Some Pre-Christmas Eve Ramblings

While decking the halls, some things that are coming to mind.....

Aren't you about over the Marvin-Ochocinco marriage? And for Lewis to chastise media members on Thursday for reacting to him referring to Ochocinco as 'moping' is about as disingenuous a thing as I've heard in awhile. Lewis said it, Chad reacted to it. This is a 24/7 365 media and it became a rather large story. I'm wondering if, as a child, Marvin tried to put the toothpaste back in the tube. Further reason why Mike Brown should just blow this whole thing up after this season. They all need to go, Lewis, Ocho, TO, Palmer. Goodbye, thanks for playing. It didn't work out good luck in your next life....

But Brown won't....

I heard an interesting theory the other day that might be a good way for Brown to gracefully admit that his way of conducting a football team simply doesn't work. Rather than hiring a general manager (which he should do) and admitting that he's been an abject failure at that end of things, Brown could keep the title and simply hire a fleet of good, competent scouts. The theory being that Brown probably knows football but consistently operates with bad or insufficient information on players because he doesn't have enough eyeballs on the college game.

Think about this: is the reason why the Bengals take so many chances on players with character issues because the team doesn't draft well and, not being free spenders, chooses to fill in the holes with bargain basement guys who've washed up because of their off field indiscretions?

I think the answer to that question might be....yes.

I really don't want Carson Palmer to go. I want to see him resurrect his career here. But he's simply been polluted by the situation in Bengal-dom. I'm not exonerating him at all for this year's debacle. I just don't think he'll ever again be the quarterback he was before he got Von Oelhoffen'd. And with the Bengals looking at a rebuilding project for the next two seasons (don't kid yourself, that's what this thing is) Palmer at 33 years old when this team has a pulse again isn't so appealing.

The Texas Rangers have signed Arthur Rhodes. On one hand that's too bad. He gave the Reds some terrific work in his time here. But at his age, I wasn't one counting on much from him going forward. Dontrelle Willis? Your ball.

Mick Cronin's Bearcats unbeaten going into the Christmas break. No one not named Cronin would ever have predicted that, forget about the quality of teams that UC has played.

You can have every one of the bowl games that New Year's Day will offer. I'm watching the NHL's Winter Classic. It's Washington vs Pittsburgh outdoors at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh. The teams are meaningless. It's the spectacle of NHL hockey on an outdoor rink. Fabulous viewing on an HDTV.

If the NCAA had any real clout and, well you know, those other things, it would have suspended those five Ohio State players for their bowl game. I could care less that Terrell Pryor or any other Buckeye was trading tickets and game used jerseys for tatoos. They should be able to do whatever they want with that stuff, so long as it wasn't taken illegally. But don't make it sound like you're taking some high and mighty road by suspending the "Buckeye Five "for games next season. That may only hasten their road out of Columbus and into the NFL.

Merry Christmas to all. I hope you have a wonderful time. I know I will. And I know for me, it will be a helluva lot better than last Christmas. For background on that, go back about a year in the archives.

Peace.

This blog may not be reproduced, re-purposed or re-transmitted, in whole or in part, in any manner without the written consent of Ken Broo

I'm continually amazed by those who believe that Marvin Lewis is on the 'hot seat'. The latest to weigh in on this is si.com columnist, Don Banks, a really good writer. Look at where he ranks Lewis in this story.

Those who've been around Cincinnati for any length of time know two things. 1: Marvin has to fix this thing to have any chance at another head coach's job in the NFL. 2: Mike Brown doesn't pay people not to work. Bottom line: Lewis isn't quitting and Brown isn't letting him go before his contract is up, after the 2010 season.

More than the status of Lewis, I'm concerned about the play of Carson Palmer. Yep, his offensive line has been pourous. But Palmer has been consistently high with his throws and his timing with TJ Houshmandzadeh and Chad Ocho Cinco has been painfully off. The wind that swirled through Cincinnati last Sunday can't be an excuse. It appeared that the Titans' Kerry Collins handled the wind just fine.

I think the Giants win Sunday, but the Bengals cover. 13.5? No thanks.

Don't rule out a 1-7 start for your Cincinnati Bengals.

More Florio! (I should be his agent). The profootballtalk.com guhru has the best game of the weekend scoped out: Eagles and Steelers.

Tough to go against the Steelers, even on the road. I'll take Pittsburgh.

One reason why Ohio State never seems to do well in 'big games': take a look at the rest of their out of conference schedule. Sure, they went to LA to play USC. But home games with Ohio University (which should have won that game), Youngstown State and now Troy? That gets you ready for a BCS title run? Really?

Well, finally. It's taken five years, but apparently Marvin Lewis is beginning to call players out. It happened today, when Lewis made an appearance on Sirius satellite radio. SI.com's Peter King was one of the show's co hosts, according to this.

Meantime, up in Columbus, sometimes Columbus Dispatch writer, Rob Oller has a less than flattering look at both of Ohio's NFL teams.

And our good friend, Mike Florio, from profootballtalk.com has this look at the biggest disappointments from week #1 of the 2008 NFL season.

While you're at it, don't forget to vote on the poll we have going right now. It's at the top of this blog page.

Bad news for Ohio State: no Beanie Well, apparently for the big game against Southern Cal. Here's the latest from espn.com.

The latest edition of Bengals Report Podcast has just been posted! In this edition, executive editor Mark Hardin and I preview this Sunday's Bengals vs Titans game. You'll hear comments from Carson Palmer and Marvin Lewis. You can download it here. And you can get my latest Broo View Podcast on my web site: www.kenbroo.com.

Good Morning!

Just back from three days in Chicago. Nothing big, just a little R&R. Dented the car bumper, ate pizza and stone crabs (though not together or on a pizza) and had a rollicking good time in the 'Second City'

While I was gone, I hope you had a chance to latest to my latest Broo View Podcast. If you didn't get the chance, check it out here. My special guest is former NFL defensive back (Rams, Bills and others) Matt Bowen, from www.nationalfootballpost.com.

Sometime Friday, on my web site www.kenbroo.com, I'll have the latest edition of Bengals Report Podcast, as executive editor, Mark Hardin and I kick off the regular season.

Saw this when I arrived home Wednesday night from Chicago. Hmmmm. Well no Beanie may mean a better chance for my beloved Ohio Bobcats Saturday, right? No? Oh well...

Finally, for now at least, is there anyone out there who'll give the Bengals a little positive pub?
Not here, from si.com. They won't get any, until they start winning, on and off the field.

Oklahoma wins, Ohio State is in. West Virgina loses, LSU is in. If you’re a Buckeye fan, I’m happy for you. If you’re a college football fan, someone who loves the sport, not the individual team, I feel for you.

This whole thing is a joke.

There is no way on God’s green earth that a team should go from fifth, to third to championship game without playing a game. But that’s exactly what Ohio State has done, since beating Michigan. LSU & Kansas lost last week, Ohio State moved up to third. Oklahoma beat Missouri Saturday night, Pitt beat West Virginia, and OSU moves up to the top spot and a berth in the national championship game. Excuse Jim Tressel if he’s saying today…this’d be a helluva job, if we didn’t have to play those damn games.

I’ve got nothing against Ohio State and if I did, I’d have the sense to keep my mouth shut about it. It’s not about Ohio State, it’s about the ‘state’ of division one college football. The whole thing is a joke, and you’re the butt end of it.

One-A football has a playoff, two-a, three-a, every level of NCAA basketball has a playoff except, of course, the one NCAA sport that the entire world follows, Division One football. Everybody follows it. People who don’t know if a football is blown up or stuffed follow NCAA Division One college football. On the grand scale of sports, it plays number two to the NFL’s number one.

People get geeked about the NCAA division one basketball tournament, but only because of the brackets. They want to win their office pool, be the only ones at work to correctly predict Princeton will knock off Washington State and have Villanova going all the way. That’s the allure of the NCAA tournament.

But college football? College football is a social event as much as a sport. It’s parking on the edge of campus and walking through the reds and yellows of autumn leaves on the way to the stadium. It’s your college band playing your college fight song. It’s taking your wife back to your school to watch


your team and running into your college sweetheart. Don’t think that hasn’t happened once or twice.

It’s stopping by the drive through on Friday night so you’ve got the brewskis in the fridge for at least 12 hours before kickoff. It’s inviting your friends over to watch your team play on your brand new 42-inch flat panel.

College football is high fives, groans, cheers and wondering exactly what drug the offensive coordinator is on when he calls an off tackle run on third and 14.

So why is Division One college football ‘not’ good enough for a playoff?

When the argument for one came up many years ago we first heard ‘well, we wouldn’t want to disrupt the sanctity of the bowl system. The bowls game operators would be compromised by a playoff system. (emphasis on the word operators). How could you have a national championship game in the Rose Bowl without offending the Orange Bowl and making the Cotton Bowl feel less important. Guess what? That’s exactly what we’ve got now, with no playoff. The Orange Bowl and the Rose Bowl and every other bowl game doesn’t get to host the national title game. And the Cotton Bowl hasn’t been a major New Year’s Day destination for years.

Lately we’ve heard, ‘well, we couldn’t extend the season, the student-athletes would miss too much time in the class room. The can’t be playing football three weeks into January. Of course, these same academians, so far removed from the real world that they suffer panic attacks when leaving campus, have no trouble letting student-athletes play three weeks of basketball in March. Or look the other way when a senior football player stops going to class and starts going to draft camps after Christmas.

The whole thing is a joke.

But you know what? I’ve got a solution. It’s always better to be part of the solution, than part of the problem. So while I was watching Oklahoma beat Missouri Saturday night, I came up with a plan. Call it the Broo plan.


My wife, the first Mrs. Ken likes to tell me I’m long on plans and short on delivery. So let me deliver my plan for a Division One college football playoff.

First, no team plays more than eleven regular season games. Eliminate the conference championship games. You won’t need them. They simply exist as money makers for conferences. You’ll make so much money with this plan, believe me, everybody will be happy. Everybody.

My plan would call for the the top 12 teams, plus one, to play off for the national title. The 13 would be decided by the same folks who decided on the rankings up until this BCS nonsense began: the football writers, broadcasters and the coaches. One poll, 13 teams.

Each team would be seeded. The number one team would draw a bye until the semi-finals.

13 teams, 12 games in the first round of games. 12 teams, six games in the second. In round three, reseed the teams, the number ranked team would play the fourth seeded team. Two would play three.

On championship weekend, you would decide the national champion.

Now think about this. Most, if not all of college football’s regular season is done, as of last night. Most, if not all of colleges on the quarter system are finished for the holiday break by the end of this week. Most schools on semesters….most….are finished by December 20. When do the bowl games begin? Right….just about every year on December 20.

If the team ranked number one entering the playoffs wins the championship, it will play 13 games. The team it faces, if number one gets that far, would play a maximum of 15. Bowl eligible teams play 12 regular season games as it is now. And a lot of them have a lot of time off in between their regular season finale and their bowl game. Look at Ohio State.

What about the teams below the top 13? Well, remember, there are 32 bowl games. My system would need 12 bowls or sites to whittle down to one


champion. That leaves 20 other current bowl games that need teams. That’s 40 more team. That would mean the top 53-teams in the country would play in a post game season game. Do we really need more than that?

Think of the excitement, the hype. Number 11 Cincinnati gets to play number two Kansas in week one at the Holiday Bowl…or the Music City Bowl….winner moves onto the Capital One Bowl in Orlando.

UC fan tell me you wouldn’t want that, instead of what you got for your troubles this season.

Number one LSU, let’s say, lying in wait in Baton Rouge, watching all of this play out, the chatter on radio stations like this one all about whether or not the teams playing will be tired by the time LSU joins the party….or will LSU be rusty and primed for an upset when Ohio State gets ahold of them.

It’s be crazy. It’s be good. It makes too much sense not to do it. Bu that’s probably why the NCAA would never go for it. Probably why this time next year, somebody else who’s had a little too much to drink on a Saturday night will come up with another plan and talk about it on this radio station the next morning.

All I know is this: the NCAA’s BCS deal? The whole thing is a joke.

Here's what I'm looking for this weekend, as I vegetate on my couch doing 4 ounce curls with my television remote.....I'm looking for more of the same from Ohio State. Illinois is good, but the Illini aren't in the Buckeyes' league....I'm looking for an upset, of sorts, at Nippert Stadium. I think UC will beat UConn for its eighth win of the season. And eight wins would equal the amount the 2006 team gave us. But that squad needed a bowl game to get to eight. A win tomorrow tees the Bearcats up for a double digit win season. And UC hasn't had one of those since 1951....

I'm looking for the Ravens to beat the Bengals. OK, that may not be a popular pick in Cincinnati. But let's face it, this season is toast for our "Men In Stripes" and Baltimore has a smidgen of hope for a playoff spot. Besides, Caleb Miller, Ahmad Brooks and Willie Anderson are all officially 'out'. Reggie Kelly, Anthony Schlegel and John Thornton are all officially 'doubtful', which means, it's one chance in four they play. Baltimore is a physical wreck too, with its entire defensive backfield either out or doubtful. But I'm going with the Ravens....I'm looking for the Steelers to temporarily derail the Browns surprising season. But I believe the Browns will seriously contend for a wild card spot after this weekend....I'm looking for the Colts to rebound and beat the Chargers in San Diego on Sunday Night Football on WLWT Channel 5....I'm looking for Adrian Peterson to run for far less than the 296 yards he put up on the Chargers last week. And I think his Vikings lose to the NFC's most surprising team, Green Bay.....I'm looking for the Rams and the Dolphins to remain winless, even if Steven Jackson is back in St. Louis blue and gold.....

And I'm looking for you! I'm talking sports this Sunday morning on 700 WLW in Cincinnati and 1530 WCKY. It's a 'simulblast' on two 50,000 'flame throwers! I'm on from 9am until Noon. The show is "Sunday Morning Sportstalk". You can catch it streamed 'live' on line at www.700wlw.com and on XM channel 173. Right after the Bengals vs Ravens game, I'll be back on 700 WLW and 1530 Homer "The Sports Animal" with Bengals Feedback. And then, Sunday night, after the Colts and Chargers on channel 5, join me, George Vogel, Box Miller and former Bengals Dave Lapham and David Fulcher for Sports Rock! It's always the last, best word on the Bengals.

Have a great weekend!

Right now, Ohio State and Boston College are unbeaten. But could we have a scenario this year where no major college football team plays for the national title unbeaten? There's a good chance. In fact, we may have a two loss team contending for the title in the national championship game.


Ohio State still has rough road games remaining at Penn State and Michigan. Boston College still has games on the schedule at Maryland and Clemson and dicey home tilts with Miami and Florida State.


Oklahoma, LSU and Oregon are the best of the one loss teams. But each faces choppy water between now and the end of the season. LSU's toughest test will be at Alabama. But that could be it for the Tigers, until the SEC Championship game. Oklahoma still has a dicey road trest at 6-2 Texas Tech and a home game against instate rival, Oklahoma State. West Virginia could be lurkiing at the end. But the Mountaineers have some tough Big East games coming up, including one at Cincinnati.

My guess is no team will be unbeaten come early December. And that is yet another compelling reason to have a playoff system. But I'm not holding my breath, waiting for one.

Just posted today the latest "Bengals Report Podcast". You can find it on my web site: www.kenbroo.com. It's on the front page, easy to find.

Sports Rock! rocks this Sunday night at 11:35p on Cincinnati's Channel 5 WLWT. My guess is, we'll have plenty to talk about in the wake of the Bengals vs Steelers game. Check out our 'internet only' version of Sports Rock! on www.wlwt.com.

And if you can locate the Colorado Rockies offense, please call the team. It's 'gone missing' and they need it badly.

Have a great weekend!

Rare is the team that can win a championship without struggling along the way. And such is the case in this NCAA Tournament with the Ohio State Buckyes. They entered the tourney the number one team in the USA and one of four number one seeds. Saturday, it almost came to a crashing halt.

Here they were, down nine to ninth seed Xavier, an upstart school from Cincinnati. Three minutes remained….when the Buckeyes got a wake up call. First, a three point shot by Jamar Butler…and then, Mike Conley Junior stole Xavier’s inbound pass.

Xavier would lead by three with nine seconds to play. But senior Justin Cage, playing the game of his life with 25-points on eight of eight shooting from the field…missed the back end of a 1-and-1. OSU got the rebound….actually, Conley did…and without calling time out streaked to forecourt where he found Ron Lewis. Lewis was playing the game of his life, 24 points…but three more were to come….with only two seconds to play.

That tied the game. But for all intents and purposes, Xavier was sunk. Zapped. Lewis could see it in their eyes.

In overtime, Xavier took a quick two point lead….but then Conley ripped off seven straight points. And Ohio State survived and moved on. Their coach, Thad Matta, left Xavier in a lurch three summers ago to take the Ohio State job. He knew, at the end of regulation, his team could be drained from having to play catch up the entire second half…or…Xavier could be stunned from being caught. I asked Matta how he kept his team from falling down the drain.
For his answers, head onto over to my web site www.kenbroo.com and click on the "Podcasts & More" section. Check out my latest "Broo View Podcast" for comments from Matta and OSU stars Mike Conley, Jr. and Ron Lewis.

Other observations from opening weekend of the NCAA Tournament? Stanford, Illinois and Arkansas proved their critics were right. Fast exits in lopsided losses showed none of the three belonged in this tournament.

Butler’s win over Maryland in the round of 32 has a lot of people thinking the Bulldogs are back to where they were in December.

And the easiest upset from the opening round to pick turned out to be Winthrop over Notre Dame. Just about every expert had that one.

My two champions from my two brackets remain Kansas and Memphis. We’ll see.

I spent some time on the phone tonight with Joe Nuxhall. The beloved Reds broadcaster is out of a Florida hospital tonight and back home. In fact, Nuxie under went the first of his chemotherapy treatments immediately after getting out of the hospital. He then went to visit friends at the Reds training complex. After that, it was out to buy a set of tires for the family car.

He continues to battle lymphoma. But he told me tonight, he'll be at Great American Ball Park for Opening Day. We'll roll out the red carpet for you, I told Nuxie. He said "I'll walk on it."

ESPN's poll has Ohio State number one in mens college basketball. AP has Wisconsin number one (though not for long, after Michigan State beat the Badgers on Monday night). I don't think either of them are the best team in the country. Florida is, despite its loss last weekend at Vanderbilt. There is no team in America that wants to face the Gators in the NCAA's.

You think by Bernie Williams refusing to accept a minor league deal from the Yankees, he's actually admitting he doesn't have it anymore? The Yankees aren't in a position to offer him a spot on their 25 man roster. But he would have every opportunity to earn one with a solid spring training. Williams isn't even returning phone calls to Joe Torre or the Yanks GM, Brian Cashman. Sad way for one of the last links to the latest Yankee dynasty to go out.

Final posting from a busy day in college football...no, Michigan and Ohio State should NOT play against each other in the BCS Championship game...OSU will play either USC or Notre Dame. Next week's game will determine that....81 points combined must have made Woody and Bo laugh hard and shake their heads in disbelief....Troy Smith will win the Heisman...Saturday night, the bubble burst for Rutgers.....they ran into a Cincinnati team playing its best football of the season....UC was forced to start its back up quarterback, Nick Davila, when Dustin Grutza was hurt earlier in the week...Rutgers wasn't going to the BCS Championship game, even if it finished the season unbeaten....this loss may have cost the Scarlet Knights a spot in any other BCS game....UC locked up a bowl bid with the win....it could play in a more significant game with a win at Connecticut next Saturday...the crowed was boisterous at Nippert Stadium.....but only 27,000 for a game like this? And with a lot of fans in the house thanks to some two for one ticket give aways...this was not good...it was the biggest win, arguably in UC history....it was the highest ranked team the UC football team has beaten in school history....I'll repeat again what I have said publicly numerous times: UC is lucky to have Mark Dantonio as its head coach....he'll get overtures in the next six weeks and the school better do everything in its power to keep him....Dantonio is the third lowest paid head coach among all BCS teams.

Ken

105,708 the official attendance...largest crowd in Ohio Stadium history...Michigan's blitz has been realively ineffective today...left to single coverage, the OSU wide receivers have been open, a lot....

Huge call, dumb play by Michigan's Shawn Crable....late hit, helmet to helmet hit on Troy Smith...automatic first down and the Buckeyes live on....Oh what a catch by Brian Robiskie...an outstanding catch after Smith's adlib...11 plays, 83 yards and a five play scoring drive...42-31...73 points in this game? Are you kidding me?

Great call to start the 4th quarter...Steve Braeston with the end around....the Wolverines set it up in the third quarter with a hand off underneath....good call on replay, Braeston's knee was clearly down before the ball broke the plane...doesn't matter....Hart is in for his third of the day...why would Michigan line up for two...then kick it after the time out...makes no sense...now it's a four point lead....and the Wolverines will need a TD to grab the lead....makes no sense....

And another Ohio State turnover, third of the day. OSU center playing with a cast, apparently not a problem in games before this one...but it's been an issue today...

And another third down when Michigan throws, instead of runs....even though they've seemed to have figured out teh OSU run defense.

I can't get over all of these explosive plays....year after year, OSU and Michigan would play this game conservatively, tackling was good, big plays were few....but here we go again, this time it's Antonio Pittman 55 yards....linebackers were picked up on a blitz and the Michigan secondary took a couple of bad angles on tackles....35-24 OSU...

South Carolina played Middle Tennessee today? What was the point of that? What did the Gamecocks prove by beating up on a mid-major (stretch) 52-7?....same deal with Florida and Western Carolina...62-0....somebody please step in and prevent these mid majors (stretch) over scheduling late in the year to pay some bills....somebody has to say 'no'....

3rd and short and you're running on OSU successfully and you throw??? Bo isn't happy....this should be overturned on review....ball hit the ground....but Michigan will be punting....

Ooops...who do you blame for the fumbled snap....it was high, but Smith should have had it. Big, big break for Michigan as we go to the 4th quarter

"The" game is underway. Nice touch with a tribute to Bo Schembechler before the game. Justifiably so, as Bo played for Woody at Miami, Ohio and was an assistant under Woody at OSU....wow, Michigan running well early on OSU....Bo would've loved that....and a running touchdown to open the game....you think anyone is sweating in Columbus?

University of Kentucky is talking contract extention with the under achieving Rich Brooks....you think maybe that should wait until we see how UK does against Louisiana-Monroe today? UK is trailing by a point, in a shootout, third quarter, 34-33....what is UK doing playing a team like Louisiana-Monroe this late in the season....memo to UK, get real with your scheduling....

Couldn't let another minute pass with a thought on the passing of Bo Schembechler. I'm a huge MAC guy and Bo, of course, played his college football at Miami. His head coach was Woody Hayes. And later, Bo would be an assistant on Woody's staff at Ohio State. Then, of course, they had their classic battles when Bo moved onto coach at Michigan.

I was in Bo's presence several times, when I was the play-by-play broadcaster for the Cincinnati Bengals. We always saw the Lions in the pre-season and Bo was involved with their broadcasts. I found the man 'larger than life'.

It occured to me today, as I heard about his passing that there are no 'larger than life' coaches anymore. Bob Knight, for a lot of reasons, Bill Parcells and Joe Paterno come close. Maybe it's because we live in the 300 channel universe and all things sports seem to on TV. Television, particularly live television, has a way of de-mystifying people. In most instances, that's a good thing. In a sports sense, it's probably a good thing too.

But today, I miss that. Bo against Woody. Did it ever get any better than that?