Who Dey Fever

2 years ago, the novelty was the Chicago Cubs, seemingly on their way to the World Series. Everywhere I looked, I saw Cubs hats, Cubs t-shirts, and every other imaginable kind of Cubs gear. Last year, it was the Red Sox, breaking the curse of 1918 and Babe Ruth. The item of the year was a Red Sox hat, new or worn. If you didn't have one, you weren't in (I guess I wasn't in because I didn't buy a Red Sox hat). This year, it's the Cincinnati Bengals, off to their best start since 1988, the last time they went to the Super Bowl. The Bengals had been the Clippers of the NFL. They drafted the wrong people (David Klingler, Kijana Carter, and Akili Smith just to name a few), had the wrong mindset as an organization (wanted to make money instead of win games), and just looked bad. But under Marvin Lewis, the franchise has been turned around, and the Bengals are on the up and up. They were 4-0 coming into tonight, and all you hear about are the Bengals. I didn't know this many people cared about the Bengals. The bandwagon seems to be approaching the size of the Red Sox's from last year. The catch phrase of the year is, of course, WHO DEY!!!

Of course, most of these people, including the majority of the national sports media, assumes that 4-0 equals a great team. Now the Bengals may end up being a great team, but the jury is still out on them. Look at who they've played up to this point: Cleveland (2-2), Minnesota (1-3), Da Bears (1-3), and Houston (0-4). Not exactly a tough schedule. Tonight's game at Jacksonville was by far the Bengals' toughest test of the year so far. And just like Penn St. showed last night, the Bengals have shown they're improved and pretty good. Among the elite, not quite, but they're coming. One thing the Bengals still struggle with is stopping the run. Fred Taylor ran wild on the Bengals tonight, taking advantage of the overeager pursuit of the Bengal defense. So the hype may quiet down and the bandwagon may lose a few tonight (that's the way bandwagon fans are, any loss and they quickly forget because they don't want to look foolish), but the Bengals are on their way. Are they still a year and a player or two away?

Da Bears are still an offense away from being a good team. Even though they should've beaten the Browns today (in control until the last 5 minutes), you can't expect to win games with one of the worst offenses (except for Thomas Jones, who is a stud) in organized football (at any level). Yes, they're starting a rookie quarterback, but Da Bears offense hasn't been good since the days of McMahon, Sweetness, and Willie Gault. And even then, it wasn't great, but it got the job done. I enjoy watching Da Bear defense more than the offense, they have more big play and scoring capability. Da Bears are 1-3, only a game out of 1st in the pathetic NFC North.

I still don't understand how some prefer the NFL over college football. Yes, the athletes are superior in the NFL, but the desire is superior in college. Saturday, Northwestern/Wisconsin (3 point upset win); Minnesota/Michigan (3 point upset win); Georgia/Tennessee (13 point win, close until the waning minutes); Ohio St./Penn St. (7 point upset win by the home team in front of 105,000); Texas Tech/Nebraska (4 point win in the last minute); Cal/UCLA (7 point upset win, back and forth shootout). Except for Patriots/Falcons, Bucs/Jets and Bengals/Jaguars, the drama was nonexistent.

Another movie that should've made the list was Bad News Bears. I didn't watch the Billy Bob Thornton remake because I thought it would ruin the original. The music that accompanies the comedy of errors and Walter Matthau make this a pleasant viewing experience.

Another thing I miss about Miami is Wednesday Nacho Night at Shriver. Wednesday would be HawkHead meeting day, and my good buddy Brad and I would arrive early to have nachos. Well, we had nachos tonight for dinner and I instantly thought of nacho night (Tuesday Fried Chicken night was good, but not as good as Wednesday nacho night).

Tomorrow is the observation of Columbus Day. Columbus Day, in my opinion, is the DUMBEST holiday of the year. I'll tell you why tomorrow.

Tomorrow also begins Part 2 of my assault on the job market. I've made some connections the past few days so cross your fingers, things may be happening in the near future.