Beat Pittsburgh? Dream on.

As a diehard Ravens fan who goes to school out here in Ohio, I can tell you there's no such thing as a real Bengals fan.

Browns fans exist, they stick with that team through 1-15 or worse but Bengals fans only come out when the game is over. You never see any orange and black before the game out here in Athens, but after the streets are littered. That is, of course, if they won the game.

Everyone at the stadium was probably there for the first time and still unsure of what they were looking at in those horrendous jerseys.

I made the mistake of wearing my Suggs jersey to a bar after the first loss and had two near drunken girls insist to me that "Chad Palmer," was the best quarterback ever. I insisted that "Derrick Flacco" could handle him any day.

Well, they're not going to beat Pittsburgh so I guess they're not good. It is kind of pathetic that a 5-2 team (prior to yesterday) needed an extension from the NFL in order to sell the remaining tickets. And I'm sure those were just picked up by some corporate client. Of course at the beginning of the telecast it was quickly mentioned that it was their 43rd straight sellout or something like that. Read the fine print, none of their home games this year are sold out and they have needed extensions for everyone of them. Economy or not, the fans are posers and don't back that team except when they're good and I guess most of them aren't sold on that fact yet. Besides the Bengals are only the 2nd best football team in that city.

No matter how quiet or how loud the fans in Cincinnati are The Ravens have had their buts soundly beaten by the Bengals for the second time.
These was not a lot of defense by the birds and you offensive
line is not all that good either. Did not hear the name Ray Lewis much either, he is not playing like he used to play and that is a fact! It is time to rebuild this team because they are not the same team from a few years ago.
May I suggest that the Ravens are the ones that needs the wake up call, in the front office, and on the field! I took the poll in this paper and 93 percent of the Ravens fans do not think that you will make it to the playoffs! Now who's alarm clock is going off? Just how loud do you have to be now?

And what was with the Cincy fans booing?

When the Orioles were 6-2, I questioned how good they really were, too. Then again, there were 154 games remaining.

I've been to Cincinnati once. It is a very dull town, although they had some nice restaurants and a top drawer hat store. Nevertheless, my wife and I left a day early even though it was paid for.

Well, we all know, if you ask a cab driver, then it's probably true. Great article Kevin, keep up the great work. Maybe next time you can interview a trash man. Maryland basketball countdown at the top of your browser, in the middle of the football season, and Cincinnati has bad fans? Stay at the bottom with Cleveland, where you belong. P.S. Ray Lewis looks old and slow.

I was at the game. Sat in Section 119 right next to the Ravens tunnel. I have to agree with you on this. I wonder though if they lost some of their energy when they went up so big early. The in game experience there is also not much. They hardly show any replays, and the PA system does nothing to get the fans charged up (like the D-Fense chant in M&T). Pretty much all you get out there is a bunch of people yelling "Who Dey" all damn game which is just annoying. They kicked the crap out of the Ravens though so there was not much we could say. But that stadium definitely does not rock like M&T.

If your a Bangels fan, you have been watching this team go up and down light a roller coaster. You get tired of being sold on a half effort team. The Bengals have had great teams go bad and descent teams go really bad. So cant blame the fan in ciny. The bangels have to prove they are good team and stay a good team.

What game were you watching? Sorry, but fans were all on their feet during your fourth quarter drive. (that was the view from Sec 160) Its OK to slam the fans about not being loud enough, but at least be factual about it. I do agree that way too few replays get shown, but I think that is because they live in perpetual fear of the Red Flag, or of the crowd rioting over what they see as a bad call. Maybe the corwd found it hard to get too worked up about a game they expected to win? As for the sellout, check some stats, economy in S. OH is pretty poor right now, and the seats unsold are the pricey ones, not the nose bleeds.

Sounds like a bunch of sour grapes to me. Really, couldn't everyone generalize about another city or another city's fans all the time? I guess it is just hometown pride wanting to slam on another city.

I've been to both Baltimore and Cincinnati and when it gets right down to it, they're nearly identical in terms of what they offer to visitors outside of the bay in Baltimore.

As for the crowd noise, I was actually at the game myself. In the first quarter, it was as loud as most other places, but when you get up big early, there's a natural letdown in the atmosphere. And when there were 3 straight sacks to effectively end the game, there was plenty of noise then as well. Give that team a few more years of winning and it will be the same as M&T - takes a little while to turn things over on the field and in the stands when there's been not much but losing for about 20 years.

If the fans in Paul Brown Stadium were quiet this Sunday, perhaps it was because the game was hardly a contest. The Ravens' quarterback looked like he went to Delaware, and the Bengals' looked like he went to USC. Also, the scariest thing about the Ravens' D was Ed Reed's Kimbo Slice-esque beard.

What a ridiculous article. I've been to 8 NFL stadiums over the past 4 seasons and Paul Brown Stadium was as loud on a couple of occasions yesterday as any stadium I've been in. Maybe the Ravens consistent success has fans in Baltimore slightly more geared up but years of getting our teeth kicked in has an effect...or maybe were were just tired from watching our #5 Cincinnati Bearcats win again Saturday night.

Listen, the Bengals are historically one of the worst professional sports franchises ever and the fans have sold out nearly 50 consecutive games. If that's not die-hard, I'm not sure what is.

Lets not turn the attention on the fans here. The ravens were beat fair and square by the bengals twice this year, deal with it. By the way kyle,just because you go to school in the middle of nowhere athens doesnt mean you know anything about true fans in the city of cincinnati 150 miles away. I've lived in the city limits of baltimore for two years and I've heard drunk girls and cabbies alike say some clueless things about their ravens.

There are real Bengals fans out there and one right here in Baltimore!! I have stuck with the Bengals through thick and thin, through the good and the ugly. This team is for real! You guys are just so afraid to accept it and that you may not be in the playoffs this season. Suck it up! I bleed black and orange in Charm City!

One question. Who did all you ravens fans cheer for before they came to town? Did you cry every sunday over a team that bailed on your city before you were born, or did you cheer for the redskins and then just turn your back on them as soon as your purple browns came to town? Sounds like true fans.

"faced with a third-and-19 with the game still semi in doubt, the fans didn't even rise to their feet to cheer."

Where were you sitting? A luxury box? My section doesn't sit at all during the game. Maybe it was quite cause we whopped you guys straight from the coin toss. Come back for a stealer game and you'll see.

Beat Pittsburgh? Dream on.Already happened once this year.

Kyle - the majority of students at OU are from northern Ohio -makes sense that there would be more Browns fans. Its like going to school at Miami (oxford,oh) and complaining about Browns fans.

Economy or not, the fans are posers and don't back that team except when they're goodYeah, like all those sellouts last year for a 4-11-1 team.

The moral of the story is its hard to cheer in a game when the outcome is not in doubt. It was obvious from the outset that the Bengals outclassed the Ravens, thus the fans lost some interest.

The Bengals fans were booing every time Ray Lewis' name was called.

Bengal fans may not be 'loud' but they are loyal. One winning season in 20 years and the team still got a new stadium on a tax payer vote and still has a sellout streak going back to 05 and still fills the stadium to near capacity over that time frame.

What's weird is I was at this game and there were a couple times where it was so loud that my chest was rumbling. It didn't seem so quiet to me some of the times. Yes the Bengals organization is terrible at getting the crowd pumped up. The atmosphere at the stadium is dull at times due to the fact that they play outdated music constantly and music that does nothing for the energy of fans. But there were some times where it was teh loudest I've ever heard it there and I was at the last Steelers game. So I think it was louder at the Ravens game than the Steelers. Anyway, we beat you guys AGAIN. And soundly I might add. You guys didn't have a snowball's chance in hell right from the start. So of course you had to come up with some ridiculous thing to get on here and bad mouth us about. Have funning watching the playoffs at home with your murderer's jersey tightly packed away in your closet. I'll come back on and tell you what the atmosphere at PBS was like when we're playing the Steelers in the playoffs. I can assure you it'll be a better assessment of the Bengals than a cab driver can give you. Have a good season girls!

Stop being bitter that your team lost not 1 but....wait for it....2 games to the BENGALS. You lose the game and you start calling out the fans bc we arent loud enough! Par for the couse. I dont know what game you were at yesterday but I was in the endzone and didnt sit the entire game!Quit being bitter that your 3rd in the divison. WHO DEY? NOT THE RAVENS!

I don't believe Cincinnati had a team leave in the middle of the night. Do Ballessmore fans remember anything like that? Big trucks packed up, heading for Indy, did our stadium sound like that? Other than crab cakes what the hell do you got in Ballessmore. Here's your wake up call on 11-09-09 BENGALS 6-2 Ballessmore 4-4......,Damn border state, oh no we can't decide, slaves or no slaves.

I've been to plenty of Orioles games where the crowd is dead. Actually OPACY has been dead for about 12 years, that is, unless the Red Sox or Yankees are in town. Really bad fans there at OPACY.

My guess is, in general, fans everywhere need a little sustained success to get their stadium rocking. Let's see how alive M&T stays if the Ravens continue to bumble through the season and are pretty much out of the playoffs come week 12 or so.

Too bad all you can come uP with is to comment on how much noise the fans in the stadium make. Nice 2 games....fading Crows.

I love how Brian H points out an example of a "bad" Bengals fan as if all are that way, and no Ravens fan has ever made such a mistake. As an OU grad in 1996 (started in Sept of 91) I recall my first 3 years in Athens, when the Indians were finishing in 4th, 6th and last place, there wasn't an Indians hat in sight. Then they got good and all of a sudden, everyone was a "Tribe" fan.
Since the Ravens have existed, they have a SB win, 7 playoff wins, and have made the playoffs 5 times while Bengals have played 1 playoff game.
The Ravens are 111-104-1, the Bengals 86-129-1. Bengal fans have put up with crap, and still we're here.

Guess I meant Kyle, not Brian. But for Brian, "Beat Pittsburgh, dream on" is right! Why would anyone think the Bengals would have a chance to beat Pittsburgh? It's not like they've already beaten them this year or anything???

I expect to see fewer fans at M&T if the Ravens continue playing the way they are playing now. It's hard to stay interested in a team that seems to have lost interest themselves. Just ask the O's. They can tell you.

Sour grapes by you Ravens fans. Quit acting like you know how the fans are in this city. The simple fact is this...people hate the owner and for years the fans have watched him consistantly refuse to change his way of doing business...which is outdated. People have trusted the organization before, only to be kicked in the groin. Some people just cant get themselves to buy a $70 ticket from an organization that has routinely let them down for twenty years. I still go and have had tickets since 03, but I can understand why some people do not want to. Another thing...Ohio and NKy have been devasted with layoffs this year, more so than most other states. A lot of people just can't afford it. Let me see how many loyal fans Baltimore has after enduring two decades of futility and zero playoff wins. I'm guessing it wouldn't be the way it is now. As for the city from an ealier post...cincy is dull? well you obivously didnt look very hard to find something do do. Whil downtown isn't the best, its defintely not the worst. Besides, just go across the river to Northern Kentucky where the fun really happens. But then again, that came from a resident of a city who's big claim to fame is the enormous crime rate and the wire.

I don't know what's going on with the Ravens but it's hard to stay interested in a team once the team themselves have lost interest. Just ask the O's.

It usually is pretty quiet at a funeral....cause yesterday the Bengals buried any hope for this old defense to go to the playoffs. Sore losers on this site, that is for sure. If the Ravens pourous defense would have somehow won this game yesterday this article would never have been written.

Wow there are some idiotic comments on here. Let's review:

1) "Beat Pittsburgh, dream on" - I am not saying they will beat Pitt, but they already have this year. Why is it such a stretch to see them win again.
2) "There are no real Bengal fans" - Try having 1 winning season in 20 years and see that it's not bandwagon.
3) "What's with Cincinnati booing" - Well if you mean booing Rey Lewis, try reading pre-game quotes. He basically said Cedric Benson was lucky to rush for over 100 against them the first time. Plus he stabbed a guy but that is a different story.
4) Making fun of Cincinnati for not having extra income to spend on a football game. That's just low.

I'm a Bengals fan ( 4 year season ticket holder)and I was at the game Sunday.

I was also at the Ravens-Bengals game in Baltimore earlier this year so I believe I can speak objectively, here.

You all are correct, our fan base is very cynical and very "bandwagon-driven." However, many of you don't know what 19 years of crappy football is like. The Bengals have had 1 winning season in 19 years. I was an 8th grader 19 years ago and am not a 34 year old teacher.

The owner has been the same during that time and the fans have suported the team through thick and thin (mostly thin). They are simply tired too tired to care. It's going to take more than just a 6-2 record to get this city back.

That being said, the Ravens fans are far more passionate and far more engaging than most Bengals fans (and I am a Bengals fan!). They also were very polite to me and my wife. So, thank you to the city of Baltimore--> it was a fun experience comiNG to your stadium!

Ah... so since the team Baltimore was so convinced was Superbowl-bound got skunked TWICE by the Bengals we now have to attack the city and its fans. Classy.

Bengal fans have put up with so much for so long and most other football cities can't appriciate that. Its an unfortunate fact that the team will have to earn its fans back, being the laughing stock of the league for nearly 20 years doesn't do much to encourage loyalty.

I was at both Bengals v Ravens games this year. I did not think M&T was all that raucous... I was at the game yesterday, as a Bengals fan, and I did not sit down once. Well, I sat at the half... Another thing you have to look at is the design of the stadium. It's more wide open. M&T is set up more like a college stadium, very steep, so you are going to get more noise amplification there.

Also - to the dude who said there are no "Bengals fans," - you're in Athens, bro. That city is closer to Pittsburgh than Cincinnati. One thing 95% of the media has not picked up on, is there have been active ticket boycots. None of the grass roots protests have been highlighted nationally. Rather, Cincy fans have been called into question for their loyalty. Combine that with the economic state of things - I think the fact that the Bengals have sold out any games this year is surprising. Would you seriously go support the Ravens if you had ZERO playoff wins in almost 20 years?

As a real Bengal fan, family owned season tickets for 40 years, I agree that there are alot of bandwagon fans who only come out when the team is doing well. But there is a 45,000 base of core fans who have stuck it out through thick and thin. Love the Bengals or the Bungles no matter what. It is easy to be rabid when all you have really known is winning.

Is this what the great city of Baltimore, its writers and its apparent sore loser fans do after a loss? You actually dedicated your time to ripping the city of the team you just lost to, great journalism Baltimore Sun. You sound like a bunch of 5th graders, and it's really weak. All I can say to some of the people that commented is look at the standings!! Ochocinco says child please. Take care cry babies.

Matbe, Jusy maybe the Baltimore fans need to wake up. I am a season ticket holder and I have seen the hard core ones walk away. How can you blame them 1 winning season in 15. Do not tell me if that happened in Baltimore that all the fans would keep coming in. Let us talk sell outs. The yankees could not sell out Yankee stadium for a playoff game...Has anyone seen the 10.5% unemployment rate. Cincinnati has about 3 million people. New york 8 million. Do the the math and quit picking on girls.....Maybe your just pised your team got their butts kicked again...

Talk about quiet..... how about the Ravens locker room after the game, with the "nowhere to be found" Ray Lewis who, as usual, has nothing to say after he gets his butt kicked. Kudos to the stand-up Ravens who did stay around to give much deserved accolades to the better team.

How bad has it gotten in Baltimore you really should worry about your sorry team after all you people in Baltimore thought just showing up was going to get you a win. Sorry to say Ray Lewis time has passed and just maybe Joe Flaco has hit the wall. It's sad when all you can write about is fans. Try writing about a team self destucting AKA Baltimore Ravens! You better worry about who will Baltimore beat.

To Kyle, You are lost in a sea of losses and you are trying to tell us that a fan is. Cincinnati has gone through 19 years of losing seasons but for many years we had sold out crowds at every Bengals game. And by the way the Bengals do not play in Athens and it does not worry me at all you do not see orange and black every where and you may see them after the victories over you little birdies. I'm willing to bet you do not see a lot of Ravens colors there either!
Athens is loaded with students from northern Ohio and that is why you see so many Browns fans there. You may be waisting Mommy's and Daddies money if you can't figure that one out!
Yes some of the Bengals games had to get an extension to sell out the stadium but look at the other years when we barely had a team on the field and we sold out those games less the extension. That is correct we had many sold out games with a losing record!
This year much of the lack of sales have hit due to the economy and that many fans are fed up with Mike Brown and his family that gave us the 19 losing seasons. So get your facts straight prior to posting since you are up there waisting mommy's and daddies money. you should stick to your books! I would have to give you an F for not doing your homework. PS. Pittsburgh is going to tear you a new one! NO playoffs for you little man!

To JB

The Bengals may be the second best team in Cincinnati but we did beat the wimps Ravens twice! So where does that leave your team?

To Elane,
The Cincinnati fans Booed every time Ray (cheap Shoot) Lewis's name was called.
I'm sure you can remember the first game that Cincinnati beat you when the Cheap Shot chump hit Ocho Stinko and he was fined for it? OOPS birds do not have long memories. But I'll be willing to bet you will remember these two losses!

I guess when you get beaten by the same team twice in the same year, you have to brag about something.

OUR FANS ARE LOUDER THAN YOURS!

Congratulations. I wouldn't trade two losses for louder fans. I guess we just want different things.

Let's set the record straight. The Ravens lost, but Bengals fans are the real losers. Real NFL city's don't rely on Kroger giving away charity tickets to sellout their games. I feel sorry for the die-hards fans (the same one's that are showing no class for coming to a baltimore board to rub it in), but the rest of your City is missing out on a pretty good team.

And thanks again for George W Bush twice. You guys nailed that one.

With only 1 playoff appearance in 20 years; if only 1,000 people showed up (let alone 67,000) to watch them, how can you not consider them true die hard fans?

My bet is that they were all hung over from the Univ of Cincy game the night before.

Hey Waspman,
We are talking about a football game here, not about the city of Cincinnati. Why do Ravens fans have to go completely left of center and bash a city and its people? Typical Ravens fan, you lost, accept it and move on. A win is a win and the Bengals played it to win and that is that.
WHO DEY!!

2 thoughts:

1-The Ravens didn't really make it a competitive game.

2-Everyone was hung over from the Bearcats game the night before.

WHO DEY!!
GO BEARCATS!!

I am glad this is what you guys talk about, why don't you talk about getting swept by the Bengals! Your Defense is old and Derrick Mason is slow. Good luck battling Cleveland for 4th place, maybe the Raven fans can cheer extra loud for the toilet bowl. WHO-DEY!

That's the spirit Ravens fans! At least you beat Cincy at something!