The Mo Egger Radio Show -- 8/2/24

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
ESPN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 2 (00:02):
Jamar Chase didn't practice today. That's not really earth shattering information,
probably what you expected. He's not gonna practice tomorrow, thank you.
He's not gonna practice tomorrow because well, the Bengals don't
practice tomorrow. They practice on Sunday. Smart Money is on

(00:25):
Jamorrow not practicing. I'm I'm kind of just getting that
part of the show out of the way, although I
do have a question. Good afternoon on Moegar. This is
ESPN fifteen thirty. Thank you for listening. Hope your weekend
is off to a great start. Hope the sun comes out.
That would be nice, be cool if it looked like
summer again. Show preview is available on x at Moegar
thanks to Emery Federal Credit Union. You know, I am

(00:47):
often asked mo when are we gonna golf? When we're
gonna go play golf together? And usually it's never people
who are bad at golf that ask me this. It's
people who are good at golf that know they can
beat me. Because as much as I love to golf,
I suck. So whenever good golfers detect like blood in
the water, they're like, oh, let's go golf. Like nobody
asks a really good golfer, hey, let's go play golf,

(01:07):
But as a bad golfer, folks always want to play
with you.

Speaker 3 (01:09):
Come on, let's go, let's play a team. When are
we gonna play a team?

Speaker 4 (01:12):
Mo?

Speaker 3 (01:13):
Come on?

Speaker 2 (01:14):
So I have an answer to August twelfth, Emory Federal
Credit Union's golf outing, and we're gonna raise money for
Cincinnati Children's Hospital charities. So join us thanks to Emory
Federal Credit Union that is going to be a week
from Monday on the twelfth. Come on out EMORYFCU dot org.
You could sign up and learn more about all the
things happening to commemorate Emery's eighty fifth anniversary.

Speaker 3 (01:36):
I was asked a question yesterday.

Speaker 2 (01:38):
That has inspired me to do some deep deep thinking.
We'll get to that coming up in the four o'clock hour.
Tony Pike will be here in just about forty minutes
with a live training camp update. Bengals have already practiced,
I mean not Jamar Chase, but all the other guys practice,
well not everybody, but most of the other players practice today.
So training camp, the practice portion of day is over,

(02:01):
but we're still gonna do live reports as if Tony
is at training camp practice, maybe we'll pipe in some
football sounds in the background quickly on Jamar Chase, he
didn't practice. Remember again, it's it's all a part of
the plan. It's it's all a part of the plan.
I'm willing to bet you that the Bengals have like

(02:23):
a document, maybe it hasn't been printed, but they've got
a document ready to go, and it's a contract or
at least a contract proposal for Jamar Chase. And I
know there are many of us who want the Bengals
to give it to Jamar and have Jamar just go
ahead and sign it. Like you know, we talked about
this a little bit yesterday. Regardless of how you feel

(02:44):
about who's right who's wrong, and I don't think either
side is wrong. Regardless of how you feel about how
all of this is unfolded, there's no one who's like
anti contract. If we found out today, if it was
like a Friday afternoon news dump that Jamar's got in
his new deal from the Bengals, no one's gonna get
mad about that. But I'm willing to bet that there's

(03:06):
there's at least a document that's been drafted and it's
got the terms, and maybe there's some some some negotiating
room with those terms. But there's some terms and and
and maybe there's an actual contract that Jamar can sign
that he hasn't yet signed.

Speaker 3 (03:22):
I'm gonna bet that that's out there.

Speaker 2 (03:24):
Let's say that today Jamar and Chase practiced, and let's
say that during that practice he obliterated his leg.

Speaker 3 (03:34):
What do you think would happened to that document? What
do you think would happened to that document?

Speaker 5 (03:43):
Uh?

Speaker 2 (03:43):
We got off the air yesterday and I saw the
DeAndre Hopkins has gotten hurt in Tennessee. And the good
news is it doesn't look like it's gonna cost him
his season. They're saying four to six weeks. So this
obviously could bleed into the season. It doesn't look that severe. Uh,
but I DeAndre Hopkins is at a markedly different place
in his career than Jamar Chase's. We understand that. But like,

(04:06):
didn't you at least think about Jamar when you saw
that news yesterday? And again, like I all along, I've said,
I don't really see either side doing anything wrong, and
it would be cool if they reached a conclusion. And
if they don't, my bet is Jamar plays for the Bengals,
plays in all seventeen games, if he's healthy, has a
great year, and then gets his contract at the end

(04:28):
of next season, and if there's a deal done between
now and then, then awesome.

Speaker 3 (04:32):
But like for those who would.

Speaker 2 (04:34):
Say, like, well, Bengal's just gonna ask him what he
wants and give it to him, sounds great, But we
are in a day and age where now guaranteed money
is a part of the equation. What happens if Jamar
Chase obliterates his leg? What do you think happens to
that deal if it's not signed yet. So part of
you might say, well, Jamar, just take what they're asking,

(04:56):
take what they're offering. You're right, but also like there
is something about protecting himself until that deal actually does
get done.

Speaker 3 (05:04):
We had the Hall of Fame game last night.

Speaker 2 (05:06):
We had the truncated, terminated, abbreviated Hall of Fame game,
which means, well, your bets got returned as long as
you're working with a reputable sports book, because the game
wasn't finished, if you are wondering, most sports books adhere
to this rule. So the game ends, they bang it

(05:28):
in the third quarter last night, Chicago was winning on
lots of the night we had Bears plus two. If
you're operating with a reputable sports book, which might mean
not one that has a man's name in the name
of the sports book, the way it works is the
game doesn't have to be played till its conclusion, but

(05:51):
they do have to play fifty five minutes of it.
They didn't do that in camp last night, so all
bets were canceled, at least bets that depended upon the
outcome of the game. In game props, it's like Tyler
Boy caught a touchdown in the tomorrow Hamblin game. And
I know this for a fact because I had a
Tyler Boy touchdown that bat paid. But the big story

(06:16):
last night for me at least, was the new kickoff rule.
I mean, let's be honest, preseason games, there's a very
short shelf life of excitement for any preseason game. The
Hall of Fame game usually serves as it's just hey,
it's football, and who's not excited about that? And I
think the Hall of Fame, the setting in Canton is

(06:38):
always really cool, and I think it's cool when they
do in game interviews with all the guys who are
going to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
But more mechanically, I think for a lot of us,
there was going to be some interest in just the kickoff.
How did it look, especially for those of us who
have not exactly consumed a lot of XFL. The new

(06:59):
kickoff is weird. The new kickoff is going to take
some getting used to. The new kickoff is interesting, the
old kickoff was not interesting. How teams do this, what
strategies they employ, how they use their personnel. If we
get more exciting plays out of kickoffs, all of these

(07:21):
things are gonna be really interesting to watch on fold
and obviously much more so once the regular season gets here.
But you know, I know, there's a lot of folks
who are they hate anything that's changed, anything that's different,
anything that flies in the face of what they're used
to do, not like we did this with baseball's pitch clock,

(07:42):
and then after about three minutes we all got used
to baseball with a pitch clock because ninety nine point
nine percent of us realized it's better with a pitch clock,
or you all.

Speaker 3 (07:53):
Them, oh my god, they're gonna have bigger bases.

Speaker 2 (07:55):
They look like pizza boxes, and then after about seven seconds,
everybody's like a big deal, doesn't impact how I watch
the game. This is a little bit different, but more
than anything, look, I give I give the NFL credit here,
and they can do this with the idea behind it
being enhancing player safety, which is not something that we

(08:19):
should be dismissive of. But more than anything else, the
league is trying to revive something that's been dead for
a while. They're trying to get rid of waste, they're
trying to trim fat, they're trying to get rid of
parts of the game where our attention drifts. Last season,

(08:39):
nearly eighty percent of kickoffs were not returned, which means
it was a predictable play, and when something is predictable,
you're less likely to watch it. Like I go to
Bengals games, and we talked about this a few years
ago when they moved.

Speaker 3 (08:55):
The pat back.

Speaker 2 (08:57):
Pat would be where I would get up and go
to the bathroom, get a beer, or go do something else.
Now there's at least some intrigue with the PAT because well,
obviously the overwhelming majority of pat kicks are good. They're
not exactly automatic anymore, so it's worth paying attention to.
The kickoff had kind of become that way. Dude, it's

(09:18):
gonna be a touchback. Now you're still gonna have touchbacks.
I think we had one last night. But there's a
variable here that's hard to predict. That's a little unknown.
We don't know if maybe instances where there's something exciting
happens skyrocket, But in the short term, in the short term,
it's gonna be at least interesting to watch unfold. And

(09:40):
in the long term, if we get just this much
more action because of a modified kickoff rule, who would
object to that?

Speaker 3 (09:50):
Like, if we get just a little bit more action.

Speaker 2 (09:53):
It's like with baseball in the disengagement rule, right, I
guess you had holdovers who love watching pick throws. Pickoff
throws are boring? What's not boring or exciting? Or or
stolen bases? Now there's been an uptick in stolen bases,
a slight one. There's been an uptick in the success
rate for base Steelers. But we're encouraging something which is action.

(10:16):
Why would anybody have any issue with that? The new
kickoff rule is trying to create just a little bit
more action. Who would have any issue with that? How
is this gonna unfold, what's it gonna look like. Who's
gonna be good at it? Is this rule gonna be
around in a year? I have no idea. If it sucks,

(10:36):
they'll change it. The NFL is actually pretty good about that.
My guess is it'll be something we get used to.
My guess is it'll be something that gives us more
reason to watch a play that had become a little
bit of a tune out look. Leagues should be in
charge of getting rid of waste. That's what the pitch
clock did. Go watch a baseball game from two years ago.

(10:59):
You know how much standing around there is. It's insane.
Watching people stand around is not interesting. That's why they
got rid of about ten years ago, the intentional walk
where catcher's got to stand up, hold his mid out.
We got to throw four pitches and what are we doing?
That's why there's fewer pickoff throws. Leagues should be in

(11:19):
the business of creating a better, more interesting, and more
entertaining game, and I think the NFL is doing that.
We'll see and if they don't, they'll try something else.
But just watching it last night and again, like you
could go back and watch all the YouTube cutups of
XFL kickoff returns.

Speaker 3 (11:39):
I'll admit that I watched a few.

Speaker 2 (11:41):
I'll also admit that I didn't watch a ton, but
based on what I saw last night, it feels like
we have a higher likelihood of there being something cool
happen when there's a kickoff. There's my big takeaway. My
phone number is five one three seven four nine fifteen
thirty and eight six six seven two three seven seven

(12:01):
six at Moegger on x thanks to Delta Dental, which
is building healthy, smart, vibrant communities for all. Good to
Delta Dental, oh H dot com. The Rats played a
night against the San Francisco Giants. The first few games
after the trade deadline are always kind of weird, uh,

(12:23):
because well, I think for a while, we're gonna talk
a little bit more about what's actually happening on the field.
I don't know if that's good or bad. But there's
one thing I'll be watching for. Tell you what it
is next on ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnatis. Is that Monday
Austin Mom was a TI France trade. This week has
seemed like it's lasted about a month. I'm not gonna

(12:45):
lie to you yeah, I don't really know, man, I
don't know Time France. Ty France was put on waivers
by the Mariners, and then he was DF eight the
Seattle Mariners ranked intention and so they cut him loose.
He's gone for waiver wire to being DFA to tonight
he is batting clean up for the Cincinnati Reds, Reds

(13:06):
and Giants to night, first of three at GABP during
what is going to be an insane weekend downtown Cincinnati.

Speaker 3 (13:12):
Andrew rabbacts.

Speaker 2 (13:13):
The ball Reds have won two of three so far
in their homestand trying to bounce back after their blowout
loss to the Cubs on Wednesday night. Ty France was
DFA in a week ago and now he's batting four.
I mean, it's it's not that it's not that's not
entirely similar, I guess. But we had fun with our
boy Mike Ford. Remember the Mike Ford experiment. Mike Ford
went from not being good enough to be on the

(13:35):
team twice to like hitting third a bunch of times.
Ty France patting fourth a week after being DFAD. Congratulations
to him. So what happens is in the month of July,
sometimes not most of the time. But sometimes what's happening
on the field takes a back seat to what may

(13:57):
or may not happen with the front office, the trade line.
Who are they gonna get? What might they get? Are
they gonna be buyers? Will they be sellers? Will they
be this is the new term. Will they be threading
the needle? That was a big one on was it Tuesday?
Nick Krawl tried to thread the needle. Okay, well, now,

(14:18):
I mean you could still make trades their post waivered
deadline deal. You still make trades. Reds that make trades
in August before, maybe they'll make another one. I have
no idea. But now the focus shifts a little more
on the field because well, reinforcements aren't coming now. Reinforcements

(14:40):
may come in the form of injured players. Remember, hurt
guy coming back is often the best deadline acquisition. So
maybe Matt McLain will play baseball at some point for
the Reds in twenty twenty four.

Speaker 3 (14:51):
We will see.

Speaker 2 (14:53):
But the focus now becomes a little bit more on
what's happening on the field. And we went through this
a little bit yesterday. Nick Crawl talked about how on
Tuesday night the team still has a chance to get
to the postseason, and all they've gotta do is gain
a game a week. I'm gonna take a little bit
of a shorter sighted approach. Would it'd be awesome if

(15:17):
the Reds would play six hundred baseball the rest of
the way. Yeah, And if they did, they'll have a shot.
I think if they were to play six to eleven
ball the rest of the way, they'll get to eighty
five wins, and eighty five might just get him into
the playoffs. Would I love to see that happen?

Speaker 4 (15:32):
Yes?

Speaker 2 (15:33):
Have I seen anything from this team through one hundred
and eight games that would suggest that's likely?

Speaker 3 (15:37):
Of course not. I'm interested in the results. We all are.

Speaker 2 (15:43):
We should all be interested in whether or not they could,
you know, get back to five hundred and then get
over five hundred, and then stay over five hundred and
then maybe ultimately make a last ditch push toward the postseason.
Not likely, but I guess worth attention to. I'm more
interested in well, cleaning up the slop. I don't know

(16:08):
about you, but, like on this show, that's something we
have discussed a lot. Cleaning up the slop, the base
running mistakes, the miscues, in the field. I was listening
to Lance last night. He had a poll question and
he was talking about the Elidela Cruz thing on Wednesday
where he tried to steal third in the fifth inning

(16:31):
and he got thrown out, originally ruled safe, and they
got to replay. He's rolled out. He's the last out
of the inning at third base when his team was
down six runs. I love Elie Dela Cruz. That is inexcusable.
By the way, you could do both. You could love
someone and criticize them. You could love someone and not

(16:52):
love what they do. It's called being a parent. Love
Elie Dela Cruz. I'll buy all the Elidela Cruz stock.
That moment was inexcusable. Lance talked about would that have
been a moment where David Bell could have made a
bit of a statement, And I think the answer is yes.
Like you can hold people accountable and not embarrass them.

(17:13):
And I know for some you want like this baseball
movie Manager Tirade, where he like rips his helmet off
his head and throws it and gets in his face
like that's that's that's unnecessary, That's that's not how it works.
But you can hold someone accountable and not make a
show of it. You can hold someone accountable and not

(17:35):
have it be controversial. You can hold someone accountable and
deliver a message and have it not turn into a thing,
especially if you truly have the respect of the player
and everybody else on the team. I think that would
have been a moment. I think one of the more
frustrating things for a lot of us.

Speaker 3 (17:56):
Just on top of and maybe.

Speaker 2 (17:59):
Even above beyond the results, is how it feels like
a lot of the stuff that has plagued this team
for a huge chunk of the season just doesn't really
seem to get fixed. And some of that stuff, you
may say, is a byproduct of youth, and I would
agree with that. The deal you make when you have
a young team, and the Reds have a lot of

(18:20):
young players, is that there are going to be mistakes
that you have to live with, and you have to
understand that they're going to happen, more so than if
you have a veteran team. But there's a difference between
understanding that mistakes are going to be made and letting
them go uncorrected. And so over the final two months

(18:41):
of the year, which let's be honest, has has more
of a how does this set the stage for twenty
twenty five feel right now at least than it does.
How does this impact their playoff chances in twenty twenty
four feel? I'd like to, by the end of the
season go, you know what, some stuff got fixed, some

(19:02):
stuff got cleaned up. It's a smarter team. It's a
team that's better on the basis and base running, to me,
is the one area of the game where we talk
about slop and mental mistakes and you could really gauge
sometimes how smart a team is. Like Scott Rowland gets
credited all the time for being one of the best
base runners ever, not because he was blazing fast, not

(19:25):
because he stole a billion bases, but because he didn't
do dumb stuff on the basis. He knew when to
take a base, he knew when not to take a base,
He knew who the opponent was, he knew which opponents
he could test. Can we get a little bit more
of that. They've played one hundred and eight games. I've
been in here the afternoon after many of them talking

(19:46):
about slop.

Speaker 3 (19:49):
For two months.

Speaker 2 (19:50):
Give me a sense that, you know what, some of
the stuff that we knew we were gonna have to
deal with back in April is a thing of the past.
In August and September, and more importantly late March, I
guess twenty twenty five because if we're still seeing some
of the same stuff at the end of the season
that we've put up with for the first two thirds,

(20:12):
that's the exact opposite of progress. That's also going to
be a damning indictment on the manager, the coaching staff,
and I do think in a very small, sort of
tight little vacuum on Wednesday night was an opportunity to go,
damn it, we're done with this, and you do something dumb,

(20:37):
you do something that ruins whatever chance we have of
coming back in this game.

Speaker 3 (20:43):
We're out.

Speaker 2 (20:44):
We're not doing it. It doesn't have to become a thing.
I think David Bell did miss an opportunity to use
a moment to show that there's going to be some accountability.
It is a three point thirty on ESPN fifteen thirty.
We'll have two pole questions to get to Tony Pike
on Bengals training camp practice. He's with us coming up

(21:05):
in just about fifteen minutes. I have been wrestling with
a question since last well since yesterday afternoon. I'll tell
you what that question is and the answer I've arrived at.
Coming up at four oh five on ESPN fifteen thirty
Cincinnati Sports.

Speaker 1 (21:20):
Station, ESPN fifteen thirty IM.

Speaker 2 (21:24):
Kelsey Chevrolet home of lifetime power train protection and guaranteed
credit approval from their family to yours for life at
kelseyshev dot Com, Red's and Giants Tonight, first of three
at GAVP Andrew Abbott, Kyle Harrison. He's starting lineup hopefully
made well thanks to Madewell Restoration.

Speaker 3 (21:42):
Check your roof time for a new roof Madewell Restoration.

Speaker 2 (21:45):
We'll inspect yours at no cost at a Madewell Restoration
dot Com. Your starting lineup tonight, India is at second,
Elie's at short, Spencer Steers and left field. Ty France
is batting cleanup tonight playing first base Tyler Stevenson behind
the dish Jamers. I called him jam Er like we're
on first name basis.

Speaker 3 (22:03):
We're boys. TJ.

Speaker 2 (22:05):
Friedland, Center, STU Fairchild and right Santiago Espinal Red Hot
Santiago Espinal playing third base seven to ten this evening
on seven hundred WLW Luke Maley back from the injured list,
miss time with a herniated disc, and Eric Yang has
been sent to Louisville, Florence on the road tonight against Joliette.

(22:25):
Bengals practice this morning. No Jamar Chase yet again, no
practice tomorrow. They do work out open to the public
on a Sunday afternoon from two to four, and then
the Bucks in Town a week from tomorrow. Bengals Bucks
preseason opener live on ESPN fifteen thirty this weekend. Get
caught up on anything you might have missed on ESPN

(22:46):
fifteen thirty. Go to the iHeartRadio app. Obviously stuff from
our show. Very good interview yesterday, Austin.

Speaker 3 (22:54):
This was cool.

Speaker 2 (22:56):
You got a chance to interview your all time favorite
Bengal player, Yes I did. If you missed Austin with
Corey Dillon, which was really good, go get that on
the iHeartRadio app as well. Rob Dibble with Tony today
was terrific too, So go get all that and.

Speaker 3 (23:09):
Get caught up this weekend.

Speaker 2 (23:12):
The Corey Dylan stuff was good man, and I could
tell he could tell that you had such reverence for him.

Speaker 6 (23:16):
Well, thank you, I appreciate that.

Speaker 3 (23:17):
Would you like to weigh in on either of our
poll questions.

Speaker 2 (23:20):
I would like to they come to us thanks to
our friends at United Heartland Insurance uhi ands dot Com
for all of your insurance. These I have two today, okay.
Number one the NFL's new kickoff rule. Yeah your nay, yay, okay,
I'm all for it. Sixty nine point one percent so
far would agree.

Speaker 6 (23:39):
Okay.

Speaker 2 (23:39):
And by the way, some have said, well, why not
just do touchbacks because field position still matters. Field positions
still a big part of this sport, so are turnovers
Like a turnover on a kickoff is one of the
most debilitating things you could suffer if you hand the
ball over, and you still have to have plays that
allow for those possibilities. Question number two, beyond the fact

(24:02):
that it is a federal offense, is it ever acceptable
to open mail that has someone else's name on it?

Speaker 3 (24:07):
Uh?

Speaker 2 (24:07):
No, okay, not accepted. It's interesting. Forty seven point eight
percent disagree with you. Oh, and say that it's acceptable
to open someone else's mail.

Speaker 6 (24:18):
That's that's wrong.

Speaker 2 (24:22):
We may have had an issue here at the radio
station where someone was opening someone else's.

Speaker 6 (24:27):
Name mail, someone's name not mine. I'll give it to
that person. Yeah, I'm not going to open it. Yeah,
here's a package. Your name is on it. Here not
You know, just the other day in the middle of
sincety three sixty, you came in and handed me a package, Yes,
had my name on it.

Speaker 3 (24:44):
Walked in.

Speaker 2 (24:45):
We don't have like a mail room, so sometimes stuff
is just left there when you walk in, and you know,
I don't want it to walk away.

Speaker 3 (24:51):
It says Austin.

Speaker 2 (24:52):
I didn't look at it and go It says Austin,
that's not my name, but let's see what's in it.
Me as a very basic part of the social construct
to understand if your name is not on a package,
don't open it. It is a little interesting that some
seem to think that it's totally okay.

Speaker 3 (25:14):
Hey here's a package.

Speaker 2 (25:15):
My name isn't this, but you know what, I can
go ahead and open it. So vote now at Mulleger.
Go ahead and do that thanks to United Heartland Insurance. Also,
when you're getting caught up on podcast Chad Brendle yesterday,
Bearcat Journal dot com. You know Tony Tony's bullish on
the on the Bearcats, and I understand this part of it.

(25:41):
Emery Jones is a really nice kid. He wasn't it.
I mean, he just as a as a passer, as
a guy who was gonna be able to elevate his teammates.
It just it didn't take. It didn't stick. He could
do some really good things with his legs. One of
the nicest young men I've ever had a chance to
chat with on the pregame show. It's just you watched
him last year. It didn't go offensively, the Bearcats were

(26:06):
awesome running the football top five in the country.

Speaker 3 (26:09):
They have a very good offensive line.

Speaker 2 (26:12):
Brag Glenn, the offensive coordinator, the other day, talked about,
like we got to figure out what we have in
the twos and threes. But the five guys up front,
at least when it comes to run blocking, they should
be really good. Corey Kiner at all. In the backfield,
that should be a productive group. I do think they're
going to be better on the outside. How good's Brendan Sowarsby.
I mean, like, you know, you might say, well, not

(26:35):
going to take all that much to be better at
getting the ball downfield than what we saw from the
Bearcats last year. And I think there's some validity to that,
and even nothing entirely against Ben Bryant, who I took
I think took some pretty unfair shots from people in
twenty twenty two, But I mean he had limitations as
a thrower. Brendan Sowarsby doesn't have a world of experience.

(26:56):
Can he use the first month of the season to
win games and build the sort of experience that he
could default to when they start playing games in the
Big Twelve. I will admit to doing this, and it
maybe shouldn't be fair, especially given the fact that this
is the direction that college sports have gone in.

Speaker 3 (27:20):
Automatically.

Speaker 2 (27:20):
When I hear, hey, we got all these new guys,
my expectations are pretty low. Because we got all these
new guys. Well, could each of them be good?

Speaker 3 (27:35):
Yeah? Well all of them? Chances are often no.

Speaker 2 (27:40):
There's chemistry, there's continuity, there's knowing who's best for what roles.
That stuff doesn't get sorted out in preseason games because
we don't have them in college football.

Speaker 3 (27:51):
And so I'm fighting the urge to be.

Speaker 2 (27:57):
Not optimistic because when I hear we got all these
new guys, I even do it sort of in college basketball,
Like I look at UC and Xavier this year, and
I like a lot of the individual pieces but and
I don't know, it makes it more difficult. I like
this era that we're in, but I will admit that
it makes it a little bit more difficult to figure
out how good or bad a team is gonna be, how's.

Speaker 3 (28:17):
A team gonna coalesce?

Speaker 2 (28:21):
And I do think early in the season for the Bearcats,
like Miami winning last year at Nippert felt a little
fluky because the Bearcats were lining up for a game
winning field goal, but Miami deserved to win the game
that night. I am not an expert on how great
the RedHawks are going to be this year. I gotta

(28:44):
think that's gonna be a difficult game for UC, at
least more so than when you typically sort of assess
the battle for the victory belt. And as good as
the Bearcats as well as the Bearcats played that pitt
last season, Let's be honest, Pittsburgh's quarterback last year might
be the worst d one quarterback I've ever watched. Those

(29:06):
to me feel like coin flip games. Can they grow
and coalesce and still win games early? If the answer
is yes, well then maybe there's something here. I think
if you're at your most optimistic with the defense, and
I am looking forward to going to higher ground. I'm

(29:26):
going to try to go next week and as the
summer moves on, catches scrimmage or two like, you got
forty seven new guys, How can you say anything definitive?

Speaker 3 (29:38):
Can't.

Speaker 2 (29:40):
What I can hang my hat on is if I
assume that Dante Corleone is going to be able to play.
I know what they got there. I know what they
got with their offensive line. I think I feel pretty
good about what they have in the backfield, that secondary,
back into that defense man.

Speaker 3 (29:57):
No idea none here is.

Speaker 2 (30:02):
This is there are more unknowns for and again part
of it is just a reflection of the era that
we're in, or more unknowns going into this season for
UC football than any that I can remember, even some
of the years where the expectations were not very high.
The expectations weren't very high based on stuff you had
just seen, or based on unknowns. Involving the reliance on

(30:24):
young players. They're relying on a lot of new guys,
some of whom are obviously new to college football. Many
have come from other programs. I don't know.

Speaker 3 (30:33):
I am extraordinarily intrigued to find out.

Speaker 2 (30:36):
I do think, you know it's up to this team
this season to kind of put the airback in the balloon,
because boy, last year, it all came out very, very quickly.
Quarta to four Tony Pike on the Bengals and the
new kickoff rule.

Speaker 3 (30:48):
Next when employers like seven.

Speaker 5 (30:52):
There's a training camp report brooke to you by Kimball.
Credit you on ESPN fifteen thirty. Are you officials.

Speaker 3 (31:02):
The Bengals practice this morning?

Speaker 2 (31:03):
But because we just have the deepest commitment to providing
the latest when it comes to Bengals training camp, we're
doing live training camp reports even though practice ended hours ago.

Speaker 3 (31:14):
Tony Pike is with us.

Speaker 2 (31:16):
Before we talk about the Bengals and anything that may
or may not have happened today. The Hall of Fame
game was last night. It was abbreviated yeah, which means
my winning bet got returned.

Speaker 3 (31:25):
But it was the debut of the NFL's new kickoff rule. Yeah.
Do you like the NFL's new kickoff rule?

Speaker 7 (31:31):
I think I do Yeah watching it last night because
you know it first, it seems like teams are going
to challenge it early, and it does immediately you see
the difference of what they're trying to avoid, which is
the head on collisions, Like I don't even think until
I saw it, I noticed they're so close together. Yeah,
and to avoid that. I still think it's going to

(31:52):
open up the opportunity for big returns. And I think
it was so basic last night that it was just
about let's get a returner back there. Yeah, up some
base returns. But I think it's going to turn into
stuff throughout the season where you know, Austin a couple
of weeks ago mentioned like, you know, remember when they
used to put pac Man back for punt returns. Yeah,
to where it's like, not every time, right, but sometimes

(32:12):
do you change up who's back there? Sure, Because the
conversation on offense all the time is get the playmakers
the ball in space. The kickoff now becomes an extension
of that. You can get your best playmakers the ball
in space in a safer environment than what it used
to be.

Speaker 2 (32:27):
I just like the fact that it's worth paying attention to.
Eighty percent of kickoffs last year were not returned, and
so the NFL it's kind of doing what baseball did, right.
We're gonna cut the fat, We're gonna get rid of
the standing around, We're gonna have a pitch clock. We're
not gonna have as many pickoff throwers. We're not gonna
have as much stuff that diverts your attention. At least
for now, the kickoff is back in terms of being

(32:48):
something that I actually want to pay attention.

Speaker 7 (32:50):
To that and it's something that coaches now have to
pay attention to sure, you know, from we we always
talk about how's what's the best way to make a
roster the end of a roster? Special teams, Yeah, it
takes on a whole different level right now. And again,
what types of playmakers do you see on the field
and does it change on the kicking side as well?
Do you put some of your better tacklers or starters

(33:11):
out there and maybe a key kickoff role to say, okay,
we can't afford you know, and Nuham, I'm just thinking
the first name I thought, you know, Stanley Morgan was
always a special teams guy. Yeah, if it's fourth quarter,
you're up seven, does Stanley Morgan get replaced for a
safety or a corner, someone that you know can surely
go make a tackle. I think it's fascinating and to
your point, it shines light on a part of the

(33:34):
game that has essentially been forgotten.

Speaker 2 (33:36):
Yeah, they moved the pat back a number of years ago,
and now you know it's it's still the overwhelming majority
of pats are successful, but it's not quite the automatic
kick that he used to be. Yeah, so it's worth
paying attention to. And I feel the same way about kickoffs.
As we turn the page to next week, in the
first week of Bengals training camp, where they're preparing for
a game and you'll be down there broadcasting live doing

(33:58):
since he three to sixty starting on Monday, are there
things you're going to be paying attention to maybe a
little bit more closely next week as opposed to the
first two weeks.

Speaker 3 (34:06):
Yeah.

Speaker 7 (34:06):
Obviously, Jamar Chase will remain a storyline. I just want
to see more consistency from Burrow. He's been up, he's
been down at times. Yesterday I saw him throw four
straight in completions in one on ones. I don't think
I've ever seen that because you're not getting rushed, there's
no defensive help. But as the practice went on, he
made some really good throws. Today's practice the end of practice,

(34:29):
Charlie Jones Sagric Jackson really nice throws down the field.
So he has shown the ability to make all the throws,
but he's not done it consistently yet. So as the
season and preseason progresses, I want to see him progress
as well, because, make no mistake about it, the first
test comes when he has to take a fall, when
he takes a hit. He's got to be good to

(34:51):
go before any of that happens. There can't be any
restrictions or any thought of him being able to make
every single throw, back to back to back to back.

Speaker 2 (34:58):
All right, Tony Pike joining us again four to forty five,
and want to talk about I want to talk about
some of the stuff happening in the defensive backfield, Dax
Hills progress, Von Bell's return, what that might mean for
Jordan Battle, who's not being talked about a ton And then,
you know, we touched on a little bit yesterday Jackson Carman,
who was slid in when Amarius Mims left and it

(35:20):
didn't go so well. Bengals offensive line depth was not
tested last year. It's going to be test tested this year.
Are they going to be up to the task. We'll
get to all that coming up at four forty five.
Don't forget since he three to sixty broadcasts from Bengals
training camp Monday from noon to three. We are looking
forward to that eight minutes away from four o'clock. Our

(35:41):
phone numbers are five one, three, seven, four nine, fifteen
thirty and eight six six, seven, zero two three, seven,
seven six. The announcement yesterday by Zach Taylor that the
preseason guys are gonna play. They want to target the
opener against the Bucks next week and h and play
the starters. You know, we went on and on and

(36:04):
on yesterday about watching those games through our fingers, and
I'm really I don't want to say I'm getting excited,
because watching watching guys who matter most playing games and
don't matter at all is not exactly the most exciting thing.
But one of the storylines we talked about often as

(36:26):
the last third of the season went down with Jake
Browning playing quarterback and the Bengals still finding ways to function,
was how can they blend the way the offense worked
and often worked pretty efficiently with Jake Browning and the
way Joe Burrow wants to play. And this is something
that Tony has talked about a lot. Paul Danner Junior

(36:47):
and I talked about this on Tuesday with Dan Pitcher's
fingerprints being on the offense, and I think in acknowledgment,
certainly from the standpoint of the running game that you
know what, maybe having the quarterback under center makes it
makes sense to do it for lack of a better
way of putting it more frequently than they were. And
then Joe Burrow's admitted comfort zone operating out of the shotgun.

Speaker 3 (37:10):
How do those things get blended?

Speaker 2 (37:11):
I certainly don't believe that in a game that doesn't count,
you're going to see all that much that would tip
the Bengals hand as to how that's going to play
out once the games actually start and matter for real.
But it's one of the storylines, and it's interesting for
all of the kind of off field contractual stuff and
the hyper focus on Joe Burrow, which is deserved and

(37:32):
a part of the gig with Joe, especially when he's
been hurt so often. If you go back to last December,
when the Bengals hung in there with a backup quarterback
that had never played, that was one of the overarching
themes to those.

Speaker 3 (37:50):
Last few months, to those last few weeks.

Speaker 2 (37:52):
How can they take what they're doing well now and
blend it with what they already do really well when
Joe Burrow, how do they mesh those things? Because for
all of their offensive acumen, for all of their offensive talent,
let's be honest, there have still been Even when Joe
Burrow has been at his best and played at an

(38:13):
MVP finalist level, there have still been some really long, deep,
frustrating lulls with the offense. Part of that might be
attributed to the offensive line. Part of that might be
attributed to the lack of explosiveness with the personnel in
the backfield. Part of that might also be we need
to kind of change how we function on offense. How

(38:34):
does everything get blended together? Maybe we don't get those
answers in the preseason, but perhaps we can see tiny
glimpses starting next Saturday Night Bengals and Bucks Next Saturday
Night Live on ESPN fifteen thirty with Austin all the
way till three o'clock in the morning.

Speaker 3 (38:50):
Are you gonna stay up late this week to get
yourself ready?

Speaker 4 (38:54):
Uh?

Speaker 6 (38:54):
No, not really?

Speaker 2 (38:55):
No.

Speaker 6 (38:55):
The good news is that's Saturday at the do the
five am shift down the hall as well. It's gonna
be a fun day. Man, team player, you are you are.

Speaker 3 (39:07):
I know you love that five am shift. I know
you love that Saturday Morning.

Speaker 2 (39:09):
Shoe, Brendaman and Jones on Baseball coming up in just
about an hour. Yesterday to start the four o'clock hour,
I was I was asked a question and it was
a good question. The best questions are the ones that
made you think or that make you think. The question

(39:30):
that I got yesterday made me think, which is a
dangerous thing, as you could probably imagine.

Speaker 3 (39:39):
Upon giving it some thought. I have an answer.

Speaker 2 (39:43):
I have an answer to my own question, which was
compelled by a guy who asked a different question. I'll
make this make sense next coming up on four o'clock
ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports Station.

Speaker 3 (39:54):
This report is sponsored by e Bay Motors.

Speaker 6 (39:57):
eBay Motor Shift A.

Speaker 2 (39:59):
Couple of things to uh, just make you aware of that.
We can't wait to the bottom of the hour for
but we like to keep you updated. FC Cincinnati wins
last night in the League's Cup, advanced to play NYCFC
on Monday. Today is Pat Noonan's birthday, the coach of
FC Cincinnati, and for his birthday, Major League Soccer's Disciplinary

(40:23):
Committee has suspended him for one more game. Match, and
they have fined him an undisclosed amount for the game.
A couple of weeks ago against the Chicago Fire, he
got a red card and he didn't leave the field
in an orderly manner, so they he served a suspension already.

(40:44):
When they lost to the New York Red Bulls a
few days later, they have tacked on a game, so
another match.

Speaker 3 (40:50):
Happy birthday, Pat.

Speaker 2 (40:54):
Also, according to Football Schedules fbschedules dot Com, you see
as a hole in the twenty twenty five schedule football
and that would be where the Miami game was gonna be.
But now they're not going to play that game, and
so it's going to be a game against Bowling Green
the Falcons Taran Blands beloved Bowling Green Falcons coming to
a Nippert Stadium on September the sixth, two thousand and

(41:18):
twenty five. Austin, Are you gonna be like a big
Bowling Green Falcons fan?

Speaker 3 (41:22):
Now?

Speaker 8 (41:22):
No?

Speaker 2 (41:22):
Okay, I just whatever, man, Just checking know how deep
your love of all the Ohio college football programs is.

Speaker 6 (41:31):
You know, I do love Omar Jacobs and what he
brought to the Falcons program about twenty years ago. And
obviously Urban Meyer urban Meyer. Yeah, yeah, Urban's a bear cat.
Though people forget he is. He is a bear cat. Yeah. Yesterday,
at this.

Speaker 2 (41:44):
Time, we had a phone call, which was cool, from
a guy named Pat. Pat asked, are the Reds victims
of expectation? And I think it's a good question. Are
they victims of expectation? Like we're maybe our expectors this
year for this team a little bit inflated, a little

(42:04):
bit unfair. Now I can only speak for myself, but
I think broadly, if we were to if we were
to paint everybody with a broad brush, I don't know
that the majority would say the expectations were to make
the playoffs. Like there's reasonable hope and there's expectation. Right,
there's there's all sort there's all sorts of reasonable hopes

(42:28):
I have for the weekend, and then I have some expectations.
The expectation is I'm gonna cut the grass tomorrow morning.
The reasonable hopes involve fun stuff. There's a difference. I
don't know really what the expectation was like. There are
years where I think it's very easy to define what
the expect like. The expectation for the Bengals this year
is they're a playoff team and one of the few

(42:50):
that you feel like has a chance to win the
whole thing. That's the expectation. I have a hard time
saying the expectation is to win a championship because only
one team can.

Speaker 3 (42:59):
And if you get to the.

Speaker 2 (43:00):
Playoffs, there's about matchups and where are they playing and
how healthy ru and all that stuff. But there's an
expectation at the Bengals don't make the playoffs this year?
Are you kidding me? They fall woefully short of expectation.
I struggle with it with UC football. I don't know
what to expect the Reds this year. I don't know
that the overarching expectation was playoffs, but certainly relative to

(43:26):
maybe how we felt prior to the beginning of last
year twenty three, we thought twenty twenty four could play
out a lot better, and relative to how things ended
last season, there was a reasonable hope that maybe that
was them knocking on the doorstep and they could punch
through the door and play in the playoffs in twenty
twenty four, which, who knows, maybe they will. But I've

(43:50):
been thinking about this, and I've been thinking about not
so much the question of are they victim of expectation.
The question I've been asking myself is why am I
so frustrated because my expectations for this year's team were
not as high as maybe yours or someone else.

Speaker 3 (44:16):
When we do the whole thing.

Speaker 2 (44:18):
Before the season started, I remember being at Smoke Justice
with Tony and Austin and I said, I think it's
a little weird in a baseball season where there's so
many games to go, you know what they're going to
be eighty three and seventy nine. I kind of look
at a team and go, they're in this range. And
I remember when the Reds traded for Yesel Pueague and

(44:39):
there was excitement. My take was, I think they're about
in the seventy six to seventy nine win range. Hopefully
I'm wrong, Hopefully.

Speaker 3 (44:46):
They're much better.

Speaker 2 (44:46):
And I think I think they won seventy seven games
something like that. For this year's team, my take was,
I think they're seventy nine to eighty three, which is
basically right in the middle of five hundred. I thought
they were pretty close to a five hundred team, which
means if you do slightly better, well, you're an eighty

(45:10):
four win team or an eighty five win team and
maybe an eighty six win team, and in this day
and age, that could be enough. It would have been
enough last year eighty four wins. They win eighty four
games from the playoffs. So my expectations, admittedly weren't enormous.
By the way, I got yelled at by a lot
of people on social media when I was unwilling to say, like, yeah,

(45:30):
you know what, They're gonna win ninety four games, Like
didn't think that to be the case. In fact, I
remember doing this segment excuse me when Baseball Prospectives released
their Pakoda projections, and the Pakoda projections had the Reds
winning seventy nine games, which, by the way, right now
they're on pace to win seventy eight, and a lot

(45:53):
of people either scratched their head or wondered what's up
or got mad. And I said, first of all, get
mad at projections. They don't mean anything. Secondly, when you
have as many young players as the Reds do, there's
even more reason to ignore those projections. Projections are based
on track record. These players don't have a track record,

(46:16):
So how can you how can you put any stock
into a projection based on something that doesn't exist? Anyway,
So I've been asking myself because, like I'll admit, this week,
I have come off as frustrated and even a little exasperated,
probably a lot exasperated, and even I don't want to

(46:38):
say angry, but just negative, pessimistic.

Speaker 3 (46:44):
Why is that?

Speaker 2 (46:46):
What's the source of that is frustration? What's the frustration
based on? And for me, the answer is.

Speaker 3 (46:58):
Last year and the trade deadline last year?

Speaker 2 (47:03):
And I don't say that gratuitously or to be flippant
or to dredge up arguments from the past, Like I
really like, there are certain times you get answered, you
get questions, and it compels you to think. And so like,
I'm driving home last night and I'm like, you know,
I don't think I've been too hard on the Reds.

(47:24):
I don't think being too hard on a team really
is a thing. I express how I feel. If you disagree,
there's plenty of room for you to tell me why
you disagree. And then many have this week. So I'm
driving home and I'm like, all right, victim of expectation?
Were my expectations too high?

Speaker 3 (47:42):
No? Okay, well then why am I frustrated?

Speaker 2 (47:47):
And I think for me, it all comes back to
how things unfolded at the deadline last year, because looming
over the entire higher postseason last year, looming over the
entire offseason from last year to this year, and looming

(48:11):
over the entire season this year, for me has been
the what if and yes, the what if of what
if they would have made their weakness better, which was
starting pitching. What if they would have acquired a piece
or two that could have helped them just get to
two or three more wins? And if they do that

(48:32):
and they're in the postseason, Like, do I think they
would have won the World Series? No? Do I think
they would have made the World Series despite the success
of the Arizona Diamondbacks. No, but it could have been
kind of cool to like get rid of the hole
they haven't won a playoff series and nearly thirty years thing.

Speaker 3 (48:49):
But it wasn't all that.

Speaker 2 (48:49):
It was also the I think, the prevailing sense of
all right, fine, even if you thought they were too
ahead of schedule last year to really go for it,
it still doubles down on the belief that so many
of us have that it's hard to completely buy into
the to the suggestion that this franchise will truly do

(49:14):
everything it can to be the absolute best at what
they do, that they're still not yet willing, capable or
equipped to be the best in the world at what
they do, which is to win the World Series at
least contend to win the World Series on a consistent basis.

(49:38):
That's my first answer. My second answer to my own
question is the frustration that comes with believing the Reds
have done a lot of really really good things from
the standpoint of, you know, as simple as it might
have been a draft hunter Green that is paying off,

(50:00):
and despite his recent struggles in July, Nicolodola is a
pick that looks like.

Speaker 3 (50:05):
It's paying off.

Speaker 2 (50:06):
And they've they've got three and still maybe four pitchers
who are really worth building around. There are not many
times in my life you could say that. And they've
got some young players that either are starting to realize
they're upside or are at least not worth giving up on.

(50:27):
Like they're in a really good place from that standpoint,
and yet it still feels like as they sit today,
they're a little bit too far away from true genuine
contention to get that excited. And I hate to say

(50:49):
that you could share my perspective. You could think my
perspective is flawed, weird, different. All I can do is
share it with you. There are times where a question
will compel me to think, and the thought that I
had was.

Speaker 3 (51:08):
Like, all right, why why am I so frustrated?

Speaker 2 (51:12):
Because I am man Like, I'll be honest with you, like,
the last couple of weeks have been deep, and part
of it is how they've played, and part of it
is you see some stuff that doesn't get fixed, and
part of it is honestly, there have been some moves
that David Bell has made that have made me scratch
my head.

Speaker 3 (51:29):
And I.

Speaker 2 (51:30):
Give every manager a really long leash, and I give
this one a long leash. And I still think David
Bell's at least an okay manager. But it's those two
things for me. I still do not like how they
handled things twelve months ago. I still feel like it
was short sighted. I still feel like it ignored the

(51:54):
opportunity they had in front of them. I still feel
like that lingers. I still feel like they're a ways away.
And when I say like a ways away from contention,
I'm not talking about like a ways away from sneaking
in and getting the eighties, like I'm talking about us
going into a season talking about like, dude, this team

(52:15):
might be the best in the National League. I get
it's it still feels like we're so far away from
that in spite of all the good stuff. I don't
know about you. You are welcome to chime in. That
to me is deeply frustrating. Seventeen minutes after four o'clock, Austin,
you mentioned to me we have Matt McLain news.

Speaker 3 (52:36):
Yeah.

Speaker 6 (52:36):
David Bell, speaking with some reporters at the ballpark right now,
says that Matt McClain had a stress reaction in his
rib cage and will be limited three to seven days,
but as of now, still planning to start rehab on
August twelfth. A stress reaction in his rib cage.

Speaker 2 (52:58):
The beat goes on, So the original plan was he
was going to start rehab August twelfth, believe.

Speaker 3 (53:04):
So, yes, he's had.

Speaker 2 (53:05):
A stress reaction in his ribcage, but that's not throwing
off the.

Speaker 6 (53:08):
Timeline as of yet, but it's possible.

Speaker 2 (53:12):
The michelob Ultra of five o'clock Happy Hour is coming up,
and I have provided I've got a six pack for
you and I to enjoy during the final hour of
the show. Wow, because that's how we do things on Fridays.

Speaker 4 (53:27):
Uh.

Speaker 2 (53:27):
Do you want to wager a six pack of mic
Ultra on whether or not Matt Matt McLain will play
a baseball game for the Reds in twenty twenty four. Yes, okay,
I say he does not play. You say he does
not play. For the sake of having a fun wager,
I will say he will, okay, even though I don't
believe he will. But I'm rooting for him to play

(53:48):
like I want him to play. Yes, it's good for
the Rats, it's good for Matt McLain. So I'm rooting
for the outcome, and I will win if the outcome
I am rooting for is the outcome we get. But
I don't know, man. I think I'm gonna buy you
a six pack. All right, there you go, eighteen minutes
after four o'clock. Your phone calls are welcome. Five point three, seven, four, nine,

(54:10):
fifteen thirty. Joe Burrow named one of the ten most
influential NFL figures according to ESPN. I don't know what
he wins for that, but I have some thoughts. We'll
get to those in a bit. Plus more from Tony
Pike on ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports.

Speaker 1 (54:25):
Station Cincinnati's Ean just about twenty minutes.

Speaker 2 (54:28):
Anything you might have missed on the iHeartRadio app podcast
of the show.

Speaker 3 (54:34):
A service of Long Neck Sports Grill.

Speaker 2 (54:35):
Whatever you're doing this weekend if you're in northern Kentucky especially,
no better place to post up than long Neck Sports Grill,
especially on a on a clear, warm, dry night on
the patio. Awesome beer selection, top notch wings, great menu,
great people, Long neck Sports Grill.

Speaker 3 (54:55):
Wilder hebrewn rich One.

Speaker 2 (55:00):
I had an Olympic question and I forgot what it was,
so instead talk to somebody else.

Speaker 3 (55:07):
JT. You're on ESPN fifteen thirty. Good afternoon, JD.

Speaker 9 (55:11):
Good afternoon, mother.

Speaker 3 (55:12):
Thanks for hitting me on bud. Sure.

Speaker 9 (55:15):
So my question for you is, how could you not
be frustrated watching this team? They're completely maddening to watch.
And it starts with last year.

Speaker 2 (55:23):
Last year we.

Speaker 9 (55:24):
Heard the entire time only if we had pitching, only
if our bullpen was better, we'd be in playoff contention.
They went out, they fixed their bullpen, they got some
better pitchers, and now they can't freaking hit. And then
it starts the most frustrating thing to me was the
Matt McLain injury. Injuries are frustrating. I know it's a
part of life and whatever, but that is seriously frustrating.
I think they're a completely different team without Mount McClain

(55:47):
on the field. The base running drives me that too crazy.
I feel like my high school baseball team was more
discipline running the bases. And it's just like on a
nightly basis, you're watching these boneheaded mistakes on the basis
like I'm all for being aggressive, but eventually aggressiveness turns

(56:08):
into stupidity with this team. And finally, my last gripe
of the night is the red fans. When you catch
a foul ball, you have to immediately give it to
a little kid. The little kid in front of me,
he gets all the foul balls given to him. I
caught a foul ball the other night when my wife
was in the restroom. I just wanted to hold it
to show her, and then everyone turns on me like

(56:29):
a kid kid like I've seen this kid like gets
twenty balls. Like everybody gives a stand kit the ball.
But anyway, I kept the ball. I guess I'm a jerk.

Speaker 2 (56:37):
No, see, now, I think this is an important conversation
to have because I went through a life changing experience
that changed my outcome on the catch the foul ball
peer pressure?

Speaker 3 (56:49):
Can I share it.

Speaker 4 (56:49):
With you please?

Speaker 3 (56:52):
In two thousands? All right?

Speaker 2 (56:53):
So in twenty sixteen, I was I was at my
cousin's bachelor party. We go to Nashville for like three nights.
In one of the nights, we decided to go check
out a Nashville Sounds game, and which was awesome, a
lot of fun, cool ballpark, greatest whiskey coke slushy I've
ever had. So this is my cousin's bachelor party. We're

(57:16):
down the right field line, hanging out, having a good time.
A guy hits it was not a home run, but
it sort of It hooked just around the right field
foul poll and went foul. It bounces and one of
the guys in our group catches it.

Speaker 3 (57:31):
I instantly turn into that guy who's like, dude, give
it to a kid, give it to a kid.

Speaker 2 (57:38):
And like two or three others, and then some outsiders
start hounding this guy. So, facing the peer pressure, he
does what many of us would have done, and he
finds a little boy to give it to. Now, that's
really nice, except that when he came back to the group,
he's like, well, I thought it'd be kind of cool
if we could all sign the ball and give it
to my.

Speaker 3 (57:58):
Cousin Jared, And I instantly felt like a jo.

Speaker 2 (58:02):
So I think, like there, it's like, well, you know,
he might have had really cool plans for the foul ball,
and yes, it's nice that he gave it to a
little boy, but it's not like he was just gonna
stick it in his pocket or go play catch with
it or forget about it.

Speaker 3 (58:15):
He had a cool idea.

Speaker 2 (58:17):
So since then, I've always been like, you know what,
maybe the person that caught the ball has plans for
it that are kind of cool and are kind of
personal and might be meaningful to somebody. And so for
eight years I have been beating myself up for being
that guy and my cousin now not having the ball

(58:38):
with like twelve of our signatures on it, which would
have been the coolest keepsake from an awesome bachelor party.
That night, I changed my tune on yell at the
guy who's caught the foul ball to give it to
a kid.

Speaker 9 (58:51):
Yeah, that's much more honorable way to handle yourself. But
my point, I've never caught a foul ball at a
game and gets a ball every game given to him
that I've been to so far this season, So you know,
I just thought it would be cool, like, hey, I
finally caught one, you know, And I grew up going
to Reds games at the Riverfront Stadium. The kids would

(59:11):
try to go for a ball and then the guys
would just bunch you on. I remember I got an
elbow to the forehead. You know, you had to be stronger,
faster back then.

Speaker 3 (59:21):
Well old man, like back in mid day.

Speaker 9 (59:23):
You'd get your butt kicked for trying to get a
foul ball from an adult.

Speaker 3 (59:26):
Yeah, you kid, I am.

Speaker 2 (59:28):
I am opposed to somebody who like steps in the
way of a kid, Like there's nothing worse if you
ever look like, uh, you know, down the third or
first baseline, if ever there's an athlete willing to sign
or you see this sometimes like the Bengals in training camp,
there's a lot of kids and then there's like a
pushy adult dude. Get out of the way, right like
just I mean to me, okay, but like if the

(59:48):
adult legitimately has the foul ball land in his lap
or her lap or makes a catch and they're thinking like, hey,
this would be a cool keepsake, maybe for my son,
maybe for my grandson, maybe or my nephew, maybe for
a little kid I know, or hey, it'd be kind
of cool to show, as you said, like show my
girlfriend or wife, Hey, cut a ball while you were
in the in the in the ladies room. Like since

(01:00:09):
since that day eight years ago, I have backed off
the just immediate thrust of pressure to go find a
kid because you never know what the person actually had
planned for the ball.

Speaker 9 (01:00:20):
Thank you, man, that was very therapeutic. I feel like
I'm a better person for this conversation.

Speaker 3 (01:00:24):
That's what this show does.

Speaker 2 (01:00:25):
JT.

Speaker 3 (01:00:26):
Have a great weekend.

Speaker 9 (01:00:27):
Appreciate you about time.

Speaker 3 (01:00:28):
I have been that guy in my life.

Speaker 2 (01:00:31):
I've never I've never caught a foul ball. I did
have land in the seat next to me the home
run hit by Chris Valaika for his UH.

Speaker 3 (01:00:43):
It was his first major league home run.

Speaker 2 (01:00:46):
I was at the game with UH my wife at
the time, and she was involved in Big Sisters Little
or Big Brothers Big Sisters, and we had the little
girl that she was mentoring at the game with us.
They got up to get a snow cone, and right
as they did, christ viha Lake hits his first big
league home run in the left field stands in the
seat that they were in, one of the seats that

(01:01:06):
they were sitting.

Speaker 3 (01:01:06):
In, and so I picked it up, and.

Speaker 2 (01:01:12):
I we had a little kid with us who wasn't
there with us, but she was in the bathroom. And
when we're getting a snow cane, I think they were
getting a snow cone, And so I got people screaming
a good fuck kid, and I'm like, well, I got
a kid with me, but she's not here right now,
and so.

Speaker 3 (01:01:33):
In like ten minutes, that little girl's gonna come back.

Speaker 2 (01:01:35):
And then, as it turned out, I didn't really realize
it was Christville Lake's first big league homer, and Red's
security came up to me, and the guy was really cool.
He's like, I'm sure you've heard me talk about this before.
But he comes up and he's like, hey, just FYI,
that was christmvill Lake's first home run.

Speaker 3 (01:01:52):
No pressure, but is there anything we could do to
have you give it? And I just like, dude, take
it like it means a lot more to him than
it's gonna be to me or whatever.

Speaker 2 (01:02:00):
As it turned out, the Reds were very cool and whatever.
But I'm standing there holding this ball and I'm waiting
for the little girl that we took to the game
to come back, and it's like people are screaming at me,
not even considering that maybe I've got a kid with
me that would like the ball now again Chris Vilake's
first big league homer, giving it back to him, To

(01:02:22):
me was more important, and I was happy to give
it up, and I wanted nothing in return, and the
Reds gave me a civil rights jersey in return, which
was nice of them.

Speaker 3 (01:02:31):
Didn't have to do that.

Speaker 2 (01:02:32):
But like I think sometimes, and I've learned this now,
if you're gonna be the guy that just starts screaming
at the person the first of all, let them enjoy
the fact they caught a ball. Let them enjoy the
fact that they went to a game and got a
ball in their hands, and give them like two minutes
to think, like, here's what I could do with it,
and if they decide to give it to a kid
sitting there, awesome, but if not, Like I did this

(01:02:53):
at a Zager basketball game with Tony this year, we
got one of the little like uh nerf ball with
an ex logo, and Tony got one, and we were
sitting next to a little kid, and I said like,
why don't you give it to that little kid?

Speaker 3 (01:03:08):
And then Tony said to me, he was like, well,
you know I have kids at home too, And.

Speaker 2 (01:03:10):
I'm like, buddy, there's no chance in hell you're giving
a Xavier ball a wild or so give it to
the kid.

Speaker 3 (01:03:14):
And he did.

Speaker 2 (01:03:16):
Sometimes you do have to wonder if the other person
has plans for the ball. You know, I have a
story about this, mo.

Speaker 3 (01:03:23):
Please.

Speaker 6 (01:03:24):
It was May thirty first, two thousand and eight. Yeah,
that's we're playing the Atlanta Braves. Ken Griffy Junior hit
home round number five ninety nine that day. Red's walked
it off in the tenth, but in the waning at
bats late in the game, Adam Dunn hit a rocket
down the right field line and it hit this kid
right in the chest, bounces off, Guy picks it up.

(01:03:45):
Guy's going nuts that he caught a foul ball. Kid
is sobbing, crying right and the entire section and the
section behind us in the section over are chanting, give
him the ball, Give him the ball. Kid could not
care less about the ball. He's just trying to survive.
And the guy finally gives him the ball and the

(01:04:07):
kid just like takes it and like puts it in
a cup holder.

Speaker 3 (01:04:09):
It starts trying Like.

Speaker 6 (01:04:11):
If that would have happened to me, if I had
have given that kid the ball and he just didn't care,
I would have been upset.

Speaker 2 (01:04:16):
Sure, yeah, you do want some level of appreciation back,
right Like now, autograph guy like there was the dude
we made fun of two training camps ago that as
Joe Burrow is signing for kids is just like getting
in the like that. I have no patience for that dude.
A guy militant like kids in the autograph line. As

(01:04:39):
as as somebody who can remember what it was like
to be a kid and get an autograph from a
pro athlete, like get the blank out the way, go
to a baseball card show or something like.

Speaker 3 (01:04:51):
That. That drives me nuts.

Speaker 2 (01:04:52):
But I'm I'm a little bit more patient when it
comes to guy who catches the ball and screaming at
him to go give it to a kid. We are
late twenty from five o'clock on ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati
Sports Station, Bengals.

Speaker 5 (01:05:07):
Training camp day since the three six years. They're bringing
you the Orange and blacklike never before from the Kettering
host practice field beginning Monday. A note on ESPN fifteen thirty,
the official home of the Bengals.

Speaker 3 (01:05:21):
Sports headlines are a service of.

Speaker 2 (01:05:25):
Kelsey Chevrolet, Home of lifetime powertrain protection and guaranteed credit
approval from their family to yours for life, kelseyshev dot.

Speaker 3 (01:05:32):
Com, Reds and Giants.

Speaker 2 (01:05:34):
First of three tonight at GABP, two night games and
then another Roku game on Sunday twelve oh five. Start
first things First, Andrew Abbott Kyle Harrison seven to ten.
This evening on seven hundred WLW, David Bell tells reporters
assembled at GABP that Matt McClain is dealing with a

(01:05:56):
stress reaction in his ribcage and he'll be limited three
to seven days. They still hope that he could begin
a rehab a sigmon on August the twelfth, Matt McLean news. Meanwhile,
the starting lineup tonight, Jonathan India is leading off, playing
second base, Elie de la Cruz at short Spencer Steers
and left field Ty France. Ty France was dfaed by

(01:06:20):
the Mariners a week ago. Today he's betting forth. Do
you know his middle name? I have no ideas Paris.
Are you making that up? Yes, okay, because I was
gonna say if it is. His parents are awesome, absolutely awesome,
and they still may be, but not as awesome as
I would have hoped. Stevenson's catching, Candelario's DH and TJ.

(01:06:42):
Friedelan Center, Stu Fairchild Santiago Estpanal eight nine, seven to ten.

Speaker 3 (01:06:47):
This evening. Luke Maylee is back off the injured list.

Speaker 2 (01:06:50):
He had a herniated disc and Eric Yan, congratulations to
me because during the duration of Luke Mayley's time on
the injured list, I correctly said herniated disc every single time.
Eric Yang back to Louisville, Florence is at Joliet tonight.
Bengals practice this morning. Jamar Chase did not practice this morning.

(01:07:12):
Bengals are off Tomorrow. Sunday's workout from two to four
open to the public. Don't forget Monday since the three
sixty broadcasts from Bengals training camp noon to three and
of course a week from tomorrow night Bengals hosting the
Bucks Live on ESPN fifteen to thirty.

Speaker 3 (01:07:27):
Did Simone Biles win any more gold medals today.

Speaker 6 (01:07:30):
I don't believe. So I think she's done all right.

Speaker 2 (01:07:32):
The internet, I mean, just has an orgasm every time
she wins a gold medal. So I hadn't noticed.

Speaker 6 (01:07:38):
That Caleb Dressel today performed very, very poorly and will
not qualify for either of the two individual events that
he won gold in in Tokyo.

Speaker 3 (01:07:48):
Wow. Okay, he was very emotional in Crime and Shoker.

Speaker 2 (01:07:51):
The US men's national team lost not that much of
a shock to Morocco.

Speaker 3 (01:07:56):
For Morocco's really good? Do we do?

Speaker 2 (01:07:59):
I mean, because this it's like, it's like the it's
not a junior team, but it is mainly twenty three
year olds with obviously three exceptions, one of them being
miles from.

Speaker 6 (01:08:07):
It's it's basically the junior team.

Speaker 3 (01:08:09):
Yah.

Speaker 2 (01:08:10):
Is there the level of anger and exasperation that comes
with when the other men's team loses?

Speaker 3 (01:08:16):
Do we get that? With the Olympics?

Speaker 6 (01:08:18):
No, they were not expected to get as far as
they did. So this is it, you know?

Speaker 2 (01:08:21):
Oh, it's this is the typical like, well, at least
we made it. At least we qualified that we do
in every international competition. No, okay, No, I'm asking that
out of legitimate legitimately.

Speaker 6 (01:08:35):
Like they they came in with the expectation of they
have a chance, don't know if they will. It's cool
that they did, and then they laid a stinker today. Disappointing.
But Morocco's really good.

Speaker 3 (01:08:44):
But they're typically not even in the Olympics, so just getting.

Speaker 6 (01:08:47):
No, they're in the Olympics every time, we hadn't qualified
for the Olympics since oh wait right, I don't think so.
I think they had been in the Olympics. I could
be wrong. I don't follow Olympic men's soccer. Back to
you the studio, I I because we have.

Speaker 2 (01:09:06):
I have Miles Robinson on the show, and the whole
thing was like, and I don't know, I know they
lost to Morocco.

Speaker 3 (01:09:12):
We'll care that much.

Speaker 2 (01:09:16):
Go ahead, Jeff in Virginia. You're on ESPN fifteen thirty.
Please rescue this segment.

Speaker 3 (01:09:20):
What's up?

Speaker 10 (01:09:22):
Oh happy Mick Ultra Friday, Jens, I'm sipping on a
buffalo trace with one rock right now.

Speaker 3 (01:09:27):
Never been more jealous.

Speaker 10 (01:09:29):
Well, yeah, you guys can get bourbon across the river
whenever you want to. We got to work to get
it up here. So that's for sure, so on the
on the foul ball topic. When the Mats first came here,
we were charter season ticket holders and we had eight
seats together down the front row, just down the left field.
Mine kind of passed third base a little bit, and

(01:09:50):
the ballgirl sat right in front of us. So between
the age of eight and ten or eight and eleven,
my daughter went to probably first eight or nine game
she went to. She always got a ball.

Speaker 4 (01:10:01):
Ball girl just.

Speaker 10 (01:10:02):
Hand her the ball, boom, boom boom. So like game
nine or ten, whatever it was, she doesn't get a ball.
We're walking out of the stadium. She starts crying. I'm like, sweet,
daddy's been to a thousand baseball games. I got four.
And I didn't say this, but I was like, you
know what you can do with your eight ninety nine
batting average, don't you?

Speaker 2 (01:10:23):
Yeah, Oh yeah, exactly exactly. The Red The Reds have
the Red Zilla, which shoots out foam balls right now,
and my daughter got one this year, the first game
that we went to, and now she thinks it's her birthright.
So we've gone to three games since and Red Zilla.
You know, she'll stand and wave and it's random and

(01:10:44):
she hasn't gotten the ball, and now she's like, well,
that red zilla thing doesn't like me. It's like if
the red zilla thing doesn't know who you are and
you got a ball the first game, like, that's pretty good.
There's a lot of kids that would love to have one.
You don't get when every time you go. We have
had that conversation now three times.

Speaker 3 (01:11:00):
Yeah.

Speaker 10 (01:11:00):
So then they moved the NAT's Park and before the nets,
you know, it was kind of half dangerous. We were
sitting right in the front row, and you know, my
daughter would go to their friends and they'd be on
their phones. I'm like, you can't do that. You know,
in between innings you can be on your phone a
little bit, but I want with my college roommate and
his grown son, and I think a guy was his cousin,

(01:11:20):
and Nick, the young guy gets a foul ball, and
there's a woman like two rows behind us, clearly north
of fifty years old, who'd been imbibing a little bit,
screaming at Nick give the ball to a kid, getting
the ball to a kid, and Nick just turns around
without missing a beat and drops an expletive on the

(01:11:40):
lady goes, I've never gotten a foul ball before shut up.

Speaker 3 (01:11:44):
Yes, yes, I mean like it is.

Speaker 2 (01:11:48):
You know, adults do keep souvenirs, right, and so I
could certainly understand, especially like if it's a park you
have visited for the first time, right, or at your
first one, Like I, I can understand an adult going
and you know, this would be a really nice keepsake.
Maybe it was a special occasion. Hey, I went for
my birthday, or I went from anniversary, or I went

(01:12:08):
on a big date. We go to the ball game
and I got a ball, Like, why can't it be
a cool souvenir for the adult?

Speaker 3 (01:12:14):
Yeah?

Speaker 10 (01:12:14):
And then at the All Star Game a few years
ago when it was here my ticket package buddy, who
just happened to have longer arms than I do, got
a foul ball at the All Star Game because he
reached down and grabbed it. And before the nets we've
had guys almost fall over the rail and onto the
field and all that good stuff. But we did have
a rule that if you have gotten a foul ball before,

(01:12:37):
you did have to look around and try to give
it to a kid. But if you haven't gotten a
ball before, it stick it in your pocket.

Speaker 3 (01:12:42):
Yeah. I love the idea.

Speaker 2 (01:12:44):
Of I love selflessness, so I love the idea of
I'm going to give this to someone else. I don't
like peer pressure, and so over the last eight years
I have stopped being peer pressure guy, at least when
I'm Austin will disagree that I'm not peer pressure guy.
But when it comes to the foul ball, not pure
pressure guy.

Speaker 4 (01:13:02):
No, not at all, not at all.

Speaker 10 (01:13:03):
But I will say, now, you know, if a left
hander hits a check swinging or a one hopper, I
am kind of happy those nets are up.

Speaker 3 (01:13:11):
Now.

Speaker 4 (01:13:11):
Yes they have.

Speaker 2 (01:13:13):
I was.

Speaker 10 (01:13:14):
I'm totally against them in general, but they have saved
some trouble. There was one time before they put the
nets up. The tarp was on our side of the
field on third base, and a lefty just hit a
check swing, one hop ripper and it usually you know,
it hits the tarp and it goes down. This one

(01:13:34):
hit the top of the tarp and picked up even
more speed and hit this old guy sitting down from
us right square in the face. It was really, really bad.

Speaker 2 (01:13:43):
I have been pro net for a while, and you
know what changed my mind was a game maybe ten
years ago, where I watched a little boy, a little
boy screaming and crying because his mom had gotten hit.
And I know the natural reaction for a lot of
people is, well, pay attention, dude, let me come on,

(01:14:05):
show me a day and age where people sat there
wrapped stern.

Speaker 3 (01:14:08):
Seriously.

Speaker 2 (01:14:09):
I mean, it's just it's not realistic, especially in this
day and age. And I just remember watching this little
kid go hysterical because his mom took one to the
head and was I hope not that seriously injured. But
I remember at that point going, Okay, this is unnecessary.
And I've been to a billion games since they put
up the nets. I don't even notice them, so I
am very much pro net.

Speaker 10 (01:14:31):
Yeah, we had a couple of times that a family with
a really little kid or cup. One time a husband
wife with a stroller came down and sat next to us.
I just looked at him right away and I said,
customer service is at section one fourteen up top. You
need to go up there right away and tell him
where you are because you cannot sit here type of thing. So,
and that will wrap up fal Ball talk for the weekend.

(01:14:53):
Do you boys have a nice weekend? Anybody going to
Luke Holme's.

Speaker 3 (01:14:56):
I'll be there tomorrow night. I can't wait.

Speaker 10 (01:14:59):
Okay, good, well, enjoy have a good weekend.

Speaker 2 (01:15:02):
Jeff, Yeah, he will. I could assure you with that.
Tony Pike Bengals Training Camp report next Bengals practice this morning.
So we don't have any sort of update live from
the venue originally known as Paul Brown Stadium.

Speaker 3 (01:15:17):
Tony Pike is not there.

Speaker 2 (01:15:18):
He's here instead because well, first of all, you're gonna
be there for hours on end next week, yes doing
since he three to sixty. Then live training Camp reports
from practice. Bengals practice this morning. Let's talk about someone
that you and I have touched on just a little
bit because he's so important, he's been talked about a lot.
I'm not really sure he can talk be talked about enough.
And that's Von Bell and what his return has.

Speaker 3 (01:15:39):
Meant for Lewin Room.

Speaker 7 (01:15:40):
Well, first, I don't know what the setup is going
to be starting Monday. I sure hope there's some type
of shade because yesterday was the hottest practice I've ever
been apart at training camp and I don't know if
I could do six hours out in that, but in
being there each and every day, we kind of went
into this whole camp of is it Jordan Battle versu
Von Bell. I don't think it is. I think this

(01:16:02):
is Von Bell and I think it's Geno Stone. And
this is not to take away Jordan Battle is going
to be a good player. Geno Stone is a really
good player that we've barely talked about. But Von Bell
is kind of the straw that stirs the drink here.
And lou Ana Roumo has raved about him. He raised
about him when they re signed von Bell, and he's
done so at camp to this point. Earlier in today's

(01:16:22):
practice he had a really nice breakup on a pass
from Joe Burrow. He just he's always in the right place.
And last year at camp there were so many instances
where players were running free with no one around him.
You're like, man, that's a blown coverage. That's a big miss.
You saw that in the games last year. You haven't

(01:16:43):
seen that this year. The offense has genuinely had to
work to move the ball. They've had to make some
really tight window throws. And I know it's still early,
and I know that they have questions with Dax Hill,
who's a question mark at this point, DJ Turner, but
it just it's such a better start when you can
line up and you can be sure that guys are

(01:17:05):
in the right spot. It sounds basic, but last year
they weren't so many times, and now you've got the
extension of Ana Roumo on the field every single snap
in von Bell.

Speaker 2 (01:17:15):
What would you say about where things stand in relation
to the battle between DJ Turner and Dax Hill.

Speaker 7 (01:17:20):
I don't think it's been much of a battle, and
I don't think either have been excellent. But at least
DJ Turner has been close in some coverage. I haven't
seen Dax Hill close, And you know, I wonder what
the plan is if it's a disaster at corner. Does
he go back to safety? Backup role? At safety? They
haven't really tried him in the nickel role, which would

(01:17:42):
be the only other spot to move him. He hasn't
been great, and again goes back to the Jamar Chase
ripple effect. He doesn't get to go against Jamar Chase
at practice, and he's going against three, four or five
guys on the depth chart and he's still getting beat.
So that's still a major question, you know, ending a
new week, going into a brand new week.

Speaker 2 (01:18:03):
At practice, we touched yesterday Marius Mims had to leave
so they put in Jackson Carmen. As you illustrated, that
did not go well. No where do things stand as
we assess backup tackle.

Speaker 7 (01:18:16):
It's a good point because to this point you and
I have done as much as Trent Brown has done
at camp.

Speaker 3 (01:18:22):
You know, it's not a lot. Like I've never seen
a guy.

Speaker 7 (01:18:25):
Trent Brown yesterday left practice early, wasn't practicing.

Speaker 3 (01:18:28):
Yeah, but I'm like, he's hot.

Speaker 7 (01:18:31):
Just walked off the field like thirty minutes left in practice.

Speaker 3 (01:18:35):
He's gone, no interest in hanging out.

Speaker 7 (01:18:36):
With no interest in hanging out with Luke Combs like
all the other guys. But so Mims leaves yesterday, Trent
Brown just he's like, all right, I'm out. I got
my rehab and I don't need to see anything else.
I'm out. And the very first series after that, it's
Jackson Carmen and it's third and one and they go
hard count and he fall starts, and it's like that's

(01:18:59):
the immediate thought of Okay, what is the plan here?

Speaker 3 (01:19:03):
If you look at the official.

Speaker 7 (01:19:04):
Depth chart, Jackson Carmen is listed as the backup left tackle,
and then it would be Trent Brown, Mems or however
the right tackle swings after that. Deontay Smith, Devin Cochrane
is listed on this list, but I just don't know.

Speaker 3 (01:19:20):
Cody Ford. Maybe it's a great question.

Speaker 7 (01:19:23):
I had the same question yesterday, but it's like, you know,
at that point, what what do you have if you're
the bank and you don't want to talk talk about
the depth?

Speaker 3 (01:19:34):
And no depth is ever going to be great.

Speaker 7 (01:19:35):
But by the way, Devin Cochrane got in the first
camp fight yesterday with Alan George and now, well the
question the meaning was, you know, if you're holding the
ticket that the first camp fight would be Alan George
and Devin Cochrane.

Speaker 3 (01:19:53):
You're a rich person.

Speaker 7 (01:19:55):
You are very very rich going into yesterday and and
you know if if you you could parlay that with
you know, an interception that we saw yesterday, you'd make
some money. But no, it's the depth is always going
to be a question. And Jackson Carmen, it feels like
every time he gets an opportunity, he does something to

(01:20:15):
make you talk about him in a negative way instead
of what you need to do with offensive lineman. And
that's not talk about him, right, If you're not talking
about him, that's a good thing. It always is something
with Jackson Carmen.

Speaker 2 (01:20:25):
The best thing that ever happened at Jackson Carmen was
he didn't have to play last year.

Speaker 7 (01:20:29):
Correct, And yet here we are on another day talking
about it. Jackson's siste year. Jackson Carmen doesn't make the cuts.

Speaker 2 (01:20:36):
I know what my money's on. All right, Tony, thank
you back at at five point forty five. And of
course since he three to sixty broadcasting from training camp
on Monday, starting at noon, Brandonman and Jones on Baseball.

Speaker 1 (01:20:47):
Is next Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 11 (01:20:51):
Traffic from the UC Health Traffic Center. No matter the
injury you see, health orthopedics in sports medicine redefines recovery
to get you back to doing what you love called
five one, three, four, seven, five eight six nine zero.
You're gonna hit slow traffic on northbound seventy one between
Kenwood Road and Ronald Reagan Highway, and expect a ten
minute delay on southbound seventy one between Mason Montgomery and

(01:21:15):
Montgomery Road. And there's a five minute delay on southbound
seventy one at Martin Luther King Junior Drive. I'm Nicole
with traffic.

Speaker 2 (01:21:26):
I guess we should start the hour nine nine after
five o'clock. That's some elite time management by me. I'm
a legger. It's the michelob Ultra five o'clock happy hour,
thanks to our friends at michelob Ultra h Austin.

Speaker 3 (01:21:44):
How's that michelob Ultra treatment.

Speaker 6 (01:21:46):
Very good likewise, very good likewise.

Speaker 3 (01:21:50):
Mc ultra perfect for anything.

Speaker 2 (01:21:52):
I am gonna maybe set a world record tomorrow for
most Micultra's consumed world record.

Speaker 6 (01:21:57):
I don't know what guys finalized your route yet.

Speaker 2 (01:22:00):
We have finalized the seven establishment route on our way
to Louke Colmbs. It's gonna be gonna be each one
of them, serves michaelo Ultra. So I know I'm gonna
have at least seven and I will not be driving,
and nor should you please please drink responsibly. We are
way late here in my apologies, it's Friday afternoons. Like

(01:22:22):
who cares? We started the show. This is what I
love about this medium. There are a lot of things
I love about this medium. Okay, what I love most
about it is this. We do a little goofy segment
there at four o'clock where I start offering some self
reflection about trying to figure out why I'm so frustrated
with the Reds, and we get a phone call from

(01:22:43):
JT and then the next forty minutes turns into a
discussion about what to do if you catch a foul ball.
That's what I love. You don't get that on a podcast. Okay,
not that I dislike podcasts. I love them. I'm the
world's greatest podcast guest. You know that you won't get that, not,
by the way, not recorded radio, live radio. Most of

(01:23:09):
you like the NFL kickoff rules.

Speaker 3 (01:23:11):
Some of you do not.

Speaker 2 (01:23:12):
We saw it in the abbreviated Hall of Fame game
last night.

Speaker 3 (01:23:16):
You know.

Speaker 2 (01:23:17):
I was watching maybe a month and a half ago,
and like a Sunday night, the NFL network was showing
and I don't know why I watched the bulk of
this game, but it was the Super Bowl after the
ninety seven season, which would have been Broncos Packers, Packers
looking for two in a row, which they didn't get,

(01:23:39):
Lway looking for his first. And it's like watching a
different sport from the way it's produced on television to
the way it's shot, to the way it's like Terrell
Davis gets a concussion in the game, and I think
it's Melissa Stark at halftime as like, yep, had a concussion.
But second half he'll be out there and they go

(01:24:01):
to the booth and it's the late great dick Enberg,
Phil Simms and Paul McGuire and they're like, well, that's what.

Speaker 3 (01:24:09):
You got to do. It's a super Bowl. It's like, man, that's.

Speaker 2 (01:24:12):
Not how we do things in this day and age.
How the players are dressed, how the game is played.
It feels like it's played in a box. The amount
of contact, how hard it was for guys to get open.
It's like watching a different sport. The NFL has, over
the course of really this century, continued to come up

(01:24:33):
with ways to be a better television product.

Speaker 3 (01:24:37):
And let's be honest.

Speaker 2 (01:24:38):
As much as so many of us love attending games
and going to Bengals games, at the end of the day,
it's TV show.

Speaker 3 (01:24:45):
NFL Stadium is a TV studio. It's a TV show.

Speaker 2 (01:24:48):
The explosion in offense, which has curtailed a little bit
in recent years, has had a lot to do with
the just continued explosion in popularity, which was obviously already
under way. It's because I don't love everything. I think
some of the roughing the passer rules are stupid and
I would get rid of replay entirely because it just
clunks everything up.

Speaker 3 (01:25:09):
But it's a better product.

Speaker 2 (01:25:10):
The NFL is always coming up with ways to just
let's tweak it a little bit, to make it a
little bit better. Every sport is doing this and should
do this. Baseball has been well documented. We've talked about
it a lot here. The pitch clock has been awesome.
I am unafraid to say that in my lifetime, the
pitch clock is the single greatest device implementation that we've

(01:25:37):
had in the sport, better than anything else. Like, you
watch a baseball game from two years ago, go do this.
There's a thousand of them on YouTube. It's like, wait
a minute, we spend a century and a half not
forcing the pitcher to throw the ball in a certain
amount of time.

Speaker 3 (01:25:56):
Really, that's how we did things. It is amazing.

Speaker 2 (01:26:00):
How good it is compared to how it used to be.
They've tweaked the rules, they've made it easier to steal.
It's made for a better product. College basketball, twice in
my lifetime, has shortened the shot clock. Why way too
much standing around. Even in the shot clock era, go
watch a game in the forty five second shot clock

(01:26:22):
era late eighties, early nineties. Like I was watching earlier
this year, the ninety one Final four upset when Duke
beat UNLV, which was at the time a monumental upset.
It's Bobby Hurley dribbling for thirty eight seconds. It's unwatchable.
They've tweaked it. They've made it better. College basketball is

(01:26:45):
in a much better place. The NBA is in a
better place. We've gotten rid of the full shot clock
after an offensive rebound, a lot of the defensive rules
that were in place in the nineties when the game
got unwatchable. I know people in my generation are supposed
to talk about how bad basketball in the ninety was,
in the nineties was, but in the late nineties it
was terrible. Early two thousands, it was terrible.

Speaker 3 (01:27:06):
What do they do.

Speaker 2 (01:27:07):
We're getting rid of the illegal defense rules, We're getting
rid of the hand checking. We're going to open things up.
The product is better. The kickoff rule is a tiny,
tiny version of that. Like, did anybody really miss hey?
NFL games about to start. Here we go Bengals Chiefs.
Here's the opening kickoff, and it sales over everybody's head.

(01:27:29):
And now it's it's first and ten. No, it's not
going to revolution. There's no one who's like, not watching
the NFL who's going to be like, you know what
I'm gonna do start watching NFL games because they've changed
the kickoff rule. And there's also nobody who consumes the
NFL the way so many of us do, who are gonna.

Speaker 3 (01:27:50):
Be like, you know what, I'm done, I'm out finished.

Speaker 2 (01:27:53):
Not watching games anymore, give back my Sunday ticket money,
not going to games. No, what it has done is
it has at least temporarily breathe life into a play
that was dead.

Speaker 3 (01:28:07):
What's wrong with that? It's a small tweak.

Speaker 2 (01:28:11):
It in the grand scheme of things, I think is
a pretty insignificant tweak. But it's still an interesting one,
and I'm willing to bet that over the course of
a season it gives us a handful of moments that
are more interesting than anything you would get with the
old way of doing things like I like it when

(01:28:33):
leagues like baseball did it with the pitch clock. There
is no sport that has a stodgier reluctant to change
fan base than baseball.

Speaker 3 (01:28:45):
None.

Speaker 2 (01:28:46):
I still hear people who are mad that we have
a DH and call it an experiment, and it's been
around for half century. Like baseball fans love to be
resistant to change, Like there are a lot of baseball fans.
You don't even have to tell them what the change
is going to be. You just say we're gonna change something.

Speaker 3 (01:29:04):
They don't like it.

Speaker 2 (01:29:06):
Like what about ten years ago Baseball said we're gonna
limit the number of mound visits. Baseball fans were like,
come on, you can't can't put a limit on mound visits.
Like really, you think it's entertaining when the catcher goes
to the mound and talks to the pitcher, Like you don't.

Speaker 3 (01:29:24):
Want to put a cap on that.

Speaker 2 (01:29:25):
I would eliminate them entirely, Like you think that's a
meeting on the mound is a good time. There is
no stodge of your fan base. And yet Baseball, to
its credit, man I can't stand Rob Manfred, but that
dude said, look, Players Association's not gonna work with me.
I'm jamming these things through. This is what the game
is gonna be. The game is better, more intelligenic, easier

(01:29:49):
to consume, not as much stuff that doesn't matter. The
NFL just did the same thing. I applaud them for it.
And yeah, maybe the ultimate objective here is enhanced play
or safety. I don't know if that's gonna take. I
do know this last night in the game that I
would have on but not pay very close attention to,

(01:30:10):
I wanted to see every kickoff seven got.

Speaker 3 (01:30:12):
Returned last night. That's pretty damn good.

Speaker 2 (01:30:15):
Last season in the NFL, almost eighty percent of kickoffs
were not returned.

Speaker 3 (01:30:21):
It's a nothing play. They got rid of a nothing play.
That's awesome.

Speaker 2 (01:30:27):
Give leagues credit when they try stuff because inevitably, maybe
less so than in baseball. I remember when college basketball
just a few years ago decided we're gonna go from
thirty five to thirty on the shot clock. Like I
had college basketball fans call this show that were like pissed.

Speaker 3 (01:30:43):
It's like, wait a minute.

Speaker 2 (01:30:44):
So the part of the game we like most, which
is when the ball goes in the air and a
shot is attempted, we're gonna have more of those. You
don't want that, like, you like just the standing around
watching a guy dribble. That's that's better. I you know,
college basketball isn't really a league. It has a rules

(01:31:05):
committee and if.

Speaker 3 (01:31:07):
It doesn't work. It doesn't work. Like if the kickoff thing.

Speaker 2 (01:31:09):
Ends up not being something that's adding to the experience,
then they'll get rid of it and try something else.

Speaker 3 (01:31:16):
I love what they did.

Speaker 2 (01:31:17):
I like it when leagues with their products say we're
gonna do stuff that's different. I'm anti robot MP. I mean,
I just I'm anti replay. I believe the games played
by human beings should be officiated by human beings, and
if there are mistakes, life goes on.

Speaker 3 (01:31:37):
It's part of life.

Speaker 2 (01:31:39):
But I do think there's something interesting about the implementation
of technology that could maybe make balls and strikes those
calls more accurate. And I think there's something to be
admired about the open mind in this. To try something
that a lot of people are gonna hate. I'm not
gonna like it, but I could appreciate. We're gonna do
this understanding we're gonna get pushed back, and if it works,

(01:32:02):
awesome and if not, cool And to Baseball's credit, nearly
everything they've done has worked. I was anti banned the
shift because I thought it would lead to more strikeouts.
Hasn't happened. They got it right, I can admit it.
Twenty minutes after five o'clock. Our numbers are five, one, three, seven, four, nine,
fifteen thirty. We'll update our poll questions. It is amazing

(01:32:22):
how many people are okay with someone else opening up
their mail. Uh, we're here till six at Moeggar on
x This is ESPN fifteen thirty, Cincinnati Sports station. And
in that my computer career dot edu commercial is really
handling his layoff. Well, yeah, this guy, let go gee,

(01:32:47):
this keeps happening to me better than I will, better
than I will.

Speaker 3 (01:32:54):
What are we doing here? What I don't remember? I
don't know.

Speaker 8 (01:32:57):
I don't know.

Speaker 2 (01:33:00):
There are there are certain weeks that fly by Austin.
This has not been one of them. I know that
feeling well, you know, you know it better than any
but yeah, I mean it. It feels like this is
the twenty fourth show we have done this week, and uh,
we're still waiting to do a good one.

Speaker 3 (01:33:16):
Mike, how you doing.

Speaker 4 (01:33:19):
Yeah, it kind of feels like that. As a listener
as well.

Speaker 2 (01:33:24):
I can always I can always count on you for
an honest assessment of how we're doing.

Speaker 4 (01:33:29):
Yeah, thank to your man. Yeah, hey, I know you're
looking forward to the weekend. You already popped the top.
You were doing your boy getting getting primed up for
the weekend. That's not Austin.

Speaker 2 (01:33:44):
How are you, hi, Mike, He's busy. He's busy handling
his production duties.

Speaker 4 (01:33:51):
Oh no, I shouldn't do that. Well, hey, I believe
it ironic that it's like the Woods and the Bengals
are ironically opposite of one another. Now see if you
understand what I know you will, but I'm probably gonna
portray it as succinctly as I could. Okay, I'm finally

(01:34:18):
over the transdamfusion. Thank god.

Speaker 3 (01:34:21):
Will you sound much better today? Which is great to hear.
Go ahead, Thanks.

Speaker 4 (01:34:25):
It's like the the Bengals defense is okay, Bengals. The
Reds have a have a considered maybe a very h
erratic offense.

Speaker 3 (01:34:41):
Let's say that's a word you could use. Erratic.

Speaker 4 (01:34:43):
Yes, but they have a good defense because if you're
looking at starting pitching, that's the primary defense that you have. Correct.

Speaker 2 (01:34:55):
Uh, yeah, I sort of separate pitching from defense. I
don't think the Reds are very good defensive team. I
say that not having perused the advanced metrics recently, but
I do think they have good pitching.

Speaker 4 (01:35:09):
Yeah, and pitching, and good pitching really is ultimate defense.

Speaker 2 (01:35:12):
Yeah, they're they're they're they're better than league average at
run prevention, absolutely.

Speaker 4 (01:35:18):
Good run prevention. I love that. Nice. I'll rester that
the opposite with the Bengals. They have a great offense,
we can catch you're you're just automatically assuming and we
all are that they're going to be great, or they
should be with the most weapons shows hand and offensive
lines better everything, but the defense is questionable. So it's

(01:35:39):
ironic to me they're a little bit opposite of one another.
And I still don't trust this defense.

Speaker 8 (01:35:45):
MO.

Speaker 4 (01:35:45):
I'm sorry, I just don't. For the Bengals, I just don't.

Speaker 2 (01:35:48):
Well, I don't assume they're going to be great on offense.
I don't make that many assumptions. I believe that they
I think it's it's almost undeniable. They have they have
an eight lister quarterback and offensive personnel that gives them
a chance to be really, really good. That said, I

(01:36:10):
think you are being completely reasonable if you wonder, indeed,
how good can this offensive line be? I think you're
being completely reasonable if you go, you know what, even
with Joe Burrow and Zach Taylor, who calls the plays.
Even with that combination, they've had these long stretches where
they've they've just gone through lulls that are at times inexplicable. Now,

(01:36:35):
I think what counters that is. I believe they should
be a little bit more explosive in the running game.
I also think the wealth. I think Mike Kasicki is
a major upgrade from IRV Smith. And I think what
they've done with replacing Tyler Boyd, you really can't do
any better for a player as good as Tyler was
and maybe still is. The combination of players they've drafted.

(01:36:59):
What they can do with height end, I just is
is a really good way to make up for a
guy who is a very productive and good player.

Speaker 3 (01:37:07):
And so I don't assume.

Speaker 2 (01:37:08):
Anything, but if you said, Okay, you know, would you
feel comfortable wagering on the Bengals having an offense that's
in the top.

Speaker 3 (01:37:17):
Five, Hell yeah, I would.

Speaker 2 (01:37:19):
I think the questions about the defense are legit until
they're answered, and we're not gonna get those answers during
training camp. Now, I think they've been decent better than
decent in addressing some of their biggest weaknesses. Safety play
last year was terrible. Well, they were pretty damn aggressive
in addressing safety play, like we can't get beat over
the top time and again.

Speaker 3 (01:37:40):
We're not gonna run it back with Dax Hill.

Speaker 2 (01:37:43):
We're not gonna just see if Jordan Battle can figure
it out on a full time basis. We're gonna go
get a guy who we know can still play, who
we certainly know knows our system, and a guy in
Geno Stone who's done nothing but get better the more
and more the Baltimore Ravens have given him. Now that
said Cam Taylor Britt, they're asking him to play to

(01:38:03):
the level of Shoudobi a Woozy when he was at
his best. Can he I don't know. I've seen glimpses.
Are they gonna be better rushing the passer? You know,
last year at the end of the season, we talked
about how defensive tackle play has to get better. Well,
their best defensive tackle left. Have they done enough to

(01:38:24):
not only replace him but get better? Are they going
to be better against the run? Is the linebacker play,
which last year suffered a huge drop off? Is that
gonna be sufficient? I think the good news though, when
you look at that side of the ball. If they're
middle of the pack in pretty much every metric, and
the offense at least touches its potential. That's gonna be

(01:38:44):
good enough to have the sort of record that could
put you in a position to win the AFC North.

Speaker 4 (01:38:51):
A one more pookie on the Bengals, and then I
got a a. I like to always hit you with
a question. You know, so do you worry about their
on defense? What the depth of the defense?

Speaker 3 (01:39:07):
Well, yeah, sure, yeah, I guess.

Speaker 4 (01:39:10):
Every team goes probably when it comes right down to it.

Speaker 2 (01:39:13):
Well, let's just say that like right now, right now,
they're practicing without Hendrickson and Hubbard. Now there's been nothing
to suggest that either player is going to have to
miss time. Let's say that was a regular season thing.
How do you feel about this defense without Trey Hendrickson.
I saw what happened to the defense in a small
stretch without Sam Hubbard behind those guys. I'm a big

(01:39:35):
Miles Murphy guy. I'm not a huge Joseph Osai guy.
If they were to suffer something at linebacker, your guess
is as good as mine. If there was a problem
at safety, well, this area that you were very aggressive
in addressing has now been compromised, So what do you
have there? And I think every team in the National
Football League wants more corners, right, So there's not a

(01:39:58):
team in the NFL that you're like, you know what
if we had a major run of injuries at cornerbacks,
were fine.

Speaker 3 (01:40:04):
There's nobody who feels that way.

Speaker 2 (01:40:05):
So but I think I think there's a lot of
teams around the NFL that would express almost at least
a similar set of concerns about their defensive depth.

Speaker 3 (01:40:14):
But sure, yeah, I don't know.

Speaker 2 (01:40:17):
But I also wonder about the offensive line depth, Like
what happens if you have to start to play some
of those guys behind the five dudes I guess, including
Mimes who played last year.

Speaker 3 (01:40:29):
It's a fair question.

Speaker 4 (01:40:31):
Yeah, it's a scary question. Okay, let's do MLB attendance quick.
This is something that people in Cleveland. I got no
acts that growing to Cleveland. I know a lot of
people in Cincinnati do. But I grew up a Browns
fan because they didn't have the Bengals. I became a
Bengals fan the Browns, but originally that's what you had,

(01:40:53):
so you've root it for your Ohio team. But MLB
attendance mode. They are twentieth, the Reds are twenty second.
That is miserable for a team with in and out
of the best record in the MLB. It's terrible.

Speaker 2 (01:41:07):
Yeah, so they're averaging. I think they have the twentieth
highest attendance in the sport. Last I looked, they're up
in Cleveland about two thousand fans from last year at
last I had heard. I don't know what the answer is.
I don't live in Cleveland. I'm gonna guess. And again
I don't know. Baseball weather in Cincinnati isn't great in April.

(01:41:31):
Baseball weather in Cleveland in April probably even worse. So
how much does that bring the season average down when
you're looking at it midway through? But they have an
excellent team and a team that is good enough that
you would think would be a little bit higher. They're
in the bottom third of the sport. You would think
they would at least be closer to the middle of

(01:41:53):
the pack. I do not know the reason. I do
know that I got to run Mike. Have a healthy weekend.
I hope we talk to you Monday.

Speaker 3 (01:41:59):
Man.

Speaker 4 (01:41:59):
Okay, thanks, you got the final FOURIGN surfing coming up.

Speaker 2 (01:42:03):
Take care, buddy, I Can't Wait twenty four from six
ESPN fifteen thirty servis Kelsey Chevrolet home of lifetime power
train protection and Gaartee credit approval from their family to
yours the life Kelsey chev dot Com, Reds and Giants
Tonight SF in Town seven to ten this evening, seven
hundred WLW first pitch Andrew Abbott and Kyle Harrison on

(01:42:25):
the hill. You want a red starting lineup? Of course,
you want a red starting lineup. Tonight's red starting lineup
hopefully made well thanks to Madewell Restoration. Your home deserves
to be made well. Get it made well at Madewell
Restoration dot Com. Starting line at the sevening India second
Elliott Short, Spencer Steer and left. Ty France is batting
cleanup tonight at first base, Tyler Stevenson behind the dish,

(01:42:46):
Jamer Candelario, dhing TJ Friedland, Sentator, Stu Fairchild and right
Santiago Espinal.

Speaker 3 (01:42:53):
He is in right field, No he's not. He's a
third base and batting ninth.

Speaker 2 (01:42:59):
We've got a handful of injury updates for you, so
Matt McClain. Now they're still targeting a rehab start of
August twelfth, which is a week from Monday. But he
is dealing with a stress reaction in his rib cage
and so he's going to be limited from three to
seven days, but possibly could still start the rehab on

(01:43:23):
August twelfth. Also, Emilio Pegan's going to begin a rehab
assignment tomorrow and we'll pitch anywhere from three to five innings.
And had you forgotten that the Reds have Ian Jebo.
Ian Jebau got a cortizone injection and had a small
tweak of his CAF that set him back a few days.
What I completely forgot that Ian Jabbau was on the Reds.

(01:43:46):
I guess he really isn't, but I didn't entirely forget
that Ian Jebau was with the Reds. I forgot what
his injury was. And I'm sorry Florence all. By the way,
Luke Mainley is also back, which is good. He's been
dealing with a herniated disc. And Andrew Yang has been
sent to Louisville, Florence. Is that Joliet Tonight Bengals practice today.

(01:44:12):
Jamar Chase didn't. Team is off tomorrow. Public workouts Sunday,
and that goes from two to four o'clock Bengals Bucks
a week from tomorrow night live on ESPN fifteen thirty
since he three sixty live from Bengals training camp Monday
at noon.

Speaker 3 (01:44:30):
How are we on time, Austin.

Speaker 6 (01:44:33):
We're We're doing all right. Got a couple more minutes.

Speaker 3 (01:44:37):
Very good. John is calling from Findley. Hi, John.

Speaker 4 (01:44:42):
O.

Speaker 8 (01:44:42):
What's going on?

Speaker 3 (01:44:43):
Sitting here doing a talk show? How about yourself?

Speaker 8 (01:44:47):
That's so I'm just stopping get just eating some ice
cream right now, getting ready to go home.

Speaker 3 (01:44:50):
That's a pretty good day.

Speaker 8 (01:44:52):
Yeah, yes it is. I'm gonna I'm gonna show my
age a little bit and probably have a non conformist opinion.
But I really, I really don't.

Speaker 10 (01:45:02):
Like the pitch clock very well.

Speaker 3 (01:45:04):
Why.

Speaker 8 (01:45:06):
I just think that it just seems like the game
is and I know you're probably gonna jump on the
other side, but almost like the game is going too fast.
There's a lot of little things in baseball that I
think make it unique from other sports. And I and
I agree, there was way too much time wasted. But

(01:45:29):
and I think and something that seems like it never
got brought up during all this is there's actually rules
in place to keep the game moving. And umpires just
chose to.

Speaker 3 (01:45:41):
Not enforce them, no question.

Speaker 4 (01:45:44):
No I don't.

Speaker 2 (01:45:45):
I'm sorry I said, I said, no question, there's no
doubt about that. Now, what I would say to that was, well,
if they're not enforcing them, then enforce them for them.

Speaker 8 (01:45:55):
Well, and I understand that, but I just think the
pitch clock was just I think it's too I mean
one of the things I think we miss in baseball now,
and you see it in broadcasts all the time. The
color commentator really doesn't have a whole lot of time
to commentate.

Speaker 3 (01:46:13):
The good ones do. The good ones do, and.

Speaker 8 (01:46:16):
You'll catch Brandley and Chris Welsh and Lark a lot
of times. I mean, they kind of get missed.

Speaker 10 (01:46:23):
In the shuffle.

Speaker 8 (01:46:25):
And there again, it's just a lot of things I
think that it's missed in that.

Speaker 2 (01:46:30):
I don't want John as what I'll say to those
this as a broadcaster, although not one nearly as good
as those, but a different type of broadcaster.

Speaker 3 (01:46:39):
Your job is to adjust. Now, I'll admit to you.

Speaker 2 (01:46:42):
One of the interesting things about Spring training radio broadcast
in twenty twenty three, the first year the pitch clock
was just as a bit of a broadcasting nerd listening
to how Tommy and Jeff adjusted.

Speaker 3 (01:46:53):
I think they've done so beautifully.

Speaker 4 (01:46:56):
Yeah.

Speaker 8 (01:46:57):
Yeah, But I think another thing too, is it just
it seems like and like if there's a if there's
a really good play or some kind of a highlight
that happens between batters, you don't you don't hardly you
don't see them.

Speaker 6 (01:47:13):
You might get one quick view.

Speaker 8 (01:47:14):
And that's it because we're moving on to the very
next tinner.

Speaker 10 (01:47:17):
Again.

Speaker 2 (01:47:17):
Yeah, but there's also no shortage of ways to go
see those highlights.

Speaker 8 (01:47:23):
I understand.

Speaker 10 (01:47:23):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:47:24):
I mean like if if La de la Cruz does
something on the baseball field and this night, this might not,
this might not be reality for everybody, but for a
lot of folks, I could go back and rewatch it
instantly on my phone. And like the broadcasters, I think
what it's forced them to do is to be more
concise and.

Speaker 3 (01:47:44):
Like I don't need I don't need any long.

Speaker 2 (01:47:46):
Winded stories from some old ballplayer that played in the eighties.
Tell me what just happened, and it shouldn't take that long. Like,
I think it's been awesome. I think broadcasters have adjusted,
I think fans have adjusted, and like the stuff, the
little stuff that happens. I mean, there's still twenty seconds
between pitches. Do you need forty five minutes to figure

(01:48:06):
out where you're gonna play your shortstop?

Speaker 3 (01:48:09):
Yeah?

Speaker 8 (01:48:09):
Yeah, I And along along with that, I mean, one
of the things I did like about baseball was some
of those stories that an announcer would tell during the game.
And those are those are obsolete now, Those never happened
because they just don't have time.

Speaker 3 (01:48:27):
I disagree.

Speaker 2 (01:48:29):
I mean, I think a competent broadcasting crew and I
think the Reds have a few.

Speaker 3 (01:48:35):
But I but I noticed this.

Speaker 2 (01:48:36):
I watched Sunday Night Baseball a fairly reliable basis, maybe
a little bit less those a week and closer to football,
But like you got Carl Ravich and edwardo Perez and
David Cohne, and EDWARDO Perez has a very unique background
because he grew up around the Big Red Machine and
played Major League baseball, and David Cohne had an insanely
good career, probably obviously primarily with the two New York teams.

(01:49:00):
And it's it's like it's like watching a video podcast
while a game unfolds in front of them, and they'll
tell stories and they'll talk about the league, and they'll
focus on critical things happening in the game that they're watching.
And so I think broadcasts are a little bit different.
But I think with really like, a really good storyteller

(01:49:22):
can figure out a way to do it. A really
good broadcaster can figure out a way to work in
the important parts of a story of analysis of an
anecdote and still ensure that the game itself is being covered,
and the poor broadcasters are going to be weeded out.
Good broadcasters adjust, and poor broadcasters end up doing afternoon

(01:49:44):
drive sports talk radio shows.

Speaker 8 (01:49:47):
Yeah. You know a couple of other rules that I
really don't like. The limited, limited pickoff attempts at the
first base.

Speaker 10 (01:49:56):
I think that changes.

Speaker 8 (01:49:58):
I think that changes some of the strat the game.
I don't like the limited I don't like the three
the three batter minimum that really to throw.

Speaker 10 (01:50:09):
I think that changes the.

Speaker 9 (01:50:11):
Strategy of the game.

Speaker 8 (01:50:12):
Yeah, and I really really don't sing a runner on
second base for free and extra.

Speaker 2 (01:50:18):
Inning that I hate. John, Thank you and have a
great weekend. I will not argue with you. I hate
that rule. I am never coming around to that rule.
Three batter minimum makes managers think instead of having the
thinking done for them, and watching a guy throw twenty
eight consecutive pickoff throws the first base was boring. Tony
Pike is not. He joins us next.

Speaker 1 (01:50:39):
I'm Tiffany, founder of.

Speaker 5 (01:50:40):
The Skylightilie feeling good. He's Skylight of ESPN fifteen thirty,
the official home of the Bengals.

Speaker 3 (01:50:51):
The Bengals practice this morning.

Speaker 2 (01:50:53):
But because we just have the deepest commitment to providing
the latest when it comes to Bengals training camp, we're
doing live training camp reports even though practice ended hours ago.
Tony Pike is with us before we talk about the
Bengals and anything that may or may not have happened today.
The Hall of Fame game was last night. It was
abbreviated yeah, which means my winning bet got returned.

Speaker 3 (01:51:15):
But it was the debut of the NFL's new kickoff rule. Yeah.
Do you like the NFL's new kickoff rule?

Speaker 7 (01:51:20):
I think I do Yeah watching it last night, because
you know it first, it seems like teams are going
to challenge it early, and it does immediately. You see
the difference of what they're trying to avoid, which is
the head on collisions. Like I don't even think until
I saw it I noticed they're so close together. Yeah,
and to avoid that. I still think it's going to

(01:51:42):
open up the opportunity for big returns. And I think
it was so basic last night that it was just
about let's get a returner back there. Yeah, let's set
up some base returns. But I think it's going to
turn into stuff throughout the season where you know, Austin
a couple of weeks ago mentioned like, you know, remember
when they used to put pac Man back for punt returns. Yeah,
where it's like not every time, right, but sometimes do

(01:52:02):
you change up who's back there? Sure, Because the conversation
on offense all the time is get the playmakers the
ball in space. Yeah, the kickoff now becomes an extension
of that. You can get your best playmakers the ball
in space in a safer environment than what it used
to be.

Speaker 2 (01:52:16):
I just like the fact that it's worth paying attention
to eighty percent of kickoffs last year were not returned,
And so the NFL it's kind of doing what baseball did, right.
We're gonna cut the fat, We're gonna get rid of
the standing around, we're gonna have a pitchclock, We're not
gonna have as many pickoff throws. We're not gonna have
as much stuff that diverts your attention. At least for now.
The kickoff is back in terms of being something that

(01:52:38):
I actually want to pay attention to.

Speaker 7 (01:52:39):
That and it's something that coaches now have to pay
attention to sure, you know, from we always talk about
how's what's the best way to make a roster the
end of a roster special teams. Yeah, it takes on
a whole different level right now. And again what types
of playmakers do you see on the field and does
it change on the kicking side as well? Do you
put some of your better tacklers or starters out there

(01:53:01):
and maybe a key kickoff role to say, okay, we
can't afford you know, and nut hingm, I'm just thinking
the first name I thought, you know, Stanley Morgan was
always a special teams guy. Yeah, if it's fourth quarter,
you're up seven, does Stanley Morgan get replaced for a
safety or a corner, someone that you know can surely
go make a tackle. I think it's fascinating and to
your point, it shines light on a part of the

(01:53:23):
game that has essentially been forgotten.

Speaker 2 (01:53:25):
Yeah, they moved the pat back a number of years ago,
and now you know it's it's still the overwhelming majority
of pats are successful, but it's not quite the automatic
kick that he used to be. Yeah, so it's worth
paying attention to. And I feel the same way about kickoffs.
As we turn the page to next week, in the
first week of Bengals training camp, where they're preparing for
a game and you'll be down there broadcasting live doing

(01:53:47):
since he three to sixty starting on Monday, are there
things you're going to be paying attention to maybe a
little bit more closely next week as opposed to the
first two weeks.

Speaker 3 (01:53:55):
Yeah.

Speaker 7 (01:53:56):
Obviously, Jamar Chase will remain a storyline. I just want
to see more consistency from Burrow. He's been up, he's
been down at times. Yesterday I saw him throw four
straight in completions in one on ones. I don't think
I've ever seen that because you're not getting rushed, there's
no defensive help. But as the practice went on, he
made some really good throws. Today's practice the end of practice,

(01:54:19):
Charlie Jones sag Jackson really nice throws down the field.
So he has shown the ability to make all the throws.
But he's not done it consistently yet, so as the
season and preseason progresses, I want to see him progress
as well, because, make no mistake about it, the first
test comes when he has to take a fall, when
he takes a hit. He's got to be good to

(01:54:41):
go before any of that happens. There can't be any
restrictions or any thought of him being able to make
every single throw back to back to back to back.

Speaker 3 (01:54:48):
All right, Tony, thank you so much. We'll be listening Monday.

Speaker 2 (01:54:50):
Gotta go weekends here, Thanks to Austin for producing, Thanks
to you for listening.

Speaker 3 (01:54:55):
Have an unbelievable weekend.

Speaker 2 (01:54:56):
We're back at it Monday at three zero five on
ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports Station.

Speaker 6 (01:55:03):
Mm hmm

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