THE BROO VIEW with Ken Broo

The Junior story won't die. A lot of reaction from around the country to the article this week in USA Today which quoted Junior saying he expects the Reds to try and deal him this summer. The love fest last summer in Seattle would make you believe the Mariners may want to bring Griffey, Jr, back. But in this Mariners' blog, a great point is raised: would Seattle be willing to part with the crown jewels of its minor league system?

And will the team acquiring Junior be willing to pick up his $16 million option for 2009? If a team isn't willing to do that, it'll be a deal breaker. Peter Gammons has more on that in his blog.

I still maintain the Reds will eventually figure out a way to extend Griffey, Jr's deal, for less than the $16 million and keep him in Cincinnati for the rest of his career. But, I could be wrong....

Former Mets GM now ESPN baseball 'expert' Steve Phillips has some interesting ideas on how to fix the Reds in his blog. It's interesting reading. But none of this is going to happen.

My work schedule is such that I normally get home around 12:30am. But here's one of the perks: I'm awake to watch the best studio show in sports, the TNT NBA wrap-up show. Great cast, good info and a lot of fun to watch. Here's a classic moment from this week.

Years ago, I had a classic interview moment with Barkley. The Bengals were playing in Phoenix on a Sunday. Saturday night, the Suns were playing against former Xavier University star Brian Grant's team. I got a media pass, went into the Suns' locker room and asked Barkley about Grant. He gave me an answer, something along the lines of "...he'll see tougher defenses here than he ever saw at Xavier" I guess I was zoning out, because my next question to Sire Charles was..."will he see tougher defenses now". He glared at me and said..."did I not just say that? Did I not just say that?". Then, looking at the cameraman, he asked, "did I not just say that?". Rookie mistake on my part: never think about the next question until you hear the answer from the one you're getting.

I'm talking sports again this Sunday (Thanks George Vogel for filling-in last week while I covered Cincinnati's Flying Pig Maraton for WLWT.) Among my guests, Bob Nightengale from USA Today who wrote the story about Junior this week. Tim Dierkes from mlbtraderumors.com will join me as well. You can too. We'll take your phone calls. You can listen online at 700wlw.com, or on XM Radio channel 173 or on the 50K "flame thrower" 700 WLW-AM.

Sunday night at 11:35 on WLWT's Sports Rock! our guests will include "Wildman Walker" from WEBN's Dawn Patrol, Wayne "Box" Miller, from WDBZ, "The Buzz" here in Cincinnati and the pole winner for this year's Indianapolis 500.

And check out my web site: www.kenbroo.com. I've got my latest "Broo View Podcast" posted on the front page for your downloading and listening. In the "Podcasts and More" section are past episodes and some terrific interviews. I've posted the audio version of our Sports Rock! interview last Sunday with top Bengals draft picks Keith Rivers and Jerome Simpson.

And of course....have a great weekend!