Looking For Something To Believe In

It has rained most of the week here in Cincinnati, but tomorrow is sun is finally supposed to break out in the early afternoon. 

Ever since that fateful day in January 2006 (and most of the time prior to 2005), rain clouds have hovered over the Bengals franchise and fan base...reducing us to be a nervous, silent mass during Steelers Week.

By the time 4:15 rolls around on Sunday, the 50,000 or so Bengals fans in attendance will have had enough time to fuel up, and should have enough passion, energy, and alcohol to account for the 10,000 or so fans in Black and Gold.  But what happens if Pittsburgh scores first.  What happens if they go up 10-0.  14-0?

For the first time in a long time, I'm excited about a Bengals game.  Here at WDR, we are all HUGE Bengals fans first.  That's the only way this site would be possible.  If we didn't truly have an unhealthy obsession about the Bengals and the city of Cincinnati, there is no way this site would be what it is today.  All of us would literally give body parts to see this team win a Super Bowl. 

But, you can't win a Super Bowl in Week 3.  You can win one game though, and this game would be a huge step.

A win against the Steelers means more than going 1-0 in the division, 2-1 overall, and putting Pittsburgh at 1-2.  It means the Bengals have the mental toughness to go against the team that sets the standard for mental toughness in the NFL.  It means that Pittsburgh's dominance at Paul Brown Stadium over the past eight years is over.  Quite frankly, it means that this fan base can start to have a swagger found only once for a brief four month period in 2005 in the past 20 years.  Think about that...we were confident about our football team ONE TIME in 20 years.  All the parity in the NFL can't overcome that fact. 

Marvin's message this year is to 'fight back'.  The Bengals need to fight for 60 minutes on Sunday, and they won't just be battling the 45 active Steelers.  I ask the Bengals players to do the following on Sunday:

Fight through the muddling, mediocre, losing ways of your ownership.  It's inexcusable that they never announce their expectations to win a Super Bowl, and pathetic that winning is not their number one priority...but fight through that.

Fight through the Steelers walking in here with the full expectation they are walking out with their ninth straight win in Cincinnati.

Fight through a quarterback who has not really taken 'the leap' yet, while the opposing quarterback  has two rings in five seasons.

My final plea to the fellas on Sunday?  Give us something to believe in again.  UC's fantastic run in football right now withheld, the fans in this town have been so beaten down for so long, that it has affected our entire mental psyche.  I'm not just talking about sports psyche.  It affects us in all walks of life...at least everyone that is a true Bengals fan and a true Cincinnatian.  

Starting on Sunday, you can start to give us hope again.  Here at WDR, we don't believe with the current ownership structure that a Super Bowl is possible.  But you, as players, can win this game.  And that's a start.

Oh yeah, and beat the hell out of Hines Ward.

Comments

[braddeygoddamit]

who dey baby.... stuck tha feelers ..... i pray that i can shove this weekend into thousands of steelers fans, i cant tell you how many people walk up and talk shit when im sportin my bengals jerseys .... because "they like the steelers and there gonna kick our ass"... a win would be better than my first hand job this week.... i want rey to break wine hard's jaw

[mikebrownstinks]

It's fine if you cheer for the Bengals on tv, just don't actually go to the stadium and enrich Mike Brown. Otherwise you're just being suckered the same way Charlie Brown is by Lucy.

[GregC78&69]

I love my Bengal's and have since I was about 7 or so(since the begining, I'm 46), I hate the douche bag and his family that own the team. His father just has to be spinning in his grave.

I have been in a foul mood this entire week. I couldn't figure out why, and then about Wednesday it hit me, it's steelers week!

I so hate the steelers and their fucking douche bag fans with every molecule of my being that I have been an absolute dick to be around.

I so hope that our boys stomp a mudhole 5 feet deep in the steelers collective asses, that I can't see straight.

I think the boys have been showing increased improvment each game and beleive this week should be no different.

WhoDey! Break one off in that steeler ass!!

¡Viva La Revolucion!

P.S. WDR, you guys are the best and I will continue to send you money when you need it for Project Mayhem and I sport my WDR t-shirt everywhere and am speading the word of the revolution here in Columbus, Oh!

[matthew brown]

Whoa! When this website came up and I first saw the picture, I thought I had accidently clicked on hotchickswithdouchebags.com!

Go Bengals! Destroy the Evil Empire.

[Wyatt]

*starts slow clap*

Seriously, though, Buck, this is probably the most compelling plea I've read on this site to date, and it certainly states my position as a Bengals fan first and foremost and a Mike Brown hater second. It also nicely sums up the daily turbulence of being a Bengals fan and constantly looking for something to hope for (especially when about 70% of my family and 90% of my friends are Steelers fans). I think one thing you missed, though, was this - this is more than everything you said, because it gives us a chance to strike first and put the Steelers on notice. They beat us first (and last) in 2005, and while that division clincher was oh-so-awesome, as good as the Bengals had played during the season, I know I wasn't the only one who wasn't sure if the boys in stripes could pull that game off. They go out tomorrow and knock the Steelers in the mouth (figuratively and literally, in the case of Whines Hard), and it puts them on notice (and Baltimore, to a lesser degree): the Bengals aren't a doormat anymore.

[Wyatt]

Oh, yeah, and how much hotter is an already-hot chick when she's wearing a Bengals jersey? If this chick isn't proof enough, google Aubrey O'Day and Bengals jersey and check out the pic(s) of her in a Chad Johnson jersey (pre-Ochocinco).

[Andy]

I hope Hines Ward gets drilled so hard he starts crying.

Then Rey Maualuga smashes into Rothlisberger's knee so hard that it gets ripped off. Then he proceeds to BEAT HIM WITH HIS OWN LEG.

[Joe]

Just promise not to be too sad when the Steelers beat you guys, again? The Reds were better than the Pirates (barely)...that's something, keep your head and and count yourselves absolutely blessed you still have a professional football franchise

[Scott Ricketts]

I loathe the Steelers. The only time I have liked them was Madden 2005 on the PS2, when I would use Jerome Bettis to run over my son.

[Mockenrue]

Joe, it's hard to be sad about something that is utterly expected.

That said, rot in hell Pittsburgh scum.

<3

[mikebrownstinks]

The Steelers are fun to hate but we really wish the Bengals were like them. They are the best team in the NFL if you go by the only metric that counts.

On the other hand, all their fans I've met have been jerks.

[VegasKev]

A larger gathering of retards has never been assembled. May all Squeeler fans find out about the joy of the love of an unclean woman. Enjoy the burning pee, Squeeler fans!

[Danimal, Destroyer of Worlds, Eviscerator of Steeler Fans]

Absolutely was ecstatic about the end result. Worried there for a while but we pulled it off somehow. Looked at some Squealer blogs and noticed that they take losing poorly. This nugget was a funny one, because it's true. It was posted by a blogger at Behind The Curtain.

"Our window is closed. The Bengals were superior to us physically and mentally, as most teams are, we need ball sucking officials in order to survive, without preferential calls, the Steelers are toast. WE NEED THE REFS TO SHOW UP!"

That is so true on so many levels. I laughed my ass off at this. SCREW YOU PITTSBURGH!!!! I'm sporting my Chad Johnson jersey with pride today at work. and laughing in the face of every Squealer fan in the process.WHO DEY!