THE BROO VIEW with Ken Broo

Welcome to Wednesday....

Watching the Reds beat the Cardinals last night was watching two heavyweight boxers go the distance. Each side took some heavy punches and each side delivered damage. It was one of those in season classics you get during the course of a 162 season. We haven't had a lot of those around here lately, because the Reds haven't played a lot of games lately that've mattered. Now that they're good again, I think we'll see a few more.

I raised this question this past Sunday on my radio show. I asked my audience on 700 WLW what the Reds should be thinking about, right now, about how to make this team better. I was amazed to hear some callers, emailers and even the great Hal McCoy, Hall Of Fame writer, suggest that the team should stand pat. Now understand, I couched everything I said by saying that no trades or roster adjustments should be made this early in the season. You simply don't trade, or get maximum value on return, until you approach the trade deadline of July 31st. But you have to at least be thinking about what you're going to need to help you get to the playoffs.
You do that for two reasons. One, your competition will be looking at ways to get better and two, you have to know your weaknesses and explore improving them or they'll haunt you for the rest of the pennant run.

Look at any contending team, in any season, and see what it does to get better during the course of a season. Last year, the Yankees won it all. But it didn't stop them from making deadline deals, including one that sent Jerry Hairston, Jr. to New York. In 2006, the Reds got a whiff of what a pennant race is like. The sent Felipe Lopez and Austin Kearns to the Nationals in return for relief pitchers Gary Majewski and Bill Bray. That's a deal that worked out for neither side. But the Reds recognized a weakness and tried to address it.

McCoy had the best rationale for not trying to make a deal. His thought was waiting on current relievers Nick Massett and Daniel Ray Herrera and see if they can pitch their way out of their problems. McCoy, like a lot of us, senses a good chemistry inside the Reds clubhouse and worries that bringing in an 'outsider' through trade may mess-up the chemistry. That's a real possibility. And, there's always the possibility that the answers to the Reds bullpen problems may like in "AAA". Matt Maloney, Jared Burton and maybe even Aroldis Chapman, the $30 million dollar phenom, could contribute out of the Reds bullpen. As early as August, Edinson Volquez could return from his elbow sugery and rehabilitation. He'd be a candidate for the pen, at least in the short term.

But not thinking about your weaknesses and how you would address them come trade deadline is simply irresponsible. My guess is, a veteran general manager like Walt Jocketty has spent a lot of time working this. The hope is, he'll have to.

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Quick hits....looking forward to tonight's NHL Stanley Cup game #3. I think the Flyers will feed off the emotion of the home crowd and make this a 2-1 series. By the way, if you have Home Box Office and haven't seen the documentary on the 1970's Broad Street Bullies, you're missing something. I hated those Flyer teams. But they were good, and tough.......

The NBA finals begin Thursday. I love the story the Boston Celtics have been writing. But I think it won't have a happy ending. Lakers in six.......

Tiger won't win the Memorial this weekend. And I don't think he'll ever approach the dominance in golf he once had. He'll win tournaments. He'll win major tournaments. But given his knee problems and his off course behavior, never again.....

I miss Graeter's ice cream, one of things I've had to cut out after my heart attack. But sorbet and sherbert aren't bad at all.....

Glad to see my good pal Andy Furman getting some fill in work wih Fox Sports Radio. I've known Andy for over 30 years, back in the days when he was Sports Information Director for Oral Roberts Univeristy and I was the Sports Director for KOTV in Tulsa. He's one of a kind (which is a good thing) and a very decent person at the core (which is an even better thing).....

I've had emails from dancers and dance instructors who've told me that the training that Chad Ochocinco had for his stint on Dancing With The Stars will make him a better football player. They claim he's had to exercise and use muscles that are different from the ones he uses to catch passes and run on a football field. I'm no muscle expert, so I'll defer to them. But I wonder if Marvin Lewis is buying into that theory. Seems to me, when you play for a team that's been a classic under-achiever and you're the face of that team, you really need to be with that team helping it get better, not off ballroom dancing......

But I'll give Ochocinco this: he's the smartest athlete to come through Cincinnati in a long, long time. He's setting himself up for life after football. And if you believe what Jack Bechta a player agent, my recent guest on Sunday Morning Sportstalk on 700 WLW, told me 75% of all NFL players are broke three to five years after leaving the game. Chad looks like he 'gets' that. So in that case, good for him.....

See you tonight at 6p and 11p on Cincinnati's Channel 5 WLWT. And be sure to check out my web site www.kenbroo.com

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