THE BROO VIEW with Ken Broo

Big weekend coming up (no seriously, big weekend) and a lot to get to. Down time in the chase for the Super Bowl trophy leaves the stage for the Xavier Musketeers on Saturday night. They've got a road game at LSU. Years ago, with Dale Brown and Shaq, this would be a totally unwinnable game for the Muskies. But the SEC is down this year and the Muskies are hot. It's an 8pm tip on cable.

UC has the weekend off. Bummer, with the way they've been playing. It'll be a struggle for Mick to get to 20 wins. But if he does, in that conference, he could have an NCAA bid.

Bengals coaches continue to work in Mobile, Alabama at the Senior Bowl. They'll coach the North squad Saturday night. It's an 8pm kickoff. I'm hoping they've found some talent in the group that's at this game that'll help begin to turn things around.

Here's another avenue to pursue. Apparently Bart Scott, the talented linebacker who's been a stalwart on that Ravens defense is a free agent. The Ravens may 'tag' him, but probably not. On my radio show last week on 700 WLW, Jarrett Bell from USA Today told me that Scott keeps boxing gloves in his locker. I like that.

The latest Broo View Podcast is now posted. You can find it on the front page of my web site: www.kenbroo.com. My guest is Bell. The topic is Bengals. If you're in a hurry, just click here to download.

The Reds caravan rolls on through the hinterlands this weekend. Bob Castellini said today on the Bill Cunningham show on 700 WLW that he believes the Reds will not only have a winning record this season, but also contend for the NL Central division. God Bless him, it's great to be optimistic. And his number one goal right now is to tub thump for his team so people will buy tickets. But honestly, how can you look at the Reds everyday 8 and say it will be competitive with the Cubs, or even the Cardinals? Short stop is a huge question, since Alex Gonzalez hasn't played an inning since the 2007 season (and only played part of that year due to family issues). In left field, you're looking at a platoon with a guy who's been a career minor leaguer (Chris Dickerson) and an outfielder that's bounced between AAA and the majors the past four seasons (Jonny Gomes). And if Johnny Cueto hasn't figured out that 40 pitches an inning is a bad thing, we're right back to where we were last year, when the Reds finished a whopping 23.5 game out of first.

But hey, it's only January. Everybody's 0-0 right now, right?

i'll see you tonight at 6 & 11p on WLWT Channel 5 and Sunday night at 11:35 on Sports Rock. Our special guest, former Bengal Ickey Woods. Sunday is the 20th anniversary of the Bengals last trip to the Super Bowl. Memo to anyone younger than 25: yes the Bengals actually played in a Super Bowl.

On my radio show this Sunday, my guests will be former Bengal David Fulcher, foxsports.com baseball expert, Ken Rosenthal, Xavier basketball TV analyst, Steve Wolf and Pete Rose. I'm on from 9am-Noon EST on 700 WLW. You can also hear it on Sirius-XM Channel 173.

Have a great weekend!