By Gregory Korte
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Disgruntled Bengals fans donated more than 200 tickets to the Cincinnati Recreation Commission by the end of the day Friday, meaning 200 empty seats will be replaced by 200 disadvantaged children.

Cincinnati Councilman Chris Monzel dreamed up the "Tickets for Tots" campaign after last Sunday's 29-15 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars.

About half of the 42,092 sold seats were empty.

The 200 donated tickets to Sunday's game against the New Orleans Saints - including several pricey club seats - have been distributed to orphanages, children's homes, inner-city recreation centers and church groups.

"All we asked is that these tickets be used by kids, and kids who wouldn't ordinarily have the opportunity to witness a Bengals football game," said Mike Thomas, regional director for the recreation commission.

The commission worked with the Bengals to make sure that the scattered tickets could be consolidated into one section, so that the children wouldn't be unsupervised all over the stadium.

Mr. Monzel said he hopes the Bengals improve next year. If not, he wants to continue the program.

"If they continue down the path they've gone, and the seats are empty, let's put them to good use," he said.

E-mail gkorte@enquirer.com

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