Is anyone optimistic?

[Sea Ray]

Sure it is off topic but so long as the current events section is down, that's the way it goes.

One thing I haven't figured out yet: if this passes how does California get around the Federal Controlled Substances Act? The Feds are not going to just sit back and allow California to thumb its nose at that. They can't afford to make the DEA look weak. Interesting how both Gubernatorial candidates are against it. Who will defend it when the Feds come?

This looks like a mess in the making and I'm glad it's not happening in my state

[BengalszoneBilly]

Sure it is off topic but so long as the current events section is down, that's the way it goes.

What? There's nothing wrong with any forums here. They're all open.

[BengalPimp]

When the major Bengal headlines concern TO & Chad's show, that is a problem. Are those two focused on the NFL or on the Emmys?

Again, Terrell Owens will be the feature speaker this Saturday at what is being billed as an "Exclusive Day of Beauty, Health, and Wellness" conference, to be held at the Los Angeles Terranea Oceanfront Resort.

Just $175 a ticket for what promises to be a truly 5 Star experience. And all attendees who stay for the entire day, from 7:30 AM to 5:00 PM, will receive an elegant gift bag valued at $200 by event sponsors, including the Korea Tourism Organization, LA Beautiful Cosmetic Surgery Inc., Progencell Therapies (Stem Cells), and MBT, the makers of the Anti-Shoe.

Other speakers besides Owens include the cast of the television show The Doctors, breast book author Dr Susan Love, and "Rock What You've Got" author and self-described youth ambassador, Katherine Schwarzenegger.

Not kidding.

Sounds like Hair is selling Tickets.............

[BengalPimp]

If prop 19 passes Californians...

Wiki'd it. For those not in the know, Prop 19 will essentially legalize marijuana in the Golden State. Legalize it, and Hair will advertise it!

Here's my question........It is essentially legal now if you have a Card and purchase it from a dispensary, but if they do in fact make it "Legal" , what rights do employers have? I mean, are they able to do drug testing for marijuana, or discriminate against it? Just wondering how that part would go. I mean, even though it would be made "Legal" by California State Law, it is still illegal according to Federal Law......

Maybe Hair could enlighten me?

[Sea Ray]

Sure it is off topic but so long as the current events section is down, that's the way it goes.

What? There's nothing wrong with any forums here. They're all open.

Then why am I getting this message?

The Current Events Forum is temporarily closed. It will reopen as soon as possible.

No one has posted there since Labor Day

[HairOnFire]

This looks like a mess in the making and I'm glad it's not happening in my state

As with most things, I'd prefer a better bill but have no hopes of getting one. Ever.

[HairOnFire]

Here's my question........It is essentially legal now if you have a Card and purchase it from a dispensary, but if they do in fact make it "Legal" , what rights do employers have? I mean, are they able to do drug testing for marijuana, or discriminate against it? Just wondering how that part would go. I mean, even though it would be made "Legal" by California State Law, it is still illegal according to Federal Law......

Maybe Hair could enlighten me?

Most of the popular arguments against Prop 19 are red herrings. For example, during the last debate Meg Whitman popped off about how it would be bad for kids, but for minors absolutely nothing changes. Possession would still be against the law for anyone under 21. And while marijuana would be made legal for "recreational use" employers would have the same rights as they do when placing restrictions on the use of alcohol or jetskis in the workplace. Simply put, a workplace isn't a place of recreation and that type of wording was chosen specifically.

My only reservations are rooted in there being no test available for determining impairment while driving, and concerns over plans to restrict who can legally grow and sell. But again, I don't expect to see a better bill precisely because incumbent politicians believe they can't openly support legalization. And that results in a lack of debate...which leads to a lack in hard planning.

As for the Fed angle? Not sure how that one will play out but the very first thing I'd expect is an attempt to slash or eliminate matching federal funding for major transportaion projects and social programs. Then again, that was a threat that was made earlier, but not acted upon, when California passed legalization for medical use....a move now copied by several states without Federal interference.

Pass or fail it's a brave new world.

[ArmyBengal]

Went home for the weekend and enjoyed my sons 4th birthday. I watched the game after they managed to sell out the joint. Anyone want to place bets on seeing that streak continue through the season ?? Anyway, this is yet another example of the Bengals NOT beating a team they should clearly have beaten. Just like last week against the Browns, only this time at home. It's bullsh*t plain and simple. Funny thing is, I'm not even angry about it.

The team is an absolute dysfunctional mess from the top to the bottom. The coaches don't seem to know what the hell is going on during the game or with their players. The players don't seem to show any type of discipline, focus, or accountability. They give the same speaches about "cutting down on mistakes", "playing to potential", and of course, "going out next week and getting it done".

This sh*t is just sad. This team has loads of talent and no desire. I was wrong about them not having an identity and there's a 4 letter word for it: S-U-C-K. Not based on their win/loss record, but rather how little they have been able to accomplish with the amount of talent they have on the roster. They have shot themselves in the foot as well as most other body parts you want to name and while I wouldn't be surprised by them doing better the remainder of the season, NO, i'm not optimistic.

Please spare me the "quitter" babble as well. It's about seeing what this team has done against the teams they should beat and then looking at the teams they still have to face. I will still watch each and every Sunday, while wearing my jersey, and root them on. However, there is something seriously wrong with the Bengals.

WHODEY !?!?

Thank you, Army. From one Bengal fan to another I know writing the above had to be as unpleasant for you as it will be for some to read. But it's honest and that speaks directly to my biggest complaint about this board recently. Because IMHO what we do here has never really been about who is right, and it's only partially about who was wrong. Rather, it's about having honest conversations about the Bengals, something that's been nearly impossible to do around here for more than a month. Furthermore, the same posters who have made honest discussions impossible since the season began are still in denial about the reasons why this team currently finds itself in the position it's in....thereby making impossible any future honest conversations about what it all means.

If you ask me, and none of you did, BengalNation now finds itself in the 2nd stage of grief recovery. More specifically, having just emerged from a state of intense denial we've now moved on to anger. The Great Gnashing of Teeth. Or if you prefer, the Season of Angry Men Mowing Lawns.

Weary resignation comes next, a stage that will come to each of us in it's own time. In fact, some of us are already there. Others will follow in dribs and drabs from one week to the next. But in the end we'll all end up in the same place having made the same conclusions.

We have fallen down and gone boom.

Your welcome Hair. I look at this in the same manner that a parent would look at one of their children that has made a bad decision. It's not really being angered, but rather disappointed in how it has worked out and why the decision was made. DISAPPOINTMENT...

I want this team to succeed, but not only that, I EXPECTED THEM TO SUCCEED. I overlooked the negative impact the addition of a real TE would have on an o-line we already knew had blocking issues. I "assumed" the additions at WR would be unstoppable. I can recall making statements about, "How are other teams going to cover them" when looking at them. I thought the talk about "simplification" and "addition to the offensive playbook" would reap great rewards, all the while forgetting Brat was still the one making those statements. I also thought they would really make great strides in the pass rushing department.

It's my own fault for thinking this team was better than it actually is. They can still get to a point where they are doing well this season and I will be rooting for it each and every week. Thing is, heading into the season, I expected to see it sooner rather than later. Seeing as how they had an extra preseason game to get to that point, I didn't think that was an overshot. I was wrong.

[HairOnFire]

I want this team to succeed, but not only that, I EXPECTED THEM TO SUCCEED. I overlooked the negative impact the addition of a real TE would have on an o-line we already knew had blocking issues. I "assumed" the additions at WR would be unstoppable. I can recall making statements about, "How are other teams going to cover them" when looking at them. I thought the talk about "simplification" and "addition to the offensive playbook" would reap great rewards, all the while forgetting Brat was still the one making those statements. I also thought they would really make great strides in the pass rushing department.

It's my own fault for thinking this team was better than it actually is.

My take?

Each one of us is a mixed bag of walking talking opinions and the very best of us is probably wrong as often as right. For example, I've been dead on about plenty of stuff right recently...(props)....yet somehow after writing years worth of posts about Clockwork Orange schemes and a style of play only a Bastard Son of Paul Brown could love I still couldn't bring myself to grasp the idea that THIS team would actually sacrifice what works in favor of what was desired. That it would sacrifice the chance to bank early wins when it could in favor of trying to build a passing game it might need later. That it would casually toss away a successful new identity in favor of a tarnished one that felt more familiar.

Nutshelled, I've just spent months ignoring my own warnings.

And it isn't just this team that I fooled myself about. Because the team that always seems to do things in the way I want this team to do, Pittsburgh, now finds itself in 1st place despite attempting fewer passes for less yardage than any team in the NFL. But because I had considered only at the things THAT team can't do I failed to remember how they would compensate. And they compensated by focusing on core strengths rather than fringe weaknesses.

And if I'm so smart why didn't I see that coming, right?

The fact remains that each of us constantly offers opinions of mixed quality that are churned and digested by the greater whole so that a consensus opinion can be formed, and whether the consensus is proven right or wrong usually isn't known for some time. And only at that point can kudos and props can be handed out as needed, and rebukes made where required. And of course there's the rub because there are times when rebukes are required for honest dialouge to continue.

For example, in my most humble of opinions...(ahem)....we can't do an autopsy on this years season until we all agree that the patient is dead. And furthermore, we all have to agree that those of us who want to do the autopsy now are not to blame for the death itself.

(poot)

[Sea Ray]

For example, in my most humble of opinions...(ahem)....we can't do an autopsy on this years season until we all agree that the patient is dead. And furthermore, we all have to agree that those of us who want to do the autopsy now are not to blame for the death itself.

I'm not ready to declare the patient dead yet. I want to exhaust all heroic measures first. I want to see them try a coaching shakeup because I do think the patient will die without one. As I said earlier, I'll settle for a new O-coordinator but I'm open to a new head coach as well.

[HairOnFire]

I'm not ready to declare the patient dead yet. I want to exhaust all heroic measures first.

"He's dead, Jim." --- Roy Keener, self-described worlds biggest Star Trek geek

I want to see them try a coaching shakeup because I do think the patient will die without one.

"Roy, I'm leaving you, and I'm taking the kids with me when I go." --- Maggie Keener, soon-to-be divorced mother of two.

[COB]

I'm not ready to declare the patient dead yet. I want to exhaust all heroic measures first.

Let me begin by doing chest compressions on Chad. With an anvil.

[ArmyBengal]

Again, I'm not dead set this team can't find a way to improve as the season goes.

I am simply not optimistic, even though I will be watching and hoping they go on massive winning streak on their way to the playoffs.

My thought is that even though they may start a nice winning streak and finish nicely, they are going up against Steeler and Ravens teams that don't appear to have the same type of issues our Bengals seem to. You just can't afford to lose to the teams you are supposed to beat (Cleveland and Tampa Bay) one of which at home and then sit back hoping the Steelers and Ravens do the same, while we climb back into consideration.

[Horsemen]

You just can't afford to lose to the teams you are supposed to beat (Cleveland and Tampa Bay) one of which at home and then sit back hoping the Steelers and Ravens do the same, while we climb back into consideration.

Yet that seems to be one of our consistently biggest issues. We show up against weaker teams that we should beat as if the game is a mere formality and we already have the win. What ends up happening? We end up losing them. Meanwhile the playoff teams show up for those kinds of games like it's a playoff game and throw 30+ points up on the board before the half.

Yet another example of poor coaching.

[cincy9275]

stick a fork in em there done. no faith that this staff can do anything to fix this. same problems we have had since 06 if they can't get it right in the last 4 years, don't see how they can fix it in 2 weeks.