Rams 23, Bengals 20

Sorry, America. Know you were rooting for the Bengals, who have never won a Super Bowl and had that young, charismatic quarterback. Know you wanted the underdog to come out on top. Know that you really don’t care about Los Angeles teams.

Tough.

So sad, too bad.

As a long-time Rams fan, all I have to say is, nyah nyah nyah.

I became a Rams fan–and a football fan–when I was 8. I visited my wayward father on a rare weekend visit with my brother and sister. While those two were out doing something, I wandered into the den where my dad was watching TV. In particular, watching the Rams play.

He was passionate about that team. He cheered and moaned and jumped up and down. I knew nothing about football, but I loved my father and missed him terribly. The divorce had only been two years before but my dad didn’t seem to find a lot of time to come see his children.

So I sat and watched this weird sport with him. He explained the game to me, the passing and the running and the tackling. I caught on quickly. And just as quickly became a Rams fan for life.

Oh, Dad. What did you do to me?

Because for all too many years, the Rams never had the grit to go all the way. They went 11-0 in 1969, then lost their last 3 games–and were buried in the snow in Minnesota.

They finally went to the Super Bowl in 1978 with the gallant Vince Ferragamo at quarterback. They actually led by 11 points after the third quarter! It took a heroic effort by Terry Bradshaw and the Pittsburgh Steelers to deny my beloved Rams their first win at the Big Game.

In the 70s Hollywood re-made Heaven Can Wait with Warren Beatty playing the Rams quarterback who gets unexpectedly snuffed out by mistake. I always made the joke that you could tell the movie was a fantasy because the Rams won the Super Bowl. Definitely not connected to reality.

Finally, in 2000, when the immortal Kurt Warner led the “greatest show on turf” to a squeaker over the Tennessee Titans, a game won when the Rams defense tackled the Titans ball carrier one yard short of the winning touchdown.

But it was marred for me by the fact that these were the St. Louis Rams. The evil owner Georgie Frontierie had engineered an abduction of the LA team to St. Louis a few months before. It just didn’t seem fair that my beloved team finally won the big one while 2000 miles away from home.

So Sunday was vindication for those of us who have been rooting for the team all these years. And yes, the game was finally won when the great Aaron Donald made two consecutive brilliant defensive plays in the last minute.

So. Sorry, America. Know you were rooting for the upstart Bengals. Know you felt it would be nice for Cincinatti to have a football championship. Got the feeliing that this won’t be the last time the Bengals show up at the big game with that great quarterback they have. They just need to shore up their offensive line. Your great quarterback got sacked seven times in the big game.

And listen, when the Bengals aren’t playing my beloved Rams, I’ll even root for them.

In the meantime, I am basking in the glow of the fantasy finally becoming reality. The Los Angeles Rams are World Champions.

Now I can get back to my regular life.