Use Your Indoor Voices Please

As you can see on the right hand side of the page in the Bengals futility by numbers, our beloved franchise is still the northernmost NFL team without an indoor practice facility.  I was recently reading through some old Bengals news, and came across this gem by Mark Curnutte which states that in November of 2006 Marvin addressed Carson's complaint of not having an indoor facility with one sentence,"We're working on that."  Well Marvin... if construction started back then, shouldn't it be done by now?  It only takes Toyota a week to build a car. So how long would it really take to build an inexpensive indoor training facility???

Now some may argue that we don't need it, because the players should practice in real game conditions.  While there may be some merit to this argument, it doesn't take into consideration the amount of information that the coaches have to convey to the players within a week of practice.  Multitudes of new play and formation packages are presented to the players on any given week.  It makes it difficult to coach, and learn these packages in freezing rain, sleet, and snow.   The truth is when players get to this level, football becomes more of a mental game, which makes their concentration levels in practice utterly crucial.  Practicing in poor conditions makes it harder for players to concentrate, which makes the coach's messages less effective.

Another reason to practice inside when the weather is poor is to reduce the risk of injury.  How terrible would it be if one of our players, even worse a starter, got badly injured because they were making them practice in inclement weather?  So by Mike Brown saving the relatively small cost of building a facility, he is risking the possibility of losing the usefulness of his most important assets... His players.

Without sidetracking any further, the point is that we need to get an indoor facility at all costs.  Other teams (ie Brian Kelly and his UC Bearcats) are getting it done, while the Bengals clearly are not.  Maybe if we are lucky Mike Brown will weasel on to UC's indoor facility schedule in between the ladies' basketball and men's volleyball practices. 

If you agree with Brad Meeks, Carson Palmer, Brian Kelly, Scott Kooistra, and myself that the Bengals should have their own indoor training facility, then click here and post a comment to show your support. 

Comments

[Andrew Simon]

At the end of the season, when the weather turns cold, the Bengals practice at an INDOOR SOCCER STADIUM in Mason. This is an NFL team!