October in Cincinnati was supposed to be loud. Instead, Sundays have turned into sighs. The Cincinnati Bengals have skidded into a three-game losing streak, and every week without Joe Burrow has felt like watching a high-performance car try to win a race with the hood popped.
The city that roars in stripes suddenly started glancing across the river at box scores from Chavez Ravine, we know how that ended. Now they’re peeking at who’s throwing in Goodyear next February, and wondering if it’s socially acceptable to start counting down to Cactus League first pitch… before we even reach the middle of football season.