IN THIS TIME of perpetual Cincinnati Bengals incompetence and futility, with zero playoff wins in the nineteen seasons since the WhoDeyRevolution Godfather, Paul Brown, passed away in 1991 and handed the team to his fortunate son, the Despot, Mike Brown;
Introduction
WE, the members of the Who Dey Revolution, in our fervent dedication to the Cincinnati Bengals and fanatical desire to transform our hometown team into perpetual Super Bowl contenders, call for a popular revolution of fans to demand comprehensive reform to the managerial decisions and approach of Cincinnati Bengals ownership, management, staff and players, and hereby call for the adoption of the following Who Dey Revolution Manifesto:
Manifesto Demands
THAT the Mike Brown, Katie Blackburn, Marvin Lewis, along with every other member of the Bengals management, staff and personnel, state publicly to all Bengals fans, “I will do everything in my power to help the Cincinnati Bengals win a Super Bowl;”
THAT Mike Brown will hire a general manager, drastically expand the scouting department and relinquish all control of player personnel;
THAT all training, rehabilitation and medical facilities are considered best-in-class compared to other NFL teams;
THAT the management fill the team only with players who fit the system, both mentally and physically, and are not reluctant to makes changes to player personnel when needed, regardless of cost or loyalty concerns;
THAT offensive and defensive line depth is considered the top priority for all player personnel decisions;
THAT all decisions made by ownership, management, staff and players, both on and off the field, are judged only by this criterion: “Does this help the Cincinnati Bengals win a Super Bowl?”
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20 - Years since the Bengals have won a playoff game
0 - Total number of playoff wins in Mike Brown's tenure as owner
.359 - Bengals regular season winning percentage since Mike Brown took over as owner (115-206-1 in 20 seasons)
29-34-1 - Record since 2005 playoff game vs Steelers
6 - Seasons the Bengals have lost their first six games since 1991. No other team has more than two.
0 - Teams North of Cincinnati without an indoor practice facility
10 - Players arrested in a 14 month span from 2005-2006
32 - Mike Brown's ranking, out of 32, of the "Best Owners in the NFL" by Michael Silver of Sports Illustrated in 2007
458,000,000 - Amount, in dollars, that Hamilton County Taxpayers paid to build PBS
2032 - Year that Hamilton County will have finally paid off its debt on the stadium deal
3 - Total number of non-clerical employees employed in the Bengals scouting department, lowest in the league
747,000,000 - Amount, in dollars, paid in free agency by the Bengals from 1994 - 2005, second worst of all 28 teams in existence for the duration, behind only Arizona
118 – Ranking, out of 118 professional teams, of the “Worst Franchises” in professional sports, as ranked by ESPN the Magazine in 2003.
97 – Ranking, out of 98 general managers in all four major sports with three or more years of experience, of Mike Brown’s performance as a GM, as ranked by Forbes in 2007.
Bengals were far worse, as it was an injury, not one player on the other team completely dominating. The Reds have a far better chance in this series than the Bengals did without Palmer in ’05.
Also, one note. The second game of the series is on Friday, not tonight.
Posted by: RedStalk | October 07, 2010 at 11:15 AM
I would have to give the edge to the Bengals.
NFL playoffs leave so much more less room for mistakes. Carson going down pretty much sealed the deal that year. As for the Reds, they get atleast 2 more games to make it up. I guess the real question would be Reds 2010 playoff run or Bengals 2005 playoff run. If the Reds get rocked the next two games, it's definitely worse than the 2005 Bengals. But right now, there is still hope for the Reds, and whatever hope there was in 2005 lasted only a hour or two after Carson went down.
Oh and I never thought I could hate Philly fans as much as I hate Steelers fans, but that might happen. Booing Rolen, seriously?
Posted by: A Train | October 07, 2010 at 11:18 AM
I second what A Train said. At this point its the Bengals 2005 that was worse. But ask me again after this series and it might be a different answer.
Posted by: Jeff | October 07, 2010 at 11:32 AM
No matter how sad an eventual loss to the Phillies and exit from the playoffs would be, losing to a team from Philadelphia is certainly not comparable to losing to a division rival, especially the division rival that the Bengals lost to in 2005 (and their legions of mouth-breathing fans). Also of some solace is the fact that, even if the Phillies win this series, they won't win THE series (the World Series, that is), whereas the Steelers went on to win the Super Bowl.
Posted by: Wyatt | October 07, 2010 at 01:00 PM
It seems unfair to call the two match-ups "not comparable" just because the Steelers are a rival. If the Reds get outscored 20-2 in the series, it will definitely feel just as worse, if not more than the Bengals loss. First of all, it's harder to make the playoffs in the MLB, and we may not get this chance again for another 15 years. Second, Philly could easily go on to win the Series. They have a decent ace. And third, a division rivalry does make it sting a bit more, but it my mind Philly fans are just as bad. Yes we don't have a rivalry with them, but I can't say a loss to the Phillies feels better than a loss to the Steelers. When it comes to the playoffs, every game feels like a rivalry game.
Posted by: A Train | October 07, 2010 at 01:25 PM
Thanks for pointing out the error, Redstalk, it has been fixed.
The Reds thing is one of those immediately immortalized events in baseball history unlike the wild card game vs the Steelers which is well known but will ultimately be mostly forgotten outside Cincy & Pitt. So that sucks. But really the Reds thing can only be worse in my opinion if some combination of things happens like a) The Reds getting swept or almost shut out in every game, b) the Reds young promising team comes unglued and never gets back to the playoffs, or c) some atrocity like a Reds player dying occurs.
Still, just amazing that these worst case scenarios for important games always seem to manifest themselves for Cincy teams. It's one thing to get shut out, but we get no hit. It's one thing to lose to Pitt, it's another to have your franchise QB's knee explode from a hit by a former teammate. I mean, it's just really fucking awful and I am fucking sick of it.
Posted by: Sleeping With Bieniemy | October 07, 2010 at 01:38 PM
SWB, I'm surprised you did not also point out the symmetry of the fan bases, the 'Burp and Philly. Both in PA, both obnoxious as hell, both largely inbred.
A Train, if you recall, the Bengals were up by at least 7 in that game at one point and led at halftime. But they got owned in the second half as bad as the Reds got owned by Halladay, so it is easy to forget that.
In baseball, it's axiomatic that good pitching beats good hitting. With the way he was pitching, Halladay would have beaten any lineup of history's greatest you pick to run out there last night. Of course, as weak as this sounds to say, it is easier to do when the strike zone is as generous as Halladay got last night. I'm not saying that he would not have won anyway, but it puts huge pressure on hitters when the pitcher gets an extra 4"-6" on each side of the plate.
Were the Reds to lose to Oswalt and Hamels as ugly as they did to Halladay, that would definitely be the bigger debacle. But I doubt that happens. As it stands now, though, 20+ years of futility without a playoff win still trumps a skunking against a true ace in a command performance.
Posted by: Major Payne | October 07, 2010 at 03:10 PM
Also, bear in mind that the Reds have 5 Series titles as opposed to the Phillies' 2, so it's not like the Phillies fans could throw that in our face (unlike the "6 rings" argument I'm sure you've all heard).
Posted by: Wyatt | October 07, 2010 at 03:33 PM
They are both really, really bad. The Reds losing this series would be like 2005.
Posted by: Rich | October 07, 2010 at 07:38 PM
Reds losing was worse. There's a lot more luck involved in the baseball postseason than there is in football. The Reds just rolled snake-eyes 1000 times in a row.
Posted by: MikeBrownStillSucks | October 07, 2010 at 09:07 PM
i cried like a baby during both. fuck me.
Posted by: Ryag | October 07, 2010 at 10:46 PM
That's okay, Ryag. That just means you are a douche bag. Just like the rest of us.
Posted by: Rich | October 08, 2010 at 07:00 AM
Nope, the Reds are no different than the Bengals in how they conduct business and run a team. The only deal right now is that since they are winning, people using their brains to analyze situations has completely evaporated. It happens everytime a team wins -- right thinking goes right out the window -- typical of der Zinnzinnnati Phan!
Instead of really being honest and looking at a given situation, 'win-fever' takes hold and people go out of their proverbial FUCKING minds! All semblance of critical and rational thought goes right out the window. Rolen is the glue of the team... ...He's had a career year -- don't EVER expect that to happen again. If it does, count yourself lucky and fortunate. Brandon Phillips? Ever notice how he carried (and is carrying himself) -- he wants to 'play out the string and get the fuck out of this hell-hole -- that is Cincinnati Sports. He knows his skills and potential etc. are moldering away in this town. He wants out BAADDDDDD! Jay Bruce? Anywhere else and he'd be a 'journeyman'. Chris Heisy? Heisy? Why in the fuck is he playing professional baseball. There are very few other teams and markets that would have ever had him see the daylight about Single-A -- let alone Double-A or the majors... Joey Votto? Here he is a standout. Put him just about anywhere else and he is just barely above-average. He will be like Barry Larkin for so many years -- he is the 'top-dog' for this team and he will continue to play well -- but only with a 'perfect-storm' will he ever see much real post-season action.
Queto and Volquez? Do you honestly think that they are realyy worth a shit? It took six years for people to finally figure out that Harang was all bluster and bravado with no real substance. How about Arthur Lee Rhodes? If he is the 'answer' what the fuck was the question? For that matter, "Coco Cordero fits right in the same pair of pants as Rhodes!
Cabrera, Cairo and Francisco? I know they aren't starters but they aren't even decent quality backups for heavan's sake!
Nix, Stubbs and Gomes? What about Jock Straps additonal St. Louis Retread in the outfield? How has he helped this team? I love his play of yesteryear -- don't get me wrong. I would have loved to have Edmonds on my team in his prime but at this stage of his career, there's a reason why his last team wanted to dump him. They just got Cincy to take on his salary.
But alas, people will go on thinking that Castellini really did something with this team. Bullshit. The same thing was thought about 'Uncle Carl' -- neither spent money or did anything particularly memorable. People just automatically gave the 'savior' title to Carl and Bob when each came to the forefront -- never admitting that the reality is that they never did shit.
Oh well, this is a football board so discussing baseball is kind of STOOPID to begin with but -- 'When in Rome...'
Posted by: wch | October 08, 2010 at 09:58 PM
First of all, wch, you did a great job at conducting a pointless off topic ramble. That is all.
Second, after tonight's game 2, I officially change my vote. This has now been worse than 2005. It's beginning to feel like being a Cincinnati sports fan means dealing with horrific playoff loss after horrific playoff loss. What a nightmare.
Posted by: A Train | October 09, 2010 at 12:34 AM
@wch: Really, you're saying Joey Votto would be "average" elsewhere? You must be smoking some orange flavored crack. Votto is one of the top players in the game and he'd still be that if he bolts for the Yankees or the Red Sox.
The Reds braintrust may not be geniuses, but compared to Mike Brown almost any sports management with a f-cking pulse are geniuses. There's no comparison between the two organizations.
The Reds went out and signed Aroldis Chapman, who throws 105 mph. Mike Brown wanted to turn a backup scrub tight end into a defensive lineman. It's pretty clear one team is at least *trying* and, hint, it ain't the team in Orange.
Posted by: MikeBrownStillSucks | October 09, 2010 at 02:56 PM
No country , however rich , can afford the waste of its human resources
Posted by: christian louboutin | November 08, 2010 at 04:18 AM