Observations: Bengals fans, get used to the Browns

By HAL McCOY

UNSOLICITED OBSERVATIONS from The Man Cave awaiting the arrival of The McCoy Brood and the celebration of the McCoy Family Christmas, without anybody like Cousin Eddie and his RV.

—Cincinnati Bengals fans, God bless ‘em, can’t believe their team lost two games to the Cleveland Browns this season. A word to the wise from a life-long Browns fan: “Get over it and get used to it.”

This one has to sting in Pittsburgh, too. Steelers fans have to root for the Browns this week. To make the playoffs the Steelers must beat the Bengals and the Browns have to beat the Baltimore Ravens. Hey, Steelers fans. Happy New Year.

And I have to agree, while watching the New Orleans-Pittsburgh game, that the pass interference call on Pittsburgh’s Joe Haden (a former Cleveland Brown) was as bogus as bogus gets. Haden barely brushed the receiver on the fourth down play. It led to a New Orleans touchdown and Pittsburgh’s defeat.

Pass interference calls are not reviewable. With all the ticky-tack pass interference calls — it seems defenders can’t breathe on receivers — the NFL should make all pass interference calls reviewable. The one on Haden certainly would have been overturned.

And while we’re at it, Baker Mayfield fans in Cleveland have one question: “LeBron who?”The town once ruled by LeBron James now is owned by Baker Mayfield.

With his moxie, his in-your-face attitude, his brashness, he is the kind of athlete you love if he is on your team and you hate if he is on the other team.

—And speaking of LeBron James, when are athletes (and everybody else) going to learn that social media will come back to snap at you if you don’t be careful about what you post.

James apoloized, after-the-fact, of course, for posting on Instagram a lyric from rapper 21 Savage that read: “We been getting Jewish money, everything is kosher.” Anybody quoting anything from a rapper is asking for trouble.

—QUOTE: From Shanghai McCoy in the movie Rooster Cogburn: “I like myself better than anybody I ever met.” (No, he is not my relative because I like most people I meet.)

—Speaking of McCoy, another non-relative with my last name was embroiled in some minor controversy Sunday.

Buffalo running back LeSean McCoy did not start against New England, the first time he has not started a game in which he played since 2010. McCoy called it a situation and accepted resopsonsibility.

“The coach (Sean McDermott), we had a situation, and he was totally right. said McCoy. “It was a private situation. I’m a captain and I gotta be more accountable. Simple as that. He checked me, put me in place. That was it.”

I still have my Philadelphia Eagles jersey with ‘McCoy’ on back from when LeSean McCoy played for the Eagles. It is on its way to Goodwill.

—Another excellent story from the never-ending football bowl season emerged in Frisco, Tex., when Ohio University scrubbed San Diego State, 27-0.

OU running back A.J. Oullette rushed for 164 yards, his fourth straight game over 100 yards. The significance? Oullette, from Covington, O., was a non-scholarship walk-on. And he more than walked his way to 3,784 career yards for the Bobcats.

And his coach? He is Frank Solich, who at 74 is the oldest coach in Division I football.

—Quote from iconic boxer Muhammad Ali: “Old age is just a record of one’s whole life.” (At 78, I’d have to say I have a long record, but fortunately it isn’t on a police blotter.)

—Some unfortunate news about one of my favorite major league baseball players. Joe Smith, the Wright State University product from Cincinnati and a relief pitcher with the Houston Astros, tore his achilles tendon during a workout last week. He underwent surgery and will miss six to eight weeks.

—Quote: From Anonymous: “Remember the guy that gave up? Neither does anybody else.” (Knowing Joe Smith, this little mishap won’t hold him back and he’ll return throwing those submarine pitches.)

—Two LSU football players said an 18-year-old was trying to rob them. So one of the two players pulled a gun and shot the man dead. Yes, self-defense, if true. Question? What is an LSU football player, or any college football player, doing carrying a firearm? And it has yet to be revealed if the player owns a carry license.

—To all my faithful readers, even the unfaithful, a very Merry Christmas and may Santa Claus bring you all that is on your list concerning your teams. And, yes, Reds fans were given early presents from the Los Angeles Dodgers.