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Bengals vow to keep fans in seats
Ticket-holders — who are already jumping off the bandwagon — need 'something to cheer for.'
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Extras
- Next game Who: Tennessee Titans (1-0) at Cincinnati Bengals (0-1) When: 1 p.m. Sunday TV: WHIO (CBS, Ch. 7) Radio: WTUE-FM (104.7)
CINCINNATI — Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis got right to the point in the team meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 10.
"The first thing Marvin said was, 'We're going to be undefeated at home. We're going to protect our turf. We have great fans, and we need to keep 'em in the game by putting good stuff on the field,' " quarterback Carson Palmer said.
Protecting Paul Brown Stadium's FieldTurf begins Sunday when the Bengals face Tennessee in their home opener. The stadium is sold out, but many fans in the seats won't be the original ticket holders.
Field Level ($74-$82), Club Level ($64-$82) and Canopy Level ($64-$72) seats are selling for anywhere from $26 to $43 on the TicketsNow.com Web site, a signal that Bengals fans are jumping off the bandwagon after a 17-10 loss at Baltimore.
Lewis said he wants to keep fans "off the down escalator" at PBS before time expires. Any advice for fans on an emotional ledge after the team's poor performance against the Ravens?
"Do what you've got to do," Lewis said. "That's what the focus is. If you're a fan, then be a fan. You get to determine that."
Defensive tackle John Thornton said he doesn't read the newspaper, watch local TV or listen to sports-talk radio.
"I'm sure people are upset, but we're upset as well," he said. "We want to win, and we're working toward that. We can't get concerned about what people are saying. We've got to give 'em something to cheer for. Hopefully, the fans come out and support us, and make this place as tough to play in for the Titans as it was for us in Baltimore."
Chad Ocho Cinco used a cliche to calm fans' fears.
"We're 0 and 1," he said. "We'll be fine. It's not a sprint. It's a marathon. So we'll be all right. People keep forgetting who the heck we just played, man. We don't have to deal with that every week.
"What the Ravens threw at us was completely different from everything we've seen the past seven years. It's like they've never been able to figure us out and all of a sudden, boom, year eight, they got it. So now we make our adjustments, and it won't be the same next time. People just have to understand that."
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2253 or cludwig@DaytonDailyNews.com.
