Driving Past Paul Brown Stadium

[Fan_in_Kettering]

About an hour ago I drove past a dark Paul Brown Stadium on my way home from a birthday party* at the Montgomery Inn Boathouse. There were no lights on at the stadium at all and I thought about what a metaphor for the 2016 season a dark, cold, and lifeless stadium was -- and in the dark the place looks like an abandoned facility. Two days from now the Ravens will visit the Bengals at that same stadium with nothing on the line except a small scintilla of pride as neither team will see action in the post-season.

My memories turned to better times when Paul Brown Stadium would shake from thunderous roars from the crowd as the Bengals scored at will and shut down nearly every offense in the NFL. Palmer to Johnson. Dalton to Green. Interception by O'Neal. Sack by Burfict. Touchdown, Rudi Johnson. Then my smile dissipated when I thought of all the heartbreaking playoff losses in that stadium, especially last season and of course in January 2006.

Many teams would happily trade for Cincinnati's record but here in the Queen City we're not satisfied with mediocrity. We want the Super Bowl teams of the 1980s just as much as we want the Reds to be reborn as the Big Red Machine 2.0. We're a city of champions and we need to reclaim that title.

Then the light turned green.




*No, it wasn't my birthday.