The Bengals have been to the Super Bowl twice, but never managed to take the title. Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval joins Cheddar News to discuss what the win could mean for the city. 

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Cincinnati Mayor Talks Super Bowl Sunday

Super Bowl 56. In other news, only a few days away kicking off february 13th at so fi Stadium in inglewood, the L A rams will face off against the Cincinnati. Bengals and despite technically being the visitors, the rams will have home field advantage, literally the game is being held on their home turf while the rams have hoisted the Lombardi Trophy once back in 99 the Bengals had been to the Super Bowl twice, but they've never won the title, not that the team needs more pressure, but a championship trophy might mean a lot to the city of Cincinnati. Here's what Jason Williams of the Cincinnati Enquirer wrote today, Cincinnati ins worry too much about what others think of us. It's a byproduct, he writes of slow self esteem, it's fed by our identity crisis, were not accepted as part of Ohio, we don't want to be part of Kentucky. But the Bengals run to the Super Bowl is an opportunity to help us change, to help change us. We need to adopt a joe burrow mindset, confident who we are with just the right amount of swagger Aftab pure vault joins me now. He is the mayor of the great town of Cincinnati. Ohio, welcome to the show Mr Mayor. So, first of all, here, your reaction there to the op ed, we just had the Cincinnati need to adopt more of a joe burrow mindset, you think as it pertains to the city's identity. Well, let me start by saying, I was a big fan of the, of the white board, I thought you really crushed that nice job there. Let me say this. I think Cincinnati already has swagger, right? I'm so, so excited about this team, joe burrow. Uh, Money Mcpherson, Jamaar Chase because they are emblematic of who we are As a city, we are young, we are diverse, We are confident. We've got that Cincinnati swagger. We're not we're not just happy to be in the Super Bowl on the national stage, we belong here. And we're gonna stay here just like the Bengals are gonna continue winning. So the whole city is on fire were galvanized behind this team and we're excited about the future. I wonder if maybe the city is a little too on fire. There have been reports of some supply chain constraints here. Mr Mayor as it pertains to restaurants, party planners, people so excited after the championship game, they get ready for the Super Bowl to recognize. Oh, maybe all the supplies are sold out. Do you have any concerns about making sure everything is going to be where it needs to be for the game on sunday. Yeah. Look, we have incredible fans and and you're right, our stores are, are sold out of Jerseys. They're sold out of Bengal swag, but that's just emblematic of how much excitement, how much hope we have here in Cincinnati. Look, it's been a really tough couple of years, not just for our city, but for the entire country with this pandemic and with the economic downturn. And yet despite that, the Bengals have us believing they've got us optimistic about the future? They've got us hopeful and and and we as city leaders are giving people an opportunity to share in that. Our celebration really started on Monday with the 30,000 people coming out in the freezing cold to do a pep rally to send our Bengals off to L. A. Thursday through sunday. We've got a large tailgate throughout our city. Different zones for families, different different zones for people who want to hit the bars. So so look if it is too expensive for you, like most people frankly to be out in L. A. To go to the Super Bowl, come to Cincinnati. We we we are young. We are diverse. We've got incredible neighborhoods that are walkable that are dense. We lean into the art world class parks. I want you to come to Cincinnati and I want you frankly to stay in Cincinnati were a special place. I wonder if they had that special place. Do you have an extra bit of a chip on your shoulder? You got Cincinnati. Ohio going up toe to toe against los Angeles California. I feel as if Ohio there of course not Cincinnati directly, but of course that's the state of the Football Hall of Fame. What's more representative here of the heart and soul of America then your great state. Do you feel like you've got this little power dynamic and an extra chip on your shoulder and also have to ask any good faith wager here. Maybe with L. A. Mayor eric Garcetti that's a popular thing for politicians to do. It is a popular thing. No no chip on our shoulder. We're confident. Look we're the we're the world capital of sports. We've got the U. C. Bear Cats who went to the college football playoff were the future home of the Super Bowl Winning Cincinnati. Bengals were a finalist city to host the next world cup here in Cincinnati. We just built a new stadium for Fc Cincinnati team, you know, far from it. We we we we don't have a chip on our shoulder. We we are confident that that we're going to come to the game and and when I've got some we've been talking with with Mayor Garcetti already in in L. A. About some potential bets. People have been brainstorming for me sending me ideas. One idea is to change Los Angeles his name to L. O. S. S for 24 hours. Los Angeles. If we win another idea is to get a star on the Hollywood walk of fame with the Bengals name on it and the score. So there's there's some brainstorming going on. But look if you can, if you can live and work anywhere, I want you to choose Cincinnati. We are incredibly affordable in the national context. We've got incredible corporate partners like world world headquarters of Procter and Gamble and Kroger and GE aviation Cincinnati is the place is the, is the city with the largest city led solar farm. Cincinnati is the city that is the most connected with with, with fiber. We really are the future of this country. You sell the city of Cincinnati appropriately, so better than anybody. You are not just the mayor, you're the ultimate height man for the city of Cincinnati. You got me excited about Cincinnati by the way, that idea of putting a bangle star on Hollywood boulevard is very funny. Do you have a message here Mr mayor to the people of Cincinnati win or lose about safety in the community. I only ask because frequently we do see some unfortunate images of some fans. They get carried away. They flip a car from time to time. Anything like that that you want people to know ahead of time, no matter how well joe burrow performs, just keep some safety cues in mind. What do you want people to take away? Yeah, of course people people here in Cincinnati. Um, we, we uh, we were passionate fans, but by and large we're very responsible fans. So I, I have no concerns over that. But, but what I want to share in is just this joy, this joy that that's that the Bengals are bringing to Cincinnati. And look, we are a team of destiny. The entire country is rooting for us. I mean rob Lowe might be rooting for L. A. And some other random folks but the entire country loved the Bengals and I'm so so honored to be a part of it. Uh Finally here before I let you go, it's been quite some time since the boomer season era of Bengals football. I know where you were a young guy. What do you remember about that team? And what does it mean to have fans that have just been with this franchise for so many decades since the days of boomer season To watch an amazing player like burrow and this team make it to the big game. I've grown up a Bengals fan. We had boomer size and chris Collinsworth ickey woods the icky shovel is icon ickey shuffle. Excuse me is iconic here in Cincinnati. But but but look it's been 31 years since we last won a playoff game. The last time we were in the Super Bowl was 1988 89. I was literally six years old. I want to tell you this, this is not your granddad's Cincinnati. This is not your granddad's Cincinnati. Bengals. We've got Cincinnati swagger. We are confident and we are optimistic about the future and I'm so glad that the rest of the world and the country is starting to recognize that. And I gotta tell you the country does appear to be pulling for the Bengals early data at least from the fan duels of the world. Say moneyline bets and others people are pulling for the underdog right now, and you may have more history in the making. A few days time Aftab Pure Evil is Mayor of Cincinnati go Bangles, Mr Mayer. Great to have you on the show, enjoy the big game. Great to have you on tonight.