Who Dey?!?!?!

life as a bengals fan hasn't been very easy, to say the least, for most of my existence. in fact, i believe their last good season pre-dates nirvana, pearl jam, and the rest of the grunge movement. come to think of it, milli vanilli was still big the last time the bengals sniffed success.

fast forward to 2005. on the verge of their first playoff appearance in an epoch (i'm not exactly sure how long an epoch is, but i know it's really, really, really long), the bengals have come roaring out of the gates this year with a new attitude and a renewed sense of "who dey?!?!?" They got a new stadium a few years back, followed by a new coach, and finally, followed this year by some actual football players.

for those of you not jive enough to understand late '80s cincinnati slang, "who dey?!?!" was the bengals' answer to the '85 bears "super bowl shuffle." it was a really lame rap/song/slogan/garbage led by one ickey woods that basically went thusly: "who dey, who dey, who dey think gone beat dem bengals? where do they play? in tha jungle. afrrrrrrraaaaaaaaaaid of nooooooooooooooobody!" yeah, pretty pathetic, but still catchy enough to spawn soft drink, candy bar, and clothing labels back in the day.

for the last 15 years, the franchise has been hard pressed to get asses in the seats (who could blame them) or real talent on the field (who could blame them?). these two items shouldn't be mutually exclusive. the ownership had been cheap and lacking in any real football operational knowledge. they kind of resembled then what the detroit lions look like now: a few good players from time to time, and several horrible signings/draft picks by a front office that makes decisions based on instant messenger conversations they have had with underaged girls, such as.....

"go get joey harrington, he's sooooo dreamy".

[an aside: the bengals' brass in the late '80s most likely didn't have instant messenger, since the advent of the internet was still a few years off. however, they're decisions were presumably made by the "IM" of the time, the magic 8 ball]

but this year is different. the club has a solid quarterback, a trash-talking (albiet abso-fucking-lutely hilarious) wide receiver, and several "role" guys that know what it takes to win. this year, they go into each game not hoping to not get blown out, but to win....a novel concept.

i am once again proud to be a bengals' fan. no longer do i have to pretend to watch other games at the bar while secretly rooting for the black and orange stripes. i proclaim loudly to anyone who'll listen where i come from and which is my team. after 15 loonnng, painful years, "WHO DEY?!?!?!?" think i'm gonna root for?