FOR LOVE OF THE GAME:ONLY TRUE FANS CAN REALLY ENJOY RAMS' SUCCESS

There's a cold front heading south.

I mean way south.

I mean below-the-ground south.

Prepare your souls, friends.

It appears Hades has frozen over.

The Rams are in the Super Bowl.

Satan is putting on his Tennessee Titan jacket.

Just the other day, I saw a pig fly. Oh wait, it was a pigskin. And it was flying into the hands of Ricky Proehl for an NFC Championship victory.

Yes, I'll say it again: The Rams are in the Super Bowl.

The next thing you know, the Cubs will win the World Series.

At the beginning of the 1999 football season, you could not have convinced me of what I saw Sunday on television.

There they were: a washed-up coach, a grocery store bagger and a Division III middle linebacker celebrating the NFC Championship in St. Louis.

Go figure.

A few months ago after the Rams had won their first three or four games, I was in the coaches' office at Cape Central High School and two coaches were vehemently and comically discussing the fate of the Rams.

Central baseball coach and assistant football coach Steve Williams was in there with another Tiger coach -- and I won't mention any names -- arguing whether or not the Rams were the Real Deal.

"Oh, Steve," bellowed the doubter (You know who you are). "You're just jumping on the bandwagon. The Rams aren't any good. They haven't played anybody."

But ol' Williams wouldn't back down, defending his Rams and himself.

"I didn't jump on the bandwagon!" said Williams. "I've been a Rams fan since they moved to St. Louis."

The doubter rolled his eyes and shook his head.

Williams, looking for some sort of support, turned to me. "What about you Bob?" he asked.

"I'm a Rams fan," I said. "And have been since they moved to St. Louis."

Said Williams: "You know, Bob? I'm beginning to like you more and more."

Although the doubter had the privilege of going to both playoff games in St. Louis some 13 weeks after claiming the Rams were just enjoying the benefits of a weak schedule, Steve and I are the type of fans who are really enjoying this success.

I can't say I've never missed a game on television, but most of my Sunday afternoons over the past several years have included watching Tony Banks fumble the Rams' hopes down the drain.

Sure, we'll allow you fair-weather fans -- like the doubter (You still know who you are) -- to jump on board and root for the blue and gold.

But don't call yourselves Rams fans unless you've been there from the beginning.

It would be like calling yourself a parent without ever changing a dirty diaper.

I have to admit, I jumped on the bandwagon when the Rams were 4-0 -- the first year they moved to St. Louis.

My mom bought me this nice Rams coat. Bright gold and blue and white and I wore it proudly.

Until they started losing again and again and again.

Then I still wore it; I just wasn't proud of it. It was the heaviest coat I had and sometimes I had no choice but to wear it.

But that's not the point.

The point is, I still followed the Rams. My Rams. I watched as the "talented, strong-armed" Banks would dive at the 1-yard line as time expired when he needed to get into the end zone. I watched Lawrence Phillips blister opponents with his amazing 2-point-something yards per carry. I watched "The Bus" leave St. Louis and drive to a Super Bowl in Pittsburgh. Through it all, I still watched. And I still rooted.

Then comes this year.

I'm thinking if the Rams can at least go 8-8 and be anywhere near the playoff picture, it would be a great year. I thought the acquisition of Marshall Faulk gave them that chance.

That is, until Trent Green went down in preseason.

Then stepped in Kurt Warner. I believe Warner's rise to the top is the best sports story of the year.

Here's a guy who was bagging groceries a few years ago for cryin' out loud. Now he's the center of the football universe.

And everybody, including the former doubters, are going Ram-crazy, acting like they've been there all along.

Steve and I know better.

But that's OK. We watched our Rams dirty their diapers.

Now, we're all-the-more proud that they've graduated at the top of their class.

Bob Miller is a sports writer for the Southeast Missourian.