Knocked it out of the park, didn't he? You think anyone in Big Blue Nation is upset with UK hiring John Calipari? I loved the part about how he's no savior and has 'no magic wand' to fix Kentucky basketball. "I told Dr. Todd (school president) and Mitch (Barnhart, UK AD) that if they're looking to hire someone to turn this around overnight, they're talking to the wrong guy". Calipari's news conference today was a revival, tempered by realism.

Great joke someone told on my radio show this past Sunday. You know what they call a pervert in Kentucky? Someone who like sex more than basketball.

But. like everything, there are dissenting opinions on the Calipari hiring. Pat Forde, from espn.com has this take on the hiring.

April 1st reminds me of one of the greatest April Fool's Day jokes every pulled in sports. In fact, it happened only last year and the brunt of it was Philadelphia Phillies pitcher, Kyle Kendrick.

Check it out:


The Reds are actually going to talk with Gary Sheffield? Believe it. Dusty Baker will visit with the former Tigers slugger tomorrow in Sarasota. Detroit is paying Sheffield's 2009 contract, all $14 million of it, just to go away. So if the Reds sign him, they get him for the major league minimum, about $400,000. Geoff Jenkins will visit the Reds, as well. But statistically, both have fallen off the map. Still with 499 career home runs, it'd be kind of cool to see Sheffield hit #500 in a Reds uniform. And Sheffield is only a year removed from a .265 25/75 season. But too many reports say he's finished. But, even though Jonny Gomes and Chris Dickerson have had a decent spring platooning in left field, the Reds have been weak this spring in the area I said they would be: run production. I'm sure that's why Sheffield and Jenkins are coming in for visits.

Just booked for my Sunday Morning Sports Talk show on 700 WLW: former National League MVP Dave Parker. I'm on from 9am-Noon. Parker will join me at 10:00am. If you don't live within the coverage area of the "50,000 watt flamethrower", you can always listen on line.

More on Thursday....and a fresh Broo View Podcast then, on www.kenbroo.com

Good Wednesday Morning!

We'll get to the burning topics in sports as the day progresses (like whether or not Xavier fans should be worried now that the Memphis AD apparently has his sights set on Sean Miller).

But to begin things, a little science lesson sent to me by my nephew in New Jersey. It's all about ozone deplection, a topic I admit I've spent about 45 seconds considering in my lifetime. But I'm beginning to think about it a little more after watching this video. The good looking blond haired lad who appears about 90 seconds into the video is young Tyler. Enjoy, and thanks for letting me indulge.

OK, so John Calipari is the new head basketball coach at UK. Not a bad hire. But if you're a UK fan let me ask you this: why didn't you AD hire him two years ago? What made Coach Cal so attractive now? Is it because he got to the Final 4 (championship game) last season and was on the verge of signing the nation's top recruiting class this spring at Memphis? Were you scared off two years ago, because Calipari has this habit of signing 'one and done players'. And maybe that's not the way you want your basketball program to navigate?

Do you ever think Mitch Barnhart will come clean about any of this?

Calipari is a 'basketball character'. And his rivalry with Rick Pitino will make the Commonwealth one of the nation's hot basketball territories again. It's all good theatre again in Kentucky.

Who follows Calipari in Memphis? His close friendship with Xavier's Sean Miller has espn.com thinking that Memphis AD RC Johnson may be making a trip to Victory Parkway soon.

Meantime, over at cbsports.com, our buddy Gregg Doyel has this take on Calipari's move.

Opening day is this Monday. (Yikes, rain and 55*????). To fire you up, Freekbass will be in studio this Sunday night on Sports Rock on Channel 5 at 11:35pm. Enjoy this!

You get the feeling he's a Reds fan?

Good Morning!

Just posted, my latest Broo View Podcast. It's on the front page of my web site: www.kenbroo.com. But, if you're in a hurry, you can download it by clicking here.

Also, I've posted an interview with Jonathan Mayo from mlb.com. He's at the Reds' spring training headquarters in Sarasota, Florida and has an update on what's happening down there. That's also on the front page of www.kenbroo.com.

More coming later....

This is so funny, I about fell off my bar stool when I first saw this.

Knight is the central figure. But Pitino on drums is hysterical.

Good Monday Morning!

How tough can it be? How difficult is it being a college basketball coach? You do three things, basically. You recruit, you develop strategy, practice and you coach games. That’s it. You show up for a coach’s show once a week at a local bar or restaurant during the season, make nice with alums and donors, and you go home. That’s it. End of story.

So if it’s that simple, why couldn’t Billy Gillispie figure it out at Kentucky?
He doesn’t appear to be a dope. He won more than he lost. He recruited McDonalds All Americans, he developed strategy that worked more often than not. And he’s out of work.

I listened to that news conference Friday, the one the Kentucky athletic director and the school president presided over. If I’m not mistaken, the reasons they gave for Gillispie getting canned were that he was a social mutant who couldn’t sign his name. Couldn’t, or wouldn’t glad hand with the big dollar Kentucky donors and refused to sign his contract. Now I’ll admit, in this day and age, when someone is dangling the kind of money in front of you like Gillispie had dangled in front of him, you take it and run. If all it means is signing your name, you John Hancock it and call it a day. Six million to go away? Mine, take it, see you at the ranch. Gillispie apparently will get far less than six mil, simply because he didn’t sign his name.

Gillispie apparently mistreated some people in the media. Now we’re going to start worrying about the media? Do you know where the majority of people in this country place the media on the totem pole of respect? Just behind mass murderers and slightly ahead of politicians. Or lawyers. I interviewed Gillispie a couple of times. I found him to be cold and shifty He wouldn’t look me in the eye. He went 40-27 at UK. If he went 60-7, you know what? He could’ve stolen my wallet, he’d still be on the job. It’s all about winning. The rest of this stuff only surfaces when you don’t win enough games. 40-out of 67 at a place like Kentucky isn’t enough games.

Look, I’m not defending Gillispie. I could care less who coaches that team. Get paid the same if it’s Billy Gillispie coaching or Dizzy Gillispie. All I want to know is how tough can it be to coach Division One basketball. There are something like 360 ‘D-One’ teams, but only about 90 that count. If you’ve got a good big man, a guard who can distribute and a guard who can shoot, you’re going to win a lot of games in most conferences. You mean to tell me there aren’t 270-good to great basketball players in this country? If there aren’t you can’t fill in the blanks with players from Europe of China? Really?

90-teams, three good players, that’s 270-total. And a guy like Billy Gillispie coaching at UK can’t figure out how to make that happen?

And all of this talk about his lack of social skills. If you’re the head basketball coach at Kentucky, ,why wouldn’t you want to parlay that into free dinner and golf? All you have to do is tell a couple of stories, they don’t even have to be true, sign a few autographs pose for a few pictures and go home. It’s not tough. It’s not assembly line, fast food cook, door to door salesman tough.

It’s amazing that Mitch Barnhart, the Kentucky athletic director, couldn’t figure out that Gillispie had none of these skills long before he tried to hire him. Does Barnhart not have friends or informants he can trust? If it’s not that tough to be a basketball coach, how much tougher is it to be an athletic director?

This is the University Of Kentucky basketball. You got to get it right. But trust me, when you’re that big, with that much tradition, it’s not that hard to find the right guy. And it’s not that hard for the right guy to succeed. Billy Gillispie blew it. But he had an accomplice. Mitch Barnhart blew it too. And so did the UK school president. He should have fired Barnhart on Friday, too.

Two things you need to know about my sports coverage tonight on WLWT Channel 5. We'll be in the Bengals locker room today to get the latest from the team, which re-gathers for the start of voluntary workouts. And we'll check in with the Miami RedHawks hockey team, just back from qualifying for the Frozen Four.

Later today on my web site: www.kenbroo.com, I'm posting an interview I did Sunday morning on 700 WLW with mlb.com's Jonathan Mayo about the status of the Cincinnati Reds, one week from the start of the season. And Tuesday midday, look for the latest Broo View Podcast on www.kenbroo.com. My guest, NFL player-agent, Jack Bechta. Among other things, he has the inside story as to why the Bengals let all purpose offensive lineman, Eric Steinbach leave for Cleveland a couple of springs ago.

Good Luck! Get through it. The toughest part of the week is Monday. I'll see you tonight at p and 11p on WLWT Channel 5.

Billy Gillispie is out. Xavier is out. Alvin Mitchell and Mike Williams are out. Been a riotous 24 hours, hasn't it?

Who didn't see Gillispie going? His AD and school president have been more silent than Marcel Marceau on this situation. Gillispie apparently didnt play the glad hand game well enough and his players didn't like being yelled at. Oh, and losing to Gardner Webb and VMI at Rupp didn't help either. But riddle me this: how can a state struggling for money as much as Kentucky is, scrape up $6 million to make Gillispie go away? If donors raised that kind of cash, isn't the school president, or the people he answers to, responsible enough to say 'look, let's use this money for bricks and morter, or to lower tuition costs, not pay off a basketball coach.' This entire deal is wrong from word one.

Kentucky may have made a bad hire. And cutting your losses into something like that isn't the worst thing to do. But shouldn't the people who hired Gillispie, Barnhart and Todd, but held accountable here too? $6 million to pay a coach to leave town? In this economy? In that state?

I wouldn't look for Sean Miller to leave Xavier for that gig. Neither does Andy Katz, at espn.com.

My pal Gregg Doyel over at cbssports.com has it nailed about the kind of coach Kentucky should hire.

Xavier lost to Pitt for one very big reason: it couldn't buy a basket in the second half of that ballgame. You can't start a half going 0-10 from the field and expect to win. Sure, BJ Raymond and Derrick Brown delivered points. But where was the rest of the Xavier scoring? Some of those guys in Xavier white disappeared like David Copperfield in the final 20 minutes. Still, Xavier had a chance to win. It was up two with under a minute to play. The Levance Fields three point shot was crazy good. But, the bigger play was the steal that Dejuan Blair and Fields pulled off with 34 seconds left. Down one, Xavier had a chance to take the lead. But you must protect the basketball. And, at that moment, Xavier didn't.

Too bad. I think they would've given Villanova a good game Sunday.

Mick Cronin, our guest this Sunday night on Sports Rock, was busy cleaning house today. Gone are Alvin Mitchell and Mike Williams. Mitchell has been a problem for Cronin the past two seasons. He's been in and out of Cronin's dog house, suspended, frequently. Honestly, no loss there. Mitchell, in my opinion, had limited skills. As for Williams, his case was a matter of bad luck. He missed two full seasons, one here and one at Texas before transfering. His case for a 6th season of eligibility was flimsy at best. For Cronin, it's probably best to move on. His first three seasons have produced little. He needs to have a big fourth season to stick around. I'd look for a Junior College player or two to jump start this team.

My Sunday morning radio show is taking shape. Jonathan Mayo from mlb.com will join me at 9:35am EDT to talk Reds baseball. We'll hear from Ryan Fagan from The Sporting News about baseball and the Reds at Noon. NFL player agent Jack Bechta will join me at 10am. The Enquirer's Dustin Dow and bengals.com Geoff Hobson will stop by to chat too. My show airs from 9am-12:30p EDT. You can listen online at 700wlw.com.

Have a great weekend. Check out my web site: www.kenbroo.com. Brand new Broo View Podcast will be posted Friday overnight and ready Saturday morning.

Good Monday Morning

Xavier wins and plays on. Next up, a Sweet 16 meeting against Pittsburgh in Boston. Xavier will clearly have its hands full with Pitts inside game. But the Panthers have to be wary of the way the Xavier guards are playing. Dante Jackson, and to a lesser extent, Terrell Holloway have figured it out, just in time.

If I could have one thing on my NCAA Tournament team, it would be a good, solid point guard. Give me a guy to run the offense, you can have everything else. Centers, power forward, shooting guards, take them. Give me the guy who can set everything up.

You don’t think a good point guard is important? Ask Kentucky why it’s in the NIT. Although I like Michael Porter’s toughness. Talk to Mick Cronin.

It’s why Sean Miller has been all over Dante Jackson like a rash this season. Miller knows, he played the game. A good point guard takes care of the ball, finds the open man, makes the impossible pass, gets the ball inside. Distributes, as the coaches like to say.

Think of the great point guards in college basketball history. Gary Payton, Oregon State. Great defense great set up man, an All American.

Bobby Hurley. Where would Duke have been in 1992 without Bobby Hurley? The guy averaged over eight assists a game that season. Best player in the tournament in 1993.

Or Jason Kidd. You needed a pass to the open man? You don’t want anybody tossing it except Kidd. May have been the best passer in college basketball history.

Chirs Paul, Andre Miller, even Stephon Marbury…yeah that Stephon Marbury was a great point guard for one season at Georgia Tech.

So as I’m watching these games since Thursday, it’s no surprise that most of the teams that’ve won games have had great point guard play.

Did you watch the Sienna upset of Ohio State. I know it was one of those 8-9 games, but to me it was an upset. Did you watch Ronald Moore. Forget the three point heroics. Did you see how Moore passed the ball, worked the game? Controlled the Sienna offense. Six assists. Ronald Moore is tenth in the nation, sixth in the Tournament in assist to turnover ratio. And you know what? He’s been that good since his freshman season.

You don’t think a major difference in that game Friday night was how well Moore played and how lacking Ohio State is at the point?

Did you watch Cleveland State dismantle big bad Wake Forest? Did you watch point guard Cedric Jackson? This is the same kid who transferred out of St. John’s because he wasn’t getting enough playing time. That should tell you how bad St. John’s is and will be for awhile. Cedric Jackson against Wake Forest: 19 points, eight assists and seven rebounds. His ally-oop set ups were downright astounding.

You know why everyone who bleeds Carolina blue was holding their collective breath this week? Ty Law. Actually Ty Law’s big toe. As Law goes, so goes Carolina. He played through it Saturday. After missing three games with jammed toe, Law was back. 23 total points, 21 in the second half in the Heels win over LSU.

Put Ty Law on the UC team (after Mick Cronin falls off his couch in delirium) and the Bearcats are in the Tournament. Deonta Vaughn doesn’t have to bring the ball up court, just has to get open for shots. Yancy Gates gets the ball quicker, in better position and gets better shots. It’s that simple and that tough. Because, every coach in America is out looking for a guy who can play the point. Cashmere Wright? Let’s hope.

Look, I like big men. Coaches always say…and they’re right, you can’t coach size. But you also can’t get as much out of your big guy, if he can’t get the ball. Does Christian Laettner average over 21-a game in 1992 if Bobby Hurley isn’t averaging almost eight assists a night…and over 13 points. Sorry UK fan.

This year’s Tournament, like every other one in the history of the NCAA is about guards. You got a good one, you got a chance. You got two good ones, you’re playing past this weekend. But if you’ve got a good, solid point guard, who sees the court, knows the game, finds the open man, runs the offense….distributes? You’ll be playing a lot longer than that.

You can find my latest Broo View Podcast on the front page of my web site: www.kenbroo.com
But, if you're in a hurry, you can download it here.

Just posted, my latest Broo View Podcast. This episode features an interview with Jerry Jones, not the Cowboys owner, the author and publisher of the NFL Draft Guide, "The Drugstore List". The topic: possible Bengals strategies in the upcoming draft.

16 NCAA Tournament games in the books. So a few observations. The only upset was Western Kentucky over Illinois. Butler put a scare in LSU and American simply ran out of gas or it would've sent Villanova packing. Other than that, only Memphis really had to sweat.

I hate 1 vs 16 games. Just hate them. They're always routs and neither team, nor the tournament really gets any thing out of them. I have a solution. What if the NCAA took the last 4 teams booted from the field of 64 and on the Tuesday before the Tournament begins, have the #16 seeds play the final four teams that were left out of the tourney? Two things would happen, I believe. One: a #16 seed might actually win a game in the tourney. Two: if one of the last four win these play-in games, it would make for a more compelling opening round game.

For example, Notre Dame didn't make the field. But, if the Irish were one of the last four 'out', they would get to play Morehead State with the winner going onto face a #1 seed in the first round of the Tournament. Would you rather see Morehead vs Louisville in the opening round? Or Louisville vs Notre Dame?

Here's another thought: give the automatic conference bid to the regular season champ. Use the conference tournament games to let the rest of those conferences build their tournament resume. Chance are, in the bigger conferences, the same teams would qualify. But in one or two bid conferences, the chances of the best teams getting left out of the NCAA Tournament are greater than, say, the ACC or Big East.

Sports Rock this Sunday night on WLWT in Cincinnati will feature an in studio interview with UC's versatile Connor Barwin, who ran a 4.47 40 yard dash in the pro workout day Thursday. Barwin, in some mock drafts, is a low first, high second round pick.

Have you seen this? Funniest thing I've seen in college basketball this season.

Apparently, the kid was OK

My latest Broo View Podcast is now ready for downloading. You can find it on the front page of my web site: www.kenbroo.com. But, if you're in a hurry, you can find it here. My guest this week, Mike Florio, from profootballtalk.com

One of my favorite web destinations is Tim Dierkes' mlbtraderumors.com. He's analyzing the off season moves of every team this spring. Here's Tim's analysis of the Reds. It speaks to what I've been screaming about since they failed to replace the offense Adam Dunn took with him when he left.

77 wins in 2009? Do you think that would be progress? I wouldn't think so, either.

Good Monday Morning!

Xavier a #4 seed? Good, better than I thought. Figured on a #5. Getting shipped out to Boise? Bad. Only a smattering of Xavier fans will make that trip. And if they're going to, they better start leaving today.

Portland State isn't great, but good enough to give Xavier some problems. The second round match up could be intriguing, particulary if Florida State prevails over Wisconsin. Sean Miller should watch the FSU-North Carolina game from the ACC Tournament. He'll get an eyeful.

No NIT for UC? Surprised a bit. I figured UC would get in, given its total body of work. But I guess that committee took a long hard look at UC over the last seven games this season. Which wasn't very good

I think the flame under Mick Cronin just got even hotter. He has to make the NCAA Tournament next season. If you're on the job 4 seasons and can't get in, there's something wrong. The first season he was at UC can be written off to the horrid way his AD and school President handled the Huggins-Kennedy affair. But after that, he's on his own.

Stay with me on this one. This has nothing to do with the way Bronson Arroyo pitched Saturday. Four innings, four hits, three earned runs and a home run allowed. Late spring start, maybe a little dead arm, it happens. Arroyo will be fine. But, with what team this season?

If you’re Walt Jocketty and you’ve seen Homer Bailey and Micah Owings throw this spring, aren’t you thinking about a way to get each of them in the starting rotation? Do you really want to banish one of them to Triple-A, or the bullpen? If I’m Jocketty, neither of those are good options for Bailey or Owings.

And if you’re Bob Castellini, any you’ve seen your personal wealth take a dive like a buzzard pouncing on road kill, and you know your revenue stream for your team will be another victim of the economy, aren’t you looking for ways to cut over head?

To me, Bronson Arroyo would be a prime candidate for a late spring training trade. Why not? It’s happened to him before. How do you think he got here?

Arroyo is due to make $20.5 million over the next two seasons. If the Reds don’t pick up his $11 million dollar option in 2011, they have to pay him $2 million to leave. That’s at least $23.5 million they owe Arroyo before his current contract is up. I don’t know where you come from. But where I’m from, $23.5 million is a lot of money.

So who could could Bronson Arroyo? It would have to be a contending team in a large market, right? The Yankees? They’ve always got dough. They’ve got CC Sabathia and AJ Burnett. Arroyo isn’t as good as those two, but better than the third and fourth starters the Yankees have, Phil Hughes and Chien Ming Wang. How ‘bout Arroyo to the Yankees for Xavier Nady? 300 hitter, good power, can play left field?

You know who needs pitching? The Dodgers. Their everyday 8 is pretty good: Manny, Russell Martin, the catcher, Casey Blake at third. You might have a tough time getting outfielder Matt Kemp for Arroyo. But what about Adam Ethier, a big left handed bat? Don’t think the Dodgers would like

Arroyo in their rotation? Chad Billingsley is their ace. But after him? It’s a shaky group.

Look, I like Arroyo. I’d like him even more if he’d throw some wins early in the season this year. That didn’t happen in ’08. I’d like him even more if he’d cut down on the number of pitches it takes to get out of innings. I like him as a guy. Great interview.

But if the goal is to get young and the young arms are ready to go, why not see what you can get for him? Harang, Volquoz, Cueto, Owings & Bailey. With Ethier or Nady in left field and the rest of the “Everyday 8” the Reds have? That’d slap old “Pot Roast” to attention up in Chicago, wouldn’t it?

Whoops. Didn't see that coming. Temple beats Xavier. My bold prediction some 39 hours away from Selection Sunday: Xavier a #5 seed and heading west, to Boise. Losing to Temple cost them a #4 and a spot in Dayton. We'll seee

Anyone else notice that Micah Owings tossed another four innings of shutout ball tonight in Ft. Myers, Florida? Why will he beat out an equally impressive Homer Bailey for the 5th starters' spot in the Reds pitching rotation? Two reasons. One, his bat. Two, he's Walt Jocketty's guy. Jocketty made Owings the centerpiece in the Adam Dunn trade last summer.

Is anyone else thinking that the Reds could could trade Bronson Arroyo this spring and go with a rotation of Harang, Volquoz, Cueto, Owings and Bailey?

Just posted, the latest Broo View Podcast. It's on the front page of my web site: www.kenbroo.com. But, if you're in a hurry, you can listen or download it here. The hot topic is the 45 worst contracts in MLB. Tiim Dierkes from mlbtraderumors.com is my guest. Enjoy!

Good Morning....

At least it is where I call home. How much basketball are you watching this week. And are you pacing yourself, so you don't get entirely burned out (is that even possible?) before the NCAA Tournament begins next week?

How many games does UK coach, Billy Gillispie have to win to save his job. Answer, zero. The win over Ole Miss kept the wolves at bay for 24 hours. Beating LSU is another thing, even though Xavier beat the Tigers on the LSU home floor this season. Gillispie has eight years remaining on his contract. I'm guessing he's finally signed the thing. It was still unsigned before this season. Eight years of salary to pay off, just to have a basketball coach go away, is something that just about every school and it's eager alumni will find hard to do in this economy. If Gillispie can avoid losing to bottom feeding teams next season and keep the Rupp Arena losses to a minimum (he's lost ten at Rupp in just two seasons), the heat will be off.

But I'm thinking a perfect first round NIT match-up will be UK against the University of Cincinnati at US Bank Arena, on the banks of the Ohio River. Rupp is unavailable, because of the Kentucky high school playoffs. Memorial Coliseum would work. But why not play in Cincinnati, where UK would still have the home court advantage? Just askin'....

If Xavier is a #4 seed, which I believe is best case scenario and gets shipped out (which I believe is a real scenario), the Muskies will have a tough time getting past the first weekend. 4-13 matchups are dicey. And if you win that game, you're up against the winner of the 5-12 game.

Mick Cronin says if his Bearcats can't get an NIT bid, that's it, season over. Cronin, who took his team to the inaugural CBI classic last year, says he and his AD, Mike Thomas, agree that anything but the NIT is a waste of time. Good. The CBI and another post season tournament are around this season, meaning more than 100 Division I schools will get to play in a post season. To what end? The Bearcats went to the CBI last year with a 13-18 record. Who wants to see that?

I think is 40-60 UC winds up with an NIT bid. Winning record? Yes. Losing six of its last seven? Not good for UC.

Got to admit it, I'm beginning to believe the Reds are building a very strong franchise. And that's not just at the major league level. mlb.com has this story on the top ten prospects in the the Reds minor league system. Gives you hope.

I'm talking sports again, as usual, on Sunday morning. I'm on from 9am-12:30p on 700 WLW in Cincinnati. Listen online at 700wlw.com. Among my guests, Mike Florio from profootballtalk.com and Damon Durante from betus.com. Mike's got the inside scoop from the NFL. Damon has the lowdown on who'll bet how much on the NCAA Tournament next week.

And if you're in the greater Cincinnati area, Sunday night at 11:35p on WLWT Channel 5, our guests on Sports Rock will be former UC player, Alex Mecham, former Xavier player and current radio broadcaster, Byron Larkin and former triple crown winning jockey, Steve Cauthen.

Lot of 'formers'. But then again, aren't we all at something or other?

Have a great weekend and sign up for my 'tweets' at twitter.com

Just posted on my web site, the latest Broo View Podcast. I've got an in depth interview with Scott Miller from cbssports.com. We discuss the Reds and other things going on in Major League Baseball. It's at www.kenbroo.com. But, if you're in a hurry, you can download it here.

Good stuff again from our pal Mike Florio, at profootballtalk.com and the huge mess that's brewing with the NFL's players' union and how it may impact the game.

Florio stirs up the pot. But he knows his stuff.

Meantime, Charles Barkley is now a free man, again. He's been released from that jail tent he was sent to, for a DUI conviction. Must be a lenient sheriff out there in Arizona. He left Charles hold a news conference, even though he was there for only a couple of nights.

To more mundane matters, the fight for the Reds' fifth starters spot in the pitching rotation is getting very interesting. Michah Owings was terrific again on Sunday. Homer Bailey was terrific again on Saturday. The tie breaker could be Owings hitting ability. But ponder this: if both continue to show this kind of stuff, should the Reds entertain offers for Bronson Arroyo...or just outright shop him? Would the Red Sox consider taking him back. Would the Yankees think about a swap of Arroyo for, say, outfielder Nick Swisher or Xavier Nady? And wouldn't that solidify the Reds outfield, while reducing cost?

It's still early in the spring. And pitchers are facing watered down batting orders because of the World Baseball Classic. But I'm just askin...you know?

Good afternoon!

Brand new Broo View Podcast is posted and ready to download on my web site: www.kenbroo.com. Among the tidbits in this episode is an interview with draftinsiders.com founder and editor, Frank Coyle. The topic, of course, is the upcoming NFL draft and how the Bengals need to draft linemen. Some comments from Marvin, Laevrneus Coles and Cedric Benson are also in this current episode. In a hurry? You can download it here.

More coming later today...promise

I think I'm starting to see something I haven't seen in awhile. I watched the Bengals news conference today, the one where they trotted out wide receiver Laveranues Coles. I heard all the stuff you usually hear at these things. He's happy to be here, wants to mentor the younger Bengals wide receivers, says Carson Palmer will be fantastic to play with. But here's something else I heard and saw.

Marvin Lewis, circa 2003.

Lewis came in here breathing fire and spitting gasoline. He shook up a franchise that at disintegrated into the worst in the NFL and maybe all of professional sports.

The Bengals had become the moral equivalent of Soviet Union agriculture. Full disclosure, the terrifically talented George Will used that line 20 years ago to describe the Chicago Cubs. I always wanted to use it. Thanks George.

When Lewis arrived, things changed in a hurry. In 2003, the Bengals went 8-8, which would have been cause for a parade around Fountain Square in most seasons. Within three years, the Bengals were a legitimate contender and a playoff team.

Then, the artist formally known as Chad Johnson had his celebrated halftime meltdown in the Bengals playoff game in January, 2006 and the rest is a matter of history, and police blotter.

Worse, Marvin Lewis seemed to go 'soft'. He' d certainly lost his bite. And when Mike Brown tossed him totally under the bus last summer by bringing back Cincinnati's favorite clown, Chris Henry, Marvin was toothless.

But here's what I saw today: the Marvin of 2003. I have nothing to base this on, other than what's always been a keen eye for body language. But Lewis looks like his old self. He talked about how Coles can take the wide receiver corp to a new height. Wednesday, in welcoming back running back Cedric Benson, he talked about retooling the offense. He had a flash in his eyes that was there in 2003-2005, until he became Dead Coach Walking.

Maybe it's not so dramatic as I think. Lewis' greatest weakness as an NFL head coach, I believe, is his inability to deal with the media without coming off condescending. That in itself is amazing, considering that two of the head coaches he's worked under, Brian Billick and Bill Cowher, were excellent in dealing with some of the fools who work in my business. Marvin's problem is that he seems to think we're all fools. Maybe we are, at different times, but so too can be an NFL head coach.

But I think I saw something today that's leading me to believe that owner, or knuckle head players, or media be damned. I think I saw a coach who has seized control again. I'll admit it was subtle; a couple of looks, voice inflection, a quiet confidence. But they were the things I saw six years ago when he was first hired.

I could be wrong. But I think I'm right. Welcome back Marvin. Where the hell have you been?

Can you feel the heat building under UK's Billy Gillispie? No? The read this from foxsports.com and get back to me.

Look, I had a lot of trouble this off season with all of the 'blue skies, unicorns and rainbows' BS about the Reds and how competitive they were going to be in 2009. The team lost 100 RBI when it traded away Adam Dunn and were going to have us believe that a career minor leaguer (Chris Dickerson) was a viable option for left field. After eight losing seasons in the last nine and no playoffs since 1995, it was flat out Reds propaganda. But...

I've got to admit when I've seen what the Reds pitching has been like so far this spring, I AM impressed. And Dickerson, Lance Nix and Jonny Gomes have all had their moments. It's a long way from now until April 6th. But I'm not as cynical about the Reds as I was, even two weeks ago.

Maybe I'm getting soft.

See you tonight at 11p or tomorrow night at 6p on WLWT Channel 5. Or both.

Bad enough Syracuse throttled UC last Saturday (which UC followed up by losing at lowly South Florida tonight)....but look how concerned the Orange's Paul Harris was about his team beating the Bearcats.

Wonder if his coach, the immortal Jim Boeheim or the school's AD told Harris to keep the showboating to a minimum until he gets to "The Association"?

Well, so much for my impassioned plea to keep TJ. We all know the details by now. But here's some day after reaction.

One of the best Bengals web sites is cincyjungle.com. Here's Jason Kirkandall's take on what the Bengals could have done differently in the the TJ saga.

Meantime, over at espn.com, they have the nuts and bolts of TJ's saga.

And according to the Chicago Tribune, they're celebrating in the Windy City, as the Vikings lost out on the TJ Sweepstakes.

Personally, I think the Bengals misplayed this. What they're left with, at the wide receiver spot, is guy who wants out (Ocho Cinco), a guy who shouldn't even be on the roster (Chris Henry), a guy who was drafted in the second round last year and couldn't get on the field (Jerome Simpson), a guy who fumbles the ball a lot (Glenn Holt) and a guy they got in the third round last year who has shown some promise but only played at receiver the final couple of games (Andre Caldwell).

Am I smelling Michael Crabtree with that #6 overall pick? Or if Cedric Benson departs, Beanie Wells? God forbid.

Look, let me say this again: nothing, absolutely nothing happens at any level of football UNLESS YOU PROTECT YOUR QUARTERBACK!

HELLO!

This is what I'm hearing a lot of so called Bengal experts say: Andrew Whitworth moves to left tackle, Anthony Collins moves to right tackle, Nate Livings moves to left guard. This isn't musical chairs. Oh, and by the way, you still need a center. Meantime, we've seen nothing that would lead us to believe that Collins and Whitworth at tackles is a viable option. Don't give me "Collins played well against the Steelers and James Harrison, et al...." The Steelers toyed with the Bengals that night. I was there. Pittsburgh didn't bring its 'A' game. 16 game schedule, completely different story.

I've got more on this whole deal in my latest Broo View Podcast, episode 192. My guest is cbssports.com's Pete Prisco. It's on the front page of my web site: www.kenbroo.com. If you're on the fly, you can download it here.

I’ve been thinking about this, a lot, the past couple of days. Maybe it’s because as a kid, one of my best subjects was math. Hated math but was good at it. And after all, math is nothing more than problem solving.

I think I’ve got a way for the Bengals to solve a lot of their problems. And as I worked the math, I don’t think it’s going to take much. Certainly not as much as it took the Bengals to dig themselves a hole and bury themselves under 18-years of joke punchlines. The free agent feeding frenzy is upon us. I think your Cincinnati Bengals can start down the road to recovery by signing one player. Just one.

In business terms, since 1990, the Bengals have been a box office sensation and an artistic failure. It’s Broadway backward. They stink, you continue to buy tickets. In a real business, they’d have been out of business a long time ago.

We see a lot of business failing right now, for a lot of reasons. It may seem to the people who own those businesses that i a laundry list of circumstances have done them in. But really it isn’t, and it’s not a laundry list of things that’ve done in the Bengals. It’s two or three bad decisions or cataclysmic events that doom anything. Those usually lead to the laundry list.

So what’s done in the Bengals and who’s this player that can start making things better? Think about this. Three things have torpedoed this team since that glorious Super Bowl season of 1988.

One, lack of championship talent. The Bengals have had a lot of serviceable players in the last 20 years, a sprinkling of some truly outstanding players, and a lot of spare parts. They’ve had players who were long on unfulfilled promise. They’ve had guys that turned out to be flat out busts. I’d put Carson Palmer in the unfulfilled bin. I’d put Akili Smith in the file marked busts.

The Bengals have whiffed, badly, in free agency. Sam Adams ate his way to NFL unemployment. Kendrick Allen, Michael Myers, Ed Hartwell, you know the rest of that sad tune. The Bengals have whiffed in the draft.

David Pollack? Bad luck. Odell Thurman and Chris Henry in the next two rounds of that same draft? Just dumb. We won’t even get into Chris Perry.

Bad scouting, or lack of sufficient scouting, (the Bengals front office is so small it’s hard to tell which it is) and coaches who are forced to become scouts after the season ends can be blamed for a lot of that.

The outstanding players, like Takeo Spikes, Corey Dillon, Lorenzo Neal, they got on the first bus out of here, the minute they could. They didn’t come here with bad attitudes. Bad attitudes are acquired, you’re not born with ‘em.

Here’s the second thing that’s set the good ship Bengals adrift without a rudder: lack of locker room leadership. You ever notice what happens in Bengaldom when a player tries to become the voice of the team? Willie Anderson might be able to fill you in on that, Brian Simmons too. And if you want to get old school, find Boomer. These are smart guys, who came from winning collegiate programs. They know what it takes to win and they weren’t shy about sharing it. This guy I have in mind has great leadership skills. Yeah, he’s got a mouth and he’s not afraid of letting it run a bit. But he speaks the truth. And if you begin your rebuilding process with him, you’re going to win again. Guarantee it.

And now, to complete the mythical trifecta of losing, the third thing that has submarined this team: character. You think everyone around the NFL has forgotten that garbage that went on here three years ago? Really? You think the howling has stopped from Mike Brown giving Chris Henry his fifth chance, tossing his coach under the blocking sled along the way? Get real. All of those arrests and suspensions still stick with this team. They will, until the team starts winning again and can write other headlines. This guy I got in mind who they should pick up, he can go a long way in ending this national perception of the Bengals and our town. He’s a model citizen.

He’s all three: talent, leadership and character.

And if Brown is as smart as I know he is, he gets on the phone, today, this minute and he tells this guy he knows he’s all of that. He tells him he knows his franchise has got trouble, on the field, off and in this economy at the ticket window. He tells him he should have made this phone call a long time ago, last year, maybe the year before. Because he knows this guy and he knows that there aren’t a whole lot like him in professional football.

It’s an easy call to make.

The Bengals have played football in Cincinnati since 1968. But they haven’t been much of a team in the last 20 years. They’ve got a chance to finally get it right. Palmer is apparently healthy again. If they play it right, the draft can go a long way to fixing their offensive line problems.

But it starts with the guy I'm talking about, TJ. Houshmandzadeh It’s not too late. Make the call Mike. Do the right thing.

Andre Smith ate his way, and maybe talked his way, out of millions of dollars this week. Smith is the just finished junior at the University of Alabama, who just happened to be the highest rated offensive tackle in the 2009 NFL draft. That is, until he showed up at the NFL Combine more than a little out of shape, had a series of interviews with NFL teams that were anywhere from bizarre to disasterous and then left the Combine, unannounced, to return to Atlanta where apparently he'll try to drop some tonnage.

I guess this would be a good time to throw in that Smith wasn't allowed to play in the Sugar Bowl in January, because he was deemed to have had inproper contact with an agent. Great agent, who'd allow Smith to show up at the most important pre-draft gathering impersonating a train wreck.

Smith was supposed to have been the top player in the entire 2009 draft class. My guess is, he'll still go in the first round and probably before the middle of the round. But he kissed a boatload of money sayonara with his non-performance in Indianapolis.

More juicy NFL tibbits from our buddy, Mike Florio, at profootballtalk.com

Now, for something completely different. The hardest working man in show business, the late James Brown. But check out the fresh fresh behind him playing bass guitar. That would be a very young 18-years old Bootsy Collins, proud resident of eastside Cincinnati and a member of the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame, class of 1997

Recess is over. Tiger Woods returns to competitive golf Wednesday. The line will form over there for second-100th place.

Finally, exihibition games begin around MLB on Wednesday. Aaron Harang tossed an inning of scoreless ball today, in an intrasquad game, then 20-more pitches in the bullpen afterward. It all hinges on him, whether or not this is another 72 win season, or the Reds actually have a pulse ni 2009.

Thursday ramblings from a mind that likes to wander....

Ken Griffey, Jr made the right call, heading back to Seattle. But you have to wonder if the Braves feel used....The lack of news coming out of the Reds spring camp is astounding, particularly for a team searching for an identity.....Riddle me this: if the Reds had taken all the time, trouble and money it expended to sign a bucket of spare parts known as Jonny Gomes, Jacque Jones, Wily Tavares and Daryle Ward this season and used it to trade for Nick Swisher or Jermaine Dye or perhaps try to sign Bobby Abreu or Garrett Anderson, wouldn't they be in a better position to field a legitimate left fielder this season? They signed Tavares, apparently, for his speed and defense. Tavares won't hit for average, so why not concede the bat and put Chris Dickerson in center, and sign or trade for one of the legit candidates I just mentioned. Isn't anybody thinking like that in Redsland these days? Just asking.....

The more I think about the Bengals 'tagging' Shayne Graham, the less sense it makes. Didn't the Giants find a kicker mid season? Aren't there are trail of placekickers out there looking for work? For a team that was so challenged scoring points this year, what's the sense in locking up a guy who can only give you three at a time, and letting a guy who can give you twice that (TJ Houshmandzadeh) take a walk? Oh wait, that's right, money. Tag Graham, let TJ go, and save $7.5 million. And if the Bengals complete the 'daily double' and trade Chad Ocho Cinco, your number one wide rceiver this coming season will be, drum roll please, Chris Henry.

Here's the dumbest man in America, at least tonight. The mascots are competing at the NBA All Star weekend. Watch the idiot dressed up like a wolf, standing on the backboard.

The guy just ripped his ACL. Nice

Why did the Bengals elect to franchise tag PK Shayne Graham and not TJ Houshmandzadeh. I'll give you three guesses, and all three answers have to be money.

Plain and simple, end of story.

It would've cost the Bengals just under $10 million for one year of Houshmandzadeh. Tagging Graham is a $2.5 million ticket. That's not to say that Graham isn't a valuable asset. The free agent pool for kickers is limited this off season. But kickers are a dime a dozen in the NFL. And honestly, as bad as this team is, should we really believe that the Bengals will be playing games that will be decided by three or fewer points anytime in the near future?

And who is Carson Palmer going to be tossing the ball to next fall, Graham? Right now, your Bengals wide receiving corps consists of Chad Ocho Cinco, who would probably volunteer to hide in TJ's luggage just to escape Bengal-dom; Chris Henry, who's one good cocktail away from a permanent ban by the NFL Commissioner; Andre Caldwell, who didn't play WR at all until the final game of 2008; and 2008 second round pick Jerome Simpson, who was less visible in the Fall of 1008 than Dick Cheney. Get those season tickets now.

The latest Broo View Podcast is up and posted on my web site: http://www.kenbroo.com/. But, if you're in a hurry, you can download it here. My guests in this episode are Jon Heyman, the baseball writer from Sports Illustrated and from The Sporting News, senior writer Stan McNeal.

Alex Rodriguez looked like a man anguished by the truth, or at least his version of it. I watched his news conference today. I don't doubt he was wrought with emotion. But honestly, are you buying this 'cousin injected me story'? Where's the cousin? What's his name? And this 'boli' that was injected into A-Rod that he said was an over the counter thing in the Dominican Republic? Apparently the chief sports doctor down there says the only way 'boli' is available is on the black market. So apparently laws were broken in that country. Maybe that's why we can't find the cousin.

It's been an awful year for any baseball free agent not named CC Sabathia or Mark Texeira. Are NFL free agents looking at the same scenario. Our pal, Mike Florio from profootballtalk.com weighs on on that.

Personally, I think it's going to be a rough winter for any NFL free agent not named TJ Houshmandzadeh.

Adam Dunn signed for two years, 20-million, Bobby Abreu took six million for a year. I’m wondering if the Reds have missed the boat. Pitchers and catchers are in camp, some of the positional players too. And I’m wondering if the Reds had made one more play in free agency this winter, if they’d be considered as a pre season contender for a playoff spot. Because right now, playoffs and your Cincinnati Reds don’t seem to have any chance of intersecting.

You know what you’re hearing a lot of this winter? “The Reds are going to be better this season”. You’re not hearing “The Reds have a shot to make the playoffs”. It’s “they’re going to be better this season’. I don’t know about you, that doesn’t make me want to go out and buy tickets. Decent rotation? Yes. Nice young players in Votto and Bruce? Yes. Bullpen better? Maybe. What else you got?

You can argue that the Cubs got weaker by trading Mark DeRosa. But did they get 23 and a half games weaker than last season? The answer is, no. And 23 and half is the number of games the Reds finished behind the Cubs last season.

Run production is going to be a major problem for this team this season. Votto and Bruce will have to put up numbers better than last season just for the Reds to approach what they did last year. Brandon Phillips is the real deal. But did Edwin Encarnacion change his approach to hitting in the off season? Did Willy Tavares figure out a way to get on base more than 30-percent of the time in the off season? Did Ramon Hernandez lose the attitude he copped last season in Baltimore?

Did the Reds miss the boat by not making a run at Abreu, who would have brought his .300 average and professionalism to Cincinnati. Maybe he would never consider coming here. Because at his age, at the point he’s at in his career, maybe Abreu only wants to play for a team with a legitimate chance at winning a pennant.

Can you still buy a championship in baseball? The Yankees were in that business back in the 90’s and made it work. They’ve been in that business for this decade too, and it hasn’t. Now, they’ve gone out and spent $430 million total dollars on three players: Mark Texeira, CC Sabathia and AJ Burnett. But does the paradigm that worked in the 90’s still work today?

You know, one of the best presents I ever got as a kid was a subscription to The Sporting News. My parents gave that to me as a birthday present when I turned ten. I remember it was in newspaper form, came wrapped up like a cylinder. You had to unwrap it and roll it out so it would lay flat. It came on Tuesdays. Every Tuesday afternoon I knew it was waiting for me when I got home from school. I walked to school, but on Tuesdays, I ran home. The Sporting News was the best. It has box scores from the entire previous week. That’s not even a quaint notion now. It seems ancient. You want a box score, it’s on a dozen web sites five minutes after the game ends. But back then, you got box scores and game reports. You got great columns from writers like Joe Falls of the Detroit Free Press and Bob Broeg from the St. Louis Post Dispatch. I couldn’t find Detroit or St. Louis on a map back then. But Falls and Broeg made me feel like I was in Tiger or Busch Stadium. That was the Sporting News.

Old habits die hard. I still subscribe. It doesn’t come every week in newspaper form. It arrives twice a month in a glossy magazine. Daily you can get it on the web. And I was reminded this week of why I still subscribe.

There s a wonderful series of articles on whether or not buying a baseball team is the route, anymore, to a pennant. The articles contrast how it was before free agency to what it is now. Several writers contributed to the series. But the chief writer is a man by the name of Stan McNeal. Tuesday, I'll have a link on my blog to an interview I did with McNeal about this very subject.

College basketball from the weekend. Xavier wins, UC loses. There’s a lot of concern about the way Xavier has been playing lately. And their throttling of one of the worst teams in the country Saturday probably didn’t make a whole lot of their fans breath easier. The farther you defend them from the basket, the more you send the Muskies to the free throw line, the better chance you have to beat them. Blueprint for Duquesne and Dayton in wins last week. But honestly, you want those problems to pop up now, not in March. I think what I’ve always thought about Xavier: it’s a good team, not great, with a great chance to play on the second weekend of the tournament.

UC has other issues. I’m on record, said it here last week, that if the Bearcats win three of their final seven games and win a game in the Big East Tournament, they’re in the NCAA’s. Three wins in their final seven would put the ‘Cats are 19-12 entering the Big East Tournament. They would’ve finished 9-9 in conference games. They’re 1-1 in their final seven so far. They’re on track to win three. I think they beat West Virginia and Seton Hall here. They may even sneak in another win. Maybe at South Florida, maybe here this week against Louisville. But this is what we’re hearing a lot of lately about UC: they haven’t beaten any team this season that’s a lock to go to the NCAA Tournament. Not one. Don’t give me Georgetown. The Hoyas are on life support. Notre Dame? Not buying it at this point.

So it would be in UC’s best interest if, in the final five games before its conference tournament, if the Bearcats figured out a way to beat Louisville or Syracuse.

First things first, the latest Broo View Podcast is now up and posted on the front page of my web site, www.kenbroo.com. If you're in a hurry, you can download it here. My guest this week is former Reds general manager, Wayne Krivsky. He has some good stuff on whether or not the Reds can morph in to a 'pitching, speed and defense' team this season.

I have to admit, I'm a bit suprised that Adam Dunn will get a two year $20 million deal from the Washington Nationals. Si.com's Tom Verducci has the details.

That's less money than Dunn received over the course of the past two seasons. But it's good money in this economy. Consider that Pat Burrell signed a two year, $16 million deal with the Rays. But then again, Dunn will have to play for the Nats, who are in no danger of going anywhere this season. And it makes you wonder what the market will be for Dunn in a couple of years. Now, all Nationals GM Jim Bowden has to do is sign Griffey, Jr and he'll reunite the Reds outfield of 2002. Of course, that's exactly what the Reds are running away from right?

Bobby Abreu has signed with the Angels. He'll take a major league 'haircut'. Here's the story from the LA Times. Abreu will make about $9 million less this year than last. And it's a big comedown from what he'd been looking for after filing last fall. No way Abreu would have come to Cincinnati. He wants a ring. The Reds are nowhere near winning anything, let along a World Series Championship.

I guess Garrett Anderson is available now, just in case Bob Castellini comes to his senses and falls out of love with Jonny Gomes.

My pal, Mike Florio at sportingnews.com has an intereting take on what the Bengals might do with their franchise tag. Mike of course, operates the wildly popular profootballtalk.com web site.

How about the Bengals tagging no one? In this economy, is a slam dunk that TJ Houshmandzadeh will get the kind of bonus money that's been thrown around in year's past? Aren't there some hard lessons in economics out there for a lot of baseball players this winter?
If the Bengals 'tag' TJ, that's roughly $10 million for this coming season. He's 32, or will be in September. Is TJ worth it? Sure, but it's not my money so I'll spend it for Mike Brown. But Brown, and a lot of other owners who may face declining ticket sales and other revenue this season might be prone to second thoughts this winter.

Ken Griffey Junior's agent, Brian Goldberg, tells me Jr. will have a place to play baseball this coming season and a deal will be announced next week. Goldberg, who'll be one of my guests this Sunday morning on 700 WLW, says four teams are interested in Griffey, Jr. But Goldberg admits that Junior is a 'fallback' plan for teams that don't get Manny, Abreu or Dunn.

My money's on Seattle.

Sugar Ray Leonard...I mean, Brett Favre retired...again. Favre might as well be an aging boxer, he retires so much.

You're building an NFL team from scratch and you want to build your team around one player. Who is your pick? Let me know, send a comment. I might use this as a topic for my radio show.

I said on channel 5 the other night that I knew the next loss for Xavier was out there, but I couldn’t see it on the horizon. There’s a comment that had shelf life of about ten minutes. I’m watching this game Saturday night, the sound was down I was at dinner, and I’m saying to myself…self, the Muskies don’t appear to be playing very good defense in this game. Little did I know that you and I could find three guys off the street and play better defense than the Muskies did. 81-percent is the number of shots Duquesne made in the first half of last night’s game. Do you know how bad you have to play to let the other guy make 81-percent of his shots. And almost as worse, the Muskies turned the ball over seven of their first 14 possessions. Don’t play defense, give the ball away and, and make only 53-percent of your free throws, it’s amazing the Muskies had a chance to win the game.

So was last night a bump in the road, or a warning shot? Well since it was only the third conference loss in the last two seasons for ‘X’, I’m going to say it was just a speed bump. And listening to Sean Miller after the game last night, he almost seemed relieved that his team lost a game this far out from the tournament. I know he wasn’t. But the last thing a coach wants is for his team to get complacent. Things to work on, as they say in the land of coach speak.

Here’s where I think UC is today: very much alive for an NCAA tournament. CBS Sports basketball guru, Seth Davis said Thursday on one of the ESPN shows that UC’s win over Notre Dame this week was devastating to the Irish because…quote…Cincinnati isn’t going to the NCAA tournament. Another opinion that had a shelf life of 15 seconds.

By beating Georgetown, a top 25 team for a long time this season, the Bearcats now have 16-wins. They’re 6-5 in the Big East with seven games to go. They’re 16-8 overall. If they go 3-4 in their final seven, they finish at 19-12, more important 9-9 in the conference. Last year, a ‘500’ Big East record was the threshold for making the NCAA tournament. I think they can go 3-4. They’ve got some games that just aren’t do-able, like at Pittsburgh in a week. But a home game with St. John’s is still in play, so too is a game with Seton Hall. They beat Hugs and West Virginia on the road last season. They got Hugs at Fifth-Third in a couple of weeks. Very do-able. Nancy Zimpher is about to load up the U-Haul, UC is winning again. This is the best week in years for UC fans.

TJ Houshmanzadeh is playing the role of Chad Johnson this winter. Last winter, Ocho Cinco was looking for any hot mic in broadcasting to yap about how much he hated being in Cincinnati and how much he wanted to get traded. To the Dolphins, Eagles, Redskins, you pick any of the other 31-teams in the league, that’s where Ocho Cinco wanted to be. ABC baby, anywhere but Cincinnati. We all know how well that turned out. Ocho Cinco was a runor for most of this season.

The only difference between what Chad did last winter and what’s going on with TJ now, is that TJ actually may have a chance to leave. He is a restricted free agent. And as late as last week, Marvin Lewis said he prefers not to slap a franchise tag on TJ. Perhaps he’s saving it just in case Stacy Andrews grows another leg between now and training camp.

What Marvin, and his boss, Silent Mike should be more interested in, rather than what they prefer to do, is figuring out why their best players want out of here. And if this is coming down to a preference, they may want to consult with Carson Palmer to see if he’d prefer to throw the football at Houshmandzeh or at Chris Henry who runs pass routes about as well as Mike Duncan ran the Republican National Committee this past fall. Oops, got Keith Olbermann there on you, didn’t I?

Maybe number 9 would prefer throwing to last year’s draft blank, second round pick Jerome Simpson.

Of course, Houshmandzadeh can always refuse to sign the franchise contract, but who’s turning down 10-million a year in this economic climate. And if he does refuse to sign, the Bengals could then simply dump him in June, when all of the big money has been spent on other players, leaving TJ to play for a pittance.

The best course of action would be to make a reasonable offer to Houshmandzadeh, who has been the most reasonable player around here in some of the most unreasonable circumstances. But we all know the chance of that happening…

Which brings us to the next big story of the week, the Reds bottom feeding as spring training begins. Darryle Ward, Jacque Jones, be still my thumping heart. What, Robin Jennings wasn’t available? This is beginning to smack of the strategy Jim Bowden had in his time around here: bring in a lot of aging veterans throw ‘em up against the wall and see who sticks.

I understand that you have to have a willing partner to do a deal. But wouldn’t the more prudent business move be to wait and see how desperate players like Bobby Abreu and Garrett Anderson become before clogging up your roster with the likes of Jones, Ward and Jonny Gomes?

Let me just says for the record, I see no value in a goal of finishing with just a winning record. 82-80 does nothing for me. And it shouldn’t do anything for you, unless it gets the Reds into the playoffs. That’s it. That’s the only goal you should demand from your team: making the playoffs. That’s winning. The rest is mediocrity, or worse.

Finally, I could care less about Michael Phelps blowing into a bong pipe. I know he’s an Olympic hero. But honestly, he comes off as a bit of a doof. This is the same guy who celebrated his performance in the 2004 Olympics with a DUI. Now, he’s blowing in to a bong pipe and it was caught on camera. I could spend a whole three hours talking about cell phone cameras and the people who think they’re journalists by clicking away at celebrities or even unsuspecting schleps like me and you. What those people do is far worse than what Phelps did.

Phelps apologized, was baneed from competitive swimming and training fees were suspended for three months. There’s a set back, the Olympics are what, three and a half years away? He’s getting seven, eight million in endorsements? This absolutely has to kill Phelps. So, whomever is running the USA swimming program is looking a little moronic today, too.

But it wasn’t the worst thing that could happen to Phelps or the Olympic movment. You probably wouldn’t have given him five seconds of thought until 2012. But now, this. You might even say it’s good marketing. Bangin’ on the bong pipe like a big bass drum. It’s a golden moment.

Do you ever wonder about how different things may have turned out, if Dick Lebeau actually had some players when he was the head coach here? And, if the culture in Bengal-dom was something like he’s got in Pittsburgh, where winning isn’t a surprise, it’s expected?

Because, let’s face it, the man isn’t as dumb as you might’ve thought he was when he coached here. And you could argue that he’s not the head guy now, that he only has to worry about one side of the all. And you’d be right, but you’d also be wrong.

Think about who his quarterback was when he was here: Akili Smith. The only guy in Bengals history who made Akili Smith look good was David Klingler. And it wasn’t just Smith. Remember Scott Mitchell? Remember Gus Frerrotte?

And for every Takeo Spikes, Willie Anderson and Rich Braham there was plenty of Corey Dillon, Michael Westbrook and others who just didn’t give a damn….or were here simply because it was the end of the line and there was no where else to go.

Lebeau was caught up in the votex that got Bruce Coslet and Dave Shula before him and a votex that’s been whipping around Marvin Lewis lately. It was a culture of losing and a team with no plan. Players were drafted, signed and thrown together and dashed with a whole lot of ‘good luck’. For every Lorenzo Neal there was a Mark Roman, or Danny Farmer, or good Lord Sean Brewer. The games were played, lost, players came and went. Lebeau never had a chance.

Oliver Gibson was fat and ineffective, Riall Johnson was in over his head and Reinard Wilson was a candidate for the ultimate draft bust.

You could argue that Lebeau had a hand in this mess. I’m sure the bare bones Bengals front office listened and then did whatever they wanted to.
Lebeau went along because this was his big shot, his chance to be head coach. But he sure got a lot smarter after he left here, didn’t he?

Dick LeBeau didn’t invent the Zone Blitz defense after he left here in 2003. He invented it before he got here in 1984. Between ’84 and ’91, when he left for Pittsburgh the first time in his career, Lebcau’s schemes were part of what made the Bengals perennial contenders. It didn’t get the publicity then that it’s getting now. But it was a big reason why the Bengals got to the Super Bowl in ’89.

My point is, sometimes people don’t succeed because of the situation they’re in. All the talent in the world can’t help you when too much is out of your control and not enough of the power to change it, is.

Admit it, you booed the guy. You chanted Lebeau must go. You roared when he promised in a news conference that his offense was going to score 23 points a game. But he wasn’t dumb when he was here and he didn’t grow brains when he left.

Situations dictate everything. It’s why Lebeau is in the right place at the right time, right now. And why he won another Super Bowl ring Sunday.

The Pittsburgh Steelers are everything the Cincinnati Bengals want to be. And can't. You watched the number one franchise in the NFL, maybe all of sports, stage a methodical, spirited comeback to win Super Bowl XLIII. In your wildest dreams, do you think the Bengals could do that, even in a regular season NFL game?

The Steelers are what the Bengals aren't. They have stability at head coach, just three in the last 38 years. Since 1971, only Chuck Noll, Bill Cowher and Mike Tomlin have had that job. Since, 1971, the Bengals have had nine head coaches (Paul Brown, Tiger Johnson, Homer Rice, Forrest Gregg, Sam Wyche, Dave Shula, Bruce Coslet, Dick LeBeau and Marvin Lewis). Each staff has had different assistant coaches.

The Steelers have a bona fide general manager and ten fulltime scouts. The Bengals have no general manager and five full time scouts. And it's not just all on the team.

It's on you and me. Steeler fans demand excellence from their team. Bengals fans reward medicocrity, or worse. Pittsburgh fans sell out Heinz Field because they know what their team is going to do. Bengals fans sell out Paul Brown Stadium and down deep, probably know what their team is going to do as well.

I'm not a Steeler fan, never have been. You wouldn't be able to guess what NFL team I silently root for. But I admire what Pittsburgh has done over the course of the last 38 seasons. And if you can't, or won't because of jealousy, you're missing out on the big picture: winning isn't easy. It's hard work, dedication and focus. The Bengals could use a lot more of all of that.

Random thoughts on an icy night in the 'nati.....

I really want to pick the Cardinals in this upcoming Super Bowl. But look at their record. Every time they've played a team with a better than average defense, they've lost. Dick LeBeau will simply not allow Larry Fitzgerald to beat his team. It's the Steelers defensive coordinator's track record. His game plan is to neutralize the other team's best player and make someone else try to make plays.

Steelers 23 Cardinals 13.

I did an interview with Reds General Manager, Walt Jocketty today. He's convinced the team will contend this season and won more than it loses. It's a far cry from Bob Castellini's guarantees. But if the Reds win six more than they lose, that'd be an 84-78 record, and a legit Widl Card contender. Can they do it? I don't see how a team can go from a 'power' team to a 'pitching, defense and speed' team overnight and became a contender. Maybe it's happened before. But I can't remember when. The Reds are banking a lot on their pitching this year. And while the back end of the rotation is better than most team's, the front end (Aaron Harang and Bronson Arroyo) has to pitch as billed, something it didn't do last season.

Jocketty says he's a Homer Bailey fan. Well, that's one. Bailey has been nothing but a disappointment since his big league arrival two summers ago.

If you watch the Super Bowl only for the commercials...get a life. But if you watch for the GAME as well as the commercials, well here's a taste of the new Coke ad. It's an update on the ad Coke did over 30 years ago with former Steeler, Mean Joe Green.

Loved what I've seen of it so far...pretty much 'spot on'

I was reading an issue of Sports Illustrated from late December, the other night. I always read this stuff weeks after publication, just not enough hours in the day. In the magazine was a story about how Dick LeBeau developed the 'Zone Blitz' defense as he prepared to take over the Cincinnati Bengals defense in 1984. He spent time at LSU discussing it with then LSU head coach, Bill Arnsparger. On my radio show last Sunday, on 700 WLW, former Bengals head coach, Sam Wyche confirmed the story. Wyche said it wasn't known as the 'Zone Blitz' back in '84. But from then until LeBeau and Wyche left the team in '92, several key elements of today's top defense were implemented. Down linemen were dropped back into pass coverage. Linebackers rushed the passer. Often times, only two players lined up in a 'two point stance'. And since the late Bill Walsh admitted that his self designed "West Coast Offense" was really formulated when he was with the Bengals back in the early 70's, you have two of the most effective football schemes ever diagramed and implemented here in Cincinnati.

I often wonder if Paul Brown had to do it over again, if he would have given the head coach's job to Walsh and not his long time friend and assistant coach, Bill Johnson.

How can a Xavier basketball team be this good and not generate any 'buzz' in Cincinnati? Radio sports talk host always complain about it? Is it that 10,000 people watch the Muskies play at the Cintas Center and, in reality, they're the only people who really care about the team? I hope not, but I wonder about that.

All UC basketball fans want to do is grumble about Mick Cronin and Nancy Zimpher. Get over it. Bob Huggins isn't coming back. Zimpher might leave, but don't bet on it. And Cronin inherited a program in complete disarray, with recruiting three to four years behind every other Division I school.

9 Big East teams will make the NCAA Tournament and 14 may wind up playing in post season tournaments. Now, we have a 16 team event, just announced last night, called the CollegeInsider.com tournament. That goes with the CBI, the 16 team tournament that debuted last season for non-NCAA and NIT teams. So, if you're scoring at home, 113 Division I NCAA teams will get to play in a post season tournament after this season.

Just booked for my Sunday morning radio show on 700 WLW: Mike Lombardi, former NFL general manager now with the nationalfootballpost.com. I'm on from 9am-Noon EST. If you don't live in the greater Cincinnati area, and you have a Sirius-XM radio, I'm on channel 173.

Urban legend says an athlete came up with this phrase: it is what it is. I always thought it was Sylvester Stallone in one of the Rocky movies. But whatever, ‘it is what it is’ is the current speak for ‘what are you gonna do’ or ‘what you see is what you get’ or ‘that’s the way it goes’, catch phrases for the powerless from generations gone by.

It is what it is. The Cincinnati Reds are what they are. That’s basically what Bob Castellini told us earlier this week. No more big money free agents will find their way to Great American Ball Park. The economy stinks, if you haven’t heard. So instead of getting Bobby Abreu, we get Jonny Gomes. That’ll make up those 23 and a half games the Cubs put between themselves and your Cincinnati Reds last season.

Castellini circled around late in the week. He was on 700 WLW twice on Friday, clarifying remarks he made as the Reds Caravan shoved off on Thursday. Yes, he believes, the Reds can contend this season. No, he said, he never meant to say the Reds weren’t going to win this season, And no, he didn’t mean the Reds were going to win a championship that first year he owned the team, which was the distinct impression that he left the day he bought the club. Smart to clarify, considering he had three busloads of his employees scattered about the hinterlands this week, drumming up ticket sales.

I like Castellini, because in an era of gray, he seems to be a black or white guy. Those who work for him like to say he’s someone who holds his employees accountable. That’s a novel concept in this day and age. But the Reds owner is in a real tough spot. The Reds weren’t very good last summer, or the summer before that or any summer in the last 13 years, except in 1999 when they were just good enough to miss the playoffs by a game. History isn’t on Castellini’s side right now. The glow of the Big Red Machine only shines on people over 40 right now and no Reds fan under 25 really remembers that wire to wire season of 1990. Ticket sales have become problematic. When almost a generation of your fans haven’t seen champagne splashing in your clubhouse, it’s a real problem.

Winning will change all of that, except winning takes money. And nobody who isn’t named Steinbrenner is spending money this winter. So there in lies the Reds big problem: It takes winning to attract fans who spend money, it takes money to buy free agents. But money is tight because of the lousy economy.

All of the Reds starting rotation is back, including Aaron Harang who couldn’t possibly be any worse than he was last season.

The young phenoms are back, Jay Bruce and Joey Votto. Brandon Phillips is at worst the second best second baseman in the National League.

But honestly, what else has this team done since the end of last season that would lead you to believe that it can make up the 23 and a half games that stood between it and a division title, or the 16-games that the Reds missed out on being a wild card team?

Willy Tavares and Roberto Hernandez? Nice pieces, but hardly franchise changing players. Jonny Gomes? Please.

It is, what it is. Teams come out of nowhere to wins pennants. Look at the Rays. But not often. Most years, you can pretty much tell in March who’ll be playing in October: Yanks, Red Sox, White Sox, Twins, Angels, Tigers, pick four of those in the AL. Mets, Phils, Cards, Cubs, Dodgers, Snakes, pick four of those in the NL.

Baseball has become a predictable sport, dominated by teams that spend the most money. There’s inbalance that only a salary cap will address. But the players union has always filed that under ‘good luck’. It’s why the key to winning in baseball is building a solid, dependable farm system. Marge Schott had no patience for it. Jim Bowden couldn’t find pitching with a search warrant. Reds fans have been told to be patient for too long.

That’s the fix Bob Castellini is in. It is what it is. But is it good enough to contend for a pennant? I don’t see it. Maybe you do. I hope you’re right.

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!

What you see, is what you get, as the Dramatics sang back in 1972 (or Brittany a couple of years ago...ugh) and as Bob Castellini basically said today. The Reds will make no more major player moves before spring training. It's the economy, stupid (apologies to the Bush-Clinton '92 campaign). With the economy in the dumper, Castellini is done spending money. The Reds payroll will top out in the mid $70 million range this season, roughly what it was last year.

So it raises the quetion, why should we believe that this team will be any better than the team that finished 23 and a half games out of first place in 2008? The answer is, we shouldn't. It's the same pitching staff, with the addition of bullpen tosser Arthur Rhodes. It's the same 'everyday 8', with the exception of Ramon Hernandez behind the plate and Wily Tavares in centerfield. The offense lost 100 rbi per season when Adam Dunn left. And even though Hernandez averages about 64 rbi a season, the Reds cathers last season combined for 75 rbi. Tavares will help with defense and he swiped 68 bases last year. But remember, the previous two years before coming to the Reds, the much maligned Corey Patterson stole 82 bases for Baltimore. Worse, Tavares' on base percentage in '08 (.308) was dangerously close to Patterson's awful number (.238).

So how would you expect this group to seriously challenge the Cubs or Cardinals? I don't. In the past few weeks, Castellini has had an epiphany. He's either figured out, or has been told, that even with adding another big bat (Bobby Abreu anyone), the risk of paying good money in a bad economy wouldn't be worth the potential reward, a pennant. Grief to dollars, we like to call it in the swinging, swirling world of broadcasting.

Yes, sometimes teams come out of nowhere to win championships. Look at the Tampa Bay Rays. But more often than not, those teams have laid a solid foundation for winning, by drafting smartly and filling in with prudent free agent sigings. The Reds haven't been known for either recently. As late as 2003, most of their free agent signings were washed up players looking for one last payday. And from the mid-90's until 2003, the Reds were unable to draft a pitcher who effectively threw at the big league level.

Now Castellini is telling his fans to be patient for at least another season. If you've won something, anything in the past 13-seasons, that would be a lot easier sell than where the Reds are coming from. The future isn't quite yet now.

It's posted! The latest Broo View Podcast is available on the front page of my web site: www.kenbroo.com. My guest in this episode (#187) is Tim Dierkes, who runs the web site mlbtraderumors.com. Our topics: how the rough economy is hurting a lot of baseball free agents.

Incidentally, just booked as our guest this Sunday night on Sports Rock (11:35p EST on WLWT Channel 5 in Cincinnati) is former Cincinnati Bengals running back, Ickey Woods. Dave Lapham, George Vogel, Ickey and I will break down the week in sports and look ahead to the Super Bowl. We'll have inside reports from both Arizona and Pittsburgh and we've cooked up another exciting game to play: "For Better Or Worse".

In a previous life, here's a sample of what I did. 20 years ago, Monster Truck racing was my life. My partner on these broadcasts is my good friend and native Oklahoman, Mike Galloway. And for several winters, we spent weekends making the circuit on the USHRA Monster Truck circuit. The shows were produced by the now defunct Bud Sports and aired on ESPN. Don't remember where this race took place. But in a lot of ways, it seems like yesterday.

You have to have cold, cold blood not to be happy for former Bengals lineman, Willie Anderson. Cut loose by the Bengals in the summer, on the basis of what appears to be bad information about his health, Anderson quickly caught on with the Baltimore Ravens. And Sunday, he'll play for a chance to go to the Super Bowl. Remember, in 12 seasons with the Bengals, Willie got to sniff the playoffs only once. Often, he was the best player on a lot of horrid Bengals teams. According to yahoo.com sports in this story, Willie isn't celebrating anything yet. But here's hoping he will be shortly. Tell me if Willie Anderson wouldn't have been the best offensive lineman on the Bengals this season.

Just posted today, the latest Broo View Podcast. My guest this week is Damon Durante from www.betUS.com. Has the current economic meltdown hurt the sports gambling industry? We talk about that and a lot more. I also have some insights into what's been going on around Cincinnati. You can download the latest Broo View Podcast on my web site: www.kenbroo.com. If you're in a hurry, you can simply click here.

Our buddy, Mike Florio a profootballtalk.com doesn't like the NFL's overtime rules. Neither do I. Here's Florio's take.

When a coin flip becomes the most important things in a professional football game, you got a problem.

Pitchers and catchers report to the Reds spring training complex in about a month. Here's something to warm you up. Bronson Arroyo, appearing on a TV sports show in Boston. Wait until you hear how he describes his 2009 Cincinnati Reds!

I guess the bar is really low this season. All you have to look at is the left field platoon of Dickerson/Hairston...unless Walt can coax some more $$$ out of Big Bob

Just posted on the front page of my web site www.kenbroo.com the latest Broo View Podcast. I have an indepth interview with Bob Nightengale of USA Today. Our topic, the continuing off-season saga of the Cincinnati Reds. If you're in a hurry, you can download it here.

By the way, vote on my latest poll question, just to the right on what you think the Reds may do next.

Rocco Baldelli signed with the Red Sox today. The Reds were interested. So why did Boston get the former Rays' outfielder? Two reasons: Baldelli has a better shot at being a part of a championship team there, than here and the Sox can take a risk on Baldelli's health a lot easier than the Reds could have.

I still see the Reds making a move. They must get a legitimate left fielder if they want to contend this summer. A trade with the Yankees for Xavier Nady makes sense. It'll probably cost the Reds one of their pitching prospects, most probably Darryl Thompson who threw seven terrific innings against the Yanks in New York last summer. But you have to do a deal, or why would you make a trade for a catcher (Hernandez) and sign an outfielder (Tavares) in the off season. If you weren't bent on contending (and building strictly threw the farm system) you would simply go with your kids.

Steelers, Ravens, Giants and Panthers this weekend....but it's still early. If that plays out, conference championship weekend will be one of the all-timers.

After watching the University of Cincinnati play Providence last night, one thing that struck me was the amount of empty seats. They announced the crowd at over 6,612. But honestly, it appeared to be somewhere around 4,500. The lack of student support, considering that school resumed this week, was particularly troubling.

The fallout from the dismissal of Bob Huggins and Andy Kennedy continues to have a direct consequence for this current UC team and coaching staff. The nine months that the program was in limbo, back in the 2005-2006 season, was devastating. For all intents and purposes, recruting stopped. Considering that players are now being recruited as early as high school sophomores and tracked as early as 8th grade, it's not a stretch to say that period has affected four years of recruiting.

Worse, within days of taking over the UC program, Mick Cronin lost his best returning player when guard Devan Downey transferred. And his other two top returning players basically flunked out of school, James White, who opted out for the NBA and guard Jihad Muhammad.

So it's no mystery why this UC basketball team has fallen into hard times and off the radar screen. But you wonder when it will become the 'thing to do again' in Cincinnati. The real magic of the Huggins regime wasn't that he galvanized the UC base. The real magic was his ability to bring casual fans into the UC loop. Anyone who coaches or operates a team will tell you, there is no harder thing to accomplish.

UC is a long way away from those days.

I can't believe that the college football season is actually ending. There've only been, what, 97 bowls games since mid December?

Ohio State played OK against Texas. But when you allow a wide receiver to catch 171 yards of pass receptions, don't you think it would've been a good idea to put a cornerback on Quan Cosby, instead of a safety, with the game on the line?

I got an email tonight after the 6p news from a viewer upset that I didn't mention the GMAC Bowl was occuring this evening. My guess is 95% of the viewing public had no idea that Tulsa is playing Ball State. His rationale was that Ball State is in Indiana and that SE Indiana is part of the WLWT viewing area. UmmmHmmm. Of course, in Muncie, WLWT is only a rumor. If we paid attention to every college that has alumni living in the greater Cincinnati area, we'd have time for nothing else. Alert to viewers, the pecking order for coverage in Cincinnati is in this order: Reds, Bengals, high school football, UC, Xavier and then everything else. Usually, we don't have time for 'everything else'. But I may run Ball State vs Tulsa highlights tonight at 11p, as I used to be the 'voice' of the Universtiy of Tulsa basketball team.

The Bengals coaching staff will work the upcoming Senior Bowl, coaching the North sqaud. They'll get a first hand look at the senior talent available for April's draft. They worked the game in 2004 and decided to take three players they coached in that game. Great. The draft that year netted our Bengals 1: Chris Perry 2: Keiwan Ratliff 2A: Madieu Williams 3: Caleb Miller. Gone, gone, gone and gone. I can't wait to see what this year brings.

The season ending edition of Bengals Report Podcast is now posted on the front page of my web site, http://www.kenbroo.com/. When you download it, you'll hear Bengals Report executive editor, Mark Hardin and I wrap up the season, with comments from Marvin Lewis, defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer and safety Chris Crocker.

This guy's kidding right? Tony Dungy may leave on his own. But it's obvious this guy at the Indianpolis Star hasn't spent a country minute watching the Bengals play. You don't want Dungy in Indy? Well Tony, come on down!

Help is apparently on the way for the beleaguerd UC basketball Bearcats. Too bad he's not available to play right now.

The start of the MLB season is still three months away. There's ice on the streets of Cincinnati tonight. But here's something that'll get your baseball juices going.

Doug Gallant is the Reds grounds crew chief. There's nobody better in his business.

I'll be posting more info here as the day progesses, but I wanted to share an article with you on the UC Bearcats that was in the Washington Post earlier this week. It's a great read and more great national pub for what Brian Kelly is getting done. Here's the link.