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From the Macomb Journal:
A decision could come sooner - rather than later - as to whether or not the St. Louis Rams will return to Macomb and Western Illinois University this summer for training camp.
Five members of the Rams organization, including vice president of operations John Oswald, were in Macomb Wednesday. During that time, they met with city and university officials, including Mayor Mick Wisslead, WIU President Al Goldfarb, Macomb Area Economic Development Corp. Director Kim Pierce and WIU director of athletics Tim Van Alstine.
"It was a very upbeat meeting," Wisslead said. "They're very well acquainted with Western and Macomb. ... They know we are not a work in progress."
The Rams held training camp at Western Illinois University for nine years, starting in 1996 and ending in 2004. During that time, almost 200,000 people watched the team practice.
When the team was at WIU, players lived and dined in Thompson Hall, which is very close to the practice fields and classroom spaces the team used.
Since 2004, the Rams have held training camp at their facility in Earth City, Mo. However, current Rams head coach Scott Linehan expressed a desire to hold training camp elsewhere this season. The team finished 3-13 a season ago.
In addition to Macomb, Rams officials reportedly visited Oshkosh and Stevens Point, Wis., on Monday. The University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point was home to the inaugural training camp of the expansion Jacksonville Jaguars in 1995.
Initially, the Rams were looking seriously at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse as a training camp site for this summer. But that is no longer an option, at least for this year, as the school decided to rework its fields and stadium.
Linehan said one of the Wisconsin campuses would be a better choice, because of the opportunity to work out and scrimmage with other teams there. The Kansas City Chiefs still train in River Falls, Wis., while the Packers train in Green Bay, and the Minnesota Vikings aren't too far away in Mankato, Minn.
However, it has been reported that the Tennessee Titans have invited the Rams to Nashville for a series of practices before the two teams open the preseason schedule Aug. 9. The possibility also exists that the Titans then would visit the Rams camp the following year.
While training in Macomb, the Rams scrimmaged against the Titans in 2000, following their Super Bowl XXIV battle. The Chicago Bears also visited Macomb for a series of workouts and scrimmage in 2004.
Rick Smith, vice president of public relations for the Rams, said Thursday that Linehan hopes to make a decision on a training camp location by early next week.
Go Leathernecks !!
Go Westerwinds !!
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| Have you heard any updates 712?
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No decision has been reached as far as I know.
Go Leathernecks !!
Go Westerwinds !!
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Breaking News ===> The St Louis Post-Dispatch is reporting that the Rams will not be holding their summer training camp at WESTERN.
Howver, the city of Macomb and WESTERN have not been notified.
Go Leathernecks !!
Go Westerwinds !!
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Rams not coming back to Macomb
by Jason Nevel
4/28/08
Western Courier
The St. Louis Rams will not be returning to Macomb this summer for training camp. The St. Louis Post Dispatch broke the news today. However, no official call has been made to the Macomb Mayor Mick Wisslead's office at this point.
"We thought we had the best facility," Wisslead said. "We had everything the Rams could need and the university has put on a good program."
The list for training camp hosts has been narrowed down to two, according to the Post Dispatch: Concordia University in Mequon, Wis. and Wisconsin-Whitewater. A decision is expected to be made this week.
Western Illinois University had hosted the Rams for nine years from 1996-2004. Wisslead said he expected the reason the Rams chose to move elsewhere was because they wanted to be close to other teams to scrimmage. He added that he does not believe holding training camp in Wisconsin would help the Rams build their fan base.
The Rams fan base is Missouri, Illinois, and Iowa -- not Wisconsin!
Go Leathernecks !!
Go Westerwinds !!
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Rams' future in Macomb looks bleak
By: Jason Nevel
Posted: 4/30/08
Western Courier
According to the St. Louis Post Dispatch, the St. Louis Rams will not be returning to Macomb this summer for training camp. However, the Rams have made no official call to Western Illinois University or Macomb Mayor Mick Wisslead's office stating they will not be coming back.
According to a source close to the university, the Rams have contacted the university but have never said they will not be returning to the place they called home for nine years. The source added that the Post Dispatch story might have been premature in the information it reported Monday.
Another university source said when the Rams decided not to return to Macomb for the summer of 2005, the university first learned the news that the Rams would be staying in St. Louis for training camp through the St. Louis media.
The Rams could not be reached for a response as of 4 p.m. Tuesday.
"We thought we had the best facility," Wisslead said. "We had everything the Rams could need, and the university has put on a good program."
The list for training camp hosts has been narrowed down to two, according to the Post Dispatch: Concordia University in Mequon, Wis., and Wisconsin-Whitewater. An official decision is expected to be made by late next week.
Western had hosted the Rams for nine years from 1996-2004. Wisslead said he expected the reason the Rams chose to move elsewhere was because they wanted to be close to other teams to scrimmage. He added that he does not believe holding training camp in Wisconsin helps the Rams build their fan base.
Go Leathernecks !!
Go Westerwinds !!
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WIU ended up being the second choice for this Summer Rams' Training Camp to Concordia College in Wisconsin. Concordia has 2 practice fields with the Field Turf like the Rams play on and gave better opportunity to scrimmage other teams training in Wisconsin.
B-Ball Fan
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