I somewhat favor the Rams in the SuperBowl. I think their d-line will do mighty well against the o-line that allowed so many sacks in the regular season. Could be a high scoring game, though.
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I somewhat favor the Rams in the SuperBowl. I think their d-line will do mighty well against the o-line that allowed so many sacks in the regular season. Could be a high scoring game, though.
I was reading the bleacher report about the Bengals win and they were going over the various offensive weapons, but when then got to the offensive line they said "well, there's five of them".
That's funny. The Rams defensive line could be a real problem for the Bengals. But the Bengals O line did a decent job against KC. But Burrow did get sacked nine times against the Titans. Who knows? lolQuote:
Originally Posted by dday9
The KC defense was good for a time in the middle of the season, but they were really bad to start the season, and reverted to form there at the end. Any good quarterback was lighting them up.
Could be a good game, and I don't particularly like or dislike either team, so I can root for both of them.
Fun fact: The Cincinnati Bengals franchise wouldn't even exist if former Cleveland Browns owner Art Modell (spit) hadn't fired Paul Brown.
Could you elaborate? I've always wondered how a state like Ohio gets two teams when it doesn't seem large enough to justify it.
Texas makes sense. It is basically the size of 2 European countries. California makes sense, although they all seem to be around the same area.
It was basically a clash between two giant egos. Paul Brown was one of the team's founders, part owner, head coach, general manager, and of course the namesake of the team. Art Modell (spit) was a Brooklyn businessman who purchased a controlling interest in the team in 1961, mostly with borrowed money.Quote:
Originally Posted by dday9
Following the 1962 season (a disappointing 7-6-1 and 3rd place in the NFL East) Brown traded away all-pro halfback Bobby Mitchell and first-round draft pick fullback Leroy Jackson to Washington for Heisman Trophy winner Ernie Davis, who was diagnosed with terminal leukemia shortly after the trade. Modell was furious with Brown for making the trade and demanded Brown play Davis and Brown refused citing Davis' health concerns. Modell even brought in doctors who claimed Davis was healthy enough to play. Modell then fired Brown in January of '63. Davis never played a single down for the Browns and died the following May. Modell promoted assistant coach Blanton Collier to the head coaching job and he led the Browns to the 1964 championship with what was essentially Brown's team.
Brown stayed away from the game for five years collecting his salary from Art Modell (spit) until the rival AFL granted him a new franchise in Cincinnati where he was once again head coach and general manager. The Bengals began play in 1968. When the AFL and NFL merged in 1970 both the Browns and Pittsburgh Steelers franchises joined the AFL teams in the new American Football Conference to balance the number of teams in each conference.
And that's how Ohio ended up with two NFL teams. It really shouldn't be much of an issue since the game was invented in Ohio in the first place.
I still don't get why they kept the Bengals in the merger. It seems logical that the NFL would say, we can't have two teams in Ohio and Cincinnati is only 2 years old, so y'all don't make the cut.
So, what you are saying is that the Browns have been dysfunctional from birth?
I do remember that I confidently predicted that the Browns would win their division this year. Sure nailed that one.
No, it doesn't seem logical. The 1970 census shows Ohio was the sixth largest state (5th in 1960) and Cincy was pretty much the same size as other AFL cities like KC, Buffalo, and Denver and considerably larger than Oakland and a few NFL cities at the time. The NFL had a real desire to expand and getting rid of franchises would be detrimental to that purpose.Quote:
Originally Posted by dday9
What do you have against Ohio, anyway? We invented the damn game and only three states (all considerably larger) can claim as many D1 college programs.
Makes more sense to have two in Ohio than three in Florida. Cincinasty is a good sized city, as is Cleveland. Not so sure about Jacksonville.
If you think about cities in the area, there's Indianapolis, Chicago, Pittsburg, Cincy and Cleveland. Perhaps a case could also be made for Columbus, but those are all fairly large cities.
Besides, it's not like they are hogging the Super Bowl trophies.
No I'm saying they've been dysfunctional since Art Modell (spit) bought the team and began his long and troublesome history of meddling in its operation. The guy never played or coached a single down of organized football in his entire life. 7 championships (including four in the AAFC that don't really count) in the pre-Modell era and only one in Cleveland since that was Paul Brown's team, anyway. He got one more in Baltimore, but that was after he finally learned his lesson, quit meddling and let his hired staff run the team. Heck, Modell also ran Sam Rutigliano, Marty Schottenheimer, Bud Carson, and Bill Belichick out of Cleveland because they all refused to listen to his orders.Quote:
Originally Posted by Shaggy Hiker
I read somewhere that Jacksonville is the largest city in the US - in land area. And Columbus surpassed Cleveland in population when they annexed most of their suburbs and are currently the only big city in Ohio that's growing in population - mainly because of the ever-growing state government. All the rest of Ohio's cities are shrinking like George Costanza's manhood when he was in the pool. ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by Shaggy Hiker
I'm not against it, I guess I never realized how large Ohio is.
Bidi Bidi Bom Bom.
Needling Cleveland fans is one of the great joys in life.
I went to college roughly midway between Pittsburg and Cleveland in the late 80s when both teams really sucked (though Cleveland was slightly less bad). Most of the students were drawn from one of those two cities, or the area around them, so the Pittsburg-Cleveland games were always entertaining. The fans split their time between ripping on the other team and ripping on their own team.
When both teams are good, the rivalry is more tense. When only one team is good, the rivalry is really lame. When both teams suck, that's when it's the most fun.
Hey, at least the Cavaliers are doing well even without whats-his-name.Quote:
Originally Posted by Shaggy Hiker