WhoDeyRevolution

Another Reminder: GM's are important

Coming out of DC in the wake of the Redskins annual putrid season that we discussed yesterday, The Washington Post's Sally Jenkins explains in better English why a GM is important. Doc had it first yesterday in his TML. 

Here are the best parts:

"Sometimes those guys get those jobs because the owner realizes he's not that strong," said a longtime NFL general manager who has worked with both good and bad teams. "There are a handful of franchises in the league where the owners think they're football men, and want to make football decisions. And it just doesn't seem to work. It may be a reason why those franchises continue to struggle."

Substituting "Mike Brown" in for "owner" sadly creates the message we've all been preaching since the start of this site. Mikey Boy has a very limited amount of football knowledge which, combined with his extreme loyalty and passion towards just profiting from his organization, creates a deadly combination that has plagued the Bengals since 1990 and will almost surely continue to do so.

Thoughts on Weeks 1-6

Hey there WDR readers, I haven't been writing much recently, did you miss me?  No?  WELL I WASN'T ASKING YOU ANYWAYS.

Now that we have that out of the way, here are my quick thoughts on the current state of Bengaldom (Hobson, Bengals.com) through the first 6 weeks of the season.

The "Real Fans" Argument: People come on this site all the time and claim that the writers and comrades of the Revolution aren't "real fans" because we want the Bengals to change their management decision-making personnel and process.  Then there are others who are angry that the team magically seems to have more "fans" whenever the team does well.  To them I say, relax.  We are talking about sports here.  This is not 'Nam.  Sports are a distraction from real life, something to enjoy. People enjoy supporting a winner.  That is why WDR exists - to try and force the Bengals to change how they do things so the team wins more often.  Let's take out the personal attacks and agree that we all want the same thing - for the Bengals to win football games. 

The "4-2 Record Means the Revolution is Over" Argument: The NFL is designed to promote parity - every team is hypothetically doing everything they can to get an edge.  The league is absurdly competitive.   Take a look at the Titans - from 13-3 last year to an embarrassingly putrid 0-6 this year.  The margin of error that results in wins and losses is razor thin.  To win, teams need to do everything they can to get an edge.  Is WDR pleased that the Bengals are 4-2?  Yes, yes and yes.    But could the Bengals be doing more to ensure that these wins continue, perhaps (GASP!) into the playoffs?  YES.

Where We Go From Here

It's been quite an active couple of days for comments on our site.  We appreciate everyone's viewpoint, and I think it is all a testament to how emotionally we are tied to this team...in one way or another. 

For those of you who were up in arms over the posting of the Blair Witch style video of the two crucial plays from the game on Sunday:  It was not my intention to celebrate those who were in the stadium as supporting Mike Brown, etc.  I just thought it captured what this city actually felt on Sunday, and how it could be like that all the time if the Bengals actually structured the organization like a real-live NFL team.  This team has a long way to go to even sniff the playoffs, and I sure as hell don't to think this team is going to a Super Bowl anytime soon.  If Brian Leonard doesn't get his hand down and leap for a first down, we are talking about another loss to Pittsburgh and a disappointing 1-2 start.  I as much as anyone understand that.  

The margin of winning and losing in the NFL is razor thin.  Much like playing blackjack at a casino...over the long run, you are going to lose.  In today's NFL if you are not hunting for and exploiting every single last advantage you can find, the other teams will consistently win more than you.  Without having a general manager, an extensive scouting department, or a clear long-range 'plan' (or system) for your football team, you will not be successful over the long run.  It just isn't possible.  We have a sample size of nearly twenty years in the Mike Brown/Salary Cap era.  I think that is enough to make a logical, realistic judgment.

Why change when it's working so well?

Last offseason, the Enquirer revealed the well-earned GM bonuses Mike Brown had given himself for doing such a bang up job (.349 winning percentage, no playoff wins-- you all know the story).

Obviously, Mike's performance in team-building alone should prevent him from 1) Being the GM; 2) Paying himself extra dough to fill the position; 3) Smiling (that's right Mikey, you can't smile. Take that); and 4) Standing at press conference like this. It's a perfectly good podium and backdrop, don't sully it with your half-drunk/half-asleep/completely confused/overbearingly idiotic look.

God, Please Put Mike Brown On Waivers. It's An Ability Thing.

I only caught the last 10 minutes or so of Hard Knocks last night. And I wish I hadn't seen it. Watching Mike Brown sit at the front of a Georgetown classroom and act a fool confirmed all of our worst theories about how the Bengals actually are behind closed doors. I've been trying to wrap my mind around the scenario, and what I keep coming up with is that Mike Brown lives in a world of delusion. No one tells him that most of the players and ideas he brings to the team are spectactularly awful. And since no one calls him on his disabilities he just keeps on playing make believe like he did when his dad was around. Paul Brown may have done the same sort of tinkering with his team but he had decades of teaching and coaching and evaluating talent to rely on. All Mike did before he took the reins was exist as a big round flesh toned bowling ball. 

This situation is so sad. Marvin had his shot at being a head coach neutered by Mikey. The first half of Carson's career is going to pass by with him only playing in one playoff game. Mike Zimmer's head is going to explode after his linebacking corp is decimated by injuries and Mike Brown tells him Brad St. Louis has good lateral quickness and a linebackin' body. And all the while two generations of football fans in Cincy are never going to know what it feels like to have confidence while rooting for their team.

The Effect of Silent Evidence

By recommendation of Comrade Bienemy, I have been reading an incredibly interesting (and way above my head) book called The Black Swan by Nassim Nicholas Taleb. In it he talks about something called silent evidence, which is the result of the human tendency to consider only the facts presented, while ignoring other relevant facts that are less apparent, or that take more energy to uncover.

This concept made me think of the NFL college talent scouting process, and how scouts are charged with not only analyzing the apparent facts of potential draft picks, but by going several layers deeper into the player's history and personality traits in order to determine their compatibility with the team's philosophy. The silent evidence in this case would not just be a quick search of a player's criminal history, which would only include the times they got caught. Besides, this information is gathered by the league office, making it widely available to every NFL team. The silent evidence would be the kind of things players have done in the past WITHOUT getting caught, or simply the character flaws that the college coach of a player isn't going to give away to a scout that he does not know.

What I have been told by an anonymous Comrade who has an in depth knowledge of the NFL scouting process is that aside from analyzing film and practices all year long, a lot of the real data is learned (just like working in the corporate world and being in sales) in that you have to develop relationships. The real trade secret is getting to know the assistant coaches. It takes time, many years to build a relationship with an assistant coach, as they are the ones who will tell you the real character of the college player. All criminal information is supposed to be sent to the NFL league office now, so technically, all teams should have access to that high level type of information. But just as we all know from our college experiences, there are many star players or kids of multi-millionaires, where certain known incidents just never seem to make it to campus security or to the local police recordings. 

Mike Brown: End the Dictatorship!! Hire a GM!

Editors Note: This post has been removed.

No Explanation Needed

So the Bengals are in the process of redesigning their propaganda machine Bengals.com.  Check out the newly designed page on the Bengals Front Office.

Yes, the URL is actually: http://www.bengals.com/team/FrontOffice.asp

Full screenshot below the jump.

(Thanks to TampaBrock for alerting WDR to this fortunate problem)

New WDR T-Shirts Just In Time For Free Agency Failure!

Continue to show your support for the revolution through the medium of t-shirts.  This is our newest product hot off the presses just in time to show your support (and absolute displeasure) to Mike Brown and the Bengals!  Show all of your friends that YOUR TEAM, yes YOUR CINCINNATI BENGALS, has the worst owner in any professional sport!

After a strong push by some of our comrades, the new shirts are branded with the following quotes on the back:

"I am afraid you are stuck with me as the team's chief executive." - Mike Brown

"At least we agree on one thing: that's our fear as well." - WDR

Buy your new WDR gear here.  Viva.

create & buy custom products at Zazzle

St. Louis Rams Respond to WDR; Bengals Still MIA

Chip Rosenbloom, the Owner/Chairman of the St. Louis Rams took the time to write WDR a personalized letter in response to our communication to the NFL and all 32 owners outlining the Bengals many, many managerial faults that breech the spirit of the generous NFL revenue sharing plan.  Mr. Rosenbloom joins the Steelers owner Art Rooney and the NFL in repsonding to our letters.  The Bengals have not responded.

You might remember Chip Rosenbloom who took over the struggling Rams this year after his mother passed away.  Chip immediatly made changes, first making it abundantly clear that the goal of the Rams was to win. Not compete, or do well or gosh darnit didn't we try so hard, but to win. 

Then after a disappointing start, Rosenbloom fired his head coach and later his GM.  This is an owner who has so far shown that he will do whatever it takes to win.  The Bengals, meanwhile, continue to ignore the spreading revolution and continue to move forward as if nothing is wrong.  According to Mike Brown, these last 18 years can just be chalked up to bad luck.