Good Monday Morning!

Who told Lance Stephenson it’s a good idea to leave the University of Cincinnati’s basketball team. This is a really dumb idea on his part. Stephenson, as we all know, is the wonder kid who chose UC to play his college basketball. It was widely assumed before he arrived in town that he’d be one and done. He was just that good and the lure of the NBA would be so great, he wouldn’t stick around Clifton for more than one year. So OK, he plays well enough to win the Big East Conferences rookie of the year award. But I think that’s more of a commentary of how weak the freshman class of players was this season in that conference. And now, this week, after what was at best a mediocre first season, the kid known as Born Ready declares himself a candidate for the NBA draft.

Did I mention this is a really dumb idea?

For openers, a lot of underclassmen with a lot more talent and better resumes are declaring for this draft. They’re doing it for the money, of course. But they’re also declaring for THIS draft because there could be a very good chance of strike or a lockout in the NBA after next season. Patrick Patterson, DeMarcus Cousins, John Wall, Evan Turner, they’re all coming out early.

Unless Stephenson upgrades his game, and a lot, I don’t see him getting drafted. If he does get drafted, it’ll be late second round. And the NBA only has two rounds in its draft. Why do I feel that Stephenson will be in the NBDL next season, or Europe? He should have stayed in school. I hear that family members, in need of money, urged him to leave UC early. Had he played another year in Clifton, those same family members would have been able to harvest a bigger pay day. Now, Stephenson could be out of the game in a couple of years.

Did I mention this is a really dumb idea?

Not exactly efficient pitching by the Reds in this first week of baseball.

Opening Day, Aaron Harang needed 93 pitches to get through just five innings. He improved Saturday, going seven and throwing 99 pitches.

Friday night, Homer Bailey went five innings. But he needed 106 pitches to do it. And on Wednesday night, Johnny Cueto tossed six innings, but used 109 pitches to do it. It’s early. But I think the Reds starters may want to work on their pitch efficiency.

Did you see that TV commercial with Tiger Woods staring into the camera? I didn’t become nauseous watching it, as some people have claimed they did. But did he really have to exume his dead father to see golf shirts and balls? Really? What would have been better would have been Tiger staring into the camera and simply thanking Nike for sticking with him while he male whored it up and say once again that he’s sorry he let you down. That commercial didn’t want to make me go out and buy a bunch of Nike stuff. And here’s the really troubling part. The web site, Sports By Brooks researched where the words of Tiger’s father really came from. Apparently, Earl Woods wasn’t talking about Tiger, though the commercial would have you believe that. No. According to Sports By Brooks, the words you heard Earl Woods speaking came from a DVD, released in 2004, on the life and times of Tiger Woods. Earl spoken words were about the break up of his marriage from Tiger’s mother. They’re not about Tiger. So you not only have Nike trying to sell material on Earl Woods grave. You also have his words taken out of context.

If I’m the old man, I’m spinning in the grave like a Texas tornado.

Random thoughts on a random Wednesday.....

More absurdity in college football. How can a school the size of Tennessee get duped into a 'one and done'? Maybe now, the NCAA will be more inclined to look into the silliness of college football coaches contracts.....

Former Bengals wide receiver, Ron Dugans, named today the wide receivers' coach at Louisville. I never remembered him as being a clutch receiver in his time with the Bengals. Maybe it's easier for him to tell others how it's done, rather than actually doing it...

If the Bears hire Bengals quarterbacks coach, Ken Zampese as their offensive coordinator, why didn't the Bengals look at him in that capacity? Bob Bratkowski has to be on 'life support' right now....

I think the Ravens are going to beat the Colts this Saturday night. But I have no data to support my theory.....

The Jets dream ends in San Diego. Same for the Cardinals....but the Cowboys will play on....

Outside of China, is there another country in the world whose athletes are so little known as Cuba's? And because of that, isn't it a little risky that the Reds are forking over $30 million to a Cuban pitcher, Ardolis Chapman, whom scouts have seen pitch just six times....and in simulated situations at that?

Just askin'.....

Conan O'Brien is going to walk on how many millions of dollars? To go where?

Jay Leno is the guy who played it smart. He said nothing when the network suits decided to send him back to 11:35pm. Leno let O'Brien react. Now, if O'Brien leaves, Leno gets the entire hour and the job he never wanted to leave in the first place.

Unless Leno walks....

Comcast...how we lookin' now?

UC desperately needs a win tonight at St. John's (Madison Square Garden, actually). The meat of the UC schedule is still to come. 2-3 heading into a Saturday game against Notre Dame with Louisville, a rematch with UConn and Villanova down the road, not good....

We'll know if Xavier is for real in a week. Tonight, it's a home game with Charlotte, then a home game Saturday against Dayton and a road game at Temple next Wednesday. If the Muskies sweep three, then we'll know they're legit....

When somebody tells me they're 'serious as a heart attack' anymore, I cringe. Is that part of the depression phase my doctor was telling me about?

Tiger Woods now loses his free ride from GM. The auto manufacturer announced today it's not giving Tiger and more free loaners. Has anyone had a worse two months than Woods? He's lost endorsement deals, his wife, now the car. You the the house is next...

Three things the Bengals absolutey have to get before next season: a legit deep threat at wide receiver, an NFL calibre tight end and something that will fix whatever is wrong with Carson Palmer....

The only way the Bengals fix their wide receiver problem is throught he draft. I've been screaming for Mardy Gilyard since October....

I don't see the Bengals trying to get Brandon Marshall away from Denver. I know it's the fodder that makes radio talk shows 'hum', but it will take too much (at least the Bengals first round pick this year and some subsequent later round picks)...

The tight end situation may be fixed with finally getting Chase Coffman on the field. But riddle me this: how is it a third round pick can't make it onto the field for one snap this season? Who does Coffman think he is, Jerome Simpson? Oh that's right, Simpson was a second round selection....

Doesn't say much about the coach charged with getting Coffman NFL ready, Jonathan Hayes.....

Palmer either has something physically, mechanically or mentally wrong. Everyone in Bengal-dom, including Palmer, says it's not a physical problem. But look at the game tapes from the Bengals vs Jets playoff game and you'll see his passes sailing high, wide and low. If it's mechanics, how was that not fixed during the season. And if Palmer is having trouble reading coverages, finding receivers or worrying about some past or present injury (mentally), then we've got real trouble, right here in River City....

Good Morning!

I was thinking about this, as I was driving in from Columbus. I’ve been out of town the past couple of days. Our daughter graduated Saturday from our alma mater, Ohio University and with family in from all over the country, we were using Columbus as a base…largely because hotel rooms in Athens that go for about 35-bucks a night were 150-a night with a three night minimum. Believe this if nothing else, unless you’re attending OU, there’s absolutely no reason on earth to spend three days at 150-per in Athens. But, that’s a whole nother story.

I was thinking that every so often, we get to see the good and the bad in sports all in one week. And we got that this week. We are witnessing the things that drive us to games and things that drive us away from them.

We saw Junior reach another milestone this week. 600 of anything in sports is a monumental accomplishment. But when you’re talking about the quintessential play in baseball, the home run, 600 is amazing. I was listening Saturday, driving from Columbus to Athens on one of the channels XM radio has, an all baseball channel. And they were playing a one hour special that XM had pieced together about Ken Griffey, Junior’s career. It had all the high notes, the home runs, the great catches, scoring the winning run against the Yankees in the 1995 playoffs. And it occurred to me that one of the reasons you have trouble embracing Junior is because we never got his best here. His best was when he was in Seattle, when he was young and healthy. And while the promise was great when he arrived back in Cincinnati, remember he was not 30 and still considered one of the 25 greatest players all time in baseball, injury would rob him of his greatness. If you add the numbers up, it’s staggering: Junior has missed the equivalent of three full seasons here in Cincinnati because of injuries. And because of that, some fans around here became frustrated and took that frustration out on Griffey, either by booing him at games, railing on him on radio stations like this one or simply not going to see games.

But yet, his body of work in baseball is unrivaled, certainly by contemporary comparison. Bonds and Sosa hit more home runs. But they played at least under a cloud of suspicion of HGH use. Junior? You ever hear anything about him away from the field? Anything?

We’re witnessing this weekend, what could be one of the most remarkable accomplishments in the game of golf. I watched a little bit of the US Open on Saturday. If I’m not mistaken, Tiger Woods has taken the lead on one leg. If I’m not mistaken, Woods at one point Saturday, was using his three wood as a cane, walking up a fairway. Wincing on most of his shots, Woods is taking on the greatest golfers in the world right now and winning a race on one leg. It is compelling television, the kind of stuff that will live forever on places like ESPN Classic, if he wins this thing. It’ll be right up there with Willis Reed leading the Knicks past the Lakers dragging a leg behind him and Kirk Gibson limping around the bases after a game ending home run in the 1988 world series.

Last night, 74-thousand racing fans had the Kentucky Speedway bursting at the bolts that hold that facility today. If I’m not mistaken, it was the largest crowd ever to witness an event at that facility. And if so, it would be the largest crowd ever to witness a sporting event in the Tri-State. Maybe it was a farewell and thanks to the money and brains behind the place, Jerry Carroll. Maybe it was a show of force to the new guy who bought the track and NASCAR that has constantly turned its back on the facility. Or, maybe, it was just another indication that the Tri-State is one of the best sports areas in the world. All I know is this, the population of Gallatin County doubled for about five hours Saturday. People drove from Cincinnati, Louisville, Dayton, sat in traffic got there early and left late and by all indications had a blast.

Those were the things that happened this week that told us all again why we get interested in athletes, storylines and games.

And then, we got to see the under belly.

The NBA has a major problem. It could be a cataclysmic problem, if a former referee is telling the truth about game fixing. The NBA has shouted down Tim Donaghty. But shouting won’t win any battle in federal court. And as Donaghty awaits sentencing, he may only have to prove, softly, that one or two of his former compadres were complicit in game fixing. And if you have that, you have a conspiracy that goes right to the heart of the NBA’s credibility. And if that happens, professional basketball will become nothing more than Vince McMahon’s WWE in shorts.

And then, we witnessed the entire Chad Johnson soap opera this week. As I like to say, with the Bengals, you never just get football. There is always drama. Always.

I feel used today. Every journalist in this town should feel used, Channels 5, 9, 12 and 19, the Enquirer, this radio station, Homer, pick one. We were used this week by Johnson and his mouthpiece (he’s not talking to anyone locally you know, not since Halloween, ironically)….Johnson and his agent, Drew Rosenhaus used us. They wanted to create a circus atmosphere, get it caught on tape and in print and then wave it under Mike Brown’s nose. Because if there’s one thing Mike Brown doesn’t like, other than getting beaten in a contract negotiation, it’s a circus involving his team.

Maybe, after the past four years, he should be used to it.

Johnson showed up, avoided the $8 thousand dollar fine. He didn’t practice at first. It was an ankle, a back it could have been both. The accusations flew: the team said he reported no problem with either during his routine physical, Rosenhaus said he had documents that the team wanted Johnson to have surgery on the ankle, the team said Johnson refused. All of that played out over the course of minutes, culminated with an arm and arm walking and talking picture of Rosenhaus and Johnson leaving the practice field.

That’s why Rosenhaus came to town. That’s what he and Johnson wanted. That’s why every journalist who covered that fiasco should feel a little dirty today.

We in the media lapped it up. Our bosses told us to get the story, get the picture and get it on the air. Because, we were told, that’s what you want. But do you? Was it that big a deal?

The good with the bad. It doesn’t often happen to the extent it did this week.