which "it" I'm tired of.

I know I'm tired of the false starts. I know I'm tired of pissing away timeouts. I know I'm tired of watching Donnie Avery play...in general, but especially when every Fox Game Break shows DeSean Jackson doing something brilliant for Philadelphia. I know I'm tired of watching opposing quarterbacks have all day to throw. I know I'm tired of watching Marc Bulger run for his life. And, I know I'm tired of hearing about playing hard after a team loses by two points in a game they should have won.

Listen, I realize the Rams' previous administration played the largest role in the dreadful drafts of this decade, but I didn't see Mike Martz, Scott Linehan, Jay Zygmunt, and John Shaw at Fed Ex Field failing to block for Marc Bulger, hold on to the football, get pressure on Jason Campbell, or keep timeouts at the end of the game.

Through typing and reflection, I've arrived at what I'm tired of: excuses.

In fairness, it's not excuses from Steve Spagnuolo or the players. If anything, all of their post-game comments indicated the same frustration I feel...which is refreshing after last week's overuse of the word "passion." It's the excuses from some fans and media members who are setting the bar way too low.

Here's reality:

Two games.

One touchdown.

One sack.

The thing that has me fired up is that this one was there for the taking...and they blew it, and it's the same crap that's lead to recent years of failure and irrelevance by October that led to letting this one slip away.

As the Rams, down 9-7, were setting up for their third down play in the red zone just before Avery fumbled, I was thinking that winning this game would be huge for the long term stability of football in St. Louis. Now, would it have solved the potpourri of problems facing the organization? No. Obviously, not. But, St. Louis football can't endure essentially a third straight season of no one giving a damn about the Rams by the time Halloween rolls around.

The difference between 1-1 and 0-2 is monumental, and as opposed to coming home for the home opener with at least some form of buzz surrounding them so as not to render them into the horrific embarrassment of essentially playing three straight road games to start the season when more Green Bay fans fill the dome than Rams fans, they remain, in my opinion, on the outskirts of legitimate interest in the St. Louis sports scene, behind Cardinal baseball, Missouri football, and Blues' hockey.

Other than the Lions, no other NFL franchise can say that they're behind a baseball team, a college football team, and a pro hockey team in their market.

I'm willing to give them time to right the wrongs of the past. I'm not willing to make excuses and pat them on the ass for trying hard.

Stop fumbling the ball. Stop jumping offside. Stop getting blown off the football by the opposition's offensive line. Stop arm tackling. Stop getting your quarterback killed. Stop pissing away timeouts.

If you do that and lose, then that's progress. But, if you're doing the same things that got you to the crossroads of irrelevance and apathy in a town whose lifeblood is its sports teams, then you are spinning your wheels...faster and faster...and going nowhere.

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