What was going on the last time the Bengals were in the AFC Championship

[George Cantstandya]

I thought this might be kind of fun to look back at.

The Bengals played the Bills on January 8th 1989.

From Billboard Hot 100 number ones of 1989 on January 7th the top song was "Every Rose Has Its Thorn" by Poison.

The number 1 movie January 8th 1989 was Rain Man.

The top 5 TV shows were The Cosby Show, Roseanne, Cheers, A Different World, America's Funniest Home Videos (rest in peace Bob Saget). Number 6 was The Golden Girls, so shout out to Betty White may she also rest in peace.

In 1989 we didn't have widespread access to the Internet.  We paid bills in person or by writing and mailing checks instead of online payments.  We did our shopping in physical stores and malls were still popular. 

If you wanted to watch a fairly recent movie at home you drove to the store and rented it on VHS and had to return it before late fees. Side note: In my family this was called pizza night where we would all go to rent a movie (and argue about what to rent) and eat pizza on a Friday as part of an end of week reward. You could also record a limited amount of TV on your home VHS but heaven forbid you accidentally record over one of the above named shows before everyone else got to watch it.  MTV was still known for broadcasting music videos. 

Anyway I just though it was kind of fun to look back at 1989 when the Bengals were last in the AFC Championship.  I'm sure some of you can add a few more snapshots from then.  I wanted to also include pictures of what was popular to wear then but got too lazy to look up the pictures.

[TecmoBengals]

This was a fun trip down memory lane, fun post. For those of us who were alive for that game, we were 30+ years younger! Crazy.

[*Awful Llama*]

It's funny to think that the AFCCG was played on January 8 that year, and this year the regular season didn't even finish until January 9th.  March football, here we come

For the record, I still pay some bills via mailed check, and I was at the mall just the other day

[*pally*]

(01-26-2022, 03:07 PM)George Cantstandya Wrote: I thought this might be kind of fun to look back at.

The Bengals played the Bills on January 8th 1989.

From Billboard Hot 100 number ones of 1989 on January 7th the top song was "Every Rose Has Its Thorn" by Poison.

The number 1 movie January 8th 1989 was Rain Man.

The top 5 TV shows were The Cosby Show, Roseanne, Cheers, A Different World, America's Funniest Home Videos.  Number 6 was The Golden Girls, so shout out to Betty White may she rest in peace.

In 1989 we didn't have widespread access to the Internet.  We paid bills in person or by writing and mailing checks instead of online payments.  We did our shopping in physical stores and malls were still popular. 

If you wanted to watch a fairly recent movie at home you drove to the store and rented it on VHS and had to return it before late fees. Side note: In my family this was called pizza night where we would all go to rent a movie (and argue about what to rent) and eat pizza on a Friday as part of an end of week reward. You could also record a limited amount of TV on your home VHS but heaven forbid you accidentally record over one of the above named shows before everyone else got to watch it.  MTV was still known for broadcasting music videos. 

Anyway I just though it was kind of fun to look back at 1989 when the Bengals were last in the AFC Championship.  I'm sure some of you can add a few more snapshots from then.  I wanted to also include pictures of what was popular to wear then but got too lazy to look up the pictures.

and after arguing about what movie to get, finding out the store is out of copies of the chosen one and having to have that discussion again.  Then of course getting home and realizing that the previous renter of the movie wasn't kind and didn't rewind

[BengalRed]

(01-26-2022, 03:07 PM)George Cantstandya Wrote: I thought this might be kind of fun to look back at.

The Bengals played the Bills on January 8th 1989.

From Billboard Hot 100 number ones of 1989 on January 7th the top song was "Every Rose Has Its Thorn" by Poison.

The number 1 movie January 8th 1989 was Rain Man.

The top 5 TV shows were The Cosby Show, Roseanne, Cheers, A Different World, America's Funniest Home Videos.  Number 6 was The Golden Girls, so shout out to Betty White may she rest in peace.

In 1989 we didn't have widespread access to the Internet.  We paid bills in person or by writing and mailing checks instead of online payments.  We did our shopping in physical stores and malls were still popular. 

If you wanted to watch a fairly recent movie at home you drove to the store and rented it on VHS and had to return it before late fees. Side note: In my family this was called pizza night where we would all go to rent a movie (and argue about what to rent) and eat pizza on a Friday as part of an end of week reward. You could also record a limited amount of TV on your home VHS but heaven forbid you accidentally record over one of the above named shows before everyone else got to watch it.  MTV was still known for broadcasting music videos. 

Anyway I just though it was kind of fun to look back at 1989 when the Bengals were last in the AFC Championship.  I'm sure some of you can add a few more snapshots from then.  I wanted to also include pictures of what was popular to wear then but got too lazy to look up the pictures.

January 7, 1989 was my 38th birthday. Back then I thought I was getting old. Now I know I am old. LOL. Anyway that was a very special time for me.

[TecmoBengals]

[Clark W Griswold]

Wow
I was about 6 months away from graduating from High School in Jan 1989.
I’m old!

[MileHighGrowler]

(01-26-2022, 03:14 PM)pally Wrote: and after arguing about what movie to get, finding out the store is out of copies of the chosen one and having to have that discussion again.  Then of course getting home and realizing that the previous renter of the movie wasn't kind and didn't rewind

Or occasionally that the tape had a scratch and the movie got warbly at points.  

It's funny to hear so many people on social media talk with deep nostalgia about renting movies.  It was fun at the time, yes, but I don't miss having to go through those steps.  Even Netflix, when it was DVDs, was so cool at first.  Access to this huge catalog and didn't even have to go further than the mailbox.  But you had to decide in advance what you were going to feel like watching.  I'm spoiled by the on-demand/streaming world now! 

Back in '89, gas was under $1/gallon, stamps cost $.25 (I can't actually remember the last time I had to buy stamps, honestly), and the Berlin Wall was still standing (until late that year). 

[*Awful Llama*]

(01-26-2022, 04:20 PM)MileHighGrowler Wrote: Or occasionally that the tape had a scratch and the movie got warbly at points.  

It's funny to hear so many people on social media talk with deep nostalgia about renting movies.  It was fun at the time, yes, but I don't miss having to go through those steps.  Even Netflix, when it was DVDs, was so cool at first.  Access to this huge catalog and didn't even have to go further than the mailbox.  But you had to decide in advance what you were going to feel like watching.  I'm spoiled by the on-demand/streaming world now! 

Back in '89, gas was under $1/gallon, stamps cost $.25 (I can't actually remember the last time I had to buy stamps, honestly), and the Berlin Wall was still standing (until late that year). 

Yeah, there was something about hitting the Blockbuster on a Friday night.  The place was hopping, and people buzzing about movies and what snacks to buy.  I'd always go after work on Friday because my office building was just a few miles from one but there was no store in the little town where we lived.  Granted, knowing I would have to drive the tape back later was a downer, but it all seems so innocent now.  

[motoarch]

Ah the old days I was only 11 years old and playing super Mario brothers on my NES.

Joe Burrow wasn't even a gleam in his father's eye and an 11 year old Tom Brady was watching Joe Montana and staying to himself 'Im coming for you and I'm going to unleash hell fire on the NFL.'

[Shake n Blake]

In 1989, I was 8 years old. Obsessed with Super Mario Bros, Ninja Turtles and The Simpsons.

I went to 6th District elementary in Covington. My Mom bought me a Super Bowl XXIII sweatshirt from a street vendor. Great times.

[grampahol]

I had to put down the family cat the day of the super bowl and the damned cat didn't go down easily..I had to hide the carcass from the kids in a plastic bag hidden deep in a dumpster because I darn sure wasn't going to dig a hole in the rock frozen ground in our backyard.. lol
Rest in peace stupid cat.. 

[George Cantstandya]

(01-26-2022, 03:14 PM)Awful Llama Wrote: It's funny to think that the AFCCG was played on January 8 that year, and this year the regular season didn't even finish until January 9th.  March football, here we come

For the record, I still pay some bills via mailed check, and I was at the mall just the other day

To be honest I don't miss writing out checks and making sure they are mailed on time.  In fact all my bills are on auto pay now.  I don't even have to login and pay them.   I just get emails thanking me for my payments.

As for malls, it was the place to be when I was in my teens.   The last time I went to a mall was a few years ago and it was a ghost town.  It's kind of sad.   I watched a documentary recently called Jasper Mall.  It's kind of about the downfall of the shopping mall and worth watching.  

[BengalRed]

(01-26-2022, 04:20 PM)MileHighGrowler Wrote: Or occasionally that the tape had a scratch and the movie got warbly at points.  

It's funny to hear so many people on social media talk with deep nostalgia about renting movies.  It was fun at the time, yes, but I don't miss having to go through those steps.  Even Netflix, when it was DVDs, was so cool at first.  Access to this huge catalog and didn't even have to go further than the mailbox.  But you had to decide in advance what you were going to feel like watching.  I'm spoiled by the on-demand/streaming world now! 

Back in '89, gas was under $1/gallon, stamps cost $.25 (I can't actually remember the last time I had to buy stamps, honestly), and the Berlin Wall was still standing (until late that year). 

In the very early days of movie rentals if you didn't have a VCR (we didn't at first) you had to rent one, take it home and hook it up, and then take it back the next day. What a pain in the ass that was.

[*Synric*]

I seen my very first movie on the big screen in 1989 it was at a drive in theatre I was 5....Ghostbusters 2.

[*Awful Llama*]

(01-26-2022, 04:50 PM)George Cantstandya Wrote: To be honest I don't miss writing out checks and making sure they are mailed in time.  In fact all my bills are on auto pay now.  I don't even have to login an pay them.   I just get emails thanking me for my payments.

As for malls, it was the place to be when I was in my teens.   The last time I went to a mall was a few years ago and it was a ghost town.  It's kind of sad.   I watched a documentary recently called Jasper Mall.  It's kind of about the downfall of the shopping mall and worth watching.  

Our mall is still pretty vibrant, fortunately.  It doesn't hurt there are numerous restaurants that ring the property, and they are always jammed.  I guess given my age I am slooooooowly evolving into a mall walker

I'll have to check out that doc.  It has a great poster.

[George Cantstandya]

(01-26-2022, 04:20 PM)MileHighGrowler Wrote: Or occasionally that the tape had a scratch and the movie got warbly at points.  

Rumor is one of the most scratched or warbly points in VHS rentals at the time was from rentals of Fast Times at Ridgemont High during the swimming pool scene due to pausing and playing back, even though Fast Times was from 1982 

[BengalRed]

(01-26-2022, 04:50 PM)George Cantstandya Wrote: To be honest I don't miss writing out checks and making sure they are mailed on time.  In fact all my bills are on auto pay now.  I don't even have to login and pay them.   I just get emails thanking me for my payments.

As for malls, it was the place to be when I was in my teens.   The last time I went to a mall was a few years ago and it was a ghost town.  It's kind of sad.   I watched a documentary recently called Jasper Mall.  It's kind of about the downfall of the shopping mall and worth watching.  

I'm a retired postal worker and for the longest time I resisted paying bills on line. I felt guilty if I didn't write out checks and mail them in because I knew how the internet was contributing to the downfall of the postal service. But over time, when I saw how easy it is to pay bills electronically, I said what the hell, I'm not going to save the PO on my own, say I caved and now pay all my bills that way.

[Truck_1_0_1_]

(01-26-2022, 03:21 PM)TecmoBengals Wrote:

As soon as I read that in George's post, the chorus got stuck in my head

That was still 5 months before I was born! lol thus, I cannot fondly comment on that time...

… but renting movies was awesome, loved when my dad would go and get something for me to watch and something for the family (or something for my parents specifically). Still remember renting "Terror in New York City," and, "Trapped in the Sky," (both Thunderbirds episodes, on VHS) in Spring 1997 from Rogers Video (Rogers is Canada's biggest telecommunications company, like if Verizon, DirecTV and old-school AOL were all in one) and being fascinated with TiNYC, as I had never seen it before and absolutely terrified of TitS, as it brought me back to the horror of the Hood, who I had nightmares of until I turned about 10 years old lol.

Also snagged some (now VERY expensive) Sega Genesis and Saturn games , when the consoles were discontinued (and at Blockbuster too, when there was one close by).

[*bengalfan74*]

(01-26-2022, 04:53 PM)BengalRed Wrote: In the very early days of movie rentals if you didn't have a VCR (we didn't at first) you had to rent one, take it home and hook it up, and then take it back the next day. What a pain in the ass that was.

Yep, they came out with the VCP's that just played tapes. Be kind - rewind. 

Remember any kind of decent sized city had 3 dozen 1 hour photo development booths on every street corner.

Pay phones were still everywhere. Drop a dime on somebody.

Remember the giant camcorders that took a full size VHS tape ?