1/9/26 - The Mo Egger Radio Show - Mo Egger

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Like ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports Dance.

Speaker 2 (00:04):
That's right, that's right. No one cares one hour long
press conferences like ESPN fifteen thirty. Good afternoon, Moegger. This
is ESPN fifteen thirty. Thank you so much for listening.
This is our first Friday show since August. We have
a lot to get to Let's get right to it.
The Duke Tobin press conference ended about an hour ago.
Kelsey Conway was there covering the Bengals, covering Duke Tobin,

(00:27):
covering the press conference for The Inquirer and Cincinnati dot Com.
She has a lot of work to do it, so
I can't thank her enough for joining us right out
of the shoe, Kelsey, it's awesome to have you.

Speaker 3 (00:36):
How are you.

Speaker 4 (00:38):
I'm great, how are you?

Speaker 5 (00:39):
Thanks so much for having me on always.

Speaker 3 (00:42):
It's awesome to have you, all right.

Speaker 2 (00:44):
The big takeaway from Duke Tobin's press conference for you was.

Speaker 4 (00:48):
What Bengals fans should prepare for more of the same.

Speaker 3 (00:58):
Sadly kind of mine as well.

Speaker 2 (01:02):
Right, because I heard I heard a lot of references
to successes of the past, as limited as they may be.
I didn't hear anything indicating reflection and using that reflection
to maybe pivot in a different direction philosophically or structurally
or from an urgency perspective. I walked away from it

(01:24):
thinking that if you went into that press conference as
a fan thinking, you know what, maybe we'll find out
that things are going to be done a little bit differently.
Here you walked away from that press conference disappointed.

Speaker 4 (01:35):
So I'm glad that I'm coming on to be able
to talk with you about this because we in the
last couple of years, you and I have had a
chance to talk about this on air when I've been
at the Senior Bowl with Duke, and the more I
thought about it after time had passed after the press conference,
the more I felt it was very similar to my
Q and A with him that I did Inmobile last year.

(01:58):
And the big takeaway, the two big takeaways that I
had is that Duke Hobin said he's frustrated. He feels
the fans disappointment. Nobody feels it more than him. He
wants to win all of that, but for two years
in a row now, he said the same thing to me.
He said he's down on the team's ability to finish games.

(02:19):
So he said that to me last year, I wrote
it in a story that was on the enquire and
he said it, saying it's press conference that the thing
that burked him most was the team's inability to finish
games in those one score games. And for that to
be his message two years in a row makes me
believe that he thinks that the roster is good enough

(02:41):
and that the reason that they're not winning those one
score games maybe isn't a talent acquisition issue. It's more
of a coaching mentality, a locker room mentality issue. And
to me, for that to be the same thing in
back to back years that he thinks is the issue
is a little concerning because it's all about do you

(03:03):
have enough good players to win those one score games?
And they don't, and they have it for two years
in a row. So I thought he would maybe take
a messaging point of you know, we're going to do
everything we can to build a championship caliber defense for
Joe Burrow, but he didn't say any of that. You know,
expect them to add they are going to add players

(03:24):
in free agency on defense. He said we need to
get better on defense, but he also said we're emerging
on defense, and you know, he talked on and on
about the talent on offense, and these are all the
same things he said to me last year. So I
walked away wondering what exactly will be different, And if
I think that, I would assume all the fans think that.

(03:44):
And he also said they're not going to add to
the scouting department. So there were multiple times for him
to say in point to certain things he's going to change,
and he didn't. So that leads me to believe, yes,
they might add a couple of more free agents on
defense this year, but if you're expecting sweeping changes in
the organization, I would just say temper your expectation to

(04:05):
the fans.

Speaker 2 (04:07):
Yeah, I mean, it was exactly my takeaway from it.
And it's interesting, you know, I heard Duke talk about
on a number of occasions today the one score of games.
Excuse me, that the games that got away from them
late right where they blew or couldn't get back into
or tried to come back and couldn't finit whatever. It
was a lot of games they lost by not being
able to make plays late in the game. And I guess,

(04:29):
on one hand, you could say, well, that's the arrow,
that's the finger being pointed at the coaches. I kind
of go, he's pointing at the players, and Duke, those
are your players, right?

Speaker 4 (04:40):
No, for that to be the message point in back
to back years is very weird. And I would also
point to I asked him who has control over the
fifty three man roster, because obviously his title is director
of personnel, But you know enough about what's going on
with the Bengals in the front office the structure with

(05:00):
Mike Brown being involved that yes, Duke Cobin is in
charge of the roster, but there are things that Mike
Brown is still involved in and Zach Taylor is involved,
and so I just wanted to point blank ask him,
are you the one responsible for that roster of those
players that aren't making enough plays in one score games
that we're talking about? And he said, yes, well I
do get you know, say of where we go and

(05:23):
pointing us in the right direction. But he kept using
the term collaboration. And if there was a if there
would have been more of an opportunity to ask follow ups,
because there was plenty of reporters there, my question would
have been does too much collaboration? Could that be a
disadvantage of disadvantage for you and in you not having

(05:44):
a clear cut direction of this is exactly where we
need to go with an example of too many cooks
in the kitchen. And it doesn't seem like I didn't
leave the press conference to day knowing any more about
who exactly makes the final calls when it comes to
the Bengals roster. So with all of that to be said,
like I still leave with plenty of questions about how

(06:05):
things are being run in the Bengals front office. And
when you have that many questions, it's hard to believe
that success could be definitely on its way. They might
get lucky, but I don't think that there's going to
be a whole lot of things done differently to ensure
any Bengals fans that yes, they are going to be
better on defense this year.

Speaker 2 (06:25):
So the part of the press conference that in that
regard specifically confused me is Duke was asked, and off
the top of my head, I don't remember who asked
the question, so my apologies for that, and I'm paraphrasing
the exchange, but he was asked at one point like, yeah,
there's collaboration, but at some point like there's got to
be the person who says, this is what we're doing. Right,

(06:46):
in any collaborative setting, there's someone who decides, once and
for all, here's what we're doing. And he kind of
shot that down and said, essentially like, well, it never
really gets to that. Well, yeah, it does. Someone someone
decide we're taking. And I think the example used was
a Marius Mims. Someone makes the final decision, we're gonna
take Shamar Stewart. Someone makes the final decision we're gonna

(07:09):
go with Ginos Stone and not sign a safety. And
so I walked away from it, just like you as
unclear as ever as to who has final say, because
he said, when it comes to having a final say, basically,
those situations don't arise.

Speaker 4 (07:23):
How is that the case, Well, those situations do arise.
I've talked to you about people off the record to
know that there are very much instances where the coaches
want this player and you know, personnel might not see
it that way. And there's also the factor of you
have to loop ownership in. Are they willing to just
shot the money for this player so that whole operation

(07:47):
doesn't I didn't get any clarity that I was hoping to,
And of course they're not gonna tell us everything, right,
They're allowed to keep some things in house. But I
was hoping that by asking that it would maybe clear
up something for the fans to wonder, you know, at
the end of this person is responsible for the roster,
and Duke did say I need to do a better
job of pointing us in the great direction in that aspect.

(08:09):
But the other main takeaway that I had was I
felt like, and I've felt this way for a couple
of years now, with the Bengals. In totality, I think
they too much live in the world of talking and
acting in a way that they're just stuck on the
fact that they were very successful for two years. And
he spoke a lot of times about I understand he

(08:32):
wants to show he has confidence in his scouting staff.
I get it, but he went out of his way
to kind of make comments to you know, alluding to
the same scouting staff that made that great free agent
class in twenty twenty one work. I just think that
there's too much talk and the way that they operate
about what happened with the Bengals when they got really

(08:54):
lucky in that twenty one and twenty to twenty two seasons,
and I left thinking, how are we still talking about
twenty twenty one and twenty twenty two, Like they're so
far removed from that. It just left me wondering, like,
is it still the whole We did this one time,
so we can do it again. Like I still just

(09:15):
think overall, the Bengals still live in a world too
much where just because they did it those two years
doesn't mean that you can't approach, you know, the ensuing
years that same way. You have to change, you have
to evolve, And I feel like they kind of still
live in the days where they were really successful those
two years and they think that kind of absolved a
lot of their issues, And I just I'm just not

(09:36):
sure that that that's the right approach because every other
NFL team operates every year the new league year. What
are we going to do to go win another championship?
They're not still talking about the super Bowl that they
lost four years ago.

Speaker 2 (09:50):
Yeah, I feel like twenty twenty one in twenty twenty two,
as awesome as they were, they we frame them as
if they're the norm, and the reality is this Cincinnati
Bengals have missed the postseason in eight out of their
last ten years. Duke Tobin has been in place for
all of those ten years. So those two seasons, as
awesome as they were and as much as they should

(10:11):
represent the norm, they're the outlier. And I'm with you,
and I I hear fans do it. I heard Duke
Tobin do it today, leaning a lot on twenty twenty one.
In twenty twenty two, I guess here's another question that
I have, and I'm I don't know that you're going
to have an answer to this, But Duke talked about
there's no comfort here, right, There's no comfort with his job,
There's no comfort in the organization. There's no comfort even

(10:33):
if you won a Super Bowl. Well, it's one thing
to say that, it's something else to trot out the
same people from one year to the next when the
previous year was a failure and to kind of double
down on a lot of the same things that you
have done that have led to the failures of the
last three seasons.

Speaker 3 (10:49):
Did you kind of walk away with the same.

Speaker 5 (10:50):
Impression one percent?

Speaker 4 (10:53):
And my other thought on that is, okay, if there's
no comfort here. The two main questions that I didn't
get a chance to ask, which I will make sure
I get asked. I will ask him at the combine
or other areas, is if there is no comfort here,
and Zach Taylor will be the one that everybody talks
about if they underperform next year, does he get fired

(11:15):
if there's no comfort here? Duke saying that to me
puts him very much on the same radar as Zach
in terms of your if next year, when you're looking
at everything, who's to blame? If if they're going to
point the finger at Zach, if there's no comfort and
everybody's accountable on the same level, then wouldn't that mean
that Duke Tobin would also be one that if Zac's
gonna go, how could you make an argument that he shouldn't.

(11:37):
So I think him saying that today was interesting because
I do think that there is a level of comfort
inside the Bengals organization and I think that that is
what Joe Burrow is wanting to change. That's why he
says we need to change something. We've gotten too comfortable
here doing the same thing over and over again. So
for him to say that was interesting. And the other

(11:59):
main thing that I wanted to ask him that I
didn't get a chance to ask him, because you know,
he wanted us to all know that his scouting staff
found Joe Flacco, which I saw that you posted on
x You caught on to him saying that a bunch.
But I wanted to ask, do you think that you
should be examined by the front office the same way

(12:20):
Zach is on a year to year basis in terms
of wins and losses. And I wanted to see how
he answered that. But I didn't get a chance to
ask that. But those were two of the main things
that I wanted to ask that I didn't get a
chance to today.

Speaker 2 (12:34):
All Right, two more because I know you have to
do your job and I appreciate you doing this.

Speaker 3 (12:39):
At at the top of the show.

Speaker 2 (12:41):
Right after that press conference, Duke was asked about contract
issues that have dragged on right and have been perhaps
distractions and have gotten contentious, and he kind of he
kind of knocked that down right, like, well, you know,
we don't negotiate against the person, and you know we
got deal done.

Speaker 3 (13:00):
And I guess here's my.

Speaker 2 (13:02):
Question this offseason, it would be awesome if the Bengals
didn't have anything like that.

Speaker 3 (13:08):
Now they only control that so much.

Speaker 2 (13:10):
I get it, but among all the players that they
want to resign or could resign, who represents the best
chance of being another one of these long drawn out
negotiating soap operas that have dominated the discourse when it
comes to the Bengals in the off season for so
many years.

Speaker 4 (13:31):
Oh, that's easy Chase Brown. Because I talked to Chase
before the end of the season and I said, do
you want an extension this offseason? And he said, you know,
I don't know yet, because yes, it would be great
to have the long term security. There's also still more

(13:51):
money to be left on the table potentially if he
has another awesome season, right And I know who chases
agent is. He's a tough, high profile agent, and I
could just be I could see that going where if
the Bengals offer isn't you know, high enough for Chasing
in his agent right now for that to kind of

(14:13):
put a sour taste in his mouth and and then
maybe force him to want to do what Jamar did
and you know, play out that final year and say, look,
I'm gonna make you pay.

Speaker 5 (14:23):
Me even more.

Speaker 4 (14:24):
I think that one's the one that has a potential,
not because of anything to do with Chase Brown, his
personality in his agent as just he has a he
has a well seasoned agent who's good at getting his
his players paid, and I could see that being one
where if it doesn't go well to start, it could
potentially be one that that could get could get similar

(14:47):
to the way that some of these have dragged out
in a way that kind of gets ugly. So it'll
all it'll be all about the Bengals first offer to
Chase to in my opinion, to set the tempo for
how that went goes. I think the two corners will
be easier than Chase Brown, and that's also a tricky
one because he's a running back, so it's gonna be
hard to see like the Bengals might. It might be

(15:10):
hard for the Bengals to figure out the right value
for him, and his agent's going to make sure that
he maximizes whatever you can get, and that might result
into Chase Brown playing in his final season without a
deal and betting on himself, and we'll see where that
one goes.

Speaker 2 (15:27):
I also walked away from the press conference thinking that
if they're aggressive anywhere this offseason, it's going to be
an edge rusher or it's going to be a pass rusher.
Did you walk away with the same impression.

Speaker 4 (15:39):
I guess not, because they had a similar You know,
Duke Tobin has said year after year, I really value
edge rusher's defensive line is really important to me. He
said all of that last year, and they didn't do
anything to fix the defensive line and free agency and
took a player in the first round who they knew

(15:59):
was it's going to be a project.

Speaker 6 (16:01):
He said.

Speaker 4 (16:02):
It's very important to me. I like pass rush, but
you know, without really having been able to dig into
available free agent edge rushers, I don't Again, I'm tempering
my expectations. I think that they're going to add there,
but I also didn't think that they their big acquisition
on the edge of rusher market last year was going

(16:23):
to be Joseph Osize, So that one, he said it
it's important to him, but it's a really tricky one
nail and free agency, Like the Bengals totally nailed it
with Traya Hendrickson, It's going to be hard for them
to find that type of production from someone who is
hitting the free agency market that they're going to have
to pay a lot of money too. And it's just

(16:44):
hard to see based off the way things have gone
the last couple of years, see them go all out,
all in on one player to fix all their problems
because they've got so many. So I think those edge
rushers cost a lot of money, and I'm just not
sure the Bengals.

Speaker 3 (16:57):
Are going to have.

Speaker 4 (16:57):
Although they're in good cap space shape you want, you
well know that, but I just think of edge rushers,
they cost a lot of money and they need multiple
players on defense.

Speaker 2 (17:09):
Uh, well said, I can't thank you enough. By the way,
one more ready for it?

Speaker 7 (17:15):
Go?

Speaker 3 (17:16):
How about those Bearcats?

Speaker 4 (17:21):
Should we just leave it there? Do we go to
commercial breaks?

Speaker 6 (17:24):
Now?

Speaker 3 (17:25):
Yeah?

Speaker 2 (17:25):
Yeah, I think we're gonna have to. Well, well, well
that's a discussion for another day. I can't thank you
enough now, you and a lot going on. Appreciate it.
We'll do it again soon.

Speaker 4 (17:33):
Thanks so much, absolutely, thanks so much for having me on.

Speaker 3 (17:37):
You got it.

Speaker 2 (17:38):
That's our friend Kelsey Conway covering the Bengals and the
Duke Tobin Mega Conference Mega Press Conference for the Cincinnati
Inquirer and Cincinnati dot Com.

Speaker 3 (17:48):
I'm Muagar.

Speaker 2 (17:48):
This is ESPN fifteen thirty twenty minutes after three o'clock show.
Preview video is up on Twitter at Moagar. Thanks to
share Facts Credit Union, you can become a member. You
should become a member just like me. Go to share
facts dot org. All right, we don't have another guest
until four o'clock. We're a guest heavy in the four
o'clock hour, so I've got open lines five one, three, seven, four, nine,

(18:11):
fifteen thirty. I don't know that there's a bigger overarching
takeaway from the Duke Tobin press conference as the one
Kelsey started our conversation by talking about we'll get to
that and yours coming up on ESPN fifteen thirty. Cincinnati
Sports Station Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 8 (18:29):
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Speaker 2 (19:00):
This report is twenty five after three. This is ESPN
fifteen thirty. Thank you so much for listening. Hopefully your
weekend is off to a great start. Our first Friday
show since August, and awesome to be here. We've got
a lot of the non Duke Tobin stuff coming up
in the four o'clock hour, including the Red Search for

(19:23):
a new TV deal and more importantly, I guess, the
Red search for some TV money. We'll get to the
college football playoffs semi final game tonight, the Peach Bowl
in Atlanta featuring IU and Oregon, and our guy Jed
Demuci has requested to be our official Miami guy. The
RedHawks are unbeaten. We'll do that at four forty five,
and our guy Robert Wintrop as well at four twenty.

(19:44):
On Duke Tobin and the Bengals. Let's grab a phone
call or two.

Speaker 3 (19:49):
Terry. You're on ESPN fifteen thirty. Good afternoon, Terry, how
are you?

Speaker 6 (19:54):
I love the show?

Speaker 3 (19:55):
Wonderful. What's up?

Speaker 9 (19:58):
Well?

Speaker 10 (19:58):
I just remember it conversation. I had a friend of
mine played for the Bengals years ago, and his best
friend was Bruce Costlin, and one day you had lunch
or dinner together and Costla told me that, well, I
can't get the draft picks I want. I can't I

(20:21):
can't choose to cut who I want, and I can't.

Speaker 7 (20:24):
Keep who want to keep.

Speaker 10 (20:25):
And after Tobin's discussion about Mike Brown, I just really
think that you know that that still goes about today,
that you know the main guy is Mike Brown, you know.

Speaker 2 (20:41):
Yeah, I mean there was one of those many answers
during a very long press conference where Duke tobinin you know, said,
I think, almost verbatim, it's Mike Brown's team.

Speaker 3 (20:50):
And to me that was an acknowledgment that at the
end of the day.

Speaker 2 (20:54):
Uh, Mike Brown, with the roster, Mike Brown, with coaches,
with personnel, with the front office staff, is going to
get what he wants and is going to say no
when he wants.

Speaker 3 (21:05):
Uh.

Speaker 2 (21:05):
And and look that that doesn't mean that others don't
have significant input. That doesn't mean that others can't make
significant divisions or decisions or the owner doesn't want to,
for lack of a better term, interfere. But yeah, it's
it's Mike Brown's team. And by the way, every owner
in the NFL has the ability to say yes or
not to stuff or to meddle as much as they want.

(21:27):
Some do so more than others. I frankly, some do
do so more than Mike Brown does. Some are completely
in the background and barely touch anything that's specifically football related.
But I think if you, if you were wanting to
walk away from that press conference today thinking that anybody
besides Mike Brown has final say over what happens with

(21:47):
this football team, uh, you were sorely disappointed.

Speaker 10 (21:52):
Yeah, yes, sir, Well, it's amazing that it doesn't changed
all the made back that Bruce, And how can a
coach and or you know, the whatever Duke Tobin's saying
it or his title is, how can they, you know,
really take accountability for that? Don't know?

Speaker 2 (22:16):
Well, I mean, you know, thank thank you for the
phone call, Terry. Each of us have a boss. Each
of us are still accountable for the things we decide
to do and the decisions we make as it relates
to our everyday job. And so it is completely and
totally fair to do two things with Duke Tobin. Understand
the parameters he's working in or working within as the

(22:38):
director of Player personnel for the Cincinnati Bengals, but also
hold him accountable for his job performance. You know, Duke
Tobin was the executive of the Year at the two
at the end of the twenty twenty one season one.

Speaker 3 (22:50):
Mike Brown Stuke Tobin.

Speaker 2 (22:53):
And got and by the way, deserved a ton of
credit for his work with that football team. The one
way that I'll i'll depart from what Kelsey had to
say about twenty minutes ago is you know, the reference
to getting lucky and getting to back to back AFC
championship games. There's always luck involved, but they didn't get lucky.
That that was that was the result of you know,

(23:16):
not screwing up the twenty twenty draft, but also getting
a lot of the guys right on defense and having
a defense in the postseason that was opportunistic.

Speaker 3 (23:27):
Uh and and Duke got a lot of credit for that.

Speaker 2 (23:30):
So yeah, he should be blamed or held accountable when
when his decisions or his input into the decision making
doesn't result in winning.

Speaker 3 (23:41):
There can be accountability.

Speaker 9 (23:43):
You know.

Speaker 2 (23:44):
I because Duke Tobin works for Mike Brown or anybody
else does not clear him of accountability, whether it's internal
or external. I mean Saint Zach Taylor is held accountable,
and there are a lot of things that went wrong
this season that I don't think Zach Taylor has that

(24:05):
much to do with. That's why you know my take
all along as it relates to Zach and Duke is
I don't trust Duke Tobin Zach Taylor. I'm kind of lukewarm.
It doesn't bother me that much that he's back. Duke Tobin,
I don't know, man, And for me it's mainly because
he ignored the obvious last offseason. But Zach Taylor's held

(24:27):
accountable enough that he's got to answer questions dozens of
times a year. Duke Tobin was held accountable to the
degree that he had to answer questions today for the
first time.

Speaker 3 (24:40):
In a setting like.

Speaker 2 (24:41):
That, it is completely fair to hold both accountable if
you own the team. Right now, it doesn't appear that
either is being held accountable to the degree that most
would like. Twenty nine away from four o'clock, five point three, seven, four, nine,
fifteen thirty is our phone numbers. So let's talk about
the the general theme to what happened today at the

(25:02):
venue originally known as Paul Brown Stadium. Next on ESPN
fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports.

Speaker 5 (25:07):
Station Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty Traffic.

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Speaker 11 (25:41):
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Speaker 2 (25:44):
Sports Headlines are a service of Kelsey Chevrolet, Home of
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to yours for life kelseyshev dot com.

Speaker 3 (25:58):
Uh Duke Tobin.

Speaker 2 (25:59):
Today he spoke for about an hour with the assembled
Pro football media and reminded everybody that he traded for
Joe Flacco.

Speaker 3 (26:08):
And also intimated that there will be.

Speaker 2 (26:11):
No major changes to how the Bengals do things this offseason. Meanwhile,
the NFL Playoffs begin this weekend tomorrow two games Rams
and Panthers in Charlotte, Chicago hosting the Green Bay Packers
three games on Sunday, Buffaloes at Jacksonville, San Francisco's at Philly,
and the Patriots host the Chargers. Monday night, it's the
Steelers and Texans. All of the NFL playoff action can

(26:34):
be heard this weekend on Fox Sports thirteen sixty. FC
Cincinnati has announced its preseason schedule. The season feels like
it just ended like a week ago. The Orange and
Blue will play their first preseason match against the New
England Revolution. That game will be in Bradenton, Florida. They'll
play four preseason matches in Florida. Players have begun reporting

(26:58):
to Cincinnati. The official data is tomorrow. Preseason training begins
next week. Season just ended. College hoops tonight on ESPN
fifteen thirty. It's NKU at Milwaukee, tip off at seven pm.
Tomorrow's Xavier host Providence, Kentucky and Mississippi State XU game
on seven hundred WOW. The Wildcats could be heard here

(27:20):
on ESPN fifteen thirty. That game will tip off at
eight thirty Tomorrow night. Sunday, Cincinnati is at UCF Bearcats
looking for their first big twelve win of the season.
Also this weekend tomorrow it's Indiana hosting tenth rate in
Nebraska and Ohio State on Sunday's at Washington. Speaking of Indiana,

(27:40):
which I was the IU football team, this is I
think one of the most remarkable stories we've had this century.
That's not a statement of hyperbole. The Indiana Hoosiers are
sixty minutes away from playing for a national championship. IU
is taking on Oregon tonight in the Peach Bowl. That
game is in Atlanta. A winner will take on the

(28:02):
Miami Hurricanes hockey hockey this evening. The Cincinnati Cyclone skated
home against Fort Wayne. The puck drops at seven thirty tonight,
twenty two away from four o'clock.

Speaker 3 (28:16):
If there's anything.

Speaker 2 (28:17):
You've missed on this show, including Chad Brendle yesterday very
good on the Bearcats, go find it on the iHeartRadio app.
Could also get it at ESPN fifteen thirty dot com
on the podcast page. Podcasts of this show are a
service of Long Neck Sports Grill. If you're looking for
a place to watch all the games this weekend, long
Necks can't do any better. Four KTVs all over the

(28:37):
place and so much more free locations in northern Kentucky, Wilder,
Hebron and rich Wood. We'll get to more phone calls
here in just a bit, and some other stuff in
the four o'clock hour.

Speaker 3 (28:51):
I don't know.

Speaker 2 (28:52):
About you, but I didn't go into the Duke Tobin
press conference thinking that I was gonna feel so much
better about the season that just went down, or Duke
and his staff's ability to put the Bengals in the
short term back in a position where they are legitimate
championship contenders, and that's what this is all about.

Speaker 3 (29:13):
Do I think the Bengals are going to be better
next year? Yeah?

Speaker 2 (29:16):
I would be willing to bet the Bengals win more
than six games next season. I frankly would be willing
to bet the Bengals or a playoff team next year,
like I Joe plays seventeen games. That's where my money's
going to be every single year. But are they legitimately
considered championship contenders? They weren't prior to this past season.
They aren't now. I don't think they will be at

(29:37):
the beginning of next season. That's a reflection of a
lack of confidence in Duke Tobin. I don't know that
there was anything he could say today that was going
to change my mind or yours as it relates to
Duke keeping his gig, having confidence in him. Nothing was
going to be said. I think many folks watched or

(29:58):
listened to that press conf diference, hoping for hoping for
a reason to be mad, quite frankly, and I don't
think there was anything to be angry about. Like I
don't think he was defiant or smog or condescending or standoffish.

Speaker 3 (30:14):
I don't think there was any of that. I thought the.

Speaker 2 (30:16):
Questions he was asked were good questions. I always wonder,
you know, for a press conference like that, you have
folks who show up who typically don't cover the team,
and some who did ask good questions. But I there
is a part of me, and I'm a big freedom
of the press guy, but there's a part of me
that wishes a setting like that would pretty much solely

(30:41):
include the folks who are down there every single day,
just because I think Number one, those folks have wanted
to talk to Duke Tobin in that kind of setting
for a long time. Number Two, I think you're going
to get the most informed questions and I think you're
going to get better answers because Duke is probably a
little bit more familiar with the person who's asking the
questions as opposed to somebody who covers, you know, news

(31:02):
and stuff like that. But for me, and it's just me,
maybe the main thing I was looking for was some indication,
some indication that things are gonna be different. Not just
you know, things are different because they win more games.
But one of the central questions to this entire offseason

(31:25):
has been, Okay, you bring back the same people. Will
they do their jobs differently? Will they value different things?
Will they take different approaches? Will they change philosophies? Will
they add people? Right, you can change without firing by
adding people. That's one thing you can do. And there

(31:47):
was nothing about that press conference and hour's worth, there
was nothing about that press conference that I think made
any one of us feel like, you know what, they're
going to be different. Much of that hour was ben
with Duke Tobin citing the fact that they've won before,
talking about successes of the past, and he's had some.

(32:10):
But when you do that, that tells me that you're
going to lean into some of the things that helped
achieve those successes in some cases a long time ago
and in other cases not that long ago. He was
asked about the offense, like we did this topic. I
don't know three weeks ago. Things you can do differently,

(32:33):
even if the same people are in place, taking a
look at the offense and doing a deep dive into
whether you know, maybe it would help the efficiency and
effectiveness of the offense if somebody else were calling plays.
Duke seemed to want nothing to do with that conversation.
Enhancing the scouting department, adding voices, adding people. Duke really

(32:54):
didn't seem to want to entertain that possibility dramatically changing
how they approached play contracts. Duke really didn't seem interested
in that. I don't recall there being a question asked
about how they evaluate college players. He did talk about
college player evaluations being underway. But one of the things
a lot of folks have wondered, myself included, has been

(33:16):
are they going to get away from leaning in on
traits and focus more on what players do on film,
what players do when they're actually playing football, instead of
what the tape measure says. Certainly didn't get that impression,
Not really sure that was talked about today. Maybe today
wasn't the right time for that to be discussed. But
the big overarching theme for me at least is that

(33:38):
they're not going to change how they do things now.
Maybe they don't need to, and maybe time will prove
that they didn't need to change anything, because I think
what we're all hoping for is that the last three
years proved to be an outlier in this otherwise really
really awesome period of Bengals football. But when you're coming

(33:59):
off three can secutive non playoff seasons, and you're the
guy in charge of the front office, which Duke is,
and they haven't made the postseason an eight out of
the last ten years, and they've had so many missteps
or failures that have doomed this franchise. When the person
in charge of the roster, when the person in charge

(34:19):
of player personnel effectively doubles down on some of the
same things that have gotten this team here where it
is right now, it's kind of sobering. And so I
take everything Duke said with a grain of salt. I
take everything Duke said and go, Okay, there was almost
no chance he was gonna say anything that was going

(34:41):
to make anybody do cartwheels about him being the guy
still in his office or his ability to turn this around.
But I do think it was fair to go into
this thinking that maybe there will be some indication that
moving forward, things will be done a little bit differently.

(35:02):
I don't think anybody walked away with that impression today. Again,
all the references to successes of the past and how
they've done things before, and you know, how it's worked
out in certain cases before, that to me.

Speaker 3 (35:18):
Is an indication that they're not going to change.

Speaker 2 (35:23):
And look, I don't think anybody was expecting the Bengals
to like do a total one to eighty in terms
of just how they operate, how they do things. They
weren't going to suddenly add two dozen scouts. I mean,
they're there. The change comes slow here, but when change comes,
it's incremental change. I don't think anything that was said

(35:43):
today would make anybody believe incremental change is in the offing.
You could tell me if you disagree, or if you
have a different sort of macro takeaway than I do.
Five win, three, seven, four, nine, fifteen thirty. You could
send a tweet at Moeger Thanks to Delta Dental. Delta
Dental is building healthy, smart, vibrant communities for all good

(36:03):
to Delta DENTALOAH dot com fourteen. From four o'clock a
lot on Duke Tobin Today will re air not the
press conference in its entirety, but we'll play some highlights.
Coming up in the five o'clock hour. Robert Wantrabar, guy
from a Cincinnati magazine who writes an awesome weekly Bengals
column during the season. Smart Dude is going to join

(36:24):
us coming up in four to twenty. Are the Reds
not going to get any TV money? Are they not
going to have games on TV?

Speaker 3 (36:29):
This year? If they do, what are they going to
look like?

Speaker 2 (36:31):
We'll get answers to those questions as well after four
on ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports.

Speaker 5 (36:37):
Station Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 8 (36:42):
Traffic from the uc Health Traffic Center. UC Help's Weight
Call five one three, nine three nine two two sixty three.
That's nine three, nine two two sixty three. Handful of
accidents around town this afternoon, including southbound seventy five and
accident that is on the off ramp to Norwood Lateral.

(37:03):
Still an accident on Erie Avenue, over at Brotherden Court
on Montana Avenue, accident at Westwood Northern Boulevard and McKinley
accident near Harrison. I'm at eazelic with traffic.

Speaker 3 (37:14):
This report is.

Speaker 2 (37:17):
Nine from four ESPN fifteen thirty. Thanks thanks for listening.
I gotta come up with a pole question on Twitter.
Thanks to night at Heartland Insurance the place, the place
for all your insurance needs uhi NS dot com. Uh,
let's see Gunner, You're on ESPN fifteen thirty. Gunner, thanks
for your patience. How are you hey?

Speaker 9 (37:40):
How you doing today?

Speaker 12 (37:40):
Mo?

Speaker 3 (37:42):
Wonderful? How about yourself?

Speaker 13 (37:44):
Good man? Good?

Speaker 14 (37:46):
You know, my main cake away from that press conference
was that GEO Stone is assuredly coming back.

Speaker 3 (37:51):
No I talked about Stone.

Speaker 6 (37:59):
I just had a I.

Speaker 14 (38:00):
Had to say it to you. But on a serious note,
I you know, he talked about, you know, at the
end of the day, all the matters is what you know,
winning the Super Bowl, right, That's how I grade myself
at the end of the season. Blah blah blah blah blah.
But you know then all he wants to do is
harken back to his all we found.

Speaker 6 (38:18):
But look at this.

Speaker 9 (38:19):
One free agent.

Speaker 14 (38:19):
We founder this one, you know trade I made for
a forty five year old quarterback that nobody else was
talking about in the whole league. Nobody else was looking
to trade for this guy before. He's never he's never
come in and done this for a team at the
end of the season, although he did it for the
Browns a couple of years ago. But I just it's just,
you know, it's that inconsistency with him. And you know,

(38:41):
I called into Tony and Austin Show a few weeks ago,
and you know, one of the things that really frustrates
me is is just their strategy right with everything. You know,
one year we're going to go really heavy free agent,
and the next year we're not.

Speaker 15 (38:54):
One year we're gonna draft for trades.

Speaker 14 (38:55):
The next year we're gonna draft twenty six year old,
you know, bad college players three rounds too early and
miss out on you know, productive players. Right now, you know,
I know everybody remembers the end of that season with Browning.
It was it was very obvious at the end of
that season what the issue was. If you remember the
defensive line, the defense was bad. You know, Hubbard was

(39:17):
really bad. DJ Reader got hurt.

Speaker 9 (39:20):
Right, it was.

Speaker 14 (39:20):
It was not good. And what did they do coming
into that next year? Didn't sign anybody, didn't bring in
any defensive line.

Speaker 9 (39:28):
Then you know we were rolling out, you know, nose
tackles from the streets.

Speaker 14 (39:33):
I can't remember the one guy's name, but you know,
he wasn't any good. And and then you you have
that bad season last year, and he's like, you know,
we're gonna make adjustments and we change and we're always
evaluating ourselves and self scouting. And they didn't do anything again.
And now he sits up there, you know, all pompous
and smug, like laughing at his own jokes, you know,

(39:55):
smelling his own farts, talking about you know that they're
basically going to do nothing again. I fully expect them
to try to re sign Gosai and not pursue a
you know, a real threat from the edge. I fully
expect them to probably pass on Caleb Downs and draft
Kendrick Falk, an other kind of traits guy out of Auburn.
So that should all make us really happy. I don't know, man,

(40:19):
just a disappointing time to be a fan. I left
that press conference just more disappointed than I think I've
ever been as a fan, and you know, I'm thirty
two years old.

Speaker 9 (40:28):
I've been good.

Speaker 2 (40:31):
Well, you started your call by talking about Geno Stone, right, Like,
the lack of consistency was evident with him this past
offseason where they brought him back. They didn't they didn't
go sign a safety, and free agency they didn't draft
a safety, even though there were some really good ones available.

Speaker 3 (40:48):
So they all, right, we're gonna ride or die with Ginostone.

Speaker 2 (40:51):
Then they asked him to take a pay cut, and
you know, we asked at the time, like what if
Geno Stone says no, what's plan B? Like if you
asked someone to take a pay cut and they said no,
then me, you've got to have something behind it. And
it didn't feel like they did. So on one hand, yeah,
we're we believe in Genostone. On the other hand, yes,
I got to take a pay cut, right, So.

Speaker 3 (41:11):
There's right, so you don't believe in it, right, So
there's there.

Speaker 2 (41:14):
Was like even with that on that one isolated guy,
that one isolated incident, there was a striking lack of
consistency with that. To me, you know, you're you're right,
it was just it was a I don't think it
was a smug defense. I think it was a defense of, hey,
here's what we've done before. It's worked before, why want

(41:34):
it work again? And when you do that, you're telling
people we're not going to do anything differently.

Speaker 6 (41:40):
Now.

Speaker 14 (41:41):
And you know, even even last year, it's like it's
just it's not that complicated. All you got to do
last year is add what one or two more guys
and we're probably talking about a three or four win difference, right,
Like what did we sign Orrin Burke's for two million dollars?
You couldn't find a better linebacker to come in and play,
you know, like the TJ's Layton, you couldn't find a

(42:02):
better defensive tackle to coming out. Thought he played good
down the stretch. But it's just yeah, it's a striking
lack of consistency across the board, right individualized the one player,
you know, extrapolated to a scouting and drafting philosophy, it's
just bad.

Speaker 6 (42:19):
I appreciate you, appreciate everything you do.

Speaker 9 (42:21):
I'll talk to you soon.

Speaker 3 (42:23):
All right.

Speaker 2 (42:23):
That's kind of you to say, thank you so much, Gunner,
have a great weekend. I mean, it was a defense
and a defense of things they've done in the past,
and in some cases a reminder of past successes which
are limited and when those are the themes of your

(42:44):
press conference and folks want some sort of sign that
things are going to be done different, They're going to
be underwhelm when you don't give it to them. More
from our guy Robert Wintrop. Coming up at four to
twenty Next, what's up with the Reds TV deal on
ESPN fifteen thirty cents at Sports Station.

Speaker 5 (43:01):
Well the holidays of fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports Station.

Speaker 16 (43:07):
No.

Speaker 7 (43:07):
Five.

Speaker 2 (43:08):
That before this is ESBs sixty thirty. Lots more on
the Duke Toobin Mega press conference in just about fifteen minutes.
But I wanted to spend a few time on this
because I think folks have questions. So the Reds have
opted out of their TV deal with the FanDuel Sports
Network and so I guess they're in limbo, and in

(43:30):
limbo in terms of we don't know what the TV
coverage is going to look like this year, but also
that TV money they need, that TV money, are they
going to get it?

Speaker 3 (43:38):
How much will they get? Where's it going to come from?

Speaker 2 (43:40):
When this sort of thing comes up and it has
often in recent years we reach out to our guy
Maury Brown on X at Bisball. Mory's senior contributors to
Forbes always kind enough to join us when we have
questions about TV contracts in the Red.

Speaker 3 (43:55):
So I feel like we do this every year, Mory,
It's good to have you. How are you?

Speaker 9 (43:59):
I'm great?

Speaker 3 (43:59):
How about so? I'm well, I feel like we did
this a year ago.

Speaker 2 (44:03):
The Reds opt out and then they go back to
FanDuel Sports Network, the season plays out and they make
the playoffs.

Speaker 3 (44:10):
But this feels different from where we were a year ago?

Speaker 7 (44:13):
Is it?

Speaker 1 (44:15):
It is in the sense that by opting out, I
think that there's obviously the realization that they're not going
to get the revenues that they expected that they were contractually.

Speaker 9 (44:25):
Obligated to by.

Speaker 1 (44:27):
You know, once again, we've we've gone through several iterations
of this. Now it's you know, now branded fan duel.

Speaker 7 (44:33):
But.

Speaker 1 (44:35):
The bottom line of it is by these clubs, and
the Reds are one of them, right out of nine
opting out. It doesn't preclude them from coming back to
fan Duel, but it does set it up to where
they would go when you know, we're theoretically under with
less revenues, and that's obviously a concern. The upside to this,

(44:59):
if they do go back, right would be that that
money is then lock in, and that's a key factor
with the RSN model and why the clubs like it
no matter how they're performing, no matter how things are going,
that money gets locked in. Now, if they don't come back,
then that can change, and that could have a couple

(45:21):
of different looks. What would those looks be, Well, I
think the one that you're most likely to see at
this stage now would be for Major League Baseball to
take over the rights. And this has happened. It's not
like it's anything new. They've picked up other clubs and
done this. They would go ahead and produce it. They
would go ahead and reach out to the likes of

(45:45):
and Exminity and work new carriage deals distributors, and then
also the streaming deal that ostensibly in theory, well not
in theory, it does remove blackouts right in some areas
where they don't have it, fans will be able to
reach it that way. But the difference here is is
that in twenty twenty four, the league said, oh, you

(46:07):
guys were supposed to get this much under your TV deal,
You're not going to be able to get that anymore.
We're going to backstop that money with revenue sharing money
and we'll go ahead and make sure that you keep
those revenues. That model has now changed. So whatever the
clubs pull in, and that would include the Reds, right,
whatever they pull in, you know through the TV deals

(46:30):
they get reached and whatever streaming is, that's what they're
going to get. They would not expect to get the
money that they have seen or were expecting under this
deal that's currently FanDuel Networks.

Speaker 3 (46:43):
How much of a financial haircut would they be taking.

Speaker 1 (46:47):
Yeah, this is the question that nobody can really answer
because I think that what happens here is it depends
on your club. And you know, okay, so if I'm
in Cincinnati, right, it's not like it's a huge market. Okay,
But you did mention that the outset, right, they made
the playoffs. You know, you're on a bit of an

(47:08):
upswing here. You can feel pretty good about it, but
you know, I don't know how less it would be.
That would be something that really couldn't be answered until
the end of the season, right, But you would expect
it to be less and that you know is going
to be a concern. And I think the biggest concern
for all the clubs, and look this is this, this

(47:29):
reaches now to almost the majority of all the regional
sports networks, is there's just unpredictability. And what happens when
we get into unpredictability, you tend to go ahead and
you go, well, we're not going to take as much risk.
We're going to have to hold back and see how
this thing goes. You know, remember, we're in the last

(47:50):
season before we potentially go into a lockout. The owners
and players don't know what's going to come out of
the end of that. The expectation is a offseason lockout
at best. At worst it starts to eat into the
beginning of the season. So there's just an awful lot
of unpredictability. And when you get into that, clubs tend

(48:11):
to go either risk neutral or they go risk averse
and they just like, whoa, We're not going to do
any long term contracts or anything like that. It just
sets this whole thing up. And I think that that
has played in largely to why we've had such a
cold offseason. It's just not been what you might normally expect.

Speaker 3 (48:32):
Nationally.

Speaker 2 (48:33):
Major League Baseball has new TV contracts and they've redone
their deal with ESPN, and one thing they've done is
they've Baseball has sold off MLB Dot TV to ESPN.
They have the rights ESPN does to a handful of
teams local in market games. Eventually down the road is
that are they going to own the local rights to

(48:55):
all thirty big League clubs?

Speaker 3 (48:56):
And what's that going to look like?

Speaker 1 (48:57):
If the answer is yes, yeah, I don't think it's
gonna be all thirty. I think you're gonna have a
hard time convincing the Dodgers, the Yankees, your big brand,
big you know, big market teams. I think you're gonna
have a hard time with that. Can Manfred wrestle the majority?

(49:18):
You know, maybe with a few exceptions, I do, And
I think that that's where they're gonna go. And that's
the other wild card in the midst of this. It
sounds like, for whatever reason, and it may again come
up to the fact that we are coming to the
end of a you know, of a season and going
into a labor a potential labor stoppage, that ESPN is

(49:39):
not going to pick that up.

Speaker 9 (49:40):
Until twenty twenty seven.

Speaker 1 (49:42):
So again on all of this is to bridge to
get Fox and TBS and all the national rights along
with whatever package of local rights you can get all
lined up together.

Speaker 9 (49:56):
At the end of the three years.

Speaker 1 (49:58):
That we have here that they you know, happened with
the ESPN backing out of it, they filled that gap
with ESPN, NBC and some streaming deals. Right, that stuff
is kind of the bridge for three years. When that
all lines up, then you're going to start to look
at something entirely different. So there's just again we're in
this kind of tweeener state where streaming is starting to

(50:19):
take more of a position of power. More people continue
to leave traditional televisions, mostly boomers right that are still
watching traditional TV, and it just lends us uncertainty to
the entire media landscape, and it's all playing out.

Speaker 9 (50:35):
Of course for baseball it's worse.

Speaker 1 (50:36):
Of course, you know, it doesn't affect Cincinnati, but you know,
for the NBA and NHL right there in mid season
at least Baseball has a little bit of time here.
Although they see this as something that's critical to have
happen now, they want to get this out of the
way so that fans know where they're going to wind
up on the dial come the start of the season.

Speaker 2 (51:00):
Oh, there's where I was going to go next. If
there's a Reds fan listening to this, who's going You
know what? Last year was pretty good because I could
stream the games on the fan dual app, I didn't
have to have traditional cable. So kind of wondering where
I'm going to watch the games in twenty twenty six,
what's the answer?

Speaker 1 (51:16):
Yeah, I think that you know, again, if it goes
some Major League Baseball, your streaming options are still going
to be there, and you're going to go ahead and
have it on your traditional most of your traditional TV carriers,
and that, to Baseball's credit, they've been very good at it.

Speaker 9 (51:33):
They've been able to go ahead.

Speaker 1 (51:34):
And make those things happen pretty rapidly, and it's been
pretty good. I would fully expect with the branding right,
the FanDuel would be gone. I would expect if they
hold the model that they've been, that your on air
personality remain the same that you would get that now
the question would be how pregame and postgame goes.

Speaker 9 (51:55):
That may look a little bit different.

Speaker 1 (51:57):
But for the most part, your game broadcast will feel
what the graphics the exception the same, And they've even
gone so far as to contract out the people that
have been doing camera work and whatnot. A lot of
the production people there. Again, you're in studio. Stuff will
likely change. Those people would be impacted if this happens,

(52:19):
But again, the actual game broadcast should feel largely the same.

Speaker 2 (52:25):
Can I just book you now for December first, when
the lockout starts?

Speaker 1 (52:30):
Yeah, it doesn't feel very good right now. I mean,
this is the stuff. Look this, you know, and laughing
about it all aside, This stuff with television has a
huge impact. It's it's monies that the clubs have had
guaranteed and it's been a cash cow for them for
a long time. And so all of this uncertainty creates

(52:53):
this you know thing about, hey, we need to go
ahead and talk about a cap. The players, of course,
are dead set against it, whether we're going to have
a floor, whether we address stuff like you know, deferred compensation,
which has been a huge loophole for the likes of
the Dodgers to go.

Speaker 9 (53:08):
Out and continue to run ram shot.

Speaker 1 (53:11):
And I think there's going to be an awful lot
at stake with this labor deal coming up and both
sides are girded for it. It'll be a fun And
I say that in quotes offseason.

Speaker 3 (53:23):
Yeah. Well, well, I'm sure we'll check often.

Speaker 2 (53:26):
You're always kind of enough to join us when I
have a dumb guy questions about the Reds TV deal.

Speaker 3 (53:30):
Mory, thanks so much.

Speaker 9 (53:32):
All right, man, you take care. Thank you for having me.
Have a good weekend.

Speaker 3 (53:35):
Most definitely you. Two. That's Maury Brown.

Speaker 2 (53:37):
Follow him at bisbal Moury's senior contributor to Forbes. It's
quarter after four. I'm oegar. This is ESPN fifteen thirty.
Robert Wintrob reacts to Duke Tobin's mega press conference. Next
on ESPN fifteen.

Speaker 5 (53:50):
Thirty, Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 11 (53:54):
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traffic around that scene on southbound seventy five. Another accident

(54:19):
that's off on the off ramp to Norwood Lateral. Police
and fire blocking the right lane on the highway. I'm
at ezelic with traffic.

Speaker 5 (54:26):
This report is sponsored Bye.

Speaker 3 (54:30):
Twenty after four. This is ESPN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 2 (54:33):
Our friend Robert wine Traub during the football season usually
joins us on Thursdays and four to twenty.

Speaker 3 (54:40):
Today is non Thursday, but it is four twenty.

Speaker 2 (54:42):
We've moved him back today because I wanted his thoughts
on the Duke Tobin mega press conference, which lasted an hour.

Speaker 3 (54:50):
Robert is with us. Now, did you enjoy the press conference?

Speaker 7 (54:54):
Yeah, it's funny.

Speaker 17 (54:55):
You know, we wait and wait and wait for Dutoduke
Tobin excuse me to speak, and then he goes out
a little long, and everybody's like, yeah, get this guy
out of here.

Speaker 7 (55:03):
Where's the hook?

Speaker 15 (55:04):
A little?

Speaker 2 (55:09):
I wanted it to keep going. I wanted it to
just go on on. I would have been more than
okay had it leaked into our show. Did you have
any overarching takeaway from from Duke's chat with the media.

Speaker 17 (55:20):
Well, funnily, I guess my main takeaway is if he's
going to be asked, you know, what changes need to
be made in Cincinnati for twenty twenty six and he answers,
we need to win more games. I'm fine with him
not coming to any of these press conferences and not
more often, which we all sort of want. But I mean,
you know, it was mainly a filibuster. He wanted you

(55:40):
to know very clearly that the Joe Flacco move was
his idea and it should have ended up in a
parade thrown for him, and you can't understand why.

Speaker 3 (55:49):
And you know, it was a great move.

Speaker 17 (55:51):
I've given him credit for all season, and in a
different circumstance and different context it would have been viewed
as such. But of course, you know, the overarching issue
was the fact that they just ran back a defense
that was horrible last year and it got worse. And
you know, as they do so upen in Cincinnati, they
expect things to change without any particular reason for it,

(56:15):
and you know, kind of just look to the pass
and say, we did it once upon a time, we've
done it occasionally, and you know that means we can
do it again.

Speaker 7 (56:23):
And you know, to a point that's true.

Speaker 17 (56:25):
But that's just not the way to operate, obviously, for
a team that's supposedly going after championships. But as I
wrote in the column that right yesterday Cincinnati Magazine, the
Bengals aren't that way.

Speaker 7 (56:36):
This is not who they are.

Speaker 17 (56:37):
We all know that their settings are not set to
championship level. It's set to be competitive, you know, it's
not set to all in. It's set to put a
decent team on the field and remain financially flexible. So,
you know, the idea that we were expecting, or people
were expecting, some sort of you know, grand scheme to be.

Speaker 7 (56:56):
Laid out by Duke and how.

Speaker 17 (56:58):
There's going to be a massive change he's going forward,
I think was just unrealistic.

Speaker 7 (57:02):
It's nice to see him at least acknowledge that there's
a lot of frustration.

Speaker 17 (57:06):
But otherwise, you know, I don't take away too much
from it other than you know, they at least hear
from the outside that there's a lot of noise surrounding
Duke's job performance over the last couple of years, and
they at least had to trot him out to you know,
get the villagers.

Speaker 7 (57:20):
To extinguish their torches for five minutes. But overall, not
much is going to change.

Speaker 2 (57:25):
I listened to him talk about how there's no comfort
lack of comfort. He doesn't have comfort. There's no comfort
even when you win the Super Bowl. And what I
heard today beyond that and what I see sort of
flies in the face of that.

Speaker 3 (57:36):
Would you agree, yeah, completely?

Speaker 6 (57:39):
You know, I think I could want to come back
to what the George you.

Speaker 9 (57:44):
Gas and one of.

Speaker 17 (57:45):
The most respected personnel guys really ever in NFL history
said once when you know the Mara family wanted to
put one of the sons in charge of player of personality,
he said, you can't have player personnel directors who are unaccountable,
who can't be fired.

Speaker 7 (57:59):
You can't lose their.

Speaker 17 (58:00):
Job for bad decisions. And that's what the Bengals have.
I mean, Duke Tobin is not actually a Brown family member,
but for all intents.

Speaker 7 (58:07):
And purposes, he is.

Speaker 17 (58:09):
He's a lot like what we have with the New
York Yankees, who I'm a big fan of. And you
have GM there Brian Cashman, who is essentially a family
member of the ownership, who's been there since before the
century he actually started. And you know, fans wonder why
things don't ever change, just because there's no real danger
of him losing his job, and there's no real danger

(58:29):
of Duke Tobin losing his job. Maybe he's uncomfortable in
the fact that he's not doing his job to the
performance level that he wants to have, and I give
him credit for that. And it's not like he's not
capable of building a decent team.

Speaker 7 (58:40):
Of course, we've seen he is.

Speaker 17 (58:42):
But you know, if you don't have a situation where
you're so uncomfortable that you're going to lose your job
and your livelihood and have to go find something else
to do with your life, there's really you know, there's
not much else to say. You can pay lip service
for as much as you want at these breast conferences,
But the truth of the matter is he can do
pretty much what he wants with immunity until proven otherwise.

(59:04):
So it's hard to start to really take that too
seriously when he says things like that.

Speaker 2 (59:10):
I think a lot of folks have wanted some degree
of clarity as to who has final say over the roster. Now,
Duke kind of talked about collaboration. He did say it
is Mike Brown's team. Did you walk away from it
as frustrated with the lack of clarity about such a
thing as everybody else did?

Speaker 7 (59:31):
Well, I guess. I guess. I don't think it is
a lack of clarity. I think he said it flat out.

Speaker 17 (59:35):
I mean, I think, you know, we as much as
we assume that Mike Brown has sort of receded behind
the scenes and doesn't really give his input, I think
he clearly does give his input in quite a bit,
and probably in way more I don't want to say
demonstrative fashion, but he has a lot more of the
fingerprints on the team and the roster than we all
kind of give them credit for. You know, the only

(59:57):
real difference functionally between what Jerry Jones operates in Dallas
and what Mike Brown operates in Cincinnati is that Jerry
Jones is chesty about the fact that that's his team
and that's his roster and that's everything. And in Cincinnati
you get a lot of squid ink being thrown up
all the time because nobody really wants to be responsible
for things like that, and nobody wants to come out

(01:00:18):
and say that it's a ninety year old GM still
kind of you know, with the final say or the
right of first refusal or you know, I'm not saying
he gives, you know, scouting reports on three hundred players
and says, here's the guy we're going to draft every
single round anything like that. But you know, the sort
of overall just stalt of the team still flows from
his opinions on football, and you know, Duke Tobin's role

(01:00:42):
is to sort of present with options, give his strong
opinion at times. I'm sure he talks Mike Brown at
the things, but you know, at the end of the day,
it's still the owner of the team making the final decision. Yeah,
I don't think anybody really is surprised by that. It's
always been the case, and you know, despite his advanced stage,
it's always going to be the case until the day

(01:01:03):
where he's no longer with us.

Speaker 2 (01:01:06):
Robert wy Travis with this Cincinnati magazine dot com. I
what Duke Tobin has in front of him this offseason,
it's easy to identify the problems the Bengals have coming
up with solutions and navigating all the stuff they're going
to have to get right is anything.

Speaker 3 (01:01:23):
But but I do think they have a layup.

Speaker 2 (01:01:25):
You got a guy who plays guard in Dalton Reisner,
who did not make a lot of money last year.
They got him late in the process. Dalton has said
publicly like I don't want to go through that again.
Go ahead and re sign me. Duke Tobin, are you listening?
I want to play. He plays a position the Bengals
have had a hard time filling. He played it well,
especially in the second half of the season. The offensive
line could actually be considered good. This to me, Robert

(01:01:47):
is a layup. You got to make your layup. So
Duke Tobin, before you do the hard stuff, do the
easy stuff. You're standing under the rim, nobody's near. You
lay it in and sign Dalton Reisner.

Speaker 3 (01:01:58):
Do you agree?

Speaker 7 (01:02:00):
I do agree. I would say a different metaphor.

Speaker 17 (01:02:03):
It's almost like they need to be a gimme putt
where the agents for double risers to.

Speaker 15 (01:02:07):
Say, oh, just take it.

Speaker 7 (01:02:08):
You know, we don't even want to come to take
it up. Man, you move on to the next sole.

Speaker 9 (01:02:15):
Yeah.

Speaker 17 (01:02:15):
Obviously it's a clear case of team need player playing
well and proof of concept and it should be very easy.

Speaker 7 (01:02:22):
That doesn't mean they're going to sign him next week.
I mean, that's just not really how things happened in
the NFL.

Speaker 17 (01:02:27):
They signings of that nature of your own guys tend
to drift into at least the combine and closer to March,
just because that's just the.

Speaker 7 (01:02:35):
Way things are done in the NFL.

Speaker 17 (01:02:37):
But you know, you made the point that they signed
very late in the process last year, and they could
have had him way earlier, and he would have been
up to speed earlier and wouldn't have had to, you know,
kind of spend several weeks, you know, playing himself into
shape and really gelling with the line.

Speaker 7 (01:02:51):
Now you have a situation where you could easily take
care of that problem. You get rid of something.

Speaker 17 (01:02:56):
As you said, there's going to be a lot of
difficult decisions to be made on the defensive side of
the ball by the who and how many players to
approach and free agency in the draft.

Speaker 7 (01:03:04):
And this is a guy who you know, it's obvious.
The answer is right in front of you. Now these
are the Bengals. Never assume they do the obvious thing.

Speaker 17 (01:03:13):
They could easily look it around and say, well, we
drafted a guy Jalen Rivers, who you know we like,
and and maybe if we could save some money and
Dalton Riser and put it to the defensive side of
the ball and get away with having a you know,
an untested or a guy in the right guard that
we don't love and hasn't proven himself, but you would
hope that wouldn't be the case. And it's just something

(01:03:35):
that the Bengals for all the talk this year about
how you know the reason in the rationale behind you know, keeping.

Speaker 7 (01:03:43):
Zach Taylor and and Do.

Speaker 17 (01:03:45):
Tobin, you know, doing things the way they always have
been done and nothing's going to change. Well okay, well
then if it's not that complicated and you have everything
set right in front of you, then just take care
of an easy one without any you know, drama, without
the usual nonsense that goes through the training camp period.
And you know that we see every single year all
the noise and get people talking on the national shows

(01:04:07):
about the Bengals being the same old Bengals. They can
eliminate that in this particular case.

Speaker 7 (01:04:11):
With one easy move. You would hope they would do it.
But you never know what this club.

Speaker 17 (01:04:15):
So I'm not gonna say it an automatic gimme putch.

Speaker 7 (01:04:18):
You don't have to make that lay themselves.

Speaker 2 (01:04:20):
Yeah, well if much like me, if they could blow
a gimme putt, they will, So I guess I can
relate to Duke Tobin in that regard.

Speaker 3 (01:04:28):
Always awesome stuff. Man, Well chat soon. Thank you as
always anytime, Thanks so much.

Speaker 7 (01:04:33):
Happy to hear everyone right back at you.

Speaker 2 (01:04:35):
That's our guy, Robert Wintrob. You could read his Bengals column.
The latest one is up at Cincinnati Magazine dot com.
Indiana University is sixty minutes away from playing for a
college football playoff national championship. Now that maybe makes it
sound easy. We're going to talk about the Hoosiers with
somebody who knows more about IU football than anybody on

(01:04:56):
ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports.

Speaker 5 (01:04:58):
Station Cincinnatis ESPN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 8 (01:05:02):
Traffic from the UC Health Traffic Center. UC Health's Weight
Loss Center offers surgical and medical obesity care and expertise
called five one three nine three nine two two sixty three.
That's nine three nine two two sixty three. Debris has
now been cleared off from the left lane on westbound
two seventy five after Winton Road on eastbound Westwood Northern Boulevard,

(01:05:23):
though an accident between McFarlane Woods Drive and Montana Avenue.
Cruise are directing traffic around that spot in slow traffic
northbound seventy five. Mitchell de Paddock, I'm at Eazelic with traffic.

Speaker 2 (01:05:35):
It is twenty six from five. This is ESPN fifteen
thirty Molagger. We'll play in the five o'clock hours. Some
of Duke Tobin's greatest hits from today's Mega press conference
and more of your reaction. Tonight, it's the second college
football Playoffs semi final game.

Speaker 3 (01:05:50):
It's the Peach Bowl in Atlanta.

Speaker 2 (01:05:52):
The Indiana Hoosiers are taking on Oregon, a battle of
Big ten teams. I U is sixty minutes away from
playing for a new national championship in football. I don't
think that's a sentence I ever thought that I would say.
I'm not sure it's a sentence that Olivia Ray ever
thought she would say. And she loves Indiana University more
than maybe anybody. You saw Olivia for years doing sports

(01:06:14):
on Channel five here in town. Now she is covering
Indiana and they're a run to the national championship for
ABC fifty seven in South Bend.

Speaker 3 (01:06:23):
And I needed somebody to talk who's yours football with?

Speaker 2 (01:06:26):
Nobody is more qualified, nobody knows more about the program
than Olivia. So before she goes on TV, kind enough
to give me a few minutes, Olivia, it's awesome to
have you.

Speaker 18 (01:06:34):
How are you great to hear your voice again? Mo,
I am so excited to talk Indiana football. You know,
I've made it my entire personality for the past ten years,
so I'm glad that no one can call me a
bandwagon fan at this point.

Speaker 3 (01:06:48):
I am all in. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:06:50):
I mean you legitimately more than anybody I know, and
I have you know, I have followed you for years.
You're kind of like the person who followed the band
before it hit big, and that's that's what you are
as it relates to the Hoosiers.

Speaker 7 (01:07:03):
Yeah, it's actually how I stopped grew up.

Speaker 18 (01:07:05):
My start in sportscasting is I was a video manager
on Kevin Wilson's IU football team when they went back
to back bowl games Pinstripe Bowl Foster Farms Bowl, and
they were too cheap to pay someone to travel to
talk in front of the camera, so they put a
student on there. And that is how I became a sportscaster.
So it has gone way back, and my husband played

(01:07:26):
and coached for them, and we even actually got married
at Memorial Stadium two summers ago, right before this thing
really got rolling. So if you want to give anyone,
any credit you can give coach sig Sum and then
I'll take the rest of it if you don't mind.

Speaker 2 (01:07:39):
Wow, very good. Okay, yeah, now we know where the
credit should go. What was it like we'll talk about tonight.
But you were there in Pasadena for the Rose Bowl,
and you know as a Cincinnati fan, right as a
UC fan. I remember when they made the Orange Bowl
and walking out there and I saw Cincinnati in the
end zone and it's like, man, I never thought i'd
see this.

Speaker 17 (01:07:59):
Uh.

Speaker 3 (01:07:59):
What was it like like.

Speaker 2 (01:08:00):
Covering and being around that program in that setting, with
those stakes and then seeing them dominate the ultimate of
blue bloods in Alabama.

Speaker 9 (01:08:10):
It was unreal.

Speaker 18 (01:08:11):
I actually went out there with my dad and my son.
He's seven months old. My dad has been on a
plane once before, and I convinced him to climb back
on to go out to Pasadena because he said, if
he ever got the chance to see you play in
the Rose Bowl before he dies, he was gonna take it.
And he did not lie to me.

Speaker 11 (01:08:29):
It was unreal.

Speaker 18 (01:08:30):
We were in the north end zone and I mean
just to watch them wallop Alabama and then get to
be down there on the field to watch this team
act like they belonged, which was really cool, and their
celebrations of the Rose Bowl like they were not surprised
about what they did to Alabama in any way, shit
or form.

Speaker 6 (01:08:50):
Uh.

Speaker 2 (01:08:50):
Kurtzinetti, we see the press conferences, Google me. He's an
interesting guy as to the extent that you've gotten a
chance to get to know him and how he he
runs the program.

Speaker 3 (01:09:01):
Give me what we don't see?

Speaker 2 (01:09:02):
Why is this work to the degree it has since
he took over in Bloomington.

Speaker 18 (01:09:07):
This is probably one of my favorite stories from the
Rose Bowl. So we were at an IU football alumni
event the night before the game out there in Pasadena.
About three hundred former players, coaches, all of the above
showed up to this bar to hang out, and a
couple of the current coaches who were in the former
regime when my husband coached back Kevin Wilson first year
of Tom Allen, they're still on the staff and they

(01:09:31):
were talking about the differences in like how the team
approached the bowl game, and that would be that they
were monitoring the hallways that the players were not allowed
to leave their rooms essentially in downtown LA where they
were staying and which was not the case when we
were in New York for New Year's Eve. Everyone was
out walking around Times Square and everything, and he said

(01:09:54):
Coach Signati basically said, and he didn't put the tape
on the door, you know, to make sure it wasn't broken,
like kids do at summer camps. But he said, if
he finds out you're out of your room past nine pm,
it's not going to be in your best interest. So
they were policing that place, and the guys take it seriously.
They said, sig respects their time. So if they're not

(01:10:16):
supposed to be at the stadium, they're still getting treatment
in this or that because he doesn't overbook them with
practices and therapy and all of that. So it's a
well oiled machine and it's got off the ground in
two years, which is crazy.

Speaker 2 (01:10:30):
The favorite tonight against Oregon played them before in Atlanta.
Tonight sixty minutes away from playing for a national championship.

Speaker 3 (01:10:39):
If they win tonight, what have they done to beat
the Ducks.

Speaker 18 (01:10:44):
They have gotten pressure again on Dante Moore. The difference
though from the first time they saw them week seven,
is that Dante Moor is getting the ball out almost
a half second faster than in Week seven when they
barely got by him. They did sack him six times
at all kinds of pressure on him. Put him in
a pressure cooker, if you will. But this defensive line

(01:11:07):
is a lot different. I use lost Kellen Wyatt, they've
lost Stephen Daily, so they're gonna have a lot of
different personnel up there on the front seven, a lot
of different mixtures that they're going to have to try
and find a way to get pressure on him and
confuse him like they did. The difference. Though Dante Moor's
had a lot more football under his belt, he was
still a newbie back then in Week seven.

Speaker 2 (01:11:28):
It's an amazing story, you know, I said when they
beat earlier in the season, went to Oregon in one,
I said, like Indy of a football being good is
just fun.

Speaker 3 (01:11:41):
Right.

Speaker 2 (01:11:42):
They were good last year, played in the playoff. It
felt like one off. I'm sort of living vicariously through
IU fans because I think it's so cool when a
newby crashes the party, and so I hope the guy
you guys are playing a week from Monday, enjoy it
as a fan. I know you're doing your job professionally,
but it's got to be one of the coolest things
you've ever had a chance to cover. I can't thank

(01:12:02):
you enough for doing this, and maybe we'll bother you
on on the night of the title game.

Speaker 3 (01:12:06):
Thanks so much. I love it.

Speaker 18 (01:12:08):
Thanks MO, talk to you soon.

Speaker 2 (01:12:10):
Most definitely, most definitely, thank you so much. That's Olivia Ray.
Olivia was on Channel five for a while and did
awesome work, and now in South Bend, which I'm sure
is an IU grad is interesting. But doing coverage of
the Hoosiers, and that's got to be cool as hell
to cover, not just cover your alma mater.

Speaker 3 (01:12:27):
But like she is a hardcore.

Speaker 2 (01:12:28):
IU football fan, and I know a lot of big
Indiana basketball fans. I know a ton of hardcore IU
football fans. Olivia is one of them and now not
the only one. That game tonight should be a lot
of fun Indiana and Oregon. Meanwhile, we've needed a Miami guy.
Miami is undefeated. Travis Steels team takes on Toledo tonight,

(01:12:50):
our friend, speaking of former Cincinnati Sports TV anchors Jed
de Muci, the Pride of Oxford. We'll talk about the
undefeated RedHawks next on ESPN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 5 (01:13:02):
Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty traffic.

Speaker 8 (01:13:07):
From the uc Help Traffic Center. Uc Help's Weight Loss
Center offers surgical and medical obesity care and expertise. Call
five one three nine three nine two two sixty three.
That's nine three, nine two two sixty three. There is
an update with some good news for you. Eastbound Westwood
Northern Boulevard is now reopened from an earlier accident between
McFarlane Woods Drive and Montana Avenue. Northbound seventy one. Traffic

(01:13:31):
is slow between Ridge and Ronald Reagan Highway at three
minute delay. I'm at ezelic with traffic.

Speaker 2 (01:13:37):
This man dem had a one hour long press conference
which will play the hits of coming up after the
top of the hour. Tonight, UH an early evening tip
off in Toledo. It's Savage Arena. The undefeated Miami RedHawks
Travis Steels team is sixteen and oher, obviously unbeaten in
MAC play. They battle the Toledo Rockets, who were also

(01:14:00):
unbeaten in MAC play. That game is a six o'clock.
Miami was good enough for thirtieth in the latest AP
Top twenty five Men's College Basketball poll, And so you
know we've got Chad Brendle who joins us to talk
about the Bearcats. And we've got Rick brooring double duty
with Xavier and NKU basketball, and our very own Drew
by Drew Wester.

Speaker 3 (01:14:19):
Heidi is our ud guy.

Speaker 2 (01:14:21):
I think we just made Olivia Ray or Indiana University person.
We needed a Miami guy or a Miami person. Jed
Demuci stepped up, formerly of Local twelve, and said, I'll
be that guy. He loves the RedHawks, He's excited about Miami.
I hear he's starting to look at stub Hub for
like Sweet sixteen tickets, and so he's with us to
talk about Travis Steel's undefeated team.

Speaker 3 (01:14:40):
Hi, Jed, how's it going?

Speaker 15 (01:14:44):
Fees are just astronomical on Ticketmaster for these for these
sites with how are you mo? I'm happy to I
will carry the flag for the RedHawks.

Speaker 9 (01:14:54):
Absolutely.

Speaker 2 (01:14:55):
Miami was good last year and lost a heartbreaker in
the MAC Tournament title game. Right, That's a game that
they frankly should have won. So I guess it shouldn't
be a huge surprise that they're good this year. But
they're sixteen to Oh how surprising is that?

Speaker 9 (01:15:12):
Well?

Speaker 15 (01:15:13):
I think because they were successful last year and because
they really had Akron on the ropes in that MAC
Championship game. I think a lot of teams at a
higher level took notice and kind of didn't want to
put them on the roster because, you know, the way
the quad systems work, the juice didn't really worth the

(01:15:33):
squeeze to schedule Miami. You know, Acron. I think this
year played per Due, which obviously produce a top opponent,
but a lot of teams that are high mid major
teams I think had a problem scheduling teams at a
higher level. And Travis Steel has mentioned that, he said
it takes two to tango, and Miami ended up with

(01:15:54):
the schedule that you know, Ken Palm says isn't very good.
There aren't a lot of really good MAC schedules because
I don't think teams think that it's worth bringing in
Akron and potentially losing. I mean, Kansas State brought in
Bowling Green and lost this year, So I don't think
they're going to be scheduling Bowling Green anytime soon. So
you know, I think a lot of people will say, oh,

(01:16:15):
you know, Wright State's broadcast when they were down ten
points to Miami said Miami hasn't played anybody, which a
little nonsensical when you're losing to the team, but you know,
Wright State has some nonsensical things in their past. But
I just think when you look at when you look
at what they've accomplished, they don't have to apologize. I'm
sure that Travis understands that it's a much better way

(01:16:40):
to go about getting tested before MAC play, getting tested
so you can go in and win the MAC tournament
as opposed to being undefeated. But hey, sitting at sixteen
to zero, they figured it out and they've won in
different ways, and you know, I don't think they should
have to apologize for being where they are.

Speaker 2 (01:17:00):
If teams aren't gonna play you, there's nothing you could do.
And that's the thing about that, though, is it's not
gonna change. I with with more success this year, and
you know, we'll see how the rest of the season unfolds.
It's it's still early January. It ain't like that's gonna
change anytime soon.

Speaker 15 (01:17:16):
Yeah, And Miami's used to having to apologize. You know, Sorry,
we have a really beautiful campus. Sorry, we're one of
six schools that has a Super Bowl winning quarterback in
the US President. Sorry, Chuck Martin's really good at his job.
I mean, this is just the latest in a long
line of things that people expect Miami to apologize for.
And again they face adversity losing Evan Ifsorrow as you know,

(01:17:39):
they're the facto leader on the court to an ACL injury.
They just ripped off the red shirt of Justin Kirby,
so they're going through the process of figuring out who's
going to be there when the bell rings and the
MAC Tournament. There hasn't been an at large team to
go to the NCAA Tournament from the Maxins. Miami did

(01:18:00):
it in nineteen ninety nine, and that's only this that's
the second to last appearance Miami has had in the
NCAA Tournament. They went my senior year as well, thanks
to Doug Penno hitting a big three to send them
to the tournament. But Miami's been to the tournament twice
since nineteen ninety nine. So this is a big deal
in Oxford.

Speaker 2 (01:18:21):
So I think in college basketball at particular at the
level where you know they're mainly one bid leagues, we
don't celebrate winning a regular season conference championship enough because
I don't want to say anybody can win three games
in three days or four games in three days. But
I think the real test of a team's quality and
depth and mental toughness is getting through the ten week gauntlet,

(01:18:43):
playing on the road, surviving the dog days. And so
let's talk about this season in those terms. First, if
there is something that Miami fans should be worried about
as they navigate the max schedule, what is it?

Speaker 15 (01:18:57):
Oh, I mean everybody. I mean they're getting everybody's best
up Toledo tonight. Is I mean Toledo's favored tonight. I
think by a point and a half. They're the model
of consistency. I think Todd Kowalchik, their head coach, has
had seven to twenty win seasons at Toledo, so going
to their place, miam hasn't won at Toledo, I think
since twenty eleven. So today it's a tough test. You

(01:19:19):
got Kent State always tough. Buffalo is having a good year.
You know, they only get one shot at Akron, So
I think, you know, there are definitely teams where you
would say you could take a night off. But if
they're going to continue to be undefeated, it's it's they're
going to get everybody's everybody's best shot. So I mean,

(01:19:40):
the goal isn't to finish the season undefeated. The goal
is to is really I understand your point, but the
goal is to get back to the tournament and hopefully
that's that. I know that's what Travis is thinking as well.

Speaker 2 (01:19:55):
Is the Miami University community starting to take notice and
get excited because that has been an issue at times
when it comes to men's basketball and football.

Speaker 15 (01:20:06):
Absolutely, And you know, I was at the game. I
was home in in in Cincinnati for the holidays when
we went to the Milligan game, which was probably the
best game you could take your five and four year
old son too, because it was just.

Speaker 6 (01:20:21):
So many points.

Speaker 15 (01:20:23):
But the community, I think, I think the acting game
was was really a step in the right direction because
you know, kids aren't back on campus yet and just
from watching it on TV, it sounded like there it
was a great environment. Travis said as much after the
game that he was happy that they were packed in
and but I mean he has seen this come a
long way in the time that that coach Steel has

(01:20:47):
been in Oxford. You know, I think that there's a
lot of I think he had a big sort of
oh my gosh, what did I just do moment when
he when he first started and now the crowd is
coming back to the level of energy for Oxford can
be difficult at times, that's for sure. I remember writing

(01:21:08):
commns about that that the Miami Student when you know,
the Doug Penno team was making a run, like more
people need to show up. So that's constantly on the
front burner. I'm hoping to get Rick Rooring excited. I mean,
a couple of days ago you asked him, you said,
you said, hey, can I ask you a question about
another team in the area? And his response, his response

(01:21:32):
was who put you up to this? That's the response
you give when you get startled by an intervention, not
when you're asked to talk about sort of an undefeated
basketball team. So hopefully the you know, the local media
can can get a little fought up about what's going
on too.

Speaker 3 (01:21:52):
That's that's that's why we're having you on.

Speaker 2 (01:21:53):
Let me ask you this because I think of, like,
you know, growing up as a kid and Herb Syndeck
and Charlie Coles had the Red the red Skins the
Red Hawks in the NCAA Tournament on a regular basis.
I remember watching them beat Arizona in a high school
classroom in nineteen ninety five in the NCAA tournament. It

(01:22:13):
felt like Devin Davis. Then obviously you know Wally's Rbiak,
who I watched play when I was in college. Like,
like Miami basketball mattered this century, it hasn't. They've had
different coaches. The Jack Owens thing didn't work out, John
Cooper didn't work out, Travis Steele.

Speaker 3 (01:22:30):
It is.

Speaker 2 (01:22:31):
Why is it taking so long for that program to
get pulled out of the morass that it was in.

Speaker 9 (01:22:38):
That's a great question.

Speaker 15 (01:22:39):
I mean, I think it takes' that's a newly doted question.
I think it took having a guy, and obviously Jack
Owens ed ties as well. I thought really that he
was going to be the guy to kind of get
us get Miami over the hump, and it didn't happen.
I think, if you know, I think Sailor deserves a

(01:23:00):
lot of credit. I think Travis deserves a lot of
credit for walking directly out of you know about probably
a very frustrating, a very emotional exit from Xavier and
taking something like this on. I don't I don't know
that answer. But what I can tell you is it
takes a guy like Travis Steele who kind of knows.

(01:23:21):
Maybe it's maybe it's being.

Speaker 9 (01:23:23):
A head coach before.

Speaker 15 (01:23:24):
Maybe it's being you know, being in going in the
Big East and having those seasons and having that experience
to know that the things that you're facing you can
face when you come to the MAC and when you
have to recruit and when you know that you're not
going to be, you know, the only guy in some
kids living room trying to convince him to come to
your school. Maybe having that pressure of being you know,

(01:23:46):
that high level of the coach and having the humility
to come do it at a smaller level, maybe that's
the secret formula.

Speaker 2 (01:23:54):
All Right, you're are Miami guy now, so you know
we'll be checking in.

Speaker 15 (01:24:00):
I appreciate that, sir. Happy New year, right.

Speaker 3 (01:24:03):
Back, catch it, thanks so much. Enjoyed the game to night. Yep,
that's our guy, Jeddiman.

Speaker 2 (01:24:09):
Last time we had Jed on, he was at the
was at the PGA where Scotti Scheffler got arrested in
Louisville and he was there.

Speaker 3 (01:24:16):
He was there for that, so we had him on.

Speaker 2 (01:24:17):
So he's sort of our when the best golfer in
the world gets arrested, he joins US. And when Miami
is good and Travis Steele's team is really good, and yeah,
the the criticisms of the schedule, I think there's there's
a difference between criticism and an observation. You could observe
their schedule and go ole boy. Non conference just the

(01:24:38):
metrics will tell you as much it leaves, it leaves
a little to be desired. I think that's the most
gentle way I could put it. There's only so much
about that that Travis Steele and his staff and the
athletic department can control. But in MAC play, they've gotten
off to a great start. Offensively, they are fun to watch.
Last year's team was a lot of fun to watch.

(01:25:00):
They should have won the MAC title game against Akron
last year, and yeah, that's it's obviously about getting to
the NCAA tournament, but Miami hasn't won a conference regular
season championship in twenty one years, and so don't I
don't think anybody should sneeze at that accomplishment. They are
not there yet, and they have a tough game tonight,
but it's uh, it's cool when Miami's good. And you know,

(01:25:20):
I do remember in the nineteen nineties, as much as
we certainly talked UC and Xavier in Kentucky, basketball in
Indiana was still, you know, relevant with Bob Knight as
a kid, Miami was you know, a bigger part of
the landscape than it has been. And uh, hopefully Travis
is getting it back to where it used to be.
And hopefully they have their name called on selection Sunday,

(01:25:41):
either as an automatic qualifier or perhaps against all odds,
an at large team. We will see that is obviously
not likely, but still it's cool to see the RedHawks
having the season that they are. All right, we got
an hour to go five point three seven, four nine,
fifteen thirty. We did all guests in the four o'clock hour,
and now we've got a ton of time to talk
with you.

Speaker 3 (01:26:01):
We'll hear some Duke Tobin. Audio will play the hits.

Speaker 2 (01:26:04):
We'll talk about what he said and didn't say, and
sort of the message that he sent. This afternoon on
ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports Station.

Speaker 5 (01:26:12):
This is ESPN fifteen thirty, Cincinnati Sports Station.

Speaker 2 (01:26:19):
It's five oh five ESPN fifteen thirty. Moeger, thank you
for listening hopefully here weekend. This off to an amazing start.

Speaker 3 (01:26:27):
It does feel weird getting on on a Friday. We
haven't been on a Friday since August, because you know,
he carried bendos pep rally for eighteen straight weeks.

Speaker 2 (01:26:37):
My friend and colleague Taren Bland has very carefully selected
the greatest hits from Duke Tobin's press conference from earlier today,
and we'll have that for you coming up at five twenty.
In the event that you either missed the press conference,
which lasted an hour, or you'd like to relive some
of it, we'll have that for you coming up at

(01:26:57):
about fifteen minutes.

Speaker 3 (01:26:58):
A few other takeaways.

Speaker 2 (01:26:59):
We'll get to Duke Tobin, I think answered the most
important question of the off season without really answering the
most important question of the off season.

Speaker 3 (01:27:10):
And remember what Joe Burrows said when the season ended.

Speaker 2 (01:27:13):
We'll get to all of that, plus maybe take a
look at some playoff games this weekend as well.

Speaker 3 (01:27:17):
But we have folks who have been waiting. I don't
want to make people wait.

Speaker 2 (01:27:20):
That entire last hour was guest after guest after guest
after get and good ones too, good ones too, so
uh let's see here.

Speaker 3 (01:27:29):
Mike. Mike, You're on ESPN fifteen thirty. Mike, good afternoon.
How are you.

Speaker 12 (01:27:34):
I'm good, How are you doing?

Speaker 3 (01:27:36):
Wonderful? Thanks for hanging on.

Speaker 9 (01:27:39):
You.

Speaker 12 (01:27:39):
Recently acquired his shirt? Did I get answer? Your wardrobe
or is it above your fireplace?

Speaker 2 (01:27:44):
Uh? But believe it or believe it or not. I
wore it last night.

Speaker 12 (01:27:51):
That well, good, good on it.

Speaker 2 (01:27:55):
It's say no Ben, Everything's good, Everything's fine, all good.
It's it's currently in the hamper, but I did wear
it last night. Mike Football show t shirts.

Speaker 12 (01:28:09):
I wanted to comment on Duke's press conference. I don't
think what he said kind of mattered. But the fact
that the Bengal has been available for an hour I
think said a lot. That they're feeling the pressure from
the fan base, local media, pressing a big Duke available.
So I think he might have said they're going to
change things what they're doing, But that alone, to me,

(01:28:31):
is enough to say there they feel the pressure. I
feel that they're not comfortable right now. Him and Zach
are both feeling it, and hopefully good things.

Speaker 9 (01:28:39):
Come from that.

Speaker 3 (01:28:40):
Yeah, look what they did today is different.

Speaker 2 (01:28:43):
We can talk about how maybe they're not going to
do anything different in the coming weeks and months as
it relates to building the roster. But but today was different,
and today today I thought was refreshing Today. What they
did today doesn't have to be an hour every year.
In fact, it won't be an hour every year if
occasionally he makes himself available. I don't know what the

(01:29:03):
average NFL GM's availability is during the season, but I
gather from just being a fan of the league that
gms are made more available or available more.

Speaker 3 (01:29:14):
Frequently than Duke Tobin is.

Speaker 2 (01:29:15):
And so I guess what I would want to say
to Duke was like, hey, was was that that bad?
And what I would say to the people who run
the Bengals is was that that bad?

Speaker 7 (01:29:24):
Like?

Speaker 3 (01:29:24):
Why?

Speaker 2 (01:29:25):
Why can't that happen more often? Why can't there be
a little bit more transparency?

Speaker 3 (01:29:29):
Now.

Speaker 2 (01:29:30):
I didn't expect Duke to sort of unveil his plan,
his roadmap for the entire offseason. I didn't expect Duke
to say anything that's necessarily going to inspire a ton
of confidence.

Speaker 3 (01:29:41):
But the fact that he made.

Speaker 2 (01:29:42):
Himself available is different, and that may tell you that
perhaps there is a little bit more discomfort in the
walls of paikor stadium, then you might normally expect.

Speaker 3 (01:29:54):
And that's that, that in itself is not a terrible thing.
I'll say that.

Speaker 12 (01:30:01):
Thank you very much, Mike, thank you.

Speaker 2 (01:30:03):
I appreciate the appreciate the phone called. Poll questions up
on Twitter right now at moegar thanks to United Heartland Insurance.
I don't know what you're paying for insurance, but I
bet the folks that United Heartland Insurance can help you
pay less. Check out u h i NS dot com.
Duke Tobin's uh MEGA press conference made you feel. I

(01:30:26):
just I realized I gotta do it again because I
misspelled optimistic. All right, you are you are gonna you
know what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna repost the poll question.
Will we talked to another Mike? Mike, go ahead, you're
on ESPN fifteen thirty. My good afternoon. How are you, Mike?

Speaker 3 (01:30:49):
Good afternoon? How are you?

Speaker 2 (01:30:53):
Mike is apparently not feeling all that great, because we
don't hear from him one more time.

Speaker 3 (01:30:56):
Mike, how are you?

Speaker 13 (01:30:58):
My bad?

Speaker 6 (01:30:59):
My bad?

Speaker 13 (01:31:00):
My bad?

Speaker 10 (01:31:01):
My dad?

Speaker 6 (01:31:01):
Sorry? Okay, how are you feeling?

Speaker 13 (01:31:03):
Brother?

Speaker 9 (01:31:04):
All right?

Speaker 3 (01:31:05):
I feel okay? Is everything all right?

Speaker 8 (01:31:08):
Well?

Speaker 7 (01:31:08):
It is?

Speaker 6 (01:31:09):
There's always something because my brain doesn't work like it
used to anyway, neither is mine. Boy, that was some
kind of that game last night. Couldn't ask for more?
Couldn't ask for more?

Speaker 16 (01:31:22):
Now, let me ask you this, that final play, if
that had been, if that had been somewhere between the
fifteen and twenty yard line, they would have.

Speaker 2 (01:31:32):
Called it probably, And you said, you can't ask for
anything more. And that's where I'll disagree with you, is
you could ask for more because I hated a game
that good, with that kind of stakes, that was played
at the level that it was ended with some controversy.
But I think that should have been past interference. I

(01:31:52):
agree with you that I think there's a higher likelihood
that that has pass interference. If that, if that, if
that ball is thrown to a guy who's you know,
between the twenty and thirty.

Speaker 6 (01:32:02):
Yard line, yep, because then it's not considered a hail mary.
And it really it was kind of like I heard
Dan Patrick sayd it was kind of an intermediate hail mary. Yeah,
I thought it was funny. But anyway, the guy was
grabbing and starting at the ten yard line, so it
butn't like it was right at the very end. Who

(01:32:23):
did you you give Pittsburgh a chance with against that
vicious front, the best front for since Minnesota's Purple People
Eaters that I can remember, or or the Steelers or
the Bears, because they can always drop seven guys in
coverage if they want.

Speaker 3 (01:32:41):
I give.

Speaker 2 (01:32:42):
I think the Texans are going to win. Houston's defense
toward the end of the season the last few games
didn't play great, but it's still a good unit. They
were awesome on the road this year, gave up fifteen
and a half points a game. I know the Steelers
are going to get Metcalf back, and so I think
I think Houston wins because I just don't know how
Pittsburgh scores. That said, Houston's offensive line is not great.

(01:33:06):
There is a level of offensive inconsistency that I think
is troublesome if you're rooting against Pittsburgh and betting against
Pittsburgh the way I am. But Stroud has played well
in the opening round of the playoffs in his first
two years in the league, and I just I don't
know how Pittsburgh scores enough to win the football game
against a Texans defense than when it has been at
its best this season. Has been, for my money, the

(01:33:28):
best in the league.

Speaker 6 (01:33:30):
You give the Chargers any glance of hope against New England,
I think.

Speaker 2 (01:33:37):
New England wins, but because the Chargers offensive line issues,
I think are going to catch up to him. But
there is something about a young quarterback in his first
playoff game that is not the most trustworthy. You know,
folks are going to lean into the fact that the
Patriots schedule was historically not great. I think New England wins,

(01:33:59):
and I think the pay Patriots cover, but I could
understand why one might one might pause because of a
QB in his first playoff game when at times this
year there haven't been there's been a lack of explosiveness
with that offense. But I I think the Patriots are

(01:34:19):
going to win, mainly because I don't know that the Chargers,
with all the different offensive line combinations they've tried this year,
are going to be able to block anybody in the playoffs.
And the first team they play in the playoffs is
the Patriots.

Speaker 6 (01:34:31):
I think it's amazing that hardball. Of course, Austin hates
Jim Hartball, which is unfounded, but anyway, everybody else likes
the guy. Yeah, Austin and I had a little chat
about that. That was pretty fun.

Speaker 2 (01:34:44):
But for what he do, by the way, I don't
agree with you. I don't think every I don't. I
don't think everybody else likes the guy.

Speaker 3 (01:34:50):
I don't.

Speaker 2 (01:34:50):
I don't agree. And he's a wonderful coach. He's an
awesome coach. You can't deny that. But I'm not sure
he is as universally beloved as you might suggest.

Speaker 6 (01:35:00):
Well, who who's warm love and him? Or his brother?

Speaker 3 (01:35:03):
Oh, his brother?

Speaker 2 (01:35:06):
I think, I think, I think people like John Harball,
John John Harball seems like I can't recall one even remotely.
I guess the one controversial thing he was involved in
was the Ray Rice deal in two thousand.

Speaker 3 (01:35:19):
And fourteen or fifteen.

Speaker 2 (01:35:20):
And I don't think John Harball looked or that organization
looked very good then. But in an eighteen year career,
and that's a big butt, but I don't I don't
know in an eighteen year career that I can think
of another time where John Harball has done something to
make him feel make him seem unlikable. And Jim Harball,
Jim Harball is not as unlikable as he is, just

(01:35:42):
a little weird and by the way, weird.

Speaker 3 (01:35:46):
It's not awful. I'm weird.

Speaker 2 (01:35:47):
He's goofy, but I John Harball has always seemed to
have a warmer personality.

Speaker 3 (01:35:52):
Put it that way.

Speaker 6 (01:35:52):
Yeah, yeah, he's more business like. There's no question. So
what do you I'm losing it. I'm just give me
a second.

Speaker 2 (01:36:01):
Mo uh oh, you think.

Speaker 6 (01:36:10):
Do you think Patino if he can go out and
get him a big man somehow next year, that there
their team because that's what they're lacking. They just don't
have any size, right, that's the.

Speaker 2 (01:36:19):
Problem, which which Patino, Richard or Rick No, no, our guy?

Speaker 3 (01:36:28):
Uh well, I think he.

Speaker 2 (01:36:30):
I think he needs biggest caliber players across the board.
You know, I just think he needs biggest caliber players
across them. And I would be willing to bet that
Richard would say the exact same thing, that those players
do play hard, that there there's not a lot of
biggiest caliber players on that team. Yeah, Sonard, guys, guards,

(01:36:55):
I appreciate the phone call, Mike, have a have a
great weekend. There's just not a lot of big, big
East caliber players on the roster. And they they do
play hard, and they had that stretch where they were
really rounding in the form sort of culminating with the
skyline Chili Crosstown shootout. Biggie's play for the most part
has been sobering. I think effort has been there. There's

(01:37:17):
just look at them on the defensive end. Defensively against
De Paul they were a disaster, and then on the
glass against Marquette they were even more of a disaster.
And you know, Okay, those are deficiencies. Do they have
enough offensive firepower to overcome it? And no they haven't.
And you know that may sound harsh, but I don't

(01:37:38):
know what other conclusion you could draw after watching this team,
uh for slightly more than half the season sixteen minutes
out of five o'clock bye. By the way, for what
it's worth, that was past interference last night. There's some
mutual contact as the two players are going down the field,
but as the ball gets there, the grabs the receiver's

(01:38:01):
jersey and like yanks him down. I you know the replay,
if you pay even remote attention to sports, you've seen
the replay a bunch of times. That is pass interference
one of my biggest pet peeves in all the sports.
And when I was a younger guy, I would say this,
Oh you don't. You don't blow the whistle there, You

(01:38:23):
don't throw a flag there, Yeah, you do. The job
of an official isn't to use discretion based on time
and score and stakes. The job of an official or
an umpire is when there are infractions, to call them
independent of time, score, venue.

Speaker 3 (01:38:40):
What's at stake the job of an official.

Speaker 2 (01:38:43):
So I don't think it was I'm not throwing that
flag because it's the last play of the game, but
I would throw it when there's ten minutes to go
in the second quarter. I think it was just a
blown call. Pass interference calls are missed all the time.
That was a missed pass interference call. And so what
you hate about it is, you know, look, certain ole
miss is not guaranteed to win the game if the
call is correct, not like a fieldgal would have done

(01:39:06):
him any good. And so they would have had to
run a play not from the one yard line because
it's the college rule. But that was past interference. And
what you hate about it is that was a great game.
That was a great physical, tense game where there were
some great plays, there were some mistakes. It felt like
Miami dropped like five picks last night, back and forth.

(01:39:28):
You hate that a game ends like that with so
much on the line, and by the way, a game
ends like that where the loser has gone through so
much because of their weird former head coach. You hate
that a game ends like that on a play like
that where it's controversial and far from the only football
game that's ended with a controversial call or a non call.

(01:39:49):
But that was by the book textbook interference wide receivers
being pulled down by his jersey by the defender like
that's as the ball gets there, that's past interference. Nineteen
minutes after five o'clock, I got the poll question up
because I correctly spelled the word optimistic at moegar thanks

(01:40:12):
to United Heartland Insurance. Duke Tobin's mega press conference made
you feel optimistic, pessimistic, or apathetic. Vote now at moegar.
You'll hear Duke Tobin's greatest hits next on ESPN fifteen.

Speaker 5 (01:40:26):
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Speaker 3 (01:41:06):
ESPN fifteen thirty. Moeger, thanks for listening.

Speaker 2 (01:41:11):
Uh, Duke Topin talked earlier today for a press conference
that lasted an hour, and like what that bad Duke
like the questions. I thought the questions that were asked
were fair. I thought the questions that were asked were
were coming from a place of the people who asking
them understanding what fans want to hear. I don't think
anything was confrontational. I thought it was And by the

(01:41:35):
way I thought, I don't think Duke was confrontational or
standoff as you know, that was a Q and a
I was a I thought that the tone was appropriate
for a press conference involving an.

Speaker 3 (01:41:49):
Executive whose team failed this season.

Speaker 2 (01:41:52):
And yes, there were light moments, and that doesn't bother
me at all.

Speaker 3 (01:41:56):
I I don't know.

Speaker 2 (01:41:57):
That we got a ton out of it, But what
the bad wasn't that bad at all, at least for
Duke Tobin. Now, some of the conclusions that you may
draw from it are perhaps sobering and understandably so there
was a lot here, and so we'll just give you
some of the some of the highlights. Here is a
Duke Tobin stating his belief that the Bengals are a

(01:42:18):
championship team. But listen closely, go ahead.

Speaker 19 (01:42:21):
We still have a championship team in my mind. We
have elite, world class players. We had a lot of
challenges this year, a lot of challenges. We didn't navigate
them effectively enough. We navigated some of them as effectively
as you could, and then we had challenges elsewhere when
you lose your quarterback.

Speaker 13 (01:42:42):
We have a quarterback that we.

Speaker 19 (01:42:44):
Have taken great pains in building an offense around and
four and it does and that offense took steps this
year without him, and so with him, we feel like
that is starting to just hit its stride. With the
way the offensive line came on, with the way the

(01:43:06):
running game came on, I would tell you that I
saw things this year that I wouldn't have thought I
would ever see somebody walk into the building two days
before a game, pick up an incredibly complex offense, go
out with people he just shook hands with and make
it work.

Speaker 13 (01:43:25):
That is amazing.

Speaker 19 (01:43:26):
You know, you know people from Afar because they're in
the same industry as you, and I know Joe Flacco
from Afar. But when you meet him and get to
appreciate what he's all about and what he accomplished here
in such a short time and then go out and
have an injury, not be able to practice and still
go out and produce, that.

Speaker 13 (01:43:48):
Speaks to him.

Speaker 19 (01:43:50):
It also speaks to our coaches and how they are
able to immediately pivot and regenerate something that gave us
a chance. Other parts of the team then decided it
wasn't going to give us a chance, and that's on me.

Speaker 13 (01:44:08):
That's on me.

Speaker 19 (01:44:09):
But there are things that worked and things that show me, hey,
we've got the right people in this building.

Speaker 2 (01:44:17):
So Duke Tobin just said at the beginning of that
that he believes the Bengals have a championship team. He
then spent the next sixty seconds talking only about the offense.
Taran pointed that out. He starts it by talking, we
have a championship team. We believe, Well, if you believe

(01:44:39):
you have a championship team, then you talk about like
all parts of the team. They do have a championship
offense like they have, for my money, still the best
in the league at playing the quarterback position. They have
elite weaponry, good offensive line. Yes, that is they have
a championship offense. They have nothing resembling a championship team.

(01:45:02):
Duke Tobin earlier today. One of the questions Duke was
asked about adding scouts this offseason, go ahead and hit.

Speaker 19 (01:45:08):
It the specifics of the offseason. We're still going through
that right now. We're still debriefing the season. We're still
analyzing each and every player on our roster where the
needs are. We have a good feeling for where that is.
I wouldn't outline exactly we're going to bring in you know,
Paul over here and he's going to play you know,

(01:45:31):
three technique for us. We have a very good idea
of where the needs are on our football team and
we're going to attack them from a personnel standpoint. Our
coaches during the season did a great job in what
we were asking the players to do.

Speaker 13 (01:45:47):
They made changes in how we were going.

Speaker 19 (01:45:52):
About it, and it worked on that side, on the
defensive side of the ball, and honestly it worked on
the offensive side of the ball.

Speaker 13 (01:45:58):
So we had some nimble during the season.

Speaker 19 (01:46:02):
In terms of our scouting staff, our scouting staff, in
my opinion, is it is the size that it is
because I think the collaboration is.

Speaker 13 (01:46:14):
Better at that size.

Speaker 19 (01:46:17):
We have never lacked for information on a player. There's
never been a player selected that we didn't know anything about.
There's never been a player selected that we didn't have
multiple reports and large background on. It's not about the
volume of information we have. If we make a mistake,
it's because at the decision point we made the wrong decision.

(01:46:40):
But it wasn't because we didn't have information on the player.
We have information, and we have plenty of opinion on
the player, you know, and we've made a lot of
good picks. I get that people are don't believe we've
made any good picks. We've made a lot of good
picks on our current roster, on past ross and there

(01:47:00):
will be more on future rosters.

Speaker 13 (01:47:02):
I really believe that.

Speaker 3 (01:47:06):
It's interesting.

Speaker 2 (01:47:09):
It's only one guy I would love to know what
the information was about Jermaine Burton. Okay, you got a
lot of what what what information compelled you to go? Yeah,
let's take that dude.

Speaker 3 (01:47:20):
Uh. Here's more. Uh. I don't know how you'll hear this.

Speaker 2 (01:47:24):
This is a duke uh where you might and some
have theorized that he is perhaps taking a shot at
his quarterback.

Speaker 3 (01:47:31):
Here's Duke Tobin from earlier today.

Speaker 19 (01:47:36):
Well, it's the Bengals and uh and when we don't
win a championship, that's the only thing that I'm after
is a championship. It's not it's not any individuals in
this buildings championship. It's the Cincinnati Bengals championship. And that's
really the only definition of success that that I have.
I don't have a definition of success of making the

(01:47:58):
playoffs or doing X, Y or Z. It's the it's
the team that has the positive feeling at the end
of the season. That's the only thing that I'm chasing.
That's what we want. We want it for all of
our players, we want it for all of our staff.

Speaker 13 (01:48:17):
You know.

Speaker 19 (01:48:17):
We we have set our team up for Joe in
a way that we feel is pretty darn good. And
there are resources on the team that we've expended on that.
So when you spend sixty sixty five percent or whatever
it is on offense of your cap it's going to

(01:48:39):
affect the other parts of your team. We know that
we have to find solutions that fit into that that
then produce on the other side of the ball, and
we will.

Speaker 3 (01:48:50):
I did a poor job of setting that up.

Speaker 2 (01:48:52):
Duke was asking, answering a question about you know, I
think it was posed by James, you know, referencing the window,
the championship window with Burrow and Chase and Higgins in
their primes, and that that answer didn't bother me a ton,
because I don't think he's wrong.

Speaker 3 (01:49:10):
I mean, I don't think the explanation is wrong.

Speaker 2 (01:49:12):
Now, the the execution of his ideas and what he's
trying to accomplish that obviously hasn't worked. I don't expect
the person in charge of a roster to ever talk
about certain championship windows. I don't expect Duke Tobin to
talk specifically about winning while Burrow as the quarterback, because
if you do that, you know, then you're you could

(01:49:32):
you could then assume that, well, we don't. We can't
win a championship once Joe's done.

Speaker 3 (01:49:37):
If that makes sense. One more this I like this answer. Here.
Here's Duke on drafting players.

Speaker 2 (01:49:45):
For drafting players with the idea that they're ultimately going
to sign second contracts.

Speaker 13 (01:49:51):
Again year over year.

Speaker 19 (01:49:52):
You can't build your team in free agency. It's just
not a sustainable process. You have to have your young
guys come on, have to and whether it's a one
year progression, two year progression, three year progression, those guys
have to come on. If they don't come on, that's
my fault. We've taken the wrong guys. You know, we're
no longer drafting guys for second contracts and so forth.

(01:50:16):
We need guys that come in and can give us
some help right away and then grow into bigger roles quickly.
We need that. That's what every team needs. And every
team has A players, B players, and C players, and
you need your C players to be able to fill
those roles effectively enough so your A and B players

(01:50:37):
can have success. And we've got to do a better
job in all three of those levels. On defense, and
that is something that we're focused on.

Speaker 2 (01:50:46):
Yeah, there's a Duke Tobyn and it's not that they
don't want to sign players they draft to second contracts.
But I think the point is, and I think it's
an important one, they need draft picks who can come
in and play and help immediately. I've said this a
few different times. I don't think this is a developmental league.

Speaker 3 (01:51:06):
Now.

Speaker 2 (01:51:06):
Players are supposed to get better, and you can draft
some guys in later rounds that you go, okay, have
them as a part of our organization and develop them
into you know, starting caliber players. But you need dudes
in this day and age, this is a cheap labor league.
You need guys who can hit the ground running. You

(01:51:28):
need a rookie draft class that can fill roles and
fill holes immediately, especially when, especially when you're a bad team.
It's one thing when you're coming off with Super Bowl
appearance and you can stash tax Hill. It's something else
entirely when you haven't made the playoffs in a couple
of years and you have major, major holes to fill.
You can't afford to draft players who don't help you

(01:51:50):
for three years down the road. It's great that that
twenty twenty three draft class has has played.

Speaker 3 (01:51:57):
Better in twenty twenty five, just it took way too long.
You can't.

Speaker 2 (01:52:02):
You can't have red shirt seasons anymore with first round
draft choices. You need those guys, So I appreciate that answer.
I don't know if it's gonna work because it hasn't
worked a lot here recently with Douke Tobin's draft classes.
UH twenty five away from six o'clock. Five one, three, seven,
four nine, fifteen thirty is our phone number. This is
ESPN fifteen thirty, Cincinnati Sports Station.

Speaker 5 (01:52:25):
Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 11 (01:52:28):
Traffic from the UC Health Traffic Center.

Speaker 8 (01:52:31):
UC Help's Weight Loss Center offers surgical and medical obesity
care and expertise called five one three nine three nine
two two sixty three. That's nine three nine two two
sixty three southbound seventy one. An accident has been cleared away.
It was before four seventy one. It's a little bit
of slow traffic on southbound seventy one to seventy five
between Fort Washington Waite and Kyle's Lane at two minute

(01:52:53):
delay and northbound seventy five another slow down from Norwood
Lateral to Paddock.

Speaker 11 (01:52:58):
I'm at Eazelic with traffic.

Speaker 2 (01:53:00):
Sports Headlines are a service that Kelsey Chevrolet Home of
lifetime powertrain protection, the guarantee credit approval from their family
to yours for life Kelsey chev dot com. Duke Tobin
reminded everyone today that he traded for Joe Flacco. Held
a season ending press conference today. The large takeaway for
most is no major changes to how they do things,

(01:53:24):
by the way, really quickly. Ben Baby of ESPN tweeted this,
which I think is interesting. So at the end of
the season, Joe Burrow talked about how things need to change.
Something needs to change, Duke Tobin said, what needs to
change is our record.

Speaker 3 (01:53:41):
That's interesting, at least to me.

Speaker 2 (01:53:44):
College football tonight, it's the Peach Bowl College Football Playoff
National Semifinal. It's Indiana and Oregon. That game is going
to kick off a little bit after seven to thirty.
Winner battles Miami in the national title game a week
from Monday. College basketball Tonight on ESPN fifteenth. He already
NKU the first of two games in Wisconsin this weekend,

(01:54:04):
the Norse Battle Milwaukee Tonight. That game tips off at
seven pm right here on ESPN fifteen thirty Tomorrow, it's
a Xavier hosting Providence. Kentucky is taking on Old Miss
That XU game is at four o'clock tomorrow on seven
hundred WLW. The Kentucky game against Mississippi State tips off

(01:54:24):
at excuse me, eight thirty on ESPN fifteen thirty. Also
this evening, they're about twenty minutes away from tip off
in Toledo, the Miami RedHawks trying to stay unbeaten, battling
the Toledo Rockets. You see is at UCF on Sunday
at five on seven hundred WLW.

Speaker 3 (01:54:43):
As well, what else did I have?

Speaker 9 (01:54:46):
Oh?

Speaker 2 (01:54:46):
Hockey tonight the Cyclones play, and I did not jot
down I think they play the see now because I
am a stickler for detail and I want to give
the proper information. I don't want to just say that
the Cyclones play tonight. No, they play Fort Wayne Fort
Wayne tonight. Downtown puck drops at seven point thirty. The
Fort Wayne comments, and that game's at Fort Wayne. It's

(01:55:07):
not downtown.

Speaker 3 (01:55:09):
Good.

Speaker 2 (01:55:09):
I said, H'm a stickler for detail, didn't know who
they're playing and got the location of the game wrong.
The Cyclones are playing at Fort Wayne. You are more
than welcome to drive to Fort Wayne to go see
that game. At Fort Wayne's a couple hours away, maybe
make it by the second period. The Cyclones are on
the road tonight against Fort Wayne, playing at historic Allen

(01:55:30):
County War Memorial Coliseum.

Speaker 3 (01:55:32):
That part I knew. Remember it's our first Friday show
since August nineteen. Away from six o'clock.

Speaker 9 (01:55:43):
It'll get easier.

Speaker 3 (01:55:44):
You remember how to do this.

Speaker 2 (01:55:46):
I will remember how to do this by next Friday.
Next Friday is going to be a good show. We
needed a Friday dress rehearsal, and today is that. I
hope everybody's enjoying it. The reaction of Kelsey Conway to
Duke Tobin when we come back on ESPN fifteen thirty
Cincinnati Sports.

Speaker 5 (01:56:04):
Station Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 8 (01:56:09):
Traffic from the UC Health Traffic Center. UC Help's Weight
Call five one three nine three nine two two sixty three.
That's nine three nine two two sixty three southbound seventy
one seventy five after twelve. They it's a disabled car
hauler that is off onto the right shoulder. A little

(01:56:30):
bit of slow traffic right now on southbound seventy five
between Freeman and Fort Washington Way, looking at a minute
or two worth of delays to get through there. I'm
at Eazeleic with traffic.

Speaker 3 (01:56:40):
This report and thirteen from US six o'clock. This is
ESPN fifteen thirty Malwager. Thank you for listening.

Speaker 2 (01:56:46):
You'll hear Kelsey Conway from The Inquirer on the Duke
Tobin press conference in just a second.

Speaker 3 (01:56:53):
Don't forget all weekend long.

Speaker 2 (01:56:54):
You could hear the NFL playoffs on Fox Sports thirteen
sixty two games tomorrow, three on Sunday, then one more
on Monday. By the way, I'm gonna do this. I'm
gonna do this. We didn't do Locks of the Night
on since E three to sixty at all this season.
But it's the playoffs, man, I can't help myself. I
like La. Look, Carolina won the first matchup, which was awesome.

(01:57:15):
Fourth worst point differential of any playoff team ever. Ever,
the three worst each won their first playoff game. That
trend is not going to continue. As long as the
Rams don't screw up on special teams. I think they win.
I think they cover the big number. I also like
the Packers against Chicago. That is not an exceptionally efficient
Chicago defense. I like Caleb Williams always a little bit

(01:57:39):
wary about quarterbacks. In their first playoff start. Number seven
Seeds are one in nine since the NFL decided to
expand the postseason. I think Packers make it two to nine.
They've got playoff experience. Green Bay did lead in the
final minutes of both games against Chicago this season. I've
got Jacksonville to reach the Super Bowl at plus five
point fifty. Yet the Dogs against Buffalo, obviously, I think

(01:58:02):
they win that one. I think the perfect the perfect
elixir when you have a beating up defense that isn't
great is Philadelphia's offense right now at FanDuel I can
get five and a half points with San Francisco, I'll
take it. The Chargers offensive line is a mess. New
England's very physical. I'll lay the three and a half

(01:58:23):
points with New England and we'll talk about Monday Night's
game on Monday. I also do like Indiana. The Hoosiers
rush defense and the fact that they in the first
matchup against Oregon they sacked Dante more six times. I
just the Hoosiers have a better roster. The number has
climbed to four it some books. Fandel still has it
at three and a half. I'm not sure I'm laying four.

(01:58:45):
I will lay three and a half with the Hoosiers tonight.
Kelsey Conway of The Inquirer in Cincinnati dot com, what
was your big takeaway from the Duke Tobin press conference?

Speaker 4 (01:58:55):
Bengals fans should prepare for more of the same.

Speaker 2 (01:59:01):
Sadly kind of mine as well, right, because I heard
I heard a lot of references to successes of the past,
as limited as they may be. I didn't hear anything
indicating reflection and using that reflection to maybe pivot in
a different direction philosophically or structurally, or from an urgency perspective.

(01:59:25):
I walked away from it thinking that if you went
into that press conference as a fan, thinking, you know what,
maybe we'll find out that things are going to be
done a little bit differently here. You walked away from
that press conference disappointed.

Speaker 4 (01:59:37):
So I'm glad that I'm coming on to be able
to talk with you about this because we in the
last couple of years, you and I have had a
chance to talk about this on air when I've been
at the Senior Bowl with Duke, and the more I
thought about it after time had passed, after the press conference,
the more I felt it was very similar to my
Q and A with him that I did Inmobile last year.

(02:00:00):
And the big takeaway, the two big takeaways that I
had is that Duke Cobin said he's frustrated. He feels
the fans disappointment. Nobody feels it more than him. He
wants to win all of that. But for two years
in a row now, he said the same thing to me.

Speaker 5 (02:00:18):
He said he's down on.

Speaker 4 (02:00:19):
The team's ability to finish games. So he said that
to me last year. I wrote it in a story
that was on the enquire and he said it Saane's
press conference that the thing that irked him most was
the team's inability to finish games in those one score games.
And for that to be his message two years in
a row makes me believe that he thinks that the

(02:00:41):
roster is good enough and that the reason that they're
not winning those one score games maybe isn't a talent
acquisition issue. It's more of a coaching mentality, a locker
room mentality issue. And to me, for that to be
the same thing in back to back years that he
thinks is the issue is a little concerning because it's

(02:01:04):
all about do you have enough good players to win
those one score games, and they don't, and they haven't
for two years in a row. So I thought he
would maybe take a messaging point of you know, we're
going to do everything we can to build a championship
caliber defense for Joe Burrow, But he didn't say any
of that. You know, expect them to add they are

(02:01:25):
going to add players in free agency on defense. He
said we need to get better on defense. But he
also said we're emerging on defense, and you know, talked
on and on about the talent on offense. And these
are all the same things he said to me last year.
So I walked away wondering what exactly will be different,
and if I think that, I would assume all the

(02:01:45):
fans think that. And he also said they're not going
to add to the scouting department. So there were multiple
times for him to say in point to certain things
he's going to change, and he didn't. So that leads
me to believe, yes, they might add a couple of
more free agents on defense this year, but if you're
expecting sweeping changes in the organization, I would just say

(02:02:06):
temper your expectation to the fans.

Speaker 2 (02:02:09):
Yeah, I mean it was. It was exactly my takeaway
from it. And it's interesting, you know, I heard Duke
talk about on a number of occasions today the one
score games. Excuse me, that the games that got away
from them late right where they blew or couldn't get
back into or tried to come back and couldn't finit whatever.
It was a lot of games they lost by not
being able to make plays late in the game. And

(02:02:31):
I guess, on one hand, you could say, well, that's
that's the arrow, that's the finger being pointed at the coaches.
I kind of go, he's pointing at the players, and Duke,
those are your players, right.

Speaker 4 (02:02:42):
No, No, for that to be the message point in
back to back years is very weird. And I would
also point to I asked him who has control over
the fifty three man roster, because obviously his title is
director of personnel, But you know, and now about what's
going on with the Bengals in the front office and
the structure with Mike Brown being involved, that yes, Duke

(02:03:05):
Cobin is in charge of the roster, but there are
things that Mike Brown is still involved in and Dak
Taylor is involved, And so I just wanted to point blank,
ask him, are you the one responsible for that roster
of those players that aren't making enough plays in one
score game that we're talking about, and he said, yes,
well I do get you know, say of where we
go and pointing us in the right direction. But he

(02:03:27):
kept using the term collaboration. And if there was a
if there would have been more of an opportunity to
ask follow ups because there was plenty of reporters there.
My question would have been too much collaboration? Could that
be a disadvantage of disadvantage for you and in you
not having a clear cut direction of this is exactly

(02:03:48):
where we need to go with an example of too
many cooks in the kitchen. And it doesn't seem like
I didn't leave the press confer today knowing any more
about who exactly makes the final call when it comes
to the Bengals roster. So with all of that to
be said, like I still leave with plenty of questions
about how things are being run in the Bengals front office.

(02:04:09):
And when you have that many questions, it's hard to
believe that success could be definitely on its way. They
might get lucky, but I don't think that there's going
to be a whole lot of things done differently to
ensure any Bengals fans that yes, they are going to
be better on defense this year.

Speaker 2 (02:04:27):
So the part of the press conference that in that
regard specifically confused me is Duke was asked, and off
the top of my head, I don't remember who asked
the question, so my apologies for that, and I'm paraphrasing
the exchange, but he was asked at one point like, yeah,
there's collaboration, but at some point, like, there's got to
be the person who says, this is what we're doing. Right,

(02:04:48):
in any collaborative setting, there's someone who decides, once and
for all.

Speaker 3 (02:04:54):
Here's what we're doing.

Speaker 2 (02:04:55):
And he kind of shot that down and said essentially like, well,
it never really gets to that.

Speaker 3 (02:04:59):
Well, yeah it does.

Speaker 2 (02:05:00):
Someone someone decides we're taking and I think the example
used was Amarus Mims. Someone makes the final decision, we're
gonna take Shamar Stewart. Someone makes the final decision we're
gonna go with Geno Stone and not sign the safety.
And so I walked away from it, just like you.
As unclear as ever as to who has final say,

(02:05:20):
because he said when it comes to having a final say, basically,
those situations don't arise.

Speaker 4 (02:05:25):
How is that the case, Well, those situations do arise.
I've talked to you enough people off the record to
know that there are very much instances where the coaches
want this player and you know, personnel might not see
it that way. And there's also the factor of you
have to loop ownership in. Are they willing to just
shout the money for this player so that whole operation

(02:05:49):
doesn't I didn't get any clarity that I was hoping to,
And of course they're not gonna tell us everything, right,
They're allowed to keep some things in house. But I
was hoping that by asking that it would maybe clear
up something with for fans to wonder, you know, at
the end of the day, this person is responsible for
the roster, and Duke did say I need to do
a better job of pointing us in the great direction

(02:06:10):
in that aspect. But the other main takeaway that I
had was I felt like, and I've felt this way
for a couple of years now with the Bengals in totality,
I think they too much live in the world of
talking and acting in a way that they're just stuck
on the fact that they were very successful for two years,

(02:06:31):
and he spoke a lot of times about I understand
he wants to show he has confidence in his scouting staff.
I get it, but he went out of his way
to kind of make comments to you know, alluding to
the same scouting staff that made that great free agent
class in twenty twenty one work. I just think that
there's too much talk and the way that they operate

(02:06:54):
about what happened with the Bengals when they got really
lucky in that twenty one and twenty twenty two season,
And I left thinking, how are we still talking about
twenty twenty one and twenty twenty two, Like they're so
far removed from that. It just left me wondering, like
is it still the whole We did this one time
so we can do it again. Like I still just

(02:07:17):
think overall, the Bengals still live in a world too
much where just because they did it those two years
doesn't mean that you can't approach, you know, the ensuing
years that same way. You have to change, you have
to evolve, And I feel like they kind of still
live in the days where they were really successful those
two years, and they think that kind of absolved a
lot of their issues. And I just I'm just not

(02:07:39):
sure that that that's the right approach, because every other
NFL team operates every year the new league year. What
are we going to do to go win another championship?
They're not still talking about the super Bowl that they
lost four years ago.

Speaker 2 (02:07:53):
That's Kelsey Conway from The Inquirer and Cincinnati dot Com
an the im mediate aftermath of the Oketoben press conference
earlier today. The music means we are done. Thank you
to Tarren Bland for producing, Thanks to you for listening.
Have the greatest weekend of your life. We'll talk to
you Monday at three oh five. This is ESPN fifteen
thirty Cincinnati sports station.

Speaker 13 (02:08:16):
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