Mike Brown, hot dogs, and a story you wont believe

[Shake n Blake]

The team is 3-6-1 following a 12-4 season, and the man is having meetings to discuss hot dogs. This should just be added to the other legendary things he's done. Such as...

- Putting a pop machine in the facilities to charge his own players for drinks
- renting out TVs to his own players in TC
- Willie Anderson having to shell out for towels that actually fit the linemen
- refusing to build a practice bubble when literally everyone but him wants one
- flying FA's in on coach tickets
etc etc etc

Then homers wonder why people say Mike values money over winning.

[treee]

(11-21-2016, 02:26 PM)Shake n Blake Wrote: The team is 3-6-1 following a 12-4 season, and the man is having meetings to discuss hot dogs. This should just be added to the other legendary things he's done. Such as...

- Putting a pop machine in the facilities to charge his own players for drinks
- renting out TVs to his own players in TC
- Willie Anderson having to shell out for towels that actually fit the linemen
- refusing to build a practice bubble when literally everyone but him wants one
- flying FA's in on coach tickets
etc etc etc

Then homers wonder why people say Mike values money over winning.

I think it would be fair to say that Brown views the Bengals as a business first, football team second. And it's pretty obvious that is not an attitude that will bring you success in the NFL.

[*rfaulk34*]

(11-21-2016, 02:26 PM)Shake n Blake Wrote: The team is 3-6-1 following a 12-4 season, and the man is having meetings to discuss hot dogs. This should just be added to the other legendary things he's done. Such as...

- Putting a pop machine in the facilities to charge his own players for drinks
- renting out TVs to his own players in TC
- Willie Anderson having to shell out for towels that actually fit the linemen
- refusing to build a practice bubble when literally everyone but him wants one
- flying FA's in on coach tickets
etc etc etc

Then homers wonder why people say Mike values money over winning.

The stories from Spinney are even funnier...

Washing and then throwing all the jocks in one basket and the players would have to just grab a random one out of a pile, etc.

[XenoMorph]

(11-21-2016, 10:41 AM)WeezyBengal Wrote: A good friend of mine works for the Bengals. Im not going to mention a name or exactly what he/she does because I respect their privacy and I don't want them to get in trouble in case there is a minuscule chance someone from the Bengals organization actually reads these boards.

Anyway, I met up with my friend (lets just call him/her Doug Pelfrey) Friday night. Doug told me he was in a meeting with some of the upper management, vendor managers, and game day managers on Friday during the day. One of the main topics of the meeting was how "Mr. Brown" was upset that some of the vendors were getting free food during the day of Bengals games.

If you don't know, the Bengals outsource their security to other companies. Apparently some of the security staff were hungry from working the job all day and decided to stop by the concessions to get a hot dog. My friend told me that the Bengals throw out literally "hundreds" or food items after each game. That being said, some of the vendor managers got a lashing because they were supplying free food items to the security guards.

Here is the kicker: the total amount of free food given away to these guards was 15 hot dogs. 15 FREAKING HOT DOGS!

I can understand if "Mr. Brown" was upset if there were a bunch of security guards getting free food every game and there were hundreds or thousands of dollars being lost due to this.....but 15 hot dogs! I mean that is just comical.

It just made me realize that nothing has changed with our cheap ass owner. Sure, we have had a good team over the years, but this is still the same guy we had in the 90s.

you don't make money but letting it get away.

I understand the whole they just throw it away mentality but they also weigh the food waste and get writeoffs for it in some fashion. 

This is a Who the F cares story...  Mike B is running a business.   Do security guards at other jobs get free lunches? or do they have to go buy their own lunch on break?

[WeezyBengal]

(11-21-2016, 02:41 PM)XenoMorph Wrote: you don't make money but letting it get away.

I understand the whole they just throw it away mentality but they also weigh the food waste and get writeoffs for it in some fashion. 

This is a Who the F cares story...  Mike B is running a business.   Do security guards at other jobs get free lunches? or do they have to go buy their own lunch on break?

Dude, its about as petty as it gets. 

He is seriously having a meeting about FIFTEEN hot dogs being ripped off and given to security guards. FIFTEEN. 

[JumboTron]

Such a hysterical shame that this man spawned from the loins of Paul Brown.

[Au165]

(11-21-2016, 03:09 PM)WeezyBengal Wrote: Dude, its about as petty as it gets. 

He is seriously having a meeting about FIFTEEN hot dogs being ripped off and given to security guards. FIFTEEN. 

I'm not discrediting your friend, but I get the feeling it wasn't JUST about that. Like I said it very well could have been a part of a larger problem. Good news though, IF he is doing this it may show he is looking for stuff to do because Jim O pointed out in another thread that Mike has really backed away from a lot of the aspects of running the team.

Either way, this really has nothing to do with the product on the field right now. We have spent more money recently than we ever have on the roster. He offered Marvin Jones the same contract he ended up accepting, by the way the guy has been battling injuries all year in Detroit. He laid a deal on the table for Reggie and Illoka one took it the other didn't, by the way Reggie has had a very rough year in Oakland last I saw his PFF grade. We have given the coaches everything they needed to win and they didn't come through.

If we are 8-2 right now, I get the feeling your friend isn't telling this story and no one here gives two craps. It is weird though how people just look for things to pile on about when your losing. There are plenty of reasons to hate on the organization, but this isn't one of them. Also the article about J Joe and such everyone keeps referencing is now 5 years old....let it go.

[THE PISTONS]

(11-21-2016, 02:41 PM)XenoMorph Wrote: you don't make money but letting it get away.

I understand the whole they just throw it away mentality but they also weigh the food waste and get writeoffs for it in some fashion. 

This is a Who the F cares story...  Mike B is running a business.   Do security guards at other jobs get free lunches? or do they have to go buy their own lunch on break?

I think the bigger issue is how many other owners micromanage the vending operations of their stadium?

You have to delegate and put other people in charge of that stuff. You can't be an expert in every aspect of a business.

I doubt that Robert Kraft is running the vending operations at Foxborough.

[Au165]

(11-21-2016, 03:50 PM)THE PISTONS Wrote: I think the bigger issue is how many other owners micromanage the vending operations of their stadium?

You have to delegate and put other people in charge of that stuff. You can't be an expert in every aspect of a business.

I doubt that Robert Kraft is running the vending operations at Foxborough.

As I said above, it may show that he has nothing else to do because he is out of so much of the football side of operations now. Also remember Mike Brown is one of the only owners who's whole job is their team. Kraft doesn't have time because he has other ventures, this is what Mike Brown does for a living.

[Shouldamapads]

I'm sure Mike was just looking out for the health of the security guards. Sounds like this story lost it's intent. Hot dogs are high in calories and fattening up the security staff is bad when you rely on these guys to catch someone taking an extra ketchup packet from vending or picking up dropped change - you know, once on the floor, it's property of the team. You can't have these guys winded while chasing a drunk to collect.

[THE PISTONS]

Here is typical Bengals. In 2012 the Bengals were projected to be $44-49 million under the salary cap, and Bengals.com did a PR spin article attempting to link the Bengals strategy to that of the Steelers and Patriots. It also talked about how signing free agents since modern free agency was instituted in 1992 is a roll of the dice.

Funny since that time in 1992...we've won exactly 0 playoff games.

Model model
Posted Mar 12, 2012
By GEOFF HOBSON

http://www.bengals.com/news/article-1/Model-model/3efe5744-e768-4721-a66d-c2395cfe6f2d

[Au165]

(11-21-2016, 04:00 PM)THE PISTONS Wrote: Here is typical Bengals. In 2012 the Bengals were projected to be $44-49 million under the salary cap, and Bengals.com did a PR spin article attempting to link the Bengals strategy to that of the Steelers and Patriots. It also talked about how signing free agents since modern free agency was instituted in 1992 is a roll of the dice.

Funny since that time in 1992...we've won exactly 0 playoff games.

Model model
Posted Mar 12, 2012
By GEOFF HOBSON

http://www.bengals.com/news/article-1/Model-model/3efe5744-e768-4721-a66d-c2395cfe6f2d

Your going back 5 years....... let it go. We are currently sitting just 6 million under the cap right now, and were only 8 million under last year. They did exactly what they said they wanted to, they drafted then resigned their own guys. Unfortunately when you miss on a couple drafts you start to see it fall apart. The Packers are going through something similar right now, you could actually say the same thing for the Steelers. It's a good philosiphy, but you can't miss multiple years in a row like we have recently.

Recently the only thing I fault the organization as a whole for is hanging on to Marvin too long. I get it because he saved the franchise, but they let loyalty trump the urgency to win.

[THE PISTONS]

(11-21-2016, 04:04 PM)Au165 Wrote: Your going back 5 years....... let it go. We are currently sitting just 6 million under the cap right now, and were only 8 million under last year. They did exactly what they said they wanted to, they drafted then resigned their own guys. Unfortunately when you miss on a couple drafts you start to see it fall apart. The Packers are going through something similar right now, you could actually say the same thing for the Steelers. It's a good philosiphy, but you can't miss multiple years in a row like we have recently.

Recently the only thing I fault the organization as a whole for is hanging on to Marvin too long. I get it because he saved the franchise, but they let loyalty trump the urgency to win.

Well perhaps if they would have spent money over that past 5 years and brought in...say a Center...they would have won a playoff game.

[Au165]

(11-21-2016, 04:11 PM)THE PISTONS Wrote: Well perhaps if they would have spent money over that past 5 years and brought in...say a Center...they would have won a playoff game.

That goes back to them retaining the coach. They let Marvin call the shots and he was wrong. That is why I say the single thing they messed up was not getting rid of Marvin a couple years ago. What they controlled, paying their guys when asked to, they did or attempted to. Replacing players was Marvin's call and he failed at that.

[THE PISTONS]

(11-21-2016, 04:12 PM)Au165 Wrote: That goes back to them retaining the coach. They let Marvin call the shots and he was wrong. That is why I say the single thing they messed up was not getting rid of Marvin a couple years ago. What they controlled, paying their guys when asked to, they did or attempted to. Replacing players was Marvin's call and he failed at that.

How do you know it was Marvin's call? So you're blaming the poor drafting on him solely?

That's why teams have a GM.

[Millhouse]

I get what everyone is saying, as I am not a MB fan at all. And I have heard all the stories from years past.

But to be a little bit fair here, I wonder what owners like Jerry Jones and Robert Kraft do for the workers at their stadiums. Do they give them a ticket for a free drink and hot dog or food for example? Or something like that? I know if I was an owner, I would do something like that for all stadium employees on gameday.

[Au165]

(11-21-2016, 04:15 PM)THE PISTONS Wrote: How do you know it was Marvin's call? So you're blaming the poor drafting on him solely?

That's why teams have a GM.

It was reported one of Marvin's conditions to stay after the Carson debacle was more control. It has also been noted by Tobin and outside reporting, no team in the NFL has more input from coaches on personnel than the Bengals. We could put some of the blame on Duke Tobin for recent fails in drafting (also past success too), but by all accounts he is one of the most sought after GM candidates in the sport, either way its not on Brown (which seems to be this threads point). The last couple years Brown has done everything he has needed to for this team to be successful......except know when it was time to cut ties with Marvin.

So back to my point where we started, Browns real flaw was staying too loyal to Marvin. Everything else I'd lean more towards Marvin on.

[Gamma Ray Tan]

(11-21-2016, 04:16 PM)Millhouse Wrote: I get what everyone is saying, as I am not a MB fan at all. And I have heard all the stories from years past.

But to be a little bit fair here, I wonder what owners like Jerry Jones and Robert Kraft do for the workers at their stadiums. Do they give them a ticket for a free drink and hot dog or food for example? Or something like that? I know if I was an owner, I would do something like that for all stadium employees on gameday.

This seems like the correct thing to do, especially for the security workers.

[Wes Mantooth]

(11-21-2016, 11:16 AM)Au165 Wrote: This actually doesn't bother me. This is an issue that occurs often in the food service industry and the principal is simple, it's stealing to give product away even if it may end up in the trash at the end of the day. If you let them give them to security then should the vendors be able to eat for free? What about the field crew? Can you give them to the janitorial staff? What about vendors friends? If it wasn't in the negotiated contract with the private security company to eat for free then they shouldn't have been fed.

You can knock him for a lot of things, but if one of the vendors did this working for a normal fast food restaurant they'd probably be fired or reprimanded for it.

How about you give them away to anyone who wants them? People that worked the game that is.  You're not devaluing the product to potential customers, nor are you losing sales.  If they're going to get thrown away what it does it matter?

The team is worth a billion dollars, how about you don't concern yourself with $1.75 worth of hot dogs that were hitting the trash.  You ought to be supplying those workers with a free lunch regardless. The phrase "bigger fish to fry" seems all to relevant here. A subject as ridiculous as hot dogs should never make its way to upper management to begin with.

[Au165]

(11-21-2016, 05:07 PM)Wes Mantooth Wrote: How about you give them away to anyone who wants them? People that worked the game that is.  You're not devaluing the product to potential customers, nor are you losing sales.  If they're going to get thrown away what it does it matter?

The team is worth a billion dollars, how about you don't concern yourself with $1.75 worth of hot dogs that were hitting the trash regardless.  You ought to be supplying those workers with a free lunch regardless.

That isn't how any food establishment really works. Some will provide a bit of a stipend but they don't let their employees start making policy for who they give free food to. It isn't unique to Mike Brown, and as I said, not relevant to anything on the field other than an emotional knee jerk to just look for things to hate. I mean look how much play an unsubstantiated third person story is getting.

Hate Mike Brown for not firing Marvin, or for letting Hue leave, but this seems like knit picking.