The Year of the Tiger!

Yesterday was the official beginning of a new year for the Chinese Zodiac calendar. It is now the Year of the Tiger!

Who Dey!

Coming off an AFC-North winning Year of the Ox, I see a great season in the stars for the Cincinnati Bengals. Unfortunately, The Year of the Tiger yields to the Year of the Rabbit a few days before Superbowl XLV (side note: shouldn't that be VL?) But since their are no Rabbit-mascoted NFL teams, I do not foresee this being a problem.

Historically, this will be the fourth Year of the Tiger for the Bengals franchise. The first came in 1974, when they finished 7-7 despite defending a division title. Oops. Must just be an aberration.

The second came in 1986, when the Bengals went 10-6. Just like 2009, not bad. Oh, but they failed to make it to the playoffs. Damn.

The third and most recent Year of the Tiger came in the 1990s, so let's not expect much. Not even destiny could break Mike Brown's cold streak. Alas, the 1998 Bengals went 3-13, tied for their worst season of the 1990s.

Guys, it will totally be different this time! You see, in 1974 we had a "Wood" Tiger. 1986 was a "Fire" Tiger, and 1998 was an "Earth" Tiger. I have no idea what any of this means, but the "Fire" Tiger is clearly the coolest sounding and unsurprisingly the best of the three teams.

2010 is a "metal" tiger. What will this mean for the team? I hope it means an enormous appetite for Steel. Who Dey!