WhoDeyRevolution

Bengals Practice Rained Out

In more non-Chad Johnson news, the Bengals mini-camp practice on Friday was rained out. Yes, an NFL team could not hold practices because it was raining and they did not have a suitable indoor practice facility.

Compare this with the new privately funded facility in Seattle.

Small Market BS

A classic Bengals excuse for not spending money on free agents, facilities and staffing is because of Cincinnati's market size compared to other NFL teams. This was the same argument they used to negotiate one of the sweetest deals in the NFL. Former Hamilton County Commissioner Bob Bedinghaus, who was the cheerleader-in-chief to get public financing of the Reds and Bengals stadium’s said in 2000: “Their concern is, "We will always be operating in a smaller market than many of the other football teams in the NFL.'” 

Bedinghaus is now the Bengals Director of Development for Paul Brown Stadium. You can expect more on this issue soon.

Bengals fans need to stop accepting this reasoning to excuse the Bengals management from their constant griping and penny-pinching. The NFL revenue sharing agreement means that even Isiah Thomas could make money running the Bengals. Unlike other major sports, the NFL’s policy means that funds generated from tickets, merchandise, sponsorships and national media deals (such as the NFL’s TV and Radio contracts) are divided equally between all 32 teams.  

Major League Baseball, on the other hand, lets teams negotiate their own TV contracts, leaving the Yankees with their own TV network (the YES network) and the Reds on Fox Sports Ohio. Guess which team generates more money in this situation?

A recent article in the Enquirer detailed the financial arrangement of Bob Kraft and the New England Patriots. Kraft purchased the team in 1994 for a then NFL record $172 million, then put $350 million of his own money into their new stadium. To recoup this investment, Kraft sold the naming rights to new P&G brand Gillette and is building a mixed use development adjacent to the stadium, at an additional cost to Kraft of $850 million.

Thinking Inside the Box (version 2.01)

A little while ago I posted an article stating who I thought would be the starting linebacking corps on opening day as follows:

• OLB - Odell Thurman
• MLB - Keith Rivers
• OLB - Dhani Jones or Rashad Jeantucky

Wow, I could not have been more wrong.  This picture has changed drastically since the time I posted that article, now that Odell has been peaced and that they made the decision to put Rivers at his "natural" spot on the outside. It looks now like the starting lineup is going to be this:

• OLB - Keith RIvers
• MLB - Dhani Jones
• OLB - Ahmad Brooks or Rashad Jeantucky

This could very well turn out to be one of the better LB corps in recent history.  But this hinges on a few things:

1. Rookie Keith Rivers learns quickly and can step his level of play up to the NFL before too long.  Every great player in college has the potential to be great in the NFL.  But does Rivers have the attitude and drive that it takes to do so? It seems like he does, but we will have to wait and see.
2. Ahmad Brooks is fully recovered from his "sore" hamstring. If this turns out to be a lingering injury that keeps him from any amount of playing time, this could be a repeat of last year.
3. Dhani Jones starts acting like a football player instead of a rich frat kid from UVA. No but seriously, Dhani has never really played the middle for an extended period of time, so WDR does not know what to expect from him.  What we do know is that he is consistent, and can tackle well. What more can you ask for?

Also in order for any of these players to have success, we need solid play from our interior defensive line.  If just one of the two rookies pans out (Sims or Shirley) we should do OK.  If both of them show up and play to their potential, then watch out.  This defense could actually turn some heads this year. 

Stay tuned to WDR for the latest news and analysis of the Bengals.  And please join the revolution if you dont want to settle for a 5-11 record this year.

Indoor Practice Facility

Buried in a post on the rookie minicamp, Mark Curnette mentions that the Bengals will be ripping up the astroturf on the practice field and replacing it with natural grass.  As a commenter on the story has already mentioned (and who has surely joined WhoDeyRevolution...), the team desperately needs an indoor practice facility.

The Bengals are the northern-most team without an indoor field.  At the end of the season, when it invariably gets colder in Cincinnati, the team is forced to play at an indoor soccer complex in Mason! This is an NFL team!

Think about that.  During the preparation for the playoff game in 2005, the team was forced to meet at PBS and load into buses to drive to Mason to practice at an indoor soccer field.  Is this really a team doing whatever it takes to win?  Forcing players to take buses for 30 minutes to practice on a borrowed indoor soccer field before the biggest Bengals game in 15 years?

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. 

Who Dey Revolution Manifesto

It wasn’t supposed to be like this.

The year was 1991.  The Bengals had just completed their second trip to the playoffs in three years, losing to LA Raiders in the Divisional Round.  Hopes were high for another run to the post-season, with Boomer Esiason under center, a young defense that was aggressive and opportunistic, and a fiery coach named Sam Wyche who was at the forefront of offensive innovation.  Then on August 5, everything changed.   The Godfather of the modern era in pro football, Paul Brown, passed away at age 82, clearing the road for his son Mike to take the reins.  Since then, the Bengals have had five head coaches, nearly two decades of heartbreak, and exactly zero playoff triumphs.  Although there was a (arguably tortuous) glimmer of light in 2005, the State of the Bengals Fan is more depressing than it has ever been.  Anyone can point out the problems, but few have a plan of attack to solve what has ailed the Bengals for half a generation.  Here are my six ways to fix the Orange and Black:

1.  Commitment to Win a Super Bowl (at all costs) – Sounds simple enough, right?  For the Bengals, it’s a little more complicated than that.  The Bengals are like a fat person who wants to lose weight.  Ask a fat person if they want to get skinny?  They say, of course I do.  Now, if you tell them that will mean drastically altering their diet, a lot of intense exercise, and basically changing their entire lifestyle…then they start to think a little harder.  It’s clear whatever strategy Mike Brown and the front office has crafted to try and put a consistently competitive football team on the field year in and year out simply IS NOT WORKING.  Now, all things being equal, does Mike Brown want to win?  Sure.  Is he willing to spend the additional dollars, hire more scouts and (more importantly) GIVE UP CONTROL in order to win?  Sadly, the answer is resounding no.  This guy freaking beat the IRS in tax court.  No one beats the IRS.  So if you think he has a little bit of an ego when it comes to doing things his way…you would be absolutely correct.  More than signing a free agent, trading Chad Johnson (we’ll get to that later) or landing a stud draft class, I’d like to see the Bengals announce to Cincinnati:  we are 100% committed to win.  We will change the fact that we are the northern-most city without an indoor facility, we will add scouts and take the double duty load off of our coaches, heck, we’ll even buy a couple gallons of paint and dress up the concrete walls of Paul Brown Stadium.  I would just love to hear ownership say:  we will not sleep and we will not stop until we win a championship…no matter what the cost.  Attitude comes from the top, and when the top does not have a mandate to win, it gradually creeps down below, to the coaches, to the players, the entire organization.  Complacency is a big, big, big problem for the Bengals.  Players know there isn’t a mandate from the top to win, so whether they give max effort or 75% effort…their jobs are secure.  Maybe they will skip a weight lifting session or two, maybe they won’t watch as much film as they should, maybe the coaches won’t gameplan quite as much as they would if Jerry Jones was their owner.  Face the facts:  the Bengals will never, EVER win a Super Bowl until this changes.

2.  Hire a GM, Drastically Expand Scouting Department, Relinquish Control of Player Personnel – Outside of what Mike Brown considers the ‘triple headed’ General Manager between himself, his daughter Katie Blackburn, and her husband Troy Blackburn, the Bengals have exactly six people in player personnel/scouting.  SIX!!!  There are more than eight people working the freaking night shift at White Castle!   Not only is this the smallest player personnel department in the league, it’s flat out not working.  In a recent article by the Enquirer, Marvin Lewis again reiterated how the organization would not try and build the team through free agency, instead focusing on the draft.  I have no problem with this ideology.  But, if that’s your strategy…you might want to beef up the scouting staff to accommodate this plan.  Mike Brown then steadfastly defended the way the Bengals identify and draft players, calling his puny scouting department “efficient”.  He pointed to the fact that over the last few years, the Bengals drafted the 5th most players still playing in the league.  “It’s about the whole body of work, isn’t it?” Brown said.  Yes Mike, it is.  That’s why under your watch the Bengals have ONE winning season and ONE playoff berth in 18 years.  The facts are the facts.   If you want to build through the draft, then put the necessary resources in place to accomplish this.  Hire football people to make football decisions.  Period.  One of my favorite stories to illuminate this is when asked about the questionable selection of Frostee Rucker in the third round of the 2006 draft, a Bengals coach said “We thought we had enough information about him to make the right decision.”  Forget hiring scouts, we need to get the Bengals a $40 subscription to ESPN Insider!  The arrogance of the Bengals ownership is astounding when it comes to player personnel and scouting.  They think, after 18 years of doing it ‘their way’ that it’s still the best way.  Think of it this way…for years, the Bengals keep banging their head against a wall, over and over again, in order to crack it.  Hiring Marvin Lewis was like moving to a different spot on the wall.  You would think after 18 years, the Bengals would realize you need a sledgehammer to bust down the wall.  After 18 years, luck doesn’t matter anymore.  The way they go about crafting their football team is seriously flawed, and sadly it will not change with Mike Brown still in control.

3. Ensure that our facilities are considered top notch when compared to other NFL teams - One of my favorite Mike Brown stories is when 320 pound DT Tony Siragusa was a free agent after the 1996 season.  The Bengals were interested in him and set up a meeting in Cincinnati with Tony and his agent.   When Tony received the plane ticket that Mike Brown had purchased for the top rated free agent, he promptly canceled the meeting.  In an attempt to save money, Mikey had bought him a coach ticket.   What does this have to do with facilities?  Well, Mike is still cutting corners whenever he can to save money.  The Bengals are most Northern team without an indoor practice facility.  At the end of the season (and presumably if they ever make the playoffs), when the weather is too cold to practice outside, (as was the case in December 2003) the team is forced to practice at an indoor youth soccer center 30 miles away!  This is an NFL team!  Free agents know Mikey is cheap, players are not able to get the best training, and their performance suffers on the field.  Come on Mikey, you got the best sweetheart stadium deal in the NFL, invest in some NFL caliber facilities.

4.  Identify players that fit the system and be able to cut the cord – It’s a shame that when Art Modell fired Paul Brown decades ago, this singular event still haunts Bengals fans today.  Above all else, one word is used to describe Mike Brown, and that’s loyalty.  He saw what happened when his Dad was ousted in Cleveland from the team he founded, and he never forgot that.  To this day, when it’s clear he should move on (see Shula, Dave and Anderson, Willie), he makes decisions that hurt the team.  Take Chad Johnson for example.  Unbelievable talent, very mediocre player when it comes to crunch time.  Think about it for a second, when has Chad made a huge play in a huge spot for the Bengals.  It’s a very, very short list.  My point is this:  the Bengals are clearly better off without Chad Johnson on the team, for the simple fact that when the chips are down, he either disappears, melts down, or both.  From a cap standpoint, it’s probably illogical for the Bengals to trade him this season, but hopefully in 2009 we will be Chad free.  We aren’t going ANYWHERE with Chad still on the team.  Just ask Giants fans how much devastating this year was without their supposed best player, Tiki Barber.  The blueprints on how to put together a football team aren’t that difficult to find.  See what the Steelers are doing, the Patriots, the elite teams in football.  They all have football people who work tirelessly to find specific players to fit their scheme.  It’s not about finding the most talented or best ranking player at each position.  It’s about identifying players who come in, do their jobs, and make plays when it counts.  When the Patriots thought that Ty Law wasn’t cutting it anymore… he was gone.  Their best receiver (sound familiar?) Deion Branch a distraction?  See ya.  We have too many selfish players on this team…and too many players that don’t fit the scheme.  We have players with talent, but not enough of the ‘right’ players.  Again, it all goes back to the fact that we don’t have enough football people making football decisions.  You wouldn’t hire an exterminator to re-decorate your house, you wouldn’t hire the cable guy to tutor your kids, and you sure as hell wouldn’t hire Mike Brown to run your football team. 

5.  Offensive and Defensive line depth always priority #1 – There are reasons why the Steelers, Patriots, Giants, and Cowboys, etc. are able to compete year after year for the playoffs and beyond.  For years and years, they can protect the passer, and they can get pressure on the other team’s quarterback with their down linemen.  The Steelers defensive backfield is shaky at best, but they look pretty darn good when they can dial up pressure all game long.  Bengals corners have long been the targets of scorn, but it would be a different story with defensive ends that actually sniff the quarterback every now and then.  Any questions about this theory were answered with the Giants in the Super Bowl.  Bottom line is this:  the Bengals have always been an offense-oriented team…going back to the days of Paul Brown and Sam Wyche.  When Paul Brown passed away, I guarantee you Paul told Mike in some capacity “Don’t ever change the way we do things.”  The only problem with not changing is that the NFL is so much different than 1991.  Teams are smarter, more intricate and much more competitive.  Status quo doesn’t work from year to year anymore, let alone 18 years.  This team already has the franchise quarterback.  That’s the hard part, and it’s already there.  Sign and KEEP an offensive line to protect him…and finally build and spend money on a defense that can keep you in games when the offense can’t put up 30 points.  I keep hearing how the Bengals offense is so close to being like the 2005 season.  Guys…those days are OVER and NEVER COMING BACK!  40 percent of that offensive line is gone, we will probably have a new running back this year, and who knows what will happen at receiver.  If we had a defensive line that produced and got pressure on the quarterback, we wouldn’t have to worry about resurrecting the 2005 offense. 

6. Bengals decisions and actions of all players and staff, on and off the field, is only judged by its effect on the Bengals quest for the Super Bowl - The focus needs to be 100% on winning a Super Bowl.  Bottom Line.  End of Story.  Nothing else matters.  Enough with the off field distractions, on field distractions, and locker room distractions.  Enough with the rebuilding seasons and incremental changes.  Do whatever it takes to win a Super Bowl.

I’ll leave the tortured Bengals fan with this last thought.  My favorite sports story of all-time is the 1980 US Hockey Team.  Right place, right time, right moment, right coach…the one time every single planet in the sports world aligned absolutely perfectly.  More specifically, I am borderline obsessed on how coach Herb Brooks put together the squad of college kids to beat the Russians.  In the movie Miracle (where Kurt Russell absolutely nails Brooks to a tee), Brooks is at the US Olympic Center watching tryouts.  Before the first day of a scheduled week of tryouts is even finished, he has his team already selected (most aren’t even on the list of top tier players).  When assistant coach Craig Patrick asks him why he won’t even consider the best players.  Brooks answers: “Because I’m not looking for the best players Craig, I’m looking for the right ones.”   

I almost feel bad for fans that are really optimistic about the Bengals future.  Guys, we are not ‘close’ to winning a Super Bowl.  There are glaring, startling problems that have prevented and will continue to prevent this team from being elite.  If you are Mike Brown or one of the Blackburns, at some point, you have to ask yourself:  aren’t you tired of getting kicked in the mouth year after year?  Honestly, I don’t think they do.  Bengals management cannot look in the mirror or look at their fan base and truthfully say they are doing everything in their power to win.  And as someone like me who bleeds orange and black…that hurts. 

Here’s hoping that somehow, someway the Bengals organization will realize it’s not always about getting players that have the best 40-time or physical skills…but about hiring football people to make football decisions, identifying players that fit their scheme and not resting until the Lombardi Trophy graces the halls of Paul Brown Stadium.