The Mo Egger Radio Show -- 8/23/24

Mo talks about the Bengals preseason finale, chats about Joey Votto, talks with Alex Faust, Tony Pike, Danny Higginbotham, and more on ESPN 1530!

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
What's up, Good afternoon on Molegger. This is ESPN fifteen thirty.
Thank you for listening. Hopefully your weekend is off to
an unbelievable start. Hopefully it started last night with exciting
preseason football has heard on ESPN fifteen thirty. Tony Pike
is gonna join us on his off day coming up
in just about forty minutes. This will be our last

(00:26):
day of training camp reports on Monday they turn into
season preview reports. They're gonna be the exact same stuff,
but there is some stuff to get to. As it
relates to last night's preseason finale, Red's are in Pittsburgh.
Another starter goes on the injury list. Now it's Andrew Abbott.
I don't want to be the bearer of bad news,
but I will be in just a bit. So if

(00:48):
you can't handle bad news on a Friday afternoon, I'm sorry.
I'm not gonna tay you to go away, but you
know three thirty five, I'm gonna be the bear of
bad news. Alex Faust is gonna be on the show.
He's actually there on Apple tonight. Alex Faust is the
play by play guy for Apple. See He's gonna join
us from Pittsburgh at four to twenty, and also Danny Higgabotham,

(01:08):
who also calls games for Apple, but he's got the
FC Cincinnati match. The Orange and Blue back in MLS
play against Miami. This team obviously made some acquisitions during
the transfer window. Miami is gonna have a lot of
guys who were who are not on the field the
last time these two teams played when FC Cincinnati blew
them out. But they're not gonna have MESSI, you know.

(01:29):
Pat Brandon writes about this in the Inquirer. This is
a match that if FC Cincinnati is holding out hope
to win the Supporter Shield again, it cannot drop. Tomorrow
Night's till Danny's gonna join us in the five o'clock hour.
We have a lot of ground to cover. Show preview
video is up. Go get it right now on x
at moegar thanks to Emery Federal Credit Union, your credit

(01:51):
union with heart since nineteen thirty nine. Go to EMORYFCU
dot org. The preseason is over, thank God. Like you
ever hear like players from the seventies, Like we have
Dave Lapham on the show and he'll talk about like
what it was, what it was like to play in
six preseason games. I mean, it was just a couple
of years ago they played. Can you imagine a fourth

(02:14):
like that? Feels like that feels like from a different
age when they played four, Now they play three. Soon
they're gonna be playing two. Last night's game was a
success from the standpoint of no major injury developments. It
was a success from the standpoint of, you know, kind
of confirming some things that we thought Matt Lee should

(02:36):
make this team as a seventh rounder. He looks the part.
Uh Muma, John Meda looks the part. You mean to
tell me there's no room for him on this team?
Are you kidding me? Ryan Rico does not look the part.
It kind of felt like last night. As long as
he is okay with the hip flex er, Brad Robbins
is going to be the punter. But the two names

(02:57):
that jump out to me. One is Jermaine Burton, who
have to talk about a little bit later on. The
other is guy who scored the first touchdown, Jordan Battle,
the first Cincinnati touchdown, a pick six, A nice play,
a bad ball by Anthony Richardson, who I gotta be
honest with you, man, I've seen nothing from Anthony Richardson

(03:18):
that makes me feel like I felt or makes me
not feel like I felt leading up to the draft,
which is, I just don't know if that guy's a
franchise quarterback. That's a conversation for the people in Indianapolis.
One of the things we've touched on often over the
last couple of weeks has been lou Enorrumo being in
such an enviable spot right and for all the talk
of Joe Burrow and his glove and Jamar Chase and

(03:41):
when's he gonna play and when's he gonna practice?

Speaker 2 (03:43):
Is he gonna miss games while they get the deal done?

Speaker 1 (03:46):
The nuts and bolts of this training camp in this
offseason have really been about taking a defense that's stunk
everywhere last year and making it significantly better. They do
not need to be the league's best. They don't need
to be a top five defense. If they are awesome,
they need not be as bad as they were last year.
And they specifically cannot be as bad as they were

(04:09):
last year in giving up explosive plays.

Speaker 2 (04:11):
That's got to be fixed. So does a lot of
other stuff.

Speaker 1 (04:14):
I talked about this with data or the other to
day and if you missed it, it's on the podcast
page of ESPN fifteen to thirty dot com, also the
iHeartRadio app. They're probably gonna be maybe marginally better against
the defense, but against the run, but the chances are
not not exponentially, not significantly. I think the pass for
us such a chance to be better. I would love
it if I thought Miles Murphy, if I felt better

(04:35):
about Miles Murphy if he was completely and totally healthy.
But I'm not sure it's going to be exponentially better because, frankly,
I don't expect Trey Hendrickson to have as good of
a season as he did last year. It would be
almost impossible to expect that. The one area where I
really do expect them to see significant improvement from is
the secondary and specifically the explosive plays and the tackling

(04:59):
and being in better position. So I'm watching Jordan Battle
last night, and I'm listening to Dan Horden Dave Lapham
talk about Jordan Battle, and you go back to his
rookie season.

Speaker 2 (05:08):
He wasn't perfect, but he was really really good.

Speaker 1 (05:11):
His Pro Football Focus grade was for a rookie outstanding, right,
And you watched him last season and thought, that's a piece,
that's a guy and maybe a little bit miscast last year.
Perhaps last season you would have loved to have paired
him with von Bell or Jesse Bates instead of Dax Hill,
who had his own issues at the safety spot. But
you saw some really encouraging things, but unfortunately you weren't

(05:35):
ready to bank on him making this huge second year
leap to the degree that you let the.

Speaker 2 (05:41):
Position go unaddressed. So what do they do?

Speaker 1 (05:43):
They obviously went out Guy Ginostone and Von Bell. I'm
not sure Luen Rumo is going to be using that
many three safety looks. I suppose that's an option. But
look at that dude. Look at what he did at Alabama,
look at what he did in his rookie season. Watch
him last night. You hear what people say about the
Canthony has had. You mean to tell me this secondary

(06:04):
could be so good and this safety group could be
so good that that dude is coming in as a sub.
And it speaks to a theme that I've touched on
a little bit this week and often throughout training camp.
There are a lot of defensive coordinators, are a lot
of teams that come into the season trying to fix
stuff on defense, change things that went wrong last year.

(06:28):
And maybe that happens with making wholesale changes, maybe it
happens with them making incremental changes. Maybe it happens with
teams simply hoping that young players play better as they
gain experience. With the Bengals, I think it's really the
right combination of guys, just at that in the secondary
as a whole, lumping the corners and safeties together, you've

(06:49):
got a guy in Geno Stone who feels like I
keep using the word ascending, still ascending, Von Bell who's
established and even if he is perhaps slightly past his prime,
I'm man regarded as ultra smart, totally team oriented, not
going to be in the wrong spots, and is gonna

(07:09):
make up for with his ability to communicate and be
reliable whatever athletic dip there may be, and maybe there's
none even at the corner spot. Look, Dax Hill is
gonna get tested and chances are there going to be
times he fails, and same for DJ Turner, and same
for down the road Josh Newton, and perhaps so even
the same for Cam Taylor Britt.

Speaker 2 (07:30):
It's an inherent position. But like we're talking.

Speaker 1 (07:33):
About early round draft choices, premium picks, and then in
Mike Hilton you talk about reliable. I think we all
know what the normal Mike Hilton season looks like. It
is the perfect combination of player profile that I think
if you're a defensive coordinator you love to have if

(07:54):
your main task is fixing this one thing that you
have to fix. Like we would like for them to
be better against the run, I'm not sure they really
have to be that much better against the run. They
have to be better at giving up explosive plays. They
got to be better there. They got to be better
in the red zone, they got to be better at

(08:15):
giving up large chunk plays. And there's a lot of
defensive coordinators who come into the season looking to improve
specifically in that area. How many of them would love
to have Jordan Battle come off their bench. That's the
position that Lua and Rumo is in. It's a damn
good position to be in. Fourteen after three o'clock, you

(08:39):
can send a tweet on x thanks to our friends
at Delta Dental. Delta Dental is building healthy, smart, vibrant
communities for all good at Delta dentalh dot com. We'll
talk about this in greater detail with Tony Pike a
little bit later on. It has been a bizarre preseason
for Jermaine Burton. So last night al Michael's in Kirk

(09:00):
Kurbstreet essentially suggest and I'll be mild that Jermaine Burton's
like nodding off during meetings. Now, these aren't two guys
doing a podcast. This is Al Michaels, arguably the greatest
NFL announcer of all time, maybe the greatest network DV
sportscaster of all time. And Kirk Kurbstreet, who's as good

(09:25):
of a football analyst as you will ever hear been
doing it forever, good enough that he's doing collegen pro
games and Game Day. Like there's some folks on social
media who don't like Kirk Kurbstreet.

Speaker 2 (09:38):
This isn't just some random guy.

Speaker 1 (09:40):
If they're gonna speculate and talk about a dude nodding
through meetings, that's not something they're just making up. It's
coming from a place of information. Where did it come from?
I have no idea, but we can take some guesses.
So that's been a theme though, right Like Jermaine Burton, boy,
the athleticism, the speed, the ability to go get the

(10:01):
ball elite, but Joe Burrow doesn't trust him, and you know,
from a maturity standpoint, maybe he's not quite where you
would like for him to be, and perhaps the coaches
need to see some things beyond his elite athleticism and
games when he's playing against dudes who are not going
to be in the NFL for them to play it.

(10:21):
What I love about the position the Bengals are in
is this at wide receivers specifically, but I kind of
feel like you can apply this to the rest of
the team. There's nothing better than not being desperate.

Speaker 2 (10:32):
Right.

Speaker 1 (10:33):
The best time to look for a job is when
you have one, not when you're desperate for one.

Speaker 2 (10:39):
Right.

Speaker 1 (10:39):
The best time to go car shopping, I think at least,
is when you've got a car that still works, not
when you've got one that doesn't work anymore.

Speaker 2 (10:47):
You don't want to be desperate.

Speaker 1 (10:48):
The Bengals have a dude in Jermaine Burton that a
lot of teams would be desperate to play, and they
would you have to reconcile themselves with Okay, you know what,
maybe he's not quite doing everything we need to be prepared,
and maybe he doesn't know the plays and perhaps he's
not really on the same page with a quarterback, maybe

(11:08):
the quarterback doesn't even really trust him.

Speaker 2 (11:10):
But you know what we got nobody else or what he.

Speaker 1 (11:14):
Can do is is still physically at least better than
everybody else with this team.

Speaker 2 (11:22):
That's not the case.

Speaker 1 (11:24):
I mean, I think it's gonna be really interesting to
see what role, if any, he has on the team
this year, because it's not like he's a seventh rounder.
It's not like he comes from some no name school.
But he plays a position where obviously at the top
of the depth chart there are high end dudes and
then beneath Jamar Chase and Ti Higgins, and we'll assume
that Jamar Chase is on the depth chart when the

(11:44):
season begins. Are some guys that certainly have shown some
flashes Charlie Jones last night as a return man, or
the team has invested some time in, or that Joe
Burrow trusts, or that have elite physical gifts of their own.
And so you could watch Jermaine Burton. A lot of
teams that would put that guy on the field and
go screw it. What other choice do we have?

Speaker 2 (12:05):
Hopefully he grows up, Hopefully he.

Speaker 1 (12:07):
Gets it with the Bengals, at least at that position,
they're in a very luxurious spot. You watch him and
he looks like a dude, And again I get in
these preseason games who he's playing against. You look at
him and go, wait a minute, that dude's not going
to touch the field.

Speaker 2 (12:25):
Well, maybe he does, but he doesn't.

Speaker 1 (12:28):
Have to because of what the Bengals have at that
position and to a large degree, because of who the
Bengals have at quarterback. There's nothing better than not being desperate.
Eighteen minutes after three o'clock, our phone numbers as always
five one, three, seven, four, nine, fifteen thirty eight six
six seven h two three seven seven six cutdown Day,

(12:51):
four o'clock on Tuesday afternoon. That's gonna be one of
my favorite hours of the year. That's when Paul Dayner
Junior is in studio with us as we're finding out
who did and didn't make the fifty three man roster.
By the way, there's still some stuff that can and
probably will happen after four o'clock on Tuesday that will
shape what the team looks like when they play Week
one against the Patriots. But still I am really looking

(13:13):
forward to that uh we in about an hour, going
to chat with Alex Faust Apple TV. The Reds last
night got blown out in Pittsburgh, which you know, no
big deal. The bad news is Andrew Abbott's going back
on the injured list. And this has been a really
rough week when it comes to Reds pitching injuries, and
you can't help but talk about them as we begin

(13:35):
to frame what twenty twenty five is going to look like.
That coming up in just about fifteen minutes, a handful
of preseason thoughts based on Game number three. A lot
to get to between now and six o'clock. Glad you're
with us today. It's nineteen after three. My name is Moegar.
This is ESPN fifteen thirty, Cincinnati Sports.

Speaker 2 (13:53):
Station, Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 3 (13:57):
To traffic from the youth.

Speaker 1 (14:00):
Twenty five after three. This is ESPN fifteen thirty. If
you miss anything, If you missed yesterday's show, you can
go get it on the iHeartRadio app podcast page of
ESPN fifteen thirty. Dot com podcast a service of a
long neck sports grill with three locations in northern Kentucky.
No better place to post up like If you're out

(14:21):
and about this weekend. Go to Long Neck Sports Grill.
If you're in like northern Kentucky, you're gonna go catch
a high school football game tonight. Assuming you're of age,
go get a postgame cold one at Long Neck Sports Grill.
And the outdoor patty was open and there's an incredible,
incredible beer selection, great wings, and so much more.

Speaker 2 (14:41):
Long Neck Sports Grill.

Speaker 1 (14:43):
By the way, Bengals just announced that they have waived
eleven players, and I'll get to that in just one second.
Yesterday's show we obviously wrong before the Bengals game. James
Rapene was awesome. Tony Pike was terrific. It was also
the first show that we had had a chance to
do in the way of finding out that joe Evado
announced his retirement and the Reds social media team, which

(15:05):
is terrific. But they put together a fantastic tribute video.
I am sure you have seen it. If you have not,
it's bang up.

Speaker 4 (15:15):
You know.

Speaker 2 (15:15):
I talked yesterday.

Speaker 1 (15:16):
About how I wasn't actively rooting against Joey Vado to
not make the Blue Jays, but I was kind of
relieved that he didn't because I think there is just
something cool when a player of his stature plays has
an exceptionally long career and plays every game of it
in one city. And yet he played some minor league

(15:37):
games for the Blue Jays Daned an affiliate, and for
their Buffalo affiliate. But no one's going to remember that
he played his seventeen big league seasons in Cincinnati. And
I was thinking, and I'm too young too. I was
born in seventy seven, so I wasn't around when the
Reds won the World Series in seventy five and seventy six.

(15:57):
I remember Davey concepts Siona as an aging player for
the Reds, and I remember Joe Morgan playing for the
Giants and A's, and I remember Pete Rose forty one
ninety two and him as player manager, but I don't
remember the primes of their careers. I didn't see Johnny
bench play, but I do consider myself lucky that and

(16:18):
this is increasingly rare in my lifetime. I watched Barry
Larkin play all eighteen years of his career with the Reds,
and then I watched Joey Vado play all seventeen years
of his career with the Reds. It's very rare that
any one of us who roots for any baseball team

(16:42):
is going to be able to say that that within
a Larkin's first year was eighty six in a less
than forty year stretch, which is a long time. You're
gonna have two guys, one in the Hall of Fame,
the other will be who both played that many years
for the same franchise. Maybe it's a reflection of me

(17:07):
being forty six years old, but I don't. I'm willing
to bet as much as we all want, you know,
Ellie deler Cruz and maybe a handful of others to play.

Speaker 2 (17:15):
Their entire career here, there's a very.

Speaker 1 (17:18):
Good chance we don't see that again, a better than
average in fact of likelihood that we don't see that again,
which is why I talked yesterday extensively about how much
I you know, again, had he played for the Blue Jays,
that would have been fine, but I was really relieved that, Yeah,
his entire big league career spent in Cincinnati. More of

(17:39):
that on yesterday's show. Bengals have waived the following eleven
players A Keem Butler, Noah Kane. I'm not sure there's
any major surprises here. Jackson Carmen's been waived writing has
been on the wall for Jackson since what his second
penalty in the Tampa Bay game. Andre Carter, Aaron Casey,

(18:01):
Michael Dwell, Alan George I like Alan George. Alan George
has been waived, Kwame lass a I, Rocky Lombardi, Eric Miller,
and Josh Pryor. So there you go, cut down day
four o'clock or Tuesday. Gotta get down to fifty three
by four o'clock. That is not going to be the
final fifty three. The expectation for many seems to be
that they're going to add a running back. Everybody keeps

(18:21):
talking about some ajp Ryan and understandably so, and especially
with the Miles Murphy injury, and perhaps Cedric Johnson changes
this and he was. He showed some more flashes last night,
but it still feels like they could use some help
from outside on the defensive line. More from Tony Pike
on this coming up in just about fifteen minutes. There's

(18:42):
a very good chance the Red's game last night was
a bit of an afterthought because a they got crushed.
B there was a Bengals game, even though it was
a preseason game. There's still an issue that we have
to talk about and it got amplified today. I'll explain
next on ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports Station, a service
of Kelsey Chevrolet, home of lifetime powertrain protection and guaranteed

(19:05):
credit approval from their family, the Yours for Life kelseyshev
dot Com. Bengals have waived eleven players in the awake
of last night's preseason finale, a loss to the Indianapolis
Colt Sakeem Butler waved, Noah Kane waved, same for Jackson Carmen,
Andre Carter, and Aaron Casey. Michael Dwe waved, Alan George waved,

(19:26):
Kwame Lassiter waved, Rocky Lombardi waved, Eric Miller waved, Josh
Prior waved. Cut Down Day is Tuesday, season opener in
sixteen days Bengals Pats at the venue originally known as
Paul Brown Stadium. Game will kick off at one o'clock.
Pregame coverage we'll start at nine A and meanwhile Reds

(19:49):
and Pirates again tonight in Pittsburgh. Andrew Abbott heads to
the fifteen day injured list with a left shoulder string
that's not good. He joins Hunter Green on the injured list,
also not good. Buck Farmer will be the first Reds
pitcher tonight. I'm sorry, I don't know why that's funny.

(20:10):
Alan Boosenitz is up from Louisville. Austin wins goes on
the sixty day or transferred to the sixty day injured
list Tonight's game six forty on seven hundred WLW. Hopefully
the Red starting lineup has made well comes away thanks
to made well restoration. Jonathan India is leading off at
second base. Elie de la Cruz will try to not
get picked off tonight. He is playing shortstop and batting second.
Stevenson catching steer and left Ty France at first base,

(20:33):
Stuart Fairchild and center. I met Rosario's playing right field tonight.
Santiago Espinal is playing third base and Noelve Marte can't
screw up in the field, at least not for the
beginning of the game because he is dhing. He's made
some really nice plays. I do not know what he
was doing in the fifth inning last night. There is
some good news if you miss this. Rahet Lauder made
his tripa a debut last night for Louisville, pitching against Gwinnett,

(20:57):
and he was awesome with Tucker Barnhart behind the play,
which probably didn't hurt rhet six shutout innings, gave up
three hits, struck out seven, and walked a batter. An
outstanding debut for a guy that a lot of people
believe should at least get a chance to pitch at
the big league level in twenty twenty four or four.
Florence is a home tonight for Schomberg High School Football

(21:19):
Tonight on ESPN fifteen thirty. We've got Saint X and
Lakota West covers of that game starts at six forty five.
High School Football Tonight takes over when we're done at
six and has all of the evening's scores and highlights
after the game. Of course, the entire try State focused
on the big tilt in Northern Kentucky between Scott and
Campbell County FC Cincinnati Soccer. Tomorrow night, the Orange and

(21:42):
Blue backgaded an MLS regular season play with a tilt
against Miami.

Speaker 2 (21:46):
You'll hear it on ESPN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 5 (21:48):
No.

Speaker 1 (21:48):
Lionel Messi FC Cincinnati crushed Miami back on July the sixth,
scored six goals, looked like the greatest soccer team of
all time. Since then, they have looked like the exact opposite.
Hopeful things get back on track tomorrow night. The Andrew
Abbot thing look, maybe it's benign, maybe it's not that
big of a deal. I think most of us believe

(22:09):
that if the Reds have a chance to do even
better in twenty twenty four, that that will happen on
the foundation of really good starting pitching, really promising good,
potentially high end starting pitching. I've said often this year
that there are a lot of teams who are now
pointing an eye toward twenty twenty five that would love

(22:29):
to have Hunter Green, would love to have Andrew Abbott,
would love to have Nick Lodolo, would love maybe to
have Carson Spyers, would love maybe to have Andrew ash
or a Graham Ashcraft, would love to have Ret Louder.

Speaker 2 (22:43):
There's a lot to light there.

Speaker 1 (22:45):
But you know, Austin and I were talking about this
toward the tail end of his show. If we're doing
this same thing next summer, where we're still talking about
how good the Reds could be one day and wondering
if they're buyers or sellers. That's failure, that's failure, Like
they have to do better than that, and the way

(23:05):
that happens. There's a lot of stuff that has to happen, right,
but the main thing that happens is the starting pitching
ends up being is as good as I.

Speaker 2 (23:14):
Think we think it can be.

Speaker 1 (23:18):
But the problem with that is you can't rely on
it when you have a starting staff that is, if
you project ahead to next year made up entirely of
guys who have yet to get through a full big
league season, Like I love Hunter Green, how do you not?
And we're all waiting on pins and needles to see

(23:38):
if he's ultimately gonna be okay. But he's not gotten
through a full big league season, and neither has Graham Ashcraft.

Speaker 2 (23:47):
Neither has Nickelodolo.

Speaker 1 (23:48):
And by the way, Nicolodolo is pitching right now, and
I would say, at this moment is wholly unreliable. That
may change. I'll take all the Nickelodolo stock you have,
But you're talking about next year and I'm focusing on
next year because they're not making the playoffs this season.
I'm not breaking any new ground here. If that happens,

(24:13):
that that means that the starting pitching was even better
and more reliable, more durable, and healthier. Those things are
hard to bank on when you're talking about a staff
that's got a bunch of dudes who can't get through.

Speaker 2 (24:31):
A full big league season.

Speaker 1 (24:33):
Now, some of them, when they do pitch, they've shown
what their high end can be. Hunter Green definitely, Nicolodolo
at times this season, Andrew Rabbit at times this season,
right loud or at least at the Triple A level
last night, Graham Ashcraft not so much this year. But
like that's and so okay, what do you do to

(24:54):
compensate for that? Gonna go get another Frankie Montass type
or understanding some will be available, do you actually go
invest in somebody who's a little bit more bankable? Not
four or five people, but at least one, maybe two. Again,

(25:17):
I'm on board with talking about how talented these guys
are and what their upside is, But if we're looking
at twenty twenty five, where they're finally going to deliver
a payoff for three decades of patience, you have to
at least acknowledge some skittishness when it comes to the

(25:37):
starting staff and wondering if it as a whole can
get through a season and perform better in some cases
sixteen away from four o'clock. Alex Faust Apple TV on
the Reds coming up at four to twenty. Tony Pike
on the Bengals post preseason game number three next on
ESPN fifteen thirty, Cincinnati Sports Station. When employers like.

Speaker 6 (26:01):
This is a training camp report broke to you by
Kimba Credit Union on ESPN fifteen thirty, the official home
of the Bengals.

Speaker 2 (26:11):
No practice for the Bengals today.

Speaker 1 (26:13):
They wound down the preseason with a loss at home
to the Indianapolis Colts last night, but we are still
bringing you live training camp reports three forty five, four
forty five, and five forty five. Tony Pike, even though
he's off today, is with me to talk about maybe
not so much last night's preseason game, but some of
the themes of training camp. There is one guy that
I want to talk about from last night, and that

(26:34):
would be Jordan Battle, a safety who, you know, let's
face it, kind of lost his gignas offseason, right. They
bring in Geno Stone, they bring in Von Bell. Jordan
Battle did some really good things his rookie season, did
a really good thing last night with a pick six,
and I still think Tony and what could be a
crowded secondary with two good safeties could be a factor
on this year's team.

Speaker 4 (26:55):
Yeah, I mean, you can never have enough depth at
that position. And the crazy thing is mo And we
talked about this going into camp. Of camp battles, one
of the main battles that a lot of people were
talking about was Jordan Battle and bon Bell, and I
give that. You know, we've talked about other battles where
it's like, Okay, no one's really won the battle. It's
almost like they just haven't lost it. Bon Bell has

(27:17):
won the camp battle from day one to training camp.
He's been awesome. And you know, like many about it,
it's nothing against Jordan Battle. It's just bon Bell is
a better fit right now for lou A n Rumo
where he's at in his career. But to see Jordan Battle,
not sulk, not get upset, but to continue to work
and put the time in and then to see it

(27:38):
all come to fruition last night in a preseason finale,
I just think you're set up really well. The more
depth you have in the secondary and the more depth
you have on defensive lines, and when you talk about
the defensive side of the ball and you know you
can extend that. No, I know, there wasn't a ton
last night. I thought Cedric Johnson flashed last night out

(27:58):
of position where when he hear the news about Miles
Murphy and the amount of time he's gonna miss, you
start thinking, Okay, defensive end depth, defensive line depth. Ib't
Cedric Johnson and Jordan Battle both did some really good
things last night.

Speaker 2 (28:12):
You know.

Speaker 1 (28:12):
And I think at the themes of the preseason, it
feels like on a daily basis, we've talked about the
upside of individual players in the secondary, which makes me
believe that there's a lot of upside for the secondary
as a whole, which is a huge development given how
bad that part of the defense was last season.

Speaker 4 (28:30):
It was such a depleted group last year, and the
amount of pressure that the Bengals offense was under all
season because of the big plays constantly being put up
on the back end of the passing game. It just
makes things a lot harder for an offense and for
Luayna Rumo to try to call a defense when you
don't really know what you had at the back end,

(28:51):
and you know, the the under the radar and not
at the time. But how much time have we spent
mot in training camp talking about Geno Stone. Not much,
because there haven't been any time where Gino Stone has
been beat or been out of position. He's been solid.
Don Bell has been solid. Cam tennon Brick really really good.
We've talked about Josh Newton, and you know, the possibility
is see cornerback four, DJ Turner, corner three, Daxhill and

(29:15):
his improvement. It's gone from a position of oh man,
that's going to be a weakness too. Okay, maybe they
do have something here.

Speaker 1 (29:25):
Let's talk about the other guy who scored a touchdown
last night, Jermaine Burton. Jermaine Burton, who's you know, it's
it's been interesting. He's out there late in the game
against guys who are not going to be in the NFL,
and so you know, his his athleticism and his physical
ability shine against guys who athletically are inferior. And he's

(29:46):
been productive and you see the speed and you see
the explosiveness. But then there's the things you hear Al
Michael's on Amazon last night animating that Jermaine Burton is
perhaps nodding off during meetings when we've talked a lot
about the Joe Burrow trust factor. Wondering is Jermaine Burton,
from a maturity standpoint, ready to have a major role

(30:07):
on this team?

Speaker 2 (30:09):
What do you do with him? Because it's not like
they don't have wide receivers.

Speaker 1 (30:12):
It's not like you could say to Joe Burrow, I
know you don't trust this guy, but you're still gonna
throw to him.

Speaker 2 (30:16):
That's such a big part of just how this offense works.
What do you do with him? What's his role in
this team?

Speaker 4 (30:23):
It's so hard you have to keep developing him. I
think he ends up being one of those guys that
doesn't dress on game days to start the year. That's
kind of where I think this is. Now. No one's
gonna argue his ball skills when the ball's in the air.
No one's gonna argue his ability to go make plays
because he has showcased that. But he's also showcased that
at a very basic route running level. It's not a

(30:44):
very intricate route tree. It's not lining him up and
making him read what the defense is doing. It's a
lot of just here's the route, go run it. And
to his credit, when he does that, he's making some
really good plays, but it's all jump balls. It's more
vertical stuff. It's not the most advanced from a learning standpoint.
And to hear those criticisms last night, you know, our
Michaels and Kirk Krumstry have been out long enough. No,

(31:05):
I don't think they're going to make that up about
a third round pick or you know, you know, a rookie.
I just don't. I don't think that that's something that's
on there. So they heard it somewhere, and I'm sure
if they're talking about it, it has legitimacy. They tried
him at case, they tried him on special teams, and
then Charlie Jones came back, and Charlie Jones, I think
it's solidified where his role is on this team. So
I just I know there's upside there, but the mental

(31:28):
side of the game, I just don't think is there
yet for Jermaine Burton, which I means I don't think
you'll see him dressed active during game days.

Speaker 1 (31:36):
Yeah, that's that's pretty remarkable to think about when you
think about where he came from when they drafted him
and some of the things we saw from him during
the preseason. But you know how do you make a
case for him ahead of guys like Andrea Yoshabajh And
you mentioned Charlie Jones, and you know, say what you
want about Trent Ner when Jove throwing Trent Irwin.

Speaker 4 (31:55):
Yeah, had Joe Daniman on cinty three to sixty yesterday,
and Joe Daniman still thinks that Trent Irwin, by all
said and done, will be the start leading receiver on
this team behind t Higgins and Jamar Chase because he
just thinks there's a trust factor there. There's an idea
that when you look at that position, it's not about
what can you do down the field. It's not about

(32:16):
the explosions, It's about are you where you need to be?
Can I trust that you're going to adjust your route accordingly?
And I still think Trent Irwin has a value there.
So it's not a dire position of need yet for
the Cincinnati Bengals. And I think they have that luxury
in drafting a guy with huge upside and a couple
concerns in the third round to say, Okay, let's let

(32:37):
our culture go to work. And if you had the
culture that works along with the talent that we've seen
through a couple of preseason games. Now you feel like
you have something built for the future.

Speaker 2 (32:48):
Yeah, good stuff.

Speaker 1 (32:49):
Tony Pike back with me four forty five as we
put a bow in the preseason. Next week Tony will
join me for well Boy season preview, reports Bengals UH
With sixteen days to go before the regular season opener
on September the eighth, I want you to do me
a favor. I want you to pretend that you're any

(33:10):
one of Jamar Chase's teammates. I'll explain why coming up
at four five, I'm Moegar. Glad you with us today
on ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports station.

Speaker 2 (33:21):
This three port.

Speaker 6 (33:23):
This is an ESPN fifteen thirty Orange and Black season
preview sponsored by Jake Sweeney Automotive, serving the Tri State
for over one hundred years. Plumb typed Plumbing, heating, cooling
and drains. Visit Plumbtie dot com. Now your host, Moegger.

Speaker 1 (33:44):
One of the juicier quarterback matchups of the entire twenty
twenty four NFL season will take place during Week eleven,
when the Begels head to Los Angeles to play the
Chargers and Justin Herbert. Herbert and Joe Burrow will be
forever linked as first round picks in the twenty twenty.
But while Burrow has had some postseason success, the Chargers
are still looking for their first playoff win of the

(34:06):
Herbert era. They've enlisted Jim Harball to help make that happen,
bringing the former forty nine ers head coach back to
the NFL after he led Michigan to the College Football
Playoff National Championship last season. The Bengals returned to Los
Angeles for the first time since Super Bowl fifty six,
this time to take on the Chargers on Sunday, November
seventeenth at four to twenty five.

Speaker 6 (34:29):
Noh has more on ESPN fifteen thirty, the official home
of the Bengals.

Speaker 2 (34:39):
What's up.

Speaker 1 (34:40):
It's five minutes after four o'clock. This is ESPN fifteen
thirty on Mowegger Thrill that you're with us. Hopey weekend
is off to an unbelievable start, Joey Vado explained earlier today.
I guess outlined the moment that he decided I'm done.
I'll have that for you coming up here at about
thirty minutes. Another check in with Tony Pike Bengals training

(35:04):
camp report. Even though training camp is over, Bengals waived
a bunch of dudes. I guess Jackson Carmen would be
the most notable, although far from surprising. I'm not sure
anybody went into last night thinking that Jackson had a chance.
I don't know if Jackson Carmon's gonna get I'm sure

(35:25):
he's gonna get a chance by another NFL team, But boy,
you talk about like two instances. Jackson has been here,
obviously drafted in twenty twenty one. And I hate to
say this, and I certainly hate to say this about
a kid who's from here, But when you mentioned his
name to me, I will think of preseason game number one,

(35:47):
twenty twenty two. Jackson Carmen is trying to be the
team's starting left guard, and he looks completely and totally
ill prepared, and Courtel Volson takes it from him, and
then I'm gonna think of the Tampa Bay game this year.
He doesn't have a chance to be a starter, but
he's fighting for his NFL life, And like to a degree,

(36:08):
Jackson Carman was done a favor last year by the
fact that the Bengals had no injuries on the offensive line,
and so he was never exposed. I guess, looking at
it a different way, he never had a chance to
show that, yeah, you know what, he can play in
this league. So he enters training camp with his career
hanging in the balance, but at least a chance to

(36:30):
make the team, and he goes out there against the
Tampa Bay Buccaneers and looks completely and totally unprepared, like
just as a as stupid as this sounds a router
of people.

Speaker 2 (36:44):
That's really frustrating.

Speaker 1 (36:46):
Two years after he takes the field with a starting
gig in his grasp, he looks unprepared. And then two
years later, with his job and career potentially twisting in
the wind, he looks unprepared. And I hate to say this,
that's gonna be what I think of first when people

(37:06):
mention Jackson. Carbon cutdown day is Tuesday. You know, it
is interesting. Dan Horde and Dave Lappham we're talking during
the radio broadcast last night, Zach Taylor.

Speaker 2 (37:17):
Is now is it three twelve and one?

Speaker 1 (37:20):
I hadn't even looked this up, and I haven't looked
it up since, but I think three twelve and one
in the preseason. They lose the game last night they
go oh and three, nobody cares. I couldn't care less
about the results. He has very little regard for the preseason,
which is fine. I have very little regard for the preseason.
But he has very much adopted the Sean McVay model

(37:41):
of we're not going to play anybody who counts. And
not only are we not going to play anybody who counts,
we're gonna play these games really with the effort being
all about getting this thing as over as quickly as
possible and and doing as little as we can to
I don't know, get anybody hurt, which I respect, and
I mean last night it felt like it felt like

(38:02):
they empty the screen pass playbook. Let's just call a
bunch of safe stuff and get us the hell out
of here and keep the clock moving, which they did.
But let's be honest. One of the themes to this
offseason has been how can the Bengals get off to
quicker starts? And it's gonna be really, really interesting with
an approach that we heard a lot about urgency, and

(38:25):
they did play starters in the first preseason game. But
if the look is the same, and this is with
Joe having his cleanest training camp. Ever, if the look
of the team is the same, meaning offensively in particular, clunky, uneven, sloppy,
if it looks the same as it has over the

(38:46):
last couple of years. Early in the season, granted, they
played the Patriots and they could probably play very poorly
and still beat New England. But then they played Kansas
City on the road, and then the NFL gives them
another breather with Washington and Carolina. It to me is
gonna be a little bit less about the results specifically
in those three games. But if the look is the same,
and the look is the same, but with Joe going

(39:08):
through a normal training camp, to me, it's going to
bring into sharper focus and create even more discussions about
how Zach chooses to handle the preseason, because all we
heard all off season was they want to hit the
ground running, they want to be better early. As we
watch the Bengals, Zach Taylor teams have never gotten off
to a T and O start. Joe Burrow teams have
never gotten off to a T and O start, So

(39:30):
how do you rectify that?

Speaker 2 (39:31):
Maybe they have, maybe they've rectified it. But if they.

Speaker 1 (39:34):
Haven't and the results are the same and if the
look of the team is the same, how much are
we going to go back and revisit how they've handled
the preseason and training camp? Ten after four, Jamar Chase
isn't practicing today because the Bengals aren't practicing today. This
is when Jamar Chase watch begins. Right once he wasn't

(39:57):
playing in or wasn't participating in training camp practice.

Speaker 2 (40:01):
I think we.

Speaker 1 (40:02):
Knew that during the preseason portion of training camp we
weren't going to see Jamar Chase. He was at the
game last night, he was at nearly every practice, but
I think it was abundantly clear two or three days
into the hold in that we're not going to see
Jamar Chase. And so the question that I've had all
along is, all, right, when do we start talking about
this being a thing specifically as it relates to the

(40:24):
regular season. Paul Danner Junior was with me earlier this
week and talked about like Labor Day, and he still
holding out hope that Labor Day, maybe there's a resolution
and he signs his deal and then they played the
Patriot six days later, Andy, and maybe that's the case.
The longer this goes, the more we have to entertain
the possibility that he's going to miss games. And I've
asked this from day one. I'm not the only one.

(40:46):
Is this the only question that matters? Is he willing
to miss games? And I make it plural, is he
willing to miss games? And I could still find a
whole lot of people who believe the answer is no.
And I'm talking like people close to the team who
believe the answer is no. The only person who really
knows is Jamar himself, and he may not even know.

Speaker 2 (41:09):
Here's what I want to know, though.

Speaker 1 (41:14):
If he holds out, and I'm like, not hold in,
hold out and doesn't play, doesn't show up for New England,
doesn't show up for Kansas City, hell, doesn't show up
for Washington. If the season begins and the Bengals have
played multiple games and Jamar hasn't played, are we completely
convinced that's gonna compel the Bengals to give Jamar what

(41:38):
he wants. Knowing what Mike Brown himself said, he talked
about we're gonna get the deal done, but he also
said now is not the time.

Speaker 2 (41:47):
Knowing what we know about how the.

Speaker 1 (41:48):
Bengals have historically operated, which is you can't put a
gun to their head and expect him to flinch. You
can't strong arm them, you can't leverage them. You can't
put them into a corner and make them do something
they don't want to do.

Speaker 5 (42:03):
That.

Speaker 1 (42:03):
They don't react to public pressure, They don't react to holdouts.

Speaker 4 (42:06):
They don't really.

Speaker 1 (42:07):
React to a starting quarterback threatening to leave fifty million
dollars on the table and retire. So he may be
willing to miss games, and that is the central question.
Is he willing to miss games? But along with that
comes another question. If he does miss games, is that
really going to force the Bengals to do anything? And

(42:31):
you are being reasonable if you have followed this team
and you conclude that the answer is no. So if
the answer is no, and he holds out and he
misses games, then what At some point he comes back.
He wants to accrue the year and get it to

(42:51):
count toward free agency, so he comes and joins the
team at some point. How do you react to that?
If you're one of his teammates, you dealt with the
hold in and you probably really didn't care he holds out,
which makes your job a little bit more difficult, But

(43:12):
you do have kind of a working knowledge of how
the business of football works. And so maybe in the
back of your mind you're thinking, all right, Jamar's got
to do what he's got to do to accomplish what
he's looking to accomplish, which is to get the second contract.
But if you're one of his teammates and he holds

(43:33):
out and he doesn't play, and maybe his absence is
a reason why they lose, but the holdout doesn't get
the new deal done, how do you feel about that?

Speaker 5 (43:53):
Like?

Speaker 1 (43:53):
Legitimately, I think for me, and I'll admit that I
do believe we talk a little bit too much about
how you know, I got his teammates or feel about
his contract negotiation. I think for the most part, athletes
are just like you and I. We worry mainly about ourselves.
But these guys do want to win, and they do

(44:14):
want to be in the best possible position to win.
In the best possible position for the Bengals to win
involves Jamar Chase playing. So even if you acknowledge, okay,
maybe there's something he has to do to get what
he's looking for, and okay, fine, I'm willing as one
of his teammates to make that sacrifice and go along
with him missing games as long as he gets what

(44:34):
he wants. What happens if he holds out doesn't play,
it costs the team, and the Bengals go, yeah, that's cool,
We're still not giving you a contract, and knowing what
you know about this team, you have to acknowledge that possibility.

Speaker 2 (44:50):
I don't know that it is as cut and dry
as all right.

Speaker 1 (44:54):
This comes to a push come to shove moment and
Jamar goes, all right, I'm not playing. Not gonna see
me against New England, you know what, not gonna see
me against Kansas City.

Speaker 2 (45:06):
And let's say that costs this team.

Speaker 1 (45:10):
I'd be willing to bet most players would understand as
long as it resulted in Jamar getting what he was
looking for. How much does it change if he doesn't
and he comes back and joins the team at some
point and he's cost himself some money, he's made the
task of winning games to be a little bit more difficult,
and he doesn't have his new deal. I think it's

(45:33):
and I've asked it for weeks. It's completely fair to wonder,
all right, is he willing to miss games? But along
with that, you have to ask if he's willing to
miss games and missus games. Is that really gonna force
the Bengals into a corner to the point that they go, ye, okay,
we weren't gonna do this, but now we're gonna. Maybe
the answer is yes, I'm entirely sure it is. And

(45:57):
if it's not, and nothing gets done, and it's nothing
more than Jamar just misses games and paychecks, but there's
no real means to the end. And if I'm one
of his teammates, I'm not thrilled about that. And maybe
my anger is aimed at Jamar. Maybe my anger is
aimed at the Bengals. But there's gonna be some anger,
maybe not among everybody, but certainly among some. Seventeen minutes

(46:21):
after four o'clock, joe Evado walks through the moment he
shows to retire. This is going to illustrate why so
many of us love Joey Evado. Coming up in less
than twenty minutes, Tony Pike as well, Bengals training camp report,
and we have Brendiman and Jones on baseball. A little
bit later on Danny Higginbotham Apple TV on FC Cincinnati,
which has a huge match tomorrow night. But first speaking

(46:44):
of Apple TV. Reds are on Apple TV tonight. Yes,
they're also on seven hundred Wow. But the TV voice
of tonight's game is going to join us, Alex Faust
next on ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports.

Speaker 2 (46:55):
Station Cincinnati's ESP two.

Speaker 1 (47:00):
After four, ESPN fifteen thirty, moneggor more on the Bengals
Tony Pike in twenty minutes, as we put a bow
in the preseason, I want to ask about a position
in particular. We saw Trayvon Williams last night show some flashes,
wasn't enough. That coming up in just a bit, plus
Joey Evado on the moment he decided to retire, on
the moment he decided I'm done. This is really good

(47:22):
stuff coming up in just about ten minutes. But first,
speaking of well, Joey Vado's former team, which I really
wasn't but they do play tonight against the Pirates.

Speaker 2 (47:31):
They're the Apple TV Friday Night game.

Speaker 1 (47:34):
Alex Faust is the play by play voice for Friday
Night Baseball and Apple TV. These game broadcasts are really good.
They're clean, they're modern, they're visually really cool. They're kind
of broadcast from a different perspective. You'll get some really
cool sights tonight of panc Park, which is awesome. So Alex,
I appreciate the time, and I have a game tonight.

(47:55):
I would imagine, you know, you have two teams right now.
Let's call it what it is. The Pirates have compled,
falling apart here in August. The Reds are six and
a half games out. These are not playoff bound teams.
They are teams with a lot of really promising young players.
They are teams that also appear to have a ways
to go, and I would imagine that's going to be
a big part of what you guys talk about during

(48:16):
tonight's broadcast.

Speaker 7 (48:18):
Well, first of all, thank you for the kind words.
You know, we've worked really hard to try to make
these broadcasts, as you know, clean as possible, and you know,
we listen to a lot of the viewer feedback and
certainly we appreciate the kind words. I mean, yeah, I
think you're you're right on with these two franchises and
where they're at right now. What's interesting about both is

(48:41):
that while both feature very young teams, and we're going
to be focusing a lot on you know, the two
star shortstops and O'Neil Cruz and a La de la Cruz.
I think there's also a sense from both clubs that
there's something that's missing here. And as you know, much
as you want to whose youth as a crutch sometimes

(49:02):
as an excuse, sometimes I think there is real frustration
too of Okay, they're young, Okay, we've seen them take stride,
but can they get to the next level and what's
it going to take for them to reach that point
where they're not just a nice story And they've got
these kids who individually are fun to watch, but you know,

(49:23):
we'll dive a little bit deeper. And you know, as
much as Elie de la Cruz, you know, sixty stolen bases,
defense is an issue as much as O'Neil Cruz and
his crazy you know, exit velocity and how you know
when he connects, he just is otherworldly. But he's got
massive defensive problems that they're trying to sort through in Pittsburgh,

(49:44):
And frankly, it affects the future of both clubs, you know,
how they address both of those things.

Speaker 2 (49:50):
Yeah, I've said that often here this summer.

Speaker 1 (49:52):
You know, last year, as you might imagine, was so
much fun, right They lose one hundred things in twenty
twenty two, and then sure they're in first place as
late as August. There's this just NonStop infusion of youth
and energy and upside and it's terrific. And we're still
saying some of the same things, wondering when true genuine
contention is going to arrive. And I get frustrated because

(50:16):
as as far as the franchise has come, it still
feels like they're ways away. And if we're having the
same conversations a year from now about youth and upside
and boy, it's it's coming, I'm not sure that's gonna work.

Speaker 2 (50:30):
Yeah.

Speaker 7 (50:31):
I think that's the crux of the matter. And for
the Red they at least have a few more baked in,
you know, excuses or challenges that they've had to deal
with this year with all the you know, the pitching
injuries and you know even position players. You think about
you know, Matt.

Speaker 5 (50:45):
McClain being out.

Speaker 7 (50:46):
I know, we got some good news this week, you know,
clear to start swinging. But you know they've they've been
kind of hampered from day one this year in a
lot of different ways.

Speaker 4 (50:57):
You know, you hate to see.

Speaker 7 (50:58):
Hunter Green, your eightes go down in the last little while,
and you know, it's the pitching staff hasn't been great
in the last little bit. I mean, sixteen homers over
the last seven games. I think it's catching up to them,
perhaps the lack of depths that they have, and so
I think there are some interesting questions. You know, relatively speaking,
the organization's in a good place right because they have

(51:21):
developed all these guys and they are set at so
many different positions. I think there are more questions with
the Pirates, frankly, of where they're at and all the
questions that they're facing with who's going to play where
Their pitching staff obviously is in really good shape. But
as we've seen with the Seattle Mariners and their fall
from grace out of the division lead in the American League,

(51:42):
with yeah, you can have a terrific pitching staff, you
can have the best pitching staff in the league, and
it's still not enough. You still need to be able
to produce and limit mistakes and play fundamentally found baseball
to win games.

Speaker 1 (51:55):
You know, we've enjoyed like the entire Eli Della Cruz experience,
I mean just even the last couple of nights, right
he gets picked off last night, two nights ago in Toronto,
six nothing game, third down six, he tries to stretch
a single into a double.

Speaker 2 (52:09):
He gets thrown out. In between all this, you see the.

Speaker 1 (52:12):
Speed, you see the twenty sixty, You see some of
the things he can do on defense, and boy, the
upside is immense.

Speaker 2 (52:19):
We tend to I think here.

Speaker 1 (52:21):
And this is what happens when you watch a guy
every single day pick apart the warts and pick apart
the deficiencies. From your perspective, what's it like watching Elie
Dela Cruz, I hate to say, take the baseball world
by storm, but become here in Cincinnati for a team
that's not winning, one of the most talked about players
in the game.

Speaker 7 (52:38):
Well, he the phenom. There's no way around it. You know,
when you have sixty stolen bases and you're in August
year and nobody's close. The best staff that I've seen
lately is take away his steals of third and home
and he'd still lead all of baseball and he's still
on bases. It's pretty remarkable. There are only two short

(52:58):
stops all time in a single season with twenty homers
and fifty stolen bases. Hanley Ramirez is the other Ellie
de la Cruz has reached that mark this season.

Speaker 4 (53:08):
I think you're kind.

Speaker 7 (53:10):
Of hinting and winking at there are some works in there,
and I think that you can just look up the
standings a little bit at a team like the Brewers,
who are similarly young, and Jackson Curio is a great
player in his own right, a phenom in his own right,
maybe doesn't get as much attention because he's not the
same pure athlete with just who is as electrifying in

(53:35):
every game as only De la Cruz might be. But
you think about they play a very similar brand of
baseball to what the Reds are trying to do. They
are very aggressive on the bass pats, they don't use
the home run as much as other teams to win games,
and yet they play really fundamentally sound, and that's the

(53:55):
real difference. I was just calling the Brewers Cardinals game
the other night for for Fox Sports, and that's the
first thing that jumps out to me is Wow, Yeah,
they're really aggressive, but they limit their mistakes their sound defensively.
Day don'tors you say, you know, go for an extra
base here or there where. Perhaps they shouldn't. And I
love that David Bell, you know, gives his team the

(54:17):
freedom to try and be aggressive, and you know it
shows this is an entertaining product when it works. But
you still have to win games. And you know, the
Reds being where they are four games under five hundred, realistically,
it was one awful month that something.

Speaker 5 (54:34):
I mean, if you take.

Speaker 7 (54:35):
Away the month of May, you know they're right in
the wild card hunt. But you know that's the mark
of good teams right as they're able to put it
together over one sixty two. And that's why it's hard
to make the playoffs, even as expanded as they are
in baseball.

Speaker 1 (54:46):
Right now, Alex faust Is with US has the call
tonight Apple TV, Reds and Pirates at six forty. I
would imagine, and you can correct me if I'm wrong,
You're going to spend some time sometime tonight on Joey Vado.
And you know, this has been kind of a weird
week because you know, we knew the Reds were going
to be in Toronto, and you know, all right, is
Joey going to get to to Toronto? Is he going
to make the Jay's He's going to start producing a

(55:07):
Triple A. Are they going to call him up? You know,
sort of independent of his lack of production in Buffalo?

Speaker 2 (55:12):
What's it going to be like?

Speaker 1 (55:13):
And then he retires, and so you know, obviously the
last couple of days a lot of memories of Joey Vado, you.

Speaker 2 (55:20):
Know, even some wistfulness. Could could it have ended here?

Speaker 1 (55:23):
Should it have ended without him trying to make the
Blue Jays that sort of stuff from your perspective, watching
his career unfold, watching him become the kind of beloved
personality that he has turned into, certainly over the last
couple of years. I know you're going to tap into that.
Give me an idea of some of the things you're
going to discuss the night when it comes to a
guy that, for my money, is going to be in
Cooperstown one day.

Speaker 7 (55:44):
Yeah, I think that's going to be part of the discussion.
Is is just, you know, how does his Hall of
Fame credentials stack up? But I'm glad you raised that
point too. You know, there is some sort of poetic
justice in that he never did playing a major league
game with the Blue Jays organization. I think for his
own sake, I think he's happy that he gave it

(56:04):
a shot with his hometown team, you know, to have
a chance to represent Canada, and he's one of the
great Canadian baseball players all time. It'll be, you know,
when when he gets back to Cincinnati and when he
has his day, whether it's the Jersey retirement and or
a Hall of Fame in Shrineman and I have a

(56:27):
feeling you know both will happen before long. It's going
to be an amazing day for the franchise.

Speaker 5 (56:33):
I mean, you think about this way.

Speaker 7 (56:35):
He's top five in Red's history and homers, hits, walks,
and wins above replacement. You know, you look at where
he ranks in the Reds alone. I mean he's right
along with Rose and Bench and Larkins. He's second all
time and on base behind Joe Morgan. He's second in
ops all time Red history behind Frank Robinson. He led

(56:58):
the majors three times, is an on Bay, top ten
of the National League, and slugging eight times. I think
those numbers speak for themselves. He'll be, I believe, in
Cooperstown one day. He also, I'm glad you recognized that
his personality was allowed to flourish, and especially the later

(57:20):
years of his tenure in Cincinnati, and I think represented
all that was good with the game of acknowledging. At
the end of the day, it is still a game,
and we are still kids at heart trying to be
able to be part of it on a day to
day basis, And for seventeen years he was able to
do that in Cincinnati and certainly has his name up

(57:43):
there with the all time greats in Red history.

Speaker 1 (57:46):
Yeah, that's well put. I'll let you run. I do
appreciate the time. Have a great call tonight. We'll be watching.
Hopefully we can do it again. Man, Thanks so much,
you got it. Thanks man. Alex Foule's voice Friday Night
Baseball on Apple TV has the call tonight, Reds and
Pirates the game that you could, of course here live
on seven hundred WLW, we talked about Joeyvado Joeyvado today

(58:08):
discuss the moment where he realized I'm done. You'll hear
it next on ESPN fifteen thirty. Cincinnati's guaranteed credit approval
from their family to Yours for life Kelsey Chef dot Com.
Bengals are off today and eleven players they waived, Well,
they're really off. Keem Butler, Noah, Kaine Jackson, Carmen, Andre Carter,
Aaron Casey, Michael dw Allan, George, Quame Lassiter or Kwame Lassiter,

(58:33):
Rocky Lombardi, Eric Miller, Josh Prior, Bengals Patriots. Two weeks
from Sunday Live on ESPN fifteen thirty. High School Football
Tonight on ESPN fifteen thirty. Seinex and Lakota West High
School Football Tonight kicks off our coverage at six o'clock.
Reds and Pirates tonight at the Best Ballparking Baseball for
My Money PNC Park, Andrew Abbott's going on the fifteen

(58:56):
day injured list. Tonight's game will be started by Buck
fur Armer Alan Bouosen. It's is up from Louisville six
forty this evening on seven hundred WLW Florence Battle Schomberg
in Florence Tonight and FC Cincinnati on the road tomorrow
evening against Miami Live on ESPN fifteen thirty. We'll get
a preview of that matchup from Danny higgabot them in

(59:17):
just about one hour, Tony Pike. In just a few minutes,
Joey Vada was on the Dan Patrick Show. And you know,
we talked yesterday about how I've always looked forward to,
you know, Joey Vado Q and A's or Joey Vado
sit downs, because you get good answers, you get honest answers,
you get some good stories, you get some self reflection.

(59:39):
And I think a lot of that stuff is evident
in what you're about to hear. Here is Joey walking
us through the moment when he decided I'm done.

Speaker 5 (59:49):
Here it is I think the thing that I said
whenever I was asked should you in your career, I
said no, No, I want the game to tell me I'm done.
I don't want a team to tell me I'm done.
I don't want somebody in the media or a family
member or a friend or a fan to say you're washed.
And I was washed. I mean I was. I was

(01:00:09):
done probably last year at some point. But I'm the
one that has to be able to make that decision.
And that's where I'm at right now. And I can
say I was down in Buffalo. I played for the
Tria A team in for the Toronto Blue Jays in Buffalo,
and I played in Scranton, Wikes or Wilkes Bar and

(01:00:30):
I played in Worcester, if I'm saying that correctly, Massachusetts.
I rode the bus, I carried my bags, and I
still wanted to make it happen. You know when I
say carried my bags, carrying my hotel bags, I you know,
I was doing the minor league life, and I still
wanted to make it happen. And it wasn't until the

(01:00:52):
other day when I didn't want a play appearance, when
the coach was like, do you want this at bat?
And I was like, I don't. I don't And I've
never had that. I've always been, always been on. I've
always had a direction. I've always been like I'm going
that way. And I was like, I'm good, and I'll
share a quick story. So I'm sitting on the bench

(01:01:14):
and the coach asked me if I wanted to play appearance.
And my late father, who died sixteen years ago, and
I had a really strong relationship. He was he was
you know to this day, when you lose someone like that,
it's something you can't ever film. And he and I
played catch together and we love the Toronto Blue Jays
and our favorite player was Devon White. He had a

(01:01:38):
specific catching style, and he's a fantastic defender and a
real charming personality. We just loved him. He was the
guy for the Blue Jays, our guy, and so we'd
go out and play catch and he'd try to catch
like Davon White. I'm nine years old, eleven years old,
and we're playing catch together and I'm sitting on the
bench in Buffalo pass on a plate appearance and guess

(01:02:02):
who's sitting beside me to Vonn White. And he said
to me, so, what do you think you're going to do?
And he was talking about my hitting style, like what
adjustments do you think you're going to make? And I go,
I think I'm done and he goes, give mean retire
and I go, yeah, I think I'm done and he goes, okay.

(01:02:27):
And it was like a full circle moment to be
able to have a childhood getting emotional talking about this,
but have a childhood icon and something that I was
able to share with my father sitting next to me,
and it poignan poetic You draw sort of connections even

(01:02:50):
if they aren't real, but that felt like a genuine
connection for me. You know, that felt like that was
almost like poetic, that felt like an end to the story,
and I went into the to the clubhouse, thanked my
minor league teammates who require, in my opinion, deserve to
thank you because I took plate appearances from them, I
took playing time from them. The guy that I replaced,

(01:03:12):
hid brand Slam. I think today or yesterday where I
would have been playing. And that was enough.

Speaker 4 (01:03:18):
That was enough.

Speaker 5 (01:03:19):
Thank the manager, Thank the general manager. And then I
shared with the public that I'm retiring, and that's it
in the best of ways, so I feel good about it.

Speaker 1 (01:03:35):
Joey Vado earlier today on The Dan Patrick Show. Tony
Pike on The Mullegar Show. Next, Hey, it's Mullager. There's
only one way.

Speaker 6 (01:03:44):
This is the training camp report. Wrot to you boys.
Hollywood Casino, Lawrenceburg on ESPN fifteen thirty, the official home
of the Bengals.

Speaker 2 (01:03:54):
Yes, Tony Pike is with us.

Speaker 1 (01:03:56):
Bengals wound down the preseason with a loss to the
Indianapolis Colts last night. Traveon Williams had a couple of
nice fourteen yard runs. They've obviously remade the running back
room a little bit. Obviously, no Joe Mixon, Zach Moss's back.
There's still a lot of speculation they may go get
a veteran in that veteran's name is likely to be
samaj p RN. In the absence of that, this is

(01:04:17):
maybe a little bit unfair.

Speaker 2 (01:04:19):
I'm I'm a.

Speaker 1 (01:04:21):
Little bit underwhelmed when we talked about the Bengals at
running back.

Speaker 4 (01:04:24):
Should I be It's it's fair to be underwhelmed because
you haven't seen anything and they're such an unknown. But
there's also an unknown because of how practice in the
NFL is also situated. They never go live, so the
only highlights of camp that we have from running backs
are on plays where you have to sit there and engage.
Would that have been a touchdown? Would that have been

(01:04:46):
a twenty yard runner? Would he been tackled, you know,
two yards under the play? Because you just don't know
because there's no tackling. So they have completely reworked this room.
Chase Brown had a series in the opener, and I
thought left some rooms be desired. I thought there was
a couple holes that he missed, a couple of cutbacks
that he missed. Outside of that, we've seen nothing from

(01:05:07):
what is set to be the top two running backs
for the Cincinnati Bengals in the preseason from a preseason
snap in a game standpoint, Trevion Williams solid, but you
know what he is. That is his role special teams
and the emergency running back if you need it. I
just still don't know about Zach Moss. I don't know
about Chase Brown. I know what they've done in the past.

(01:05:27):
I just haven't had a chance to see how they
fit in the current system. For Dan Pitcher and for
Zach Taylor and what the role is going to be
on this offense really until we get to the regular season.

Speaker 2 (01:05:38):
Yeah, no, that's very well.

Speaker 1 (01:05:39):
Put Tony Pike back with us coming up at five
forty five. Bengals not really doing anything today but waving players.
Cut Down Day is Tuesday, Bengals Patriots, two weeks from Sunday,
Live on ESPN fifteen thirty. We've said all week long.
Luannarumo is in a very enviable position. Last night highlighted
exactly how much. Plus another Red's picture is going on

(01:06:02):
the injured list. It's a problem and FC Cincinnati has
a huge tilt Tomorrow.

Speaker 2 (01:06:07):
We'll preview it.

Speaker 1 (01:06:08):
Lots to get to over the next hour, but first,
Brendanman and Jones on baseball, which is next on ESPN
fifteen thirty. Cincinnati Sports Station.

Speaker 2 (01:06:30):
Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 3 (01:06:34):
Traffic from the uc Health Traffic Center with uc health,
the future of care is happening now through clinical trials
and innovative treatments that give patients a chance for better outcomes.
Visit UCHealth dot com. Watch out for an accident if
you're on col Rain Avenue near Shepherd Creek Road. That's
causing some hold up there and you're going to run
into a fifteen minute delay on northbound seventy one between

(01:06:55):
Smith and Ronald Reagan Cross County Highway. And we have
a ten minute flow down on southboundin seventy one between
Martin Luther King Junior Drive and seventy five. I'm Nicole
with traffic.

Speaker 2 (01:07:08):
I'll do that high We are a minute late. This
is HESP. I don't know what that has to do
with anything. This is SPN fifteen thirty. M. Moeger.

Speaker 1 (01:07:17):
It's the Michelo Ultra of five o'clock Happy Hour every
day at five o'clock every day during the week, it's
the michelob Ultra five o'clock Happy Hour, and it's it's awesome.
It's better on Fridays, except this is this is our
last Friday show for a while. I am I am
off next Friday, and then starting on the sixth, you know,

(01:07:42):
it's it's Bengals weekends, right, which.

Speaker 2 (01:07:44):
Means we get preempted, we get bumped.

Speaker 1 (01:07:47):
The three to six spot gets upgraded on Fridays starting foot,
starting when the Bengal season begins week one, because the
Bengals pep Rally with Dan Horden Dave Lapham and that
runs clear through the end of the Bengal season, which
in the regular season it's now with the bye, it's
eighteen weeks. But you know, we expect the Bengals to
be pretty good and if they make the playoffs, well,

(01:08:11):
then Bengals pep Rally keeps going and our show remains
off air on Fridays, which means, if things go the
way we want, there's a chance that our next Friday
show from three to six, since the three to sixty
will be on except on Fridays, it'll be called Friday
Football Frenzy for some reason. But our show, there's a

(01:08:36):
chance things go the way we want that the next
time we're on the air on a Friday will be
on Valentine's Day twenty twenty five, So savor every second
of this Friday afternoon broadcast. And while you do so,
enjoy an ice cold michelob vulture because it's the michelob
Ultra five o'clock happier I am.

Speaker 2 (01:08:57):
I'll pull back the curtain.

Speaker 1 (01:08:58):
I am broadcasting from my else today for reasons that
are completely and totally unimportant. My guy Austin Elmore, who
was on the air last night until two thirty in
the morning after a preseason game, and then you know,
got up today and did his show. Tony is off,
so Austin flew solo and he's with me today producing
the show, which is awesome. I will tell you this, Austin.

(01:09:21):
In the refrigerator there in Kenwood is one lone Michelobultra
left over from last Friday.

Speaker 2 (01:09:26):
I saw it earlier today. I was thinking about it.
Help yourself, not help yourself. Do it. You have earned it.
Thank you.

Speaker 1 (01:09:34):
I'm excited for Friday. Football Frenzy is a lot to
a name, huh. I. It's one of those moments. I
hope everybody has the same sense of humor that I do.
What do we have coming up this hour, one more
check in with Tony Pike on his off day, plus

(01:09:57):
Danny Higginbotham from Apple TV at C Cincinnati as a big, big, big,
big match tomorrow, big match tomorrow. They're at Miami. You know,
Miami is in the driver's seat in the Eastern Conference,
in the driver's seat for the supporter shield. These two
teams played about a month and a half ago. FC
Cincinnati blew them out. Now since then, the Orange and

(01:10:18):
Blue has played pretty unevenly. I think that's the best
way to put it. It did so before the league
pause for the League's Cup. I think played pretty unevenly
in the League's Cup, and they have fallen behind their
five points behind Miami, and so a big opportunity tomorrow
to close the gap. If they lose, it's an eight
point deficit with eight matches to go. I guess mathematically

(01:10:42):
it's still very possible, but it doesn't feel realistic. FC
Cincinnati did add some guys during the transfer window. Miami's
gonna have some players who did not play in that
first matchup back in early July, among them not Messy.
So Danny Hickobotham's gonna join us talk about that game
coming up in just about twenty five minutes or so.

(01:11:02):
Five point three, seven, four, nine, fifteen thirty are our
phone numbers that the Bengals released.

Speaker 2 (01:11:08):
Are waived eleven guys today.

Speaker 1 (01:11:11):
I could read the whole list for you if you want,
Agean Butler, Noah Kayane Jackson, Carmen Andre Carter, Aaron Casey,
Michael dal uh Alan, George Kwame, Lassiter, Rocky Lombardi, Eric Miller,
Josh Pryor. Bengals lose the preseason game last night, which
nobody cares. Jordan Battles scored one of the two touchdowns.
The point that we have kind of hit on all week,

(01:11:32):
but throughout the course of training camp, the nuts and
bolts of the offseason to me have been more about
let's fix this defense and let's get the pieces in
place to have a far better showing on that side
of the football than than we saw last year. And
Jamar Chase is on a contract to play for the
Bengals this year. He could choose not to if he wants,

(01:11:53):
but he's under contract to play. They're not going to
trade him. Joe Burrow, I think top to bottom we
would call his training camp bass. There were moments of frustration,
moments where he maybe didn't feel one hundred percent, practices
that maybe went awry a little bit, but this was
his most normal training camp. He has, at least to
this point, gotten through it. And I think we're all
expecting that if Joe Burrow plays sixteen seventeen games, this

(01:12:16):
team's going to be a playoff team. What can boost
those odds are if the Bengals enjoy significant improvement on defense,
and they got to get better everywhere, but the area
where they got to get better from last year more
than any is giving up explosive plays. Now that's not
solely a function of bad secondary play, but still it's
largely a function of bad secondary play. This secondary play

(01:12:37):
has to get better. So I think you got to
give the Bengals credit. What do they do? They go
bring in Geno Stone, a player every year the Ravens
asked him to do more. He rose to the challenge.
I keep using the word as sending I'm far from
the only one. It feels like Geno Stone has some
years in front of them that maybe even better than
you know what he's done so far in von Bell.

Speaker 2 (01:12:56):
Maybe Von Bell's best football is behind him.

Speaker 1 (01:12:58):
But he's still smart, a great communicator, knows this defense
in and out, great teammate, always in the right spot,
and probably still has some really good football in him.
Those are your starting safeties. Jordan Battle last year had
I think most of us would call it a good
rookie year. I mean within the context of, you know,

(01:13:24):
how the team, the defense overall performed a good rookie season.
I look at Jordan Battle and his twenty twenty three
Pro Football Focus grade.

Speaker 2 (01:13:36):
Coverage. He was an eighty two. That seems high, but
still he had a good rookie season.

Speaker 1 (01:13:42):
And what a great place to be if you're a
defensive coordinator and you've got to achieve significantly better results
from last year.

Speaker 2 (01:13:53):
If Jordan Battle's.

Speaker 1 (01:13:54):
Your third safety, and I think you could apply this
conversation to the secondary as a whole man. How many
defensive coordinators would love a combination of in their prime
free agents, maybe a slightly passed his prime and only
maybe slightly passed his prime free agent who knows the

(01:14:14):
system in and out, and a guy like Jordan Battle.
By the way, it was a Day two pick last year.
And then you you look at what they've They've done
a corner. I mean Dax Zill has to pass some
tests and DJ Turner has to pass some tests. What
I mean tests like opposing quarterbacks are going to test
those players. Dax Hill is new to corner in this

(01:14:36):
league and he is going to be tested, and Patrick
Mahomes is going to test.

Speaker 2 (01:14:39):
Him in week two.

Speaker 1 (01:14:41):
But we're talking from Cam Taylor Brent to DJ Turner
to uh obviously Dax Hill early round draft choices. Heck,
there are a lot of teams that would like to
have Josh Newton as the fifth corner, plus you add
to it the uber reliable Mike Hilton in the slot.

Speaker 2 (01:14:58):
Now or are the are going to be hiccups? Probably?

Speaker 1 (01:15:02):
Is this going to be one of the best defensive
backfields in football? I don't know, but there's a ton
of upside and it feels like they addressed the unit
the right way. They didn't sit around and hope that
they get better results from the same players who played
safety last year. They're not, you know, as much as
Dax Hill. It's a tryout. Nobody has ever denied his
physical tools or his physical profile. They're not trying out

(01:15:26):
undrafted college free agents, their bargain basement free agents their
lower round draft choices. Pretty good, pretty good haul of
dudes that have some upside, And to me, that was
illustrated last night. And granted, you know, I'm not sure
how good Anthony Richardson in the ball is. The ball
that Jordan Battle picked off was not a great throw
by any stretch of the imagination, but him bringing that

(01:15:49):
back to the house last night was kind of a
reminder that that guy's a rookie, was pretty good and
you expect him to be even better. And he's coming
off their bench. It's fifteen minutes after five o'clock. Quarter
after five. The other touchdown was scored by Jermaine Burton
last night. Jermaine Burton's had I think, a really fascinating
preseason when he has been on the field in games

(01:16:11):
which has usually taken place late, when he has shined.
He's doing so mostly against guys who uh aren't gonna
be playing in the NFL, and you watch the speed
and you watch the explosiveness, and you watch the ability
to just go get the football, and you have to
be thinking to yourself like, wow, what a weapon, What

(01:16:31):
a weapon for Joe Burrow, What a weapon for the Bengals,
And then there's everything that we've kind of come to
know and talk about when it comes to Jermaine, which is,
you know, maybe from a trust standpoint, he's not there
his relationship with Joe, and maybe from a maturity perspective,
he's not quite where he needs to be. Al Michaels
and Kirk Kirkstreet he talked on the TV broadcast about

(01:16:55):
about Jermaine, you know, possibly nodding off during meetings, and
then there's where he's been kind of buried. It was
so I think illuminating for so many that Tampa Bay
game when it took him.

Speaker 2 (01:17:06):
Forever to get on the field. Now when he got
on the field, he was awesome.

Speaker 1 (01:17:10):
One of the best things to be in life is
not desperate, right, One of the best things you could
be is not desperate. The best time to be looking
for a new job isn't when you're out of work
and desperate for a paycheck.

Speaker 2 (01:17:23):
It's when you have a job and you can maybe
explore your.

Speaker 1 (01:17:26):
Options and you don't have to take the first thing
offered to you.

Speaker 2 (01:17:30):
You don't want to be desperate.

Speaker 1 (01:17:31):
The cool thing about the Bengals with Jermaine Burton is
you've got a guy who's got extraordinary physical gifts. And
while it would be cool as hell to trust him
enough to be able to take advantage of those gifts,
this year, you know maybe he's not there. Also, he
plays a position where they've got some dudes. They've got
some dudes who could play at the highest level. They've

(01:17:53):
got some dudes who can still play at a higher
level than they have. They've got some dudes that Joe
Burrow trusts, guys who have been the offense. What a
great place to be. Here's a day two pick, great
athletic profile, awesome speed. We need to teach him to
be a pro. He's got to grow up and mature.

(01:18:13):
He's got to earn Joe Burrow's trust. But we don't
have to force those things. We don't have to play
him in spite of not seeing those things or him
having those things. They're not desperate. They're not desperate offensively.
I don't think they're desperate as a team, and they're
most definitely not desperate at wide receiver. I watched Jermaine
Burton last night, and again you look at him and go, boy,

(01:18:38):
what a weapon. What a weapon? One day, because until
the other stuff catches up primarily the trust factor between
Joe Burrow and Jermaine Burton. They've got a whole lot
of other guys they could play. They're not so desperate
that they have to play him in spite of Joe
not trusting him, or maybe some maturity issues. Maybe they're

(01:18:58):
not that way across the roster. There's certainly that way
at wide receiver. That is a great place to be.
Eighteen after a five o'clock five point three, seven, four nine,
fifteen thirty is our phone number.

Speaker 2 (01:19:09):
Meanwhile, Reds lose last night.

Speaker 1 (01:19:11):
Nicolodolo pitched fine and then his defense betrayed him, and
then it felt to me like you lost concentration and
that can't happen. They got to get him better. They've
also got to get healthier pitching. We'll spend a little
bit more time on that, Andrew Abbott, if you don't know,
to the injured list with a strained shoulder. We'll preview
the f C Cincinnati tilt coming up in less than

(01:19:32):
twenty minutes, and Tony Pike will join us one more
time as well. We have room for phone calls if
you want to chime in. Eighteen after five o'clock on Moegger.
It's the a michelob Ultra five o'clock, halfy hour on
ESPN fifteen thirty, Cincinnati Sports Station. I'll bet you that's
news to you Austin. You guys are on tomorrow, have fun,
tony two away from six. This is ESPN fifteen thirty.

(01:19:55):
I tell you what we do have tomorrow, A big,
big FC Cincinnat match as the Orange and Blue takes
on Miami.

Speaker 2 (01:20:03):
These two teams played here.

Speaker 1 (01:20:04):
In Cincinnati about a month and a half ago and
FC Cincinnati beat him badly six ' to one. Since then,
editions via the transfer window, Miami will have some players
who were not available in that match were on the
field tomorrow. Messi is not going to be among them.
You could watch it on Apple TV. Danny Hickbotham, our
buddy is going to be on the call. He is

(01:20:26):
joining us. I believe he just got to Miami. If
that is the case, I appreciate you at carving out
some time, Danny. It's good to have you as always.

Speaker 8 (01:20:32):
What's going on, I'm looking too much. He just called
me just as I was about to check in. So
I'm just just gonna deal with the humidity for a bit.
Before I check in. But very very different than Manchester
in England, that's for sure.

Speaker 1 (01:20:46):
Yeah, and no doubt about that. Well, I won't keep
you long. I do appreciate the time as always. Uh,
look at FC Cincinnati during the transfer window, they made additions.
Did they make enough additions to close the gap between
them themselves in Miami and win the Supporter Shield for
a second straight year?

Speaker 8 (01:21:05):
Yeah, I don't see any reason why they can't. I
think obviously, you know from the supporters there was maybe
a little bit disappointment in the transfer window. But I
think what Chris Albright's done, obviously pant Noon and the coach,
I think they've got an unbelievable squad and I think
that's been shown with the injuries that they've had, the
people who were away on international duty, the players that
were able to come into the team. So I think

(01:21:27):
they're a team that are still in a really good spot. Obviously,
tomorrow is huge because you know they can they can
narrow the gap down to two points behind Miami at
the top of the East, or they could end up
being eight points behind, So it's it's a massive game.
But I personally think the squad that they've got the
depth that they've got, the experience that they've got, could
see them just as well, you know, be up there

(01:21:49):
once again for support shield like they were last season.

Speaker 1 (01:21:53):
You know, there was a lot of talk of who
Miami didn't have available the last time these two d played,
but still, as see, Cincinnati dominated that match and since then,
whether it be in MLS play or in the League's Cup,
I think their performances could best be described as uneven
from that match to through all the subsequent matches leading

(01:22:16):
up to the one tomorrow night.

Speaker 2 (01:22:17):
What's gone wrong?

Speaker 8 (01:22:20):
And I wouldn't say it's so much what's gone wrong,
but I think if you look, you know, you've had injuries,
you've had players away. You know your main mana Costa,
he's missed a lot of game time as well, and
you put him into any team within this league, he's
going to make that team better, regardless of what the
team is, without without question. And I think because one
of the things when I look at Cincinnati want one

(01:22:41):
of the things that they've been built on incredibly well,
which was very similar to Philadelphi Union in particular, and
Pat Noonan was there with their defensive stability. Now, if
you look over the last couple of months they've been
without Robinson. Miasga has been our as well, and he's
been a huge loss. Then you bring Gowazim in, he
looked like a really good he's just settling in. So
there's been a lot of I think there's been a

(01:23:03):
lot of disrupt within within the team with players been missing.
And I think if you spoke to most coaches, what
they will tell you is that consistency is key. If
you're able to pick they're or they're about the same
eleven week after week, then I think you have a
huge bonus. And then I think when you add to
that the players that have been missing in probably the

(01:23:24):
last last month and a half, not only they're good players,
they are leaders within the team as well. Now leaders
don't have to be vocal. They can lead by example.
They can lead by what they do on the pitch.
They can lead by bravery getting on the ball. But
if you look at the players that have been missing
in recent times for Cincinnati, like I say, it's sort
of a double whammy because it's not just been about

(01:23:45):
the quality that has been missed, but I think it's
also the leadership that's been missed as well, and I
think at times has probably led to a little bit
of naiveties in terms of conceding goals and the manner
in which they've done that, because it's something that you
don't accustom to. Sinati And I think slowly but surely,
the leaders coming back into the team and key players
coming back, they're going to be there or thereabouts coming

(01:24:07):
the end of the season. There's no doubt about it. Uh.

Speaker 1 (01:24:10):
Danny Higgobotham is with us from Miami FC, Cincinnati and
Miami is. The Major League Soccer regular season schedule resumes
tomorrow night. Danny's got to call tomorrow Apple TV for
free via the AppleTV app or TV dot Apple dot com.
It's going to be a different Miami team than the
one we saw back in early July. Here. Obviously they're

(01:24:30):
not gonna have Messi, but still there are gonna be
a lot of guys available who are not in that
match here in Cincinnati a month and a half ago.
Give us an idea of how this Miami team is
going to look different than the last time we saw
him play our team.

Speaker 8 (01:24:43):
Well, I think I think you've just hit the nail
on the head. You know, if you look at if
you look at Miami's last game in the Least Cup
when they went out to Columbus. The likes of row
has great player Alba, we all know it speaks for itself,
the ability and what he's done in his career. Likewise
Rus Suarez.

Speaker 4 (01:24:58):
Then you add.

Speaker 8 (01:24:59):
Gomez to that, you abbels for that. It is, as
you're quite right to say, a very very different team.
And I think that what they will try and do
early on is set the tempo because I remember earlier
on in the season, I did Red Bulls against into
Miami and that was a that was Red Bulls the
first game message in play and there was a few

(01:25:20):
other players that didn't play. Red Bulls beat them for nil,
and you could feel the tension in the air because
then I did the reverse fixture at Miami and Red
Bulls took a one. Their league final score was six
to two to into Miami. So whether there are players
that played in that game at Cincinnati or played that
weren't available for that game in Cincinnati, there's going to

(01:25:42):
be hurt, There's going to be okay, you know, you're
going to want revenge, so to speak, because as a
as a former player, I contain myself. When you get
beat six to one, it doesn't matter the type of
performance that you've had, do you feel embarrassed? And I
think that the players that were involved in that game
that will late tomorrow and the player that weren't, they
will have taken it personally, and it's gonna be such

(01:26:05):
a good game just because of the proximity of where
both teams are in the league. Like I say, the
gap can go to eight points or it can go
as little as two points, So I think that leads
to that leads to a great game within itself. What
you've seen with Miami over the last month or two,
which has been really surprising but probably tells you the
soccer brains of the players on the pitch and also

(01:26:26):
the intelligence of the manager, is that he's been able
to evolve and make this team a transitional team and
they need to be not having to dominate the ball
and the thing that's really helped them and they found
ways to grind out results. And you look at the
two teams tomorrow, there's plenty of quality on the pitch,
but there's plenty of physicality as well, So I think
it all comes down to who can get control of

(01:26:48):
the game early on. Is it going to be in
the midfield area where the game's won and lost. There's
so many good players throughout this team. Then you have
you in your individual battles one versus one, So there's
so much to talk about. But I think the ten
called it's set at the start of the game by
the team will dictate which way the game goes.

Speaker 1 (01:27:06):
See you you think it's going to be a great game,
I'm I'm rooting for another since to one result. I
enjoyed that the first go on.

Speaker 8 (01:27:14):
I'm sure that you did. And if and if you want,
I will give you whatever you want it to be
six to one, because I just I just don't see
that again. It's I've I have it. I don't think
Cincinnati have realized yet. But I've had quite a few
Cincinnati home games, and I think I've only covered a
home game where they've won once. That's been it. I

(01:27:36):
think I'd near enough covered I know, so obviously things
are trying to change whatever I've done well when I've
covered Cincinnati away from home for them, But yeah, it's
for me. It's I think if you put these two
teams in the Eastern Columbus. These are the three best teams.
There's no doubt about it. And it's no it's no
coincidence that you've got three great managers. You've got people

(01:27:58):
behind the scenes that can get the o'bdumbers in terms
of bringing players in, making sure you've got a strong roster,
because we know how many games there is, and like
I say, these two are going to be there or
there about. I think, kids, you could go as far
to say that which I ever seen finishes above with
these two wins wins the Eastern Conference, no doubt about it.
And you know it's two top quality teams. I'm privileged

(01:28:20):
to be covering the game, and you know it's it's
going to be an intriguing game. I think there'll be
a lot of tactical a lot of tats calling you
and sis throughout the game as well. It'll be interesting
to see.

Speaker 1 (01:28:30):
Yeah, I would agree with that, even though I am
rooting for something closer to what we had back on July.
Six matches Free Tomorrow Night MLS Season Pass on Apple TV.
Get it on the Apple TV app or check it
out at TV dot Apple dot com.

Speaker 2 (01:28:44):
Big Big Game Tomorrow Night. I'll let you check into
your hotel.

Speaker 1 (01:28:46):
Man.

Speaker 2 (01:28:46):
I do appreciate it as always, Danny, It's great to
have you. Thank you so much anytime, anytime you take
a you got it.

Speaker 1 (01:28:53):
FC Cincinnati versus Miami tomorrow night. Of course, the match
also on ESPN fifteen thirty. Ton Pike will be on
ESPN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 2 (01:29:02):
Next mom meet Sarah from first time. Then a moments
now welcome to flight one oh.

Speaker 7 (01:29:09):
One, Todannuel Girls Trip Moments.

Speaker 2 (01:29:12):
No practice for the Bengals today.

Speaker 1 (01:29:14):
They wound down the preseason with a loss at home
to the Indianapolis Colts last night, but we are still
bringing you live training camp reports three forty five, four
forty five, and five forty five. Tony Pike, even though
he's off today, is with me to talk about maybe
not so much last night's preseason game, but some of
the themes of training camp. There is one guy that
I want to talk about from last night, and that

(01:29:35):
would be Jordan Battle, a safety who, you know, let's
face it, kind of lost his gigness offseason, right. They
bring in Geno Stone, they bring in Von Bell. Jordan
Battle did some really good things his rookie season, did
a really good thing. Last night with a pick six.
And I still think Tony and what could be a
crowded secondary with two good safeties could be a factor
on this year's team.

Speaker 4 (01:29:56):
Yeah. I mean, you can never have enough depth at
that position. And the crazy thing is mo and we
talked about this going into camp. Of camp battles, one
of the main battles that a lot of people were
talking about was Jordan Battle and bon Bell and I
give that, you know, we we We've talked about other
battles where it's like, Okay, no one's really won the battle.
It's almost like they just haven't lost it. Von Bell

(01:30:17):
has won the camp battle from day one to training camp.
He's been awesome. And you know, like like many about
it's it's nothing against Jordan Battle. It's just Von Bell
is a better fit right now for lou An Rumo
where he's at in his career. But to see Jordan Battle,
not sulk, not get upset, but to continue to work
and put the time in and then to see it

(01:30:38):
all come to fruition last night in a in a
preseason finale, I just think you're set up really well.
The more depth you have in the secondary and the
more depth you have on defensive lines. And when you
talk about the defensive side of the ball, and you
know you can you can extend that, mo. I know,
there wasn't a ton last night. I thought Cedric Johnson
flashed last night out of position where when hearing the

(01:31:01):
news about Miles Murphy and the amount of time he's
going to miss, you start thinking, Okay, defensive end depth,
defensive line depth. At Cedric Johnson and Jordan Battle both
did some really good things last night, you know.

Speaker 1 (01:31:13):
And I think at the themes of the preseason, it
feels like on a daily basis, we've talked about the
upside of individual players in the secondary, which makes me
believe that there's a lot of upside for the secondary
as a whole, which is a huge development given how
bad that part of the defense was last season.

Speaker 4 (01:31:31):
It was such a depleted group last year, and the
amount of pressure that the Bengals offense was under all
season because of the big plays constantly being put up
on the back end of the passing game. It just
makes things a lot harder for an offense and for
Luayn or Rumo to try to call a defense when
you don't really know what you had at the back end.

(01:31:51):
And you know, the the under the radar and not
at the time. But how much time have we spent
me in training camp talking about Geno Stone? Not much
because there haven't been many times where you know, Spelled
has been beat or been out of position. He's been solid.
Don Bell has been solid. Cam Taylor Britt really really good.
We've talked about Josh Newton and you know the possibility
is see cornerback four, DJ Turner, corner three, dox Hill

(01:32:15):
and his improvement. It's gone from a position of oh man,
that's going to be a weakness too. Okay, maybe they
do have something here.

Speaker 1 (01:32:26):
Let's talk about the other guy who scored a touchdown
last night, Jermaine Burton. Jermaine Burton, who's you know, it's
it's been interesting. He's out there late in the game
against guys who are not going to be in the NFL,
and so you know, his his athleticism and his physical
ability shine against guys who athletically are inferior. And he's

(01:32:47):
been productive and you see the speed and you see
the explosiveness.

Speaker 2 (01:32:52):
But then there's the things.

Speaker 1 (01:32:53):
You hear Al Michael's on Amazon last night animating that
Jermaine Burton is perhaps nodding off during meetings. Well, we've
talked a lot about at the Joe Burrow trust factor,
wondering is Jermaine Burton, from a maturity standpoint, ready to
have a major role on this team? What do you
do with him? Because it's not like they don't have
wide receivers. It's not like you could say to Joe Burrow,

(01:33:14):
I know you don't trust this guy, but you're still
gonna throw to him.

Speaker 2 (01:33:16):
That's such a big part of just how this offense works.
What do you do with him? What's his role in
this team?

Speaker 4 (01:33:24):
It's so hard you have to keep developing him. I
think he ends up being one of those guys that
doesn't dress on game days to start the year. That's
kind of where I think this is. Now. No one's
going to argue his ball skills when the ball's in
the air, and no one's going to argue his ability
to go make plays because he has showcased that. But
he's also showcased that at a very basic route running level.
It's not a very intricate route tree. It's not lining

(01:33:46):
him up and making him read what the defense is doing.
It's a lot of just here's the route go run it,
and to his credit, when he does that, he's making
some really good plays. But it's all jump balls. It's
more vertical stuff. It's not the most advanced from learning standpoint.
And to hear those criticisms last night, you know, Ol
Michaels and Kirk Crumbstrud have been out long enough. No,
I don't think they're going to make that up about

(01:34:07):
a third round pick or you know, you know, a rookie.
I just don't. I don't think that that's something that's
on there. So they heard it somewhere, and I'm sure
if they're talking about it, it has legitimacy. They tried
him at Case, they tried them on special teams, and
then Charlie Jones came back, and Charlie Jones, I think
it's solidified where his role is on this team. So
I just I know there's upside there, But the mental

(01:34:29):
side of the game, I just don't think is there
yet for Jermaine Burton, which I means I don't think
you'll see him dressed active during game days.

Speaker 1 (01:34:37):
Yeah, that's that's pretty remarkable to think about when you
think about where he came from when they drafted him
and some of the things we saw from him during
the preseason. But you know, how do you make a
case for him ahead of guys like andre Yoshavajh And
you mentioned Charlie Jones, and you know, say what you
want about Trent Ner when Joves throwing Trent Irwin.

Speaker 4 (01:34:55):
Yeah, yeah, had Joe Daniman on sinty three sixty yesterday,
and Joe Daneman still thinks that Trent Irwin, by all
said and done, will be the third leading receiver on
this team behind t Higgins and Jamar Chase because he
just thinks there's a trust factor there. There's an idea
that when you look at that position, it's not about
what can you do down the field, It's not about

(01:35:16):
the explosion that it's about are you where you need
to be? Can I trust that you're going to adjust
your route accordingly? And I still think Trent Irwin has
a value there. So it's not a dire position of
need yet for the Cincinnati Bengals. And I think they
have that luxury in directing a guy with huge upside
and a couple concerns in the third round to say, Okay,

(01:35:37):
let's let our culture go to work. And if you
had the culture that works along with the talent that
we've seen through a couple of preseason games. Now you
feel like you have something built for the future.