I've often thought that maybe WDR should simply become a FJM-style blog dedicated solely to everything posted on Bengals.com. It's like a chinese mega-factory committed solely to producing prolific quantities of nonsense instead of super awesome lead-based toys. It alone could generate all the material we'd ever need for this site.
Here's the latest "thing" that caught my eye from Hob. It concerns Mike, the last CBA, the current negotiations, Jim Irsay, an island and an overflowing "damn". I know, exciting stuff.
With the collective bargaining agreement now dead five years after he was one of just two that told their fellow owners it was no good, he typically stayed in the background while the Giants' John Mara mused, "We should have listened to him."
That sentence makes me weep for the english language.
And yeah John Mara, you should have listened to Mike. It really sucked to have labor peace, football being played, and everyone making money.
In case you are wondering, nowhere in this article will you find out with any specificity why Mike Brown labeled the last CBA "no good". I am sure he gave the reasons at some point. I don't remember myself but I assume it involved the omission of a "Denny's Clause".
"Obviously, you have to say he was ahead of his time," said Colts owner Jim Irsay, smiling at the incongruity and truth of the statement.
Agreed. If by "ahead of his time" you mean he wanted the owners to offer the players a horrible deal five years before and ruin football for America even earlier.
But Brown wasn't saying "I told you so" this week after he and the Bills' Ralph Wilson were ripped for being out of touch as the only two to vote against extending the collective bargaining agreement in 2006.
The whole premise of this angle Hob takes is fucked. Exactly why does a lockout today, after half a decade of enormously successful and popular NFL seasons that resulted from the last CBA, mean that the last CBA was somehow a disaster that only Mike and Ralph foresaw would ruin everything? The answer is that agreeing to the last CBA ruined nothing.
What is ruining everything is that somehow the owners decided they need to make MORE money even though the overwhelming majority of them have the major cost (stadium) of their monopoly business picked up by taxpayers.
"That was last time. That’s water over the damn. That’s history," Brown said this week.
Water over the damn? But did it also go under the bridge? I'm so confused. Maybe Mike stole that metaphor from Peter King, that would explain a lot. At any rate, Hob is really "digging himself into a corner" with this angle, hopefully we can move on soon.
"Ralph and him, they were visionaries on those things that ended up a tougher deal for us," Irsay said.
Nope. Guess we can't.
Let us all hope and pray that this will be the last time anyone labels Mike Brown a "visionary". He is blessed with actual eyesight to be sure, but not the kind of vision you get compliments for. Insight? No. Foresight? No. Any other type of sight that implies fans of your team will have hope for a superbowl win? No.
Richardson says Brown "is an independent thinker and doesn't take long to say what he wants to say." Those are traits that have often put Brown on an island in ownership.
I'd say what puts Mike Brown on an island in ownership mostly is his backward infrastructure and his ability to lose consistently in a league designed for parity. But that's just me. Also, independent thinking is great...if thinking is that person's strong suit. I'd prefer that Mike had someone else doing his thinking for him.
Good God though. I'm getting quite sick of all this Mike Brown praise. Who could bring a wet blanket to this love fest? The Steelers of course.
"I don't know why he voted against it (in '06)." the Steelers' Art Rooney said.
We don't know why either Art. But nevermind. VISIONARY.
