Haven’t paid much detailed attention to the NFL in some years now (that’ll happen to a young man when he picks the f###ing Miami Dolphins as his “team” in the mid-1980s and they go on to achieve ABSOLUTELY F### ALL in the interim) but AFC looks pretty wide open this year with no one obviously dominant side now that those tosspot Patriots have dismantled, so the Bengals look as though they’ve as much of a shot as anyone at making the Superbowl (I’d probably still make KC the narrow favourites for the conference, I suppose).
I assume, if they get there, it’ll be against either the Packers or Brady (again!).
Given the teams still in it for whom I’ve a soft spot, my ideal Superbowl at this point would be Bengals-Rams (assuming Raiders or Chargers, both still in the mix to some degree, don’t make it any/much further; Steelers are still technically in, just, I think, but not really).
My team: Miami
I also love: Pittsburgh, Washington
Big soft spot for: Denver, LA Rams, LA Chargers, Las Vegas
Small soft spot for: Cincinnati, NY Giants, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle
Can’t f###ing stand: New England
I guess that’s the beauty of being distanced both geographically and emotionally from the sport; I’ve become a decent neutral, with a degree of interest in several sides.
I’m much more of a Baseball fan when it comes to American sports but do take a passing interest as a result of the early days when it was first televised in the UK back in the 80s. Clearly @last.caress was the same and was a Dan Marino glory hunter as a result. Serves him right I say.
As a lifelong supporter of my local football team (the English variety) in the UK who have never had any success to speak of it seemed only right to align myself with as similar an outfit in Baseball as I could so became a Cleveland Indians fan and that has kept me in the level of disappointment I am accustomed and comfortable with. The Tribe have changed their name this year to the Guardians so maybe that will herald in a new era of sustained success but I doubt it. They are a small market team with a small market budget and that suits me just fine. As a result of my Cleveland allegiance in baseball I’ve kind of latched onto the Browns in the NFL as they seemed suitably rubbish for my sensibilities and so far they haven’t let me down. Who knows, someday they might get good and I’ll have to ditch them.
I don’t mean to downplay anyone’s frustration and pain but I think there is none greater than being a Bengals fan. We have made it to two Super Bowls in our history and were both times beaten by San Francisco. Their coach, Bill Walsh, was a former Bengals assistant coach who was up for the Bengals head coaching job when founder and head coach Paul Brown retired but Brown elected to make another long-forgotten assistant (Bill Johnson) the head coach instead while Walsh went on to a hall of fame career. We have been victims of injury, bad luck, and stupid management since. Still, since childhood, I have hung with them the entire way and once more I have allowed that vile temptress named “Hope” to enter my life.
I agree that Kansas City is probably the slim favorite but the #1 seed (home field advantage through the playoffs and a first-round bye) is still yet to be decided with one game to go and the Bengals, Kansas City, Tennesse, and New England are all in the hunt. If Kansas City ends up with it, then they are definitely the favorites. If not, I think they become more vulnerable.
Been a weird season, for sure. A weirdly symmetrical season so far. Won one, lost seven on the bounce, won seven on the bounce, lost one. Hot or cold, with nothing in-between. Meh.
Always liked the Raiders since the Jim Plunkett/Marcus Allen days of Superbowl XVIII and thereabouts, even if I was rooting for Theismann, Riggins and the Redskins that day. And I like their relocation to LV; I’ve only been to the States once and that was to Vegas so I’ve an affinity for the place. Also, if an existing side was ever going to land in Sin City, it needed to be the Raiders, somehow. Seems right.
Hah, well said. Love the image of the Raiders as the bad guys and alas Vegas feels like a perfect fit for it. Plus it gives me an excuse to visit there someday.
When I went there (it was over 20 years ago now) I asked a guy in a sports shop who Las Vegans generally supported given there were no franchises in or near the city and he said it was mostly Raiders/Lakers/Kings with a tiny smattering of Cards/DBacks/Coyotes, which led me to pre-emptively adopt the Diamondbacks and the Coyotes as my Baseball and Hockey teams respectively, even though I knew virtually nothing about either sport and to this day could still write everything I know about both sports on the back of one postage stamp. That was okay though because the Diamondbacks won the World Series a couple of years after that.
Several years ago, my wife had a presentation to give at some meetings in Aviemore, Scotland. We decided to turn it into an extended vacation so I went along. The morning after we arrived, I was a little tired so after breakfast I went back to the room to watch television awhile before exploring. As I flipped through the channels, I found a cricket match about to start so I decided to watch just to see if I could figure the game out. Five hours later, I pretty much had it down! I should say I was able to understand the rules but I still have no idea when - or if - the match ever ends.
Here’s a secret: Nobody has ever seen a cricket match end! Probably.
Just thinking of cricket makes me seize up with boredom. How come, if I’m looking for the score in a cricket match, I can’t find one? All there is is a big long bewildering list of non-sequential, random numbers looking a bit like a bus timetable. And that big long bewildering list usually means that the two teams drew the match! It’s always, “Pakistan were 342 for 4 with 5 overs, a stump and a googly, whilst England were 68 for 8 at close of play with three wickets, an egg cup and a leg-over. So it was a draw.” F###ing EH?
Honestly surprised there aren’t more teams in Vegas since it’s such a popular tourist trap. For better or worse, Raiders home games are usually packed with visitors from the other team since a lot of people are more willing to visit the city top see their team play then they are for others.
Sorry it came versus your Raiders, Rocky, but it was an intense game. Congratulations on a strong late push to end the season! Nice momentum to take into next year.
Hah, just came on to see if you’d be on this thread, Lanky. Good game, whatever else you can say about the Raiders they always entertain. Congrats on breaking the streak and good luck with the rest of the season! Would rather see the Bengals win than a lot of other teams.
Prepping for a Big Snowfall here in New Jersey, at first it was a light snow, and now the weather people are saying 12 to 20 inches. I thought the near foot we had earlier in the month was bad, but now this is crazy
That was okay though because the Diamondbacks won the World Series a couple of years after that.
That makes me glad that I gave up after five hours.