The things I have seen with my own eyes

[CageTheBengal]

The constant grudge against Mike Brown is the fuel to the fire.

The way some posters talk about him you would think he kicked their dog and burnt their house down.

[fredtoast]

When the Cardinals made it to the Super Bowl in '08 that was the first winning season in 10 years, but here is the real shocker.....in the 23 seasons from 1985 through 2007 the Cardinals had ONE winning season. That is much worse than anything Bengal fans have had to endure.

[fredtoast]

Going into the '09 season the Saints had only had 3 winning season in the previous 16 years. They ended that season winning the Super Bowl.

[fredtoast]

Going into the '99 seasons the Rams had only won 45 games in the prior 9 years with no winning seasons. They ended that season winning the Super Bowl.

[Shake n Blake]

(10-30-2015, 12:42 PM)ExtraRadiohead Wrote: The constant grudge against Mike Brown is the fuel to the fire.

The way some posters talk about him you would think he kicked their dog and burnt their house down.

Na he never kicked my dog. All he did was lead the Bengals to quite possibly the worst 12 year stretch in NFL history (1991-2002) and one of the longest stretches without a playoff win (24+ years). All the while maintaining a smug and dismissive attitude towards unhappy fans and fighting change tooth and nail.

I have no idea why anyone would resent Mike Brown with all the good things Marvin err Mike has done lately.

[Shake n Blake]

I respect what you're saying here, Fred, but none of these surprise seasons happened under Mike Brown.

This is Mike's 25th season without Paul and still no playoff wins. I know you guys get tired of hearing that, but I'm tired of pointing it out. Hopefully this is the year. I have a good feeling, but we'll see.

[OrlandoBengal]

(10-30-2015, 01:34 PM)Shake n Blake Wrote: I respect what you're saying here, Fred, but none of these surprise seasons happened under Mike Brown.

This is Mike's 25th season without Paul and still no playoff wins. I know you guys get tired of hearing that, but I'm tired of pointing itout. Hopefully this is the year. I have a good feeling, but we'll see.

Only thing we can do now is stay positive.  Going 25 years without a playoff victory in a league designed for parity would seem almost logically impossible.  I too believe this is the year.  Perhaps the stars are finally aligning as Mike slips deeper and deeper into the background...

[*rfaulk34*]

(10-30-2015, 12:55 PM)fredtoast Wrote: Going into the '99 seasons the Rams had only won 45 games in the prior 9 years with no winning seasons.  They ended that season winning the Super Bowl.

Side not to that. On the Sunday morning of the game against the Rams that year, the Enquirer had a story about the 2 teams and how they were the worst, record wise, for that decade. I remember sitting in the car at Shell in Deer Park reading that, on that morning. 

Weird, the things you remember sometimes...

[tigerseye]

MB deserved the heat that he received due to his job performance and hopelessness of the team at that time.

But he has had a hand in the decisions that have gotten the team to this point by his hirings and management personnel decisions.

It seems he learned from his mistakes and hopefully that is in our rear view mirror because I don't want to go through that again.

The next generation of Browns/Blackburns seem prepared to run the organization (To MBs credit). So I'm hoping the Bengals are in good hands and as fans we're good to go.

[tigerseye]

(10-29-2015, 09:25 PM)GodFather Wrote:

  Very funny!!!!!!!

[Thundercloud]

Fred, I was there and experiencing all that stuff, too. We were a very respected franchise then, fighting our way up from being an expansion team. And then there was the status of Paul Brown.

Two Super Bowls in the 80s, and then the 90s happened. I kept thinking it was temporary.

[CageTheBengal]

(10-30-2015, 01:29 PM)Shake n Blake Wrote: Na he never kicked my dog. All he did was lead the Bengals to quite possibly the worst 12 year stretch in NFL history (1991-2002) and one of the longest stretches without a playoff win (24+ years). All the while maintaining a smug and dismissive attitude towards unhappy fans and fighting change tooth and nail.

I have no idea why anyone would resent Mike Brown with all the good things Marvin err Mike has done lately.

 He's not the best owner and some of the things he's said/done in the past disgusted me at times but I can honestly say I have very little to complain about since 2011. At some point people just sound bitter. The franchise is heading in the right direction after many years of dismay and have already sustained a level of success a large portion of the NFL would be happy to achieve (Not that we should be content.) and yet some fans refuse to move on from the past or even worse deny that Mike Brown deserves any credit for the turn around since Palmer demanded a trade. There will always be another obstacle for Mike Brown to win some fans over.

[*Nately120*]

Wait, so you're using 2 Bengals teams with low win totals turning it around and going to the Super Bowl to bolster your belief a team that has won 40 games in 4 years is going to do the same thing? I dig the optimism, but I just wanted to nitpick the justification.

[Bengal Dude]

(10-30-2015, 04:31 PM)ExtraRadiohead Wrote:  He's not the best owner and some of the things he's said/done in the past disgusted me at times but I can honestly say I have very little to complain about since 2011. At some point people just sound bitter. The franchise is heading in the right direction after many years of dismay and have already sustained a level of success a large portion of the NFL would be happy to achieve (Not that we should be content.) and yet some fans refuse to move on from the past or even worse deny that Mike Brown deserves any credit for the turn around since Palmer demanded a trade. There will always be another obstacle for Mike Brown to win some fans over.

Some people focus on the past because we don't want to re-live it. Maintaining success in the NFL is tough. At some point it comes to an end and you have to start over. Fans obviously want to see some big success our success slows down. I think Mike Brown catches so much flak is because he has such a bad history as a hands-on owner and only saw constant success as he let his iron grip go.

[Shake n Blake]

(10-30-2015, 04:57 PM)Bengal Dude Wrote: Some people focus on the past because we don't want to re-live it. Maintaining success in the NFL is tough. At some point it comes to an end and you have to start over. Fans obviously want to see some big success our success slows down. I think Mike Brown catches so much flak is because he has such a bad history as a hands-on owner and only saw constant success as he let his iron grip go.

Exactly. Mike hasn't done anything special, he's just relaxed his grip. I credit Marv and Tobin for the current success. We all saw how things went when Mike was more assertive.

Honestly one of the biggest reasons I've resented Mike is how unapologetic and unappreciative he is towards the fan base. He doesn't even pretend to care about the fans.

[BengalsRocker]

(10-31-2015, 02:14 AM)Shake n Blake Wrote: Exactly. Mike hasn't done anything special, he's just relaxed his grip. I credit Marv and Tobin for the current success. We all saw how things went when Mike was more assertive.

Honestly one of the biggest reasons I've resented Mike is how unapologetic and unappreciative he is towards the fan base. He doesn't even pretend to care about the fans.

The real eye opener about Mike Brown was that article written about him and Lewis a year or so ago.

How Marvin had to tell other coaches and assistants to play along and ignore some of the crazy ideas he had.

Brown would do things like mock them talking on cell phones and make his own roster sheets up and hand them out with guys playing in positions they never played before.

It sounded more like Lewis was chasing success despite MB's strange and old fashioned behavior.

Now I'm a bit critical of Marv's in-game decisions(clock management)from time to time, but his handling of the owner couldn't be a better fit in my opinion.

[BonnieBengal]

(10-29-2015, 08:49 PM)fredtoast Wrote: I have been thinking a lot about why so many Bengal fans are so negative.  I think it has a lot to do with how old they are.  I have seen things with my own eyes that a lot of people here could never imagine.

I first became a Bengal fan in 1973.  We were a very good team back then.  We won at least 10 games three of four years and went to the playoffs twice.

In 1981 I saw a Bengal team that had only won 14 games in the previous 3 seasons go to the Super Bowl.  Our head coach had a 24-33 career record and had never made the playoffs.  Our QB was 32 years old and in a four year slump where he had only won 20 games in 52 starts; thrown 16 more picks (56) than tds (43): and compiled a 69.1 passer rating.  There was no hope for that team.

In 1988 I saw a Bengal team coming off a 4 win season go to the Super Bowl.  Our head coach was 29-34 and had never made the playoffs.  We had one of the best young QBs in the league, but he had suffered a serious slump in his fourth season.  After throwing 51 tds in '85 and '86 he threw just 16 in '87.  And worst of all he was throwing more and more picks every year (12 in '85, 17 in '86, and 19 in '87).


So if some of you think I am crazy to believe in Bengal magic, you have to realize that I have seen it happen.  I think we have a decent shot to go to the Super Bowl if we can just improve our run defense.

Agree.  I was there for those seasons too and this one kind of feels like that.   Hopefully Burfict can help with the run D.  

[*rfaulk34*]

(10-31-2015, 02:14 AM)Shake n Blake Wrote: Exactly. Mike hasn't done anything special, he's just relaxed his grip. I credit Marv and Tobin for the current success. We all saw how things went when Mike was more assertive.

Honestly one of the biggest reasons I've resented Mike is how unapologetic and unappreciative he is towards the fan base. He doesn't even pretend to care about the fans.

^This. I have a hard time praising someone for finally letting go and allowing someone else to steer the ship. Especially when they hung on for almost 2 decades. 

I don't think Super Marvio gets enough credit for how patient he's been and what he's done to convince MB to turn things over to good talent evaluators. He could have packed up years ago and worked his way back to a HC position somewhere else, but he stayed patient and kept working to get the people in place to bring in good players. 

The Bengals are set now, thanks to the last 4+ years, to remain a top tier team on and off the field for the next decade. Lewis would be stupid to walk away from that now (in regards to people misinterpreting his "walk away" statement).

[BengalB]

(10-30-2015, 09:34 AM)BengalHawk62 Wrote: Because he's racing and pacing and plotting the course

He's fighting and biting and riding on his horse
He's going the distance, yeah

No trophy, no flowers, no flashbulbs, no wine,


He's haunted by something he cannot define.

Bowel-shaking earthquakes of doubt and remorse,

Assail him, impale him with monster-truck force.

In his mind, he's still driving, still making the grade.


Great song, btw.