What To Do Until April 6

It has been one week since the Cincinnati Bengals made their early exit from the NFL postseason for the fourth straight year. Once the game clock had nothing but zeros on it, and the Bengals trotted off the field, feelings of anger, sadness, depression, and desperation among others engulfed me as my favorite football team would have to wait another year to try and attain that elusive first playoff win since the 1990 season. Then a thought occurred to me and a teeny, tiny bit of the anger, sadness, depression, and desperation disappeared. That thought: at least Opening Day is in about three months.

Now the big question is what to do during that three-month span? There are no more Bengals games to watch, and Cincinnati does not have an NHL team or an NBA team to root for during the winter sports season. The most obvious answer to this question is to watch the NFL playoffs. The only problem with that is the Super Bowl is February 1, 2015. That means the 2014 NFL season officially ends on the first day of February, leaving two months of inactivity of Cincinnati pro sports.

If I were fortunate enough to be able to purchase both an NHL franchise and an NBA franchise, I would obviously do it and bring back the Cincinnati Royals as well as establish a National Hockey League version of the Cyclones or the Swords or the Stingers. However, this is real life, not a fantasy world, and I cannot afford to purchase a professional sports franchise. So until more professional teams are established in the Cincinnati area, here are my suggestions on how to pass the time until Opening Day 2015.

While Cincinnati does not have an NHL franchise to represent the city, that does not mean there is a lack of hockey in the Queen City. The Cincinnati Cyclones are a hockey team in the East Coast Hockey League and are affiliated with the Florida Panthers and the Nashville Predators of the NHL. They play in US Bank Arena, and the games are a ton of fun to watch. Tickets are pretty cheap, and there are a good number of promotions and giveaways throughout the season. I have tickets for their bobblehead night on March 13, 2015, when they host the Orlando Solar Bears. The bobblehead is of Twister, the mascot of the Cyclones. It looks awesome, and you can see a picture of the bobblehead here. If you can’t make it to the Cyclones games, you can watch them online through the official website of the ECHL.

There is also plenty of basketball to watch in Cincinnati. The University of Cincinnati Bearcats, the Xavier Univesity Musketeers, the Louisville Cardinals, the Northern Kentucky University Norse, and the University of Kentucky Wildcats give people in the Cincinnati area something to root for on the hardwood. The NKU Norse are still adjusting to Division I basketball, but all of the other teams listed are usually guaranteed to be playing in March Madness, one of the most exciting sporting events of all time. I love the NCAA tournament and try to watch every game that is on at the same time. It has everything from buzzer beaters to Cinderella stories, and it really makes time fly when waiting for the Reds.

Another option is professional wrestling. Dean Ambrose, Cincinnati’s favorite wrestling son, has been tearing it up in WWE, and he gives Cincinnati wrestling fans a personal favorite to pull for in matches. Also, January through April is usually the time when WWE produces its best shows of the year as Wrestlemania, WWE’s biggest event, often occurs right before Opening Day.

Those are my suggestions on how to pass the time until the boys of summer take the field on April 6. Cyclones hockey, college basketball, and professional wrestling are great ways to pass the time until Opening Day, especially during the month of March as the Cyclones play multiple times a week, March Madness is off and running, and WWE delivers its biggest show of the year in Wrestlemania. I hope this helps numb the pain of another postseason loss by the Bengals and makes time fly as Opening Day 2015 approaches.

Go Redlegs!