(In this column, Opinion Editor Kevin Aldridge briefly recaps the most-read letters to the editor and guest columns on Cincinnati.com this week in case you missed them. You can read all these opinions in their entirety by clicking on the links.)
Maybe the Cincinnati Bengals should let Joe Burrow cook? If “Joe Cool” slings hash half as well as he does footballs, the cuisine around Paycor Stadium might not be too bad. According to the NFL Players Association’s annual report card survey released this week, the team’s meal service apparently can’t get much worse.
Bengals players gave the team an “F” for its food/dining area. The Bengals got dinged for not having enough food provided and for the quality. They are one of two NFL teams that don’t provide three meals a day for their players, per the NFLPA survey.
The survey results left a bad taste in the mouth of Jack Brennan of Clifton. Brennan, a former Bengals employee, said he had access to team meals through 2017. His letter to the editor, one of the most-read opinions this week, questioned whether players’ expectations are just too high.
“I naively thought the food was great, on par with the main restaurant of a four-star hotel,” Brennan wrote, adding he might be “out of touch” about the “finer things of life.”
Brennan contends that when he worked for the Bengals, players got everything they wanted foodwise, including special orders whipped up by the chefs upon request. He said there was a full breakfast and lunch and plenty of food was available.
“And I’m sure it’s better now than eight years ago,” Brennan said. “It makes me wonder what players in other cities expect and get today.”
While the Bengals’ food got sacked by its players, fans of the team − like me − are more concerned with whether the front office can serve up a winner next season. That starts with signing big-time players such as Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins and Trey Hendrickson to long-term deals and nailing picks in the 2025 NFL Draft. Those are areas where the Bengals can’t afford to fail.
Send me a letter to the editor or op-ed with your thoughts about whether the Bengals can get deals done for Chase, Higgins and Hendrickson. What positions and players should the team be prioritizing in the upcoming draft? Which free agents would be a good fit for the Bengals? I’d love to hear from all of you armchair general managers.
Trump’s endorsement could boost Ramaswamy in governor’s race
Ohio has been good to Donald Trump. He won the Buckeye State in the past three presidential elections and defeated former Vice President Kamala Harris by 11 points in November, the largest win by a presidential candidate in 40 years. Trump’s magic touch in Ohio has also extended to the Republican candidates he’s endorsed − J.D. Vance and Bernie Moreno, both of whom won Senate seats.
That’s why Vivek Ramaswamy has to be feeling pretty good right now. The 39-year-old St. Xavier High School grad and biotech entrepreneur got Trump’s seal of approval on the same day he launched his campaign for Ohio governor in 2026. If history holds, that’s bad news for his Republican primary opponent, Attorney General Dave Yost. Or as John G. Banner of Clifton put it in his letter to the editor about the governor’s race, “Yost is toast.”
Banner suggested that Ramaswamy and Yost team up and run as “an unbeatable team” with Ramaswamy atop the ticket. A Ramaswamy-Yost combo could be formidable in 2026, but I don’t think Yost − Trump endorsement or not − is ready to take a back seat to Ramaswamy just yet.
Do you agree with Banner that the Trump endorsement hurts Yost’s chances while boosting Ramaswamy? Which of the candidates do you think is best for Ohio? Can Democrat Amy Acton beat either Yost or Ramaswamy head-to-head? Drop me an email with your predictions.
The cost of UC’s DEI dilemma
Hundreds of University of Cincinnati students and faculty have protested the school’s decision to end diversity, equity and inclusion on campus. They even showed up at UC’s Board of Trustees meeting to voice their displeasure to board members and UC President Neville Pinto. While many students marched with signs and demanded answers at the meeting, some used other ways to send a message to the university.
Lauren Leong of Louisville opted to reject a full-ride scholarship to UC’s College of Law because of the DEI rollback. Leong, a self-described queer woman of color, wrote in her letter to the editor that she graduated from UC with a bachelor’s degree in 2024 and had looked forward to continuing her education there at UC Law. However, the school’s decision to abandon DEI left her feeling abandoned, too.
“I want my university to be one that will fight for me and not leave me to fight for myself,” Leong said.
Leong said she wanted to send a clear message to UC that ending DEI would come at a high cost − students like her and others.
“My time at the University of Cincinnati taught me how to think critically and not to blindly accept the circumstances in front of me,” she wrote. “This is why I find it particularly disappointing that my university’s administration would not do itself the service of thinking for itself and its students.”
I’d love to hear from current UC students and faculty as well as alumni about how you think the university is handling this situation. Should UC stand firm in its commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion at the risk of losing federal funding or was rolling back DEI the right thing to do? Let me know your views.
In case you missed them
Lastly, in case you missed them, here’s a chance to catch up on a couple more of the most-read opinions this week:
Op-ed: Zoning code loophole could ruin historic, iconic Hyde Park Square
Op-ed: Report on Trump classified documents case deserves to see the light of day
Op-ed: Senate Bill 1 hurts Ohio college students, faculty and their families
Op-ed: Trump might be overplaying his hand with onslaught of executive orders
Join the conversation
As always, you can join the conversation on these and other topics by sending your thoughts to [email protected]. Letters of up to 200 words may be submitted and must include name, address, community and daytime phone number. Op-eds are submitted the same way except they should be 500-600 words and also include a one-sentence bio and headshot. Submissions may be edited for space and clarity.
If you need some tips on how to write an op-ed, click here.
Opinion and Engagement Editor Kevin S. Aldridge can be reached at [email protected]. On X: @kevaldrid.
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