COMMENTARY : As the Rams Turn, Their Faithful Prepare for the Worst

ANAHEIM —  For Dale Hatcher, there was a flash of purple, a second unexpected thump of the football, one last glimpse at the back of Mike Merriweather’s jersey and, then, he was done with it.

For Ram fans, of course, the pain never ends.

Haven’t the past 20 years in Ram history been one blocked punt against the Minnesota Vikings?

There are love-hate relationships, there are living hells, there is unrequited love and there is life as a Ram fan. Within the realm of professional sports, there is really nothing like it.

At least the Chicago Cubs promise a few laughs along the way. The L.A. Clippers give you Benoit Benjamin, the world’s tallest stand-up comedian. The Cleveland Indians are never, ever going to win--John McNamara, a leader for the ‘90s?--and their fans have come to take great comfort in this knowledge.

But the Rams?

They are just good enough to pique your interest--Is this, at last, the Super Bowl season?--and just bad enough to tweak your emotions every time the stakes get high enough.

The whole essence of the experience was laid out on the Metrodome turf Sunday during the last 10 minutes of the latest sucker punch against the Vikings.

Hope. Down, 18-7, the Rams rally for one touchdown, force a Minnesota punt deep in Viking territory and break through to block that punt.

Despair. The loose football bounces straight into the hands of Viking punter Bucky Scribner, who promptly rolls to his left and completes a pass--good for a Minnesota first down with 1:17 to play.

Renewed Hope. Officials wipe out the play, citing illegal receivers downfield, and the Vikings punt again. This time, the Rams take possession and drive the rest of the way for a 21-18 lead with 28 seconds left.

Renewed Despair. The Vikings throw two identical Hail Mary passes, complete the second for a 43-yard gain and call upon Rich Karlis to kick his seventh field goal and send the game into overtime.

One More Time. The Rams win the coin toss and get first possession in sudden death.

Hook, Line, Sinker. Three downs yield nine yards for the Rams. One yard short, they are forced to punt again. Here comes Mike Merriweather. There goes the ballgame: 23-21, Vikings.

We all saw it coming.

We’ve all seen it before.

As soon as Merriweather broke past blocking back Mike Wilcher and cast a shadow over Hatcher, all the brutal images came rushing back, a cavalcade of Ram disasters through the years.

If you squinted a bit, you could see . . .

Joe Kapp hurdling over empty-armed Ram defenders and Roman Gabriel getting sacked for that final safety, turning a 1969 Ram season that began 11-0 into a first-round playoff washout in Minnesota.

Steve Preece and Eddie McMillan leaping for that underthrown Roger Staubach pass and smashing into each other, allowing the ball to float into Drew Pearson’s hands for the touchdown that clinched the Rams’ 1973 playoff defeat in Dallas.

Tom Mack getting flagged for “illegal motion” on the Minnesota half-yard line, erasing a Ram touchdown pass in the 1974 playoffs.

James Harris throwing an interception in the end zone on the very next play, sealing a 14-10 Ram defeat.

Preston Pearson making diving catches in the end zone to lead the wild-card Dallas Cowboys to a 37-7 upset of the Rams in the 1975 NFC championship game.

Nate Allen blocking that Tom Dempsey field goal try, Bobby Bryant running it back 90 yards and the Vikings beating the Rams again in the 1976 NFC title game.

The Rams exulting over the long-awaited opportunity to play the Vikings at home, minus Fran Tarkenton, in the 1977 playoffs.

The Vikings bringing Minnesota weather with them and the rain rendering Ram quarterback Pat Haden useless in a 14-7 Viking triumph.

John Stallworth outleaping Rod Perry for that Terry Bradshaw bomb in the fourth quarter of the 1980 Super Bowl.

Dieter Brock trying to relearn, or re-invent, the art of the forward pass in Chicago in early January, one futile step away from the 1986 Super Bowl.

A question: How many times can you ask someone to pick up his heart off the floor?

An observation: If the Rams haven’t already pressed their luck in 1989, they never will.

So far this season, we’ve seen the Rams beat the 49ers in San Francisco, go 5-0 and get the Super Bowl drums beating by mid-October.

Since then, we’ve seen the coming of Frank Reich and the going of the Flipper Anderson miracle, the New Orleans disgrace, the lethargy against Chicago and too much of the color purple in Minneapolis.

Today, the Rams are 5-4, awaiting Sunday’s encounter with the 8-1 New York Giants and barely breathing in the NFC wild-card race.

Are their fans mad as hell yet?

Are they not going to take it anymore?

Tuesday, it was announced that Sunday’s game will be a sellout. More than 60,000 souls are gearing up to be thrashed again.

One season-ticket holder explains it this way: “Some people watch soap operas; we watch the Rams. They make us laugh and they make us cry.”

So they keep coming and they keep hoping, half-knowing how it’s going to turn out in advance. Just Say No? That would be too easy.

And as any fan of this tragedy in hip pads will tell you, nothing about the Rams, even giving up on them, is ever done easily.