#AUTOGRAPH PAGE UPDATE @ https://t.co/oiRAWLpVYr WITH #BENGALS SIGNATURES #WhoDey #LetsRoar #Reds #SuperBowl #NFL pic.twitter.com/90pPc7LvSC
— Cincy Fan Zone (@CincyFanZone) January 30, 2016
Saturday, January 30, 2016
Autograph Page Update
Wednesday, January 27, 2016
2016 Cincinnati Reds Bobbleheads So Far
Even though Opening Day is not for a few months, the
Cincinnati Reds and the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame and Museum are already
promoting what bobbleheads they will be giving out to fans this season. At the
time that this post was written, the Reds have announced four of the
bobbleheads that they will give away and the Reds Hall of Fame and Museum have
announced two of the bobbleheads that will be given to fans with the price of
admission. In this post, I will share my thoughts on the nodders that have been
revealed.
Let’s start with the Reds Hall of Fame and Museum
bobbleheads. The bobblehead that will be given out during the month of April
will be of legendary Reds pitcher Jim Maloney. This is an awesome choice for a
bobblehead. Maloney had a great career as a Red and is more than deserving of
his own bobblehead. I definitely plan on stopping by the Reds Hall of Fame and
Museum to pick up this nodder.
The other bobblehead that the Reds Hall of Fame and Museum
has announced is of Lee May. “The Big Bopper” is another fantastic choice for a
bobblehead as he was a great player who helped the Reds reach the 1970 World
Series, and he helped lay the foundation for the Big Red Machine that would
dominate baseball throughout the 1970’s. This bobblehead is a must have for my
collection.
The Reds have announced four bobbleheads that they will be
giving out with the first one being a superhero bobblehead of Joey Votto. While
I do find this bobblehead to be underwhelming as there are tons of Joey Votto
bobbleheads in the world, I do plan on attending the game so that I can get it.
Odds are that the bobblehead will be of Votto in some sort of superhero outfit
instead of the typical Reds uniform, so I consider it to be different enough to
add to my collection.
The second bobblehead that will be given out will be a Star
Wars X-Wing Fighter Mr. Redlegs bobblehead. This sounds awesome. Even though I
have three variations of Mr. Redlegs nodders in my collection already, a Star
Wars Mr. Redlegs bobblehead is too good to pass up on so I will definitely be
heading to the game to get it.
The third bobblehead the team will give out is a dual
Cincinnati Reds/Seattle Mariners Ken Griffey Jr. bobblehead. This bobblehead is
another cool nodder that I will be adding to my collection. With “the Kid” most
likely taking his rightful place in the Hall of Fame this year, it makes
perfect sense for the Reds to capitalize on it and produce a nodder of him. The
fact that it will feature him as both a member of the Reds and the Mariners is
a cool idea, and I cannot wait to get it.
The fourth bobblehead is of shortstop Zack Cozart. I am
excited about this bobblehead as it features a solid player on the team who has
yet to be immortalized as a Reds SGA nodder. Cozart is an amazing defensive
shortstop, so my guess is that the nodder will portray him making a great
defensive play.
Those are the six Reds bobbleheads that have been announced,
and aside from the Votto nodder, they all have me pretty excited. It is pretty
much assumed that the Reds, who are currently in rebuild mode, will suck in
2016, so the need for awesome promotions to help drive fans to the games is at
a high level. Based on the bobbleheads they have announced so far, they are on
the right track.
Go Redlegs!
Monday, January 25, 2016
Royal Rumble 2016 Thoughts
Ryan of Cincy Fan Zone shares his thoughts on the 2016 Royal Rumble event.
Wednesday, January 20, 2016
MyHobbyChannel Giveaway Unboxing
Ryan of Cincy Fan Zone opens a giveaway from MyHobbyChannel.
Give MyHobbyChannel a sub: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeBHxJ-6-DylM3M8ic5-7Gg
Phoning It In?
Before you dive into this post, please let me make one thing
clear. I am a diehard fan of World Wrestling Entertainment. I fell in love with
the world of professional wrestling when I was kid during the Attitude Era.
Guys like Stone Cold Steve Austin and the Rock ran wild in WWE and factions
like the New World Order dominated World Championship Wrestling. It was a great
time to be a wrestling fan. As I watch the product now though, I can’t help but
feel somewhat disappointed with what WWE has become. The lack of creativity in
storytelling by WWE officials is appalling. It sometimes feels as if WWE is
phoning it in until Wrestlemania season. In this post I will discuss why I feel
WWE is in need of a major shakeup to make it must see television again.
A major shakeup can come very easily in two different ways.
Creating better characters is probably the most obvious way of doing that. Guys
like Wade Barrett, Alberto Del Rio, and Sheamus are stagnant to me. They are
all fine when it comes to in ring ability, but their characters are just too
boring. Much like John Cena’s babyface persona is in major need of a heel turn
to make him refreshing and add depth to his character, these guys need more
character development in order for me to care that they are heels. Personally,
I find them pretty boring and until WWE can find a way to make me invest in
them and give me a reason to truly despise these heels, I, like much of the WWE
universe, will continue to see them as boring.
Another way to shake tings up is with better storylines.
Team ECW versus the Wyatt Family was just thrown together, and Tyler Breeze
versus Dolph Ziggler has become very bland. These wrestlers are all very
talented, but poor storytelling on WWE’s part has made me care very little
about them. The stories are repetitive and a bit lazy in the creative
department, and WWE needs to fix this immediately.
I am not a WWE hater or a “smark.” I am a fan of WWE and
while a lot of WWE programming has been bad as of late, there are some good.
Guys like Dean Ambrose, Kevin Owens, and the New Day have well developed
characters and are masters at capturing the attention of the audience. The Dean
Ambrose versus Seth Rollins rivalry and the Daniel Bryan versus the Authority
feud were two of the best pieces of storytelling that WWE has produced in the
past few years. This proves that WWE is capable of producing intriguing stories
with captivating characters that make the audience invest in them. Wrestlemania
season and the “Attitude Era” are prime examples of that. If WWE could do this
on a weekly basis, then perhaps its rating for Raw and Smackdown might reverse
its current downward trend.
I really hope WWE smells the coffee and wakes up to the fact
that its product is in a state of staleness. Something needs to be done to make
it interesting again. Shake things up ,WWE. I am begging you to stop phoning it
in until Wrestlemania season. Make wrestling fun again.
Sunday, January 10, 2016
PO’ed: Poorly Officiated
January 9, 2016, is a date that I and many other fans of the
Cincinnati Bengals would like to forget. After trailing the entire game, my
beloved Bengals fought and clawed their way back into the game and took a 16-15
lead over their biggest rival, the Pittsburgh Steelers, with a little under two
minutes left in the game. It looked like the Bengals would finally win in the
playoffs and end a 25 year postseason victory draught that dates all the way
back to the 1990 NFL season. Unfortunately, the Steelers escaped with an 18-15
win over the Bengals after two stupid penalties cost the Bengals 30 yards.
While the Bengals ultimately cost themselves the game, the officiating
definitely played a role. Now I am not saying that the officials are the reason
why the Bengals lost the game. I am saying that the officiating was so bad that
the game essentially turned into a fight, and the lack of control by the
referees played a key role into how violent the game became.
The head referee for this game was the same referee who
officiated the second Steelers versus Bengals game. In that contest, the two
teams got in a fight before the game even started. During the game, Steelers
player Mike Mitchell laid a hard shot into Bengals tight end Tyler Eifert that
resulted in Eifert leaving the game with a concussion. The tension only
escalated from there and the officiating crew was heavily criticized for how
they handled the game.
Fast forward to the playoff game for Steelers versus Bengals
part three. For some stupid reason, the NFL has the same head official from the
previous Steelers versus Bengals game referee the playoff game. Apparently the
NFL told both teams before the game that they would not tolerate the same kind
of violent play that characterized their previous meeting and at first, it
looked like the officials had control of the game. Both teams were playing hard
and other than an incident involving one of the Steelers coaches and Bengals
safety Reggie Nelson, the game was going on without a hitch although it was a
hard-hitting matchup. The officiating took a nosedive after an incident
involving Ryan Shazier of the Steelers and Giovani Bernard of the Bengals.
Bernard caught a pass and took two steps before being
knocked out by Ryan Shazier’s helmet-to-helmet shot that was horrific to watch.
Bernard was motionless on the ground for a few minutes. Apparently the play was
legal, but it was no doubt a dirty and vicious hit that could have seriously
injured both players. To make matters worse, Shazier, in a display of the
poorest of sportsmanship, celebrated the hit on the sideline. Things escalated
quickly.
Both teams appeared to be hitting each other harder and the
fans even started throwing trash onto the field. Toward the end of the game,
Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict laid out Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown
with a shot to the head from his shoulder that floored Brown. It was
reminiscent of the hit Shazier placed on Bernard. That was called a penalty.
However, the play also led to another scrummage between the two teams. This
time though, Steelers coach Joey Porter was on the field and jawing with
Bengals cornerback Adam Jones. There was absolutely no reason for Porter to be
on the field. He is a coach and should have stayed on the sideline. Had that
play in which Shazier knocked out Bernard been handled better, then perhaps
Brown would not have suffered that hit and the game would have not turned into
a fight with fans throwing debris onto the field. The game was poorly
officiated as the referees lost control. In my opinion, the NFL has a lot of
explaining to do.
I could go on and on about how bad the officiating was, but
I am still disgusted with how the game ended. It was a poor display of
sportsmanship from a few coaches and players on the field and an embarrassment
for the NFL.
Wednesday, January 6, 2016
We Really Want This One
We really want this one. Who am I referring to as “we?” I am
referring to Who Dey Nation which is made up of every single Cincinnati Bengals
fan. What am I referring to as “this one?” I am referring to the Bengals first
round playoff game this weekend against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Should the
Bengals come away with a victory against the Steelers, a twenty-five year
playoff win draught would come to an end and a curse that was seemingly placed on
the Bengals by the Steelers a decade ago would finally be lifted.
This is the most “must win” Bengals game of my lifetime. I
was born in 1992 so I missed both Super Bowl appearances and the last time the
Bengals won in the postseason was during the 1990 NFL season. Since that win,
the Bengals have gone through peaks and valleys with the lowest of the lows
being the “Dark Ages” of the 1990s.
After that lost decade that made up the first eight years of
my childhood, the Marvin Lewis era began in 2003, and the dark cloud that hung
over Paul Brown Stadium began to dissipate. It seemed like rays of sunshine
were finally beginning to illuminate the once dark and depressing home of the
Bengals. In 2005, the team won the AFC North crown, and the horrible past of
the Bengals was becoming a distant memory. A high-powered offense led by stars
such as Chad Johnson and Carson Palmer seemed destined to lead the Bengals to
the promised land. Bengals fever was at an all time high as the team hosted the
Pittsburgh Steelers in the first round of the 2005 playoffs. All seemed right
in the world. Then came a crushing sports injury that devastated the
13-year-old Bengals fan that was me a decade ago. Carson Palmer was tackled low
and tore both his MCL and ACL and the dream season of the Bengals ended in
nightmare fashion as the team lost the game and was knocked out of the playoffs
in the first round.
Unfortunately, the first round playoff exits continued as
the New York Jets, the Houston Texans, the San Diego Chargers, and the
Indianapolis Colts have all ended the postseason dreams of the Bengals in the
first round. Every time the Bengals lost in the first round of the playoffs,
the dark cloud that hung over Paul Brown Stadium became darker. Every first
round playoff loss was a reminder of the curse that the Steelers placed on the
Bengals ten years ago.
All of that can change this weekend. The Bengals are
different this year. They have destroyed teams such as the Cleveland Browns and
the St. Louis Rams and have grinded out wins against other teams like the Seattle
Seahawks and the Baltimore Ravens. They finished the regular season with a
record of 12-4 and won the AFC North title. Their four losses came against four
teams who made the postseason and three out of those four games were nail
biters that came down to the wire. Their one crushing defeat came at the hands
of the Steelers, and it was due to the fact that Dalton suffered a thumb injury
on the first Bengals offensive drive and did not play the rest of the game.
This team is different. This team can shake the curse and finally win in the playoffs. It would be so fitting and so satisfying to end the curse by
beating the team that placed the curse upon them. The Steelers are the most
hated rival of the Bengals. This rivalry has grown immensely over the last few
years, and the pure disdain between the two teams has escalated to a whole new level.
The game this weekend will be a knockdown, drag out fight that will probably
come down to the wire. Hopefully the Bengals will come away with the win and
end the postseason draught and curse. A decade of suffering would finally
come to an end. The gorilla that has been on the back of the Bengals for 25 years will
finally be shaken off with a win. This is the most must-win Bengals game of my
lifetime. Who Dey Nation really wants this one. Make it happen Bengals.
Who Dey!
Tuesday, January 5, 2016
Autograph Page Update
#AUTOGRAPH PAGE UPDATE @ https://t.co/oiRAWLpVYr WITH NEW #REDS SIGNATURE #Bengals #WhoDey #LetsRoar #NFL #PITvsCIN pic.twitter.com/X2OVSm3M0w
— Cincy Fan Zone (@CincyFanZone) January 6, 2016
Photo Page Update
PIC PAGE UPDATE @ https://t.co/yzF6TznxxM WITH #BALvsCIN, #Bengals Line, #BeyondTheStripes & #Reds HOT STOVE PICS pic.twitter.com/HpcdkeYH5P
— Cincy Fan Zone (@CincyFanZone) January 6, 2016
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