THE BROO VIEW with Ken Broo

The idea came from Paul Daugherty, who sits in this chair weeknights at six. And it’s such a basic question, we need to talk about it today: was Sunday the most important game the Bengals will play in the Marvin Lewis era?

Let’s put it in context. It’s no secret to you and me: this franchise has struggled mightily and because of itself for the past 17 seasons. One winning season, one playoff appearance. It has paraded mediocre talent, at best sometimes, into stadia and has forced us a bar hung too low for far too long. It told us in 1996 it needed a new stadium, flirted with the city of Baltimore for a little leverage and finally wrangled a sales tax hike from you to get Paul Brown Stadium built. I thought it was a good idea then. I still think it was a good idea. But when the bricks and mortar and rebar went up, the blocks and tackles and wins went down. We became the butt end of jokes, you, me and the team we root for every Sunday in the fall. Jay Leno got us every night.

But all that changed in 2003, when Marvin Lewis arrived. He came here with a resume like no other head coach since Forest Gregg. Lewis had a super bowl ring. He had a reputation of building solid and aggressive defenses. He even made Steve Spurrier look good, no small trick in that one year in DC. Lewis breathed fire into a moribund franchise, shook up the locker room and got this town on its football toes again. Suddenly, it was fun to be a Bengals fan again. The 70-percent off sales on Bengals jerseys at Lazarus were postponed until after Christmas.

2005 was great. But we both know where things went after that. Too many injuries, too many arrests. But you were loyal. You got mad, because it reflected badly on your city and you know you love your city. You got mad because it reflected badly on your team. And you know you love your team. But you kept faith. You kept buying tickets, buying tickets, watching the games on television. You kept the faith.

But as we both know, even loyalty has its limits. And I sensed this, for a lot of Bengals fans. I’ve taken your phone calls this week, talked with you out on the town and listened to the talk shows. I saw your tickets for sale today on ebay: four, 40-yard line, face value 68-dollars apiece, all four for you at 100-total.

I sense that with a lot of Bengals fans, after last Sunday’s stinker in Baltimore, enough was enough. Bring back Chris Henry, let Willie go, lay an egg on opening day. Enough.

So I’m asking today, is this game against the Titans the most important game this franchise will play since the final year of the Sam Wyche era?
If the Bengals are beaten this afternoon, are you done watching them on Sunday? Are you done buying tickets? Will you find other things to do Sunday afternoons this fall? Is it that important?

Or, is it only one game? It has to be either-or? The NFL season has been called a marathon. But it really isn’t. Its 17-weeks, you play 16 and if you’re good enough you play on. It’s four months, one game a week. And while each week is important, generally you only have to win ten times to get into the playoffs. The Bengals have lost once. If they lose today, they still have 14-chances to win ten. So is today really a must win? On the field, no. Off the field, in the department known as your loyalty and interest, is it?

If a generation is defined as 25 years, then an entire generation of people in our town have grown up knowing nothing but losing football. Just about. It’s been 18 years, save one. The Bengals, like every other NFL ftanchise are enjoying their halcyon days. The NFL’s popularity is at its zenith. The television ratings and revenue are at all time highs. Unable to get 40-thousand into Riverfront Stadium on some Sundays in the 90’s, the Bengals now have a waiting list for tickets.

But it won’t always be that way. The economy, if you haven’t noticed, is in the dumper. Gasoline will be in the mid-four dollar range by later today and rumored to being more than five bucks a gallon by the end of this week. People are losing their jobs, or are afraid they might. Tough choices about how to spend income have already begun. To most of us, buying an NFL ticket is a luxury. Repairing a washing machine isn’t. Maybe that sounds silly to you, but it shouldn’t.

We invest our money and time in things we believe will give us a good return. Our sports teams are that way. They eventually have to give us a reason to believe and then invest. The Bengals haven’t done that a lot in this last generation. Sometimes, you just reach a point where enough is enough. After back to back losses and all that's transpired off the field, have you reach that point today?