About time doesn't cover it. It's more than about time that the Cincinnati Reds called-up their best prospect,outfielder, Jay Bruce. Whty he wasn't on the opening day roster is beyond me. Yes, Bruce struggled in early exhibition games. But to send him back to the minors and go out and sign Corey Patterson for $3.5 million was either a bad deference to Dusty Baker or flat out stupid on the part of management.

Read this, by espn.com's Rob Neyer on Bruce's call-up. It's about a third of the way down the page.

Reds owner, Bob Castellini can bark at his former GM, Wayne Krivsky for some bad deals, like signing Mike Stanton, Rheal Cormier and Juan Castro, but the Patterson deal is on the owner. Krivsky said in his farewell news conference that he was told to sign Patterson, 'whatever it takes' Krivsky says he was told. So far, no one named Castellini has denied it.

With Bruce now a Red, where does he play? Probably centerfield for now. Depending on what happens with Adam Dunn and Ken Griffey, Jr., Bruce could eventuall wind up as a corner outfielder. He's a left-handed bat, problematic for a team that can't hit left-handed pitching. But Bruce needs to play. He can't sit. And you don't want to platoon this kind of talent. I wonder where that leaves Ryan Freel?

I think David Beckham is more sizzle than steak. Like a lot of European "football" stars who've come to America throughout our many dabbels in professional soccer, Beckham arrived past his prime. But this is still impressive. Check it out.

And remember the Kobe Bryant commercial, jumping over an on rushing car? There was a parody of that, the car running down Kobe. Now the crew from the cable show "Jackass" has come up with their own spin on it. And Kobe plays right along.

Random thoughts....I don't care if you can't tell me if a puck is vulcanized or stuffed, you have to be caught up in what the Cyclones are doing. They're single-handidly revitalizing hockey in Cincinnati, exorcising the deamons from the Mighty Ducks, Tigers and Stingers.....I wish Ben Mauk well, but if he doesn't get an extra year of eligibility from the NCAA, I don't think the UC football team will be hurt all that much....UC's baseball team deserved an NCAA Tournament bid....My new favorite TV show is "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives" on the Food Network. I'm surprised the guy who hosts the show, Guy Fieri, doesn't weigh 400 pounds with all the free food he consumes.....I think my pal Chick Ludwig of the Dayton Daily News is a bit hard on him in "Ludwig At Large", but I'm disappointed in Willie Anderson not participating in the Bengals 'voluntary' workouts. I expect more from Willie, I guess.

That's it for now. Check out my web site: www.kenbroo.com for the best in sports. I should have my next "Broo View Podcast" posted by Wednesday.

OK, OK...I know it's been a long time (OK a loooooooong time) since I've been here. Apologies up front and now excuses. My resolution (this week at least) is to be better at being more consistent.

I like the Bears and I like the Patriots this week. Which means, the Colts and Saints can start making Super Bowl plans. But here's why I think this will be a repeat of the '86 game. The weather in Chicago will be the mitigating factor. And the indoor friendly Saints will have trouble dealing with it. I don't think the Bears are the better team. The elements will be the deciding factor.

I think the best, big game coach in the NFL, maybe in all of sports, is Bill Belichick. I have no doubt Indy is the better team and the Colts are playing at home. But when you have to win a game, what coach do you want doing your scheming? Exactly. I think Lawrence Maroney will have a large game and the Pats will do just enough to slow down Peyton Manning. Though the Bengals aren't yet in the same league as the Colts, I watched the Patriots grind the Bengals to a nub in Cincinnati this fall. I think they'll do it again and punch their ticket to Miami.

Have you been to my web site this week? It's www.kenbroo.com. Check out the lastest edition of Broo v. Broo, the hottest sportstalk show in cyber space. There's other cool audio there for you to download too.

What will make the University of Cincinnati basketball team shoot better (and let's face it, they're not real good at it)? Better passing. That's the diagnosis from head coach Mike Cronin. Mick told me this week the better you pass, the deeper you go into the shot clock. And while admitting his poor shooting team has to shoot more to increase its percentage of actually making a basket, Cronin also tells me deeper you go into the shot clock increases the chances of your opponent suffering a defensive lapse. If your best shooter takes a shot early in the clock, chances are the opposition has him defended. If he shoots later in the clock, chances are better for a better shot. Honestly, most UC fans would say...whatever, just make more shots.

It gets no easier for UC. Here comes West Virginia Saturday.

You think the San Francisco Giants will back away from their deal with Barry Bonds? If Bonds faces any suspension time, they'll be tempted. And given steroid investigator George Mitchell's latest comments, that if owners don't cooperate with his investigation into 'roid abuse they'll run the risk of government involvement, the Giants may ultimately believe Bonds isn't worth the trouble. If they back away, will any other team try to sign him? If no team does, then Bonds, who's been convicted of nothing, could play the collusion card. The owners could have the federal government attack from the right flank, and the players union from the left. It's a mess.

Do you have "Beckham Fever"? Me neither. I've been down this road before, aging international soccer star leaves Europe or South America and heads to the USA where he will single-handidly raise the sport to the same level as baseball and football. Pele, Chinalgia, Beckenbauer, Best and on and on. It never happened in the now defunct NASL and it won't happen now in the MLS.

Americans haven't taken to soccer for two very basic reasons: we have too many other professional sports and soccer simply doesn't offer enough pertinent statistics.

We are a stats driven society. We want to know how man RBI a baseball player in a given game, how many home runs, stolen bases, strike outs. In football, we want to know how many tackles, completed passes, receiving yards and sacks a player had. In basketball, how many points, assists, rebounds and steals a player had. In soccer, the stats are limited, because most of the games don't offer more than two or three goals.

It's big in Europe, because there is no MLB or NFL or NHL or NBA. Soccer is all they've got.

Sorry, it hasn't happened here in 50 years of trying and as good as Beckham is, or has been, it's not going to happen now.