...when you mix an inept front office, a nonexistent scouting staff, a coaching turnstile, no direction, no discipline…stop me if you’ve heard it…

So yeah, where the 2005 draft looked like a Godsend until…

...now it’s a complete disaster. Seven picks. All we have now to show for it are: A.) an undersized center who got blown off the line more often than not last year; and B.) a backup defensive lineman.

Random thought: I think Bootsy Collins needs to re-shoot the Fear Da Tiger video now.

But anyhow, it’s not enough that all three picks from Day One of the ‘05 Draft are now GONE…no, we’ve got to rub salt into our own wounds by making sure that we have absolutely NOTHING to show for it. Nothing in return for Pollack’s early retirement (of course…at least THAT one’s understandable), nothing in return for Thurman’s inexplicable release after they held onto him for this long, and nothing in return for the “human crime wave.”

Unbelievable.

...I wouldn’t blame the Steelers or Ravens for picking up Thurman. Ray Lewis needs an understudy, I’m sure.

But at least I’m not bitter…and that’s the important thing. ;-)

...it is really inexcusable. I realize the draft is a lot more of a crap shoot than one would like to admit, but when I compare the Bengals with other similar market teams, oh say like the Steelers—it boggles the mind now the Steelers can constantly find diamonds in the rough, where the Bengals always seem to end up with the lumps of coal.

Now that I am over the shock of Thurman’s release, it doesn’t bother me as much as it seems to bother some—my concern more has to do with the ability of the Bengals to evaluate talent and predict success in the NFL. For a team that is all about the draft, you’d think they would put more into scouting and recruiting than they do.

Mike Brown needs to go. He and Katie have apparently no grasp whatsoever on football realities like having adequate scouting and training staffs, like not making abstract, quixotic stands against one malcontent to the detriment of the entire team, like not having indoor practice facilities, like that the two of them together have about as much football acumen as the late Paul’s pink toe, and like noticing that all the successful franchises out there start with a good GM- hell, any GM. Personally, I think the Odell decision is BS, goffchile, but I agree that it’s probably the least of their problems. Maybe we could talk Carson Palmer into letting us “kidnap” him. Then we could force Mike to sell the team to Eddie DeBartolo, who’s looking to get back into the game and hails from northeast Ohio.