And Yet Another Example In Which The Bengals Could Use An Indoor Stadium

Temperatures in Cincinnati have rarely raised above 25 degrees this week, prompting the team to practice in the cold. Chad Ochocinco made reference to the cold on Wednesday.

And we hardly think he's the only one complaining about it.

On Thursday, the area experienced a snow storm that could dump as much as five inches on the region by the afternoon. The Bengals, instead of practicing at Paul Brown Stadium, are likely heading out to Wall 2 Wall Soccer in Mason; an indoor facility they've practiced in during inclement weather in the past. This of course means that the team will take a very slow ride that could take an hour depending on traffic, reminiscent of high school football.

Well, not Massillon's High School team, who practices in a $6 million, 80,000-square foot state-of-the-art indoor facility. Mike Brown said, at the time of the facility's contruction:

"Massillon High School is ahead of us," observed Cincinnati Bengals President Mike Brown, the eldest son of legendary Massillon, Browns and Bengals coach Paul Brown. "We don't have one [an indoor practice facility]."

While the Massillon Tigers are practicing in this:

The Bengals are seeing this:

And asking:

According to James Walker in early August, the biggest hold up to signing a contract extension is that head coach Marvin Lewis is just short of demanding an indoor practice facility.

I'm also hearing an indoor practice facility appears to be one point of contention between Bengals ownership and head coach Marvin Lewis. It's no secret that it gets very cold in Ohio during the winter, and the Bengals' only options are to practice outside in inclement weather or travel approximately 20 miles each way to a training complex in Mason, Ohio. Usually these bus trips, which can be even more challenging during rush-hour traffic, happen late in the season when the stakes are the highest.

Not only could this be true, whenever the team plays a meaningful game in December, but one could argue that we've already seen that happen. The Bengals lost four of the final six games in 2009 starting in December, including the team's playoff loss to the New York Jets. And the team's two wins were against teams with a combined six wins. During the team's other playoff season in 2005, the Bengals lost the final three games, including a playoff loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers. In 2006, the Bengals were 8-5 with three games remaining in the season. If the team won any one of those games, they clinched a playoff berth. As if life wasn't totally predictable enough, the Bengals lost all three games; one on a botched PAT attempt and another in an overtime game against the Pittsburgh Steelers that ended after a Santonio Holmes 67-yard touchdown reception.

We're not saying that the Bengals could have changed results or that they can't play in cold weather. Nor are we saying that the team could have prepared better in an indoor stadium rather than worrying about staying warm or where to practice. No, we're not saying the latter at all. Not one bit. No siree.