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The official moment.

Of the Cincinnati Bengals ESPN fifteen thirty.

Yes I'm here, I'm here, I'm here, Yes, I Yes, I am here.

All right.

Number one.

My apologies to my colleagues Tony and Austin because I and I didn't.

I could have swore I told those guys I would be unavailable for quick hits today.

I had a personal matter that needed my attention right before the show.

So my understanding is they pummeled me and I deserved it.

That's my fault.

But I yes, I'm here.

Everything's fine, we have a show.

We're good to go.

Hope you had a great weekend on Moegar.

This is ESPN fifteen thirty.

Thank you for listening.

Hopefully again you had an awesome weekend, and hopefully your week is off to a great start.

There's a lot of ground to cover.

We've got the NFL playoffs, which this weekend.

We're awesome and yet agonizing.

More on that in just a few minutes.

We have an NL Central team doing what it can to get better.

Spoiler alert, that team is not the Reds, although they did make a pretty good free agent signing yesterday.

We'll get to that coming up a little bit later on The Bearcat game yesterday followed to a degree a familiar script.

Another game there for the taking and the closing seconds, Another game the Bearcats do not win.

They are now eight and eight, zero and three in the Big Twelve, after losing another heartbreaker to UCF yesterday.

And it just the repetitive nature of these games and the fact that they keep losing these games the way they do has not made the pain, so to speak, any less numb.

And it has not numbed the pain, so to speak.

I feel for the players.

I feel for us as fans, but I feel for the players because, as much as no He wants to hear this, it's not a group of dudes who are loafing.

It's not a group of guys who aren't playing hard.

It's not a group of guys who are seemingly disconnected with each other.

It's a team that I think you are seeing full effort.

There's execution problems.

They didn't defend well yesterday.

They certainly didn't defend as well yesterday, as they have for most of the season.

I put this on social media.

If you would have told me yesterday morning, the Bearcat's gonna score seventy two points against UCF on the road, I would have said that's probably gonna be enough to win.

And yet they don't.

The results just aren't there, and so many of these games in a vacuum are completely forgivable.

So many of these games in a vacuum not that big of a deal.

Losing by a point on the road to a ranked team in the Big Twelve is excusable, forgivable, not that big of a deal, as is losing at home to Houston, as is frankly losing on the road to West Virginia, And any one of these losses they've had, even going back to the first one against Louisville in a vacuum can be explained.

Even Eastern Michigan, you know what.

It happens.

Occasionally you lose a bye game.

Cincinnati basketball has not lost many, but it does happen.

Doesn't have to ruin your season, doesn't have to torpedo your season.

Doesn't have to be something you can't recover from or make up for.

It happens losing the Xavier game.

Look, it's a road game to an arch rival.

Xavier's a Big East team.

You know what, in a vacuum, painful in a vacuum, maybe discouraging, but in a vacuum understandable.

Same for losing effectively a road game to Georgia, good Georgia team.

Same for losing effectively a road game to Clemson.

But you add all of them up and it's eight losses.

You add all of them up, and how they lose doesn't matter as much.

The fact that the effort has been there doesn't matter as much.

You add them up, and it's eight losses with fifteen regular season games in the Big twelve to go, including a game on Wednesday at home against a pretty good Colorado team, and then back to back games against a terrific Iowa State team and the best team, or at least the time rag team in the country, Arizona, a week from Wednesday.

So just I guess what you wonder is this?

And we'll have some Wes Miller postgame audio because that's been a recurring theme.

I thought Wes Miller in the postgame show yesterday was terrific because he sat down with Dan Horde and Terry Nelson and talked about the game and strategy and some things that it could have gone different, some things that went well.

The thinking on the last possession of the game where Jalen Celestine is a very good three point shooter, but that's not the shot that I think anybody wanted the Bearcats to take, even though it came this close to going in.

But last week when we were playing the West, Miller audio from his postgame after the West Virginia game and the post game after the Houston game, and he's emotional and sounds like a guy who just feels the walls closing in and taking shots at critics from the outside, and all of which he has apologized for.

And that's fine.

But my counter to that was that I think most of the criticism has been fair.

Most of the criticism aimed at him and the program has been based on results and have been I think fair.

I think the criticism and the observations that people have made have been fair.

I said last week, I don't think anybody's watched the Bearcats and have said, well, they don't play hard.

They do.

That's not been an issue.

But what you wonder is and I think you would wonder this about a lot of college basketball teams, especially in this day and age, down the stretch.

If this continues to unfold the way it has for basically the entire season, they indeed hang together.

When will the effort be compromised?

Will the effort be compromised?

So far that hasn't happened.

But like human nature does dictate, whether it's sports or otherwise, you work hard, you come close, you get discouraged, You come close, you get discouraged.

You try again, you come close, you get discouraged.

At some point that discouragement is going to pile up and maybe the effort's not quite going to be there.

And I do fear that, and I would say that about any team in the country, because yes, in this day and age, especially when there's conjecture about the coach's future in this day and age, and it's the portal and you could leave without restriction.

You do wonder as this unfolds, will there be players who start to, I don't know, play with an eye towards what's next, and when that's the When that's the case, and when that's happening, effort tends to be compromise.

So I think, unfortunately, that's kind of the next thing here.

And again, man, there's been nothing that the Bearcats have put on the floor in sixteen games that would suggest that's a likelihood.

But again, human nature, man, you know, if Owen three in the Big twelve turns into to six, and if a whole bunch of losses that were close in games that they barely barely lost, if that continues at one point, at what point, And I know Tony has talked about this, but at what point do you go, you know what, the effort's not quite there.

More on that coming up a little bit later on.

We have, or we'll have by the end of tonight, a final four in the AFC.

We have one more wild card game, concluding what has been an awesome weekend so far of NFL playoff games.

Now that the game last night between New England and the Chargers felt like a preseason game, justin Herbert loses again in the postseason.

The offensive line is atrocious.

Even though Chris Collinsworth on NBC last night kept making excuses for the offensive line that game wasn't very good.

The other four were terrific.

But we're going to have a final four by the end of tonight in the AFC that will include a Patriots team that was mostly untested during the regular season.

I'm not sure they were tested all that much last night, a team that last night looked stuck in the mud offensively.

Denver gets a bye Round one.

They are home dogs, or at least opened up his home dogs in the divisional round against Buffalo getting a point and a half.

That team has about as inconsistent an offense as you will find.

They'll play a Bills team that wins a thriller yesterday in Jacksonville with Josh Allen doing pretty much everything you could ask the current face of the league to do.

But it's an offense that all season long has had a hard time getting any sort of downfield threat to emerge.

The Texans are going to play tonight.

Texans are road favorites against Pittsburgh a bad offensive line and at times a shaky offense.

Or the Steelers win at home tonight with a more than shaky offense and a defense that, for much of the season, while expensive, has shown signs of underperformance.

And I'm being very gentle there point being this games this weekend were a blast.

Games this weekend were very entertaining.

Games this weekend may or may not have been profitable for you, but I think as you watch the AFC unfold, and maybe to a degree, the NFC as well, it is a reminder of how painful this Bengals season was.

Because, holy hell, there was an opening.

There was an opening for a team with an elite offense and a world class quarterback.

There was an opening for a team that has guys who have played in the playoffs before.

There is an opening for a team that has a terrific offense and here I'll do it, a league average defense, and the Bengals couldn't take advantage.

It is maddening, maybe more than anything else about this season.

What is most maddening to me is the AFC felt and was wide open.

Sometimes the playoffs in this sport and others, is about the team emerging that's the healthiest or that has the fewest flaws, and the sport that is kind of defined by flaws.

But we are still talking about and this is not to take anything away from what those organizations have accomplished.

We are still dealing with for by the end of tonight, what will be for pretty flawed teams in the AFC.

There was an opening for a team with an elite offense and the great quarterback.

The Bengals still couldn't break through.

Maddening.

I say, maddening five one, three, seven, four nine, fifteen thirty is our phone number.

Eight sixty six seven oh two three seven seven six.

Let's spend a few more minutes on the playoffs because I have a question about Zach Taylor.

We have to talk about handshakes later on.

And National League Central team has gotten better, it's not the Reds.

We'll spend some time on that.

There is a lot of ground to cover between now and six o'clock.

You can send a tweet during the show at Moulager thanks to Delta Dental.

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This is ESPN fifteen thirty Moegar.

Thank you for listening today.

Hopefully had like the most awesome weekend of all time.

We got some red stuff to do in the next hour as we enched closer to spring training.

Five three seven, four nine, fifteen thirty is our phone number.

We did the big Duke Tobin Mega press conference on Friday and we had good reaction to it.

Kelsey Conway, as always, was terrific.

She joined our show from the venue originally known as Paul Brown Stadium.

Our friend Robert Wintroup from Cincinnati Magazine also joined us, and we talked about what Duke Tobin had to say on Friday, what he did, he didn't say, what he did say, and the conclusions that I think are fair for most fans to draw based on that press conference.

The biggest one was obviously that the status quo is going to remain with the status quo.

I do think it's cool that he did it, and I hope that that becomes a regular thing at the end of every season, maybe once during the season, perhaps an occasional availability during the off season that's not at the combine.

It doesn't have to be an hour long event.

It doesn't have to be the sort of event where people who don't cover sports show up and ask questions like it wasn't that bad?

Like I don't know.

I don't know if anybody decided I'm done with the Bengals based on the Duke Tobin press conference.

I don't know anybody who is a ticket holder, a customer of the Bengals based solely on the Duke Tobin press conference, decided to not be a customer the Bengals anymore.

There are lots of people who have decided to not be Bengals customers.

I don't know that anybody decided I'm out because of one Duke Tobin press conference.

So I do appreciate the level of transparency that was there, but it's frustrating to think about a front office that has, you know, sort of taken all the good vibes and all the residual good feelings that came out of back to back appearances in the AFC title Game and kind of washed them away with free consecutive non playoff seasons and with a team this year that failed as a result at least largely as a result of them not fixing things that were busted from the previous year's team.

But we're gonna see a lot of the same We're gonna see the same head coach.

I was thinking about this.

You know, many have lumped Duke and Zach in with each other, and when it comes to, like I don't know as signing blame, I'm I lean a little bit more towards the front office and the roster construction that I do how the team was coached like Zach Taylor.

And maybe this is as damning of an indictment against him as one could express, But Zach Taylor, my feelings are kind of lukewarm.

If they decided to move on from him, wouldn't think it was some miscarriage of justice.

I'm not sure that I would feel like they allowed some coaching genius to get away that now the rest of the league is going to push each other out of the way to go get Although I do think it would have been interesting in this particular coaching cycle to see how much interest there would be in Zach Taylor if the Bengals let him go, because a lot of the candidates out there are well, frankly to a degree, kind of underwhelming.

At the same time, the team has had some success under Zak.

They did have four straight winning seasons.

There have been times where I felt like coaching was a reason for the Bengals having some success.

I do look at it this way, though.

I look at the NFL and I watched the playoffs this weekend, and I'm like, I'm watching the forty nine ers yesterday, name an important forty nine Ers player, and they have missed time this year, and yet it feels like they just figure out a way to make it work.

They I thought, yesterday out eagled the Philadelphia Eagles.

Yesterday they lose George Kittle during the game.

He's not going to play the rest of the season.

The list of players the forty nine Ers have had to make do without is exceptionally long, Yet they went into the final week end of the regular season with a chance at the one seed, and they're back in the divisional round.

Like Kyle Shanahan, and there's lots of candidates for cod the year, he would get it if I had a vote or if I was in charge, But there is a clear advantage he gives the forty nine ers because of creativity and the ability to just sort of figure out a way to make it work no matter what he has or doesn't have.

Could you say the same thing about Zach Taylor.

I watched Ben Johnson and I don't care that much about his handshake that really wasn't a handshake with Mount Lafleur.

But there's clearly some schematic coaching advantage there that the Chicago Bears enjoy.

And there's Mike Vrabel with a clear coaching identity, one of toughness, motivation.

Like I don't know that the Patriots have an awesome roster.

I fully agree with those who say put him in a different division, and chances are the record ain't close to what it was in the AFC East.

But I think, like in our mind's eye, whether it was in Tennessee or this year, in New England.

You kind of have an idea of what a Mike Vrabel coached team looks like.

The Denver Broncos, who I saw someone this morning describe them as the weakest one seed we've had in a while.

By the way, Mike Vrabel's twenty twenty one Titans might have something to say about that.

Sean Payton's going to the Hall of Fame, very good offensive mind, Tamiko Ryans, who I think is great, lauded for having a great defensive mind, and the Texans play a brand of defense that some have alleged you're not allowed to play anymore.

What advantage does Zach Taylor give the Bengals?

And when you asked that question, I'll be honest with you, it's kind of hard to come up with an answer.

I don't do this gratuitously because there have been a lot of things that the Bengals have accomplished well.

Zach has been the head coach that I have been more than willing, more willing than many to give him credit for where they've won with backup quarterback, so they've you know, found a way to stay in the hunt.

When you know Joe Burrow got hurt the Jake Browning year, that sort of stuff.

But does he give them the sort of advantage that many of the head coaches I just mentioned give their teams seven years in his coaching tenure, it doesn't feel like the answer is yes.

I can't like I say that as the guy who has never yelled on screen that Zach Taylor should be let go.

But as I watch some of this stuff unfold this weekend and I see some of these coaches and some of these teams with their coaches who I think it's It's abundantly clear, by the way.

In some cases, it's clear what weaknesses their head coaches bring to the table.

Like Mike Tomlin, for all of his acclaim and all of his accomplishments in this league, I think at times has put the Steelers at a disadvantage because he's not a great game manager.

I think there's something to that.

I can also then go on to tell you about all the good things that Mike Tomlin brings to the table that the Pittsburgh Steelers have enjoyed for a very very long time.

But with a lot of these teams that are still playing, and even some of them that are not there seems to be something that you know, the head coach gives them that feels like it's been missing here.

Three thirty five one three seven four nine fifteen thirty UH is our phone number.

January's twelfth Reds Fest is this weekend.

By the way, we got unnamed Reds player on Wednesday.

I'm looking forward to and a couple of Reds pitchers in studio.

I'm not sure I'm allowed to mention who they are on Thursday, but we are looking forward to it.

We'll get past Reds fast and then we're going to have spring training and that's not that far away.

And what we were wondering in early October has become a more pressing question here in mid January.

Not coming up in the four o'clock hour.

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I've been in broadcasting now for nearly twenty nine years, and some times I forget to turn on the microphone.

Sports headlines first Monday back, then it is.

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I may or may not have gotten in the car today and driven halfway to Twin Peaks that really didn't happen.

But yes, our first Monday back in studio, and it feels like it.

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The Reds reportedly are signing right handed reliever Pierce Johnson, who's thirty four years old, is a free agent.

Pierce spent the last three years with the Atlanta Braves.

Last season, he had a three point zero five ERA in sixty five games.

Reds Fast is this weekend Friday and Saturday at the new Cincinnati Convention Center.

By the way, that the Cincinnati sign that faces I seventy five is cool looking.

The wild Card weekend Wind's Down Tonight, Game six of six the Pittsburgh Steelers looking to win a playoff game for the first time since Barack Obama was president.

We'll take on the Houston Texans.

You can listen to that game tonight on Fox Sports thirteen sixty.

College Hoops the latest AP Top twenty five men's college basketball poll.

The Miami RedHawks.

The undefeated Miami RedHawks enough votes to finish twenty ninth.

RedHawks beat Toledo on a Friday night.

By the way, we have a new Miami guy in our station on our show.

Our friend Jed Demuci joined us on Friday to talk about the undefeated RedHawks.

And that's before they played on Friday and then they won, so we denied Jinx Travis Steel's team.

The Richard Patino Radio Show is tonight at seven o'clock on fifty five KRC.

The Musketeers coming off a home victory over Providence on Saturday.

The Mark Pope Radio Show is going to be at six pm tonight as soon as we're done.

On ESPN fifteen thirty.

Coach Pope's team I called him Coach Pope, like he's my coach.

Winners this weekend beating Mississippi State at rep Arena by twenty four on Saturday night, and the NKU Coaches Show follows that immediately at seven o'clock tonight.

That is also on ESPN fifteen thirty.

Darren Horn's team coming off yesterday's tough two point loss to Green Bay on the road, the Nourse coming away with a split in their two games in the state of Wisconsin, beating Milwaukee pretty handily on Friday and losing yesterday.

You could hear more on that at tonight seven o'clock on ESPN fifteen thirty.

One of my favorite things from this weekend.

I love it on social media when you get lessons in sportsmanship, which, if you think about it, place on Earth you go to find people being good sports about anything our social media, Like there's the next person to tweet, you know about a game that third team lost, like hey, great game, congratulations to the team that beat us.

The next person to do that on social media will be the first, especially on Twitter.

But Saturday night, Chicago wins an epic game.

They come back from down eighteen at the half, beat the Packers, and immediately after the game, you know that the two coaches meet at midfield.

They are supposed to I guess shake hands, although there's no rule that says they have to, and Ben Johnson gives like the quickest most meaningless handshake to Matt Laflora of all time.

And then, of course social media late on Saturday and on Sunday, no shortage of people out there giving us sportsmanship lessons and telling us how classless Ben Johnson looked.

Although I guess Matt Laflora did this when Green Bay to beat Chicago during the regular season.

These are two coaches who don't like each other, and I'm here for it.

I think the handshake, for the most part, is performative in college basketball.

Whenever there's an issue between two teams, often it's in the handshake line.

There's nothing in college basketball that says you have to shake hands with the opposing coach.

Nothing in the college basketball rule book that says the two teams have to shake hands with each other.

It's performative.

In ninety nine percent of the time, nothing bad happens, But sometimes bad things do happen in the handshake line.

And that's when people like me go, oh, do we have to do this?

In the NFL, there's no rule that says you have to shake coaches or shake hands with the other coach, but they did.

I guess if you were looking for, like, well, at the very least touch hands with the other guy.

Ben Johnson did that.

I am completely and totally here for two guys who don't like each other pretty much showing each other that they don't like each other.

Like we build up rivalry and we build up, you know, distaste and hatred that one organization has for the other.

Here it's legitimate.

I used to say this ten years ago at the height of like the Bengals and Steelers hating each other, and you had like Steelers players were sending tweets to Vontes Perfect and I'm like, dude, this is it.

This is what I want.

Like we as sports fans, we want these guys to dislike each other.

Ben Johnson and Matt Lafleura dislike each other.

Why should they do something that's totally performative, like if they genuinely dislike each other.

Now, there are NFL head coaches who do like each other, where there's you know, there's commonality.

Maybe they've worked with each other, maybe one has worked for the other, maybe they're just buddies, maybe they played with each other.

When you don't have that and instead it's two guys who genuinely dislike each other.

I don't need some sort of pretend show of sportsmanship that's not at all authentic or genuine.

And that's what that would be.

If he did anything but just blow past the dude, that would be performative, doing something that doesn't matter.

Instead, show me how you really feel about the guy.

And the coach of the Bears did that with the coach of the Packers, Ben Johnson and Matt Lafleur.

Love it.

I'm here for it, absolutely here for it.

By the way, I would be willing to bet that if you asked most NFL head coaches, if you had your way and you could get away with it, and by get away with it me not be asked questions about it.

Would you want to shake hands with the coach on the other team or just do what Belichick did at the end of that one Super Bowl and just walk off the field.

Most would say walk off the field.

I think even better though than an on handshake is what you got from those two guys.

Love it, but no shortage of sportsmanship lessons on social media as a result.

Eighteen away from four o'clock.

So a National League Central team is trying to get better, and I think they have.

It's not the Reds.

We'll discuss next on ESPN fifteen.

Thirty Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty.

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Eastbound Norwood Lateral, the off ramp to southbound seventy one remains shut down due to an accident and overturned trailer on that ramp.

Police on scene as well in slow traffic northbound seventy five between Norwood Lateral and Paddock Road a two to three minute delay at the moment at Eazelic with traffic.

This report Asia so our first Monday not together since uh well Tony always misses the first show of the year, and then he missed the one week when he got fired.

Sorry, it's true.

Unfortunately righted that wrong.

But I've spent sixteen of the last eighteen Mondays with Tony and so to not be a twin peaks.

Yes, it's a bummer.

You can blame the Bengals.

By the way, in sports headlines, excuse me one story that I did not mention.

Reading here from Scott Springer of the Cincinnati Inquired, the University of Cincinnati has hired Nate Woody.

Nate Woody is going to be Cincinnati's new defensive coordinator.

He has been Army's defensive coordinator since twenty twenty.

The Black Knights this season were seven and six and won their Bowl game over Connecticut.

Army led the nation and total defense two years ago, with the leading red zone defense and number four scoring defense during a twelve win campaign back in twenty four.

Reading this from Scott's Peace, So, Nate Woody replaces Tyson Vite as the new defensive coordinator at the University of Cincinnati.

Let's see, let's take some phone calls.

How about that?

Five, one, three, seven, four, nine, fifteen thirty Before we discuss what the Reds haven't haven't done this offseason?

And what other teams in the National League Central are doing.

Let's see here if I can get the mouse to work.

Jim and Milford.

You're on ESPN fifteen thirty.

Jim, good afternoon.

How are you.

I'm okay in our post holiday depression cut out man.

You know, January February.

What are you gonna do?

It's tough.

These these are the dog days.

Yeah, these are the dog days.

Weather it's not bad.

I mean, I'll take fifty fifty works.

Fifty works, and you know, I think I think we're closing in Jim.

As you know, I get off work at six o'clock, so during the like absolute worst of winter, I drive home in the darkness, I think, and I'll see this today at six o'clock.

I think we're getting to the point, we're maybe not quite there yet.

When I get in the car at like five after six, maybe traces of daylight, which tells me spring will be here soon.

Well, I think on December twenty first, that's the lowest point that the sun is in the sky.

So it's been it's been rising.

Yes, I don't want to make this end too.

A science class.

Probably more interesting than anything I have to say.

But what's on your mind?

This is true?

Well, you know, I'm pretty much disliked on sinenty three sixties, so I thought i'd call in nice.

Why do those guys dislike you, Jim?

Because I'm a goof?

Because I lay really stupid talkbacks?

Yeah, I actually have a fan base out there.

People call on talkbacks and go ooh, jumy moover they like they totally like just me and me or whatever you want to talk about.

So well, imitation is the greatest form of flattery, and it would be hypocritical, And it would be very hypocritical, Jim, for me to dislike anybody who's a goof.

So uh, you are welcome here anytime you'd like to come in.

There you go.

And that's not why I called.

The reason I called.

I thought about this a couple of weeks ago.

Have you noticed that Jamar Chase doesn't run his mouth like he did in twenty twenty, twenty one, twenty two, But dude, he said run his mouth all the time every weekend about the opposing team and their defense.

So my question is he seems really chill and press conferences and he doesn't run his mouth anymore.

And the reason I called in is because you were talking about, you know, the handshake, and you'd like to see it a little bit more.

What's the word like aggressive behavior towards your opponent, opponent and stuff.

So my question is, why do you think Jamar Chase has been so chill lately?

Well, he did get suspended this year for spinning on an opponent, so chill is a relative term.

True, I forgot about that.

I don't know.

I don't know.

If it's maturity, I don't know.

If it's the fact that he hasn't been playing on, you know, very good teams the last few years, I don't I don't know.

I I have noticed that, and I don't think Chad.

I don't think Jamar's ever been like a trash talker on the level of let's say Chad Johnson, where it felt like for years during peak Chad.

You know, every single week we're bringing out the list of cornerbacks who can cover him.

He's mailing pepto business.

I mean, we've never gotten to that point.

But yeah, I think Jamar, for a guy who does speak regularly with the media, he has toned that down and again, I don't know why doesn't bother me when he talks trash.

Doesn't bother me that he doesn't.

But I have noticed it.

I don't necessarily know that I can pinpoint an exact reason for it, though.

Don't you think Chad was doing that as a Hollywood act?

No question he was.

He was definitely wanting like national attention, no promotion, atension off the football field.

He wanted to like didn't he end up getting a couple of TV shows and stuff like that.

He was doing all that for shock value and he got what he wanted.

He got popularity out off the football field.

But Jamar I used to sit there in like twenty one twenty two, and I used to sit there and hear like on your station like Jamar said this, And I'm sitting in my car going Jamar, just shut your mouth, man, all you're doing is firing up the other team.

Just shut up.

Yeah, And he has he has lately so interesting.

No, I mean, aside from the Jalen Ramsey incident, we have not talked about anything besides Jamar Chase's play and his contract for the last couple of years.

Don't you think the Jaalen saying I truly believe Jalen said something that was like so offensive even among people.

You know, I'm trying to dance around this.

I think Jalen said.

I think you just won't say.

I think Jalen Ramsey probably said something to provoke Jamar Jase, and that may not excuse what he did.

I absolutely do not believe that Jamar decided to just randomly spit on the guy.

I think he was provoked.

Now again, I think spinning on somebody is pretty much the lowest, the lowest thing you could do to another guy.

But I mean, if.

You're provoked, knowing, knowing, if he says nothing about his mom or his culture, I don't know, dancing around words, but I don't.

Don't I don't know what he said.

What's amazing to me is with so many mics and NFL films, you know, doing what they do with every NFL game, that that hasn't come out.

And I don't want to relitigate something from two months ago.

But yeah, I mean, I I know what I know about Jalen Ramsey, and I know he is a trash talker.

And look, he once made the most mild mannered receiver of all time.

Aj Green get into a fight.

So my guess is when Jamar did what he did, he was provoked and may not excuse the spitting itself, But I refuse to believe that that Jamar just decided I'm gonna go ahead and randomly spit on this dude.

Do you think officials have the uh?

Do they have the authority and give someone I ejected from the game if they overhear something that's completely out of mound.

You can throw a flag, yes, which is not something you see all that much of anymore.

But a few years ago, the NFL allowed the official to throw flags based on language used from you know, one player to another.

Right, I don't know.

Back to my core message, I guess.

I guess Jamar has matured in this leg and doesn't feel like he needs to call out cornerbacks and safeties on the other team like he used to.

So I think I think that's interesting.

Yeah, No, it's been Jim, thanks very much.

There's Jamar was quiet this year.

I can't recall, uh, with the exception of the spitting incident, which was a big deal because Jamar missed a game, I can't recall anything that Jamar Chay said this year that generated any conversation on our show, or that moved the meter, or that angered people, or that provided bulletin board material for the other day.

And by the way, when he when he when if he were to do that sort of stuff, I don't care.

Like sports are entertainment, these guys are in the entertainment business.

I think public trash talk is entertaining.

I think it gives us something to talk about, So it doesn't bother me when those things do happen.

But yeah, I would imagine there's at least been some level of maturity here that we've seen over the last couple of years that maybe has compelled Jamar to not necessarily talk as much, or maybe he is one of the focus to solely be on his play.

And Jamar was excellent this season.

It does go to show how good he was last year that his numbers this year pale in comparison, But Jamar was Bengals have a lot of problems, a lot of problems.

Jamar Chase is obviously not one of them.

Uh five point three, seven, four, nine, fifteen thirty eight.

You could call this show and be a goof anytime.

By the way, we we we I don't know that in the history of this show nineteen years now, I don't believe we've Now, we Tony and Austin used the talkback feature in ways that we because that is their piece of real estate and they're awesome at it.

We've never banned in I don't believe we have ever banned a phone call.

We've never I don't believe we have ever said to anybody.

I kind of feel about phone calls the way I do blocking people on Twitter.

I checked this like a month or so ago.

In the years I've been on Twitter, I have blocked nine people, and I feel the same way about phone calls.

I don't know why we got off on that couple away from four o'clock.

We are here till six, not blocking anybody.

I'm Moeger, glad you're with us today.

Five win three seven four nine fifteen thirty.

Is our phone number eight sixty six seven oh two three seven seven six as well on ESPN fifteen thirty, teen thirty where Bengals Nation lives.

Yeah, that's us.

Thank you four four ESPN fifteen thirty.

Moeger, thanks for listening today.

Hopefully the afternoon is treating you well.

This microphone stakes.

I'm not I'm saying that it's Tony's fault.

And the microphone smells.

We occasionally, look, it's it's a device that people talk into for six hours a day.

Invariably after a while, it's going to smell.

And and this I think this particular microphone, I think we have reached the point where it's time to swamp it out.

We got we got a room with like one too, like five other microphones we could we could take the one that's to my right and put it this one.

I mean you could even see it's got like gunk on it.

It's it's time.

I don't know what you do to clean a microphone, not that technically adept, but there'll be some money in that event.

Some Yeah, I'm sure there's I mean, I'm sure, like if you asked a sound engineer or or you know, somebody in our shop that you know, what's the best thing to use to clean off a microphone, they'd have something.

I don't know if it's something as simple as like a chlorox wipe, but there's a fair amount of gunk is accumulated on this mic and it stinks, and so it's it's time.

For a new one.

It is time for a new one.

Let's see, we're gonna preview what is going to be an awesome event coming up a little bit later on this week here in in just a few minutes.

More on the NFL playoffs from over the weekend, a few leftover thoughts from the Duke Toobin Mega Press conference on Friday, and some more college basketball as well.

Reds Fest is this weekend and we'll do Reds Fest and then we're going to turn the page very quickly and spring training is going to be here, and if you're like me, you can't wait.

Now.

In the National League Central, the Chicago Cubs have signed Alex Bregman and he's going to play third base for him.

They also late last week acquired Edward Cabrera to bolster their starting rotation, a twenty seven year old righty who has pitched kind of under the radar, certainly last year under the radar for the Miami Marlins.

Chicago Cubs are going for it.

Kyle Tucker is still unsigned.

We'll see where he ends up.

I read a piece today at ESPN dot com that took a look at all thirty teams and ranked them, and you know, with each one of them discussed whether or not the team has gotten better.

They take a look at, you know, different projection models out there.

So for the Chicago Cubs, in all the simulations that ESPN's model has put them through, their most recent was eighty five and a half wins win average this year, eighty seven point four in the playoffs sixty two point two percent of the time prior to these two acquisitions, fifty three point six in their power rankings, which are totally subjective.

Eighth, the Reds, by comparison, twentieth with a win average of seventy nine point two chance of making the playoffs.

That's just under twenty three percent chance of winning the World Series.

That's point five percent.

It is January the twelfth, so the Reds last played the game on October the first, so more than three months.

Uh.

They did sign a good reliever in Pierce Johnson, who I do think, excuse me, helps out their bullpen depth.

But on January the twelfth, looking at the roster where the big offseason acquisition has been, JJ Bleda, does it feel like the Cincinnati Reds have a better team today than the one that walked off the field after losing to the Dodgers in Game two on October the first.

If the answer is yes, I'd love to know why now.

There is obviously some time to go between now in Opening Day.

There's obviously some time to go, though not as much time to go between now and the start of spring training.

There are still some trades that could be made a Euhanio Suarez is yet unsigned.

He may go to Boston to replace Alex Pregnant.

But this offseason is three plus months old, and while they took the much needed and significant step of finally qualifying for the postseason last year, it was still an eighty three win team far from great.

It was still a team that went into the postseason barely getting in and wasn't really taken seriously as a bona fide championship contender.

There was the flirtation with Kyle Schwarber, which was equally fun and frustrating, But what was an acknowledgment that they have a major issue when it comes to their offense.

Beyond that, not been a lot of news.

Beyond that, not been really anything to make you feel like their biggest issue last year has been solved.

Nothing really done to make you feel like, this team has a chance this season to be significantly better than last season, and more than anything, a strategy that feels hope based.

The Rents are in a better place than they have been for much of the last I don't know, ten years.

They've had some really awful seasons.

So, like, you know, there's off season in activity when you know you're going to be bad twenty fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, twenty twenty two, it's something else entirely when your team actually has a chance to be pretty good.

And so I can't help but think, and it's been a number of years, it's been fifteen years, but whenever I think of, like leaning in on the strategy of hope, I think of the twenty eleven Reds, and you know, that's that's becoming a reference point.

That is not the most timely because it's been fifteen years, But if you need a refresher, in twenty ten, the Reds win ninety one games when the division kind of come from nowhere, surprise, a lot of people make the playoffs and it was great, and then they spent the following off season kind of not doing anything, just waiting for better results, sort of did something similar at the end of the twenty thirteen season, after which they fired the manager, places Dusty Baker with Brian Price, watched hinsuit chew walk, watch Bronson Royal rock a royal walk easy for me to say, and then did nothing.

And I think those two off seasons are when we started to talk about the off season of using hope as a strategy.

Hope, as I think has been well established, is not a strategy.

Hope is an emotion.

Hope is something you feel.

Does it feel to you like?

The strategy this offseason has been hope.

Hoping for better performances from players who underperformed last year, hoping for different outcomes offensively because the pitching last season was really good.

Hoping for different outcomes from what is largely the same collection of players so far.

That's what it feels like.

The strategy is Should that be the strategy when you have a team filled with players that is worth building around, that made the postseason last year, but can only use last year as a success if it proves to be a pivot to something bitter, bigger in twenty twenty six.

More on that coming up in just a bit.

One of my favorite events on the Cincinnati Winter Calendar is happening on Thursday.

Will preview it when we come back on ESPN fifteen thirty.

Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty.

Traffic from the uc Health Traffic Center.

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Eastbound Norwood Lateral, the off ramp to southbound seventy one shut down due to an accident that's with an overturned trailer on that off ramp and another new accident in southbound seventy one seventy five approaching Mountain Zion Road that's got the right lane blocked off.

I'm at ezelic with traffic.

This report is sponsored by Apollo Home In fifteen thirty Moeger, thanks so much for listening.

Today.

It's sports tag season.

One of the best is taking place on Thursday night.

Always honored to ask to participate the fifty fifth Roger Bacon Sports Tag featuring do we call him?

Keynote speaker Sean Casey, Shawn case See.

The Mayor is going to be there.

This is an awesome event.

I've had a chance to uh be a part of it, attend it can't wait for Thursday night here to tell us more about it.

A guy who's getting an award.

The head football coach at Roger Bacon, Mike Bloud is with us.

You gotta you gotta talk about yourself getting an award.

Yeah, it's kind of weird.

It's yes, I'm not ready for that.

I was not ready to get the award and the committee kind of overrun me a little bit.

So yes, I'm getting award, but it's it's more about Sean Casey coming in and yeah, you know, celebrating with us a little bit.

So it's it's it's really cool.

How's a big Sean Casey fan.

And Tom Rable who is the award that he's getting a Tom Rable Good Fellowship Award.

Uh, you know we we call Sean Casey the mayor.

Well that was Tom Rable for us.

He was he was our mayor.

He he just fits the epitome exactly what Sean Casey is.

So it's kind of cool that he's getting that.

A setting like this where you're looking for somebody to be engaging and tell stories, this is in Sean Casey's wheelhouse.

He could be a professional stag speaker if you wanted to be.

Yes, that's what we keep hearing, and we can't wait to have him.

It's we're we're very excited to have him in the building.

All right.

So it's Thursday night, fifty to fifty annual men only.

Run through everything that's going to be happening on Thursday.

Okay, Well, the doors open at six.

We have a social from six to seven thirty.

Dinner then follows it to l Ros's dinner.

Larrosis are our big sponsor, presented by Rota Router.

There are two big sponsors.

There's a VIP reception area from six to seven thirty for those that buy the VIP tickets which are one hundred and fifty bucks.

The general admission is just seventy five, and so we basically have two different parties going on at one time.

And then we all come together for the big, the Big Award night, and then I will be receiving our bron Beseovich Coaching Award first and then we'll be given Sean Casey the stage with you.

Yeah, we appreciate you coming down and doing that again with us.

Quite quite the coup there to get me big deal.

Well, you and I had a good time last year doing it, Yes we did.

We had a good time.

So we're expecting the same thing this year.

And and we know Sean is is going to be a good one.

This is obviously it's a fun event, but it's a very important one for the Roger Bacon community.

Right.

Yes, it is our biggest fundraiser for the athletic department.

Uh, you know, we got a lot of great sports and a lot of very successful sports, and so it funds everything that we do, and and you know all the boys sports, all the girls' sports, and so yeah, it's a big night for us.

How do you get a guy like Sean Casey to do this?

We just called him an askety.

Yeah.

Simple.

We had a connection with him and gave him a call and he agreed to do it.

And like I said, we're really excited to have him there.

Yeah, it's gonna be a lot of fun.

It's going to be on Thursday night.

Here's what I like about it.

I got to Roger Bacon.

Right, I'm a Kentucky public high school kid.

Right, But if you love the Reds and you want to hear Sean Casey tell stories, you don't have to be a Roger Bacon alum, correct, you do not.

Yeah, if you just want to come and hear him, and I'm sure he's gonna give us a lot of good red stories.

Uh yeah, anybody and everybody can come down to it, and uh, you know, we get a lot of walk ups at the door.

Ticket sales have been really really good, as you can expect.

Sure a lot of VIP tickets are being sold, and you know, the night of, we'll get another one hundred, one hundred.

And fifty people walking up and buying tickets at the door too.

So so right now you can buy tickets online and then they're left at will call for you, or you can buy them the night of.

What's the website Roger Bacon dot org.

Very good and as soon as you log in, it pops right up.

It's right there, it's right there, very good.

Can't miss the can't miss the mayor right on the front cover.

No, he's right there.

So this is going to be a blast.

And here's the thing that I think is most important.

Ton of food and drink.

Yes, absolutely so.

We have we have Hayman's Catering, who sponsors the VIP area and that food is fantastic.

And then of course Buddy Lorosa, who is a proud Roger Bacon grad.

Buddy sponsors the.

Main dinner over in the in the where the program takes place, so you get plenty of pizza in the Italian sausage.

I don't know if you've had that there yet.

The Italian sausage is fantastic, usually one of the big crowd favorites.

Uh.

And so yes, everybody eats well, we drink well, and we have a very good time.

And the Sean Casey thing, it's important.

He'll tell stories and but I'll try to get you know, I'll try to get him to open up a little bit.

He's kind of a shy guy.

But there's an audience Q and A there is.

So if there's always been a question you've wanted to ask Sean Casey, this is your opportunity.

It is and you get to ask it with Alex Meacham.

Oh yeah, you get a little ucy bearcat action.

Wow.

So well that's going well.

Yeah, I'm sure Alex will have lots of pointed questions aimed in him about this year's team.

He does, yes, yes, So yeah, Alex is uh he's pinchitting for me because I'm normally the MC, but this year I'm not so Alex.

And Alex was in my first class.

I taught Alex really way back, long time ago.

Yes, do you claim that?

Is that something?

I try not to but.

He's kind of famous.

Now did you teach Alex or was he just in your class?

There's a difference.

He was just in my class he actually received.

That was a very young teacher, and he received the first attention I ever gave.

What do you do?

I don't know.

He was probably just being you know what he did?

Yeah, he was just being a knucklehead.

I thought, right, yeah, that was Alex?

Is that is that going the form?

What would you get a detention for being a knuckle hass?

It did?

Actually we had little blue sheets that everybody got, and so I'm sure that'll be brought up thirty if if where I went to school, you got a detention for being a knucklehead, I would have just had to carve out like a ninth period every day, right, yes, exactly, just for being a knucklehead.

Alex spent a lot of time in detention while he was Bacon.

Yes, very good, very good.

All right, So Thursday night tickets are available at the door.

It could also go to Roger Bacon dot org.

Correct.

By the way, how do you get the award?

Don't be humble?

Right the award you're getting?

What is it outlining for me?

And congratulations?

Thank you?

Yeah, it's very humbling being a Roger Bacon guy, It's very humbling.

Coach Basevich is our legendary coach.

He won one hundred and fifty games at Bacon.

He won another one hundred and fifty games at other schools, so well over three hundred before that ever playoffs.

Fantastic coach and he was.

He is the pillar of Roger Bacon.

Our stadium is named after him.

A lot of awards are named after him.

He gave a lot back to the community and I've been fortunate enough to be there long enough where I've kind of followed in his footsteps.

And the committee kind of ambushed me with me getting the award this year.

I was not expecting it, but very humble and I'm very appreciative of it.

It's a cool award done.

That's awesome.

That's awesome.

So you have to step down from mc dude.

I had to do that.

For Dan hord once.

Do you see Hall of Fame dinner?

Because the MC is the thing, and they put him in the Hall of Fame, and I thought it would have been funny for him to introduce himself as a Hall of Famer, but they made me do it, right, you know, I get it.

I've seen this sort of thing.

Is there anything else that folks need to know about Thursday night?

No, just come, be ready to have a good time and we look forward to seeing a lot of people there.

Sean Casey and the event begins at what time six o'clock?

The door's open social from six to seven thirty.

Then there's the full scale dinner with the Rosa's, and then the program starts right at eight.

It's gonna be a good time.

Sean is the absolute best.

I've seen him in this setting before.

And you will not find a better stag speaker than Sean Casey, even if the person lobbing him the questions is below average.

Right, great, Great, that's what we want to hear.

That's what we want to hear.

Awesome.

Well, congratulations, thank you and looking forward to a Thursday and thanks for having me and thanks for stopping by, Thanks for having me on Rogerbacon dot org.

The fifty fifth Roger Bacon Sports Tag featuring Sean Casey is going to be on Thursday night.

It is an absolute awesome time.

Raises money for Roger Bacon Athletics and even even if you didn't go to Roger Bacon, want to hear Sean Casey tell stories.

You'll have a blast again.

Rogerbacon dot Org for tickets or get them at the door.

It is twenty five after four o'clock.

This is ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports Station.

Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty Traffic.

From the uc Health Traffic Center.

The UC Health Women's Sports Medicine Program provide specialized care for female athletes at all levels.

Schedule an appointment online at uc health dot com.

The eastbound Norwood Lateral off ramp to southbound seventy one remains closed down from an accident involving an overturned trailer.

Police are there on the scene.

Police also on the scene of an accident southbound seventy one seventy five approaching Mountain Zion Road that's off in the right lane.

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Their family, The Yours for Life kelseyshev dot com rads reportedly have added a reliever, Pierce Johnson.

This news came out yesterday.

I saw it reported originally by John Hayman of CBS Sports.

If he indeed was not the first, my apologies.

Piers Johnson is a thirty four year old right handed pitcher spent the last three years with the Atlanta Braves.

Last season for Atlanta, he had an ERA of three point zero five in sixty five games.

Meanwhile, the NFL Playoffs continue tonight final wildcard game in Pittsburgh, the Steelers hosting the Texans.

That game is going to be heard tonight on Fox Sports thirteen sixty.

College basketball Latest AP Top twenty five Men's poll is out.

The Miami RedHawks enough for twenty ninth, up from thirtieth last week.

You could talk Xavier basketball tonight on the Richard Patino radio show.

I think last night I called it the Rick Patino Show.

No, It's the Richard Patino Radio Show tonight at seven pm on fifty five krc XU, with a win on Saturday over Providence.

The Mark Pope Radio Show follows us at six on ESPN fifteen thirty.

After that, it's the NKU Coaches Show.

If you love college basketball coaches shows well, then tonight's programming on your iHeartRadio station is for you.

FC Cincinnati has signed veteran forward Tom Barlow to a contract through the twenty twenty seven season.

He is a thirty years old spent the last couple of years with the Chicago Fire.

Appeared in fifty Major League Soccer regular season games, scored five goals.

Before that, he was with the Red Bulls for six seasons as a twenty eighteen MLS Super Draft pick out of Wisconsin.

Reading here from Laurel Failure of Queens City Press, FC Cincinnati begins preseason training tomorrow in Clearwater, Florida, you are oh.

Also you see as a new defensive coordinator Wait wait, Nate Woodye from Army is taking over for Tyson Vite and Cincinnati is also extended the contract of general manager Zach Grant, along with strength and conditioning coach Nico Palazetti.

Now now you are up to date, not that you weren't to begin with, Sam and independence you're on s being fifteen thirty.

Sam, good afternoon.

How are you.

No calling back in again?

I guess we're gonna talk about Bearcats again?

Let's do it.

What's up?

Sam?

What's on your mind?

So?

Uh?

Again?

Well, last night in between Antbel was watching the Bearcats again as I as I tend to do.

And.

I I used to get angry about UC losing basketball games.

Now I just don't.

And I'm not even saying that.

I'm not telling people to be you know, right, what's right or wrong, because, like you see, I just they lost the game, and I'm not only am I not angry, I I I actually genuinely feel sorry for them because I thought they played well last.

Night, agreed, And I'm just.

I've caught in the last couple of times to talk about West.

I think West coached a good game.

I think he did what we wanted him to do.

He cut the rotation down to his six best players, his five starters and the Jalen Yes, he cut a Kinley's Bennetts.

You didn't see Keyshan Tillery out there that much.

He didn't see uh Zella out there very long.

He actually went Bustafa play and he was very good defensively and was very efficient.

And what happened at the end everything I was out last night.

I didn't get to watch the ending on TV, but I was best about seven hundred in it.

That's what I felt bad.

You almost you almost felt just this despondence.

In Dan Horde.

In the last thirty seconds of that game, a guy just threw throws a ball off the rim.

It goes.

I don't know how it went.

In we as opposed to the West Virginia game, we don't want a dumb play where Bob Miller chucks of the three.

If we give Jaalin a great look, a great shot and it just rolls, it's half way inside the cup and it just rolls out.

I'm not even angry.

It's just we play well, and we do everything, and they do what we say they should do and they still lose.

Yes, and it's it's worth mentioning.

And this is not, by any stretch an excuse, but Kenpalm dot com has a luck rating, which accounts for things that are and I don't know if I'm putting this in the best possible way, but accounts for things that are maybe beyond your control that happened to you.

Cincinnati is second to last.

There are three hundred and sixty five Division I college basket ball teams.

Cincinnati is three hundred and sixty fourth.

So yeah, man, there there have been there have been some things beyond their control that have gone against them.

UCF Banks and a three Celestian gets a pretty good look and it doesn't go.

That's that's not It's not the shot that I wanted there.

I wanted something at the rim.

West talked about that after the game.

I would have liked to have seen, you know, them draw some defenders to a penetrator and then maybe have somebody throw a lobb to Mustapha Chom, who was really good yesterday.

But I think the frustrating thing about the game yesterday is if you look at it in a vacuum.

In a vacuum, you go, all right, shrug your shoulders.

They lost to a rank team on the road.

They did a lot of good things enough to win, and they simply didn't.

No big deal.

The problem is it's lost number eight.

The problem is the lack of execution in all these games where they've failed to win in the closing minutes has put them and in a situation we're losing that game yesterday, it's hard to glean any positives from it.

Which we said the same thing about West Virginia, said the same thing about Houston.

Like now, the number of losses and the math just sort of obscures anything else that happens on the floor.

And that's what's frustrating about where they are, because I would love to look at yesterday as a game where you go, you know what, maybe to a degree offensively, they turn the corner.

Maybe Mustapha Chom, maybe the I hate to say, the light bulbs come on, but maybe there's some confidence that he can take from that game and apply it to what's next.

And if you're sixteen and four, that's probably what we're talking about today.

They're not, they're eight and eight.

The games they have in front of them, frankly, many of them seem damn near impossible.

And so I think that's what I walked away from yesterday going, you know, I would love to just go, man, they got unlucky or boy, it was a road game that was there for the taking and gotten away.

I can't.

It's eight losses.

It's eight losses in a season where they have fifteen more regular season games to go, and you're wondering what is that final loss total going to be?

You're left wondering, Like I think, say what you want about Wes.

He obviously has taken and to a degree, deserved a lot of the criticism that has come his way.

I think for the most part, his team has done what he has said, which is they've stayed together, they've played hard.

But the longer the losing goes, at any level of sport, you wonder how long is the coach going to be able to keep the team together?

And if he's not able to, then what do some of these games look like?

I just threw a lot at you, Sam, But I would love to look at yesterday's game as a game where you go, Okay, if they play like that, they're gonna win their share of big twelve games.

You can't when they're eight and eight.

No, you can.

That's where losing that West virtuine the game at the end hurts.

That's where blowing that big lead to Houston at home hurts.

Going back a while, that's are losing to EMU and non conference play really hurts.

Yeah.

Yeah, it's because if you change the results of those games, they're eleven and five, and you say, and you can take last night as okay, you know, yeah uts or ranked team they have, but you know, and yeah, I mean, if they play like that last night, maybe they'll they will win some conference games.

But it.

That their performance last night, how well they played, even the loss, and seems like an outlier after down the stretch Concuston, they couldn't buy a bucket West Virginia.

We just started shooting whatever shots we want at the end of the game.

EMU, we just whatever happened there.

I mean, it's just I don't know, it's it's just becoming very frustrated.

It's been very hard to see any pause.

It's about this season, even when they played well.

Yeah, no, I mean, look, the this is not like two years ago.

Two years ago, nobody was using the NCAA tournament and selection Sunday as a barometer.

Two years ago, it was demonstrate some level of competitiveness in the Big Twelve, which I thought for the most part they did the first two years.

It was not about making the tournament.

It was just steady the program.

This year, there's one barometer, do they make the tournament or don't they?

They're eight and eight?

There, eight' and eight with no good wins and one really bad loss, like there's nothing you can there's nothing you can do about that.

And so yeah, man, if that game yesterday is what we would have seen during any one of the games they played two years ago, I think we shrug our shoulders and go, Okay, we're not using the tournament this year as a barometer, so try to pull some positives from this year.

It's do you make the tournament or don't you?

And at eight and eight, just call it what it is.

It's it's impossible to imagine them playing themselves, even into the fringes of the conversation, and losing last night or winning last night wouldn't have changed that.

But now, like you're you're only watching this team through I think two different lenses.

One is do they make the tournament?

Right now, it's abundantly clear they don't have the resume, the most obvious thing I've ever said.

And the other lens is you know what's gonna happen with regards to Wes Miller when the season comes to an end, because the more the losses pile up, I think, the more, unfortunately, and I hate to say this, the more it feels like it seals his faith.

Yeah, it's yeah.

And what's funny is looking at the NSA tournament now, is just a distant goal for this team.

Yeah, there's a miracle that might happen.

You know, maybe there is a miracle and it happens they win ten streak a time they make the tournament.

Who knows.

I don't think they will, but maybe it happens.

But I sam if this team, if this team wins ten straight games, I will walk from where I am right now to your house in Independence.

I would I would do of any variety of things.

If they win ten games, it'd be a remarkable thing.

Yes, yes, I didn't think.

And again, if that seems far, again, that's a far affection to this is.

But at the beginning of the year, and you've said this, we talked about this.

I didn't think at least qualify for the NCAA Tournament wasn't a reasonable ask of of this team.

No, no, it wasn't totally For a reason, It's not like I hate to throw Xavier under the bus.

It's not like Xavier where it's just like build something when when rich Patino came in there with nothing to Sean bill Er left and right to the pantry way out.

But it it's just this is going to be seven years where we haven't made the tournament, and that really as someone who is a fan even during the years of Huggins and Cronin, I know we're not a blue blood, but seven years stout tournament for really is really hard to faunce.

When you know, for a lot of us fourteen straight years and then nine straight years with four in the middle.

So that's twenty three out of twenty seven I guess twenty five straight years because Andy Kennedy didn't make it, but twenty three out of twenty eight years were your teams in the tournament.

To have them not even not make it, but we don't wake up on selection Sunday thinking they have a chance like that that has become unfortunately normalized the game yesterday, You're right, it's it's frustrating because they're down five two different occasions in the final four minutes and come back and put themselves in a position to win right, they take the lead.

They execute well enough offensively to take the lead in a game that felt like it was getting away from them when they fell behind by five points.

They execute well.

They get a very good individual performance by Mustapha Chohm Wes Miller.

One of the criticisms has been that he plays too many guys.

He does shrink the rotation.

Only one sub played more than seven minutes, and it was Jalen Celestine and they still lose the game.

And they played well enough offensively.

They executed, I thought for the most part, certainly compared to how they've played here recently.

They executed pretty well in the half court and they still don't win.

Like you talk about feeling bad, I felt bad for Wes in that set of circumstances.

I felt bad for the players in that set of circumstances because a lot of the stuff we have said, we've wanted to see them do better, they don't.

Now that last possession this team is two hundred and fiftieth in the nation and free throw attempts because they're not great at just driving the ball to the rim, getting contact and getting to the free throw line.

To see something at the rim.

I wanted to see a lob.

I wanted to see somebody drive the ball at the rim and a not a three point shot, but even the three point shot they got, they nearly made.

And I think it would have been a lot of fun to talk about this team, at least going on the road in the face of all the scrutiny, all the attention, all the conjecture about Wes's postgame comments and proving what he said, they're going to do right, we're gonna stay together.

They did, but nobody wants to talk about that because they lost the game.

And it doesn't matter because they lost the game, but because they're eight and eight.

So as that game unfolded and as it ended last night, my first reaction was that would have been a chance for us to say a lot of the things that we've wanted to say about this team all season long, even if only about one game.

And it's a chance to talk about that team doing what Wes said it was going to do, which is play hard, play together, and figure out a way to get a victory in the face of all the heat that's been coming down on it.

And instead the result is similar and it sends them to eight and eight, and it only intensifies the bad vibes, the bad feelings, the criticism and all that that has been out there about this program for a while.

Yeah, it's you know, and I again the I feel sorry for the players.

I mean they you can't say they did the one thing you could say about you see this year.

They the effort is there, the execution often isn't.

Yeah, but it's so I feel for them because I want to like this group of players, I really do.

There's some really likable guys on this team that you want to reform, but there's Again it's just the top line.

Result in sports is what matters.

And they're eight and eight.

Are they going to finish for five hundred this year?

I don't think so.

The NCAA tournament is just a distant pipe dream at this point seven years.

We have been there seven years.

Again, that's something that you would be a crisis in two thousand and ten if under Cronin or Bobby if we had gone seven years without tournament.

First, But and I want to like West, I really do want to like West, and I want to believe in what he says.

But I just and but the results aren't there.

They're eight man, that's that's not You're a power conference team, that's five hundred and you have you don't have a good win.

You had a chance to have a season change.

You win over Houston, really and you couldn't execute down the stretch last night.

Maybe a chance to change the narrative, if just for a couple of days.

And whether it's they didn't execute or they got unlucky, whatever you want to say, it just it just felt like another it's just another punch in the stomach at this point.

Yeah, no, it's unfortunately, Sam, thank you for the phone call.

I haven't gotten I haven't gotten um to it.

Like that loss, that loss last night hurt as as well.

And look, if if they win that game, I don't think anybody is gonna go, you know what, here come the Bearcats or if they win that game, I don't think anybody is wondering about what they need to do to make the NCAA tournament, Like that's that's going out the window.

But I do think Man and like Wes, has gotten a lot of heat and a lot of criticism, and a lot of it aimed at postgame comments and and that that criticism, I think for the most part, has been deserved.

But his overall point, especially after the West Virginia game, was we're gonna stay together, We're gonna hang in there, We're not gonna quit.

I think yesterday was proof of those things.

But it doesn't matter when you lose.

And that sounds really harsh, But I talked about the top of the show about like I felt bad for the players, and to a degree, I felt bad for Wes because, Okay, they're not a tournament team, and yeah, man, fans are angry and should be, and the booze are alloud, and I think they're going to be loud tomorrow or are allowed on Wednesday.

And Wes is fighting for his job, which his job status is very very much in jeopardy.

I think he would be the first to admit that.

But when they didn't win the game yesterday, I thought that would have been at least a tangible piece of evidence backed by victory that what Wes said is going to happen is happening.

The worm is going to turn, the effort's not going to be compromised.

They're gonna hang in there, They've got each other's back.

All that stuff that sounds silly.

Had they found a way to win that game yesterday, which I thought for the most part they played well enough to win, then you've got you've got something that happened that you go, Yes, this is what I've been talking about.

We're we're not gonna jump ship.

We are gonna hang together, we are gonna go us against the world, and instead it's just a familiar result that just it fuels the frustration and anger that's already out there.

And so yeah, man, I do think it's completely fair.

Man Like, when losing continues, you wonder like, how does a coach keep his team together?

We did that with the Bengals this year.

Right, Hey, the offense is awesome, the defense is terrible.

How are they going to keep this team from fracturing?

And by the way, I don't think it seems like it did.

Like even when it felt like, all right, it's gonna be offense versus defense, it did feel to me like they hung together.

You wonder that in sports, well, in an era where like there's tampering and players can go from one school to the next, especially when there's a lot of conversation about the future of the head coach, you do wonder like, what's this going to look like down the stretch, purely from an effort perspective if the losing continues, And uh, it's a fair question.

Winning yesterday may not have made that question go away, but it would have been a chance to focus on something on the things that Wes wants people to focus on, which is how hard they play and you can't, you won't, and we're not.

Because that loss dropped him to eight and eight, it is eight away from five o'clock.

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Except Rob Manford is apparently toying with the idea of having an in season tournament like the NBA, no, thank you very much, or having a split season Terarn feel free to say no to that one as well.

What are we doing overthinking things?

Rob Manfred has come up with some good ideas.

Maybe he hasn't come up with them, but he has implemented some good ideas.

The pitch clock has been awesome.

Banning the shift, which I was opposed to, has been a positive.

Uh.

I'm never gonna be a big fan of the runner on second base starting in the tenth inning, but I think most fans like it.

It's where TV ratings are up, attendance is up.

It feels like the sport's in a much better place now.

We're going to have a lockout in a year which made torpedo everything.

So I'm never gonna be one of these baseball fans that just you know, gets mad at change because that's what we do.

Having a DH in both leagues I think is a good thing.

It was silly to have two sets of rules for one league.

An in season tournament, come on, Like, I think it's been an added attraction in the NBA.

I'm not saying that because my team won it.

But there has been a meaninglessness attached to the NBA regular season for a while, and player effort in regular season games was an issue, and to a degree, I think still is.

Where you have people who are consuming the sports that don't believe the players are giving their full effort in regular season games, and so they wanted to create something to incentivize players to play harder in the regular season.

No such issue exists in Major League Baseball.

Nobody is worrying about player effort in regular season games.

If anything, it's still the sport where the regular season matters most in a split season scenario, which obviously what comes to mind is the eighty one player strike, where the Reds did have the best record in the sport but didn't make the postseason.

Can you even imagine what the sport would look like?

It's already seemingly a foregone conclusion that a lot of different teams are gonna make the postseason every year.

Like the Dodgers team wins its division in the first half of the season, won't it be fun watching that team play for nothing in the second half of the season or play for seeding slash home field.

Come on, how about this, get to work on your CBA.

Let's get rid of labor talk for a decade.

Let's penalize owners who don't spend.

Let's get more people owning baseball team.

So we'll try and forget about other gimmicks.

Coming up on FI five o'clock on Moeger.

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It's four minutes after five o'clock.

This is ESPN fifteen thirty Moeger.

Thanks for listening.

Hopefully your week is off to a great start.

The Mark Pope Show is coming up in an hour.

I appreciate the folks who have called our show today for doing the heavy lifting.

There's an NFL game tonight.

I I don't want to sleep through it because I'm genuinely interested in seeing what the Pittsburgh Steelers try to do against that Texans defense.

But there's there's a part of your friend Moe who would love to go to bed from about seven o'clock tonight to eight am tomorrow and badly needs it.

So to speak, nobody cares about that.

Five point three seven four nine fifteen thirty is our phone number.

Let's see here, Mike, go ahead, you could start the hour.

You're not supposed to do that, but we're doing it anyway.

Go ahead, You're on ESPN fifteen thirty.

Well, God bless you for that.

Thank you so much, mister Agar.

I appreciate you.

You're very welcome.

Karon Bland appreciate you as well, so do I.

Interesting discussion of what Sam about the Bearcats.

I can't say anymore.

You guys covered it.

I'm just.

So damn disappointed.

This has gone on too long now.

Man, it almost has me in tears.

I'm so upset about it.

I had big hopes for this year, Mo, you did.

Too, Yes, I thought this would be a I thought that this would be a team.

I didn't believe without any doubt that they were an NCAA tournament team because the way last season unfolded but created some well earned skepticism.

You looked at the player they had last year, I thought that was going to be a tournament team.

They didn't come close, but I did believe that they would be in the conversation.

I thought we would spend February in early March at least talking about where they are in relation to the field, looking at stuff like bracketology through the lens of how close or how far is Cincinnati from making the dance.

To not even do that is very disappointing.

Yeah, it's just I you know, and we all like West, I mean, what's not a like about today?

You know, we get too personal with some of this stuff, and he's doing his best.

It's just not I don't know, how can we lose all these games down the stretch they don't execute getting blown out?

Yeah, they they don't.

They don't execute.

I mean that's that they've been in every single one of their losses.

The Louisville game, you know, as the Cardinals were down, Ford time extended the lead to twelve, and so is the second half unfolded.

I never really thought they were gonna win that one.

But okay, the rest of them, they've had a chance, and yeah they've they've had some bad breaks, that's I think undeniable.

But at the end of the day, they haven't executed.

And I think unfortunately, there's lots of seasons that go down like this.

But when the season is judged solely by do you make the tournament or don't you and how you answer that question is going to determine whether or not you keep your job, It's it's viewed differently, and that's that's certainly the case this year with this team.

Yeah, and everybody to a man seems to be more optimistic about me Grip Patino's junior chances with his team than West with his team.

That's just the popular consensus right now.

Unless you're blind, No.

I think I think with Richard Patino, you understand I've I've maintained this for a while.

I think it's never been more difficult to be a head coach in a new place.

I also think it's never been easier to turn things around on years two and three.

Now with Wes, they did move to the Big twelve year three.

I think, with exceptions, the way Xavier has played this season.

Look, they they got They've been blown out at home a couple of different times.

They've they've lost some games like Marquette that you could argue they should have won.

But I think for the most part, the way that team has played, and there's a talent issue there, right, Richard Patino has been the first to acknowledge they need better players, they need more Big East players.

But I think the way that they have played and the rate at which they improved when it looked like things were going to be really hopeless back in November and early December, makes you believe that when the talent is there, that that program is going to be in really good shape.

Yeah.

I truly believe it, because again I just keep saying, you don't live with rich Patinos senior all these year and not learn a lot of stuff, big time, big time.

You have to assimulate, so you know, just.

Kids drove in your brain so many times sitting around his dinner tables.

Okay, onto the NFL, if you'll give me a minute, please from the Rams secondary is trash.

I don't know what's happened, but they got to do something or they're not going to win that game against the Bears.

Uh.

Because Matthew Stafford, Now he gave Bryse Young a low class on how you do it at the end the other day, which is understandable with his experience, but nonetheless that that game should not have been that close.

I don't I don't.

I don't really disagree.

I think what was interesting about that game for me was more folks walked away from it impressed with Carolina than they were LA.

And LA won the game, and I got that, like I felt, I felt exactly the same way.

I think with the Rams, you you wonder about the secondary, and you always wonder about special teams.

Special teams were a problem on Saturday.

Special teams have been a problem all season.

Yep.

And I have it.

Well, you've probably heard this nickname now for Caleb, it's Chaos Caleb.

The more Chaotic gifts, the better Cave Caleb gifts.

This guy is unbelievable.

He had two of the best throws I've seen in years in at one game the other day.

He is unbelievable.

That throw he made going to his left and his feet were off the ground and that thing.

Was a start.

Yes, unbelievable mode.

Yeah, it feels like.

It feels like the perfect marriage of quarterback and coach with Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams.

Now, Ben Johnson was higher because of his play calling acumen.

With the Detroit Lions, it feels like and they've got some some some skill guys right, But it feels like the perfect marriage of quarterback and coach.

And I think Chicago and the Rams is going to be a blast.

Now.

The level to which Green Bay choked I don't think should be overlooked.

It is.

I was listening to the Bill Simmons podcast this morning where he was rolling through the way green Bay.

So the way Green Bay has lost all these playoff games with the twenty ten championship kind of right there in the middle.

If you go back and look at their playoff losses this century, they all look and feel like that game on Saturday Night.

I would agree.

Yeah, I mean, history doesn't lie, and I don't.

I mean, so, how does this so does it always end up on the coach?

Is it with Bor's fault?

I mean I can't believe that.

Yeah, I didn't know.

I didn't.

I didn't put that game so much on on the floor.

I didn't put that game.

But you know, I do understand how it works.

And while I think you watched the Green Bay Packers, they're I think what they've they've topped out at a seven seed since twenty twenty one, if I'm not mistaken, So they've they've typically been the last seeded team in the NFC.

So the ceiling has been that high in the regular season, and then they've lost some excruciating games in the postseason.

Should have beaten the forty nine ers two years ago in the in the title game, you know, the year before that, lose to San Francisco on a on a night where their offense just simply didn't do anything.

But they've they've had some excruciating postseason losses.

I get why Matt Lafleur's under the microscope.

I also feel like because of what he has done with quarterbacks since Aaron Rodgers moved on, I think he would be I think he would have maybe not his pick of jobs, but there would be a lot of teams interested.

I think.

So tonight's game, well, Shanahan's got to be the coach of the year.

He's doing this with the second string people.

The guy that made the big play for them last night.

That that defensive line one was from the Hilltoppers of Western Kentucky, which I was very proud of.

So tonight's game Tech and then I know, you gotta go Texan's Pittsburgh tonight, Well, Aaron, here you go, buddy, four man rush seven deep and coverage all.

My good luck.

Yeah, I don't know how the Steelers score against him.

The Texans have lost two games since Week four on the road this year, giving up fifteen and a half points a game.

Second and overall defensive doa DVOA.

And if you look at the Steelers, all the names they have on defense, they've They've been pretty average defensively for much of the season.

I don't know how the Steelers sustain anything offensively.

And even though the Texans have offensive consistency issues and an offensive line that isn't great, I still think they control the game.

I think the Texans win, and then you know, I think the conversations about Mike Tomlin are interesting, and I say this objectively.

Everybody understands what this man has accomplished.

But we're talking about going on a decade of playoff of futility for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

It's a remarkably stable franchise.

They've had three head coaches since the nineteen sixties.

They don't just blow through coaches.

But it I think the conversations about him going into next year, whether they extend him, whether or not he decides to pivot to TV, whether he decides to leave with an opportunity to go coach elsewhere based on negotiating a settlement, whether or not they fire him, whether or not they bring him back.

I think are going to be really interesting.

I don't know how they get anything going tonight offensively, even at home.

Final either and Josh.

Can Josh Allen win at Denver?

That's my question.

Yeah, Denver's defense has been terrific for much of the season.

There was some regression in the second half.

I still I wonder about, you know, lack of explosiveness, lack of a downfield threat.

But Josh Allen nearly scored, nearly scored on a ten yard tush push yesterday, which would have been one of the coolest touchdowns I had ever seen.

You hate the tush push, you want outlawed.

Doesn't bother me.

It's a football play, don't bother me.

Kind of goofy though most it's kind of anyway.

I'm too I'm too old and gravy.

Al right, thank you, thanks for the punk.

Tush push doesn't bother me, Mike.

Josh Allen nearly scored.

They tried the tush push from just outside the ten and when he I'm sure you saw it.

You got to the goal line.

They originally ruled him in and they replay moved the ball back to like the half yard line, but nearly scored from ten yards out on a toush push.

I don't know if in the history of that play we have seen anything similar.

If we have, I simply do not remember.

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Don't forget the Mark Pope radio show is coming up as soon as we're done at six, then it's the NKU Coaches Show, Big night of coaches shows.

H By the way, we didn't mention this on Friday Friday.

We were all about Duke Tobin's press conference, the mega press conference, the hour long press conference.

What's interesting quickly about that as a as a quick aside to what I was about to mention in there, it was interesting to me how many folks seem to get mad at the Duke Tobin press conference, as if they legitimately expected a I don't know a different type of message.

And it was also interesting to me how many folks listen to Duke Tobin and took him as smug or adversarial.

I didn't love the general message that was sent, which I thought was status quo remains.

We're not going to increase the size of the scouting staff.

We're not necessarily going to change how we do things because hey, we've had success before.

I didn't think he was adversarial.

I didn't think he was condescending.

I didn't think he was standoffish.

I didn't think he was smug.

I thought he did two things.

One he went out of his way to mention that he had traded for Joe Flacco, and the other was, you know, if you want to take it as defensive, to take it as defensive.

But he referenced what he believes are some successes and accomplishments that are on his resume or have at least happened to the Bengals on his watch as evidence as to why, you know, they're going to continue to do the things they do now.

I don't love that, but I didn't think Duke was performatively bad.

I didn't think he was adversarial, didn't think he was antagonistic, didn't think he was overly defensive, so to speak.

I just think he tried to use some of what he perceives as successes from the past as evidence that his way and their way is the Bengals, their way of doing things, is going to prove to be successful.

We'll see ultimately if that's the case.

But I thought the way some interpreted just his performance during that press conference was interesting because I sort of had a different take.

We were talking before the top of the hour about the UC game.

Yesterday, the Bearcats lose to UCF and last week Wes Miller's postgame shows sort of overshadowed, so to speak, the performances by his team in games against Houston and West Virginia.

On Wednesday, on his Coaches show, he apologized and I talked about the emotional nature of his press conference, and you know, nobody's happy when they lose, and he wasn't singling out anybody in particular, and that's fair.

I thought his postgame yesterday with Dan and Terry was insightful.

It was maybe not matter of fact, but he went out of his way, I think, to talk about some strategies towards the end, the way the game unfolded.

All of that.

It's it would have been awesome for them to win that game yesterday.

And I say this as a UC fan but also a fan of I don't know storylines changing.

Have they won that game yesterday.

Nobody's putting him in the tournament, nobody believes the season is going to be turned around.

Nobody is gonna un do or unsay the things they've said about the state of in the direction of the Bearcats basketball program.

But it's one thing for a coach to talk about, Hey, it's us against the world and we're going to stay together.

It's something else to have something tangible that suggests that what he said is going to happen is happening.

It's like the Reds making the playoffs last year.

Getting in is the sixth seed and losing in two games to the eventual World Series champion in real time might not be that much of an accomplishment, and after the fact might even be less of an accomplishment, but it is at least something you can point to, something tangible that you can point to that what you're doing is working.

Wes's message as poorly received as it was, as poorly relayed as it might have been, but his message after both the Houston game and the West Virginia game was We're staying together.

All the noise that's out there, much of which I think has been very fair, quite frankly, but all the noise out there, we don't care.

Our guys are hanging in there.

Our guys are staying together.

That rings hollow when the losing continues.

That rings hollow when the results aren't there.

Yesterday, I think it would have been cool for the result to be there to at least say that what this coach was talking about ended up being reality.

Yeah, they did hang in there, they did hang together, they didn't give up, and the effort's not been compromised.

And instead it's another loss.

And I I get it, man, Like nobody wants to hear about your effort when you're not winning.

Nobody wants to hear about how your team is taking on the world when they're losing games.

I get it.

But like watching the game yesterday, I thought, like, man, these these guys haven't quit yet.

These guys aren't hanging it up.

These guys aren't mailing it in.

They do seem to be playing for each other.

And have they won the game, perhaps it would have validated a lot of the things that Wes talked about after about the Houston game.

In the West Virginia game, they play Colorado on Wednesday.

Decent Colorado team twenty six after five o'clock mentioned before the Duke Tobin press conference.

It may not have accomplished all that much, but I do I do believe this.

Well.

It might not have made you feel better about the Bengals doing things differently.

I thought there was a refreshing, A refreshing look into Duke's perspective.

Maybe you don't find that all that useful, but I do think the dynamic that has been in play forever with this team as it relates to who the front facing people are has been interesting.

Zach Taylor has to talk to the media multiple times per week and at times answer questions about the thing that he's not that directly responsible for.

What I think is going to be interesting now moving forward is if what we saw on Friday becomes at least partially the norm.

I don't think you're ever gonna see Duke Tobin or anybody else that's not the head coach be a news conference regular, But I guess I would ask after kind of ripping off the band aid and doing an hour Duke Mike Katie, was that that bad?

I don't love the message that was.

Since I do appreciate somebody delivering the message, I don't love how that press conference made a lot of his feel about the Bengals conducting their business differently.

But at least it was somebody in a position where they oversee the roster talking about how they build the roster, some of the processes that they believe have worked, and I don't think there was any real negative to what happened on Friday.

I don't think could cost them any customers.

I think if you were out on the Bengals, you're still out on the Bengals, Or if you were still all in and believe this team is going to fix their issues and get it turned around.

I don't think that Friday necessarily changed your mind.

I don't think it did, but I guess I would ask, like Duke, was was that that bad?

I mean, I'm sure it wasn't the most fun thing to do to answer questions about a season that went sideways, but everybody survived it.

And it doesn't always have to be an hour long media mega conference.

It can be a twenty minute Q and A.

There should be more of them.

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It's being reported by a number of outlets the Reds have signed free agent right handed reliever Pierce Johnson.

I don't believe the Reds have ever had a guy who has a first name of Pierce.

He's thirty four years old, spent the last three years with the Atlanta Braves.

Last season the area of three point zero five in sixty five games.

I nearly when I was jotting down sports headlines, I nearly jotted down his win loss record.

But we don't reference win loss records on the show, so I didn't do that.

Reds Fest is this weekend downtown tonight.

It's the final wild card game of the NFL Playoffs, the Pittsburgh Steelers as home underdogs hosting the Houston Texans.

Coverage on Fox Sports thirteen sixty begins at seven point thirty.

Tonight.

I saw John Harball's interviewing with the Atlanta Falcons.

John Harball, the obviously now former head coach of the Baltimore Ravens, is reportedly vetting teams.

He has been conducting preliminary and extensive phone calls with the Giants, Titans, Browns, Raiders, and Cardinals, but this one with Atlanta was his first formal interview, so there you go.

Best of luck to him.

John Harball went to Miami the Miami RedHawks twenty ninth in the AP Top twenty five Men's College Basketball Poll.

Tonight it is the Richard Patino Radio Show at seven pm on fifty five KRC.

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The Mark Pope Radio Show is tonight at six on ESPN fifteen thirty.

The NKU Coaches Show is tonight at seven o'clock on ESPN fifteen thirty, as well FC Cincinnati News.

On the eve of preseason training getting underway, the Orange and Blue assigned forward Tim Barlow Tom Barlow, not Tim Tom Barlow, to a contract to the twenty twenty seven season.

He's thirty years old.

It's been the last couple of years with the Chicago Fire.

Fifty MLS regular season game scored five goals.

Reading this from Queen City Press, which is the newsletter that Laurel Faylor does, that is so so very good.

And the Columbus Blue Jackets have fired their head coach, the Jackets moving on from Dean Evanson as well as assistant coach Steve McCarthy, and they have hired Rick Bonus as the team's head coach, most recently served as the head coach of the Winnipeg jack prior to that, two plus seasons with the Dallas Stars took them to the Stanley Cup Final in twenty twenty.

The Columbus Blue Jackets have had I'm doing this like off the top of my head, like ten head coaches in their existence.

Their existence only goes back a little bit more than a quarter of a century.

Like they had Todd Richards for a couple of years and he was okay.

They had our guy towards front of the show, John Tortorella, for four and a half five years.

Beyond that, it has felt like they hire a new head coach every other year.

Sometimes the head coach they hired and never coaches a game, like they hired Mike Babcock and then the players didn't like him because he wanted to see their cell phones.

Columbus Blue Jackets in last place in the Metropolitan Division, trying a new head coach, which has been there.

They do not seem like the most well run organization.

I say this as a very casual fan, but they do not seem like the most well run and stable organization.

But they do have cool looking here twenty four away from six o'clock five point three, seven four nine, fifteen thirty.

We did not get to a pulp question today.

What are we doing?

No pulp question at MOGAR got to come up with one very quickly thanks to United Heartland Insurance.

Make sure you go to uhi ns dot com.

It's interesting.

Duke Tobin took the mic on Friday and has been in everybody's cross crossairs for you know, the last number of months.

This has been one of the more interesting Bengal seasons because it feels like this is the first time that public iyre is being aimed at Duke Tobin, who has often operated whether it's been in times good or bad, in anonymity not so much anymore.

Duke Tobin and Zach Taylor often get lumped in with each other, Duke and Zach.

They're bringing back both.

I kind of separate the two, and I'm probably in the minority here.

I feel lukewarm about Zach Taylor.

Where I don't think he's a clown show of a coach, I also don't think he's one of the elite coaches in the sport.

It would be unsurprising to me if the Bengals moved on from Zach Taylor to see him get interviewed elsewhere.

Part of that is a reflection of the market and the sheer number of teams that every year seem to have openings.

This year, we're swapping out a quarter of the league, if not more.

Based on things that happen here over the next couple of weekends, it wouldn't surprise me if the Bengals moved on from Zach Taylor, if he got interviews, experience head coach has been to a Super Bowl like it would be unsurprised.

It would also be unsurprising to me if Zach Taylor got let go and he didn't get another chance to be a head coach.

I think the league probably looks at him luke warmly, so to speak.

But I do as I've watched the postseason.

Like Number one, I guess there's two Bengals ish takeaways.

One is to look at the AFC and you see how flawed it is.

The untested Patriots who look stuck in the mud offensively last night, the Denver Broncos, who have an offense that is as inconsistent as any in the sport, the Buffalo Bills, who don't have a great downfield threat, the Houston Texans who have offensive line and consistency issues on that side of the football, and the Steelers who just have at times a dreadful offense.

These are very flawed teams.

That doesn't mean that some of them aren't good.

That doesn't mean that whoever comes out of the AFC isn't going to be a deserving conference champion.

But it does I think highlight the wide open nature of this conference and how frustrating it is that the Bengals are again on the outside looking in.

I also think you could look at some of these teams in the postseason.

One of the guys who I think would have claimed to Coach of the Year is Kyle Shanahan.

The San Francisco forty nine Ers have lost a ton of players this year, lost George Kittle during the game yesterday an achilles injury.

Yet they go on the road and beat the defending world champions.

Now, the Eagles were a deeply flawed team, at least on the offensive side of the football.

But like Kyle Shanahan now has kind of built a brand as being a guy that just figures out a way to make do with what he's got, especially on the offensive side of the ball.

He gives them an advantage.

He gives his team an advantage, and they had one yesterday.

Ben Johnson gives his team an advantage.

Sche maddic developmental.

I would argue to a degree mindset, there's some creativity that they have on offense, there's an advantage.

Mike Vrabel might be the coach of the Year if it's not Kyle Shanahan or Ben Johnson.

With Mike Vrabel, there's an aggressiveness, there's a motivational there's a toughness, identity there.

He just looks like the kind of guy that just naturally gives his team an advantage.

Sean Payton's going to the Hall of Fame.

Terrific offensive mind, Jamiko Ryans in Houston, terrific defensive mind.

Like I think you're talking about coaches where it feels like because of philosophy or identity or just expertise on bear side of the ball, it's not that hard to articulate what advantage they give their team with Zach.

As much as I focus more on the people who put together the roster, I think it's fair to wonder compared to some of those guys I just mentioned, what kind of advantage does Zach Taylor bring the Bengals?

Is it schematic?

Is it motivational?

Is it with regards to an identity?

Is it clear expertise on his side of the football?

What is it?

And by the way, this isn't you know, gratuitously banging on Zach Taylor for years on this show.

I think it's been well established.

There's a lot of things I think Zach has earned credit for.

Most of them feel like they're in the past, but they're there.

But what advantage does Zach Taylor give the Bengals.

And I'm throwing this out there, and it's not like his job is under scrutiny.

He's going to be the head coach of this coming season, year number eight, whether we like it or not.

But isn't that a fair way of looking at it.

He is tasked with beating a lot of these guys who I think it's easy to identify with a clear advantage that they give their organization and that they give their football team.

Zach has coached for seven seasons.

I'm not sure the same thing is as easy to identify and articulate with him.

Hey, anything you might have missed on this show, you can go get on the iHeartRadio app.

We talked about the Duke Toobin press conference on Friday.

We reacted to it with our friends Kelsey Conway and Robert Wintrup.

If you missed either of those conversations or both, go listen to them right now.

They're on the iHeartRadio app, also on my page at ESPN fifteen thirty eight dot com.

Also, we had a fun conversation.

Indiana a week from tonight will play for a college football playoff national championship.

I think Miami has more of a puncher's chance than they're being given credit for.

But that Indiana team.

Them winning consecutive college football playoff games is not a surprise.

Them winning consecutive college football playoff games with the ease with which they've won them is stunt.

Offensively, they are something to behold.

They're so well coached, so well put together.

Indiana football is sixty minutes away from a national championship and favored over the Miami Hurricanes.

We had a conversation on Friday with Olivia Ray, who knows more about IU football than anybody used to be on Channel five now does TV in South Bend.

Fun conversation with her.

If you're an IU fan, you want to listen to it.

It is also available on the iHeartRadio app.

Podcast of our show, Our Service of Long Neck Sports Grill.

You got three locations in Northern Kentucky, each one of them awesome for the NFL Playoffs, college basketball or the National title Game a week from tonight, Wilder, Hebron and Richwood, We love Long Necks.

Sixteen away from six o'clock.

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An accident has now been cleared away on Hamilton Avenue over at Roosevelt Avenue westbound two seventy five.

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Another crash northbound seventy one before Fighter Off on the left shoulder and on Warsaw Avenue.

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This report is spinning to go eleven from six and the award winning Mark Polpe radio show WOLCOA.

That's beating Missippi State on Saturday night and that airs from six to seven, right before the NKU Coaches Show.

Darren Horn's team splitting a couple of games in Wisconsin, beating Milwaukee and then losing a tough one to Green Bay yesterday.

That show is seven to eight tonight on ESPN fifteen thirty.

It is interesting and talking about the Bearcats, where it's been seven years since you see played in the NCAA Tournament in twenty twenty, John Brandon's first year.

Obviously COVID canceled the tournament.

We don't know they I think they were in a position where had they won the conference tournament game that they were supposed to play and against either UCF or USF, they get in.

But that was very much up in the air.

They were the quintessential bubble team that season.

Twenty one didn't come close, twenty two didn't come close, and so forth.

Regardless of who the coach is next year, with patients already running very thin, imagine the dynamic next season like this year, and it's it's it's the frustrating thing.

I'm sure if you're a Wes Miller, where as a coach, you're a little bit more locked in on the granular details of your team and who's getting better, who can you count on, where's improvement coming from?

What adjustments can you make.

If you would have told me back in November that Shanabayev would be playing six minutes in games that matter in the Big twelve, I would have said, something has gone awry, And obviously that's what feels like happened here.

You want to focus on all those smaller detailed sort of stuff.

You want to smoke us.

You want to focus on the basketball part of this, how your team is playing, what it's doing to put itself in a better position to win.

And all outsiders care about and understandably so understandably so is do it win enough games to have your name called on selection Sunday?

And obviously when you're eight and eight, the answer is is going to be no.

But that's uh that game yesterday, each one of them, and I started the show by saying this, each one of those games in a vacuum can be explained, can be excused, you can rationalize when you add each of them up.

There are just some of the same recurring themes.

Lack of execution, inability to make the key play and get over the hump, and that obviously was the case yesterday.

Obviously was the case yesterday, and losing to UCF Tomorrow.

On the show, our friend Paul Danner Junior is going to be here because it's Tuesday.

Paul was at the Duke Tobin Mega Press conference.

He has done what I think is always an interesting piece, his annual Free Agent Guide, and this is about the Bengals pending free agents for the Athletic dot Com and it's it's always something that's kind of provides a glimpse into the likelihood that certain players are gonna sign.

I think it's a good read.

Go read it now, because we're going to reference in tomorrow at three o'clock talking about guys like Dalton Reisner, Joseph Osai, and yes, Genostone.

That is tomorrow at three o'clock.

We are done.

Make sure you stick around for the Mark Pope Radio Show.

Anything you might have missed go find on the iHeartRadio app and have an awesome night.

Thanks to Tarum Bland for producing, and thanks to you for listening.

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