THE BROO VIEW with Ken Broo

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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