Longtime Comrade BMN was the first to bring it to our attention that the Bengals loss against the Steelers was the 200th of Mike Brown's career as Owner/GM of the Bengals. His knowledge of putrid owners is impressive, so we asked him to compile his thoughts on how Mike Brown's record setting futility stacks up against other historically pathetic owners. His conclusion: It's worse than you think. Since BMN sent this to us, Mikey kept his reputation alive with his 201st loss against Indy. His entire guest post is below.
The 200th Loss: Mike Brown is Worse Than You Think
Call me somewhat masochistic but there was somewhat of a pleasure to the result of Monday Night’s Steelers-Bengals clash. Not the part about the Steelers winning, of course. This is only pleasurable in a bizarre, everything-is-upside-down universe that I cannot contemplate.
The pleasure was that, at long last, Mike Brown entered the record books for having lost 200 games faster than any owner in NFL history. In 312 regular season and 2 playoff games, Mike amasses 200 losses to only 113 wins and a tie. Combined with his 2008 achievement of the slowest 100th win (game 288) , it felt…dare I say, monumental. As though all those years watching this atrocious franchise weren’t wasted. Don’t we all want to be a part of history?
The pleasure, however, wore off when I read Enquirer blogger Joe Reedy’s take on the occasion. I wish no ill will to Mr. Reedy. He’s pretty new to the Bengals beat and I’m sure that the other items he wrote about left him little time to put much into perspective.
However, in mentioning the bad company Mike Brown keeps, he inadvertently implied either one of two things: 1) Mike Brown can’t be that bad…look at some of these guys, 2) some (not all) of these franchises found their way out of the tunnel. There is a light!
I’m here to tell you that it’s much worse than what this Reedy column might imply. To me, the 100/200 accomplishment means something. Does it mean that—all other factors being equal-- that Mike Brown a worse owner than every single one of these individuals? Maybe, maybe not. But the 100/200 number can be summed up in two sentences, something that can’t be said of any of the other owners on the list:
He stuck around that long just to win 100 games. He got to 200 losses that quickly with no one intervening to do anything about it.
And that’s the meat of the accomplishment. Some of the owners below cut a worse or reasonably equivalent pace. But Mike holds this record and it symbolizes more than present-day accomplishment. It symbolizes a very, very bleak future.
First, let’s look at the man that most would state is the worst owner in history…
Continue reading "The 200th Loss: Mike Brown is Worse Than You Think" »
