No, the ones to blame are Steelers fans.
Not all Steelers fans, mind you. Those in and around or from the Pittsburgh area are fine. It's the inexplicable horde of St Louisans who would count themselves as Steelers fans.
There is a proper progression to selecting the team to support:
1. The team is where you currently live or where you grew up
2. The team is from where your family is from or where you temporarily lived
3. The team is from a place you have visited or have friends or distant relatives that live there
4. You have a particular connection to a player on that team
5. You like their uniforms
*#4 may move up as high as number #2 if you are directly related to a player on that team
See there is nothing wrong with liking the Stealers, they are a fine and storied franchise. The problem is if you lived all of your life in St Louis why is your wall plastered with Black and Yellow instead of Blue and Gold? The Steelers are better than the Rams you say? TOO FRICKIN BAD! I don't walk into my son's preschool and pick out another kid to take home because that kid is just so awesome.
I can recognize other children's achievements, but they will always pale in comparison to pride I find in even my son's slightest victory. And so it is with the Rams, I fully recognize that the Steaeers are a better team, in fact most of the NFL are better teams. But the Rams are my team because they are the SAINT LOUIS Rams and I am a St Louisan.
And therein lies the reason why Steeler fans are to blame for St Louis' problems; a lack of civic pride. I root for the Rams because I want my city to succeed. Beyond the extra revenue brought in by a winning NFL team with hot merchandise there is an inspirational lift given to a city by a successful team. Don't believe me, remember the 2009 New Orleans Saints?
If you still don't believe me check out this study done by Peter Kageyama in which he states that there is "a link between passion for and loyalty to places, and the health of the local economy." Want to know why there are no jobs in St Louis? It's because you're rooting for the wrong team.
Most likely at some point in your life you've been at a school, or job, or business, or church where the people just generally didn't give a crap, they may not have overtly said it but it was not difficult to tell that there was simply no school pride, no company loyalty. Even if in every other way it was a fine place that kind of negativity fosters an environment no one wants to be in. When that happens in a city potential businesses are turned off, investors look elsewhere, and our best and brightest move on as soon as they're able.
Will cheering for the Rams rid our city of crime and poverty? Of course not, but it can serve as a point of unity for a much too fractured community. It is a first step, and an outward sign that you have some amount of loyalty for the place you now call home.
