Eric Steinbach could play first base. Big guy. Probably scalds the ball. Chris Henry would look good in the outfield.

Johnathan Joseph seems like a middle infielder, maybe a No. 2 hitter. But is he selfless enough to hit behind the runner?

There are now enough arrested Bengals to fill out a baseball lineup, and when you go 8-8 and miss the playoffs, that's not the best news for head coach Marvin Lewis.

Thought the coach was going to clean up this mess. Thought he was as embarrassed as everybody else by his players' behavior.

Euphoria of making it to the big game quickly deflated by four turnovers, loss to 49ers.

It was the best of times and the worst of times — all in a 3-hour, 21-minute span — for the Cincinnati Bengals.

Left guard Dave Lapham speaks for all his teammates when he recalls the Bengals' 26-21 loss to San Francisco in Super Bowl XVI at the Pontiac (Mich.) Silverdome on Jan. 24, 1982.

On this, the 25th anniversary, the memories come flooding back.

The Bengals don't want to hold back any of their assistant coaches from pursuing promotions elsewhere — unless, of course, the prospective new club is a division rival.

That's why Cincinnati refused the Cleveland Browns permission to interview quarterbacks coach Ken Zampese for the Browns' offensive coordinator post.

Zampese was allowed to interview with the Carolina Panthers for their coordinator's job, but there's no way Bengals president Mike Brown and head coach Marvin Lewis will let Zampese out of his contract — which runs through the 2007 season — to go to Cleveland.

In Bengals' lore, it is known as "The Speech" — authored by linebacker Reggie Williams at halftime of Super Bowl XVI with Cincinnati trailing, 20-0. Williams is a native of Flint, Mich., so this was personal. He played 14 years (1976-89) for the Bengals, served as a Cincinnati city councilman and is currently vice president of Disney Sports Attractions in Orlando, Fla. He recalls Super Bowl XVI in a chat with Bengals beat writer Chick Ludwig.

In his words

"At halftime, I erupted into a 'We-can-win-this-if-we-all-bring-our-talents-and-capabilities-to-the-field-NOW' speech. It was a personal plea to each and every player. It's a great memory. It's been a quarter of a century. That's appropriate pause for reflection.

It was ugly. Not just the way the Bengals played, but the weather. That's what I remember about Super Bowl XVI.

As their reward for reaching pro football's pinnacle, the Bengals and 49ers weren't shipped to San Diego, Pasadena or Miami. They were dropped in a suburb of Detroit for some cold weather and car jackings — the first Super Bowl in a northern city.

• Bengals recover 49ers' fumble on opening kickoff at SF 26-yard line, but give the ball back when FS Dwight Hicks intercepts QB Ken Anderson's pass toward WR Isaac Curtis at 49ers' 5-yard line.

• Anderson completes 19-yard pass to WR Cris Collinsworth at SF 8, but Collinsworth fumbles on a hit by CB Eric Wright.

• After Ray Wersching's 22–yard FG with 15 seconds remaining in the half, Archie Griffin fumbles Wersching's squib kick at the 4. Wersching's 26-yard FG at 0:02 gives 49ers a 20-0 halftime lead.