Now, this was hardly the worst season in their history. They've had a 2-14 (2002), 4 3-13s (1991, 1993, 1994 and 1998), a 3-11 (1968, their 1st season), 5 4-12s (1978, 1979, 1999, 2000 and 2010), a 4-11 (the strike-shortened 1987), and a 4-11-1 (2008).
But they haven't always been a joke franchise. Founding owner Paul Brown, previously a great coach with the Cleveland Browns, got them to the AFC Central Division title in only their 3rd season, 1970. They've been to the Playoffs 14 times, including 5 in a row as recently as 2015. They've won 9 Division titles, 5 in the old AFC Central and 4 in the new AFC North. They've won 2 AFC Championships, in the seasons of 1981 and 1988.
They haven't won a Super Bowl, but they came close both times, both times against the San Francisco 49ers, coached by Browns' protege and a former Bengals assistant coach, Bill Walsh: They lost Super Bowl XVI 26-21, and Super Bowl XXIII 20-16. Had Tim Krumrie not broken his leg in the latter, their defense might have held the Niners on that epic last-minute drive by Joe Montana. Alas...
The Bengals got to that Super Bowl by winning the AFC Championship Game, at home at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati, beating the Buffalo Bills 21-10, on January 8, 1989. That was 30 years ago today. How long has that been?
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The Bengals were coached by Sam Wyche, an assistant coach under Paul Brown in Cincinnati, and under Bill Walsh in San Francisco. He was the Bengals' 1st starting quarterback. His quarterback was a lefthander from Long Island named Norman Julius Esiason, nicknamed Boomer. (He really, really hates being called "Norman."
Other big players on that team included running backs James Brooks and Elbert "Ickey" Woods (known for his touchdown dance, "The Ickey Shuffle"), receiver Cris Collinsworth (a holdover from the Super Bowl XVI team, and, of course, now a color commentator), Hall of Fame offensive tackle Anthony Munoz, the aforementioned nose tackle Tim Krumrie, and linebacker Reggie Williams, who, the year before, had been elected to Cincinnati's City Council, serving 3 years.
The NFL had 2 teams in Los Angeles, and 1 was the Rams, but the other was the Raiders, not the Chargers. It had a team in Houston, but it was the Oilers, not the Texans. There was no team in Baltimore, or in Tennessee, or in Jacksonville. This was the Cardinals' 1st season in Arizona.
There were 6 stadiums in use in the 1988-89 NFL season that will be in 2018-19: The Los Angeles Coliseum (by the Raiders, and the Rams will leave it after 2019), Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Rich Stadium (now New Era Field) outside Buffalo, the Superdome in New Orleans and Joe Robbie (now Hard Rock) Stadium outside Miami.
There were 6 teams then playing under full domes: Houston, New Orleans, Detroit, Seattle, Minnesota and Indianapolis -- 7, if you count the Hole Bowl outside Dallas. None of those roofs were retractable.
The Denver Broncos, the New England Patriots, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the New Orleans Saints and the Seattle Seahawks had not yet won an NFL Championship. The Los Angeles Rams (not yet having begun their sojourn in St. Louis), the original Cleveland Browns franchise (which became the Baltimore Ravens), and the Philadelphia Eagles had, but not, as yet since it became known as the Super Bowl. The Colts had, but not since moving from Baltimore to Indianapolis.
The Browns/Ravens franchise, the Buccaneers, the Seahawks, the Saints, the Buffalo Bills, the San Diego Chargers, the Atlanta Falcons, the Houston Oilers franchise (which became the Tennessee Titans), the Arizona Cardinals, had not yet reached a Super Bowl. And the Carolina Panthers, the Jacksonville Jaguars, the new Cleveland Browns and the Houston Texans did not yet exist.
All of those facts have since been reversed.
Football pioneers Red Grange, Bronko Nagurski, Don Hutson and Jay Berwanger were still alive. All of the defining players of my childhood had retired, the last of them being Walter Payton, a year earlier.
Ray Lewis was 13 years old. Peyton Manning was 12. Tom Brady was 11. Drew Brees was about to turn 9. Eli Manning was 8. Troy Polamalu was 7. Ben Roethlisberger was 6. Aaron Rodgers was 5. Clay Matthews was 2. Colin Kaepernick was 1. Richard Sherman and Russell Wilson were less than 1 year old. And Cam Newton, Rob Gronkowski, Andrew Luck, Odell Beckham Jr., Johnny Manziel, Baker Mayfield, Sam Darnold and Kyler Murray weren't born yet.
Current Bengals coach Zac Taylor was 5 years old. Pat Shurmur of the Giants was an assistant coach at Michigan State. Barry Trotz of the Islanders was a scout for the team he would one day coach to their 1st Stanley Cup, the Washington Capitals.
David Quinn of the Rangers was out of hockey, battling a long-term illness that he would eventually overcome. Domenec Torrent of New York City FC was playing for Guixols in his native Spain. Kenny Atkinson of the Nets was at the University of Richmond. Aaron Boone of the Yankees, David Fizdale of the Knicks, Katie Smith of the Liberty and Chris Armas of the Red Bulls were in high school. Mickey Callaway of the Mets and John Hynes of the Devils was in junior high school. Adam Gase of the Jets was 10.
The 49ers replaced the Washington Redskins as World Champions. The Champions in the other sports were the Los Angeles Dodgers in baseball, the Los Angeles Lakers in basketball, and the Edmonton Oilers in hockey. The Heavyweight Champion of the World was Mike Tyson.
The Olympic Games have since been held in America twice, Canada, France, Spain, Norway, Japan, Australia, Greece, Italy, China, Britain, Russia, Brazil and Korea. The World Cup has since been held in America, Italy, France, Japan, Korea, Germany, South Africa, Brazil and Russia.
The idea that people of the same gender could get married, and have all the legal benefits of marriage, was ridiculous. But then, so was the idea that corporations were "people," and entitled to the rights thereof. No Justice then on the Supreme Court is still on it now.
The President of the United States was Ronald Reagan, for 12 more days. George H.W. Bush was the President-elect. Jimmy Carter, Gerald Ford, Richard Nixon, their wives, and the widows of Lyndon Johnson and John F. Kennedy were still alive. Bill Clinton was the Governor of Arkansas, and Hillary Clinton that State's First Lady. George W. Bush was helping put his father's Administration together. Barack Obama was at Harvard Law School. Donald Trump was cheating on his 1st wife and his business associates.
The Governor of the State in question, Ohio, was Richard Celeste. (He is still alive, at age 81.) The current Governor, Mike DeWine, was in the U.S. House of Representatives. The Mayor of Cincinnati was Charlie Luken. (He served in that office twice: 1984-1991, and 1999-2005. He is still alive, at age 67.) The current Mayor, John Cranley, was in high school.
The Governor of the State of New York was Mario Cuomo, whose son, Andrew, the current Governor, was running a foundation designed to help poor people obtain low-cost housing. The Mayor of the City of New York was Ed Koch. Manhattan Borough President David Dinkins was running to defeat him, and the current Mayor, Bill de Blasio, was one of his aides. (Dinkins won.) The Governor of the State of New Jersey was Tom Kean. The current Governor, Phil Murphy, was working at Goldman Sachs.
The Prime Minister of Canada was Brian Mulroney, and of Britain Margaret Thatcher. The head of state of both nations was Queen Elizabeth II -- that hasn't changed. Liverpool FC was the holder of the Football League title, but had lost the FA Cup to South London team Wimbledon FC. In the season in progress, they would overcome the Hillsborough Stadium Disaster to win the Cup, but lose the League title in the last minute of the season, to North London team Arsenal.
There were still living veterans of the Spanish-American, Boer and Russo-Japanese Wars. There were still living survivors of the Johnstown Flood, the Galveston Hurricane, the Iroquois Theatre Fire, the General Slocum fire, the Triangle Shirtwaist Company fire, and the sinking of the Titanic. For a few more days, there would be 1 survivor of the Scottsboro Boys.
The United Nations Peace-Keeping Forces had just been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The Pope was John Paul II. The current Pope, Francis, was in graduate school at Sankt Georgen Graduate School of Philosophy and Theology in Frankfurt, Germany. There have since been 6 Presidents of the United States, 6 Prime Ministers of Britain, and 3 Popes.
Bob Wood, the Cincinnati-based teacher who had published Dodger Dogs to Fenway Franks, his record of his 1985 visit to all 26 ballparks then used in the major leagues, was working on Big Ten Country, about his visit in the season just ended to all 10 schools then in the Big Ten Conference, including his alma mater, Michigan State.
Major novels of 1989 included Total Recall by Piers Anthony, Clear and Present Danger by Tom Clancy, Billy Bathgate by E.L. Doctorow, Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel, A Time to Kill by John Grisham, The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro, The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan, A River Runs Through It by Norman Maclean, While My Pretty One Sleeps by Mary Higgins Clark and Daddy by Danielle Steel.
All were made into major motion pictures, except the last two: Clark's and Steele's novels tend to get adapted for television, and these were, as well. Daddy starred Patrick Duffy and Lynda Carter. The site of Bobby Ewing and Wonder Woman making out was shocking, even when I remembered that, when Lynda was playing Wonder Woman, Patrick was playing another superhuman, starring in the Aquaman ripoff The Man From Atlantis.
Also published that year was Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco. As yet, it has not been filmed. Ken Follett's The Pillars of the Earth became a TV miniseries. John Irving's 1989 novel A Prayer for Owen Meany, itself an American rewrite of Gunter Grass' The Tin Drum, was seriously reworked for the film Simon Birch.
Stephen King published The Dark Half. George R.R. Martin published The Skin Trade. J.K. Rowling was working as a researcher for Amnesty International.
Major films released in early 1989 included Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, Her Alibi, Tap, The 'Burbs, and Gleaming the Cube. Gene Roddenberry was putting Star Trek V: The Final Frontier together. George Lucas and Steve Spielberg were putting the finishing touches on Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade -- which, of course, turned out not to be Indy's last "crusade." Christopher Reeve was the most recent live-action Superman. Michael Keaton was about to begin playing Batman. The original run Doctor Who was about to be canceled, with Sylvester McCoy as The Doctor. Timothy Dalton was playing James Bond for the 2nd and last time, in Licence to Kill.
The Arsenio Hall Show had just premiered. Soon to premiere were Inside Edition, The Father Dowling Mysteries, Shining Time Station, Coach, Anything but Love, COPS, and Quantum Leap. Ryan's Hope, Simon & Simon and Webster were about to be canceled.
No one had yet heard of Dale Cooper, Deadpool, The Seinfeld Four, Buffy Summers, Alex Cross, Fox Mulder & Dana Scully, Andy Sipowicz, Jay & Silent Bob, Ross Geller & Rachel Greene, Doug Ross, Bridget Jones, Xena, Ash Ketchum, Austin Powers, Carrie Bradshaw, Tony Soprano, Jed Bartlet, Robert Langdon, Master Chief, Jack Bauer, Omar Little, Rick Grimes, Wynonna Earp, Leroy Jethro Gibbs, Michael Bluth, Lisbeth Salander, Bella Swan, Michael Scott, Don Draper, Katniss Everdeen, Walter White, Jax Teller, Richard Castle, Leslie Knope, Sarah Manning, Jane "Eleven" Hopper and Maggie Bell.
The Number 1 song in America, the 1st song by a heavy-metal act to achieve this, was "Every Rose Has Its Thorn," a power ballad by the band Poison. Paul McCartney reversed the usual procedure: He made a live album in the Soviet Union, titled Back in the USSR, and released it exclusively there, while bootleg copies sold for a huge markup in America. Michael Jackson was wrapping up his Bad World Tour. Bob Dylan was finishing up Oh Mercy, which is generally considered to be his best album since the mid-1970s. Madonna filed for divorce from Sean Penn.
Inflation was such that what $1.00 bought then, $2.08 would buy now. A U.S. postage stamp cost 25 cents, and a New York Subway ride $1.00. The average price of a gallon of gas was $1.06, a cup of coffee $1.41, a McDonald's meal (Big Mac, fries, shake) $5.28, a movie ticket $3.96, a new car $14,372, and a new house $144,300. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed the preceding Friday at 2,194.29.
The tallest building in the world was the Sears Tower in Chicago. The Atari 5200 SuperSystem was the leading home video game system. Mobile telephones were still big and bulky, too much so to fit in your pocket. Personal computers were now in a majority of homes, but the Internet as we know it had not yet been developed. There was no World Wide Web, no Netscape, no Facebook, no Twitter, no Instagram, no Pinterest, no Skype. But on November 2, less than 6 weeks after Rutgers beat Penn State, the Morris Worm, the world's 1st computer virus, was launched from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. There were birth control pills, but no Viagra.
Early in 1989, the revolutions that would transform Eastern Europe began with police attacking a pro-democracy demonstration in Prague, Czechoslovakia. The Soviet Union withdrew troops from Afghanistan after 9 years. Cuba withdrew troops from Angola after 14 years. Fascist dictator Alfredo Stroessner was overthrown in Paraguay. The Ayatollah Khomeini, dictator of Iran, called for the death of Indian-British author Salman Rushdie for his book The Satanic Verses. The 1st Global Positioning System satellite was put into Earth orbit. And Rupert Murdoch launched Sky Television in Britain.
In America, Toyota introduced its Lexus brand, and Nissan introduced its Infiniti, with those annoying commercials with Jonathan Pryce. There was a school shooting that killed 5 children and wounded 30 people in Stockton, California. Serial killer Ted Bundy was executed. Barbara Harris became the 1st American woman to be consecrated as a bishop of the Episcopal Church.
Emperor Hirohito of Japan, and Salvador Dali, and Baseball Hall-of-Famer Bill Terry died. Nina Dobrev, and Kelly Marie Tran, and Henrikh Mkhitaryan were born.
January 8, 1989. The Cincinnati Bengals won the AFC Championship Game, and advanced to Super Bowl XVI.
They have not reached a Super Bowl in the 30 years since. It doesn't look like they'll reach another anytime soon.
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