Every doubt about the Bengals has to be gone.
Are they perfect? No. Do they have holes? Yes. Are they winning? Yes.
Listen, this team needs a lot of respect, something many of us (myself included) were slow to come to. But the bottom line is this -- this team went into Pittsburgh, Carson Palmer was off, Cedric Benson was hurt and Keith Rivers was out -- and won. At Pittsburgh.
You'll hear Steeler fan tell you Pittsburgh didn't do this or that and was this or that. Forget them. The Bengals beat them. Twice. "Outplayed" and all those other excuse are just that. The Bengals aren't just a playoff team, they're a playoff favorite, up there with the Colts, Patriots and (still) Steelers.
* I hope we don't have another blackout watch. Maybe Cincinnati is just 10 weeks late, instead of 10 years.
* So, Pittsburgh's Chris Hoke tried to take Bobbie Williams' pants off.
* Every sports talk host in America loves Bill Belichick right now. They don't have to think of a topic. The inner-Tressel everywhere can call up and say how dumb the genius is and feel better about themselves. The odds say Belichick made the right decision, actually. Me? When it comes to football, I'm more conservative than Ronald Reagan and Woody Hayes' lovechild. I don't believe in throwing the football if I'm a coach (one of the million reasons I'm not a coach). (And some of that may be the sportswriter in me who hates covering high school games with a spread, because option teams keep the clock moving and the game over with more quickly to make deadline easier.)
* In a UniWatch blog item this weekend, they had some readers sending in some NFL uniform mock-ups and one guy went with the Bengals. He was too focused on the Bengal head logo for me, but I think he's on to something with the snow Bengal uni as a cool alternate -- maybe to roll out one winter. I think it's pretty cool looking (well, mostly the helmet -- the rest would need some serious tweaks)
* Is there anything more exciting than Monday Night Football in Cleveland? Really? Cleveland? Who thought having a Browns game this year would be a good idea? Last year some people, not me, thought they'd be good, so I understood when they were given a bone. This year? Nobody, nobody thought they'd be any good. Except, I guess some folks at ESPN. Ugh.
* So, does the Big East have the best team in Ohio and in Pennsylvania?
* CBS Sports' Gregg Doyel didn't make too many friends in Ohio this weekend with columns on UC and Ohio State. But I'm not sure he's too far off (minus the usual hyperbole we get from Gregg). Pat Forde takes a less harsh view on Tressel-ball. And Pat's right, too -- Tressel gets results.
* I'm gonna say it -- the best conference in college football this season is the Pac 10.
* Depending on the money, I like re-signing Ramon Hernandez for the Reds. The vesting option if he plays in 120 games shouldn't be a problem -- I don't see him getting in that much time unless something happens to Joey Votto again.
.
* Check out the Reds' CHONE projections for 2010. So are some UZR projections.
* FanGraphs' Reds prospect review. Like one of the commenters, I'm not so sure what they call Daniel Ray Herrera's changeup isn't his screwball. The site also looks at the value of Joey Votto.
* Sticking with the folks at FanGraphs -- this won't surprise too many folks around here, but the worst fielder from 2007-09 according to UZR is Adam Dunn.
* Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch says Scott Boras' story about a rift between Matt Holliday and Mark McGwire is overblown.
* Not sure if it's even news, because it's the national trend, but the Enquirer's circulation is dropping. They had a bump the other way when the Post closed, now it's leveling out. I wonder how much is because of declining newspaper readership everywhere and how much is the declining quality because of the lack of funds put into it.
* This US interstate map in the style of the London subway system map is pretty cool.
* Paste lists the Top 25 American Breweries of the decade -- disappointed the GA boys at Paste skip Sweetwater and Terrapin.
* An interview wtih former Top Chef contestant Richard Blais about his burger joint, Flip. I went to Flip last month and was kinda disappointed. It was good, but not great. I will say, the turkey burger the DLP's sister got was perhaps the best turkey burger I've ever tasted.
* Wilco and Feist join Beck.
* Carrie Brownstein, late of Sleater-Kinney, talks about how rock has rocked less as of late because of the sensitive bearded boys. And she's right -- The Woods
just flat-out rawks.
* Finally, a big thanks to one of my favorite blogs, The Cincinnati Man, for such kind words. I really think they're much hipper than I, but I don't know if that's too hard.
Are they perfect? No. Do they have holes? Yes. Are they winning? Yes.
Listen, this team needs a lot of respect, something many of us (myself included) were slow to come to. But the bottom line is this -- this team went into Pittsburgh, Carson Palmer was off, Cedric Benson was hurt and Keith Rivers was out -- and won. At Pittsburgh.
You'll hear Steeler fan tell you Pittsburgh didn't do this or that and was this or that. Forget them. The Bengals beat them. Twice. "Outplayed" and all those other excuse are just that. The Bengals aren't just a playoff team, they're a playoff favorite, up there with the Colts, Patriots and (still) Steelers.
* I hope we don't have another blackout watch. Maybe Cincinnati is just 10 weeks late, instead of 10 years.
* So, Pittsburgh's Chris Hoke tried to take Bobbie Williams' pants off.
* Every sports talk host in America loves Bill Belichick right now. They don't have to think of a topic. The inner-Tressel everywhere can call up and say how dumb the genius is and feel better about themselves. The odds say Belichick made the right decision, actually. Me? When it comes to football, I'm more conservative than Ronald Reagan and Woody Hayes' lovechild. I don't believe in throwing the football if I'm a coach (one of the million reasons I'm not a coach). (And some of that may be the sportswriter in me who hates covering high school games with a spread, because option teams keep the clock moving and the game over with more quickly to make deadline easier.)
* In a UniWatch blog item this weekend, they had some readers sending in some NFL uniform mock-ups and one guy went with the Bengals. He was too focused on the Bengal head logo for me, but I think he's on to something with the snow Bengal uni as a cool alternate -- maybe to roll out one winter. I think it's pretty cool looking (well, mostly the helmet -- the rest would need some serious tweaks)
* Is there anything more exciting than Monday Night Football in Cleveland? Really? Cleveland? Who thought having a Browns game this year would be a good idea? Last year some people, not me, thought they'd be good, so I understood when they were given a bone. This year? Nobody, nobody thought they'd be any good. Except, I guess some folks at ESPN. Ugh.
* So, does the Big East have the best team in Ohio and in Pennsylvania?
* CBS Sports' Gregg Doyel didn't make too many friends in Ohio this weekend with columns on UC and Ohio State. But I'm not sure he's too far off (minus the usual hyperbole we get from Gregg). Pat Forde takes a less harsh view on Tressel-ball. And Pat's right, too -- Tressel gets results.
* I'm gonna say it -- the best conference in college football this season is the Pac 10.
* Depending on the money, I like re-signing Ramon Hernandez for the Reds. The vesting option if he plays in 120 games shouldn't be a problem -- I don't see him getting in that much time unless something happens to Joey Votto again.
.
* Check out the Reds' CHONE projections for 2010. So are some UZR projections.
* FanGraphs' Reds prospect review. Like one of the commenters, I'm not so sure what they call Daniel Ray Herrera's changeup isn't his screwball. The site also looks at the value of Joey Votto.
* Sticking with the folks at FanGraphs -- this won't surprise too many folks around here, but the worst fielder from 2007-09 according to UZR is Adam Dunn.
* Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch says Scott Boras' story about a rift between Matt Holliday and Mark McGwire is overblown.
* Not sure if it's even news, because it's the national trend, but the Enquirer's circulation is dropping. They had a bump the other way when the Post closed, now it's leveling out. I wonder how much is because of declining newspaper readership everywhere and how much is the declining quality because of the lack of funds put into it.
* This US interstate map in the style of the London subway system map is pretty cool.
* Paste lists the Top 25 American Breweries of the decade -- disappointed the GA boys at Paste skip Sweetwater and Terrapin.
* An interview wtih former Top Chef contestant Richard Blais about his burger joint, Flip. I went to Flip last month and was kinda disappointed. It was good, but not great. I will say, the turkey burger the DLP's sister got was perhaps the best turkey burger I've ever tasted.
* Wilco and Feist join Beck.
* Carrie Brownstein, late of Sleater-Kinney, talks about how rock has rocked less as of late because of the sensitive bearded boys. And she's right -- The Woods
just flat-out rawks.* Finally, a big thanks to one of my favorite blogs, The Cincinnati Man, for such kind words. I really think they're much hipper than I, but I don't know if that's too hard.
I'll be honest, I was not a real believer in the Bengals until this game. They are for real, I sure hope they keep up the good play with the very winnable games ahead.
The part that pissed me off most about Doyels' article was he has complete ignored the last 9 seasons and is writing like it's something new. There are years when Tressel has not been so conservative but he had the offense to do so. I'm not saying he didn't make some valid points, but I still think he was way off base.
He implies that the only reason they have had success was that the Big 10 is bad and has been the whole time. Has it been down? Sure, but if you look at this year, the conference has 4 good teams at the top that should fare pretty in their bowl matchups. Anyway, I like Tressel and honestly, I'd take him over just about any other coach out there. He wins a lot of games, he's a good man, he disciplines his players even if it means they may lose a game, and he treats the players like they are his kids. And he's 3-3 in BCS bowls and won a championship. I'd take 7 BCS bowls in 8 years.
Through his writing, Doyle comes across as possessing every a-hole characteristic of every bad sports writer. He is the guy calling Jim Everett, Chris - the guy that gets Ryan Leaf foaming out the mouth. He takes the easy way to get readers, he offends and is inherently negative. He thinks he knows more than everyone else about sports and plays with the facts to support his weak arguments. It's a surprise he didn't last longer at Clear Channel as they seem to embrace those types.
On to more important things. Dogfish Head does makes great beer. Sierra Nevada produces the best selling Pale Ale and I think their seasonal brews are usually real good --they should be ranked higher. Dogfish and Sierra's brewmasters got together and made a new pale ale called Life & Limb. No bottles though just kegs so if you hear of it in Cincinnati, pass it along.
C. Morelein is getting close to be being a force in the beer market. They make great beer, I think they need to expand their distribution. Great Lakes also makes great beer. I was looking to find their Christmas Ale at Bigg's, if you see some pick it up - it doesn't last very long.
C. Trent - I can never find Terrapin in CIncy - any suggestions?
hardball, terrapin distributes only in ga, al, nc, sc and tn right now, i think. the best chance is to search for it when you're traveling.
their gamma ray -- a seasonal -- was one of the greatest things i've ever tasted. also it was 11% so i had three before a wedding and the DLP was embarrassed by me. but man, that stuff was good (and i drank it while watching the uga-ut game, so much-needed). tarrapin and left hand just teamed up for an espresso milk stout that i really want to try.
i've been told all the new belgium stuff is available in lawrenceberg, so i've got to go there when i run out (i've still got a bit of fat tire at home, need some more mothership wit)
i like great lakes, but wasn't a big fan of the christmas ale.
I'm never drank Morelein, but I heard they are going to have a beer garden in the banks project whenever it is built.
I didn't adress it earlier, but I have to agree about the PAC 10. From first to worst they are the deepest and have some very entertaining games out there.
Is it any shock that Adam Dunn was the worst fielder in that time span? I heard an awful lot about how having a guy with his numbers would've been nice, but personally I was glad to see him go.
Do you think it's that bad if the Reds were to deal Harang or Corderro. I don't quite understand the Phillips talk unless they get something good for him, but Harang and Corderro hae huge salaries and I'm not so sure it'd hurt the reds to lose either of those guys. I really really like Harang, but the last 2 seasons he has been less than stellar. I don't know, seeing the baseball links reminded me of that.
I went on a tour of GL and talked to one of the brewers and he said the flavor subtly changes every year based upon availability of hops. I thought last years had a different taste to it and wasn't as good as usual. The six I had last week were spot on, revisit it if you have the chance.
Nesferatu form GL is good as well. I had a Schafly from St. Louis yesterday it was pretty good.
Greg Doyel is a douchebag and always has been one. He got ran out of town on rails for his unlistenable radio show with Ken Broo. The same Ken Broo who is actually not all that bad on Sunday mornings. Doyel's UC and OSU articles weren't nearly as bad as the hatchet job he did on Chad Ochicinco, simply because Chad didn't answer his stupid post-game questions. Seriously...he wrote against everybody this year who has said that Chad, while a little self serving sometimes, has been a hard-working and engaged member of the team. Which he certainly was not last year. To even write that article and attempt to correlate the Bengal's success with his behavior is foolish and shows how stupid he is. He's just mad because Chad didnt take his bait. A Bush Leauge article from a jack-ass writer who is below bush league.
Although he was right about the Bucks. LOL.
Great Wilco post.
I don't know whether I can get behind the Snow Bengal uniforms... Okay, maybe in the mid-80's when the Cincinnati Zoo was hyping the white tigers big-time, but now? I'll need to see some cross-promotion in order to love it. As of now, that just looks like they're playing to the "Still owns a black-and-white television" demographic. And we all know how large that is.
Hey CTR, thought of you while I was at the Whigs/Features show here in Portland last night. When the Whigs played "Like a Vibration" Johnny Cueto fastballs immediately came to mind.
Hey Hardball & Ctrent, I've seen some of the Terrapin available at Jungle Jims. I haven't tried any New Belgium yet, but I hear the 1554 Black Ale is awesome. Also, Alesmith out of San Diego makes one of the best pale ales I've ever had.
As much as I want to disagree with Doyel, he's right. There are a lot of arguments to be made, at this point, I want UC to finish strong, have a good bowl showing, call it a good season, have Larry Sheakley reach deep into his pocket and "convince" BK to stay here.
Regarding beer, Moerlein is just not a great beer, convince me otherwise, but I'm just not a fan. Great Lakes is solid but I feel as though their quality has fallen. If you like IPA, pick up a bottle of Listermann's 22 oz. Yes, the local beer supply store on Dana Avenue brews a great beer.
Ya know, that Snow Bengal uniform idea is a pretty good gimmick promotion. As you said, with a few gimmicks that could be pretty awesome.
For all the criticism directed at Tressel and his coaching style, schools would fall all over themselves to try and hire him, if he were available. The guy is an asset to the university on and off the field.