My Bengal Transformation

Let's get this blog started with a little about me. Then we can get on to what is really important...football, beer, friends, and Who Dey Nation! 

So, let me just start by saying, that I have not always been a Bengals fan. Really, not until just in the past two years. I am sure I will take a lot of flack for this. Hell, I would give myself flack. I hate football floppers! I am all about loyalty through thick and thin, no second favorite teams, always just you and your team, good and bad. I was always the first to run someone through the mud for even looking at another team. I suppose this is my karma, though. Maybe even my Christmas Carol, a look at the other side. I got the fever and I couldn't beat it. So here is where this blog will begin...

A little timeline, if you will:

I was born to a die-hard Browns fan, through the hiatus and back again, my Dad couldn't get enough. I remember being about 3 or so and watching games with him. I knew he liked it and I thought I should too. However, I never did get the love for that poor team. This man took knees on the living room floor for injuries and close games, vowed off football when they were moved to Baltimore, and held prayer vigils for their return. As passionate as he was, though, I never could quite grasp the love for my poor dad's Brownies. 

That was because when I was 6, my mom moved us to Florida away from my dad. She had no football interest at all and the Dolphins were all I had in the Sunshine State. Then one fateful day, I met a friend from Nashua, New Hampshire. We were best friends and did everything together, including sitting with her dad every Sunday watching the sorry New England Patriots. At the time, these guys were the worst! Still, like the good soldiers we were, we sat there every Sunday and watched another team hand them their asses. Unlike the Browns, for some reason this team stuck. Maybe, I just felt bad for them, maybe I just wanted to get football back in my life since my mom and her new husband were racing watchers only, maybe I knew they were bound for greatness. Ha! That last one was a lie...that team really sucked!

When we moved back to Ohio, I stuck with the Patriots, even with my dad around. I even became pretty die hard, trash talking, taking knees, still knowing they were only destined for awful to mediocre. I eventually moved out on my own, still holding my crappy Patriot candle high. Then it happened...Drew Bledsoe went down, some crazy kid from Michigan came in, the next thing I know I am sitting in my recliner with my hands on my head, weeping like a baby, frozen for what seemed to be hours as I watched Adam Vinatieri knock the field goal through the post. Could it be? Could I have just watched this team turn around? From there, we all know the Patriot history. Arguably the best Coach/Quarterback tandem of all time. Finally, all my dedication was cemented!

I never backed down from my love for New England. I scoffed at other teams, I felt superior even in losses. I moved around several times, Michigan (the Lions never even blipped on my radar) and Zanesville, Ohio (no team, but you would think the Steelers built the city and as a side note, just thinking about the Steelers makes me want to put a hot poker very slowly through my eye), still I stood vigilant with the Patriots, thick and thin, Super Bowl loss, wins, undefeated seasons, broken Brady, these were my guys.

Then it happened...I moved to Cincinnati. Cincinnati, what is touted as the worst franchise in NFL history by some. When I first moved here, living so close to live football was like a heroin addict staring at a spoon and a lighter. So, of course I went to a game: Bengals v Saints...Bengals loss. It was still fun, so then the next year, I had made some friends and we found ourselves with a 3 game ticket pack. Every game I could feel something change inside. Maybe it was the live environment, maybe it was the die hard fans that could barely fill the lower bowl, hell maybe it was just the beer talking...but I became my own worst nightmare. I had TWO TEAMS!! When our ticket pack was up, I even decided to buy the rest of the season. I slowly got more involved with the team and their public events, the fans, and the culture. What has happened to me?

Now, as I write this, a game into the preseason, a Cincinnati Bengal full season ticket holder, I can feel my blood filling with the stripes. Much like Peter Parker, I have been bitten by the bug and it has overcome me. I have all but abandoned my long time boys in New England. I have become a flopper. Good or bad? Who knows? Maybe my rules were too strict on floppers. Football is very serious for me, more than a passion. So, flopping is also very serious to me. Though, I am ashamed, I will wear my stripes proudly, thank New England for the journey and memories, and scream Who Dey to all that will listen! 

So here is my blog, from a fresh Who Dey fan perspective. I may have not suffered through your all of your years of anguish, but I know what suffering and hunger is (take a look at the 90's Pats). I will be here for you, and fight with you during every win and loss, off season, preseason, and regular season. The blog will be filled with news, training camp info, and game recaps, all from a fans perspective. Feel free to join in the banter. Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the blog! Who Dey!!!