Cultural Sports Tour: Cincinnati

Based on my previous blog posts, many of you probably know I’ve spent substantial time in two cities over the past two months.  Six weeks total in Jacksonville and Baton Rouge meant nice weather and decently rabid football fans, both college and professional.  I can’t explain how many times I entered conversations about the Saints.  Roger Goodell may look calm but were he to visit Louisiana anytime soon, those expensive suits would need a trip to the shredder.  The best aspect of this trip: seeing the different sports cultures all around the country.  Growing up within the political confines of DC, sports held a prominence but many in the DC area hold white-collar jobs and might not have as much time to religiously follow sports.

Not so in Cincinnati, Ohio, a riverfront town steeped in industrial, working-class tradition.  Like much of the MidWest (not sure if it qualifies but they think it does) many current residents grew up in the area and never left.  Plenty of those I’ve met work for industrial corporations in warehouses or industrial business parks.  Shipping trucks and forklifts gracing trailers dot the highways all around this area, known as the Tri-State with the confluence of Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana (the Cincinnati beltway passes through three states).  Downtown Cincinnati does not overwhelm you and sits right on the Ohio River looking into Kentucky on the other side.

So, a small market certainly, but not one bereft of impressive sports tradition.  The Bengals made two Super Bowls in the 1980s, losing to the 49ers on both occasions.  Their most famous quarterback, Boomer Esiason, now fills your home with intelligence on Sundays but at one point could play with any hurler in the NFL, no mean feat in the days of Marino, Montana, Kelly, Elway, and Simms.  He won the NFL MVP in 1988, again no small accomplishment.

Since then, however, the Bengals shrunk into relative obscurity.  Their owner, Paul Brown, died in 1991 and his son Mike Brown took over as owner and the de facto general manager.  A slew of top picks by the Bengals, including Madden overachiever Akili Smith, refused to pan out for the team throughout the 90s.  Mike Brown as owner could not make a good football decision for almost twenty years before last year’s Carson Palmer trade, over which period the Bengals boasted a grand total of two winning seasons.  Any city with such a bad team perennially will start losing interest, and Cincinnati definitely has.  Last year the Bengals made the playoffs.  The team played well and showed some promise for the future.  Still, fans didn’t show up.  A late September game was the lowest attendance number for Paul Brown stadium in its 11-year existence even with the team paying well.  Unfortunately, when you spend lots on a team to make it great and things don’t work out, as a fan you look elsewhere.

And that’s the issue: Cincinnati, and by extension its fans, pays a lot to keep the Bengals in town.  Ticket prices of $72 are higher than 15 other teams, including the infinitely more exciting Eagles.  Bengals fans should not pay more to watch 20 years of obscurity than Eagles fans that watch entertaining, at least halfway decent football.  In addition, the lease between Hamilton County and the Bengals for Paul Brown Stadium will tank municipal finances.  Once Mike Brown threatened to move in the mid-90s (over too small luxury boxes), the county gave in and built a new stadium with the most generous agreement in the NFL.  Under its terms, the county must pay for any improvements to the stadium that are made by 14 other NFL stadiums and, eventually, pay the team for occupying the building. (Brief aside: the owners won’t even pay for an indoor practice facility, and it gets cold up here.  Should show you their attitude towards the team.)  Add in the Great American Ballpark which the city paid for, and Hamilton County will be in the hole by as much as $43 million in 2013.  And how will the county get out of that?  Raising taxes on the primarily blue-collar populace.  Ouch.  Now that many Bengals games are blacked out locally, many in Cincinnati eagerly anticipate Brown’s departure, above ground or below, from the team.  When the Bengals need to beg fans to come to a playoff game they must understand how dire the situation truly is.  In the words of one fan I spoke with, “every owner of the Bengals has been a cheapskate.”

So barring the Bengals, the city revolves around the Reds.  Unlike the Bengals, the Reds not only compete consistently but can boast a serious championship pedigree.  They’ve won five World Series titles, the most recent in 1990.  The days of Joe Morgan, Pete Rose, and Johnny Bench still live on in Cincinnati lore (seriously, you hear Bench’s name every day around here).  That team, the Big Red Machine, won the Series in ’75 and ’76 (Game 6 in ’75 still goes down as one of the best playoff games ever) and were the last NL team to repeat as champions.  While the much-maligned trade for Ken Griffey, Jr. in 2000 deserves a little more credit (his injuries, not his play created issues) Cincinnati faithful love their Reds.  The emergence of Joey Votto in Cincinnati has the city on a baseball buzz, believing this team could compete for another championship.  The Reds currently stand 2.5 games behind the Cardinals for the division lead and starting pitcher Johnny Cueto has a gaudy 1.89 ERA.  The Reds made the playoffs last season and stand a good chance of doing so again this year, and their fans love it, though some wonder if they should be better with their $250 million plus payroll.  The Great American Ballpark, next to Paul Brown Stadium, receives accolades from lots of observers for being one of the better baseball environments in the majors.  The county still has financing issues, but at the very least the on-field product brings some recognition to the city.

As far as the other major sports, interests wanes.  A few Cavaliers fans, a few Pacers fans abound but the NBA has little foothold in an area within two hours of Louisville, Lexington, Columbus, Bloomington, and right in Cincinnati.  Xavier and University of Cincinnati carry on a heated rivalry.  The brawl last season displays the lack of affection between both fan bases, at least where basketball is concerned.  Being Ohio there are plenty of Ohio St. faithful with Columbus only 100 miles to the north, but everyone in Ohio shows an interest in Ohio State regardless of alma mater.  I’ve encountered less UC fans, but some occasionally come out of the woodwork.

All in all, Cincinnati has its own small-market feel but with plenty of teams to follow.  While the Bengals frustrate residents to no end, there’s lots to cheer for with the Reds and the different colleges playing well.  I’ve appreciated seeing a different side of sports culture, one infused with blue-collar values and a rabid following after championship years.  What is also a little pleasing to see is that, despite the reliance and fixation on sports, fans refuse to let the wool be pulled over their eyes.  Many here tell me “I boycott Bengals games because I hate Mike Brown” much the same way a dog spits out a half-eaten meal.  Brown fools no one, his record speaks for itself as lousy, and its refreshing to see fans refuse to play along.  Hopefully Cincinnati sees a champion soon, but overall they have demonstrated to me during my visit here the kind of sports religion many of the bigger markets (looking at you LA) lack.  Their teams aren’t flashy and might not be good, but plenty of Cincinnati time is spent watching and paying attention.

Bit #1: Good contributions to football from the Bengals

Amazingly, tons of football inventions we take for granted started in Cincinnati.  Equally amazing is that the inventions achieved greater fame for other teams, perhaps a constant fact of Bengals history.  In 1988, the Bengals first used the no-huddle offense throughout an entire game, elapsing 5-10 seconds between plays and forcing the NFL to enact new rules regulating the new tactic.  These rules came about also because the multiple AFC playoff games between Cincinnati and Buffalo featured two teams who used the no huddle almost exclusively.

The West Coast offense, a scheme based on shorter high-percentage passes, also started in the MidWest in Cincinnati.  Bill Walsh, the architect of the offense, served as a Bengals coordinator in the ‘70s.  The first season of its application, the offense gave the Bengals quarterback the highest completion percentage in the league.  Ken Anderson, the quarterback before Esiason, used the West Coast offense to reach four pro bowls and an MVP award.  Not surprisingly, the foil to the West Coast Offense also started in Cincinnati when Dick LeBeau (probably the best defensive mind ever) formulated the zone blitz, a scheme based on dropping would-be pass rushers into coverage to confuse offensive linemen.  LeBeau coordinated the Bengals in both their Super Bowl appearances and three of the Steelers Super Bowl appearances.

So, the Bengals clearly are not irrelevant in the grand scheme of the NFL, but it’s fun to imagine Bill Walsh and Dick LeBeau coordinating on the same team, even though their times had very little overlap.

Bit #2: Nail in the coffin for the Heat?

If Dwayne Wade continues to shoot poorly, this series will end badly for the Heat.  LeBron played poorly down the stretch last night, but again the issues go deeper.  The Pacers once again dominated the boards on both sides of the court, further cementing Chris Bosh’s reputation as fairly valuable.  But, the true value of the Pacers comes from internal ball movement.  Watch the game last night and Indiana was able to penetrate and dish extremely well (a lot like the Spurs who whipped the Clips) whether to Roy Hibbert for a lay-up or Danny Granger for a three.  Hibbert outshined all last night, blocking shots and playing like a true center, something the NBA really lacks right now preferring more versatile power forwards at the center position.  Should the Pacers go up 3-1, I view the series as all but over.  About 82% of Game 3 winners go on to win the series so there’s a chance the Eastern Conference representative this year will be from way out of left field.

Bit #3: Conference realignment heating up in lower levels

All lovers of the CAA in Virginia have been cut in half this week.  After VCU announced it would be leaving for the Atlantic 10, Old Dominion yesterday announced it will leave for Conference USA.  The move makes tons of sense for Old Dominion, who will now play football at the highest possible level, even if C-USA doesn’t boast a robust football roster, especially with UCF and SMU leaving.  For basketball, however, Old Dominion will add firepower to a conference that still must decide its fate with Memphis leaving for the Big East.  We’ve seen this realignment game before and while football continues to be the dominant justification, the implications for basketball remain intriguing.  The ending of intra-conference rivalries like Kansas-Missouri and now VCU-Old Dominion distresses the traditionalist in me since everyone wants to chase the money, but I remember many of the alumni and boosters of these teams still want the money and the rivalry game each year, so the rivalries will continue just not in previous glory.  For football though, I wonder how many rivalries will end as a result of all the shuffling.  Will we not see Texas-Texas A&M for the next few years?  I hope not, but it might come to that.

Bit #4: Finally someone follows the Rose Bowl model

The SEC and Big 12 announced today that they have reached an agreement for the champions of their respective leagues to meet in a New Year’s Day bowl for five years starting in 2014.  Should one of the champions be selected for the new playoff format, another team will be selected for the game.

This idea is great, mainly because it finally pits two of the better football conferences (both had at least one top four team simultaneously 11 of 14 years) but also provides a big boost to the college bowl landscape by making it clear that frivolous bowl will no longer be appreciated.  While host sites have yet to be announced (Jerry Jones has probably already called both commissioners), the only remaining question is how this game would interact with the four team playoff format.  Would this game and the Rose Bowl serve as playoffs in years where all four conference champions were selected?  I also worry if the conference champions are both in the playoffs, this becomes basically the Cotton Bowl just one day later.  As far as a tradition, however, it goes a long way in trying to bring New Year’s Day back to the elites in college football.  Still a little concerned about the formatting and all, but why not watch two conference champions duke it out?

Bit #5: Champions League Final tomorrow

Chelsea-Bayern Munich from Munich, Germany.  Watch it on FOX.  And before you think no one watches soccer, keep in mind the worldwide audience for this even dwarfs the Super Bowl every single year.  My prediction: Munich 2-1.