December 12, 2024 • 10 mins
Scott Springer of Cincinnati.com joined us to talk about this year's Skyline Chili Crosstown Shootout.
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Podcasts of The Mo Egger Radio Show are a service of Longnecks Sports Grill.
Listen to the show live weekday afternoons 3:00 - 6:00 on ESPN1530.
Listen Live: ESPN1530.com/listen
Get more: https://linktr.ee/MoEgger
Follow on X: @MoEgger
Instagram too: @MoEgger
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
The Skyline Chili Crosstown shootout you might have heard is
on Saturday, you see versus Xavier two o'clock. Scott Springer
covers University of Cincinnati sports for the Cincinnati Enquirer and
Cincinnati dot Com.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
He will be there, he told me today.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
He's Have you been to forty Skyline Chili Crosstown shootouts.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Or you just you've been around them? Have you been
to forty of these? I don't know.
Speaker 3 (00:24):
I've been to forty, but I've probably certainly seen forty,
you know, dating back to when I was in school
and I moved back to town in nineteen ninety and I've
been to pretty much most of them, so it's easily
over thirty. But I've probably seen close to forty, I
have to think. So that tells you I've seen a
(00:44):
lot of everything.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
Well, in recent years, you've seen a lot of Xavier victories,
and I think most Bearcat fans felt, you know what,
feel pretty good about this after the Georgia Tech game.
The way they have played for the most part the
last three games has left a lot to be desired.
What happened to that team that took the floor and
played so well in Atlanta.
Speaker 3 (01:07):
I guess it's a matter of just being in sync.
And you really want to have Dan Skillings Junior back
at full capacity, but he went thirty four days without playing,
so then you had to play a different way. And
the only thing I can figure it is just a
way of mixing it back in if you get back
to the way.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
Now.
Speaker 3 (01:26):
Granted it was an exhibition, but see what they sure
looked good against Ohio State and you felt like there
was a lot of promise. And then at Georgia Tech,
like you mentioned that they look pretty good. That was
minus stand. So now they've got to figure out a
way to working back in and get everyone in sync.
And you know, it was a weird game in Villanova.
(01:46):
They just never seemed to be quite clicking. And every
time they had a chance.
Speaker 4 (01:50):
To get a shot and get within one, get within two.
Villanova made a great run.
Speaker 3 (01:55):
It's a small little gem there and students can walk
to it, so place to play.
Speaker 4 (02:01):
No excuses though.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
I think everyone would say, including Wes Miller, that the
Bearcats should have won that, but you know, not many
teams go undefeated, and Bob Knight is long gone.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
Now, yeah, he he is.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
Unfortunately, I think a lot of folks walked away from
that Villanova game saying, all right, you can't play as
many guys as Wes has been playing against, you know,
teams that aren't quite as good. Can can he can
he play as many guys as he has been playing
against Xavier?
Speaker 4 (02:33):
I don't think so.
Speaker 3 (02:33):
I think you have to get to where you're you're
going to become the first of the year actually late December,
and you're right, it was that. And I asked him
about it, and he it was just an awkward way.
That first break against Villanova didn't come to, like, you know,
nearly eight minutes in, and I think he wanted to
get the guys in then suddenly you're stuck. It's like, well,
I need to get these guys in. I need the
(02:54):
other guys to have a rest. It just was an awkward,
you know, exchange there and then and that group of
five that was in there didn't do so well obviously,
And I think at by halftime Villanova had played eight
and the Bearcats had played ten, you know, and they
had their chances. You can't really use that as an excuse,
but yeah, I think hindsight, he probably would not have
(03:15):
done that. I think against Xavier, you got a whillow
it down some depending on how the game goes, you know,
you know, maybe you can get them all in.
Speaker 4 (03:23):
It's great that they all get experience.
Speaker 3 (03:25):
In a game like Villanova, but I don't know that
you can can play them all like that. When coming up,
you know you're at k State. You know Arizona, Baylor's
the Arizona and Baylor got votes in Kansas and number
ten and Colorado had a big holiday win and Arizona
State's getting boats and Texas Tech was ranked and either
got boats. Those are your first handful of games. And
(03:49):
b why you just got the best young player in
the nation and they got money coming out of their years.
So it's you know, big twelve is a handful, but
first things first, you got Xavier, who can be a handful.
To look at the past record and the Dayton's flyers
are a handful is they were great in Mallee.
Speaker 4 (04:06):
So there you go.
Speaker 1 (04:09):
I think from a UC perspective, this is at least
my fear because I remember the game two years ago
and I think this Bearcat team is better.
Speaker 2 (04:17):
But they're playing at home right and.
Speaker 1 (04:19):
There's this sense of this is gonna be UC's year
to get one, and the atmosphere right before tip off
was incredible, and there's Kenyon Martin and it feels like
there's no way they're gonna lose, and then two minutes
later it's thirteen to one in favor of the Musketeers.
I think there's a little bit more pressure to win
the game this season. I think UC has a better
(04:40):
team and they're back at home. I'm not sure what
to make of Sean Miller's team this season, you know,
beyond last night, they're not exactly coming in with a
full head of steam. But I sort of wonder about
the same sort of scenario unfolding on Saturday, where a
lot of excitement, everybody's amped up, the team feels it,
the team understands the recent history of the series, and
(05:03):
they try to win the game in the first three
to four minutes, and then Sean Miller, who's a great coach,
his team is up ten twelve points early and the
Bearcats have to spend a lot of energy crawling back.
Speaker 4 (05:15):
Right.
Speaker 3 (05:15):
Well, and if you look at the history of this
and I've been working on this today, something they'll have
out on since Ana dot Com, I'm not sure Whinner
will be published, but soon.
Speaker 4 (05:25):
They've not done well in close games. In the shootout.
Speaker 3 (05:28):
You can go back to Lenny Brown's floater. And since
that time, there's I believe it's fourteen games, and U
see's only one one that you could call close, like
within the seven or eight point range. A lot of
them Xavier has pulled out, including two overtime games, and
you know, the last five and I don't know what
(05:50):
it is. And you know they've they've beaten pretty good
UC teams and they've.
Speaker 4 (05:54):
Just found a way to win.
Speaker 3 (05:57):
I know Wes Miller wants to win this game as
much as as anyone.
Speaker 4 (06:01):
And yeah, the pressure is on. It is home. Uh,
they're ranked. There's a lot of pressure. Uh.
Speaker 3 (06:08):
Dylan Mitchell was friends with Quincy Olaveri. I don't know
if you heard West's press conference and and H Quincy
of course was on the other end of this last year.
But Quincy said, man, you got to go all out.
Speaker 4 (06:18):
It's everything. It's bigger than you expect.
Speaker 3 (06:20):
And and uh, Dylan was saying when he first came
into town, he's going to target and everyone say, man,
you got gotta be gott to be Xavier, you know,
And I'm sure it's vice.
Speaker 4 (06:30):
Versa for the Zager kids.
Speaker 3 (06:31):
So it's such a strange thing, you know, you know,
West Plate and Duke in North Carolina, but every one
of those you got another chance, and you might even
have three games of that where this is at one
out and whoever wins, their fans get to go around
and poke you and the ribs the rest of the year.
And if you're a UC fan, I guarantee you don't
like it, and vice versa. Yeah, but it's been more,
(06:55):
you see, let's be honest. I mean, it's it's it's
what they want. The last five it's nine out of eleven,
fourteen out of twenty, and twenty out of twenty eight.
So you know, they do the political maps where they're saying,
you know, this is trending red, this is trending blue.
The shootouts trending blue. It has been and you need
(07:15):
to turn around. You need a political strategist to get
this done well.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
And then, I think from a Barriquette fan perspective, because
of their inability to win at the Centas Center, when
they lose the game at home, you just assume, okay,
you know, whatever the number is. Now if it's this year,
it'll be six, right, Well, then it's going to be
seven because they can't win at their play so when
they lose at home, it feels like two losses.
Speaker 3 (07:37):
Well, it is utterly ridiculous when you think about it,
that non since two thousand and one, and I can
remember the game and Zager fans will say, well, David
West didn't play, and I think he played a little bit,
went out, but it was a twenty point you see win.
But that was what Ron Barker Field Williams in that group.
(07:58):
And that's the last time. Okay, that's two thousand and one.
So next year when they go back over, you'll see
it written it's been twenty four years since you see
one at Xavier And that's a true statement.
Speaker 4 (08:13):
And it's mind boggling.
Speaker 3 (08:14):
And it's not to say that Xavier's no good. I mean,
certainly they're a great program. They've done you know, Sean's
got some great guys in this year. Look at the
record that they've got to handle on this thing. But
it is crazy that in any rivalry that it's been
that long since. You just want since you've won in
a gym that's only four miles away, from your gym.
Speaker 4 (08:35):
It's it's I don't know how to describe it, but you.
Speaker 3 (08:40):
Have a better word for it than me, and it
probably can't be used on the radio.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
Correct, All right, enjoy your forty fifth skyline Chili crot
How many is it this year?
Speaker 4 (08:51):
Oh, I don't know.
Speaker 2 (08:52):
I don't know.
Speaker 4 (08:52):
I haven't been. You know, there's been.
Speaker 3 (08:54):
This is number ninety two, So I'm certainly not one
of the veterans. I'm I don't know if there was
anyone that'll be there that was there in nineteen twenty
five when they rolled the balls out at the Great
Schmidfield House. But yeah, I honestly I don't rek call them.
I know when I was in school, they used to
play at the Coliseum now the Heritage Bank Arena, and
(09:16):
you had to take a bus from you see, downtown
and they played there, and at the time, it was
either the Zavier game that would sell out down there
or if there was a big team otherwise nothing was
going on. So when I moved back in nineteen ninety
and Cincinnati had the Shoemaker Center, and you know when
then Xavier eventually had Synthas Center. Now you get two
(09:37):
great venues and you know it's a wonderful thing. You know,
you like all the hoop and hype and all that stuff.
But sometimes if you're on the UC thing side of things,
it can be aggravating. If you're on the Zavier side
of things, you've had a pretty good run here lately, no.
Speaker 2 (09:54):
Question about that.
Speaker 1 (09:55):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (09:56):
As always, We'll see you Saturday man.
Speaker 4 (09:57):
Thank you appreciate the time, sir. Thanks
The Skyline Chili Crosstown shootout you might have heard is
on Saturday, you see versus Xavier two o'clock. Scott Springer
covers University of Cincinnati sports for the Cincinnati Enquirer and
Cincinnati dot Com.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
He will be there, he told me today.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
He's Have you been to forty Skyline Chili Crosstown shootouts.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Or you just you've been around them? Have you been
to forty of these? I don't know.
Speaker 3 (00:24):
I've been to forty, but I've probably certainly seen forty,
you know, dating back to when I was in school
and I moved back to town in nineteen ninety and I've
been to pretty much most of them, so it's easily
over thirty. But I've probably seen close to forty, I
have to think. So that tells you I've seen a
(00:44):
lot of everything.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
Well, in recent years, you've seen a lot of Xavier victories,
and I think most Bearcat fans felt, you know what,
feel pretty good about this after the Georgia Tech game.
The way they have played for the most part the
last three games has left a lot to be desired.
What happened to that team that took the floor and
played so well in Atlanta.
Speaker 3 (01:07):
I guess it's a matter of just being in sync.
And you really want to have Dan Skillings Junior back
at full capacity, but he went thirty four days without playing,
so then you had to play a different way. And
the only thing I can figure it is just a
way of mixing it back in if you get back
to the way.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
Now.
Speaker 3 (01:26):
Granted it was an exhibition, but see what they sure
looked good against Ohio State and you felt like there
was a lot of promise. And then at Georgia Tech,
like you mentioned that they look pretty good. That was
minus stand. So now they've got to figure out a
way to working back in and get everyone in sync.
And you know, it was a weird game in Villanova.
(01:46):
They just never seemed to be quite clicking. And every
time they had a chance.
Speaker 4 (01:50):
To get a shot and get within one, get within two.
Villanova made a great run.
Speaker 3 (01:55):
It's a small little gem there and students can walk
to it, so place to play.
Speaker 4 (02:01):
No excuses though.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
I think everyone would say, including Wes Miller, that the
Bearcats should have won that, but you know, not many
teams go undefeated, and Bob Knight is long gone.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
Now, yeah, he he is.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
Unfortunately, I think a lot of folks walked away from
that Villanova game saying, all right, you can't play as
many guys as Wes has been playing against, you know,
teams that aren't quite as good. Can can he can
he play as many guys as he has been playing
against Xavier?
Speaker 4 (02:33):
I don't think so.
Speaker 3 (02:33):
I think you have to get to where you're you're
going to become the first of the year actually late December,
and you're right, it was that. And I asked him
about it, and he it was just an awkward way.
That first break against Villanova didn't come to, like, you know,
nearly eight minutes in, and I think he wanted to
get the guys in then suddenly you're stuck. It's like, well,
I need to get these guys in. I need the
(02:54):
other guys to have a rest. It just was an awkward,
you know, exchange there and then and that group of
five that was in there didn't do so well obviously,
And I think at by halftime Villanova had played eight
and the Bearcats had played ten, you know, and they
had their chances. You can't really use that as an excuse,
but yeah, I think hindsight, he probably would not have
(03:15):
done that. I think against Xavier, you got a whillow
it down some depending on how the game goes, you know,
you know, maybe you can get them all in.
Speaker 4 (03:23):
It's great that they all get experience.
Speaker 3 (03:25):
In a game like Villanova, but I don't know that
you can can play them all like that. When coming up,
you know you're at k State. You know Arizona, Baylor's
the Arizona and Baylor got votes in Kansas and number
ten and Colorado had a big holiday win and Arizona
State's getting boats and Texas Tech was ranked and either
got boats. Those are your first handful of games. And
(03:49):
b why you just got the best young player in
the nation and they got money coming out of their years.
So it's you know, big twelve is a handful, but
first things first, you got Xavier, who can be a handful.
To look at the past record and the Dayton's flyers
are a handful is they were great in Mallee.
Speaker 4 (04:06):
So there you go.
Speaker 1 (04:09):
I think from a UC perspective, this is at least
my fear because I remember the game two years ago
and I think this Bearcat team is better.
Speaker 2 (04:17):
But they're playing at home right and.
Speaker 1 (04:19):
There's this sense of this is gonna be UC's year
to get one, and the atmosphere right before tip off
was incredible, and there's Kenyon Martin and it feels like
there's no way they're gonna lose, and then two minutes
later it's thirteen to one in favor of the Musketeers.
I think there's a little bit more pressure to win
the game this season. I think UC has a better
(04:40):
team and they're back at home. I'm not sure what
to make of Sean Miller's team this season, you know,
beyond last night, they're not exactly coming in with a
full head of steam. But I sort of wonder about
the same sort of scenario unfolding on Saturday, where a
lot of excitement, everybody's amped up, the team feels it,
the team understands the recent history of the series, and
(05:03):
they try to win the game in the first three
to four minutes, and then Sean Miller, who's a great coach,
his team is up ten twelve points early and the
Bearcats have to spend a lot of energy crawling back.
Speaker 4 (05:15):
Right.
Speaker 3 (05:15):
Well, and if you look at the history of this
and I've been working on this today, something they'll have
out on since Ana dot Com, I'm not sure Whinner
will be published, but soon.
Speaker 4 (05:25):
They've not done well in close games. In the shootout.
Speaker 3 (05:28):
You can go back to Lenny Brown's floater. And since
that time, there's I believe it's fourteen games, and U
see's only one one that you could call close, like
within the seven or eight point range. A lot of
them Xavier has pulled out, including two overtime games, and
you know, the last five and I don't know what
(05:50):
it is. And you know they've they've beaten pretty good
UC teams and they've.
Speaker 4 (05:54):
Just found a way to win.
Speaker 3 (05:57):
I know Wes Miller wants to win this game as
much as as anyone.
Speaker 4 (06:01):
And yeah, the pressure is on. It is home. Uh,
they're ranked. There's a lot of pressure. Uh.
Speaker 3 (06:08):
Dylan Mitchell was friends with Quincy Olaveri. I don't know
if you heard West's press conference and and H Quincy
of course was on the other end of this last year.
But Quincy said, man, you got to go all out.
Speaker 4 (06:18):
It's everything. It's bigger than you expect.
Speaker 3 (06:20):
And and uh, Dylan was saying when he first came
into town, he's going to target and everyone say, man,
you got gotta be gott to be Xavier, you know,
And I'm sure it's vice.
Speaker 4 (06:30):
Versa for the Zager kids.
Speaker 3 (06:31):
So it's such a strange thing, you know, you know,
West Plate and Duke in North Carolina, but every one
of those you got another chance, and you might even
have three games of that where this is at one
out and whoever wins, their fans get to go around
and poke you and the ribs the rest of the year.
And if you're a UC fan, I guarantee you don't
like it, and vice versa. Yeah, but it's been more,
(06:55):
you see, let's be honest. I mean, it's it's it's
what they want. The last five it's nine out of eleven,
fourteen out of twenty, and twenty out of twenty eight.
So you know, they do the political maps where they're saying,
you know, this is trending red, this is trending blue.
The shootouts trending blue. It has been and you need
(07:15):
to turn around. You need a political strategist to get
this done well.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
And then, I think from a Barriquette fan perspective, because
of their inability to win at the Centas Center, when
they lose the game at home, you just assume, okay,
you know, whatever the number is. Now if it's this year,
it'll be six, right, Well, then it's going to be
seven because they can't win at their play so when
they lose at home, it feels like two losses.
Speaker 3 (07:37):
Well, it is utterly ridiculous when you think about it,
that non since two thousand and one, and I can
remember the game and Zager fans will say, well, David
West didn't play, and I think he played a little bit,
went out, but it was a twenty point you see win.
But that was what Ron Barker Field Williams in that group.
(07:58):
And that's the last time. Okay, that's two thousand and one.
So next year when they go back over, you'll see
it written it's been twenty four years since you see
one at Xavier And that's a true statement.
Speaker 4 (08:13):
And it's mind boggling.
Speaker 3 (08:14):
And it's not to say that Xavier's no good. I mean,
certainly they're a great program. They've done you know, Sean's
got some great guys in this year. Look at the
record that they've got to handle on this thing. But
it is crazy that in any rivalry that it's been
that long since. You just want since you've won in
a gym that's only four miles away, from your gym.
Speaker 4 (08:35):
It's it's I don't know how to describe it, but you.
Speaker 3 (08:40):
Have a better word for it than me, and it
probably can't be used on the radio.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
Correct, All right, enjoy your forty fifth skyline Chili crot
How many is it this year?
Speaker 4 (08:51):
Oh, I don't know.
Speaker 2 (08:52):
I don't know.
Speaker 4 (08:52):
I haven't been. You know, there's been.
Speaker 3 (08:54):
This is number ninety two, So I'm certainly not one
of the veterans. I'm I don't know if there was
anyone that'll be there that was there in nineteen twenty
five when they rolled the balls out at the Great
Schmidfield House. But yeah, I honestly I don't rek call them.
I know when I was in school, they used to
play at the Coliseum now the Heritage Bank Arena, and
(09:16):
you had to take a bus from you see, downtown
and they played there, and at the time, it was
either the Zavier game that would sell out down there
or if there was a big team otherwise nothing was
going on. So when I moved back in nineteen ninety
and Cincinnati had the Shoemaker Center, and you know when
then Xavier eventually had Synthas Center. Now you get two
(09:37):
great venues and you know it's a wonderful thing. You know,
you like all the hoop and hype and all that stuff.
But sometimes if you're on the UC thing side of things,
it can be aggravating. If you're on the Zavier side
of things, you've had a pretty good run here lately, no.
Speaker 2 (09:54):
Question about that.
Speaker 1 (09:55):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (09:56):
As always, We'll see you Saturday man.
Speaker 4 (09:57):
Thank you appreciate the time, sir. Thanks
Mo Egger News
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