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The biggest losers here are all of us for reading this piece of garbage.

Gone but not forgotten.

[quote name='bengalrick' date='29 August 2009 - 09:36 AM' timestamp='1251552976' post='795934'] Sois, when I'm at the age that I will get my SS, on its current course the program will be done. We could either raise taxes, reform the whole thing over again, or raise the age limits, but none of which are good clean options imo. Has it helped many people in its time? Yes it has. Has it been gutted and mistreated by politicians for a long time? Yes it has. Will I see a penny of it in my lifetime? Almost certainly not. I am not bitter about it... I have accepted that fact for a long time, but I just don't see the justification that it is successful with these facts. People living too long isn't a problem... I am personally glad for this fact, but in the context of SS it is a bad thing. That should be the end all comment that SS is not that great of a program. [/quote] It will not be done. There will be people working when you are in retirement that will pay into the pool. In fact, it may be in better shape (if you are ~30 or so) because all of the boomers should be dead. How to fix it? Raise the age to 75 at least. Back when the program started, people were only living 3 years past the start date. Now that figure is 20+ years. That is a lot of strain on the system. Social security is supposed to keep people from poverty. It's not supposed to be used by retired millionaires. As a financial planner that worked with wealthy clients, it bothered me to see these people getting those measly checks when there are poor old folks out there who are in bad financial shape. Lot's of people pay for services they don't use. I've never called the fire department, but I'm glad that I am paying into the system. If I ever need it, I'm glad they will be there. People need to realize that SS is no different. It should be a "just in case" thing, not a savings plan.

You are missed my friend. [img]http://forum.go-bengals.com/public/style_emoticons/default/sad.gif[/img]

Keels - Loser, it will be interesting when he'll get another top 10 talent. Bengals - Big Winner. I'm sorry back in October the popular opinion was bengals needed the 1st overall or top 3 pick to get Andre Smith. They got him at 6. Paid less than 7. It cost them 30 days of practice. Totally worth it. Question - Would you rather have Jason Smith and his minor hold out along with his 62 million dollar contract with 33 gauranteed? Andre Smith - Loser with 21 mil. Think about it. If he doesn't have his minor set backs in the evaluation processs he'd have 14 million more in his pocket. Yikes. Keels will be used as an example by other agents on how things can go wrong.

[quote name='Tigers Johnson' date='01 September 2009 - 09:08 AM' timestamp='1251810506' post='796826'] Recession + 4-11-1 = No sellout [/quote] Well, there are 3 teams that made the Playoffs last season that are also having trouble selling out.

"Imagines a toss play to the right with Bobbie, Collins, and Andre plowing the way with Jeremi as the lead blocker"

I wish I got to know him better. Always a great fan and I pray for those he was closest to.

We should beat the Broncos week 1 but they aren't in the running for the top pick. I think the defense holds them to 17 or less and our offense scores 24 or 27 with us running the ball down their throat in the 4th quarter. I'll guess Denver is a 5 or 6 win team on the season, remember they get to play the Raiders and Chiefs too.

I'll be disappointed if we don't see 3 OT sets every now and then like the Raven's ran last year. Bringing Smith in, overloading one side of the line and just running the ball down peoples throats. As much catching up as he has to do, its foolish to think he can't contribute in certain spots from week 2 on.

I think Andre will see time as a "blocking TE" fairly early on. My guess is he's starting after the Bye week. And while Andre's strength is his run blocking, he's not a bad pass blocker at all.

He was a great poster. I hope his family is doing good still. I can't imagine going through that.

[quote name='BengalBacker' date='30 August 2009 - 06:02 AM' timestamp='1251579726' post='796066'] I was just thinking about him a few days ago. I hope his wife is doing ok. [/quote] +1 on both counts. He was a great guy, and one of my favorite posters to be certain.

He is surely missed

I was just thinking about him a few days ago. I hope his wife is doing ok.

His real name was Mark Teters, and my oldest son Andrew still includes him in his "Now I lay me down to sleep" prayer every night.

I hope your resting in peace man. God Bless you and your family. Who-Dey to you my friend.

God bless and Godspeed. I hope his wife and Bob (his son for noobs) are doing well.

I went through some of his old posts and threads using our search feature. It was great to see some of his posts and some of the old posts in general. He was a great optimist and definitely fan ... he was without a doubt an asset to this board during his time here. Hope all is well with his family.

Everything on paper is pointing to the Bengals stomping the Broncs. Which is why I'm afraid of this game.

[quote name='oldschooler' date='30 August 2009 - 04:43 PM' timestamp='1251661385' post='796354'] But the Bengals didn't follow this guy around, he came to them. All I know is the guy did have at least one violation, has had them in the past, and was flying over a stadium that had over 1,000 people in it. Which means he HAS to fly above 1,000. I don't see how any of that is the Bengals' fault, and why they should apologize. Yeah, it was a low flying plane, low enough that they wanted the FAA to check and see if it was under the limit allowed. [/quote] Do you believe the Bengals knew who was flying which particular plane and checked his flightplan before calling the FAA? I don't. To me the flight plan issue is irrelevant since the team complaint was about altitude if you believe them or the message IMO. If the FAA tries to sanction Newhouse, his lawyer will review the team's call to the FAA and interview various team personnel. I doubt they had a device which measures a plane's altitude and were just eyeballing it. If the pilot was flying superlow he'd drop off radar at Lexington and trigger alarms for a crash. More likely he was flying figure 8s over the college and the air traffic controllers didn't see anything to raise alarm. After all the FAA didn't do anything until the team called. So why did the team call? Given Mike Brown's well know status as a bleeding heart liberal, first amendment absolutist, supporter of the ACLU, and embracer of criticism, it could only be due to safety concerns, right? Does it matter to you if the lowest altitude of Newhouse's flight is determined to be 1001 feet or 999? It doesnt' to me. If he turns out to be flying low, he will probably pay his fine but that doesn't make the team right. When you're out driving 65 on the freeway and someone passes at 75, do you reach for your cell phone to alert the police? I hope not

Sure I dislike Mike Brown and I don't even particularly like private aviation, but saying the guy flying his banner was endangering people on the ground is silly. You're right that messages that provoke people will get called about sooner but that's the problem. The complaint was IMO based on the message. This is one of those deals where the process is the punishment. Sort of like a thorough tax audit that doesn't result in any penalties.

[quote name='oldschooler' date='31 August 2009 - 09:55 AM' timestamp='1251723329' post='796569'] [b][size="5"]Recession runs interference as NFL teams try to score profits[/size][/b] updated 3:05 a.m. EDT, Mon August 31, 2009[b] CNN) [/b]-- The recession means competition in pro football this year isn't restricted to the gridiron. The National Football League and its 32 teams also are battling for the consumer's discretionary spending dollars. Less-established NFL teams, such as the Jacksonville Jaguars, face special challenges in the recession.[img]http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.element/img/2.0/mosaic/base_skins/baseplate/corner_wire_BL.gif[/img] And just like on the playing field, some teams are having an easier time scoring an economic touchdown than others. "Overall ticket sales are very positive but difficult in these challenging times," NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said in a statement. He did not provide overall ticket sales numbers for the current season. The league is coming off a year that saw overall attendance drop slightly, 0.7 percent, from 2007 amid the start of the economic slowdown. Bill Prescott, a Jacksonville Jaguars vice president and the team's chief financial officer, said the team started to see the impact of the recession last year, when single-game ticket sales and concession revenue dropped as the season progressed. Heading into this season, he said, sales are off even more than the team expected -- new ticket sales are down 75 percent from last year and season ticket renewals are down 10 percent. No Jaguar games are sold out, despite a recent survey by The Media Audit that found 76 percent of adults in Jacksonville, Florida, regularly follow the Jaguars -- the fifth-best percentage of any NFL market. "The economy is having that impact on us," Prescott said. "As a very small market, I think we're feeling it more than some of the other teams in the league." The Minnesota Vikings also have yet to sell out any of their games, though the team expects that could change with the recent high-profile signing of quarterback Brett Favre. Within a day of Favre's signing, the Vikings had sold an additional 3,000 season tickets and 10,000 single-game tickets. "The economy's affecting all professional sports teams," said Steve LaCroix, the Vikings' vice president of sales and marketing. "We're not only competing for people's time and money, but trying to keep the fans in the stadium on game day as opposed to watching on TV." LaCroix said there weren't a large number of cancellations in season ticket holder accounts. However, some fans did trim down the number of seats in their respective accounts. LaCroix added some are coming back on board as the season approaches. The Cincinnati Bengals are getting nationwide exposure through the HBO reality series "Hard Knocks," which chronicles the team's training camp and preparation for the upcoming season. However, the Bengals' streak of 44 straight sellouts, a franchise record, is at risk, according to spokesman Jim Brennan. The Bengals' September 13 home opener against Denver is not sold out yet. Some teams, however, are more than holding their own as far as ticket sales go despite the nation's fiscal woes. The Denver Broncos are sold out for the 40th straight year -- dating back to the first game of the 1970 season, according to spokesman Jim Saccomano. And Chicago Bears spokesman Scott Hagel says the team is sold out for the 25th straight season. He adds the season ticket renewal rate is well over 90 percent, on par with the prior decade. According to league spokesman McCarthy, 24 of the NFL's 32 teams did not raise ticket prices from last year. One of the teams that did is the Indianapolis Colts, which bumped up the cost of 10 percent of its season ticket holder seats, according to team spokesman Craig Kelley. All games are sold out. Two factors working in the Colts' favor -- they have a new stadium that opened last season and the team has been a perennial contender for the past decade. In order to try and offset the impact the economy has on the game, McCarthy said teams have created more options and flexibility for fans in order to help them afford tickets. Among those options are half-season ticket plans, such as the ones offered by the Jaguars and the New York Jets. "We knew some season ticket holders because of the economy wouldn't be able to afford to come to all 10 games (including the preseason)," said the Jaguars' Prescott. The half-season plan has been very popular, he said. "We wanted to make as many products available to them whether they could come to one game, two games or with the half package we've bundled five games in each package so they can come for half a season." Prescott said the team is also considering introducing a package where fans can purchase tickets for a few games of their choice. David Carter, executive director of the USC Sports Business Institute, thinks the best way for teams to limit the recession's impact on ticket sales is to offer exemplary customer service. "These fans need to feel as though they're having a great time and they're getting value for their money," said Carter. "If they're able to do that, they will justify continuing to spend on the NFL, because every game matters. They want to be part of the continuity of the NFL season." Carter believes the league has to fight the recession on two fronts. He says the first is the pricing of seats to everyday fans -- especially those in markets where the demand isn't as keen as the NFL would like. The second challenge is corporate resistance. "You have those that have traditionally purchased seats or acquired sponsorships taking a long look at whether they want to be involved this year or not, and a lot of corporate budgets are already in bed for the rest of the year," explained Carter. Still, Carter believes the [url="http://topics.cnn.com/topics/national_football_league"][b][color="#004276"]NFL[/color][/b][/url] may be well-equipped to weather the economic storm, thanks in large part to timing. "There's a general feel that things are picking up in the economy, and I think that's going to bode well for them over time. They may have survived this downturn a little better than the other leagues." Matt Gonter has been a Washington Redskins season ticket holder for the past five years. He said he briefly considered whether to cancel his subscription heading into this year but decided against it -- citing the team's long waiting list to get season tickets. "I swore to myself if I ever got Redskins season tickets, I'd do everything in my power to keep them," Gonter said. However, he did turn down an option to upgrade to different seats and a parking pass, saying he would have considered it in years past but not under the current economic climate. He also might sell his tickets for certain games online. "I'm thinking of going on StubHub and selling a couple of tickets. I eat so much of the cost for the preseason tickets, because you have to pay full price for those," Gonter said. One ticket for an NFL game this year on the secondary ticket seller goes for an average of $151, compared with $156 at this time a year ago. Four-year Cleveland Browns season ticket holder Zeke Paster held on to his subscription and plans to make cutbacks instead when it comes to concessions and tailgating costs. However, he may get rid of some of his tickets before the season is over. "If they're not doing well, I would maybe try to sell the tickets for some of the cold weather games," Paster said. Paster and Gonter admit surrendering their season ticket packages for good would be a painful decision. "The atmosphere is unmatched," Paster said. "There's nothing like being in the stadium or in the parking lot when the Browns are doing well." Gonter says the camaraderie is worth the cost. "I just like the experience of sitting in the parking lot under a tent, tailgating, drinking beer and then going to the game and having a good time watching the Redskins." [url="http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/08/31/nfl.tickets.recession/"]http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/08/31/nfl.tickets.recession/[/url] [/quote] The 4-11-1 record has nothing to do with it.

It's just to hard to say any game is a given for the Bengals. You would think the favor is tilted towards the Bengals given the circumstances around Denver. I do worry about Denvers OLB Elvis Dumervil. Seems like the kind of guy that could give Whit some trouble.

[quote name='whodey1971' date='31 August 2009 - 12:44 PM' timestamp='1251737087' post='796607'] How would you like to be a fan of the Chargers right now? Oakland is Oakland... Denver is going the wrong direction... KC put all of their eggs in the basket of an unproven back-up (Cassell) who is now injured, and then they fire their OC less than 2 weeks before the season starts Seriously...is there another team that looks to have an easier road to their division title than the Chargers do right now? [/quote] Just wait. The Raiders will win that division this year and shock everyone.