I enjoy reading other Bengals specific sites with guys like me that do this for the passion and the outlet rather than the notoriety. One of my favorites is Who Dave's blog -- he's as passionate as they come. I mean, how many Macho Man Randy Savage references do you see these days?
The thing that caught my eye though was the Bengals' AOL Fanhouse maintained by sports blogging renaissance man, JD Arney. JD does great work with the SB Nation writing for Red Reporter (Cincy Reds) and Around the Oval (OSU Buckeyes).
I kind of laughed and assumed I got the email in error, cause you know, it's Marvin Lewis and I'm a Bengals fan. But no, they really picked Marvin Lewis as one of their ten coaches on the hot seat. Luckily I'm free to disagree with the premise
JD goes on to defend Marvin Lewis, like all semi-intellegent Bengals fans should. Sure, we criticize, but hot seat? It's one thing to put a coach on the hotseat because there's logic behind it. Like the Giants' locker-room breakdown. It's another thing to just create a list of 10 coaches by looking at the standings and assuming a coach is on the "hot seat". Luckily we have JD making a nice case for Lewis. But he shouldn't have to. You don't have to be local to Cincinnati or a fan of the Bengals to widen your eyes at the mad mind trying to stir artificial debate. But that would also assume that those at AOL Fanhouse know that Chris Carter's name is actually spelled Cris Carter.
Maybe it's just me over-reacting. I don't like fabricating assumptions with no basis behind it. Fact is, the Bengals are playing at their peak right now as Marvin Lewis continues to install focus. This team could have easily packed it in after tons (and I mean TONS) of adversity. Now they are in the hunt for the playoffs and Lewis just as easily could be named head coach of the year depending on the season's outcome. Lewis on the hotseat? All you have to do is take the time out to observe the team. There has been no "source close to the situation" that says Lewis is not in favor of ownership. There's been no press conferences of ownership giving Marvin Lewis a vote of confidence -- see Romeo Crennel. Hell, the local and national media hasn't even speculated as much -- and that's 90% of what they do.
So again, maybe it's just me over-reacting. Me? Over-reacting? Naaaah.