The last thing any Bengals fan/chronicler/card-carrying masochist wants is to be Charlie Brown-ed. Being Chuck-ed by The Men not only leaves another welt in a psyche stuffed with them, but also marks you as a chump. Hope is a right, but trust should be earned.
So why did I enter the annual Mock Turtle Soupfest Monday dripping with cynicism and exit with a dry sense of feelgood? I’m simply not that kind of guy.
After three-plus decades of commenting on The Men and The Club, cynicism suits me. It’s good armor against being Chuck-ed. Plus, it’s usually accurate. Plus, gloom comes with the heritage.
Only now. . .
If not now, when? If you can’t wring some optimism out of Joe Burrow, you should probably never watch another Bengals game. Now is the time, the moment is right. The Burrows might not win big this year. I see it as more of a table-setter. A Verge year.
The ’21 season will be the movie trailer that makes you write down the movie’s release date. It’s the tiny slice of pie you got at Taste of Cincinnati, the first kiss with the person you end up marrying. You thought Godfather II was a great semi-prequel. . .
Brian Callahan calmed me, talking about ways to protect Saint Joe that don’t involve great blockers end-to-end across the line. Lou Anarumo won me with his praise for Sam Hubbard. (A no-brainer, sure, but welcome nevertheless.) Zac Taylor understands the need for him to win games yesterday. Let’s hope in Year 3, his roster, his football mind and his mojo own the locker room.
There’s as good a chance as not that DJ Reeder won’t miss most of this year, that the secondary isn’t musical chairs, that Burrow plays 17 times. The O-line is better because Jim Turner doesn’t coach it, and Frank Pollack does. I wouldn’t want to game plan v. this offense.
There is a sense that this is Taylor’s judgment year. It was right not to be too critical of him in Years 1 and 2. Especially given virus disruptions and Burrow’s injury. But six wins in two seasons is going to try even Mike Brown’s patience.
If Taylor’s positivity and culture changes yield anything less than, say, 7-9, his next move might be for his coat. That’s just how it works in the NFL.
I don’t see that, though. I see seven wins or eight, including a couple shows of dominance to suggest that the local tide is rising. They’re going to be able to score on anyone. The defense will be just good enough to keep the offense in games. It’s going to be safe to be a Bengals fan.
If it’s not, I don’t know when it will be. Maybe for the San Diego Bengals, in 2027.
Now, then. . .
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT. . . The bullpen lost another game for the Reds Monday night. Amir Garrett, bless him, is as reliable as a watch recently run over by a truck. Cue the insanity definition.
Never has a team of players been more liked and ownership less.
That’s subject to change, of course. The deadline is still four days hence. The division is still winnable. That’s crazy talk, given the Reds are now 7 games behind Milwaukee with 62 to play, having lost three games in the standings since the All Star Break.
But the Crew already is limiting Freddy Peralta’s innings. Burnes and Woodruff have already topped their previous career highs for innings pitched in a season. And nobody’s mistaking that lineup for Rose-Griffey-Morgan.
The Reds starting pitching has shown it’s good enough to give the offense a chance. Castellanos won’t be out forever. The kids – Stephenson, India, Winker – keep on keepin’ on. Votto has been a plus. Scoff if you must, but the Reds have the best roster in the Central. Except for You Know Where.
It’s interesting to me how a team can be so inactive for five torpid seasons, so gung-ho for one, then back to hibernation the next. It’s also interesting how folks with more loot than they could ever possibly spend are reluctant to go all-in on something capable of bringing them so much joy. Whaddaya savin’ it for?
It’s not as if the Reds are in danger of being luxury-taxed.
More to the point: If you don’t go All In when All In presents itself, when might you go All In? This franchise will never be Big Red dominant again. But it can win intermittently, after several years of suffering. That’s where it is now. That’s where the Brewers are. They added Willy Adames and started winning a lot of games. That’s where San Diego is. The Padres just added the NL hits leader, Adam Frazier.
Don’t waste the opportunity.
I KNOW my harping on vax-ing and mask-wearing is old and beyond tiresome and has cost me a few readers. I know I did it again, in Monday’s TML and Tuesday’s Traditional Media.
I understand your irritation and I know nothing I write will have the slightest influence on those who have decided not to get vaccinated. But a column without passion is not worth the time. I’m passionate about this and lucky to have a pulpit. There is no statistic that says vax-ing doesn’t save lives and lots of statistics that do say exactly that.
It’s not a science thing or a politics thing. It is a personal thing, but mainly if you believe you live in a vacuum. Or if you’re too self-absorbed to care.
It’s a human thing.
ANNNND. . . This is nit-picky, but at the Soupfest, almost every media member present was wearing a mask. I don’t know if that was part of the NFL protocols. There are so many rules now, and they’re all different. I can’t keep up. Regardless, the heathen media was masked up.
With very few exceptions, the Bengals contingent was not.
This bugs me. If you ask for sacrifice, you should be willing to sacrifice, too. Wearing a mask in that situation indicates courtesy, caring and respect. What does not wearing a mask indicate?
SIMONE BILES skipped the team portion of the women’s gymnastics at the Olympics. She’s mentally fried, apparently, though no one is saying for sure. The Russians beat the favored Americans in her absence. I don’t have an opinion on that. Understandable, regrettable, lamentable. She’ll be back for the individual stuff Thursday.
It’s been kind of a dreary Games, yeah? Men lose to France in hoops, women’s soccer opens with an L to Sweden. Softball loses gold again to Japan. No fans at an Olympic venue is like no food at a picnic. The whole thing looks, sounds and feels off.
MUSICAL CHAIRS. . . Most of us around here assumed when the Texas-OU to the SEC talk broke that UC should try again to move to the Big 12. That assumed there would be a Big 12 to move to. Not so fast.
This story suggests the 12 will fold and its members best be looking for a place to land. The AAC is a prime spot. Four Big 12 schools could end up there: Kansas State, Baylor, Texas Tech and Oklahoma State. The Athletic:
Imagine a western division that includes Baylor, Oklahoma State, TCU and/or Iowa State. Toss those teams into a league with Cincinnati, UCF and SMU, and you’d have some really, really good football. In less than a decade, thanks to Houston’s Peach Bowl win over Florida State, UCF’s back-to-back undefeated regular seasons and Cincinnati’s top-seven CFP ranking last year, the AAC has established itself as the top football-playing league outside of the Power 5. Since its inception in 2013, the AAC has had the same number of AP Top 25 finishes (16) as the Big 12 has gotten from schools not named Oklahoma or Texas.
Of course, all that matters is TV money. Where it goes, who gets it, how much. If the Big 12 dissolves before its TV deal does, in 2025, then what?
TUNE O’ THE DAY. . . I went through a phase in high school when these guys were gods. It was an unfortunate phase and it passed quickly. Still, they did a few tunes I can still listen to without feeling silly. Like this one.
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