Fact:

Cincinnati is one of the most politically and socially conservative major cities in the United States.

 

Fact: Mike Brown, as owner of the Cincinnati Bengals for nearly 20 years, has been a poster child for the fiscally conservative, operating his team on a hamstring budget and squeezing millions of dollars out of it for himself and his family.

 

Fact: As part of Mike Brown's fiscally conservative policies, he has taken it one step further by making a habit of low-cost scrap-heap reclamation projects, regularly bringing in players with questionable character or a spotty legal history (usually both) in the hopes of said players recapturing past glory or reaching potential for the first time.

 

Mystery: How the Greater Cincinnati area copes with the risky practices of its NFL team's ownership, given how much it flies in the face of its socially conservative tendencies.

 

Discuss ...

The fault in your logic is that one's daily style of living/voting transfers over to their views of sports.

Jim, to me it is simple. Some organizations (Patriots, Colts, Steeler) get it. Others like the Bengals just don't. Talent alone doesn't win. Everyone in the NFL is talented but character matters.

 

Why do Bengals fans tolerate it? I have no idea.

Character doesn't win in the NFL. Talent does.

Character doesn't win in the NFL. Talent does.

 

You have to have both. A team full of me first thugs will not win.

The fault in your logic is that one's daily style of living/voting transfers over to their views of sports.

 

While Pittsburgh is like most major urban areas and trends mostly Democratic, it's more like Kentucky Democrats than Philly or NYC-style. The Rooney ownership largely reflects the local tendencies.

While Pittsburgh is like most major urban areas and trends mostly Democratic, it's more like Kentucky Democrats than Philly or NYC-style. The Rooney ownership largely reflects the local tendencies.

 

Having family in PGH, I will wholeheartedly disagree with your assessment of the types of Dems in that city. IMO they are nowhere near KY Dems.

 

PGH supports my initial theory. The warm reception given Big Ben proves that our daily values do not mirror our pure and simple desire that our local boys win.

Jim, to me it is simple. Some organizations (Patriots, Colts, Steeler) get it. Others like the Bengals just don't. Talent alone doesn't win. Everyone in the NFL is talented but character matters.

 

Why do Bengals fans tolerate it? I have no idea.

 

Dillion and Moss weren't exactly the definition of role models prior to landing in Foxboro. Teams without leaderss fail with players like those, winning cures most ills.

Dillion and Moss weren't exactly the definition of role models prior to landing in Foxboro. Teams without leaderss fail with players like those, winning cures most ills.

 

This discussion is not about the Pats, though.

Having family in PGH, I will wholeheartedly disagree with your assessment of the types of Dems in that city. IMO they are nowhere near KY Dems.

 

PGH supports my initial theory. The warm reception given Big Ben proves that our daily values do not mirror our pure and simple desire that our local boys win.

 

I got to thinking about it a bit, and I agree somewhat politically. Pittsburgh being a union town is a lot like Louisville, though, and it can draw similarities to EKy and WKy coal miners as well. So it's not as wacky a comparison as it might seem for someone living in the most hardcore GOP bubble in the country.

 

Lots of Steelers fans are incredibly uptight about their QB; they're just reasonable in tempering their outrage against the fact that two-time SB winning QBs are hard to come by.

Unfortunately, we don't get to vote for the owner of our franchise. He's an idiot in a lot of ways. That's not going to stop me from abandoning watching the NFL or choosing another team to support. I'll continue to cheer for my city and my team and I find the majority of the players very easy to cheer for.

Unfortunately, we don't get to vote for the owner of our franchise. He's an idiot in a lot of ways. That's not going to stop me from abandoning watching the NFL or choosing another team to support. I'll continue to cheer for my city and my team and I find the majority of the players very easy to cheer for.

 

Nobody's asking you to abandon your team. It's the decades of passive lack of outrage that makes other fans wonder how passionate you really are.

How does my level of outrage translate to my passion for the Bengals? I have been Bengals fan since the franchise was established. I could care less who the owner happens to be, I understand he inherited the team. I will continue to be a die-hard Bengals fan regardless of Mr. Brown. Do I wish George Steinbrenner was our owner, of course I do, but he's not, so I continue to buy my season tickets and watch my team. I like helping sellout the games so the fans that like to boycott and bash can sit home in private and watch them on Sundays.

Bengals fans tolerate it because the franchise has the ability to start to instill just enough hope from the fans after years of mediocrity (often times worse than being mediocre). You have the playoff runs this decade for example.

 

Because of these good years every now and then Bengals fans think they can win in spite of Brown only to have their thoughts of making a push in the AFC ruined the following years. It's always spun as something, Ki-Jana Carter got hurt and never became a stud, Akili Smith was terrible, Carson Palmer had his career ruined by injuries, etc. It's a never ending cycle. I'll pull this thread up in 10 years (if possible) and 3 or 4 more excuses will be added to the list. It just comes with the territory IMO. For goodness sake, you would have thought Cincy signed the 2004 version of TO or something.

Dillion and Moss weren't exactly the definition of role models prior to landing in Foxboro. Teams without leaderss fail with players like those, winning cures most ills.

 

The Pats are totally different than the Bengals. Sure they have taken their chances, but the guys they go after are on a short leash. Everyone in Foxboro is expendible with the exception of Tom Brady. Difference to me is that Pats added pieces in Dillon and Moss, the Bengals build their season on guys like TO, Benson, Tank, Pacman, etc.