Bengals Waiting For What? Hopefully Fairley!

It's been 10 days since the news conference from hell, and the Bengals coaching staff remains intact.  If they really felt they needed to make changes on the coaching staff, wouldn't bodies have already been flying out the door?  I swear I think they might just stand pat.  That will cause a ticket backlash the likes of which we have never seen.  Since the announcement that Marvin would come back, I haven't talked with one Bengals fan who is pleased.  Not that bringing Marvin back was the problem, but not making other changes on the staff and not changing the way the organization works is a HUGE problem among the base.  Not one season ticket holder said they would be thrilled to renew their seats.  No doubt, some will find it to difficult to give up their seats.  But a lot are going to say adios if something doesn't change.  So be prepared for a lot of local television blackouts next season too.

I hope Nick Fairley is around when the Bengals draft fourth.  I would take that guy in a heartbeat.  The real negative with him is not that he occasionally gets in an extra shot or two, the downside is he only produced at a high level for one season at Auburn.  But he was only there for two seasons.  I think this guy has found what it takes to be successful.  He was almost impossible to block one-on-one in the BCS Championship game.  It's not like a quarterback having just one successful year.  Quarterback is a more complex position and entails a lot of different attributes to be good.  Therefore I would be more than just a little leery of Cam Newton.  But Fairley?  No doubt, I grab him..

Now comes the test for U.C.  Three straight road games in the Big East, the first two against ranked teams.  If they play in any of those games the way they played in the first half of the South Florida game, it will be trouble.  They reverted back to ways of last season, and I didn't like what I was seeing.  At least they are so deep now, Mick has the pleasure of going down the bench and finding someone to spark the offense.  But, Ibrihima Thomas has to make good on his promise not to foul out at Syracuse.  He has given the Bearcats little or nothing the last three games.  And Gates cannot have any more 3 rebound games like he had against South Florida.  

So far, so good for Xavier in the Atlantic 10.  Yeah, the Musketeers took some lumps in the non-conference portion of the schedule, but those lumps have made this team more than ready for the A-10.  They will compete for the regular season title and barring injury, be one of the favorites to win the A-10 tournament.  X fans should be feeling a lot better now about their hopes of making the NCAA again.