This and that

• In Kentucky's Class 1A, Beechwood has defeated Hazard 14-7 to win its 11th state football title in school history. Tonight, Highlands battles Christian County for the Class 5A title. Newport Central Catholic faces Fort Campbell tomorrow morning in 2A, and Simon Kenton plays for the 6A title tomorrow night.

The Louisville Courier-Journal's blog/coverage is pretty impressive because the blogger, Jody Demling, has an ongoing dialogue with fans/users, so we're linking to that.

Or check out QueenCityHigh.com for more coverage.

• Alan Cutler had Eric Thomas on The Homer, and ET says some pretty outrageous things from time to time ... but he was in rare form this morning. He said, among other things, that the Bengals need to draft a running back with their first pick. And that neither Ryan Fitzpatrick nor Jordan Palmer would make ANY other NFL roster, not even the Lions. Ouch.

ET didn't say whether he was a fan of Jeff Rowe, but it's too late anyway because Geoff Hobson is reporting that Seattle took Rowe off the Bengals' practice squad.

• Redskins.com's 4 Keys to the Redskins-Bengals game suggests that Fitzpatrick vs. Redskins Pass Rush is one of the keys, and the first line points out that Washington is familiar with Fitzpatrick because he made his first NFL start against the Redskins when he was with the Rams in December 2005. The only problem with that is I don't think any of the following were with the team three years ago: Jim Zorn, his coaches, the team's starting defensive ends, one of its starting tackles, two out of three starting linebackers and half of the defensive backfield.

• There's a piece from ESPN The Magazine entitled Xavier vs. Cincy Hoops: The Best Rivalry There Is? It's written by the editors of Crosstownshoutout.blogspot.com; I know you never would have guessed but they DO think it's the greatest rivalry in college basketball.

Anyway, there's no doubt it's a great rivalry, I hope Saturday night's game offers another memorable chapter and it is cool for both schools that a well-known national publication considers it at least among the great college hoops rivalries.

Meanwhile, an AOL Sports FanHouse article suggests that the Crosstown Shootout has lost a lot of sparkle.

• Not as much on the Reds' front today aside from the Arthur Rhodes deal getting wrapped up pending today's physical. Except for this must-read: Driveline Mechanics, an "unconventional look at baseball scouting," offers an in-depth breakdown of Homer Bailey. Interesting stuff.

Also, SI.com's Ben Reiter updates his list of Top 50 available free agents, suggesting that the Reds are the "new best fit" for Juan Rivera and Dennys Reyes.

• In advance of this weekend's IU-UK showdown (for which there are still tickets available last I heard), KentuckySports.com offers a comparison of this year's Hoosiers and the 1989-90 UK squad lovingly referred to as "Pitino's Bombinos."

• Non-local link of interest: Actually, there are a couple of Bengals-related items mentioned in here, but if you haven't seen the Sports Guy's NFL fan's anti-gift list, it's pretty funny. Just $37 will get you a Bengals flask to help you get through the rest of the season.