Cincinnati Bengals 2016 Season Outlook

Ryan of Cincy Fan Zone previews the 2016 season of the Cincinnati Bengals.

Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame and Museum 2016 Bobbleheads Review

With the month of August coming to an end, so to are the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame and Museum bobblehead giveaways. The Reds Hall of Fame gave out five bobbleheads this year. One bobblehead per month was given out to everybody who bought a general admission ticket to the Reds Hall of Fame on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays from April to August. Every month I went to the Reds Hall of Fame and got the new bobblehead that they were giving out and in my opinion, this was the best line of bobbles the Reds Hall of Fame has ever produced. 

The first bobblehead they gave out this baseball season was of former Reds pitcher Jim Maloney. The nodder looks great and features Maloney in the classic pinstripe uniform that the Redlegs used to wear. The stance is of Maloney pitching, and the bobblehead has a great look overall.

The second nodder was of former Reds slugger Lee May. With May being known as the “Big Bopper,” this bobblehead was molded to showcase his slugging ability by having May hold a bat. It’s a simple bobblehead, but it still looks nice and is a great piece of Reds memorabilia.

Third on the list of bobbles was a special Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame induction Pete Rose nodder. This bobble featured the legendary “Hit King” in a red suit jacket standing in front of the Reds Hall of Fame and Museum logo. This was given out in June, the month that Pete Rose was inducted into the Reds Hall of Fame, and it was the only bobble that year that had to be screwed into the base. This was the third bobblehead of Rose that the Reds have given out in the past three years, but considering how this was a Reds Hall of Fame induction bobble, I thought it was cool enough to get for my collection.

The fourth bobblehead of the year was of former Reds pitcher Jack Billingham. Like Maloney, the bobblehead of Billingham features him in the midst of his pitching motion, and the bobble pulls it off pretty well. Unlike the Maloney bobblehead, the nodder of Billingham is meant to be viewed from the side as that is where his name is on the base.

The fifth and final bobblehead the Reds Hall of Fame and Museum gave away with the price of admission in 2016 was of Gary Nolan. Being another pitcher, the Reds Hall of Fame could have had Nolan in the midst of his pitching motion like Billingham and Maloney. Thankfully they decided to go with a different pose and had Nolan simply standing on the base with his hand on the ball in his glove. It is different enough to separate it from the other Reds pitching bobbles yet similar enough to display that he is a pitcher.

In conclusion, the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame and Museum 2016 bobblehead line is a great series of nodders that every Reds fan should have in their collection. All but Rose had not yet been featured as bobbles, and the quality of these nodders is top notch. Hopefully next year’s line of bobbles is just as good!

SummerSlam 2016 Thoughts

Ryan of Cincy Fan Zone shares his thoughts on WWE SummerSlam 2016.

New Home for Beyond the Stripes

For Cincinnati Bengals fans, there are plenty of opportunities to get autographs. There are usually different talk shows in the Greater Cincinnati area such as Bengals Line and Bengals Nation. My favorite Bengals show is Beyond the Stripes. Hosted by Cincinnati Enquirer reporters, the show features in depth discussion as well as a fun segment with the guest player to close out the program. For the past few years, Beyond the Stripes has been held at the Moerlein Lager House but for the 2016 NFL season, the show will move to the Hofbrauhaus in Newport, Kentucky.

The Hofbrauhaus is a German restaurant. The food is pretty good, and the atmosphere is fun. It should be a nice setting for Beyond the Stripes. I am curious as to how they will set up the desk for the reporters and player as well as how autographs will be handled. When the show was at the Moerlein Lager House, the desk was set up in front of a window with Paul Brown Stadium in the background, and the autograph line formed a loop around the restaurant. Hopefully the Hofbrauhaus is set up in a similar way that allows fans to get autographs quite easily.

The first show is a special preseason show on August 23 with special guest Margus Hunt. There are rumors swirling that the first show of the regular season will feature Andy Dalton as the special guest. I really hope that is the case as it would be Dalton’s first time at Beyond the Stripes. I plan on attending every show I can, and if you see me there, give me a hello and a Who Dey!

Autograph Page Update

#Autograph Page Update @ https://t.co/ULDHSOUCJg With 2 New #Reds Signatures#ATOBTTR #WhoDey #LetsRoar #Bengals pic.twitter.com/Wm1gfblDv2

— Cincy Fan Zone (@CincyFanZone) August 18, 2016

Star Wars PlayStation 4 Unboxing

Ryan of Cincy Fan Zone unboxes a Star Wars PlayStation 4.

The Last Bobblehead

Despite the tumultuous rebuilding season of the Cincinnati Reds, it feels that the 2016 campaign has flown by as final month and a half of baseball draw near. With the end of the season comes the end of the bobblehead giveaways. A few weeks ago I got my hands on the final Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame and Museum bobblehead as they gave out a nodder of Gary Nolan. With my 2016 Reds Hall of Fame set complete, which means there is only one more bobblehead to get before the season ends. That bobblehead is of Eugenio Suarez, and it will be given out by the Reds on the third of September.

Suarez has been a pretty good player for the Reds ever since he arrived last year. His batting ability is pretty good and even though he has struggled on defense, he has shown flashes of brilliance at the third base position. The bobblehead will focus on his hitting as it features him swinging a bat in the white, home Reds uniform. The picture of the bobblehead can be seen on the Cincinnati Reds promotional schedule.

I cannot wait to add the Suarez bobblehead to my collection. Suarez is a rising star on the Reds roster, and his bobblehead debut is an awesome giveaway item. Hopefully I can get to the stadium early enough to get my hands on the nodder and complete my 2016 Reds bobblehead set.

Gary Nolan Bobblehead Unboxing

Ryan of Cincy Fan Zone unboxes a Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame and Museum Gary Nolan bobbleehad.

Too Many Titles

With the recent WWE brand extension, certain championships were made exclusive to certain brands. As I write this post, Raw is home to the WWE Women’s Championship, the WWE Tag Team Championship, the WWE United States Championship, and the soon to be crowned WWE Universal Championship (which has got to be one of the worst name for a championship I have ever heard). SmackDown on the other hand only hosts the WWE Intercontinental Championship and the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. However, SmackDown general manager Daniel Bryan recently announced that the blue brand would be getting its own tag team and women’s championships. Ugh….

I am not a fan of that decision, but when you consider how WWE is trying to make Raw and SmackDown seem like different wrestling promotions, it should not come as a surprise that they are going to introduce more belts for wrestlers to win. While it sounds like a great idea, it really devalues the championships as a whole. By having more belts, the value of the titles decreases. They become less special because more people have them.

With SmackDown gaining two new championships, WWE will now have a total of eight titles. That is absurd. I remember thinking during the first brand extension that having two of every championship seemed redundant. I wish WWE would have just had the champions battle on both brands. It gives every wrestler, regardless of what show they are on, something to fight for while making the titles seem more prestigious. Instead we will get championship inflation with an overabundance of belts for wrestlers to win, and it is all because of the brand extension.

Bobblehead Page Update

#Bobblehead Page Update https://t.co/f6kg2Fon2e with a New #Reds Nodder#ATOBTTR #Bobblehof #BobbleheadAddicts #mlb pic.twitter.com/fyO8usRB5e

— Cincy Fan Zone (@CincyFanZone) August 7, 2016

Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame and Museum Vlog

Ryan of Cincy Fan Zone vlogs about his trip to the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame and Museum.

Raw is Back

If you are a wrestling fan with some free time on Monday September 26, 2016, you might want to head to U.S. Bank Arena as WWE will present Monday Night Raw.

As I type this, only three wrestlers have been announced to appear, as Seth Rollins will be taking on Roman Reigns that night, and Chris Jericho is expected to be there as well. More wrestlers will probably be announced the closer it gets to the 26^th of September.

Tickets are on sale and start as low as $15. It is a really good value as there is no bad seat in U.S. Bank Arena, and you should be able to see the in ring action without any problem.

Normally I would be going, but the recent WWE brand split has changed those plans. With Dean Ambrose being exclusive to SmackDown, odds are I will not be buying tickets to Raw. Ambrose, a Cincinnati native, is my favorite wrestler and I would definitely go if he were going to be there. That is one reason why I hate the brand split.

Anyway, I highly encourage going to a WWE event in person. I have been multiple times and have always had a blast. When I was a kid, there used to be an extra half hour of action that would occur after the show went off the air. With the “New Era” in full swing in WWE, they might start doing it again.