The Glory Days

Cincinnati fans, the glory days are upon us. Soak it all in.

The Reds may have just lost their series with the Braves, but they are now “America’s team” after winning 12 games in a row behind a group of up-and-coming youngsters.

In Friday’s win over the top team in the MLB, Elly De La Cruz hit FOR CYCLE in just his 15th major league game ever. In this same win, Joey Votto hit two separate home runs in the first week of being back in the majors. There is something special about this team. They refuse to quit, and have an obvious team chemistry among the group.

All this excitement has finally brought fans back to Great American Ballpark. The weekend total attendance of 126,700 set a ballpark record. Quite a change from just a few months ago when GABP set a record low attendance of just over 7,000. I was at the game on Sunday, and it was so fun to see the city energized about the Reds again. If you build it (an entertaining product), they (the Cincinnati fans) will come.

MLB writers rolled out their new editions of baseball power rankings today, and the Red’s cracked the top 10 in quite a few. The Red’s entered the season with a 10% chance to make the playoffs, the lowest besides the A’s and Rockies, but right at the (almost) halfway mark, they’re sitting on top of the NL Central standings. Baseball is just in a better place when the Red’s are good.

They may have finally lost Saturday night, but FC Cincinnati has the best record in the entire MLS by three wins, and have won ten straight home games (the first time in 21 years done by an MLS team), in large part thanks to the rowdy and passionate crowds that show up each game. It should also be mentioned that this loss came without many of the club's starters, who are away for international competition.

The Bengals might not currently be playing, but were recently picked by Sports Illustrated to be the 2023 Super Bowl Champions, so it’s not looking too shabby on the river at Paycord Stadium either.

These last three paragraphs would have been completely unthinkable just three years ago. In order to get Joe Burrow, the Bengals had to have the worst record in the NFL. The Red’s lost 100 games a year ago. FC Cincinnati finished dead last in 2021. However, in a turn of events I never could have predicted, Cincinnati is currently THE sports city to be in.

It’s gotten to the point where an article was published this weekend wondering if Cincinnati could be the first city to win three championships in one year. Now, I know this is a very far stretch, but the fact that something like this is even being written about Cincinnati is pretty incredible.

So next time one of our team loses, it’s ok to be frustrated in the short term, but take a step back and remember just how incredible this year has been.