Cincy 360 Hour 1 -- 9/24/25

Tony and Austin talk Reds, Bengals going after a FA QB, and more on ESPN 1530!

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
This is Skyline Chile Cincy three to sixty about Cincinnati
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Speaker 2 (00:21):
Good afternoon, Happy Wednesday. Welcome in the latest edition here
of Cincy three sixty. You're listening on the home of
the Bengals, ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports Station. A service
here and now our number one of our good friends
at Skyline Chile. Anytime you're feeling good and hungry, it's
always Skyline Time. Thanks for joining us. Look forward to
you being a part of the show today. Five one, three, seven,
four nine, fifteen thirty. That's the number for you to

(00:42):
call in to be a part of the show. If not,
use the iHeartRadio app, hit that microphone button, leave us
a talkback. We'll get to those talkbacks in our number
two today. Speaking of our number two, that's going to
kick off with our good friend Chris Welsh. We'll talk
reds with Chris and normally our Thursday guest, but because
the Bengals play on Monday, their schedule gets moved around. Normally,

(01:05):
Zach Taylor would would speak today, That'll happen tomorrow. John
Sharon normally joins us tomorrow, So that's gonna happen today.
That makes sense. Chris Walsh at one o'clock, John Sharon
at two o'clock eight is e Sports covering the Cincinnati Bengals.
In between all of that, We've got a lot more
on the Cincinnati Bengals to discuss, including the quarterback conversation

(01:26):
that we didn't get a chance to dive into much yesterday.
It's a huge college football weekend, some big marquee games happening,
and we'll talk you see Kansas a little bit more tomorrow.
A big one for FC Cincinnati on Sunday, hosting Orlando City.
They are two points behind Philly and the race for
the supporter shield in the top overall seat in the

(01:48):
Eastern Conference standings. We'll discuss that. We have a ton,
a ton to discuss with the Cincinnati Reds from last
night and moving forward, and I am pumped. Austin, do
you have plans for Friday? Yeah, Friday morning, seven twelve am.
Do you have any plans Friday morning?

Speaker 3 (02:07):
At seven twelve am, Yes, I don't think I have
anything scheduled. Why, well, that's when the first grouping goes
out in the Ryder Cup. Oh, Beth page Black.

Speaker 2 (02:20):
I am. I always look forward to the Ryder Cup.
The way the European media is handling this right now
has me even more excited for the Ryder Cup. Someone
was interviewing Tommy Fleetwood yesterday and they asked, Tommy Fleetwood,
do you have any fear for your family's safety as
they follow you around the course because of the raucous environment.

(02:40):
This is the Ryder Cup. This is what it's about,
the pride of the Red, white and blue on home soil.
It is one of the best events of the year,
not just golf wise, but sports wise. In my opinion,
if you're an American and you bleed Red, White and

(03:01):
Blue seven twelve Friday morning, that first tea box, that
place will be going nuts with USA chance and there's
a ton a ton of storylines that will surround the
Ryder Cup. Of course, USA has come out on the
wrong side now for a couple of years in a row,
so a big one starting on Friday. Yes, that's Page Black. Now,

(03:23):
I do wonder how racous the crowd will be Austin.
I look today, I think, like a beer, just a
beer is like nineteen dollars. That's ridiculous. Tickets where seven
hundred and fifty bucks starting?

Speaker 3 (03:34):
Don't the players like? The players don't even get paid,
do they?

Speaker 2 (03:36):
Well this year they do. Oh and a lot of
the players are donating that back to different charities and initiatives.
But I think each player gets like a two hundred
thousand dollars stipend. Why are they charging so much for beer? Exactly?

Speaker 3 (03:50):
I don't get it.

Speaker 2 (03:51):
It's a seven fifty for the cheapest ticket, twenty bucks
per beer? Oh boy, yeah, oh kidding. Tell you what, though,
that scene on Friday morning is going to be unbelievable.
I cannot wait to watch the Ryder Cup all weekend long.
The MLB slate last night Austin was not kind to

(04:13):
the Cincinnati Red Legs. We'll discuss the loss to the
Pittsburgh Pirates, but on top of that, Shoheo Tani was
fantastic for another start last night for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Unfortunately,
the bullpen, as they say, taking on water right now.
For the Dodgers, the bullpen of the Dodgers came in

(04:36):
and abruptly gave up a four nothing lead, and the
Diamondbacks scored three in the seventh, two and the ninth.
They beat the Dodgers five to four. And if that
wasn't bad enough to make things tighten up just a
little bit, the New York Mets last night at Wrigley
Field erased a five to one deficit and came back

(05:01):
and beat the Chicago Cubs. And all of a sudden, Austin,
all that talk about controlling your own destiny, you can
throw that out the window, because the Reds are now
tied with the Arizona Diamondbacks, who are both looking up
now at the New York Mets with five games remaining.
Five games remaining, doesn't help that the Cubs have now

(05:22):
lost five in a row. Could use them winning maybe
the next two against the Mets. Good for nothing, Chicago Cubs, yep,
win a game unbelievable, especially when you're up five to one.
So not a good night for the wild Card. How
about the American League? What's going on right now, Austin.
The Yankees clinched their playoff berth. They're still in line.

(05:44):
By the way, there is still a shot that the
Yankees can catch the Toronto Blue Jays. They are one
game behind them in the American League East. The Seattle
Mariners clinched the playoff spot last night. They can. I
think their magic number is one against the Houston Astros.
They've won five in a row, nine out of ten.
But how about this in Cleveland, with skewball on the mound,

(06:08):
the Cleveland Guardians have completed the comeback. They are now
atop the Detroit Tigers in the American League Central. And
here's what's even more interesting for the Tigers Austin, They're
not in They are now one game clear of the
Houston Astros. You want to talk about playing wrong at
the wrong time. Detroit's lost seven games in a row
and nine out of ten. Houston, which does obviously not

(06:32):
want to win the wild card either, has lost four
games in a row. But things are tightening up all
around Major League Baseball right now. Playoff, playoff baseball, and
a scary moment last night in Cleveland, as Guardian's designated
hitter David Frye squared around to bunt and was hit

(06:53):
square in the face by a ninety nine mile an
hour fastball by Terry scuball scary moment, uh for I
was expected to be hospitalized overnight, but a scary moment
last night in Cleveland. Those teams obviously were both visibly
shaken from that. But what a time in Major League
Baseball and what a moment an opportunity lost last night

(07:18):
at Great American Ballpark. You were there, I was there,
I was Moe was there.

Speaker 3 (07:24):
Doesn't really count for you if you were there at
like if you left it like in the fifth Inny.

Speaker 2 (07:28):
Well, we got we got through the fifth.

Speaker 3 (07:29):
When did you get there? We got through the fifth?
You got there at the fourth and left in the fifth.

Speaker 2 (07:33):
No, we got there just in time to watch uh
Brady Singer get rocked.

Speaker 3 (07:38):
So that was the fourth?

Speaker 2 (07:40):
Was it the fourth inning where he gave up all
the runs? Yeah, well we got there and we got there.
Now they give us a second inning.

Speaker 3 (07:49):
Well, the second inning is o where all the runs
were scored.

Speaker 2 (07:52):
Right the second inning. We were there by the second
and left in the fifth, left at the start of
the sixth. That's crazy. We saw in the bottom of
the first Gavin lucks At a battle of the warning
truck wtp yeaph also didn't help. It was a the
lines for the escalator. It was like a fifteen minute
wait to get up the escalator.

Speaker 3 (08:12):
Yeah, I saw the kids, I went up the I
went up the stairs, up and down the stairs yesterday
due to the escalator lines. That's the only thing that's
a bit of an issue for the three two one
nights is the length of the lines. Yeah, And I
don't know if there's a way for them to improve
that in the future where more of the stands offer that,

(08:33):
I don't know. I don't know if that's even logistically possible.
I would imagine it would be difficult. But that's the
only thing that's like, you know, the lines in the
ballpark sometimes can be a little tough, and that's why
it was a late arriving crowd. That and the traffic
yesterday was miserable. Oh my gosh. I mean, you know,

(08:53):
people don't know we're located right here on seventy one
in Kinwood, right off the exit. The traffic was so
bad when I left here at six o'clock yesterday when
I get off work, and it took me all the
way to seventy five into downtown to go to the game.
And even that was all screwed up. I completely abhorre

(09:13):
six forty starts. Yeah, I was still just gonna like
them a lot more. With the pitch clock and everything
that goes on, these games are so much shorter now
than what they used to be. Every game should start
at seven o'clock.

Speaker 2 (09:26):
Yep.

Speaker 3 (09:27):
That's the perfect middle ground between your normal seven to
ten or seven fifteen. In the sixth forties, every game
should start at seven. Yeah, but that's just me personally.
I know there's people that work early in the mornings
at like the earlier starts in school, and I get old.

Speaker 2 (09:40):
We were eating dinner last night at like five point fifteen,
and I looked at Mayor and I'm like, screw it,
we gotta take the I gotta take the kids down
there tonight, like this is this is a playoff atmosphere.
Mayor didn't go. She's like, I'm not going down there.
It's too late of a notice. Whatever. So I I
managed to get all three kids to the game. The

(10:01):
traffic itself was awful, and then trying to park is
a nightmare. I typically don't have any issues. The parking
was well. I tried to get a little closer just
because I didn't want to carry the kids, but the
parking was insane. It wasn't bad getting into the game.
There are a lot of people Austin that are talking

(10:22):
today about the crowd last night, and I will admit,
when we got there bottom of the first I was
surprised that there wasn't more fans in the stands. But
by the fourth fifth inning, I thought it filled in
pretty nicely.

Speaker 3 (10:36):
Because of the traffic and because of the lines for
three to two one night, the first two innings are
often not an accurate indication of the actual crowd, and
I think they finished last night with twenty nine to eight, Yeah,
which is more than you would typically see on a Tuesday.
So fans did show up, yep. But you know, I

(10:58):
also think it's important to note, and this is nothing
against you know, the people that work really hard marketing
the Reds and all that, but fans don't owe the
Reds anything they don't and so if it had been
last night where twenty thousand people showed up, I would
not have blamed them whatsoever. Sure, I'm glad that more

(11:19):
fans decided. You know what, the players themselves asked us
to come, So we're gonna come, and the Reds to
their credit put tickets on sale extended the three to
two one just makes sense.

Speaker 2 (11:30):
Yeah, how had the Dave Parker tribute been planned for
a long time? I believe so.

Speaker 3 (11:38):
I just had fun about it because once it was
announced he was getting into Cooperstown. Yeah, and then like
that final series against Pittsburgh. I think that was part
of the plan.

Speaker 2 (11:50):
I just hadn't followed along as much, but I thought
that was I thought the tributes they did last night
were awesome. It was very cool in and out of
the innings painted the big thirty nine and the nine
in center field. I tell you it works because Wilder,
my son, probably asked me every inning about Dave Parker
and wanted to know more about him. For whatever reason,
Wilder has this love for Pete Rose as well. So

(12:14):
we can't go to a Reds game without going and
seeing the Pete Rose statue and him taking a picture
with it. But it's what kind of father, I don't know.
I don't know, but like, we couldn't leave last night.
He was like, can we go? And I'm like, you
want to leave? He said, no, I want to go
see the Pete statue. I'm all right, And we stopped
and we saw the statues on the way out, but

(12:34):
there was a lot of a lot I saw on
social media about the crowd. I thought by the time
everyone filled in, it was a good crowd. But also
the way the game played out after the Elle home run,
it felt like every inning the crowd was just waiting
for something to go with.

Speaker 3 (12:52):
Energy was great, and the Reds kept putting players or
putting runners on base.

Speaker 2 (12:56):
Yep.

Speaker 3 (12:57):
But it it obviously never worked out. But the the
juice in the crowd was great, like the vibe, the
energy everyone kind of on the edge of their seat
was good.

Speaker 2 (13:06):
YEP. I thought like from a playoff baseball standpoint, that's
what you want. And had they been able to capitalize
on some of those opportunities, it felt like the roof
was gonna come off. You were just ready and waiting,
especially as you're watching along like man the Mets metro
down five to one, Otani's pitching to night, this could
really do some separation and instead now we look today,

(13:28):
you're looking up again at the Mets. That diamondbox are
right there, and uh oh, by the way, Paul Skeins
is on the mountain today.

Speaker 3 (13:35):
And I will say, you know, feeding off that energy
and off a big game, Ellie day La Cruz showed up.

Speaker 2 (13:41):
Oh boy.

Speaker 3 (13:42):
You know, obviously Ellie's been going through some tough stuff,
whether it be baseball or otherwise. And for him to
launch a homer the way that he did and to
admire it, and to have another base hit and a walk,
and you know he tried to steal before McClain grounded
into that double play ball was fouled off. I mean,
Ellie a great bare handed defensive play as well. And

(14:05):
you know he had that great play the other night too,
were charging the mound and you know, making that play.
So hopefully whatever has been ailing Ellie is behind him
in these big moments. He's able to show up because
we've seen that, you know, at Dodger Stadium, at Yankee Stadium,
in these big games, Ellie has showed up in the past.
I hope that continues the next couple of weeks. It

(14:26):
just the next week, ye five days.

Speaker 2 (14:28):
It just felt as that game went on last night
and Ellie did that in the first inning, especially late
in the game, You're you're not going to give him
anything near the zone. He made some good swings to
go three for three on the night. Obviously the walk
late in the game. But if you're pitching against him
right now, are you worried about Matt McClain behind him.

Speaker 3 (14:50):
Yeah. That's probably the biggest issue that most fans have
with yesterday was the way that the Reds constructed that
line up.

Speaker 2 (14:56):
I mean, they wanted nothing to do with Ellie in
the night.

Speaker 3 (14:58):
That Francona constructed that lineup, which you know that in
and of itself is crazy. That you would shows how
much disrespect they have for Matt McClain that they pitch
around Ellie day la Cruz and see if he'll get
himself out and then bring McClain the tying run to
the plate in the ninth inning. I see on paper
the vision for putting McClain sixth. You squeeze him in

(15:22):
between De la Cruz and Benson and maybe provide him
a little bit of protection. And on top of that,
Travino and Hayes at eight and nine have been completely
useless at the dish, so I can understand where he's
coming from. I did not like it. I did not
like the way he handled the lineup, especially in the
sixth inning when he allowed McClain to hit. Then I

(15:45):
did not like that, And I'm very curious to see
what the lineup looks like tonight because key Brian Hayes
in the midst of a slump, as like four for
his last forty one or something ridiculous like that. I know,
oh for his last twenty something. Defense is incredibly important,
I hear you. But should he be starting games? I

(16:07):
don't know if he should be with will their bat
Right now, we'll discuss more from last night. We'll look
ahead to today, which is gonna be a tough one,
and what everyone else did?

Speaker 2 (16:17):
One more side. So I've been going back and forth,
and I know that a lot of the conversation has
been on the crowd the eight dollars tickets playoff atmosphere
should because I get your point to it as well.
And I think this Reds fan based Austin. I think
they've wanted to believe and buy in so many times

(16:38):
and they've been hurt like they were last night. So
I think there is a a cautiousness to it when
they're like, oh, should we go to the ballpark? Should
we head down the night and just watch it on TV?
I was expecting thirty five thousand or so last night
and again it got up to what just under thirty drinks,

(17:01):
hot dog ice cream. The tickets. I thought they'd get
thirty five or more, but I'm not. I'm not lashing
at it fans that didn't show up because it's been
such a it's been such a difficult year I think
around the team, but it's it's it was interesting, nonetheless,
but so many people that that did push back about. Man,

(17:23):
it's disappointing that not enough people came out.

Speaker 3 (17:27):
Yeah, I'll never tell people how to spend their money,
and I have no problem with Reds fans who believe,
you know that this team and the organization have not
earned that from them. I totally understand that. So I
didn't expect a big crowd at all. But I did
appreciate when the players themselves were like, hey, I wish

(17:50):
more people would come to the ballpark, because ultimately, fans
issue is not with the players. Sure, it's with the
people above the players, and I understand that. So, you know,
for me, I originally did not want to go to
the game last night, but a buddy said, hey, would
you come, you know, and I was like, you know what, Sure,
I'll go to the game. And you know, I've been

(18:12):
to a ton of games this year, so I didn't
really expect a ton of fans there on a Tuesday night.
I don't really care that they didn't pack it, you know,
I didn't expect it.

Speaker 2 (18:24):
Yeah, it'll be a big one to night. We'll discuss
that more here and our number one. But when we
come back, we've got a football in the NATTI. Let's
look ahead to some top storylines happening right now in
the National Football League. We've got more Bengals and our
number three. More Reds in our number one. Here Chris
Welsh to kick off our number two and your phone
calls coming up here in a couple segments on ESPN

(18:44):
fifteen thirty, Cincinnati Sports Station, thanks to Skyline Chili.

Speaker 4 (18:48):
Excuse football in the NATI, brought to you by Hey
during Window Company on ESPN fifteen thirty, the official home
of the Cincinnati Bengals.

Speaker 2 (18:59):
Well come back, it is football in the nat He
sents he three sixty thanks to Skyline Chili. A couple
of minutes here on some NFL storylines. We'll get back
to the Reds here for our number one, and your
phone calls five one, three, seven, four nine, fifteen thirty CJ.
Gardner Johnson Austin. Would he do anything for you as

(19:21):
a Cincinnati Bengal.

Speaker 3 (19:24):
M I guess yeah, why not?

Speaker 2 (19:28):
Yeah, goodest.

Speaker 3 (19:30):
I'm just I'm just a lunatic, but he is.

Speaker 2 (19:32):
He is. I'm just trying at this point to rationalize
because the biggest question that I've got is how do
the Bengals handle the rest of the season and what
is the message that you send with that? I saw
when when I got in this morning, Tom Brenneman was
here and he walked into the studio after I was
here for a couple of minutes, he said, Man, go
get Russell Wilson, Go get Russell Wilson and send the

(19:54):
message to the locker room that you want to win
and you're trying to win. And so yeah, I agree.
I I think they need to do something like that.
But I think for the organization, they're just in a
weird spot right now.

Speaker 3 (20:06):
Is the locker room is the locker room's problem with
Jake Browning.

Speaker 2 (20:13):
They I truly believe that the core of that locker
room they don't feel like they can make.

Speaker 3 (20:20):
A run with Jake Browning. I disagree with that. They
are a lot of guys from two years ago that
are still on this team, that believe in Jake. I
think believe in Jake. I don't even think that the
locker room thinks that the season is over. I don't
think that they've quit. I don't think that they've given up. Like, yeah,

(20:40):
they got their face beat in on Sunday, but they
also lost an ugly game to Pittsburgh, Jake's first game
after Joe got hurt. Now, obviously, in that situation, the
season was a little bit further along. But I don't
know that they look around and say it's impossible for
us to win a game or go on a run

(21:01):
over the course of the season with Jake Browning. I
just don't see that as I don't see how that's possible.
The defense is playing with confidence. Now, have they been great?

Speaker 2 (21:12):
No? What was the difference in the wins in twenty
twenty three when Jake Browning played?

Speaker 3 (21:18):
Tell me they ran the ball? Okay, Jack Browning?

Speaker 2 (21:22):
They were an effective running team?

Speaker 3 (21:23):
Okay, So is the issue Jake Browning?

Speaker 2 (21:26):
Are there quarterbacks in the NFL that can succeed if
they don't have a running game?

Speaker 5 (21:31):
Sure?

Speaker 2 (21:31):
Okay, then can he maybe? I don't know, because there
is a constant if you go back to twenty twenty
three and look at the games that they won, the
Jacksonville game, the Indianapolis game, the Minnesota game. In the
Cleveland game in the final week of the season, they
got good contributions from Joe Mixon and the running game
as a whole.

Speaker 3 (21:50):
And Jake also made some big plays in that game,
big throws. Jamar, Chase and Tiegans are still there. I
think I don't think anybody's given up on Chase brown
I think the locker room's issue is with the fact
that they can't protect Jake.

Speaker 2 (22:06):
Well, they can't protect and they can't run the ball.

Speaker 3 (22:09):
I don't exactly the issue is with the offensive line
and subsequently the front office.

Speaker 6 (22:17):
So is.

Speaker 3 (22:20):
Putting a different quarterback back there change the run game?

Speaker 2 (22:23):
What do you think happens in the locker room? If
the offense were to struggle and they lose by fourteen
or three scores this weekend on Monday.

Speaker 3 (22:33):
It's not going to be good. But is it because
Jake Browning through three more interceptions right now?

Speaker 2 (22:41):
He does?

Speaker 3 (22:42):
Is it because Jake Browning through three more interceptions or
is it because Chase Brown had ten carries for two yards.

Speaker 2 (22:49):
Correct, But I'm just from right now. In a six
quarter sample size, he leads the NFL in interceptions. Correct,
They as a team have turned the ball over too much.
They can't run the ball. At times like that, you
may need a quarterback that, if capable, can get over
the lack of running game or the different looks that

(23:10):
they're gonna be getting. Russell Wilson, albeit is not what
he used to be. He's been at the mountaintop of
the National Football League. I still think he has some
left in him. I also said the same thing with Jamis,
although if I could have my choice in the two,
Russell Wilson has started a lot more games in the NFL,
and he's seen a lot more in the NFL. I

(23:31):
just my biggest worry about the team right now is
if things don't go well Monday and you're staring at
Detroit in Green Bay coming up, what does the locker
room culture start to turn into? Because I've been on both.
I've been in one where things are going well, let's
ride this wave, and maybe someone's not getting the touches

(23:54):
or maybe someone's not putting up the numbers, but you're
still winning, so you go with it. I was on
the worst team the NFL in twenty ten. I can
assure you that that locker room can turn quickly, that
the receivers can turn very quickly. And that is my
biggest worry because you still say, Okay, there's such a
big sample size left. The door's not shut on the

(24:16):
season yet, let's go from that.

Speaker 3 (24:19):
So for the last two days, it's been the offensive
line in Zach Taylor's fault, and today is Jake Browning's.

Speaker 2 (24:24):
Has what has Joe Burrow been able to do since
he arrived here? Everything I have said, it's been Zach
Taylor for six years, No, I know. I think Joe
Burrow has masked all of that, and I think there
are very few quarterbacks in the league that can mask
all of that. I don't think Russell Wilson can mask
all of that. I think he can hide it, maybe
a little better than Jake Browning. That would be my

(24:47):
overall thought in the process because of what he's been
able to do since he's.

Speaker 3 (24:51):
Been And you think the locker room agrees with that sentiment?

Speaker 2 (24:54):
In my opinion, yes, they would, okay, But again, would
the locker room get behind a CJ. Garner Johnson, would
they get behind any type of move. I think the
locker room right now is in a weird spot because
I think there are players in there that know this
is going to be an uphill battle, and I think

(25:15):
there are players in there that are waiting to see, Okay,
what's going to happen. And whether it was a quarterback,
whether it's an addition in the secondary, whether it be
an offense, I don't I don't care where it would be.
But if you add someone to the team, I think
the messaging in the locker room would come across as Okay,
they still believe something can happen here, and they're trying

(25:36):
to build the team to be better whatever position that
may en. That's just not exclusive to quarterback. But I
think if you have guys in the locker room that
are just kind of waiting and seeing, okay, well what's
going on and if things go poorly against Denver, then
they say, what are we doing here? Are we going
to do anything about these deficiencies? Then I think it
becomes a little bit more on edge. But I think

(25:58):
that the same could be said about adding to any
deficiency on the roster. I think that is what the
players would sit back and say, Okay, we're gonna try
something here, you know, instead of just let's wait it out,
let's see what happens. I don't know what that would
look like.

Speaker 3 (26:14):
I think the players already do not trust the front
office or believe that the front office has their best
interest in mind. I think that's already a belief based
off of the way that things have gone for the
last couple of years, whether that betray or waiting around
on Jamar and the riff that that caused or whatnot.
I also believe players in the NFL, and I'm not one,

(26:36):
and I don't know many. I don't know that there
is a sentiment out there that Russell Wilson is a
game changing quarterback. I think if you asked anonymously one
hundred NFL players, they would say Russell Wilson is washed
now Jameis Winston. Maybe that's entirely different, an entirely different.
Energy infusion, youthfulness has one games consistently recently. Maybe there's

(27:01):
something to that. I don't know. I don't know that
this can be fixed by the acquisition of a single player.
When it comes to the team's attitude, toward the front office.
I think it would you agree that there's a level
of distrust between the players in the front office, absolutely, okay, So.

Speaker 2 (27:23):
But if you add a player that's got one hundred
and twenty regular season wins in the National Football League
and one hundred and thirty over his career, that at
least gives you Okay, they're trying something, and I think
that bridges the gap of distrust a little bit. I
think the I think the worst case scenario is to
sit back and just hold and to do nothing, because

(27:47):
I think you have guys that just wait and say, oh,
what are we doing? What is now the answer? No team,
no team in the National Football League is going to
thrive if they're starting quarterback. All world quarterback goes down. Sure,
but there are conversations already, talk already happening in the

(28:08):
National Football League around different teams. The Kansas City Chiefs
three games in the conversation is people expect them to
be aggressive and add to their roster. There are conversations
around the forty nine ers, who are somehow without Rock
Party for the last two weeks and losing guys defensively.
They're three to oh. The conversation is people expect San

(28:28):
Francisco to go ad in losing Nick Bosa to add
to that team. I think there are other teams that
would view it that way. I think the thought here
in Cincinnati is probably will we just don't do things
like that? And I think maybe doing something like that
could find a spark in a locker room that needs one.
We need a break when we come back. Uh, because

(28:48):
we got Chris Welsh at one o'clock. We'll talk a
little bit more Reds. We'll grab some phone calls. Five one, three, seven,
four nine, fifteen thirty. It is sincey three to sixty,
thanks to our friends at Skyline.

Speaker 4 (28:56):
Chilly, you've been listening to football in the NATI on
ESPN fifteen thirty, the official home of the Cincinnati Bengals.

Speaker 2 (29:11):
All right, I'm them thirty. Welcome back. Since he three
sixty ESPN fifteen thirty, Cincinnati Sports Station, a service of
Skyline Chile. I want to get to a couple thoughts
on the Cincinnati Reds here in just a few minutes.

(29:31):
Before we get to Chris Welsh, let's take let's take
a couple of phone calls here while we have a chance.
I got John Michael's calling in.

Speaker 7 (29:37):
Hey John Michael, Hey Kenny, how you doing good?

Speaker 2 (29:42):
How are you?

Speaker 5 (29:44):
I'm just sitting here. I was waiting on hold, just.

Speaker 8 (29:48):
Doing the immaculate grid on the MLB app that I got.

Speaker 5 (29:51):
My friends sent it to me. I got nine to nine, No, man,
I got a one thirty eight Scots and a big.

Speaker 2 (29:56):
Deal that's essentially like a perfect quarterback.

Speaker 3 (29:59):
Then the grid every day.

Speaker 7 (30:03):
Yeah, I do it every day right now.

Speaker 8 (30:05):
I'm in probably like ninety nine percent on all of them.
You know, I know, I know baseball really good and
everything like that.

Speaker 3 (30:14):
I thought, if I'm not mistaken, John, I heard you
had a collection of autograph baseball. Is that true?

Speaker 6 (30:22):
I do?

Speaker 5 (30:23):
I do.

Speaker 8 (30:24):
I think my favorite one that I have, I've got. Yeah,
I've got an autograph cool Papa Bellball. That's really cool
and it comes from his family. So I got the
envelope and from where it got mailed from and everything
like that. Yeah, I got some you know, I got

(30:45):
you know, little tem Williams, a guy, baby Ruth damn.

Speaker 5 (30:51):
Yeh.

Speaker 2 (30:51):
John Michael is as a certified baseball knower like yourself.
Would you have thrown Hunter Green last night or held
him to today?

Speaker 8 (31:00):
I would have held him to today, honestly. I mean,
and I understand what the what the thinking is and
everything like that. Like pitching yesterday, you know you're going
up against Paul Skins.

Speaker 7 (31:12):
But at the end of the day, if he was.

Speaker 8 (31:13):
Trying to win a playoff game, he's gonna be going
up against really good guys anyway.

Speaker 5 (31:18):
Okay, that's that's my.

Speaker 8 (31:20):
Thinking, and I would take the over on both those
guys on strikeout snunt.

Speaker 2 (31:25):
Smart man, smart man. How's everything else been, John Michael.

Speaker 5 (31:32):
Really really really been doing really well.

Speaker 8 (31:34):
I got disinfection in my foot. I think I kicked
something and I didn't pay attention to it and then
I got infection.

Speaker 5 (31:41):
But everything else has been really good. I do have
a question now that Jermaine Burton or whatever.

Speaker 8 (31:49):
Yeah, like everybody like bangs on him like this dude
ain't gonna play I'm like, he's got money, he doesn't need.

Speaker 5 (31:56):
To play football because what.

Speaker 8 (31:59):
Like his dad, Jermaine Burton did the reading rainbow, he
can do.

Speaker 1 (32:11):
Thanks to the pleased grow reading dream.

Speaker 8 (32:16):
And that.

Speaker 9 (32:17):
I was like, you know, don't you know he's got
gold train and everything like that. That's cool.

Speaker 3 (32:22):
I didn't know you could sing like that.

Speaker 8 (32:24):
John, I didn't either, Man, I had to. I had
to grip something real quick.

Speaker 5 (32:33):
And then, uh, I do have I got two.

Speaker 8 (32:36):
More things I got, I got one thing that I
really want.

Speaker 5 (32:39):
Well, two things. I really want to ask you.

Speaker 8 (32:41):
You know, I had an impression if somebody calls in
all the time, and I just want to see what
you guys saw about my impression.

Speaker 5 (32:48):
But the first thing is.

Speaker 8 (32:52):
I really want the Bangles to get Jameis Winston, and
the reason being and and and here hear me out.
I'm I'm not gonna sit here and say that Jamar
Chase and T Higgins or future Hall of Fame wide receivers.
I'm not gonna say that at all. But in ninety
eight it worked out for the Vikings. They had that

(33:12):
Chris Carror and that Randy Moss, and they dropped in
that Randall Cunynham.

Speaker 6 (33:18):
And Randall Cunne.

Speaker 9 (33:19):
You know that Randall Cneyham.

Speaker 6 (33:21):
He was really he was good.

Speaker 5 (33:22):
I had a.

Speaker 8 (33:23):
Poster of him and everything for Nike and and stuff
like that.

Speaker 7 (33:26):
But he was really he was you.

Speaker 5 (33:28):
Know, he just aired it out. Jameis Winston. What does
that guy do? He AARs it out and he eats.
He eats w's that are actually people's fingers.

Speaker 3 (33:39):
What difference between James Jameis Winston and uh Jake Browning
in terms of they're just throwing it up there?

Speaker 5 (33:49):
Yeah, once got more loft. I think there's more loft
on one.

Speaker 8 (33:53):
Okay, yeah, and the and the other one is just
straight to the other guy. I mean it's well, I
mean they're both really beata interceptions stuff like that. But
I was just doing a comparison and I just got
shot down. And it's, you know, that's kind of what
you do, Austin. I appreciate you like that, and.

Speaker 2 (34:13):
Then you shoot you down.

Speaker 3 (34:14):
I just asked you a question about the way you
see the quarterback position.

Speaker 5 (34:20):
I just like James Winston, man, how about that.

Speaker 8 (34:22):
I just like him. He's a trucking winter, you know.
And I'm you know, I'm fine with Jake brown and
being the starting quarterback of the Bengals because I got
I got TikTok and yeah, it's like every weekend I
can like his girlfriend and everything in nice outfits and
she's like she's real pre girl and everything.

Speaker 5 (34:41):
I don't it's just like, I don't know, that's not
my taste. But I still watch it because it's like
a train wreck.

Speaker 8 (34:48):
So another state, I was gonna do this impression? Can
I do one impression real quick? All right?

Speaker 7 (34:57):
Can you all right?

Speaker 6 (34:58):
Tiny?

Speaker 5 (34:59):
Be like Mike? How are you do it?

Speaker 2 (35:03):
Real quick? Mike? How are you you know?

Speaker 9 (35:08):
I'm not I'm not doing that bad attorney? Uh, I
just got a really quick question. Uh yeah, what about
the Dodgers? Man, you think show is going to be?
Like I was thinking maybe putting the closers, save the
Ennis and stuff like that, and then you know, it's
just thanks John, I love you.

Speaker 2 (35:32):
I think there's only one way to go from there. Yeah, Mike,
what's going on?

Speaker 7 (35:37):
That was pretty good John Michael.

Speaker 2 (35:40):
Imitations of the highest form of flattery. They say, it's true.

Speaker 10 (35:44):
Yeah, it's hard to imitate a mundane run of the
mill boys like mine. Job, good job, John Michael, really
talented individual. Plus, keep grabbing whatever you're grabbing to hit
them falsetto notes. Okay, man, it's working for you.

Speaker 7 (35:59):
Beautiful having that set. Keep grabbing it. And John Michael.
By the way, te Higgins ain't no Hall of Famer.

Speaker 2 (36:07):
He's got a long way, He's got a ways to go.

Speaker 5 (36:11):
Yeah, he got a long way to go.

Speaker 7 (36:15):
That should me, should should lose tonight. So the problem is,
I tell you if if Hunter was pitching against anybody
but Steens throw But boy, I'll tell you this, should
the this matchup doesn't turn then the Fans turned out
pretty good last time. Problem, boy, if you don't pack
it their schemes and Green, you ain't gonna have a package.

Speaker 2 (36:36):
The problem with this, Mike, The Reds are zering for
all time against Paul Skins. They've been outscored twenty to
one in those games. The Pirates. The Pirates are seven
and one against Hunter Green and have outscored the Reds
twenty four to fourteen. So so we're due. The Pirates
have had success. But maybe something gives tonight.

Speaker 7 (36:56):
Yeah, maybe they're just so bad. They come up, they're relaxed,
they're not worried about they're not in the scheme of things.
They just want to ruin the party for the Reds,
and if it happens, it happens. If they don't, they
don't care. That's an interesting stat Tony good, good, good research,
real good. You impressed the hell out of me with that.
But tonight's the Mets got this bum named Jonah Tom

(37:17):
pitch and he's six point zero almost you are, But
Boyd's pitching for the Cubs lefty three point two oh
thirteen and eight. So the Kubby should win that game tonight.

Speaker 2 (37:27):
Yeah, you had to hope. So at this point, I
think the Reds need to win for the next five.
I think for the next five gets him in.

Speaker 7 (37:37):
Yep. But you're right, they got to win for the
next five. I mean unless the Mets just implode again. Yeah,
but I can't. They can't keep playing as bad as
they're starting to come around a little bit. But we'll see.
But I thought your guys comments were interesting on the
attendance last night. Yeah, so you were surprised and Austin

(37:58):
wasn't surprised or didn't care at one or the other.
I'm not quite sure whatever the thing was on it.
So what's the backup quarter back saying? And the Russell Well,
I'm open for any ideas. It just seems like Browning
did so well a couple of years ago. Why wouldn't
he be able to do it again?

Speaker 2 (38:16):
To Yeah, the games that they won before they won,
they they did have the ability to run the ball.
They ran the ball extremely well in those games. I
think that is the missing ingredient. And if you can't
run the ball, you're going to ask a quarterback to
maybe do more than what they're able or capable of doing.
I don't know if that's the case. That would just
be my early indication with how bad they looked on

(38:38):
Sunday against the Vikings. But the issue is it doesn't
It doesn't get any easier. The Denver defense, the Lions defense,
the Packers defense, the Steelers defense. It's not getting easier
anytime soon. And if you just put it off and
wait until the schedule gets easier, you're going to be
out of it by then anyway. So I think there
is I think there is a problem in waiting right

(39:01):
now that you might just weight yourself out of it.

Speaker 7 (39:05):
Do you think the Reds would enhance their overall offensive
picture if they did get a guy like Russell that
could scoot out there and run a couple of things up.

Speaker 2 (39:14):
You could play some baseball with them as well.

Speaker 9 (39:17):
Exactly.

Speaker 7 (39:18):
Yeah, he could come over and play pin ship for
the Reds. But you know, golf kind of change the
paradigm now with the running quarterback of potential for running
quarterback with you know them smacking around the Ravens the
way they did the other night. But you guys hit
it on the head. They had that scout on. They
did not let Jackson get outside to go do anything,

(39:41):
didn't they And that team that he always gets in,
they just shut that bad boy down.

Speaker 2 (39:45):
They kept the edge pressure and then they spied him
in the middle, so anytime he tried to push up
in the pocket, there was someone standing right there that
didn't allow him to wiggle out of it and extend
the play. I thought it was a brilliant game plan
to limit Lamar as a runner.

Speaker 7 (40:00):
It was Hey, thanks you guys. I appreciate it. Take
care of buddy.

Speaker 2 (40:04):
Yes, Sir Austin, I am interested, and we'll get to
a little more red when we come back. Last year,
Skemes pitched one hundred and thirty three innings. This year
he's already at one hundred and eighty one and two thirds.
They have talked about managing his workload to stay safe.
He went three and two thirds in his last outing.

(40:25):
Do you do you foresee any situation where, even if
he is on tonight, they maybe only keep him in
there three or four innings.

Speaker 3 (40:37):
I guess it's possible.

Speaker 2 (40:38):
I mean he was roughed up a little bit in
his last outing three and two thirds, seven heads, three runs.

Speaker 3 (40:43):
I mean I remember reading that like the plan was
to like not exceed two hundred for him on the season. Yeah,
so that way under that. Obviously he'd be under that.
So maybe they would feel fine with letting him go.

Speaker 2 (40:54):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (40:56):
So I don't know, but I guess if if there's
a inning where he throws twenty twenty five pitches, yeah,
then they might just hit it on it. All right,
We're done, yeah, because we don't need you, you know,
you know what I'm saying.

Speaker 2 (41:07):
Yeah, I don't know. We'll finish this conversation and maybe
one more quick call when we get back before we
get to Chris Welsh, who can help us out with
a lot of these questions. Right here on ESPN fifteen thirty,
Cincinnati Sports Station thanks to Skyline.

Speaker 11 (41:19):
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Speaker 3 (42:06):
From the Durban Heating temp Star Weatherson, what's going on
in baseball?

Speaker 4 (42:10):
Getting ESPN fifteen thirty from iHeartRadio.

Speaker 2 (42:19):
Welcome back since he three p sixty ESPN fifteen thirty,
Cincinnati Sports Station. A service at Skyline Chili, Austin. Can't
you just think, like, Whoda Nation, let's ride. I can
think he could do something special with that.

Speaker 3 (42:34):
I've been thinking about this because I'm the guy who's
always like I'm the guy who's always say be an
aggressive pursuit of a championship like, that's that's how I feel,
and that is me at my core. So for you
to come up with an idea to get a super
Bowl winning quarterback who has played at a very high

(42:55):
level in the past, yeah, at a good enough price
that makes sense. And for me still not to feel
a twinge in my heart, that's I think that says
everything about how I feel. But I appreciate your idea
because in these situations, US and the Bengals should be
exhausting every avenue and every opportunity to try to make

(43:17):
the team better. So Whoday Nation, Let's ride. It would
be funny after every press conference.

Speaker 2 (43:25):
Thanks guys. They we got a minute before we're gonna
get to Chris Well sharing a few mark what's going on?

Speaker 6 (43:35):
Yeah, I was at the game last night. Far I
make my point. Once upon a time at Riverfront Stadium,
the game started.

Speaker 2 (43:43):
At atal five.

Speaker 6 (43:44):
It's crazy, and then later on then it was seven forty,
and then it is what it is now. I think
when they made these ballparks more kid friendly, I think
that's why the game started a little earlier. Get the
kids home, back and dead. But it sucks because people
are getting off of work at that time, so I mean,

(44:08):
that's a trade off. But as far as the game
last night, I was there, I had a feeling they
was gonna lose that game when I saw that lineup
Gavin Lux baton third. Okay, I lost my mind on
that one, Okay, because I done said it before. If
you're gonna have him in the lineup, you use your
back and second. Okay.

Speaker 5 (44:27):
But what the.

Speaker 6 (44:28):
Killer was Matt mccleain Batton six because when when it's
men on base, he grounds out. You know, hey, short
stop on him. Because here's the thing, here's what I've
seen about him this season. You got a whole season
to figure out a baton lineup, because players show you

(44:51):
what they are during the season when when there's nobody
on base, he'll go the other way.

Speaker 5 (44:56):
He'll hit the.

Speaker 6 (44:57):
Ball the center or right center field. But when his
guys on base, he didn't want to pull everything. That
to me, that's the problem. And to my other point,
it's like, you got one hundred and sixty two games
to figure out what your lineup should be based on
what the guys are doing throughout the season, and it

(45:18):
looks like to me at this point, this is what
we come up with Last.

Speaker 2 (45:23):
Night, he batted behind Ellie last night. Mark on the season,
one hundred and four played appearances with runners in scoring position,
twenty hits. He's hitting point one, okay, point, and that's
your go to last night in the sixth hole in
the biggest game of the season. That's baffling to me.

Speaker 6 (45:42):
Okay, who between Francona and the front office, whoever makes
these lineups out, who gets hired? That's what I want
to know, because you should know better at this point
in the season. And then you had two bats on
the bench. You had Salve Stewart, you have that and
dow hard guy. Yeah, okay, Okay, Hayes, you play a

(46:04):
good d you play a good third base, but your
bad sucks.

Speaker 2 (46:08):
At that point, you're not up to which makes sense
for Haz You're down to You need offense.

Speaker 6 (46:13):
Okay, in it, and I'll make my last point and
get off. I would have started hunting Green last night
because I would have wanted to start side of him.

Speaker 2 (46:22):
Before the end of the year, sir, just in.

Speaker 6 (46:25):
Case you need that just to get in the playoffs,
and then I'll worry about my rotation in one game.

Speaker 2 (46:31):
I thought, if you if you started him last night,
and one. There's no guarantee that he had to start
one sixty two, but he'd be available for one sixty two.
If you took care of business before then, then you
obviously rest him and he doesn't need to pitch. But
if it comes down to one sixty two, you want
to have that in your back pocket, and they're not
going to have that. I think that makes it tough.
Let's talk to Chris Walsh about that and more with

(46:52):
the Reds when we come back. ESPN fifteen thirty, Cincinnati
Sports Station. Thanks to Skyline, Chilling.

Speaker 12 (46:59):
Kept your business cheek, Browning and his Big Bengos put
it all on the line when they face Bull Mix
and his Denver devotes on Monday Night Football. Can the
Orange and Black break the Broncos? Will Cincinnati's aerial assault
leave the Stallions stunned? Find out when you get the
call from Dangerous Dan Wood and Mighty Dave Lackman. Cover

(47:21):
it starts Monday at three pm. Stream for free on
the new and improved iheartradiof or ESPN fifteen thirty, the
official home of a Cincinnati Bengals Chrissage here