Why I've changed my tone about Cincinnati Bengals | Williams
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Ask columnist Jason Williams anything − sports or non-sports – and he’ll pick some of your questions and comments from his inbox and respond on Cincinnati.com. Email: [email protected]
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Subject: Hop on the Cincinnati Bengals bandwagon
Message: What’s gotten into you? You have been the biggest Bengals critic in the Cincinnati media for years. Now you sound like a homer. Why the sudden change in your columns?
Reply: You said the magic word: change.
Bengals ownership changed how they built a roster going into this season, and they deserve to be praised for doing so. Ownership showed a concerted effort to win by trading for Dexter Lawrence and investing $125 million in defensive free agents. That rebuilt defense has helped the Bengals jump out to a 2-0 start against teams that many projected to make the playoffs.
What's there to criticize right now?
I spent years criticizing Bengals ownership for not changing, so it's only right that I praise the Brown/Blackburn family when they did. My job is to hold public and public-facing officials and institutions accountable and criticize when it's warranted. It's also to praise when it's warranted. That's the job of an opinion writer. Again, it's not personal.
This is how it should be: Our teams making legitimate efforts to be better and actually try to win championships. Amazing that the Bengals are being held up as the shining example of going-for-it in this city after all those years of ownership doing things the same way and caring more about profits. Going all-in to win should be the norm. Winning is great for civic pride. Didn't we all feel a little better about life during the Bengals' run to the Super Bowl in the 2021 season?
Winning and making money aren't mutually exclusive. Spend money to make money. They both should be of utmost importance to every sports franchise owner. Otherwise, sell the team. Bengals ownership bought into that in the offseason, realizing that still trying to pinch pennies would waste the generational talents of Joe Burrow and Ja'Marr Chase.
Magnificent job, Mike Brown. Kudos, Katie Blackburn. Now the Bengals just need Joe Burrow to stay healthy and a deep playoff run could be forthcoming this season.
Side note: I don't like to compare the Bengals and Reds. They operate in two different economic models. But generally, don't you find the role reversal between the approaches of the teams' ownership fascinating?
It's the Reds who are now unwilling to change. They refuse to sacrifice a certain profit margin for going all out to win. And it's the Reds, for decades beloved in this community, who have gotten really bad at public relations.
Sad to see what the Reds have become under Phil Castellini's leadership.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Why I've changed my tone about Cincinnati Bengals | Williams