The 'Rams House' Hollywood Sign Might Be Hard To Read, But It Means A Lot To Some Fans
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — As the City of Los Angeles continues to celebrate its first NFL Championship in nearly 40 years, Hollywood took the celebration one step further by changing one of the city's most iconic landmarks.
The remodel began early Monday morning, when crews began to "edit" the world-renowned Hollywood sign, changing it to say "Rams House," the franchise's catch phrase for years now. It gained renewed popularity during their incredible run through the playoffs, which ended with a 23-20 Super Bowl LVI victory over the Cincinnati Bengals at SoFi Stadium, their home field in Inglewood.
Backed by the Rams franchise, the move was announced by Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti on Sunday following the win.
Crews finally finished the change just in time for the Championship Parade on Wednesday, and many of the attendees continued their day-long celebration by heading into the Hollywood Hills to snap a selfie with the newest, albeit brief, Los Angeles landmark.
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Despite the effort, the masses still went after the change via social media, noting that the sign was "a mess", "extremely difficult to read," "sloppy" and "ineligible," amongst many more very descriptive adjectives.
And while some of those may lean more towards the side of truth, for many fans, the imperfections are what make it special, similar to their team's Super Bowl victory.
Each one of the Rams playoff games, with the exception of the Wild Card Round blowout of their divisional rival Arizona Cardinals, was anxiety ridden and far too close for comfort.
They finished the year 16-5, if combining regular and playoff season games. In those wins, just five of them were accomplished with a score of more than 10 points. Meaning more than two-thirds of their victories this season were decided by less than two scores - enough to put any NFL fan on high alert.
Yet somehow, so many times they found a way to do just enough, and eventually take home their very own trophy to joined the hallowed history books of The City of Champions.
Prior to Sunday's win, the Rams franchise had only ever won one Super Bowl, and it was when the team didn't even play in the state of California.
For those asking why the Rams are getting special treatment in the Hollywood Sign change, versus say the Dodgers, Lakers, or Kings, who have all won multiple titles in franchise history - including at least one each in recent years - it's just that.
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This is the first NFL Championship to reside in Los Angeles, since the then L.A. Raiders won it all in 1983, an honor that left when the team did the same in 1993 as they headed for Oakland.
"People all around the world come to L.A., the first thing they want to see is the Hollywood Sign," said James Alvarez, one of the many fans who made the trip to see the sign in person, "so for Hollywood to switch it, and turn it into 'Rams House,' I think it's beautiful."
As always, sports are about more than just what happens on the field, but what happens at home. Relationships are made and bonds are strengthened over mutual fandom, something that Alex Torres fondly remembered as her and her family looked on at the 'Rams House' sign on Wednesday evening.
"It's special for me, my dad just recently passed away, and he was a super big Rams fan, so it meant a lot for our family," she said.
So while it may be an easy target, it's also an easy reminder of what this Super Bowl Championship truly means for the City of Los Angeles, and the millions of Rams fans brimming with city pride.
