Letter From Mike Brown

[Shake n Blake]

(04-21-2017, 09:43 AM)jason Wrote: If any of you think about or talk about Mike Brown more than say 10 times per calendar year, it's a you problem. Evict that old man from your brains. He's lived there rent free for too long.

This is a Bengals message board. Mike Brown is the owner and GM of the Bengals. I wonder how often Jerry Jones is a topic on Cowboys message boards?

(04-21-2017, 11:24 AM)The Real Deal Wrote: 1. I just personally feel like this "I'm entitled because I bought a bengals T-shirt and a who dey foam finger last year" logic is flawed. You bought that T-shirt and foam finger on your own volition. You tuned in or attended the game on Sunday because of nobody but yourself.

2. I also think that saying he doesn't care about the fans at all is flawed. Call it a canned letter, fluff, poop on a stick, Call it what you want. But The letter at the top of this thread is proof that he cares. Who am I (or you) to decide his intentions behind the letter? He didn't have to release anything at all. In fact, he may have been better off if he hadn't, which is sad.

3. This fanbase is jaded and maybe for good reason. We have endured a lot of agony (33 years for me), so I get it. But what I can't wrap my head around is asking for him to show he cares but rejecting his efforts to show said care. No matter what he does unless it is EXACTLY what we want, he can't win. And maybe he has earned that. But For the most part, this team has been competitive for a decade. We have watched some talented teams (that he has had a hand in putting together) pee the bed in the playoffs. the talent has been there though and he has funded it the entire time if I'm not mistaken.

4. Also, I'm not sure and I'm not willing to do the leg work on the research, but I'm guessing that the cap space numbers are not nearly as eye popping when it comes to cheapness as many want to believe. People really need to leave the 90's in the 90's. The narrative that there hasn't been change when it comes to the front office is simply not true. It is run much differently than it was then. Could it be better? Yep. But I Would wager that most fan bases think this way. Nothing is perfect.

1. It's not about entitlement brother. This is just the way it goes with any product or service. If you're paying for cable and it keeps going out, you're going to complain. Nintendo fans have been pissed about the availability of the NES classic and the Switch (and Nintendo's aloof attitude towards the scarcity). People have complained about McDonald's for years. Maybe you could call it consumer feedback. I love the Bengals, but I want them to be better.

2. It's easy to write a letter when he's desperately trying to make sure the stadium isn't half empty for the 50th anniversary. I'm obviously far from alone on this, but as someone who has been around since the 90's, I have trouble believing he cares so deeply about fans and the city. Like I've been saying...he hasn't done all he can to win, and he's shown extreme loyalty to embarrassments like Pacman. Am I wrong? If not, why are you questioning my questioning of Mike's letter?

3. Ya think? Yeah, he has earned every bit of criticism thrown his way, and I'm not going to feel guilty for feeling the way I do. The Bengals are 165-216-3 (.434) during my span as a fan. Obviously 0-7 in the playoffs. Sorry I'm not happy about it. I could've left for another team or stayed and *****. I opted to stay and *****. 

4. Our most recent record was 6-9-1. You say "leave the 90's in the 90's", but for how long are people like you going to bring up being "competitive" for most of the last decade (which happens to include 4 losing seasons)? Even if you only include Marv's tenure (leaving the 90's in the 90's), then our record is 118-103-3 (.533) with no playoff wins in 14 seasons. No fan base would be happy with that, Real Deal. None. That's mediocre regular season results mixed with record setting failure in the playoffs. Why should I be happy with that? Please tell me.

I'm sure most fan bases do feel their team could be better, but outside of Cleveland and Detroit, no team has dealt with what we've dealt with over the last 20+ years. Not many teams haven't won a single playoff game over the last 14 years, either. Buffalo, Detroit, Cleveland...and maybe a couple others. We are in pretty exclusive company. Until Mike fixes this by doing what it takes to field a real championship contender, he's going to have folks questioning his intentions.