Tuesday morning links and notes -- Advice about firing Lewis

Please, let me caution you about one thing. I'm hearing a LOT of calls that want Marvin Lewis' head on a rusted plate (seriously, Mike Brown will give you quality?). The comment that the Bengals need to go in a different direction, isn't always desirable, when that different direction is chosen by the Bengals front office. Just something to think about.

James Walker is increasingly becoming a student of the Peter King school of Cincinnatian rumbling. While constantly chastising the team, providing mostly Chad ____ (fill in last name) name-change news, he's becoming dangerously enthusiastic about his demeaning characterization of the Bengals (and their fans). This week, Walker published comments sent to him from Cincinnati fans that questioned why Walker ranked the Bengals below the Ravens.

One writer writes, "Say what you want about our team and/or organization, but we DOMINATE the Ravens." In reality, there was truth to that; though we suspect Walker published the comments simply as a "shut your pie-hole" petty response. Bengals fans (well, mostly Cincinnati fans) are often mischaracterized. We are passionate, but we're also pissed off. A bad combination, when you think about it, considering the only thing fun to do in Ohio is drink... a lot. (I kid, I kid) For a time, some redirected their fanaticism to Bob Huggin's University of Cincinnati Bearcats. He left, and the city nearly lynched Nancy Zimpher; they haven't had a winning season since the 2005-06 season. So then, you have the Reds that haven't had a winning seasons since the turn of the century. The Bengals have had one winning season in, well, do we really need to bring up numbers?

During Monday's press conference, Marvin Lewis was asked if it would surprise him if the Bengals called Shaun Alexander. His response, "It would surprise me", was short and to the point. However, we all know the influence that Lewis has in the team's personnel department, so a surprising reaction from Lewis is probably still in play.

T.J Houshmandzadeh was still surprised on Monday on what happened Sunday. "They've got good players on defense, but I just thought we would win the game. I didn't think there was no way they could beat us, regardless of how they played on defense."

It still appears that the players are just as shocked at Sunday as nearly every Bengals fan out there.

James Walker lists two Bengals (Carson Palmer, Chris Perry) in three of his "who's not" (hot); which includes Braylon Edwards.

Keith Bulluck on "Oucho" Cinco:

"Oucho? I like Oucho," Bulluck said to laughter at the Titans' press conference. "Oucho Cinco. That's great. He's Oucho right now, I saw him with that shoulder brace on the sideline looking real dejected yesterday. Baltimore took it to those guys. We'll just see how that shoulder is. Tell him to get his shoulder right. Oucho Cinco."

"He's going to be on camera all day Sunday," Bulluck said. "With his shoulder I don't expect him to run too many shallow crosses. I'm putting it out there for him to bite it and I know he will. We're definitely ready just for the simple fact we kind of got embarrassed last year up there. It helped them forget they weren't having a great season."

Somehow, I can't shrug off the feeling that it's Walker promoting the name "Oucho". We certainly know it's not "mucho stinko"; now, that's original.

Not that this had anything to do with the Bengals, but Lions quarterback Jon Kitna kinda had a spat with coaches Sunday. "Jon Kitna was very, very frustrated in the first half of yesterday's game.  He not only was yelling at teammates but actually started to get in the face of a couple offensive coaches."

QUOTE: "True story: At one point during the game, Bengals receiver Chad Johnson was talking to Ravens defensive coordinator Rex Ryan, pleading for Ryan to single him up man-on-man so he could catch a pass."