Sports Talk with Mike Petraglia -- 12/19/25

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
The following takes place between six pm and seven pm.

Speaker 2 (00:08):
Do you want answers?

Speaker 1 (00:09):
I think I'm entitled.

Speaker 3 (00:10):
You want answer the truth?

Speaker 4 (00:12):
You can't handle the truth?

Speaker 3 (00:14):
Truth, the truth.

Speaker 2 (00:18):
Happy Holidays, everybody. My name is Mike Petralia. You know
me better on social media and maybe if you're a
close personal friend by the name Trags. I am in
tonight for the one and only Lance McAllister. And this
is the RNL Carrier's sports talk program presented by Kelsey
Chevrolet here on news radio seven hundred WLW. As I

(00:42):
tweeted out this afternoon, it's been a week. It's been
a week of ups and downs, psychoanalysis, back and forth,
trying to read the personalities not only of a famous
franchise quarterback, but the coaching staff, the very quiet front
office and ownership group of one Cincinnati Bengals franchise. And

(01:05):
we've actually probably been doing I say, one week, it's
probably been the last two to three weeks. Trying to
read body language is a dangerous business to begin with.
Trying to do it in the NFL in this particular
town is another challenge altogether. And we're gonna talk a
lot about the Cincinnati Bengals. Of course, they have been

(01:27):
eliminated at four and ten on the season. They have
to finish out the string, and that string begins in
the heat this Sunday at one o'clock here on seven
hundred WLW, Dan Horde and Dave Lapham on the call,
of course, Bengals four and ten taking on the six
and eight Miami Dolphins, another team that is playing out

(01:47):
the string. They were eliminated with their loss in the
Frozen Conditions in Pittsburgh on Monday night. We'll also talk
the Cincinnati Reds. What moves should they be making going
forward this winter? Of course, they miss out on Kyle Schwarber,
the hometown kid, of course from Middletown, and their biggest
move so far is to sign a lefty reliever by

(02:09):
the name of Caleb Ferguson. We'll be talking with Pat
Brennan of the Cincinnati Inquirer in the seven o'clock hour
about that. The college football playoffs begin tonight. I'm excited
for this game because actually someone covering the Bengals this morning,
I was inside the practice structure this morning and somebody

(02:31):
asked me, who do you got tonight? Alabama or Oklahoma?
My instinct was to start off Alabama, just because I
haven't taken Oklahoma seriously. But how can you take Alabama
seriously coming off that hideous shutout loss to Georgia in
the SEC Championship. Certainly I reconsidered on the spot and

(02:53):
then said, well, the game's at Oklahoma. I think Oklahoma's
just a more consistent team. So I went with Oklahoma.
But the DFP begins tonight in Oklahoma with Alabama visiting
the Sooners. Tomorrow, there are three games the other quarterfinals.
Number ten Miami at number seven Texas A and M.
That's at noon. Number eleven Tulane visits number six Ole Miss.

(03:15):
That's a fascinating backyard rivalry down south. I'm looking forward
to that. That's at three point thirty PM. And then
the nightcap at seven thirty Eastern time. Number twelve James
Madison at number five Oregon. Three or four years ago,
James Madison was in the College Championship Series. They weren't

(03:37):
even in the Division one Bowl Championship Bowl playoff series.
They were in what was otherwise known as Division one
Double A back in the day. But James Madison, they
put their big boy pants on and they are now
playing in the college football playoffs, So those are the
four games between tonight and tomorrow. It is time he

(04:00):
is held online long enough. It is time to get
to our first guest. And you know this guest from
my work on the Jungle War Bengals postgame podcast because
he's my co host on the Jungle War Bengals postgame
podcast after each and every Bengals game. His name is
Richard Skinner of Local twelve and Local twelve dot com Skinny.

(04:24):
I guess we can call this an extension of our podcast.
Why not. I'm in charge of this. Sure, let's talk Bengals.
That's why I brought you on. I guess we're going
to start with all of the psychoanalysis that's been going on.
A lot of people are a lot of fans are
tired of it. They're tired of us in the media
trying to read and interpret what Joe Burrow is saying,

(04:47):
with Jamar Chase is saying, Zach Taylor is saying, not
only for Zach Taylor but the organization. What is your
initial read of the last two weeks of talk down
at Paycorp.

Speaker 5 (04:59):
We I think the Bill's loss broke Joe Burrow. Doesn't
mean he can't be rebuilt, doesn't mean he can't be
built back up. But I think that loss broke him.
Like he worked so hard to come back. They had
he had his moment in Baltimore and it was like, Okay,
I'm gonna do this, I'm gonna lift this whole organization up,
and I'm gonna get this script to the playoffs. And

(05:21):
he was culpable in Buffalo, but he wasn't entirely culpable.
The defense was awful when it needed to not be awful.
And I think at that point he just it just
broke him, like I busted my butt to come back
and I still put up thirty points. Yeah he threw
a pick six, no doubt, but he still he still
got your thirty four points and loss. And I think
at that point it was like I'm broken, and that's

(05:45):
understandable to some degree. I think the whole surgery, rehab, recovery,
all that can wear on you. I don't think anybody
really understands, and I know I don't even understand. I
think the most major other had happened to me is
I broke a couple of ebows. I haven't handed gut.
I didn't need surgery for you, the one to have

(06:06):
me risked. You know, all the things he's gone through now,
turf toe, that's major stuff that he's trying to come
back from. Aixn it, yeah, an appendix, Yeah, sorry, but
yeah that one too. I mean that's major self to
come back from him, and as a human being, that's
a lot. And he's tried to come back quickly every

(06:28):
time and he has and so to me, he's broken
and he talked it into fruition last Wednesday. He sure
played like it this past Sunday. Still don't think he's
in a great place, and so I'm super fascinated to
watch what happens on this Sunday in Miami. Is it
a chance for him to take the first step towards
kind of taking a deep breast getting himself back together,

(06:51):
kind of feeling like, all right, let's just finish this
thing strong and carry it over. Or is he still broke?

Speaker 2 (06:56):
You know, Skinny, I think he uh the former. I
think he is going to try and go out and
finish the season with good vibrations. To quote the Beach
Boys Brian Wilson, I do I think he just wants
some momentum going into not only next year, he wants
some momentum going into the off season, because you and

(07:17):
I both know, and I think every fan that has
listened to him talk over the last two weeks he
thinks a lot. There's a lot of thoughts going on internally,
many of which don't reach the surface, and when they do,
they kind of sometimes come out muddled, which I think
is part of the issue with Burrow, Like when he
says these things, what is he really thinking deep deep

(07:41):
down about his future with the Bengals. And I thought
Paul Danner Junior did a fabulous job, not only on
his reporting on Tuesday, but asking Burrow on Wednesday if
he thought about the possibility of not being the quarterback
next year. No, he pretty much answered that out of hand,
kind of wiped that off the possibility list. But then

(08:02):
when he was asked if he's thought about whether or
not he could be playing for some other team in
the future, he was much more vague, And I think
that was a smart answer of his. But he also
a lot of people are reading in that he was
sending a message. I don't think he was sending a message.

(08:22):
I think, honestly, he thinks, well, if it doesn't work
out here, if they don't make the right moves, sure
anything could possibly happen. Look at Micah Parsons. He brought
that example up on his own pretty much, you know,
un prompted. He brought that example up about what happened
at the beginning of the year. He's very well aware

(08:44):
of Peyton Manning starting with the Colts, ending his career
with the Broncos, Tom Brady obviously his career with the
Patriots before he finished with Tampa Bay. He's aware of
all of that, right, skinny.

Speaker 5 (08:57):
Yeah, and yeah. I don't think this was him talking
short term, even last Wednesday. I think this was him saying, guys,
we gotta you gotta fix this, you gotta help me
fix this. I think he was one of those people
that thought I can lift everybody up. I'm the guy
that's gonna carry the burden for all of that, and

(09:18):
you can only do so much, and at some point
you reached the breaking point of you know what, I've
tried my darnness, and I just can't do it. I
can do my part, I can't do everybody's part. I
think that was the message of last week of Hey,
front office, get me some help. I need some help
on on the other side of the football.

Speaker 4 (09:35):
Uh.

Speaker 5 (09:35):
And you know, I think this week was more of yeah,
I want to I want I want this to work here.
But if it's gonna keep spinning its wheels and not work, well,
then I'll let it work somewhere else and we'll see
where that goes. I mean, he's under contracted twenty twenty nine.
They can franchise tag him multiple times. After that. You know,
there's there's a way that that keeps him in Cincinnati,

(09:57):
that there's a keep him happy in Cincinnati. I would
say probably for that stage where you're franchise tagging him
just because you can. It's probably not going to be
a good thing, but he can be tied to this
franchise for a long time to come. Just go fix it.
And I think that's that's the crux of this mic
is just go fix it, or at least show me
you care and do something different to try to fix it.

(10:17):
As the post too status quo, well, and that's where
we're relative. I feel like they just don't care to
fix it.

Speaker 2 (10:24):
Well, I think they think they know how to fix it.
The status quo part of this skinny is the modus
operandi of the Blackburn and Brown family. They are not
going to give up any control. They may run into
a c like they did in twenty twenty and twenty
twenty one in free agency where they brought in I
think I wrote for sil insinsi dot com there's you

(10:46):
know those six free agents that really redefine the defense.
Well they're going to try and do that again this year.
And they're going to try. There are places, and you know,
Zach Taylor spoke this morning about with us down at
Pays about how the defense can be remade. There are
definitely pieces in place, and I agree with them in

(11:07):
that regard, but they're gonna have to go out and
bring in veteran pieces. The people who are bringing in
those pieces aren't gonna change. But I think the Bengals
front office and ownership thinks that those pieces will be
the change that the Bengals need, not who's bringing them in.

Speaker 5 (11:25):
Yeah, but I go back to this and that's and
that's fine, and I believe that's gonna happen too, because
it's gonna be enough cap space to do some of
those things. And they did do a fine job the
last time. Around in free agency, but then you're gonna
be back in the cycle again of having to pay
a bunch of guys order back to receivers, Orlando Brown,
whoever you bring on the defense, all of those things,
and you still better keep hitting on draft picks. And

(11:46):
they haven't done that.

Speaker 2 (11:47):
That's the problem.

Speaker 5 (11:48):
So why can't you do something to change that? And
they don't seem to be willing. Do I need more stouts,
Douktoba's I don't need more eyes? Okay, well, sure you've
done great so far, guy. And that's the part I
think that's the most frustrating is in this league, when
you're paying for the stars, you have got to have
the rest of your roster hit on rookie contracts, not

(12:10):
as rookies per se, but on those first rookie contracts,
which are four year deals. You got to have a
bunch of those guys. That's what the Eagles did. The
Eagles paid all their dudes and then had a bunch
of guys hit on rookie contracts. And I don't trust
Duke Tobin and those making the draft selections to do that.
Do I trusted to do it? Off of proven NFL tape? Yeah? Probably.

(12:31):
I think, you know, most people have proven NFL tape
are pretty good at that kind of stuff because it's
proven NFL tape. The college guys are always a crapshoot,
no matter how highly you draft them. They're always you
don't fully know until you see. And so do I
trust him to get those guys right? I'm sorry, I don't.
I just I don't know why anybody should. I don't
know why any fans should trust them to do that.

Speaker 2 (12:53):
What is the biggest positive thing you've seen from the
Bengals this year?

Speaker 5 (12:59):
Woo one the fact there's only three games left. That
might guess that. I guess the play and the people
are not gonna like it. I guess the play of
the offensive line. I think the offensive line has has
had a pretty decent year overall, to be honest with you,
and that means Dylan Fairchild's played okay. You know, dol

(13:20):
Riser's played okay. Now he's probably gonna be back after
this year. Maybe he is on a on a year deal.
Dalen Rivers when he was in played okay. So that
to me is one. The only only thing else is
the defense has played better since the bye week, and
you have a chance to finish strong. My fear is this,
you kids have finished strong against Quinn viewers making his
first start, nine thousand year old Jakobe prisseat and struggling

(13:43):
to door Sanders. Is that really gonna show you anything?
That and that that my fear would be, Well, you know,
we got hopped down the stretch. Guys started to figure
it out? Did they? Did they?

Speaker 2 (13:52):
Really?

Speaker 5 (13:53):
That's the part that scares me a little bit.

Speaker 2 (13:55):
That's what Zach Taylor I can tell you right now,
and he kind of suggested that this morning and meeting
with us, that's what he's going to suggest is that
you've seen the defense now in his view, okay, playing
much better for several weeks. I tend to agree that, yes,
there have been flickers of hope that you've definitely seen

(14:15):
from a young defense. My takeaway on defense has been
DJ Turner and Dax Hill continues to be a really
solid player. Miles Murphy has come on and I think
he's going to earn that fifth year. I think they
believe that he is a piece to build around on
the edge. You would never have said that after last year,

(14:36):
not in a million years, but based on what he's
shown this year. I feel like they don't have any
choice but to believe in him going forward. And yeah,
so that's where I think they are with that, and
I think, you know, the Bengal fans have to be
hopeful that this defense is going to complement the offense

(14:57):
next year and they'll be back where they were before
the twenty twenty one season. We're gonna have to let
you go here, Skinny. Anything you're working on real quick
for Local twelve dot com or you're just gonna sit
back and watch the Bowl games.

Speaker 5 (15:10):
Just gonna sit back and watch the Bowl games and
cover the game from my couch on Sunday, Mike, and
then talk to you via the zoom.

Speaker 2 (15:16):
Yeah, we will both be working remotely, Skinny. I look
forward to it. That is Richard Skinner of Local twelve
and Local twelve dot com. He does a great job
covering all things Cincinnati Bengals, Skinny. Thank you so much
for joining us. All right, that is Richard Skinner. My

(15:36):
name is Mike Petrolia. When we come back on the
other side of news at the bottom of the hour,
we will talk to Alex Frank. We'll talk some Cincinnati
Bearcats football, basketball and the University of Kentucky basketball program.
This is the RNL Carriers sports talk program presented by
Kelsey Chevrolet on news radio seven hundred WLW. That is

(16:01):
what I'm talking about. That's the way I like it.
Ac and the Sunshine Van circa nineteen seventy five, fifty
years ago, we had a World Series champion in the
Cincinnati Reds, coming off the greatest World Series still in history.
We had a Paul Brown's last year coaching an NFL team,

(16:24):
a playoff team, and eleven and three Cincinnati Bengals team
that lost thirty one twenty eight to the Oakland Raiders
in a fabulous game out at the Oakland Alameda County Coliseum.
And then we moved on to nineteen seventy six, another
World Series title. We have had just one World championship

(16:45):
in this town since nineteen seventy six, and we all
know it was the shocking four game sweep of the
Oakland A's in nineteen ninety the Nasty Boys. And a
week like this, a year like this kind of dredges
up those memories all over again that it's been a long, long,
long long wait. Yes, the Reds made the playoffs, lost

(17:06):
to the eventual World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers in
the postseason, that's great, they finished eighty three and seventy nine.
But the Bengals, it's just you know, as a beat reporter,
as a columnist covering the team, you like to see
them do well. I think it's I think anybody you
speak to in journalism that is on the beat, we'd

(17:27):
admit to you that when the team is doing well,
it's a better story to cover. There are many more
storylines that people want to read, and you, as a journalist,
want people to want to read your material. And when
they win, like in twenty one and twenty two, people
are much more engaged. You don't want everybody just paying

(17:47):
attention to you when you're writing something critical. You want
to write good stories and there's still good stories to
be written. Have a DJ Turner column that I'll have
over the weekend. He's a great story. And I went
over this with Richard Skinner of localswelve dot com. The
storyline still are there, but just not as voluminous. In

(18:09):
a four and ten season against Cincinnati, Bengals will play
the Miami Dolphins on Sunday afternoon in Miami. The final
road game of the year. Of course, they come back
and play a pair of Sunday afternoon one o'clock games
against Arizona on the twenty eighth, and then the following
Sunday they wrap up the season against the Cleveland Browns.

(18:30):
My name is Mike Petralia Trags. You can follow me
at colns since with a y dot com. You can
also follow me of course on the X at Trags
t r ags and as I mentioned with Skinny, our
Jungle Roar Bengals postgame podcast after each and every Bengals
game is at YouTube dot com slash at Jungle Roar Pod.

(18:53):
This is the RNL Carrier sports talk program presented by
Kelsey Chevrolet on news radio seven hundred w WHA. Next up,
we're gonna switch gears a little bit. We've talked enough
about the Cincinnati Bengals to open the program. Let's move
on to the college scene and someone who, by the way,
is down in Miami to watch the Bengals and the

(19:14):
Dolphins on Sunday afternoon. But I want to talk college
basketball college football a little bit as well with Alex Frank.
He does great work for Sealing asincey dot com as
well as a Sea of Blue since e jungle Land,
Grant holy Land, all of those at SB Nation. And
he has a brand new podcast that you absolutely should

(19:36):
give a listen to. It's a Lockdown Network podcast entitled
Bengals Squad. He is Alex Frank. How about that for
an intro?

Speaker 6 (19:43):
Alex, Well, Mike, thank you. It's great to be with
you on this Friday night. And the weather's fantastic down
here in Miami. I was just talking with your producer
Sean about it. I haven't seen a lot of Bengals
fans just yet, but that may change on Sunday. But
it's great to here. Is great to be off with
you tonight. And I got a tough fact following Richard Skinner.

Speaker 2 (20:04):
Yeah, but I'm sure you can live up to it.
I don't worry about that at all, Alex. I guess
let's start with the Cincinnati Bearcats. They had a much
needed win over Alabama State on Wednesday night. What were
your takeaways from, obviously the return of Gisel James. What
kind of dynamic he brings to the lineup. I think
he brings much needed energy on the offensive side of

(20:28):
the ball. I'm not saying that he's an All American
scoring guard or a you know, a multiple guard that
can do a lot of things. But he does bring
energy and he takes some of the burden I think
off of Dada A Thomas.

Speaker 6 (20:43):
Well that's the thing, Mike Gigsel. James brings a spark
that this team needed. I mean, they had lost four
of their last six games prior to his return, and
I'll be honest, I was shocked when I woke up
to the news earlier this week that he was returning.
But you think about the fact that he came out
Wednesday night and in twenty minutes he scored sixteen points,

(21:05):
hit multiple three pointers. I think that's why Bearcats fans
have something at least something to be excited about. And
then you had that too.

Speaker 4 (21:15):
You mentioned Jayda Thomas.

Speaker 6 (21:16):
You can also add Baba Miller, who had a great
game Wednesday night.

Speaker 4 (21:20):
This team has some life.

Speaker 6 (21:21):
And if they can go to Clemson and they can
go to Greenville, South Carolina on Sunday afternoon to get
a win, you have some momentum going into conference play
in the Bigswold, where you're gonna have to find a
way to win some games to get some really good
teams but you know, definitely, the hope is a lot
greater than it was after last Saturday against Georgia.

Speaker 2 (21:42):
What are your thoughts on Wes Miller and the job
he's done so far with the Bearcats. He's come obviously,
he's come under a ton of scrutiny and there are
a lot of people calling for his job. Seems to
be the mo of a lot of Cincinnati sports fans
right about now throughout the town. But what are your
thoughts on Wes Miller? How can he improve the way

(22:06):
his teams handle adversity.

Speaker 6 (22:10):
That's exactly what they need to do. They need to
handle adversity like you have been You've washed Beircats basketball
long enough to know Mike that Bob Huggins coach teams
and Mike Cronin coach teams.

Speaker 4 (22:21):
They could get punched in.

Speaker 6 (22:22):
The mouth early, but yeah, you always knew they were
going to respond. It was so rare that they would
get blown out the way I've seen this Bearcats team
get blown out over the years with Wes Miller as
their head coach. So that's the one thing this team
needs to do a lot better at is get better
at overcoming adversity. They play well in Spurs. But the

(22:43):
problem is when they have something not go their way,
they let it snowball into a cavalcade of things that
if that's the right word, excuse me, that don't go
their way. So they need to, you know, respond to
adversity better. And then the other thing is, look like
you know how to play offensive basketball. I mean, yeah,
Cronin coach Sheams and Huggin's coach teams work great offensively

(23:06):
by any means, but they could at least run offensive sets.
They could get the ball to their best scores when
they needed to.

Speaker 4 (23:13):
This team can't even do that.

Speaker 6 (23:15):
So that's Those are two things aside from of course
making the NCAA tournament where this program should be perennially
come selection Sunday.

Speaker 4 (23:25):
So those are.

Speaker 6 (23:27):
Three things that I think this team and this program
has to be better at with Wes Miller. There's the
other thing, too, Mike, is there's not really any game
that I can like hang my hat on with this
program that says this can work.

Speaker 4 (23:39):
And that's unfortunate.

Speaker 6 (23:40):
Five years in.

Speaker 2 (23:42):
Well, that's the thing. I just don't recall a moment
a pinnacle for Wes Miller in the program where you
were like, okay, they have arrived, whether it was at
home or on the road. You know, a home game
against Arizona, they were in the game, but Arizona kind
of pulled away late. There are a couple of games

(24:03):
where they had leads in the second half, couldn't hold
on Houston. They were in the game with Houston, I
believe it was last season, and Houston just pulled away
at the end. They just didn't have the horses. And
that's the kind of game that Wes Miller needs. Forget
for now him making the NCAA tournament, which is what

(24:25):
a lot of fans uc Alum and whatnot feel is
the only way he's going to save his job is
if he somehow manages to get this team through the
Big twelve schedule and get through with not even an
eleven and seven mark. Try you know, a ten and
eight mark. If he goes ten and eight and gets
the team to the tournament, I think that'll save his.

Speaker 6 (24:45):
Job, no question about it, because that's that's at least
going to give the fans some sign of tangible progress
being made.

Speaker 4 (24:53):
But you mentioned the fact.

Speaker 6 (24:54):
That this program doesn't have a lot of signature wins.
Here's a program that two years ago, first ever Big
twelve game, they go on the road and beat a
very good BYU team, and I'm like, Okay, maybe this
program is about to take off. They never won consecutive
Big twelve games in the regular season, and then obviously
last year played out the way it did, so there's

(25:15):
still time.

Speaker 4 (25:16):
I believe that.

Speaker 6 (25:17):
But you're right, because you go back and I was
talking about this with somebody earlier this week. You know,
there was a game in two thousand and This game
is very very famous in Bearcast basketball history. Bearcats are
playing at the ball and Bob Huggins says to his
entire team, if any of you touch the ball before
or take a shot before Kenny Martin touched the ball,
I'm taking your scholarship. I don't know if there's a

(25:38):
player on this team. Maybe it's Chisel James, maybe it's
Baba Miller, maybe it's Sanda Thomas. As you mentioned, is
there a player on this team that can get the
ball and say get out of my way.

Speaker 5 (25:47):
I'm going to go.

Speaker 6 (25:48):
Score some buckets and put the team on my back
and deliver us a much near victory. Jaron Cumberland was
that Gary Clark was that. Sean Kilpatrick was that I'm
not sure if this program has had that since maybe
it's on this team.

Speaker 5 (26:02):
I don't know, but you.

Speaker 6 (26:03):
Better find out who that is quickly because the big
twelve gunlot is coming.

Speaker 2 (26:07):
All right, let's move on to the University of Kentucky.
They have a pretty massive game, I would say tomorrow.
It is the debut of the CBS Sports Classic. It
features number twenty two Kentucky taking on Saint John's and
your thoughts on the Wildcats heading into that. Obviously, they

(26:30):
have had several bumps in the road before that massive
win over Indiana, which was desperately needed at home last week.

Speaker 6 (26:39):
Yeah, So the big news is Jaden Quayton. It looks
like he's going to make his Kentucky Wildcats debut tomorrow
afternoon in Atlanta. And Quainton's is a transfer from Arizona State.
He's a five former five star recruit. He's actually originally
from Cleveland, Ohio, and he's projected NBA lottery pick. He's
been Alison's last February for the torn ACL. The rehab

(26:59):
process was long.

Speaker 4 (27:00):
It was lengthy.

Speaker 6 (27:01):
At times, it felt like he didn't know if he
was gonna even play this season, but he could up
play tomorrow, which look, that's the expectation, so long as
everything goes well in warm ups, and that is massive
for this team. But I'll tell you, Mike would really
impress me against Indiana about the Wildcats. They still aren't
a great shooting team, but they gave incredible effort, incredible intensity,

(27:24):
incredible grit on the defensive end. Their offensive rebounding was tremendous.
It paved the way from coming back from down seven
at half time to winning the game by twelve against
the good Indiana team that you very well may see
in the NCAA tournament. If this team plays like that,
with that intensity and with that versatility that they have.
I thought Jalen Lowe played the best team of his

(27:44):
Wildcats career against Indiana. He was scrappy, he was a distributor,
he was attacking the rim. That's what you want to see.
This Wildcats team is fine. I know they had some
huge bumps in the road early and I covered a
lot of them. But you find a way to beat
Rick Bettino and his Saint John's team tomorrow. You're going
to generate some momentum going into SEC play and That's
where I think this team can take off.

Speaker 4 (28:06):
The SEC is.

Speaker 6 (28:06):
Not nearly as good as strong as it was last year.
Is still a very strong conference, there's no question about it.

Speaker 5 (28:11):
But you have the.

Speaker 6 (28:12):
Opportunity in front of you to get a really good
win against a ranked Saint John's team and build some
momentum going into SEC play tomorrow afternoon.

Speaker 2 (28:22):
That doubleheader, by the way, is at State Farm Arena
in Atlanta. The other half of that CBS Sports Classic
is Ohio State and North Carolina. Quick thoughts on that
we have about thirty.

Speaker 6 (28:36):
Seconds Ohio say, better be ready to rebound and defend
because North Carolina is long, they're big. If you can
force North Carolina to take some more shots from the
perimeter than they would like, you've got a chance. And
like I talked about with Americas, give the ball to
Bruce Thorton if you're the Buckeyes and get the heck
out of the way. The buck guys can win tomorrow,
and if they do, they're gonna have some momentum going

(28:58):
to the Big Ten play.

Speaker 2 (29:00):
Are doing your podcast, by the way from Miami, correct,
because you will be down in Miami for the game,
or are you waiting to record when you come back.

Speaker 6 (29:09):
No, we are going live after the game on Sunday
time to be determined. Gotta make sure we know how
well it's gonna tak usk get back from the stadium
to the hotel. So sometime Sunday night we will be
live on the Lockdown Mangos YouTube channel with the Bengal
Squad Show, So feel free to tune in and hopefully
after a Bengals win down here in the Magic.

Speaker 2 (29:30):
City, the well traveled and incredibly hard working Alex Frank
of a Sea of Blue, Sinci, jungle Land, Grant holy Land,
all of those SB Nation podcast should say websites, and
of course a Bengals squad that is on the lockedwn network,
so be sure to tune that in. He also does

(29:51):
some great work for us at celns Sincy dot com.
So that is Alex Frank. We're gonna have to let
him go. We've got news that the top of the hour,
and then on the other side of news, we will
have Pat Brennan of the Cincinnati Inquirer talking all things
Cincinnati Reds. You are listening to RNL Carriers Sports Talk

(30:12):
presented by Kelsey Chevrolet on News Radio seven hundred WLW.

Speaker 1 (30:21):
The following takes place between seven pm and eight pm.

Speaker 2 (30:31):
Welcome back to our number two of RNL carriers, Sports Talk,
presented by Kelsey Chevrolet on News Radio seven hundred wl W.
My name is Mike Petralia Trags. I am filling in
for the one and only Lance McAllister for the next
two hours leading up to nine o'clock and certainly a
lot to get to in the next two hours. We've

(30:54):
already talked to a little Cincinnati Bengals. We've talked about
you see Bearcats at least on the basketball side, and
University of Kentucky. This is a s mortgage board. I
hate that word. I just tried to use it and
I butchered it. But sorry, everybody. It's really a plethora.
There's a better word and easier word to pronounce for me,

(31:14):
A plethora of sports topics. Tonight, locally, we are going
to move on to the baseball team in town right
now and talk about the Cincinnati Red Legs. They have
a pretty important offseason still ahead of them, a lot
of moves left to be made, at least a lot
of people think so. After missing out on Kyle Schwarber

(31:35):
and this week signing lefty reliever Caleb Ferguson on here
right Now on the Carrier RNL Carrier Sports Talk program
presented by Kelsey Chevrolet to talk about it all as
Pat Brennan. He does a great job on the Bengals beat,
but also covers the Cincinnati Reds. Hey, Pat, thanks for
joining me. How you doing tonight?

Speaker 3 (31:57):
Well?

Speaker 4 (31:57):
Tracks, I'm doing okay. Pronounced board.

Speaker 2 (32:03):
I'm not going to try it because I'm not going
to dull the listeners with my inability to pronounce that word.
I just I don't like.

Speaker 4 (32:12):
I'm just trying to help here.

Speaker 2 (32:14):
I appreciate that, and I appreciate the uh dictation alliteration
lesson here live on w W. I appreciate that, pack,
But I guess we have to start with your thoughts
on the Reds missing out on Kyle Schwarber. There are
a lot of people who criticize the Reds for making

(32:35):
the offer to Kyle Schwarber and then saying, well, We're
just going to bank that money and save it to
spend somewhere else, instead of going out and making a
push for let's say, Pete Alonso or someone else that
could provide a power bat in the lineup. What are
your thoughts on that? What's your biggest takeaway?

Speaker 7 (32:55):
Right?

Speaker 4 (32:55):
Yeah, I mean, obviously there's some calculus done there about
Schwarber versus the rest of the eligible field for kind
of that power hitting likely DH type role that the
Reds were trying to fill via Schber. And I think
the calculation was probably and there's been some reporting of

(33:18):
this effect tracks. The calculation there was that this is
a local guy. He can drive some revenue because he's local.
He can also drive revenue because he's such an enormous
name in the game today and over the last certainly
over the last few years when he's really elevated his power,

(33:40):
the strength of his power hitting to the top of
the game or near the top. And I guess there
was a calculus that that popularity could offset some of
the costs right up front just by bringing him in.
His name offsets some of what it would cost to
retain him. And I think it's probably true that other

(34:03):
power hitters in that conversation, like PETERLNDO, might not have
the same effect at the box office. So yeah, look,
I'll say this much regardless of whether we agree or disagree,
or fans agreed disagree with that. With that math that
I think was done there, I can understand why it

(34:24):
would be deemed disheartening to see that money then come
off the table and then oh, the Reds are back
to working, working within this the very tight parameters of
the initial budget that we thought they had.

Speaker 2 (34:39):
Here's my problem with that. Let me jump in here.
Here's my problem with that. Are you trying to become
a significantly better baseball team on the field in twenty
twenty six addressing an obvious need, which was the lack
of a power bat in the middle of the lineup
to help protect La Dala Cruz, Or are you trying

(35:01):
to sell seats? My thinking is, if you're trying to
become the best baseball team, go to the second best
bat in the lineup, make a play. And if you
miss on Pete Alonso, well you missed on two. You
went over two, which power hitters normally do. See that
putt that I just made there, But anyway you made

(35:21):
the attempt, you were at least in the batter's box
taking your hacks. The problem a lot of Reds fans
have and I was at a party last night and
talking with a couple of long standing season ticket holders,
and they're like, well, we made one we made one move,
and I don't want to label it as half hearted,

(35:41):
but they made one attempt, and they're like, oh, well
it wasn't meant to be. We're going to move on
to something else. That's that's a loser's attitude, and it
frustrates so many fans in this town. And before it
was a Bengal town and a football town, it was
obviously a very rick baseball town, and it infuriates fans

(36:02):
that the Reds don't go out and try to improve
the product on the field address an obvious need.

Speaker 4 (36:10):
Yeah, I agree, I get it, And you know, the money.
The Reds have tied up a lot of their available
budget dollars to now three free agent pitchers, one of
which is that we're obviously all very familiar with an
Emilio Pagan. But I think the cumulative sum of the

(36:32):
cost of those players and their entirety is less than
the Phillies spend. Well, okay, the Phillies will spend on
one reliever, Brad Keller, who they signed to a two
year to twenty two million dollar deal. So look, it's
not this isn't new from the Reds. They're adding around

(36:52):
the edges. They're adding where they feel like they can, and.

Speaker 2 (36:57):
They're hoping their primo prosps becks fill in the void
in the meat of the order. And it's a strategy.
And I guess you're that's why I'm having you on.
You're doing a fabulous job of articulating that that is
their strategy, that the bats that cost primo dollars are
going to have to be filled in by players the

(37:19):
Reds already have under team control so that they can
fill on the edges. I don't know. When I hear that,
I'm like, well, they're they're trying to do it in
the cheapest way possible, and I just think in the
long run, your odds diminish greatly when you take that tact.

Speaker 4 (37:37):
Oh sure, well, listen, I'll go back to the end
of year. I don't want to call it a news
conference because it's a little more intimate than that, but right,
Nick cal and uh Brad Metter meet with the.

Speaker 2 (37:51):
Yeah, I remember that.

Speaker 4 (37:54):
Yeah, I know, Hey, I know you were cowboy, and
you know the way I interpreted Nick's comments were that,
I mean, I guess I just it wasn't a specific comment,
but I walked out of there feeling like if I'm
reading the room and interpreting these things as I do

(38:15):
and as I heard him talk, I think the Reds
believe they will have a very challenging task in front
of them this offseason getting back to eighty four wins,
and I think that's where that's been born out to be.
It certainly looks like a good reaf on the situation today,

(38:35):
and I do think they will be hard pressed to
be a better team than they were last year. You
mentioned the word you're hoping for prospects to fill in
and this and that hope is a big part of
the equation here. There's no question you are hoping that
Matt McClain turns it around. You're hoping for a full
season of healthy Spencer Steer. You're hoping that Dela Cruz

(39:01):
finally produces not just plays for one sixty two, but
delivers well. I think what has to be MVP caliber
play for one sixty two.

Speaker 2 (39:12):
Have you heard anything more on the reporting and some
of the rumors that I've read in the last couple
of weeks about Ellie d La Cruz and the Reds
giving or not giving him permission to play in the
World Baseball Classic.

Speaker 4 (39:30):
I had seen the rumors. My impression remains that he
will participate in the World Baseball Classic, and I understand that.
You know, I think if if I'm not mistaken, I'll
just let's say this was a rumor too. I think
MLB had a social media post that was later taken down,

(39:51):
if I'm not mistaken, and I am willing to be
corrected on that. But yeah, there were some ripples about
him maybe not being allowed to go. But I will
tell you that what the Inquirer reported and what my
colleague and good friend Gordon Wittenmeyer reported from the winter
meetings in Orlando was that I think Albert Pooholes is

(40:14):
managing the team, the national team, and he seemed very
convinced that Ellie would be in the Whoever the manager
is of that national team very convinced that Ellie would
be a part of it. And from that I really
had no I didn't feel a strong inkling to lean

(40:38):
too much into the rumor mill after what I saw
coming out of Orlando.

Speaker 2 (40:43):
God, so what about NOELV. Martegs Because to me, of
the names that you just mentioned, the one you did
not Mention is probably the biggest name. They are going
to depend on him and south Stewart in the middle
of that order to really provide the Reds what they're

(41:03):
not going to get out of Kyle Schwarber because they
missed on him in free agency. I think their plan
B was, Okay, we don't get a big bat, We're
just going to have to step on salth Stewart and
nouelve Marte. And I think there was enough evidence in
the play that we saw in the last six to
eight weeks of the twenty twenty five season to suggest

(41:24):
that they could be ready to take that next significant
leap in twenty twenty six.

Speaker 4 (41:31):
Yeah, I mean, just starting with south Stewart. You hope
that's the case, except that the National ball I mean
all of baseball, not just the National League, is going
to have a whole offseason to pick his approach at
the play depart and you know, pitchers will adjust to
him after not mostly not having seen him until late

(41:51):
in the MLB regular season last year and for a
hot second in the playoffs. So how does he adjust
to that adjustment? And then that kind of back and
forth game begins and continues on for his whole career,
but I think the first two rounds of that can
be really challenging for a young player like him. So
we'll we'll see about South Stewart. Uh, Noel Marte, I

(42:15):
feel much more confident about He's beyond that phase in
his career. He became very reliable in the field, which
was you know, left field was sorry. Right field was
a black hole for the Reds defensively at times last year.

(42:37):
But so so that's a good thing. But you know,
noelva is yet too show to offer to give the
Reds what they need to protect Ellie and do all
the things that Kyle Schwarver would have provided. We haven't
seen that yet from Noelvie over.

Speaker 5 (43:00):
Thing.

Speaker 2 (43:00):
Let me jump in here. That's the thing, please they
had the Reds haven't seen it consistently from Noelve, but
I think they're in the second half of last year
they started to get the sense that this kid is
ready to play one hundred and fifty games a year
and be a massive force for us. I mean the
play he made the final home game, leaping above the

(43:23):
wall making that catch that was the iconic moment of
the twenty twenty five Red season. The feel good moment
of the year. I don't think there's any question about that.
And it's appropriate that it was Marte making that play,
because that's really if you want to look at what
the reds Field twenty twenty six can be, it's that

(43:43):
final play of the year at home. Anyway, of course
they had the three year Milwaukee, but the final play
of the year at home. That's what I think the
reds Field the ceiling is for next year.

Speaker 4 (43:58):
Yep, I agree, And again I think a lot of
that once again, even with Noelvie, predicated on hope and
projections and things we're yet to see with our own
two eyes. I think, you know, but these are I
want to give credit to Nick Crawl and Brad Matter.
These are these sharp guys. Everything they calculated about last season,

(44:19):
most things, I should say, uh, that was good enough
to get them to the playoffs, and let's just see,
let's just see what they can do with the rest
of this offseason. I think they made some significant additions
to last year's team, guys that ended up being significant
later on after in the new year. So I'm not

(44:42):
I'm not ready to say that this offseason was a failure.
And I don't think anyone else should, just based on
the fact that they didn't land Kyle's for that was
always kind of a long shot.

Speaker 2 (44:52):
Okay, let's move on real quick. We've got a couple
of minutes here. They did make a move this week
four point five million for one year for lefty reliever
Caleb Ferguson. A lot of fans are going to say who,
But this is a guy that Terry Francona joked with
Caleb Ferguson, and Ferguson acknowledged this on a zoom call

(45:13):
from Thursday. He's glad he doesn't have to game plan
for going forward and just tell us a little bit
about Caleb Ferguson. He can of kind of, I think,
take the role of Brent Suter in that bullpen. But
he's a lefty reliever who can get a lot of
lefties and righties out.

Speaker 4 (45:31):
Yeah, and I think he feels an area of need
as a lefty reliever in the bullpen. He alluded last
night on that zoom call you mentioned to the varying
nature of his role and that he expects to be
called upon to do a variety of different jobs for
the Reds out of the bullpen, and I think equating

(45:54):
that to the Brent Suter role is probably a fair
assessment by you drags. But I mean this is this
is another guy who you know. Now, the Reds have
everyone returning from last year, you know, bringing in guys
with postseason experience to clubhouse last year that had none
was a big deal for the Reds. Now most of
the guys returning experienced the postseason on a relatively high level.

(46:19):
You faced the eventual champion Dodgers in a series that
was you know, they got swept out of it. So
everyone has playoff experience. Caleb Ferguson has big time playoff
experience with multiple franchises. Last year it was with the
Seattle Mariners, and he did get knocked around a fair amount,

(46:40):
but that was the first time in his career, over
several postseason runs, that he had really faced any kind
of adversity. He was a phenomenal postseason pitcher prior to
that with the Dodgers, and I believe the Astros. So
this is a guy with postseason pedigree. You love that
he is a veteran guy. You like that too, and

(47:02):
he's not too old, So I think it was a
great pickup by the Reds kind of a sneaky under
the radar one. This is a guy that started the
year with the Pittsburgh Pirates last season tracks, so some
Reds fans might actually be familiar with his work, and
good work tends to get overshadowed in Pittsburgh these days.
And obviously the Mariners thought highly enough of him to

(47:22):
bring him on for their stretch run and playoff run.
Like I said, he got roughed up. Well, he pitched
beginnings for them in the playoffs.

Speaker 2 (47:30):
We've got forty five seconds here, Pat, I want to
get your opinion on Catel Marte of Arizona. He is
the one name I hear that could be a blockbuster trade.
He's gonna require a lot. But what are your thoughts
on the Reds possibly making a bid at him at
the age of thirty two.

Speaker 4 (47:52):
I'd love to see it happen. Talk about postseason pedigree.
This guy tore up the National League side of the
bracket in twenty twenty three, as the Diamondbacks went on
to win the NL that year. You know, there are
some red flags that don't necessarily translate to a Terry
francona managed team. I think This is a guy that

(48:13):
probably needs to have a veteran leadership to check him
at times. But I think it would be a great addition,
a big name and someone who could do a significant
amount of a you know, not a bad backup option.
And if you couldn't get Kyles forber right, all right,
he is.

Speaker 2 (48:31):
Pat Brennan does a fabulous job covering the Reds for
the Cincinnati Inquirer, and of course he's with me on
the Cincinnati Bengals beat for the arrest of this season.
Three more games remaining, he will be traveling to Miami
to cover the Bengals along with Kelsey Conway of the
Cincinnati Inquirer. Be sure to cover his great coverage there. Pat,

(48:52):
thanks so much. We got to let you go. We
got news at the bottom of the hour. Then another
inquire a great terrific reporters, Shell Dermert will be joining
me on the other side to talk about how in
the world Musketeers can forget about that blowout loss to
Creighton on Wednesday and move on to Georgetown tomorrow. On
the road, you're listening to the RNL Carrier Sports talk

(49:14):
program presented by Kelsey Chevrolet on News Radio seven hundred WLW,
just past the halfway point of this three hour extravaganza
known as the RNL Carrier's Sports Talk Program presented by
Kelsey Chevrolet on news Radio seven hundred w WELW. My

(49:36):
name is Mike Crowyef, filling in for the Great Lance
McAllister until nine o'clock when Sterling takes over here in
the high chair in the Big One studio here in
ken Woods. So looking forward to entertaining for the next
let's say hour and twenty five minutes.

Speaker 4 (49:54):
UH.

Speaker 2 (49:55):
To do that, We're going to take your calls five one, three, seven, nine, seven,
thousan one eight hundred the Big One. We want to
get to a couple of calls before we get to
Shelby Dehmer, who is patiently waiting online. Dick in Dayton.
You've been waiting very patiently. How you doing, Dick? What
is on your mind? We've got about one minute right here.

Speaker 7 (50:15):
Hey, Mike, good to talk to you.

Speaker 5 (50:18):
I just was a little concerned this year.

Speaker 7 (50:21):
I was hoping the Bengals, but Joe Burrow came back
and then all this collapse at once, and I just
can't understand what's going on.

Speaker 5 (50:32):
Mike.

Speaker 7 (50:32):
They're a better team than this, but the defense needs
help and everything, and if they keep losing, I'm scared
they're gonna lose Taylor and they might have to get
a defensive coordinator.

Speaker 4 (50:43):
Well your opinion about that, so good question, Dick.

Speaker 2 (50:46):
I appreciate the call. They hired Al Golden from Notre
Dame last year to replace lou Ana Arumo, who's done
pretty good things this year in Indianapolis in a similar role.
I think second year under our Golden will make a difference.
I think the maturation of guys like DJ Turner, Dax Hill,
and Miles Murphy entering his third year is gonna matter.

(51:09):
Chris Jenkins on the ir but he as of today
with an ankle injury, but he will be entering his
third year next season. Zach Taylor said this morning he
is going to make a big leap. They're very confident
of that. They have to. This is non negotiable. The
Bengals have to go out spend the money on defense
and hit in the draft. They have to replicate what

(51:32):
they did after the twenty twenty season and before I'm sorry,
what they did in twenty twenty free agency and twenty
twenty one free agency to set the table for the
runs in twenty one and twenty two. That is non negotiable.
The Bengals absolutely positively have to reconstruct their defense. I
think everybody in the building knows it. The big question

(51:54):
is whether or not you trust the people picking the
groceries to use an old bill ourselves line. Do you
trust the people buying the groceries to cook the meal?
That is what it's going to come down to. We
got time for one more Mark. I've got thirty seconds.
You want to talk about the Reds. What's on your mind?

Speaker 8 (52:14):
Well, I just want to say everybody's upset about the
Schwarmer thing and you and while the Reds didn't sign them,
and could we all agree? I think the Reds could
spend a little more money than they do. But let's
keep in mind the Philadelphia Phillies are in the eighth
largest market in the United States. They just signed a
new television deal. I think that guarantees them about two
and a half billion dollars over the next twenty years.

(52:36):
And you know, the Reds are not going to compete
with that. Though maybe if you've got a new ownership
in here, maybe they get more aggressive with television.

Speaker 4 (52:43):
Could do something, but.

Speaker 8 (52:44):
The numbers are what they are, and that's just the
reality of what we have.

Speaker 2 (52:48):
That is a great, great point mark, And you know,
I think certainly what Reds fans have to understand is
you've got to hit. Just like the Bengals have to
hit with their draft picks, the Reds have to hit
with their prospects. That's non negotiable. That is the business
model set by the Minnesota Twins back in the early
two thousands, set by the Houston Astros in the last

(53:10):
ten to fifteen years. They did a great job with that.
Then they came in and spent a little bit more money.
It is doable. Even with the Milwaukee Brewers. Now you
see what they've done with Pat Murphy, a terrific field manager.
They've done a great job of developing their young players.
The Reds have to follow that model. They just have
to be more successful in doing that. I do think

(53:33):
there's hope for next year. I am not of the
belief that just because they didn't get Kyle Schwarber, all
hope is lost for twenty twenty six. I'm not of
that belief. I think there is enough talent stockpiled in
the organization. Maybe not deep down in the farm system anymore,
but it is ready to contribute at the major league level.

(53:54):
We talked about Noel ve Marte, we talked about Sal Stewart,
guys like that, Chase Burns of the See on the
pitching side, I think the Reds going to be okay
in twenty twenty six. They need maybe to make one
or two more moves to provide some depth. All right,
it is time to move on to the guest that
we have slated for this segment, and he is here

(54:16):
to clean up what was a mess at Centas or
at least talk about cleaning up the mess that was
Centas Center on Wednesday night, the worst home loss in
Xavier history. That's certainly the worst loss in the history
of Cintas Center, a forty one point blowout ninety eight
to fifty seven to Creighton. Shelby Dermer of the Cincinnati Inquirer. Shelby,

(54:39):
you are otherwise known as no Strodermis, please.

Speaker 4 (54:43):
Explain that's correct.

Speaker 9 (54:46):
So before the season, I went game by games through
davor schedule. Obviously a lot of intrigue with a new,
completely new roster, only one returning player, no returning minutes,
and just tried to pick game by game and right
now now after I didn't expect what happened on Wednesday
to happened, but I did expect the laws, maybe not
by forty one points. But so far I'm twelve or twelve, Mike,

(55:09):
and I have them at eight and four. Since I
can pick twelve games in a row, you think i'd
have the wherewithal of like you know, pick the trash
cans down every Sunday or other things like that, but
that sneaks up on me. But so far perfect on
the Zavier season, have them at eight and four.

Speaker 2 (55:24):
So we are going to do what is called in
the business tease. The segment tees the outcome and the
finale of this segment. So we will hold off on
what you are predicting for tomorrow in Washington, d C.
The Georgetown Hoya is with I think a bit of
a surprise. Even though Marquette is having a down year,
they won their big East opener on the road on

(55:47):
Wednesday night at Marquette. Your thoughts on what Xavier has
to do, first of all to correct the mistakes that
happened on Wednesday night, Right, it has.

Speaker 9 (55:59):
To start on defense and if any time you give up.
You know, that was the largest loss in Davier history
at home.

Speaker 4 (56:03):
It's also the.

Speaker 9 (56:04):
Most points they've allowed at home. Mike's ninety eight points.

Speaker 4 (56:07):
Creaton almost cracking triple digits.

Speaker 9 (56:09):
Creighton came in, they weren't shooting the three ball, well,
they shot a lot of them. They came in and
got whatever they wanted. They were sixteen to thirty three
from three, the most three Xavier had allowed since seventeen
to Evansville a few years back. Storing Travis Steele era.
Creighton shot over sixty percent from the field. And so
it all starts defensively, and for this matchup, you know,

(56:29):
Georgetown's gonna pick on some of the week. This says
Xavier had. Xavier went to this small ball lineup, so
they have their bigger guys like Anthony Robinson and pop
Enji are on the bench.

Speaker 4 (56:40):
For the majority of the game.

Speaker 9 (56:41):
Small ball lineup that helps you a lot on offense
with things like taking care of the ball and passing.
Xavier's excelled at that, but it really hurts in rim
protection and Xavier's been just really punished by the remp
or in the paint so far this season. And that's
what you're going to get against Georgetown. They don't shoot
the three well, but they know that they only shoot
about thirty five percent of their field goal attempt for

(57:03):
beyond the arc, so they want to get inside the behavior.
I mean, it's a physicality issue right now. They have
to buck up on defense and find a way to
keep Georgetown away from the basket. Easier said than done.

Speaker 2 (57:15):
Trey Carroll came down to earth a little bit. He
was held in single digits, as you wrote for your
story on Cincinnati dot Com. Held in single digits seven
points for the first time this season. In Jovonne Milisevich,
he was scoreless, going zero for eight. And Roddy Anderson,
the only player on the roster last year, and of
course he was injured he did not play last year,

(57:37):
but he was the only returning player. He scored all
twelve of his points in the second half. They're just
going to have to get more. I think those three
players that I just mentioned Milisavich, Carol and Anderson they
have to be big players tomorrow if the Muskies are
going to come away with a win on the road.

Speaker 4 (57:58):
Yeah, Yovan is a big guess.

Speaker 9 (58:00):
Catlysts I think, for you know, xavior's turnaround in non
conference play, that five game winning streak, that sixth and
one stretch kind of he entered really the fold. At Iowa,
Zavier lost that game, gave up fifty plus points of
the paint, but Jovonne stepped in hit a couple of threes,
and he's been that guy that stretches defenses out. We
talked about that in the shootout Davier. With five guys

(58:21):
on the perimeter who are a threat to shoot three,
it allowed Treke Carroll to have some one on one opportunities.
Then in Charleston, Yovann hit ten threes. He had twelve
or fourteen excuse me, over a three game stretch. So yeah,
a bit of an outlier performance if you if you
look at his game log throughout the year, to just
play eighteen minutes going over eight and then Trake Carroll,
like you mentioned, first game in single digits. So you know,

(58:44):
you hope he turns it around, but I guess you know,
Richard Bettino wasn't wasn't ready to say it was a
bright spot, but really it kind of was with Malik
Messina more. Yeah, if you look back at their first
two games, they were they were clunky wins. Xavier was
twenty point twenty plus point five over Marrits and Lemoyne.
They won both of those games by five point or

(59:04):
four points against marits five points against Lamoines, and both
times the offense just the lid was on the basket
until Malik the sina Moore took over. And he's been
you know, really quiet, only like four to three pointers
over the last nine games, and then he got going.
Against Creighton, Xavier led at the first media time out.
You wouldn't think that from a box score full of
you know, concerning numbers, but they led early ten to nine.

(59:28):
Cina Moore ended up with fourteen points, his first time
in double digits since the second game of the season.
So his aggressiveness, his assertiveness on the offensive end, along
with doing good things like rebounding and assisting, which he
was already doing when he wasn't scoring. So trying to
get you know, all these guys on the same page.
Not a lot of room for error for Xavier's offense.

(59:48):
But you know, Milie getting on track was a step
in the right direction.

Speaker 2 (59:53):
If you want hope and you're a Xavier fan, you
go back to the way Richard Patino handled the Santa
Clara loss, how he reacted, how the team responded to that.
And yes they lost to I believe it was Iowa,
but in a much more competitive game. And yes they
lost by one at Georgia. We know George's pretty legitimate team,
especially down there on the road. But you see the

(01:00:15):
way they responded. That's why I think there's hope for
this Xavier team. I yes, it was a terrible, horrific
loss on your home court, but the way Patinos troops
handled the Santa Clara loss, which was eye opening, it
gives me hope that I think they're going to respond
the right way going forward.

Speaker 9 (01:00:35):
Yeah, you brought up the perfect pair of examples there,
Mike Is. You know, you had that Santa Clara loss
where you know the whole crowd, You've been in that
bunker at Sindtop Center, and you know all those fans
are saying, you know everything, you know, all the negative
things about you as they're walking out with ten minutes
to go and Santa Clara is pulling away.

Speaker 4 (01:00:53):
And then you go to Iowa, like you said, competitive.

Speaker 9 (01:00:56):
Nineteen point loss again, you rebound four days later, you
win thirty. Then you know the Georgia is just a
backbreaking law. Come back from down sixteen to the second half,
lose on a last second shot, But then what do
you do two days later?

Speaker 4 (01:01:09):
You take care of West Virginia by ten. That really
start jump starts to run.

Speaker 9 (01:01:13):
So the way this team is responded to adversity this
season is, you know what you hang your hat on
moving forward and just hope that they take this Creighton
game as you know, a big wake up call. You
know you're riding high after five straight wins, including one
in the cross down shootout. You finished an on conference
at eight and three. Kind of reading the headlines maybe

(01:01:34):
a little bit, but Creighton certainly brings you back down
to earth. A coach McDermott led team can do that
to you with the way they can shoot. So you
hope it's they can respond to adversity like they have
all year and that you know they got a wake
up call that you know it's it's go time in
the Big East and there's no nights off and and
it's a it's a grind.

Speaker 2 (01:01:52):
Yeah, I thought you had a terrific quote from Richard
Patino in your story. They didn't show up to watch
that Patino said of the fan sentas that was about
as humbling and I'm not an arrogant person by any means,
but fourteen years as a coach, I don't know if
I've ever had one of those in a league game
on opening night like that. He is Shelby Dermer. He

(01:02:12):
does a fabulous job covering the Xavier Musketeers for the
Cincinnati Inquirer and Cincinnati dot Com boots on the ground.
He will be in our nation's capital tomorrow covering Xavier
and the Georgetown Hoyas in game number two of the
Big East schedule. You can also follow him at give

(01:02:34):
me your Twitter handle, I don't want to get.

Speaker 4 (01:02:36):
It wrong at Inquire Shelby.

Speaker 2 (01:02:39):
There you go, and you can also call him Noster
Dermis the next time you see him out in public,
because that's what he is known for. Best around Shelby,
You're the best. Thanks for taking some time out on
a Friday night. Enjoy the game tomorrow.

Speaker 4 (01:02:54):
Absolutely all right.

Speaker 2 (01:02:56):
He's Shelby Dermom. My name is Mike Petralia. And on
the other side of news at the top of the hour,
we will talk some UC basketball and Wes Miller and
John Cunningham with Russ Heltman of SI dot Com. My
name is Mike Petralia, and you are listening to RNL
Carrier Sports Talk presented by Kelsey Chevrolet on News Radio

(01:03:18):
seven hundred WLW.

Speaker 1 (01:03:22):
The following takes place between eight pm and nine pm.

Speaker 2 (01:03:31):
And Welcome to the third and final hour of RNL
Carriers Sports Talk presented by Kelsey Chevrolet on News Radio
seven hundred WLW. I have had the great privilege and
honor of filling in for Lance McAllister for the previous
two hours. We're going to try to finish on a
very strong note here in the final sixty minutes of

(01:03:52):
this program. It'll be Russ Heltman joining me in a
few moments of SI dot com talking all things Cincinnati Bearcats.
Then we'll have Gabby Sorrentino of Fox nineteen. She will
be down in Miami covering the Bengals and Dolphins, and
we'll talk about the Bengals and some other fun stuff,

(01:04:13):
maybe some cultural topics on the docket. We'll see. We'll
wait and see what Gabby has in store for us,
but that will be the way we finish out the program.
Then Sterling takes over. The show takes over the studio,
I should say at nine o'clock he's with you, and
from nine o'clock until midnight, just about getting underway out

(01:04:35):
in Norman, Oklahoma, the CFP, the College Football Playoff, officially
begins with first round games. Tonight. It is number nine
Alabama taking on number eight Oklahoma. I find that to
be a fascinating matchup because in years past you would
just say Alabama is the blue blood college football program

(01:04:57):
that go in and take on any opponent anytime, and
take on Oklahoma and beat Oklahoma. I'm not so sure
this time. I think Oklahoma probably beats them in a
close one. Tomorrow. The three other first round games number
ten Miami at number seven Texas A and M Number
eleven Tulane takes on number six Ole Miss. That's at

(01:05:20):
three point thirty the Miami, Texas A and M game
at noon, and then the afternoon or the evening of
college football winds up with number twelve James Madison at
number five Oregon that is at seven thirty PM. But
as I mentioned, I want to bring on my next guest.
He is a good friend of mine. At all things
Cincinnati Bearcats. We always manage to have interesting conversations during

(01:05:46):
play and during the timeouts. He is the one and
only Russ Helpman again covers the Bearcats for SI dot Com.
How you doing, Russ on this Friday night.

Speaker 10 (01:05:56):
Mike, awesome man? How you doing on this Friday night?

Speaker 2 (01:05:58):
I am doing well. I guess I'm going to start
with college basketball and start with the Bearcats and what
they were able to do against Alabama State. Wes Miller
needed a blowout win and you got a couple of good,
feel good storylines out of Wednesday. If you're Wes Miller,
you got the big win and you got Gisel James

(01:06:19):
coming back to the Bearcats and scoring in double figures.
It seemed like that's the kind of at least one
game boost that Wes Miller needed.

Speaker 10 (01:06:31):
Gisel looked awesome, Mike and his return, and just at
the maybe not the right time, obviously a third of
the way into the season already being six and four,
you're back against the wall having to win definitely on Sunday,
or you're in a position in conference play where there's
just going to have to be a complete flip of
the script compared to the record and conference over the

(01:06:51):
last two seasons. Coming into the Big Twelve, but Jigsel
looked really really good. Bob Bob Miller looked good. They
were able to get some more things go in the
half court, get some more good looks at the rim
than they had been in most of these games coming
in in the this action against Avaca State. But it's
a Hornets team that they took on. Mike was three

(01:07:12):
hundred and ninth on kem Palm coming into a game
in total defensive efficiency, so it's not a huge thing
to hang your hat on. There were some good tendencies
that they could build on, and you always love to
see a guy like Boba Miller put up a what
twenty six and fourteen on eleven of twelve shooting and
a forty one efficiency score on the staff broadcast feed
that I don't think I've seen a player put up

(01:07:34):
an efficiency line like that in my time covering the
team over the last few years. So that was really
good to see what he can do when he gets rolling.
I think eight dunks from him overall, So the offense
looked a lot better. But obviously do it again this
Sunday against Clemson.

Speaker 2 (01:07:50):
So what will the Bearcats have to do Sunday going
on the road. I mean, they had a chance against
Georgia and they came out strong, and I don't know,
watching the first ten minutes of that game and watching
the final thirty minutes of the game, where I think
they were outscored by thirty points, it was like watching
two different teams.

Speaker 10 (01:08:10):
Russ it was Mike, and they have to find a
way to stain the pace that they want to play
with and maybe having Gisel James in the fold is
going to allow them to do that and allow them
to break through against the Clinton team that is a
complete opposite style three hundred and twenty ninth I think
in adjusted tempo on kimpom compared to Cincinnati, who's in

(01:08:31):
the top seventy nationally in that stat So a contrasting
way to play from these two teams. And can Cincinnati
find a way to break through un the glass against
one of the best rebounding teams in the country and
find a way to force some live ball turnovers against
an elite team and taking care of the basketball and

(01:08:53):
finding efficient shots all around the half court. So it's
going to be a really really tough test once again
for the defense and how long it can it can
hold up in a game that's going to going to
grind them down in a kind of opposite way from
how fast Georgia played last weekend, and once again you
got to start hitting some jump shots. It's just amazing, Mike,

(01:09:15):
how how far below the average? A lot of these
guys who were really good shooters coming in and a
lot of new players obviously that hadn't played for UC
on this roster this season, and just something about fifth
third arena or I don't know, it's just they they
find a way to shoot a lot worse, and now
you're going into a new arena where you have no

(01:09:36):
experience shooting the ball. But they got to find a
way to break through what is also a strong three
point defense against Clemson and a Clemson team that's going
to be happy to see them shoot the amount of
threes that they've been accustomed to shooting the season, and
also obviously shooting a lot of threes and getting a
lot of open looks, but they just haven't been going
down for the bear cuts shotting up.

Speaker 2 (01:09:56):
Russ Helpman of SI dot com covering all things Sincinnata
Bearcats Shawn A. Bayev he is to me a puzzle.
He is someone that is very hard to figure out
for West Miller and you know, in defensive West, I
think when they when he added Shawn Abayev to the roster,

(01:10:17):
I think he thought that maybe this was the kind
of three point shooter that could loosen up the offense
a little bit and allow them to do more things
outside inside however you want to put it. But I
think they thought that a Byev would be kind of
an X factor for loosening up the offense. And I consistently,

(01:10:37):
consistency wise, that just hasn't panned out yet anyway.

Speaker 10 (01:10:43):
Mike, and there was a month again good signs of
maybe something brewing there for a freshman who it doesn't
happen right away for off freshmen. We're seeing happen right
away for a lot of a leaf freshmen in the
country right now. But that's just never been the case
historically where you're seeing a ton of guy really pop
right away. And obviously, the way that Shannabayev works, you'd

(01:11:04):
expect them to continue growing throughout the season. He puts
in as much time as anybody on the roster. But
from obviously what fans saw in that game, if you
watched a really good job of penetrating into the deep paint,
getting some like good looping passes over the shoulder, some
good no look passes for assists. I believe had a

(01:11:25):
stat line of thirteen six and five was the first
time since twenty ten that if you see Bearcats freshman
put up that line, first time since Sean Kirkpatrick's I
believe or something like that. Yeah, that's too, that too,
it was. So it's good to see that and good
to see him growing a little bit there and once again,
like you said, the three point shot, the looks are there,

(01:11:47):
the shots that he wants to get are there, and
you got to think they'll eventually go down. But like
we've been discussing sometimes, you and me on press Row,
it's it gets late early once you start the season
six and four or possibly seven, seven and five, and
you're facing a top twenty five, top thirty schedule the
rest of the way in what has been arguably the

(01:12:07):
best conference in the country so far.

Speaker 2 (01:12:09):
How is Wes Miller handling all this? I mean, we
see him where I see him after games, but you're
there at practice, you see him, you know, on conference calls,
what have? You see him a lot more than I do.
And I'm just a full disclosure. You know that I
cover the games obviously, but I don't see him as
often as you do. And I'm just wondering if there's

(01:12:32):
another side of Wes that fans don't get to see
as often that maybe can help people understand how Wes
Miller is wired, and if maybe maybe not softer side,
but a more relaxed side, because I think a lot
of U see fans for us, think that his teams
play the way he coaches tense and uptight.

Speaker 10 (01:12:57):
I think, well, I don't know, I would kind of
disagree with about the way he coaches the tense and uptights.
For the most part, he's been pretty I would say,
more reserved in recent years than he was. Maybe a
little bit more fiery, uh in the in the beginning
here you see, But overall, I would just say on
the demeanor of West Miller, it's it's been difficult. It's

(01:13:18):
been a difficult run. It's been a difficult up and down.
It feels like there's been some moments where obviously his
lack of execution as a coach has has heard his
teams and also just things out of his control of
our teams and possibly the return of Gisel James may
maybe getting back Jalen Haynes Uh It's it's a possibility.

(01:13:38):
We don't know for sure if it will happen this season,
but it's it's always looming out there that they could
have their full team for the first time in a
long time at a deep point in the season of
the West Miller era. It just there's been a lot
of injury that have knocked out some of their momentum
throughout different parts of his seasons. But overall, I think

(01:13:59):
what I've what I saw from him, especially on Thursday
on Thursday after the game, was just a little bit
more relaxed and maybe a little bit more of a
direction thinking and knowing that there's the gigittal James Saga
is maybe getting a full bow, hopefully getting a full
bow wrapped on it. With him back on back on

(01:14:19):
the team, you have another rotation player to work with.
And there was definitely I would say a more chipper
attitude from West in Uh in that showing than than
what we've seen in some recent press conferences from him.
So overall, when you can get a lot of your
team together, it can it can really change you're you're

(01:14:39):
not your attitude, but how you're feeling overall.

Speaker 2 (01:14:42):
Yeah, and your outlook, I mean, certainly. And in west
Wes's defense, okay, he mentioned early on in the season
he did not have the full team, the full compliment
that he was hoping for, and he would say he
would start off a lot of news conferences in the
non con part to the schedule, non conference schedule, saying,

(01:15:03):
you know, this isn't our full complement of players yet,
and we've just got to play through it and get
better as a team without our full compliment. And perhaps
with him seeing more players joining the roster and as
in Gigsel James or more players getting healthy, I think
that's going to help his disposition. And I do think

(01:15:25):
if there's one team that could benefit from a hot
start in conference play, it's the Bearcats. I don't think
there's I mean, you know, I'm not breaking any huge
news here by saying that or solving, you know, a
nuclear physics problem, but they certainly could benefit from a
good start in conference play, and they certainly have a

(01:15:46):
huge game January. I think it's third right RUSS against
Houston here in Cincinnati.

Speaker 10 (01:15:53):
Yes, I think it's either it's one of the first
days of January or the last day of December. But
right said, it would be great to start fast, but
I don't believe. I believe West Moro is to nine
or to ten all time against Houston. It's been a brutal,
brutal run overall and twenty right around twenty percent hit

(01:16:15):
rate in Quad one games, which Cincinnati has plenty of.
This is the final Quad four game that they just
had against Alabama State. A Q one game this weekend
at a quasi neutral site against Clemson. It's very close
to Clemson. It's great I can get Greenville, so plenty
of Clemson evans will be there in attendance. But overall

(01:16:37):
it's gonna be very difficult, Mike. Like as I mentioned
a bove on ESPN's Basketball Power Index top it was
top thirty before the Alabama State game and most difficult schedules.
I would guess it's top twenty five now, most difficult
schedules left in the country for a team that has
clearly not played like a top twenty five outfit so far,
but does have a great collection of talent on paper

(01:17:01):
coming into the season, and a collection of talent that
they kind of melded together in the offseason, thinking that
they would have the collection of players that they are
so close to having, but right now sitting with four
losses in non conference play, a number that Wes Miller
is not used to seeing for his teams that so

(01:17:22):
often might we see struggle at the point where you
say they need to start fast and the doldrums of
January the adults of of February cannot hit here. Maybe
it'll be some shining light January while it's still gray
outside in the Tri State area, and some shining life
February because they get some more chemistry together with Gisel James,
who most importantly reconciled with his teammates, which was the

(01:17:45):
best thing to hear I think of all of it,
and just the way that he responded to everything that
can galvanize a team that can be enough, especially on
a sport in a locker room that is that tight
and that small, and a player of his caliber that maybe,
having his head straight as it is right now, can
let him play the most efficient best basketball possible and
list them up in those moments when they just collapsed

(01:18:08):
in tight, tight games down the stretch of January February
over the first two years in the Big Twelve. It
can't happen in those dog days of those months once again,
because you've already got four losses and you're looking at
needing at least a positive record in the Big Twelve
right now, and probably a lot lot more if you
don't beat Clemson, and even if you do beat them,

(01:18:30):
probably a lot lot more.

Speaker 2 (01:18:32):
And I want to switch gears here to football real quick.
We've got a couple of minutes Russ speaking with Russ
Helman covering the Bearcats for SI dot Com about Brendan
Soresby leaving for the Portal. Where does that leave the
football program for Scott Saderfield.

Speaker 10 (01:18:50):
It's going to be very difficult next year, Mike, especially
if you look at that roster, A lot of Big
Twelve contenders on that schedule and a lot of great
talent expected to leave. We've only seen Brendan Soresby, obviously,
in donte corleone above, major major starters exit exit the program. Obviously,
dont de corleon out of elgiebuilding and go into take

(01:19:11):
his talent to the NFL. And then Brendan soors be
either the NFL or a different school in the transfer
portal and were already struggling there. Along the defensive front,
they have to, I believe, really focus in there and
figure out a way to cosmore havoc, cosmore disruption up
the line of scrimmage that can lead to more interceptions,

(01:19:33):
more fumbles for the second and third levels of the defense.
And then on the other side, you have your offensive
line core coming back, which is huge. You should be
able to piece together maybe only having to get one
other offensive line position filled and fill the other one
with some development coming up, and then you replenish the

(01:19:54):
receiver weapons with whoever is not going to end up
staying outside of Cyrus Allen, who spended his eligibility, I believe,
and I don't believe the court case the other day
that was maybe going to give him an extra one
went through all the way, but I have not followed
up on that one yet. Did not see any headminds
that so I don't think it ended up passing. But
it puts them in a really tough spot, Mike not

(01:20:17):
having a player of Brendan Sorosby's caliber being as healthy
as they were this season, and just fumbling issues and
fumbling opportunities down the stretch in this four game losing
streak and the strength of schedule difficulty next season, with
the amount of talent that they lost, maybe they can
replenish it. It's possible. They've done a really good job

(01:20:38):
in the Transfer portal so far with Scott cuderfield staff,
but it's not going to be easy and it's hard
to strike lightning twice like they did with Brendan Sorosby
to go seven and five with top fifteen quarterback plays.
It's going to be impressive if they can get the
Bowl eligibility next season with that schedule and having to

(01:20:59):
go find hopefully top fifteen and you hope, most realistically
top thirty, top forty quarterback play at the quarterback position
out of whoever you pick in the Transfer portal coming
up when it opens on January second, same day as
the Liberty Bowl.

Speaker 2 (01:21:14):
Indeed against Navy and Russ. I'm sure you'll have that
game covered very well for SI dot Com. Be sure
to cover Russ or follow Russ Helpman for all of
his coverage of the UC basketball Bearcats as they enter
Big Twelve play. It's going to be a critical season,

(01:21:34):
no doubt about it for Wes Miller and the Bearcats. Russ,
I can't tell you thank you enough for taking time
out on your Friday night. You got a winner. By
the way. A prediction for tonight. Oklahoma Alabama, real.

Speaker 10 (01:21:47):
Quick, Alabama, give me the Crimson side. I think Calen
Debor gets the job done in this big game, and
his Big twelve coach Big not Big twelve is colas
football playoff coaching experience, and it's difficult to take out
a team Mike Alabama twice in one season. So I
think they're able to overcome the Oklahoma defense tonight and

(01:22:07):
get that there.

Speaker 2 (01:22:08):
He is Russ Heltman of si dot Com covering the
Cincinnati Bearcats. On the other side of news, at the
bottom of the hour, we will have Gabby Sorrentino talking
all things Cincinnati Bengals on the ground in Miami. It'll
be a fun conversation, so be sure to tune in
for that. For now, you're listening to the RNL Carrier

(01:22:29):
Sports Talk program presented by Kelsey Chevrolet on News Radio
seven hundred WLW Little Joe Perry, Little Steven Tyler, Little Arrowsmith.
Heading into the final twenty three minutes of RNL Carriers
Sports Talk presented by Kelsey Chevrolet here on News Radio
seven hundred WLW. It's been my privilegue Jan pleasure to

(01:22:53):
fill in for the last two hour, two and a
half hours here on the Big One for Lance McAllister.
I appreciate Lance giving me the opportunity to fill in.
I also want to give a huge shout out to
the one and only Sean McMahon doing a flawless job
getting all of our callers lined up on the air

(01:23:13):
ready to go when I go to them for our
interviews tonight. It's been a great night of guests here
on seven hundred WLW. Richard Skinner of Local twelve talking
Bengals in the six o'clock hour. Alex Frank talking Bearcats
and University of Kentucky which has a big game tomorrow afternoon.

(01:23:36):
Pat Brennan they have that game, by the way against
Saint John's in Atlanta. Pat Brennan talking all things Cincinnati
Reds in the seven o'clock hour. Shelby Dermer no stradermis
as we call them, covering the Xavier Musketeers there on
the road in DC tomorrow taking on the Georgetown Hoyas.
Russ Helpman just spoke with us at eight oh eight

(01:23:58):
talking all things Cincinnati Bearcats. That's football and basketball, and
just a few moments we will be talking with Gabby Sorrentino.
She is on the ground in Miami. She will be
covering the Cincinnati Bengals Miami Dolphins contest at hard Rocks
Stadium Sunday afternoon for Fox nineteen. Right now, I want

(01:24:18):
to give you an update from the first CFP game.
The College Football Playoffs are officially underway. Number eight Oklahoma
the host team in Norman, Oklahoma, with an early seven
to nothing lead on number nine seed Alabama. So we'll
try to maybe give you an update before the end
of the program. But now it is time to move

(01:24:41):
on to our sixth and final guest here on Sports
Talk presented by Kelsey Chevrolet, and that would be Gabby Sorrentino. Gabby,
thanks for taking time out. Have you made your way
to Miami yet? I made an assumption that you're already
on the ground. Are you there yet?

Speaker 4 (01:25:00):
Hi?

Speaker 3 (01:25:00):
Tracks Well, thanks for having me. No, I'm at Highland
High School right now. Okay high school basketball. I am
headed there at five in the morning, so I think
I'll be pulling it all night or tonight. My Uber
picks me up at three this and tomorrow morning, so
I'm going to be in Miami around nine tomorrow, so
I'm so excited looking forward to it. It's gonna be

(01:25:22):
nice and sunny and warm, so I'm happy about that.

Speaker 2 (01:25:24):
Yeah, please take time out, especially with the Bengals out
of the playoff picture. You want to cover the game
appropriately thoroughly, which I'm sure you will do. For the
great people at Fox nineteen, Joe Danim and Jeremy Row,
I'm sure you will do a fabulous bang up job
on Sunday, But please do me a favor and soak

(01:25:45):
up some of the rays tomorrow as you get yourself relaxed,
You'll do that, you promise.

Speaker 3 (01:25:53):
Oh, if you know me, you know I love sunshine.
I love warm weather. So when Fox nineteen told me
that they were sending me in this game, I said,
well it was moved to one. It's not sunny night
football anymore, so can I get there a little earlier
on Saturday? And They're like, of course, going to a
eighty degree so I will definitely be getting some vitamin
D protract don't worry about.

Speaker 2 (01:26:13):
That, all right, You and me are around the Bengals
all the time. And the last two weeks have been unusual,
to say the very least. This is your second year
on the beat covering the Bengals for Fox nineteen, and
it's been a stressful, strenuous period, not only for Zach Taylor,
but Joe Burrow and a lot of the players in

(01:26:34):
that locker room. But Joe Burrow, everybody's got an opinion
on what his comments have meant over the last couple
of weeks about how he thinks about his future in
Cincinnati next year going forward. What were your takeaways the
last ten days from Joe Burrow.

Speaker 3 (01:26:54):
Yeah, I would say just being here for my second
season now. I think that everything that Joe Burrow says
publicly is very strategic, and I learned that a lot
last off season during super Bowl Week when he was
saying all these things about he and Jamar and Trey,
and I think that he says things really purposefully. You know, obviously,

(01:27:17):
no one in the NFL really can say where they're
gonna be long term past their contract links, right, Like,
I understand why he would say that he doesn't know,
and he's gonna have to think about some things. Of
course he is, because he has to do what's right
for him in the long run. He's I don't know.
Like last week's press conference, I was sitting there and
I was like, I've never been in a Joe Burrow

(01:27:38):
press conference like this, and it was just really strange.
And you know, this week it felt like a little
more normal. I got there on the back ends. I
wasn't there for the whole thing. But yeah, I mean,
I don't know, it's been it's been really interesting. I
think you can tell that he's upset with how this
season has gone. Of course, of course he wants to

(01:27:59):
be out there whinning. They want to be playing meaningful
games and they're not. And it's really been showing in
his demeanor of the past two weeks.

Speaker 2 (01:28:07):
I agree, And you know, obviously he's disappointed. And I
think where maybe we read too much into it is
where we think that he was told something by the
front office. And he very well may have been told
something by the front office, but to jump from Joe

(01:28:29):
Burrow is depressed, confused, short with the media, and very
you know, it's the word I'm looking for, mysterious with
the reporters at these press conferences to the team obviously
told him they're not going to do anything in the

(01:28:50):
off season. I just think that's a bridge too far
to cross it at this stage in the game, especially
when we haven't even gotten to the off season yet, right.

Speaker 3 (01:29:01):
No, Yeah, I completely agree. Mysterious is definitely like the
perfect word. Like it has just seemed weird. There's been
a weird vibe and a weird energy on Wednesdays when
Joe's at the podium the last two weeks, and it's
you know, like I said, I've only been here this
my second season, but there was nothing like that last
season that I can remember. So it's been really interesting

(01:29:23):
these last two weeks. And I mean, you know, what
are the next two weeks going to hold on Joe
Burrow's crest commonses. I'm not sure. It seems like we
were blindsided in a national headline that comes out every Wednesday.

Speaker 10 (01:29:34):
Now.

Speaker 2 (01:29:35):
Obviously, Fox nineteen is the official television station in terms
of coverage of the Cincinnati Bengals. And I'm not going
to put you in an uncomfortable position here, That's not
why I'm asking this question, but I'm curious in that position,
have you heard anything from the front office, anybody in
the organization about a change in their approach how they're feel.

(01:30:00):
Do you get a vibe of that, because you know,
Fox nineteen does have a higher position in their working
professional relationship with the franchise than a lot of other
media here in town.

Speaker 3 (01:30:14):
Yeah, I'll be one hundred percent honest. I don't think
that we get anything that other stations, other reporters are
getting in terms of that. Obviously, we have the live
show that we do, and we have other partnership things
that we get, but in terms of getting news and
stouth from the front office, we're not getting anything special
from that. So we haven't gotten anything in that sense

(01:30:37):
of being the TV partner and getting any special treatment.

Speaker 2 (01:30:42):
What have you enjoyed the most about watching Jamar Chase
hold press conferences, play football? Anything about Jamar Because I
think he is a unicorn and Zach Taylor has used
this term to describe him and Kyle Hamilton and others
in the NFL. But Jamar Chase is a unicorn and
he is one of the one of one. What do

(01:31:03):
you enjoy the most about watching him, covering him and
just getting a chance to talk to him?

Speaker 3 (01:31:11):
Okay, well talking to him. His laugh literally brings through
a to my Thursdays when he's sitting at the podium
and he does the Jamar laugh, which I cannot imitate.
Jeremy Rowd does a great job that just like makes
my day. I love that he has this balance of
being serious talking football. He has so much football knowledge

(01:31:32):
that he brings to the podium on Thursdays, so then
we can have so much fun with Jamar Chase. And
I think that that's what I love the most is
you get that really balance with him of Okay, let's
talk football, let's talk the game, and then we're talking
about lucky terms and we're talking about all these random
things and Thursday night football with him, and he has
fun with the reporters and he has fun with everybody

(01:31:53):
in the room. So I think when it comes to
covering him, I love that balance that we have with him.
Watching our case, I mean it's incredible. Obviously you said it,
he's a unicorn. Every time he touches the ball, you
think that something. You think something can happen, even if
there are three guys on him, even if it looks
like he's gonna get tackle, he slips out of it

(01:32:13):
and he makes a big play with all of the dyak.
You know I did, like I think someone in his
press conference ass you know, it's been a long time
since he's scored a touchdown. I was thinking about that
the other day because I was like, man, it seems
like it's been a minute since we've seen a gritty
in the end zone. Maybe that'll come in Miami. But
I think that he is such a fun player to watch,
to cover. To get to see in person what he

(01:32:36):
can do on the football field has been really amazing
for me. Of course, I remember watching him when he
was playing at LSU, so now to get to see
him in person and be around him all the time
is really cool. And even getting to see all of
his shoe collection in the locker room is always something
he's never looks forward to, because seems like it's growing
every single time that we're in their tracks.

Speaker 2 (01:32:58):
Do you know how long it's been since he scored
his last touchdown? And we asked him and he was
not even aware of this.

Speaker 3 (01:33:05):
Oh my gosh. I remember what someone said in the
press conference.

Speaker 2 (01:33:10):
It's incredible. I was shocked by this. Yes, very good.
Back on October sixteenth and the thirty three thirty one
win over the Steelers, that's the last time Jamar Chase
scored a touchdown. He is leading the NFL in receptions
with one hundred and one. He is leading the NFL
in yards at eleven forty seven, but he will not

(01:33:33):
win the triple crown this year. He has only five touchdowns.
Part of that is because of the way teams have
covered him this year, double clouds with t Higgins and whatnot.
The other part of it is Joe Burrow missed ten weeks,
So I mean, let's be fair, and that's not a
slide on Jake Browning per se, nor is it a

(01:33:54):
slight on Joe Flacco. It's just let's be honest and
let's say what it is. The Bengals have struggled this year.
That's one factor, and the fact that Joe Burrow has
missed so much time is the other. But I just
one thing about Jamar, and I don't think people really
appreciate this. When he goes into these press conferences, he

(01:34:15):
usually jokes with Emily Parker, the public relations director, Emily,
let's keep it to like ten eleven minutes this time, please,
And he just keeps going and going and going, and
he sits up on the dais on the podium very patiently,
and you look down and he's been up there eighteen
nineteen minutes. And to me, that's kind of the charm

(01:34:38):
of Jamar Chase is that he'll just keep talking and
he won't be unpleasant about it. And I think that's
we understand what happened in Pittsburgh. That was an outlier
of beyond all outliers. It was terrible. It was a
moment he regrets. He wished he could go back in
the time machine and not do that, Jalen Ramsey, but

(01:35:01):
it happened. But that aside, he's shown great leadership quality
this year. He was the one when Joe Burrow was
out with that injury, with the turf toe injury and
the corresponding surgery, he had to answer for all of
those bad losses to the Jets, to the Bears. Certainly

(01:35:21):
they lost to Detroit without Joe Burrow, they lost at
Green Bay without Joe Burrow, and Joe Flacco's first game.
He was the one standing up taking all the answers,
taking all the questions.

Speaker 3 (01:35:33):
I should say, yep, yep, yeah. And I have seen,
you know this year with his captain and everything that
when we go in there in the locker room and
ask him. You've seen obviously that he has been upset
with the outcome, right, but he still stands there. He
answers every question. Professionally. He is a leader on this team.

(01:35:58):
It's really been cool to watch the difference between you know,
last season him. I really feel like he stepped up
really into that leadership all and like you said, with
Joe Burrow going down, he even had to do that
even more. But it has felt like a lifetime since
that pick. For so, I think that Jamar is due
to fying the end zone on Sunday. I don't know.

(01:36:22):
I feel like it's going to happen.

Speaker 2 (01:36:24):
I'm with you. I think that. I think Joe Burrow
and Zach Taylor even joked about it this morning with
us in a meeting with the Beat reporters that Joe
Burrow was only I think forty yards away from twenty
twenty thousand would be the fifth fastest quarterback to that
plateau in NFL history. So I think that's going to

(01:36:44):
happen obviously, one way or another. And I think Jamar
Chase getting a touchdown, getting him off the schneid is
certainly something that's got to be on the priority list
one thing, and we only have a couple of minutes
left here. Gabby speaking with Gabby Sorrentino of Fox nineteen
covering the Bengals. When you do your interviews in midweek,

(01:37:04):
what do you enjoy the most when you have a
player off campus, as they say, at a restaurant or
wherever you are. What do you enjoy the most about
interviewing those players?

Speaker 3 (01:37:18):
You're talking like at our Bengals Now show.

Speaker 2 (01:37:20):
Your Bengals Now Show, Yes, which I think you guys
do a great job. That's why I want to ask
you about that program because I believe there's a hero
image on your ex page of you sitting down with
Mike Gasicki and I'm trying to think on the other side,
I don't know, but anyway, yes, there we go. What

(01:37:41):
do you enjoy the most about that.

Speaker 3 (01:37:44):
Man? It has been so fun because of course we
talk football with the guys, but we get to know
their personality so much. We have seen Higgins singing up
on the stage, and let me tell you, he has
an incredible voice. We have heard so many amazing rookie
talent show stories, fun frank story. I mean, we have

(01:38:04):
gotten so many fun stories out of these guys, so
many fun moments. Tanner Hudson that day. I play a
trivia game with the guys up on the stage every week,
and that was what that picture was from, and it
was all about Cincinnati. So I was quizzing Tanner and
Mike about questions on Cincinnni and I asked them what's
the name of the famous hippo at the Cincinnati Do

(01:38:26):
And Tanner Hudson looks at me with all the confidence
in the world and goes Big South and everybody in
the crowd is dying because he thought that the hippo's
name was Big Sally. It's Fiona. And just moments like
that have been so fun. We've did it a little
different this season where we try to have two new
guests on every week instead of having one guy that

(01:38:47):
comes on every week and they bring a guest. So
we have had so many players and we still have
more coming on in the next two weeks. But it's
been really cool getting to hear some stories, getting to
learn about these guys families, their upbringing. Yeah, it's amazing
and definitely if you have the chance to watch, watch
because you learn so much more about them. Off the

(01:39:09):
football field than you probably would ever learn if you
weren't at the show or watching it on.

Speaker 4 (01:39:15):
Our streaming platforms.

Speaker 2 (01:39:17):
All right, what do you have in store leading up
to the game on Sunday on Fox nineteen, we.

Speaker 3 (01:39:25):
Will have It's not on our channel, so we won't
have our pregame show, but Bengals Weekly will be on
Fox nineteen as it is every week. And then of
course I'll be in Miami. Really, all of our stuff
happens after the game, so we'll have forty five minutes
of Bengals coverage starting at eleven fifteen and going to midnight,
we have Bengals Breakdown. That's thirty minutes of all Bengals,

(01:39:49):
the guys breaking down in studio.

Speaker 4 (01:39:52):
I will be.

Speaker 3 (01:39:54):
At Miami doing my report, So yeah, we'll have a
lot of Bengals coverage from the game. And of course,
you know, I know, I understand that the game doesn't matter,
but we'll don't give it all to you. We'll break
it down lock over. I'm really excited to.

Speaker 4 (01:40:09):
Get to do this game.

Speaker 2 (01:40:10):
Safe travels to Miami. She is Gabby Sorrentino. Thank you
so much for joining me. Please sleep fast, sleep well,
get ready for that trip to Miami Beach. Gabby, thanks
so much for taking time out. You got it, Gabby.
We'll talk to you next week. All right. This has
been the RNL Carrier sports talk program, presented by Kelsey

(01:40:32):
Chevrolet on news radio seven hundred w l W

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