MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL

The brains behind the BCS and Division 1-A football strike again. There apparently will be NO playoff until at least the 2015 season. Why? Remember, the answer to all of your questions in life is 'money'. Read more about it in this espn.com story.

I watched Aaron Harang pitch another terrific game today in St. Louis, only to be done in by poor run support. Sure, Harang allowed three runs and he didn't have his best stuff. But there aren't many teams winning in MLB these days by scoring only two runs. Just when you thought the Reds were over their hitting trouble....

In his six starts, Reds batters have failed to give Harang more than three runs.

If Bob Castellini wants to do the right thing, he'll bring Barry Larkin back to the Reds organization. There's no reason he should be working for Jim Bowden in DC. But the Washington Post has a nice story on how Larkin is spreading the baseball gospel in the far east.

I'm just guessing. But I think Matt Belisle has one more start to prove to the Reds he really belongs in Major League Baseball. Because, if he fails to do that this Saturday night in Atlanta, Homer Bailey will be up here, pronto.

More with Mike Florio, from profootballtalk.com. Here's his 'take' on the Pacman Jones trade to the Cowboys.

T.O and Pacman on the same team. Jerry Jones should be more careful for what he hopes for.

Over 8,000 people can't be wrong. You too can download my latest "Broo View Podcast" from my web site: http://www.kenbroo.com/. Oh, what the heck: here' a link. Let me know what you think with a comment here, or at ken@kenbroo.com.

See you tonight at 6 & 11pm on Cincinnati's channel 5!

MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL

Edwin Encarnacion will drive you crazy. On the most routine ground balls, he'll look like he's never played the game in his life. He already has eight errors this season. Yet, Monday night in St. Louis, here was Easy Edwin on his knees, throwing a runner out at second and ending a 7th inning threat. And then, Encarnacion made a spectacular catch near the Reds dugout to end the game. We'll never know how close he came to a demotion earlier this month. My guess is, fairly close. But now that he's hitting again (2-4, 2 RBI Monday night) Encarnacion has one of the more potent bats in the Reds line-up.

So just to set the record straight, fired GM Wayne Krivsky had this give and take with hall of fame baseball writer, Hal McCoy in the Dayton Daily News.

Meantime, Krivsky's successor, Walt Jocketty may be busy soon, according to foxsports.com.

I've got a confession: I rarely watch ESPN anymore. I have ESPN News on my satellite dish and find myself watching that channel more than the "Mothership". Why? Well, here's an example of what the original all sports network has degenerated into:

ESPN News gives you the highlights and the facts. ESPN caters to the egos of the network's 'stable of the stars', such as they are.

My buddy Mike Florio, from profootballtalk.com has some perspective on the Chiefs trading Jared Allen to the Vikings.

When it happened, I'm sure Bengals LT Levi Jones made a bee-line for the 2008 schedule. Easy, big man, the Vikes and Bengals don't play each other this season.

I've never been a big "Dr. Z" fan. I think he was relevant at one point during the Reagan adminstration. But if the Bengals are looking for someone who thinks they did a good job in the 2008 draft, "Dr. Z" is their guy. Here's what he's saying today on SI.com.

The latest "Broo View Podcast" is up and posted and ready for you to download. Here's the link. It's on the home page of my web site: http://www.kenbroo.com/.

That's it for tonight. I now have to figure out what's the problem with Johnny Cueto, who didn't make it through two innings tonight. See you on WLWT channel 5 in Cincinnati!

On the day after the NFL draft, the grades for the Bengals are all over the map. The median grade seems to be a 'C'.

But USA Today has an interview with ESPN' Keyshawn Johnson, who leads you to believe the real loser on draft day was Chad Johnson.

And at SI.com, Don Banks thinks the Bengals stocking up on wide receivers may be a sign that they're willing now to deal Johnson. Don't bet on it.

Pro Football Weekly seems to think, like a lot of us, that the Bengals got outmanuevered by the Saints.

As for the specific grades, the worst comes from yahoo sports. Not a whole lot of love.

But foxsports.com is a little more forgiving to the Bengals class of 2008.

And did you catch this draft day exchange on ESPN between Mel Kiper, Jr and Todd McShay. When you encourage egos to spar, you often get this. Kiper appears to be ready to light his wig on fire. It is a wig, isn' it?


The Reds finally found their muscle this past weekend. They put up 20 runs in two games, ten each on Saturday and Sunday. For a team as anemic as it was during last week's home stand, 20 runs seems like a season's worth. If it continues in St. Louis and Atlanta later this week, it may delay some big moves that be coming. The folks in Seattle would like to see the Reds make at least one major move. The Seattle Times wants the Mariners to bring Junior home.

My latest "The Broo View Podcast" will be posted over night. You can download it from my web site: www.kenbroo.com. You'll find it on the front page. And in the "Podcasts & More" section, you can easily download a lot of the past episodes.

Well, you knew this was coming, sooner or later. The more Chad Johnson is whining and begging to be traded, the sooner you'd get a web site like this one. Fangmann is an Ohio Bobcat (home of the football 'messiah' Frank Solich) who also graduated from Moeller High School. You can hear him on my Sunday morning talk show on 700 WLW this weekend.

Meantime, enjoy this bit of theatrics from Johnson's agent, Drew Rosenhaus. Even he has trouble keeping a straight face delivering this!

In Indian Hill tonight, Mike Brown is gufawwing himself to sleep.

The draft starts Saturday at 3pm Cincinnati time. One more preview, this time cornerbacks, from the man who runs profootballtalk.com. Mike Florio knows his stuff!

Florio also 'moonlights' for sportingnews.com and has this take on Mike Brown's refusing to trade Chad.

It's still Sedrick Ellis for the Bengals. If the Southern Cal defensive tackle is available when they pick at number 9, they will pounce on the man.

Now, the Reds, beginning a nine game road trip tonight ni San Francisco. But down at "AAA" Louisville, Jay Bruce must be wondering if the Reds have lost his phone number. He did it again, last night. Read about it in the Louisville Courier-Journal.

As for the Reds, teetering on the brink of ambivalence (14,000 for a game against the Dodgers this week?), they may soon begin shopping players. Buster Olney has this today on espn.com.

I'm talking sports this Sunday on 700 WLW, 9am-Noon. You can listen on line, over the air and if you have it, on XM Radio channel 173. Draft expert Jerry Jones will join me in the 9 o'clock hour to handicap the second day of the draft, which begins at 10am.

Sunday night at 11:35, it's another rousing edition of Sports Rock! on WLWT Channel 5. We always have to last, best word in sports. We'll be looking for you.

And for the best in sports, check out my web site: www.kenbroo.com. The latest BROO VIEW PODCAST will be posted sometime this weekend. It'll be on the front and easy to download.

Have a great weekend!

Whether or not the Reds changing general managers works out in the long run, in the short run, team owner, Bob Castellini is getting lampooned nationally for firing Wayne Krivsky and giving the GM's job to long time acquaintance, Walt Jocketty. ESPN is having a bit of a field day with this.

We'll let Buster Olney lead off, with his criticism. He says the signing of Josh Fogg during spring traning was something that ticked the Reds owner off.

Batting second today, espn.com's Keith Law who, among other things, suggests firing Dusty Baker should be Jocketty's first move.

Moving over to cbssports.com, we find Scott Miller, who picks up flag for the departed Mr. Krivsky.

Add to all of this, epsn.com's Jayson Stark's radio rant today about how the firing of Krivsky is being met with amazement and anger in the baseball executive world, you've got an 'inside baseball' Broo Ha Ha (sorry)

What does it mean? Nothing really to Castellini, who's only obligation is to his fellow shareholders and the Cincinnati fans. If the move works out, if the Reds turn this season around, it will be viewed as a watershed moment. But if it doesn't and Castellini and/or Jocketty have to go out and begin hiring personnel because current Reds staffers have left or been fired, they may find the pickings slim.

As the countdownto the draft continues, Drew Rosenhaus released another video tape today, in which he begs (literall) for the Bengals to trade Chad Johnson. Meantime, profootballtalk.com claims Marvin Lewis' "play for us or retire" ultimatum earlier this week has earned Lewis some major points inside his locker room.

If you see Mike Brown back down on this one, it will mean aliens from another planet have taken over his body.

Mike Florio from profootballtalk.com has another draft preview out. Here's his 'take' on the crop of defensive ends available this weekend.


Meantime, most mock drafts, including this latest one by espn.com's Mel Kiper, Jr. has DT Sedrick Ellis coming to the Bengals. Let's hope and pray.

I'm talking sports this Sunday on 700 WLW here in Cincinnati. You can listen online, on the radio or, if you have one, on satellite radio XM Channel 173.

See you tonight on Cincinnati's WLWT Channel 5!

Not for a moment, am I shocked that Wayne Krivsky got the 'boot' today. But I am shocked by the timing. You might have to look hard, long and deep to find a major league baseball team that has fired its general manager just 21 games in to a season. Jim Bowden's mid season firing in 2003 was out of the ordinary. Usually, most GM's are launched in the off season.

But the fact that Krivsky, a really engaging guy incidentally, was fired is not a shock. Walt Jocketty has been a "GM in waiting" since Bob Castellini hired him in January. In St. Louis, for 12 years, Jocketty was the consumate baseball general manager. Most of his trades involved sending promising minor league talent to other teams for established veterans. I don't think he'll do that here, not yet. But I wouldn't be surprised to see him place his hand print (foot print?) on the roster soon. He has some big decision to make, along with Castellini.

The owner likes Adam Dunn. But does he like him enough to lay about $60 million on him for the next four years? Bringing back Ken Griffey, Junior at $16 million next season wasn't going to happen, regardless who the GM is. But will Jocketty want to renegotiate a longer deal in exchange for less money with Junior?

As for Krivsky, I hope he lands another GM job in his career. He made some bold moves here, and some that were doomed from the start. Getting hoodwinked by predecessor Jim Bowden on a trade for relief pitching in 2006 didn't help him. But on the whole, says espn.com's Rob Neyer, Krivsky did well.

And Richard Justice, an old acquaintace of mine from the "DC Days", thinks the move will pay off big for the Reds. Justice has this on sportingnews.com.

His immediate concern has to be the performance of Bronson Arroyo, who was lit up again Wednesday night. Arroyo hasn't made it out of the sixth inning in any of his starts. Last Friday, against the Brewers, it took him 100 pitches to make it through the fifth. Wednesday night, against the Astros, Arroyo lasted just two outs into the fourth, allowing ten hits and eight earned runs. And he needed 91-pitches to accompish that.

The NFL draft is Saturday. Another videocast below from our good friend, Mike Florio of profootballtalk.com. Today, Mike is scoping out the position the Bengals hope to cash in on in round one: defensive tackles.

If Sedrick Ellis is there at #9 when the Bengals pick, I don't see how they pass on him.

My man, Chick Ludlwig of the Dayton Daily News is on the same page as me. If you give in to Chad Johnson's antics, you're just asking for trouble down the road.

Check out my web site: www.kenbroo.com. I'll have another Broo View Podcast posted within the next 24 hours. But the latest installment is on the front page. And you can access any of the archived Broo View Podcast in the "Podcast & More" section.

You wonder why Marvin Lewis doesn't trust the media. He worked for Brian Billick and Bill Cowher, two head coaches who have a solid working relationship with the media in their towns. Lewis, apparently, didn't go to the same school.

We got another example of that today, when Lewis gathered the media to talk about the upcoming draft. But he had to know that questions were coming about Chad Johnson's status with the Bengals. Johnson, I'm sure you know, has been yapping since January that he wants out of Cincinnati. For whatever reason, he feels he's been mistreated. At least three times since the end of this season, Lewis has said, flatly, that Johnson wouldn't be traded and that he expected Chad to honor the terms of his contract, which runs through the 2011 season.

But Tuesday, ESPN's Chris Mortenson reported that the Washington Redskins had offered the Bengals their #1 pick in Saturday's draft and a conditional third round pick in 2009, that could become a first rounder, depending on how Johnson would perform this season.

At his news conference, Lewis was asked by a reporter if the Redskins had offered the Bengals two first round picks, in exchange for Johnson, a technical misquote as the trade offer was for a first rounder and third rounder that could become a first. Lewis said that Mortenson's reporting was 'errant' and then said that Mike Brown, the Bengals owner, hasn't entertained any trade offers for Johnson. And, by the way Marvin said, Johnson isn't available.

Later in the day, Marvin had to eat his words and apologize to Mortenson, whose report was confirmed in the DC media. Lewis has taken on some water for this, his credibility with the local media remains shaky.

But lost in that is this: Mike Brown will not trade Johnson until Brown wants to. If it took three years of moaning and complaining by Corey Dillon, it'll take at least that by Johnson. Brown is a man of principle. A deal is a deal, with Mike. Besides, this Bengals team needs Johnson performing at his peak to have any chance of making the playoffs this season. The other memorable quote from Lewis today was that if Chad doesn't want to play for the Bengals then he should retire. "He has a contract through 2011. He's stated without an opportunity to go to a different team and a new contract, he wasn't going to play. I think he's a man of his word and says not going to play, so don't play."

Don't be surprised if the whole thing wasn't leaked by Johnson's agent, Drew Rosenhaus. Reportedly, the Redskins were set to offer Chad a new contract with $21 million in bonus money.
But, also, don't be surprised by this: Mike Brown doesn't have a history of caving into anyone. Don't look for Johnson to go anywhere, soon.

My buddy, Mike Florio, of profootballtalk.com is talking about offensive linemen in his weekly video podcast. Check it out.

Now, if the Bengals believe that Rudi Johnson is finished and that last year's second round pick, Kenny Irons isn't fully recovered from his knee surgery, they have an option. The Seattle Seahawks have released veteran running back, Shaun Alexander. And Alexander calls greater Cincinnati home. He was a big time high school running back at Boone County HS, where he rushed for over 100 touchdowns in his career.

I'm talking sports again this Sunday on Cincinnati's 50,000 flame thrower, 700 WLW. I'm on from 9am-Noon AND we have a toll free number, if you want to talk sports.

Sunday night at 11:35pm on Cincinnati's NBC affiliate, WLWT, it's the last best word on the NFL draft and the rest of the week in sports. Join us for Sports Rock!

And you can check out my web site: www.kenbroo.com. The latest edition of the Broo View Podcast is ready for download!

He's baaack! Late Monday, NFL Commissioner, Roger Goodell, re-instated Bengals linebacker, Odell Thurman. Thurman burst onto the NFL scene as a rookie in 2005. But soon, he fell into the wrong crowd and accumulated a series of arrests. Banned from the league the past two seasons, Thurman is now eligible to practice with and play for the Bengals. Read all about it, right here on espn.com.

No telling what kind of impact Thurman will have. Two years away from the game is along time, by NFL standards. But I think for any player who plays a reactionary position, it's a little easier to return. Now, the big question is, can Thurman stay clean and sober.

Well, at least based on one night, the Reds need to do more than just tweak the roster. Up from the minors came infielder, Jerry Hairston, Jr, and pitcher Matt Belisle. Belisle got the start Monday night against the Dodgers, and again showed just how big the gap is between the Majors and AAA. Belisle had a number of good starts, rehabbing a sore arm. But the Dodgers made Belisle look like he was throwing batting practice. Hal McCoy has the inside scoop in his daily blog "The Real McCoy" on the Dayton Daily News web site.

Belisle's line: 4 ip (he got no one out in the 5th) 12 hits and seven runs, five earned. He'll get at least a couple more starts. But he looked suspiciously like the Belisle we've seen before in Cincinnati.

Marvin Lewis holds his annual pre draft news conference Tuesday. I'm sure he'll be peppered with Chad Johnson questions. Lewis has said on three different occasions the Bengals will 'not' trade Johnson. If he says the same thing Tuesday, I'm convinced the Bengals will force Johnson's hand. If he elects to sit out part or all of the season, he will be heavily fined.

Check back later Tuesday for more. And my latest podcast will be posted over-night on my web site: www.kenbroo.com. The latest episode will be on the front page. In the "Podcasts & More" section, you can download all of the past episodes.

If there’s one person who’s keeping the Reds off the hot burner today, it’s you know who. Corey Patterson, Adam Dunn, and Scott Hatteberg should drop down on the Mendoza Line they stand on and give thanks today for Ocho Cinco. Without him, they’d have you speed dialing this morning.

Chad Johnson has gone from being the most loveable player on the Bengals roster to just another modern day athlete, spoiled rotten by money, attention and a media willing to lap up whatever drips out of his mouth. He has followed the gospel according to “TO” like it was written by Matthew, Mark, Luke or John. Only it wasn’t. It was written by one Drew Rosenhaus, agent for both.

I did the check list, the other night on channel 5. Step one, insult team management, the same people who made you one of the highest paid people on the planet. Step two, diss your coach. In TO’s case, it was Andy Reid, an old school indifferent sort, but a very good football coach. In Johnson’s case, it was one of the few people in that Bengals locker room who claims to understand him. A lot of people in the media, a lot of fans, are calling Marvin Lewis Johnson’s enablier, patting him on the back when Johnson really needed a swift kick to butt. If so, imagine how he feels today.

Step three, the most heinous of all, throw your quarterback under the bus. Last I checked, Donovan McNabb and Carson Palmer are pretty good quarterbacks. Last I checked, there hasn’t been a wide receiver in professional,,,,or any other kind of football… who’s managed to throw AND catch a forward pass. Like “TO” before him, Johnson this week attacked the sacred cow. Eventually, the Eagles had enough of Terrell Owens, suspended him, benched him and then eventually let his ‘walk’. Owens, if you’re scoring at home, is now in Dallas with a better team and still pulling in millions.

So it didn’t take a genius to figure out, this is exactly Chad Johnson’s end game: follow the TO blue print, insult enough people, get the Bengals to tire of your act and release you….or trade you.

There have been fans, talk show host, journalists, good people this week, who have said…enough…let him go, he’s a distraction and will be an even bigger one if this is allowed to continue. There have been people who believe it will be best for the Bengals to simply trade Johnson and be done with the head ache. But I know one person who isn’t saying this and it will be a long time before he will: Mike Brown.

I don’t know Brown as well as I did back in the ‘90’s, when I called Bengals games on radio and spent just about every practice day with him on the sidelines. But a leopard doesn’t change his spots and Mike Brown doesn’t do anything unless it benefits his team.

Brown has been skewered, on this radio station among other places, more than shish-ka-bob in the summertime. He’s cheap, doesn’t know how to draft players, hates to play the free agent game, wouldn’t know how fast a player was, even the player stepped on Mike’s neck enroute to a 4.4 40. You can believe all of that to be true….and incidentally, I don’t…but even if you do, you must give him this: the man can conduct business.

Remember, this is the guy who beat the IRS in tax court….twice. That’s like the Washington Generals beating the Harlem Globetrotters. This is the guy who twisted Hamilton County’s government so tightly, back in the 90’s, he made it look like it was their idea to fund a 500-million dollar stadium

So do you believe for a moment, some agent in a three piece suit and Chad Johnson are going to back Mike Brown into a corner and win? Really?

Here’s what I saw, when I watched Rosenhaus interviewed on ESPN Friday: a guy with a loose cannon for a client, up against an owner whose answer to him on everything is ‘no’. Rosenhaus didn’t say it, I wouldn’t have either if I were him, but that sounds exactly what Brown is telling him. Rosenhaus wants a trade, Brown says, no. Rosenhaus wants a new deal for Johnson, more money, more than the money they gave Johnson less than two years ago, Brown says no.

I think, down deep with a tinge of disgust, Brown is probably amused a little by all of this. The more Johnson opens his mouth, the more he embarrasses himself…and makes Rosenhaus squirm. See, Brown knows, he’s got Johnson locked down through 2010, with an option Brown holds through 2011. If Chad elects to sit out this season, he not only can be fined for every day he misses, starting with training camp, the deal automatically renews for 2011,

If Chad holds out, Brown actually MAKES money. Does this sound like somebody in a bad spot?

We heard this week, well, if this continues and Chad eventually reports, he could become a distraction. Could. But the Bengals are supposed to be running the football more often this year. Marvin said so a couple of weeks ago. They just signed a tight end, who supposedly will have passes thrown to him…a novelty, I know for the Bengals. What happens if Chad comes back and this team is winning? What happens if its 4-0, 5-0, 6-0, when he decides to report.

I’ll tell you what it will be: a story for one day and then every one of us in the local media will be back to reporting on a team that might be on a championship run.

So no, Chad Johnson won’t be traded on draft day, unless it benefits the Bengals. Mike Brown won’t take the cap hit and he won’t let a player back him into a corner and win. And he’s smart enough to realize, the kind of talent Johnson brings to a football team doesn’t come rolling down the street often.

But if I were advising Mike Brown, and since I’m doing a radio talk show, I guess I am.,I’d tell him to pack a bag, pick up Marvin and drive to the airport. They should fly to Miami for a ‘sit down’ with Ocho Cinco and Drew Rosenhaus. And Brown should lay it all on the table. He should ask Johnson specifically, who did what to him and when. What’s the basis for his behavior the past three months.

I’d remind Chad that he gushed over the contact he signed back in 2006, the money, the front office, his desire to make the team a winner.

I’d remind him of the number of place he could be traded to that could nuke any shot he may have winning a championship, let alone having a decent pass thrown to him. Oakland, Tampa Bay, Kansas City come to mind.

I don’t think Brown will do any of that, but he should. I don’t think Johnson would take the meeting, but he should.

The real losers in this are you….who bleed orange and me, who has to talk about this stuff and not the NFL draft.

Check out my latest podcast at www.kenbroo.com. And check me out weeknights at 6 & 11pm on WLWT in Cincinnati.

Here's what I think is going on. Chad Johnson is following the same blueprint as Terrell Owens did when Owens wanted 'out' of Philly. Remember, they both have the same agent, Drew Rosenhaus. In 2005, Owens did the following: insult management, throw his quarterback 'under the bus', dissed the coach and got his release. What has Johnson done this winter and spring? The exact same things. You think this is a coincidence? Negative. This is a game the agent is running.

When Johnson refuted an innocent comment Carson Palmer made this week (Palmer said in a TV interview with WLWT that he talked with Chad and Johnson assured him he'd be in Cincinnati when 'he had to'. Johnson immediately called his quarterback a liar) it was the same path that Owens followed in 2005, when he trashed his quarterback, Donovan McNabb. In early 2006, the Eagles released him and Owens wound up signing with Dallas.

I don't sense Mike Brown is going to be bullied like his Eagles counterpart was three years ago. Brown does nothing unless it benefits his team. Letting Johnson go now, taking a $8 million salary cap hit and losing a wide receiver who consistently delivers over 1300 yards per season is something that will hurt the Bengals in 2008, not help. TJ Housmandzadeh will draw double teams. And the rest of the wide receivers on the roster, at least at this point, are nothing more than pedestrian. You must remember, it took Corey Dillon four years of moaning to get out of Cincinnati. Only then, did Brown let him walk, when Dillon was just about at the end of his career.

You don't push Mike Brown into a corner and win. Ask any player who's sat across the table from him on a contract negotiation. Ask the IRS. Brown has twice beaten the IRS in tax court. That has to be some sort of record.

Now we have TJ weighing on on this thing in a story posted on espn.com.

And if Palmer thinks he's got a problem with Johnson, wait until they read this story, from the Dayton Daily News, in Cleveland.

As always, I'm talking sports this Sunday morning on 700 WLW in Cincinnati. I'm on from 9am until Noon, EDT. You can listen on line at www.700wlw.com and on XM Radio channel 173.
Many guests, many topics and a lot on Chad Johnson and the plight of our Cincinnati Bengals!

I asked this question Sunday morning on 700 WLW: at 6-6 (now 6-7) is the Reds' glass half empty or half full? Tonight, with the Reds only a game out of the cellar in the National League Central Division, you have to wonder.

The surprises have been the better pitching, and the lack of hitting. It's flat out staggering how poor the Reds are hitting with runners in scoring position. They left 32 men on base in last weekend's three game series at Pittsburgh.

Now, they're in Chicago for three, a homecoming for Dusty Baker, the former Cubs manager who'll at least get a good reception from the players he left behind, accoring to the Cubs' official web site.

The Chicago Tribune has another take on his homecoming.

The NFL will release it's schedule Tuesday at 2pm. My prediction: One Monday Night game and one Sunday Night game and that's it for our "Men In Stripes".

And with the draft coming up, thoughts on who the Bengals take with that 9th over all pick are lacking a consensus. Let's hope the Dayton Daily News is off base with this call.

Will they need a WR? I'll be the Bengals take at least one in the first four rounds. Remember, they have multiple picks in every round from the third on. But Seth Wickersham on espn.com makes a good case why the Bengals don't really need to rely on a third wide receiver this fall.

SI.com has video of just about every player who could go in the first couple of rounds. I hope they're right and Sedrick Ellis, the DT from Southern Cal, is the Bengals' pick at #9. Take a look at this guy!

And just in case they don't get a good return guy in the draft, no problems. With the new rule change, the Bengals can always 'defer' if they win the coin flip. Marvin Lewis has already said, he'll take the option a lot. My good friend, Mike Florio, at profootballtalk.com has some more thoughts on the new 'defer option', in one of his latest TV segments.


That's it fo rnow. If you're in Cincinnati, see you tonight on WLWT Channel 5. And you can always check out my web site: http://www.kenbroo.com/.

It's not even May, and already there's an NFL 'coaches on the hot seat' out. Look what espn.com is saying about Marvin Lewis and others.

I'm not sure I entirely buy it. I think Marvin needs to produce a playoff team this season and cut down on the 'thug' image his team has. But he's working for Mike Brown, who fires coaches about as often as the guards at Buckingham Palace smile.

But yet another 'take' on Marvin and the Bengals from The Sporting News, in one of their 'your turn' deals.

One of my favorite guests on my Sunday morning sportstalk show on 700 WLW in Cincinnati is Mike Florio, the editor of the highly informative profootballtalk.com web site. Mike occasionally does TV segments. Here's his opinion of Chris Henry's dismissal from the Bengals, after yet another arrest.


Goodbye Sarasota, hello Goodyear, Arizona. It's official now, the Reds are moving their spring training headquarters west in 2010. Even the local paper in Sarasota knows its hometown blew this one.

I remember when Pete Rose bumped umpire Dave Pallone in the 1988 season and got a 30-day suspension. I wonder what would've happened if Rose had done this to Pallone. Check out this video from the Japanese League!

Rose would've been gone for life. Oh wait a minute, he is.

Johnny Cueto is again, dazzling tonight, as the Reds and Brewers play on in Milwaukee. But a disturbing trend is the Reds lack of run production and their 'big swingers' inability to get going this season.

One of the funniest pieces of video I've seen in a looooooong time. It's from a professional tennis match in Florida and the culprit is Mikail Youzhny.

How big if an idiot do you think he feels like? Or...how much endorsement money could he make from say....Advil, or Tylenol or Band-Aid?

A child will test a parent. He will push a parent as far as he can, just to see how much he can get away with. Every parent knows this. And every kid knows it too. Chad Johnson is playing child these days to Marvin Lewis' parent. And Johnson has been testing his coach. His behavior on radio row during the Super Bowl and his rants since then on national stages have embarrassed his head coach.

Johnson has said, to anyone who'll listen, that he wants to be traded. He's threatened to sit out this season if the Bengals held onto him. The fact that he signed a five year deal just a couple of years ago for over $30 million is apparently insignificant to Johnson. He's not happy in Cincinnati. God knows why, as the fan base here will tolerate anything from the Bengals. Just look around Paul Brown Stadium any given Sunday and see the number 15 Chris Henry jerseys.

But the parent has grown tired of the child's antics. And today, at the NFL meetings in Florida, Marvin Lewis, very gently told the assembled media that Chad basically has two choices: play for the Bengals in 2008 and beyond, or retire. He can sit out the season too. But if Johnson chooses to do that, his contract will automatically extended an extra season, through 2012.

Lewis told bengals.com today "We've been dealing with this inside for over a year and we'll be prepared to move on. He has a contract through 2011. If he plays NFL football, it will be in Cincinnati, or he has to do what he says and that's retire. That would be a shame. We'll do everthing we can to help him out of this and try to restore his image."

For a coach who rarely scolds his players publicly, this spoke volumes. I'd have put it a different way. I'd have said "We've had one winning season with him, since he joined the team in 2001. We were, for the most part, a bad team with him. We can be a bad team without him."

But maybe that's why I didn't go into the coaching profession.

Chad Johnson just lost his safety net. Enjoy the fall.