Bengals Beat Browns: 23-20

With Mr. Griffin under the weather, I'll post some good news. The Bengals have almost assured themselves of a playoff spot with the defeat of the Browns.

It was a lot harder than it should have been, but the Bengals have really helped themselves immensely with this win. The only way that Pittsburgh can win the division is to win all three remaining games and to have the Bengals lose all remaining games. The reason: Bengals have the tie-breaker against Pittsburgh (tied head-to-head, Bengals lead in Division play 5-1 vs. 3-2, with no way for Pittsburgh to surpass 5-1). So, the Bengals are in if they win any of their remaining games: at Detroit, vs. Buffalo, at KC. Pittsburgh is in trouble for reasons we'll see in a minute.

Here are the seeds right now. (Many games are on TV right now, so I'll update later tonight.) Seeds 3 and 4 host the wildcard games. Seeds 1 and 2 host the second round. The top remaining seed hosts the AFC championship.

Division Leaders
1. Indianapolis. 13-0. Having lost to them, the Bengals can't pass them. Denver can't either. They won their division, and they're the #1 seed.
2. Denver. 9-3, Div: 3-1, Conf: 6-2. (They're on TV right now.) There's a log-jam in this division, and we'll know a lot more based on today's games.
3. Cincinnati. 10-3, Div: 5-1, Conf: 6-3. At 4:30 p.m., Denver beats the Bengals on tie-breakers and control their own destiny. The tie-break is conference games, so the Bengals can pass them on this, depending on how the rest plays out.
4. New England. 8-5. Conf: 6-4. Bengals have a two game lead. Also, the Bengals win the tie-breaker right now, based on conference records.

Wildcards
(Top 2 make it.)

5. Jacksonville. 9-4, Conf: 7-3. They can't win the division, but they're in good shape for the wildcard.
6/7. San Diego/KC. 8-4. These two are playing right now, so I'm not going to right all this out. I'll update after their games. Either can win their division--we'll look at that tonight.
8. Pittsburgh. 8-5. They can get in by winning the division over Cincinnati (doubtful), or by winning out and getting some help.

That's enough for now. Check back later, and we'll update the results and standings.

Merry Hypocrit

I have been watching conservative Christians walk around with their panties firmly in a wad over everyone not complying with their religion. Well I firmly say Happy Winter Solstice to them!

I say shame on some of them right here in Cincinnati who are nothing but hypocrits:

"There's a national frustration," Giroux said. "Christians have kind of felt empowered to take back Christmas for Christ."

These locals folks are selling bracelets that read: "Just say 'Merry Christmas.'" These bracelets cost $2 each. So I wonder what the profit margin is on spreading the word of Jesus. 50% markup maybe? We can’t exploit Christmas on anything less than 40%.

Snow Stories?

It took me almost two hours to get home last night from Mason. Hamilton County was good by the time I got there. Mason and the local township were horrible when I left work around 7:15PM. I had to wait that long because the roads were so backed up, that no one could leave the parking lot.

Looking Ahead

Mark the Twain for the tourists! Tall Stacks is reporting that more than 40% of the 50,000 cruise tickets already sold for next year's Tall Stacks are from "outside the Cincinnati area." They don't define that, but I will interpret that as meaning outside the Metro Area, at least. This is more great news for Downtown. We should have a completed Fountain Square to show off to these tourists and their wonderful money. I for one wish to welcome them at this early point. I hope they come for the weekend and enjoy Tall Stacks and the rest of the City.

Chiquita Staying

Why they are staying is not reported, but this is great news for Downtown, the City, and region.

White Death Hits the Blogosphere

You know blogging has either reached a peak or jumped the shark when we get a "SNOWBLOG" from WCPO.

City Council Rules

Council has adopted new rules. The key passage concerning citizen speakers:

There's no change in the rules on when citizens may speak.

Cole and Crowley were grumbling about the process. The meeting reportedly ran smoothly, and quickly. Is that because of the new rules, because Reece and Smitherman are gone, or because Mallory has the reins?