Real Quick: An Open Letter to my Bengals

Ken Broo's most recent podcast briefly covered the idea that Bengals players and management should have some sort of driver/shuttle service for when they're out on the town to avoid future DUI embarrassments. I understand that some of you aren't that hot on management having intimate knowledge of how you spend you're free time, and that makes a fair bit of sense to me.

That being said, FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY, STOP GETTING EFFIN DUI'S!!! Set up a cab in advance! Book a freaking limo! Hell, CALL ME! I'll come pick you up whenever and wherever for FREE if it'll keep you on the field and out of the news! Stop giving the McAllisters ammunition to complain about "character"!! I don't care if you drink your lights out every night, just be smarter about it. There's no excuse for anyone to drive drunk, but its particularly inexcusable when you have the status and resources that guys posess. PLEASE use your heads.

/random rant

Streetcar Dead??

Wow, I'm sucking at this whole blogging thing again.

At any rate, I heard a disappointing bit of news regarding the Cincinnati Streetcar plan on 700 tonight after the Reds game. Apparently our fair city is staring down a $40 million deficit in the operating budget. The debate now is whether it would still be prudent to move forward with the streetcar idea. Leslie Ghiz says yes, Bortz says no. I think, much to my chagrin, that I'm going to have to agree with Ghiz (wow, I think that was actually physically painful).

Bortz's argument is that the streetcar/light rail could be an economic stimulator and "must be pursued". Now, I've been a proponent of the idea up to this point, for that reason exactly. However, the growth that it could bring is YEARS and YEARS away, and frankly, its not like the growth is guaranteed. Its a gamble. Was it a gamble I thought the city should have taken with its finances in better order (the projected deficit was only $20 million)? Yes. Is it one we can afford to take in the face of income tax revenue falling twice as much as projected? I have to say no.

I'm still hopeful that we can find a way to fund the beginnings of a system sometime soon, but now may not be the best time to roll the dice on it. Thoughts?

Fair and Balanced

OK, I know I ride Fox News a lot, and I know that the election is long over. The fact is that they're still up to the same shit. It doesn't make me as uneasy as it has in years past, because I think most people, even most conservative people, are onto how Fox News does "business", but still, it blows me away every time I see a montage like this. Sure its not a 100% accurate representation, but it is close, and it IS hilarious. Enjoy.

Enjoy your Friday

Have a good Friday, video courtesy of failblog.org . Enjoy!

Leon Hall Arrested, Tank Johnson Signed; typical week.....

It has not been a good week for sports in this town.

First the Bengals sign Tank Johnson. Yes, we deliberately signed a player that already has legal issues in his past. Yeah I know it was just a misdemeanor gun charge, but it still makes me nervous with all the other trouble we've had in the past (I still have visions of Chris Henry waving a gun around in front of the club wearing his own f'n uniform). Could Tank be a good pickup for the Bengals if he keeps his nose clean? Sure, it has potential. The 3-4 was totally wrong for him according to several scouting reports, so maybe he performs better in a 4-3. I guess I'm just not overflowing with confidence that the guy will stay out of trouble. Maybe I'm just being paranoid, but I think this next tidbit of news justifies it a little.

Yes, Bengal fans, according to WCPO.com, CB Leon Hall has been arrested and charged with DUI on Sunday. I wish I could say that this blew my mind, or that it shocked me. Truth is, I'm sure no Bengal fan was really all that surprised. Amusingly enough, I joked to a buddy just this week that no Bengals had been arrested recently, and that we were about due (Hell, maybe I jinxed it). I'll also say that the fact that this won't blow anyone away says a lot about how low our expectations for the Bengals have sunk around here. At any rate, I suppose I'll wait for the details to come out before I completely throw Leon under the bus, but I have to say that I'm already a little frantic about our future, and we haven't even cornholed our draft yet.....

I really am starting to wonder what it is about this town and/or this team that attracts stupid-assed athletes. 

Oh, and yes, this does make Leon Hall a Typical Michigan Athlete.

At least, as I write this, the Reds are trying to mount a comeback. 

Who-Doh!!!

Tom Browning Arrested? It is a sad, sad day in Redsville......

From Stock Photos

This one actually hurts a little.

According to the Enquirer, former Reds pitcher Tom Browning has been jailed for....

Non-payment of child support?? 

Christ. I mean this really is just the top of disappointing. One of my most vivid childhood memories is Dad turning on the last few innings of the perfect game he threw in '88. Mike and I had a poster commemorating the perfect game hanging in our room for years. 

Fast-forward to present day, and it would appear that the player whose achievements I admired so much is just one more deadbeat dad. Don't get me wrong, my folks were very careful to teach us the difference between athelete "heroes" and real heroes (you admire the on-field achievements of one, and emulate the behavior of the other), but even with that being the case, its still kind of a let down. Now, I have always been a champion of the idea that its not up to atheletes to be role models; rather its up to parents to be parents (which means being role models themselves and teaching them whose examples are to be followed). I still believe that, but I will admit that this news may have given me an appreciation for the other side of the argument that I didn't previously possess. 

Does anyone have $99,008.36 they can loan my man?

Another reason not to like Cutler:

Aside from being the least entertaining and most incorrect radio personality in the city, we now have this bit from his job in Lexington as a reporter, re: the recent termination of Billy Gillespie by UK as their men's basketball coach. Watch this:

In the interest of fairness, he attempts an explanation here.

I think its pretty inadequate, especially considering the next blog entry of his is about the PRESS CONFERENCE that BG gave after getting canned. Maybe you should have done you job THERE, buddy. 

Props to Mike for finding the video.