AGRI Biz

It seems too easy to pile on Al Davis and the Oakland Raider Asylum; that bit has done before, so we'll just skip it altogether. á Instead, the focus this week for the Bengals is preparing for the best thing the Raiders have going for them: their location. á Every week it seems Cincinnati is issued a new challenge to disprove the Same-Old-Bengals Theory. For Week 11, the challenge is to show they ...

There is a luxury suite on the top floor that overlooks the AFC North. It's shiny and comfortable and smells like the Playoffs. After milling about their new digs for a while, the Bengals put their feet up on the glass table, leaned back, and smiled to themselves. This is the life. á Suddenly Marvin Lewis bursts into the room and banishes his team to the boiler ...

This was a game of cognition.á á On October 27th, I wrote this: á I had a dream that night that the Bengals were beating the Ravens 17-0 at home.á For some vague reason, I was unable to sit and watch the game in the dream, but when I caught the glimpse of the score, I remember turning to someone there who also was impressed.á We nodded and smiled, and agreed that the nation ...

In the backroom of a shady saloon just on the edge of town, the Ravens await. They sit there hunkered over a card-table with a half-bottle of cheap rum and an old, shaggy dog named Cleveland, curled up and sleeping at their feet. á They've been there since daybreak and they say they ain't leavin' til the Bengals give 'em another chance. On Sunday they'll get their wish, but once ...

It appears the NFL has finally out-priced itself. The first-place Bengals, fresh off of a near-perfect game against the Bears, are still 4,500 tickets away from selling out this Sunday against the Ravens. The logically impulsive thing to do is stand up, point at Mike Brown, and call him a vicious opportunist who preys on the American addiction of entertainment and distraction. At these words, Brown would likely ...

We Bengal fans are doubters; it comes with the program. Like veteran circus freaks, we've been kicked around for a long time and have trust issues with management. Bengal fans usually draw pity smiles from the football world, and any success often comes with a condescending pat on the head. It's a tough gig, but that's exactly what makes moments like the one against the Bears on Sunday simply golden. On Monday morning ...

Somewhere in the cosmos, football demigods Paul Brown and George Halas spent the last few days arm wrestling and taking cheap digs at one another in preparation for this week's game. They're still at it; purple-faced and winded, but unrelenting in spirit. á Late Sunday night, they will go back to sit in their armchairs, share a bottle of something bubbly, and laugh at how little football matters, but for now, ...

These Texans are trickier than they look.á á Bengal players were warned by soothsayers everywhere that a letdown was coming this week. The idea being that they could not sustain the energy necessary to continue winning every week, and at some point, would relax. á So, to disprove the theory, the Bengals came out too fired up, and constantly overpursued on screen plays and play-action passes, thus giving up embarrassing yardage. á Instead of feeling bitter ...

Now that the Bengals are perched atop the AFC North standings and feeling good about themselves after an ôemotionalö win, one face springs to mind when looking ahead to the next game against the Texans; that bug-eyed, lobster-like freak, Admiral Ackbar, in Return of The Jedi . á It's a trap! á For being such a tough-guy sport, it's interesting how much conversation is centered around emotions in football. We as fans are ...

On the opening Monday night game of the 2007 season, the Bengals beat the Ravens at Paul Brown Stadium, 27-20; that was the last time Cincinnati could agree that their team was a contender. After that, they wandered out into the wilderness and remained lost for two whole seasons. Yet after five games, something familiar, yet entirely different, has emerged from the fog. á This new form of Bengal is hardened and doesn't like ...