6/13/24 - The Mo Egger Show w/ Rick Ucchino

Reds, Bengals and Wrasslin!

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
As like ESPN fifteen to thirty,Cincinnati's sports station. Here we go,

(00:10):
approaching three oh five. Here ona Thursday afternoon, ESPN fifteen thirty,
the home of the Bengals. Mowaggernot in today. It is load management
Thursday for Mo. As we approachthe summer months. Can't blame him.
The Reds are off. Don't knowwho's in tomorrow at Tarin Do we know

(00:31):
who's in tomorrow? No one knowswhat's in tomorrow. This is a big
mystery. Maybe it's Mo. Maybemoj just shows up tomorrow. May it
could be Chad. I don't know. I was answer Skinners. Well I've
been told, Okay, Richard Skinner'sin tomorrow. There we go. All
right, mystery has finally been solved. So okay, I'm in today.
I'm Ricky Uchino. I'm here tillsix o'clock tonight. Jeff Carr from the

(00:52):
Locked on Reds podcast Red's Talk,he is joining me here for hour number
one. But best laid plans,things tend to go wrong. He's stuck
in traffic at the moment. Heshould be here in t minus four minutes
at least, That's what I havebeen told. He's going to be joining
me for the entire first hour hereas we have a lot to break down
with the state of the Cincinnati Reds. A big win last night after what

(01:18):
has been a spectacular month of June, especially compared to what happened in May.
And if you you know we're livingunder a rocker you didn't pay attention.
Just imagine anything and everything that couldgo wrong with a baseball team.
It went wrong in the month ofMay, and the Reds looked absolutely dead
in the water. They looked hapless, hopeless. They were trying, but

(01:40):
just seemed like they just couldn't getover the hump. They were doing everything
they possibly could, just enough tolose games. And then hey, look,
the month of June rolled around.They swaped the Dodgers, take care
of business against the Cubs, theysweep the Rockies. Yeah, they're playing
some more inferior teams they did inthe month of Ay, but hey,
you beat who's on your schedule,that's the only thing you can do.

(02:04):
They've now battled all the way back. At one point they were ten games
under five hundred, they were onthe verge of dipping back below four games
under last night, and then JamerCandelario socked a big three run home run
in the sixth, thenning the bullpen, which has been great as of late
close things out. Jamer Candelario's reallybeen coming on as of late, looking
more and more like the sixty milliondollar man that the Reds signed in the

(02:29):
offseason to come in here and betheir big offensive free agent weapon. And
yeah, his stats are starting toshape out. They needed that last night.
They needed to go out there beatanother good team like they did against
the Dodgers. Needed to avoid atwo games sweep because you know, you
do very quickly, things can startto compound on you and you can start

(02:51):
rolling downhill. They lose Game three, or tease me, Game four against
Chicago, Yeah, they won theseries three to one, so he's still
feeling good. Game one against Cleveland, it was a close game. If
they would have lost that one lastnight. Now it's three in a row,
you're four games under five hundred,you're eight games back. I think
they'd be sitting in last place todayinstead a win. As tight as everything

(03:15):
is, they're in second place rightnow, still seven games back, but
you got a chance to chip awayand make some headway this weekend. When
they head to Milwaukee. Just agreat atmosphere last night at GABP. If
you weren't down there, Forty twothousand plus show up for the game last
night for Ellie de la Cruz Bobbleheadnight. I believe the Reds said that

(03:36):
that was their highest attended weekday gameat at GABP history outside of Opening Day,
So a lot of fans wanted toget there get their hands on that
Ellie de la Cruz bobblehead. Andthen they were treated to a show by
Jamer Candalario, who hit two homeruns, drove in all four runs.

(03:58):
Again the bullpen closed the door.Nicolodola Oh looked okay last night. Not
his best effort, but hey,when you don't have your best stuff when
you're struggling, you still have tofind a way to get the job done.
And he only gave up two runsover the course of six innings last
night, picked up his seventh winof the year. As Era is at
two nine to three. For aguy who we didn't even know if we're

(04:20):
gonna be able to count on himthis year after the injury problems that he
had last season, he has beennothing short of spectacular. And when Jeff
car gets here, we'll ask himabout Nicolodolo and Jamier Candelario and Elie de
la Cruz and this Reds team rightnow, which is within striking distance,
and that's really all we can askfor after the month of May that they

(04:43):
had. And hey, look rightaround the corner you get Noelde Marte,
who's going to be coming back.Maybe hopefully, hopefully Matt McClain shows up
sometime in the month of August.Does not look like Christian arncnasi on strand
er Bran Williamson is going to comeback. There's some now questions about the
starting rotation with Graham Ashcraft being sentdown to Louisville. So a lot to
dive into with Jeff Carr when hegets in here. And we will be

(05:05):
talking all of Red's baseball throughout thisfirst hour coming up at four five Tarn.
People need to know this by now, like they should know this by
now. If I'm on at leastone segment, I'm gonna be talking about
what. Of course I'm gonna betalking about wrestling, because that's what I
do. That's why bread and butter. You talk about what you know.

(05:26):
When Chad Brenda is filling in fromOh, you can expect some UC talk.
Honestly, probably for three hour.I could do pro wrestling talk for
three hours if I really wanted to. I don't think the audience wants that.
Maybe some do. But reunion,yeah, we could a whole three
hours. That'd be three weeks wherethe show's from back in the day,
myself and you when we used towhat was it Tuesday at six? We
used to come on Tuesdays at sixand break down WWE and at that time

(05:50):
AEW when it was in its infancy. But my good buddy Graham Matthews from
Bleacher Report's gonna join me at fourfive to talk about WWE Clash at the
Castle this weekend and Terror. Bythe way, we got some WWE news
today. I don't know if yousaw this related to Cincinnati. Did you
hear about this? One of ourcoworkers informed me about it. Yeah,
how about this? So Cincinnati CityCouncil this week approved funding to create the

(06:15):
Sports Commission, which is something thatthis town desperately needed. We were the
only top fifty market that didn't havea dedicated sports commission to bring events like
the NFL Draft and the NCAA tournamentand you know, the big concerts,
and in utilizing and packing the venuesthat we have currently and working towards building
an arena something we desperately needed.Right. And the second that the news

(06:39):
broke out that a sports commission wascreated in Cincinnati, the CEO of visit
Since he said, she got emailsalmost immediately from the PGA wanting to come
here, and then taran for guyslike myself and you, this is a
big deal. WWE reached out tothe Cincinnati Visitors Bureau and was like,
hey, would you be interested intalking about a WWE event coming to Cincinnati?

(07:01):
And as somebody that has had towatch Cleveland get SummerSlam coming up on
August third, and I'm sitting heregoing why the hell not us? The
last WWE pay per view that washere was two thousand and six. What
do I have to do? Igraduated high school that year. I'm an
old man. Now I've got kids. I need a WWE pay per view
here. Now. I feel liketearing. There's some hope. I feel

(07:25):
like there's some hope. I feellike conversations are gonna be had. SummerSlam
twenty twenty five is open. They'reCleveland. This year they're Minnesota and nos
in twenty twenty six, twenty twentyfive is open. Come on down to
ice seventy one, let's pack takeof course. Twenty twenty seven, No,
twenty twenty six is Minnesota. Twentytwenty five is wide hope. So
let me ask you, does Clevelandneed to kill it for us to have

(07:46):
a chance. I don't think no. I mean I think they will.
It's SummerSlam. They're gonna they're gonnajam pack it, and I think Cleveland's
gonna put on a good show.I think Cincinnati could do better as far
as you know, being well,we saw what Cincinnati did with the All
Star Game almost what god ten yearsago? Almost ten years ago, it's
twenty fifteen, we had the AllStar Game. Like we saw what Cincinnati

(08:07):
did. Now, the question wouldbe would it make more sense to do
it in twenty twenty seven once theConvention Center renovations are done, because you
know, when where WWE events followed, that means you're going to get Wrestle
Con and things like that, andthey're going to want the Convention Center to
be open for that. So it'sgonna be interesting to see whether it happens
twenty twenty five, twenty twenty seven. But I'm hopeful now, Tarren,
I'm hopeful, and I'll tell youwhat. When I went to the FC

(08:30):
Cincinnati game against Nashville, it wasmy first time being at TQL Stadium,
and some people blame me for theloss that night, saying I'm bad luck.
So it may be a while beforeI'm welcome back there. But when
I went there, I could nothelp but look around and go, Damn,
this would be a hell of avenue for a wrestling event, whether

(08:50):
it was WWE or AW so itmay not even be paid corps. I
think TQL would be a heck ofan event, a heck of an arena
or a platform to have a wrestlingevent in this town. So I'm looking
forward to that. So we'll talkabout Clash at the Castle. Coming up
at four oh five. Coming upat five oh five, Bengals tight end
Mike GISICKI, he's gonna join theprogram. And then five forty Laurel Failer

(09:13):
from the Queen City Press and DatonDaily News talking FC Cincinnati Bengals mini camp
Ted Carris got a new contract today. We got a lot to get into
a lot to get into Jeff Carris now in for me. He is
on the elevator on his way up. So we'll be doing State of the
Reds next. I'm Rick Uchino.Went from Oeggar ESPN fifteen thirty three twenty

(09:35):
here on a Thursday afternoon. RickYucino in from Owegar today here on ESPN
fifteen thirty. Make sure you stickaround till about four thirty or so.
We have Coral Reef tickets to giveaway. They are coming to Riverbend on
August fourth. This is Jimmy Buffett'sband. And uh yeah, I'm gonna
throw a trivia question out there.This is how it's gonna work. I'm
gonna throw a trivia question out there, and you know what, I think

(09:56):
it's kind of a difficult one.So I'm gonna go ahea head and I'm
gonna give you guys the question.Now. No then they can no no,
no, no, no no.You're you're stopping me on this one.
Yes, okay, Well, Tarrenmakes the rules, so he's putting
the kibosh on me on this one. All right, Okay, that's fine.
I just want to make sure weget the tickets away too, Like

(10:16):
I just have faith in the audiencetearing that they're not just gonna pull up
Google and take a look putting awaymy Google. Now that is the voice
of Jeff Carr locked on Reds Podcast. He is here, he is in
the building. Appreciate you you comingin as as always here for the final
forty minutes of this segment. Hereall Things Reds Baseball. Last month,

(10:39):
when I was on from MO,we did a State of the Reds address.
Things were not great for the Redsof the month of May. Anything,
anything that could go wrong did gowrong. And then the calendar flipped.
The June they had that shocking sweepof the Dodgers, and then hey,
we started seeing teams like the Rockies, and then all of a sudden
it was like, hey, there'sthat talented team that we knew was there

(11:00):
even with the injuries, and thankfullythings have turned around. They get a
win last night. I think thatwin was bigger than what some people might
give it credit for, because youdon't want things to snowball, and very
quickly they could have gone from heythey just won seven in a row to
oh, okay, now there's aNow they've brought. Now they've lost three
in a row and then here comethe Brewers and things could compound upon that.

(11:20):
They needed that win last night,and thankfully Jamer Candelario on Ellie de
la Cruz Bobblehead Night decided that wasa night he was gonna put on a
show last night. Yeah, andI really think that Jamer Candelario has kind
of done exactly what I expected himto do. April stunk. April.
I mean for a lot of guys, it's stunk, but it really stunk
for Jamer Candelario, and a lotof people were wondering I was. I

(11:43):
was getting people saying, there's justlike boy Moose or Candelario, who you
taking. I'm like, guys,you gotta give him more than a month.
It's baseball. You gotta give himsome time. And now he's been
super hot. He's sitting like overone thousand on the ops for the month
of June or really the last likefour weeks. And then that two homer
game. I mean, I gotthe chance. On my podcast on Lockdown

(12:05):
Reds, I crossed over with ourLockdown guardians guys, and they're like,
man Tanner Biby was like, reallygood except for two pitches. And I'm
like, eya, buddy, theygot them two pitches, right, yeah,
And look, Jamie Cailario couldn't hithis weight, uh in April,
and there were a lot of guyswho were like that guy. I think
it was what it would have beenWednesday night, the first game, excuse

(12:26):
me, Tuesday night, the firstgame against Guardians. Like I looked at
the lineup and I'm like, ohmy god, everybody's hitting over two hundred.
Oh what a sight to see,Like that's how bad it's been.
But to see Jamber now, thisis the guy last year between the Cubs
and the Nationals. He hit twofifty one last year, thirty nine doubles,
twenty two home runs, knocked inseventy This is the guy they expected

(12:48):
to get. And now all ofa sudden, after this this surge that
he's been on, he's hitting twoforty three. By the way, that's
his career average to the decimal pointis two forty three. So he's bad
his career average. And you know, depending on how many games he's playing,
he's approaching a forty to thirty doubleshome run split right now, Like

(13:09):
this is what they were expecting toget and this is the guy that they
need to step up and play likethis Because just when we thought we were
getting some momentum going here, Jeff, we get the news from David Bell
this week that now Christian Eccarnassi onstrand may have ligament damage. And what
is a weird story just turned evenweirder because it went from no, there's

(13:31):
not a fracture, to he's playingon a fracture, to it was an
old fracture, to know it's anew fracture, and now there's ligament damage
on top of that. And I'mlike, part of me is somewhat relieved
because he was clearly something was wrong, and if there's some kind of an
explanation for that, then I feelgood that he'll start when he's back and

(13:52):
he's healthy, whatever that may be, maybe twenty twenty five, if he
has to have surgery, he'll starthitting again like he did last year.
But at the same time, I'msitting here and I'm going what, why,
and how? And the verbiage thatDavid Bell used is really what's concerning,
because he he said the words he'sbeen dealing with ligament damage all along,

(14:13):
all along, means that they knewor it's always been there, or
there's a lot of questions that Ihave about that verbage. And that is
what when I saw that quote,what troubled me so much about it,
is like, Okay, look,shut him down. If he needs surgery,
give him surgery. Let's not pushthis because it's obvious that what he

(14:33):
was giving the Reds before he hitthe il is probably something we could expect
him to give them if he bringif he comes back too soon. And
that was one good game every likefive or six, and then the other
four or five games that he plays, he was basically an automatic out.
So that's that's not the Cees thatwe need. And with Candelario playing the

(14:56):
way that he is, with NoelvieMarte coming back home hoefully here at the
very end when he is able toat the very end of his eighty game
suspension, which his first rehab gamelooked pretty good in Louisville. Yeah,
looks like he should be ready togo. Then you can weather that storm
and Spencer Steel looks pretty good atfirst base. Still push Cees back.

(15:16):
If every single thing under the suncontinues to be wrong with his wrist,
let it get healthy and bring himback healthy. Yeah, the the I
guess the domino effect of that wouldbe, yes, you're gonna get Noelvee
Marte back, so you're able toweather the loss a little bit better of
you know that in the infield,but you have been using Spencer Steeer more

(15:39):
at first base, which means youhave created I guess it's fair to call
it an issue. You know,in the outfield, Will Benson hasn't exactly
had the season that we, particularyourself and myself hope that he would have.
I mean, Jacob Hurdibees has beena nice story, a nice piece,
made a great play thrown out ofrunner at the plate last night.

(16:02):
TJ Friedel, Oh, thank godhe's back and healthy. My lord,
this all started when he came back. So hey, they got the center
fielder right, Yes, they justsat down Blake done today. Didn't really
get a fair shake. I don'tthink he was quite ready to come up
yet either. But they're grasping itsstraws here to try to figure out what
they're going to do in the outfield, it seems, and that's where it

(16:22):
seems like I think the loss ofChristian Karnassia and Strand's going to be felt
more is you're going to have tolean on Spencer Steeer more in the infield,
which create which keeps that hole inthe outfield. And Nick Kral has
said that he is going to bea buyer at this trade deadline, Like
he said that I envisioned this teamcoming back to where we think we're going
to be, and we're going tobe buyers at the deadline. Being buyers
at the deadline does not mean allright, we'll go get one more relief

(16:45):
pitcher like Sam Mall and call ita day. Yeah, they know they
had this need back in November.We sat here and we talked about it.
Then we talked about it in January. We talked about it a month
ago. They need a right handedpower bat in the outfield. And I'm
not even saying, like, goget like a forty homer guy. Don't
even think like I'm seeing rumors orat least a Suma chatter. Yeah,

(17:08):
chatter about Louise Robert. He's gonnabe way too expensive. Like did you
see what Chris Gatz wanted for DylanCees. He's going to ask for the
same thing. If not more forLuise Roberts. So the Reds are not
gonna do that. Go get BrentRooker from Oakland right now. Brent Rooker,
great right handed bat, does hitlefties better than right He's but that's

(17:29):
fine, that's what the Reds need. And if he's twenty nine years old,
the season that he is having thisyear is not the norm for his
career. So you could sell theOakland general manager on all right, I
don't have to give you the farmfor this guy. Let me give you
a strong prospect and let's call ita day, and then you show up
your lineup because Brent Rooker is aguy you could put in the middle of
you order right now. And Ifeel like that really helps solve a lot

(17:53):
of the Reds issues with just onemove. Yeah, and plus you're Oakland.
You're basically the farm system for allof Major League Baseball. So just
just just get a backlin ever sellanything more than fifty cents on the dollar,
like it feels like they do.I mean, maybe maybe the little
actual round. Maybe they'll actually likestart trying once they're in Vegas. Whenever
they get to Vegas, he's Jeffthere in Sacramento, for a few years.

(18:15):
Yeah, exactly. So I remember, like, are the Oakland fans
really sad they're losing the A's?Are they really? I think the fans
are. It's just yeah, theyreally wish John Fisher left in the team
state. Yeah, that's that's agood call. That's Jeff car Locked on
Red's podcast. I'm Rickyu Chino infrom Oeggar. Jeff's gonna continue to stay
with me until four o'clock and thenwe're gonna change things up a bit.
We're gonna be talking a little WWEbecause it's me. Of course that's gonna

(18:37):
happen. We're gonna be talking toMike Kasicki Bengals tight end at five h
five, Laurel Failer from the QueenCity Press, gonna be talking FC Cincinnati
at five forty. Lots to getto here, and we got Core Reef
tickets we got to give away aswell. Sports headlines next ESPN fifteen thirty
Cincinnati Cincinnati Sports Station. Sports headlinesthe service of Kelsey Chevrolet Home of your

(19:06):
Lifetime, powertrain protection and guaranteed creditapproval from their family to yours for life
kelseyshev dot Com. I'm Ricky Uchinohere on ESPN fifteen thirty, filling in
for Owager today. Red's winners overthe Guardians last night a great American Ballpark
final score four to two. JamberCandelario put on a show for the forty
two thousand that showed up for Eliede la Cruz Bobblehead Night, largest ever
non opening day weekday crowd that wasa mouthful in GABP history. Jamber with

(19:33):
two home runs, including the bigthree run shot in the sixth to give
the Reds the lead. Nic Loodolonot as sharpest last night, but still
only surrendered two runs over six innings. Hey, when you don't have your
best stuff, you gotta find away, and he did it here in
his seventh win of the year.Alexis t has picked up save number fourteen.
Red's have the day off today,huge four game series against first place
Milwaukee starting Tomorrow night at American FamilyField. It's Hunter Green set to go

(19:57):
up against Freddy Pero FC. CincinnatiBack in action Saturday night after a little
bit of an extended break, theytake on San Jose, who is just
awful. They are got off.They have eleven points, They're dead last
in the West. That kickoff isat ten thirty. Laurel Failure from the
Queen City Press will join me atfive to forty to preview that matchup.
The Bengals Today they closed out minicamp and announced a one year contract extension

(20:21):
with center and team captain Ted Kerris, keeping him in Cincinnati through the twenty
twenty five season. It's basically nowa two year deal that he is on
that will pay him six million dollarsper year. Seems like a very good
overall deal for everybody involved. Secondround pick Chris Jenkins, big defensive tackle
out of Michigan. He also putpen to paper today on his rookie deal.

(20:41):
At least just first rounder Amarius Mims, he is the only one of
the ten draft picks yet to signtheir contract. The Big Twelve Conference,
Man, just when you think theyhave run out of things that sponsors can
buy, right, Nope, somesalesman out there is gonna have an idea.
The Big Twelve Conference is now exploringa naming rights partnership, a deal

(21:04):
that could be worth hundreds of millionsof dollars. According to Yahoo Sports.
Under the proposal, the conference's namethe conference's name would undergo a significant alteration,
prominently incorporating the sponsor's name. Theywould retain the number twelve, and
they would replace the word big withthe corporate sponsor's name. So we could

(21:26):
be looking at the AFLAC twelve orthe State Farm twelve, or the Procter
and Gamble twelve. Pick your sponsor, the Sincy Shirts twelve, the Skyline
Chili twelve, the anything outside ofa beer mass sense at that point,
like the Bodviser twelve. Yeah,that's a good one. That's a good

(21:48):
one. That one actually makes sense. Uh. Cincinnati City Council has passed
a five hundred and seventy million dollaroperating budget. The reason I'm talking about
that is includes funding for a newsports mission whose sole job is going to
be bringing marquee events to the cityof Cincinnati, like All Star Games,
International soccer matches, NCAA tournament games. They're gonna be working on getting this

(22:11):
town a new arena. Finally,and the head of the Cincinnati Visitors Bureau,
Toad Scott Sloan over on seven hundredWLW today. They have already heard
from the PGA and Pump that FistWrestling Fans WWE about bringing a big marquee
event to the city of Cincinnati.SummerSlam is in Cleveland this year. They
got an open date next July orAugust. Let's do SummerSlam twenty twenty five

(22:33):
at pay Corse Stadium. I needthat like eight year old me needed cake.
NBA Finals last night Jason Tatum withthirty one, Jalen Brown with thirty.
Boston Celtics knockoff the Mavericks one ohsix to ninety nine, take a
commanding three to oh series lead.Tarn You're my NBA guy. What has
happened to the Dallas Mavericks? Justa very bad matchup for Dallas. That's

(22:56):
as simple as it is. Kyrieand Luke. Kyrie finally decided to show
up last night again, say thirtyfive points for last night. Boston is
a deeper team, the more experiencedteam when it comes to finals experience.
So yeah, and they didn't evenhave Porzingis last night and it did not
matter. Just outside of You're right, outside of Kyrie and Luca, Dallas,
they got nothing. How are yougonna feel though, when Boston wins

(23:18):
their eighteenth title and it breaks thetie with the Lakers. I'm not gonna
be happy. Are you guys gettinga coach. Uh, yes, we
will. It's it's more like you'regonna be jj reddick. They're just gonna
wait until after the finals is over. Do you think they should have offered
Dan Hurly more money? No?Okay, okay, that's fair. Uh.
The Stanley Cup Finals tonight, Gamethree, Edmonton trying to make this

(23:41):
a series with Florida up two gamesto none. Right now, it's on
Edmonton's home ice eight o'clock for thepuck drop. Uh. Taran Man,
I'm torn on who to root for, because, like, I want Serge
Bobrowski to get a ring because he's, you know, played with the Jackets
for so long and he was verygood and integral and the limited playoff success
that they had. But man,as a offering a Cincinnati sports fan,
I want the entire country of Canadato have this curse just lifted off of

(24:04):
them and finally win a Cup forthe first time in thirty years Canada.
Oh man, So we'll see whathappens. I'm sympathetic. I think Edmonton
does win tonight. I'll give themthat. So Theresky a favorite to win
the con smythe Trophy. Yeah,he deserves it. Man, He's had
a hell of a career. Sothere we go. There are your sports
headlines. That is a voice ofJeff Carr. I'm Ricky Uccino in for

(24:26):
for Moegger. Today, let's let'stalk about Ellie de la Cruz. Here.
Last night, a lot of peopleshowed up. It was his night.
He's obviously still a superstaring down.Yes, he's got his distractors,
right, he's still got the peoplewho think hell. But like so many
people showed up to get his bobblehead. Yes, Jamber Candelaria was the star
of the game. Where do youassess Ellie de la Cruz? Where is

(24:51):
he he at right now? Becausehe's such an enigma. He's so hard
to figure out. Because the talentis there and he there have been where
bottom line, Ellie doesn't play,they don't win, right, And he's
had game saving plays, He's madeplays in the in the infield that maybe
a handful of dudes in Major LeagueBaseball can make. Because he's such a

(25:12):
freak athlete. He has those flashesof brilliance, but he just hasn't busted
out into this super nova that wethink that that talent can be in Major
League Baseball. How do you sayswhere he's at right now? I think
he's right where he should be.And I get it. There's people that
want him to bat three hundred rightnow, and they want him to never
strike out and never make an error. But he's twenty two and he really

(25:33):
just got going into his career.He's he's just passed one hundred and sixty
two games just like last week.So we're talking about a guy that is
just now into his second full seasonlike of statistically accruing games, and I'm
seeing all of the things that Iwould expect to see from a guy that's
got the talent that he has.He still takes over ball games. There

(25:55):
are times where he disappears, thereare times where he's not really helping them
on the offensive side of the ball, But in those games, he still
finds a way to make a play, whether he gets a walk and a
steal and he comes around a scorerun or he makes a really good throw
or something like that. There's definitelyparts to his game that are frustrating.
But for me, and for you, and for Mo and for Lance and

(26:18):
for anybody that talks about sports,he is a gift because he might be
the single best baseball player to talkabout, because think about this, you
can do everyone's favorite sports thing withone guy. You can do the blind
comparison, the blind statistical comparison.He strikes out thirty two percent of the

(26:38):
time. He's made a bunch oferrors this season, and he's batt in
two thirty or he's on pace tohit twenty seven homers steel eighty seven bases.
And he's in the same company withRicky Henderson and Eric Davis pre injury.
It's the same player. That's whyhe's so fun to talk about because

(26:59):
the people that are clamoring about thebad stuff are missing the good stuff.
The people that say that there's nothingwrong with him are missing the bats.
There's still plenty of things that heneeds to work on because he's still so
young. Yeah, you know,listening to uh, I think he was
back on the second I was doingextra innings on LW and listening to the
Cowboy in the broadcast. He's talkingabout Ellie right now. His biggest struggle

(27:22):
is he's losing the chess match atthe plate. It's not a lack of
talent or or really his I guesskind of his approach at the plate.
But he's just losing the mental aspectand getting outdueled by the pitcher. What
can the team do to to helphim get through that? Because really it's
it's all. It's a learning processright now. It's the it's can he

(27:44):
make the adjustment? Can he bethat that smart baseball player that goes out
and he look, he knows whento swing at what pitches right? Any
good hitter or hitting coach or manageror whatever that has experienced in Major League
baseball has always said, you haveI've got to simplify the strike zone.
When it comes to a hitter.You've got to take an area of the
strike zone and say that is whereI'm looking for a pitch. That is

(28:07):
where I'm looking for my pitch,where I'm gonna do damage and anything else,
I'm either gonna lay off or swingdefensively fouled off and force this pitcher
to give me something in my zone. I do this thing. I don't
know if you do this thing whenyou watch baseball you're sitting here, you'll
be like, okay, boy,he's coming with a carved ball next,
or man, I bet if afastball up and in right here would be
perfect. If a hitter's doing thatat the plate, he's already lost.

(28:30):
And sometimes I feel like Ellie's doingthat. Sometimes I feel like Ellie is
like, Okay, here comes theslider. I got to make sure that
I'm watching the spin and I'm readyto go. And he strikes out on
a fastball, or he's expecting thefastball and he gets a change up right
down the middle. We were talkingoff air yesterday there was a perfect example
that Tanner Bybee threw a change upright down the middle of the plate,

(28:52):
right down Broadway that Barry Larkin onthe television broadcast had this tone of voice
where he was just like, ohmy, how did you miss that?
How? But you could see,Yeah, he was out on his front
foot, he was already part waythrough his hitting motion, and then he
realized he was going too fast.He just could not slow himself down enough
to hit that change up. Ithink he is trying to expect what's coming

(29:17):
next, and he can't do that. As a hitter, you just have
to react. Yeah, I wasgonna say, is this kind of like
the bull derm kind of thing wherehe's just talking to himself a little b
too much. He's like, hey, back out, you know, get
the broad out of your head.Whatever the line was, right, Like
whatever's going on in his head,get it out of his head right,
and then just go up there tosee the ball hit the ball, because
there's a there's a term in wrestlingif you're thinking, you're stinking right.
It's all about trust and reaction.And it's like, yes, the pitching

(29:40):
is is hard, but he's shownthe talent to be able to hit the
pitches. Maybe it's just as simpleas just hey, shut your brain off
and see the ball hit the ball. It really is, and it's it's
something that I never learned, whichis why I only got through hype.
But it's it's something that you canwatch a player and you can tell when
they're thinking too much, and youcan tell and they're trying to play a

(30:00):
guessing game with the picture, andanytime a hitter does that, the picture
has the advantage one percent of thetime. That's Jeff Carr locked on Reds
Podcast. We need to take abreak, but let's talk about this Milwaukee
series and this Milwaukee Brewers team,which I used the word enigma to describe
Ellie de la Cruz I'll throw itout there again for the Milwaukee Brewers.

(30:21):
Come. I don't know how they'retwelve games over five hundred. I'm Rick
Uccino went from Mowagger. We'll diveinto this crucial Brewer series. Should I
use crucial in June? Yeah?I think Okay, screw and I'll use
it. This crucial series with theMilwaukee Brewers coming up this weekend. ESPN
fifteen thirty overspending on Amazon, EarnWhite, NHL Finals Game three. That's

(30:45):
what's going on in the NHL tonightEdmonton hosting. I'm drawing a blank on
who they're playing, the Florida Pamplers. Thank you, Florida Panthers. Did
you hear that the flight the airtraffic controller tried to hurt the Panthers plane
from Edmonton. Oh, they werelike, oh, oh no, we

(31:07):
can't land for another two hours.Sorry. Like, I'm sorry, what,
we don't have fuel to do that, We'll have to go over here.
They're like, oh yeah, sorry, but they ended up. Yeah.
Yeah, So I still like Edmontontonight in in that one. All
right, that's Jeff Carr locked onRed's podcast, joining me here for a
few more minutes before we dive intothis Milwaukee Brewers series this weekend. One

(31:30):
guy I wanted to ask you aboutwas noelve Marte strange situation going on with
him. Basically said, Hey,I don't know how that uh banned substance
got in my system. Denied,deny, deny, deny. Uh think
what you want about that, whetheryou believe them or that you don't believe

(31:52):
them. Uh. There's there's partof me that that wants to say,
like, Okay, you know whatall these supplements and things that you know
are regulated or not regulated, whoreally knows what you're putting in your body?
This is something that's been part ofan overall health thing for me where
I've really started focusing more on justmaking my own food because I don't actually

(32:15):
trust like pre made stuff or fastfood or this that no, like I
know exactly like I want to makeeverything myself from scratch and it's it's really
worked out for me, so Iknow what I'm putting into my body that
I can trust, my calorie countand things like that, and it's worked
out for me. So there's partof me this sitting there going Okay,
I can kind of see where thisis happening. But at the same time,

(32:36):
I'm going, come the hell on, dude, like, come on,
really, who's buying that? Nobody'sbuying that. I didn't love the
answer, and it's not even necessarilylike whether I buy it or not.
For now he's serving this time.I'm not going to add to that what
I'm worried about the future. Yeah, exactly, That's where I'm at too,
because if you didn't know this time, what's gonna happen next time?
Are you gonna know next time?Because next time's one hundred and sixty two?

(33:00):
Or if he did it and heknows he did it, is he
going to risk it again? Oris it just going to be all right,
I got popped. Let's be smartabout this and let's just do it
all natural out because this guy's agood player. Get three sixteen sixteen game
hitting streak once he gets back onthe field, yeah, and thirty five
games last year. I think youknow, he looked good in his one

(33:22):
rehab starts so far, as firstone in Louisville from what I've heard from
you know what I've heard secondhand,he looked good and you know winter ball
as well, and everything that wasgoing on there, So it's like,
Okay, is it fair to justsay it might be the mental aspect of
this from him bouncing back more thananything, because you know his first game

(33:43):
back is going to be on theroad in Saint Louis and then he's going
to Yankee Stadium after that, andyou know you're going to be here and
he's going to be hearing a lotof things in the stands. Is it
just kind of like drowning out thenoise and just focusing in. Is that
fair to the question that that's goingto be the key here one? And
quite frankly, everything that he saidafter I don't know was good. He's

(34:04):
like, it's a fresh reseet,I've got to start over, I've got
a work hard, I've got tobe a big part of this team and
stuff like that. I'm okay,good. That's good that he has that
focus, because, yes, NewYork's not going to be easy on him.
No, I venture a guess thatSaint Louis might not be that gracious
to him, Like opposing fans arenot going to be kind no to no
alvi Marte. They're not kind toopposing players for the most part. When

(34:28):
it comes to cherring and jeering andall that wonderful stuff. But now they
have a targeted thing that they canyell at him, and a targeted thing
that they can push at him thathe's just going to have to block out.
And that's on top of the factthat, like you said, he's
got less than forty career games inthe major leagues right now, So he's
got to block out the fact thathe doesn't know what he doesn't know.

(34:50):
He is still learning to be amajor league hitter, and now he's got
to add this on to it.So I really do hope that it's something
he can push through because he isimmensely talented and he is a guy that
I would say it's written in pencil, It's not written in pen but it's
written in pencil that he could bepart of this core moving forward. But
he now has extra pressure that hebrought upon himself. Yeah, for sure,

(35:13):
he's not gonna be here until thetwenty seventh, and then again he's
starting six games on the road SaintLouis in New York. Very quickly here
because I'm almost out of time forthis hour. I really appreciate your time.
Today. We talked a lot aboutthe Milwaukee Brewers this offseason. They
lose their manager to the Cubs.They traded their ace Corbyn Burns to Baltimore,
and we're thinking, okay, maybethey take a step back this year.

(35:34):
So far that's not been the case. This is despite Freddy Peralta having
a SOSO year. Dl Hall,who is part of that Corbyn Burns trade,
he's hurt. Jacob Junas has hurt, Joe Ross, Brandon Woodruff,
Wade Miley, they're all on theil right now. You got guys like
Colin Ray, talented guy like apretty decently touted prospect from back in the

(35:54):
day, didn't even pitch in theBigs through twenty seventeen, eighteen and nineteen,
but he comes back with the Cubsnow the Brewers. He's having a
career year at thirty three, fiveand two with a three thirty one er.
They don't have a ton of guysripping the cover off the ball,
either, Like, how are theytwelve games over five hundred. I think
it's the same thing and the reasonwhy I don't buy the Brewers. It's

(36:17):
the same thing that whenever a teamis struggling, you say, well,
back of their baseball card. What'sthe back of their baseball card look like?
The back of the baseball card forthe Brewers right now is not this.
Yeah, it is not. Howgood they've been so far. A
couple of the guys that are hittingthe cover off the ball for them,
the few that are Bryce terrang who'sa glove first endfielder, and William Contreres,

(36:37):
who all by all accounts is anice power catcher from the Brewers got
from the Braves and that three teamdeal that sent Sean Murphy to Atlanta.
But he's not a three hundred hitter. I just don't buy this. I
see him coming down to earth alittle bit. I see in Christian Yelich.
I kind of buy a little bitbecause I've kind of a renaissance for
him a little bit. He's hitlike three twenty five. I was confused,

(36:59):
is the why he was so badthese last few years? So maybe
now he's making up for lost time. But the other guys, and the
fact that most talked about this alot twenty eight different pitchers the Brewers have
used to this point. So yes, they're getting some good performances from some
guys, but they are doing this. They are mcguivering this season right now

(37:20):
and to see exactly how they moveforward from here. I don't buy it.
I think if they get a goodtrade offer for Willie Thomas or a
good trade offer for Devin Williams oncehe's healthy, I think they're going to
pounce on it because they are ready, not necessarily to hit the full reset,
buddy, and completely re retool,but retool, Yeah, for sure.
Jeff Carr Lockdown, Redspodcast, redstalkdot Com. Thank you so much.

(37:40):
I'm way late for a break.I really appreciate the hours always.
We got Mica SICKI coming up atfive oh five, we'll here from Zach
Taylor. He's spoke at press conferencetoday. We'll hear that around four thirty.
Coming up next though, my buddyGraham Matthews from Bleacher Report. WWE
clash at the Castle this weekend.Let's talk a little wrestling. Because it's
me. You had to know whatwas coming. ESPN fifteenth This report is

(38:01):
sponsored Buys and fifteen thirty. Herewe go our number two. ESPN fifteen
thirty. Ricky Uchino in for Moeggertoday and h if you've heard me fill
in for mo before, you youprobably should have realized that this was coming
at some point. I'm a guywho likes to cover all the bases.

(38:22):
We spent the first hour with Jeffcar Locked on Red's podcast talking all things
read, so if you miss that, check out Mo's podcast page on ESPN
fifteen thirty dot com. Reds areoff tonight. Tomorrow night begins a big
four game series against the Milwaukee Brewers, Hunter Green, Freddie Peralta in game
number one Tomorrow eight ten. Firstpitch action on seven hundred wl W.

(38:45):
Coming up at five oh five,we'll talk to new Bengals tight end Mike
is SICKI. We'll also talk everythinggoing on with Bengals training camp with Laurel
Faylor from the Queen City Press andDayton Daily News at five forty five.
She also covers FC Cincinnati. Theygot a big matchup Saturday night against and
Jose, so we got everything coveredfrom a local perspective. As some of
you may know, I cover professionalwrestling for sb Nation, for fight Full,

(39:07):
for a few other outlets, andthis weekend it is wwee Clash at
the Castle. I could sit herein blov eight for fifteen to twenty minutes
about this event or I could bringup my buddy Graham Matthews, who covers
WWE for Bleacher Report, and we'llblow V eight together. Graham, how's
it going good, sir, It'sbeen a minute since we've had a chance
to chat. How are you?How's things going? Certainly, sir?
Thanks for having me on. Iappreciate it that we were talking to rents

(39:30):
here today. But listen, I'lltalk some rattling that might see my area
of expertise. I appreciate you.One man was, dude, you're in
Connecticut, Like, what do youknow about baseball? Absolutely nothing. I
know nothing about baseball, period,So I think wrestling is probably probably safe
to keep it staff. Yeah.I was gonna say, you're lucky you
still have a basketball coach. You'relucky the Lakers lowballed Dan Hurley and he
was able to hang on there.But let's chat about WWE as as a

(39:52):
whole first, because Graham, comingout of WrestleMania Philadelphia in April, it
was a real high point for WWE. Cody wins the championship in the main
event, talking Cody rose to sonof the American Dream, Dusty Roads.
He wins the title, ends RomanReign's Reign of Terror at four years,
but then the event ends, Romangoes on hiatus, Rock goes back to

(40:15):
Hollywood, Becky Lynch hits free agency, and then you have guys like Seth
Rollins and Bobby Lashley, women likeRhea Ripley and Osca. They get hurt.
And now Triple H as the chiefcontent officer for WWWE, he's really
had to lean into talent recently thatare are very good at what they do,

(40:36):
but they lack that star power thatsome of the other people I mentioned
have. Some say WWE has peaked. I say they're trying to tread water
here and build up some new starswhile their current ones are on the shelf.
How do you assess the job thatTriple H has done kind of navigating
these difficult waters over the last fewmonths since WrestleMania forty came to a close.

(40:59):
Yeah, I think it's a both, especially since around Mania season obviously,
like you said, the influx ofstar power the Rock was around,
and that was really like the peakof snackdown so far in twenty twenty four.
So, like you said, Rick, I think they've done a decent
job at least in what I havepinion too. Of kind of trying to
build new stars. We just havethe draft or whatever you can call the
draft, considering not much really changedon the landscape of Ron SmackDown, of

(41:21):
introducing new bases, giving us freshstorylines, and they're trying their best.
I'm not saying it's perfect by anymeans. I would say the entertainment excitement
level kind of peak prior to Mania. But what we've gotten so far is
solid, is literally setting the statesfor whatever what we're gonna getting in SummerSlam
in a couple of months, andI think that starts to clash the cancel
this weekend. So I've been enjoyingit for what it is. I think
the shows have been solid, butI think this is kind of the prelude

(41:45):
to what we're going to be gettingin the coming months. I would say,
I think from a storyline standpoint,Sammy Zain and Chad Gable have emerged
as the top story over on MondayNight Raw that has people really really invested.
I think people are gravitating toward aguy like Braun Breaker, the you
know, son and nephew of theSteiner Brothers for our older audience checking out

(42:07):
right now. So I mean He'ssomebody that's really kind of taken Monday Nights
by storm since the WWE Draft Nightone was in Cincinnati, by the way,
if you guys missed out on thatshow. But there are people you
can tell they're leaning into, DrewMcIntyre being one of them. He's trying
to carry on two feuds right nowwith one of the Stars on the Shelf

(42:28):
and CM Punk. But you know, are there is there anybody on one
of these two rosters, whether itbe raw or SmackDown, that you think
they really need to lean in onthat they haven't you know, quite tapped
into yet. What's an untapped resourcethat Triple H has it on his hands
right now? That's a good question. I think. On the raw side,
we've seen a fair amount of himrecently, including him Rawn that great

(42:50):
match or the aforementioned Braun Breaker.But Eli, you're dragging off, man.
I still say he's one of thebests, not only in w w
E, but the entire business rightnow, like any in any company right
now and wrestling, he is justone of the best in the world today.
He's fantastic. That was that rawhere in Hartford about a month ago.
Him and Ricochet ripped it up,had the best match in the entire
show, and that was on ashow that also had Jimpson going through as

(43:12):
well, which was an excellent outingas well in the first round of the
team tournament. He's a guy thatI would really like to see him go
farther with, and so far he'slooked great on raw. Lira Valkyria another
new name from NXD that has reallydone well on the raw roster. On
the SmackDown side of things, we'veseen a little bit of them lately,
but La Knight obviously is you know, on his way to the United States
Championship of Carmelo. Hey, he'sjust lost that only night recently. He's

(43:35):
the guy they should definitely go fartherwith on the Friday night SmackDown side of
things. He has a lot ofpotential. Darren Corb and I know,
someone that we're both fans of fromNXC recently had to run there. We
haven't really seen a whole lot ofhim on the SmackDown side lately. Hopefully
we can get in back in themix soon enough. Not exactly a new
name, but a fresh name thatthe SmackDown side of things definitely spent the
past year or so. So thoseare just a few people a lot of

(43:58):
people that were called up I'm NXin the past month or two. But
I think the newer names are reallyor who's going to carry Ron smack down
into the future that I want usto do more within the coming month.
I mean, this is going tobe a duh answer for anybody who knows
me, but I really want tosee them lean more into the women's division,
namely Bailey, who kind of feelslike a bit of an afterthought as

(44:22):
the WWE Women's champion right now.I mean, she had her big moment
she finally wins the title in asingles match at WrestleMania, the first one
in her eleven year career. Shehad a great run leading up to it.
The crowd is starting to get intoher, and we're all expecting this
big babyface run for her that wenever really got in her career, and
you'd especially think the company would wantto make her a main focal point,

(44:43):
being the only active member of thefour horsewomen in WWE right now, and
they haven't really done that with heryet. Her match with Piper Niven on
Saturday kind of feels second Dary orthird Dary or whatever word want to use
to describe it. And over onthe raw side, I really thought they

(45:04):
were gonna lean heavy into Lyra Valkyriaas the next challenger for Lyd Morgan,
but instead she's going to be competingfor money in the bank, and it
looks like maybe Zelena Vega could possiblybe the challenger for Lid Morgan. I'm
I'm concerned about the direction of thewomen's division, especially on Raw, because
Lid Morgan is finally getting a chancedue to a myriad of circumstances, whether
it be injuries or one of thetop stars leaving the company. She's now

(45:30):
the quarterback. She is the mainfocus on Monday Night Raw, and it's
great this storyline she's doing with DominicMysterio on the judgment day. But at
the same time, she's the women'sWorld heavyweight champion. She needs challengers and
they need to be building somebody upfor her, especially for SummerSlam, because
if Rhya Ripley is not ready tocome back, if Charlotte Flair is not

(45:52):
ready to come back, they betterbe backing a Brinks truck up to Becky
Lynch's house to get her to cleavewind on August third. I don't know
what they're doing there. That's abit of a concern for me. Yeah,
I wouldn't say. I was goingto say a painful state of affairs
right now and raw with the women, but I mean that's not exactly true
because they do have a lot ofwomen. I think the biggest problem on

(46:14):
the raw side right now with thewomen is the fact that they have so
many women, a lot of talentedwomen at that, but none of them
are over none of them are reallykind of clicking with the audience right now.
A lot of women's tag teams,they're doing okay in the women's tacting
department, but a lot of thosewomen do not feel like Bible threats to
the Women's World Championship, whether itbe Sena or Zoe. The liar is
still kind of on her way.They have damage control, but they need

(46:36):
a lot more depth beyond just thosewomen. Like you said, no Ria,
no Becky for the foreseeable future,there's not a lot of depth there.
When we're talking about Zillia Vega asa potential challenger, she's very talented,
but she hasn't really been a legitchallenger for any championship in a long
time. She did face Ria actuallyabout a year ago and had a really
good match there, but she's beena background player in this whole lw O

(46:57):
angle for so long. I don'treally see her being a threat. As
soon as they won that championship,it was the right coal, but I
kind of knew that championship is goingto be in the back burner for a
while while this storyline where the JudgmentDay plays out, so I'm already expecting
it. Not that I mean notthe SAMN condoning it, but they definitely
need some more focus on that women'sdivision. Building up Nooneds, Liars and

(47:19):
ninth Star. They have damage controls, peas and changes with that. You
know those ranks. What about thatentails I'm not really sure exactly, but
you know they have a lot.If you look at the women's roster on
raws, there's a lot of womenthere, just none of them are really
focused on or featured consistently as thepoint where any of them are really over
and that's a problem they definitely tofocus on right now. A number of
them that you mentioned are going tobe an action this weekend. It's Clash

(47:40):
at the Castle in Glasgow, Scotland, a two pm start time here on
the Eastern Standard time. You're onthe east coast on more central part of
the country. But regardless, twopm start time for both of us on
Peacock, Piper Niven, Alba,fire Isila Down, Drew McIntyre. They
all call Scotland home. Do anyof them get to win in front of

(48:04):
their home country fans? Because I'mnot so sure about that. This might
be a legitimate O for four thiscoming Saturday afternoon. I'm on the same
page and I hate to say thatbecause I feel like it would be tough
for WW to go to these differentmarket says. They happen in for the
past year or two, and theyhave a couple of international people go over
like when they're respective matches and whatnot. And then you go to Scotland.

(48:28):
It's going to be a rowdy crowd, maybe on the same level hopefully as
Leon France they were there for backlast year, but a month ago a
great show there really had no businessbeing as good as it was, and
I'm hoping for similar success on Saturdaywith this show. But yeah, you
look at the Lady of the Landwith this card I want to say group
probably has the highest chance of walkingout world that I'm still convinced, you

(48:49):
know, Sam Punk will probably showup and cost me the championship because we
haven't seen him on ww programming ina little over a month. But at
the same time that it's like,why wouldn't Drew from a storyline standpoints see
that coming after this man cost inthe world of every championship at WrestleMania,
so they kind of figure out thatend of things. I could baby see
the women that we were just talkingabout in the tag team scene albat Fire

(49:12):
Island Dawn Scotland Zone. I couldsee maybe them eking out a win in
then maybe Biaka and Jade getting thebelts back at some point soon after.
But even then, I mean theyjust lost, Like exactly, I was
with you until until Alba got chokedout by Shannon Basler on Raw inside of
five minutes. I'm like, oh, yeah, they haven't even won a

(49:32):
match, Like, I don't knowwhen the last time they won a match.
What clearly they are getting this titleshot because the show is in Scotland,
playing and simple. I think Drew, You're right, I think Drew
has the best shot of winning.I think Bailey is going to beat Piper.
I think Jade and Bianca are goingto retain their titles, probably by

(49:53):
beating Alba and Ila, and DrewMcIntyre has the best chance of winning,
and I could see him winning.But at the same time, unless s
M Punk is not going to behealthy enough for summer slamming Cleveland. Like
Gunther won King of the Ring,he already has a guaranteed world title program.
So if CM punk is going tobe healthy, why would you do

(50:15):
Gunther versus McIntyre instead of McIntire versePunk and Gunther versus Damian Priest, the
current world champion. That's what makessense to me. Maybe the money in
the bank winner has has something todo with it. Me personally, the
way I'm thinking about this is DrewMcIntyre says he's focused on Damian Priest.
He is stone cold focused on thetask at hand until CM punk shows up

(50:37):
and then he just can't help himself. So I think maybe that's what ends
up costing him this Saturday. Ido not foresee Cody Rhodes losing the WWE
Championship to aj Styles, Although thisis the most invested I've been in AJ
Styles in quite some time. Doyou see a title change there? I
would be shocked. I would besurprised. I don't see I think says

(51:02):
that on Cody's keeping that chand theRock returns that match. Whether I doubt
at this point that Summers like.The closer we get the SummerSlam, the
less content that Rock will be onthat car that I am that that Rock
will be wrestling, I think itmight be closer to Rumble, maybe even
many next year. You know,that's been the internal plan reportedly for a
while now. But either way,I mean, I would like to see
Cody lose it. Not because I'mone of those people saying, oh Cody's

(51:25):
had a bad run. I mean, really it's only been two months.
But I think it would freshen upStyles, It would freshen up SmackDown the
NAIN events scene. It would besomething that would not be coming. The
dilemma here that I have is thatI would like to see that few would
be extended into the next show,mounting the Bank next month. The problem
is it's an I equip match.You can't really have Styles decisively say I
quit and then build to a thirdmatch next month. I think this is

(51:46):
it if agent finds a way towin. I mean, I guess they
could go the route of the lastEQUIP match that they had where they had
Edge quit, because that's being interestbeing threatened by the judgment that route.
But I would say that's lazy tojust recycle that finished WWE is not a
stranger or not strangers to recycling finishesfrom previous matches, even if it was

(52:07):
two years ago, so I wouldn'tput it past them to do that again.
I'm going with Cody. I wouldlike to see AJ wins somehow,
some way. I saw a pictureof Cody bringing his bomb to Scotland with
them, so people are automatically assuming, Oh, maybe that's how they get
coded to quit. I mean,I guess I wouldn't mind seeing it,
but I'm going to go the safefor out here and see Cody retained.

(52:28):
I think the match for me thathas the best chance of ending in a
title change is the Intercontinental Championship match. I love sammy'sz Ain, but I
have been a huge fan of thework that Chad Gable has been doing for
quite some time. I think thishas been a flawless heel turn and he'll
run for him so far. Theonly the only trepidation I have with picking

(52:49):
Chad Gable to win this match isthis man is owed a beating by Otis
at some point. At some point, Otis is going to beat the crap
out of Chad Gable. I feelthey've druggen on just a little too long.
It's got to be time to pullthe trigger Sunday real quickly, Graham,
how do you see this one shakingout Sammy versus Chad Gable for the
Icy title. I think Sammy's inalls out of the championship. I really

(53:14):
want Gable to whin I with you, and it's been doing amazing work lately.
I think this is just set upto have to snap on Chad and
then Sammy wins off of that.I would like to go to snap on
Chad, but it's somehow result Eeglebecoming champion by accident? Is this done
actually by accident, not on purpose? I just don't see that happening.
I think they're building a gebel Otisnon title in Dane routine, so that's

(53:36):
my thick, but I would liketo see Gebele become chances though. All
right, Graham, where can peoplefind your good work, sir, Rec
Barrant all over the place, BleacherFort, Grim Jays and Matthews just searched
that up and my name should comeright up. I appreciate you good sir,
take care, appreciate you man.Thank you. All right, there
you go, Graham Matthews. BleacherReport wwe clash at the Castle this Saturday,
two pm start time on Peacock.All right, we got take a

(54:00):
break. We got sports headlines thatwe got to get to. We'll hear
from Zach Taylor, who had apress conference at the end of Mandatory Mini
Camp. We got coral Reef ticketswe got to give away. We got
to get to Mike Gisiki. I'mRicky Uccino in for Moegar. Lots to
get to. Still here today onESPN fifteen thirty sent pis Oh twenty seven

(54:23):
Here on a Thursday afternoon. Whatlooks like a beautiful Thursday afternoon from the
sliver of window I can see fromthe studio here on ESPN fifteen thirty.
Rick Echino in for Moegar Today.The Bengals wrapped up Mandatory Mini Camp today.
Big news coming out of camp today, Ted Kerris signing a one year
contract extension that's going to keep himthrough twenty twenty five here in Cincinnati.

(54:47):
He seems very happy about that deal. If we have time, we'll play
a little bit of Ted Carriss comingup here when we do sports headlines.
First things first, Zach Taylor spoketo the media today. Here's a little
bit of what he had to say. A successful it was, Yeah,
I you know, we just metas a staff, and and part of
my messages when they did a greatjob preparing themselves to get ready for these

(55:12):
guys and and getting the most outof this process we've had the last couple
of weeks. I thought the playersbought in completely, got done everything that
we needed to get done, continueto improve, and now just keep that
momentum going on their own these nextfive weeks and so that when we come
back to training camp, we're notrestarting or setting back. We can keep
the momentum going that we've had andhave a great training camp. When you're

(55:36):
talking to guy about what they don'tdo, like you guy, and yeah,
every situation is unique, Every situationis particular to a player. And
so again it's it's there's not anoverall this is our process it's it's take
each situation as they come at us. Yeah, it was good to get

(56:07):
him back in here. He's ingreat shape. He had his process,
he went through with Joey Bose.Again, when when someone's not been here,
you don't want to rush him intothings. And but he clearly has
has done a great job this offseason. Really happy to get him back in
the building. He was in allthe meetings, did all the all the
walkthroughs and all that stuff, andthen did a great job mentoring some of

(56:28):
the other players as he was outthere during practice. So I thought we
got what we needed out of himand was appreciable him of even though it
is mandatory. I mean, yousee, it's not you know, there's
still guys that aren't always always there. And he showed up and and uh
did did everything that we talked abouthim doing. I hate to speak for

(56:50):
him, but he certainly looks verycomfortable playing out there at corner. And
I think Chuck's done a really goodjob of getting him ready and and helping
him compete. And so I thinkthat's a really good room right now from
a competition standpoint, and Dak certainlyhas continue to make improvements over the course
of the spring and and put himselfin a position that we feel really good
about. Is there one more timeof that? Uh? Ted, It's

(57:24):
a big part of what we do, you know, as a captain,
and he's always led the right wayand and so again happy that we were
able to get that done and andkeep the trend moving. Up front,
that loves football, loves football,and so you you love a center that's

(57:50):
obsessed with the process. Takes alot of pride in the position, not
just being a football player, notjust being an offensive lineman, but being
a center. And there's a lotthat goes into that and Ted, Ted
takes on all that, takes completeownership of it. Does a great job
with the communication, starting the communicationup front, the communication with Joe,
the communication with us as coaches,and then as a leader, you know,

(58:13):
as a as a voted captain,the communication as a team. He's
a guy you can trust and soagain he's about all the right things and
still's got good years in front ofhim. Takes your position. I I

(58:35):
you know, I think as you'rewith a new team, you become more
comfortable, certainly as time goes.But his reputation is what it is now.
You know, this has always beenwhat we've heard about Ted, and
that's what we've seen firsthand, andso it's it's we're not surprised by that.
And and certainly I think as themonths go by that he's been on

(58:57):
teams, he's probably more comfortable.I wouldn't say that I ever noticed Ted
was uncomfortable on our team. Again, they have to keep the momentum that
they've already established. I'm really excitedfor this locker room to finish up.

(59:17):
And anyway, they got to continuethe momentum because again, the guys have
put in great work. We've madegreat strides at every position, to every
unit, and conveying to younger playersthat haven't experienced this time period as much
where you're on your own, thatyou know you can't fall off. You

(59:38):
can't. Now that you're on yourown, you got to be a pro
about it and be ready to comein and compete. Because the temperature has
been unbelievable. It's been seventy fivedegrees, seventy seven degrees. We come
back, it's probably gonna be ninetydegrees. The practices are twice as long,
twice as hard. You've got padsOn, it's a lot more intense,
there's a lot more urgency, andso just doing everything you can to

(01:00:00):
communicate that that things will change whenyou come back, and making sure that
they put themselves in the best positionpossible to be able to compete. How
you finish up nice Yep, Yes, well, I think just just his
path, you know, he's earnedevery opportunity and his time as a as

(01:00:22):
a as a young hockey player growingup in Canada, and his path you
know, through through professional hockey andhis path to being a head coach.
You know, it's just he's gotthere's a lot of wisdom with with things,
the message that he had and couldright to our guys. He's a
former player, you know, andhas played professionally and now coaches professionally.

(01:00:42):
So I think that he he understandswhat our guys go through. And he's
a big football fan as well.And so which is what you notice about
a lot of pro athletes in differentsports, you know, is is it's
almost like at times football seems liketheir first love. They just they just
whatever reason gravitated to the profession thatthey're in. But everybody at heart always
feels like a football player, Sothat's fun to get around these people.

(01:01:04):
And and I thought he did agreat job talking to our team. That
can be an uncomfortable setting. Idon't care who you are walking into a
room with, you know, eightyfive plus guys, and and the setting
can be different sometimes. And Ithought he knocked out of the park and
did a great job. Yeah,you know, it's as you saw,
a lot of our younger guys participatedin the later parts of practice, and

(01:01:25):
so to get his work in onon Tuesday and Wednesday and then take today
off was the best plan. I'vebeen happy. You know, he's better
answering that than me because he knowshow his body feels. But I've I've
been really excited about what I've seenfrom him. All Right, there you

(01:01:46):
go. That is Zach Taylor.A little bit of Zach Taylor. He
spoke for about twenty two minutes orso this afternoon. But so you can
get that on Bengals dot com,Bengals Facebook page, or any of the
myriad of reporters who were down there. I'm Ricky Uchino in from Oweger until
six o'clock tonight. Coming up atfive oh five. We got Mike is

(01:02:07):
sicky New Bengals tight end joining theprogram right now, though, we got
to give away Coral Reef tickets.We got a pair to give away.
This is Jimmy Buffet's band. They'regonna be at River Bend August fourth.
So here's what we're gonna do.I'm gonna give out a trivia question.
I think it's a pretty good triviaquestion. It might be a very difficult

(01:02:27):
trivia question, but definitely not onethat you can't look up the answer if
you really want to. But firstone to get it right is going to
win the tickets. All you gottado if you know the answer, call
up tear in five, one,three, seven, four, nine,
fifteen thirty. Uh, give himthe answer, and if you get it
right, you got the tickets.That's how this is gonna work. So
here we go. Among the fourmajor league sports NFL, NBA, MLB,

(01:02:52):
and NHL. Of the four majorleague sports leagues, there's only one
team that has the letter A thatappears three times in their nickname. So
obviously I'm not talking about the Cubs, Reds, Bengals. All right,
there's three of them, you know, who aren't the answer. But one
team has three a's in their nickname. If you know, call up Terran

(01:03:13):
now three seven nine fifteen thirty fivethree seven four nine fifteen thirty. You
get it right. You get apair of Coral Reef tickets. We got
to do sports headlines next ESPN fifteenthirty. Cincinnati's ESPN Todd Grico mount orub
he is the winner of the CoralReef tickets. He called up Terran immediately

(01:03:35):
and knew the answer to the question. The only team in all four major
sports leagues talking NFL, NBA,MLB, and NHL that has the letter
A appear three times in their nicknamewas the Colorado Avalanche. Not only does
A appear three times, it's threetimes in the first five letters. So
stop calling Tarran. We have awinner. It is Todd Grico mount Or.

(01:04:00):
Welcome back Ricky Uchino here on ESPNfifteen thirty. It's four to forty
three here on a Thursday. I'min from Mowager. Richard Skinner is in
this seat tomorrow, so you getdul Rix different ricks, but dual Rix
this weekend. Of these last twodays, filling in from O, I
believe MO is back on Monday.Sports headlines the service of Kelsey Chevrolet home
of lifetime powertrain protection and guaranteed creditapproval from their family to yours for life.

(01:04:23):
Kelsey chev dot Com. Reds beatthe Guardians last night four to two,
thanks in large part to Jamer Candelariotwo home runs four RBI. He
had the big three run shot inthe sixth that put the Reds up top
for good and helped Nick Lodolo securehis seventh win of the year. He
wasn't his sharpest yesterday, but surrenderedonly two runs over six innings. His
season era is now at two nineto three. Reds, of course,

(01:04:45):
had the day off the day theyopen up a huge four game set against
the first place Milwaukee Brewers tomorrow nightat American Family Field, Hunter Green,
going up against Freddie Peralta in thatone, first pitches at eight ten,
covered starts at seven to ten onseven hundred wl Blake dun meantime, we
barely knew ye optioned down to TripleA today. The Reds did not announce
a move to replace his spot onthe roster. FC Cincinnati back in action

(01:05:10):
Saturday night taking on San Jose.They are not good. They are in
dead last in the West. Sohopefully the Orange and Blue are able to
bounce back from the disappointing two nilloss to Nashville a couple of weeks ago.
Ten thirty is the kickoff for thaton Saturday, with the action here
on ESPN fifteen to thirty. LaurelFailure from Queen City Press will join me
at five point forty to preview thatmatchup. Bengals wrapped up Mini camp today.

(01:05:32):
The big news coming out of thatcenter Ted Carriss has agreed to a
one year contract extension with the teamthat will keep him in Cincinnati through the
twenty twenty five season. It isbasically a two year deal that he is
on now that will pay him sixmillion per we'll also talk to Laurel about
Ted Carris's new deal. She alsocovers the Bengals for the Dayton Daily News.

(01:05:53):
Second round pick Chris Jenkins he signedhis contract today, So of the
ten draft picks for the Bengals,only A Mary Sims, the first round
pick, the big tackle out ofGeorgia, has yet to sign his deal.
The Big Twelve Conference, according toYahoo Sports, is exploring a major
naming rights partnership. This is adeal that will bring in hundreds of millions

(01:06:14):
of dollars to the conference, whichis the good news. The bad news
is we're going to get a ridiculousname and absolutely ridiculous rebranding of the Big
twelve conference. The conversation is centeringaround retaining the number twelve and then removing
the word big and replacing the wordbig with the corporate sponsor name. So
we could be getting something like theState Farm twelve, or the Lardland Doughnut

(01:06:39):
twelve, or the the x Laxtwelve. What about tared I got one?
What about the frishest Big Boy twelve? Huh? You can actually keep
big in the name? Yeah?I think big local though. Yeah,
I don't know they were big enoughto get into Austin Powers right, think

(01:07:00):
they're kind of a semi net Idon't know. I don't know. We'll
we'll see whoever wants to shell outa ton of dough to get that.
They'll be the ones that get that. NBA Finals Last night, Jason Tatum
scores thirty one, Jaylen Brown withthirty Boston Celtics knock off the Mavericks one
oh six ninety nine to take acommanding three to oh series lead. Kyrie
Irving finally showed up. He hadthirty five points in the loss last night,

(01:07:24):
but probably a little too late.He and Luca they just they just
don't They're not getting enough help.And Boston is about to win an eighteenth
title, which is gonna make tarnour resident Lakers fan very very sad.
As La firmly gets locked into secondplace all time for NBA titles with seventeen.
And they are still without a headcoach. But they're about to interview

(01:07:45):
JJ Reddick. I believe correct her. They're gonna interview him soon, interview
him today. Oh there we go, all right, so very soon actually.
And then the Stanley Cup Finals Gamethree tonight Edmonton, trying to make
it a series. The Florida Pantherup two games to none, but they
go across the border tonight. Theyare in Canada. That's that's good because
I don't know if you've paid attentionto the news, but it is.

(01:08:06):
It's not great in southern Florida rightnow, like ten twelve, sixteen inches
of rain have fallen, so notthe best area to be right now.
Luckily, Game three is in Edmontontonight. Eight o'clock is the puck drop
I'm still torn on who to rootfor, but I'd like this to be
a series, especially since the NBAFinals doesn't look like it's going to be

(01:08:27):
a series very much at all.So there you go. There are your
sports headlines. Coming up. Atthe top of the hour five oh five.
Mike is SICKI the new Bengals tightend. He's going to join the
program Laurel Failer at five forty,but next it is Brittaman and Jones on
baseball. I am Ricky Ucino Informoigertoday on ESPN fifteen thirty for a limited
time, No one covers the Bengalslike ESPN fifteen thirty, Cincinnati's sports station.

(01:08:56):
Here we go hour number three hereon DSPN fifteen. Already at Ricky
Uccino in for Moe Egger today,so well deserved time off for him.
Bengals mini camp wrapping up this week. We are we are quickly approaching training
camp is almost here, but somemuch deserved time off for the players as
well, after the work they putin this week, and before he flies

(01:09:17):
back home to New Jersey. He'skind of enough to give me some time
here this afternoon to talk about howthings have been going. For him so
far his first off season here inCincinnati, New Bengals tight end Mike Gisicki
joining me here on the Home ofthe Bengals, ESPN fifteen thirty. Mike,
thank you so much, man,I appreciate the time. How's everything

(01:09:38):
going. How is mini camp thisweek? Yeah? No, thanks,
that mean I appreciate it. Everything'sbeen going really well. You know,
all phases of OCAs is down inmini camp and just finished up a little
bit ago and all, you know, really really positive productive stuff. So
you spent the first several years ofyour career with the same organization. You

(01:10:00):
were in Miami for the longest timethere. Uh And and look, no,
no organization is ever stagnant. There'salways, you know, constant change,
new schemes, new plays, newplayers, new coaches, things of
that nature. Uh. But youreally kind of got your your your your
toes wet for the first time inchanging organizations last year when you went to

(01:10:20):
New England, and now you're doingit again this year coming to to Cincinnati
after after one year with the Patriots. What's the what's the biggest challenge about
transitioning to a new organization where we'reliterally everything is probably different from from what
you experienced in the years prior.Yeah, no doubt. It's really it's

(01:10:41):
coming in. It's trying to fillchemistry with your teammates and kind of meeting
all the guys, uh, youknow, building continuity with them and the
coaches and all that. Uh.So that's that's the biggest thing. And
then you know, when it's time, you know, when we're playing real
football here, when we get back, and it's try to go out and
make plays and uh and then youknow, that's what we all get said
to do. So but it's beenreally good and all the guys, it's

(01:11:03):
been awesome and it's been a funtransition. What's been your impressions of the
city so far, Because I've talkedto a number. I've lived here my
entire life, all thirty six years. So Cincinnati is like my favorite place
on Earth. I like visiting otherother cities, and it's it's great to
experience, you know, those culturesand the differences and things like that.
But I I've never visited a citywhere I felt like, you know what,

(01:11:25):
I'm I'm home, and this isa place where I want to stay
for longer than like five minutes.Right. Uh, but you know,
I've talked to a number of athleteswho have come here and have been pleasantly
surprised by the city, and alot of them end up staying here for
for a very long time, evenafter they're playing days in Cincinnati are done.
What what has been your impressions inthe city of Cincinnati so far that
you've gotten to see anyway. Yeah, Now, it's been awesome. Uh.

(01:11:49):
You know, obviously we have agreat, you know, fan base,
and they've been you know, supersupportive, and I mean people stand
outside as been walking to practice inthe spring. I've never been a part
of that before. I mean,it's been it's been really cool. And
then uh just kind of trying toget to lay of the land and some
good restaurants and there's uh, youknow, it's been awesome weather honestly,

(01:12:13):
so I don't not not too manycomplaints for me. Uh. So it's
been. Uh, it's been areally cool spot to uh to now be
like you said, you know,I was in Miami for the longest time
and then uh just had a quickfifth stop last year and uh New England.
So uh it's been it's been afun transition. You are even though

(01:12:33):
you you've played for two organizations,both of them were in the the a
f C East. Obviously, nowcoming over to the a f C North,
that's gonna be a bit of aa transition have uh, you know,
a f C North that's a verysmash mouth style of football. It
can be rough, it can betough personal at times. Have uh,

(01:12:54):
you know, some of your moretenured teammates here in the a f C
North kind of been trying to getyou accommodated to what it's gonna be like
to play AFC North Divisional football.Yeah. I mean obviously, you know,
you got a lot of respect for, uh for this division. You
know, all the talent and theteams and all that kind of stuff,
and uh so it's you know,something that that I'm looking forward to.

(01:13:15):
You know, it's really competitive inthis division. Uh you know, all
four teams or you know every singleyear a year in year out, you
know, playoff teams and contenders theAFC. So, uh, it's gonna
be really fun something I'm looking forwardto. And uh, I think competition
brings up the best and everybody.New Bengals tight end Mike a Seki joining
me here on ESPN fifteen thirty RickyGino win from moeger here on a Thursday

(01:13:39):
afternoon. You know, you comeover from New England last year and you
know, I know, you know, for Patriots fans and Patriots players who
have been there for the long haul, didn't it didn't go the way a
lot of people were used to watchingPatriots football under Bill Belichick over the last
you know, two decades. Butgetting to play under Bill Belichick, what

(01:14:02):
what what was that experience like foryou? And how has it different so
far from from coming over now beingunder Zach Taylor. Yeah, and it
was awesome. I love Bill.Bill. Uh taught me a lot about
the game, taught me a lotabout you know, a little nuances and
you know, playing my position,and uh, he was he was incredible.
Can't say enough fod things. Obviously, you know, his resume speaks

(01:14:25):
for itself. And uh, youknow, I'll always be grateful that I
had that opportunity, uh to playfro him for for that year and and
then you know, obviously making atransition here. Uh, you know,
Zach is also incredible and uh youknow runs this place uh in such a
cool way that you know, allthe guys are you know, bought in,

(01:14:46):
and you know, there's no nobody'splaying in. Everybody's happy to be
here. I mean, it's ait's a lot of fun. It's a
cool atmosphere to to walk into.When when Zach Taylor first showed up six
years ago, now, I meanhe he preached from the get go about
building the right culture in the Bengalslocker room. And over the years they
have added a number of you know, college captains and team leaders and and

(01:15:12):
and just you know, smart playersand seemingly just just good dudes. You
know, just talking to a lotof people you know who work in the
media who get a chance to youknow, converse with you guys on a
regular basis, they have you know, just a lot of the fact that
this is a good collective unit anda great culture that Zach Taylor has built
over the last six years. TedKerris, who just got a contract extension

(01:15:35):
with a team today, kind oftalked about though, like the mindset of
this team, in the atmosphere surroundingthis team is a little bit different than
last year. I know you weren'there, but he says, it seems
like this team is more like lockedon, laser focused because this is a
team that you know, believes theycan be hoisting the Lombardi Trophy in New
Orleans sometime early next year. Whathas that that focus and that that team

(01:16:00):
atmosphere really been like, because yousay, everybody is happy to be here,
but is there still like that thatbusiness like mentality that Ted was talking
about. Yeah, no doubt.And it starts to top with guys like
said with you know Joe and withyou know, our leaders on defense,
like you know von Bell and youknow Sam Howard and Trey and uh,
you know, the list goes onand on and on and then obviously it

(01:16:25):
starts to the app the app BlueStop with Zach and you know the way
that he runs this thing. Uh, and it's been it's been awesome.
There is the mix of you knowthat you know, everybody happy to be
in here and you know, jokingaround all that kind of stuff, but
when it's time to go, it'stime to go, and uh, you
know that's that's that's what the goodteams do. So uh, it's it's
exciting to you know, be youknow, on a roster and in an

(01:16:46):
organization that you know, obviously everybody'sgoal is, you know too, to
go win a Super Bowl. Butit's exciting to be in an organization that
you know, it's it's attainable,and uh, you know that's uh,
that's obviously the goal that that's talkedabout around here as a you know,
lifelong Cincinnati and I I would Iwould love to see it. I could

(01:17:06):
die happy if and when that thathappens and you and Joe Burrow are up
on that stage hoisting the Lombardi Trophy. I I feel like my life would
be complete at that point. AndI'm sure there are several other people in
this town who would say the exactsame thing. Uh. We are looking
forward to to watching how this offenseuh progresses. Obviously, Joe Burrow is

(01:17:27):
back and is getting healthier and throwingthe football. We'll talk about Joey be
here in a second, but UH, it's a new evolution in the offense
now with Dan Pitcher taking over asthe offensive coordinator. We've heard Zach Taylor
kind of say he's stepping back alittle bit, you know, letting Dan
really kind of take over. Whathave been your impressions of him and and
the offense that he's starting to puttogether so far. Yeah, Dan's awesome.

(01:17:49):
He's been he's been incredible. Hedoes does a really good job,
I would say, and stealing confidenceand all the players and uh and that's
you know, that's huge for theplayer to you know, feel that a
coach believes in you, to feelthat you know, a coach is calling
this play for you and and it'snot like, you know it, don't
mess this up. It's like,I believe you can go make the play.

(01:18:11):
And that's that's definitely a cool thingto uh have that type of relationship.
So you know, can't sign upgradingabout and the things that he's done,
you know, leading this offensive.You look at the starting eleven and
and even further beyond that, itis it is clear that this team has
the horses to put together uh anincredible offensive output. It starts with Joe

(01:18:34):
Burrow, but you've got two verytalented running backs there as well. They
have spent premium dollars uploaded upgrading theoffensive line. They bring in Trent Brown,
amarious man. It's like you gotto be six foot eight to block
for Joe Burrow. It seems likein Cincinnati now at this point that's like
bare minimum, there's a lot ofsize on the offensive line. That unit
should be better. You got JamarChase t Higgins is going to be here

(01:18:57):
later this fall, knock on wood. We all expect him to be.
They go out and add Jermaine Burtonin the draft. He's a young kid
who looks like he should be explosiveand add a lot out of the slot.
But the addition of of yourself andthe skill set that that you bring
to this team, I'm very excitedto watch that play out because I feel
like you you bring a certain athleticismto that position that this team hasn't had

(01:19:20):
in the Zach Taylor Joe Burrow era. And you know, people who know
x's and O is a little bitbetter than myself kind of expect you maybe
to play a little bit more outof the slot and kind of play like
a hybrid tight end wide receiver position. Where do you see your role being
in on this offense with you know, such such a myriad of weapons available

(01:19:41):
to Joe Burrow and Dan Pitcher.Yeah, I mean we'll see you know
obviously, you know today's June thirteenth, and we got other you know,
uh, I mean three months untilthe first game and all that kind of
stuff. So you know, there'sa lot of stuff that will take place
through now and then. But youknow, ultimately, I think that the
coaches do a really good job ofputting people in position to be successful.

(01:20:02):
And you know, whether that's inline in the spot, out load,
in the back that like, whereverit is. You know, it's up
to then myself to show the coachesand you know, show Joe and uh
that I know what I'm doing andI can do it at a high level
and you know, build that trustand build that chemistry so that you know,

(01:20:23):
I can get back to doing youknow what I what I've been what
I've been doing for for for along time, and that's just making place.
So to put a you know,a position on it, or to
put a you know, any guidelinesaround it. Uh, you know,
I think he's just going out thereand making place. You mentioned in the
past that Joe Burrow was a bigreason why you you came to Cincinnati.

(01:20:46):
What have been your impressions of him? And he's not even at one hundred
percent yet, but he looks tobe in the best shape that he's been
in since he's been in the NFL. What have been your impressions of getting
to catch some passes from him,getting to work with him, Uh,
you know, impressions as both theplayer and as the leader of the of
the offense. Yeah. Now he'sbeen he's been incredible. He's been first
class and you know in every phaseof being a teammate, of being a

(01:21:11):
friend and all that kind of stuff. Uh. So I can't say enough
good things. Obviously you know Iwasn't here before this, but uh,
you know if if he's still youknow, not one hundred percent like like
you said, I mean I canonly imagine what it's like, uh when
he is, because I mean he'she's he's slinging it. You know,
everything's going everything's going great. AndI can't say I can't say enough good

(01:21:34):
things. So something that I'm lookingforward to, and like you said,
is a big reason why you don'twant to be here any big plans for
the for the time off? Whatwhat what are you going to be doing
in New Jersey? What is thereto do in New Jersey other than drive
up to Atlantic City? Oh,grace, grace state that US country has
offered. And if you're from NewJersey, you understand it. Yeah,

(01:21:56):
I mean just back home, uh, hanging out with you know, my
wife and my family, friends,all that kind of stuff. Training up
there, and I'll be on thebeach for sure, you know, enjoying
a little downtime before before we getback and get rolling, because you know,
once you get back, obviously,you know we're on a mission.
And then once you're in it,you're in it, all right. I
love it, enjoyed the time off. Thank you so much for the time

(01:22:18):
here today. I'm looking forward towatching you guys get back to work here
later this summer. Thank you somuch for the time. I appreciate it.
Awesome. Thank you so much forhaving me on. I appreciate it
all right. There he is newBengals tight end Mike is Sicky here on
ESPN fifteen thirty, the home ofthose Cincinnati Bengals. I'm Ricky Uccino in
for Moeger today. I got aboutforty minutes or so left here on the

(01:22:40):
show. Let's take a quick break, gotta come back. Check sports headlines,
and then Laurel Faylor from the QueenCity Press and Dayton Daily News is
going to be here talking a littlesc Cincinnati, and yes, some some
Bengals training camp notes as well hereon ESPN fifteen thirty. Welcome back ESPN
fifth teen thirty, the home ofyour Cincinnati Bengals Ricky Uccino here for Moweger

(01:23:03):
today until six o'clock tonight. Comingup at about five forty or so here
this evening, Laurel Failer from theQueen City Press and Dayton Daily News will
be joining me to talk about FCCincinnati. They got a match up against
San Jose Saturday night. Also talka little Bengals mini camp, and also
talk about the possibility of a newsports franchise coming to the Queen City in

(01:23:27):
the very near future, starting intwenty twenty six, so don't miss out
on that. Coming up here aboutfive forty. First, those sports headlines
a service of Kelsey Chevrolet Home oflifetime powertrain protection and guaranteed credit approval from
their family to yours for life.Kelsey chev dot Com reds winners over the
Cleveland Guardians last night at Great AmericanBallpark, final score four to two.

(01:23:50):
Jmr Candelario the hero on what wasElie de la Cruz bobblehead night. He
hit the solo home run to getthings started in the first, then had
the big three run jack Hammer inthe sixth to give the Reds the lead.
They would go on to win bythat score of four to two.
Nick Lodolo got the start, wasnot his sharpest, struggled with some walks

(01:24:13):
here or there, still only surrenderedtwo runs over six innings. He earned
his seventh win of the year.He's carrying a very very nice two nine
to three ERA so far in twentytwenty four. Alexisd has picked up his
fourteenth save of the year in theninth. Reds have the day off today.
They open up a huge four gameseries against the first place Milwaukee Brewers

(01:24:33):
tomorrow night at American Family Field.Hunter Green set to go up against Freddy
Peralta. Game time is eight toten. Action starts at seven to ten
on seven hundred wl W. Obviouslya big series. The Reds have look
the month of June has been farand away better than what the month of

(01:24:54):
May was. Yes, it's againstweaker competition, but they have worked their
way back into it within striking distance. You're getting touelvee Marte back on the
twenty seventh. You got a lotof games coming up against teams like the
Rockies and the Marlins and the Nationals. Yes, they're still seven back right

(01:25:15):
now. But if they're able togo into Milwaukee and win three, maybe
even four this weekend, they're gonnabe in some really good shape when they
start to get some big additions back. If it's the opposite, they're right
back behind the eight ball again.As I mentioned at the top of the
segment. Here f C Cincinnati backin action Saturday night against San Jose.

(01:25:36):
Kickoff is at ten thirty again.Laurel Faylor from the Queen City Press will
join me at five point forty topreview that matchup. Bengals today announcing a
one year contract extension with center andteam captain Ted Karris, keeping him in
Cincinnati through the end of the twentytwenty five season. It is basically a
two year deal that he's on nowthat's going to pay him roughly six million

(01:25:59):
dollars per year. Second round draftpick Chris Jenkins, big defensive tackle out
of Michigan. He also put pento paper today on his rookie deal,
leaving first rounder Amarius Mims as theonly one of the ten draft picks this
year for the Bengals that has yetto sign their contract. The Big twelve
Conference is exploring a naming rights partnership. This is a deal that could be

(01:26:23):
worth one hundreds of millions of dollars, multiple sources tell Yahoo Sports. Under
the proposal, the conference's name wouldundergo a significant alteration, prominently incorporating a
sponsor's name in the title, acommon thread that we have seen with bowl
games in recent years, such asthe Capitol One Orange Bowl. The latest

(01:26:45):
conversations within the conference have centered aroundretaining the number twelve in the name and
then having the corporate sponsor replace theword big. So we could be looking
at the the AFLAC twelve, orthe State Farm twelve, or the Procter
and Gamble twelve. Woo oh boy. Don't know how I feel about that

(01:27:08):
one, but hey, money talksthe rest walks Cincinnati City Council this week.
This is big news for the city. I hope. I hope it's
big news for the city. Pasttheir five hundred and seventy million dollar operating
budget Wednesday, which includes funding fora new sports commission that will be equipped
with at least a million dollars ayear to lored big events to the Queens

(01:27:30):
City. So they're gonna soon getto work on trying to book more marquee
events in town like All Star games, international soccer matches, NCAA tournament games,
Taylor Swift Esque concerts, NFL Draft. That's a big one they're going
after, whether it's twenty twenty eight, twenty nine or thirty And then you
know, for guys like me,this this this was big news. The

(01:27:53):
CEO of visits since he was allwith Scott's loan on seven hundred WLW today
and made mention that the fact thatas soon as the news broke that Cincinnati
was incorporating a sports commission to leadthe charge here to bring events to the
Queen City. She said she receivedemails from both the PGA and WWE World

(01:28:15):
Wrestling Entertainment about bringing a event tothe Queen City, a WWE pay per
view in Cincinnati. I want it. I need it. I need SummerSlam
twenty twenty five at Paycorse Stadium likeeight year old me needed Cake. I
need it. I need it sobad. NBA Finals last night. Jason
Tatum with thirty one, Jalen Brownwith thirty Boston Celtics take a commanding three

(01:28:36):
games to none lead over the DallasMavericks with a one oh six ninety nine
win NHL Finals On tonight, it'sGame three Edmonton trying to make this a
series with Florida up two games tonine. Eight o'clock is when the puck
drops tonight. I'm really torn onwho to root for. Like, as
a Jackets fan, I'd like tosee Sergei Bbroski get a ring, But

(01:28:58):
at the same time, a Canadianteam hasn't won the Cup since ninety three,
and I kind of want to seeEdmonton get the job done here and
an entire country suffering. As athis long time Cincinnati sports guy, I'm
very sympathetic to those types of causes. So we'll see if Edmonton it's on
their home mice tonight, we'll seeif they can make it a series or

(01:29:23):
not. Again, eight o'clock iswhen the puck drops this evening, all
right, Coming up here after thebreak, we'll get to Laurel Failor,
Queen City Press, Dayton Daily News, FC Cincinnati in action on Saturday.
Bengals wrap up mini camp today andthe city of Cincinnati could be could be
getting another sports franchise. We'll talkabout that next with Laurel ESPN fifteen to

(01:29:45):
thirty. FC Cincinnati back in actionthis Saturday night on the road in San
Jose, looking to bounce back afterthe surprising two nil loss to Nashville a
couple of weeks back. Ricky Uccinohere in for moeg or kick off of
that matchup ten to thirty Saturday nightaction right here on ESPN fifteen thirty.

(01:30:05):
Laurel Failer covers the Orange and Bluefor the Queen City Press and the Bengals
as well for the Dayton Daily News. Laurel, great to talk to you
as always. I really appreciate thetime. How's everything going. How's the
little break from soccer action beIN?It's been nice. With kids out of
school, I've actually had a littlebit of time to entertain them before I

(01:30:26):
was going to get busy again.So the games are going to be coming
fast and serious pretty soon. SoI'm jealous. I'm honestly jealous of that.
I'm tired of being dog tired wheneverI have to entertain my kids.
But it's the game we play herein the media for sure. Before we
get into the matchup this Saturday orthe end of MINDI camp for the Bengals.
I wanted to ask you about thisthough. The news broke this week.

(01:30:48):
FC Cincinnati execs are leading a bidto try and bring the National Women's
Soccer League to Cincinnati for what wouldbe the league's sixteenth franchise and the first
professional women's sports team here in theQueens City. Uh. They're competing against
Nashville, Cleveland, Atlanta, Minnesota, a few others in the running.
Now. The belief among some,according to the Inquirer, I don't I

(01:31:11):
don't know who that sum is.By the way, is that, regardless,
Cincinnati should be a front runner here. Do you agree with that assessment?
I think so. I mean oneof the things that Cincinnati's bid will
kind of I think one thing thatseparates their bid from some of the others
is that, you know, theyalready have a beautiful stadium that they can
you know, they don't have toplan to build anything. You know,

(01:31:33):
you can always hit snags in thoseplans. So the fact that they've already
got a beautiful stadium, uh,you know, they do obviously have to
have a new plan for expanding theirtraining facility to accommodate that, but to
accommodate a women's team, But yeah, I think that you know, it's
a strong ownership, obvious ownership group, so that also helps that. You

(01:31:57):
know, we sall soccer kind ofin the men's side, kind of fail
with previous attempts to have a professionalteam here until s C. Cincinnanni's ownership
ownership group got together, and youknow that people put them seriously, and
I think it'll be the same withthe NWUSL. They're going to be treated
very seriously. Just seeing how sC. Cincinnati got their men's team.

(01:32:19):
You know, it was rough obviouslytheir first few years in MLS, but
now they look like a perennial contenderand the attendance is up and people see
that soccer is supported in this city. And even when you know, the
US women's national team comes here,they're well supported. So I think that's
going to be something that catches alot of attention for their bid. Yeah,

(01:32:41):
the MLS has been aggressive with theirexpansion over the last few years.
You can really see the brand startingto grow. You know, it's not
so much of an afterthought in thiscountry as it was just a few years
ago. Obviously bringing in stars likeMessi and Luis Warez. I mean that
that obviously helps build up the brandof the league. And I agree with

(01:33:03):
you. I think Cincinnati with thefacilities that they got, just from a
logistical standpoint, because this new nwsL team is going to be starting in
twenty twenty six, I mean,it's it's almost plug and play at that
point. It feels like this justshould should work, just based off of
a logistical standpoint. As far asthe NWSL is concerned. For those who

(01:33:26):
who don't know, this is nota league that's affiliated with the MLS,
but it's I guess it would beon par with with the MLS. It's
the top women's sports league in theUS. Yeah, but it's it's really
grown a lot. I think thepension just as the women's game has grown
in this country. I mean,the women's team for a long time has
been easier to follow than the men'steam just because of the success they've had

(01:33:49):
on you know, the global levelwith the World Cups and everything. But
yeah, I think that it's it'ssomething that people will start to take more
seriously, especially as you know,it seems like you can find their games
a little bit more, a littlebit easier now I know there's a partner

(01:34:10):
with ew Scripts company locally getting involvedin NWUSL coverage, which was actually you
know, being headquartered in Cincinnati.You know that should be also something that
maybe helps the Cincinnati did just whenthey're looking at you know, streaming rights
and TV rights and all that stuff. So yeah, it's something that that

(01:34:31):
continues to grow, and you know, there have been snagged with you know,
certain issues with certain ownership groups,and but I think that they've learned
a lot just as soccer continues togrow and people take more of an interest
in the sports. FC Cincinnati backin action Saturday night, Laurel. They're

(01:34:51):
taking on San Jose. Uh realquick. Let's look back though to the
lost last month to Nashville. USwas riding a seven match win streak,
and this was actually the first matchthat I got to attend in person,
and I instantly had people on Xtelling me it was all my fault and
I'm bad luck and I should nevergo back to TQL again. Uh.

(01:35:12):
But see Cincinnati shocking loss two nil. Now, to my untrained eye,
it appeared as though, you know, the Orange and Blue had this match
in hand for a majority of thetime advanced that show. They probably should
have won this thing to one oreven two nil, yet it was the
complete opposite of two nil lost toNashville. What what happened in this one?

(01:35:34):
Yeah, the set piece descending haskind of been an issue these last
couple of games, and I thinkthat came to to bite them a little
bit, and that this game againstNashville, And it seems like so long
ago. I remember the goals,but yeah, it was. You know,
it's just one of those games.I mean, they had been on
a nice win streak. I don'twant to say that they were uh,

(01:35:57):
you know, they weren't looking aheadto the break at all, but you
know, it's tough to stream togethera bunch of wins like they had,
and I think it just was oneof those games where they had a lot
of chances, you know, towardthe once Nashville got their lead, they
kind of sat back and really madeit difficult on FC Cincinnati. So while
they were getting a lot of chances, they you know, just weren't able

(01:36:19):
to finished and really get their bestopportunities while Nashville was kind of packing the
box. So I think it wasjust one of those teams. You know,
Nashville isn't the strongest team in theconference, and it certainly was beatable.
It just didn't pan out in theirfavor this time. Luckily, that
Wednesday night, Miami also lost,so they didn't put three more points up

(01:36:45):
and extend that lead. Cincinnati twopoints back of MIAMIFC in the Eastern Conference.
San Jose meanwhile, dead last inthe West. I think they only
have like eleven points all year.What does pat Noon and and company need
to do Saturday night to avoid anotherletdown here? Well, I don't want
to say it's a trap game,but it kind of feels like one of
those teams where you know they're comingback from a long break, they're going

(01:37:08):
on the West Coast where, uh, you know, they are facing a
team that they're not going to overlook. Like they they will not overlook San
Jose just because of their record orhow they've struggled early in the season.
But it's just tough when you gointo those conditions across the country, you
know, trying to get back intothe rhythm of things after having you know,

(01:37:30):
basically it's been two and a halfweeks that still have been away from
games. So San Jose has struggleddefensively, which you know, could bode
well for f C Cincinnati's attack,but they do have to be weary of
San Jose's attackers. They've got somestrong players and they've scored twenty four goals
this season, which is actually onemore goal than f C Cincinnati has scored,

(01:37:53):
So it could be one of thosehigh scoring affairs. And I think
they're obviously going to take the thisgame seriously. It's just you've got to
got to wonder how all the conditionsof you know, the travel which they
are traveling today, so they havethat extra day to kind of adjust to
the time zone, but it's goingto ten thirty pm our time, so

(01:38:15):
you know, you just never knowwhat to expect when when you face those
Western Conference teams. Yeah, Iwas gonna say a late one for those
who want to watch on Apple TVor listen here on ESPN fifteen thirty ten
thirty kickoff time. Laurel Faylor coversFC Cincinnati for the Queen City Press.
Also covers the Cincinnati Bengals for theDayton Daily News. Mandatory Mini camp wrapped
up today, Laurel, But thebig news coming out of camp, or

(01:38:40):
well mini camp, is that TedKrris the center has signed a one year
contract extension today. He seems genuinelyhappy to be here through twenty twenty five.
Wants to be here for the longhaul and then a year. He
said after that he is someone whohas really emerged as a as a true
team leader in the locker room.This just seems like a really great deal

(01:39:00):
all around for the organization. Yeah, I mean, we were kind of
watching the draft this year, andhe was watching the draft this year wondering
if they were going to be takinghis eventual replacement. And obviously they did
take ntt Lee in the seventh round. But and there is you know,
there are a lot of people thatthink that he's got a lot of promise
for the future. But you know, the fact that they didn't get someone

(01:39:23):
in the early rounds kind of toldhim that they, you know, this
staff trust him, and so hisextension was not a surprise. His leadership,
like you mentioned, is just he'sa guy that you want in your
locker room. He's a guy thatcan help mentor the young offensive linemen that
they brought in and maybe we'll bringin next year. So uh yeah,

(01:39:44):
it's a it's a great fit.He loves it here and you know,
Bengals fans love him, love hishat, like everything that he's done with
the Sincy Hat program, just hischaritable contributions to the village of or for
each in Indianapolis, and then connectingit to the Cincinnati fan base through those

(01:40:04):
people love the designs of his hatsand all his products. So just he's
been you know, consistent on thefield, been available, started thirty three
regular season games all you know,basically every game that the starters played.
So he's been someone they can counton and yeah, a good guy for
the locker room. Came up bigin that playoff game in Buffalo as well,

(01:40:27):
even though he ended up getting hurtin that game. Joe Burrow no
stranger to injuries. He did notsuit up for practice today, really focusing
on taking the necessary time to toreally rest the risk, you know,
not not push it until he needsto. Wants to be able to hit
the ground running in training camp reallyfor the for the first time in his

(01:40:47):
career. Now, how did helook this week when he did practice?
How did he sound as well?Because when you start hearing words like football
mortality coming from your franchise player,that that could some years and raise my
brows there a little bit. Yeah, that quote, I think everyone used
that as their league quoting their storiesbecause that I mean, he was being

(01:41:09):
very honest and it was really refreshing. I mean it sounded a lot like
he was saying similar things a monthago when we talked to him, but
just his awareness of just what hisvalue to the team and the fact that
he does not need to be readyfor the start of training camp. He
needs to be ready for September andbe able to las through. Hopefully he
wants me ready for February as well. So it was different just hearing him

(01:41:34):
talk about his injuries kind of stackingup and the realization that he needs to
do what he can to even whenhe's not getting the reps that he did
in the past because of the gameshe's missed. He needs to do what
he can to just reach that samelevel and beyond. And so he did.

(01:41:54):
You know, it wasn't intense thisweek. I would say, you
know, he wasn't making a lotof deep passes. It wasn't you know,
a lot of tight windows or anythinghe is throwing into. But I
think just him being able to beout there with the receivers you know,
maybe even though he's taken the dayoff every week, I think he's he's

(01:42:16):
handled it well and gotten through it. You know, nothing real noticeable as
far as the risk. You know, we're always going to nitpick anytime he
clicks his wrists. But seems likehe's overall pretty I don't know it's happy
the right word, but it's gotabout how he expected He's going to have
good days and bad days, andI just think that realization that, you

(01:42:39):
know, those bad days don't meanthat he's you know, his career is
over. He's just gonna go throughsome of those bad days and then you
know, he goes through careers wherehe feels really good and hopefully those start
stacking themselves up as he's getting throughtraining camp and towards the start of the
season. Jamar Chase was here thisweekend since Nattye T. Higgins was not.

(01:43:01):
And this might just be a mething, but the way that some
of the national reporters have been phrasingtheir updates on these two on X and
sometimes on ESPN or the NFL Network, they sure make it sound like there
might be something going on in thebackground with these two players, and maybe

(01:43:25):
that is the case with t Higgins, who has yet to really sign his
franchise tender. I tend to thinkthat lumping Jamar in with that would be
really weird. When he said allalong that he wanted to wait until Justin
Jefferson got his contract before he wouldwork on his contract here in Cincinnati,
and that just happened like twelve daysago, So it seems premature with me
to be lumping in and questioning whetherhe was going to show up for mandatory

(01:43:45):
mini camp. Is what is thevibe you're getting when it comes to the
Bengals top two receiving threats here?Yeah, I think with Famar, I
mean we've seen him participate in thesethings in the past, and so that
see Higgins and so you know,if he's not so concerned about the contract,
you you kind of think, well, why isn't he out there?

(01:44:06):
So I think trying to see whyit's kind of taken that tone. But
at the same time, I meanthey're not going really hard. I mean,
the real competition comes in training camp, so I don't think he really
benefits all that much at this pointin his career from being at everything and
even you know, practicing hard inMini Camp and Zach Taylor even said like

(01:44:29):
for a guy that hasn't been around, like even though they have been in
touch and know that he's working onhis own, they don't know exactly what
he's been doing, how he's looked, so they don't want to push these
guys that haven't been around, andso you know he's done some extra work.
I think with Joe Burrow after practices, like there's things that he's doing
that we're not seeing. So it'snot like he's not doing anything. It's

(01:44:49):
not like he's holding out. He'sjust got his own process and I'm not
concerned about I don't think the contractis a huge thing, like I don't
have my contract, I'm not goingto practice. I think he's just kind
of handling it a little bit different, and he also wants to make sure,
you know, maybe it's kind oflike Doe Burrow. He wants to
make sure that he's good to gofor the full season as well. He

(01:45:10):
had injury last year and would liketo avoid that. So I wouldn't be
too concerned about all that. Andthen as far as See Higgins, like
it's gonna be like Dessie Bates,I think he's going to kind of go
through the same thing. I don'texpect to see him right at the start
of training camps either, he is, you know, we already know what
he provides this offense, and maybeit's even actually good for the younger guys

(01:45:31):
to get more reps with those withthe first team offense and kind of see
what they can do, because theBanks do want to open up their attack
and just see a lot less Theywant to attack and be less predictable this
year and make defenses adjust to theminstead of them always having to adjust to
the defenses. So I think thatboth those receivers will end up fine.

(01:45:54):
We'll see them as being a bigpart of the offense as usual, but
now we can kind of see whateveryone else's going to add to it.
Gonna be interesting to see what happenswhen training camp gets underway at the end
of July. Laurel, I appreciatethe time as always. Where can people
find you work? Yeah, somy process coverage is with Queen City Press
through Patreon, so Patreon dot com, backslash Queen City Press, and then

(01:46:16):
my Bangles coverage is through the DanteDaily News. So yeah, you can
check me out on any of theirthree different newspapers. So the Journal News,
Danton Daily News and Springfields Son Soare fun news. So yeah,
happy to talk Bengals and that's youCincinnati anytime. All right, we'll do
it again for sure. Have agreat weekend. Thank you, have good

(01:46:39):
ones you too. There you go, Laurel Failor. I'm Ricky Chino in
for Mowager today. I'm done.I honestly don't know who's in tomorrow.
I don't think Moe is here tomorrow, but uh hey, tune in at
three and uh and find out hereon the ESPN fifteen to thirty