What Do Guangzhou And L.A Have In Common……And What Does It Mean?

No Comments October 23, 2017 Rams By John Stellman

It began on January 28th of this year.

It will conclude on February 15, 2018.

So What Is “It”?

“It” is another festive Chinese New Years celebration.

The Year Of The Chicken (or, if you prefer…The Fire Rooster!).

They will be partying from Hong Kong to Beijing to Shanghai to Guangzhou.

Guangzhou???

So where am I going with this?

Read on!

Guangzhou, the capital of the Guangdong province, has been a major center for international trade for more than 300 years.

The citizens of Guangzhou have migrated far and wide while keeping up trade links with their native city.

They are well known throughout Southeast Asia as creative, successful and hard-working entrepreneurs.

Guangzhou is at the center of South China’s most important trade zone, which includes the aforementioned Hong Kong and the Pearl River Delta.

Many Chinese Americans in Southern California have deep roots in this part of South China.

They aren’t alone.

History Lesson

Guangzhou’s connection to the south land began 35 years ago.

That’s when this Asian metropolis was linked to Los Angeles as a “sister city”.

And this common bond could be the beginning of yet another fun filled, joyous occasion.

How about The Year Of The Ram?

Or rather, Rams!

Granted, the season is barely underway, but there are hints that this could be an exciting journey.

After all, it took the Rams just seven games (5-2) to surpass last year’s win total (4).

Andt there now seems to be an air of enthusiasm swirling overhead.

New Direction

They’ve brought in a fresh, young coach who has changed the culture dramatically.

Sean McVay was 30 years old when the Rams hired him on January 12th.

He immediately became the youngest head coach in National Football League history.

Surprisingly, only Connor Barwin (31), John Sullivan (32) and Andrew Whitworth (35) are older than their coach.

There are 65 members of the active roster, injured reserve, practice squad and reserve/physically unable to perform who have yet to reach their 30th birthday.

The subject of McVay’s youthfulness came up at his introductory press conference.

Young Blood

“As far as the youth, I think it’s a great question,” McVay told the assembled media.

“It’s something that I’ve always been asked about ever since I got into coaching.

“I think the thing that’s great about the NFL is you’re dealing with men here. What we’re trying to do is help them become the best players that they can be, and we’re all collectively trying to win games.

All In The Family

“What I always tell other people is that the way you earn these players respect is, you help them become a better football player?

“If we have great coaches, we’re putting in sound plans, and our preparation is thorough where we’re helping our players improve and get better, and then we also demonstrate, ‘Hey, we care about you.’

“We’re trying to develop and build relationships, that character that we talked about earlier.

“Those are the things that I think help with the youth, where you can make those connections, build those relationships.

Communication Is Key

“I’ve got a little bit better idea of what’s going on right now, and how technology has kind of changed the course of the way interaction occurs.

“But, I think those are some benefits and some things that have really helped me connect with players since I got into coaching.”

McVay has always practiced what he’s preached.

From Day One as an assistance wide receivers coach with Tampa Bay in 2008, his athletes have always improved.

The following season he was a receivers/quality control coach with the Florida Tuskers in the short lived United Football League.

Nation’s Capitol

He moved to Washington in 2010 as an assistant tight ends coach.

The ‘assistant’ was removed the following year and he held that position through 2013.

After the Redskins finished that season 25th in total offense, McVay was bumped up to offensive coordinator.

He improved the offense immeasurably, moving up to 10th the following season.

His stock continued to rise, impressing owner Stan Kroenke, Executive Vice President/Chief Operations Officer Ken Demoff and General Manager Les Snead enough to bring him to Los Angeles.

Same Old (Young) Sean

And nothing has changed!

The difference between Jeff Fisher’s last season and McVay’s first is like night and day.

In his four years plus 13 games with the Rams, Fisher never won move than seven games.

You have to go all the way back to 2008 to find a Fisher team (Tennessee) that had a winning season (13-3). And those Titans were ceremoniously bounced in the first round of the playoffs.

The Rams last winning record came in 2003 (12-4) when Mike Martz guided them to the NFC West title. Unfortunately, their season lasted only one more game as well.

So McVay has some work to do.

But to his credit, he’s never shied away from a challenge.

Building A Strong Foundation

And it all starts from the ground up.

McVay essentially cleaned house.

John Fassel (special teams), Skip Peete (running backs) and Andy Dickerson (assistant offensive line coach) are the only Fisher holdovers.

Matt LaFleur, who orchestrated Atlanta’s high octane offense that landed the Falcons in last year’s Super Bowl, is the Rams new offensive coordinator.

And Wade Phillips, who brings 39 years of coaching experience to Los Angeles, is heading up the Rams revamped defense.

Phillips quickly ditched last season’s 4-3 scheme and has installed his 3-4 alignment.

The defensive transition may have initially been slow. Not anymore!

Sunday’s blue collar, workman like performance left the Arizona Cardinals in complete shambles, 33-0.

Yikes!

The Rams energetic defense was dominate, holding their NFC West rival to 193 total net yards.

Quarterback Carson Palmer, who departed with a broken left arm, and backup Drew Stanton combined for 15 completions in 32 attempts for a meager 168 yards.

Lamarcus Joyner and Mark Barron each intercepted a pass.

You think that’s pretty pathetic?

You haven’t seen anything yet!

It took the Cardinals anemic ground game 12 carries to grind out 25 yards.

Recently acquired high profile running back Adrian Peterson was smothered to the tune of 21 yards in 11 carries.

John Johnson III, (4), Michael Brockers (3) and Trumaine Johnson (3) combined for 10 of the Rams 28 tackles.

Arizona managed just 10 first downs and controlled the ball for a putrid 20:59 minutes.

Ouch!

Ramped Up Offense

The offense has already jelled.

Jared Goff and Todd Gurley, who both made cameo appearances last year, are front in center this season.

With all the hype surrounding his No. 1 selection in 2016, Goff simply disappeared.

Last year he ranked No. 35 in passing yardage (1,089), while completing just 54.6 % of his passes and earning a quarterback rating of 63.6.

He’s off to a great start this season.

High Rent District

After six games, the UC Berkley graduate was No. 7 among all QBs with 1,434 yards. Goff had completed 63.6% of his passes and his rating skyrocketed to 93.2.

Last year’s offense was last in the league with a microscopic total of 4,203 yards.

With more than half that total (2,159) in their first six games, the Rams are currently fourth in total yards.

And with Goff pulling the trigger, the Rams have climbed from 31st to seventh, accumulating 60 more passing yards per game.

In guiding the Rams through the atrocity that Arizona was, Goff didn’t discriminate, delivering the ball to seven different receivers.

Robert Woods (5 catches/59 yards), Cooper Kupp (4/51/1 touuchdown), Todd Gurley (4/48) and Sammy Watkins (3/42) all got their hands on the ball.

Gurley On The Run!

Goff’s success has opened up the running lanes for Gurley, who looks more like the Rookie Of The Year he was in St. Louis two years ago than the guy who plowed into the line for 3.2 yards per carry last season

With his 106 yards on 22 carries and one touchdown on Sunday, Gurley’s 991 yards this season leaves him 258 yards short of his 2016 total.

Malcolm Brown contributed 48 yards on 11 carries, helping the Rams ground game improve from 31st last season to No. 9 this year.

Encouraging signs for young team whose enthusiastic coach appears to be the perfect fit.

And what about the perfect ending?

Hummm?

How about a ‘super’ celebration!

The Sister Cities of Los Angeles – Discover Los Angeles Contributed To This Article

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John Stellman

I was born with sports in my blood. I began coaching little league baseball at 15. I was the sports editor of my high school newspaper. I did football play by play for the college radio station. I broadcast high school basketball for a local commercial station. But baseball was always my passion. During the 1970's I covered the Angels for the Orange County Register. And now I am back where I belong...