THE BROO VIEW with Ken Broo

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.