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
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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…
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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.
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I knew he was right. But I decided to run with it.
So I doubled down with this:
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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.
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His fear only spurred me to up my confidence in the inevitable win:
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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!
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Again, I pushed back. All would be good.
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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.
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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. 😎
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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!
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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
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In my book “2025,” I try to capture the mindset that will drive Trump’s selection of unqualified loyalists to the top jobs in his administration.
It’s bearing out so far, and will only get worse for the less high-profile jobs:
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““JJ, they want you, dude,” Blake said. "They want you.”
“Who wants me?”
“The president does. And his people. They love that you were willing to take one for the team. No apologies. No remorse. That’s fucking loyalty—willing to give up 10 years for the president.
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For the country. You’re a fucking patriot, and they know it!”
“So what do they want me to do?”
“They’ve got thousands of jobs to fill in the new administration. They want you to take one. They want to make a point to the country.
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Meet Rhoda Denison Bement.
She was at Seneca Falls. But it’s complicated.
Rhoda Denison Bement was actually a regular parishioner at the Wesleyan Methodist Church, where the historic convention took place.
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But she was only a member there because, 5 years earlier, she’d been banished from the Presbyterian church down the street.
It seems the ferocity of her abolitionism erupted into a showdown w that church’s pastor, who put her on trial for disorderly “unchristian” conduct.
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She was found guilty, banished, and soon joined the church that would host the women’s rights convention a few years later.
Now let’s take a moment and look at the long arc of Rhoda Denison Bement’s life, and the lives of her fellow suffragists.
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Here’s an alarming @AP headline from yesterday: “CDC Calls for More Testing for Bird Flu After Blood Tests Reveal More Farmworker Infections”
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Here’s the opening sentence of another story: “Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is poised to have tremendous influence over the way the United States regulates and distributes its vaccines.”
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You see, apparently anti-vaxxer RFK Jr. is going to play a leading role in health decisions in the new administration—just as more public health crises rear their ugly head.
At the highest level, far above the back and forth events of the election cycle (and given how wild the cycle was, it’s hard to see beyond those events right now), all that we’re living through perfectly aligns with the long arc of American history.
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And any unvarnished look at that history reveals a clear and brutal pattern—that every time there are advances in growing a diverse democracy, a fierce backlash erupts against that expansion.
Every time.
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And the more I understand about the too-overlooked backlash to a more diverse American democracy in the late 1800s and early 1900s, the more disturbed I am by the similarities today.
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Tuesday, an election was held in Kentucky on an issue that occupies the core of every level of the right-wing movement that just dominated the national election.
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Both billionaires and far-right special interest groups prioritize this particular issue as paramount.
This issue is the top priority in every gerrymandered statehouse.
It’s a core plank of Project 2025.
Trump himself made it clear it’s a top priority of his.
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If a Republican doesn’t toe the line on this issue, he or she will be primaried in the next election, and will likely lose.