6/11/26 - The Mo Egger Radio Show w/Chad Brendel

6/11/26 - The Mo Egger Radio Show w/Chad Brendel

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Like ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports station.

Speaker 2 (00:17):
Here we go.

Speaker 3 (00:20):
The Mowegar Show hosted by not Moweger Chad Brindle in
the driver's seat today here on ESPN fifteen thirty. Thank
you for joining, Thank you for choosing.

Speaker 4 (00:41):
Mem I sure Moe could even do the show today.

Speaker 3 (00:44):
Look, I would even if he was scheduled to work today.
I would have offered him a day off because no
one should have to work after what happened last night.
That was a basketball game for the ages and literally

(01:06):
tarn the entire series hinged on that outcome. I think
if the Spurs tie it, they got they get back
home court advantage. They're more talented than the Knicks. I
think the Spurs win the series. Now, I do still
think there's a path for the Spurs to win these

(01:28):
last three. But boy, mentally, I don't know how you
overcome what happened last night in Madison Square. Garden up
twenty nine points early in the second half, and New
York just chipped away and chipped away and chipped away,

(01:51):
and the Knicks go up three games to one. It
was incredible. One of the greatest bast ketball games of
all time. NBA Finals, series, momentum in the series teetering
in the balance, and out of nowhere comes og Annobi.

Speaker 2 (02:17):
With the tip in from the clouds and the Knicks
pull off a twenty nine point comeback in the second half.

Speaker 3 (02:30):
Tarren, I'm not gonna lie. When it got to twenty,
I was like, this thing's gonna be close. I can't
tell you for sure that the Knicks are gonna win,
but this is going to come down to the wire.
You could just feel, from like I don't know what,

(02:50):
seven or eight minutes left in the third quarter, Tearan,
you could feel momentum had shifted.

Speaker 4 (02:56):
Just a little bit.

Speaker 1 (02:57):
I mean, but even like seven minutes going to four,
Quarday was still like up twenty.

Speaker 3 (03:01):
Yeah, but I just still felt the Knicks had The
Knicks were playing better basketball at that point.

Speaker 1 (03:06):
It felt like, oh, for sure, the whole second half,
I mean, they were playing better basketball. Spurs scored seventy
six points in the first half.

Speaker 3 (03:12):
A second half, well, they stopped going to the rim,
Like if the shot chart will tell the story, yes,
the Spurs. It felt like they hit, you know, thirty
threes in the first half, but the reality was they
were getting downhill. They were getting to the rim, and
then they were either scoring at the rim or spraying

(03:34):
to the perimeter for wide open rhythm three pointers. In
the second half, they got stale and they were settling
for jump shots. Wmby took what eleven threes? Yep, on
what planet? With a thirty point lead in the third quarter,
should Wimby be launching threes?

Speaker 1 (03:55):
Well, that's the mentality of those those young guys. Oh
we're up, there's't no way they can come back. I
get shoot threes.

Speaker 4 (04:01):
Now.

Speaker 2 (04:02):
This is what the Knicks do.

Speaker 3 (04:05):
Remember last year when they played the Celtics, they were
down twenty in every game and they came back.

Speaker 4 (04:11):
Hey, just look at this year's playoffs Game one against Cleveland. Yeah,
twenty two.

Speaker 3 (04:15):
I mean, the Spurs have had a twelve plus point
lead in every game in this series. They're down three
to one. This is who the Knicks are. They're old,
they're grizzled, they've been through the wars, and the Spurs
got sloppy, they got lazy. And I love you, Mike,

(04:36):
but Terren, do you remember on Monday talking to Mike
in LA when Mike was talking about what they were
gonna do to get Dylan Harper on the floor more
and he told me all the experts, all the analysts
told him the move was take Champennie out, put Harper in.

(04:56):
That solves the problem. What did I say?

Speaker 2 (04:59):
Fox?

Speaker 3 (05:01):
Dearon Fox is not helping the Spurs in this series.
He was an unmitigated disaster last night.

Speaker 2 (05:11):
And that was before.

Speaker 3 (05:14):
He tried that layup up one with ten seconds left
and then circles back and I think his coach probably
called for it because they had one to give. But
he circles back and fouls Alvarado as he's about to
go back court. He's about to turn it over and
give it back to the Spurs, and Fox, because he's

(05:35):
frustrated or upset or whatever, runs back, fouls him without
having a good feel on the situation and saves the
Knicks from a backcourt violation. Then he leaves og Anobi
to double team Jalen Brunson with Wemby on him.

Speaker 2 (05:55):
Wemby didn't need help there.

Speaker 3 (05:57):
Fox leaves, Anonobi runs over to Brunson, or leaves Fox
leaves Anonoby runs over to Brunson to double when he's
just kind of standing there. He didn't have any impact
in the play and Anonobe because Fox left him has
a wide open lane to the rim for the tip
in and the wind.

Speaker 2 (06:21):
The Spurs have a darn Fox problem, Tarn.

Speaker 4 (06:24):
And they just paid him. He's still in two hundred
and thirty nine million dollars.

Speaker 2 (06:27):
He just I mean, I don't And you have to
trade him. You have to that contract. I know, you
gotta find somebody to take it.

Speaker 3 (06:38):
With the ball in his hands in the second half
last night, Tarren, the Spurs average point three five points
per possession.

Speaker 2 (06:51):
One is average point three point five points per possession
is ugodly bad, ungodly bad. And because they just let
Fox play the Knicks, we're able to chip away and
chip away and chip away. And I don't know how.

(07:15):
I don't know how Mo slept. Do you think he slept? No,
I didn't, I didn't sleep. I'm not a Knicks fan,
but that the drilling from that game was, Oh my god.
I couldn't believe it, couldn't believe it. One of the

(07:41):
greatest games of all time. I'm curious, but what are
the what's the greatest game that you've been to. Let's
let's drop this for a topic as we go throughout
the show today. What's the greatest game you've ever been to.

(08:02):
I've got two answers, Terrence, Should I give him now?
Or you think I should hold him?

Speaker 4 (08:07):
You can give yours name. We'll give one now.

Speaker 3 (08:12):
This one's if you're from Kentucky. You'll understand this one.
Two thousand I think four. I think it was two
thousand and four Kentucky State Football championship. Brian Brohm, who
was a longtime quarterback for Louisville, is now their quarterbacks
coach at Louisville Trinity High School against Michael Bush, who

(08:38):
was a Beast in the NFL, also went to Louisville.
He played at Louisville Mayo High School Tarren. They played
in a state championship game. The final score was fifty
nine to fifty six. What are they playing at the
stadium the fairgrounds like the stadium before they built Cardinal Stadium.

Speaker 4 (09:00):
Oh?

Speaker 2 (09:00):
Who were they playing? They were playing Brian Bram in Trinity.
They were playing each other.

Speaker 3 (09:04):
Oh, okay, so is Michael Bush against Brian Brom fifty
nine fifty six. There was a stretch in the game
tearing where Brian Brom threw an eighty yard touchdown pass,
then on the next drive a forty yard completion and
a forty yard touchdown pass, and then on the next

(09:24):
drive an eighty yard touchdown pass on four plays, four
plays either for two hundred and forty yards and four
had three touchdowns. It was the wildest thing I've ever seen.
Like I was I was at that time early in
my career, I was doing a lot of like you know,

(09:46):
shooting video, collecting highlights, doing like you know, the social
media type stuff that everybody is doing now. And literally
they would score a touchdown, you couldn't eat even shoot
the extra point because as soon as the touchdown was scored,
you had to get all the way down to the

(10:08):
other end zone to be ready for the next touchdown.
It was the most incredible thing I've ever seen. Number One,
I think everybody will well know it involves the guy
that was sitting in this chair a few minutes ago.
Oh that was. That was the greatest sporting event I've

(10:31):
ever been to. Every tie still Taran the pit Panthers.
At the end of the third quarter they play Sweet Caroline,
and those people were so happy. Sweet Caroline Bump bump bum.
Every time I hear that song now, I just think

(10:51):
of those same people at the end of that game, slowly,
sadly shuffling out of Hinzfield back to their cars. The
greatest game I've ever been to Height to bins. What's yours?

Speaker 2 (11:11):
All that to say, we're gonna talk about the Reds.

Speaker 4 (11:17):
We have to we do a little.

Speaker 3 (11:20):
I'm not gonna do it a ton, I'm gonna try
to save most of it for hour three. We've got
a lot going on. The Big Twelve just released the
home away opponents for basketball for this year.

Speaker 4 (11:34):
It is.

Speaker 2 (11:35):
Very favorable for the Cincinnati Bearcuts. Very favorable for the
Cincinnati Bearcuts. Kean Nickoson is going to join us at
four o'clock to talk about that. Justin Williams from the
Athletic will join us at three point thirty to talk
about the Brendan Soresby case. Brett your Mark just released

(11:57):
a statement after the Texas Attorney General said if the
Big Twelve tries to take any action against Texas Tech
they're there, the state of Texas will be filing suit.
Uh Bret your Mark has responded to that. There's a
lot going on. This is far far from over on
the Brendan Soresby case. So we're gonna touch base with

(12:18):
Justin UH get get some some information about that.

Speaker 5 (12:22):
Uh.

Speaker 3 (12:22):
And then Richard Skinner is going to join us at
four point thirty. Talk some Bengals with Skinny. Joe Burrow
UH rework the contract. The Bengals now have some room
under the cap for things that happened during the season,
for things that come up, like Joe Burrow got hurt.

(12:43):
You needed to go get Joe Flacco last year. Now
you won't have to do that this year because you've
already got Joe Flacco. But but things happen and you
don't want to be pressed up against the cap in
case something does happen. So the Burrough restructure freed up
some of that. We'll talk to Skinny about that, and
then in the third our, Klay Snowden from Just Baseball
is going to join us at five point thirty. Clay

(13:06):
knows a lot about this organization. I've got some questions
because clearly this isn't working.

Speaker 2 (13:13):
The bullpen is bad.

Speaker 3 (13:15):
The hitting while they've found a couple guys to improve
it and it has been better. And we're not talking
about the hitting enough just because the bullpen has been
so bad. But the hitting hasn't been stellar by any
stretch of the imagination. And unfortunately, I don't think there's
much in the farm system that be it this year,

(13:38):
next year, two years down the road that signals that
this thing is going to get turned around. Because this
window we are at three. Like I said on Monday
when I was hosting three sixty, if you look back
over the weekend that was three years to the day
this past weekend that Elie d'acuz Elie day Light Cruise

(14:00):
was called up and joined the Cincinnati Reds. That window
is closing for this young group. And there's not a Arran.
There's a light at the end of the tunnel. You
know what that light is. It's a train. It's a train.

(14:22):
It's not looking good. So we got a lot to
get to. We got gas bone mines are open five one, three, seven, four, nine,
fifteen thirty and uh.

Speaker 2 (14:35):
We'll talk about it more after this. Cincinati's ESPN fifteen.

Speaker 6 (14:39):
Thirty, Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty traffic.

Speaker 3 (14:51):
I mean that had that that this had to be
a part of it, right, Terran, and the lot was
no job. I mean, the knicks were getting slaughtered at
Madison Square, garden. Wu tang comes out in half and
everything turns.

Speaker 2 (15:09):
That's not coincidence, stealing fuck that one pulling up.

Speaker 3 (15:15):
They knew, but after what happened in game three, you
had to cleanse the garden, right, oh, for sure, for
sure you had to cleanse the garden. And the only
way you cleanse the garden is to bring out the rizza.

Speaker 2 (15:32):
The jessu.

Speaker 4 (15:38):
Oh uh.

Speaker 3 (15:40):
Home and away opponents set for the Bearcats this year
home only Arizona, Arizona State, Kansas, TCU Houston and UCF
Arizona Kansas Houston only at fifth third arena, no return games.

Speaker 4 (16:00):
You mean we only get to see Houston once this year?

Speaker 2 (16:02):
Only once this year?

Speaker 3 (16:04):
We don't have to call him daddy twice this time
daring Hallelujah.

Speaker 2 (16:08):
Away only BYU and Utah.

Speaker 3 (16:11):
So you get either the Arizona Arizona State trip or
the BYU Utah trip. Last year it was Arizona Arizona State,
this year BYU Utah. Colorado BYU should be pretty good,
but I think you see you'll be on in close
proximity and talent to BYU. Utah probably not good, Colorado

(16:33):
probably not good. Iowa State should still be good. Lost
a lot, lost their three best players, still should be good.
Baylor and Oklahoma State. That's a manageable road schedule in
the Big Twelve. And then home and away Texas Tech,
which let's just make that a rivalry now, like we

(16:58):
are sworn enemies Cincinnati in Texas Tech. Check my Twitter
sworn enemies tarn and then Kansas State and West Virginia.
So Texas Tech, Kansas State, West Virginia the home and
away opponents for the Cincinnati Bearcats. If I'm Jared Calhoun,
I'm doing backflips.

Speaker 2 (17:19):
With that. How could you not be a static with that?

Speaker 4 (17:29):
That's a crazy schedule, crazy in a good way.

Speaker 2 (17:35):
It's very rare.

Speaker 3 (17:38):
That you walk away from one of these schedule releases
and think, man, everything broke right our way. There's usually
at least a couple like, I don't know, Iowa State
and Baylor are going to be your two toughest road only.

Speaker 2 (17:57):
Maybe b YU tell you what the opportunity is going
to be there for these Bearcats. Let's take a break.

Speaker 3 (18:11):
Justin Williams joins us next from the Athletic since Anti's
ESPN fifteen.

Speaker 6 (18:17):
Thirty Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty traffic.

Speaker 7 (18:22):
Only U see health traffic Purchase ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati's
sports station.

Speaker 1 (18:38):
Smoke a bike like smoking told quays up the hel ways, up.

Speaker 2 (18:41):
Raising hell with the flavor.

Speaker 8 (18:43):
Tell me about the dam like tops in Pakistan swinging
through your town like your neighbor.

Speaker 2 (18:47):
We're doing this all day.

Speaker 4 (18:48):
I'm in.

Speaker 2 (18:49):
If we are not good kickings, I'm down daytop deep
with the do what the talk?

Speaker 9 (18:57):
Support them all.

Speaker 3 (18:58):
Right, let's get to it. I have been in a
heated battle with uh, the Texas the entirety of the
Texas tech fan base online. I'm surprised Cody Campbell has
not showed up in my mentions. Uh, but you know,
I'm just an adiant Cincinnati guy that doesn't know what's
going on. So instead, let's go to somebody that does

(19:20):
know what's going on, potentially our good friend, Justin Williams
from the Athletic.

Speaker 2 (19:25):
Justin, how are you, buddy, I'm good.

Speaker 10 (19:28):
I appreciate you putting me potentially caveat in there for me.

Speaker 3 (19:31):
I mean, you know, we haven't talked much recently. You've
been busy. You've been, you know, gallivanting around the country
doing stories, running into old friends of ours.

Speaker 10 (19:41):
You know, less time for me to get in Twitter
fights with Cactus.

Speaker 2 (19:48):
Yeah, they love me. I'm a big fan of their
They love like, you know.

Speaker 10 (19:54):
You need something to kind of get you going on.

Speaker 4 (19:56):
The I do so.

Speaker 2 (19:58):
Well, here's the thing, justin, I don't.

Speaker 3 (19:59):
I used to argue with Cincinnati fans, right, and then
people got mad at me for that.

Speaker 2 (20:03):
They're like, we're all on the same team. So I
decided I'm not going to do that anymore, and I'm
gonna save it up for when necessary to go at
other fan bases. I think it's reasonable.

Speaker 10 (20:17):
It's a healthier probably a healthier Yeah.

Speaker 2 (20:20):
You know, look, when I was fighting with people all
the time, I was pretty mad at life.

Speaker 3 (20:25):
I'm not as mad at life anymore. So, you know
it's now it's just entertainment. But justin get us caught
up now, the Texas Attorney General is threatening action if
the Big Twelve takes.

Speaker 2 (20:41):
Any moves against Texas Tech.

Speaker 3 (20:44):
Bright your Mark has come out with a statement and
said that that's not stopping us. Get us as close
to up to date as you can on things with
Brendan Soki.

Speaker 4 (20:55):
Yeah.

Speaker 10 (20:55):
So the biggest thing is in light of the decision
on Monday, which basically allows Brendan Sorosby to play college
football in twenty twenty six. There's, you know, everyone's talked about.
There's been a bunch of outrage from coaches, ads. Conferences
are kind of getting together and basically saying, is there
something that the NCAA can't punish Brendon Soorsby? Then can

(21:15):
the Big twelve punish Brendon Soorsby and or Texas Tech?
Can the College Football Playoff? You know, punish them and
basically say either there's an extra suspension, additional suspension or
some kind of like, you know, we're not going to
allow teams to play against Brendan Sorosby something like that.
That's kind of what's been in the air. And look,

(21:36):
early in the week, it certainly felt like the public
opinion was really against Texas Tech. And you know, I
was kind of thinking, I think a lot of people
were wondering Texas Tech going to say, hey, this is
too much, We're not going to play Brendan Sowersby. That
doesn't seem to be the case. They're really dug in
whether it's Joey McGuire, Kirby ho Cut, Cody Campbell and
and yeah, now that the biggest news today is that
the Texas State Attorney General is kind of more working

(22:00):
on behalf of Texas Tech and saying, if the Big
Twelve tries to sanction Texas Tech, then there's going to
be a legal battle. And just as I understand it,
this is like Texas Tech gets represented by the Texas
Attorney General in court matters. It's like part of Texas law.
So it's not necessarily that Texas AG kind of like

(22:20):
jumping in here and saying, hey, I want to do this.
This is just the way it works. But they're on
the offensive in terms of Texas Tech, saying the Big Twelve,
you haven't even levied a sanction against us. You're not
even sure what thing should you You might be able to,
but even before you get to that point, we're telling
you that if you do something, we're going to fight
it in court.

Speaker 5 (22:39):
We're going to fight it here in Texas. And so I.

Speaker 10 (22:41):
Think that the Big Twelve, among with some of the
other conferences, now has a decision to make.

Speaker 2 (22:45):
Could the Big Twelve kick them out?

Speaker 3 (22:48):
Just the nuclear scenario, I know, but if Texas Tech
continues to dig their heels in, could the Big twelve
just say you're you're voted off the Islands, not for
their torch.

Speaker 10 (23:02):
I suppose they could. I mean, certainly based on that
letter from the AG today, whether it's you know, hey,
we're going to suspend Brennan Throwsby for three more games,
or we're kicking you out of the conference, it looks
like they're going to fight it either way. So I
think the Big Twelve would have to make sure they
felt comfortable from a legal standpoint doing that. But you know,

(23:22):
this goes back to this is what we've dealt with
the NCAA, right, like is there any rule that can
be enforced? And now it feels like we're saying that
with the Big Twelve, which is, you know, if fifteen
of the sixteen teams get together and I don't think
they're considering this option, but like what we're saying, if
fifteen of the fifteen teams get together and make a
decision on any sanction, whether that's a big one like

(23:44):
kicking them out, or whether it's we're going to give
you a few more game suspension. I essentially what Texas
Tech is are you and is you can't do that,
We're going to fight you in court for that, and
that that just seems like, you know, throw it onto
the pile of things in college sports now that you
know that there are no rules are going I guess.

Speaker 3 (24:02):
Is this the powder keg that potentially maybe can get
people to get on the same page to work in
a similar direction, because it feels like obviously everybody is
looking out for their own interests, which I have never faulted,
Like when everybody tried to make Greg Sankey the bad
guy a year or two ago, It's like, well, what's

(24:24):
Greg Sankee the bad guy for?

Speaker 2 (24:26):
He's looking out for.

Speaker 3 (24:27):
His job is to look out for what's in the
best interest of the big of the SEC. I guess
you could argue that the Texas Tech folks are looking
out for what's in the best interest of Texas Tech.
But it doesn't sound like the Big twelve people agree.

Speaker 5 (24:45):
Yes, I mean it is.

Speaker 10 (24:47):
It's it's certainly feels like it's fifty against one in
the Big Twelve, and it feels like it's everybody against
Texas Tech. You know, broadly in the NCAA and honestly
kind of just in sports in general for the most part.
But yeah, you know, in terms of can everyone get
on the page and work towards something. At least right now,
the most likely option there would seem to be this,

(25:07):
you know, congressional legislation, right and like I'm not breaking
any news here, but who's been a big driving force
right in congressional legislation. It's gets Cody Campbell. So you know,
I've seen some people say like maybe Cody Campbell's playing
three D chess where it's like you had this whole,
big scandal and that's what brings the SEC into big
ten to get together and work with legislation and you know, push,

(25:30):
push the legislation that he wants. That would that'd be
some masterminding there, Yeah, exactly, there is. There's there's a
lot of ripple effects with this. But the the kind
of we talk about, you know, whether it's strange bedfellows
of Ted Cruz and Maria Cantwell and Republicans and Democrats
working together in Congress, the strangers here might be that

(25:53):
if Texas Tech is going to push college sports towards
working together towards federal legislation, it would be federal legislation
that Cody Campbell's fingerprints, you know, are all over.

Speaker 3 (26:03):
In your opinion, what's more likely federal legislation or collective bargaining,
because for the longest time I have said loudly that
collective bargaining is really the only answer. I now think
justin the pendulum has swung so far that if you're
an athlete, why would you sit down and collective bargain
and take away the power that you've got right now?

(26:26):
So are we down to those two things and only
those two things that can save this thing?

Speaker 10 (26:34):
It seems like we're down to those two at least,
you know, as of right now, either those two or
some future Super league version. And yeah, if you're talking
federal legslation or collective bargaining, it actually seems as ridiculous
as a sound that federal legislation would would happen sooner
and quicker, just because of how far along they are.
And that's always been part of the problem with collective

(26:54):
bargaining in college sports is how do you do college athletes?
They yeah, they come and they go. It's why ranging
it's not thirty two NFL teams, it's you know, however,
nine hundred universities and different divisions and all these different sports,
and so getting your arms around that is tough. And
then you know, yeah, when you hear a lot of
these voices, I'm not a labor expert, but you know,

(27:15):
usually they say management can't force collective bargaining, right, So
when there's ads and coaches and these people saying, hey,
we should collectively bargain, that's not the athletes saying it.
I think there are some that would probably be in
favor of it, but that's kind of a big, a
big process. The one thing that is interesting about this,
you know, latest bill in Congress, is that it would
leave open that possibility. So maybe there's potential that you

(27:38):
do pass this federal legislation and then you get into
collective bargaining. But it just kind of shows you where
we're at college sports, that we start this conversation talking
about a gambling scandal in Brendan Soorsby, and how quickly
you get to federal legislation. Like things are are always
a mess in college sports, but maybe never more so
than they feel like that right now.

Speaker 3 (27:58):
But actually, justin it feels like there's more unity on
this than anything I've when's the last time it felt
like everybody was this on the same page in college sports?

Speaker 10 (28:09):
No It's true, I said earlier, it does feel like
it's everybody against Texas Tech, and that includes the big
ten in the SEC, you know, conferences that can't decide
on how many playoff teams there should be. But everyone's
kind of on board with this, and so I guess
that's kind of the most shocking part of this is
no one, even those that were maybe you know, cynical
about the power that Texas Tech holds. I don't think

(28:31):
anyone really thought that Brennon Sorzy getting the injunction was likely,
and so the fallout from that since Monday has been
pretty pretty wild.

Speaker 3 (28:40):
Are there any further ramifications possible for Soresby from the
Indiana side of things, From the Ohio side of things,
he placed that's while he was in Texas, which I
mean technically could be crazy. Sounds like wirefraud. There's a

(29:00):
lot still on the line here, isn't there.

Speaker 10 (29:04):
Yeah, we really throughout all this, we really haven't gotten
into like the legal aspect from you know, we talked
about CORP, but not from law enforcement. Law enforcement was
obviously involved in this, they're the ones that kind of
started the investigation in motion, but we haven't had any
criminal charges announced. There hasn't be leap in any information

(29:24):
that criminal charges are being pursued, but we know that
at some point or another Indiana Gaming Commission, Ohio Gaming Commission,
Kentucky Racing you know, and Horse Racing and Gambling Commission
has looked into this and been a part of these investigations.
So at some point we could get some kind of
criminal charges. We haven't gotten there yet. I'm not sure

(29:44):
what that would look like, you know, if it's underage
gambling from a few years ago. I don't think that's
necessarily going to be like, you know, a huge punishment.

Speaker 2 (29:53):
Or anything in India that is a fifth degree felony.

Speaker 10 (29:58):
I do also think there's like a statu the limitations
on him you had it's two years, so that's that's
another part of it. Yeah, all of which is to say,
we we have a sense of the extent of Thorsby's
gambling and the amount of bets and money that he
was doing, and so it's certainly, you know, it seems
plausible that there could be some some criminal you know,
charges maybe tied up into that. We're not there yet,

(30:18):
but I'm with you, that's outside of the NCA eligibility
stuff that could be, you know, maybe the next shoe
that Bet drops at some point.

Speaker 3 (30:25):
You think the Ohio AG will be at the hotel
waiting for him on October twenty third?

Speaker 2 (30:30):
Did they stay in Kentucky?

Speaker 5 (30:34):
Yeah?

Speaker 10 (30:34):
I mean again, there's the whole Tristate area is involved
in that, right. I guess that everyone might be kind
of beating down at the border.

Speaker 2 (30:43):
Do you, hello, would you have to helicopter him in
from West Virginia on game day?

Speaker 4 (30:49):
Maybe?

Speaker 10 (30:49):
You know, people that's true, or if you you come
up through Canada or something, and you know, and in
through the lakes or something, you know, I don't.

Speaker 2 (30:58):
Know, Oh man, this is.

Speaker 3 (31:03):
I don't even know, Like I don't even know what
to think anymore, because I never imagine justin that we
would get here where we would find ourselves in a
place that a guy that gambled on his own team
while he was on the team. And the answer isn't
just universally that's the end of that.

Speaker 10 (31:22):
It's it's and I think you're seeing it. I think
you're seeing that with like the Big twelve staff this week,
where a lot of what you know, the the information
coming out of it and even the statements being released
are we're trying to figure out exactly, you know, what
we can do here, and that's because it really is,
it's like it's uncharted waters, and you know, I don't
think anyone expected this to happen, and so now that
you're at this point, everyone's kind of figuring out, like, well,

(31:44):
what do we do from here? Because we never thought
we would get to this.

Speaker 3 (31:47):
Has there been any indication that Cincinnati could be in trouble?
Has the Committee on Infractions dipped their toes into this
water or is it still where it's This looks like
a Brendan Soorsby thing, and it doesn't look like Cincinnati, Indiana,
Texas Tech will face any backlash.

Speaker 4 (32:08):
I mean, based on.

Speaker 10 (32:09):
Your Twitter replies, I think it seems like Cincinnati's in big.

Speaker 2 (32:12):
Trouble, right Yeah, I just got a tweet that said
Cincinnati should be punished severely from Trevor Polling.

Speaker 10 (32:21):
Right now, and again, this can always change me. As
of right now, this is a Brendan Sooresby matter. In
terms of the NCA that there aren't kind of schools
that are being investigated, whether it's Indiana, Cincinnati or Texas Tech.
There is a lot of a nuance, you know, with
the Cincinnatian and what did they know about the gambling?
And yes, there was the prohibit thing in twenty twenty four,

(32:42):
so certainly there was some understanding of like Soorsby's interesting gambling.
But at no point in my reporting, I know you've
talked about this too, has there been any indication that
Cincinnati was aware of any you know, gambling that was
against NCAA rules or any the extent of soorsby gambling addiction.
But obviously, you know, some of that nuance can sometimes

(33:02):
get lost in social media.

Speaker 3 (33:04):
Last question, when the executive or when the presidents and
chancellors meet on Monday in the Big twelve and they
come up with their decision, is it going to be
a bombshell?

Speaker 2 (33:15):
Is it going to be a slap on the wrist?
Is it going to be We're not going to do
anything right now?

Speaker 5 (33:22):
I don't think.

Speaker 10 (33:24):
And again there's there's a lot of time between now
and then. I would be surprised if, like the answer
coming out of the meeting on Monday is this is
definitely what we're doing. I think it's going to be
further discussion, and honestly, I don't think anyone knows. And
part of that is because they just got this, you know,
letter from the Texas AG today, So a lot of
what they're still doing is figuring out, all right, if

(33:44):
we did this, what would the ramification be, what would
our chances be of winning in court? So I don't
think we're going to have an answer Monday afternoon of that,
you know, the Big twelve is going to levy this
suspension or have this sanction. I think we might get
a little bit closer to what do they think they
can do and what do those options look like. But
to me, this is going to be a kind of

(34:05):
a drawn out process. Also because we're still a few
months away from the season. It's not like we're talking
about week one kicking off in two weeks, so they
can probably you know, stand to take a little bit
of extra time and make sure they have all their
legal ducks in a row before they come out with
anything defenditive.

Speaker 3 (34:20):
All right, Well, thank you, sir. I hope you had
a wonderful trip to Madison, Wisconsin this week, and good
to have you back in the natty.

Speaker 10 (34:28):
Eate my weight and cheeze Kurds.

Speaker 2 (34:29):
There you go, Where can they find you?

Speaker 10 (34:32):
On Twitter at Williams underscore justin not not getting in
as many you know, thread beasts as you are, but
trying to put put us some information there and then
you know read on the Athletic.

Speaker 2 (34:43):
I'm a lot more of a hothead than you. That's
always been the case.

Speaker 5 (34:48):
Great to talk to you those bok Hey you.

Speaker 3 (34:50):
Doo justin, Thank you man. There you go, Justin Williams
from the Athletic, my esteemed friend. Let's take a break.
How the heck have we already gone through an hour?
When we come back, Kegan Nicholson joins us to discuss
the Cincinnati Bearcats schedule or an opponent release from the
Big twelve.

Speaker 2 (35:08):
More after this Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 6 (35:11):
Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty traffic.

Speaker 11 (35:16):
From the UC Hope Trap for World Cup.

Speaker 6 (35:18):
You can't expect to be an expert in US for
if you only watch every four years, So keep it
here to hear ours.

Speaker 12 (35:25):
ESPN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 3 (35:41):
Here we go, Hour number two, The Mowager Show hosted
by Not Mowagar ched Brendel Bearcat Journal dot Com in
the driver's seat here on this muggy hot Thursday, who.

Speaker 2 (36:01):
Thank you for choosing me. Big hour coming up.

Speaker 3 (36:07):
Richard Skinner joins us at the bottom of the hour,
Brennanman and Jones on baseball and uh.

Speaker 2 (36:14):
Now.

Speaker 3 (36:15):
To kick off hour number two, we go to beat
writer Extraordinary, the best beat writer in Cincinnati, covering the
Cincinnati Bearcats, none other than Keegan nickoson Kegan, what what's
it like to work for somebody that loves engaging in

(36:36):
Twitter wars?

Speaker 9 (36:40):
The shune vibrates a lot more than I'd like it too,
And I like the difficult thing about that, Chad is
that you'll often tweet stuff that's really important that I
have to like make sure that I'm following along with.
And then sometimes it's you just verbally assaulting Texas tech
fans like intelligence and there's a given take there.

Speaker 3 (37:01):
What happens when there's like twenty Texas tech tweets and
then in the middle, I just drop something important I
should do that, like, like, so you can't, you know,
you can't just put me like, Okay, it's Tuesday afternoon,
Chad's on one. I'm gonna just kind of silence him

(37:23):
for the next two hours because I know he doesn't
have anything to do right now. Uh and then I
just sneak something in there on you.

Speaker 2 (37:33):
I'm gonna do that.

Speaker 9 (37:35):
That's like when Brent and Roy are in one of
their segments important during a PDP podcast.

Speaker 2 (37:43):
Key and the UH Basketball Matrix for the Big Twelve
is out. We don't have dates yet, but.

Speaker 3 (37:49):
We have home and away and UH teams that you
see will be playing home and away. What was your
initial reaction when you saw what Jared Calhoun will be
facing in year one in the Big Twelve.

Speaker 9 (38:04):
Yeah, I mean all I needed to see was you
get Houston, Kansas and Arizona at home and you don't
have to play either of those three.

Speaker 6 (38:11):
Teams on the road.

Speaker 9 (38:11):
And that's I mean, that's it right there. That's a
favorable drawl. That's what you want to see if you're
Jared contume. Now, hopefully it isn't like it was either
last year the year before where they played Houston and
Iowa State back to back at home.

Speaker 10 (38:26):
Maybe they do that and.

Speaker 9 (38:28):
Do one of two of those three or back to
back and they make it really difficult. But I think
for year one, this is really what you want to see.
And then you go on the flip side, where are
you only going on the road and your hardest game
is Iowa State, Like Hilton Coliseum is going to be
a really tough, tough place to win. But then you
go to EYU. I think it's Utah Colorado. I think

(38:53):
UCF is at home. I don't think they go to UCF.
I could be wrong on that one. But the away
slate is also pretty favorable when you look at it.
And then Texas Tech West Virginia. And what's the third mirrored.

Speaker 2 (39:07):
Game, Uh, Texas Tech, Kansas State, West Virginia.

Speaker 5 (39:12):
Yeah.

Speaker 9 (39:13):
Yeah, So those are three games that you'd like, those
Homan home atmospheres. So all together, it's a really favorable
draw for Jeride Calhoun.

Speaker 3 (39:22):
Do you think Wes Miller saw that today and like
kicked a puppy or something.

Speaker 5 (39:29):
Yeah?

Speaker 9 (39:30):
Probably, But I mean, if you're you're a marker of
the basketball offices at the Big Twelve, you got a
lot of hyper around this year a Calhoun guy, Let's
see if you can get off to a good start
in year one and gets you an extra Big Twelve
team in the Big Dance, even though with seventy six
they should have made it either way, even if the
schedule was pretty difficult.

Speaker 3 (39:49):
How what's your reaction to Houston not being home and
home because because Houston and Cincinnati have kind of been
tied at the hip ever since Cincinnati joined the American
you know, they were kind of the two top dogs
in that conference for a while, and then the first
three years in the Big Twelve, they were tied at
the hip. Obviously, you're a static probably if you're in

(40:12):
the program not having to travel to Houston. But are
you okay with like UCF and Houston being separated a
little bit this year?

Speaker 11 (40:23):
Yeah?

Speaker 9 (40:23):
I am, because I think it's a signal that this
is the Big twelve anymore, or this is the Big
Twelve now, and it's a complete conference and it's not like, oh,
these AAC guys are always going to play each other
kind of thing because they have that kind of prior brotherhood.
I think this is a step towards becoming a complete

(40:44):
conference of sixteen teams that are all on the same page.
And I think that's what Cincinnati meets, and I think
that's what the fans want, and they don't want to
really be considered a little brother of the team that
was let in recently as of twenty twenty three.

Speaker 3 (41:02):
Are you all in on Texas Tech and Cincinnati is
now a cheated, hated rivalry.

Speaker 5 (41:09):
No, but I think it timeline.

Speaker 9 (41:13):
Texas Tech more hates just everyone right now that's going
against them. I don't think it's a Cincinnati specific thing.
I am very much looking forward to media Days and
I think that would be a very interesting uh maybe
punishment or requirement for Texas Tech is to uh bring

(41:34):
Brennan Sorothy with them to media days that you can
in this scrum I would ever see in my life,
because every publication would send a reporter just to get
that strum at media days.

Speaker 3 (41:50):
They can't, right, Like, I don't know, man, I hadn't
even thought of that. I hadn't even thought of media
days because he's your senior quarterback, right.

Speaker 9 (42:05):
He would be the most obvious choice of any school
to go to media days if he wasn't going through
this whole thing.

Speaker 2 (42:13):
But there's no way, well, I mean.

Speaker 9 (42:15):
Texas Tech won't do it. But if the conference said, okay,
he can play, but you have to go to media
days and you have to stand in front of these
people and explain what's going on, Like, that's something I
could kind of understand, especially with how your mark works
because he wants to get as many eyeballs on that
as humanly possible.

Speaker 3 (42:34):
Are you gonna ask like, are you gonna are you
gonna be like Joey McGuire, this king nickoson Bearcat Journal
dot com and like asking like that that might be
part of like if I'm funding this trip or not,
Like we're gonna need a Texas Tech Q and a
session here you're gonna be in the breakout with with
Joey maguire.

Speaker 9 (42:56):
Yeah, I was just asking.

Speaker 5 (42:57):
His thoughts on j C.

Speaker 9 (42:58):
French?

Speaker 4 (43:01):
What do you think quarterback couch?

Speaker 2 (43:04):
Did you look? Did you guys look at j C.
French in the transfer portal?

Speaker 5 (43:09):
It seems like a.

Speaker 9 (43:09):
Really upstanding guy, just straight arrow doesn't really do much
in his free time.

Speaker 3 (43:17):
Kansas, Arizona, Houston at home. That's great in theory, Kegan,
you gotta you gotta win a couple at least one, right,
You gotta you gotta win one, if not two, of
those games. If if it's gonna be a benefit to
have those games at home, you absolutely can't be zero
to three because then, like you, you start having to

(43:39):
win a bunch of these road games to get to
five hundred.

Speaker 9 (43:44):
Yeah, I think you definitely have to win at least one,
and I think I don't think it's necessarily about having
the home game specifically. While that is a benefit, it's
more not having to go to those places.

Speaker 2 (43:55):
Yeah, which are like it's a sure loss.

Speaker 9 (43:57):
I can't say it's a guaranteed loss because what s Miller.

Speaker 5 (44:00):
Beat Kansas last year?

Speaker 9 (44:02):
Yeah, on the road, but that was a like the
the record books that came out of that, Like last
unranked team to beat Kansas at home late in the
season was like it never happened, so that was almost
a anomaly. But I just think it's more of not
having to go to those schools and then your toughest
games are Iowa State and Baylor. No idea what Baylor

(44:23):
is gonna look like this year, but I would say
Baylor and they.

Speaker 3 (44:28):
I mean, I guess Baylor is interesting if JT. Toppin
is healthy.

Speaker 2 (44:35):
Or not. Baylor in Texas.

Speaker 9 (44:36):
Tech, Sorry, yeah, I don't even know. You could have
transferred there.

Speaker 3 (44:41):
You're right, Yeah, I don't know. I don't know who's
where anymore. It's just a it's just a big grab
bag of of everything. Before I let you go, you
had a really good article on the Cincinnati linebackers. Uh
this week on Bearcat Journal dot com. Uh go make
sure you go Bearcat journal dot com check that out.

(45:01):
No j Golde, no Jack Dingle. But but there's optimism
still from Court Braswell in that linebacker room.

Speaker 9 (45:09):
Yes, I talked to him for about fifteen minutes about
the linebackers, and that was after fifteen minutes of talking
about how to maximize my credit card usage for travel points.
Because that guy goes everywhere all over the world in
the off season, Like he has a board of like
thumb tacks all over the country or all over the
world of where he's traveled. So that was awesome. But

(45:31):
I think the biggest thing for him is that he
now has a type in the linebackers. He wants to
recruit these bigger, faster, stronger like that's the kind of
qualities that they have, they have to have, and you
saw that and who they got and Domaine Wilson, so
of Mashroowski and Patrick Bauer, who's going to be on
the dog side of things, not necessarily under VA, but

(45:55):
he recruit him. But I think he is expecting a
big jump forward from Jonathan Thompson, and that's a guy
who's constantly been overshadowed, but it's probably been one of
the more consistent players on Cincinnati's defense for especially the
last two years. Just makes every tackle that's in front

(46:15):
of him. He's very, very athletic while not really having
the size aspect that Jake Goldie did. And he kind
of told me he's I think he's the most fluid
player athletically in our room, and he's expecting him to
take a huge jump forward and kind of become that
dynamic impact player that Jake Golde was. So this room
could be just as good because you look at Philip

(46:37):
Massowski and he's a carbon copy of Jake Goldey like
extremely long, extremely fast, has a rugby background, which is
a great background to have for linebackers. So it's gonna
be really really fun to watch and I'm looking forward
to seeing how it fleshes out because there's a lot
of irons in the fire, especially when you had Simmey
and Coleman, Monte Whedon, those kind of guys who are

(46:59):
also trying to get time.

Speaker 3 (47:01):
All right, man, appreciate it. Where where can the folks
find you? And what do you have coming up on
Bearcat Journal?

Speaker 13 (47:08):
Yeah?

Speaker 9 (47:08):
At Kay Nickson forty two on X and then all
my work is obviously I'm barricat journal, getting some preview
capsules out from other writers at Big twelve schools, and
then I'll have a positional preview on either the Safeties
the special team coming up after I talked to some
coaches earlier last week, and then I'll contigue those conversations

(47:30):
probably next week. So more positional previews coming.

Speaker 3 (47:33):
And basketball workouts are ongoing as well. It's you just anymore.
You just got to get through May. Once you get
to June. Yeah, the machine starts cranking back up as
we head towards training camp. So it's it's a good
time to be at Bearcat Journal dot com.

Speaker 2 (47:50):
Yeah, absolutely, all right, thanks again, we'll talk soon.

Speaker 9 (47:55):
Thanks Chad Saya.

Speaker 3 (47:57):
Here you go, Ken nickoson Bearcat Journal dot com. Let's
take a break. We'll talk to Mike in l A
when we get back. Since Thati's ESPN fifteen.

Speaker 6 (48:04):
Thirty, Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty traffic fromly.

Speaker 2 (48:10):
You see how body people all around town.

Speaker 14 (48:14):
This is the whole d be ch coming in the area.
And I'm gonna tell you one town you go, the one.

Speaker 2 (48:26):
Man on a son, Rest in peace, old dirty bastard
der mcgerty. Would you put him on the list of
greatest rappers of all time?

Speaker 4 (48:40):
Then he's on the list.

Speaker 2 (48:43):
I mean, I don't know if I wouldn't have him
top ten, but like.

Speaker 4 (48:47):
Not top ten, but he's on.

Speaker 2 (48:49):
He's on the list.

Speaker 3 (48:52):
All right, let's go to the phones. I've been waiting
on this one. Mike in l A, Mike, How the
heck are you Mike, Mike? Oh no, he was ready, right, Terren. Also,

(49:14):
that's unfortunate. I really wanted to talk to Mike. Let's
try again, Mike in La Mike, Mike. Now he's gonna
be mad at me because we got Skinny coming up,
we got Brenhaman and Jones on baseball. I'm not gonna
be free again until the five o'clock hour to take
phone calls.

Speaker 2 (49:35):
And he's gonna yell at me that I didn't come
to him, Terren, and I did.

Speaker 4 (49:43):
It happens.

Speaker 2 (49:45):
I know Mike's got a lot going on, and I'm
not mad at Mike, but I wanted to talk to
him about the Aaron Fox he told me. He basically
told me I didn't know ball on Monday, didn't he
Arren kinda, he said, that's not there's NBA people that
tell me that I trust them or than I trust

(50:05):
you on the NBA. What did I.

Speaker 3 (50:06):
Say, Harper for Fox, not Harper for Champenny. Maybe if
Champagne's in there instead of Fox, they block out O
g In and Obi and the Spurs win by one
in spite of the epic collapse. Maybe Shampenny catches that

(50:29):
loose ball and tries to pass it or dribble out
the clock instead of trying to lay it up and
getting it blocked.

Speaker 2 (50:39):
But how bad was Winby in the second half?

Speaker 4 (50:41):
Tarren just he forgot about the painted area.

Speaker 3 (50:47):
He doesn't want any part of Cat when Kat's defending
him in the paint.

Speaker 2 (50:53):
And I get it.

Speaker 3 (50:53):
Cat's Karl Anthony Towns is one of the best post defenders,
just straight up like he's not a huge like Rim protector,
but straight up Manda Man, Karl Anthony Towns is an
excellent post defender. Strong, physical, doesn't give up, position, doesn't
get pushed around. And Wenby was just trying to be

(51:15):
like the longest he looked like one of those things
at a car dealership last night. Now, talk about just
flailing his arms around, trying to like tip the ball
at the rim, trying to be taller than everybody without
actually playing ball.

Speaker 2 (51:34):
He looked a little uncoordinated in the second half.

Speaker 4 (51:38):
What about Og You think he should be fine with
the people?

Speaker 2 (51:40):
I do? I do now?

Speaker 3 (51:42):
After that, after the block and then the tip in
he's averaging what twenty four points a game?

Speaker 4 (51:47):
Yep?

Speaker 3 (51:48):
He made the third most threes in an NBA Finals
game in NBA history last night. Brunson has had points,
but Brunson hasn't been He's been inefficient.

Speaker 2 (52:02):
Castle.

Speaker 3 (52:02):
I thought it's done a great job for a young guy.
Castle's done a great job guarding Brunson, making him work.
I think i'd have Og one. Would you put Cat two?
Or would you put Brunson too?

Speaker 1 (52:21):
I put Brunson too. I mean, but what Cat's doing
on Wemby is phenomenal for sure.

Speaker 2 (52:26):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (52:30):
Cat would be like how would be almost equivalent to
like the year andre Iguadala one Finals MVP?

Speaker 4 (52:38):
Yeah yeah, or Kawhi Leonard. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (52:45):
But he's front runner in my book, Yeah, and he was.
I think until last night. I think he was like
plus seventeen fifty for MVP. So if you had that
before last night. Lookout. Let's take a break.

Speaker 3 (53:01):
We'll talk to Richard Skinner because some Bengals talk in
when we come back.

Speaker 2 (53:06):
Since Satti's ESPN fifteen.

Speaker 6 (53:07):
Thirty, Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty, traffic from.

Speaker 7 (53:13):
The UC Health Traffic Center at the UC Cancer Center
Care goes beyond cancer treatment with the region's first primary
care clinic for cancer patients and survivors. Call five one
three five eighty five. UCCC northbound seventy five at the
Norwood Lateral Center lane is blocked due to a disabled
vehicle to five to ten minutes delay back from Mitchell.

(53:33):
Another accident on westbound two seventy five between Springfield Pike
and Winton Road right now a three to five minute
delay there. That ezelic with traffic.

Speaker 4 (53:42):
This report is sponsorble damn.

Speaker 1 (53:51):
It feels good to be a gangst A real gangs,
A type play of place.

Speaker 2 (53:55):
Is called right a real gang Welcome back hour number two,
rolling right along guest heavy show. Today we will continue that.

Speaker 3 (54:05):
Local twelve content editor Richard Skinner, skinny, does it still
feel good to be a gangster?

Speaker 5 (54:15):
It does. I'm showing to the streets, the mean streets
of acron as we speak, getting ready to go broadcast
the Saint Xavier State semifinal game.

Speaker 2 (54:21):
Wow, the mean streets of Akron.

Speaker 5 (54:24):
I like it, Dean streets of Akron.

Speaker 3 (54:27):
Baby, let's get your thoughts on Brendan Soresby. We've gotten
everybody else's thoughts on Brendan Soarsby. Uh, where do you
stand on all of this?

Speaker 4 (54:37):
With?

Speaker 5 (54:38):
With?

Speaker 4 (54:38):
Uh?

Speaker 2 (54:40):
Who knows how much more mud to be slung?

Speaker 5 (54:43):
Right, It's it's ridiculous. So let me just take this
to an awful place that I'm gonna involve you see
for a second, in an indirect way, remember the common
theme of last year on offense or you see was
why wasn't Joe Ror getting boll thrown to him? I
don't even know if there were Joe roy or catch props,
but if there were, doesn't it make you think? Does
it make you want? Yeah, that's where we're going to

(55:05):
go with all this now, right, Like everything that's done,
that's been done, and it's going to be done in games.

Speaker 10 (55:10):
It's fair to it's fair to openly criticize, to be
honest with you, that's the thing I've.

Speaker 5 (55:17):
Yeah, I think it's so weak. Neat on Texas text
part that they don't do something about this.

Speaker 3 (55:23):
If if, if you're genuinely concerned about the kids mental health,
which look skinny, I'll take the bullet here. This started
long ago with teams trying to get waivers and using
mental health even when it really wasn't mental health. Cincinnati
did this with disease Bandego and with with.

Speaker 11 (55:43):
Jamil Reynolds, and they were the only ones.

Speaker 2 (55:44):
They weren't the only.

Speaker 3 (55:45):
Ones, but they they're culpable and where this is now.
But if you're actually worried about his mental health, you're
gonna put him out there. Let's say they put him
out there. Week three on the road at Houston. A
good Houston team coached by a good coach and Willie
Fritz and Brendan Sorosby goes fourteen for thirty three with

(56:09):
one touchdown and three interceptions. You think those Texas Tech
fans that love him right now aren't going to be
throwing tortilla tortillas at his helmet or fairly.

Speaker 5 (56:22):
Wondering that my quarterback just show that game.

Speaker 2 (56:24):
Yeah, fairly fairly.

Speaker 5 (56:29):
And you know, you know, listen, the NCAA takes a
lot of bullets, but the schools are the NCAA, and
if they're not even gonna buye by their own rules.
And this was a clear cut rule that he admitted to,
not that you investigated and charged them with, and then
you know, kind of go before some kind of trial situation.
Whatever you're doing. He admitted to doing this.

Speaker 2 (56:50):
Yes, we're not if you bet over.

Speaker 5 (56:53):
If you bet over this much money, or if even
if you bet on your team, no matter the amount
of money, you're done for at least a year.

Speaker 3 (57:00):
We're not litigating whether or not he gambled on Indiana football,
Cincinnati basketball, Indiana basketball, and Taiwanese Never mind, I'll stop.

Speaker 5 (57:14):
It's ludicrous. I don't say I heard your interview. Just
the way as oss driving up here. I don't think
there was an end to this yet.

Speaker 2 (57:21):
There's not. We're not there yet. We're not there yet.
It's gonna be interesting to see see on the way
to getting there, Joe Burrow contract restructured.

Speaker 3 (57:32):
I think the fair way to put this now, Skinny
is the Bengals have what I would call operational money
going into the season.

Speaker 2 (57:39):
Is that a fair representation.

Speaker 5 (57:41):
Yeah, So before they did this move, they had roughly
seven million dollars in cap space, if you went to
over the cap or spot rack either one of their
roughly seven million dollars. But keep in mind, and that's
seven million dollars, some of that's accounted for because they
still have to pay for the practice squad. While some
of the accounting in the off season you only have
to account for the top fifty one players. You got
to pay for fifty three. They're on your right, so
you gotta pay for those guys. They hold some money

(58:03):
back for guys with incentives in their contract, they hold
some money back in case, you know, they do have
to sign it up player due to injury, and they
just didn't have a lot of wiggle room with that.
Now you've got not only wriggle room, you have a
chance to potentially go out and get a free agent
swing tackle, get a free agent linebacker to fill the
depth in that room of veteran free agent linebacker. You know,

(58:24):
maybe even if it comes down to it and sometime
in camps you're not satisfied with your linebacker play and
you say, oh gosh, we have to go trade for somebody. Well,
if trade for somebody that you think has got some value,
it's gonna cost a little bit of money. So this
gives them that kind of wigging room.

Speaker 2 (58:40):
How much was it the Dexter Lawrence trade.

Speaker 4 (58:43):
I don't know.

Speaker 3 (58:44):
I guess I think that's being sold as they had
to do this to make the Dexter Lawrence trade, right,
But isn't it more they had to do this because
the Dexter Lawrence trade took away that wiggle room we
just talked about.

Speaker 5 (58:56):
Sure, right, that's exactly what it did. That's exactly what did.
Like I said, if you still look seven million dollars
in cap space, that's probably again eaten up by the
things I just talked about, at least a good chunk
of it, like maybe five of the seven mil. But
when you're left with only two million cap space, you
literally can't they do anything else. And so I think
this has been in the work for a while in
that regard, and I think once Joe, I uh, you know,

(59:18):
saw that, Hey, these guys really did go all in
this off season, you know, And when we talk restructure,
it's not like they took money from Joe Burrow. They
just gave him a little bit more money up front
right now. So it's kind of a win for him too.
Like whatever you got up front. Now in that signing
bonus money, you can go invest in whatever you want
to invest it in. So I think it's a win
win situation. You're seeing it a lot now in the
league with quarterbacks. You know, Patrick Mahomes has gotten his

(59:40):
redone twice this off season already. It's I think it's
not three or four years in a row that they've
done something with Pat Mahomes. Josh Allen had his and
so you're starting to see this. It's just it's something
that Bengals just don't do. They haven't done. They don't
like to kick money down the road because the one negative,
if there's a negative of this is you know, you're
you're you're taking taking some of the future money, the
money that you're gonna get in savings, and you're spreading

(01:00:02):
that out over future years of his contract. So you're
putting a little bit more money down the road. But
in this case of ten million dollars, you're not putting
or in the in the sign bus. You're not putting
a ton in there. I think you know, in this regard,
I think they looked and said, Okay, the CAP's gonna
keep going up. We've got our stars under contract, we've
got some wiggle room. And listen, here's the other part too, Chad.
If you don't use them the money that you have,

(01:00:23):
let's just say you're satisfied with the linebackers and Cody
Ford or Javon Foster shows you in camp that they
can be the swing tackle. I don't think that's gonna happen,
but they could. And you know, you can always roll
this over into next year and use it for potential
extensions now knowing that it's gonna be more money in
future years for a DJ Turner, for a Chase Brown.
So yeah, I think it was. It was a smart

(01:00:45):
move to make all along. It's just this offseason has
been so atypical of what they've done. I don't know
if they've heard the outside noise about how they've done
some things, but it's just been so atypical. Listen, they've
signed free agents before that part, you know, but the
deck flooring straight is completely a typical of them, and
the restructuring of a contract to put money in future

(01:01:06):
years because they like to know we're gonna be okay capwise. Here,
we're gonna be okay capwizes, and they're still gonna be okay,
but they just don't like kicking money down the road.
And they did that here because it was a logical
thing to do. It was an easy logical thing to do,
and it's just something they haven't done. So kudos to
them for being a typical because it was the right
thing to do.

Speaker 3 (01:01:25):
They left what they could have done up to twenty million, Yes.

Speaker 5 (01:01:29):
That nineteen in CHP.

Speaker 2 (01:01:30):
Yeah, but they.

Speaker 3 (01:01:31):
Did ten is what do you think there was a
reason for? That is the reason? Maybe so they can
do another restructure next year or how does that work?
Because I think that's an area that people don't really understand.

Speaker 4 (01:01:44):
The cap.

Speaker 5 (01:01:45):
Yeah, and that's right. I think, you know, kicking ten
mil down the road or kicking money down the road now,
to save ten mil, probably with what they're kicking down
the road was more than feasible. And maybe if they
had done more to save up nineteen million dollars now,
maybe it wasn't quite as feasible. And to your point,
I could see another restructure coming on again next year.
I really could. So, yeah, I think that's always in play.

(01:02:07):
I think for them, I'm guessing the ten million dollars
felt just about right. It was a win win for
both and so that's where they stuck with it.

Speaker 3 (01:02:15):
Where do you put this this balance between If you
look at media information around the NFL, people covering the NFL,
they had the Bengals typically somewhere from like twelve to
sixteen seventeen. But the belief in that building is kind
of super Bowl or bust.

Speaker 5 (01:02:38):
Yes, And I think that's why you've seen all these moves.
I mean, that's why they they went for Dexter Lawrens
is they thought, listen, this guy is a big piece
that can make not only his position better, but make
people around him better. And it's a risk, right, he's
going to be thirty years old. Issue Again, that's some
kinds of the risk in the NFL. But there's some
metrics in which he declined, but not precipitously. I mean,

(01:02:58):
he still was a major piece to add because you're
trying to win. Now. The fact again of freeing up
some money with the Burrow restructure is if you need
to go sign the swing tackle, go add some depth
or add again, let's just say one of the two
of both those you know, second year linebackers just looked
like they're still as loss as they ever were. And
you're having to push the panic button. We better go
make a trade for somebody or whatever free agents out

(01:03:20):
there that can maybe come in and help. We need
to be able to sign him, and I think they
knew they needed that wiggle him. Don't forget last year
in training camp said no offense came in training camp.

Speaker 11 (01:03:28):
Ye don't.

Speaker 5 (01:03:28):
Riser came in training camp, right, and Joe Blackel got
traded for you know in October you had to have
some money, you know, freedom to do some of those things.

Speaker 3 (01:03:36):
What was that ended up being what like six million
between the two of those guys?

Speaker 5 (01:03:41):
Yes? Yeah?

Speaker 2 (01:03:42):
Was that for all three?

Speaker 14 (01:03:45):
No?

Speaker 5 (01:03:45):
I don't think it's for all three. It could have
been a fantas dude now because I don't know what
they took them on in flack those contracts. Yea, well,
I guess it was because he probably throw raided over
the time because they you know, you already got some
game checks from from the rounds.

Speaker 4 (01:03:56):
Up at that point.

Speaker 3 (01:03:57):
I think it's like six million whatever, But that that
gives them an exam ample up and you have to be.

Speaker 2 (01:04:03):
Ready for if something happens in camp.

Speaker 5 (01:04:06):
That's right. I mean, there's there's no question about that you.

Speaker 3 (01:04:08):
Get one one position group has two guys go down
for even a semi extended period of time, Boy, you
better have some money to go to go play on
the free agent market.

Speaker 5 (01:04:18):
Yep.

Speaker 2 (01:04:19):
Is this a super Bowl quality roster?

Speaker 5 (01:04:23):
I think it's the best rosters they've had since Zach
Kailler's been the head coach. I think the twenty twenty
two roster was obviously really good. Uh, you know, coming
off the Super Bowl run. The Super Bowl roster was good.
It was obviously good enough to make a super Bowl.
But I don't think anybody ever looked at that as
a super Bowl roster during the season. I think the
twenty twenty two team you did, and it was and
they make the run the AFC Championship game, and I

(01:04:44):
do think I think this is the best rosteries had.
Obviously a lot. It's going to be contingent on do
those linebackers stick the next step forward, But you know
you've added a quality safety and free agency, you've added
a veteran state a safety for for Gift and Kyle Dugger.
You know you've you you know, in the draft, you
feel like you've got a couple of good pieces and
so you know, I think the defensive line, you're you're

(01:05:07):
almost too deep at every spot across the defensive line,
and now you're not even incumbent on on Let's just
say Shamar Stewart doesn't take a step forward, be nice
if he did. It would be hopeful if he did, right,
But it's not like they're in the desperation mode of gosh,
if he doesn't take a step forward, we're done upfront
and or at least at edge. And you're not there
because you got other pieces, you know, and who knows

(01:05:28):
what Casia's house turns out to be as a rookie too.
So I do I think it's I think it is
the most complete. And you know, go back to the
offensive line. I mean that offensive line in the Super
Bowl year was a disaster. It wasn't it. It was
a little bit better than twenty twenty two. Actually was
better than twenty twenty I should say that because they
made some signs that that offseason. But this is the
first time you had the line come back intact, and
it played really well when it finally had the starting

(01:05:48):
group that they ended up having for the last ten
or eleven games. So yeah, I do I think it.

Speaker 3 (01:05:52):
Is the best roster they've had, from a team with
Super Bowl aspirations to a team with no bleeping shot
at the World Series.

Speaker 2 (01:05:59):
How bad is this going to get? It feels bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, Skinny.

Speaker 5 (01:06:04):
It feels awful bad. And you know they have a
top prospect catcher, how Fredo Duno. You heard of him?

Speaker 2 (01:06:09):
Yes, I have.

Speaker 5 (01:06:12):
Somebody told me the other day that he can't catch
like he literally can't catch like the ball, and so
that makes you wonder, you know, I do think it's
time to blow all of this up, like all the
baseball operations, to start somewhere else, to go somewhere.

Speaker 3 (01:06:27):
Else, Go hire somebody from the White Sox, so the Brewers,
or somebody that knows how to do the thread that
the Reds are trying to needle.

Speaker 2 (01:06:37):
Find somebody that knows how to do that exactly.

Speaker 5 (01:06:40):
That's exactly right. And this group has had a long
enough chance to do that. I mean, it felt like
the rebuild was going on in twenty twenty three, and
let's just see, you know, if somebody else can get
the rebuild done right this time around?

Speaker 3 (01:06:52):
Am I crazy? But here's the line of demarcation for me. Okay,
we had this change in philosophy. What six years ago, five,
six years ago, we're drafting shortstops. They're the best athletes
on the field. We're drafting shortstops. We'll move him around
if we got to move him around. But that's our philosophy. Well,
guess what. Most of those guys are either here or

(01:07:15):
have been here. One of them has hit Earie Daylight,
Chris One.

Speaker 5 (01:07:20):
Yeah, but there's some disconnect there, Like, it wasn't like
not McClean coming up in twenty twenty three and perform
at the level he did. It wasn't some no name
guy in a realization who just came out of nowhere
and had a ninety game, had a ninety game blip
on the radar, because that sometimes happened in this Sking.
This is a first round draft pick who came up,
played like a first round draft pick, looked like a
future All star player, and he fell off the cliff.

(01:07:41):
Now he's starting to look like BRIGANDID a little now.
But you need a lot more than a couple of
weeks or a week of good hitting for me to
on the podcast I do with Rick Froring, I said,
a couple weeks long, I'm getting off to Mat McLain train.
I'm just getting off off. I've stuck with it long enough.
And the next station was the one I was gonna
get off that, So I got off, And I hope
I was wrong for getting off, because I too think

(01:08:02):
somewhere in there is a really good ballplayer and a
really good hitter. I just I don't know what the
disconnect it. So it goes back to me of the development.
You know, with coaching, you're getting you know, maybe that's
the issue. Something is the issue, but you just can't
keep running it back going. Dale had the same decision
makers making the same decisions and hope they get it right.
Well it's been a while that they haven't gotten it right.

Speaker 2 (01:08:22):
Yeah, it's And now the one thing we thought, we
thought the pitching was going to be okay long term,
but the bullpen is in complete shambles. And where's Derrick Johnson.

Speaker 5 (01:08:37):
That's a great question. I don't know the answer to
that is a great, great question. It was the the
quotes or non quotes from Terry Francona the night that
you know, he was announced that he's taking the leave
of absence were just mind boggling to me.

Speaker 2 (01:08:50):
Yeah, it's time to blow it up, Skinny. That's all
I got. It's it's time to blow it up again.

Speaker 5 (01:08:57):
I thought it was time for the Bengals to blow
up their front off this offseason, and I said, give
him one more swing at it. Well, by golly, I
think they've taken a good swing. We'll see what the
results can be.

Speaker 11 (01:09:05):
Either.

Speaker 5 (01:09:06):
At least they've done something different and something that that
other teams have been doing. And okay, good, good for you.
Maybe it took you a long time to go all right,
we can't keep doing it our way. We can't keep
gritting our piece. Let's just do it the way a
lot of other teams that are successful do it.

Speaker 2 (01:09:20):
Does that mean I have to be nice to duke?
He shushed me earlier this year, Skinny?

Speaker 5 (01:09:27):
Where did you get shushed?

Speaker 3 (01:09:29):
Very quick? We were at UC's pro day. Okay, they
ran the first set of one hundred meters dashes. They
were done, or forty forty yard dashes. They were done.
So I was cutting across to where the media section
was in between the first and second set of one
hundred yard or forty yard dashes, and I was moving
pretty quick. I wasn't meandering and he shushed me along.

Speaker 2 (01:09:51):
Wow, Yeah, I'm out. I'm out on Duke. Can't shush
a grown ass man?

Speaker 5 (01:09:58):
What off season moves produced a Super Bowl champion? Then
what will you be with? Duke?

Speaker 2 (01:10:03):
But then I guess I have to deal with it.
I gotta suck it up and deal with it.

Speaker 5 (01:10:08):
You got you got shooed by a Super Bowl champ.

Speaker 2 (01:10:11):
Right, I can handle that. I can handle shushed by
a Super Bowl champion. I'm I'm man enough to be
okay with that.

Speaker 5 (01:10:18):
Here you go.

Speaker 2 (01:10:19):
Thanks getting appreciated.

Speaker 10 (01:10:20):
Man, be good.

Speaker 2 (01:10:22):
Here we go.

Speaker 3 (01:10:23):
That's our number two, our number three. I'm gonna check
back in on Mike after the Cincinnati is ESPN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 6 (01:10:31):
Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty traffic from the.

Speaker 7 (01:10:36):
UC Health Traffic Center at the un.

Speaker 3 (01:10:50):
Here we go, our number three, Karen, where did those
first two hours go?

Speaker 4 (01:10:55):
Man?

Speaker 3 (01:10:56):
Fast Tyke Moggar's show, not Moeggar. Chad Brandelberg at Journal
dot com. Thank you for choosing me much appreciate It

(01:11:17):
been a fun day, covered a lot of ground, still
plenty more to go.

Speaker 2 (01:11:24):
Hour number three.

Speaker 3 (01:11:25):
Klay Snowden just Baseball joins us to talk about the
Reds I've got.

Speaker 2 (01:11:30):
Some I've got some questions for Clay. Clay's one of
those guys that knows a lot of things, and I
need help with some things.

Speaker 3 (01:11:41):
So I'm excited to talk to Clay. We're gonna talk
a lot of Reds in this hour. But first I've
been waiting to talk to Mike. Let's try again, Mike.
Are you there, Mike, Mike, I hear's something, Taren. I

(01:12:06):
don't think he wants to talk to me today. What
do you think?

Speaker 4 (01:12:12):
I'm not sure.

Speaker 2 (01:12:12):
I think he's avoiding me.

Speaker 4 (01:12:14):
I mean, this is your only one time you get
to talk to you. Next week you're in.

Speaker 3 (01:12:18):
He questioned my basketball knowledge on Monday. All I said
was he called in. Mike said, he's hearing that they're
gonna put Harper in. They're gonna take out Champagne. And
I said, I think the move is to put Harper
in and reduce Fox's minutes more than I'd reduce Champagne's minutes.

(01:12:41):
Champagne gives you some toughness, rebounding, can shoot it a
little bit. He's been more productive than Fox to me,
even though Fox is making what's sixty million dollars a
year fifty million dollars a year.

Speaker 2 (01:12:56):
I just said, I think I I'd.

Speaker 3 (01:12:59):
Give more of Harper's needed minutes. I'd take from Fox
and I'd take from Champagnee. And he said, well, the
smart NBA people disagree. That's that's questioning my basketball knowledge.
But try again, Mike, are you there? I think he's

(01:13:19):
ducking me, tarn And I'm not in until next Friday.
I'm not here for eight more days.

Speaker 4 (01:13:25):
Well, by the end of the next will be NBA champions.

Speaker 3 (01:13:27):
Right then I'm gonna have to go back to it,
and then it's bad radio, like there's a chance this
thing's over Saturday night, maybe six days.

Speaker 4 (01:13:40):
Let's talk will celebrate every single day.

Speaker 2 (01:13:42):
Though, Oh he will. Let's talk to Dick and Dayton. Hi, Dick,
how are you, Chad?

Speaker 5 (01:13:46):
How are you doing?

Speaker 4 (01:13:47):
Buddy?

Speaker 2 (01:13:47):
I'm excellent, excellent, Chad.

Speaker 4 (01:13:50):
Telling me something?

Speaker 8 (01:13:51):
Okay, I went in this year with expectations of the
Reds to do good. Why are they crumbling?

Speaker 11 (01:14:00):
What is wrong with them?

Speaker 3 (01:14:01):
They don't have a good roster, Dick. That's that's as
That's as simple as I can get. They don't have
a good roster. Let me ask you this, Dick, Okay,
what what would you say, is this team's identity.

Speaker 8 (01:14:18):
I just don't under you know, I doesn't understand it.
Just it puzzles me why they have to lose like this.

Speaker 5 (01:14:28):
You know, it's just we went into this.

Speaker 2 (01:14:30):
They have That's why they lose like this.

Speaker 10 (01:14:33):
Yeah, I was agreeing the pitching.

Speaker 8 (01:14:35):
Yeah, but it's just nobody probably wants to watch them.

Speaker 4 (01:14:39):
I don't.

Speaker 8 (01:14:40):
I lessen them, then I give off, you know, I
just I think they can do a lot.

Speaker 10 (01:14:45):
Better, don't you.

Speaker 3 (01:14:46):
Here's the problem that faces this organization right now, dick. Okay,
Baseball is a sixth month, seven day a week commitment
to be a fan. You have to come six months,
three hours a day, seven days a week. That's a
part time job to be a Rets fan. And they

(01:15:09):
are putting a product on the field that is not
worthy of that commitment.

Speaker 2 (01:15:14):
Yeah, and that's a problem.

Speaker 11 (01:15:17):
It is, It really is.

Speaker 8 (01:15:19):
But maybe you know, if you got the All Star
Game coming up here, and if they I don't know
where they going to be, like eighteen games out of.

Speaker 9 (01:15:28):
First place, like in fourth place or something.

Speaker 3 (01:15:30):
Well they're in last place. Let's face it. They are
not better than the Pirates. They are not better than
the Cardinals. They are not better than the Cubs. They
are certainly not better than the Brewers.

Speaker 2 (01:15:41):
No, that's but.

Speaker 3 (01:15:43):
That's not good, Dick, and I talked about this with
Tony for a minute at the end of the first show.
At the end of three sixty three years ago, all
five of those teams were in a very similar position.
They were all kind of rebuilding, restructuring. The Brewers didn't
have a dip, but everybody was was restructuring their team.

Speaker 2 (01:16:05):
Relying on young guys. It was a new era for
each of these five teams. Fast forward three years and
Cincinnati is clearly fifth, clearly fifth on a group of
teams that are all Nobody in that group is spending
a ton of money, and the Cubs more than anybody,

(01:16:27):
But nobody is in that Dodgers, Giants, Yankees tier of
spending money. Everybody's kind of in the same tax bracket.
Everybody lives in the same house, the neighborhood, different houses,
same neighborhood. Well this neighborhood, Cincinnati's let the yard grow out.

Speaker 3 (01:16:47):
The the the last thunderstorm, the shingles are coming off
a little bit on the side.

Speaker 2 (01:16:52):
Of the house. Yeah, it's not good, Dick, It's not good.

Speaker 11 (01:16:56):
Huh.

Speaker 5 (01:16:57):
I want to get your perspective from tear too.

Speaker 11 (01:17:00):
Are the Bengals gonna be good this year?

Speaker 4 (01:17:02):
You think?

Speaker 11 (01:17:07):
Do you think?

Speaker 2 (01:17:09):
I think tarn might be occupied in the producer room, Dick.
I think the Bengals are gonna be pretty good. I
don't know exactly how good. This is a playoff roster.

Speaker 3 (01:17:21):
Yeah, I just had Richard Skinner tell me this is
the best roster of the Zach Taylor era.

Speaker 2 (01:17:27):
Okay, that's how and and this is a in the
Zach Taylor Taylor era.

Speaker 3 (01:17:32):
They've gone to the Super Bowl, They've gone to the
AFC Championship Game. And I don't see a beast at
the top of the AFC right now.

Speaker 2 (01:17:43):
I guess you could say Buffalo. But but they fold
in January.

Speaker 3 (01:17:48):
Baltimore's got a new coach, Kansas City is getting older,
Mahomes is coming off a knee injury. I like the Broncos,
I like the Chargers, but I don't think either of
them are like far and away, you know, pulling away
from the field. I think the Bengals are as good
as anybody in the AFC. One is Joe Burrow healthy

(01:18:10):
for seventeen games?

Speaker 4 (01:18:11):
Yeah?

Speaker 10 (01:18:12):
Joe Burrow.

Speaker 2 (01:18:13):
That's the thing.

Speaker 8 (01:18:13):
No, I'm hoping he does good this year.

Speaker 2 (01:18:16):
He's a good quarter.

Speaker 8 (01:18:17):
But the line's got to protect him, don't they.

Speaker 2 (01:18:19):
They do they do. You gotta keep him safe, you
gotta keep it. But the line hasn't. I mean, I
guess you. Last year.

Speaker 3 (01:18:28):
At the beginning of the year, the line was was
beat up and they were pretty bad. By by the
time things really got rolling, they were they were pretty good.
And that line's back.

Speaker 2 (01:18:39):
So yeah, yeah, if.

Speaker 3 (01:18:41):
Joe Burrow is healthy, this should be not only a
playoff team, but a team that is looking to win
games in the playoff.

Speaker 2 (01:18:50):
Yep, Well, you have a good day, buddy, Thanks Dick.
I appreciate it.

Speaker 6 (01:18:54):
Okay, bye bye.

Speaker 2 (01:18:56):
Let's go back out to the phones. Matthew wants to
talk some Reds. Matthew, how's it going.

Speaker 11 (01:19:01):
That's great. How you doing, Jed.

Speaker 3 (01:19:03):
I'm wonderful. I couldn't be having a better time. I'm
arguing with Texas taxlans on the internet. Uh, and I'm
doing a radio show like Life's good and I appreciate that.

Speaker 2 (01:19:12):
Thank you.

Speaker 11 (01:19:15):
It work.

Speaker 13 (01:19:17):
The Reds are always going to be a second to
your organization until they spend the money that's commensurate with
what it takes to feel a roster.

Speaker 3 (01:19:25):
But the Brewers spend as much. The Brewers spend just
as much as the Reds. The Cardinals are not far
off from what the Reds are spending. Like I think
it's I think there there is something too. It's very
hard to compete with the Dodgers and the Yankees of
the world with with what the Reds allow themselves to spend.

(01:19:46):
But my argument is here, Matthew, there are teams that
have done it and are doing it, spending around what
the Reds are spending.

Speaker 13 (01:19:56):
The Tama Rays have diet. What I'm suggesting is that
if you're going to, you know, have corner outfield spots vacant,
you're gonna have to pop for cash and not run
Will Benson out there for a thousand in bats over
four years. You can't have that happen exactly. I can't
try to exploit the market weakness with Brian Hayes saying
defense is gonna win US ball games and then have
a black hole. That's two to three black holes in

(01:20:18):
the lineup.

Speaker 5 (01:20:19):
That can't happen.

Speaker 13 (01:20:20):
So, no matter you know, if you're gonna spend the money,
you got to spend it on when you have positions.

Speaker 5 (01:20:24):
Of needs.

Speaker 2 (01:20:27):
To do.

Speaker 10 (01:20:29):
Well.

Speaker 13 (01:20:29):
Yeah, but what they developed is we talked about that
shortstop spot. Okay, so you got guys that are supposed
to be able to play multiple positions, but one of
your best talents is thal Stewart and sal really can
only play first or thirty really can't play anywhere else.
That's right, that's the point. You wasted that that particular
amount of money with six million a year on Hayes

(01:20:51):
for an offensive black hole. And you also take Stuart
out of the best natural position and eliminate special Steer
from first bade.

Speaker 2 (01:21:00):
It Cross done a bad job, Matthew, Yeah.

Speaker 13 (01:21:03):
It does, it does. But them crying poverty really annoyed,
really annoyed.

Speaker 2 (01:21:09):
It annoys me too. But but the thing is, if
you have an effective philosophy and effective plan, you can
win spending the level of money that the Reds are spending.
What you can't do is make the number of bad
decisions that they have made organizationally and expect to do that.

Speaker 13 (01:21:31):
You beltely agree, but you have to have depth passed
some of the things, the issues they can't have. This
young roster of talent and then not have the depth
behind it because everybody's gonna have injuries.

Speaker 2 (01:21:42):
What what's what? Who's next? Right now? The South Stewart's here,
who's next?

Speaker 13 (01:21:49):
Henry Rodriguez. Henry Rodriguez needs to play every day, but
he's your other horror outfield spot. Dho knows at least
two or three years away. He probably won't stick behind
the play if i'd be a first day.

Speaker 2 (01:22:01):
You can't touch apparently.

Speaker 13 (01:22:03):
Yeah, well you've got some other guys that really are
just they're kind of deadweight defensively what they can hit,
but by and large you don't have much else.

Speaker 3 (01:22:12):
There's nothing at Triple A, not really no, and there's
really not a lot at Double A. And that's a massive,
massive concern because we're halfway through the LLE window. Right,
six years is the window. We're halfway through the window.

Speaker 13 (01:22:33):
He's gone and if they don't lock up Stewart, he's
gone too. They have to buy out the r of
years now.

Speaker 3 (01:22:38):
Yeah, so you're you're halfway through the LLE window and
you're five hundred, your five hundred team in the three
years that and I think now with the I think
they're like one game over five hundred since ELI came
up three years ago, and the.

Speaker 13 (01:22:52):
Reds aren't going to do anything until we fight out
if it's going works out, which screws them even more.
That's was just about two years behind what we could
have been it should have been doing. So frankly, they're
not going to do anything and all the rest of
us are going to be a five year window.

Speaker 3 (01:23:05):
At Yeah, it's not great. I don't have a great
feeling about things. Matthews time, thanks man, appreciate it. I'll
continue on that's let's take a break. I'll continue on
the Reds. We'll have Clayson Noden at five point thirty.

(01:23:25):
I'm just at a I am almost at the point
of no return on the state of the organization right now.
This year was put up or shut up. Twenty and
eleven start, twenty and eleven start, and they're three games
under five hundred in the middle of June, not even
the middle of June.

Speaker 2 (01:23:43):
We're still what I would consider the beginning of June.

Speaker 3 (01:23:47):
In less than a month and a half, they've let
it all go to hell, and you still have the
rest of June, July, August, and September to see how
bad this is gonna get yuck more after that.

Speaker 2 (01:24:06):
Since Anti's ESPN fifteen.

Speaker 6 (01:24:07):
Thirty, Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty traffic.

Speaker 7 (01:24:13):
From the UC Health Traffic Center at the UC Cancer Center,
Care goes Beyond Cancer Treatment with the region's first primary
care clinic for cancer patients and survivors. Call five one, three,
five eighty five UCCC Good News Day, Dissent.

Speaker 3 (01:24:36):
Rolling along hour number three. Jed Brenda in promo, Egger
goes back tomorrow, right, Terrence?

Speaker 4 (01:24:45):
Yes?

Speaker 2 (01:24:45):
Did he just wisely, like six weeks ago or whatever,
take off the day after Game four? That's a hell
of a shot in the dark, isn't it. Man, that's
calling your shot. But that would mean he thought there
was going to be a sweep.

Speaker 1 (01:25:05):
Or maybe he maybe he will, Spurs will get one.
Game four come down to make history.

Speaker 3 (01:25:10):
Here's the hedge though, right because Game five is Saturday,
so he didn't have to take that off. So like
he knew he didn't have to take game five off,
so he just was like, I'll take off Game four.
Hopefully we sweep. If not, we'll have the largest comeback
in NBA Finals history.

Speaker 1 (01:25:29):
And if this does mess around and end up going seven,
we won't hear from MO for a few days.

Speaker 2 (01:25:34):
Well, I mean he's in until Thursday.

Speaker 4 (01:25:37):
Right, yeah, but Game five is Friday.

Speaker 2 (01:25:40):
Oh yeah, No, Game five is Saturday. That game five,
Game seven, Game seven is Friday. If it goes seven, yeah,
game seven is next Friday.

Speaker 3 (01:25:48):
And then he's gone for a while, Yes, for a while,
while Mike, are you there?

Speaker 2 (01:25:58):
Mike? Last chance?

Speaker 4 (01:26:01):
Mike?

Speaker 2 (01:26:04):
I mean I did everything I could, Terren, multiple chances.
That was like five times I went to Mike. He's
ducking me.

Speaker 3 (01:26:13):
He's ducking me over multiple hours, multiple segments. I do this,
I go Mike, Mike, Mike. There's like a ruffling around
when I go to him, right, and then silence like

(01:26:33):
he hits mute or something. Unbelievable, Terren, unbelievable.

Speaker 4 (01:26:42):
Isn't the talking crap? You know?

Speaker 3 (01:26:45):
Like Mike always tells me, like, I respect your basketball knowledge.
I learned something new every time I listen to you
talk basketball.

Speaker 2 (01:26:52):
That makes me feel good. And then he says, you know,
you don't know as much as these guys on TV.
Maybe I should be the guy on TV. I'm not
saying I should, I'm just saying maybe.

Speaker 4 (01:27:07):
If he make that gentle tent, take me with you.

Speaker 2 (01:27:12):
Would I not have been right about the Aaron Fox.

Speaker 4 (01:27:16):
I think a lot of people will write about de
Aaron Fox.

Speaker 3 (01:27:18):
He's having a terrible series. What Dylan Harper is awesome?
Sid Fox play Harper?

Speaker 2 (01:27:28):
Not that hard point three points.

Speaker 3 (01:27:32):
Per possession with the ball in his hands in the
second half on last night. That's that's hard to do
in the NBA. Hard to do in the NBA. All right,
let's take a break. Klay Snowden just baseball coming up next?
More after this, since that he's ESPN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 6 (01:27:53):
Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty traffic from the UC.

Speaker 4 (01:27:59):
Health thirty, Cincinnati's sports station.

Speaker 11 (01:28:03):
I guess no, ain't.

Speaker 2 (01:28:10):
Clan ain't beside the ho not the goal. They weren't
last night. I mean, it is what it is.

Speaker 3 (01:28:29):
And taror Mike says he's been trying to call for
a while, but the line's been dizzy.

Speaker 4 (01:28:33):
I just locked. You know.

Speaker 2 (01:28:39):
What spurs up?

Speaker 3 (01:28:43):
What twenty five at halftime? Wu Tang performs Nicks win
the second half by twenty six coincidence. I think the
next scord the next scored fifty five points in the
last twenty two minutes.

Speaker 2 (01:29:02):
Incredible.

Speaker 3 (01:29:04):
We could talk a fun sporting event, or we can
talk about the Reds, and I guess because we're in Cincinnati,
we're gonna keep talking about the Rads. But I'm gonna
do it with somebody that I enjoy talking baseball with
because the man knows baseball. That's why he works for
just baseball. And that is none other than my friend
Klay snoten Clay. How the heck are you, buddy?

Speaker 11 (01:29:26):
I'm just loving the Wu Tang.

Speaker 5 (01:29:28):
You know.

Speaker 11 (01:29:28):
I think I'm actually gonna go and see them in
Cincinnati in September.

Speaker 2 (01:29:33):
Yeah, yeah, I'll be there.

Speaker 3 (01:29:36):
We've looked at it. It's gonna depend on my work
schedule because that's the heart of football season. But if
I can be there, I will be there because Wu
Tang ain't nothing to beep with.

Speaker 10 (01:29:48):
That's right, That's right.

Speaker 11 (01:29:49):
Neither of the Reds.

Speaker 4 (01:29:50):
Well, no, they are. They absolutely are, Chad.

Speaker 2 (01:29:55):
Unfortunately, people have been beeping with them for six weeks.

Speaker 11 (01:29:58):
Now, six weeks tried twenty years?

Speaker 3 (01:30:02):
Well, yeah, I'm just I'm trying to keep it micro
not macro. I'm trying to Okay, I got it. Thirty Yes,
it's thirty years. It's thirty six years since they won
a World Series thirty thirty six.

Speaker 5 (01:30:16):
Yikes.

Speaker 2 (01:30:17):
I was at the parade, Clay, I touched the trophy.

Speaker 11 (01:30:21):
I wasn't born.

Speaker 2 (01:30:22):
Is that good enough for me?

Speaker 5 (01:30:24):
Like?

Speaker 3 (01:30:24):
I was at the World Series parade, I snuck up
on stage and touched the trophy. I probably shouldn't have
a press would have got in trouble for that, But
I was, I.

Speaker 11 (01:30:32):
Think twelve, So you cannot get in trouble at that age, right,
Nobody actually takes trouble seriously. Now when you start to
get like fourteen is where you can get in trouble.

Speaker 3 (01:30:44):
Well, I didn't like try to grab it. I just
touched like I just wanted to touch it.

Speaker 11 (01:30:49):
Yeah, I may never see a World Series trophy. Suh.

Speaker 2 (01:30:53):
You're screwed, brother, You're screwed, especially the way this thing
is going right now? Is it just as simple right
now before I get into the.

Speaker 3 (01:31:03):
Bigger picture stuff, Clay, because I got a lot of
big picture questions with this organization right now, is it
just as simple as right now?

Speaker 2 (01:31:10):
The bullpen is bad, and you can't win at this
level with a bullpen that can't get out.

Speaker 11 (01:31:18):
Yeah, I if you look up and down the lineup,
you're you're getting good performances out of players you did
not expect to get good performances out of with bla
day and even Blake done, and even when Ellie went down.
I thought, this is a moment for them to show
what they're actually made of. And you're getting good enough,

(01:31:38):
winning baseball out of the majority of the roster, and
then it turns to the bullten and they just don't
have arms that they can trust right now whatsoever?

Speaker 2 (01:31:49):
Why?

Speaker 3 (01:31:49):
I mean, I thought one of the focuses of this
offseason was making the bullpen better.

Speaker 11 (01:31:55):
Yeah, and they went out and you know, when they
brought Pagan back, I was a little worried about that,
just because of his age. And you know, Pierce Johnson
and Caleb Ferguson, like they made moves that were good.
Brock Bert like, these are fine moves, but they weren't
phenomenal moves, and it's bit them. They just don't have

(01:32:17):
a high end arm. The thing that every good bullpen
needs is the guy that the other team is afraid of,
the guy who's kind of a psychopath. And the Reds
just don't have that. When Pierce Johnson comes into the game,
is anyone threatened, is anyone scared? They might worried about
getting struck out on three pitches or anything like that. No,

(01:32:37):
it's it's Pierce Johnson. He's a perfectly fine option. But
the Reds have too many of those and not enough
higher end arms.

Speaker 3 (01:32:46):
Is the bullpen? Because the bullpen is so bad? Is
that keeping us from talking about the fact that the
offense is still wildly inefficient? I mean you look at
even yesterday, they scored four runs. All of them are
on home runs. And this is it's not a team
that you know is built to go up there and
hit a ton of home runs. It's home run or

(01:33:07):
bus for a team that I mean, what's the leader
in home runs going to have at the end of
the year twenty five?

Speaker 11 (01:33:13):
Yeah, yeah, especially in the ballparks that they play, And
this happens every single year. I look at the end
of your stats and say, how do they not have
more home runs? And you're right, the bullpen is pulling
a lot of distraction away from the other flaws of
the team. But at the end of the day, if
you want to put a positive spin on it, if

(01:33:34):
there's one thing that's kind of quote unquote easier to
fix at the deadline, it's the bullpen. There's a million
bullpen arms available every single year compared to compared to
any other position. Now, we may not be able to
talk about the deadline. Maybe out of it.

Speaker 3 (01:33:52):
Deadline deadline, we'll talk about deadline.

Speaker 2 (01:33:58):
Fifty some odd days, though, I think, oh, how many
games under five hundred they are going to be in
fifty days.

Speaker 11 (01:34:05):
Oh, that's why it's important to talk about it.

Speaker 5 (01:34:08):
Now we may not have an opportunity to.

Speaker 3 (01:34:12):
I mean, I guess speaking of the deadline, like, the
minor leagues are in shambles right now, are they not.

Speaker 4 (01:34:21):
I mean, you're a.

Speaker 3 (01:34:21):
Guy that just baseball follows this closely. You're in tune
with what's going on in the minor leagues. Yes, there
are a couple names, but you need more than what
they've got right now. There aren't really any arms that
that you know, or at least not enough. And I
can name maybe three guys.

Speaker 11 (01:34:42):
Yeah, And what you just said is exactly where this
all comes from. There are not many arms. They've drafted them,
but they have not developed anything. And that's part of
the bullpen problem. How many of these bulls in arms
are homegrown talent? How many productive arms are they getting
from the system, and it's the answer nearly enough. You

(01:35:04):
would imagine one of Louis may or Aki Smiler, Connor
Phillips could have been developed, improved, turned into something that
could give you value, and it's not happening. And you
look down in the minors and there's hardly any arms
that I think are even major leaguers. I guaranteed, I
know some can get there, but right now you're looking

(01:35:28):
at it and it is just empty. And then you
go to the offensive side of the minor leagues and
you know they have a great catching prospect who's probably
two years away, and you don't have much to trade.
But Chad, all we can you do is just be
honest with ourselves. Were the Reds ever gonna really trade

(01:35:48):
any significant prospects to improve the team because they happened
really before.

Speaker 3 (01:35:52):
No, what they do is they let these guys get
close to the end of arbitration and then they trade them.
And the problem is, other than Ellie, I guess you
could probably get a pretty something decent for Spencer Steer,
probably a couple a couple decent prospects for Spencer Steer,
but you don't have this hall that they've had in

(01:36:14):
the past when they've decided to blow it up and
do these rebuilds where you could you could really stock
your minor whether it works out or not, you could
still stock your minor league system with four, five, six,
top one hundred prospects and and and feel like you're
pretty good to go. I look at this major league
roster and I go, who the who the heck are
you going to trade?

Speaker 11 (01:36:36):
And this is part of it is the lack of
development that we just talked about. Yes, the other part
is the Reds try to do this, you know, maneuvering
and getting younger players trading away, and you're you are
essentially hoping and cross the fingers that all of these
guys all line up their arbitration at the same time

(01:36:59):
and they all are productive, and it all blossoms into
this What what's the percentage of that happening compared to
the percentage of spending money and hitting on those players
when the Reds hat spent money big.

Speaker 5 (01:37:13):
Whift on them.

Speaker 11 (01:37:14):
I mean, Suarez is looking like a bad deal unfortunately,
and you know, Candelario and Mustakis. The list goes on
the few times that they've invested money. It's been not
only just i'd even accept Okay.

Speaker 2 (01:37:29):
Right, it's been bad. That's the thing for me. Go ahead, sorry,
go ahead, I'll make my point a minute.

Speaker 11 (01:37:36):
You have this combination of trying to align all of
these people in their arbitration before they get too expensive,
and boom, here's the signing that helps push them over
the edge. And all of those signings have fallen flat.

Speaker 3 (01:37:50):
So for a while, Clay, I was kind of indifferent
on Nick Krawl because it felt like the organization's dealing
you a bad hand, right, like the or your ownership
is dealing you a bad hand, and they're making you
work from a very difficult place. But I'm at the
point now we have enough evidence of Nick Kral's work, Clay,

(01:38:13):
that there are people out there in his position, be
at GM, be it President of Baseball Operations, whatever, that
have taken the type of budget the Reds have to
work with and had a lot of success. And they
do it by not wasting, by being efficient in their

(01:38:35):
decisions in their hires, in their free agent signings, in
who they've got working developing players in their minor league,
and who they've got in the scouting department drafting players
into the system. And we have now seen enough from
Nick Krawl for me to look at that and say
none of it is working the way that the Brewers work,

(01:38:57):
their way that the White Sox work. Because Clay here,
there's what I think people forget. Five years, six years,
seven years ago. The Reds tanked and they got Matt
McClain and Elie Dela Cruz and Hunter Green and Chase Burns,
even though that was kind of fluky with the new

(01:39:20):
lottery for the pick or whatever, but the fruits of
that tanking are through the system, like there's no falling
back on. We had this number one pick and this
number five pick and this number three pick.

Speaker 2 (01:39:38):
Like they blew it. They botched the whole thing.

Speaker 11 (01:39:42):
Yeah, And my thing is, when you look at this
team now, how do they get better two years ago,
when these guys were a little bit younger and a
little bit more unknown, you could dream on the idea
of improvement. I don't think Matt McClain is suddenly going
to become we once thought he could be. Could he
be better than he is? Yeah, but we've seen a

(01:40:04):
lot more bad baseball than good baseball from him. Spencer
Steer fine player needs to be And I've always said
with Spencer Steer. He needs to be your your sixth
best player, your seventh best player, your fifth best player,
not the guy trying to drive offense. Now you have Ellie,
you have Chase Burns, You have them both for a

(01:40:25):
couple more years. I see those two guys as stars.
You have Hunter Green, he's you know, always injured, but
high end talent. Like you have enough of a foundation.
But the way that the Reds have fumbled the rest
of it is making me think that they're gonna fumble
right through Ellie de la Cruz's tenure here and he

(01:40:46):
will be off to a different city like so many
of the stars before him.

Speaker 2 (01:40:50):
And then based on how they do things, you have
to do it again.

Speaker 3 (01:40:53):
Right, You have to tank for three or four years,
build up some high level draft picks, get those high
level picks through the system. Next thing you know, Clay,
you look up and it's the middle of the damn
twenty thirties.

Speaker 11 (01:41:06):
Yeah, and this has been the cycle for thirty plus years, right,
And I agree about Nick Kral. I do think it
takes multiple years, several years before you can judge a GM.
And we are there now with Nik Krawl and it
just hasn't been good enough. I will give him credit.
JJ Blade was a great find. Nathaniel has been a

(01:41:27):
good fine like he's he's not been zero, but he's
GM's good. GMS are sixty percent hit rate. Yeah, he's
closer to forty thirty percent.

Speaker 2 (01:41:38):
I don't know.

Speaker 11 (01:41:38):
He's just below average.

Speaker 2 (01:41:40):
Like most of his roster.

Speaker 3 (01:41:41):
He's hitting two oh six, yeah exactly, or is eras
five forty three?

Speaker 2 (01:41:49):
However you want to look at it. It's not good enough,
you know it.

Speaker 11 (01:41:52):
This goes you bring in a new guy, that new
guy needs to create his roster. He doesn't want this guy,
and then you that rebuilt or retooled, whatever you call it,
starts sooner than maybe we even think. We may say
there's still two or three more years of trying and
you know, manipulating the edges of the roster. If they

(01:42:12):
fired Nick Crawl and bring somebody in, there's a non
zero chance that starts this offseason. Agree, eating away these players.

Speaker 2 (01:42:20):
I don't have a lot of faith in it, But agreed, Clay.
Where can they find you?

Speaker 11 (01:42:25):
Just Baseball dot Com and on x at Clay underscore SMO.

Speaker 3 (01:42:31):
I appreciate you, brother, I'm in not next week, but
the week after I'm in so I have you back then?

Speaker 4 (01:42:38):
How about that chat.

Speaker 11 (01:42:39):
I'm having a baby on Monday, so I don't think
I'm gonna be able to do that.

Speaker 3 (01:42:44):
Well, congratulations. Now I need somebody else from just baseball.
Thanks Blake, appreciated brother.

Speaker 11 (01:42:53):
I have a good one.

Speaker 5 (01:42:55):
You got.

Speaker 2 (01:42:55):
Clay's having a baby, Tarren. Wow, he just dropped that
on us. Congratulations to Clay. I'm happy for.

Speaker 1 (01:43:04):
Him because you talked to Clay within the past nine
months and nothing I know.

Speaker 2 (01:43:09):
Well, that's gonna do it. Clay's having a baby. Congrats
Tom on the wind last night. I'll see you in
like eight days. This is the Moe Egger Show. I'm
Chad Branda. He's Tarren Bland. This is Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 4 (01:43:32):
My car.

Speaker 2 (01:43:34):
And I'm listening to the radio. I'm listening to a
sad peral sing sing about us. He got a corro.
I just want my something not too when you're on
it gets dy? Who don't act this? If you didn't
not know? She letting me play with her.

Speaker 4 (01:43:58):
I'm working late.

Speaker 2 (01:43:58):
I said, I'll soon be home.

Speaker 5 (01:44:01):
All about the girl was home home.

Speaker 4 (01:44:04):
Let me tell you what your crime phone.

Speaker 14 (01:44:07):
Why because I'm flying, super flying Nato, I'm flying.

Speaker 2 (01:44:15):
You know, he's super fly with me, I'm super duper
and I'm super duper flying flying.

Speaker 6 (01:44:20):
Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty traffic from

Speaker 7 (01:44:25):
The U see her