Just some random thoughts on this Tuesday night....

The top 50 mens tennis players in the world are in Cincinnati this week. It's been that way for more than a generation. Amazing, isn't it, that we host a tournament of that magnitude in a town the size of Cincinnati? I got to talk with Roger Federer tonight, the number one player in the world. He's down to earth, self deprecating and very funny. Maybe he's that way, because he grew up in the game of tennis not only playing, but serving as a ball boy at at number of events....

Federer is great. But Andy Roddick plays with the kind of passion that Jimmy Connors brought to the game. Gee, wonder who Roddick's coach is?

If the Reds pick up Adam Dunn's $13 million dollar option, it's really a $12.5 million dollar deal. To let him walk after this season, it'll cost the Reds a half-million. In this day and age in pro baseball, if you can't afford a 40-45 home run, 100-110 RBI player at $12.5 mil, you should get out of the business...

Of course, it's not my money....

I want to believe the Bengals will be better this season, but why should I? The offense has lost its third wide receiver for the first eight games and it's back up running back. The defense has a number one draft pick in its secondary this year. But should we expect Leon Hall to play anything but like a rookie?

I'm saying 9-7, but that could win the division....

The Ravens will not have the kind of season they had in '06. They're playing a first place schedule this season, not the 6-10 schedule they played in last season....

Why do I think Barry Bonds will have a lot of company in the soon to be finished steroid investigation Major League Baseball is conducting?

I'll give you Bill Bray and David Weathers. Name me one other current pitcher in that Reds bullpen who you think will be back in '08.......

The more I watch Pete Mackanin, the more I'd like him to return as manager in 2008. But I don't think it'll happen. He suffers from the Miley-Narron syndrome: minor league, interim managers who were eventually hired full time and did not work out.

I'm talking sports every Sunday morning on Cincinnati 700 WLW from 9am-Noon. The electrifying Gregg Doyel of cbssportsline.com fame is with me. If you don't live in and around the Tri-State, you can catch us on line at www.700wlw.com and on XM channel 173.

Later this week on my web site www.kenbroo.com, you'll hear my latest Broo View Podcast, as well as the latest edition of the Bengals Report Podcast. Check in late Wednesday for both.

When you think about the size of Cincinnati and the enormity of the Tennis Masters Series, it makes no sense. It borders on the absurd that a tournament this big could be help in a market so small.

But it's become one of the biggest sports events every year in Cincinnati and one of the biggest tournaments in international tennis. This year, every one of the top 42 players in the world will descend on the Queen City, beginning August 11th. And for the next eight days, the stars you see every year at Wimbledon and the US Open will smack the ball around in the shadow of Kings Island.

For this tradition, you can thank one man: Paul Flory. He is mister tennis in Cincinnati, and the chairman of this stop in the Tennis Masters series. Shephard would be a better moniker for Flory, who's guided this tournament through it's rapid growth and through uncertain times. His latest coup, was the sale of the Tennis Center facility, second only in class to Forest Hills where the Open is played every year, from Carl Lindner to the city of Mason. That sale ensured the tournament stability for decades.

Next month, for eight days, Cincinnati and its surrounding area will be showcased world wide. The benefits of that will be measured in tourist dollars, down the road. The finale on Sunday August 19th could offer us a Wimbledon rematch, as Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal will surely be on opposites sides of the draw. Along the way, we'll get to see Andy Roddick, James Blake, Tommy Haas and every other major tennis star in the universe. All of this, in the 33rd television market.

The numbers don't add up, but they don't have to. We have Paul Flory, whose vision for this tournament has been crystal clear since it arrived here 30 years ago. Cincinnati has hosted championship tennis for over a century. But it's only since Flory's arrived, that it's blossomed.

Thank you Paul.