An Open Letter to Mike Brown
by JUNGLEJOHN on Nov 23, 2010 3:47 PM EST
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Mr. Brown, We have been a loyal fan base for all of your 20 years as owner/general manager of the Bengals. During that time you have rewarded us with a couple of playoff appearances, no playoff wins ans a multitude of losing seasons. We, the fans have done our part. You have a new stadium and a team that, even as poorly as it has performed, has more than doubled in value. You are wealthy and getting richer by the minute. I begrudge you none of that.
We deserve better than we have received. We have stepped up. Now it is time for you to step up because, though it may look like business as usual, it isn't. Down here in the fan's world there is genuine unrest. We are sad, tired and not doing as well financially as we would like for the most part. We are asking nothing more than what fans all over the country have. We want to be able to shed our troubles for just a few hours after we have worked hard all week, taken care of our families, helped our children with their home work, taken out the trash, mowed the grass, struggled under our car to repair it and everything else we are depended on to do. The Bengals are one of those things we look forward to - just those few hours on Sunday and a few minutes here on sites like this.
We do not have palacial estates and fancy cars for the most part. We live in modest homes, try to get another year out of a car that need replacing, eat meal we can make cheaply at home and cut coupons to try to stretch our dollar just to keep going.We have a lot of stress wondering if we can keep our jobs or even find one.
By contrast you have it pretty good. You should be singing and dancing as a happy man. You have wealth and security of a nature unknown to almost all of us. And you got all of it in one way or another from the pockets of none other than us. Is it too much to ask that you, after years of failed attempts, swallow just a little of your pride and admit that you can do better by hiring a good general manager, provide up to date facilities, hire a few scouts and make a true, real attempt to put a winning team on the field? You can do all of that and still be rich beyond the dreams of Averace. We as fans would like just once to root for a team that not only can have an occasional winning season only to fall back to mediocracy but can, like the fans in Pittsburg and Baltimore, have a few years of continued success. We are thirsty for it. We deserve it. You are the only one who can make it happen.
On behalf of all Bengal fans I am humbly asking you to step up, abandon the failed policies of the past and bring a new day for us. Bring in what you need, get an indoor practice facility, hire scouts, sign the players they recommend, let the coaches coach and bring in a good professional GM to tie it all together. If you don't want to do it for us - do it in the name of your father - a man we truly respected and loved. If you do, I promise you will gain something that you have never known - the respect and affections of the good people who root for the Bengals.
Respectfully, Junglejohn
P.S. Scroll down and read. I am confident that other of my Bengal fan bretheren and sisters will support what I have just said.
This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of Cincy Jungle's writers or editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of Cincy Jungle's writers or editors.
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Mike Brown..
do not ‘step up’… do all of us a favor and STEP DOWN!
by 80%OFTHETIMEIMRIGHTEVERYTIME on Nov 23, 2010 4:50 PM EST reply actions 2 recs
Make that Jeff Ruby's and you might actually get a reaction :)
by JamesShively on Nov 23, 2010 5:29 PM EST up reply actions
Mike Brown has probably never tried Jeff Ruby's.
No one as tight with money as him would ever go to an expensive steakhouse. That’s why he loves Denny’s.
Win a ring without the king! Cavs=2011 champs?
Actually
that’s were Marvin and Mikey interviewed T.O. the first time he was brought in town and we passed on him. I was actually surprised they didn’t take him to the Waffle House in Covington :)
by JamesShively on Nov 23, 2010 6:12 PM EST up reply actions
Or somewhere with a dollar menu.
Win a ring without the king! Cavs=2011 champs?
by sexsalad on Nov 23, 2010 6:13 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs
Well said
Josh – or any Mike Brown cronies reading this – can you push this letter up the ladder for us?
Moisture is the essense of wetness, and wetness is the essense of beauty.
Unfortunately
We’re operating under the assumption that Mike Brown even knows how to use a computer and has the ability to read this. He probably still uses his Apple II computer complete with dot matrix printer with paper that has the perforated edges to tear off. He stores all of his “scouting information” on the 5X5 floppy disks compatible with said Apple computer.
by Anthony Cosenza on Nov 23, 2010 7:14 PM EST reply actions
you can REC this post if you want it to stay on top for a while
It’s amazing how far and how fast the 2010 season tumbled into humility. We just wanted a little respect. Now we are back to being the butt of the league.
2010 - The Year of the Tiger.
Most important aspect to me is the fact that WE paid for the stadium for HIM, and he thanks us with losing teams
We, the fans have done our part. You have a new stadium and a team that, even as poorly as it has performed, has more than doubled in value.
Moisture is the essense of wetness, and wetness is the essense of beauty.
Good point...maybe so!
Like, what if ALL of us threw in…then passed it over to WDR and let them take a few cracks at it…then passed it to another Bengals fan site, and another…maybe if one of us got it to Hobson personally. I don’t know…just thinking out loud.
by TheWalrus1971 on Nov 24, 2010 10:21 AM EST up reply actions
But seriously, Mike...
…We know that, however misguided we believe you to be, you are passionate enough about football, having grown up around it, to have taken over the family business and run it the best way you know how.
Here’s the problem, though: while you have apparently run The Cincinnati Bengals with the goal of achieving the healthiest bottom line possible (as any successful businessman would do as a responsibility to his shareholders), Bengals fans (as well as most fans of other NFL teams…MLB teams…NBA teams…you get the point) expect a professional sports team to be run with only one thing in mind: winning a championship. Win and the money follows. It’s not a zero-sum game here, Mike. You hire a GM, and you’ll end up with enough additional cash flow from the expanded fan base that you’ll still be able to pay yourself that GM bonus…just, y’know, call it something else instead.
For all your years in football — all those years spent in off-season meetings with the owners of the other 31 NFL teams, one of whom is wearing a satisfied smirk on his face — don’t you want to know what it feels like to be on that podium with a confetti shower falling all around you, hoisting the Lombardi trophy as high as your arms can reach? Don’t you think that would make your Dad SO, so proud…to have his son achieve something that he never had? Don’t you think that would be the best of all possible springboards for your children, who you hope will carry the team forward to several championships in the future?
Win, Mike. Win. Hire a GM…and WIN.
by TheWalrus1971 on Nov 24, 2010 10:18 AM EST reply actions 6 recs
+42347903847
very, very well said.
by 80%OFTHETIMEIMRIGHTEVERYTIME on Nov 24, 2010 11:49 AM EST up reply actions
i agree with the above statement
by BoomerEsiasonsLoveChild on Nov 24, 2010 3:29 PM EST reply actions
Not to get all Debbie downer on your asses
but the only time Mike Brown is going to change is when he passes away.
Just pray for a freaking coach who can somehow win with Brown at the helm.
What do you do when there's no way out? Find a way to get deeper in it.
by jimbasa on Nov 24, 2010 7:12 PM EST via mobile reply actions
Great job JungleJohn
I think this is phenomenal. I can only imagine how frustrated Bengals fans are right now, but the way you articulate your feelings is great. I wish your letter and the part where theWalrus71 wrote get to MB. However the thread is littered with insults and jabs that would only serve to counter your points. Apparently everyone isn’t seeing this as level-headed as you are. I honestly can’t say I would be either if I was a Bengals fan. None the less, I do wish you some luck in that your voice gets heard.
On a side note, I wonder what his peers think of him. When he goes to the owners meetings and such, I’m sure he’s kind of viewed as a joke or something along those lines. The crotchety old guy who is stuck in his ways and just simply won’t change no matter how bad of a plan he has going. I almost feel bad for him, but I feel much worse for Bengals fans who have thier happiness and misery riding on this guy’s decisions, or lack thereof.
Ithaca has given you the beautiful journey.
Without her you would not have set out on the road.
Nothing more has she got to give you.
And if you find her threadbare, Ithaca has not deceived you.
Wise as you have become, with so much experience,
you must already have understood what Ithacas mean.
-cavafy
How about,
If we want change, maybe we should chant for Katie to take over b/c that is the only change that will happen anyways. This way MB thinks we are supporting her and really we are supporting some type of change at the least.
Go all out and make signs and shirts and take them to the home games. Kinda like reverse psychology.
by WHYUS!! on Nov 25, 2010 11:33 PM EST reply actions 1 recs
For the last 41 years I have been a die hard Bengals fan.I keep telling myself it will get better.
It never does.
I have a good mind to mail every jersey,hat coat and shirt back to MB and tell him to take them and burn them. I am done buying anything that supports this so-called organization.
Call me a bandwagon fan all you want.I know better. I live in Pa and I have to pay NFL.com to listen to every Bengals game.No more.
All these years and we still don’t have one single bright spot on this team.NONE!
You MB are the worst owner in the NFL.
That might be something that draws attention
If every frustrated Bengals fan mailed their jerseys back to Mike Brown. We should organize something.
by BonnieBengal on Nov 26, 2010 5:44 AM EST up reply actions
nah mike would just list em on ebay
and pocket the proceeds
" I for one, welcome our new Buffalo overlords. " - Whokebe
I tried in this open letter to keep the discourse civil and respectful because .......
if by some lunlikely chance that MB or Katie did read it they wouldn’t be able to say that it was just the rant of a crazy man full of hate. I don’t hate MB or Katie. I don’t think they are stupid. I respect the fact that it is their team and that they have right to run it anyway they want. I just think they need to see the results of what they have done and consider doing it another way and maybe get a better result.
I was trying to let them know that we love the Bengals, want them to be a successful franchise and that what they do affects us more that they may realize. No, it is not the most important thing in our lives, not even close, but when all of the important things are taken care of, our fandom is one of the pleasantries that many people depend on to take some of the knots out our rope that the stresses of life tie us up in. The decisions that they make affects the quality our lives and we deserve better. I have never seen anyone convinced by a persons whose primary message is “you suck” or “you are an idiot peice of crap”. Many people want to beat them. I want to try to convince them. We are not the enemy – we are willing partners. I also want them to know we exhibit anger because we are hurting and we hurt because we care. We want to be proud of our chosen team. We are tired of the scorn of Browns, Ravens and Steeler fans. We have enough things in this life beating us down. A Bengals win is a bright highlight for us.
If jabbing and insulting MB and Katie your chosen course of action, I understand. If it makes you feel good, hey go ahead. I am a big fan of you feeling good. I am just not too sure how effective it is when it comes to affecting the problem. When is the last time you insulted someone in one breath, asked them to see something your way in your next breath and actually got the response you were looking for? When you take the low road it just makes it easier for them to dismiss you.
"If we always agree, one of us is not necessary"
by JUNGLEJOHN on Nov 26, 2010 11:57 PM EST reply actions 4 recs
Well said JJ
I think any mean spirited comments should be removed from this thread so it will appear professional if MB ever did see it.
by BonnieBengal on Nov 27, 2010 3:21 AM EST up reply actions
I've considered it...
…and y’all KNOW I’ve been zapping the offenders.
It’s just that we have some clearly-defined rules around here, and I can’t just go all Chuck Norris on the thread just in case Mike decides to drop in. Sometimes people come over to your house when you don’t have the front room picked up…you just deal with it when it happens, right?
by TheWalrus1971 on Nov 30, 2010 12:15 PM EST up reply actions
well I actually concur with what JJ wrote
I don’t hate Mike Brown, I just hate the fact that he has the power to determine the success of this team and we can’t do anything about it. In a capitalist nation though, I have no objections to that principle, just ask that he take into consideration his fans for once in the 20 years he’s had this team.
Moisture is the essense of wetness, and wetness is the essense of beauty.
That’s actually a huge part of the problem. The league isn’t truly capitalist. If it was, Mike Brown would have been forced out of business a decade ago or more.
One thing a good business man knows is.........
that if you need something and don’t get it you pay for it without having it. This applies to MB regarding a GM. How much money have we spent on stupid personell decisions that a good GM and a scouting department would probably have avoided.. The Bryant decision alone cost $9 mil. That alone would pay for a good GM for at least 10 years. Throw in just Andre Smith, Sam Adams and Jerome Simpson and right there you would find enough money to hire a dozen good scouts and pay them well. As a businessman myself for over 25 years his inability to see this basic principle on good business after all of these years baffles me.. This failure in a business sense is a affronting to me as his failure to put a winning team on the field.
This isn’t about personalities, it is about good business. A penny saved is not always a penny earned – sometimes it is a dollar lost. Business men who don’t have an ever flowing influx of capitol and actually have to be efficient knows this. A good GM, not some member of the Brown family who needs a job, and 8-10 experienced scouts would save him money. He has to know this.
With MB it isn’t really all about the money. It is about power. I don’t really blame him. Power is an intoxicating and addictive thing. I hope for his sake and the sake of the Bengals he can beat it. He needs an intervention for his own sake and people he cares about and who care about him need to step in.
"If we always agree, one of us is not necessary"
by JUNGLEJOHN on Nov 30, 2010 3:01 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs
Well I think your numbers may be slightly off. I don’t think a good GM is likely to be under $1mil a year. But otherwise you’re pretty spot on.
agreed
and I also agree that the GM and a scouting department would likely have been cost effective. [not to say that a GM can’t also make stupid mistakes]
If nothing else, it would help to save face.
CET Brown
Can't Evaluate Talent.
Yea, I suppose you are right Friar
A mill or so a year isn’t what it used to be but it still would be a bargain at twice the price. At 9 mill over 5 years all you need to do is look at how much money has been wasted over the past 5 years. That 9 mil on Bryant took place over a 5 – 6 month period. 1mill in pay for 6 months of a good GM very well could have saved 8 mill as a good GM would have never spent that kind of money on damaged goods, especially when a guy like Boldin was there for a similar price. Of course hind sight is 20-20 but a a blind man with a blindfold could have seen that.
It isn’t that MB and Katie are bad people – they are good people who demonstrate some very high character traits. They are just not good “football people”.
"If we always agree, one of us is not necessary"
Considering all the other bad deals in those same five years as well, it very likely would be a bargain at FOUR times the price. So yeah, at twice it’d be an outright STEAL.
And yeah, I also have to agree they probably aren’t really bad people in most ways. Just dumb and greedy. But it’s not like there aren’t a million others just like them out there…
This isn't a situation of capitalism.
It’s a monopolistic authority and they can do as they please. Given the exception given by the US Government to the NFL to allow this monopoly, we could argue that there should be some influence allowed by the fans and the region to both impact the quality of the team and create sticky feet so that a team can’t just fly to the highest bidder at whim.
CET Brown
Can't Evaluate Talent.
lets get one thing straight Blue
and i know you didn’t mean it this way, but i had to clarify….
" just ask that he take into consideration his fans for once in the 20 years he’s had this team."
We are NOT “HIS” fans, we are fans of the BENGALS, the team he owns and consistently embarrasses us with….
that is all, sorry
Hey JJ,
EXACTLY! Send this post you just wrote to Mike Brown. I agree 100%. Nice post and your absolutely correct in everything you wrote.
Although it’s a stress reliever to poke at someone with a winning percentage of .330. But it will get you nowhere if you want change.
No the only way to effect change is to A) politely convince them to change, or B) replace them.
I’m pretty sure option A doesn’t really exist in this case, and option B isn’t likely either. But hey, I’m all for you guys trying. Just don’t expect me to hold my breath either.
Friar, I would never tell you that you should hold your breath.
Hell, I know that I am sorta pissing in the wind. At the most I know that there is about a 1% of a 1% chance that anything I say or you say will affect anything. My only other option was just to say or do nothing. I am not a big fan of doing nothing and if I am going to do anything I will try to be as effective as possible.
I see this team being pretty well blown up at the end of this very dismal season. Marvin & Brat will be gone and probably Zimmer as well. So will TO, Benson, JJ, Roy WIlliams, Dahani and Odom. Change is comming. The only question is whether it will be a positive change. The saddest thing is that we just may, a few years from know, look back at the 2000 – 2010 period as the good old days. How sad is that?
"If we always agree, one of us is not necessary"
"I think that's the worst thing I've ever heard. How marvelous." -- Count Rugen
by TheWalrus1971 on Nov 30, 2010 12:16 PM EST up reply actions
Excellent letter and additions
I fully support this. If we really want to see a change, then don’t buy Bengals’ products. MB makes too much money by putting a consistently poor product on the field. It’s kind of like the voting with one’s pocketbook theory. If your a fan and want to show your disapproval, then do not buy Bengals’ gear with the NFL logos. MB would certainly make a change when his bottom line is shrinking!
Mr. Mike Brown:
If you are intelligent and remotely loving, you will listen to the heartbeat of your fans. Someone here said, “I don’t think they are stupid. I respect the fact that it is their team and that they have right to run it anyway they want.” In fact, you are in a business of ultimate societal building and unity. In a way, you really do not own the Bengals; the fans do and you should be proud of that. DO NOT DO ANYTHING ON PURPOSE TO BREAK THEIR HEARTS. Learn to do whatever is possible so they won’t point fingers at you. I am not a particular team’s fan, but I am biginning to feel the real pains of Bengals’ fans, YOUR FANS!!! Listen and DON SOMETHING!
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