Channel Cincinnati - Web Site Declares 'Mike Brown Sucks!'

Web Site Declares 'Mike Brown Sucks!'

Fan Backlash Piles On Brown

CINCINNATI -- As another season of futility drags on for Cincinnati Bengals fans, more tiger-stripe faithful are taking their rants to another level.

They are forming Web sites devoted to the man who is perceived as "Public Enemy No. 1" in this town, Bengals owner Mike Brown.

One of the sites goes right for the jugular with its name alone. MikeBrownSucks.com is a fan's Web site designed for digusted Bengals fans to vent their frustrations with the team.

Longtime Bengals fan and e-commerce consultant Dave Young, 28, launched MikeBrownSucks.com in September. He grew up in Ft. Thomas, Ky., but has lived in Los Angeles for the last five years. He continues to follow his favorite team from the west coast, but is mocked by residents in a city with no NFL team.

"I have a Bengals license-plate holder and I've had people in traffic point their fingers and laugh at me," Young lamented.

In addition to seeking Brown's removal from the club's football operations via petition, Young has gone a step further.

Young is marketing his Web site with merchandise where people can buy "Mike Brown Sucks" T-shirts and bumper stickers. He has a mascot called "Fraidy Cat".

He is also using the site to promote a game boycott for the Dec. 3 game against the Arizona Cardinals, which he has renamed the "MikeBrownSucks.com Bowl."

Young isn't trying to take down the Bengals' players or insult other fans. As far as he's concerned, Brown is the source of all the trouble.

"We will keep calling out owner Mike Brown until he steps up and accounts for his actions," Young said. "This man must be held accountable for what he's done."

The site also includes play-calling suggestions and a fantasy football news section. Besides the message boards, fans with a journalistic flair are invited to submit guest columns to voice their opinions.

Young said that the Bengals have been losers for so long, that children have never seen anything positive from the team.

"They've never seen this team do anything but lose," he said. "Mike Brown has basically cut off any connection to the team by anyone under 20."

Despite several changes in coaches and quarterbacks over the last decade, Young believes that the more things change, the more they stay the same with Brown in charge.

"There has been two constants in the last 11 years," he said. "The top level management and our losing record."