5/9/24 - The Mo Egger Show - Mo Egger

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
He's a ESPN fifteen thirty Stone Statements. Meet your new Bengals. The Cincinnati
Bengals select stone Statements. Make astatement with your county tops, presented by
Riverside Electric. Never feel Powerless.Now Here's Moecher. With one of their
two third round picks in the twentytwenty four NFL Draft, the Bengals selected

(00:22):
a wide receiver whose production and skillsare impressive, but whose character has come
into question. Jermaine Burton averaged overtwenty yards per reception last season for Alabama,
and he led to Crimston tide inreceiving yards in each of the last
two seasons. Burton started thirty ninegames across four seasons during a college career
that began at Georgia, and notonly is he lightning quick, but he

(00:44):
has great hands, finishing his lastcollege season with zero drops. There wads
an incident while Burton was in collegewhere he swung at a female Tennessee fan
during a field storming postgame celebration,and detractors will point out that Burton attended
six schools across the last eight years, but the Bengals insist they've done their
homework and that they have vetted outa wide receiver who they think can thrive

(01:07):
in an already potent offense. MeetBengals wide out Jermaine Burton Y Mo has
more on ESPN fifteen thirty, theofficial home of the Bengals. Hi,
what's up, good, ad Fornonmull Leger. That's my name. This
is ESPN fifteen thirty. That isthe name of the radio station. Thanks,

(01:30):
thanks for listening. Hopefully you're havingjust a wonderful Thursday afternoon. So
far not so good. Now,I will say this, and I say
this in an attempt to maybe providesome comfort. I say this in an
attempt to I don't believe in jinx's, but when you're desperate, you do

(01:53):
things that you typically maybe don't do, and so I'm doing this as a
manner of trying to jinx things.But over the years, one of the
more difficult things we do is ashow. It's not backbreaking work by any
stretch, but we do shows liketoday's where we are on while the Reds

(02:14):
are playing, and it's interesting.Last year was great because the games would
start at twelve forty. We hadthe pitch clocks. All the games were
fast, so they were often endingright when we hit the air. The
Reds are now starting weekday afternoon gamesat one ten in the afternoon, and
so there is a little bit ofoverlap when they're at home between their game

(02:36):
and ours. Right now, it'sthe top of the seventh inning. The
Diamondbacks, looking to polish off athree game series Sleep Sleep three game series
sweep, are leading the Reds threeto one in the top of the seventh
inning. But I'll say this,there is a track record on this show
which dates back I started doing Afternoonshere in two thousand and nine, a

(03:00):
track record on this show. Andat times it has been frustrating and at
times it has been really awesome.But there is a track record on this
show of whatever is happening in thegame as we start, as we go
on the air, turns out towell not be reflective of how the game

(03:21):
ends. That is a very overlycomplicated, overly eloquent, you might argue
way of saying that when the Redsare losing three to one and the seventh
inning and we go on the air, there's a decent track record on this
show of them coming back and winningthe game. Conversely, there's a good
track record of when we go onthe air and the Reds are winning in

(03:42):
the seventh or eighth inning, andyou know we're going to do the whole
instant reaction thing that they blow thegame. That's happened a bunch of times.
I mean, it's it's actually andI don't have a ton of like
concrete examples, but it has struckme through the years because I think about
this every time we have a showlike this where the Reds are at home
and they're wrapping up a series,wrapping up a homestand and we're on opposite

(04:05):
the end of the game. Itis. It is remarkable to me how
many times whatever way the game isgoing when we start is not how the
game ends. So we'll see it'sthree to one Arizona in the top of
the seventh inning. Hunter Green HunterGreen through Okay. Today The results were

(04:25):
fine. He gets through five,taken out of the sixth inning after allowing
a couple of base runners. Hisvelocity was down, but it kind of
looked to me like he was actuallypitching. And Hunter has been fine.
The starting pitching by and large hasbeen well fine. Unfortunately, the offense
continues its tour per Can I tourpoor can I go with that? The

(04:47):
offense continues to stink, and itcontinues to stink. It's stunk last night,
it stinks today, and that thatis nothing new. So we will
keep you updated on what's happening atGABP. Will bring you instant reaction to
the game from GABP, and wehave a couple of different Reds topics to

(05:08):
discuss as the afternoon moves on.Right now, three to one Diamondbacks Arizona
hitting in the top of the seventhinning at a GABP. By the way,
just posted the show preview video onx It's at maleger Thanks to our
friends at Emory Federal Credit Union mycredit union, your credit union, your

(05:29):
credit Union with heart since nineteen thirtynine. Do what I did. Become
a member. Go to EMORYFCU dotorg. So lots of Reds to get
to in about ten minutes. JakeZivin from an Apple TV MLS season pass
a massive game on Saturday. Columbusand FC Cincinnati have turned into one of

(05:50):
the great rivalries and in all ofMajor League Soccer. Geography is a big
reason why right a one hundred milessome of the really good games they've played
against each other. That's a reasonwhy. But what went down at the
Soccer Stadium on the West end ofCincinnati last December in the Eastern Conference Final,

(06:11):
a just heartbreaking loss for FC Cincinnatiat the hands of the Columbus Crew,
has added some spice to a rivalrythat will pit on Saturday, two
teams that both right now would qualifyfor the playoffs. Obviously it's a little
bit early for that, but Saturdaysshould be a lot of fun. Jake
Zimmon's going to join us Apple TVto talk about the season so far and

(06:34):
Saturday's tilt and the rivalry that iscoming up in just about ten minutes.
It has been as it has beenfor most college basketball programs, but in
particular for the Xavier basketball program.It's been really busy last couple of weeks,
and I think they've gotten some reallygood players in the transfer portal.
It's been busy, and so RickBrooring is going to join us in about

(06:56):
twenty five thirty minutes to kind ofsift through all the comings and goings to
the xavierman's basketball team. There arestill there's still one scholarship left, so
we'll get to all of that withRick coming up at three forty five from
a Musketeer Report dot com. Bythe way, Arizona just extended its lead.
It's now four to one d Backsin the top of the seventh inning.
Above and beyond all that, theBengals, I think we would say

(07:21):
it's been a good week for themso far. Right, Joe Burrow was
practicing. Joe Burrow threw some passesthat went viral. That's a good thing.
He is making progress. He isperhaps not where he needs to be
to play in a game, butthe first regular season game is still four
months away. Meanwhile, we've gottenthrough the heart of the offseason. The

(07:44):
only really a mile post to clearis the schedule release next Wednesday. By
the way, we'll have a schedulerelease show with Austin, Tony Lance,
and myself at Bad Tom Smith nextWednesday night, which is going to be
a really good time. But freeagency is for the most part coming gone,
and the draft has come and gone, and some of the bigger offseason

(08:05):
storylines have kind of been established andin many cases they have been settled,
and so now there are assessments ofthe roster. I thought this was interesting
and I think Tony and Austin mentionedthis earlier. Today, Aaron Shots of
ESPN does a piece today where heoutlines the biggest remaining roster holes for all

(08:28):
thirty two teams, and I thinkthis is a fun exercise to do.
It's in the aftermath of the draft. It's in the aftermath of the bulk
of free agency. The biggest remainingroster holes for all thirty two teams.
For the Bengals, he lists widereceiver. I'll read the caption for you.

(08:50):
I'm not huge into giving away otherpeople's content, but you could read
about the other thirty one teams ifyou want. Aaron Wrights, wide receiver
is only a quotation marks hole forthe Bengals because we still don't know what
will happen with franchise tag T Higginsand his trade request. If Higgins stays
in Cincinnati, the Bengals should havea reasonable group to fill out the wide

(09:13):
receiver depth chart, third round pickJermaine Burton, the always underrated Trent Irwin,
and promising second year receiver Andre Joseavash. However, any of these players
would be stretched as a full timestarter opposite Jamar Chase if the Bengals bring
Higgins back into the fold. Thebiggest hole might be cornerback depth of the

(09:33):
way. Positional change for Dax Hillhelps with that problem. So a couple
of different reactions to this, andwe're gonna spend a little bit more time
on this later on. Number one, I think we know what the Bengals
are gonna do with T Higgins.I mean, isn't it well established that
it would at the very least beshocking if they actually traded him. They

(09:58):
didn't trade him before the draft,they didn't trade him after the draft,
they didn't trade him at any pointduring the heart of the transactional part of
the of the offseason. Suddenly they'regonna trade him. I think we know
how this is gonna end up.It's gonna end up with T. Higgins
perhaps not arriving at training camp ontime, maybe skipping the preseason, and
then playing for the Bengals this yearand making close to twenty one million dollars.

(10:22):
The second reaction would be, ifwide receiver is the Bengals biggest hole,
then this roster should be awesome.We'll get to more of that coming
up in just a bit. Ournumbers are five point three, seven,
four, nine, fifteen thirty eightsix six seven h two three seven seven

(10:45):
six Massive match on Saturday. FCCincinnati and Columbus. Jag Zivin has the
call MLS Season Pass Apple TV.He joins us next on ESPN fifteen thirty
since Saturday Night's gonna be a lotof fun up in Columbus of a great
rivalry. The hell is reel derbythe latest edition rematch of last year's MLS

(11:07):
Cup Eastern Conference Final seven five.Jake Zivin is on the call with Taylor
Twelman on Saturday night for Apple TV. It is available for free, and
typically when Jake is on the callfor an FC Cincinnati match, he's kind
enough to give us a few minutesof his time. This one on Saturday
is going to be a blast.You had the Eastern Conference Final game last

(11:30):
year. What things come to mindwhen you think of that dark, cold
and frustrating night for FC Cincinnati fansback in December? Yeah, well,
Mo, it was certainly that wayfor FC Cincinnati fans. Looked for us
as neutral commentators, those are thegames we love to call. It lived
up to the hype. It livedup to everything that you want out of

(11:50):
a rivalry at that stage in anEastern Conference final obviously did not go the
way that Cincinnati wanted it too,But that was just from a neutral perspective,
a thrilling game to call and anexciting night to look back on,
and one that I think everybody inCincinnati hopes f C Cincinnati can go get
a little bit of revenge for onSaturday in Central Ohio. Yeah, and

(12:13):
look, we'll get into the nutsand bolts of Saturday. But when when
Columbus kept its team and FC Cincinnatigot promoted to Major League Soccer, we
talked about this being just a naturalrivalry because of the geography. So that's
great, but you need great matches, and you need great high stakes matches,
and so now I think it's likea full blown varsity rivalry, I

(12:33):
think. So I agree, right, And you look at the great Darby's
rivalries, classic coods, whatever youwant to call them in Major League Soccer
or around the world, and theyand they flow. And when teams meet
for the most the most important gamesthat they can and when both teams are
really good, that's when the rivalriesare at their best. LA lafc L

(12:58):
traffic go perfect example from the firstgame whence lock Time came in and did
what he did that just elevated everything. We're seeing Sporting Kansas City and Saint
Louis doing the same thing, meetingin the playoffs in their first year.
And because I think and you guyswould know much better being in Cincinnati and
in Ohio, because Cincinnati came intothe league and struggled so much for three

(13:18):
years and thus the rivalry was prettylopsided. Now aside from the first ever
time they played in the US OpenCompany was won by Cincinnati, I imagine
it feels now that Cincinnati's on thatlevel and winning the Supporter Shield, it
feels a little better the rivalry doesthan it did stay four years ago.
And that's great, right and youwant that, you want the high stakes,

(13:39):
and that's just continuing this year withthe defending Supporters Shield Champs again the
defending MLS Cup Champs. Cincinnati's insecond place. Columbus and MLS play not
the record that they want, butthey don't care about that because they're in
the Conkayap Champions Cup finals. Soman, it really is at a high,
high level right now. Yeah,it is. You and I talk

(14:00):
often last year or whenever you wouldhave an f C Cincinnati game. And
I mean there were times last seasonthey were like a machine. It feels
and has played out differently this year. But to me, the mark of
a great club is they're still gettingpoints. They have three straight victories,
and yet they haven't even come closeto looking like the team that we saw
last year. No two teams arelike, no two seasons are the same.

(14:20):
But I mean, to me,that's that's something to be really encouraged
by. I don't think this teamhas come anywhere close to playing its best,
and yet there they are in secondplace. I agree completely. And
what's crazy is like you're saying thatright, Like they're not playing at their
past and it doesn't look like lastyear at this point. Last year they
only had two more points than theydo at this point this year, after

(14:41):
eleven games they had what I thinkseven wins, you know, and now
they have six wins this year,same number of draws. Like, yeah,
it might not look the same,but they're still getting results, and
I agree with you that is thesign of a good team, of a
strong culture. I think all sixof their wins are by one goal,
right, Like, okay, yeah, you maybe want to blow out some

(15:03):
teams. You want to score morethan they have. I think particularly only
thirteen goals is probably not as manyas Pat Newnan would want. But they're
winning and that's what matters ultimately,especially when you're not playing your best in
this league. If you can continueto rack up wins while not playing your
best, you stay in the supportershield race and you hope and you kind
of bank on the fact that you'llget there. Right As a club,

(15:26):
you said it, a lot ofnew signings, new faces, a little
bit of turnover this year. Ithink we haven't seen the best yet of
f C Cincinnati, and the factthat we're saying that and they're still in
second place in the East is areally good thing for them. Let's talk
about Columbus in MLS play ten matches, six draws, but they've made the
run to the CONKACAV Champions Cup Final. Relative to the team that broke our

(15:48):
hearts last year, break down thisColumbus club. For me, it's very
similar. So you look at thestarting elevens from the Eastern Conference final last
year. Five of the players thatstarted for Ex City Cincinnati are no longer
on the team. Another Aaron butpenns is out for two months. So
this Cincinnati team, whatever the elevenis that Pat Newton puts out, is
gonna look different for Columbus. Theentire starting eleven still on the team.

(16:11):
They have kind of run it backa couple changes a little bit. Jason
Russell Rowe has been playing more andthere's been some guys that are maybe getting
a little more playing time, butit's basically the same group and man,
they play with such confidence. Theyare unfazed and you saw that in the
Eastern Conference Final. They're very,very similar to the team that one MLS

(16:36):
Cup. It's like they've continued tokind of step up another level. Even
what they did in the CONCREGAP championsCup going to Monterrey back to back,
to beat Ti Grace and then tobeat Monterrey one of the most impressive accomplishments
in the history of this league.That's not hyperbole. They're gonna be a
difficult challenge for Cincinnati on Saturday.This is gonna be a lot of fun

(17:00):
on Saturday night Apple TV. JakeZivin Taylor twelveman, the call seven forty
five is when it starts. Ihope we could do this again this season.
Man enjoy Saturday should be a lotof fun. I appreciate it as
always of course anytime, Oh happyto join you got it hell is reel
on Saturday Night seven forty five.Jake Sivin is awesome. So is Tom
Glatter. He's got the match liveon ESPN fifteen thirty twenty six after three

(17:26):
o'clock. By the way, ElieDevia Cruz with a base knock driving in
a run. It's now four totwo. Arizona Reds are creeping a little
bit closer as they bet. SpencerSteer at the plate in the bottom of
the seventh inning at GABP. It'sour show's track record. When we go
on the air, they're losing andby the end of the afternoon they will

(17:48):
have won. By the way,a Hunter Green's day was interesting because the
velocity was down, the control wasnot great. He threw eighty four pitches,
forty of them not for strikes.He walked five guys. Uh,
he got into trouble in the sixthinning. They pulled him. The runs
came around to score with Nick Martinezinheriting the base runners, and so what

(18:11):
at Fay's value could have been apretty good looking line for Hunter Green kind
of unraveled a little bit in theUH in the sixth inning. I think
it's going to be interesting to hearwhat is said after the game about the
drop in velocity. And again todayhe struggled around the zone where his last
few starts he has been really goodas as they say, attacking the zone.

(18:33):
We'll keep you up to date onthat as the afternoon unfolds. Five
point three, seven four nine,fifteen thirty and eight six six, seven
oh two three seven seven six areour phone numbers. Rick Boring's gonna join
us in just about fifteen minutes.Zager basketball has had a good off season.
Uh. I take these such listswith a big, big big grain

(18:53):
of salt all the way too earlytop twenty fives, but ESPN's updated one
has XU at twenty third and forwhat it's worth, the UC Bearcats twenty
fifth, where it joins us duringthe season. I thought it'd be kind
of cool to do a little bitof a offseason check in on the comings
and goings with XU. We'll dothat coming up in just about fifteen minutes

(19:14):
on ESPN fifteen to thirty Cincinnati SportsStation one and two. Now the Spencer
steers day La Cruz second, redlea third with here line drive left field.
That's a base hit. Here comesDaya Cruz to the house. The
throw not in time, and we'retied at for a piece. Baby,

(19:41):
there you go. Jeff Brantley,Reds Radio Network seven hundred WLW. I'm
not sure we're allowed to play that, but we did. Spencer Steer with
a two run single in the bottomof the seventh inning, red scoring three
in that half of the frame totie the game at four to four.
Elie de la Cruz had anbi hitearlier in the inning. Cincinnati trailed one,

(20:03):
Zip tied it. They trailed fourto one, then scored three in
the seventh. Arizona batting right now. Top of the eighth inning, it
is four to four Reds and dBacks. Cincinnati could do it. David
Bell said, they're close, mightbreak this seven game losing streak. Who
knows, we'll see. Reds areoff to San Francisco to start a ten

(20:23):
game road trip, first of threeagainst the Giants tomorrow night. Florence.
Y'all's have their opening night tonight againstQuebec. The first pitch of that game
is their first pitch times are alwaysweird. They're like six forty four.
There you go, and we mightget like an actual night without rain,
So go watch some Frontier League baseball. There you go, FC Cincinnati getting

(20:48):
said for Columbus on Saturday evening thatmatch at seven forty five live on ESPN
fifteen thirty. I think that's allI got for local sports headlines if you
missed yesterday yesterday show. Yesterday's showtook a different shape than I thought it
was going to because about twenty minutesbefore we went on the air, we
found out that Christian and Karnacion Strandis going to go on the injured list

(21:12):
with a busted wrist. He's goingto miss anywhere from four to six weeks,
and that in itself is big news. But the way things played out
from when he first suffered the injuryto yesterday, I think most would admit,
even if you don't think the Redsor anybody did anything wrong, most

(21:33):
would admit the whole thing was kindof weird. We had with us yesterday
doctor Jonathan Slaughter from Ortho Sinsey tokind of discuss why things maybe went down
the way they did with originally diagnosingthere not being a new hand fracture,
but then detecting an old one,and then coming back a week and a
half later and saying, well,you know, there actually is a new

(21:53):
fracture, and why this went downthe way it did. It was a
really good conversation. If you missedit, you can find it on the
iHeartRadio app. You can also findit on my page at ESPN fifteen thirty
dot com. Ton, do wehave time to take a phone call or
too before we talk to Rick?Okay, good, Matt, you're hang

(22:14):
on, Matt, You're on ESPNfifteen thirty. What's going on? No
good to be on here. Listento Sincy for a long time and been
listening to you for a while andI love your stuff, So thank you,
very kind of you. Thank you. All right, So I'm calling
in about the Reds. Yeah,they're like watching their offense like watching Pink
dry though. I was there withmy step dad last night and we're sitting

(22:37):
in the front row and by thethird inning he's asked me about late round,
you know, Bengal draft picks becausethe Reds sinks so bad, and
I'm like, well, it can'tbe that bad. And I look up
in the averages or you know,you know in the two hundreds, two
sixteen, two eighteen, one ninetyone seven, and I know there's been
some injuries, But does the hittingcoach need to lose his job? David

(23:02):
Bell know what he's doing, thenthis incarnazi owned strand thing. I'm fired
up. I'm sick of whatever's goingon in Cincinnati. What are your thoughts?
Well, I don't put any ofthis really on David Bell. He's
playing the hand that he's dealt andright now he's being dealt to hand that
involves a lot of guys not hitting. Is that on the hitting coach?
I don't know, but I certainlythink internally, if you're running the club,

(23:23):
if you're Nick Crawl and your chargebaseball operations, I think you owe
it to the greater good of whatthe team and the organization are trying to
accomplish to at least examine the roleof the hitting coach in this just massive,
historic offensive slump. I think thefrustrating thing is they have a lot
of different types of players and allof them are struggling. His home run

(23:47):
today, notwithstanding jam Or Candelario wasa guy that you thought you could wrap
your brain around what his numbers aregoing to look like. Well turns out
you can't. Some of the guysthat you hoped would be not immune to
a slump but taken other step forwardthis season, well, frankly they have
not. They've obviously had to playsome guys that we don't want to see
playing like in the past, NickMartini, right now, Mike Ford,

(24:10):
those guys aren't doing anything. It'severy type of player they have is struggling
at once. Some of that mightbe coincidental, some of that might be
a symptom of a larger problem.But it's it's tough to watch and until
it changes, this team is atbest going to run in place. Yeah,
it's a brutal product. They gotto figure something out. If it

(24:33):
wasn't for the Texas Roadhouse peanuts,I'm not sure we'd keep going back to
thank you, No, Matt,thank you. And you know you can
get the cheaper peanuts right outside theballpark. It's when a team struggles offensively,
something we always default to is what'sgot to be the hitting coach?
Is it? I don't know,I don't know, I have no idea,

(24:56):
but Nick Crawl is paid to getthe answers to quot questions like is
it the hitting coach? Is theresomething being taught? Is there something not
being taught? Is there a coachingdisconnect? Is there something there? Again,
I'm not qualified to say that theanswer is yes or no. But
if you run an organization and yourorganization is really bad at this one thing,

(25:22):
I think you owe it to theorganization and you owe it to yourself
to ask questions about the person incharge of that one thing, and you
might walk away from it going youknow what, it's not a hitting coach
issue. It's just some of theseguys are struggling in ways that the hitting
coach cannot really fix. By theway, Arizona has just retaken the lead
off of Fernando Cruz on the topof the eighth inning, I don't know,

(25:45):
but I'm not paid to get theanswer. Nick Krawl is do I
think it's a hitting coach problem?Probably not? But is it worth wondering
and doing some digging to find outif it might be a problem. If
you're Nick Crawling, the answer isno, you're not doing your job.
Rick Bururing's job is to tell usabout the players Xavier's bring it in.

(26:07):
Sean Miller's had a busy last fewweeks. Rick joins his next away from
four o'clock. This is ESPN fifteenthirty on Moeger. Thank you for joining
us today. During the college basketballseason, we chat once a week with
our buddy Rick Boring Musketeer Report dotcom. Colorman on NKU Basketball Broadcasts,

(26:30):
the co host of the Skinny podcast. College basketball has like an off season
now that's like worth paying attention to, and there are players coming and going,
and it's I think it's a lotof fun. But we need people
like Rick to help us sort throughit, especially from the standpoint of the
teams that he covers. And soin the aftermath of Sean Miller landing another
player in cam Roon Fletcher, Ithought it. I thought it was a

(26:52):
good idea to get Rick on theshow to sort of talk about the last
few weeks or so for Sean Miller'sprogram. And it's always not to hear
Rick's voice, which we're about toright now. What's up well, And
we've had even more news in thelast few hours. Break mo zare added
even another transfer, a seventh transfer. Here of the transfer portals. But

(27:12):
it's been a wild transfer portal seasonso far with Musketeer. Let's start with
that. Let's start with what happenedtoday. Yeah, Roddy Anderson, a
point guard from Boise State, actuallystarted his career at UC San Diego as
a freshman two seasons ago, thenplayed at Boise State last year as a
sophomore. Has now transferred to Xavier. He just committed today. Watched a

(27:36):
lot of his film over the lastfew days as I was gearing up for
his visit to Xavier, which tookplace on Wednesday. And he's he's speedy,
I mean really quick, very athletic. He finished well at the rim
each of the last two seasons,and it was interesting looking at what they
did at Boise State last year.It was really a very deliberate system.
They played at the three hundred andtwenty third fastest pace in the country,

(27:59):
which means they were essentially one ofthe slowest teams in the country. And
he's a guy that's very quick.So I'm kind of thinking Sean Miller is
looking at this and saying, Hey, a guy that maybe wasn't in the
right fit. He didn't shoot theball well. His efficiency numbers were low
the last two seasons, but hewanted to make the jump up to the
high major level, and I thinkZager's taking him with the future in mind.

(28:19):
He's played a lot of basketball already, still has two years of eligibility
left, and like I said,he can learn in Sean Miller's system for
a year, a system that maybefits him a little bit better, and
then really be a big factor forXavior in the twenty twenty five to twenty
sixth season. I think what standsout about the players that they have brought
in for this coming season is,you know, we've seen the the Soulet

(28:41):
Boom, Quincy Oliveri types and otherswho have come from come up a level
and played in the Big East.This offseason, we're seeing Fletcher who's played
at two high major schools. Obviouslyhe's at his injury issues, but still
and then John Hugley who's played atOklahoma, So take that into consideration,
just sort of encapsulate the class ofguys who are coming in via the portal.

(29:06):
Yeah, I think it's really aboutfinding a balance and in terms of
whether you want to find the midmajor guy or the high major guy.
I don't know that they have ahuge preference there. I think what they
pay a lot of attention to isthey subscribe to these analytics services and you
know, you played the game Maddenback in the day and all those players
were ranked eighty four overall or eightyone overall. Well, these analytics services

(29:29):
will rank every player in the transferportal, like you know, this guy
is an eighty three, let's say, and then they'll have all of the
statistical profile broken down. They getvery granular with that as well, but
just they give them an overall grade. And these teams know, you know,
like theager's done their research. Theyknow a guy graded at whatever level
tends to do well in the BigEast, and it's the type of guy

(29:51):
they've had success with in the past. So I think those are the things
that they really pay most attention towhen they're looking for the different guys in
the transfer portal. But one thingthat Sean Miller just mentioned this past week
on his own podcast with Adam Boundwas that they really want to have a
blend of one year transfers, multipleyear transfers, and then maybe occasionally some

(30:12):
freshmen as well that are either comingin to contribute immediately because of that talented
or guys that understand I'm going tosit out for a year, develop and
then try to make an impact ayear later with what they bring back.
Daveon McKnight, Zach Fremantle, GodWilling, Jerome Hunter can contribute this season,

(30:32):
Trey Green, Dalen Swain that group. With this group, what could
be the strength of this upcoming season'steam. Well, I think one thing
that's really interesting is we went intothe offseason and we had heard Sean Miller
talk a lot about getting bigger,stronger, tougher, not having a team
that couldn't rebound on the defensive endagain, not having a team that couldn't

(30:52):
defend the post again, and yetwe got into the transfer portal on the
way it played out, I'm lookingat this team going into next year and
I'm thinking the strength of this teamappears to be their guards. They look
like they're going to be a teamthat needs to play fast, which he
wants to do on the offensive end, He's made that very clear over the
last two years, but also ateam that can really shoot the ball from

(31:14):
the outside. Dante Maddox the transferfrom Toledo and Ryan Conwell the transfer from
Indiana State. The two guards theyadded that I think are really kind of
the crown jewels of this transfer portalclass. Both of them were forty percent
plus three point shooters last season,and so when I see that, I
see a team that is going toget up and down the floor and really
shoot the ball well from the outside. Are there? And this might be

(31:37):
a stupid question, and if so, you could tell me, But are
there? Maybe I don't know,lessons learned from the way last year's team
was constructed that could it be appliedto how they've chosen to put together next
year's club, without question, AndI think it was one hundred percent a
result of what happened last year.They were looking at it from the standpoint

(31:59):
of okay, and granted there's ahuge caveat there on. There was all
they could really do with the handthey were dealt. Having Jerome Hunter and
Zach Fremantle both go down for theyear in the summer, after the transfer
portal had closed. They didn't havethe option of bringing in experienced transfers at
that point, so they had togo the inexperienced route, go the international
route. They tried to get aguy that was older, and Gidis Damiksha,

(32:22):
he was actually a transfer, hehad spent three years in a university
in Lithuania. But the other guys, you know, the Zar Djokovic and
Sasha Shani bringing in those young guysthat had some talent, it was just
very clear, especially once you gotinto Big East play, that a young
guy who's still finding his way doesn'thave much value in the current transfer portal

(32:43):
climate. When guys are twenty three, twenty four, twenty five years old
still playing college basketball at this highmajor level. The transfer portal, especially
with the COVID year, the extrayear of eligibility playing out for a lot
of these guys over the last fewseasons, it is really changed how it
works in terms of constructing your roster. And I think Sean Miller and his

(33:04):
staff were very cognizant of that asthey went into this off season. I'm
a big fan of this era thatwe're in. I'm glad the COVID year
is going away. Do you agree? Yeah? I know. I was
happy to hear you say, asyou're bringing me in there that you have
enjoyed and you think that transfer portalmakes college basketballs off season fun because I
agree. I'm sure the coaches hateit having to go directly into a very

(33:27):
stressful time of rebuilding their roster assoon as their season finishes. But from
a fan standpoint, I mean itreally keeps college basketball conversation in the forefront.
Right after the tournament ends. Thisbecomes sort of like your professional free
agency period here for a month anda half, and there's a lot of
interesting things that are going on.So I think it's fun, but it

(33:50):
definitely makes it difficult to figure outwhat your roster is going to look like
from year to year. And Iwould agree with you that it'll be nice
once the extra years of eligibility whereyou have these guys who have like red
shirted ones, they also have theCOVID year and now they're on their seventh
year of college basketball. Once youget rid of those guys, it'll be
a lot easier to sort some ofthe stuff out. Is there a way

(34:12):
that makes sense that could give youand I what we like, which is
we get an off season where thereare stuff happening in transactions and where we're
talking about college basketball during times wherewe typically aren't. But that also makes
life a little bit easier for coachesin the immediate aftermath of the season.
You know, I'm sure they're lookingat ways in which they can do that,

(34:34):
and I'd like for that to bethe case. It seems reasonable that
we would find a way to givethem a little bit of a breathe there.
But the other problem is, ifyou talk to these coaches, they're
going to want to start their offseas in programs here in like two weeks
in June or whatever. So Imean, you know, it's like,
how far can you move it backwhen you're gonna when these kids need to
find where their next school is,they have to move across the country.

(34:57):
In some cases, they have tofinish up where they're at. I'm I
mean, there's just a lot goingon, a lot involved in I mean,
the coaches, as much as theyhate this, they're also sometimes a
victim of their own jail, youknow. I mean, like they're the
ones who kind of put these thingsin place because they put so much pressure
on and they want to keep pushingthe envelope as far as what they're allowed
to do. What's the off seasonbeen like so far for Darren Horn's program.

(35:22):
Well, I think it's really good, you know, I mean,
you look at it and you saythey lost their all time leading scorer in
Mark west Wark, who transferred toMissouri, and it's like, well,
how could that be good. It'slike, well, in today's transfer portal
era, if you only lose oneplayer. And quite frankly, they knew
they were losing Mark west Wark.He'd already played there for four years.
He was either going to try togo to the professional route or move on
to a higher level where he wouldget paid and make some money plan in

(35:44):
another year of college basketball, Sothey knew that was coming. They were
able to keep everybody else that theywanted to keep. They have eight players
coming back. They've been able toadd a couple of nice additions to the
transfer portal. One guy that I'mreally excited about is a six or four
point guard with some athletic that cameup from the Division two ranks. They've
been able to do that each ofthe last two seasons, where they've found

(36:05):
their starting point guard from the Dtwo level. And this guy appears to
be the most talented of them all. He has more size, more athleticism,
and he can shoot from the outsidea little bit. So his name
is Dan Carezker coming from Michigan Tech, and you know, I think they
are poised assuming Sam Vincent can respondfrom his injury and get back to where
he was playing a year ago whenhe got hurt. As long as he's

(36:28):
back and we function, I thinkhe and Trey Robinson will really lead this
team to one of their most successfulseasons. Is Mark we was good enough
to play in the SEC? Agreat question. He's been doubted every level,
every step of the way, everywherehe's been, and he's always risen
to the occasion. So I wouldnever doubt the kid. But I would
say looking at the times that NKUhas played higher level opponents the last few

(36:52):
seasons, he has definitely had amore difficult time against the bigger, more
athletic defenders. PJ Bomb Guy flingOver this past year was at Washington State
the season before that. When NKyou played them, really comes to mind
as like a six four six'five athletic, not a great High major
player, but the type of playerthat every single team in the SEC is

(37:13):
going to have playing on the wing. That would concern me a little bit
for him. So he's walking intoa tough situation with a team that didn't
win hardly at all last year,and you know he's making a big jump
up in level. So I thinka lot of fans are going to be
intrigued to see how he does atMissouri. You and Richard recorded the podcast
today. Did you answer my question? We did? And you won't believe

(37:34):
what he did to our guy,Harley Smileovich, just really unbelievable amount of
disrespect. Yeah, is the podcastposted? It is. It's up right
now, the skinny podcast Local twelve. You can find on any podcast feed
that you listen to, so checkit out. Most definitely you're the best
man. Thank you so much.Thank you for Rick Brooring Musketeer Report dot
com. It's four o'clock on ESPNfifteen thirty. I'm Doug Brown. After

(38:02):
he threw a ball into the standstwice then had a bad interaction with an
ESPN producer. Patrick Beverly of theBucks gets a four game suspension without pay
to start next season. Beverly willbe a free agent when this season is
over. Tonight, the Celtics takea one oh series lead into Game two
with the Cavaliers. It's on ESPNstarting at seven Eastern, and it's followed

(38:25):
by Game two for the Thunder andMavericks, with OKC holding the one to
oh lead. ESPN's Kendrick Perkins believesthe Thunders present and future is bright.
You think about this team right nowLive by SGA and Jalen Williams. I'm
telling you right now the next threeyears, I Guaranteeton they're going to hangle
band at Women's Championship. Kendrick Perkinson NBA Today. The Charlotte Hornets higher

(38:50):
Celtics lead assistant Charles Lee is theteam's new head coach. ESPN's Adrian Warzanowski
reports Lead will get a four yearcontract. Former Northway Eastern quarterback Brendan Sullivan
will transfer to Iowa. He'll havetwo years of eligibility remaining. Tell you
it's a residence super Bowl set,Chris Kennedy coming up Friday. I'll tell

(39:10):
you what I need to see fromthe Denver Nuggets that they have any hope
of making this a series. It'sunsports for like six am Eastern Light here
for ESPN Radio, ESPN two andESPNU bull Bloom Wow, good afternoon.

(39:31):
I'm Oeger seven after four. Thisis ESPN fifteen thirty. We are broadcasting
today from the ESPN fifteen thirty studios, powered by a greater Cincinnati's roofing at
exterior Restoration Experts Made Well Restoration.Whatever your home needs, you could trust
Madewell Madewell Restoration dot Com. OnTuesday afternoon, I talked and I don't

(39:57):
think I was alone and feeling thisway. The Reds a lost five games.
They were getting Frankie Montas back,they were getting TJ. Friedel back,
they were coming off an off day, they were getting an Arizona team,
but still I think has a chanceto be quite good. But rolled
in with the record of ten andfifteen. They had just lost five straight
on the horizon, a West coasttrip, and we talked about how this
felt like a series they had towin. Did they have to sweep it?

(40:21):
No, it's hard to ask fora sweep. This felt like a
series at home you gotta get yougotta get this one right. I equated
it to the Texas series last yearin April. The Reds were seven and
fifteen. They lost six straight games, The offense was doing nothing. This
is before all the good players gotcalled up. They swept that series,
and it just it felt like itkept them from digging too deep a hole.

(40:45):
Well, the Reds didn't sweep theseries. The Reds didn't win the
series. The Reds got swept inthe series. The final out just a
few minutes ago on ol Check swingRoller dere he loves it with the backhand
across the first in time and that'sall. Reds fall five to four of

(41:06):
the Diamondbacks a great American ballpark,and the Reds have now dropped eight straight.
At eleven of thirteen, Tommy Thrawl, Reds Radio Network, seven hundred
WLW. Reds scored four runs today. Reds did dig out of a hole.
Today. Reds did make it interestingtoday. They tied the game at
four in the bottom of the seventhinning after trailing by a score of four

(41:27):
to one. Jamer Candelario, whohas been a massive disappointment, hit a
home run in the fourth inning today, I'm sorry. In the fifth inning
today his fourth of the season.Five to four of the score today at
GABP. If you have lost count, that's eight consecutive losses. Cincinnati is
now sixteen and twenty and now theyembark. I think the only time we

(41:47):
use the word embark in the Englishlanguage is when a team is about to
begin a long road trip ten gamesthree in San Francisco starting tomorrow. This
team offensively stinks right now. Idon't have a more eloquent way to put
it. And and yeah, theythey got some hits and rallied to tie
the game. This team offensively isbad. They're bad across the board.

(42:09):
It's no one hitter's fault. It'sno one type of hitter's fault. This
team is bad enough offensively. Itcompounds its offensive issues it's pure hitting issues
when it gives away outs on thebase paths. That happened three times today.
Uh. The first one came inthe by Will Benson in the in

(42:37):
the in the second inning today wherehe's thrown out at second base on a
on a play that ended up gettingreviewed. Uh, it was actually in
the third inning he was caught stealing. And like, I'm all for this
team running, and I'm I'm allfor aggressiveness. David Dell tried it in
the sixth inning last night. I'mall for pushing the envelope. When you're

(43:01):
not hitting, you got to forcethe action. Can't PlayStation to station.
So all right, this team,it's hallmark is supposed to be its ability
to steal bags. Will Benson getsthrown out. He gets thrown out because
of his slide. It wasn't verygood, but nonetheless he's thrown out.
I can live with that. Ican live with that. A little bit
later on in the game, EllieDela Cruz is caught stealing, but he

(43:29):
was picked off. He was pickedoff between second and third base after he
walked and stole second base. Okay, don't love making the first out of
the inning when you have a guyin scoring position and the I can't say
this with a straight face heart ofthe order coming up, but uh,

(43:51):
it's a tough one, especially becausewell, the next hitter, Steer walked,
and the hitter after that, Freileygot a hit, and so who
knows. But okay, it's Ellie, so all right. In the eighth
inning. However, I have ahard time with this one man. And

(44:14):
I'll admit to you that we're onthe air. We've been on the air
since three o'clock, so that thelast few frames are playing out and I'm
watching it, but but I'm alsoworking. I'm doing stuff. We had
Rick browing on with us, andso I'm engaging in the conversation with him,
and I'm taking some notes while we'retalking Xavier basketball. And so in
the in the eighth inning, ourfriend Mike Ford gets a hit with one

(44:39):
out, Stewart Fairchild comes in torun for him. Makes sense, Mike
Ford can't run. I'm not sureMike Ford can hit, but but but
he can't run. So Fairchild isa better runner. So he comes into
pinch run and uh Jamber flies outto straightaway center for And I really didn't

(45:04):
think much of it other than,Okay, the Reds are gonna have a
guy on first base with two outs. Will Benson's going to be the next
batter. And then I look downand I look up and Stuart Fairchild is
being thrown out running back to firstbase. And I asked Tarran on our

(45:30):
talkback, couldn't hear it on theair while I'm chatting with Rick, I
go, did Stuart Fairchild was he? Was he running with the pitch,
because okay, he was running withthe pitch. Guy flies out to center
field, He's going to get doubledoff and Arran informed me, actually,
no, he just lost where theball was. Do we have the audio
play by play of that? Tarrango ahead and give me that tinkle sets

(45:53):
the pitch, there goes fair Child. Candelario loots it into the center field
and Fairchild is still down. Nowthe catch is made and the throwback to
first is going to double them off. Fairchild went into second base completely unaware
of where the ball was, andthe Diamondbacks with Katel Marte, tried to

(46:15):
deak him and it worked. BuddyTommy throw Red's Radio Network seven hundred WLW.
I don't the caught stealing stuff slidebetter? Will Benson, don't get
caught in no man's land by thepitcher, Elie Dela Cruz Stewart, Fairchild,

(46:38):
don't get deeked out by the centerfielder. So he was off with the
pitch five to four of the finalscore at GABP. We'll have David Bell's
postgame comments for you. Hunter Greenstarted, Hunter Green, Hunter Green,
by and large was okay. Ifyou just look at what his pitching line

(46:59):
was, or look at how manyruns were given up through five innings.
He had given up one run acrossfive innings. His velocity and I haven't
looked at this as closely as Iwill because we've been busy here. But
his velocity wasn't what you would expectit. And by the way, maybe

(47:20):
that's okay. Maybe he's dialing itback a little bit in an effort to
pitch deeper into games and showing upa little bit more ability to mix his
speeds and stuff like that. I'mhere for that. He left with two
to one and nobody out in thesix and then Nick Martinez came in and
allowed the inherited runners to score.And so the final line for Hunter Green

(47:42):
is five innings, three hits.But he was not particularly sharp with his
control this afternoon. Eighty four pitches, only forty four of them were thrown
for strikes. He minimized the damage, but he walked five guys today,
So gave up a home run.Not a terrible start, not an awful

(48:05):
start, I guess either. Wehave David Bell. David Bell's about give
me a little, give me alittle Hunter Green right now, go ahead
from when I got to the field, So just grinding from the first pitch,
just trying to make the most ofit and still go out there and
compete and keep the team in it. So I was just one of those
days and just how to fight throughit and still make pitches. I know

(48:27):
you would sort of like to havewalks back, but in a way to
be able to maneuver around and tobe able to pitch where your velocity is
down. Can that be something that'syeah going forward. Yeah, it's just
it's something that all pitchers have tolearn and be able to figure out.
Some go through it early, somego through it later on. But just
being a professional knowing that you stillhave to get the job done when you're

(48:49):
out there. Yeah, even whenyou're not throwing your best, those are
signs of the best pictures that areable to still do that and still get
the job done. So that wasjust my mindset. I knew that today
was gott to be the best day, you know with my pitches, but
still having to go out there andcompete, and like I said, I
keep a team in it. That'swhere my mindset was. How tough is
it right now in there with theBobby, I mean, you know,

(49:13):
we're we're just trying to fight throughit. And it was nice to see
the boys go out there and fighttill the end and scrap a couple more
runs, but obviously didn't get thejob done. So just got to reset
and go compete out in the West, Hunter Green. We stole that from
Ballet Sports, Ohio, so wethank them. The Reds lose five to

(49:34):
four today Cincinnati is now a seasonlow five games under five hundred, and
some folks on social media last nightgot mad at me for pointing this out.
I don't know that last year's teamhas to be the barometer for everything
that this year's team does. Lastyear's team wasn't like it made the postseason,
wasn't like it won the division.It went eighty to eighty. But

(49:57):
last year's team was in the huntand can and made a lot of us
feel really good about well, notjust the way they were playing, but
what the Reds are doing in thiscollection of young guys that still I still
believe this has a chance to betogether at least really really good. Well,
David Bell here in just a fewminutes. I'm sure whatever he says
is going to make people mad.And that's the topic in and of itself.

(50:19):
But the Raids were really good lastseason at winning one run games.
They went thirty four and twenty nine. I think that's a lot of one
run game. I don't have itin front of me, how many one
run games they played in comparison toeverybody else, but sixty three one run
games and they won thirty four ofthem. That's five forty baseball. If

(50:42):
you play five to forty baseball overthe course of a season, you win
eighty seven games. It's not bad. It's pretty good, especially given all
the youth that the team had lastyear. They were good in one run
games. We talked about this alittle bit during the offseason. One of
the things that concerned me little bitabout this year's team in relation to last
year was that there are times whenyour success in close games doesn't carry over

(51:10):
to the following year. We talkabout this in the NFL all the time,
you know. I think it wastwenty twenty one when people said,
well, the Bengals were kind offluky, and my point was, actually,
no, because in the regular seasonthey weren't great in one score games.
I think that season they were fourand six. They were really good
in the postseason. But I mything was like, they they didn't get

(51:34):
the breaks in the regular season.If so, they would have been better
in one score games. It's hard. There is I hate to say,
it's some luck involved in winning closegames, regardless of sport. So oftentimes
you'll see a team that is reallygood or really bad in close games,
regardless of sport one year and thenthe almost the exact opposite is the case
the following season. Well, thisyear, now, the Reds are one

(51:57):
in seven in one run games.Now that's an extreme low. So you
are being completely reasonable if you go, well, look, that's gonna correct
itself, and it probably will.I don't think the Reds are going to
be a one twenty five baseball that'sone twenty five, right, yeah,
one in seven. I don't thinkthis is going to be a one twenty
five team over the course of theentire season in one run games. I

(52:22):
don't think that that's going to bethe case. But if you want to
use last year as a barometer,one thing last year's team did very well
is what this year's team is doingvery very poorly. Now it makes sense
that they're doing this poorly because offensivelythey're awful, and I don't have a
sugarcoated way of putting it. Offensively, this team is awful, maybe the

(52:44):
worst in the sport it has andwe knew this going in a small margin
for error. Today it shrunk themargin for error by giving away eleven percent
of its outs on the base pass. That is that just can't work.
Man, It's not gonna work.So there's a lot here. I'll turn
things over to you. Five onethree, seven, four nine, fifteen

(53:04):
thirty. David Bell spoke last night. His comments pissed people off, and
I understand why. I feel reallybad for David Bell. And it's not
because I think he's doing a greatjob. I just I don't know what
he is supposed to say. We'regonna play his postgame comments as soon as
we have them. I'm not surehe is spoken yet. Uh, but
I really want to know. Fiveone three seven four nine, fifteen thirty.

(53:27):
A baseball manager is effectively a majorleague team's press secretary, kind of
is, if you think about it. He's the only person that has to
speak on the record multiple times perday every day. Is the press secretary?
What do you want him to say? Five one three seven, four

(53:47):
nine, fifteen thirty. Eight straightlosses five to four, reds lose to
the DBS. Your phone calls arecoming up. ESPN fifteen thirty, Cincinnati
Sports Station fifteen thirty. My nameis Mollweger. I thank you for listen.
Reds lose today again five four atGAVP diamondback sweep. That's eight straight.

(54:07):
Eight Straights are five hundred, fivehundred. Uh. They fly to
San Francisco. Now, I'd bea fun playing ride Giants first of three
tomorrow night. David Bell spoke justa few minutes ago with reporters after his
team's latest loss. Here it is, you know, everyone's played baseball,

(54:27):
has been here before. As amanager, is there to anything you could
do, say to change things around? And if you had an exact formula
you could do it. But asDavid Bell the manager right now, what
do you do to get this going? Of course, I mean it's it's
it's all my responsibility now, youknow we that's it's a player's game for

(54:49):
sure. But of course you knowlike that, that's my job. And
you know we're all definitely working hard. It's a team effort and you know,
well came up short today. Imean, big thing for us is
still more than that we came upshort today. You know we can I'll
talk about it in here, butwe can't. You can't. I continue
to dwell on that. We gotto obviously a long way to go every

(55:14):
single game is incredibly important to us, and then we move forward. I
mean, that's the only way toapproach. It's how I'm approaching. It's
how we're approaching. It came upshort today. We're getting closer and closer,
and as long as we're continuing tohave the effort and you know,
play hard and work hard and dothe things that are important to us,

(55:36):
like we talk about, when everythingis going perfect, we'll get to where
we need to be in the end. There were aple of hostage based around
the mistakes of day and I knowthe emo of this team is to be
aggressive, and you're gonna have tolive with some outs, But is there
a line that you do go overin that regard of being too aggressive and
at I mean, you have todo anything that happens on the field that

(55:59):
doesn't work out the way you wantit to, you have to learn from
it. There's no question there's adifference between you know, that doesn't mean
don't be aggressive. I mean wewe all you have to be aggressive.
You have to be very fearless onthe field to be any good at baseball
at this level. So but atthe same time, there's you're learning from

(56:21):
the good you're learning from. Youknow, something you could have done different,
and that's what we'll do in everycase. I mean, we don't
let anything go. Our players don'tlet anything go, you know. They
they're yeah, they take everything personal, not not only for themselves but for
each other. You know, whichis the way to go about it.

(56:42):
And you know, but then youhave to move forward, you learn and
move on, all right. That'sDavid Bell. Tarren said to me as
we're talking before the show, He'slike, how many times does David Bell
talk about how close they're getting?And he did it last night? Just
did it there, He's done itfor years. Can I can I get
the very first part of last night? This is after last night's game,

(57:04):
another loss, David Bell chatting withreporters because the answer to the first question
you'll hear here raise the ire ofmany go ahead during the ninth coming up
short again is a tough not frustrationout to sink in the clubhouse. At
this point. Our guys are doinggreat. I mean, of course there's

(57:24):
frustration. We're really close. Youknow, it may not seem like that,
but I tell you know, allright, that's this. So this
is two straight days he has talkedabout how close they are. Now,
you know your assignment for the restof the show. You have to go
back to Tuesday, find those commentsand let's hear if he said, we're
really close. But can I goback to between nineteen? I have a

(57:46):
clip of between nineteen where you saidwe're close. You have it from nineteen.
You haven't, handy July twelve,twenty nineteen. You have it handy,
Yes, all right, this isDavid Bell on July twelfth, twenty
nineteen. This is after a loss. I suppose I believe, all right,
David Bell July twelve, twenty nineteen. We have to get better.
You know, we're not We're notwhere we want to be right now.
We've given ourselves a chance, whichis great, and a lot of good

(58:07):
things happened in the first half toallow for that, and but right now
we have to find ways to buildon that and continue to get better.
Make any adjustments that that we thatwe need to make, because we're close,
but we're not. We're not there. So for five years he's been

(58:31):
talking about in just do me afavor, go back and and see if.
On Tuesday night he talked about howhow close they are, because if
I gotta be honest with you,I'll pay very close attention with Dave Bell
says after games, because what's hegonna say? Right, But you gotta
find out. But the our guysare doing great. That was tweeted out,

(58:54):
and like, I understand what he'sAnd he was asked, like,
how are you guys handling what they'redealing with right now? And his response
was basically like, yeah, they'reyou know, they're coming to work,
they care, they work hard,They're not hanging their heads. But are
guys doing great? It's the headlineand when you've lost seven or now eight
straight games, that's not going togo over very well. I know what

(59:16):
he is saying. I guess I'vesaid this for a while. A baseball
manager is basically a an MLB franchiseis press secretary. I'm not trying to
undermine all the other stuff he hasto do, but that's kind of,
in many respects his primary function.He is the only member of the organization

(59:38):
who has to talk on the recordmultiple times per day. Nick Krawl does
not, Brad Meeter does not,Bob Castellini does not, Phil Castellini does
not. Players don't have to makethemselves available. Pitching coach doesn't, the
hitting coach doesn't. It's it's notunlike the Press secretary of the White House,

(59:59):
right that's the person that has totalk to reporters every single day.
It's not the president, it's notthe Vice president. It's the press secretary.
That's what David Bell has to doand oftentimes answer for things that he
doesn't really have much of a rolein. I think David Bell is the
one that made the decision to notput on the injury list and then put
on the injured list. Christian andCanasi on strand, do you think David

(01:00:22):
Bell wanted to send Sam Maul toLouisville. David Bell doesn't even really have
final say in what the lineup lookslike. But he's the press secretary.
He's got to answer for a lotof things that he has nothing to do
with. So in the middle ofa losing streak like the Reds are in
right now, he's the only personthat has to talk. Others may choose

(01:00:44):
to, he's the only person thathas to multiple times a day, pregame
with the Writers, pregame on theradio show Postgame with the Writers, and
it's broadcast live on TV, soDavid Bell is forced to do a lot
of talk. There is absolutely nothinghe can say, Nothing that he could

(01:01:06):
say that's gonna make you or Ifeel better about what's happening with this team.
And if you disagree with that,which is fine, I want to
know, what do you want tohear him say. I don't expect him
to call out individual players. Andby the way, if you were to
call out individual players, it wouldbe dramatically unfair, because everybody on this

(01:01:29):
team stinks right now, so it'svery unfair to single out one guy I
don't know, Like I watch peopleget mad at the r guys are doing
great, and I get it's notit's not what anybody wants to hear specifically
right now. But how's he supposedto answer that question? How's he supposed

(01:01:50):
to answer any question in a waythat's going to make people feel better about
the way they're playing. He isin a very helpless position, and he's
in a helpless position because none ofhis players are performing. He's had some
good pitching performances, but none ofthe offensive guys, none of the position
guys are performing. What's he goingto say to make you and I feel
better about that. More importantly,what can you really do about that?

(01:02:17):
Is there anybody performing at a halfwaydecent level right now? Anybody that you
would say, well, this guyshould be thrust into a bigger, more
prominent role. Anybody show is yoursthe rest of the way five point three
seven four nine, fifteen thirty anduh eight six six seven h two three

(01:02:39):
seven seven six Unless we can findmore instances of David Bell talking about how
close they are on ESPN fifteen thirtyCincinnati Sports Station. Long enough, it's
eighteen away from five ESPN fifteen thirtyon Moegor Brediman and Jones on Baseball's coming
up in just about ten minutes.And uh we're inching closer to themic Ultra

(01:03:00):
Happy Hour, And uh, Iwish it was starting right now because Taran
and I would both be enjoying icecold michelob Ultras. But we have to
wait till five o'clock. We donot have to wait to talk to Ron
Ron and Milford. You're on ESPNfifteen thirty. Good afternoon, Thank you
for hanging on. Hey Mo,how are you doing? I'm all right?
What's up? MO? A lotof people had faith in the Reds.

(01:03:22):
But I'm in a bet with myfriends seventy three wins that I'm liking
it because who who on this team, in the starring lineup has a baseball
card. Jonathan India is about theonly one you can say that has a
baseball card. I looked up JamiorKevin Dealario's career average to forty one.
Yet we're willing to shout out fifteenmillion dollars for forty one. We got

(01:03:45):
the scrub, Nick Martinez, wegot Emelio Pugo. But we well,
we do have I thought we weregonna say Nick Martini, but unfortunately,
yes, we do have Martinez scrubtoo. No, I mean none of
these guys have a baseball card withanything on there. Yeah, I mean,
I mean we are hoping for potential. And Steve Phillips, if you

(01:04:05):
remember having the four and that's generalmanager, he said that on Baseball Network.
He says, potential is what getsgeneral managers and managers put on baseball
channels. No, you're right,I mean it's the frustrating thing about this
team. If you are a fanof a team that has a similar start,
let's just say the exact same recordsixteen and twenty one, and it's

(01:04:29):
a team with a track record anda whole bunch of guys that have a
baseball card or a baseball reference page. You could take some degree of comfort
in what they've done in the pastbeing a predictor of what they're going to
do in the future. You can'tdo that with this team. And it's
not that dissimilar, you know.I remember back during the winter there were
some reasonably low projections for how manygames the Reds might win, and my

(01:04:50):
take was ignore those projections. Iwould say the same if the projections were
they were going to win ninety games. Ignore those projections are based on track
record. This team, for themost part, doesn't have one. The
same holds true here. They're offto a slow start. What track record
could I default to that is supposedto make me feel better? Now?
They're hitting at such a low ratethat you just expect naturally it's going to

(01:05:15):
get better. But by the timeit does, how big of a hole
will they be trying to dig outof? I think that's a legitimate question.
Yeah, Mo, by the timeit starts, the hitting starts,
we know what's going to happen.Then the pitching will be batting practice and
they'll be trying to keep up withthe pitching staff. Yeah, that's the
thing about the way they're playing rightnow. They're wasting not great starting pitching,
but they're wasting good enough starting pitchingfor the most part, good enough

(01:05:40):
starting pitching for the offense. Wehope they would have, should be good
enough to avoid an eight game losingstreak. Yeah, and we all knew
that when he was healthy. Weall knew that Joey Vonno was going to
take two months to get warmed up. We don't know that any of these
guys any amount of time is goingto help them warm up because none of
them have a baseball card. Imean, the fact that they're struggling.

(01:06:01):
I mean, if no, ifwe had that great depth that they're talking
about, I think some of theseguys, I mean, we wouldn't have
had Nick Martini up here for thislong. We probably wouldn't have wasted time
with Barba Thompson. We you know, wasting time. And then why do
we always put answer me this,Why do the Reds always insist on playing
short staff? I mean, theywent for a long period of time with

(01:06:26):
Freiley being sick, Stevenson being sick. Uh see us being sick and his
hand. I mean, they neverknow when to put guys on the disabled
list, yet they they're willing toplay short staff when guys can't even go
hit, apparently because they're too ill. I mean, you can't continue to
play with the twenty three man roster. And that doesn't help any either.

(01:06:46):
And they did that for more thanone game. They did it for an
entire series in San Diego. Itboggles the mind, and it's it's why
when when folks will call me andgetting mad at David Bell? All good,
do you think David Bell wants twentythree guys available? Do you think
he wants to manage a game shorthanded? One game, much less three?
Of course not. I don't know, Ron. I wish I had the

(01:07:08):
answer. I don't. I don'thave it for you. He's not the
problem though, the fact is wehave Nick Carolin, whoever Meeter guy is,
who I don't think are baseball men. They don't. I mean,
bring me Jerry Naron because remember hewas a baseball guy. Oh yeah,
but I mean, what, likeyou said, what can we do?

(01:07:29):
I mean we can't. He's onlygot the crap to deal with, and
like you said, he has tobe the spokesperson, and you're right,
that's all he really is, isthe spokesperson. And he tries to throw
guys out there. Do you thinkhe is? I think you and I
know he doesn't want to put SantiagoEspinel and they're like six days a week.
I mean, do know that wasn'twhy we got him, was the

(01:07:50):
for him to play six days aweek. It was probably to play maybe
twice a week. Yeah, no, I mean he wasn't even I mean,
he was only acquired because they lostguy. He was acquired after they
lost Matt MacLean. Like, itwasn't like when they went into the offseason
they thought we got to get SantiagoEspinal. He was an option that they
decided to go after when they gotdesperate. Ron, I hear and share

(01:08:13):
your frustration. And I hate tosay, your bet is looking pretty good
at least as of now. Man. Thank you, yeah, thank you,
man. Take care of my friend. You too that the track record
thing is important because you know,again they've played was it's thirty seven games,
so more than three quarters of aseason ago. And and any time

(01:08:33):
you express any level of frustration orangst with how they're playing. I think
this is you're gonna hear this untillike late August. Somebody will counter it
with it's early. Yeah, itis, man, it is. But
the two things to me that Icome back at you with. Number One,

(01:08:54):
if you believe, and I dobelieve, that they're performing so poorly
that it's just natural to expect themat some point to play better. Right,
this has been historically bad. Butit's not a matter of if.
It's a matter of when. Isthe when three weeks from now? Is

(01:09:17):
the when a month from now?Because that's what matters to me. You
could tell me too, you're bluein the face. Some of these guys
are just going to hit more,and when they do, the team's going
to score more runs. And whenthat happens, the team's gonna start winning.
Fine, by the time they startwinning, how much of a hole
will they have dug? If youwant to use last year as your barometer

(01:09:43):
to highlight how well look they canstill recover? They can. They missed
the playoffs by two games. Whatif they would have played better early in
the season. These games do count. The other one is the track record
thing. I remember on May thirtyone, two thousand sixteen, Joey Vado
was having a bad year. OnMay thirty first, twenty sixteen, he

(01:10:08):
was batting two fourteen. His onbase percentage was seventy points, almost one
hundred points, actually beyond what youwould expect. He was not slugging.
He was striking out a ton roughlya third of the time that he was
at the plate. This is intwenty sixteen. And my take then was,

(01:10:29):
dude's got a track record, He'sJoey Vado. He'll he'll come out
of this. The team's not verygood, the team that year was atrocious,
but he'll come out of this andby the end of the season you'll
look at those numbers and feel reallygood about them. And what happened the
rest of the way. From Junefirst until the end of the season,

(01:10:53):
he did nothing but rake. Hebatted three seventy eight the rest of the
way at an OPS of over eleven. He was awesome. He was,
by every measurement, awesome, somuch so that he finished seventh in the
National League MVP voting while playing fora terrible ninety five lost team. Why
am I bringing that up, becausewhen he struggled. You could take comfort

(01:11:16):
in dude's got a track record,He's done it before. Who on this
team, even the guys who havetrack records? Jonathan India statistically speaking,
is okay? Tyler Stevenson offensively speaking, is all right? Who has a
There's a lot of potential and thereare a lot of players that I would

(01:11:39):
be willing to bet that long termbig picture a few years from now,
maybe even next year, are reallywell established big league players. But for
the purposes of getting this turned around, what is so frustrating is there's no
one who's statistical track record you couldpoint to to feel better about how they're
going to perform, and then inturn, how the team is going to

(01:12:00):
perform. Nine minutes away from fiveo'clock, five point three seven four nine,
fifteen thirty is our phone number.Brendman and Jones on Baseball Next Moments,
Like my daughter tell you, noone covers the Bengals Like ESPN fifteen
thirty, Cincinnati's sports station. Allright, that's skid afternoon. I'm mowegger.
You are listening to ESPN fifteen thirty. Thank you. We're broadcasting from

(01:12:25):
the Madwell Restoration. ESPN fifteen thirtystudios could to Madwell Restoration dot Com.
I need this. It's uh,I'm not here tomorrow. Chad's filling in,
so it's my last hour of theweek. Actually, Rickinos, Rick
Yu Chino is doing the show tomorrow. It's not Chad. Okay, well,
rick Yucino is doing the show tomorrow. Chad is doing three sixty.

(01:12:45):
Oh that's right, because Tony isoff tomorrow. All right, So the
Chad and Rick six hour Spectacular tomorrowon ESPN fifteen thirty Brore regardless, I'm
not here, it is. Iwas gonna do the Ken Brew Terren where
I open the bottle in front ofthe microphone, but I couldn't wait.
Five o'clock Happy hours in the serviceof michelob Ultra two point six carbs,

(01:13:11):
ninety five calories. And when yourfavorite baseball team is struggling, Uh,
nothing is better. Nothing is better. It's getting hot, kind of hot
and humid out there. And ifit ever stops raining, and if the
sun ever stays out, it'd begreat for pool days coming up soon.
Nothing better swimming pool day than anice cold Mick Ultra Superior light beer.

(01:13:35):
I'm having one right now. Redslose today five to four to the Arizona
Diamondbacks. Should we start the hourby taking phone calls? Tarn? Yes?
Yeah, Okay, Jeff in Lexington? What's going on? Hey?
Mo? It's your fellow cigar andbourbon love Mo Man. Jeff, what's

(01:13:57):
up? Hey? I'm I don'tmean to make you and Karen envious,
but I have been sitting on mypatio having a cigar and if you're here
the sad game, the sky's playeddown here in Lexington. It's a beautiful
afternoon, though I am ninety minutesbehind you. Okay, do you have
an adequate supply of bourbon on handright now? I? You're going to

(01:14:18):
do for this season? I do, I do, and I will.
Yes, Okay, I was hopingif you did. You know you can
always come down here and I'll hopyou. I need to make that happen.
Yes, Hey, listen, Ijust wanted to harken back to a
better day in time for the Reds. Maybe a little better, not great.
This is the fortieth anniversary this weekend, though, of a series with

(01:14:40):
the Saint Louis Cardinals that I wasfortunate enough to get to see all three
games in that series. Back inMay eleven, twelve, and thirteen of
nineteen eighty four, I caught myfirst foul ball at the Reds game on
May eleventh. That was the Redsversus the Cardinals. I still have that

(01:15:00):
ken olvert fell the Cardinals I thinkhit it. But Saturday was the day
though, Mo, and you mayhave heard about this, know about this.
I came within one out of seeingMario Soto pitch a no hitter at
Riverfront Stadium versus the Saint Louis Cardinal. George Hendrick broke it up, You
got it, brother, home run. I was there eight and two thirds

(01:15:23):
and George hender glint deep and tiedthe game at one one. And then
fortunately, of course, you know, Mario Soto could have sued the Reds
for what support during his career becausehe didn't get the support either. But
I was at that game and camewithin one out no no that afternoon.

(01:15:45):
But the Reds still managed to winit, and Soto won the game,
and then the Reds lost the tailend of that series versus the Cardinals.
But yeah, that was that waswhat I wanted to share with one of
those rare opportunities when I was livingin the North Kentucky area, and I
got to see all three games inthat series. You talk about somebody who
was the victim of awful timing.So Mario Soto joins the Reds in seventy

(01:16:15):
seven or seventy eight, Well,they're they're good. They're good, right,
but they're they're post, they're postwinning the World Series in seventy five
and seventy six. And his lastseason, he his last full season where
he got through a year without injurieswas eighty five, and then he was
a part of the team, youknow, for the next three years.
But he's done. And he's doneat the age of thirty one, right

(01:16:39):
before they win it in nineteen ninety. And in the middle you had this
guy who just you know, it'sone of the reasons why you disregard win
loss records, because he was sogood, so dominant, had such a
great change up, constantly, wasamong league leaders in complete games, and
he just didn't pitch for very goodteams or get run support, and so
the win loss record is not reflectiveof how good he was. But man,

(01:17:01):
when I was a kid, whenI was just getting into the Reds,
when I was just getting into baseball. He was awesome, and you
just wish he would have had achance to pitch on better teams, and
you certainly wish he would have hada chance to enjoy better health because he
was finished by the time he was, you know, thirty one thirty two
years old. And that was atime too the Reds weren't very good either.

(01:17:24):
That was nineteen eighty four. Ihad to recall that was before at
Welkorn's later that summer, you know, in August. He came back in
nineteen eighty four. It took overburn Rap was summarily let go of the
Reds in that eighty four But Ijust wanted to share that with you,
Mo, because I got to bethere and I came with him one out
of seeing it, and no,no, it was ended up being a

(01:17:45):
one hitter, fortunately for with theReds and they won the game. But
wow, have you ever been thatclose to seeing a no hitter game person?
So I saw Homer Bailey's and Isaw Jake Arietta throw one against the
Reds Homer Bailey the Giants July likeJuly third of twenty thirteen. I was
lucky enough to see that in person, and then I was in the building

(01:18:08):
when Jake Arieta no hit the Reds. I think he might have also hit
a home run, but the Cubswon that game sixteen nothing. He threw
a no hitter. But you knowwhat, I was also in attendance for
with my dad. I was thereat Wrigley Field. I was in college.
My dad and I used to alwaystake a baseball trip. We saw
Kerrie Wood strike out twenty hitters againstthe Houston Astros, and he gave up

(01:18:30):
one hit and the hit that hegave up could have been ruled in error
on Kevin Ory, I think wasthe third baseman. That's the best pitched
game I've ever seen in person.But I yes, I have seen two
no hitters. Well, I hopethings improved because I'm scheduled to go to
Chicago the first weekend in June tosee the Reds and the Cups. So

(01:18:54):
maybe things will improve by that,Jeff, for your sake, I hope
that's the case. Man. It'salways good to talk to you. Man.
Do it again. Okay, yeah, okay, brother, I'm talking
with him. You got it.My dad, who to this day,
there's no one who I've ever beenaround who loved the Reds more. Mario
Soto was one of his favorites,and he and I would talk all the

(01:19:15):
time about how he was a guythat is he got to the big leagues
in seventy seven, and so that'sthe year after they beat the Yankees.
In seventy six and seventy seven,he pitched a little bit in the bullpen
and he pitched I think he startedmaybe ten games, and they're still quite
good. It's the year that theyobviously trade for sever but they're not.
They didn't make the postseason and therewas no wildcard them. They don't win

(01:19:40):
the National League West, and hewas on the eighty one team that had
the best record in baseball but didn'tmake the postseason because of the strike.
He was on the seventy nine team, although he pitched solely in relief in
seventy nine John McNamara's first season wherethey win the National League West and got
swept by the Pirates. But mydad used to always talk about nineteen eighty

(01:20:00):
two, which was the only otheryear where the Reds lost one hundred games,
and they still had some hangers onfrom the seventies. Johnny Bench was
still there, but it was clearlytime to turn the page. That team
was terrible, and yet pitching foran awful team, Mario Soto was.
He's the league leader in strikeout towalk ratio. He led the league in

(01:20:23):
strikeouts per nine innings. I don'tthink anybody really tracked whip back then,
but they if you, it's beencomputed since he led the league in walks,
in hits per innings. Pitch ona terrible team, and so you
know, you've heard me talk aboutwe don't reference pitcher win lost totals.
And there have been a handful ofpitchers from my youth that have always kind

(01:20:45):
of been the reason why. Thefirst one would be Nolan Ryan. Nolan
Ryan in nineteen eighty seven was probablythe best pitcher in baseball nineteen eighty seven,
and he pitched for the Houston Etros. He had an ERA of two
seventy six. He led the leaguein like every other category, led the
league in strikeouts, led the leaguein ERA plus, led the league in

(01:21:10):
fielding, independent pitching. He wenteight and sixteen, and I remember as
a ten year old going like,why do we track pitcher win losses?
He didn't lose those sixteen games ashis terrible hitting team did or as bad
bullpen did led the league in erawent eight and sixteen. And then I
remember kind of like you know,as a as a kid, it's all

(01:21:30):
my dad and I talked about wasbaseball, And I remember having this conversation
with him, like why why didthey give a win or a loss to
the pitcher. It's a team sport, right, So you could pitch seven
innings and give up nine runs andif your your offense scores ten, you
win, but you pitched terribly.Or you could pitch nine innings, give

(01:21:53):
up three hits, one of themis a solo homer, you lose the
game. One nothing. You pitchedbrilliantly and you lost, Like that's stupid.
And I remember my dad talked aboutSteve Carlton with the with the Phillies
in the early seventies, and heremember him talking extensively about like me,
I'm Mario Soto in eighty two wasawesome. Might have been the best pitcher

(01:22:14):
in the National League, but hedidn't finish in the top five in Cy
Young voting because he only had afourteen and thirteen record. He led the
league in a lot of other stuff, and so I just remember him telling
me, like, ignore a picture'swin loss record so much so, like
you think this is a new thingfor me that I just do it as
a sports talk radio thing. Asa kid, I would annoy the hell

(01:22:34):
out of my friends when they wouldtalk about like, oh, so and
so won twenty game, like DaveStewart would win twenty games with the A's
a good pitcher, very good pitcher, intimidating pitcher, had the stare.
But I'd go like, yeah,Era is like three point nine, which
is fine, it's not terrible,but is he really the best pitcher in
the sport. He's on a teamthat scores a billion runs. Bash brothers

(01:22:56):
Ricky Anderson, Osekenseeko, Mark Maguire, Carney Lansford, Dave Henderson. So
since that age, I have chosento never care about or unless I can
help it, reference a pictures winloss record. It's the most it might
not be the most irrelevant statistic,but whenever I hear somebody who wants to
talk about a picture's win loss recordto make the case that they're either good

(01:23:20):
or not good, I just rememberbeing a kid and asking my dad,
like, wait a minute, NolanRyan has sixteen losses, like, there's
nobody better than this dude, andthen he would say, oh yeah,
Mario Soto in nineteen eighty two wasmaybe not quite as good, but was
awesome, but he had thirteen losses, so he couldn't be the cy Young
Award winner. I enjoy talking aboutMario Soto more right now than I do

(01:23:44):
the current iteration of the Reds andhow they're not hitting. We'll spend a
few minutes on them and take morephone calls. Five point three seven,
four nine, fifteen thirty. Ihave a poll question that I got to
get to that actually has nothing todo with the Reds. We'll get to
that coming up in about fifteen minuteson ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports thing in
Studio, which the TV carrier is, uh It's Bally Sports Ohio and uh

(01:24:10):
So the game ended about an hourand twenty minutes or so ago, and
I had Reds Live with Brian Geeson'slog and our buddy Sam LeCure, and
then the Reds broadcast ended. Idon't know what I'm watching right now.
I know what you're referring to,but at the bottom of the screen they're
doing I guess they're doing daily propbets. It's telling you that you could

(01:24:31):
bet on Ellie de la Cruz tohit a home run against the Diamondbacks at
plus three twenty right now, ifyou turn on Bally sports so high,
Where's where's the guy with the Where'sthe guy who teaches people how to play
golf with the young lady that ishis protege? Where's today? Are they
off today? Said Jimmy Jimmy Hamlinor something that dude? And then he

(01:24:58):
he has his playing partner sometimes notNatalie Goldbis, but the other one.
Where's that show? Where's James Orpeentalking about draft picks? No? Instead,
I got these three chuckleheads holding baseballbats for some reason, telling you
to bet on Ellie de la Cruzto hit a home run in a game
that's already been played. It saysthose odds are plus three to twenty.

(01:25:19):
I got news for you, pal, those odds are off the book.
Why are they holding bats? Whatare we doing? Bally sports? Bally
Sports be better. But I'm surpriedyou didn't witness right before this show,
that Sean Miller show was on.Oh I watched that. I like that,
Paul Fritchner adam Bound. They hadon Billy O'Connor, the baseball coach,

(01:25:40):
and Xavier. I like that show, Sean Miller, Shawn's good to
us, like that was good,that was fine. And I like Billy
O'Connor. I used to live byhis dad. But now I'm watching these
guys holding baseball bats as if theone guy's got like a mini bat.
Telling me to bet on Ellie dela Cruz to hit a home run against
the Women Backs, I can't.I mean, the series is over.

(01:26:05):
Bally Sports, give me Jimmy Hamlinand the other golfer I don't. I
don't know her name. Thank you, you get a mean note from Bally
Sports. Now, well, thisguy's background is amazing. Guy's background is
cool. Guys. Background is cool, guys. These are good backgrounds.

(01:26:30):
It's just not good information if you'retelling me to bet on Ellie de Lacruz
to hit a home run tonight becausethe game, Like Ellie's on a plane
right now, he can't hit anyhome runs. He might hit one tomorrow
if the wager was Ellie to hitone against the Giants. I don't know
right now why you would wager onanybody to hit a home run on the
Reds, I'd wager on, like, how many outs are they going to
run into on the base pass?What's the over runder on that tomorrow?

(01:26:51):
That'd be a good wager worth lookinginto Bally Sports. What are we doing
right now? We made them mad? Mike? What's up? Hey?
Mo? Hi? How are you? Oh man? We are great,
Mike? How are you? I'mgood. I'm real good. I'm just

(01:27:13):
looking forward to welcoming the Cincinnati Redsto the state of California. Are you
going to go to any of thegames? I'm going to go to all
the games, all ten of them. Yep, You're going to attend all
ten Reds games in California on thisupcoming road trip. Yes, that's exactly
right. You are my hero,with the help of some of my friends.

(01:27:35):
Yeah. Of those three ballparks,now, I've been to Dodger Stadium,
I'm dying to go to the onein San Francisco. Of those three
ballparks, rank them for me onethrough three, best to worst. Sentimentally,
it's Dodgers Stadium. I love DodgerStadium. Go ahead. Joey Vardo

(01:27:57):
said it was his favorite ballpark.By the way, Uh my, aesthetically,
San Francisco is hands down with McCoveycove and it's they moved it out
of the candle stick, which wasa nightmare. But now they don't get
all that win because they're on theinside of the Bay. And then I'd
say Dodgers Stadium, and then I'dsay pet coo okay, but they're all

(01:28:21):
you're going, You're going to You'regoing to all all ten games? Yes,
sir, I planned this for along time. And some of my
veteran buddies are gonna drive, anduh they want to go too, so
it's gonna be a lot of fun. They're a big baseball fans, so
I'm it's so excited. I can'teven tell you. You deserve a mic.
What else is on your mind?I never listened to David Bell's post

(01:28:45):
game uh uh, even though he'sthe pr guy like you said, and
he is. Yeah, and andnot just him, I mean the the
a baseball manager in this day andage. I feel like, if not
his primary function, one of theirprimary functions is to be the organization's press
secretary. Absolutely with all the clubs. You're right, and that's that's a

(01:29:11):
whole other pile of you know whatthat they have to deal with. So
people don't understand this. I meanthere's a certain amount of pressure involved with
these poor managers, Like, hey, dude, how come you lost eight
in a row. Well, Iwasn't planned, was I. Well what
about the lineup? I'll screw thatlineup. Crap. We don't have the
players right now. We just don'thave them. What do you want me

(01:29:32):
to tell you? You know,but I'll tell you one thing. I
got to kick out. Well,first of all, if the well the
Pirates don't play tonight, but ifthe Cardinals win, we've got a three
way tie I believe for last placein the Central. I know it's going
to be really exciting. Yeah,it's pretty uh. I have to say.

(01:29:53):
Mike Forde belly was probably the highlightof the day. That's a That
boy's got some drift bulge. Hesort of looks like a h Division two
college right tackle. He did havea base head, and he also had
like a ten pitch at bat wherehe grounded at the second base. Yeah.

(01:30:15):
No, he can handle a bat, but gosh, it's bazique wise.
He's not afraid of a nick ultra. I'll tell you that, my
man. Uh, how many homeruns? I don't know this, mo,
because you have the memory from hell. How many home runs? Have
we? We hit any home runsin this in this swamp, the state

(01:30:38):
game swamp? We hit any?Candelario hit one today? Which was?
Which was? Uh? They hadtwo on on Tuesday? Solos So yeah,
solo homers. India hit one.I'm drawing a blank aho with the
other. Was it? Was itStevenson? Yeah, Stevenson, Yeah,

(01:31:00):
Indian Stevenson each hit homers on inthe series opener. So yeah, they
have hit They have hit some homeruns, but they have been like most
of the most of it, hitsa few and far between. Yeah,
yesterday I was gonna call you andtell and ask you, well, what
do you think about the Reds andI face on a left hander? But

(01:31:23):
when you're hitting two o eight isthe team? What difference does it make?
That's the thing. That's the thing. I mean, there are times
where you could pinpoint where their strugglesare going to come from. Is it
against a lefty? Okay, wellfine, then we'll try to come up
something specific to solve our issues againstlefties, or is it you know,

(01:31:44):
they have a hard time when theother team goes to their pen. Whatever
it is for for the Reds,it's it's all encompassing. It's right e's,
it's lefties, it's it's guys whoare primarily hard throwers, it's guys
who are good at changing speeds.I mean, if you've watched this a
losing skid, they have faced everyconceivable type of picture and it hasn't it

(01:32:04):
hasn't mattered. The Reds unfortunately,just haven't been very effective with the bats,
so to speak. And you knowhow, I know how. You
are very pro proactive when it comestwo professional sports teams making deals and trying
to improve them. And that's whyI say watch out. The Padres now

(01:32:28):
are coming on because they did whatyou encourage teams to do, okay,
when they picked up Arias So orAriahs. So this is exactly what you're
talking about. Well, we hada caller earlier this week, Mike,
thank you, and I hope youenjoyed the series in San Francisco. We
had a caller earlier this week asklike, why didn't the Reds do that?

(01:32:49):
It's a fair question. Was NickCrawl aware of the fact that the
Marlins were going to hit the ejecbutton on twenty twenty four by trading away
Luisa Rai. Yes, was heaware? If he was aware, did
he make an attempt to try totrade for him? Did he have a
chance to improve upon San Diego's offer? Fair question. By the way,

(01:33:14):
the show is now telling me tobet on Hunter Green to give up less
than two and a half earn runs. Well that we have breaking news now
since the night related news, Knicksnews. Oh boy, Anatob's out?
Yes for the year? Uh no, just for a Game three, just
for Game three? Left hamstring string? All right, I'm not here tomorrow.

(01:33:36):
I we do Locks of the Nightand we have fun with sports gambling,
and here's who to pick. Nicksare seven and a half point dogs
in Game three. They win Gametwo last night. I don't really believe
in locks or certain we call itlocks of The reality is they're not locks.
The lock of the millennium is Indiewins Game three by maybe somewhere between

(01:34:01):
seventy and eighty five points. Now, I still think the Knicks are gonna
win the series. They're up toto Oh, they have home court,
they have Jalen Brunson, but itis the perfect storm tomorrow. It's a
desperate Indiana team down two oh.What should be an electric atmosphere at whatever

(01:34:23):
they call that place. The PACER'splaying now, Rick Krylisle complaining about the
officiating. You can't spell pacifiers withoutpacers. So they're gonna get every call
tomorrow. And the Knicks are downto like six players that they use now.
They played at Chiwa last night.He was pretty good on the glass

(01:34:45):
and defensively. Anonoby's not gonna playfor the first time in the postseason.
They should restrict the minutes of theirkey guys, which means Josh Hart doesn't
play forty eight minutes. I wouldargue he shouldn't play twenty eight minutes.
The Knicks are gonna handle tomorrow night'sgame like it's fantasy camp. Jericho Simms
want to play in an NBA playoffgame, here's your chance. Duce McBride,

(01:35:05):
who is a part of the rotation, want to go forty eight minutes
an hour and a half from home. Here you go, my man.
That game tomorrow is going to bea bloodbath, almost by design. Knicks
are up two oh. They havehome court. The guy who last night
was the best player on the floor, is not going to play Game three.
They're woefully shorthanded. I as muchas Tibbs, this doesn't seem to

(01:35:30):
fly with his overall ethos. Theyare going to get pummeled tomorrow. And
that's not like pessimistic Knicks fan.It's just it's game three. There's a
tremendous track record that teams in thisround have. When they go home for
Game three down two zero, crowd'sgonna be insane. They're a good team.

(01:35:51):
Indiana has outplayed the Knicks for alarge chunk of this series so far,
and it is a good team ifthey get past the Knicks. I
want them to win the East.I don't think they will. But and
I'm a big obi topping guy,but you have the cry baby coach whinding
about the calls. You've got afired up crowd, a desperate team,
a Knicks team that is hobbled thatis probably gonna just start the game with

(01:36:14):
their foot on the break. Thenumber is seven and a half. The
Pacers will win by something close toninety point deficit. It's I mean,
I'm joking, but it's gonna beTomorrow is going to be. It's gonna
come down to Game four Sunday,Mother's Day. And I think I said
yesterday, but now the injury haschanged, and I think the winner of

(01:36:35):
Game four is going to win theseries. And when Game four takes place,
it's going to be two to onein favor of New York. All
right, twenty two away from sixo'clock. I want to get to our
poll question, which is at leasttangentially Joe Burrow related. Next on ESPN
fifteen thirty arn something about to happenhere. Oh okay, you're playing sexy

(01:37:08):
music. It sounds like is thatwhat this is? Okay? Right?
Very good? Uh, we havea poll question. Thanks to our friends
at United Heartland Insurance. Check outour United Heartland Insurance x pole on my
x feed. United Heartland Insurance canhelp you save MO money. Get it
MO money because my name's Mo onyour Personal Business and Life insurance. Get

(01:37:32):
a free quote online today. Goto UHI n S dot com. This
is a locally owned company. Theygot offices in Hamilton, Cincinnati and Northern
Kentucky. U h I n Sdot com and tell the folks there you
want to save MO money. SoRoger Goodell started talking around the draft about
how he wants an eighteen game NFLregular season, which feels like an inevitability.

(01:37:55):
I don't know if it's gonna happenduring the current CBA, but it
feels like there is going to bea time here reasonably soon where the NFL
has eighteen regular season games on thetrade off, and I'm for the trade
off, which is only two preseasongames. The Joe Burrow, because he's
a thoughtful guy, kind of floatedlike, all right, if we're gonna
do eighteen regular season games, thenwe need another bye week. And everybody

(01:38:19):
seems to agree with that we needanother bye week. And Joe's idea was,
well, what if everybody had thesame bye week, so instead of
you know how it works now,which is starting right row week four,
Week five, four teams have abye, and then four teams have a
bye the next week, and thenmaybe it's six, and then it sort

(01:38:41):
of gets staggered. Joe's sort ofthought was, you have a week late
in the season where everybody's off,And initially I'm thinking I don't want that,
but then I kind of thought,like, especially with the expanded college
football playoff, if you could dothat, kind of hit the reset button
for the last couple of weeks ofthe regular season, gearing up for the

(01:39:02):
stretch drive, and then give thecollege football playoff first round, give that
its own weekend. I think thatcould be kind of cool. At the
same time, if you're rooting fora really good NFL team and it's the
end of the season, like,ah, man, now we got to
take a break. I don't know, so I put it to you on
X and it's interesting. The pollingis it's early, pretty much down the

(01:39:25):
middle, fifty two percent of yousay yes. I ask it this way,
very simply, would you like forthe NFL to add an eighteenth game
per team with an extra bye weekthat every team takes at the same time.
Basically, the NFL goes dark fora week, but there's another game.
There's another regular season game. Votenow at Muegar again thanks to United

(01:39:45):
Heartland Insurance. I saw this onsocial media. I have not listened to
it, Taren, do we knowwhat this is from? This is from
the Colin Cowhert podcast heard podcast uhand this is apparently is a Colin with
somebody Colin with Nick right with NickWright. I think Nick Wright's really good

(01:40:09):
at what he does. Uh.I know he's a big Chiefs fan,
but he's kind of hot takey,but I kind of get the sense that
he believes what he says, andI usually buy that it's coming from a
place of having thought out to takeall. Right, So this is they're
talking about Joe Burrow, and uh, I guess the the suggestion here is

(01:40:31):
that if Burrow gets hurt, theBengals should next year draft a quarterback.
Go ahead and play that for me, And I know Burrow is one of
your favorite guys, and Burrow isthe only active player who stared down Mahomes
and beat him in a game thatmatters. Are you at all worried that
because of his injuries and now theBengals, you know, short and shorter

(01:40:54):
order probably gonna lose tea against alllike that. We maybe have already seen
the best of like the best ofJoe Burrow. We already saw on it
and it's gonna He's not going toreach that level again. No, but
I do think one more injury andthe Bengals have to draft another quarterback near
the top first, second, thirdround. I said this today about Michael

(01:41:15):
Pennix. Last year, the Falconshad no good quarterbacks and couldn't win a
bad division. This year they'll havethe two best quarterbacks, and you're complaining
about it. We're getting to apoint with Burrow that it's a real discussion.
You've got to have at least ab backup. I think Burrow is
going to have to own Hey,this team needs a backup, all right.
So a couple of things about thatthey have a backup, They have

(01:41:41):
a reliable backup. I don't knowif Jake Browning is a starting quarterback in
this league. He's obviously not rightnow. I don't know if he's good
enough for the bengals sake. Ihope we never find out, because if
we don't, that means Joe hasplayed all the games the count. But
if there's you know, room inthere for Jake to get some snaps,
maybe in a situation like you know, when the Bengals have wrapped up their
playoff positioning and have a week orso Togo, Jake can play. Or

(01:42:04):
I'm betting at some point over thenext two seasons circumstances will dictate that Jake
has to play. Maybe he doesenough to make a team feel like he
could be a starter, but theyhave a backup, so I'm not drafting
for a backup. Also, theword injury injury is open ended. There's
lots of different injuries. There's aninjury that could be something you just have

(01:42:27):
to play through for a game.There could be an injury that causes you
to miss a game, a coupleof games, or it can be a
really severe injury which could play severelimitations on your ability to play the following
season and also eliminates you from beingable to play for the remainder of the
current season. Like there's a lotthere, there's also what team needs?

(01:42:50):
Are there going to be? Look, the Bengals are going to have to
do some flipping on the offensive line. That's why they took an offensive line
in this year, Marius Mims.Marius Mim. The smart money would be
on him not playing Week one,but they got started on the next offensive
line. That doesn't stop with theMarius Mims and has to continue. But

(01:43:10):
do I think it's plausible that whileJoe is still quote in his prime,
it would make sense to draft aquarterback sure to be the backup and then
maybe at some point, maybe downthe road at some point be the guy
if omg, there's a major injuryissue with Joe Burrow. Sure, but
they already sort of have that guy. His name is Jake Browning. How

(01:43:34):
much time do we have, Tarren? Can I talk to Tim? Tim?
Terrence says, I could talk toyou? You have the last minute?
Go ahead? Hey, man,how's it going? You know I'm
doing all right? Tim? Howare you awesome? I'm doing good.
Yeah. So, man, you'reLocks of the Knights or Killer Dude.

(01:43:56):
I've been tailing them. You're prettygood at that. Well, thank you.
Put up a five business or something. You know, I've thought of
it. I've thought of it.Yeah, they're just awesome. But anyways,
Uh, the David Bells thing,Yeah, if I was him,
I would just keep the press preferencesshort and sweet. I would say we
sucked. We've been terrible. Imean, there's no other way around it.

(01:44:19):
Well, I'm not gonna sugarcut it. I'm not gonna I'm not gonna
make excuses. We've got to bebetter, and we will be better.
But I can guarantee you this.There is no no other team in this
league that's gonna work harder than weare, and we're gonna be better.
I'm gonna be better and it startswith me, and I understand that,
but I'm not gonna sugarcutter. We'vebeen terrible. And then you know,

(01:44:42):
that's that I don't think. Peopledon't like when you when you sugarcoat things
and you and you, there's nourgency and you're all we're close, we're
close. You're in the middle ofan eight game, eight game louton street,
dude, read the room. Yeahyou know, like so I mean,
and that brings like Marty Brenneman.That's why he is so beloved because
he told it how it was,and people it's refreshing. People like that.

(01:45:03):
They don't like that dilly delling oroh yeah we're good. No,
don't do that. Well, peopledon't like that. I hear you,
Tim, I appreciate. I don'tdisagree with you. I think that makes
a lot of sense. I'd becalled back when we have to go.
But yeah, I mean, Ithink that would go over well. I'm
not sure what it would accomplish withhis team, but I guess that would
go over more than talking about howclose they are. I'm off tomorrow back

(01:45:24):
at it. Monday, have anawesome night. Thanks to Taran for producing,
and of course thanks to you forlistening. Have a great weekend.
This is ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati SportsStation. Moments like hearing my cap her good morn

All Episodes

5/9/24 - The Mo Egger Show

Episode Transcript

Mo Egger News

Popular Podcasts

On Purpose with Jay Shetty

Dateline NBC

24/7 News: The Latest

.css-15opob5{left:0;position:absolute;top:0.8rem;} All Episodes

.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}5/9/24 - The Mo Egger Show

Episode Transcript

Mo Egger News .css-1q01m3q{margin:0 0 -2px 0;}

Popular Podcasts

.css-r6mb8g{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:1;overflow:hidden;}On Purpose with Jay Shetty

Dateline NBC

24/7 News: The Latest

All Episodes