Cincy 360 w/ Tony Pike & Austin Elmore -- 8/27/25

Tony and Austin talk CFB with Cardale Jones, check in with Chad Brendel, take your calls and TalkBacks, and more on ESPN 1530!

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is Skyline Chile. Sincey three to sixty about Cincinnati

(00:03):
from Cincinnati, sponsored in part by Skyline Chile. Stop by
Skyline Chili for a three way or cheeze cony today.
Feeling good, It's Skyline Time. This is ESPN fifteen thirty
Cincinnati Sports Station.

Speaker 2 (00:22):
Good afternoon, Welcome in, Happy Wednesday. It is since he
three to sixty. Of course, here on ESPN fifteen thirty
Cincinnati Sports Station. We're a service of our good friends
here at Skyline Chili. Anytime you're feeling good and hungry,
it's always Skyline Time. Grateful to have you along this afternoon.
It's a little bit different of a schedule this afternoon
because right midway through the show, right before we get

(00:45):
to talkbacks today, I've got to head out. I've got
to catch a plane at CVG with the Cincinnati Bearcats
heading to Kansas City as they get ready to take
on Nebraska tomorrow night. So I will be traveling about
halfway through the show today, so I'll be with you
for the first half. Austin takes over for talkbacks and
the rest of the show, and we've got a ton
that we've got to get to.

Speaker 3 (01:06):
This hard to beat the part time pike allegations with
the move like this.

Speaker 2 (01:10):
It really is, although I don't I don't control their
air schedules. I don't control flights. I just go where
I'm told, when I'm told to do it. That's pretty
much how I live my life. Someone just asked me
a question Austin. Oh boy, was it somebody that works here? Yes,
God help us. You know the Bearcats play tomorrow night.
Will there be a sea paul at the middle of

(01:32):
the field.

Speaker 3 (01:34):
No, I don't think. Why it's a home game, I
would assume there'll be nothing in the middle of the field.
Will there be anything in the end zones? Probably? One,
says Nebraska.

Speaker 4 (01:45):
One.

Speaker 3 (01:45):
No, no, no, no.

Speaker 2 (01:46):
This isn't a neutral sight gamey, No, it's not. It's
a home game for the Bearcats.

Speaker 3 (01:53):
Well, I sure hope not. That would look silly.

Speaker 2 (01:55):
It's a home game for the Cincinnati Bearcats. Will there
be Should there be a seapaul at midfield? I don't
think so. Because it's a neutral site game. It's not
a neutral sight game.

Speaker 3 (02:07):
It is because it's the physical location all of the
game is. Technically, it's a it's a Nebraska home it's
a Bearcat home. No, it's not better see that Seapol.
I don't think they should do that. Why should they
do that? Sowarsby Head, It wasn't going to be there
in Indianapolis, so why would they have done it? I

(02:28):
don't know.

Speaker 2 (02:29):
Just had me thinking, got me think this is what
the Bearcats get for moving the game? You're right one
o'clock today.

Speaker 3 (02:36):
The Chiefs would they start the season in Brazil, right,
so it's not like that and then would turn around
they could The Chiefs don't play at Arrowhead until September fourteenth,
according to this Super Bowl rematch? Maybe who you got
in the Super Bowl rematch? I got the Eagles by
forty Again, have we? I mean obviously Travis Kelcey and

(02:59):
what he's going on in his life. I don't feel
like we talked about the Chiefs at all this officer quiet,
not even like now. Number one. The most talked about
team in the NFL all off season has been the
Cincinnati Bengals for a myriad of reasons. Nationally, yep, I
feel like nationally the Chiefs haven't gotten much conversation. No,
and I do.

Speaker 2 (03:16):
I did watch their final preseason game because they did
play a lot of their starters. I think they got
some I think they have addressed the problem up front.
I think they got some dudes on that front. Five
for Patrick Mahomes. I think that's all the ultimate question
you're going to find out. Because the Eagles bullied them
in the Super Bowl. It'd be very interested to see
how that plays itself out. We'll discuss more of that

(03:37):
as we get closer to the season. One o'clock today,
Austin twelve Gage will join us. Oh oh, is that
the breaking.

Speaker 3 (03:43):
News, Sony? We have breaking news on a contract extension. Oh.
Adam Schefter of ESPN is reporting that the Baltimore Ravens
have reached an agreement today on a four year, one

(04:05):
hundred point four million dollar extension for all pro safety
Kyle Hamilton.

Speaker 4 (04:12):
Wow.

Speaker 3 (04:13):
It is the largest extension for a safety in NFL history.
It includes eighty two million of the one hundred point
four million guaranteed, which surpasses the previous record of forty
five million for safety. Let this be a reminder to

(04:33):
all that if you draft a player and they end
up being really, really good, give them the extension right away.
Ye pay them early, you get them cheaper, You drive
down the guaranteed money, you avoid contract snaffoos, you avoid

(04:54):
hold ins and hold outs. Yep, pay your good players early.

Speaker 2 (05:00):
Unbelievable. Good job by the Baltimore Raven Good on the
Baltimore Ravens. Adam Schefter also tweeted out Austin that the
NFL is aiming for at least a potential six game
suspension for Chiefs wide receiver Rashi Rice Good for violating
the league's personal conduct policy. That suspension would kick in
at the start of the season. So there was the
Kansas City Chiefs that we haven't talked a lot about,

(05:23):
something that could certainly be something to look out for.
As I mentioned before our breaking news, Cardell Jones is
going to join us at one o'clock today. Let Cardell
talk about a little Ohio State Texas. We'll talk a
little Bearcats, We'll talk a little college football as a whole.
Is this story true? I've never asked him, and it
might not be the time to do it today. Was

(05:45):
it true when he was in college that he visited
a hospital and beat a kid ninety eight to thirty
five in NCAA football?

Speaker 3 (05:53):
Yeah, that's a true story. Yeah, because I saw.

Speaker 2 (05:56):
Someone like reported it was ninety one thirty five. Yeah,
he's like, I wish everyon would stop saying I put
ninety eight.

Speaker 3 (06:02):
To ninety eight. Yeah, there's a lot of what happened
with Cardale. It's not the full story. You know, he's
famous for the I didn't come here to play school.
But but that's not the whole story. Oh. The reason
he posted that was because he got a B on
an exam that he studied very hard for and he

(06:24):
thought he got an A. And he, in his disgruntle
disgruntled moment, upon receiving the test, said, man, I ain't
come here to play school. Love it. So that's the
full story on Cardale. Man, are you seeing this right now?
Speaking of college football?

Speaker 4 (06:42):
What?

Speaker 3 (06:43):
Oh my gosh, what are we doing?

Speaker 4 (06:45):
What a day tony?

Speaker 3 (06:48):
The Cincinnati Bearcats have just posted that they will be
dropping a new helmet tonight. What at seven pm?

Speaker 5 (06:57):
What?

Speaker 3 (06:58):
They've posted a black and white photo of the skyline
from Kentucky looking over to Cincinnati, where you can see
lightning striking. Oh, the city of Cincinnati. Oh, and a
helmet in the floor ground that obviously you can't see
exactly what is on it, but it looks like a

(07:21):
new bearcat helmet. Wow.

Speaker 2 (07:24):
Now my immediate question is do they they show it
tonight and then they did debut it tomorrow night. That's
what I was going to say, Oh, what do you
know about this anything? I'm going to have to figure
this out when I get to the airport. This is
something that I'm going to have to figure out right away.
It's the first time since twenty nineteen they'll add a helmet. Okay, interesting,
how about this big things happening for the Cincinnati Beat.

Speaker 3 (07:48):
There were rumors about a helmet being leaked on the
college football game. Did you hear about this?

Speaker 4 (07:53):
Yeah?

Speaker 3 (07:53):
I remember that. Okay, all right, if these things are connected,
we try on a daily basis to just do the
Lord's work. Here we can get some more breaking news.

Speaker 2 (08:02):
We tried. We Austin, we spoke something into existence. The
other day we called out Cracker Barrel for changing the logo.
What did they do? They went back, They heard the outpouring,
they heard the cries, and they went back to the
old logo.

Speaker 3 (08:18):
Yep.

Speaker 2 (08:18):
Did you see that they spent over seven hundred million
dollars on this rebrand only to go back on it. Now,
I would imagine what they did to update the stores
inside or the restaurants gonna stest of it. But seven
hundred million on a rebrand and then you go right
back to the old school logo. Sometimes you got to

(08:41):
go back to go forward in life.

Speaker 3 (08:43):
How much, though, did they net in marketing?

Speaker 4 (08:49):
Well?

Speaker 3 (08:49):
Yeah, what do you think that you know what I mean?

Speaker 2 (08:52):
What do you think like the designer like when they
went to an agency and they designed the new logo
and probably paid a good amount of money for someone
to come up with the new logo. What happens to
the person fired they lose their job.

Speaker 3 (09:04):
You would think if you're gonna if you lose, if
you single handedly lose the company seven hundred million dollars,
one would think that.

Speaker 2 (09:13):
Stock was plummeting. Yeah, just a bad spot to be, right,
Speaking of a bad spot to be I witnessed and
I went through something this morning Austin that I didn't
know what hit me away it did. We we took
the kids to school for the first time. Oh boy,
my goodness, Wow, was I was I a wreck? You're blubbering.

(09:34):
Didn't even see it coming. Just good conversation this morning.
We woke up and had breakfast and it wasn't like
their first official day at school. Okay, they start on Tuesday,
but today was you get to get in your classroom,
meet your classmates, meet your teacher, hang out for a while.
So in my mind, I'm like, well, you know, next
week will be you know, Tuesday, first day, and the emotions,

(09:56):
the emotions hit walking in there today. So they're not
at school right now. Okay, no, just well they they're
only a couple hours a day.

Speaker 3 (10:03):
Anyway. What's what's Meredith's plan for her first day? That's
a great question.

Speaker 2 (10:09):
Well, the you know walker walker she'll never be alone walkers,
I know, but like she's night, it's not three on one.

Speaker 3 (10:14):
Yeah, I don't know. I trust Meredith in a one
on one with a baby. Maybe that maybe a nap
that might be nice.

Speaker 2 (10:20):
For maybe eating without getting you know, scratched and clawed
and bagged for for more food. But yes, it was.
It was something I didn't expect to happen this morning.
But man, a little bit of emotional rollercoaster today. Shout
out to the kids, though, it's all for the kids. Uh,
last night, what do we make of last night? What

(10:41):
happened in Los Angeles? Are the wheels off? Is the
runaway train. Is there any hope in guiding it back
to the station? Reds are now three and a half back.
The Mets have seemed to find their level. They have
beaten the Phillies and back to back nights. Reds lose
again last night to the Dodgers. They do so in

(11:04):
questionable form, with Noel de Marte trying to lay down
a bunt that went horribly. The overall defense of this
team continues to be an issue. I don't know. I
don't know at this point, Austin, how they hang on
the rest of the way. No, I don't either, Like

(11:24):
because I asked the question to Joe yesterday and we
asked it the MO are they going to be in
the conversation through September? They both said yes. No, I
lean the other way. I don't know how they I
don't know how they keep up.

Speaker 3 (11:37):
I've said it several times that they are just not
good enough and they don't have a run in them,
especially against the competition that they face, yep, and especially
when you compare that to the competition that the New
York Mets face. And it doesn't really matter because the
Mets just took two out of three already from the
Philadelphia Phillies. They've already secured a series and win against

(11:59):
their division, right, and they did so against Atlanta as well.
The Mets have too much talent. I said that weeks ago,
and you know, it's been driving me nuts that people
want to come out here and get on Reds fans
for being negative about the state of the franchise. You know,
it's one like, first of all, if I was out

(12:21):
here saying you got to have all this hope and
you got to have all this belief that the Reds
are going to go and make the playoffs and they
can do it, how does that change or help anything?
And if I'm negative, the same argument can be made,
how does that change or help anything? At some point,
we've got to be realistic about who this team is.

(12:42):
They have tried to tell you that they are a
defensive minded ball club. They have openly told you they
don't care about hitting home runs. There are loads of
data to tell you that that is not a sustainable
or adequate or or successful strategy towards building a roster.

(13:03):
And yet this is what they've decided to do. And
so I'll be honest, I haven't really bothered to care
that much about the series in La I haven't bothered
that much to look, I haven't bothered that much to watch.
It's late, I'll go to bed, I'll watch something else.
Like I'm disinterested in them at the moment. And this
is exactly why, Like I knew this was coming. This

(13:27):
is who they are here.

Speaker 2 (13:29):
They won, They've they've not all year done the little
things that a team with a smaller margin for aer
needs to do to win right. That has been an
issue all year. All year, we've wondered, can the starting
pitching withstand well?

Speaker 4 (13:43):
Can they?

Speaker 2 (13:43):
Can they withstand a bad offense and inconsistent offense? Can
they withstand a bullpen who's been taxed. It just feels
like everything is starting to fall apart. And last night Austin,
I know there are a lot of things that happen
in a ballgame, but how can you not go to
the top of the sixth inning. Matt McClain leads off
with a single, Spencer Steer follows that up with a single.

(14:04):
So you are in a two to one ball game
in the top of the six and you have runners
on first and second with nobody out. Who would you
say Austin is your most consistent hitter right now for
the Reds, mate noelve Marte comes to bat in the
sixth inning, first and second, nobody out. How many successful

(14:25):
sacrifice bunts does noelve Marte have in his career? Zero zero,
and yet he tries to bunt, he pops it up,
Matt McClain gets doubled off second, and all of a
sudden first and second no outs goes to a runner
on first with two outs. Ellie de la Cruz flies out,
that inning ends, and then the Dodgers add four more

(14:45):
runs in the bottom half of the sixth. How does
something like that happen? I don't know, I really don't.

Speaker 3 (14:55):
And like, the funny thing is Terry Francona, who has
just done everything in his power to protect certain players
on the roster, just openly kind of throws Marte under
the bus after the game. So it's a young guy
trying to do too much, trying to do too much,
trying to do too much. The problem is why on
earth does Noelvie Marte think that's something he should be

(15:18):
doing correct? This is best thing. He's who's being formed
by this coaching staff to get this stuff done. To
to learn how to be a young hitter in these moments.
Why does this cross his mind that that's the right
thing to do. I'm watching that.

Speaker 2 (15:36):
Are you playing for one run essentially against the dodge
already down one? I'm watching the game live, Austin, and
I thought to myself, regardless of what happens, you, you
don't want anyone else in the lineup up right now.
The Nuelve mark correct and then he bunts and it's
absolute disaster. I could not I could not believe it,

(15:59):
and hand up. After Ellie flied out on the next pitch,
I stopped watching the game. That was it for me.
That was it for me. That can't happen. The hottest
hitter on your club, the two hole hitter is up
with first and second and no one out and bunts
into a double play. Yep, without having a successful sack

(16:22):
bun in his career. There is no rhyme or reason
for any of that. There's no answer for that. It
is malpractice at the highest extent, ridiculous.

Speaker 3 (16:35):
I saw Red's daily very popular Reds account posted this,
and first of all, I saw last night the most
positive of positive Reds fans gave up like they were
beside themselves. They couldn't help. They didn't understand this organization.

(16:59):
It felt like last night, the most positive of positive
Reds fans saw what the rest of us have seen
for so long. But this was Nick Krawl after the
trade deadline. Defensive plays are the difference in the game.
Everyone loves the idea of getting a bat. If you
can prevent the runs, you're going to win games too.

(17:20):
Last night, noelvi Marte played in centerfield Santiago Espinol in right, yep,
Like that's the stuff, Like because their offense is so bad,
they now have to sacrifice their defense. This is again
telling you it's such an.

Speaker 6 (17:39):
Ass backwards way of roster building that this team thinks
they can just put athletic players in any position and
it'll work out. It is just continual brain dead thoughts
like trying to build a team by Nick Krawl and
the Reds, Like that is so stupid, and you put
you put oelvi Marte in an unfair situation, in a

(18:00):
difficult situation, playing center field at Dodger Stadium for the
first time in your career, and you've got a pitcher
who pitches to contact, and you've got one of the
best lineups in baseball that he's pitching.

Speaker 3 (18:13):
To make any of that makes sense.

Speaker 6 (18:19):
Been trying to say this all season long, like this
is who they are. Dumb team, they do dumb stuff
with dumb people making the decisions. It's fat, It's just
it's and then Francona, I mean, it's not like he's

(18:39):
been a game changer for this team. Do we think
Terry Francona has been I think what was the conversation
may beginning of a ten win manager?

Speaker 3 (18:47):
You think he's got them ten wins? No, net, Nope,
I don't think so.

Speaker 2 (18:53):
And here's the crazy thing at all about this Austin,
everything we've talked about, there's still something lingering with this
team that I think is a bigger question mark because
here we have reports that Miguel Anduwhar is dealing with
a sore quad, Matt McClain has been terrible all year,
and yet it seems like on a night in night out,

(19:16):
Basis Austin, I'm watching highlights of South Stuart hitting five
hundred foot home runs in Louisville.

Speaker 3 (19:23):
Yep.

Speaker 2 (19:24):
Can you explain to me, no, why a team that
has no offensive consistency has one of the hottest bats
in all of the miners, wilting away in the miners
while Matt McClain continues to get at bats. Noelvee Marte
plays center field. Miguel Andrew har is dealing with a
sore quad. Somebody make it make sense why that man

(19:48):
south Stuart, who's got twenty home runs already on the
year for a team that can hit home runs, is
not with the big league club during a playoff push.

Speaker 3 (19:57):
And then they'll say, well, there's nowhere for us to
put him. What do you mean you just put anybody
in any position now? You just move guys around all
the time.

Speaker 6 (20:06):
Steer will play the outfield steal Steer will play first,
Martale play third, he'll play right. Espenhall play all the positions.
Why can't you put south Stewart at second base?

Speaker 2 (20:16):
Well, they can't take bots away from out the hell
out of here. Who's he gonna take a bots from?
I think it's just it's as nine.

Speaker 3 (20:25):
Meanwhile, the New York Mets, you know what they did,
brought up their number one prospect, yep, brought up their
best picture while struggling to help them in the midst
of a chase to the playoffs. It's just fascinating to me.
It's it's that same stuff we always talk about with
the Reds Tony is, Oh look, Matt, south Stewart's coming

(20:46):
this weekend. That's what's gonna happen.

Speaker 6 (20:48):
Yeah, tomorrow, they're gonna now it's south Stewart will be
here Friday. And in the meantime, you're just always having
something to look forward to because now everybody's gonna give up, right,
everyone's getting mad, everyone's done. Seasons over and then they'll say, oh,
look south Stewart's coming this weekend.

Speaker 2 (21:04):
Yeah, And it's remarkable. It's remarkable, and it's so frustrating
to be someone that is invested in a team and
has an interest in a team and talks about a
team that that's the product they put out there. And yet, hey,
look at what south Stewart's doing in the minors.

Speaker 3 (21:26):
Look at all it. What do you hit the other night?

Speaker 2 (21:28):
A four hundred and some foot blast, I mean, just
completely locked in. And this team has the biggest deficiency
for a power bat and you've got one sitting in
TRIPLEA and you are a half game out, and then
you are a game and a half and two and
a half and now three and a half and you're
still not gonna do it. You're just gonna wait till

(21:50):
you're too far out and sell some tickets down the
stretch when you bring them up. Just again, in my opinion, practice,
let's take our first break. We'll come back. We'll take
some of your phone calls if you want to talk
some Reds. We'll transition to the Bengals as well in
this hour. A lot more still to come. Sincey three
sixty thanks to Skyline Chili, thank you for listening on

(22:13):
ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports Station.

Speaker 3 (22:18):
Three one.

Speaker 7 (22:20):
And it's so DA's win the game, best walks on
the winning run and the.

Speaker 6 (22:26):
Athletics walk it off against the Tigers.

Speaker 3 (22:29):
Darryll her NAE's the hero a walk off walk. You
got it, pal a walk off walk? Yep about it?

Speaker 2 (22:38):
Welcome back, Since he three to sixty thanks to Skyline
Chilly Dude, thanks for listening on ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati
Sports Station I Austin. I'm always very nervous when it
comes to what I read on social media because I
never know what to trust or not. Now, we did
talk about Rashie Rice earlier in the show, it is
being reported that he is expected to be spended six games,

(23:00):
that he's going to accept that punishment to be out
the first six games of the year. There is also
a lot of rumors circulating and at this point they're
just rumors, Austin, but there are so many people that
I follow that are talking about it. Can you envision
any world where the Cowboys make a deal with the
Packers with Michah Parsons.

Speaker 3 (23:19):
I can, because Jerry Jones is loose cannon.

Speaker 2 (23:22):
Now, I've seen stuff out there that the Packers will
offer two first round picks and a second or something
along those lines.

Speaker 3 (23:30):
I'm sure the Packers have made that offer. That doesn't
I'm that I'm not afraid to doubt.

Speaker 2 (23:36):
Now, Micah Parsons has started following the Packers on Instagram
just to put it out there.

Speaker 3 (23:42):
Micah is a lot like Jerry, where they like creating
some headlines, I mean, and Micah knows exactly what he's doing.

Speaker 2 (23:53):
If if that trade came to Fruition one, it's just
insane because of the Cowboys and the Packers and those
rivalries too. Does it put the Packers in a different
conversation for you? Yeah, I think it makes Jordan Love better.
I mean, because I view the Packers still kind of
on that second tier. Would would they move up to

(24:16):
an NFC championship contender or do you already Do you
already view them as an NFC Championship contender?

Speaker 3 (24:22):
No, I view them as kind of a mid level,
upper mid level team. Yeah, but it really all hinges
on Jordan Love conversations before.

Speaker 2 (24:31):
Do they get into the same conversation as those like
so for me in the NFC, Philadelphia is an upper
tier team, Washington, Detroit, maybe the Rams.

Speaker 3 (24:41):
I have maybe Tampa. I have Philly and the Rams
as the best teams in the NFC, and then a gap,
and then the Packers on that second gap, the Commanders
and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and then a gap and
then I have Detroit and then another gap.

Speaker 2 (25:00):
Probably, but if if something crazy like that were to happen,
I would say they'd probably be equal to Detroit. Okay,
but so much as on on Detroit, yeah, yeah, so
much as on Jordan Love.

Speaker 3 (25:14):
But the Packers have an offense that is kind of
built around running the ball, play action, and playing good defense,
and they've got some good young players on their defense.
It could put them in that stratosphere if nothing else
defensively to really create some problems for all those teams
I just mentioned.

Speaker 2 (25:35):
Let's get ourselves back on the clock. We went super
long in segment one. When we come back, Mark and Mike,
we'll get your phone calls and so much more still
to come. Since E three to sixty ESPN fifteen thirty
Cincinnati Sports Station.

Speaker 3 (25:47):
Hey, I just talked to my buddy Kevin at.

Speaker 8 (25:49):
You found Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 4 (26:00):
Town.

Speaker 3 (26:00):
I know that you're leaving to go to the well
not Nebraska, Kansas City. Did you see this quote from Nebraska?
I believe defensive back Deshaun Singleton. Oh, please let me know.
He was asked about this big game coming up against
Cincinnati tomorrow night. This is an exact quote. We funna

(26:21):
make people in wheelchairs stand up. What's a real quote?
Tweeted by Bleacher Reports official account. We funna make people
in wheelchairs stand up? Go back to you in the studio.
Oh boy, man, I'm ready to go now.

Speaker 2 (26:42):
That's see Paul better be painted on midfield finnin to
make people in wheelchairs stand up.

Speaker 3 (26:49):
We finna make people in wheelchairs stand up and that's
a dB. Yeah. Only people to be standing up is
people to stand up to leave the state. Listen, I'm
in favor if you can perform or miracles healing on people.

Speaker 4 (27:01):
Now.

Speaker 2 (27:02):
The only standing up is going to be the people
that are leaving their seats early for Nebraska.

Speaker 3 (27:05):
First reply, I said, yeah, standing up to turn the
TV off. I love it. The people already know. Nobody cares.
People already know. Baby, all right, do some standing up
here here and there? Mark, what's going on?

Speaker 4 (27:21):
Man?

Speaker 9 (27:23):
What's going on?

Speaker 7 (27:24):
Is I'm pissed.

Speaker 4 (27:25):
I'm frustrated.

Speaker 7 (27:26):
Yeah, because after what I saw last night, it made
me think about what Ferguson Jacobs told me in twenty fifteen.
He said, the game ain't changed, just the way they're
trying to manage it. And I thought last week I
asked for Fredo and Gavin Luz one or two at

(27:46):
the top of the lineup. I thought, I heard myself
say that. And this is what makes me frustrated with managers.

Speaker 2 (27:54):
Well, they need two whole hitters that can bunt. That's
why Marte's in there.

Speaker 7 (27:58):
Well, Gavin Loves looks like the perfect guy for that situation,
because you know, baseball can be situational sometimes from last time,
I look, and we saw what we saw last night,
and then he was playing center field when you got
Freedom and Benson that you could have put out there.

(28:21):
I mean, this is why I quit on managers, because
when I see stuff like what I saw last night,
and you know, at this point in the season, the
lineup should be set with the players that you have.
You should have a set lineup day in and day
out to the end of the season. It shouldn't be

(28:43):
no more of this moving guys up and down the lineup.
Marte Friedo I said this last week. They hit in
the middle of the lineup, and that's it.

Speaker 3 (28:53):
You don't move them to the top of the Lineupay
off though Andy was going up.

Speaker 7 (29:00):
Okay, well, well wait a minute. My take on that
is these players are gonna be off for how many
months in the off season.

Speaker 3 (29:06):
No, I get it, but still, I mean, he Freedom's
been terrible since All Star Break.

Speaker 7 (29:12):
Okay, but we still got to do load management, and
we still got to at.

Speaker 3 (29:18):
About load management as much as the guy just hasn't
been productive. So they're trying to get Marte over there
to try to keep some offense.

Speaker 7 (29:26):
Okay, that was a bad management decision.

Speaker 3 (29:30):
At least you as a DH then.

Speaker 7 (29:33):
Yeah, I mean, I just are you doing?

Speaker 3 (29:36):
So he's hitting like two twelve since the All Star break?

Speaker 7 (29:41):
Okay, what Okay? Players can't play every day no more?

Speaker 3 (29:45):
He has no every day. That's why he got a
day off.

Speaker 7 (29:49):
I mean, didn't the res just have a day off?
How many games ago? Then they have a then they
have a day.

Speaker 3 (29:56):
Off they had they had one on the twenty first.

Speaker 7 (30:00):
Okay, well see, here's here's the problem I got with baseball. Now,
pictures can only go five in and and now players
can't play every day, you know, because they get tired.
So you know, I'm just frustrated all the way around
because they didn't you know.

Speaker 2 (30:18):
Like I agree it is. This to me has been
so frustrating. I think that's the conclusion that so many
people I talked to are coming to. It's frustrating watching
this team night in, night out, because it feels at
times like they're close and then things like last night happened.

Speaker 7 (30:37):
I'll make this point before I get off, because I've said.

Speaker 10 (30:41):
It once before.

Speaker 7 (30:44):
Until they until they clean house in that front offense
and they come up with a different way of how
they gonna build a team. I mean, we'll see this
year in and year out, over and over again, because
to me, you know, you're not gonna be able to
duplicate the big Red machine again. Okay, I get that,

(31:05):
But that ninety nine team, that's one of my favorite teams,
even though they didn't make the playoffs. You can encounter
you can duplicate that team. So I'll get off and
the rest of the show.

Speaker 3 (31:16):
All right, Mark, thank you, man, appreciate that. I don't
have a problem with guys getting a day off.

Speaker 2 (31:23):
Would you consider the leafety nine team successful if they
missed the playoffs but they won ninety six games?

Speaker 3 (31:27):
No, they lost in the most important game?

Speaker 4 (31:31):
No?

Speaker 3 (31:32):
Oh was that that game? They're fun and Reds fans
love them. Part of the issue is that we just
love teams that sucked or loved teams that didn't do anything.
What I wouldn't give for a love the twenty twelve team. Yep,
love the twenty ten team. Those guys did nothing. At
the end of the day, they did nothing. Ninety nine team.

(31:55):
People can't get enough of them.

Speaker 2 (31:57):
I can get enough of watching enough of remember being
in there watching al lighter.

Speaker 3 (32:01):
That's how low the bar is, like, I understand, guys
need days off, right, there's only there's twenty players that
have played well more than twenty players that have played
over one hundred and thirty games this year. So the
idea that guys don't play every day is just it's nonsense.
It's wrong because they do here, maybe not so much

(32:22):
because of the way that the roster is constructed, such
a point that is a organizational issue more than anything else. TJ.
Friedo has stunk lately. Needs a day off, la day
la Cruz. We just said the other day, even though
they're the middle of this race, needs a day off
or needs to be a DH. Something has to change.
And more importantly, you know with Mark there and his

(32:42):
specifically his argument, he at the end blames it on
the front office, but spends every other day of the
regular season blaming it on the manager. Ultimately, I think
it falls on the front office. But I was posting
this this morning. Does Terry Francona and the way he
manages really fit the way that the organization's trying to
build the team. And did the Reds hire them because

(33:04):
their visions aligne? Did the Reds hire Terry Francona because
their visions aligne or because he creates headlines and hope.

Speaker 2 (33:13):
That's that's I've wrestled with that for a lot of
the year because I watched some decisions or personnel decisions,
and I'm like, man, I didn't think that would be
Francona's mark m hm like something. It's almost like we
talk We've talked about kind of Zach Taylor in the
way he's talked about preseason with the defense one way
and the offense another way and kind of talking out
of both sides of the mouth. I feel like there

(33:35):
are times this year where I expected something different from
Terry Francona, and what I see on the field of
the lineup isn't that.

Speaker 3 (33:44):
And so.

Speaker 2 (33:46):
What I'd love to know is that first conversation that
ever happened between the Reds and Francona, what the Reds
pitched Terry Francona.

Speaker 3 (33:53):
My question is was he really swept off his feet
and fell in love with the vision that they shared
with him, or was he just bored sure? Was he
finally healthy enough to manage again and he wanted to
manage because all he's ever known is baseball, which is
a fair question. Yeah, I think that's a fair question
because I have a hard time believing that a hardcore

(34:14):
old school baseball guy like Terry Francona looks at the
way that this team is operating and says I want
to be a part of that.

Speaker 4 (34:22):
Ye.

Speaker 3 (34:22):
Now, listen, when John Henry brought him into the Boston
Red Sox back in the day. A reason for that
with theo Epstein was because he was advanced and open
to the analytics, and Francona for years mastered balancing the
analytics and the baseball And I just wonder if there's

(34:45):
a disconnect there for him. I just wonder if he's
not as sharp as he used to be, which happens
to people as they get older. And you know one
other thing that I don't think we talk about enough.
Colin Cowgill, Jr. House, Dereck Johnson. I'm not putting this
on Derek Johnson, but I'm keeping this in mind. Col Gill, House, Johnson, Benavities,

(35:08):
all still here from last year. All still here from
the previous regime. Benavides does infield defense awful. Colin Calkil
does outfield defense awful. Jr. House is the catching coordinator.
Not great. Those three guys are holdovers from the David
Bell era. Those are three weaknesses on this team. Let's

(35:34):
grab one more phone call here, Mike, what's up?

Speaker 4 (35:36):
Man? Hey?

Speaker 10 (35:40):
Well, once again you see the difference between anna a
winner and that such a winner. They'd better hope that
Wendolo's blistered on top back up again. If they do,
they are really done because and that blister could Now
those can be I got to doing a little reading
on those blisters with pitchers, and they can really be

(36:00):
a nightmare, and they can extend over years. That they
have a protensity to develop these blisters because of how
they gripped the ball, and that sweeper he throws it
must take a lot of stress on his fingertips and
his elbow and every other thing.

Speaker 2 (36:18):
Yeah, Bob Mangean shined a light on that last week
of how difficult it is to not only rehabit, but
you then worry about re injuring those blisters because again,
as a pitcher who relies on that pressure of the
fingers so delicately and he throws so many of those sweeping,
breaking balls, you've got to make sure it's one hundred
percent healed. And even then you're probably still going to

(36:40):
see some of the ill effected side effects going forward.

Speaker 10 (36:44):
Yeah, I learn a lot. I love it when you
have him on, Tony. I really at first I thought, oh,
well it's a trainer, very big deal. But the more
I really paid attention, I've learned a lot. So I
appreciate you guys living him on and it's really good.
And here comes that Mets lumber boy. Here it comes,
gonna sweep the Philly's and that ain't no joke. So
I uh, I think you'd have to admit now it's

(37:06):
starting to starting to get slim. Yeah, the Kings are
starting to get a little slim. Now we'll see what
Chie does tonight. Last time out, we wasn't more of
the crap, but he might be getting tired too. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (37:19):
It just it feels like the other teams in this
race are just so much more prepared as a roster
to get through this part of the season because guys
are going to get tired, and you got to have depth,
and you got to have the top end guys and
the reds. They it's like the roster's so bad they
can't afford to give guys days off because it just
creates these glaring holes in the lineup. And now you

(37:40):
start to see some fatigue in the bullpen. Some of
the starting pitching is falling off a little bit. The
lineup is not consistent. It's just it feels like the
wheels are starting to come off.

Speaker 10 (37:53):
It does. And what a big difference. See the Dodgers
getting k Hernandez back, the utility guy. That guy, it's
so important to that team. He has been for the
last five or six years, and he really seems to
come to life in September and October. He's really good
in the playoffs. So these these bench guys are really important.
I'm going to get Tommy Edmund back and other bench

(38:14):
guys so and the Reds and I do like Estmo,
but uh yeah.

Speaker 2 (38:20):
And unfortunately it feels like the one bench guy or
contributor that the Reds could have is still sitting in
Triple A and South Stewart. I just it's remarkable to
me that that there's not a roster spot available on
this team for a guy that's hitting that many home runs.

Speaker 10 (38:37):
Yeah, I mean the Dodgers had to bring up guys
from the miners if they didn't have a choice. And
uh and Eventually it pays up as these guys get
get some time to heal and whatever. But yeah, I
got that's a frustrating one tonight. So maybe they can
get one more to one one out of the three tonight.
If not, if they lose again tonight in the nets lens,

(38:57):
I'm calling it over. Yeah, because that's four and a
half then and it's not looking good. Sorry to be negative,
but that's just how I see it. So thanks you guys.
I appreciate it.

Speaker 3 (39:05):
Mike, thanks for the call. Man, appreciate it.

Speaker 2 (39:08):
Yeah, It's it's hard at this point to take them
as a serious contender the way they're operating.

Speaker 3 (39:14):
Uh.

Speaker 2 (39:14):
Did you see this Austin from Brett McMurphy as it
relates to a couple of schools in Chipotle earlier.

Speaker 3 (39:20):
Have you seen what happened? Yeah, I mean Ohio State
did this first. Yeah, so now more schools are doing it. Yep.
What shout up my guy Logan Hittle at Ohio State.
I mean, what a what a gig this would be.
You should ask a Cardale about Logan Hitdle.

Speaker 2 (39:33):
If you've not seen, Chipotle is giving every scholarship and
walk on athlete at Florida, Georgia, and Ohio state a
customized card that grants them free Chipotle for the duration
of their respective athletic seasons. I mean, that's that's big
time stuff. Good for them, good for these college athletes

(39:57):
thriving in today's sports. Take a break, we'll come back.
We'll finish up our number one next on ESPN fifteen
thirty Cincinnati Sports Station, thanks to our friends at Skyline Chili,

(40:23):
Bengals roster.

Speaker 3 (40:24):
News Charlie Clifford reporting that the Bengals are bringing back
Muma Jung Meta to the practice squad. Hey, sorry, Muma,
Muma Muma to the squad. Alright, Eve, practice squads are
finalized for today. I know that's when all the waivers are. Yeah,

(40:47):
it's gonna be officially put through. I know that the
Titans have already claimed a couple of guys they have
first priority and whatnot. Me call Hardman back to the
Packer practice squad there go. I saw a guy yesterday
named Demarvin WHOA D E m A r v I
n he finlinna make people stand up out a wheelchairs.

(41:08):
Still names that I truly truly love in the NFL.
One of them just got claimed Jalen Armor Davis. It's tough.
That's a good one. I love Lagerious Snead.

Speaker 4 (41:19):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (41:20):
I always we always joke around that we're about to
go lagarious. Yeah. Uh Marvin, Marvin's a good one man.
Lil Jordan Humphries just signed with the Giants practice squad.
Shut out Lil Jordan. Yeah, I love the names in
the NFL. Did you see this? This drives me. I
want to win this game tomorrow night. It's so bad

(41:41):
and Dylan Ryle is a big part of that. Did
you see in his press conference yesterday he was wearing
glasses and they asked him, Oh, we didn't know you
wear glasses, and he said, they're not like actual glasses.
His eyes are fine. They are quote fashion specific glasses.

(42:02):
That's not abnormal. Are we doing?

Speaker 11 (42:04):
Man?

Speaker 3 (42:04):
That's not abnormal. Listen, you better be a guy wear
what he wants. I I you wear UC gear every
day and you want to talk about what somebody else wear.
Not wait to see this guy run out on the
field tomorrow night. Y. What is is him wearing glasses had.

Speaker 12 (42:20):
To do with you?

Speaker 2 (42:20):
The whole Mahomes thing. It's just doll Pat doesn't wear glasses.

Speaker 3 (42:24):
It's sick. So he actually does something for himself, and
you want to yell at him for that too.

Speaker 2 (42:29):
Disgusting? Is that what you're saying. I'm yelling at him
for everything because we coming leave him alone. We're coming
tomorrow with that. See Paul at midfield like tomorrow night,
We're coming.

Speaker 3 (42:39):
Leave him alone. Tommy DeVito has been claimed by the
New England Patriots. Wow veto huh, Tommy cutlets man. I
watched for some Tommy clam chowder. I watched the second
half of their game versus New England. I can see
why New England claimed him. He had three touchdown passes
in that game, and every single offensive lineman he played

(43:00):
with was cut Yeah. Lines have claimed two defensive lineman
defensive tackle Tyler Lacy defensive end Tyris Wheat.

Speaker 2 (43:08):
Is that Eddie Lacy? He just changed his first name.
Now kept that in the way wheat wat last name thins.
You see Clayton name that too?

Speaker 3 (43:20):
Yeah? I thought it was Otto. That's a good one too.

Speaker 2 (43:24):
Other quick news we talked about an hour one. Rashie
Rice has accepted a six game suspension. Ravens make Kyle
Hamilton the highest paid safety in the NFL think about
that Austin. They like a guy they drafted and they
spent money to ink him long term. And Keegan Bradley
didn't pick himself for the Ryder Cup squad.

Speaker 3 (43:43):
Why not?

Speaker 2 (43:44):
He's the best golfer right now playing Keegan Bradley. What
are you doing?

Speaker 4 (43:50):
Uh?

Speaker 3 (43:50):
Seeing this now from Tom Pellaicero? All right, Tom, I
don't believe the Bengals got a single waiver claim? Wow?
What I mean? Double chick this year? Carolina, Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, Detroit, Indianapolis,
Las Vegas, Miami, New England, New Orleans, New York, Giants

(44:11):
and Jets, Philadelphia and Tennessee. There are no waiver claims
awarded to the Cincinnati Bengals. What so?

Speaker 4 (44:21):
Now?

Speaker 3 (44:22):
What doll we do? Cleveland got Jeric Bernard Converse, another
great nam dB from Louisiana State, and Raheem Sanders are
running back from South Carolina. Anyone else notable? The Saints
got Trey Palmer wide receiver out of Nebraska, and Philadelphia

(44:47):
claimed Willy Lampkin center. Raams I was big on Willy
Lampkin and four players were awarded to Tennessee, who obviously
has the first tin New Orleans got big trust Xavier
trusts who as a guard from Denver. No waiver claims. Huh,
what do we make of that? So by according to

(45:08):
this no players the Bengals cut were claimed and the
Bengals were not awarded any of the players. That doesn't
mean they didn't try, right, but if teams above them
had higher priority, they didn't get. Now what do we do?

Speaker 2 (45:23):
It's a good question, man, what's next? I mean, I
know what's next here. Cardel Jones is going to join us,
and then I'm not available it might be, and then
I'm leaving on a jet plane. We'll kick off our
number two with card L Jones. After that, Austin has
talkbacks and the rest of the show. I think you're

(45:44):
off tomorrow as well, Right, You're off tomorrow and Friday. Yeah,
I believe it's Chad Breundle Tomorrow. I'll be checking in
with him throughout the afternoon and then I'll jump on
with Moagger from three to six live from Kansas City,
and then we'll be back here on Friday, probably just
like back in Cincinnati. Will come right to radio on
ESPN fifteen thirty hour two is next of Cincy three

(46:04):
to sixty uc.

Speaker 13 (46:06):
Kwise Cincinnati, make us the number one pre set on
your car radio and on the free, new and improved
iHeartRadio AD Free never sounded so good.

Speaker 3 (46:14):
ESPN fifteen thirty thirty.

Speaker 1 (46:17):
This is CINCI Shirts Cincy three sixty about Cincinnati from Cincinnati,
sponsored in part by Cincy Shirts. Cincy Shirts All Cincy,
all Day. This is ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports Station.

Speaker 2 (46:35):
Welcome back Cincy three sixty thanks to Cinci Shirts on
ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports Station. We get into our
number two. Let's start in a big way, because college
football it's essentially back. Getting ready after this conversation here,
I am heading to the airport directly flying out, getting
to Kansas City. We'll get there for Bearcats and corn
Huskers tomorrow. But it's a huge college football weekend as

(46:57):
a whole to kickoff to the season. Who better to
talk some college football with a man that knows the
game all too well. My good friend Cardel Jones is
joining us right now. Cardell, what's going on?

Speaker 4 (47:07):
Man? Tony? What's up? Guys? Good morning, Thanks for having
It's always a pleasure to catch up with you guys,
to talk about some college football, in particular some of
those Bearcats and buck Eyes.

Speaker 2 (47:17):
And before we get into the game itself, I know
that it's a busy year already for you. What do
you have going on as the football season gets closer?
What are some things you got going on? Or what
are you gonna be doing?

Speaker 4 (47:30):
You know, I don't even know where to start. Thank
you know, here're you're flying out right after this. They
go catch the ball in person this weekend and start
from me by seeing Texas come to town and hopefully
my buck guy's pull it off. Then the following weekend,
back and forth in New York with CBS, that getting
in the studios inside college football with CBS and CBS
networking HQ. So looking forward to everything that the ball

(47:53):
has to offer. And Tony, you know how it is
as former players, man, we try to catch as many
games as possible, just to keep that just to scratch that,
it's that we still half when you're talking about football.

Speaker 2 (48:04):
You already feel it with the weather right now, it's
starting to get that crisp feel in the air. Let's
start with uh with your buck eyes. It is a
h it's a big one. It's big noon kickoff. It
is the Texas Longhorns coming in the number one whank
team in the country. Before I even get to the game,
I want to know what's your feel on on big
game noon kickoffs.

Speaker 4 (48:25):
You know what? For me, as a player, I liked
playing a new because you know it's not you don't
have to hurry up and wait all day. You know,
three thirty wasn't as bad, but night games is pretty
much the worse because you know it's all the anticipation
in building up but is hopefully you didn't burn out.
All your drilline was mitchellly preparing for the game before

(48:46):
the game is there. But as a fan, I'm not
as big as a fan of the new kickoffs, you know,
because you know that means you gotta tell about eight
thirty nine o'clock. If you han't done a campus, you
betta leave a little earlier than that, and that's a
little too early to enjoy some adult beverages, in my opinion,
might not make it for the game if it talligate
too much at that point.

Speaker 2 (49:07):
This Ohio State team loaded with talent again but arguably
has two of the best players in the country Caleb
Downs at safety, Jeremiah Smith at wide, receiver. You have
been around a lot of talented wide receivers, you have
watched a lot of talented wide receivers. Where do you
slot Jeremiah Smith into the likelihood of who you've seen
a man?

Speaker 4 (49:26):
He's up there, He's up there. And then, with all
due respects to guys like Devin Smith and Michael Thomas
and Chris o'liva and Jarrett Wilson, in the lift goes
on of just guys. Now, I just played with just
being around with an nil space with Ohio State. I'm
not ready to put him in those conversations yet, just
because he's going to the second year. Those guys did

(49:47):
it for three or four years of their careers now,
and I have no doubt that Turmie Smith is going
to do that for the next two years. The Marrio
Records said, if he have passed the success he had
last year, this year and half of as the following year,
I think he's still want to go down as one
of the greatest receivers in all the college football.

Speaker 2 (50:04):
We know all too well that the quarterback position is
kind of what makes this wheel spin. So at Ohio State,
it feels like maybe the first time in a while,
that there's a little bit of a question mark, a
little bit of an unknown with what they have at quarterback.

Speaker 3 (50:17):
What have you seen?

Speaker 2 (50:18):
What have you heard with the quarterback position as you
get ready for Texas.

Speaker 4 (50:23):
You know, ever since last year when we got Julian
Saying and actually Lincoln kingholes back and to the recruiting process,
people are forgetting that he was a big time recrew
where we almost lost to Washington. For the most part,
these guys are more than capable enough the lead this
team to a lot of ways. They surrounded by great talent.
Julian was a guy that I recall them being very
high on the recruiting process as well before he takes

(50:46):
talent to Alabama and then finding his way back with
the Buck guys. But two guys that bring a lot
of similarities to the offense. I know Julian and everybody
radive him his quick release in his pocket presence, but
people I remember he's a number two dual threat quarterback
in his class, so he can get it done outside
of the pocket, and just as well as Lincoln. And
I'm on record already's saying Lincoln is probably one of
the best athletes I've ever been around. Because he can

(51:08):
do it all in every sport, and then clearly he
is deadly with improvising as well at the quarterback position.
So even with I think Ryan, they said it after
his press come for another name and a startup where
they see Lincoln Key hosts and some type of packages
or some type of point in the game. And Ryan
was straight up he said, I think so, you know,
because he's that good of a talent where he's going

(51:29):
to bring you something else to the offense and not
necessarily just to behelme a shot. If Julian were to
struggle in this game.

Speaker 2 (51:37):
On the other side of the ball, Jim Knowles is
gone and the defense that he brought to Ohio State,
Caleb Downs is still there on the back end. What
do you know about this defense this year? Is the
defense to question mark or are they still solid on
that side of the ball?

Speaker 4 (51:52):
You know, I think talent wise solid, Schematically I think yes,
there's going to be a question mark just because this
is the first year system for all these guys. And
with that already you having a first year lot of
first year players. Rbl Ree stepping into the full time
starting linebacker role, CJ. Hicks stepping down to the full
time defensive end row of new position for him and
Sonny Styles and Arizo Styles boasts on the field at

(52:14):
the same time and finding their way and finding their
kind of new roles within that defense. One thing, the
one common theme that's been coming out about it from
the players about this new defense is that it's a
little simpler than what Jim Knowles wanted to do, and
it's really fitting a lot of these guys playing style
versus trying to fit them into a structure now that

(52:35):
they can't argue with the result that Jim knows defense.
Because of the structure, a Hawk is one of the
best defens in the country last year. Hence all the
guys was able to go out and be drafted high
pick in the NFL Draft. But I think that is
a question mark for me, not just schimatically, with a
lot of new guys stepping into a lot of new
roles for the first time in their careers.

Speaker 2 (52:54):
For this game itself, a lot is made about archs Manning,
and rightfully so, because the degree is there, but what
has actually taken place on the field. Arch Manning obviously
needs to take the next step as well. We know
they're surrounded with a bunch of weapons. That's why they're
the number one team in the country. Yet Ohio State
is favored by one and a half currently in this
game on Saturday. In your opinion, what does Saturday come

(53:16):
down to.

Speaker 4 (53:17):
I think is who want to make it and sub say,
who's going to make at least one of the mistakes.
When you look at both teams, they are young and
some key positions, especially with Alabama Lusin they're starting left
tackle here to injury for the season. And an arch
manny H a guy that hasn't played a lot of football,
significant football. I'm not counting the starts that he made.
I think last year I forgot that to a group

(53:39):
of five schools that he started against, and then he
did show flashes. There's some big time situations versus some
SEC opponents when he was throwing the fire. But my
argument with arch Manning and a lot of people thinking
that he's gonna just come in and just dominate, which
I hope he come in to have success. Don't get
me wrong. If he was that good he was started
last year, sure right, So I really put him in
the same as Juliet saying a guy with a lot

(54:02):
of potential that we haven't seen yet. It don't really
know what he's capable of when the pressure is really on.
But when you say I mean that both like if
in the same position. Both guys are surrounded by a
lot of talent that you look at all the house
they died. They're young in key position as well, the
quarterback position, making a lot of shuffles at the ulfens

(54:23):
line position, a lot of guys that would experience but
not experienced with playing and taking over. We're starting to
roll and they got another guy on the side of
the ball they got to go against. Colline Simmons and
a few other of those guys are over on Texas
front seven. Who's going to be projected top NFL drafficks
here the next year. They have two years as well,
So I think the biggest storyline is not getting a

(54:44):
lot of attention to Ohio State reshuffled offensive line versus Texas. Really,
I would say solidify a front seven with the returning
National Freshman of the Year, a guy who won the
award over during my myth as one of the top
pass rushers in the country.

Speaker 2 (55:00):
From a big ten standpoint, as we spend a few
more minutes here with Cardill Jones. Everyone knows that the
top end Ohio State, Penn State, where they're at. Do
you have a dark horse? Do you have a sleeper
that maybe you like in the Big ten this year
that could could make a little noise.

Speaker 4 (55:15):
You know what I do, And I got them as
a sleeper in the fact that we can look up,
you know, ten weeks down the row and they can
be the same position as Indiana was last year, going undefeated,
only facing one of the top three or four teams,
and then Big Ten may be dropping that one and
making an argument for the college football playoffs or even
representing their well not their side, but being a top

(55:35):
two team, top three team and a Big ten forst
record wise, that team for me is Illinois. And another
one is that I know I sound crazy saying it,
it's Maryland. Maryland avoid the three top big teams and
the Big ten this year for the first time, and
they're a Big ten tenor and then also the tougher
games I would consider that they haven't are at home,

(55:56):
so they can look up. We can look up at
two weeks down a row and they could be easy,
you know, nine to one, ten and oh so I
think those two teams right, there will be some sleepers
and it will shake up a lot of teams in
college fball playoffs.

Speaker 2 (56:09):
Date of the year, I think it's so difficult it
always has been, but now more so than ever to
really understand who a team has at the start of
the year because there's so much roster turnover. And if
I look at this game tomorrow night with UC and Nebraska,
I know that year three for Matt Rule is normally
the year things click in. I know that Dylan Ryole
is playing at Arrowhead Stadium, which worries me with the

(56:31):
haul Patrick Mahomes comparison. But for you see, they get
Brendan soarsby back, who is one of the top twenty
quarterbacks in the country. He comes back. They get a
guy in Dante Corleon on defense who's been an All
American that bypassed the NFL to come back. Joe Royer
was projected by some to be a top couple round

(56:51):
draft pick at tight end. He broke Travis Kelsey school
record last year for receptions. What does it say to
you in today's day and age for a team that
maybe didn't get the wins they wanted last year, but
so many core players decided to come back to kind
of write what they did last year.

Speaker 4 (57:08):
Oh, they building something special. When you see and he
got he got those guys buying in and you look
at the quarterback position. Not many teams are returning the
second year or third year quarterback like Brandon. And then
at top of that, you look at how he played
last year, throw for over twenty eight hundred yards, but
really stepping up and really coming on the second half
of the season and start to drop that touchdown and

(57:28):
intercession ratio. This is something where I guarantee that coach
and stuff was like, man and we can keep our
corporate guy together, which they did despite losing a few
guys to this agent out of the NFL Draft, and
they return and always help returning to All American, it
tells you that these guys are bought in. I think
this is the year that they make that step, they
make that leap like the years when the Fickle was

(57:50):
I think there was year three for Fickle when he
made that leap to I think a ten to two season.
Yeah college football league, Yeah, exactly exactly. I expect fully
that type of a year from Cincinnati and especially been
in the Big Twelve in a conference that's very competitive.
But I think if you really looking at the returning guys,

(58:11):
they gotta be up there at the top four top
five returning teams of the Big twelve, just on the
on the experience and just on the playmakers alone.

Speaker 2 (58:22):
I mean, there's a lot of buzz Arizona State's number
eleven in the country out of the Big twelve, but
Kansas State and Iowa State, where two of the teams
ranked in the top twenty five. They were both viewed
as title contenders in the Big Twelve. And if you
watch that game that they had in Ireland on Saturday,
I don't think either team looks unbeatable. I think the
Big twelve is completely wide open, and the dynamic for

(58:44):
UC changes so much if you win tomorrow night, because
it sets a tone for the rest of the season
for a team like Nebraska Cardell out of the Big ten.
Is this one of those kind of put up or
shut up years for Matt Ruhle, who they've kind of
just hovered around that Bowl game six seven win mark,
right outside the top twenty five right now? How much
pressure is Matt ruling in Nebraska?

Speaker 4 (59:07):
I think he's under a lot of pressure. You look
at the recruiting class that they brought in last year,
the things they did in the portal. You look at
Dylan Ryola going into the second year as a starting quarterback.
This is usually when you see guys make the biggest
jump from year one and year two at that position.
And you got the tools, and you got the guy
that you can build the program around, and you've got

(59:27):
all the resources. So there's really no excuses for Nebraska
to be a seven eight win team when you have
every resource at your disposal to make sure you are
being competitive in a Big ten. The one thing I
love about the Big twelve getting back old Sins Dowty
a little bit, is that, with all due respect, it's
no big dog in the Big twelve. So each week

(59:48):
for the Big Twelve, it's almost like a championship week
because we know what that one loss and one win
would do to you far as in the long run,
because you know, just like last year, you're gonna have
two three four way ties with teams. When you talk
about the record and who's going to represent each opponent
in Big twelve championship, gave me clearly that person is

(01:00:09):
going to get to be it for the college football
playoffs is wide open. This is perfect for our Cincinnati
team to fly under the radar that going there and
really make some noise. And we're looking up at week
ten eleven as well as then hold on, you know
they went out or this team lose, Cincinnati's right there
in it.

Speaker 2 (01:00:26):
Lastly, from the college football side, Cardill, do you have
another team that stands out to you that we've not
hit on. I know Clemson is a trendy pick right
now because of the quarterback position. LSU lurks at number nine.
Notre Dame coming off their great season is number six.
Is there a team that we've not talked about or
that you have your eye on, that that you think

(01:00:46):
can make some significant noise this year?

Speaker 4 (01:00:49):
Man, And I can't believe. For the first time ever,
I'm really eating my words on this team is Penn State.
Penn State is a team that is is I think
all the expectations is there for them. They have legit
national championship expectations for the first time and pretty much
my lifespan of watching football and being a fan of

(01:01:11):
a big team where they just did the you know,
copy and paste recipe from Ohio State last year, retaining
all your guys and bringing in a great coordinator and
let's say, hey, let's go make a run for this team.
And they got all the tools in place to really
do that. Where the quarterback that's projected, you know, a
top ten pick, and then pretty much to all American

(01:01:32):
style running backs returning five returning three offensivelignment from last
year starters, and then also pretty flushed seven returners on
defensive side of the ball. You lose Michael, I mean,
you lose a dual Carter, but you got other guys
in wing that's just like him, right, So I think
they have the perfect recipe to really have the ability

(01:01:55):
to run the table this year. And for the first
time in a long time, I'm drinking I'm drinking the
t on Pennce Dave as a legit threat, you know,
to win a national.

Speaker 10 (01:02:04):
Title this year.

Speaker 2 (01:02:05):
Jim Knowles is going over as a decordinator. As we mentioned,
I just I need to see it from James Franklin
before I can believe it, but they certainly have the
talent there. Before I let you go, I'd be remiss
because I know this was in the headlines, and I
know that we've talked about it on this show and
and the levels of where it goes, and Austin brought
up a comment about urban Meyer and talking about what

(01:02:29):
what the NCAA has or has not done. We found
out the penalties that that were levied against Michigan and
essentially the slap on the wrist that came down with
with everything that they had done, essentially owning up to
to lying and cheating and and and what they were
able to get away with. What did you make of
of the NCAA, because I know the NCAA is in

(01:02:49):
a weird spot right now because of ni L and
the portal and and what even a governing body they
look like. What did you make of of the decision
that came down on on Michigan last week?

Speaker 14 (01:03:01):
You know, I think the NCAA completely dropped the ball
on this one. And this is not a typical Ohio
State Michigan thing where oh man, I hate men and
I want them to you know, I'll get the death.
And this is not this because if Ohio State or.

Speaker 4 (01:03:15):
Another school was going through this and they got this
fen only obviously saying the exact same thing what Michigan did.
It puts in question the integrity of the game, and
there's no place in any sport for what they were doing.
You look at some of the other punishments from other schools,
ironically Ohio State with the tattoo, ka USC, the regulus situation,

(01:03:36):
North Carolina, what they had going up, it just continues
to show the NC DOUBLEA that they're One thing they're
consistent about is the inconsistency about ruling and discipline areas.
When you come across things like this, these are things
guys did off the field that helped their family or
just helped them personally, that had nothing to do with
the outcome of the game. And schools were stripped, wins,

(01:04:00):
Higatsman trophies was taken away, coaches were fired, schools was
penal life, couldn't play in bowl games, coaches were taken
But this university did something that changed the outcome of games.
I mean, you got people calling up there said they
still their national championship. I'm not for punishing future recruiting

(01:04:22):
classes and future players had nothing to do with this.
But you still look at Jim Harball, how he still
deny it, acts like he didn't know what was going on,
and all this other stuff. It was complete slap on
the wrist, and you know, everybody pretty much came out
unscaled and say, hey, you know what, twenty million It
looked like it was worth it for us to win
a national championship because how much money did they make

(01:04:44):
through that?

Speaker 3 (01:04:44):
I take that right now?

Speaker 4 (01:04:45):
Mean they basically risk Yeah, you're telling me they risked
twenty million and to make two hundred for the school
and give them a national title and that stuff. I
think a lot of people would take that deal.

Speaker 2 (01:04:55):
Yeah, I'm I'm I'm first in line at the parade.
If that's uc If that's if that, oh my god,
I mean, if that's the slap on the rist, absolutely,
and it does. It sets a terrible precedent going forward
and something that obviously you're gonna have to keep an
eye on, Cardell.

Speaker 3 (01:05:09):
I can't thank you enough.

Speaker 2 (01:05:10):
I know it's a busy time of the year, best
time of the year with football getting ready to start
for listeners and those following along. What's the easiest way
that folks can follow along with everything you got going
on for the season.

Speaker 4 (01:05:22):
Yeah, I know. This is the unbelievable U see crowd
that I love and held deer dear to my heart
as well. But you know got a podcast, the script
OSCU basically talking about everything OSU will do with all
the college athletics as well. So follow up on wherever
you guys get your podcasts from and subscribe and that
Tony is always I appreciated, man. I can't wait to

(01:05:44):
get down there see you in person.

Speaker 2 (01:05:45):
Yeah, let's do it, man, Thank you so much. Enjoy
the college football weekend and we'll talk soon.

Speaker 4 (01:05:51):
Appreciate it. Have a good one, guys.

Speaker 2 (01:05:52):
That is Cardile Jones. This is since he three p
sixty and I'm heading to the airport. I gotta go.
I gotta catch a flight to Kansas City. I'm joining
Mowagger on the plane. So Austin has it next. He'll
start with talkbacks and then finish up the show this
afternoon right here on ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports Station.

Speaker 1 (01:06:12):
Now Sincy three sixty carries on on ESPN fifteen thirty
Cincinnati Sports Station.

Speaker 11 (01:06:19):
Is the templest pressed the microphonent precordial message Austin and
keep the clean.

Speaker 15 (01:06:30):
Bo a spring.

Speaker 11 (01:06:34):
I wish that temple to best.

Speaker 16 (01:06:37):
It's our favorite part of Saintsory three six day.

Speaker 11 (01:06:43):
Stall.

Speaker 16 (01:06:44):
You play at.

Speaker 11 (01:06:45):
Tacks on your screen and try not to sabotage it.

Speaker 3 (01:06:49):
I'll do my best not to sabotage. Welcome back to
Sincy three sixty on ESPN fifteen thirty. I am Austin
Elmore Talkbacks, of course, brought to you alongside hour number
two by our friends at Sincy Shirts. I don't know
if you've seen this yet, but the Sincey Shirts shirt
that says where pigs fly and Hooter's hoot boy or

(01:07:10):
excuse me, where pigs fly and Hooters float, of course,
referencing the sad departure of the former Hooters on the River,
floating down the Ohio River to its eventual resting place,
wherever that may be. Go check it out sinceyshirts dot
Com in the Sinsey Shirts mobile app.

Speaker 17 (01:07:31):
Well, even if I'm not a fan, that was some
pretty big news yesterday concerning Travis and Taylor. Too bad
it's not going to stand because it was determined after
further review Travis's knee did not touch the ground.

Speaker 4 (01:07:44):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:07:44):
One of the things I love about the Internet is
how something like that will happen and the memes that
come from it. The amount of people talking about Taylor
Swift got a ring before the Browns, or Taylor Swift
got a ring before insert some team you hate here
or greater ice Cream was putting an ice cream cone
in their hands. I saw an headed of Saquon Barkley

(01:08:05):
doing the backwards hurdle over top of them at their
wedding pitch. Just great, man, Hello, this.

Speaker 18 (01:08:10):
Is former President Ronald Reagan, and well, love is in
the air. It's a time for unity, a season for
coming together. First, Tony was finally elected into UC's Hall
of Fame. Then Trey and the Bengals came to terms. Heck,
even Travis Kelcey and Tyler Swick got engaged.

Speaker 3 (01:08:29):
What's next?

Speaker 18 (01:08:30):
Perhaps the Reds will end their thirty year estrangement with
advancing in the postseason.

Speaker 3 (01:08:35):
If they do.

Speaker 18 (01:08:36):
Cracker barrels on me.

Speaker 3 (01:08:38):
Thank you, Ronnie good gay gentlemen, it's Jim your humer
for burls and Zeki is my favorite. Prisca's not my favorite?
Play caller.

Speaker 9 (01:08:50):
Dove, oh great, right before the start of the season.
You had to do that, didn't you?

Speaker 4 (01:08:55):
Bite down?

Speaker 3 (01:08:55):
Bartelam you I've got another one.

Speaker 16 (01:08:58):
If the Reds get swept tonight, this will be the
headline tomorrow.

Speaker 3 (01:09:06):
Yeah, that is fantastic. Jim and Ross aka Homer with
Marge in there, I believe, great job.

Speaker 11 (01:09:16):
Here's your daily reminder. If the Bengals lose Week one
up at Cleveland, the entire coaching staff, starting with Zach Taylor,
should be fired. Well, not the offensive coordinator.

Speaker 10 (01:09:28):
I like that guy.

Speaker 11 (01:09:30):
And before all of you Zach Taylor defenders come after me,
all ten of you, remember this. Before Joe Burrow got there,
Zach Taylor was two and fourteen. Yeah, I know it
was a garbage team, but two and fourteen is still
two and fourteen.

Speaker 3 (01:09:45):
Yea, yeah, I guess that's true. There have been a
lot of coaches that haven't been very good and then
they get the number one pick and then they're pretty good.

Speaker 19 (01:09:53):
I couldn't tell if yesterday's talkbacks were early Festivus or
the Purge. Some serious airing of the great Evens was
going on a little bit more hostile than usual. Even
poor Mike from LA caught some direct hits. Yeah, I mean, well, anyway,
love the show, guys, thank.

Speaker 3 (01:10:09):
You understandably so, I mean Reds fans don't want to
hear Mike and La come in and Peacock about how
his team beat the Reds. I mean, nobody wants to
hear that, so I think those hits were justified. At
Mike a little bit. The rest of it, people get
a little grumpy.

Speaker 15 (01:10:23):
Hey, it's me Travis Swift's best friend, Chad Brandell. Here,
how about that news from Travis? You know, the old
Chester knew about two and a half weeks ago. He
called and asked my opinion, and I said, you know,

(01:10:44):
Taylor is a decent woman.

Speaker 4 (01:10:46):
I guess.

Speaker 3 (01:10:47):
And by the way, who was this impostor yesterday? I'm
the only Chad Brandell. It's amazing how much that guy
actually sounds like Chad. It's almost spot on.

Speaker 20 (01:11:01):
Patrick can't lay on the Ryder Cup team.

Speaker 3 (01:11:03):
Good lord.

Speaker 20 (01:11:04):
If he plays justin Rose, there might not be enough
daylight anywhere in the world for that match to get done.

Speaker 3 (01:11:10):
They have to play that up at up in like
Alaska or something.

Speaker 20 (01:11:14):
Sorry for the quick double dip. When these consultants come
in and they charge you all this money, they never
get fired. They just leave the building, go home, fill
out their expense reports, climbing their BMW's and Maserati's, and
they're on their way.

Speaker 21 (01:11:32):
I can't wait to hear Jabbroni Mike talking about how
awesome the Dodgers are today nobody listening to Sincy three six.
He gives a rat tale about La Powell Save it
for iHeart Los Angeles one eighty.

Speaker 3 (01:11:48):
They wasn't too bad today.

Speaker 8 (01:11:52):
Austin, I'll give you credit. You've been a Reds naysayer
all year.

Speaker 4 (01:11:56):
You're right.

Speaker 8 (01:11:58):
Just last Friday morning, I had hope for the Mats
had been struggling. They really turned it around. I can't
believe you'd have Marte playing center field if he's never
had a sacrifice bunt in his life, you would do
it in that situation.

Speaker 3 (01:12:15):
Oh, Frank Cooney, Well, Francona threw him under the bus
and basically said it was just Marte trying to do
too much in that moment. Which, even if that's true,
why does he feel like that's the right thing to
do if you are molding and developing a young player.
It falls on the coaching staff that he knows, hey,
don't bunt here. You're our best hitter now. Yes, it's

(01:12:40):
also on Noelvie Marte to understand this is not a
good decision. So the blame, I think is fifty to
fifty but you know, that's the thing. It's just like
they always get in their own way over and over
and over again. It's just so it's maddening. I'm not
looking for credit, like credit doesn't do anything for me.

(01:13:03):
I want to win. I want to win more than
anything as a Reds fan, as doing this job every day,
like winning is good for everybody. And I just have
serious doubts about the way they choose to do business
and the way that they choose to build this roster
that make me think they're ever going to actually be

(01:13:25):
able to get over the hump. And last night, and
really the last week has been a perfect example of that.

Speaker 16 (01:13:33):
This is Bob Castellini. I was listening to the show
and decided that I will release Nick Kral and Austin Elmore.
I believe is your name. I will be promoting you
to general manager, should you choose to accept it.

Speaker 3 (01:13:51):
You seem to be a baseball savant.

Speaker 16 (01:13:54):
You know exactly where to position all of my players
and get the best out of them. You at the
holme we've shout out and lose another game.

Speaker 3 (01:14:04):
Bob, I do not accept your offer.

Speaker 18 (01:14:06):
Double Dipper Hipper here boarding the airplane with the Bearcats
and whale. I have an exclusive quote from one of
the players who wishes to remain anonymous. He said to me, well,
we fun to make the Nebraska players have to use
wheelchairs after this game.

Speaker 22 (01:14:22):
Chill, Hey, guys, I know there's a lot of frustration
with the Reds right now and all that. I think
you have to look at it another way.

Speaker 4 (01:14:33):
This is a.

Speaker 22 (01:14:36):
Playoff experience type games for La Marte, McLean, Steer, Friedel Hunter, Green,
Andrew Abbott, whoever. And this is part of we have
to have this moving forward. So either way, I think
we're gaining some experience.

Speaker 3 (01:14:54):
That is such a stupid way to look at this, like,
I'm just I'll be honest, that's stupid. That's dumb. I
do not care about experience. All those dudes have played
in the playoff race before, by the way, pretty much
all of them. Marte was here in twenty three, so
is Ellie, so is Steer, so is McLain, so is Hunter,

(01:15:14):
so is Abbot. All those dudes have been here before
and they've been playing in this for the last month
or so. So experience, my, you know what, that's bs
win baseball games. Do the little things correctly know where
to go with the ball, know the count, know how

(01:15:36):
many outs there are, take the extra base, know where
to throw the ball when you get it, Know where
the cutoff man is, back up the cutoff man. Little stuff.
They have been playing baseball their entire lives. They have
plenty experience. They know how to play the game. That

(01:15:57):
is a foolish and dare I say, stupid way to
look at this entire situation. If the bar for you
is that low. Oh, team lost tonight, but at least
they got some experience.

Speaker 23 (01:16:12):
Come on, man, Hey Austin, Hey Tony, Hopefully you guys
are doing well. Yeah, Tony, I hope your kids have
a wonderful, great school year. I'm sure as a parent
it is hard to see him go off to school,
But it seems like you and your wife do a
great job. As far as the Reds are concerned, well,
after Mark tried to get that butt down last night,

(01:16:34):
I just it was just hard to watch. It just
seems like they're falling on their face and they should
have realized that it was gonna take more than getting
a new manager.

Speaker 3 (01:16:42):
They needed the players to thank you.

Speaker 12 (01:16:46):
Gentlemen. This is listener, David. Take this as some constructive
criticism accepted or do whatever. But as a listener of
the show for the last months, I got to ask
to stop with the whining. I know management for our
baseball team and our football team are less than stellar,
but let's talk about some other things. College football, women's soccer, MLS,

(01:17:09):
dear Park football for all I care, but quit the
whining about this.

Speaker 3 (01:17:14):
Just in a segment with Cardiel Jones on college football.
We have a weekly MLS segment with Tommy I mean,
phone numbers five, one, three, seven thirty.

Speaker 24 (01:17:30):
Tony Audi Bill in Westchester. Sub Bill, you know, guys,
I love baseball the way a lot of guys love football,
and the Reds run deep with me. But Audie, you
have every right to be and the other thing too
to the last guy. I mean, we had Keegan nickoson
on earlier this week to talk about the Bearcats.

Speaker 10 (01:17:48):
Like.

Speaker 24 (01:17:51):
Pessimistic as you are about this team because they're not good.
They're not bad, but they're not good and I'm tired
of chasing.

Speaker 3 (01:18:00):
A whole segment where Tony got inducted into the UC
Hall of Fame and celebrated his career.

Speaker 24 (01:18:07):
The carents that the Castle leagues keep dangling.

Speaker 3 (01:18:09):
Oh we're so close. We're so close.

Speaker 24 (01:18:11):
You're not, and you won't do what you need to
do to make this team what we wanted to be
and what you promised.

Speaker 3 (01:18:19):
Yeah. I just think they have a very very very
very very flawed approach to how they want to build
the team. I hope they proved me wrong, but I
have a lot of doubts.

Speaker 25 (01:18:28):
You know, alson you go through stretches where everything you
say is right on point, and I think, man, this
dude's on fire. And then you go ahead and say
something like did today about the Packers not being in
an NFC championship contender. What a team that is parentally
in the playoffs just two years ago, was one bad
quarter away from beating the forty nine Ers and going
to an NFC championship game. Last year made the playoffs

(01:18:50):
even with a hobbled, injured Jordan Love. And I don't know,
other than the Eagles, what team this team can't.

Speaker 4 (01:18:57):
Beat in the NFC.

Speaker 3 (01:18:59):
You're allowed disagree with me, That's okay. I just see
things differently, that's fine. Just one other quick thing.

Speaker 25 (01:19:08):
The Packers got the six best odds to win the
Super Bowl. I mean, if that's not a contender, then.

Speaker 3 (01:19:14):
I don't know what is well Tony asked me. He
didn't ask DraftKings, who he thinks is gonna win the
Super Bowl?

Speaker 12 (01:19:19):
Or who?

Speaker 3 (01:19:20):
What he asked for my opinion on the Packers good team?
Are they the top team? Top two teams in the NFC?

Speaker 10 (01:19:26):
Now?

Speaker 3 (01:19:26):
I don't think so? Ok, that's okay. We don't have
to agree on everything. What's up?

Speaker 26 (01:19:32):
Tony and Austin as Castellini's have cultivated a five hundred
ball club atmosphere, culture and fan expectation. I agree Austin,
I love optimism, but since he fans should expect more,
way more Tony. I was at that ninety nine to
one game playoff two, Ricky shushing the crowd while Eier
just shut us down. Regardless of the results. That team
was pure energy and fun. Bangles and Reds fans deserve

(01:19:54):
better ownership in front office dedication to winning. Wish I
was more optimistic about.

Speaker 9 (01:19:59):
That, yep, repping the Nattie out here in Sonny, hot Zona?

Speaker 4 (01:20:06):
What up? Tony? What up? Body?

Speaker 27 (01:20:08):
As you can tell him my voice, I ain't happy
watching that game last night. I ain't happy I had
to voice my opinion on Twitter, because I ain't happy.

Speaker 3 (01:20:19):
This is ridiculous.

Speaker 9 (01:20:20):
Why is he button with two.

Speaker 3 (01:20:22):
On with no outs? Go freaking figure?

Speaker 9 (01:20:25):
The mess is on fire and this is what it is.
This is the red season.

Speaker 27 (01:20:29):
Hey, at least got my attention, at least kept me
busy through football soon.

Speaker 5 (01:20:36):
Hey Alston, Jeffrey Richmond Happy Wednesday two. Yes, I wanted
to circle back real quick. And what Mark was talking about? Yeah,
with the upper management and how they kind of need
to go.

Speaker 28 (01:20:50):
I'm just curious your thoughts on how safe do you
think that Kroll's job is and how long do you
think to stick around if this is gonna be the
way it's gonna be.

Speaker 3 (01:21:06):
I think Tito will be here for at least three seasons,
so two more after this year. I do not think
that Nick Carl's job is in jeopardy, but I think
it should be in jeopardy. And yeah, that's pretty much
how I feel.

Speaker 28 (01:21:20):
It's, Jeff, So, my guest feeling is that Tito will
give it one more year next year, and if they
don't make the playoffs next year, I don't think he'll
return after that.

Speaker 5 (01:21:34):
So I'd be curious to hear your thoughts.

Speaker 29 (01:21:37):
Ticket The show is called Cincy three. If they want
to hear other sports talk, then they go to their channels.
This is about Cincinnati. Get right, callers, Come on.

Speaker 3 (01:21:51):
Now, We obviously branch into several different things. We don't
just put the parameters of Cincinnati on it, but that
is what people tune into here primarily more than anything.
What's going on with the Reds, what's going on with
the Bengals. And we'll branch out to other things, like
we did today with college football and that Tony kind

(01:22:12):
of unexpectedly asking a bunch of Ohio state questions to
card l Jones, which you know, that was that was
a Tony thing. Tony scheduled that and did that and
that was his thing. Like I didn't really have much
to do with that, So that sort of stuff, like,
we're not we've got three hours. We're not going to
say the same stuff over and over again. We are
going to branch off and we do talkbacks, we'll do

(01:22:32):
quick ats, we'll talk about, you know, stuff randomly like
Taylor Swift and Travis kelceina how it is. But uh yeah,
and you know, actually coming up next we'll do a
Postman Low injury report. What do you think about that?
That's next ESPN fifteen to thirty.

Speaker 1 (01:22:44):
From the Johnsony sixty continues on ESPN fifteen thirty, Cincinnati's
sports station.

Speaker 3 (01:22:52):
Welcome back to Cincy three sixty here on ESPN fifteen thirty.
My name is Austin elmore te Pike on his way
to Kansas City with the Bearcats. He will be providing
sideline coverage with Dan and Jim and Moe and others
as the Bearcats kick off their twenty twenty five football
season tomorrow night, nine pm kickoff against the Nebraska Cornhuskers

(01:23:17):
at Arrowhead Stadium. So that's where Tony is. I believe
Chad Brindle is doing this show tomorrow. I'm off for
the weekend. I got a big bachelor party coming up.
This weekend bachelor party going to Hocking Hills and US
can be long Thursday night through Monday night. Lord help me.
I'm gonna be dragging on Tuesday. I know that for sure.

(01:23:37):
But anyways, that's the schedule coming up. Tony will be
back here on Friday, and I believe it will be
the regularly scheduled show on Friday. We're gonna do a
best of edition on Monday for Labor Day I've been
working on that getting that ready, so hopefully you enjoy
that as well. And then gangs all here Tuesday as

(01:23:58):
we get set for Week one of the National Football
League and the Bengals heading up to Cleveland. Phone lines
are open the rest of the show between now and
three o'clock. Chad Brindle is in for Moegar this afternoon.
We'll talk to Chat around two forty five for quick hits.
I got some bear Cats questions for him. I got
some Bearcats questions about this game tomorrow night. Maybe he

(01:24:20):
knows the answer to that field paint thing, whether or
not the seapaw is going to be at midfield. I
don't think it is. I don't know that it should be,
but I'll ask Chat about that as well. Phone number
is five one, three, seven, four nine, fifteen thirty. You
can also tweeted me at audio more Au t y
E LMO r E. In the meantime, it's time for

(01:24:42):
today's Postman Law Injury Report delivered by Postman Law Injured
Postman delivers well. From a REDS standpoint, which is what
this is all about, the expectation is that Nicolodolo will
come off of the fifteen day injured list and pitch
ten against the Dodgers in LA and that series finale

(01:25:03):
as the Reds look to avoid the sweep, and Nicolodolo
will return after dealing with that left index finger blister,
which I believe is right in the middle of his finger.
It's a little bit different than normally being on the sides,
which has made it so tricky for him. Hopefully that
is all good to go and he will pitch tonight

(01:25:24):
and be fine. News of yesterday was Graham Ashcraft is
dealing with a sore right distal forearm. He's listed as
day today. He went for an MRI yesterday after dealing
with the soreness. He last pitched on August twenty fourth
at Arizona, and we are waiting the update and the

(01:25:49):
results of that MRI. We do not know that yet.
I would imagine we'll find that out prior to the
game on the evening when Terry Francona meets with the media. Also,
Chase Burns is hopeful that Terry Francona is hopeful Chase
Burns will return this season. It's possible by the end

(01:26:11):
of the year. There is still no set date on
his return. He was scheduled to throw a side bullpen yesterday,
but we have not seen anything about that yet or
any information about that. By the way, Wade Miley did
have a meeting with doctor Timothy Krimchek and he is

(01:26:33):
still trying to determine his next move. That meeting took
place on August eighteenth. I would imagine dealing with that
left flexer strain. My guess is Wade Miley's career is
likely over. Ian Jabou had shoulder surgery arthoscopic surgery to
repair his laborm and reattach his biceps tendon to his
upper arm ouch. I don't know if he is going

(01:26:57):
to return this season. That is today's Postman Law injury
report delivered by Postman Law Injured Call eight four to four. Postman,
your phone calls in just a second, But I did
see this in speaking of the injury side of things,
Ben Baby reporting, Cordell Volson, Tanner McLachlan, and Caleb Attn

(01:27:19):
have all cleared waivers and will go to the Bengals
injured reserve list. The Bengals set to make their practice
squad signings official in just a couple of minutes, including
more than likely a quarterback added to that practice squad.
But we have a couple of minutes before we get
to that, so let's talk to John in Boston. John,

(01:27:42):
what's going on Austin, Good afternoon.

Speaker 4 (01:27:45):
How are you.

Speaker 3 (01:27:45):
I'm hanging in there, John, how are you. We're hanging
in as well.

Speaker 30 (01:27:49):
I'm impressed with this five day bachelor party. I mean
that's longer than criminal Electra and Dennis.

Speaker 3 (01:27:53):
Rodman's marriage lasted.

Speaker 30 (01:27:55):
So hopefully leading up to the wedding that you can
eventually go to will be more successful than theirs.

Speaker 3 (01:28:01):
Yeah, I'm a little scared. I'm not gonna lie because
these guys party a lot harder than I do, so
I don't know what to expect. But thankfully, you know
we're going to Hocking Hills. We're all in one location.
Maybe it's not going to be that bad. I don't
expect it to be bad, I should say, but I'm
scared when people party harder than I do.

Speaker 30 (01:28:18):
Yeah, yeah, it could be dangerous. Come back in one
piece and be ready for one of the NFL season.
I was looking at the wave of wire and seeing
if there's anybody out there for the Bengals, and he,
of course, you look at the offensive line now, Trent
Brown was released by Houston.

Speaker 3 (01:28:32):
I know he played here last year. Could he be
a swing tackle?

Speaker 30 (01:28:35):
I mean he's a kind of quirky case because when
he's motivated, he can play. When he's not motivated, sure,
I could do as good a job as he can. Really,
the only time he was motivated was with the Patriots
when Dante Skarnekia was his offensive line coach, and it
was kind of an odd pairing because Trent Brown's what
six nine about three seventy Dante's like this seventy two

(01:28:55):
year old ex marine who's five seven, one hundred and
sixty pounds, but everyone intimidated by him. I don't know
if you did a swing tackle and another Patriot, Cole Strange,
who's an athletic guy guard but just has been a
draft buss with the Patriots over the past four years.
He's also available. I don't know if they'd wave into
those types of players.

Speaker 3 (01:29:13):
Yeah, I thought the Trent Brown thing was interesting, and
just knowing how the Bengals operate, if they would at
least be interested in that. I know they love the
sheer size of him, especially when potentially bumping him inside
to playing guard and being the backup tackle, that sort
of thing. I felt like that made a little bit
of sense. But he's been injured, he's been banged up,
there are motivational issues, he's been overweight. I don't know

(01:29:36):
if they really want to put their hand back in
that Cookie jar Strange is one that makes sense. I mean,
there's a couple of guards out there that have been
released where it's like, Okay, this fits the idea of
the depth piece you might be looking for, but so far,
no action on that, and it's across the league. Still
no action on Dalton Reisner, no action on Cole Strange.
I know the Eagles have cut a couple of guards,

(01:29:57):
which I found interesting, So I don't know that there's
anybody out there that's really gonna tickle their fancy. But yeah,
it's fascinating to only go into the season with eight
offensive lineman. That's a surprise, it.

Speaker 30 (01:30:10):
Really is, especially when there's an area that you have
to address depth wise, because you really have two solid
tackles and a solid center and then you have these question.

Speaker 3 (01:30:17):
Marks at guard.

Speaker 30 (01:30:19):
And the other thing about Cole Strange is when he
was drafted in the first round in twenty twenty two
and again, Belichick was marked by that and we've seen
that rightfully. So he was an athletic guide and the
Patriots was somehow trying to transition into the Sean McVay offense,
except they didn't have everybody on the coaching staff that
knew how to coach the Sean McVay offense, which has

(01:30:39):
led to the Patriots to be one of the worst
teams in football the last five years.

Speaker 3 (01:30:41):
They kind of lost their way.

Speaker 30 (01:30:43):
But maybe in the change of environment, whatever, maybe goes
back to his offensive line coach from the year goo
Scott Peters. I don't know, it might be a chance
to do something just to bring him in. If you
can't play, he can't play, and you work on it
because he might have a revolving go with that right
guard position. I mean, right now, I'd probably rather have
Dan Patrick than Luca Patrick.

Speaker 3 (01:31:03):
Yeah, I know you're not alone, John, and thank you
for the phone call. I mean, I listen. I understand
Lucas Patrick. Nobody gets excited to watch him play, but
I don't think he's been as bad as we are
all saying. Unfortunately, that's kind of the same thing of
like you know, the talkback that said, well, the Reds
are gaining experience. Well, the bar's really low for guard play,

(01:31:26):
and if it's better than Alex Kappa and Cordell Vohlsen,
then I guess that's a net positive. But that's still
aiming way too low for protecting the most important person
in the history of the Bengals franchise in Joe Burrow.
All Right, the Bengals have made it official. Their twenty
twenty five practice squad has just been released. We'll tell
you about it. We'll go position by position the Bengals

(01:31:47):
roster of the next hour. Bengals Talk is coming up
next in the hour number three five on three seven,
four nine, fifteen thirty phone lines open. This is since
he three sixty on the Home of the Bengals ESPN fifteen.

Speaker 1 (01:31:59):
Thirty of Bout Cincinnati from Cincinnatis, sponsored in part by
Pinstation East CoA subs, handcrafted hot grilled subs, fresh cut
fries and lemonade. It's all about good taste. Pennstation East
Coast Subs order online today. This is ESPN fifteen thirty
Cincinnati Sports Station.

Speaker 3 (01:32:19):
Hi, Hello, welcome in our number three of Sincy three sixty.
Here on ESPN fifteen thirty on Austin Elmore with you
for the next hour, the final hour of the week
for me. Tone back on Friday. Chad Brindle doing the
show tomorrow from twelve to three. And Chad is here
already preparing not only for tomorrow's show, but also for

(01:32:40):
this afternoon show as he steps in from oeger TONI
and Mo of course traveling to Kansas City ahead of
the Bearcats and the corn Huskers. I have questions for
Chad that he'll answer during quick hits of two forty
five I look forward to. Meanwhile, let's talk about the Bengals.
The Bengals, right before we went to break have made
it official that they have signed fourteen players to their

(01:33:03):
practice squad. Now, the maximum you can have is sixteen,
so they are still two players short. Here are the
players that they signed. The following were all previously in
camp with the Bengals. Running Back Gary Brightwell, offensive tackles
Devin Cochran and Andrew Cooker, cornerback Jalen Davis, linebacker Joe

(01:33:25):
Giles Harris, guard Jackson Kirkland, cornerback Braylan Lux center, Seth McLaughlin,
running back Kendall Milton, wide receiver Jordan Moore, linebacker Muma
Jong Meta, defensive end Isaiah Thomas, and wide receiver Isaiah Williams.
The Bengals also announced that they have signed quarterback Brett

(01:33:49):
Rippin to the practice squad. Rippin is a six year
player out of Boise State University. He originally signed as
a college free agent with Denver in twenty nineteen. He's
played in ten career games with four starts for the
Broncos and Rams, and has completed ninety eight of one
hundred and sixty eight passes for nine hundred and fifty yards,

(01:34:10):
four touchdowns, and nine interceptions in his short NFL career.
He spent time on Seattle's practice squad and the Jets
active roster during the twenty twenty three season, and spent
the entire twenty four season on Minnesota's practice squad. The
Bengals practice squad, as I said, is currently two shots,

(01:34:31):
two spots shy of the sixteen player limit. Also, Caleb
at Tn, Tanner McLachlin, and Cordell Vohlsen all cleared waivers
and reverted to the Bengals injured reserve list. So that's
the Bengals practice squad. The big news today is that

(01:34:52):
the Bengals were not awarded any players in waivers or
on waivers, and there were at least four players that
they could have put acclaim in because they would have
been awarded to them that we know they didn't defensive
tackle Tyler Lacy, defensive end Tyrus Wheat, center Willie Lampkin,

(01:35:13):
who is the highest rated rookie offensive lineman according to
Pro Football Focus in the preseason, and cornerback Daryon Kendrick.
So twenty eight players were claimed on waivers, twenty four
of them went to teams with a higher spot in
the order than the Bengals. The four I just mentioned
did not. This continues to illustrate why the idea of

(01:35:40):
hoping to get your team or make your team better
through waivers at the end of training camp is foolish.
It's especially foolish when you know the waiver order. This
order wasn't just made up today, it wasn't made up yesterday.
It's the same order as the draft, basically, except in
this case the Bengals were seventeenth instead of eighteenth. You

(01:36:03):
know that there are sixteen teams ahead of you. You
know essentially what those sixteen teams needs are and the
type of players they might target on waivers, and it
goes to show, especially today, that that is a foolish
way to try to build your team. There are other

(01:36:24):
veterans out there that are available. I think Tony Jefferson's
an interesting one is a potential safety on this team. Obviously,
Dalton Reisner I would be interested in and would want
to be on this team. And there are other guys
across the NFL that I feel like makes sense. But
as of right now, let's start with what I think

(01:36:45):
is the most important position group, which is the Bengals
offensive line. You're gonna be starting a rookie in Dylan Fairchild.
Dylan Fairchild, I can guarantee you his first NFL snap
is going to be against Miles Garrett good Luck. Next
to him is Ted Carriss, who I think we all
love Ted Carris, but he is getting older. Age is

(01:37:08):
a big factor in this offensive line. Lucas Patrick veteran
not very good but maybe better than Alex Kappa. Is
that the standard we're trying to set. And then Amarus Mims,
who I think most people are excited about thrilled with,
hasn't really caused any reason for concern over the course
of training camp. Other than that little injury that he
suffered in the first week or two, I think for

(01:37:32):
the most part you feel good about Brown and Mimes.
But after that, there's only three guys on the roster.
Cody Ford, who I think is a known commodity at
this point in his career, and the Bengals like him
in that role of being a backup tackle, and I
don't necessarily hate that there's a role for people like
that on all thirty two teams in the NFL. And

(01:37:54):
then you have Matt Lee, who has continually proven nothing
nothing over two years, and Jalen Rivers, who's rookie who
I think has been a fast learner and adjusted quickly
to being the backup guard. That's fine. That's remarkably thin
for that group, especially considering the Lucas Patrick durability issues

(01:38:16):
that we've seen in the past. Orlando Brown Junior, who
as he gets older, suffered injuries that affected his play
in his entire season last year for the first time
in his career. And Amarius Mims, who like it or not,
has a history of being injured at Georgia here as

(01:38:37):
a rookie already this season in training camp. The Bengals
have put themselves in this position with an incredibly thin
offensive line. Injuries happen in the NFL. They should be
a part of the equation. You should expect them. Why
is Brett Rippen on the practice squad right now? Because

(01:39:00):
you know you need a quarterback in case of emergency.
You know that if Burrow goes down or Browning goes down,
you need somebody who can get in here and learn
the offense and at the bare minimum operated. The Bengals
need more when it comes to depth on their offensive

(01:39:21):
line than Cody Ford, Matt Lee, and Jalen Rivers. And
they need more when it comes to starting on your
offensive line than Lucas Patrick. And yet this is the
same conversation that we've had since the very beginning of
the off season. And while I have defended this team
quite a bit, and I have tried to make sense

(01:39:43):
of the decisions that they have made and have tried
to understand what they're doing, it is hard to beat
the allegations that you're not serious about winning when you
go into Cleveland Week one with this as your starting
group and as your backup group instead of a for
the break Joe Burrow is the most important person in
the history of this franchise. He has already taken them

(01:40:06):
to heights that only two others have before. He has
brought them from the doorstep of irrelevance to national relevance.
He is the face of the franchise that you have
invested more money in than any player ever. And this
is all you can do to protect him. And you

(01:40:29):
want to talk about starting fast, and you want to
talk about the importance of the offense getting reps early
in training camp, in preseason, and then the offense being
the group that carries this team while the defense figures
it out in the first month, and you want to
go to Cleveland with that offensive line. I don't understand that.

Speaker 2 (01:40:53):
It's hard to look at I feel like it would
be hard to look me in the eye and say
we're serious about winning.

Speaker 6 (01:41:00):
Trot that group out there. I just don't understand that.
It's frustrating. It's annoying because the expectation should be for
this team to win the Super Bowl, to get back
to the playoffs, to be competing in the AFC Championship Game.
That's what it's supposed to be. And I went into

(01:41:20):
this offseason thinking Okay, by the time we get to
Cleveland in September, my expectation will be back to what
it had been the previous two years, which is that
this team should be competing for a chance to go
to the super Bowl. And instead I'm looking around at
this roster thinking they're going to have a hard time
winning the division, They're going to have a hard time

(01:41:43):
making the playoffs as a wild card, and you have
to put all your hope in Joe Burrow. And while
if there's anybody I would want my hope in the
hands of, it would be him. I don't want to
put all my eggs in that back because these issues

(01:42:03):
have already led to Joe having two season ending injuries before.
We've used the saying a lot on this show that
if you keep playing with fire eventually you're going to
get burnt. Ask Jason Pierre Paul, ask Najee Harris. Keep
playing with fireworks, Eventually, Bam, something bad happens. The Bengals

(01:42:29):
have been burnt twice already. Burrow's taking it like a chance,
and he's doing his own thing, and he's leading in
his own way, and that's good. But this is hard
to stomach for me, I'm not convinced that this offensive
line is going to be a much better run group.

(01:42:50):
Let me see if I can figure out how to
say this. I'm not convinced that this offensive line will
make their run game better. Joe can be Houdini. That's fine,
and that obviously has worked in the past.

Speaker 10 (01:43:04):
But how do you.

Speaker 3 (01:43:06):
Go to Cleveland with this group and feel good.

Speaker 4 (01:43:08):
About it.

Speaker 3 (01:43:10):
When you know and we talked about Dan Hord and
Dave Lapham interviewed Stephen Radisivic during the second preseason game
and they said they've been talking to Dalton Reisner's people
for two weeks. You've known this is an issue. Lucas
Patrick was the best you could do relying on two

(01:43:30):
rookies and critical roles. That's the best you can do.
Surely they can do better than that, right, you would think,
And especially when you talk about starting fast in the
early season schedule up against Cleveland, who just defensively is
a good team and matches up well with you, that's

(01:43:54):
not going to be easy. You historically have struggled in
that venue to begin with. Defensive player of the Year
and best defensive player on the planet is going to
be lining up across from you. On top of that,
a defensive coordinator and Jim Schwartz that is intimately aware
and familiar and comfortable with his plan against you and

(01:44:17):
your offense. I don't feel good about that game. I
don't feel good about the Jacksonville game because of the defense.
I don't feel good about the Cleveland game because of
the offense. And that's not the way I'm supposed to
be feeling. There are parts of this roster, and we'll
get into the defense in the next segment, that are

(01:44:37):
better than what they were a year ago. Are they
significantly better?

Speaker 6 (01:44:44):
And the part that maybe is most frustrating is that
we've kind of known the Bengals kind of told us
from the very beginning how they're going to approach this offseason.

Speaker 3 (01:44:53):
It's all lou Ana Rumo's fault. We got unlucky. If
Tanner Hudson doesn't fumble, or if Ryan Rico doesn't drop
the snap, or if the penalty is called in Baltimore,
or whatever you want to say, then the season is
entirely different. They're telling you that's how we feel about

(01:45:18):
this group, and the changes we made are just enough
for us to get back into the playoffs, and once
we get back into the playoffs, Joe Burrow will take over.
And while I can see the vision, what do we
always say hope is not a strategy. I hope that

(01:45:40):
Lucas Patrick can stay healthy and play better than Alex Kappa.
I hope that Dylan Fairchild comes in and is immediately
a Pro Bowl caliber left guard as a rookie. I
hope that Orlando Brown junior Namarius Mims don't run into
injuries again. I hope that those guys can protect Joe
Burrow enough to get them back to the playoffs. I

(01:46:02):
hope that Shamar Stewart is a lot more disruptive and
productive in the NFL than he was in college. I
hope that Trey Henderson doesn't fall off a cliff. I
hope that a rookie starter and Demetrius Knight junior can
be better than Jermaine Pratt. I hope Cam Taylor Britt
takes a step forward. I hope that Dax Hill is

(01:46:24):
now all the way back after an ACL injury. I
hope that Battle and Stone don't get hurt, because we
would then have to rely on Tyson Anderson and p J. Jewles.
I hope that Evan McPherson returns to his rookie form
and thank god he made that little tweak to his mechanics. Hope, Hope, Hope, hope, hope.

(01:46:45):
I'm tired of hope. Can I have confidence in what
we have, in who they are and who they've shown
to be? Frustrating, extremely frustrating, because I don't want to
go into Cleveland with doubt. I want to go into
Cleveland with confidence. Speaking of doubt, we haven't really touched

(01:47:07):
on the defense. Let's do that next. ESPN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 1 (01:47:10):
ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports Station.

Speaker 3 (01:47:18):
Welcome back since three sixty. ESPN fifteen thirty. I'm Austin
no wore Bengals out on the practice field right now
as they begin their first in season quote unquote practice
of twenty twenty five, and seems to be a pretty
good clean bill of health for Cincinnati so far. Lucas Patrick,

(01:47:38):
Cody Ford, DJ Turner, Jermaine Burton, Mike Giesicki, and Trey
Hendrickson all at practice in uniform and practicing as normal.
Good to go. I'm sure it'll be a relatively decent
workload after a few days off of the Bengals. They
are in full pads and Brett Rippin is here already

(01:47:59):
wearing number eleven. According to James Rapine, if you missed
that earlier, the Bengals signed Brett Rippon to the practice
squad earlier today and they have two open slots at
the moment available on that practice squad. We just spent
the last segment talking about the offense and how I

(01:48:22):
don't know how you feel good about the offensive line,
everything else, great Burrow, running backs, tight ends, wide receivers,
I mean, everything else you're good with, you're excited about,
and the continuity of such makes you feel like they
can be in any game at any time. But how
many points are they going to have to score? The

(01:48:42):
Bengals defense was less than impressive, I think is fair
to say over the course of the preseason. And yet
we heard from the people that were there every single day,
the Richard Skinners of the world, the Paul Dayner juniors,
the Jay Morrisons, the Kelsey Conways, the James Rapenes. Butt
the Bengals defense. They gave the offense some problems. They

(01:49:05):
were competitive, they were scrappy at times, dominant, They won practices,
They caused frustration for Chase and Higgins. They intercepted Burrow,
they got to the quarterback, they batted down passes at
the line of scrimmage, they blew up run plays, all
the stuff that you're supposed to be hearing. I heard
that stuff last year too. They stunk. And the Bengals

(01:49:28):
have said, Oh, it's not really about the reps that
you see in the preseason. It's not about those. It's
about what they do on the practice field against the
best offense in the NFL. Okay, let's play Devil's advocate.
Let's say that's true. It's not like they're going up
against the Bengals in Week one. Joe Flacco, who I

(01:49:48):
believe is fifty six years old, is going to be
starting at quarterback. I legit couldn't tell you who the
Browns running back is other than Jerome Ford. I don't know.
Jerry Judy I think is still there. Like offensively, you
feel like there's not a ton of threats for Cleveland,

(01:50:09):
and so you would think the Bengals have the advantage.
But I've thought that before. You know, bj Hill has
done almost nothing all of training camp. Him being in
the lineup, Yeah, it makes sense. Sure, he'll be better.
That'll make them better, but we haven't seen it. Chris

(01:50:29):
Jenkins Al goldensaid had the most impressive camp of any
player on defense. That'd be nice a year or two
jump from Chris Jenkins, but when are we going to
see it? The Bengals think so heavily of that group
that they kept two undrafted guys, Howard Cross ont a
Notre Dame and Eric Gregory, a couple of guys that

(01:50:52):
they signed just to fill the back end of the roster.
They made the team. McKinley Jackson was playing late into
the fourth quarter of meaningless preseason games because the Bengals
feel like he still needs to develop. TJ. Slayton had
by all indications, a solid camp, but it didn't show
up at all when they played preseason games. And TJ.

(01:51:18):
Slayton in that position specifically, you're not asking a nose
tackle to do much. You're asking them to get in
the way and plug it up, and the linebackers did
not perform well. Logan Wilson looks slow, to be honest,
Demetrius Knight Junior playing like a rookie, Barrett Carter looks
solid or In Burke's didn't really jump off the screen

(01:51:40):
at you. Again, the people around this team say, those
guys in that position has looked good in practice. How
much value do you put on practice? How much value
to put on the preseason snaps? All of the defense

(01:52:00):
talk the last segment about hope not being a strategy
all of the defense. The strategy is hope. You hope
that they get a lot better. You hope that they
don't perform nearly as poorly as they did. You hope
Cam Taylor Britt figures it out, Dax Hill, Josh Newton

(01:52:21):
takes a step forward, DJ Turner, who can't seem to
figure out whether or not he wants to be an
NFL player, Like, there are so many unknowns to me.
The ultimate question is how long does it take this
defense to put to put it together, to get their
feet underneath them, to gel in any way, shape or form.

(01:52:43):
How long is it gonna take? Now, Cleveland is not
the most difficult assignment, but they love to run the football,
and they're gonna find the weakness and they're gonna run
at it until you stop it. Kevin Stefanski has had
no problem identifying the point of the Bengals defense in
the past, and attacking it until the Bengals choose to

(01:53:05):
do something different. They're going to run the football. And
as Tony and I have talked about the game plan
for every opponent the Bengals face this year, it's going
to be shorten the game, run the ball, control the clock,
keep Joe Burrow in the Bengals offense off the field.
That's going to be the strategy. Can you get off

(01:53:30):
the field? Can you put teams in third, second, second,
and third and long situations where they have to pass,
where you can unleash Shamar Stewart, where you can unleash
Trey Hendrickson. Can you give Al Golden a chance to
use that NASCAR package as he calls it, where your

(01:53:51):
four rushers are Shamar, Trey Murphy, and Joseph Osai and
you like your odds of at least forcing the quarterback
out of the pocket or getting the ball early or
whatever it might be. Can you get into those positions?
Because the Bengals all throughout preseason, the downs and distances

(01:54:13):
that the opponents were facing wasn't an issue. It was
not difficult. It was third and short, it was fourth
and short, it was second and one. It just didn't
make any sense, And so how long is it going
to take them really to gel Now September seventh against Cleveland,
As I've said, that's not an offense that you's not

(01:54:35):
gonna keep you up at night, But September second against Jacksonville,
I'm worried about that game. Brian Thomas Junior is as
good of a wide receiver as there is in the NFL.
He's fantastic. You nobody knows about him because he plays
in Jacksonville. His season last year was ridiculous, and they

(01:54:56):
went and got the Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter. And
they have a good quarterback with a coach now in
Liam Cohen who's proven he can coach quarterbacks and run
an offense effectively, whether that be with the La Rams,
with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, or now with Jacksonville. And

(01:55:18):
then after that in Week three you play Minnesota, and
while Minnesota's offense is going to be led by a
guy having his third career start in JJ McCarthy, there
may not be a more respected offensive mind in the
game dan Kevin O'Connell and oh, by the way, Justin
Jefferson still exists, as does Dalvin Cook or excuse me,

(01:55:38):
Aaron Jones and they're tight end TJ. Howkinson, and they
just traded for Adam Thielen earlier today, who proved to
be a good reliable target for Bryce Young last year
despite his injuries. And on the other side of the ball,
Brian Flores. That's the type of guy who does keep
you up at night with the ghosts and the pressure

(01:55:59):
in the looks and the disguises and the stuff that
he can come up with as a defensive mind. So
let's think about those two games right there Minnesota. Let's
say the Bengals offense struggles in that game. Let's say
Brian Flores is throwing some stuff at him and the
pressure is getting to Joe and maybe he's a little

(01:56:21):
bit sped up and they can't find anything on the
on the ground game. Can the Bengals defense keep them
in the game against JJ McCarthy. Can they prevent Justin
Jefferson from single handedly beating them? Can they slow down
Aaron Jones? Can we not in that game talking about

(01:56:44):
how the Bengals never cover tight ends and TJ. Howkinson?
Can the Bengals defense keep them in a game where
the offense might be struggling now, the same thing can
be said about Cleveland, and in Week two against Maxville
it's the opposite. Can the Bengals offense keep up? What
about Denver? Another great defense, one of the best defenses

(01:57:09):
in the NFL. The Bengals defense couldn't stop Bo Nicks
at all last year and Marvin Mims? Can they shut
him down? Can they keep the Bengals offense in the game?
These are gonna be tests early in this season to
find out who they are. And then Detroit comes to town.

(01:57:34):
And what's Detroit gonna do even without Ben Johnson? What's
their mentality? They're gonna run through your face, They're gonna
establish the run, They're gonna drain the clock, They're gonna
nickel and dime you down the field and then it'll
hit you over the top with Jamison Williams. Can the
Bengals defense keep them in the game? Can the Bengals

(01:57:55):
offense maximize the limited opportunities you expect to see in
a game like that? At what point between now and
the bye week and Week ten, which is November ninth,
at what point does the Bengals defense put it all together?
At what point do they gel is what I'd like

(01:58:18):
to know, because after that bye week, you're at Pittsburgh,
You're home against New England, which is a much better
team than beat you here last year, and then you've
got that stretch of at Baltimore on a Thursday, at Buffalo,
back home against Baltimore, and at Miami. Are you buttoned

(01:58:42):
up by then? That's what I want to know. How
long is this going to take? And can this team
at any point consistently play complimentary football? Can they? You
look at this roster, feel great about that? See look

(01:59:03):
at your edge rushers Hendrickson, Stuart Osi, Murphy and Cam Sample.
Your d tackles BJ Hill, Chris Jenkins, Howard Cross and
Eric Gregory. Your nose tackles TJ. Slayton and McKinley Jackson.
Your linebackers Wilson, Knight, Carter Burke's and Shaka Heyward. Your

(01:59:23):
cornerbacks Cam Taylor, Britt Dax Hill, Josh Newton, Turner Ivy
and Marco Wilson. Your safeties battle Stone Anderson Jewels. Feel
good about that group, have a hard time justifying the
idea that they should be competing for a Super Bowl

(01:59:44):
based off the current construction of the roster specially tough
to swallow when you consider just how much money is
still available and maybe, just maybe, the way that they
approached the tray contract was to set himself up for
next year, much like the Reds. I don't want to

(02:00:06):
talk about next year. I want to talk about right now.
What are you doing to win? Right now? We'll take
a break, we'll be back. This is since he three
to sixty on ESPN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 1 (02:00:20):
Wise, ESPN fifteen thirty, Cincinnati Sports Station. It's time for
since E three sixty quick hits on ESPN fifteenth thirty.

Speaker 3 (02:00:29):
Hi, everybody, this is since E three sixty on ESPN
fifteen thirty. And you may have heard me accidentally turn
Chad's mike on, where he said, don't do it talking
about our Uh. I was giving him some advice for
the weekend, some advice for my bachelor party this weekend
and not your bachelor party. Yes, not mine, sorry the
best yes, yes, Uh, my mind is frazzled. It's Friday.

Speaker 4 (02:00:53):
For me.

Speaker 3 (02:00:54):
I'm three hours and fourteen minutes away from being done
for five days, but you're fourteen minute it's away from
being here for three hours.

Speaker 6 (02:01:02):
I mean the next thirty six hours for me. Yeah,
because you know in FROMO today and for you and
Tony tomorrow on Sincy three sixty.

Speaker 3 (02:01:11):
Watch party, watch party at the Holy Grail.

Speaker 6 (02:01:14):
Yes, we've got giveaways for since from since the Light
we're gonna be doing at the end of every quarter,
so Holy Grail nine o'clock. You've seen Nebraska. Then after
the game, we have a postgame show, right that won't
start until one o'clock, one thirty in the morning. Sure,
it's gonna be, it'll be. I have I have some
familiarity with that. Yeah, you're the advice or help. No,

(02:01:35):
I mean we've done it, like, we've done it many
many times. Well, if you ever need a fill in host,
do you have this the problem I have? I put
you as a fill in host on the fan base
would love that. I love that the games they win.
But yeah, it throws off my sleep schedule for like
four days. Like if I stay up that late three

(02:01:59):
because we're gonna get done at like three, I'm not
gonna fall asleep until probably four four.

Speaker 3 (02:02:03):
You know, you can't just go home I have and crash.
It messes me up for three or four days. With me,
I wake up between six thirty and seven, no matter what.
Even if you went to bed at four.

Speaker 6 (02:02:14):
Yeah, well, see I wake up at six thirty seven, yeah,
and I go to the bathroom and then I go.

Speaker 3 (02:02:19):
Back into bed. I can't fall back to sleep, No
I can. If I have slept that little, I can.
So like the last Bengals game, I was able to
do that, come back and slept till like eight thirty.
But after that the next day I'm back up between
six thirty and seven. So I'm lucky in the sense
that it doesn't screw me up that bad. It just
screws up when I can go to sleep right.

Speaker 6 (02:02:37):
It doesn't change when I wake up generally, but I'll
have like three or four days where I can't sleep
until like two o'clock in the morning. What do you
have coming up on your show this after? We're gonna
talk a little bit about Ellie Ellie and the process
with him going forward, because this organization has made it

(02:02:59):
very clear they are operating, much like the Bengals, on
a paper thin margin when it comes to being good,
being better than good, getting into the playoffs, being a
threat to win the win in the playoffs. I don't
know if you can do it like the switch should
have flipped by now right on him being I know

(02:03:21):
it's a day late. Basically with the air that he
made Monday night that essentially just put the Reds out
of touch. What have we talked about with the Reds
when they lose, One they don't hit, and two they
don't play clean, They play poorly defensively, and a lot
of that. Ellie's at twenty airs. You can't have your

(02:03:45):
shortstop making twenty errors on a team that can't make
that has to play clean to win. And I have
been Ellie's a shortstop. Just let him, He'll figure it out.
The guy is too supremely talented not to He's not.
He's in year three and we're still talking about some
of the same things.

Speaker 3 (02:04:05):
I still think his best defensive position is third base,
third base, and they just went and got a guy
who's gonna play that position for the next five years
while Ellie is here. I think I've can play short.
Can Brian Hayes plays short? I've been like you where
I've like, Ellie's not a center fielder, he's a shortstop.
Let him figure it out. But I think there has

(02:04:26):
to be a legit conversation, an open minded conversation by
everybody in that organization. Ellie included to say, are we
willing to do something different?

Speaker 4 (02:04:35):
Here?

Speaker 3 (02:04:36):
Is TJ Friedo your everyday centerfielder? No, you don't think so.
I mean Will Ben I know they do, and they should.
I think his future is in right field or left
field more than it is in center. I mean we'll
worry about lack of pop. I get it. Will Benson
defensively so much better than TJ Friedel when he plays
center field. So like, that's what I want to if

(02:04:56):
you're gonna move Noel Vie Marte to right field, I
have a question. Why can't you of Ellie daily Cruz.
Can I do Taylor Cruise play first? I don't think
you would want to do that? Why not missus Spencer
Steers a gold Glover? Okay, I'm just trying to find somewhere.
I don't think it's a shortstop. There's too many airs
or too many plays, get it. I also Trey Hendrickson. Yeah,

(02:05:18):
the Bengals were never gonna trade Trey, right. You know why?

Speaker 6 (02:05:22):
Well, they won't see it this way, But you know
why you can never trade Trey Because I don't trust
them to draft anybody to actually fix the problem when
they moved him. So unless you were gonna get an elite,
high end young pass rusher in exchange for Trey, trading
him for draft picks, wasn't gonna do this franchise any

(02:05:43):
good because I don't believe in them in the draft.
I don't believe in their vision. Whatever it is that
they're valuing, and maybe it's development, you would know, is it.
Do you think it's drafting? Do you think it's development?
Do you think it's a very poor combination of because
what have they really I mean, what they've produced. If

(02:06:06):
you look at what they've done since they drafted Jamar Chase,
every pick after Jamar Chase to now, how many do
you feel comfortable with?

Speaker 3 (02:06:16):
I don't know if there's anybody I feel one hundred
percent comfortable with. Probably the biggest would be Mems, but
even then there's a question mark with the injuries. How
many draft picks have they made since then? A lot?
A lot. So they were stuck.

Speaker 6 (02:06:29):
They had to do something, they had to budge, like,
they couldn't go forward without him. I think they probably
did the right thing doing it the way that they
did it. Ultimately at the end of the day. But
I heard a lot of why didn't you just trade him? Yeah, well,
what gives you the belief that they would turn that
draft pick, that draft capital into productivity, into somebody you

(02:06:51):
believe in. I don't believe in their front office. I
don't believe in their process. I think that's part of
the reason why all those dudes have been fired on
the defense. Yeah, it's why they've added new scouts. I
think it's why they've changed a few of the things internally,
is because they're like, oh, crap, if we're going to
be paying these guys all this money, we best start
hitting on some draft picks. Well, look at So it
seems like at least internally they're recognizing that, you know. Yeah,

(02:07:14):
and maybe to your point, it's like, well, let's keep
Trey for as long as we can and then cut
ties after that.

Speaker 4 (02:07:19):
Yeah.

Speaker 6 (02:07:19):
I mean, like when you look at the Eagles, or
like they've talked about, well, the Eagles went out and
signed all their guys. Yeah, well they've also got an
elite ability to go into the draft and find guys
in the third fourth much less how they how hot
high of a rate they hit in the first two rounds.
They go into the third, fourth, fifth round, and you
look and there's guys that are heavy contributors, guys that

(02:07:40):
are a big part of that franchise.

Speaker 3 (02:07:41):
I just don't see it here. It's really frustrating. Yeah,
I'm with you one hundred percent. Are the are the
Is the seapaal going to be at Midfield at Arrowhead Stadium?

Speaker 6 (02:07:49):
I don't think so because I think that is probably
where you'll see the logo for the company that.

Speaker 3 (02:07:56):
Bo was putting on the event. Okay, do we know
what the company that is?

Speaker 6 (02:08:00):
It's Arrowhead. That something was a geh No, No, it's
it's named. So essentially what happened to Arrowhead is they
had Kansas football there last year while Kansas was redoing
their straight um.

Speaker 3 (02:08:14):
Yeah, and the people that were like, hey, we.

Speaker 6 (02:08:18):
Should do something, like we should get involved and have
a college game here and this week before the NFL
season starts, so they wanted to do an event Nebraska
makes sense, yeah, because Nebraska is about three and a
half hours away, so that's kind of where that came from.
I do expect you see marks on the field. I
just don't think it'll be Midfield. Who's going to win

(02:08:39):
the game. I've I've been pretty adamant about Nebraska winning
the game, but Austin. The more the week has gone
on and I've dove into Nebraska, I'm not sure why
people think they're going to be good and you're finding
a path I don't necessari I still don't know they
necessarily use he's gonna win.

Speaker 3 (02:09:02):
I do think it says a lot. It's only a touchdown.

Speaker 6 (02:09:04):
Yeah, I don't think Nebraska is all that different than
the six and six team they were a year ago.
This is not a team that went They graduated a
large chunk of their defense, especially in their front six seven.
Their secondary's back Dylan Rayola. I think he's got a
chance to be good, but he threw thirteen touchdowns eleven

(02:09:25):
interceptions last year. Like, let's pump the brakes on. Sure,
I think it's gonna be a really good game. All right,
I'll go to Nebraska still bit close?

Speaker 3 (02:09:33):
All right? Well, I hope they win, and by day
I mean Cincinnati bear I hope the bear Cats win
for everybody's sake, because it's always good when you win.
As Joey Vado once said, Chad, thank you, Oh, thank you, Chad.
Is next in from Oeggar from three to six. I'm
back on Tuesday. This is ESPN fifteen thirty k.

Speaker 13 (02:09:52):
Why Cincinnati make us the number one pre set on
your car radio and on the Free knew it improved.
iHeartRadio Act Free never sounded so good.

Speaker 3 (02:10:00):
ESPN fifteen thirty Tony Pike Here with my friends at
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