3 Stories You Should Know: L.A. Rams, Lawrence Phillips, IAAF Scandal

NFL teams don't move very often--but this week the Rams received permission to do just that. While L.A. fans might be excited, how does St. Louis feel about losing their team? That's the first topic in this week's "3 Stories You Should Know" with sportswriter Erik Malinowski, USA Today's Nancy Armour and Only A Game's Bill Littlefield.

1. St. Louis Blues: The L.A. Rams Are Back

On Tuesday night, NFL owners approved the request by St. Louis Rams owner Stan Kroenke to relocate the team to Los Angeles. The L.A. Rams' new hometown is actually its old hometown: the Rams played in Los Angeles from 1946-1995. In an LA Times interview, Kroenke said the decision was "bittersweet" but that he couldn't just "sit there and be a victim." Erik Malinowski believes fans in St. Louis have the right to be upset.

EM: Now, this is a man who has a net worth of about seven-billion dollars, according to Forbes. So, as you can imagine, this is not coming off very well. Relocation, as history has shown, is the fastest way to propel one's self up the rankings of most hated owner in sports. But I wonder: is he number one? Is he the most hated owner in sports? I mean, maybe just in football, but when you're talking about a collection of men like Jerry Jones and Dan Snyder, even that would be an accomplishment.

2. The Life And Death Of Lawrence Phillips

Lawrence Phillips, the troubled former-NFL and college football player, was found dead in his prison cell on Wednesday in an apparent suicide. While in college at the University of Nebraska, Phillips ran into trouble with law enforcement multiple times. Nancy Armour points out that Nebraska head coach Tom Osborne said he allowed Phillips to continue to play partially because it gave Phillips structure and help--something Osborne thinks Phillips didn't have in the NFL.

NA: And if you go back and look at the quote from Georgia Frontiere, the Rams owner at the time, when Phillips was drafted she flat out said she didn't care about his past. And she said, "If it helps our team, that's all I care about." Has the NFL really changed? Because when you look at, say, Greg Hardy's situation and Jerry Jones — who talks about wanting to use their resources to help this poor guy out — is it really just the same? As long as someone can sack a quarterback 15 times a season or rush for 100 yards a game, does that outweigh their character issues?

3. Corruption In The IAAF

A World Anti-Doping Agency report released on Thursday details corruption in the IAAF, the international governing body for track and field. The former president of the IAAF allegedly asked for millions of dollars in order to secure his support of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, and his sons allegedly had athletes pay to keep their positive doping test results covered up.

BL: This is the latest bad news in the world of track and field. I put their odds at perhaps 2-1 that now the track and field governing body is the worst miscreant in this universe, maybe even worse than FIFA. Although, maybe FIFA has an edge because there are so many FIFA executives involved in this?

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