It was the best of times, it was the worst of times in 1982. 1982 was the beginning of the end of Cincinnati’s national popularity as a city. The popular sitcom WKRP in Cincinnati left the airwaves in that year and the Bengals appeared in Super Bowl XVI, a losing effort the 49ers. Over the next 28 years, you saw the Queen City reappear on the radar sparingly with Pete Rose setting the all-time hits record, the Bengals returning to Super Bowl XXIII, the Reds 1990 wire-to-wire season, and the rise of UC basketball under Bob Huggins. From the outside looking in, Cincinnati is not exactly the sexiest or most popular city, a perception not justly deserved in my opinion.
However, given the recent run of successful years by Xavier basketball and UC football, Cincinnati is primed for a return to prominence on the national sports scene. It may never be a New York, Los Angeles, Boston or Chicago, but certainly it can be more respected like Pittsburgh, Indianapolis, and other cities of similar size. Even with the successes of Cincinnati’s two largest universities, the Queen City is still a pro sports town. To say that the teams that reside nearest the banks of the Ohio haven’t been carrying that banner too well over the past decade is an understatement.
The Bengals are coming off of a season that started off with little promise after losing a heartbreaking opener to the Denver Broncos. But after that they battled their way to a 9-3 record and looked like a real contender for the Super Bowl. However, in typical Bengals fashion, they limped towards the playoffs losing 4 of their last 5, looking unimpressive in the process. Now the men in stripes are looking for a new kicker, with many calling for the head of the Offensive Coordinator and the franchise QB. All the while Mike Brown continues to run the show, laughing all the way to the bank.
Just down the road the Reds are making international headlines by signing Cuban pitching phenom Aroldis Chapman. The Reds haven’t exactly been showing promise with their on-field production, but have shown an attitude of wanting to improve and bring championships back to Cincinnati. Chapman’s signing shows a willingness to make a bold move, something that a team in a smaller market like Cincinnati has to do. When you don’t have the payroll to compete with the Yankees, Red Sox, Mets, Dodgers, and Phillies, sometimes you just have to roll the dice and hope for the best. Bob Castellini hasn’t made true on his promise to bring championship baseball back to Cincinnati, but wouldn’t you have to think that he actually cares a lot more than Mike Brown.
So as we enter 2010, the two owners of Cincinnati’s pro franchises stand at a crossroads. One with a real desire to bring honor to Cincinnati yet with the system firmly working against him, the other content to have his team just outside the cusp of greatness as long as his stadium is filled and merchandise sales are high. It makes me wonder how our fortunes as fans would be changed if our owners changed teams. The NFL is set up to have parity and teams can make the playoffs even after horrible seasons the year before. Only the most horribly mismanaged franchises like the Lions, Browns, and Redskins find playoff appearances so few and far between. Having an owner that would have a properly equipped front office, scouting department, and training staff might just be the difference between the Bengals making the playoffs every 4-5 years and being one and done or them having a real shot at the Super Bowl.
I have always said that I truly believe that the Bengals will not be able to have sustained, real success as long as Mike Brown is running the team. His parsimonious penny-pinching has never given me anything to get truly excited about as a fan, because for as long as I can remember the Bengals have always been a team associated with losing. The Marvin Lewis era has given fans hope, but while getting to the playoffs is a vast improvement of the 2-14 Bengals teams of the 90s, as a franchise isn’t the goal to get past that standard and start competing for Super Bowl rings? The Reds haven’t been to the playoffs in even longer than the Bengals have, but I still feel more confident that they can get to the promised land, even in Major League Baseball where the deck is stacked against small market teams, before the Bengals under the current regime. Maybe it’s because I like baseball more than I do the NFL, maybe it’s because the Reds have given this city a championship at some point, even with the Bengals just coming off a Division Championship, I still feel more confident in the Reds than I do the Bengals moving forward.
Disagree? I’d love to hear from you via Twitter: http://twitter.com/Chuges
Finally, enjoy some SNL goodness from this past week starring Sir Charles Barkley.
