February 13, 2026 • 39 mins
Phil Castellini now owns the Reds. And? One more day of Nick Castellanos and how many celebrities can Mo name in the NBA All Star Celebrity game?
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
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Speaker 1 (00:15):
Thank you for listening. Hopefully you are enjoying your weekend already.
We are here, Tarn and I. For years our fridays
have been Makers and Coke Fridays, Makers and Coke Fridays
for me and tea.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
So there you go. We have a lot to get
to this hour.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
We'll update our poll question, which is happening right now
on Twitter at Moegar. We've we've talked a little bit
today about Phil Castellini is now the owner of the
controlling shares of the Cincinnati Reds, which you know, I
talked about this at the top of the show. I
don't know that I need to spend that much more
time on it. I just I was a little surprised,
(00:59):
Like looking last night on Twitter. Phil is not a
popular figure. I think he would be the first to
acknowledge that if he didn't know that before a few
weeks ago, when he got booed at a Xavier game,
it was confirmed for him. It's kind of like booing
the high school principal at this point, but understanding that,
I was a little surprised that there were as many
folks on social media who seemed to be like surprised,
(01:23):
acting like this is not something they saw happening. And
I don't know where that comes from. When we talk
about Phil being an unpopular figure, you know, that's largely
a byproduct of Opening Day two thousand and two, where are.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
You're going to go?
Speaker 1 (01:41):
And it's a byproduct of the dismantling of that team
in twenty twenty one to twenty twenty two. That went
over like a lead balloon, and the Opening Day comments
took place in the wake of that dismantling, and they
lost one hundred games that year, and so that offseason
was really the first where it felt like there was
(02:06):
legitimate fan iyre being aimed at Red's ownership, which Phil
decided to be the public face and voice of That
was the first time, now think about that, that was
Winner twenty twenty one to twenty twenty two. By then,
(02:26):
Bob Castellini had owned the team for over a decade
and a half, and so you know, not making the
playoffs last year hasn't necessarily made people feel warm and
fuzzy about Red's ownership. The failure to land Kyle Schwarber
only poured gasoline on the already boiling discontent that people
(02:49):
have with Red's ownership. I'm not sure that acquiring Auhanio
Souarez is going to make anybody feel that much better
about Red's ownership. The only thing that's going to make
people feel better about Red's ownership is a championship along
with a sustained stretch of legitimate on field success. There
(03:11):
hasn't been enough winning, but I do think it's easy
to forget that for about fifteen years, Red's ownership got
passing marks from many people in the public, a lot
of fans for about fifteen years. During most of that
time I did this show. I can't tell you if
(03:36):
I got maybe more than five phone calls during those
first fifteen years of Red ownership by the Castellinis where
people blamed ownership. I think what's interesting about the relationship
that fans have with the Castellinis in particular is that
for the first fifteen years of Castellini ownership, if things
(04:01):
went wrong, ownership wasn't blamed. Sometimes the manager was Dusty Baker,
went to the playoffs in three or four years, and
yet at times was a dramatically unpopular figure, or baseball's
economics or the general manager, whoever it was. I thought,
for fifteen years, in large part because of really good
(04:23):
things done by Red's ownership, their role in the baseball
part of it was either ignored or at times lauded.
I think that's easy to forget now, like the last
few years, ownership's approval rating hasn't been very good. But
for fifteen years, man, like, you know, it was, hey,
(04:45):
they brought the All Star Game to Cincinnati, or what
about the community funder Reds Fest is back, or you know,
it was a big deal when they put every game
on television. I'm old enough to remember, and that was
a thing this century where not every game was on television,
where the ballpark is so much better, and I think
to a large degree, all these things that ownership was
involved in that don't have that much to do with
(05:07):
winning kind of obscured the fact that they didn't win.
So when the not winning got brought up, it was
Joey Vado's falter, It was Dusty Baker's faulter. It was
Brian Price's faulter. It was Walt Jockety's fault. It was
just blind lux falter. It was baseball's economics fault. It
was it was never on ownership. And so it's why
(05:30):
it's why it's hard, I think to feel sorry for
Phil or for Bob to a degree because from my perspective,
for fifteen years, Red's ownership got to pass. Now again,
many maybe the relationship was thawed in twenty twenty three
because that team was so fun, and maybe it was
thought a little bit more when they hired Tito Francona.
(05:51):
Maybe it was thought a little bit more when they
made the postseason last year. But the only thing that's
really gonna rectify it is like a long sustained stretch
of winning and a long sustained stretch of it seeming
like ownership will do anything in its power to deliver
a championship to Cincinnati. The perception is still that ownership
won't do everything in its power beyond belief to bring
(06:13):
a championship to Cincinnati. But there's no unfair treatment of
ownership here, because I felt like for fifteen years, it
seemed like ownership could do no wrong. They got a
fifteen year pass, and we would joke about this on
this show that Mike Brown's got to be, you know,
just down the river going wait, can I get some
(06:34):
of that?
Speaker 2 (06:35):
Can I?
Speaker 1 (06:36):
Because my team wins about as often as they do,
and yet I'm public enemy number one and over there
it's the exact opposite. So what's so interesting. We talked
about this last month when Phil got booed at the
Xavier game. What's so interesting about this is the relationship's
not good and people don't like ownership right now.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
For fifteen years that was not the case.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
We're watching the US Olympic women's hockey team destroy Italy taren,
do we know why the United States coach and his
cool looking sport coat and the Italian coach are yelling
at each other?
Speaker 4 (07:15):
No.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
So when I was talking to Mike de Courci, I
looked over and there was a little frankis are we
as the Italian coach accusing us of running up the score?
Speaker 4 (07:23):
I hope not.
Speaker 1 (07:24):
Well, it's six nothing right, It's the Olympics like score
as many goals as possible.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
But the two coaches were like yelling at each other.
I like it.
Speaker 4 (07:35):
I like it.
Speaker 1 (07:36):
I like what the Reds did do today because they
have reportedly signed a better version of insurance than Nick
Castiano's Nathaniel Lao has.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
I'm sorry, Nathaniel Lowe.
Speaker 1 (07:51):
There's a Brandon Lao and there's a Nathaniel Lowe, and
I just screwed the two up. Nathaniel Lowe signs a
non roster deal, minor league contract. He'll be in big
league camp. A guy who has spent most of his
career playing first base. He's won a Silver Slugger Award,
he's won a Gold Glove Award. Last year he was
with the Nationals, it didn't go well. He was with
the Red Sox went a little bit better. For the
(08:12):
month plus that he was with them, hit eighteen home
runs with an ops of six eighty nine. This is
a good signing. This is a good signing because what
I am looking for. I think what the Reds are
looking for is they're looking for They're looking for failsafs.
They're looking for Plan B type guys. Nathaniel Lowe is
(08:33):
a good Plan B type guy. He hits left handed,
He's got a little pop in his bat. Again, the
numbers aren't going to overwhelm you. But you gotta have
another option in the event that sALS Stewart at first
base doesn't work out the way we hope now. Ideally
sal Stewart spends the next five or six weeks tearing
(08:53):
the cover off the ball, playing great in the field,
primarily I'm imagining at first base, and you're comfortable enough
with him being the guy. But there is something about
depth pieces. There is something about backup plans. There is
something about having an insurance policy. Nathaniel Lowe's best season
was probably twenty twenty two with the Rangers, when he
(09:15):
won the Silver Slugger Award, hit twenty seven home runs,
had an ops of eight to fifty one. His collective
ops last year was six' eighty nine with eighteen homers.
I don't know if he makes the team. I don't
know if he makes the team specifically what his role
is going to be. But there are a lot of
guys like this that are worth taking a flyer on,
and it's not a big deal when they sign him.
(09:37):
He's thirty years old. He'll turn thirty one in July,
so we'll see not a bad signing. As signings like
this go, you could do a hell of a lot worse.
I don't know if this decreases the likelihood they signed
Nick Castianos. Nick Krawl has kind of thrown cold water
on the idea that they're going to sign Nick Castianos,
referring to him as not being a great fit. Nick
(10:00):
Castianis is thirty four years old. He is coming off
a very uninspiring season statistically with the Philadelphia Phillies, and
the relationship between him and the Phillies seemingly went south
last year. There's been a lot written about an incident
in the dugout when the Marlins and Phillies were playing
against each other last year, and apparently he got into
(10:23):
it with his manager, Rob Thompson, and I guess a
beer was involved.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
Here is a Todd's a Lucky Jim Salisbury and Ruben
Tomorrow Junior on the creatively titled The Philly Show talking
about what went down between Nick Castianis and his manager
last year.
Speaker 5 (10:40):
It's like Nick had these You remember when he signed.
Speaker 6 (10:42):
It was a five year, hundred million dollar contract of
March twenty two, Nick twenty two, he gave this very
interesting press conference. You know, I don't have a college degree,
I hit baseballs for a living, and it was like,
oh man, this guy's going to have an edge.
Speaker 5 (10:54):
And he had such wild ups and downs, these wild
these incredible highs and these incredible When he was bad,
he was bad. He admitted he was bad.
Speaker 6 (11:04):
So there are some frustrations there on Knix part in
terms of you know, hey, you know, the leash he
was given or whatever, right or wrong. You know, there
was some frustration there and he expressed it at times.
As you guys know, as everybody knows, he was never
afraid to voice his opinion. He was very blunt, very open.
He could be a difficult interview at times. He could
(11:25):
be a fun interview at times, but he could be very,
very harsh in terms of his opinions. And that I
think that all kind of culminated into what happened in
Miami in June.
Speaker 7 (11:36):
You know, it's it's okay to be blunt and opinionated
in a difficult interview, sometimes an entertaining interview.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
So it's okay to be quirky.
Speaker 7 (11:49):
It's not okay when your manager makes a decision to
remove you to try to help win a ball game
and replace you with a better defender. It's not okay
to go off on the manager in the dugout and
the coaches in the dugout. And then you know crack
of beer that symbolically.
Speaker 4 (12:08):
Was I don't know, what do you think, Ruben? He
gave him one of these and he.
Speaker 1 (12:15):
And he held up a middle finger in the video
that's the Phillies show. There's also a piece the Athletic
dot com that sort of outlines why Nick Castianos, who
you heard the guys mentioned, signed a one hundred million
dollar contract with the Philadelphia Phillies, why the two sides
ended up getting a divorce, and the writer of the
(12:35):
piece in the Athletic, Matt Gilb, writes about the instance
in Miami that you just heard those three guys referring to.
And he continues in his piece that even prior to
that incident, his words, many teammates had come to resent
Castianos for his attitude. How about that? There's also this
(13:02):
in the clubhouse, prominent players distanced themselves from Castianos. Many
of his teammates had a running debate they couldn't consider
him necessarily a bad teammate because there were instances of
him doing thoughtful things but many of his teammates argued
he was not a team player, and that's an important distinction.
For instance, not understanding why you, as a bad defensive player,
(13:25):
would be taken out for defensive purposes in that game
in Miami. Now there's a very good chance you don't
care about the Philadelphia Phillies. I don't care about the
Philadelphia Phillies. But the moment that Nick Castianos became available,
there was this like just rush of excitement among a
lot of fans.
Speaker 2 (13:40):
Hey we can get Nick Castianos.
Speaker 1 (13:44):
And if I'm getting the Nick Castianos of twenty twenty one,
who was twenty nine years old, and let's be honest,
because he was going to opt out of his deal
if he could playing for a larger contract, sign me up.
But statistically, I'm getting a guy who's OPS six ninety four.
(14:06):
It is close to one hundred points lower than his
career OPS and more than two hundred and fifty points
lower than his OPS of that twenty twenty one season,
hit seventeen home runs last year in one hundred and
forty seven games. Nothing about him statistically screams sign him.
Nothing about Nick Castiano statistically screams sign that guy. Now
(14:29):
I understand he was a fan favorite. Why wouldn't he
be a lot of folks love the fact that he
he yelled at Jake Woodford of the Cardinals at home,
played in like the second or third game of that
twenty twenty one season. He played with an edge, He
played well. He also took some parting shots at Red's
ownership right when Red's ownership was at its least popular.
(14:52):
But beyond familiarity and beyond him being a fan favorite,
what about his recent performance would make you want to
make him a p Then you add to it what
I just talked about, teammates resenting him, teammates viewing him
as not necessarily being a team player. Why do I
bring this up because I'll read Charlie Goldsmith writing today
(15:13):
about Ayuhanio Suarez where he quotes former manager Tory Lavello
with the Diamondbacks, who says about Gino. Quote, when he
stands up in front of the room and has a
conversation with the group, nobody responds and nobody talks but him.
You know, he commands the room and he's earned their respect.
He did that on a few occasions. Here's his former
(15:39):
manager in Seattle former Red Dan Wilson. Gino was traded
by the Diamondbacks to the Mariners last year, and he
literally met his team on the tarmac. Charlie writes about
this on his newsletter, which is awesome you should subscribe,
and he boards the team playing. This is the first
time he's getting to know his new teammates. Dan Wilson says,
(16:01):
quote when he came back to our team last year,
the reception he got on the airplane and some of
the relationships he renewed because obviously he had been a
Mariner before, it was super impactful. I don't know how
to describe it other than he's an incredible human and
an incredible player. Any team is lucky to have him.
So the reason you sign a Uhanio Suarez is he
(16:24):
had forty nine home runs last year. Nobody would be
interested if he hit like ten home runs last season.
But he fills a need, right The Rads need home runs.
Gino can still hit home runs. But also that's the
kind of guy you want on your team. That's the
kind of guy with a team full of guys that
(16:46):
are individually largely still unproven, with a team that hasn't
really won anything substantial in forever. That's the kind of
guy you want. Nobody would say not a team player,
nobody would want. Is he a good teammate. Nobody would
question Gino's professionalism. So if that's what you're prioritizing ohen
(17:08):
by the way, he can hit maybe forty home runs
for you, why in the same offseason would you want
a guy is probably not gonna hit forty home runs
who hit all of seventeen last year. Defensively is an
absolute zero. And you already have a DH his name
is Auhanio Suarez, and there are questions about if he's
(17:29):
going to be a team player, what kind of professionalism
there's going to be, whether or not he's going to
be on board, whether or not he's gonna get it
if his role is lessened. Like this is nothing against
Nick Castianos personally, This is nothing against what he was
when he was here the first go round. But understanding
what the Reds seemingly are prioritizing this offseason, why on
(17:52):
earth would anybody make a big deal about Nick Castianos Owen,
by the way, they just signed a version of him
today to kind of be an option at first base,
and he's younger, and I would argue, though not statistically great,
likely to be better if he makes the team, then
Nick Castianos.
Speaker 2 (18:11):
Oh and by the way, with.
Speaker 1 (18:13):
Nathaniel Lowe, I read nothing about being a bad teammate,
lack of professionalism, not being a team player. So I
know we're probably talking right now to a small, niche
group of fans, But like, you could find no shortage
of folks who it's maybe because of nostalgia or you
(18:35):
had a Castianas jersey that you want to pull out.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
Him off balls.
Speaker 1 (18:38):
But like, if the idea is to sign Nick Castianas
because you loved him five years ago, I'm not interested
in five years ago. The Rench should be interested in now.
But also if you're prioritizing a certain type of player,
which they apparently were with a Euaniosuarez, willing to accept
the fact that the guy strikes out a lot, willing
to accept the fact that the guy defensively probably not
(19:00):
going to help all that much, willing to accept it offensively.
He's probably a one dimensional player, but that one dimension
is important. Also, there are intangibles he brings to the table.
Nick Castiano seems to be the opposite of that, even
if he can still hit the ball out of the ballpark,
probably not to the same degree as euhaneos Warez, and
(19:23):
you've got people openly questioning his professionalism and his willingness
capability being a team player. Nick Castianis was a lot
of fun the first go round, But if you view
him as the difference between the Reds being okay and
(19:45):
really good or bad and okay, you're looking at him
through a different lens than I am, and apparently through
a different lens than the Reds are. One of the
things about this team last season. One of the things
about this team over the last couple of years, there
really hasn't been a big thing, like, no real controversy
(20:09):
that I can recall, no real sort of issue. You
hired Terry Francona, and you know, it feels like there's
a level of leadership and professionalism that you've sought to
have for a while. If Nick Castianos was in his prime,
if he was an All Star, if he was one
of the best players in baseball, first of all, the
(20:29):
Philadelphia Phillies wouldn't have let him go. The Philadelphia Phillies,
who have bonified World Series hopes, wouldn't have let him go. Secondly,
he would be worth bringing in. But at thirty four
years old, with his production having dipped and there being
questions about his willingness to be a good teammate, why
(20:54):
would anybody want to make a big deal about signing him.
Way late twenty six after five ESPN fifteen.
Speaker 3 (21:00):
Thirty, Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty traffic.
Speaker 8 (21:06):
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They've mastered what's best for you. Learn more at UCHealth
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(21:26):
left shoulder. A new crash as well. Eastbound two seventy
five between Reid Hartman Highway and I seventy one in Ohio.
Traffic backed up through there. I'm at eazelik with the traffic.
Speaker 1 (21:36):
This report is spine tried sexy time music. It's the
day before Valentine's Day. By the way, congratulations. Podcasts of
our show are a service of Longneck Sports Grill. We
love the folks at Long Necks. Hopefully you love our podcasts.
It's it's the show, It's It's podcast and so check
(21:59):
that out anything you may have missed on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaking of Long Necks, you know they have three locations.
They've got Wilder and they've got They've got rich Wood.
We love those locations. They have a brand new location
in Hebrew now they've had a Hebrew location for a while.
Speaker 2 (22:16):
They have moved.
Speaker 1 (22:16):
They're just down the road from the old one and
their grand opening is tomorrow. So I know UK plays
at three o'clock tomorrow, so you can watch the Wildcats.
Good day to post up and watch college shops. Weather
should be decent ish for mid February and Long Neck
Sports Grill obviously has four KTVs all over the place.
(22:40):
We always talk about their menu. They also have for
Valentine's Day a heck of a deal, so take advantage
of this. If you go to long next tomorrow, you
can get one appetizer, two entrees, and two cheesecakes for
just forty five dollars and drink specials. So if you're
in the area, check out the brand new Long Necks. Again,
(23:03):
it's it's not like a remodeled version of the old one.
It's like a whole new building. It's a whole new
restaurant right by conn It's like right next to Connor
High School. So go check it out. Went out there
and posted up for lunch today and was terrific. Long
neck sports girl in Hebrew. Congratulations to the folks long
Necks for the new store, and I'll be back very
very very soon. Twenty eight away from six o'clock sports headlines.
(23:27):
By the way, the hockey game is over. The US
wins six nothing over Italy. We advance to the semifinals
in women's hockey. This is ESPN fifteen thirty, Cincinnati Sports.
Speaker 3 (23:37):
Station, Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty.
Speaker 8 (23:41):
Traffic from the uc Health Traffic Center at the uc
Health Backneck in Spine Center. Spine care is never one
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off both shoulders in Northern Kentucky at seventy one seventy
(24:04):
five Police they're on sene as well, and eastbound two
seventy five. It's an accident on the entrance ramp from
Reed Hartman Highway. I'm at ezelic with charm.
Speaker 1 (24:13):
I guess they're still searching from backup quarterback.
Speaker 4 (24:16):
I suppose we'll give them today. McCarthy, No good, Sure, yeah,
all right?
Speaker 1 (24:26):
Where it is watching Sam Darnold win a Super Bowl
rate for you? In the list of heartbreaking Minnesota Viking events.
Speaker 4 (24:34):
It's probably number three. It's almost like the year Toronto
one after they traded to rosen.
Speaker 1 (24:39):
Fair Fair get it, because that's when you see it's
becoming a raptor.
Speaker 4 (24:45):
Sam. Yes, I understand.
Speaker 1 (24:47):
Sports headlines are a service at Kelsey Chevrolet, home of
lifetime powertrain protection and guaranteed credit approval from their family
to yours for life Kelsey chev dot Com. The reason
I sound confused is I've got the Olympics on in
studio and I we just got done watching our women's
(25:09):
hockey team destroy Italy's six nothing.
Speaker 2 (25:13):
And I don't religiously.
Speaker 1 (25:15):
Follow women's hockey, But in between periods they have and
before the game they have Lindsay's Arniac as the host
used to be on ESPN and now it works for NBC,
and they have and I don't know the woman's name,
and I don't have audio on in here, but she's
obviously a former women's hockey player. At one point they
showed her credentials, having played on the US women's hockey
(25:37):
team in nineteen ninety eight. And I don't know anything
about her. I don't know how good or bad her
analysis is. I'm sure it's terrific. She's working for NBC,
But I don't know why I've picked up on this.
I believe at some point because she was on before
the game, she was on between the first and second period,
(25:58):
she was on between the second and third period, and
now she's on after the game. At some point she
changed clothes. She was What she's wearing is it's a nice,
uh pair of black pants and like a blue blazer.
She was wearing pink earlier. She had a wardrobe change.
(26:18):
I'm almost convinced of this. This is probably completely irrelevant
to anybody who was watching or certainly listening to this show.
Speaker 4 (26:25):
But that's makes sense because yes, pink shoes on.
Speaker 1 (26:29):
Yes, yes she was wearing pink earlier. I don't know
if she spilled something watching the game. I don't know
if somebody said, hey, why don't we try so. I
don't know if she's like, you know what I want.
I have both these outfits and I'm gonna wear them both.
I have no idea she was wearing something else Earlier.
Sports headlines are a service at Kelsey Chevrolet Palm of
lifetime power train protection and guaranteed credit approval from their
(26:52):
family to Yours for Life, Kelsey chev dot com. Nathaniel
Lowe is signing with the Reds, a non roster invitee
to a big league camp.
Speaker 2 (27:00):
He is thirty years old.
Speaker 1 (27:01):
Played last year with the Nationals then the Red Sox,
at eighteen home runs, had an ops of six 't
eighty nine. He was with the Rangers for years, won
a Gold Glove, won a Silver Slugger Award. He is
mainly a first baseman. That signing is okay and there
are no reports of him not being a team player. Meanwhile,
the Bengals have rounded out their coaching staff finalized their
(27:23):
coaching staff, hiring of A Davis Cutter as assistant wide
receivers coach. He's spent last year as the assistant quarterbacks
coach at the University of South Carolina.
Speaker 2 (27:32):
Congratulations to him.
Speaker 1 (27:34):
College basketball tonight, It's Miami hosting Ohio University. This game
is going to tip off at nine pm. Molett Hall,
or as it's sometimes called, Millet Hall, should be rocking
tonight as the RedHawks look for a twenty fifth consecutive
win to start this season. On national TV tonight for
(27:57):
what it's worth, and good luck to the RedHawks. Good
back to tray Steel. Last unbeaten team. Tip off is
at nine o'clock. It's on regular ESPN. RedHawks are eight
and a half point favorites Miami this year is fifteen
and six against the spread. The three games they played
against non Division one teams, there was no point spread,
(28:20):
so you might be going, wait a minute, They've played
twenty four games, but only twenty one against the number.
Vegas doesn't give lines for the most part against non
Division one teams. By the way, I don't know who's
calling the game for ESPN. Last night was like a
Horizon League Night on ESPN NKU won won by three
over IU Indianapolis. Did you know that a Mecca Oka
(28:42):
four is a color analyst on ESPN?
Speaker 4 (28:45):
Really?
Speaker 1 (28:45):
Yeah, I'm trying to. I'm gonna look it up because
I'm kind of zipping around trying to find the NKU game,
and I watched because it was Green Bay and perdue
for Awayne Doug Gottlieb's team, and I don't recall who
the play by play guy was, and they didn't show
the broadcasters. And then at the end, the play by
(29:09):
play guy was like, you know, hey for a Mecca
Oka four, I'm so I'm like a Mecca a Mecca Okapoor,
the two thousand and five NBA Rookie of the Year
doing Horizon League games on ESPN. Good for him, Yes, absolutely.
Speaker 4 (29:24):
Miami, Ohio is following one of my favorite events, the
NBA All Star Celebrity Game.
Speaker 2 (29:29):
All right, So I was going to ask you about this.
I was gonna do this earlier.
Speaker 1 (29:35):
Se I'm doing this here on the fly while I
while I while I look this up on the fly,
I'll tell you. Tomorrow, Xavier takes on Marquette. Marquette beat
the Musketeers in Milwaukee earlier this season by one. Tomorrow's
tip off is at three pm. Ohio State is taking
on Virginia in a non conference tilt. That game is
being played in Nashville at an arena that I was
(29:57):
in to watch U see lose to Nevada Also this
weekend you see hosts Utah Sunday at noon, and Indiana's
at Illinois dayton takes on Davidson Sunday at four hockey
tonight's The Cyclones are going to be busy this weekend.
They've got a home game tonight against Toledo. I believe
it's a miracle on ice Jersey night tonight. Those look
(30:20):
cool puck drops at seven thirty. Then tomorrow they're in
Toledo to play the Walleye and then come right back
home and play the Indianapolis Fuel on Sunday at three o'clock.
Speaker 2 (30:35):
I'm trying to.
Speaker 1 (30:35):
Pull up the celebrity game rosters. My computer is moving
very very slowly. Here, I have it all right, read
the names of the celebrities to me.
Speaker 4 (30:50):
So for Team Yannis Teamianness, we have Keegan Michael Key, Okay,
I know who that is, Rome Flynn no idea, Dylan Wayne,
no idea, Sham Sharanya Okay, I know who that is, obviously, yes,
Jenna Brandy no idea, Rick Schnall.
Speaker 1 (31:08):
Don't know who that is, Tacko Fall I know who
that is, Jeremy Lamb, obviously, I know who that is.
Speaker 2 (31:16):
I don't know if I know who or what Gloriala is?
Uh kau what bless you?
Speaker 4 (31:24):
C A f u A f u? What is?
Speaker 2 (31:28):
Do you know who that is? How many of these
people so far? Do you know who they are?
Speaker 4 (31:32):
I know about five of them?
Speaker 2 (31:33):
Five of them? Okay?
Speaker 4 (31:34):
An Aman Ron S Brown.
Speaker 2 (31:37):
The Lions, Okay, aren't good player? Okay?
Speaker 1 (31:39):
All right?
Speaker 2 (31:40):
Who else?
Speaker 4 (31:40):
And then for team Anthony Anderson? Okay, Simu leu, no idea?
What that is? Cody Jones?
Speaker 2 (31:50):
Who's Cody Jones? He wrestler?
Speaker 4 (31:53):
No, it's Cody Roach bad shah?
Speaker 2 (31:58):
Who be? You're just making noises? Now?
Speaker 4 (32:03):
B A D s h A H?
Speaker 2 (32:06):
Is that bad?
Speaker 1 (32:07):
I don't know who that is, regardless however you say it.
Speaker 4 (32:09):
I have no idea. Andre Degrassi, should I know who
that is? I know he's the Canadian track sprinter, Okay, gotcha? Okay,
very good. Matt ishbia I know who that is. Taylor
Frankie Paul, No idea, Jason White Chocolate Williams.
Speaker 1 (32:26):
Okay, I know who that is. Matt ishbia is. He's
like a really rich guy.
Speaker 2 (32:32):
He owns the Sons.
Speaker 1 (32:33):
Yeah, so the owner of the Sons is going to
be in the celebrity game. Yep, okay, I knew, I
knew the name. Yeah, he owns the Sons, all right.
Speaker 2 (32:39):
Continue?
Speaker 4 (32:40):
Then last four Mustard, which he's a DJ. They just
have mustard though not DJ.
Speaker 1 (32:46):
Yeah, so he did a commercial wardout Mustard.
Speaker 4 (32:50):
Okay, Adrian Nunez.
Speaker 2 (32:54):
Uh should I know who that is?
Speaker 4 (32:56):
I don't know that is?
Speaker 2 (32:57):
Okay?
Speaker 4 (32:58):
Then Keenan Allen, oh the Chargers okay, and his last
name I'm not even better try to pronounce I can't.
Speaker 1 (33:06):
So I knew who? Like five of them were six? Yes,
I feel like that number gets less and less every year.
Speaker 4 (33:14):
So we have a country singer that's Dylan Waang okay,
Jenna Brandy hit a sing singer, songwriter okay, Cody Rose,
he's a creator and co founder of Dude Perfect.
Speaker 2 (33:26):
Okay, I know who those guys are.
Speaker 4 (33:29):
Brazilian soccer legend is the CAF Kfu okay. Yeah? And
uh Gloriala, she's a rapper, I tell her?
Speaker 1 (33:38):
And yeah, are there more celebrities in the celebrity NBA
All Star Game? Where the celebrity Softball game they have
around the Baseball All Star Game?
Speaker 4 (33:48):
Probably the celebrity uh softball game?
Speaker 2 (33:51):
You know, I was thinking about this. I don't know why.
Speaker 4 (33:54):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (33:54):
Somebody the other night tweeted out that I believe Wednesday
was the anniversary of Buster Douglas beating Mike Tyson, and
whenever like greatest upset in sports history is brought up,
that's the event that I recall.
Speaker 2 (34:10):
Now, I was two years.
Speaker 1 (34:12):
Old for the miracle on ice, so maybe not like
greatest in sports history, but like the one of my youth,
like I don't know that I could do justice, how jarring.
That was what I remember about that fight was it
was not on pay per view, regular HBO aired it.
It was a Saturday night. The fight was in Tokyo,
and this dude from Columbus beat Mike Tyson, who seemed invincible.
(34:36):
On the list of things I wish Twitter was around for,
that's very close to the top of the list. And
I was talking with somebody about, like, you know, if
you weren't around back then, I'm not sure you could
really encapsulate how massive of an upset that was. And
then we started to talk about the dunk contest and
(34:56):
how when I was a kid NBA All Stars Saturday Night,
I was one of the first.
Speaker 2 (35:02):
Kids that I knew that had cable.
Speaker 1 (35:04):
So the Jordan Dominique Wilkins Dunk Contest at Chicago Stadium.
Speaker 4 (35:08):
We got Dominique got robbed.
Speaker 1 (35:10):
Dominique got robbed. I believe that to this day. Dominiqueilkins
is one of my all time favorite athletes. Dominique Wilkins,
the dunk content. You go watch it on YouTube. Dominique Wilkins.
If that event had been in any other venue but Chicago,
Nique wins. I'm comfortable saying that, like as one of
my all time favorite players. So maybe I'm biased, but
I remember that night. I remember Josh Lofton and his
(35:32):
brother coming over to my house, and a guy named
Dan Freeman, who I only liked because his sister was cute, like,
came over to my house to watch the dunk contest.
It was a huge deal and for years, for a
few not for many years, but for a few years after,
like NBA All Stars Saturday Night was was just the best.
(35:53):
It was must watch and uh like that night, like
that just general night, but that night in nineteen eighty eight,
for people my age, I can't imagine how many how
many kids became basketball fans for life because of that,
Because of that event, And now I don't want to
(36:15):
watch tall players dunk. Why do we have like seven
foot guys in the dunk context? And then we add
dudes who aren't even really in the NBA Mac McClung, Like,
what was cool about Jordan versus Wilkins. There were two
like legitimate stars, Like in nineteen eighty eight, Jordan might
not have been at the Apex, but he was a
certifiable star and Dominique Wilkins that year had an epic
(36:37):
playoff duel with Larry Bird, also bodified, certifiable star, and
that event. Now it just you talk about something that
just doesn't have anywhere close to the cachet. It is
impossible for me to successfully articulate pretty much anything but
the significance of NBA All Star Saturday Night to like
(37:01):
a eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen year old boy in the
late eighties and early nineties, and especially in the late eighties,
if you didn't have cable, like you had to find
a friend who did and invite yourself over on Saturday
because the dunk contest was I remember when Kenny Walker
wanted from Kentucky New York Knicks. I remember when he
(37:24):
won it at my dad's house watching that, and we
had people over, kids over, my friends who like cable,
hadn't hit their neighborhood yet.
Speaker 4 (37:33):
And uh, the last good one for me was twenty sixteen,
which was Levine Gordon.
Speaker 2 (37:38):
Lavine Gordon was awesome.
Speaker 1 (37:39):
That's probably the last one that I like thought, this
is this replicates what it was when I was a kid.
Speaker 4 (37:44):
Now this weekend we do have a local tie Jackson Hayes.
Speaker 1 (37:47):
Jackson Hayes, but like Jackson Hayes is a big do
you want to watch bigs dunk?
Speaker 4 (37:52):
Let's see how creative he nd. I don't think he's
I don't think he's very creative, but we'll see.
Speaker 2 (37:55):
That's the thing. Like it's good.
Speaker 1 (37:56):
There's powerful dunkers, good dunkers in traffic, but the dunk
contest is about creativity, athleticism aerobatics, which is acrobatics.
Speaker 4 (38:07):
In the air, which is neither one of us correct.
All right, well that was fun.
Speaker 2 (38:12):
We have to go.
Speaker 1 (38:13):
Anything you might have misso find on the iHeartRadio app
and we're back.
Speaker 2 (38:16):
We're working Monday, working Monday. That's right.
Speaker 1 (38:20):
We're honoring our dead presidents by working. Unlike Tony and Austin,
so We'll be here Monday at three oh five. Have
a great night, have a great weekend. Thank you for listening.
Thanks to Taran for producing. This is ESPN fifteen thirty
Cincinnati Sports.
Speaker 3 (38:35):
Station Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty.
Speaker 8 (38:45):
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Speaker 1 (00:10):
Damn that you have pie after five. This is ESPN
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Speaker 2 (00:15):
Mulleger.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
Thank you for listening. Hopefully you are enjoying your weekend already.
We are here, Tarn and I. For years our fridays
have been Makers and Coke Fridays, Makers and Coke Fridays
for me and tea.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
So there you go. We have a lot to get
to this hour.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
We'll update our poll question, which is happening right now
on Twitter at Moegar. We've we've talked a little bit
today about Phil Castellini is now the owner of the
controlling shares of the Cincinnati Reds, which you know, I
talked about this at the top of the show. I
don't know that I need to spend that much more
time on it. I just I was a little surprised,
(00:59):
Like looking last night on Twitter. Phil is not a
popular figure. I think he would be the first to
acknowledge that if he didn't know that before a few
weeks ago, when he got booed at a Xavier game,
it was confirmed for him. It's kind of like booing
the high school principal at this point, but understanding that,
I was a little surprised that there were as many
folks on social media who seemed to be like surprised,
(01:23):
acting like this is not something they saw happening. And
I don't know where that comes from. When we talk
about Phil being an unpopular figure, you know, that's largely
a byproduct of Opening Day two thousand and two, where are.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
You're going to go?
Speaker 1 (01:41):
And it's a byproduct of the dismantling of that team
in twenty twenty one to twenty twenty two. That went
over like a lead balloon, and the Opening Day comments
took place in the wake of that dismantling, and they
lost one hundred games that year, and so that offseason
was really the first where it felt like there was
(02:06):
legitimate fan iyre being aimed at Red's ownership, which Phil
decided to be the public face and voice of That
was the first time, now think about that, that was
Winner twenty twenty one to twenty twenty two. By then,
(02:26):
Bob Castellini had owned the team for over a decade
and a half, and so you know, not making the
playoffs last year hasn't necessarily made people feel warm and
fuzzy about Red's ownership. The failure to land Kyle Schwarber
only poured gasoline on the already boiling discontent that people
(02:49):
have with Red's ownership. I'm not sure that acquiring Auhanio
Souarez is going to make anybody feel that much better
about Red's ownership. The only thing that's going to make
people feel better about Red's ownership is a championship along
with a sustained stretch of legitimate on field success. There
(03:11):
hasn't been enough winning, but I do think it's easy
to forget that for about fifteen years, Red's ownership got
passing marks from many people in the public, a lot
of fans for about fifteen years. During most of that
time I did this show. I can't tell you if
(03:36):
I got maybe more than five phone calls during those
first fifteen years of Red ownership by the Castellinis where
people blamed ownership. I think what's interesting about the relationship
that fans have with the Castellinis in particular is that
for the first fifteen years of Castellini ownership, if things
(04:01):
went wrong, ownership wasn't blamed. Sometimes the manager was Dusty Baker,
went to the playoffs in three or four years, and
yet at times was a dramatically unpopular figure, or baseball's
economics or the general manager, whoever it was. I thought,
for fifteen years, in large part because of really good
(04:23):
things done by Red's ownership, their role in the baseball
part of it was either ignored or at times lauded.
I think that's easy to forget now, like the last
few years, ownership's approval rating hasn't been very good. But
for fifteen years, man, like, you know, it was, hey,
(04:45):
they brought the All Star Game to Cincinnati, or what
about the community funder Reds Fest is back, or you know,
it was a big deal when they put every game
on television. I'm old enough to remember, and that was
a thing this century where not every game was on television,
where the ballpark is so much better, and I think
to a large degree, all these things that ownership was
involved in that don't have that much to do with
(05:07):
winning kind of obscured the fact that they didn't win.
So when the not winning got brought up, it was
Joey Vado's falter, It was Dusty Baker's faulter. It was
Brian Price's faulter. It was Walt Jockety's fault. It was
just blind lux falter. It was baseball's economics fault. It
was it was never on ownership. And so it's why
(05:30):
it's why it's hard, I think to feel sorry for
Phil or for Bob to a degree because from my perspective,
for fifteen years, Red's ownership got to pass. Now again,
many maybe the relationship was thawed in twenty twenty three
because that team was so fun, and maybe it was
thought a little bit more when they hired Tito Francona.
(05:51):
Maybe it was thought a little bit more when they
made the postseason last year. But the only thing that's
really gonna rectify it is like a long sustained stretch
of winning and a long sustained stretch of it seeming
like ownership will do anything in its power to deliver
a championship to Cincinnati. The perception is still that ownership
won't do everything in its power beyond belief to bring
(06:13):
a championship to Cincinnati. But there's no unfair treatment of
ownership here, because I felt like for fifteen years, it
seemed like ownership could do no wrong. They got a
fifteen year pass, and we would joke about this on
this show that Mike Brown's got to be, you know,
just down the river going wait, can I get some
(06:34):
of that?
Speaker 2 (06:35):
Can I?
Speaker 1 (06:36):
Because my team wins about as often as they do,
and yet I'm public enemy number one and over there
it's the exact opposite. So what's so interesting. We talked
about this last month when Phil got booed at the
Xavier game. What's so interesting about this is the relationship's
not good and people don't like ownership right now.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
For fifteen years that was not the case.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
We're watching the US Olympic women's hockey team destroy Italy taren,
do we know why the United States coach and his
cool looking sport coat and the Italian coach are yelling
at each other?
Speaker 4 (07:15):
No.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
So when I was talking to Mike de Courci, I
looked over and there was a little frankis are we
as the Italian coach accusing us of running up the score?
Speaker 4 (07:23):
I hope not.
Speaker 1 (07:24):
Well, it's six nothing right, It's the Olympics like score
as many goals as possible.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
But the two coaches were like yelling at each other.
I like it.
Speaker 4 (07:35):
I like it.
Speaker 1 (07:36):
I like what the Reds did do today because they
have reportedly signed a better version of insurance than Nick
Castiano's Nathaniel Lao has.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
I'm sorry, Nathaniel Lowe.
Speaker 1 (07:51):
There's a Brandon Lao and there's a Nathaniel Lowe, and
I just screwed the two up. Nathaniel Lowe signs a
non roster deal, minor league contract. He'll be in big
league camp. A guy who has spent most of his
career playing first base. He's won a Silver Slugger Award,
he's won a Gold Glove Award. Last year he was
with the Nationals, it didn't go well. He was with
the Red Sox went a little bit better. For the
(08:12):
month plus that he was with them, hit eighteen home
runs with an ops of six eighty nine. This is
a good signing. This is a good signing because what
I am looking for. I think what the Reds are
looking for is they're looking for They're looking for failsafs.
They're looking for Plan B type guys. Nathaniel Lowe is
(08:33):
a good Plan B type guy. He hits left handed,
He's got a little pop in his bat. Again, the
numbers aren't going to overwhelm you. But you gotta have
another option in the event that sALS Stewart at first
base doesn't work out the way we hope now. Ideally
sal Stewart spends the next five or six weeks tearing
(08:53):
the cover off the ball, playing great in the field,
primarily I'm imagining at first base, and you're comfortable enough
with him being the guy. But there is something about
depth pieces. There is something about backup plans. There is
something about having an insurance policy. Nathaniel Lowe's best season
was probably twenty twenty two with the Rangers, when he
(09:15):
won the Silver Slugger Award, hit twenty seven home runs,
had an ops of eight to fifty one. His collective
ops last year was six' eighty nine with eighteen homers.
I don't know if he makes the team. I don't
know if he makes the team specifically what his role
is going to be. But there are a lot of
guys like this that are worth taking a flyer on,
and it's not a big deal when they sign him.
(09:37):
He's thirty years old. He'll turn thirty one in July,
so we'll see not a bad signing. As signings like
this go, you could do a hell of a lot worse.
I don't know if this decreases the likelihood they signed
Nick Castianos. Nick Krawl has kind of thrown cold water
on the idea that they're going to sign Nick Castianos,
referring to him as not being a great fit. Nick
(10:00):
Castianis is thirty four years old. He is coming off
a very uninspiring season statistically with the Philadelphia Phillies, and
the relationship between him and the Phillies seemingly went south
last year. There's been a lot written about an incident
in the dugout when the Marlins and Phillies were playing
against each other last year, and apparently he got into
(10:23):
it with his manager, Rob Thompson, and I guess a
beer was involved.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
Here is a Todd's a Lucky Jim Salisbury and Ruben
Tomorrow Junior on the creatively titled The Philly Show talking
about what went down between Nick Castianis and his manager
last year.
Speaker 5 (10:40):
It's like Nick had these You remember when he signed.
Speaker 6 (10:42):
It was a five year, hundred million dollar contract of
March twenty two, Nick twenty two, he gave this very
interesting press conference. You know, I don't have a college degree,
I hit baseballs for a living, and it was like,
oh man, this guy's going to have an edge.
Speaker 5 (10:54):
And he had such wild ups and downs, these wild
these incredible highs and these incredible When he was bad,
he was bad. He admitted he was bad.
Speaker 6 (11:04):
So there are some frustrations there on Knix part in
terms of you know, hey, you know, the leash he
was given or whatever, right or wrong. You know, there
was some frustration there and he expressed it at times.
As you guys know, as everybody knows, he was never
afraid to voice his opinion. He was very blunt, very open.
He could be a difficult interview at times. He could
(11:25):
be a fun interview at times, but he could be very,
very harsh in terms of his opinions. And that I
think that all kind of culminated into what happened in
Miami in June.
Speaker 7 (11:36):
You know, it's it's okay to be blunt and opinionated
in a difficult interview, sometimes an entertaining interview.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
So it's okay to be quirky.
Speaker 7 (11:49):
It's not okay when your manager makes a decision to
remove you to try to help win a ball game
and replace you with a better defender. It's not okay
to go off on the manager in the dugout and
the coaches in the dugout. And then you know crack
of beer that symbolically.
Speaker 4 (12:08):
Was I don't know, what do you think, Ruben? He
gave him one of these and he.
Speaker 1 (12:15):
And he held up a middle finger in the video
that's the Phillies show. There's also a piece the Athletic
dot com that sort of outlines why Nick Castianos, who
you heard the guys mentioned, signed a one hundred million
dollar contract with the Philadelphia Phillies, why the two sides
ended up getting a divorce, and the writer of the
(12:35):
piece in the Athletic, Matt Gilb, writes about the instance
in Miami that you just heard those three guys referring to.
And he continues in his piece that even prior to
that incident, his words, many teammates had come to resent
Castianos for his attitude. How about that? There's also this
(13:02):
in the clubhouse, prominent players distanced themselves from Castianos. Many
of his teammates had a running debate they couldn't consider
him necessarily a bad teammate because there were instances of
him doing thoughtful things but many of his teammates argued
he was not a team player, and that's an important distinction.
For instance, not understanding why you, as a bad defensive player,
(13:25):
would be taken out for defensive purposes in that game
in Miami. Now there's a very good chance you don't
care about the Philadelphia Phillies. I don't care about the
Philadelphia Phillies. But the moment that Nick Castianos became available,
there was this like just rush of excitement among a
lot of fans.
Speaker 2 (13:40):
Hey we can get Nick Castianos.
Speaker 1 (13:44):
And if I'm getting the Nick Castianos of twenty twenty one,
who was twenty nine years old, and let's be honest,
because he was going to opt out of his deal
if he could playing for a larger contract, sign me up.
But statistically, I'm getting a guy who's OPS six ninety four.
(14:06):
It is close to one hundred points lower than his
career OPS and more than two hundred and fifty points
lower than his OPS of that twenty twenty one season,
hit seventeen home runs last year in one hundred and
forty seven games. Nothing about him statistically screams sign him.
Nothing about Nick Castiano statistically screams sign that guy. Now
(14:29):
I understand he was a fan favorite. Why wouldn't he
be a lot of folks love the fact that he
he yelled at Jake Woodford of the Cardinals at home,
played in like the second or third game of that
twenty twenty one season. He played with an edge, He
played well. He also took some parting shots at Red's
ownership right when Red's ownership was at its least popular.
(14:52):
But beyond familiarity and beyond him being a fan favorite,
what about his recent performance would make you want to
make him a p Then you add to it what
I just talked about, teammates resenting him, teammates viewing him
as not necessarily being a team player. Why do I
bring this up because I'll read Charlie Goldsmith writing today
(15:13):
about Ayuhanio Suarez where he quotes former manager Tory Lavello
with the Diamondbacks, who says about Gino. Quote, when he
stands up in front of the room and has a
conversation with the group, nobody responds and nobody talks but him.
You know, he commands the room and he's earned their respect.
He did that on a few occasions. Here's his former
(15:39):
manager in Seattle former Red Dan Wilson. Gino was traded
by the Diamondbacks to the Mariners last year, and he
literally met his team on the tarmac. Charlie writes about
this on his newsletter, which is awesome you should subscribe,
and he boards the team playing. This is the first
time he's getting to know his new teammates. Dan Wilson says,
(16:01):
quote when he came back to our team last year,
the reception he got on the airplane and some of
the relationships he renewed because obviously he had been a
Mariner before, it was super impactful. I don't know how
to describe it other than he's an incredible human and
an incredible player. Any team is lucky to have him.
So the reason you sign a Uhanio Suarez is he
(16:24):
had forty nine home runs last year. Nobody would be
interested if he hit like ten home runs last season.
But he fills a need, right The Rads need home runs.
Gino can still hit home runs. But also that's the
kind of guy you want on your team. That's the
kind of guy with a team full of guys that
(16:46):
are individually largely still unproven, with a team that hasn't
really won anything substantial in forever. That's the kind of
guy you want. Nobody would say not a team player,
nobody would want. Is he a good teammate. Nobody would
question Gino's professionalism. So if that's what you're prioritizing ohen
(17:08):
by the way, he can hit maybe forty home runs
for you, why in the same offseason would you want
a guy is probably not gonna hit forty home runs
who hit all of seventeen last year. Defensively is an
absolute zero. And you already have a DH his name
is Auhanio Suarez, and there are questions about if he's
(17:29):
going to be a team player, what kind of professionalism
there's going to be, whether or not he's going to
be on board, whether or not he's gonna get it
if his role is lessened. Like this is nothing against
Nick Castianos personally, This is nothing against what he was
when he was here the first go round. But understanding
what the Reds seemingly are prioritizing this offseason, why on
(17:52):
earth would anybody make a big deal about Nick Castianos Owen,
by the way, they just signed a version of him
today to kind of be an option at first base,
and he's younger, and I would argue, though not statistically great,
likely to be better if he makes the team, then
Nick Castianos.
Speaker 2 (18:11):
Oh and by the way, with.
Speaker 1 (18:13):
Nathaniel Lowe, I read nothing about being a bad teammate,
lack of professionalism, not being a team player. So I
know we're probably talking right now to a small, niche
group of fans, But like, you could find no shortage
of folks who it's maybe because of nostalgia or you
(18:35):
had a Castianas jersey that you want to pull out.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
Him off balls.
Speaker 1 (18:38):
But like, if the idea is to sign Nick Castianas
because you loved him five years ago, I'm not interested
in five years ago. The Rench should be interested in now.
But also if you're prioritizing a certain type of player,
which they apparently were with a Euaniosuarez, willing to accept
the fact that the guy strikes out a lot, willing
to accept the fact that the guy defensively probably not
(19:00):
going to help all that much, willing to accept it offensively.
He's probably a one dimensional player, but that one dimension
is important. Also, there are intangibles he brings to the table.
Nick Castiano seems to be the opposite of that, even
if he can still hit the ball out of the ballpark,
probably not to the same degree as euhaneos Warez, and
(19:23):
you've got people openly questioning his professionalism and his willingness
capability being a team player. Nick Castianis was a lot
of fun the first go round, But if you view
him as the difference between the Reds being okay and
(19:45):
really good or bad and okay, you're looking at him
through a different lens than I am, and apparently through
a different lens than the Reds are. One of the
things about this team last season. One of the things
about this team over the last couple of years, there
really hasn't been a big thing, like, no real controversy
(20:09):
that I can recall, no real sort of issue. You
hired Terry Francona, and you know, it feels like there's
a level of leadership and professionalism that you've sought to
have for a while. If Nick Castianos was in his prime,
if he was an All Star, if he was one
of the best players in baseball, first of all, the
(20:29):
Philadelphia Phillies wouldn't have let him go. The Philadelphia Phillies,
who have bonified World Series hopes, wouldn't have let him go. Secondly,
he would be worth bringing in. But at thirty four
years old, with his production having dipped and there being
questions about his willingness to be a good teammate, why
(20:54):
would anybody want to make a big deal about signing him.
Way late twenty six after five ESPN fifteen.
Speaker 3 (21:00):
Thirty, Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty traffic.
Speaker 8 (21:06):
From the uc Health Traffic Center at the uc Health
Backneck and Spine Center. Spine care is never one size
fits all, from non surgical treatments to the most complex cases.
They've mastered what's best for you. Learn more at UCHealth
dot com. There is still an accident on eastbound two
seventy five after Loveland Madeira wrote it's off on the
(21:26):
left shoulder. A new crash as well. Eastbound two seventy
five between Reid Hartman Highway and I seventy one in Ohio.
Traffic backed up through there. I'm at eazelik with the traffic.
Speaker 1 (21:36):
This report is spine tried sexy time music. It's the
day before Valentine's Day. By the way, congratulations. Podcasts of
our show are a service of Longneck Sports Grill. We
love the folks at Long Necks. Hopefully you love our podcasts.
It's it's the show, It's It's podcast and so check
(21:59):
that out anything you may have missed on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaking of Long Necks, you know they have three locations.
They've got Wilder and they've got They've got rich Wood.
We love those locations. They have a brand new location
in Hebrew now they've had a Hebrew location for a while.
Speaker 2 (22:16):
They have moved.
Speaker 1 (22:16):
They're just down the road from the old one and
their grand opening is tomorrow. So I know UK plays
at three o'clock tomorrow, so you can watch the Wildcats.
Good day to post up and watch college shops. Weather
should be decent ish for mid February and Long Neck
Sports Grill obviously has four KTVs all over the place.
(22:40):
We always talk about their menu. They also have for
Valentine's Day a heck of a deal, so take advantage
of this. If you go to long next tomorrow, you
can get one appetizer, two entrees, and two cheesecakes for
just forty five dollars and drink specials. So if you're
in the area, check out the brand new Long Necks. Again,
(23:03):
it's it's not like a remodeled version of the old one.
It's like a whole new building. It's a whole new
restaurant right by conn It's like right next to Connor
High School. So go check it out. Went out there
and posted up for lunch today and was terrific. Long
neck sports girl in Hebrew. Congratulations to the folks long
Necks for the new store, and I'll be back very
very very soon. Twenty eight away from six o'clock sports headlines.
(23:27):
By the way, the hockey game is over. The US
wins six nothing over Italy. We advance to the semifinals
in women's hockey. This is ESPN fifteen thirty, Cincinnati Sports.
Speaker 3 (23:37):
Station, Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty.
Speaker 8 (23:41):
Traffic from the uc Health Traffic Center at the uc
Health Backneck in Spine Center. Spine care is never one
size fits all, from non surgical treatments through the most
complex cases. They've mastered what's best for you. Learn more
at UCHealth dot com. Westbound two seventy five acident blocking
off both shoulders in Northern Kentucky at seventy one seventy
(24:04):
five Police they're on sene as well, and eastbound two
seventy five. It's an accident on the entrance ramp from
Reed Hartman Highway. I'm at ezelic with charm.
Speaker 1 (24:13):
I guess they're still searching from backup quarterback.
Speaker 4 (24:16):
I suppose we'll give them today. McCarthy, No good, Sure, yeah,
all right?
Speaker 1 (24:26):
Where it is watching Sam Darnold win a Super Bowl
rate for you? In the list of heartbreaking Minnesota Viking events.
Speaker 4 (24:34):
It's probably number three. It's almost like the year Toronto
one after they traded to rosen.
Speaker 1 (24:39):
Fair Fair get it, because that's when you see it's
becoming a raptor.
Speaker 4 (24:45):
Sam. Yes, I understand.
Speaker 1 (24:47):
Sports headlines are a service at Kelsey Chevrolet, home of
lifetime powertrain protection and guaranteed credit approval from their family
to yours for life Kelsey chev dot Com. The reason
I sound confused is I've got the Olympics on in
studio and I we just got done watching our women's
(25:09):
hockey team destroy Italy's six nothing.
Speaker 2 (25:13):
And I don't religiously.
Speaker 1 (25:15):
Follow women's hockey, But in between periods they have and
before the game they have Lindsay's Arniac as the host
used to be on ESPN and now it works for NBC,
and they have and I don't know the woman's name,
and I don't have audio on in here, but she's
obviously a former women's hockey player. At one point they
showed her credentials, having played on the US women's hockey
(25:37):
team in nineteen ninety eight. And I don't know anything
about her. I don't know how good or bad her
analysis is. I'm sure it's terrific. She's working for NBC,
But I don't know why I've picked up on this.
I believe at some point because she was on before
the game, she was on between the first and second period,
(25:58):
she was on between the second and third period, and
now she's on after the game. At some point she
changed clothes. She was What she's wearing is it's a nice,
uh pair of black pants and like a blue blazer.
She was wearing pink earlier. She had a wardrobe change.
(26:18):
I'm almost convinced of this. This is probably completely irrelevant
to anybody who was watching or certainly listening to this show.
Speaker 4 (26:25):
But that's makes sense because yes, pink shoes on.
Speaker 1 (26:29):
Yes, yes she was wearing pink earlier. I don't know
if she spilled something watching the game. I don't know
if somebody said, hey, why don't we try so. I
don't know if she's like, you know what I want.
I have both these outfits and I'm gonna wear them both.
I have no idea she was wearing something else Earlier.
Sports headlines are a service at Kelsey Chevrolet Palm of
lifetime power train protection and guaranteed credit approval from their
(26:52):
family to Yours for Life, Kelsey chev dot com. Nathaniel
Lowe is signing with the Reds, a non roster invitee
to a big league camp.
Speaker 2 (27:00):
He is thirty years old.
Speaker 1 (27:01):
Played last year with the Nationals then the Red Sox,
at eighteen home runs, had an ops of six 't
eighty nine. He was with the Rangers for years, won
a Gold Glove, won a Silver Slugger Award. He is
mainly a first baseman. That signing is okay and there
are no reports of him not being a team player. Meanwhile,
the Bengals have rounded out their coaching staff finalized their
(27:23):
coaching staff, hiring of A Davis Cutter as assistant wide
receivers coach. He's spent last year as the assistant quarterbacks
coach at the University of South Carolina.
Speaker 2 (27:32):
Congratulations to him.
Speaker 1 (27:34):
College basketball tonight, It's Miami hosting Ohio University. This game
is going to tip off at nine pm. Molett Hall,
or as it's sometimes called, Millet Hall, should be rocking
tonight as the RedHawks look for a twenty fifth consecutive
win to start this season. On national TV tonight for
(27:57):
what it's worth, and good luck to the RedHawks. Good
back to tray Steel. Last unbeaten team. Tip off is
at nine o'clock. It's on regular ESPN. RedHawks are eight
and a half point favorites Miami this year is fifteen
and six against the spread. The three games they played
against non Division one teams, there was no point spread,
(28:20):
so you might be going, wait a minute, They've played
twenty four games, but only twenty one against the number.
Vegas doesn't give lines for the most part against non
Division one teams. By the way, I don't know who's
calling the game for ESPN. Last night was like a
Horizon League Night on ESPN NKU won won by three
over IU Indianapolis. Did you know that a Mecca Oka
(28:42):
four is a color analyst on ESPN?
Speaker 4 (28:45):
Really?
Speaker 1 (28:45):
Yeah, I'm trying to. I'm gonna look it up because
I'm kind of zipping around trying to find the NKU game,
and I watched because it was Green Bay and perdue
for Awayne Doug Gottlieb's team, and I don't recall who
the play by play guy was, and they didn't show
the broadcasters. And then at the end, the play by
(29:09):
play guy was like, you know, hey for a Mecca
Oka four, I'm so I'm like a Mecca a Mecca Okapoor,
the two thousand and five NBA Rookie of the Year
doing Horizon League games on ESPN. Good for him, Yes, absolutely.
Speaker 4 (29:24):
Miami, Ohio is following one of my favorite events, the
NBA All Star Celebrity Game.
Speaker 2 (29:29):
All right, So I was going to ask you about this.
I was gonna do this earlier.
Speaker 1 (29:35):
Se I'm doing this here on the fly while I
while I while I look this up on the fly,
I'll tell you. Tomorrow, Xavier takes on Marquette. Marquette beat
the Musketeers in Milwaukee earlier this season by one. Tomorrow's
tip off is at three pm. Ohio State is taking
on Virginia in a non conference tilt. That game is
being played in Nashville at an arena that I was
(29:57):
in to watch U see lose to Nevada Also this
weekend you see hosts Utah Sunday at noon, and Indiana's
at Illinois dayton takes on Davidson Sunday at four hockey
tonight's The Cyclones are going to be busy this weekend.
They've got a home game tonight against Toledo. I believe
it's a miracle on ice Jersey night tonight. Those look
(30:20):
cool puck drops at seven thirty. Then tomorrow they're in
Toledo to play the Walleye and then come right back
home and play the Indianapolis Fuel on Sunday at three o'clock.
Speaker 2 (30:35):
I'm trying to.
Speaker 1 (30:35):
Pull up the celebrity game rosters. My computer is moving
very very slowly. Here, I have it all right, read
the names of the celebrities to me.
Speaker 4 (30:50):
So for Team Yannis Teamianness, we have Keegan Michael Key, Okay,
I know who that is, Rome Flynn no idea, Dylan Wayne,
no idea, Sham Sharanya Okay, I know who that is, obviously, yes,
Jenna Brandy no idea, Rick Schnall.
Speaker 1 (31:08):
Don't know who that is, Tacko Fall I know who
that is, Jeremy Lamb, obviously, I know who that is.
Speaker 2 (31:16):
I don't know if I know who or what Gloriala is?
Uh kau what bless you?
Speaker 4 (31:24):
C A f u A f u? What is?
Speaker 2 (31:28):
Do you know who that is? How many of these
people so far? Do you know who they are?
Speaker 4 (31:32):
I know about five of them?
Speaker 2 (31:33):
Five of them? Okay?
Speaker 4 (31:34):
An Aman Ron S Brown.
Speaker 2 (31:37):
The Lions, Okay, aren't good player? Okay?
Speaker 1 (31:39):
All right?
Speaker 2 (31:40):
Who else?
Speaker 4 (31:40):
And then for team Anthony Anderson? Okay, Simu leu, no idea?
What that is? Cody Jones?
Speaker 2 (31:50):
Who's Cody Jones? He wrestler?
Speaker 4 (31:53):
No, it's Cody Roach bad shah?
Speaker 2 (31:58):
Who be? You're just making noises? Now?
Speaker 4 (32:03):
B A D s h A H?
Speaker 2 (32:06):
Is that bad?
Speaker 1 (32:07):
I don't know who that is, regardless however you say it.
Speaker 4 (32:09):
I have no idea. Andre Degrassi, should I know who
that is? I know he's the Canadian track sprinter, Okay, gotcha? Okay,
very good. Matt ishbia I know who that is. Taylor
Frankie Paul, No idea, Jason White Chocolate Williams.
Speaker 1 (32:26):
Okay, I know who that is. Matt ishbia is. He's
like a really rich guy.
Speaker 2 (32:32):
He owns the Sons.
Speaker 1 (32:33):
Yeah, so the owner of the Sons is going to
be in the celebrity game. Yep, okay, I knew, I
knew the name. Yeah, he owns the Sons, all right.
Speaker 2 (32:39):
Continue?
Speaker 4 (32:40):
Then last four Mustard, which he's a DJ. They just
have mustard though not DJ.
Speaker 1 (32:46):
Yeah, so he did a commercial wardout Mustard.
Speaker 4 (32:50):
Okay, Adrian Nunez.
Speaker 2 (32:54):
Uh should I know who that is?
Speaker 4 (32:56):
I don't know that is?
Speaker 2 (32:57):
Okay?
Speaker 4 (32:58):
Then Keenan Allen, oh the Chargers okay, and his last
name I'm not even better try to pronounce I can't.
Speaker 1 (33:06):
So I knew who? Like five of them were six? Yes,
I feel like that number gets less and less every year.
Speaker 4 (33:14):
So we have a country singer that's Dylan Waang okay,
Jenna Brandy hit a sing singer, songwriter okay, Cody Rose,
he's a creator and co founder of Dude Perfect.
Speaker 2 (33:26):
Okay, I know who those guys are.
Speaker 4 (33:29):
Brazilian soccer legend is the CAF Kfu okay. Yeah? And
uh Gloriala, she's a rapper, I tell her?
Speaker 1 (33:38):
And yeah, are there more celebrities in the celebrity NBA
All Star Game? Where the celebrity Softball game they have
around the Baseball All Star Game?
Speaker 4 (33:48):
Probably the celebrity uh softball game?
Speaker 2 (33:51):
You know, I was thinking about this. I don't know why.
Speaker 4 (33:54):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (33:54):
Somebody the other night tweeted out that I believe Wednesday
was the anniversary of Buster Douglas beating Mike Tyson, and
whenever like greatest upset in sports history is brought up,
that's the event that I recall.
Speaker 2 (34:10):
Now, I was two years.
Speaker 1 (34:12):
Old for the miracle on ice, so maybe not like
greatest in sports history, but like the one of my youth,
like I don't know that I could do justice, how jarring.
That was what I remember about that fight was it
was not on pay per view, regular HBO aired it.
It was a Saturday night. The fight was in Tokyo,
and this dude from Columbus beat Mike Tyson, who seemed invincible.
(34:36):
On the list of things I wish Twitter was around for,
that's very close to the top of the list. And
I was talking with somebody about, like, you know, if
you weren't around back then, I'm not sure you could
really encapsulate how massive of an upset that was. And
then we started to talk about the dunk contest and
(34:56):
how when I was a kid NBA All Stars Saturday Night,
I was one of the first.
Speaker 2 (35:02):
Kids that I knew that had cable.
Speaker 1 (35:04):
So the Jordan Dominique Wilkins Dunk Contest at Chicago Stadium.
Speaker 4 (35:08):
We got Dominique got robbed.
Speaker 1 (35:10):
Dominique got robbed. I believe that to this day. Dominiqueilkins
is one of my all time favorite athletes. Dominique Wilkins,
the dunk content. You go watch it on YouTube. Dominique Wilkins.
If that event had been in any other venue but Chicago,
Nique wins. I'm comfortable saying that, like as one of
my all time favorite players. So maybe I'm biased, but
I remember that night. I remember Josh Lofton and his
(35:32):
brother coming over to my house, and a guy named
Dan Freeman, who I only liked because his sister was cute, like,
came over to my house to watch the dunk contest.
It was a huge deal and for years, for a
few not for many years, but for a few years after,
like NBA All Stars Saturday Night was was just the best.
(35:53):
It was must watch and uh like that night, like
that just general night, but that night in nineteen eighty eight,
for people my age, I can't imagine how many how
many kids became basketball fans for life because of that,
Because of that event, And now I don't want to
(36:15):
watch tall players dunk. Why do we have like seven
foot guys in the dunk context? And then we add
dudes who aren't even really in the NBA Mac McClung, Like,
what was cool about Jordan versus Wilkins. There were two
like legitimate stars, Like in nineteen eighty eight, Jordan might
not have been at the Apex, but he was a
certifiable star and Dominique Wilkins that year had an epic
(36:37):
playoff duel with Larry Bird, also bodified, certifiable star, and
that event. Now it just you talk about something that
just doesn't have anywhere close to the cachet. It is
impossible for me to successfully articulate pretty much anything but
the significance of NBA All Star Saturday Night to like
(37:01):
a eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen year old boy in the
late eighties and early nineties, and especially in the late eighties,
if you didn't have cable, like you had to find
a friend who did and invite yourself over on Saturday
because the dunk contest was I remember when Kenny Walker
wanted from Kentucky New York Knicks. I remember when he
(37:24):
won it at my dad's house watching that, and we
had people over, kids over, my friends who like cable,
hadn't hit their neighborhood yet.
Speaker 4 (37:33):
And uh, the last good one for me was twenty sixteen,
which was Levine Gordon.
Speaker 2 (37:38):
Lavine Gordon was awesome.
Speaker 1 (37:39):
That's probably the last one that I like thought, this
is this replicates what it was when I was a kid.
Speaker 4 (37:44):
Now this weekend we do have a local tie Jackson Hayes.
Speaker 1 (37:47):
Jackson Hayes, but like Jackson Hayes is a big do
you want to watch bigs dunk?
Speaker 4 (37:52):
Let's see how creative he nd. I don't think he's
I don't think he's very creative, but we'll see.
Speaker 2 (37:55):
That's the thing. Like it's good.
Speaker 1 (37:56):
There's powerful dunkers, good dunkers in traffic, but the dunk
contest is about creativity, athleticism aerobatics, which is acrobatics.
Speaker 4 (38:07):
In the air, which is neither one of us correct.
All right, well that was fun.
Speaker 2 (38:12):
We have to go.
Speaker 1 (38:13):
Anything you might have misso find on the iHeartRadio app
and we're back.
Speaker 2 (38:16):
We're working Monday, working Monday. That's right.
Speaker 1 (38:20):
We're honoring our dead presidents by working. Unlike Tony and Austin,
so We'll be here Monday at three oh five. Have
a great night, have a great weekend. Thank you for listening.
Thanks to Taran for producing. This is ESPN fifteen thirty
Cincinnati Sports.
Speaker 3 (38:35):
Station Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty.
Speaker 8 (38:45):
Traffic from the uc Health Traffic Center at the uc
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approaching the Brent Spence Bridge to Center lanes blocked from
(39:07):
an accident. Thirty five minute to lay back from Burlington
Pike northbound seventy one at Smith Edwards. It's an accident
blocking the right lane. I'm at ezelic with traffic
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