oldschooler Posted January 17, 2016 Report Share Posted January 17, 2016 It isn’t so much that the NFL is greedy, arrogant and rapacious, or that it treats its fans like chumps and its towns like ATMs. We all know that. It’s more that the NFL has no conscience about any of it. Nor do we, unless we’re the ones being jilted and fleeced. So, Cincinnati, what do you think of the stadium deal now? I ask this not to revive all the old resentments. We voted for the stadiums, and in some very impactful ways, our region has benefited from their presence. Fort Washington Way is highly improved, The Banks exists and is doing OK. We retained our “big league’’ status, a nebulous benefit but a plus nevertheless. Are we better off for all of it? How much would it matter if the Bengals went away? St. Louis is about to find out. Unless the city lures another carpetbagging owner to move to the Edward Jones Dome, a dim and depressing place in downtown St. Louis,Looie will be NFL-less for a good long while. For 21 years, Los Angeles certainly didn’t miss the league. Smaller places – Portland, San Antonio, even Las Vegas – don’t seem to be suffering without the NFL. It’ll be interesting to watch. Cincinnati and St. Louis have much in common: The core cities have similar populations, each is on a major river, each is as much Southern as Midwestern. Each loves its baseball team. Each paid for its football palaces entirely with its own money. St. Louis City and County and the state of Missouri still owe $100 million on the bonds for the dome, built in 1995. Revenue projections didn’t match revenue realities. Sound familiar? How will St. Louis do without the NFL 10 games a year? CINCINNATI.COM Doc: Rams' return to LA is typical NFL arrogance Forget for a minute your passion for pro football. Try to ignore the heart palpitations you get eight, 10 or 12 times a year. Would Cincinnati be a lesser place if it didn’t have the NFL? Or would it just be a different place? The NFL counts on your subservience. It relies on a civic fear, spearheaded by politicians, that losing your team would be a local disaster. The league has been an expert extortionist for 20 years. I remember former league commissioner Paul Tagliabue at a Bengals game in New York, when the stadium shakedown shuffle was being danced here. His “impromptu’’ news conference at Giants Stadium contained thinly veiled threats that Cincinnati better pony up, or it might lose the Bengals. I remember the TV shot of Mike Brown, in a box in Baltimore’s Camden Yards with Maryland Stadium Authority chairman John Moag on June 9, 1995. That’s when Baltimore was the NFL’s leverage hotspot, and the Bengals were demanding a new stadium. I remember thinking then, “Let ‘em go.’’ And I write sports for a living. CINCINNATI.COM Bengals, Stealers rack up nearly $64K in fines Then sure enough, I succumbed to what lots of us succumbed to. Eventually, I urged Hamilton County taxpayers to pony up. It’s hard to type with one hand holding your nose. I typed with the other hand. (Click the link for the entire article ... if you must) http://www.cincinnati.com/story/sports/columnists/paul-daugherty/2016/01/16/doc-what-if-bengals-went-away/78896098/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hooky Posted January 17, 2016 Report Share Posted January 17, 2016 What if P-dork went away? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scharm Posted January 18, 2016 Report Share Posted January 18, 2016 Paul is irrelevant in the Cincy sports scene. Why? Could never move past his Bengal hate. It plays to a dieing age group. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Le Tigre Posted January 18, 2016 Report Share Posted January 18, 2016 Doc has lusted for the Big Yellow Taxi to take the Bengals away since 1988...after Sam told his sorry ass to shut up unless he had real questions. But Pete told him the same things, so he hates the Reds too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bleeds Orange Posted January 18, 2016 Report Share Posted January 18, 2016 If the Bengals had left, I would have tried to become a Titans fan because of their proximity to me, would have been unable to, and would have lost most, if not all, interest in the NFL. Will never know if that would have been a good thing or a bad thing, but to be honest, it would have spared me a lot of frustration. I'd like to think that the entertainment the team has provided outweighs that frustration, but I'm really not sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArizonaRising Posted January 18, 2016 Report Share Posted January 18, 2016 Doc has lusted for the Big Yellow Taxi to take the Bengals away since 1988...after Sam told his sorry ass to shut up unless he had real questions. But Pete told him the same things, so he hates the Reds too.Have the Reds ever done anything worthy of being hated over? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
|BlackJesus| Posted January 18, 2016 Report Share Posted January 18, 2016 SHUT THE FUCK UP PAUL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Posted January 18, 2016 Report Share Posted January 18, 2016 Doc is not suggesting they leave. He is speculating. What impact would it have on the city? What impact will it have on St. Louis? As for the question, since I don't live in Cincinnati anymore, I'd probably still root for them, but I don't know for sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Le Tigre Posted January 18, 2016 Report Share Posted January 18, 2016 In his usual sideways condescension, he is saying he wished it was the Bengals. The musing about "what would we do?" Is another way of saying we are lower life forms for following them . Nothing new...he doesn't even offend me anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saphead Posted January 18, 2016 Report Share Posted January 18, 2016 He is one smug little bastard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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