When will the NFL give us all a break and NOT schedule the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving Day. Who cares about tradition, when a team is as lousy as the Lions. Get good first, then we'll put you on national television. Same thing with the Cowboys, but for different reasons. Rotate teams so that every club has a chance to play on T-Day. There are now three games, six teams, who play on this day every year. 32-teams populate the NFL. That means, a team would get to play on Thanksgiving Day every five years or so. That, to me, makes more sense than sticking on a turkey like the Lions, on national television every Thanksgiving Day.

The mess in Cleveland continues. Romeo Crennel appears to be on his way out. Quarterback Brady Quinn's season is over. And, according to our pal Mike Florio (WHO STILL HASN'T ANSWERED ANY OF MY RECENT EMAILS!) general manager, Phil Savage might be shopping for a U-Haul. Check out Mike's videocast.

The Browns will celebrate ten years of futility for their 'new' team (to go with about 40-from the "old" Browns, next season.

Random thoughts on a ramdom Tuesday night before Thanksgiving.....

Carson Palmer will test his aching elbow on December 7th. If it isn't the size of a Buick on the 8th, he'll play the following Sunday against the Redskins. Here's a thought: why? Palmer says he's bored standing around the sidelines and watching the rest of the Bengals play. Bored is about as nice a word as you'll find to describe the Bengals these days. With nothing on the line (season wise and offensive line wise) it's absurd to put your $100 million quarterback on the field just to soothe his ego. My guess is someone in the Bengals front office realizes the folly of this and tells Palmer to cool it. But then again, these are the Bengals.....

The Bengals should hire the NY Giants' offensive line coach, just so he can tell them how he pieced together the best line in football.....

What happens if the Giants host the NFC Championship game and the Jets host the AFC Championship game. Has any smart 'suit' in the NFL office thought about that prospect?....

If the UC Bearcats beat Syracuse Saturday afternoon at Nippert Stadium, both the Sugar Bowl and the Orange Bowl will be possible destinations. In the BCS pecking order, the Sugar Bowl will get to pick first. This might come down to UC or Utah for the Sugar Bowl. If you're the city of New Orleans, which group of fans would you want spending dollars on Bourbon Street? Right. I think the Sugar Bowl is more of a possibility for UC than a lot of fans think....

BREAKING NEWS...foxsports.com is reporting that Browns quarterback, Brady Quinn is done for the year. His broken finger will make it impossible for him to continue in 2009. Meantime, our buddy Mike Florio at profootballtalk.com (WHO HASN'T RETURNED MY EMAIL MESSAGES IN THE LAST TWO WEEKS!) says Bill Cowher is indeed a possible replacement for Romeo Crennel in this latest video-cast.

Late this afternoon, the Browns' owner said he'll hold Crennel and GM Phil Savage accountable for this mess of a season....but only after the end of the season....

Our latest Bengals Report Podcast will be posted and ready to go by mid-day Wenesday. You can find it on my web site: http://www.kenbroo.com/....

Still piecing together my Sunday Morning Sportstalk show on 700 WLW here in Cincinnati. But among my guests, so far, will be Reds first baseman, Joey Votto and from the nationalfootballpost.com, Mike Lombardi. I should have some addition guests to announce by Friday. If you live outside the greater Cincinnati area, you can listen on line or on Sirius XM channel 173....

Found this on Sports By Brooks. It's some hilarious cheerleader mishaps (hilarious, I guess if you're not the cheerleader involved)....

And as I like to say....folks, you know that's gotta hurt!

Well, just in time for this weekend, here is another Broo View Video Podcast,direct fomr the palatial estate in suburban Cincinati. My topic this time, two very intriguing match-ups inside the AFC North.

Notice the shirt, as I show the colors for my beloved Ohio Bobcats whom I believe will win their first game of 2008 Saturday, over VMI, in Peden Stadium.

More later today...

Wednesday, we gave you Mike Florio's take on the best teams through three weeks of the 2008 NFL schedule. Now, here are his candidates for worst...

It's amazing how, in a league where the system is set up to help losing teams win again, so many of the same teams are the dregs of football, year in and year out.

Sounds as though, from reading this article in the Cleveland Plain Dealer, the Browns are once again in the middle of a quarterback controversy.

Some news in the Washington Post about a couple of former Cincinnati Reds. Has it really been five years since Aaron Boone was traded to the Yankees?

When he was a guest on WLWT's Sports Rock a month or so ago, I asked UC head football coach, Brian Kelly why UC and Ohio State couldn't play a football game every couple of years or so. Kelly answered my questioned by saying it was up to UC to prove that it's worthy of such a deal. Both, of course, are the only BCS conference schools in the state of Ohio. It was a good answer.

But how is UC 'proving' it's worthy of Ohio State by scheduling a game at Akron. Akron! Are you kidding me? This is the same UC athletic department that is trying to get out of a yearly home and home series with Miami, Ohio, a perenniel opponent. UC would gladly play Miami every year at Nippert. But it says it's done traveling to Oxford for games. And now, UC is going to Akron? Whose bright idea was that? Can you imagine Ohio State scheduling at game at Akron, or any other MAC school? And UC will compound this dumb scheduling move with a trip to Huntington, West Virginia next week to play CUSA's Marshall. This is how a BCS conference football team schedules? Good luck building a case to play Ohio State doing that!

Brian Kelly deserves better. UC should have bought its way out of this mess and scheduled two more games at Nippert.

For yet another time: Marvin Lewis is not suffering from 'job jeopardy'. It came up again in the Bengals news conference today. Lewis was asked if he felt pressure to win this Sunday, with the Bengals 0-3. In a nutshell he said 'no', and if he was under pressure to win, he wouldn't let it affect him. We won't know if that last statement is true because Lewis is under no pressure from managment to 'win or else'.

Two things to remember about Marvin Lewis. 1: He won' t quit, not if he wants to work as a head coach in the NFL again. 2: his boss, Mike Brown isn't in the business of paying people not to work.

But this season appears to be another lost one. No team since 1998, and only three since 1990, have started a season 0-3 and made the playoffs. Now, you could argue, that if 9-7 will win the AFC North, all the Bengals (or the Browns for that matter) have to do is go 9-4 in their final 13 games. But look at their schedule. Do you think the Bengals can win at Dallas, or at Pittsburgh? Do you think they can sweep the Steelers? And games with the Ravens, Houston and Indianapolis await them, as well. I'm still sticking with five to seven wins, but no more than that.

So after three weeks in the 2008 season, who are the best teams in the NFL? Our buddy, Mike Florio from profootballtalk.com weighs in with this video report.

Biggest surprise for me? Buffalo. Didn't see that one coming.

Tony Grossi, the longtime Cleveland sports writer has an interesting 'take' on this upcoming game between the Bengals and Browns in this Plain-Dealer article.

First thing Thursday morning, on my web site www.kenbroo.com, I'll have the latest edition of Bengals Report Podcast posted. Mark Hardin and I preview the upcoming "Battle Of Ohio" and you'll hear comments from your favorite players.

It would be so easy to sit here and say today, “this Bengals team is going nowhere and will be lucky to win six games this season”. Because, that’s what just about everyone in town is saying right now. Don’t lie, you’ve said it, you know you have. You’ve watched it under perform in the exhibition games. You’ve tallied up all of the injuries and you’ve looked at the schedule. Six wins, seven maybe, if the snow falls enough when the Chiefs come to town in late December.

The experts around the country, the guys who make their living writing for web sites and preview magazines are whistling the same tune. Just got my recent issue of Sports Illustrated last week. Bengals picked to finish dead last in the AFC North, behind the Ravens who you could quarterback right now.

I wouldn’t be so quick to join the chorus. After the next 17 weeks, we all may be singing “Hallelujah” when the seasons ends. But today, I’d at least think about a different tune.

As I’ve said, on WLW Radio, on WLWT channel 5, to the to the other interview requests I get from stations all over the country, the hardest thing about covering the NFL is predicting what teams will win from week to week. To correctly predict how a team is going to finish now, in August, is next to impossible.

Sure you know who the dogs are And you know who the power teams are. There are always five great teams, five really lousy teams and the 22-other teams in the league will finish anywhere from 10-6 to 6-10. The Bengals, I think, will be in that bunch.

Your Cincinnati Bengals are not a great football team. They’re not a ‘dog’ either. The Bengals are a pretty average football team that has to play extremely well each week to have a chance to win. The tackling on defense is chronically bad. The offensive line has gone ‘south’ in a hurry. And if TJ and Chad (or Ocho Javon Cinco or whatever he’s calling himself now), if they don’t play well, the Bengals don’t win.

We’re talking about all of this today because in less than one week, the games start to count, because the Bengals have looked inept this summer and because two veteran Bengals were among the cut down casualties Saturday.

Rudi Johnson was done last year. I think the Bengals only brought him back to hedge their bets on Chris Perry getting hurt again. Let’s face it. Perry is like crystal. He can snap, anywhere, at any moment. You knew it, I knew it every Bengals fans knew there was no way Rudi was going to get $3.2 million once Perry proved that he could stay healthy.

Willie Anderson? The man deserved better than what he got. That was no way to treat someone who gave a lot of good years, all but one of his seasons in the NFL, to some horrid Bengals teams. Anderson is the second best lineman in team history. End of discussion. Anthony Munoz got a royal on field send off. Tim Krumrie rode out of Riverfront Stadium on a Harley. Willie got thrown out of Paul Brown Stadium when he wouldn’t write the Bengals front office a check.

But honestly, who didn’t see something like this coming? This story wasn’t going to have a happy ending for Anderson, not after the Bengals dropped $7.5 million on his replacement.

More than what Anderson might have been able to contribute on the field this season, what he leaves behind is a gaping hole in Bengal morality. If you haven’t noticed, that’s not exactly in ample supply these days. Drop a two year 600-grand deal on Chris Henry. Let Willie go. Sounds like subtraction by addition.

You have any idea who the team leaders are now? Where is that in the Bengals locker room? Maybe this is a perverted twist on that old line about Ralph Kiner: we can get arrested with you Willie, we can get arrested without you. Kids, if you don’t know who Ralph Kiner is, wake up Dad and ask him.

Look, I’m not very encouraged about this season. I think the Browns will be good again. I think there’s a lot of Browns-hatin’ going on and its clouding some sensible thinking here in the ‘nati. The Steelers play the toughest schedule in the NFL this season. But you and I both know that team has the

Bengals number. Two words: Dick LeBeau. Don’t let the Cincinnati part of his resume fool you.

The Ravens appear to caught in a vortex. They’ve got an older defense and they’ve got quarterback issues. Willis Magahee may not be ready to start the season. But they’ve got a new head coach and one of the best offensive coordinators on the planet. That team will find a way….

And then, there are your Cincinnati Bengals. The haven’t been able to run block very well this summer. They allowed their quarterback to get hit in the mouth far too often Any team with an edge rusher (and name one that doesn’t have one) can beat their tackles. Their secondary has been blown up about as much as the Cincinnati sky will be along about nine tonight.

But with all of that said, the Bengals are 0-0 today, like every other team in the NFL. Everything that happened in training camp this summer was important. But none of it matters now.

There’ll be plenty of time to panic in a month. But today, keep your options open. Things aren’t always the way they appear. Despite their worst efforts, your Cincinnati Bengals might figure this thing out, inspite of themselves.

Nice way for the University of Cincinnati football team to end the season. The final Associated Press rankings are out tonight and UC finishes 17th. Brian Kelly is off to a roaring start. And though he just signed a contract extention, now the trick is for the university to keep pace with the growth Kelly has delivered. Nothing will drive a coach away from a school quicker than a perceived lack of committment. UC, the ball is yours.

One of my favorites guest on 700 WLW's Sunday Morning Sports Talk is Mike Florio, the power behind profootballtalk.com. Mike has his latest TV segments posted. Here's one about Cleveland Browns coach, Romeo Crennel, and his request for a new, three year contract.







If I'm the Browns, I'm waiting to see if 2007 was the fluke, or the norm. If Romeo wins ten in 2008, he'll have a huge payday. And, he's still under contract now through 2009.


Uh Oh, trouble in Buckeye paradise in the middle of last night's BCS championship loss to LSU. Great read in the Tuesday's Dayton Daily News.


This can't play well around here. Bronson Arroyo loves to sing. And he was warbling well in Boston the other night, when he changed the lyrics to a song that makes you wonder just about committed he is to the Cincinnati Reds.

I'm off to anchor the 11p sports. Check out my web site: www.kenbroo.com, when you get a chance.

Good Morning! And if you choose to celebrate Christmas, let me join in the choir of wishing your a very Merry Christmas.

It won't be for the Cleveland Browns. Talk about 'spitting the bit'. Cleveland is now on the ropes, no longer a sure lock to make the NFL playoffs, thanks largely to some stupid play calling and execution in the final two minutes of the first half of the Browns vs Bengals game in Cincinnati Sunday. Twice inside the final two minutes, quarterback Derek Anderson tossed interceptions that led directly to Bengals touchdowns. In all, Anderson tossed four interceptions and single handidly delivered a win to the Bengals. Needing only to 'win to get in', the Browns are now in hot soup.

Check out what they're saying about this game in the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

Here's the bottom line for that final Wild Card in the AFC. If Cleveland and Tennessee both win next win, Tennessee is in. If they both lose, Cleveland is in. If Cleveland wins and Tennessee loses, Cleveland is in. If Cleveland loses and Tennessee wins, Tennessee is in.

The Browns get the easier draw: at home against the 49ers. The Titans have to play at Indianapolis, Sunday night.

The Bengals? Don't get caught up in the hoopla of beating Cleveland. Any win is a good win. But this team has major, major decisions to make on coaches and players after this season is over. I look for some major changes. After Marvin Lewis, no assistant coach is safe, including both coordinators. I'll have more on this as the week progresses, but the Bengals need to make a statement in free agency this winter. No more bottom feeding, the Bengals must bring in impact players. They passed last winter on Adalius Thomas and instead signed three marginal players (Ed Hartwell, Kendrick Allen and Michael Myers). Only Myers remains and is, at best, a role player.

Roger Clemens is trying to repair his image, speaking out on youtube.com and denying any use of HGH or steroids. You can watch it, here.
I suppose I'd deny it too. And that's the trouble with all of this fall out from the Mitchell Report: nobody will ever really know who's telling the truth. Major League Baseball's reluctance to embrace any kind of drug testing until three years ago lends itselfs to skepticism.

Going numb from the holiday season already, some things that've been bouncing around in my cranium....

Amazing how one game can determine how one season can play out. Go back to September 16th when the Bengals played the Browns in Cleveland. Sure, it was a shootout. But in the middle of that game, the Bengals had a chance to ice it, if only Caleb Miller had held on to what looked like a sure interception. He didn't, Derek Anderson remained at quarterback and the rest has been a great story written by the Browns and a nightmare conjured up by the Bengals. If that pass, that became only an incompletion, had been an interception, almost certainly Brady Quinn would have made his NFL debut against the Bengals in that game. He's still waiting for that, as Anderson has become one of the great stories in the NFL this season.

The Bengals and Browns meet again Sunday. If Cleveland wins, it's in the NFL playoffs. Doesn't matter if the Bengals win or lose. They're going home after their December 30th finale in Miami.

Coaches could be on the move after this season. Check out the latest videocast from one of my favorite web sites: www.profootballtalk.com.

1-0 in the AFC North, the Bengals have an excellent chance to make it 2-0. The Browns stink. After watching their game against the Steelers last Sunday, that is absolute fact. I'm still in awe of a team managing to draw four separate penalties on one play. The Browns not only managed that, they ran their starting quarterback out of town after only one game.



Charlie Frye is gone. Derek Anderson is next. And he's only renting. Eventually, this will be Brady Quinn's mess. And regardless of whatever talent and ability he has, Quinn seems doomed to the same fate of the nine other starting quarterbacks the Browns have had since rejoining the league in 1999.



You wonder if the team's ownership group wants to allow Quinn to play under the present coaching staff, which seems destined to be launched any day now. You think Bill Cowher would know what to do with Brady Quinn?



The Bengals enter Cleveland about a 6.5 point favorite. That looks like easy money: take the Bengals lay the points. But Cleveland probably isn't as bad as it played last week, or as bad as I have them in paragraph one of this post. And the game is in Cleveland. The Browns defense simply ran out of gas from being on the field too much last week. But I don't see that changing this week.



More on the Bengals on my web site: http://www.kenbroo.com/. On the front page is the latest Bengals Report "The Podcast". Marc Hardin and I recap the Bengals Monday night win over the Ravens.

With two more home runs Tuesday night, can the Reds not pick up Adam Dunn's option for 2008? How can they honestly tell their fans they're intent on winning a pennant or a World Series when they allow a consistent 40-home run a year, 100-rbi a year threat, to take a walk?

The issue for Bob Castellini isn't picking up Dunn's contract. It's buying some pitching. Dumping Dunn's $13 million salary and buying pitching are not mutual exclusive. If they are, he needs to sell the team and find another line of work. You either want to play the game to win, or you don't. Past ownership didn't play to win. Castellini says he wants to. This winter, it's put up or shut up time.

I talk sports every Sunday morning from 9am-Noon Eastern time on 700 WLW in Cincinnati. It's streamed on line and you can also catch the show on XM Satellite radio, channel 173.

And right after the Bengals-Browns game Sunday, I'll take your calls on 1530 Homer's "Bengals Feedback" from 5:30p-8:00p Eastern.

And right after that, you can catch me on "Sports Rock", the last best word on the Bengals every Sunday night. It's on Cincinnati's NBC affiliate, channel 5, after Sunday night football.

Looks like Sunday is going to be a busy day.