8/22/25 - The Mo Egger Radio Show - Mo Egger

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
The preseason is rapping up, and the Bengals are seeking

(00:03):
to stump the Colts who will or won't make the team.
It's stripes versus stirrups. Get the call live from Dan
Wood and Dave Lapham. Coverage begins tomorrow at eleven thirty am.
Stream for free on the new and improved iHeartRadio app
or ESPN fifteen thirty Espicialhold of the Cincinnati Bengals.

Speaker 2 (00:23):
I'll be honest with you. I'll say this publicly. I
wish we were broadcasting tomorrow, me and Tony and Ken
Brew from the Holy Grail. That'd be awesome, be awesome,
even if it's just a preseason game. Nonetheless, you can
listen to it on ESPN fifteen thirty. High. My name's Maulagar.
This is ESPN fifteen thirty. Thanks for listening. Hopefully, hopefully

(00:46):
your weekend is underway. Hopefully you're enjoying yourself, maybe having
a nice cold Mick Ultra or something like that, perhaps
puffing on a cigar OTR premium cigars. I can name
some other sponsors if you would like, and you're you're
enjoying yourself. Thank you for making as part of your
Friday afternoon. We have a lot to get to today.
There is one more preseason game tomorrow. I was just

(01:09):
thinking about the Reds and pressure because I heard Tony
and Drew Wester Heidi talking about it. We will get
to that. I'm gonna make not necessarily a bold prediction,
but I do believe that what we have been waiting
for all season from the Reds ain't coming. We'll get
to that in a bit. Reds and d Backs tonight
with they call him Big Sugar, I guess Zach Maxwell

(01:31):
has been added to the team. And I'm sorry. I
don't want to do this. I don't want to do this,
but I kind of have to boomer as siasin should
he pay for his own hotel room when he comes
to Cincinnati if he comes to Cincinnati for the Ring
of Honor game? Like, this is not what I want
to do. I do not want to pit the Bengals

(01:53):
against my all time favorite player even further, but how
do you not talk about this? So we will a
little bit later on full show. Rundowns available on Twitter
at Moeger thanks to Emery Federal Credit Union, which is
of course your credit union with heart since nineteen thirty nine.
Become a member now, like right now, become a member.

(02:16):
Go to EMORYFCU dot org. Don't wait till Monday, now
Emery FCU dot org. Bengals do have a game tomorrow
in less than twenty four hours, kicks off at one
on ESPN fifteen thirty. And I'll just ask you this.
I'll start I'll start the show by throwing out the
phone number, which you're really not supposed to do. But

(02:38):
for a team five point three seven four nine, fifteen
thirty is said phone number for a team that I
think we feel like is supposed to be in its
championship window. Right, year six of a quarterback who has
lived up to everything the Bengals asked for when they
drafted him. Year six, this is supposed to be when

(02:59):
they're in their champion and ship window.

Speaker 3 (03:00):
Right.

Speaker 2 (03:01):
If I would have said in March of twenty twenty,
you know, that was a long time ago, by the way,
the pandemic was just starting. But if I would have
said in March of twenty twenty, the month before they
took Joe Burrow, hey, year six of Joe Burrow, he's
in his second contract, They're going to be in their
championship window. You would have said, yes, of course they are.
If the dude's any good, then yes. So this is

(03:23):
they're supposed to be in their championship window. I think
we would all agree with that. For a team that
is supposedly and it's championship window, doesn't it feel to
you like there are just a few too many unsettled
things with this team? The opener is sixteen days away,
which is still some time, right, They're going to play

(03:45):
tomorrow and then kind of that dreaded dead period that
we have because there's no more thankfully, no more fourth
preseason game. But doesn't it feel to you, even with
the benefit of time, that with the season approaching one
moreseason game to go, that there's just a little bit
too much that's unsettled. Start with the Trey Hendrickson thing, right, like,

(04:09):
that's that's the word that everybody uses, That Trey Hendrickson
contract situation is still quote unsettled. Start with that. Who
knows what the outcome is gonna be. Frankly, your guess
is as good as mine. Does he get traded? If
he gets traded, can the Bengals get anything that can
help them this year? Where does he go. Does he
not get traded. Does he sign a long term deal?

(04:31):
Does he sign a long term deal under his terms?
Does he sign a long term deal under the terms
that have been given to him? Does he hold out?
Does he not sign long term but still play this season?
Does he get a one year pay raise? Like man,
I have no idea. That's because the entire matter is
unsettled by the way he is their best defensive player. Like,

(04:52):
I'm among many who have talked about Trey Hendrickson's value
and his worth, and his worth relative to his age,
and why it's not that unreasonable to suggest that maybe
his best years have already happened, and we can pick
apart his work against the run, and some have gone
to extreme measures to point out that his sacks come
in bunches. He was their best defensive player last year.

(05:14):
He's one of the best defensive players in the entire sport.
So like, for a team that is hinging its hopes
on a Super Bowl on an improved defense, how does
that defense improve if Trey Hendrickson is not a part
of it, Like, it's remarkable we're asking that in August.
It's the same question we were asking in January That's

(05:37):
just one of many unsettled things. You and I can
go down the list right from a player like Miles Murphy,
your guess is as good as mine. To the overall
run defense hasn't looked very good. To what they're gonna
get at linebacker? Do no idea there? Do they have
the right guys in the secondary? Huh like that? I
haven't even talked about the offensive line where oh boy

(06:02):
to play right guard for the Bengals. Basically, you just
have to say, hey, I'd like to try. Lucas Patrick
is dealt with injury, Cordell Volson obviously is not going
to be a part of the mix. I mean it's
things have gotten so I don't know if we want
to go with dire or weird that Like Jalen Rivers,

(06:23):
who by all accounts has impressed nobody in training camp
so far, he's going to be given a shot to
be the guy. Dalton Reisner still might get signed, and
if not, maybe they signed somebody else, who knows. But
things still feel really unsettled. There a guard which is
a position that you use to protect your quarterback, which

(06:45):
we watched Joe Burrow last year and not get protected.
It makes you wonder, like, from the end of last
season to the doorstep of the start of this season,
if if that's a semantically responsible way of putting it,
what have they done? I mean, they've done stuff, right.

(07:05):
They signed t Higgins, they had a draft, they took
some players, they signed some free agents, they brought back
some guys like I mean, it's it's not entirely like
Duke Tobin and the football staff and everybody in the
front office went on like a around the world cruise
that lasted eight months. They've done stuff, But have they
done anything to make you feel like the team is

(07:26):
markedly better this season over last year? Tony and I
were just talking about this. It's true. We are wondering
and talking about the same things in late August that
we were wondering about and talking about in early January.

(07:48):
At the end of the season last year, offensive line
was unsettled because it was, God, you can't move forward
with Alex Kappa and Cordell Volson. They've got to do
something at guard, might have to do something at swing tackle.
It was unsettled. It's one thing to be unsettled going
into an offseason. It's something else to be unsettled going

(08:08):
into the season itself. That's just in one area. The
Trey Hendrickson thing, frankly felt unsettled at the end of
last year. Nobody wanted to admit it, but this was
always going to be the biggest storyline of the offseason
the minute Joe Burrow said signed T Higgins. They were
going to sign T Higgins. You and I know that.
But Trey Hendrickson asked for a trade in twenty twenty four,

(08:31):
didn't get what he was looking for. Of course, there
was going to be an issue between Trey and the
Bengals in twenty twenty five. How it should be resolved.
You know, there were opinions all over the spectrum, but
still that thing was unsettled in January. It's August twenty second.
It remains unsettled. Defensively, there were always going to be

(08:51):
question marks about the defense coming into the season. That
was a given because there was there were just too
many things that went wrong last year relative to the
work done on the defense using free agency and the draft,
and then you add to it how they've played so
far here in the preseason. Unsettled is one of many
words we could use to describe that side of the ball,

(09:14):
that you could say a lot of these things and
you know, go, well, you know that the team is
in the middle of a rebuild, or they're just in
year one of their new rookie quarterback day just drafted,
or hey, you know this coaching regime is just getting started.
This is year six for your two time MVP finalist QB.
This is year seven for your head coach. They are

(09:36):
supposed to be in their championship window. But for a
team that is supposedly in its championship window, doesn't it
feel to you like there's just a few too many
things that are unsettled. Five point three seven, four nine,
fifteen thirty is our phone number. I don't even know.

(09:57):
If there's a topic around the Boomers size and thing,
I'll play the audio for you. If you haven't seen
this or heard this, I guess Boomer on his radio
show today. I'd read the email he got from the
Bengals about the Bengals Ring of Honor game, which they've
invited him back with Dave Labham and Lamar Parrish go
in on August on October twenty sixth, and apparently they've
offered him two complimentary tickets, and they've told him he's

(10:18):
pretty much got to pay for everything else. We'll spend
We'll spend some time on it here in in just
a bit, let's talk about pressure in the reds when
we come back on ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports.

Speaker 4 (10:34):
Station Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty to traffic.

Speaker 5 (10:39):
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Americans waiting on an organ transplant are from multicultural communities.
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Beachmont Avenue. It is an accident over at Corbili Road.
Another crash on tapped road at Park Avenue. Reports of

(11:02):
a pedestrian involved with that one southbound State Route one
seventy seven. Another crash after Nichols Road. I'm at exelic
with traffic.

Speaker 6 (11:11):
This report is sponsored by Mattress firm.

Speaker 2 (11:14):
Hi it's a twenty two after three. I'm mo yuseiki. Hey,
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Thanks to Delta Dental, Delta Dental is building healthy smart
vibrant communities for all Go do Delta Dental, OH dot Com,

(11:40):
Tony and Drew Wester, Heidi Pinch hitting for Austin Elmore.
Today we're talking about the Reds and Mets. It really
is a two team race for the last National League
wildcard spot. New York loses again yesterday at a three
to nothing lead. That game was on while we were
on and it started to turn right when we were
signing off, and so Reds will take the field tonight

(12:03):
with a chance to jump into the last wild card spot.
New York takes on Atlanta this week. Obviously, the Reds
played late at night, and so the Mets game might
not be over, but it could be pretty damn close
by the time the Reds take the field tonight in Phoenix.
You know, the the New York Mets are a big
market team. They have some celebrity fans. They're failures of

(12:27):
the last few decades have been romanticized in ways that
we used to hear the Chicago Cubs failures be romanticized.
They're obviously a high pay roll team. Steve Cohen has
deep pockets. They spent seven hundred million dollars on Juan
Soto it's the New York media market, and so there's

(12:48):
some like inherent built in pressure for that franchise to win.
I understand it now. It's it's not like the Mets
weren't in the National League Championship Series last year. But
you know, that franchise hasn't won a World Series in
thirty nine years. They're always little brother to the New
York Yankees. They've had some epic meltdowns in the regular

(13:09):
season and in the playoffs. They spent a lot of
money this year, and so they're a high profile team
with a lot of high profile people who talk about
their failures, and so it feels like, God, you know what,
all the pressures on the New York Mets, and I
understand that. I think there's pressure on the Cincinnati Reds,
or at least there should be, Like, let's talk about

(13:30):
this team like a big boy Major League Baseball franchise.
The barometer is do you make the playoffs? Do you
make the playoffs frequently? And do you win while you're there.
I don't love the idea of talking about this team
as some group of plucky upstarts that golli g nobody
expected them to be in contention in August, and well,

(13:50):
you know what, if they could just play some meaningful
games down the stretch, that's enough. No, it's not, it's not.
We can all apply criteria, that's the beauty of sports.
But my criteria is anything shy of the postseason is
not acceptable, is not successful, is a failure and could

(14:13):
come with fallout. I've talked about this a bunch for
a while now, but this process that the Reds started,
like the rebuild or however they or you wanted to
have it branded, started after the twenty twenty season. And

(14:34):
not to bore you with a refresher course, but that season,
obviously it was a shortened season. They had spent a
lot of money the offseason prior. They didn't make money
in twenty twenty because they couldn't draw fans, and it
was abundantly clear the direction they were going to start
going in when they basically gave away two relief pitchers
at the end of the twenty twenty season, Rice Elgless

(14:55):
and Archie Bradley. Now they still had an okay team
in twenty twenty one, and then they started to dismantle
it right or wrong. When they started to dismantle it
post twenty twenty one, pre twenty twenty two, the idea
was by the middle of the decade to be competing
for something. By something, we mean postseason birth. Here we

(15:16):
are not making the postseason means the plan to this
point hasn't worked. I also, and if two years ago
taught us anything, it's hey, you know what, Number one
you you at times don't pick when to contend. Contention
picks you. Also, if you're gonna take solace in the

(15:40):
in the belief that, well, you know what, we didn't
win this year, but we're we're just getting started. What
happened last year, what happened in twenty eleven or twenty
thirteen and fourteen. I actually think there's a decent amount
of pressure, and pressure meaning what I don't know. It's
it's sort of abstract. You know, if the Reds don't

(16:02):
make the postseason, are there going to be wholesale changes
to the organization? Probably not. But I do think that
if the work that Nick Kral has done results in
the Reds being on the outside looking in again, I
think it's going to be fair to take an assessment
of the overall baseball operations. He's in charge of that

(16:25):
I doesn't feel like you've got fans paying attention, and
you've got some folks who have maybe perked up. You've
got some folks who I think have spent the entire
year waiting for the Reds to do what they are
expected to do, which is collapse, fold, meltdown, whatever. And
they've hung in there. And it's lateate August schools back
in We're in the final quarter of the season, and

(16:45):
they're still right there. And so you know, maybe some
of those folks are paying attention or buying in. You
cannot keep pulling the rug out from beneath them. I
actually believe there's a decent amount of I don't know
if pressure is the right word expectation. I believe there's

(17:07):
reasonable expectations that the Reds make the postseason, and if
they don't, whether it's fallout, whether it's a there's a
sense of failure, whatever it is, I think it could
be treated the exact same way here. If the Reds
fall short, as it would be in New York, if
the Mets fall short in the absence of making the

(17:28):
postseason this year, we're you know, I think it's going
to be fair to wonder like all right, is this
is this really working? And then when does the clock
start ticking on? Okay, Like you know, they've they've got
some guys who probably aren't going to be here for
the remainder of their careers at the end of this decade.
They're maybe not running out of time, but it's one

(17:49):
more year they didn't win, Like, how many more years
are we going to do this? They hired Terry Francona
to win. They hired Terry Francona to get to the postseason.
Terry Francona is probably not going to be the Reds
manager for the next eight to ten years. Oh no, man,
Like I might be in the minority, but this is
I think this is how this is gonna be framed.
Not here as much. I think this is how this

(18:11):
is going to be framed around the country. Big market
mets with demanding New York fans, exorbitant payroll, and a
world of pressure, versus plucky, upstart Reds who are just
happy to be in the same conversation with a team
from the big Apple. That's not how it should be portrayed.
That's how it's going to be portrayed in New York.

(18:33):
That is maybe how it's going to be portrayed by
people who talk about or pay attention to the sport nationally.
That ain't how I'm looking at it, and that ain't
how you should look at it here. It should be
playoffs or failure. It should be participate in a one
hundred and sixty third game or uh uh not good enough,

(18:56):
and maybe re examine whether or not this is working
and what can happen and to ensure that it works
better next year. That's not to say that if the
Reds make the postseason they're not gonna have work to
do this offseason. There's actually a fair amount of it.
But I can only speak for myself. For me, it's
not golly gee boy, you know the Reds if they're

(19:19):
just playing with house money at this point, isn't it
neat that they're playing in these games in August and
September that matter? And oh golly gee it it's an
honor to be in the same conversation with the Mets.
Uh oh man, No, No, not this year. Maybe two
years ago. Fine, maybe like in I don't know, twenty ten,

(19:40):
not now. Uh huh. This ain't working if it doesn't
yield results and the only results that matter and the
only results that will be acceptable are playing in the playoffs.
That could be true in Big New York. It could
be true in Mayberry, Cincinnati three thirty sports headlines next

(20:02):
to ESPN fifteen.

Speaker 4 (20:03):
Thirty Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 2 (20:07):
Traffic from the UC Health Traffic Center.

Speaker 5 (20:10):
Nearly sixty percent of Americans waiting on an organ transplant
are from multicultural communities. Give the Gift of life, become
an organ donor, or explore living donation at UCHealth dot
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(20:32):
Camargo Road. It's a disabled vehicle. This is east of
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Speaker 2 (20:39):
Kelsey Chevale Home up lifetime powertrain protection and guaranteed reading
approval from their family Yours for life, kelseyshev dot com.
I was pushing the microphone factor. That's why I sounded
like I was straining. It sounded like I was picking
something up. Bengals aren't doing anything today. They play the
Colts tomorrow at one on ESPN fifteen thirty. Pregame coverage

(21:00):
starts at eleven thirty with Wayne box Miller and countdown
to kickoff. No real news on the Dalton Reisner situation. Meanwhile,
Red's in Arizona, first of three tonight against the d Backs.
Zach Luttel Ryan Nelson are going to be the pitchers.
Nine to forty is tonight's first pitch on seven hundred WLW.
Reds are set to call up flame throwing righty big man,

(21:24):
Zach Maxwell. He's a big man they call big sugar.
I would give you Zach Maxwell's statistics, but I can't
even describe for you what my laptop is doing at
the moment. I think my laptop just told me it
needs to be replaced. Okay, well, never mind, nothing about

(21:46):
Zach Maxwell. That's why I should have written stuff down.
Reds are a half game behind the New York Mets.
New York's head Atlanta tonight Florence home for Gateway High
School football tonight. That's the show that airs as soon
as we're done on ESPN fifteen thirty previewing the entire
Week one slate in Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana. And then

(22:06):
we have a sanex taking on Lakota West on ESPN
fifteen thirty, with coverage of that game starting at six
forty five. High school football tonight, which I will admit
to you I don't follow high school football as closely
as many that show they do before and after games
is awesome. Awesome. FC Cincinnati, it's been a busy few days.

(22:30):
We talked about Jedlin being traded to a Real Salt Lake.
FC Cincinnati acquires from Real Salt Lake Dominic Marzouk. He
is a forward in exchange. FC Cincinnati sends to a
Real salt Lake an MLS super draft pick. Remember in
the in Major League Soccer, it's not a draft, it's
a super draft. Brenner is back. FC Cincinnati just made

(22:53):
that announcement official a few minutes ago. Brazilian striker Brenner.
They have acquired him from from Italian Serie A club
ou Denise on loan. Brenner is a player who played
three seasons with the club twenty seven goals, third most
in club history. FC Cincinnati also wave Sergio Santos. The
Orange and Blue will play five of their final seven

(23:14):
games at home, including a tilt tomorrow night against New
York City. That match airs on ESPN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 3 (23:22):
There you go.

Speaker 2 (23:23):
I thought I had something else. Now my laptop is
working again. What it just did there? I you know,
like we used to have an IT guy. I'm sure,
like a lot of companies, if there were ever an
IT issue was I'll just turn it off and on.
I'll see if that works to fix my current laptop issue.
While I do that, we'll chat with Ian. You're on
ESPN fifteen thirty. Ian, Good afternoon. How are you.

Speaker 7 (23:47):
Oh great man, it's Friday. I can't wait to just
kind of relax.

Speaker 2 (23:50):
I like it.

Speaker 7 (23:52):
I understand what as you were graftis singing at the
beginning of your show yesterday. That's why I call. And
my thought is, I like what Frank.

Speaker 6 (24:06):
Cone is doing.

Speaker 7 (24:07):
People could get upset, but that is the best kind
of management.

Speaker 3 (24:11):
Man, Like.

Speaker 7 (24:13):
You gotta like like you're talking, I think you're joking,
but like load management, you gotta let these guys rest.
I mean, you have pushed into a corner with your
relief pitching doing what it's had to do, carrying the weight,
throwing like Sessaudden guys. That maybe might be risky, but

(24:38):
you know, I think it's worth it and to finish
that off. You know, if Hunter Green stays healthy, like
I kind of feel like he will, and if this
blister issue doesn't come a problem. I mean, I you
might be cooking with gas Man because you moved Dick
into the bullpen and you get Chase Burns in there,

(25:00):
and if we could just get a little bit of
this production like we've been getting it and with the METSA,
it's like it's like righting the wave right on the
edge of like it could happen, you know what I'm saying. Like,
I know it's crazy to think like that, but it literally,
I feel like comes down to Green and Nick Lodolo.

(25:24):
Can they be back in here so we can use
all this power that we can move into the bullpen.
You know.

Speaker 2 (25:31):
Yeah, Look, I mean I think number one, you want
to ensure that Chase Burns is healthy and available, and
I think using him as a weapon out of the
bullpen makes a lot of sense. You make your bullpen
better if Nick Martinez is a part of it. Now,
Nick Martinez has looks he's had good starts, Helly had
one the other night. If he has to be in
the starting rotation for you can do a lot worse,

(25:52):
but him being in the bullpen makes that unit better.
It's just a more reliable arm for a group that
you know, we've had Louise May pitching a high leverage situations.
That's not really ideal. Right now, they've had Connor Phillips
pitching high leverage situations. I could assure you Zach Maxwell
just up from Louisville, He's gonna pitch on high leverage situations.
But like your that's their biggest strength. The starting pitching

(26:15):
is their biggest strength. The starting pitching is at its
strongest if Nick Lodolo is healthy, and so, you know, look,
let's face it, their offense is average at best. Their
bullpen has some reliability issues. They've had some overuse issues.
You know, let's be honest to Emilio Pragan's last couple
of opportunities saving a game didn't exactly engender a lot

(26:35):
of confidence. And so what are they gonna need over
the final thirty four games or so? They're gonna need
the starting pitching to be as good and in many
cases even better than it's been all year long. The
good news is Hunter Green's first two starts have been
very encouraging. Andrew Abbott has shown no sign of slowing down,
and it feels like they're gonna get Lodolo back on
this road trip. But they need those guys to be

(26:58):
really good, and they need those guys to a whole
lot here. If this is ultimately gonna work, Yeah, that's it.

Speaker 7 (27:05):
I have a one other quick Bengal comment, but to
end on the Reds, It's shown me why I appreciate Francona,
you know what I mean, just watching how he's working
with what he's got.

Speaker 8 (27:19):
Every movie.

Speaker 9 (27:20):
People can say.

Speaker 7 (27:21):
What they want, but I think he is doing exactly
what you're the best you could do with the best
that you have in this situation, you know what I mean.
And I'm a believer, man.

Speaker 9 (27:34):
I like this guy.

Speaker 7 (27:35):
But it's much better than just the whole thing with
the Reds and the Bengals, like prioritizing, like getting this
group of guys and paying a few people to try
to keep fans butts in the seat. That has got
the change the scouting. Whatever it takes, it's got to

(27:58):
create a shift. Now I'm leaning over it into the
Bengals here. Yeah, because then I think with the way
they look at line play and yeah, they've made some
efforts and they got Kapa a few years ago, but
it's like here and there, you know what I mean?
They if they treated like the way they do with

(28:18):
receivers with the line, I feel like we would be
talking about a different story. And why wouldn't you do
that with Burrow?

Speaker 10 (28:28):
And this time his time is gonna be.

Speaker 7 (28:30):
Up before we can blake our eyes.

Speaker 2 (28:32):
They they've thought been I mean, you gave me a
lot there, Ian, thank you, you gave me a lot there.
Number one. I'll tell you what I like most about
Terry Francona is it has felt like every time the
season is about to spire a lot of control. That
hasn't I think the manager should get credit for that.
I think when it comes to the Bengals, if you
want to talk about the offensive line, they've made a
lot of mistakes. They've had errors in judgment. They've misevaluated

(28:55):
some guys. It hasn't been because they haven't tried. It
hasn't been because they haven't prioritize. They've took Jonah Williams
in the first round in twenty nineteen. Now go back
to Marvin's last year. They took a center Billy Price
in twenty eighteen in the first round. They took Jackson Carmen.
In round two. They took a Marius Mims in the
first round last year, like they did in in one offseason,

(29:17):
signed three different free agents who weren't exactly cheap they
paid Orlando Brown. They tried the Trent Brown thing last year,
like it hasn't been because of not caring about the
offensive line. What they've done just hasn't worked. Neither are forgivable.
Both result in the same thing. Tony Pike next.

Speaker 4 (29:36):
Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty Traffic.

Speaker 5 (29:41):
Give the gift of life, become an organ donor or
explore living donation at UCHealth dot com. Slash transplant. Eastbound
two seventy five between Kellogg Avenue and U that's fifty
two with New Richmond. It's an accident blocking off the

(30:03):
right lane. Seeing a two to three minute delay to
get through there. Northbound seventy one at Ridge accident on
the left shoulder. I'm at ezelic with traffic.

Speaker 1 (30:12):
This report is the end fifteen thirty with the latest
from Bengals training camp, brought you by Camber Credit Union
on Europe official home of the Cincinnati Bengals, ESPN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 2 (30:26):
Bengals play the Colts tomorrow at one on ESPN fifteen thirty.
So it's the preseason finale Eve edition of Tony Pike's
training camp reports. I'm going to try to be positive
you're okay, because we've we've talked a lot about the
defense and in shortcomings, and we've talked a lot about
the offensive line and all the questions that surrounded over

(30:48):
the course of the last few weeks. What good things
have happened?

Speaker 9 (30:54):
Well, I think the first and foremost that I go
to most Dylan Fairchild. You know, we barely talked about it.

Speaker 6 (31:00):
That's a good thing.

Speaker 9 (31:00):
We thought he passed his test against Philadelphia well, and
then he went against some ones for Washington and I
thought he was fantastic up front. I believe he's got
an eighty seven grade for PFF through the preseason. Dylan
Fairchild has been everything they drafted and hoped that he
would out of the third round. Now they still need
some help around him, But I think Dylan Fairchild up

(31:22):
front has been awesome. I think TODs Brooks, you know,
the camp started and we kind of talked about todz Brooks,
what would the role be. I think there's a legitimate
chance he could be running back two to start the year. Now.
I don't think it's going to be a much of
a split. I think when Chase Brown needs a rest,
he'll get one and then he's back in there. But
I think TODs Brooks has had himself a really good camp.
And you could go on and on about the wide

(31:44):
receiver depth on this team. If we're talking about Mitchell Tinsley,
we're talking about Charlie Jones and what they've been able
to accomplish. And let's not forget it at the root
of all this, though, that Joe Burrow was able to
finish a camp and he's healthy for the first time
in his career. You know, Joe Burrow is healthy and
he's finished a camp that way, and he's had a

(32:04):
very good camp by all accounts.

Speaker 2 (32:06):
I'll throw in a couple of things. Number One, Evan
McPherson has kicked the ball well. Made a fifty four
yarder against Washington. Not insignificant, doesn't guarantee that he's going
to be perfect or as good as he needs to be,
but not insignificant. I sort of feel like we went
from talking every day about Shamar Stewart in his contract
to talking every day about Shamar Stewart and the impact

(32:27):
that he was having, and that's kind of slowed down.
I don't think you could lose sight of the fact
that Shamar Stewart looks like a guy who could play
at this level. I'll also throw in like Demetrius Knight,
I know, dealing with a little bit of an injury
right now. Demetrius Knight has for the most part, had
good camp practices. Didn't love what I saw from him
against Washington. There's some growing Barrett Carter noise though Tony,

(32:48):
which I don't think is a bad thing.

Speaker 9 (32:50):
The play he made against Washington when he showed Cover
two with Tampa where he's got the middle of the
field and was able to plan his foot in the ground,
come up and intercept the pay from Sam Hartman. I
don't care which group it was going against. That was
an impressive play from Mark Carter orn Burks. I think
it's at a good camp as well. You know, you
mentioned Mot Samar Stewart. I think it's funny because there

(33:12):
was so much made about what's he gonna be when
he shows up and how's he gonna be able to
contribute this year. It's almost like we have already banked
that we're gonna get enough from him because of how
good he's been through our training camp. You will find
people that think that that he's been the best player
on the defense for training camp, and I'm right up
there as well. He's been that good that it's almost
like we feel like we don't have to bring him

(33:34):
up because we feel good about where he's at on
the defensive line.

Speaker 2 (33:37):
Awesome stuff. Tony will talk again coming up at four
forty five. I know you can't wait.

Speaker 9 (33:44):
Can't wait, Moe, talk to you soon.

Speaker 2 (33:45):
You got it. Tony Pike joins us every hour and
now today is the last day of training camp reports.
On Monday they turn into season preview reports, and of
course Tony hosting since he three to sixty, I believe
he is off on Monday, so he's back on Tuesday
for that show on ESPN fifteen thirty at twelve noon.
Don't forget Bengals and Colts tomorrow at one o'clock pregame

(34:07):
coverage at eleven thirty on ESPN fifteen thirty. I'm not
going to jinx the Reds, but i am going to
do something else, and we'll talk about Boomer assizin in
a hotel room. Coming up on ESPN fifteen thirty Love.

Speaker 1 (34:22):
The NFL preseason is rapping up, and the Bengals are
seeking to stump the Colts, who will or won't like
the team. It's stripes versus stirrups. Get the call live
from Dan Wood and Dave Lapim. Coverage begins tomorrow at
eleven thirty am. Stream for free on the new and
improved iHeartRadio app or ESPN fifteen thirty, the official home

(34:44):
of the Cincinnati Bengals.

Speaker 2 (34:46):
I would just do anything for that guy's voice. Anything,
I'm like, legitimately, I mean, okay, you know, I wouldn't
sacrifice my family or anything like that, but there's I
give up a lot to have that guy pipes. What's up?
This is ESPN fifteen thirty. M Moegar, thanks for listening today.
Bredaman and Jones on baseball a little bit later on

(35:07):
this hour, it might be about baseball today. Speaking of Brenneman,
Marty's getting a statue well deserved obviously outside GABP. We'll
have an audio excuse me, audio, look at the statue
coming up in just about thirty minutes. I'm going to
make a bowl but not really prediction about the Reds,
and I'll be accused of maybe jinxing them, and I

(35:30):
guess we have to talk about whether or not the
Bengals should ask boomerasie and to pay for a hotel
room if he chooses to come to the Ring of
Honor night to see Dave Lapham and Lamar Parrish have
their names added to the Bengals Ring of Honor inside
the stadium. But first let's take a phone call or
to this hour. Why not it's a Friday. We only

(35:51):
have on this show two Friday shows left this year
because as you know, whereas I hope you know, starting
on the Friday before the first Bengals game, we are
moving out of the way for Bengals PEP Rally starring
Dan Horde and Dave Lapham, So you get a programming
upgrade for like eighteen weeks, which means this Friday, today

(36:11):
and next Friday are the last two Friday shows we
have for you. On this with me in front of
the microphone.

Speaker 10 (36:17):
So there you go.

Speaker 2 (36:18):
We'll have a show. It's actually a better one hosted
by a Hall of Fame broadcaster and a Ring of
Honor analyst. So that's what moves me out of the
way at three o'clock. So starting on the fifth, so
let's take some phone calls and then we'll continue about
my blathering about whatever the hell's on my mind. Scott

(36:40):
in Louisville, you're on ESPN fifteen thirty. Hih, Scott, how
are you?

Speaker 9 (36:44):
I'm great, Mo, thank you. I hope everything is well there.

Speaker 2 (36:47):
Everything's awesome. How about yourself?

Speaker 3 (36:50):
Well?

Speaker 9 (36:50):
Good? Yesterday I thought it was interesting that may have
some positive developments for UC and are scheduling down the
line was the SEC to go to nine conference games,
but also mandating that every school add one power for opponent.
Since Kentucky, Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina already do that,

(37:13):
that's going to open up twelve additional opportunities for games
against SEC opponents. I would imagine the Big Ten and
ACC will also do to something similar, just so that
when the playoffs do go to sixteen games, that's going
to kind of equal out the strength of schedule, so

(37:34):
everybody will have nine conference games and one power for opponent. Yeah. No,
Cincinnati has tried to do that with their scheduling, but
now if it gets kind of mandated, I'm really optimistic
that there could be some really good home and home
opponents with either SEC teams or Big ten teams.

Speaker 7 (37:53):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (37:54):
I would, I agree, except I would wonder about the
home and home aspect of it, right, I mean, I
just there's a lot of SEC schools, like, yes, you
see is a Big twelve school. There's a lot of
SEC schools that I would have a hard time imagining
would do a home and home I agree with you that.
My first thought was, Okay, you know Number one is
a college football fan. If there's going to be nine

(38:15):
games per every SEC team, that means we get more
good SEC games. As a college football fan, I'm all
about that. But when you saw the mandated tenth game
involving a power for a team, my first thought was cool,
you know what could that mean for the power for
a team that I root for, which is u SE.
Could could they somehow find themselves in more SEC matchups?

(38:37):
I don't know that that's necessarily going to mean a
home and home. My guess is most SEC schools, not all,
most SEC schools are going to go out of the
way to do everything they can to ensure that that's
a home game. There would be schools in other conferences
where I guess it would make sense to do a
home and home. But could there be more neutral field opportunities?
Could there just be more opportunities to play, you know,

(38:57):
big time games. Yeah, I would imagine. Look, if you're
mandating you got to play another school from a Power
four league and there's only three other Power four leagues
outside your own, the math would dictate at some point
you see is going to find them in a matchup
with an SEC school.

Speaker 3 (39:11):
Yeah.

Speaker 9 (39:13):
Yeah, And I agree with you that that that that
schools like Georgia and Alabama, Texas, Oklahoma, who knows what
Texas and Oklahoma with their former Big twelve ties, But
you know, certainly Old miss or Mississippi State could certainly
be home and home. I don't think we'll ever see
Kentucky or Louisville because of their series and what they're
committed to. But you know, the looking also at the

(39:35):
Big Ten, like you said, the neutral site games, Penn
State may be playing in Paul Brown Michigan State or
or you know, again, a neutral site game. Certainly Indiana,
Purdue has regional rival even Illinois. Ye, the Northwestern if
they do do that, I just I know that's always

(39:57):
been Sincinnati. They've tried to do that philosophy one P
four school or Power five school and then a max
school and whatever. But now that it's kind of official
or headed that way where it's going to be official,
I do think it's going to be exciting for scheduling
in the future.

Speaker 2 (40:15):
Yeah, So you're right. You know, the Big twelve is
playing a nine game schedule, which is what the SEC
is going to move to. So Cincinnati's model is like
this year they're going to play a Power four opponent
in Nebraska, it's you know, a neutral field we'll call
it that, and then you know, a G five school
if you will. So this year it's Bowling Green and
then an FCS which is Northwestern State one. That is

(40:36):
going to be their model moving forward, if I'm not mistaken.
They have their their power for non league game each
of the next two years is Boston College here next
year there in twenty twenty seven, and then things open
up and so I think they want to do two things.
Number one, they want to ensure they get seven home
games every year. So in the Big twelve some years

(40:58):
you're going to have five, are going to have four,
You're gonna have to make a yearly adjustment. But if
the model that they want to keep moving forward is one,
you know, one one non league game against a large school,
a power for school, a mac A Conference USA being
a home game, and then an FCS game, I would
have to imagine that at some point in there is

(41:19):
going to be an opportunity to play a school from
the SEC.

Speaker 9 (41:24):
Yeah, and even if it is a one off, I
think the ability or the possibility of going to Baton
Rouge or like I mean, like we went to South Bend. Yeah,
you know, the possible road trips again of going no
offense to the Big twelve. But some of the outside
of the Utah School, maybe Arizona State, some of those

(41:45):
are not exactly scenic or road trips where LSU Alburn,
Alabam Even playing down in l SU Alburn, Alabama, going
back to Michigan and played in the Big House or
Penn State, that's certainly does add a lot more excitement
to the program.

Speaker 2 (42:03):
You know, you reference something which I don't think it's
talked about enough. You know, you you could obviously still
drive to go see them play West Virginia. That's fine.
UCF is in this time zone. If you want to
go to Orlando, there are still a lot of road
games where either there can't be a huge desire to
go or it's hard to get to right like in

(42:24):
the you know, when you see was in the Big East.
It was perfect for a thousand different reasons. The school
the school population was perfect, the number of schools that
populated the league was perfect. There was alo some commonality
in terms of football. Geographically, it made sense, and it
was easy because we're talking a lot about a lot
of metropolitan areas to get to where the Bearcats might

(42:44):
be playing on the road. We're talking about traveling across
different time zones. We're talking about getting to places that
aren't that easy to get to from Cincinnati. And so yeah,
I certainly think if you could figure out a way
for your fans to get them to entice them to
go to a game on a neutral field or somewhere
closer to Cincinnati that is a little bit easier to

(43:05):
get to than one of the schools in the Big Twelve.
That would be a bonus.

Speaker 9 (43:09):
Yeah, I mean we didn't we didn't do a return
trip with Arkansas. That was a fun trip. Obviously, the
neutral site game of the Notre Dame was a bucket
list trip, and it would be nice. Nice to be
able to go to Gainesville, go to Knoxville, go to
go to Illina, go to Champagne or Banna, or go

(43:29):
you know, go to Madison. Those are certainly driveable and
a lot of fun possibilities.

Speaker 2 (43:35):
Yeah, some of which they've done. They did. They did
Champagne in two thousand and thirteen. Monchy Lego suffered a
terrible injury in that game. They did a Knoxville trip
in twenty eleven which I think they scored on their
first offensive play and then got destroyed in that game.
The Arkansas trip was a lot of fun. Yeah, there's
a lot of possibilities out there. I will agree with

(43:58):
you that when I saw what the Sees is gonna
do where that tenth game is going to be earmarked
for a power for that, that that got me thinking
about some scheduling possibilities down the road. Scott were of
like mind, have a good weekend, thanks so much.

Speaker 9 (44:11):
Thank you enjoying Nebraska.

Speaker 2 (44:13):
I will we're Kansas City, but thank you very much. Yeah,
you see versus Nebraska in Kansas City. I still have
not talked to anybody who is going to that game.
So it's Arrowhead Stadium. Uh, there's gonna be seventy five
thousand Nebraska fans there. Tony and I were talking about this.

(44:34):
We are going to the game as part of the
broadcast group, and Kansas City, I think is a pretty
fun town. I know we're not supposed to say that
because we hate the Chiefs, but I was telling him, like,
we may go, you know, have a few cold ones
out in Kansas City on Wednesday. They're going to be
tens of thousands of Nebraska fans out in Casey and
I'm sure there's a large Nebraska alumni chapter in Kansas

(44:57):
City itself, but there's gonna be a lot of Nebraska
f I have not spoken to one UC fan who
has told me they're going to Kansas City. Now, this
isn't a criticism. Bearcats haven't been good the last two years.
That sort of bleeds energy out of a fan base.
It is Labor Day weekend, which is a big deal.

Speaker 5 (45:16):
Here.

Speaker 2 (45:18):
Kansas City is it's easy to drive too, because it's
a straight shot, but it's not a quick drive. It's
like seven or eight hours. I don't know if there's
a lot of direct flights to Kansas City. I flew
there in twenty eighteen, and I remember having to go
through Atlanta, But you know, some of those other games
when they played at Arkansas or a ton of Bearcat

(45:39):
fans I knew who went. Obviously, the South Bench trip
was a different story. Tens of thousands of Bearcat fans.
I have not spoken to one person who has said
they're going to Kansas City to watch the Bearcats play again.
That's not a criticism. I'm sure there will be some,
but you know, I know a lot of Bearcat fans,

(46:00):
and most that I have talked, all that I have
talked to about that game itself, have said Casey is
just not in the cards for again, for whatever reason.
IM not saying you should go do what you want
with your time and your money, and far be it
for me. But that's just to me at least, that's
indicative of how much the energy from the fan base

(46:20):
has just been exhausted by what's happened over the last
two seasons, and the work that Scott Sadderfield has in
front of him to kind of pump life back into
the fan base, and the opportunity he and that team
have in front of them next Thursday night to get
people to perk up. And you know, I know people
get mad at me when I say this, but part

(46:41):
of the job of being the UC football coach is
to energize the fan base and keep them energized. Scott's
Adderfield has not done that. I believe this team has
a chance of this season to be pretty decent, but
they got to give people a reason to kind of
perk up and pay attention again. That opportunity is going
to present itself in the form of a game against

(47:02):
Nebraska in Kansas City on Thursday. We'll see seventeen minutes
after four o'clock. Let's talk about Boomera size and a
hotel room next.

Speaker 4 (47:14):
Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty Traffic.

Speaker 5 (47:18):
explore living donation at UCHealth dot com. Slash transplant on
northbound seventy one at Ridge. It's an accident off onto
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(47:41):
two to seventy five, and Sharon Bill that one also
on the left shoulder, and buying an accident at Maple
on that ezelic with traffic.

Speaker 4 (47:49):
This report is sponsor box.

Speaker 2 (47:51):
It's twenty one minutes after four o'clock. This is ESPN
fifteen thirty more with our guy Tony Pike coming up
in just about twenty five minute. It's Brennanman and Jones
on baseball as well. So the Bengals have their annual
Ring of Honor Night this year. It's obviously gonna be
October twenty six, Bengals Jets. I guess it's not Ring

(48:12):
of Honor Night, it's Ring of Honor Day. It's Ring
of Honor weekend. And you know, I think those who
voted myself included, got it right. Dave Lapham and Lamar
Parrish are this year's inductees. Boomer as Siazin was inducted
in twenty twenty three, and that was a no brainer.
Boomer is my all time favorite Bengel and if you
ask a lot of folks my age, they would tell

(48:33):
you the exact same thing. So he's got a radio show,
Boomer and g O, and he was talking with his
co host about his invitation sort of invitation to the
team's Ring of Honor weekend and apparently if he comes,
he's gonna have to pay for his own hotel room.

(48:57):
This is Greg Gianatti and Boomer Assias in reading the
email the organization sent to Boomer, tear and go ahead
and hit it.

Speaker 11 (49:05):
The Bengals Organization is excited to celebrate our legends community
and kindly invites you and a guest to join us
in celebrating Dave Lapham and Lamar Parrish on Ring of
Honor Weekend in October, culminating at our game on Sunday,
October twenty six, when the Bengals take on the New
York Jets.

Speaker 6 (49:22):
That's awesome, that would be very nice.

Speaker 11 (49:23):
More details are below, and we kindly ask you RSVP,
no later than Friday, August twenty seconds.

Speaker 6 (49:29):
So it's today. That's today.

Speaker 11 (49:31):
Wow, So got to make a decision to guarantee your
seats our Okay, Ring of Honor Weekend, You and a
guest can receive two complimentary tickets with an opportunity to
purchase an the dishal if you wish to as celebratory
events below by submitting the RSVP form. The Ring of
Honor Reception at pay Course Stadium on Saturday, October twenty fifth,

(49:52):
four to seven pm, Bengals versus Jets Halftime Ring of
Honor Induction Ceremonies Sunday, October twenty six, Kickoffice one pm.

Speaker 6 (49:59):
But them if you are traveling in for.

Speaker 11 (50:02):
The weekend from out of town, we have secured a
block of rooms at the Resonance Cincinnati Downtown Hotel.

Speaker 6 (50:11):
But Renaissance renaissance a block of rooms.

Speaker 12 (50:15):
Usually when people say a block of rooms, it's like
a wedding thing and you have to go on there
and say, I'm part of this party.

Speaker 11 (50:21):
But this is why he's this is why they sent it.
So the Renaissance Cincinnati Downtown Hotel at a preferred discounted rate.
Hold on so I can book my group rate for
the Ring of Honor weekend. Rooms are limited, so please
book directly for early and the best rate. We'll look
forward to hosting you in the jungle for an unforgettable weekend.

(50:43):
Don't hesitate to reach out to me or another guy
on the staff with any questions, thank you?

Speaker 6 (50:49):
And who dai, who day? Who day?

Speaker 11 (50:51):
Who they think they are? Maybe you pay for your
own hotel room. That's what I would say. You think
I'm an elitist. If I say no to.

Speaker 2 (50:58):
That, They're gonna make Bomar Size I guess not make.
They're gonna ask Boma Size to pay for his own

(51:27):
Can you imagine, like I don't know, the San Francisco
forty nine ers invite Joe Montana back for some sort
of celebration involving a forty nine ers. Great. Maybe it's
a Hall of fame. I don't know, Maybe it's their
ring of Honor. And they tell Joe Montana, who admittedly
was a more accomplished and better player than boomeras hyacin.
And if you know anything about me, you know how

(51:48):
much it hurts me to say that. Can you imagine
the San Francisco forty nine ers saying that, Joe Montana,
and we want you to come back. Hey, by the way,
we've got a group rate at the San Francisco Renaissance Hotel.
Go ahead and book Are you kidding me? By the way,
for what it's worth so this went viral and Corey

(52:09):
Dillon on Twitter, I guess, reposted it and wrote, at
least my guy Boomer got an invite in an email
Corey Dillon, as you know, is also in the Bengals
Ring of Honor. There's obviously limitations right to like who
can get free tickets? How many tickets you can give
out for free? Like I understand that, But when a

(52:31):
player's name is on your stadium, when he is one
of the faces of your franchise, when he is a
guy who has used his national platform to talk up
the Cincinnati Bengals for what that's worth, that's not a
guy you make go online and put in a promo
code of checkout so he can get forty percent off.

(52:51):
It's it's an example of like, you can't do the
hard stuff if you cannot do the easy stuff. The
easy stuff is we want to invite our Ring of
Honor inductees, of which there aren't many. I guess. It's
not like they have two hundred players they have to
invite to town. They have what eight is that the number?

Speaker 10 (53:12):
By? Now?

Speaker 8 (53:12):
Eight?

Speaker 2 (53:15):
You can't book boomra Assia Center room for him and
telling me is two free nights that forget whatever hotel
it is. I know nothing about that hotel downtown. Maybe
it's really nice, maybe it's not.

Speaker 6 (53:27):
I mean, this is.

Speaker 2 (53:30):
What's comical about it, and I don't know, maybe frustrating
about it, depending on your perspective, is like something like this.
You know, I can't imagine one person sets all this up.
There's probably multiple people involved, and no one was like, hey, look,
if we're gonna ask Boomer Assiasin and ken Anderson and

(53:50):
you know, Corey Dillon ken Anderson's in town for the
most part, but players from out of town who are
in the Ring of Honor to be there to welcome
their fellow Ring of Honor inductee into the small club.
You know, how about we don't ask them to go
into their pocket. I know Boomer can afford it. Boomer
can afford you know, an entire floor without the group rate.
But come on, man, like, you either do things in

(54:13):
a first class way or you don't. And if you
do things in a first class way, you do everything
in a first class way everything and maybe this is
common practice. I have no idea. It just occurred to
me that we have rick walls from the Red's Hall
of Fame on our show next. I probably cannot ask
him because then I don't know what the answer is.

(54:35):
Like when you have Hall of famers come back, hat
do you what do you pay for? I'm not gonna
do that, though I am tempted because he's joining us
to talk about the Marty statue. As a general rule,
if you're a professional sports franchise and you're inviting your
all time greats, including guys whose name is in the stadium,
to come back for a special ceremony, I understand you

(54:56):
can't give them twenty free tickets. Fine, I don't really
have an issue with here's two free tickets. If you
want more, pay for them. That doesn't bother me. The
hotel room, dude, Come on ball. Questions on this show
are a service of United Heartland Insurance. Find out what
you're paying for insurance. We're getting closer to the end
of the year, so take a look see what you're
paying and find out if you can pay less using

(55:18):
United Heartland Insurance. Check out uhis dot com. Should boomersis
and pay for his own hotel room if he comes
to town for Ring of Honor weekend? Vote now at
Mulager Marty Brenneman's getting a statue. He's in town so
he doesn't have to pay for a hotel. Rick Walls
will tell us about the statue, which is going to

(55:39):
be dedicated in two weeks on ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports.

Speaker 4 (55:43):
Station Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty. Traffic from the UC Health
to Traffic Center.

Speaker 5 (55:51):
Nearly sixty percent of Americans waiting on an organ trains
plant are from multicultural communities. Give the gift of life,
become an organ owner or explore living donation at UCHealth
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(56:13):
Alexandria Pike with a ten minute delay northbound seventy five
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Speaker 2 (56:25):
Twenty five from five. This is ESPN fifteen thirty on
mo Eger Tony Pike in ten minutes. With the latest
Bengals training camp report, two weekends from right now shapes
up to be a huge weekend at GABP if things
continue the way they've gone now for a while. The
New York Mets are going to be in town that weekend,
and obviously those two teams separated as we speak, by

(56:47):
a half game in the hunt for the last wildcard spot,
so that could be a huge weekend. Will be a
huge weekend Reds and Mets a gabp And wrapped around
that is the Martin Brennman statue dedication, which is going
to happen on Saturday, September the sixth. Marty is going
to participate in the official unveiling of the statue outside

(57:09):
the ballpark there at Crosley Terrace at four o'clock. The
game is that night. There's going to be a ceremony
inside the ballpark before the game. This is obviously extraordinarily
well deserved. And to talk with us about it is
the executive director of the Reds Hall of Fame m Museum,
our buddy Rick Walls, Ricketts, going to have you.

Speaker 3 (57:27):
How are you?

Speaker 13 (57:28):
No, I'm doing great, Thanks for having me. And it's
fun watching Reds baseball right now.

Speaker 2 (57:32):
It sure is. It's a fun team, it's a fun
time and this is an honor for Marty that is
well deserved. What goes into the decision making process when
it comes to determining who gets a statue.

Speaker 13 (57:45):
You know, it's been since p Rose had a statue,
right that we've added a new one to the ballpark.
It started in twenty and eleven with Johnny Bench and
it was followed with the rest of what is called
the Big four, big part of the Grade eight, you know,
with Morgan and Perez and then Rose and if you
look across that, with the exception of Rose, the ones

(58:06):
that the Hall of Fame is commissioned. The criteria essentially
is National Hall of Fame recognition, which Marty has and
that's the one that Pete doesn't have. But we all
know about that story. So Tony, Joe and Johnny their
numbers are retired, they're in the Reds Hall of Fame
and mentioned the National Hall of Fame. So that's kind
of baseline criteria that we look at, you know, the

(58:27):
highest levels. The other statues that are on Crosley Terrace
were added there as part of a fan vote back
when the ballpark was built. You know, the popular figures
from the Krosley air Well deserving of those statues out there.
But moving forward, this is kind of what we based
it on. And you know, forty six years Marty makes
the Hall of Fame. He's the first non player, manager,

(58:49):
executive owner to make the Hall of Fame. And really
as an anomaly, I mean, he stands out above, you know,
someone who has committed that much time to this brand,
to share Reds Baseball to everyone on across Red's country
and then commit himself in the community to support so
many worthy causes. He's just he's just really synonymous with

(59:10):
Cincinnati Reds Baseball to so many. And now when they
show up at the ballpark and you walk on across
the terrace, you're going to see a statue of Marty
calling the game just like you remember him doing. And
the beautiful thing about it, and I know this is
important to him. It's right next to Joe, Morgan, Pete
and Tony, the three statues right in front of him,
and of course Johnny just down the road. But calling

(59:31):
so many of their moments. He was not only their broadcaster,
he was their friend.

Speaker 2 (59:35):
Yeah, an iconic broadcaster, an iconic figure, and an iconic moment. Now,
I would think though that if you're in charge of
sculpting this statue right in any one of them. You
want accuracy, you want to do right by the person,
But if you don't do right by Marty, he's going
to tell you about it. So a lot of pressure
on Tom Sugia.

Speaker 13 (59:53):
Yeah, Tom knew this from the get go. You know,
he loves doing these. When we talk to him about these,
he has a lot of great ideas. He brings the
ideas to the table. They're discussed internally within the organization,
they're talked about with, you know, other just just associates
and friends and people who would have an interest in this.
In this case, John Burns is a friend of Marty

(01:00:14):
and he's our primary supporter with Encore Technologies, and we
all got together and this seems to be the perfect
way to kind of represent Marty, you know in the
booths calling the game. Just think about listening to him
on the radio in your car, home, in the backyard
and your living room, and so many people that have

(01:00:34):
really connected themselves to the game where they couldn't go
to the ballpark, and it's because of Marty, you know,
mostly Marty the way he called the game and brought
it to me. You're right, he told him the way
he felt, you know, he called it the way he
saw it, and he has had a lot of opinions
on the statue, which is exactly the way Tom wants it.
You don't want it after the fact, you want it

(01:00:55):
before you turn it to bronze, exactly.

Speaker 2 (01:00:59):
Yeah, well, a lot of pressure for Tom. Now there
is the Hall of Fame statue campaign.

Speaker 13 (01:01:04):
Tell me about this, Yeah, so again, the Hall of Commissions,
these these are part of our mission to celebrate the
greatness of so many that have contributed to this game,
and Marty is one of those. So you know, Hall
of Fame is behind this raising the money. We've got
a lot of Red's owners, We've got a lot of
individuals and supporters and organizations that have known Marty for

(01:01:25):
so long. So it really becomes kind of a melting
pot of the fan base and the corporate base that
want to see this statue there and are helping us
cover the costs of the statue, cover the ceremonies, the
suite at the ballpark, a party for Marty, things like that.
They're just going to keep this thing at the ballpark
for a long, long, long time. And fans can donate

(01:01:48):
as low as forty six dollars to be part of
the Marty Legacy forty six club that's representative of the
forty six years and you're going to get a pen
and also certificate in the picture of the statue after
the event.

Speaker 10 (01:02:01):
Or you can get a brick.

Speaker 13 (01:02:02):
I mean, one way to help us out is to
buy a brick at the ballpark right in front of
the Marty statue, which will have your name or message
on it. You can choose two different sizes and one
can have a microphone on it if you want, and
it's installed, and you get a keepsake brick mail to
your house as well.

Speaker 10 (01:02:17):
So whether it's forty six.

Speaker 13 (01:02:18):
Dollars, one nine nine or three ninety nine, those are
three ways you can get involved with the statue and
help us out.

Speaker 2 (01:02:25):
It's Saturday, September six, is the unveiling. The Reds play
the Mets that night at six forty. The dedication ceremony
is at four o'clock. Run through everything that'll be happening
that afternoon.

Speaker 13 (01:02:36):
Yeah, so you want to get down there a little
bit early to get advantage point. At four o'clock we
will start because we'll have forty minutes till approximately the
gates open two hours before the game and a big crowd.
As you were talking about Mets series, this could be
hopping down here. This should be one great baseball weekend.
But the ceremony will kick off, There'll be some some
great introductions, some people that'll talk about Marty. Marty will

(01:02:59):
give hit his response, and then Marty will pull off
the drape that will unveil and dedicate the statue so
that it'll be open the rest of the night for
fans to see and from then forward, and as you
mentioned before, following that ceremony, they'll be an on field
dedication ceremony with Marty as well. That's always a nice
way to do something on the field. We've done it
with all of the statue presentations in the past. But

(01:03:22):
there'll be about two hundred seats for our donors and
VIPs right in front of the statue. But think about
where it is. It's right on the Reds Front office
building facing directly west, looking right at Pete Rose's statue.
So we've got the street and we've got Crosley Terrace,
some good advantage points. I expect it to be packed,
and we'll also show it on the Hall of Fame

(01:03:42):
video board through the bank. So if you're not right there.
You can see it and hear it down the street
a little bit.

Speaker 10 (01:03:48):
It's going to be crowded.

Speaker 2 (01:03:49):
Marty is a man who has been honored often throughout
the course of his life and obviously his career. What
was it like when he was informed that he was
going to be honored in this way.

Speaker 13 (01:04:00):
Well, one of the great privileges I've had was being
part of the group that got to tell him and
kind of surprise him. So it's kind of hard to
pull one over on Marty, but we I think we did.
I think we accomplished that. And we called him down
for a meeting. I said, we wanted to talk about
the fiftieth anniversary of the Big Red Machine, and he
and Amanda came down to the ballpark. We had a

(01:04:22):
video set up in front of where the statue would be.
He didn't know what it was for. I brought him
over to us, said, hey, wo Jay, answer some questions
about opening day. This is pre opening day. So John
Burns and I were talking to him and brought up
the question about these statues, and somebody John said, well,
where is your statue, Marty? And Marty's oh, yeah, sure.
The texts and the mail and then we paused for

(01:04:43):
a second and Marty I said, you know, Marty, this
is why we're here. And he was really emotional about
it and realized this was a setup and it was
really a cool moment. And to see him reacting, I've
seen him react since then about this. All the people
they've gotten statues have felt this way, and it means
something different to each one of them. You hear it

(01:05:04):
in their speech, you hear the emotion, and Marty is
no different than anyone else. And he is going to
get up there and this is going to be a one.
I think it's going to be a great moment in
Red's history. You know, he creates so many moments.

Speaker 10 (01:05:18):
This is one for him.

Speaker 13 (01:05:19):
We've said this, this one belongs to Marty, and I
think it does. So it's going to be a great
day on September sixth.

Speaker 2 (01:05:25):
September sixth, statue dedication ceremony at four o'clock, there'll be
a Marty Brenneman commemorative ticket that night, Reds and Mets
play at six forty Pregame ceremonies inside the ballpark at
six pm, and you could support the Hall of Fame
statue campaign join the Marty's forty six club. Go to
Redsmuseum dot org slash Marty Rick. It's it's always awesome

(01:05:48):
to have it's been. We're not talking about a Hall
of Fame class this year, I'll admit that to you,
but fun to have you.

Speaker 13 (01:05:53):
Nonetheless, Yeah, we had the fiftieth anniversary. We'll do it
next year, hopefully with the Hall of Fame class. But
right now it's all about Marty and watching the Reds
play on the field. The rest of the season's hoping
for good.

Speaker 2 (01:06:03):
Thanks, no question about that. Thank you as always, all right, mo,
thank you, take care again. Check out Reds dot com,
slash Redsmuseum dot org slash Marty that's Redsmuseum dot org
slash Marty Tonypike.

Speaker 4 (01:06:15):
Next Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty Traffic.

Speaker 5 (01:06:21):
explore living donation at UCHealth dot com slash transplant. Eastbound
two seventy five left lane blocked off from an accident
between the Comb Sale Bridge and Kellogg Avenue and it's

(01:06:44):
another accident on northbound seventy one at Ridge Avenue, this
one also blocking off the left lane. I'm at ezelic
with traffic.

Speaker 2 (01:06:52):
This report is sponsored.

Speaker 1 (01:06:54):
ESPN fifteen thirty with the latest from Bengals training camp.
Brought you Boyd Casino, Lawrenceburg, on your official home of
the Cincinnati Bengals, ESPN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 2 (01:07:07):
Tony Pike joins US Bengals and Colts tomorrow, so they're
not practicing today training camp. The training camp part of
training camp is over, but Tony is still giving us
a live training camp reports. By the way, I have
you know really quick on Twitter. I've invited boomeras ice
and to crash at my house on Ring of hoanor weekend.

Speaker 9 (01:07:28):
Can we put together anything for the airfare? Uh?

Speaker 2 (01:07:31):
Yeah, I don't know about that. We'll see if we
could work out some trade with a legion or Frontier
or something. But that's also UC's Hall of Fame weekend,
and so I figure, you know, to celebrate like you know,
you go in that Friday night. Maybe me, you and
Boomer can hang out on Saturday.

Speaker 9 (01:07:48):
Oh my goodness, after a betcat win.

Speaker 2 (01:07:49):
I'm in yeah, Simon sign sign sign me up for that.
Bengals will play the Jets that weekend. Players who matter
will play in that game. Tomorrow maybe not so much.
Why should I pay attention tomorrow?

Speaker 9 (01:08:01):
Well, I think you get a couple of things. One,
I think you're still looking mo if there are anyone
on the defensive side of the ball that can get
into the two deep and make a difference. Because as
much as we want to talk about what al Golden
has or has not shown, they still need playmakers that
can win in one on one situations and I don't
think we've seen enough of those. So I want to
see anyone on defense that can flash, make some sort

(01:08:23):
of statement and maybe play themselves into a role on
this team offensively. Give me more of Toz Brooks. I
love what I've seen from the rookie out of Texas Tech.

Speaker 10 (01:08:31):
I think he is.

Speaker 9 (01:08:32):
Sliding into a very nice role for this team. I
think he can carve that out. I'd love to see
dez Ritter excel because I think there's a role past
this year on this team for dez Ritter, And if
he is going to excel, why not find more of
Mitchell Tinsley and see if you can drive the value
up of Mitchell Tinsley so high that maybe a team
that's in need of a number two or number three
wide receiver is willing to part ways with someone that

(01:08:55):
can maybe help this defense going forward.

Speaker 2 (01:08:57):
That's the reason that said for me tomorrow Mitchell Tinsley,
I'm going to see more of what he can do,
and then I want to see if the Bengals can
legitimately engage teams and conversations about what they would give
up in order to get them.

Speaker 9 (01:09:08):
Yeah, they need playmakers on defense. Regardless of anything that's
going to happen when the roster cutdowns go or who
they can find, they are still going to be short
of playmakers on defense. So can you get someone that
is going to help you contribute for a team that
is maybe again hungry for more skilled players at the
wide receiver position. The Bengals are so deep there, they

(01:09:30):
have so many good players. Can you utilize that in
a way going forward that makes sense for another team
to come in and say, yes, we see your deficiency,
here's our deficiency. We can get something done.

Speaker 2 (01:09:41):
Awesome stuff. As always, Tony, thank you so much. All right,
we have a good one, you too, Tony Pike joins
us every day for training, camp and season preview reports
every day three forty five, four forty five and five
for five. I've included boomerais and it might he can
stay at my house. History We have a guest bedroom.

(01:10:03):
We we have a playroom. We have a my couch
as a basement. We have a living room with a couch.
He won't have to pay a dime. Just tell me
what he wants from the grocery store. I'll go to
Kroger and get it. I'll tell you have a cigar
for him. I don't know if Boomer's a cigar guy,
but late October it's still gonna be cigar weather. Whatever
he drinks. I believe you come to my house. I

(01:10:25):
have your favorite libation. I gotta do is get there
Boom and you could crash the I won't ask any
questions you could have over anybody you want, just whether
you want to do Friday night and Saturday or just
Saturday night, or maybe you want to do Saturday and
you could. He could do a show from here, crash

(01:10:45):
up my house, and then he doesn't have to like
hustle back to New York. He could do a show
from from here we'll see Bredaman and Jones on Baseball's
Next Crumbs.

Speaker 1 (01:10:53):
Disease said one thousand dollars and a trip to our
iHeart Radio Music Festival.

Speaker 4 (01:10:57):
Tack's the nationwide keyword music to two hundred two hundred.

Speaker 2 (01:11:02):
You'll get a confirmation text and info. Standard message and
data rates apply in this nation y contest.

Speaker 6 (01:11:06):
That's music to two hundred two hundred.

Speaker 2 (01:11:10):
Alright, it's time, finally, at last much native the mikelob
Ultra five o'clock Happy Hour on ESPN fifteen thirty. And
because of poor planning by me, I don't have a
michelob Ultra in this studio right now. We'll see if

(01:11:32):
we can maybe rectify that, but I can guarantee you this,
come six o'clock, I'm going to be very very close
to having a nice cold michelob Ultra, superior taste, superior
light beer, michelob Ultra. Whatever you're doing this weekend, whatever
you're doing right now, make Micultra a part of it.

(01:11:54):
We have a lot of ground to cover. Sacha Christian
from MLS Season Pass is going to join this. It's
been a crazy last forty eight or so hours for
FC Cincinnati. They've got a home game tomorrow. We're gonna
get to that Reds and d Backs tonight. I'm gonna
be accused of jinxing the Reds if things go poorly.
I don't believe in jinxes, so I'm not gonna jinx them.
I'm just gonna tell you what I think is not
gonna happen. We'll get to that. We've got more Bengal

(01:12:16):
stuff to get to. Tony Pike is gonna join us
one more time. We have been having fun with boomeras
Ison and the Bengals. Boomer on his radio show, read
the email the Bengals got. The Bengals sent him about
Ring of Honor weekend, where they've offered him two tickets
and an opportunity to book a room. They have a
block of rooms set up at the Renaissance Hotel, which,

(01:12:38):
by the way, now they're gonna have to book it
at another hotel because now you're gonna have weirdos who
are like hanging out at the hotel waiting to see
if they can meet boomeras iasin I didn't hear anything
mentioned about airfare, tarn Can you play play the audio?
This is thanks to WFA and in New York. Can
you play that audio again for me?

Speaker 11 (01:12:58):
The Bengals organization is a de cited to celebrate our
legends community and kindly invites you and a guest to
join us in celebrating Dave Lapham and Lamar Parrish on
Ring of Honor Weekend in October clulmminating at our game
on Sunday, October twenty six, when the Bengals take on
the New York Jets.

Speaker 6 (01:13:15):
That's awesome. That would be very nice.

Speaker 11 (01:13:17):
More details are below, and we kindly ask you RSVP
no later than Friday, August twenty second.

Speaker 6 (01:13:23):
So it's today. That's today. Wow, So got to make
a decision to guarantee your seats? Oh okay.

Speaker 11 (01:13:30):
Ring of Honor Weekend, You and a guest can receive
two complimentary tickets with an opportunity to purchase in the
dishal if you wish to as celebratory events below by
submitting the RSVP form. The Ring of Honor Reception at
pay Course Stadium on Saturday, October twenty fifth, four to
seven pm Bengals versus Jets Halftime Ring of Honor Induction
Ceremonies Sunday, October twenty six, Kickoffice one PM, but them.

(01:13:53):
If you are traveling in for the weekend from out
of town. We have secured a block of rooms at
the Resonance Cincinnati Downtown Hotel Renaissance Renaissance A block of rooms.

Speaker 12 (01:14:09):
Usually when people say a block of rooms, it's like
a wedding thing and you have to go on there
and say, I'm part of this party.

Speaker 6 (01:14:14):
But this is why he's this is why they sent it.

Speaker 11 (01:14:16):
So the Renaissance Cincinnati Downtown Hotel at a preferred discounted rate.
Hold on so I can book my group rate for
the Ring of Honor weekend. Rooms are limited, so please
book directly for early and the best rate. We'll look
forward to hosting you in the jungle for an unforgettable weekend.
Don't hesitate to reach out to me or another guy

(01:14:40):
on the staff with any questions. Thank you, And who
dai whoday? Whoa who they think they are? Maybe you
paint your own hotel room, That's what I would say.
You think I'm a elitist if I say no to that.

Speaker 2 (01:14:53):
So first of all, what do we think like the
promo code you have to enter in at the Renaissance
Hotel's website, what do we think the promo code is
to get the discounted rate in one of those rooms
that they've blocked off for that weekend. So they're also,
I guess gonna they're not offering to pay his airfare.

(01:15:15):
So there's a few more questions I have about this one.
Let's say Boomer Assize and he hasn't told today to
RSVP that the game is more than two months away. Right,
it's October twenty sixth. Let's say Boomer's not sure, like
he'd like to come, but he's not sure. He's got
some other stuff, he's got to move some stuff around,

(01:15:35):
and he can't let them know until late September. Does
that mean that suddenly the two tickets they've offered Boomer
ass izin aren't available anymore. Again, this isn't asking me
or you know, somebody else, some rando if they want
to go to it's Boomer Assis and who's in your
ring of honor one of the most identifiable and famous

(01:15:56):
and accomplished Cincinnati Bengals. Ever, if he says like, I
can't say yes, I can't say no. I'm a hard maybe,
and he's like, I'm not sure, like is the Bengals
don't have two tickets for boomeris Ison on Ring of
Honor weekend. Also, where are those tickets? Like two tickets?

(01:16:17):
Is a two tickets in a random suite? Is it
two tickets in section three forty six where I set? Like,
where's that'd be cool? So he's got to answer. I
guess he had to have answered already. Close of business
was five o'clock. Maybe it's five thirty. I've offered, I've
tweeted him, I've offered him to stay at my house

(01:16:39):
that weekend. The airfare. I used most of my sky
miles for a trip this earlier this year. Actually it
was last year, so I only have eighth I looked
eighty four hundred and thirty six sky miles left. I
can't remember my American Airlines advantage passwords, so I don't
know how many miles I have on that one, but

(01:17:00):
probably not a lot because I can't say it the
last time I flew American Airlines, so I probably don't
have enough to book him a flight. So they're asking
boomerasiasin do you want to come to the game? If
you want tickets? Cool, You're on, You're on, the rest
of the way. I understand, like it's not Boomer's weekend.

Speaker 3 (01:17:23):
Like, I get that.

Speaker 2 (01:17:25):
I also understand boomeras iiasin has the resources to afford airfare,
ah hotel room like I get it. I understand, and
I understand it's a limit. You can't give away everything.
But once you've attained Ring of Honor status, once you
have attained Ring of Honor status, should shouldn't those things

(01:17:48):
sort of be thrown in? If the Patriots invite Tom
Brady back, Tom Brady had he's in their Hall of Fame.
I think they there's Tom Brady's statue that got dedicated
to summer. I think if they ask Tom Brady to
come back, or they hey Tom, you know, Tom might
still have a house in the Boston area. He's worth
you know, a billion dollars. But if asked Tom Brady

(01:18:09):
to come back, is hey Tom cool? Two tickets we
need to know two months in advance. And admittedly Tom
Brady more accomplished than boomerasiacin, but Tom, two tickets, we
need to know two months in advance. Also, you're on
your own forgetting here, and we have a block of rooms.
You can get thirty percent off thanks to our group rate.

(01:18:30):
Just enter promo codes. Six rings at checkout at the
Renaissance Boston Hotel and you'll be at that game, like,
here's the thing, right, Like if this is the New
York Giants and they do this, you go, huh, that's
on Giants, Like wonder why kind of slipped through the cracks.

(01:18:54):
Somebody made the wrong decision unfortunately, right or wrong. This
feels like one of the most on brand Bengals things. Ever,
I don't know what the policy is across the NFL.
I don't know what the policy is across pro sports.
I'm sure every team does it differently. I have to imagine, though,
that there are a lot of pro sports franchises who

(01:19:15):
invite alumni back for ceremonies like this where we want,
you know, whether it's team Hall of Fame or guys
with their jersey numbers retired, we want their fellow club members.
For lack of a better way of putting it, these
two men are going to join these people and their club,
We're gonna invite them back. I have to think I
could be dead wrong about this, but I have to

(01:19:37):
think that the overwhelming amount of sports franchises would say
we're gonna cover more than just two tickets that we
need to know more than two months in advance, if
you could use like this is one of those things.
The Bengals are just getting ripped apart nationally and unnecessarily,
so they do not care. I could assure you with that,

(01:19:58):
but it just it feeds into the overall organizational perception.
Part of that perception I think is inaccurate. I don't
think the Bengals are cheap with players. I really don't.
In fact, there's a lot of evidence to suggest they're not,
and they do a lot of things really really really well,
really well, much of which they don't publicize, but the

(01:20:18):
perception is out there. Stuff like this feeds that perception.
Wait a minute, you can't say to Boomer, like, hey man,
we'll pay your flight, we'll put you up, give you
a couple of tickets, just need you on the field
for the ceremony, Like I understand, Like there's only you can't, Hey,
bring your entire family on us, and how about a

(01:20:39):
whole floor of rooms for you and anybody else. You're
not gonna do that, This is easy. This is one
of those that it's like, all right, we're inviting Boomer
and chat by the way again, Corey Dillon still says
on Twitter he did not get an invite. We're gonna
have anybody who's part of our Ring of honor come
in for this. We want them there for all of these.
The Bengals are worth four billion dollars. Boomer is sciencing.

(01:21:04):
But I'll do what I can. I'll see if I
can bridge the difference here. Boomer can crash at my house.
I'll drive him around.

Speaker 5 (01:21:11):
Now.

Speaker 2 (01:21:11):
There's a UC game on Saturday, so I'm he can.
He can join us. He can join join us in
the broadcast booth for the UC game, tool around town
with me all weekend if if he wants. It's still
gonna be somewhat warm late October. We're big grilling out
type of people, so he can. I'll cook him dinner. Now,
I've got to be at the Holy Grail the next

(01:21:33):
morning for the game, so Boomer's kind of on his
own there, but it'd be cool to have him at
the Grail. I just I don't I only have eight
and thirty six sky miles so and I've lost my
American Airlines passwords, so I'm gonna have to go into
my own pocket for the airfare. I don't know if
I want to do that. Maybe we'll start a gofund

(01:21:54):
me or something. I don't know. He's sixteen after five o'clock.
Your phone calls are coming up, and I'm going to
not jinx the Reds as well. On ESPN fifteen thirty
Cincinnati Sports.

Speaker 4 (01:22:09):
Station Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty. Traffic from the.

Speaker 5 (01:22:15):
UC Health Traffic Center. Nearly sixty percent of Americans waiting
on an organ transplant are from multicultural communities. Give the
Gift of Life, become an organ donor, or explore living
donation at UCHealth dot com. Slash transplant eastbound two seventy five.
It's an accident between the combsail Bridge and Kellogg. Left

(01:22:36):
lane blocked off. They're up to a ten minute delay
from Alexandria Pike and one more accident on Harrison at
State Avenue. I'm at ezelic with traffic.

Speaker 2 (01:22:45):
This report is sponsored Bison's Gonna Need in Cincinnati on
Ring of Hono weekend. I don't know why I'm so
amused by this. I'm be honest with you right now,
I'd be amused by pretty much anything. It's three after
five o'clock. Sasha Question is going to join us MLS.
Season pass analyst. FC Cincinnati at the end of what

(01:23:07):
has been a very busy week for them during the
transfer window, is going to host New York City tomorrow
and Sasha is going to join us in just about
ten minutes. More from Tony Pike as well. Don't forget tomorrow.
It's the Bengals and Colts kicking off at one o'clock
at the venue originally known as Paul Brown Stadium. Pregame
coverage at eleven thirty on ESPN fifteen thirty. The Reds

(01:23:31):
have not called up salth Stewart today, which is stupid.
They have caught up Zach Maxwell, big Sugar, which is fine.
Big tall dude who throws really hard, doesn't always have
the best control. Maybe a different version of Luis May
we will see. The thing about him is he is
going to be It's inevitable. The Reds play a lot
of close games, they play a lot of low scoring games,

(01:23:52):
and whoever their bullpen guys are, they end up pitching
high leverage innings. That's not going to change with this guy.
Two nights ago, three nights ago, he was pitching in
the eighth inning of a close game, in the middle
of a playoff race. Today, he's in Louisville or wherever
the Louisville Bats are, which I think is Unlouisville, meaning
they're playing a home game. They go into play tonight.

(01:24:15):
The Reds half game out of the last wildcard spot,
and I know they lost their most recent game. We
were talking earlier about the pressure the Reds face versus
the pressure the Mets face. I know what the national
media is gonna do. They're gonna make it. They're gonna
make it seem like all the pressure is on the Mets.
I like the Reds chances for two reasons. I think

(01:24:36):
the starting pitching is really good. That's not me thinking it.
The numbers bear that out, and they're about to get
Nicolodolo back. There is nothing to like about the New
York Mets right now. The two teams will play each
other in two weeks. We'll see how much of an
impact that series has on the race. I'm gonna stop
sort of predicting that the Reds are gonna go to

(01:24:58):
the postseason, although I feel pretty good about where they are.
I do think this though. I feel like all season long,
those of us who root for this team or follow
this team have been waiting for the meltdown, the collapse,
for the other shoe to drop. Part of that is

(01:25:20):
built in. Part of that is just what it's like
to be a baseball fan. One of my best friends
is a Milwaukee Brewers fan. They're running away with the
National League Central. I hear his unease when he talks
about them relative to the Chicago Cubs. I think that's
something we do as baseball fans more than fans of
any other team, because the season is so long, there's

(01:25:41):
so many games. You're constantly waiting for the good times
to end when they're good, and then you add to
it thirty years of watching your team not advancing the postseason.
This endless run of utility the Reds have been on
to it tends to make a fan base kind of jaded, cynical,
or apprehensive. So that's happened here. But I just I

(01:26:06):
say this from where I sit. This team has been
playing for nearly five months now, and they can be
frustrating at times, and they are flawed man offensively, they
they're you know, average at best, and they've lost some
absolute gut punch games. But I feel like often this season,
including most recently last weekend, they will lose two or

(01:26:30):
three in a row, or they will suffer some sort
of just hard to stomach defeat where they blow a
lead or just don't get the big hit, and it
feels like that's the beginning of the end. And it
feels like for a lot of us, what they're doing
is it's almost confirmation that yep, yeah, we knew, we
knew it was going to end at some point. Here

(01:26:51):
it is. We have been waiting for the meltdown. We
have been waiting for the collapse that has never happened.
I will be accused of jinxing the Reds if they
lose like their next seven games. I don't care because
I don't believe in jinxes. Jinxes aren't real. I don't

(01:27:12):
think the collapse is gonna come. That does not mean
the Reds are gonna make the postseason. Maybe the New
York Mets play out of their mind over the next
five weeks and play it just such a clip that
at the end of it you tip your cap and go,
you guys were just better. Maybe they play seven hundred
baseball the rest of the way. Maybe some team behind
Cincinnati catches fire over the last five weeks, and catches

(01:27:35):
both and laps the field. But I don't think the
meltdown's gonna come. They've played one hundred and twenty eight
games this season, large sample size five months, and we
have been doing this since really early in the season,
where you know they'll they'll lose a couple of games,
and it just feels like we all expect that. Here

(01:27:56):
it is. The Reds lost a game in Washington right
before Bengals training came started, and we all had the
same reaction, myself included yep, see, they got us a
training camp. All right, they kind of handed us, you know,
handed the sports discourse if you will, to the to
the Bengals, and all right, thanks, we got you to
training camp. Now, Joe, Zach, Jamar Trey, you take over.

(01:28:17):
That was a month ago. It was a month ago.
That game was a month ago today, and they're a
half game out of the Wildcard. That that road trip
where they lost a game at Chicago and then two
in Pittsburgh kind of felt like all right at the
beginning of the end, and uh, you know, the way

(01:28:38):
that homestand went where they lost those two games to
Milwaukee kind of felt like here we go. I don't
think the end's gonna come. I think this team's good
enough to avoid the collapse. That doesn't necessarily mean they're
good enough to get to the postseason. Although I like
a lot more about the Reds right now than I
do the Mets. We'll see lots of ball to go.
Mets have a star studded team, we'll see the red

(01:29:01):
starting pitching has been so good this season, maybe everybody's
arm falls off. I cannot help but think that the
starting staff is going to be good enough to keep
this team from doing what we've all expected it to
do all season long. They have found a way to
at times simply tread water, at times simply stay afloat,
and at times do even better because they're good enough.

(01:29:22):
Maybe by the end of the season we say they're
just good enough to finish with eighty three or eighty
four wins or eighty five wins and barely missed the postseason,
and that's not good enough. But I do feel like
what we have been waiting for all season long, after
five months, if what you've been waiting for doesn't come,
I'm led to believe it's never gonna come. The collapse

(01:29:43):
isn't gonna come. Maybe they simply don't play well enough,
maybe the Mets or somebody else is simply better. But
the absolute just you know, avalanche of crap, the meltdown,
the spiraling out of control that it feels like we
I've been waiting to jump out of the corner or
come out of the closet. I don't think it's coming.

(01:30:05):
Maybe I'm wrong. It's happened many times. I was asked today, like,
are they gonna do this? Are they gonna make the postseason?
I've got money on it. I bought it at plus
two forty five. I think there's pretty good value there.
My money's on the starting pitching. I'm betting with my heart, admittedly,
but I do think I feel comfortable saying this, And again,

(01:30:26):
if I'm wrong, who cares the collapse that I feel
like we have been waiting for all season long? Taran,
you can mark this table, play it on Monday if
they get swept in Arizona. The collapse that we have
been waiting for all season long, As frustrating as they
could be, as much as I don't think they have
their roster as well constructed as it needs to be,

(01:30:47):
As much as I would have Sal Stewart in Arizona tonight.
We've been wait admitted. Man, if you follow this team,
you have been waiting for it all season long. You
have been waiting for something to happen that would signal
the end, for all intents and purposes, the end of
the season. It hasn't come yet. After five months, I

(01:31:11):
assume it's not gonna FC Cincinnati plays tomorrow. Sasha Christian
joins US.

Speaker 4 (01:31:15):
Next Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 2 (01:31:25):
Traffic from the UC Health Traffic Center.

Speaker 5 (01:31:28):
an organ donor, or explore living donation at UCHealth dot com.
Slash transplant eastbound two seventy five. The left lane is
blocked off from an accident between the combsail Bridge and
Kellogg Avenue. Twenty five minute to lay back from three

(01:31:50):
mile in northbound seventy one after Montgomery accident on the
right shoulder. I'm at ezelic with tracks.

Speaker 2 (01:31:57):
Cincinnati is going to be at home a lot down
the stretch. Five of their next seven, including tomorrow night's
battle against New York City, which you could watch on
MLS Season Pass on Apple TV. Part of that coverage
of the game and the league is a Sasha Christian
who was kind enough, the great Sasha Clission joins us

(01:32:18):
right now. It's awesome to have you, Sasha. How are you.

Speaker 3 (01:32:21):
I'm doing great.

Speaker 9 (01:32:22):
How are you guys doing?

Speaker 2 (01:32:23):
I'm well. You went on record on Sunday saying that
FC Cincinnati will win the Supporters Shield after what they've
done during the transfer period. Do you feel the same.

Speaker 8 (01:32:33):
Now more than ever? I feel very confident in my pick,
and let's be honest, I made them a Supporter Shield
pick about three months ago, and I'm staying on the bandwagon.
I think FC Cincinnati did a great job in the
transfer window, especially yesterday right before the end of the
transfer window, to upgrade their squad already the favorites. I
think now more than ever, they should win the Supporter

(01:32:53):
Shield this season.

Speaker 2 (01:32:54):
I did not have early in the week getting Brenner
back on my BINGO card.

Speaker 9 (01:33:00):
Neither did I.

Speaker 8 (01:33:01):
Man, that was a crazy one out of left field,
but I think it was an awesome signing. It's a
player who already knows the league, who already knows the city,
the team, knows that he knows how to get goals
in Major League soccer. To play alongside Dank and Evander,
I think.

Speaker 2 (01:33:16):
It's a home run. I think what's good about it?

Speaker 5 (01:33:19):
You know?

Speaker 2 (01:33:19):
And they went to Portland picked up three points there
of vanders homecoming, emotional scene, very business like performance. They
have played unevenly and I don't want to say stale,
but it has kind of felt like Dayki use a jolt.
I cannot imagine that what they've done these last couple
of days doesn't provide that for this team.

Speaker 8 (01:33:39):
I agree with you, I think and both of the
things that you've said that I do think the new
players will provide a jolt. And I do think that
Cincinnati hasn't been at their best really almost at any
point in the season. I still think there's another gear
for them to hit. I really believe in this team.
I don't think they've been as good defensively as they
were the last couple of years, but they still have

(01:34:01):
some of the best defenders in the league. So they've
got to pull it all together. And I don't think
we've ever seen the best of Evander and Dank together.
But now you throw Brenner into that mix. I do
think that this team is poised for a run in
the regular season and the postseason.

Speaker 2 (01:34:18):
Is does this year. And you know, I've talked about
this with a lot of your hosts and analysts at
Apple TV. You know, if you go back to before
the season started, which feels like forever ago, and you know,
they trade away an MVP, there's a lot of uncertainty
regarding players not coming to training and just felt like
a lot of moving parts and this team relative to

(01:34:41):
I think what a lot of us thought that they
were going to do. They hit the ground running, They've
been in the supporter shield race most of the season.
When they've hit a rough patch, they've rebounded nicely. Pat
Newonan's done an awesome job here. Does this season represent
his best coaching job?

Speaker 8 (01:34:56):
Before you mentioned his name and you said all the
things that have happened this year, I was thinking Pat
Noon has done an incredible job of managing the group.
And now we know that he is different than some
coaches in Major League Soccer, that he knows how to
manage a group more than to be some crazy tactical genius,
you know.

Speaker 9 (01:35:14):
So like even when we.

Speaker 8 (01:35:15):
Talk about hell is real, we talk about the manager
that Pat Noonon is, and then we talk about the
tactical coach that Wilfred Nanci is in Columbus. I don't
think that Pat is by any means tactical genius. But
I also think that he's been very malleable. He's been
able to adjust, He's been able to switch some players

(01:35:38):
around into different positions and get the best out of
some young guys and get them some experience.

Speaker 9 (01:35:43):
I think he's doing a phenomenal job.

Speaker 2 (01:35:45):
We don't get many guests who use the word malleable,
So congratulations on that.

Speaker 8 (01:35:51):
That was my word of the day.

Speaker 2 (01:35:52):
Well done, Yeah, well done. So they're in the supporter
Shield hunt, obviously behind San Diego on gold total. They
lead philadel Well if you buy a point in the
east massive game between those two. Next week. New York
City is scratching and clawing for a playoff spot, So
we should see a desperate team tomorrow night. What's dangerous
about them.

Speaker 8 (01:36:13):
Dangerous about them is Alonso Martinez, their striker, who's starting
to round into form. I think he hasn't been as
good this season as he was last season, but in
the last month or so, after the Gold Cup with
Costa Rica. He's starting to round into form again. You know,
he got the game winner last week. He scored a
few goals the week before that, So he's dangerous. He

(01:36:34):
never stops running, he never stopped buzzing around. And the
team is pretty solid. They've just been inconsistent. And if
we think back to the playoffs and last season, they
had that shock that knocks Cincinnati out of the playoffs.
And so when I look at this game specifically, with
the way the table looks, the standings, with Cincinnati having
five of their last seven at home, this is really

(01:36:56):
a must win game to take care of business, get
a little bit of revenge, and stay atop the leader
board of the Eastern Conference.

Speaker 2 (01:37:02):
It should be a lot of fun. FC Cincinnati home
for five of their last seven, not looking ahead in
all likelihood, given how well Pat Noonon keeps his team focused.
Hosting New York City FC tomorrow. That game starts at
seven thirty. You can watch it on MLS Season Pass
on Apple TV Slash. I appreciate the time, man, Thanks
so much.

Speaker 9 (01:37:21):
Yeah, we'll be watching.

Speaker 6 (01:37:23):
It'll be good. Thanks for having me.

Speaker 2 (01:37:24):
You got it. Thanks so much. FC Cincinnati and New
York City. Of course, you could also listen to it
on ESPN fifteen thirty tarn how are we right now?
On time?

Speaker 6 (01:37:36):
We got about four minutes?

Speaker 2 (01:37:37):
Do we get to Tony four minutes before we get
to Tony? That means we can give two minutes to
both people we have waiting on holders. That what you're saying,
that's correct, all right, mister Ace, you can have two minutes.
How are you?

Speaker 10 (01:37:49):
I'm good mo for that. I would just take ninety seconds, okay.
I am definitely sad that we did not have our
buddy show up in the stay sheet last week, and
I kind of mourned from Tuesday until today when I
call in to hype up PJ Jewles. At least hopefully

(01:38:10):
he'll make the team. But he did not make any stats.
I don't know if he even played wellhadowed.

Speaker 2 (01:38:18):
He was overshadowed. And then you know you felt bad
for PJ. But Tyson Anderson had a nice game.

Speaker 10 (01:38:24):
Oh yeah, Tyson didn't play. Tyson did play. I think
mister Tyson definitely brought a few things from Sparky Anderson
as well as from Mike Tyson along the way to
help motivate him. And I think he watched that for
his motivational speech, and I think he may even played
around him Mike Tyson punch out, just to help him

(01:38:44):
get into the whole game. Oh but if we could
only stop people on defense mode, if we could stop
people on defense from running the ball overs to play
with the backup quarterback, and of course QB one for
the commanders made against this were ridiculous. I think it

(01:39:04):
was the third quarter of their backup quarterback. The Bengals
had them down like maybe inside of their own ten
yard line, and then like the guy bruns for about
fifteen yards plus, you get the first down on the squambe.
I'm like, what you guys doing out there? You guys
look like you're playing like a video game. They murdy,
But let me shut up. I think my ninety seconds
is up, Low, but poda PJ Jules hit me up, man,

(01:39:29):
I'll do a podcast where you man, even if it
just has to be from outside the county line, just
so we could get more sassing on it and have
Low come on as a special guest.

Speaker 2 (01:39:40):
I will always join the misteries. Thanks so much. All right,
Bob and Bowling Green, go ahead, you got you got
two minutes, Bob, what's up.

Speaker 3 (01:39:47):
Hey, bo going good man. Hey, your point earlier about
the Bengals I thought was excellent. Yeah, they've turned the
corner in terms of being a good football team and things.
But it seems like every chance they get to do
a simple thing, they just they blow it. And you

(01:40:09):
know the amount of money he has to spend, they
get Bloomer and his wife or whomever a couple of
days for a room. Yeah, my god. I mean it's
just ridiculous.

Speaker 2 (01:40:21):
And I would have to imagine that around the league,
other teams who do something similar would say to their
equivalent of Boomerasias and hey, we want you to hear
all expenses paid. I mean, you know, at least the travel,
at least the accommodations, and you know Boomer is going
to pay for his own meals. I guess, but I
I don't know, man. I it just it sort of

(01:40:44):
hits at the heart of what a lot of people
criticize the Bengals for.

Speaker 3 (01:40:48):
Yeah. Yeah, hey, well let me ask you you see
question real quick? Yes I could. What do you know
about the Digital James situation?

Speaker 1 (01:40:58):
Uh?

Speaker 2 (01:40:59):
I I know what I've heard. Much of what I've heard.
I don't feel comfortable talking about publicly because a lot
of it hasn't been confirmed. Much of it has to
do with his well being, and so I'm not comfortable
talking about that. I do. I do feel comfortable in

(01:41:21):
saying that. I feel like Jigsel has maybe justifiably so,
although I don't think so. I think he's alienated a
lot of people. I think he's alienated a lot of
his teammates. I think the relationship between Jigsel and the
people in the program became untenable. I hope he gets
if he needs help, and I'm led to believe he does.
I hope he gets it. I certainly hope he ends up,

(01:41:43):
you know, finding what he wants in life and being
a productive member of society. But based on what I've
heard and based on who I've talked to, I could
understand why the people who run the program felt it
was best if he were to move on.

Speaker 3 (01:42:00):
You know, with a guy like him, you're never gonna
say that the team is better without him.

Speaker 10 (01:42:05):
But I know with the young guard they.

Speaker 3 (01:42:08):
Signed and different things like that, it's it's kind of
hard a little bit, I think, But all in all,
if it's better for him, I think it's better for
the school as well.

Speaker 2 (01:42:19):
Yeah, I mean I feel like Bob, thank you very much.
I feel like, first of all, that Dayda Thomas and
Jizsel James last year became at times not all the time,
became at times indistinguishable. I felt like Jizsel last year.
You know, people could said, well, the analytics crowd doesn't
love him, and there's something to that. Watching him, I
didn't love him pound dribbles, pound dribbles for twenty seconds

(01:42:40):
and not make a move to the basket. He very
infrequently got to the free throw line. He wasn't an
awesome shooter. He didn't make a lot of plays. I've
heard nothing but good things about Keishaan Tillery. I've heard
nothing but good things and have watched Sincere Harris play
a lot of college basketball to know he's terrific defensively.
They still have Dayda A. Thomas. The program would be

(01:43:00):
better with a player of Jigsel James caliber. That said,
I think if I would have said at the end
of his first season, Jizzle's no longer the part of
the program, that would have created panic. I think relative
to how he played his second season. Saying that Jizzle
is no longer a part of the program doesn't necessarily
create panic. Part of that might be a reflection of

(01:43:21):
who they have. I think a lot of that is
a reflection of how Gigsel played last year. Tony Pike is.

Speaker 4 (01:43:25):
Next Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty. Traffic from the UC Health
Traffic Center.

Speaker 5 (01:43:33):
an organ donor, or explore living donation at UCHealth dot com.
Slash transplant East found two seventy five between the combsail
Bridge and Kellogg's. Still got the left lane blocked off
from an accident. About a twenty minute to lay back

(01:43:55):
from three mile westbound seventy four. It's an accident on
the right shoulder, but between Rifle and the Coleraine Split.
I'm at EAZELK with traffic.

Speaker 1 (01:44:04):
This report is he USPN fifteen thirty with the latest
from Bengals training camp, brought to you by Skyline. Julie
feeling good. It's Skyline time on your official home of
the Cincinnati Bengals, ESPN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 2 (01:44:22):
Bengals play the Colts tomorrow at one on ESPN fifteen thirty.
So it's the preseason finale Eve edition of Tony Pike's
training camp reports. I'm going to try to be positive here, okay,
because we've talked a lot about the defense and in shortcomings,
and we've talked a lot about the offensive line and
all the questions that surrounded over the course of the

(01:44:46):
last few weeks. What good things have happened?

Speaker 9 (01:44:51):
Well, I think the first and foremost that I go
to most Dylan Fairchild. You know, we barely talked about him.

Speaker 6 (01:44:56):
That's a good thing.

Speaker 9 (01:44:57):
We thought he passed his his test against Philadelphia well,
and then he went against some ones for Washington and
I thought he was fantastic up front.

Speaker 10 (01:45:06):
I believe he's got an eighty.

Speaker 9 (01:45:07):
Seven grade for PFF through the preseason. Dylan Fairchild has
been everything they drafted and hoped that he would out
of the third round. Now they still need some help
around him, but I think Dylan Fairchild up front has
been awesome. I think TODs Brooks, you know, the camp
started and we kind of talked about Todz Brooks, what
would the role be. I think there's a legitimate chance
he could be running back two to start the year. Now,

(01:45:30):
I don't think it's going to be a much of
a split. I think when Chase Brown needs a rest,
he'll get one and then he's back in there. But
I think TODs Brooks has had himself a really good camp.
And you could go on and on about the wide
receiver depth on this team. If we're talking about Mitchell Tinsley,
we're talking about Charlie Jones and what they've been able
to accomplish. And let's not forget it. At the root

(01:45:50):
of all this, though, that Joe Burrow was able to
finish a camp and he's healthy for the first time
in his career. You know, Joe Burrow is healthy and
he's finished. It's a camp that way, and he's had
a very good camp by all accounts.

Speaker 2 (01:46:03):
I'll throw in a couple of things. Number One, Evan
McPherson has kicked the ball well. Made a fifty four
yarder against Washington. Not insignificant. Doesn't guarantee that he's going
to be perfect or as good as he needs to be,
but not insignificant. I sort of feel like we went
from talking every day about Shamar Stewart in his contract
to talking every day about Shamar Stewart and the impact

(01:46:24):
that he was having, and that's kind of slowed down.
I don't think you could lose sight of the fact
that Shamar Stewart looks like a guy who could play
at this level. I'll also throw in like Demetrius Knight,
I know, dealing with a little bit of an injury
right now. Demetrius Knight has for the most part, had
good camp practices. Didn't love what I saw from him
against Washington. There's some growing Barrett Carter noise though, Tony,

(01:46:44):
which I don't think is a bad thing.

Speaker 9 (01:46:47):
The play he made against Washington when he showed Cover
two with Tampa where he's got the middle of the
field and was able to plan his foot in the ground,
come up and intercept the pass from Sam Hartman. I
don't care which group it was going. Again, that was
an impressive play from Derek Carter orn Burks. I think
it's at a good camp as well. Yeah, you mentioned
most Samar Stewart. I think it's funny because there was

(01:47:09):
so much made about what's he gonna be when he
shows up and how's he gonna be able to contribute
this year. It's almost like we have already banked that
we're gonna get enough from him because of how good
he's been throughout training camp. You will find people that
think that that he's been the best player on the
defense for training camp, and I'm right up there as well.
He's been that good that it's almost like we feel

(01:47:29):
like we don't have to bring him up because we
feel good about where he's at on the defensive line.

Speaker 2 (01:47:34):
All right, that's Tony Pike. He is joining us every
afternoon three forty five, four forty five, and five forty
five since he three to sixty is Austin flying solo
Monday at noon, So Tony is back hosting that show
on Tuesday at noon. We are back Monday at three
oh five. We'll talk Bengals, Colts, Red's Diamondbacks, start to

(01:47:55):
look ahead to UC Nebraska, and so much more. Thanks
to Tarren Bland for producing, and thanks to you for listening.
Have an awesome weekend. This has been the michelob Ultra
five o'clock Happy Hour on ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports
Station at the Thompson Home, The Sleep

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