Couple of things that are just published to www.kenbroo.com. One is the latest Broo View Podcast. My guest in this episode is author Jason Cole, who's new book "Ocho Cinco" is all about Chad.

Also on the front page of my web site is the latest Bengals Report Podcast. Marc Hardin of www.bengalsinsider.com and I review the loss to the Houston Texans and preview this Sunday's game against the Bears. I'll give you a quick link to it here.

OK, Sean Miller took the money and ran, all the way to the desert. Am I surprised? In a sense, no. There's no right thinking American who wouldn't look at the current economic landscape and say "you know what? I don't really need to make $14 million in the next seven years". But let's be honest about this: it was all about the money.

And I'm wondering if there isn't some college president out there today, anywhere at any Division I school, who isn't thinking "what is the point of writing contracts for coaches?" They never bind a coach to a school. The coach is always looking to better the deal after a winning season (funny how they never want to give money back after their team tanks). I'm wondering if it wouldn't take a school president or two to just say "no, you can't talk to my coach. He's under contract until 2015, get back to me then." And correct me if I'm wrong: doesn't the school HAVE to pay the coach for the life of the deal, unless there are some mitigating circumstances other than not winning basketball games?

Good luck Sean. You're a good guy. But don't try to tell anyone that this wasn't about money.

I'm wondering if Arizona is that much of an easier place to win a national championship than Xavier. The stars would have to line up perfectly for Xavier to win it all. That might MIGHT happen once every 100 years. But if I'm not mistaken, the only national championship Arizona has won was in 1997.

I’m also wondering where the Reds are going to find all of the runs they’re going to need to compete this season. Adam Dunn is gone, so is his 100 RBI. Remember, this team didn’t score a whole lot of runs last season. Now, pitching, speed and defense are supposed to carry the day. Playing half of their games in a ball park built for home runs,? Really? I’m wondering…

I’m wondering if the Bengals really do want to trade Chad Ocho Cinco now, why didn’t they want to trade him last season? They’d have gotten a first and a third round pick from the Redskins, maybe two firsts. Now, we hear some blogger out in Oakland ran into the Raiders head coach in a rest room and got the scoop that the Raiders are sending the Bengals a first round pick and running back Michael Bush in exchange for the artist formerly known as Chad Johnson. Wait a year and the Bengals might be able to get Derek Anderson from the Browns for Ocho No Show. Or maybe Kyle Boller.

I’m also wondering when every newspaper in America folds and TV stations start running Who Wants To Marry My Gardener instead of news, where will we get our credible news from? Think about that the next time you read a blog and run with it. This blogger out in California, the one who met the Raiders’ coach at a Wendy’s or wherever may be right. They deal could happen. But more often that not, the guy writing the blog you’re taking as gospel is probably living in his parents’ basement.

Here’s something else I’m wondering about today. I’m wondering why Billy Gillispie never signed his contract at Kentucky. Because despite what he thinks, Gillispie may have kissed away six million dollars in severance. Somebody got ahold of the letter that informed Billy Clyde that he was no longer welcomed at Rupp Arena. The only thing that was listed as a reason why he’s no longer the head coach in Lexington, the ONLY reason, was that he failed to sign his contract. Let me ask you a question. If all you have to do is sign your name to piece of paper to guarantee that you’ll get six mil if your boss wants to fire you, how many pens do you bring to the signing ceremony? I don’t want to call Billy Clyde dumb. Because I don’t have to.

I told you I wonder about a lot of things. Here’s something else that popped into my head before I passed out on my couch Monday. I'm wondering why we all had to freeze our assets off Monday watching the Reds on Opening Day.

Nine of the last eleven Opening Days here in Cincinnati have been miserable. Years ago, not that long ago, Opening day was the middle of the month. A long time ago, like in 1919, Opening Day was April 23. They used to play a 154 game schedule, so teams could open later. Now, the season opens with the threat of snow and ends with the threat of Thanksgiving. I’m wondering today, where did all of the scheduled double-headers go? Remember the Sunday double-headers? Why can’t they play a half dozen of those during the season and start everything a week later?

I know why, the players union didn’t want it because it was too much to ask a multi-million dollar ballplayer to hang around a stadium for eight hours on a Sunday. And the owners didn’t want it, because a doubleheader is basically baseball’s version of ‘happy hour’: two for the price of one. You ever see a happy owner in baseball? But for us, once you get by the initial rush of Opening Day and the first half dozen beers, you’re just sitting in the cold, getting rained on and tempting the flu. I’m wondering, why isn’t anyone else thinking about that.

I'll see you tonight at 6p & 11p on WLWT Channel 5

Good Morning!

Some things I’ve been wondering about. Good things to discuss as we begin a new week here in the tri-state. You know, when you discuss things, often times they get better and you feel better. At least that what my wife tells me, every time I’m wrong.

How close are we to total apathy about our professional football team? I realize that’s a question we seem to ask every year along about this time. Butt really, have we ever been closer to apathy with your Cincinnati Bengals? The opposite of love isn’t hate, it’s apathy. At 0-8, with Palmer probably cooked for this season, I’m smelling apathy a lot lately.

Here’s something else. It’s pretty clear one of two things are going to happen at the end of this season. Marvin Lewis is going to leave. Or Marvin Lewis is going to stay and have to make drastic changes to his offense. And remember, this offense didn’t get bad when Palmer got hurt. We had flashes of just how bad this offense was going to be in the summer. Remember the exhibition game against the Saints? Eleven possessions, ten punts. After eight years on the job, Bob Bratkowski’s job is on life support. So if he goes, how about this? Hire Brian Billick as offensive coordinator. OK, I know, around here he’s viewed by a lot of us as the anti-Christ. But remember, when he ran the offense in Minnesota, those Vikings teams were good. The only thing he couldn’t get in Baltimore was a quarterback. And how much of that was his fault? Or Ozzie Newsome’s fault? I don’t know how he left it with Marvin, when Lewis had to leave Baltimore. Remember, Lewis quit because he thought he had the gig in Tampa, then didn’t get it and Billick wouldn’t take him back. But still…if we’re looking for solutions in 2009, why not consider this one?

And I was thinking about this. If you’ve got Andre Caldwell and Jerome Simpson, do you really need TJ Houshmandzadeh and Chad Johnson? He’ll probably catch three touchdown passes today, after I say this. But I gotta believe even Mike Brown will come to the realization that Chris “I can’t do anything but go long” Henry isn’t money well spent. So let ‘em all go…or keep one, probably TJ. Slap him with the franchise tag and go young at wide out. Trade Ocho Cinco. You’re not going to get a sucker like Dan Snyder to pony up two number one picks now. But if you get a couple of mid rounders for him, do it. Use it to rebuild your offensive and defensive lines.

And that’s another thing. There are only two kinds of playing the Bengals should pursue for the next two years: players who protect Palmer and players who attack the opposing quarterback. In other words, offensive and defensive linemen.

The Bengals have dropped some serious dinero on both lines. They signed Levi Jones long term, Bobbie Williams long term, Andre Whitworth long term. They tagged Stacy Andrew and they’re paying him $7.5 million this season. How’s that working out? Don’t tell me the only problem on that line is Eric Ghiacuc. He’s become the whipping boy for this under performing bunch.

And on the other side, here’s some money well spent: 34-million two years ago for Robert Geathers and 30-mil plus on Antwan Odom this past winter. What does that Bengals defense have through seven games? Right, five sacks total. You can always ask each of them to give some money back. But here’s a better thought. Hire some more scouts who can actually go out and watch other NFL teams on Sundays, scouts who actually know what they’re doing and what to look for. The Bengals don’t have enough scouts and they ones they have apparently aren’t very good. Remember, this is the bunch that gave you Kendrick Allen, Michael Myers and Ed Hartwell in 2007. They couldn’t find Adalius Thomas with a map and a compass.

This came to me Thursday night after a bad piece of fish I had for dinner. Go find a guy who can score unconventional touchdowns. That’s the buzz phrase in pro football these days ‘unconventional touchdowns’. It means any touchdowns not scored by the offense. We don’t seem to have a lot of conventional touchdowns around here any more. So go get a guy the other team has to actually game plan for. An example: go get somebody like Devin Hester. OK, maybe he’s a once in a generation kind of guy. But Josh Cribbs isn’t. Antwan Randel-El wasn’t. Ed Reed isn’t. When was the last time you remember the Bengals actually drafting or trading or signing a player who can score an unconventional touchdown. Radical thinking, for the group at Paul Brown Stadium, I know. But maybe someone down there can eat the same bad fish I had Thursday and wake up with a revelation.

I watched Hines Ward deliver that hit to Keith Rivers last week. And incidentally, it was a good clean hard football hit. Plain, simple, end of story. Sorry that it ended Rivers season. He’s got a long career ahead of him. But my immediate thought after watching that transpire: when was the last time you remember a Bengals player delivering a hit like Rivers took. When was the last time you saw a Bengal hit an opposing player that had the entire league buzzing? Hello, never? Maybe once in the late 80’s?

If you believe the national commentators, the experts, some of whom live here in Cincinnati, the Bengals have the reputation of being a soft team. Worst thing you can call a defense is a ‘finesse defense’. It’s a code phrase for soft. I heard that description of the Bengals defense a couple of weeks ago on a national radio show. And I laughed this week when I heard Marvin chastise a reporter for asking if the Bengals should have retaliated for the hit on Rivers. The word retaliate was the wrong word to use. But the spirit of the question was dead on. Lewis chose to pounce on the word ‘retaliate’ but never addressed the real question. When you get hit in the mouth, figuratively…or in the case of professional football literally, you hit back, just as hard, just as clean, just as legal. If you don’t, the hits will just keep on coming. After Ward laid out the prized rookie last Sunday, Bengals safety Chinedum Ndukwe, said rather disingenuously that the Bengals would get Ward next time. Right. People who talk about next time soon discover ‘next time’ rarely comes. The time to lay a direct hit on Ward was the next play. The Bengals had a chance to do it. And the pulled up on an incomplete pass to Ward. The ‘finesse’ label stuck a little bit better to the Bengals after that.

To borrow from Rod Serling, I have a couple of things 'submitted for your approval'. First the latest Broo View Podcast is posted. I have an interview with NBC Sports and si.com's Peter King. It's on the front page of my web site: www.kenbroo.com.

When you get to my web site, check out the 'Podcasts & More' section for the archived Broo View Podcasts.

Also, the latest Bengals Report Podcast is on my front page. Bengals Report executive editor, Mark Hardin and I review the Bengals latest loss (sigh), this time to the Steelers. You'll hear comments from Marvin Lewis, TJ Houshmandzadeh and others.

Chad Ocho Cinco said tonight on channel 5 he believes the Bengals are only one win away from an 8-8 season. Get that first win, Chad figures, and there's no reason why the Bengals can't go 7-1 in their final eight game. Of course, that first win would have to come this weekend, when the Bengals jet to Houston to play the Texans. Remember, the Texans are 2-4 and should really be 3-3 They've got one of the best defensive ends in the game (Mario Williams) a terrific wide receiver (Andre Johnson) and the top tight end in the AFC (Owen Daniels). What if they lose this weekend and finish 8-0? I guess that math works for old Ocho.

I was working in the Tampa-St. Petersburg television market in the 80's when they had competing baseball groups, one trying to bring a franchise to Tamps, the other to St. Petersburg.
The Tampa group bought 40 percent of the Twins, hoping to lure that franchise to Tampa. It never happened and the group eventually sold its share. The St. Petersburg group took a different track. Throwing caution (and conventional wisdom) to the wind, the St. Pete group built a stadium without the guarantee of a franchise. After making a play for the White Sox (who used St. Pete to get a new stadium in Chicago), major league baseball finally gave an expansion team to Florida's "Bay Area". Until this season, it was baseball's Siberia. The original owner was clueless. The attendance at games was sparse.

I never doubted a major league baseball franchise would work in that area. I knew Florida was a hot bed for baseball fans and tourists who travel by the millions to that state every year. But did I see this year coming for the Rays? No way. And neither did anyone else. If they tell you otherwise, they're lying. But what a terrific story, for a great, great place. Sorry Phils, go Rays.

Hang around Ocho Cinco long enough, and your head will spin. He says goofy things, dumb things and it's all about him. But the artist formerly known as Chad Johnson hit the nail on the head today when he said, in so many words, that it doesn't matter what Carson Palmer, or TJ or he (OC) does. If the Bengals offensive line doesn't turn its game around, nothing matters. And he even gestured to the area of the locker room where the lineman call home. He added that the Bengals have one of the better lines in the NFL. But the mere fact that he was willing to 'call out' other members of his team (and he was correct in his assessment) showed a lot of guts.

Now let's see if that translates into a better performance in New Jersey Sunday. It would appear, from this article in the New York Post, the defending Super Bowl champs aren't exactly shaking in their boots, awaiting the Bengals.

Meantime, deep in the pages of espn.com is this take on Carson Palmer, through Scouts Inc, compiled by James Walker

Scouts Inc.'s take on Carson Palmer
September 16, 2008 3:00 PM
Posted by ESPN.com's James Walker
Palmer
In our weekly visit to the film room, we check in with Scouts Inc. to examine the early-season struggles of Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer.
Here is comprehensive analysis from Scouts Inc.'s Keith Kidd:
"Why is Carson Palmer struggling? After studying the Bengals' offense this weekend, there is no doubt the pounding he took in Week 1 from a Rex Ryan coached Baltimore Ravens defense has affected the way he plays in the pocket, and a broken nose he suffered in the preseason can't help. Palmer remains one of the league's top quarterbacks in my mind, but the tension with #85 Chad [Ocho Cinco] appears to have increased and he is not in sync with his receivers. And, on top of that, the Bengals don't have a legit third receiver right now. The offensive line is not playing well and say what you want about Chris Perry, but he is not a younger version of Rudi Johnson. The Bengals better right the ship quickly because they could be in for a long day against a very good New York Giants defense on Sunday."

And here's our buddy, Mike Florio, from profootballtalk.com in his TV segment about one of the marqui match ups in week three: Cowboys vs Packers!


Posted and ready for you to download, my latest edition of Bengals Report Podcast. Bengals Report executive editor, Mark Hardin and I are breaking down the Bengals loss to the Tennessee Titans. You'll hear comments from Marvin Lewis, TJ Houshmandzadeh and Chris Perry. The Bengals Report Podcast is on the front page of my web site: http://www.kenbroo.com/.

For openers, the Bengals were putrid Sunday. They couldn't block and they couldn't tackle. Maybe they looked good getting off the team bus. This, I'm afraid, is going to be a long season.

Let’s get the obvious out of the way. The Bengals didn’t look so hot during the exhibition season. In fact, they looked bad. The line couldn’t keep the other guys off Carson Palmer’s nose. The defense still hasn’t figured out how to tackle. And a lot of Bengals were hurt. Indisputable facts, part of the fabric the Bengals brought with them to their opener against the Ravens.

For the record, the Ravens are hurt, didn’t score a whole lot of points in their exhibition games and they started a rookie quarterback today. Amazingly, well maybe not so, the Ravens managed over 350 yards of total offense, 229 of those yards were on the ground.

All of that is the obvious. Let’s get into this season a little deeper, put a little more thought into it. I like lists. You like lists? Check things off as you go? I do. It’s a fascinating study of the Irish: make a list, then worry about it the rest of your life. But that’s another story for another day.

Here are 10 things I need to see happen, this season. We’ll do it in David Letterman descending order…

10: Press coverage from the Bengals cornerbacks. If I see Leon Hall or Jonathan Joseph backing off the line of scrimmage like they did last year, I’m throwing a shoe through my television set. Remember, this Mike Zimmer guy, the new defensive coordinator, is supposed to be more aggressive than Chuck Bresnahan. And if you don’t press coverage the Ravens pedestrian wide receivers, who are you going to cover that way?

9: Tackle. End plays with the other guy on the ground. And I’ll call out the guy I want to see this from: Marvin White, the safety. Big hits are great. Shoulders into receivers are electrifying. Now try wrapping up the guy and not let him run by you. Remember the exhibition game against the Packers?

Me too.

8: I want to see Chris Perry carry the ball at least 20 times a game. If he’s carrying the ball that many times, the Bengals are winning. But more to the point: Perry appears to be the kind of back who has to carry the ball a lot to get into a rhythm. And don’t give me: he’s too fragile to carry it 20. If he is, why did you let Rudi walk?

7: I want to see Ocho Cinco get hit hard and get up. I want to see if his torn labrum can stand a hit. Because if it can’t, why didn’t you go out and sign a street free agent on cutdown day…like Ashley Leslie? I need to know Ocho’s shoulder will stand up from the abuse you know the Ravens are going to bring today.

6: I want to see Carson Palmer standing after every play. The offensive line was abysmal this exhibition season. It couldn’t stop tackle stunts, it couldn’t stop edge rushers and it allowed Palmer to be sacked, hit or pushed around on virtually every play this summer. This is a group that’s on the spot all year. And so are the smart guys in that Bengals front office. You know who you are. You let Eric Steinbach take a hike to Cleveland and you just cut Willie. OK smart guys, this group you got better start behaving like an NFL offensive line.

5: I want to see if TJ Houshmandzadeh’s leg problems are over. Because, I’ve got to tell you, without him, this team is out of business. If you’ve got them projected for six wins, it’ll be four without him. He’s the best receiver on the field and the double teams he draws opens up everything else. No TJ, no Ocho Cinco, no running attack, no good.

4: I want to see Jerome Simpson do something. It’s not his fault the Bengals spent a second round pick on him. But it’s his problem now. He got second round money and he’s had a largely unheralded summer. This is the guy who the Bengals think will be their #1 or #2 wide receiver in a couple of years. He’s a #3, at best now. He needs to get open and get up and catch the ball.

3: I want to see Ben Utecht catch the ball, five times, minimum per game. This has been a chronic problem with the Bengals offense since, oh Tony McGee ran out of gas? Utecht needs to show that he wasn’t a product of great players around him in Indianapolis. And Bengals offensive coordinator, Bob Bratkowski needs to show us that he knows what to do with a tight end, now that he’s got a legitimate one.

2: I want to see the interior of that Bengals defensive line shut down anybody’s running attack this season. John Thornton is still on the roster and Domata Peko got a hefty contract this winter. Great, now stop somebody. If the interior defensive line doesn’t play better against the run this season, we’ll all be talking about the Reds on November first.

1: I want to see this team begin behaving like it belongs in the NFL. I want to see discipline on the field, and off. I’ve had enough of false starts, off sides and delay of games. It’s the troika of bad football and we’ve had enough of that since 1990. Off the field? Build homes, go to schools and read to kids, take your kids to Skyline, call you parents, help your wife paint the house. Do anything but go trolling for the night life on your day off, or worse, the night before a game. We’ve had that, too.

I don’t think this is a particularly good football team right now. But it has a chance to be, as the season progresses. I’m willing to watch and give it a chance. I’ll bet you are too. Now let’s see if it’s worthy of our time and patience.

So let's see, in the last seven months the Reds have traded an odds on favorite to win the American League MVP award winner, one of the 50 greatest players of all time, the current MLB home run leader (and consistent 100 RBI a year man) and they've paid the White Sox and Diamondbacks a grand total of $6 million. Sounds like a plan to me.

And Bob Castellini now says that his team can win next year. After he fired general manager Wayne Krivsky in April Castellini said "We're just not going to lose anymore". As late as ten days ago, he told one of his TV announcers "We're not out of it". When he bought the team in 2006, he proclaimed that the Reds would contend for a championship. I don't doubt the man's sincerity. But the time for talking about things is over. It's long past the time for accomplishing things.

2009? They've got no shot.

Look, I had nothing against trading Dunn.....except the fact that he's taking 100 rbi a year with him. Look at the current Reds roster, then look in the minors, and tell me what player will deliver 100 next season. To get even close to that, you'll have to trade any one of these players, maybe a combination: Brandon Phillips, Edinson Volquez, Joey Votto or Jay Bruce. They're exactly the kind of players you need to win. You could always go the free agent route. Guess who's one of the top two free agent to be outfielders. You got it, Dunn. The other is Pat Burrell, who is Dunn from the other side of the plate and two years older.

2009? They got no shot.

The biggest problem the Reds have isn't personnel. The biggest problem they have is 'lack of buzz', in other words, no hype, no 'gotta see'. For the rest of this season, like most lately, they're reduced to an after thought in the sports world. Hello Bengals, see ya Reds. If a generation is defined as 25 years, then almost an entire generation of Cincinnati sports fans have grown up knowing nothing but losing baseball. You think that's not a big deal? Ask Mike Brown.

2009? They got no shot.

The Dunn deal is taking more shape tonight. It appears Arizona pitcher, Micah Owings is one of the 'players to be named later'. It'll be later than sooner, as the Arizona Republic is reporting.
Owings started the year 6-1, then developed arm trouble and has since been sent to AAA. He's also a very good pinch hitter. With the current Reds rotation, he'd be a 5th starter and maybe challenge for a 4th spot. He's better than Homer Bailey, period.

Out in Arizona, they seem happy to have Dunn, if only for another six weeks or so.

As for our Bengals, well not bad, not good in their exhibition opener. There will be plenty for the coaches to work on this week. Apparently, Chad Johnson has some things he's working on....like changing his name, according this in profootballtalk.com.

It's almost time for the nightly Phelps fix...gotta go. See you on News 5 tonight at 6p and after the Olympics.