FanHouse ChadOchocinco

Love him or hate him, Chad Ochocinco is one of those guys you simply can't ignore. Whether he's tweeting all night, staging a ridiculous end zone celebration or arguing with Skip Bayless, he's always doing something to distance himself from the crowd. The latest in a long line of attention-grabbers? He tried to bribe an official with a dollar. Yep, a one dollar bill.

The attempted -- and fake, by the way, because he was smiling the whole time -- bribery occurred during the Bengals pivotal victory over division-foe Baltimore. It didn't work -- and, again, he wasn't really trying to bribe the official -- as the play in question went against the Bengals after review. Hopefully Ocho kept his dollar and will be tucking it elsewhere in celebratory fashion.

Bengals 45, Bears 10. It was 45-3 before the Bears finally got into the end zone, but the game had long been over at that point. It was one of those games that makes you wonder -- were the Bengals that good or the Bears that bad? As is usually the case when you ask that question, it was a combination of both. You have to give the Bengals credit, especially Carson Palmer for his precision passing. Well, really, the entire team deserves loads of credit.

Still, this game was more about how pathetic the Bears played. For a team with Super Bowl aspirations, that was a simply despicable attempt at playing football on nearly every front. More games like that, and the playoffs won't even be a possibility come late November.

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CINCINNATI -- As losses go, this one was a stinker. Flying high off yet another last-minute intra-divisional win, the Bengals showed up for a home game Sunday against the Texans and had just about everything go wrong. They lost, 28-17, most important, and they also saw key defensive lineman Antwan Odom and Domata Peko go down with injuries. Odom's is a torn Achilles' tendon, which means they've lost him for the season. Bad, bad loss.

But the message Bengals coach Marvin Lewis delivered to his team in the wake of this bad loss was the same, simple two-word mantra he delivered on the first night of the season, after a goofy last-minute bounce cost the Bengals a game against the Denver Broncos:

"Don't flinch."

CINCINNATI -- Chad Ochocinco is taking some of the credit for the fact that Bengals fans in this area will be able to see the team play on TV on Sunday, and it appears he does have something to do with it. On Thursday the Bengals asked for (and got) a one-day extension of the league's deadline for selling out Sunday's home game against the Houston Texans. Had they not done so by Friday afternoon, the game would have been blacked out in the local market. And as of Thursday night, about 3,000 tickets remained unsold.

But at 1:08 p.m. Eastern time, Ochocinco announced on his Twitter page that he and Motorola had bought the remaining tickets and would be giving them away. Problem solved.

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The National Football League has fined Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis $25,000 for a hit on Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chad Ochocinco on Sunday, ignoring Ochocinco's request that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell spare Lewis a fine.

Few athletes are as entertaining on Twitter as Bengals wide receiver Chad Ochocinco, who despite a previous threat to stop tweeting has continued to entertain his fans this season,140 characters at a time. And on Saturday he provided his most entertaining tweet yet, including a link to the above video of himself getting knocked on his backside by Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis.

Chad Ochocinco appears to have emerged from his funk, the one that consumed him for most of 2007 and part of last season, too. Now he's back to his affable, fun-loving ways, which should serve as a nice distraction when the Bengals begin their inevitable implosion.

That descent into mediocrity could start Sunday when Cincy faces Baltimore in a battle for first place in the AFC North. And in preparation for the get-together Mr. Ochocinco, as he's known to do, has commenced with the jibber jabber.

On a Wednesday conference call Chad told reporters what he had in store for the Ravens.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and NFL players will show their support by sporting hot pink ... well, everything. Gloves, wristbands towels and cleats are all exempt from the league's rigorous uniform policy this weekend, and according to the New York Times' Judy Battista, at least 100 players are expected to bust out the pink footwear.

Panthers running back DeAngelo Williams, whose mother was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2004 (she's now in remission), came up with the idea to include shoes. And on his Twitter page, Bengals wide receiver Chad Ochocinco has a photo of the kicks he'll be wearing Sunday (prominently displayed above).

More pink NFL couture after the jump.

Chad Javon Ochocinco seems much happier this season. Perhaps the Bengals winning a game before Week 9 has something to do with it. Because back in the day, before Carson Palmer's knee got Kimo-ed and Cincy was a playoff-caliber team, Mr. Ochocinco was always flapping his gums.

Well, he's back. Chad told reporters earlier this week that he's going to make Steelers cornerbacks Ike Taylor and William Gay "kiss the baby" Sunday afternoon. Doesn't make much sense (which, by itself, isn't necessarily out the ordinary given the source), unless you caught the Bengals on Hard Knocks this summer. Apparently, it means "it's all over."

My first thought after glancing at that photo to the right? Chad Ochocinco is really excited about the start of the regular season. At this point, between the fake tats and three-in-the-morning Ustreams, it seemed perfectly reasonable.

As it turns out, it's much more mundane: that's Ray Allen getting Thundercat-ed out at his kid's birthday party.

And that's the thing: act like an escaped mental patient and people generally assume you're insane. Win a championship during your first year with the Celtics and you're free to do whatever you like.

After the jump, more twitpics of Jesus Shuttlesworth.