Tigers Have Stripes ………….. The Bengals Simply Have Nothing At All To Make People Fear Them ……..

Tigers Have Stripes ………….. The Bengals Simply Have Nothing At All To Make People Fear Them ……..

So here we go , it appears that the storm clouds have arrived in Cincinnati as the Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer is said to be on the cusp of demanding a trade from the team and away from the organization completely. Well considering how bad the season went for the team and Palmer in particular one shouldn’t really view this as a surprise. The former Pro Bowl quarterback hasn’t been anywhere near consistent this past season and if anything the team itself was something a great disappointment last season. And for coach Marvin Lewis and his coaching staff even with the changes set to be taking place it seems highly unlikely that the player will still want to remain with a team that was so haphazard and if anything so mediocre !

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Slide show for your perusal.

Statistically this team simply didn’t measure up even coming off a season where they were the AFC North champions in 2009. However this season has anything but that where the Bengals simply were monstrous posting a 4-12 record within the AFC North . And even with the questionable play of Palmer you can’t but question also the lackadaisical effort forthcoming from Chad Ochocinco a player who if anything simply was nowhere to be seen for much of the season and in part it may well play its own part in not only the decision from Palmer but also with the front office also looking to possibly cut Ochocinco or quite possibly deal him during the upcoming NFL Draft in April.

Courtesy of NFL.com

Brown: Bengals won’t trade QB Palmer or hire coach Childress

The Cincinnati Bengals aren’t willing to trade Carson Palmer , who wants to leave one of the NFL’s least-successful franchises while he’s still in his prime.

Bengals owner Mike Brown said Monday that the 31-year-old quarterback asked for a trade a little more than a week ago. Brown told Palmer that the team wouldn’t trade him because he’s central to its plans.

“He was told that, and that we count on him going forward,” Brown told The Cincinnati Enquirer and the team’s website Monday. “He was told that we are not in a position to trade him.”

The franchise quarterback evidently decided it’s time to leave his mess of a team.

Palmer hasn’t talked to the media since making his trade request. A text message seeking comment wasn’t returned.

Palmer’s agent, David Dunn, issued a statement Monday about the meeting between his client and Brown:

“Carson met with Bengals owner Mike Brown recently. They both expressed profound disappointment in how the team fared last season, and in how it has generally performed during Carson’s tenure with the team. Because of the lack of success that Carson and the Bengals have experienced together, Carson strongly feels that a separation between him and the Bengals would be in the best interest of both parties. Carson could not respect the Brown family any more than he does or be more appreciative of what the Browns have done for him and his wife Shaelyn and his family.”

Palmer was the franchise’s building block when it made him the first overall draft pick in 2003, Marvin Lewis’ first season as coach. Palmer led the Bengals to the playoffs in 2005 and 2009 — their only winning records in the last 20 years — and rebounded from severe knee and elbow injuries along the way.

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For all of the disappointment of the Bengals it can’t have been to pleasing for the fans to see their divisional rivals the Pittsburgh Steelers make it to Superbowl 45 (SBXLV) where they’ll face the Green Bay Packers at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington , Texas . Whatever lies ahead in the future for the Bengals it appears that Palmer wants no part of it and considering that it was said to be touch and go as to whether or not Marvin Lewis would return for next season it was something of a surprise when it was announced that he’d return and would also be in receipt of a contract extension also. It was clear that the Bengals’ front office felt it was a necessity to retain their coach even under the cloud of suspicion that this might well have been his last season with the team. Instead he’ll be given the chance to see if he can resurrect their fortunes and somehow turn things around.

Perhaps the one bright spot in the season for the Bengals was the play of Terrell Owens and the fact that he was the team’s leading offensive weapon during the year. And with Owens now being a free agent this offseason he may well have played himself back into contention and within the good graces of a number of teams around the NFL who might well be looking for a wide receiver to complement a young receiving corps in need of some veteran experience and leadership. Owens was the consummate professional through much of the season and played with a great deal of eagerness in order to prove himself not only to the fans in Cincinnati but also to general fans across the NFL.

Within the AFC North not only will the Bengals have to contend with the Pittsburgh Steelers , but also the ever consistent Baltimore Ravens and in state rivals the Cleveland Browns who after their own horrendous season have made changes within their coaching staff with the firing of former coach Eric Mangini by team President Mike Holmgren . For their part the Browns are now work in progress as Holmgren and the front office look to reassess the playing staff and the direction that the team is going in. This much we do know the only way is up for the Cleveland Browns after a disastrous season in 2010.

As to what the future now holds for Carson Palmer this much is most certainly clear should the Bengals entertain the idea of perhaps acquiescing to the player’s request then they can certainly look to use the player as a pawn in the upcoming NFL Draft with a view to moving higher and obtaining prized asset that would most certainly complement the team . Palmer’s career if anything has proven that he’s a good player in the right type of environment and situation. Within Bengals’ organization if anything, the environment there certainly wasn’t conducive to him being able to produce and it certainly hadn’t helped that Marvin Lewis had lost sight of his objectives and lost complete control of the team both on and off the field . That’s why from my perspective I thought it something of a shock that the front office had sought to retain him, while offering him an additional one year contract extension !

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Picture gallery for your perusal .

The Cincinnati Bengals no one can deny have been utter and complete mess over the last few years even with a divisional title under their belt last year. This much is true however, an organization is only as good as the leadership provided from the executive level on down. And in the case of the Bengals there’s been little if any leadership from anyone with the authority to lead. Certainly not from Palmer , himself, who’d been often described as the face of the franchise , and there had been even less leadership from Marvin Lewis , who if anything just seemed to be going through the motions of being a coach and at the same time being so nonchalant. As to the Bengals’ ownership led by Mike Brown , and GM Jim Lippincott and Pete Pete Brown , VP of Player Personnel Operations . Well let’s just say that in terms of leadership there , it’s not akin to the rather somewhat asinine and tactless leadership we now see being conveyed by Congress , Senate and the President’s ——- administration combined. Where the option has been to try and put out fires when they themselves were the very same idiots who lit the match that caused the fire to begin with. That’s not leadership but mere stupidity and naivete being shown and it has become something that seems to be spreading across the league and political landscape ! Simply look at the teams at the bottom rung of the league , how they’ve fared this past season and ask yourself what indeed went wrong within those organizations ? Much of it may well have had to do with poor play on the field but I bet that you will also find that there was a complete lack of accountability and leadership where it mattered most , and that’s from within the front offices on down to the coaching staff and players !

What thoughts if any do you have on the impending future of the Bengals and that of their starting quarterback Carson Palmer ? Do you feel that the team will entertain the player’s idea of trading him or will they retain the player by your way of thinking ? Simply chime on in with a comment as to your thoughts on the matter and any other topic as it relates to the NFL.

Picture and slide show details .

(1) This Dec.26, 2010 file photo shows Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer (9) smiling in the closing seconds of their 34-20 win over the San Diego Chargers in an NFL football game in Cincinnati. Bengals owner Mike Brown says he won’t trade Palmer. Brown said on Monday that Palmer met with him a little more than a week ago and asked to be traded. Brown told Palmer that he wouldn’t consider it because the quarterback is central to the team’s plans. He plans to talk to Palmer again to try to smooth over their differences. AP Photo/David Kohl ……..

Baltimore , Md ,. January 2nd 2011 . Carson Palmer (9) of the Cincinnati Bengals fumbles the ball with less than two minutes to go in the game against the Baltimore Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium on January 2, 2011 in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens defeated the Bengals 13-6. (Photo by Larry French/Getty Images ………

(3) Head coach Marvin Lewis of the Cincinnati Bengals coaches against the Baltimore Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium on January 2, 2011 in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens defeated the Bengals 13-6 . Photo by Larry French/Getty Images ……….

(4) Ray Rice (27) of the Baltimore Ravens scores his team’s only touchdown against the Cincinnati Bengals at M&T Bank Stadium on January 2, 2011 in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens defeated the Bengals 13-6. Photo by Larry French/Getty Images ……….

(5) Carson Palmer (9) of the Cincinnati Bengals passes against the Baltimore Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium on January 2, 2011 in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens lead the Bengals 6-0 at the half. Photo by Larry French/Getty Images ………

(6) Terrell Owens (81) of the Cincinnati Bengals runs with the ball during the NFL game against the New Orleans Saints at Paul Brown Stadium on December 5, 2010 in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Saints won 34-30. Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images ………

(7) Chad Ochocinco (85) of the Cincinnati Bengals is tackled by Tracy Porter (22)of the New Orleans Saints during the NFL game at Paul Brown Stadium on December 5, 2010 in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Saints won 34-30. Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images ……

[8] Cincinnati Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis, right, listens to Bengals owner Mike Brown speak at a news conference where it was announced Lewis had signed a contract extension with the NFL football team, Tuesday, Jan. 4, 2011, in Cincinnati. AP Photo/Al Behrman ………..

NB: NFL News …..

Cincinnati Bengals’ team news ……

Alan aka tophatal ………………………

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Eye candy ………………………… Tehmeena Afzal aka ‘Miss Meena’

Push it up baby !

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It’s A Dirty Business Is This Business We Call Sports …………And Then Some ……

Well it certainly goes without saying that the bloodlust and bloodletting that’s known to take  place within the boardroom is no different from that within the field of sports.We’ve seen it already happen within the  NBA this  season. Albeit  that  the season there  is  over a much  longer season.  However  the season that is  built around the NFL is one seventeen  weeks  give or take. And then you have the postseason itself where the  success there is very  much  predicated on the  immediate  results.  For the likes of fallen coaches Eric Mangini,Romeo Crennel  and Rod Marinelli  they’ll never come  to know what it is to equate  success  in the postseason. Well at least  not this season anyway ! 

 

Lavernues Coles of the New York Jets addresses members of the press who convened at the Jets' facility to question players as to the recent firing of the coach Eric Mangini ..............

Lavernues Coles of  the New York Jets addresses members  of  the convened press  to answer questions as to the firing  of  the team’s coach  Eric  Mangini. picture appears courtesy of  ap/photo/Rich Schultz …………….

 

Each of the above mentioned  individuals  were  placed  under the scrutiny  of  expectful wishes.  And  they failed miserably  though  in some respects much  of it  was not  of their own making. But  at the  end of the  day  it is  the coach  who  has to take blame  for the  lack  of success  on the field of play.  With the firing of all three coaches by  their  respective franchises the New York Jets,Cleveland Brown and Detroit Lions. All three  men became casualties of the merry-go-round we’ve come to know as the coaching  carousel. Albeit that it’s not expected that either if any of the three will ever find themselves back  as a candidate for a mangerial position  within the NFL.  Crennel’s own  boss GM Phil Savage  also found  himself  out  of  a position  when he  too was let  go by Browns’ owner Randy Lerner. The axe does tend to swing  both ways then ?

 

Romeo Crennel the now defunct coach of the Cleveland Browns looks up at the scoreboard during the game between the Browns and Steelers.......

Romeo Crennel the now former coach of the Cleveland Browns looks up at the scoreboard in a  game played between the Browns and  Pittsburgh Steelers. Crennel’s team would go on to lose  the game 31-0 and post a 4-12 record for the regular season. picture appears courtesy of ap/photo/Tony  Dejak …..

 

But as much as we see with each passing season  coaches let go because of  the undue pressure that’s placed upon them to succeed. What  does that  tell us  about  the state of  the game itself whereby a single mistake by a player or official  may well be all that it  takes  to sink the career  of a coach ? However it can also be said  that a coach  should be  able to instill   into those whom he  leads  what it is  that is expected of them. And that he  ought  to be able  to communicate  with them effectively. If the players themselves aren’t willing  to buy into what it is that the coach is  srtiving  to  achieve. Then how  will they go about  achieving  the success that they all strive for ? If those teams aren’t prepared on the day to meet  an opponent  then the  result endured is all too appropriate. Seventy percent of the game may well be physical but the remaining  thirty percent being said to be psychological, is  just as important, if  not more  so.

 

Lions' GM Martin Mayhew foreground and Team President Tom Lewand formerly having made the announcement that coach Rod Marinelli had been fired take questions from the convened press at the team's Allen Pk, Michigan team facility...............

Martin Mayhew,foreground, is the General Manager of the Detroit Lions. Seated alongside Mayhew at the convened press conference is  team President  Tom  Lewand. The announcement  being made  was that the franchise’s coach Rod  Marinelli as well as  several  members of  his coaching staff wouldn’t be  returning  next season. picture appears courtesy of  ap/photo/Paul Sancya ………………..

 

As to the travails  of  those coaches  who escaped the axe,guillotine or whatever rudimentary instrument one  might like to imagine being  swung above their head. Is it  fair  to believe  that they’re lucky  to survive  this most gruesome of rituals, given the evidence that come next season they too will  be  under even more  scrutiny not just from their owners and fans  alike ? If  anything  the quartet  of  NFL coaches  who’ve  succumbed  to the perfunctory  ritual of being  shown the door this season  are  the  one who ought to be  thought of as being  lucky. Granted expectations were  heaped upon their  shoulders  and  albeit that  they  failed. But who amongst us would  want  to be placed in that sort  of  a situation from the outset ? And less I’m not  mistaken unless  you’re Jesus Christ  himself  you’re indeed  being  asked  to perform  a miracle. And last I looked the coaches within the NFL  aren’t being viewed as the Messiah but yet the situation for which they of their own volition choose to be  placed within  are looked  upon as deities when they  succeed.  But  are either viewed  as oafs or buffoons  when they  falter. 

 

Cowboys' coach Wade Phillips wraps up his press conference with the convened press at the team's facility in Irving , Texas. .................

Wade Phillips  wraps up his  press conference with the members of  the press at the  team’s  facility in Irving, Texas.  Phillips and his much heralded team failed to make  the playoffs this  year having posted a 9-7 record this season.  They sufferered  a humiliating  season ending  loss  to their divisional rivals  the  Philadelphia Eagles 44-6. Thereby  depriving  themselves  of a postseason  berth  in the playoffs. picture appears courtesy of ap/photo/ Tony Gutierrez ….. 

 

We know  that they’re highly paid individuals and they come  at a premium.  But are they infact any different from a titan of  industry  who’s asked  to lead a multi-billion dollar conglomerate ?  By their decisions  made  on and  in some cases off the  field can lead tothe success that’s envisioned by the hierarchy  of a franchise  as  well  as that of the  fans  themselves. And be that as it may one can only summize  that the coaches  who  aspire be amongst the professional  ranks  of the NFL have not  only belief in their own abilities. But also in that of the people who hire them to undertake such a demonstrative task. Failure at any price isn’t an option but  what ought to matter are the strategies  and the acceptable  risks that are part of that endeavor. So much of  what’s  predicated as  success  within the NFL nowadays isn’t just  about the  results on the field.  But it also has  a lot  to  do with the business  side of  the issue off  the field.  A languishing  and  less than what’s  deemed successful franchise  can  cost a team and  its  owners tens of  millions  of  dollars  each year in revenues. And the  bottom line at the end  of  the day may well be  all that matters  to a number  of  owners  no matter what  their  own wealth constitutes.  Though many  of them will  have  you know  that  certainly isn’t always  the case. But  when  have you  ever  known a wealthy individual not to want just a bit more money lining their pockets or bank accounts looking considerably  fatter ?

 

Herm Edwards of the Kansas City Chiefs strolls the sidelines as he has to endure, suffer and succumb to the Cincinnati Bengals in 16-6 loss on Sunday in the team's final regular season game............

 Herm Edwards of  the  Kansas City Chiefs  strolls the sidelines  having to endure  his team’s  16-6 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals in his team’s final regular season game. The  game played in Cincinnati ensured that the Chiefs ended  the season with a  2-14 regular season record. picture  appears  courtesy of  ap/photo/Al Behrman ………………

 

 

I won’t begrudge those who  make the  decisions to fire an individual  if  they  fail to offer  a succinct reason as  to  why they  ought  not to be. I  do know that there are also some  who were  more deserving  of  the  fate than  others.  But  I’d also  preface  this  with a caveat.  Becareful  of  what you  wish  for  as  you aspire on down the  road  to find the person who you deem fit  enough  to lead your  franchise up  from the depths which  they now find themselves within.  Because at the  end of  the  day it’s  not only  the  fans who  you may also  be  answerable to but also  to  your  own lust  for  untold  wealth and the greed  therein  that  goes along  with it.  But also  your own  conscience  whatever persona, form  or  guise it  may well take.  Afterall  this may well may be  a business  first  but  in large part it is  nothing more than a rudimentary form or entertainment for  us all.

 

 

 

 

 

 

tophatal  …………………….