Even though we’re currently in the midst of the dog days of the baseball season, we’re going to shift gears for a moment with today’s missive.
The reason?
Well, in a lot of folks’ minds, we have reached football season. Yes, that’s what the headline above is referring to; I was going to use “oblong spheroid” but upon further review, apparently the proper term is “prolate spheroid” when describing the shape of a football. Who knew?
For fans of professional sports in the Queen City, who are frustrated with how the 2024 season has played out for their beloved Reds, football season cannot come soon enough. Seems that’s the case more often than not; once we turn the calendar to August, with Cincinnati fans starving for a winner, the Bengals offer them hope.
The city’s Major League Soccer representative, FC Cincinnati, still has championship aspirations but their long season still has a ways to go, and you have to admit that is more of a niche audience as well. It’s definitely an enthusiastic fan base, and one that fills TQL Stadium regularly, but the playoffs don’t begin until late October, concluding with the MLS Cup on December 7.
*****
LOFTY GOALS FOR MEN IN STRIPES — The long journey begins this evening.
The Cincinnati Bengals host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the opening exhibition game on the brand new bright green turf at Paycor Stadium, with the kickoff set for 7 p.m.
The Orange and Black is hoping their first practice game is just the beginning of an exciting, successful season that will culminate on February 9, 2025 for Super Bowl LIX at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans.
It would certainly be a fitting end to the season for quarterback Joe Burrow and his favorite pass catcher, Ja’Marr Chase, if they can lead the Men in Stripes to a championship in the same building where they led Louisiana State to the NCAA title on January 13, 2020. In that 42-25 victory over Clemson, Burrow passed for 463 yards and five touchdowns, with two of the scores going to Chase, who had nine total receptions for 221 yards.
For that to occur however, a lot of things have to fall into place for the Bengals, and for the longtime lethal combination. Burrow, of course, needs to stay healthy for an entire season, and Chase needs to settle his contract dispute with the team as soon as possible. Burrow has several intriguing options in the passing game, but Chase remains his favorite target.
The team must also stay away from key injuries, the defense needs to perform better than it did a year ago, and the running game needs to augment what promises to be an outstanding passing attack.
All indications from training camp would seem to suggest this is a team on a mission, and up to the challenges ahead. There have been few serious injuries, but receiver Charlie Jones did suffer a right knee injury on Thursday. Jones, a second-year
player and an excellent punt returner, will be missed if he’s out a significant amount of time. The defensive line has had some injury issues as well, and that may be an area of concern, especially after the loss of D.J. Reeder to free agency.
Overall however, reports from training camp have been nothing but positive, and the team even showed it’s primed to play someone in a different uniform after several skirmishes broke out in the Thursday session. Those dust-ups inevitably occur in the final days of training camp with every team in the league.
The quest for a Super Bowl ring is always an immense challenge, and Cincy has to get past the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs, AFC North powerhouse Baltimore, and other contenders to even get to New Orleans. The Bengals have to be considered a legitimate contender as well; it will take some fortuitous breaks, along with outstanding execution from the entire roster, and staying healthy to achieve the ultimate goal.
There is no doubt Who Dey Nation is ready to give its all supporting the team, and Cincinnati sports fans are more than ready for a championship run. A good start would also be a welcome change, and the Bengals have their sights set on accomplishing just that.
The real season begins with a visit from New England on September 8, and it will be a strange sight on the Patriots’ sideline, with new head coach Jerad Mayo taking over for future Hall of Famer Bill Belichick. The Bengals should be the clear favorite in their opener, but Week 2 presents their first huge test of the season, when they travel to Kansas City. The Washington Commanders invade Paycor on Monday, September 23, followed by a visit to Charlotte to meet the
Carolina Panthers in Week 4. Anything less than a 3-1 start would have to be a disappointment, with Baltimore coming to Cincinnati for an AFC North battle in Week 5.
*****
NEW LANDSCAPE IN COLLEGE FOOTBALL – As the college football season quickly approaches, we’ll soon have in depth look concerning the upcoming season for the Kentucky Wildcats.
It’s the dawning of a new era in college football, and UK will get a taste of the changes in the Southeastern Conference when they venture to Austin to meet the Texas Longhorns for just the second time in history on November 23, in the next-to-last game of the season. The lone UK-UT matchup was played on September 22, 1951, and the Longhorns held off the Bear Bryant-led Wildcats 7-6 in Austin.
But I digress. A little.
My original point in this blurb was to discuss the massive changes coming to college football this season.
It’s been on this course for a while, with schools hopping from conference to conference, mostly in search of the almighty dollar. Some of the most historic and competitive rivalries will be affected by the changes, which to this observer is rather sad.
The SEC is welcoming Texas and Oklahoma to the league, making the conference even stronger than it has traditionally been in the past, and keeping alive one of college football’s best rivalries.
The addition of those longtime college football powerhouses is merely one example of schools moving to new leagues this season.
Just take a gander at the Big 10. The conference, which used to be a league consisting of schools in the Midwest, could now be referred as the Big 18. That’s right, there are 18 schools calling the Big 10 home with the addition of Oregon, Washington, UCLA and USC. Obviously, geography is no longer an issue when it comes to the pursuit of the most money schools can accumulate in college sports.
The Big 12 has upped its number to 16 with the Four Corners schools – Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah – joining sophomore members Brigham Young, Central Florida, Cincinnati and Houston.
Even more preposterous (at least when it comes to the name of a conference) is the Atlantic Coast Conference, which added California, Stanford and SMU to the mix. Meanwhile, Clemson and Florida State are embroiled in lawsuits regarding the league’s grant of rights agreement attached to its media rights agreement with ESPN. Both schools are reportedly looking to bounce to another conference as well, with their sights set on joining the SEC at some point. The ACC will have 17 teams competing for its football title this season (and 18 in every other ACC sport Notre Dame competes in).
Even with all the shuffling from conference to conference, by far the biggest change will be the implementation of the 12-team College Playoff. The field will include the five highest-ranked conference champions, which will receive automatic bids. The seven highest-ranked teams remaining will round out the 12-team format, with the top four teams receiving a first-round bye to the quarterfinals.
Sounds interesting, but you can bet that even with 12 teams reaching the postseason instead of the previous four, it will not be short on controversy.
*****
“Football fans share a universal language that cuts across many cultures and many personality types. A serious football fan is never alone. We are legion, and football is often the only thing we have in common.” – Hunter S. Thompson
***** “The self-taught man seldom knows anything accurately, and he does not know a tenth as much as he could have known if he had worked under teachers. Besides, he brags, and is the means of fooling other thoughtless people into going and doing as he himself has done.” – Mark Twain
Local News
Comments / 0