Carson Palmer signs Extension

[traderumor]

For the first time, I went click by click back over the play at Bengals.com and can only come to one conclusion. The NFL did not want the blood on its hands for the dirty play. Fining Kimo would have essentially told the nation that one of the brightest stars in the game had been taken out by an aging, mediocre defensive lineman. Eric Steinbach tapped Kimo like you would a player who you want to be down by contact because it was too late for him to do anything. But watching that replay, click by click, there was no shove, there was no "off balance 300 pound lineman," the only thing it was not is a late hit. Like FCB, I will concede that point. But there was an aimed shoulder dive at a QBs knees, with what intent I do not know, but it is inexcusable. If that makes me "irrational," so be it.

[gonelong]

It just seems the Steelers are more important to the Bengals in terms of a rivalry they the Bengals are to the Steelers.

Well, at this point in time, thats probably true, but it was not always so. I don't think the CIN/PIT game reached the ferver of the PIT/CLE game, but it got close from time to time.

As a Buckeyes fan I had a few years of listening to MICH fans tell me that OSU wasn't even their biggest football rival (I'll buy that for every sport EXCEPT football) and after a few years of OSU handing it back to them all I hear now LLLLyod Carr. Thats what it'll take. The Bengals were able to get in a nice punch at PIT this year, but in the end, PIT came back and finished the fight. If CIN can land a few more punches next year, things will get more interesting. The next CIN/PIT game ought to be interesting, and I have little doubt that game will get ugly and be fuel to the fire.

At one time the CLE/CIN/PIT hate triangle was in full bloom, and it was glorious. Four "rivaly" games a years, it was great. I think you'll see that out of CIN & PIT again very soon if its not already here. I'd love to see that again.

PIT has enjoyed a nice run at the top of the Division, but the Bengals are coming, and the Browns might not be all that far behind. It could be an interesting next 3-4 years inside the division.

Last night I watched the game again.

While I'd grant Kimo a Not Guilty, I wouldn't proclaim him innocent.

Kitna was worse than awful in the 2nd half. Flat out putrid.

Kevin Kaseveharn(sp) had a terrible game.

The Bengals defense is a saftey (assuming Williams is healthy) and a STUD interor lineman away from a pretty decent defense IMO.

GL

[dsmith421]

I miss those days. If I were a Steelers fan, I'd have my chest pumped way out. That's thirty-plus years of pride coming through the room.

And if fans of other, lesser franchises didn't like it when the colossus swatted them down?

I think that's absolute, unmitigated garbage. People who are fans of successful franchises have no right to strut around like they are morally superior--more loyal, more intelligent, more worthy of success--than someone who roots for one of those "mosquitos." I'm a Bengals fan by a trick of geography. So are most Steelers fans.

I just wish people would cut the condescending crap. Pride in your team is fine, but that's where it ends. I can't control what Mike Brown or Marvin Lewis do, so don't impute their success/failure to me, just as no Pittsburgh fan deserves to have the success of Chuck Noll and Bill Cowher imputed to them.

(I may deserve Chuck Noll's success imputed to me due to our shared alma mater, but I digress.)

[Playadlc]

Chick speaks out about hit...

Von Oelhoffen relishes role with Steelers
CINCINNATI — Our careers — covering the Bengals and playing for them — overlapped three seasons (1997-99). During that time, two things struck me about Kimo von Oelhoffen:

1) He wanted to be a firefighter when his playing days were over.

2) He absolutely loved playing against the Pittsburgh Steelers. He loved playing against ’em so much, you’d have sworn he wanted to be one — while he was a Bengal.

Each year during Steelers week, von Oelhoffen needed two Kleenex as he spoke, in awe, about the challenge of facing his idol, Steelers center Dermontti Dawson. One tissue to wipe the drool from his chin, the other to dab his starry, cloudy eyes.

So it was no surprise that when von Oelhoffen’s contract was up, he signed as an unrestricted free agent with the Steelers on Feb. 18, 2000. I’d have been shocked had he gone anywhere else.

Well, I learned something more about the 12-year veteran on Sunday. He’s a pretty good actor.

After his cheap shot on Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer, von Oelhoffen raised his hands to his helmet pretending to be sorry. I didn’t buy Kimo’s act then. I don’t buy it today. I won’t buy it tomorrow.

That the NFL didn’t fine von Oelhoffen, coupled with referee Larry Nemmers’ refusal to penalize him, is a double slap in the face of the Bengals organization.

E-mailers have flooded my inbox, seeking my opinion on the play. I answer them with one word. D-i-r-t-y. Because every hit on a quarterback below the waist in exactly that.

In exonerating von Oelhoffen, the league claimed he didn’t have an unrestricted path to the quarterback. It said he was coming off a block (by left guard Eric Steinbach), got thrown off the block and his path to Palmer wasn’t clear.

What I saw was von Oelhoffen hit the ground, then lunge into Palmer’s left knee, crushing his ACL and MCL.

My first thought: Where’s referee Bernie Kukar when you need him? Of the league’s 130-plus officials, he’s the No. 1 protector of quarterbacks.

Back on Dec. 4, Kukar threw the flag on Bengals linebacker Odell Thurman for roughing Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, and Kukar threw the flag on Steelers linebacker Clark Haggans for roughing Palmer. Nemmers never reached for his yellow hankie.

It’s wasted space to print here that the Bengals would’ve won the game had Palmer played its entirety. But it’s not too far-fetched to think, and claim, that the Steelers’ best chance at victory would be if Palmer got knocked out of the game.

Longtime Bengals observers still remember the night of Oct. 10, 1983, when Steelers defensive end Keith Gary yanked quarterback Ken Anderson’s head like a twist-off, soda-pop bottle. So von Oelhoffen’s dirty hit was hardly precedent-setting.

What genuinely surprised me was the Bengals’ reaction.

Instead of slamming Rudi Johnson and Chris Perry down the Steelers’ throats in a test of manhood, offensive coordinator Bob Bratkowski allowed Jon “Crazy Legs” Kitna to heave 40 passes. Two got picked off.

And tell me this: How could the Bengals — with their franchise quarterback on crutches, his knee encased in ice and out until August — let Roethlisberger and von Oelhoffen escape Paul Brown Stadium without a bump or a bruise? I have a feeling they were too busy bickering at halftime.

Therein lies the difference between the two clubs.

One is hard. The other is soft.

Contact Chick Ludwig at (937) 225-2253.http://www.journal-news.com/sports/...3ludwigweb.html

[Falls City Beer]

Actually, just as a sports fan, I'm a little envious of Steelers fans.

If you think back on it, the Steel Curtain was the 1970s equivalent of the BRM, a small city team that grabbed ahold of one of Zeus' lightning bolts and rode it for a decade. Even after that, Steelers fans have had it good. They almost always get a good team to watch. It always plays a hard-hitting brand of football. Man, I remember when a Reds fan entitled you to some high and mighty. It felt good to be a fan of a franchise that seemed to be one of the chosen few. Even into the '90s (with the notable exception of 1982-84) you could walk around comfortable in the feeling that the Reds were an upper tier franchise, smiled upon by fate.

I miss those days. If I were a Steelers fan, I'd have my chest pumped way out. That's thirty-plus years of pride coming through the room.

And if fans of other, lesser franchises didn't like it when the colossus swatted them down? Well, that's nothing more than mosquitoes buzzing. They'll die off soon enough. The lifespan for their team's success is just a flicker compared to excellence that spans generations. Think about it like this - it's like Purdue football fans complaining about Ohio State. That's kind of cute and sad isn't it?

Anyway, I long for the day when I can again enjoy easy, complacent fandom, where winning is a given and the only burning question is how good will the team be. It sucks to be on the other end of it, but man is it sweet when you're there.

The Steelers have been nothing more than "respectable" the last several decades. As has the entire Midwest in all sports outside of Detroit (Pistons & RWs) and Chicago (Bulls), St. Louis (Cards) and to a lesser degree Green Bay--the last 20 years or so.

The southern and western flight of citizenry's a bummer. The Midwest used to be home to great teams; not really so anymore (outside of the cities listed above).

The last twenty years of Steelers' fandom is hardly chest-puffing material. But even less so Browndom or Bengaldom.

[rdiersin]

Think about it like this - it's like Purdue football fans complaining about Ohio State.

A little off topic, but when do Purdue fans complain about OSU? We mostly complain about our kickers not making $*(% field goals. Well that and many other things after this year.

[Playadlc]

PIT has enjoyed a nice run at the top of the Division, but the Bengals are coming, and the Browns might not be all that far behind. It could be an interesting next 3-4 years inside the division.

The Bengals aren't coming, they are already there. Hence the AFC North division title.

[gonelong]

The Bengals aren't coming, they are already there. Hence the AFC North division title.

IMO, one year doesn't put them "there" in a rivalyr sense, particularly since PIT went to the playoffs anyway, and beat the Bengals.

/lifelong Bengals fan

[M2]

I think that's absolute, unmitigated garbage. People who are fans of successful franchises have no right to strut around like they are morally superior--more loyal, more intelligent, more worthy of success--than someone who roots for one of those "mosquitos." I'm a Bengals fan by a trick of geography. So are most Steelers fans.

I just wish people would cut the condescending crap. Pride in your team is fine, but that's where it ends. I can't control what Mike Brown or Marvin Lewis do, so don't impute their success/failure to me, just as no Pittsburgh fan deserves to have the success of Chuck Noll and Bill Cowher imputed to them.

(I may deserve Chuck Noll's success imputed to me due to our shared alma mater, but I digress.)

Sure they do. That's exactly what being a fan of a top-tier franchise entitles you to. It's a daily feel-good. It's being able to know that over the course of time you'll be smiling while others are gnashing their teeth. When you're the fan of a chosen franchise, sitting down to watch a game takes on a whole different feel. I remember when I was growing up in the Philly area and Phillies fans would complain about losing to the BRM. You could go into details I suppose, but the truth of the matter was we were going to beat you anyway. That's the way the universe worked at the time. Now, that's the first time in my personal history of posting about the Reds on the Internet that I've ever used the term we in reference to the club. Obviously I'm not part of the Reds. What I do doesn't reflect on them and what they do doesn't reflect on me. But I am a sports fan and sports fan are competitive sorts, so winning carries some privileges. Follow that out now and try to imagine the privileges associated with 30 years of winning.

Listen, I'm a Reds fan. I'm a New York Rangers fan. One of my best friends is a Flyers fan. We don't have to discuss it, but both of us know who's higher on the NHL food chain (though I can throw a 1975 dig in to bail myself out if I have to). The Flyers have always been good and the Rangers are often a disaster, though this year it looks like the Rangers are being saved by the Czech national team. If the Rangers somehow come out ahead of the Flyers this year my friend won't be happy, but you know what? He's still not going to sweat the Rangers next year because in this world the Rangers chase the Flyers. Just like the Coyote chases the Roadrunner. Wile E.'s the one always scowling, fretting about the latest plan and falling into ravines. The Roadrunner just gets to smile and go on his merry way. For him, life is good.

[deltachi8]

Is Wile E. (perhapps my favorite cartoon character of all time) a perfect macot for the reds should they ever ditch Mr. Red and Gapper?

[M2]

The Steelers have been nothing more than "respectable" the last several decades. As has the entire Midwest in all sports outside of Detroit (Pistons & RWs) and Chicago (Bulls), St. Louis (Cards) and to a lesser degree Green Bay--the last 20 years or so.

The southern and western flight of citizenry's a bummer. The Midwest used to be home to great teams; not really so anymore (outside of the cities listed above).

The last twenty years of Steelers' fandom is hardly chest-puffing material. But even less so Browndom or Bengaldom.

They still own their yard/division. Everytime someone tries to steal it from them, they take it back. Obviously the Patriots have seized the AFC in recent years and I'm sure they've caused Steelers fans no small amount of grief, but Steelers fans have had the luxury of watching other teams come and go while they stick around. The Raiders have fallen apart. The Dolphins fell apart. The Bills came and went. The Oilers had two runs and the Titans had one. The Browns had a short run in the '80s and the Raven's had a short run to start the century. Pretty much the only AFC club that's been consistently good like the Steelers over the past 30 years is the Broncos.

[Falls City Beer]

They still own their yard/division. Everytime someone tries to steal it from them, they take it back. Obviously the Patriots have seized the AFC in recent years and I'm sure they've caused Steelers fans no small amount of grief, but Steelers fans have had the luxury of watching other teams come and go while they stick around. The Raiders have fallen apart. The Dolphins fell apart. The Bills came and went. The Oilers had two runs and the Titans had one. The Browns had a short run in the '80s and the Raven's had a short run to start the century. Pretty much the only AFC club that's been consistently good like the Steelers over the past 30 years is the Broncos.

Well, I was sort of setting my clock back to the collapse of the Steel Curtain.

Titles? Zilch. Kings of the AFC North? Even Lilliput had an Emperor.

The story of the NFL over the last twenty-five years goes something like this: San Fran, Dallas, Giants, Denver, Patriots.

Sure some guys squeaked in a time or two--but that's roughly the tale of the tape.--Heck, the AFC didn't really become a factor in the sport again until the turn of the century.

[M2]

The story of the NFL over the last twenty-five years goes something like this: San Fran, Dallas, Giants, Denver, Patriots.

Sure some guys squeaked in a time or two--but that's roughly the tale of the tape.--Heck, the AFC didn't really become a factor in the sport again until the turn of the century.

IMO the Redskins deserve to be on that list more than the Giants. They sure as shooting won more.

Yeah, Pittsburgh's only got a fiefdom these days, but it's well-respected in the House of Lords and it beats the snot out of being a serf. At the very least, Pittsburgh's usually in the thick of things when there's a war of succession.

[Tony Cloninger]

The one constant of those PITT teams over the CIN teams is defense.

MB can talk all he wants about needing a franchise QB...and having CP shows that 1 player can lift a franchise and make it better than just avg. or okay.

BUT it is defense....year in/year out...that has made PITT a winner with mediocre to bad crap... like Mark Malone in the middle 80's.

Despite the fact the Bengals had better talent than PITT... they made the playoffs from 81-90... 4 times.

PITT with basically a below avg QB every year from 1983 (Bradshaw threw 3-4 passes then retired)......through 1990.. made the playoffs... the same amount of times as did the Bengals.

MB...... please forget about being $10M under the cap...and spend on a defense that can win games for you, instead of merely holding them for you so CP can win them.

[Falls City Beer]

IMO the Redskins deserve to be on that list more than the Giants. They sure as shooting won more.

Yeah, Pittsburgh's only got a fiefdom these days, but it's well-respected in the House of Lords and it beats the snot out of being a serf. At the very least, Pittsburgh's usually in the thick of things when there's a war of succession.

Sure, Pittsburgh's avoided sucking; they've even been pretty good a time or two in that time span--but nothing to thump one's chest over, frankly.