Sunday, August 05, 2001
Cincinnati fans long for good old days
The Cincinnati Enquirer
The Reds are awful. The Bengals are awful until proven otherwise. UC and Xavier always win their 20 but rarely make noise in the NCAAs.
Is it just us, or is anyone else pining for that golden age of Cincinnati sports?
We're talking 1988-92.
Yes, it wasn't that long ago that Cincinnati was the capital of the sports world. In less than four years, all of this actually happened:
• In the 1988 season, the Bengals went to the Super Bowl.
• In 1990, the Reds won the World Series.
• Also in '90, Xavier upset Alonzo Mourning's Georgetown team and made the NCAA Sweet 16.
• In 1992, the UC men's basketball team made the Final Four.
Since then?
Nothing.
Well, no particular big national glory, that is.
If it weren't for our extended family — say, the Kentucky Wildcats' two NCAA men's basketball titles in '96 and '98 — we wouldn't have much to cheer about.
Wait, wait. What about the Northern Kentucky women's basketball team (NCAA Division II national champions in 2000) or the Xavier women's basketball team's Elite Eight appearance (2001)? It's true the radio sports-talk shows didn't get all worked up about either of those, but it did prove the women in these parts can play their respective sports better than the men these days.
And how about the UC football team, which has gone to two bowl games in four years — after going to zero in the previous 47 years.
But as far as real bragging rights, the rub-your-nose-in-it kind, we're hurting. We can thumb our glory days at the likes of, say, Cleveland, all we want. We do have those three World Series titles since 1975 and two Super Bowl appearances since 1981. Cleveland has zero and zero, respectively.
Hear that, Cleveland? Most of us weren't alive the last time Cleveland won a World Series (1948, reportedly). And the Browns? We heard they last made the NFL title game in 1964, and supposedly won it. But that was before they started having Super Bowls, which is all anybody cares about, so there.
What about lately, you say? Well, OK. We haven't been in any kind of real playoffs since 1995, when the Reds were smoked out of the LCS by Atlanta. The Bengals haven't made the playoffs since 1990, the longest drought among NFL teams. If they reach the magic 5-11 barrier this year, Dick LeBeau could run for mayor — and win, given the state of this town in general..
The satirical newspaper The Onion recently spoofed sports fanatics with a story headlined, “You Will Suffer Humiliation When The Sports Team From My Area Defeats The Sports Team From Your Area.”
We're beyond humiliation around here.
Just win, baby.
Something.
Anything!
If nothing else, there's always Highlands football.
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Cincinnati fans long for good old days
