THE BROO VIEW with Ken Broo

Marvin Lewis coach of the year in the NFL? I've always been a big fan of Marvin's. But I think he's smart enough to know he got the award this year from the Associated Press football writers in large part for what his team did defensively. And for that, he should thank defensive coordinator, Mike Zimmer. Marvin did a nice job holding together the team through the death of Zimmer's wife and Chris Henry. But the performance of the Bengals defense under Zimmer was just terrific.

I've said, the one thing Marvin needs to do is improve his public image. His foundation's work is exemplary. Every football coach should try to emulate what he does. But the personna he puts on display at his weekly news conferences needs a lot of work. Marvin comes off as distrustful of the media. Whether or not he is, isn't the point. The point is, he comes off that way. Bengals fans never hear the questions, whether good or bad. They only hear his answers. And too often, he comes off as curt. Marvin needs to take a page out of the Bill Cowher or Rex Ryan book of how to handle the media. It's about the only thing I can think of that he needs to work on.

I love the fact that the Reds have signed Cuban pitcher Ardolis Chapman. It's a bold move for a team not known for those kind of things. But I think selling the future is a tough sell for the Reds. They really need some sizzle for 2010. Good luck selling tickets with a short stop who hit .211 last season and a left field situation that got worse with the departure of Jonny Gomes. Mix in the loss of pitching ace, Edinson Volquez, for most of the season, and the prospects of a 70 win season don't look so hot. Have you seen the commercial the Reds are running right now? It's not about 'come see our young players take on the the goliath Cardinals". It's not about the youth and enthusiasm of players like Jay Bruce, Joey Votto and Drew Stubbs. The Reds first big ad campaign of 2010 is for a ticket package that includes four hat give-aways, hardly the stuff that will energy the casual fan to buy a ticket, let alone your ticket base.

UC did well in beating Notre Dame Saturday. But what the Bearcats desperately need now to feather their nest before Selection Sunday is a win over a nationally ranked team. They'll get plenty of opportunity for that in the Big East. Most of their higher profile games remain. But with the way the Bearcats shoot the ball (not particularly good) and with the way they seem to crumble at crunch time (the win over ND excluded), how can you realistically expect them to beat Syracuse, West Virginia or Villanova, teams they need to beat to climb into the top six in the Big East standings.

Xavier has a different problem. Right now, the Muskies are 4-0 heading into Wednesday night's game at #16 Temple. The Muskies may well win the Atlantic 10 Tournament and gain the conference's automatic bid. But failing that, they'll have to follow up their win over Dayton this past Saturday with another win at UD Arena later this year. Right now Xavier's RPI is strong and its schedule has been deemed 3rd toughest in all of Division I basketball. But the Atlantic 10, past Dayton and Temple, isn't very strong. Xavier will gain nothing from games against Rhode Island, Fordham and St. Bonaventure. If it can't win the A-10 Tournament, I think Xavier will have to all but 'win out' to get one of the two bids the conference will be limited to.