Rams finalize move to Los Angeles, ending NFL football in St. Louis, while Chargers mull change

The league created a three ring circus with three teams clamoring to move to Los Angeles, and we've finally got at least a partial answer about who will be moving.

The St. Louis Rams are no more, with a team that has moved many times in its history hitting the road again after about 20 years in the city. The Chargers are being given the option of following them and will have up to a year to decide, reportedly, and if they elect to stay in San Diego, the Raiders may still follow the Rams to Los Angeles. The upshot is a city that keeps finding itself without NFL teams may soon have two, while a couple of loyal fanbases will have to decide whether they'll follow their team to California. Being a fan in the Internet age makes that easier--many of us aren't in the same area as our favorite team, after all--but when it feels like a betrayal and locals can't actually attend games, that changes the calculus a bit.

For Falcons fans, these moves mean very little, aside from the possibility of another West Coast road trip whenever this team plays the Rams. The divisions will remain the same, by all accounts, and these teams aren't going to magically improve thanks to the move. Life goes on, but it will be an especially anxious year for fans in San Diego and Oakland.

Still, the NFL and the teams have handled this whole move about as poorly as you possibly could, which comes as no surprise to anyone familiar with the league, team owners, and their incessant cash grabs. Rams owner Stan Kroenke in particular comes across as a callous, ruthless businessman...because that's what he is. Los Angeles will be getting a team that hasn't been to the playoffs since 2004 and appears to have settled comfortably into mediocrity, proving once and for all that whether a team is run competently has nothing to do with its ability to generate cash and get what it wants. It makes you genuinely appreciate the owners who pony up some of their cash for new stadiums and actually stick in one city, as low of a bar as that is.

For much more on this, follow our friends at Turf Show Times.