Cincy 360 w/ Tony Pike & Austin Elmore -- 4/26/24

Tony and Austin breakdown the NFL Draft, talk to Charlie Goldsmith and Tommy G, plus Rick Ucchino stops by with LA Knight. All that and more on ESPN 1530!

Episode Transcript

(00:01):
This is Skyline Chile. Sincey threesixty about Cincinnati from Cincinnati, sponsored in
part by Skyline Chile. Stop bySkyline Chili for a three way or cheese
coney today. Feeling good, It'sSkyline time. This is ESPN fifteen thirty,
Cincinnati Sports Station. We heard it. That means it's still draft time

(00:28):
here in Cincinnati. And this isthe Friday edition of Cincy three sixty right
here on ESPN fifteen thirty, CincinnatiSports Station, a service of Skyline Chile.
Anytime you're feeling good and hungry,it's always Skyline time. Also,
as we get the show started today, we recap a busy day, a
busy night last night. Got tostart by thanking our friends at Klaus Roofing.

(00:51):
That's krsinceiwth y dot com. KRSSINCEIwith a y dot com. Thanks
to Klausroofing. Thanks to you thelistener for joining us right now on ESPN
fifteen thirty or via the iHeartRadio app. We're the home of the Bengals.
We've got a lot to get to. That's why I'm talking faster today because
the breaks are a little bit longer. There's so much to break down from

(01:11):
the NFL Draft last night, andwe have a star studded group of guests
today, man Charlie Goldsmith, oneo'clock East. Everything reads Bengals that we
can possibly get in with Charlie Goldsmith. We will go quicker again today through
talkbacks like yesterday, because the breaksare just a little bit longer. And

(01:34):
Tom Gallader, the voice of FCCincinnati. FC Cincinnati zero goals in the
first half in Atlanta, fell behindone to zero. In the second half,
rallied for two goals and a bigthree points Austin. FC Cincinnati is
third in the East right now,and it feels like they've been awful and
yet they're right there. So we'lltalk to Tom Gallaerder today and then in

(01:57):
a city of megastars, Lucciano Acosta, Ellie de la Cruz, Joe Burrow,
WWE's megastar will be on the showtoday. L A. Knight,
Yeah, he will join us attwo o'clock today. Why Austin, Because
while the NFL is doing their draft, WWE is doing their draft tonight as

(02:20):
well. SmackDown is at the HeritageBank Center. LA Knight will join us
and Rick Uchino at two o'clock.Speaking of Rick Uchino. He just put
his WWE draft double line. Wefollow along with Rick Uchino, Ricky Brackett.
Rick did a WWE mock draft,Yes, he just released it.
WWE mock Draft, Ricky Uchino,Ricky Ringside. I did not know,

(02:45):
Ricky suplex I honestly, God didnot know that the WWE does a draft
until like twenty minutes ago. That'sit, had no idea and now they
do. That's unbelievable, now youknow, now you know. So that's
from a guest standpoint. That's wherewe're starting today. Oh yeah, Moegar

(03:07):
will join us quick hits Locks ofthe Night before we go any further,
before we dig into the draft.Thanks to all the folks at Holy Grail
last night. Thanks to the peoplethat came out to listen to watch our
draft coverage. Lance and Rocky withAwesome enjoyed being able to spend eight to
ten with Moegar and then Austin ElmoreI'm sorry, Awesome, Austin Almore and

(03:30):
Chick Ludwick from from ten to midnight. WWE star Angelo Dawkins was there the
whole time for you, Austin.That's true, Angelo a little bit.
It's cool to meet Angelo. Yes, the second time I've met him,
but I don't think you remembered mefrom the first year. But that's okay,
there we go. So we've gotall of that. We also have

(03:52):
what was a crazy night in theNBA last night. Joel Embiide is suffering
through Bell's palsy. Did you seethat? Yeah? I heard about that
and a Bell's palsy diagnosis. Hejust went and dropped fifty last night on
the Knicks and then the Lakers wentup by ten, Nuggets came back dominated
the second half. And did youhear what Lebron said after the game?

(04:14):
Unfortunately I did here what he said. It's just basketball, right right,
guys, it's just basketball. Notthe mentality that I would ever have heard
from a Kobe Bryant or a MichaelJordan after a loss. And it's just
basketball. I think of your Day'sjust basketball. Oh that's a bad look.

(04:35):
That's a bad look. Lebron hasdone so much, He's got a
great career. He's one of thethree best players that's ever walked the face
of the earth. What are youdoing? Yep, that's what you're doing,
Lebron. That's weak. You're nothelping your cause. Lakers stink.
By the way, the Bengals triedto help their cause last night, I

(04:58):
think they did. Okay, well, I'm interested to have this discussion today
about Amarius Mems. We are goingto in just a minute, we'll dive
into the other storylines from the draft. That's kind of what we do here
in the first segment, and thenwe'll really hunker down and get into what
the Bengals did last night. Bythe way, Red's lost yesterday. They
split the series with the Phillies.They're in Texas tonight, Nathan el Valdi
versus Graham Ashcraft. That is goingto happen tonight. That's big though,

(05:23):
that they have the season series overthe Philadelphia Phillies. Yes, that is
a huge, huge part of thisseason down the line. If we expect
the Reds to be competing for aplayoff spot, to have the season series
over the Philadelphia Phillies is large,huge, absolutely huge. Okay. Last
night, Pick eighteen comes around theBengals select Amarus Mims. Amarius Mimes offensive

(05:49):
tackle. This is what it soundedlike, Georgia. We're the eighteenth pick
in the twenty twenty four NFL Draft. The Cincinnati Bengals selects Amarus Smith's tackling
Georgia House. There you go,oh, there we go, and you

(06:10):
heard it there what I'm interesting fromMel Kuiper as the sound faded away.
There and interesting, I think,is the best way to describe this.
As we're watching the draft unfold lastnight. It couldn't have unfolded any better
for the Cincinnati Bengals because there wasthe run on quarterback. Six quarterbacks taken
in the top twelve, and therewas a run on the wide receivers,

(06:35):
and the more wide receivers that weredrafted, the more quarterbacks that were drafted,
opened up the door for the Bengalsdraft board to fall in a way
that many had wanted it to fall, including Byron Murphy being there up until
pick sixteen. So here's where I'llstart it. I don't think that when

(07:00):
all is said and done, MariusMims is going to be a bust.
I don't. I love his size, I love his tape, I hate
the lack of experience. If youlisten last night, this is what Nick
Saban, the former Alabama coach,had to say about Amriusmims. He said,

(07:20):
quote, this guy's got all thetools, great size, great power,
one of the most powerful guys inthe draft. But it makes you
wonder, why did this guy onlystart eight games? In the SEC championship
game, he played the first fifteenplays of the game and then he's out,
takes himself out. Don't know whathe injured, what he hurt,
whatever, But you've got to bea little more consistent in your performance if
you're going to be a great playerand starter in the NFL. No.

(07:43):
One last night, when Amarius Memswas drafted, said, that's the Bengals
starter Week one this year. Everyonethat talks about Memes talks about being a
project. So, okay, youdraft a project, you develop him behind
a Trent Brown, behind Orlando Brown. You got three six eight tackles.
I get it. That's cool,and I'm not knocking that. The potential

(08:07):
down the road is there for AmariusMems. What I'm questioning is the mixed
signals that I'm getting from the Bengals. The mixed signals being We're not gonna
honor t Higgins' trade request. I'mnot gonna honor Trey Hendrickson's trade request.
Why because we're going all in towin a Super Bowl. This year.
The window now to win a SuperBowl is smaller than it was last year,

(08:30):
and it's smaller than it was twoyears ago and three years ago.
And when the money starts kicking infor Joe Burrow and the money kicks in
for Jamar Chase, the window isgonna shrink down more and more and more,
which leads me to believe that thebest course of action last night would
have been to get a starter atpick number eighteen that can contribute right away
this year. And at eighteen maybeyou thought it was one of the corners

(08:52):
still on the board. Well,I think that was the only position on
the board right there that you wouldhave drafted, and that guy would have
started on opening day, correct,is cornerback. I don't know that there
was anybody else there that was goingto come in and be an immediate starter.
You can find starters at other positionslater on in the draft. Why'd

(09:13):
you receive that there's a perfect example. One of those guys is probably going
to come in and start in theslot. One of those guys is going
to come in and be a bigpart of the Bengals offense. Amarius Mims
is not that, And I thinkthe way I see it. Tone is
I think there is this undercurrent ofpressure in the fan base. A lot
of people keep worrying about the windowbeing closed. There's outside noise around t

(09:37):
Higgins and there's outside noise around TreyHenderson. There's this worry about Burrow,
who has been injured a little bittoo much. There's this worry about Boyd
is gone, Mixing is gone,Reader is gone. There's a lot of
change around this team this year,and I think there's this undercurrent of Gosh,

(09:58):
I hope the window is still open, that anyone's coming out and saying
that. I think most people believewith the healthy Joe Burrow the window is
wide open. However, there isa little bit of fear. And I
think the pick of Amarius Mimes beinga guy that maybe is not going to
come in and lock down the rightside of the offensive line and might take
a season's worth of development to gethim where you want him to be gives

(10:22):
people some uneasiness because of the amountof holes that need to be filled on
this team that has to compete insidea really good division, inside a really
good conference. My thought when thepick happened is that Brian Thomas Junior was
still available, and that guy,I think when you talk about the number
three receiver slot, I think hewould have slotted in perfectly. And the

(10:43):
families come a long way. Theycame from Baton Laruez, Louisiana. Did
Brian Thomas Junior's fan as Brian's motherlast night was part of a very fun
audio clip on ABC's coverage of thedraft. I can find that real quick,
please do this. Let me setthis up. So Brian Thomas Junior,
LSU wide receiver gets drafted, andthey're interviewing his family and really in

(11:05):
depth talking to his dad about thejourney and where things go. And as
the reporter switches, she's asking Brian'smom about, you know, how far
has this family truly come? Andjust listen. This is Laura Rutledge on
ABC. Soandra, how far hasthis family come? We came from Baton
Rouge, Louisiana. Amen. Amen, You know I think Laura was looking

(11:28):
for like, you know, it'sbeen a long journey. You know,
we're thinking and now here we areon the biggest stage and she simply put,
we came from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Funny, but my thought last
night at eighteen. I thought BrianThomas Junior could impact the team right away.
Bengals didn't think, so they takeMims. Here was my only gripe

(11:50):
last night, and I hate thatthis is pushed back every time I bring
it up with That's just not whothe Bengals are. That's just not what
the bang do You knew? Weknew we're talking last night during the draft
Austin, because as Moe and Iwere wrapping up and you and Chick were
going up there, it was rightat the time that Seattle was on the

(12:11):
clock. Yeah, and everyone inthat bar knew. If there was one
team out there that was primed totake Byron Murphy, it was who the
Seattle Seahawks. That was who wasin your way. And instead of saying
it's just not what the Bengals do, realistically, what would it have cost

(12:33):
the Bengals to move up two orthree spots? If you think Byron Murphy
is a day one starter who canimpact this defense, a defense that's stunk
against the run last year. Ifyou think that he could help right away,
can you move up two or threespots. That's the aggressiveness that I
expect to see from a team thathas given messages all off season that the

(12:56):
super Bowl window is now. Iget the t Higgins not happy. Guess
what, You're gonna be a CincinnatiBengal because we want to run it back
one more time to win a superBowl. I saw that message and I
heard it. I heard all theTrey Hendricks saying night, that's nice.
You want an extension, It's notgonna happen. You're gonna be a Bengal.
This team's trying to win a superBowl. If that was the case,

(13:18):
then when you're sitting there and fourteencomes along and you're looking at saying,
ah, Seattle. That's a teamthat has been regarded as one that
Byron Murphy could go to. Whynot just one time? Why not go
to fifteen and go get him?Move up three spots, go get the

(13:39):
best player out there, which isByron Murphy, who would be inserted day
one and be an impact player onthe team. Instead, instead, the
team chose. And again, thisisn't a knock on the potential of amarusims.
I want to be very clear withthat, but Amarius Mems is not
projected to help the team year.If he does, if he takes strides

(14:01):
awesome. If he pushes Trent Brown, awesome. If he's so good that
they got to move Trent Brown toguard, awesome. But as of last
night, this is a project.This is not a Day one starter.
Byron Murphy was so don't tell methat's not what the Bengals do, because
the message I've seen all offseason haswin a super Bowl this year, And

(14:24):
in my opinion, Byron Murphy gaveyou that chance. You also chose a
project over Troy Fatano, who endsup falling to the Pittsburgh Steelers. And
now the Pittsburgh Steelers, according tomel Kuiper, are one of the top
three biggest winners of the draft lastnight because they get a steal. A

(14:48):
steal guy who played left tackling collegecan move to guard, can even try
to play center. Mel Kuiper says, I didn't think Fatana would be there.
It was a no brainer. MelKiper had him at number ten on
the list. And so the Bengalsdid not go get Murphy. They didn't
get a receiver that could help rightnow, they didn't get the most NFL

(15:11):
ready Day one guy in Fatano.They got the project. And again,
it's not a it's not a knockto say Mims won't be good, but
he's not projected to be good thisyear. That was the only problem I
had with the pick last night.I have some thoughts on that that we
can get to. Let's do thatwhen we get back. Five one,

(15:33):
three, seven four nine fifteen thirty, give us a call. I also
we got to talk about David Tepper. Oh gosh, I just saw the
video of David Tepper going into thethe I am not one for violence,
yeah, but I don't know howthat dude didn't turn David Tepper's lights off.
Yep, that is unbelievable. Gotto talk about that clown too.

(15:56):
We'll do that and more when weget back. We'll get the phone calls.
Five one, three, seven fouron fifteen thirty. We're just getting
started. We're here till three o'clock, ESBN, fifteen thirty, Cincinnati Sports
Station, a service of Skyline Chili. Now Anderson's ready, he fires a
swagon and drive today, Bride byCats number ten, Date Better, the

(16:26):
Lord Deck, Get Right, aGrand Slam for jose A five nothing Cleveland
Late and Alex Carra Well The Walkto the Mound one hitter too, late.
Ah, the old walk to themound one hitter too late. That's

(16:47):
our call tonight, brought to youby our friends where we don't have it
brought to you by anybody back.That call was from the great Tom Hamilton's
Tom on the Cleveland Guardians Radio netp. I'mster as the Cleveland Guardians continue their
hot start. Eighteen and seven bestrecord in baseball Cleveland, Cleveland, Cleveland

(17:08):
is on fire. Uh, beforewe get to uh your thoughts, I
take that back. The Braves arenow on fire. The Braves are seventeen
and eight or seventeen and six baseballbeing played right now. My apologies come
back to you before we get intoyour thoughts. On the MEMS pick.
You mentioned David Tepper. So here'swhat happened. A Charlotte restaurant put up

(17:30):
a sign that said, please letthe coach and GM pick this year.
They don't want Tepper to be involvedand mess things up. He was famously
involved in the selection of Bryce Youngover s J. Stroud. Oh,
got a bunch of people fire,brutal, brutal, So the restaurant puts
us up on their sign outside.David Tepper shows up and how would you

(17:56):
explain Tepper's temp in the restaurant.He walks into the restaurant with somebody else
another guy behind him. There aretwo people standing at the hostess station,
and he immediately goes right up,puts his hands on the desk and starts
asking about the sign out from andthen reaches up and takes the hat off

(18:18):
the head of the hostess standing tothe left of David Tepper and puts it
down on the hostess station, thenpicks it up again and shows his buddy
and continues to inquire about where exactlyor who exactly made that sign out for
just the ultimate disrespect to take thatman's hat off of his head, and

(18:38):
credit to him for remaining calm,because if somebody would have done that to
me, I would have done somethingthat would have gotten myself in trouble,
and I would have had no problemdoing it. David Tepper and the way
that he has handled himself since becomingthe owner of the Carolina Panthers, Yep,
you have repeatedly seen moments like thiswhere you see that he is a

(19:00):
weak, feeble little man that hasnever been told no or criticized ever because
he is so wealthy at the end, he plays it off, gives the
guy a slight little tap on thearm and shakes his hand. But that
is unacceptable behavior by David tech Great. This dude is an absolute clown.

(19:22):
And if you look at the wayhe handled things last year with their coach,
with Frank Reich and with McCown andall those guys, it's an embarrassment
to the game that we love.And I can't help but hope and root
for the failure. You got theCarolina Panthers franchise because of David Deem Now
you mentioned failure of the Carolina Panthersfranchise. Yes, a lot of fans
in Cincinnati last night thought that becauseof drafting Amarus Mems, that's gonna bring

(19:45):
a long failure for the Cincinnati Bengals. I shared my thoughts on Amarus Mems
in the first segment, what areyour thoughts? So a month ago,
I had the idea, I hadthe thought process of taking offensive line.
No matter what I think over thelast week, I convinced myself I wanted
Byron Murphy. I wanted to beefup the defense and have a playmaker at

(20:07):
that position. The way I seeit, you can never go wrong in
investing in protecting Joe Burrow. Youcertainly cannot go wrong in investing in the
future of protecting Joe Burrow. Wesaw how close this team was last year
without him, and yes, hiscalf injury had nothing to do with the
offensive line. But when he isat his best, when he is fully

(20:33):
healthy, what has happened with theBengals. They've gone to the super Bowl,
in the AFC Championship Game. Heis the franchise, he is the
window. Investing in protecting him.I'm never going to have a problem with
Yes, this team has super Bowlexpectations, and yes they have holes to
fill, and yes, Amarius Mimsis probably not going to start on Opening

(20:53):
Day and probably not going to havea massive impact on this season. But
the Bengals are looking at the future, much like they did with Miles Murphy
last year. Now there's a lotexpected of Miles Murphy this coming season.
The way that they talk about him, Amarius Mims is different than the linemen
they've taken in the past. Correct, Jackson Carmen not a very good athlete.

(21:17):
These other guys, the Deontae Smith'sand whatever those other dudes are that
they took in late rounds not greatathletes. Amarius Mims has incredible size and
is extremely athletic. The Bengals havea profile of what they're going for now
in their offensive lineman and the waythat they talk about him. Yes,
he doesn't have a ton of snaps. Yes he certainly needs work. Yes

(21:40):
he suffered some injuries, and thatis all legitimate concerns. But he's twenty
one years old and the Bengals feellike he can be developed, maybe sooner
rather than later, into being animpactful player, and primarily his ability to
have size and s and getting outin space. Think of him. I

(22:03):
think the Bengals look at him likeTrent Williams. Trent Williams six foot five
three and twenty pounds yep, thebest left tackle in the league. I
think the Bengals look at Amarius Mimsand say he could be that. Now
it's up to them to get thatout of him. Frank Pollack hasn't had
a true opportunity to develop one ofthese players yet. Now he's getting that

(22:25):
chance. And can you use AmariusMims in ways early in his career that
are the best part of him?What he does really well, Getting him
out in space. Being athletic,has to improve as a run blocker,
He'll get better. It's the NFL. He's going up against a couple of
guys on that defense that are goodagainst the run. He will get better.
I think they look at him andsay, the potential for this guy

(22:48):
to be so good is too muchto pass up. To go after something
up, something else right now.And I understand that I wasn't thrilled with
the pick when I saw it becauseI too am thinking super Bowl, super
Bowl, super Bowl, super Bowl. But if you're going to have a
window that's open for an extended amountof time and you're going to sign Joe
Burrow to a long term contract,gonna have people to protect him that whole

(23:10):
time too. And this is amove that is thinking forward in that line
of thought. Can I ask afair question that I've received over the last
twelve hours, what does this meanwith Frank Pollack? Is some of the
pushback a little concern about Frank Pollackbeing able to develop a project as an

(23:32):
offensive lineman? Yes? And isthat fair? Not entirely. I don't
think it's entirely fair. Yeah,But it's what comes with the when when
the offensive line is underperformed and youthen draft a quote unquote project with your
first pick in what's supposed to bea Super Bowl year, it will put
more of a magnifying glass on FrankPollock and her ability to develop Amarus Mems.

(23:56):
That's the thing. If there isnot consider improvement in Amariusmims from when
he walks in the door today towhin he walks out the door at the
end of the season, and CordellVolsen from what he was a year ago
throughout this season, and to anextent, Orlando Brown Junior, who wasn't
great last year certainly wasn't bad,but wasn't great last year. If there

(24:19):
is not improvement along that side ofthings, the Bengals have to take a
really hard look at Frank Pollack movingforward. Agreed, this is his opportunity
to show what he can do,and I'm okay with it. Give him
another chance, let's see it,because he really hasn't gotten a bunch of
guys that he likes that he wants. Now he's getting one. Let's see

(24:40):
what he can do. But atthe same time, I'm not going to
be extremely patient with him. I'vebeen patient enough, and I think a
lot of Bengals fans feeling, andI think that's what the concern is for
last night. So here's what we'vedone. I've given you my thought on
MEMS. Austin gave his thoughts.Let's hear yours when we get back.
Some phone calls five one, three, seven, four, nine, fifteen
thirty. It's Mark, Gary,Alvin and Whitney. Yes, I can't

(25:02):
wait on ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati SportStation thanks to Skyline Chili. Hey,
Alexa, who's on the DL gettingESPN fifteen thirty from iHeartRadio. Hey,
it's my leg I thirty. Welcomeback. We're a service of Skyline Chili.

(25:26):
Draft's not done. First night's done. We got more NFL draft tonight,
which we'll get to where the Bengalsshould go. We'll talk to Charlie
Goldsmith about that. But for thefirst time today, let's hear from you.
Let's get a couple of your callsin your thoughts on what happened last
night. Let's start with Gary,Gary, what's going on? Man,

(25:47):
Guys. I'm like ready to stickmy finger in my neck and puke.
It's so crazy, man. Theyreached you know when the Bengals were drafting
last night. They threw up,you know, the best available players still
left in the draft, and theythrew five or six names on there.

(26:07):
Marius Mims was not up there.You could make the argument that the Bengals
could have traded back to gain moredraft equity and still get Amarus Mims.
When they did easily. He mighteven went into the second round. He
might not even went in the firstround. The guy, can you say
cedric O Boy? I hope not. Can you say Billy Price? Can

(26:29):
you say Jake Fisher? I mean, how many of these offensive linemans that
the Bengals don't know how to draftin the first round? How many of
them do we need to throw outthere before we finally get it? Man,
you don't reach on your number onepick. Man, you don't pay
more than what the guy is worth. You don't do If you want to
gamble, do it in the thirdround. If you got a project you
want to draft and develop, doit in the third round. From a

(26:53):
size and athleticism standpoint, though,Gary, Amarius Mims is nothing like those
guys you just named, and Idon't think he would have lasted to the
second round. Truthfully, I remember, though, the same conversation about Jackson
Carmen when when when the Bengals gavethe point he was, they used the
term there was too much potential topass up on. It's essentially what we
heard with a Marius Memes. JacksonCarmen under Frank Pollock has not panned out.

(27:18):
That's why I say this is onFrank Pollock more than anyone. You
cannot fail with a Marius Mems gamble. This is a huge gamble. I
mean, this guy could be abust. You can say that about the
other thirty one picks in the NFLdraft, though, Gary, you can
say that about all of them.But when multiple but when multiple draft experts

(27:38):
all claim it's a project. Butwhen multiple draft experts also say the opposite
of it, what do you thinkhow many drafts there may sid he ready
to go Day one? No?No, none of them have. And
how is it. I'm not denyingthat. What I'm saying is Gary saying
it's a huge gamble. I agreethat it's a gamble. I don't think

(28:00):
it's a huge gamble. I thinkhe would not have made it out of
the first round. There were alot of people that had him mocked between
eighteen and twenty two. They allthose same people that you guys are saying,
don't know what they're that you're goingoff. He's not ready to play
in the league. All had himmocked in the first round. Nobody had
him going to the second round.So clearly NFL teams and executive saw something

(28:21):
in this dude that they felt likehe was worthy of a first round pick.
Wengals. Different number. When youhave the number one available defensive cornerback,
defensive safety, top defensive lineman fallto you, I mean, I'm
licking my chops. When six quarterbacksgo out of the first twelve picks,
I'm thinking, man, the Bengalsare really going to have a good shot

(28:42):
at Murphy or one of these guysthat was not going to be there now
they're going to be there, plugand play, go to the super Bowl,
and they waste their pick. Tome, it's a wasted pick.
You don't gamble and do projects onyour first pick. You do that on
day three. You get a plugand play on day one. It felt
like, especially when he can bean immediate impact on your defensive line,

(29:04):
where you got Trey Hendrickson wanting tobe traded. You got Miles Murphy.
Who did you want the defensive lineman? Who are you referring to any one
of them that there were? Theguy from Texas that went to Seattle.
Okay, we could have traded upone and got that. I mean,
you just don't miss out on that. And then the second best defensive lineman,

(29:26):
I forget his name, but hewas available. You've got the number
one, you got the number onecornerback and the entire draft available, and
then you got this other the fastestwide receiver. I mean, he goes
to to Patrick Mahomes. Now,well, he's the same thing. He's
a lot of people think he's ahuge project as well. It's the same
thing. Gary. That's what happensat the end of the difference is.

(29:48):
But the difference is is that theChiefs have shown the ability to win Super
Bowls and the Bengals haven't. CorrectSo the Chiefs giving I don't have a
problem with with taking risks and andyou know in projects, I'm not I'm
not saying you don't do that.I'm saying you don't do it in the
first round. They did last yearas well. Crip, you have to
hit in the first round, andwe just keep missing in the first round.

(30:11):
Like I said, Billy Price,Jake Fisher, Cedric Oblaye. You
know the wide receiver that that couldn'teven get on the field that we drafted
in the first round a few yearsago. I forgot his I mean exactly,
John, I mean the Bengals usedtheir first pick to me, they
just I mean, they do sogood on day three. How can a
team that does so good on daythree be so horrible on day one?

(30:34):
Gary, I appreciate the call.Man. Don't do it, man,
it's a blue chip pick. Youdon't take the chance. Man, you
don't use the list. Gary,go to Gary, I disagree with you.
Thank you for the phone call.All those guys you just mentioned before
Zach Taylor got here, all ofthem. They took Miles Murphy as a
project correct to the NFC Championship Gamefor the second year in a row,

(30:56):
and we were this year and theyneeded to get better on that position.
They were in a position last yearbefore all these contracts expired where they could
take best player available on their board, which was Miles Murphy. Okay,
think back day one picks in theZach Taylor era, Joonah Williams wasn't perfect,
but played a lot, played wellat times. Joe Burrow, we

(31:19):
know how that one worked out.Jamar Chase, we know how that one
worked out. Dax Hill Jury's stillout, but still a good player that
has a lot of potential moving forward. Miles Murphy came on strong at the
end of last year, is expectingbig things in his sophomore season. So
don't act like ever since Zach Taylor'sgotten here, they've just swung and missed
on everybody. In Day one,They'm put in more outliers. Anyone in

(31:41):
the NFL would have drafted Joe Burrow. Of course, anyone in the NFL
would have drafted Jamar Chase. I'mtalking about when you have a decision,
when you're in the middle rounds andyou know an impact guy. For back
to back years they've drafted projects,but you in the middle rounds, in
the middle of the first round.Okay, and again this hasn't happened except
for last year. They were atthe very end the first round, and
this year there towards the middle.In the Zach Taylor era, they haven't

(32:04):
been drafting in that position. Thisis an This is uncharted territory for this
particular organization, in this particular regime. Twenty eighth is what they picked.
Miles Murphy last year. Before thatit was top five and Jodah Williams at
eleven, so they haven't been inthis position. We saw this a lot
under the Marvin era. Right,You're in this no man's land in the
first round where sometimes guys work out. Sometimes they don't. Look at every

(32:29):
NFL draft in the history of thedraft, that range of players fifteen to
twenty two, like, there aresome guys there that have been complete failures.
That's kind of how the draft works. Let me you say Kansas City
took a gamble. Do you thinkweek one Xavier Worthy is starting for Kansas
City? Probably? But I meantwenty eight they found a starting wide receiver

(32:51):
for Patrick Mahomes in a different situationthan the Bengals, but the draft fell
differently than experts believed. They tradedabout to get the guy. I get
it. That's who they are asa franchise, right, and they also
went after Hollywood Brown. They've gotRashid Rice, who has some legal problems,
but a guy that they drafted inthe later rounds who's turned out to
be pretty good. Isaiah Pacheco lateround picked. That turned out to be

(33:13):
pretty good. Travis Kelcey late roundpicked. That turned out to be pretty
good. Like, they went upand they were aggressive in this particular situation.
God knows what the Buffalo Bills werethinking actually trading with Kansas City to
do it. Sometimes you just negligencehappens and people take advantage of you.
But like, let's not pretend likeAnd also, the Chiefs have won the
Super Bowl the last couple of years, yes, and they have built up

(33:36):
that equity. Yes, But youdon't just you have to take chances in
this league and in the draft.It happens that way sometime. But the
Bengals took a chance on a project, not a day one guy that could
help one more phone call here andwe got to get to a break.
Whitney, what's going on? I'llagree that you say, Tony, Uh,

(34:00):
they got a project they had,They had a chance to get that
guy to start on on on thetackle. They could have got him.
Uh. But you know, andwhat what really got me kind of upset
with the Bingals? Then they don'tnever move up? The man was right
of them? You knew Sata wantedthem go get him. Yeah, if

(34:22):
if you want somebody that you reallywant, go get him. And the
Bengals never go get it. Justlike a couple of years ago when the
big one that that center, Ithink he I think he played with Detroit
now the center right right, theywant him, go get him, but
they didn't go get him. Somebodyelse got it. And they always do

(34:45):
that. And and the Bengal isa bad They drafted that that the second
the second the second draft that thattied end. He still played with the
Bingals second round. That's a baddraft. Oh oh he's doing is blocking.
He don't get no second round forsomebody that blocked. I don't.

(35:06):
I don't think the Bengals doing doa good job of drafted. And said
it since the uh the head coachBen there, he haven't did no good
draft in need because I mean,everybody just everybody was Joe, yeah,
just like you said, Tony,just like you said. But when it
come down, yes, now,wouldn't I appreciate we got to get to

(35:27):
a break. I appreciate your matches. Thank you for calling in Austin.
I guess I guess to close thisout for me. If you wanted the
guy to protect Joe Burrow, foratanawas the guy. In my opinion,
he's the more ready guy right now. Okay, I hope Mems in four
years or three years is an AllPro player, But the window gets smaller.
T Higgins won't be here, TreyHendrickson might not be here. The

(35:52):
team's gonna be different by the timeof Marius Mims is ready. I want
the guy that's gonna have so gowin it now that you're keeping t Higgins
for one year, go win itnow. Well, maybe let's take a
break really quick. When we getback, we'll get to Charlie Goldsmith.
So much more on the NFL Draftstill to come. Now to three o'clock

(36:12):
ESPN fifteen thirty thanks to Skyline Chilifrom the Stacey ar Cincy three sixty about
Cincinnati from Cincinnati, sponsored in partby Cincy Shirts. Cincy Shirts, All
Cincy, all Day. This isESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports Station. All
Right, here we go our twothanks to Cincy Shirts on ESPN fifteen thirty

(36:34):
Cincinnati Sports Station. Let's get rightinto it. Cincinnati dot COM's finest covering
the Reds Bengals and so much morejoining us each and every Friday. Charlie
Goldsmith, what's up, Charlie.How you doing, Tony? I'm great.
How are you? I'm doing well. That's good. That's good.
Let's get right into it, Charlie. So much back and forth from the
fan base, from conversations on thisshow and everywhere else. Your thoughts,

(37:00):
someone who covers this team, whowas around this team, who understands the
inner workings of this team. Yourthoughts on Amarus Mims at number eighteen last
night. The word the word ofthe day is risk. But something that
I don't think has been discussed enoughwas just how much risk there would have
been for all the top prospects onthe board for the Bengals. Trisautun was

(37:22):
he had guard, He struggled withspeed rushers last year. The other offensive
lineman, guys like Tyler Goyton,he just had bad take. He was
raw quing and Mitchell coming up froma smaller school, Johnny Newton a bit
of an injury history. No matterwho you're taking at this front of a
draft, you'll curry a bit ofrisk. Amarius Mims checks so many boxes.
Everything the Bengals have built around withtheir philosophy for the offensive line and

(37:45):
then the types of players they prioritizeas well. Mims brings that college football
playoff experience besides the frame that anchoredthe length on the outside of offensive tackle.
It's funny when I started this processand Maarius was actually the first prospect
I stud, I always kind ofsaw a fit here. I've been tweeting
my board throughout this process. Hewas number two on my Bengals specific board,

(38:07):
so I've been high on him fora while. There is risk,
but when you look at the fit, it makes a lot of sense.
We've talked about the risk. Whatis it about his game that had you
rate him so high? He's thebest pass protecting right tackle in this class,
and sometimes it's just as simple asa line like that. Again,
he doesn't have the tape, thethe overall amount of games, but when

(38:30):
you just look individually, the wayhe's consistently winning against speed, winning against
power, he just does a feelas a pass protector. I don't think
the Bengals will level ever have thisgood of a chance to get the talented
of an offensive lineman in front ofJoe Burrow, because you know they're not
gonna be able to get another OrlandoBrown in free agency. As Burrow's contract

(38:51):
increases, in Jamar's extension kicks in, and they keep having to pay guys
across the team. You know they'rethey're not hoping to pick eighteenth again either.
He's got like a Marius MEM's aretough to five. They generally genuinely
view him as a top ten,top twelve talents who just lived because the
lack of game tape. But thattape again was really really promising. Who

(39:13):
and what would have been the conversationin the war room if at eighteen Byron
Murphy an Amarus Mems were still available. In your opinion, I had Mems
over Murphy and that might have been. That wasn't the consensus, you know
among the Bengals analysts, the Bengalsdraft analysts fear it's a great question.
I don't think the Bengals were ina position to trade up because they still

(39:36):
have so much work to do.They need multiple defensive tackles, they need
a corner, they need a runningback, a tight end or receiver,
maybe two receivers, two corners.They still have too much work to do,
too many spots in the depth shortthey need to fill. I don't
think they were in a position totrade up to sixteen and sacrifice those picks
that they prioritized really accumulating. Iwould have taken Mems over Murphia. I

(39:59):
really like Byron Murphy, but thestrength of Mems are what I mentioned earlier.
Murphy, his explosiveness, his versatilityis underrated ability against the run.
I like all of that a lot, but I did have Mims ranked tigre
on my board for today. ChrisJenkins is an interior defensive lineman A lot
of people talk about obviously, JasonNewton, Cooper De jen Kool, Aid

(40:21):
McKinstry, Dona Mitchell, Led McConkie. There are top players available at corner,
interior defensive line, and wide receiver. Towards the top of the second
round. You mentioned the Bengals notbeing in a place to trade up in
the first round. Do you foreseethem in any chance or scenario trading up
in the second round to land oneof those players. I think it would

(40:44):
have to be a Cam Taylor brittPark two situation where it was a very
very narrow jump and also a crateroff the board after that player comes off
the table, So who could thatbe? Like I look at Jalen Polk
as a guy who in my value. After you get past the tier of
Coleman, Wilson and polkit receiver,there's a drop off. If there's a

(41:06):
run on receivers, do they moveup for a guy like him? Looking
at defensive tackle? If you knowI have three defensive tackles in one tier,
Chris Jenkins, lu Luke a HorrorHorror, and Brandon Fitzki out of
Florida State. If there's a runon defensive tackles, then you have to
jump up for one of those guys. Then that's a smaller move they could
make. And the other guy haveon that board would be Mike Saine Astril,

(41:28):
the slot corrode in Michigan. Theyvalue that position so much. He
checks every box they look for,just in general on defense. If they
are really sold on him, doyou move up a couple spots for a
guy like him? But again,they'll generally stick to their plan on what
they do. Like I mentioned thetraits they value, they value versatility on
defense. They value sack production onthe defensive line, sack production or versatility.

(41:52):
They value receivers who, as ZachTaylor says, are tough and can
catch, can make plays over themiddle, and have really strong hands.
Solid options. I looking at andmapping this out, I do see more
than seventeen guys who would be asolid pick for the Bengals. Tonight,
the Cincinnati Bengals have nine picks remaining. They'll have three picks tonight, one
in the second, two and thethird. In an ideal world, I

(42:15):
don't need the players what position groupsare checked off the list by the end
of tonight. Receiver, defensive tackle, in corner. I'll keep banging this
drum. Corner is the most underratedbig need for the Bengals this year.
If they're playing a game today,you know dj Obvio's not back from a
torn acl Their fourth corner would beAlan Georgian. You know he's a practice

(42:36):
squad out for them. So Iwould prefer to keep Dak Hill at safety
this year. That's my perspective onDak Hill, and to do that,
you need to really get some workdone at corner through this draft. So
I really even think I don't likethe day two corners, like unless the
kool aid or the gene falls somethingsurprising would have to happen there Santa Schelz's

(42:57):
own thing as a slot corner.But then there's some really strong Day three
corners. I like the Day twotackles. I like some of the later
guys Fiskey Dor, Liss Wingdo,guys who either had great testing the overall
like I call him to wind himup and let him go defensive tackles,
or a guy like Wingdo who's amore well rounded player with winning experience at
LSU and is a fast rusher aswell. So some overall options for them

(43:22):
at different stages, and then they'realways going to be receivers at the positions
they need. Charlie, we talkedabout Amarousmims. Let we go back to
him for one second. What ifhe proves people wrong? What if he
comes in and instead of being aproject, he's a guy that could play
this season. Is there a scenariowhere Trent Brown could or would be willing
to play guard and you all ofa sudden see Orlando Brown and Marius Mims

(43:45):
and Trent Brown all on the fieldat the same time. It's a good
point. Like the comp I'm gonnago with is like Chase Brown last year
and obviously this is a fifth roundpick, this is a completely different situation.
But we got to the point andlike we really it was honestly week
five last year, right before ChaseBrown pulled his hamstring in practice, where

(44:06):
the Bengals coaching staff had a meetingand they said, you know what,
it's time to give this kid theopportunity in the runway and even heading into
the forty nine Ers game, ChaseBrown was going to be getting snaps away
from Joe Mixon. Obviously, youknow, tackle is in a rotational position,
but they just you know, didthat strategy with a fifth round running
back with the team captain in JoeMixon. There's no doubt in my mind

(44:29):
if a Marius Mims is showing themthe stuff that they're looking for around the
bye week, they've proven they're willingto have that conversation. Go back another
year. Cam Taylor Britain twenty twentytwo took Eli Apple's starting spot and then
that ended up not mattering because Chitotoward ACL. But they have a long
track record of in the middle ofthe season really being willing to set up

(44:51):
their young, you know, youngdraft picks, even in their rookie years
to take on those starting rules.Charlie from the first round itself, I
could I can make a point andbe talked into every single scenario except too.
Can you make sense because I haven'tseen anyone do it yet? Can
you make sense of Michael Pennix Juniorgoing to the Atlanta Falcons. You know

(45:15):
that was a big SI. Idon't know if that came across on the
air. I talk about the Bengalshaving a specific and cohesive vision to build
a roster, bringing in a defensivecoach, and then not continuing to build
out the infrastructure of a defense thatdesperately needs help to execute exactly what you
brought him in to do. AndPennis and Kirk Cousins are completely different style

(45:35):
as a quarterback. Pennix is oldfor a prospect, He's going to be
such a different stage of his career. When Kirk Cousins his time in Atlanta
has done. I said wow outloud in the Bengals dress the media.
The comment of if he sits forfour or five years, that means we're
in a really good spot makes nosense. Go get someone that can help
right now. The other one thatI question is what are the Buffalo Bills

(45:58):
doing Not only do they move outof their pick, they give that pick
to the Kansas City Chiefs and theygo get the fastest player available in the
draft to slot in with Patrick Mahomesand that offense. The Bills, I
think they were the team that neededto trade up for like Brian Thomas sure
like that was one of my favoritepicks for them there or I guess lad
McConkie is still on the board.They can still get him today. But
they're a team that I thought reallyhad to make an aggressive movement receiver.

(46:22):
I think what you're seeing from theBills is a team that the Bills didn't
do what the Bengals did in termsof building their depths and building like a
second wave of young players like theBengals have. So that's why they had
to cut all these guys. Andthen the Bills just need picks and so
they have to move back even thoughthey really need receivers. And that's a
team in a tough spot, kindof like a foil for the Bengals because

(46:44):
they've done some good gumpanies drafting throughmid tier free agency and keeping their young
roster that they haven't had. Theyhaven't had to trade back and take a
worse tier player at a position ofmeat, Charlie. When it comes to
some of those other AFC rivals forthe Bengals, the Bills obviously just talked
about the Chiefs. Ravens make apick, Pittsburgh makes a pick. What
did you think of those teams andwhat they did last night. I think

(47:07):
Nate Wiggans is a raven that justmakes a lot of sense. That's type
of speedy, aggressive cover style.I like that pick. Fought New is
going to be like another de Castro. I see him more as a guard.
That's why I wasn't to high onhim with the Bengals. Not high
on David You're Worthy. I lookat receivers very similar ways that Zach does.
Zach Taylor make plays over the middleof the field with toughness and tight

(47:28):
windows and then catch the ball,and I'm concerned about David warriy Worthy's ability
to do both of those things.I don't look at any of these big
contenders and say, man, theygot a player. I fear they just
got a lot better. Kind ofwith the exception of Fats and Uba,
but a guard is in a premiumposition. In this league, So I
don't see any scary picks for theBengals in this range. Charlie, I

(47:51):
would be remissed not to ask youreal quick. The Reds are twenty five
games in the NL Central. TheBrewers have been fantastic, Cubs are playing
really good baseball, Reds or fouran eleven. How you summarize the first
twenty five games in your opinion forthe Cincinnati Reads this year. Wally dela
Cruz is he's doing it. Likewhen we talked in February, Man,
what could this season be from Eliede la Cruz. You're seeing it and

(48:14):
you're seeing the consistency that homestand thathe just had just seven games, but
you can't play much better baseball thanthat over a homestand the talent that he
showed, specifically the way he's backingup with backing it up with preparation,
like you're seeing all the plays he'smaking, kind of going to his right
deep in the hole at short stop. That obscene has been like a year

(48:37):
work for Dela Cruz, like heworked a walk against Zach Wheeler yesterday,
maybe his best at out of theyear. You're seeing the timing and the
balance and everything about his new approachwith the plate panngoff. Oh, by
the way, he can hit fourhundred and forty foot monster opposite field homers,
which he did twice in that homestand as well, So like that
was a moment from Dela Cruz.And again he's just the consistency is more

(49:00):
consistent. He won't be hitting atthis rate forever. There will be natural
ups and downs. He's still veryyoung, but he's shown he can be
that good. Right. Yeah,lastly they started a very tough stretch.
Now they went five out of sevenon the home stand. Where are we
at the on the latest from theinjury report, so Ian Jabou pitching again,
working his rehab stint. It feelslike we've had really good news on

(49:22):
TJ Friedel, a little quieter onMatt McClean. But from a health standpoint,
where are they? Yeah, freedom'sthe big one. He could be
starting to rehab assignment here pretty soon. Only to like like healthy health.
He's fine, only to like getback into baseball where them baseball shape as
they like to say, basically gothrough his end of spring training to get
that timing back. But TJ waslike doing everything except catching the ball,

(49:45):
you know, with that broken wristwhen he was and I guess swinging as
well, but he was doing thingsto really keep his upper body engaged and
to keep his legs as close asseason fourman as he could while he was
even in the very very early stagesof the injury. So he's definitely coming
along pretty quickly. Charlie, you'vebeen so caught up in the draft.
Have you allowed yourself to look atany mock drafts for the WWE Draft that

(50:06):
takes place at Heritage Bank Center tonight. Charlie, you don't have to answer
that. Angelo Dawkins. Is thatthe name I know? Yes, is
that the guy? Absolutely? Yougotta take him high tonight. Got to
let me talk about Yes, Yes, Charlie, you're the best man.
I know. It's super busy.Enjoy the weekend with the NFL Draft.

(50:27):
We'll talk again next week, man, Thank yous, Charlie. See guys,
he's just the absolute best. Goodtime, Charlie with the News,
Cincinnati ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports Station. Is what I was trying to say,
talkbacks when we come back to Fridayedition. We got to get through
him quick as a service of Cincyshirts. Now three sixty carries on on

(50:51):
ESPN fifteen thirty, Cincinnati's sports station. Yeah, let's go talk box,

(51:23):
Come on, we see tone.What's good? Talk back? Mike here.
I love the Bengals pick yesterday.I grated as an a minus consider
who was left on the board andhow the draft was going. I thought
it was great value to get memsat that point. The most important thing
this year, next year, forthe foreseeable future is keeping Joe Burrow upright,
especially his blind spot. So youinvest in that with a six seven

(51:44):
and forty pounds taint who has apotential to be an All Pro tackle.
Now. I understand the criticism abouta few starts, but we don't know
how none of these players are goingto translate. We don't know the future.
We can only go off potential,and I think out of all the
tackles, he had the most.Thank you, Mike, Bodie Tone.
What's going on? Fellas Joel's gonefrom the canon? Price talkbacks are gonna

(52:07):
be nothing short of interesting today.I'm curious to see how these pan out.
And we're going to the men's pick. I don't mind it. I
mean, it's whatever. It's weknow how Frankie p develops, but I
really hope this one pans out differently. I ain't gonna root on his downfall.
What the hell where the Falcons things? Steal of the draft? Terry
and Arnold are the Lions. Ithink that's gonna be nice for him.

(52:30):
I agree, Hey, fellas cankyou here. How about that pick last
night? I'm gonna give it ana minus. I'm gonna turn it to
a plus eventually. A lot ofoutside on this youngster, and you know
when they entered and likes him.I guess I like him too, So
those are a hating on it onceyou flashback to last year's Sturtsday Night football
game against the Ravens and rethink thatinto the same haters. I would have

(52:52):
stayed this Tiya. Would you becomplained if Men's would have went to the
Steelers or the Ravens last night?Jordan draft body. Interesting perspective from Kinky.
That's a quick shout about to DesmondHoward, Nick Saban, all the
people on Bengals social media who neverwent to the Senior Bowl, never went

(53:14):
to Georgia Pro Day, never satin a meeting with dude Zach coaching staff
and scouts, keep on your negativepath. Give this guy some time.
We're going to be looking pretty goodwith him on the left side of the
line or the right side of one. That's from a Georgia guy himself.
There you go. I wanted togive my feedback on the ESPN and ABC's

(53:36):
coverage of the draft night. Itwas horrible. Their timing was off,
the videos were off, the colorcommentary was stupid. Other than Nick Saban
was cool. And why does Rogergoodell every time he walked down the that
tunnel, he looked like he wasstumbling out of a bar or something like

(53:57):
that was interesting in the car.This is stupid. I really didn't get
to hear or see any of thecoverage, like really pay attention to it
because of what we were doing.But I know that Roger just had back
surgery, yes, so you couldtell he's probably a little stiff. I
would guess, Hello, this isformer President Ronald Reagan and Wale I couldn't

(54:20):
be happier with the Amarius men's pick. To me, it's the equivalent of
hiring another secret Service agent to protectthe president. And as far as I'm
concerned, the leader of Bengal Nation. Joe Burrow just got a whole lot
safer last night. You missed meTony and Austin Ray from sleeves here.

(54:43):
Hey, I'm going to be thecynic about this Mangles pick with their history
of outright and this is being nicemissus on the offensive line. I basically
have two issues with this pick,and those two issues are Jackson Carmen.
Mmm, so what gives you anyconfidence that they know what they're doing down

(55:05):
there? Thanks, It's just thisis what today is going to be.
It's so much it's one side ofthe other. It makes this this makes
it great. Yeah. I meanthat's fair that there have not been a
lot of success with offensive linemen,so this is a proven opportunity for them.
Jake Aybales realize that Roger Goodell,it seemed like he was drunk last

(55:30):
night. Maybe it was just mepain meds. Maybe the pain meds.
Maybe that pick came across last night. I shouted out a word that well,
you can't say it on radio,so I won't repeat it. I'm
not happy, Okay, three yearsnow we've drafted backups in the first round.

(55:50):
Not happy about it. We needto go out and get winners,
and this guy played eight games nothappy. Okay, that's what this show's
about. You can give your opinionon this show. Sure, how far
has this radio show come. Wecome from Cincinnati where the chili goes on

(56:10):
top of spaghetti. Man. Youknow it was great last night, speaking
of how far this show's come.Watching the Draft, there's Lewis Riddick up
there on the stage. Yep,just days after being on the show.
There's Daniel Jeremiah up there. Yep. Tell me look at Joe Goodberry's ranking

(56:30):
of Troy Fatano. He is cheeks, absolute trash. He has a knee
problem. It was the best thingin the world. The Bengals did not
draft him, the best thing.And the even better thing maybe that the
Steelers took him. Cheeks. Okay, did Charlie's evaluation change your mind at

(56:54):
all? Not as much, becausemy evaluation is not that is not potentially
a starting tackle. It's just it'sthe messaging for me that I don't think
he's going to be ready to competethis year. Austin, this is my
from Indiana. They call you allthe time, and this is the first
time I actually have to agree withyou. I think the pick of the

(57:17):
Bengals was a waste. First thingthey did was when they announced the guy
mel Kiper and all the guys haveinjury prone with his ankles in his knees.
And you're right, the Bengals shouldhave moved through spots to get the
starter instead of wasting a prospect toprotect Joe Burrow. Excellent, excellent feed

(57:37):
you're getting around. Thank you fordoing this. I think he was talking
to you and not me. Sure, but we'll just tell you. Yeah,
that's fine. Also, mel Kiperis wrong a lot, a lot,
a lot. Yeah. So theBears have two first round picks,
five years of rookie contract. What'sthe over under on the number of playoff

(58:00):
appearances that they will have. I'mgoing point five. Find a way to
screw up quarterbacks, they might,man, but I like what they did
last I'll take the over on half. I liked what they did. Hey
Tony, Hey Austin. So withthe draft last night, we were so

(58:21):
close to getting Bowers. I thoughthe was about to drop to us,
and then the Raiders did what theydid last year and kind of stole Mayor
and Bowers. But was that theworst case scenario with Bowers getting taken,
and then Murphy getting taken, andthen Turner finally getting taken. Do you
think the Bengals would have taken Turner? I don't think the Bengals would have

(58:45):
taken Rock Bowers. I don't either, as much as I would have liked
to, I don't think they wouldhave taken I don't think they would have.
I think they may have sniffed aroundDallas Turner, but no, I
think it kind of worked out exactlyhow they wanted it to double dipping.
But no, we don't double dip. Austin Tony, old man, grumpy,

(59:07):
you knuckleheads, Mems is going tobe a star, and he'll be
starting by the end of the yearwhen one of our tackles goes down.
Okay, Cornerbacks, receivers, theBengals have shown over the years their second
round receivers and corners have been justas good as any other team's first round
picks at those positions. Trust Tobin, He'll do fine. Everything's gonna be

(59:30):
all right. Lots of thanks,grun, I'm not askingono's from the trust
here live at Nippert Stadium. UHsituation day obviously not for me, but
for other people is my second one. Anyhow, love loved the pick of
Mims. If you look up theBig bored right around the time I thought
he should be picked. He's oneof my favorite players. He is so

(59:51):
much upside. You know, ifthe Steelers took him at twenty, everyone
would have been pissed. So Idon't want to hear anyone that wanted a
day one starter. We don't needa day one starter. I love the
value of offensive tackle round one.I love that perspective that everyone's now turning
it into is like what if theytook them? Shout out to the big
board of the President. That's true. And of course it's Friday, so

(01:00:12):
the Friday Drenk recommendations for all thegraduates. Heck, this is when you
go to the Mexican restaurant and getyou a nice big margarita, top shelf
on the rocks, makes your saltson that rim. Don't be a baby
and put sugar on it. Butif you like it, you can have
sugar. I'm not trying to bea hater, but again, Mims,
fantastic pick. We absolutely that isa slam dumb for me. I miss

(01:00:34):
static. I really love that pick. I'll talk more about it with y'all.
Whoda on the Round two Okay,thank you. As Tony and I
was talking about Frank Pollack, Iwas just kind of curious. This is
the same coach it took offensive lineto the Super Bowl, and I think
all but one, that being misterWilliams, are either backups or out of
football at this point in time.That's pretty impressive. Is this not the

(01:01:01):
highest draft pick that Frank Pollocks hadto work with? I know the previous
linement I think had Jonah. Icould be wrong. Yeah, it's the
highest he's had to work with withthe Bengals. Yes, because it was
that Jim guy, that ever,Jim Turner who drafted j Gary's opinions are

(01:01:25):
cheeks audit tone, happy be AmarusMen's Day. I'm loving the pick.
I know everybody's worried about the lackof footage, lack of game experience,
but what he has put on tapeis absolutely dominant, and it happens against
first round NFL talent. Uh.He's special. There's no other way to

(01:01:46):
put it. The injury concerns arewhat they are, but you know you
have that in every draft every year, and somebody always rocks it. Oh,
okay, okay, I'm convinced ofus Cincinnati fans want to continue to
put our foot in our mouth orsomething. All I heard all last year

(01:02:09):
from you too, Tony was,oh, man, we paid for this
offensive line and they're just not thatgood. You know, we need to
get better than the offensive line.And they draft the best available offensive lineman
in the first round, and allof a sudden, Man, we need
to stop taking projects in the firstround. Get them. If you want
to take a good offensive lineman,you're not going to find him as a
product in the third round. Youwant to grab the guy in first,

(01:02:30):
get them, get him, getif the goal is to win, now,
win tag now, get a starter. Yeah, I would have liked
to take in Murphy or the guyfrom Alabama before our pick, or the
guy from Florida State after our pick, or the lineman the Steelers took.

(01:02:50):
But you know, if Mems worksout, you know, then it's not
the end of the world. Butit would seem like you'd want to take
the lineman that was more NFL ready. Thank you. That's all. That's
all I was saying. I haveno problem protecting Burrow. Go get the
guy that's more ready to play now. Ever, since Burrow stepped in the

(01:03:12):
league, people have just pissed andmoaned about how this offensive line isn't good
enough. Last year, all Iheard is this line is not athletic enough.
There's no depth, they're not strongenough, YadA, YadA, YadA.
Well, now they pick a guythat's six foot eight three, forty
athletic is all hell looks like anavenger and all people want to do is

(01:03:35):
piss and moan. I don't getit, so Fellas gets in loveling here,
Happy Friday. I'm okay with theMems pick based on the way things
fell. That was about as goodas they were going to do value wise
at eighteen. As long as theyaddress the defensive interior that is the only
caveat for sure. I do thinkwe're gonna see Mems earlier than next acted.

(01:04:00):
Hopefully not because of an injury,but he will make an impact at
some point. That's the thing.If you land News or one of the
top defensive tackles today, then thateases I think a lot of what was
done yesterday. Happy Friday. Fellasput me down in the pro Memes camp.
The way the draft was breaking itlooked like there might be a really

(01:04:24):
stud defensive guy available at eighteen,but Murphy went the kid Dallas from Alabama
went wasn't really too thrilled about anyof the corners that were available. So
I think Mems is a good pickthree monster tackles to help protect Burrow.
That's the most important thing. Wouldlike to see him get a receiver and
some interier D line help on datetwo. What do you think? Okay,

(01:04:44):
I agree, yeah, I thinkCharlie lined it up interior D line
corner receiver today. Tony Austin,how y'all knowing? Thank you so much
for taking my car. I quiton Austin Almo. I can't do it,
Tony. They deliver for taking aMary is right there in the first
round. That is a reach ifI've ever seen one. Is Jackson Carmon

(01:05:04):
all over again. I mean wecould have you know, we could have
took anybody. There was all ofthem defensive players there that we could have
taken. The name is escaping meon who they could have taken instead.
I really don't have a name inmind, but they could have taken out
of anybody but him. Oh goodness, that's our last one. This is
the last one we have time forit. Very good. Thank you for

(01:05:27):
your talkbacks. We're back to morenormal on the clocks on Monday, which
means we can get more talkbacks in. But NFL Draft weekend, that's what
it is. We got to geta break in. Plenty more still to
come. Uh more on the draftwe have. We've talked Reds today a
segment as we do each and everyFriday, with Tom Gallader and uh L
A. Knight, who the megastarin w WE in town tonight for SmackDown.

(01:05:51):
We'll talk to him as well asMoeger. I'll still ahead since he
three to sixty ESPN fifteen thirty CincinnatiSports Station, a service of since Shirts.
Welcome back sincey three sixty ESPN fifteenthirty Cincinnati Sports Station, a service

(01:06:11):
of since the Shirts. A coupleof minutes here Reds Rangers tonight that game
in Arlington, Nathan Eavaldi versus GrahamAshcraft for the Cincinnati Reds at fourteen and
eleven. That game will have firstpitch at eighth five. NFL Draft coverage
back underway at seven o'clock. Roundstwo, rounds three, both getting underway

(01:06:35):
today. We touched on a couple. Not many other surprises in the draft
last night. Six of the firsttwelve picks were quarterbacks. Bo Nicks lands
at number twelve to the Denver BroncosJJ McCarthy, which means our guy,
Taron Blan is no longer a Vikingfan. Right. Well, he said

(01:06:55):
he changed, he moved the goalpost, okay. Last night on Twitter he
said, if Justin Jefferson doesn't signand sign off on this pick, he's
done. Okay. I thought Tarrenwas a man who would stand on business
and just leave the franchise all togetherfor taking McCarthy, But apparently not.
Carolina Panthers, they had the firstpick in the second round. They traded
into the first round to get thelast pick of the first round in Xavier

(01:07:18):
Lagette. Ricky Piersoll goes to theSan Francisco forty nine ers. The response
from CJ. Stroud about that waspretty interesting. Stroud wanted him by the
way. NFL players will be allowedto wear the protective Guardian cap over their
helmet in games this season if theywant to. Interesting. This is a

(01:07:39):
report coming from Sports Illustrated. Accordingto officials in a recent webinar, that's
going to be interesting. Yeah,it's very interesting. Jared Verse. You
know, everyone was watching what theRams do because that has middle name.
What is it Bible? Wow,they had a sixteen million dollar place that
they fixed up for their draft party. Yep, they took Jared Verse right
after the Bengal took Amarius Memes memshBear's got Caleb Williams and Romadonza at one

(01:08:05):
and nine shock of the first round. Michael Pennix Junior to the Atlanta Falcons.
Let's break, let's come back.We've talked Burrow Ellida of the Cruz
megastars in this city, the megastarof the WWE's in town for the WWE
draft tonight SmackDown at Heritage Bank Center. We'll talk to l a night when

(01:08:26):
we get back. ESPN fifteen thirtyCincinnati Sports Station. Tony Pike here with
my friends at Tried. This isPennstation East Coast Subs since e three to
sixty about Cincinnati from Cincinnatis, Sponsoredin part by Pennstation East co Subs.
Handcrafted hot grilled subs, fresh cutfries and lemonade. It's all about good
taste. Pennstation East Coast Subs orderonline. Today. This is ESPN fifteen

(01:08:49):
thirty Cincinnati Sports Station. Welcome backour three Cincy three sixty on ESPN fifteen
thirty Cincinnati Sports Station. WWE's intown, Rick Uchino's in the building.
I was gonna say, forget thisNFL draft right for what it was a
big night for. Since you havethat that's happening in Detroit, let's talk

(01:09:09):
about what's happening in Cincinnati. You'vebeen on the forefront of getting big time
wrestling nights, pay per views,nights like tonight. I'm trying into Cincinnati.
I'm trying and you get night oneof the the WWE Draft. Who
better to kick things off with usan hour number three than ww's Magastar.
We've got Joe Burrow in town,We've got Ellie de la Cruz in town,
and a guy that got his startright here in Cincinnati has joining us

(01:09:30):
right now. L a night La. What's going on? Man oh man?
Somebody knows the history there. Yeah, this is my wrestling home.
I started to hear a long timeago, and now we're coming full circle
to do Is it had its banktoday? Yeah? I was gonna say,
can you kind of just take usthrough that because you grew up in
Maryland and then I think it waslike back in like two thousand and three,
you know, you pick up andyou move to Cincinnati to begin your

(01:09:55):
wrestling training at the Heartland Wrestling Association. Like what what what was that the
whole process like for you? Whatwas what were things like back in Cincinnati
forty at that time? Well,I tell you what. Financially it was
a struggle. You know, thetwenty year old kids just moving out here.
You know, I didn't have alot going on. I'm trying to

(01:10:15):
work at different you know, goofyjobs and stuff that they were just barely
getting to buy. But you know, I had decided when I was in
college and I was like, Iwas like, you know what, I'm
going to go and try and bea wrestler after college ends. And college
ended early for me, unfortunately dueto financial reasons, and so I went
back home to Maryland for like ayear, and I was trying to figure

(01:10:35):
things out, and you know,I tried to do my homework and figure
out, all, right, wellwhere should I go? That's good?
And I knew that OVW in Louisvillewas WWE's developmental program, and I was
like, well, if WW trusttheir guys to go there, that's where
I want to go. And sothat's where I was dead set on going.
And a friend of mine reached out. She was like, oh,

(01:10:56):
you know what, HWA hunting wrestlingand Cincinnati also has that, and I
was like, eh, yeah,we'll think about it. And I picked
up and just you know, Igot in my truck at the time and
drove all the way out of here. I think it was like eleven hours
or nine hours somebody to get fromMary with the Louisville. I got there,
checked it out, wasn't quite feelingit, drove two hours back here
to Cincinnati. It's all the place, liked it, dug it, and

(01:11:19):
I was just like, all right, well, let's start making the moves
to get out here. And maybefive six months later, I drove myself
out here. And the problem wasI had probably, like I'm gonna say,
six hundred bucks as I was drivingout here to my name, and
it was enough for me to paymy first month's rent, have a couple

(01:11:40):
bucks left over until I started working, and everything well. I stopped at
WVU, where I used to goto college, and I took some friends
with me. I blew all thatmoney on the web. I like,
though I got here, I gothere with no money. I had to
tell the girl who I was payingthe rent to, who lived in the
house. I was like, alright, just give me a few weeks or

(01:12:00):
a month or whatever the time was. So I was already behind the eighthall
from day one. You go fromthat moment to Night one of arguably the
biggest WrestleMania of all time in Philadelphia. You're wrestling against AJ Styles. You
make your WrestleMania debut, and Igot to stop you for one second.
Night two actually the bet two.Don't worry about nine two. You beat

(01:12:23):
AJ Styles. But from where youjust started you mentioned having no money when
you get here, to being onthe biggest stage of the mall and the
biggest WrestleMania of all getting a win. What does that full circle moment mean
in your career. Well, there'sa lot of different things to go into
that, because I mean you talkabout just as just a long, long,
long road, a long windy roadto get here, and even just

(01:12:45):
thinking back to just a year ago, and you know, being sent out
there to go you know you can'thave an la WrestleMania without La Night and
everything's in place to do something.At my first WrestleMania in LA last year,
and what three or four day yearsbefore, I think I was told,
oh, you know, that's that'sbeen scrapped. Now we can't do
that. So you know that thatwas a big heartbreak. And so now

(01:13:08):
to come just a year later andonly a few hours up the road from
where I grew up in Maryland,where there's a lot of friends and family
and all that kind of stuff,we're able to come to WrestleMania on the
fortieth anniversary and see me do itbig. It's huge because I mean again
you talk about the years of juststruggling and being broken. Sometimes it did
it to myself, like I toldyou, just stop you. But I

(01:13:28):
mean, you know, there areplenty of times where it's just it's a
hard business to leave yourself free enoughto go and do the shows but also
do the training and make sure thatlike you're learning the business and all that,
but also then have enough time togo work a full time job to
make sure that you're making money.So it was a struggle for a long
long time, and so now forit to finally be paying off after all

(01:13:50):
these years. It's amazing. Andthen that that culmination of being in front
of was it seventy thousand plus peopleor something in Philadelphia. It's insane and
in a lot of ways, Ishouldn't even be here. Yeah, I
was one of those seventy thousand inPhiladelphia dealing with the elements not exactly something
that pro wrestlers have to do awhole lot. But Lincoln Financial Field did

(01:14:13):
not have a roof, and thatwind show was nasty? What was that?
Luckily you were on night too,where it was a little bit warmer,
But you know what was that like? Wrestling out in in an open
air stadium where the weather was notexactly cooperating. Well, it's funny because
I heard about it, but Ididn't feel it. I think I was
so damn focused so about doing Ididn't even notice it. Because I've wrestled

(01:14:35):
in some places where there was noheat. When I used to wrestle here,
actually, we used to wrestle thisold opera theater up in Middletown here,
like north of Cincinnati. Yeah,it was called the Sword Opera House
and the place had no heat.So we're like middle of December I'm in
full sweats with a jacket on jumpingrope, just trying to stay cool before

(01:14:57):
I rip all that stuff off andbasically go out and wrestle my underwear with
you know what a mouse of that. It's so in that regard, I
guess I've done it many times,and to this point where it was in
Philadelphia, I didn't even notice it. I was so jazzed and just so
ready to do my thing, Ididn't even notice the temperature at all.
I've had a chance and a privilegeof playing professional sports and the feeling you

(01:15:20):
get when you have a crowd behindyou, or even a crowd that's going
against you. You're unbelievable in thering, but you're also unbelievable with a
microphone in your hands. What isthat feeling for you as a professional wrestler
to have a crowd of you know, from fifteen, ten thousand to seventy
thousand, literally eating out of thepalm of your hands when you're on a

(01:15:40):
microphone. I don't think I canquite describe it. I mean, it's
damn near like a drug. Imean, you know, there's so many
years where it's like, you know, i'd be in front of a crowd
of two hundred people at five hundredpeople, and it's like, man,
I know I can do the samething with the bigger crowds. I just
got to get in front of them. And for me, it was like
once I finally got out there,I started doing my thing. You know,

(01:16:02):
when you're brand new out there,it's like, all right, I'm
gonna go out and do my thing. I know it's gonna be different.
People are gonna take a little bitof time they pick up on this,
but once they get on board,my god, it's gonna take off.
And that's pretty much what happened.You know, early last year, things
just started to pick up and Icould feel it, and I could see
what was happening out there. Icould hear what was happening out there.
And you start to get that andshe's like, all right, I need

(01:16:23):
more of that. Let's let's keepthat going. How do we make this
bigger? How do we make itbetter? And it's just trying to continuously
evolve, which is a lot ofpressure, can sometimes be some stress,
but at the same time, yougo out there and a lot of times
you improvise. Again, we're comingback to that word that improvised, and
when you're improvising, it seems toreally kind of make things work and organic

(01:16:46):
as opposed to just you know.I got a bunch of prefab stuff here
that I'm gonna remember in your site. Is WWE's megastr LA Night. Yeah,
thank you for everybody joining us hereon ESPN fifteen thirty. I'm Ricky
Chino tagging in with Tony Pike hereWWE Draft tonight Heritage Bank Center in Cincinnati.

(01:17:08):
WrestleMania is in the rearview mirror.You have been on this meteoric rise,
and I think there are so manyof us LA Night fans who are
ready to see this rise take itto the next level. A lot of
that's going to depend on where youland in the draft. I'm assuming it's
like years in the past where alot of the superstars don't know where they're

(01:17:29):
going to go until they're actually chosenon the draft. Is there a landing
spot that you particularly want to goto or does it not matter much to
you? In one way, itdoesn't matter at all, But at the
same time, there is part ofme it just prefers to stance back down.
But at the end of the day. Wherever I am, I'm going
to do my thing, and youtalk about taking it to the next level.

(01:17:54):
For me, it's in twenty twentythree. I built a foundation.
Now at this point it's time tobuild the legacy. And I guess the
resume, and so we talk aboutthe next level. The next level for
me is championships, and that nextlevel's achievements, things like that. And
so we'll see where twenty twenty fourgets us, whether it's Raw or SmackDown
or anything. I could end upanywhere. Everybody could end up anywhere.

(01:18:15):
Like you said tonight on SmackDown,that draft starts, We've got four rounds
is going to be one I thinksixteen picks, and then Monday we continue
with more picks, and then whoknows, the whole deck is shuffled.
At that point, I've got toask. December of last year, you
received a key to the city inHagerstown, Maryland, your hometown. Yeah.

(01:18:38):
What does one do with the keyto their own city? Well,
well, yeah, a whole lot. Look, I'm basically running around anytime
I go home now, I basicallyif somebody gives me a little gough,
I go, Look, I havethis key I'm able to do anything they
want. Yeah, no, awhole lot of nothing. Actually, I'm

(01:19:00):
trying to get this thing set upin a proper frame and everything. They
gave me the key. It's beautifullittle key. They gave me like this
kind of certificate and everything, youknow, the presentation. I'm you know,
at this point, it's just allright, well, let's get this
thing hung up and a plaque andyou know, on the wall, and
just that. I mean, socool to even have that happen, because
I didn't even think that was athing, didn't even know that was an
option. And out of nowhere,they were like, oh, yeah,
the mayor would like to get methe key of the city. I was

(01:19:23):
like, oh, okay, great, yeah, let's do it. They
go all right, yeah, we'regonna do it at town Square. I'm
like, look, that's whatever youguys want to do. And then they're
like, well we should move itto a bigger place, and I was
like, don't do that. You'regonna this is gonna be embarrassing. Nobody's
gonna show up. I thought therewere gonna be like ten people there,
and we ended up getting there,and I mean they came near probably seven
eight tonred people there. I couldn'tbelieve it. Wow, h l A.

(01:19:45):
I'm I'm really happy that this ishappening today because the last time that
I had the opportunity to talk toyou was at the WrestleMania Press junket in
Philly. I was in line,uh, and then all of a sudden,
you and aj Styles decided to youguys just started to beat the hell
out of each other in front ofall of us media marks. I've never
seen a swarm of people medium moveso fast in my life to try to

(01:20:10):
get that digital content, uh,to throw that up on Twitter? My
question there? Did you set thatup? Who set that up? To
have us sitting next to each other? I shouldn't believe that. I have
no idea into that room. Iwalked into that room and I said,
they're really going to have us justjust close to each other. I said,
there's a chance we're gonna have tofight here at some point. And
I don't know if you saw thathe tossed the stool over to him,

(01:20:33):
but once he tossed that stool over, I was like, all right,
it's on now, and so wejust went yeah, and like I knew
that wasn't supposed to happen because thereare no There were no cameras there obviously
except for the cell phones, andeverybody was there, but you guys laid
into each other. He left witha bloody nose. He picked you up
and slammed you down on what wasbasically a concrete floor with like a quarter

(01:20:55):
inch of padding on it like that. I can't imagine how that felt.
That was great, so wonderful.No, no, it was. Yeah,
it was pretty rough. But it'spart of that unpredictability that I think
has really added to this new eraof professional wrestling. We've been hearing that
a lot new era wrestling is coolagain, and if somebody like The Rock

(01:21:18):
is saying it, it must betrue, and it is to be in
all honesty, Like, I'm reallyenjoying the product lately. But you know,
for those people maybe fell out withprofessional wrestling, who maybe want to
go to the show tonight because there'sstill a couple hundred tickets that are available
right now, you know, whyis the product so hot right now?
Why is wrestling cool again? Well? Look, I don't know if I

(01:21:40):
can put my finger on that.I don't know if anybody can really put
the finger on it. But Imean there's a certain feel in my opinion,
the wrestling business in general. I'mnot just talking WWE, but in
general, I think has got alittle a little goofy in a sense in
like the last ten years or so, where there's a lot of there's maybe
a little too much tongue in cheek, Joki joky whatever. And for me,

(01:22:03):
it was like, when I getup there, I want to be
I'm gonna talk some trash and maybeI might sprinkle a little bit of haha
in there, but for the mostpart, I'm gonna be intense. I'm
gonna tell you what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna come in and stamp Hill
and that's pretty much what I'm gonnado. And I think that that kind
of thing resonates. And when youbring in guys like The Rock who can
do that, or Sena and whatnot, and you know, The Rock's gonna

(01:22:26):
talk about how it's it's wrestling's coolagain, and I'll agree with him,
but I mean, I ain't gonnagive him the credit. Look, I
can't take away from that. He'sdefinitely come in and added something to the
product, but at the end ofthe day, wrestling was getting cool and
we were selling out before he startedshowing back up again. So I'm gonna
take a little bit of credit forthat as a matter of fact, because
I can't tell you the amount ofpeople who come up to me, guys

(01:22:47):
you're usually maybe the forties fifties,and they go, you know what,
I don't watch wrestling and so on. You got me back into it.
There's something about what you do,and I say, okay, thanks sir.
I appreciate that. And I've heardthat a lot, and I think
that I've also maybe influence some peopleto maybe also change the way they do
things a little bit. Look,I'm getting a little bit full of myself
right now, but let's just goahead and be outest and take a little

(01:23:08):
bit of credit here. But Ican't take all the credit. I love.
I think wrestling has gotten a lotcooler in the last year or so.
I think I'm a big part ofthat. I think Cody Road is
a big part of that. Ithink USO, it's the bloodline. All
that stuff's a big part of that. And at this point we just continue
doing it. Nobody can put thefinger on why it is, but We're
going to keep on doing do beforewe let you go again, we appreciate

(01:23:28):
your time today, Cincinnati. Wewe love wrestling here in Cincinnati. We've
pushed to get bigger events here inCincinnati. And you bring the draft of
Cincinnati. What's the crowd like foryou in Cincinnati? Can you get to
a town and say, Okay,this is a wrestling city and do you
feel that when you come to Cincinnati. Man, I gotta be honest,

(01:23:48):
this is my first time wrestling backin Cincinnati in a long while. I'm
gonna say probably since twenty seventeen.I think it came back to do like
a h w A reunion events,and I don't think I've done anything since
then, So I can't believe that, you know, being on the road
here. I think Rawl might havedone a couple of live and that's something

(01:24:09):
here. But with SmackDown, Ihave not had a chance to come here
yet. So this is a big, full circle kind of return to my
wrestling home moment for me tonight.So I'll tell you after tonight's over,
I'll be able to give you abetter gauge over that. We cannot thank
you enough. I know it's abusy day for your time, looking forward
to SmackDown tonight. Once again,that's rick Yuccino. I'm Tony Pike.

(01:24:30):
This is l a night there wego. Appreciate your time, Thank you
so much for joining us. Enjoytonight and enjoy the run. Well agree,
thank you boys, appreciate it.Yes, sir, that's great stuff.
La night. Ww megastar in Cincinnatitonight for SmackDown. We've got to
get to a break, Tommy Gof FC Cincinnati. We'll join us when

(01:24:51):
we get back. ESPN fifteen thirtyCincinnati Sports Station. A service at Penn
Station. Now your chance to winone thousand dollars this nationwide keyword on our
website. Fun. That's fun.Enter it now, yep, welcome back
as we move along our number threeSincy three sixty ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports

(01:25:13):
Station. Thanks to our friends atPenn Station. The Orange and Blue back
in action this weekend after a threepoint trip to Atlanta last weekend. Let's
talk about FC Cincinnati. Let's doso with Tom Gallairder, the voice of
f C Cincinnati. Tommy G.What's going on, hey, fellas?
How are you? Tony? Goodto hear from you the sun is shining.

(01:25:35):
Life is good. It's gonna bea beautiful day tomorrow. Finnis finally
back at home and they're home witha wins, So everything's good for me.
How are you, I'm great,I'm great. Let's let's let's talk
about the three points, because wespoke going into that match about how they
needed to find a way to getthree, they needed to find a way
to put more goals on the board. And lo and behold, they start

(01:25:58):
a little bit slow, they allbehind one nil. But then it's the
captain. It's the leader of thisteam, Muciana Acosta with a goal with
an assist to help Cincinnati to atwo to one victory over Atlanta United and
a huge three points for the squad. Yeah. Look, I think that
the key is the team, youknow, never put their head down when

(01:26:20):
they trailed one nil in this match, and you know, I think,
well, the goals didn't come untilabout an hour in. There were opportunities
in the first half, and therewere chances to go up on the road
and they weren't finished or you know, Atlanta was able to snuff them out
defensively. But as the match wentalong, and I think, what the
key was Atlanta scores Thiago Almada ona classic Almado shot to go up one

(01:26:45):
nil, and then they have aquarter kick, so good opportunity for Atlanta
to double their lead and really takecontrol with an hour left, and they
decided to play it short and Lucoreads it perfectly and they get on the
fast break and Luca Oreano gets hisfirst of the year and it's one to
one. But never in those fewmoments in which they trailed did the heads
go down. Was the team feelingsorry for themselves? And they get a

(01:27:08):
goal bang, and then DeAndre Yetlin'sfinds Lucian Alcosta and it's two to one,
and then FCS Sandy is a fantasticjob of closing it out. So
I think the grit determination of theteam to get a result of the day
was fantastic. And I thought thewing backs were great, and I thought,
I've sin Sandy got a very deserveperformance on the road, and I
thought it was one of the morecomplete games we've seen from them all season.

(01:27:29):
Yeah, I look at the firsthalf and it's zero zero, so
you're thinking again at the break asyou're watching, and this team just struggling
to find the offense. And whenAtlanta goes up at home, you think,
man, is this one of thosemoments that maybe they hang their heads
a little bit, instead they pushforward. They scored two. I agree
with you. I think not onlydoes it show from a win standpoint,

(01:27:51):
but I think it shows the resolveof the team and the locker room that
they have with FC Cincinnati, No, I agree, And I think the
character. I mean, look,since the day that Patt Newton was hired,
he said he wanted to change someof the character in the dressing room,
some of the culture around the teamafter three straight losing seasons. He
has certainly done that. And Ithink that that speaks volumes to the players,

(01:28:15):
to the coaching staff, to everybodyinvolved. But yeah, there was
never, you know, any doubtfrom the team. And you know last
week Atlanta, the week before,I should say, Atlanta led to nil
at home against Philadelphia. They concededtwice and that one ended in a draw.
So it was a little bit ofdeja vu for those guys. And
it was deja vu, as RayGattis pointed out on the air with me,

(01:28:38):
going back a year to the gamewhen he played in Atlanta in twenty
twenty three and in the same typeof story, except Atlanta scored really early
in the tenth minute to go upone nail and the next she since Ana
scored twice in the final fifteen minutes. But Luciano Acosta has owned Atlanta over
the course of his career. Hecontinued that that ownership in this game,

(01:28:59):
and yeah, there resolve the grit. The determination has been really really impressive.
And you know when you continue theconversation and talk about, look,
f C Cincinnati hasn't played their bestyet this year. We're nine games into
a thirty four game, very longseason, and you're four two and three
and you're like, Okay, well, I think we saw some glimpses of
what this team can look like movingforward on Saturday night in Atlanta. It's

(01:29:25):
crazy because if you would follow alongwith this team, you would think the
sky was falling. And you lookup after the win and they're sitting in
third by themselves in the Eastern Conferencestandings. Inner Miami's in first with a
team, but they've played ten gamesjust to FC Cincinnati's nine, So it's
not as bad as I think maybepeople have reacted to the way it's been
and now you talk about them findingtheir stride. What about the health standpoint

(01:29:48):
of this team? Where are theyat from a health standpoint nine matches in,
Yeah, pretty good shape overall.Roman Celtana working his way back from
injury training with the full team thisweek, so certainly, uh, there's
an opportunity. As Pat Noonan acknowledgedyesterday that he'll be available for selection tomorrow.

(01:30:09):
If today's training he got through everythingokay, then potentially Roman is available
for selection and starting in the matchfor the Orange and Blue, which would
be great. But al caned itdid great last week and made some really
important saves against his former team,So you know, when you're in a
really good spot with those two guysmanaging the goalkeeper position. I think whenever
Roman is one hundred percent cleared andready that he is the starter, because

(01:30:32):
he's earned that over the last twoand a half years. But you're fortunate
to have a guy like al Camthen you feel really really good about starting
in his stead. So Roman veryvery close, if not ready, we'll
find out tomorrow when the lineup cardcomes out about six point thirty. And
then Nick Haglin picked up the knockand if you were watching the game,
and certainly Ray and I felt itin the booth in the moment when Nick

(01:30:53):
went down, and it was alittle bit of a chaotic situation because Nick
went down the midfield and it wasn'tclear how or why. And and then
Miles Robinson took a knee of thechest. He goes down to the box
making the defensive play at the otherend, and in that moment, you
have two center backs down and Murphygets caught over to the dugout, and
you saw we had a monitor inthe booth, and you saw the look

(01:31:15):
on Nick's face coming off the field, and your heart just sunk, because
of course, he just worked hisway back from that terrible hamstring injury.
He went to London and had thesurgery, and you know, has only
appeared a handful of times this season, and you kind of felt the emotion
of the hometown hero right and Cincinnatikid coming off the pitch, like feeling

(01:31:36):
that maybe it was something serious.Now. I thought it was a great
sign. He was back on thebench in the second half of the ice
on his knee, and the hopeafter the game in the dressing room was
that it was just a bone bruise. He passed all his scans. He'll
be out for this one tomorrow,but the hope is then he's back next
week in Orlando. So that isreally really good news that nothing serious,
just a bone bruise for Nick andwe pushed forward. But otherwise, I

(01:31:59):
mean j Santo still nursing a bitof injury. Overall, this team healthwise
in a good spot for tomorrow nightat TQL Stadium in comes Colorado. This
is a team also four to twoand three on the season. Yeah,
fifteen points in the Western Conference.What does FC Cincinnati need to do against
Colorado to put him back together?Back to back three point results that could

(01:32:25):
help this team obviously move up furtherin the East. But a good team
in Colorado coming in, Yeah,absolutely, Tony. And it's kind of
crazy because if you look at thismatchup a month ago, you're saying,
Okay, this is a great homegame and probably one of the easier home
games of the year for FC Cincinnati. But now fast forward to the end
of April and Chris Armis, whohas taken over this team, you remember

(01:32:45):
his name from when he was withRed Bulls. He has his team informed.
They've won three of four and theironly draw in that stretch of four
matches was against Miami. So alot of new guys on the roster,
some familiar faces. They're they're kindof fun on all cylinders and feeling really
confident. Ten of their fourteen goalsthis season have come in their last four
games, so they're averaging two anda half goals across this unbeaten stretch.

(01:33:08):
So don't look now, but theRapids are playing well. Especially Cincinnati's gonna
have a very tough test at TQLStadium against the team they've never beaten in
Cincinnati. They've beat them for thefirst time ever last year when they went
out to Colorado. So I thinkthat the key is to keep the pressure
on offensively, to continue to havethose transition moments like what we saw in

(01:33:28):
the goals against Atlanta last week.The wingbacks I thought were fantastic, and
Luca Oreano and DeAndre Yedlin the posttwo continue to be successful and you continue
to get the chance creation from yourstrikers. And they switched up the pairing
last week with Kubo and Corey Baird, and we'll see what that pairing looks
like in this match against Colorado.But the key to success for this team,

(01:33:50):
because we know they're going to begood defensively every day, is what
they're doing in the attack. AndI liked what I saw from the team
in attack. I think if theycan carry that forward in this game against
Colorado, then they put themselves ina very good spot to be successful tomorrow
night, to get the Fortress backto feeling like the Fortress. Right.
We we've talked about that in thepast week, that the home results haven't

(01:34:11):
been exactly where folks expect them tobe, especially the way they played last
year. And I think that tomorrowand I can go a long way to
that, especially with two tough roadgames ahead on the schedule. Love it
awesome stuff. Tell me how manytimes have you seen Bruce Springsteen? Ten?
I think? Is okay? Mo? Is that twenty one? Mosa
twenty one, and there is asales member in this building that's at forty

(01:34:34):
one. What do you think yourfinal number will be? Well, that's
a little Is there anyone you've seenmore than Springsteen? Or you would see
more than Springsteen? Okay? No? I mean if Outcast didn't break up
of years ago, okay, youknow, and they Okay, if Outcast
is shooing ten years and then itmight be up there. But big point,

(01:34:58):
Draydon. Yeah, I think lastin eight maybe when they played a
music festil in Denver. I thinkthat was the last time that I saw
them in maybe seven it's or yeah, it's been a while. I mean
whenever whenever our cast was was lastNow, it wasn't that long ago.
It had to be maybe ten yearsago that that I saw them in Denver.
But no, I mean great,this show in Columbus was unbelievable.

(01:35:21):
Mo and I've actually done one together, okay in Pittsburgh. And do you
know who was supposed to go withus that one? We had an extra
ticket? Who told us to buyhim a ticket? Figure got Brian Kelly?
No way, we he agreed,and then he didn't go. I'm
gonna ask Mo about that that youshould because it's an amazing long story that

(01:35:44):
that will take you on a wildvoyage that we can't do here there.
But Brian was supposed to go withus. He baid he did pay for
his ticket. But the funniest partabout it is, and this is,
I mean obviously fifteen years ago atthis point, right that that. We
went to that concert and we laughedwhen we got there because you know,
this is back in the day Ticketmasteror whatever you buy your tickets, they

(01:36:08):
like may want them two years sure, and it's not you don't necessarily have
the access like you can go onall these apps now and you could see
like precisely the view and where yourseat is. And what was the old
arena called in Pittsburgh where the Penguinsplay, Oh, Melon Arena or something
along those lines, right, itwas old and now they have the new
one there. I haven't been thenew one yet, but it was.

(01:36:28):
It was really old. And wegot there and we were in the top
row of the upper deck. Oh, he would have lost his mind,
were like, can you imagine?Brian Kelly was with us, and we
walked him up to the two Ufifteen literally like we could jump into the
catwalk if we wanted to. Andbut but that was a great show.
But I think of the ten I'vebeen to, uh, Saturday Night was

(01:36:51):
one of my favorites. And oneof my friends was there and he was
on his like fifty fifth man.When you're dedicated, you're you're left in
I get it. Uh, Butdefinitely yes about that story about the Pittsburgh
trip and who took Brian's tickets?Love it? I love it, Tommy.
Thank you so much for your timeeach and every Friday. Uh get

(01:37:13):
three tomorrow night. We'll do thisagain next week, all right, can't
wait. Thank you, sir.That's Tom Gletter, the voice of FC
Cincinnati, FC Cincinnati and Colorado.Tomorrow night, tqu al Stateim. You
can hear the game right here onESPN fifteen thirty. This is ESPN fifteen
thirty. We'll be back Quick HitsLocks of the Night with just mentioned Moeger
on ESPN fifteen thirty. Thanks toPenn Station. It's time for Cincy three

(01:37:35):
sixty Quick Hits. Ben quick Hitsis right, it's a really quick hits.
Yes, thanks to our friends atPenn Station. Cincy three to sixty.
Moager getting ready at Twin Peaks today, Twin Peaks and west Chester Peaks.
West Chester, mo. Please tellthe listeners what's coming up on your
show this afternoon. We are goingto do an Amarius Mims pros versus CON's

(01:37:58):
list. We're gonna do that,and then I'm going to ask a very
key question. Also, I'm gonnaask a question about what we want the
Bengals to be as they relate toplayers like Trey Hendrickson. We'll look ahead
to a rounds two and three ofthe draft. Our buddy James or Pinamarius
mens As supposed to speak here injust a few minutes, and so the
idea is we're going to carry thatlive. We have a lot to discuss.

(01:38:19):
I know, we don't have alot of time. There are two
things I want to talk with youguys about, sure, okay. Number
one is this, Let's say Iwere to go to the draft. Let's
say I were to go to Detroitand I go up to the draft and
I have on like a Bengals hoodieand like a Bengals hat. Would I
be allowed in? Yes, becauseit seemed I don't think so, because

(01:38:41):
it seems to me like to bea fan at the draft you have to
have apparatuses on your face, youhave to have a mass and if that's
how you are, fine, I'msure nothing against those folks, but like
I get the sense, like afan like me, just like a lot
of people like you, but they'renot in the front row. The NFL
hand picks the super fans to putthem in front of the camera that gob

(01:39:05):
of people behind all them standing outside. I think you're more of your blue
collar fan. I understand question numbertwo because you guys were talking about this.
Someone walks up to you and takesoff your hat and total stranger's happening.
I turned the lights off. Ifit's someone I know, like,
all right, funny dude, hatback, but really not funny. You're
just kind of like playing it off, like all right, I'm on slide.

(01:39:26):
Yeah, if it's someone I don'tknow, Like, if you're you
start here in a couple of minutesand someone in the restaurant comes up and
flips your hat off, yeah,that's like I probably grabbed the arm and
be like, what do you thinkyou're doing? And that's only the sort
of thing you do if you're reallyrich, yes, and significantly older than
the person wearing complete and really stupid. The owner of the Carolina Panthers is

(01:39:47):
really lucky. Would he do thatto one of his players? No?
I hope not hope not for you. Will You'll have all the MEMS coverage.
Reds play tonight Last Nights Mimsy Mems. The Lakers lost the same way
they've lost probably the last twelve timesto the Nuggets. Yes, I'm watching.
I watched the game. Now I'mwatching Charles Barklay say it's like one

(01:40:08):
fifteen. Barkley's like, can weget look like where we have to wait
for Lebron to talk because can canyou shower and get to the podium?
Right? Lebron comes to the podium, They're down three to zero. They've
lost twelve games in a row ofthe Nugget and he says, it's just
a game. At the end ofthe day, It's just a game,
right, Does Kobe mj or anyof the other greats that we talked about
or put Lebron up there with,do they ever handle a loss like that?

(01:40:30):
No? Not public last loss wasthese refs after they blew a twenty
point lead, but it was aref's fault because of call in the third
quarter. Last night. Just agame. But I also took that as
like they expected he expected to lose. That's what it looked like in the
second half. He expected to lose. There was no fight from that team,
right, whereas those other guys.I'm gonna bet and look, Lebron's

(01:40:51):
great, but I'm gonna bet withthose guys. It was rare they played
a professional basketball game where they expectedto lose. My guess is part because
of the team around him, andpart because of the opponent, and part
because of the track record. Hewent into that game expecting to lose.
And when that's your attitude, Ithink, I think then the attitude he

(01:41:12):
reflected in the post game is almostto be expected. Any other stat right
now crazier to start the season inbaseball than what Mike Trout is doing leading
Major League Baseball and home runs.He is awesome and at the same time
best player nobody has watched. Atthe same time, He's got home runs
in thirteen right handed kid, thirteenRBIs and ten home runs. Is almost

(01:41:34):
impossible to do, really hard todo. Uh. It's why RBI's should
not be tracked. It's a badstat. Mike Trout is the best player
that nobody has watched. It's incredible. How many times have you watched?
I know they were here last week. Enough watched because he's He's been in
the postseason once and they got sweptin three. So the biggest stage has
eluded Mike Trout, which is whythe Red should trade for him. Stage

(01:41:56):
isn't eluding us. Your stage isset at Twin Peaks. Let's get a
lock. But you were here.We did, presented by Cincy Shirts.
Visit either store in Hyde Park oron Dixie Highway and Fort Mitchell and always
online at sincey shirts dot com.Now let's make you some money. Sons
have not been competitive. No,they're favored by four and a half tonight.

(01:42:18):
Something's fishy, which means I stayaway, good job. I like
the MAVs minus four and a half, okay, I like their defensive effort.
And uh, before you give yourlocks, has anyone approached you at
Twin Peaks today yet? Oh?Well I got not at Twin Peaks again,
but I just got here. Somebodydid come up to me at the
Holy Grail last night, and afterthe Bengals took the pick, he wasn't

(01:42:40):
happy, and I said, well, who would you have taken? And
his response was that wide receiver,the one that whose family came from Baton
Rouge, That that wide receiver.Oh okay, all right, got what
do you like Pacers? Okay?And a half? First home playoff game?

(01:43:01):
Okay in years? Love it?Tonight Game three against Milwaukee Helliburton hasn't
looked like himself, but honest,they're kind of the better team. Yeah.
Hear more about that and plenty morein the next three hours. Mose
at Twin Peaks. We're done.Thanks to our listeners, callers, talkbackers,
sponsors, Charlie Goldsmith, La Night, Tommy G. Mowager, everyone

(01:43:24):
else that's made this show possible.Have a great weekend, have a great
Friday. ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sportsstation, The Moegger Show. Next