5/2/24 - The Mo Egger Show - Mo Egger

Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
No, what covers the Bengals likeESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports. What's going
on? My name's moll Legar.This is ESPN fifteen thirty. How are
we doing? Hope? Uh,having an awesome Thursday afternoon. Awesome?
I said. It's about to say, hope your weekend is off to a
good start, because well, Iam here tomorrow. Maybe you're not working

(00:22):
tomorrow. So if that's the case, hope you're by the way. Kind
of feels like nobody works on Fridayanyway, So regardless, I just I've
been having a week a great day, and have a good weekend whenever it
starts. How's that? Very good? Very good, very good. A
good guest somebody we've had on before, although I think it has been a
while. JJ Cooper of Baseball America. You know, we're we're watching the

(00:45):
perhaps slow, perhaps rather quick ascensionof Elie de la Cruz into superstar.
And you know, it's it's funto watch him every day, and it's
it's easy to look at the rawnumbers and go, boy, this guy
is turning into something. But ifyou really want to do a deep dive
into some of the nuance of howEllie is improved. JJ has written a

(01:08):
great piece on this go read it. I tweeted it out. He is
going to join us at three thirtyfive. Also Ross Smith MLS Season pass
on Apple TV. We'll talk someFC Cincinnati, the Orange and Blue playing
now for the foreseeable future without AaronBupenza because he reportedly has a busted jaw.
We'll get to all of that withRoss. Full show preview is available

(01:30):
on x slash Twitter at Moeger.Thanks to our friends at Emory Federal Credit
Union, your credit union with heartsince nineteen thirty nine. Go to EMORYFCU
dot org. And we're broadcasting todayfrom the ESPN fifteen thirty studios, powered
by Greater Cincinnati's roofing and exterior restorationExpertsmadewell Restoration dot com. Your home deserves

(01:55):
to be made well. We're busytoday. We have a lot going on.
We have one more set of ticketsin the five o'clock hour, by
the way for Turfway Park racing andgamings. Kentucky Derby Party on Saturday.
It's Derby Weekend, one of thegreat weekends in all of sports. The
Reds this weekend will host a verygood Baltimore Orioles team, which is off

(02:20):
to a great start that they're actuallyplaying this afternoon at home against the New
York Yankees, and those lead thatgame seven to two in the bottom of
the sixth thinning at Camden Yards.Baltimore comes into play today with a record
of nineteen and eleven. The Redshave now not won each of their last
three series. They are the Reds. I think it's fair to say kind

(02:44):
of in a weird place right now, like they've very much survived. Yeah,
we do it every year, rightavoid the bad start, Avoid falling
flat on your face out of thegate, Avoid having to spend way too
much time just getting back to fivehundred because you started something like one in
eight or three and fifteen or threeand twenty two. Those are just some

(03:07):
of the bad starts the Reds havehad. We do it every February in
March. Got to avoid the badstart. Well they have. They've avoided
the bad start. They have founda way to hang in there despite all
the different things that have littered thediscourse, as we say, over the
first five weeks of the season,from individual players perhaps not performing up to

(03:28):
the level that we would hope tosome of their starting pitching issues to obviously
not having a lot of key guysfor the entire stretch of the first thirty
one games, like Matt McClain,like TJ. Friedel, who's getting set
to go in a rehab assignment,like obviously Noelve Marte, and then you
know, having to play without someof the guys that have missed time here

(03:49):
and there, like well Tyler Stevensonand Jake Fraley and Christian and Coronasion.
Here recently the Reds have chosen toplay without those guys. They've had Frankie
Montas now miss some time, andyet here they are. They have treaded
water, they have hung in there. They have not played themselves out of
contention. They have authored some reallygood, feel good moments. They are

(04:13):
going to go into the first weekendof May, for what it's worth,
with a winning record, with anabove five hundred record. As as as
rough as things were in San Diego, they didn't get swept as rough as
things might have been in Arlington.They didn't get swept as formidable as the
Phillies appear to be. The Redssplit that series, and they've done all

(04:33):
of this even while you might arguenot playing their best baseball, that is
a credit to the team, andit's it's a credit to the front office,
and it's it's a credit to themanager, but mainly it's it's a
credit to the team. And yetthings feel kind of unstable right now.

(04:54):
Uh, tenuous. I don't knowwhat word you want to use. Things
feel like they're a little shaky.Let's go as shaky. Things kind of
feel shaky. First of all,that the schedule is going to be unrelenting
here. The Arizona Diamondbacks have alosing record, they'll be here next week.
They are the defending National League champions. This Baltimore team that's coming to

(05:15):
town this week is really good.We've seen the Reds clean up against the
Chicago White Sox, who are dreadful. We've seen the Reds take care of
business against the Los Angeles Angels,who are really bad and now even worse
without Mike Trout. But we've seenthem spin their tires a little bit against
teams that are well, frankly better. We've seen them struggle to win series.

(05:36):
We also look at what's ahead inthe next months, and again,
the schedule is going to be prettyunforgiving. We know what they have survived.
They've survived a lot of injury.But Matt McLean's not coming back anytime
soon, if at all. Myguess is he doesn't come back at all.
Are not getting Noel A Marte backanytime soon. They might be getting
TJ. Friedel back soon, butthey're not getting them back this weekend.

(06:00):
Meanwhile, they're playing games shorthanded.Tony and I were just talking about this
with Austin. I mean, youknow, they played these games in San
Diego, and you know the wordis well Christian and Karnassi on Strand is
available if needed, and then there'sa moment where he might be needed and
they don't use him. Same forTyler Stevenson, same maybe for Jake Freeley.
We'll see if those guys are ableto play tomorrow, if they're in

(06:23):
the starting lineup. But the lastcouple of games, it has felt like
the Reds have an essence played withtwenty three players, and the shorthandedness has
I think revealed a I don't wantto say startling, even though that's the
word that comes to mind, buta sobering We'll go a sobering, A
sobering lack of depth, and theReds are using right now a lot of

(06:45):
guys who just feel like automatic outs. Like Nick Martini. Boy, that
was cool as hell when he hitthe home run on opening Day. It
was awesome. One of the reasonswhy that was cool was it didn't guarantee
that he was ever going to geta hit again, much less have a
productive season, much less beyond theReds. Six seven weeks after opening Day,

(07:10):
the Reds are giving him regular atbats as the DH he looks like
and statistically often has been an automaticout. I'm not here to tell you
that there's a bonafide, surefire replacementat Louisville. This isn't like last year
where all we wanted to do wassee guys like Matt McLean and Christian and
Carnassi on Strand and Elie Dela Cruzand noelve Marte. It's not the same.

(07:36):
But man, you're watching Nick Martini, who's just not giving them very
competitive at bats. So you're seeingBubba Thompson. Buba Thompson just doesn't look
like a big league hitter. LikeI'm sorry, he just doesn't look like
he brings any sort of offensive valueto the team. Well, when you're
short handed, that lack of offensivevalue gets amplified. And when you have

(08:00):
a lot of guys who aren't havingvery good seasons, at least so far,
that the the lack of depth,the lack of other options gets amplified.
When you're dealing with a lot ofguys who you would like to have
that are unavailable, the lack ofquality at the bottom end of your roster
gets amplified. And so those thingsare they stand out right now, and

(08:24):
yet in a in a stretch wherethey're playing a bunch of really good teams
in a division that has been reallycompetitive. The Brewers are good, the
Cubs are good. I think theCardinals are maybe a little bit better than
they've played, but not drastically likeit just it feels like they're kind of
on shaky ground right now. Thisteam could badly use a series win,
right you know you could. Youcould always use a series win. But

(08:46):
what just feels like this team coulduse better health, could use some guys
available, could could use a serieswin just to kind of get things back
on track a little bit here.Unfortunately, you're asking for a series win
against a team that might be ableto like claim to the title of best
team in baseball. Also when youare dealing with what the Reds are dealing

(09:09):
with right now, which is someguys who are unavailable and a bottom of
the roster that is just not verygood. I mean, call it what
it is. Santiago Espinal is nota very good hitter, you know.
I hate to pick on Luke Maleybecause he's a backup catcher but not a
great offensive option off the bench.Nick Martini is a journeyman who just be

(09:31):
honest, for how many teams wouldNick Martini be playing on a regular basis?
And the same about Bubba Thompson.These guys aren't good. And so
what this has done is it's created, at least on social media a lot
of chatter about Mike Ford, whowas opted out of his minor league deal

(09:52):
now with the Reds twice now aftera very slow start at Louisville. Over
the last few weeks, he hasdone nothing but rake he has opted out.
Red basically have forty eight hours wherewithin that forty eight hour window where
they have to make a decision aboutwhat they're gonna do with them, I've
had a lot of fun with thison social media, and I'm gonna continue
to have a lot of fun withthis on social media because well, that's

(10:13):
what I like to do. Butyou're being completely reasonable. If you're a
Reds fan and you're looking at MikeFord, going all right, let's try
it. What's the harm because ofthe lack of other options at the bottom
end of the roster. Like Iget it, Mike Ford was swinging a
pretty good bad at Louisville. Myguess is he would get to the big

(10:33):
leagues and not do all that much. But when you're running out dudes like
Nick Martini and you got Baba Thompsonon your team, and it's not like
you're going to make a trade foran instant upgrade, and it's not like
any instant upgrades are coming off theinjured list, you get desperate. We're
all to the point we're desperate.We're pining for Mike Ford. That's where

(10:58):
we are, well two and ahalf months ago, that's not where I
thought we'd be. And relative towhat our expectations for the team were,
which again they could still meet them. They have one more win than loss,
but we're now wondering if Mike Fordmakes sense to add to the team.

(11:20):
That's for a roster that was supposedto be filled with depth. That's
and by the way, I thinkwe'd be wondering if Mike Ford's a good
option, if Stevenson hadn't suffered hisminor injury, and if Cees hadn't dealt
with his hand issue, and ifJake Frayley were available. They've obviously dealt
with a lot of illness. Butthat's where we are right now. And

(11:41):
look on a team like this,small margin for Air, need him to
be better in close games. Smallmargin for Air not just on a game
to game basis, but in thenational league standings, every roster spot matters
so much more, and you gotguys occupying roster spots that are giving you
nothing. And so yeah, whatwe're doing now is wondering if they should

(12:05):
add Mike Ford to the team.You talk about a journeyman, and so
I've had a lot of fun withthis. I'm not doing anything but just
mocking kind of the fact that aseason that was supposed to be spent talking
about Matt McClain and TJ. Friedeland so many guys taking a major step

(12:26):
forward, here we are and apretty critical juncture wondering if the savior is
Mike Ford. That's a shaky placeto be. My phone numbers five point
three seven four nine, fifteen thirty. If you call the show today,
we would love to hear from youon any number of topics. Just do
us a favor. If you're waitingon hold, be it the ready in

(12:48):
case we go to you. Fivepoint three seven four nine fifteen thirty eight
six six seven oh two three sevenseven six. You could also send me
a tweet at Moeger Thanks to ourfriends at Delta Dentald Delta Dental is building
healthy, smart and vibrant communities forall. Good to Delta dentalh dot com.
We're on Mike Ford Watch. Wehave a lot of ground to cover.
JJ Cooper Baseball America coming up injust about fifteen minutes on ESPN fifteen

(13:13):
thirty Cincinnati Sports Station Cincinnati twenty threeafter three. This is ESPN fifteen thirty.
I do appreciate you listening today.Make sure you download the iHeartRadio app.
You can listen to us anywhere yougo. And here's stuff you might
have missed. We had a verygood interview yesterday, and I say very
good interview even though I did it. That's how good the guest was.

(13:35):
Abdul Hodge is a former Bengal playedlinebacker for the Bengals in the late two
thousands. Is now the tight endscoach at Iowa, and he coached Eric
All at Iowa this past season.Obviously, Eric transferred from Michigan to Iowa.
Iowa had Sam Laporta, then theyhad Eric All, and I asked
abdul Hodge to compare the two.His answer was, I think if you're

(13:58):
a bet fan, one that's goingto leave you pretty excited. You can
listen to that conversation on the iHeartRadioapp. It's also on my page at
ESPN fifteen thirty dot com. Podcastof our showy Service of You talk about
a good night for long Necks.Sit outside, have a cold one,
eat some wings tonight. It's agood long next night. Three locations.

(14:20):
Wilder Hebron and Richwood long Neck sponsorsof our podcast Let's See Here. JJ
Cooper Baseball America terrific piece illustrating howEllie de la Cruz is getting so much
better at something that he was notgood at even a year ago. That

(14:41):
coming up in just about ten minutes. First, Scott and Dayton, you're
on ESPN fifteen thirty. What's up. I know that you probably talk or
have listened to Lance, but helaid it out yesterday very good as to
why we're dealing with what we're dealingwith, and it's it's a combination of

(15:03):
not exactly knowing uh how long theywere going to be out, uh and
not wanting to I l them forfull ten days and uh, the forty
man roster being as it is,if you brought somebody who's not on the
forty, that means somebody has togo. And that's the same thing with

(15:26):
with uh, what's his name Long, Michael, Mike, Mike, Mike
and Scott. How could you forgetthis? It's Mike Ford Ford. Yeah.
I don't know where it came upwith Long either, but my but
Mike Ford is not on the fortyman, so he has to and that
means that if he's brought up,somebody has to go, which could be

(15:48):
Nick Martini. That's fine, butuh, you know it, It's like
he said last night, and likeI I don't know that I understood it,
but it just is one of thoseunfortunate circumstances where you know, Jake
Frayley's got bronkitos, sure you can'td them, well, but I mean

(16:11):
you could, you could, Youcould, you could go, Okay,
well these are unfortunate circumstances and there'snothing we could do about it, or
you could try to be a littlebit proactive. Now here's the thing.
Everything that you just outline makes senseand anecdotally in the vacuum. Okay,
Tyler Stevenson might not be able toplay, all right, fine, let's
try to get through a game ortwo and not put them on the injured
list. And then you say thesame thing about Christian and Caronasian Strand,

(16:33):
and then the same thing about JakeFrayley. If those are isolated cases where
we're dealing with the Reds playing minusa guy for a couple of games and
you don't want to put them onthe injured list, that's one thing.
But when you are playing games whereyou essentially have no bench, where bye
bye, by virtue of how DavidBell used his personnel, there's a very

(16:57):
uh explicit sort of implication here thatthese guys aren't available. That's really hard.
Again, It's it's one thing ifyou're gonna play twenty six versus twenty
five, but they've been playing twentysix versus twenty three. Yeah, no,
I totally agree with you. Butwhat is the solution? Well,

(17:22):
I think that's the thing you haveto look at, sure and examined.
But I think but I think that'swhy they're in kind of a weird place,
right, Yeah, I mean they'rein a weird place where there's Look,
let's be honest, if Mike,if you swap out Mike Ford for
Nick Martini, the results are probablynot going to be exponentially better, But
what's the harm in trying? Atthe same time, like, there is

(17:45):
a part of it where they're stuckbecause Matt mclan's not walking through that clubhouse
tomorrow, and neither is TJ.Friedel, and neither is Noel de Marte.
And so the overriding issue that haskind of dominated the good and the
bad of the first thirty one games, that's not changeing anytime soon. But
then one could make the argument thatif your death gets tested even further,

(18:06):
even for a couple of games,at least go in with a full roster.
At least go in with twenty fiveor twenty six healthy guys. In
the last couple of days, theyhaven't done that. You can do something
about that now, maybe by tomorrowCees is fine and Tyler Stevenson is fine,
and Jake Freley is healthy at thevery least. Then okay, we're
dealing with a full roster. Butwhile you're without all the guys you've been

(18:27):
without so far, and then themost recent things have happened, and you're
playing with twenty three guys and twoor three of those guys are automatic outs,
it's hard to not think of otheroptions. And that's where Mike Ford
comes in. Correct, Yeah,that's right, but it's still you know,

(18:47):
you bring up Mike Ford and you'relosing Nick Martini. I mean,
chances are, and nobody's claiming him. Chances are, or you'll go down
and be available down, but he'son the forty man. Though for every
action there's an equal reaction. Imean, if you wanted to bring somebody

(19:08):
up from Louisville, there isn't anybodyavailable who isn't rearranging the deck chairs on
the Titanic, no, no doubtabout it. But I mean, if
you lose Nick Martini, is weare we crying about that if we lose
I'm kind of going through the ifwe lose the Peyton Burdick who they just

(19:29):
acquired, Okay, Levon Soto whothey just acquired from Baltimore. Like,
nothing against any of those guys,but I mean, look, I'm I
sort of feel like the weird placethey're in is illustrated by the fact that
you and I on May second,are talking about Mike Ford at the same
time. Do you just want tocontinue to play shorthanded and shrug your shoulders

(19:49):
and go, well, this isjust how it is, or do you
want to be somewhat proactive And againthat's where the Mike Ford discussion comes in.
Yes, there is a fallout fromadding him your team, and that
comes on the forty man roster.But when you start talking about the bottom
end of the forty man roster,I'll be honest with you, there are
a whole lot of expendables there.Yeah. Yeah, we wouldn't be having

(20:11):
this problem if it was pitching thatwas getting hurt because we have those options,
but there aren't any options for positionplayers right now. No, it's
so funny, Scott. Thank you. As always, we have gone from
thinking the Reds had too many infieldersto now debating whether or not they should
add Mike Ford. That's not wherewe were supposed to be. And again,

(20:37):
like the team is okay, Likeif they're eight and twenty three,
if this is the team two yearsago, who cares? Right, nobody's
going through the ins and outs ofroster particulars. But the team is okay.
They have survived, They have alot going good going for them.
But you also don't want what hashappened over the last couple of weeks to

(20:59):
snowball. That's losing series. Onething that has gone well, Ellie Dela
Cruz is better. JJ Cooper BaseballAmerica details how much next ESPN fifteen thirty,
Cincinnati's e that's me. It's twentysix away from four o'clock. This
is ESPN fifteen thirty. As muchas I've enjoyed talking about Mike Ford today,

(21:23):
I'm going to pivot to my favoritetopic, which is Ellie de la
Cruz and his improvement with somebody thatI have always enjoyed having on our show.
JJ Cooper from Baseball America. Bythe way, they have updated their
top one hundred prospects list, whichis going to be a must as we
get closer and closer to the draftwith the Reds having the second overall pick.

(21:45):
But jj is, I think aneven bigger Ellie de la Cruz fan
than I am, and has donea good job in a piece. I
put it out there on X.It came out yesterday sort of outlining a
really important part of his improvement andsomething we have talked about a ton,
and that's the fact that he ishe's not swinging at bad pitches. And
we saw him last year there weretimes where it felt like he was swinging

(22:07):
at pitches a foot and a halfoutside pitches he had no chance to hit.
He is laying off those pitches,and well, the proof is in
the numbers. Go read the pieceBaseballamerica dot Com. Again, I put
it out there on social media,so it's pretty easy to access jj is
with us. I appreciate the timeas always, sir, how are you?
How are you? I'm doing reallywell. So you wrote about Ellie,

(22:33):
you wrote about his improvement. Iwant folks to read it. Here's
what I want to know relative toother high end prospects. And I think
we're being reasonable and calling Ellie ahigh end prospect, and you know,
technically he's no longer a prospect,but relative to players maybe with his ceiling.
How accelerated is this level of improvementthat we're seeing this year. Well,

(22:56):
Kenny, I would say it thisway. Elly's always had since if
you go back to kind of whenhe broke out, this has always been
one, to me, one ofhis most impressive traits. Now. I
think if you look at Bobby witJunior with the Royals, I think you
can see some similarities there of aguy who was a little too aggressive and

(23:18):
then just got better and better,you know, as kind of as he
got comfortable to the next level,and now Bobby wit Junior is one of
the best players in baseball. Ithink you can probably put Ellie dlea Cruise
in that group already, although Iknow some people will probably say I'm saying
that too soon, but the thingthat's always stood out with Ellie you can't

(23:40):
start when anytime you were talking anyabout Ellie, even as in rookie ball,
obviously it's going to start with theamazing tools and how he's this you
know, power forward sized guy whocan play shortstop and he's as fast as
any one and he can hit theball farther than he one to switch it,
or he can throw the ball harderanyone. All that, right,
But then you go a little deepand there's always been that other aspect which

(24:03):
great stars have, which is hewas also the guy who was the hardest
worker on the team and was theguy who, like I remember asking two
three years ago, you know,scouts coaches, hey, is Ellie going
to stay at short stop at thathigh long term? And the thing you
always got back is that he's goingto And he said, well, why

(24:23):
do you say that. It's like, well, because it's really important to
him. He wants to be theshortstop and he's going to do everything he
needs to do to do that.And then you see it now when he's
conducting interviews in English as a twentytwo year old who English is about his
first language. Well, that wasalways important to Ellie. Ellie was always
someone for everything you hear is he'sreally working hard at that. He wants

(24:45):
to be one of these faces,one of the leaders of that Reds team,
and he thinks that mastering the Englishlanguage will help him do that and
help him be a better player teammate. And you know, person in the
community, you know, basically starsas well. And the other thing that

(25:07):
I also always jumped out with thatis is Ellie was always the player.
He was the old old school Hewas the stirs straw, you know that
that straw, the straw that stirredthe drink. But in addition to that,
he's one of those stars who everyoneelse on the team has always enjoyed
having him on the team. Hehas those kind of soft qualities as well.

(25:30):
And that's why I do think you'reseeing him his improvements. He's making
both. I would say, yeah, I focused on offensively, but I
know there are a lot of questionsabout his defense, especially early this year.
Again, I think he made washedthem today. He made six airs
very quickly this season. And thenI had a thrilling air last week on

(25:52):
the ball that the misread that everyonewas saying one hundred those his first are
since gave eleven of the season.And so he's been making improvements defensively as
well. This is the guy whojust keeps getting better. And the frightening
thing about that this is he's alreadyreally good and he's twenty two years old.
Yeah. No, well, put, I want to ask you about

(26:14):
defense here in a second, butfrom an offensive perspective. So we're seeing
improvement in terms of him laying offbad pitches. What is the next step?
What is the next area where yougo, you know what, two
months from now or by the endof the season or at the start of
next season, here's what he willhave mastered that he maybe doesn't have a
total grasp of this year right now. I would say the most important thing

(26:36):
that is going to be I thinkthe toughest one is can he put together
better right handed at mess that's theremaining kryptonite. Not that he's another zero
against the lefty, but he isbetter. You know, he's he's just
you know, he's not one ofthose switchingers right now where you would say

(26:57):
that he's he's the same from bothsides right and I don't know if he'll
ever get there, but you know, at the same time, he's basically
one of the best hitters in baseballwhen he's sitting left you right now,
And so that would be I'd sayas a hitter, that's the remaining to

(27:19):
do item. Although I do thinkhe's even show improvements there as far as
he's not really driving the ball's authority. But he is putting together better at
that, so I would say thatway, Yeah, I would agree with
that. You mentioned the defense,and he's a shortstop. He has never
played center field as a professional baseballplayer, and you mentioned the areas.

(27:40):
We've also seen the brilliance. Therehave been a couple of occasions this year,
once in Seattle last week, whereI mean he basically goes from standing
next to second base to catching aball down the left field, not the
third base line, that the leftfield foul. It just covers an insane
amount of ground, and so it'snatural I think for a lot of us
to go man for for as good, for as well as he has played

(28:03):
at shortstop, and for as muchas he could take advantage of his immense
physical talent playing that position. Ijust imagine him going from gap to gap
in the outfield and covering that muchground like we saw in those isolated plays
at shortstop. What would you sayto someone who still dreams of him playing
center field. I think you're tyingone hand behind his back. I'm not

(28:25):
saying he couldn't be really good outthere. I'm not saying you couldn't,
but I do think some of whatmakes him so good. I mean,
he's you're you're right. Like ifI if you watch Ellie right now,
a short stop, I would saythere's no short stuff in baseball. You
want more that the balls in theair, a pop sply that's going to

(28:48):
land in between the infield and theoutfield. He's the best out there going
back there because he covers more groundthan anybody. He's got that length.
All that he's not I mean,he's always going to probably have thumb issues
with he's so long that there's goingto be that ball that are shorter,
quicker or shortstop might be able toget to that gets by his glove right.

(29:08):
But then I you think that giveshim a little bit of time and
he makes the play in the hole, which we've seen a couple of times
this year, better than almost anybodybecause no one, maybe except for Mason
Wynn, no one else has onehundred mile an hour or you know,
fireballs basically coming out of his handwhenever he needs it, so he can

(29:29):
make plays like that. I justthink Ellie jay La Cruz wants to play
shortstop. Short stop is as goodas seven fielders are. Short stuff's a
more important position than southern field,and he can do it, He's already
doing it. I just don't seewhy you would move a guy like that
when, like, for instance,right now, if as much as I

(29:51):
would say that the Reds are morefilled with infielders than everyone's healthy than outfielders,
if human belly del who's all someshort stop with who's healthy right now,
you're going to take a bigger hitputting on centerfield than you are putting
the center fevers they have out there, and putting Elie de la Cruz at
shortstop. And I think long termthat's going to always be the case.

(30:11):
It's just harder to find short stuffthat can do what he can do in
center fielders. JJ Cooper, editorin chief Baseball America his piece on Ellie
de la Cruz. I'm looking atit right now. You can read it
at baseballamerica dot com. I've sentout a link, and while you're at
it, check out their updated listof top one hundred prospects for twenty twenty
four. As we get closer andcloser to the draft. I always love

(30:33):
having you on, man. Ido appreciate the time. Thank you as
always, no problem. JJ CooperBaseball America. Go read the piece.
It is really good. It's easyto look at the numbers, and it's
easy to look at the highlights thatgo viral. JJA does a very good
job of diving into the ins andouts of l season and how he has

(30:56):
improved. All right, Ross SmithMLS season past Apple TV. Next.
Hey, it's my Eggurday from fouro'clock. This is ESPN fifteen thirty al
moeg or Fccincinnati trying to make itthree consecutive wins on Saturday roadmatch against Orlando.
First of consecutive road tilts for theOrange and Blue starting with Saturday,
and then massive one a week fromSaturday, as FC Cincinnati visits Columbus by

(31:22):
the way this weekend. All fourteenmatches for free on MLS Season Pass on
the Apple TV app or online attv dot Apple dot com. On the
call for the match in Orlando onSaturday, along with Tony Husband, Ross
Smith. Ross is kind enough togive us a few minutes of safter and
it's good to have you, Ross. How are you awesome? Pleasure?

(31:44):
Thanks for having me on. Uh, you had this team in Charlotte at
the end of April, so abouta month ago, not their best night,
lucky to get a point. Fromthen to now, what has stood
out about FC Cincinnati starting to connectmore. I think you look at with
Luco and in particular Luca Orshano,I think that relationship is evolving more and

(32:07):
more. I think Corey Baird isstarting to understand his position in the team.
Scored his first goal obviously for theteam this past weekend. And I
think along the back line they're startingto understand each other a little bit more,
between Nasca and Robinson and whether it'sMurphy Hagelin, but I think it's
becoming more of a complete team towhat we saw against Charlotte. I have

(32:28):
felt like at times this season,not so much the last couple of weeks.
Look, it's it's great when youhave the league's MVP. It's great
when you have a player like LucoAcosta. There have been times to me
where it's felt like they've been leaningon him maybe just a little bit too
much. Is that fair? Yeah? I think so. And credit to
Lucio Acosta because there's still games,you know, I covered the Chicago game
when he was just headed shoulders aboveeverybody else seen him in the stadium and

(32:52):
you know, when everybody's constrained onhim for him to still perform, well,
it's so impressive. But Pat Noon, it's the first one to get
out in front of it and sayingwe're not complete yet. And obviously the
big news with the big signing,you know, they've they've gone out and
they've brought in what is hopefully forfor Cincinnati's sake, a big time striking

(33:13):
signing, and you know, doesthis complete it? You know, I
think time will tell over the nextfew weeks, but everything. We've just
got off the phone with Pat noononas well, and it sounds like he's
taking all the boxes in the earlystages. Of course, every player is
you know, gonna come in withthe right attitude of that, but he
said, no, what he's seen, he just feels it's genuine that this
guy is going to add a differentelement to the attack. And Pat Noon

(33:35):
expanded on that, which was whichis really neat. So I think,
you know, with Kevin coming in, that's maybe a guy that takes attention
away from Luto, which is onlygoing to help Luccho. It has it
has felt like, certainly relative tolast season. Uh, it was smooth
sailing all year long last year,right with the expectations were massive. FC
Cincinnati surpassed him. They win thesupporter Shield. From an injury perspective,

(33:57):
you know, now there's the AaronBuo Penza situation. He's had to deal
with a lot. How do youmake of how he's navigated a lot that's
been thrown on him and the staffjust over the first two months of the
season. Yeah, they continue totick along. You know, there was
always going to be that added pressurefor how well they performed last season.
But man, I like Pat Noonand I was brief teammates with them for

(34:19):
a period out in Colorado, andjust his attitude is demeanor, the way
he takes things in stride. Youknow, I think it rubs off on
his players. He loves his staff. You know, everybody's bought into what
they're doing, and I think that'simportant when you have a blip, you
have a cohesive unit. You know, there's guys starting to then point fingers
and what have you. Like PattNewton, his demeanor, I think is

(34:40):
so impressive as a manager, andI think that's what we're seeing in this
league, different personalities coming in inthe management position. For me, I
gravitate towards Pat Noonan because he justgives it to you straight. He's not
on the sideline kicking water bottles andwhat have you. And I think that
gets you through the tough times,just exactly how he's handled it with a
steady hand. And it's reflected onthe players as well. You know,

(35:00):
with the guys, they're mature bunch. And you know, I think as
well as what the team performed lastyear with results, I think they're they're
better suited for you know, thisseason. The riggers of the season,
I think they're more mature and Ido think now, Sue Kevin, I
think there's more quality. Yeah,And you know, it's interesting I thought

(35:21):
this often last year. They didn'tthey didn't lose consecutive games last season.
In fact, they lost consecutive gamesin April and it was the first time
in basically two years. And I'veI've always felt like that's a real credit
to Pat because a bad game doesn'tbecome two and two, bad games don't
become three and and failure to geta point doesn't become a failure to get
a point in the next game.And you know, it's interesting if you

(35:42):
didn't pay attention to the table andyou would just sort of followed the ins
and outs of the season. Ithink you would be surprised to look at
the standings and see they're in secondplace in the Eastern Conference. Yeah,
yeah, absolutely, you know,and I think you know to where they're
going to go and progress. They'regoing to be a danger team. I
think they're well suited. They've gota strong backbone. Is I think what

(36:05):
gets you through difficult times. Idon't think they've been at their best,
you know, along the back line, but you know, I think the
elements are in there for them toyou know, be considered the best back
line in the league, especially withRobinson coming in. I'm not in the
Aska. He's had a few blipswhich you didn't really see last year,
you know, top defender in theleague. He's had a few hiccups,
but he'll come good. You know, he'll consistently be be flawless in matches.

(36:30):
Is what you look for, youknow, the absence of a negative.
So anyways, I think to that, yeah, maybe a bit surprising,
but I think they're really going tokick on the the moment. This
match on Saturday night ends, andby the way, MLS Season pass.
You could watch it for free AppleTV, Apple tvf Ross Smith is with
us on the call with Tony Husband. The minute this match on Saturday ends,

(36:51):
folks here are immediately going to starttalking about next Saturday. The Columbus
game is always huge. It's evenbigger because of what happened in the Eastern
Conference final last year. So Iknow there are people listening to this conversation
who are already thinking about that game. Let's center things on Saturday. What's
concerning about Orlando Duncan McGuire and creditto this guy. I mean, he

(37:12):
was on a plane going across toEngland all reports signing for Blackburn and then
the deal fell through while he wasgoing across the Atlantic, you know,
so he's had to come back.And DP striker has been brought in with
Luis Murrel and Duncan McGuire. Theyou know, the draft pick last season
is outshining the DP striker that wasbrought in yet again. He did it
last year to the point that Orlandoended up selling the designated player striker in

(37:37):
that position. And are John Karraso for Duncan McGuire four goals this year?
You know he's how long is hegoing to be around. I imagine
he'll go in the summer. Butfor right now he's beaten out, in
formed and starting position. Their theirtop striker, so you got to watch
out for him. I think inthe midfield is going to be really interesting
to see Carta Hana and Arolujo goup against the Costa. Cartagena got sent

(37:58):
off in one of the man whichis against Cincinnati last year. They are
the best in this league getting underyour skin. You know, it's a
dog fight. They scratch, theycomplain, they fight for everything, and
it can just it wears you down, but it wears you down, you
know, on the other side,it can. So you know what's Luco
going to do when he comes upagainst that, because if those two are

(38:20):
on for Orlando, I imagine Acosta, you know he's going to have to
deal with with that temperamentente and figurethings out. Seven thirty on Saturday night,
FC Cincinnati on the road against Orlando. Watch it for free part of
the MLS Season Pass on Apple TV. Ross. It's been fun, man,
I appreciate the time. Thank youvery much, thanks for having me
on. Hopefully Chatty again soon.I hope we can do that. Ross

(38:42):
Smith has the call along with TonyHusband seven thirty on Saturday Apple TV,
And of course you could also hearit lo ave on ESPN fifteen thirty f
C Cincinnati, looking for its thirdconsecutive win. Joe Burrow got paid two
hundred and seventy five million. There'sone reason why the Bengals chose to do
that. We'll get to that atfour oh five on ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati

(39:06):
Sports Station. This report is sponsoredthirty Cincinnati Sports Station. Hey what's up?
Four oh four, ESPN fifteen thirty. I'm Olegar, Thanks for listening.

(39:29):
Unlike a genuinely almost hot Thursday afternoon, and we've given away one more
set of tickets to the Big KentuckyDerby Party at Turfway Park Racing and Gaming.
We're gonna give them away at fivethirty three towards the end of the
show. Remember we've done this allweek long. If you if you want

(39:49):
to win the tickets, we'll playa goofy little game at five thirty three.
The tickets, they're they're the oldfashioned. I'm not I'm not really
big in to constantly talking about howthings should go back to the way they
used to be. I'm pro progress, I'm pro evolution. I'm pro looking
for ways to do things more effectivelyand more efficiently. But if there's a

(40:15):
hell, I'll die on it.There should always be a paper ticket option,
right, always always be a paperticket option. Well, the derby
party at Turfway Park Racing and Gaming, those are paper tickets. So you
have to come get them tomorrow.Tomorrow's the last day before the derby,
or we're not going to have somebodyhere waiting for you on Saturday. So

(40:37):
you have to be able to comepick them up tomorrow. And if you
can't, that's okay, go buythem at Turfway dot com. But if
you want to win them, we'llgive them away at five point thirty three.
I have friends who work in ticketing. They get so annoyed with me,
and I guess, I guess ifyou have a I could be wrong
about this because I honestly haven't triedit. I think if you have like

(41:00):
the ticket on your phone and youwant the paper ticket, I think if
you go to the ticket office atGABP and ask for a real ticket,
they'll give you one. But likeI was at Homer Bailey's second no hitter.
It was the first time I sawa no hitter. I have that
paper ticket, like I have that, I have that artifact. It might

(41:22):
not be important to you, butas a collector of stuff, I like
that. I don't want a screengrab of a QR code that I print
off. And that's my souvenir ifyou're like you know, for those of
you the nineteen of you were atScooter Jeanette's for home run game in twenty
seventeen, there were still paper ticketsbuying large back then. Kind of a

(41:45):
cool souvenir to have. So I'mpro paper tickets in almost every instance.
By the way, we have hada lot of fun with this Mike Ford
thing. And the bottom of thebottom end of the roster, for the
most part, is always going tobe up for discussion because that's that's where

(42:07):
the worst players are. The bottomof the Reds roster features Bubba Thompson.
Bubba Thompson might be a very verynice young man. He does not look
like a big leaguer. He's aguy who has bounced around a little bit.
He's a guy who in his previoustwo big league stops offensively at least
brought nothing to the table. Helooks totally overmatched by major league pitching.

(42:31):
I mean totally overmatched. I don'teven need to read all the numbers for
you. But he's had eighteen playedappearances. He has reached base twice.
He has struck out eleven times.Like, what are we doing? And

(42:51):
you know the same for Nick Martini? Like, the justification for keeping Nick
Martini around might be, Look,there is no one better. Okay,
fine, the justification for keeping NickMartini around cannot be Well, he's a
really funny guy in the clubhouse.He had a home run on opening Day,

(43:13):
Okay, and so, but wedo this when the Reds have good
teams, and right now they havean okay team. But we do this
when the Reds have good team.The bottom of the roster. We're gonna
do it with the Bengals. Howwe're doing it with them right now?
We think the Bengals have a chanceto be pretty good. Which draft picks
might make the team? Those draftpicks are going to come at the expense
of somebody in the bottom end oftheir positional depth chart and the bottom end

(43:36):
of the roster. But the bottomend of the roster gets amplified when it's
asked to do more. Recently,circumstances have dictated that the bottom of the
roster has to do more. NickMartini has had to play more than you
and I would like, because inrecent over the last couple of days,
they haven't used Cees, and theyhaven't been able to use Tyler Stevenson,

(43:58):
and they haven't been able to useJake Frame. Is Mike Ford the answer,
let's be honest, Probably not,But you can't blame anybody for searching
for an answer that's not two foreighteen Bubba Thompson or five forty nine ops,
Nick Martini or Santiago Espinal. Nowwe could talk about those guys,

(44:19):
but the reality is, once wedo some bottom of the roster churn,
if they call up or sign MikeFord or bring someone up from Louisville,
some of the dudes that we knewwere going to be on this team have
to start performing better. Now,I can't say that without flinging it back

(44:39):
to something that I said all yearalong, that I have said all year
long, which is what the Redsare trying to do is really hard.
And I know I've said this almostevery single day I've said it about the
pitching. I've said it when they'veplayed well. I've said it when they've
played poorly. What the Reds aretrying to do is really hard. They're
trying to meet a lot of expectations. They're trying to win and get to
the postseason while they're still developing playersand so at faced value, a guy

(45:05):
like christian and Karnacion Strand, whowas playing Triple A ball a year ago,
who didn't get caught up until thesecond half of the season last year,
him not performing up to expectation forthe first thirty or so games is
totally reasonable. It's to be expected. You might argue, he's still developing.
He's not a finished product. He'stwenty four years old. Christian In

(45:28):
Karnacion Strand, who did hit abunch of home runs late last year,
has played in a grand total ofeighty eight Big League games. So,
like we have said with Ellie,you're being completely reasonable. If you want
to plead for patients when it comesto CES. I'm gonna be patient when
it comes to CES. But ifyou want the Reds to win right now,

(45:51):
he's gonna have to start performing better. That is inarguable. We've said
it about Hunter Green, right,Hunter Green's rate of progress has to accelerate
if the Reds are gonna win thisyear. It is completely reasonable to expect
that at this stage in his career, Hunter Green is not where he needs
to be, not where we wanthim to be. But for the Reds

(46:14):
to win this season, Hunter Green'sgonna have to accelerate his progress. We
could say that about Christian and Carnasion strand we could say that about Will
Benson. Love Will Benson? Whodoesn't love Will Benson? Will Benson was
one of the maybe the biggest revelationof all last season. Will Benson has

(46:35):
played basically one full big league season. Will Benson this year offensively has contributed
very very little, relatively speaking.Spencer Steers production has dropped off after a
hot start, So you know,yeah, we could do the whole Nick
Martini Mike Forde swap out and talkabout Bubba Thompson and figure out ways to
improve the bottom end of the roster. Tyler Stevenson's been okay, fourth on

(47:00):
the team at ops plus, needa little bit more from him, Need
a little bit more on a consistentbasis from Jonathan India, who has kind
of ebbed and flowed and gone upand down this year. Need a little
bit more from players that we knewwere going to make the team. Need
a little bit more from guys whowere on the team last year. Stuve
Fairchild made it a remarkable catch incenter field yesterday. Offensively has done almost

(47:24):
nothing. So and you know,could talk to her blue in the face
about how good a job they've donetreading water without McLain and Marte and Friedel,
two of those three guys are notcoming back anytime soon. Again,
on an individual basis, it's fairto look at a lot of these guys

(47:44):
and go, look, they needtime, they're not finished products. We
can do that with Matt McLain ifhe comes back this year. We could
do it with Marte when he finallycomes back. By the way, if
you want to be mad at anybody, be mad at him. Like Friedel
got hurt playing baseball. McLain gothurt practicing baseball. Marte is not available
because he did something stupid and selfish. He mad at him. But the

(48:07):
reality is, again, like I'vesaid it probably two dozen times already,
I'll keep repeating it. What theReds are trying to do is really really
really really really hard. And yeah, it has spent all the time you
want on Martini and Ford and thesedudes at the bottom of the roster,
but the guys who make up thefoundation of the roster must perform better.

(48:28):
You could excuse them for not becausethey're young, and that's okay, But
if you want this team to winmore than it did last season, if
you want this team to be afactor in September, the rate of progress
has to be accelerated. And thesame holds true for a lot of pitchers.
Reds are off tonight. We uhtalked a little bit yesterday about Joe

(48:49):
Burrow. Bengals made Joe Burrow thefranchise quarterback. Bengals took on a bit
of a risk, some would argue, in Jermaine Burton. And there's been
some noise around the team because ofTrey Hendrickson's weird trade request and t Higgins
trade request, neither of which aregoing to be granted, neither of which
should be granted. But there's itfeels like, for the first time since

(49:13):
prior to twenty twenty one, likethere's some instability. A lot of players
who are a part of the successof twenty one to twenty two are no
longer here, right, Jesse Bates, Joe Mixon, Tyler Boyd, A
lot of guys who are a partof two really good teams, arguably the
best not even arguably the best twoyear stretch in the history of the franchise

(49:35):
gone. Trey Hendrickson is not happy. T Higgins is not happy. Maybe
in both cases justifiably so. Ihave no idea why Trey Hendrickson's not happy.
If he's not happy, he shouldbe unhappy with himself or at least
his agent. But for the firsttime, there's a little instability. DJ
reiders no longer here. Danner talk. Paul Danner was with us on Tuesday

(49:58):
and talked about like asking Joe Burrowto do a little bit more. Here's
why you paid in the two hundredand seventy five million dollars. This is
it to be the foundational piece,to be the constant, to be the
one thing you could always sort ofcircle back to. Hey, t Higgins

(50:20):
is unhappy, that's okay. Wegot Joe Burrow. Hey, there's a
little disruption in the team's culture.That's okay. We got Joe Burrow,
and you know what, this defensethere's a huge question mark about how good
it's gonna be. That's okay,we got Joe Burrow. Now that's not
just him putting up MVP caliber numberslike this is where this is really where

(50:43):
the two hundred and seventy five milliondollars gets invested. It's it's the ability
to get people to buy into aprogram that has already worked pretty well.
Think Jermaine Burton. I don't knowto what degree they should have had pause
when it came to making the decisionabout drafting him. You know, he's

(51:04):
bounced around a number of different schools, two schools in college, the incident
with the Tennessee fan, the femaleTennessee fan when Alabama lost to the volunteers
and fans were storming the field.But you know, I kind of put
it on the quarterback to hey,big boy, this is how we do
things. If there are maturity issues, leave them in Tuscaloosa. Let's get

(51:24):
going. Let's let's let's get goingwith all right. We Tea's got his
deal. As agent's mad they lowballed him. Perhaps he's unhappy he's requested
to trade a big boy. Wegot a we got we got a goal
here to me, same thing withTrey Hendrickson. So, like, as

(51:45):
I was listening to a national sportscommentator talk about all the noise surrounding the
Bengals yesterday, and the person thatthis national commentator was on with came back
at him with, yeah, butthey got Joe Burrow. Now, yeah,
that's throwing a lot of touchdown passes, it's handling the nuts and bolts
to playing quarterback. But when there'ssome instability, that's where leadership matters the

(52:08):
most. That's where a guy likea Joe Burrow, who you invest in
to be the face of your franchise, that's where the investment gets paid off.
That's the constant. And so forme, that's what I keep defaulting
to a little uncertainty about Jermaine Burtonand his character, how real or imagine

(52:28):
those concerns might be. Put iton Joe Burrow man set the tone disruption
in the team's culture, which Ithink has been pretty well established over the
last couple of years. That's,okay, we got Joe Burrow, who
is the team's culture. Zach Taylortoo, by the way, Zach gets
some of this as well, right, remember the first two years, all

(52:52):
the stuff that it would get thrownat Zach Taylor's desk, and it's like,
man, just give this guy achance to coach. Well, some
stuff has been thrown at his desk. Some stuff has been thrown at the
Bengals by Bengals players. There's somescrutiny, there's some criticism of how they've
handled some things in relation to playercontracts and guys who are no longer here.

(53:14):
Are they really going to be ableto keep the window of contention open?
Okay, Well, when you giveZach Taylor Joe Burrow, suddenly he's
a better coach. But when yougive Zach Taylor, some of the issues
that come with longevity and with thatcome with success, and that come with
certain guys getting paid, and thatcome with scrutiny. All right, now

(53:37):
we test some things about your coaching. If you believe the whole you know,
Zach has said a put forth agreat culture, and I believe those
things. If you believe those thingsare true, then you think this team
can lean on them. I thinkthey can lean on them With Zach.
They pay Joe Burrow two hundred andseventy five million dollars to be able to

(53:57):
lean on them with him as Wellnineteenafter four. We have a couple of
pole questions. We'll get to themhere momentarily. Five point three, seven
four nine, fifteen thirty and eightsix six, seven oh two three seven
seven six are our phone numbers.Brian Neil. If you follow women's basketball
in town, you know that name. He is the new head women's basketball
coach at Thomas Moore. We'll spenda few minutes with him coming up at

(54:20):
four thirty five, and we're gonnagive away our turf Way Park Kentucky Derby
tickets Kentucky Derby Party tickets at fivethirty three. Will work you in.
We have Brennan and Jones on baseballand so much more and Pat, Pat's
gonna join us. Pat Brennan fiveto twenty ye is is he gonna tell
us what happened to Aaron Boopenza?Is there a scenario where you break your

(54:44):
jawl and you weren't punched or youweren't involved in some major accident. I
don't know, Maybe Pat does,and we might talk a little basketball too.
Twenty after four ESPN fifteen thirty CincinnatiSports Station all questions a service of
United Heartland Insurance. You want tosave MO money. My friends at United

(55:06):
Heartland Insurance can help. They've gotoffices in Hamilton, They've got an office
in Northern Kentucky. They've got onein Cincinnati. Could be personal, could
be business, could be life insurance. Get a free online quote. Go
to uhi ns dot com and tellthem you want to save MO money.

(55:27):
Mo's mo MO money, United HeartlandInsurance. Two pole questions, one of
which has to do with what Ifeel like is the raging topic of the
day as it relates to the Bengalsand pretty important stuff here. That is
the fact that amid all of thestadium renovations and upgrades, one of which

(55:50):
I think is really important, LikeI don't care that much about club seats.
I don't sit in the club level. That doesn't matter to me.
But the plaza level around gate DPbeing expanded needed to happen years ago,
it's happening now. That's a verygood thing. But also amid all of
the changes that were announced, therewas some frustration among the members of the

(56:14):
fan base about the fact that onthe new field that they're putting in,
they're leaving the striped B as thelogo at the fifty yard line instead of
the leaping Tiger. Now I ampro leaping Tiger, but I also don't
really remember when we had the leapingTiger back in the early two thousands there
being any great affection for the leapingtiger. And yet feels like a lot

(56:36):
of people love the leaping Tiger.So the question is which is the biggest
Bengals disappointment of the past twenty sevenmonths. A not winning Super Bowl fifty
six, B not winning back toback AFC titles see Joe Burrow suffering a
season ending injury in Baltimore or Dno leaping Tiger at midfield. For what

(56:59):
it's worth, twelve zo point sevenpercent of you have voted for leaping Tiger.
Vote now at Moager the other one. Because this leaping Tiger versus striped
B debate it has it has,I think, to a degree, divided
the fan base because you've got alot of folks who love the stripe B.
The primary logo put it a midfieldand obviously many want the leaping Tiger.

(57:21):
But then there's also the Mike Forddiscussion. Should the Red sign Mike
Ford or should they be okay losingMike Ford. So the question is which
issue poses a greater threat to Cincinnati'ssense of unity and togetherness. A to
sign Mike Ford or to lose MikeFord or B Leaping Tiger versus striped B.

(57:43):
Right now, seventy percent of youa little bit more than seventy percent
say leaping Tiger versus striped B.Fan base divided over this. Hopefully we
can all work through it. Brendanmanand Jones on baseball coming up at four
fifty. We'll try to squeeze somephone calls in. We are busy today.
In about an hour, we're gonnagive away tickets to the Turfway Park

(58:06):
Racing and Gaming Kentucky Derby party.Mike Ford is going to be at.
Mike Ford himself is not going tobe involved, but Mike Ford's career will
be involved, and Pat Brennan too. But first, Thomas Moore has a
new women's basketball coach. He isa familiar name to people who have followed
women's basketball here in town. He'lljoin us next on ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati's

(58:30):
ESPN. It's twenty five away fromfive o'clock. This is ESPN fifteen thirty
on Moeger. Thomas Moore University announcedearlier today they have a new women's basketball
coach. It's a very familiar namein face, both to the Thomas Moore
community and to the women's basketball communityhere in the greater Cincinnati area. Brian

(58:52):
Neil is returning to Thomas Moore.He had a very very successful stint in
his first go on as head coach. Obviously spent years as well as the
women's basketball coach at Xavier University,spent last season at Southeastern, and he
is coming back to coach Thomas Moore. You can't come home again, so

(59:15):
to speak. It's good to haveyou, coach. Welcome back home.
How are you, Well, it'sgreat to be home. I feel like
I'm full circle and it's just it'sjust great to be back in a tri
state area, that's for sure.Well, the good news is, you
know, you take over a programand you don't have very big shoes to
fill. Yeah. Just probably themost successful coach in women's basketball history,

(59:36):
you know, if you just goby percentages, yeah, it's just exactly
right. So kind of kind ofwalk us through the last few weeks this
process which has ended with you comingback to Thomas Moore. Well, you
know, the coaching carousel is veryunique. I never dreamed and that the
dominos would fall like they do.I took a job in Florida at Southeastern

(59:57):
University and a super play, verygood program, and kind of thought that
might be it for me. Andthen you know, then NKU opens up,
and then you find out Jefson themix there and next thing you know,
this has opened up. And soyou know, luckily I have you
know, great relationships, you know, with with Kerry Conner and some of
the folks here with Thomas Moore,and we were able to I think shorten

(01:00:21):
up the search a little bit atleast in my view. But it was
just, uh, it was justsomething I've been trying to get back to
the Tritate area in all honestly forfive years. I mean, you know,
I never really wanted to move awayjust to coach, but sometimes the
care still spitch you out and youdon't know where you're coming off. And
so to be able to come backto a place like Thomas Moore, a
program that is so respected i meanacross the country and you go out there

(01:00:44):
and everybody really knows who Thomas Mooreis and what they've done over the years,
and so it's just it's just ajust an honor, a privilege to
be back. This is this islate in the process. It's it's May
the second. What sort of challengesdoes the timing of this present to you?
Well, it doesn't. There's alwaysa challenge. And then you know,
everybody worries about getting the next kidin. We we certainly need to

(01:01:06):
get in the portal and find aplayer too, but the main challenges all
of our young ladies have just left. So I got to meet with the
team. But you know, startingto build the relationships that are so important
to a team's success is really whatI need to get started on. And
that you know, unfortunately that's goingto be on zoom calls and telephone calls
and things like that. But recruitingis next, figuring out our staff situation,

(01:01:29):
those are all our priorities over thenext couple of weeks. So with
the players that you for for lackof a better word, and hearing you're
you're gonna chat with them, You'regoing to talk with them, But what
can you do when when's the nexttime you can get them individually in the
gym. Well, it'll be awhile. We can get them together for
our camps in the summer and wecan hang out and do some stuff like
that, but we we really won'tbe able to do anything on the floor

(01:01:51):
until school starts, you know,in the fall or late summer. Uh,
walk us through what it was like. I mean, look, you
you did a killer job in yourfirst go around on to Thomas Moore,
and and it just it kept buildingfrom there with with coach hands and obviously
you were part of it when hecame back for the one season to work
under him. What was it likewatching the foundation that you helped build a
Thomas Moore get built upon and thenstacked upon even further. Oh, it

(01:02:15):
just just a tremendous amount of pride. You know, Jeff Hann's one of
my my best friends in the world, and just you know, I was
so thrilled when he got it.I knew he would do. I mean,
nobody could dream he would accomplish whathe did. But you know,
just so much pride in this place. And I tell you so, when
I guess the first tweet wherever hitthis morning, my phone started blowing up
and from from the Thomas Moore Nation, former players and coach. It just

(01:02:38):
fans. It was just it's beenall day and it was just, you
know, we are not the redsof the Bengals, but the people there.
There are a lot of people whothink that Thomas Moore women's basketball is
really important, and it was justa need to be back a part of
that today. Uh, walk methrough the process of reaching out. Where
do you begin recruiting? Stuff likethat? How's this? How's this going

(01:02:59):
to work? Again? In particularconsidering the late timing of this, Well,
I have I'm going to call allof the commits as soon as we
go to the phone here and I'llstart that process. We just had the
press conference and doing this, andthen I got some phone calls to make.
I got a couple of other kids. I'm aware of the possible recruits
that I know of that I'm goingto call, and so we're just going
to you know, just go througha try. I don't want to rush,

(01:03:22):
you don't want to make it.You don't want to make a mistake
going too fast, but I want, you know, take a break,
I take a breath and just startto get to those of people explain what
we're going to try to do hereand then find some good fits for for
our program. You'll you'll talk toyoung ladies from this general area. I'm
sure, but I mean, youknow, Thomas Moore, it's such a
respected program. It's important to somany people. So you know, you

(01:03:45):
talk to a player who doesn't knowThomas Moore, doesn't know Northern Kentucky.
Give me an idea of some ofthe questions that you often get, that
you expect to get and how youanswer them. Well, I sell obviously
the tradition, and we've been sellingthat for a long time here. But
we sell the area. You know, you know if you don't know it
the greatest since that the area.Of course you know it's near near at
all of our hearts, but yousell the area and the school and all

(01:04:09):
those types of things. And inrecruiting, though I know you've talked to
a million coaches of the years,you don't get everybody. You get told
no, whether you get told yes. But if you do your job and
you do your homework, you findthe ones that fit you. And and
that's really important. I don't tryto force it just because you're talented.
It may not be a good fit. And I've learned some of those hard

(01:04:29):
lessons over the years. So it'sjust talented and everything. You have to
find the people that fit your personalityand want to play and respect the things
that you're preaching and teaching. Andso just take our time start building those
relationships and hopefully find the player toothat'll they'll get us back what we want
to be. This may be adumb question. When you were the head
coach of Thomas Moore the first goaround, this was a Division three program.

(01:04:51):
It's now a Division two program.Give me an idea of maybe some
of the way that some of theways that changes things. Well, it's
every level you go up, itgets tougher, the coaching gets better,
the players are bigger, stronger,faster. Your margin for air is certainly
smaller. So yes, that's thechallenge, and I think it's a really

(01:05:11):
you know, with coach hands leavingone more year before we're full membership in
the Division two, it's just kindof like a really good opportunity to start
at another phase and just figure outeverything that's going to take to be successful
at this level. It's been agreat program for a long time, You're
a huge reason as to why andif it continues, obviously you'll be a
big reason as to why moving forward. Congratulations, welcome back to the Tri

(01:05:35):
State and we'll do it again soon. Coach, thanks so much. All
right, but I appreciate you.You got it. Brian Neil, the
new women's basketball coach at Thomas Moore, spent seven seasons as the head coach
of Thomas Moore and his final yearin twenty ten to twenty eleven, they
go thirty and one, and obviouslya program that Jeff Hans took to national

(01:05:57):
championships and what he did at ThomasMoore was a major reason why NKU wanted
to hire him. And now BrianNeal spent a number of years at Xavier,
was the coach when the Musketeers movedinto the Big East, did a
very good job rebuilding that program amidsome pretty painful obstacles, and back of
Thomas Moore where he had so muchsuccess in the late two thousand's and early
twenty tens. All right, itis eighteen away from five o'clock. We

(01:06:23):
are Pat Brennan's going to be onthe show at five twenty Does does Pat?
Does? Pat? Think we're justgoing to talk about FC Cincinnati.
Is he expecting to be ambushed?I mean, what's what's Pat expecting here?
Do we know he knows? Heknows. I want to know about
the blupenza thing here? Everybody's bigmanity broke us. Do we know how
he broke his jaw? That's weird. I mean like he could have been

(01:06:45):
in some sort of accident. Butif like somebody you know, showed up
and they got a broken jaw,you're assuming fight right something? Yeah,
said the wrong thing to the wrongperson. Maybe Pat knows. Uh.
Seventeen away from five o'clock five one, three, seven, four nine,

(01:07:08):
fifteen thirty and eight six six,seven oh two three seven seven six.
This is ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sportsstation looking to step up your Mother's Day.
Flop Buddy has been traded twelve awayfrom five o'clock Brendiman and Jones on
baseball coming up in uh in justa few minutes. Uh, we'll get

(01:07:30):
to kind of the I want tosay, the aftermath of a disappointing road
trip. But the Reds we've madea lot of the schedule. It's it's
only gonna get tougher over the courseof the next few weeks. Uh,
this team is is, I thinkin a very very weird place. We
will dive into all that coming upat five oh five. We'll have fun

(01:07:51):
with Pat. But I've seen Cincinnatiseason to me has been kind of interesting
because if if you were to followsome of the the ins and outs of
the roster, who's not been available, who they've played without some of them
the more disappointing performances, and you'venot so much paid attention to the league

(01:08:11):
itself or even really how they've played, I think you might draw the conclusion
that this team is not having avery good season. And certainly if you
hold them up against last year.Last year, for a while, it
felt like they were just a machine, right just for most of the season,
they were the best team in theleague. This year has been a
little bit rougher. They're not infirst place, they're in second place in

(01:08:33):
the Eastern Conference. And so we'regonna get to all that and talk a
little basketball with Pat Brennan coming upin just about twenty five thirty minutes.
We are looking forward to that plusour turf Waight Park giveaway. We've had
a lot of fun with the MikeFord thing. We're gonna have more fun
with the Mike Ford. The micFord thing is, if you don't know,

(01:08:56):
he has opted out of his dealwith the Reds, a minor league
deal. He had been putting upgood numbers in Louisville, Reds have forty
eight hours to decide to add himto the active roster, add him to
the forty man roster, or losehim to whoever Mike Ford would go sign
with. And because of the Red'sdepth issues and because they've had to rely
on that depth so much, thereare a lot of folks on social media,

(01:09:18):
understandably so, that have acted likethe Reds are on the verge of
maybe losing a guy who's a multipletime All Star and a foundational piece,
and so we've had a lot offun with that. The reality is,
the bottom of the roster there's alwayschurn, and you should always be looking

(01:09:39):
for upgrades. How much of anupgrade is Mike Ford from anybody else at
the bottom end of that roster,Probably not much of one. But if
you are not getting anything from thebottom of the roster anything, and the
Reds aren't, and you're having touse those guys on a regular basis,
Well, how do you not examinean option like a Mike Ford. More

(01:10:04):
on that coming up here in justa bit, But first, before the
michelob Ultra Happy Hour, Brendman andJones on baseball Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty.
Traffic from the UC Health Traffic Center. The experts at the UC Gardner Neuroscience
Institute's Brain Tumor Center offer patients accessto leading edge treatments and unmatched comprehensive care.

(01:10:29):
Learn more at uc health dot com. There's police activity reported on two
seventy five South near the Indiana Kentuckystate line. You're stopping go from the
Indiana Ohio state line. And there'sa disabled blocking the right lane seventy one
South at four to seventy one.You're stopping go from Martin Luther King Drive.
I'm John Crawford with traffic this weekcovers the Bengals. Like ESPN fifteen

(01:10:49):
to thirty, Cincinnati's sports station.All right, it's five minutes afrifive.
This is ESPN fifteen thirty on moLeedgor. Thank you so much for listening
to our show today and hopefully you'rehaving an unbelievable Thursday, because I am
a great employee and really, morethan anything, a great team member.

(01:11:11):
You know. During Brenneman and Jones, we we had a little bit of
a we have some time. AndI had heard Brennanman and Jones this morning
on the Mike McConnell Show on sevenhundred WLWS, So I thought, you
know what it's I'm not here tomorrow. It's basically my Friday. It's the
five o'clock happy hour. The fiveo'clock happy Hour is a service of michelob

(01:11:34):
Ultra and so me being thirsty andbeing the great teammate that I am,
I walked over to the gas stationnext to the radio station and I bought
a six pack of michelob Ultra.Tarin Howe feeling pretty good. I appreciate
you saying anything for you. Wegot a nice cold it's hot outside like

(01:11:54):
if this. I love summer.I love hot weather. So you're gonna
have every you real they don't havea spring anymore, and we just kind
of go from winter to summer.Good. I don't want spring. I
want summer, A nice hot summerday like today. On May second,
calls for an ice cold michelob UltraThe only thing about like having to talk
for the next ten minutes or so, is it it keeps me from being

(01:12:16):
able to take a sip. AndI'm not going to do that into the
microphone. But pretty good, Iam. I should have done here,
No, because I'm not gonna dothat, because I was gonna be nice
and go out into the office andsee if any of the people who are
actually still working would like one.And I don't want to give an open

(01:12:36):
beer. I gave Tarin two.I have one. Our buddy Austin's working.
I gave him one and we havetwo left. So if you are
in the building listening to this showyou want a nice cold Mick culture,
you're good to go. All right, perfect hot day. It's great.
I love it, love it.Reds do not have a game today.

(01:12:57):
They are home this weekend the BaltimoreOrioles in town. They in the regular
season at least have kind of pickedup picked up from where they left off
last year. They are now twentyand eleven. They went today over the
Yankee seven. They've been awesome athome and they won today at Camden Yards
seven to two. Reds a kindof a weird road trip where I don't

(01:13:18):
think they played terribly, but theyplayed shorthanded. Hunter Green's going to get
the ball tomorrow, and what we'reall hoping for is Hunter can build upon
what he's done his last couple ofstarts. His last start on Saturday against
the Rangers was awesome. Marty Entrace. He did talk about that on yesterday
show. Where the impressive thing washe did kind of run circles around that

(01:13:41):
Texas lineup. So that's a goodlineup. It's a good Baltimore lineup that'll
come to town tomorrow. Need morein length, need another qualities start from
Hunter Green. Let's see if hecould take another step forward. Let's also
see what the roster looks like.The Reds are kind of in a weird
place. If we were to wedid this earlier this week, kind of
look at the first five weeks,I think we would say marginal success.

(01:14:04):
They avoided the bad start. Weremember every year, every February, every
March, we talk incessantly about howthey have to have to avoid the bad
start, have to avoid what wasit twenty nineteen one in eight out of
the gate or twenty twenty two threeand twenty two out of the gate or
twenty eighteen, three and fifteen outof the gate have to avoid that they

(01:14:27):
did. They've been above five hundredor at least they've been about five hundred,
I think since Game three of theseason, so they've had a winning
record the entire time. It's notentirely true, because I think at one
point they were six and six,but nonetheless, you get the point.
They've done okay, and they've doneokay in spite of no McClain, no
freed Ole, Frankie Montas has gottenhurt, no Noel a Marte, some

(01:14:51):
players have underperformed, and yet theywill go into the first weekend of May
with a winning record, at leastwithin arm's length of first place, and
as legitimately as they were at thebeginning of the season, harboring bona fide
postseason hopes. And I'm gonna geta tattoo that says this because I say

(01:15:15):
it every day. And what they'retrying to do is really hard, get
to the postseason and win the divisionwhile they're developing players, because there are
so many players on this team whoare still developing, including the guy who
gets the ball tomorrow. But justin terms of this year and the goal

(01:15:35):
of winning this year. It kindof feels like they're in a weird place,
right. They have survived not havinga bad start. They have figured
out a way to stay afloat withoutthe players that I just mentioned. They've
taken care of business against bad teams, and yet they just went two and

(01:15:56):
four on the road trip. Theyhave failed to win each of their last
three series. I think what Tonysaid it to me. They have won
just two of their last eight series. It hasn't gone great now. They

(01:16:17):
have avoided they avoided getting swept bythe Padres, and they avoided getting swept
by the Rangers, and they heldtheir own against a good Philly team.
They did get swept at Seattle,but they at least came back and swept
the Angels. They're sixteen and fifteen. They have figured out a way to
get by without the players they don'thave, and yet things feel like they're

(01:16:45):
kind of on shaky ground. Partof that is the schedule. They play
a very good Baltimore team. Theyplay next week an Arizona team that I
think, relative to everybody's expectations comingoff going to the World Series last year,
has underperformed. But that's still acapable Arizona team, and then it's
it's another trip back out West,then home for more games against the Padres,

(01:17:09):
home for the Dodgers, the Cardinalsat the end of the month,
in Chicago for the Cubs. AnotherCub series here in early June, the
Guardians come here, they go toMilwaukee like it's the next five or six
weeks are going to be an overusedterm, a gauntlet. The team is

(01:17:29):
not playing exceptionally well, not playingnecessarily poorly, though defensively. The other
night was kind of a train wreckon Wednesday in San Diego. But they're
also kind of in a weird placejust with the roster, Like we can
go on and on and on andon about well, they're playing without Matt
McClain, MA McClain, my guessis not going to play this year.

(01:17:50):
They're going to go on and onand on about how they're playing okay without
Noelve Marte. He's going to missforty nine more games, and on and
on and on about not having TJ. Free. He's at least coming close.
He's starting a rehab assignment here,but it's a little while before he
comes back. And they've also gota bottom of the roster. That's bad.

(01:18:10):
And then in between some guys they'vechosen to play without, but they
haven't put on the injured list TylerStevenson, Christian and Karnassi on strand Jake
Frayley now in a vacuum like ithappens guys get sick, or guys deal

(01:18:30):
with Nixon bruises or minor ailments thatdon't require a stay on the disabled list.
I'm sorry, injured list, andyou figure, okay, well,
let's get through a game or twowithout them and will be okay. It's
one thing to do that with aplayer. The Reds try to do it
with three, and their depth isalready tested, right like this is already

(01:18:54):
a team that is, they've gotguys on the roster that ordinarily wouldn't be
here. My guess is Bubba Thompsonwouldn't be a Red right now if TJ.
Friedel were healthy, and Santiago Espadahlwouldn't be a part of this organization,
if Matt McClain were healthy. Whenyou're already testing your depth and then

(01:19:14):
you choose to play without three guys, it really exposes your lack of depth.
And so I'm really kind of curiousas to what happens now with the
players they played without in San Diegothat are not on the injury list.
Are we gonna do this anymore?Are we gonna do it again tomorrow?
Are we gonna willingly play games withoutguys against the Orioles? We're gonna do

(01:19:36):
it next week? And if whatwe have seen foreshadows some of those guys
maybe having to go on the injurylist, oh man, I'm not sure
that's an entirely better option, butat least you'll play with a warm body
that you could use in the game. I'm this is not a criticism of
really the Reds as a whole.I do wonder this past week in San

(01:20:00):
Diego. Like again, it's it'sone thing if you're gonna try to get
through a couple of games without oneguy. It's something else when they have
twenty six and you have twenty threeand the guys at the bottom of the
roster are now like Nick Martini andlike Bubba Thompson, who are being asked
to do more, they're not verygood players. Like just call of what
it is. Nick Martiniz might bea funny guy in the clubhouse, he

(01:20:21):
not a good player. Santiago Espinalis not a very good offensive player.
Or do they have their moments?Of course they do, but come on,
man, look at the numbers andthen just watch the app bats.
Bubba Thompson looks incapable of hitting bigleague pitching. You chose to use some
of those guys more than you wouldlike to this week because you chose to

(01:20:44):
play shorthanded. Could that come backto haunt them? I don't know,
but they they're in sort of aweird place, like you can't be dissatisfied
with what they've done to this point. You could be dissatisfied with some individual
perform we've highlighted them. Some ofthe guys have to play better. Jamer
Candelario might not be a great offensiveplayer. He's got to be better than

(01:21:06):
he has been now. To befair, he hit the ball pretty well
and swung a good bat in SanDiego. And Tyler Stevenson when he comes
back health, he needs to doa little bit more, you know.
Christian and Carnassio Strand everybody loves hisupside, but a big boy, I
need an ops above six hundred.Like some of the guys who are expected
to play a lot have to playbetter, but you really put yourself behind

(01:21:28):
the eight ball when you play shorthandedand the dudes at the bottom of your
roster or at the guys the Redshave at the bottom of their roster.
What they did in San Diego isnot sustainable and it takes us to a
place where we end up wondering doesn'tmake sense to add Mike Ford to the
active roster. That's where we are. Mike Ford bounced around, moved on

(01:21:53):
twice with the Reds under a minorleague deal, not somebody who's got you
know, big league teams bothering hisagent non stop to get Mike Ford.
That's where we are. We arelegitimately wondering if Mike Ford could stop the
bleeding. This team just badly needsto win a series. I mean,
you don't want to talk about mustwin games in May, but you know

(01:22:16):
you gotta avoid long losing streaks.But you gotta win series too. So
the last three obviously they didn't winthe two, the lost, the two
on the road trip, split theone against Philadelphia. Gotta get a series
win against a good Baltimore team theirdeath right now. The Reds severely tested
the most of the hurt guys notcoming back anytime soon. Gonna really play

(01:22:38):
again shorthanded this weekend. The answeris yes, it's gonna be really tough
to swallow. Aby Mike Ford cancome to the rescue. Seventeen minutes after
five o'clock, we're giving away ticketsto a Turfway Park Racing and Gaming's Kentucky
Derby party, which is Saturday.We're giving those way. Coming up in
fifteen minutes, we're gonna play agame. It's similar to the games we

(01:23:01):
have been playing. Uh, we'relooking for two contestants five point three seven
four nine, fifteen thirty eight sixsix seven oh two three seven seven six
that coming up at five thirty three. But first our buddy Pat Brennan on
the Orange and Blue and FC Cincinnation ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports Station.
So I didn't play this. Thisis I'm not responsible for this. I

(01:23:26):
thought we would talk about Kevin Kelseyjoining FC Cincinnati and what happened to Aaron
Boo Penn's jaw and the game onSaturday. FC Cincinnati is on the road
against Orlando. That's why we're callingPat Brennan. Pat covers FC Cincinnati for
the Cincinnati Inquirer and Cincinnati dot Com, and he's with I just I wanted
to have yawn to talk about soccer, but also check in and see how

(01:23:48):
you were doing. Well. Thanks, Mo, I know you truly care.
I do. I'm doing. I'mdoing okay. I assume that comment
your you're line of question there relatesto the Sixers next series, and I
do feel I feel good about tonight. I don't feel great about the series.
I'm just gonna tell you I wantto I want to opt out.

(01:24:11):
I want to cash out, youknow, like if you gamble, I
want to cash out. Yeah,oh yeah, the early cash out.
Yeah yeah, yeah. Well wecan do that. We can get together
and do our thing. But youknow, on the cigar front. But
you know, I think, asa general rule, and I said this,
uh to the producer before I cameon, when these first round series
go along, I feel like that'susually not always, that's a kiss of

(01:24:33):
death for both teams. And we'relooking at Game six tonight, Phillies at
home. I think they will forceGame seven and ultimately lose there back in
New York. But this is justlike we said before, we before the
series started this is This was arough, rough draw for both teams for
a first round series. So thekiss of the kiss of death is when

(01:24:57):
you're at home and and you're leadingby six and uh, the crowd is
going wild and then Tyrese Maxi turnsinto Reggie Miller. That's yeah, and
you let it get away like it'sI've lived this my entire life, not
just as a Knicks fan, I'velived this in my entire life as basically

(01:25:18):
a sports fan. I know howthis ends, and it will not end
tonight. It will continue, andthen it's gonna end on Saturday, and
I'm going to be miserable. Thatwould be truly shocking. I truly don't
think that's gonna happen through. Ithink you'll be okay. But again,
these teams will just have scratched andclawed each other's eyes out to the point

(01:25:38):
where they're so feeble in the secondround it I kind of don't think it'll
matter. But I think you'll befine. Uh maybe you'll be a happy
boy tonight. It could be well, well we'll see Aaron bou Penza has
a broken jaw. Was Joe Ellenbiideinvolved? No, No of the of
the injuries that Joe Well has sustained, I don't think the broken jaws want

(01:26:02):
and there are a great many atthis point in his career, no,
but sustained or inflicted upon others,right right, Well, listen, I
hopefully will have a little more newsto share on this subject in a few
minutes. But yeah, Aaron,obviously he's out six to eight weeks and

(01:26:27):
that is because of an off fieldincident that resulted in a broken jaw for
him. He went under the knifeto repair that broken jaw today, I
understand. And yeah, on aday when FC Cincinnati introduced a very promising
nineteen year old Venezuelan striker who figuredto play alongside Aaron, the day kind

(01:26:53):
of became about a player that overthe course of the rest of the season
might be replacing Aaron permanent Well inthe short term while Aaron is out for
up to two months and then potentiallyyou know, beyond that. So it's
a it's a little bit of asituation fually Cincinnati is sorting through right now.
I want to ask about who they'vebrought in, and I don't want

(01:27:15):
you to give away your reporting here, but there's I think a great amount
of I know, there's a greatamount of least on social media, fan
exasperation with Aaron is that shared withthe within the halls of FC Cincinnati's training
center. You know, I thinkit's twofold, the way they feel about

(01:27:36):
the way they probably feel about Aaron. There's no question that as of today,
you know, May May second,I think we're at AMMO. If
you'd gone back, if we wentback to the day Aaron Bupenza arrived last
summer and asked people a forecast,you know, what kind of a trajectory

(01:27:57):
would this player be on come Maysecond, twenty twenty four, you wouldn't,
you know, A broken jaw andlooking at two months on the sideline
is not what you would have forecasted, you know, playing and simple.
On top of that, he hasn'tproduced the goals that he's supposed to be
the man at FC Cincinnati, andhe hasn't produced the goals that kind of

(01:28:17):
need to come with that mantle,you know, in the big salary and
all that. But you know,then there's another recognition of what Aaron did
for this team down the stretch lastyear. People will remember that a very
talented goal scorer Brenner left the club. FC Cincinnati needed to plug that hole.
They did it in the aggregate withseveral players that were already here,

(01:28:41):
but they really needed kind of atop level talent to get them over the
line and help them win their firsttrophy, and Aaron did that. He
was kind of I think the goldstandard for goal scorers in Europe is kind
of a goal every other game ora goal every third game. You were
getting that from Aaron. And likeI said, that's considered the gold standard

(01:29:01):
from a top level striker, Soyou were getting that from Aaron. He
helped this team wrap up the SupporterShield, which was their first major trophy.
People appreciate that, but there's noquestion this is This is not you
know, the first time Aaron hasbeen in the news for off field incidents.
You know, he was suspended bythe team for a game for returning

(01:29:24):
repeated lateness is returning from international duty, and you know, it seems like
a litany of other things. Howcould that not wear on you? You
know, I guess is how I'mlooking on it. But the guy did
some good here. He's not goneyet. I think you will see him
in orange and blue again. Butyeah, this is this is not where

(01:29:44):
you want one of your highest yourtop three highest paid players to be,
right now. That's frustrating when whenyou and I last talked, this team
was trying to end a two gamelosing streak. They've done that by getting
six points over the last two games. And you know, I think I've
done this with the you look atthe standings, they're second place in the
Eastern Conference. I think relative tohow unevenly they've played at times and all

(01:30:08):
the injuries and all the just stuffthat has been thrown at this club,
that is a smashing success. RightYeah, I think so absolutely. I
think they're pretty significantly ahead of schedulein terms of where I thought they'd be
this year. And I thought they'dyou know, make the playoffs and contend
for the MLS Cup and all thatstuff. I didn't think they were going

(01:30:29):
to be bad, but you know, just with kind of the herky jerky
nature of all the personnel they lostin the off season, some of the
struggles they've had this year, asyou pointed out, having to balance the
Champions Cup, Yeah, you havethat. Not only are they in second
place, MO the three points backof first place Miami and they have a

(01:30:49):
game in hand, so conceivably they'llbe right there with Miami in due time.
That is very impressive, especially considering, you know, the four goals
they've scored over these last two gamesthat they won, those all came with
Aaron Bupenza sitting on the bench.You know, that makes it more impressive.
Aaron hadn't been delivering goals at theclip he needed this year, but

(01:31:13):
he can still produce things at amoment's notice. He's he's got that raw
talent and raw ability. So thefact that they're doing this with Aaron on
the bench suggests to me that there'smore than more than a snowballs chance that
they can continue to produce goals whilehe's out for the next six to eight
weeks. And yeah, I mean, it's it's crazy to think they've come

(01:31:36):
to this point with all the movingparts, and especially the talent they lost
last year was really incredible. ButI think they're ahead of schedule from where
they should be moment. What isKevin Kelsey at Well, in the medium
term, he could end up beinga really really solid fill in for Aaron
Bupenza. This kid is old,nineteen years old, you know, I've

(01:31:59):
been getting I've been on the wrongend of I've been on the butt end
of some social media teasing mo peopleteasing me from my turn and phrase I
said one day Kevin Kelsey. Look, he's a physical freak, in my
opinion, is what I think.We met him today. Super nice kid.
He's nineteen years old. Pat Noononhad glowing things to say about him.
He's already staying after practice, He'sasking coaches to stay after with him

(01:32:24):
and help him. And this isa player that's already scored in the Champions
League over in Europe. So thisis like a top level prospect, a
top level phenom that ef C Cincinnatihas on its hands. But I described
him as physically formidable. His framewas formidable. People didn't like that.
But he is physically that I don'tknow. You'd have to ask some of

(01:32:47):
these knuckles physically formidable. Is notone of them called physically formidable? Are
you kidding me? In my currentstate, if someone called me physically formidable,
I would I would, you know, I'd be walking on air.
But this guy is physically formidable,huge, you know, he with with

(01:33:08):
a with a frame, he broadshoulders, big tree trunk, legs.
With a frame like that, youcan play with the defender on your back,
receive the ball, distribute to playersaround you, and also turn and
have a shot for yourself. Sohe potentially you gotta like kind of you
know, be reasonable because he isnineteen, he's in another new country.

(01:33:30):
He's from Venezuela, and he justcame from you know, Ukraine, which
was not an easy assignment, ashe described for us today, their aspects
of competing in near near, notin, but near wars that are very
challenging for a nineteen year old.But this guy is adaptable, you know,
considering where he's where he's come from. And yeah, I mean all

(01:33:51):
of that votes very very well forhis future. Here. FC Cincinnati on
the road on Saturday against Orlando,and then they play Columbus, which is
is you know, next week isgoing to be a lot of fun.
It's the rematch of the Eastern Conferencefinal. But you know, I was
watching that match that night and Columbusscores, you know, within the last

(01:34:13):
five minutes of regulation, and Iturned to the guy that I was watching
with and I said, I knowhow this ends. And that's exactly how
I feel about the Knicks. SoI was right then. Unfortunately I hope
I'm wrong. Tonight we will see. I was appreciate you coming on man,
Thank you. Yeah, I appreciateyou. MO. Thanks a lot,
buddy, Pat Brennan, make sureyou follow him on Twitter, slash
x at P Brennan E and Q. Reading in the Inquirer and Cincinnati dot

(01:34:36):
Com. You know it's it's KentuckyDerby weekend. We have one more set
of tickets, four of them,four tickets to Turfway Parks, racing and
gaming. It's their Kentucky Derby Party. It says here Kentucky Derby partiesn't quotes.
It's this Saturday. They're gonna havebetting, believe it or not.

(01:34:58):
You could bet on the horse racesbetting. They're gonna have a DJ They're
gonna have a hat contest, soyou could wear your Kentucky Derby hat.
They're gonna have family friendly activities inthe event that you're like, you know
what, I'm taking my kids.That's awesome. They're gonna have the naked
karate girls. This is gonna bea good time. You could get tickets

(01:35:19):
to their Kentucky Derby party by goingto Turfway dot com. Or you can
call five one three seven four ninefifteen thirty. That's our phone number,
that's our show five one three sevenfour nine fifteen thirty and uh, and
you might win tickets. We're lookingfor contestants. I think you know what
we're gonna do, right, ButI think I've made this mostly easy.

(01:35:44):
We're gonna test your knowledge of aguy that the city is on edge waiting
to see what happens to them,Mike Ford, Mike Ford Trivia to pick
them up tomorrow. You've got tobe able to pick up the tickets tomorrow,
yes, which I know that's goingto disqualify some folks, which is
fine. Five one three seven fournine, fifteen thirty. If you want

(01:36:05):
to go to this big Kentucky Derbyparty on Saturday. Uh, and if
you want to go on our dime, call five one three seven four nine
fifteen thirty. Good luck. It'stwenty four from six o'clock on ESPN fifteen
thirty. Cincinnati Sports Station, Cincinnati'sESPR Sports Headlines of service of Kelsey Chevrolet,

(01:36:26):
Home of lifetime powertrain protection and guaranteedcredit approval from their family to yours
for life kelsey chef dot com.You know, Pat Brennan said, I'll
have some reporting. Here's what happened. He hung up the phone. Then
he reported Aaron Boopenzas. Cincinnati Policehave confirmed to a pat that Aaron was
punched in the face by an unknownsuspect, causing physical injury. It happened

(01:36:46):
around two o'clock in the morning onMonday at Rasconi's on West Sixth, which,
uh I've been to. I thinkthat used to be Fb's, right,
you said, where was the location, Rasconi's on West Sixth. Yeah,
Rasconi's downtown. That's my spots.That's a good spot, right,
Yes, I've been there before.It used to be a place called Fb's.

(01:37:11):
I don't think I would have gonethere had they offered me a million
dollars. But Rasconi's is pretty good. Not so much, I guess for
Aaron because I got a broken jaw. Now. Wow, yeah, that's
not on the menu, is it. No? Okay, des Claude is
going to USC. It's funny.I was told by a lot of insiders
he's going to Yukon. Done deal. Well he didn't. He's gonna go

(01:37:36):
play at USC. The Reds don'thave a game today. They will host
the Baltimore Orioles tomorrow in the firstof a three game series, a rematch
of the nineteen seventy World Series.Hopefully this series goes better, but there
is news. TJ. Friedel isoff to Louisville on a rehab assignment.
Same for Alex Young. Best ofluck to them. By the way,

(01:37:58):
tomorrow night's game. If you don'tknow six' ten first pitch, you
know, boo, you don't likethe six to ten first pitch? Not
for me? Okay, out hertime? Oh, I see, I'm
not here tomorrow. Chad Brendle ishosting the show, so you have that
to look forward to. And we'vegot a contest. Are we ready for
this? Oh? Brian Neil,new women's basketball coach at Thomas Moore,

(01:38:20):
joined us an hour ago and hewas awesome. Will be up later.
The podcast will be up later.Sponsored by a long neck Sports Grill.
All right, it's it's time togive away our last set of tickets to
go to this Turfway Park, Racingand Gaming Kentucky Derby party. It's the
one and fiftieth run for the Roses. We have a couple of contestants.

(01:38:41):
We have David Taring. You haveto do this because one day you have
to teach me how to put multiplecalls on the air at the same time.
We have David and we have Ben. David, how are you?
I'm good? How are you guysgoing? Man? David, We've never
been better? And we have Ben? Ben? What's going on? I'm
doing good? Matter? How aboutyou? Awesome? All right? Tarren?
Who is gonna call the virtual coinflip? We will let be in

(01:39:05):
called? All right, Ben,go ahead, call the virtual coin in
the Airheads or tails? Tales neverfails. Tails never fails. Arran can
whoa man that almost took out alight? What do we have Tarren?
When this case? Tales failed?Today? Tals failed? All right?
So, uh so David gets topick whether or not he wants to play

(01:39:25):
Mike Ford trivia or let Ben attemptto play Mike Ford trivia. David at
your call, I'm gonna let I'mgonna let Ben do it a totally fine
whatever? All good? I putDavid on hold. We will let Ben.
Ben. Do you know who MikeFord is? I do not great.
Well. Mike Ford spent spring trainingwith the Reds and then he said,

(01:39:45):
you know, I don't want toplay for the Reds minor league team,
and then nobody else wanted him.So he went to Louisville and he
killed it. He raked, heput up big numbers. But he's opted
out of his minor league deal.And so now the Reds have until tomorrow
to decide do we give him rosterspot in the big league club or do
we release him in a free agency? And you will find folks ben out
there on the internet who think thatMike Ford is the missing link to a

(01:40:10):
team that can win the World Series. So what we're going to do to
be topical is ask you five multiplechoice questions about Mike Ford. Are you
ready? I'm ready? Mike Fordhis most recent But you're gonna get three
out of the five, correct,three out of the five, and then
if you do, you're gonna goto the thing on Saturday. All right,
here we go. Mike Ford's mostrecent big league home run came against

(01:40:33):
the Reds. Who was the pitcherthat served it up? A Alexis d
As b Hunter green Seed Lion Richardson. I'm going to say, was it
Alexis Das Tarn No, it wasLion Richardson, Lion Richardson. Actually his
last two home runs Mike Fords havecome against the rights. That's okay,

(01:40:56):
Ben, you have four more questionsremaining, and if you get free right
yesterday the guy that won got thefirst two wrong and then came all the
way back. So don't don't despair, don't lose hope. Here we go.
Question number two? Are you ready? Yes? Mike Ford played his
college baseball at Princeton University. Hishead coach was a member of the nineteen

(01:41:17):
ninety two Reds. Was it aJeff Branson, B. Scott Bradley or
C. Hal Morris. I'm goingto say a can I get Jeff Branson?
No, it was Scott Bradley wasthe head coach of the Princeton baseball
team. Ben, hang in there, you're down, oh two, got

(01:41:41):
a rally one at a time.Gotta get Question number three? Are you
ready? Yes? Sir? MikeFord has a career batting average of six
sixty seven against this current Reds pitcherA Brent Souter, B. Frankie Montas
or C. Nick Martinez. I'mgonna stay a Brent Suter. You're gonna

(01:42:03):
say a Brent Suter Arrean. Dowe have a Brents No, Ben,
I'm so sorry you are I'm sorry. That's okay, that's all right.
We still wish. Hey. Youknow what all we can do is give
you a chance. Ben, havea great day, David. You did
absolutely nothing and you're gonna go toTurfway Park on Saturday. Congratulations, that's

(01:42:27):
awesome. Thank you guys that much. I appreciate it. Well, don't
thank me. Thank Ben for knowingnothing about Mike Ford. All Right,
stay on hold, Terran, We'llget you the terran. You want to
try the remaining two Mike Ford questions. Just for just for fun, let's
give it a shot, all right. Mike Ford, at the time of
his departure from the Louisville Bats,was second on the team in home runs
on this year's Louisville Bats squad.Who is the manager of the Louisville Bats,

(01:42:49):
Hey, Rick Sweet b Mark Berry, C. Pat Kelly. Let's
go see Pat Kelly. See PatKelly is correct? Very good. Mike
Ford has actually pitched in uh fourbig league games. He's recorded one strikeout

(01:43:10):
Hoodie strikeout a Roberto Perez. Thiscame in a game in twenty nineteen.
He was pitching against the then ClevelandIndians. A Roberto Perez b Jason Kidness
see Francisco Lindor Let's go be wasa Roberto Perez one for one, one
for one. That's all right,all right? If you want to win
tickets to the derby party and gohang out with David, go to Turfway

(01:43:33):
dot com. Congratulations to David,Thanks to well, thanks to everybody who
put up with that all week long. It is twelve minutes away from six
o'clock. This is ESPN fifteen thirtyCincinnati Sports Station. Hey, it's Maleager
with my guys. It is eightaway from six o'clock. Terren just set
in my ear that people are madat Jermaine Burton. Why are they mad
at Jermaine Burton? That's the lineupquestion. Oh they're mad at the number

(01:43:58):
because he took eighty one instead ofYeah, three, we is don't Yeah,
I kind of think it is tooright. We have like three minutes
here? Yeh, all right,Mike are you there? Yeah, sir
right here? Good, very muchgood. I'd like to I'd like to

(01:44:20):
be the first and congratulate you onthe very infamous sports Broadcaster of the Year.
Humanitarian award really for your for yourdevoted team spirit. And when you
pick up the trophy, which consistsof two bronzed forty ounce fears sitting atop

(01:44:40):
a bronze to six pack, Wow, that sounds amazing. I don't have
a trophy gase, but it wouldlook good. It would look good.
I thought there might be a compare. Thanks for taking a car. I
thought there might be a good comparison, and you might be able to to
elaborate, you know more than Ibetween the long, deliberate rebuilding process of

(01:45:04):
the Orioles to the rebuilding process ofyoung players for the Cincinnati Reds. I
haven't. I haven't dived, aswe say, too deep into that.
The Orioles have drafted really, reallywell. Now, they were good in
the middle part of the last decade, right they had They had teams under

(01:45:28):
Buck show Walter that that made thepostseason and then hit an absolute rock bottom
patch that seem to last for avery long time. But you know,
to me, they they just theydid it in the most organic way possible,
which I think is hard to doin that division when you have Boston
and New York and yet the Raysare competitive every year and it looks like

(01:45:48):
the Orioles are going to be goodfor quite a while. Yep, I
just thought that was I'm gonna diveinto it a little further too, but
it should be a good series.I just worry about that home run power
of the uh those in our littleGAVP. But hopefully our pitchers can keep
that down. Hey deucee, thesedeuce is on the loose tonight now.

(01:46:10):
Brother. So I didn't know muchabout Duce McBride, but I know Huggs
coached him, so I know heknows how to play serious d and he
has to hustle because you don't playBridges unless your hustle. But offensively,
man, he's come around. Ihaven't been hit to deucem account Deuce McBride,
but what a what a dynam dudeoff the bench mo? Yeah,

(01:46:30):
I mean he he really has workedhis way, first of all, onto
the team. You know, hewas with their G League team in Westchester
for a while. That's when wehad him on the show two years ago.
He's from Moler High School, He'sfrom West Virginia. His his defensive
bona fides have never been called intoquestion. I think offensively it was a
matter of can he get a shotoff. What I love most about basketball

(01:46:54):
players, specifically role players, iswhen they don't do things that they can't
do. They don't make mistakes.So one of my all time favorite UC
players is Gary Clark. Now,Gary might have a bad game and he
would miss shots, but he nevermade a mistake. He didn't do things,
you know, outside of the rangeof his game. He didn't try

(01:47:14):
to he didn't take bad shots,he didn't miss defensive assignments. I think
that's really important, especially when you'rea role player. Du says. A
role player as a guy who handlesthe ball. He doesn't turn it over.
Uh. He doesn't try to createbad shots for himself. He throws
it to the right guy. Hemakes it when he's open as a backup
point guard in the NBA, andhe defends like crazy. You can't ask

(01:47:39):
for anything better. And the funthing about him is he's still just twenty
three years old. Mike, Igotta go, thanks though, thank you.
We're done, We're finished, We'reout of here. We're finnie where
you are? I am? Igot one more day. Terren's got one
more day. Uh. Michaelo Bultraa happy hour. Thank you again.
You're very welcome. We'll do thatevery Thursday or Friday, depending on my

(01:48:01):
schedule. Chance here tomorrow. Havea great weekend, have a great night,
have a great life. This isESPN fifteen thirty this week

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