EDITOR’S NOTE: This is a weekly column from former sports reporter and editor Mike Bass. Bass will be contributing to The Enquirer by offering advice for sports fans, athletes and youth sports parents and coaches through a weekly Q&A. You can reach him at [email protected] or on Twitter @SportsFanCoach1.
Love means never having to say you are sorry for being a Bengals fan. Even when others say your team is sorry.
Others see the definition of insanity is you coming back every year and expecting the Bengals to win. You see loyalty as a virtue and hope next year, one year, will finally be THE year.
Next year is here.
“Been a Bengals fan my whole life,” @Crazywalt1978 tweeted last week. “Some times people make fun of me. But the people closest to me always say mad respect how you always stand by your team. Past few weeks friends not even into football have been sending me messages and it feels good.”
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“That's why I think the Bengals success is a little bigger than we think,” @CincyFanatic25 tweeted. “If you've ever been laughed at, disrespected, or not believed in ... Bengaldom is for you.”
‘My children even catch flack’
Your Bengals are headed to the Super Bowl. This is your invitation to the prom after three decades without a date, your joy made greater by all that pain.
This is the reward of the diehard for enduring a schneid that bridged two centuries. It was hard. The merciful called you a long-suffering fan simply for dealing with so much losing. It was harder than that. The merciless called you worse and made it worse.
I wanted to know how badly you were treated, so I asked you on Twitter, and compiled excerpts of your responses.
The floor is yours.
“We were treated like how (pond) scum treats people,” @LambChops78 tweeted.
“With pity or ridicule,” @egveitikkje tweeted.
“How much time do you have?” @nlambert82 tweeted.
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“Getting laughed at when asked who my team was!” @kmerice_13 tweeted.
“Made fun of,” @skybears tweeted. “Called a joke. Quite actually was insulted.”
“The butt of every single joke even when we had playoff teams for 30 years,” @CincyFanatic25 tweeted.
“I live in Dallas,” @OutoftheParkcom tweeted. “Treated like a step-child. Always made fun of, ‘Bengals never win the big game.’”
“I live in Steelers country so it’s been a rough 30 years to say the least,” @acstonewv tweeted. “Even when the Bengals were good they criticized our players’ character.
“Took (bleep) about being a Bengals fan for decades,”
@HumansDebris tweeted. “My children even catch flack for me being a Bengals fan and wanting to be (Bengals) fans also. People tell them the Bengals suck and so on.”
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“In school, some people would pick fun at me,” @MeganJarica tweeted. “I was a senior during the 2015 (12-4) season. All the people that hated on the Bengals started (hopping) on the bandwagon (until the last one-and-done). Now as an adult a lot of people say ‘Bengals fan actually exist?’ when they find out I’m a Bengals fan.”
“My friends have never really even treated the Bengals like a real team until this year, @ErtelVOL tweeted, “so they barely even talked (bleep) lol which is 100% worse.”
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“I remember when friends of mine who are NFL fans wouldn't even talk trash about the Bengals to me -- just between each other, @soubuckeye tweeted. “They knew it was just beating a dead horse.”
“I was always humored at work for the past 20 years when I would say ‘If we make it to the Playoffs I'm wearing my jersey to work!’” @Syreene tweeted.
“When I first moved to DC, a new friend was helping me unpack,” @steverempe tweeted. “I had a large, framed portrait of Ken Anderson that I got for my HS graduation. ‘Huh,’ he said. ‘You know, you're kinda’ like someone from Montana,’ he told me. ‘You know people like that exist, but you never expect you are going to meet one in person.’ They know we exist now.”
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‘That’s my team’
A diehard fan still finds pleasure even amid the pain of losing You have game day and each other and the draft and hope and tomorrow. And you have the team. It is your team. It is part of you. Its history is your history.
“Honestly, I don’t care what anyone thinks or has to say about me being a Bengals fan,” @MeganJarica tweeted. “Their opinion is irrelevant and I will ride or die with the Bengals despite what anyone else has to say. That’s my team! Always has, always will♥️.”
You know the jabbing will come, especially on social media. If that gets to you, you have choices. You can block, ignore, leave, laugh, spar, remember why you love the Bengals, whatever works, online or in public.
Just be prepared. Others know your buttons.
“Laughed at every week,” @T_Bell89 tweeted, “if i tried to joke I was always hit with ‘Win a playoff game.’”
Maybe you know a creative way to ride them.
“I live in Maryland. ... I used to have a Tiger eating a Raven on the back (window) of my car ... 🤣 😂 🤣 😂,” @FPCinemaTech tweeted.
Maybe you just enjoy people who understand you.
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“Never was treated badly about the Bengals in the past,” @pac27man tweeted. “My friends stayed supportive. And seeing all the texts I’ve gotten and post(s) I’ve seen they are awesome and I’ll love them forever!!!”
“Overall I can’t say I was treated too badly because most of my family & friends are fans themselves,” @MelCincy tweeted. “But a guy who used to make fun of me in college for being a Bengals fan and called them the bungles has jumped on the bandwagon and now says he’s excited for me. Love to see it😂.”
When all else fails, remember what worked for you in the past. Try the I’m-rubber-you’re-glue line. Or just say it to yourself. It always makes me smile.
“We are a strong bunch of thick skinned people though,” @LambChops78. “We have always believed. We always say, ‘wait till next year’ guess what, no more.
“We are HERE, NOW.”
‘It’s been absolutely amazing’
You are fresh off an AFC championship, a season removed from 4-11-1. How differently are you treated now? Again, I asked.
Again, the floor is yours, for the final words.
“Given props now,” @wedebrook tweeted.
“Now they hype me up for being the ‘only bengals fan they knew,’” @kmerice_13 tweeted.
“I have gotten so many emails and DMs from people just to say they're happy for me,” @egveitikkje tweeted.
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“Got a bunch of, I know (you’re) going crazy (and) I want to watch the Super Bowl with you and congrats even from my Uncle a diehard Steelers fan,” @Crazywalt1978 tweeted. “And Mike it felt good. I mean real good. I was 11 when (they) last went to a Super Bowl. It feels a lot different as an adult that has been a fan for so long. My wife says I probably should not drive or operate heavy machinery this week.”
“(A) tweet to me from a Packers fan who is living vicariously through this run ... this just made me smile and cry,” @morans14 tweeted.
“Also did (shed) some tears over coffee this morning,” @Crazywalt1978 tweeted. “So I guess coffee treats me differently now.”
“Had a bunch of errands to run today, wore my
@Bengals gear,” @FPCinemaTech tweeted. “30 plus fist bumps, lots of respect today.”
“I'm wearing Bengals shirts every day now," @Syreene tweeted, and those who had humored her are “all Bengals fans now, and not a mention of ‘Bungles’ among them. ... We have Bengals Day every Friday now at work. :D.”
“It's been nice payback this year,” @T_Bell89 tweeted, “and also cool hearing from so many people I haven't talked to in years that remember I've been a fan through it all.”
“So many lifelong friends have reached out to send congratulations and say they are pulling for us,” @OtherKevinHart tweeted. “It let me know people were thinking about me in those moments, sending love from afar... nothing but feels ... and the urge to finish it off and not let this opportunity slip away.”
“Now … (my friends) all want to come to the Super Bowl party at my house,” @OutoftheParkcom tweeted, knowing they are happy for him, but that “the jealousy is palpable.”
“(My friends are) all very supportive and happy for me now after seeing the years of misery end so suddenly, @ErtelVOL tweeted. “It's been absolutely amazing. They've all hopped on board and are hoping I get to see them win it all. They don't even give me too much hell for all the trash I've been talking the past few weeks lol.”
“Every Steeler (fan) I’ve spoken to now gives the team at least some begrudging respect,” @acstonewv tweeted. “That the Bengals are legit. That Bengals fans are serious fans. And that, maybe, it takes more character and commitment to support an oft-troubled franchise like the Bengals than one who hasn’t had a losing season in 20 years.”
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“The same Browns fan who would constantly DM me when we sucked from 2016-2020 couldn’t handle my smack talk last night,” @frankie_nnati tweeted, “so he blocked me on Twitter this morning!”
“Still getting phone calls/texts saying ‘have fun losing the SB’ only now I love the haters,” @GemCityBengal tweeted. “When will people learn?”
“Haters definitely get loud when you lose and quiet when you win,” @TheBengalizer tweeted. “I just want to see us win. And I won't deny getting pleasure out of them having to watch.”
“My browns and Steelers friends (are) sending me congratulations texts after the game and saying they’re happy for me ♥️,” @dchapy tweeted. “90% of social media is just rotten and vile.”
“I said all season if you say this Bengals team sucks you don't know football,” @HumansDebris tweeted, “and here we are!”
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“I'll get my jabs in here and there,” @T_Bell89 tweeted, “but I won't let myself become a spoiled fan that forgot where we've been.”
Email Bass at [email protected] or reach out to him @SportsFanCoach1 on Twitter if you want to be included next week. His website is MikeBassCoaching.com.
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