(01-04-2018, 10:45 AM)WeezyBengal Wrote: A lot of fans are talking about giving up their tickets, being pissed at the Bengals, and just giving up.

Im to the point where I just don't care anymore. They announced Marvin's extension and I just didn't care. I didnt care enough to muster up any energy to put towards feelings of resentment.

I think apathy is even scarier than being negative or pissed at the Bengals for their recent decisions. Not caring about the team and apathy is where fans are actually lost.

Who here is just so worn out and exhausted by the Bengals that they just doent care anymore?

(01-04-2018, 11:00 AM)XenoMorph Wrote: I look at it this way there is NO NONE NADA reasons to be upset at things outside of your control.

NFL Football...  Cincinnati Bengals..  We don't control any of that.       We are just along for the ride.  So if your not enjoying the ride you should get off at the next stop. Or find a different Train.

Ill be a Bengals fan till I Die or the NFL is gone (or they move and change their name)  Because I'm loyal to a fault...  I don't throw much money at the NFL in general so I don't need to boycott or not buy things..

I watch and enjoy or I don't.      Ill get upset at the calls on the field and such but overall its just a game being played for our entertainment.   If you'er putting so much of yourself into it that its affecting you on a deeply personal level its time to step back and remember its all for entertainment. and stop being so serious...

(01-04-2018, 10:45 AM)WeezyBengal Wrote: A lot of fans are talking about giving up their tickets, being pissed at the Bengals, and just giving up.

Im to the point where I just don't care anymore. They announced Marvin's extension and I just didn't care. I didnt care enough to muster up any energy to put towards feelings of resentment.

I think apathy is even scarier than being negative or pissed at the Bengals for their recent decisions. Not caring about the team and apathy is where fans are actually lost.

Who here is just so worn out and exhausted by the Bengals that they just doent care anymore?

(01-04-2018, 11:10 AM)Wyche Wrote: I agree with this.....I think what bothers a lot of older fans, is we remember how the franchise used to be.  We've all seen Mike Brown run it into the ground, and it pisses us off.  Not in the sense that I'm mad at the world, and go home and kick the dog, but mad in our "sports world", if you will.  A lot of guys have sons, or roomates, or siblings, or dads, or what have you to discuss this stuff with at home.  Me, I have 2 young daughters, a wife, and 2 female dogs.....lol.  When I see my friends that would be interested in discussing this stuff, or know about the team enough to talk about it, it's been planned for weeks, lmao.  

For a lot of us, this is the place to vent, celebrate, and cry in our beers in our sports life.  So, while it may seem over the top at times, bear in mind, this place is dedicated to a sports team, and sports world, and real world are two different things.  Like I said, I remember Super Bowl runs, making trades for complementary players, accountability, and then the abyss.  It's like building your own business, and then handing it over to a spoiled child and watching helplessly as they drive it into a hot pile of ashes.  No one likes that shit.

(01-04-2018, 10:57 AM)Bengalsrob Wrote: I think I reached that "don't care" plateau earlier this year. Watching the Red Zone instead of our games, recording our games, but deleting them without watching them. Actually, the first two games this year all but done me in. Winning the last two games actually pissed me off, there's a big difference in picking in the 5-6 slot every round versus picking 12th...the old dead cat bounce done us in once again. And now, getting rid of the Piano Man was great, but my excitement for next year is predicated on Marvin being a completely new coach, and I'm having trouble buying in as of yet. I don't get excited coming to these boards like I once did, and while I don't make a zillion posts, it used to be something I really looked forward to, where lately it has become more of a grind. I just don't know at this point.

(01-04-2018, 11:00 AM)XenoMorph Wrote: I look at it this way there is NO NONE NADA reasons to be upset at things outside of your control.

NFL Football...  Cincinnati Bengals..  We don't control any of that.       We are just along for the ride.  So if your not enjoying the ride you should get off at the next stop. Or find a different Train.

Ill be a Bengals fan till I Die or the NFL is gone (or they move and change their name)  Because I'm loyal to a fault...  I don't throw much money at the NFL in general so I don't need to boycott or not buy things..

I watch and enjoy or I don't.      Ill get upset at the calls on the field and such but overall its just a game being played for our entertainment.   If you'er putting so much of yourself into it that its affecting you on a deeply personal level its time to step back and remember its all for entertainment. and stop being so serious...

• The personnel - given the window of our best players - was poorly handled.  
• It's easy to say that New England and Pittsburgh know when to release your better players.  But we did not have the infrastructure to survive the loss of our 2 best offensive linemen - and it was poorly planned.  They knew the year before their free agency what they were looking at, and knew that at best they did not know what they had in their top picks from the 2015 draft.  But there were significant questions.  And they did not make the necessary adjustments to make sure their contingencies were provided for.
• The offensive coordinator coming out of 2016 was just too limited.
• The offensive line schemes were just not working
• Most importantly, there is a long history of inflexible thinking that runs through the Brown family - not just Mike, but Paul.  And it has resulted in poor decisions that significantly affected the ability of the team to be successful.    I think of not signing Bill Walsh, and the refusal to pay guards and safeties.
  

(01-04-2018, 11:59 AM)3wt Wrote: I was exhausted at mid season.   And I get disgusted by some of the mistakes that the players, the coaching staff and the front office make.

I'll never give up though.   There are some things that are just manifestly true:

• The personnel - given the window of our best players - was poorly handled.  
• It's easy to say that New England and Pittsburgh know when to release your better players.  But we did not have the infrastructure to survive the loss of our 2 best offensive linemen - and it was poorly planned.  They knew the year before their free agency what they were looking at, and knew that at best they did not know what they had in their top picks from the 2015 draft.  But there were significant questions.  And they did not make the necessary adjustments to make sure their contingencies were provided for.
• The offensive coordinator coming out of 2016 was just too limited.
• The offensive line schemes were just not working
• Most importantly, there is a long history of inflexible thinking that runs through the Brown family - not just Mike, but Paul.  And it has resulted in poor decisions that significantly affected the ability of the team to be successful.    I think of not signing Bill Walsh, and the refusal to pay guards and safeties.
  

At the same time there is an awful lot we just don't know about what lies under the surface - the true nature of the problems here.  And during the Marvin Lewis tenure we have come back from the dead and fielded a couple of really good teams.

So I do have hope.   I won't give up.  I'm frustrated and guarded.  And won't lie and say that I do not wish we had fired Marvin and hired Zimmer.  He's one of the few coaches that I would have had confidence in to take this team deep into the playoffs.

I will wait to see who we get as a defensive coordinator, who we get as an offensive line coach and who we draft before I start to grouse again.

But I just don't have it in me to quit on my team.

"Sad to say", says my wife...  If I put half the time into my house and yard that I put into this team I would probably have a showcase on my hands.

But who needs a showcase right??   And thankfully my wife does not need one either and will settle for me achieving 75% of the honey-do...

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

I'm already at work on a Kool Aid Liqueur.  I'm going to age it (and a little Courvoisier) in a lime flavored coconut until next August.   Then I'll drink heavy, breath deep and jump into the next season.

WHO DEY THINK THEM BENGALS GONNA BE WINNERS???    ME DEY!!!

(01-04-2018, 12:06 PM)Wyche Wrote: Somewhat.....but then Paul hired guys like Gregg and Walsh to try and rectify his bad decisions....Mike just keeps on making them.

Also, look at the players Paul Brown traded for.

(01-04-2018, 12:28 PM)3wt Wrote: I appreciate what you're saying Wyche.    Hiring Gregg was such a good hire.   Losing Walsh was such a big failure.  Hiring Marvin at the time was a great hire and yielded significant results.

Unfortunately it has devolved into a big mess - a quagmire that is hard to step out of.  Realistically my expectations are pretty limited.  They have a LOT of holes to fill and problems to fix.

But I can't stop myself from being hopeful.   My own personal flaw.

I only went to one game this year (the Indianapolis game).   If I had money I'd be there every week.   I love the team, the stadium and the fans.  I love the atmosphere.

I remember going to a replacement game back in the day.   My roommate at the time ran into Boomer in a Mt. Adams bar.  My roommate excitedly told Boomer that his roommate was such a die hard fan he went to replacement games 

Boomer sent me an autograph that read, "Westy, you went to replacement games????   How could you???   Boomer #7.

Somehow in my many moves I managed to lose that precious autograph.   But it underscores my fanaticism. 

I'll be back.