Now, maybe we know the rest of the story. Here's the exclusive tonight from si.com on what may possibly be up for former Bengal Odell Thurman.

If this is the case, then the Bengals had no choice but to cut ties. Thurman seems to be a troubled man, on a collision course to a very short life. The Bengals, because they took on so many troubled players under Marvin Lewis and now seem intent on cleaning out their locker room, couldn't afford the luxury on waiting to see if Thurman would ever be well enough to play again. But, they should've known when they drafted Thurman, this could be the outcome. Very sad.

Former Red, Josh Hamilton has been named the American League Player Of The Month for the second straight month! Hamilton says his dream, before becoming a professional baseball player, was to win the Home Run Derby at the all star game. He's going to get that chance. Hamilton leads all AL outfielders in voting. It's great that Edinson Volquez has made this trade a 'win win' for both the Rangers and Reds. But think about this: if the Reds under general manager Jim Bowden had been able to develope starting pitching, the Reds would've been able to keep Hamilton because they would've already had pitchers the cablibre of Volquez.

Of course, if Jay Bruce keeps this up, he may make us forget about Hamilton and a lot of other former Reds.

More Jay 'love' today from USA Today.

Cast your vote at the top of my blog for the most likely scenario for Bruce this season.

Check this out. Do you think the pitcher and catcher in this Georgia high school game were out to get the umpire?

If they weren't out to get the umpire, they missed a helluva chance.

Check out my web site: www.kenbroo.com. I'll have this week's "Broo View Podcast" posted midweek. But you can access and download the archives in my "Podcast and More" section.

See you tonight, at 6 & 11p on WLWT Channel 5 in Cincinnati!

The latest "Broo View Podcast" is up and running. You can download it on my web site: http://www.kenbroo.com/. It's on the front page. If you go into "Podcasts & More", you'll be able to download past "Broo View Podcasts". This latest one deals with the Bengals release of Odell Thurman and how Rudi Johnson wants to make 2008 his 'comeback' season.

When you're in the media and you have a problem, it's hard to avoid the glare of the spotlight. Charles Barkley has a problem. He's incurred gambling debts at a casino in Las Vegas. Wisely, Barkley chose a venue he's comfortable with to discuss his problem.

This is a particularly dicey (no pun intended) problem for the NBA, which is watching the trial of former official, Tim Donaghy get under way. espn.com has this 'bombshell' that the disgraced ref dropped on Tuesday.

I dealt with this topic on News 5 last night, but here it is from the Baltimore Sun today. The Bengals lost draft of 2005. You simply can not have a draft this bad and expect to win. Compounding this is the fact that the Bengals have lost the back end of their 2006 draft, Picks in rounds 5-7 are gone. And from the draft in 2004, only Chris Perry (the often injured one), Robert Geathers and Stacy Andrews remain. Add it up, from 2004-2006, three draft classes, only ten picks, ten of a total of 26 remain with the team. Now factor in how frugal the Bengals are on the free agent market and it's no secret why this team continues to play losing football.

UC and Xavier both play pivotal games Sunday. In UC's case, it's whether or not it can win on the road in the Big East. UC has proven it can win conference games at home. It should've won the other night, but blew a 15 point second half lead to UConn. Now, the Bearcats have to take the next step and prove they can win away from home. Seton Hall is not a great team by any stretch of the basketball imagination. But a win there would do wonders for UC credability.


Xavier plays Sunday at UMass, another winnable road game for the Muskies. Here's their problem: the Muskies have to prove they can win AFTER playing and winning an emotion filled game. In December, Xavier beat UC, then went on the road and got waxxed by Arizona State. Thursday night, Xavier demolished number 16 Dayton. Now, can the Muskies parlay that win, with another at UMass. If they do, it will be a major step for Xavier, a team that seems to have the components to play deep into March.


I don't know what I'm more impressed with, Ohio beating Ball State at the horn Saturday OR over 10,000 fans watching it go down at the Convocation Center in Athens. That attendance figure is very impressive. This current Ohio team has shown a propensity to fall behind in games it should win and then rally late to do so. It can't become habit for the Bobcats, as the season gets more difficult as it gets later. But with Jerome Tillman and Leon Williams, these Bobcats have an excellent chance to win the MAC and get the automatic bid to the NCAA. But 10,000 plus for a MAC game in rural Ohio is pretty impressive.


I'm talking sports, as always, Sunday morning on 700 WLW in Cincinnati. You can listen on line, if you're outside the greater Cincinnati area on http://www.700wlw.com/ And if you have an XM Radio, WLW is on channel 173. Among my guests will be former Cincinnati Bengals lineman Max Montoya and former UC basketball coach, Bob Huggins. His West Virginia Mountaineers play UC this coming week in Morgantown (after WVU plays a tough Georgetown team at home tonight).



Sunday night at 11:35, it's another round of Sports Rock! on Cincinnati's WLWT channel 5. Our guests include former Bengals Eric Thomas and Dave Lapham.

Did you see where Odell Thurman was given the OK to begin practicing with the Bengals again?
Here's the foxsports.com article. Sounds to me like Thurman's complete reinstatement is going to happen. Marvin Lewis issued a statement that Thurman will have to earn his way back on to the team. Lewis had to say that at this point. But the Bengals will take him back. They've got bonus money they're obligated to pay Thurman and Thurman has litigation pending against the NFL that says, in essence, he has a disease and can not be denied a chance to make a living at his chosen profession. The bigger issue is, when he comes back, can the team count on him? Years ago, players like Thurman were deemed 'coach killers', in the sense that you game planned for an opponent fully believing you'd have the services of a player. When that player couldn't (or wouldn't in some cases) play, a coach had to substitute other players and take plays out of his playbook. Ultimately, it caught up with the coach, who usually lost his job.

Thurman is a terrific talent, when sober. Unfortunately, there are a lot of stories like his in professional sport. I'm hoping he's got his act together now, for his sake, and the Bengals.

On the eve of reporting to training camp, the Bengals still don't know if they'll have Odell Thuram this season. He's still waiting to hear whether or not commissioner Roger Goodell will reinstate him from a year long suspension. The betting here is, Thurman will hear soon. And the betting is it'll be good news. But it's my feeling that the Michael Vick fiasco is holding up a lot of business at the NFL office these days. And Goodell is going to go the extra mile with Thurman and anyone else who's sitting out to take sure there are no 'bad news bombs' waiting to drop on his league.

Meantime, the Bengals are chipper about their chances this season. At their annual pre training camp luncheon this week, Marvin Lewis told me he expects his team to be better this season than last. What else can he say, right? I see nothing yet that will make me believe the Bengals defense is any better this year than last. They still have a lot of questions in their secondary. And the defensive lineman they've brought in seem pedestrian. But it's not always great talent that wins championships. It's usually good talent playing together.

Offensively, this team is 'as billed'. There should be no drop off from last year. And honestly, with Chris Henry suspended for the first eight games, it may give rookie Kenny Irons a real opportunity to show his stuff.

It's too early for a prediction. I'll save that, for down the road.

We're six days from the MLB trading deadline and the Reds have yet to make a move. They may be in line for one after tonight. Kyle Lohse tossed a pretty fair game against the Brewers: 5.2 IP, 5 Hits and 2 Runs. Statistically, despite being 6-11, Lohse is one of the top pitchers available. I wouldn't be surprised to see him go by the end of the week.

And why Scott Hatteberg isn't in a Yankees uniform yet is amazing to me. Even if Jason Giambi is now playing his way back into shape, Hatteberg is one of the best left handed bats on the market. But internet buzz persists the Yankees may be more interested in the ageless Jeff Conine.

If you watched any of David Stern's one hour news conference Tuesday, you saw a man trying desperately to hide abject agony. He's trying to put a good spin on one of his referees who's been accused of point shaving and dealing inside information. But even Stern knows that if another ref or a player is caught being a part of this, he has a conspiracy to deal with. And if that happens, the NBA will be looked at as the WWE with a baskebtall. Stern says that Tim Donaghty is nothing more than a 'rogue'. For Stern's sake, he better hope that's all this is.

Check out my web site: http://www.kenbroo.com/. There's a new Broo View Podcast to check out and a fresh Bengals Report on the horizon.

It's not like the NFL draft. You won't see any of the players the Reds (or any MLB team) drafted today in the major leagues any time soon. But the first pick was more than interesting.
The Reds selected Pennsylvania high school catcher, Devin Mesoraco. He's an interesting choice. Mesoraco missed an entire season of high school ball, recovering from Tommy John surgery. But he built his arm strength up and now has one of the best arms in the country.

Mesoraco has a full ride waiting at the University of Virginia. But he left no doubt today that he'll sign with the Reds, instead.

The countdown to Homer Bailey-mania (not to be confused in Cincinnati with Brennaman-ia) is on. The phenom makes his major league debut Friday night, at Great American Ball Park against the Cleveland Indians. Tough opponent to draw in game one. The Indians have one of the more potent line-ups in the game.

Another thing to watch for Friday is whether or not charges will be filed in Georgia against Bengals linebacker, Odell Thurman. Two man and a woman have filed a coplaint with the Monticello, Georgia, police about an incident that happened at a party in that town last weekend. The complaint alleges that Thurman beat up a man and that one of his relatives, a cousin, was involved with theatening a party goer with a gun.

If charges are filed against Thurman, who has the right to apply for re-instatement to the NFL this Monday, it will further his supension that is coming up on a year.