01-26-2022, 10:26 AM
At first blush it's hard for me to say that it would be bigger than the first AFC title game, and for a couple of reasons. One, that title came with the first playoff success this franchise had known in its first 14 seasons. It was ground-breaking, in other words. Secondly, there is so much lore surrounding the Freezer bowl, both for Bengal fans and the league as a whole. As the years pass the stories continue to fascinate and the imagined crowd size for that game only grows. No one really talks much about the '88 championship, by comparison, so I think it's reasonable to suggest it would eclipse that game.
Having said all that, I do understand there is a generational implication. I've been alive and a fan of this team to see that '81 playoff run, the Freezer Bowl and SB XVI, and all of that means a lot to me. I can't imagine what if anything all of that means to a 38-year-old fan born two years later. Probably not a lot, ancient history and all, but perhaps such a fan can enlighten me.
Given how much time has passed between those old glories and now, in the final analysis, I would have to concede that winning Sunday might eclipse anything that came before, because it would be a revival of sorts of the older fans, and a brand-new experience for any Bengals fans under 40+.
Having said all that, I do understand there is a generational implication. I've been alive and a fan of this team to see that '81 playoff run, the Freezer Bowl and SB XVI, and all of that means a lot to me. I can't imagine what if anything all of that means to a 38-year-old fan born two years later. Probably not a lot, ancient history and all, but perhaps such a fan can enlighten me.
Given how much time has passed between those old glories and now, in the final analysis, I would have to concede that winning Sunday might eclipse anything that came before, because it would be a revival of sorts of the older fans, and a brand-new experience for any Bengals fans under 40+.
