Tony Pike's Cincy 360 -- 12/4/25

Tony and Austin talk with John Sheeran, Keegan Nickoson, Mo Egger, and more. Plus, they take your calls and TalkBacks on ESPN 1530!

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
This is Tony Pike sincey three sixty about Cincinnati from Cincinnati,
sponsored in part by Skyline Chili. Stop by Skyline Chili
for a three way or cheese cony Today. Feeling good,
It's Skyline time. This is ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports Station.

Speaker 2 (00:22):
All right, welcome in Happy Thursday. It is the latest
edition of Cincy three sixty on ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati
Sports Station. Thanks to Skyline Chili. Anytime you're feeling good
and hungry, it's always Skyline time, especially as we get
deeper into the holiday season. Why not make it Skyline time.
It's the perfect holiday gift. And while you're there picking

(00:42):
up a Skyline gift card, you can have yourself lunch, dinner,
maybe even breakfast. Anytime you're feeling good and hungry, it's
always Skyline time.

Speaker 3 (00:51):
Let's roll through another Thursday.

Speaker 4 (00:53):
Here.

Speaker 2 (00:53):
We've got John sheeron at one o'clock. He'll join us
to talk all begles and bills. We've got Key get
Nick us in at two o'clock. He'll get us ready
for the crossdown shootout. I'm talking a little U see
football signing Day and our guy Bob Man Jean from
the University of Cincinnati and Novacare will join us in
the third hour as we discuss a little bit about

(01:14):
the trainer's role in a player coming back from injury.
We'll look at what Joe Burrow was able to do
and how big of an impact the trainer truly has
in something like that. We've also got some Joe Burrow
audio from yesterday that we'll get to.

Speaker 3 (01:28):
We've got to read and react today.

Speaker 2 (01:30):
We've got to talk a little bit more about the
Buffalo Bills from now until three o'clock, and of course
we'll welcome you to join us as well. Five one, three, seven, four, nine,
fifteen thirty. Let's jump right into the top sports stories
happening right now.

Speaker 3 (01:47):
Austin.

Speaker 2 (01:48):
Yesterday, I made an appearance on the New Heights podcast
with Jason and Travis Kelsey. Well sort of, right, didn't
I didn't make an appearance, right, my name did.

Speaker 3 (01:57):
We've been trying to weasel you onto there for a while,
as it were, but they just keep big timing us, yep, Jason,
and then when they see it, they're.

Speaker 2 (02:05):
Like, oh yeah, man, man, miss you. It's like old
what can we do? Jason yesterday outlined the story in
the Sugar Bowl. They were talking about Brian Kelly leaving
and Jason outlined the story of trying to block Carlos
Unloup that didn't go well. In turn, I got sacked
for it and Jason apologized, which was awesome. But there
was something else on that podcast that I listened to.

(02:27):
They had George Clooney on it. George Coloney is a
diehard Bengals fane. Travis said, you know, you've broke my
heart a couple times with the Bengals and the Chiefs,
and Travis, somep of the Bengals broke my heart because
they didn't draft me right out of their own backyard
and they went back and forth. But then Travis Kelce
said that in two and a half years with Taylor Swift,
they've never had an argument. I don't know if I
can buy that. Everyone has one every now and then, right,

(02:50):
I think there's a difference between a disagreement and an argument. Right, Okay,
surely there's a difference between those two things, I would think.
So I'm sure they've had disagreements. I don't know that
they've had arguments. That's fair, is it? I mean, I'm
trying to think is it an argument or is it

(03:10):
a disagreement of someone's just going to bed mad one night.

Speaker 3 (03:13):
I was just gonna say, do to people that are
in grown up, mature relationships, have full blown arguments or
do you have disagreements in which you figure it out together?

Speaker 2 (03:26):
Well, I think that the root of some arguments comes
down to money at times. I think money is a
very stressful thing in life, especially in today's economy.

Speaker 3 (03:35):
I think that's fair.

Speaker 2 (03:36):
And you know, one would argue that money's probably not
an issue for Travis and Taylor.

Speaker 3 (03:41):
You know, I did see a tweet about this that
said I probably wouldn't argue either. If our combined net
worth was one point seven billion dollars and she has
one point six billion, valid which is a fair point.

Speaker 2 (03:54):
That's a valid point. I probably wouldn't be arguing all
that much. Other new is it shootout week. We're gonna
talk to Keegan Nickison about this. But there's this post
going around Austin. Have you seen some of the things
that were happening in the world the last time you
see one at the Centa Center.

Speaker 3 (04:09):
No, let me give you some of these. Was I alive? Well?
Here we got what year was it. Gas prices were
a dollar ten?

Speaker 4 (04:15):
What year?

Speaker 3 (04:16):
I don't know, you don't know.

Speaker 2 (04:18):
I don't know for sure, but I know gas prices
were a dollar ten you were alive.

Speaker 3 (04:23):
What year?

Speaker 2 (04:24):
I don't know. I don't have the year. Find it out,
all right, I'm looking it up. I thought you were
prepared for this. Well, gas prices were a dollar ten.
Here's some other stuff. Wes Miller. This says two thousand
and one. Okay, seventy five fifty five, so I would
have been six years old. Howkout this ahead? Wes Miller

(04:45):
was a senior in high school playing basketball.

Speaker 3 (04:47):
Could he coach then George Diking Bush much better now
than he does? What Bush was in his first year
of presidency? Yeah, I like that guy. He's funny guy.

Speaker 2 (04:56):
The first iPod, not the iPhone, the iPod came out.

Speaker 3 (05:00):
Do you remember the ipodra? I? I remember Pod Mini,
the Nano, begging for one, and I remember my grandpa
bought me one one day. Yeah, just out of nowhere,
and my mom was mad at him. Oh he gave
in to me begging. Oh, but that was like, that
was one of the best days, one of the best
days of my life. When I got an iPod. Last

(05:22):
time you still have it? iPod? Nano shout out, Okay,
go ahead.

Speaker 2 (05:26):
Tom Brady was in the midst of his first Super
Bowl season. Blockbuster still had five thousand stores. Wow, the
original Xbox had been on the market for not even
a month.

Speaker 3 (05:36):
Is the single Blockbuster still out there? I think so?
I think so. That's like worth taking a trip. It
would be phenomenal.

Speaker 2 (05:44):
Shrek was released the same year You Got It Bad
by Usher was the top song.

Speaker 3 (05:50):
That's a great song.

Speaker 2 (05:51):
TSA Airport Security existed for less than a month. Yeah,
Kirk Krisa a big reason for that. Yeah, was eleven
months old.

Speaker 4 (05:59):
Wow.

Speaker 3 (06:00):
Wikipedia did not even exist yet. That's amazing.

Speaker 2 (06:03):
The last time you see one bend at the Centa,
Oregon is the site of the last plus phenomenal. There
was another video store too. There was Family Video, There
was Blockbuster and I there. Yeah, I know, there's Hollywood.
There was another one too that I seem to remember

(06:24):
going to. I want to say the colors were like
red and black.

Speaker 3 (06:28):
I don't know.

Speaker 2 (06:29):
I can't remember that. Going and running a video game, Man,
what a day. Was so excited to rent video games?

Speaker 4 (06:40):
That was like.

Speaker 3 (06:42):
I wish I could still do this day. I also
wish you still got a disc man. That just doesn't
happen very much anymore. And now I do love the
the what's the word. I'm looking for the convenience of
just having everything on the boom, download it, boom, boom boom.
That's great. However, that first time opening up a fresh game,

(07:06):
fresh copy of Madden oh Man, taking the seal off,
that was cool. We've talked for a long time about
you and I competing, Yeah, in video games and posting it.
We're gonna have to do that eventually. Yeah, well I
would need a system first. If my wife is listening,
I'm still looking for a system for the Christmas is
coming up. Christmas is coming. I saw this.

Speaker 2 (07:28):
Now, I know you're not an Elf on a shelf guy,
but there's a lot of folks out there that do
the elf on a shelf. And I saw this guy
on social media that is taking Elf on a shelf
to another level and essentially blaming the elf in front
of his kids for everything. Sure, so he went out
and bought himself a PS five and then that's funny,
and then put the elf on top of it. And
then when the kids came down in the morning. The

(07:49):
elf had a note that said, I got your dad
an early Christmas present. Dad just bought it himself, blamed
the ylf. Mom really don't have anything to say about it.

Speaker 3 (07:58):
As well, so mom can't say anything in that sense. Yeah,
now I'm thinking a little bit about this. I like
that idea. I'm thinking a little bit about this.

Speaker 5 (08:06):
Now.

Speaker 3 (08:06):
If I lived with someone, I would get enough on
the shelf just for my own personal entertainment phenomenal. It's good.

Speaker 2 (08:14):
There are good days and then there are days where
you wake up in the morning and you maybe forgot
things and you got to hurry around gott of course
wouldn't need to do any of that. Who's in the
car if maybe you played a uh, you know, in
college sports in today's era, the nil era. I was
listening to some Busting with the Boys. Diego Pavia was

(08:34):
on there and Vanderbilts and all kinds of news right
now Austin one, Diego Pavia is making this like Heisman campaign.
But he was talking about the exit meetings that happened
now in college sports, and he was asked, what are
the exit meetings now like when I was playing? Exit
meting you go in, you talk to your coach. Here's
some things he did, well, here's some things you want

(08:55):
to work on, and let's get back to work. Diego
Pavia said the exit meeting that they went through. Now
you write down on a piece of paper what you liked,
what you didn't liked, and then your price to come
back and play, and then you just turn the paper in.

Speaker 5 (09:10):
What a world.

Speaker 2 (09:11):
Right, Hey, here's the money. I want to come back
and play. If not, I'll just head elsewhere. But I
did like this just insane. And then Pete Thamil is
now talking that Vanderbilt explored the possibility of playing a
thirteenth game for this weekend as a way to give
one final showcase for the college football Playoff. There was

(09:33):
interest from the team, university officials, the athletic department, and
the coaching staff. Famba went on to say, at the
end of the day, it just was too late for
this to happen. Is this something Austin that you think
we could see going forward? Not only that Diego pave
as a Heisman candidate, that's one extra game he can play.
We've talked yesterday about the teams that are sitting idly

(09:53):
by this week. Is that something I believe they had
reached out to Utah, they reached out to Miami. Is
that something you could see coming to Fruition in the future.

Speaker 3 (10:02):
Uh? Yeah, unsanctioned games. There are no rules in college football.
You're done right, So you should never say never Like
people are crazy enough and the money is crazy enough.
And yeah, finally, it wouldn't surprise me at all.

Speaker 2 (10:17):
Finally, this this clip of Scott Sadderfield from yesterday, and
he was talking about kind of the the coaching moves
in college football and and where teams are at. And
really Scott Saddlefield's comments were about the issues in place
with the college football schedule. And this now comes on

(10:40):
on the heels and I can't believe I'm doing this,
but I'm gonna. I'm gonna speak up, and I'm gonna
take up for Ryan Day for a second here, you know,
because yesterday for Ryan Day, he lost his offensive coordinator,
wide receivers coach and in doing so, Chris Henry Jr.
Kind of on the fence. They I think you told
me they lost like thirteen combined stars from players.

Speaker 3 (10:59):
The last I saw it was like thirteen stars worth
of wide receivers, yeah, and a running back and obviously
their offensive course.

Speaker 2 (11:07):
And then the kid was a legend, legend bay Yeah,
who wanted to commission Ohio State, but his mom said, no,
You're going to Tennessee. Like there's just a lot going
on with the clock. And I actually I saw a
post about this yesterday and I'm looking at it today.
Like Ryan Day right now is trying to get ready

(11:28):
for the Big Ten title game against the second ranked
team in the country and after that trying to win
a national title. Yeah, he's also probably fielding and taking
and making a bunch of calls for a vacant offensive
coordinator and wide receiver position.

Speaker 3 (11:43):
I would okay, I'll let you finish the tweet or
finish the post.

Speaker 2 (11:47):
And he's also probably trying to do everything he can
to reach out to Chris Henry Jr. Wrap up a
recruiting class, and now you're factoring in January. Second, the
portal opens up again, Like it's just it's too much
right now to do. Why are we making this harder
than it is? Why can't we just move the clock

(12:09):
back in college athletics, Well, I agree with you, but
I don't There hasn't been a good enough reason. You
don't have to move it back.

Speaker 3 (12:15):
You have to move the whole schedule up would be
the first Yeah. The way I see it, like with
the Ryan Day thing, is thankfully Brian Hartline is not
leaving until after the playoffs, So that's not an immediate need.

Speaker 2 (12:29):
Right, But it's not, but you still need to, Like,
there are recruits that are saying, Okay, who's the next
guy gonna be sure?

Speaker 3 (12:34):
And I'm sure Chris Henry Jr. Is like here, if
you're Ryan Day, You're saying, look at what I've done
with and without Brian Hartline. Yeah, I mean, yeah, you're
gonna lose. You're gonna lose some guys because of Brian Hartline,
no doubt about it.

Speaker 2 (12:48):
We prepared for the Sugar Bowl with the most of
the coaching staff still intact, but those coaches were gone
yeah after the season, So recruits coming in are like, well,
who's it gonna be? And even the coaches that were
still there, like, I'm sure Heartline wants to go out
winning the whole, the whole thing, but he also has
other responsibilities that need to be tended to.

Speaker 3 (13:06):
Right now, It wouldn't surprise me if he takes some
guys with him. Sure, from Ohio State to USF it
wouldn't surprise me at all. I'm gonna steal a line
from Jalen Hurts here. Okay, keep the main thing the
main thing. I don't I don't like worry about Ohio
State not focusing on Indiana. Sure Like there is a
system in place. There is a coach in Ryan Day

(13:29):
who's a great leader and has put together a great
staff where it's like maybe there's a couple more things
that come across his desk this week than normal, but
you're still recruiting and calling and talking to those people
throughout the week as you normally would during the season.
Just more questions you have to answer her. Yeah, and
and they have the money to be able to, you know,

(13:51):
fix those issues. That's where Ohio State is in a
unique situation where other schools maybe are not sure. Now
the big thing is next year, roster retention is going
to be what they spend a lot of money on.
Jereediah Smith's going to need a raise. Other guys are
going to need a raise, for sure. Ohio State has
done a great job of building their own like everyone

(14:14):
else to talk about them spending twenty million dollars on
the roster. It's twenty million dollars on guys that they
recruited and got to stay in Columbus so they can
still recruit and you know, they have a path forward
with that. So I don't know that I'm I would
feel worried about it. Sure like it's He's the thought
is correct. There's just way too much stuff going on.

Speaker 2 (14:36):
This is This is about a minute and minute and
a half of what Scott Sodderfield had to say on
where essentially the clock is in college sports.

Speaker 3 (14:43):
Now.

Speaker 6 (14:44):
Yes, there should be changes moving forward. I think everybody
agrees with that. The problem is everybody's got an idea,
you know, and you know, I've heard push everything back,
but i've heard also move everything up, you know, and
so one of those things need to happen. And you
know the problem is we look at the academic calendar
and try to try to, you know, get our rules
from that. We don't we where we are right now.

(15:04):
We don't need to look at back at every calendar.
We need to look and see what fits the best
for the calendar. Because it's not fair for these these programs,
these coaches are leaving that are good programs, you're leaving,
probably because you're good or bad at this area. And
these kids, the ones that are good, don't deserve this
in my opinion, Like you know, you're you're not the
same team you were throughout to get to get there
to the playoffs. Now, I mean, it's it's it's a

(15:25):
it's a weird situation. We're putting the guys into bad
positions and bad spots. Players included. The portal this year
is going to be January second. Well, these teams that
are in the playoffs are going to be playing during
that time. So if I'm a player on one of
those teams and if I want to go play somewhere,
what am I going?

Speaker 4 (15:40):
I gotta choose.

Speaker 7 (15:40):
Now, do I get in the portal and.

Speaker 6 (15:42):
Go go try to go somewhere? Do I try to
win a national championship like that? That's a bad predicament
we're putting these players in, and so something certainly needs
to change.

Speaker 3 (15:51):
But who's in charge? Like who really is in charge?

Speaker 6 (15:54):
Like I don't know, nobody knows, you know, it's not
the coaches, Like who is it? I mean, I think
if you put a bunch of coaches in the room
that we'll get it solved and get it and get
it fixed. But they don't want to do that. So
something needs to happen. Somebody needs to take charge and
fix this so we don't have all this chaos that
we're having right.

Speaker 2 (16:11):
Now, you know, Austin, I think the very end there
is is kind of the most telling who's really in charge.
You put everyone in the room, probably get it done,
but no one knows Hunt is really in charge.

Speaker 3 (16:21):
On Tuesday when you were out, I think I abloviated
for twenty minutes about college football and the madness of
it and the wake of the Lane Kiffin thing, and
how I think the chaos and the messiness of it
is part of what draws us into it. And I
think there is a level of that that the TV networks,

(16:43):
who I think have the most control in college football,
don't want it to change. And so because of that,
and because it's constantly in the conversation that I don't
know that we'll get to a place now. I don't
even know that it will self destruct on it because
it's such a train wreck that you can't stop watching.

(17:05):
It's like bad reality television. Sure, you can't stop watching it,
and those those. You know, I think that's a good
example of it. And you know, he talked about moving
it up, moving it back. I also played the clip
from Texas text coach Joey Maguire, who just got an
extension shout out to Penn State, and he talked about

(17:26):
how the season should be over culminating in the National
Championship on New Year's Day and portal opens January second,
and you're not putting you're not going into the second
or the new semester with football still happening. And I
agree with that. If you can get it from like

(17:46):
whatever it is August twenty third or twentieth through January first,
doesn't that make the most sense.

Speaker 2 (17:53):
Yes, it just there are so many things that make
more sense than the current why it's constructed.

Speaker 3 (17:59):
And you know he talks about Sadderfield kind of talks
there about like the academic calendar. That's the other thing
he kind of said the quiet part out loud. Nobody
cares about the academic calendar, Like the kids don't care.
Nobody cares. Let's stop acting like it matters now. In
the example I just used, that was a way to
kind of bridge the gap and make it make sense

(18:21):
for both. But it's just I don't know that. I
don't know that their solution until somebody takes charge. And
even in madness, even if you do. This is one
of my points Tuesday as well. Who do you trust
to be that person? Who do you trust to be
that commissioner? Yep, it's not like you know, I'm not

(18:42):
gonna put Greg Sank in there. He's gonna do everything
slanted towards the SEC, the big ten at SEC. Who's
to say they're ever gonna actually get along because they
everybody's thinking, oh they'll work together, will they?

Speaker 4 (18:55):
Yep?

Speaker 3 (18:55):
I don't know. It's insane, it is.

Speaker 2 (18:57):
It's madness, and I think again, like Scott Sadderfield ended
with who's really in charge? It's just it's unbelievable, you know.
It's seeing what's unfolded just this week in college athletics
and the coaching carousel and everything else. We'll take our
first break when we come back. We'll catch up on
a phone caller too. We'll get ourselves back on the clock.
We've got read and react. We've got some Joe Burrow

(19:20):
audio that'll all lead up to John Sheeran joining us
at one o'clock right here on Cincy three to sixty
on the Home of the Bengals, ESPN fifteen thirty, Cincinnati
Sports Station.

Speaker 1 (19:28):
Oh in the NATI, brought to you by Postman Law
on ESPN fifteen thirty, the official home of the Cincinnati Bengals.

Speaker 2 (19:37):
All right, welcome back, Cincy three sixty thanks to Skyline
Chili Football in the Natty on ESPN fifteen thirty, Cincinnati's
Sports station. Have you gotten to the point yet, Austin,
like where you are not only worried about the Bengals bills?
Are you like scoreboard watching yet? Or are you giving
yourself another week to get to there? I kind of

(19:58):
have a lot of hyd this stuff every week, all right.

Speaker 3 (20:00):
So Colts. So let's say, Steelers Ravens, who are we
pulling for?

Speaker 2 (20:04):
You're rooting for the Steelers? Okay, Okay, so Steelers need
to knock off the Ravens. Yeah, I just I've kind
of I've reserved this that if we get to a
point here on the station where the Bengals are going
into the final four games of the regular season after
winning on Sunday, then I will I will buy fully

(20:26):
back in.

Speaker 3 (20:28):
I'm kind of.

Speaker 2 (20:28):
Dipping the toe back in right now, it'd be cool.
It's also hard to win that many games in a row,
regardless of who the competition is. But I am allowing
myself to be open to the idea that they can.

Speaker 3 (20:38):
Make the playoffs. I think the point I was I
was making the other day is when my team has
a healthy Joe Burrow starting at quarterback, I don't fear anyone.
And that's a really fun way to look at it
from a football standpoint, Like, Yeah, I know that the
Buffalo game is going to be difficult. I know that

(20:59):
it's ever easy to go into Orchard Park in the
last season, in that stadium, in the cold, in December,
in the snow and win. Yeah, but I got Number
nine all my mind. There's a player to do it,
and he's gonna give us a chance in every game
we play, and that as a fan is incredibly fun
for me. And so if they make the playoffs, yeah,

(21:20):
I would be thrilled. I want that to happen badly.
I kind of gave up on the season already, so
my mindset is, let's see if they can actually pull
this off. I don't know that I get nervous. I
don't know that I get, you know, upset or worried.
I love this this part of it and looking at
the schedule like it's actually possible.

Speaker 2 (21:42):
And there's a there's a there's an amount of pressure
on Buffalo this weekend.

Speaker 4 (21:45):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (21:45):
Bill Barnwell wrote an article this morning for ESPN dot com.
He he listed the NFL players and coaches with currently
the most at stake. You know who number one is.
It's not Sean McDermott, Joe Brady. I remember how much
we talked about Joe Brady and who he's been in
the excitement around I mean earlier this year you talked
about Joe Brady as a potential head coaching candidate, but

(22:07):
he has struggled as of late. Now it's true that
I don't think they have a number one wide receiver
in Buffalo. And we'll get to some read and react
and talk more about that team. And I think Dalton
Kincaid and his availability in this we are going to
be huge and we'll get to the reasons why. But
it's kind of falling apart for Joe Brady in this offense.
They are I believe eighth in EPA since that New

(22:31):
England Patriots loss They've turned the ball over sixteen times
in eight games. That doubles their full season total from
last year. So they're turning the ball over more. They
don't have a true number one wide receiver. We've talked
about a game just a couple weeks ago where the
Texans sacked Josh Allen eight times. Talked about a team

(22:52):
right now that's kind of reeling with some injuries. This
is a make no mistake about it. If you're listening
to radio in Buffalo this week, this is a massive
game for the Buffalo Bills.

Speaker 3 (23:02):
Yeah. And if you remember, we had the quote from
Sean McDermott earlier this week that said, we know our
backs are against the wall, Like, yeah, they're eight and four,
they're in a spot to make the playoffs, but they
know that they have to be a better football team.
You want to know a crazy stat. I saw this
from our friend of the show, Joe Goodbary. The Bills

(23:23):
have a lower tackling grade on Pro Football Focus than
the Bengals. Oh my goodness, they have missed, that's impossible,
fifteen point four percent of their tackle attempts as a team.
The Bengals have missed thirteen point seven percent. Wow, So
the Bills have missed just under two percent more tackles

(23:47):
than the Bengals. That's insane, Like, you would never have
believed that.

Speaker 4 (23:53):
Now.

Speaker 3 (23:54):
I haven't watched every snap of every Bills game. I've
watched them enough to know that they have some issues,
But like, that's kind of crazy, right, I mean? And
also I think goes to show how well the Bengals
defense has figured it out over the last three weeks.

Speaker 2 (24:08):
That is a insane st is that ridiculous. I would
have never guessed that. Yeah, with how bad this team
has been at tackling, John is calling in, Hello.

Speaker 8 (24:16):
John, Just hold on one second, guys, I'm making a
bet over in the Buffalo Cincinnati game on Sunday. That's
a good team could tackle with those two quarterbacks.

Speaker 4 (24:27):
Let's score a lot of points up there.

Speaker 3 (24:29):
That's a good bet.

Speaker 4 (24:31):
Absolutely, I think.

Speaker 7 (24:32):
So.

Speaker 8 (24:33):
You know the interesting thing.

Speaker 4 (24:34):
About the Ravens and Steelers.

Speaker 8 (24:36):
They're treading in the wrong direction, and I think you
want to see them maybe split the two games they
play each other.

Speaker 4 (24:41):
That would give them.

Speaker 8 (24:42):
Each a seventh loss. Obviously, the Bengals run the table
they get to.

Speaker 4 (24:46):
Nine and eight.

Speaker 8 (24:46):
The other thing is Baltimore was a tough schedule. They
still have to play the Patriots, Packers, Yeah, Steelers twice
and the Bengals. Pittsburgh is a slightly easier schedule, but
they have to go to Cleveland, which is never easy,
and they also play the Lions, who were in content
for a playoff spot, and they have to play Baltimore twice.

Speaker 4 (25:02):
I really think that the Bengals on the table.

Speaker 8 (25:04):
They're going to get in at nine to eight, which
would be fantastic.

Speaker 3 (25:08):
Basically, have to run the table in Baltimore and Pittsburgh
have to split with one another and lose one more
of those games. Yeah, and you feel great. They're in
a better spot right now than they were a year ago.
It's crazy, oh.

Speaker 8 (25:20):
A question, Yeah, because they did run the table last
year and they lost tie breaker with I forget which
team they had lost to all the Chargers, and they
were a game behind the Chargers.

Speaker 5 (25:29):
So that was done earlier in the season.

Speaker 8 (25:32):
The thing I wanted to chime in, and this is
coming from left field, is Kenny Anderson's Hall of Fame
did I actually worked with three of.

Speaker 4 (25:40):
The Hall of Fame voters.

Speaker 8 (25:41):
We had a radio show five ten years ago based
on the Hall of Fame. It was called Talk of Fame,
and I reached out to them. And the way this
works is there's fifty voters and you need forty votes
to get in. Now, in this group of five, they
can only vote for three at the most, So the
voters can only vote for three at the most. Last year,
Earling Shark was the only recipient out of the Veterans

(26:02):
Committee group, so they could have three of these players,
slash coaches, slash owners get into the Hall of Fame
this time around. Obviously, everybody thinks Belichick's a lock, but
in talking with some of the Hall of Fame voters,
there's a little apprehension the cheating scandal in two thousand
and six, obviously Spygate, and also the fact that they
think he may want to come back or I know

(26:23):
he wants to come back to the NFL. If there's
an inkling that he's coming back to the NFL, they'll
hold off and putting him into the Hall of Fame
because they kind of got burned with Joe Gibbs years ago.

Speaker 4 (26:33):
He retired after.

Speaker 5 (26:34):
Ninety two, and he came back in two.

Speaker 8 (26:35):
Thousand and four, So you know, they Bill Parcells didn't
get into his first year of eligibility. The owner, Robert
Kraft has been so neaty trying to get into the
Hall of Fame, they may just push back against him.
For theater, you want to see Belichick and Craft get
in together because of their icy relationship. But in terms
of the three players that we're talking about, Elsie Greenwood
would be the eleventh different starter from the Steelers in

(26:57):
the seventies to make.

Speaker 4 (26:58):
The Hall of Fame.

Speaker 8 (26:59):
I think they're over representative, to be quite honest with you,
and you look at Roger Craig.

Speaker 4 (27:04):
The forty nine Ers in the.

Speaker 8 (27:05):
Eighties only have two offensive players in the Hall of Fame,
Joe Montan and Jerry Rice. I don't count Steve Young
because we're more than nineties, So I think Roger Craig
is a real chance. As far as Kenny Anderson, a
comp that he played against would be Bob Greasy, who's
in the Hall of Fame. But Grease he won two
Super Bowls. But Kenny Anderson was as good a player
as him, won four passing titles and an MVP. And

(27:25):
I think a reasonable comp of the modern era is
Drew Brees, accurate passer, tremendous passes. The edge I get
to Kenny Anderson is greasy. Played in Miami, that's a
lot easier to play than in Cincinnati, where you're playing
in a minus sixty nine win show game against the Chargers.
And obviously Breese played in a dome. So I think
Anderson does have a chance to get in. It's going

(27:47):
to depend on what happens with Belichick and Craft, because
then they can put three players in if so be.

Speaker 4 (27:53):
But you need forty of the.

Speaker 8 (27:54):
Fifty votes to get in, and no one knows what
anyone's voting for because it's done secretly, like uh, you know,
like the.

Speaker 2 (28:01):
Pope, secret balance, secret ballots. John, thank you so much. Man,
have a great one, you two guys. Yeah, very very
interesting as it relates to the dynamic of Kenny Anderson. Uh,
we'll get a break. Let's read and react as it
relates to Bengals Bills next. ESPN fifteen thirty, Cincinnati Sports Station.

Speaker 1 (28:19):
You've been listening to Football in the NATI on ESPN
fifteen thirty, the official home of the Cincinnati Bengals.

Speaker 9 (28:31):
Do you attend out?

Speaker 10 (28:44):
Feel tempts now?

Speaker 4 (28:45):
He goes so?

Speaker 3 (28:46):
Does coat in there? The way up Kaavy.

Speaker 2 (28:52):
All right, wasn't much to choose from. That had to
be Cooper Flag. That was because I know they played
the Heat last night, and I believe leave the Mavericks
won the game.

Speaker 3 (29:02):
They did three straight wins for Dallas. That was an
assist from Kentucky Wildcat Anthony Davis to Duke Blue Devil
Cooper Flag. Wow, and man, I'm just our Win Schulers
call the night. Thanks are friends of Win Schulers. They're
four fantastic chief spreads. Pair well with anything this holiday
season and every holiday get together you may have. You know,

(29:23):
I just looked up that the final from the MAVs Heat,
and I looked up don't Don't Bulls are nine and twelve, Yeah,
and first round draft pick out for the season with
shoulder surgery. Didn't they like have the best start since
like the Jordan era. Yikes? Yep, all right, we're just
good man.

Speaker 7 (29:40):
Now.

Speaker 3 (29:41):
As I've said before, when we win, we're going back
to the finals. When we lose, it's basketball season starts
in February.

Speaker 2 (29:49):
Now, before we get to read and react, we buried
the lead today, which is we talked a lot of
Kyle Schoberg. Yesterday we didn't mention yet Today the Emelio
Pegan is back with the Reds. Yeah, are we happy
about that? I mean, he's now what the second highest
paid Red on a two year deal.

Speaker 3 (30:05):
He's he's a good player. Okay, he pitched really well
last year. Okay, it seemed like a relatively good deal
for both sides. He is, by my count, the yes,
the he's actually the highest paid Red at the moment,

(30:27):
behind jam Or Candelario. But he's not a Red gosh
and soon to be Kyle Shwarer. So in terms of
money that's guaranteed the Reds players this year, Emilio Pagan
is at ten million. Jambers above that, Jambers at sixteen million.
Deal that was Hunter Green eight, Key, Brian Hayes seven,

(30:51):
Jose Travino five and down down the line.

Speaker 2 (30:54):
Bengals Bills, Sunday afternoon. It's Thursday. Can we do a
little read and react.

Speaker 3 (30:59):
Let's do some red and react. Still waiting on that.
React on the cool sound effects, React for that, react
react react Hopefully it sounds nothing like that, but here
we go. All right, we've talked about how good the
Bengals have been in the month of December. Oh, how
about this Joe Burrow Tony has the best career completion

(31:23):
percentage seventy one point one, pass yards per game two
ninety six point zero and passer rating one oh five
point four in December or later since the nineteen seventy merger.
Wholl Burrow has a seven eighty three win percentage in
December or later, the fourth highest of any quarterback since

(31:45):
nineteen seventy with at least fifteen such starts. Well, that's
seven eighty three. Is gonna have to go to one thousand. Well,
it's impossible to get to a thousand if you've already
lost one.

Speaker 2 (31:55):
We're gonna need that all the way up there West.
He hasn't lost in December yet this year. I'm talking
about this year, this year going forward.

Speaker 3 (32:01):
Okay, that makes me we're going to be at one hundred.

Speaker 2 (32:05):
I think it's it's such a testament to Joe Burrow
and I look back to last year. And that's what
makes it even more impressive to me, Austin, is it's
not like we've seen this Bengals team get to like
December January and just like be cruising for playoff seating.
When I think of Joe Burrow and the Bengals. It's
playing to get into the playoffs, especially last year, and

(32:27):
that means high leverage, high stakes, high stress games. And
you're saying he's got the best completion percentage, passing yards
per game and passer rating in December or later since
nineteen seventy. That speaks to a quarterback who is great
when his team needs him to be the most. No garbage,
garbage stats for Joe Burrow. His greatness is on display

(32:48):
when the team needs it the most.

Speaker 3 (32:50):
Joe Burrow is, now, this is a this is the statistic,
and I'm also going to quiz you at the end. Okay,
Joe Burrow is two to zero against Josh Allen in
career head to have matchups, including the playoffs. Okay, he's
looking to become the second quarterback to be three and
oh or better versus Josh Allen. Who is the other
one who is four and oh against Josh Allen. So

(33:14):
I hear you typing, don't cheat? Well, I was saying,
so this year Josh Allen beat Mahomes, So it can't
be Mahomes, right, It's not Mahomes. This quarterback is four
and oh.

Speaker 2 (33:25):
Okay all time against Josh Allen looked, I looked at.

Speaker 3 (33:28):
No longer is an active player.

Speaker 2 (33:30):
Mahomes has Allen's beaten Mahomes four out of five in
the regular season, but has never beat him in the playoffs.

Speaker 3 (33:35):
That's correct.

Speaker 2 (33:36):
Yikes, Oh, man, I don't.

Speaker 3 (33:41):
Know Tom Brady four and oh in his career against
Josh Allen, Joe Burrow trying to get to three and oh.

Speaker 2 (33:48):
Now these I mean, it's not like Burrow plays against Allen.
He plays against the defense of the Bills. Sure, but again,
I go back to the high leverage, high stress that
Joe Burrow plays with. It seems like you get the
best Burrow against the best competition. Josh Allen is considered
one of the best in the league. Last year, he
was the MVP of the league. I would see this
Austin as a chance for Joe Burrow to say, hey,

(34:09):
you know what, I know, I missed a lot of
this year. I know Josh Allen won the MVP last year,
but let's not forget about me. I think that's what
he has a chance to do on Sunday.

Speaker 3 (34:18):
Speaking of Josh Allen, Josh has had four home games
with at least two hundred and thirty passing yards and
has averaged two hundred and seventy six point five passing
yards at home this season. That's the fourth highest in
the NFL in twenty twenty five. Okay, Allen's passer rating
of one fifteen point nine win playing at home is

(34:39):
the second highest among qualified quarterbacks. The Bengals are allowing
two hundred and fifty six point eight passing yards per game,
the most in the NFL in twenty twenty five.

Speaker 2 (34:54):
Bills have four losses this year. I believe the Patriots
at the only time they've lost at home. Everything else
has been on the road. It is just it's different
in Buffalo. You know, watch it all last week and
I know it didn't show in Josh Allen's passing stats.
The wind in the conditions against the Steelers were insane

(35:17):
last week. That's different if you don't play in that
all the time. I genuinely think that Buffalo has an
advantage when it comes to home games late in the
year because of the weather in Orchard Park. Josh Allen
has managed that for much of his career, and he's
played in it the most, which I think just gives
him an unbelievable level of comfort.

Speaker 3 (35:34):
At home.

Speaker 2 (35:35):
Now, when you do have that comfort at home, I
think a couple things go for it. Won the running
game and James Cook, I think is one of the
most undervalued running backs in the NFL. He should be
talked about more for how good he is. And the
other is a player that was questionable, but this team
lacks playmakers. Austin Dalton Kin Kate's health is massive for

(35:58):
Josh Allen because he's such a target for him. But
it's playing in those elements, being comfortable in them, but
it's also being able to rely on a running game
as well.

Speaker 3 (36:08):
In my opinion, Joe Burrow has had thirteen games with
at least thirty five pass attempts since the start of
last season, including forty six attempts on Thanksgiving Night against
the Ravens. Only Patrick Mahomes eighteen and Bo Nicks fourteen
have had more such games in that span. The Bengals

(36:30):
pass on sixty two point one percent of their plays
in twenty twenty five, the fifth highest rate in the NFL.

Speaker 2 (36:37):
I think this is one of the hardest stats to
judge because we're never going to have an understanding, Austin
of what plays are actually called a pass out of
the huddle and what plays are checked two way pass
or many plays in the NFL you have a run
pass option tagged, so you've got a running play tag
but if you get a certain look, you can throw
the ball out to one of your receivers. I think

(36:59):
the pass attempts is hard to judge when it comes
to the NFL because you just don't know on every play.
There's multiple plays called you have checks. Joe Burrow does
a lot at the line of scrimmage, I think, and
I'm I'm guilty of it as well. I get caught
up in it at times. In thirty two and a
half forty six for a game, the first game back
is a lot. But I do think Joe Burrow plays

(37:20):
a large role in how many times he throws the
ball two more.

Speaker 3 (37:23):
James Cook or he is the Bill's running back, ranks
second in the National Football League with twenty eight rushing yards.
He has already surpassed his previous career high of one
twenty two rushing yards, which he set in twenty twenty three.
I guess that's really just a fact. I don't know

(37:44):
that there's much to react to other than he he's
pretty damn good react to this. The Houston Texans sacked
Josh Allen eight times. They didn't run the ball enough
last week against the Pittsburgh Steelers. What they do?

Speaker 2 (37:55):
They gave James Cook thirty two carries and he ran
it for one hundred and forty four yards. And I
looked at this last night as well. I was talking
about it. Ray Davis also got nine carries. So the
game after Josh Allen got sack day times. What was
Joe Brady's answer? They had fifty one rush attempts against
the Pittsburgh Steelers for two hundred and forty nine yards
as a team only drop back to throw at twenty
three times. I as I said before, I think James

(38:17):
Cook's one of the most underrated backs in the National
Football League and I would expect a heavy dose of
him on Sunday.

Speaker 3 (38:22):
Last one. Okay, Jamar Chase needs only twenty nine receiving
yards insane to reach one thousand for the twenty twenty
five season. Chase would become only the fifth player in
NFL history to have one thousand or more receiving yards
in each of his first five seasons, joining Randy Moss.

(38:43):
Justin Jefferson, Mike Evans, and Adriel Jeremiah Green.

Speaker 2 (38:49):
Wow, it's weird because at times I don't even feel
like he's been as dominant this year, But you look
at the stats and again he's right there and he's
done it, and I think it's the biggest testament to him.
He's done it for a large portion of the year
without Joe Burrow. He's done it with Jake Browning, he's
done it with Joe Flacco. And yet you pull up

(39:12):
the list of leaders in the National Football League, he's
fourth in receiving yards, fourth in receiving yards, second in receptions.
He leads all wide receivers. He's only second to Trey
McBride of the Arizona Cardinals, their tight end. It speaks
to the greatness of Jamar Chase because he's been able
to do it without Joe Burrow playing a majority of
the games.

Speaker 3 (39:32):
What I think is interesting about Burrow being back is
we have seen, for the most part in his absence
Jamar Chase kind of work. The short yardage and intermediate yardage.
We saw pretty early on a couple of deep shots
to Jamar Chase with Joe Burrow. So I wonder if

(39:52):
we'll see more of that now. I don't know if
if the weather's going to allow such plays on Sunday
against Baltimore against Buffalo, but I feel like that's kind
of part of Jamar that they haven't unlocked yet this
year is a ton of the deep balls and him
stretching the field, and hopefully if Higgins is able to
go that creates he's got a more of an advantage. Yep,
but I did. I do think that's something we haven't

(40:15):
seen a ton of so far this season.

Speaker 2 (40:17):
Let's finish up the hour when we come back with
just a few minutes of what Joe Burrow had to
say yesterday. We'll do that and then we'll turn it
to John Sharon at one o'clock on ESPN fifteen thirty
Cincinnati Sports Station.

Speaker 3 (40:29):
Welcome back.

Speaker 2 (40:30):
It is since he three to sixty year listening on
this the home of the Bengals, ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati
Sports Station. John Sheriff made his esports covering the Bengals,
will join us at one o'clock. Before we get to that,
a lot has been made about the comeback of Joe Burrow.
We're going to talk to Bob Manjeen later in the
show about that today and just what goes into the
comeback from a mental and physical side of things. But
one of the things that has gone into this Joe

(40:52):
Burrow comeback is that insert that he's wearing in his shoe.
Joe Burrow spoke about this yesterday. Here's what you had
to say.

Speaker 11 (41:01):
What is in your shoe and that's helping you with
your toel?

Speaker 5 (41:04):
Exactly?

Speaker 12 (41:05):
Carbon fiber plate and custom orthought.

Speaker 2 (41:08):
What how does that help your your toil?

Speaker 12 (41:10):
Well, they just can't shoe can't bend it because my
toe can't go backwards right now, still a little early
for that, So just keeps it firm and not bending
it back.

Speaker 3 (41:21):
Is it comfortable?

Speaker 4 (41:23):
No?

Speaker 3 (41:25):
Are you wearing different cleats now than you were before.

Speaker 4 (41:28):
Before the injury? Yeah?

Speaker 12 (41:30):
Yeah, these are the ones that I feel like give
me enough space and stability to do what I need
to do.

Speaker 3 (41:40):
Do you walk around in different shoes just like at home?

Speaker 12 (41:43):
At home, I'm just barefoot, but yeah, I try to
be in the cleats as little as possible.

Speaker 10 (41:51):
Did you settle on the sneakers being like the swapping
out and kinda why didn't you figure out that was
a good solution for you on the sideline.

Speaker 12 (42:00):
Well, I take it off throughout practice every now and
then just to let it breathe and let it relax
a little bit. And these are what I put on,
So I figured I'd just keep it the same.

Speaker 11 (42:13):
Whether obviously it was cold in Baltimore, but it's supposed
to be like really cold in Buffalo. Does that impact
the shoe work and what's in it and your toe
at all or not?

Speaker 4 (42:24):
Really?

Speaker 5 (42:24):
We shouldn't.

Speaker 3 (42:26):
How difficult was it to get used to the insert.

Speaker 13 (42:32):
It was certainly a process to figure out what worked
best for me and what was most comfortable and at
the same time safe. But we we worked through that
and a lot of different people were involved and we
got the right.

Speaker 14 (42:48):
Stuff on there.

Speaker 3 (42:50):
So that is what Joe Burr had to say.

Speaker 2 (42:51):
Obviously it's not comfortable, or else you wouldn't be changing
in and wearing shoes on the uh on the sideline.
But a little as to go as it's not just
showing up in the Cleatson and plane. There's a lot
that is going into Joe Burrow and his availability to
get back and play for this team. Good insight there.
Also loved his insight on Lane Kiffin because he didn't
really have much to say about Lane Kiffin.

Speaker 3 (43:11):
He's a good coach, a good coach.

Speaker 2 (43:13):
Didn't know much about the process. I could have filled
him in on some of that if he needed any
of that. John Cheron will fill us in on the
rest for me ada E Sports covering the Cincinnati Bengals
will do so. To kick off our number two next
dot ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports Station until.

Speaker 15 (43:28):
U c k Y Cincinnati, make us the number one
pre set on your car radio and on the free
new and improved iHeartRadio app Free never sounded so good.
ESPN fifteen thirty Man Trouble in the Bedroom, not any This.

Speaker 1 (43:41):
Is Tony Pike sincey three sixty about Cincinnati from Cincinnati,
sponsored in part by Cincy Shirts. Cincy Shirts all sincey
all day. This is ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports Station.

Speaker 3 (43:58):
Welcome back.

Speaker 2 (44:01):
It is our two sincey three to sixty thanks to
Cincy Shirts. Thank you for listening on ESPN fifteen thirty
Cincinnati Sports Station. Let's dive right in our Thursday tradition
now hour two to get things underway. From A to
Z Sports covering the Cincinnati Bengals is John Sheeran, what's up, John,
How are you?

Speaker 7 (44:18):
I'm doing well, man.

Speaker 16 (44:19):
I'm a little nervous that I'm bad luck because I
wasn't on last week, and of course the Bendals won
by a lot, but I'm happy to be back.

Speaker 10 (44:26):
Uh.

Speaker 2 (44:26):
Not being on last week, you obviously had a chance
to sit down on the holiday and watch what unfolded.
What were your biggest takeaways Being able to watch Joe
Burrow on Thanksgiving night?

Speaker 16 (44:37):
My biggest takeaway It really began on that horrendous low
red zone sequence of events in which he was an
empty and I'm like, oh, even when Burrow is back
and the rest isn't fully shaken off yet, he's still
required to be Superman out there, which is a little
bit annoying from a from a viewer standpoint. But once
since he were, you know, firmly under him and you
stopped really like forcing a lot of those throws. In

(44:59):
the first half, he looked like himself, and that was
very reminiscent, I believe of like a couple of years
ago when he faced the Ravens again in week two
when he was dealing with a calf and his first
half was also a little bit rusty, and then he
just started to come alive again.

Speaker 7 (45:12):
And fortunately this time the Bengals ended up winning.

Speaker 16 (45:15):
Because he had a lot of help from the defense
with five turnovers. But I mean, this is pretty normal
for him against the Ravens defense post Mike McDonald when
he left for the Seahawks job a couple of years ago.

Speaker 7 (45:25):
He's always been able to carve them up.

Speaker 16 (45:26):
And the offensive line gave him a ton of time
to just you survey the field and just make the
throws that were always accustomed to seeing him when he's
at his best, and right now it's you know, it's December.
This is when Burrow plays his best, and it was
really promising to see that accuracy not go away despite
all the rust of taking two months off with his injury.

Speaker 2 (45:45):
The help that he was able to get around him,
He finds nine different receivers. The running game got going.
The offensive line. I feel like we haven't talked as
much about the offensive line. How much of an improvement
have you seen from that group?

Speaker 7 (45:57):
It's been night and day.

Speaker 16 (45:59):
I think long the interior you have doing the fairchild
playing I think above what you would expect a rookie
third round pick to play. At the power of his
game and pass protection is so notable. Dolon Riser has
been doing this for a long time and that was
the expectation when when he signed. Yeah, it makes sense
why he wasn't necessarily at his best when he was
first year and he only had like a couple weeks

(46:19):
of actual practice experience for the entire offseason. But now
that you know he's in full game shape and everything
like that, he does look like the better option compared
to Jalen Rivers who was out there for the majority
of the season.

Speaker 7 (46:28):
And Rivers, again, this is the rookie.

Speaker 16 (46:29):
You don't expect that much of him, but this is
definitely their best interior trio that they've had in quite
some time. And the fact that Mariusmims continues to be
a solid player right tackle Wellnonda Brown Junior does have
his mishaps every now and then with speed on the outside,
but when he's playing well, the entire unit looks like
the best offensive line that Burrow has ever had, really

(46:50):
going back to I would say even his college days.
I think even at LSU, like his offensive line was
never as good as people tauted to that. So he
now has the opportunity to do all the special things
the borrow can do in terms of extending plays and
creating out of structure. But when he does have to
just stay in the pocket and surveyed the field, I
think this offense line givesn't the chance.

Speaker 4 (47:07):
To do that.

Speaker 2 (47:09):
You mentioned the defense, John, I'm curious if you look
back to the Pittsburgh game, the Steelers scored two defensive touchdowns.
I thought the defense played better. I certainly think they
had a winning performance against the Patriots, and they did
well again against the Baltimore Ravens.

Speaker 3 (47:23):
Are we are we.

Speaker 2 (47:24):
Ready to turn the page that the defense is improving
or do you still want to see more?

Speaker 3 (47:27):
And if so, what do you want to see?

Speaker 16 (47:29):
It is improving just because what have we talked about
for twelve weeks now, it's all relying on the pass rush.
It's all relying on guys who have been dependent on
this year. When they didn't go out and make other
moves to bolster the union, they relied on the development
of Miles Murphy just.

Speaker 7 (47:44):
To the side Chris Jenkins.

Speaker 16 (47:46):
Specifically, those three guys in the early parts of their careers,
they played the most pass rushing snaps against the Ravens,
and they all had high level performances. Yes, they didn't
always finish at Lamar Jackson, but they disrupted plays and
they forced bad mistakes out of him unfortunately, Like sometimes
they're gonna be wacky games like that, right. The Bengals
just experience went against the Vikings back in September, which
they turned the ball over five times. You know, not

(48:07):
always expecting to force five turnovers. But when you can
create disruption, muddy the pocket a little bit, force aaron decisions,
forced fumbles, whatever the case may be. Jenkins, Osai, and
Murphy all did that, and Murphy's kind of been on
this track for the last.

Speaker 7 (48:20):
Handful of weeks.

Speaker 16 (48:21):
I think his ability to push the pocket as a
power rusher and to disengage at the right time that
has definitely improved.

Speaker 7 (48:28):
Osaia is probably.

Speaker 16 (48:29):
Their best overall pass rusher with Autree Hendrickson out there,
but the jump from Chris Jenkins specifically in this game
was maybe the most promising because they haven't really had
that boost from an interior rusher quite some time, and
I'm still not sure if Jenkins is quite that player
just yet. I think he had a really good week,
but you do need to see more of that, But
with a can have multiple pass rushers who can contribute

(48:49):
with like a fifteen to twenty percent win as a
pass rusher, that just does so much for the rest
of your defense and it makes everything else go and sink.
So this is what they've been missing for for the
first eight nine weeks of the season and the getting
some of that now.

Speaker 2 (49:01):
Do you think there's a value with Trey Hendrickson and
Shamar Stewart not playing that Miles Murphy and Josephosai have
taken this jump more practice reps. We know how important
those are that they're not rotating through in the course
of a game. Do you find a correlation between the
other two defensive ends not playing and the production we're
seeing for Miles Murphy and Josephosai.

Speaker 7 (49:21):
It's certainly possible.

Speaker 16 (49:22):
You know, like Murphy, this is this is his third
year and he's never really been thrust it into this
important of a role before. Like we kind of wanted
it to happen last year when Sam however, was experiencing
his decline and he got some more opportunities along with
Joseph Asais. So I think obviously them being in the
spotlight them getting all the starter reps, that definitely helps,

(49:43):
but you still have to go out there and perform, right,
and that just wasn't happening in the early parts of
the season, even with Stewart was healthy, Right, I think
Murphy and Osi were still, you know, at at the
very least equals.

Speaker 7 (49:52):
Along with him in the rotation.

Speaker 16 (49:53):
So they're just running with the opportunity now, and sometimes
it just takes a little bit longer for some of
these guys to click. And even if Murphy is not
necessarily going to be a ten sac of year type
of guy for a first round thick, I think he's
still showing the value that you would have expected for
who the player that he was coming out of college.

Speaker 2 (50:08):
Do we need to have a Trey Hendrickson conversation? Do
you do you find it just at all odd? We've
talked about on this show in Austin. I think has
made the point if if the injury was as serious
at the outset for Trey Hendrickson, would the Bengals have
just put him on IR at that point? Do you
find how this situation is being handled and how blunt
Zach Taylor is each and every Monday that he's doubtful. Again,

(50:31):
do you find this situation odd?

Speaker 16 (50:34):
It's definitely odd compared to how you know, these situations.

Speaker 7 (50:37):
Normally go about. And when the wording is like.

Speaker 16 (50:40):
That, when the messaging is like that, and considering the
history there, it all raises, you know, very, at the
very least minor red flags. I think this could be
a situation in which he aggravated the injury. It made
it a little bit worse, obviously than now. There's the
pelvis classification along with the hip. It's a core muscle injury,
probably going to require surgery in the offseason. Right, So
there's all this new that's come out about it, and

(51:01):
it's possible that the Bengals didn't think it was as
serious as it is, and that's why he hasn't been
on IR. He's still on the active roster and they
haven't cleared that roster spot up for him. Obviously, with
a guy like Dramder, if he's healthy, you want him
out there as soon as possible, and I think they've
always kept that door open just in case.

Speaker 7 (51:18):
He's able to come back.

Speaker 16 (51:19):
I think there's probably some frustration with it not healing
the way that they expected it to and it could
just be they miscalculated.

Speaker 7 (51:26):
In that regard.

Speaker 16 (51:27):
Again, we don't know nearly enough details to make any
conclusions about this. It's all, unfortunately speculation, and considering who
the subject is, he's been in the spotlight all year
and not for the not for the best reasons.

Speaker 7 (51:39):
So I think it's.

Speaker 16 (51:40):
Rather unfortunate that it's got to this point. But I
don't know if we can go as far as to
say that there's anything the fairies here. It's just a
lot of speculation and unfortunate, a lot of unknowns because
unfortunately for them that they just didn't expect it to
get worse and unfortunately just not at the point where
he can play.

Speaker 3 (51:54):
John The Buffalo Bills have the best rushing offense in
the NFL. Why are they so good? And how do
you expect them to attack the Bengals with that rushing
game on Sunday?

Speaker 16 (52:07):
Yeah, I mean it was so dominant against the Steelers
that TJ. Watt joke that they ran the same play
of thirty times, and it kind of wasn't really joking, right,
It was just inside zone after inside zone after inside zone.
That offensive line has always been comprised of pretty good athletes.
Who can displace guys, and when they're all in sync,
even without their two starting tackles like that, they were
able to, you know, clear the edges for James Cook

(52:27):
to bounce outside. And I think part of that is
also not just with the offensive line. They're getting a
lot of help from their tight ends. To rookie Jackson
Hawes has been phenomenal, not not for beyond just receiving
reasons right like he's getting his nose dirty and he's
clearing out the edge. And James Cook has phenomenal vision
for these cutback lanes and he's an explosive runner as well.
So when you combine an offensive line that's always in sync,

(52:48):
it's always that it can always really out athlete the
opposing defensive line clear space for a running back that
just knows where to go with the ball. It has
really good vision and explosion to his game. That's how
you get not only a successful run game, clostup one game.
They can really open a game for you.

Speaker 3 (53:02):
They also use their tight ends very well. Have you
seen any differences in the way the Bengals have kind
of been defending tight ends because for years they haven't
been able to cover them. They did give up a
big one to Isaiah likely that they had a good
hustle play on on Thursday night. How do you expect
the Bengals to try to prevent the Bill's tight ends
from beating them?

Speaker 16 (53:22):
Yeah, I mean that's that's something that I expect is
not necessarily going to be of strength of the Bengals
in this week. I was expecting Mark Gaers that have
a little bit better of the game last week, and
of course he got an extension this week. Dalton Kincaid
is their second leading receiver, but he's not just he's
he's just a tight end and name only right, he's
basically in the slide like Mike Esecki out there, and
the middle of the field has been mostly compromised for

(53:44):
this Bengals defense. And it's not something I expect Berek Carter,
Tom just Night to be, you know, on top of
necessarily this week. It's gonna have to be continue to
be a work in progress. But you know, Alan Josh
Allen is always on the same page with those guys,
and they find the vacancies in the soft spots in
the zones, and that's gonna be something like where like
you have to be able to disrupt these guys at
the line of scrimmage, to force them off of their

(54:04):
timing and have to force Allan into making some bad decisions.
But you know, Kincage's been reliable for them. I think
he's on the injury report, but he should be able
to play this week and that'll be a very important
figure for the Bengals to stop.

Speaker 3 (54:14):
I thought it was interesting John the split between Chase
Brown and some Aj p Ryan in Baltimore. Do you
think that's just short week give Chase Brown a little
bit of rest in the run game, or do you
think we'll see that continue over the course of the
end of the season.

Speaker 16 (54:29):
I think there's gonna be always opportunities for p Ryan
to give him a little bit of a break, but
also for his value and pass protection as well, and
we saw that definitely on the touchdown andre Yosavaj Pieran
doesn't pick up that block on the opposite side of Burrow,
that play does not happen, right. And I think as
long as Peterran is healthy, he's the trusted guy to
be on the field in those situations.

Speaker 7 (54:50):
And I think with the way the game script.

Speaker 16 (54:52):
Played out, or at least for how much Burrow checked
into those pass plays and how much they rely on
his arm to outscore Baltimore. That's why Ryan was on
the field for as much as he was. But there's
always going to be opportunities for him to run the.

Speaker 7 (55:04):
Ball as well and to not overload Chase Brown.

Speaker 16 (55:06):
Despite how productor Chase Brown has been, He's going to
get his opportunities. But Pi Terran definitely still has value
there and they definitely recognize that.

Speaker 2 (55:12):
If T Higgins is able to continue on his progression
and getting back to this team. How do you view
you know, Joe Burrow's ability to spread the ball around
it, It's always something I've been in all of Joe Burrow.
He found nine different targets. How much more difficult does
life become for the Buffalo Bills if you can get
T Higgins healthy and playing on Sunday?

Speaker 16 (55:32):
Yeah, I think the Bills their cornerbacks are are an
area in which the Bengals have a definite advantage of
this one like their safety has always been good with
Ployer and now a second year player Cole Bishop I
believe is his name back there, So their safeties are
good and they can cause some confusion in the priest
net phase. But you will always take Jamar Chase and
T Higgins over you know, true Davious White, Brent Fripp,

(55:55):
I'm blanking on his first name, but you know, like
the Bengals did do have the advantage there, and I
think in games like this, like you never really know
if Chase or Higgins is gonna go off. If that is,
if Higgins plays. I remember back in twenty twenty three
it was Tea's big game which he had one hundred
and ten receiving yards against the Bills. He had the
spotlight and then Chase obviously, you know, dominating games after.

Speaker 3 (56:14):
That as well.

Speaker 16 (56:15):
So like it could just be a picker poison such situation.
That's the beauty of the Bengals offense, and that's how
they're at their peak. When all three guys are out
there playing at their best. Burrow knows where to go
with the ball, and when he sees one on one
opportunity with either of them, it's not going to be
about all this guy's getting paid more money than this guy. No,
if the opportunity is there and the matchup is right,
he's going to whichever guy is the best. And that's
how you get the ball being spread around as much

(56:37):
as the as it does with Burrow at the quarterback.

Speaker 2 (56:40):
John, how do you view this season up to this point.
I feel like it's the most optimistic I've seen a
team for being four and eight on the year, and
rightfully so with Joe Burrow coming back. But there were
a lot of issues that we have discussed with this
team throughout the course of the season, and yes, a
one game sample size against Baltimore helps to kind of

(57:00):
of moved past what those issues were. But how important
now does the final stretch become Everyone wants to say, Okay,
went out and get into the playoffs. What is your
realistic vision for how this season plays out?

Speaker 16 (57:12):
I think this is still at the end of the day,
it's still a very flawed team that has major issues
to work out in the offseason. But I think as
this season has unfolded, you've seen just everywhere in the
league there are cracks with some of the best teams,
and there's going to be flawed teams in the playoffs,
and I think that's somewhat of a source of optimism

(57:33):
right now, in which the Bengals definitely have taken their
bumps and bruises along the way, the fact that they've
been in the situation before and we're able to do
what they could to win out and give themselves a
chance in the playoffs. I think it does give them
a little bit of confidence as well, which is why again,
like you don't want to be in the situation, but
the Bengals, unfortunately do find themselves in the situation where

(57:53):
than most of the teams, and that's why like, oh,
we've been here before, we can control we control the
old you know, the the cliches and whatnot. But no,
I think right now you have confidence in this offense
producing with Burrow playing the way that he does, and
if the defense can continue continue to be opportunistic with
the pass rust that it is now found.

Speaker 7 (58:13):
There isn't a game that you feel like.

Speaker 16 (58:15):
They're going to be completely outmatched and give you hope
that you can just win out and find a way
to do this and if you get some help along
the way from the Steelers and Ravens losing out. So
confidence I think is definitely higher than it was a
week or two ago. But this is still a flawed
team that just needs to be in the same company
as other flawed teams.

Speaker 7 (58:31):
When January comes.

Speaker 3 (58:33):
Around before I let you go.

Speaker 2 (58:34):
John, we didn't get to talked last week, so you
speak of confidence in winding down the season. Not a
great end of the season for our UC football Bearcats
who lose four in a row after getting to seven
and one. How do you view as a fan of
the Bearcats, how do you view this year's football season?

Speaker 16 (58:51):
You know, Penn State still looking for a head coach,
and one in Cincinnati.

Speaker 7 (58:54):
I think that would be you know, I'm just kidding.

Speaker 16 (58:56):
Yeah, it sucks not being both a second half of
the season team and not being the second half of
the game team. That's unfortunately the UC Bearcuts football program.
At the moment, I'm pretty much over the season. I'm
still I'm just on myll eyes on tomorrow.

Speaker 7 (59:10):
I'm the harvoid.

Speaker 3 (59:10):
Are you excited about it?

Speaker 4 (59:12):
Or are you? Are you?

Speaker 3 (59:13):
Are you cautiously?

Speaker 4 (59:14):
Do you?

Speaker 7 (59:14):
I just give you this game, Just give me this game.

Speaker 16 (59:17):
I have no confidence in the season of other than this.
This is like my ohigho sted Michigan moment, right, I
don't care about the rest of the season.

Speaker 7 (59:22):
Just give me, Just give me a win over Saver
and I'll be content there.

Speaker 3 (59:26):
It is.

Speaker 2 (59:27):
That is John Sharon aes E Sports covering the Bengals, John,
what's easiest way to follow along with everything you got
going on with the Bengals as they look to continue
this run.

Speaker 16 (59:36):
Absolutely, it's December football. It's when the Bengals somehow play
their best, and it's when we're on firing on all
cylinders as well. Adsea Sports dot Com, Backslash Cincinnati, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok,
wherever you get your short form video content. We're on
their eight Dies Sports Cincinnati follow as along for the
final five weeks.

Speaker 3 (59:52):
Much much appreciated, John, We'll talk again next week.

Speaker 7 (59:55):
Thanks fellas.

Speaker 2 (59:56):
There he is, John, Sharon a is E Sports love
it some Bangals, optimism, signs of life. Your talkbacks come
up next thanks to Sincy shirts. It's our number two
on ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports Station.

Speaker 3 (01:00:11):
Hey, Alexa Sports Bar, it's.

Speaker 4 (01:00:13):
That time for talkbacks.

Speaker 17 (01:00:15):
Press the microphone and record your message or Austin in tone,
please keep it clean and don't be mean and.

Speaker 18 (01:00:24):
A sprinkle sprinkle, drip drips.

Speaker 7 (01:00:27):
It's that time for talkbacks.

Speaker 17 (01:00:29):
It's our favorite parter Sincy three sixty. So Austin buddy,
play those talkbacks on your screen and please drive out
to sabotages.

Speaker 2 (01:00:41):
Thanks to Sincy Shirts. Thank you ahead of time for
leaving your talkback for today the Thursday edition of Sincy
three to sixty.

Speaker 14 (01:00:50):
It's the Lord with another edition of start bench, cut
Christmas pains, putting up Christmas lights, writing out Christmas cards,
or Christmas shopping at the mall.

Speaker 2 (01:01:06):
You know, I enjoy the throwback nature of Christmas shopping
at the mall. I don't do it a lot, but
every Christmas year, once or twice a year, I'll head
to the mall and do some vintage Christmas shopping where
I can actually see what I'm buying, not just order
everything online. I like that aspect of Christmas. I also
like the aspect of putting up Christmas lights, so I'm

(01:01:26):
not benching any of them except Christmas cards, because we.

Speaker 3 (01:01:29):
Really can you just like answer the question the way
it's asked. Start bench cut, No, I start both. You
are a gutless individual. I start both. I'll cut Christmas cards,
I'll start Christmas shopping. I love doing that. I'll bench
Christmas lights. I don't know the last time I put

(01:01:52):
up Christmas lights French. Well, I don't have a home. Yeah,
I mean I put up my tree. I like doing
that and writing out Christmas cards. I don't think I've
ever done that much. Yeah, we don't do that.

Speaker 9 (01:02:06):
Hey, guys, Jeff and your Richmond. Happy Thursday.

Speaker 4 (01:02:09):
Sudy.

Speaker 9 (01:02:11):
First of all, want to wish Evan Dryer and his
Anderson Rafters' best wishes tonight. Let's all the state finals
up in Canton. And then, Tony, I wanted to ask you,
if you were to set the line on the Crosstown
shootout tomorrow night, what do you think a reasonable line

(01:02:31):
would be for the game? Take care?

Speaker 2 (01:02:37):
I think Vegas wise like you see minus two and
a half, minus three and a half if I were setting
the line, and behavior minus about eight and a half.

Speaker 5 (01:02:46):
Hello, this is former President Ron Old Reagan. And well,
I know in all the years that I've known Nancy,
we've never had an argument. Not true, Ron, Not come
on now, not true.

Speaker 3 (01:02:58):
Gotta go? Thank you? M lying right there, man.

Speaker 19 (01:03:04):
Well, Travis says he's ever had an argument with Taylor. Well,
I guess I can buy that. At the moment he does,
she'd probably break up with him. Then he had to
deal for about one hundred breakup songs about him.

Speaker 4 (01:03:14):
My wife and I.

Speaker 7 (01:03:16):
We celebrated twenty years together yesterday.

Speaker 5 (01:03:18):
Wow.

Speaker 4 (01:03:19):
And I could say, yeah, we've.

Speaker 19 (01:03:20):
Had some arguments, We've had some disagreements, but fellas the center.
You fired out that she is always right and if
Mama ain't happy, nobody is. I tell you life, it's
a whole lot easier.

Speaker 3 (01:03:31):
That's right, makes it easy.

Speaker 20 (01:03:35):
What's up, guys, Swam from the Heights? So already at
the beginning of the show.

Speaker 3 (01:03:40):
What did you just call me?

Speaker 4 (01:03:41):
Man?

Speaker 3 (01:03:42):
Replay that? Do he call me already? I think? So?
What's up?

Speaker 20 (01:03:46):
Guys, swum from the Heights? So already at the beginning
of the show. I think the video story you might
be talking about that was in Red and Black. It's
family video if I'm not mistaken from back in the day.

Speaker 3 (01:03:59):
But I like your guys prediction.

Speaker 20 (01:04:01):
Sit or who will win tonight between my cowboys and Alliance?
And also whoever loses? Do you think they're out the
playoff picture? Or they might still have a fighting chance.

Speaker 2 (01:04:11):
Based on how the NFC is, it might be an
elimination game tonight. I like the I like the Lions
at Home.

Speaker 3 (01:04:17):
I just looked it up. Movie Gallery. Do you remember
Movie Gallery? I do? Yeah, that's what it was. Not
family video, But do I do? Thank you for that.
Jo answered the question Dallas or Detroit. I'm sorry I
was looking that up. What did he ask? Who will
win tonight? Wins tonight and it's an elimination game from
the team that loses. Yes, it is an elimination game

(01:04:37):
for the team that loses. I want Detroit to win.
I almost always pick the home team. Yeah, but I
think they're in trouble. Man, I want Detroit as well.
I think I think Dallas is gonna win that game.

Speaker 21 (01:04:53):
Yeah, like I said a thousand times, let's get Kenny
Anderson in the Hall offense. I'll tell you the Bills game,
you just gotta stop James cook Man. Their receivers ain't
that good. They can't stop the run. I'd like to
see the Bengals run the hell out of the ball
the Sunday. Stop James cook Let's get.

Speaker 3 (01:05:16):
A w stop the run. Can't stop the run.

Speaker 22 (01:05:21):
We'll tell guys big to hoone in Kentucky, they say
Cooper Flag ain't nothing but another Brent Berry. And then
what about this guy he hired as a football coach.
He refers to himself as will Stein in the press conference,
calls himself in third person says, who wouldn't want to
play for will Stein right now? Well, dude, you took
over an Oregon's quarterback coach, and you had transferred quarterbacks
who already established.

Speaker 3 (01:05:40):
Don't think you were the one that developed them.

Speaker 22 (01:05:42):
Organ's been good since nineteen ninety four when Rich Brooks
took them to the Rose Bowl and that Penn's eighteen
was phenomenal. They were by far the best team in
the country that year. If I say something I said.

Speaker 2 (01:05:51):
It's interesting will Stein becomes the coach, but he's not
the most popular will Stein that Kentucky said. That would
be Willie Caley Stein. What's he doing these days?

Speaker 3 (01:06:02):
Uh that, I don't know. I thought he'd be better
in the NBA. I did too with Big Willie. You know,
I don't think we've ever approached this topic before. But
there's another famous Tony Pike. Really yeah, who's that? I
don't know if I can Uh. Oh, that makes me nervous.

(01:06:25):
I think he was like who, I don't know who'll
describe it?

Speaker 18 (01:06:34):
Uh?

Speaker 3 (01:06:34):
Hold on, let me see?

Speaker 22 (01:06:37):
Uh yeah, hold on, this is sorry for the double.
Do they say he's got this quarterback from Cow already
coming with him, who was arguably the top freshman quarterback
in the country last year. But you know he went
to Oregon and the transport out because he couldn't beat
Out and Dante more. Will he take credit for developing
him even though he was a cow already let him

(01:06:58):
like this coach already represented the Bluegras state. But I
bet you one thing. I bet this guy will Stein.
I bet he lets his players call him will or Stanny.
I bet he don't make him call him coach will Astani.

Speaker 3 (01:07:12):
Tony Pike, who was a hotelier. What I guess he
was a hotel owner. Okay, he was a legend in Ibiza.

Speaker 2 (01:07:22):
Really yeah, well, I mean Mike Poser, I took a
pill and a beza as one of my jams.

Speaker 3 (01:07:29):
I took a pill and he was Okay, this isn't
as bad as I thought. He epitomized the hedonism of
the holiday clubbing island Ibiza. Okay, So I guess he
was a good guy. But he was a fun time.
He was described by the Guardian as a ring master
for thirty years of celebrity debauchery. Oh he was like

(01:07:54):
he's always like he was like he was the Ibiza
version of who's that guy who had the mansion? The
playboy mansion, Hugh Hefner, Hugh Hefner. I just googled Tony
Pike Abiza. Yeah, and this quote popped up. I used
to have fantasies, but not anymore. I've done them all. Yeah, Okay,
I think he's like first team all part of your Okay, Tony,

(01:08:16):
you've never heard of this guy before. You never googled yourself,
and this dude showed up. No, ha, some shirt.

Speaker 4 (01:08:24):
I've seen reports that your boy Jesus coming back?

Speaker 5 (01:08:26):
Is that true? It won't matter, go muskys.

Speaker 2 (01:08:31):
I have been told by credible sources that Gisel James
will not play for the Bearcats this year, so also
after January first. It's a great question. Also, I know nothing.

Speaker 23 (01:08:42):
Uh huh.

Speaker 5 (01:08:43):
Yeah, I'm definitely listening and I'm definitely watching.

Speaker 23 (01:08:45):
And I knew I was right repping the city out
here in sunny hot Zona.

Speaker 4 (01:08:49):
What up, Tony?

Speaker 5 (01:08:49):
What up?

Speaker 3 (01:08:50):
Buddy man?

Speaker 23 (01:08:50):
I listened to the Bill's radio station, the YouTube and
a podcast. The fan base sound nervous, worried, shook, Like
I said, they're scared, they're shaking.

Speaker 3 (01:08:59):
Any Billy Boots.

Speaker 23 (01:09:00):
We coming JB nine three touchdowns, Bengos thirty five to twenty.
We getting them boys up there in Buffalo. I'm hoping
to see a sentiny crowd up there, Yo, Wes get
the win by ten man.

Speaker 3 (01:09:10):
Pressures on. Let's get it, darn right, the pressures on.

Speaker 23 (01:09:15):
My keys to the shootout back again for a double up.
First things first, con Cincinnati hit free throws. I mean,
that's the main problem right there. They leaving points on
the court.

Speaker 3 (01:09:24):
Basically, gotta hit these free throws.

Speaker 23 (01:09:27):
Xavier is young, inexperience. Put some pressure on these boys.
You gotta create turnovers against Xavier, and Zavier's gonna shoot
a lot of threes. Whoever hit the most threes between
these teams will definitely win because you see has a
turnover problem. Those are my keys and Wes. Do not
get our Coach Barbatino, I'm definitely watching that.

Speaker 18 (01:09:48):
He There too many toe questions, Tony and Austin. I've
got a question for you guys about Joe Burrow.

Speaker 7 (01:09:58):
I heard you saying he's.

Speaker 18 (01:09:59):
The asked in December, But would you rather take him
in December or Toyota Thon Jordan Love.

Speaker 3 (01:10:07):
You know that's a great point. Actually, I saved a
post about this. Did you see this? These stats? Jordan
Love in his career during Toyota than No. Ninety one
point nine passing grade. That's the best. Four thousand passing yards,
thirty three touchdowns, one interception. Wow, in a league leading
thirty one deep completions. Man, shout out to Toyota than

(01:10:29):
I'll take Joe Burrow. That's insane.

Speaker 4 (01:10:31):
David with your daily reminder. Eight thousand, seven and forty
seven days the Bearcats.

Speaker 3 (01:10:40):
That is an incredible number. We got to get a
new microphone. That's at it's over eight thousand days. Yeah,
twenty two thousand and one.

Speaker 4 (01:10:47):
Right, we're here, live on scene. Chris Henry Jr. About
to make his announcement school he will to take Oh no,
and here comes the quarters in it's down and the
return to glory. Chris Henry Jr. Is signing with the
Michigan Wolverines. I can't believe it.

Speaker 3 (01:11:08):
Oh my goodness.

Speaker 2 (01:11:11):
I don't think that's happening. You're sick and twisted. Chris
Henry Junior gonna end up.

Speaker 3 (01:11:14):
Oh my god. I would guess either USC or Ohio State.
That would be my guest. I heard this morning that
Ohio State expects him to make a decision by Friday.

Speaker 2 (01:11:25):
Where's jerema Uh? Where Jeremiah Smith gonna go? Go back
to Columbus? Do you see Jeremia You hear what Jeremiah
Smith said? I just saw he tweets was tweeted at
Chris Henry and said we need you. I just saw
he tweeted today with like the praying hand emosiu. I'm thinking, like, man,
is he thinking about going to South Florida? Do you
ever look at his tweets? A lot of praying hand emojis?
Toe Higgins just posted a Bible verse. You want to

(01:11:47):
we can have church in here. Let's go take me
to church?

Speaker 4 (01:11:51):
Oh my god, new call sign ESPN fifteen thirty. Since
he three sixty with your party and Antonio weekday, he's
twelve to three.

Speaker 2 (01:12:01):
Ay and Anthony tune in. I might work already and
Anthony's not bad Artian Anthony.

Speaker 24 (01:12:06):
Hey, fellow, this is George Bayley have Bedford Falls. I'd
like to tell you that I learned from my old
friend Clarence. Every time a bell rings, Joe Burrow beats
Josh Allen in a football game, there's a lot of
bells ringing around here lately. Come on, Oh, well, have
a good one, fella.

Speaker 3 (01:12:24):
Come on? Is that? Come on?

Speaker 7 (01:12:28):
Yeah?

Speaker 4 (01:12:28):
What comes up if you google Artie Elmore?

Speaker 3 (01:12:33):
Well, let me see uh Arthur Elmore Bostwick. Oh, the
United States Librarian and Arthur an author, Not Arthur Well,
he was Arthur Uh from Connecticut. Okay, Uh, that's all
I see. Family history Artie Elmore.

Speaker 4 (01:12:50):
Uh.

Speaker 3 (01:12:50):
The only person who's ever called me Arthur before was
my grandma, God rest her soul. She got so excited
to yell at me one time she called me Arthur. Hey, guys, who.

Speaker 5 (01:13:03):
Anyways?

Speaker 9 (01:13:04):
I knew that Tony Pike, the famous hoteler.

Speaker 3 (01:13:09):
Yes, I mean he was a wild guy. We used
to run around the swinger circuits, if you know what
I mean. I mean he was crazy.

Speaker 5 (01:13:20):
Man.

Speaker 2 (01:13:21):
He's probably the most famous hoteler out there.

Speaker 4 (01:13:25):
Tony Pike man.

Speaker 3 (01:13:26):
Wow, man, he's like Dan Baziliar and Brazil. I can't
talk today. You know who that is?

Speaker 20 (01:13:34):
Dan?

Speaker 3 (01:13:34):
Bill's Yes, Bill Syrian, he's like him before him, you know.

Speaker 25 (01:13:38):
Okay, Hey, Austin, Hey, Tony Paul from Cleaves here. Just
to give you guys a heads up. I have so
much faith and how long your longevity is going to
be on the radio that my son's a freshman when
he goes to make his college announcement to the commitment
for football or wrestling, you guys are going to get
the exclusive on the man. We'll bring him on the

(01:14:00):
show and we'll have him announced it on your show.
Let's go to you, guys. Think I also have an
eighth grader. I think that's going to be just as good.
So if you guys are arrested, let me know.

Speaker 3 (01:14:09):
Yep, I would have a backup plan IFIVE were you,
We'll pencil it in. One of us has already been
fired once. All right, we're done. All right.

Speaker 2 (01:14:19):
By the way, I know, there's there's not many things
that will bring Xavier and Cincinnati fans together. Did you
see the photo going around social media of Sean Miller
last night? No, uh, Texas that he's dead to me,
Texas lost last night. They've lost to Arizona State this year.
They have two losses another one they lost to Duke.
But last night they hosted Virginia and they lost the

(01:14:41):
game eighty eight to sixty nine. They were down by
nineteen and a half. And there is this like picture
of Sean Miller with like five minutes to go in
the game, with just this blank stare, and it's circulating
on social media. And I can't imagine something on this
week that would bring you see and Xavier fans together.
But I think it's photo of Sean Miller struggling.

Speaker 3 (01:15:02):
What about Sean Miller to replace Wes Miller? Nope, thoughts, nope, no, nope, nope.
I think you would like that. N No, I think
you would. I'm out on that one for sure. Come back,
we got football in the Natty. Now, I don't know, Ernie.
We actually have an update from Lamar Jackson.

Speaker 2 (01:15:23):
Next on the Home of the Bengals, ESPN fifteen thirty
Cincinnati Sports Station.

Speaker 3 (01:15:28):
Man, it's the Holt.

Speaker 1 (01:15:31):
This is Football in the Natti, brought to you by
butt Light on ESPN fifteen thirty, the official home of
the Cincinnati Bengals.

Speaker 2 (01:15:41):
Yeah, welcome back Football in the Natti. It's our two
thanks to Cincy shirts. Since he three to sixty couple
loose ended football topics here, we have a Austin has
Lamar Jackson and a Josh Allen update in just a moment. Also,
Big twelve honors have been handed down Austin Honorable mentions
for the Cincinnati Bearcats running back Top Walker, ride, receiver
Jeff Caldwell, defensive lineman Jalen Hunt, and safety and Twin

(01:16:06):
Peak Junior All Honorable mention, Third team nods Gavin Gerhardt
on the offensive line, and Joe Royer should be a
first team All Big Twelve player. Joe Royer gets third
team All Big Twelve honors, second team punter Max Fletcher,
defensive lineman Dante Corleone, offensive lineman Evan Tengestahl, offensive lineman

(01:16:27):
Joe Cotton, wide receiver Cyrus Allen, and the quarterback of
the Bearcats, Brendan Sowersby. And the first team loan recipient
for the Cincinnati Bearcats, linebacker Jake Goldey. One hunting and
five tackles, six tackles for the lost, three and a
half sacks, three pass breakups. Jake Golday your first team

(01:16:50):
All Big Twelve honoree and three Bearcats earning invites to
the Senior Bowl yesterday Joe Royer, Dante Corleone, and Jake Golday.
That is the latest from the Cincinnati Bearcats. What's the
latest Austin with Lamar Jackson Well I.

Speaker 3 (01:17:05):
Heard by the way that at the Senior Bowl, Dante
Corleon is not going to be on the field and
rundowns oh woll Joel Royer, I would assume so Jake Golday,
by the way, future fourth round pick the Cincinnati Bengals. Okay,
Lamar Jackson. You know there's a big game on Sunday
between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Baltimore Ravens, one that

(01:17:25):
impacts Cincinnati's chances to make the playoffs. Baltimore's currently six
point favorites for that game, which is being played at
M and T Bank Stadium in Baltimore. Well, yesterday Lamar
Jackson was listed as a limited participant in practice. This
was big news because well he never practices on Wednesdays,

(01:17:46):
dealing with all his myriad of injuries. Well today not
practicing at all. He went from limited yesterday to not
practicing at all for the Baltimore Ravens' quarterback Lamar jack
And he's listed with an ankle, so he does not
get a full week of practice like maybe we thought
he would get yesterday. Also, Ravens nose tackle Travis Jones

(01:18:10):
is not practicing, who obviously is a big part of
their ability to stop the run game. So, as we
said earlier, the Bengals need the Steelers and Ravens to split.
That's the easiest path forward. So we'll see what happens
in that game on Sunday.

Speaker 2 (01:18:25):
Other quick notes, Mark Andrews has secured a three year
extension with the Baltimore Ravens.

Speaker 4 (01:18:32):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:18:32):
I was a little surprised by that. Yeah, I was too.

Speaker 2 (01:18:35):
Also, Ted Karris, the Bengals recipient nominated for the Walter
Payton NFL Man of the Year Award.

Speaker 3 (01:18:43):
Here is Buffalo Bill's quarterback Josh Allen talking about what
it means to play against Joe Burrow.

Speaker 26 (01:18:50):
I mean, yeah, anytime you have a chance to play
against one of the premier quarterbacks in this league, you
know you have to be ready for it.

Speaker 3 (01:18:56):
You have to put your best stuff out.

Speaker 26 (01:18:59):
They have a really good game, week of practice, and
then go out there and execute on Sunday.

Speaker 3 (01:19:04):
Okay, pretty simple stuff. There, Nothing life changing from Josh Allen.
He was also talked He was also asked and talked
about playing meaningful football late in the season.

Speaker 26 (01:19:14):
It's the it's the best time to play play football.
It's when when the stakes are high and you got
to go out there and you got to perform your
your job.

Speaker 4 (01:19:22):
You know.

Speaker 26 (01:19:23):
I feel like that's that's a big part of this
team of we want that pressure, we want to go
out there, we want to perform for each other.

Speaker 3 (01:19:29):
And there you go. That is uh true.

Speaker 2 (01:19:32):
It's a massive, massive late season game happening on.

Speaker 3 (01:19:36):
You might even call it a tilt, a tilt.

Speaker 4 (01:19:39):
You know.

Speaker 2 (01:19:39):
It's interesting Austin, because I think Buffalo thought they might
have had another player to play on Sunday and he declined. Remember,
earlier in the week, Darius Slay was let go by
the Pittsburgh Steelers, and then Darius Slay was claimed by
the Buffalo Bills on waivers yesterday. Now, Darius Slay is
not reporting to because he's quote unsure whether he wants

(01:20:03):
to continue playing football. His agent said, Darius Lay is
honored that a first class organization like the Bills claimed him,
but he is going to take some time away from
football and decide in the next few days if he
wants to keep playing.

Speaker 3 (01:20:17):
Drew Rosenhaus told Adam Schefter today, Yeah, and the Eagles,
who he played for and won a Super Bowl with,
also put acclaim in on him. And so there's been
some speculation by the insiders across the NFL that the
plan was maybe for Slay to go back to Philadelphia,

(01:20:40):
and now that he's been claimed, I'd rather maybe retire.
We'll see, Bengals played against him earlier this year and
he's with Pittsburgh and torched him a little bit, So
it would have been nice to see if he was
on the field for the Buffalo Bills. But overall, you
want another Bengals Bills fact for you, please, a little
fun fact here. Please. This is going to be the
thirty fifth time the Bengals and Bills have played each other.

(01:21:06):
They are seventeen and seventeen against one. Isn't that amazing? Say,
something's got to give. Yeah, one team's gonna get the advantage.

Speaker 2 (01:21:14):
The last time the Bengals does a tie eliminate the
Bengals still.

Speaker 3 (01:21:18):
A lot of the time. No, that actually might help them.
The last time the Bengals went to Orchard Park during
the regular season, that was September of twenty nineteen. Bills
won twenty one seventeen in that game.

Speaker 2 (01:21:32):
I thought they went there a couple of years before that,
or was that here They went there in the postseason
in the postseason they played, and then the year before
I guess they played in Cincinnati. Okay, let's take a break.
We'll put a bow on our number two. Next kick
and Nickoson starts our number three ESPN fifteen thirty, Cincinnati
Sports Station.

Speaker 1 (01:21:50):
You've been listening to football in the NATI on ESPN
fifteen thirty, the official home of the Cincinnati Bengals.

Speaker 3 (01:22:04):
Yes, please? Is it Friday? Yes?

Speaker 2 (01:22:08):
No, it's the end of our number two on a Thursday.
Keegan Nickoson will join us to kick things off in
our number three. Thanks so much for joining us, thanks
to Cincy shirts here on our number two.

Speaker 3 (01:22:19):
Austin, I'm shocked by this. We go each and every week.

Speaker 2 (01:22:22):
But yes, it's Thursday, which means the official start of
Week fourteen in the NFL. Yes, each week it feels
more depressing that we're nearing the end of the regular season.
Week fourteen.

Speaker 3 (01:22:33):
It's a good one, last regular season week for a
lot of fantasy, that's true.

Speaker 2 (01:22:38):
It's a good one if you follow along with the
NFC playoff race. Cowboys Lions both on the outside looking in.
They play tonight in Detroit. Lions are a three and
a half point favorite, But it does kick off in
a big way Week fourteen. Some other noteworthy games to
look at as you get into the weekend. Three Seattle

(01:23:00):
Seahawks right now, Austin. They are the second betting favorite
in the NFL to win the Super Bowl.

Speaker 3 (01:23:05):
I'm very, very, very very high on the Seahawks, and
they're getting healthier on defense, which is a scary thought.

Speaker 2 (01:23:12):
Second in betting odds to win the Lombardy right behind
still even they come off a loss. The Los Angeles Rams,
so Rams are number one, Seahawks are number two, Packers
are number three, and then the Buffalo Bills are the
favorite in the AFC currently at plus nine one hundred.

(01:23:35):
That is, of course, who the Bengals will play. We'll
talk more Bengals Bills tomorrow. Titans Browns said yesterday the
twenty one day window is open for Deshaun Watson. Don't
think it's going to be out of the realm of
possibilities that Deshaun Watson plays for the Browns this year.

Speaker 3 (01:23:51):
Who would you rather face in Week eighteen, Deshaun Watson
playoff spot on the line, Deshaun Watson, Dylan Gabriel, Schador
Sanders or Deshaun I think Deshaun Watson. I think so too.

Speaker 2 (01:24:02):
Commander's vikings perfect timing Dolphins Jets is an interesting one
because the Dolphins are playing so well. If you're thinking
about is that game in Miami gonna be flexed at
any point? I wonder if the if the Bengals win
and the Dolphins win, if they keep that game as primetime.

Speaker 3 (01:24:19):
Yeah, we'll find out, I think on the twenty second
or not on the twenty second the next week, right, yeah,
next Monday maybe, Yeah, the eighth that I saw, I forget.
I saw Jay Morrison tweeting about this the other day.
But yeah, December fifteenth is the deadline. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:24:35):
Are the Bucks getting healthy at the right time? Mike
Evans is back his twenty one day windows open, Bucky
Irving played last week. They I think we've talked to
Bucks are on the outside looking in. But their schedule
right now, they got the Saints, Falcons, Panthers, Dolphins, Panthers left.

Speaker 3 (01:24:49):
Well, the thing right there is two games against the
Panthers and Carolina has played well. Yeah, so yeah, I
think it'll really ultimately come down to those two.

Speaker 2 (01:24:58):
What about the Jags and the Bolts in the one
o'clock window, yeah, I'm not out of four.

Speaker 3 (01:25:04):
Yeah, I'm not sold on the Colts, especially with Dimes
being not one hundred percent. I was been sold on
the Jags from the beginning, but I wouldn't say I'm
sold on them right now.

Speaker 2 (01:25:13):
Either Steelers, Ravens, Broncos, Raiders, Bears, pat Texans might win
that Bears Packers might be fun too, man, Sure, Rams, Cardinals,
Texans Chief Sunday Night and then Eagles Chargers. Is your
Monday Night football tilt?

Speaker 3 (01:25:27):
By the way, Bengals practicing inside pay Corse Stadium right now,
it's just shells and sweatpants for the Bengals. T Higgins,
TODs Brooks both at practice. No Trey Hendrickson anywhere to
be found. Come. Are you gonna ask Kegan about this
report that Brendan Sorosby is being offered four million dollars

(01:25:48):
in the portal?

Speaker 2 (01:25:48):
Yes, let's kick that off with Kegan. Next our three station.

Speaker 1 (01:25:56):
I don't know who this is, Tony Pikes since three
sixty about Cincinnati from Cincinnati, sponsored in hardby Penn Station,
East Coast Subs, hand crepit, hot grilled subs, fresh cut
fries and lemonade. It's all about good taste Penn Station
East Coast subs orderum line today. This is ESPN fifteen

(01:26:21):
thirty Cincinnati Sports Station.

Speaker 2 (01:26:24):
All right, our three thanks to Penn Station on ESPN
fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports Station.

Speaker 3 (01:26:29):
Let's dive right into it.

Speaker 2 (01:26:30):
We get them each and every Thursday now through the
conclusion of the college basketball season. It's our good friend
from Bearcat Journal dot com, Keegan Nickoson joining us right now.

Speaker 3 (01:26:39):
Hi, Keegan, Hey Tony, how are you? Keegan? I'm great.

Speaker 2 (01:26:44):
I thought I would throw some rapid fire questions at
you just to kind of get you ready to go
for today's segment.

Speaker 3 (01:26:51):
Would you like to do that?

Speaker 5 (01:26:52):
Huh?

Speaker 4 (01:26:53):
I would love to do that.

Speaker 2 (01:26:54):
All right, here we go rapid fire question number one.
Do you believe Brendan Sorosby's really getting offers north of
four million dollars in the portal?

Speaker 4 (01:27:02):
Yes?

Speaker 2 (01:27:05):
Keg and nickoson uh Gisel James was spotted on the
jumbo tron on Monday at the UC game against Tarleton.
Is Gigsel James gonna play for the Bearcats this year?

Speaker 4 (01:27:16):
No?

Speaker 2 (01:27:18):
Keg and nickoson Bearcat Journal dot com. Is in year
five of the shootout for Wes Miller is tomorrow night.
I must win for West Miller. Yes, Keg and nickoson,
do you have a educated guest on which bowl game
the Bearcats will be playing in?

Speaker 4 (01:27:35):
Educated? I don't really educated in me don't really go
together very well.

Speaker 3 (01:27:40):
What do you know that we don't?

Speaker 4 (01:27:41):
Kegan?

Speaker 3 (01:27:41):
What do you know?

Speaker 2 (01:27:42):
I know, you guys get inside stuff at barracat Journal.
Brendle's probably already got Brendel's already got Brendle's already got
a spot booked for you, and then probably Springer.

Speaker 3 (01:27:52):
I know, So where's it at?

Speaker 4 (01:27:55):
I don't know.

Speaker 2 (01:27:59):
Let's let's start on the football side officially now signing
day yesterday.

Speaker 3 (01:28:05):
In your best, um.

Speaker 2 (01:28:08):
Let's say your best summary of the class that you
see in Scott Sanderfield brought in yesterday would be what.

Speaker 4 (01:28:18):
Best summary was more successful than the twenty twenty five class?

Speaker 3 (01:28:22):
Okay?

Speaker 4 (01:28:24):
I say that mainly because they were able to hold
on to some guys that were getting recruited by SEC
schools and Big ten schools like Fulham and Mathis. There's
a corner Markel Taylor and then Dadrian Waller. They were
getting offers from schools like Georgia Florida, Mississippi State, and

(01:28:47):
some of them were taking visits. Others were completely shutting
down their recruitment and staying fully committed to Cincinnati. But
they were able to hold on to them, and especially
when you think about their highest rated or brute Lance Dawson,
who was offered pretty crazy money by West Virginia and
decided to stay with Cincinnati, And it even got to
the point where he was changing his Instagram profile picture

(01:29:10):
to a West Virginia commitment graphic, so like he was
basically he had told West Virginia staff he's coming, and
then Cincinnati goes and changes that and then rewrites the
narrative that you know, Lance Daalson is going to be
a Bearcat and then they're able to sign him late
yesterday afternoon. So yeah, it was. It was a successful class.

(01:29:33):
Obviously not what you want to see from a ratings perspective,
but Zach Grant isn't a guy that's gonna look at
that judge what the class is based off that, So
I think it was a good class.

Speaker 2 (01:29:45):
Just recently we saw the Big twelve awards come down.
Tommy Walker, Jeff Codwhill, Jalen Hunt, Antwine Peak Junior Honorable
mention Joel Royer, Gavin Garhardt, third team. Second team was
Fletcher Corleone, teng Stall Cotton, Allen Sores. The first team
Jake Golda. When you see all these players earning all
Big twelve honors, does it change in all your view

(01:30:07):
on how the season went based on success or disappointment
seeing how many Bearcats were honored and yet seeing how
the season ended.

Speaker 4 (01:30:15):
Yeah, I mean it should have been better. When you
have that many guys on the first, second, and third team,
you should finish better than seven and five because that
tells me you have the talent to do it. The
surprise was that Evan Pryor didn't get any real nomination.
I think he had a really really good year and
was he was better than Tawie Walker for the latter

(01:30:37):
half of the season despite missing I think it was
two games. So that was a surprise to me. But
when you look at that list, those are a lot
of names that are also not going to be back
next year, mainly to exhausting eligibility, and then you never
know what could happen with the portal. So they've got
a tall task ahead of them to put together a
talented roster given all the all the very honored guys

(01:31:01):
that are not going to be here. So I'm looking
forward to seeing what they can do with that.

Speaker 2 (01:31:07):
Knowing now what it's like in college football bowl games,
and I know we don't know where the Bearcats are going,
but I would assume, you know, I see that that
Corleone and Royer and Goldey are all going to you know,
they got Senior Day and Senior Bowl invites. I don't
foresee Soresby and Corleone and Royer and Goldey and others
playing in a bowl game. So how do you view

(01:31:29):
bowl games now? You know from the Cincinnati sports area
where you're covering, Now, what do you look for? I
know you get extra bowl game practices, which is vital
to coaches, but does this now just become a showcase
for younger players on this team to show what they
can do.

Speaker 4 (01:31:46):
Yeah. I think a big thing you can do is
kind of decide what you're going to do in the
portal based off of what the guys on the team
do in the bowl game. Like say, say Maney, Covey
and on Johnson go out and have great games, and
then you say, okay, we probably don't have to bring
in the running back, or maybe there's some linebackers who

(01:32:07):
step up and you think, Okay, we don't have to
bring in three linebackers because we're losing Checked Engle and
Jake Goldey. The tight end position is interesting to me.
You're losing Patrick Kurd and J're Royer, and then you've
got some decently experienced guys in Devin de Hursty and
Gavin Gerber, which I believe that they're just going to
go forward with that group next season and probably not

(01:32:28):
bring one in. But I think it's it's a look
at what you need to do for next season, and
it could also be a chance for some of these
guys to up their price tad and their conversations with
the team to come back. So I don't put too
much stock in it. Like if they go out and lose,
that doesn't change my opinion, Like it doesn't make me

(01:32:49):
think that it's worse. If they go out and win, it's,
you know, it's, you know, a good job, you played
a probably fundamentally sound game and won a game. But
I don't put too much stock into these games, just
like I tried not to put too much stock in
any of the exhibition basketball games before the season.

Speaker 2 (01:33:05):
Is that still though, Like, does it change anything because
they lost the last four in a row and trying
to avoid a five game losing streak to end the season,
or are you fully separating the two.

Speaker 4 (01:33:18):
I mean, in my mind, I think after the BYU
loss there was just air taken out of the program.
So like, I think that they'd put all their eggs
in the basket of beating YU, staying alive in the
Big twelve, and seeing if they could manage to get in.
But I just think it doesn't really change it for me.

(01:33:41):
There's just too many factors. You can look at the
four consecutive losses and say that was your best team
on the field for those four games, and it was
your best effort, and your guys were supposed to be
bought in. But the TCU loss I don't put as
much stock into as if you know they were still
playing for a Big felve title, because obviously it would

(01:34:03):
have been a lot different. But obviously the four losses
down the stretch, you have to find a way to
keep your guys bought in and playing for something, and
that just didn't happen.

Speaker 2 (01:34:11):
Let's switch gears Tomorrow night is the Crosstown shootout. You
and I had a chance to talk earlier in the week,
and I wonder, like, do you feel now in covering
this game, We've had a couple extra days, now you've
you've put more into it. Do you feel the buzz
generating for this game or do you think there is
a lack of buzz surrounding the shootout still which is

(01:34:32):
being played tomorrow night.

Speaker 4 (01:34:36):
Yeah, I think the biggest buzz being put into the
game is probably my boss going after Janger fans on
Twitter coccer. I think if it weren't for if it
weren't for that, where would it be at. I don't know.
I think there's naturally a lack of buzz just with
the new landscape of college basketball, and Wes Miller like
mentioned that yesterday, like, it's not it's not unique to

(01:34:57):
this rivalry. I would say, Duke and you and seeing
large part is the same because they've basically had this
kind of player rotational landscape and roster turnover for the
past twenty years because other guys are there for one
year and then they leave. So that's kind of just
ingrained in the culture. But for other rivalries, like you

(01:35:19):
don't get the like fultered hatred for the teams, like
these guys aren't playing against each other four years in
a row, and you know, like it's just not there.
So I think I say all that, but then the
lights come on and there can be some really really

(01:35:41):
interesting stuff happened. And then I look at guys like
Kirk Prisa, who take on Luka dmcic in the game
in Europe, and since her Harris, who's one of the
most physical players in the country, and Dane Thomas who
just got ejected Tarleton State. So you never really know
what can happen. Maybe this can be a thing where
West Miller times it around and he's here for a

(01:36:02):
long time and Richard Patino has success, because I think
that's also something that you have to look at as
the lack of success each program has had since like
twenty nineteen, and that's definitely had an impact on the
rivalry losing its luster. As the phrase I've.

Speaker 2 (01:36:16):
Heard, I certainly understand too. When you look at this
weekend championship weekend in college football, Bills Bengals on Sunday,
it often it falls on a different time. I think
you could venture to say that there's not a lot
of Xavier fans that know a lot of guys on
the UC roster, and there's not a lot of UC
fans that know many people on Xavier's roster because of
the current landscape of college basketball and college athletics as

(01:36:38):
a whole. I mentioned to you in rapid fire earlier though,
is this a must win for Wes Miller? Can Wes
Miller change that? Like, if they come out and play
their best basketball this season, does that then change the
feel around this team going forward?

Speaker 3 (01:36:51):
In your opinion?

Speaker 4 (01:36:53):
Absolutely, And this feels like a pivot point for the
season because if they go into a and lose a
game that is very winnable against the Zager team who
has struggled. They've turned it around over the past three
or four games and they've got some decent wins. But
I think Cincinnati has the better roster and they have
the talent to go in and win. If you lose,

(01:37:15):
it's going to be hard for me to picture you
being able to get the momentum going especially to the
end of the non conference and build up your tournament
resume before you get into the gauntlet of what is
a big twelve schedule where it's going to be even
harder to get on a winning streak and get some
momentum going. If you win, then that's the tip of
the cap. That's okay, let's get on the right foot.

(01:37:36):
Let's start playing our brand of basketball. Let's start competing
to the level that wes Miller wants them to compete at.
So you know, I could see the season going on.
Want of either way is based on the result of
this game. And you know, wes Miller not winning at
Centas is definitely something that could be a dark spot

(01:37:57):
on the resume. But yeah, I think before where I
was saying it's not a must win because he can
still turn it around, But now I'm thinking, how do
you turn it around if you lose this game to
a Zavier team that you should beat, and like the
rivalry might have lost its luster, but beating Xavier is
still like the most important thing to a lot of
Cincinnati fans.

Speaker 2 (01:38:18):
For just sheer x'es and o's that are going to
happen tomorrow night. How does U see win this game?
How do they take care of business?

Speaker 4 (01:38:27):
I think you just you really shut down Dager's three
point offense, try to limit them to like twenty five
or twenty percent conversion rate, and then you don't even
have to have a really really good shooting night. You
just can't have your best shooters only making like twenty
percent of their threes. So I'm looking at Kerr Presa,

(01:38:48):
I'm looking at John Celestine, Shawna, bia Dde Thomas, those
guys they can't not show up. And then the big
three that I've been talking about of Baba Miller, Shauna
Bias and Mustapha Cham. You know, Msa Champ cannot have
a Tony Snell line in this game, Like he can't
play twenty five minutes and there's zero points the for
once from the from the field and only get three rebounds.

(01:39:11):
Like he has to dominate, he has to play physical.
So I'm looking for three point defense. I'm looking for
three point offense and being able to kill some runs
and some momentum there by Jaeger and then also physicality
on the board. See if the double double Machines and
Baba Miller and Mustafa Champ can kind of just tell

(01:39:33):
the runs and bring a steadiness to this team in
an environment where it can get pretty crazy.

Speaker 2 (01:39:39):
I look at the remaining non conference and I think
going into the year, you're like, Okay, Georgia Clemson kind
of middle of the pack. If you look right now,
Georgia is sitting at eight and one. They lost their
only loss of the years to Clemson, an overtime loss.
They have beaten Xavier, They went on the road and
put up one hundred and seven points at Florida State
just two nights ago. Clemson, on the other hand, just

(01:40:00):
took Alabama to the finish on last night. They lost
ninety to eighty four in that game. Clemson is also
sitting at seven and two. So you know, I think
there's a lot of fans Keig and I know the
crowd wasn't great on Monday Night. I think there's a
lot of fans that are gonna sit back and say, Okay,
what happens against Xavier, what happens against Georgia, what happens
against Clemson, and then make that determination on how the

(01:40:22):
rest of the season goes.

Speaker 3 (01:40:23):
Would you agree with that?

Speaker 4 (01:40:26):
Yeah, absolutely, because I think what you saw last year
was the definition of getting your hopes up after the
non conference. Like you you beat Dayton, you beat Xavier,
you go into Georgia Tech in Atlanta and you killed them.
You had had the exhibition blowout win over a higher state,
and then you opened Big Twelve play with Kansas State

(01:40:47):
and you lose, and then you lost to Villanova as well,
but that was more like, you know, you're playing on
the road. Villanova's got a sneaky good team. Eric Dixon
is a really good player, and so that loss is
kind of understandable, but then it just starts that losing
streak and then it's a hole that you have to
dig yourself out of. So I don't blame fans for

(01:41:07):
kind of keeping their guard up a little bit and
wanting to see what happens against Georgia and Clemson before
really buying in, especially the track record over the past
two or three seasons. So yeah, that makes a lot
of sense to me. And I think when you looked
at the non conference before the season, it was okay,
like it's decent, but the big games are really Xavier
and Louisville and then Georgia and Simpson aer two just

(01:41:31):
high major teams. And now, as the college basketball season
usually goes, everyone's team changes, the outlook for the team's change.
In our Clemson and Georgia are two pretty good teams
that it's going to be really tough to beat them,
especially against an away crowd.

Speaker 2 (01:41:46):
It should be a great atmosphere, a huge, massive opportunity
for the Bearcats. I look forward to talking again next week.
After the dust settles, we'll have an idea. We'll understand
where the Bearcats are going to go bowling, and we'll
know where the basketball bear Cats sit after obviously the
Crosstown shootout. Keegan, what's the easiest way to keep up
with all your coverage of the bear catch going forward?

Speaker 4 (01:42:07):
Follow kay nickoson forty two on x and the next series.
Subscribed to Bearcat Journal and just posted an article about
yesterday's signing day. Press or Zach Rant Scott sat a
Field had a ton to say about the twenty twenty
sixth signing class, So go ahead and read that.

Speaker 2 (01:42:22):
Awesome Keegan, thanks so much man. We will catch up
next week. Enjoy the shootout, and enjoy the weekend.

Speaker 4 (01:42:29):
Thanks Terry seeing phoenix.

Speaker 2 (01:42:30):
Er Seagan nickoson Urcat journal dot com. Oh, that would
not be great? How about Keegan going to the Blakesnell
Mustafa Chom You have to be better than what he was.

Speaker 3 (01:42:43):
Would you? What did you just say? It would not
be great?

Speaker 2 (01:42:46):
Phoenix. No, why not listen December twenty sixth. That would
mean the team flies on the afternoon of Christmas will
not be good in the pie household.

Speaker 3 (01:42:57):
It's Christmas mornings. What matters?

Speaker 2 (01:42:59):
Oh no, no, no, no, no, no, we'll dive more
into that this week.

Speaker 3 (01:43:04):
People don't care. Maybe next you get paid to watch football.
I care, I care. I know Moagger cares, of course,
I mean, but other I mean just saying other people
gotta work on Christmas? Not many.

Speaker 2 (01:43:17):
You don't even have to work. You just have to fly.
Yeah mean more work, you say? Not many have to
work on Chris's more work leaving Buddy leaves down on
a little just a smidge out of touch right now?
All right, well trying, I'm trying to get I'm trying
to keep you in line. I'm not gonna apologize for
wanting to spend Christmas with my children.

Speaker 3 (01:43:34):
Of course my wife, of course.

Speaker 4 (01:43:35):
Not.

Speaker 2 (01:43:36):
That's it. Bob Man, Jean Nova care, Well now he'll
be doing on Christmas. They probably have practice, don't they. No, No, well,
at that point we might will wait till tomorrow night.
Since he three sixty ESBN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports station, It's.

Speaker 5 (01:43:50):
It possible to fill you a grain with enough.

Speaker 2 (01:43:55):
Welcome back since he three sixty rolls along our number
three read thanks to Penn Station on the home of
the Bengals ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports Station. We just
got you ready to go for the Crosstown shootout with
our guy Keegan nickoson a Bearcat journal dot com.

Speaker 3 (01:44:10):
Let's switch gears.

Speaker 2 (01:44:12):
Let's spend some time with our guy now, Bob Man
Jean from the University of Cincinnati and Nova care kind
enough to join us this afternoon.

Speaker 3 (01:44:20):
Bob, what's going on?

Speaker 5 (01:44:23):
You said, Tony? Just getting ready for the Crosstown shootout?

Speaker 3 (01:44:26):
All right?

Speaker 2 (01:44:27):
Now, I want you to brace yourself, Bob, because I'm
I'm going to pay you some compliments here and I
don't want that to change. You know, you being able
to get out of the room and your head getting
too big. But there's so much conversation going on around
Joe Burrow and the ability of Joe Burrow to come
back as quick as he did to me. I go

(01:44:50):
back to the training staff because I go back to
my injuries, and speaking from the experience, you have friends
in your life that are saying, well, you got to
get back and play. What are you going to You
have family members, when are you going to play? Coaches
want you to come back and play. Teammates wants you
to come back and play. The constant that I always
had through the process was you and the other members

(01:45:12):
of the training staff, because I knew even at my
age in college that throughout anyone else that you're going
to come in contact with, the training staff is the
one that's going to have your true best interest in mind.
I remember conversations you and I had of if we
do this, can I hurt it any further? If we
do this, what happens? But I knew that I was

(01:45:34):
going to get the honest answer from you, not the
answer from a coach who wants you back, or teammates
or friends or different things in the process that Joe
Burrow is going through, or any other player coming back
from injury. Talk about the importance, Bob, and that relationship
between the player and the trainer to talk through what
you need to talk through in order to come back.

Speaker 3 (01:45:54):
On the field.

Speaker 5 (01:45:56):
Well, thank you, Tony for the kind words, and again
you were a pleasure to work with at your time
here at the universitys Cincinnati. But again, how many hours
and hours does the trainer spend with their athletes. That's
the key, the fact that you know you're really working,
you're really working super hard to to not just bring

(01:46:19):
him back to play, but to bring him back safely confidently.
You know it has to be gold driven rehab. And again,
you know the trainer and that athlete are spending time
and time and time together, so I kind of you know,
you knew your athlete, and I'm sure the guys at
the Bengals, you know, they know Joe Burrow, what a

(01:46:41):
competitor he is, how well he can heal, and and
you know, get him back on the field as safely
as possible and efficiently as possible. And I mean you're
probably still mad at me. You remember the time I
made you dress the day after surgery with arms so
real we will would know that you got hurt and
that they thought you would be the core back. And

(01:47:01):
you know, you're all you're all relaxed on paying medicine.
You've put the uniform mine and went out there like
a true stud. And you know, and and again we
gave Louisville a little run for their money. And nowadays
you can't do that. You have to have player availability, right,
So you know, those were the fun days, you know.
I mean you can think about the guys that got injured.

(01:47:23):
And I've been very, very fortunate in fifty three years,
you know, working with guys like you know, I got
a chance to work with Pete Rose and his elbow
way back in the early eighties. I had a chance
to work with Carson Palmer, I got a chance to
work with Tony Pike and Dave Pollock. So over the years,

(01:47:44):
you know, I've been one they probably lived maybe the
best life, blessed life of any athletic trainer. But here
at you see, we've had a blast for the last
twenty four years, and you know we've played a lot
of games, won a lot of games. And knowing the
athlete is the most important thing, knowing what how tough

(01:48:04):
they are, what they can endure, how much they'll push themselves,
and you know that they're willing to play through a
little bit of something. But yet at the same time,
you've got your other half, the brain on saying we
got to protect it. We've got to make sure we're safe,
We've got to make sure we're you know, I mean,
you remember the Louisvio game where you know Dustin got

(01:48:25):
thrown into the fire after you got hit in the
chest that time, and you know the question was, you know,
was it safe enough? And you know Dustin pulled it off.
And so you know, Dustin Grutzi, you you know, Zach Klarius.
I mean, you guys were tough quarterbacks. And the bottom
line is I knew that you know, you guys would

(01:48:45):
endure things that you know maybe other people wouldn't, and
you guys rehambed your butts off.

Speaker 2 (01:48:51):
How how important when you're going through that process, what
are you trying to read from the athlete? Because it's
one thing say, okay, go back out and play. But
if that player is going out and they feel compromised
at all, maybe they're not playing as hard as they could,
maybe they're still hesitant, and that could lead to a
different injury or any type of reinjury. So what are
you looking for in those early stages of Okay, you

(01:49:13):
can go back out there and play, you can go
back out there and practice. But what are you watching
for to make sure that there isn't a setback or
that that player is physically ready to go.

Speaker 5 (01:49:24):
Well, you're evaluating them. After every practice you're sitting there
with them. How to go? You know, higher pain level
or your mechanics right? Or are you able to do this?
Can you control the environment? You're in football, well, almost
any college sports, it's an uncontrolled environment. You do not
know what's going to come at you at what angle
at any giving time. Same thing in professional sports. So

(01:49:46):
you know, prior to getting on the field, you do
your best in the trading room to mimic things they're
going to run into. And then once you get them
back at practice, you got to look at their eyes.
You know, were they able to go? Are they not
able to go? Do they look apporhad ehensive? You know,
if they look apprehensive, they're not ready yet. You know,
but a lot of times the athlete has. You know,

(01:50:07):
I want to say the final say do you think
you can do this or not? Because you know your body,
you know what your pain level is, you know what
you know we're asking of you, and the bottom line
is can you can you do your job safely and
efficiently and protect yourself? Remember how much time do we
spend on how to fall?

Speaker 4 (01:50:28):
Yep?

Speaker 5 (01:50:30):
You know, because I wanted you to protect yourself.

Speaker 2 (01:50:32):
That so that that to me leads me to the
last point, and I think what it's the most important,
and it's the mental side, because when you're when you're
injured as an athlete, there's multiple things that happen. One Physically, yes,
it's tough, but mentally, now all of a sudden, you're alone,
a lot more guys are practicing, you're in the training room.
If you if you go through something where you've been

(01:50:54):
injured and then you get injured again, mentally it's harder
because there's a point in your mind you already know
what it took to get back and all the hard work,
and now you've got to go through that again. So mentally,
I wonder and how you prioritize that in a sense
of all, right, physically they're ready to go. Mentally, how's
this athlete doing as well? How much are you paying

(01:51:16):
attention and how much do you check in Now in
today's world with the mental health of players that are
injured and trying to get their way back, I.

Speaker 5 (01:51:25):
Think it's always been a priority of mine to make
sure that the mental side of what they're about to
go through when they get back in a game is
at optimal level. It's a priority because I can give
the best job or rehab in the world. And I've
had kids, high school kids and some college kids who
who basically said, I don't want to play anymore. Mentally,

(01:51:46):
I can't handle it, and so you would have to,
you know, not clear them to go back and play
and advise them to go down another route. So the
mental aspect is really critical, and the trainer and the pets,
they have to make their rehab a positive situation goal driven.

(01:52:06):
The first two weeks, here's our goal, the next two weeks,
here's our goal. And as you achieve those goals, now
we're ready for the next level. And making it positive
gives you that positive experience back to make sure mentally
you're staying you know, staying up on where you need
to be. But the mental element is really really important.

(01:52:29):
And again, over the years, I've had kids who just
we're done, you know. I've had kids come in and saying,
I don't want to do this again. I've torn my
a c L and I've torn it twice and and
now I'm pretty much, you know, over it. Then there
are some kids who just are they're tough, and you
can friggin you know, do whatever you need to do

(01:52:51):
to get them to play, and they're willing to play,
So I mean it runs a gimmut. That's where the
strainer knows unlike the physicians are unlike other people, they
know what their kids able to handle. And that's where
the trader has a solid voice and making sure that
they protect the kid and make sure. You know my

(01:53:12):
favorite saying, and I probably used it to you. I
don't know how many times. My job is to be
the VR, the voice of reason. You know, what what
can we accomplish and what should we avoid and not
let anybody put themselves into a situation where it's you know,
do no harm. I don't want to make you worse.

(01:53:32):
And so has that happened? Sure, it happens, you know.
I mean, athletics is an uncontrolled environment and there's kids
we think that are ready to go, and they think
they're ready to go, and then the next thing, you know,
they get another injury. So if we were in a
controlled situation, then that would be eating but unfortunately, athletics
and playing games and even practice is not a controlled situation.

Speaker 3 (01:53:56):
You're the best, it is.

Speaker 2 (01:53:58):
Bob man Jean from the University of Sinna and novacare, Bob,
enjoy the shootout. Best of luck and uh you know,
good luck to the Steelers.

Speaker 5 (01:54:06):
You and Austin coming over to shootout tomorrow.

Speaker 3 (01:54:09):
Bob, I don't.

Speaker 2 (01:54:10):
I told myself two years ago, I'm not going back
to the Centas for the shootout just because mentally, you
want to talk about mental health. It's not a good
place for my mental health. But as we get closer,
what do you mental health? That's why more and more
about you.

Speaker 5 (01:54:26):
We have a won there for like quite a while.

Speaker 3 (01:54:28):
Yeah, it was it. You were like twenty five, weren't you.
Oh my gosh, Bob, I'll come if you can get
me a seat at the end of the bench right
there next to you. Austin's got some things he wants to.

Speaker 5 (01:54:39):
Talk about time. You're more than welcome to over and
sit with us.

Speaker 3 (01:54:45):
I love it, Bob, You're the best man. Thanks so much.

Speaker 5 (01:54:49):
Okay, guys, have a good weekend and I'll see you
next week.

Speaker 3 (01:54:53):
Let's go.

Speaker 2 (01:54:53):
That is Bob man Jean, the University of Cincinnati and
novacare from traveling to the game, walking to your seats
and partaking in postgame celebration, and your body can take
a beating from all the activity of game day at
Novercare Rehabilitation. They understand how important it is for fans
to be there to root for their team to the
power physical there. But you don't need to let X
pains or injuries keep you from the game. Find a
center near you at novacare dot com today. Since E

(01:55:15):
three to sixty rolls along next on ESPN fifteen thirty
Cincinnati Sports.

Speaker 3 (01:55:18):
Station, you've got to be welcome back.

Speaker 2 (01:55:27):
Since E three sixty Mowagger joins us in just a
few moments.

Speaker 3 (01:55:31):
Quick hits coming up.

Speaker 2 (01:55:34):
Thanks to Penn station here and hour number three. Is
it cold out Austin?

Speaker 1 (01:55:41):
Uh?

Speaker 3 (01:55:41):
What's the temperature right now? This is it as cold
as people are are saying. I know it feels I
got thirty two degrees on my phone, but I know not.

Speaker 2 (01:55:51):
Yeah, I feel like people are reacting more and more
to cold than in years past.

Speaker 3 (01:55:57):
People are soft. It's just a soft name. Hey, this
is the thing, man, Like, we live in this city
and in this part of the country. It happens, and
we have been through this. It's gonna be cold every
single year. Yeah, the feels like temperature. According to our
friend Jennifer Catchmark, twenty six degrees. That's chili. That's not cold. Correct?

Speaker 2 (01:56:20):
Cold is? I think twenty and below. I just wanted
to get that out there. A lot of people talking
about cold thirty two degrees and partly sunny. Yeah, enjoy
a day like this today, Lee, enjoy celebrate it.

Speaker 3 (01:56:34):
You can celebrate now. I will say it's supposed to
be a cold snap coming.

Speaker 4 (01:56:38):
It is.

Speaker 3 (01:56:39):
I heard with the single digit.

Speaker 2 (01:56:42):
Well, I was looking at that because tonight Austin the
Anderson Raptors. It's right, they try to avenge last year's
loss by winning. That's a seven o'clock kickoff tonight, low
of fifteen up in Canton, up in Canton, Ohio.

Speaker 3 (01:56:59):
That's not that bad. Last year was pretty well, it
was pretty rough for those guys last year. Yeah, it
was brutal.

Speaker 2 (01:57:04):
Yeah, but good luck to Anderson tonight, good luck to
Saint X tomorrow. It is not cold outside. It ain't
cold outside. Also, it is championship weekend in college football.
Tomorrow night's Sunbelt Championship Troy against James Madison. Conference USA
title is on the line. American Championship is on the
line along with the Mountain West, and then on Saturday

(01:57:25):
you get the Big twelve, you get the MAC, the SEC,
the Big Ten, and the ACC Championship. It is a
fantastic sports weekend with the Shootout college football Friday, an
awesome Slate on Saturday, and Bengals Bills Sunday.

Speaker 3 (01:57:41):
Can I give you a couple of Nuggets Tonight's Thursday
night football matchup? Yes, the Lions have not lost back
to back games since twenty twenty two. They're fourteen to
zero after lost since twenty twenty two, and tonight it's
a wide out in Detroit, Oh. So do without what
you have to correct, do with that what you have
to That's right, Molager joins us now is next for

(01:58:03):
kids thanks to Penn Station since e three to sixty,
ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports.

Speaker 15 (01:58:08):
Station WCKY Cincinnati, and iHeartRadio Station Guaranteed Human ESPN fifteen
thirty I Hard Radio.

Speaker 3 (01:58:21):
From the Stacey Heating temp Star Weather Center, here's your forecast.
This report is Sponsoredvice super Sure for Leads.

Speaker 27 (01:58:28):
Mostly cloudy skuys this afternoon and very cold highs around thirty.
Temperatures would drop into the twenties around dinner time, then
a deep freeze overnight near fifteen by Friday morning. We'll
rebound into the mid thirties Friday afternoon and just as
cold Saturday with highs in the upper thirties. That's the forecast.
I'm nine first one of meteorologist kJ Jacobs for since.

Speaker 15 (01:58:50):
The three sixty quickts on ESPN.

Speaker 3 (01:58:52):
Fifteen thirty was looking for mo.

Speaker 2 (01:58:54):
It was in the building Thursday afternoon. Hey, getting ready
for the mo Aggars show. A little quieter here today.
It is a little quieter for your show. It is
a little quieter. Have you been to the conference room
where all the leftovers are I have. It's a good
place to be. They want to stop by. It's a
good spot to be. The Thursday edition of the Malaga
Show in just a few minutes. What do you got
coming up today?

Speaker 4 (01:59:13):
You know?

Speaker 10 (01:59:14):
It has been said that Cincinnati's Crosstown Shoe At is
one of the most intense basketball rivalries in the country,
and because of that, it has had its share of
unglamorous moments. But beneath the drama, there have always been
glimpses of something rare mutual aspect, yeah, human depth, and
a rivalry that, at its best brought out the best
in those involved. As Bob Hugginson skip Prosser. One showed

(01:59:35):
Huggins the grizzled general with a glare sharp enough to
ben referees could intimidate opposing coaches like they were grand
assistants in over their heels. Yet with Prosser, something different happened.
Prosser saw in Huggins what Huggins players always saw, a
coach who cared deeply about the person behind the stats.
Because Prosser recognized that the real Huggins emerged warmth and
dignity reserve for those rare rivals who truly understood him.

(02:00:00):
I am reading the first two paragraphs from something that
I have tried to read about ten times since last night.
There is a piece on Cincinnati dot com from opinion
contributor Dennis Doyle. Dennis, I don't know who Dennis is. Yeah,
I'm sure Dennis is a very nice man. I could
keep going, and maybe if I do, you guys can

(02:00:20):
tell me what point this man was trying to make.

Speaker 3 (02:00:22):
I've read it twice. Yeah, I still don't understand it.
I read this last night. It was late, and I'm
just so you think, like last night, maybe my brain's
just not functioning. Yes, I'm tired.

Speaker 10 (02:00:33):
I'll wake up in the morning, I'll read it again,
and I'm like my man, Dennis, I don't know, I don't.

Speaker 3 (02:00:38):
It's the fierce nature, but also the respect that makes
this rivalry great.

Speaker 10 (02:00:42):
The intimidating Huggins found his foil and a philosopher coach
who disarmed him. In Prosser's presence, the curmudgeon revealed a
best self some doubted existed, and Prosser, in turn, seems
sharper and steadier when sparring with the para cat king man.
Together they transformed up blood feud into a strange fellowship,
proving that even in Cincinnati, a basketball rivalry could be

(02:01:05):
both fierce and redemptive.

Speaker 3 (02:01:07):
Wow.

Speaker 10 (02:01:07):
Prosser would walk into the press room and leave everyone
smiling even after a loss. He quoted Yates, cracked jokes,
and treated the game as both competition and community. Against Huggins,
has warmth sharpened, not soften the rivalry. Prosser's teams played
with discipline and joy, forcing Huggins to respect not just
the scoreboard but the spirit behind it. In a rivalry

(02:01:29):
often defined by taunts and elbows, Prosser reminded Cincinnati that
basketball could be ferocious yet Ennobling.

Speaker 2 (02:01:37):
I'll tell you what. Here's what's happening, Ennobling, what the
world saws.

Speaker 10 (02:01:42):
Curmudgeon was in truth from a man of depth and soul,
something Prosser and Huggins players recognized long before the rest
of us.

Speaker 3 (02:01:50):
Can I finish? I've been keep God, I've read this much. Please.

Speaker 10 (02:01:53):
Their shared legacy is the paradox of Cincinnati basketball. Fire
and grace, Huggins and body toughness. Prosser and the rivalry
mirrored the city gritty at generous, combative, yet communal. When
Prosser passed in two thousand and seven, Huggins tributes revealed
the hidden truth beneath the scow as a coach who
valued dignity as much as victory. As the rivalry moves

(02:02:13):
into the present, this year's Crosstown shootout carries all the
fire fans expect. Does it also carries a subtler hope
the lessons of Huggins and Prosser. Indoor competition need not
to raise character. Toughness can coexist with care in every
past defensive stand and moment of hustle. The truest victory
is caring forward the dignity and respect they showed each other.

(02:02:36):
Here's hoping Xavier as Richard Patino and Cincinnati's West Miller
not only play to win, but also play with that
same integrity. So the Crosstown shootout remains a rivalry worth
respecting and above all, a rivalry that is fun to watch.

Speaker 2 (02:02:49):
If that doesn't get us our recognition we deserve from
the Inquirer, I don't know what will.

Speaker 3 (02:02:53):
Meanwhile, Richard Patino said this week, my guys literally do
not care about the history of the rivalry. Yeah, just
another week. So I want to have Dennis Doyle.

Speaker 2 (02:03:01):
I'm gonna tell you what I'm gonna do. Austin cut
that from me and said it to me, we're not
reading the night before Christmas this year?

Speaker 3 (02:03:08):
Where were we reading that? At the Pipe household. That's
the first time, like I had started reading it and
I got distracted. This is the first time I heard
the like the full thing. Yeah, And at first I
thought I knew where he was going. But you're right,
at some point, I'm like, what is he trying to say?
I don't know Dennis Doyle personally. I've never heard of him.
I don't know who he is.

Speaker 10 (02:03:28):
I don't know if he's a professional writer, but like,
whenever I read something, I'm like, I try to imagine
what was he thinking when he came up with the idea.

Speaker 3 (02:03:35):
What was Dennis doing when he's like, you know what
I'm gonna do?

Speaker 4 (02:03:37):
Ye?

Speaker 10 (02:03:37):
Right about this year shootout? This is by putting together
about eight hundred words of word salad about Bob Huggins
and Skip Prosser.

Speaker 3 (02:03:45):
Here we are. It's unbelievable.

Speaker 10 (02:03:47):
Brian Anderson is calling this year Skyline Chili Grosstown Shootout.
He'll join us at five oh five FORDNTBA Okay, who's
really good at what he does, so we're looking forward
to that. Also, we have on the show today Lee Sterling,
Chad Brendle on the Bearcats will join us. Robert Wintrub
Cincinnati Magazine as well. At four to twenty. We also

(02:04:08):
have on our show from the National Football League, And
I know you're really excited about this from the NFL,
Hans Schroeder. Yes, he is the executive vice president of
Media Distribution.

Speaker 4 (02:04:19):
Oh.

Speaker 10 (02:04:19):
Basically, he's going to come on the show to take
a victory lap because of how many viewers the Ravens
Bengals game had.

Speaker 3 (02:04:25):
Dan Laskins will be on with this.

Speaker 10 (02:04:26):
Hans is also like he works on the schedule, So
I'm gonna ask him, like, hey, next year, what Thursday,
the Bengal's going to play the Ravens.

Speaker 2 (02:04:32):
In Baltimore, the Dolphins game coming, They're going to be
flexed out? Is that gonna be flexed out? Are they
going to keep that bat?

Speaker 10 (02:04:38):
Hans is from Cincinnati, I might ask him if he
read Cincinnati dot Com Dennis Doyles thought provoking piece.

Speaker 3 (02:04:48):
I'm sorry, I can't think of any Sorry, i can't
think of it.

Speaker 2 (02:04:51):
The scene from Billy Madison where I listened to that
and yet I don't feel any smarter than what I
was going in.

Speaker 3 (02:04:59):
I tweeted it.

Speaker 10 (02:05:00):
A lot of people like didn't click on the thing,
and so what I was asking was, can somebody explain
what this man is trying to.

Speaker 3 (02:05:08):
Because I'm Have you gotten an answer yet?

Speaker 4 (02:05:10):
No?

Speaker 10 (02:05:11):
And look, it may be me because I'm dumb. I look,
I get it, dumb communications major like I'm not when
we were in those like college classes where we read
like high end literature over my head, I have covered
my guy. Dennis Doyle perhaps could be making a point
that is just for a simpleton like me to grasp.

Speaker 2 (02:05:34):
Yeah, I wonder if anyone out there can maybe clear
it up. I don't know, and if so, take a call.
So I read this. Now there's something else that happened.
I got to talk about what happened.

Speaker 10 (02:05:44):
Went to the NKU game, Norse up being Cleveland State,
nice six straight wins when the Horizon League opener.

Speaker 3 (02:05:52):
Playing very well. Darren Horn's got him going.

Speaker 10 (02:05:53):
Darren Horn has a really nice, fun to watch team.
They play up and down, really good offensively. And uh,
you know, I I stuck around after the game. My
friend Shandon minor Son plays on yours and Mitchell since
he was a little kid, so I wanted to say
hi to him.

Speaker 3 (02:06:09):
And as as it was.

Speaker 10 (02:06:10):
Doing so, Darren Horn was conducting his postgame interview with
Rick Boring and Jim Kelch and when he wrapped up
his responsibilities, he saw me and he comes over and says, hey, Mo,
hope you had fun at the game, And I said yes,
and then he shook my hand and then he kind
of pulled me in a little closer. Oh, and I'm like,
where's this going, Darren Horn. Darren's been on our show

(02:06:31):
The Good Guys, on our March Madness show, before it
pulls me in and he doesn't like get that close,
but he looks at me and I could tell like
he had something on his mind, this pained expression on
his face.

Speaker 3 (02:06:41):
I thought, like, have I said something about m kau
And I said you think immediately? Yeah, like what did
I do? And he looks at me and he's like, mo,
can I ask you a question? And that's never good.

Speaker 10 (02:06:51):
And he looks at me and there's a slide pause
and he says, why does Austin Elmore hate me?

Speaker 3 (02:07:00):
I can see it?

Speaker 10 (02:07:00):
And I said, coach doesn't hate you. He's like, well,
he loves his alma mater, Sure loves beating the chest
of a proud n k U alum, but he doesn't
come watch my team play.

Speaker 3 (02:07:14):
That's a good point. I think it's a reflection of me.
And I said, Coach Austin.

Speaker 10 (02:07:20):
Raising a familylamb, He's got a lot going on it.

Speaker 4 (02:07:23):
So I just.

Speaker 10 (02:07:28):
Astin, if you have to smooth things over with coach
Horn because he thinks you hate them.

Speaker 2 (02:07:33):
Yeah, I'll have to. I have to work on that.
I'll have to reach out to Darren. Yeah, yeah, maybe
get to a game. Was that was the fan? But
was it a good atmosphere. Do you see Oakland's coach
come out and call out the student sectually? Can't I
when when n K you beat you C and Northern.

Speaker 10 (02:07:52):
Kentucky University fans and alums got mad at me for
saying this. My takeaway was that was an awesome atmosphere.
I hated that U SEE lost, but I said, I
hope a lot of people went to that game and said,
you know what, I'm gonna come back. Yes, every time
I have gone to an NKU game since, I wonder
how many of those people took me up on it,
including that program. I do not I don't tell people

(02:08:16):
what to do with their free time and money, but
I do think that it's it's puzzling to me that
there were like six students in the student.

Speaker 3 (02:08:22):
Section last night.

Speaker 10 (02:08:23):
They were given away a fifty five inch television Wow,
and still couldn't get more than Literally like six kids
had a one and six chance winning the damn TV.
I don't understand good school, good alumni base love basketball.

Speaker 2 (02:08:36):
Nobody goes good p I don't.

Speaker 10 (02:08:41):
And again this isn't blaming anybody. I go to those
games and I don't go to a ton I admit that,
but when I go, it's like more people should be here,
more people should be here. And uh, I thought that's
what Darren was gonna ask me about.

Speaker 3 (02:08:56):
And no, no, no, he.

Speaker 2 (02:08:57):
Wanted to know about Austin. Ye, so that's fair. I
don't know if there's beef I forethought, Austin. I hope
you take that to heart and think about that in
the next few hours.

Speaker 3 (02:09:05):
Maybe that's why Darren didn't come on the show earlier
this year. That could be since you hate him, we're done.
You come to my game. I'll come on your show. Wow.

Speaker 2 (02:09:14):
ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports station rolls on with The
mow Legger Show next the rest of your Thursday