Cin City: A new breed of Bengal
With the first episode of the latest instalment of ‘Hard Knocks’ about a month away, it would seem that Bengals owner Mike Brown had his own agenda as to why he wanted his orange and black army to feature for a second time. Cincinnati has been riddled with off-field issues concerning a number of their troubled squad members. Arrests, charges, sentences, the problems just didn’t seem to go away. Even when a player was known to have had problems in the past, the Bengals seemed to be the carer club, the organisation that would always give someone a second (or third or fourth) chance. Alas, Marvin Lewis and his staff seem to have shrugged off that label now, focusing on the young, thriving talent that have been overlooked in the past. While the Bengals may look like those parents who have decided to leave their off-the-tracks eldest to their own devices whilst focusing on the younger, more focused star in the making, Mike Brown has made no secret of the reasons as to why he wanted the nation (and via various streams and downloads, the world), to see his newly fresh-faced Bengals team.
“We have a different team now than we had a few years ago,” Brown said. “We want the public to see them. We think they’re good people. We think the public will be taken by them, will like them. It gives us a boost.” Brown also goes on to say, “The thing I do regret is how it came to make us, or put on us an image that I don’t think was ever anything but a very small part of what we were and sometimes not a part at all… But if you want to blame somebody for it, blame me.”
With the Bengals taking their first full practice on Friday, all eyes will be on Marvin Lewis and his roster of undeniably young talent that has the potential to take the AFC North by storm this season.
Reds
The Reds came out of the All-Star break as if they finally realised the vulnerable predicament they found themselves in. Since the highly acclaimed exhibition in the ‘Big Apple’, Cincinnati has tamed Pittsburgh at Great American Ballpark, and is currently tearing their way through California with a series win against the Giants and a positive start to the series with the Dodgers. The West-coast trip has become synonymous with underachievement for the Cincinnati Reds, but a mid-season break is exactly what the doctor ordered, so it seems. The team complete the series in L.A this weekend before moving on to San Diego come Monday. If they can put a nice little streak of series wins together, they’ll finally pull the Pirates off of the ladder as they start to tug on the ankles of St.Louis at the top of the division. It helps the Cincinnati cause that Pirates closer Jason Grilli who has been in excellent form this season, has been placed on the 15 day Disabled List while he recovers from a forearm strain. Not that we wish ill fortune on others…but this is the business end of the season. And the Cincinnati Reds mean business.
