It's posted! The latest Bengals Report Podcast. Marc Hardin and I review the Bengals vs. Cowboys game. You'll hear comments from Marvin Lewis and TJ Houshmandzadeh. You can find the Bengals Report Podcast on my web site: www.kenbroo.com OR you can download it here!

Just posted, the latest Broo View Podcast. It features an interview I did this past weekend on my radio show Sunday Morning Sports Talks, on 700 WLW in Cincinnati. My guest in this latest podcast is Jarrett Bell, the national football writer for USA Today. You can find the latest Broo View Podcast on the front page of my web site: www.kenbroo.com. But if you're in a hurry, you can also download it here.

I caught this piece of video on youtube. Can you imagine Mike Brown reacting to a win (of course, the Bengals would have to win first) the way Redskins' owner, Dan Snyder, is reacting here? Me neither.

The reaction is coming in fast and furious from the Bengals latest loss, this time in Dallas. From the Dallas Morning News, this on how the Bengals played it.

Clark Judge of cbssports.com is here, and check out number 14 on his list of judgements this week.

And of course, what would a Monday be without the highly reccomended Monday Morning Quarterback column by si.com's Peter King? Have to dig deep to see his thoughts on Marvin Lewis and the Bengals.

0-5 and with a road game in New Jersey up next against the Jets, then home against the Steelers and back on the road to play at Houston. It could be an 0-8 start for the Bengals.

The Bengals are 0-5. No NFL team has started a season 0-5 and made the playoffs. So we can officially end that charade right now. Five games into this season, the Bengals are four games off the AFC North lead, in a one playoff team division at best. If you were one of those fans who watched the Bengals lose in overtime to the Giants and believed they were real close and showed a lot of improvement, welcome back to us who live in the real world.

This game with Dallas went about the way I thought it would. I predicted, on Sunday Morning Sports Talk on Cincinnati's 700 WLW that the game would be well within the 17 point spread. My theory, factually supported, is that and big underdog team that plays on the road in an opposite conference venue more often than not plays within the spread. The Bengals actually should have won the game.

And it wasn't as though the Cowboys aren't immune to losing back to back home games. It's happened several times in this decade. But it didn't happen Sunday.

NFL.com, incidentally, is reporting that Marvin Lewis has been told by Bengals owner, Mike Brown, that Lewis can remain with the Bengals as long as he wants. That should end speculation that Lewis is about to be fired. Of course, he could always quit. But don't count on that.

I watched, maybe like you did, the UC-Marshall game Friday night. It got me thinking about last season, and how the Bearcats were unbeaten, ranked in the top 25 and students were camping out over night to buy tickets. We called it Kelly-ville on channel 5. The head coach even delivered pizzas to the students waiting over night. I was thinking about this because there are still tickets available, not great seats but still tickets to most of the remaining home games at Nippert.

I think if you’re a UC fan, it’s time to step it up. I’ve conversed with a lot of you this week, by phone, email and in a chat room. I know you’re passionate about your football team. Light a fire under a friend, a neighbor, your brother in law. As good as that team was last season, Brian Kelly is doing, in my opinion, a better job this year than last. What is he down to on the depth chart, a fourth string quarterback. By the end of that game Friday night, Chazz Anderson looked like he got it. Anderson was more poised as the game wore on. He throws a nice ball.

But think of the work the coaching staff had to put in to get Anderson, a red shirt freshman, ready. Was the playbook pared down from the one Dustin Grutza or Tony Pike was using? Kelly says no. I believe him. Which means Anderson, who had a limited amount of practice time, if any, with the first team before the Akron game, made up a lot of ground inside of a short week. That’s coaching.

I admit, I’m ‘in the tank’ for Kelly. In over 30 years of covering sports, I’ve never seen a head coach work as hard on and off the field, as this guy does. He’s a born salesman. I wanted to throw a shoe trough the television set Friday night. The announcers who were doing the game wouldn’t shut up about how it’s only a matter of time before Kelly moves on to some big time program.

No. UC is a big time football program. But you have to behave that way too. Buy tickets. Don’t let an ESPN camera ever see an empty seat. Take Uncle Harry to the game this Saturday when they play Rutgers.

Trying to jump start things....been very, very busy this week. But a couple of things worth mentioning. I've got the latest Bengals Report Podcast posted on my web site: http://www.kenbroo.com/. It part of a conversation I had this week with former NFL safety, Matt Bowen, who now writes for http://www.nationalfootballpost.com/. Very interesting comments about the Cincinnati Bengals. You can find it on the front page of my web site, and the you can check out past episodes of The Broo View in the "Podcasts & More" section.

Also, the latest edition of Bengals Report Podcast is posted on my front page.
Finally, some thoughts on two upcoming games this week, on my video podcast.

Taps soon for the Bengals. As far as the 2008 playoff race is concerned, the 0-4 Bengals are dead. This is a team that wasn't very good going into the season. And it's playing down to it's talent. How else do you explain how poorly this team played against one of the worst teams in the league, the Browns? Cincinnati foolishy used a time out on the first play of the third quarter to challenge a Cleveland non scoring play. Why would you do that, knowing you had a quarterback playing in a real game for the first time in almost three years? Don't you think someone on that Bengals sideline would've thought, gee, maybe we should save a few TO's to help Ryan Fitzpatrick out later in this game. The other two TO's were burned because their defense couldn't get the proper personnel on the field. Bad, bad bad.

If you’ve been with me all along on this program, you know where I’ve stood with regard to the Bengals, ever since their reported to Georgetown. I don’t think they’re a great team. I don’t think they stink. 0-4 record aside, they’re not one of the five worst teams in the NFL. There are teams with a win that’re worse: Seattle, Miami and Oakland. But they’re no playoff team. I didn’t think they were in July, and since the last team to start 0-3 and make the playoffs was eleven years ago, they aren’t now. Not at 0-4. The Bengals are like 20-or so other NFL teams. They will finish this year with a record somewhere around 6-10 to
8-8.

Now, the Reds. I’m not buying any of this stuff that’s been going on since late August. Great, they’re playing better. It would have been a tough job to play any worse than they did in May and June.

Let me ask you a very basic question: as the Reds conclude another bummer of a season, do you honestly think the everyday eight they’ve been running out there has a chance to compete with the everyday eight the Cubs will trot out in 2009?

Ryan Hanigan? Nice story. But if he was this good, why did it take the Reds until late August to bring him up here? Jay Bruce will be one of the three outfielders in 2009. Who are the other two? Do you honestly think the Reds will contend with an outfield of Bruce, Chris Dickerson and Ryan Freel? Move Joey Votto to left field. OK, who plays first? Edwin Encarnaction? Really? The guy who’s committed 23-errors this season?

Now you want him handling the ball four times as much as he would playing third base?

I keep hearing the grand plan includes finding a right handed power bat in free agency? That would be Pat Burrell and who else? And Burrell, who’ll probably sign one more big contract in his career would want to come here because….

At his age, Burrell will want to go somewhere we he can win a championship. And if he is the best right handed bat available this winter, don’t you think the free spending Yankees or Angels or Red Sox chase him?
Money and a chance to go to an instant contender. The Reds offer neither, at this point.

Burrell, incidentally, is Adam Dunn from the right side of the plate. And we already know what they thought of Dunn.

I don’t doubt Walt Jocketty’s baseball brains or Bob Castellini’ wallet. But I’m having a tough time believing that the Reds will be contenders in 2009. Are you?

And I watched a lot of college football Saturday. This is a revelation: I usually don’t. It’s my one day away from sports in any week. I usually catch the highlights on ESPN News. But I watched the UC game Saturday.

I have a simple question: what was UC doing, scheduling a game at Akron?
Whose bright idea was that? As Brian Kelly is fond of saying, the Bearcats are one of only two BCS teams in Ohio. In your wildest, alcohol or other substance induced dreams, could you ever imagine Ohio State agreeing to play a football game in Akron?

Along about six o’clock Saturday night, Kelly had to be cursing whatever athletic director is was that sent him to the home of the Zips. But he was probably busting a sweat over losing another quarterback. Or maybe knowing that he’s got another bus trip next Saturday to Huntington, West Virginia to play a Conference USA team on the road.

His current AD should have bought the Bearcats out of both of these games. Isn’t that what the other Ohio-based BCS team did to UC this past winter?

Maybe Kelly signed off on this. Maybe there’s some sort of payoff coming back to UC down the road. All I know is this, when you’re a major-major, you get nothing out of playing on the road against a mid-major. If you win big, you’re supposed to. If you lose, and don’t win your conference you knock yourself out of any big bowl consideration at the end of the season.
If you win close, this should be the lesson: Act like a BCS team. Don’t ever do this again

I posted this picture back in February, when WTSP-TV (Tampa) meteoroligist, Dick Fletcher passed away. It's Fletch, Don and a me, the primary WTSP-TV anchor team. How good they were to me, how young I look and how this picture seems like only yesterday.

Stumbled onto this on the Washington, DC television web site www.dcrtv.com. It's a clip from former WBAL-TV anchor, Don Harrison. I worked with Don in Tampa, back in the early 80's. He was one of the nicest people I ever met in my business, warm, funny and genuinely interested in who you were, not only what you could do. Don, who went onto become the first anchor at CNN Headline News and the 'voice' of CNN liners and promos, was a rare breed. He died far too young. Don Harrison, was a 'pro's pro'.

Well, just in time for this weekend, here is another Broo View Video Podcast,direct fomr the palatial estate in suburban Cincinati. My topic this time, two very intriguing match-ups inside the AFC North.

Notice the shirt, as I show the colors for my beloved Ohio Bobcats whom I believe will win their first game of 2008 Saturday, over VMI, in Peden Stadium.

More later today...

Wednesday, we gave you Mike Florio's take on the best teams through three weeks of the 2008 NFL schedule. Now, here are his candidates for worst...

It's amazing how, in a league where the system is set up to help losing teams win again, so many of the same teams are the dregs of football, year in and year out.

Sounds as though, from reading this article in the Cleveland Plain Dealer, the Browns are once again in the middle of a quarterback controversy.

Some news in the Washington Post about a couple of former Cincinnati Reds. Has it really been five years since Aaron Boone was traded to the Yankees?

When he was a guest on WLWT's Sports Rock a month or so ago, I asked UC head football coach, Brian Kelly why UC and Ohio State couldn't play a football game every couple of years or so. Kelly answered my questioned by saying it was up to UC to prove that it's worthy of such a deal. Both, of course, are the only BCS conference schools in the state of Ohio. It was a good answer.

But how is UC 'proving' it's worthy of Ohio State by scheduling a game at Akron. Akron! Are you kidding me? This is the same UC athletic department that is trying to get out of a yearly home and home series with Miami, Ohio, a perenniel opponent. UC would gladly play Miami every year at Nippert. But it says it's done traveling to Oxford for games. And now, UC is going to Akron? Whose bright idea was that? Can you imagine Ohio State scheduling at game at Akron, or any other MAC school? And UC will compound this dumb scheduling move with a trip to Huntington, West Virginia next week to play CUSA's Marshall. This is how a BCS conference football team schedules? Good luck building a case to play Ohio State doing that!

Brian Kelly deserves better. UC should have bought its way out of this mess and scheduled two more games at Nippert.

It's posted and ready for your dowload. Bengals Report Podcast. In this episode, Bengals Report executive editor, Mark Hardin and I preview Sunday's Bengals vs Browns match-up. You'll get the inside scouting report and hear comments from Marvin Lewis, Carson Palmer and Chris Perry.

It's on the front page of my web site: www.kenbroo.com. But, if you're on the fly, you can download the podcast here.

For yet another time: Marvin Lewis is not suffering from 'job jeopardy'. It came up again in the Bengals news conference today. Lewis was asked if he felt pressure to win this Sunday, with the Bengals 0-3. In a nutshell he said 'no', and if he was under pressure to win, he wouldn't let it affect him. We won't know if that last statement is true because Lewis is under no pressure from managment to 'win or else'.

Two things to remember about Marvin Lewis. 1: He won' t quit, not if he wants to work as a head coach in the NFL again. 2: his boss, Mike Brown isn't in the business of paying people not to work.

But this season appears to be another lost one. No team since 1998, and only three since 1990, have started a season 0-3 and made the playoffs. Now, you could argue, that if 9-7 will win the AFC North, all the Bengals (or the Browns for that matter) have to do is go 9-4 in their final 13 games. But look at their schedule. Do you think the Bengals can win at Dallas, or at Pittsburgh? Do you think they can sweep the Steelers? And games with the Ravens, Houston and Indianapolis await them, as well. I'm still sticking with five to seven wins, but no more than that.

So after three weeks in the 2008 season, who are the best teams in the NFL? Our buddy, Mike Florio from profootballtalk.com weighs in with this video report.

Biggest surprise for me? Buffalo. Didn't see that one coming.

Tony Grossi, the longtime Cleveland sports writer has an interesting 'take' on this upcoming game between the Bengals and Browns in this Plain-Dealer article.

First thing Thursday morning, on my web site www.kenbroo.com, I'll have the latest edition of Bengals Report Podcast posted. Mark Hardin and I preview the upcoming "Battle Of Ohio" and you'll hear comments from your favorite players.

Posted and ready for your downloading pleasure the latest Broo View Podcast. It's a good one (if I do say so myself!), that includes an interview I did with nationalfootballpost.com and former Oakland Raiders general manager, Michael Lombardi. Great thoughts from Mike on the state of the Bengals. You'll also hear comments from Carson Palmer and TJ Housmandzadeh. You can find the latest Broo View Podcast on the front page of my web site: www.kenbroo.com. Or you can dowload it here.

Here’s a question to ponder: how many more weeks do we worry about game Bengals strategies and match ups. At what point will it stop to matter. Back in the back old days, in the 90’s, it was tough to deliver the nightly sports and talk about game strategies for the Bengals teams. You could never get to that, because Bengals fans could never get by the fact that the team was bad, and any talk about strategy was dismissed. You didn’t worry about how Tony McGee would do against the Browns strong side linebacker. It didn’t matter. You knew the Bengals were going to lose.

How close are we to that again?

Last Sunday, I asked this question: is this game, the game against the Tennessee Tigans, is this the biggest game the Bengals will play in the last 18 seasons? Not from an on field perspective, but off the field. Was it the biggest game they were going to play, to hold your interest and
not let the mood of the town drift from disappoint, to anger to apathy. At least there was one positive from the wind storm. Not many of us got to see the second half of that debacle.

As I sat in the dark this week and watched the candles melt, I wondered when we’d ever have a winning team to talk about, something that galvanizes the city like the 1990 Reds did, or the ’88 Bengals. College teams are great. What UC did on the football field last season and what Xavier did in basketball a couple of years ago were both terrific. But let’s face it: when it comes to college sports, interest is fractionalized. In Cincinnati, you’re either a UC or X fan. If you’re a Kentucky fan, you’re neither. Then, of course, are the other schools that have pockets of support around here, OSU, Notre Dame, Miami, maybe IU.

The Cyclones wrote a nice story last year. But it’s hockey, always an acquired taste in a non NHL city.

No, if anything is going to lift us from the land of loser-ville, it’s going to be either the Reds or Bengals. And honestly, do you see any reason to believe its going to happen any time soon.

The Reds are playing good baseball right now. But the heat is off, has been since June. We’ve seen this a lot in the last ten years. Reds out of the playoffs, play good baseball in September, false sense of hope, big let down by the following June. Repeat the cycle.

Look at this month. The Reds delayed the Cubs clinching the Central by winning two of three, They won two of three at Milwaukee earlier this month. They won two of three from the Brewers this past weekend. They’ve won 15 of their last 22. But it’s September. When was the last time they did it when it mattered? Hey, the current line up is playing well. But do you believe for a moment the everyday eight the Reds are running out there lately will be able to compete with the Cubs everyday eight, man for man next season? I don’t.

Some magazine, I don’t remember which one most of them give me a headache, but some magazine said recently that Cincinnati is one of the toughest towns for a sports fan. No playoffs in baseball since 1995, one playoff appearance for the Bengals in the last 18 years. But yet, you believe. And better, you support. The Reds went over the two million mark in attendance Saturday afternoon. The Bengals have a waiting list out the door and down the street for season tickets, every seat every Sunday now sold out.

But the economy stinks, gas is four bucks a gallon and you’re lucky if you’ll get a three percent raise this year. You’ve got some tough choices to make now. We all do.

At what point will your patience with waiting for a winner run out? Everybody has their limit. How close are you, to yours?

Maybe it’s a good thing we don’t have blackouts all that often. Having too much time to think is almost as bad as watching the food rot in the refrigerator. But unless I’m reading this wrong, I think you’re in need of something today other than a warm shower and a promise from Duke Energy this will never happen again. I think you’re in need of a dose of hope. What I want to know, is do you see it coming anytime soon?

I once worked out of an office at the old WLWT that Rod Serling, the great writer and creator of "The Twilight Zone" once used. So borrowing a phrase he made popular on that show: submitted for your approval....the latest Bengals Report Podcast. Mark Hardin, the executive editor of the print version of Bengals Report joins me to preview this Sunday's Bengals vs Giants game. You can find the latest Bengals Report Podcast on the front page of my web site: www.kenbroo.com, in Itunes and you can download it here, as well.

It's straight ahead, just over that hill known as, The Twilight Zone...(sorry)

I'm continually amazed by those who believe that Marvin Lewis is on the 'hot seat'. The latest to weigh in on this is si.com columnist, Don Banks, a really good writer. Look at where he ranks Lewis in this story.

Those who've been around Cincinnati for any length of time know two things. 1: Marvin has to fix this thing to have any chance at another head coach's job in the NFL. 2: Mike Brown doesn't pay people not to work. Bottom line: Lewis isn't quitting and Brown isn't letting him go before his contract is up, after the 2010 season.

More than the status of Lewis, I'm concerned about the play of Carson Palmer. Yep, his offensive line has been pourous. But Palmer has been consistently high with his throws and his timing with TJ Houshmandzadeh and Chad Ocho Cinco has been painfully off. The wind that swirled through Cincinnati last Sunday can't be an excuse. It appeared that the Titans' Kerry Collins handled the wind just fine.

I think the Giants win Sunday, but the Bengals cover. 13.5? No thanks.

Don't rule out a 1-7 start for your Cincinnati Bengals.

More Florio! (I should be his agent). The profootballtalk.com guhru has the best game of the weekend scoped out: Eagles and Steelers.

Tough to go against the Steelers, even on the road. I'll take Pittsburgh.

One reason why Ohio State never seems to do well in 'big games': take a look at the rest of their out of conference schedule. Sure, they went to LA to play USC. But home games with Ohio University (which should have won that game), Youngstown State and now Troy? That gets you ready for a BCS title run? Really?

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/.

Did you see the blown call in the Chargers-Broncos game Sunday? Then, you might be interested in this take, by our pal Mike Florio from profootballtalk.com

Hoculi may have blown it. But I give him credit for owning up to it, over the PA during the game and face to face with Chargers' coach, Norv Turner. But, of course, that changes nothing. It was a bad call.

Just posted on my web site: www.kenbroo.com is the latest Broo View Podcast. I have the complete interview I conducted this past Sunday on 700 WLW with former Cincinnati Reds pitcher, Tom Browning. We visit about the 20th anniversary of his perfect game, which happens to be tonight! If you're in a hurry, you can dowload the podcast here.

The Sports Network asks an interesting question about Marvin Lewis today. My answer, if he has, it happened the day Mike Brown brought Chris Henry back to this team.

As Cincinnati picks up the pieces from the fury of Ike (and let me just say this: if all it takes to bring us to our knees is a stiff wind, than all these enemies of the USA can forget about nuclear weapons) it's a good time to examine the state of your Cincinnati Bengals. Notice, I didn't say 'our' Cincinnati Bengals. They're all yours until further notice.

Why should we not have seen this coming? This is, after all with few exceptions, the same team that we have hear last year. And how did that work out? The owner undercut his coach and brought back the poster child for "Bad Bengals" (Chris Henry) and the coach and his staff summarily cut the locker room cop and conscience (Wille Anderson), a running back who has performed well in bad weather (Rudi Johnson) and a cornerback who would be a decent nickel back in a young secondary (Deltha O'Neal).

This is a football team without direction and without a plan. Do yourself a favor and vote on this poll I have at the top of the page. I'll bet the final prediction tally will be 3-13, or worse.

The Bengals, and rightfully so, continue to get lampooned by the national media. In his Monday posting on si.com, former NFL personnel direction Mike Lombardi gives the Bengals a "D" for their efforts this week. I think that's generous.

Meantime, over at cbssports.com, scroll down to see what Clark Judge thinks about what's going on here in Cincinnati. He also thinks Marvin Lewis is in trouble in this post. I don't agree. Marvin isn't quitting and the Bengals owner doesn't pay people to not work. This situation exists through the 2010 season.

It appears as though referee Ed Hoculi won't be working the Super Bowl next February. Not after blowing that call in Denver Sunday. And not after the NFL said this today.

See, and you thought you had a tough weekend....

The idea came from Paul Daugherty, who sits in this chair weeknights at six. And it’s such a basic question, we need to talk about it today: was Sunday the most important game the Bengals will play in the Marvin Lewis era?

Let’s put it in context. It’s no secret to you and me: this franchise has struggled mightily and because of itself for the past 17 seasons. One winning season, one playoff appearance. It has paraded mediocre talent, at best sometimes, into stadia and has forced us a bar hung too low for far too long. It told us in 1996 it needed a new stadium, flirted with the city of Baltimore for a little leverage and finally wrangled a sales tax hike from you to get Paul Brown Stadium built. I thought it was a good idea then. I still think it was a good idea. But when the bricks and mortar and rebar went up, the blocks and tackles and wins went down. We became the butt end of jokes, you, me and the team we root for every Sunday in the fall. Jay Leno got us every night.

But all that changed in 2003, when Marvin Lewis arrived. He came here with a resume like no other head coach since Forest Gregg. Lewis had a super bowl ring. He had a reputation of building solid and aggressive defenses. He even made Steve Spurrier look good, no small trick in that one year in DC. Lewis breathed fire into a moribund franchise, shook up the locker room and got this town on its football toes again. Suddenly, it was fun to be a Bengals fan again. The 70-percent off sales on Bengals jerseys at Lazarus were postponed until after Christmas.

2005 was great. But we both know where things went after that. Too many injuries, too many arrests. But you were loyal. You got mad, because it reflected badly on your city and you know you love your city. You got mad because it reflected badly on your team. And you know you love your team. But you kept faith. You kept buying tickets, buying tickets, watching the games on television. You kept the faith.

But as we both know, even loyalty has its limits. And I sensed this, for a lot of Bengals fans. I’ve taken your phone calls this week, talked with you out on the town and listened to the talk shows. I saw your tickets for sale today on ebay: four, 40-yard line, face value 68-dollars apiece, all four for you at 100-total.

I sense that with a lot of Bengals fans, after last Sunday’s stinker in Baltimore, enough was enough. Bring back Chris Henry, let Willie go, lay an egg on opening day. Enough.

So I’m asking today, is this game against the Titans the most important game this franchise will play since the final year of the Sam Wyche era?
If the Bengals are beaten this afternoon, are you done watching them on Sunday? Are you done buying tickets? Will you find other things to do Sunday afternoons this fall? Is it that important?

Or, is it only one game? It has to be either-or? The NFL season has been called a marathon. But it really isn’t. Its 17-weeks, you play 16 and if you’re good enough you play on. It’s four months, one game a week. And while each week is important, generally you only have to win ten times to get into the playoffs. The Bengals have lost once. If they lose today, they still have 14-chances to win ten. So is today really a must win? On the field, no. Off the field, in the department known as your loyalty and interest, is it?

If a generation is defined as 25 years, then an entire generation of people in our town have grown up knowing nothing but losing football. Just about. It’s been 18 years, save one. The Bengals, like every other NFL ftanchise are enjoying their halcyon days. The NFL’s popularity is at its zenith. The television ratings and revenue are at all time highs. Unable to get 40-thousand into Riverfront Stadium on some Sundays in the 90’s, the Bengals now have a waiting list for tickets.

But it won’t always be that way. The economy, if you haven’t noticed, is in the dumper. Gasoline will be in the mid-four dollar range by later today and rumored to being more than five bucks a gallon by the end of this week. People are losing their jobs, or are afraid they might. Tough choices about how to spend income have already begun. To most of us, buying an NFL ticket is a luxury. Repairing a washing machine isn’t. Maybe that sounds silly to you, but it shouldn’t.

We invest our money and time in things we believe will give us a good return. Our sports teams are that way. They eventually have to give us a reason to believe and then invest. The Bengals haven’t done that a lot in this last generation. Sometimes, you just reach a point where enough is enough. After back to back losses and all that's transpired off the field, have you reach that point today?

Well, finally. It's taken five years, but apparently Marvin Lewis is beginning to call players out. It happened today, when Lewis made an appearance on Sirius satellite radio. SI.com's Peter King was one of the show's co hosts, according to this.

Meantime, up in Columbus, sometimes Columbus Dispatch writer, Rob Oller has a less than flattering look at both of Ohio's NFL teams.

And our good friend, Mike Florio, from profootballtalk.com has this look at the biggest disappointments from week #1 of the 2008 NFL season.

While you're at it, don't forget to vote on the poll we have going right now. It's at the top of this blog page.

Bad news for Ohio State: no Beanie Well, apparently for the big game against Southern Cal. Here's the latest from espn.com.

The latest edition of Bengals Report Podcast has just been posted! In this edition, executive editor Mark Hardin and I preview this Sunday's Bengals vs Titans game. You'll hear comments from Carson Palmer and Marvin Lewis. You can download it here. And you can get my latest Broo View Podcast on my web site: www.kenbroo.com.

The latest Broo View Podcast is posted and available for your downloading pleasure on my web site: www.kenbroo.com. If you're in a hurry, it's also here. My guest is former NFL linemen, Ross Tucker, who joined me last Sunday on my radio show "Sunday Morning Sports Talk" on 700 WLW in Cincinnati.

If you're not living in the beautiful and 'battleground state' of Ohio, you can always dial me in on line on www.700wlw.com or on XM channel 173. I'm on from 9am-11:30am EDT Sundays.

I asked this question on Channel 5 the other night. Which would you rather be: a fan of the Cincinnati Bengals, a team that will be lucky to win 6 games this season, or a fan of the New England Patriots, which just lost it's all world quarterback?

Well, which would you rather be? Let me know. I'll read the best answers you send in on my comments link this Sunday morning on 700 WLW beginning at 9am.

As for what the Pat may do without Tom Brady, here's an interesting 'take' from our buddy Mike Florio, at profootballtalk.com.

With Bill Belichick and his 'system', the Pats may be able to squeeze out a playoff berth using Matt Cassell. And not to jump on Florio's jock too much, look at number 6 on his list of ten thoughts from opening day in this, from sportingnews.com.

Just added to my web site: www.kenbroo.com is the lastest edition of Bengals Report Podcast. You can download it here. But check out my web site for more cool audio and the latest in sports.

I'll have the lastest Broo View Podcast posted on www.kenbroo.com later today.

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.

As promised the latest Bengals Report Podcast is now posted on my web site: www.kenbroo.com. And if you're ready for it now, it's here too. Good stuff with the executive editor of Bengals Report, Mark Hardin.

Sunday morning, I'm talking sports again on 700 WLW in Cincinnati. Bengals Sunday Morning Sports Talk will feature a number of good guests. At 9:30am, my guest will be former NFL lineman and current Sirius Radio host (don't tell him we'll also be on XM channel 173) Ross Tucker. He this to say about Chad Ocho Cinco in a posting on si.com

Also, my good buddy Mike Florio will join us from profootballtalk.com, around 10:05am.

Good Morning!

Just back from three days in Chicago. Nothing big, just a little R&R. Dented the car bumper, ate pizza and stone crabs (though not together or on a pizza) and had a rollicking good time in the 'Second City'

While I was gone, I hope you had a chance to latest to my latest Broo View Podcast. If you didn't get the chance, check it out here. My special guest is former NFL defensive back (Rams, Bills and others) Matt Bowen, from www.nationalfootballpost.com.

Sometime Friday, on my web site www.kenbroo.com, I'll have the latest edition of Bengals Report Podcast, as executive editor, Mark Hardin and I kick off the regular season.

Saw this when I arrived home Wednesday night from Chicago. Hmmmm. Well no Beanie may mean a better chance for my beloved Ohio Bobcats Saturday, right? No? Oh well...

Finally, for now at least, is there anyone out there who'll give the Bengals a little positive pub?
Not here, from si.com. They won't get any, until they start winning, on and off the field.

It would be so easy to sit here and say today, “this Bengals team is going nowhere and will be lucky to win six games this season”. Because, that’s what just about everyone in town is saying right now. Don’t lie, you’ve said it, you know you have. You’ve watched it under perform in the exhibition games. You’ve tallied up all of the injuries and you’ve looked at the schedule. Six wins, seven maybe, if the snow falls enough when the Chiefs come to town in late December.

The experts around the country, the guys who make their living writing for web sites and preview magazines are whistling the same tune. Just got my recent issue of Sports Illustrated last week. Bengals picked to finish dead last in the AFC North, behind the Ravens who you could quarterback right now.

I wouldn’t be so quick to join the chorus. After the next 17 weeks, we all may be singing “Hallelujah” when the seasons ends. But today, I’d at least think about a different tune.

As I’ve said, on WLW Radio, on WLWT channel 5, to the to the other interview requests I get from stations all over the country, the hardest thing about covering the NFL is predicting what teams will win from week to week. To correctly predict how a team is going to finish now, in August, is next to impossible.

Sure you know who the dogs are And you know who the power teams are. There are always five great teams, five really lousy teams and the 22-other teams in the league will finish anywhere from 10-6 to 6-10. The Bengals, I think, will be in that bunch.

Your Cincinnati Bengals are not a great football team. They’re not a ‘dog’ either. The Bengals are a pretty average football team that has to play extremely well each week to have a chance to win. The tackling on defense is chronically bad. The offensive line has gone ‘south’ in a hurry. And if TJ and Chad (or Ocho Javon Cinco or whatever he’s calling himself now), if they don’t play well, the Bengals don’t win.

We’re talking about all of this today because in less than one week, the games start to count, because the Bengals have looked inept this summer and because two veteran Bengals were among the cut down casualties Saturday.

Rudi Johnson was done last year. I think the Bengals only brought him back to hedge their bets on Chris Perry getting hurt again. Let’s face it. Perry is like crystal. He can snap, anywhere, at any moment. You knew it, I knew it every Bengals fans knew there was no way Rudi was going to get $3.2 million once Perry proved that he could stay healthy.

Willie Anderson? The man deserved better than what he got. That was no way to treat someone who gave a lot of good years, all but one of his seasons in the NFL, to some horrid Bengals teams. Anderson is the second best lineman in team history. End of discussion. Anthony Munoz got a royal on field send off. Tim Krumrie rode out of Riverfront Stadium on a Harley. Willie got thrown out of Paul Brown Stadium when he wouldn’t write the Bengals front office a check.

But honestly, who didn’t see something like this coming? This story wasn’t going to have a happy ending for Anderson, not after the Bengals dropped $7.5 million on his replacement.

More than what Anderson might have been able to contribute on the field this season, what he leaves behind is a gaping hole in Bengal morality. If you haven’t noticed, that’s not exactly in ample supply these days. Drop a two year 600-grand deal on Chris Henry. Let Willie go. Sounds like subtraction by addition.

You have any idea who the team leaders are now? Where is that in the Bengals locker room? Maybe this is a perverted twist on that old line about Ralph Kiner: we can get arrested with you Willie, we can get arrested without you. Kids, if you don’t know who Ralph Kiner is, wake up Dad and ask him.

Look, I’m not very encouraged about this season. I think the Browns will be good again. I think there’s a lot of Browns-hatin’ going on and its clouding some sensible thinking here in the ‘nati. The Steelers play the toughest schedule in the NFL this season. But you and I both know that team has the

Bengals number. Two words: Dick LeBeau. Don’t let the Cincinnati part of his resume fool you.

The Ravens appear to caught in a vortex. They’ve got an older defense and they’ve got quarterback issues. Willis Magahee may not be ready to start the season. But they’ve got a new head coach and one of the best offensive coordinators on the planet. That team will find a way….

And then, there are your Cincinnati Bengals. The haven’t been able to run block very well this summer. They allowed their quarterback to get hit in the mouth far too often Any team with an edge rusher (and name one that doesn’t have one) can beat their tackles. Their secondary has been blown up about as much as the Cincinnati sky will be along about nine tonight.

But with all of that said, the Bengals are 0-0 today, like every other team in the NFL. Everything that happened in training camp this summer was important. But none of it matters now.

There’ll be plenty of time to panic in a month. But today, keep your options open. Things aren’t always the way they appear. Despite their worst efforts, your Cincinnati Bengals might figure this thing out, inspite of themselves.

Random thoughts from a mind that thinks randomly on this random Wednesday night....the NCAA is jerking Ben Mauk around. It's one thing to deny his re-instatement bid. It's another to say no, then wait a minute not yet, and then ultimately no in three separate phone calls this week....that said, Mauk needs to move on with this life. It's over at UC....The Bengals are in no postion to trade Rudi Johnson. Chris Perry has been nothing but injured since he arrived in Cincinnati in 2004, this summer withstanding....If the Bengals are really trolling for another wide receiver by dangling Johnson as trade bait, what does that say about the quality of the receivers they drafted this spring, three in all? The Bengals worst problem, among a lot of them, is procurement of quality players, whether through the draft or free agency......I'm certain the Bengals will play their best this summer against the Colts Thursday night. But they'll prove nothing by doing that. The Colts aren't going to play any of their first teamers....Bengals tackles, Levi Jones and Stacy Andrews can't handle a good edge rusher. Watch and see if that's not where most teams blitz the Bengals this season...Can Corey Patterson do anything besides ground out to second? Oh wait, yes. Patterson can strike out....After tossing the first complete game by a Reds' starting pitcher this season, we have further proof why the Reds didn't dump Bronson Arroyo at the trade deadline. In ten of his last eleven starts, Arroyo has gone at least six innings....I still haven't given up on Homer Bailey becoming a decent starting pitcher. But I think the Reds have....Even if Brian Kelly coaches the UC football team to another 10 win season, I still think he's back in Clifton for a third season. Here are the jobs I think Kelly would leave UC for: Boston College, Notre Dame, Colorado, Michigan and Texas. I don't see any of those jobs opening up for awhile.....The problem with Olympians? They fade away immediately after the games for four years, impossible to keep track of them. Michael Phelps will be around, doing endorsements and the like for awhile. But after hosting the season premiere of Saturday Night Live, he'll fade too....

It's up...my latest Broo View Podcast. I have an indepth interview with the writer and editor from Bengals.com, Geoff Hobson, about the overall status of the team. You can find it on my web site, www.kenbroo.com or your can download it here.

Upcoming over night, my latest Broo View Podcast, available at http://www.kenbroo.com/. I'll have an indepth interview with the brains (ok, the brawn) behind http://www.bengals.com/, Geoff Hobson. It'll be on the front page of my web site and I'll also include a link to it on the blog as well.

Yikes, more and more bad press for you Cincinnati Bengals. Here's former NFL'er Matt Bowen with his take on the running Ocho Cinco sports opera.

ESPN.com is writing about what we all know here in the 'nati. Things are getting a little dicey for the Bengals.

I'm sure glad Walt Jocketty is somewhere talking about the future of the Cincinnati Reds. Apparently, it's in Knoxville, Tennessee, where he reveals the Reds are in fullfledged rebuilding.

Wait 'til 2010 isn't just the Olympic battle cry of NBC Sports. It's the cold, hard reality of baseball in Cincinnati.

He's one of our favorite guests on 700 WLW's Sunday Morning Sports Talk. Here's some more of profootballtalk.com's Mike Florio on the return of Chris Henry to the Bengals.

My over/under on Henry getting into legal trouble is November 15. I'm taking the under.

Just posted, my latest Broo View Podcast. Late Saturday night, after she won the gold with the USA women's 4x400m relay team, Mary Wineberg phoned from Beijing to talk about the highlight of her track and field career. You can find the Broo View Podcast on the front page of my web site: www.kenbroo.com or you can download it here.

And now, your Cincinnati Bengals....

I need some help here. I’m really struggling right now to find something good to say about your Cincinnati Bengals. They’re certainly not my Cincinnati Bengals today. They’re all yours.

Saturday night, I wasted three hours of my life watching their exhibition game against the Saints. Exhibitionists, your Bengals are not.

Up front, I admit I understand the ramifications of not having Chad and TJ in the line-up. I get that. But here’s what I don’t get: Carson Palmer getting hit on virtually every passing play. Not just last night, through three exhibition games this summer. Here’s the morning memo to the Bengals offensive linemen: you sent the most important player on your team to the locker room at halftime with blood streaming down his face. It’s OK to block the other guy. Really, it is.

The way this Bengals offense has performed so far this summer will be the biggest bargaining champ Houshmandzadeh will have this off season. And if the Bengals are sincere in re-visiting Johnson’s deal next winter, same thing for him.

The way the rest of the Bengals wide receivers played last night made me salivate for Chris Henry. It was that bad.

Chris Perry ran well. Guess what: other teams will give the Bengals that all day long. You know what he wound up with? 12-carries, 36-yards. Take out his one carry for 13, he averaged two yards a pop

Other teams will gladly let Perry run for a buck, if they don’t have to worry about pass coverage. Antonio Chatman caught a few nice passes Saturday night. Guess what: the Bengals were so impressed with Chatman’s play this summer, they went out and sold their souls, they signed Henry.

The Bengals calling card, their offense? 165-yards, total. 38-on the ground.
The Bengals defense allowd the Saints 458 yards. The Saints threw over the middle and deep. The Saints had more than seven more minutes of clock time than your Cincinnati Bengals.

Every single Bengals….you can’t call them drives…there were eleven possessions and three ended in negative yards….every single possession ended in a punt except the final possession. That ended with an interception.

For the first time in team history, it was shutout at home in an exhibition game. Do you know how hard you’ve got to try to get shutout, do you know how inept you have to play to get shutout in a National Football League game?

When Palmer and the first team offense was in the game Saturday night here were the numbers: 27 plays, 94-yards. The Bengals crossed he 50-yard line once last night, once, all the way to the Saints 49.

Does this sound like a team that’s ready to begin an NFL season?

So I’ll ask this question to get things rolling today: is there a chance that this Bengals team isn’t as good as we, or they, thought? We’ve had three exhibition games to see if this team is any better than last year’s, and the answer today is a resounding ‘no’. Do Houshmandzadeh and Chad mean that much to this offense, that without them it appears to be clueless?

Saturday night, after the game, offensive coordinator Bob Bratkowski said, in essense, that the protection problems weren’t all on the O-Line, but on the running backs (it was only Chris Perry for the first half) , the tight end (that would be Ben Utecht, one of the only bright spots) and the quarterback (that would be the guy who left with his DNA running into his mouth). If that’s the case, then Bratkowski’s side of the ball was total failure.

Is it all a lack of TJ and Chad? Or has this offense suddenly gone stale? Both are legitimate questions.

And now, if you’re Marvin Lewis, what do you do? You have your fourth and final pre season game coming up next Thursday night. The last thing any head coach wants to do is play his starters deep into the final exhibition game. The Colts certainly won’t do that. So if you’re number ones are going up against the Colts’ twos and threes, how much are you going to gain from that?

As for the other side of the ball, the secondary was again picked apart and the pass rush was, how can we put this, limited? The Bengals gave up 458-yards of offense. The first team was pretty much out of the mix two series into the second half, But listen to these numbers: 54 plays, 342 total yards.

OK, the high priced free agent lineman, Antwan Odom didn’t play. Neither did Chinedum, who’ll probably be a starter again when he’s healthy. Neither did Rashad Jeanty, who may be a starter when he’s healthy. But what else does that side of the ball offer up for an explanation.

The games start to count two weeks from today. The Bengals open in Baltimore. About the only good thing you can say about that today, is that the Ravens still have Kyle Boller as their quarterback. Other than that, I’m looking for answers. Help me, beause I’m fresh out of them.

Just how old is Chinese gold medal winning Olympic gymnast, He Kexin? The Chinese government insists she's 16, the minimum age to compete in the Olympics. But now, according to this International Times report, the USA has filed an official protest and a computer programming has provided the USA with the evidence.

Out in the desert, it seems as though they value Adam Dunn a lot more than we do around here.
According to the paper out there.

More on Dunn in the desert, from Yahoo Sports!

I still maintain, the Reds will rue the day they let Dunn walk. They've now sent a letter to their ticket holders telling them to be 'patient'. Isn't that what they've been, since about, oh, 1991?

Our friend Mike Florio is checking in with his preview of the NFC South.

I've got Tampa Bay in the South. If it's Atlanta, you've got the all time upset of this coming season. For the record, I'll take Dallas in the NFC East, Detroit in the North and Seattle in the West. In the AFC, I'll go with New England in the East, Indianapolis in the South, San Diego in the West and Pittsburgh in the North. Wild Card teams will be: Cleveland and Jacksonville in the AFC, Giants and Saints in the NFC. What do you think? Hit the comment icon.

I'm going to add a lot more as the day goes on but a couple of things to get you going. I have my latest Broo View Podcast posted on my web site: www.ken broo.com. But here's a quick link to the latest edition. As you might expect, the hot topic is Chris Henry's return to the Bengals. You'll hear comments from a lot of Bengals, including Henry.

Also, the latest edition of the Bengals Report Podcast is up and running. You can find that as well, on www.kenbroo.com. But if you'd like, you can download it here.

Olympic congratulations to former St. Ursula soccer star, Heather Mitts, who won the gold medal with Team USA today. And the same to former Wyoming High and UC track star, David Payne, who won the silver in the 110m hurdles.

Is Michael Phelps the great Olympian ever? If you listen to some of the commentators on NBC this week, there is no doubt, he is. But, I don't think so. Catch my thoughts here, in my latest Broo View Podcast. And while you're at it, check out my web site: www.kenbroo.com.

I'm absolutely astounded that the Bengals would consider bringing back Chris Henry. It's simply startling news tonight that this is happening. But, it is. Reports have Henry in Cincinnati, ready to sign with the team Tuesday morning.

His legal troubles are well documented. And Henry can't play for the Bengals until the fifth regular season game (he's sitting out yet another NFL suspension). Whether or not he's cleaned his act up, and I hope he has for his sake not any one elses, why on earth would the Bengals want to re-visted their troubled past? Why would an organization subject itself to the kind of ridicule and league scrutiny it will fall under? Do you mean to tell me the young wide receivers they drafted this spring aren't showing a scintilla of NFL hope? Is Antonio Chatman not capable of playing as a third down back? True, TJ Houshmandzadeh and Chad Johnson are both injured. Johnson may be out for an extended period. But are we to believe there are no other street free agents the Bengals can pursue now, instead of bringing back Henry? Will there not be a fairly large, if not talented, pool of receivers who'll be lopped from rosters in the next couple of weeks.

As late as last week, Marvin Lewis, for at least the third time in the last three months, said he didn't want Henry back. Maybe not in so many words, but he certainly left that impression. Now he's forced to take him back. This can't be his call. It smells of a front office maneuver.

If you're Marvin Lewis tonight, how do you save face. Do you even want to?

Let me know what you think. Comment away

Good Morning!

If you’ve read this blog over the last eight or nine months, you’ve heard me say this at least a hundred times. The reds need to keep Adam Dunn. I haven’t wavered in that. I looked at his age, his durability, his ability to hit for power, work the count, get on base, drive runs in. I tempered all of that with his fielding deficiencies and his infuriating amount of strike outs.

Obviously you listened to me. The Reds obviously did not.

There were a lot of you who would never consider the positives that Dunn brought to the game. And that’s fine. But you have to consider this.
You’re losing who holds 4th place all time in Reds home run hitting history
You’re losing a guy who hit a home run in less than every 14 at bats, who three times produced 100 rbi, 100 walks and 100 run scored seasons. Only one other Reds player has done that. Thanks to the Enquirer’s John Erardi for that. He’ll be joining us in a little bit.

Who does Adam Dunn compare to, statistically at this point in his career? How about Reggie Jackson, Harmon Killebrew, how about Barry Bonds? Not my opinion. That’s straight out of Baseball Reference.

And the Reds let him go. They got three players for Dunn, two we know about, one we think we know. One is a 23 year old pitcher in Single-A, coming off Tommy John surgery. The other is a 24 year old catcher who was stuck in triple-A when the Reds got him. We think pitcher Micah Owings is headed here. His arm trouble right now actually had some baseball experts suggesting the Reds may try converting him to an everyday player. For a guy who compares favorably to Reggie Jackson.

I’ve heard this a lot since the deal when down on Monday: well, the Reds couldn’t afford to pay Dunn the dollars he’ll be looking for this winter. I’ve never heard Bob Castellini says that. But if it’s true, then the Reds are playing a fool’s game. You want the numbers that Adam Dunn puts up, you want to run with the big dogs, it’s going to cost you.

If you were in the Dump Dunn camp, I’ll ask you the same question I ask every week, and never seem to get an answer: where are you going to get those 100-rbi he’s taking with him to Arizona?
Opening remarks pp.2

Where is the bat in the Reds line-up that will make the opposing pitcher work the count as well as Adam Dunn did? What bat in that Reds line-up strikes fear into any opposing pitcher’s heart?

It’s never been about Dunn. It’s always been about where the numbers come from. You think they’re in the Reds minor league system? Go look.

You think they Reds will be able to trade for those numbers this off season?
Who do they trade for that? You may get 100-rbi, but it’ll cost you Jay Bruce, or Joey Votto or Brandon Phillips or a combination there of. You can always ask Texas if they’ll send Josh Hamilton back. But my guess is the asking price begins with Edinson Volquez. You think they’ll find 100-rbi on the free agent market this year? Really?

And the last time they did that was when?

Here are the top two free agent outfielders this winter: Pat Burrell now with the Phillies and, Adam Dunn.

The Reds probably have a plan to address all of this. But I couldn’t tell you what it is right now. In the last seven months, they’ve dismissed a man who could win the American League MVP, paid the White Sox four million dollars to take Junior off their hands and they’re sending another four million to the Diamondbacks to be rid of Adam Dunn.

All the while, an entire generation of Reds fans bave grown up knowing nothing but losing.

The business of baseball is more than OPS, OBP, average with two out and runners in scoring position. It’s about selling tickets. Winning sells a lot of tickets. So do star players. Please tell me today, when does the winning begin, and where exactly are the star players.

Heads up! The latest edition of "Bengals Report" The Podcast is up and running and available for downloading on my web site: www.kenbroo.com. You can find it on my front page. And in the "Podcasts & More" section, you can find all the back episodes of "The Broo View" Podcast.

Just trying to help the product along!

The first week of the Olympics have offered us a boatload of highlights. Michael Phelps has been nothing short of sensational. But the highlight for me? This Olympic moment with Bela Karolyi, guesting as an analyst for NBC,

Karolyi has been a breath of fresh air, openly taking on the Chinese for allowing, what appear to be, under age kids competing for gymnastic medals.

In the aftermath of the Adam Dunn trade, foxsports.com's Ken Rosenthal doesn't offer a lot of hope for Reds fans in his latest post.

And as for Dunn, according to si.com Jon Heyman says he shouldn't buy that yacht just yet.

Sunday morning on 700 WLW, my guests will be Chick Ludwig of the Dayton Daily News.

We'll talk about the Bengals who tee it up that night against the Lions.

Chick is a little suspicious of this new found connection between Chad Johnson and the Ravens' Ray Lewis. Check the up to date Ludwig At Large.

And we'll also converse with Tim Dierkes, from mlbtraderumors.com. We're on from 9am-Noon, and available on XM channel 173.

Have a great weekend!

Well, here's a not so Olympics golden moment. Swedish wrestler, Ara Abrahamian obviously upset being DQ'd in the semi-finals and having to settle for the bronze. Check it out.

And being of Swedish heritage, I've always been told our greatest virtue is patience. Another diappointment in life!

I'm sure we'll be talking about this a lot when I settle in for my regular Sunday Morning Sports Talk show on Cincinnati's 700 WLW. But if you're in the 'goodbye Adam Dunn and good riddance camp, you need to read this posting by the savvy John Erardi, in his blog on cincinnati.com.

I actually heard a rather knowledgable baseball fan say the other day that he didn't care if Dunn left, that it hadn't worked with him and let's see if it worked without him. Frustration, I guess, is what brought that on, frustration over an under achieving team. It was completely misguided.

You want to sign a free agent this off season to replace him? You know who the top two free agent outfielders are in 2008? Pat Burrell and Adam Dunn. They will both command the same free agent money and Dunn is younger and has never been hurt.

You want to bring someone up from the minors to replace Dunn? Good, who? Chris Dickerson will get a shot, but he's an older AAA player. And you need two corner outfielders, right? If Jay Bruce moves to center, you'll need that. If he stays in right field, you'll need a center fielder. Please, don't get into Ryan Freel and Norris Hopper. Exactly where have they been this season?

You want to trade for an existing outfielder who hits for power? Great, who are you going to trade. Do you actually think you'll get any player of any value for anyone on the current Reds roster besides Brandon Phillips, Joey Votto, Bruce, Edinson Volquez or Aaron Harang? Do you want to trade any one of them?

Despite the blather you'll hear from the front office and ownership, this team is a long way from competing. Check back with me in 2010.

Michael Phelps is amazing, isn't he? So is his diet, as outlined by the NY Post. He consumes in one day what I consume in one week. But it'd take me a week to swim as far as Phelps has in Beijing.

Fox sports still think the Bengals are going to be something special this season. Alex Marvez is a former Bengals beat writer, years ago, for the Dayton Daily News.

Speaking of that, our pal Chick Ludwig has the sobering news that the Bengals may be considering Chris Henry Part II. I hear this is all Mike Brown. Marvin Lewis wants no part of this bad news guy.

Bummer about the US women gymnasts. Had a shot at the gold, until Alicia Sacramone fell a couple of times. Don't get on her for that. She'll liable to knock you out. Have you seen this video of her at a party at Brown University from about a year ago
? Ouch!

And folks, you know that's gotta hurt!

Let's just say this, Bob Castellini isn't getting a lot of love from at least one New York paper. Newsday isn't very kind to the Reds owner.

Castellini's biggest problem are the promises that he makes. He said the day he bought the team that we'd have a championship here in Cincinnati. Hasn't happened. He said after he fired Wayne Krivsky the team wasn't going to lose anymore. It has. And as late as two weeks ago, Castellini said his team was still in the pennant race. It wasn't then, it really isn't now.

The time for talking is over.

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.

A couple of things are bouncing around my head today….like a ping pong ball as Willie would say….

First, is a column that John Fay has in Sunday’s Enquirer. Apparently, Reds GM,Walt Jocketty believes the Reds are a team that can be fixed quickly. After watching this team play the last week and a half, my initial reaction was a loud guffaw. A bad Nationals team swept them, the Brewers toyed with them and for the last three nights, a very pedestrian Astros team has smacked them around. And to use the cable television news vernacular, the Reds offense has gone missing.

And Jocketty thinks all that he needs to do is a little tweeking.

You know what, I’m not sure he’s wrong. Look around the diamond. First base, young and solid. Second base, one of the top five at his position. Short stop, lots of options. Third base, lots of options there, too. In the outfield, questions, but not tottaly devoid of answers. Sign Adam Dunn and that corner is set for three to five years. Jay Bruce should be the right fielder for at least five years. Centerfield, you need to address that.

Starting rotation? Harang, Arroyo, Cueto, Volquez in some order or another,, solid. You can find a fifth starter somewhere in the land of Homer Bailey, Darryl Thompson, Matt Maloney, maybe Bobby Livingston come back.

Bullpen? Burton, Bray, Cordero for at least another year, maybe even Majewski and the new guy, Masset. You don’t need to add much. You say a team is close, when it’s 15 under 500 and you can come off as foolish. Walt Jocketty hasn’t gotten this far in his life by being foolish.

The other thing that’s bugged me since the news broke Friday, is what’s happened to Ben Mauk, now the former UC starting quarterback. If you haven’t heard, the NCAA has denied Mauk an extra year of eligibility. It would have been his sixth. You can make arguments on both sides, as to whether or not he deserved it. Personally, I’m old school, I think a student athlete gets four years and that’s it. I’m not a big fan of redshirting. It’s just a way for schools to stock rosters. And I’m also not a fan of a school making it tough on students, athletes or otherwise, from completing their education in four years. You get out of course sequence, and you’re locked into education hell. Or you’re parents are, depending on who’s paying for it. But that’s another topic for another genre of show.

Mauk appealed his initial appeal twice, going 0-3 against the NCAA. My problem is the how the NCAA toyed with Mauk, allowing him to practice, while it’s appeals committee took its sweet old time deciding his fate. Hope is great. But there is nothing crueler in life than false hope. Mauk will be OK. Seems like a strong kid. But the NCAA didn’t do him right.

And last but not least, your 2008 Cincinnati Bengals. Their exhibition opener….and let’s be clear here, these are exhibition not pre-season games. Please NFL God Roger Goodell , please, lop two games off this August madness….this exhibition opener is interesting for one reason; to see if the Bengals defense is any better this year than last. I don’t need to see Carson Palmer, TJ, Willie or anyone else on offense. I know what they can do. I know Palmer is one of the top five quarterbacks in the game. I know TJ is his go to guy. I even know there’s a 50-50 chance of some drama with Chad Monday night. Monday night, ESPN, Chad. What, you think this is NPR? He lives for this. No, what I want to see is whether or not the interior line can stop a sneeze this season. I want to see if the secondary can stop the track meets that teams have consistently thrown at them. I’ll watch for about a quarter, and then, it’s over the rhythmic gymnastics. NFL pre season games are about as interesting at that, particularly in week one.

Good Morning!

The Bengals Report Podcast is now available. It's on the front page of my web site: www.kenbroo.com. And you can also download it here. Mark Hardin, the executive editor of Bengals Report joins me twice a week, every week, this season to deliver to you the latest information on the Cincinnati Bengals. This time, we're talking about the battle for the #3 wide receiver on the team and a look at the Bengals defense.

The countdown is on! The first "Bengals Report" podcast of the 2008 season will be posted on my web site: www.kenbroo.com at 6am Friday. Each week, during the season, the executive editor of Bengals Report Magazine, Mark Hardin, and I review games and preview games with twice a week podcasts. Our first installment will get you up to date about what's been going on at training camp. You can listen on line or download it to your portable media device.

Speaking of the Bengals, it appears safety Chinedum Ndukwe avoided serious knee trouble, when he went down injured in Wednesday's practice. But, Ndukwe, we hear, may miss significant training camp time and is in danger of missing the season opener at Baltimore. Stay tuned on this one.

Good fodder on that, and other things Bengals, as always in Chick Ludwig's blog "Ludwig At Large!"

Whoops! Not good news in the Miami Herald today about the Reds first round pick this past June, Yonder Alonso.

I'm on the record with this: Alonso was a "safe pick". He was the most major league ready of all the available selections in this past draft. But is safe always best? Well, when the club fires it's general manager in April, the staff left behind understandably scrambles to remain employed. This is Wayne Krivsky's staff. Did the Reds scouting staff go 'safe' with it's pick of Alonso in order to look good for the new boss, Walt Jocketty? Just asking.

Good Morning!

The Bengals signed their number one pick while you were sleeping last night. Linebacker Keith Rivers ended his nine day holdout and will be on the practice field later today. One of my favorite things during a player-holdout is listening to the lavish praise directed at the player who's in camp taking the hold out's spot. We heard nothing but great things the past nine days about linebacker Brandon Johnson, signed this off season after two rather unspectacular years with the Arizona Cardinals. But to hear the coaches talk about him, you have thought Johnson was the second coming of Lawrence Taylor.

Now, with Rivers in the fold, watch for Brandon Johnson to fade into the world of second teamers. He had his '15 minutes of fame' and did well. But money talks, and Keith Rivers will be the starting outside linebacker come opening game against Baltimore.

Just how stupid are the Green Bay Packers? Do you mean to tell me, after coming within one bad pass of playing in the Super Bowl, they're going to dump Brett Favre for Aaron Rogers? Really? If that team tanks this season without Favre, there won't be a moving van big enough to get GM Ted Thompson and coach Mike McCarthy out of town.

Here's Kevin Seifert's take on the Favre Fiasco, on espn.com

Meantime, back to your Cincinnati Bengals, my buddy Chick got the first local interview with his Sigh-ness, Chadly. It's in the latest 'Ludwig At Large', courtesy of the Dayton Daily News.

And our good pal Mike Florio from profootballtalk.com has a look at what might be in store this year in the AFC West.

The Chiefs, a train wreck? Imagine that!

Good Morning!

There are other stories this week. The Bengals are still waiting to sign their number one draft pick, Brett Favre and the Packers have a Monday deadline to work out their differences or the commissioner will step in, the Olympics are about to begin. But around here, there has been no bigger story, than the trade of Ken Griffey, Junior.

As quickly as the deal fell together back in the winter of 2000, it fell apart at the same speed this week. I’m told Walt Jocketty was taken completely by surprise, when his counterpart with the White Sox inquired about Junior. I’m told, Ken Williams called Jocketty to inquire about a trade involving a Reds relief pitcher. When Williams casually inquired about Junior, Jocketty let it be known in no uncertain terms, Griffey was available. Then, all that was left to haggle over, was the price. And with that, the Griffey era was over.

It’s clear, the Reds wanted Junior out of here. They may tell you differently, but the facts don’t lie. They’re paying half of the eight million dollars that remain on Junior’s active contract. It may be more than that, because one report had the White Sox only paying the pro rate Major League minimum on the balance of Junior’s contract this season, not the two million that was reported. But whatever the dollar amount is, whenever a team pays another team to take a player, they don’t want that player anymore. The Reds didn’t want Junior anymore.

Maybe it was just a jump start on the inevitable. For sure, Griffey was out of here at the end of the season, regardless.

It left a lot of us in the media to wonder, where did it all go wrong? At the end of his Reds life, Junior was a shell of the player the Reds traded for in February of 2000. His swing was all arms, his speed had left his legs, his Gold Glove had turned to lead. The worst enemy any athlete has, is time. Time robs you of skills. Griffey was fleeced. But the point of where it went wrong wasn’t this week, or last or even last year. It was a long time before that. It really happened the night of that theatrical event the Reds called a news conference back in February of 2000….February 10th, actually.

On that night, the Reds committed to spend 119-million on Griffey, and little on anyone else. Look at who the Reds surrounded Griffey with. Sore armed pitchers like Pete Harnisch, Joey Hamilton, Jimmy Haynes. Chris Stynes, Alex Ochoa, DT Cromer. That wasn’t a team, it was a collection of spare parts.

And worse, we now told, then general manager Jim Bowden was ordered to dump salary after added Junior, not build around him.

Pick the greatest player in the history of the Big Red Machine. Now extract every one of the others who made up that terrific team, except ‘that’ guy. What do you think you’d have. We found out about that around here, didn’t we. You can ask Johnny Bench about it.

Yes, Griffey was injured, a lot during his time in Cincinnati. But how? Doing what? Did he throw his back out dancing? Cut himself with a knife slicing food? Or did he get hurt simply trying to make plays?

Look, I’m not here today to try and make a case for you changing your mind about Ken Griffey, Junior. You’ve made your mind up. If you’re happy to see him go and soured on him while he was here, nothing that I’m going to say today is going to change your mind. But as I’ve often said, on this show, on these air waves, nothing happens in sports, in life, in a vacuum.

Baseball may be a sport based on individual accomplishment. But it’s a team sport. If you bat third, you better have someone in front of and behind you who can hit, or you won’t see many good pitches. If you play center, you better have guys on either side of you who can help cut down on the amount of turf you have to cover. If you want to contend for championships, you better not change general managers like socks, or managers like t-shirts. For the record, Junior had five GM’s in his nine years here and six managers. Find me a teams with that kind of turnover that wins a pennant.

Ken Griffey Junior arrived here with great fanfare and great promise, one of the top 50 players in baseball, all time. He left town with no fanfare, just a press release from the Reds that he’d been traded. He arrived young, he left old. And in the middle not a whole lot happened to put the Reds on Major League Baseball’s championship radar. Blame him if you want, but at least examine the facts. In a lot of ways, the guy never had to a chance to be what you or he wanted.

Just posted and available for downloading is my latest "Broo View Podcast". You can find it here. In this episode, I'm joined by former Oakland Raiders General Manager, Mike Lombardi. We scope out the 2008 Cincinnati Bengals.

And there's a whole archive full of "Broo View Podcasts" on my web site www.kenbroo.com