This is a sponsored post. Peter King hasn't always looked favorably on the Cincinnati Bengals. And perhaps there's merit to that, considering the Bengals have been so bad for so long. Regardless, most Bengals fans started tiring of the over-coverage of bigger NFL teams and the more elite players while either ignoring the Bengals, or taking pop shots at them whenever they played poorly. When things went well, King, at most, would serve a one-liner somewhere praising something they did.

King, who wrote for the Cincinnati Enquirer covering pro football from 1980 until 1985, has a new book out called Monday Morning Quarterback -- the popular title for his weekly Sports Illustrated Column. Asked to review the book, I considered whether or not it was best for my health to do that here. After all, what would the readers of Cincy Jungle think of me if I were to actually like it. As I put on my kevlar vest Darth Vader helmet to tell you, I actually liked it, even though it didn't have too many Bengals references in it.

Like all things during the Internet Revolution, King went from NFL Insider on CNN's NFL Pregame show to writing a column for the Sports Illustrated website back when it was CNNSI.com. The company wanted to expand NFL's coverage riding the exponential growth of the internet, asking King to write 24 columns a year. King's popular MMQB grew to roughly 8,000 words a week for 48 editions a year.

A majority of the book is a collection of King's favorite Monday Morning Quarterback stories. And while the Bengals themselves are hardly referenced, the stories themselves are entertaining, such as the evolution of the Giants and Chargers trade in 2004 following Giants General Manager Ernie Accorsi during draft weekend. I really enjoyed the story with King following Chris Canty's agent, Brad Blank, hours after the start of free agency which brought a behind the scenes perspective of sorts. Peyton Manning's story in 2008 in which he nearly didn't play because of a reoccurring knee problem wasn't healing until well after the season started. Remember? Manning and the Colts started the season 3-4 before going on a 9-0 run, when Manning was finally healthy.

Several of King's favorite columns sidestep football completely. The story about King's friend Mike McGuire, who is an Army Sergeant tasked with leading a group of young men to disarm Improvised Explosive Devices in Iraq, is humbling. As is his trip to Afghanistan in a USO/NFL joint effort with players like Luis Castillo, Tommie Harris and Mike Rucker.

Like his column, he features several Ten Things I Think I Think, with topics like Top Coaching Hires (Paul Brown is #1 with the Browns), Best Draft Picks, Hall of Fame Snubs, Sports Illustrated Covers (Boomer Esiason is one), Cliches he hates, NFL's Best and Worst. He also lists his top players of today (Carson Palmer is the only Bengals player listed at #41) and Top Players of All Time (Anthony Munoz is the only Bengals player listed at #19).

If you only like books that are Bengals-centric, this isn't for you. If you enjoy King's columns on a more general football related front, which includes plenty of Peyton Manning, Tom Brady and Brett Favre references, I think you'll enjoy this as much as I did.

(h/t Mo Egger)

See also "The One In Which Craig Dons His Public Relations Hat."

Dear Mister Brown,

A great opportunity is currently laid out before you.  As you know, in just a little over two hours the end of the blackout extension period will be upon us and the Cincinnati area will find out whether or not they will be able to watch your 4-1 Cincinnati Bengals take the field against the Houston Texans on Sunday afternoon.  As of the last reporting there were over three thousand tickets that still needed to be bought to sell out the stadium.  You probably know the likelihood or probability of the stadium selling out successfully more than I do, but I would like to propose something to you.

All of Bengal Nation has greatly enjoyed the last four weeks in which our team has begun a rise to relevance in the National Football League.  Seeing that the Denver Broncos are now 5-0 with one of the highest ranked defenses in the league even softens the blow of the last-second loss at home to start the season which handed our team their only 2009 loss to date.  This is a football team that deserves support; this is a football team that deserves a sold-out stadium chanting "Who-Dey" to cheer them on to a fifth consecutive victory.  This is a football team full of players and coaches that deserve every bit of support that we as a fanbase can offer them as they go into battle again this weekend.

All that said, how can it be that the game hasn't sold out already?  Our football team is enjoying positive national press the likes of which we haven't seen since 2005.  Let me answer for the collective fanbase.  There are two reasons why the game hasn't sold out.  Firstly, the economy isn't in the greatest shape as you know.  Secondly, as you also know, since you took over the team after your father's passing things haven't exactly been ideal for a Cincinnati Bengals fan.  I don't need to write about the team's record or how that falls into the four major sports in that timeframe...that's been done hundreds of times over by countless writers.

This is the thing, Mr. Brown.  The fans don't have a problem with the team, we want to support them.  The fanbase is reticent to buy a ticket in this slumping economy where money is a far more precious commodity than in the past because they are reluctant to support you as an owner.  Please don't stop reading, I'm here to help.  I have a suggestion that can help begin to right the ship as it were.

Mr. Brown, what I would suggest is for you to buy up the remaining tickets and either a) send them to previous season ticket owners who have been unwilling to renew their licenses and re-up their season tickets, or b) offer them at the Will Call window at Paul Brown Stadium on Sunday morning on a first-come/first-serve basis.  I would suggest the former because I know several former season ticket holders that wish they hadn't given up their licenses personally.  I know I am but a lowly blogger and as such will not likely be listened to seriously, but please listen to my reasoning.

In all likelihood someone like Kroger may do what was done for the season opener and do this for you.  I urge you not to allow someone to do it again.  The statement that you would make by eating the cost of these three thousand or so tickets would far outweigh what it would do to your bottom line.  The fans believe you couldn't care less about them...this would show us that we are wrong in that assumption.  You would start to repair the damage that nearly two decades of irrelevance has caused, and I would just about bet that we wouldn't be waiting for an extension deadline again for the remaining regular season games.

It would energize the team to know that their owner cares enough about the fans supporting them to make such a gesture.  They would see an entire stadium full of fans excited to watch their football team play a game in person, maybe for the first time in some of those fans' lives.  This would increase their intensity and level of play, which makes winning a football game more likely.  That brings us back to winning five games in a row, something the team hasn't done since they went to SuperBowl XXIII.

That would also increase the chances of further sellouts. 


You are an incredibly savvy businessman, so I think you can see what I am getting at here.  The wise business choice in this case is not to sit on your laurels and allow the game to be blacked out, but to be proactive.  Buy the remaining tickets so the game will be broadcast live locally for those who can't afford a ticket.  Offer the tickets you've bought in some sort of promotion that will encourage your fan base. 

Reap the benefits of a good decision. 

Just to be clear, I live in Northeast Ohio so I will be watching the game live on the NFL Sunday Ticket regardless, so I really have no investment into what I have suggested.  It won't benefit me personally for the game to be reprieved from blackout.  I honestly just have the best interests of my fellow Bengals fans in mind. 

You can really make a positive impact in both the immediate and the lasting path of your football team with one simple gesture today.  Who better to buy up the remaining tickets than the man wealthy enough to own a professional sports team in the Queen City? 

Sincerely,

Craig A. Conrad (A Pragmatic Bengals Fan)

There's a lot of serious analysis going on at CJ right now, and seeing how it's Friday, you have no job and you have nothing to do, I figured I'd lighten the mood a little. Hey, look: no Andre Smith bitching or Ocho tweets from me today. Instead, how about a nifty little commercial featuring Carson Palmer? Again, Palmer is pitching John Morrell sausages, this time, however, it's in televised form.

Granted, it's nowhere near as epic as the image ads were, but seeing the players we love act cheesy in local commercials always brings a smile to the face... Well, at least it does for me.

H/t to Deadspin for the find.

PFT sources an ABC story that a 21-foot boat with three NFL players missing.

The boaters were supposed to return sometime after dark but never did, officials said. A friend called the Coast Guard at about 1:30 am and reported them missing.

Officials say the waters in the gulf are extremely choppy and they believe the boat is in distress.

Air and marine crews from the Sand Key and Clearwater Coast Guard stations are searching a 750 square mile area west of Clearwater Pass.

The story claims that two of the three players play for the Detroit Lions and Oakland Raiders; no idea as to the third person. We can't help but think that the third player is a certain free agent running back that played for the Bengals in 2008. There's been no reports of Benson at all this free agency, and since he's not known to visit anyone, and since we know that he loves boating, we admit, somewhat morbidly perhaps, that one of them possibly could be Cedric Benson. A small possibility, like 1%, but the thought did occur to us. No names were released and we're still waiting on updates.

Which of the following non-division teams has scored the most wins against the Marvin Lewis Bengals?
Colts
Patriots
Broncos
Chiefs
Bills

Which NFC West team have the Bengals failed to beat during the Marvin Lewis era?
Seahawks
Cardinals
49ers
Rams

Which non-division AFC team have the Bengals beaten the most?
Texans
Chiefs
Dolphins
Raiders

Which AFC division, not including the AFC North, have the Bengals scored the most wins?

Which NFC division have the Bengals recorded the most wins?

One of the benefits of being a computer guy, professionally, is that I can make several changes within the system that affects my coworkers. Suffice it to say, we have several Steelers fans. All good people in truth, and their love to rip me and my team is a source of good pleasantry for them. So I aimed to return the favor.

I made a few firewall modifications, forcing a redirection of a requested URL. If our users type in steelers.com, or any modification of that, this screen comes up.

Click on screen for enlarged picture.

They love it when I do that.