1/9/25 - The Mo Egger Radio Show - Mo Egger

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
No one covers the Bengals like ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati
Sports Station.

Speaker 2 (00:06):
What's up? It's four minutes after three o'clock. This is
ESPN fifteen thirty. I almost said it's four oh three.
I said yesterday one of my New Year's resolutions, and
I have I think five of them. One of them
was going to be to know how to read o'
clock and I almost broke here. Hi, this is ESPN

(00:27):
fifteen thirty. You're listening, so thanks. In an hour, our
friend Kelsey Conway, the Inquire is going to join us.
Chad Brendle's on our show. It's Thursday, so Chad joins
us every Thursday. We'll talk mostly U SE basketball with
him coming up at three forty five. We'll hear from
Wes Miller a little bit later on as well. We'll
get to some red stuff too. We got a lot,

(00:49):
a lot of ground to cover, a lot of stuff
to get to this afternoon between now and six o'clock.
Show preview video is on x Go watch it at moegar.
Thanks to our friends at United No, our friends at
Emory Federal Credit Union. Your credit union off to a
blistering start, aren't we Emory Federal Credit Union my credit union.

(01:09):
I've been a member now for almost a year and
a half. Go to EMORYFCU dot org your credit union
with hard since nineteen thirty nine, Emery FCU dot org.
I am looking forward to chatting with Kelsey Conway, the
acquired Kese And I got it wrong because I kind

(01:30):
of like talking about the off season and some of
the moving parts with the Bengals as the off season
is getting underway, and obviously the first thing they're going
to do is hire a defensive coordinator and fill some
coaching vacancies. Kelsey is the one who yesterday broke the
Jermaine Burton story and wrote about the incident that he
was allegedly involved in with the nine to one one call.

(01:51):
And you know, it is remarkable the amount of time
and energy we have spent on a guy who this
season had four catches Jermaine Burton's twenty twenty four output
for the Bengals this year his rookie season, four catches,
four catches. Uh. You know, I didn't need Kelsey's reporting yesterday, though,

(02:17):
as good and as thorough as it was, I didn't
need it to make up my mind about Jermaine Burton.
I made it up a while ago. I'm ready to
move on. I'm not interested in people who can't come
to work on time. I'm good like, let's wish him well,
this hasn't worked, Let's not waste any more time. Let's

(02:39):
find somebody else. I put this on social media last night,
on specifically x slash Twitter, which one day we'll stop
calling it x slash Twitter, I guess, but I put
this out there last night. I was interested in the
comments I got back, some of which were thoughtful, some

(03:02):
of which were thought less. But I wrote this. It
didn't work out with Jermaine Burton past tense, could it
work out with Jermaine Burton and another team? I'm happy
to find out the answer. I don't think any translation
is necessary there. I think we I'm guessing you understood

(03:25):
what I was saying there, which is I'm ready to
move on. Jermaine might go play somewhere else in the NFL,
and if it works out, okay. And if it doesn't
work out, all right, fine. It's unfortunate. You hate to
see people waste opportunity, But whatever is next for him,
I'm more than okay watching it play out with him

(03:46):
earning a paycheck from another NFL team. I'm not afraid
of what that looks like. I'm not afraid of Jermaine
Burton getting it and then turning into a ninety catch,
twelve hundred yard guy. I'm not afraid of Jermaine Burton
playing against the Bengals and playing well and being productive.
I'm not afraid of that. I'm just I'm ready to

(04:08):
move on. And it was interesting. I looked at the replies.
Sometimes I don't look at the replies. Last night I did,
and I got some pushback. Most agreed, but I got
some pushback. I got this, come on, give him a chance.
They did. He blew it. They gave him a chance.

(04:32):
They used a Day two NFL draft choice on him,
paid him, gave him a spot on the roster, gave
him a chance. He blew it. They took him understanding
there were some maturity concerns. They gave him an opportunity

(04:53):
in spite of that, an opportunity that maybe another team
would have. I'm sure that somebody would have given him
an opportunit, but to that point, no one had. So
the Bengals said, yeah.

Speaker 3 (05:02):
We'll do it.

Speaker 2 (05:03):
We're in we'll pay you, you'll make the team. Here's
your shot. He blew it. That was his chance. I'm
all about second chances in life. Often in business you
don't get a second chance. The Bengals are a business. Well,

(05:23):
what if another team gets him and he's good? Since
when has that scared the Bengals. They didn't mind letting
Jesse Bates go be good for another team a long
time ago. They didn't mind letting Andrew Whitworth be good
for another team. If they're not gonna act based on
fear with those guys, they're gonna act based on fear

(05:46):
with a guy who this season had four catches, Like
you can't make moves like that. We talk about that
with with trades, not just in the NFL. We do
this often with the Reds and trades like, well, you
know what if you trade that guy? What if he
ends up being really really good? What if it's Edwin
and Carnassion and you trade that guy? Like, you can't.

(06:08):
You can't refuse to make moves because you're afraid of
what might happen with the player if he's on another team.
You can't do that. If you did that, you would
never make a deal. I actually hope, for Jermaine Burton's sake,
he goes on and has a successful NFL career and
whatever issues he has off the field get rectified and

(06:31):
he's a productive, normal member of society. I hope that happens.
I have no reason to root against that on a
human level, but this is a business decision that are
often made with very little regard for what's happening. On
a human level. You can't you can't cling to a guy,
hold on to him, cling to hope that he's going

(06:53):
to figure it out in the face of mounting evidence
that he's not about to figure it out anytime soon,
because you're a afraid of what might happen if he
goes and plays for someone else. Be secure enough with
how you do things. Be secure enough with your ability
to find a replacement for a guy who this year
had four catches. If you're an insecure general manager or

(07:18):
an owner, that's how you act. Well, what if you
go somewhere else? Don't be insecure. I also got this, Well,
you know, but they they gave Joe Mixon a chance.
Well yeah, but a couple of things about that. Number One,
I'm the first to admit when the Bengals drafted Joe
Mixon as opposed to it. I didn't want it to happen.

(07:42):
Number two, They gave him a chance after he did
something in college that caused his draft stock to fall.
They gave him an opportunity. Joe seized on it. You know,
I know there were all field issues with Joe prior
to his last season in Cincinnati. But once he joined

(08:04):
the NFL. Did you read about him showing up late?
Did you read him read about him not being held accountable?
Did you read about him not being able to do
the things you need to do to be a professional.
Did you hear rumblings about him being a bad teammate?
Did anybody talk about him falling asleep and meetings? So, yeah,
they gave Joe Mixon a chance. They gave Jermaine Burton

(08:26):
a chance. Joe Mixon took advantage of that chance. Jermaine
Burton slept through his They're not apples to apples. So
I really kind of hope, like we are done after today.
I even wondered, do I even bring this up? But

(08:47):
I like I get it. He and his just apparent
inability to do anything productive for this team was a
story and there's a fact now there might be a
heightened importance on signing to Higgins, which didn't look like
something they were going to do six months ago. Now
you might argue it's a necessity. And maybe that's not

(09:09):
the case of Jermaine Burton was actually good this year
and reliable and capable of catching more than four passes.
Like I understand it, But I don't know where the
story goes from here from my standpoint, because I'm cool
with that dude not being a Cincinnati Bengal anymore. Like
I'm ready to move on. You get folks who are like, well,
come on, man, like you know even now's the time

(09:31):
to rally around him and support him. Let me ask
you this, if you ran a company, if you had
a business, would you want an employee like him? By
the way, I'm not even talking about the alleged weird
incident in the nine to one one call. I could
have done the same topic or had the same conversation
prior to reading what we all read yesterday. Would you

(09:52):
want an employee like him? Knowing what you know, knowing
what you know that is almost specifically in solely about football,
if you wouldn't, I know I wouldn't. If you wouldn't,
why would you want the Bengals to have an employee
like him? Like, I know this, this sounds harsh, and
like I am a I am a forgiving person. I'm

(10:13):
the person who I like. I root for people. I
want success stories. But in a year where the margin
of vera is going to be thin, and in a
year where we believe the head coach is on the
hot seat, and in a season that has to be
defined by contending for championships, I am less interested than
I ever have been in lack of reliability. You wouldn't

(10:39):
want an offensive lineman whose reliability was low because he
couldn't block, was an unreliable blocker. You wouldn't want a
wide receiver who was unreliable because they kept dropping passes.
You wouldn't want a defensive player who was unreliable because
they kept blowing assignments and being out a position. Why
would you want a player who's so unreliable he can't

(10:59):
show to the facility on time and sleep through stuff.
This isn't This isn't hard. This is not hard at all,
and it might be harsh, but the real world is harsh,
especially to people that can't be counted on Jermaine Burton,
can't be counted on deep down inside he might be
a really nice kid, might be misunderstood, might badly be

(11:21):
in need of help. Reliability matters man in the real world.
Reliability is really important. That dude's not reliable. You're trying
to contend, You're trying to be the best at what
you do. You need reliability maybe more than anything else.
It's time to move on, and if he has a
success elsewhere, good for him. Quarter after three on ESPN

(11:45):
fifteen thirty, our phone numbers are five point three seven
four nine fifteen thirty and eight six six seven O
two three seven seven six. Uh you see basketball? Uh
the natives are restless, as one might say, Hey, three
straight losses, oh and three to begin Big twelve play
Kansas coming to town on Saturday. Chad Brendles, I think

(12:09):
he's gonna try to make me feel a little bit better.
At least I hope he tries, because nothing else has
Wes Miller talked today. You'll hear from him a little
bit later on. I want to go back to what
we all thought the timeline was going to be. The
day West got the job. Next on ESPN fifteen thirty
Cincinnati Sports Station Cincinnati's eighty fifteen thirty. I read the
clock correctly there. I'm Malegar. If you miss anything on

(12:31):
this show, I gotta wonder what your priorities are. The
good news is we take everything and we podcasted. I
sometimes call them reruns. They don't like him when I
call him that. But if you missed yesterday, Rick Brooring
was outstanding on Xavier basketball and NKU basketball as well.
You can go find that at the iHeartRadio app. Also

(12:51):
the podcast page of ESPN fifteen thirty dot com. Good
stuff earlier this week with Paul Daaner Junior and if
you missed it on Monday, the final Tony and Mo
football show of the year. And we also had on
our guy Ken Rodgers. This was really good yesterday from
NFL Films, the executive producer and vice president of NFL Films.

(13:14):
He's obviously one of the people overseeing the Hard Knocks,
which this year has featured all four AFC North teams.
By the way, the Bengals season is over, Hard Knocks
will continue through the playoffs as long as an AFC
North team is playing, and obviously to play this week
but I did ask Ken yesterday, all right, are you
done highlighting the Bengals? And he said, look, we're still around,

(13:38):
We're still in the facility. We're not covering it the
same way as we were when they were, you know,
getting ready for and playing games. But yeah, there's a
chance that in next week's episode you see the Bengals
featured in some way, shape or form. Anyway, our conversation
I thought was outstanding, not because of me, but because
of him. Go get into the iHeartRadio app podcast of
this show or reruns of this show, service of Long

(14:00):
Neck Sports Grill. If you are thinking, okay, I got
to get out tonight because we're gonna get a bunch
more snow tomorrow, well you go watch Notre Dame Penn
State College football playoff Orange Bowl and watch it at
Long next three locations, Wilder, Hebrin, and rich Wood, and
just looking ahead to when you can actually go outside

(14:21):
again when the weather gets warm, if it ever does
get warm again, you can sit outside and enjoy yourself
at Long Necks. So there you got twenty two after
three o'clock Chad Brendle in just about twenty minutes on
the Bearcats. You know, I talked a lot about Tuesday night,
how frustrating that game was for you see how they

(14:44):
played where it sends them to in the season. I
am really interested in what we see on Saturday. It's
not the same, but I've really been I've really been
impressed in the college football playoff by Ohio State. Now
look half at times this year looked like the best
or second best team in the country. I think, purely

(15:05):
from a team versus team matchup perspective, the expectation was
Ohio State's going to beat Tennessee, which they did and
did handily. There's a reason why Vegas made him more
than a touchdown favorite. And then if you looked at
Ohio State versus Oregon on a neutral field, again Vegas
gave the points to Oregon. Ohio State beat them and

(15:28):
beat them badly. But what hovered over both those games,
and you know, frankly, obviously more so Tennessee than Oregon.
I was impressed by how the team rallied around the
noise around it. Ryan Day suffers this embarrassing loss and
deserved a lot of criticism for how he coached that

(15:48):
game against Michigan. And you know, in nearly every college
football writer in the country wrote a column about Ryan Day.
It's interesting you almost didn't know that Michigan won. The
football game was about Ryan Day, and some were harsh
but fair, some were harsh and not fair, many were reasonable.
But it really did look from where I sit like

(16:09):
the walls were closing in around him. And it made
a lot of folks wonder, like, well, what's gonna happen
against Tennessee. What kind of Buckeye team is going to
play that game? Are they going to be focused? Are
they going to be distracted? Are they going to bail
on their coach? What's the sound and the stands going
to be like? And it helps that they got off
to a great start in that game and jumped out

(16:30):
to an early three touchdown lead. But I've been impressed,
and I think the team and the head coach himself
deserve a lot of credit for playing is as well
as they have looking as focused, and for the team
rallying around the coach. It's not apples to apples by
any stretch. You see has lost three consecutive games, each
one of them sobering for different reasons. They haven't been

(16:54):
good offensively. Now and over a month You've got a
lot of folks who thought this team could not only
make the NCAA Tournament, but make noise in the NCAA tournament.
Who will tell you season's over. There's a great fear
of Kansas coming to town and not just sending uc
to zero to four in the league, but blowing them
out before they go to Colorado and play a game
they will not be favored in. And so there's a

(17:17):
lot of noise and there's a lot of chattering. Coaches
will always talk about ignoring it. West did after the
game on Tuesday night. They're gonna play a superior opponent.
They're gonna play the school that has run the Big
twelve now for a very long time. I'm really interested
in seeing to the Bearcats rally, Like what do we

(17:38):
see on Saturday. Now? We might see something really encouraging
and really good, and it might not be good enough
to win the game. And I know, for a lot
of us, all we care about is the results. Like
I understand that I'm interested in the result. They badly
need a win. Like if we're holding out hope they
could salvage this thing and get to the NCAA Tournament,

(17:58):
you gotta start building a red But I'm curious do we
see from the Bearcats on a different level what we've
seen from the Ohio State Buckeyes football team, a team
that understands the noises out there? Here's the grumbling. Nobody
is maybe banging on the table shouting that Wes Miller
should be let go the way they were doing it
with Ryan Day and Columbus. But still natives are restless.

(18:23):
There's rumblings, there's some frustration, there's a sense of all right, man,
this is year four. Like I'm curious to the Bearcats rally.
Do they rally around their coach? Do they rally around themselves?
What do we see on Saturday? I don't know, I
don't know. It's you know, they rebounded nicely from the

(18:44):
Villanova loss. Since then, they followed up the Kansas State
loss by falling behind by nineteen points against Arizona when
the Wildcats did not play great, and they followed that
up by looking non competitive. So the track record of
rallying around a loss is in awe. What do we
see on Saturday? What do we see on Saturday? And

(19:05):
what is what we see tell us about this team
and maybe its relationship with its coach. I know what
I hope. I see spirited effort that feeds off the
crowd's energy, that plays desperate, that defends the way it
was a few weeks ago, enabling them to overcome some

(19:27):
offensive shortcomings. Maybe a team that can play from ahead
and then have some confidence and stave off whatever Kansas
brings to the table. Or do we see a team
that takes the floor already feeling defeated because of the
hole they're in, because of the noise, and because of
maybe their own sense of this not being salvagable. I

(19:52):
want to see from the bear Cats what has been
so impressive about the football? Buck eyes e minutes after
three o'clock at Moegar on X. We'll have poll questions
as soon as soon as I come up with one
here in uh just a bit. Uh we are uh,
we're guest free. I think after four thirty five point

(20:12):
three seven four nine fifteen thirty is our phone number,
Kelsey Conway. A little bit later on Reds have avoided
arbitration with a bunch of guys. Rights are really good
at avoiding arbitration, really really good. I want to know
if they're done this offseason. It's January ninth. There's still
a lot of offseason in front of us, not as
much as there was two months ago. Are they done

(20:34):
this offseason? And how are we framing twenty twenty five?
Let's go back to how we were framing it in
mid June of twenty twenty three. That coming up a
little bit later on twenty nine after three sports headlines
coming up on ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports Station. Cincinnati's

(20:55):
signs are a service at Kelsey chev Laie home of
a lifetime powertrain, so touching and guaranteed credit approval their
family to yours for life, kelseyshev dot com. Joe Burrow
named AFC Offensive Player of the Month for December, second
consecutive month. He is the first player to be named
Offensive Player of the Month in either conference and back

(21:17):
to back months since Jonathan Taylor. The Colts did it
in October and November of twenty twenty one. In six
games played since December first, this obviously spills over into January.
He completed eighteen sorry one hundred and eighty six of
two hundred and forty four passes for eighteen hundred and
ninety yards sixteen tds, five interceptions. His team won five

(21:39):
and one. He led all NFL QBS and completions, completion percentage,
passing yards, and led AFCQBS and touchdown passes and ranked
second in the conference in passer rating. He put up
MVP numbers, but he won't win the award because his
team was bad. The college football Playoff continues tonight. It's
the Orange Bowl, Notre Dame taking on Penn State. You

(22:01):
can hear the game Lave tonight on ESPN fifteen thirty
starting at seven thirty. The Reds have avoided arbitration with
the following players. Are you ready write all this down?
Alexis Diaz, the righty reliever, gets a four point five
million dollar deal for twenty twenty five, which exceeded multiple
media projections for Alexis in his first year of arbitration

(22:25):
eligibility others who have avoided arbitration. Brady Singer gets an
eight point seventy five million dollar deal, up nearly four
million bucks from what he made last year in Kansas City.
Gavin Lucks, the newly acquired Gavin Lucks, agrees to a
three point two three point three two five million dollar deal,
up from two to seven to six last year. A

(22:46):
new backup catcher that got from the Yankees, Jose Travino
three point four to two five mil, up from two
seven to three last year. Jake Freiley avoids arbitration three
point one twenty five mil, but a million dollar raise
for Jake, and Nick Ladolo agrees to a one point
nine to seven to five million dollar deal in his
first offseason of eligibility, up from seven hundred and sixty

(23:10):
thousand dollars last year. Congratulations to all parties involved hockey. Tonight,
the Columbus Blue Jackets take on the Seattle Kraken twenty
two away from four o'clock. There's a lot to get
to with Chad Brindle and so we'll leave plenty of

(23:31):
time for him. I got some red stuff we've got
to get to a little bit later on. I was
talking about this with Tony as well and might expand
upon it. The NFL playoffs for this weekend, and you
know here in an AFC North city there's always a
little bit more hyper focus on the other AFC North
teams they play against each other. I was asked by

(23:54):
Austin the other day Baltimore, Pittsburgh, who are you rooting for.
I haven't decided who I'm wagering on, and that's who
I'm gonna root for. The numbers big, it's a big number.
At the same time, how is the number not big
given the way that Pittsburgh played down the stretch. So
I'll be rooting for who I wager on now. As
a fan like I root for good games, and Baltimore

(24:17):
Buffalo in round two I think would be a really
good game. They played in the regular season, it was
a Doug Baltimore blew them out. I root for good games.
So beyond the wagering part, I'm hoping for the results
that give us the best possible games down the road.
I do think there's no dynamic in the NFL that's
more interesting than that of Mike Tomlin, who is a

(24:39):
coach that if you're a football fan, I think you
have to respect, you have to honor, and you know
acknowledge what he has accomplished. Man, they've gone a long
time since they've won a playoff game, and they're heavy
underdogs this year. I think one of the interesting dynamics
in the league is what happens if the Steelers don't win.
So I might spend a little bit more time on

(24:59):
that later on. Speaking of not winning, u SEE is
not one its last three, Chad Brendle joins us to
talk about the Bearcats next on ESPN fifteen.

Speaker 4 (25:07):
Thirty Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 5 (25:12):
Traffic from the UC Health Traffics Center. U SEE Help's
weight loss center offers comprehensive obesity care and advanced surgical
expertise called five one three, nine three, nine two two
sixty three. That's nine three, nine two two sixty three.
Clinton Springs Avenue closed off due to a broken water
main between Vine Street and Washington Avenue, Glenwood or Mitchell Avenue.

(25:34):
Right now, your best alternate routes northbound seventy five approaching
Paddock Roade. The right lane blocked off from an accident
on that ezelic with traffic.

Speaker 2 (25:44):
This report a spawned four. This is ESPN fifteen thirty
on Moegger Thrilled that you're listening today. Kelsey Conway is
going to be with us in twenty minutes on the
Bengals offseason and the search for assistant coaches like a
defensive coordinator. That at four h five on Thursday's we
spend time with our friend Chad Brendall Bearcat Journal dot com.

(26:04):
The Uce Bearcats back at home, trying to avoid a
fourth consecutive loss to start Big twelve play hosting Kansas. Hi,
Chad him, how's it going good?

Speaker 3 (26:19):
I saw you today, but you didn't You didn't make
it down to say hello.

Speaker 2 (26:23):
I was in a bit of a hurry. I was
at the press conference for the new women's or the
new volleyball coach at UC and I did an interview
with her, and we're going to air that tomorrow. But
I had to get in and get out, So I
apologize for not saying Hi.

Speaker 3 (26:36):
I meant to turn like wave, and then you were
talking to somebody, and then I was talking to somebody,
and we never even got to, like, you know, give
the old hey from across the room.

Speaker 2 (26:46):
It was a very big room. Was a crowded room.
It was a crowded room. Yeah it was. It was
a nice event. Saturday might not be a very nice event.
Is this season? Salvagable?

Speaker 3 (26:58):
Yeah?

Speaker 6 (26:59):
Is it?

Speaker 3 (27:00):
Can they We'll find out. I mean, I you know,
I think the the one thing that's stuck with me
and I generally don't even really listen to like the
broadcast on Away games, like I'm watching it on TV,
but I don't pay attention to announcers because I I
know enough that I don't need their assistance. But I

(27:23):
did hear at one point that they said, Cincinnati looks
like everything they're doing is very casual, and that is
a terrible place to be when you're playing in a
league like this. Like, you know, the part of a
big part of like why the offense is struggling right now,
if you go back and watch their sets, they're not crisp.

(27:44):
They're not executing with purpose. They're just kind of going
and going through the motions of like it looks like,
you know, like a Saturday morning walkthrough for a for
a four o'clock game like that. You know, they're just
trying to like keep the sets fresh in their mind. Like, No,
you have to be precise. You have to be crisp

(28:07):
to be able to execute at this level, and if
you're not, it makes you very easy to guard. And
what I've seen for the past three games is a
team that was very easy to guard.

Speaker 2 (28:19):
Yeah, I you know, far be it from me to
pretend like I should have a whiteboard in my hand,
But I've watched enough basketball, especially college basketball in my
life that for the most part, I can watch a
team in the half court and through a few possessions,
have a general idea of what they're trying to do
and what the options are. Right what I what I
saw on Tuesday, from that standpoint cannot have confused me more.

Speaker 3 (28:43):
I agree, I completely agree. It was it was like
they they they they had concepts of a plan moo.

Speaker 7 (28:58):
I needed that last, but they didn't have any like
conviction to executing it.

Speaker 3 (29:05):
Like you know, there were there were open passes that like,
and easy passing lanes that they just they didn't they
didn't throw the ball to like I can really only
think of one thing that stood out to me that
looked like crisp, and it's the end of the game,
when when it was already decided, they run a high
ball screen, they quickly passed the ball into the corner

(29:26):
of these crashes to the rim. As soon as the
ball gets to the corner, they touch pass to a
ease dunk Like That's the only thing I remember that
looked crisp offensively, and it was when they were down,
you know, nineteen, at the end of the game like that.
That can't it can't happen in this league, like you
have to be dialed in. And you know, people are

(29:46):
gonna like roll their eyes in their car while they're
listening to this right now. But for this team, and
for a lot of teams here over the past thirty
five years, their identity is defense. And in that game
in particular, they were like on defense, like Baylor just
got to whatever spot they wanted to get to, wherever
they wanted to go, whatever they wanted to do, they

(30:07):
were able to do it. And Cincinnati almost was like
they were casually watching the game like the rest of
us instead of an active participant in it. And that
makes you know, the Kansas State loss, we're going to
look back on that potentially if things if they don't
get this turned around, We're going to look back on that,
like the New England loss for the Bengals, like just

(30:28):
that's a bad team that shouldn't happen. You can understand losing,
you know, a five point game to Arizona, Like you
can understand going on the road and losing it Baylor,
that one doesn't make a whole lot of sense. But
the Baylor thing, they just didn't seem dialed in. They
did not seem like they were connected.

Speaker 2 (30:46):
I don't know.

Speaker 3 (30:47):
You know, these guys all seem like good guys, they
all seem to get along, but for whatever reason, things
are not clicking right now.

Speaker 2 (30:55):
What's happened to Gisel James?

Speaker 3 (31:00):
I think in watching how teams are playing him, the
book is out, like I think for his whole life,
like that drive to the rim and that stop on
a dime, turn around.

Speaker 2 (31:13):
Quick fade away.

Speaker 3 (31:15):
You know, guys jump when he stops on a dime
and they're anticipating him to go to the rim and
he gets that little but guess what, nobody's jumping right
Like he stops on a dime and his defender is
staying flat footed and waiting for him to go into
that fade away. And that makes it much easier to
guard because now you're contesting it instead of it being

(31:36):
wide open and just rising up and knocking down like
a six or seven footer that he's been able to
do his whole life. I think he's been blocked six
times in the last two games. That tells me teams
are sitting on it, they're waiting for it. So you know,
there were two or three times that there was one
time a guy fell down and he's still shot a
fade away. There's a guy on the ground in front

(31:57):
of him. The basket is right there. All he has
to do is go towards the rim and lay it up,
and instead his muscle memory says stop on a dime,
turn around and fade away. Like they got to get
that worked out of him, because right now there is
a major difference mode between being you know, the point
guard off the bench to being the number one or

(32:19):
two guy on the scouting report. Teams are taking away,
they're high hedging taking away. Like when he comes off
a ball screen, there's a guy they're waiting for him,
and immediately he backs up instead of going towards the rim.
So then your offense is immediately out of sync and
you have to restart it because now the defense is

(32:39):
recovered because your point guard is backed up, everybody is guarded,
and you have to start running action again. That results
in a lot of what you know, when you look
at it, you're like, well, they're just standing around. Well
they're waiting because now they have to reset. Everybody has
to go back into their spots and they got to
reset the play and try to run the play again,
and he's become easy to guard. And you can't have

(33:03):
a point guard that's easy to guard because you're not
going to be able to run very effective offense if
your point guard can't get through the first step of
that offense to make it effective. Like that's to me,
what is throwing off a lot of this is that
it is, you know, the structure of it is on
Gissel to play downhill and that opens up a lot

(33:24):
of other stuff. When's the last time you saw him
come off of pick them and roll explode down the
lane and the defense have to collapse on him.

Speaker 2 (33:30):
Last seas not happening right now. Yeah, And so like
you you could look at his you could look at
his you know, baseline numbers and go, you know, he's
averaging eleven in a game, eleven a game in nearly
five assists a game like those aren't number. But I
watched I watched every possession he played on offense last year.
I've watched every possession he's played on offense this season.

(33:50):
It's not what it should be.

Speaker 3 (33:53):
No, And and he has to make adjustments to that, right,
Like that's how this works anymore. Everybody's got every what
within the click of a finger. They can watch every
possession you've played all year, and if they can find
something that somebody is doing, you know the first sign

(34:14):
of it. Okay, well, these teams are doing this to
take Gisel James out of his offense. Everybody's going to
copy it. They're just going to say, Okay, this is
what we got to do to take Cincinnati out of
their offense. You have to come up with a counter
to the counter that you have to be able to
to say, Okay, this is how you're going to defend me.
Then this is what I'm going to do to beat it.

(34:35):
And I've not seen much of that in these last
three games. Now, I will say the one thing that
you know that you hold on to if you're a
Cincinnati fan, we have seen this team play well. We
have seen this team play winning basketball. So it's in there.
They just have to dig it back out. The other

(34:57):
thing that really upset me about the Baylor game, though,
is what where you're coming You're coming off losing your
first two conference games. Where is the fight, Like, where
is where is the passion to say? But stops here?
Like We're not going to do this again? And you
had to know, Baylor got their ass kicked against Iowa State.

(35:18):
They were going to bring the energy, so you have
to match it and then exceed it.

Speaker 8 (35:23):
And I didn't see that.

Speaker 3 (35:24):
I mean, it was it was just like Kansas State
from the opening tip. Baylor was the aggressor and Cincinnati
was okay with it. And I think that's really why
fans are freaking out because that's not Cincinnati basketball. Yeah,
Cincinnati basketball is not. This team's playing hard. We'll get
them next time, Yeah, got it.

Speaker 2 (35:44):
That's that's that encapsulates. And it's not that they lost.
It's not that offensively they they they weren't very good
and didn't execute. It's not that at one point in
the second half the turnovers outnumbered the the the mad buckets.
It's exactly what I expected fight. I expected a level
of desperation and urgency and fight, and I saw the

(36:06):
exact opposite. What I saw look like a team. It's
late February, we're not making the tournament. We've got one
foot on the beach or one foot in the portal.
That's what it looked like. And it was January the seventh.

Speaker 3 (36:20):
Like that.

Speaker 2 (36:21):
That's what I laid in bed on Tuesday, night. Thinking
about that, I felt like I watched a team that
seemed almost checked out, and it's They've got eighteen games
to go, counting the Big Twelve Tournament. That's what was
most sobering.

Speaker 3 (36:36):
Absolutely, without question. Well, I mean, you and I have
been doing this a long time. We have followed this team.
You're two weeks older than me, so we have followed
this team pretty much our entire lives. And that is
not Cincinnati basketball. That is I very rarely feel like
I cared more than they did. That's the identity of

(36:58):
this program. And it felt like doing the postgame show
after that game Tuesday night, that that I cared more
than they did, and they have to find a way
to figure that out.

Speaker 2 (37:11):
Wick. Do they have a prayer against Kansas?

Speaker 3 (37:17):
Sure? Kansas lost to West Virginia, Kansas was at home.
Kansas was in a close game last night, it had
they were down six at halftime to Arizona State. I
would hope Cincinnati should should be in a similar playing
as West Virginia and should be better than a young

(37:38):
Arizona State team. So you know, if they come out
and they play like it means something to them, I
think they have a chance do they ultimately, you know,
this is a this is one of those games where
they can play well and lose, and you know, not
that I would be okay with that, but I'd feel
a hell of a lot better than I did on Tuesday.

(38:00):
West said it today in the press conference, like this
is a league where you can lose three you can
play well and lose three games. But we haven't done that,
right like that, That's not the problem right now. The
problem right now is we're zero and three and we've played,
like you know what, in three of those games.

Speaker 2 (38:20):
I'll see a Saturday.

Speaker 3 (38:21):
Three of those games.

Speaker 2 (38:22):
I hear you. I'll see us Saturday. Thank you as.

Speaker 3 (38:24):
Always, well, thank you, and I have concepts of seeing
you on Saturday.

Speaker 2 (38:29):
I will see you on Saturday. I have concepts you're
seeing the Bearcats pull off the upset that seems right
now less likely, all right, man, Thank you, improbable, Thanks mall,
Big Chaed Brendel, Bearcat Journal dot Com. You see and
Kansas on Saturday at two o'clock. Of course, the game
is live on a seven hundred WLW. We have room

(38:51):
for you in a bit five three, seven, four, nine,
fifteen thirty. I wanted to talk about the off season
ahead for the Bengals with our friend Kelsey Conway. She
will join us when we come back. It's coming up
on four o'clock on Moegar. This is ESPN fifteen thirty,
Cincinnati Sports Station.

Speaker 9 (39:11):
This is Dave Lapplo and you're listening to the Home
of the Bengals, ESPN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 2 (39:16):
Hi, Dave, me days not actually here. What's up? It's
four minutes after four o'clock. This is ESPN fifteen thirty
on moegor. Thank you for listening today. I believe your
Thursday is going swimmingly.

Speaker 3 (39:30):
Hey.

Speaker 2 (39:31):
By the way, a reminder, really quick, A reminder. Tomorrow
will be our first Friday show since last August. In fact,
I jotted this down. You know, on Friday's during football season,
we're bumped for Bengals pep rally. The last time I
was on on a Friday was August twenty third. That's right,

(39:54):
August twenty. I took the thirtieth off because there was
a Red's Day game on a Friday afternoon and that
seemed like a swell thing to go do. So tomorrow
our first Friday show since August the twenty third. Big
deal it's a huge deal. It's enormous and I think
we're gonna be on in the middle of like another snowstorm.
So that's that's gonna be a lot of fun for everybody.

(40:14):
So just a reminder if you have woken up these
last whatever they've been twenty two whatever Fridays and thought
to yourself, God, I wish I could listen to MO today,
that's the best way to kick off the weekend. We
are back on Fridays tomorrow, five day work week, that's right.
We referenced Kelsey Conway's work yesterday digging up info about

(40:37):
Jermaine Burton and the alleged off field incident that he
was allegedly evolved in. And Kelsey does a great job
covering the Bengals for The Inquirer and Cincinnati dot Com,
and so I wanted to bring her on to talk
about a lot of different things. She's with us. Now,
how you doing?

Speaker 10 (40:53):
Hey?

Speaker 6 (40:53):
No, how you doing?

Speaker 2 (40:54):
Oh man, I've never been better? How about yourself?

Speaker 6 (40:58):
Hi, I'm having a a great Thursday. I am loving
that we're getting all this snow melted and just to
get it again for tomorrow. So yay for us.

Speaker 2 (41:08):
Yeah, it's it's really exciting. Uh, this is this is
really good. Can let's get the Jermaine Burton stuff out
of the way. Okay, Okay, he's not going to be
here next year, right.

Speaker 6 (41:20):
I don't see how there is a scenario that that
would make any bit of sense. And I haven't had
a chance to interview Zach Taylor or Duke Tobin. The
next time we'll get to talk to Zach Taylor will
likely be when the Bengals name their new coaches, and
then I will be heading to Mobile for the Senior

(41:41):
Bowl and hoping to get to catch up with Duke
Tobin there. But that is going to be the question
in the lens of what what has Jermaine Burton done
to earn a roster spot? And you don't even need
to talk about what he had done off the field.

(42:01):
I s more look at it as what has he
done to prove to you all that make these roster
decisions that he should be getting a spot over someone else,
maybe who might be a little bit less talented. But
I mean, he only had four catches, so that's kind
of a low.

Speaker 4 (42:16):
Bar to beat.

Speaker 6 (42:17):
But I don't envision a scenario where we get to
Week one next year and he is on the fifty
three man roster, but he was a third round pick
and you always have to factor that in. Teams often
do not like to admit they missed on a pick
that high. But if you just look at you know
what's happened, and the recent incident is the worst thing

(42:39):
we've heard. You know. Obviously it was an accusation, so
we don't know if it was true, but reading the comments,
the whole thing has just been it's getting worse. It's
not trending to get better, and you hope that he
can get better, but I feel like he is running
out of time and this might have just been the
final straw. But it is interesting to me that that,

(43:01):
you know, a week we're coming up, a week after
the season, he's still on his team.

Speaker 2 (43:06):
Yeah, you know, he had the situation where he was
scratched and apparently overslept and didn't show up, and then
there's this in between where there are signs that maybe
he was starting to get.

Speaker 6 (43:19):
It, you know, not really because it went from a
we talked about him all the time in the preseason,
right when Joe Burrow after the first preseason game basically
told us all he didn't know the playbook well enough
when he said I Jermaine's got to stay in the playbook.
So you're asking questions all the time about Jermaine. And

(43:39):
then there was that push to get him on the field,
and then he had that big catch against the Chiefs,
and then we're talking about him again, and then he
was inactive because he was late and he didn't show
up for a walk through the day before a game
after a game plan was totally centered around him when
te Higgins was out, and then it was just kind
of silent, and I asked a couple of people, you know,

(44:00):
how's Jermaine doing? And in the sense I got was okay,
but nothing like yeah, you know, he's really he's really
making strides. And then who kind of went away and
then this this incident, there's also been some more incidents
of you know, late, being late, and it's just it's

(44:21):
not getting any better. And so that's where to me,
I'm like, if you're Zach Taylor, I mean you you
talked about this all the time, Like his big thing
when they were really successful was culture, culture, culture, And
I just don't know how you justify keeping that guy
in the locker room next year after the season that
he's had, because I will never forget Mike Kilton saying

(44:44):
after he was inactive like he's got to grow up.
So I just, at what point are you hurting the
rest of the locker room by keeping him on the team.
Is kind of where I'm at with this decision on
how do they how do they keep him on the roster.

Speaker 2 (44:56):
So there's Jermaine Burton and then there's the search for
an new defensive coordinator. Of all of the candidates who
are either real or imagined or hoped for, who to
you is most interesting.

Speaker 6 (45:11):
I think this whole process this week has been very
interesting in you haven't heard a lot of names. Obviously
you heard Patrick Graham, the former Raiders defensive coordinator, and
Marcus Covington, the former Patriots defensive coordinator. Those are the
only two that have been reported. But what I think
that is very telling of is I have heard that

(45:33):
Al Golden, obviously a former Bengals coach and the current
Notre Dame defensive coordinator, is a name that he's very
well respected in that building. And I think the reason
that I believe he's probably one of the leaders in
the clubhouse is because they haven't interviewed that many people.
I think that if you read between the lines here,

(45:55):
they don't want to distract him before tonight's game. But
I think because they haven't interviewed a slew of people,
it means that they definitely want to talk to him
and see where that goes before you bring in a
number of people. And that's kind of where I have
gotten to it with it is I think he's definitely

(46:16):
someone that they're interested in. And the other reason why
I think that one would make a lot of sense
is because when you look at how many picks the
Bengals have made in the last couple of years on defense,
and you've talked about it a lot, you want a
coach who can come in and enhance what those players
can do.

Speaker 5 (46:36):
Well.

Speaker 6 (46:37):
You're not going to get some completely different scheme like
an overhaul on defense. Yes, Al Golden would likely come
in and make a lot of changes, but keep in mind,
they drafted those players based off of their skill set
and what they believe could succeed in the defense that
the Bengals have, So I don't really envision Zach Taylor
wanting to go out and get some new coordinator who

(46:59):
has app absolutely no foundation that resembles what the Bengals
have been doing the last couple of years. Because they
are trying to win now, they don't have time to,
you know, install a completely different offense and hope and
pray that it works. They know what works with certain
players on that team, and I think that that's why
it would make sense for a coach like Al Golden

(47:20):
to come in, because he has familiarity and he's coached
that style of defense. He can come in and he
knows the players know it, and then he can put
his twist on it. So I think that, to me,
is the most fascinating name. And I think that the
fact that they haven't interviewed that many people this week
is telling that they have significant interest in him. So
we'll see where it goes after tonight's game, if Notre

(47:40):
Dame keeps winning or if not Name loses, But I
keep your eye on that name.

Speaker 2 (47:45):
I'm okay with Al Golden being the guy. But if
he comes back, and I know he was on the
staff for a couple of years, you know, when he
was the coach at Miami Florida. On the sideline, he
dressed like he was the night manager. At Wendy's and
so he has to go back to dressing life for
Bengals games.

Speaker 6 (48:02):
But that's totally fair. But the other thing I forgot
to mention to you, what's the other one of the
other positions that the Bengals need to hire a linebackers coach.
When Al Golden was in Cincinnati, he was a linebackers coach.
So I think that the fact that they haven't, I mean,
they could have, and it hasn't been reported, but I

(48:22):
think that they would be waiting on him so that
he could be involved in picking who the linebackers coach
would be. And I think that the fact that they
need a d line linebackers coach, I think that speaks
to Al Golden's strength and his is the linebackers in
the front and that's what Bengals need to fix. So
all of these little Taylor Swift esque easter eggs are

(48:43):
leading me to believe that Al Golden is the front runner.

Speaker 2 (48:47):
Wow, very good? All right? Kelsey Conway from The Inquirer
and Cincinnati dot Com. You and I last spring talked
about Trey Hendrickson when he asked for a trade, and
you know that was coming off a great year since then,
he's had an even better year. Right could be the
Defensive Player of the Year. He has won last year
left on his contract, So so why is that not
going to be a thing again this offseason?

Speaker 6 (49:10):
I think it's going to be a thing again time five.
And I'm not reporting that. That's just me, you know,
saying that to you. I having been involved in conversations
about Trey a lot last offseason, and that's what you're
referring to. The whole thing with Trey got messed up
when Trey signed that extension. So when the Bengals approached

(49:30):
him ahead of two off seasons ago to give him
that five million dollars make nice. If he was going
to turn around the year later and ask for moremany,
he shouldn't assigned that. He should have gone into the
into the year and bet on himself. I think he
lost a lot of leverage. But that's where this year
gets different, because what player wants to go into the

(49:53):
final year of his contract, especially the reigning stack leader,
likely an All Pro first team been to the Pro
Bowl every year. He's not going to want to go
into the offseason this season with one year left on
his deal, and he does have a lot of leverage
because I mean, how many times did you probably say
watching the Bengals game, like, what would the Bengals defense

(50:13):
be without Trey Hendrickson. So he made his value even
more to this team. And I think that this is
headed to a place where if the Bengals don't give
him an extension, their best decision should at that point
be to trade him. But what I think that they
should do is I think that they should give him

(50:35):
an extension. And I know there's a lot of people
that say, well, he's going to be thirty. You have
seen too many good players leave this team and go
be awesome for other teams, and knowing how diligent Trey
Hendrickson is with his off the field routine to get
himself in the best peak shape, I think you ignore
the like thirty year old rules for those types of people,

(50:56):
Like look at Kyle Vanni for the Ravens. He leads
the Ravens in sacks, he's well over thirty. I think
that this is a situation where I think the Bengals
would be making a mistake and not trying to work
out an extension to keep Trey in Cincinnati. But I
also know that Trey is gonna want, you know, top dollar,
which she deserves. So I think this one's going to

(51:18):
get really really interesting because I just don't see a
world in which you're a better team without Trey Hendrixit
next year.

Speaker 2 (51:26):
Yeah, I mean, you know, imagine hiring the new defensive
coordinator and you tell him, look, you've you've got to
help rebuild this defense. Uh, but what we're going to
do first is take away your best player. Good luck,
go ahead and rebuild the defense. That's and and.

Speaker 6 (51:40):
The Bengals track record the last couple of years and
hitting on defensive lineman hasn't been good enough that their
fan base can trust that they can just send Trey
off and nail the picks behind him. And so that's
where I think like this is one that I think
would be really smart for them if they could figure
out a way to extend him. But Trey's also said,

(52:03):
you know, he loves it in Cincinnati, so he's also
going to have to play ball. But it's definitely I
think one of I actually think it's more of a
pressing item for the Bengals above t Higgins, which I
know you probably might not agree with, but that's where
I'm at all right.

Speaker 2 (52:19):
One more, you mentioned we're not allowed to talk about
the off season without talking about T Higgins. If you
were to wager an amount of money that matters to
you on how the T Higgins thing plays out, where
are you putting your coin?

Speaker 6 (52:32):
Well, I know that's not what anybody wants to hear,
but I mean I've reported on this for the last
two years, probably more than anyone, simply because I've had
a lot to write about with him. He the time
to have done it would have been last before last year,

(52:54):
and I think he only increased his value more this year.
And I think that Joe Brow can say what he
wants to say, and they can all say we want
to make it work. But at the end of the day,
if the Bengals offer doesn't sniff the market value and
come close to it, which from what I know of

(53:16):
what they originally offered him when they came at him
one time before this would have been two years ago.
Compared to what I have heard the market number is
going to be for him is a significant gap. And
I just don't know how the Bengals can get high
enough to what the market value is going to be

(53:38):
with having to pay Jamar Chase and potentially Trey Hendrickson.
But I will say this, I think that if they
move on from Trey Hendrickson, then you know, then you
go all in on trying to figure this out with
T Higgins. But I just think it's I think it's
not going to get close enough where I think t
would be willing to take maybe four five million off.

(54:01):
But I don't even think that they can get close
enough with that in terms of where the guaranteed money
is going to get to because of the whole that
they kind of put themselves in with not having paid
Jamar last year. So it's not a big domino effect.
But I unfortunately don't think I think Bengals fans need
to brace for themselves to be heartbroken to some degree

(54:22):
because I just don't see a world in which C Higgins,
Jamar Chase, and Trey Hendrickson are all on this team
next year.

Speaker 2 (54:32):
Well, if there's one thing that we Bengals fans are
good at, it's it's bracing for and experiencing heartbreak, So
that won't require all that much. Do you before I
let you go, do you have any ruminations? Do you
have any laments? Do you have any grievances that you
would like to get off your chest regarding our favorite
college basketball team.

Speaker 6 (54:54):
Just win, baby, That's where I'm at, Like, let's just
you know, we talked all off these this was supposed
to be the team. I mean, you and I how
excited have we been? And it's just kind of we're
at the point where results need to start speaking for themselves.
So Kansas on a better time than to show the
last three games haven't been to real Bearcats and we

(55:17):
can get excited about potentially watching the NCAA Tournament together
at the Grail in March.

Speaker 2 (55:23):
It would be nice. I'm still still holding out hope.
I'm still holding out hope.

Speaker 6 (55:27):
All right, me too.

Speaker 2 (55:28):
Well, hopefully we don't have to wait to the NCAA
Tournament to do that, but that remains a goal nonetheless. Kelsey,
thank you as always, Thanks so.

Speaker 6 (55:37):
Much for having me on though. Have a good one.

Speaker 2 (55:39):
You're the best. Kelsey Conway, covering the Bengals for The
Inquirer and Cincinnati dot Com. It's twenty minutes after four o'clock.
Moegar five point three seven four nine fifteen thirty is
our phone number. This is ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports
Station five Sexy Time, Taren, what's going on? What'll we got?

(56:01):
It's not Valancine's Day A little bit? I understand. Very good. Okay,
we're in a separate studio, folks, so yes, we are.
We are in separate studios. All very good? Twenty five

(56:21):
after four o'clock?

Speaker 11 (56:23):
Is it is?

Speaker 2 (56:24):
We take a phone call, we said, one of my
one of my New Year's resolutions. We're we're gonna We're
gonna talk to more people. We're gonna take more phone calls.
We're gonna, we're gonna. I'm gonna babble less. So we
have waiting patiently, Greg and mount Airy. Greg, you're on
ESPN fifteen thirty, Good afternoon, How are you fly?

Speaker 12 (56:43):
How are you?

Speaker 11 (56:43):
Happy?

Speaker 2 (56:44):
New Year? Happy New Year? What's what's new? We are great?
What's going on?

Speaker 3 (56:48):
Well?

Speaker 11 (56:49):
Let me start with the Bengals. Then I got a
bearcat Tom Man. Yeah, yeah, I think I think the
priority first is you keep the big three together, Higgins,
Burl and Chase. You know, you get that subtle you
offer trade a one year extension. You know, if you
don't like the number, then you know, I.

Speaker 2 (57:09):
Like the idea of you trading.

Speaker 11 (57:11):
I like the idea of Al Golden for the defensive coordinator.
And they got a good nucleus of young talented athletes.
I don't think lou Chu used them right, which is
one reason why you got fired. He's too slow transitioning
to the younger guys. But to use your draft, you
keep getting young athletic guys on your defense. You find

(57:32):
you two guards. We get the two works guards in
the league, So it shouldn't be too hard to find
a couple of guys that's the better. At least get
you in the middle of the pack and you go
from there. You know, but you gotta acknowledge the foundation
of the team is Burrow, Higgins and Chase And if
you're gonna keep this Super Bowl window open, you don't
go try for unknown at receiver and give yourself another position.

(57:57):
You're trying to feel so that that would be my
blueprint for the Bengals for you see, I would say
we need to acknowledge. And I don't even know his name.
The athletic director has been a total failure.

Speaker 3 (58:10):
You know.

Speaker 11 (58:10):
He hired Wares Miller, who is showing he's a failure.
You know, he can't coach when they had an opportunity.
I can't think of his name, the kid Martin that
was on Huggin's ninety three Lee A team and went
on to coach with coach with him at West Virginia.

Speaker 8 (58:26):
Eric Martin, Kirk Martin.

Speaker 11 (58:30):
And Eric Martin.

Speaker 6 (58:31):
Yeah, there you.

Speaker 11 (58:32):
Go, and maybe Van Exo as an assistant coach. You know,
even if you wouldn't have been had more wins at
this point, he would feel better about UC if they
were at least playing in the UC tradition, a tough
defense rebounded, you know, and you don't see none of
that with the UC teams here. They are getting paid
and the soft is as totlet titiue. So then going

(58:57):
to the football coach, I remember when we was talking
about it, I was a Dion Sanders fan. Sure it
was a little bit riskier, higher would have been, but
look what the upside was. Look at the biblizz seeing
the money that's went to Colorado in these two years,
not to mention the fact, you see would have had

(59:18):
his first Heightsman Trophy winner and this year's number one
draft picksure door when it came as a nice bonus package.
So you see football, you know, would be in a
far better position edith Dion Lee for the pros this year.
Those two years would have made a life change and
impact on you see, and those were two opportunities this

(59:41):
ad miss because he's so concurred services playing is safe
and you see where we're at.

Speaker 2 (59:48):
Yeah, I think if you're John Cunningham right now, you're
dealing with the reality of you have a coach in
Scott Sadderfield who is very unpopular. Now. He may still
get it turned around, and his popularity will rise if
he does, But as of this moment, Scott Sadderfield does
not have a very high approval rating. I think that's
impossible to deny. I think most who are being fair

(01:00:11):
are waiting to see this basketball season play out. But
if this, if this team doesn't make the tournament this year,
I think you're going to be able to say with fairness,
Wes Miller also not very popular. When you're an athletic
director and you have, you know, the two major sports
at your university, with the coaches owning low approval ratings

(01:00:32):
and both with hefty buyouts, that's not a very good
place to be if you're an athletic director. I'm certainly
hopeful that Wes Miller's team this year can play better
and turn things around. But until they do, the criticisms
you just laid out are harsh but fair, and I
really can't argue against him.

Speaker 11 (01:00:51):
Oh well, I appreciate it, man. It just needs to
be part of the conversation. But again, the big thing
the Bengals keep the big three together. That's who we are.
That's so let's go keep us in the super Bowl
window and you figure everything else out after that.

Speaker 2 (01:01:06):
Yeah, I mean, uh, Greg, good to hear from you.
I am I'm in favor of signing T Higgins, but
I'm I'm in favor of signing T Higgins not at
any expense, And so my there are there are parts
about this that we don't know. Did Joe simply hint
that I'm going to restructure my contract or is he
gonna do so and ease some of the burden, Like
you can sign T and you could sign Jamar long term,

(01:01:30):
and you still are going to have a lengthy list
of things you can do and need to do and
you can't do them, but it's still a pretty hefty
financial burden. I don't believe that Joe Burrow is under
any obligation to ease the financial burden, But does he
do it anyway? Does t take less money perhaps recalibrating
what he is looking for for his next contract, and

(01:01:53):
take less to play here than he would sign for
elsewhere Like there's But do I want those three guys
on the team next season? Absolutely? Absolutely? More on that
debit twenty nine Away from five o'clock Sports Headlines and
more next ESPN fifteen to thirty Cincinnati Sports.

Speaker 4 (01:02:11):
Station, Cincinnati's ESPN Minds.

Speaker 2 (01:02:14):
Of Service of Kelsey Chevrolet, Home of lifetime power train
protection and guaranteed credit approval from their family to yours
for life Kelsey chev dot Com. For the second consecutive month,
Joe Burrow has been named the AFC Offensive Player of
the Month for December, when he was awesome and boosted
his MVP candidacy. Unfortunately, he cannot win because the team

(01:02:37):
he played on one very good. Meanwhile, the Reds have
avoided arbitration with the following I'm not gonna read the
dollar amounts because that just the board me last hour
probably bored Jude too, Alexis Diaz, Brady Singer, Gavin Lux,
Jose Travino, Jake Frayley and Nickoladolo each agree to terms
with the with the team College football Playoff semi final

(01:03:00):
game tonight at the Orange Bullets Notre Dame and Penn State.
You can hear that game on ESPN fifteen thirty. Pregame
coverage actually begins at seven o'clock tonight. Down the hall,
they have the West Miller Show at eight from the
original Montgomery in seven hundred WLW Hockey Tonight on Fox
Sports thirteen sixty, the Columbus Blue Jackets skate against the

(01:03:21):
Seattle Kraken twenty three minutes away from five o'clock. You
hear us say it every afternoon that our ESPN fifteen
thirty studios are sponsored by our friends at Madewell Restoration,
and we are we're bracing for another winter storm. I
don't gather that it's going to be nearly as impactful

(01:03:41):
as the one that we had earlier this week, but
we're still covered in snow. The temperatures haven't gotten above freezing,
and so you know, the roads are fine. We'll see
what happens tomorrow afternoon. My guess is this time tomorrow afternoon,
we're going to be dealing with some traffic issues. But
this time of year, when you have winter weather and

(01:04:02):
you have snowstorms and heavy wind and even low temperatures
can wreak absolute havoc on the outside of your home.
And I've gone through this before. And you know, right
now your house is probably still covered in snow, so
it might be almost impossible to even see with the
naked eye, like did the storm do any damage? And
you know, snow sitting on your house or snow just

(01:04:25):
hitting your house can can really do a number on
its outside. So I want to do spend a few
minutes with Joe Kramer from Madewell Restoration because this is
sure a busy time of year for them, and folks
like me have a lot of questions. I know you're busy.
What's going on, Joe?

Speaker 10 (01:04:42):
No, how are you?

Speaker 2 (01:04:43):
Man? I'm good. So I got a house, I got
a snowstorm. What sort of things should I be looking for? Yeah?

Speaker 9 (01:04:51):
Man, I think right now we're pretty reactive. You know,
the snow has already fallen on Monday. You know we're
getting a lot of calls about ice damming, so you
know the biggest thing, try to keep the edges of
your roof clear, so proactive, make sure gutters aren't clogged again,

(01:05:14):
I know it's most people's stuff is already frozen. And
then you know, try to limit the damage.

Speaker 2 (01:05:20):
Mow.

Speaker 9 (01:05:21):
So if you are experiencing ice damming where the ice
built up at the edge of your roof is keeping
from water, keeping water from flowing off, be proactive and
keep an eye on your ceilings on the exterior wall.
You know you can't stop it, but at least you
can minimize the damage if you catch it early.

Speaker 2 (01:05:42):
Is there a greater danger when you have a scenario
like we're having here where there's a lot of snow
and then you know, the temperatures don't rise, so there's
no melting in the snow is just sitting there. Well,
honestly though, I would rather not milt.

Speaker 9 (01:05:57):
You know, a lot of it comes down to insulation.
It sounds sounds funny, but no insulation so like your
barns are an outbuilding, is probably better than not enough insulation. So,
you know, hard to do it right now, but you know,
come spring comes summer, think about getting some insulation added,

(01:06:17):
or at least having us out to assess what your
attic looks like. You know, roof gutters, insulation all plays
apart and keeping the water out.

Speaker 2 (01:06:26):
Is there an area of our homes exterior that a
lot of us tend to overlook when we're looking for
winter storm damage to our homes.

Speaker 9 (01:06:34):
I think it's pretty typical to look up at the
icicles foreman on your on your gutters and down spouts. Again,
we just don't have this much snow build up very often,
That's what we keep hearing. So it probably happens every
four or five years and you forget about it, but
and then it becomes a big issue. So the more
proactive we can be, you know, during the summer and fall,

(01:06:57):
when we have good weather to work on the home,
the better to get ahead of this.

Speaker 2 (01:07:01):
And you're going to have folks who say, well, I
don't know what to look for. I don't know how
to look for damage. I don't know. And so you
guys come out and do a damage assessment. What does
that involve?

Speaker 9 (01:07:11):
Absolutely, so we'll come out. We want to be very
transparent with you. We can't get up on every roof
right now. If it's safe, you know, safety's top priority.
If we can get up and help you get some
of that snow off, we absolutely will. You know, there
are some instances where we kind of have to let
it run its course, but we'll come out and tell you, hey,

(01:07:33):
is this a gutter issue?

Speaker 2 (01:07:35):
Do you have ice and water barrier on your roof.

Speaker 9 (01:07:38):
The last time it was done? You know, kind of
look at all the different components and make sure that
it doesn't happen again.

Speaker 2 (01:07:45):
Yeah, it's it's great to have a pro come out
and take a look because you know, for most of us,
you go outside, you look up, and most of us
have no idea what we're looking for. So it's great
to have a professional do it for you. Absolutely though. Yeah, yeah,
give us a call.

Speaker 9 (01:08:00):
It's eight five nine eight O two three two four eight.
Also Madewell Restoration dot Com. We'd love to come come
out to your house or business and see if we
can help you out right now.

Speaker 2 (01:08:11):
These guys are awesome at what they do and uh
locally owned. Uh. And again, instead of taking a look
at yourself and okay, well I think I'm good, have
a pro come on out and do it and uh
take a look and see if you know there's any damage.
Hopefully there is none, but if there's anything that has
to be worked on, you're gonna want to people We're

(01:08:32):
gonna want people at made Well Restoration to take care
of it for you. Uh, these are important questions a
lot of us have. I appreciate the time. Well, we'll
chat sooner. Man, Thanks so much. You got it. Thanks
mo go ours. You're gonna drop that in. I'm with you.
I'm ruining for Marcus Freeman there. Think good to check out, Joe.
Thank you. Madewell Restoration dot com. Again, that's Madewell Restoration

(01:08:55):
dot com. It's eighteen away from five o'clock. I uh,
we only forgot that. We typically talk with Robert Weintraub
on Thursdays during the football season Cincinnati Magazine, and I
kind of wanted to put a bow on the season
with Robert and get his thoughts on some things that
will happen over the course of the next few weeks
and months as they were laid to the Bengals. I

(01:09:17):
got a Reds thing I gotta get too. We're gonna
hear from Wes Miller and more of your phone calls
as well on ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports Station.

Speaker 4 (01:09:27):
Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 5 (01:09:30):
Traffic from the UC Health Traffic Center U See Helps
Weight Loss Center offers comprehensive obesity care and advanced surgical expertise.
Call five one three nine three nine two two sixty three.
That's nine three nine two two sixty three westbound two
seventy five. It's an accident approaching seventy four up to
a twenty five minute delayed back from Ronald Reagan Cross

(01:09:52):
County Highway and on southbound seventy five. An accident off
on the left shoulder that one at Ronald Reagan Cross
County Highway. That he's not like with traffic.

Speaker 2 (01:10:02):
This report is spotting. Oh, now we're playing mc hammer.
Is there a reason why we're playing mc hammer? No? No, okay?
Is em c hammer still a big A's fan or
did he did he leave his fandom at the door
when they left for uh where are they gonna be
playing in Fresno or something? I don't The A's never
win another game because now their owner, who never accomplished

(01:10:26):
anything in his life except he was born uh and
and and his mom and dad founded the gap and
so you know in Oakland, he lets the team rot,
lets the ballpark rot, and then they they're moving to
where where they're going to, like well, moving up the
building a stadium in Wine Country or something. I hope
they never win another game. Now they're spending money and
baseball in Las Vegas won't work. I don't know all

(01:10:48):
because we're MC. Hammer was a A's fan. It was
a bat boy for the A's back in the day.
You know, sometimes when you like, you'll hear a song
like you know, Terran will surprise me with that I'm
old boy. Did something bad happen to Hammer? Hammer's okay, right,
everything is fine in the history in the cassette era,
which would have been in obviously like mid eighties to

(01:11:13):
you know, by ninety one ninety two all the cool
kids had disc men. But in the cassette era, no
one has played a cassette tape more frequently than I played.
Please Hammer, don't hurt him in grades seven and eight?
What were d Was I dancing like Hammer? No? No,

(01:11:37):
not not where anybody could see me.

Speaker 9 (01:11:39):
No.

Speaker 2 (01:11:42):
Hammer played Great American Ballpark in like twenty ten and
played I think after a Reds game. I was cool.
You went, I was there? Yeah, I was, I was.
I was at that show. That was that was Ham?
I think he played by him. There's after a Reds game. Uh,
I remember because it was the same week if I'm

(01:12:03):
if I'm correct about this, it was like the twentieth
anniversary of the Reds beating the A's in the ninety
World Series, and Hammer talked about it. I might've weren
A's jersey or something, but I it's been a long time.
It's fifteen years ago. But yeah, I was at That
was fun. It was fun, enlightening stuff. I'm offering the audience.

(01:12:25):
Let's talk to other people. Uh Ron is calling from
Milford and waiting patiently. Hi, Ron, how you doing.

Speaker 3 (01:12:33):
Good?

Speaker 10 (01:12:33):
Mo?

Speaker 8 (01:12:33):
How are you doing?

Speaker 2 (01:12:34):
Man? I'm awesome. What's up?

Speaker 8 (01:12:37):
No, I gotta be honest with you. I'm not intrigued
by Al Golden, who's already here. And if you remember,
do you remember Lou's first year they had the whole
dear deal where Al Golden was the third down defensive coordinator,
where they had that nonsense where they had first and
second down Lou and third down Al Golden. I mean,

(01:12:57):
we don't need to see Al Golden. And I'm not
in by these other schmucks either, are you.

Speaker 2 (01:13:03):
Uh I'd be lying to say if I was, you know,
I but that doesn't mean my lack of intrigue with
some of them in some cases has more to do
with lack of knowledge about them. You know, I certainly
will acknowledge that a coach doesn't have to be the
most high profile and he could still do the job.
You know, lou An Arumo for a while was considered

(01:13:24):
among the better defensive coordinators in the NFL until the
Bengals hired him. I have no clue who he was,
but yeah, I mean, I will admit, you know, there
are there are names that would jump off the page
and just because of their profile would be a little
bit more interesting. But not having a very high profile,
it is interesting. You know, they're highing, They're they're interviewing
defensive coordinators some teams like the Raiders and Patriots, and

(01:13:47):
those are obviously bad teams.

Speaker 8 (01:13:49):
Yeah, let's go, you know what, let's try to find
a defensive coinner that's just as bad as what we
already have. But no, I don't.

Speaker 13 (01:13:58):
Williams article I think was correct in the fact that
you know, we can't throw this on lou because strictly
because what players does he have. Yes, Trey Hendrickson and
Logan Wilson and everybody else on that defense is pathetic.
Maybe BJ Hill's okay when when he's able to play
and healthy and he's you know, a good enough player

(01:14:19):
as well.

Speaker 8 (01:14:20):
But there are like two or three players there and
that's it. MO, you can't coach this defense up.

Speaker 3 (01:14:25):
No.

Speaker 2 (01:14:25):
Look they if if you're lou Anrumo, you're going wait
a minute, So you took away Jesse Bates, and you
took away DJ Reader and von Bell got old and
uh you know, yeah exactly, and so so suddenly the
results aren't as good. Wow, big surprise. At the same time,
I think it has more to do with the fact

(01:14:46):
that how they build the defense, or how they have
built the defense the last couple of years is going
to be how they build the defense moving forward. Now
you are being completely reasonable if you go, well, I
don't trust Duke Tobin, who drafted some of these guys
and acquired some of the these guys to do even better.
But the reality is Duke keeps his job, and so
if you're Duke, you're like, look, I gotta find a
guy who can coach up my draft choices. It may

(01:15:08):
not work. It may not work. I mean I'm the
first tournament. It may not work, But I think that's it.
I think that's where they came from, and as it
relates to their decision with Lou exactly.

Speaker 8 (01:15:19):
And Mo, you can't tell me we know how the
Bengals organization works. You think Lou had a big part
in drafting these guys.

Speaker 2 (01:15:26):
Yes, yeah, I don't think he signed off on it,
but I mean clearly he had input.

Speaker 8 (01:15:34):
Because the way I look at this structure is you
got Duke Tobin, Mike Brown still, as much as we
like to think he's not involved, he's still making.

Speaker 13 (01:15:43):
The final sign off on things, Zach who basically I
would think would have more sign off on offensive players.

Speaker 8 (01:15:50):
And then you've got Lou down the road there. I
don't know how much. I mean, he probably has a
board of himself, but I can't believe that they're clague
going on, Hey Lou, what.

Speaker 2 (01:16:01):
Do you think? Yeah? I mean, I think the defensive coordinator,
especially on a team that doesn't have the largest scouting
scouting department, I mean, the Bengals coaches are intimately involved
in the pre draft process. Now, does Lou get the
first say no? Does he get the second say no?
But when they're drafting the likes of Dax Hill and

(01:16:24):
Miles Murphy does does does lou Anroumo have input? Absolutely,
they might not draft the players he wants. Look, a
defensive coach is gonna want a defensive player in every
single round. But do I think he has to say
one thousand? Does he have final say? No? But does
he have say and is he involved in the pre
draft process? Absolutely?

Speaker 8 (01:16:47):
Gotcha? And Mo, can we get a praise Jesus on
the fact that Brank Paulock's gone because of Good Lord.
I looked this up, Mo, and Uh, the year that
we went to the Super Bowl, that offensive line with
the dnergy and all those scrubs give up forty one
get forty eight sacks this year, I mean, what's the deal?

Speaker 2 (01:17:06):
Well, they also gave up a thousand in the postseason,
you know. I mean with the offensive line, the performances
that really stood out, we were the ones in the
playoffs that they had to overcome. And so you know,
that line as the season went on, got worse. But
I'm with you with Frank Pollack from this standpoint. I mean,
if you look at you know how many position coaches
would have liked to have had a free agency overhaul.

(01:17:29):
Frank Pollack got it in twenty twenty two. Would have
liked to have had a Marius Mims, would have liked
to have had a second rounder in Jackson Carman. Now,
does Frank get ding for Jackson Carmen not working. I
don't know how much he should. But they have tried
a lot of different options with the offensive line and
they just haven't ever performed at a high enough level.

(01:17:50):
And at some point if that continues, it's going to
fall on the offensive line coach.

Speaker 13 (01:17:55):
Well, it's got to, though, I mean, like you said,
they've tried drafting, they've tried spending money, and.

Speaker 8 (01:18:02):
Neither of those things have worked.

Speaker 13 (01:18:03):
I don't know, Well, I mean, there's or else you
can turn, like you said, other than offensive line coach,
and they've had they have two assistant offensive line coaches
I get. I'm assuming they were fired as well. I'm
assuming hopefully they were fired as well. I haven't heard,
but I'm assuming they were fired as well. So I
mean we need to start completely over with that as well.

Speaker 8 (01:18:25):
Just Joe can't take as many hits as he's taking.

Speaker 2 (01:18:28):
No, I mean that, uh Ron, thanks very much, as always,
hope to hear from you soon. That's they played with
fire this year. You know, Tony brought it up too
before we were talking during quick Hits. It's the amount
of hits that Joe took, but it's also the amount
of times Joe was on the run and maybe didn't
get hit but had to make magic. Like, I keep

(01:18:51):
coming back to this, and I will fully acknowledge, like
they have so much work to do on the defensive
side of the ball. But if Joe Burrow takes as
many hits next year as he did this year, he
will not play the full season. He will not put
up MVP caliber numbers. He won't be healthy enough to
do so. I mean, look, they dodged a bullet in

(01:19:15):
the Pittsburgh game when you know, two guys land on
his on the back of his neck and his helmet
his face mask is buried into the ground and he
had to go into the the medical ten and of
course they determined he's fine. Like you, however you felt
on Saturday night watching that, well, imagine that next year

(01:19:35):
with more dire results. I just want, once, one time,
I want Joe Burrow to play a season behind a
really good offensive line once. It hasn't happened yet, and
I feel like until it does, there's always going to
be a little bit of a ceiling on the team,

(01:19:58):
and as productive overall as it is, even on the
offense with Frank Pollock, it felt like they were never
going to get to a place where they had any
lead offensive line. By the way, it'll be their third
offensive line coach under Zach Taylor. It's coming up on
five o'clock on Moegar. This is ESPN fifteen thirty, Cincinnati
sports station, earning twenty five.

Speaker 1 (01:20:20):
No One covers the No One like ESPN fifteen to thirty,
Cincinnati's sports station.

Speaker 2 (01:20:25):
All Right, what's up, Good afternoon, I'm Moegar. I don't
know why I'm talking like this. This is ESPN fifteen thirty.
Thank you for listening. I hope you're having an awesome Thursday,
delightful Thursday. My equilibrium is thrown off because typically the
last hour of Thursday's show is our last hour of

(01:20:46):
the week during you know, football season, because we have
Bengals pep rally. But no, no, we're back. We're back
on Fridays. So we're back tomorrow, right in the middle.
What's that happy happy hour tomorrow? Happy hour tomorrow. That's
try first, that try first Onceince August, we will be enjoying.

(01:21:07):
We will be enjoying what do we have? Our guy
Robert Wintrop final time this season. He'll join us at
five twenty. The West Miller audio will play for you
coming up at five thirty three, will make a comparison
between West and right Hey that you won't like. And
I'm going to go back and remember what a lot
of us were saying about the Cincinnati Reds eighteen months ago.

(01:21:32):
But you know, we do have folks waiting. And while
we are not technically supposed to start the hour by
taking phone calls, you cannot make a New Year's resolution,
of which I've officially decided, what's the last day that
you can make a resolution for the year, like the tenth?
Like you, we're in week two of the year, so

(01:21:53):
you really can no longer get away saying Happy New
Year to anybody, right, I'll still say it, Yeah, what's that?
That's true, that's true. I've been out on location and
stuff like that. I think it's three resolutions and two goals.
One of them one of the resolutions is talk to
more people on this show, not make people wait. So

(01:22:17):
in that vein, Scott and Dayton's on ESPN fifteen thirty.
Hello Scott, how are you hey?

Speaker 8 (01:22:23):
Well, Happy New.

Speaker 2 (01:22:24):
Year, Happy twenty twenty five.

Speaker 8 (01:22:30):
Okay, so here's what I figure will happen, only because
it happens to the Bengals.

Speaker 2 (01:22:39):
They will release Burton.

Speaker 8 (01:22:43):
He will catch on with somebody and have you know,
unserviceable year of a decent year, and people will point
to the fact that the Bengal gave up on him
too soon.

Speaker 2 (01:22:54):
Yes, yeah, And if that happens, it happens, like you can't,
you can't operated and fear of that happening.

Speaker 8 (01:23:01):
I know, no, I I I'm uh. That is tongue
firmly implanted.

Speaker 2 (01:23:07):
In cheap but you but you know there's but you
know there's truth to that, right, you know there's I
know you know there's truth to that. And and like, okay,
he may he he may go and do the things
he needs to do to be a first of all,
just a successful person. But he may go and do
what he needs to do to have a successful NFL career.

(01:23:30):
And and I, you know, I say this often like
I did not root for people to fail. If that
goes and it happens, that's better than him flaming out
that that's better than him going down a destructive path.
So if he goes somewhere and he and he has success,
good And I'm not gonna look at it to the
lens of well that could happen here. Jermaine Burton, for
my money, has blown the opportunity to make it happen here.

(01:23:54):
And if somebody else gives him a chance, then good
for him, if he takes advantage. But I want, I want,
I want people that they can rely on, and they
cannot rely on Jamaine Burton. No, they can't.

Speaker 8 (01:24:04):
Well, I actually went back and looked, only because I
was curious. I seem to remember that we were all
talking about how poorly Jesse Bates was playing in his
contract year, and so I went back and I looked.
He was one hundred and fifteenth out of one hundred

(01:24:26):
and fifty one according to PF PFF in.

Speaker 2 (01:24:30):
His contract year or the year before, and his.

Speaker 8 (01:24:33):
Contra no, in his contract year the year before, he
was number one.

Speaker 2 (01:24:40):
I don't remember it that way. I remember the twenty
one season, the Super Bowl year. I remember they didn't
get the deal done. And then during the regular season
he was really really he wasn't awful, but he was pedestrian,
and then in the postseason he was awesome. And then
he came back the following year, his last year, and

(01:25:00):
he was he was better, although maybe not as good
as he had been prior, and not as good as
he has turned out to be in Atlanta. I could
be misremembering that, but that's how I recall it.

Speaker 8 (01:25:11):
Well, I just went in and looked at a ups
and then went back in the head. And that's what
it says, because you know, I always chuckle when I
hear all they let Andrew Whitworth go, Yeah, after five
contracts or four four contracts, and they bring up Kevin Zeidler.

Speaker 2 (01:25:33):
Yeah, I don't know. So I have always I have
never been as critical of what they did with Andrew
Whitworth as others because they wagered against a player in
his mid thirties continuing to play at a high level. Now,
good for Andrew. He continued to play at a really

(01:25:54):
high level. And it's going to be in the Hall
of Fame, I think because of it. And when a
Super Bowl ring, unfortunately it came at the Bengals expense.
It's not letting the player go, it's the inability to
replace him. It's they had a plan. I mean, they
told you in April. If we have to go back
this far a decade ago, they told you in April
of twenty fifteen what they were gonna do with Andrew Whitworth.
They were gonna move on. Whitworth didn't like it, he expressed.

(01:26:16):
He expressed as much publicly. They drafted tackles in the
first two rounds of the draft that year, telling you
we're preparing for a life without Andrew Whitworth. They did
the same thing with Dax Hill and Jesse Bates. When
they drafted Daxel the conclusion we all drew was that's
Jesse Bates' replacement. You are during the course of the
course of your time, if you're Duke Tobin, there are

(01:26:39):
going to be really good players who leave, either because
they can't wait to get out, or you decide we're
moving on or whatever, or we can get something for
them and it's gonna happen. You have to be able
to replace him. I think in the case of both men,
it's not that they let them get away, it's that
what they did to replace them didn't. And in Jesse

(01:26:59):
Bates case, for the most part hasn't.

Speaker 8 (01:27:01):
Worked, right, No, that's and that's totally fair. I just
always chuckle a little bit at uh the revisionist history. Oh,
how do we let Jesse Bates get out the door?

Speaker 2 (01:27:16):
Yeah, well, you know it's it's not like nobody said, uh,
don't keep them right. I mean, hell, I got a
whole year's worth of talk shows out of Jesse Bates.
There were there were a lot of folks who said, like,
this guy's so good, look what he did in the
playoffs in twenty twenty one, Like Luen Rouma was one

(01:27:38):
of them. He talked about like I don't want to
imagine life without Jesse Bates. But sure were there a
lot of us who said, okay, like this plan feels
like it could work, and acknowledge that Jesse had stretches
where he didn't play quite to the level that he
had had prior. Yeah, sure, right, I'm not going to part.

Speaker 8 (01:27:56):
Oh no, I'm sorry. And plus he wanted to be
paid it and the safety in NFL, Yeah yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:28:03):
Yeah, And look, Jesse's Jesse's played great. Jesse is also
sitting at home this month, just like the Bengals are, right.

Speaker 8 (01:28:11):
Yeah, that's true too. I know you enjoy your Friday show.

Speaker 2 (01:28:17):
I hope you enjoy it more. Thank you very good.
Like it's I'm making about the Reds here for a second.
So the Reds are building toward what we hope is
a team that is consistently contending. I laugh when I

(01:28:37):
said that because I know there's a lot of folks
who hear that and have a hard time even even
imagining that being the case. Right, But that's they might
not succeed, but I that's what they're trying to do.
They Nick Crawl has talked about we want to avoid
the peaks and valleys. I am frankly in for peaks,

(01:28:57):
but whatever, you don't want the valley. What they want
to do is is build the sort of organization that
is constantly churning out really good big league talent because
they're never going to be that involved with high end
free agents. Maybe that changes if the economic structure of

(01:29:19):
baseball changes. Maybe that changes if the Reds start drawing
thirty eight thousand people per game. Maybe that changes, if
they slide into a media deal that brings them a winfall.
But I think their plan moving forward, like a lot
of folks don't want to hear this with Elie Dela Cruz.
Probably will not play for the Reds in twenty thirty.

(01:29:41):
I hope he does, probably won't. And by the way,
if I was Elie Dela Cruz, I want to be
a billion dollar player. Be honest. The Reds probably aren't
going to pay him a billion dollars, so I want
to I'm gonna work toward free agency. So okay, you
better have in play and hopefully they do this sort

(01:30:02):
of the sort of organization that is built to replace
players like that when they leave. And if they do,
then when players leave, we're not going to spend the
subsequent years talking about them leaving because they'll have adequate

(01:30:22):
replacements in place. It's maybe not the best apples to
apples comparison, but it's not. You're gonna let good players leaves.
It's inevitable, especially in football when you've got a quarterback
mak in Joe's kind of coin. Good players are going
to leave. Good players are going to leave, and they
might leave on great terms. Good players are going to leave,

(01:30:45):
and you might have gone to the end of the
earth to try to get a mistay and they just
they want to go for whatever reason. Good players are
going to leave. It happens, and you may misevaluate what
they're going to be. You may undervalue them, you may
have them not pegged at the right position. Justin Smith,
who was here playing on the edge and the Niners
got have been put him on the inside. Good players

(01:31:06):
are going to leave. It's okay if your plans. First
of all, you have to have a plan to replace them. Second,
your plan to replace them has to work. So you know,
whether it's t Higgins this offseason or maybe in a
couple of years. You know, nobody wants to hear this,
it's Chase Brown because it's a running back and we've
run him into the ground, and can we go get

(01:31:28):
another Chase Brown? And you let him go and you
plug him in with somebody, and you're planning to replace
some works. Who knows, it could be any number of guys.
The Whitworth thing number one in a vacuum didn't bother
me that much in real time, Zitler, I'll admit did.
What bothered me is the plan to replace them failed spectacularly.

(01:31:51):
So is the one with Jesse Bates. Guys are gonna leave.
It's not that you let them leave. It's that your
plan to replace them didn't work, by the way, could
have been best laid plan, could have been well thought
out plan, but you are judged by results. The results
of the plan didn't work. Like with the Reds, this
is common like, hopefully they win, be nice, they win

(01:32:14):
while they have some of the players they have like
right now, and maybe one or two of them does
sign long term, but it's not going to be when
they lose them. It's what do they have to replace
them with. It's what the really good organizations do. Good
organizations do allow players to leave, especially in baseball where

(01:32:36):
there's such a large gap between the big market and
small market teams. You know, the thing that made the
Saint Louis Cardinals such a model organization for such a
long time was the constant churn in their system, the
constant churn of big league players in their system. The
Rays have been good at this, The Guardians have been
good at this, the constant churn. The Brewers are getting

(01:33:00):
better at this. And you acknowledge, like, really good players
are gonna leave, and we're okay because we've got we've
either have a plan to replace them or we just
we've we've got something in our system that we believe
in that's a little bit less expensive and it's gonna work.
Baseball and football are dramatically different in those regards because

(01:33:23):
of the NFL Draft, players play immediately, not so much
in baseball. But let's say the Bengals over the next
five years make the playoffs five straight years. Let's say
they win a championship and go to a couple of
Super Bowls within that timeframe. Good players are going to leave,
and the fact that they leave doesn't necessarily in itself

(01:33:43):
have to be something that makes the organization look bad
or is a reflection of how they screwed up or
how cheap they are. Like, good players leave, good employees leave.
It happens. It's not that you let them leaves. What
do you got to replace him? What's the plan to
replace him? And in some of the cases that get

(01:34:08):
talked about most often with the Bengals, those plans again
have simply not worked out. Eighteen minutes after five o'clock,
our plan is to have Robert Wintroup on our show.
He is next on ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports Station
since Orange Bolt tonight on ESPN fifteen thirty with Notre
Dame taking on Penn State. The station down the hall

(01:34:30):
is stealing the game tomorrow night from us, so we
won't have that one. Robert Wintrup is with us. Writes
a weekly Bengals column for a Cincinnati magazine. You could
hear his or here, God, you could read his column

(01:34:51):
post Pittsburgh and post twenty twenty four season right now
at Cincinnati Magazine dot com. He's with us, Now, how's
it going?

Speaker 3 (01:35:00):
Yeah?

Speaker 10 (01:35:01):
You know, I think there is an audiobook version of
my column posted each week, so you can't hear it.

Speaker 14 (01:35:05):
Perhaps I have one of those little translation devices. Maybe
do you read it?

Speaker 2 (01:35:09):
Or is it AI based?

Speaker 3 (01:35:12):
Yeah?

Speaker 10 (01:35:12):
No, I bring in a celebrity impersonators it for me.
Somebody with a deep bass for Fundo, who sounds really
really good.

Speaker 14 (01:35:20):
So you have that to look forward to, and.

Speaker 2 (01:35:21):
I would like to hire that. I would like to
have that here replacing me. That'd be nice for everybody.
Do you have a Bengals defensive coordinator wish list?

Speaker 10 (01:35:32):
You know, I think it's tough for me to really
say that I have a wish list. I mean, it's
easy to go and say, oh, Robert Sala he was
a great defensive coordinator in San Francisco, you know, with
Nick Bosa and Fred Warner and Drake him on all
those guys. I mean, yeah, he'd be a good hire theoretically,
but you know, I don't think that's very realistic.

Speaker 2 (01:35:52):
Really.

Speaker 14 (01:35:52):
What I'd like to see is somebody who can come
in and you know, develop and relate to the.

Speaker 10 (01:35:57):
Younger players, because that's the key to the future. Instance,
and that's obviously a big reason why lou and Rum
always fired, is because the guys that were drafted with
all that draft capital over the years to the last
three years to you know, kind of remake the defense
never step forward. And it's tough to put all that
on Loot necessarily. But I do think that a new

(01:36:20):
guy who has an experience or a track record of
developing talent young talent, relates to young players might be
able to to get a little bit further along in
those results. I mean, you know, they know they talked
to Patrick Graham from the Raiders. You know, he's off
the Belichick tree, he played college ball himself at Yale.
He seems like he did a good job mixing and

(01:36:42):
matching with the Raiders this season, even though they didn't
have a great defense necessarily, but you know, they lost
Max Crosby for a lot of the year and.

Speaker 14 (01:36:50):
Christian Wilkins, and they wound up playing a lot of.

Speaker 10 (01:36:52):
Kids who who took a decent step forward. And I
think people run the league really liked what he did there.
So I mean, you know, somebody that ILK, I don't
know that he's necessarily my first choice. They could think
about a guy maybe like a Jim Leonard.

Speaker 6 (01:37:04):
Who has a lot of.

Speaker 10 (01:37:07):
You know, Big ten background up there in Ohio. You know,
I'm sure people there are familiar with his work at Wisconsin,
and obviously he was in the league for a long
time and was considered sort of a player defensive coordinator.

Speaker 14 (01:37:19):
When he was with the Jets and the Ravens Underrex Ryan.

Speaker 10 (01:37:21):
So you know, if Rex doesn't get a job, maybe
he'll go on TV every day and pump for his guy,
Jimmy Leonard. I think any of those guys who have
shown that they can, you know, kind of relate and
develop new guys and not just rely on a system
like lou seemed to have, which was you got to
get veterans into his system and have them get acclimated
for a period of whatever two seasons worth of NFL

(01:37:42):
football before it finally all clicks. You know, he just
can't afford that kind of time anymore. And these guys
have to get up to speed or the Bengals are
really behind the eight ball and be behind the eight
ball going forward.

Speaker 2 (01:37:52):
Do you have an offensive line coach wish list? How
about you? I mean, you know, I do. I do.
I as long as the new guy that doesn't have
to doesn't make me have to listen to the term
glass eaters again. I'm okay.

Speaker 10 (01:38:08):
I was actually thinking maybe you could be the coach.

Speaker 2 (01:38:11):
Yeah, listen.

Speaker 10 (01:38:11):
I the intricacies of offensive line play are are difficult
for even an NFL savant to suss out necessarily. I
don't know that I have a list of guys who
I could definitely say would do a great job. I
think they're obviously looking for somebody who again can not
just you know, teach the discipline of playing both the

(01:38:33):
run end blocking schemes, but design a system that works
best for the players that they have here. And I
also wonder how much you know Frank Pollick's you know,
on draft day, how much of a voice he actually had,
and whether or not some of the picks they've had
really fit what he.

Speaker 14 (01:38:48):
Wanted to do, because obviously, again they're most of.

Speaker 10 (01:38:51):
The guys they've drafted have not really developed particularly well.

Speaker 14 (01:38:55):
I mean, you.

Speaker 10 (01:38:55):
Can't argue with a fourth round pick like Cordell Volson,
you know, getting the star he had. He's given you
some decent play, but obviously he regressed badly this year,
and I just wonder how much his ceiling really fit
what Pollock wanted to do. So you're just gonna have
to get the guys aligned better than I think that
they were in the past. And you know, whether that
means a change in how they run certain schemes or

(01:39:18):
draft in the future. You know, it's hard for me
to say, and all, honestly, I'm not really an expert
when it comes to that kind of x's and o's
along the offensive line, But I just think they need
to be better aligned with their vision and execute their
player acquisition accordingly.

Speaker 2 (01:39:33):
Before we look ahead further. What if we look back?
What was to you the biggest Bengals? What if of
twenty twenty four?

Speaker 3 (01:39:41):
Ah?

Speaker 14 (01:39:42):
Boy, there were so many.

Speaker 10 (01:39:43):
I mean, the highlight film should just be a big
question mark over the top of it, right, I mean,
I mean, I'll go different. I mean, you could pick obviously,
any of a half a dozen games.

Speaker 14 (01:39:52):
And individual moments, you know, from.

Speaker 10 (01:39:55):
The blown hold against Baltimore and the penalty and Dejon
Anthony going back to the first game of the.

Speaker 14 (01:40:01):
Season, that's easy.

Speaker 10 (01:40:02):
But to me, the big picture problem was really not
signing Jamar Chase early on and getting that done and
off the plate. And I just think the rain cloud
that followed them after that from.

Speaker 14 (01:40:16):
Not doing it.

Speaker 11 (01:40:17):
It really linked.

Speaker 10 (01:40:18):
You know, we saw it. It leached into the regular season,
and it affected so much of the offseason and we
always talk about, oh, the Bengals can't do anything in
that first couple of games of the seasons. Fact there
was one in eleven in his first two games, and
you know, they really had a chance.

Speaker 2 (01:40:32):
In previous years.

Speaker 10 (01:40:33):
A lot of that was because he didn't have Joe Burrow,
you know, even around for a lot of the offseason
workouts and he was always coming back from injury. And
he came back from injury this year too, but he was.

Speaker 14 (01:40:42):
There and rare and to go.

Speaker 10 (01:40:43):
I feel like they were desperately thinking they could definitely
have a better start this year, and then the vibes
from the contracts just kind of ruined the whole thing.
And we expected a little bit from t Higgins, but
he didn't, you know, even really make any noise, and
that was just sort of like a fake. And then
to have the Chase in Brolio just kind of on

(01:41:03):
top of that, and really for no real reason, they
were so close in their discussions and a guy like Jamar,
you just.

Speaker 14 (01:41:10):
Want to sign them early and get that off your plate.

Speaker 10 (01:41:12):
Now they're in a pickle because now they have to
resign them both theoretically and Jamar had this humongous season.
It's just going to cost you more money. It's just
a way of doing things that it seemed like they
were turning a corner on and they didn't with the
Chase situation, and that just seemed to affect the vibes,
so to speaking, so much of.

Speaker 2 (01:41:31):
What they did.

Speaker 14 (01:41:31):
And that was the large part of the reason.

Speaker 10 (01:41:33):
Why if you recall at the beginning of the year,
I thought they were going to lose that inwing in
the game because I thought they were, you know, kind
of stumbling backwards into the regular season. And sure enough,
that the vibes were so bad at earlier the year,
it really cost him to down at the end of
the year.

Speaker 2 (01:41:47):
One of the more interesting developments this offseason that I'll
be following involves Trey Hendrickson and maybe there's nothing right.
Maybe he goes into his walk ear and plays it
out and hits free agency and then we see what happens.
It's interesting because last year, obviously he saw it a
new deal, didn't get it, saw to pay raise, didn't
get it. As for a trade, didn't get it. He

(01:42:08):
was doing that coming off a terrific twenty twenty three.
He was even better this year. There's now one year
less left on his deal. Uh, how would you how
would you prefer I guess this play out? How do
you think it will play out?

Speaker 10 (01:42:24):
Yeah, just another pickle of the Bengals because again they
you know, and I don't blame him because along you know,
retearing up the deal. Remember he asked for an extra year.
They gave him an extra year onto his existing deal
and everybody seemed happy. And then sort of out of
the blue, he's like, no, I want.

Speaker 14 (01:42:40):
You know, at least one more year.

Speaker 10 (01:42:42):
And you know, maybe the Bengals could have given it
to him then, but that didn't seem like the proper
move at the time, he just gave him an extra year,
and listen, I think the best result would be to
just do that again and give him another year.

Speaker 14 (01:42:55):
He signed through twenty five, as you say, you know, give.

Speaker 10 (01:42:57):
Him the twenty sixth season and make it a fairly
hefty raise.

Speaker 14 (01:43:02):
You don't want to give him too much.

Speaker 10 (01:43:03):
He's already close to the seven percent of the cap,
and if you're resigning Chase and Higgins along with Burrow,
and that's four guys making about thirty ish percent of
your cap, thirty five almost that's not necessarily a great
roster building. But he is a great player. On the
other hand, you know, as I said, the Bengals are
in kind of pickle. They have a lot of holes
to fill, a lot of places to look to up

(01:43:24):
the talent level, and they only.

Speaker 14 (01:43:25):
Have six draft picks.

Speaker 10 (01:43:26):
It's not impossible they look to trade Hendrickson coming off
this great season, entering his age thirty one year, I mean,
is he really going to match what he did this year?

Speaker 14 (01:43:34):
I mean, it's.

Speaker 10 (01:43:35):
Certainly counterintuitive because he's obviously, by you know, secretariat distance,
the best player under defense, and without him getting pressure
on the quarterback, you know, they could give up fifty
points a game. But saying that, you know, there's definitely
teams out there if you have two or three high
draft picks, maybe.

Speaker 14 (01:43:53):
Over two years worth.

Speaker 10 (01:43:54):
But you know, for a player of Hendrickson's caliber, for sure,
you have to consider it when you're in a pickle
like this that they are like I keep.

Speaker 14 (01:44:02):
Saying, and you're in a position where that's.

Speaker 2 (01:44:04):
We're missing the playoffs.

Speaker 14 (01:44:05):
This year was so bad because you.

Speaker 10 (01:44:08):
Know, if you the narrative is so much different, and
you don't look to yourself and your team as being
so open for you know, new players and so open
for needing improvement so many areas, and you can sort
of paper over a lot of that with, you know,
with some January football, but it didn't happen, and all
things have to be on the table.

Speaker 14 (01:44:28):
You've already blown out half of your coaching staff.

Speaker 10 (01:44:31):
Zach Taylor survives, but who knows how much longer you
have to consider the possibility of trading one of your
best players while you can get a lot for him,
which you did not do obviously with t Higgins. And
now they're reaping the problems of that particular decision. I
think they'll they'll definitely consider it with trade, but I
would doubt that it actually happens.

Speaker 14 (01:44:50):
That's not the Bengals way. Yeah, and I think they'll
try and.

Speaker 10 (01:44:52):
Get them to another one year deal through twenty six
and hopefully everybody will be happy with that.

Speaker 2 (01:44:58):
You know, you talk about trading him, and there's there's
validity to the idea that that's that's that's worth exploring.
It's just such an interesting dynamic here. You have this
team with an atrocious defense and otherwise non existent pass rush,
a new defensive coordinator coming in, and we're going to
trade away the one good player.

Speaker 10 (01:45:19):
Yeah, the only reason I think, you know, I mean,
he's the guy you're talking about. He's he's already third
all time in the Bengals.

Speaker 2 (01:45:26):
I mean, it's unbelievable.

Speaker 8 (01:45:27):
Yes, but he hasn't even obviously been here.

Speaker 14 (01:45:29):
He wasn't drafted by the team.

Speaker 10 (01:45:30):
But in a weird again counterintuitive way, sort of like
they would never think about trading Carlos Dunloppergino Atkins, you know,
until the very end, because they because they drafted those
guys and was so attached to.

Speaker 14 (01:45:42):
Him for nine ish years whatever.

Speaker 10 (01:45:44):
It was a guy like Hendrickson who's you know, a
guy they brought in as a free agent already but
didn't draft, didn't go through.

Speaker 8 (01:45:50):
That whole process with he's he's in law.

Speaker 10 (01:45:53):
But he's not direct family.

Speaker 11 (01:45:55):
You know.

Speaker 10 (01:45:56):
I think that makes the possibility of least to trading
him at least a little bit more likely. But as
you say, it's it's not their style necessarily, and it's
just it would be hard for everybody to swallow after
Like you said that the best player by far in
your defense gets straded away after his career year. But
you know, again, they have to consider it because the

(01:46:17):
holes are just so fast.

Speaker 2 (01:46:20):
One more Robert wind Trumps, Cincinnatimagazine dot Com. Zach Taylor.
You know, I think most have concluded, okay, he's on
the hot seat. That can be a pretty abstract term.
My question for you is should that come with a
specific mandate? Is it playoffs or bust? Is it when
the division or bust? Is it advance in the postseason

(01:46:40):
or bust? What does the hot seat? What does that
mean for Zach Taylor in twenty twenty five.

Speaker 10 (01:46:45):
Yeah, it's gonna be tough for him. I mean, I
think I wrote in the column this week the pressure
on him is so immense it could implode one of
those deep seas submersibles that they explore the Titanic with.
I mean, you think about it, It's gonna be every
decision from here on out, really, I mean every little
thing at OTA's and Minnie camp and all the off
season stuff that you know, we sort of take for

(01:47:05):
granted that they know what they're doing, that's all going
to be really double checked.

Speaker 14 (01:47:10):
And you know, every move that.

Speaker 10 (01:47:12):
He makes he has to make under the burden of
knowing that if it goes wrong or even for things
that happen out.

Speaker 14 (01:47:19):
Of his control.

Speaker 10 (01:47:20):
He's you know, he's on the edge of the precipice
in terms of his job, and he has signed through
twenty six. Bengals and Mike Brown certainly don't like paying coaches,
not the coach, so he has that in his favor. Ay,
But he doesn't make a ton of dough you know,
he's sort of midpack. I think four and a half
million in a year, something along those lines. And yeah,

(01:47:42):
I don't know that you want to increase the pressure
by saying if you don't make the divisional round.

Speaker 14 (01:47:46):
Of the playoffs, so you're out of a job.

Speaker 10 (01:47:48):
You know, I think sort of off the record and
unsaid unquestionably, if they don't make the playoffs for a
third straight year and Joe Burrow is healthy the whole time,
you know, the only thing keeping him perhaps in his
job right now is the fact that last year when
they didn't make the playoffs, Burrow was obviously injured and
then compromise for some of the games he did play.

Speaker 14 (01:48:08):
You know, it's this.

Speaker 10 (01:48:10):
Year is such an unmitigated disaster.

Speaker 14 (01:48:12):
When he get an MVP level.

Speaker 8 (01:48:14):
Season that your quarterback and don't make the playoffs in
fourteen at league, that sends fourteen games in the playoffs.

Speaker 14 (01:48:20):
I mean, it's like unpresidented almost, And you.

Speaker 10 (01:48:23):
Know, whether or not they say that out loud or not,
he has to make the playoffs next year, barring a
Borough injury.

Speaker 14 (01:48:29):
I don't think there's any doubt about that.

Speaker 10 (01:48:31):
And you know, beyond that, it's obviously circumstantial and we'll
see where they're at. You know, he could definitely, you know,
win a playoff game and still not necessarily impressive enough
to keep his job. But I think most likely, given
the history of Bengals and their coaches just making the playoffs,
and the fact that he and Burrow at least at
this point. If that's such a good relationship, would probably
be enough for him. Maybe not, you know, get him

(01:48:54):
re signed immediately to a contract extension, but keep him
in his job for at least one more year.

Speaker 14 (01:48:58):
I think that's it.

Speaker 2 (01:49:00):
I cannot thank you enough for doing this all season long.
I know we already have scheduled our typical late July
early August chat as training camp begins, and perhaps one
or two times before then. I'll bother you as the
off season starts unfold. Thank you very much.

Speaker 14 (01:49:16):
No, I am here for you at any time.

Speaker 2 (01:49:18):
You know that.

Speaker 10 (01:49:19):
Thank you for having me. Thanks to all the fans
out there for putting up with me all these weeks.
And I look forward to talking to you in the future.

Speaker 2 (01:49:25):
I can't wait big part of what we do. Thanks
so much. Thank you, all right, Robert wine Troup read
his Bengals column Cincinnati Magazine dot Com. We will. I've
been teasing this for two hours here from Wes Miller
next on ESPN fifteen thirty, Cincinnati Sports Station.

Speaker 4 (01:49:40):
This is ESPN sixteen thirty I Sinnatti Sports Station, Cincinnati
Sports Station.

Speaker 2 (01:49:46):
We're going on there, all right. We're late for this
sports headlines our service at Kelsey Chevrolet home lifetime powertrain
protection and guaranteed credit approval from their family to yours
for life, Kelsey chev Joe Burrow has been named the
AFC's Offensive Player of the Month for the month of December,
which they don't do an Offensive Player of the Month

(01:50:09):
for January. They folded the January game into December. First
player to win one of these monthly awards in consecutive
months since Jonathan Taylor did it for the Colts back
in twenty twenty one. What else do we have?

Speaker 3 (01:50:23):
Oh?

Speaker 2 (01:50:23):
The College football Playoffs semi final game tonight Notre Dame
and Penn State at the games on ESPN fifteenth thirty's
the Orange Bowl at seven o'clock. Winner takes on either
Ohio State or Texas. Those two teams play tomorrow. The
Reds have avoided arbitration with the following players stand by,
Here we go, Alexis dis Brady, Singer, Gavin Lux, Jose Treveno,

(01:50:50):
Jake Fraley and Nick Lodolo. Congratulations to all parties involved
and hockey. Tonight, the Columbus Blue Jackets skate against the
Seattle Cracking. I believe Everett fits you. The former voice
of the Cyclones is still the play by play guy
for the Cyclones or for the for the Kracking for

(01:51:11):
the their second year in Seattle. Cracking. I believe we
have kind of run out of cool sports team nicknames,
which is one of the reasons I don't think we
should have any more expansion. I think we're out of
good names. But Cracking's kind of a cool name and
a good spice rum as well. Is that just yous?
Like whatever sport is and just put club behind it,
like hockey club. I'm not opposed to that. So you

(01:51:31):
Tah they're their hockey team has done that, right, They're
the Utah Hockey Club, right. So in soccer we have
this because it's it's kind of a European thing, right,
like it's it's West Ham and it's Leicester City like
it's to correct me if I'm wrong, it's not like
the Lester City Colts. It's not the Lesters, it's just
lester City, right. And so we've done that with FC Cincinnati,

(01:51:54):
and nobody has complowed they should be the the Tigers,
the Bears. It's just there. C Cincinnati. So acknowledging that
we are basically out I mean, we are totally out.
Like whenever you see one of these fly by night
football leagues, the XFL or USFL, the names are always stupid,
like the Saint Louis BattleHawks, so acknowledging that we are

(01:52:17):
essentially out of good hockey names or good sports team names.
The Utah team, which used to be the Coyotes in Phoenix,
they moved to Utah, and the folks there like threw
up their hands, like, screw it, We're out of good
team nicknames. So we're just gonna call ourselves the Utah
Hockey Club. Like when the Washington Commanders were for a
year they were the Washington football team. I had no

(01:52:38):
issue with that whatsoever. We don't need a nickname. We
don't need I mean, FC Cincinnati has a mascot, Gary
the Lion, who and my daughter was like two, was
terrified of really terrified. Think of how afraid I am
of snakes. I took my they were at Nippert Stadium.
I took my kid to go see FC Cincinnati and

(01:52:59):
it's like, uh, you know, kids love mascots. Here's Gary
the lyon my daughter at the time, now this is
five years ago, mortified, mortified, but they have Gary the Lion,
but they're not the FC Cincinnati Lions. We are out
of good team nicknames. Except I do think the Kraken
is a cool name. And did I mention a good

(01:53:19):
spiced rum?

Speaker 3 (01:53:22):
Uh?

Speaker 2 (01:53:23):
You see the Bearcats, that's a good team nickname. Take
on the Jayhawks, Kansas, that's a good team nickname. It's
a big game for Wes Miller. Wes Miller talked today,
met with the media, local college basketball media, and so
this team is not playing very fast. They've slowed the
tempo down. They're not really executing Wes on tempo. Here's

(01:53:44):
his answer.

Speaker 12 (01:53:47):
We're looking for higher quality shots and we're looking to
convert more. If there's opportunities in transition, we need to
convert those better. We don't need a four bad shots
in transition. We're not a team that walks the ball
up the floor, So trying to get easier baskets in

(01:54:08):
the open floor is belt important preparing for this year.
Working throughout the season, we need to get more of that.
Once we get into the half court, it's it's not
about how quick we shoot it. It's about the quality
of the shot. And you know, as we're really evaluating
some of our offensive performances. There's there's possessions that are

(01:54:31):
good possessions where you get a high quality of shot
and we're not converting. There's not enough of them. There's
possessions that could be really good possessions and we're probably
not making just the simple decision to make it a
good possession. There's possessions that are just bad possessions for
failure to execute or you know, not being in the
right place or you know, making a turning the ball

(01:54:55):
over and things of that nature. So there's there's a
little bit of all that and compounds on itself the
pace of play. It's important to me that we use
transition to get easy baskets, and you got to get
easy baskets. Where we rank in terms of a length
of possession, which I think is what you're referring to.
That's pretty irrelevant to me, but we do want to

(01:55:17):
use transition offense for easy baskets.

Speaker 2 (01:55:20):
Okay, that was a long answer, so just to put
it into context. So the Bearcats in adjusted tempo according
to the website Bartrovic dot com, which is a very
good website two hundred and eighty seventh two hundred and
eighty seventh, which isn't very good. Well, if you're looking

(01:55:42):
for me, it does not good or bad. You could
play slow and play well. Houston's always one of the
slowest teams in college basketball and always one of the
best teams in college basketball. But if you're looking for
a fast pace, that ain't it. Team possessions per game
Cincinnati is three hundred and fourth. So what have we
talked about with the Bearcats offensively? In not just the

(01:56:05):
last couple of days, really for the better part of
the last four or five weeks, they're really having a
hard time executing in the half court, whether it's you know,
not getting Sima's Lukacia's looks, not being able to break
down defenses and force help, not really having anybody they
could throw it to in the post, whatever it is.

(01:56:27):
We've talked about them really struggling in the half court. Now,
it might be an oversimplification to say, well, if you're
struggling in the half court, then run unless you have
guys that can run, like I look at Gisel James
and Dayda Thomas and go, can we if we're not
good in the half court, have those guys force the

(01:56:49):
action just a little bit more, or get Dylan Mitchell
in the open floor. There are some guys who are
probably not great open floor players, these bandego perhaps, but
I also think there's something about like a good rim
running big, if you're forcing the action, might be able
to get some buckets in transition that they're not getting

(01:57:10):
from him in the half court. Excuse me, in the
half court. You don't want to run, you know, as
my dad would say, like a chicken with your head
cut off. You don't want to run aimlessly. You don't
want to run just a run. You don't want to
run when you don't have numbers. You don't want, you know,
run and just throw up the first shot you have
and just Jackson that you don't want to do that.
But I do think given the makeup of their team

(01:57:34):
and the talents of some of the players they have,
and the fact that playing at a slower pace isn't
really working, I'd like to see what the results would
look like if they did run a little bit more. Now,
the counter to that might be, well, wait a minute,
especially in a game like Saturday, that the way to
pull off an upset is to minimize possessions.

Speaker 3 (01:57:54):
Right.

Speaker 2 (01:57:54):
We always watch the NCAA tournament. Oftentimes, when a fifteen
wins or fourteen wins, it's they slowed the game down,
minimize possessions, and didn't let the other team to take
advantage of their offensive firepower by not giving them as
many possessions, And maybe you run the risk of that.
So to me, maybe it's not so much about Saturday specifically.
It's just if you're looking to rectify what they're not

(01:58:17):
doing offensively. Number one, you're trying to score more off
your defense. And number two, I would force the pace
just a little bit more. But I'm not the coach,
and I think we should all be thankful for that.
We're done. Show's over tomorrow, So tomorrow, that's right, we

(01:58:40):
have a Friday show Tomorrow. We're gonna Dave Biddle's gonna
join us, talk about the Cotton Bowl the Buckeyes. Hopefully
you have a game long form? Yeah, or what are
they saying about the game tomorrow? Right now? Everything is
still schedule to play tomorrow.

Speaker 3 (01:58:54):
Good.

Speaker 2 (01:58:54):
They have no plout trucks. They have no plow trucks
in the greater Dallas Worth area. It's a problem, all right, Well,
we'll keep an eye on that. We're back tomorrow three
oh five, and we're looking forward to it. Thanks to
Taran Bland for producing, Thanks to you for listening. Have
a great night. This is the ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati

(01:59:16):
Sports Station

Speaker 4 (01:59:24):
Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty

All Episodes

1/9/25 - The Mo Egger Radio Show

Episode Transcript

Mo Egger News

Popular Podcasts

Crime Junkie

24/7 News: The Latest

Stuff You Should Know

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

.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}1/9/25 - The Mo Egger Radio Show

Episode Transcript

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

Popular Podcasts

.css-r6mb8g{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:1;overflow:hidden;}Crime Junkie

24/7 News: The Latest

Stuff You Should Know

All Episodes