7/24/24 - The Mo Egger Show w/ Chad Brendel

Here from Zac Taylor and Joe Burrow as first day of Training Camp gets underway, Plus the Reds win in Atlanta.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports Station. Allright away, we go Wednesday in the
Queen City. Moe is still onvocation. Vacation, vocation, wrong thing

(00:23):
wends. I'm Chad Brenda filling intoday and Friday. Thank you for choosing
me. Appreciate all of you.Uh, there are a lot of days

(00:46):
in this business where you got tokind of grind out a show. You
got to figure out how you're gonnastretch whatever you have, what little you
have to say, what little topicsare available into three hours of content.

(01:07):
Today is not one of those days. In fact, I was telling Tarin
like I've got some topics down forus here to talk about, and we've
got one guest today and we'll bestarting our camp reports on day one of
Bengals camp with Tony Pike at theend of every hour, in the last
segment every hour. You know,So there are some some things that are

(01:29):
on the sheet, But like Isaid, you have day one of Bengals
Camp. Zach Taylor spoke before practice. Locker room is open after practice,
so there will be plenty of contentcoming out from that as well. I'm
sure we'll hear from Joe Burrow afterpractice and when we will get that to
you. You've got a Red's doubleheader. They are up nine to four in

(01:57):
the bottom of the ninth, sowe'll have a postgame reaction postgame content from
that as well, and looking togo. They're doing it again. They
sweep the Yankees, then they fallflat on their face and get swept by

(02:17):
the Tigers. They come out ofthe break, they get swept by the
Nationals. They are if they canhold on, which you never know,
five or on lead ninth Inny,taking the first two of three and taking
the series in Atlanta from the Braves. This is something this yo yo act

(02:43):
that they have done all season.But we are a couple days away from
the trade deadline. I believe Tuesdaythe thirtieth is the trade deadline, so
you know, six days away fromhaving to make decisions. And I do

(03:08):
think there was someone something that strucka chord today when you look at the
success of Sam Mall since the Redsacquired him at the trade deadline, a
move that everybody kind of I don'twant to say scoff that, but kind
of brushed aside. Oh that's allthey did. And Sam Mall has an

(03:31):
ERA under two since joining the Redsand has been one of the mainstays of
one of the better bullpens in baseball. Find trades like that, go out
and find guys that can help younot only for the rest of this year,
but well into next year as well. And you didn't have to give

(03:52):
up a ton for him. Smarthuh. Not everything has to be splashy,
but we will we we will mostlymostly be talking Bengals today. You'll
hear from Zach Taylor in the nextsegment. We'll get you some of that
audio. But the the the bulletpoints for those wondering that he was asked

(04:18):
obviously right away about Trent Brown saidthat they put him on the non injured
or non football related pup list fortightness just a little a little, a
little veteran easing into the process,and uh, that's that's not a it's

(04:41):
not a great surprise as this is, I believe Trent Brown's tenth season in
the NFL. He's he's a large, large man, So they're gonna get
him a couple of days with themedical staff and make sure that when they
put him out there that he isrounding out to form instead of you know,

(05:03):
maybe scuffling few through a few daysthat you can get him to work
with the training staff and get thosemuscles loosened up and get him ready.
And also it gives you the opportunitybecause let's face it, when Trent Brown
is out there, he's going tobe with the ones, and maybe you

(05:26):
take this first week, ten days, whatever it may be, and you
get Amarius Mimes out there as muchas possible with that first unit because he's
going to be your swing tackle.He's going to be a guy that they
are going to very likely need ifhe doesn't win the job, which I
think there's still a pretty good possibilityeventually that he can win the job.

(05:50):
You're gonna need him. He is, he is going to be valuable.
So you give Trent Brown a littlebit of rest at the beginning of camp,
and you bring him on as campdevelops, and at the end of
the day he is ready to goby the time the season starts, while
also grooming your new toy if youwill. Reds win nine to four.

(06:20):
That is their first series win inAtlanta since twenty eighteen, so they pick
up a big one on Monday,and then they had a fantastic outing by
Hunter Green and then they back itup with a win after the rain delay

(06:41):
or the postponement. Yesterday, theywin game one of a day night doubleheader.
Second game scheduled for six pm.It looks like there is a lot
of rain expected in Atlanta this eveningagain, so we'll see how late they
are willing. Not a magic city, not just the Magic City, Not

(07:02):
just a magic city. The goodnews they don't play, They don't travel
far. They're just going from Atlantato Tampa Bay, which is a pretty
quick plane ride, and they don'tplay until six fifty tomorrow night. So
if they need to hang around andget this one in late tonight, they

(07:25):
might be able to. But forall intents and purposes, it looks like
it's going to be another another rainysituation tonight in Atlanta. Which just play
the doubleheader thirty minutes from now,Game two starts. You get it in
and you're done. What is ona getaway day? What is the point

(07:51):
of a day night doubleheader? Whatare we doing? Oh, you might
lose a little bit of revenue becauseyou're allowing everybody in to the same game.
Or wait forty five minutes to anhour clear the stadium out let people
back in with tickets for the nextgame, but separating and not playing that

(08:13):
game for three hours might cost themplaying a game today at all. It's
dumb AnyWho back to the Bengals.So that's the Trent Brown story. It
appears we are seeing a little differentin evolution of their training camp philosophy,
which Taylor indicated today. Guys likeJoe Burrow and Jamar Chase who's not practicing

(08:37):
today, and t Higgins and CamTaylor Britt who had his tonsils taken out,
and Trent Brown with the stiffness,they are not going to push things
at the start of camp. Butit does sound like the intention is to

(09:00):
ease these veteran guys in, butthen have the back half of camp and
you know, potentially some preseason actionbe a little bit more intense as they
get ready for what we talked aboutis a very critical beginning of the season.

(09:20):
The schedule lays out for them tostart hot outside of the trip to
Kansas City in week two, andin order to do that, I don't
think you can coast through the regularseason like you have done in the past.
So you have to come up witha new strategy and if that new
strategy is we're going to give someguys rest early and then turn up the

(09:46):
dial as we get closer to theseason. I'm on board with that because
I think it accomplishes a little bitof both things. Do you lessen the
opportunity for some of those early campinjuries, those those muscle issues, those
you know, tendons and things thatcan be an issue when you're not when

(10:13):
you're coming off of, you know, a couple months of not really doing
full football activity. So you letthem dip their toe in the water,
get up to speed, and thenwhen you get up to speed, you
maybe push the gas a little bitharder and hope that it ends up being

(10:33):
the same type of effect that youwere looking for in the previous off seasons.
That ultimately, if the end goalwas, you know, to have
a team that was mostly healthy bythe time you got to the playoffs.
I mean in twenty one and twentytwo it worked. One of the reasons
they were able to make that runto the super Bowl is because they were

(10:56):
in a lot better health than prettymuch everybody that they were playing. So
that is a good sign. Ithink that they have an objective a way
that they want this thing to turnout and a path to accomplish that while

(11:18):
still dialing it up as they getready for the start of the season.
So there you go, Reds andBengals. It's going to be a Reds
and Bengals heavy day. George Vogelgorgeous George from formerly of WLWT for forty
two years, now does a podcaston the Bearcat Journal Network, and he

(11:43):
will join me at four to twenty. We'll talk some Reds, we'll talk
some Bengals. I always love catchingup with George and get his thoughts as
this Bengals team gets ready to embarkon their twenty twenty four campaign. And
then we'll we'll take it as itgoes. That. That's the that's the

(12:03):
thing with today. We will hearfrom Zach Taylor coming up. Tarren will
be monitoring the Reds broadcast and hopefullycan bring us some David Bell audio.
A little bit later in the hour, we will talk to Tony Pike down
from the practice fields just outside PeycorpStadium, and uh much much more.

(12:24):
Let's take a break and get backto it since that he's ESPN fifteen thirty
Fudy Peaceful, Big Book, exceptso Let's get killed. That's right,
rough, calling you buff and whenit comes to okay tayr. Yeah,
that's what we're gonna do on aWednesday. I catch I'm down? Who

(12:50):
goes there? A series of fivefingers fucking smoking the fan in the In
the list of underrated rappers of alltime? Where does Redman fit? He's
up there right, I'm probably mytop twelve, like just an incredible MC,
but I don't think he ever getsreally talked about with like the best

(13:11):
of the best. No, ain'tmy fault. It's on the asphalt,
ugh and rest in peace. Plugtwo to goy the dove. Let's get
rolling. Zach Taylor practice number onesat down and spoke with the media to
uh kind of set the stage forthe Bengals taking the field for the first

(13:35):
time today. So let's take alisten. Okay, good to everybody,
welcome back. Excited, great tosee Willie's sitting in here. That's caught
me off, groar, that's goodto see. But just excited to get
the guys back in the building.We've had our meetings, we've had our
walkthrough. Excited to get out thereto practice. As you all know,

(13:56):
this is an easing end process forus man by the league. But this
same time, we want to doa good job of of introducing our players
how we want to practice again andwhat our schemes are and and so again
start this training camp off the rightway. So excited to get him out
there. Yeah he had some tightness, and so again just trying to be

(14:18):
smart, especially some of these veteranguys. Give him a chance to be
with the trainer who knows how manydays could could be a couple of days,
and then see where he's at andyou know him and like several veterans,
it's easy, they're there. We'vemade the statement before. We kind
of know what we got from aability standpoint. I was just managing those

(14:39):
guys during training camp. So wewanted to make the smart decision with him
and ease him into this M leadersthe leaders to end, uh, you
know the run leaders die and kindof seeing they learn and you have to
take the same kind of song.Just you know, that is a wild

(15:01):
question, used asked me because andyou would never have known this. I
I got to meet Brad Stevens theother night, just coincidentally at a charity
thing. We didn't talk but formore than two minutes. But and I
didn't get a chance to really sayto him other than congratulations on the success
they had this year. But he'sbeen somebody I've always watched press conferences and
just how he handled himself, andit was awesome to see the Celtics win

(15:24):
the championship this year. The workhe and all the others have put in
there. Very humble guy. Ithink that's why I really respect the work
he's done, coming from Butler toBoston and and so just at the Lattle
Hotel the other night, I gota chance to meet him, didn't get
to say much to him other than, you know, just just somebody I've
always had a lot of respect for. So just I started laughing when you

(15:46):
asked that question because just coincidentally,he's a guy you know and all sports
that I've always admired from before.There's a couple guys I've talked to that
we'll have a plan early in place, and especially with Tea and Jamar.
I got up there, an Iinstalled this morning and it's fast and furious.

(16:07):
We put a lot of pass gamein day one because guys like Joe
T Jamar, they've been doing thisfor a long time. They can handle
a lot, and so my communicationwith those two is early on, we're
gonna let a lot of guys getthese reps, a lot of young guys
get their feet wet. So I'vegot a plan for Jamar, plan for
Tea. Done a great job communicatingwith those guys. So you'll see Jamar
limited today, not doing much,Tea tomorrow not doing much. We got

(16:32):
a plan for Burrow, you know, again, a guy coming off an
injury who's great, healthy, buttrying to be proactive early in camp,
like I mentioned the other day,and so those guys will each kind of
have their time where they're minimized andother guys get the opportunity. You'll see
Cam Taylor Britt got his tonsils takenout about a week ago, so he
won't be able to do much probablyover the course of this week. We'll

(16:53):
have to take it day to daywith him. But he's another guy you'll
see out there not not doing anythingbecause of that. I don't know that
I'm missing. There's nobody else reallyunexpected, dj Ivy on Pup and Eric
All and pub coming off injuries fromlast season. But but this is the
main ones guys behind. Yeah,well it's big, you know, especially

(17:19):
in the install phase, getting theyoung guys the reps and getting their confidence
at a high level. Again,those guys you just mentioned, you know,
Trent Brown, Cam Taylor, BrettJamar t they they've gotten a lot
of reps in this league and wekind of know what the expectations are for
them, and so opportunities for guyslike a Marius, you know, young
corners to get out there and work. We got competition at the corner spot,

(17:41):
so kind of hits us the rightway when you're trying to develop depth
and trying to get young guys going. Uh, for these guys, that's
to be limited in some ways,and and some of the younger guys to
get a lot of reps. David, I would love you feel like they
come in with kind of a championshit in mind that like every day.

(18:02):
I think we talked quite a bitabout that, you know, just in
twenty four hours of what the expectationare. And there's a lot of guys
in the rooms that have played inSuper Bowls, played for national championships,
and so you look around the roomand guys know what it's supposed to look
like, and we're certainly at thepoint where, yeah, the coaches have
to hold everybody accountable, but sodo the players, and they're embracing that
mentality. We'll see how it goesas training chimp goes. But I have

(18:26):
high expectations for the standard they're goingto set for themselves and for their teammates
and excited to see and watch them, watch them work that way, progress,
you know, just like any anyyoung player. Just continue to make
progress, minimize repeat mistakes. Somethingmy watchers that I can't tell what I'm
beeping is, uh, trying tominimize repeat mistakes. That's the biggest thing,

(18:49):
because again, we were putting alot on their plates. And so
just go study on your own,come back the next day, ready for
the new install, ready to notrepeat the same and continue to make progress.
And expect to see that from thoseguys. So there you go,
Zach Taylor, Day one down frompay Course Stadium. As the Bengals are

(19:10):
on the field right now, goingthrough their first practice of camp. As
it's football season in Cincinnati, theRads trying to trying to remind us that
it's not possible to forget about thisteam. They will not completely they are.

(19:33):
They keep going to ICU, andthen they go back up to a
regular room, and then they goback to ICU, and then they go
back to a regular room. Theycan't get out of the hospital, but
their path is not linear by anystretch of the imagination. They are now
back to four games under five hundred. They fall or they win. Excuse
me, nine to four today,Big day from Li de la Cruz.

(19:56):
Big day from Spencer Steer. Nota great day from Frankie Montas, who
goes four and a third ten hits, three walks, four runs in the
first game of a double header,which means, you know, luckily Tony
santion was was able to give thema couple innings to keep the bullpen usage

(20:21):
at least manageable. But this teamwill be back out there, potentially in
a couple hours playing game two ina game being started by Nick Martinez,
which is a bullpen game, butyou're probably gonna need Martinez to go multiple
and act as as much like astarter as possible because you don't have a

(20:44):
lot of arms left back down atthe back of that bullpen. Now that
I believe five relievers pitched, letme check you have Mal go for two
thirds, sims an innings, santiOn two innings, Wilson an inning.

(21:07):
So four guys in the bullpen usedin that first game. Let's take a
break, do we do? Wehave audio from Atlanta at all? Tearn
we do? Okay, we'll listento some of that when we get back.
Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty headlight. Ican't sleep. I tossed the term

(21:34):
candle sticks in the dog visits,the bodies being firmed full, closing in,
getting bigger. Those aren't the wordsI know. I'm just saying,
those aren't the words coming out mynose. Enough. Well, Scarface I

(21:55):
think gets his due though, right, maybe not as much as he should,
but another one of the all timegreat Yes, sure, like I
would have him in my top tenall time. I'll go fifteen for me
personally. I mean, once westarted doing the list, you maybe could
convince me to he's not. He'sa couple spots from ten, but he's

(22:18):
damn close. I mean yeah,like like I probably like for me,
like in twelve. Yeah, sogood, like when you really dig back
into too, some of that oldghetto boys stuff and his solo stuff,
like the lyricism is just off thecharts, off the charts. Rest in
peace, Bushwick Bill. I feellike every time we do one of these,

(22:40):
I gotta rest in peace, somebody, Terran, it's getting sad.
Let me get older, man.What do you think the odds are that
we get this guest on Friday?I think he's actually good odds. Honestly,
she's giving me a good vibe.Okay, we have good odds.
We might get to ask one ofthe burning questions of my what do we

(23:03):
figure this is? I'm about tohit seven years filling in on this radio
station. It's one of the primaryquestions that we have every time that it
comes up, and we can wemight be able to get an answer on
Friday. Yes, like I youknow, if it ended Friday after that

(23:26):
one question, it could, Icould. I could be happy. I
hope it happens. Goodness, Ihope it happens. Red's win nine to
four in Atlanta. A big dayfrom a couple different guys. You had.
Ellie Goes three for five with anRBI, three runs, scored,

(23:48):
a couple stolen bases. Spencer Steerthree for five, he hit a home
run, Ellie hit a home run. Jake Frailey, with his first home
since April, curls one off thefoul pole down the right field line.
He goes three for five. Sothose three guys had nine of the Reds

(24:11):
twelve hits. They had what twofive, five RBIs six RB eyes of
the Reds nine. So those threeguys carrying the load for the day.
Frankie Montoss goes four and a third, ten hits, four runs. The
bullpen does the rest of the jobfour and two thirds, no hits,

(24:37):
no runs, no walks. Lockdown performance from the Reds bullpen. Let's
hear from Spencer Steer. All right, Yeah, that was a weird one.
I was just really trying to gothree and then I started my slide

(24:57):
and here Jerry yell, go gogo, So just kind of took off
from there to kind of pop uphad first slide. Yeah. Actually I
had no idea what happened obviously tothe play ended. I have no idea
where the ball was, but youknow, put On Jr. Just sending
me right there. Yeah, itwas it was a struggle for Frankie,
but he did go four. Imean, it was that one of those

(25:18):
things where you guys felt like justjust give us enough and we can finish
this off with our bats to that. Yeah, I mean he did a
great job. Give him us fourand a third or whatever it was,
and especially on a day like today, two games any length we can get
have a starter is huge. SoI think he did a great job giving
us those innings and really battling forus. You guys have done this against

(25:38):
the playoff type teams, the pretendingteams where you're winning series, and you
did it again against the Braves alreadywithout even having the third team meaings,
how important is it just to winthose types of games. Yeah, I
think we're just finding a way toplay good baseball against good teams. I
think it's quite as simple as that. I think the offense did a really
good job of jumping on him earlyand putting pressure on them. Uh,

(26:00):
you know, take an extra basisstill in bases and just really really good
at bats up and down the order. Just spray line drives all over the
field. So they're gonna probably wina lot of games that are doing that.
There's a little bit of an offsetfactor when you come in and win
a series like this. It's ateam like this after the way that we
can. When you guys all knowwhat time of year this is too,

(26:22):
I mean, how much can thisdo toward what may or may not be
coming on Tuesday. Yeah, it'ssome secrets winning time. We've got to
string together some some good games hereand and stay consistent. But yeah,
I don't think there's a secret.That's time to win some ball games and
try to get hot here and goinga little bit of a streak. There

(26:48):
you go. Spencer Steer after athree for five day home run. He
hit the ball hard all three atbats, line drives into the gap.
Actually did he? Steer didn't havea home run, Sorry, he had
doubles, a pair of doubles anda triple. The triple is the why

(27:11):
I'm thinking home run. He hita triple and then the relay throw just
slipped out of the cutoff man's handsand instead of going to home plate ended
up in the left center field anduh Jr. House got him, got
him up off a third and senthim home. That's why I was thinking
home run in my brain. ButRed's wind nine to four Nick Martinez against

(27:36):
Chris Sale. Sale has been outstandingso far this season, but the Reds
have a little momentum. Although it'sa it's a dominant lefty and usually left
He's uh. It has been agreat struggle. And and Tarren Sadley,
the the Reese Hines love Fest isquickly coming to an end. The All
Star break turned the glassper back intoa pumpkin. He is won for his

(28:02):
last seventeen. Hopefully he can hecan get it going tonight. Let just
take a break. We will headdown to pay Corpse Stadium and talk to
Tony Pike right after this. TheMedal of Honor is the highest training camp
report brooked you boys Kimber Credit onESPN fifteen thirty, the official home of

(28:26):
the Bengalis. I feel privileged.I get to do the first one of
these for twenty twenty four. Aswe head down to the shadow of pay
Corpse Stadium the practice fields to checkin on practice number one with our man

(28:47):
Tony Pike. Tony, how haspractice number one been treating you? Well,
there's not many shadows down here.It's sunny and it's warm today.
You mentioned practice report number one,No practice today for number on one of
the Bengals, Jamar Chase Taylor.Yep, Well, here's the interesting thing.
Dach Taylor's fund this off today andhe got out ahead of it and
he said, hey, we're gonnaease our veterans into it. They haven't

(29:11):
really eased Joe Burrow into it today. He's performed all day. I thought
Joe Burrow has spread the ball aroundvery nicely. He's found Mikeasicki a bunch.
Didn't really connect with Toe Higgins lottoday. But the amount of time
that Joe Burrow is spending giving repsto his young receivers, and also like
the off reps you know now watchingpractice, Chad, you go to a

(29:33):
special teams session, Joe Burrow isimmediately over there talking to the wide receivers.
He is utilizing every chance he canget to talk with these young guys.
I love the connection ra with Mikeyasicki, But there is no Jamar Chase
here today, and it's it's nota story yet. What happens if Jamar
Chase doesn't practice tomorrow? What happensif he doesn't practice Friday? Does it
become more of a Okay, maybethere is something more to the contract situation

(29:57):
or truly just easing him back inthe practice, because if he's out here
practicing today, You take it forwhat it's worth. If he's not.
Every day that that goes, youstart to concern a little bit more with
Jamar Chase. But man, physically, Chad, Jamar Chase looks strong.
Joe Burrow looks strong. Everything we'veheard about the added muscle and weight you

(30:17):
can see out here on day one. Well, well, thankfully we have
the tea of the Jamar Chase thingto talk about, because if not,
the narrative would be Joe Burrow isicing out T Higgins because he didn't get
an extension. Yep, because youknow every day that goes, Lolly,
you know, he dropped the pass. Maybe he's just mad about his contract.
That's just the unfortunate nature of thethe NFL. But no, it's

(30:41):
it's awesome to get these guys back. I will say this seeing Joe Burrow
and there's still not one hundred percenton the rip when he throws. But
Joe Burrow is going against the numberone defense with T Higgins and a bunch
of question marks and wide receiver rightnow. And Joe Burrow has had no
problem completing passes today. And Isee that more as a drinks with Joe
Burrow with Dan Pitcher, with ZachTaylor and what this offense can be coming

(31:06):
into this season. Cam Taylor Britttonsils removed over the last week, so
they will also be easing him in. I don't want to get out over
my skis, but they better hopethis isn't a thing that lingers and takes
him a little while because they've gothim, They've got to get him ready
to go as their number one cornerpronto. Yeah, because there's so much

(31:30):
question at the number two, right, is it DJ Turner, is it
Dax Hill? There is no questionwho number one is and that's Cam Taylor
Britt and Duke Covin said at themedia luncheon on Monday they do not have
a plan to sign a veteran cornerat any point going forward. Now,
Kim not change absolutely, but numbertwo corner has been the talking point.
That is, assuming Cam Taylor Brittplays at the level that he's expected to

(31:53):
play out all seasons. Yeah,and if he's out for any extended period
of time. Now, the numbertwo battle moves up to number one,
the number three battle moves up tolike it, there is a domino effect
at that position, specifically, ifyour number one isn't available, Well,
not only that position, this isthe team last year. I remember the

(32:14):
starting offensive line didn't miss us agame. They missed rep together during the
season. So you know, you'vecovered enough football, been around enough football.
You're gonna have to rely on thoseguys at some point this year.
That brings back into the conversation ofJohntay Smith Jackson Carmen. Here we are
talking about Jackson Carmen again on dayone a training camp, and then it's
it's the Amarius Men's Trent Brown situation, you know, is the non football

(32:37):
injury. And Zach Taylor, quotedtoday said tightness didn't really give an indication
on tightness of what just tightness forTrent Brown. Maybe that's why he was
available at the price he was.He's had injuries con turns in the past.
But you're gonna have to rely ondepth at the offensive line at some
point this year as well. I'mcurious, Tony, if you were allowed
to miss since he three six forthe days you woke up with general tightness

(33:04):
sort of, how many how manydays would you be here like one a
week, two a week. Maybemaybe I was tight every single practice as
you see I'm listening today and again, easing guys into it is what Zach
Kels said. It's the first dayof training camp, you're in helmet.
That's is pretty much as easy asyou can go. Easing back into something,
so you know VET days early on, that's that's a thing of beauty

(33:27):
and also hopefully is a sign thatthey want to get these guys their VET
days early and then crank things upas we get to the end of camp,
which we have not seen from themin the past couple of years.
I think there's a lot of thatand Chad, I honestly think they truly
don't know right now what that numberthree wide receiver looks like. I think
they want to utilize as many opportunitiesas possible with Kilburrow practicing to get Josey

(33:52):
vas A meaningful re Trent Irwin meaningfulreps. They need to and they have
to utilize what Jermaine Burton can bein how many reps will be taken away
BECAUSEIKI has split out wide. SoI do think there's a method to the
madness when it comes to a lotof these young receivers getting so many reps
early in camp. All right,man, we will talk to you here

(34:14):
in an hour. Uh, staycool out there, I know it.
Luckily it's not a scorcher today,but still standing out there on the turf,
it gets a little hot. Sodid stay hydrated? Thank you,
chav. We'll talk soon. Allright, there you go, Tony Pike
live from the practice fields downtown atpay Corse Stadium, giving us tearing that

(34:35):
that felt good, didn't it?Our first camp report? Now? I
know two weeks from now we're goingto be tired of doing those things once
an hour, But that that,that first one felt good to get out.
The shook the rust off. Yeah, shook the rust off, I
thought, Tony and I that feltlike mid season forour I felt like we

(34:55):
we had a good uh repertoire,a good rep parte there. So before
we before we end our number one, let's go out to the phones and
talk to our guy, Dick andDayton. Dick, how are you,
my friend? Oh are you?Chad and Tarn? Oh? What a
great report today? First day,Dick? Great? Huh first day at

(35:16):
camp? Let's go Yeah? Yeah, you know they I've been watching him
on you know, TV, andboy, he looks pretty good. Throwing
that ball down the field. Youknow, yep, he's getting there.
Not all the way back yet,but you expect they're gonna have to to
knock a little rust off. Butas long as he's close. You got
to feel good about Joe at thestart of camp. Well, yeah,

(35:38):
I do. I think they'll probablythey can easily win I'd say ten eleven
games this year. What do youthink? I hope it's more than that,
Dick. Ten eleven games. You'regonna be fighting to get into the
playoffs if you want to be oneof the better teams, if you if
you want to you know, maybeyou don't get that one seed, but
you want to be two or three. You want to host some home games,

(36:00):
at least one home game in theplayoffs, and you're not gonna get
there with ten or eleven. Soyeah, And what's your opinion of the
Reds this year? They're sort ofoff and on, but they've got so
much talent, Chad. I wantto see them, you know, maybe
end up in second or third.You have an opinion. Are they playing
consistent? Here's the problem, Dick. Their consistency is being inconsistent. Yeah,

(36:28):
they've lost a ton of one rungames. They have made a bunch
of mental errors in a lot ofthose one run games. You can go
back and pinpoint one or two criticalmistakes that major League Baseball players shouldn't be
making that are becoming determining factors inlosing. And then and then when you
know, and this is something thatyou do see a lot with really talented

(36:52):
although I would argue right now becauseof the injuries and the way everything is
shaken out, this is not asyoung a team as as we think it
is because we associate with last yearhow young that team was. This team
is not because they've had to patcha bunch of holes. They're not as
young as you think. They're alsonot as talented as we would like them
to be. But they get upfor the Dodgers, the Braves, the

(37:19):
Yankees, and then they kind ofget complacent against the Tigers and the Nationals,
you know, series that they thinkthey should have in hand, and
they end up getting swept. Andthat is what has has made this thing
such a roller coaster. They're sittingfour games behind under five hundred. Sometimes

(37:40):
it feels like they're fifteen games underfive hundred, and sometimes it feels like
they're contending for first in the divisionwith the way that they play. That's
what's been maddening about this bunch.Dick. Yeah, you know, I'm
thinking another thing. Did they rakethe Bearcats good? This year in football
should be better. But what ifMarvin Lewis used to say, it's the

(38:02):
one thing that I took from thatI took from the Marvin Lewis era.
I see better than I hear.Camp starts a week from today and we
will find out about year two inScott's adderfield. I got to get to
a break, Dick, Thanks forcalling my friend. You're welcome. I
have a good day. You two, all right, just take a break.
Our number two coming right up.Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty. This report

(38:25):
is fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports Station,And away we go our number two,
Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty. This isthe Malwagger Show. I am Chad Brenda.

(38:49):
You can find me on Twitter atChad Brendel. Find me at Bearcat
Journal dot com, or search forBearcat Journal dot com on most social media
platforms. Thank you for choosing numberme number Thank you for choosing me our
number one in the books. Itwas a quick one quick quiz for you.

(39:12):
Okay, off topic. Okay youplayed the new yet, yes for
you? So I haven't played ityet. It's really hard. It is
that I'm about to go back tovarsity. So I I started on All
American, and it's don't start onAll American. The the hardest thing is

(39:34):
like figuring out the playbook and andwhat you're running, and what you want
to run, and like what typeof offense you want to be, what
what your go to plays are,what works for you. Trying to do
that on the All American level whileyou're learning is stupid. It's it's just
not smart. I dropped down tovarsity. I dominated playing varsity, but

(39:59):
then when I went back up toAll American, it's it's it's so much
harder, just significantly harder playing thatlevel than it is playing the varsity level.
I was actually having this conversation withmyself last night, Tarn, I
am not a competitive player. Iam not looking to win tournaments. I'm

(40:22):
looking to play the game to havefun. Why do I continue to make
myself angry playing All American? It'sso hard. I can run the ball
really well. Defense is very challengingand passing the ball like every fourth throw

(40:45):
is an interception? Are you withyou c right now? Yeah? I
probably. I mean they're just nottheir their rating is not great. They
do not have Soursbi's actually pretty good. But Xavier Henderson, the number one
receiver, didn't opt in, soyou don't have your number one receiver in

(41:07):
the game, which moves everybody upa notch, which you know they don't.
Their receiver depth isn't isn't great rightnow. So, uh, Dante
Corleone is a monster. And uh, the most success I have is just
running Corey Kiner left off of LukeCandra, over and over and over,

(41:29):
inside zone after inside zone after insidezone, Kiner right behind Candra. But
it's it's a great game. Thevisually, it's stunning. It hits all
the nostalgia markers that you want fromthe old game. It just they they
need. If they adjusted the slidersor the difficulty on All American just a

(41:52):
little bit, just lowered it anotch, I think it would be much
more enjoyable. Well, like theyhave guys that are like you'll have a
guy five yards free down the sidelineand a safety you'll come running from out
of nowhere and be like, nowhereclose to the play, but he just
like jumps like Superman and intercepts theball. And you're like, how am

(42:15):
I supposed to see that when I'mthrowing that pass, that this guy that's
not he can't get anywhere near mywide receiver just undercuts the play, picks
it off and takes it to thehouse the other way, like it's there's
It can be frustrating, It canbe very frustrating. He sounds of frustrated
explaining it. So, but that'sbecause I couldn't complete a pass. I

(42:38):
was playing my Dynasty League. Iactually I rage quit Houston about middle of
the third quarter because I just couldn'tcomplete a pass the entire game. I
think I threw four interceptions, threeof them were pick sixes. And then
I can come right back down andscore. But you're still so frustrated that,

(42:59):
like, if I throw that picksix, I'd be up twenty one
points now, and instead I'm losingby seven. I would suggest, when
you do, are you gonna getit? Yeah? Yeah, I'm gonna
get it. I would suggest maybegoing to PlayStation and YouTube and searching some
tutorials and finding some best practices ofpeople that have been playing that can tell

(43:24):
you like, Okay, this iswhat works on defense. This is what
works you know, route combinations andwhatnot on offense, because doing it yourself
in the early stages is not alot of fun. Okay, but I'd
highly recommend getting it and I playit every night. If that replaced fire

(43:45):
up Friday, no no, no, no, no, lord no,
if it's I was kind of lookingat the weather and contemplating that for a
couple of days from now. AndI tell you what, if we have
the guest, I probably will doa fire pit just to celebrate. Uh.
A monumentous moment in my career.Is Moe hanging out with Charles Oakley

(44:07):
this weekend? Not sure? I'mnot sure when Mo gets it back.
He's still on vacation. Wasn't thatsupposed to be this weekend? Yes,
Saturday? Yeah, I can't imagineMoe would stay on vacation if he had
a chance to hang out with CharlesOakley. Like, I'm sure he would
tell his wife and kid, Ilove you, but I might love Charles
Oakley more. Oh boy? Uhno, we've got some David Bell Audio.

(44:37):
Let's hear from David Bell, andit's just going through something. Have
you seen anything? Then starts,yeah, frank is going to be fune
today. Got ahead, did abetter job getting ahead than first pitch straights,
a lot of accounts from indep singers, a lot of sing games.

(45:02):
Never mind tear, I don't Ican't listen to that. I'm not going
to make the people listen to thatone. David Bell doesn't say why,
why can't just once he'd be like, Frankie needs to be better, you
know what I mean? He likethe first game of a doubleheader, he
gave up ten hits and four runsand four and a third in a game

(45:29):
that they had a four nothing Theyjumped out to a four nothing lead,
then add seven to three lead,like, come on that And the audio
quality was awful And David Bell doesn'tknow how to talk into a microphone.
So I'm not gonna make you guyslisten to that. That's the that's the
type of host I am. I'mI'm a listener friendly host. I'm not

(45:53):
gonna subject you to David Bell sayingnothing talking out of the microphone. Away
from the microphone, what are wedoing? AnyWho? It'll be interesting tonight
if that game happens. I'm hearingsome some rumblings from Atlanta a way that

(46:19):
there is a meeting going on rightabout now or hear in the next couple
of minutes to decide what to dowith that game, and there's a pretty
good chance they bag it. Sowe will keep an eye on that as
things progress. Just scrolling through Twitterto make sure it hasn't happened yet.

(46:42):
But I think it's something that's that'sprobably going to happen, that that tonight's
game will be uh not played,which tarn that gives the red would give
the Reds a sweep in the series, right, yes, if they don't
complete the series and that game becomeseither a standalone game or it becomes part

(47:09):
of I don't think they go Dothey go back to Atlanta at all this
year? No? I don't thinkso. Yeah, so they would have
to do like a one day tripin and out to make up the game.
But that would give their a sweepof the Dodgers, a sweep of
the Yankees, a sweep of theBraves. That there's another one that I
think I'm missing that they swept that'sa World Series caliber contender. They sweep

(47:37):
the Rangers at the beginning of theyear, somebody I don't remember AnyWho that's
I think that's maybe the most frustratingpart, although I will say so much
of the Major League Baseball schedule iswhen you play a team. When they
played the Yankees, the Yankees werein the middle of an epic slide.

(48:02):
I think the Braves had lost fiveof eight coming into this series with the
Reds, and now they've lost thefirst two games of this series, and
they've lost Alsie Alvis, who's ahuge part of that that organization, especially
without Altuve. So sometimes it isas simple as catching a team at the

(48:28):
right time, catching a team,you know, because what people don't factor
in when they think of baseball,when they think of dominant teams in base
in baseball, I think they theythink of it like you know, football,
like the the best teams win seventyfive percent of their games. Well,
in baseball, if you win onehundred games, you had an incredible

(48:52):
season, but that means you lostsixty two games, and that means that
there's going to be some stretches inthere where for a week or two you
don't play well or you know,you have a couple of key guys out,
or an injury here or an injurythere that has you adjusting and reconfiguring,

(49:12):
and that has happened a couple times, and the Reds have taken advantage.
To their credit, you still haveto win the games. You still
have to take advantage of win thegames, but they've also taken some of
these series that could have allowed theman opportunity, if not to get back
in the central race, but toget back and be firmly in a strong

(49:36):
position in the wildcard race. Becauseyou know, while there are four games
back in the wildcard race and thatlooks great, but there's like sixteen seven
teams that are all right in thatmix, and you know that the odds
that you're going to end up beingone of them, with this inconsistent as
his Reds group has been, arestill not great. All right, let's

(49:58):
take a break. When we comeback, we will hear from my good
friend George Vogel, formerly of WLWT, now has a podcast on the Bearcat
Journal Network called George in the Jungle, and we will talk to George right
after this, right here on Cincinnati'sESPN fifteen thirty. Since NAT, welcome

(50:35):
back Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty Chad Brendeland Promo Eggar as Moe is on vacation.
I hope he is having a delightfultime while we work away. Let's
get right back to it. Breaganin one of my my closest allies in
the sports world here in Cincinnati.Man that grace the airwaves on WLW for

(51:00):
forty two years now, he gracesthe airwaves on the Bearcat Journal Network every
Tuesday night at nine pm for Georgein the Jungle. It is my guy,
George Vogel. George, how thehell are you? I'm doing great,
man, how about you? Icouldn't be better. I couldn't possibly
be better outside of my daughter doesnot understand I'm on the radio vacation.

(51:22):
Well, I could be mo onvacation. It's volleyball season. I don't
get vacations though, No, no, but you enjoy that. Yeah,
I don't mind. Other than aswe were finishing up that last segment,
my daughter had a a teenager crisisof some sort at my house and texted
me forty seven times while I wason the air. Hello Hello dad,

(51:44):
dad, dad, Hello, Hellohello child. I cannot stop and talk
to you. Actually, it neverends. I'd like to tell you when
you have children, it never ends. Yeah, Ashley, Ashley is still
dad Dad dadding you all the time, Da Dad, Dad Dad. I
get that all the time. Igolfed with Mo a couple of weeks ago.

(52:07):
I wanted to mention when we weregolfing, the dude made like an
we marked it off like an eightysix foot putt. Wow, maybe the
longest putt I've ever seen in mylife dropped. That's impressive. I didn't
know he had that kind of skill. I didn't need that, So I
was going to say I didn't knowMo was was a was a plus golfer.

(52:27):
Add that to the rest of theday. That was the shot of
the day. He's coming along justfine. I guess he took up golf
a few years ago and has discoveredthe joy of riding on a cart with
a beer and a cigar, andhe's joined the rest of us old geezers.
It's more about the beer and thecigar than it is the golf.
I would I would gather to imagineit's gotta be if you play like most

(52:51):
amateurs play exactly, it's gotta beit's the adrenaline of that one shot around
that eighty six foot putt that keepsyou coming back. That eighty six foot
pedal keep him coming back for sixmonths. Yeah, but Mike Dartis was
in our group. He walked itoff. He was the official measure device
that day. That's great. Bengalsfirst day of camp. What was that

(53:15):
always like for you? That summeris over? Realization that football is back.
It was always a big event wayback because they didn't have these OTAs
and stuff like these dudes were gonein January and you never saw him again
till you were up in Wilmington.And when they had training camp in Wilmington,

(53:37):
like the first day was a prettybig deal. And they would actually
run through a banner like high schoolteams do to start camp. The people
at Wilmington would have this banner andthe players that come out of the locker
room and come running through that thingto start training camp. It's just not
quite the same anymore, but stilla very exciting time. It's not like

(54:01):
it used to be because, likeI said, you know, these guys
are working darn their year round.But it does mean that the real stuff's
are right around the corner. Itdoes. It does Joe Burrow coming off
the wrist injury. It's funny becausewhen I look at this team, George,
I think two things, and thosethings are they seem to be counterintuitive.

(54:27):
One is, this is a teamthat is kind of in a Super
Bowl or bust kind of mode.And the other is, boy, I
still have a lot of questions aboutthis team. I have questions at safety.
I have questions at corner. Ihave questions on the defensive line.
I have questions at running back,you know, And it doesn't feel like
you should have this many questions witha team you consider super Bowl or bust,

(54:52):
but you also have Joe Burrow.Yeah, And that's what I think
everyone is hanging there on. Isthat offensive side of the ball with a
healthy Joe Burrow, with Jamar Chaset Higgins, you know that tied end.
They brought in the offensive line theway it's set up, and you

(55:12):
know, they actually didn't do badat the running back position either, bringing
in Zach Moss and teaming him upwith Chase Brown, and so you know
that's where the excitement is. Andyou're right on the defensive side of the
ball, there's some question marks.I'm probably safety is but you know they've
got Geno Stone they brought in fromBaltimore. You know, Bomb Bell was

(55:37):
brought back, so you hope thatsolidifies it. The corner is really where
it gets interesting. Jam Taylor Brettlooks like a star emerging. You know,
they look like they're pretty good inthe slot. But that other side
we'll see. Is Dax Hill goingto be the guy? Is you know,
DJ going to take the next step? I don't know, And those
are question marks that have to beanswered. They are I still interior defensive

(56:01):
line. Run the ability to stopthe run is still something I am very
concerned about with this team, especiallyin this division. The Steelers, the
Ravens, the Browns, they aregoing to run right at you. And
without DJ Reader last year, thisdefense was horrific and they did not add
a run stuffing defensive tackle. It'sgonna have to be by committee. And

(56:27):
George know what, people don't talkabout enough. I don't think because there's
so many other concerns on this defense. I think linebacker was just as bad
as any you know, just asthey were almost non existent a season ago.
If they're gonna get better on stoppingthe run without a dominant defensive tackle.
The linebackers have got to get ittogether and play better. Yeah,

(56:50):
because you're right. When Rider wasout last year, you know, teams
played with them in the running game, and that's one way to keep Joe
Burrow and that offense off the fieldis just riding that clock, which with
the running game and pound away.And you know that's Louanna Romo's gonna have
to pull a rabbit or two outof the hat there to keep all of

(57:10):
that and check. So those thoseare probably bigger question marks than you would
like for a team that you thinkcan make a run like this. But
even all of that considered, Istill feel pretty good about their chances of
having a very successful season. Wellthey win the Super Bowl, I you
know, who the hell knows?Probably not because they have it in the

(57:31):
history of the franchise. But likeMike Brown said the other day, no
matter how good you are, youstill have to have you know, a
bounce or two go your way,a few breaks, and you know,
avoid the catastrophic injuries, which theyhave not been able to do. Yeah,
I mean the thing that really makesme, it kind of made me

(57:51):
reassess like where my thought process was. Paul Danner Junior hit an article the
other day that one of the metricshad the Bengals rated as I think the
last year's schedule was the hardest,the hardest schedule since like twenty fifteen,

(58:13):
and one of the hardest schedules inthe NFL since like nineteen seventy five or
something, and they still managed toget nine wins with all the questions that
we had. And that leads meto believe that culture wise, these guys

(58:34):
are going to be okay in termsof understanding now how to win games.
Yeah, and I think it's cleared. You know, the Bengals are in
it to win it this year,and you know the way the t Higgins
thing seems to be shaking out.And you know, for all the questions
that one time surround the Zach Taylor, he's done a great job cultivating that

(58:57):
kind of a culture that they havedown there. When they get inside that
gate down at Paul Brown Stadium,it's time to go to work, and
they do it. They make themost of their time, and to me
interesting he was talking today about,you know, how to approach this preseason
and the work for the other guysand and he's going to try to get

(59:20):
those other receivers a lot of workbecause you don't really have to worry a
whole lot about Chase and Higgins andwhat they know and what they can do.
But when he was asked about thefast start of the season, and
we know what's happened the past coupleof years at the beginning of the year,
the beginning of the season, hesaid, they haven't gotten to that
point yet. He's not sure exactlywhat approach they will take, and I

(59:42):
think a lot of it's going todepend on how things develop during training camp.
I mean, if he's happy early, maybe they won't get as much
work as I think they probably shouldget in some of these preseason games leading
up to the season. But we'llsee. But it was interesting, I
thought, because that's one of thebiggest questions, and even the players have
talked about it. Hey, youknow, we we can't have this oh

(01:00:06):
and two start again and put ourselvesin a hole. But for Zach to
say, and some of that couldbe just posturing on his part because you
don't want the players to think aboutit. Yeah, it's uh, it's
interesting. It's it's gonna be.It's gonna be a fascinating, uh run
for this team as they they tryto figure it out early, try to

(01:00:28):
get that Luay and Rumo defense backon track. I I can't wait because,
like I said, it's fascinating tome because they they like I said,
they they they feel like a teamthat's super Bowl or bus. They
also feel like a team with alot of questions. Those two things are
not supposed to be hand in hand, but ultimately with this group, they

(01:00:50):
are. Let's get to the Redsreal quick. They win. They win
the first two against the Braids aftergetting swept over the weekend by the Nationals.
What do you make of agree?Is it? Is it youth?
Is it? What is it thatthis team? I don't understand. They're
driving me nothing. Yeah, Idon't know either. Every time I write
them off, they suck me backin. I still just can't believe that

(01:01:15):
there's really a you know, alot of promise or hope that they're going
to do any damage should they makethe postseason. But they got a lot
of work to get there first.And it's just I don't know. I
mean, they beat the praise andthe Braves are beat up to they they've
got injuries and and uh aren't onehundred. But still when you look at

(01:01:37):
some of the teams they've handled,after some of the horrific series they've had
against lesser teams, it makes nosense. And I don't know if it
is youth, I I don't know. It's a very jackal and hide situation.
And uh, you know, theygot to get rid of hide here
pretty soon if they take a bump. All right, Georgie, I appreciate

(01:01:59):
it. They can find you Wednesdaynights or Tuesday nights, excuse me,
nine o'clock Tuesday nights, nine o'clockon the Bearcat Journal YouTube network. You
can find us on Twitch, youcan find everywhere you get your podcasts.
But uh, we appreciate you hoppingon and uh talking a little sports with
us. Go enjoy your Wednesday.Oh well, you do the same.
My brother will talk soon. Allright, there you go. That's George

(01:02:22):
Vogel. Let's take a break moreafter this, since not he's ESPN fifteen
thirty big soo the beg like what'supload on Windows other frames? Party one?
Big so woo the bag Like,what's upload on Windows other frames?
Party one? Big so Since notE's ESPN fifteen thirty chat. Then in

(01:02:42):
from rolling along through the four o'clockhour trees in Yosemite, I'm up for
the on me. This my minimeaning anything I want to get the faulty,
never hustle. That was always fullquestion. I can multitask always.
Let's it rolling head out to thephones. Marcus and Comington wants to talk
about the Reds. Marcus, what'sgoing on? Thany sched How are you?

(01:03:07):
I'm doing fantastic. How about yourself? Oh? Not too bad?
I mean I let's talk back withyou yesterday about the Reds and so far
sixty two games left the season ortwo? And oh, I don't know
about tonight. That that lineup.I think I need a shot of bourbon.
Just get to that line up tonight. Well there might. There's a
pretty good chance we're not going tohave a game tonight. That's what I

(01:03:30):
keep hearing. And I don't Andlike I said to me, I don't
know the whether. I know it'snot looking good, but that that lineup,
boy, yeah it's not. It'snot promising. Game two of a
doubleheader against Chris Sale. Who's whatthirteen and two with an era under two
and a half. Uh and thisthis team can't hit lefties anyway, so
uh, they were pretty clearly throwingin the towel on the final game of

(01:03:53):
the series. If it happens,but uh, maybe they'll catch a break
and by the time it rolls aroundthey won't get uh they won't get sale
the next time and and hopefully theycan pick up another one. But uh,
yeah, they're they're just they're sofrustrating because they have a chance to
be pretty good and they just don'tever seem to want to, uh to

(01:04:15):
grab the ring and do it.Yeah. The the thing is, and
I know and I get it.I mean, I'm one of those optimistic,
weirdo fans that don't count these guysout till it's till it's over.
But it's the pitching with me.The pitching is why I have hope for
this team. Yeah, and it'sit's the inconsistent hitting that's frustrating. I

(01:04:40):
Mean, it seems like anytime theReds put up six or more runs,
Ellie's got three hits, and thenwhen it's a close game, Ellie's got
nothing. And that and and Ikind of see that's where the Ellie haters
come out. Is when in thatsituation, I like today, I think
he went three for four or threefor five, three five and we scored
nine runs. But if it's atwo to one game or a three to

(01:05:06):
five or a three to one game, Ellie's zero for four with four strikeouts.
I think that's being a little toogeneral. I mean, the problem
is there's there's not enough length inthe lineup. It's not an Ellie issue.
It's that if they don't get itfrom their best bat, they're probably
not gonna get it from anywhere moreoften than not. Like, that's not

(01:05:26):
Ellie's fault that in a game whereyou know anymore, hitting twenty eight percent,
getting a hit twenty eight percent ofthe time makes you one of the
better players in baseball. I meanseventy two percent of the time, you're
not going to get a hit.Yeah, there's gonna be games where he
doesn't play well. The problem isthey're not getting anything from the bottom of

(01:05:48):
the order at all, Like onceyou get through five, like six,
seven, eight, nine. Hasjust been dreadful for this team this year.
I mean, just god awful.Do you think when or if at
this point it has been a monthsix weeks now with Freedom coming back,
do you think Benson's gonna be theodd man out and be sent down or

(01:06:09):
would it be that splayer. Idon't think you have a choice but to
do something with Benson. It's notworking right now. Like I agree,
it's just not like I'm They wantit to work really bad, and I
understand why because he's got great potential. But the production is as bad as
it humanly possibly can be for aguy to still have a job in Major

(01:06:31):
League Baseball. They've got to gethim down and figure it out or or
move on. Unfortunately. Like Ilove the the the idea of Will Benson,
the execution the delivery of Will Bensonhas has not been has not been
great. All right, I appreciateit, Marcus. I got to get

(01:06:51):
to a break and then more TonyPike from down at pay Corpse Stadium.
So thanks for the call, anduh call again, man, appreciate it,
all right, thank you. Takea break Tony Pike after this,
since I he's ESPN fifteen thirty.Hey, imagine waking up this time next
week and being one d This isthe training camp report. Rook to you

(01:07:13):
boys, Hollywood Casino Lawrensburg on ESPNfifteen thirty, the official home of the
Bengals. Yes, got to workall right. Here we go back down
to Paul Brown Stadium, the practicefields are. We talked to Tony Pike.

(01:07:38):
Tony, practice is over. Howwas day one? You know?
I think for many reasons, Shadowwas a positive for everything we outlined earlier.
With Joe Burrow. I mean,let's let's start at the very ground
level. Joe Burrow participated in practice, which the way the offseason went and
the injury last year we never knewabout was a guarantee. So at the

(01:08:00):
very core of it, Joe Burrowwas out there and he made every throw
today. I think that is hugein itself. Now, Jamar Chase wasn't
out there, and we can getinto some comments that were made by Joe
Burrow about Jamar Chase after practice,But from my standpoint, seeing Joe Burrow
out there, we saw a glimpseof what makes Chase Brown the prospect that

(01:08:23):
so many think he can be.Because he took the first rep and eleven
on elevens and separated from the defensefor a long touchdown run. Now that
also comes Chad with the understanding thatthey're in helmets and nothing else. There's
no tackling this all tag off.But the burst from Chase Brown, along
with just seeing Joe Burrow out there, I think is a huge step.

(01:08:46):
For day one, Mike Giseki soundedlike he had a good day. I
have to feel good about that beingsomething that on day one we're talking about
in a position they got very littlefrom last year. You know what's so
unique about Kasiki Chad is when yousee him, if you didn't know,

(01:09:08):
hey, that's Mikeasiki, he's atight end. You would think he could
possibly be a receiver in the NFL. Remember all the years with Audentate and
the Bengals, people were like theyshould make Audentate a tight end. Mike
Kasicki is like he's smaller than Audentatewas. That's just he is. He's
not the traditional mold you think offor tight end. But for day one

(01:09:28):
out there, Joe Burrow made ita case to find him. He had
a ton of catches in seven onseven and team Joe Burrow spent a lot
of time with him, spent alot of time with the young receivers as
well. But it feels like he'sthe type of guy that can fit into
this offense really well. Defensively,anything catch your eye. I know,
helmets now, tackling, I getit, but anything today from the defense
turn your head. Not a bunch. Trey Henderson had a nice sacked or

(01:09:53):
in a team period of what wouldhave been a sack. But again Cam
Taylor Britton not being out there reallyputs into focus how they better hit on
one of these corners, as wetalked about in the first hit. But
until you get pads on and youreally dive into the trenches of one on
ones from an offensive line defensive linestandpoint, you can't tell a ton and

(01:10:14):
at corner. Give me some oneon ones. Give me a little more
seven on seven so you can getan idea of how these guys are covering
special teams. Anything that's the punterbattle that catch that jumped out today,
not so much, you know,I mean they use they use more and
more than the judge machine and puntsat times during camp to save the legs

(01:10:36):
of punters. No is often McNamara. You know we talked earlier on the
show today. You know there wasa comment made around Darren Simmons of you
know is they're a punter that canhave a heads up because you don't want
to change holders for Evan McPherson andDarren Simmons. Response on media day was,
look, we've got a punt better. So I think that that in
itself tells you enough that you needto know that the puntings situation wasn't good

(01:11:00):
enough that there is going to bea competition. As to who's in the
lead of that competition, it's tooearly to tell so far. All right,
ton Well, we appreciate it andwe will talk to you one more
time today. And a great jobon day one. You didn't you were
in mid season form. Tone,I'm trying. Thanks a lot, Yeah,
that means a lot. All right, We'll talk to you later.

(01:11:21):
That's Tony Pike live from pay CourseStadium giving us an update right here on
Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty. Brenhaman andJones on Baseball Next since Naeti's espnsie dat
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(01:12:17):
go our number three. It's beena busy day. Huh sweating Terran,
Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty Chad Brendle infor Moegar as we uh wind down the
day. Thank you for choosing me. I've got a situation, Terran.

(01:12:48):
I left my house this morning thisafternoon to come up here and forgot or
didn't realize that my daughter's volleyball bagis in the car, and she has
practiced at six and she does nothave her volleyball equipment. Oh so my
dad is racing up here to gether volleyball equipment and then taking it back

(01:13:10):
to her and hoping he can getthere through the traffic by six o'clock.
It's gonna be a race, Yes, It's gonna be a race to get
back to Independence, Kentucky. Heshould be here any minute now, I
was. That's what I was handlingif I sounded rushed at the end of
my Energy interview with a conversation withTonny Pike. All right, let's uh,

(01:13:36):
let's go back down to pay CourseStadium and here from the quarterback,
Joe Burrowing, this month looks likein terms of your agation, we're gonna
play by year. I don't reallyyou know, we don't really plan on
practicing more than two days in arow than this first chunk. So we're

(01:13:58):
gonna play that third day by yearfor the next week. Uh, and
then after that, I plan ongoing every day that he wants to play
all the starters in the previous treatingyou, is that something and in the
year's past you said that you've wantedto get some of that. Is that
something you want to do? Yeah, I think that's the best way to

(01:14:20):
go about it. This year.We'll try it out. Uh. You
know, I think in order forus to be our best at the beginning
of the year, I think wekind of need that. So that's something
we wanted to do in the yearspast, haven't been able to. But
I'm excited to get that done thisyear, joint practices because you have two
miss year versus dotting that. Yeah, there's more game reps kind of get

(01:14:46):
that for Like, it's just differentwhen you go out, you warm up,
no one you're gonna play, Yousleep in the hotel, no one
you're gonna play. It's just it'sjust all different when you know you're gonna
go out there, and whether it'sa series of quarter a half. You
know, we have really talked aboutthat yet, but uh, I think
that's just getting that first feeling outof the way in a in a scrimmage

(01:15:09):
essentially, uh will be good forus during the preseason games. Might barrow
how things go during the you know, the controls stood that sort of thing
that they separate. I don't know, we haven't really had those discussions yet.
I think, you know, bothwill probably play a part. I

(01:15:30):
imagine how how we play in thatpreseason game when we're in there will also
play a part. So I thinkthere's a lot of factors just getting back
out there. I wanted to getthe legs back under you. You know,
the first time you're out there fora camp practice, your legs are
always feeling a little heavy. Yougot to get back in in in football

(01:15:50):
shape because you can train as muchas you want, but it's always different
when you come back out here.Uh, and getting the timing, getting
the receivers back used to making thosetested catches that they haven't made in a
while. So everybody's just getting theirfeedback under them. And Uh, I
think it was a good day thinkingabout the risk at all in the world.

(01:16:11):
Yeah, I was happy with today. Uh, you know, still
feeling it out. You know,still have have some throws where it's it's
like, well, what did thatlook like? It usually goes where I
wanted to, but sometimes it doesn'tspin the way I want it to.
So we're still working through that.Uh, but I feel really good about
where I'm at. I feel likeI kind of figured something out towards the
end of the practice. They're anindividual, so looking forward to exploring that

(01:16:31):
a little more. Just there sincekind of play football forever, you or
probably ever had that race. Becauseyou you're done, what's been the most
challenging part in terms of a defensestrength or creeping Like, what's been the
most challenging part to get through irrigationback to where you are just the inconsistency

(01:16:54):
with any injury. There's there's gooddays and bad days, and it doesn't
really seem like there's any rhyme orreason to it too much. You know,
I've I've put the work in,the people around me put the work
in for for this thing to beat one hundred percent, and I'm happy
with where it's at. The strengthis is really good, and my mobility
and it has gotten much better overthe last month month and a half.
So I think I'm in a goodspot. Is going to continue to get

(01:17:14):
better, especially you know, gettingall the reps that I'm I'm going to
be getting during training camp. Youknow, they'll continue to loosen up.
So we'ren't a good spot specific day. You're going to stop going back to
the days. I don't think Ireally plan on throwing too much on on
Friday this week, But as Isaid, we're gonna take it day by
day and and we'll see. Nowthat's the days of the back, but

(01:17:42):
that this day not going back thatI know that kind of helping to goo.
I don't know, we'll see.The hope is that I'm going into
week one feeling as fresh as possible. Uh. I think we're we're doing
a really good job of managing allthe guys coming back from injury right now.
So, uh, our coaching staffand our training staff do do a

(01:18:02):
great job of trying to keep ushealthy and keep us fresh. Going into
week one. We're doing a littlemore with the multiple joint practices and playing
in the preseason, so we're playingon doing a little bit more that of
that this year, but as faras practice wise, they take care of
us be completely healthy. You seetime alone last year like try were you

(01:18:23):
doing for to kind of about thenext step with that connection of how that
can grow away with Yeah, he'sgonna have a big year. It's it's
nice looking out there and seeing biglong, strong tea lining up. You
know, I saw him out thereand I screened t it's good have you
back this, you know, oneof the reps today and it's it's just

(01:18:44):
nice to see him back out there. You know, he's he's getting his
feedback under him, just like everybodyelse is. But uh, he's in
a good spot from understanding where youcoping to accomplished from a big picture keeping
now until September eighty, just continueto to work on that consistency. I'm
going to continue to get the dexteritythat that I need when we continue to

(01:19:08):
throw through all these days in camp. An individual, he's going to be
a big part of that. SoI feel I feel really good. My
whole my whole body is feeling great. Going to continue to adapt and involve
depending on whatever challenges they are presented. But uh, we're in a good
spot big year. M just listento my body more. You know,

(01:19:31):
if I was really tired one day, you know, I didn't quite go
as hard in the in the weightroom or on the field. You know,
took more time off if I feltlike I needed it, And I
think that worked in my favor.And I was going into camp in really
good shape. I was really strong. I was happy before my weight was

(01:19:56):
at so we we had a goodplant. He felt for foot practice years
Yeah, I would say that,you know, the first practice, your
your legs are always a little heavy. But you know, I felt really
really good throughout. It was niceto have Tea out there. Sometimes the
guys who are from contract negotiations don'tdidn't for anything to have a guy like

(01:20:17):
him out there on day one afterthe contract negotiations and all that. What
does that say about team T.That's the kind of guy Tea is T.
He's gonna come out and work.T knows how big of a year
it is for for us and him, and he wants to get out here
and get better. It's just likewe all do. Uh, He's and
he's I think he's going about itthe right way. You know, he

(01:20:39):
hasn't. You know, his businessis his business, but I know he's
he's a football player at heart andwants to continue to get better, get
better and improve and then send meout the team out very clot Yeah,
well, well we'll see, We'llsee. Uh. I feel really good
about all of our options, whetherit's Andre, Chuck, Jermaine Trenton.

(01:21:01):
I feel like those guys had agreat spring, and you know, they
all looked really good today. AndI feel really good about our tight end
room as well. So I thinkthis is the deepest and most talented group
that we've had since I've been here, from from top to bottom in a
lot of different spots. So Ithink a lot of those guys are gonna

(01:21:23):
have to fill that role and stepup. How much you get get Homer
off season that you've had mlams.Like whatever. Given last year you were
going to contract negotiations and then youhad the anger. Now it seems like
you're in a different place. Yeah, definitely less distractions heading into camp this
year, I would say, especiallyin this first week I've been. We

(01:21:47):
had a great plan over the lastmonth to month and a half to get
my body in mind the way thatI felt like it needed to be coming
into camp. And that's a creditto all the people that I surround myself
with. They work really hard tomake sure that I'm at my best and
I'm really appreciative of that from peoplein the building and out the building,

(01:22:12):
family, friends, everybody. SoI'm really happy with the plan that I
had coming into camp this year,happy with how my body feels, happy
with how my mind feels. Sowe're in a good spot. How did
you feel How did you feel itwith Yeah, it felt really good first
day. You know, there's alwaysgonna be some rush from just about everybody,
but I thought it was a goodpractice and I start well. Bja

(01:22:38):
said that if I buzzed it andbleached it, he would do it too.
So now everybody's got to hold himaccountable because he's got to do it
in the next week. I gotbored. That's about it. Amber references.
I meant, well, I haven'texactly been to social last couple of
days, so I'm not entirely sure, but I'm sure they're out there back

(01:23:00):
to see every day to block usthrough what you're in an facilitating this month.
Look like in terms of your persistication, we're gonna play it by year.
I don't really you know, wedon't really plan on practicing more than
two days in a row than thisfirst chunk. So we're gonna play that
third day by year for the nextweek. Uh, and then after that

(01:23:21):
I plan on going every day.All right, There you go, the
first Joe Burrow press conference of theseason. How exciting is that. Let's
take a break. The phone linesare open, the risks. Yeah,
the Reds game has officially been bagged. I was going to hit it at

(01:23:42):
the beginning of the next but I'lldo it. I'll do it then again
anyway. Uh, the game tonight, game two of the day night doubleheader
has been postponed and it will bemade up September ninth. That was a
three city road trip that Cincinnati wasgoing to be embarking on now it is

(01:24:03):
a four city road trip New York, Saint Louis, and Minnesota. Uh,
they squeeze in one game in Atlantaduring that trip now as well,
so more after this, Like Isaid, phone lines are open if you
want to talk Bengals training camp,your expectations, what you think this team's

(01:24:25):
ceiling is for twenty twenty four,all that and more right after this.
Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty, Cincinnati's ESPNfifteenth I mean, I don't like talking

(01:24:47):
over the first think Cincinnati's ESPN fifteenthings, the Mogger Show. I'm Chad
Brenda in Form. Oh my gosh, there's nothing. I don't think I'm

(01:25:08):
anything. I'm excited, more excitedabout anything than that. Like can he
do every broadcast? Yes, that'swhat I want. Snoop on everything fencing.
Uh, I think he actually did, Like he kind of did something
on fencing. I think at onepoint in time that was hilarious. Like
I think they need to use Peacocklike to be his Like, yeah,

(01:25:30):
it's a Snoop Chan broadcast. LikeSnoop sitting in the studio watching whatever's going
on, giving his commentary, andhe is outstanding when he did baseball was
talking about Ellie I. I yeah, I If there was a premium channel,
I think I would subscribe to itfor two weeks, just the snoop

(01:25:51):
channel doing the Olympics. The stuffthat he does on like the the Nature
Channel or Animal Planet or whatever itis, is the best stuff on the
internet. The little Lizard trying toget away from the snakes is as good
as anything that's ever been recorded.Yeah, oh, look at him.

(01:26:13):
Go oh so good, so good? That's are you are you? Are
you an Olympics guys? Tarn Yeah, I can't wait for the opening ceremony
start on Friday. And do youwatch everything? I try to? Okay,
there's there's there's the Summer Olympics.I pretty much like everything the Winter
Olympics. There's some stuff in therethat's like, come on, what are

(01:26:34):
really the Olympics? The Summer Olympics? Like I love especially you know,
I'm a track guy. Obviously Ilook like one. I'm a track guy,
so love watching especially the sprint stuffat track and Field and the USA
basketball is going to be fascinating,Yes, fascinating because they have needed the

(01:26:57):
old man to save their rear ends. A couple of times already, which
does not Bolt will for my Lakers. No, he's gonna be gassed by
that. He's gonna be He's gonnabe completely I mean, what, well
he better take like he better notlike step foot on the court in camp.
You just give him off until dayone of the season or like have

(01:27:21):
him do the last week of campor something the preseason because they'll be done,
you know, first week of Augustor whatever. What camp starts though
in like September or like or midSeptember, doesn't it yep, So yeah,
you give him like two months offand you're like, just don't even
walk, like, just rest,get off your feet, get those legs,

(01:27:45):
get that body tuned up, becauseif not, yeah, he he
you might not see him until ChristmasDay. That might be his debut day
right this season. But they theylook vulnerable. They they they have a
bunch of young dudes that are stilllooking to the older guys to lead.
And and you know, Anthony Edwards, what explain to me, Taron,

(01:28:09):
why why is Tyre's Halliburton not playing? He's their best point guard. That's
just Steve Kirb being stupid with hisrotations. That's his best point guard.
Like, I don't think it's evenclose that they're better with Halliburton on the
floor. Come on, Steve,I know you love Steph Curry. Play
him at two, play play himoff the ball. What the think is

(01:28:30):
Lebron is the one that want togive the down ball? Yeah? I
know, but they haven't. Halliburtonhasn't been in the game for three games.
He was their best player, likeone of their best players in the
early exhibitions, and then we haven'tseen him since then, and shockingly,
they have struggled all three times.He has not really played. Yep,

(01:28:55):
uh, I will have play.I'm sure we'll get into this pretty heavily
on Friday. Olympics. The openingceremonies tomorrow, right a little Friday?
Is it Friday? I didn't knowif they started Friday or if the opening
ceremony was Friday. I think openingceremony is Friday. Okay, I'm sure

(01:29:15):
we'll we'll get into a bunch ofthat when I'm when I'm here on Friday.
What's your favorite what's everybody's favorite sports? To wats? What are what
are the under the radars sports thatpeople enjoy from the Summer Olympics. Team
handball always always is one that catchespeople's attention that we can't qualify for Yeah,
that we can't figure out how toput a good team handball team together,

(01:29:38):
when we should dominate that sport.Earan, we should dominate that sport.
AnyWho Bengals T Higgins and then seethis is it's the advantage of being
in a local market that the nationalpeople don't really know anything about. They'll

(01:30:03):
talk about Cincinnati, but it becomesabundantly clear every time somebody on a national
program, most everybody talks about theBengals, they do it from a place
of not knowing anything when they've taughtyou know, there's been a lot of
talk about is you know T Higgins? Is he gonna if there's an if

(01:30:23):
there's a if there's an ankle sprain, is he going to battle through it?
Is a what kind of guy isT Higgins? Is he gonna take
it out on the front office thatthey didn't that they weren't able to work
out a contract extension? Are theBengals going to be essentially internally punished by
that? Everybody here knew the answer. Everybody here knows what kind of guy.

(01:30:45):
T Higgins is uh and he wasasked today why he signed the franchise
tag in June. A lot ofthese guys will because here's what I think
people need to to to understand.If you have I haven't signed the franchise
tag, you are not under contract. If you are not under contract,

(01:31:06):
you can't be fined for missing camp. Like that's how the CBA works.
If you are under contract and youare not a camp, they can find
you. If you are not undercontract, they can't make you be a
camp. And if he hasn't signedhis franchise tag, then technically he's not
under contract and he can't be penalized. Well, instead, he signed his

(01:31:28):
franchise tag in June. Why hesaid, Obviously I could have waited,
but I just wanted to kill allthe noise. I was tired of everybody
tweeting at me and all the otherbs. I just wanted to kill all
that and just lock in. That'sT Higgins. He is not the prima

(01:31:49):
donna that everybody is expecting because heplays wide receiver, because he plays the
loud position. No, he's goingto play for his twenty two million or
twenty two million or whatever it is, he's gonna play hard and he's gonna
try to win a super Bowl withthis bunch. You know, everybody looks

(01:32:14):
at AJ Green. Guess what wasdifferent about the AJ Green situation? They
were terrible. When the team hasno chance to win, of course you're
gonna start looking out for yourself.When the team has a chance to go

(01:32:35):
deep and to win it all,a guy like T Higgins is gonna lock
in, he's gonna be ready.I don't think that was ever in question.
I think everybody here knew it.There was a lot of noise nationally,
and I think that's why everybody wasblowing up T's phone. What's T

(01:32:55):
gonna do? What's T gonna do? The answer was always easy. The
answer was always the same answer.T is going to be here, he's
going to play, he's going toparticipate in camp, he's going to play
hard, and he's going to giveeverything he's got trying to help this team
win a super Bowl. And thenwhen the season's over, he's going to

(01:33:15):
move on. It's business, andT Higgins understands that once again, phone
lines are open for one more segment. Then we will go back out and
talk to Tony to wrap things upCincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati's ESPN, ESPN

(01:33:41):
fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports Station. Imean, I was feeling like it's a

(01:34:14):
Friday tea. No, no,no, no, I know, I'm
just saying I can't wait to breakup the Friday. Can we get our
guests? Oh well, I mean, there's only one thing to do if
we get our guests all day.But as much as we can play,
I'm gonna I'm gonna I'm gonna askMike here, Mike, do you know
who is singing that uh that introright there? Yes, you do.

(01:34:41):
I probably will if you let mecheat and tell me the legendary Chaka Cohn,
the legendary Chaka Khan. Oh mygod, yes, old school little
old school day last soul. Iwho love it? Bro TV? You
know what? You just do afine job on the Bumper's Boy. You

(01:35:03):
are the man, BRO. Appreciateit real. Yeah, you'll never see
surprise me. I just wish Icould kick this memory and give a little
jumpstart. But you know, Chad, the first thing I thought when I
met you that day at the studio, Okay, this cat's got to be
a four forty or a hurdles dude. And then I thought, nah,

(01:35:25):
maybe he's just like a hip hopstar and he's a friend of Tony's or
something. I ran the four hundred. I ran the four hundred. I
was that was probably my best event. I also ran the hundred. My
general problem in the hundred was Iwas very good for forty, but the
other sixty guys, the guys withthe bigger strides, uh tended to be

(01:35:51):
able to run me down. Butthat first forty, like I was in
the lead and a lot of racesat forty meters because I was low to
the ground and I could get outquick, and then they ran me down.
But ye know, I ran asub fifty second forty or four hundred,
and I ran sub eleven in thehundred a couple of times, so
I was I was alright back inthe day. Hey, t are you

(01:36:14):
buying any of that? I mean, I've got the proof. I've got
the yearbooks. Like I ran inthe State and Need at the University of
Kentucky. I was a track guy. Okay, man, we're going to
give you crops track extorting now.I just I just ate an extra human
from thirty to forty. Yeah,wait til you hit sixty seventy home,

(01:36:38):
you're going to be stopped. Mymetabolism retired right at thirty on my thirtieth
birthday. My metabolism said, it'sbeen a good run. I'll see you
guys never Hey, that's it.Earlier I was catching your show. You
were trying to think of the teamsat the reps red swept and the team
you looked up, but I knowyou were trying to think were the Phillies

(01:37:00):
the Phillies? Early it was thePhillies. Yeah, yeah, and you're
right. It's when you hit theseteams when they're down a little bit.
That's typically what it is. Butthe cream rises to the top. You
gotta beat the bad teams, Mike. You got to take the teams that
are that are under you and wintwo out of three. You can't get
swept. Yeah, like making twoerrors in the first inning. Yeah,

(01:37:26):
I'm infuriating. And then your buddyDavid David Bell with the press cons doesn't
know how to speak into a MicroQuest, Well, you crack up with that.
Look, if you're not gonna sayanything, you better make me at
least be able to hear it.If you want me to play it if
you're not going to say anything,and it sounds like crap, I'm out,
I'm done, I'm not doing it. Yeah, and that's a favorite

(01:37:48):
to the listeners. And I thoughtthat was very thoughtful of you, be
honest, it really was. Thankyou. Hey, dude, I'm telling
you though. I hate to alwaysrevert to my Dodgers, but they having
to pitch the young slug rookies witheverybody all the pictures in hurt, and
now these guys are starting to belights out. So uh and curse Off's

(01:38:09):
back tomorrow for the first start ofthe year, so we may be garbage
in the postseason until we get there. He'll he'll, he'll win some games
if you can just stay. He'sgreat through September. Nobody he's a Hall
of Famer from April to September.Yeah, he's the greatest pitcher in National
League history, a Major League Baseballhistory regular season with the lowest d R

(01:38:29):
a eve below two p five.But don't count unless you get to get
to get the ring right for outof the ships. Hey, uh,
so, so are you just areyou completely rolling the Reds out for the
playoffs? If you had to putmoney to me. Yeah, they haven't
done anything to show me that theycan sustain success. And and and when

(01:38:53):
they have had success, they've goneright back to uh, tailing off almost
immediately. Like the way that youget ahead in baseball is you play five
hundred for twenty games. You knowthis, Mike. You play five hundred
for twenty games, and then youhit a ten game stretch where you go
like eight and two, and nowyou've gained six games on five hundred.

(01:39:16):
And if you do that over thelike every three peat every thirty games,
then you're in a pretty good spot. But every time this team rips off,
you know, eight of ten orseven of ten, whatever it is,
they drop three, four, fivein a row, and they give
it all back. And you can'tbe a team that continuously gives it all

(01:39:36):
back and jump over the number ofteams that they have to jump over to
win the wild card. Too manyof those teams one I think are going
to be active at the deadline.I do not think the Reds are going
to be active either way in sixdays. Historically, they're just not gonna

(01:39:56):
do it. But see, thisis why on agress a little bit.
This is why the home dog strategies. I've been planning now for I don't
know, twenty one years. That'swhy this is the record year for it,
because there's a few teams above therest, and the rest are just
all toed story in and so homedogs sniff sniff a lot of first or

(01:40:19):
second game victory, so you makesome good money. Yeah, And I
hope all the guys have been playingit because you got to do it every
day, and they'll go, oh, dude, I don't want to play
it every day. It takes likethree minutes to go through the games.
It's pretty easy to pick the homedog. You don't have to worry about
who's pitching. So I hope peoplehave taken advantage of it. How's the
family good? Cousey made the volleyballteam high school volleyball team yesterday, so

(01:40:44):
that was a good day. Wehad a nice little dinner at a Chinese
place in Covington, are one ofour favorite spots in the city. And
then I add it's called to comeback. Kung Food chew Amerasia. I
love the man. Yeah, KungFo. Yeah. I got a little
I got a little General Cheese Chicken, which is their their General Sal's chicken.

(01:41:10):
Uh, Kelsey got some some chickenfried rice. Kelly was big on.
It was Kelly's one. It's Kelly'sfavorite spots. They have a really
good chicken pat tie. Yeah.You can never go wrong with pets,
although I had some bad pat tieover the years. At like casual Chinese,
Yeah, so this is more ofa sit down Chinese. It's casual,

(01:41:30):
but it's like a sit down place. Uh, really really good Chinese
food. So we did that lastnight and then Tarn and I had my
favorite meal in Cincinnati today, whichis the uh jerk chicken dinner from Island
Fridays sounds and man, that thatplace that you turned me on to last
year, down there and uh downthere off the Coursey, that that cage

(01:41:53):
in place, that the gumbo friesare incredible. You hit that square up
one more Coikie and there you gotto go, and uh, it just
left my mind. So never I'mback on Friday, Mike. If you
think about it, call me Friday. All right, Thanks Mike. Take

(01:42:14):
care. A new report on MLBtrade rumors, Tarren that the Yankees are
interested in Jonathan India, which isinteresting. The Yankees are are bad in
the infield, they have infield issues. Judge, Yeah, and Stanton good
Judge and Stanton. Then you canhave you can have Jonathan India. It's

(01:42:40):
an interesting decision for the Reds.He is he is at a UH cell
high point based on how he hasplayed this year. Now, I think
it would be easy to argue ifhe continued this through the into the season,

(01:43:01):
how much more would he be worthwith a full season of playing well
on the open market. Hopefully atthat point, you know you have seen
Matt McClain and his return and seeinghim, you know, kind of show
that after the shoulder surgery, thatthat he's ready and uh available and and

(01:43:25):
and gonna step back into that roleof everyday second basement. I think you're
in a tough spot to do itnow. But I mean, if the
Yankees are going to offer you alot, I mean I think you have
to listen. Uh. The interestingthing there is what a week ago,
week and a half ago, theuh there were rumors that the Yankees were

(01:43:53):
looking at the Reds bullpen arms andmaybe there's a there's a multi player deal
here like where you you you youship India and a bullpen arm and you
can get a major league ready prospector you know, somebody that's close somebody

(01:44:16):
that's going to be uh ready nextyear or or you know, close to
the major leagues. So that partwill be will be interesting to see through
the deadline, but I I thinkcertainly it was much more likely uh Monday

(01:44:40):
afternoon and then they go win twogames against the Braves, and now they're
back to four games under four hundred, I think, four games out of
the wildcard race. And one ofthe main reasons that this team's offense has
not completely cratered is because of JonathanIndia. And boy, imagine how bad

(01:45:03):
Think about how bad this offense hasbeen anyway, and imagine how bad it
would look if you took the productionyou've gotten from India, Because really,
I mean, you've seen a couplespurts from Candelario, You've seen a couple
spurts from Steer, But for themost part, the only two guys that

(01:45:23):
have consistently hit the ball this yearwith any regularity are Ellie Dale Cruz and
Jonathan India. If you take oneof those two out of the lineup,
woof. At least when you lookat what these guys have have shown.
The rest of the way through thelineup has not been good by any stretch

(01:45:45):
of the imagination. So I mean, we'll see. I I can't I
just can't see it unless the Yankeeswant to want to drastically overpay, Unless
the Yankees want to go above andbeyond to pluck Jonathan India from the Cincinnati

(01:46:09):
Reds. I think the Reds holdon to him at least through the offseason,
and maybe they learned a lesson thisyear. I mean, imagine in
last offseason if they would have tradedIndia because they thought they had a surplus,
and then you would have had noIndia, no Marte for the first

(01:46:30):
half of the season, no McLain, no Incarnacion strand Edwin Arroyo out for
the year, which would have beenmaybe your guy that you bring in from
the miners if you needed some helpnow all of a sudden, Without India,
boy, this thing would have beenthey might be ten twelve games under

(01:46:54):
five hundred. So I don't know. The Yankees are interesting because they always
have the resources to buy what theywant. But as the article says many
times, the Reds aren't expected tomake Indie available unless they fall out a

(01:47:15):
playoff race. In the next week, and I mean they would have to
fall flat on the face and thatwould have to be against Tampa Bay this
weekend, which entirely possible. ButI would think they're going to be within

(01:47:38):
enough striking distance that I think they'regoing to stand pat at the deadline.
Hopefully, maybe you can go outand find a sad mall because that deal,
while it didn't blow anybody's socks off, certainly has been one of the
more productive signings or addition. It'snot signings, but but additions that this

(01:48:01):
team made to this season's roster.That's what we talked about, make additions
to this season's next season's roster.If you're going to do this now,
all right, let's take a break, we'll talk to Tony Pike, and
we'll wrap it up right after this. Since Naty's ESPN fifteen thirty this baseball
season, when it's time, thisis a training camp report brook to you

(01:48:26):
by Skylight Hilie feeling good. It'sSkylight time on ESPN fifteen thirty, the
official home of the Bengals. Yes, all right, final segment of the
day. We head back down toPaul Brown Stadium, the practice fields where
Tony Pike is on site. Idon't know if he's still on site,
but he was on site earlier forday one of training camp and Tony overall

(01:48:49):
impression, what do you take asyou you walk back to the car from
day one? Positive step day one. Obviously you avoid any type of injury
that was the case last year earlyon with Joe Burrow and the calf.
So everyone's healthy at this point.Cam Taylor Britt missed because he got a
tonsled out. Jamar Chase did notpractice today. I find it very interesting

(01:49:11):
the off the field chess match thatmaybe Zach Taylor was trying to get out
ahead of that with the media earlieron today, but we could discuss that
as well. But on the field, I thought Joe Burrow looked sharp.
I thought he spread the ball around. The only guy he really didn't connect
with, oddly enough to have wast Higgins Higgins down the sideline behind Joe
Burrow and T Higgins. Tony hehad a drop today and everyone's like,

(01:49:34):
oh, it's just to be madabout the contract, but everyone else got
involved. I thought Chase Brown flashed. I thought a lot of the young
receivers looked pretty solid, So yeah, I think outside of the question that's
gonna loom now until he gets outthere around Jamar Chase. I thought it
was a very positive first day.Do we have any idea will we see
Jamar tomorrow? I know that we'llnot see Tea tomorrow. Zach Taylor said,

(01:49:58):
will we see Jamaar tomorrow? Oris he mad about his contract too?
Well? A lot. It feltlike a lot more was made of
it than what was made in Cincinnatinationally because of maybe some choice words Mike
Brown used on Monday. But theguys in the NFL I picked it up.
They made it a topic and ifJamar Chase is out there today,
it's no topic. He wasn't.Zach Taylor spun it off before practice as

(01:50:20):
Jamar is not going to practice,We're gonna ease him as well as some
other guys in the training camp.But can't. Joe Burrow after practice,
asked on Jamar Chase said, quote, We've had our discussions that I'll keep
private. His business is his business. He's out there encouraging guys. I'm
not entirely sure what his plan is. I know he's with us one hundred

(01:50:41):
percent. I know he'll physically andmentally be ready whenever he steps back out
there. I don't want to readtoo much into things. On day one,
I hope Jamar's back out there,but in the nature of today's NFL,
as days go by, if he'snot out there, it becomes more
and more of a story. Sothe clube from Joe Burrow, he's got
fa obviously in Jamar Chase. Heknows who and what Jamar Chase is.

(01:51:03):
And whenever that time comes out,I think they'll pick up and not miss
a beat. I love it.I love it all right, Tony.
I think you'll talk to Trags tomorrow, but I'll talk to you again on
Friday. Okay, Rick Uccino tomorrow, I'm sorry, Rick Uchino tomorrow,
and then I'll talk to you onFriday. Love it, Chad, thank

(01:51:24):
you appreciated. Town. There yougo. That is your final practice report
of the day. That is theend of the show. I'll see you
on Friday, Ricuccino tomorrow. Thisis the Moegger Show on Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen
thirty. This report is sponsored byDiscovered