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You're not in the front office, so don't speak

By Josh Kirkendall

I enjoy the occasional well-written outsiders view of the Cincinnati Bengals. Excluding the obvious conduct issues, most people outside the Bengals interest-group really have no idea what this team is about. Hell, even some within the Bengals fan-camp have no idea what's going on with this team. Just ask anyone about Odell Thurman and you'll get a 50-page dissertation ranging from conduct to how close he was to stealing the rookie of the year award from roid-raging Shawn Merriman.

I found this recent piece rather.... well, you decide.

I’m not calling Bengals’ fans stupid. I’m just saying don’t be naïve.

Since Marvin Lewis left the Baltimore Ravens in 2003, and became the head coach of the Bengals, how many bad offseasons has Cincy had? Better yet, how many offseasons has the team had that haven’t been good?

Speaking of naive, let's add a small history lesson. Marvin Lewis left Baltimore after the 2001 season. He joined and left the Redskins before and after the 2002 season. He joined the Bengals in 2003. I understand this is just a technicality, so no need pulling hair on this one.

I love asking two different ways of asking the same question. Such as, "...how many bad offseasons has Cincy had? Better yet, how many offseasons has the team had that haven’t been good?" Isn't that the same question?

I agree, mostly, with some of the points the author tries to make. But I also believe, using Bengals.com message board as the sample size of every Bengals fan is a bit lazy -- not to mention, foolish. I also believe spelling players' names wrong is careless.

I love the conclusion.

Get off Marvin’s back. He knows what he’s doing, or have you forgotten he hasn’t had a losing season in Cincinnati? You can have your opinion, but just remember that there’s a reason you’re at home reading my article and not in the front office helping make decisions.

The point of having non-losing seasons could transition to having non-winning seasons. And when you go 8-8 in three of the past four seasons, going home after game #16 in each instance is the exact same as going 7-9. You hear it all the time. "Hey, remember what it was like going 2-14?" Yes, I do. But that was five years ago now. Some of us long-time bitter Bengals fans will just have to move on and demand better than 8-8 seasons.

And I love how authors finally just say what they truly mean, "You're not qualified to have an opinion because you're not involved in the process. So shut the hell up." Classic.

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