9-10-26 - The Mo Egger Radio Show Hour 3

9-10-26 - The Mo Egger Radio Show Hour 3

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
ESPN 1530, Cincinnati Sports Station.

Speaker 2 (00:04):
Damn straight, what's up? Good afternoon, I'm Mo Eggers. This
is ESPN 1530. Thank you for listening today. Hope you're
having like the greatest Thursday afternoon ever. It has been
wet and cloudy and I miss the sun already. I'm
ready for football. We're all ready for football, ready for
pro football. Wouldn't kill me if we had a few

(00:28):
more weeks of summer. But talking about the weather is
stupid because you can't do anything about it. Jay Morrison
is going to be on this show in about 10 minutes,
15 minutes. We are looking forward to that. We also
Tony Husband from Apple TV on reeling. FC Cincinnati. They
are a mess right now. There is also a very
cool volleyball event happening this weekend in the tri-state and

(00:51):
it benefits the Joe Burrow Foundation. We'll have what you
need to know about that coming up in about 30
minutes and in just a few. We've got one poll
question out there already on Twitter, at Mo Egger. We
have to get to a second, and I'll throw it
out here in just a few minutes. Last couple of
years on Thursdays, we've been joined on a weekly basis

(01:14):
by our friend Robert Weintraub of Cincinnati Magazine, who writes
not just a weekly Bengals column, but sometimes writes Bengals
features like the one he has on Dexter Lawrence, which
is Uh, fantastic. You can read it at Cincinnati magazine.com
and Robert is with us now. And, uh, he shares
our optimism and enthusiasm and excitement. So it's great to

(01:35):
have him here. How are we doing, sir?

Speaker 3 (01:37):
I just, uh, all I ask for this season, Mo,
as we embark on yet another weekly adventure is that, uh,
you refer to me as sexy Robbie Weintraub for this season.

Speaker 2 (01:48):
How much money, how much money you got?

Speaker 3 (01:51):
Not nearly enough in this case.

Speaker 4 (01:53):
It's made for radio, and it's.

Speaker 3 (01:55):
Perfect that we're doing it in an audio medium. We'll
proceed as such.

Speaker 2 (01:59):
Rob the heartthrob. I mean, you know, we either need
alliteration or something to rhyme.

Speaker 4 (02:05):
Very well done.

Speaker 3 (02:05):
I'll pass that along to my significant other.

Speaker 2 (02:08):
The Dexter Lawrence piece is terrific, and I encourage folks
listening to go check that out at CincinnatiMagazine.com. I think
there's two different Dexter Lawrence effects. One we'll see starting
on Sunday as it relates to what his impact is
going to be on this defense from an X's and
O's perspective. But his impact on this team from an

(02:30):
emotional standpoint, a mental standpoint, what he's done for the
fan base, the dude hasn't played a meaningful snap yet,
and I feel like he's been here for years.

Speaker 3 (02:38):
It's really amazing, isn't it? And you refer to the piece.
Thank you so much. And that's sort of what I
was trying to uncover when I spent some time with
him over the summer.

Speaker 5 (02:47):
Uh, just his background.

Speaker 3 (02:48):
I met up with Dexter in his hometown, Wake Forest,
North Carolina. And, you know, he had a little football
camp there going in, but mainly it was just, just
to see him in his natural element. And, uh, you know,
all his friends and family were there and everybody was
really positive. And I can't begin to tell you how,
you know, how overjoyed everybody was that he was getting

(03:09):
out of New York and going to play with what
they would term a real quarterback in Cincinnati. And he
was so devoted to it just from day one. I mean,
I think we know, you know, he came there to
sign his contract and he basically didn't leave for weeks
after that. And he's bringing that same sort of You know,
what I saw in him over the summer, which was

(03:30):
not just a really humble, approachable, friendly guy, but somebody
who's really looking forward to, I think, the second act
of his career, who wants to show people that, you know,
as great a person and player that he's been in
New York, you know, the team's there. I think his
overall record was something like 36 and.

Speaker 5 (03:46):
80 at one time.

Speaker 3 (03:48):
I mean, it's a team game, but he wants to
show that he's still got it, you know, and I
think As we've seen all summer, as you mentioned, he
hasn't played a meaningful snap yet. We'll see how it
really shakes out come the actual games. But he's just
had a salutary effect on everybody on both sides of
the ball. He's made the offense sharper because of the

(04:09):
incredible energy and destructive force that he brings as a player.
He's brought the locker room together. Everybody kind of wants
to not only be around him, but I just think
he's so huge that the natural orbit effect comes into play,
you know? And it's really going to be fascinating to
see just what an impact he has, not just in

(04:29):
terms of wins and losses, but just as a leader
on the team and as a player, everybody looks to
really set the standard along with Joe Burrow.

Speaker 2 (04:36):
Amid all the optimism, if there's one reason for hesitancy,
what is it?

Speaker 3 (04:42):
Well, you know, I guess we have to separate out
the fact that just as a Bengal fan, you're naturally pessimistic, right?
Especially guys like you and I have seen a lot
of things. It's like we've been in battle together. We
don't want to talk about the PTSD. But leaving that aside,
certainly anything can happen. You know, I think the Bengals...

(05:03):
If there's one thing I take away from the last
three years is that they're a little overdue for some
good luck, finally. I mean, you know, we've seen a
lot of bad tackling and bad play and bad things happen,
but a lot of bad luck, too, over the last
few years. And I think they're due for some good stuff. Now,
certainly there's some hesitation, some skepticism about various aspects of
the roster. And you look at the linebackers, are they

(05:24):
really going to both in their second year, Barry Carter
and Demetrius Knight, become good players or take a step forward?
Is their depth really cornerback and the offensive line really
not going to come into play at some point this season?
We saw the first game last night and already you've
got a quarterback and a great wide receiver go down

(05:46):
for varying lengths of time. It's inevitable it's going to happen.
Hopefully not to Joe Burrow, but you're going to wind
up testing your reserves. No question about it. Can the Bengals'
reserves stand up to it? I think overall, my main
thing is, as you mentioned a little bit earlier, the
intangibles this offseason have been so good for once, and

(06:07):
the vibes have been so high. And the schedule overall
plays out and looks to be very easy at FTN Almanac.
We mentioned it was the easiest, perhaps, in the league,
but that's on paper.

Speaker 6 (06:22):
And it's front-loaded.

Speaker 3 (06:23):
And what happens to the Bengals if they trip up,
as they want to do? We've sort of put that
talking point on the back burner after they won a
couple of September games last year, finally. But they have
Houston and Pittsburgh and Tampa won't be easy.

Speaker 6 (06:37):
And the Ravens looming right.

Speaker 3 (06:38):
After an early bye. What happens if they go 2-4?
And are the veterans that they added strong enough to
offset what could be You know, a shake in the
foundation of those great vibes. I guess that's where I'm
most leery about heading into the season. And we'll just
have to see how it plays out. But, you know,
it's obviously better than in years past when they've, you know,

(06:59):
been coming into seasons with all kinds of bad vibes.
And you're just shaking your head wondering, yeah, we're going
to spend the fall. And it turned out to be
the case.

Speaker 2 (07:09):
Robert Weintraub is with us. Mentioned FTN Fantasy, their annual almanac.
If you haven't gotten it yet, Robert wrote the Bengals
chapter on top of some other things. So get that
as well. Read his weekly Bengals column and his Dexter
Lawrence feature at CincinnatiMagazine.com. You look at things through an
advanced analytics lens. And so the whole Joe Burrow going

(07:31):
under center thing, we get it. They want to be
more explosive. They want more play action. They want to
run the ball more effectively. Um, from your perspective, is
this going to work? And if it doesn't at the beginning,
are they really going to commit to it?

Speaker 3 (07:46):
Yeah, that's really the $ 64, 000.

Speaker 4 (07:47):
Question, isn't it?

Speaker 3 (07:48):
I mean, whether it's going to work is hard to say.
It's been such a small sample size. It hasn't worked
at all. But they haven't really tried it enough to
really make any determination one way or the other. Joe
Burrow is who he is because of how he plays
out of the shotgun. And the real question going forward

(08:09):
is they spent the whole summer working on it. What's
going to happen, as I mentioned, you know, what happens
if they get off to a slow start? A lot
of that could result or stem from the fact that
the office doesn't play that great. And the under center
is a little clunky early. And they're going to be
relying on players who are either young and haven't done
it before or veterans who are, you know, kind of

(08:30):
prized for their pass blocking and not necessarily their play action.
Excuse me, under center, you know, kind of way that
their scheme is going to play out.

Speaker 1 (08:40):
We'll see.

Speaker 3 (08:41):
And it's really easy to envision a scenario where they
don't really love what they're seeing and just kind of
default back into what's worked in the past. And, you know,
that isn't necessarily a bad thing because they've been so
good in the under burrow in, in shotgun formations, but
they spent so much time and there's been such talk about,

(09:02):
you know, getting more multiple, getting more explosive and trying
to finally get them play action into this offense, which
they'd never really had before. That in and of itself
would feel like a bit of a defeat if they
backtrack from it after a few games. And the only
way that playing under center really works is if you
fully commit to it, right? You can't just tiptoe into it.
You've got to kind of cannonball into the deep end

(09:23):
of the pool. And it's really going to be sort
of a major thing to watch this season, along with
how that newly built defense comes together, is do they
fully commit to this game? new style playing will they
go with a lot of multiple tight ends at once
will they really be under center for large sections of
of the game and if bad things start to happen

(09:45):
will they go away from it just go back to
their comfort zone be very interesting to watch.

Speaker 2 (09:49):
The the fun thing about the preseason was watching the
rookies watching you know players in this draft class make
make make a case to be on the teams certainly
for the guys picked later but you know show some
indication that they might be able to help can this
can this collection of rookies actually help this.

Speaker 3 (10:06):
Team Yeah, I mean, you know, they're definitely going to
have to, I think, at some point in terms of
just becoming a better depth than they've had in the past.
A lot of times kind of dip into the practice
squad and sign guys off the street when frontline players
go down. And hopefully that won't be the case. And

(10:27):
I think we've seen, at least in the preseason and
in training camp, a lot of these backend players like
a Landon Robinson or Jack and these might have some
things to offer. If they're called upon, you hope they
don't get up called about too much. I think, you know,
certainly not having, you know, like Dexter Lawrence is sort
of your number one pick, right? So that doesn't really
factor in. He's going to contribute. There's no doubt about that.

(10:49):
Cash is how I don't think there's any question. They're
going to use him as much possible. They're going to
try and find reasons to get him on the field.

Speaker 4 (10:55):
And certainly to.

Speaker 3 (10:56):
Kario Davis is going to play regardless of, you know,
what the health looks like in front of him, they're
going to have packages for him. The good news is
they're not going to rely on these guys quite as
much as they had. I mean, remember last year, they
started two rookies on opening day and a third Barry
Carter obviously came in and played quite a bit for
better or worse. You know, you never want to be
in that particular scenario. You want to have like, Hey,

(11:17):
these guys can add something in a limited role in
certain packages and things that we've designed to exploit what
they do best. And not just like they did last
year with Knight and Carter and to a certain extent, Fairchild.
Just throw them in there and it's like, okay, guys,
it's up to you now. Sink or swim. And that's
really the key element is how they contribute and how

(11:41):
little they're really asked to do outside of their comfort zone.
I think they're poised in this particular scenario.

Speaker 4 (11:46):
To do well.

Speaker 3 (11:47):
Of course, it's We haven't even played a game yet.
We'll see how that plays out. We'll see how the
front-line starters play in terms of keeping their health. That's
really the key element, as it is for every team.

Speaker 2 (11:59):
Looking forward to talking next week already. Thank you so much,
as always.

Speaker 4 (12:03):
Excellent. Thank you, Mo.

Speaker 3 (12:04):
And let's, let's do it for what? 20 plus weeks.

Speaker 2 (12:09):
We'll be talking about Rob, the heartthrob or whatever we
refer to, but around Valentine's day, it's going to be great.

Speaker 3 (12:14):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (12:14):
Right.

Speaker 3 (12:15):
And Valentine's day would be nice. And my birthday is
the week after I can think of no better birthday
present than to tell you to talk in Superbowl with you, Mo.
That's my dream.

Speaker 4 (12:22):
Terrific.

Speaker 2 (12:22):
Sign me up for that. Robert Weintraub, Cincinnati magazine.com. Read
his Dexter Lawrence feature. You will love it, Rob. Thank
you as always.

Speaker 4 (12:29):
Thank you, Mo. Take care.

Speaker 2 (12:30):
We also love our guy Jay Morrison. He'll join us next.

Speaker 7 (12:34):
Cincinnati's ESPN 1530.

Speaker 1 (12:36):
Traffic.

Speaker 2 (12:39):
From the UCHealth Traffic Center, UCHealth has been helping Cincinnati
thrive for 200 years and not stopping now. Find the
groundbreaking care you need at uchealth.com.

Speaker 7 (12:49):
This is Football in the Natty, brought to you in
part by Hostman Law and by Skyline Chili on ESPN 1530, the.

Speaker 2 (13:00):
Official home of the Cincinnati Bengals. 24 after 5, this
is ESPN 1530. Mo Egger, Jay Morrison. Always kind enough
to join us on Thursdays for years. BengalsTalk.com, also part
of the Growler podcast, which, by the way, their live
show tonight at 50 West Deerfield Township starts at 7 o'clock.

(13:21):
There's a game tonight. You can hang around and watch
49ers and Rams. You can win some club seats to
the Jacksonville game. And most importantly, you can meet Jay.
So go see him tonight. Hi, Jay.

Speaker 4 (13:33):
Hey, Mo, as soon as we hang up.

Speaker 1 (13:35):
Here, I'm driving up there, so I'll be there early
if anybody wants to have a beer and talk before
the show.

Speaker 2 (13:40):
There you go. Go have a beer with Jay. So, like,
there's been nothing but positive news, and then I look
at the injury report today, and there's DJ Turner. Should
I be worried?

Speaker 4 (13:52):
Um, yeah, I don't know.

Speaker 1 (13:54):
I would say probably usually a surprise limited on a
Thursday is not a good thing.

Speaker 4 (14:00):
It, you know, a guy could tweak.

Speaker 1 (14:02):
Something and miss a portion of practice in return. Um,
but that rarely happens if there's some sort of soft
tissue tweak in practice, they usually don't finish practice.

Speaker 4 (14:12):
Um, and, and hamstrings are so tricky.

Speaker 1 (14:14):
Anyhow, even if he felt a little grab, there's It
could not be serious, but you just don't know, and
there's no guarantee that they feel comfortable on Sunday. So
we'll find out more tomorrow when we talk to Zach,
but never a good thing when they show up on
a Thursday unexpected.

Speaker 2 (14:31):
Okay, then let's go down the road of him maybe
not playing. Takario Davis looks like he might be a dude,
but that's throwing him to the wolves. How do they
handle not having D.J. Turner if they don't have D.J. Turner?

Speaker 4 (14:45):
Yeah, I mean, it would be Takario. I.

Speaker 1 (14:48):
you know, for a while there, DJ Ivy was kind
of the star of training camp and, and, and, and
Takario or, you know, he goes by Bobo kind of
went past them and he was clearly the number three
at the end of camp and he looked really good.
It looked like at some point in camp, something clicked and, and,
You say, yeah, but it's practice, but you look at
the dudes that he's practicing against, and it's never good

(15:14):
if you're going to throw a rookie out there in
week one, but I don't think it would be a
guaranteed disaster, let's say that. I think he could hold
up pretty well. The thing is, last year they were
traveling DJ, and he wasn't just playing sides. He was
going with the best player, and now... is Dax Hill

(15:36):
the guy that you're traveling with their best player? Do
they deem it to be Abuka or is it Godwin?
It's going to put a pretty big stress on Al
Golden on how he wants to handle that, but I
do think most of the reps would fall to Takario.

Speaker 2 (15:51):
What do you expect to see from the two starting
linebackers on Sunday?

Speaker 4 (15:58):
Big growth.

Speaker 1 (15:59):
We kind of saw it incrementally last year at the
at the end of the season, you know, it's funny.
There's so much talk about, you know, how bad they
were last year and how.

Speaker 4 (16:09):
They didn't do anything to add to that room.

Speaker 1 (16:11):
And then you get into camp and, you know, it
could be a good thing or a bad thing.

Speaker 4 (16:16):
You didn't really notice them. Like there weren't a ton
of splash plays, but there weren't the gaps that.

Speaker 1 (16:22):
We saw last year, you know, the missed assignments and
the false steps. And they really do seem like they've
come a long way. And you put, that kind of
D-line in front of them, just Dexter Lawrence alone, you
put them in front of them, it's going to help
them immensely. And they are guys that it means something
to them.

Speaker 4 (16:42):
I think they are really bugged.

Speaker 1 (16:44):
About how they played last year. And I expect to
see a big leap from those guys. Maybe again, maybe
not splash plays, but I think you're just going to
see solid performances in the run game and just a
totally different look for that defense overall.

Speaker 2 (17:00):
My standard is I don't want to go to Getty
Images the next day and see a bunch of pictures
of those guys laying on the ground as a guy
in another uniform carrying the ball runs away. If I
have none of those, successful season from those two.

Speaker 1 (17:14):
You know, a couple years ago, we call it the
Nick Vigil reach. Every picture that was on the wire
was Nick Vigil just reaching haplessly for a player that
was running away from him.

Speaker 2 (17:24):
Optimism is everywhere. If there's one reason for hesitancy, what
is it?

Speaker 1 (17:31):
I mean, I would say the emotional angle where if
there's one reason to kind of temper excitement and optimism,
it's the past. And Bengals fans, Cincinnati sports fans in
general are so scarred. They just, they're always looking around
the corner for something to happen and to ruin it all.

(17:53):
And it's just, it's like when a team is lost
to another team five straight times and you It just
seems like it's going to happen when in reality, it
doesn't matter. Those what happened last year doesn't have any
effect on what's about to happen. And I just think
that's the way bingo fans, you need to enjoy this
and you can't, You can't have that pessimism, although I

(18:15):
expressed some pessimism on the podcast yesterday, but just enjoy
how good everything's been and enjoy the excitement and just
look forward to what this season can be. I don't
see anything on paper. It's one of the reasons I
picked him on the podcast yesterday to win the Super Bowl.
It's way out of my comfort zone to make that
kind of declaration, but everything feels lined up. With Joe Burrow,

(18:40):
keep him healthy. get in the playoffs. If they're a
seven seed, you feel good about them in the playoffs.
I really think they can be a one or a
two seed, get in the playoffs and make this a
special year.

Speaker 2 (18:49):
I hope so.

Speaker 4 (18:50):
All right.

Speaker 2 (18:50):
So go see Jay tonight, 50 West Deerfield Township. Did
you say you're buying people beers or go tell people
to go have one with you?

Speaker 1 (18:59):
The podcast will buy people beers, which means it's coming
out of Paul's pocket.

Speaker 2 (19:02):
Perfect. Now that's something we can agree on. Have fun tonight, Jay.
Thank you as always.

Speaker 4 (19:08):
Okay, thanks, bro.

Speaker 2 (19:09):
Jay, a part of the Growler podcast and also BengalsTalk.com. 5.30,
sports headlines and a very cool event. If you want
to help out the Joe Burrow Foundation and high school
sports are the best. Unique high school sports event is
coming up on Saturday night. We'll learn all about it next.

Speaker 7 (19:30):
You've been listening to Football in the Natty on ESPN 1530,
the official home of the Cincinnati Bengals.

Speaker 8 (19:40):
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the stadium in Covington. Video walls bring your favorite team
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Speaker 2 (19:54):
Smoke Justice at Roebling Point in Covington.

Speaker 7 (19:57):
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Speaker 9 (20:05):
Forget sunday morning nine o'clock holy grail ken brew tony
pike and me getting you set for bengals box kickoff
at one on espn 1530 this is a really really
cool event happening at fenwick high school they call it
Volley under the lights.

Speaker 2 (20:24):
Second year they've done this. They play a volleyball game
this time against Mason high school on the football field.
They're putting down a volleyball court on the football field
and it's a huge community event and everything benefits the
Joe Burrow foundation. It's Saturday night. The head volleyball coach,
the varsity volleyball coach at Fenwick high school is Tyler Conley. Tyler,

(20:45):
this is awesome. Tell me how this came about.

Speaker 3 (20:48):
Yeah.

Speaker 6 (20:48):
Thanks for having me on Mo.

Speaker 9 (20:51):
So this is, Nebraska did an outdoor event at their stadium. Had,
I think, over 90,000 people. And my assistant coach came
to me in 2024, about two weeks before the season,
and said, hey, we should really try and do this
this year. And I'm like, man, you're crazy. We can't
get an event like this together in two weeks. And late,

(21:12):
early 2025, we got the go-ahead to give it a go.
And we started looking at courts. We ended up purchasing
our court. with the intent of doing it every single year.
And then we didn't quite know how it was going
to go. And we hosted Lakota East last year, had
almost 2,500 people there. The tailgating was amazing. The volleyball

(21:33):
was really, really cool.

Speaker 6 (21:33):
It was just a neat event at our community.

Speaker 9 (21:38):
So, you know, fast forwarding to this year, we thought,
how can we make it bigger? We proved the concept
in year one. And one of our big things at
Fenwick is service. And so naturally, you're like, what can
we attach ourselves to? And there's no bigger name in
the city of Cincinnati than Joe Burrow. And so we
got hooked up with the Joe Burrow Foundation through a

(21:59):
contact in our school. And we've run with that, I think,
since about January.

Speaker 2 (22:05):
It's pretty awesome. I have some logistical questions. Are you ready?

Speaker 1 (22:10):
I am.

Speaker 2 (22:10):
So you're playing volleyball under the lights. To hit a volleyball,
you've got to look up. So how do you practice
and prepare for having lights?

Speaker 6 (22:18):
Yeah, that is tough.

Speaker 9 (22:19):
But, you know, you think about it in a gym.
We're going to have the lighting issues there, too. I
think of it more of where, you know, in the
NCAA basketball Final Four, you've got that, like, infinite background
in the arenas.

Speaker 6 (22:32):
That's where it's going to be tough. It's tougher to
serve and pass.

Speaker 9 (22:36):
We probably have more issues with a little bit of
wind than we do with the lights. The ball moves
kind of funny where it's moving late on you and
you'll see some girls swing and miss. And that's not
a typical thing. But, yeah, in terms of that, it's
not too different. The girls are really locked in and
they're focused. I guess it can happen there, but but

(22:57):
not too bad.

Speaker 6 (22:58):
All right.

Speaker 2 (22:58):
Well, you answered my question about the lights and the wind.
So we're good there. Here's like, this is what I
think is interesting. Volleyball is growing in popularity. A couple
of years ago, I never thought I'd be at an
establishment and the final four is on network television and
everybody's watching it. It's gotta be a really cool time
to be involved in the sport at the, at the
prep level.

Speaker 6 (23:21):
It is. It's, it's really awesome.

Speaker 9 (23:23):
Um, to, to turn on Fox on, I think, what
was it, Sunday night, and watched two games at Wrigley Field.

Speaker 2 (23:29):
It's on Fox.

Speaker 6 (23:31):
This is nationally televised. Unbelievable. So cool.

Speaker 9 (23:35):
And I remember a few years ago going to the
American Volleyball Coaches Association convention. And they're like, hey, if
we get enough viewers on this night, they're going to
move us from ESPN2 to ESPN. And now it's on
network television, nationally televised, and it's just so cool.

Speaker 2 (23:52):
Yeah, and the players are getting paid a lot of
money in some cases as well. So a volleyball court
on a football field, when you reach out to other
programs at the beginning of this, when you started this
last year, were coaches like, what are you talking about?
Were they skeptical? What was their reaction?

Speaker 9 (24:09):
They were definitely hesitant last year, and it actually took...
just me having a relationship with the Lakota East coach
and saying, come on, man, we will pull this off.

Speaker 6 (24:17):
We can do it. And, and we had a line
this year.

Speaker 9 (24:20):
People saw what we pulled off and Hey, we would
love to be a part of it. We're already getting
inquiries for, for next year. Like we we'd love to
be your, your opponent for the outdoor game.

Speaker 1 (24:31):
So.

Speaker 9 (24:32):
Yeah, there was definitely some convincing. There was some convincing
on our part because safety is a priority for us.
So we, you know, we tested out a few different products.
We tested out how we wanted to lay it on
the field. And ultimately we came up to, we're just
going to throw this underlayment down. It's a rubber underlayment,
put the, put the floor on top of it and it's,
it's solid, it's sturdy and it works great.

Speaker 2 (24:53):
All right, volley under the lights, Saturday night, Fenwick versus Mason,
volleyball on a football field with a volleyball court down.
It supports the Joe Burrow Foundation. Do folks just show up?
Do they buy tickets? How does this work?

Speaker 9 (25:10):
Yeah, either way, we're going to be tailgating there probably
about 3 o'clock all the way through the night. So
you can purchase tickets at the gate, or you can
purchase tickets at fenwickathletics.org. I said this to Lance last night,
even if you're not a volleyball fan, even if you're
not planning on attending, we'd love to have the donation

(25:31):
because every dollar spent on tickets goes directly to the
Joe Burrow Foundation.

Speaker 6 (25:35):
So even if you're not planning on being in.

Speaker 9 (25:37):
Attendance, head over to FenwickAthletics.org and purchase some tickets and
benefit the Joe Burrell Foundation.

Speaker 2 (25:44):
FenwickAthletics.org, Saturday night, Fenwick versus Mason, volley under the lights,
outdoor volleyball. Should be awesome. Congratulations on another year of
doing this, Tyler. Thanks so much.

Speaker 6 (25:57):
Thank you.

Speaker 2 (25:59):
Varsity volleyball coach at Fenwick high school. It's a great event.
And again, everything benefits the Joe Burrow foundation and who
could say no to the Joe Burrow foundation. So say
yes to Fenwick versus Mason high school on the football
field with the volleyball court lined up on Saturday. Meanwhile,

(26:21):
FC Cincinnati is getting set for a game on Saturday,
obviously short turnaround after what happened last night, the orange
and blue team, Needless to say, reeling. The FC Cincinnati
will take on Charlotte on Saturday at 7.30. The soccer
venue on the west end of Cincinnati licking its wounds
and dealing with a lot of issues that.

(26:43):
You know, Pat Noonan referred to there being bigger issues
in play there. The Matt Miazga situation is hovering over
all of this and all of this in the middle
of a stretch of time where we're used to FC
Cincinnati making a push for the top of the table
in the Eastern Conference. Apple TV's Tony Husband, kind enough
to join us. Tony, is this team broken?

Speaker 5 (27:03):
Well, I think we might find out, you know, Mo,
in the next couple of games, maybe as soon as
this weekend. This is definitely a junction in the season.
And it's a moment from which you either move forward
or you crash out. And I think everybody knows that.
It's a big moment. It's an unusual moment considering how
successful FC Cincinnati have been over the last couple of years. Um,

(27:26):
but certainly right now, this is, this is, uh, a
real decision, pivotal kind of time, uh, in this season's
destiny for them. You feel, uh, you don't want to
get too hyperbolic about it because ultimately there's still quite
a few games to go. And if you get into
the playoffs, anything can happen, but you know, you, you
get a feeling and a vibe about these things and

(27:47):
they need to correct this pretty quickly.

Speaker 2 (27:49):
I think what's weird about where they are and how
they've played and how the season has unfolded is it
has felt very un-Pat Noonan-y, right? Like, I'm used to cohesion.
I'm used to them having answers for whatever comes their way.
And by the way, they're not having an awful season,
but maybe not to the standard... that we expect. Is
that kind of a fair way of looking at it?

(28:11):
And should I assume that, you know what, Pat Noonan
has fixed stuff on the fly before, Chris Albright has
fixed some stuff on the fly before, and they will
get this figured out at least enough for this team
to stay in the playoff hunt.

Speaker 5 (28:22):
Yeah, I think that's a really good way of describing it.
I think, on the one hand, the fact that we're
sitting here now and I'm agreeing with you in a
sense that we're at a pivotal point of the season,
things could go either way. It's a kind of testament
to how well Pat Noonan and Chris Albright have done
with this club. We all know where Cincinnati were when

(28:43):
they came in and picked up the reins. So if
we compare this with.

Speaker 3 (28:48):
The early seasons.

Speaker 5 (28:49):
you know, this is.

Speaker 4 (28:51):
Still good times.

Speaker 5 (28:52):
But, of course, they've achieved so much in their time
at Cincinnati that now this is the first really difficult,
really tough bump in the road. And, you know, things
to figure out, a little bit of introspection going on,
I think, in the camp probably from all sides at
the moment as to how they get this figured out. And,

(29:12):
you know, this has been an un-Cincinnati-like year. I mean,
for two years in particular, we looked at Cincinnati as
the team that always got the job done. They would
win so many games by just that one goal because
they knew how to close matches out. They knew how
to get three points. This year, the floodgates have opened.
They conceded so many goals. Another five last night. I
admittedly down to 10 men for most of the game. But,

(29:35):
you know, this is not the Cincinnati we know of
recent times. And they're in comparison with those recent times,
it's a difficult, very, very difficult period.

Speaker 2 (29:46):
What do you make of what they've done during the
transfer window, including reportedly, apparently saying goodbye to Matt Miosga?

Speaker 5 (29:55):
Yeah, well, I mean, it clearly an era has come
to an end there one way or the other. You know,
I think hopefully we'll get some more clarity at some
stage and, you know, fairly soon as to exactly how
that will play out. But, you know, this inactivity in
the transfer market, unfortunately, is how it will probably be
remembered by by critics looking at it. I'm one person

(30:17):
who said you should never just bring footballers in for
the sake of it. You have to bring players in
who are going to improve what you've got. And no
one can underestimate, you know, I've seen this not just
at Cincinnati, but across the league in this last transfer window,
which has been pretty busy for major league soccer clubs.
And by the way, it's a taste of what's to
come when the schedule changes, because this is just the

(30:39):
start of this. But, you know, you can work very,
very hard on deals and they just don't happen. And
then you find yourself saying, well, you know, what are
the alternatives? And I've never been a great believer in
you just bring in bodies just for body's sake. You know,
you've got to bring in people who are going to
actively change the team and improve the team. So, you know,

(31:00):
they've struggled a little bit on that front this summer.
They have got a couple of new faces waiting for
obviously visa commitments and things to come through, you know,
but they'll need them sooner rather than later because obviously
some fresh faces and fresh voices can help. But, you know,
obviously at the moment it's all being overshadowed by COVID.
the potential departure of someone who's been a very big player.

Speaker 2 (31:21):
No question about that. It's Cincinnati versus Charlotte, and it
feels like FC Cincinnati's biggest opponent right now is itself,
but they are going to play another team on Saturday night.
What about Charlotte presents issues for Pat Noonan's team?

Speaker 4 (31:36):
Yeah, well, I mean.

Speaker 5 (31:38):
I think I could make a case for any team
right now giving Pat Noonan a headache. Because, you know,
when you look at Charlotte, you think very, very well-organized team.
They play a very, very good system that is structured,
that is shape-based, that is, again, difficult to break down.
I mean, to be fair, what we've always talked about

(32:00):
with Cincinnati in the last couple of years. But, you know,
they've got some explosive players there. And players who have
really found some form as well. They've brought in Alan St-Maximin,
who people may remember particularly from his time playing in
the English Premier League at Newcastle. He lit that up
for a while there. Leo Labarda, the Israeli winger, has
kind of had a second win this summer. It looked

(32:21):
like he might move on. He stayed and he found
his form. And then they've got the Spanish magician floating
around in there behind the striker in Barcelona. Pep Biel,
who's outstanding. You know, he's there Evander, if you like,
to a certain extent. So they present dangers. They won
last night in Montreal on the road. They're the kind

(32:43):
of team that, you know, with the experience they've got,
gets stronger as the year goes on. Very difficult opponent.
Not an opponent, really, Cincinnati would want to meet at
the moment. But, you know, again, this sets the challenge
to Pep and his group, you know, to really now
dig deep without Evander. to try and get a result.

Speaker 2 (33:02):
Well said. Have a great call, Tony. I appreciate the
time as always, man. Thank you.

Speaker 5 (33:06):
All the best, man.

Speaker 6 (33:07):
Cheers.

Speaker 2 (33:08):
The great Tony Husband, Apple TV, MLS Action, Saturday night,
FC Cincinnati hosting Charlotte. That was a loaded show. Not
a loaded host, but a loaded show. A couple of
things very quickly. Don't forget tomorrow, our show is not
on because Bengals Pep Rally starts tomorrow, three to six.

(33:29):
So wall-to-wall Bengals, three big hours hosted by Dan Horjo.
Dannemann is a part of that show as well. That
follows Friday Football Frenzy with Tony and Austin. But I
am working tomorrow. I will be on at the exact
same time as I normally am, but instead down the
hall working with my buddy Eddie Fingers. So not that

(33:55):
I would expect anybody to forgo Dan Hoard and Joe
Dannemann for me, but I will be down the hall
three to six. Not doing non-sports. No, no, that's not
going to happen. Talking football, talking Bengals. Can't wait.

Speaker 4 (34:07):
You're leaving me.

Speaker 2 (34:09):
I'm for a day. But you know what, Taryn? Makers
and Coke Friday.

Speaker 4 (34:15):
Sounds like a plan.

Speaker 2 (34:16):
Book it. Sunday morning, Holy Grail. We'll see you there.
Tony and Moe football show Monday at Twin Peaks in Westchester.
Cannot wait for that. We're done. Have an awesome night.
Thank you to Taryn Bland for producing. Thanks to you
for listening. Have a great night. If I don't talk
to you, have a great weekend. This is ESPN 1530
Cincinnati Sports Station.

Speaker 7 (34:43):
Cincinnati's ESPN 1530.

Speaker 1 (34:44):
Traffic.