1/21/26 - The Mo Egger Radio Show - Mo Egger

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
ESPN fifteen thirty, where Bengals Nation Lives.

Speaker 2 (00:04):
Terry Francona is a very very very smart man, very
smart man, and he's gonna be in the Hall of Fame,
and he's one of the most universally beloved and respected
people in baseball. But I don't understand what he did
over the weekend, and we'll make that make sense coming

(00:24):
up in just about fifteen minutes. I'm Moeger. This is
ESPN fifteen thirty. Thanks for listening, Thrilled that you're with us.
Show preview is available right now on Twitter at moegar
thanks to share Facts credit Union. Become a member just
like me. Go to share facts dot org, Rick Browing,
Musketeer report dot com and NKU Radio Color Analyst is

(00:45):
going to join us in about forty minutes. We're done
early today to make room for UK basketball at five thirty,
the Wildcats taking on Sean Miller's Texas Longhorns.

Speaker 1 (00:55):
More on that in a bit.

Speaker 2 (00:57):
Good college basketball guest in the four o'clock hour, and
some Dan Pitcher stuff. I think the Bengals should go
overboard to keep Dan Pitcher. We'll get to that coming
up a little bit later on winners go first. Winners
go first. Miami wins last night. This was a hell
of a game. Tuned in with about thirteen minutes to go,
Miami was in the middle of completing a collapse where

(01:19):
they were up fourteen and a half. The last thirteen
minutes of that game were terrific. The atmosphere at that game, now,
the coach at Kent State was apparently gonna buy beers
for the students who were twenty one and over to
come to the game. I don't know what their typical
attendance is like, but the atmosphere for that game seemed awesome.
Seemed like a fair amount of Miami fans in the
stands last night. They survived. The RedHawks do a great atmosphere.

(01:42):
They survive a good Kent State team that had a
killer turnover with about eleven seconds to go, right when
they were in a position to hand Miami its first
loss of the season. This is what happens. This is
what happens when you're a really good team. If the
opponent lets you off the hook, you take it in overtime.
Did the RedHawks are twenty and Oh, it's refreshing and

(02:06):
I think it's refreshing from a few different perspectives. One is, look, man,
I'm a UC basketball fan, have grown up a UC
basketball fan, been a UC basketball fan my entire life,
and we are going to talk about Cincinnati versus Arizona tonight.
But I'm old enough to remember when Miami University's basketball
program was like a legitimate part of the landscape. For

(02:29):
those of us who grew up in the nineties watching
the ascension of UC, watching the ascension of Xavier, watching
Rick Patino thrive with the Kentucky Wildcats, the Miami RedHawks
were maybe not on those levels, but they were cranking
out rather consistently MAC championship teams and NCAA tournament teams.

(02:50):
There is no reason why that program can't be good,
and it's it's also fun and refreshing. From this perspective,
Chaos is the in college athletics.

Speaker 1 (03:02):
Turnover is the rule in college.

Speaker 2 (03:04):
Athletics, and this is something we've talked about on this show.
I think college basketball, I think college basketball, frankly is
hurt by this a little bit more than college football,
thenk college basketball is hurt by the fact that you
have a lot of folks who love the team that
they root for or love the school that they went to,

(03:26):
but they they don't love it as much as they
used to, and they don't love college basketball as much
as they used to. They don't love rooting for their
favorite team as much as they used to because they
don't feel like they have a connection to the players,
because the players don't have a connection to their school.
Travis Steele's team, there are ten players from last year's team,
which was this close to making the tournament, on this

(03:49):
year's team. There's been some continuity what any of those
guys are getting in terms of nil I have no idea,
but there is a little bit of a throwback feel
to it, and you can enjoy a throwback field. None
of us, at least I don't think any of us,
but none of us want college basketball to go back
to the way it was, even as recently as like

(04:10):
ten years ago.

Speaker 1 (04:11):
I don't think anybody wants that.

Speaker 2 (04:13):
But for those of us who who would would would
love things to kind of swing at least a little back,
a little bit back towards the way things used to be.
The Miami RedHawks with their current roster, with how they've played,
or a fun story. We also love a redemption story.
And look, there's a lot of head coaches who have

(04:36):
maybe not necessarily had a ton of success at one level,
and don't take this the wrong way, but they've they've
they've dropped down a level and they have success. And
don't get mad at me for saying that the MAC
is not the Big East. Call it what it is.
But there's something sort of redemptive about Travis Steele who
leaves Xavier. And it was kind of gnarly at the

(04:58):
end there, right they're playing in the EDI, nobody goes
to their first round an IT game. The school quickly
moves on. Travis Steele has sort of cast aside very
quickly because Xavier can hire Sean Miller. And what Xavier
did made sense at the time and it makes sense now.
But it was reasonable to wonder, like, what's gonna happen
with Travis Steele? What to make of Travis Steele? What

(05:20):
is are we done hearing from that guy? Is he
going to go back to being an assistant coach? Is
he going to get another chance to be a head coach?
Is he going to be given another chance to be
a head coach at the high major level? Well, he
almost instantly ends up at Miami. It took a couple
of years for him to get his program going and now,
and I'm certainly not saying that this will happen or

(05:41):
even should happen, but you have folks wondering, like, all right,
where is Travis Steele going to get his next quote
big time opportunity. That is a conversation for two months
from now. In the interim, it's fun to watch an
area team chase an undefeated season. You could say whatever
you want about their schedule. All you can do is
play who you got to play. They have survived some challenges.

(06:03):
They probably should have lost the game on Saturday to
Buffalo didn't. Probably should have lost the game last night
to kent State didn't. If you are going to offer
a special season, sometimes you have to dodge bullets. Travis
Steel's team did last night. Fun evening This evening college
basketball tonight on ESPN fifteen thirty. Kentucky plays Texas. Pregame

(06:25):
at five thirty, so we're done early. The question is
can UK win a game without falling behind by seventeen
or eighteen points? Because you could look at those games
again from multiple perspectives. You love the fact that they
have found ways to win games that you could argue
maybe they should now against a pretty good Tennessee team,
but a really bad LSU team, they fall behind by

(06:47):
eighteen against one seventeen in the other. They win both.
That is, as we say, not sustainable. Can they win
a game tonight against Sean Miller's Texas Longhorns without falling
behind seventeen or eighteen points? What do the Xavier Musketeers
have in store for an opponent that just over a
month ago handed Xavier it's most lopsided ever loss at

(07:13):
the Centas Center hung ninety eight on the Musketeers. Now,
Xavier's team looks better and has played better since that
loss to Creighton. What they're doing right now offensively in
the open court at times has been something to behold.
I'm not sure how good Creighton is. They're not in
the upper tier of teams in the Big East, but

(07:35):
they certainly look like it that night they played Xavier.
Here can Xavier author a forty two point turnaround against the.

Speaker 1 (07:42):
Blue Jays this evening in Omaha and also tonight?

Speaker 2 (07:47):
Can the Bearcats give themselves a chance in each of
these Big Twelve games? Pretty much in every game they've
played this year, they have given themselves a chance, and
sometimes they've lowered themselves to the level of competition, and
sometimes they have risen to the level of competition. That
was certainly the case in the game against Iowa State,
it was the case in the game against Houston. Now,

(08:09):
against Houston, they couldn't get the win. Against Iowa State,
they did, But can they give themselves a chance in
the final few minutes tonight? It's not so much about
do they get the win, as awesome as that would be,
it's do they even give themselves a chance in the
final four or five six minutes to even have a
chance to win the game. Arizona is the unanimous number

(08:32):
one overall team in the country. Cincinnati is a thirteen
and a half point underdog. This opened at fifteen and
a half. It climbed to sixteen and a half. Right
now it's thirteen and a half. The Wildcats this season
have destroyed Alabama, They have hammered Auburn. They have wins
over Florida, Yukon, and Ucla. They have won each of
their five Big Twelve games by an average of thirteen points.

(08:55):
This team tonight will be an absolute load and it's
on the road for Cincinnati year is what I wish.
And I don't spend a ton of time talking about,
you know, the games that aren't gonna happen or circumstances
that aren't gonna materialize, because what's the point. But you
just look at a game like tonight. Early in the season,
it was abundantly clear Arizona had a chance to be

(09:16):
the class of the Big Twelve. Time will tell if
they proved to be that by the end of the season.
But they're obviously a national title threat, obviously a team
that has a very good chance to win the Big Twelve.
What of a handful of teams that you have to
include in the conversation as the best in the entire sport.

(09:37):
It just you look at a game like tonight. You
understand the uphill battle the Bearcats face. You understand the
uphill battle that pretty much anybody would face in a
game like tonight. And I just said this to Tony
about twenty minutes ago. You just wish to god, they
were like, I don't know, fourteen and four or fifteen
and three, you wish that this could be this sort

(09:57):
of game that you go, you know what you steal
this one, you get this one. It's a landmark, signature victory.
It's one that can just completely boost your resume. It's
one that you circle on the resume in black magic
marker and keep it there to the end of the season. Instead,
they're ten and eight and nobody's talking about this games

(10:18):
in terms of what it could catapult the Bearcats toward.

Speaker 1 (10:20):
That doesn't mean that if they could.

Speaker 2 (10:24):
Pull off the upset tonight, and I laugh because it's
almost hard to imagine this happening. But if they could
pull off the upset tonight, it wouldn't be awesome because
it would be so we'll see. We'll talk about the
game in greater detail a little bit later on. Arizona
offensively and defensively is in the top six of the
Ken Palm adjusted efficiency rankings. I think the thing that

(10:46):
stands out more to me is not just how efficient
they are on the offensive end, but how good they
are grabbing rebounds on the offensive end. And to a
large degree, I think it's going to come down to that,
Cincinnati's defense has been good for much of the season.
You're probably at times going to be helpless against a
really good offensive team in Arizona. But when you force missus,

(11:08):
who gets the rebound. If the answer is Arizona, the
Wildcats are going to win this game, and probably win
it by a lot. If the answer is Cincinnati, maybe
they could keep it close, as they have for pretty
much every big game they've been in all season long.
And then the question becomes, can they execute down the
stretch against one really good team? Earlier this season the

(11:29):
answer was no, against one, excuse me, really good team.
On Saturday, the answer was yes. Sixteen minutes after three o'clock,
our lines are open five point three seven four nine,
fifteen thirty eight sixty six, seven oh two three seven
seven six. So we played audio yesterday of a Tito
Francona doing something that all of us should do. But

(11:52):
when all of us do what Tito Francona did, there's
then something we then do next. The Reds haven't done that.
I'll explain next on ESPN fifteen.

Speaker 3 (12:03):
Thirty, WCKY, Cincinnati and iHeartRadio Station Guaranteed Human ESPN fifteen thirty,
I Heard Radio.

Speaker 2 (12:13):
Twenty one after three. This is ESPN fifteen thirty. Anything
you may have missed on this show, go get now
or later on the iHeartRadio app. Paul Danner Junior on
the Bengals yesterday was as usual terrific. We talked Dan Pitcher,
We talked about the NFL teams that have decided to
move on from their coaches, some possible cat casualties, Orlando Brown,

(12:39):
so much more. Listen to the conversation in its entirety
wherever you want, whenever you want on the iHeartRadio app,
or you could go to ESPN fifteen thirty dot com
and find the podcast page podcasts or a service of
long Neck Sports Grow loaded college basketball night tonight in
the area.

Speaker 1 (12:55):
Watch your favorite team, or watch teams you hate.

Speaker 2 (12:58):
If you like to hate, watch any of the three
long Next locations Wilder, Hebron and Richwood, four KTVs all
over the place, awesome menu, tons of cold beard excuse me,
and each location very very easy to get to. We
played this audio in the five o'clock hour yesterday, and
I've thought about I've thought about what Tito, what Terry

(13:18):
Francona had to say a lot since I heard his
conversation with Lance on Friday. By the way, if you
want to hear that in its entirety, you could also
find that on the iHeartRadio app. This is the part
of that conversation that I think got the most attention.
It's the part that we have focused on the most,

(13:38):
and I have more to say about it. So Tarren,
go ahead and play that from Friday night on seven
hundred WLW.

Speaker 4 (13:48):
So, when we were going through good times last year,
our bullpen was rested and deep, and when we struggled,
we were relying on guys like Santion but gotten way
too much. Now we've got some depth. We added some
left handers. So and it's it's not just when you're winning,
but you know, when you're down by two in the
sixth guys give you a chance to come back and

(14:11):
win some of those games and also not bury the
guys at the end of the game. But you make
a good point because there's different styles. Now again, we're
not going to leave the league in runs, is my guess.
That's just being honest. But I would rather try to
play with a really good pitching staff and team that
catches the ball than when you score, it's meaningful. Trying

(14:34):
to win ten to nine is really hard. You got
to do it sometimes, but it's a hard way to
play there.

Speaker 2 (14:38):
It goes down Terry Francona with Lance from Redsfest on
Friday night, and like, my first reaction, and I talked
about this yesterday, but my first reaction was, why does
it have to be either or? Like, it doesn't have
to be win ten to nine or win three to two.
If you want to rest your relievers more, if you

(15:00):
want to rest your high leverage guys more often, if
you don't want to tax your bullpen or your starting pitchers,
one way to do it is to score more runs.
Like yeah, man, trying to win every game ten to
nine is not sustainable at all. But if you're trying
to win the World Series, trying to win every game
two to one, three to two also doesn't seem sustainable.

Speaker 1 (15:23):
What you're hoping for.

Speaker 2 (15:24):
You're hoping for is a deep enough team, a good
enough team, a balanced enough team that you can win
your share of not necessarily blowouts, but you score enough
runs that not every game is filled with high leverage
outs and high leverage innings, Not every game comes down

(15:45):
to a pitch or two that you don't need to
burn a reliever when you know, deep down inside it
might be best for him to have the night off.
It doesn't have to be either or. It shouldn't be
either or. So you know, I use extreme examples like, yeah,
you're not gonna win ten to nine games consistently and

(16:06):
hope to win a title. Uh so let's let's win
these low scoring games we're scoring, Matt. How about win
eight to one more frequently. How about put your relief
pictures in non save situations more frequently. How about look

(16:26):
at the starting pitcher and go, we're gonna give you
some rope because the score dictates there's margin for error
because we've scored enough runs. It doesn't have to be
either or, And so like framing it the way he did,
and Terry Francona, I don't have to say this, but
I will anyway. Terry Francona is a Hall of Fame manager,
So yes, I mean, he's got bona fides that none

(16:48):
of us do. But I don't understand. I don't understand
kind of leaning into the well. You know, our offense
isn't gonna be all that good, but that's okay because
we're gonna we're gonna we're gonna win more games three
to two. Like, how about fix the entire team, not
overhaul it not make drastic changes everywhere, and part of

(17:13):
what he's doing is pointing out the work they've done
in the bullpen. And I think every even skeptical observer
would be okay with the work the Reds have done
in their bullpen. They've signed legitimate, established relief pitchers. That's
really good, but it doesn't excuse the fact that they've
done nothing substantial to the offense. By the way, if

(17:36):
you were holding out hope that they would jump into
the Cody Bellinger fray, that's not gonna happen. He reups
with the Yanks five years, one hundred and sixty two
point five mil Luise Robert, I feel like we've spent
two years talking about the Reds in their pursuit of
Louise Robert. Well, that's going to end because the Red Sox,
I'm sorry, the White Sox have traded him to the Mets.

(17:57):
So Luise Robert goes to New York across him. All
off your list a Juhanio Suarez is still out there.
But the other thing that Terry Frank ConA did, he
did something that we should all do, right. He acknowledged
a flaw. By the way, in this day and age.
Nobody does that. He acknowledged a flaw. He didn't come
out and say we're gonna have a hard time scoring runs.

(18:18):
He didn't come out and say our offense is maybe
gonna be below league average. He didn't come out and say,
you know, our offense has a pretty low ceiling. He
framed it in a way that you know you don't
have to You don't have to strain yourself to figure
out what he's saying. We're not going to lead the
league in runs. He is acknowledging a flaw. The Reds

(18:39):
offense is their flaw. The lack of pop is their flaw.
Doesn't mean that players from last year's team can't perform
better this year, and if they do well, then the
offense is maybe a little bit better. But he acknowledged
a flaw. But what good is acknowledging a flaw if
nobody's going to fix it? Like there's the issue, right

(19:03):
Tito points out the flaw. The front office doesn't seem
like it's doing anything to fix it. Maybe they do.
I keep being told there's time spring training this and
start for a few weeks. By the way, first Cactus
League game is one month from today. But if I
point out a flaw, if I point out a flaw
in my house, okay, that's cool. What are you going

(19:26):
to do to fix it? Somebody points out, you know
what my personality I just have, I have a really
bad temper.

Speaker 1 (19:33):
That's cool that you acknowledge it. What are you going
to do.

Speaker 2 (19:35):
To fix it? Hey, our offense isn't very good? Yes, Tito,
we agree. These statistics would say as much. Advance metrics
and projections say as much. Neat what's going to be
done to fix it? Nobody seems to have that answer.
And by the way, the off season has been underway
for more than three and a half months, so okay, fine,

(20:00):
and it's an acknowledgment or bullpen is better? By the way,
one of the goals this offseason was to make the
bullpen better. They have acknowledged last year's flaw that it
was good at the very top. You needed some depth, needed,
maybe more clearly defined roles.

Speaker 1 (20:18):
Mission accomplished. Great work, Nick Krawl.

Speaker 2 (20:23):
But if you get an A over here in one
class and an F over here in one class, well
then the average is a C. And that's what the
off season grade should be. You don't get a's for
ignoring something that you're bad at. So like I heard that,

(20:43):
and it's like man Tino is acknowledging. He is pointing
out their flat, and he's pointing it out before the
season begins. He's also pointing it out when there's more
than two months to go before the season starts, so
there is some time. But there's absolutely no use in saying, yes,
we're not going to be good at this. If you're
not active, proactive and trying to fix what you're not

(21:07):
good at. That rule applies to life. I think it
applies to a major league baseball team. What good is
pointing out the flaw if nobody's going to fix it.
It is not Terry Francona's job to fix the roster.
And by the way we say fix, it's probably the
wrong word. Don't need an overhaul, need like one legit bat.

(21:31):
They've also acknowledged we need a legit bat, because they
at least kind of went after one. His name was
Kyle Schwarmer. What good is acknowledging a flaw if no
one's going to fix it? Three point thirty sports headlines
are next phone calls coming out five point three seven,
four nine fifteen thirty. This is ESPN fifteen thirty. Oh,
you are gonna hear the Ultimate kill Joy. The Ultimate

(21:53):
kill Joy next on ESPN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 1 (21:59):
ESPN fIF fifteen thirty. Cincinnati's sports station.

Speaker 2 (22:02):
Sports headlines are a service of Kelsey Chevrolet at home
of lifetime powertrain protection and guarantee credit approval from their
family the Yours for Life kelseyshev dot Com. The Tampa
Bay Buccaneers today announced that they have conducted a virtual
interview with Bengals offensive coordinator Dan Pitcher to become Tampa

(22:27):
Bay's new offensive coordinator.

Speaker 1 (22:29):
Stay tuned, things.

Speaker 2 (22:30):
Will get, as we say, hot and heavy, perhaps if
we find out that Dan is going to conduct an
in person interview virtual interview. I have very few goals professionally.
One of them is to never engage in a virtual
interview like want me to interview for your job? Fly
me down there, especially in Tampa where it's much warmer

(22:53):
that it's been here. College basketball tonight, Cincinnati looks for
a win over the number one ranked team in the
country for the time since November of nineteen ninety eight,
as the Bearcats take on undefeated and top rated Arizona
Tip off tonight at nine on seven hundred WLW Xavier
looks for a third consecutive win as the Musketeers take
on Creighton in Omaha. That game at seven o'clock. Tonight

(23:16):
on fifty five KRC. Kentucky battles Texas this evening. That
game tips off at seven pm on ESPN fifteen thirty.
The Wildcats looking for a fourth consecutive win and Dayton's
won five straight games. The Flyers on the road tonight
against lasle That game tips off at six thirty. College football,
the twenty twenty six UC football schedule was released earlier today.

Speaker 1 (23:40):
I will read the schedule for you quickly.

Speaker 2 (23:44):
Bearcats open up the season or home against Boston College
Week one, home for Western Carolina.

Speaker 1 (23:49):
Week two.

Speaker 2 (23:49):
The Miami game is going to be at the Avenue
originally known as Paul Brown Stadium. Saturday September the nineteenth,
the Big twelve opener. Bearcats will host k State Saturday
September the twenty six at Arizona Saturday, October third, My Birthday,
Saturday October the seventeenth, Cincinnati's out West Virginia home for
Texas Tech. On ten twenty four home for Utah and

(24:10):
ten thirty one on the road consecutive weeks at Houston
on eleven seven, at Iowa State on eleven fourteen, home
for Colorado and Dion Sanders on Saturday, November the twenty first,
winding down the regular season on the road at BYU
on Saturday eleven twenty eight, the Big twelve Championship game,
it was announced yesterday is moving to Friday nights and

(24:31):
that game will take place at Jerry World on Friday,
December the fourth. Make your plans now five point three
seven four nine, fifteen thirty. Thanks to those who have
waited patiently so far. Rob in Northern Kentucky. You're on
ESPN fifteen thirty, Rob, good afternoon. How are you hey man?

Speaker 5 (24:51):
Thanks for calling me back. Appreciate that.

Speaker 1 (24:53):
No problem.

Speaker 5 (24:55):
I want to make comment. I guess or I guess
maybe a.

Speaker 6 (24:59):
Question to you or maybe we looking what with TV
said as being maybe a little too or look at
it maybe a little too close, because I think he's
a knitting that. You know, we're just not, you know,
gonna be a great offensive team. And I agree with
you as far as what they've done in the off season,
you know, typical Reds or Bengals, you know, they could

(25:21):
say not much to improve it, but also too if
you look at the you looked at some of the
statistics in the last decade, how many teams do you
think led the league and led the Major leagues in
scoring runs?

Speaker 1 (25:38):
Like?

Speaker 2 (25:38):
How many how many teams led the league and score
well one per season?

Speaker 1 (25:41):
Does?

Speaker 6 (25:43):
Now I'm saying, how many teams won the World Series
and also led the league and led the Major Leagues
and runs?

Speaker 2 (25:50):
Well, I could tell you the Dodgers two years ago
came in second and the Yankees came in third. Those
two teams played in the World Series.

Speaker 6 (25:58):
Well, in the last ten years, three teams have led
the league or led Major Leagues and scoring runs. So yeah,
schooling runs is definitely a factor of winning a World Series,
but it's not the whole factor. I think playing defense
and pitching are your two things that come before that,
and in the offense probably be your third thing that

(26:19):
really can't put you over the top.

Speaker 2 (26:22):
Well, let me ask you this, how many teams in
the last ten years finished fourteenth in runs per game
and won the World Series?

Speaker 6 (26:28):
I agree with you on that. That's what I'm saying
that that back in it's got to improve yeah.

Speaker 1 (26:33):
And that's the thing.

Speaker 2 (26:34):
I don't think anybody is realistically thinking that the Reds
could find somebody that's going to take this team from
middle of the pack to the best in the sport.
But I think you would agree after having watched them
last year, they do need more offense. And maybe it's
in the form of home runs, which I love home runs.

(26:57):
Maybe it's in the form of somebody who's getting on
base that would be a better fit at the top
of the order. But they won eighty three games last
year despite having very good starting pitching. The team's offensive
potential all season was limited. I don't want to win
eighty three games this year. I want to win closer
to ninety and I think you have a better chance
of doing that if you boost for offense.

Speaker 1 (27:18):
And they haven't done that this year.

Speaker 6 (27:21):
Yeah, I agree with you, but once you get in
that tournament, then it's all the ball game. But yeah,
you got to have some offense to get there too.

Speaker 5 (27:27):
I mean, like you said, but I just want to
kind of point that out that I.

Speaker 6 (27:31):
Don't think offense was Ito t was kind of I
don't think he was saying that we're going to be
a terrible offensive team. I think he was saying that
maybe there'll be more opportunities with Whey. He's kind of
manas a team this year.

Speaker 2 (27:46):
Yeah, I mean, I appreciate the phone call. I don't
think anybody thinks they're going to be a terrible offensive team.
They weren't a terrible offensive team last year. They were
okay or middle.

Speaker 1 (27:53):
Of the pack. But I don't. It's like I say this.

Speaker 2 (27:57):
About the Bengals all the time. I hear, but all
they need is average defense. On one level, I understand
that I want a great defense in the fourth quarter.
I want a defense in the fourth quarter that when
it's time to like seal the game, is great, is
great at getting off the field when the game is
hanging in the balance. I think if you aim for

(28:18):
middle to pack, then your Flora lowers or fourteenth in
the league last season and run scored per game. I
don't I don't see as I look at those rankings
right now, at the top of my head, I don't
say anybody else who made the postseason who's below them,
it'd be better offensively. Just there's there's no there's no

(28:41):
other way to gotta be better offensively. And I think
what Tito was doing was acknowledging that there are offensive
limitations while pointing out the fact that they are probably
better equipped to win low scoring, close games. That part
is awesome, But I don't want to just win the

(29:01):
three two games. I want to be equipped to win
games where, hey, you know what, the bullpen falters or
starting pitcher puts you behind the eight ball and gives
up a bunch of runs, or there's a critical error
later in the game and you know what, Now, now
you gotta overcome it with your bats. They may have

(29:22):
a championship starting staff, they may have a championship bullpen.
There's barely been an attempt to take a league average
offense and turn it into anything resembling a championship offense.
And I think the frustrating thing is they're not awful.

(29:43):
Nobody said they needed offensive upgrades, but and that meant,
you know, go and and trade away. You're in entire
middle of the batting order, or overhaul four to five positions.
Go at a legitimate bat like one, go at one
a legitimate bat.

Speaker 1 (30:01):
It hasn't happened, And that's frustrating. It's frustrating.

Speaker 2 (30:06):
If you've watched, if you watched last year's team at
times look totally stuck in the mud. On offense, it
feels like they're overly dependent on a lot of things
going right this year that didn't go right last year.
And by the way, if two of those things go better,
this offense will be better. If if Matt McClain performs
as as well as they expected him to last year,

(30:27):
that'll help. But if Eli Dela Cruz isn't hurt, chances
are that'll help significantly.

Speaker 1 (30:34):
That doesn't.

Speaker 2 (30:34):
That shouldn't preclude you from finding help from elsewhere, and
they haven't. I still may, but they haven't. So it
gets back to my original thing. Tito acknowledged a flaw.
It's one thing to acknowledge a flaw. It's something else
to do something about it. That has not happened a
quarter to four, five point three seven four nine fifteen

(30:56):
thirty Xavier was crushed by Creighton the first time the
Musketeers played the Blue Jays. The rematches tonight NK you
lost the tough one over the weekend to Robert Morris,
Rick Buring talks about both next, Hey, Alexa, What's going
on in baseball?

Speaker 1 (31:14):
Lock from iHeartRadio ten Away from four o'clock.

Speaker 2 (31:18):
This is ESPN fifteen to thirty milegra Thanks thanks for listening.
On Wednesdays, we are joined by our guy Rick Buring
Musketeer Report dot com, covering Xavier basketball. He is also
the color analyst for NKU radio broadcasts in addition to
his many other endeavors and on x at Rick Buring.

Speaker 1 (31:40):
Hi, Hi Rick, How you doing?

Speaker 7 (31:42):
Hi?

Speaker 2 (31:42):
Moll? Xavier played Creighton the first time that game was here.
It did not go well. They lost by forty one points.
How do they avoid a similar faith this evening.

Speaker 8 (31:57):
By doing the exact opposite of everything they did?

Speaker 1 (32:00):
They in that game.

Speaker 8 (32:03):
It was a complete disaster.

Speaker 1 (32:04):
I'm gonna huge echo on this. I don't know, you
sound amazing, Okay, just a little.

Speaker 8 (32:10):
Hard to you know, if they can't hear yourself at
the same time, but you know they they played really
poorly in that game on both ends of the court.
They couldn't generate any looks on the offensive end because
Creighton plays a style of defense where they stick to shooters,
they kind of guard you one on one and Vager
just didn't generate any paint touches that that game. They

(32:31):
weren't able to drive past those one on one matchups,
and so if you're not going to beat the one
on one matchups and they're attached to your shooters, not
a lot for your offense to do, especially when you
don't have post up options like Xavier Lax. So the
offensive part of it is going to be really difficult
for them against the style of creating plays if they're
not able to get into the paint tonight. So I

(32:51):
think that's the biggest thing. And then on the defensive end,
they were really chasing the ball that entire game, the
way Creighton plays on the perimeter, with so many different
and screening actions. They'll use ball screen actions, they'll use
off ball screening actions, they'll play in transition to get
open looks from three and then and then they cut
into the pain as well. It's not just like they're
settling for nothing but threes. So it's a different a

(33:14):
different style for Xavier to guard and a difficult.

Speaker 1 (33:16):
Style for them to guard.

Speaker 8 (33:18):
But yeah, it's hard to be optimistic when the last
time you played in your own gym you lost by
forty one point.

Speaker 1 (33:24):
No question.

Speaker 2 (33:24):
Can they can they run against the Blue Jays the
way they ran against their last two opponents.

Speaker 8 (33:32):
I think they'll try to the problem with Creton a
little bit is that Creighton wants to do the same
thing on their offensive end, right, Like, if you want
to get up and down with Creyton, you're probably going
to give up some threes to Creighton too, So that's
part of it on the defensive end. But yeah, I mean, offensively,
there's no doubt that Xavier is at its best when
they can get out in transition and get the ball

(33:53):
moving and get some easy three point looks, especially, so
I'm sure that'll be part of the game plan.

Speaker 1 (33:59):
We'll see how it does.

Speaker 2 (34:00):
H Obviously, you know, with players being able to go
wherever they want, whenever they want, that obviously is a
big caveat to this. How many players on the current
Xavier roster would you say would be of guys who
have eligibility left at the end of the season, which
maybe that's an entirely different conversation, but of players who
have eligibility left at the end of the season that

(34:20):
are on Xavier's current roster, how many of them would
you say could be building blocks and would be welcomed
with open arms on next year's team.

Speaker 8 (34:31):
Yeah, that's a really good question. I think that's probably
the biggest storyline for this year's leager team.

Speaker 1 (34:37):
The rest of the way.

Speaker 8 (34:38):
You know, when you look at the way Richard Patino
and his staff handled the transfer portal last season, He's
made no buns about it. He's mentioned multiple times that
we understand it's a year to year deal and nothing
is guaranteed in terms of players staying. But they took
five sophomores, and they were purposeful in doing that because
they were hoping a couple of those guys would maybe
stick around and would develop into something and you'd have

(35:00):
some building blocks for the future. Now, as things stand
right now, I don't think there's a ton of excitement
about the idea that like, Okay, yeah, you've found a
clear stud going into next season, and this is your
guy that you're your centerpiece that you want to pay
a bunch of money for and build around. But I've
also told fans, like one of the challenges Xavier faced

(35:21):
in last year's transfer portal was they were trying to
piece together an entire roster aside from Roddy Anderson, you know,
trying to find eleven twelve guys all at once in
the transfer portal, Granted, you're always going to be looking
for several it seems like the new way that the
sport is handled, but trying to find an entire team
at once is really difficult, and so there is value

(35:41):
in it's nothing else of having your tenth, ninth, and
eighth guy in place.

Speaker 1 (35:46):
Maybe, So I think.

Speaker 8 (35:47):
There's no doubt that having some of those guys stick
around is going to be part of the plan, and
it's valuable. In terms of the guys that I'd be
excited about right now as a Xavior fan, I think
Jova Malichovich is chief among them. He's made more three
pointers as a guy six to nine or taller than
any one in Division one basketball, So I mean, I
think he's the second highest, but he's he's right up

(36:09):
there at the top of the entire nation in terms
of three pointers made by big men. And for him
in a sophomore year to make the jump he's made,
I think next year, if you're not even relying on
him for as big of a scoring role on the
offensive end, if he's more of a role guy for
you and just a perimeter threat, more of a specialist,
he could maybe excel even more in that.

Speaker 5 (36:29):
Pull At the Big East level.

Speaker 8 (36:30):
So that's that's the guy that I think I'd be
most excited about. Another guy that's starting to come on, though,
is pop Enji at the center position, and he's been
playing a little bit more and giving them more production
as a shot blocker and rebounder.

Speaker 2 (36:43):
Rick Buring with US Musketeer Report dot Com. You'll hear
him on Saturday NKU on the road against Wright State,
first of three consecutive road games. Rick'll be calling a
game from his favorite arena. The Norris have lost two
out of three, a tough overtime loss at home to
Robert Morris. They went into that Green Bay game with
a bit of a head of team they had won
at Milwaukee. Since two losses out of three a tough

(37:06):
one at home to Robert Morris, how much has the
air come out of the balloon.

Speaker 1 (37:12):
I don't think much at all.

Speaker 8 (37:14):
It's been a little bit of a weird season in
the sense that when the team plays well, they're handling
teams in the conference. I mean, they blew out Milwaukee,
granted Milwaukee's a little banged up. They blew out Youngstown State.
I mean they've handled a lot of these teams and
put on pretty impressive displays for at least a half
of those games. Now the problem is when they've gotten

(37:34):
in some of these closer games, they haven't played poorly ness,
They've made some good runs and like they came back
on the road at Green Bay and played a great
second half there, but they've struggled to come up with
some of the necessary plays down the stretch of games.
And part of it is I think one thing that's
a little bit new for this NKU team is in
years past, there's always been a clear go to guy.
I mean for years it was Mark west Warwick under

(37:56):
this staff. But last year, you know, you had Trey
Robinson and Dan or kind of late down the stretches,
you go to guys, but it was clear who the
ball was going to in late game situations and what
types of things you were going to be running.

Speaker 1 (38:08):
This year might be a little bit.

Speaker 8 (38:09):
Different in the sense that they have four guys averaging
over fourteen points per game. They're the only team in
the entire country that has that, and so the late
game situations, it's been kind of a different guy each
game who has the hot hand, and so you find
yourself in a situation of Okay, what's the best matchup,
who's playing the best tonight, and what are we running
for him? I think there's been more of a feeling

(38:30):
out process sometimes in those late game situations, and guys are,
you know, maybe not used to being in that role
necessarily or maybe don't have the confidence for it, so
they're finding some of those things out as they go
along as well.

Speaker 2 (38:41):
I asked you a similar question, I think last week
or maybe two weeks ago, how many teams in Division
one men's college basketball this season have had a guy
come off the bench and give him thirty eight?

Speaker 6 (38:52):
Yeah?

Speaker 8 (38:52):
I can't imagine there's another one. And obviously Donovan O'Day
could easily be starting for this NKU team, and for
my money, he's been their MVP to this point. I
think he is their best player right now, given in
the entire season's body of work. And like I said,
on different nights, it's been different guys certainly, but overall
he's been the most consistent both offensively and defensively in

(39:14):
my opinion. But I think he has the six ten
of the year wrapped up already in the Horizon League,
and if they do a national Award, maybe there too.

Speaker 1 (39:22):
But he is so important.

Speaker 8 (39:24):
When he comes into the game from a spark standpoint,
giving them that offense and that transition burst that they
have that's really given some teams trouble.

Speaker 1 (39:33):
Did the did the echo go away?

Speaker 6 (39:36):
No?

Speaker 1 (39:36):
Not really.

Speaker 8 (39:36):
What I've been doing is listening to what you say
and then holding my phone away from my ear when
I talk.

Speaker 2 (39:41):
You know, we I don't know if you're familiar with
the work of Jeff Carr locked on Reds, we once
had him do a segment while he was riding roller
coasters at King's Island.

Speaker 1 (39:50):
So basically since then we've had that segment.

Speaker 2 (39:52):
We've had a no excuses policy for our guests or
for our callers, so if there's any sort of audio issue,
whatever it is, you're to persevere and get through.

Speaker 1 (40:01):
And you've done that, so thank you very much.

Speaker 5 (40:04):
Yeah.

Speaker 8 (40:04):
For some reason, this was even more unsettling than the
Christmas party, Daniel Christmas party call in where you can't
hear anything because there's music playing around that people are
yelling in the studio. The echo thing is just like
a half second delay on your own voice is very weird,
you know.

Speaker 2 (40:18):
Interesting, Well, we'll call if Verizon or Cincinnati Bell or
MCI or whoever we have our service from and try
to figure that out. Thank you as always. Thanks though,
that's our guy, Rick Brooring. Go to his website Musketeerreport
dot com and you'll hear him on Saturday when NKU
takes on Wright State at the Nutter Center, a game

(40:39):
we'll tip off at seven per the best rivalry in
the Horizon League.

Speaker 1 (40:43):
Five after four.

Speaker 2 (40:45):
Dan Pitcher has interviewed with the Buccaneers virtual interview. It
didn't via zoom or teams or I don't know, conference crime.
I haven't been on a job interview in twenty eight years.
That's not entirely true, you know, I've never told this story.

(41:08):
I actually in two thousand and three, I interviewed for
a job in Birmingham, Alabama, producing a show, and the
host of that show his name was Paul Finbaum. I
did not get the job. I really didn't want the job.
So I interviewed for a job twenty three years ago.
But we did that in person. I went to Birmingham
and the dude who did the hiring took me to
a rib joint.

Speaker 1 (41:27):
It was awesome.

Speaker 2 (41:28):
I don't know how things worked out for Dan Pitcher
and the Buccaneers. I don't know if he's gonna get
an in person interview. I don't know how that's gonna work.
I just but Paul Dayner Junior was here yesterday. Paul
is am smart as hell and is connected and sourced,
does a great job. He's a big Dan Pitcher guy.
I understand the Bengals are very high on Dan Pitcher

(41:52):
and we were talking yesterday and the entire conversation is
available on the iHeartRadio app, so you can go and
listen to it. But Dan is interviewing for a job
that he has. The difference is in Tampa Bay, he
would be given the freedom to call plays. He would
be the play caller. In Cincinnati, Zach Taylor handles those

(42:13):
duties primarily, and so the thought being, look, if you
have a chance for the same job, but with the
added responsibility, we're not going to get in your way.
And man, on a human level, I think that's awesome.
I've worked with people, I've worked for people before who
have gotten in your way, who have gotten in the

(42:33):
way of like, hey, man, here's something that might be
good for me in my future, and they get in
the way. There's nothing, there's nothing worse, and so I
do think on a human level it is awesome. The
Bengals are looking at Dan picture going, look, man, you
want to be a head coach one day, and for you,
if you think what's best is a stopover in Tampa
calling plays, go for it.

Speaker 1 (42:54):
I guess for me though, and maybe it's just me.

Speaker 2 (42:57):
If you really value somebody, really value them, then you
go overboard to keep them. If you value somebody who
works for you, and you're like, you know what, Yeah,
we can replace this guy, and maybe we have a
good plan be in place, but you know what, this
person is really vital to what we do. He's at

(43:19):
the core of what we want to be about. You
figure out a way to keep them. You figure out
a way to keep that person, You add responsibilities, you
throw money at them. Now maybe at the end of
the day. And Paul talked about this, and I think
it's a fair point. Dan wants to be a head coach.
He was interviewed by the Browns for their head coaching vacancy. Uh,
And I think to a degree it's a little puzzling

(43:41):
that he hasn't gotten other opportunities because the coaching cycle
there have been so many jobs open, and frankly, many
of the candidates that you see discussed or you see
getting interviews feel like feel like retreads, feel like okay,
there's it feels like there's a lack of like, really
good candidates. And so I think it's a little surprising

(44:02):
that Dan's only gotten one head coaching interview. But I
just can't help but feel and I could be dead
wrong about this. I guess Dan's perspective is I don't
get credit for anything that happens in Cincinnati, and I
wouldn't even if I was calling plays, because if we're
good on my side of the ball, the credit's going
to go to the quarterback, the credit's gonna go to

(44:23):
the weaponry, the credit's going to go to the person
that put the weaponry together on top of the head coach.
And so I'm gonna be viewed as somebody who's just
simply Joe Burrow adjacent and not somebody who is integral
to the success of that offense. And there may be
some validity to that. I can't help but believe because

(44:44):
I've seen it happen. I cannot help but believe that
if you are the Bengals offensive coordinator in twenty twenty
six and the offense explodes, which it may because of
continuity and star power.

Speaker 1 (45:06):
I cannot help but.

Speaker 2 (45:07):
Think that in a league that, on an annual basis
essentially turns over twenty five percent of its coaches, you're
not going to get opportunities. I just I can be
dead wrong, and I far be it for me to
tell Dan that his perspective is incorrect because he's living
through it and I'm not. But I just cannot help

(45:29):
but believe. And you can tell me if you think
I'm wrong in five point three, seven, four, nine, fifteen
thirty that if you're the Bengals offensive coordinator, regardless of
whether you are calling plays, and this offense legit takes
off next year and the Bengals win because of it,
that there's not going to be somebody in a hiring

(45:52):
capacity that wants to bring Dan Pitcher in for an interview.
Can be dead wrong about that in the interim, if
you value the guy the Bengals clearly do, and you
legitimately think like this dude is really important. This guy,
even if you have Brian Callahan in your back pocket

(46:14):
as a plan B, you don't let him get away.
And yes, you give him the ability to call plays here.
This has been something we've hit on a bunch over
the years. I spend less time than most debating and
discussing play calling because I don't think most of us

(46:34):
are qualified to talk about what goes into calling a play.
There are times, you know, for instance, Monday night, when
Indiana is trying to salt the game away and Kurt
Signetti decided to have Fernando Mendoza handoff, and it's like, buddy,
you've got the best quarterback in the sport. That's your
meal ticket. He's going to be the number one pick

(46:55):
in the draft. Let him make a play, don't let
him hand off. Stuff that I think it's fun to discuss.
But on the granular level, do any of us know
what goes into calling of play?

Speaker 1 (47:06):
So it's with Zach Taylor.

Speaker 2 (47:08):
It's never been about he's a great play caller or
he's a bad play caller. There have been some play
calling themes I've agreed with. There have been some play
calling themes I haven't. There been times where I felt
like he's taking the ball out of his most important
players hands. There have been some times where I've felt
like the Bengals offenses is pretty pretty interestingly designed, we'll

(47:30):
put it that way.

Speaker 1 (47:34):
But I have, and I think a lot of us have.

Speaker 2 (47:36):
If you're a Bengals fan, I think you have over
the years, while you've been in love with the quarterback
himself and you've been in love with the weaponry, you've
wondered why the offense doesn't function as smoothly as it should.
Tony Pike and I the day after the Bengals played
the first game against the Cleveland Browns, spent like forty
five minutes talking about why the offense was so clunky,

(47:59):
why they were having a hard time getting the play called,
why they were having a hard time getting everybody lined up,
why they had procedural penalties, why it felt like not
everybody was on the same page. And the excuse for
that might have been, well, it's the first game and
it takes time. It's like, man, it's the same quarterback
and same dudes on offense operating in the same system.

(48:22):
This shouldn't be as clunky as it is. And over
the years, despite their potential, despite their explosiveness, despite all
the statistical accomplishments of Joe and Jamar and t and Chase,
despite having an offense that when you look at the personnel,
feels like it's very difficult to prepare for its overall function.

(48:44):
It's overall efficiency has, I believe, at times, left a
lot to be desired. When that is the case, how
do you not take a look at who's on the headset,
who's calling the play? I know, talking about that is
overly simplifying it. Getting a play in an NFL game

(49:05):
seems like it's extraordinarily complex. But as I've watched the Bengals,
even when their offense has been cooking, I can't tell
you how many times either I've thought or someone else
has brought up, boy, this offense doesn't quite function as
efficiently and as effectively as it should, and so until
it does on a more consistent basis, like one of

(49:30):
the examples for me is the Baltimore game here, you know,
the game where it was really really cold, not freeze
or bowl cold, of course, but really, really, really really cold,
and folks were mad about the snow not being knocked
off the seats. If you remember, in that game, in
the third quarter of the Bengals trailed by seventeen points.
The season is hanging in the balance. Uh, they have

(49:55):
to score. They have to win the game, and they
have to score to even give themselves a chance. And
they look like they were killing the clock. They look
like a team that had a seventeen point lead with
four minutes to go and is just trying to get
the game over with. They're huddling, they're throwing it short,
there's no urgency, there's no tempo. They're running the ball,

(50:16):
and I'm going like, all right, can somebody say, hey,
let's step on the gas here?

Speaker 1 (50:21):
Nobody did.

Speaker 2 (50:23):
And there's a few examples like that that if we
have encountered over the years, I just as we watch them.
I don't know how you don't. I don't know how
you don't say, look, let's let's try somebody else. Let's
try our offensive coordinator, and not entirely remove the head

(50:43):
coach from the process, but change the process. Maybe take
out one voice, maybe change the ultimate decision maker as
to which play is going to be called, just to
see if it works. The floor is pretty high. If
it doesn't work, chances are the offense isn't going to
totally implode. Maybe it'll take off. If it does, Dan

(51:04):
Pitcher will get credit and My guess is Dan Pitcher
will then enjoy professional opportunities that he feels so far
he lacks. So you know, I get it that Brian
Callahan will be a good plan B and they love continuity,
and that's Zach Taylor's BFF, and so fine, whatever. But

(51:24):
if you really value somebody who works for you, you
do what you can to keep them. Maybe it's financial,
maybe it's a title, maybe it's responsibility. But if in
changing the responsibility there's a potential benefit to the overall group,
well then it's.

Speaker 1 (51:41):
A no brainer.

Speaker 2 (51:43):
And nothing against Brian Callahan, nothing really against Zach Taylor.
This to me, if you believe they value Dan Pitcher
as much as they do, or as much as they
say they do, this is a no brainer. Sixteen minutes
after four o'clock. You can tell me why I'm wrong.
Five p one three seven four nine, fifteen thirty and

(52:04):
eight sixty six seven oh two three seven seven six
College hoops Tonight, we're gonna chat with our guy, Hunter
sansum Nky bracket guy. We're gonna focus on two teams
in particular. One of them Miami twenty and zero winning
last night. The other is Kentucky I think Kentucky is
interesting from an that large perspective. The Wildcats played tonight

(52:24):
pregame at five thirty. The NKY Bracket Guy joins us
at four thirty on ESPN fifteen thirty, Cincinnati Sports.

Speaker 3 (52:30):
Station WCKY, Cincinnati and iHeartRadio Station gainer in t Human
ESPN fifteen thirty, I.

Speaker 1 (52:40):
Hardradio twenty two.

Speaker 2 (52:42):
After four o'clock ESPN fifteen thirty, we have UK basketball tonight,
the Wildcats battling Texas toipa off at seven o'clock pregame
at five thirty. The Wildcats will be part of our
conversation with our guy, the NK My bracket guy coming up.
Excuse me in just about ten minutes at malegger on Twitter.

(53:05):
By the way, thanks to Delta Dental, Delta Dental is
building healthy, smart, vibrant communities for all good at Delta
dentaloh dot com. Mike, go ahead, you're on ESPN fifteen thirty.
Good afternoon, Mike.

Speaker 1 (53:17):
How are you?

Speaker 5 (53:19):
Thank you? Mom? Big game tonight, looking forward to it
should be a lot of fun.

Speaker 1 (53:25):
Which one are you referring to the Cats?

Speaker 2 (53:29):
Yes, I'm excited to see how their improvement over the
last three games and I'm I'm folding into that a
game that they lost. I'm curious as to how those
improvements hold up against clearly the team that I think
most of us believe is the best in college basketball.

Speaker 1 (53:49):
It's the ultimate problems, the ultimate measuring stick.

Speaker 5 (53:52):
Yeah, you can't hardly argue against Seth. But but I
hope you know I'm pulling from Jade too obviously. Sure
we were talking early. Well, I'll tell you what one
more thing on college basketball. John Calipari just blows my mind.
He's got a hell of a basketball Dave manhandled Vanderbilt

(54:14):
last night, which is a good basketball team. They did
their breaksaw.

Speaker 2 (54:19):
Yeah, the way they pulled away in the second half
was something to behold.

Speaker 1 (54:22):
I watched that entire game.

Speaker 5 (54:25):
That's a dangerous team in the tournament.

Speaker 2 (54:28):
Uh yeah, yeah, very very and a good bounce back
because I know a really good Georgia team got him
by fifteen points or so in their previous game. They
lost pretty handily to Auburn. But John Calipari has gotten Arkansas.
I don't want to say back on track, but he's
got a good team. He's got a good team.

Speaker 5 (54:49):
He's amazing. Yeah, but guy's amazing he's amazing. I don't
know if it's long term good for anybody, but he
gets it done.

Speaker 2 (54:58):
Before I get to the red there is I'll say this,
there is a togetherness and a flow and a chemistry
to that team in Fayetteville that was absent from most
of John Calaperry's last four or five UK teams.

Speaker 1 (55:13):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (55:13):
I noticed that too. It's twenty you say that, I
didn't know if it was just me. I'm glad you
said that. I know I'm not only partially nothing.

Speaker 2 (55:21):
And you know, if you if you watch them offensively
like he's, he's I think he's embraced more modern offensive philosophies.

Speaker 1 (55:27):
They average nearly ninety points a.

Speaker 2 (55:28):
Game, like they I they look different they did last
year as well. They look different than a lot of
those UK teams that mark the end of John's tendre
and Lexington go ahead, Yeah, I'm.

Speaker 5 (55:43):
A great I agree. I'm so happy you're picking the Rams.
I'm so elated that my buddy Mo is picking my Rams.
I'm so I haven't been a jacked up about a
super Bowl since the Bengo.

Speaker 1 (55:55):
So well, I'm excited.

Speaker 2 (55:57):
Here's the thing I've I've sort of hedged this because
I've I wagered on the Rams to win the Super Bowl,
like two and a half months ago. All right, I
don't think they're gonna win on Sunday.

Speaker 5 (56:11):
I just thought I heard you say that. You thought
the Rams. Oh you're talking about two and a half
months ago.

Speaker 2 (56:17):
So I have a ticket for the Rams to win
the Super Bowl, but I don't think they're gonna win
on Sunday. I got Seattle's defense I think is going
to be too much the Rams, and look, man, their
secondary made plays when it had to against Chicago, and
so you give them credit for it. I still think
there's a special team's advantage. I think Seattle is one

(56:39):
of the teams in the NFL that has a legitimate
home field advantage.

Speaker 1 (56:43):
Their defense, when.

Speaker 2 (56:44):
It's at its best, feels like there's twelve or thirteen
guys on the field. And you know, say what you
want about Sam Darnold, they've been able to win with
him merely being okay. They they don't require him to
do a ton now losing Charbonas, I'll admit that, but
I think the number is small enough. I think Seattle's

(57:05):
gonna win the game out right, and I actually think
they cover his favorites.

Speaker 5 (57:09):
Yeah, Kenneth Walker's come out of nowhere quite as start.
Uh well, I'll just keep my fingers crossed. Uh well,
I wish I had Indiana at one hundred and one. Okay,
the Reds. I listened to Tony and uh Austin today,
but they had meant Austin said, well, now Bellinger got

(57:32):
his deal, maybe there'll be a trickle down for for
for Hayes. Come on hot and Hayes can't carry Tody
Bellinger's dock crap.

Speaker 1 (57:41):
Do you think he was saying that facetiously?

Speaker 5 (57:45):
Maybe? I don't know, it could have been, you know,
but I'm tot he's my one of my favorite you
know that guy. That guy.

Speaker 9 (57:53):
Look at the year m d P one year a
couple of gold gloves in center field could have had
a gold glove at first base. He was five games
short of having enough games there at first With the Dodgers,
the guys any battle backs from a terrible back injury.

Speaker 5 (58:09):
So I'm a big Cody guy, but I wish we
had Cody Bellinger. Boy, I really wish we had Cody Belling.

Speaker 2 (58:16):
I wish I wish, I wish they had any difference
making bat in the middle of the order. I wish
they had a bat to help provide protection for Elie
Dela Cruz.

Speaker 5 (58:26):
Wouldn't this be cool like they do in San Francisco
for years hit Candlestick and now in the Bay with
McCovey Cove where the people are out there in their
kayaks and their boats and their canoes waiting for their
long ball. Wouldn't it be cool if we could have
a Kluzuski's Cove.

Speaker 1 (58:45):
Klazuski's Cove sounds amazing.

Speaker 2 (58:47):
That is geographically not possible because the ballpark is not
close enough to the river.

Speaker 5 (58:52):
Yeah, but god, it sounds so good, doesn't it does?

Speaker 1 (58:57):
Klazuski's Cove sounds amazing.

Speaker 2 (59:00):
But I mean the ballpark there's a mirroring way, isn't
But there's there's a there's a lot of there's more
real estate beyond the outfield wall than I think people realize.

Speaker 5 (59:11):
Yeah, well, including me. I know. You gotta go, Pal,
thanks for time.

Speaker 2 (59:15):
I appreciate it, Mike, Thanks, thank you very much. Yeah,
like I've seen the Cardinals connected with Austin Hayes. Now,
folks have suggested that maybe the Reds bring him back,
and you know, like fine, but but you go from
visions of Kyle Schwerber dancing in your head to perhaps
settling for the return of Austin Hayes.

Speaker 1 (59:40):
Hard pass.

Speaker 2 (59:43):
Could the Miami Radhawks get in the NCAA Tournament as
an at large? That and other questions will be answered
by the resident bracketologist of this show.

Speaker 3 (59:52):
Next, no one covers the Bengals like ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati.

Speaker 2 (59:57):
We we got to get to sports headlines and the
few minutes. There's nothing of major consequence happening. Right now,
we're less than an hour away from UK basketball on
ESPN fifteen thirty, the Wildcats taking on Texas, a big
game for both. A year ago, at this time, we
declared Hunter Sansom to be our official bracketologist, the NKY

(01:00:20):
bracket Guy, and through no work of ours, he is.
He's taken his little bracketology hobby and and now he's
developing like a college basketball and sports media empire. So
you should follow him on Twitter at bracket NKY and
you should go to his website nkybracketology dot com. And

(01:00:44):
we had to like negotiate to get him on the
show because he's very busy. We probably had to pay
him an appearance fee for all I know, he's with us.

Speaker 1 (01:00:51):
Now, how's it going, No, I'm great. How are you well?

Speaker 2 (01:00:55):
It's awesome to have you. Thank you for joining this.
This is earlier than we had your last year, but
it's nonetheless nice to have you.

Speaker 10 (01:01:03):
Absolutely so happy to be back and happy to talk
to some basketball.

Speaker 2 (01:01:07):
The Miami RedHawks are twenty to zero now. If they
win every game, including all their games in the MAC Tournament,
they're going to be an NCAA tournament team. Their schedule
works against them. Do they have any prayer of being
an at large if they don't win the MAC Tournament?

Speaker 10 (01:01:27):
It's not out of the conversation. I don't think.

Speaker 1 (01:01:30):
But they can't take any.

Speaker 10 (01:01:32):
More than really one loss. I think their best path
is probably losing the MAC championship game. But like you said,
their schedule is just not going to do them any fingers.

Speaker 2 (01:01:42):
Uh So, undefeated in the regular season, lose game one
of the MAC Tournament and they don't make it.

Speaker 10 (01:01:51):
I don't think so. I mean, unfortunately, the metrics and
the quad system and all of that fun stuff that
the committee likes to use just don't do Miami any favors.
They won't have any Quadrant one games, which is that
like gold standard for tournament appearances, and you really need
that one quadrant one win to get in at a minimum.

Speaker 2 (01:02:10):
In the in the MAC the last three teams and
obviously it's been a one bid league for a quarter
of a century, more than a quarter of a century,
but if you look at the last few years, the
seed has been a thirteen or a fourteen. Your latest
projections have them as an eleven. If they were to
run the table, and admittedly that's not likely because it's
it's obviously hard to win every game, But if they

(01:02:30):
were to run the table and and and win the
MAC Conference tournament championship, which is redundant, what's the seed ceiling?

Speaker 10 (01:02:42):
I mean, I think the committee could do a couple
of different things. They could really honor that the team's
undefeated and won their conference championship. I mean, look at
what they've done the past two games with just some
crazy shots.

Speaker 6 (01:02:53):
It's taken a.

Speaker 10 (01:02:53):
Little bit of Look, yes, but it's a lot of talent.
I really think that they could get up to like
a seven maybe, but more like scenario, they're probably gonna
be a nine or ten at a max.

Speaker 2 (01:03:04):
So but like, explain that to me, because a seven
would mean, like you know, there are there there are
at large teams that are gonna get in as a seven.
If you're an automatic qualifier and you get in as
a seven, I don't think you should go from a
seven to like not even in the field if you
lose one game.

Speaker 10 (01:03:22):
I completely agree. However, the metrics and all of the
other stuff that I explain on Twitter a lot more
frequently and a lot more in depth are gonna be
very against Miami. So the committee is gonna use that
one thing where those two things to really bump them down.
And then if you add that quadrant four loss on
top of that, they're just really gonna hurt them. And

(01:03:42):
assuming they lose, it's likely going to be at least
Quadrant three, if not quadrat four.

Speaker 1 (01:03:47):
Kentucky has work to do.

Speaker 2 (01:03:49):
Your latest projections had uk as a seven, And again
this is we're doing this in the middle of January.

Speaker 1 (01:03:54):
There's lots of ball to be played.

Speaker 2 (01:03:56):
How tenuous is the Wildcat's grip on an at large
spot right now?

Speaker 10 (01:04:02):
A lot better this week than it was maybe before
they played Minsissippi State ten days ago or so. Tonight's
Texas games pretty big. They're both of those two teams
are bubble teams. It kind of it's going to be
a big sway for Texas. But I mean, Kentucky's in
a good spot right now. Metrics look good, They've got
three Quadrant one wins at this time.

Speaker 2 (01:04:21):
Do you anticipate this year having a big bubble or
a small bubble?

Speaker 10 (01:04:27):
Right now, it's a big bubble, and I mean it's
obviously January. All you can really do is talk about it,
but it seems like it's going to stay a pretty
large bubble. A lot of these Power conference teams don't
look great, and there are a couple of mid major
types of teams we're looking at all.

Speaker 2 (01:04:40):
Right, mid major teams are you talking about like teams
that if they don't win their conference tournaments could still
get in as at large?

Speaker 4 (01:04:49):
Yes?

Speaker 1 (01:04:50):
Why do they have better cases than Miami?

Speaker 10 (01:04:54):
Because they had better teams schedule them in the non
conference slate. And I mean the rank of through play
us motto that Miami, like social media went with is
an amazing auto. And honestly, everything that I've heard and
everything I've talked to, Miami really got hurt with their
schedule this year. I know Houston and Michigan were tentatively
on the schedule and then dropped them for the Players Era,

(01:05:16):
and they weren't able to get anybody. But the teams
that scheduled, like the George Mason's or the Saint Louises
are just a little bit better than what Miami is,
and those teams are in a little bit better of
a conference.

Speaker 2 (01:05:28):
When you do like first four out, last four in
last four buys that sort of thing with which every
bracketologist does. How many teams would you have to list
before you listed Cincinnati or Xavier.

Speaker 10 (01:05:44):
Cincinnati's in a much better spot after the last week
that they've had, probably still twenty fifteen, twenty teams out,
I mean that lost Eastern Michigan and some of their
metrics are really going to hurt them. Xavier, on the
other hand, you're probably going and thirty teams deep. I mean,
they're they're very far out of the.

Speaker 2 (01:06:03):
Bullet I like the fact that you answered that question seriously,
like you gave me like a legitimate, well thought out
answer to a question that I sort of asked more
or less just to I don't know, get a chuckle
out of you.

Speaker 10 (01:06:17):
Fair enough I assumed it was coming, so I kind
of like did some research last night looking at it
after we confirm the time here. But I it's been
a rough year to say the least.

Speaker 2 (01:06:27):
Yeah, but if the Bearcats, I'm sorry, when the Bearcats
win tonight over the undefeated, unanimous number one team in
the country, how will that change things?

Speaker 10 (01:06:40):
That would be a I mean, on the road against
one of the best teams in the country, if not
the best, would jump them ten or eleven positions. I mean,
that would be just absolutely monumental, season defining type of win.
We would have serious conversations at that point.

Speaker 1 (01:06:53):
Really. So.

Speaker 2 (01:06:54):
So if they if they go to Tucson and win
tonight and and beat in consecutive games the second ranked
team in the country at the time, the second ranked
team in the country, and the number one ranked team
in the country, then like I could legitimately talk about
like their NCAA tournament hopes.

Speaker 10 (01:07:13):
Yes, I'm holding off on putting this out for Cincinnati,
but I put out like a path for Miami to
get in that large bid today on Twitter. I will
be doing the state for Cincinnati after the Arizona game.
But this game would just be massive if they could
get it done. Obviously that's the biggest But let's see
what happens.

Speaker 2 (01:07:31):
Where are the two area Big ten schools on your radar,
Ohio State and Indiana.

Speaker 1 (01:07:37):
Ohio State in.

Speaker 10 (01:07:38):
A much better position after beating Minnesota than they would
have been if they would have lost. The UCLA win
was really big. I was in Columbus for that one.
So they are currently in the tournaments right above, maybe
a ten or eleven seed after last night. For Indiana,
they are out maybe eight to ten spots out just
off the page of those next four out teams. Quite

(01:08:00):
a bit of work to do after last night, and
just kind of how the season's gone.

Speaker 2 (01:08:03):
Will this exercise for you be easier, more difficult, more
fun or less fun once we inevitably expand the tournament field?

Speaker 10 (01:08:13):
Less fun because we're gonna have teams. And I don't
mean this as a jab at Cincinnati. We're saying Cincinnati
Savior would be genuinely considered at this point, and I
don't want that for the tournament. I don't want to
water it down and make tea I want to make
teams earn it. But at the same time, it would
be nice to consider some of these local teams a
little bit more seriously.

Speaker 2 (01:08:31):
There's no living, breathing college basketball fan, with the exception
of Seth Davis, who I follow, who wants an expanded
tournament field. Nobody else wants it. Even as a dog
hard Bearcat fan.

Speaker 1 (01:08:42):
I don't know. This is not this is not anything
that we need. All right, Well, awesome to have you.

Speaker 2 (01:08:49):
Now, you know, as the tournament draws closer, we get
you on the show more and more frequently, sometimes on
a daily basis, to react to things that may have
happened the night before. But we appreciate the time as always,
and it's always good to have you.

Speaker 10 (01:09:04):
Absolutely happy to be here.

Speaker 2 (01:09:05):
Thank you, bim, You're very welcome. So that's our guy,
Hunter SANSLM. He is the NKY Bracket Guy. His Twitter feed,
if you love college basketball, is awesome, so you should
follow him at bracket Guy NK. He said he give
me a dollar for every new follower he got today.
So at bracket NKY on Twitter, or if you prefer

(01:09:28):
to call it by its proper name, X.

Speaker 1 (01:09:32):
Quote to five.

Speaker 2 (01:09:33):
Nobody wants an expanded tournament like I'll hear that argument. Well,
you know, mo, your Bearcats, you know, or Xavier would
have a chance more of a chance this year.

Speaker 1 (01:09:42):
Like, yeah, that's neat.

Speaker 2 (01:09:44):
It's there are very few things in sports that are
pretty damn near perfect. Maybe the NCAA Tournament isn't perfect,
pretty damn close, by the way, I think the twelve
team college football playoff field also pretty close to perfect.

Speaker 1 (01:10:02):
Now there should be tweaks, don't.

Speaker 2 (01:10:06):
I don't know that we need this year's version of
James Madison in the tournament. I don't know that we
need this year's version of Tulane in the tournament. I
think as good as those teams were, I think you
should make group of five. Schools have exceptional seasons. Call
me a homer. Twenty twenty one, you see, in the
old way of doing things was an exceptional season. I

(01:10:27):
think twelve is it's we're gonna go to sixteen, that
we're gonna go to twenty four, which is stupid. Then
invariably we're probably gonna get a thirty two. I think
twelve there's still a level of exclusivity. You could have
some really fun debates about teams number numbered eleven and twelve,
but it's not that forgiving. I had perfect I liked

(01:10:52):
it at four wasn't a huge proponent of expanding it,
and then it kind of felt like everybody needed to
feel like their team had access to the championship. I
think every every fan of a group of four college
football program feels like their team has access to the
championship event, and I think that should be enough. I

(01:11:15):
probably in the minority. I don't know that we want
to see one versus sixteen in football, especially played on
the one seeds home field. I'm not sure we really
want that. Twelve is pretty damn close to perfect. It
is a thirteen away from five o'clock. You know it's
not perfect the Reds offense. You know who says as much,

(01:11:38):
Terry Francona. More on that coming up in five oh
five on ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports Station.

Speaker 3 (01:11:44):
Hey Alexa, who's on the DL.

Speaker 6 (01:11:47):
Getting ESPN fifteen to thirty radio.

Speaker 2 (01:11:50):
Said six to ten inch the snow Saturday, that's what
we got.

Speaker 1 (01:11:54):
Six to ten be fun for him, not for me.
For correct me if I'm wrong.

Speaker 2 (01:12:03):
Earlier this winter, weren't we told one of these weekends
we were gonna get like as much snow as Steve
just said, and it never came?

Speaker 1 (01:12:09):
Did that? Happen? Did happen?

Speaker 2 (01:12:11):
Am I imagining that we there was like a it
was a weekend, wasn't it where we were supposed to
get like just this unearthly amount of snow and we
got like a decent amount, but not as much as
they said.

Speaker 1 (01:12:21):
Correct.

Speaker 2 (01:12:22):
Okay, well, uh, we'll see, we'll see six to ten.

Speaker 1 (01:12:26):
He's saying. By the way, toilet people, yeah, don't don't buy.
Don't buy. I mean, look, do this.

Speaker 2 (01:12:33):
Go and buy a normal amount of toilet paper that
you ordinarily would, but but do it like today. Don't
rush out on Saturday morning and hoard all the toilet
paper or hoard you know, pretty much anything less.

Speaker 1 (01:12:44):
It's boobs.

Speaker 6 (01:12:46):
Uh.

Speaker 2 (01:12:46):
While we were doing the college basketball, uh, last night
a big, big win for Mick Cronin's UCLA team. It
has been an up and down season for the Bruins.
Hunter mentioned before that he was in Columbus to watch
Ohio State beat UCLA. And I'm not sure that game
was as close as the final score. The buck Geys
won that game by twelve points. Big win for OSU.

(01:13:08):
The Bruins with that victory last night, improved to thirteen
and six. I don't know that they're capable of catching
the teams at the absolute top of the Big Ten.
Nebraska is still undefeated, not just in the league but
all season long. Michigan is one of the best three
or four teams in the country. Michigan State very quietly

(01:13:29):
is having an excellent season. But it was a win
over Purdue, handing the Boilermakers their first loss of the season.
Donovan Dent finally played like you know, the guy that
everybody talked about being perhaps the best transfer in college basketball.
The game was at Pauley Pavilion, so a lot of excitement,
a lot of excitement if you're a UCLA fan following

(01:13:51):
that big victory over Purdue, lot of excitement. And you
could hear it him Mick Cronin's voice after the game.

Speaker 7 (01:13:58):
And I want to thank to Big Ten for giving
up us five of our first seven on the road,
bringing Purdue here on Thursday night, where we don't get
back to in La till Saturday night, and giving us
the team pick to win the league on a two
days rest after five of ours a first seven on
the road. I really I want to thank the Big Ten.

Speaker 11 (01:14:19):
Forday yay, never change never, never ever, ever ever change
McK cronin is a great coach.

Speaker 2 (01:14:40):
But if if there is somebody who has the capability
of being a wet blanket, call it what it is
like big win catapult the Bruins to maybe making the tournament,
make a run of.

Speaker 1 (01:14:54):
The Big Ten.

Speaker 2 (01:14:55):
No, look, it's not that his gripe isn't legit. Of
course it is. Purdue was in LA because they played
USC over the weekend. But dude, when you join the
Big Ten, every team has scheduling irregularities in every sport.
When you join the Big Ten as a West Coast school,
you're subject to irregularities that are going to tilt things

(01:15:17):
against you. The issue isn't with the Big Ten. The
issue is with the administration that decided to join a
league that is mostly based in the central part of
the United States, that has a school in California, a
couple in California, has a school in Oregon, has a
school in Washington, and also has schools in New Jersey
and College Park, Maryland.

Speaker 1 (01:15:40):
It's dumb.

Speaker 2 (01:15:41):
I mean, I'm a proponent of a lot of things
happening in college sports right now. It remains dumb. But
as long as your school decides to lean into the dumb,
then you're going to be subject to scheduling irregularities that
at times work against you. It's not the Big Ten's fault,
your school's fault for taking that Big ten coin. Anyway,
congratulations a big Quilton and his team for a win

(01:16:05):
over Purdue last night. Five point three seven fifteen thirty
is our phone number. Terry Francona acknowledged a flaw. It's
one thing to acknowledge a flaw. It's something else to
do something about it. Will that happen? We'll get to
that next coming up on five o'clock ESPN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 1 (01:16:24):
Just answered this.

Speaker 12 (01:16:24):
Nationwide keyword on our website. Money that's money entering. Now,
you got a dude on social media. I know who
he is because he didn't say who he is.

Speaker 2 (01:16:36):
So I've been talking about Tito Francona's comments on Friday about,
you know, we're not going to lead the league in
runs scored.

Speaker 1 (01:16:43):
Which is an acknowledgement. It's it's stating the obvious.

Speaker 2 (01:16:48):
It's an acknowledgement that offensively they're gonna have issues this year.
And old boy sent me a picture of the game,
the box score from the game the Reds one, twenty
four to two over the Orioles. But yeah, that was cool.
That was neat The Reds had a league average offense
last year. By the way, when last season ended, also
on Moeger, this is ESPN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 1 (01:17:07):
Thanks for listening.

Speaker 2 (01:17:08):
We're done. The bottom of the hour for UK basketball.
The Wildcats taking on Texas Tonight's when last season ended.
When last season ended with the Reds having made the postseason.
I do not recall anybody anybody claiming that, you know what,

(01:17:29):
this offseason when it comes to the offense, they need
to stand pat I don't remember anybody saying that. I
do not recall anybody going, you know what, just all
this team needs. Bring everybody back, let everybody, some guys
get healthier, Let some dudes get through the offseason and
find ways to improve this year. And that's going to

(01:17:50):
be enough. I do remember hearing people say they need
they need some arms in the bullpen. They've accomplished one
of those two things I've been told. You know, I'm
being too harsh and overreacting, like the Reds made this
season be dramatically better than last year.

Speaker 1 (01:18:10):
And by the way, that's the goal.

Speaker 2 (01:18:12):
Miss me with this hey, just get into the dance thing,
Like just getting into the dance last year meant they
had to go on the road and play the Dodgers
and they couldn't set up their pitching rotation the way
they would have liked for Game two, like I would
in an ideal world, And I would imagine if you're
a Reds.

Speaker 1 (01:18:31):
Fan, you feel the same way.

Speaker 2 (01:18:32):
Love to avoid Round one or would like to kind
of be able to set up the team and the
roster and more specifically the pitching rotation for the postseason
by not having to really win Game one sixty two,
like to play at home in Round one if I
have to, like the Dodgers did last year. Is a
three seed, so this you know, well, hey, they just

(01:18:57):
sneak back in like they had to, and they deserve
credit for it. But do you remember last September they
were six games out in early September of the last wildcard.

Speaker 1 (01:19:11):
They barely got in.

Speaker 2 (01:19:13):
They needed help on the last day of the season
to get in. So they made the postseason. It's never
been easier. They got in with eighty three victories, not
a great record. Didn't go in with like this full
on head of steam, didn't go in with the ability
to rest guys like they needed some stuff to go
their way. They needed a New York Mets collapse, they

(01:19:35):
needed the Padres to really not post. They needed a
lot of stuff, And I think we all acknowledged that
when last season ended. So I think the idea is
to take eighty three wins in a playoff berth and
build upon it do even better.

Speaker 1 (01:19:49):
Maybe what they have.

Speaker 2 (01:19:50):
Not done this offseason will compel them to be better
this year. Maybe there are enough guys currently on the
roster who offensive you are capable of having this sort
of years. You're gonna need for this team to be
even better than last year. But that should not preclude
you from looking for help from outside. Like I can

(01:20:11):
hear it now.

Speaker 1 (01:20:13):
I can hear it now all May, June and July
hearing about how.

Speaker 2 (01:20:22):
The Reds just need to go get a bat at
the trade deadline or it's just we did it.

Speaker 1 (01:20:27):
We did it on opening day last year.

Speaker 2 (01:20:28):
I remember like I kind of snapped at Tony and
Austin an opening Day because the question was, well, like, well,
who are they going to go get at the deadline?
It's like, really, we're doing that more than four months
before the deadline and acknowledgment that the offense was incomplete,
an acknowledgement that they had holes in the offense, and
by the way, you could see those holes coming. We
talked about it during spring training last year, like this

(01:20:50):
search for a bat has been going on for a while,
and so maybe to that end, it shouldn't be surprising
that they haven't exact actually been proactive. I mean, go
back to last offseason and look, they acquired players who
helped Austin Hayes had his moments. Jose Travino did some
really good things. Now offensively, he was a non starter

(01:21:13):
so to speak, in the second half of the season,
but that was a good pickup. And the fact that
they prioritized pickups from teams that had been in the
postseason I think mattered last year. We talked about that
last week with dudes like TJ. Friedel and Amelio Pagan
and Andrew Abbott. But during spring training last year, how
many times did we talk about how boy, offensively, it

(01:21:35):
feels like they didn't quite do enough, as I recall
all throughout February and March. So then when the season started,
especially when guys had to miss time at the beginning
of the season, like Austin Hayes and like Spencer Steer, well,

(01:21:56):
it was doubly frustrating, wasn't it watching the Reds offensively
spin their tires. And it will be pointed out by
many they weren't a league worst offense. They were a
league average offense last year, but they spun their tires
and you're like, well, you know, in March, in February,
we kind of knew that they hadn't done enough, And
as it turns out, now that the games have started,

(01:22:17):
they haven't done enough.

Speaker 1 (01:22:20):
So then what did we do?

Speaker 2 (01:22:22):
We spent all spring and summer talking about the need
for a bat at the deadline, need offensive help.

Speaker 6 (01:22:29):
Now.

Speaker 2 (01:22:29):
They did get Miguel Andrew Harr, who apparently they're still
interested in bringing back. But the big acquisition was a
guy to play third base who can't hit. And think
about that for a second offensively deficient team, big acquisition,
guy to play third base who cannot hit. Yes, keep

(01:22:50):
Ryan Hayes has right now no peer with the glove.
He might be the best defensive player in the entire sport,
regardless of position, but theoretically a major offense worse by
adding a guy and like earmarking him for a corner
infield position knowing he can't hit. So I guess maybe

(01:23:11):
to that end, it shouldn't be that surprising. We've been
talking about the search for an outside bat for a
while and one hasn't materialized, and so it should be
pretty unsurprising that they haven't prioritized getting one this offseason,
but all the while that they haven't really gone and
gotten a back that matters. There's been a limit to

(01:23:35):
what they can do offensively, and the numbers will tell
you that. Your memories of last season and how it
unfolded will tell you that Terry Francona told us that
on Friday night, we're not going to lead the league
in runs. Here's the manager of the team acknowledging a

(01:23:57):
major flaw. That's okay, Like that is completely and totally okay.
What's not okay is not addressing a major flaw. Like,
come up with whatever comparison you want. If you knew
somebody who acknowledged like their biggest personal flaw and then

(01:24:19):
did nothing about it, then okay, cool, it's it's nice.
It's nice of you to mention that you know you
have a temper problem or you're a procrastinator. Like it's
all of us can identify our flaws, who does something
about them? So there he was on Friday telling everybody,
here's our issue. We're we're not going to lead the

(01:24:40):
league in runs. Is an acknowledgment that offensively, the makeup
of this team does not suggest that they're going to
be a very proficient run scoring team. Okay, what's being
done to address it? And you and I both know
what the team is currently constructed. You and I both

(01:25:01):
know what we're gonna be talking about all spring and
summer long. In addition to how baseball is gonna have
a lockout, we probably won't have a twenty twenty seven season,
which I just I am dreading that to no end.
But on top of all that, we're gonna be wondering
who can.

Speaker 1 (01:25:21):
The Reds get? What will they give up? Maybe will
they be buyers or sellers.

Speaker 2 (01:25:28):
Also, it's worth mentioning like the Kyle Schwerber thing would
almost be easier if they didn't try to go get
Kyle Schwarber. We could argue over how aggressive their pursuit was,
but there was a pursuits didn't end the way most
of us wanted might not have been as aggressive as

(01:25:51):
most of us wanted, but they did pursue Kyle Schwarber,
And when they did that, you couldn't help but think, like,
all right, yes he's from Middletown. Yes we can argue
over how much tickets he'll sell. Yes we could talk
about what his tangible impact in the batting order would be.
We can discuss how they would use them, how the

(01:26:12):
other dominoes would fall. But when you swing and miss
on a guy like that, or when the team you
care about swings and miss on a guy like that,
it is natural to then wonder, Okay, what's next, what's
behind door number two? What's plan B? Like you know,

(01:26:39):
if the Bengals decided we're gonna go after the best
pass rusher available and didn't get him, you would then wonder, like,
who's the next pass rusher they're gonna go after. Maybe
he's not as good, but can he still be of value?
Can he still help?

Speaker 1 (01:26:53):
You know?

Speaker 2 (01:26:54):
Might he end up being a better signing because you know,
relative to what he costs, he represents better value. With
the Reds, it was we're going to acknowledge our lack
of pop by going after the dude, who's the best
available player at hitting the ball out of the ballpark?
And if we don't get them, you know, the rest

(01:27:14):
of us are wondering, like cool, then then what?

Speaker 1 (01:27:18):
Well?

Speaker 2 (01:27:18):
Then what has been nobody like? It's it's frustrating beyond belief.
And I know, like there's a lot of this. This
team has taken a lot of heat and a lot
of criticism for a very long time for how they've
done things. And unfortunately, how we talk about you is
based on the results you achieve or don't achieve. So

(01:27:41):
you've got a fan base that is endured, depending on
your age, decades worth of not making the postseason, who
got a little sprinkle, little taste of it last year?
Who is starting to look at this team through the
lens of do you get to the playoffs every single
year and you finally break through in advance? And a

(01:28:04):
fan base that watched a flawed team last season overcome
those flaws and make the playoffs? That has still the
same flaw, so much so that the manager publicly acknowledged it.
Front office has done nothing to address it. They tried,
like it's it's still like to me, the fact that

(01:28:26):
you would go after Kyle Schwerber and not even flirt
with dudes like Cody Bellinger and Pete Alonzo.

Speaker 1 (01:28:33):
Is beyond mystifying. If this works.

Speaker 2 (01:28:38):
And if the offense is a major reason why the
Reds finished dramatically higher in the standings this year and
made the postseason and made it with ease and advanced
in the postseason. Nick Krawl and this front office and
this ownership group will deserve and get all the credit
in the world. But until then, you are your track record,

(01:29:02):
and the track record here is one of not winning much,
not advancing in the postseason, and of a franchise building
a brand that it won't go to the end of
the earth to be the best in the world at
what they do. When you leave a major flaw unaddressed,
and they have using outside moves, they have left a

(01:29:23):
major flaw unaddressed.

Speaker 1 (01:29:25):
The only thing you do is feed the belief that you're.

Speaker 2 (01:29:29):
Not interested or unwilling to go to the end of
the earth to be the very best in the world
at what you do. That's their brand as an organization.
Hate it, love it, think it's woefully unfair, think it's
dead on. For a lot of folks. That's the brand,

(01:29:51):
and you got people to think, you know what, this
is going to be a little bit different or a
lot different because of the Schwarber thing. When it falls
through and then is bupkis like what do you expect
people to say and believe? And then when the manager
comes out and says, yes, we're probably not gonna be
good at this one pretty important area of the sport,

(01:30:12):
just got to deal with it. And I don't want
to completely diminish the good work they have done this
offseason because there were two things they had to do
and in one of those areas, I think they've crushed it.
Like I think the Reds are gonna have a think
Terry Francona will manage games this year with a lot
of really good options in the bullpen. And they're not

(01:30:35):
cutting corners. There's no re tread starter, there's no dude
who used to be good a long time ago. Like
it does look and feel like a legitimate strength of
the team. That is awesome.

Speaker 1 (01:30:50):
It doesn't excuse what they haven't done with the offense.

Speaker 2 (01:30:53):
And you know, again, if this team scores a bunch
more runs this season, I'll be the first to say,
you know what, a lot of us got it wrong,
But they haven't earned that benefit of the doubt yet.

Speaker 1 (01:31:06):
Nick Krawl has not.

Speaker 2 (01:31:07):
This ownership group has not earned that benefit of the doubt,
especially when for a while now we have been saying
you need to do more to fix the offense. They
continue to not do more to fix the offense, and
the offense continues to be League average at past nineteen
and a half. For five o'clock five point three, seven
four nine, fifteen thirty is our phone number eight sixty

(01:31:28):
six seven h two three seven seven six. You can
send a tweet at Moeger thanks to Delta Dental. Delta
Dental is building healthy, smart and vibrant communities for all
good at Delta Dental, oh dot com. College Basketball Tonight
on ESPN fifteen thirty, UK and Texas pregame show is
just about ten minutes away on ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports.

Speaker 3 (01:31:47):
Station WCKY Cincinnati and iHeartRadio station g Garanteed Human ESPN
fifteen thirty.

Speaker 1 (01:31:56):
I heard radio.

Speaker 2 (01:32:00):
Loaded night of college Hukes, UK and Texas in five
minutes along Shawan Miller, old friend Sean Miller, Sean Miller.
We played some Mick cron and audio before from a
mixed postgame conference after postgame press conference after the Bruins
beat Purdue last night, Sean Miller has sounded and looked

(01:32:25):
as exasperated as I've ever seen him in talking about
his players. His team goes up against Mark Pope's Kentucky squad.
Doesn't feel like it, but they're looking for their fourth
consecutive win. Fell behind by eighteen in the road game
against LSU and then fell behind by seventeen points on

(01:32:46):
the road against Tennessee.

Speaker 1 (01:32:48):
They win both. I'm not sure that should be the
blueprint moving forward.

Speaker 2 (01:32:52):
We'll see if the Wildcats can win a game tonight,
not falling behind by seventeen or eighteen points.

Speaker 1 (01:32:58):
Xavier and Creighton tonight.

Speaker 2 (01:33:00):
Xavier's team offensively the last couple of games has been
a lot of fun to watch. They've leaned into running.
We talked about this with Rick browing in the first
hour of the show. Unfortunately, that's kind of the tempo
that Creighton wants to play. Blue Jays beat the Musketeers
by forty one points a little bit more than a
month ago. Muskies are a seven and a half point dog.

(01:33:21):
Tonight in Omaha. Cincinnati battles Arizona. Now Every metric will
tell you this, Your eyes will tell you this, the
AP Top twenty five, and coaches polls will tell you this.
Most believe that Arizona is the best team in the country.
And they are, and they're extraordinarily efficient on offense. They're
really well coached on defense. I think the thing that

(01:33:43):
stands out to me, and there's gonna be there's gonna
have to be a lot of things that go in
Cincinnati's favor. Arizona doesn't take a lot of threes, but
they make a decent percentage of the ones they take.
Coming into last night, forty fifth in the country in
three point shooting percentage, but among the lower ranked teams

(01:34:03):
in college basketball in terms of percentage of points that
come off threes. They don't take a ton, but the
ones they take they're pretty good at making sixth in
the Big Twelve. Cincinnati is dead last in the Big Twelve,
and three point shooting the great equalizer in college basketball.
If you want to pull off an upset, you got
to be really good from three. Can Cincinnati find its

(01:34:26):
stroke from behind the arc tonight? But more than anything,
as good and as efficient as Arizona is on the
offensive end, they're fourth in the country in offensive rebounding percentage. Now,
the Bearcats have defended all season really really well, Like
the metrics will tell you that, and for the most part,
your eyeballs will tell you that. But do they defend

(01:34:46):
well and then give up an offensive board. Houston in
the second half kick the crap out of Cincinnati on
the offensive glass. If that's the case tonight, it's hard
to imagine. If this is not so much about Cincinnati
winning the game, can they put themselves in a position
to have a chance to win the game? The issue

(01:35:07):
for UC all year long has been being in close
games with four or five minutes to go and not
finding a way to execute, not finding a way to
close with the exception of the last two. So does
this team play with a little bit more confidence based
on the results of the last two games? Can they
handle everything that Arizona throws at them? Can they keep

(01:35:27):
them off the glass? Because they're not going to be
able to keep them from scoring. But you make it
worse when you let a team like Arizona gets second
chance points, then you basically have no chance. I can't
wait for it tonight. Like I said this to Tony,
I think off air, maybe on This went from a
game that I think if you're a Bearcat fan you
were dreading to one that tonight. It's like, all right,

(01:35:49):
they aren't playing better, Let's see how they do. Regardless
of how they do, I can't wait to talk about
it tomorrow.

Speaker 1 (01:35:55):
We're done.

Speaker 2 (01:35:55):
Chad Rendel's on the show to talk about it at
three forty five. We look forward to anything you, me
and mis go find on the iHeartRadio app podcast of
this show, or a service of Long Neck Sports Grill
if you are looking for a place to watch any
of those games tonight, Long Neck Sports Grill, Wilder Hubrin,
Richwood Wings Beer, so much more.

Speaker 1 (01:36:18):
We're done. The show is over.

Speaker 2 (01:36:19):
Kentucky basketball is coming up next, the Wildcats taking on
Texas tip off at seven pm. Don't forget Tony Pike.
Sincy three to sixty is tomorrow at noon. We return
tomorrow at three oh five. Have a great night. Thanks
to Tarren Bland for producing. This is ESPN fifteen thirty
Cincinnati sports station.

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