Forbin's Militia

After the 2004 Bengals season, I put out the word. Get your season tix now folks! We had a new coach who had lifted the team to relevancy, a flashy and talented wideout, and #1 draft pick at QB who had a cannon for an arm. These new Bengals were on a trajectory of inevitable dominance over not only the division, but the entire NFL. As childless 20-somethings it was time to lock in our allegiance and commit because the days of being able to buy single game tickets to The Jungle would soon be a thing of the past.  After galvanizing the troops, we embarked on an era of professional fandom in 2005. We rolled a dozen or so deep. We made an event of every gameday. We knew the team was special and worthy of our investment of time, money, and especially emotion. The whole city rallied behind this burgeoning team because it was clear that after sucking so bad for so long we had finally reached the promised land. My wife and I wore our wedding duds tailgating after having been wed for 12 hou...

First off, let me say I have been a Bengal fan my whole life and this will always be the case. I could never root for another team, and I love watching them play-win or lose. I’ve painted my face for every home game of the last six years. The camaraderie and ritual of gameday tailgating is something that I eagerly look forward to every Fall. My wife and I even have a Bengal van whose sole purpose is to facilitate our gameday proceedings. I am thankful that my favorite team in all of sports plays its games a few scant miles from my house. I have always been an apologist for those who ‘blindly support’ the Bengals despite on-field disappointment. Going to games with friends and rooting on one’s team is a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon-regardless of the result. That being said, we are NOT planning to renew our season tickets this year. There are a few reasons for this. The first, and most glaring reason, is the team’s poor performance in 2010. I can only speculate where the culpab...

After two spectacular defeats in the NLDS, Sunday night’s loss seemed pretty routine. No near-perfect game by the opposing pitcher, no defensive implosion on the Reds’ part, just a rough night where the team couldn’t get the bats going against another quality starter. Compared to games one and two, game three was nothing more than disappointing. The devastating part was its finality. The Cincinnati Reds, who had bounced back from losses such as this all year, were now officially done. There would be no chance to use the short memory that had been such an asset to them since April. There would be no opportunity to erase this loss with a win tomorrow. The way that the Reds were summarily dismissed from the postseason speaks to the difficulty involved in assembling a championship-caliber club. It’s not enough to grind it out through 162 games and end up on top. You also need to have what it takes to win short series where every pitch, every play, and every at bat have an extreme a...