This and that

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.