Being a fan of this team

[bengalsturntup926]

I feel like its groundhogs day every year. We are having a abnormal worse season then usual. But at the end of the day we are still losers. Other teams fans make fun of us. We are still a joke franchise and fanbase.

I think it has been a horrible year. Watching Marvin stick with bums that are costing us games. Not trying nothing new to try to salvage the season. The fans fighting with eachother, saying your not a fan, go be a browns fan if you dont like it. Watching this coaching staff just be complete morons. Maybe if they just showed they are trying every way to get better i think fans would appreciate that more.

I have contimplated finding other hobbys besides the bengals, ive thought about finding a second team. Ive thought about giving up football period. The Bengals are aaddiction to me, and most likely there's alot of fans just like me. If you ain't reading or talking about the bengals, life seems kind of empty, or boring.

But i know exactly what ill see next year. I have every year ive been a fan. We MIGHT get a new coordinator. We MIGHT let one bum go. Not all the bums though. The fanbase will get some hope. People will count down to free agency, where we won't make no type of good moves. People will countdown to the draft and get excited by the new players. Then next year we will see the same marvin ways of coaching. We might make it back to the playoffs and probably will lose in the wildcard game at most.

Fans will argue with eachother more, and say its not this guys fault or that guys fault. Maybe then Marvin will retire, or he might get a extension. If he makes the playoffs. So now we are looking at changes maybe in two years. How frustrating is it for you to deal with this? Are you a gluton to punishment like me?

One more thing, i was a diehard reds fan right before i started loving the bengals more then the reds. I thought it was a fun year, dunn griffey sean casey aaron boone barry larkin and them. But i stopped being a diehard fan. It is now going on 2017 and they haven't done much except get beat in the first series. And now in rebuild mode. I would of dealt with alot more disapoinment and heartbreak. But you know if i stopped being a die hard fan of the bengals. People would say im a bandwagoner and go root for the browns. They would say if you wasn't here during the rough times, dont celebrate with them if they win. They say youre not a real fan if you you complain, you should find a new team. They say go root for the browns if you're not a fan of Daltons play. Point is, this is insane. Doing the same thing over and over is insanity also.

[*TheLeonardLeap*]

The life of a Cincinnati sports fan for awhile now.....

[Atomic Orange]

Did you not know what you were getting yourself into when you became a fan of the "Bungles"? (01 right?) Were you young? Family pressure?

I ask because.. no way would i have chosen this team coming off the 90's. "Luckily" I got to witness some success by becoming a fan in 80 and then they just became my team. After 2 SB's within a decade i didn't see the 90's coming at all. I thought they would eventually get one.

This team seems to really pain you and that is justified to a degree. I mean you don't want it to damage your life or anything. If you feel it is getting to that point I say maybe it is time to find another team. You wouldn't be the first person to do it. Why do you think the Steelers have so many fans? Because they are easy to root for. Same goes for all the other darlings.

It's hard being a Bengals fan.

[Crowe]

This is how I feel with every team in this city and it sucks. It would be nice to have a consistent winner.

[fredtoast]

Being a fan is about emotional attachment. It has nothing to do with logic.

I wish I could just make myself be a fan of the team that was winning the most games every year, but I can't.

I don't know how I could just suddenly not be Bengal fan and love some other team.

[fredtoast]

(12-20-2016, 11:32 PM)bengalsturntup926 Wrote:   Point is, this is insane.  Doing the same thing over and over is insanity also.

Is it insane to love your children even when they disappoint you?

[bengalguy71]

(12-21-2016, 01:12 PM)fredtoast Wrote: Being a fan is about emotional attachment.  It has nothing to do with logic.

I wish I could just make myself be a fan of the team that was winning the most games every year, but I can't.

I don't know how I could just suddenly not be Bengal fan and love some other team.

For me 'love' is an overused underappreciated word, but I agree with the premise.

For me, the choice was about location.  I was born and raised in Dayton from 1953 to 1981.  My dad used to take me to Reds games as a child at Crosley Field.

Since Cincy had no NFL team, and my dad chose the Browns since they were the ONLY Ohio NFL team, so I pulled for them until 1968. Changing from a Browns to Bengals fan, for today's folks, may seem like a 'bandwagon' move, but back then??

In 1968 the Browns were tied with the Bears at 8 championships, second to the Packers 11 titles.

So I changed from a team with 8 titles to a expansion team!! 

Fast forward to 2016 and the Browns still have 8 more titles than the Bengals do!

[Interceptor]

(12-20-2016, 11:52 PM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: The life of a Cincinnati sports fan for awhile now.....

And those are the good days....

[THE PISTONS]

Don't worry...fans will be getting themselves all worked into a frenzy about the draft, free agency, and injured players like 4th Round pick Billings turning into a star. They'll do mock drafts where we fill 5 major team needs, etc.

In reality...we'll be lucky to have 1 or 2 starters from any draft class 3 years down the road. We'll sign an aging veteran in free agency. The lower round picks on the roster are closer to being waived than being stars.

[Bengalholic]

(12-21-2016, 01:12 PM)fredtoast Wrote: Being a fan is about emotional attachment.  It has nothing to do with logic.

I wish I could just make myself be a fan of the team that was winning the most games every year, but I can't.

I don't know how I could just suddenly not be Bengal fan and love some other team.

Yep. I've been a diehard 'Bengalholic' for a little over 30 years. It's not like I can just flip a switch and turn that off.

I have no issue with fans that say they can't do it anymore or want to root for another team. Everyone has the right to do their own thing. For me personally, after 3 decades, it would feel very strange to root for another team.

You make a good point about the emotional side of it. When you've been following every aspect of a team for a number of years - or decades - there is definitely a certain level of emotional investment. The relationship between sports teams and their fans has always been a unique animal.

[motoarch]

Lots of sadness in the world

[THE PISTONS]

(12-21-2016, 02:49 PM)Bengalholic Wrote: Yep. I've been a diehard 'Bengalholic' for a little over 30 years. It's not like I can just flip a switch and turn that off.

I have no issue with fans that say they can't do it anymore or want to root for another team. Everyone has the right to do their own thing. For me personally, after 3 decades, it would feel very strange to root for another team.

You make a good point about the emotional side of it. When you've been following every aspect of a team for a number of years - or decades - there is definitely a certain level of emotional investment. The relationship between sports teams and their fans has always been a unique animal.

I agree and I'm in a similar situation. I'll praise the team for good moves and criticize it for bad ones too. That's what being a fan is. It's not an irrational hate or irrational praise.

[*jason*]

I have enough leisure time to worry about 53 guys in ridiculous outfits chasing a ball around the field. I'd say that puts me in at least the top 25% of people on the globe... Life is good.

[reuben.ahmed]

2nd place is the first loser, so at least we lose out earlier. xD

[*Awful Llama*]

(12-21-2016, 06:31 PM)jason Wrote: I have enough leisure time to worry about 53 guys in ridiculous outfits chasing a ball around the field. I'd say that puts me in at least the top 25% of people on the globe... Life is good.

And that's the proper perspective.  Sports is the toy department of life,as a wise man once opined.  I can be a Bengal fan through the '90s and disappointing seasons like this because it doesn't really matter in the scheme of things in this crazy thing we call life.  First World problems.

[SunsetBengal]

(12-21-2016, 12:46 AM)Atomic Orange Wrote: Did you not know what you were getting yourself into when you became a fan of the "Bungles"? (01 right?) Were you young? Family pressure?

I ask because.. no way would i have chosen this team coming off the 90's. "Luckily" I got to witness some success by becoming a fan in 80 and then they just became my team. After 2 SB's within a decade i didn't see the 90's coming at all. I thought they would eventually get one.

This team seems to really pain you and that is justified to a degree. I mean you don't want it to damage your life or anything. If you feel it is getting to that point I say maybe it is time to find another team. You wouldn't be the first person to do it. Why do you think the Steelers have so many fans? Because they are easy to root for. Same goes for all the other darlings.

It's hard being a Bengals fan.

This also describes me, as a Bengals fan.  At 7 years old, in 1976, my Dad got me interested in watching football.  I chose the Bengals as my favorite team, never waivered.  (although I was an Earl Campbell fan, and it pained me when the Bengals played the Oilers, until the Tyler Rose retired)

[*Awful Llama*]

(12-21-2016, 09:18 PM)SunsetBengal Wrote: This also describes me, as a Bengals fan.  At 7 years old, in 1976, my Dad got me interested in watching football.  I chose the Bengals as my favorite team, never waivered.  (although I was an Earl Campbell fan, and it pained me when the Bengals played the Oilers, until the Tyler Rose retired)

It was hard to like an Oilers player, like you said, but that dude ran harder than anyone in the game and I liked him for it.  Had to respect Earl Campbell.  

[*Wyche'sWarrior*]

(12-21-2016, 09:18 PM)SunsetBengal Wrote: This also describes me, as a Bengals fan.  At 7 years old, in 1976, my Dad got me interested in watching football.  I chose the Bengals as my favorite team, never waivered.  (although I was an Earl Campbell fan, and it pained me when the Bengals played the Oilers, until the Tyler Rose retired)

Earl Campbell is my favorite running back of all time.  What a pleasure to watch.  Bengals till I die.....but the Tyler Rose was God's gift to the highlight reel.  Barry Sanders would be #2.....but damn I love a human cannonball....and that was Earl.

[Harmening]

(12-21-2016, 06:31 PM)jason Wrote: I have enough leisure time to worry about 53 guys in ridiculous outfits chasing a ball around the field. I'd say that puts me in at least the top 25% of people on the globe... Life is good.

(12-21-2016, 09:01 PM)Awful Llama Wrote: And that's the proper perspective.  Sports is the toy department of life,as a wise man once opined.  I can be a Bengal fan through the '90s and disappointing seasons like this because it doesn't really matter in the scheme of things in this crazy thing we call life.  First World problems.

Perfect responses.  You are not "sheep", nor are you "not true" fans.
You are people with the proper perspective on this world of sports.  

[*jason*]

(12-21-2016, 10:08 PM)WychesWarrior Wrote: Earl Campbell is my favorite running back of all time.  What a pleasure to watch.  Bengals till I die.....but the Tyler Rose was God's gift to the highlight reel.  Barry Sanders would be #2.....but damn I love a human cannonball....and that was Earl.

Literally getting his jersey torn off as he runs and shit...