Sunday, December 11, 2011

Suspensions and Bengals

This time the two are not related, other than being a part of the same blog entry. The Bengals playoff hopes took a major hit on Sunday with the collapse against the Houston Texans. No way they should have lost 20-19, especially after leading by 13 at halftime. But it's very odd what happens to the Bengals in December. If they are out of the playoff chase, they seem to spring to life down the stretch and play well. When they are in the playoff hunt, or make the playoffs, they seem to stagger down the stretch. In 2005, the Bengals dropped the last two games, but were playing for nothing in the final week. In 2006, they staggered home and missed the playoffs with 3 straight losses to end the season. In 2009 they lost 3 of the last 4 games. Granted the last game against the Jets didn't matter, but the next week against the Jets mattered in the first round of the playoffs. And now comes this season. They better win the last three games like they did in 2008, to finish 4-11-1!

The suspensions are out, and I can agree for the most part. The Big East agrees with U.C. that Gates, Mbodj, and Ellis get 6 games. Ge'Lawn Guyn gets one. Xavier gave Dez Wells and Landen Amos four games. Mark Lyons two and Tu Holloway gets one. The A-10 is cool with that. Lengthy suspensions are uncommon in college basketball but this was a rare moment. The best news would be that the universities not only grabbed the attention of the the suspended players but all of the players. In fact all of the student athletes at U.C. and X.U. U.C. has attached zero tolerance to the suspensions and Mick Cronin says he could add some games if he doesn't like what he sees out of his men in the interim. In my earlier posting I said the series needs a break. I really believe that. Let not just the players, but all of us in Cincinnati realize that the game is a city treasure, and should be treated as such by all of us in the tri-state.

No comments:

Post a Comment