What an upset. After being awarded the 2021 Super Bowl, LA has been moved back a year due to complications of our recent storm. Last week the 2021 game was awarded to Tampa and the LA Super Bowl game in the new Rams stadium in Inglewood was changed to 2022. With the delay the Rams will play their regular season home games in the Coliseum for the third straight season and the Chargers will get an extra year in the Stub Hub stadium in Carson. There’s an NFL rule that a new stadium must be opened for one year before it could qualify for a Super Bowl. There was a chance the Rams could have contested the rule but they didn’t.

Rams chief operating officer Kevin Demoff said the Rams agreed to the change, including Tampa getting the 2021 game. He said the Rams would work with their partners, including the Chargers to prepare for play in the new stadium. The Rams lost two months of preparing the ground for the new stadium due to the rain. At nearby LA International airport the rain total for the three months in question was 15 inches, twice the size of the normal amount. There was so much rain that the ground being prepared for the football field looked like a lake. The Rams had a subpar offense last season and sre expected to do better next season with new coach Sean McVay, a former NFL assistant coach who specialized on offense. It will be interesting how fans will treat the two new NFL teams who have moved here, the Rams from St. Louis and the Chargers from San Diego.

The Rams drew more than 80,000 spirited fans to the Coliseum early last season but the crowds were smaller as the season progressed. Will Ram fans start over and raise their hopes for the team’s second season here or show the disappointment of the 2016 season? Will the Chargers be welcomed as they play in the Stub Hub Stadium which has only 30,000 sets? The stadium is sold out as we have learned that there are a lot of Orange County residents who were Charger fans in the team’s San Diego years. As a result, an enthusiastic fan base is anticipated for the Chargers right away. Any Super Bowl is a grand event and it would be grander if an LA team could qualify for the 2022 game. But that is wishful thinking.