June 10, 2026 • 36 mins
The Reds win! Sal Stewart hears the noise. What noise is he hearing? Bob Huggins get the call to UC's Hall and Bearcats co-offensive coordinator Nic Cardwell joins the show.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
ESPN fifteen Oh yea, that is us.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
That is the name of the radio station and it
is Cincinnati Sports Station. Good afternoon on maleger This is
ESPN fifteen thirty. Thank you for listening. Hobra having an
awesome Wednesday afternoon. We are loaded today show preview. You
can watch it right now on Twitter at malegar. Thanks
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Speaker 1 (00:39):
Paul Danner Junior is going to be on this show.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
He is typically with us on Tuesday, but because of
his work schedule and some commitments that he had professionally
and personally, we've moved him to today and he is
going to join us this afternoon in the.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
Five o'clock hours, so we are looking forward to that.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
We'll talk about Joe Burrows contract restrict ructure, what it
might mean moving forward, and so much more in the
final hour of the show.
Speaker 1 (01:05):
I cannot wait.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
Later on this hour, the co offensive coordinator at the
University of Cincinnati. Nick Cardwell is going to join us.
We've got Wise Money Sports, We've got Bob Huggins going
into UC's Hall of Fame, and so much more. Between
now and six o'clock, I just pretty much previewed the show,
and I'm supposed to tell you to go to Twitter
(01:27):
to watch the show preview video.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
So just go humor me. Okay, go ahead and do
that now.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
It's like a minute and twenty second long video. It's
not going to put you out all that much. Rad's
win last night, they played this afternoon. First pitch coming
up in about an hour. Brady Singer is going to
get the ball for Cincinnati. This team has a chance
to win a series on the road against a Padres
team that came into this series reeling, having lost eleven
out of thirteen games. I don't know about you. I
(01:56):
don't know if you stayed up and watched. I don't
know if you gave up in the middle innings. I
don't know if you gave up in the ninth inning
last night. But from about the bottom of the third
inning on clear through the tenth inning, at no point
did it feel like the Reds were gonna win that
Baseball game last night. They did so in large part,
(02:19):
not in soul part, but in large part to some
eleventh inning heroics by our guys Sal Stewart. Here's the
call last night in the Reds Radio network.
Speaker 3 (02:31):
That's Suey ready as he throws and Stuart wax one
to center field. It's well struck. Merrill going back, Merrill
looks up.
Speaker 4 (02:39):
That's gone.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
Sal.
Speaker 3 (02:41):
Stuart watches it out of here to straight away center
field and the Reds have a five to three lead.
He gave it a long ride and he just got
it over the wall. And like we said, this time
of day, you've really got to tag it to get
(03:03):
it out of here, and Sal did just that.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
Tommy throw Red's Radio Network and seven hundred WLW last night.
Sal Stewart with one of the biggest hits of his
young career. One of the heroes last night. You'll talk about.
You'll hear him talk about his homer. He was not
the only guy to contribute to last night's victory. Blake Done,
(03:29):
Blake Dunn's catch, you got that audio, Go ahead and
give me Blake Done selling himself out to save the
game last night.
Speaker 3 (03:39):
And here comes the one zero pick swung on broken
batlooper short right center field, out goes the Royal. It
comes the right fielder head Steer lays out and makes
a spectacular headlong diving catch. It's done and right that
lays out to make the catch. Steer went into first
base when Meyers stayed in the game in center. A
(04:00):
spectacular catch in short right field by Blake Dunn laying
out and saving the game for.
Speaker 1 (04:07):
The Red Yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
Wonderfully described by Tommy on the Reds Radio network in
seven hundred WLW. That was one of those plays where look,
it's it's heightened because of when it took place in
the game. Eighth inning, two outs, you got the go
ahead run in scoring position on third base. It feels
like the game is about to unravel, and if San
(04:28):
Diego scores, you've got to face Mason Miller trying to
tie the ballgame. You had to face Mason Miller no
matter what, in the top of the ninth inning, and
you saw why he's the most dominant pitcher in the sport,
at least relief pitcher in the sport last night. But
Blake Dunn's catch there was what it meant. It kept
the game alive. The degree of difficulty on that catch.
(04:49):
I thought this watching the ballgame last night on Red's TV.
Was obviously a great catch. It's a great diving catch.
I'm not sure until you saw it, maybe a second
or third time, that you really appreciated how much ground
he had to cover. And Blake Done is really fast,
fastest sprint speed on the Reds. Blake Done. There's been
a lot to complain about. It goes without saying there's
(05:12):
been a lot to complain about. There's been a lot
to make fun of. There have been many reasons to
be frustrated and angry. Give it up to Blake Done
like that's a guy who's gotten a handful of chances,
hasn't necessarily taken advantage. He's helped this team with his bat,
He's helped this team with his legs. He's helped this
team with his glove. There aren't enough guys who have
(05:34):
helped this team. Blake Done has taken advantage of the
opportunity to help this team, and he has helped it.
Did it with his glove last night, a terrific catch
to keep the Reds alive. Call it what it is.
If he doesn't make that catch, they're not touching Mason Miller,
they don't win the game.
Speaker 1 (05:53):
Awesome catch. They got really good bullpen work last night.
Speaker 2 (05:57):
This has been the most frustrating thing about the last
seven weeks or so, the bullpen work. It wasn't perfect,
but man, you played an eleven inning game where your
starting pitcher couldn't get through the sixth and you didn't
allow a run beyond the stupid ghost runner. He's not
(06:19):
a ghost runner because he's not a ghost magic runner
in the tenth inning, like give it up to him.
It's often been asked, how does this get turned around?
And the answer is obvious. I'm not sure it happens,
but the answer is obvious. Good bullpen work. The Reds
are getting, on average, exactly what Chase Burns gave him
last night, five and the third innings, which is the
(06:40):
league average. The red starting pitchers are giving the Reds
league average length, which means that on a nightly basis,
Tito is having to get eleven outs from the bullpen.
Last night, he needed to get seventeen, and he got
(07:01):
him from Rockburg. Caleb Ferguson, Tony Santion, Sam Mall, tj Antone,
Zach Maxwell picked up his first big League save, like
that's that's that's what's gonna determine this, And there's like, yes,
get Elie de other Cruz back, hit more, find a corner, ralefielder,
get more production from a lot of spots on the field,
(07:21):
get better starting pitching, get Hunter green back, like there's yes,
there's a lot there. By the way, they had to
use everybody, So Zach mccambley's been sent down, Chase Petty
is back up. Things got so dire last night. Tito
after the ballgame talked about Nico Lidolo coming up to
him and offering to pitch in relief. That's where things were.
Speaker 1 (07:41):
Who knows where that game goes if it gets beyond
the eleventh inning, if ever, there were a case, by
the way, and the only new rule change I despise
is the magic runner rule where we start extra innings
with a guy on second base. If there's ever an
argument for it, it's games like last night's where it's like, dude,
if San Diego ties the game in the eleventh, then
(08:03):
we go to the twelfth, like.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
Who's going to pitch the innings? But this is how
it turns around. If the Reds get better bullpen work. Now,
you're being reasonable and fair because this is where I am.
I don't expect, as currently constructed, this bullpen to be
a bona fide strength, and I'll acknowledge better when Pierce
Johnson's available and healthy, better when Amelia Pegan is available
(08:28):
and healthy. But just collectively, it's not a very reliable group.
I cannot rely on them, neither can you. But if
it does turn around, it's going to turn around because
of well games that look like last night, where they
don't make mistakes in the field, they don't commit errors,
they make some great plays in the field, and they
(08:50):
get a lot of tough outs, high leverage outs. By
the way, it's worth mentioning like, yeah, the Reds bullpen
didn't give.
Speaker 1 (08:58):
Up a run.
Speaker 2 (08:59):
They gave it's not an urn run in the tenth
inning when Antonin inherited the guy at second base. Everybody
with the exception of Zach Maxwell gave up a hit.
And so they were pitching in a lot of high stress,
high leverage situations. If this turns around and this becomes
a season where the Reds actually accomplished something of note,
(09:22):
it's gonna be because the bullpen gives this team. More reliability,
gives this team more games that look like last night.
I am like you, I am completely skeptical that that's
gonna happen. But if it does, if this gets turned around,
it's good bullpen work, certainly in the short term, but
it's a low ceiling team. Offensively, they're not great at
(09:44):
getting lengthd collectively from the starting pitchers. They're gonna have
to find ways on a consistent basis to get between
nine and twelve outs and do so without coughing up games,
giving away leads, pitching the team out of games. It's
got a lot like it did last night, with some
help from the gloves last night, notably Blake Donn a
(10:06):
terrific catch that saved the game. And yes, I'll say
it maybe the season. You'll hear salth Stewart momentarily quarter
after three. This is ESPN fifteen thirty phone numbers five
point three seven four nine fifteen thirty eight six six
seven oh two three seven seven six. Bob Huggins is
going into the University of Cincinnati Hall of Fame.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
That could not be more overdue, it could not be
more deserved. We'll get to that a little bit later
on I've I've gotten some pushback of my Brendan Soresby take.
I'm just gonna give you my perspective and point of
view where I come from and the Bengals continue to modernize.
Paul Danner Junior joins us on that topic and so
much more coming up in the five o'clock hour.
Speaker 2 (10:51):
Your phone calls are welcome. Sixteen after three. You could
tweet too at Moeger thanks to Delta Dental. Delta Dental
is building healthy, smart, vibrant communities for all good at
deelt To dentalh dot com. Sixteen after three o'clock, I'm owegar.
This is ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports Station.
Speaker 1 (11:08):
By Cincinnati and iHeartRadio station Guarantee Human ESPN fifteen thirty.
I heard Rady twenty two after three. This is ESPN
fifteen thirty. You're not being pulled over. Do not worry.
Everything's okay. I mean, you might be.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
Being pulled over right now, but that would be a coincidence.
That's just a song Terrence playing in the background. Bumper
music is the industry term.
Speaker 1 (11:34):
Don't worry. Daner on the Bengals.
Speaker 2 (11:37):
In the five o'clock hour, we'll talk Joe Burrows contract restructure.
What it might mean for the team this season, what
it might mean moving forward, what it might mean for
the grand scheme of life. sALS Stewart hit a big, big,
big home run last night. Sal's rookie season has been
mostly terrific. It hasn't been without struggle. He has scuffled
(11:59):
for lar stretches of time where it feels like the
league is caught up to him. But he's got thirteen
home runs and the Reds have played sixty six games.
Hit a big two run homer last night. Here he
is immediately after Cincinnati's five to three extra innings victory
in San Diego with Jim Day on Red's TV.
Speaker 5 (12:19):
Sow Stuart, how big of a moment was that for
you and particularly this team?
Speaker 6 (12:25):
Yeah, you know, we've been having a lot of bad breaks,
you know, and it's been kind of a rough stretch.
But we're just trying to stick with you.
Speaker 4 (12:32):
You know.
Speaker 6 (12:33):
Sometimes I don't know why the man above gives us
the challenges that he does, but I trusted him and
I surrendered to him. Yeah, and it hasn't really been
going well for myself either. You know, I've been down
on a little stretch here and I've been hearing the
outside noise, you know, nice and they kind of motivated
me a little bit, you know.
Speaker 1 (12:51):
I sometimes you need a.
Speaker 6 (12:53):
Little bit of that, and uh, we all hear the
outside noise, so it's nice to get a big win
like this.
Speaker 1 (12:58):
Yeah, and on to tomorrow. You hunting a particular pitch.
I think you got a splitter that was left up.
Speaker 6 (13:04):
No, I was just looking for a good pitch of
hit and I got one.
Speaker 1 (13:07):
Rounding the basis.
Speaker 4 (13:08):
Uh.
Speaker 5 (13:09):
The emotion was pouring over into the duguy. What was
that moment for you? Is that type of a type
of sigh of relief? What's the elation?
Speaker 4 (13:18):
Like?
Speaker 1 (13:18):
Can you put it to words?
Speaker 4 (13:22):
More?
Speaker 6 (13:22):
Just kind of a lot of frustration on getting let out,
and it was a big moment.
Speaker 1 (13:27):
I blacked out, you know.
Speaker 6 (13:28):
And yeah, I've been I've been hearing what's been said
about me, you know, when I've been going through a
rough stretch. So it was nice to do that and
show that man, nothing but nothing's gonna phasee me. You know,
I'm built for this. I'm built to be in this moment.
Jesus gives me all the strength. Like I try to
tell you guys, when I go good and bad, I
praise him all the time because he gives me all
the strengths. So I'm just happy that we got to win,
(13:48):
and I'm excited for tomorrow.
Speaker 1 (13:49):
Sala Stewart with Jim Day late last night early this
morning on Red's TV.
Speaker 2 (13:55):
Sala is having a very good rookie season. It has
been a rookie sea that has not been without struggles,
and Sal referenced them and good for him for mentioning them.
Speaker 1 (14:05):
He talked about hearing the noise.
Speaker 2 (14:07):
He talked about seeing and being aware of what people
are saying about him. Here's my question, with all the
different issues the Reds have right now, with all the
different issues the Reds have organizationally, who's that upset with
(14:28):
Sal Stewart? Do you wish every player would not go
through long stretches where they don't hit?
Speaker 4 (14:33):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (14:34):
Sure, man, it would be awesome to be immune from
a slump. Very very very very very few are. In fact,
nobody is now If the noise is people acknowledging like
Sal recently, he's cooled off. Sal recently looks like he's
having a hard time with breaking balls. Sal recently at
times against tough, tough righties that get ahead in the
(14:54):
count it feels like they've got them on a plank, Like,
I mean, that's that's fair.
Speaker 1 (14:59):
Like it's if you point to what Sal's not.
Speaker 2 (15:02):
Doing statistically or is doing statistically over a certain amount
of time, that's not noise.
Speaker 1 (15:08):
But beyond that, who doesn't like South Stuart.
Speaker 2 (15:14):
On the list of things that for a thirty two
and thirty four baseball team you can be pretty happy
about this year, Sal Stuart might be at the very
top of it.
Speaker 1 (15:24):
And again, maybe it's just me.
Speaker 2 (15:26):
I think I have company here, but he would be
one of those dudes that I would invest in right now.
And it's not that Sal is guaranteed to be a superstar.
It's not that the Red should sign him to a
contract that makes him a Red for life. I think
you have to look at players through this lens, like
who are the guys who are most likely to be
here in three years? Sal Stuart is not alone on
(15:47):
that list. Maybe he's not at the top of that list,
but he's on it. And there ain't many the guys
who are likely to be here in three years. I
think you have to invest in because you want to
control their cost. And yeah, man, you're gonna get burned.
Sometimes you're gonna get burned taking on some risk. The
Bengals took on risk this offseason. We're all about it.
(16:10):
Do we acknowledge the risk they incurred? Yeah, you may
have traded for a guy whose best seasons are behind him,
and you may have given up a chance to take
a guy in Caleb Downs who would have been cheap,
cost controlled and really good for a while. But you
embrace the risk. There are certain risks worth taking. South
Stewart is one of those risks worth taking. I don't
(16:32):
know anybody who doesn't view him as one of the
core pieces. So I don't know what noise he's hearing.
Sometimes athletes love to make up, you know, these boogeymen
like others noise out there.
Speaker 1 (16:43):
I don't know. I have no idea.
Speaker 2 (16:45):
I don't claim to have my finger on the pulse
of everything. I certainly don't claim to be an expert,
but I do think for the most part, I got
a pretty good sense of, like who everybody's on board with,
who everybody's cool with, who everybody is kind of leaving alone.
South Stewart is one of those dudes. We're just leaving alone,
he's going to go through slumps. The problem when he
(17:08):
does is the team hasn't been good enough to withstand
those slumps. Right now, they don't have Elie de la
Cruz and South Stewart has cooled. Last night's to run
home run notwithstanding, has cooled considerably. It's a top heavy
team ideally moving forward. You know, I mentioned this yesterday.
I was talking about the Milwaukee Brewers. No team in
(17:30):
baseball last year had more games where everybody in the
starting lineup got a hit than the Milwaukee Brewers. Like,
what you're looking for is some degree of lineup balance,
some degree of depth. Obviously, you're a ninth place hitter
isn't going to be as good as your second place hitter.
Your eighth place hitter isn't going to hit as many
(17:51):
home runs ideally as your fourth place hitter. Like, not
everybody's an All star, not everybody's really good. Not every
position's going to be filled by the same person who
plays it every single day. But there does need to
be enough balance that a guy like Sal Stewart in
the embryotic stages of his big league career is allowed
(18:14):
a batting slump. The way they're constructed Right now, sal
Stewart's not allowed a batting slump. God help them when J. J.
Speaker 1 (18:21):
Blina cools off and they can't play without Elie de
la Cruz. It's too top heavy a team. What was
so impressive about those first few weeks sal Stewart had
this year was he was not only putting up really
good numbers, he was carrying the team that needed him
to carry the team. Sal struggles recently have been amplified
(18:42):
by the fact there's nobody else to pick up the slack.
That's not his problem. It's the Reds fault that's got
to be fixed. But good for him for his heroics
last night. UH three point thirty sports headlines are coming up.
Reds and Padres get underway at the top of the hour.
We will keep you up to date all afternoon on
what's happening in San Diego. Something I have been.
Speaker 2 (19:06):
Beating the drum for for years came to fruition today.
We'll talk about it next on ESPN fifteen thirty.
Speaker 7 (19:14):
Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty Traffic.
Speaker 1 (19:18):
From the UC Health Traffic Center at the.
Speaker 7 (19:21):
UC campaign fifteen thirty.
Speaker 2 (19:23):
Forward's headlines are a service to Kelsey Chevrolet home of
lifetime power train protection and guaranteed credit approval from their
family to yours for life, kelseyshev dot Com, Reds and Padres.
Thirty minutes away from wrapping up a three game series
in San Diego, Brady's singer will pitch for Cincinnati Reds
(19:43):
with a chance to take the series.
Speaker 1 (19:46):
Michael King throws for the Padres.
Speaker 2 (19:48):
Your starting line up four to ten, first pitch, a
little bit more than thirty minutes away. Four to ten,
first pitch this afternoon. McClain, Bledet and Stewart mcclan is
playing short. Stewart is playing third, Spencer Steer plays second
in bat's fourth. Nathaniel Low at first, A juhanios Forrez
DHS Dane Myers and center Noel ve martesen Wright and PJ.
(20:10):
Higgins is catching and batting ninth. After last night's game,
tax the bullpen, Cincinnati calling up Chase Petty to be
a reinforcement. Zach mccambley sent down to Louisville, Florence. You
always have a home game tonight against the New Jersey
Jackals NBA Finals Game four tonight at Madison Square Gardens
Spurs and Knicks New York leads the series two games
(20:33):
to one, and the news from the University of Cincinnati
today Bob Huggins will be inducted into the Cincinnati Athletics
Hall of Fame. This will take place on Friday night,
October the twenty third, the night before UC's football game
versus Texas Tech. There will be more details and the
rest of the fiftieth anniversary class announced in the coming weeks. Overdue,
(21:01):
this has been a no brainer as far as I'm concerned.
I think four years ago maybe wrote a column for
Bearcat Journal dot com making the case, which is pretty
much open and shut as far as I'm concerned. You're
all time winning his coach in any sport should probably
(21:22):
be in your school's hall of fame. A basketball coach
who guides his team to fourteen NCAA tournaments, takes his
team to a Final four, who's in the Naismith Memorial
Hall of Fame in Springfield? If he worked at your
school for sixteen years, he should probably be in your
hall of fame. So look, man, I say this all
(21:46):
the time. I'm a body of work guy, and I
remember writing the column a couple of years ago, and
I didn't get a ton of pushback, but I got
some and it was you know, it was about the
DUI arrest, and it was about you know, the the
black guy that that created for the school, and it
was about a lot of the controversies that he was
involved in. And I'm like, fine, man, Like that's you
(22:09):
could establish all that stuff, you can mention all that stuff.
Speaker 1 (22:13):
The body of work is Hall of Fame worthy.
Speaker 2 (22:17):
And you know, frankly, as much as I love UC
sports and as deserving as all of their Hall of
famers in recent years have been the moment he got
to Springfield. It's not apples to apples, but it's like
a long time read not being in the Reds Hall
of Fame, but he's in Cooperstown. It would never happen.
(22:43):
So congratulations to Bob Huggins. I know this is an
honor that has meant a lot to his former players.
The reality is this man, and like, is he the
greatest coach in U SEE history? It's debatable, but there
are a few figures more identified with UC athletics than
Bob Huggins.
Speaker 1 (23:02):
That is inarguable.
Speaker 2 (23:04):
And look, for those of us who are too young
to remember the early nineteen sixties, and too young to
remember the late nineteen fifties, but old enough to remember
what it was like, what UC basketball was like before
Bob Huggins got here. He is the reason, and I've
said this on this show before, he is the reason
(23:24):
I became a UC basketball fan. I'll tell it here
really quickly because maybe it ties into the Nicks a
little bit. But when I was a kid, I became
a UC basketball fan because in November of nineteen ninety,
Kentucky played UC. Kentucky's head coach was Rick Patino. As
(23:46):
a thirteen year old, I didn't follow college basketball that closely,
but Kentucky had my team's coach, so I decided I
hate him.
Speaker 1 (23:55):
They played Cincinnati. My dad and I watched the game.
Speaker 2 (23:58):
My dad loved UK basketball, I knew nothing about UC basketball.
Kentucky won the game that night. I think it was
ninety five to ninety one. The game was played at
the Shoemaker Center, televised nationally by ESPN, and I remember
falling in love with UC's style of play and the
maniac coach they had on the sideline. And while I
(24:20):
did not attend the University of Cincinnati, that's been my
favorite team ever since and I you know, I've often
maintained say which one about Brian Kelly. I'm a body
at work guy. There's a lot of folks who are
U SEE football fans to this day because of Brian Kelly.
I'm a U SEE basketball fan because of Bob Huggins
(24:40):
and his teams have provided me with some of the
happiest moments of my life.
Speaker 1 (24:45):
And that is an era that people.
Speaker 2 (24:48):
Still talk about, sometimes too much, that people still cling
to sometimes too much, but that people cherish. And there's
lots of individual pl that are a part of that.
They're all still celebrated to this day. So many of
them are in UC's Hall of Fame. It has never
(25:08):
made any sense for their coach to not be in
UC's Hall of Fame. And one of the arguments against
that a couple of years ago was, oh, come on, man,
he's still coaching at West Virginia.
Speaker 1 (25:18):
Oh okay, I guess now.
Speaker 2 (25:21):
That hasn't precluded them from bringing him back, like when
they brought back the final four coaches in twenty eighteen
when the arena reopened. He should have been a Hall
of Famer a while ago. He's going to be a
Hall of Famer in October eighteen, away from four o'clock,
speaking of you see, the co offensive coordinator is going
(25:43):
to join us.
Speaker 7 (25:43):
Next Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty Traffic.
Speaker 2 (25:50):
From the UC helping DL anymore, Captain, It's thirteen from four.
Speaker 1 (25:54):
This is ESPN fifteen thirty.
Speaker 2 (25:56):
U see football season tickets went on sale this week
Go beer cat com slash tickets. Cincinnati has new co
offensive coordinators. One of them is Nick Cardwell, entering is
fourth season on the UC coaching staff. Has been coaching
the offensive line. He's gonna continue doing that. Kind enough
to join us this afternoon. Coach, good afternoon. How are you, oh,
(26:17):
doing fantastic? Doing great so with new responsibility. What has
the off season been like.
Speaker 4 (26:25):
Well, I think we've done We've had quite a bit
of unit meetings, just trying to get everybody on the
same page for what we do offensively. Anytime you bring
in a lot of transfer guys and you got some
freshmen that have come in as well, we all got
to get on the same page of what we're trying
to get executed up front and with the wideouts and
tight ends as well.
Speaker 1 (26:45):
All Right, you talk about upfront now in this day
and age of you know, twenty players, twenty five players
coming in in the offseason and lack of continuity. You've
enjoyed tremendous continuity upfront that will continue this year with
Evan Tegas, Doll, Taran Tayo, and Joe Cotton. It is
it's seemingly rare in this day and age to have that.
But how nice is that to be able to.
Speaker 4 (27:05):
Lean on man? I tell you what what, We're truly
lucky and blessed to have those guys. You know, every
year you want to keep your best players, and every
year there's there's people trying to take your best players.
This is the new way of what college football is.
And so those three guys had ample opportunity to leave
and go somewhere else, but they know that we're building
(27:26):
something special here and they're excited about this season and
excited to get some guys out there to watch them play,
and so they worked really hard. They enjoy being around
each other and the camaraderie and the development that they're having,
and so we're excited to have those guys back.
Speaker 8 (27:41):
But it's surely a luxury to us.
Speaker 1 (27:44):
To have them. What does that mean for guys who
are joining the.
Speaker 4 (27:47):
Program, Well, it means leadership, somebody to look up to
and there and there's a standard. And what we try
to tell our guys is that the standard is inside
of you. Every single when you walk into that weight
room or you come on this field, you are carrying
the standard. And our thing on the offensive side of
the ball has been the standard over everything. And so
(28:09):
for coach Saderfield, you know, for the team, but for
what we're doing as a standard, how we practice, how
we eat, how we take care of our bodies, all
the things that we do should be at a high standard.
And so you got to show They've got to show
these young guys, and they.
Speaker 8 (28:24):
Got to show these transfer portal guys what.
Speaker 4 (28:26):
It means to be a bearcat no matter where they
come from. I don't care if it's an SCS team
or an SEC team. They need to know how we
do things here and the kind of grit and toughness
it takes to play here.
Speaker 1 (28:38):
On the offensive side of the ball. What do the
new guys bring.
Speaker 4 (28:43):
I think we've got Kyle Lee, some explosive wide receivers
that have come in, especially JV. He does a great
job with the guys Isaiah who's a returner. And another
transfer kid who came in from Kent State who was
really really talented, Lorenzo Center, another great wide receiver who
(29:03):
does a great job for us. And this is what
we saw in the in the spring. In the backfield,
you got cold tab, you got your brown pain. Both
transfer guys, super smart kids. Obviously, they transferred in from
Stanford and UH and Notre Dame and then a returner
in Zion got and they had a tremendous spring as
far as understanding our system and and the great zone readers.
(29:26):
It says they run the football and UH JC does
a great job of distributing as well and at the helm,
and so we're excited for the guys, excited, you know,
to produce. We had a great year. We felt like
last year offensively, we went out there and scored a
lot of points and had a ton of explosive plays,
and so we got to continue to carry that out
throughout the year.
Speaker 1 (29:44):
What do you like most about JC French?
Speaker 4 (29:48):
I like what I like most about him is that
he is a stable individual. He's going he's going to.
Speaker 8 (29:54):
Move the change.
Speaker 4 (29:55):
He can do some dynamic things with his arm, and
he can actually run a pretty good I mean he
ran well in the spring ball as well. But more
than anything, he's a great leader. But he's stables. He
knows how to just keep the ball moving. Just keep
the ball moving. And there may be some times that
he takes risks, but they're very calculated risks. And and
(30:15):
as as we all know, you got to take care
of the football, you know. I think last year some
of the turnovers got us in the late games, especially
in November, and so we want to make sure that
we're taking care of the football. And that's what he is.
He's a kind of kid that's going to take care
of the football, get us in the right play up front,
and be consistent day in and day out.
Speaker 1 (30:33):
What what are you allowed to do with the guys?
Now we're still, you know, nearly two months away from
fall camp, but you told me off air you're watching
guys run around? Are is that pretty much it? What
What are you allowed to do with the guys at
this point?
Speaker 4 (30:46):
Well, they'll do they'll do some running around, you know,
and these guys we get some time to do individual
work with them, So you get some some indie time
with them one on one, and then you know, doing
little individual drills with hand placements. You have plenty of
meeting time with them as well, and so you get
a lot of that stuff all summer long, and so
(31:07):
we're taking full advantage of it. I mean, I know
you've seen this. This new indoors great for our guys.
It's been a phenomenal. But it's a great tool to
be able to pull some guys aside and be able
to work a little bit of their individual and work
in their hands and combinations.
Speaker 1 (31:21):
Having gone through it as a player, what are these
What are these weeks like for a freshman who's done
I'm sure a lot of stuff being thrown at him.
Go back to when you were a player, What are
those first few weeks like when you're on campus and
learning what it's like to be a college football player.
Speaker 8 (31:36):
Everything's happening fast.
Speaker 4 (31:37):
I mean, everything's happening fast.
Speaker 8 (31:40):
You're The biggest transition we.
Speaker 4 (31:42):
Tell guys from high school to college is time management.
Your mom and Dad's not there to wake you up
in the morning. You've got to be in here. You
got Niko getting after you. Where all the coaches are
here making sure that you're doing what you're supposed to
be doing, and then you turn around and now we've
got to be at a class. Then you turn around, now
you got to go eat, And so learning how to
manage that time and really trying to manage any of the.
Speaker 8 (32:03):
Free time that you have. It's really not a ton
in using.
Speaker 4 (32:07):
That free time to help yourself get better, but it is.
Speaker 1 (32:10):
It is a lot.
Speaker 4 (32:12):
It is. It is a lot of verbiage. It is
a lot of where's the woman's on my hands? Where
should I put my feet?
Speaker 1 (32:17):
You know?
Speaker 8 (32:18):
You know, what are we doing here?
Speaker 4 (32:19):
What does this term mean? How do I get lined up?
It is. It's a lot for these guys at one time.
But I feel like we've done a great job with
that because.
Speaker 8 (32:27):
When we started with the transfer Portal.
Speaker 4 (32:29):
System, you're getting new guys every year, and.
Speaker 8 (32:31):
So we kind of streamlined the system to.
Speaker 4 (32:33):
Where, hey, you're meeting here, then you're walking through this,
then you're executing this.
Speaker 8 (32:38):
In a team segment, then you're executing.
Speaker 4 (32:40):
This here here here, And so I think we've done
a good job of trying to get guys called up
to where the guys at have been here for a while.
Speaker 1 (32:45):
Understand thing, do you have one or two things that
are at the top of your to do list for
one's fault camp kids here.
Speaker 4 (32:54):
I think multiple fronts for us upfront. We want to
make sure that we are sounds on those multiple fronts
on what's happening up front. As far as offensive line,
but I'd say overall as an offensive unit, the main
thing is it's going to be effort every single play.
Given great effort, you got four to six seconds every
(33:17):
play moving from point A to point B. How fast
can you get there? Can you do it with some discipline?
Can you get your depths on your route? Can you
give us extra blocking?
Speaker 8 (33:27):
And even through.
Speaker 4 (33:28):
Springball man our wide receivers blocking on the perimeters is
the best I've seen in five years. And that might
not sound like a big deal to everybody. That's not flashy,
but you throw a ball out there and it's getting
blocked up, well, that thing's gone and that's another explosive play.
So the main thing for offensive unit is going to
be effort. It's going to be effort.
Speaker 2 (33:48):
What is it like coaching a unit, coaching an offensive
line without Gavin Gerhardt?
Speaker 4 (33:54):
You know, you start to I think, so you can't
replace a guy like that, tremendous leader on and off
the field, a guy that's got a ton of snaps,
that understands every single defense and the weaknesses. But he
also understands what we're trying to do with our play,
what every single play is trying to do, where we're
(34:15):
trying to hit the ball where it's trying to go,
and so how he communicates. It's hard to replace somebody
like that, but our guys have done a great job.
And what I've taught even when I was a player,
this is what I've always taught my guys. The through
sign of leadership is the ability to reproduce yourself. And
that's what Gavin has done. And guys like Tarn and
(34:37):
guys like Evan and in guys like Joe Cotton and
even exaber Losa Wiki you know, guys like Judea, Nolan, Ladelipe,
like the whole crew. And I told them, I said,
you guys are got a front row seat to seeing
a great leader day in and day out. Take notes,
pay attention to the little things. It's not just about
(34:58):
the way he plays the game, the way he cleans
the locker room. It's the way he interacts with the
wide receivers to make.
Speaker 8 (35:03):
Sure they're doing what they're supposed to be doing.
Speaker 4 (35:04):
It's every little thing, and so our guys have seen
that and off spring and even this summer we've seen
them stepped up. So we're excited for this season.
Speaker 8 (35:13):
I mean and not just that means defense is getting
after it now.
Speaker 4 (35:17):
Kach Wie's doing a great job with those guys.
Speaker 1 (35:19):
Sounds like it. I can't thank you enough. Always enjoy
talking to you.
Speaker 2 (35:22):
I'm sure I'll bother you as the season gets closed,
so I appreciate the time.
Speaker 4 (35:26):
Man, Well, let's get these guys out here with Ho'll
watch these boys play them ball.
Speaker 1 (35:31):
You got it.
Speaker 2 (35:31):
That's Nick Cardwell, the co offensive coordinator and offensive line
coach at the University of Cincinnati. Coup away from four o'clock,
Reds and Padres are about to get started in San Diego.
Speaker 1 (35:42):
We've got some Bengal stuff to get to.
Speaker 2 (35:44):
Also, a statement by the Texas Tech Athletics director on
Brendan Soresby that I'll read most of it to you.
I'm not sure I have any problem with it that
coming up in the four o'clock hour plus Why is
My Sports? And Brenneman and Jones on Baseball on ESPN
fifteen thirty if you run a business and need to
(36:07):
get
ESPN fifteen Oh yea, that is us.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
That is the name of the radio station and it
is Cincinnati Sports Station. Good afternoon on maleger This is
ESPN fifteen thirty. Thank you for listening. Hobra having an
awesome Wednesday afternoon. We are loaded today show preview. You
can watch it right now on Twitter at malegar. Thanks
to share Facts credit Union, Shred Day is happening at
(00:25):
a few area share Facts branches. Learn more about it.
Find out what the folks at share Facts credit Union
can do for you. If you want to safely and
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facts dot org.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
Paul Danner Junior is going to be on this show.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
He is typically with us on Tuesday, but because of
his work schedule and some commitments that he had professionally
and personally, we've moved him to today and he is
going to join us this afternoon in the.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
Five o'clock hours, so we are looking forward to that.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
We'll talk about Joe Burrows contract restrict ructure, what it
might mean moving forward, and so much more in the
final hour of the show.
Speaker 1 (01:05):
I cannot wait.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
Later on this hour, the co offensive coordinator at the
University of Cincinnati. Nick Cardwell is going to join us.
We've got Wise Money Sports, We've got Bob Huggins going
into UC's Hall of Fame, and so much more. Between
now and six o'clock, I just pretty much previewed the show,
and I'm supposed to tell you to go to Twitter
(01:27):
to watch the show preview video.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
So just go humor me. Okay, go ahead and do
that now.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
It's like a minute and twenty second long video. It's
not going to put you out all that much. Rad's
win last night, they played this afternoon. First pitch coming
up in about an hour. Brady Singer is going to
get the ball for Cincinnati. This team has a chance
to win a series on the road against a Padres
team that came into this series reeling, having lost eleven
out of thirteen games. I don't know about you. I
(01:56):
don't know if you stayed up and watched. I don't
know if you gave up in the middle innings. I
don't know if you gave up in the ninth inning
last night. But from about the bottom of the third
inning on clear through the tenth inning, at no point
did it feel like the Reds were gonna win that
Baseball game last night. They did so in large part,
(02:19):
not in soul part, but in large part to some
eleventh inning heroics by our guys Sal Stewart. Here's the
call last night in the Reds Radio network.
Speaker 3 (02:31):
That's Suey ready as he throws and Stuart wax one
to center field. It's well struck. Merrill going back, Merrill
looks up.
Speaker 4 (02:39):
That's gone.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
Sal.
Speaker 3 (02:41):
Stuart watches it out of here to straight away center
field and the Reds have a five to three lead.
He gave it a long ride and he just got
it over the wall. And like we said, this time
of day, you've really got to tag it to get
(03:03):
it out of here, and Sal did just that.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
Tommy throw Red's Radio Network and seven hundred WLW last night.
Sal Stewart with one of the biggest hits of his
young career. One of the heroes last night. You'll talk about.
You'll hear him talk about his homer. He was not
the only guy to contribute to last night's victory. Blake Done,
(03:29):
Blake Dunn's catch, you got that audio, Go ahead and
give me Blake Done selling himself out to save the
game last night.
Speaker 3 (03:39):
And here comes the one zero pick swung on broken
batlooper short right center field, out goes the Royal. It
comes the right fielder head Steer lays out and makes
a spectacular headlong diving catch. It's done and right that
lays out to make the catch. Steer went into first
base when Meyers stayed in the game in center. A
(04:00):
spectacular catch in short right field by Blake Dunn laying
out and saving the game for.
Speaker 1 (04:07):
The Red Yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
Wonderfully described by Tommy on the Reds Radio network in
seven hundred WLW. That was one of those plays where look,
it's it's heightened because of when it took place in
the game. Eighth inning, two outs, you got the go
ahead run in scoring position on third base. It feels
like the game is about to unravel, and if San
(04:28):
Diego scores, you've got to face Mason Miller trying to
tie the ballgame. You had to face Mason Miller no
matter what, in the top of the ninth inning, and
you saw why he's the most dominant pitcher in the sport,
at least relief pitcher in the sport last night. But
Blake Dunn's catch there was what it meant. It kept
the game alive. The degree of difficulty on that catch.
(04:49):
I thought this watching the ballgame last night on Red's TV.
Was obviously a great catch. It's a great diving catch.
I'm not sure until you saw it, maybe a second
or third time, that you really appreciated how much ground
he had to cover. And Blake Done is really fast,
fastest sprint speed on the Reds. Blake Done. There's been
a lot to complain about. It goes without saying there's
(05:12):
been a lot to complain about. There's been a lot
to make fun of. There have been many reasons to
be frustrated and angry. Give it up to Blake Done
like that's a guy who's gotten a handful of chances,
hasn't necessarily taken advantage. He's helped this team with his bat,
He's helped this team with his legs. He's helped this
team with his glove. There aren't enough guys who have
(05:34):
helped this team. Blake Done has taken advantage of the
opportunity to help this team, and he has helped it.
Did it with his glove last night, a terrific catch
to keep the Reds alive. Call it what it is.
If he doesn't make that catch, they're not touching Mason Miller,
they don't win the game.
Speaker 1 (05:53):
Awesome catch. They got really good bullpen work last night.
Speaker 2 (05:57):
This has been the most frustrating thing about the last
seven weeks or so, the bullpen work. It wasn't perfect,
but man, you played an eleven inning game where your
starting pitcher couldn't get through the sixth and you didn't
allow a run beyond the stupid ghost runner. He's not
(06:19):
a ghost runner because he's not a ghost magic runner
in the tenth inning, like give it up to him.
It's often been asked, how does this get turned around?
And the answer is obvious. I'm not sure it happens,
but the answer is obvious. Good bullpen work. The Reds
are getting, on average, exactly what Chase Burns gave him
last night, five and the third innings, which is the
(06:40):
league average. The red starting pitchers are giving the Reds
league average length, which means that on a nightly basis,
Tito is having to get eleven outs from the bullpen.
Last night, he needed to get seventeen, and he got
(07:01):
him from Rockburg. Caleb Ferguson, Tony Santion, Sam Mall, tj Antone,
Zach Maxwell picked up his first big League save, like
that's that's that's what's gonna determine this, And there's like, yes,
get Elie de other Cruz back, hit more, find a corner, ralefielder,
get more production from a lot of spots on the field,
(07:21):
get better starting pitching, get Hunter green back, like there's yes,
there's a lot there. By the way, they had to
use everybody, So Zach mccambley's been sent down, Chase Petty
is back up. Things got so dire last night. Tito
after the ballgame talked about Nico Lidolo coming up to
him and offering to pitch in relief. That's where things were.
Speaker 1 (07:41):
Who knows where that game goes if it gets beyond
the eleventh inning, if ever, there were a case, by
the way, and the only new rule change I despise
is the magic runner rule where we start extra innings
with a guy on second base. If there's ever an
argument for it, it's games like last night's where it's like, dude,
if San Diego ties the game in the eleventh, then
(08:03):
we go to the twelfth, like.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
Who's going to pitch the innings? But this is how
it turns around. If the Reds get better bullpen work. Now,
you're being reasonable and fair because this is where I am.
I don't expect, as currently constructed, this bullpen to be
a bona fide strength, and I'll acknowledge better when Pierce
Johnson's available and healthy, better when Amelia Pegan is available
(08:28):
and healthy. But just collectively, it's not a very reliable group.
I cannot rely on them, neither can you. But if
it does turn around, it's going to turn around because
of well games that look like last night, where they
don't make mistakes in the field, they don't commit errors,
they make some great plays in the field, and they
(08:50):
get a lot of tough outs, high leverage outs. By
the way, it's worth mentioning like, yeah, the Reds bullpen
didn't give.
Speaker 1 (08:58):
Up a run.
Speaker 2 (08:59):
They gave it's not an urn run in the tenth
inning when Antonin inherited the guy at second base. Everybody
with the exception of Zach Maxwell gave up a hit.
And so they were pitching in a lot of high stress,
high leverage situations. If this turns around and this becomes
a season where the Reds actually accomplished something of note,
(09:22):
it's gonna be because the bullpen gives this team. More reliability,
gives this team more games that look like last night.
I am like you, I am completely skeptical that that's
gonna happen. But if it does, if this gets turned around,
it's good bullpen work, certainly in the short term, but
it's a low ceiling team. Offensively, they're not great at
(09:44):
getting lengthd collectively from the starting pitchers. They're gonna have
to find ways on a consistent basis to get between
nine and twelve outs and do so without coughing up games,
giving away leads, pitching the team out of games. It's
got a lot like it did last night, with some
help from the gloves last night, notably Blake Donn a
(10:06):
terrific catch that saved the game. And yes, I'll say
it maybe the season. You'll hear salth Stewart momentarily quarter
after three. This is ESPN fifteen thirty phone numbers five
point three seven four nine fifteen thirty eight six six
seven oh two three seven seven six. Bob Huggins is
going into the University of Cincinnati Hall of Fame.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
That could not be more overdue, it could not be
more deserved. We'll get to that a little bit later
on I've I've gotten some pushback of my Brendan Soresby take.
I'm just gonna give you my perspective and point of
view where I come from and the Bengals continue to modernize.
Paul Danner Junior joins us on that topic and so
much more coming up in the five o'clock hour.
Speaker 2 (10:51):
Your phone calls are welcome. Sixteen after three. You could
tweet too at Moeger thanks to Delta Dental. Delta Dental
is building healthy, smart, vibrant communities for all good at
deelt To dentalh dot com. Sixteen after three o'clock, I'm owegar.
This is ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports Station.
Speaker 1 (11:08):
By Cincinnati and iHeartRadio station Guarantee Human ESPN fifteen thirty.
I heard Rady twenty two after three. This is ESPN
fifteen thirty. You're not being pulled over. Do not worry.
Everything's okay. I mean, you might be.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
Being pulled over right now, but that would be a coincidence.
That's just a song Terrence playing in the background. Bumper
music is the industry term.
Speaker 1 (11:34):
Don't worry. Daner on the Bengals.
Speaker 2 (11:37):
In the five o'clock hour, we'll talk Joe Burrows contract restructure.
What it might mean for the team this season, what
it might mean moving forward, what it might mean for
the grand scheme of life. sALS Stewart hit a big, big,
big home run last night. Sal's rookie season has been
mostly terrific. It hasn't been without struggle. He has scuffled
(11:59):
for lar stretches of time where it feels like the
league is caught up to him. But he's got thirteen
home runs and the Reds have played sixty six games.
Hit a big two run homer last night. Here he
is immediately after Cincinnati's five to three extra innings victory
in San Diego with Jim Day on Red's TV.
Speaker 5 (12:19):
Sow Stuart, how big of a moment was that for
you and particularly this team?
Speaker 6 (12:25):
Yeah, you know, we've been having a lot of bad breaks,
you know, and it's been kind of a rough stretch.
But we're just trying to stick with you.
Speaker 4 (12:32):
You know.
Speaker 6 (12:33):
Sometimes I don't know why the man above gives us
the challenges that he does, but I trusted him and
I surrendered to him. Yeah, and it hasn't really been
going well for myself either. You know, I've been down
on a little stretch here and I've been hearing the
outside noise, you know, nice and they kind of motivated
me a little bit, you know.
Speaker 1 (12:51):
I sometimes you need a.
Speaker 6 (12:53):
Little bit of that, and uh, we all hear the
outside noise, so it's nice to get a big win
like this.
Speaker 1 (12:58):
Yeah, and on to tomorrow. You hunting a particular pitch.
I think you got a splitter that was left up.
Speaker 6 (13:04):
No, I was just looking for a good pitch of
hit and I got one.
Speaker 1 (13:07):
Rounding the basis.
Speaker 4 (13:08):
Uh.
Speaker 5 (13:09):
The emotion was pouring over into the duguy. What was
that moment for you? Is that type of a type
of sigh of relief? What's the elation?
Speaker 4 (13:18):
Like?
Speaker 1 (13:18):
Can you put it to words?
Speaker 4 (13:22):
More?
Speaker 6 (13:22):
Just kind of a lot of frustration on getting let out,
and it was a big moment.
Speaker 1 (13:27):
I blacked out, you know.
Speaker 6 (13:28):
And yeah, I've been I've been hearing what's been said
about me, you know, when I've been going through a
rough stretch. So it was nice to do that and
show that man, nothing but nothing's gonna phasee me. You know,
I'm built for this. I'm built to be in this moment.
Jesus gives me all the strength. Like I try to
tell you guys, when I go good and bad, I
praise him all the time because he gives me all
the strengths. So I'm just happy that we got to win,
(13:48):
and I'm excited for tomorrow.
Speaker 1 (13:49):
Sala Stewart with Jim Day late last night early this
morning on Red's TV.
Speaker 2 (13:55):
Sala is having a very good rookie season. It has
been a rookie sea that has not been without struggles,
and Sal referenced them and good for him for mentioning them.
Speaker 1 (14:05):
He talked about hearing the noise.
Speaker 2 (14:07):
He talked about seeing and being aware of what people
are saying about him. Here's my question, with all the
different issues the Reds have right now, with all the
different issues the Reds have organizationally, who's that upset with
(14:28):
Sal Stewart? Do you wish every player would not go
through long stretches where they don't hit?
Speaker 4 (14:33):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (14:34):
Sure, man, it would be awesome to be immune from
a slump. Very very very very very few are. In fact,
nobody is now If the noise is people acknowledging like
Sal recently, he's cooled off. Sal recently looks like he's
having a hard time with breaking balls. Sal recently at
times against tough, tough righties that get ahead in the
(14:54):
count it feels like they've got them on a plank, Like,
I mean, that's that's fair.
Speaker 1 (14:59):
Like it's if you point to what Sal's not.
Speaker 2 (15:02):
Doing statistically or is doing statistically over a certain amount
of time, that's not noise.
Speaker 1 (15:08):
But beyond that, who doesn't like South Stuart.
Speaker 2 (15:14):
On the list of things that for a thirty two
and thirty four baseball team you can be pretty happy
about this year, Sal Stuart might be at the very
top of it.
Speaker 1 (15:24):
And again, maybe it's just me.
Speaker 2 (15:26):
I think I have company here, but he would be
one of those dudes that I would invest in right now.
And it's not that Sal is guaranteed to be a superstar.
It's not that the Red should sign him to a
contract that makes him a Red for life. I think
you have to look at players through this lens, like
who are the guys who are most likely to be
here in three years? Sal Stuart is not alone on
(15:47):
that list. Maybe he's not at the top of that list,
but he's on it. And there ain't many the guys
who are likely to be here in three years. I
think you have to invest in because you want to
control their cost. And yeah, man, you're gonna get burned.
Sometimes you're gonna get burned taking on some risk. The
Bengals took on risk this offseason. We're all about it.
(16:10):
Do we acknowledge the risk they incurred? Yeah, you may
have traded for a guy whose best seasons are behind him,
and you may have given up a chance to take
a guy in Caleb Downs who would have been cheap,
cost controlled and really good for a while. But you
embrace the risk. There are certain risks worth taking. South
Stewart is one of those risks worth taking. I don't
(16:32):
know anybody who doesn't view him as one of the
core pieces. So I don't know what noise he's hearing.
Sometimes athletes love to make up, you know, these boogeymen
like others noise out there.
Speaker 1 (16:43):
I don't know. I have no idea.
Speaker 2 (16:45):
I don't claim to have my finger on the pulse
of everything. I certainly don't claim to be an expert,
but I do think for the most part, I got
a pretty good sense of, like who everybody's on board with,
who everybody's cool with, who everybody is kind of leaving alone.
South Stewart is one of those dudes. We're just leaving alone,
he's going to go through slumps. The problem when he
(17:08):
does is the team hasn't been good enough to withstand
those slumps. Right now, they don't have Elie de la
Cruz and South Stewart has cooled. Last night's to run
home run notwithstanding, has cooled considerably. It's a top heavy
team ideally moving forward. You know, I mentioned this yesterday.
I was talking about the Milwaukee Brewers. No team in
(17:30):
baseball last year had more games where everybody in the
starting lineup got a hit than the Milwaukee Brewers. Like,
what you're looking for is some degree of lineup balance,
some degree of depth. Obviously, you're a ninth place hitter
isn't going to be as good as your second place hitter.
Your eighth place hitter isn't going to hit as many
(17:51):
home runs ideally as your fourth place hitter. Like, not
everybody's an All star, not everybody's really good. Not every
position's going to be filled by the same person who
plays it every single day. But there does need to
be enough balance that a guy like Sal Stewart in
the embryotic stages of his big league career is allowed
(18:14):
a batting slump. The way they're constructed Right now, sal
Stewart's not allowed a batting slump. God help them when J. J.
Speaker 1 (18:21):
Blina cools off and they can't play without Elie de
la Cruz. It's too top heavy a team. What was
so impressive about those first few weeks sal Stewart had
this year was he was not only putting up really
good numbers, he was carrying the team that needed him
to carry the team. Sal struggles recently have been amplified
(18:42):
by the fact there's nobody else to pick up the slack.
That's not his problem. It's the Reds fault that's got
to be fixed. But good for him for his heroics
last night. UH three point thirty sports headlines are coming up.
Reds and Padres get underway at the top of the hour.
We will keep you up to date all afternoon on
what's happening in San Diego. Something I have been.
Speaker 2 (19:06):
Beating the drum for for years came to fruition today.
We'll talk about it next on ESPN fifteen thirty.
Speaker 7 (19:14):
Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty Traffic.
Speaker 1 (19:18):
From the UC Health Traffic Center at the.
Speaker 7 (19:21):
UC campaign fifteen thirty.
Speaker 2 (19:23):
Forward's headlines are a service to Kelsey Chevrolet home of
lifetime power train protection and guaranteed credit approval from their
family to yours for life, kelseyshev dot Com, Reds and Padres.
Thirty minutes away from wrapping up a three game series
in San Diego, Brady's singer will pitch for Cincinnati Reds
(19:43):
with a chance to take the series.
Speaker 1 (19:46):
Michael King throws for the Padres.
Speaker 2 (19:48):
Your starting line up four to ten, first pitch, a
little bit more than thirty minutes away. Four to ten,
first pitch this afternoon. McClain, Bledet and Stewart mcclan is
playing short. Stewart is playing third, Spencer Steer plays second
in bat's fourth. Nathaniel Low at first, A juhanios Forrez
DHS Dane Myers and center Noel ve martesen Wright and PJ.
(20:10):
Higgins is catching and batting ninth. After last night's game,
tax the bullpen, Cincinnati calling up Chase Petty to be
a reinforcement. Zach mccambley sent down to Louisville, Florence. You
always have a home game tonight against the New Jersey
Jackals NBA Finals Game four tonight at Madison Square Gardens
Spurs and Knicks New York leads the series two games
(20:33):
to one, and the news from the University of Cincinnati
today Bob Huggins will be inducted into the Cincinnati Athletics
Hall of Fame. This will take place on Friday night,
October the twenty third, the night before UC's football game
versus Texas Tech. There will be more details and the
rest of the fiftieth anniversary class announced in the coming weeks. Overdue,
(21:01):
this has been a no brainer as far as I'm concerned.
I think four years ago maybe wrote a column for
Bearcat Journal dot com making the case, which is pretty
much open and shut as far as I'm concerned. You're
all time winning his coach in any sport should probably
(21:22):
be in your school's hall of fame. A basketball coach
who guides his team to fourteen NCAA tournaments, takes his
team to a Final four, who's in the Naismith Memorial
Hall of Fame in Springfield? If he worked at your
school for sixteen years, he should probably be in your
hall of fame. So look, man, I say this all
(21:46):
the time. I'm a body of work guy, and I
remember writing the column a couple of years ago, and
I didn't get a ton of pushback, but I got
some and it was you know, it was about the
DUI arrest, and it was about you know, the the
black guy that that created for the school, and it
was about a lot of the controversies that he was
involved in. And I'm like, fine, man, Like that's you
(22:09):
could establish all that stuff, you can mention all that stuff.
Speaker 1 (22:13):
The body of work is Hall of Fame worthy.
Speaker 2 (22:17):
And you know, frankly, as much as I love UC
sports and as deserving as all of their Hall of
famers in recent years have been the moment he got
to Springfield. It's not apples to apples, but it's like
a long time read not being in the Reds Hall
of Fame, but he's in Cooperstown. It would never happen.
(22:43):
So congratulations to Bob Huggins. I know this is an
honor that has meant a lot to his former players.
The reality is this man, and like, is he the
greatest coach in U SEE history? It's debatable, but there
are a few figures more identified with UC athletics than
Bob Huggins.
Speaker 1 (23:02):
That is inarguable.
Speaker 2 (23:04):
And look, for those of us who are too young
to remember the early nineteen sixties, and too young to
remember the late nineteen fifties, but old enough to remember
what it was like, what UC basketball was like before
Bob Huggins got here. He is the reason, and I've
said this on this show before, he is the reason
(23:24):
I became a UC basketball fan. I'll tell it here
really quickly because maybe it ties into the Nicks a
little bit. But when I was a kid, I became
a UC basketball fan because in November of nineteen ninety,
Kentucky played UC. Kentucky's head coach was Rick Patino. As
(23:46):
a thirteen year old, I didn't follow college basketball that closely,
but Kentucky had my team's coach, so I decided I
hate him.
Speaker 1 (23:55):
They played Cincinnati. My dad and I watched the game.
Speaker 2 (23:58):
My dad loved UK basketball, I knew nothing about UC basketball.
Kentucky won the game that night. I think it was
ninety five to ninety one. The game was played at
the Shoemaker Center, televised nationally by ESPN, and I remember
falling in love with UC's style of play and the
maniac coach they had on the sideline. And while I
(24:20):
did not attend the University of Cincinnati, that's been my
favorite team ever since and I you know, I've often
maintained say which one about Brian Kelly. I'm a body
at work guy. There's a lot of folks who are
U SEE football fans to this day because of Brian Kelly.
I'm a U SEE basketball fan because of Bob Huggins
(24:40):
and his teams have provided me with some of the
happiest moments of my life.
Speaker 1 (24:45):
And that is an era that people.
Speaker 2 (24:48):
Still talk about, sometimes too much, that people still cling
to sometimes too much, but that people cherish. And there's
lots of individual pl that are a part of that.
They're all still celebrated to this day. So many of
them are in UC's Hall of Fame. It has never
(25:08):
made any sense for their coach to not be in
UC's Hall of Fame. And one of the arguments against
that a couple of years ago was, oh, come on, man,
he's still coaching at West Virginia.
Speaker 1 (25:18):
Oh okay, I guess now.
Speaker 2 (25:21):
That hasn't precluded them from bringing him back, like when
they brought back the final four coaches in twenty eighteen
when the arena reopened. He should have been a Hall
of Famer a while ago. He's going to be a
Hall of Famer in October eighteen, away from four o'clock,
speaking of you see, the co offensive coordinator is going
(25:43):
to join us.
Speaker 7 (25:43):
Next Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty Traffic.
Speaker 2 (25:50):
From the UC helping DL anymore, Captain, It's thirteen from four.
Speaker 1 (25:54):
This is ESPN fifteen thirty.
Speaker 2 (25:56):
U see football season tickets went on sale this week
Go beer cat com slash tickets. Cincinnati has new co
offensive coordinators. One of them is Nick Cardwell, entering is
fourth season on the UC coaching staff. Has been coaching
the offensive line. He's gonna continue doing that. Kind enough
to join us this afternoon. Coach, good afternoon. How are you, oh,
(26:17):
doing fantastic? Doing great so with new responsibility. What has
the off season been like.
Speaker 4 (26:25):
Well, I think we've done We've had quite a bit
of unit meetings, just trying to get everybody on the
same page for what we do offensively. Anytime you bring
in a lot of transfer guys and you got some
freshmen that have come in as well, we all got
to get on the same page of what we're trying
to get executed up front and with the wideouts and
tight ends as well.
Speaker 1 (26:45):
All Right, you talk about upfront now in this day
and age of you know, twenty players, twenty five players
coming in in the offseason and lack of continuity. You've
enjoyed tremendous continuity upfront that will continue this year with
Evan Tegas, Doll, Taran Tayo, and Joe Cotton. It is
it's seemingly rare in this day and age to have that.
But how nice is that to be able to.
Speaker 4 (27:05):
Lean on man? I tell you what what, We're truly
lucky and blessed to have those guys. You know, every
year you want to keep your best players, and every
year there's there's people trying to take your best players.
This is the new way of what college football is.
And so those three guys had ample opportunity to leave
and go somewhere else, but they know that we're building
(27:26):
something special here and they're excited about this season and
excited to get some guys out there to watch them play,
and so they worked really hard. They enjoy being around
each other and the camaraderie and the development that they're having,
and so we're excited to have those guys back.
Speaker 8 (27:41):
But it's surely a luxury to us.
Speaker 1 (27:44):
To have them. What does that mean for guys who
are joining the.
Speaker 4 (27:47):
Program, Well, it means leadership, somebody to look up to
and there and there's a standard. And what we try
to tell our guys is that the standard is inside
of you. Every single when you walk into that weight
room or you come on this field, you are carrying
the standard. And our thing on the offensive side of
the ball has been the standard over everything. And so
(28:09):
for coach Saderfield, you know, for the team, but for
what we're doing as a standard, how we practice, how
we eat, how we take care of our bodies, all
the things that we do should be at a high standard.
And so you got to show They've got to show
these young guys, and they.
Speaker 8 (28:24):
Got to show these transfer portal guys what.
Speaker 4 (28:26):
It means to be a bearcat no matter where they
come from. I don't care if it's an SCS team
or an SEC team. They need to know how we
do things here and the kind of grit and toughness
it takes to play here.
Speaker 1 (28:38):
On the offensive side of the ball. What do the
new guys bring.
Speaker 4 (28:43):
I think we've got Kyle Lee, some explosive wide receivers
that have come in, especially JV. He does a great
job with the guys Isaiah who's a returner. And another
transfer kid who came in from Kent State who was
really really talented, Lorenzo Center, another great wide receiver who
(29:03):
does a great job for us. And this is what
we saw in the in the spring. In the backfield,
you got cold tab, you got your brown pain. Both
transfer guys, super smart kids. Obviously, they transferred in from
Stanford and UH and Notre Dame and then a returner
in Zion got and they had a tremendous spring as
far as understanding our system and and the great zone readers.
(29:26):
It says they run the football and UH JC does
a great job of distributing as well and at the helm,
and so we're excited for the guys, excited, you know,
to produce. We had a great year. We felt like
last year offensively, we went out there and scored a
lot of points and had a ton of explosive plays,
and so we got to continue to carry that out
throughout the year.
Speaker 1 (29:44):
What do you like most about JC French?
Speaker 4 (29:48):
I like what I like most about him is that
he is a stable individual. He's going he's going to.
Speaker 8 (29:54):
Move the change.
Speaker 4 (29:55):
He can do some dynamic things with his arm, and
he can actually run a pretty good I mean he
ran well in the spring ball as well. But more
than anything, he's a great leader. But he's stables. He
knows how to just keep the ball moving. Just keep
the ball moving. And there may be some times that
he takes risks, but they're very calculated risks. And and
(30:15):
as as we all know, you got to take care
of the football, you know. I think last year some
of the turnovers got us in the late games, especially
in November, and so we want to make sure that
we're taking care of the football. And that's what he is.
He's a kind of kid that's going to take care
of the football, get us in the right play up front,
and be consistent day in and day out.
Speaker 1 (30:33):
What what are you allowed to do with the guys?
Now we're still, you know, nearly two months away from
fall camp, but you told me off air you're watching
guys run around? Are is that pretty much it? What
What are you allowed to do with the guys at
this point?
Speaker 4 (30:46):
Well, they'll do they'll do some running around, you know,
and these guys we get some time to do individual
work with them, So you get some some indie time
with them one on one, and then you know, doing
little individual drills with hand placements. You have plenty of
meeting time with them as well, and so you get
a lot of that stuff all summer long, and so
(31:07):
we're taking full advantage of it. I mean, I know
you've seen this. This new indoors great for our guys.
It's been a phenomenal. But it's a great tool to
be able to pull some guys aside and be able
to work a little bit of their individual and work
in their hands and combinations.
Speaker 1 (31:21):
Having gone through it as a player, what are these
What are these weeks like for a freshman who's done
I'm sure a lot of stuff being thrown at him.
Go back to when you were a player, What are
those first few weeks like when you're on campus and
learning what it's like to be a college football player.
Speaker 8 (31:36):
Everything's happening fast.
Speaker 4 (31:37):
I mean, everything's happening fast.
Speaker 8 (31:40):
You're The biggest transition we.
Speaker 4 (31:42):
Tell guys from high school to college is time management.
Your mom and Dad's not there to wake you up
in the morning. You've got to be in here. You
got Niko getting after you. Where all the coaches are
here making sure that you're doing what you're supposed to
be doing, and then you turn around and now we've
got to be at a class. Then you turn around, now
you got to go eat, And so learning how to
manage that time and really trying to manage any of the.
Speaker 8 (32:03):
Free time that you have. It's really not a ton
in using.
Speaker 4 (32:07):
That free time to help yourself get better, but it is.
Speaker 1 (32:10):
It is a lot.
Speaker 4 (32:12):
It is. It is a lot of verbiage. It is
a lot of where's the woman's on my hands? Where
should I put my feet?
Speaker 1 (32:17):
You know?
Speaker 8 (32:18):
You know, what are we doing here?
Speaker 4 (32:19):
What does this term mean? How do I get lined up?
It is. It's a lot for these guys at one time.
But I feel like we've done a great job with
that because.
Speaker 8 (32:27):
When we started with the transfer Portal.
Speaker 4 (32:29):
System, you're getting new guys every year, and.
Speaker 8 (32:31):
So we kind of streamlined the system to.
Speaker 4 (32:33):
Where, hey, you're meeting here, then you're walking through this,
then you're executing this.
Speaker 8 (32:38):
In a team segment, then you're executing.
Speaker 4 (32:40):
This here here here, And so I think we've done
a good job of trying to get guys called up
to where the guys at have been here for a while.
Speaker 1 (32:45):
Understand thing, do you have one or two things that
are at the top of your to do list for
one's fault camp kids here.
Speaker 4 (32:54):
I think multiple fronts for us upfront. We want to
make sure that we are sounds on those multiple fronts
on what's happening up front. As far as offensive line,
but I'd say overall as an offensive unit, the main
thing is it's going to be effort every single play.
Given great effort, you got four to six seconds every
(33:17):
play moving from point A to point B. How fast
can you get there? Can you do it with some discipline?
Can you get your depths on your route? Can you
give us extra blocking?
Speaker 8 (33:27):
And even through.
Speaker 4 (33:28):
Springball man our wide receivers blocking on the perimeters is
the best I've seen in five years. And that might
not sound like a big deal to everybody. That's not flashy,
but you throw a ball out there and it's getting
blocked up, well, that thing's gone and that's another explosive play.
So the main thing for offensive unit is going to
be effort. It's going to be effort.
Speaker 2 (33:48):
What is it like coaching a unit, coaching an offensive
line without Gavin Gerhardt?
Speaker 4 (33:54):
You know, you start to I think, so you can't
replace a guy like that, tremendous leader on and off
the field, a guy that's got a ton of snaps,
that understands every single defense and the weaknesses. But he
also understands what we're trying to do with our play,
what every single play is trying to do, where we're
(34:15):
trying to hit the ball where it's trying to go,
and so how he communicates. It's hard to replace somebody
like that, but our guys have done a great job.
And what I've taught even when I was a player,
this is what I've always taught my guys. The through
sign of leadership is the ability to reproduce yourself. And
that's what Gavin has done. And guys like Tarn and
(34:37):
guys like Evan and in guys like Joe Cotton and
even exaber Losa Wiki you know, guys like Judea, Nolan, Ladelipe,
like the whole crew. And I told them, I said,
you guys are got a front row seat to seeing
a great leader day in and day out. Take notes,
pay attention to the little things. It's not just about
(34:58):
the way he plays the game, the way he cleans
the locker room. It's the way he interacts with the
wide receivers to make.
Speaker 8 (35:03):
Sure they're doing what they're supposed to be doing.
Speaker 4 (35:04):
It's every little thing, and so our guys have seen
that and off spring and even this summer we've seen
them stepped up. So we're excited for this season.
Speaker 8 (35:13):
I mean and not just that means defense is getting
after it now.
Speaker 4 (35:17):
Kach Wie's doing a great job with those guys.
Speaker 1 (35:19):
Sounds like it. I can't thank you enough. Always enjoy
talking to you.
Speaker 2 (35:22):
I'm sure I'll bother you as the season gets closed,
so I appreciate the time.
Speaker 4 (35:26):
Man, Well, let's get these guys out here with Ho'll
watch these boys play them ball.
Speaker 1 (35:31):
You got it.
Speaker 2 (35:31):
That's Nick Cardwell, the co offensive coordinator and offensive line
coach at the University of Cincinnati. Coup away from four o'clock,
Reds and Padres are about to get started in San Diego.
Speaker 1 (35:42):
We've got some Bengal stuff to get to.
Speaker 2 (35:44):
Also, a statement by the Texas Tech Athletics director on
Brendan Soresby that I'll read most of it to you.
I'm not sure I have any problem with it that
coming up in the four o'clock hour plus Why is
My Sports? And Brenneman and Jones on Baseball on ESPN
fifteen thirty if you run a business and need to
(36:07):
get
Mo Egger News
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