cHaD711Johnson Posted October 27, 2008 Report Share Posted October 27, 2008 Upbeat . . I really don't feel like this team is that bad. I think the bad breaks that we faced in our first 4 games killed our morale though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
membengal Posted October 27, 2008 Report Share Posted October 27, 2008 I don't equte being a fan with being a homer.I can no more give up being a fan of this team than I can breathing.But that doesn't mean I can't also be apathetic. That does show up in ways that Mike B might eventually notice. For instance, I will not be ordering any Bengals gear for the holidays for me or my kids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoosierCat Posted October 27, 2008 Report Share Posted October 27, 2008 I don't equte being a fan with being a homer.Well, there's being a fan...and then there's hanging around on an internet forum for an 0-8 team swearing that you're apathetic. I know, I know, you can quit any time you want, right? We're all a bunch of Bengals junkies, scrabbling for our latest fix of Hobson or Ludwig or Doc, secretly looking for any reason to hope. We never learn. We may not buy any Bengals gear or go to any games. We might even dump NFL ticket and skip the highlight shows. But we still can't help it. We visit the site. We read the boards. And every time we open that bottom bureau drawer and catch a glimpse of that folded-up No. 9 jersey we find ourselves thinking, almost against our will, "if only X, then maybe..."We stuck with this team through the 1990s, through Klingler and Shula and Coslet and Dillon and Pickens and Big Duddy and O'Donnell and Mitchell and Gus Freakin' Frerotte and Akili and LeBeau and Mikey Mikey Mikey Mikey Mikey uber alles. Homer? Man, we define homer. There's a picture of a Bengals fan in an Esiason jersey wearing a paper bag on his head next to the word in the dictionary. Cubbies fans? Feh. Red Sox fans? Not hardly. Clippers fans? OK, I'll give you that. But Bengals fans...oh, we're homers all right. After everything this team has gone through, it's only us homers left. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gregstephens Posted October 27, 2008 Report Share Posted October 27, 2008 Upbeat . . I really don't feel like this team is that bad. I think the bad breaks that we faced in our first 4 games killed our morale though.Dude...I have to do this for your own good. Take a break. Friends don't let friends post drunk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
membengal Posted October 27, 2008 Report Share Posted October 27, 2008 This is a silly argument Hoosier. Discussing the team is part of how I express my fandom. But continuing the discussion does not rule out apathy.Ways my behavior toward the team changed this season:1. After the circus that was the off-season, I did not travel to training camp like I usually do, thereby not spending the money I had the last four years at the camp store, on parking, and on popcorn. 2. I chose not to come to a game this season. 3. I will not be buying Bengals gear for the holidays for me and my family.4. I no longer look forward to Bengals games on Sunday, and watch them more out of morbid curiosity (will they go 0-16) than anything else. More interestingly, they no longer "hurt" me when they lose. It just doesn't register. I am numb to it.None of that is a good thing for the Bengals. It defines an apathetic fan, and, frankly, an apathetic fanbase. What's interesting to me at this point? How little anger there is compared to 2002. It's like we have all been down that road before (which, of course, we have), and figure, why bother? Nothing ever changes.So, yeah, I chat about the team with other fans. I hope that someday it might be different and we can discuss winning and caring again. But the bottom line is, it just doesn't matter to me right now how it all goes down. Not like it used to. This is a weird place for me, so, congrats on that Mike Brown. I am guessing the attendance at games the remainder of the year will be laughable, particularly with Cleveland and Pittsburgh having already come to town to artificially swell butts in seats. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gregstephens Posted October 27, 2008 Report Share Posted October 27, 2008 This is a silly argument Hoosier. Discussing the team is part of how I express my fandom. But continuing the discussion does not rule out apathy.Ways my behavior toward the team changed this season:1. After the circus that was the off-season, I did not travel to training camp like I usually do, thereby not spending the money I had the last four years at the camp store, on parking, and on popcorn. 2. I chose not to come to a game this season. 3. I will not be buying Bengals gear for the holidays for me and my family.4. I no longer look forward to Bengals games on Sunday, and watch them more out of morbid curiosity (will they go 0-16) than anything else. More interestingly, they no longer "hurt" me when they lose. It just doesn't register. I am numb to it.None of that is a good thing for the Bengals. It defines an apathetic fan, and, frankly, an apathetic fanbase. What's interesting to me at this point? How little anger there is compared to 2002. It's like we have all been down that road before (which, of course, we have), and figure, why bother? Nothing ever changes.So, yeah, I chat about the team with other fans. I hope that someday it might be different and we can discuss winning and caring again. But the bottom line is, it just doesn't matter to me right now how it all goes down. Not like it used to. This is a weird place for me, so, congrats on that Mike Brown. I am guessing the attendance at games the remainder of the year will be laughable, particularly with Cleveland and Pittsburgh having already come to town to artificially swell butts in seats.Hey, you care enough to argue about it. I care enough to read the argument between you two. Pretty sad, ain't it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
membengal Posted October 27, 2008 Report Share Posted October 27, 2008 You once again mis-apprhend the difference between apathy toward the team and being a fan, greg. On top of that, after four years here, even though I have not met any of you, I consider some of you "friends" in the internet sense. So, no, I will not be abandoning a community of friends because the Bengals are f**k-stix. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoosierCat Posted October 27, 2008 Report Share Posted October 27, 2008 This is a silly argument Hoosier.Of course it's a silly argument. Dude, you took 6 whole minutes to respond to my post! Methinks the membengal doth protest too much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
membengal Posted October 27, 2008 Report Share Posted October 27, 2008 Well, I am not apathetic about being right. So, six minutes is par for the course for an internet argument... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gregstephens Posted October 27, 2008 Report Share Posted October 27, 2008 You once again mis-apprhend the difference between apathy toward the team and being a fan, greg. On top of that, after four years here, even though I have not met any of you, I consider some of you "friends" in the internet sense. So, no, I will not be abandoning a community of friends because the Bengals are f**k-stix.Chill out, Mem. We're just needling you here. Or at least I am. I know exactly where you are coming from. I no longer look forward to Sunday afternoon on Tuesdays like I used to. And for the record, I'm glad you consider some of us 'friends' in the internet sense, as do I, and that's the reason I come back here and post all the time. It's not because of the team at this point. We're all in the same boat in terms of this sucky team, but at least we have each other. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
COB Posted October 27, 2008 Report Share Posted October 27, 2008 We may not buy any Bengals gearI was at Kohls Friday evening for socks. Saw a sweet pair of ear warmers, black with a cool letter B on each ear, and the B was in bengals striping. Normally 25 bucks, marked down to 8. Yep, I bought 'em. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArmyBengal Posted October 28, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 28, 2008 I love my jerseys, but I just can't bring myself to wear them. They haven't been out of the closet in at least 4 weeks. My mother in law told me I should wear one next week because Sundays just aren't Sunday without me in one of my jerseys. I don't know, I'm really pissed off at this team, but yes Hoosier, they are my team and regardless of how much I b*tch, I will keep checking things out... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
futurebengal08 Posted October 28, 2008 Report Share Posted October 28, 2008 If the players on the team don't care about this franchise, why should I?If the owner doesn't care about this franchise, why should I?Unfortunately, I do, and it's not something I can help. The realization that Mike Brown will never make this team a competitor deters me, but still I root for the Bengals. Even when the Bengals score first, my happiness is mired in the inevitability that they will lose. I think I hate the the close games more, because I always have the feeling that they won't win. I watch because of possibility. I can still remember the Sundays of '05. The way my heart would jump as that ball took off from Carson's hand, and you knew he was going deep to somebody. How Rudi would bounce off tackles, always gaining yards, always trying his hardest. That's what I miss the most - the will to win. I don't know where it went, but I hope they find it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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