#8 of 31: Edward Jones Dome –
St. Louis, Missouri

November 20, 2011

GAMEDAY: ST. LOUIS RAMS VS SEATTLE SEAHAWKS

Arriving in St. Louis we were delighted to find a simple full-hook-up campground within a mile of the Edward Jones Dome where the St. Louis Rams play football.

Saturday afternoon before the game we continued our tradition of visiting a sports bar near the stadium. We chose the Over/Under with its 37 television screens. Every booth had double TV screens the size of a breadbox. Interestingly, we saw no sports memorabilia on the walls, no fan-inspired outfits on the staff and the only team jersey in the place was on a patron wearing a blue #18¹ for the Indianapolis Colts. We saw nothing in the decor to indicate that we were a block from the Rams Dome or even that the hometown Cardinals had just won the World Series. The place looked like an transplant from South Beach. My traditional cheeseburger was good enough and actually rare enough, but without local fans to yammer with it was just a late lunch in a strange town.

Walking along empty Dr. Martin Luther King Drive: The bland white building in the distance is the EKJ Dome.

Sunday’s game was a late game, so around 11:00 AM we started walking towards the stadium under dark and threatening skies. By the time we got to the first tailgaters it had started to drizzle... we were happy to check out their feast and get under their tent out of the rain. The usual brats with onions were on the grill and the chili was simmering, but the big star on the grill was a variation of my all time culinary failure, the stuffed, bacon-wrapped jalapeño pepper. This one was filled with a mixture of cream cheese and Harry and David’s Onion Pepper Relish all wrapped in bacon. (Miraculously, their’s was not on fire. We have burst many a pepper into flames in an attempt to cook similar delicacies. See recipe and fire.)

PHOTO GALLERY: RAMS FANS BEFORE THE GAME

By the time we reached the Knothead Tailgaters gang and their Fan Van RV, it had started to rain in ernest. It was definitely a great place to get trapped by the downpour because the folks were really enjoying each others company.

Party Marty introduces the Knothead Tailgators Greek menu

These guys were running a highly organized feast of mostly Greek Food on this particular Sunday. (On a previous week it had been a New Orleans inspired rmenu.) Maybe it was the rain and the chill plus the invitation to come inside the fan van, but they seemed like the nicest guys ever! Maybe it was my tasting of their delicious grilled lamb or the smell of the cinnamon potatoes warming...

The Knotheads are Rams Fans win or loose and so glad for St. Louis to have a team. They are deeply proud of their Superbowl winning former QB, Kurt Warner... and spoke of him as if he were there own brother. “He does all the right things for all the right reasons.”

PHOTO GALLERY: RAMS FANS TAILGATING IN THE RAIN I

They also talked a little bit about the future of the Rams and the stadium itself, which they do not like. This indoor stadium seems to function like a multi-purpose room in an elementary school or James Thurber’s ironing board that turns into a mahjong table. The huge, barn-like space also functions as a convention hall and the stands can be rolled back to create an exhibit cavern. Seating can be added to the floor/field to hold another 65,000 people. For example, 104,000 people filled the EKJ Dome in 1999 for a Mass celebrated by Pope John Paul II.

The St. Louis Rams, formerly the Los Angeles Rams, moved to St. Louis in 1995. The City built the indoor stadium/multi-purpose center with tax money.

Hey, Football Stadiums are meant to be temples not part of a faceless government complex. When we first drove around looking for the Stadium/Dome we couldn’t even find it. A huge casino and hotel are across the street and there are no flags, or logos or anything to indicate that the building we were circling was the home of a world champion NFL football team.

PHOTO GALLERY: RAMS FANS TAILGATING IN THE RAIN II

Because of the pouring rain, we were not able to walk all the way around the EKJ Dome, but the parking lots next to the stadium we did visit had several groups of die hard fans tailgating in the downpour.  There were quite a few umbrella tents stuffed with people, but It was far from crowded. In fact, the second lot had very few tailgaters.

A large group of regional locals who were from Seattle were having fun, but of course they were used to the weather.

CuttySark in Rain: True fans demonstrate the meaning of die-hard...

OK, actually I was really proud of us, along with the fans, for tromping around in the cold and rain, meeting people and taking so many fun pictures with cameras wrapped in plastic or peaking out from inside our rain jackets.

Final: Rams 7, Seahawks 24

1. Peyton Manning