January 1, 2026 • 31 mins
Rick Ucchino subs in for Eddie and Rocky as he talks Reds baseball with Jeff Carr and UC with Keegan Nickoson
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Guys here on a Thursday afternoon on seven hundred double
(00:03):
d well w Happy New Year. Hope you're enjoying a
day off. Hope you got to watch a little bit
of football today. Oregon and Texas Tech meeting in the
Orange Bowl as we speak. Starting at four o'clock here
on the Big One, we will have number nine Alabama
going up against number one Indiana in the Rose Bowl,
and then immediately after that we'll be carrying the Sugar
(00:23):
Bowl between Old Miss and Georgia. Of course, one team
has already punched their ticket to the college football semi Final,
the Miami Hurricanes, with an absolutely dominating performance against the
Ohio State Buckeyes last night. That game was not as
close as the twenty four to fourteen final score would indicate.
We will get your college football fix after the bottom
(00:45):
of the hour news when Keegan nickoson a Bearcat journal
dot Com joins me here, we'll get you ready for
the games tonight and for the monumental showdown between UC
and Navy and the Liberty Bowl tomorrow. But whenever I
get the opportunity to host here on seven hundred WIW,
especially this time of the year, I always like to
bring in Jeff Carr from the Lockdown Reds podcast and
(01:06):
Cincinnati Reds on SI, because I I honestly, I just
don't know how many chances I'll get to speak to
him on air before opening Day, which is not that
far away.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
And you may be thinking, well, wait a minute.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
Rick, there's not a whole lot going on with the
Reds right now.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
Exactly.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
That's my concern, Jeff, welcome back into the big one.
Happy New Year. Hopefully you're feeling good. You didn't overdo it.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
Last night, Rick, Happy New Year. Yeah. No, I was
kind of like keeping one eye on the buck Eys
and the and the Hurricanes. I know that everybody was
talking about Michael Irvin on the sidelines. I'm sure somewhere
Ken Dorsey and Willis mcgahey were cracking a smile as well.
But yeah, I have no bet that uh that game.
Notwithstanding that has been a bit of a quiet off season.
(01:52):
I know that the Reds just made a couple of
moves for some outfielders, but that's like saying that you
and I just went and got a meal, but we
went to Nick don I don't necessarily know that it's
going to fulfill us in the way that most nutritionists
would expect it to.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
Look, I don't want to spend a whole lot of
time talking about what could have been with this team,
But for a brief, shining moment, this club had the
chance to really own this town. Man, with the Bengals
and Bearcats having down years. FC Cincinnati with a disappointing
finish to their season, they jump into the Kyle Schwarber
sweepstakes with a strong offer, but ultimately they came up
(02:28):
about five million dollars short per year. He goes back
to the Phillies, and I think it was at that
moment that the disgust with this organization hit an all
time high in this city. Even after a playoff appearance,
this just seemed like the right time to make a major,
impactful move that would galvanize the fan base heading into
(02:49):
twenty twenty six. It certainly it would have sold season tickets,
would have sold a crapload of jerseys. They balked at
the price tag given the circumstances, you know, taking everything
into consideration here, Jeff, If now wasn't the right time,
when will it ever be for this front office?
Speaker 3 (03:10):
Right? And that's where everybody's so frustrated with I think
that there's a tendency to want to be sarcastic about
the bit from him being from Middletown and that's the
only reason anybody was excited about him because he's a
local guy. But really we were excited about the fact
that the Reds were finally in on a legitimate move
(03:30):
and the chance that they can make a legitimate ad
to this lineup, because they consistently do the moves like
JJ Bleda and Dane Myers where it's like, let's get
some dude who was really good long time ago or
a couple of years ago, and he's had a lot
of junk since then, and we got a script really
hard to figure out exactly how he's going to be
(03:51):
good for this team. Again, where kylege whatever, you didn't
have to do that, like immediately he would have showed up.
We would have had discussions about whose jersey's going to
sell most next year between Ellie Delacruz and Kyle Schwarber,
and there would be so many people that would just be,
you know, lining up the buy season tickets. But it's
not just because Kyle Schwarber. We want this team to
(04:11):
make a legitimate look at us, this is a good move,
rather than the moves where you know, I know that
you've got like Ben Verlanders out there in the world
that are going like, you know, these were kind of savvy,
smart moves. But it's like you got to look at
it from so many different angles. Just look at the
straight forward facts. Can the Reds make a move like this?
(04:32):
That's what we wanted to see.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
Yeah, And like, the thing that irritated me about the
entire situation was the middletown thing. They went after him. Like,
think about this. They paid Nick Martinez last year twenty
one million dollars for one season, right, but somehow they
could only find an additional four million dollars in twenty
(04:56):
twenty six to give to a legitimate MVP candidate, and
then that money suddenly disappeared. They were only going to
bend over backward for Schwarber because he happened to be
born here, which to me, I know a lot of
people want to give the Reds credit for making a
strong offer, and sure, we can give them some credit
(05:18):
for that, I guess, but I read between the lines
and I look at this and I go, yeah, they
tried because they thought maybe Schwarber would accept a low
ball offer to come be the hometown hero, and he
rightfully told.
Speaker 3 (05:31):
Them, no, they were focusing on the wrong things, you know,
that whole thing where like you can explain the plot
of a movie badly, well, they were like explaining the
scouting report of a player badly. They're like, oh, fifty
home runs, could probably hit sixty seventy home runs a
great American ballpark. He's got, you know, career marks that
(05:51):
he's shooting for. No, no, no, he's vocal. That's what we're
worried about. That's what we really are focused on here.
And I think it's interesting because it was reporting after
the fact, well, they were going to have to get
creative with financials, whether that was trading of the players
to free up money, or they were going to backload
the contract or what have you. And so obviously early
on in the off season, if the guy at signing
(06:13):
a guy is not taking that kind of a deal, now,
that gives me a little bit of hope for what
they could possibly do with that quote unquote creativity financially.
As the off season moves along and guys continue to
remain unsigned, but as of you know, Kyle Schwarber. That
was just far too early in the off season to
be offering backloaded, inciniblated deals and all that other stuff.
(06:36):
So that's really where more frustration can come into it, because,
as we've said before, few people are as good at
torped torpedoing their own momentum completely unforced than the Cincinnati
read because they're coming off a playoff year and then
you do this and then not only do you not
come out after you miss on Kyle Schwarber and just say, well, gosh,
(06:59):
golly gee, we'll try and get him again with the
next offer that we make to the next guy. No,
they try to convince us that there's basically not going
to be another offer. And so that was the most
confusing part out of all of this, is that they
somehow decided to rub salt in the wound after you know,
the thing fell through. So I'm hopeful that they can
(07:19):
take what they did with Kyle Schwarber, and maybe I
don't know, go talk to au Haanio Suarez, but it
makes me feel as though I am, you know, just
really really hoping out a left field when I say
something like that.
Speaker 1 (07:33):
Yeah, I mean, he's not from Cincinnati. But he did
play here, so there's you know, some familiar familiarity there.
So no Kyle Schwarber, no Kyle Tucker, no Cody Bellinger
or Boba shed or anybody like that, you know, a
legitimate threat in the middle of this lineup to protect
Ellie and some of the other young hitters.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
Instead of you.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
Know, trading for someone who could be an everyday starter
in the outfield, they trade for Dane Meyers. In the
Mia Marlins, they signed JJ Blode to a one year deal,
a guy who you know, no disrespect, wasn't good enough
to finish the season on the A's last year. Are
these just the next two guys that we have to
talk ourselves into buying their potential upside? Or do these
(08:15):
guys legitimately have a chance to help the club in
twenty twenty six?
Speaker 3 (08:19):
You know, for one Sprick, I'm going to give Nick
Carol a little bit of credit here because what he
did with these moves is that he came out and
he said exactly what he needed to say. Following that,
he didn't come out and say, well, JJ Blede's are
clean up hitter. Dane Myers is going to take over
for TJ. Friedel. He didn't say it.
Speaker 1 (08:36):
There would have been torches and pitch forks at the
Great American Ballpark.
Speaker 3 (08:39):
Had he said that, I think we'd be printing t
shirts like make me the GM or whatever, you know,
things like that. But no, he said that JJ Bleda
is basically making what he would have made in arbitration
with the A's. We just gave him that number instead
of the a's giving him that number, and they're going
to give him an opportunity to earn an everyday spot,
(09:00):
but he's not being penciled in. And then he also
correctly cast Dane Myers and that he is a depth
piece for the outfield that is going to hit pretty
much exclusively against left handed pitching because he really can't
hit right handed pitching at all his career has shown.
But he's really good against left handed pitching and he
can play well defensively in all three parts of the outfield.
(09:23):
So you put him on the bench for the outfield,
you put JJ Bleda against Will Benson to see if
they can earn a spot. And then he also said
the right thing after all of that, by saying, we
are still going to look for opportunities to improve this team,
So I'm like, Okay, good, they're not done. And reportedly
they have more money. Whatever that looks like, because we
(09:43):
heard at the beginning of the season they don't have
any money, and now we hear that they do have money,
and they gave money to Kyles however, and that they
don't have that money because they told us after that
they don't have that money. But now they have more money,
So something is going to happen soon. I think.
Speaker 1 (10:00):
The name that keeps getting thrown out there for the
better part of three years now has been Luise Robert
from the Chicago White Sox. They have reportedly been in
on him again every offseason for the past three years.
These two sides are apparently talking. Let's just say he's
ultimately the guy, because that's who they have been connected to.
I can't remember, you know, to tell Marte maybe, I
(10:24):
don't think there was much smoke there. That was just
kind of a name that was tossed out there during
the winter meetings. Let's just say, ultimately it is Luis
Robert that comes here. Is there any confidence that he
can find his all star form from a few years ago,
because it almost feels like the Reds have been staying
in constant contact with the White Sox, hoping that the
asking price for him would come down, and it has,
(10:47):
but so is his production, and he's just not been
able to stay healthy.
Speaker 3 (10:51):
I think so, and it's mostly based on the fact
that every other part of his game has been really good.
His hitting obviously has not been, but his shielding, his
base running has still been, you know, at a very
good level. And we're talking about a dude that finished
well into the MVP race in the American League in
twenty twenty three. Of course, these last two years have
(11:12):
not been great, and so he falls under that category
that the Reds continually seem to put themselves in, is
that we get these guys that were once good but
haven't been good since, and so there's a lot of
folks that are just like great basically Louise Roberts JJ Blade.
I don't go that far. I think that the scouting
report on Luise Robert is so glowy and we have
(11:35):
seen that like top one percent of Major League Baseball
athleticism that he has. But I believe he could tap
back into it. I think a change of scenery would
be perfect for him. It all comes down to what
it costs, and we continually hear different things that, Okay, well,
maybe Chris Getz, the White Sox president of baseball Operations,
(11:56):
is starting to come down on his asking offer. Most
recently we have heard that is not the case. And
there are some unsubstantiated reports that they wanted Chase Petty,
Hector Rodriguez and a compensatory draft pick. And I think
everyone in Cincinnati would collectively just cringe if that were
the trade. But at the same time, like I feel like,
(12:18):
at some point you got to take a risk. Is
that risk best put on Luis Robert? I don't think so.
But at the same time, if you're not ever going
to take a risk, I just don't think you can
expect big time results because that's been them for Nick
Cross's strategy for adding talent to this team is low risk,
some kind of reward. At some point, you got to
(12:40):
take a high risk for a high reward because it
feels like the amount of risk you take is commensurate
with the amount of reward you're going to get.
Speaker 1 (12:48):
Yeah, but you know, we gotta we don't want peaks
or valleys, remember that, you know, we're trying to stay
somewhere in the middle, somewhere around eighty four or eighty
five wins, maybe sneak in to the playoffs, give a
chance to possibly advance for the first time in thirty years.
You know, that's where this team really hits home, and
that's what they're trying to do here ultimately, at least
(13:09):
that's what I'm reading into the moves that they have
made thus far. Jeff Carr from the Locked On Reds
podcast joining me here for a few more minutes here
on seven hundredw Ricky Chino leading you guys into the
Rose Bowl at four pm. It's not all bad with
this team, Jeff. I'm look, I'm down on them, but
there's still a lot to like. I think they have
done a heck of a job drafting and developing this
(13:29):
starting rotation. They do still have Brady Singer for another
year unless they trade them. Have they done enough to
show up the bullpen?
Speaker 3 (13:37):
Though? I think they could probably make one more move.
Ideally you would be able to add somebody that's really
solid both in the bullpen and in the lineup. But
we know how this team works. They're gonna do one
or the other, right and I think it's more likely
that they do that with the bullpen than with the lineup,
which is the most frustrating part of going back to
(13:58):
all of this. But I do like what they've done
with the bullpen. I mean bringing back Emilio Pagan, as
boring as it might seem, to stay status quote to
close a role, at least you're not betting that Tony
Santion can take this over. I think he can, but
he hasn't shown it yet because he hasn't really gotten
that opportunity. So if Emilio Pagan can just carbon copy
(14:20):
what he did last year for twenty twenty six, then
we feel really good about the closer spot. Tony Santion
has pressure taken off of him, and then hopefully you
see a little bit of a bounce back from Sam Mall,
because if that happens, then they have two good leftees
since they added Caleb Ferguson, because until they added Caleb Ferguson,
it felt like they were going to bet on a
(14:41):
bounce back from Sam Mall after such a horrible season
that he had last year. But overall, I'm I'm fine
with the bull I feel like, you know, obviously the
most confidence that you have in any position group on
this team is with the starting rotation, but I think
that the bullpen is probably it's probably second. Then it's
not closer with the infield based on if some guys
(15:03):
bounce back there as well.
Speaker 1 (15:05):
MLB dot Com this week picked their breakout player candidates
for each team at twenty twenty six, Mark Sheldon went
with Noelvie Marte for the Reds. Do you agree or
is there someone else here expecting big things from this year?
Speaker 3 (15:17):
I think it's it's interesting how you turn this because
I think you can make the argument for Matt McClain
so long as you understand what it is you're saying,
because she barely played in twenty twenty three, but what
we saw in twenty twenty three was amazing. Missed all
of twenty twenty four, played all last year and really
struggled to the point that he had zero war So
(15:38):
he wasn't a negative, but he wasn't a positive either.
But at the same time, I feel like, as long
as you are saying that it's a breakout, I think
that Matt McClain has yet to break out, and so
he would be my pick. There's still like projection systems
like zips from fangrafts dot com to project them to
be a three war player based on what they already know.
(15:59):
A lot of what a breakout is is a player
presenting to you something that you do not already know
about them. So I would argue that Matt McClain would
be a good pick with Noel V. Marte. But I
agree with you, like if I agree with what Mark
Sheldon said about Noel V. Marte, like as fun as
he can get more comfortable in right field. We saw
plenty of hard hit contact from him. He has good
(16:21):
swing speed, which means that what we see from his
hard hit contact metrics are not a fluke. And so
I think that will just continue to get better for him.
And how fun a story that is. Where we were
giving up on him before last year, he began and
he was just like, YO, pay attention. I think Matt
McLain's in that same realm next year, let's hope.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
So, Jeff, well, hopefully we'll have time to talk again
before the season starts. Where can people check out your
excellent work? As always, sir, hey, you.
Speaker 3 (16:50):
Can always follow the Lockdown Reds podcast everywhere you get
your podcast, including the iHeartRadio app. You can also follow
me on social media at Jeff Carr with three fs
on Twitter and TikTok. Can you flipped that username around
a little bit for Instagram as well. But always talking,
Red's always happy to do.
Speaker 2 (17:06):
Appreciate you, Jeff, I have a good one, man, Hey.
Speaker 3 (17:09):
Rick, appreciate you too, man. Happy New Year. You can
go Red.
Speaker 1 (17:11):
Yes, absolutely, there you go, Jeff Carlocked on Reds Podcast.
Speaker 2 (17:15):
We'll get into football next after the bottom of the hour.
Speaker 3 (17:17):
News.
Speaker 1 (17:17):
Kegan nickoson Bearcat Journal dot com. Getting ready for the
Liberty Bowl tomorrow plus the games tonight.
Speaker 2 (17:21):
I'm Ricky Chino. What's I have? One hundred w WELWLD.
Speaker 3 (17:24):
I'm John Decker. Join me weekdays for fifteen minutes of notes.
Speaker 1 (17:28):
How we will take you out to Pasadena. We're number
one Indiana and number nine Alabama meet in the Rose Bowl.
That will be followed by Georgia and Ole miss in
the Sugar Bowl down in New Orleans. We'll talk a
little bit about those matchups here, just a few in
just a few moments. But first tomorrow it is the
AutoZone Liberty Bowl at four point thirty. As you see
(17:49):
takes on Navy. Keegan Nickoson covers the Bearcats football and
basketball for Bearcat Journal dot Com. Great time to be
him right now, Keegan, Happy New Year. I appreciate the time.
How's everything going on.
Speaker 4 (18:01):
It's going great. I'm really looking forward to covering the game.
The whole country has been waiting to watch tomorrow and
Memphis at the Liberty Bowl, So I'm excited and I
can't wait to see you going.
Speaker 1 (18:13):
It's been at tumultuous few weeks for the Bearcats football
program following what was look it was an extremely disappointing
finish to the twenty twenty five season, which started out
with such promise. Now quarterback Brendon Soaresby has entered the
transfer portal, so let's start there. Who the heck is
going to be under center tomorrow and what's the game
plan going to be against the midshipman.
Speaker 3 (18:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (18:36):
Last time we talked to coach Saderfield before they left town,
he said that both Brady Lichtenberg and Soamage Jones would play.
I think it's going to be a case where Brady
Lichtenberg is getting the majority of the snaps as kind
of a Hey, you've stuck around for six years, you've
been our guy. You've competed for a starting job and
(18:57):
haven't gotten it. I think three times, maybe two times.
Speaker 1 (19:01):
Let's finally take a look at the guy, see what
he can do.
Speaker 2 (19:03):
You know, we.
Speaker 4 (19:05):
Haven't seen enough reps in practice. So yeah, they're gonna
they're gonna give him the ball and he's gonna try
to lead the team. And then I don't know if
it's gonna be kind of a split where they they
want to see what Samas Jones can do, or it's
a case where they they used his they use his
legs and the running game and in kind of certain situations.
(19:25):
But I think it would be mainly Brady Lichtenburg, and
then they'll try to make something happen on offensive them.
Speaker 1 (19:32):
Evan Pryor is not going to be on the field tomorrow.
He entered the transfer portal this week. Any surprise there.
Speaker 4 (19:39):
A little bit actually when he talked to me and
Chad Brendel, my boss, after a practice and at the
end of the season, he had told us, hey, I
know it says I'm a red shirt senior on my profile,
but I've got another year of eligibility. And he actually
says that he has planned to come back, and it's
kind of like a, Hey, I've moved around a lot,
Like I'm from North Carolina, I was out of High Estate,
(20:01):
got hurt there, and then came to Cincinnati had success.
So I kind of if you would have asked me money,
wanted to be committed to Evan Pryor, he might have
been asking for a little bit more than hec was
willing to give, especially for running back who you know,
it's tough for him to play a full season. He
(20:22):
has the injury struggles, and they kind of their margin
of air there it's very very thin, so they're going
to go in a different direction. But it's a tough loss.
He had a really good year. He kind of showed
the strength and weight that he had gained and kind
of paired that with the speed that he had already
had and was proven to be a really full and
(20:44):
rounded running back. And now he's going to be playing
somewhere else.
Speaker 1 (20:49):
With all the changes to college football, has you see
now suddenly kind of found themselves in this same category
as the Bengals and the Reds where it's like, hey,
we're a small market team, we just can't afford to
pay guys like Brendan Soorsby and Evan pryor anymore. And
we have to find a way to be competitive within
our budget. And if that's the case, you know, how
(21:10):
do the Bearcats, even in the Big twelve, ever really
find themselves being legitimate contenders for a national championship.
Speaker 4 (21:19):
Yeah, it's uh, it's tough. I'm not going to try
to beat her hum the bush at all. Like they're
they're not ever going to be in a spot where
they're going to be like Georgia or Alabama or LSU
because they're just gonna get like they're gonna get outbid
by people, like they can't afford the best quarterbacks on
the market. One thing that I've kind of realized is
(21:43):
it's kind of a two year process for Cincinnati to
build a really competitive football team. You have to put
together the pieces in one year and then you have
to convince them to come back and take that kind
of hometown.
Speaker 3 (21:57):
Hey, come back.
Speaker 4 (21:58):
To the team discount like they did after the twenty
twenty four season, Like Joe Royer could have made more
money somewhere else, Brinton Towardsby, Dante Corleon, Jake Golde, some
offensive linemen, they all could have made more money somewhere else,
but they were bought into what.
Speaker 3 (22:13):
You See was doing.
Speaker 4 (22:14):
They were bought into their assistant coaches and the Scott
dadderfield and the culture that was being built, and they
came back and tried to build something. And that's why
the end of the season in twenty twenty five is
so disappointing because the odds that you're going to do
that and feld a more competitive team in twenty twenty
six is very low, just giving the landscape of everything,
(22:35):
so they can do it, but the pressure on talent
evaluation and hitting on the portal guys is so much
higher than it is at other schools where they have
that Martina bear because they can pay their roster twenty
five thirty million dollars. U See just doesn't have that.
So you have to convince people to come back and
really develop them within your program. It's not going to
(22:58):
be you build a Day ten or a Big twelve
championship level team in one year of the portal. It's
going to be a multi year process.
Speaker 1 (23:06):
Well, the transfer portal window does open tomorrow. What are
you expecting the plan to be for UC here? Where
should they be looking to add to bolster the roster quarterback,
you know, being the obvious need first and foremost.
Speaker 3 (23:20):
Yeah, when they.
Speaker 4 (23:21):
Got Brendan Sorosby, they got them quickly after the twenty
twenty three season. So I would expect them to be
very aggressive after a quarterback and try to get that
one out of the way early and then you can
knock out everything else because no other position really matters
on the team if you don't have a good quarterback
and if you miss on quarterbacks. So look for them
(23:41):
to be really aggressive at quarterback. And then you've got
to look at the defensive backfield, safety and corners specifically,
which is the entire defensive backfield no present. Yeah, they've
missed on corners multiple times on safetyes, so they've got
(24:02):
to fill a lot of holes of guys who left
and they haven't really had success in the guys that
have been here a ton. And then you've got to
look at the defensive line as well. You're not gonna
get You're not gonna have a defensive line who's gonna
get like a ton of sacks and lead the Big
Twelve in that statistical category. Just because of the nature
(24:24):
of the scheme with the three down lineman but again,
you lost doctor Troleon and Jalen Hunt and Micah Coleman,
So you're gonna have to replace a lot of veteran guys.
Mark west Parker's guy who's gonna come back and he's
gonna have success, But you've got to backfill some of
the other deaths, and that's in that room too.
Speaker 1 (24:42):
Ricky Chino in for Eddie and Rocky here on seven
hundred WLW, leading you right up to the Rose Bowl coverage,
which gets underway at four o'clock. Kegan Nikos and Bearcat
Journal dot Com joins me here for a few more minutes.
Let's talk a little bit about what we saw last night,
Julian saying did not look comfortable for much of that
game for the buck guys, especially after Ohio State went
down by two scores against Miami. Then I'm watching that
(25:04):
final drive for the Hurricanes when OSU had to get
a stop, Miami bullied them in the run game capped
off that drive with a game winning touchdown. Were you
surprised how badly Ohio State got bullied in the trenches
on both sides of the ball.
Speaker 4 (25:20):
Yeah, I have to say yeah, because it's Ohio State.
I mean, it's one of the most talented rosters in
the entire country. But if I'm going to look at
another program that's going to have justice Gonna athletes, it's
a blue blood program out of Florida like Miami. So
I in a way, I'm not just because I don't
think the talent level and athleticism level is that different.
(25:44):
But I just think the twenty five days off is
really inhibiting these teams a lot, and it's making me
nervous to watch my Hoosiers here in a little bit
and how they're going to play against Alabama. Miami just
looked more season and more ready and more comfortable, and
then they kind of much o higher state in the face.
He has a big pick six pick six with Julians Saan,
(26:04):
But like you said, they controlled the line of scrimmage,
especially on offense, and then you've got one of the
best pass rushers in the country and Ruben Bain also,
I think he pulled down a couple of sacks. So
in big spots, Miami really delivered. And it's a shame
to see Ohio State loose. I still don't think a
team that's gotten up bye has won a CFP game.
Speaker 1 (26:29):
What are your Hoosiers need to do against Alabama today
to win?
Speaker 4 (26:33):
Holy Craft controlled the line of scrimmage and run the
football because it's raining for the first time in like
ten decades in Pasadena, So like whoever was playing on
coming into this game and airing it out, it doesn't
look like it's gonna work. But I mean, fortunately for
both teams, it looks like the forecast has been out
there for a week or a week and a half,
so it's kind of known, so they can prepare. But
(26:55):
if Indiana can run over Ohio State, then I'm pretty
confident be able to do that against Alabama. So look
for room in Indy, a couple couple touchdowns, then Frenanda
Mendoza makes it just one or two big throws to
extend drives and for explosive plays, and I'm gonna say
Indiana wins seventeen.
Speaker 1 (27:15):
To ten with the Buckeyes now out, you know, trying
to put bias aside, Do you think Indiana is the
favorite right now to win the national Championship?
Speaker 3 (27:25):
Oh?
Speaker 4 (27:25):
Absolutely. I think that they're the team that's shown that
they can win every game in different types of games.
They've gone up against good defenses, They've gone up against
good defensive on the road, They've had comeback drives. I
think that they're definitely the favorite. Some of some of
the other teams just have too many flaws and too
(27:46):
many kind of exposedble aspects of their team. And you
look at this Indiana team and I don't really see
a lot of flalls all over the place. Like the
defense is really good. They got the first round d
d Indiangelo Mons, and then you got a Heisman and
potential first overall pick and random Mendoza. You've got three
really really good wide receivers. So I think Indiana is
(28:10):
definitely the favorite. And I think they're gonna showtaint Alabama.
Speaker 3 (28:12):
Hopefully.
Speaker 4 (28:13):
I'm not eating my hat after this radio interview.
Speaker 1 (28:17):
Real quick, how competitive are we anticipating the UC Bearcat
basketball team to be against Houston on Saturday?
Speaker 4 (28:27):
Oh my gosh, I have I thought I was going
to escape this phone call without talking about this. I've
learned because Wes Miller's O and nine against Houston in
his career at you see, and this is the he's
been due for us five years. This is the worst
his team has looked. I just don't I don't see
(28:50):
a path. I think that they're gonna be more physical
down low. I think that Houston's gonna out rebound them.
They're gonna outshoot them. They've got a manual sharp and
Kingston flaming like they have really good players on both
offense and defense. I just really really don't see a
path unless like current Creasa makes eight threes and giggle
(29:11):
games that doesn't miss the shot. Other than that, like
Houston is just going to control this game like they
have in large part for most of the games where
they played against Snati.
Speaker 1 (29:21):
It does seem like U see does play up to
the level of competition this year and down to it.
So we'll see. I'll try to stay optimistic for you.
Of course, people can read all about it Bearcat Journal.
Your great work is always working. People find your stuff, sir.
Speaker 4 (29:36):
Yeah, follow me on x at knickus in forty two
and then subscribe to Bearcut Journal. Gonna have a ton
of transfer portal stuff coming soon. It's a big time
of year for that, so get.
Speaker 1 (29:46):
Involved, all right, Kee can enjoy the game tomorrow. It's
gonna be a barn burner.
Speaker 3 (29:51):
I'm sure absolutely take you over.
Speaker 2 (29:54):
Yeah, let's see.
Speaker 1 (29:56):
There you go, Keegan nickoson Bearcat journal dot com. Of
course we will have UC and Navy in the Liberty
Ball tomorrow starting at four thirty. We got the Rose
Ball next covered starts at four o'clock. I was Ricky
Chino in for Eddian Rocky here on seven hundred w welawle.
Speaker 5 (30:11):
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Keep up with all the online stories mainstream media ignores
by listening to the Brad Versus Everyone podcast on the
iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 6 (30:26):
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Speaker 1 (31:31):
West Banco strives to be a better financial partner by
providing you with the tools, resources, and advice to
Guys here on a Thursday afternoon on seven hundred double
(00:03):
d well w Happy New Year. Hope you're enjoying a
day off. Hope you got to watch a little bit
of football today. Oregon and Texas Tech meeting in the
Orange Bowl as we speak. Starting at four o'clock here
on the Big One, we will have number nine Alabama
going up against number one Indiana in the Rose Bowl,
and then immediately after that we'll be carrying the Sugar
(00:23):
Bowl between Old Miss and Georgia. Of course, one team
has already punched their ticket to the college football semi Final,
the Miami Hurricanes, with an absolutely dominating performance against the
Ohio State Buckeyes last night. That game was not as
close as the twenty four to fourteen final score would indicate.
We will get your college football fix after the bottom
(00:45):
of the hour news when Keegan nickoson a Bearcat journal
dot Com joins me here, we'll get you ready for
the games tonight and for the monumental showdown between UC
and Navy and the Liberty Bowl tomorrow. But whenever I
get the opportunity to host here on seven hundred WIW,
especially this time of the year, I always like to
bring in Jeff Carr from the Lockdown Reds podcast and
(01:06):
Cincinnati Reds on SI, because I I honestly, I just
don't know how many chances I'll get to speak to
him on air before opening Day, which is not that
far away.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
And you may be thinking, well, wait a minute.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
Rick, there's not a whole lot going on with the
Reds right now.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
Exactly.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
That's my concern, Jeff, welcome back into the big one.
Happy New Year. Hopefully you're feeling good. You didn't overdo it.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
Last night, Rick, Happy New Year. Yeah. No, I was
kind of like keeping one eye on the buck Eys
and the and the Hurricanes. I know that everybody was
talking about Michael Irvin on the sidelines. I'm sure somewhere
Ken Dorsey and Willis mcgahey were cracking a smile as well.
But yeah, I have no bet that uh that game.
Notwithstanding that has been a bit of a quiet off season.
(01:52):
I know that the Reds just made a couple of
moves for some outfielders, but that's like saying that you
and I just went and got a meal, but we
went to Nick don I don't necessarily know that it's
going to fulfill us in the way that most nutritionists
would expect it to.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
Look, I don't want to spend a whole lot of
time talking about what could have been with this team,
But for a brief, shining moment, this club had the
chance to really own this town. Man, with the Bengals
and Bearcats having down years. FC Cincinnati with a disappointing
finish to their season, they jump into the Kyle Schwarber
sweepstakes with a strong offer, but ultimately they came up
(02:28):
about five million dollars short per year. He goes back
to the Phillies, and I think it was at that
moment that the disgust with this organization hit an all
time high in this city. Even after a playoff appearance,
this just seemed like the right time to make a major,
impactful move that would galvanize the fan base heading into
(02:49):
twenty twenty six. It certainly it would have sold season tickets,
would have sold a crapload of jerseys. They balked at
the price tag given the circumstances, you know, taking everything
into consideration here, Jeff, If now wasn't the right time,
when will it ever be for this front office?
Speaker 3 (03:10):
Right? And that's where everybody's so frustrated with I think
that there's a tendency to want to be sarcastic about
the bit from him being from Middletown and that's the
only reason anybody was excited about him because he's a
local guy. But really we were excited about the fact
that the Reds were finally in on a legitimate move
(03:30):
and the chance that they can make a legitimate ad
to this lineup, because they consistently do the moves like
JJ Bleda and Dane Myers where it's like, let's get
some dude who was really good long time ago or
a couple of years ago, and he's had a lot
of junk since then, and we got a script really
hard to figure out exactly how he's going to be
(03:51):
good for this team. Again, where kylege whatever, you didn't
have to do that, like immediately he would have showed up.
We would have had discussions about whose jersey's going to
sell most next year between Ellie Delacruz and Kyle Schwarber,
and there would be so many people that would just be,
you know, lining up the buy season tickets. But it's
not just because Kyle Schwarber. We want this team to
(04:11):
make a legitimate look at us, this is a good move,
rather than the moves where you know, I know that
you've got like Ben Verlanders out there in the world
that are going like, you know, these were kind of savvy,
smart moves. But it's like you got to look at
it from so many different angles. Just look at the
straight forward facts. Can the Reds make a move like this?
(04:32):
That's what we wanted to see.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
Yeah, And like, the thing that irritated me about the
entire situation was the middletown thing. They went after him. Like,
think about this. They paid Nick Martinez last year twenty
one million dollars for one season, right, but somehow they
could only find an additional four million dollars in twenty
(04:56):
twenty six to give to a legitimate MVP candidate, and
then that money suddenly disappeared. They were only going to
bend over backward for Schwarber because he happened to be
born here, which to me, I know a lot of
people want to give the Reds credit for making a
strong offer, and sure, we can give them some credit
(05:18):
for that, I guess, but I read between the lines
and I look at this and I go, yeah, they
tried because they thought maybe Schwarber would accept a low
ball offer to come be the hometown hero, and he
rightfully told.
Speaker 3 (05:31):
Them, no, they were focusing on the wrong things, you know,
that whole thing where like you can explain the plot
of a movie badly, well, they were like explaining the
scouting report of a player badly. They're like, oh, fifty
home runs, could probably hit sixty seventy home runs a
great American ballpark. He's got, you know, career marks that
(05:51):
he's shooting for. No, no, no, he's vocal. That's what we're
worried about. That's what we really are focused on here.
And I think it's interesting because it was reporting after
the fact, well, they were going to have to get
creative with financials, whether that was trading of the players
to free up money, or they were going to backload
the contract or what have you. And so obviously early
on in the off season, if the guy at signing
(06:13):
a guy is not taking that kind of a deal, now,
that gives me a little bit of hope for what
they could possibly do with that quote unquote creativity financially.
As the off season moves along and guys continue to
remain unsigned, but as of you know, Kyle Schwarber. That
was just far too early in the off season to
be offering backloaded, inciniblated deals and all that other stuff.
(06:36):
So that's really where more frustration can come into it, because,
as we've said before, few people are as good at
torped torpedoing their own momentum completely unforced than the Cincinnati
read because they're coming off a playoff year and then
you do this and then not only do you not
come out after you miss on Kyle Schwarber and just say, well, gosh,
(06:59):
golly gee, we'll try and get him again with the
next offer that we make to the next guy. No,
they try to convince us that there's basically not going
to be another offer. And so that was the most
confusing part out of all of this, is that they
somehow decided to rub salt in the wound after you know,
the thing fell through. So I'm hopeful that they can
(07:19):
take what they did with Kyle Schwarber, and maybe I
don't know, go talk to au Haanio Suarez, but it
makes me feel as though I am, you know, just
really really hoping out a left field when I say
something like that.
Speaker 1 (07:33):
Yeah, I mean, he's not from Cincinnati. But he did
play here, so there's you know, some familiar familiarity there.
So no Kyle Schwarber, no Kyle Tucker, no Cody Bellinger
or Boba shed or anybody like that, you know, a
legitimate threat in the middle of this lineup to protect
Ellie and some of the other young hitters.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
Instead of you.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
Know, trading for someone who could be an everyday starter
in the outfield, they trade for Dane Meyers. In the
Mia Marlins, they signed JJ Blode to a one year deal,
a guy who you know, no disrespect, wasn't good enough
to finish the season on the A's last year. Are
these just the next two guys that we have to
talk ourselves into buying their potential upside? Or do these
(08:15):
guys legitimately have a chance to help the club in
twenty twenty six?
Speaker 3 (08:19):
You know, for one Sprick, I'm going to give Nick
Carol a little bit of credit here because what he
did with these moves is that he came out and
he said exactly what he needed to say. Following that,
he didn't come out and say, well, JJ Blede's are
clean up hitter. Dane Myers is going to take over
for TJ. Friedel. He didn't say it.
Speaker 1 (08:36):
There would have been torches and pitch forks at the
Great American Ballpark.
Speaker 3 (08:39):
Had he said that, I think we'd be printing t
shirts like make me the GM or whatever, you know,
things like that. But no, he said that JJ Bleda
is basically making what he would have made in arbitration
with the A's. We just gave him that number instead
of the a's giving him that number, and they're going
to give him an opportunity to earn an everyday spot,
(09:00):
but he's not being penciled in. And then he also
correctly cast Dane Myers and that he is a depth
piece for the outfield that is going to hit pretty
much exclusively against left handed pitching because he really can't
hit right handed pitching at all his career has shown.
But he's really good against left handed pitching and he
can play well defensively in all three parts of the outfield.
(09:23):
So you put him on the bench for the outfield,
you put JJ Bleda against Will Benson to see if
they can earn a spot. And then he also said
the right thing after all of that, by saying, we
are still going to look for opportunities to improve this team,
So I'm like, Okay, good, they're not done. And reportedly
they have more money. Whatever that looks like, because we
(09:43):
heard at the beginning of the season they don't have
any money, and now we hear that they do have money,
and they gave money to Kyles however, and that they
don't have that money because they told us after that
they don't have that money. But now they have more money,
So something is going to happen soon. I think.
Speaker 1 (10:00):
The name that keeps getting thrown out there for the
better part of three years now has been Luise Robert
from the Chicago White Sox. They have reportedly been in
on him again every offseason for the past three years.
These two sides are apparently talking. Let's just say he's
ultimately the guy, because that's who they have been connected to.
I can't remember, you know, to tell Marte maybe, I
(10:24):
don't think there was much smoke there. That was just
kind of a name that was tossed out there during
the winter meetings. Let's just say, ultimately it is Luis
Robert that comes here. Is there any confidence that he
can find his all star form from a few years ago,
because it almost feels like the Reds have been staying
in constant contact with the White Sox, hoping that the
asking price for him would come down, and it has,
(10:47):
but so is his production, and he's just not been
able to stay healthy.
Speaker 3 (10:51):
I think so, and it's mostly based on the fact
that every other part of his game has been really good.
His hitting obviously has not been, but his shielding, his
base running has still been, you know, at a very
good level. And we're talking about a dude that finished
well into the MVP race in the American League in
twenty twenty three. Of course, these last two years have
(11:12):
not been great, and so he falls under that category
that the Reds continually seem to put themselves in, is
that we get these guys that were once good but
haven't been good since, and so there's a lot of
folks that are just like great basically Louise Roberts JJ Blade.
I don't go that far. I think that the scouting
report on Luise Robert is so glowy and we have
(11:35):
seen that like top one percent of Major League Baseball
athleticism that he has. But I believe he could tap
back into it. I think a change of scenery would
be perfect for him. It all comes down to what
it costs, and we continually hear different things that, Okay, well,
maybe Chris Getz, the White Sox president of baseball Operations,
(11:56):
is starting to come down on his asking offer. Most
recently we have heard that is not the case. And
there are some unsubstantiated reports that they wanted Chase Petty,
Hector Rodriguez and a compensatory draft pick. And I think
everyone in Cincinnati would collectively just cringe if that were
the trade. But at the same time, like I feel like,
(12:18):
at some point you got to take a risk. Is
that risk best put on Luis Robert? I don't think so.
But at the same time, if you're not ever going
to take a risk, I just don't think you can
expect big time results because that's been them for Nick
Cross's strategy for adding talent to this team is low risk,
some kind of reward. At some point, you got to
(12:40):
take a high risk for a high reward because it
feels like the amount of risk you take is commensurate
with the amount of reward you're going to get.
Speaker 1 (12:48):
Yeah, but you know, we gotta we don't want peaks
or valleys, remember that, you know, we're trying to stay
somewhere in the middle, somewhere around eighty four or eighty
five wins, maybe sneak in to the playoffs, give a
chance to possibly advance for the first time in thirty years.
You know, that's where this team really hits home, and
that's what they're trying to do here ultimately, at least
(13:09):
that's what I'm reading into the moves that they have
made thus far. Jeff Carr from the Locked On Reds
podcast joining me here for a few more minutes here
on seven hundredw Ricky Chino leading you guys into the
Rose Bowl at four pm. It's not all bad with
this team, Jeff. I'm look, I'm down on them, but
there's still a lot to like. I think they have
done a heck of a job drafting and developing this
(13:29):
starting rotation. They do still have Brady Singer for another
year unless they trade them. Have they done enough to
show up the bullpen?
Speaker 3 (13:37):
Though? I think they could probably make one more move.
Ideally you would be able to add somebody that's really
solid both in the bullpen and in the lineup. But
we know how this team works. They're gonna do one
or the other, right and I think it's more likely
that they do that with the bullpen than with the lineup,
which is the most frustrating part of going back to
(13:58):
all of this. But I do like what they've done
with the bullpen. I mean bringing back Emilio Pagan, as
boring as it might seem, to stay status quote to
close a role, at least you're not betting that Tony
Santion can take this over. I think he can, but
he hasn't shown it yet because he hasn't really gotten
that opportunity. So if Emilio Pagan can just carbon copy
(14:20):
what he did last year for twenty twenty six, then
we feel really good about the closer spot. Tony Santion
has pressure taken off of him, and then hopefully you
see a little bit of a bounce back from Sam Mall,
because if that happens, then they have two good leftees
since they added Caleb Ferguson, because until they added Caleb Ferguson,
it felt like they were going to bet on a
(14:41):
bounce back from Sam Mall after such a horrible season
that he had last year. But overall, I'm I'm fine
with the bull I feel like, you know, obviously the
most confidence that you have in any position group on
this team is with the starting rotation, but I think
that the bullpen is probably it's probably second. Then it's
not closer with the infield based on if some guys
(15:03):
bounce back there as well.
Speaker 1 (15:05):
MLB dot Com this week picked their breakout player candidates
for each team at twenty twenty six, Mark Sheldon went
with Noelvie Marte for the Reds. Do you agree or
is there someone else here expecting big things from this year?
Speaker 3 (15:17):
I think it's it's interesting how you turn this because
I think you can make the argument for Matt McClain
so long as you understand what it is you're saying,
because she barely played in twenty twenty three, but what
we saw in twenty twenty three was amazing. Missed all
of twenty twenty four, played all last year and really
struggled to the point that he had zero war So
(15:38):
he wasn't a negative, but he wasn't a positive either.
But at the same time, I feel like, as long
as you are saying that it's a breakout, I think
that Matt McClain has yet to break out, and so
he would be my pick. There's still like projection systems
like zips from fangrafts dot com to project them to
be a three war player based on what they already know.
(15:59):
A lot of what a breakout is is a player
presenting to you something that you do not already know
about them. So I would argue that Matt McClain would
be a good pick with Noel V. Marte. But I
agree with you, like if I agree with what Mark
Sheldon said about Noel V. Marte, like as fun as
he can get more comfortable in right field. We saw
plenty of hard hit contact from him. He has good
(16:21):
swing speed, which means that what we see from his
hard hit contact metrics are not a fluke. And so
I think that will just continue to get better for him.
And how fun a story that is. Where we were
giving up on him before last year, he began and
he was just like, YO, pay attention. I think Matt
McLain's in that same realm next year, let's hope.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
So, Jeff, well, hopefully we'll have time to talk again
before the season starts. Where can people check out your
excellent work? As always, sir, hey, you.
Speaker 3 (16:50):
Can always follow the Lockdown Reds podcast everywhere you get
your podcast, including the iHeartRadio app. You can also follow
me on social media at Jeff Carr with three fs
on Twitter and TikTok. Can you flipped that username around
a little bit for Instagram as well. But always talking,
Red's always happy to do.
Speaker 2 (17:06):
Appreciate you, Jeff, I have a good one, man, Hey.
Speaker 3 (17:09):
Rick, appreciate you too, man. Happy New Year. You can
go Red.
Speaker 1 (17:11):
Yes, absolutely, there you go, Jeff Carlocked on Reds Podcast.
Speaker 2 (17:15):
We'll get into football next after the bottom of the hour.
Speaker 3 (17:17):
News.
Speaker 1 (17:17):
Kegan nickoson Bearcat Journal dot com. Getting ready for the
Liberty Bowl tomorrow plus the games tonight.
Speaker 2 (17:21):
I'm Ricky Chino. What's I have? One hundred w WELWLD.
Speaker 3 (17:24):
I'm John Decker. Join me weekdays for fifteen minutes of notes.
Speaker 1 (17:28):
How we will take you out to Pasadena. We're number
one Indiana and number nine Alabama meet in the Rose Bowl.
That will be followed by Georgia and Ole miss in
the Sugar Bowl down in New Orleans. We'll talk a
little bit about those matchups here, just a few in
just a few moments. But first tomorrow it is the
AutoZone Liberty Bowl at four point thirty. As you see
(17:49):
takes on Navy. Keegan Nickoson covers the Bearcats football and
basketball for Bearcat Journal dot Com. Great time to be
him right now, Keegan, Happy New Year. I appreciate the time.
How's everything going on.
Speaker 4 (18:01):
It's going great. I'm really looking forward to covering the game.
The whole country has been waiting to watch tomorrow and
Memphis at the Liberty Bowl, So I'm excited and I
can't wait to see you going.
Speaker 1 (18:13):
It's been at tumultuous few weeks for the Bearcats football
program following what was look it was an extremely disappointing
finish to the twenty twenty five season, which started out
with such promise. Now quarterback Brendon Soaresby has entered the
transfer portal, so let's start there. Who the heck is
going to be under center tomorrow and what's the game
plan going to be against the midshipman.
Speaker 3 (18:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (18:36):
Last time we talked to coach Saderfield before they left town,
he said that both Brady Lichtenberg and Soamage Jones would play.
I think it's going to be a case where Brady
Lichtenberg is getting the majority of the snaps as kind
of a Hey, you've stuck around for six years, you've
been our guy. You've competed for a starting job and
(18:57):
haven't gotten it. I think three times, maybe two times.
Speaker 1 (19:01):
Let's finally take a look at the guy, see what
he can do.
Speaker 2 (19:03):
You know, we.
Speaker 4 (19:05):
Haven't seen enough reps in practice. So yeah, they're gonna
they're gonna give him the ball and he's gonna try
to lead the team. And then I don't know if
it's gonna be kind of a split where they they
want to see what Samas Jones can do, or it's
a case where they they used his they use his
legs and the running game and in kind of certain situations.
(19:25):
But I think it would be mainly Brady Lichtenburg, and
then they'll try to make something happen on offensive them.
Speaker 1 (19:32):
Evan Pryor is not going to be on the field tomorrow.
He entered the transfer portal this week. Any surprise there.
Speaker 4 (19:39):
A little bit actually when he talked to me and
Chad Brendel, my boss, after a practice and at the
end of the season, he had told us, hey, I
know it says I'm a red shirt senior on my profile,
but I've got another year of eligibility. And he actually
says that he has planned to come back, and it's
kind of like a, Hey, I've moved around a lot,
Like I'm from North Carolina, I was out of High Estate,
(20:01):
got hurt there, and then came to Cincinnati had success.
So I kind of if you would have asked me money,
wanted to be committed to Evan Pryor, he might have
been asking for a little bit more than hec was
willing to give, especially for running back who you know,
it's tough for him to play a full season. He
(20:22):
has the injury struggles, and they kind of their margin
of air there it's very very thin, so they're going
to go in a different direction. But it's a tough loss.
He had a really good year. He kind of showed
the strength and weight that he had gained and kind
of paired that with the speed that he had already
had and was proven to be a really full and
(20:44):
rounded running back. And now he's going to be playing
somewhere else.
Speaker 1 (20:49):
With all the changes to college football, has you see
now suddenly kind of found themselves in this same category
as the Bengals and the Reds where it's like, hey,
we're a small market team, we just can't afford to
pay guys like Brendan Soorsby and Evan pryor anymore. And
we have to find a way to be competitive within
our budget. And if that's the case, you know, how
(21:10):
do the Bearcats, even in the Big twelve, ever really
find themselves being legitimate contenders for a national championship.
Speaker 4 (21:19):
Yeah, it's uh, it's tough. I'm not going to try
to beat her hum the bush at all. Like they're
they're not ever going to be in a spot where
they're going to be like Georgia or Alabama or LSU
because they're just gonna get like they're gonna get outbid
by people, like they can't afford the best quarterbacks on
the market. One thing that I've kind of realized is
(21:43):
it's kind of a two year process for Cincinnati to
build a really competitive football team. You have to put
together the pieces in one year and then you have
to convince them to come back and take that kind
of hometown.
Speaker 3 (21:57):
Hey, come back.
Speaker 4 (21:58):
To the team discount like they did after the twenty
twenty four season, Like Joe Royer could have made more
money somewhere else, Brinton Towardsby, Dante Corleon, Jake Golde, some
offensive linemen, they all could have made more money somewhere else,
but they were bought into what.
Speaker 3 (22:13):
You See was doing.
Speaker 4 (22:14):
They were bought into their assistant coaches and the Scott
dadderfield and the culture that was being built, and they
came back and tried to build something. And that's why
the end of the season in twenty twenty five is
so disappointing because the odds that you're going to do
that and feld a more competitive team in twenty twenty
six is very low, just giving the landscape of everything,
(22:35):
so they can do it, but the pressure on talent
evaluation and hitting on the portal guys is so much
higher than it is at other schools where they have
that Martina bear because they can pay their roster twenty
five thirty million dollars. U See just doesn't have that.
So you have to convince people to come back and
really develop them within your program. It's not going to
(22:58):
be you build a Day ten or a Big twelve
championship level team in one year of the portal. It's
going to be a multi year process.
Speaker 1 (23:06):
Well, the transfer portal window does open tomorrow. What are
you expecting the plan to be for UC here? Where
should they be looking to add to bolster the roster quarterback,
you know, being the obvious need first and foremost.
Speaker 3 (23:20):
Yeah, when they.
Speaker 4 (23:21):
Got Brendan Sorosby, they got them quickly after the twenty
twenty three season. So I would expect them to be
very aggressive after a quarterback and try to get that
one out of the way early and then you can
knock out everything else because no other position really matters
on the team if you don't have a good quarterback
and if you miss on quarterbacks. So look for them
(23:41):
to be really aggressive at quarterback. And then you've got
to look at the defensive backfield, safety and corners specifically,
which is the entire defensive backfield no present. Yeah, they've
missed on corners multiple times on safetyes, so they've got
(24:02):
to fill a lot of holes of guys who left
and they haven't really had success in the guys that
have been here a ton. And then you've got to
look at the defensive line as well. You're not gonna
get You're not gonna have a defensive line who's gonna
get like a ton of sacks and lead the Big
Twelve in that statistical category. Just because of the nature
(24:24):
of the scheme with the three down lineman but again,
you lost doctor Troleon and Jalen Hunt and Micah Coleman,
So you're gonna have to replace a lot of veteran guys.
Mark west Parker's guy who's gonna come back and he's
gonna have success, But you've got to backfill some of
the other deaths, and that's in that room too.
Speaker 1 (24:42):
Ricky Chino in for Eddie and Rocky here on seven
hundred WLW, leading you right up to the Rose Bowl coverage,
which gets underway at four o'clock. Kegan Nikos and Bearcat
Journal dot Com joins me here for a few more minutes.
Let's talk a little bit about what we saw last night,
Julian saying did not look comfortable for much of that
game for the buck guys, especially after Ohio State went
down by two scores against Miami. Then I'm watching that
(25:04):
final drive for the Hurricanes when OSU had to get
a stop, Miami bullied them in the run game capped
off that drive with a game winning touchdown. Were you
surprised how badly Ohio State got bullied in the trenches
on both sides of the ball.
Speaker 4 (25:20):
Yeah, I have to say yeah, because it's Ohio State.
I mean, it's one of the most talented rosters in
the entire country. But if I'm going to look at
another program that's going to have justice Gonna athletes, it's
a blue blood program out of Florida like Miami. So
I in a way, I'm not just because I don't
think the talent level and athleticism level is that different.
(25:44):
But I just think the twenty five days off is
really inhibiting these teams a lot, and it's making me
nervous to watch my Hoosiers here in a little bit
and how they're going to play against Alabama. Miami just
looked more season and more ready and more comfortable, and
then they kind of much o higher state in the face.
He has a big pick six pick six with Julians Saan,
(26:04):
But like you said, they controlled the line of scrimmage,
especially on offense, and then you've got one of the
best pass rushers in the country and Ruben Bain also,
I think he pulled down a couple of sacks. So
in big spots, Miami really delivered. And it's a shame
to see Ohio State loose. I still don't think a
team that's gotten up bye has won a CFP game.
Speaker 1 (26:29):
What are your Hoosiers need to do against Alabama today
to win?
Speaker 4 (26:33):
Holy Craft controlled the line of scrimmage and run the
football because it's raining for the first time in like
ten decades in Pasadena, So like whoever was playing on
coming into this game and airing it out, it doesn't
look like it's gonna work. But I mean, fortunately for
both teams, it looks like the forecast has been out
there for a week or a week and a half,
so it's kind of known, so they can prepare. But
(26:55):
if Indiana can run over Ohio State, then I'm pretty
confident be able to do that against Alabama. So look
for room in Indy, a couple couple touchdowns, then Frenanda
Mendoza makes it just one or two big throws to
extend drives and for explosive plays, and I'm gonna say
Indiana wins seventeen.
Speaker 1 (27:15):
To ten with the Buckeyes now out, you know, trying
to put bias aside, Do you think Indiana is the
favorite right now to win the national Championship?
Speaker 3 (27:25):
Oh?
Speaker 4 (27:25):
Absolutely. I think that they're the team that's shown that
they can win every game in different types of games.
They've gone up against good defenses, They've gone up against
good defensive on the road, They've had comeback drives. I
think that they're definitely the favorite. Some of some of
the other teams just have too many flaws and too
(27:46):
many kind of exposedble aspects of their team. And you
look at this Indiana team and I don't really see
a lot of flalls all over the place. Like the
defense is really good. They got the first round d
d Indiangelo Mons, and then you got a Heisman and
potential first overall pick and random Mendoza. You've got three
really really good wide receivers. So I think Indiana is
(28:10):
definitely the favorite. And I think they're gonna showtaint Alabama.
Speaker 3 (28:12):
Hopefully.
Speaker 4 (28:13):
I'm not eating my hat after this radio interview.
Speaker 1 (28:17):
Real quick, how competitive are we anticipating the UC Bearcat
basketball team to be against Houston on Saturday?
Speaker 4 (28:27):
Oh my gosh, I have I thought I was going
to escape this phone call without talking about this. I've
learned because Wes Miller's O and nine against Houston in
his career at you see, and this is the he's
been due for us five years. This is the worst
his team has looked. I just don't I don't see
(28:50):
a path. I think that they're gonna be more physical
down low. I think that Houston's gonna out rebound them.
They're gonna outshoot them. They've got a manual sharp and
Kingston flaming like they have really good players on both
offense and defense. I just really really don't see a
path unless like current Creasa makes eight threes and giggle
(29:11):
games that doesn't miss the shot. Other than that, like
Houston is just going to control this game like they
have in large part for most of the games where
they played against Snati.
Speaker 1 (29:21):
It does seem like U see does play up to
the level of competition this year and down to it.
So we'll see. I'll try to stay optimistic for you.
Of course, people can read all about it Bearcat Journal.
Your great work is always working. People find your stuff, sir.
Speaker 4 (29:36):
Yeah, follow me on x at knickus in forty two
and then subscribe to Bearcut Journal. Gonna have a ton
of transfer portal stuff coming soon. It's a big time
of year for that, so get.
Speaker 1 (29:46):
Involved, all right, Kee can enjoy the game tomorrow. It's
gonna be a barn burner.
Speaker 3 (29:51):
I'm sure absolutely take you over.
Speaker 2 (29:54):
Yeah, let's see.
Speaker 1 (29:56):
There you go, Keegan nickoson Bearcat journal dot com. Of
course we will have UC and Navy in the Liberty
Ball tomorrow starting at four thirty. We got the Rose
Ball next covered starts at four o'clock. I was Ricky
Chino in for Eddian Rocky here on seven hundred w welawle.
Speaker 5 (30:11):
Dangerous social media trends, media scandals, don't TikTok, boycotts, and more.
Keep up with all the online stories mainstream media ignores
by listening to the Brad Versus Everyone podcast on the
iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
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