My wrestling obsession has pretty much killed my interest in this year's football season, but because I live so close to Cincinnati, even though I'm not following day-to-day NFL news, it's pretty hard to ignore the ups and downs of the Bengals. I'm not even really that much of a Bengals fan, truth be told. But I grew up listening to Cincinnati radio and even though I think talk radio is generally a pretty evil medium, I still find myself listening to 700 WLW now and again, especially when I am tired of the CDs in my car. Most people in southwestern Ohio know that the Bengals are in the midst of a season that is less than stellar. You really don't need talk radio or local news to have some degree of awareness about the situation. But it is always amazing to see how quickly the "die hard" Bengals fans become fickle and spiteful. And from there, it's a short trip to mob-rule insanity when the bloodlust of Cinci fans kicks in and they embark on the frenzied hunt for a scapegoat. Remember, we're talking about an area that recently contemplated filing a civil suit against their NFL team for breach of contract when the Bengals allegedly failed to produce a "competitive" sports team (If you don't live in Ohio and you find this hard to believe, trust me on this...I couldn't make it up if I tried).
So this year's scapegoat was almost Coach Marvin Lewis. Almost. But in recent weeks, it's been Chad Johnson on the bottom of the dog pile. To Johnson's credit, he has responded by totally boycotting the local Cinci media and letting Carson Palmer do the talking at post-game shows. Good for him. Really...I was listening to a WLW sports talk show a couple weekends ago and it seemed like a contest amongst the show's callers to prove which one of them hated Johnson the most. People were calling in saying stuff like, "Well, I've never been a fan of Chad...I've never liked him from the beginning..." and insisting that he was bringing the team town, begging for him to be benched, cut traded and the like. What a bunch of crap. And the talking heads don't contribute much other than to fan the flames and keep the smack-talking throngs of sports talk callers incensed and venomous.
So what happened yesterday? Johnson became the all-time receptions leader for the Bengals with 12 catches on the day for over 100 yards. Three of his receptions were touchdowns. And what are the fair-weathered Johnson-hating Bengals "faithful" saying today? Most of them are still hung over from celebrating, I'm sure...And they're thanking their lucky stars for Ocho Cinco once again. Until the next loss, that is.
A great player like Chad Johnson deserves better than anything the perpetually angry fans of Cincinnati can offer. He is – much like Randy Moss – one of the greatest football players of my generation. And one day – much like Randy Moss – he might finally pick up and move to another team where he will find the respect he deserves.
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