St. Louis has been a major-league city for a long time, but its status had been declining as the end of the last century drew near. St. Louis' last major title came in 1982, when the Cardinals won the World Series.

The St. Louis Blues are doing well in the NHL this year, but they still have to get by the powerful Detroit Red Wings to reach the Stanley Cup Finals. Of course, the city does have Mark McGwire, but unless the Cardinals can get some pitching soon--and Kent Bottenfield is not going to cut--the Rams are going to be the only team with a chance to win a league title for a while.

If this Super Bowl had featured the Dallas Cowboys and the Denver Broncos, do you think Dallas and Denver fans would be as excited? It's the law of diminishing marginal utility--something I learned in Ec 10 last year--the more a team wins, the less each win means to the players and to the fans.

I know that Michael Jordan said after each world championship that that win was the sweetest win he's ever had. As much as I like Mike, I have to bet that nothing could compare to that first win. Knowing Mike as well as I do, I'm sure he'd take that bet and try to convince me otherwise. He takes any and all bets.

I do have to give New York City mad props for celebrating each Yankee World Series victory like it's their first. That city truly takes pride in its team, even when no one else outisde of the tri-state area can stand the Bronx Bombers.

If the Red Sox or the Cubs ever won a World Series, Beantown or the Windy City would erupt in unbelievable celebrations as fans, who before were the butts of jokes for four score, would find themselves redeemed for their support of hapless teams for so many years. I only hope I'm alive to see one of those celebrations.

In the meantime, I'm going to be rooting for the Rams on Sunday. I'll admit that I'm a fair-weather fan, because I am still a Packer-rooting cheesehead at heart. But because I live within two hours of St. Louis and am already a Cardinals fan, I'll be adopting the Rams for next Sunday.