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Who Dey nation

It’s orange-and-black world for these fans

Randy Oditt, a huge Cincinnati Bengals fan, has the basement of his home in Carlisle decked out in memorabilia for the NFL team. Fans are showing their true stripes this season with the Bengals off to their best start since they made the playoffs in 2005.

Staff photo by Nick Daggy Randy Oditt, a huge Cincinnati Bengals fan, has the basement of his home in Carlisle decked out in memorabilia for the NFL team. Fans are showing their true stripes this season with the Bengals off to their best start since they made the playoffs in 2005.

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By Rick McCrabb, Columnist 1:40 AM Sunday, November 8, 2009

There are casual Cincinnati Bengals fans and there are paint-everything-I-own-orange-and-black Bengals fans.

There are fans who only watch when the team is winning, and there are fans whose Sunday afternoons revolve around the Bengals regardless of their record.

At 5-2, the Bengals are off to their best start since the 2005 season when they finished 11-5 and lost in the first round of the playoffs. They host the 4-3 Baltimore Ravens today, Nov. 8, at Paul Brown Stadium, and fans are more enthusiastic than ever.

They have turned their basements into Bengal shrines, purchased vans and converted them into mobile tailgate parties, and fooled their families into believing a three-hour football game is an all-day experience.

Welcome to the Jungle.

Born to be a fan

Randy Oditt never had an option: He was born a Bengal fan. He said there are baby pictures of him wearing a Bengals jersey and helmet.

Now 37, Oditt, owner of OD’s Cycle Shop in Franklin, has a permanent reminder of his loyal support to the Bengals — a tattoo of a Who-Dey Bengal helmet on the back of his left calf.

“I take a lot of heat for that one,” Oditt said of his tattoo. “But I stand behind them 100 percent.”

Oditt has converted his basement into a shrine to two of his loves — motorcycles and the Bengals.

Ironically, Oditt said, despite the Bengals’ fast start, fans seem to be waiting for the team to start losing, revert back to its old ways.

“The next time they lose, I’m sure they’ll come in the shop and say, ‘I told you so,’ ” said Oditt, a 1990 Valley View High School graduate. “But I believe they’re going to do it.”

Family dog is a fan

Holly Daniels, of Franklin, said she’s part of a “diehard Bengals family.” She was raised wearing red and black for the hometown Franklin Wildcats and orange and black for the Bengals.

Holly and her husband, Danny, have been season-ticket holders since 2004, the season before the team made the playoffs for the last time.

Her father, Jim Mears, a Franklin insurance agent, is good friends with former Bengal players Ron Carpenter and Tom Casanova.

Their summer consists of multiple trips to Georgetown, Ky., to visit Bengals training camp, and their garage is filled with family and friends cheering on the Bengals when they are on the road.

The family dog is even named “Nati” (short for Cincinnati).

The family Christmas cards have been known to “represent” love for the Bengals, and this year’s card shows them at no other place than Yellowstone, home of “Old Faithful.”

Which is fitting since they’re faithful fans.

Check out my plates

Larry Anderson isn’t afraid to show his support for the Bengals.

Both of his cars have personalized license plates, “BNGLS1” and “BNGLS2,” which may sound like a good idea now that the team is playing well.

He has passed that passion down to his children.

For instance, during the dreadful 2002 season when the Bengals went 2-14, Anderson’s daughter, Jill Irwin, and her husband, John, of Liberty Twp., were driving to the game trying to decide whether to put a Bengals flag on the car.

“We displayed it at every game, but it got to the point where we were just tired of people laughing and pointing at us like we were huge idiots for showing our affection for our team,” Jill Irwin said.

They pulled over, put up the flag, and a few miles down the road, saw another car sporting a Bengal flag.

“We said, ‘Oh good, we are not the only ones who still love our Bengals,’ ” she said.

But inside the car were her father and brother, Greg Anderson.

“It was really funny because it was at a time when the entire city was turned against the Bengals and it seemed that only our family still loved them enough to show that type of support,” she said.

Now, she said, “It’s refreshing to see them winning.”

Church on Saturday

Sandy Franklin, who calls herself “undoubtedly the area’s biggest Cincinnati Bengals fan,” said her love affair began in 1982, the year the Bengals lost to the San Francisco 49ers in the Super Bowl.

Her living room is decorated only in Bengals memorabilia. She owns jerseys of Chad Johnson, Rey Maualuga and former players Cris Collinsworth and Boomer Esiason.

She said Sundays are a “holiday” at her house. She said her family attends church Saturday night because Sunday is “reserved” for Bengals games.

Welcome to the family

Jeff Parker, of Monroe, couldn’t help himself when his wife, Missy, allowed him to name their second son, who was born Sept. 29, 2001.

At the time, Corey Dillon was the Bengals No. 1 running back. Parker named his son Corey Dillon Parker.

She calls her husband the “ultimate Bengals fan” because his “man’s cave” and garage are decorated with Bengals memorabilia, and his truck is decked out with Bengals stickers.

Nice anniversary gift

About 20 years ago, Lori Crawford, looking for the perfect anniversary present, bought her husband, Bill, two Bengals season tickets. That was the start of a love affair.

For the Bengals.

Every year since, the Crawfords have owned season tickets, and now they share those seats with their three sons: Kyle, John and Cody.

When the tickets arrive, the Crawfords hold a “family lottery,” and the boys select what games they want to attend. The Browns game is reserved for their mother, “the poor thing,” because she’s a Browns fan, her husband said.

Why such loyalty?

“There’s something about it I can’t explain,” the Springboro resident said.

Contact this reporter

at (513) 705-2842 or rmccrabb@coxohio.com.

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