Ugly couple of days for your Cincinnati Reds, including Thursday, when the Pirates made it five of six against them so far this season.

And the lesson here is pretty simple: it's great to get worked up into a lather over sweeping the Cardinals. But every one of these games counts the same. Maybe it was a let down. Maybe it was Pirates Pitching that seems to have the Reds number this season.

But at the end of any season, they don't ask you who you beat. They only ask you how many you've got. At least that's how the Reds won their division last year.

And as we wait for the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals to rule on the legality of the NFL lockout, one word of caution to the NFL owners: you've won the latest round. Don't overplay your hand.

Even in the conservative 8th court, there are no guarantees you'll win the next round. And rather than wait on that, work even harder now to get a settlement. Don't just say you want to do it. Do it.

What good is winning the war, when you lose the peace?

Finally, a word about the whining that continues to come out of St. Louis. Give Tony La Russa credit: he said he doesn't believe Francisco Cordero was throwing at Albert Puljos Sunday. Of course he wasn't. Not with the tying and winning runs in play because Prince Albert got plunked.

But somebody should tell that to his leiutenant, interim manager Joe Pettini, who said it's always something when the Cardinals come to Cincinnati. Really? Like that deception a couple of weeks ago in St. Louis on a rain delay was the way to handle things fairly? Really?

Chris Carpenter didn't like the fact that fireworks smoke, after he allowed a home run, delayed the game. The way he was pitching, he should have welcomed the delay. Carpenter should be more upset with the way his right fielder, Lance Berkman played. The man behaved like it was his first day out of short pant.

The arrogance of the Cardinals franchise is forever astounding. They're good, just ask them and theyll tell you. The Cardinals win with style. They should learn to lose with grace.

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As another famous Ohio University alum likes to say...things that make you go hmmmm.

The St. Louis Cardinals fired General Manager Walt Jocketty today. Fired the guy who constructed one of the more solid franchises in baseball. Jocketty and his owner, Bill DeWitt, haven't seen eye to eye in over a year. Now, Jocketty is out. The current Reds' owner, Bob Castellini, is a former Cardinals minority owner. In fact, he's been a business partner of DeWitt's in St. Louis and in Baltimore, when they both were minorty shareholders with Peter Angelos. They also were in business with President Bush, as minority shareholders with the Texas Rangers, back in the mid-90's.

Would Castellini pick up the phone and call his buddy DeWitt (they both live in the Cincinnati suburb of Indian Hill) and ask him all about Jocketty? And if Jocketty and DeWitt didn't part by tossing grenades at each other, would Castellini then entertain the idea of signing Jocketty as his GM in Cincinnati, knowing that might be the carrot to lure Tony LaRussa here to manage the Reds. Current GM, Wayne Krivsky, would have to be sent packing. But to get a package deal of the best GM-Manager tandem in baseball, is that not a price worth paying?

Things that make you go, hmmmmm.

Check out my latest NFL podcast at www.theflypod.com. I do the show with a guy named Matt, who's still learning the broadcasting ropes. But together, we break down the latest issues in the NFL. The show is call The Ultimate NFL Cybershow and it's new, every Wednesday and on www.theflypod.com national page.

Look, I like Jerry Narron. I think he's a good manager and knows the game infinitely better than I do. But occasionally, he absolutely confounds me.

Wednesday night was a great example. Here he was, locked in a great battle with his counterpart in the the Cardinals' dugout, Tony LaRussa. The Reds and Cards were tied at one, with Bronson Arroyo and Braden Looper tossing terrific games. Narron had to know two things: one, Arroyo had thrown only 96 pitches through seven innings. Two: his bullpen has been anything but trustworthy lately.

Rather than allowing Arroyo to start the eighth inning, Narron elected to pinch hit for him, leading off the seventh. The fact that Ryan Freel, who hadn't picked up a bat since Sunday, failed to get on base is one thing. But why would you trade Arroyo for the bullpen, just to try and jump start your offense?

The Reds manager tried to defend himself on the Reds radio pre-game show Thursday. It didn't work, at least not for me. Lifting a starter who'd thrown only 96 pitches, allowed only five hits for the chance of scoring a run...given the shaky bullpen...is indefensible.

I like Jerry, but it was the wrong call.

Check out my web site, www.kenbroo.com. Just posted today the latest "Broo View" podcast. I've got comments from Marvin Lewis, Carson Palmer and other Bengals about the upcoming draft. It's in the podcast and more section.