Is it possible for a Hall of Fame to expel one of its members?
That's what some people in Missouri are hoping its sports hall of fame will do to Los Angeles Rams owner Stan Kroenke.
Kroenke, a native of Mora, Mo., was inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in 2009 as a contributor for helping bring the Rams to St. Louis in 1995.
Kroenke became a minority owner of the Rams when they first moved to St. Louis and eventually became the majority owner in 2010. He also owns the NBA's Denver Nuggets and the NHL's Colorado Avalanche.
In January, NFL owners voted 30-2 to allow Kroenke to move the Rams to Los Angeles, where he is building a stadium in Inglewood that will open in 2019.
Kroenke was unhappy with the Rams' stadium in St. Louis, the Edward Jones Dome, where the St. Louis team played for 20 years.
Jerald Andrews, the president and executive director of the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame, said he has received about 600 to 700 emails regarding Kroenke's place in the hall.
Missouri's hall of fame is located in Springfield, about 200 miles southwest of St. Louis.
"I've had good friends in St. Louis write me and say, 'Hey, I'll never set foot in your place again,'" Andrews told Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "Or, 'We'll never be back to another enshrinement. ... We'll not support your golf outing in St. Louis.'
"Those things are all hurtful and damaging to what we're trying to do, and so forth. And obviously disappointing to us.
"There's no one that hates the situation any more than I do. We were involved with the Rams in some ways, and I miss them being here. They were obviously a part of Missouri sports history. We've told that story here. And we have some of their former greats that are continually being nominated for induction."
Once Kroenke was given approval to move the Rams, the Hall of Fame issued a statement that it has never expelled a member, nor does it have a policy to do so and has taken the matter under advisement.
That doesn't mean the topic has been ignored.
"Since it occurred, I think the board has met twice," Andrews said "Both times they've reached the same conclusion: They continue to take the matter under advisement and continue to review it."
Andrews acknowledged that if a policy is adopted, the next issue is what type of precedent is being set.
"If you remove someone, then what's that going to do the next time someone wants somebody removed, and the next time, and so on?" Andrews said. "Over the years from time to time, someone's written me that: 'Did you know so-and-so did this? How can you allow them to continue to be a member of the Hall of Fame?'
"It's all in the eyes of the beholder, I guess, about what they did. This situation obviously has been much, much more public. And that's made it more difficult for us to have the ability to deal with, or not deal with. But the bottom line was he was chosen worthy by a selection committee several years ago to be inducted."
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Sports quiz
Who was the majority owner of the Rams when they moved to St. Louis?
Answer: Georgia Frontiere
Sports on 08/30/2016