OK, now that we've all gotten through the Xavier/West Virginia game, I think we need to have a serious, hardcore intervention with a certain segment of Cincinnati. Yeah, I'm talking to you, group of 20-something yayhoos in the corner of the bar last night, wearing your UC sweatshirts and cheering for WVU (or really against Xavier). And I'm talking to you, dad that was sitting next to me with his family, wearing a UC hat and telling his 3 year old to say "Go Huggs". And I'm talking to everyone out there that's still holding this dual association of sorts.
This needs to stop, and it needs to stop now. Enough already.
Do I need to hold the mirror directly to your face to show you how ridiculous and borderline embarrassing you looked? You went to a bar to root against a team, in a game where your "team" wasn't even involved in, while wearing your team's 3rd party apparel? How freaking sad is that?
I've been out for BCS Championship Games when OSU was playing, and I swear I don't remember seeing anyone wearing a Michigan jersey and getting up on tables shouting down the OSU fans. That probably didn't happen because they knew how silly that would look, and it would serve as a reminder of how their team didn't get the job done against their chief rivals, and they were looking for someone else to do the job for them. And I would certainly hope that, if the Browns ever make the Super Bowl, there won't be Bengals fans watching in bars in their Bengals jerseys, as if somehow the Browns loss would be the Bengals' win. Somehow this was not getting processed here.
Look, I'm aware that you're upset over how Bob Huggins got fired, and I'm aware that you're bitter with the way Nancy Zimpher has treated the basketball program in general, and you think she's responsible for what's happened over the past few years, and you want to hold that over the school's head. And I get that to an extent. Well, let me rephrase: I got it when it first happened.
But people, it's been three years. We're grownups - or at least we should be. It's time to move on.
Understand, I'm not trying to paint the whole fan base with a broad brush - I know plenty of reasonable UC fans who are supporters of the school and appreciate what Huggins did, but aren't feeling the need to continually rehash the whole thing. And I write this from the perspective of an Indiana grad that still buries his head in bewilderment when fellow alums rail on about Bob Knight's firing a mere 7 1/2 years ago, and sometimes feel the need to ask them if they're also still bitter about the whole coal-to-electricity conversion thing as well. But for the love of God, enough is enough already.
So I'm issuing this challenge to all conflicted UC/Hugginites: pick a side. I'm not saying you have to hate WVU, but this sports bigamy has just got to end. Either you're finished with UC and Huggins is your guy, or you're going to stick it out with UC through thick and thin. But no more of this "well things didn't really go that well this season for us, and the CBIT loss kinda sucked, but if Huggins beats X then it all works out." You've had three years to figure this out - no more fallback plans, it's time to make a decision.
Mark Twain is reported to have said "When the world ends, I want to be in Cincinnati because it's always 20 years behind the times." How about we all agree to do our little part to change that, and let the past be the past, and move forward?
Subscribe