Pick 6 Cincinnati

T.J. likes Eagles

2009-02-05T13:24:00.002-05:00

Philly.com and others are talking about T.J.'s interview with Mike Missanelli on ESPN 950.

"If the Eagles are interested in me, let's put it like this. If they'll be interested in me, I'll be interested in them," T.J. said when asked if the Eagles would be his top choice.

"I think McNabb is a fine quarterback," he said. "He's one of the best quarterbacks in the league, probably, I can't even think of another quarterback that has performed throughout his career the way he has and would be put in a situation like he was put in in Baltimore, but he bounced back very well.

And this, my personal favorite:

During the Eagles' now infamous tie with the Bengals last season, Houshmandzadeh caught 12 balls for 149 yards and a touchdown.

"Did you watch the Eagles and the Bengals game during the season? I was just giving Andy Reid, I was giving him an interview in person," Houshmandzadeh said. "That's all I was doing. I was giving him a three-month interview ahead of time. That's all."

Philly bloggers are talking about T.J. too. the700level.com doesn't appear to be a fan of Houshmandzadeh.

He is a 32-year-old, 6'1" (maybe) possession receiver whose career average YPC is precisely the same as James Thrash's all-time single season low. This is the playmaker the offense has been waiting for?

Ouch.

T.J. appears to want out of Cincinati pretty badly though. He also talked to Tom Waddle and Marc Silverman on WMVP-AM 1000 about playing for the Bears and went so far as to say he likes Rex Grossman too.

Makes you wonder how he'd react if the Bengals give him the franchise tag. (Although the philly.com story does point out that NFL.com's Adam Schefter reported a few weeks ago that the Bengals won't use their franchise tag on T.J. Houshmandzadeh.) Might T.J. pull a Chad from last offseason?

Ocho Cinco happy, feeling good

2009-02-04T11:40:00.000-05:00

Quite a difference between Chad of last offseason and Chad this time around so far.

Bengals.com talked to a receiver who's looking forward to voluntary offseason workouts and says the Bengals can get to the Super Bowl in a hurry with a healthy Carson Palmer.

Who is this guy?

For those who thought he'd never in a million years be back with the Bengals next season, though, it would appear to be a stronger possibility, especially with his attitude adjustment.

Plus, if he didn't think he'd be back, why would he be trying so hard to get Houshmandzadeh to return?

He said he needs T.J. "like Hugh Hefner needs playmates."

Bengals' '09 strength of schedule ranks 22nd

2009-02-04T10:57:00.000-05:00

The combined winning percentage of the Bengals' 2009 opponents is .465, tied with the Rams for 22nd in the league. ESPN.com's got the chart. You would think that bodes well, but interestingly enough they have the toughest strength of schedule (again, as far as opponents' combined winning percentage) in the AFC North. The Browns' SOS ranks 25th, the Ravens' ranks 28th and the Super Bowl champs' ranks 29th. By the way, the Dolphins appear to have the toughest schedule, with an opponents' combined winning percentage of .594. Followed by Carolina and the Patriots.

The Bengals' 10 2009 opponents (aside from their division rivals twice each) are Denver (at home), Oakland (road), Kansas City (home), San Diego (road), Chicago (home), Green Bay (road), Detroit (home), Minnesota (road), Houston (home) and New York Jets (road).

West makes All-Star team again

2009-01-30T16:53:00.002-05:00

Former Xavier star David West will make his second consecutive NBA All-Star Game appearance. Nola.com has a nice story about it. West will be be one of seven reserves for the Western Conference squad.

Marvin: 'Odell is Odell, unfortunately'

2009-01-29T15:09:00.002-05:00

The Lot D's C. Trent talked to Marvin Lewis about the 2008 draft and drafts past, and Marvin didn't disappoint with some of his answers. Nor did he hide his true feelings about Odell Thurman. If you wasted time trying to decipher Marvin's vague answers from the weekly press conferences or pulled your hair out because you felt like he never really said anything good, this one helps make up for that.

Xavier, Charlotte will play

2009-01-28T11:07:00.002-05:00

From Xavier:

The Xavier vs. Charlotte men's basketball game tonight at 7:30 p.m. will be played as scheduled. Xavier University advises the fans to please use caution and allow extra travel time if they decide venture out for the game. For those without a ticket or who decide not to go out tonight, the game will be seen locally on Fox Sports Ohio.

Charlotte had been stuck but they were able to fly into Dayton last night and will take a bus to Cincinnati, which should be interesting depending on what time they make/made that trip. Hopefully they're not on the road right now.

Coach pleads not guilty in player's death

2009-01-26T16:24:00.004-05:00

Louisville's courier-journal.com has a newsy update about the high school football coach charged with reckless homicide in the death of a player.

David Jason Stinson's attorney says the head football coach at Pleasure Ridge Park High School did not deny water to his players on the day 15-year-old Max Gilpin collapsed from heat stroke at practice and later died.

A criminal charge has never before been filed in a heat-related death involving a high school or college coach in the United States.

Thurman trial continued

2009-01-26T14:42:00.000-05:00

Suspended former Bengals linebacker Odell Thurman was set to go on trial Tuesday, but the Sandusky Register reports that the case has been continued.

Police said Thurman slugged a man and broke his jaw at Kalahari Resort - an indoor water park in northern Ohio - last spring.

Thurman's attorney says it's a case of mistaken identity. The trial was delayed because Thurman's attorney told a judge Thurman was in his hometown of Monticello, Ga., when the fight happened.

Prosecutors say Kalahari security video shows Thurman at the resort the day of the incident. Thurman's lawyer says the video shows a man who "fits the description" of Thurman, but is not Thurman.

The continuance gives prosecutors time to investigate Thurman's alibi.

Tigers to sign ex-Red Williamson

2009-01-22T14:07:00.001-05:00

CBSSports.com's Danny Knobler reports that former Red Scott Williamson is close to signing a minor-league deal with Detroit.

Williamson turns 33 next month. Knobler says he has impressed scouts in recent workouts. The Brewers apparently expressed interest as well.

Williamson hasn't pitched in the big leagues since the middle of the 2007 season. He spent the 2008 season in Richmond (Braves) and Tacoma (Mariners).

Williamson was the 1999 National League Rookie of the Year; he was the last Red to win the award. He was an All-Star that year too. He went 12-7 with a 2.41 ERA and 19 saves, a 1.039 WHIP, 107 strikeouts and 43 walks in 93 1/3 innings.

Aside from that, he's looked sharp at times but arm injuries since undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2001 have prevented him from pitching a lot of innings. He posted a 1.26 ERA for the Red Sox in 2004, but that was only 28 2/3 innings. He only threw 14 1/3 innings the following season for the Cubs.

The Giants invited him to Spring Training in 2008 but released him pretty early (March 5).

He's bounced around and gotten released enough that some might say it's time for him to call it quits. The way I see it, there are too many guys, especially recently (Mike Lincoln, for instance) who have come from out of nowhere to revive their careers. If he thinks he can recapture it or he's had it all along but is finally healthy, more power to him.

Where is Ray Lewis headed?

2009-01-21T11:31:00.000-05:00

The New York Daily News' Rich Cimini says Rex Ryan could bring Ray Lewis to the Jets. But he points out that the Jets probably can't afford both Lewis and Brett Favre because of salary-cap considerations, so we may have to wait for Favre's decision on whether he'll return.

Ryan coached Lewis for 10 years with the Ravens. Ryan was a defensive coordinator at UC in 1996 and 1997.

Meanwhile, the Baltimore Sun's Ravens Insider reports that the Cowboys are very interested in Lewis if he becomes a free agent. And it sounds like they'd be more than willing to give him the money he wants, especially if the Ravens figure out they can't afford Lewis and Terrell Suggs. I didn't realize Bart Scott is in the last year of his contract too.

Should be interesting. It'd be pretty wild to see Lewis in a uniform other than the Ravens'. I'm sure the Bengals wouldn't mind.

Ex-Red Casey may retire

2009-01-20T15:10:00.000-05:00

It's sounding more and more like Sean Casey is going to retire.

The (Massachusetts) Eagle-Tribune's Bill Burt talked to Casey late last week, who said "unless there is an offer that blows me away, I will be retiring."

Apparently it's not about money as much as it's about Casey's desire to play every day or not at all. He doesn't want to be a part-time player.

Casey is a free agent. The Red Sox did not offer salary arbitration.

Casey hit .322 with 17 RBI with no home runs in 199 at-bats last season, his first with the Red Sox.

Casey's best two seasons were with the Reds. In 1999, he hit .332 with 197 hits (including 42 doubles), 25 home runs and 99 RBI. In 2004, he hit .324 with 185 hits (including 44 doubles), 24 home runs and 99 RBI.

Youk gets long-term deal

2009-01-15T22:27:00.002-05:00

The pride of Sycamore High School and the University of Cincinnati, Kevin Youkilis, who grew up in Montgomery, avoided arbitration by agreeing with the Red Sox to a four-year contract worth more than $40 million, according to ESPN's Peter Gammons.

Gammons says the deal includes an option for a fifth year.

Youk finished third in American League Most Valuable Player voting after an outstanding season in which he hit .312 with 29 home runs and 115 RBIs. Teammate Dustin Pedroia, who won the award, also recently signed a long-term deal.

The deal buys out Youkilis' last two years of arbitration eligibility and delays his chance to become a free agent by at least two years. Youkilis filed for arbitration earlier Thursday, a formality that would be negated if he passes a physical and the long-term deal is completed.

Praise from the MLB.com story about Youk's deal:

In 2006, Youkilis, who came up through the Minor Leagues as a third baseman, made a seamless transition to the other side of the diamond to become Boston's first baseman.

In fact, Youkilis has become of the best defensive players in the league at that position, as evidenced by the Gold Glove he won in 2007.

Part of the beauty of Youkilis is that he can still play a very solid third base, and never balks at doing so when Mike Lowell is either injured or given a breather. Youkilis started all seven games at third base in last October's American League Championship Series.

Manager Terry Francona has also come to embrace the adaptability of Youkilis to hit in any part of the batting order.

After superstar slugger Manny Ramirez was traded to the Dodgers on July 31, Youkilis moved to the cleanup spot and put up strong numbers.

The past two Octobers, Youkilis has proved that he is a clutch player, hitting .333 with six homers and 19 RBIs in 99 postseason at-bats.

Paula Faris gets some love

2009-01-15T14:20:00.002-05:00

Former WCPO-TV sports anchor/reporter Paula Faris, who has worked at NBC5 in Chicago since leaving Cincinnati in November 2005, makes an appearance in the Pop Culture Grid in Sports Illustrated and on SI.com.

The category: Person I'd love to have interview me. Pittsburgh basketball forward Sam Young said Seth Davis. Cleveland Cavaliers forward Ben Wallace said Oprah. MMA fighter Matt Lindland said Dateline's Chris Hansen. And Chicago Blackhawks center Jonathan Toews said Chicago sports anchor Paula Faris.

They misspelled it "Farris," though, at least online (didn't see it in print). That doesn't happen to Oprah.

Gilyard won't enter draft

2009-01-14T15:57:00.002-05:00

Press release from UC:

University of Cincinnati wide receiver/kick returner Mardy Gilyard (Bunnell, Fla./Flagler Palm Coast) announced Wednesday that he will return for his senior season.

"I'm better served by staying in school for my senior year," Gilyard said. "I still have a lot to learn as a player. We accomplished some great things in 2008 and I look forward to continuing that in 2009."

Cincinnati had a record-setting 11-3 season that saw the Bearcats win their first BIG EAST Championship and earn a spot in the FedEx Orange Bowl which marked the program's first appearance in a Bowl Championship Series game.

Gilyard was named the 2008 BIG EAST Special Teams Player of the Year, a first-team all-America selection by Rivals.com, and a first-team all-BIG EAST pick at both wide receiver and kick returner. He was also a fourth-team all-America honoree by Phil Steele.

He made 81 catches for a school-record 1,276 yards and a team-high 11 touchdowns. He also set a school record with 994 kickoff return yards along with a pair of touchdowns. Gilyard had a team-high seven 100-plus yard receiving games, including four straight to close out the season.

In the 2009 FedEx Orange Bowl, Gilyard had seven catches for a school-record 158 yards and a touchdown.

Report: USC receiver to transfer to UC

2009-01-14T15:09:00.001-05:00

ESPN.com's Joe Schad is reporting that USC wide receiver Vidal Hazelton is expected to transfer to Cincinnati contingent upon passing an upcoming physical examination.

Hazelton had only six catches for 38 yards this past season due to injuries. He had 50 catches for 540 yards in 2007.

Dye could land in Anaheim

2009-01-13T14:31:00.000-05:00

The Chicago Sun-Times is reporting that the Angels are the latest team to express interest in Jermaine Dye. And Joe Cowley's story points out that "unlike the talks with the Reds that stalled during the Winter Meetings, the Sox and Angels actually have a fit."

The versatile Chone Figgins would be sent to the White Sox.

One other factor: The Angels are not one of the teams listed on Dye's no-trade list.

Gonzalez is no Abreu

2009-01-13T12:48:00.000-05:00

FoxSports.com's Ken Rosenthal is reporting that the Reds could pursue free-agent outfielder Luis Gonzalez as a less expensive left-handed hitting option.

Gonzalez spoke for 15 minutes on Saturday with Reds manager Dusty Baker, though both sides acknowledge that Gonzalez's agents are pushing harder than the Reds for a deal.

The way I see it, if you're going to pursue a left-handed hitting option (which I'm fine with, by the way ... I don't really get the argument that the Reds MUST add a big right-handed bat to the lineup), I'd much rather have Bobby Abreu (who hits righties and lefties about the same anyway), who is mentioned in Mark Sheldon's article as the subject of recent speculation (although Jocketty says he hasn't talked to Abreu's agent recently).

Sure, Gonzalez may be less expensive, but he's also 41. Abreu is 34. Abreu was .296-20-100-22 SBs last season, which he does just about every year he's healthy. Gonzalez was .261-8-47-1 SB in 341 at-bats for the Marlins. Sure, the Reds could use the Luis Gonzalez of 2001 (.325-57-142) but I don't think the Gonzo of '09 will fill their void.

Sheldon also mentions Garret Anderson and Cliff Floyd as left-handed corner outfielders on the market, as well as Jonny Gomes and Craig Monroe as right-handed options.

I've always liked Anderson ... so consistently solid ... he's no spring chicken (36) but he still put up .293-15-84 last year. He hit .335 after the break! Is he the answer? Hard to say. But he appears to have more left in the tank than, say, Junior, that's for sure.

Cliff Floyd is the same age as Anderson but has only played less than half of the past three seasons, so I'm not quite as high on him anymore.

Gomes is younger and clearly has pop but still very much unproven. He's really only had one impressive year (2005); throw that one out and he's never hit better than .244. He still strikes out way too much.

Monroe is a lot like Gomes. He has pop but has really struggled the past couple of seasons and I'd just as soon have some other team hoping he can regain his form.

Henderson, Rice get Hall passes

2009-01-12T14:11:00.003-05:00

From MLB.com:

Rickey Henderson, widely considered the greatest leadoff hitter in the history of baseball, was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame Monday on his first ballot with 94.8 percent of the votes cast by the Baseball Writers' Association of America.

The all-time steals leader will be joined in Cooperstown by Jim Rice, who was in his final year of eligibility.

Rice (76.4 percent), who fell 16 votes short in 2008, cleared the 75 percent threshhold required for election to the HOF by earning 412 votes, seven over the 405 (of 539) needed.

Rice is one of those polarizing figures for those who argue endlessly about who deserves to be in the Hall of Fame and who doesn't. So there will be plenty of people bitching and moaning this week about how his numbers weren't good enough, regardless of whether he was a "feared" hitter. I say why not for Rice but what do I know ... I think Andre Dawson definitely deserves to be elected as well. The Hawk finished third in voting, by the way, with 67 percent (75 percent is required). And I think Lee Smith should probably be in there, too, for his 478 career saves.

By the way, former Reds Ron Gant and Greg Vaughn failed to receive a vote, so they're both off the ballot (along with Mark Grace ... another ouch for a former Cub). And Dave Parker got 81 votes - 15 percent - which means he'll be back on the ballot and up for consideration next year.

Dungy steps down

2009-01-12T11:55:00.001-05:00

UPDATE: Tony Dungy retired. He said he doesn't expect to come back but you never know.

Indystar.com has a nice special section.

Dungy walked around the team's complex Monday saying goodbye to players and team employees and informing them that the transition should be a smooth one for new head coach Jim Caldwell.

The Colts were 92-33 in seven seasons under Dungy. And they went to the playoffs every year.

Woman finds rare Reds card

2009-01-09T11:42:00.001-05:00

In a story that first appeared in the Fresno Bee last week, 72-year-old Bernice Gallego found a rare 1869 Cincinnati Red Stockings card, put it on eBay, got plenty of inquiries but no bids and canceled the auction when she found out it was probably worth a lot more than the $10 she initially was asking for it.

The Enquirer's John Erardi says in his story about Gallego and the card that local collector Steve Wolter says the card isn't worth the $100,000 that was speculated upon in news outlets, but it could be worth as much as $20,000. Wolter's quote:

Those cards (of that 1869 team) are considered the first baseball cards, and although they aren't extremely rare - there might be only 15-20 of them in existence - they're still pretty hard to find," Wolter said. Depending on the condition of the Fresno card, it could be worth from $4,000-$5,000 to $15,000-$20,000.

Wow. I first read about it on Yahoo! Sports yesterday and figured it's the time of story that would interest even non-baseball fans and non-card collectors.

And for those who do or did collect baseball cards, this story from Yahoo! Sports may interest you as well.

No Baldelli for Reds

2009-01-08T12:10:00.001-05:00

ESPN.com (who gets the page view for breaking it last night), FOXSports.com and others are reporting that the Red Sox are close to signing Rocco Baldelli. Walt Jocketty had expressed interest in Baldelli, especially after an offseason visit to the Cleveland Clinic revealed that his condition was channelopathy, a non-progressive, more treatable problem than the mitochondrial fatigue syndrome with which he had been previously diagnosed. Jocketty had said he talked with Baldelli's agent, Casey Close, about Rocco very recently, as the Reds were preparing to bring back Jerry Hairston Jr. - another of Close's clients - who signed a one-year deal yesterday.

It's looking less and less like the acquisition of another run-producing outfielder is going to happen.

Breaking up the Pick 6

2009-01-08T11:55:00.001-05:00

We're going back to posting throughout the day as opposed to waiting until late afternoon to post "This and That." There will still be a "This and That" from time to time, but it will be used for maybe a smaller collection of random links of interest. Thanks!

This and that

2009-01-07T16:23:00.003-05:00

• Hairston update: The Reds have reached an agreement with free-agent infielder/outfielder Jerry Hairston Jr. on a one-year deal worth a guaranteed $2 million.

More surprising was that MLB.com initially reported Hairston is expected to become the Reds' new everyday shortstop with the Reds still concerned about Alex Gonzalez's health.

Wednesday evening's story on MLB.com included the following: Despite a source telling MLB.com on Tuesday that Hairston would become the everyday shortstop in 2009 because Alex Gonzalez wouldn't be ready, Jocketty said that Gonzalez is still be counted on as the regular shortstop.

So Mark Sheldon is sticking with his story that a source told him essentially that Gonzalez won't be ready for the start of the season and Hairston will fill that void. But Jocketty is saying he's under the impression that Gonzalez is still on track.

Guess we'll find out for sure in a few weeks.

• Also, Jocketty told MLB.com that Pat Burrell got half of what he was looking for when he signed his two-year, $16 million deal with the Rays. Story also mentions that interest in Rocco Baldelli remains.

• Mick Cronin and the Bearcats are pretty excited about adding Ibrahima Thomas, a transfer from Oklahoma State. Story on gobearcats.com has some details, good quotes from Cronin. As a freshman, he scored 17 in the first half against Texas. Clearly there's some talent there.

Apparently he considered returning to Senegal after he decided to leave Oklahoma State.

• Yes, Dayton and Miami University were really tied at 17 at the half in the Flyers' 45-40 win at UD Arena last night. You've got to love it when you can shoot 32 percent from the field and get a win. And yet again, Dayton is 14-1 with very few people outside the Gem City even realizing it. And keep in mind they went to the Chicago Invitational Challenge and beat Auburn before handing Marquette (yes, the same Marquette team that just drilled UC) a 14-point loss.

• Another day, another NBA item in the Pick 6! You bet I will after David West dropped a 40-spot (matching his career high) in the Hornets' win against the Lakers. Dimemag.com offers a quick tribute to West.

• And former Ohio State star Greg Oden has been written and talked about quite a bit lately, but SI.com's Ian Thomsen has a piece that's worth reading about how he admires the way Oden is handling himself. He says Oden is a No. 1 pick who doesn't feel entitled, quite a contrast to the recent piece from The Oregonian's John Canzano about the Oden Rules (referred to in the Pick 6 post from Dec. 30).

No non-local link today ... I looked but not seeing anything.

This and that

2009-01-06T15:17:00.001-05:00

• Have you been following the Robert Marve story (background here), at least on the ESPN ticker? Well the Miami Herald's Barry Jackson says UC is one of several schools who have offered the quarterback a scholarship. Marve is leaving the "U," which won't allow him to transfer to Florida, Tennessee or LSU (before Friday, they said they wouldn't allow him to go to any ACC or SEC school or any school in Florida) because of alleged tampering before he was given his release.

Eugene Marve has said one of the reasons he wants his son to go to school in the Southeast is because he has prostate cancer and prefers that Robert be close to his family members in Tampa. So that would pretty much rule out the Bearcats but I guess you never know.

And right now it doesn't look like the Bearcats will be getting this guy either: The Kansas City Star reports that three-star wide receiver Erick McGriff - the son of former MLB star Fred McGriff - has committed to Kansas. UC was one of McGriff's four finalists.

• Fiesta Bowl coverage in the Columbus Dispatch includes a Rob Oller piece that points out the following:

Since beating No. 2 Michigan in November 2006, the Buckeyes are 0-5 against top-10 teams and have lost their past three BCS games, two of which cost them the national championship. The Buckeyes have now lost three straight bowl games for the first time since 1990-92. The Big Ten, meanwhile, finishes its bowl season at 1-6.

• From ProFootballTalk.com, former Bengals quarterback Gus Frerotte thinks he would've given the Vikings their best chance to win this past weekend against Philadelphia. Sounds like he's angry/confused enough to find somewhere else to play.

• Cleveland.com's Terry Pluto suggests that it may be time for the Cavs to unload former Miami University star Wally Szczerbiak, whose numbers are way down across the board since he joined the Cavs during the 2007-08 season (sure, he's no spring chicken). Which could leave Wally playing for his fifth team in four years (Pluto says some teams have inquired about Wally). And who says I never have anything NBA-related.

• The Enquirer's Tom Groeschen reports that Aiken and Dunbar will resume the game that was interrupted by a halftime brawl.

• Apparently I'm not the only one who's not sure Willy Taveras' on-base percentage is what the Reds needed in their lineup. Baseball Prospectus' Joe Sheehan questions Walt Jocketty's logic.

• Non-local link of interest: I've gone back and forth over who to pick in tonight's GMAC Bowl showdown between Ball State and Tulsa. I really do expect it to be a fun game to watch.

This and that

2009-01-05T15:52:00.001-05:00

• Xavier moves up to No. 16 in the Associated Press Top 25 and No. 18 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll. Last week the Muskies were 22nd in both polls.

• Technically non-local but great BCS title game preview stuff from SI.com's Stewart Mandel (Sycamore HS).

• Stewart also writes about (he's been writing a lot lately, duh) how poor Orange Bowl ratings were and how that might impact the future of the BCS.

• Pat Burrell appears to be headed to the Rays, according to our old friend Marc Lancaster. Which is fine, according to what I said last month, because he's a lot like Adam Dunn. Although that was before it started to look like Willy Taveras is going to end up being the big RBI outfielder that we need.

• Rough 24 hours for UK basketball fans: After a heartbreaking loss to archrival Louisville on a 25-footer (great coverage on the Courier Journal's web site, by the way), former Wildcat Antoine Walker gets arrested.

• The Enquirer's Tom Groeschen appears to have the most information about the Aiken-Dayton Dunbar fight that stopped the game at halftime Saturday. Sounds like it was pretty crazy. Wouldn't be surprised if they don't resume it.

• Groeschen also has this about Dante Love, which is very cool.

This and that

2008-12-31T13:21:00.001-05:00

• The Denver Post was the first place I saw details on the Willy Taveras deal: 2 years, $6.25 million. For a guy with no power. MLB.com has additional details, as well as this line from Mark Sheldon: That makes for a financially solid rebound for Taveras, who was non-tendered by the Rockies on Dec. 12.

• The Dragons have replaced turncoat Jamie Dismuke with Todd Benzinger. (See last week's post for more background.) Benzinger was going to be their hitting coach; now he's their skipper.

• Another former Red, Josh Hamilton, tells his story to Esquire magazine.

• CBSSports.com's Gary Parrish once again writes about Bearcat hoops.

• New UC preview stuff: FOX Sports' Rich Cirminiello explains why he likes the Bearcats, 23-19. And Bill Koch's notebook points out that Bill Parcells and Cris Carter addressed Brian Kelly's squad today.

• Solid piece from SI.com's Stewart Mandel (Sycamore HS) about how the Big Ten needs Penn State to perform well against USC.

• Non-local link of interest: The New York Post says Bill Cowher won't take the Jets' job because he doesn't want to coach Brett Favre. And after Favre threw Eric Mangini under the bus, can you blame him?

This and that

2008-12-30T13:02:00.001-05:00

• The Enquirer's Bill Koch reports that UC head football coach Brian Kelly is leaning toward moving his players from the Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami Beach to another hotel on the night before the Orange Bowl because Sean "P. Diddy" Combs is scheduled to have a New Year's Eve party at the Fontainebleau on Wednesday night. Probably a good move.

• NFL.com's Adam Schefter reports that the Lions are talking to former Bengals and current Vikings defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier about their head coaching vacancy.

• A day after my rant about growing tired of the 'Bowden, Nats like Dunn' headlines, the Dodgers have come to the rescue. ESPN.com's Jayson Stark says L.A. has contacted Dunn's agent.

• Sorry, again, Kentucky fans: Jai Lucas, who you may recall chose Florida over Kentucky coming out of high school (even though he and Patrick Patterson were tight and the Wildcats thought they might be getting him) and was thought to be considering UK again when he announced he was leaving Florida because he wants to play point guard instead of shooting guard ... is going to Texas.

• Rough month for OSU Buckeye hoops: They lose starting forward David Lighty to a broken foot, get pummeled by Huggins and the Mountaineers over the weekend and now find out their backup point guard is transferring.

• Speaking of the Buckeyes: There were the Jordan Rules, and now according to The Oregonian's John Canzano, there are the Oden Rules for former Ohio State standout Greg Oden. Canzano apparently feels pretty strongly that Oden shouldn't be starting for the Blazers yet.

• Non-local link of interest: Instant replay costs RB Ryan Grant $1.35 million. Can't make this stuff up. I wonder if Ryan Grant said something other than "that's the way the ball bounces" when he first found out he was out $1.35 million.

• Bonus non-local link: Deadspin's Dashiell Bennett's take about family shots is right on the money, and if you stayed up to watch the end of Mizzou-Northwestern last night, I think you'll probably agree.

This and that

2008-12-29T16:08:00.002-05:00

• I'm officially worried. I'm not a huge Willy Taveras fan. His on-base percentage last season was .308 and his slugging percentage was .296, lowest among players who qualified for the batting title. In 133 games, he batted .251 with 18 of his 120 hits going for extra bases.

I know he had 68 stolen bases, but you can't steal first. Sure he'll get infield hits, but I don't think it'll be enough. You need your leadoff guy to get on base. We all know how pathetic Corey Patterson's numbers were last season. Taveras doesn't get on base much more than Patterson. I don't see how it's really that much of an upgrade.

And then I read this quote from Jocketty:

He could end up being the left fielder if we can't get that RBI man, which might be hard to do at this point.

And this one:

With Bruce and Taveras, we have two of our outfield spots filled.

Uh oh. Do you really expect to compete for the NL Central title with a starting outfield of Willy Taveras, Jay Bruce and Chris Dickerson/Norris Hopper?

I guess you never know. I'll be the first to admit I didn't think Jerry Hairston Jr. would contribute much when we signed him. I'm just not as excited about Ramon Hernandez and Willy Taveras as I would be about J.J. Hardy, Alex Rios, Juan Rivera, Jermaine Dye or some big right-handed bat.

• Also, how many times during one offseason can we read a headline or notebook item along the lines of "Nats' Bowden may be interested in Dunn." This might be 50. As Janeane Garofalo's character says in "Reality Bites," "Would you two just do it and get it over with?" And that is the first and last time I will quote "Reality Bites" on my blog.

• The Lot D's C. Trent has a good Carson Palmer update pertaining to his latest chances of avoiding surgery.

• In his Snap Judgments: Week 17, Don Banks refers on several occasions to the Week 11 tie in Cincinnati while marveling at the Eagles' improbable playoff berth. Hey, at least the Bengals can say they beat or tied (tied, in their case) a playoff team, right? Which is something that Detroit, Kansas City, Oakland, St. Louis, Seattle and San Francisco (which won 7 games) can't say.

How crazy is it, by the way, that Cleveland beat the Giants 35-14 in Week 6. And that St. Louis beat Dallas in Week 7 (ouch). I had forgotten about those until I looked back at the which-teams-had-beaten-playoff-teams deal.

• Nothing like a loss to the Bengals to spur someone to reveal their true feelings about the organization for which they work as Larry Johnson did after Sunday's game.

• Xavier checks in at No. 22 in both the AP Top 25 and the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll. GoXavier.Com has a nice feature today about how important Terrell Holloway is to this team. And they don't exactly have the luxury of waiting until he's ready to lead; it's clear they need him now.

• Non-local link of interest: How's this for bizarre ... David Pratt, a striker for Chippenham, received the fastest ever red card after being sent off just three seconds into a game.

Report: T.J. won't get tag

2008-12-27T02:53:00.000-05:00

NFL.com's Adam Schefter is reporting that the Bengals won't use their franchise tag on T.J. Houshmandzadeh.

Schefter cites a league source, who suggested that if the Bengals do decide to try to keep T.J., they will offer him a long-term deal.

This and that

2008-12-24T12:06:00.001-05:00

• The only Bengals-Chiefs preview I could find (maybe because it's early in the week?) was about the Chiefs seeking to close out the regular season on a winning note from kcchiefs.com. It points out that the Chiefs haven't won in Cincinnati since 1984. But what's fresher in the minds of Bengals' fans is Larry Johnson running roughshod in the Chiefs' 37-3 thrashing of the Bengals at Arrowhead on Jan. 1, 2006.

AND keep in mind that the Bengals haven't won a regular season finale at home since 1997. That being said, I'm picking the Bengals.

One thing's for sure: It can't be easy learning that you're going to be up against reigning AFC Defensive Player of the Week Leon Hall.

• The latest on the fracas between former Bengal Shaun Smith and Browns QB Brady Quinn (mentioned in yesterday's Pick 6): ProFootballTalk.com says the altercation started because Smith was giving Quinn a hard time about Notre Dame football.

• Nice piece in the South Bend Tribune about new RedHawks head coach Mike Haywood. Apparently he is thought to be the next Turner Gill. And who knew former NFL running back Allen Pinkett is Haywood's best friend?!

• Your Wednesday UC-Orange-Bowl-preview link is from the Columbus Dispatch about Columbus natives reunited on the Bearcats.

• Big ouch for the Dayton Dragons: Jamie Dismuke, who was named in October as the team's new manager, has instead taken a job as hitting coach for the Class AAA Gwinnett (Ga.) Braves, according to the daytondailynews.com. Wha?? Gets better.

Leon Roberts, a former minor-league hitting coordinator with the Reds, was announced as the Dragons manager for 2007. However, before the season, he took the same job with the Braves that Dismuke is taking, when the franchise's AAA team was in Richmond, Va. Now Roberts is the Braves' minor-league coordinator, and he helped pry Dismuke away from the Reds.

• It's a shame Dismuke left because he'll miss being a part of the organization that could be next year's surprise, according to MLB.com.

• Non-local link of interest: Mike Tomlin apparently was just a little annoyed by the Santa who poked fun at him during a press conference (ProFootballTalk.com link includes the video).

This and that

2008-12-23T14:12:00.003-05:00

• UPDATE: Miami University has announced that Notre Dame offensive coordinator Mike Haywood will replace Shane Montgomery as the school's new head coach. MU's hiring of Haywood brings the number of African-American head football coaches in the Bowl Championship Subdivision to six of 119 programs; he's the third black head coach in the MAC (joining Turner Gill at Buffalo and Ron English at Eastern Michigan).

Haywood has no direct ties to Miami, but previously coached at two MAC schools - Ohio and Ball State - in addition to Texas, LSU, Army and Minnesota. This is his first head coaching job.

• UPDATE: The Bengals announced late this afternoon that ticket prices for the 2009 season remain unchanged from the 2008 schedule.

• PilotOnline.com says Virginia Tech may be without three starters for the Orange Bowl: left guard Nick Marshman (academics), linebacker Brett Warren (knee) and defensive end Jason Worilds (shoulder).

• It'll be interesting to see whether Xavier can handle Butler just a couple of days after the bad loss to Duke. It won't be easy - Butler is ranked No. 4 in the RPI and the Bulldogs' only loss this season was to Ohio State (by three points). Sean Miller had a great quote in the Enquirer about what a miserable 10 days it will be for his players if they get beat by Butler.

Here's the preview of the game on IndyStar.com, where David Woods points out that a win for Butler could get the Bulldogs more attention than going undefeated in their league.

• Hot Stove: Pittsburgh's post-gazette.com says the Pirates are pursuing Rocco Baldelli, increasing the number of teams rumored to be interested in the outfielder since it was revealed he was misdiagnosed with mitochondrial disorder and really only has channelopathy (which is treatable). Article lists the Reds, Phillies, Red Sox and Yankees as the other teams who have expressed interest.

The Boston Globe says Baldelli is leaning toward the Red Sox.

• Rumor has it former Bengal Shaun Smith punched Browns QB Brady Quinn after a heated exchange last week. Word of the altercation first broke during the Browns' 14-0 loss to the Bengals. Smith was inactive for the game.

• ProFootballTalk.com's Mike Florio points out that Stacy Andrews' knee injury is really going to hurt him when he enters the free-agent market.

• Non-local link of interest is also from ProFootballTalk.com, which reports that Shaun Ellis has been fined $10K for lifting a big snowball into the stands at Qwest Field on Sunday and offers the video if you haven't already seen it.

This and that

2008-12-22T14:21:00.000-05:00

• A day after the Bengals' 14-0 win in Cleveland, Bengals.com says Stacy Andrews has a torn ACL, and Carson Palmer will practice this week.

• ProFootballTalk.com is reporting that Mike Brown actually may be considering hiring a general manager! The first name that has surfaced: former Saints and Dolphins GM Randy Mueller, who works in the Chargers' front office.

• If you thought last week's exchange between Marvin Lewis and Dustin Dow was bad, it was nothing compared to Detroit News columnist Rob Parker vs. Rod Marinelli yesterday.

Parker responded today to criticism, explaining that people don't understand his relationship with Marinelli and his attempt at humor.

• Is Aaron Fultz the new Mike Lincoln? MLB.com reports that the Reds have signed the 35-year-old reliever who didn't play in the bigs last season.

• You've gotta love Mick Cronin taking a shot at the Enquirer.

• The Enquirer's Rory Glynn says Illinois defensive coordinator Curt Mallory has emerged as the favorite to replace Shane Montgomery at Miami University. The Oxford Press reported late last week that Mallory, Saints running backs coach Aaron Kromer and Michigan State offensive coordinator Don Treadwell were among three leading candidates.

• Non-local link of interest: Check out the New York Times' The Fine Points: Swing Science by Pat Borzi. Really interesting stuff.

This and that

2008-12-19T11:25:00.002-05:00

• The Jackson Clarion-Ledger did a nice job with Andy Kennedy coverage yesterday and was right on the money with this morning's headline: From bad to worse. Think about what a lousy 24 hours Kennedy had. Got arrested for assaulting a cab driver during a trip where he was looking forward to seeing old friends. Lost to Louisville (not that that was unexpected or anything, but a loss is a loss). And, to make matters much worse, lost star guard and second-leading scorer Chris Warren for the season with an ACL injury. Ouch.

Could anyone else who watched the Louisville-Ole Miss game tell what Pitino said to Kennedy afterwards when they shook hands? I love trying to read lips, and it was pretty clear to me that he said, "I'm sure everything will turn out fine." Feel free to speculate about exactly what he's referring to ... I'd guess he's not talking about basketball per se.

Great new details in this story by The Big Lead, by the way.

• Xavier is ranked No. 7 in the AP poll, but HOW HUGE would it be for the Musketeers to beat Duke? I think they've got a chance. Can't wait to watch this game. Check out the preview on Xavier's site. Here's the Enquirer's. And here's DevilsDen.com's.

• This item about Kevin Youkilis (Sycamore HS, UC) on BostonHerald.com about his willingness to move to third base to accommodate the signing of Mark Teixeira kind of surprises me because they said about 50 times during SportsCenter last night that the Red Sox, according to owner John Henry, would not be a factor for Teixeira. I realize Sean McAdam probably wrote his notebook before that news broke, but once the news did break, it kind of renders all of the "what-if-the-Red-Sox-sign-Teixeira" stuff moot. And the beauty of the internet is you can make changes to stories on the fly. So I guess you'd rewrite it as, "Sox first baseman Kevin Youkilis said yesterday - before Red Sox owner John Henry said the club wouldn't be a factor for Mark Teixeira after all - that he would've been willing to move back to his original third base position to accommodate ..." Something like that.

The Boston Globe reports that Youk's agent, Joe Bick, has entered into early-stage conversations with the Red Sox about a long-term contract.

• The Astros have signed veteran infielder Aaron Boone to a one-year, $750K contract. This is interesting not only because Boone broke into the bigs with the Reds but also, as the Houston Chronicle points out because Boone is expected to to share time at third base with Geoff Blum in an attempt to fill the hole left when Ty Wigginton wasn't tendered a contract last week. And lately there have been rumors about Wigginton to the Reds, including a Walt Jocketty quote to MLB.com's Mark Sheldon about Wigginton fitting in if "we don't find that outfielder we want." Of course, other teams, including the Pirates, Indians and Giants, also have expressed interest in Wigginton.

In another Hot Stove development, expect the Juan Rivera rumors to come to a screeching halt, as Yahoo! Sports reports the Angels are close to signing him to a three-year deal.

• Dayton Daily News' Chick Ludwig writes about the Michael Jackson song Chad is singing to T.J.. Sing all you want, Chad, but I can't imagine you'll both be back.

• IndyStar.com's Mike Chappell leads off his notebook about former Bengal Keiwan Ratliff's huge interception return for a touchdown late in the Colts' 31-24 win Thursday night.

• Non-local link of interest: Joe Sheehan of Baseball Prospectus brings up some valid points in his column about how to improve Baseball Hall of Fame voting.

This and that

2008-12-18T16:45:00.003-05:00

• Andy Kennedy arrest: Here's our story. Here's ESPN's story about it. The Jackson (MS) Clarion-Ledger has a PDF of the arrest report. And their version of the story is worth reading, as it has the general manager of the Lodge Bar saying they didn't get kicked out, as our report and others suggest. And they report that the "others" Kennedy was trying to get into the cab (when the cab driver refused because there were too many people) were assistant coaches Michael White, Owen Miller and Torrey Ward. Some good quotes from Andy Kennedy's brother there too.

• Interesting item from John Fay about Rocco Baldelli and his "misdiagnosis." Jocketty sounds like he's pretty interested, especially since he doesn't appear to be making progress with Juan Rivera's agent.

• Bengals.com has a strong update about how the receivers are talking about how impressed they are with Carson's arm right now.

• The way I see it, as Braylon Edwards insists on continuing to run his mouth this week, it can only help the Bengals. All of the Bill Cowher speculation can't hurt either.

• IndyStar.com has a story about Eric Gordon dropping a bomb that drug use wrecked IU's season.

• I've seen some nice tributes to Mike Kahn, a sports writer who spent part of his childhood in Cincinnati and worked for the Enquirer, who lost his battle with cancer. Here's one that was posted on theolympian.com, and another from his most recent employer, FOXSports.com.

• Non-local link of interest: Again, not sports-related. Hilarious though. Pure joy.

This and that

2008-12-17T16:35:00.002-05:00

• So there's plenty of buzz about this exchange between Marvin Lewis and Enquirer reporter Dustin Dow from today's news conference. The Lot D's C. Trent has the whole back-and-forth on his blog. The only problem I have is when Cincinnati.Com sends out a breaking news alert with a link to their story (there's not really anything in it, by the way, that's not included in the C. Trent post, so don't feel like you have to click on it to give them another page view). I can see posting something on a blog - because the exchange certainly is newsworthy and people will be interested to read it. But sending a breaking news e-mail about it to me makes it reek of reporter becoming part of story or trying to generate news (page views) and draw attention, which is tacky and something journalists should refrain from doing. It's tough to blame Dow, because I don't think it was wrong of him to engage Lewis the way he did. And it wasn't his call to send a breaking news e-mail about it. That's the person whose judgement I question.

• Here's a Cleveland.com scouting report on the Bengals in advance of Sunday's showdown. The Browns are 3-point favorites by the way.

• And in case you missed it, Shaun Rogers, that nose tackle who Browns GM Phil Savage stole from the Bengals back in March made the Pro Bowl. And Eric Steinbach's an alternate.

• Bucs defensive end Greg White has followed Chad's lead and changed his name. And if you're a fan of "Teen Wolf," you'll definitely appreciate it.

• Yahoo! Sports' Ball Don't Lie did a one-on-one with former North College Hill star O.J. Mayo.

• I saw this blog post on With Leather about Ohio State guard Mark Titus' blog, Club Trillion. I didn't get to spend too much time on it, but it does appear to be good stuff ... he's a pretty funny guy.

• Non-local link of interest: Did you hear what Tiger Woods' caddy said about Phil Mickelson? Wow. I'd be stunned if he doesn't get fired over it, especially because he's not apologizing.

This and that

2008-12-16T16:57:00.004-05:00

• This and that is a little on the lean side today because I was working on my thesis, which is posted on OMGReds.com. Not much else going on with the Reds today, aside from the next bullet.

• Juan Francisco has 9 home runs for Cibao, a new Dominican Winter League record for a lefthanded batter. The previous record for HR by a LH batter in the DWL was 8, established by Rafael Batista in 1974 and tied by Batista in 1975.

• This story from the San Francisco Examiner about the price of Giants' tickets is crazy. In an experiment the team says may forever change the way its fans buy their tickets, some ticket prices will be jacked up next season on the day of a blockbuster game, and dropped in the lead-up to a lackluster game.

In other words, the price of a ticket could increase $2-$3 when Tim Lincecum is pitching.

Normally, this would be the non-local link of interest ... but I have a feeling that this is something all MLB teams - including the Reds - will explore.

• No Bengals named to the Pro Bowl, but T.J. Houshmandzadeh was named a second alternate. He responded by saying, "That's OK. I'll go next year. I'll go next year wherever I am." Nice and subtle.

• Watch out, UC: Virginia Tech's curfew during a six-night stay in south Florida will be midnight. "We're not going to be there to get drunk and party, we're going to win the Orange Bowl," senior defensive end Orion Martin said.

• Former UC Bearcat Kenyon Martin is talking about his new lips tattoo on yahoo.com.

• Non-local link of interest: Not sports related either. I just found it fascinating that this guy is making a legitimate attempt to pay a traffic ticket with rolls of pennies and they refused to accept them.

This and that

2008-12-15T16:10:00.001-05:00

• If you're a Bengals fan and you're kind of ho-hum about Sunday's defeat of Washington because the team is still 2-11-1 and you figure we're just hurting our draft position at this point, I think you'll enjoy the win a little bit more once you start reading some of the OMG-what-a-devastating-loss coverage coming from D.C. today. Jason Reid's got some great lines in his Redskins' Playoff Hopes All but Gone With Loss to Bengals piece, including, "Disbelief set in along the sideline when they faced a 17-point first-half deficit against the NFL's least-productive offense ..." and "Although the Redskins mathematically still are in the hunt for an NFC wild-card berth, qualifying for the postseason no longer is their focus."

Thomas Boswell writes that Jim Zorn is positive to a fault, suggesting that "a 20-13 loss to the awful "Bungles" that someday may be Exhibit A in the case against him keeping his job." Damn. Gotta feel for Zorn if that's the case, but it's got to be nice for the Bengals to play spoiler.

• So against the NFC East, which people before the season said was a nasty part of a tough schedule that might prevent the Bengals from the playoffs, the Bengals should have beaten the Giants (lost in overtime), lost by 9 in Dallas, tied the Eagles and beat the Redskins.

• The Carson Palmer update is that he may throw in practice this week but he will not play in the Bengals' final two games of the regular season. That's according to the AP, Jay Glazer, et al. Marvin insisted on Sunday that the Bengals haven't ruled out Carson making an appearance before the end of the year. I don't know what that's all about ... I just can't imagine in a million years that he'll play against Cleveland or Kansas City.

• The Enquirer's Ryan Ernst has a good update about Simon Kenton quarterback Chad Lawrence, who suffered a Grade 2 concussion after a scary helmet-to-helmet hit in the first half of Saturday's 48-0 loss to Louisville Trinity in the Class 6A state title game. Sounds like Lawrence will be fine, which is great news.

• In his Week in Hoops column, SI.com's Luke Winn mentions Duke vs. Xavier as one of the reasons this Saturday is "the one day you should care about." Luke says "any self-respecting college hoops fan will have this afternoon cleared on his schedule."

The Muskies are ranked No. 7 in the latest AP and ESPN/USA Today Coaches' Polls. And they're No. 3 in the RPI.

• UK fans may or may not (since he didn't stick around for very long) enjoy the big Rajon Rondo feature on USATODAY.com.

• Non-local link of interest: Just when you think to yourself, "Charles Barkley hasn't done or said anything controversial and asinine lately," the Round Mound of Rebound rears his ugly head.

This and that

2008-12-12T15:04:00.000-05:00

• 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.

This and that

2008-12-11T16:24:00.002-05:00

• Hot Stove: The Reds reportedly have talked to representatives for free-agent outfielders Rocco Baldelli and Juan Rivera, and Walt Jocketty says Pat Burrell's reps contacted him.

I know some fans would love to get Burrell, but I'd say "no thanks" on The Bat and Baldelli and "maybe" to Rivera (if the price is right).

Burrell is Adam Dunn with a little bit less power (Burrell has never hit 40 home runs in a season; Dunn's hit at least 40 in five consecutive seasons). Compare their stats: Burrell over the past three seasons has averaged .254/31/92 with 105 walks and 129 strikeouts. Dunn over the past three seasons has averaged .245/40/100 with 112 walks and 140 strikeouts.

Dunn got traded and had worn out his welcome with many Reds fans. Why would a guy who's statistically (and defensively) pretty much the same player fare any better?

Baldelli is only 26, but there are too many questions about his health with his mitochondrial disorder, which slows muscle recovery and causes severe fatigue. I don't think he can be relied upon to provide the big right-handed bat the Reds need.

Juan Rivera is a little more intriguing because he hit .310/23/85 in 448 at-bats with the Angels in 2006 before he broke his leg (and missed almost all of the 2007 season). But he hit .246/12/45 in 256 at-bats last season and he might be less risky than Baldelli but there's no telling whether he can 1) regain his 2006 form and 2) stay healthy enough to play an entire season.

That being said, I wouldn't mind terribly as long as the Reds didn't overpay for him. He doesn't strike out much at all (but he doesn't walk too much either). His funniest stat: He has nine career stolen bases, but he's been caught stealing 17 times. He made $2.025 last season. The Rays reportedly have expressed interest in Rivera.

• Also: Foxsports.com's Ken Rosenthal is reporting that the Reds have reached a preliminary agreement with 39-year-old lefty Arthur Rhodes on a 2-year, $4 million deal, pending a physical that Rhodes will take Friday.

There's also speculation that the Reds are one of eight or 10 teams who have contacted the Cubs about Mark DeRosa.

News from Rosenthal's blog concerning a couple of former Reds as well as a Cincinnati native: A source says the Diamondbacks are close to signing Felipe Lopez for one year, $3.5 million. The Yankees' proposed deal for Mike Cameron has hit a snag. And relief pitcher Joe Smith (Amelia HS) reportedly is part of a three-team trade (involving J.J. Putz, among others) that will send him to the Indians.

• Kinda fun when SI.com's Don Banks does his Revised NFL Draft. He has the Bengals taking Steve Slaton - can you imagine? Of course, I can't imagine he would've had the kind of season he's having behind the Bengals' offensive line. And Banks does have Rivers going with the 20th pick in the first round to Tampa Bay.

• DDN's Chick Ludwig chatted with the newest Bengal, former Ohio State Buckeye and Indianapolis Colt Mike Doss.

And the first item in his notebook is about Keith Rivers' ongoing recovery/comeback.

• The Bearcats lost to Utah in the first round in both EA Sports' simulated NCAA Football Playoffs and SI.com's Ultimate Playoff, where fans vote. I guess if it's any consolation, Virginia Tech also lost in both, to USC.

The Bearcats are still alive in CBSSports.com's 64-team college football playoff. After beating Wake, UC is preparing for a second-round showdown with Boston College.

• My buddy Luke Winn has Xavier ranked ninth in his Power Rankings. I actually hadn't heard the quote Luke mentions about Kenny Frease wanting to be Xavier's Greg Oden.

• Non-local link of interest: The Las Vegas Wranglers, the ECHL affiliate of the NHL's Calgary Flames, will don prison-style uniforms to pay tribute to recently disgraced Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich on Jan. 30 against the Victoria Salmon Kings.

This and that

2008-12-10T16:20:00.000-05:00

• Freel-for-Hernandez reactions: The lead of the Baltimore Sun's story about yesterday's trade says a lot: The Orioles accomplished one of their primary goals at the winter meetings yesterday, trading catcher Ramon Hernandez.

Later in the story: For Hernandez, whose defense and effort has been questioned the past two seasons, the Orioles got Freel, 32, who plays all three outfield position and second and third base; and minor league infielders Justin Turner and Brandon Waring.

And this quote from Orioles president Andy MacPhail: "This trade was more about Matt Wieters, frankly," MacPhail said. "It had been our goal to make sure we could introduce Matt into the major league scene somewhere over the course of the '09 season, not necessarily to start right away, but we thought he could handle it eventually after a little time in Triple-A possibly under his belt. We knew that would create a situation where we were going to have to split some playing time with him and Ramon, and we knew Ramon wouldn't be happy about that."

Wow. Also worth reading is The Schmuck Stops Here (Peter Schmuck's blog): No love for Ramon, as well as Ramon redux. I found it funny that MLB.com had two videos posted about the trade. In one, Mark Sheldon talked about how frustrated Hernandez was last season in Baltimore and how that affected his play. In the other, Walt Jocketty talks about how acquiring Hernandez gives the Reds a "strong character guy" as he spoke about how well he expects Ramon to provide a veteran presence and handle the Reds' young staff.

So really it's just a matter of whether Ramon leaves his bad attitude in Baltimore and truly looks at this as a fresh start. I'm sure it will help, as is the case with most players, if he starts hitting right away (and doesn't slump too badly, especially at the beginning of the season).

Also, here's some more info from the Sun about the minor-leaguers we gave up.

• Meanwhile: FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal mentions in his MLB winter meetings blog that the Jermaine Dye-to-the-Reds discussions continue at a "moderate" level. He says a Homer-and-another-prospect-for-Dye deal was close before Thanksgiving but one reason it stalled was how much of the $11.5 million Dye is due to earn next year the White Sox would pay.

Rosenthal thinks the Reds might give up on Dye and pursue a Bobby Abreu or Pat Burrell through free agency. Since neither Abreu nor Burrell was offered arbitration, the Reds wouldn't have to give up a pick. And the Reds could sign either one for about what Dye makes.

I'd still love to see them trade young pitching (Homer and somebody) for the Blue Jays' Alex Rios.

• How often do you get to read about the Bengals in the Washington Post? It's not very flattering, though, to those diehards who are trying to stay positive despite the Bengals' 1-11-1 record.

• Steelers-Ravens this Sunday. You'll recall that back in October Ravens linebacker Terrell Suggs said he and his teammates have a bounty out on Hines Ward. Ward told SI.Com's Peter King he's still not worried.

• The DDN's Pete Conrad examines the fate of Miami University's 11 assistant football coaches after Shane Montgomery's resignation.

• In Sports Network's preview of tonight's Xavier-Ohio game, I love this line: The Bobcats are now 4-3 overall this season, but their only other matchup with a ranked opponent to date resulted in a 35-point loss to Louisville. For that reason, Ohio enters today's contest as an enormous underdog.

I was on hand for Sunday's debacle at Freedom Hall, and I'd have to agree. The only compelling reason I can think of for Xavier fans to watch should be to see how Terrell Holloway is doing.

• Non-local link of interest: Arena Football League reportedly to suspend operations for 2009.

This and that

2008-12-09T12:36:00.004-05:00

• A deal that sends outfielder Ryan Freel and minor-league infielders Justin Turner and Brandon Waring to the Orioles for catcher Ramon Hernandez (and at least $1 million in cash) has been finalized.

Quotes from Walt Jocketty:

"It was part of our report from scouts. ... We had scouts who saw him in the past and saw him again this year. They thought there was some level of frustration that he had been experiencing. We talked about it. I did some research with people I know who have had him. I got great reports."

"We do think a change of scenery will help him immensely. We've got a pretty good pitching staff. I think he's a guy who will work well with that staff and develop that staff and have renewed energy."

I would imagine Ryan Hanigan should still get considerable playing time, seeing as how Hernandez has only had more than 500 at-bats in a season once in his 10-year big-league career (he did have 23 homers and 91 RBIs that season). And he's not getting any younger (he'll be 33 in May). He was good for at least .275 for a few years there but his average has dropped a little the past two years (.258 in 2007 and .257 last season). He also threw out just 20 percent of runners last season and led the majors in passed balls with 10.

Baltimore could afford to part with Hernandez because of the emergence of Matt Wieters. Turner and Waring have impressed in the minors and AFL. Both were seventh-round picks. But they were both expendable because one's a second baseman with less potential in the Reds' eyes than Brandon Phillips and the other's a third baseman with less than Juan Francisco.

So it's just a matter of figuring out where to deal solid mid-level prospects. It makes sense that they sent Freel but you just hope they didn't give the Orioles too much for a guy who hit .257 and didn't impress defensively.

• Other Hot Stove rumors du jour: The very end of this MLB.com story by Mark Bowman says a source has indicated the Reds may have interest in Jeff Francoeur.

FoxSports.com's Ken Rosenthal says Marlins outfielder Jeremy Hermida is drawing interest from the Reds, Cubs, Braves and Rays.

And here's MLB.com's latest about Jermaine Dye. White Sox GM Ken Williams apparently is keeping Dye abreast of all developments, telling Dye he hasn't been traded but there has been interest, from the Reds and others.

• The Carson Palmer elbow saga continues. The Enquirer's Dustin Dow does a nice job including all of the Marvin quotes (there were some good ones) as well as a comprehensive timeline in his Surgery not likely for Palmer piece. If you're so tired of the Bengals being secretive about it and Marvin talking out of both sides of his mouth, I'll save you the pain of reading it. Basically, there's still a chance Carson could play in one or all of the Bengals' three remaining games this season. "What football players do is they play football," Marvin said. Wow.

Chick Ludwig's notebook also includes a "for what it's worth" quote from Marvin about how the Bengals would like to have both T.J. and Stacy Andrews back for next year.

• You have to admit, it's a little bit fun to start looking at NFL mock drafts, even this early. NewNFLdraft.com gets it right, they've got the Bengals taking Bama OT Andre Smith. Draftcountdown.com says Buckeyes RB Chris Wells, but they have the Bengals picking fourth. I just don't see how they can take anyone who's not a lineman. FFtoolbox.com and mynfldraft.com: Andre Smith. WalterFootball.com: Ole Miss OT Michael Oher. So basically unless they win their final three games, which isn't going to happen, they should be able to get either Smith or Oher if they don't trade down.

• In Andy Katz's Weekly Watch, his team of the week is Ohio State and one of his "Five places to be this week" (right-hand column) is Cincinnati for Saturday's Crosstown Shootout.

• I can't imagine the Bearcats are thrilled about all of these writers - including FOXSports' Pete Fiutak - saying Virginia Tech and Cincinnati are misfit teams that no one really cares about seeing play. Bad take. I can't imagine Fiutak has even bothered to sit down and watch the Bearcats play.

• Non-local link of interest: CNBC.com has a must-read for those who remember the Billy Ripken Fleer baseball card with "F--- FACE" written on the knob. It's 20 years later, and Ripken finally is talking about what really happened. Good stuff.

This and that

2008-12-08T16:37:00.002-05:00

• Homer Bailey for Jermaine Dye: Hal McCoy's source says it's a done deal and will be announced this week.

MLB.com says it ain't so, quoting Walt Jocketty as saying, "Wrong. It's not even close."

The White Sox also are denying the rumor.

• Also Reds-related: John Fay is reporting that the Giants are interested in Edwin Encarnacion. He cites a reliable source and considers EE the most likely Red to be traded.

So much for acquiring Gerald Laird from the Rangers. Laird has been traded to the Tigers.

And David Weathers has accepted the Reds' arbitration offer.

Interesting development: Remember former Orioles' first-round draft pick Darnell McDonald? Baseball America is reporting that the Reds have signed him.

• Former Reds-related: AZCentral's Nick Piecoro takes a look at why the Diamondbacks didn't offer Adam Dunn arbitration.

• The Lot D's C. Trent is the first to report (as far as I can tell) that it's been determined that Carson Palmer doesn't need elbow surgery.

• 7-0 Xavier has climbed to No. 9 in the latest USA TODAY/ESPN Coaches Top 25. The Muskies play Ohio - who just got blown out by Louisville - on Wednesday and the Crosstown Shootout on Saturday.

• NYTimes.com's Quad Blog speculates that Oklahoma offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson might be a candidate for the Miami University head coaching job.

• Non-local link of interest: Sports Guy this week - Rambling toward Week 14 is a must-read. Hilarious.

This and that

2008-12-05T16:16:00.001-05:00

• In previewing the upcoming Bengals-Colts showdown, IndyStar.com's Phillip B. Wilson writes about how the Bengals' receiver duo may be short-lived, with some quotes from T.J. about how there's no way he and Chad will both return for next year. Best quote might be from former Bengal Keiwan Ratliff, who apparently remains close friends with T.J., about how he's certain the Bengals will tag T.J. Which seems to me like a bad idea, I don't know. Why stick the franchise tag on him? If you want to keep him, give him a deal that will keep him.

• Also from IndyStar, Phil Richards points out that the Colts are at their best when time is short. I just can't see how the Bengals are keep it close against the team.

• Former Cincinnati Mighty Duck (ha, see what I did there) Sean Avery has been suspended 6 games by the NHL for his "sloppy seconds" comment about Elisha Cuthbert that you are familiar with if you're a sports fan even if you don't follow the NHL that closely. The more players and officials talk about Avery, the more it seems like this was really the straw that broke the camel's back, but it still seems bizarre to me that the league would suspend him for this comment. I could see the team suspending him for conduct detrimental, especially if they've had problems with him previously. But you didn't see the NFL suspending Shannon Sharpe and Ray Buchanan when they were going back and forth calling each other names. Baseball players don't get suspended by MLB when they vow revenge for a beanball. I just don't get why commissioner Bettman necessarily needed to get involved. Let the team handle it.

• Lead item in a column by Yahoo!'s Charles Robinson about plenty of bad blood circulating through NFL is about Hines Ward and how much Baltimore's Bart Scott dislikes him. Keith Rivers is mentioned several times.

• Very interesting story on MLB.com about how the Reds, according to Cubs scouting director Tim Wilken, made a bid on Josh Hamilton on a whim.

• And an interesting development as the division rival Cardinals acquire Khalil Greene from San Diego.

No non-local link today.

This and that

2008-12-04T16:06:00.000-05:00

• CBSSports.com's Larry Dobrow took a look at the Reds with his Save This Franchise piece. What stood out for me:

1) He definitely sees the glass as half full
2) He mentions Bill Bray along with Volquez and Cueto among young pitching assets (agreed)
3) He points out that it's pretty impressive to have four of five rotation slots inked at this point (and suggests taking a flyer on a Mark Mulder)
4) He harps on the fact that they gave Cordero too much money
5) He likes EE at third
6) He suggests finding a "big honkin' righty bat" to play left field and mentions Magglio Ordonez, Alex Rios and Jermaine Dye as three candidates, pointing out that the Tigers, Jays and White Sox could all use young pitching
7) He insists the Reds would be making a huge mistake if they got rid of Homer Bailey, unless the price is right (he likes Bailey a lot)
8) He's also a Keppinger fan

Anyway, it's worth reading ... it's a pretty decent assessment, though I'll warn you it's extremely optimistic.

• The Lot D's C. Trent has a good piece about what a disappointing season it's been for Ben Utecht.

• Turfshowtimes.com has a mock draft that has the Bengals taking Mizzou wide receiver Jeremy Maclin with the third pick. That's a head-scratcher. I'm pretty sure the consensus is they need linemen. They have Andre Smith going fourth to Oakland. I think they should probably switch those.

• I was hoping to see a story about UC's 2002 visit to Hawaii, and Bill Koch came through. What a debacle that was.

This and that

2008-12-03T14:05:00.001-05:00

• Apparently I'm not the only one who doesn't think we'll get Kerry Wood in a million years. The Enquirer's John Fay reports that Walt Jocketty sees little chance of signing Wood.

Dallasnews.com's Evan Grant urges Rangers GM Jon Daniels to talk to Walt Jocketty at the winter meetings, only because the Reds figure to be a team that might have interest in Gerald Laird.

Freep.com's Jon Paul Morosi reports the Tigers definitely are interested in Laird.

• Seattle is clamoring for Junior (Moeller HS), sorta. Gotta love the Goldberg quote in this story. "Somebody," he said by phone Tuesday, "is going to get a bargain." Which begs the question, what is a 39-year-old outfielder who hit .249 with 18 home runs last year worth? (I know, he's his agent, and it's his job to say nice things about his client.)

• SI.com's Stewart Mandel (Sycamore HS) has a must-read mailbag today, including items about mid-major respect (for you MAC football fans), Ohio State (for Buckeye fans) and UC's upcoming game with Hawaii (for Bearcats fans).

• Linebacker Victor Hobson is the newest Bengal. Looking to learn more about Hobson, I stumbled across victorhobson.com, which you should definitely check out. I'm not going to just start ripping the Web site, but I do want to point out that the "season" link brings up the 2007 New York Jets' (the last team he played for) regular season schedule, the "register" link provides an opportunity to "join the newsletter" and "get any updates on Victor Hobson," (I would hope his signing with the Bengals yielded a Breaking News newsletter) and his bio includes the following line: "With his charismatic smile and energetic presence, Victor Hobson brings more to the table than could be expected." Pretty outstanding.

One other thing about Hobson (not about his Web site): Earlier in the day, Mike Reiss of the Boston Globe reported that the Patriots recently were in touch with Hobson, but they apparently opted to bring back Rosevelt Colvin instead. So at least one other (pretty good) team was looking at Hobson when the Bengals signed him.

Speaking of linebackers, former UC Bearcat Tyjuan Hagler gets the start against the Bengals with Gary Brackett out.

• The Lot D's C. Trent has the latest on Carson Palmer's plan.

• I did not know that: Why is Xavier hosting Auburn tonight? Auburn agreed to the game in Cincinnati so guard Quantez Robertson (Withrow HS) could play in his hometown. He made the request during his sophomore season. It will be the first time he's played a college game in his hometown, and he's expecting 50 members of his family to attend. He's averaging 7.3 points per game. He played against Xavier's CJ Anderson (Winton Woods HS) in high school. Xavier won 80-57 at Auburn last season.

Also, Ole Miss vs. West Virginia tonight means Andy Kennedy against Bob Huggins.

• Non-local link of interest: On Monday, I said it was local enough because it was the Steelers, but now I'm non-localizing it because I don't have any other non-local links of interest. Anyway, ProFootballTalk.com reports that Ryan Clark won't be fined for the hit on Wes Welker that aroused my ire the other day. Which is garbage, by the way, that he won't be fined.

This and that

2008-12-02T15:57:00.003-05:00

• The Chicago Tribune's Fred Mitchell reports that Dusty Baker intends to give Kerry Wood a call to "see what's up." I'd say that's a longshot. Someone will offer Wood - who's reportedly definitely not going to be back with the Cubs - a lot of money to close. We've got Cordero (unless Dusty thinks we'll trade him) and Wood's not going to be a set-up guy here. Don't get me wrong, I'd be fine with trading Coco and acquiring Wood, if that's part of the larger plan.

• In other bullpen-related Hot Stove developments, the Reds offered Stormy Weathers arbitration and Arthur Rhodes' agent told MLB.com that the Reds have made an offer for the free agent.

Arthur Rhodes is exactly the kind of lefty middle reliever I would expect the Reds to go out and get. If he can pull a rabbit out of his hat and reproduce his impressive 2008 statistics in 2009, he'd be a great acquisition. But he's 39. He didn't pitch in the majors in 2007 and he was 0-5 with a 5.32 ERA with the Phillies in 2006. Remember Rheal Cormier? He was about the same age when he reinvented himself with the Phillies and posted a 1.59 ERA in 43 appearances before the Reds acquired him. That didn't turn out so well.

I realize you need a stopgap with Affeldt gone and Weathers and Lincoln possibly leaving, and Rhodes has proven he can get lefties out, but it's hard to say how much longer he'll be effective. If he had a 0.68 ERA in 25 appearances for the Marlins, why don't they want to bring him back? I guess you could at least expect Rhodes to be as serviceable as Mike Lincoln was last year (after he was out of baseball for the previous three seasons). The difference is Lincoln was signed to a minor-league deal and invited to spring training; Rhodes will get $1.6 million for a year.

• The Mariners have talked to Brian Goldberg about Junior, according to a Seattle Times blog.

• Brian Kelly has been saying all along that he's not going anywhere, but his quotes today have fellow media outlets treating it as breaking news. Worth checking out though, as he did say some pretty nice things about how excited he is about being at UC.

• A couple of items from SI.com: In his ten sophomores ready to break out Seth Davis gives Dayton forward Chris Wright some love and puts UK's Patrick Patterson in the category of "too obvious to be featured here" because of how dominant they were as freshmen.

And Don Banks writes about the coaching carousel, looking at both likely head coaching prospects as well as hot seat rankings. Marvin Lewis continues to move down the list on the hot seat, as he has since Banks started ranking hot-seat coaches several weeks ago. It's hard to believe there are nine head coaches more likely than the coach of the 1-10-1 Bengals to get fired. Even more surprising: Brian Kelly's name appears among the names to know for likely head coaching prospects.

• I was wondering when Bruce Gradkowski was going to get another shot. ESPN's James Walker says the Browns are getting ready to sign him. I like Gradkowski, not just because he's a quarterback from the MAC but I always thought he was solid for the Bucs. I'm not going to pick them to beat the Titans or anything, but he'll be serviceable.

• Instead of the usual non-local link of interest, I've got a non-sports related link of interest to honor the victims of The Who concert at Riverfront Coliseum 29 years ago tomorrow.

This and that

2008-12-01T16:07:00.004-05:00

• Check out the Q&A with Mike Brown from Cincinnati.Com. He had some pretty interesting things to say, and not just because we're hearing from him for the first time in months. I don't want to read too much into the quote about Marvin, but it makes you wonder how much job security he still has. If that's Mike Brown's opinion, I'm surprised Marvin hasn't been fired yet.

Don't know how well this will be received ... it's one of those deals where we can make fun of ourselves but we take offense when an outsider takes the same jabs. The Baltimore Sun's Mike Preston offers a notebook (third item down) where he calls the Bungles the "worst team I've seen in the 21 years I've been covering the NFL." Ouch.

There is proof that not ALL of the Bengals have completely given up. This crossed on the wire a short time ago ...

-----

Safety Marvin White played most of the Cincinnati Bengals' latest loss on a torn knee.

Tests on White's right knee found that he tore the anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments in the first half of a 34-3 loss to Baltimore on Sunday. White didn't realize the severity of the injury and stayed in the game.

Coach Marvin Lewis said on Monday that the test results were surprising, given the way White played. White was at a hospital on Monday. He'll miss the rest of the season, but is expected to be recovered from surgery by next season.

-----

And in case you missed it, the 49ers cut Ahmad Brooks over the weekend.

• Two plays that I saw Sunday (during the few minutes I got to watch aside from Bengals-Ravens) ticked me off. Ryan Clark's hit on Wes Welker in the third quarter of the Steelers-Pats game was dirty - helmet-to-helmet and completely unnecessary. He did get flagged and will hopefully get fined. He destroyed Welker (who did not return) for no good reason. Have to disagree with SI.com's Andrew Perloff, who said he enjoyed it. Local relevance: It's the Steelers.

The other play wasn't quite as vicious, but it angered me because it was the most blatant late hit that didn't draw a flag that I've ever seen. On Sunday Night Football, Adewale Ogunleye knocked Gus Frerotte to the ground about 4 seconds after he threw it. I don't know how referee Bill Leavy could have possibly missed it. Frerotte was livid. TwinCities.com's Tom Powers wrote about Frerotte's impressive effort after one of the worst roughing-the-passer non-calls I've ever seen.

• By the way, I didn't realize until last night how many Vikings have some sort of tie. Frerotte, Madieu Williams, Leslie Frazier obviously spent time with the Bengals. Ray Edwards went to Woodward HS. Antoine Winfield was a Buckeye. Chester Taylor played in the MAC. Did I forget anyone? Maybe they can pick up Ahmad Brooks.

• The Lot D's C. Trent has some solid quotes from Brian Kelly, including some about a Seattle Times report that he'll interview for the Washington job this week.

SI.com's Stewart Mandel (Sycamore HS) still has UC meeting BC in the Orange Bowl, Ohio State playing Texas in the Fiesta Bowl and Kentucky-Tulsa in the Liberty Bowl in his latest bowl projections.

• Must-see video: Mardy Gilyard on palestra.net talking about how UC is no longer Ohio State's little brother. Pretty strong words. It'd be a bigger deal if they were going to play each other, though.

• The Enquirer's John Fay talked to Walt Jocketty about the possibility of acquiring Jermaine Dye. But several other teams apparently have expressed interest as well. And the Chicago Tribune's Mark Gonzales reported over the weekend that his source says a deal involving Dye and the Reds is complicated by financial matters.

• Non-local link of interest: Someone had asked me about a complete list of free agents. Check out Sporting News Today's free agent watch.

This and that

2008-11-26T12:52:00.002-05:00

• In case you missed it: Carson will start throwing again on Dec. 7, and they'll go from there. Good quotes from Carson about how he'd REALLY like to avoid surgery.

• I like that Mark Curnutte kept the Q&A session with Chad about his being deactivated as the back-and-forth Q&A for what he filed about Chad this afternoon ... it definitely worked well in this case. Especially the part where Chad's reminded that the biggest story of the season has been Carson's elbow.

• You've got to wonder whether Shaun Alexander will catch on anywhere else after he got cut by Washington.

And speaking of Cincinnati-area products, Ray Edwards (Woodward HS) sounded off about his $25,000 fine for two plays considered unnecessary roughness.

• Injury news: Stinks for UC that Mike Mickens is out for two weeks (games they should win anyway) and it really stinks for X that Terrell Holloway will miss 2-4 weeks with a stress fracture in his foot.

• UC press: Sporting News offers a 'party crashers' tale of the tape about UC and Oregon State.

And The News Record's Bo Jessee has a nice piece about Dominick Goodman. I've never been a UC fan, but I always pull for guys I got to see play in high school, like Goodman, Tony Pike, Terrill Byrd, et al. Anyway, I agree with the Kerry Coombs quote in this article: Goodman is good enough to play at the next level.

• Impressive recruiting effort by Xavier, based on everything I've heard, now that they've received a signed National Letter of Intent from 6-6 guard/forward Kevin Parrom of South Kent (Conn.) Prep.

"Kevin Parrom is a versatile wing player that can play a number of different positions in our program," said Miller. "With the impending departures of seniors C.J. Anderson and B.J. Raymond, finding this type of player was our top priority in the 2009 class. We are very excited about Kevin's ability to contribute to our program on the basketball court. We are equally excited about his ability as a student and who he is as a person. He is a great fit into our University and our basketball program."

Parrom was listed very high by all of the recruiting services. He was the number 16 small forward (number 74 overall and a four-star recruit) by scout.com, the number 19 small forward (number 84 overall and a four-star recruit) by rivals.com and the number 20 small forward (number 83 overall) by ESPN.com.

"Xavier only signed one player in the fall but they struck gold with Kevin," said Paul Biancardi, ESPN National Director of Recruiting for High School and College Basketball. "He will make an immediate impact and that’s quite a statement about Kevin because he is entering a high-level, top-notch college basketball program."

• Non-local link of interest: Great piece by Rivals.com's Bob McClellan about the futility of Northwestern basketball.

This and that

2008-11-24T08:15:00.003-05:00

A few observations about Xavier's big 63-58 win against No. 13 Memphis in Puerto Rico:

• Terrell Holloway (Harmony Prep) was 10-for-10 from the free-throw line. After he was 10-10 against Mizzou on Thursday. And he's a freshman.

• What's scary about the fact that Xavier won is they only shot 36 percent from the field. They only got 2 points from their best player (Derrick Brown). And they were only 2-of-14 from 3-point range. They didn't hit a three (in nine attempts) in the entire second half.

• Jamel McLean had a great game, especially in the first half. Jason Love had 12 huge rebounds.

• I wasn't overly impressed with Memphis, and it's pretty clear they were ranked a little bit too high. They lost a lot with the departure of Rose, CDR and Dorsey. But Sean Miller has got to be pleased with Xavier's defensive effort when the Muskies hold a team like Memphis to 32.7 percent from the field.

Update: The 5-0 Musketeers are ranked No. 16 in the new AP Top 25.

• Peter King's Monday Morning QB includes several Bengals mentions if you have a half-hour to read it. The highlights: First few paragraphs about Big Ben, Quote of the Week III from T.J. (about how the Bengals are 1-8 with Chad and 0-1 without him), Factoids of the Week about Dick LeBeau and a couple of the 10 Things I think I think (one about Carson Palmer, the other about how the Bengals shouldn't in a million years bring Chad back for 2009).

• From ProFootballTalk.com: Joey Porter being Joey Porter. What a piece of work. As you know, news about a linebacker who plays for the Dolphins usually wouldn't appear on this blog (unless it was the non-local link of interest), but I get away with it in this instance because of the incident where Porter punched Bengals lineman Levi Jones at a Vegas casino.

And speaking of former Steelers, ProFootballTalk stands behind its report that the Browns are talking to Bill Cowher.

• My buddy Stewart Mandel (Sycamore HS) gives Brian Kelly some love in his Five Things We Learned This Weekend.

Mike DeCourcy also gives Kelly love in the Sporting News.

Speaking of UC, ranked No. 16 in the latest AP Top 25, the Bearcats are one of just two Big East teams who still have a shot at the BCS bid. UConn is eliminated from title contention after last night's 17-13 loss to South Florida. And the only way WVU can steal it away from UC is if the Mountaineers win out (at Pitt and home against South Florida) and the Bearcats lose to Syracuse. Highly unlikely. In fact, the Backyard Brawl (WVU-Pitt) is Friday night, so the Bearcats actually could clinch the Big East title with a Pitt win.

ESPN has revised its bowl projections. Now Mark Schlabach has Virginia Tech playing UC in the Orange Bowl, and Bruce Feldman has the Bearcats facing Florida State (also in the Orange Bowl). Both experts have Georgia and Ohio State meeting in the Capital One bowl.

SI.com (Stewart) has the same Capital One matchup, but he predicts a Boston College-UC Orange Bowl.

• RedReporter.com just posted a nice analysis of what happened to Aaron Harang and what's in store for him.

And A name from the really-not-too-distant Reds' past: the Phillies have hired Pete Mackanin as their new bench coach.

• Boston Globe's Chad Finn writes about how the Red Sox actually might be shopping David Ortiz to avoid having to cram four high-quality everyday players - Ortiz, Mark Teixeira, Kevin Youkilis (Sycamore HS) and Mike Lowell - into third base, first base and DH.

I think they'd be much more likely to deal Lowell, while he's still got some value, and I wouldn't be surprised if the Reds pursued a guy like Lowell if they decide they're looking to replace and/or move Edwin Encarnacion.

• Non-local link of interest: Deadspin has an item called When Blogs Go Too Far?: Yahoo! NBA Writer Calls Blogger After Perceived Threat that's pretty disturbing about a Cleveland Cavaliers blogger who says he wants to go "American History X" (the scene with the mouth on the curb if you're familiar with the movie) on Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. I linked to Deadspin instead of this Cavs blog because I'm hoping you'll read the offensive comments on Deadspin (to get the gist) without giving this character a page view he doesn't deserve. I'm all for freedom of speech but I think Amir Panchmatia is out of line on this one.

This and that

2008-11-21T07:56:00.001-05:00

• Xavier does it again: For the second consecutive day in Puerto Rico, the Musketeers were down by seven late in the second half and managed to come from behind for an overtime win. Pretty impressive. Today they did it in very exciting fashion, with Dante Jackson hitting a desperation 3-pointer to beat the buzzer in overtime!

They haven't done it against slouches either. They did it yesterday against a talented Missouri squad, mostly by hitting free throws, and they pulled it off this afternoon against Virginia Tech by hitting some big shots down the stretch in regulation and in overtime.

In today's game, they trailed by as many as eight and were down seven with about four minutes left. Took a couple of huge charges late in regulation. Big shots in overtime from Derrick Brown on a monster dunk (to get the scoring started in the extra period) and Terrell Holloway to give Xavier a 59-58 lead with 37 seconds left. Holloway also drew a big foul with 13 seconds left and knocked down a free throw (but also missed a big one that could've given X the lead). Not that it mattered. Xavier got the ball with 1.9 seconds remaining, down 62-60, and Jackson banked in the desperation heave.

Hopefully they'll avoid digging themselves a hole in Sunday night's final against Memphis or Seton Hall (who play Friday night). No doubt they'll be ranked next week if they win that. I'm guessing they'll be ranked even if they lose Sunday.

Gotta love Holloway (Harmony Prep) and the Muskies getting some love from ESPN in this piece by Dana O'Neil. There will be more where that came from as long as the freshman keeps coming up huge for Xavier late in ballgames.

If you didn't get to watch the game (I listened to it), be sure to watch highlights ... unbelievable shot by Dante Jackson for the game-winner!

• Thoughts on Bengals' loss: Listening to Eric Thomas and Alan Cutler on sports talk on my way in, I agreed with some of the things they were saying about the Bengals' loss in Pittsburgh and disagreed with a couple of others. Here's what I think they were right about ...

- Marvin has GOT to go for it on fourth down, down 13 with 6:50 left in the game. No-brainer. There's absolutely no way I kick the field goal in that situation in Pittsburgh. You're still down two scores!

What I sort of think they were right about ...

- You've got to applaud Anthony Collins and Nate Livings for their tremendous effort. Everyone thought the Steelers' defense was just going to eat these guys alive, and they really held their own. ET and Cutler were ready to pencil them in as starters for 2009. I'm not sure I'd go quite that far just yet. I'd still like to see the Bengals get a big offensive tackle in the first round of the draft. And another lineman in the second.

What I disagreed with ...

- ET was talking about how this could've been a 45-3 game and the Bengals really did play extraordinarily well. He was very impressed with the overall effort. I think they played well for the first quarter. I'm not going to give them an "A" when they went an entire quarter-and-a-half of the second half without a first down. The Bengals didn't sack Ben Roethlisberger - the most-sacked quarterback in the league - once. He had all day to throw. The Bengals had 43 net yards rushing. Limas Sweed tried to gift the Bengals a chance to take the lead or at least tie the game with his bonehead error on the punt return at the end of the first half. They squandered the opportunity. They played pretty well for a quarter. I say leave it at that.

My last thought ...

- How many people were wishing and would have given anything for Santonio Holmes to be Hines Ward when Crocker absolutely destroyed him early in the third quarter. I'm pretty sure I didn't see Holmes the rest of the game.

• Marvin Lewis said Chad will be fined in addition to being deactivated. Not sure how much ... should be a game check, right?

"I don't foresee any more," Lewis said when asked if there would be any more discipline for Chad. "It is behind us. He sees how it had to be rectified."

"Any time a player has something like that occur, he lets his team down," Lewis added. "Everybody (players) understands what I did. Any time you have to sit a player down, it sends a message."

• CBS' Dennis Dodd says Brian Kelly to Tennessee is about to happen.

They're probably going to hire someone soon before they lose any other big time recruits to fellow SEC schools.

• The Arizona Republic reports that Dick Vitale stirred the pot by saying the University of Arizona should have hired former Hoosiers head coach Bob Knight as its interim head coach.

• I may be wrong, but is Trever Miller at least the third player who has been acquired by another team this offseason who Walt Jocketty has said - after the fact - the Reds pursued and almost required? He said it about Coco Crisp (also mentioned in this link from Mark Sheldon) and maybe Matt Holliday? Seems like there was someone else.

• Non-local link of interest: My buddy Luke Winn wrote a strong piece after hanging out with Southern Illinois in advance of the Salukis' showdown with Duke last night in the 2K Sports College Hoops Classic at Madison Square Garden.

This and that

2008-11-20T11:45:00.002-05:00

• If it wasn't bad enough that the Bengals will be without starting offensive linemen, the team has announced that Chad won't play against the Steelers because he violated an undisclosed team rule. Spokesman Jack Brennan said the team would have no additional comment about Chad until after the game.

NFL.com's Adam Schefter reports that Chad got into a fight with someone in the Bengals' organization Wednesday night and left a team function.

Bengals play-by-play announcer Brad Johansen said Chad told him he overslept for an 8:30 p.m. meeting.

ESPN's Chris Mortensen reported that Chad was 45 minutes late to the meeting and, according to a story on ESPN.com, "He and coach Marvin Lewis then got into a verbal disagreement," and Chad was sent home.

Anyway, if Chris Henry moves into Chad's spot, who's their No. 3 receiver? Chatman is out for the year. Jerome Simpson is still hurt. Which leaves Andre Caldwell, who's nursing a foot injury, and Glenn Holt.

Overall, five starters are among nine players listed as 'out'. Make that six with Chad out. Could be ugly.

• All that being said, I wouldn't be at all surprised if the Steelers covered the spread tonight. Not that I'm in any hurry to put a bet on a Steelers' game as the fallout from Sunday's debacle continues (to some extent ... nothing brand new just people still cursing referee Scott Green).

And Big Ben apparently is not afraid to heave it deep.

• Walt Jocketty apparently had a few interesting things to say Wednesday. Said we were close to acquiring Coco Crisp (who was traded to the Royals). Said he was a little surprised that Affeldt was so quick to sign with the Giants. Said we're still talking to Weathers, Lincoln and Hairston. And he acknowledged that adding bullpen help is a new focus with Affeldt's departure and the possibility that Weathers and/or Lincoln won't return.

Nothing too stunning, aside from getting us thinking about how Coco Crisp would've looked in an outfield with Jay Bruce and Dickerson/Freel/Hopper.

• Speaking of Jocketty, DDN's Hal McCoy writes about how good he and Castellini were to Special Assistant to the General Manager Squeaky Parker.

• Mike Griffith of GoVolsXtra and the Knoxville News-Sentinel reports that Brian Kelly is the leading candidate for Tennessee's head coaching job, according to a source within the program.

• ESPN.com's Brian Bennett has a UC-Pitt preview from the Pitt perspective. Turns out their players are pretty excited about the possibility of playing in a BCS bowl too, even if a lot of their fans aren't (Pitt returned 1,700 of the 3,000 tickets UC sent).

• Non-local link of interest: I don't follow golf very closely, but I have to admit I'm pretty fascinated by this J.P. Hayes story. If you're not familiar, Hayes disqualified himself from the second stage of a PGA Tour qualifying tournament after inadvertently playing with a nonconforming golf ball. ESPN's Jason Sobel points out that self-imposed penalities aren't that uncommon in golf.

This and that

2008-11-19T16:23:00.001-05:00

Pretty Steelers-heavy, I realize, but it is Steelers' (short) week ...

• Nate Livings and Anthony Collins likely will form the left side of the Bengals' line tomorrow night against the No. 1 ranked defense in the league. Yikes. Livings is a free agent who's been on the practice squad for three years and has never been active for a game. He's confident though. Good quote from him in Geoff Hobson's article on Bengals.com.

• The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review's Scott Brown talked to Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin, who said he "cut down on the mileage that we put on the wheels as we prepare" because of the short week, pointed out that "both teams are dealing with the short week," and agreed that his defense can be considered great.

• Hines Ward links: ProFootballTalk.com's Mike Florio points out that just because Hines Ward's hits are clean doesn't mean he's not an ass. Ward remains unapologetic, insists it's football and you've got to keep your head on a swivel, and says he's not worried about the possibility of revenge. The DDN's Chick Ludwig offers a Q&A with Ward as well as a blog post where he suggests that "you've gotta admire the dude for doing everything in his power to win football games." So with the Florio post and the Ludwig post, you've basically got a point/counterpoint. If you've got any Bengals fan in you and/or you feel bad for Keith Rivers and others Ward has blown up, it's tough to agree with Chick on this one.

• To recognize the anniversary of Sean Taylor's murder, ESPN.com has a package about NFL Security and how safe players are. Big Ben is among those to offer his point of view.

• On SI.com, Baseball Prospectus offers its Hot Stove Preview of the NL Central. Nothing too earth-shattering about the Reds. Needs are shortstop and centerfield. Agree, more so about shortstop (like I said before, Dickerson might be serviceable in center). What are they likely to do? Shop Arroyo, it says, which I think makes some sense. You're still selling high on him after the great second half he had. What should they do? Acquire Milton Bradley (interesting) and try to get Alcides Escobar and whatever else from the Brewers for Arroyo. Which is funny, because my fellow OMGReds contributors who were tired of me shooting down every rumor made me come forward with a player I thought the Reds SHOULD pursue and I said J.J. Hardy, who the Brewers might be more willing to part with BECAUSE they have Escobar.

• Little known fact about new Mariners skipper Don Wakamatsu: He was an 11th round pick of the Cincinnati Reds in the 1985 draft. The Reds released him in 1989. Talk about the definition of a career minor-leaguer. He caught 18 games for the White Sox in 1991 and that's it as far as MLB experience.

• Non-local link of the day: Milan Simon Tuttle, a 5-year-old girl, puts on a dribbling exhibition that makes a pro jealous. Crazy video.

This and that

2008-11-18T14:28:00.002-05:00

• Kevin Youkilis (Sycamore HS, UC) finished third in American League MVP voting. Which is unbelievable. He even (deservedly) got a couple of first-place votes. To think that this kid was just the younger son/brother of my Knothole coach/teammate who used to hang around at practice and ask if he could take a few cuts after we all had hit.

• On the Lot D, C. Trent has some great quotes from Hines Ward, who claims, among other things, that he wasn't able to get a hold of Keith Rivers.

• Speaking of this week's Bengals opponent: The NFL won't acknowledge what a disaster the end of the Steelers-Chargers game Sunday (with the Polamalu touchdown that was ruled not a touchdown before the league admitted it should've counted) has become because it didn't affect the actual outcome, but it really is pretty messed up that the Steelers would've covered and all of those people lost all that money. The New York Post's Steve Serby adds insult to injury by pointing out that the blown call may lead to tiebreaker issues, which would be pretty outstanding. And the Washington Post's Mark Maske has a story about how the league may modify rules on instant replay as a result. By the way, the Steelers apparently weren't happy about the officiating in general.

• Last week's Bengals opponent: CBS' Pete Prisco rips the Eagles for tying the Bengals in his Prisco Grades: Week 11. A Rumors and Rants contributor points out that Philly's love-hate relationship with Donovan McNabb is just annoying. I'd have to agree. Some of his throws on Sunday were ugly, but he's still one of the 10 or 12 best quarterbacks in the league.

• The Giants are pretty excited and getting serious praise (from ESPN, et al.) for signing Jeremy Affeldt to a two-year, $8 million deal.

FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal also has a couple of items in a notebook about Ken Griffey Jr.: one about Junior's wife telling him he can sign anywhere he wants to and the other about Junior's knee (with quotes from Tim Kremcheck).

And speaking of former Reds, Sports Illustrated's Pablo S. Torre makes a case for Josh Hamilton as Sportsman of the Year.

• Thought it was cool that Toledo native B.J. Raymond had a great game against the Rockets in Xavier's 81-65 win. Unbelievable second half from Tyrone Kent, BTW ... it's not every day you see a guy drop 32 points in a half.

• Non-local link of the day: ESPN has a very interesting story about Jonestown founder/leader Jim Jones' grandson, Rob, who is the best high school basketball player in the Bay Area. The mass suicide at Jonestown happened on this date in 1978.

Pick 'em up

2008-11-17T15:58:00.000-05:00

I know I'm looking for every edge I can find to push my hovering-right-around-.500-fantasy-squads into the playoffs and I'm sure some of you are too. So here's an abbreviated pick 'em up: players (currently owned by 30% or less in Yahoo! leagues) you should consider plugging and playing Week 12 (if they're still available).

TE Dustin Keller, Jets (owned by 30%): I have to start a tight end in three out of four leagues, and this guy has been as good as any for the past two weeks. I know, I know, what about the first nine weeks of the season where he didn't do anything? Keep in mind he's a rookie, and it's taken a few weeks for him to establish himself as Favre's favorite target. But look at his thrown-to numbers for the past five weeks: 3, 5, 5, 7, 10. Steady improvement. 6-107 in Week 10, 8-87 in Week 11. That's better production than you're getting out of Dallas Clark, Antonio Gates, Owen Daniels, Jason Witten, et al.

WR Justin Gage, Titans (owned by 28%): He's very inconsistent, but how many other receivers that are available in 72 percent of leagues have three touchdown catches in the past two weeks. Kerry Collins appears to be targeting his receivers more over the past couple of weeks.

RB Peyton Hillis, Broncos (owned by 21%): I guess people are still shying away because he's a converted fullback, they've been through so many other guys to get to him, they picked up Tatum Bell and/or he hasn't been piling up huge rushing totals. But over the past three weeks, only 11 players in the league have earned more fantasy points than Hillis. He's obviously not going to get the 116 receiving yards he had Week 9 in every game, but he'll keep getting touchdowns until Bell possibly takes over and/or Selvin Young returns (which won't be anytime soon, believe me, I own him, and I've been waiting). And Denver plays Oakland this weekend.

QB Shaun Hill, 49ers (owned by 9%): 201 yards per game, 5 touchdowns (plus a rushing TD), 2 interceptions in three games. And he actually posted very similar numbers in three games last season. Hey, he's better than Daunte Culpepper.

RB Antonio Pittman, Rams (owned by 7%): 14 carries, 95 yards last week. And Stephen Jackson is out again this week.

RB Pierre Thomas, Saints (owned by 15%): Same deal. Big week last week (16-88 with a TD, 4-56 receiving) and Reggie Bush sounds like he's still out. Only difference with Thomas is Deuce McAllister is going to steal some carries.

This and that

2008-11-17T14:01:00.001-05:00

• Six takes on the Bengals' climbing/falling to 1-8-1 for the season:

Paul Daugherty: Here's to, uhhh, not losing. This is as close to a "Why on earth did they stop throwing it to T.J.?" take as I was hoping to find first thing this morning.

DDN's Chick Ludwig: Defense dominates in first tie since '02. Includes the quote from Donovan McNabb about how he didn't know a game could end in a tie. Wow. Really?

philly.com's Rich Hofmann: NFL overtime rules? Don't ask McNabb. Teaser on the front of philly.com reads as follows:

The fact that Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb turned over the ball four times in a game for the first time since 2003 will be slowly forgotten. This will always be remembered, though, as the day McNabb admitted to not knowing that an NFL game could end in a tie.

Exactly.

Philly Inquirer's Ashley Fox: McNabb's reign likely is over. Ouch. McNabb really didn't play well. You couldn't even tell who he was throwing to on some of those. But isn't he having a pretty good year? I have a feeling that as disappointed as Bengals fans are over Sunday's outcome, they're taking it much harder in Philadelphia.

Ludwig: Crocker comes up big at the safety spot. Yeah, the defense, despite allowing a ton of passing yardage, really did play so well that it's a shame they didn't win.

Bengals.com's Geoff Hobson: Offensive woes persist. Indeed.

• Did anyone hear (ESPN play-by-play guy) Sean McDonough absolutely ripping Brian Kelly at the end of the UC-Louisville game Saturday? Wow. Apparently there was a pre-game dispute between Kelly and Louisville head coach Steve Kragthorpe over a prayer the Bearcats gathered for at midfield where they joined hands in a circle around the Cardinal emblem (which they evidently do before every game and even invited Louisville players to participate).

Kragthorpe claimed the Bearcats were disrespecting Louisville by surrounding the emblem. So he came out and started arguing with Kelly. Maybe to fire his team up, as Chris Spielman suggested.

After the game, Kelly headed over to shake Kragthorpe's hand and saw that Kragthorpe had turned and trotted off the field in the other direction (not seen on TV). Kelly gestured at Kragthorpe in disgust - which was seen by the television audience - and McDonough ripped Kelly. Kragthorpe did meet with Kelly to shake his hand at the post-game press conference.

• You've got to love Kelly's quote - from the UC-Louisville post-game conference - about the upcoming UC-Pitt game.

"I think it (Saturday-Pitt) is the biggest game in school history," Kelly said. "There's no question about that. If that place doesn't have 500,000 people in it, I'm going to be pissed. I'm going to be pissed because we've done everything to elevate this football program. If you can't support us next week, there's nothing else we can do. We've won, we've been consistent. It's now time for our fans to show up. They've been good, but it should be the hardest ticket to get in Cincinnati."

• Kelly gets some serious love from the New York Times.

• And finally: FOX Sports considers dream matchups and nightmare matchups for each of the BCS bowls. Their nightmare matchup for the Orange Bowl: Any 8-4 ACC team vs. Cincinnati or Ball State.

My buddy Stewart Mandel (Sycamore HS) has Maryland-UC as his projected Orange Bowl. He just doesn't call it a nightmare.

ESPN has a couple of different projections: Mark Schlabach says Maryland-UC; Bruce Feldman says Miami (FL)-UC.

• Nice feature in the Boston Globe about Holy Cross quarterback Dominic Randolph, who was a backup to Rob Schoenhoft at St. X.

Non-local link of interest: None. Instead, I'll provide a little bit of the unsolicited fantasy football advice I've been promising. See next post.

This and that

2008-11-14T15:30:00.001-05:00

• Jason Whitlock names his 10 best and 10 worst NFL coaches of the 2008 season so far, and Marvin appears on the bad list. Whitlock blames Marvin for creating the Chad Johnson situation and for allowing Chad and T.J. Houshmandzadeh to take over the Bengals the way Randy Moss and Cris Carter once did the Vikings.

• In case you missed it, WhoDeyRevolution's Project Mayhem Task No. 3 is a complete boycott of Bengals merchandise and concessions.

As far as this Sunday, ProFootballTalk.com reports that the Eagles are getting healthy. Not good for the Bengals. You at least want Brian Westbrook to say he's banged up, as usual, right?

• Hot Stove: In Jayson Stark's Time to check the shopping lists, he has Mark Mulder as the free agent who could top the Reds' list. He says a veteran starting pitcher is what they need.

All I know is he would have to accept a lot less money than he made in 2008 ($7 million). The Reds don't need to be paying that much money for a guy who pitched less than 2 innings last season.

Also, in ESPN Insider-only content (not linked), Stark said the Reds are investigating whether there's a market for Bronson Arroyo and says Texas might be interested.

I actually could see Arroyo getting shipped to the Rangers as part of a deal to bring a catcher here.

Sounds like J.J. Hardy is available, according to Ken Rosenthal. Wouldn't mind seeing the Reds pursue him.

• Most Baseball Prospectus stuff also is for subscribers' only, but they do reveal the Reds Top 11 Prospects, with Yonder Alonso topping the list as a five-star prospect and Todd Frazier and Drew Stubbs rated as four-star prospects.

• Herb Sendek, who was a head coach at Miami University and an assistant under Rick Pitino at Kentucky, got a national letter of intent from guard Trent Lockett, who says he'll attend Arizona State and he's also expected to land Ruslan Pateev, a 7-foot, 240-pound center at Montverde Academy in Florida.

Herb's former team, by the way, had a very strong effort against a stacked UCLA team last night.

• I gave my buddy Stewart a hard time for picking Louisville to beat UC tonight. I don't see it ... Cardinals have been downright lousy the past two weeks. Check out Eric Wood if you tune into tonight's game though. Louisville's center is a Cincinnati native who attended Elder High School, and he might be the best center in the country and the first drafted. Think about whether you'd like to see the Bengals take him near the top of the second round.

• Non-local link of the day: Not sports-related, in fact. An old summer camp friend, Joel Levinson, was on Jay Leno the other night, and The New York Times wrote a feature about him last month. Give it a read, and tell me it doesn't make you think about doing the same thing Joel did and just start entering these contests.

This and that

2008-11-13T13:39:00.003-05:00

• Hot stove: Freep.com's Agent: Tigers looking at Darren Oliver mentions that Detroit also has contacted representatives for David Weathers, among others. Weathers told MLB.com Wednesday he's flipped the page and doesn't expect to return to Cincinnati.

Jerry Hairston, on the other hand, is grateful the Reds gave him a chance, and MLB.com reports Hairston will see what he's worth but is open to returning to Cincinnati.

MLB.com reports that Ned Colletti is not trying to deal Russell Martin, a catcher many fans would love to see the Reds pursue.

As a note at the conclusion of World Series champ Manuel finishes behind Cubs' Piniella for NL Manager of Year, philly.com's David Murphy mentions that former Reds GM Wayne Krivsky is interviewing with the Phillies. He'd be an assistant to GM Ruben Amaro, who fired his assistant last week.

And Ken Griffey, Jr. Named New Spokesperson for Power Ice.

• Also, redsminorleagues.com offers a Yonder Alonso update, about how he's impressing in the Hawaiian Winter League and hit a walk-off in the 10th Wednesday night.

• More from philly.com?: That's right. Believed to be the first Pick 6 post with two different links from your favorite site about all things Philadelphia. Ashley Fox writes about how Chad Johnson credits Donovan McNabb for his attitude adjustment, just in time for the upcoming Bengals-Eagles showdown.

• Chick Ludwig's notebook is again worth reading, with good quotes from Marvin on Carson Palmer and Antwan Odom on having no regrets about leaving the Titans (9-0) for the Bengals (1-8).

Odom's probably going to miss Sunday's game against the Eagles, BTW.

• Good story from ProFootballTalk.com about how former Bengal Gus Frerotte is disputing a report by FOX's Pam Oliver that Frerotte's teammates were tuning him out as he tried to encourage them during Sunday's Packers-Vikings game.

• Brian Kelly said Wednesday night that Dustin Grutza will not be the No. 2 quarterback Friday night against Louisville because he's not ready. Chazz Anderson will be the backup to Tony Pike.

Also, I've noticed ESPN.com's Brian Bennett likes to blog about the Bearcats (he does live in Louisville). Check out his latest, Cincinnati inching toward 'big-time' status. And he also offers a primer on how UC and others could win the Big East title.

• Non-local link of the day: Luke Winn's Hoops Ideology Report on SI.com is pretty fascinating and definitely worth reading, though I didn't see any specific references to Xavier, Miami or UC (though Andy Kennedy and Herb Sendek are mentioned), which is why it's the non-local link.

This and that

2008-11-12T12:53:00.001-05:00

• Rockies trade rumors: FoxSports.com reported that the Reds are interested in three Colorado Rockies: center fielder Willy Taveras, catcher Yorvit Torrealba and third baseman Garrett Atkins.

Walt Jocketty confirmed the two clubs had talked.

"We've let clubs know our position. We're looking for catching, center field, shortstop and a right-handed RBI guy," Jocketty said.

So you could see how the rumor started if it's not true.

The Rocky Mountain News says the Reds are not at all interested in Taveras or Torrealba, only inquiring about Atkins.

If that's the case, that would be a huge relief. Willy Taveras' on-base percentage was .308 and his slugging percentage was .296, lowest among players who qualified for the batting title. I really don't think we want to replace Corey Patterson - one of the worst centerfielders in Reds' history (based on his stats last season) - with someone who doesn't get on much more often. Taveras had 68 stolen bases last year, but you can't steal first.

I don't think Torrealba is the answer at catcher. He's a backup. And the Rocky Mountain News points out that the Reds would prefer a left-handed-hitting catcher (also one who's not arbitration eligible) to complement Ryan Hanigan.

I also explained yesterday that I'd hate to see them give up a lot for Atkins, for that matter. I'm not too worried, though, considering three other teams (Phillies, Angels and Twins) reportedly are pursuing Atkins.

By the way, have you seen how pathetic the free-agent centerfielder market is this offseason? Wow. Put it this way: Corey Patterson is mentioned among the cream of the crop. Barring a blockbuster trade, I really wouldn't have a problem with running Chris Dickerson out there in the spring. He was impressive enough in 2008 that he deserves a shot.

• Also from Denver, NFL.com was right: The Broncos brought back Tatum Bell. You'll recall Bell was accused of stealing Rudi Johnson's bags when Rudi replaced him on the Lions' roster earlier this season.

• Good piece from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette about what exactly is wrong with Big Ben. Not local, you say? Come on, he went to Miami and the Steelers are in the AFC North. Roethlisberger stories are fair game.

• More love for MU: Feature from the Dayton Daily News about Tyler Dierkers, a local kid (Moeller) entering his senior year as a RedHawk.

• More love for the DDN: In his notebook, Chick Ludwig's got a good item about Bengals rookie Jerome Simpson. I think even though the Bengals have had a lot of really lousy draft picks in the past and we've come to expect even first- and second-round picks to not amount to anything, it's important to continue to keep track of these guys and not just let them disappear and steal paychecks.

• ESPN's Sports Guy ranks the Bengals 27th and mention Ryan Fitzpatrick, Gus Johnson's call of the win against Jacksonville and former Bengal Gus Frerotte (make sure you read the Minnesota Vikings' entry ... great take). Anyway, Bill Simmons' powerful glimpse into the future and ranking of all 32 NFL teams is so much more entertaining than National NFL writer's weekly Power Rankings.

• Non-local link of the day: For some clown to omit Lea Thompson from "All the Right Moves" from his Hottest Ladies in Sports Movies (That Actually Had Legit Roles) list is more than just a minor oversight. Pretty egregious, don't you think?

This and that

2008-11-11T13:40:00.002-05:00

• With Matt Holliday reportedly off the table and headed to Oakland, Paul Daugherty seems to think they should get Garrett Atkins. But he seems to me too similar to the types of guys the Reds have acquired in the past. Had a great season three years ago and maybe he can recapture that. Atkins has had more than 600 at-bats for the past three seasons, so his health hasn't been an issue. His production has fallen off from .329-29-120 in 2006 to .301-25-111 in 2007 to .286-21-99 this past year, but .286 is still respectable, right? Better than Encarnacion's .251. But look at what Atkins' walk and strikeout numbers have done. In his outstanding 2006, he walked (79) more than he struck out (76). 67 walks and 96 strikeouts in 2007. 40 walks and 100 strikeouts last year. That's a big difference in two years. You have to wonder what's going on to cause that, especially for a guy who in theory is supposed to be hitting his stride at 28. I'm not sure the Reds can justify spending a ton of money on a guy who might not be that much of an upgrade. And who knows, as Daugherty mentions, how inflated his numbers are because of Coors.

• Joey Votto finishes second in NLROY voting. No surprise ... a couple of things did strike me. I saw a couple of comments - including one in particular on CBS Sportsline that stirred debate - about how Votto's rookie campaign can't even be compared to Soto's because Soto is a catcher who proved much more valuable to his team, and the commentor suggested that the "complete idiot" who did cast his first-place vote for Votto instead of Soto should have credentials revoked. Good statistical comparison in ccman2007's reply to the comment, which shows Votto actually posted better numbers, including 12 points higher in batting average. I think it's more than a little absurd to call the guy who gave Votto the first-place vote a complete idiot. I don't see it.

Also, I find it hilarious in a sad way that Edinson Volquez - who wasn't eligible - finished better than Jay Bruce in voting. Do your homework! SI.com's Gennaro Filice had a good blog post about it.

• NFL.com's Adam Schefter reports that the Broncos are so desperate at running back that they're considering signing Tatum Bell after watching him work out on Tuesday. Relation to Cincinnati: That's right, Bell was accused of stealing former Bengal Rudi Johnson's bags when Rudi replaced him on the Lions' roster.

• Marvin Lewis is named worst NFL coach in ProFootballTalk.com's mid-season (sort of) awards. No Bengals on the squad, either.

• WhoDeyRevolution's Project Mayhem Task #2: Support 'Hire a General Manger' Billboards apparently starts today. Have a look. Pretty comical.

• Ohio State at No. 8 and UC at No. 23 in Stewart Mandel's (Sycamore HS) College Football Power Rankings this week. And in the introduction leading up to the rankings, he explains why he's got the Buckeyes ranked higher than Utah. He's pretty excited about the Bearcats, by the way. He was asking me yesterday how many fans would make the trip to the Orange Bowl if they do manage to win out.

• Non-local link of the day: R.I.P., Herb Score.

Youk

2008-11-10T15:04:00.001-05:00

I can't imagine he'll win, but at least my buddy John Donovan will be voting for Kevin Youkilis (Sycamore HS, University of Cincinati) for American League MVP. And John actually gets to vote now too, as he was among the first small wave of Internet writers to be admitted as a member of the BBWAA in 2008. With no head-and-shoulders candidate, Youk would get my vote too ... he had an outstanding season. And he did win the Hank Aaron award.

This and that

2008-11-07T16:49:00.001-05:00

• The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Chuck Finder wrote a must-read feature about Mardy Gilyard and Garrett Monroe (my 7-year-old next-door neighbor who Gilyard hugged after steamrolling him during the South Florida game last Thursday). Finder got some great quotes from Gilyard about what went down.

• Latest on Brian Kelly: ESPN.com's Chris Low says Kelly is among four candidates on Tennessee's preliminary list. Interestingly, Michigan State head coach (former UC head coach) Mark Dantonio and former Ohio coordinator Troy Calhoun are among "some of the other names that could end up on the Vols' list."

• Newsy blog post from John Fay about what Walt Jocketty told him at the General Managers Meetings. Apparently the Reds won't be pursuing Khalil Greene.

• NEW YORK - The NFL fined Jacksonville Jaguars defensive tackle John Henderson and Cincinnati Bengals guard Andrew Whitworth on Friday for fighting during Sunday's game.

Henderson and Whitworth exchanged punches after Henderson knocked off Whitworth's helmet, then appeared to try to gouge his eyes. Both players were penalized and ejected Sunday. They were fined $10,000 apiece on Friday.

"I just pushed him past the quarterback, and he fell to the ground," Whitworth said. "But he held onto my facemask and ripped my helmet off. I turned to go back to the play, and the next thing I knew, I felt him grabbing at my eyeballs. I really didn't know what to do when someone's fingers are trying to dig into my eyes."

• Non-local links of the day: Facebook proves to be problematic for Texas backup center Buck Burnette as well as New England Patriots cheerleader Caitlin Davis.

This and that

2008-11-06T15:04:00.001-05:00

• Congrats to Brandon Phillips, the Reds' first Gold Glove winner since 2000. Reds.com has a story about Dusty Baker shooting down any speculation that Phillips will be moved from second base to shortstop.

• If you watched Ball State-Northern Illinois last night on ESPN2, you got to see Dante Love - the Cardinals' leading receiver (at the time) who suffered a spinal injury in a game earlier this season against Indiana - walk to midfield with teammates for the coin toss. Great stuff. Having seen and talked to Love when he was a quarterback at Withrow, I got a little choked up in a good way. Rece Davis also interviewed him at halftime. Mike Lopresti wrote a nice column about Love.

• Sporting News had a head-to-head about who should replace Phil Fulmer at Tennessee. Matt Hayes' pick is Brian Kelly. A popular UT site listed Kelly among its Top 10 candidates to replace Fulmer (though I can't find the list on the site anymore, which is why it's not linked). Kelly, of course, continues to insist that he's not leaving UC, but I think there are plenty of UC fans who realize it would be tough for him to turn down a Tennessee if they decide that Kelly is their guy.

• Check out ESPN.com's Survey says - ding! - Bengals fans fed up. Before you skip this one because of the no-duh headline, there are some fairly surprising results (even if they only asked 100 fans) as far as who is most to blame and who should be traded and/or re-signed.

• Jack Del Rio has been on quite a rampage since the Jaguars fell to 3-5 with Sunday's loss to the Bengals. ESPN.com has the latest about linebacker Mike Peterson getting called out during a meeting and sent home, allegedly for responding. Sources say Del Rio criticized Peterson for celebrating a sack of Ryan Fitzpatrick with the Jaguars trailing 21-3 in the third quarter. Peterson defended himself, Del Rio didn't like what he heard and didn't want to engage in a back-and-forth and he either sent Peterson on his way or Peterson left (depending on who you ask).

Anyway, the point is things are pretty ugly all of a sudden for the Jaguars and Del Rio. This is the type of thing that could snowball for Del Rio, especially if the Jags fall out of playoff contention. And it a lot of it apparently has to do with a disappointing loss to the black and orange.

• From DDN's Chick Ludwig: Andrew Whitworth is expected to learn Friday how much he'll be fined for his fight with John Henderson.

• Non-local link of the day: Great piece from ESPN.com about Bryan Pata's murder. A must-read if you have a few minutes.

This and that

2008-11-05T15:57:00.001-05:00

• Bengals.com's Geoff Hobson has a newsy first item in his notebook, entitled Palmer, Lewis think 8-8, that reveals that a) a decision on whether Carson Palmer will return this year is getting closer and b) some of the Bengals are talking about the possibility of ending up 8-8. Which, by the way, is not going to happen with their schedule. But Carson hasn't been ruled out of the Eagles game yet, which is fairly encouraging.

• From MLB.com's Hot Stove Report, Padres put Green on trade block. Mentions that the Reds, Orioles and Tigers are among those who have reportedly inquired about Greene. And I'm hearing a lot of discussion about Greene on sports talk. Part of the reason they might be trying to unload him is because they've filed a grievance seeking to reclaim part of his 2008 salary because his injury was self-inflicted (he punched a storage chest at PETCO Park).

He is a former first-round pick, and he's strong defensively. He does have pop (27 home runs in 2007), but so does Alex Gonzalez. I just don't know how badly you can want a guy who hit .213 last year in 389 at-bats and has never hit better than .254. He doesn't walk much either, so his on-base percentage is never good. Doesn't steal bases. I don't know, I'd just hate to see the Reds give much up for him.

• SI.com's Jon Heyman brings up the Reds again in his Texas has glut of catchers, looking to trade post.

• MLB's Hot Stove blog mentions a report that Walt Jocketty chatted with Yankees GM Brian Cashman Monday morning for about a half-hour on the back porch of the golf resort site where the GM meetings are being held in Dana Point, Calif.

• Also, would anyone be surprised if Jim Bowden went after Adam Dunn?

• CBSSports.com's Gary Parrish is reporting that sophomore guard Jai Lucas is leaving Florida. Kentucky fans will recall that Lucas almost went to UK instead of Florida in the first place and he's tight with Patrick Patterson. He might be thinking about heading to Lexington, especially if Patterson is considering sticking around after this year.

• UC's Mike Mickens and OSU's Malcolm Jenkins are both among semifinalists for the Jim Thorpe Award.

• Non-local link of the day: Real Sports segment (from YouTube) about Barack Obama's love for basketball.

This and that

2008-11-04T16:27:00.001-05:00

• Local coaching legend resigns: After 36 years as a varsity head basketball coach, Lakota West's Mike Mueller announced he's stepping down, effective immediately.

You won't get it in the release on Lakota's Web site, but you'll see some of it in the comments field of Tom Groeschen's blog post. Some will question the timing of Mueller's resignation, because the school didn't have time (practice begins Monday) to find a replacement other than Mueller's son, Scott, who was named interim head coach. Not that Scott's not deserving ... you just wonder if it went down this way so that Mueller would pretty much guarantee that his son would get a shot at becoming the school's head coach. Surprising news, nonetheless.

• Good info too from Groeschen about a potential Elder-Colerain showdown if both schools win their regional semifinal games this Saturday. That'll happen, by the way, barring a fairly stunning upset, and it sounds like it would be played at Nippert.

• Haven't seen much of interest as far as the Bengals, probably because it's their bye week. Chick Ludwig's got a decent notebook, including Houshmandzadeh not-at-all surprisingly defending Andrew Whitworth's actions.

• CBS' Lesley Visser is the latest to write a column about Sam Wyche's pursuit of a County Council set in South Carolina.

• Big games for ex-Bearcats: Among former UC players who had big-time efforts in the NFL's Week 9: The Eagles' Brent Celek had six catches for 131 yards in a 26-7 win against Seattle; the Colts' Tyjuan Hagler had 9 tackles in Indianapolis' 18-15 win against New England (the link is to a feature last week in the Indy Star about Hagler) and the Steelers' Andre Frazier had a huge blocked punt during Monday night's win at Washington (buried undeservedly in the story ... it was a game-changing play).

• Following Miami RedHawk football has been pretty painful this year, but for those who haven't given up hope, here's the Dayton Daily News' preview of tonight's game against Buffalo (on ESPN2).

• Non-local link of the day: Written by a local guy, but otherwise not very local (aside from Ohio State appearance, and they're not even in his Top 10). Stewart Mandel's College Football Power Rankings. Stewart's alma mater, Northwestern, cracks the rankings, by the way ... and guess who they host on Saturday? A loss in Evanston would certainly end any hope of the Buckeyes getting a BCS bowl.

This and that

2008-10-31T09:35:00.004-04:00

• Hopefully you were either watching the UC-USF game last night or you saw the top of SportsCenter. Here's the background info ... Mardy Gilyard plowed into a 7-year-old boy just beyond the end zone. The boy was crying and appeared to be injured (shaken up at the very least). Gilyard took off his helmet and picked up the boy and held him to make sure he was OK. Erin Andrews interviewed the boy a couple of minutes later, asked him about Gilyard's gesture, his sudden celebrity status, what he was going to be for Halloween, etc. Get this, the 7-year-old ... Garrett Monroe ... is my next-door neighbor!

Haven't seen the clip on YouTube yet ... I've seen it mentioned on message boards this morning, mostly about what a great guy Gilyard is for showing such concern. ESPN.com's game story has video highlights embedded, including a replay and a shortened version of Andrews' interview with Garrett.

I'll be talking to Garrett tonight in Liberty Township and will add any additional details to the blog. I definitely want to ask him how he feels a day later (poor guy's got to be sore!) and who told him to take his Ohio State hat off for the ESPN interview, among other things.

• ESPN.com's Brian Bennett offers post-game analysis, mostly about the Bearcats' impressive quarterback play in the upset.

• Speaking of UC, the Pistons signed Jason Maxiell to a 4-year extension worth $20 million.

• Mariners general manager Jack Zduriencik gave the "we can't comment on any specific free agent at this time" line, but I don't think anyone would be surprised if Seattle brought Junior back.

The Arizona Republic points out that Adam Dunn hasn't filed for free agency yet, but adds that Dunn "was never expected to be more than a rental."

And yet another former Red, Wily Mo Pena, picked up his own option for 2009 after the Nationals declined a $5 million club option.

• KansasCity.com has a quick item about a New York Times story (I couldn't find, hence the link to KansasCity.com about the story) about a recent survey of players asked which coach they'd most like to play for and least like to play for and the best and worst organizations to be part of. Marvin isn't one of the five coaches on either list, but the Bengals were voted one of the five worst organizations.

• ESPN.com's Kevin Seifert wrote about Nightmare scenarios: Whom (and what) NFL players fear, which includes a section about Hines Ward and his crackbacks.

• Non-local link of the day: Non-local because Jimmy Traina's list of the five biggest No. 1 draft pick busts does NOT include Ki-Jana Carter.

This and that

2008-10-30T15:07:00.001-04:00

• I'm glad Jaguars head coach Jack Del Rio considers Sunday's showdown with the Bengals a putt. I sure wish a reporter who heard that quote would've asked, "So Jack, is that like a two-foot putt, or more like a three-footer."

• T.J. is making national headlines with his guarantee that the Bengals will win at least two games because he took it a step further and promised to walk 25.4 miles from his house in Cerritos, Calif., to the NFL Network studios in Culver City. Busy interstate most of the way, apparently. I understand that he expects a win in the home game against Kansas City in the season finale, but I just don't see the other slam-dunk win out of the other seven games. I mean, they're an 8-point underdog at home against Jacksonville! I don't see a game on the rest of their schedule (other than the Chiefs game) where they're going to be any less of an underdog (when the point spread will be less than 8). Browns? I just think I'd have a couple of specific games in mind before I made a 2-win guarantee and vowed to walk 25.4 miles along busy interstate if it didn't happen.

• Quote from another Bengals receiver that's not making quite the same headlines but a newsworthy quote nonetheless: The second item in Mark Curnutte's notebook is something Chad said about how Marvin hasn't lost the team. "The first person he would have lost is me."

• Also, Chad denied a ProFootballTalk.com report that he had an Obama sign hidden in each of the end zones in Houston. If it were Kevin Walter, we would've had a couple of opportunities to find out but since it was Chad (or if it would've been any Bengal for that matter), I guess we'll never know. Maybe he brought them home and we'll find out on Sunday. Yes, he does only have two touchdowns so far this season, but if you look at the numbers in a glass-half-full way he has scored in two of the Bengals' three home games.

• Funny Nick Bakay column about how lousy his fantasy squad is. Would qualify as my non-local link of the day but I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that he refers to the receiver mentioned in the previous item as Chad Ocho Stinko.

• Nobody wants to see someone (especially on their own team) get hurt and miss the rest of the season (at least I don't), but news of Dexter Jackson's season-ending injury will at least keep the Dexter Jackson bashers/blamers quiet for awhile.

• NFL.com's Adam Schefter is also reporting that the Colts' Marlin Jackson is out for the season with a torn ACL (not Cincinnati-related, I know, wait for it). Tim Jennings is expected to replace Jackson at cornerback (wait for it) and the Colts may re-sign former Bengal Keiwan Ratliff (there it is) to replace Jackson on the roster.

• This edition is dominated by NFL ... I'm having a tough time finding anything Reds-related ... MLB.com has a nice piece about Robert Manuel, a relief pitcher you may not have heard of (I hadn't) but should become familiar with.

• I'll be curious to see whether the Bearcats can bounce back after losing 40-16 at UConn in a game Brian Kelly said, basically, was much more closely contested than the final indicated.

Sports Network: Bulls and Bearcats duke it out
AP: Cincinnati readies 4 QBs for No. 24 South Florida
GoBearcats.com: Football returns home for BLACKOUT

• Non-local link of the day: From ProFootballTalk.com, Singletary shows his ass, literally

This and that

2008-10-29T15:47:00.001-04:00

• I saw on the ticker last night during the Marshall-Houston game (What? What else was on?) that SI.com was reporting that Ken Griffey Jr. won't be back with the Chicago White Sox. Looked everywhere for the story and finally found it buried in Jon Heyman's Daily Scoop.

That deal, by the way, looks better and better for the Reds, of course. It remains to be seen whether Nick Masset and Danny Richar amount to anything - they're both still young. But the ChiSox really didn't get THAT much out of Junior. He had a couple of nice plays (baserunning, fielding) but he struck out five times in 10 postseason at-bats.

• In other Reds news, MLB.com's Mark Sheldon reports that Todd Frazier continues to rake in the Hawaii Winter Baseball League.

• Bengals.com has a story about Keith Rivers talking for the first time about the hit from Hines Ward. "What goes around comes around," Rivers said, and it wasn't in this story but he apparently also said, "You reap what you sow." His jaw will be wired shut for seven more weeks.

• A few numbers: Jacksonville is an 8-point favorite on the road, according to most lines I've seen. The Jags allow 230.6 passing yards/game, ranking 22nd in the league. They allow 108 rushing yards/game, 17th in the NFL. They score 20.1 points/game, 20th in the league (Bengals are dead last, by the way, with 13 points/game). Jags aren't penalized very much, 22nd most in the league. In other words, they're pretty average. They've actually been decent on the road, with big wins at Indy and at Denver. They're 1-3 at home. David Garrard isn't having quite as good a year as last year (6 TDs, 4 INTs ... last year he had 18 TDs and 3 INTs). Maurice Jones-Drew has been disappointing for the most part - he's had two 100+-yard efforts but he hasn't had more than 32 rushing yards in any of his other five games this season.

Just some numbers. The way I see it, it's the type of team the Bengals could surprise if they play like they did, say, against the Giants. I wouldn't be stunned if it's Cincinnati's first win, but I wouldn't pick it straight up if I were betting with your money. It's an 0-8 team that pretty much looks worse every week against a team that hopes to be in the hunt for a wild-card berth in the AFC.

• The Enquirer's Dustin Dow takes a look at Xavier's potential starting lineup with the same asterisk that it could change if Jordan Crawford is deemed eligible. Dow says local product Terrell Holloway (Harmony Community School) is expected to start at point guard.

• Non-local link of the day: This Isiah Thomas thing isn't going to go away anytime soon, and Thomas is taking it on the chin yet again.

This and that

2008-10-28T13:10:00.001-04:00

• In a first, Game 5 of the World Series was suspended and will resume tonight, a 2-2 tie in the sixth inning. Here are some of the more interesting takes (in no particular order) I've read about it (BTW, World Series gets an exemption from the self-imposed "This and That" everything-has-to-be-somehow-Cincinnati-area-related rule) ...

• CBS' Scott Miller: Selig dodges firestorm thanks to Pena's game-tying single
• CBS' Danny Knobler: Philly ace Hamels takes washout in stride
• Yahoo!'s Jeff Passan: Baseball’s crown event is beyond repair
• SI.com's Cliff Corcoran: Previewing World Series Game 5.5
• ESPN's Gene Wojciechowski: Selig made correct call in suspending Game 5
• MLB.com's Bryan Hoch: MLB monitoring weather forecast

Oh, and Joe Maddon still isn't sure about the stain on Joe Blanton's cap.

Hopefully those will hold you over until they are ready to resume Game 5.

• SportsLine's MLB Trade Rumors blog mentions the Reds' Jeremy Affeldt as a possible free agent bargain. Newsday.com seems to think the Mets might be considering Affeldt (among "slim pickings").

• Very interesting: The latest Jake Peavy rumor (according to chicagotribune.com, at least) has him going to the Cubs, maybe even for Fukudome. Is this Cincinnati-related, you ask, aside from having to do with an NL Central rival of the Reds? Yes, as it also examines the possibility of the Cubs acquiring Adam Dunn, who no longer plays for the Reds but used to.

• No surprise: In a poll of head coaches and media, Xavier is picked to win the A-10. Muskies received 44 of the 61 first-place votes. UD was picked third, BTW.

Derrick Brown makes preseason first team, C.J. Anderson makes third team and Terrell Holloway, Mark Lyons and Kenny Frease named to the preseason All-Rookie team. Here's a link to the complete A-10 preseaon honors and predictions. And here's a link to a new feature on Xavier's official site about Brown.

• Stewart Mandel (Sycamore HS) sent me a link to his acting debut in SI Tour Guy: Ohio State, which I'd argue Buckeye fans and non-Buckeye fans alike will enjoy.

• New York Times has an interesting piece about how Penn State played it safe with quarterback Daryll Clark in the win in Columbus Saturday night.

• I found it surprising that Gary Pinkel might actually be considering leaving Mizzou for Washington. Related to Cincinnati how? Pinkel played at Kent State and coached at Toledo, both MAC rivals of Miami. OK, so that's a stretch.

• NFL.com's Thomas George offers the latest of several recent features about former Bengal great Reggie Williams and the infection in his surgically repaired knee that could lead to amputation. Great piece by George, and thanks to Dan for sending me the link.

• Non-local link of the day (thanks for the free pass on the Gary Pinkel link): If it's any consolation for the Bengals, there is another team going through the same thing right now. Lions head coach Rod Marinelli is doing the "losing is a disease" talk (from "The Natural," right?) and center Dominic Raiola is saying it's hard to even go anywhere.

This and that - Mostly baseball edition

2008-10-27T15:17:00.001-04:00

• Philly.com has a good story about Joe Maddon's inquiry into a substance resembling pine tar on Joe Blanton's hat.

• Those fans who dream about the Reds going after Rockies outfielder Matt Holliday haven't had their fantasy quashed yet. The New York Post reports that the left fielder is officially available. And while we're dreaming, maybe they can add John Smoltz for the second half in 2009. You've got to love it, by the way, when your agent says stuff about your career that's news to you.

• More baseball: The Marlins are reportedly talking trade, but they're apparently not wanting to part with former (briefly) Red Jorge Cantu. I maintain that the Reds letting Cantu walk is the least-talked-about-most-significant-oversight they've made in recent memory. I never hear it mentioned on sports talk radio and I have no idea why.

• Apparently the Reds are one of few teams NOT bidding for the services of A.J. Burnett. NL Central rivals Milwaukee, St. Louis and Houston are among those mentioned in a Boston.com piece that also provides a decent overview of some of the players who will likely make a move this offseason.

• Good sider by the Dayton Daily News' Chick Ludwig about the tag football play involving Kevin Walter and Johnathan Joseph that had everyone talking.

• Non-local link of the day: Must-see YouTube video - from C. Trent's blog on Lot D - of a FOX Sports reporter interviewing Mike Singletary on the sideline. OMG.

ESPN: Carson out for season

2008-10-25T01:18:00.002-04:00

As reported earlier, Marvin Lewis has indicated that Carson Palmer will likely miss the Bengals next two games.

But ESPN's Chris Mortensen is reporting that sources told him Palmer has a "frayed" ligament in his right elbow and most likely will not play for the rest of the 2008 season.

According to Mortensen, Palmer's injury is to a part of his ulnar collateral ligament, a condition treatable by "Tommy John" ligament-replacement surgery. Mortensen reported that Palmer wants to wait "around two months" to decide if surgery is the best option.

• Link to Mortensen's report
• Quarterback Carson Palmer isn't helping himself or the Bengals by waiting to have possible surgery on his elbow, writes ESPN.com's James Walker.

This and that

2008-10-23T16:46:00.001-04:00

• SI.com's Don Banks offers Coaches on the Hot Seat: October and points out that Marvin Lewis went from No. 3 on the hot seat rankings after Week 2 (and the two guys ranked higher than him at the time have since been fired, by the way) to No. 5 in the most recent rankings. He cites "some extenuating circumstances," including Carson's injury, distractions at receiver and now Keith Rivers' injury. He's got the head coach of a 4-3 team and the head coach of a 3-4 team ranked higher than Marvin. I'm getting the impression Don really doesn't think Marvin will get fired anytime soon. Worth reading his analysis though.

• Daunte Culpepper says he wants to come out of retirement, and he says "a number of teams have contacted me since my retirement announcement and have provided some important information ...". I wonder how many teams have contacted him during this season, because the Bengals obviously aren't one of the teams that talked to him during the offseason, when Carson was healthy. I'm just wondering if they've talked to his agent - himself - since Carson got hurt.

• In other riveting Bengals news, Chad will wait until next year to get Ocho Cinco on the back of his jersey so that he doesn't have to pay Reebok.

• And a follow up to the story I posted yesterday about Terrell Suggs saying the Ravens placed a bounty on Hines Ward, SI.com has remarks from Brian Billick about how Suggs made a mistake in making it known that the bounty existed - but that they do exist.

And here's a story about the Steelers' reaction to the bounty talk.

• Suggs is having a tough time keeping his mouth shut, by the way. He told an Atlanta radio station Troy Smith should be starting at QB instead of Joe Flacco.

• Boston Globe's Tony Massarotti expects the Red Sox to trade Mike Lowell if they can acquire Mark Teixeira, in which case they'd move our man Youk (former Sycamore HS, UC star) back to third base. Or if they can't get Teixeira, they might deal for the Rockies' Garrett Atkins, which would keep Youk at first.

• And the New York Post says the Yankees may be looking to acquire former Red Mike Cameron.

• The Enquirer's John Johnston wrote a must-read feature about Sycamore running back Bud Golden and why his father hated football for years.

• Non-local link of the day: Texas Tech contest winner may kick this week.

This and that

2008-10-22T14:23:00.001-04:00

• If Dexter Jackson's attempted retaliation against Hines Ward in the end zone after his late touchdown wasn't enough for you, maybe what Terrell Suggs wants to do to Ward will be.

• DDN's Carlos "Big C" Holmes writes about whether Ohio State's Beanie Wells or Michigan State's Javon Ringer (who went to Chaminade-Julienne High School) would look better in a Bengals uniform. But be sure to read the comments afterwards ... apparently there are just a few fans who think it would be a huge mistake for the Bengals to draft a running back with the first overall pick.

• No love for Derrick Brown or Deonta Vaughn or anything, but here are Sportsline's preseason All-Americans. (In case you missed it, Vaughn was named preseason Big East first team.)

• Former Reds and current Nationals GM Jim Bowden had skin cancer, but what makes this Washington Post story interesting is that doctors recommended surgery within a month and he ignored the advice, which he now acknowledges was a bad decision.

• Walt Jocketty says the Reds have opened negotiations with agents for David Weathers and Jerry Hairston Jr.

Also, Mark Sheldon's mailbag includes a question many fans have considered ever since the Reds acquired Micah Owings from the Diamondbacks.

• Top non-local link? Yahoo! ranks the Rayhawks.

This and that

2008-10-21T16:21:00.002-04:00

• Breaking: NFL.com's Adam Schefter reports the league will not fine Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward.

Schefter reported that the league reviewed replays of the hit and determined no fine should be issued.

• SI.com's Don Banks writes about the one team that has a real shot to finish 0-16, and it's actually not the Bengals. But in an item later in the column, he mentions Fitzpatrick among the No. 2 quarterbacks who lost on Sunday.

• Bengals.com Geoff Hobson takes a step back and shares some observations ... it's pretty glass-half-full, which can take away credibility when you're talking about a team that's 0-7, but he brings up a few pretty good points.

• Roster moves today: Guard signed from Redskins' practice squad, Rayner released (so Shayne Graham must be close to 100 percent).

• One of the Reds' division rivals won't have Mark Mulder back next year. That Dan Haren deal is looking very lopsided now.

• The most outstanding players in MLB this past season according to the players: a former Red and a Reds-killer.

• FYI: ESPN's College GameDay will be in Columbus for Penn State-Ohio State this weekend.

• Nice feature on daytondailynews.com about Greg Orton, a receiver who went to Huber Heights Wayne (which always plays a Cincinnati-area team in the first round of the playoffs) and is turning heads at Purdue.

• Non-local link of the day: Stewart Mandel's follow-up on the referee who threw the forearm shiver in the South Carolina-LSU game, which includes a couple of different YouTube videos if you haven't seen it yet.

This and that

2008-10-20T15:39:00.001-04:00

• A couple of Peter King's Ten Things I Think I Think from MMQB are a defense of Hines Ward's hit on Keith Rivers and doubt that Carson Palmer's elbow will be better anytime soon. Worth reading.

• Not much in the way of Reds' hot stove league action lately, but the New York Post's Joel Sherman has an item in his Hardball column about Russell Martin being a surprise name on the trade market and mentions the Reds as one of several teams looking for catching. If the Reds were to add Martin, that would be pretty outstanding, but I'm not holding my breath.

• The Oregonian's Jason Quick has a blog post about Greg Oden's reaction when he was told his performance during the preseason has been underwhelming.

• Buckeye fans also shouldn't miss Pat Forde's column about Terrelle Pryor.

• My friend Stewart Mandel offers his take on Lou Holtz's Adolf Hitler comment.

• Bill Koch has a nice Brian Kelly quote on his blog about how UC hasn't beaten anybody and doesn't deserve to be ranked yet.

• I haven't been reading Page 2 lately, but Bill Simmons' latest features a look at just how bad the Bengals are and a hilarious item about Cris Collinsworth.

• Finally: Fantasy-wise, I know I've slacked. I'm supposed to be posting fantasy advice/observations in addition to This & That, but it's been a while. All I can do is promise to be more diligent about my fantasy contributions and, in the meantime, share a link to the latest from ESPN.com's Talented Mr. Roto, whose By The Numbers includes the following:

1,000,000: Number of times it seemed that I looked up and saw Ryan Fitzpatrick get sacked.

Number of receptions each by T.J. Houshmandzadeh and Chad Johnson. There are actually signs of life in Cincy. I thought Fitzpatrick looked OK at times, and both receivers are decent buy-low options.

When you think it can't get worse ...

2008-10-19T21:16:00.002-04:00

As if it weren't bad enough that the Bengals fell to 0-7 with a 28-point loss at home against Pittsburgh, Marvin Lewis says Keith Rivers suffered a broken jaw during the first quarter and will miss the rest of the season.

If you watched the game, you know exactly what happened. Rivers got his clock absolutely cleaned on a blind-side hit by Hines Ward. The link above is to ESPN, and it includes a couple of quotes from Brandon Johnson and Chinedum Ndukwe where they explain exactly how they feel about Ward' hit. Ndukwe even suggests there may be revenge sought. Bengals.com's version has a longer quote from Ward (defending himself and why he shouldn't be fined) in addition to a quote from Chad.

The DDN's Tom Archdeacon wrote a column about the play with quotes from Ward. Also, here's a little analysis (from what appears to be a Steelers fan with a blog) with YouTube video of the hit and some speculation as to whether Ward will be fined. You may recall he was fined $15K by the league just last week for two separate infractions, which aroused the ire of Mike Tomlin and Troy Polamalu, among others.

This and that

2008-10-17T16:08:00.001-04:00

Got started on this later in the day than usual, so I might not end up with 16 items or whatever crazy number I had yesterday, but here's what's worth checking out ...

• Our main man Youk (Sycamore High School, UC) scored the game-winning run in the game you hopefully stayed up for (even after it was 7-0 in the 7th) on an erroneous throw by Evan Longoria that was written about on MLB.com. Really, it'll get overlooked and forgotten about (not like Bill Buckner or Bartman or anything) because of the overall, tremendous come-from-behind effort by the Red Sox (and people could assume that after they came all that way to tie the game they were destined to win it anyway) but I'm glad MLB.com at least wrote a story focusing on that play because it really is kind of a big deal.

• LOTS of Bengals' preview stuff in yesterday's post, but I haven't seen a whole lot going on today really. Maybe check out Chick Ludwig's notebook, which leads off with an item about the Steelers replacing the Browns as the Bengals' archrival.

• Bengals made several moves today; Herana-Daze Jones going on the Reserve/Injured list stinks.

• For some reason Peter King says he's very tempted to pick Cincinnati against the Steelers, which I cannot, for the life of me, understand. If I were a betting man, 10 points wouldn't be enough, even at Paul Brown Stadium (which will actually be Heinz Field southwest or whatever they want to call it).

• The Buckeyes gave their athletic director a contract extension. I had no idea he made $600,000 (soon to be $648,000). What was coach Eric Taylor thinking on "Friday Night Lights" when he agreed to take on the duties of the athletic director with no additional compensation? Questionable judgment.

By the way, check out the LA Times' FNL blog for more.

And FNL's Minka Kelly (who's been linked romantically with Derek Jeter) is mentioned in my non-local link of the day, The Top 10 Girlfriend Upgrades of Pro Athletes.

This and that

2008-10-16T14:26:00.001-04:00

• Now it sounds like the Bengals might not have to deal with Willie Parker, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

• C. Trent has a strong Carson Palmer update on his blog.

• Post-gazette.com also has a piece about how Chad thinks his production is down this year because of the way he mouthed off during the offseason. He figures he's being punished. Wow. Really? I can't imagine it has anything to do with his bum shoulder, or the fact that he refuses to block ANYONE (maybe because of the shoulder, I realize), or the fact that he's known to run the wrong routes. I find this just as laughable as some of the ridiculous comments he made during the summer.

• By the way, we might finally see Jerome Simpson and Andre Caldwell this Sunday. Here's the quote from Marvin ...

Lewis said he wants to get "the young guys a little bit more involved - at least get 'em to suit up. It's a good opportunity for them. I think they've been up to the task. They've had good practice weeks thus far, and I know they're excited."

I figure, if these guys are on the sideline Sunday IN UNIFORM, the Bengals have got to have a better chance of beating Pittsburgh, right?

• The Enquirer's Mark Curnutte points out that Roethlisberger is 10-0 in NFL games in the state of Ohio.

• Injury update: T.J. stretched out before practice and then disappeared. Sounds like Shayne Graham is starting to feel better and may play Sunday.

• SI.com's Don Banks writes about a survivability factor for Marvin Lewis and Detroit's Rod Marinelli that makes both of their seats a little cooler than that of the 49ers' Mike Nolan.

• Are you following the Troy Aikman-Boomer Esiason war? You should. This Yahoo! story contains all of the links you should need.

• And news about another former Bengals signal-caller, as Jon Kitna is saying the Lions used his back injury as an excuse to replace him.

• Among his news and notes from around the major leagues, SI's Jon Heyman says it's time for Junior to retire. You'll recall Junior just had knee surgery.

• MLB.com has a strong package about the minor leagues and future Reds, including Lisa Winston's feature about how the organization's farm system is ripe with quality middle infielders, among others.

• Charlie Coles' resilience is something to marvel at.

• TwinCities.com points out that Tubby Smith and his staff are doing quite an impressive job with their recruiting at Minnesota. (Cruise past the first couple of items to get to it.)

• And another former UK-related item: The Celtics will pick up Rondo's option.

• SI.com's 2008 Midseason All-American team includes MU senior punter Jacob Richardson and, on the second team, UC senior punter Kevin Huber, as well as James Laurinaitis and Malcolm Jenkins.

• Jason Whitlock's 10 Truths column wins for non-local link of the day (only because he doesn't specifically mention the Bengals) ... although he does say, "Pittsburgh can't protect Ben Roethlisberger," which would help the Bengals this Sunday if they had a decent pass rush.

This and that

2008-10-15T15:25:00.003-04:00

• C. Trent says the Steelers will likely update Willie Parker's status after today's practice.

• The Bengals' overall rank in SI.com's NFL Stadium Rankings: 27. And only 1.4 percent of readers said Paul Brown is the NFL stadium they'd most like to visit.

• Here's a great link if you're starting to think about high school football playoffs. Drew Pasteur's Ohio Fantastic 50 (computer ranking of the state's top 50 teams, regardless of division) features Elder, Colerain, 4-4 Moeller, Winton Woods, 4-4 St. X, Lakota West, Anderson and Sycamore. But he's only got Colerain, Elder, Woodward, Harrison, Winton Woods, Turpin, Anderson, Kings, Edgewood, Clinton-Massie, Wyoming, Badin, CHCA, Waynesville and Lockland going to the playoffs. He's got odds, predictions, rankings, you name it ... fascinating stuff this time of year.

• The Sporting News has Xavier ranked 19th in their preseason rankings.

• Just when you think Bob Knight has gone away, he's back. Indy Star writes about a TV interview he did where he talks about the possibility of getting back into coaching and, of course, takes a shot at Kelvin Sampson without coming out and saying his name.

• Freep.com has an interesting story about an Ohio State tight end who thinks a two-quarterback system might work best for the Buckeyes and Todd Boeckman should probably get more playing time. Kind of funny that the story's on Freep.com ... maybe they're doing less writing about Michigan because they're so bad. Speaking of Michigan, Deadspin's got a story worth reading about a U of M football player getting into a fight with a U of M hockey player.

• Good for the DDN for doing a solid Javon Ringer piece in advance of the OSU-MSU game. Ringer went to Chaminade-Julienne. This is one of the best storylines related to their upcoming showdown ... it would have been a shame if it had been glossed over.

• Miami fans also know that the DDN does a much better job covering the RedHawks than, say, Cincinnati's daily newspaper. Here's the latest on the team's quarterback situation.

• Favorite non-local link of the day: You've got to love it when your older brother says you deserved to be fired.

• Sean Williams on BBC Radio is also something you've got to watch if you haven't seen it yet.

This and that

2008-10-14T15:45:00.006-04:00

• End-of-the-day breaking news: Redskins sign former Boone County High School star Shaun Alexander.

Also, injury news from ESPN.com:

• Ohio State's Lawrence Wilson is out for the season.

• The Lions are putting former Bengal and current Detroit Lions quarterback Jon Kitna on the season-ending injured reserve.

• Dante Love update: Good news, as the receiver (who played quarterback at Withrow) who suffered a cervical spine fracture Sept. 20 against Indiana left a rehab center in Indy, was back in Cincinnati for a couple of days and is getting ready to return to Muncie.

• Speaking of local products, Packersnews.com has a piece about former Reading High School star DeShawn Wynn getting a second chance with the team.

• In his column that leads off with an item about Tom Brady (in other words, be patient and/or scroll down), my former co-worker Don Banks writes about how it's the offense that's the problem for the Bengals.

• The DDN's Chick Ludwig mentions that Bengals fans are attempting to organize a walkout during the Nov. 16 home game against the Philadelphia Eagles in conjunction with a boycott of Bengals merchandise, souvenirs, season tickets and training camp.

• Ludwig also suggests that Marvin is seriously considering benching Chris Perry.

• AZCentral.com has a piece about extra costs arising as developers build the new Spring Training facility for the Reds and Indians in Goodyear. Uh oh.

• Doesn't sound like the Red Sox will be replacing the Reds in Sarasota. Reds fans who weren't crazy about the way Sarasota treated the Reds when it was time to build a nicer stadium are having a little "take that" chuckle, because the Red Sox would have been a dream come true for Sarasota.

• The Boston Globe's Nick Cafardo has a short item about the possibility of Junior returning to Seattle.

• With the Bengals as bad as they are and nothing doing with the Reds, I figure it's time to start thinking about college hoops. Dustin Dow has a solid blog post about the competition at point guard for Xavier as well as an interesting post about Kevin Parrom, who just gave Xavier a verbal commitment.

• For the few Ohio Bobcat fans in the area who might read this (I know you're not typically acknowledged by the local media for some reason, but ...) I found it interesting that the AJC mentions former Ohio and current Wake Forest head football coach Jim Grobe as a candidate for the Clemson job. (Grobe coached the Bobcats before Brian Knorr.)

• This is my favorite non-local link of the day, only because you'd love to be reading this story over the shoulder of the school administrator who suspended the kid.

This and that

2008-10-13T21:26:00.001-04:00

• The Dayton Dragons announced their 2009 coaching staff on Monday.

Jamie Dismuke, who has served as a hitting coach in the Reds organization for the past nine seasons, will make his managerial debut. Dismuke is 39. He was a first baseman who spent nine years in the minor leagues as a player, including eight years in the Reds organization. Dismuke spent the past five years as the hitting coach for Chattanooga, where he worked with Joey Votto, Jay Bruce, Edwin Encarnacion and Chris Dickerson among others.

Rigo Beltran is the Dragons' new pitching coach. And former Red Todd Benzinger, a former New Richmond High School star who was the first baseman for the 1990 World Champions, will be the team's new hitting coach (when he's not coaching high school basketball).

Here's the DDN's story, with quotes and more info.

• ESPN.com's Jason Grey has an item about former Moeller High School star Andrew Brackman's professional debut in Hawaii. Apparently he looks great after Tommy John surgery and he profiles as a potential front line starter.

Yonder Alonso and Todd Frazier also are off to strong starts for Waikiki in the Hawaii League.

• JungleInsider.com reports that a banner proclaiming "Step Down Mike Brown" will fly over Paul Brown Stadium from 11 a.m. to noon on Sunday, Oct. 19.

• Not only are the Bengals without Carson Palmer as they prepare to host the Steelers, keep in mind that Pittsburgh is healthier coming off a bye week.

• A must-read for those still following the Bengals: Geoff Hobson's in-depth piece about just how bad the Bengals' running game has been.

This and that

2008-10-10T12:58:00.003-04:00

• In case you missed it: Fukudome got traded to the Reds at O'Hare Airport last week. Ouch.

• In its NFL Game Rankings for Week 6, FanNation ranks Bengals-Jets third to last, under the "Only if your other option is yardwork" category. I realize it's because the Bengals are winless, but I don't think it's a good call. I'm actually picking the Bengals (they've got to win sometime, right?) I'm not the only one, by the way. DDN's Chick Ludwig is predicting a Bengals' win.

• By the way, I AM rethinking this prediction if Carson isn't going to start and might not play.

• Yes, I was waiting for this! It's the Brett Favre fondly recalls his debut 16 years ago against the Bengals story.

• Fox Sports' Alex Marvez writes about the latest defensive players to emerge - LaMarr Woodley and James Harrison - under former Bengals head coach Dick LeBeau's watchful eye. Also, Chinedum Ndukwe is the Bengals' emerging player, according to Marvez.

• You've just got to love the headline: Purdue not an open date for Buckeyes. I know you're trying to say that OSU shouldn't expect to steamroll the Boilermakers. But what a backhanded way of saying that. Talk about a slap in the face.

• Detroit's freep.com has a story about how well Mark Dantonio is recruiting in Ohio on the heels of Denicos Allen's oral commitment to Michigan State.

• Favorite non-local link of the day: This guy already has a mock 2009 fantasy baseball draft first round. BTW, Matt Holliday, who many Reds' fans think the team should acquire this offseason, is No. 5.

This and that

2008-10-09T22:39:00.002-04:00

• In case you missed it: Chad admitted he kissed Marvin during Sunday's loss in Dallas.

• In case you missed it, Part II: Dusty Baker is filling in as the coach for his son's 10-and-under traveling tournament team. There's a quote about how it's been a dream of Dusty's to coach his son, but he must not have THAT much faith in Darren's playing ability if he doesn't just want to wait for Darren to reach the bigs. Although by that time Dusty could be in his 70s.

• CBS' Clark Judge mentions two Bengals among his Free agents: The good, the bad and Javon Walker. They're both under "the bad," and he cuts Antwan Odom some slack because of his injury but doesn't mention at all that Ben Utecht - his other bad Bengals free agent signing - has also been banged up. Do your homework, Clark.

• Cincyjungle has a good item about how 50% of the players the Bengals have drafted since 2003 are gone.

This and that

2008-10-08T11:21:00.005-04:00

• In case you missed it: Nice piece about Sycamore High School and UC alum Kevin Youkilis from the Boston Herald over the weekend.

• Another "In case you missed it" about a ballplayer from here: Junior said he's not going to retire and he'd like to return to the White Sox if they want him back.

• So Corey Patterson won't be back next year. John Fay says Paul Bako's out too. Mark Sheldon's mailbag is worth reading if you're thinking about what else the Reds might do during the offseason.

• Charley Casserly writes about the Texans and Bengals needing to keep an upbeat approach. Sound advice, but who are they going to beat? I'm actually surprised they're only a 6-point underdog at the Meadowlands this weekend. Then they play 4-1 Pittsburgh. They could be 0-7 going into that showdown with the Texans (in Houston) Oct. 26. It's pretty bad after that too. Jacksonville, Philadelphia, at Pittsburgh, at Indy (when they likely won't have as many O-line issues) ... I just don't see how they can be positive when they know they're probably going to end up 4-12 or 3-13.

• Tennessean.com mentions Chad as one of the receivers who could be on the market should the Titans decide to go after one. Albert Haynesworth even talks about whether Chad would be a good fit for his team.

• ProFootballTalk.com says there's no truth to the Dayton Daily News report that the 49ers are interested in trading for T.J. Houshmandzadeh. And they slam the DDN (and Dayton, for that matter) pretty hard in doing so. Here's the DDN report from yesterday.

• While you're on ProFootballTalk, check out the piece about Marvin Lewis praising Cedric Benson's work ethic. And they've got my favorite non-local link of the day about the Saints putting that photo of the facemask penalty that wasn't called in Monday night's game on their Web site.

• My buddy Stewart has UC among three teams on the rise in his latest mailbag. And the coach of UC's next opponent, Rutgers, says he overestimated his team's talent. Wow, the Scarlet Knights sure do have a lot of issues right now.

• Another former co-worker at SI.com, John Hollinger, wrote a piece about the Hornets' Prosser connection (Posey, West and Paul) you might enjoy even if you don't follow the NBA.

• If you do follow NBA or you're a big fan of former Buckeyes, J.A. Adande wrote about Greg Oden's preseason debut.

• Elder makes an appearance in the latest USA Today Super 25. Colerain, previously No. 8, dropped out after losing to Middletown Friday.

This and that (mostly Bengals)

2008-10-06T10:02:00.004-04:00

• I'm actually surprised that no one is going out on a limb this morning and saying Marvin will be fired soon. I'm not saying he should be, but when you start 0-5, the writing is on the wall. I'd say the Bengals HAVE to beat the Jets at the Meadowlands this weekend or win at home against the 4-1 Steelers the following week. I think if they lose both games and fall to 0-7, that's when Marvin would be fired. No NFL coaches survive extended losing skids, and keep in mind the Bengals lost four straight after winning their season opener last year.

• This is mostly about the Cowboys (it is from the Dallas Morning News) but I found it interesting because a) it indicates how the Cowboys felt about the game being closer than expected and b) it describes the Bengals as "the best 0-5 team in NFL history, if you believe players and coaches."

• The Fort Worth paper focused on Wade Phillips post-game tirade. The Cowboys' head coach took offense to the following question from the media after the game:

Does all that matter here is the win, when it was a game where you played well in the first quarter, and then pretty much stunk the rest of the way?

BTW, I'd have probably gone off if I were Phillips too. It's OK for Phillips to say the Cowboys stunk, but for a member of the media to say that in asking a question just isn't cool.

• Geoff Hobson wrote about how Cedric Benson looked in the Bengals' loss. Expect to see MUCH more of Benson, by the way, as Chris Perry has proved to be inconsistent, and he's not going to continue to start at halfback if he keeps fumbling the way he has.

• How about Ball State, in the Top 25 for the first time, even without their star receiver, Dante Love of Withrow High School.

This and that

2008-10-02T09:12:00.004-04:00

• As of right now, Carson Palmer is listed as questionable but he says his elbow is getting better and he's expecting to play. Don't you expect him to play though. I think they'd be crazy to risk doing further damage in a game the Bengals have little to no chance of winning. Everyone (medical staff, Marvin, et al.) but Carson is going to want him to rest it for another week, and I think they'll have their way when Sunday arrives.

• Checking out dallasnews.com (Dallas Morning News) for preview stuff and came across this article: "Bengals must control clock, and that starts with Perry." It's not a bad read, I'm just surprised that ... a) Rick Gosselin appears to be giving the Bengals a chance and b) that he's even suggesting that Chris Perry, who might not even play because of a hamstring injury, could have a breakout game at Dallas. I'd maybe instead write about how crazy it would be for Cedric Benson - the only healthy running back the Bengals have right now - to come out of nowhere after missing training camp and a few weeks to rush for 80 yards in his debut with the Bengals ... in a 45-7 loss in Dallas.

RIDICULOUSNESS YOU SHOULD FEEL FREE TO SKIP IF YOU SO CHOOSE

• If you really want to know everything Chad's been saying, here's Mark Curnutte's article from today. If you think it's absurd that he's talking about kissing the star after he scores in Dallas, throwing the kitchen sink at the Cowboys and going out, having a drink and getting in trouble in an attempt to bring back the 2005 (or 2006) magic, move along.

• Adam 'Pacman' Jones offers emotional support to Chris Henry

OK, ENOUGH CRAZY TALK ...

• I haven't heard much discussion of it here, but in the northeast they're talking about whether Carson and the Bengals' offense were picking up inadvertent signals late in the game against the Giants. Pretty interesting stuff.

• Kentucky is on a list of six schools being considered by Derrick Favors, who is ranked as the nation's top basketball prospect by Scout.

• Also from the AJC, here's where Justin Jones is thinking about going now that he's declared he will not be attending UK after all.

• And a bonus (since I can't find any fresh Reds stuff) ... on this date in baseball history ... the Bucky F. Dent game.

Oct. 2, 1978: Bucky Dent's three-run blast over Fenway Park's Green Monster helps Yankees top Red Sox 5-4 in playoff game to decide AL East champion.

The all ex-Reds

2008-10-01T10:37:00.002-04:00

It's time to take a look back at - among other things - how former Reds performed this past season and think about if only they were still Reds. With a position-by-position, I realize there are going to be guys in here who'll make you say, "Come on, that guy was a Red for two months" or "Come on, we traded him years ago, get over it." But there will also be guys on this list - THE MARLINS' JORGE CANTU, FOR INSTANCE - who the Reds are maybe, just maybe wishing they hadn't been so quick to get rid of. Yeah, I know that ends in a preposition, so what? Without further ado ...

Catcher: Slim pickings fortunately ... because we'd really be kicking ourselves if Dane Sardinha, Corky Miller, Jason LaRue or David Ross were tearing it up when we've got Paul Bako's automatic out in our lineup.

First base: Sean Casey, Red Sox. He may not be an everyday player anymore ... and we're in very good shape with Votto at first ... but this guy ends up with solid numbers (.322 in 199 at-bats) no matter how badly he slumps from time to time.

Second base: Felipe Lopez, Cardinals. Slim pickings here, too, and I know, you're thinking he really hasn't done much since the Reds traded him. But he makes this year's squad for hitting .385 in 156 at-bats (including 8-for-12 with 7 runs scored in the final three games of the season against the Reds) since St. Louis acquired him in August.

Shortstop: Brendan Harris, Twins. Actually, he had an even better year last year with the Rays. All I really want to do is point out that this guy who was involved in the infamous Bray/Majewski-Kearns/Lopez deal has become a very solid everyday player ... ever since he left the Reds.

Third base: Cantu. .277, 29 HRs, 95 RBIs. Reds let him walk. I think the Marlins are quite pleased they signed him to a minor-league free agent deal in January. Hard to complain about paying $500,000 for those numbers.

Outfield: Josh Hamilton, Rangers. .304, 32 HRs, 130 RBIs (95 of those at the break). Yes, I love Volquez, too, he had a great year, and I'm not saying anything about the trade here ... but that has nothing to do with Hamilton being an all ex-Red. Heck, he's the MVP.

Outfield: Adam Dunn, Diamondbacks. I know, he only hit .243 after we traded him. But his OBP was .417. With Arizona, he only struck out two more times (44) than he walked (42). That's UNHEARD OF for Dunn.

Outfield: Jose Guillen, Royals A headcase, yes ... but he hit 20 homers for the fifth time in six seasons and he drove in 97 runs.

Starting pitcher: Ryan Dempster, Cubs. 17-6, 2.96 ERA, 187 Ks ... he'll probably finish just ahead of Volquez in Cy Young voting. Career year, without a doubt ... especially compared to the 10-13, 5.38 season he had in 2002 (with the Marlins and Reds) and the 3-7, 6.54 year he had in 2003 as a Red. HONORABLE MENTION: Kyle Lohse, Cardinals.

Relief pitcher: Trevor Hoffman, Padres. He had a disappointing 2008 (for him, though he still ended up with 30 saves), but I think it's important to remember that baseball's all-time saves leader was drafted by the Reds in the 11th round of the 1989 draft (as an infielder, of course).

This and that

2008-10-01T08:19:00.006-04:00

I wasn't going to do a "this and that" for today (I said yesterday I'd be posting my all ex-Reds team and a fantasy piece) but I've got three quick things ...

• Pro Football Central is reporting Marvin Lewis could be fired by week's end. They say they've got sources. Who knows? But it's out there. And I think it's the first such report. They say their source says Mike Brown hasn't decided whether Paul Alexander or Mike Zimmer would be the interim head coach. There you have it. That's all there is to it, by the way, so you don't need to click on the above link unless you really want to give them a page view.

• Still looking for a strong take too about the Bengals signing Cedric Benson. Daugherty or Gregg Doyel or someone has got to be chiming in about this soon, right? Sports talk was fairly entertaining because it was a mix of "I can't believe the Bengals signed this guy" and "Why is it even being mentioned that he got arrested when he's been cleared of all charges?" I don't know, I don't see a problem with mentioning that the guy got arrested when he did get arrested, regardless of the outcomes. It's semantics, really. Only time will tell whether he can keep his nose clean. He probably shouldn't be allowed to hang out with Chris Henry.

Here's a good example of Benson sounding off when he was frustrated last season:

I've been hearing a lot of people criticize and talk stuff. They're not watching the games or the plays. They're just throwing out criticism. Do I need to run with more of a burst? No. And (expletive) them ... I don't appreciate all that criticism coming my way. I can understand if I'm tugging the ball for 18, 20 carries and still getting 50 yards. But what am I doing that's so bad? I don't understand ... I come out on third downs, I have two downs to do something. That's not to say we're going to run it on those two downs.

• On a brighter note, I've been looking for a more in-depth story about Junior's beautiful outfield assist during the White Sox's 1-0 win against Minnesota last night but this is the best I've found. Seriously, that throw was one of the two biggest reasons (along with Thome's home run, obviously) Chicago won the one-game playoff to reach the ALDS.

This and that

2008-09-30T15:55:00.003-04:00

• BREAKING NEWS: Bengals sign Cedric Benson. Wow. They just get more and more indifferent about the whole character issue thing. They can't possibly think this guy's got his act together. And people aren't going to just ignore them and the trouble they get in just because they're lousy. I just don't see how they're far enough removed from needing to improve their image to add the troubled Cedric Benson. Crazy.

• I don't know how much it will realistically help the Bengals, but the Cowboys (Week 5 opponent) are going through a lot right now. Sources say T.O. was upset with Tony Romo after the loss to Washington, and Wade Phillips wasn't happy with Romo either, but for different reasons (calling too many passes.

• Another one bites the dust. So if you're still keeping track on Don Banks' coaches on the hot seat, Marvin would be next.

• Colerain is still No. 8 in the USA Today Super 25. The Cardinals are No. 1 in the Ohio AP poll; Elder is No. 7 after Friday's thrashing of St. X.

• With the Reds not invited to the postseason party yet again, who do you root for? Junior (as long as the White Sox win tonight's playoff)? AL MVP candidate Kevin Youkilis - who went to Sycamore High School and UC - and/or former Red Sean Casey? The Brewers? (For some reason, a few of my friends are pulling for Milwaukee even though the Reds almost spoiled it for them.) The Cubs for Lou Piniella? (Maybe not.) The Rays because they've never been there? I could probably come up with some obscure reason (former Red?) for every team but I won't. Speaking of which, look for my position-by-position all ex-Reds team tomorrow. And I'll try to post a fantasy piece too.

This and that

2008-09-29T15:49:00.002-04:00

• It's too bad Joey Votto won't win the National League Rookie of the Year award (seems like everyone had their heart set on Geovany Soto by the All-Star break because he's a catcher), but I did enjoy reading Richard Skinner's piece about the top-10 rookie performances for Reds since 1970.

• Vote for Joe. The deadline is tomorrow.

• No love for the Bengals. Not even in a list of five teams with the most tortured fans.

• The Washington Post provides an in-depth look at the situation Jim Bowden and Barry Larkin are in.

• Speaking of former Reds, sounds like Kyle Lohse is about to get a multi-year extension from the Cardinals.

This and that

2008-09-26T13:05:00.004-04:00

• Carson has been added to the Bengals' injury report as questionable with an elbow injury.

During the week, he experienced soreness and inflammation in his right elbow, which is his throwing elbow.

Marvin Lewis quote: "Carson has developed some carryover soreness from last week's game. He has told us he's going to be ready to play, but he is missing some practice reps today, so he has to be listed on the injury report."

Carson quote: "It was just a rest day. I'm completely confident in what we're doing. The doctors decided the best thing to do was to be rested and fully healthy for Sunday, and I'll be ready to roll on Sunday."

• Speaking of Carson, SI.Com's Dr. Z has a must-read about how 1988 quarterbacks stack up against their 2008 counterparts that includes a comparison of Boomer and Carson.

• Speculation already has started about who the Reds will go after during the offseason. Rangers catcher Gerald Laird would actually give them a decent bat at that position (it's been a while, and I don't think they necessarily want to just wait for Devin Mesoraco), and this Dallas Morning News article points out that the Reds scouted him before the trade deadline.

John Fay's notebook suggests Colorado's Matt Holliday and Detroit's Magglio Ordonez might be among candidates. He also points out that Philadelphia's Pat Burrell is the top free agent outfielder.

• Hopefully I'm not the only one who finds this item somewhat fascinating ...

Adam Pettyjohn will become the first left-handed pitcher to start a game for the Reds this season Sunday. According to Elias Sports Bureau, it will be the first time since at least 1900 that the Reds went an entire season with only one start by a left-hander. The 2006 Diamondbacks were the last team to finish a major league season with fewer than two starts by a lefty. Phil Dumatrait was the last left-hander to start for the Reds. It was 180 starts ago - Sept. 9 of last year.

• Good piece in the Plain Dealer about Jim Tressel taking over coaching the Buckeyes' offensive line.

Early surprises

2008-09-25T16:07:00.000-04:00

In my Yahoo leagues, a few of the fantasy studs - Marion Barber, Frank Gore, Reggie Bush, Marshawn Lynch, Brian Westbrook and Drew Brees - you'd expect to be in the top 15 in scoring through three weeks are there. But guess who else is posting huge numbers? Jay Cutler (who ranks No. 1), Michael Turner (No. 2), Philip Rivers (No. 3), Aaron Rodgers (No. 5), rookie Matt Forte (No. 10) and Kurt Warner (No. 12).

So who are the biggest early-season surprises so far? Who cares, right ... because there's no telling whether they're going to keep it up or break out of their funk. Well, you should care ... so that you know who you can safely buy low or sell high on. Or maybe even so you know who to pick up to replace your guy who's not performing. (Believe it or not, J.T. O'Sullivan - who ranks 12th among QBs in total fantasy points so far - is still available in over 50% of Yahoo leagues.) Or you can pinpoint who to credit for your 3-0 start or who to blame now that you're 0-3.

• Did you know rookie Chris Johnson leads the AFC in rushing through three weeks?

• In addition to Cutler, Rivers, Rodgers, Warner and O'Sullivan (all of whom I've already mentioned), Jason Campbell also has more fantasy points so far than Peyton Manning.

• 29 receivers - including Eddie Royal, Chansi Stuckey, Brandon Lloyd, Ike Hilliard, Hank Baskett and Brandon Marshall - who missed Week 1 - have more points so far than Randy Moss.

• LaDainian Tomlinson's backup, Darren Sproles, has more fantasy points than Brandon Jacobs. The Saints' Pierre Thomas has more than Steven Jackson. The Ravens' Le'Ron McClain has more than Larry Johnson.

OK, great, so those guys are off to slow starts or had one bad week (out of three). What's it really mean? Hard to say. But you have to admit it is pretty unbelieveable that ...

• Torry Holt, who had 1,188 receiving yards in 2006 and 1,189 in 2007, has 122 through his first three games.

• Chad, who's had six consecutive seasons of more than 1,150 yards and had 93 catches for 1,440 last season, has eight catches for 88 yards.

• Braylon Edwards, who had 1,289 yards and 16 TD catches a year ago, has 73 yards and hasn't found the end zone yet.

This and that

2008-09-25T09:56:00.003-04:00

• You've got to love that the Reds are so far out of it (even though they've played very well in September) that the biggest news of the day is Dusty bringing up the rumor that Corey Patterson is dating his daughter. Even if it's not true, whoever started it is genius, and it did spread like wildfire. I can't tell you how many of my friends who are Reds fans have mentioned it. And I couldn't disagree more with Dusty that he's HAD to play Patterson. You just don't play a guy who's struggling to hit .200. THERE ARE ALWAYS OTHER OPTIONS!

• Also, Edinson Volquez has been scratched from his final start. Which means there might be an even better chance of him undeservedly finishing fifth or sixth in NL Cy Young voting, as I predicted yesterday.

• Ozzie Guillen is getting annoyed with those questioning his decision to stick with Junior in center field. Did anyone see this coming?

• Dunn and the D'backs are on the ropes. And the Cardinals didn't even start Pujols, Glaus or Ryan Ludwick.

• Hot dogs, a mascot and a bomb scare. Can't make this stuff up.

• Is there going to be a new story about who the Browns' starting QB will be this Sunday every day for the rest of the week?

• Mark Curnutte seems to think Jamar Fletcher might even play on Sunday.

• Here's another Dante Love tribute. And an IndyStar story about how he's already offering the Ball State coaching staff advice on how to fill his shoes.

This and that

2008-09-24T14:35:00.002-04:00

• OK, now Romeo Crennel says Derek Anderson will start on Sunday.

• Speaking of the Bengals' upcoming opponent, Peter King examines the possibility of Bill Cowher landing in Cleveland.

• Also, my buddy Stewart Mandel at SI.com had a nice message for former Withrow quarterback Dante Love in his college football mailbag.

• Matt Millen is out as the Lions' GM/president.

• Speaking of the Lions, the Detroit News has a story about former Bengal Jon Kitna insisting he's not to blame for the team's 0-3 start and he shouldn't be benched.

• Hey, Ann Killion of the Mercury News and others, can we at least mention Edinson Volquez's name when we write a column about the Cy Young Award? I realize that Lincecum and Webb are 1 and 2 right now, but Edinson's numbers are right there ... his ERA is a little better than Webb's and he's got 30 more strikeouts than Webb. The only number of Webb's that is better: wins. Webb has 22 to Volquez's 17, which is why it's a darn shame that the Reds didn't give Edinson some run support in those first three September starts (as well as one in late August) that he deserved to win. Anyway, I really hope Volquez finishes third in voting ... he really ought to get more votes than Ryan Dempster, Chad Billingsley, Johan Santana, and maybe even Dan Haren. Haren is the only one in that group whose numbers are about as good as Edinson's. But I have a bad feeling he'll finish about fifth or sixth in voting.

• Also, Kevin Youkilis (Sycamore HS, UC) came through again for the Red Sox in the game that clinched their playoff berth. Great guy to root for since the Reds won't be playing in the postseason.

This and that

2008-09-23T09:57:00.000-04:00

• It sounds like there's a good chance Brady Quinn could start for the Browns on Sunday. Either the Browns or Bengals will be 0-4 after their meeting.

• It's been the subject of much debate on local sports talk, and the Star Tribune's Mark Craig is among those picking on the Bengals for clock mismanagement at the end of the Giants' game.

• Bengals.com's Geoff Hobson has a story about all of the sacks the Giants got on Sunday and the offensive line play in general, but oddly enough it doesn't mention Levi Jones, who has been getting slammed repeatedly on sportstalk for his effort.

• Reds.com's Mark Sheldon wrote about the tear Joey Votto has been on lately.

• There's no local tie or anything, but if you've got a few minutes this Lyman Bostock piece is worth a read 30 years after he was shot and killed in Gary, Ind.

Pick 'em up

2008-09-22T12:14:00.003-04:00

I know this is similar to my previous Help Wanted post, but there are some guys out there who looked good in Week 3 who you should really consider picking up ASAP (before your opponents) so that you can fill holes as the first bye weeks approach ...

• Correll Buckhalter, Eagles: Someone in your league might have already grabbed him, and there's not quite as much urgency since the Eagles said Westbrook's injury isn't as bad as feared. But he's day-to-day with a strained ankle, which means there's a possibility he'll be iffy for Sunday night against the Bears, in which case you could do worse than to start Buckhalter.

• Brandon Lloyd, Bears: One of the things to pay attention to when considering receivers is whether they've had at least a couple of decent weeks or just one week. Lloyd's five catches for 66 yards in Week 2 would suggest that his six catches for 124 yards in Week 3 were not a fluke - like maybe Miles Austin's 115-yard Week 3 effort was, for instance.

• Rudi Johnson, Lions: Your favorite ex-Bengal and mine quietly had 83 yards on 14 carries (5.9 yards per carry) in the Lions' loss at San Francisco. Lions head coach Rod Marinelli said the team went with Johnson - and not starter Kevin Smith - in the second half because Rudi had the hot hand. Doesn't bode well for Smith because the timing also suggests that they gave Rudi more action now that he's been there long enough to learn the system. Could be a timeshare but I wouldn't be surprised if Rudi unseats Smith, who wasn't terribly impressive Week 1 against the Falcons (16-48) or Week 2 against the Packers (10-40). And Rudi might be slightly motivated to prove to the Bengals and everyone else that he's still got it.

• Anthony Fasano, Dolphins: Eight catches for 84 yards and a TD in Week 1 and 3-66 with a TD yesterday ... with 150 yards, he's already eclipsed his 16-game yardage total of 2007 with the Cowboys (143). And I know of a lot of leagues where he's still available.

• Antonio Bryant, Bucs: I have no idea how long Joey Galloway's foot injury will keep him out, but Bryant was clearly Brian Griese's go-to guy. 10 catches (18 targets) for 138 yards. If Galloway's going to miss any more time, I'd love to have Bryant, who isn't owned in many leagues at all. He could be like Andre Davis was for the Texans last season during those five or so weeks when Andre Johnson was out. And I only remember that because I had Davis last year.

Takes on the Bengals' loss

2008-09-22T08:36:00.002-04:00

• First, the recap from CBSSports.Com, which focuses for several paragraphs on Amani Toomer's questionable catch.

• Mark Curnutte talks about how there are no moral victories.

• Daugherty's got a good take about how they were close, but the bottom line is they're 0-3.

• By the way, remember on Friday when I threw up a link to Don Banks' ten coaches on the hot seat. Well, Marvin Lewis is about to move up one spot in line.

• Oh, and the Astros are STILL complaining about having had to play in Milwaukee.

Little of this, little of that

2008-09-19T11:31:00.000-04:00

• SI.com's Don Banks has Marvin Lewis at No. 3 (behind only the Raiders' Lane Kiffin, who is reportedly about to get fired, and the Rams' Scott Linehan) among his ten coaches on the hot seat. Banks says Marvin's pink slip potential is 75 percent.

• In his MLB Power Rankings, SI.com's Gennaro Filice suggests that the Reds should give serious thought to making Micah Owings a position player.

• One other item worth checking out from SI.com Truth & Rumors, if you're a Buckeyes fan: Buckeyes backfield a mystery

• It was a very disappointing season for former Red Austin Kearns. Meanwhile, Adam Dunn had a very clutch hit off Tim Lincecum in the Diamondbacks' win last night.

• From the Houston Chronicle: The Astros took a shot at Bud Selig with some T-shirts they had made. They really did get a raw deal if you think about it.

Fantasy football news/notes

2008-09-16T15:22:00.002-04:00

I'm resuming my fantasy football blog ... I was a contributor to Cincinnati.Com's old fantasy football blog, but here's the deal ... I don't like to spend a lot of time talking about my fantasy squads (like my co-contributors for that blog used to do) because you don't care and you shouldn't and I know that. Instead, I'll try to provide useful info, including "Who to Start," "Who to Bench," "Help Wanted," "Favorable matchups," etc. I found it's easier to do and predict after about Week 3, once players have shown how useful they're going to be, defenses have shown how strong or weak they are, that sort of thing. So here's the (brief) first installment ...

HELP WANTED (players who might be available in your league, who you might want to consider picking up)

Michael Bush, Oakland: Grab him before they announce (tomorrow) how severe Justin Fargas' groin injury is, because something tells me Fargas will miss at least one game. Darren McFadden is also dealing with turf toe. Bush had 90 yards on 16 carries with a touchdown after Fargas left the game on Sunday. The only problem I'm having (and here's a RARE occasion where I'll actually reference one of my fantasy squads) is figuring out who to drop to make room for Bush in my ESPN league. I have a bad feeling that dropping DeAngelo Williams, Chris Perry or Steve Slaton to make room for Bush might come back to haunt me.

Darren Sproles, San Diego: Did you see his Week 2 numbers? Sick. I know they've got LT, but he's a little banged-up and you never know. I picked up Sproles in two leagues for the same reason I made sure to get Michael Turner when he was LT's backup ... because you never know when he's going to end up with ridiculous numbers for a backup. The trick is knowing when to start him.

John Carlson, Seattle: He had six catches for 78 yards on Sunday, and Mike Holmgren says he doesn't expect Deion Branch or Bobby Engram to return until after the team's Week 4 bye. Which pretty much makes Carlson a top 10 tight end this week, which is something you can't safely say about Dallas Clark right now.

J.T. O'Sullivan/Isaac Bruce/Bryant Johnson, San Francisco: Might be a good time to start believing. And they play Detroit this week.

About the Bengals

2008-09-10T13:27:00.004-04:00

• The Enquirer's Dustin Dow did a much more thorough reporting job than we're going to get a chance to do, so here's his take on why Chad can't have Ocho Cinco on his back just yet. Pretty interesting stuff.

Meanwhile, the Bengals are ...

• ... 28th in Dr. Z's Power Rankings.

• ... 25th in Pete Prisco's Power Rankings.

• ... talking smack for some reason. After Keith Bulluck made his 'Oucho Cinco' comments, Chad said, "Man, tell Keith I’ll hit him in the mouth."

And keep in mind this whole Vince Young thing may prove to be a distraction for the Titans even if he's not going to play. Here's Gregg Doyel's column about Vince.

Got plans Sunday?

2008-09-09T16:07:00.001-04:00

Riverfront Choice Tickets, aka 333-SEAT, says it's selling tickets to the Bengals' home opener against Tennessee on Sunday for less than face value for a home opener for the first time since the ticket broker opened in 1982.

Tickets are being offered for less than face value on Stubhub, craigslist and eBay as well.