I received this email today.  Yes, it has really gotten this bad.  We are back to being the Bungles or the Ben-Gals.  That brief shimmer of hope during our 11-5 season is gone. 

The Ohio State Police are cracking down on speeders heading into Cincinnati.
For the first offense, they give you two Cincinnati Bengals tickets. If you get stopped a second time, they make you use them.
Q. What do you call 47 millionaires around a TV watching the Super Bowl?
A. The Cincinnati Bengals

Q. What do the Cincinnati Bengals and Billy Graham have in common?
A. They both can make 70,000 people stand up and yell "Jesus Christ".

Q. How do you keep a Cincinnati Bengal out of your yard?
A. Put up goal post.

Q. What do you call a Cincinnati Bengal with a Super Bowl ring?
A. A thief.

Q. What's the difference between the Cincinnati Bengals and a dollar bill?
A. You can still get four quarters out of a dollar bill.

Q. How many Cincinnati Bengals does it take to win a Super Bowl?
A. Nobody knows and we may never find out!

Q. What do the Bengals and a possums have in common?
A. Both play dead at home and get killed on the road!

Yes, I am getting old. 33 wonderful years and I could not be happier.  People say 35 is the number that you start slowing down, let's hope that is a lie as I'm quickly getting there! 

Jason, dad and their families joined us at Outback for a steak dinner.  The kids were relatively good, but got a bit uptight as we were there for 2 hours.  Katie Ernst was our server and hooked us up with a couple free brews!   Thanks everyone for the great presents and joining me for dinner.

Carson broke his ulna and radius on his right arm Friday morning.  He was swinging on Cooper's baby swing, it flipped up and he fell on the metal support bars.  He did not stop crying for about 30 minutes, so Kim called me and we decided to take him to the hospital. 

They put a sling and soft cast on for 3 days, and then he received a green hard cast Monday.  It had to go up past his elbow, so he has very little mobility in his arm.  He is  a trooper though.  He eats with his left hand, at least as best he can.  He has not complained at all about his cast yet.

He let everyone sign it last night.  I never though Carson would break a bone prior to Isabel!

The 8th annual Hinkel Open is scheduled for October 10th, 2008 at 11:00 AM.  More details to come...

Where: Hartwell Country Club

When: October 11, 2008 11:00 AM

Cost:  $30 per non member, $20 per member

            Yes, it’s that time of the year again.  We will once again be hosting this premier golf tournament at Hartwell Country Club. This year’s format is the same as every other year, a SCRAMBLE.  There will be a shotgun start; meaning we have the course to ourselves.  We will start at least one group on each hole. 

            Last year we raised over $1,000 for the Kathy Hinkel scholarship fund at St. Barts.  We’ll have a similar format this year with split the pot, XU tickets, Bengals tickets, koozies and various other games.

            Families are all welcome to join us at Tim Hinkel’s house following the outing.  Food and drinks will be provided afterward.  Bringing a covered dish or desert is appreciated. 

Rules:

• You must use one of each player’s drives. 
• Yellow Ball Rule:  Each group will be given one yellow ball.  Player 1 hits the yellow ball for hole 1 (entire hole), Player 2 for hole 2, etc.  If you return with the ball in your possession, your group will receive one stroke off your score. 
• There must be at least one female per team

Prizes:

            Longest Drive:

                        Hole 4 (Men)

                        Hole 5 (Women)

            Closest to the Pin:

                        Hole 2

                        Hole 7

Hinkel2008_Outing.doc (29.00 kb)

I have no clue what we are in store for this season.  The house cleaning was warranted, even Willie.  The youth of this team really needs to step it up, most importantly our secondary.  Key positions to watch for me are Center, Safety and Defensive End.  If we can somehow get good play from lesser known players at these positions, the Gals may be able to compete.

Carson Palmer needs to make better decisions this year.  Hopefully, he won't find himself in pass only situations like last year.  CJ could sure help him by doing his job, and catching a few more balls along the way.  I'm a bit wary of TJ and his lack of practice this pre-season, but I'm pretty sure he will be in sync with Palmer when he gets there on Sunday.

My prediction, so that I can get this down on paper, is 9-7.  We'll start off 2-0, split with the Jets and Giants, and then head into the bye 4-3.   If they can somehow manage to go 5-4 the rest of the year, I'd be relatively happy.  This could swing as high as 10-5 or as low as 7-9, but I doubt it would move beyond those extremes.

For now, Who Dey!