September 1, 2026 • 36 mins
Did Duke Tobin nail it? The Reds lost Joey Votto? And is something missing as the Bengals prepare for the season?
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
All right.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
What's up?
Speaker 3 (00:01):
Mo Egger, ESPN 1530. Thank you so much for listening.
I hope you're having an unbelievable Tuesday afternoon and you're
staying cool. They just canceled my daughter's soccer practice, so
no heat exhaustion for her and her teammates. Uh, nonetheless,
we have a lot of ground to cover today. Paul
Daner Jr. is not with us in studio because, well,
(00:22):
the Bengals are practicing right now. Zach Taylor talked a
little while ago. We'll have that, uh, some of that
for you a little bit later on. But, uh, so he's,
he's down at the stadium, but he's, but he's with
us and, uh, he's here now. And you could watch
his talk on Twitter and YouTube. Paul Daner Jr. from
The Athletic and, uh, The Growler Podcast, of course. And
there he is looking professional in the interview room down
(00:43):
there at Paycourse Stadium. How are we doing?
Speaker 1 (00:46):
Doing great, Mo. What's going on?
Speaker 3 (00:48):
I wish you were here, but nonetheless, we still have
a lot to discuss. It's been busy.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
Well, I wanted to discuss something with you. It's funny because,
you know, I went to Moeller High School, right?
Speaker 3 (01:00):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
And I thought this was really weird, but Deuce McBride's
people reached out to me. And they were like, hey,
would you like us to just... Deuce is in town.
He has the Larry O'Brien trophy. We'll come meet you.
He's actually right here. The trophy's right here.
Speaker 3 (01:17):
Really?
Speaker 1 (01:18):
My camera just won't move. Oh. I can't quite move
it over there to show you.
Speaker 3 (01:22):
I got you.
Speaker 1 (01:23):
Okay. They said they'd bring it to me wherever I
was so I could see it. They thought I might
have interest since, you know, I went to Moeller and
I talked about the Knicks with you before.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
Yeah. So you and Deuce.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
It was really, really cool of them, though. So I
wanted to thank them.
Speaker 3 (01:36):
Yeah. Well, just tell Deuce hi for me. Tell him hello. Yeah. And, uh, it's, it's,
it's nice. It's nice that he was able to spend
some time back in Cincinnati with, uh, the trophy. And
I'm thrilled that you got a chance to see it. Um,
I guess molar takes care of molar here. So if you're,
you know, uh, a public school kid from Northern Kentucky, I,
(01:57):
I guess maybe molar doesn't, uh, unless they need something,
of course. Now, God knows what debt you're going to
be asked to pay, how many bake sales and clam
bakes and, uh, fundraisers and stags are going to be
asked to promote, but, uh, I just, from my perspective,
the spigot has maybe been cut off a little bit,
but I'm glad they've taken care of you.
Speaker 1 (02:16):
They have. I just didn't know if you'd have any
interest being the Knicks fan that you are. I just
thought it was a really nice gesture. It was very nice.
I'm glad.
Speaker 3 (02:24):
I'm glad you got a chance to spend some time
with the Larry O'Brien trophy. Above and beyond all that,
you've been busy. What has stood out the most to
you about the cut down to 53 and the transactions
since Sunday at 6 p.m.
Speaker 1 (02:44):
I mean, it's kind of similar to some of the
things that we talked about in the run-up in that
They're just searching at swing tackle. Like, they're just– it's just–
there's just got to be somebody, right? I guess Blake
Freeland is here now who is on the practice squad.
He played– he started nine games, which is actually an
(03:05):
upgrade from guys that have never started a game in
the NFL. And there's just a big collection of them
behind Orlando Brown and Amarius Mims right now. The hunt of, like,
is there anyone here that we think we could feel
comfortable with on opening day has stood out. You have
three of them now on the 53-plus break, Blake Freeland.
(03:27):
This competition is going to continue. My take now, like
my latest ruminating spicy take, is they would be more
hurt today. if Amarius Mims got hurt than if Jamar
Chase got hurt. Oh, yeah.
Speaker 3 (03:43):
Yeah, I agree.
Speaker 1 (03:44):
The fall off. Yeah. I mean, the absolute scarcity of
what would have to happen if you're already like... Okay, Orlando,
all right, we're good, but there's still a caution in
that one. If you now had to worry about that
and have somebody with little to no experience on the
other side, your offense that you spend so much time
(04:04):
on can be non-functional if you're having to help out
both sides. Whereas if you play without Jamar, it's a
massive loss, but you're going to two tight ends with–
Eric Hall and either Kosicki or Sample. You've got T still.
You've got Yoshi and Dante Myers. There's a lot of
other directions you can go. it feels like things crumble
(04:27):
quickly if you have an injury there right now. And
maybe they feel good and that something will emerge. But,
you know, there's just this Miles Hinton, Blake Freeland, Javon Foster,
come on down. Anybody is, it's concerning where that stands
right now.
Speaker 3 (04:45):
It's concerning, but I guess for me, and look, I
think they have squashed a lot of the concerns a
lot of us had about what they've done at linebacker.
I think they've squashed, And you wrote about this, some
of the concerns that we had about cornerback depth. And
I want to talk about Takario Davis here in a bit.
But I think the thing about what's happening at swing
tackle is it's frustrating and it's concerning, but it's not
(05:06):
that surprising. No. No.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
I mean, there were three-ish spots that we came into
camp with, and this was one of them. The other
two worked themselves out, I think, where you feel okay. Linebackers, TBD,
but they mainly worked themselves out, and this one didn't.
And that's the chance you take if you're going to
have three or four positions that look like that. One
(05:29):
of them is probably not going to pan out, and
so they're having to figure something out on the fly.
You know, Personally, I think you'd have liked to have
seen some type of a more aggressive move out there,
but they're hard to come by. The tackle market was
rough to try to go find something in, to acquire
anything in. I mean, think about... I don't know exactly.
(05:49):
I talked to our people in Philadelphia about Hinton and
Johnson and all those guys over the last week. I
think it says something that they were willing to give
up on two developmental prospects to just hang on to
Fred Johnson because, like, you know what? that's better than
just betting on development. Even though you'd love to see
(06:10):
what it looks like maybe down the line, guys they drafted,
it's just like, let's hang on to what we know
right now because it's scary out there. And I think
that says something about where the whole league is kind
of at in that position. And the Bengals aren't alone
in this. About every coach in the league hates their
offensive tackle probably right now. this one just feels considering
all that feels right around it. It sticks out a
(06:31):
little more like a sore thumb.
Speaker 3 (06:33):
Well, and it's also the team that quote can't protect
its quarterback.
Speaker 2 (06:37):
Right.
Speaker 3 (06:37):
And so I think that, that, that feels a little bit, um,
any idea how serious the injury is to Brian Parker?
Speaker 2 (06:45):
No.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
Um, it's something we probably should ask more about today. I, I,
I don't, I don't know. Those two kind of popped up, uh,
out of nowhere, the Parker thing, especially cause he played
in the whole game and, and, you know, we haven't
seen anybody since then. They kind of went dark until
today with the locker room will be open in a
little bit. I don't know if he'll be in there.
We'll get more word from the team or whatever, but don't,
(07:08):
don't have specifics on, on how serious that is right now,
but stinks. He had a good camp and I think
they really counting on him to be a guy at guard.
And it kind of, I mean, I think they were
going to do it anyway, but it kind of really
forces them to put Jalen Rivers back full-time into that
guard spot. But don't worry, Miles Hinton's here, so it's
(07:31):
all working itself out.
Speaker 3 (07:33):
Paul Daner Jr. from The Athletic and The Growler Podcast.
In your years on the beat, is Dante Myers, does
he represent the best training camp story that you've covered?
Speaker 1 (07:46):
Yeah. I mean, I... I got to tell you, you
can try to compare them over the years. I don't
think I've ever seen anybody come from this far off
to not just make it, but to end up a
part where you're sitting here today like, he's got a role, right?
Like he has a role and he brings you something
(08:10):
in the opener. Whereas last year at this time, like
he was preparing to play his first games in the CFL.
They didn't know if he's going to be anything for
the Saskatchewan rough riders, that he was some, some guy
who paid for the tryout and to be a guy
that the NFL already was like, yeah, this is not
(08:31):
an NFL player years ago. He barely got into one
rookie weekend camp. Guys don't rise up from that and
suddenly get into the league. It just doesn't happen. You
barely see anybody go from the CFL and actually play
in the league. Which, by the way, does the CFL
(08:52):
have any tackles? Have we looked at the Saskatchewan Rough
Riders tackle situation today? Because maybe that's where you go.
I just think that I've never seen somebody come from
so far out and win everyone over. Win over, I mean,
(09:14):
the quarterbacks telling urban legend stories about you. Every coach
is just heaping praise. You did everything the right way.
You showed up every day. You made plays at every
possible spot. And now you're like, I think they got
a real guy here. I've never seen anything like it.
Speaker 3 (09:33):
What would you put the over-under on Dante Myers' touches
being this year?
Speaker 1 (09:39):
You know, we said some of these things about Tinsley,
and he felt like a crazy story last year. Yeah, yes.
And he got eight catches. But he had a cut
touchdown in week two. Look, there's probably going to be
games where they're without Jamar or T, or you know,
(09:59):
they hope not both. And he's going to play. And
if it goes like it's gone to this point, you know,
when I talk to his quarterback in Saskatchewan, Um, Trevor Harris,
who's like a legend in the CFL for the story
I wrote about him. He was like, you think Dante
Myers is good today. Wait till you see how much
(10:20):
better he is in week five, six, seven. He's like,
because he's so smart. He's so great at asking the
right questions. evolving, understanding how to get one step better
and see things differently, and you start getting chemistry with
working with these guys. What blew me away last year
was how much better my connection got with him as
(10:42):
the season kept going on, despite the success that we'd
had early on. It's going to get better. So I guess...
who's to count that out at this point that he
can get in there and find a role and all
of a sudden have five for 70 in his first
game where he has some kind of a role and just,
you can't get them off the field. I think he
ends up in double digits, but I don't know. That's
(11:05):
largely injury dependent. I mean, he's not going to get
many catches if we have a year like last year
where T and Jamar are healthy almost every game, but
if you live under an assumption that that's not necessarily
guaranteed at all, I think he'll go in there and
play well when it's time.
Speaker 3 (11:19):
Are you ready for some high-end analysis?
Speaker 1 (11:23):
I love high-end analysis.
Speaker 3 (11:24):
I think Takario Davis might be a dude.
Speaker 1 (11:27):
Yeah, I do too. I felt like when you watched
his first preseason game, he kind of, oh, okay, you saw,
I love the physicality there. Yeah. Like, and then when
he had the practice last week where he was playing
great against T and then he kept going. And the
(11:48):
next thing, you know, I mean, which play did you
like the best from his game the other day? Did
you like the PBU, the interception of the TFL?
Speaker 3 (11:57):
Yeah. I mean, the TFL, the TFL.
Speaker 1 (12:00):
I thought TFL was great.
Speaker 3 (12:01):
Yeah. Zach Taylor.
Speaker 1 (12:02):
I asked, um, about, um, you know, his camp, basically.
And he's like, you know, I just felt like... you
get the comfort of a full stretch of one series.
Even he really hadn't even had that until Philadelphia where
he just kind of been in there. And then it's
(12:22):
four plays and you're out because that's the nature of practice.
A lot of times it's a little bit choppier, but
like when you actually get into playing 10 plays and
getting a rhythm, you saw him finding his rhythm and
thought that was a big deal. I think he's CB
three right now. I think you're, I'm not saying you're
playing them over anybody, but the confidence that they have,
in him to come in if needed has to be
(12:45):
really high. I just think what he hit a huge
spike over these last really two weeks, week and a
half where you started to see it come together. And that's,
that's what, you know, draft picks that end up having
consequential rookie seasons typically look like, like, You can be
whatever you want, shaky or whatever early on, but in
the second half of camp, you start to see the
(13:06):
spike happen, and then those are guys that are given
a chance in week four, seven, ten, whatever.
Speaker 3 (13:13):
When did the Bengals name their captains?
Speaker 1 (13:18):
It's usually next week. I guess maybe Monday is probably
about when it's going to be.
Speaker 3 (13:22):
The Los Angeles Rams named their captains yesterday. They have
11 of them. 11 of them. Now, what, 40, 46
guys dress for game day, right? I assume all 11
captains will be dressing. That means basically one quarter of
the team is a captain. How would you feel if
you're a player on the L.A. Rams and you've been
(13:42):
around for a few years and you weren't named a captain?
Speaker 1 (13:47):
You know how I'd feel like. it's cool. Aaron Donald's here.
I don't really care who's the captain. I'm a captain.
I'm going to be a champ. Like it's, it's all good.
Can I just go shake Aaron Donald's hand and not
care about anything?
Speaker 3 (13:59):
You know, I was listening, I was listening to ESPN
radio yesterday morning and they were talking about the teams
that are the biggest villains in sports and the Rams
came up and I don't really view them that way.
I view them as more of a corporate America type team.
Cause you know, in corporate America, like if you look
at the the organizational flow chart of a lot of places.
And you see this in intercollegiate athletics as well, where
everybody's a, an athletic director. And then in corporate America,
(14:22):
everybody's a vice president of something. That's what the Rams are.
They have 11, 11 captains. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (14:29):
How many, how many like groomsmen did you have?
Speaker 3 (14:33):
Well, I got, well, see, I've been married twice. So
the first one, five. And then the second one, the
wedding itself was so small and sort of, I don't
want to say slapped together pretty quickly, but it was,
we didn't have any. We just, we had somebody who
got ordained for 10 bucks and then we all went
out drinking. There really wasn't a wedding itself. But my
(14:56):
first go around five.
Speaker 1 (14:58):
But to me, like, it's kind of like that. Like,
at a certain point, you got to be like, are
all these people my friends? Yeah. You know, like, how far?
There's got to be some point. I did the, like,
I'm just, I got two and everybody else will be
involved in, like, an inner circle. You can't have too many.
It feels like, like, this is just, there's just too
many people here. I can't even take the picture.
Speaker 3 (15:18):
You know, I see now I wish you were here
for the next two hours and 40 minutes, because this
is one of my, this is one of the things
I think about often in life. When I see these
wedding parties where there's like 13 groups, men, 13, like,
I don't know that you can be friends on the
same level with all of them. And then what if
you're a guy number 14 and you're on the outside
looking in, I've, these are the things that I think about,
(15:39):
but the 11 captains. So see if the Bengals will
have 12.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
You know what you want to do? You want to
play a game if you have a buddy who has
like one of these wedding parties with 10, 12 groomsmen
or whatever. Do a checkup five years later on the
state of all those friendships. Exactly. Okay, let's see how
everybody's hanging on and how connected that still is after
that many people. It's just, we can't have that many friends.
(16:08):
Grown adults with kids and lives, you don't have time
for that many friends.
Speaker 3 (16:11):
No, I don't even know if I know that many people. So,
I mean, much less be friends. Let's be honest.
Speaker 1 (16:17):
All right.
Speaker 3 (16:18):
Well, enjoy the day with Deuce and the Larry O'Brien trophy. Yeah.
I know Deuce is a big Bengals fan, so I'm
sure he's making his way around the stadium and he's
got the trophy there. I'm glad you're getting a chance
to spend some time with it. It's cool.
Speaker 1 (16:33):
I'm sure they'll be around to the iHeart Studios soon, though.
They're probably making their way. I mean, the good news
is the school is so far.
Speaker 3 (16:39):
Yeah. It's quite a hike. You know, a few years ago,
remember FC Cincinnati won the Supporter Shield? And they made
the rounds to like all the TV stations. And then
like their radio partner, they were like, oh yeah. And
so I took a, I made my own supporter shield
with just like a plastic plate. And then they got
(17:01):
mad at me and ended up bringing the supporter shield
up and they wouldn't let me eat off of it.
I can go on Etsy and buy a replica Larry
O'Brien trophy and I'm considering doing it. And then we'll
see how I can further. What I've enjoyed about this
Mueller high school thing is I've had folks at that
school reach out to me and say, and this is
to me, when people say this to me, it's my
(17:23):
favorite thing. We don't know if you're being serious. And
I just go, you know, I don't know.
Speaker 1 (17:27):
I don't know. I don't either.
Speaker 3 (17:32):
That's, I certainly have achieved something then.
Speaker 1 (17:35):
All right. Well, we'll get you the replica and the
cardboard cut out of deuce and put it in the
corner and it can be there with you always.
Speaker 3 (17:43):
It'd be fantastic. All right. Thank you as always. Paul
Daner Jr. covering the Bengals for the Athletic and the
Growler podcast. Follow on Twitter at Paul Daner Jr. I
don't want to extend the bid any further than it's
(18:05):
gone because I had a lot of fun with this
on Friday night, but for those who are uninitiated, You know,
me being a big Knicks fan, we had Deuce McBride
on the show the day after the championship parade. Deuce
went to Moeller. And we were thrilled that Deuce joined us.
Thrilled and grateful and... he was accommodating. And, and, and I,
(18:25):
I mean that, and I, he, I'm a huge fan
of his, but on Friday night, I look at social
media and there's, there's Deuce at Moeller. He wasn't at Moeller.
The game was at Mount St. Joe and me living
on the West side. It was like 10 minutes from
my house. There's Deuce and the trophy and they're, they're
tagging Lance and Joe Dannemann and Bill Cunningham. And it's like, yeah, not,
not the one Knicks fan in town. So So we've
(18:49):
taken our frustrations with that out on Moeller. Deuce did
promise us an in-studio trophy visit, for what it's worth. And,
you know, the folks at Moeller had a chance to
win themselves into my good graces, and they didn't. And
so we're not going to talk about that anymore. It's
24 minutes after 3 o'clock. I have to ask a
(19:12):
couple of questions about Elie Delacruz and Tito Francona. And
the people that Tito works for, we're going to get
to that coming up a little bit later on. Plus,
did you read the Q & A that Mark Sheldon
did with Joey Votto? Tony Pike is at a football
practice today. We're going to call him in 20 minutes
and talk about the Bengals while he's at a UC practice.
(19:34):
And then later on, we'll talk about the Bearcats. Scott
Satterfield talked today. Zach Taylor talked today as well. And
we'll talk with our sports legal expert attorney, Stuart W. Penrose.
Entire show preview is available on Twitter at Moe. Thanks
to Sharefax Credit Union. And our video stream is up
and running. You can watch the show. I got a
(19:57):
note yesterday from somebody who said that I shouldn't chew
on my Sharpie. I guess I got caught chewing my
Sharpie while I was talking to somebody. So these are
the sort of fun idiosyncrasies that you could take in
if you watch the stream on Twitter or on YouTube.
Look for The Mo Egger Show online. on that website.
We are way late, though. 25 after 3. This is
(20:20):
ESPN 1530 Cincinnati Sports Station.
Speaker 4 (20:23):
Cincinnati's ESPN 1530. Traffic.
Speaker 3 (20:28):
From the UC Health. Insanely late here. So I got
to get us back on time, I guess. Hey, anything
you might've missed on this show. If you want to
go back and listen to yesterday's broadcast, if you want
to go back and listen to anything we did last week,
we would go back and listen to yesterday's broadcast. You
could listen to somebody dealing with the, the tail end
of the world's worst summer cold. So that was fun.
(20:49):
I barely remember the show. Your, your, your guy was,
your guy was a little high on cold medicine yesterday.
Go listen to it. It's on the I heart radio app.
Thanks to a long neck sports grill. If you are
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Long Neck Sports Grill's got this deal for you, okay?
They'll give you a free draft kit. They'll give you
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(21:12):
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Sports Grill, great place to watch. Week one college football
this weekend. Wilder, Hebron, and Richwood. Richwood. Richwood, I said.
Long Neck's Sports Grill. Nobody told me I sounded like
I was high on cold medicine. I just know that
I was. Tony Pike in just a bit. Pretty damning
(21:38):
indictment against the Reds from one of their all-time best
coming up on ESPN, 1530 Cincinnati Sports Station.
Speaker 1 (21:46):
Talk.
Speaker 3 (21:47):
This is sports with soul, sweat, and swagger. Tony Pike
Cincy 360.
Speaker 4 (21:53):
Tomorrow at 12 noon on ESPN 1530. Cincinnati's ESPN 1530.
Speaker 3 (22:00):
Traffic. Sports headlines are a service of Kelsey Chevrolet, home
of Lifetime Powertrain. Protection and guaranteed. Credit approval from their
family to yours for LifeKelseyChev.com. Bengals today signed the following
five players to their practice squad. Are you ready? Stand by.
(22:22):
Josh Johnson is back. I, like many, became a huge
Josh Johnson fan this summer. He is back on the
Bengals practice squad. Tanner Hudson was cut by the Bengals yesterday.
He is back with the practice squad. A guy who
has played in 38 regular season games with the Bengals
over the past three years. Trick Wheezy Bridges, second year
(22:43):
player from the University of Florida, taken by the Cowboys
in the seventh round in 2025, played in 16 games
with a pair of starts last year, had one pick.
Blake Freeland, fourth year player from BYU, fourth rounder of
the Colts in 2023, played in 25 games with nine
starts for Indy during the 23 and 24 season, spent
(23:04):
all of last year on the reserved injured list, otherwise
known as IR. Due to a leg injury, Cincinnati also
signing defensive end Garmin Randolph, first-year player from Baylor. College
free agent signee of the Chargers in 2025 spent his
entire rookie season on the Chargers practice squad. Bengals practice
squad currently at its 16-player limit. Bengals inching closer to
(23:26):
the regular season opener a week from Sunday against the Bucs.
You'll hear it live. On ESPN 1530. Meanwhile, tonight, Reds
tried to bounce back after getting shut out last night.
Second of three with the Padres. Nicola Dolo and righty
Randy Vasquez on the hill. 640 tonight on 700 WLW.
Reds lost their 73rd game of the season last night,
(23:48):
which means they cannot win 90 games. The last time
the Reds won 90 games in a season, 2013. Your
starting lineup for tonight. Rodriguez in center. Ellie Dela Cruz
is DH-ing. We've got to spend some time on what
they're doing with Ellie Dela Cruz. Stewart plays first. Bledason
(24:08):
left field. Matt McClain plays shortstop. Jose Trevino catches.
Speaker 1 (24:13):
The Reds.
Speaker 3 (24:18):
It's that time of year. The Reds are playing at
second base. The newly recalled Juan Brito up. He's up
from Louisville. Also, Brandon Williamson activated from the 60-day injury list.
I had to scramble really quick because I didn't jot
down the Juan Brito news, and then I saw he's
in the starting lineup. I had to scramble to make
sure I had Juan's first name. Juan Brito. T.J. Friedel's
(24:40):
in center. Edwin Arroyo is playing third base tonight. Again,
640 first pitch. Reds are eight and a half games
out of the last wild card spot. Florence Yalls take
on Schaumburg tonight. Evander, FC Cincinnati midfielder Evander, named MLS
Player of the Month for July and August. His second
consecutive MLS Player of the Month award, he earned the
(25:01):
nod for May. Becomes the first player in Major League
Soccer since 2023 to earn back-to-back MLS Player of the
Month awards since Lucho Acosta did it.
Speaker 1 (25:13):
In that year.
Speaker 3 (25:13):
Also for FC Cincinnati, of course, in July and August.
Congrats to Evander. FC Cincinnati laid an egg against Nashville
on Saturday. We've talked a lot this week and last
week about Joey Votto. who was part of that NBC
broadcast on Sunday that earned such rave reviews.
Speaker 1 (25:36):
And I.
Speaker 3 (25:38):
Fully believe this, that if Joey Votto was like in
a booth where it's him and a play-by-play person, he
would very quickly ascend to being the top guy on
national television baseball broadcasts. The top guy is John Smoltz.
John Smoltz is the voice of the World Series and
the All-Star Game and big playoff games for Fox. Not
(25:59):
a big John Smoltz guy. I think he and Joe Davis, frankly,
sound too alike. But Joey Votto is instantly already better
than him. So Joey was obviously talking about his team.
He has been posting on social media about his team.
He did a Q & A with Mark Sheldon of Reds.com,
who does an awesome job. And this was at Wrigley
(26:21):
Field on Sunday afternoon. And Mark asked him, and I'm
not going to give away the entire thing, but Mark
asked him, you know, hey, how much have you enjoyed doing,
you know, broadcasting and TV? And he says, Joey says, quote,
I use MLB Network with the objective of staying up
to date with the game and then improving my communication style.
That combination is quite tough. I'm not motivated to watch
(26:43):
multiple games a night. I want to go to bed
at a reasonable hour. I've got stuff to do. More importantly,
the Reds haven't been good enough this year to tune into.
That's Joey Votto. The Reds haven't been good enough this
year to tune into. So it's been a bit frustrating
at times. I think if they had an intriguing team,
(27:06):
it would be a different story. And then Mark says,
no Reds, really? And Joey continues, quote, I've not been
watching the Reds because it hasn't been a strong year
for them. My responsibility with NBC is to be more
breadth than depth to make sure I could speak about everything.
(27:27):
The Reds haven't been good enough this year to tune into. Now,
there's two ways of looking at that. There's the assessment
by Joey Votto, and I guess you could argue it's
one thing if you and I say that. It's something
else entirely if one of your all-time greats says it. Also,
this is why he will be great at this. And
(27:50):
it's why I've always been a captive audience member whenever
Joey Votto speaks. Because you will get an honest answer
from him. It's not unlike Joey Burrow, Joey. It's not
unlike Joe Burrow, right? When Joe Burrow talks, you're going
to get an honest answer. And sometimes that's going to
(28:10):
rub people the wrong way. But I think one of
the reasons why Joey Votto is going to be great
at this, to whatever extent he wants to take this...
He's going to give you an honest answer, and sometimes
that honest answer might not be one that you like.
I would like to imagine that in the front office
of GABP over there at the ballpark, they're not exactly
(28:31):
doing cartwheels about one of the all-time faces of this
franchise saying, the team isn't good or interesting enough for
me to watch. Pretty damning indictment against the team. This, though,
is why Joey Votto is going to be great at this.
Because there's a lot of guys like this who would
have just said, well, you know, I got a lot
(28:52):
of stuff going on. I'm retired. I go to bed early.
I got a lot of other stuff to do. I've
got a lot of other teams to watch.
Speaker 2 (29:00):
Nuh-uh.
Speaker 3 (29:01):
Reds haven't been good enough this year for me to
tune into them. Joey Votto was just like a lot
of fans. This is what I think is going to
be one of the most interesting things about 2027. Understanding
that we're probably going to have a lockout that may
extend into the season. So the Reds this year, the
TV deal was different. Yes, you still get them if
(29:23):
you have AltaFiber or Spectrum, but now cord cutters could
buy the subscription, Reds TV. For like 99 bucks a year,
there's also a monthly payment plan where you could pay
month to month. In the past, your way of kind
of sticking it to the reds financially has been not
going to buy tickets i wonder how many folks bought
(29:46):
the plan this year have been sorely disappointed maybe aren't
watching anymore and next year are like yeah you know
what i'll do something else with my hundy By the way,
all the other subscription services are going up. I got
a notification today. My ESPN is going to go up.
I've heard Peacock is going up. I still steal somebody
else's Peacock password. Which, by the way, that's how I
(30:09):
watch Cradle of Coaches, which is outstanding. I think that's
going to be worth paying attention to whenever next year begins.
I do think we'll have baseball at some point. How
many people go, I don't know, dude. I paid $ 100
to watch the Reds last season. They weren't really in it.
Speaker 2 (30:25):
Like, eh.
Speaker 1 (30:25):
I don't know.
Speaker 3 (30:28):
But you got Joey Votto saying they're not good enough
for me to watch. Joey ain't alone. I can assure
you of that. And I can assure them of that.
Quarter to four, 513-749-1530 is our number. We have our
sports legal expert at 435. I think this is going
to be the first time in months we haven't talked
(30:48):
about college players suing for eligibility. Because frankly, there's just
more interesting stories. We'll get to them with attorney Stuart W. Penrose.
And what are the Reds doing with Eli De La Cruz?
That coming up in 20 minutes. But Tony Pike's next
on ESPN 1530 Cincinnati Sports Station.
Speaker 4 (31:07):
Cincinnati's ESPN 1530. Traffic.
Speaker 3 (31:12):
I'm not even going to say it. I'm not even
going to say it. Nine from four, this is ESPN 1530.
Tony Pike has been joining us every hour, every day
since late July. And I think we have... I think
the rest of this week to go. These are now
called season preview reports with Tony Pike. And he's with
(31:34):
us now.
Speaker 2 (31:35):
Hi, Tony. Hello, Mo.
Speaker 3 (31:38):
As you have examined very thoroughly, of course, the Bengals
practice squad. Has anything stood out?
Speaker 2 (31:46):
I don't think so. I thought it is value getting
Josh Johnson back. And I mean the value of off
the field for Joe Burrow because he's I just think
there's a wealth of knowledge there that can open doors
for Joe Burrow that he might not have had in
the past. And that's not a shot at a Jake
Browning or anybody else. But he's got guys in that
(32:08):
room that have done it for a long time. And
among anyone else on the practice squad, I think that
experience just does wonders for him.
Speaker 3 (32:17):
We went into training camp, I think, wondering if they
had done enough at three areas, three position groups. One,
swing tackle. And I think there are still legitimate concerns
about who that's going to be and how okay they're
going to be there. But we also wondered about linebacker
and the depth at corner. How much did camp ease
linebacker concerns for this team for you?
Speaker 2 (32:39):
Well, they eased it enough that they only carried four
of them. I think that speaks volumes. with how confident
they feel. They kept four linebackers, and all four were deserving.
Oren Burks had a good camp. Swayze Bozeman earned his
spot on the team, and we talked multiple days about
Demetrius Knight and Barrett Carter, so they earned their spots. Now,
(33:02):
Is four the number?
Speaker 1 (33:03):
Is five the number?
Speaker 2 (33:04):
I think you just start cutting hairs, and I think
the way they are going to use a Boye, Moffay,
and Cassius Howe, you could count them at times as linebackers,
but yeah, I'm with you. O-line is still a little
bit of a question. I'm good with linebacker. I'm good
in the secondary as well.
Speaker 3 (33:19):
What's going to go there next? How much did camp
ease any concerns we may have had about depth, specifically
a corner?
Speaker 2 (33:27):
A lot, and more so than anything because of Takario Davis.
You never want to see a guy not practice. And
Dax Hill probably needed those reps. And I'm interested to
see with Dax Hill if there's any rough there. I
don't think you could pick a player that made a
bigger jump from the first week of camp to the
(33:49):
end of camp than what we saw from Takario Davis.
And then he did it in a game. He's so long.
Speaker 1 (33:56):
He's smooth.
Speaker 2 (33:57):
He can make up for errors. I just think that
he's going to be a contributing factor for this team,
and I think he's easily helped the depth at that side.
Speaker 3 (34:07):
Now, most of these reports, you've been at a Bengals
training camp practice, or you've been at a Bengals training
camp practice, and it's at the end of your day.
But right now, you're at Nippert Stadium watching the Bearcats.
Speaker 1 (34:21):
Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (34:22):
I'm looking at these banners that Austin had a problem with.
They got this new thing, Mo, where they run out
onto the field under like a tunnel.
Speaker 3 (34:28):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (34:29):
Where I'm guessing like fans can run out and sit.
What a cool way to watch a football game that
would be. But all that stuff is cool, and now
watching the Bearcats get into some 11-on-11 work down here.
Speaker 3 (34:39):
All right, so now you're back with me at 445.
These are typically Bengals training camp or season preview reports.
Since you are at UC's practice as we speak, when
we do the hit at 445, can we talk some
UC football?
Speaker 1 (34:54):
I look forward to it. You and me both.
Speaker 3 (34:56):
Tony, thank you very much. Thanks, Mo. Tony will join
us at 445 for the latest on the Bearcats as
they go through game week prep for Boston College on Saturday.
Of course, Tony on the call with Dan Hoard and
me doing pre- and post-game duties, of course, live on
(35:18):
102.7 WEBN on Saturday. Looking forward to that. The Bearcats,
seven and a half point favorites over BC. That is
a 330 kick airtime.
Speaker 1 (35:28):
At 2.30.
Speaker 3 (35:28):
It will be fun to talk some UC football with Tony.
I went down to UC today, interviewed JC French, UC's
new starting quarterback, and Nate Woody, UC's new defensive coordinator.
You'll hear both of those conversations on the pregame show
on Saturday afternoon, which of course you'll be listening to
if you're a Bearcat fan while you're tailgating. I know
(35:50):
there's some people who tailgate that want to listen to music.
Real ones listen to the pregame show. So the Reds
lose last night, which big deal. Who cares? They're out
of it. But Ellie De La Cruz played. Ellie De
La Cruz played less than 24 hours after being removed
from a game with a quad issue. He's back in
(36:14):
the starting lineup tonight. Terry Francona. Terry Francona acknowledges that
Ellie De La Cruz is not 100%. I have a very,
very simple question I will ask next on ESPN 1530
Cincinnati Sports Station.
All right.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
What's up?
Speaker 3 (00:01):
Mo Egger, ESPN 1530. Thank you so much for listening.
I hope you're having an unbelievable Tuesday afternoon and you're
staying cool. They just canceled my daughter's soccer practice, so
no heat exhaustion for her and her teammates. Uh, nonetheless,
we have a lot of ground to cover today. Paul
Daner Jr. is not with us in studio because, well,
(00:22):
the Bengals are practicing right now. Zach Taylor talked a
little while ago. We'll have that, uh, some of that
for you a little bit later on. But, uh, so he's,
he's down at the stadium, but he's, but he's with
us and, uh, he's here now. And you could watch
his talk on Twitter and YouTube. Paul Daner Jr. from
The Athletic and, uh, The Growler Podcast, of course. And
there he is looking professional in the interview room down
(00:43):
there at Paycourse Stadium. How are we doing?
Speaker 1 (00:46):
Doing great, Mo. What's going on?
Speaker 3 (00:48):
I wish you were here, but nonetheless, we still have
a lot to discuss. It's been busy.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
Well, I wanted to discuss something with you. It's funny because,
you know, I went to Moeller High School, right?
Speaker 3 (01:00):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
And I thought this was really weird, but Deuce McBride's
people reached out to me. And they were like, hey,
would you like us to just... Deuce is in town.
He has the Larry O'Brien trophy. We'll come meet you.
He's actually right here. The trophy's right here.
Speaker 3 (01:17):
Really?
Speaker 1 (01:18):
My camera just won't move. Oh. I can't quite move
it over there to show you.
Speaker 3 (01:22):
I got you.
Speaker 1 (01:23):
Okay. They said they'd bring it to me wherever I
was so I could see it. They thought I might
have interest since, you know, I went to Moeller and
I talked about the Knicks with you before.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
Yeah. So you and Deuce.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
It was really, really cool of them, though. So I
wanted to thank them.
Speaker 3 (01:36):
Yeah. Well, just tell Deuce hi for me. Tell him hello. Yeah. And, uh, it's, it's,
it's nice. It's nice that he was able to spend
some time back in Cincinnati with, uh, the trophy. And
I'm thrilled that you got a chance to see it. Um,
I guess molar takes care of molar here. So if you're,
you know, uh, a public school kid from Northern Kentucky, I,
(01:57):
I guess maybe molar doesn't, uh, unless they need something,
of course. Now, God knows what debt you're going to
be asked to pay, how many bake sales and clam
bakes and, uh, fundraisers and stags are going to be
asked to promote, but, uh, I just, from my perspective,
the spigot has maybe been cut off a little bit,
but I'm glad they've taken care of you.
Speaker 1 (02:16):
They have. I just didn't know if you'd have any
interest being the Knicks fan that you are. I just
thought it was a really nice gesture. It was very nice.
I'm glad.
Speaker 3 (02:24):
I'm glad you got a chance to spend some time
with the Larry O'Brien trophy. Above and beyond all that,
you've been busy. What has stood out the most to
you about the cut down to 53 and the transactions
since Sunday at 6 p.m.
Speaker 1 (02:44):
I mean, it's kind of similar to some of the
things that we talked about in the run-up in that
They're just searching at swing tackle. Like, they're just– it's just–
there's just got to be somebody, right? I guess Blake
Freeland is here now who is on the practice squad.
He played– he started nine games, which is actually an
(03:05):
upgrade from guys that have never started a game in
the NFL. And there's just a big collection of them
behind Orlando Brown and Amarius Mims right now. The hunt of, like,
is there anyone here that we think we could feel
comfortable with on opening day has stood out. You have
three of them now on the 53-plus break, Blake Freeland.
(03:27):
This competition is going to continue. My take now, like
my latest ruminating spicy take, is they would be more
hurt today. if Amarius Mims got hurt than if Jamar
Chase got hurt. Oh, yeah.
Speaker 3 (03:43):
Yeah, I agree.
Speaker 1 (03:44):
The fall off. Yeah. I mean, the absolute scarcity of
what would have to happen if you're already like... Okay, Orlando,
all right, we're good, but there's still a caution in
that one. If you now had to worry about that
and have somebody with little to no experience on the
other side, your offense that you spend so much time
(04:04):
on can be non-functional if you're having to help out
both sides. Whereas if you play without Jamar, it's a
massive loss, but you're going to two tight ends with–
Eric Hall and either Kosicki or Sample. You've got T still.
You've got Yoshi and Dante Myers. There's a lot of
other directions you can go. it feels like things crumble
(04:27):
quickly if you have an injury there right now. And
maybe they feel good and that something will emerge. But,
you know, there's just this Miles Hinton, Blake Freeland, Javon Foster,
come on down. Anybody is, it's concerning where that stands
right now.
Speaker 3 (04:45):
It's concerning, but I guess for me, and look, I
think they have squashed a lot of the concerns a
lot of us had about what they've done at linebacker.
I think they've squashed, And you wrote about this, some
of the concerns that we had about cornerback depth. And
I want to talk about Takario Davis here in a bit.
But I think the thing about what's happening at swing
tackle is it's frustrating and it's concerning, but it's not
(05:06):
that surprising. No. No.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
I mean, there were three-ish spots that we came into
camp with, and this was one of them. The other
two worked themselves out, I think, where you feel okay. Linebackers, TBD,
but they mainly worked themselves out, and this one didn't.
And that's the chance you take if you're going to
have three or four positions that look like that. One
(05:29):
of them is probably not going to pan out, and
so they're having to figure something out on the fly.
You know, Personally, I think you'd have liked to have
seen some type of a more aggressive move out there,
but they're hard to come by. The tackle market was
rough to try to go find something in, to acquire
anything in. I mean, think about... I don't know exactly.
(05:49):
I talked to our people in Philadelphia about Hinton and
Johnson and all those guys over the last week. I
think it says something that they were willing to give
up on two developmental prospects to just hang on to
Fred Johnson because, like, you know what? that's better than
just betting on development. Even though you'd love to see
(06:10):
what it looks like maybe down the line, guys they drafted,
it's just like, let's hang on to what we know
right now because it's scary out there. And I think
that says something about where the whole league is kind
of at in that position. And the Bengals aren't alone
in this. About every coach in the league hates their
offensive tackle probably right now. this one just feels considering
all that feels right around it. It sticks out a
(06:31):
little more like a sore thumb.
Speaker 3 (06:33):
Well, and it's also the team that quote can't protect
its quarterback.
Speaker 2 (06:37):
Right.
Speaker 3 (06:37):
And so I think that, that, that feels a little bit, um,
any idea how serious the injury is to Brian Parker?
Speaker 2 (06:45):
No.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
Um, it's something we probably should ask more about today. I, I,
I don't, I don't know. Those two kind of popped up, uh,
out of nowhere, the Parker thing, especially cause he played
in the whole game and, and, you know, we haven't
seen anybody since then. They kind of went dark until
today with the locker room will be open in a
little bit. I don't know if he'll be in there.
We'll get more word from the team or whatever, but don't,
(07:08):
don't have specifics on, on how serious that is right now,
but stinks. He had a good camp and I think
they really counting on him to be a guy at guard.
And it kind of, I mean, I think they were
going to do it anyway, but it kind of really
forces them to put Jalen Rivers back full-time into that
guard spot. But don't worry, Miles Hinton's here, so it's
(07:31):
all working itself out.
Speaker 3 (07:33):
Paul Daner Jr. from The Athletic and The Growler Podcast.
In your years on the beat, is Dante Myers, does
he represent the best training camp story that you've covered?
Speaker 1 (07:46):
Yeah. I mean, I... I got to tell you, you
can try to compare them over the years. I don't
think I've ever seen anybody come from this far off
to not just make it, but to end up a
part where you're sitting here today like, he's got a role, right?
Like he has a role and he brings you something
(08:10):
in the opener. Whereas last year at this time, like
he was preparing to play his first games in the CFL.
They didn't know if he's going to be anything for
the Saskatchewan rough riders, that he was some, some guy
who paid for the tryout and to be a guy
that the NFL already was like, yeah, this is not
(08:31):
an NFL player years ago. He barely got into one
rookie weekend camp. Guys don't rise up from that and
suddenly get into the league. It just doesn't happen. You
barely see anybody go from the CFL and actually play
in the league. Which, by the way, does the CFL
(08:52):
have any tackles? Have we looked at the Saskatchewan Rough
Riders tackle situation today? Because maybe that's where you go.
I just think that I've never seen somebody come from
so far out and win everyone over. Win over, I mean,
(09:14):
the quarterbacks telling urban legend stories about you. Every coach
is just heaping praise. You did everything the right way.
You showed up every day. You made plays at every
possible spot. And now you're like, I think they got
a real guy here. I've never seen anything like it.
Speaker 3 (09:33):
What would you put the over-under on Dante Myers' touches
being this year?
Speaker 1 (09:39):
You know, we said some of these things about Tinsley,
and he felt like a crazy story last year. Yeah, yes.
And he got eight catches. But he had a cut
touchdown in week two. Look, there's probably going to be
games where they're without Jamar or T, or you know,
(09:59):
they hope not both. And he's going to play. And
if it goes like it's gone to this point, you know,
when I talk to his quarterback in Saskatchewan, Um, Trevor Harris,
who's like a legend in the CFL for the story
I wrote about him. He was like, you think Dante
Myers is good today. Wait till you see how much
(10:20):
better he is in week five, six, seven. He's like,
because he's so smart. He's so great at asking the
right questions. evolving, understanding how to get one step better
and see things differently, and you start getting chemistry with
working with these guys. What blew me away last year
was how much better my connection got with him as
(10:42):
the season kept going on, despite the success that we'd
had early on. It's going to get better. So I guess...
who's to count that out at this point that he
can get in there and find a role and all
of a sudden have five for 70 in his first
game where he has some kind of a role and just,
you can't get them off the field. I think he
ends up in double digits, but I don't know. That's
(11:05):
largely injury dependent. I mean, he's not going to get
many catches if we have a year like last year
where T and Jamar are healthy almost every game, but
if you live under an assumption that that's not necessarily
guaranteed at all, I think he'll go in there and
play well when it's time.
Speaker 3 (11:19):
Are you ready for some high-end analysis?
Speaker 1 (11:23):
I love high-end analysis.
Speaker 3 (11:24):
I think Takario Davis might be a dude.
Speaker 1 (11:27):
Yeah, I do too. I felt like when you watched
his first preseason game, he kind of, oh, okay, you saw,
I love the physicality there. Yeah. Like, and then when
he had the practice last week where he was playing
great against T and then he kept going. And the
(11:48):
next thing, you know, I mean, which play did you
like the best from his game the other day? Did
you like the PBU, the interception of the TFL?
Speaker 3 (11:57):
Yeah. I mean, the TFL, the TFL.
Speaker 1 (12:00):
I thought TFL was great.
Speaker 3 (12:01):
Yeah. Zach Taylor.
Speaker 1 (12:02):
I asked, um, about, um, you know, his camp, basically.
And he's like, you know, I just felt like... you
get the comfort of a full stretch of one series.
Even he really hadn't even had that until Philadelphia where
he just kind of been in there. And then it's
(12:22):
four plays and you're out because that's the nature of practice.
A lot of times it's a little bit choppier, but
like when you actually get into playing 10 plays and
getting a rhythm, you saw him finding his rhythm and
thought that was a big deal. I think he's CB
three right now. I think you're, I'm not saying you're
playing them over anybody, but the confidence that they have,
in him to come in if needed has to be
(12:45):
really high. I just think what he hit a huge
spike over these last really two weeks, week and a
half where you started to see it come together. And that's,
that's what, you know, draft picks that end up having
consequential rookie seasons typically look like, like, You can be
whatever you want, shaky or whatever early on, but in
the second half of camp, you start to see the
(13:06):
spike happen, and then those are guys that are given
a chance in week four, seven, ten, whatever.
Speaker 3 (13:13):
When did the Bengals name their captains?
Speaker 1 (13:18):
It's usually next week. I guess maybe Monday is probably
about when it's going to be.
Speaker 3 (13:22):
The Los Angeles Rams named their captains yesterday. They have
11 of them. 11 of them. Now, what, 40, 46
guys dress for game day, right? I assume all 11
captains will be dressing. That means basically one quarter of
the team is a captain. How would you feel if
you're a player on the L.A. Rams and you've been
(13:42):
around for a few years and you weren't named a captain?
Speaker 1 (13:47):
You know how I'd feel like. it's cool. Aaron Donald's here.
I don't really care who's the captain. I'm a captain.
I'm going to be a champ. Like it's, it's all good.
Can I just go shake Aaron Donald's hand and not
care about anything?
Speaker 3 (13:59):
You know, I was listening, I was listening to ESPN
radio yesterday morning and they were talking about the teams
that are the biggest villains in sports and the Rams
came up and I don't really view them that way.
I view them as more of a corporate America type team.
Cause you know, in corporate America, like if you look
at the the organizational flow chart of a lot of places.
And you see this in intercollegiate athletics as well, where
everybody's a, an athletic director. And then in corporate America,
(14:22):
everybody's a vice president of something. That's what the Rams are.
They have 11, 11 captains. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (14:29):
How many, how many like groomsmen did you have?
Speaker 3 (14:33):
Well, I got, well, see, I've been married twice. So
the first one, five. And then the second one, the
wedding itself was so small and sort of, I don't
want to say slapped together pretty quickly, but it was,
we didn't have any. We just, we had somebody who
got ordained for 10 bucks and then we all went
out drinking. There really wasn't a wedding itself. But my
(14:56):
first go around five.
Speaker 1 (14:58):
But to me, like, it's kind of like that. Like,
at a certain point, you got to be like, are
all these people my friends? Yeah. You know, like, how far?
There's got to be some point. I did the, like,
I'm just, I got two and everybody else will be
involved in, like, an inner circle. You can't have too many.
It feels like, like, this is just, there's just too
many people here. I can't even take the picture.
Speaker 3 (15:18):
You know, I see now I wish you were here
for the next two hours and 40 minutes, because this
is one of my, this is one of the things
I think about often in life. When I see these
wedding parties where there's like 13 groups, men, 13, like,
I don't know that you can be friends on the
same level with all of them. And then what if
you're a guy number 14 and you're on the outside
looking in, I've, these are the things that I think about,
(15:39):
but the 11 captains. So see if the Bengals will
have 12.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
You know what you want to do? You want to
play a game if you have a buddy who has
like one of these wedding parties with 10, 12 groomsmen
or whatever. Do a checkup five years later on the
state of all those friendships. Exactly. Okay, let's see how
everybody's hanging on and how connected that still is after
that many people. It's just, we can't have that many friends.
(16:08):
Grown adults with kids and lives, you don't have time
for that many friends.
Speaker 3 (16:11):
No, I don't even know if I know that many people. So,
I mean, much less be friends. Let's be honest.
Speaker 1 (16:17):
All right.
Speaker 3 (16:18):
Well, enjoy the day with Deuce and the Larry O'Brien trophy. Yeah.
I know Deuce is a big Bengals fan, so I'm
sure he's making his way around the stadium and he's
got the trophy there. I'm glad you're getting a chance
to spend some time with it. It's cool.
Speaker 1 (16:33):
I'm sure they'll be around to the iHeart Studios soon, though.
They're probably making their way. I mean, the good news
is the school is so far.
Speaker 3 (16:39):
Yeah. It's quite a hike. You know, a few years ago,
remember FC Cincinnati won the Supporter Shield? And they made
the rounds to like all the TV stations. And then
like their radio partner, they were like, oh yeah. And
so I took a, I made my own supporter shield
with just like a plastic plate. And then they got
(17:01):
mad at me and ended up bringing the supporter shield
up and they wouldn't let me eat off of it.
I can go on Etsy and buy a replica Larry
O'Brien trophy and I'm considering doing it. And then we'll
see how I can further. What I've enjoyed about this
Mueller high school thing is I've had folks at that
school reach out to me and say, and this is
to me, when people say this to me, it's my
(17:23):
favorite thing. We don't know if you're being serious. And
I just go, you know, I don't know.
Speaker 1 (17:27):
I don't know. I don't either.
Speaker 3 (17:32):
That's, I certainly have achieved something then.
Speaker 1 (17:35):
All right. Well, we'll get you the replica and the
cardboard cut out of deuce and put it in the
corner and it can be there with you always.
Speaker 3 (17:43):
It'd be fantastic. All right. Thank you as always. Paul
Daner Jr. covering the Bengals for the Athletic and the
Growler podcast. Follow on Twitter at Paul Daner Jr. I
don't want to extend the bid any further than it's
(18:05):
gone because I had a lot of fun with this
on Friday night, but for those who are uninitiated, You know,
me being a big Knicks fan, we had Deuce McBride
on the show the day after the championship parade. Deuce
went to Moeller. And we were thrilled that Deuce joined us.
Thrilled and grateful and... he was accommodating. And, and, and I,
(18:25):
I mean that, and I, he, I'm a huge fan
of his, but on Friday night, I look at social
media and there's, there's Deuce at Moeller. He wasn't at Moeller.
The game was at Mount St. Joe and me living
on the West side. It was like 10 minutes from
my house. There's Deuce and the trophy and they're, they're
tagging Lance and Joe Dannemann and Bill Cunningham. And it's like, yeah, not,
not the one Knicks fan in town. So So we've
(18:49):
taken our frustrations with that out on Moeller. Deuce did
promise us an in-studio trophy visit, for what it's worth. And,
you know, the folks at Moeller had a chance to
win themselves into my good graces, and they didn't. And
so we're not going to talk about that anymore. It's
24 minutes after 3 o'clock. I have to ask a
(19:12):
couple of questions about Elie Delacruz and Tito Francona. And
the people that Tito works for, we're going to get
to that coming up a little bit later on. Plus,
did you read the Q & A that Mark Sheldon
did with Joey Votto? Tony Pike is at a football
practice today. We're going to call him in 20 minutes
and talk about the Bengals while he's at a UC practice.
(19:34):
And then later on, we'll talk about the Bearcats. Scott
Satterfield talked today. Zach Taylor talked today as well. And
we'll talk with our sports legal expert attorney, Stuart W. Penrose.
Entire show preview is available on Twitter at Moe. Thanks
to Sharefax Credit Union. And our video stream is up
and running. You can watch the show. I got a
(19:57):
note yesterday from somebody who said that I shouldn't chew
on my Sharpie. I guess I got caught chewing my
Sharpie while I was talking to somebody. So these are
the sort of fun idiosyncrasies that you could take in
if you watch the stream on Twitter or on YouTube.
Look for The Mo Egger Show online. on that website.
We are way late, though. 25 after 3. This is
(20:20):
ESPN 1530 Cincinnati Sports Station.
Speaker 4 (20:23):
Cincinnati's ESPN 1530. Traffic.
Speaker 3 (20:28):
From the UC Health. Insanely late here. So I got
to get us back on time, I guess. Hey, anything
you might've missed on this show. If you want to
go back and listen to yesterday's broadcast, if you want
to go back and listen to anything we did last week,
we would go back and listen to yesterday's broadcast. You
could listen to somebody dealing with the, the tail end
of the world's worst summer cold. So that was fun.
(20:49):
I barely remember the show. Your, your, your guy was,
your guy was a little high on cold medicine yesterday.
Go listen to it. It's on the I heart radio app.
Thanks to a long neck sports grill. If you are
still looking for a place, to host your fantasy football draft.
Long Neck Sports Grill's got this deal for you, okay?
They'll give you a free draft kit. They'll give you
up to $ 100 in coupons, $ 9 Bud Light and Bush
(21:12):
Light drafts, wing specials. You can't beat it. Long Neck
Sports Grill, great place to watch. Week one college football
this weekend. Wilder, Hebron, and Richwood. Richwood. Richwood, I said.
Long Neck's Sports Grill. Nobody told me I sounded like
I was high on cold medicine. I just know that
I was. Tony Pike in just a bit. Pretty damning
(21:38):
indictment against the Reds from one of their all-time best
coming up on ESPN, 1530 Cincinnati Sports Station.
Speaker 1 (21:46):
Talk.
Speaker 3 (21:47):
This is sports with soul, sweat, and swagger. Tony Pike
Cincy 360.
Speaker 4 (21:53):
Tomorrow at 12 noon on ESPN 1530. Cincinnati's ESPN 1530.
Speaker 3 (22:00):
Traffic. Sports headlines are a service of Kelsey Chevrolet, home
of Lifetime Powertrain. Protection and guaranteed. Credit approval from their
family to yours for LifeKelseyChev.com. Bengals today signed the following
five players to their practice squad. Are you ready? Stand by.
(22:22):
Josh Johnson is back. I, like many, became a huge
Josh Johnson fan this summer. He is back on the
Bengals practice squad. Tanner Hudson was cut by the Bengals yesterday.
He is back with the practice squad. A guy who
has played in 38 regular season games with the Bengals
over the past three years. Trick Wheezy Bridges, second year
(22:43):
player from the University of Florida, taken by the Cowboys
in the seventh round in 2025, played in 16 games
with a pair of starts last year, had one pick.
Blake Freeland, fourth year player from BYU, fourth rounder of
the Colts in 2023, played in 25 games with nine
starts for Indy during the 23 and 24 season, spent
(23:04):
all of last year on the reserved injured list, otherwise
known as IR. Due to a leg injury, Cincinnati also
signing defensive end Garmin Randolph, first-year player from Baylor. College
free agent signee of the Chargers in 2025 spent his
entire rookie season on the Chargers practice squad. Bengals practice
squad currently at its 16-player limit. Bengals inching closer to
(23:26):
the regular season opener a week from Sunday against the Bucs.
You'll hear it live. On ESPN 1530. Meanwhile, tonight, Reds
tried to bounce back after getting shut out last night.
Second of three with the Padres. Nicola Dolo and righty
Randy Vasquez on the hill. 640 tonight on 700 WLW.
Reds lost their 73rd game of the season last night,
(23:48):
which means they cannot win 90 games. The last time
the Reds won 90 games in a season, 2013. Your
starting lineup for tonight. Rodriguez in center. Ellie Dela Cruz
is DH-ing. We've got to spend some time on what
they're doing with Ellie Dela Cruz. Stewart plays first. Bledason
(24:08):
left field. Matt McClain plays shortstop. Jose Trevino catches.
Speaker 1 (24:13):
The Reds.
Speaker 3 (24:18):
It's that time of year. The Reds are playing at
second base. The newly recalled Juan Brito up. He's up
from Louisville. Also, Brandon Williamson activated from the 60-day injury list.
I had to scramble really quick because I didn't jot
down the Juan Brito news, and then I saw he's
in the starting lineup. I had to scramble to make
sure I had Juan's first name. Juan Brito. T.J. Friedel's
(24:40):
in center. Edwin Arroyo is playing third base tonight. Again,
640 first pitch. Reds are eight and a half games
out of the last wild card spot. Florence Yalls take
on Schaumburg tonight. Evander, FC Cincinnati midfielder Evander, named MLS
Player of the Month for July and August. His second
consecutive MLS Player of the Month award, he earned the
(25:01):
nod for May. Becomes the first player in Major League
Soccer since 2023 to earn back-to-back MLS Player of the
Month awards since Lucho Acosta did it.
Speaker 1 (25:13):
In that year.
Speaker 3 (25:13):
Also for FC Cincinnati, of course, in July and August.
Congrats to Evander. FC Cincinnati laid an egg against Nashville
on Saturday. We've talked a lot this week and last
week about Joey Votto. who was part of that NBC
broadcast on Sunday that earned such rave reviews.
Speaker 1 (25:36):
And I.
Speaker 3 (25:38):
Fully believe this, that if Joey Votto was like in
a booth where it's him and a play-by-play person, he
would very quickly ascend to being the top guy on
national television baseball broadcasts. The top guy is John Smoltz.
John Smoltz is the voice of the World Series and
the All-Star Game and big playoff games for Fox. Not
(25:59):
a big John Smoltz guy. I think he and Joe Davis, frankly,
sound too alike. But Joey Votto is instantly already better
than him. So Joey was obviously talking about his team.
He has been posting on social media about his team.
He did a Q & A with Mark Sheldon of Reds.com,
who does an awesome job. And this was at Wrigley
(26:21):
Field on Sunday afternoon. And Mark asked him, and I'm
not going to give away the entire thing, but Mark
asked him, you know, hey, how much have you enjoyed doing,
you know, broadcasting and TV? And he says, Joey says, quote,
I use MLB Network with the objective of staying up
to date with the game and then improving my communication style.
That combination is quite tough. I'm not motivated to watch
(26:43):
multiple games a night. I want to go to bed
at a reasonable hour. I've got stuff to do. More importantly,
the Reds haven't been good enough this year to tune into.
That's Joey Votto. The Reds haven't been good enough this
year to tune into. So it's been a bit frustrating
at times. I think if they had an intriguing team,
(27:06):
it would be a different story. And then Mark says,
no Reds, really? And Joey continues, quote, I've not been
watching the Reds because it hasn't been a strong year
for them. My responsibility with NBC is to be more
breadth than depth to make sure I could speak about everything.
(27:27):
The Reds haven't been good enough this year to tune into. Now,
there's two ways of looking at that. There's the assessment
by Joey Votto, and I guess you could argue it's
one thing if you and I say that. It's something
else entirely if one of your all-time greats says it. Also,
this is why he will be great at this. And
(27:50):
it's why I've always been a captive audience member whenever
Joey Votto speaks. Because you will get an honest answer
from him. It's not unlike Joey Burrow, Joey. It's not
unlike Joe Burrow, right? When Joe Burrow talks, you're going
to get an honest answer. And sometimes that's going to
(28:10):
rub people the wrong way. But I think one of
the reasons why Joey Votto is going to be great
at this, to whatever extent he wants to take this...
He's going to give you an honest answer, and sometimes
that honest answer might not be one that you like.
I would like to imagine that in the front office
of GABP over there at the ballpark, they're not exactly
(28:31):
doing cartwheels about one of the all-time faces of this
franchise saying, the team isn't good or interesting enough for
me to watch. Pretty damning indictment against the team. This, though,
is why Joey Votto is going to be great at this.
Because there's a lot of guys like this who would
have just said, well, you know, I got a lot
(28:52):
of stuff going on. I'm retired. I go to bed early.
I got a lot of other stuff to do. I've
got a lot of other teams to watch.
Speaker 2 (29:00):
Nuh-uh.
Speaker 3 (29:01):
Reds haven't been good enough this year for me to
tune into them. Joey Votto was just like a lot
of fans. This is what I think is going to
be one of the most interesting things about 2027. Understanding
that we're probably going to have a lockout that may
extend into the season. So the Reds this year, the
TV deal was different. Yes, you still get them if
(29:23):
you have AltaFiber or Spectrum, but now cord cutters could
buy the subscription, Reds TV. For like 99 bucks a year,
there's also a monthly payment plan where you could pay
month to month. In the past, your way of kind
of sticking it to the reds financially has been not
going to buy tickets i wonder how many folks bought
(29:46):
the plan this year have been sorely disappointed maybe aren't
watching anymore and next year are like yeah you know
what i'll do something else with my hundy By the way,
all the other subscription services are going up. I got
a notification today. My ESPN is going to go up.
I've heard Peacock is going up. I still steal somebody
else's Peacock password. Which, by the way, that's how I
(30:09):
watch Cradle of Coaches, which is outstanding. I think that's
going to be worth paying attention to whenever next year begins.
I do think we'll have baseball at some point. How
many people go, I don't know, dude. I paid $ 100
to watch the Reds last season. They weren't really in it.
Speaker 2 (30:25):
Like, eh.
Speaker 1 (30:25):
I don't know.
Speaker 3 (30:28):
But you got Joey Votto saying they're not good enough
for me to watch. Joey ain't alone. I can assure
you of that. And I can assure them of that.
Quarter to four, 513-749-1530 is our number. We have our
sports legal expert at 435. I think this is going
to be the first time in months we haven't talked
(30:48):
about college players suing for eligibility. Because frankly, there's just
more interesting stories. We'll get to them with attorney Stuart W. Penrose.
And what are the Reds doing with Eli De La Cruz?
That coming up in 20 minutes. But Tony Pike's next
on ESPN 1530 Cincinnati Sports Station.
Speaker 4 (31:07):
Cincinnati's ESPN 1530. Traffic.
Speaker 3 (31:12):
I'm not even going to say it. I'm not even
going to say it. Nine from four, this is ESPN 1530.
Tony Pike has been joining us every hour, every day
since late July. And I think we have... I think
the rest of this week to go. These are now
called season preview reports with Tony Pike. And he's with
(31:34):
us now.
Speaker 2 (31:35):
Hi, Tony. Hello, Mo.
Speaker 3 (31:38):
As you have examined very thoroughly, of course, the Bengals
practice squad. Has anything stood out?
Speaker 2 (31:46):
I don't think so. I thought it is value getting
Josh Johnson back. And I mean the value of off
the field for Joe Burrow because he's I just think
there's a wealth of knowledge there that can open doors
for Joe Burrow that he might not have had in
the past. And that's not a shot at a Jake
Browning or anybody else. But he's got guys in that
(32:08):
room that have done it for a long time. And
among anyone else on the practice squad, I think that
experience just does wonders for him.
Speaker 3 (32:17):
We went into training camp, I think, wondering if they
had done enough at three areas, three position groups. One,
swing tackle. And I think there are still legitimate concerns
about who that's going to be and how okay they're
going to be there. But we also wondered about linebacker
and the depth at corner. How much did camp ease
linebacker concerns for this team for you?
Speaker 2 (32:39):
Well, they eased it enough that they only carried four
of them. I think that speaks volumes. with how confident
they feel. They kept four linebackers, and all four were deserving.
Oren Burks had a good camp. Swayze Bozeman earned his
spot on the team, and we talked multiple days about
Demetrius Knight and Barrett Carter, so they earned their spots. Now,
(33:02):
Is four the number?
Speaker 1 (33:03):
Is five the number?
Speaker 2 (33:04):
I think you just start cutting hairs, and I think
the way they are going to use a Boye, Moffay,
and Cassius Howe, you could count them at times as linebackers,
but yeah, I'm with you. O-line is still a little
bit of a question. I'm good with linebacker. I'm good
in the secondary as well.
Speaker 3 (33:19):
What's going to go there next? How much did camp
ease any concerns we may have had about depth, specifically
a corner?
Speaker 2 (33:27):
A lot, and more so than anything because of Takario Davis.
You never want to see a guy not practice. And
Dax Hill probably needed those reps. And I'm interested to
see with Dax Hill if there's any rough there. I
don't think you could pick a player that made a
bigger jump from the first week of camp to the
(33:49):
end of camp than what we saw from Takario Davis.
And then he did it in a game. He's so long.
Speaker 1 (33:56):
He's smooth.
Speaker 2 (33:57):
He can make up for errors. I just think that
he's going to be a contributing factor for this team,
and I think he's easily helped the depth at that side.
Speaker 3 (34:07):
Now, most of these reports, you've been at a Bengals
training camp practice, or you've been at a Bengals training
camp practice, and it's at the end of your day.
But right now, you're at Nippert Stadium watching the Bearcats.
Speaker 1 (34:21):
Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (34:22):
I'm looking at these banners that Austin had a problem with.
They got this new thing, Mo, where they run out
onto the field under like a tunnel.
Speaker 3 (34:28):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (34:29):
Where I'm guessing like fans can run out and sit.
What a cool way to watch a football game that
would be. But all that stuff is cool, and now
watching the Bearcats get into some 11-on-11 work down here.
Speaker 3 (34:39):
All right, so now you're back with me at 445.
These are typically Bengals training camp or season preview reports.
Since you are at UC's practice as we speak, when
we do the hit at 445, can we talk some
UC football?
Speaker 1 (34:54):
I look forward to it. You and me both.
Speaker 3 (34:56):
Tony, thank you very much. Thanks, Mo. Tony will join
us at 445 for the latest on the Bearcats as
they go through game week prep for Boston College on Saturday.
Of course, Tony on the call with Dan Hoard and
me doing pre- and post-game duties, of course, live on
(35:18):
102.7 WEBN on Saturday. Looking forward to that. The Bearcats,
seven and a half point favorites over BC. That is
a 330 kick airtime.
Speaker 1 (35:28):
At 2.30.
Speaker 3 (35:28):
It will be fun to talk some UC football with Tony.
I went down to UC today, interviewed JC French, UC's
new starting quarterback, and Nate Woody, UC's new defensive coordinator.
You'll hear both of those conversations on the pregame show
on Saturday afternoon, which of course you'll be listening to
if you're a Bearcat fan while you're tailgating. I know
(35:50):
there's some people who tailgate that want to listen to music.
Real ones listen to the pregame show. So the Reds
lose last night, which big deal. Who cares? They're out
of it. But Ellie De La Cruz played. Ellie De
La Cruz played less than 24 hours after being removed
from a game with a quad issue. He's back in
(36:14):
the starting lineup tonight. Terry Francona. Terry Francona acknowledges that
Ellie De La Cruz is not 100%. I have a very,
very simple question I will ask next on ESPN 1530
Cincinnati Sports Station.
Mo Egger News
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