THE BROO VIEW with Ken Broo

About time doesn't cover it. It's more than about time that the Cincinnati Reds called-up their best prospect,outfielder, Jay Bruce. Whty he wasn't on the opening day roster is beyond me. Yes, Bruce struggled in early exhibition games. But to send him back to the minors and go out and sign Corey Patterson for $3.5 million was either a bad deference to Dusty Baker or flat out stupid on the part of management.

Read this, by espn.com's Rob Neyer on Bruce's call-up. It's about a third of the way down the page.

Reds owner, Bob Castellini can bark at his former GM, Wayne Krivsky for some bad deals, like signing Mike Stanton, Rheal Cormier and Juan Castro, but the Patterson deal is on the owner. Krivsky said in his farewell news conference that he was told to sign Patterson, 'whatever it takes' Krivsky says he was told. So far, no one named Castellini has denied it.

With Bruce now a Red, where does he play? Probably centerfield for now. Depending on what happens with Adam Dunn and Ken Griffey, Jr., Bruce could eventuall wind up as a corner outfielder. He's a left-handed bat, problematic for a team that can't hit left-handed pitching. But Bruce needs to play. He can't sit. And you don't want to platoon this kind of talent. I wonder where that leaves Ryan Freel?

I think David Beckham is more sizzle than steak. Like a lot of European "football" stars who've come to America throughout our many dabbels in professional soccer, Beckham arrived past his prime. But this is still impressive. Check it out.

And remember the Kobe Bryant commercial, jumping over an on rushing car? There was a parody of that, the car running down Kobe. Now the crew from the cable show "Jackass" has come up with their own spin on it. And Kobe plays right along.

Random thoughts....I don't care if you can't tell me if a puck is vulcanized or stuffed, you have to be caught up in what the Cyclones are doing. They're single-handidly revitalizing hockey in Cincinnati, exorcising the deamons from the Mighty Ducks, Tigers and Stingers.....I wish Ben Mauk well, but if he doesn't get an extra year of eligibility from the NCAA, I don't think the UC football team will be hurt all that much....UC's baseball team deserved an NCAA Tournament bid....My new favorite TV show is "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives" on the Food Network. I'm surprised the guy who hosts the show, Guy Fieri, doesn't weigh 400 pounds with all the free food he consumes.....I think my pal Chick Ludwig of the Dayton Daily News is a bit hard on him in "Ludwig At Large", but I'm disappointed in Willie Anderson not participating in the Bengals 'voluntary' workouts. I expect more from Willie, I guess.

That's it for now. Check out my web site: www.kenbroo.com for the best in sports. I should have my next "Broo View Podcast" posted by Wednesday.