There was a fascinating story on Turf Show Times Saturday about the St. Louis Rams and Union Station, suggesting that Stan Kroenke's newfound interest in the erstwhile downtown mall could benefit from a local-tourism anchor like the Edward Jones Dome drawing fans into its hotel and its mostly abandoned shops. It's an interesting theory, and one I hope proves true—as much, honestly, because I have good memories of Union Station as I do the St. Louis Rams.

They're intertwined, at least, if that's any consolation. Growing up I was in exactly the demographic the Union Station and the Rams would both hope to target: When my family drove in from Springfield (Illinois) we'd make a day of it, going to Six Flags or the Galleria or the Zoo or the Magic House or Union Station, where I would promptly eat too much fudge and make myself ill.

I'm not sure having a downtown stadium for a football team ever makes sense—it's a ton of expensive real estate to expend on a team that shows up and drives that traffic exactly eight times a year, if you're lucky and the team doesn't suck—but so long as the Rams do have one, the city's various tourist institutions should at least be ready to earn the benefit.