As a Non-NFL Lover, why do the Bengals suck so much?

[Stray]

Originally Posted by Redsfaithful

The Reds are fine, I don't see the Bengals as having made any real improvements since about 2003. They've been an average NFL team since then, and I see no reason to believe they will take another step forward under Mike Brown.

The Reds made the playoffs in 2010 and 2012, bounced in the first round each time. Prior to that you have to go back to 1995 to find a Cincinnati Reds playoff team. It's this perception that the Reds have become so much more successful than the Bengals that blows my mind. Historically speaking it's not even close, but in the last 20 years they've been pretty equal.

The Bengals made the playoffs in 2005, 2009 and 2011. Prior to 2003 they hadn't been to the playoffs since 1990. If that doesn't count as an improvement I'm not exactly sure what does. And we have a really young talented team, how is there not reason to believe they'll get better?

The infatuation with Mike Brown is another mind boggling thing to me. If he made being a Bengals fan that miserable for me I'd find a new team. Sports are supposed to be fun afterall.

[Redsfaithful]

The Reds have made the playoffs 2 out of last 3 years, were dominant in the regular season this year in a way the Bengals haven't been since probably 1988, even with their star player going down for a significant stretch.

I'm hard on the Reds too, but MLB playoffs are a crapshoot, and they were fantastic over 162 games this year.

The Bengals aren't as young as they are made out to be. The defense is actually fairly old, look at the secondary.

They're currently 4-5, calling them really talented is a stretch. It looks like they'll be in the mix now after yesterday, and with the schedule coming up looking soft, but meh.

And I've given long thought to abandoning the Bengals, but that's just now how I work. I don't blame people who do jump ship though.

[westofyou]

You don't give up on a team because the owner is a hunk of deadwood.

But you lose interest, you find things to do on Sunday, you don't sweat the player moves because most of them are poor, you don't bother to mouth off to the Steeler fans anymore because your team can't beat theirs consistently, you think about Bill Walsh getting shafted, Tim Krumrie's ankle, Ki Jana Carter and Stanley Wilson and what could have been.

You long for the Ice Bowl game from 30 years ago, and the feeling of dominating.

Because it has hardly touched that vibe since then

[Stray]

When I mention the youth I'm mainly talking about our impact players. Dalton, Green, Gresham, Atkins, Dunlap, Burfict...etc. With Atkins and Green you can make a strong case that they're both the best at their position in the entire NFL. With that kinda talented youth there's a good chance the team will improve with experience.

And fair enough, we can agree to disagree. I think you gotta judge a season's success based on making the playoffs and how you do when you get there. Barring injuries I think the Reds and the Bengals both have bright futures. Considering both sucked terribly for the majority of my life, I find the current state of the franchises pretty exciting.

[camisadelgolf]

For this argument, it's not fair to compare the Bengals and Reds. The Reds have changed ownership and personnel a few times since Mike Brown took over. The current Reds brass has done a lot to make the Reds good--not just competitive--and that was in a relatively short amount of time.

In over 20 years, Mike Brown has put together only 3 winning seasons. And all 3 of those seasons came after the stadium deal that required the team to be competitive (and he still managed to get sued over it, thanks to a 12-36 start in PBS). He's terrible at putting together good teams. The quality of their roster and drafting didn't change until Marvin Lewis joined the organization, yet Lewis is the one we hear the fans yell about.

[BurgervilleBuck]

Originally Posted by Stray

If it doesn't bother you then you're not a fan to begin with?

No, I was a fan. But the Brown family have taken any sympathy or love I had for the team and the NFL. Now, I just don't care and I don't see the Bengals doing anything to change that, save for the team being sold to an owner who cares about winning. Say what you will about the Steelers or Ravens, but their owners are rather good at what they do.

Originally Posted by Stray

I realize we have a good minor league hockey team. There's no need to nitpick and derail the thread. When talking about cities and their professional sports teams most people count the big four, and we have two out of four.

I wasn't nitpicking or derailing the thread. You brought up the Cyclones and I thought it was only fair to point out some truth. The 'clones are a professional team albeit a AA-equivalent minor league. I've experienced more fun and excitement watching them play than I have with the Bengals.