Rams can't risk Rex Ryan as head coach

1) Ravens defensive coordinator Rex Ryan is not worth the gamble for the Rams as head coach. The Ravens continually have one of the top defenses in the NFL, year in and year out — just as when Mike Nolan and Marvin Lewis were at the helm. Problem is, Nolan has failed in San Francisco and Lewis has not exactly been successful in Cincinnati. The defense is linebacker Ray Lewis’ team, and the job of the Ravens defensive coordinator could possibly be the easiest job to land in the world. New Rams’ general manager Billy Devaney will lead the head coaching search, just as he did last season in Atlanta when Ryan was a finalist for the head coaching job of the Falcons. Devaney made the right decision to hire Mike Smith for the job instead, and hopefully he comes to the right conclusion with the Rams. Could Ryan be a solid head coach for the Rams — sure, but I wouldn’t put another handful of bad seasons on the line in this fragile of environment on it.

2) The individual signing of lefty-specialist Royce Ring by the Cardinals is not a bad individual signing. It’s all right for a team to make a low impact move that could have bigger benefits if lightning is caught in a bottle and the player can turn their previous season around. Problem is, the Cardinals have done much of nothing so far this offseason but make “lightning in a bottle” moves by acquiring shortstop Khalil Greene, lefties Trever Miller, Charlie Manning and Ring. Did general manager John Mozeliak’s comments before the offseason began vowing to be aggressive mean the team would be actively searching the ground to pick up low-hanging fruit?

3) The Missouri basketball team’s schedule is an absolute and utter joke. Mizzou is not the only college basketball team to schedule weak opponents throughout the season. The Tigers are off to a hot start, the best since the 1998-1999 season, at 13-2 but it has come against the likes of teams such as Centenary College, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, Stetson, Oral Roberts, Fairfield and most recently Coppin State as well as other weak opponents. Why not schedule tougher teams to compete with? Unlike college football, college basketball does not penalize teams for a few losses to keep them out of making the finals. When a team like Mizzou romps over poor matchups all season, it will probably end up with an early exit from March Madness when the competition gets tough.

4) A new sports talk radio station is looking to dominate St. Louis area waves, boasting a strong signal on an FM station. WXOS 101.1 ESPN has kicked off its inaugural week, but still does not stack up to the competition of Team 1380, which carries a relatively weak AM signal. Would you rather listen to the nationally-syndicated show of Mike and Mike in the Morning on 101.1 or the ITD Morning After with Jim Hayes, Doug Vaughn and Tim McKernan? Would you rather listen to Pat Parris and Bryan Burwell in the afternoon or Kevin Slaten? Would you rather listen to Randy Karraker, Bob Ramsey and D'Marco Farr or Bernie Miklasz? To me, it’s a landslide for 1380, who not to mention keeps St. Louis Post-Dispatch beat writers Joe Strauss and Jim Thomas on board for insight into behind the scene action.