A BENGALS THREAD: Evolving into a Burrow-style Bengals fan:
The Bengals had just lost two home games in a row, falling to 7-6 and behind their rivals in the AFC North.
The team was heading to Denver, where we always lose
The once great season looked to be coming to an end
1/
And then something happened.
It was the 3rd quarter. We weren’t playing well and Denver was hanging around.
Bengals fans like me had seen this all before. Filled with dread about the inevitable end
But then, texting with my brother @dougpepper , I did something crazy…
2/
Somewhat tongue in cheek, against all that I was actually feeling at the time and 30 years of fan experience, I texted three words: “We got this.”
Doug responded in exactly the way I would’ve if he had sent the same message.
3/
I knew he was right. But I decided to run with it.
So I doubled down with this:
4/
Not only was I predicting a win, when a season-killing loss was looming, but I now was going a step further.
First place!
Doug, of course, was uncomfortable with this newfound approach to watching games.
It was all so foreign.
5/
His fear only spurred me to up my confidence in the inevitable win:
6/
Yes, with our theoretic victory in hand (although it wasn’t at the time), I wanted to watch our rival Ravens lose so we’d get into first place.
Fear left Doug—this new level of fan boldness inspired amusement. Laughter!
7/
But I didn’t let that stop me.
I was on a roll. And it felt empowering.
Back came more optimism. And for the first time, some self-awareness of an evolution taking place. Then even more confidence. Trash talk, even
I declared “ballgame” long before the outcome was clear.
8/
But I turned out to be right.
And yes, I then enjoyed watching the Ravens lose in disastrous fashion.
But Bengals fans will also remember that at the end of that game, Mixon looked to be badly hurt.
Of course, that sour point was the focus of Doug’s next message.
9/
A very Bengals fan instinct. Doom dead ahead.
But no, I was not going to let that worry change my new attitude.
I did an instant medical analysis from my couch and declared all to be fine.
10/
It was clear I was making progress, because in his next text, brother Doug mentioned two words Bengals fans never utter unless reliving painful memories (Ie. Billups, Krumrie, Wilson, Montana-Taylor): “Super Bowl”
Still, it was laced in pessimism about the injury.
11/
Again, I pushed back. All would be good.
12/
And lo and behold, Mixon did come back.
With the win, we climbed to 8-6 and first place. And never looked back.
The rest is history.
And it all started with that Denver road win.
13/
Now I’m not saying my new attitude is what changed the trajectory of the season.
If others, on reading this thread, want to give me credit, that’s fine with me. 😎
14/
But what I will say is my decision to approach Bengals games as a fan w the same confidence that Burrow and the team have approached the games themselves has made the ride SO much more enjoyable
I can’t recommend it highly enough.
It’s a new team. A new era.
Burrow time!
15/
So in the next 10 days, when people yell “Who Dey?” and I respond with “Nobody!”, know that I absolutely mean it.
You do the same.
END
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
I sensed it from the first phone call.
An experienced activist in Columbiana County (not far from Youngstown) called me. Our conversation went something like this: “you’ve got to help this candidate running for the Ohio 6th special election! He’s firing up people all over the district but no one seems to be helping him. He doesn’t even have a campaign manager, but people are so excited about him. He’s got a great story and he really has energy. Can you help him?”
1/
So I took a closer look at Michael Kripchak, and she was right.
He had a great story—from Youngstown (class co-valedictorian), Air Force Academy graduate (physics major) and veteran, quantum computing experience,
2/
a later Master’s in interactive telecommunications, and then an entrepreneur, returning home to Youngstown along the way. Whoa!
And that was just the beginning of what would impress me.
NEW WHITEBOARD: “Public Dollars for Public Schools”
A 🧵 and ask for help
Enough is enough!
If we don’t start fighting back in a ferocious way against universal vouchers, we are going to witness the destruction of public education.
WATCH, RT and…
1/
The stories keep coming, and keep confirming it: the universal private vouchers exploding in red states across the country are an unmitigated disaster.
The old narrative that this is about public school students in poverty and struggling schools being lifted into better…
2/
schools has been proven a lie.
No—today’s universal voucher is a coupon for the well-off, already attending private schools. And with its explosion across America, the strategy is dealing a devastating blow to public education, on a trajectory to become far worse fast.
3/
Folks, there’s a truly inspiring candidate working his heart out to win a special election for Congress in Ohio.
This Tuesday!
He’s a veteran named Michael @KripchakOH , gives one hell of a speech, and has been traveling up and down OH’s 6th district tirelessly.
1/
Yes, he’s the underdog.
But it’s also a special election, in a district with a lot of Democrats in it (this is Ted Strickland’s old district), and with the type of unpredictable turnout that could lead to an upset, or a dramatic over-performance.
2/
Early vote trends are favorable so far.
But @KripchakOH and his grassroots team could use last minute support to help them hit all their election-day GOTV targets.
What Frank doesn’t tell you is that a few years ago, when he released a list of voters “to be purged,” outside groups (not his staff) found that the list included 10,000s of voters on it in error
These voters HAD voted regularly, hadn’t moved, but were tagged to be purged
2/
..anyway.
Overall, it was a near 20% error rate. Shockingly high.
And again, it was only found because outside groups dug through LaRose’s list and found that enormous number of voters mistakenly listed—which was caused by a combination of errors in the process and data
3/
How do you lose in court? First, you listen to bad lawyers over good lawyers.
Even worse, that bad lawyer says something as dumb as this to justify violating core Constitutional rights.
WATCH, RT and..
1/
Then, when a good lawyer (of your own party) tries to warn you that you are about to invite a losing lawsuit, you simply ignore him.
As happened here:
2/
Last week, by listening to that bad lawyer over that good lawyer, the Ohio House GOP, Ohio Senate and Governor may very well have snatched defeat from the jaws of victory (in their effort to gut ballot initiatives) by making Ohio the first state in America to…
3/
The DNC & @harrisonjaime just called the OH Senate & Gov DeWine’s bluff by moving up Biden’s nomination so no extension is needed to make the OH ballot.
This will expose that DeWjne and the Senate’s goal was never about Biden at all!
WATCH/RT/TAKE ACTION
1/
Just like last year, it was a cynical effort to change the rules to knee-cap ballot initiatives—including our effort to end gerrymandering this year
Currently, they are STILL moving forward on their poison pills EVEN though Biden will be nominated in time for OH’s deadline
2/
Which gives their game away.
But you can help 🛑 them.
Ohio House Republicans have held the line before last week.
Call them to encourage them to keep holding the line to protect citizens’ right to organize ballot initiatives.