A FEW MO' THINGS, 4/30/12
(Photo courtesy of Deadspin)
I'm not sure how to deal with this. My equilibrium as a Bengals fan is completely out of whack after digesting all analysis of the draft and how the Bengals fared in it.
Nearly everyone who's paid to hand out draft grades likes what the Bengals did this weekend. A franchise so often associated with ineptitude and failure has re-branded and rebuilt itself in the last year and now has put together a draft that the experts, for whatever their opinions are worth, are almost universally salivating over.
This is not a common occurrence.
It doesn't mean that the players they selected this weekend will amount to anything, it doesn't mean that the Bengals will improve in 2012, and it doesn't promise additional playoff appearances or even that elusive postseason win at any point in the next few years. But what it does it still important, not just for what it does for the Bengals' on-field fortunes, but for what it does for a fan base that still needs stirring.
Let's face it last year's nine-win season, as good as it was, failed to completely capture the imagination of the city. Games only sold out when tickets were pretty much just given away and the ending of an atypical season was met with typical angst.
The idea this offseason was to not only get better on the field, but to add some excitement off it. They've taken some steps....training camp being moved to PBS, some lowered ticket prices, and the acknowledgment of the need for some sort of interactive fan event.
(Worth mentioning, the Bengals badly dropped the ball on Thursday. Their Draft Party was not open to the public and reeked of elitism. They missed a great chance to welcome the general public to PBS and sell some tickets. This franchise should take advantage of every opportunity to welcome people into their home.)
But what matters most are the steps taken to improve the on-field product.
They've been more active in free agency, adding depth and signing players who are probably better than they guys they replaced. At the very least, the Bengals go into training camp with the possibility of some heated roster battles at key positions.
They've locked up some of their own, giving long-term deals with guys like Whitworth and Hall, and saving themselves from losing Reggie Nelson.
And after igniting the makeover in last year's draft, the team assembled arguably their most attention-getting draft class in history. I can't recall a Bengals draft that's gotten this much positive attention nationally.
Positive attention doesn't win football games, and the good grades this draft has earned will look silly if this class falls flat on it's face, but an organization that's so often gotten attention for all the wrong reasons can't help but benefit from the nice things people are saying and writing about it.
Draft geeks might actually know as much as you and I, but they do help mold public opinion, and they can create excitement or anger over a draft class. The geeks are excited about what the Bengals did this weekend.
That can't do anything but create at least a little more excitement, even a little buzz, for the Bengals. The team is getting some free positive PR from the national media, the kind of national press that's impossible to quantify but that certainly can't hurt.
I don't know that there will be a run on season ticket purchases, and it's far too early to forecast a win total, but one year after an offseason of total buzzkill, the buzz is alive, and maybe even well, for the Bengals.
-Speaking of buzz, the college free agent signing getting the most is Vontaze Burfict. The guys at Cincy Jungle talk about why this is a move worth some risks. Burfict, for his part, says the Bengals got themselves quite a steal.
-This year's NFL Draft was enjoyable for two reasons...
1) Teams made picks quickly. This was the fastest moving draft I can recall.
2) Kiper and McShay cut back on the arguing. It's amazing how insightful both can sound when they stop yelling at each other/
-As we sort through all the different draft winners and losers, I think we can all agree that Ryan Tannehill is a winner....
-The Reds spent much of April in an offensive funk, their starting pitching was inconsistent, Brandon Phillips missed time, Scott Rolen got off to an abysmal start, Mat Latos has had exactly one good start, Votto has been mortal, they've had no production off the bench, and the manager has often misused the bullpen....
.....and they end April at 11-11.
That feels like a win.
-Start 'em young....
-A little something for the Cubs fans, I guess.
Guess I'll be at the Holy Grail before the games.
-Aside from UK coming back from down 31 against LSU in 1994 and the Nets blowing at 22-point lead against Boston in the 2002 playoffs, I have never seen anything like the Clippers's comeback against Memphis. Maybe the most stunning turn of developments I've ever seen in a basketball game.
-The Knicks have no answer for LeBron James, whether he flops or not. They will still win a game in this series, because Miami will mail one in at the Garden, but with no Iman Shumpert, New York went from having a chance to make this series interesting, to none at all.
Also, it would be nice if the Knicks put a backdoor cut into their gameplan.
-Derrick Rose shouldn't have been in the game late in the fourth quarter. I will not debate this.
-Radio today at 3:04 on ESPN1530. Then again on Thursday. A blog previewing today's show will be up around 2:30. This is why you show up early to see The Boss...
