What's Mike Brown's mindset

[Defender]

I'm looking for some serious thoughts about what he might be thinking. Does he think they're thisclose? Does he beleive that it's just coincedence that there's been one winning season since he took over complete control? That it's always the NFL and/or the other clubs trying to screw him and it's everyone else in the world's fault but his?

Smartass responses are welcome, but please hold the lame, "Oh, look!! A nickel!"

(BTW, best post gets a free Rudi Johnson avatar)

[cincyhokie]

Mike Brown is chasing the legend of his father. Out of love and respect to Paul Brown, Mike Brown wants to emulate his dad in running the Bengals. The problem is that he can't do a competent job. This is primarily due to the fact that he's running things LIKE his father. Well, things have changed since 1990 when PB died.

Mike is stubborn, he can't change well, he is not an innovator, and he's cheap. I think that he wants to win but he will only sacrifice so much to win. His plans are very limited and he's lays ALOT to chance. He is extremely slow at forcasting and reacting. (Why is Brat still here???) He truely believes that alot of winning is luck and the stars being aligned. He once quoted in 2002 about the sudden success of Tommy Maddox with the Steelers, "It would be nice to catch lightening in a bottle like that. It can happen to us too."

As long as Mike Brown is in control we'll never see much more than 8-8. I firmly believe in that. Mike Brown is TOO SLOW to react in today's football with the parity that goes on. The Bengals go 11-5...he sits on the winning product and DOESN'T plan ahead...things around the league rapidly change...2006 we go 8-8, 2007 we go 7-9, 2008 we probably go 4-12 or 5-11.

[walzav29]

He is trying to make the team a winner, but still remain financially responsible. He told one of the Sirius guys that some of the owners main source of income is not their NFL team and if it was they would take a different approach to it. Think about a GM. That costs alot of money, Paul Brown had the football background to pick players. It is a skill that was not passed onto his son. He wants to win, but he won't spend over the top.

[fattyjay]

He is trying to make the team a winner, but still remain financially responsible. He told one of the Sirius guys that some of the owners main source of income is not their NFL team and if it was they would take a different approach to it. Think about a GM. That costs alot of money, Paul Brown had the football background to pick players. It is a skill that was not passed onto his son. He wants to win, but he won't spend over the top.

You've hit the nail on the head here. The problem hasn't been spending on players necessarily, but spending on the infrastructure. The money that doesn't count against the cap is what the Bengals have been lacking. The other owners don't depend on the financial success of their franchise to pay their bills.

[cincyhokie]

He is trying to make the team a winner, but still remain financially responsible. He told one of the Sirius guys that some of the owners main source of income is not their NFL team and if it was they would take a different approach to it. Think about a GM. That costs alot of money, Paul Brown had the football background to pick players. It is a skill that was not passed onto his son. He wants to win, but he won't spend over the top.

You've hit the nail on the head here. The problem hasn't been spending on players necessarily, but spending on the infrastructure. The money that doesn't count against the cap is what the Bengals have been lacking. The other owners don't depend on the financial success of their franchise to pay their bills.

It is an very interesting aspect to note. Kind of depressing really. Basically, nothing is going to change for a long long time. Even when Mike passes on and receives an ass beating from his dad in the afterlife, will Katie and company have the financial resources to make the right changes? Should we raise money for the Brown family? I'd hate to think that the millions that they make every year would take a hit if they spent the appropriate amount of money to support a winning team.

Let's have an annual fundraiser in support of Mike's stupidity!!!! I like it!!!

Seriously, though, that is a very very telling point about the Brown family's mindset. Nail on head.

[Defender]

He told one of the Sirius guys that some of the owners main source of income is not their NFL team and if it was they would take a different approach to it.

I've never heard that. I think that gives me more insight into this guys motivations than anything I've heard before.

I think he's a guy, who, despite the best intentions, just isn't wired the same way his dad was. What I'm trying to figure out is if he's the diabolical Kenneth Lay-type I keep seeing him portrayed as. I mean, it infuriates me that he's as stubborn as he is, thinks he knows things that no one else knows, and as a result makes one of my favorite teams a punch-line. Is he just a Gomer Pyle, an Ebeneezer Scrooge, or somewhere in the middle?

[COB]

it infuriates me that he... thinks he knows things that no one else knows,

This is a facet of Mike's personality that has pissed me off for years. He often tries to show that he understands things that no one else understands. For example, show me a draft prospect who has played little football but has good measurables. A lot of teams would stay away from an unproven guy. Mike will grab that guy to show everyone how he sees something no one else does.

Another example is his voting record on league matters. He seems to revel in being the dissenting voice. And on those matters he is often right. But other owners know what he knows, they've just decided that for the overall good of the league they will put aside their doubts and move forward on something. For them the greater good supercedes their individual interests. Not Mike. And he does this in ever facet of his business. A moron could see that it is in the Bengals' greater interest to move away from Chris Henry. But Mike's personal interest in either showing that he was right in the first place, or pushing his theory of rehabilitation, overrides what is best overall for the team. His pet project wins and we get stuck with Cheech.

Mike Brown gets portrayed as a penny pinching stooge. In my opinion he is a renegade with a personality and stubborn nature that would serve him well in many fields of endeavor. In the peculiar business of running an NFL team, those traits have very clearly not produced results on the field.

[BlainThePain]

Mike Brown's mindset? "Money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, that skyline chili gave me gas, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, did you know I'm Paul Brown's son?, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, I think I might go strangle a puppy to death, money, money, money, money, time for bed, money, money, money."

[GregCook]

Guys its obvious what motivates Mike Brown. His family's wealth. Just look at this link of rankings of 2006 NFL teams

http://www.forbes.com/lists/2006/30/06nfl_..._MetroArea.html

Bengals ranked 23rd in market valuation at $825 million dollars. Mike Brown is managing almost a $1 billion dollar enterprise. His rate of return is a healthy 12% with revenue of $175 mill and operating income of $21 million.

This is a very profitable FAMILY business that Mike intends to keep in the family. I don't get the sense that winning a super bowl has ever entered his thoughts else he would do things differently. He is being a conservative owner that manages his business for long term growth and stability.

That is it.

[Jet23]

Guys its obvious what motivates Mike Brown. His family's wealth. Just look at this link of rankings of 2006 NFL teams

http://www.forbes.com/lists/2006/30/06nfl_..._MetroArea.html

Bengals ranked 23rd in market valuation at $825 million dollars. Mike Brown is managing almost a $1 billion dollar enterprise. His rate of return is a healthy 12% with revenue of $175 mill and operating income of $21 million.

This is a very profitable FAMILY business that Mike intends to keep in the family. I don't get the sense that winning a super bowl has ever entered his thoughts else he would do things differently. He is being a conservative owner that manages his business for long term growth and stability.

That is it.

Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding....give that man a ceeeeeagar! Mike's just running the family biz, which is great if he's your dad. Not so good if you're a fan of the team he owns though.