2/26/25 - The Mo Egger Radio Show - Mo Egger

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Art listening ESPN fifteen thirty, Cincinnati's sports station.

Speaker 2 (00:05):
Yes, that's us. Good afternoon on mowegor. This is ESPN
fifteen thirty. Thank you for listening. I hope you're having
the greatest Wednesday ever ever. We have a loaded hour,
we have a loaded show, and by six o'clock you
might have a loaded host. We will see show. Rundown
is available on Twitter thanks to Emery Federal Credit Union,

(00:27):
your credit union with heart since nineteen thirty nine. Go
to EMERYFCU dot org. Gets on Twitter at mowegar. I
think I already said that. Coming up in just about
fifteen minutes, we'll go to the Combine in Indie. Sambrook House,
Summer Sports is there. He's done a mock draft. He's
gonna do more mock drafts. He'll talk about his mock
draft coming up in just about fifteen minutes. Chris Whittingham

(00:48):
from mls'son past Apple TV in thirty minutes and Rick
Brooring later this hour as well. Last night you see
played Baylor in what was a really good college basketball game,
a college basketball game with consequence, every bracketologist seems to
think Baylor is gonna make it, but their resume is

(01:10):
not complete. The Bearcats are scratching and clawing to make
the NCAA tournament. So you had the consequences of March.
You had a good atmosphere, you had just a really
good game. You had a couple of pretty good teams.
You had a bit of a revenge factor, you had
a bit of a desperation factor. But more than anything,
you had a UC team that played pretty well. Bearcats

(01:33):
beat Baylor last night at fifth third, and it sets
the stage for Saturday, right Cincinnati taking on Houston. We
will talk about that here in just a bit. First,
let's hear a bit of Wes Miller from the postgame
show with Dan and Terry last night.

Speaker 3 (01:48):
Just that we kept playing, you know, just that we
kind of kept playing. I thought, you know, I didn't
think we played. I thought we played pretty well there
to finish the first half, the last seven minutes.

Speaker 4 (02:00):
The first half, I think they only score four. I
thought we.

Speaker 3 (02:03):
Were defense, was aggressive, it was active that I thought
we did a really nice job.

Speaker 4 (02:10):
And then obviously we had some They're.

Speaker 3 (02:11):
Switching a stagnate you a little bit, and we got
good players, so you switch and you let them attack
it but we had some bad possessions. But I thought
in the first half we kind of broke through, executed
a little bit, got a couple of easy baskets, ball
popped around. In the second half, I didn't fin like
we had any of that. I mean, I felt like
we were just kind of struggling to compete on both ends.
But what I liked is that the kids didn't waver

(02:33):
and they didn't like, like lose their will to compete
and win. They kind of just kept playing. I didn't
like how we played, but I liked the mentality to
stay with it. They didn't Sometimes when we've had moments
like that this year, you know, we've let that affect us,
and we didn't let us affect We didn't let it
affect us there.

Speaker 4 (02:49):
So that's what I liked. But there's a bunch of
stuff in the second half I didn't like.

Speaker 3 (02:54):
I thought I thought data made you know, he dribbles
the ball off his leg there and the right sideline,
and then I thought he comes down in the next
shot he gets, he steps up and shoots hit a
couple of steps behind the three with confidence. I thought
that showed a lot of toughness. His loose ball there
at the end is incredible. I got on Siemas, I said, Siamas,
I'm not always perfect with the clipboard, but I got

(03:14):
us a touchdown there to end the game.

Speaker 4 (03:16):
And you didn't throw it.

Speaker 3 (03:17):
But I thought that, I thought that that loose ball
sealed it. And then you know, you know, obviously as
he's getting the tip out without foul, and I thought
was a really nice heads up play.

Speaker 1 (03:28):
All right.

Speaker 2 (03:29):
Nice encapsulation from Wes Miller with Dan and Terry last
night on seven hundred WLW sixty nine to sixty seven,
a game that came with a lot of nervous moments,
A game where I thought the turning point was really
when nord Chad Omier picked up his fourth foul and
then ended up sitting on the bench for six minutes.
U Seed didn't really pull away from Baylor, but they

(03:51):
I think his absence prevented Baylor from getting over the hump.
And I don't want to know what that game looks
like if he doesn't sit for as long as he did,
or if he just doesn't get his fourth foul. He
is almost exactly the kind of guy that I wish
you see had The Bearcats are playing well, now understand
what I said there. I didn't say they're a great team.

(04:11):
I didn't say they're playing great. They're playing well. They've
played better. They've played better over the last couple of weeks.
They've won five out of seven, even the games they've lost.
I thought they played fine against Iowa State, and I
liked how they played for about a twenty minute stretch
against West Virginia. Hated how the game ended, Hated the
last seven forty four. But if you look at the
last few weeks, the last seven games, there's been a

(04:32):
lot more good than bad. There's been the emergence of
Josh Reed. There's been Gisel James reminding us why we
were so excited for him to come back. There even
last night, even a few glimpses of Dan Skillings. Dylan
Mitchell was terrific last night. Aziz Man Diego was really
good last night. You heard Wes Miller talk about some
of the plays that daide A Thomas made. They got

(04:54):
Simas Lukosh's back. This team is playing well. It's heartbreak
to a degree how well they're playing. Because I put
this on social media after the game last night. That
was a terrific basketball game, and it was the kind
of performance that if you see it in early January,

(05:16):
you are not really talking about what it means for
the tournament resume. You're talking about what it means for
what the team's ceiling is. That's kind of the fun
part of watching college basketball, even early in the conference schedule,
right like, you see a team play a game like
that and they were not perfect. It's not like the
Blue Baylor out, but it has come on the heels

(05:38):
of this team playing well over its last seven games.
And if it's not February the twenty fifth, which is
what last night was, you look at a performance like that,
you look at a stretch like this, and you go, man,
what could this team be a month from now? What
could this team be in early March? What could this
team be two months from now? Unfortunately, you can't do

(06:03):
that because who knows what they're gonna be doing a
month from now. Who knows what they're gonna be doing
three weeks from now. It's late enough in the season
that you're not so much talking about what the on
court ceiling is. You're talking about what the win means
in relation to the tournament and their net ranking and

(06:23):
the bubble and other bubble teams, and more than anything else,
does it indicate that they have a prayer against Houston?

Speaker 5 (06:34):
Like I was.

Speaker 2 (06:36):
Psyched with the win, happy with how they've played, but
like driving home last night, wistful, Like if they play
like that in a game like that, if they play
like that against Baylor in Waco seven weeks ago, the
conversation's different. We're getting excited about what this season may
turn out to be. We're talking about what this team

(06:59):
can occome puplish. We're wondering, not are they gonna make
the tournament, but how tough are they gonna beat when
they're in the tournament. How tough are they going to
beat a beat when they're in the tournament. I meant instead,
it's nice win up next to Houston and they almost
have to win that game. It doesn't take anything away

(07:22):
from how they played, doesn't take anything away from how
they've improved. And I do think this team has improved,
but is it too little, too late? It's very much
like the twenty twenty four Bengals. Tony talked about this
with Austin on Sincy three to sixty that that game
last night felt like the Bengals Broncos game. The Bengals
Broncos game was an unbelievable football game, with an unbelievable ending,

(07:46):
and played in an unbelievable atmosphere. And when I walked
out of what used to be called Paul Brown Stadium
that night, I wanted to focus solely on those things. Instead,
along with the excitement for the win and the appreciation
of the win, was the wistfulness. Maybe that's the right word,

(08:10):
maybe it's not, but there was this sense of, God,
you know what, this would have been awesome had it
truly been the punctuation point to a run toward the postseason,
or had it been the latest in a series of
games like that that didn't make the team's record five
hundred but put it in a position to win the division.

(08:35):
Last night had a similar feel, And I can't help
but think that when the regular season is over, or
once Selection Sunday is coming gone, that those of us
who love UC basketball, who also love the Bengals are
going to do exactly what we did at the end
of the Bengals season. When as Kansas City was laying

(08:58):
down against Denver that Week eighteen game, your mind drifted
back to the Patriots loss, and your mind drifted back
to the Chiefs loss, and your mind drifted back to
so many individual moments and so many the games they lost,
whether it be how they lost to the Chargers, of
the two losses to the Baltimore Ravens, maybe some of
the moments, and the loss at home to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

(09:19):
If you're a Bengals fan, you did that. And I
just can't help but think that if you're a Bearcat fan,
because this team is playing well, and because they're maybe
teasing us just a little bit that we're going to
do something similar, I hope not. I hope they can
get this done. Nothing would make me happier on Earth
than them pulling off the upset on Saturday. They have

(09:42):
played well, they really have, and deserve credit for it.
Wes Miller, who's been a PINIONTA for the last couple
of months, I think, deserves a measure of credit for
how his team has coalesced and not jumped ship in
the aftermath of some really awful, ugly and sightly performed missus.
And they're at least still in the conversation every bracketologist,

(10:05):
none of them have them in the tournament. But at
least they're including them in the conversation to make the tournament,
and that's a credit to how they've played. And it's
been fun to watch, but it's agonizing to think that
it maybe is a little bit too little, too late.
We'll see fun game though. Last night. Five point three

(10:28):
seven four nine fifteen thirty is our phone number. The
Bengals have gotten grades from the NFLPA. I'm gonna call
BS on their F minus. Sorry. I know when when
we see things like this, we're supposed to whale away
at the Bengals. I'm not lending my voice to the chorus.
And I want to see if you are where I

(10:49):
am with T Higgins. But first let's go to the combine.
Sam Brookelse is one of my favorite draft analysts NFL analysts.
He joins us from Indie Next on ESPN fifteen.

Speaker 6 (10:58):
Thirty, Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 7 (11:03):
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Speaker 8 (11:34):
This report is sponsored by RAP.

Speaker 2 (11:36):
Minutes after three o'clock. This is ESPN fifteen thirty on Moeger.
Reading a clock can be really hard, one of the
most difficult parts of this job. Chris Whittingham from Apple
TV on FC Cincinnati coming up in fifteen minutes, and
because it's Wednesday, our guy Rick Boring on the Musketeers
and the Norse coming up in twenty minutes. Paul Danner
Junior from The Combine in the five o'clock hour. Speaking

(11:59):
of the Combine, that's where a guy Sam brook House
is sumer Sports. He does the Draft FM podcast. He's
got a mock draft up for us suomer sports dot com.
You know we love mock drafts. It's we're just now
getting into mock drafts season. Sam kind enough to give
us a few minutes this afternoon. Can hap to know? Sam?
How are you?

Speaker 9 (12:16):
I'm doing awesome, man, I'm here in Indianapolis. I've had
shrimp cocktail. My finuses may never be the same. I'm
losing my voice talking all these people about draft insights,
trying to get the latest information. So it's been a
great time out here.

Speaker 2 (12:31):
All right, let's talk about your recent mock draft. You
did a one round mock draft, the Bengals obviously picking
seventeenth overall. You have them taking an edge player, Mike
Green from Marshall. Why do I want him?

Speaker 10 (12:46):
So?

Speaker 9 (12:47):
It's a really an excellent question because I've been trying
to solve that all day. A lot of people have
six plus edge rushers going in the first round. That's
what I think is probably going to be the number.
And I've been trying to differentiate between all these guys
right now as an analyst. As an analytics guy, I'm
not confident any one is better than the other one.

(13:07):
But talking to a lot of people about Abdo Carter
at the top of the draft, he seems to have
separated himself with his mix of size, athleticism, production in
college and contact playing at the highest level and playing
a lot of games. Mike Green, for example, as the
production and he has the athletic traits to be a
successful defensive pass rusher. However, on the flip side, he

(13:30):
did play at Marshall. He played a sun Belt schedule.
That being said, he was great at the Senior Bowl.
He's immensely productive, and I think he would be a
good set up player for twenty twenty six to play
behind Trey Hendrickson and Sam Hubbard if they move on
to free agency. I think he'll be able to fill
that slot right after.

Speaker 2 (13:47):
So the talk to this point has been well, edge
is deep, and defensive tackle is deep. But we'll address
that position here in just a second. But edge is deep,
and so there's a guy like Mike Green you talked
about like the top six. Maybe there's not a huge
difference between those players. How steep is the drop off
from a player like this to a guy that they

(14:08):
can maybe get mid second round.

Speaker 9 (14:11):
So when they say that the edge class is deep,
I think it's particularly talking about that first round. I
don't know if it's going to go into you know,
Day three, Day four, excuse me, Day three, rounds four, five,
and six, where it's going to be super deep and
you're going to be able to get a guy that
can contribute. I do think There are guys such as
Josiah Stewart from Michigan who I really liked the Singer Bowl.

(14:34):
Princely U. I can't pronounce his name, but Princely you
from Ole, miss I think he's going to go probably
Day two early. He'll be an excellent edge rusher. But
I just think that the quality is going to be
a little better in the first round, even though there
is kind of a mush of guys in his middle
teams picks.

Speaker 2 (14:51):
All right, so let's slide inside and stay on the
defensive line and look at three techniques. Would you say
the same thing about the depth there?

Speaker 9 (15:00):
So very interesting that you say that I was considering
three positions of need that I thought they could be
able to get in the middle rounds. Defensive tackle was
the second one. Cornerback obviously probably the most pressing need,
but there's not a bunch of guys in that slot
defensive tackle. You know, you're talking about Mason Graham all
the way up at the top. But Walter Nolan is

(15:21):
a guy I really considered from my spots for the Bengals.
I ended up putting him more around his consensus rating
to the Ravens. But I'm really hearing a lot of talk,
particularly from laans zair Line of NFL dot Com, that
people are starting to think that Walter Nolan may actually
be the best defensive tackle athlete in this draft. The
problem is he lacks a little bit of size, but

(15:43):
in an attacking al Golden defense. I actually liked that fit.

Speaker 8 (15:47):
At Notre Dame.

Speaker 9 (15:48):
You know, they were playing with guys like Howard Cross,
for example, who was a little bit smaller but was
able to get penetration in a very active Marcus Freeman
Al Golden defense. And I think if that's going the meta,
the stereotype coming in about this defense, I think Walter
Nolan may be a fantastic fits all.

Speaker 2 (16:06):
Right kind of in passing you mentioned corner there, which
I think is a really interesting position because there are
a lot of players the Bengals have invested early round
draft choicest at that position, and yet maybe nobody that
you could say, God, you know what, this guy this
coming season, you can lock him in to fill this role.
There's a lot of uncertainty there, so and you can

(16:27):
tell me that I'm wrong if I am. But is
there is there a sense that maybe they can't find
somebody in this draft at that position, who can add
to that mix and help immediately in twenty twenty five.

Speaker 8 (16:39):
So it's going to be really interesting.

Speaker 9 (16:42):
Alongside my question about the edge rushers and the differences
between those guys, in which the answer with Albill Carter
seems to be in a different tier given his profile.
I wanted to know who are the Day two cornerback guys,
not necessarily the guys on the edge of the first round,
like Shavon Revel or Benjamin Morrison out of Notre Dame,
who may be able to help. And it feels like
there's not either a consensus yet people maybe haven't made

(17:06):
it that far in the prep or people are waiting
for people to separate using the combine the pro days
and diving deeper into the film. But I have not
gotten a good answer on this question, and I'm going
to keep asking it. But I think, you know, we're
already at this port portion of the draft season. I
think it's going to be tough to get dB help
or cornerback help on Day two or Day three unless

(17:29):
you trade up potentially right outside of the end of
the first round to get Shavon Rourel or Benjamin Morrison.
There are a couple of other names, a good cornerback
out of Florida State as well, but it just does
not feel like anyone is separating from the pack. A
name to watch out for from the Senior Bowl, however,
that I think will be in that range as Quincy Riley.
I like him, but I think he's going to be
more of a developmental prospect or a third cornerback.

Speaker 2 (17:50):
Sam brookw Suomer Sports senior analyst, former two lane linebacker,
host of the Draft FM podcast, has his mock draft
up at Suomer Sports. I do not think the Bengals
are gonna draft an interior offensive lineman in round one.
I do think you can make a reasonable case that
they should. And so one thing that I looked at

(18:11):
when I looked at your draft was how many interior
offensive linemen you had going in round one? And I
believe the answer is one that was Tyler Booker. Could
you make the case that maybe, if he's there, the
Bengals take him.

Speaker 9 (18:27):
So here's the interesting part is, I think there's only
maybe one or two certified tackles in this class. I
think a lot of these guys, particularly ar Mo Membo
from Missouri, could be an elite guard at the next level,
guys like Josh Simmons. There's a lot of discussion about
swing offensive linemen who have really been capable to provide
depth and also to fill in massive roles for teams that.

Speaker 8 (18:49):
Are kind of building up.

Speaker 9 (18:51):
Another interior offensive lineman that I think is gonna slip
into the first round, perhaps there's a lot of hype
behind him, is North Dakota State's grayz Abel, But I
think people are just drafting talent at the lineman position
rather than tackle or guard or this or that. I
think people are looking for guys that are probably tackles
in terms of build, meaning long arms, you know, the
stereotypical tackle position, but looking for the production in terms

(19:14):
of the analytics and also the profile to be able
to swing back into the guard position if possible, and
I think people are viewing that properly. Here's what I'll
note the it's an ultra deep year across free agency
and the draft at the interior offensive line positions. A
lot of people are talking about Trey Smith twenty five
million dollar apy. I really think you'll be able to

(19:35):
get down substantially lowered than that and perhaps fill in
a Pro Bowl level or certified starter level guy in
free agency for a pretty tidy cost. And then meanwhile,
you can go into the draft in rounds one, rounds two,
even in the rounds four, go ahead and draft a
pretty solid meat and potatoes offensive guard or offensive center

(19:57):
who can really contribute. So I think that the being
are going to be able to really address that need
in this entire off season. Whether they do they do
that in free agency or in the draft, I'm not
exactly sure yet, but they should be able to address
it at any point.

Speaker 2 (20:10):
What do you what do you do now? You go
back to Elmo's from or from cocktail? Or do you
switch it up?

Speaker 9 (20:15):
So I'm actually about to go to the Big Data Bowl,
which the NFL puts on for all the nerds out here.

Speaker 8 (20:21):
But you know, I went Monday and Tuesday at Saint Elmo's.

Speaker 4 (20:24):
Wow.

Speaker 9 (20:24):
I switched up a little bit. I got shrimp cocktail
the first day and steak second day. I got the
tomato juice, skipped out on the cocktail, went with a
pork chop, both excellent. I just need some veggies now, man,
I'm a little stopped up from all the meat.

Speaker 8 (20:38):
I gotta get right. Maybe I gotta go get a
salad somewhere.

Speaker 2 (20:41):
I'm at vius of the Summer Sports Expense Report. That's
I'm interested in that. I I might have to might
have to take you up on that. All right, Sam,
good stuff, enjoy the combine. We'll talk to you man.
Thanks so much, Thank you so much.

Speaker 8 (20:52):
Buy Bay.

Speaker 2 (20:53):
That's good stuff. Sam Brookales Draft FM podcastsoomersports dot com
former two lane linebacker, turned and twenty nine after three o'clock.
By the way, the Reds are playing right now and
they're playing the Angels. Both teams wearing red jerseys. It
saw one nothing Angels at the plate in the bottom
of the first inning. Do you know how the Reds
scored their run? Do we know what the Reds did

(21:15):
offensively to plate the first run of the game. I'll
tell you and we'll chat with Chris Whittingham next on
ESPN fifteen.

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This Cincinnati sports station.

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Sports headlines are a service of a Kelsey Chevrolet Home
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It's one nothing good guys. They have played one inning, Cincinnati,

(22:25):
scoring their run on an Li Della Cruz ground rule
double those nl MVP odds holding steady at plus twenty
two hundred. Yeah, tarn, give me the audio.

Speaker 11 (22:36):
Tyler Anderson to the plate at Ellie shocks one well
hit to deep center field. A Dell on a dead
sprint back to his infield. It's over his head. That's
gonna one hop the wall. McClean scores easily, day La
Cruze not stopping headed for third, and he dives in
safely with an RBI tripled a straightaway center field.

Speaker 2 (22:55):
Tommy thral Red's Radio Network and seven hundred WLW. That
is the good. The bad is Nick started today and
went just two thirds of an inning, which in itself
isn't that huge of a deal, I guess, but he
walked three guys and gave up a hit. Not exactly
pitch e fishing for Nick Lodolo, he had a hard
time finding the strike zone and was eventually pulled for

(23:17):
Simon Miller. The Immortal Simon Miller. Reds and Angels underway
right now. College gyps to night on ESPN fifteen thirty.
Kentucky is at Oklahoma, pregame at seven thirty. Also tonight
in the area, Ohio State's at usc Penn States at Indiana,
and the Dayton Flyers on the road this evening against
Rhode Island. Meanwhile, tonight's at the Soccer Venue in the

(23:40):
West End of Cincinnati. The CONCACAT Champions Cup continues. It's
FC Cincinnati battling Matagua. Now they're up for to one
in aggregate. That game last week was played in Honduras.
Tonight they're playing on the West End. A game will
start at six thirty. Pregame coverage on Fox Sports thirteen
to six will be at six o'clock. There you go,

(24:05):
five one three. Speaking of FC Cincinnati, we're supposed to
be I guess we could say we're in a holding
pattern for our friend, Uh, Chris Whittingham.

Speaker 12 (24:15):
I'm checking my text looking at my phone number. Yes,
Wednesday three thirty three is when we're supposed to be
chatting with Chris Whittingham, who called last week's FC Cincinnati
regular season victory over New York and is going to
be in Philadelphia on Saturday for FC Cincinnati versus the
Philadelphia Union on the call for that game on MLS

(24:38):
Season Pass, which is awesome. And Chris is a friend
of the show and typically joins us, And well he's
not here now, so filling the role and here to
answer all of our soccer questions is Mike, Mike, you're
on ESPN fifteen thirty. How would you break down FC
Cincinnati's MLS regular season opening victory over New York.

Speaker 10 (25:00):
Well, I'm not a soccer I'm not a soccer guy.

Speaker 1 (25:05):
I'm all.

Speaker 10 (25:06):
I'm sorry. They call it football, though it does make sense,
makes more sense in hush football name makes send it.

Speaker 1 (25:13):
Sure, Yeah, for sure.

Speaker 2 (25:14):
Well, Mike says, we're putting you on because we can't
get ahold of our guest. What is on your mind?

Speaker 10 (25:21):
Well, several things.

Speaker 13 (25:22):
I liked it.

Speaker 10 (25:23):
I listened to a sports talk show late last night
out of Tampa, well not late, but guy's name was
Tom Krasnecki. He's been on down there for a while
on six twenty am. Got a drive since three to
seven or something, and evidently he's pretty good buddies with Gruden.

(25:45):
He had a nice, like twenty minute interview with John Gruden,
and I just I just love John Gruden, Chucky, whatever
you want to call him.

Speaker 1 (25:53):
I just loved.

Speaker 10 (25:53):
I think the NFL is better off when John Gruden's
coaching in the league. And once he gets his kate settled,
evidently he'll be back. I think he'd have probably already
got a job if he didn't have this thing hanging
over his head. But he he's very bullish on the Bengals,

(26:14):
very bullish, he said, if you know, they just same thing.
He've been saying, that they draft properly and hit a
few things in free agency. But he said he thinks
they ought to keep Higmans. If they can't, he said,
because nobody in the other thirty one teams can match
that duo. They just can't. So that was encouraging. And

(26:34):
he said, remember that show he used to have nowhere
he had that he'd interview the college quarterbacks.

Speaker 2 (26:39):
Yes, and Hurdam's quarterback camp. Yeah, that was awesome. Yes,
Gruden's quarterback camp and the one specifically with Andrew Luck
was terrific. RG three was terrific. They got to a
point where they were like they had on every quarterback
who was in a certain draft class. I didn't have
much of a stomach for some of those guys, but yeah,
that was that was a good show. I think John
Gruden's the NFL's most overrated coach of the twenty first century.

Speaker 10 (27:03):
Yeah, I think he's overrated too. I just think you
I just think he's a fun guy. I think he's
full of them. Well that's that's for darns.

Speaker 2 (27:10):
I think he's I think he was. I think he's
a fun personality. But his last his last six seasons
as NFL head coach, he went seven and nine, five
and eleven, eleven and five, four and twelve, nine and seven,
nine and seven, four and twelve, seven and nine, eight
and eight. They make fun of Jeff Fisher for being mediocre.
The last decade of John Gruden's career, which obviously there
were ten years in between. John Gruden was Jeff Fisher

(27:32):
esque the poor More.

Speaker 10 (27:34):
I'm surprised you didn't ask your your ex draft expert
about our boy, g Hodd Campbell.

Speaker 2 (27:42):
Well, I I want to the problem is, you know,
we when we go along with guests, you get mad
at me that we don't take phone calls. So I
had to tell Sam, we're only going to talk to
you for eight minutes.

Speaker 10 (27:54):
Oh well, mind bad.

Speaker 1 (27:55):
I'm ultimately responsible.

Speaker 10 (27:57):
I'll accept that. But I was looking up the word jihat. Interesting.
It says a person that likes to struggle, that likes
an endeavor, that that's anacious blah blah blah blah. If
you google the word, it's it's.

Speaker 2 (28:13):
What what is the what is the word again?

Speaker 10 (28:17):
G Hodd g i h a D. That's his first name, Jihadd, No,
not g I'm sorry, j I h a d pronounced jihad.
And it gets into some deep religious stuff, also with
the Muslim religion. But anyway, it talks about being a
warrior and you know, being an eternal struggle and blah

(28:40):
blah blah. So it sounds like they named him to
be carried through with his parents name it. But I
wanted to bring up a Red history thing really quick.
In nineteen seventy right be where I went to Vietnam,
I got to go to that to the first Canada
World Series at the Orioles, and I swear to you know,
if we're Travenson didn't steal one hit from the Reds.

(29:02):
He stole a half a dozen, especially from Johnny Bench
in that first game that Palmer pitched, but Lee May
led off the game with a three run homer off
of not let off the game, but in a first
in he hit a three run homer off Palmer. Reds
were up three zip and ended up losing that game.
But you know, people forget we were in the World
Series he lost in seventy were in the World Series

(29:24):
and seventy two lost to the Eights Great Series four
games to three. So what the Reds were in those
what four or five series in the in the seventies, Well.

Speaker 2 (29:33):
They were in the series in seventy seventy two, seventy five,
and seventy six lost the NLCS and five games to
the Mats. In seventy three and lost the NFCS and
the Pirates in three in seventy nine. You're actually factually wrong, though,
because they scored in the first inning. And I don't
know why I know this. They scored in the first
inning on a Johnny bench hit. Lee May would hit

(29:55):
a two run homer later in the game and they
would still go on to lose. They led the game
three nothing and would still go on to lose four
to three.

Speaker 10 (30:03):
Yeah, okay, you got me. Remember they called you always
do big Boppery, the big Bopper. He was a big guy.
He had a really short compact swing. It was really
for a big guy. I don't know if he choked
up or not. I can't remember. I know you got
to go and tire of boring people.

Speaker 2 (30:20):
Thanks both, all right, thank you very much. We heard
from Chris Whittingham. Mike was not prepared, uh to fill
Chris's shoes. We heard from Chris Whittingham, and but you know,
we got to get to Rick boring here and so
tearing my guy said, Chris, you were late. He gets
it too, merit. But he has agreed to join us
at four oh five. So if you have been spending

(30:42):
the last ten minutes going damn it. I was here
for Chris Whittingham. Wait just a little bit longer. He's
going to join us at four oh five. Uh first, however,
Rick Brooring on the Musketeers and the Norse.

Speaker 6 (30:55):
Next Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty traffic.

Speaker 7 (31:02):
From the UC Health Traffic Center. Around forty percent of
cancers are preventable. Lifestyle changes and screenings can make a difference.
Call five one three five eighty five UCCC lack lane
blocked from a disabled vehicle northbound seventy five at Western Avenue,
southbound four to seventy one at Grand Avenue. It's another
accident that's got traffic slow from Memorial Parkway and on

(31:25):
Ohio Avenue. It's an accident over at Warner Street. Police
there on the scene. I'm at exelic with traffic.

Speaker 2 (31:32):
This put awesome last night in the fourth quarter. That's
what's no of the NBA. Twelve minutes away from four o'clock.
This is ESPN fifteen thirty one Moegger On Wednesdays, we
are joined by Cincinnati's King of Facebook, Rick Boring, who
also runs a website, Musketeer report dot com. If you're
a Xavier fan and you're not subscribing to Musketeer Report
dot com. Then let's be honest, you're you're probably not

(31:54):
really a Xavier fan. That in itself is a significant
undertaking to run that website, but then you add to it.
His duties as the color analyst on NKU radio broadcast,
Rick Boring will be calling the nk YOU Purdue Fort
Wayne game tomorrow night in Fort Wayne, Indiana. He is
also part of the Skinny Podcast, the host of the

(32:15):
Darren Horn radio show. He also is part of the
NKU Coaches Show, and on every other Thursday, he drives
a lift. Rick Boring is with us, how's it going.

Speaker 8 (32:29):
I'm doing well?

Speaker 1 (32:29):
Now are you?

Speaker 2 (32:30):
I'm doing great. I understand you're waiting. You're waiting for
Jim Kelch to pick you up as we speak.

Speaker 13 (32:36):
That's right. Well, I pushed it back. I was like, look,
I got to do this interview with MO. I don't
want to be like loading things into the car while
Terren's calling me. Said let's just push it back a
few minutes.

Speaker 2 (32:45):
You know, I appreciate you giving us a priority. Let's
talk about the Musketeers. How much of what they have
done to put themselves in a position to play Creighton
and have this game mean a lot as it relates
to the NCAA tournament. How much of what they have
done as a reflection of Xavier getting better and playing well,

(33:05):
and how much of it is a reflection of playing
bad teams in the Big East's great question.

Speaker 13 (33:12):
I thought you were gonna hit me with the usual
is Xavier a good team or not to start off
our interviews, so you mixed it up on me.

Speaker 8 (33:18):
I wasn't quite ready for that.

Speaker 13 (33:19):
But I think that's the big thing about this Saturday's
game though. That's what it tells us is it's like,
okay right now. By the eye test and by the metrics,
it seems like this team is playing better basketball as
they finally put four wins in a row together. But
at the same time, the schedule set up for them
to do that. It was teams that they were favored
to win against. It was games that you felt like

(33:41):
they probably should win. Now, maybe you don't expect them
to win all of them, which they did. But yeah,
that's why everyone is pointing to this game against Creighton
because they want to believe that this team has turned
a corner, and it's just kind of hard to say
that when the best win to point two is probably the.

Speaker 2 (33:59):
Win at profit, how do they beat creating this go round?

Speaker 13 (34:05):
Well, they've got to find a way to contain Ryan Kulkbrenner,
you would think, I mean, that was really the big
thing in the first matchup against Creighton. You know, they
lost that game by nine, and Ryan Kulkbrenner scored twenty
nine points on twelve to seventeen shooting.

Speaker 10 (34:20):
So he was so efficient.

Speaker 13 (34:22):
I mean, I don't know that you really have much
of a chance of beating a team when they're that efficient.
And by the way, they also shot like forty five
percent from three in that game two.

Speaker 8 (34:32):
So Zaeger's going to have.

Speaker 13 (34:33):
To come up with some type of defensive scheme and
also hope that Creighton just isn't shooting as well because
they're playing on the road and not in the friendly
confines of their gym, which they typically shoot so well at.
So I think that's where it starts. But that's a
lot easier said here when you and I are talking
than it is defending the seven foot one, two hundred
and seventy found Ryan Kulkbrenner.

Speaker 2 (34:54):
I was, I was talking about this as it relates
to UC at the top of the show, because the
Bearcats are playing better, and you know they have a
huge game that they're not likely to win on Saturday
against Houston. And I have a feeling a lot of
us who love UC basketball when the season is over
are going to be sifting through a whole lot of
what ifs. If we are doing something similar with the
Musketeers when Selection Sunday comes and they're maybe just on

(35:17):
the outside looking in, what is the biggest what if?

Speaker 13 (35:21):
Mo There are seasons, nothing but what if when you
look back at it, I mean, there's so many close calls.
I think the ones that you're going to point to
mostly are the games at TCU, at UC and at Yukon.
All three of them were right in a row there
to start the month of December, and all three of
them were games that they were in position to win

(35:43):
and let slip away on the road. Had they gotten
any of those, you'd probably feel like they're on the
right side of the bubble right now at least, And
if you win a couple of them then then really
you feel safe.

Speaker 8 (35:55):
So uh yeah, I.

Speaker 13 (35:56):
Think those are going to be the ones that they
look back to the most because all three of those
games felt like you had a real chance to win them.

Speaker 2 (36:03):
Rick Boring Musketeer Report dot Com will have a Saturday's
game covered Xavier versus Creating at four thirty. Meanwhile, NKU
was on the road final road game of the regular
season for the Norse as they battle Perdue for Wayne
and then Senior Night on Saturday for NK. You will
you get misty eyed on Senior Night because there are
a couple of dudes who are playing their last game
who have been a part of this program for a

(36:23):
long time.

Speaker 13 (36:25):
Yeah, I mean I'm concerned, that's for sure, Like it's
gonna be hard.

Speaker 8 (36:29):
I don't know.

Speaker 13 (36:30):
Darren Horton played a pretty cool last night when I
asked them about that on the Coaches Show, But you know,
I'm a little bit concerned about what do you do
when you look to your bench and you don't see
Sam Vincent and Trey Robinson anymore in the huddle with Yeah,
I think that's going to be a big step for
the Norse to move past those guys. I mean, obviously
they lost Mark west Warwick this past year, the school's
all time leading scorer. But you felt pretty good about

(36:51):
the fact that you still had those two coming back,
and now you're moving on from those And it's not
just the fact that you're moving on from those guys,
but Darren was talking about it during Lane Night's Coaches
Show that those were two of the last typical recruitments
he had where you knew him for multiple years in
high school before they committed. You got to know their
families really well. And I also wonder mo in the

(37:12):
current transfer portal era and anil era of the sport,
is it two of the final four year or in
Trey Robinson's case, five year players that we'll see in
this area or at NKU. I don't know, so yeah,
it's going to be stab from that perspective.

Speaker 2 (37:30):
Well, and it's interesting because we had Sean Miller on
the show this week, and typically I would look at
a guy like a Dalen Swain and I would want
to ask the coach about like, well, you know, God,
with the improvements he has made this year, what do
you think about next season with another off season of development?
And you almost can't ask those questions because the coaches
don't know. I mean, he he might know specifically with Dalen,

(37:53):
but you almost can't ask those questions because in many respects,
maybe the coach knows the guy is not going to
come back, Maybe the coach has no real idea if
he's going to come back. Maybe the coach doesn't want
the guy to come back. I that's just my problem.
And I'm I'm all for player movement in NIL, and
I mean, I like ninety percent of what's happening in

(38:13):
this era of college basketball, but that part of it,
and I think it's worse at a quote lower level,
like the Horizon League kind of sucks.

Speaker 13 (38:22):
Yeah, I mean here here's the problem though, Like if
you're an NKU, in a lot of ways, you're kind
of hoping you're good enough that your guys are going
to move on and go to the next level and
secure the bag, so to speak, at the high major level.
So in a way, you're kind of shooting for that
idea of being almost a minor leagues for the big time.
And Darren Horns talked about it, like, you know, they

(38:43):
they supported Mark was work one hundred percent when he
went to Missouri, and they'll do the same for the
next guy that has that opportunity. And it's it is
kind of unfortunate because, like you said from a fan
base perspective. You love to get to know these players,
and you fight for them for years, watch them develop.
It stinks to see just as they're they're putting it
all together, to see them move on.

Speaker 2 (39:05):
At at Xavier on senior Night, they give the players swords. NK,
you could do something similar, will they?

Speaker 13 (39:13):
I think it's always been like a poster or picture
of some sort of sorts.

Speaker 2 (39:18):
Cooler the swords of This is the coolest senior night
gift in college basketball.

Speaker 13 (39:22):
I will agree with that the sword is a pretty
nice touch. Maybe maybe the Norse will have to come
up with something of their their to.

Speaker 2 (39:29):
Be like that. They've got swords in the logo, Like
Xavier can get away with it and it's good. It's
it's a cool gift. But Norse the swords. They can
give them a Viking hat too, that'd be kind of cool.

Speaker 13 (39:40):
Yeah, the Viking hat, the galla horn, the capes. There
are a lot of things to go with here.

Speaker 2 (39:45):
You you wrote about I gave you a Facebook assignment.
You wrote about the best uniforms in college basketball. Have
you gotten much pushback?

Speaker 10 (39:54):
Uh?

Speaker 1 (39:54):
Not really pushback.

Speaker 13 (39:55):
I've gotten some other really good suggestions that people threw
out there and I couched it with saying, like, I know,
I'm not thinking of all the best uniforms in college basketball.

Speaker 8 (40:03):
That's an impossible task.

Speaker 13 (40:05):
But here's where the ones that like immediately jumped into
my mind when I thought about it, as soon as
people started sending me some others, like, for instance, the
the nineties Kentucky uniforms, the cat scratch or icicle uniforms
like Tony delk wore.

Speaker 8 (40:19):
I love those.

Speaker 13 (40:20):
The white version of those I would have included that
probably had I thought of them.

Speaker 2 (40:23):
All right, Two worst ever, same era Kentucky's denim uniforms
and the current Pittsburgh ones when they were black jerseys
with that big yellow pea on it.

Speaker 13 (40:33):
Those are very bad, I would say, Right States current
black jerseys with their old school logo of like the
the Raider with the acts and you can't really tell
what it is on the front. That is maybe the
worst jersey in all of sports.

Speaker 2 (40:47):
Wow, all right? Would you ever say that Wright State
had nice uniforms?

Speaker 8 (40:52):
Yeah, they've had, They've had some good ones. That one
is not it.

Speaker 2 (40:54):
So what's the assignment for this week? Because I forgot
I gave you two.

Speaker 10 (41:00):
Expansion of the NCAA turnal.

Speaker 2 (41:01):
Oh yes, hot topic. Everybody's been weighing in on this.
All right, well I'll read it. We'll talk about it
next week. Travel safe to What are you You and
Jim gonna hit Fort Wayne hard tonight?

Speaker 1 (41:13):
Yeah?

Speaker 13 (41:13):
Where was Fort Wayne ranked on the most romantic lift?
I can't, I can't recall. I think it's maybe tense
in the league. So not a lot of romance going
on here in Fort Wayne.

Speaker 2 (41:22):
Don't need romance, but you know, I mean, I'm sure
you guys could find trouble in Fort Wayne, and maybe
you guys will write about that and talk about it
that on the broadcast tomorrow. Regardless. I appreciate the time
as always.

Speaker 8 (41:34):
All right, ma hit me up on Facebook.

Speaker 2 (41:35):
I definitely will Rick Brooring. You'll hear him call NKU
versus perdue Fort Wayne tomorrow at seven o'clock and of
course his website Musketeer Report dot cole. I hope he
and Jim have a safe drive. I've been to Fort
Wayne once in my life, on my way to Kalamazoo.
Chris Whittingham is going to join us, or at least
he says he will, coming up at four oh five

(41:58):
on ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports Station. Hey, you run
a business in Cincinnati, but you're maybe kind of.

Speaker 8 (42:03):
Unsure Cincinnati's sports station.

Speaker 4 (42:07):
That's us.

Speaker 2 (42:08):
It's four oh three. This is ESPN fifteen thirty on
Oeigger good if Ben, thank you for joining us today.
In thirty minutes. Kevin Gerhart Bearcatz Center, who was at
wrestling the other night. I am looking forward to that.
He is back for another season anchoring UC's offensive line.
And I'm gonna call BS on the Bengals F minus.

(42:30):
If you haven't seen the NFLPA grades of each team
for a bunch of different categories. Bengal's got some good works,
got some a's in some categories. They got an F
minus in one. I'm gonna call BS on it. Reds
are playing right now. Mike Trouch's went yard. It's won one.
Reds and Angels. FC Cincinnati plays tonight in the CONCA
CAF Champions Cup against Matagua. That game is at six

(42:53):
thirty tonight on the West end of Cincinnati. They resume
MLS regular season play on Saturday night with a tilt
on the road against Philadelphia. The Orange and Blue in
what I read was the coldest game in the history
of TQL Stadium pulled out a one nothing victory over
the New York Red Bulls on Saturday night. Chris Whittingham
called that match for MLS Season Pass on Apple TV,

(43:17):
and he's gonna call the match this Saturday for MLS
Season Pass on Apple TV. And whenever he is behind
the microphone for FC Cincinnati Tilts, we get him on
the show with us. Chris is kind enough to give
us a few minutes. It's good to have you stir.
What's going on?

Speaker 1 (43:31):
Mo.

Speaker 14 (43:31):
My apologies for being a little late to this, but
I'm excited to be on and I can confirm that
it was very very.

Speaker 15 (43:39):
I've only just about redeeming the feeling in my hands.

Speaker 2 (43:42):
Uh well, the Apple TV broadcast made it look warm,
so congratulations on that, and you guys didn't sound frigid,
so good for you guys. But it was nice to
see them get three points because I think the weather
needs to be talked about because you take, you know,
the new additions to the game, which have obviously paid
dividends the players who didn't play them having to fly

(44:05):
back from Hon Doris, and then you add to it
the elements plus playing what I think is a good
New York team. To pull out three points on opening
night is not insignificant.

Speaker 14 (44:15):
Absolutely, And you're right about New York being difficult opposition.

Speaker 15 (44:18):
They press you and press you and press you.

Speaker 14 (44:20):
And it's a very difficult style to come up against,
especially on short rest. Your point about how difficult that
turnaround is when they play on a Wednesday night in
you know, Central American conditions, it's a lot warmer than it.

Speaker 1 (44:32):
Is back home.

Speaker 14 (44:33):
And then from what we got told, they didn't really
return to since that until Thursday night around seven eight pm,
And you got to turn around and play the Red
Bulls on the opening day of the season, which a
lot of fans show up and expect a good performance.
And those are very difficult circumstances.

Speaker 8 (44:47):
In some ways.

Speaker 15 (44:48):
The MLS season, particularly for the teams that are in
CONCACAF competition, is a real zero to one hundred. You
go from not playing a game in Cincinnati's case, for
about ten weeks.

Speaker 14 (44:57):
To playing three or four games about ten days, which
is roughly what it will be from that first leg
of the will Tagua series to the second regular season
game against Philadelphia. So you just get right into the
thick of the schedule and it's very difficult for Pat
Noonon to rotate and he's betting an. Evanders only just
come in for a week. So it was really impressive
to see how Cincinnati got the victor on the day.

(45:19):
And one of the things that they just do is
they win close games if the game is being decided
by a goal. Last year, I believe they won thirteen
of them. The year before they won fourteen of them.
It is remarkable how they just handled their business in
those sorts.

Speaker 16 (45:30):
Of games well.

Speaker 2 (45:30):
And you talk about handling your business, and you and
I have talked about Pat Noonan before. This was a
weird preseason and he even at one point expressed frustration
with the players who weren't there. The Lujo Acosta thing
hovered over all of preseason training. They make the trade
with Dallas late, they acquire Evander, and I really did wonder,
you know, how are they gonna look to start the season.

(45:50):
They played in Honduras and played very well. I don't
think they played great against New York on Saturday, but
they played well enough. And I just I don't think
I gave Pat noon And credit for just figuring out
how to work through all the noise and put something
on the field that was good enough to win. And
yet he did it again on Saturday, right, and you
kind of.

Speaker 14 (46:10):
Go line by line, I guess, other than goalkeeper in
Roman Celentano, who has just been at ever present for
several years. Now, you look at that back three, they
still have Matt Miaska back from injury, They still have Nick.

Speaker 15 (46:19):
Cacklin back from injury.

Speaker 14 (46:21):
That that midfield is kind of coming together with Evanders
as the new number ten that shifts everything.

Speaker 15 (46:25):
Lucas Engel I think was a really good addition. I'd
left wingbacko.

Speaker 14 (46:28):
I thought it had a really impressive performance on the
opening day. And then in that forward line you had
Kevin Denke with Kubo and Evander who are still just
kind of figuring life out together.

Speaker 15 (46:38):
So it definitely was a lot of change. And the
most important you.

Speaker 14 (46:42):
Can do in those situations is keep a clean sheet,
as they did, and I don't really think they gave
away too many chances where you really fear that they
were going to concede a goal. And then from an
attacking point of view, I thought at least you saw
the biggest thing you want to see for as much
money as was spent. It was roughly twenty eight million
dollars between Evander who host twelve million, and Kevin Danke
cost sixteen.

Speaker 15 (47:02):
You want to see flashes, You.

Speaker 14 (47:03):
Want to see signs that these are really talented players
that can anchor a team that some people are tipping
to in the supporter shield, that are right back in
it as MLS Cup contenders. And I thought those two
players give you a lot of signs that are signs
for encouragement. And to your point, it is a platform
upon which Pat Newton has provided for them that those
players can go and play and do their thing.

Speaker 2 (47:22):
Chris Whittingham is with this MLS season pass. Apple TV
has the Call Saturday Philadelphia hosting FC Cincinnati at seven thirty.
You and I, when you've joined me. In the past,
we've talked a lot about Lucco Acosta, and obviously he's
no longer here, and it's it's sort of effectively a
trade for a former MVP in exchange for a guy
who was an MVP finalist last season, and so the

(47:43):
comparisons are inevitable. I asked this of your broadcast partner,
Laurie Lindsay last week. I are a lot of folks
who watched Evander closely for the first time on Saturday,
or maybe in the CONCACAFF Champions Cup match in Honduras,
as somebody who has watched both and watched both extensively,
how do you compare the two.

Speaker 14 (48:03):
Well, I think Lucho Acosta is a little bit more
of the sun and I think that Evander is a
little bit more of maybe one of the stars, and
the team is kind of the central point. But Lucho
Acosta everything revolved around him. He got the ball in
every creative moment, it was his decision making.

Speaker 15 (48:20):
They got everything. Whereas Evander, I think we even saw
it in the game.

Speaker 14 (48:23):
Yes, the moments where he'll call for the ball for
himself and will take shots in long distance and that
will hit these Hollywood passes, but he'll also look to
play in combination with all the players around him, and
I think they are different styles of player that will
take some adjusting to. But the one thing you can't
deny about both of them, but certainly not Evander, from
what we saw on opening day, is a level of
creativity and a level of ingenuity and ideas that is

(48:45):
ultimately what you want out of a player in that position.
We saw there was this one moment where we kind
of received the ball, not make the player carab beyond
the other got fouled and set up a free kick
in a really good spot.

Speaker 15 (48:55):
I thought he played a.

Speaker 14 (48:56):
Couple of really good passes that opened up opportunities. They
were converted.

Speaker 15 (49:00):
He didn't get an assist on the day, But do
you know they're coming?

Speaker 14 (49:02):
And you know that he is going to be really
productive for the Cincinnati team because he was really productive
for Portland. Like you mentioned, he had that season that
made him of an MVP finalist. He had fifteen goals
in nineteen assists. You know that that level of production
is coming. I can understand though, from an e F
season Sinnaty point of view, Lucho Acosta was a league
MVP in some ways. He was the catalyst for going

(49:24):
from being one of the worst teams in the MLS
to one of the very best.

Speaker 15 (49:27):
And he is beloved around that area.

Speaker 14 (49:29):
And you can understand why in acquiring a player maybe
from the Western Conference, so you're not terribly.

Speaker 15 (49:33):
Familiar with Wait a second, why are we doing this?

Speaker 14 (49:35):
But Evander is the real deal, and I think you
saw signs of it, and I think the production is
coming in short order.

Speaker 2 (49:40):
H Philadelphia opens the season with a win in which
they score four goals. How good of the Union this year?

Speaker 14 (49:47):
Well, there was relatively low expectations for them coming into
the season. I think there was a real expectation from
a lot of people around the league that they're maybe
going to be at bottom three or four team in
the East. They changed manager. Jim Curtin was a manager
who had a ton of credit. Aron Mlsi was one
of the longest tenured. He was in Philly for ten years,
then made a decision to pivot and go another way.

(50:07):
I think the biggest thing is it's not going to
be terribly far off from a stylistic point of view
with the Red Bulls game.

Speaker 15 (50:12):
I think they want to.

Speaker 14 (50:12):
Play that very high octane pressing, direct, quick and make
life uncomfortable for Sea Cincinnati.

Speaker 15 (50:19):
I don't think that Cincinnati are overly wedded.

Speaker 14 (50:21):
To playing out from the back, and so I think
it'll kind of be one of those games that's hotly contested,
a lot of duels, a lot of intensity.

Speaker 15 (50:27):
But I think in some ways the style has.

Speaker 14 (50:29):
To be the star, and for Philly, their identity is
two things is that is that pressing in that ability
to go at teams and make life uncomfortable.

Speaker 15 (50:37):
But the other thing as well is bringing through young players.

Speaker 14 (50:41):
And already for match Day one there was two new
twenty or younger players that started along that back line
in Frankie Westfield, a new right back who's nineteen, a
new center back to Hea from South Africa who's twenty.

Speaker 15 (50:53):
Obviously, they made a ton.

Speaker 14 (50:54):
Of headlines for playing a fourteen year old, the youngest
ever pro player in the history of American sports last
year having Sullivan.

Speaker 15 (51:01):
They just bring through.

Speaker 14 (51:02):
They invested so much in their academy and they bring
through young players, so they're gonna come out you with
young legs, intense legs, and try and make life difficult.
I think because of the way that they'll play under
Bradley Carnell and their style, I think that they have
a chance to make the playoffs. I think that f
cly Cincinnati is probably a level above them. But it'll
be interesting to see after both teams won in the
opening day where both teams kind of find their level,

(51:25):
especially when presumably Cincinnati.

Speaker 15 (51:28):
Will be onto the next round of the Champions Cup.

Speaker 14 (51:29):
That will be a priority and with having played so
many games in so many days, can they deliver that
level of performance.

Speaker 5 (51:36):
But I think it'll be a really interesting test of
both teams.

Speaker 2 (51:39):
I hope it's warmer on Saturday in Philly than it
was this past Saturday here in Cincinnati. I hope we
can do it again. Man, thanks so much.

Speaker 15 (51:47):
I think they're anticipating mid forties, so that I appreciate it.

Speaker 2 (51:49):
For Michelsie Thattle, that'll that'll work very good. Thank you, sir,
Thanks Boll. That's our guy. Chris Whittingham, one of the
many outstanding voices of Major League Soccer on Apple TV.
The match on Saturday night at seven thirty from Philadelphia.
You'll watch it on Apple TV, and of course you
could listen to it on ESPN fifteen thirty thirteen minutes

(52:11):
after four o'clock ESPN fifteen thirty on Moeger. We have
we've been busy. We've been we've been busy. We started
by talking about the UC basketball game. I think I
think there's room for multiple truths. I think UC's game
last night, first of all, was a really good college
basketball game, really high end Big twelve college game. We're

(52:31):
not talking like two upper crust teams. We're talking about
two bubble teams. It feels like Baylor would be in
if the bracket were drawn up today, uc would be out.
That's fine, but two teams playing with a lot on
the line. Very good atmosphere. There were some shaky moments
with the officiating late in the first half, but by

(52:52):
and large terrific sporting event, well played game, back and forth,
a lot of uncomfortable moments. Bearcats made just enough plays.
Dylan Mitchell was awesome last night, like they're gonna need
every bit of that times ten on Saturday dayde Thomas
made some big plays, tones for dribbling off his foot
by making a huge three as these. Mandego's last two

(53:12):
plays at the end of the game like exactly what
we have been waiting for since he became eligible last season.
Really good game, great atmosphere, a lot of meaning attached
to it, and it comes at the end of a
stretch where you see is won five out of seven.
They have played well and I got beat up on
social media for saying after they played Iowa State extraordinarily

(53:33):
frustrating game. I thought they played well, they didn't win,
they got a tough whistle in that game, but they
also played a really really really really really good team
in their building. Sometimes playing well is not enough. This
team has gotten better, it's improved. It looks, for the
most part, like a dramatically different team than the one
that was floundering through games against Pyu on the road,

(53:56):
Utah on the road, certainly West Virginia at home. They
playing better. I think if they play the way they
did last night, or they play the way they have
during these last three weeks, if if we take that
and drop it into January, we're talking about it differently.
We're talking about this team's high end and its ceiling
and its potential and what they might look like when

(54:20):
they're playing in March. Unfortunately, we're not there, and so
I think there's I think it's very fair to acknowledge
they've gotten better. And by the way, that's a reflection
of the coach. Wes Miller takes some heat when the
team plays poorly, should get some credit when the team
plays well. That's how it works. The Josh Reed ascension
has been something to behold because it was totally out

(54:43):
of left field. It's been great, but then you look
at the calendar, it's February twenty six, They're seven to
ten in league play. They've already got eleven losses. They
have to go to Houston and beat one of what
I think is one of the best three teams in
college basketball on their own floor, and then win two
more games just to finish five hundred in the league

(55:04):
and have twenty wins. It's a really tough ask. It's
not unlike the Bengal season, where you just as they're
doing what they're doing late in the year, you appreciate it,
you talk about it, you get excited about it, you
cheer for it, but the entire time you're wondering, God,
where was some of this earlier in the season. Now,
to be fair, the Bengals beat up on bad opponents

(55:25):
late in the year. You see hasn't played and beaten
awesome opponents. But Baylor's pretty good. I just I feel
like the season's gonna end and we're gonna do exactly
what we did at the end of the Bengal season,
and look at so many of those games or individual
moments that if they go different, instead of being just
on the outside looking in, they're in. I hope I'm

(55:49):
wrong about this. Maybe they pull off the upset. Maybe
they win the next two after that, maybe they go
on a run in Kansas City, and we wake up
on selection Sunday knowing we're gonna see Cincinnati on the screen,
and maybe they lose the next three and it's a
mood point, but they're trending in the right direction on
the floor. It just doesn't feel like there's enough time

(56:11):
to make up for the hole they dug in January
five one, three, seven, four, nine, fifteen thirty is our
phone number. Uh, I'm gonna call it BS on an
F minus.

Speaker 6 (56:23):
Next Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 7 (56:29):
of cancers are preventable. Lifestyle changes in screenings can make
a difference. Call five one, three, five eighty five UCCC
westbound two seventy five. That is seventy five left two
lanes are blocked. That from a disabled vehicle southbound seventy
one between two seventy five and Feiffer Road. Getting reports

(56:52):
of debris in the right center lane and traffic is slow.
Northbound seventy five Mitchell Avenue to Paddock Road. I'm at
ease with traffic.

Speaker 8 (57:01):
This report is.

Speaker 2 (57:06):
I got to turn a microphone on. It's twenty one
after four o'clock on ESPN, fifteen thirty on Oegger. It's
been a hectic day here today, last day before vacation.
Maybe that's what it is. Gavin Gerhart is going to
join us at four to thirty five, UC center back
for another season, anchoring the Cincinnati offensive line. More on

(57:29):
the UC basketball team. More on college basketball coming up
in just a few minutes. This makes the Rounds. Every
single year, the NFLPA grades their report guard of every
single team. The NFLPA report card is it's obviously done

(57:51):
by the NFL Players Association that that kind of goes
without saying, and it kind of looks like like an
actual report guard where it covers a lot of diferent
categories right for every single team. Stuff that matters to
the players, Like the locker room. Bengal's got an A
plus for their locker room. The training room, Bengal's got

(58:11):
a B plus for their training room. The training staff,
Bengal's got an A minus. Uh, that's that's pretty good.

Speaker 17 (58:18):
Uh.

Speaker 2 (58:18):
Let's see their their weight room. NFL players given the
Bengals a B their strength staff, strength coaches Bengal's got
an A minus. That's pretty good. Uh, team travel, the
Bengal's got an A minus. Their head coach, Bengal's got

(58:39):
an A and like Zach Taylor ownership, they they got
a C. But this is the ones that stand out
to me. Food slash dining area f.

Speaker 10 (58:56):
Uh.

Speaker 2 (58:56):
The only team in the NFL ticket a F. I
could not tell you what the Bengals food and dining
area is like, I don't know. I don't know. They
got an F minus for treatment of families like, not

(59:16):
an F and F minus, not an F F minus.
What's outlined in the release from the NFLPA is this
the Bengals are one of only three teams that do
not offer daycare during home games and one of only

(59:39):
ten teams that do not offer a family room during
home games. The Bengals are the only NFL team that
fails to offer one of those two benefits. Players rate
the postgame family area four point six y nine out
of ten, ranking them thirty two out of thirty two teams.
The players feel that their team rarely organizes family of events,

(01:00:00):
which ranks them thirty two out of thirty two. Bengals
players feel like there is little to no effort put
forth when it comes to the organization's effort to support
their families. One player describes the treatment of families as quote,
almost disrespectful. Now are there individual players who have legitimate gripes. Sure,
far be it from me to tell them or anybody
else that their gripes don't have merit. But it is interesting, Tara,

(01:00:22):
do you have the audio from the Ross Tucker podcast
of Trey Hendrickson that we played yesterday. Uh, Trey Hendrickson
obviously wants a contract extension, wants a long term deal,
wants a pay raise, wants what he thinks he deserves,
and is owede as one of the best edge rushers
in the NFL, led the league in sacks last year,

(01:00:43):
and so obviously he's been talking a lot about the Bengals.
But listen to what Trey Hendrickson said, I think at
the end of this clip about what the Bengals have
done for his family. Go ahead and hit that how
far are you willing to take this contract thing? Wow?

Speaker 18 (01:00:56):
You know, ideally it doesn't get to that, because, like,
I really don't want to be a dist action for
the team. We've had multiple good conversations you know. It's
just a action speak louder than words, you know, and
that's how I played my game as well, even though
I am in trashed, you know. So hopefully it's something,
you know. I love Cincinnati. My wife got her residency

(01:01:18):
at the VA Hospital there, my son was born there.
I've had my most productive years in the National Football
League there. They given me a tremendous opportunity to represent
them with the Pro Bowl and now an All Pro.

Speaker 1 (01:01:29):
I love it.

Speaker 4 (01:01:30):
I love it there.

Speaker 18 (01:01:30):
I love the coaching staffs that I've made relationships with,
whether they're in the building or not. And you know,
moving forward, I would like to remain a bangle. It's
just some things in life, like long term security, being
able to tell my wife where we're going to raise
our sun and not have to worry about playing a
violent sport, and shifting of where we're going. That would
be ideal. But again, I want to help them win

(01:01:52):
a Super Bowl, and however that looks, if they have
plans to move me or keep me, that's up to them.
That's it's a tough organization from a contract standpoint, man,
because they've taken such great care of me though, like
they've done such an amazing job. I mean to tell me,
like being underrated. It was also like that in free agency.

(01:02:14):
You know, they had to take a chance and believe
in me. So I don't want that to go underappreciated,
you know, yeah, because you know we do have this
little uncomfortable business negotiations going on, but I don't want
it to They've taken care of me off the field
as well, you know, with my wife. They've been so supportive,
you know, they they you know, they've taken good care

(01:02:35):
of me.

Speaker 2 (01:02:35):
So so that's Trey Hendrickson, and again he's relating his
own experience, and maybe other players will have something completely
opposite of that to talk about. Maybe other players would
have something similar. The Bengals have a lot of players,
and the Bengals have had a lot of players, and
in no organization are you going to find everybody happy

(01:02:57):
or everybody dissatisfied. So I don't know. It's just it's
interesting to me that the day after we hear Trey
Hendrickson talk about like, hey, here, the Bengals have been
awesome to my family, this comes out that that's interesting
to me. All I can tell you is this, and
I'm I'm certainly not one who could ever be accused
of carrying the water for the Cincinnati Bengals when when

(01:03:20):
the way they do things has earned criticism. I have
had and will never have any problem talking about it,
being critical, making fun of it, like that's that's my job,
that's what we do. And there have been a lot
of things the Bengals do and don't do that I
think is completely completely inbounds when it comes to criticism this,

(01:03:42):
this strikes me as stupid. I think that's the that's
the best word that I can come up with. This
is stupid. They they because the players might you know, Okay,
well we're going to tell you what we don't have
here that we know that maybe the Rams have or
the Seahawks have or somebody else. But this is gonna
be taken as like, well, see it's the Bengals. This

(01:04:04):
is why you don't want to play in Cincinnati. They
they don't offer daycare during home games. Who cares? I mean, yes, boy,
it'd be nice if iHeartMedia offered daycare. They don't. As
a parent, it's my responsibility and my wife's responsibility to

(01:04:25):
get that taken care of. Same for a football player,
many of whom can afford nannies, They don't have a
family room. The postgame family area four point six y
nine out of ten. Would it be great if an
NFL team got eight pluses across the board for this
sort of stuff, Sure, But the stuff that I care

(01:04:48):
more about, actually, the Bengals rate pretty high. The training room,
the training staff, the weight room, the strength coaches, even
the head coach extraordinarily high marks stuff that has a
lot more to do with winning than treatment of families.
By the way, I've done this long enough, and I've

(01:05:10):
done this long enough to know stuff. I've come to
gather that when it comes to the Bengals cultivating a
family atmosphere, I've actually always walked away with the impression
they're pretty good at that stuff, really good at that stuff.
In some cases. I think this again, it's not to

(01:05:31):
say that the players are being asked to fill out
a questionnaire and they're doing so based on their own experiences.
But I think they're gonna get some criticism from outsiders
that's pretty unfair. They don't organize family activities legitimately, who cares.
They don't organize cornhole tournaments, they don't have family picnics,

(01:05:56):
They don't organize family activities legitimately, who cares? Does that
have anything to do with winning? I again, man, far
be it for me to be carrying the water for

(01:06:16):
the Bengals. And I'm sure some individual complaints are quite legitimate,
But I think they're going to take some cheap shots,
some gratuda shots, and I, based on what I've what
I've come to know, and based on what I think
matters to winning most, I don't think the majority of
those shots are going to be fair. It's our four

(01:06:37):
thirty Gavin Gearhart Next ESPN fifteen thirty, Cincinnati Sports.

Speaker 6 (01:06:40):
Station, Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 7 (01:06:45):
of cancers are preventable. Lifestyle changes and screenings can make
welstbound two seventy five at seventy five left two lanes
are block that from a disabled vehicle southbound seventy one
at Martin Luther King Junior Drive. It's an accident. Moved

(01:07:08):
to the right shoulder southbound seventy one Stop and go
traffic between Martin Luther King Junior Drive and Fort Washington Way.
I'm at Ezelk with traffic this report.

Speaker 2 (01:07:18):
It's either as well as US. ESPN fifteen thirty, twenty
six away from five o'clock. This is ESPN fifteen thirty
on Moegger Speaking of the Bearcats. Among the returning players
is Gavin Gerhardt. You might have seen if you were
watching WWE RAW the other night. Gavin is coming back
to the University of Cincinnati. He has been a team

(01:07:40):
captain for a while. His college football career started in
twenty twenty, his red shirt season. He has been an
anchor for some very good offensive lines at the University
of Cincinnati, and if you're a Bearcat fan like me,
you are thrilled to find out that he is going
to return for one more season at UC the Pride Xenia.

(01:08:00):
Gavin Gearhart kind enough to give us a few minutes
this afternoon. I appreciate the time. Gavin. How are you.

Speaker 1 (01:08:06):
I'm doing really well. How about yourself?

Speaker 2 (01:08:08):
I'm doing well, man. I have a lot that I
want to talk with you about. So you you made
the decision to come back to U. See your college
career goes back, uh quite a long time. I know
there's a lot of different things. You had to consider
a lot of different variables you had to weigh, and
maybe people you had to talk to. UH walk me
through the decision making that led you to choosing to

(01:08:29):
return to UC.

Speaker 1 (01:08:31):
I mean, this is in the everlasting, you know change
in college football. This is there's so much change, and
there was no doubt in my mind that this is
where I wanted to be and when I chose here.
I committed here when I was a sophomore in high school,
and I committed to play here for my entire college career.
I didn't committed to play here for you know, four
or five seasons. I committed if I'm going to be

(01:08:52):
in college football, this is where I'm going to be.
That's close to family, and I believe a lot in
this coaching staff, and I love how and coach Carlwell
as a coach, And having that opportunity to come back
and be a leader again for the not just the
whole team, but the offensive line in particular. With a
lot of new faces transfer wise, freshman wise, a lot

(01:09:13):
of new guys will be playing.

Speaker 8 (01:09:14):
Next to me.

Speaker 1 (01:09:14):
But I'm excited for the opportunity to come back here
for my sake and final season.

Speaker 2 (01:09:19):
Yeah, it's it's a lot different from last year where
we were talking about you know, everybody on the offensive
line coming back and this team benefiting from that continuity,
and now there's a lot of different moving parts. Is
that what's most different about this offseason compared to some
of the previous ones.

Speaker 1 (01:09:36):
Yeah, I would say so. I mean, I love the
guy that this this program has brought in, and this
coaching staff has brought into this program, and you know,
the offensive line wise, it's gonna be me and four
new guys out there. Really well threw you guys out there.
Dion's back too, and and Deon's done a really good
job developing these last couple of years, and I think

(01:09:58):
he's gonna have the best season at this season. And
then there's three new guys that have played a lot
of ball. You know, tarn Tios from Ball State. Got
to meet him during the recruiting process. A great family,
a really good football player. He'll be a really good
football player for us. And you know, I took that
weight and to get kind of on the chin that
I need to lead these guys no matter who's out

(01:10:21):
there with me, that it's my responsibility make sure they're
all going in the right direction, and I'll make sure
that happens.

Speaker 2 (01:10:26):
It seems to a degree. And I remember two years
ago when Luke Candrew came from Louisville to Cincinnati having
been with the previous coaching staff at Louisville. He was
so helpful and just teaching you guys the terminology and
some of the stuff you had to know. On a
more mechanic level. I would imagine you were doing some
of the same sort of stuff.

Speaker 1 (01:10:45):
Yes, for sure, definitely what Candre brought to the team
when he came here. You know, obviously the coaches do
a great job of getting us the game plans and
telling us how to run the plays and exactly what
we're supposed to execute. But some of it comes with
just being a kind of savvy football player, known the terminology,
knowing that regardless of what look the defense throws at us,
because there's always new looks every week, that you know,

(01:11:08):
it's gonna be a different call here and there that hey,
we didn't talk about in the meeting, because you know,
they could just throw whatever out there on us on Saturday.
It doesn't matter. So having him to help me the
last two seasons really gain all the information that he
had learned the first three seasons when he was at
Louisville coach chatting them, I think will be real helpful
for me to pass that on as I as I,

(01:11:28):
you know, enter my final season here.

Speaker 2 (01:11:31):
What is it going to be like for you this
year having the same quarterback as last season.

Speaker 1 (01:11:37):
I mean, it's gonna be really good. I haven't had
necessarily the same guy behind me since I've switched, you know,
transition to center with my after my second year. When
I first got here, it's been a different guy. I
would think every time I look back, if somebody knew
that was calling the plays rather that was in a
game or you know, during practice, it didn't matter. But

(01:11:59):
Swordsby's done a great job. He's taking a lot of
a lot of steps when it comes to leadership and
everything that we need. You know, other guys besides myself
and Dante that have established that in this culture and
this team. But he's done a great job so far,
and I'm excited for this season.

Speaker 2 (01:12:14):
Well, and I've got to ask about Dante and you
and I have talked about your your practice battles in
the past. I've got to think by the time you
get to the end of this season, you might already
be there now with the amount of time you have
spent practicing against each other, that you guys are like
an old married couple by now.

Speaker 1 (01:12:33):
Yeah, you could say that, that's for sure. I mean
he's been here for five and I've been here for six,
and we've gone at it regardless of what year was.
It's I'm seeing him every day in practice getting his best,
He's getting my best, and he brought the best out
of me. There's no doubt that having a guy like
that to push you every day and give you the
best look possible. I mean, he in all honestly gives

(01:12:54):
me better looks and I get in the game. When
I got there for a game, it's it's nobody that's
as strong as him and low with him and everything
that he brings to the table. But he has definitely
helped me elevate my game. I'm real thankful that he's
back here for a final season.

Speaker 2 (01:13:09):
When when you think of of last season and there
was a stretch where you guys are sitting there at
five and two and we're talking about, you know, the
Bearcats being a factor in the Big twelve race, and
then the way the rest of the season unfolded. Nobody
liked it, and offensively, it felt like a lot of
the things that kind of came easy to you early
in the season obviously not so much in the second

(01:13:30):
half of the season. What sort of things come to
mind when you think of how last season from an
offensive perspective, how last season ended.

Speaker 1 (01:13:38):
I think we started to maybe lose a little confidence
in ourselves. And I've had a lot of conversations with
the coaches and stores Bey, and you know, you make
some mental mistakes and you kind of get to yourself
and then you kind of lose that rhythm of what
you're in already. And I mean as the season progressed,
we we were doing the same things and practice and

(01:13:59):
whatnot and going about and the culture has changed so
much from you know, coach Satin their their first season
here and that that definitely wasn't an issue by any means.
I think that was our issue two seasons ago, and
hoping we admit that, and you know, we took that
to heart a lot of the leaders that that wasn't
going to be the case this year, and we started
really strong. We just got to figure out a way
to finish some of the close games. It's and when

(01:14:21):
you break down the film, it really is a couple
of plays here and there that I'm confident that we
really could have played for a big twelve championship if
we would have done the right things in the right time.

Speaker 2 (01:14:33):
Gavin Garrethart is with us returning to the University of
Cincinnati for a six season, have you even thought about
what a sixth season of college football? A sixth season
is a college A six year as a college student
is going to be?

Speaker 1 (01:14:44):
Like, No, I mean it started to thinking a little bit.
You know. When I was a young guy, I never
really thought I would have I knew that, you know,
because my freshman season was COVID years. I knew I
had that other year in the second season, I played
in four, so I able to have read shirt. But
I didn't necessarily think I was going to be here
for for six seasons. It's definitely taking a little tool

(01:15:07):
toll on the body, definitely doing a lot more treatment
than I was this first couple of years and getting
my body doing right. It's even the little stuff that, oh,
that doesn't feel so good when I'm doing stuff out
on the field. But you know, I'm willing to push
through it, to sacrifice whatever I can to help this
team win.

Speaker 5 (01:15:23):
I will.

Speaker 2 (01:15:23):
I will admit to you that I know very little
about professional wrestling, but I know on social media everybody
was excited that you guys were at RAW the other night.
Are you a huge wrestling fan?

Speaker 1 (01:15:35):
I grew up. I grew up a big wrestling fan.
My brother is a huge wrestling fan. I know Sorgsby
and Dante are huge wrestling fans. I think that was
gold Ay and myself and Joe's really first event. Besides,
I took my brother and Sorgsby and Dante. That's we
went to Roll Rumble about a month ago. Wow. Yeah,
they're big into it. And I know that. You know,

(01:15:58):
Swordsby's been a lifelong fan, And it gives me joy
to be able to do stuff like that with the guys,
and especially with my brother, even though I'm there with
my teammates. Knowing that I can, you know, have him
come along and something he really enjoys brings a lot
of joy in my heart.

Speaker 2 (01:16:12):
All right, Well, it looks it looks like fun. I'd
be blind you if I told you I watch a
lot of professional wrestling, but from what I saw, looks
like you guys were having a having a great time.
Enjoy enjoy the offseason and spring balls coming up, and
hopefully we can chat as the season unfolds in twenty
twenty five. Glad you're back at UC and looking forward

(01:16:34):
to a much better twenty twenty five. Thank you so much, Gavin,
appreciate thank you for having me on. You got it,
You got it. Gavin Gerhart coming back for his sixth
season at the University of Cincinnati. Gavin and his teammates
will play seven home games this year. Seven home games
this year, I said, you can what are your tickets
now for the entire twenty twenty five season at Go

(01:16:56):
Bearcats dot com. Seven home games at Knippert Stadium this year,
sixteen away from five o'clock, by the way in Arizona. Today,
Matt McClain has homered. He's also doubled twice. Christian and
Karnassi on Strand has homered, and the Reds are beating

(01:17:17):
the Angels by a score of five to one. How
about that, Matt McLean and Christian and Karnassi on Strand
two guys. Obviously, Matt didn't play at all Christian at
Karnassian strand barely played both providing some encouragement if you will,
some production, some pop with the bat against the angels.

(01:17:38):
We are excited today because we got Skyline. The Skyway
is back at Skyline for two weeks only between now
in March ninth. This is cool you get when you
go to Skyline. Fifty percent extra cheese at no extra
charge on your regular or large way three, four or
five way. I love freeways at Skyline. I'm in middlely

(01:17:59):
mostly at chie Tony Guy, but I do love to
change things up. Get a three way and then you
add even more cheese. I mean, come on, this is
a dream come true for Skyline cheese lovers. They're only
available at participating Skyline locations through March ninth, so you
have I guess about a week and a half or so,
so take advantage of this. The Skyway is back, only

(01:18:20):
available at participating locations on regular and large ways only.
And don't forget tomorrow National Chili Day. No better way
to celebrate than with a Skyway at Skyline. It's a
quarter to five five one, three, seven, four, nine fifteen thirty.
Paul Danner Junior from the combine coming up in ten

(01:18:40):
minutes on ESPN fifteen.

Speaker 6 (01:18:42):
Thirty Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty traffic.

Speaker 7 (01:18:48):
cancers are preventable. Lifestyle changes in screenings can make a difference.
Call five one three five eighty five UCCC on two
seventy five year seventy one. It's an accident on the
left shoulder on southbound seventy one. Accident on the right shoulder,
that one over near Taft Road and westbound seventy four.

(01:19:11):
It's an accident on the exit ramp to Montana Avenue.
Police there on the scene. I'm at ezelic with traffic.

Speaker 2 (01:19:18):
This report is sponsored on Twitter. Today's United Heartland Insurance
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They can help you out UHIS dot Com. They'll help

(01:19:41):
you save mo money. Do you have T Higgins contract? Fatigue?
Vote now, simple question. I have spent a lot of
time sitting in this room in front of this my

(01:20:01):
talking about T Higgins, his contract, his possible contract, what
might happen with him, what I hope happens with him,
what should happen with him, What Joe Burrow wants, what
the ramifications of him leaving might be, what the market
might be, the pros and cons of the franchise tag.

(01:20:23):
I have gotten a lot of mileage out of T Higgins,
not just over the last couple of weeks, not just
over the last couple of months, but over the last
couple of years. We have talked about T Higgins, I
think more than any other Bengal, including Joe Burrow. And
I'm not complaining. My job is to talk about a

(01:20:45):
combination of things that matter most to the audience and
that are of interest to me. And that's the combo,
right And ideally not just of interest to me, but
things that I could either make of interest to the
audience or add to their interest, so to speak. I
gotta I gotta tell you. And this is maybe just me.

(01:21:09):
I got fatigue, man like, Okay, Joe Burrow has told
us what he wants emphatically on multiple platforms. T Higgins
has told us what he wants. Duke Tobin yesterday told
us what he wants. Zach Taylor has told us what

(01:21:30):
he wants. There's nothing else to say. I mean, there's
until something happens, there's there's nothing else to say. And
that's not to say that I'm I'm not going to
talk about Tea anymore. As as development's unfold, I'm here
for it. We'll talk about it, but the next development
needs to be a development, whether it's they get the

(01:21:50):
deal done, they tag him and trade him, they tag
him like the next development. I'm it's it's kind of
like watching two people, uh who they like each other
and they they like like each other and they flirt
and they do and like, will you two just get together?
I'm I'm kind of there with with Tea. There's at

(01:22:11):
this point there's nothing else that can be said barring
Mike Brown himself or Katie Blackburn herself saying we don't
want t Higgins. Beyond that, what else is there that's
really gonna move things? And like, I I can send
a cryptic tweet, I've I've done it in my life,
but like last night, he's tweeting caps and I I'm

(01:22:36):
just okay, what what of substance is going to happen next?

Speaker 10 (01:22:40):
And I.

Speaker 2 (01:22:42):
I feel like I am mirroring, if you will, most
Bengals fans beyond something of substance, which is movement, a contract,
a trade, even a franchise tag, which has to happen
between now and four o'clock on Tuesday. They're there, the

(01:23:02):
the interviews, the press availabilities, the podcast, the radio, row hits.
There's nothing else. Do we need Joe Burrow to again
tell us what he wants? Probably not. Duke Tobin's not
gonna talk again for another god knows how many months.
T Higgins can send some cryptic tweets like, okay, everybody
has stated that they want to stay together, they want

(01:23:23):
to keep this relationship going, So keep it going like
this is now, it's it's on, It's on, the the
the the parties here who matter most, ownership, tea and
maybe Joe get it done. I I just I all right.
So Duke talked yesterday. Great, we're good. We've heard from him.

(01:23:45):
I don't think he said anything necessarily shocking. I do
think he was. It was interesting how emphatic he was
and kind of saying like I want Joe. I want
what Joe wants and this is a simple equation, and
I'll run this past Paul day Er Junior coming up
in ten minutes of an equation. Joe Burrow has said
what he wants, he's putting pressure on upper management. Duke

(01:24:07):
Tobin has said he wants what Joe wants. Well, he
wants what Joe wants, and what Joe wants he's pressuring
upper management to get so. By Duke Tobin saying I
want what Joe wants, he is also a pressuring upper
management to get it done. Will the pressure work? Is

(01:24:30):
this going to result in a contract? Is it going
to result in a trade? Is it going to result
in Tea playing under the franchise tag for one more year?

Speaker 6 (01:24:39):
Uh?

Speaker 2 (01:24:41):
That's all that matters at this point, and nothing else
said is going to move the meter. I said this yesterday. Really,
the only thing that matters to me is if we
have accepted that this is going to get done, and
I still think it will, then what I want to
know is when. And that applies to Trey, and it
applies to Jamar, and it applies to t because if
if you're gonna go out of your way to try

(01:25:04):
to have the least noisy offseason possible, you're getting these
things done early. We're also gonna chat with one of
the experts from Orthos since about Spencer Steers. Spencer Steeer's
spring training issues have been interesting, although I certainly feel
like we believe that Spencer is going to start the
season on the opening day roster, but he is still

(01:25:25):
dealing with lingering shoulder soreness, and we'll tap into that
with doctor Amelia Wiggins Orthos since he coming up right
around five twenty five. Paul Danner Junior from the Combine
next ESPN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 6 (01:25:37):
In today's marketers right now, ESPN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 2 (01:25:42):
All right, here we go, five oh five, ESPN fifteen thirty.
I'm Owagar, thank you so much for joining us. So
I hope you're having an unbelievable Wednesday afternoon. Busy hours
still ahead. Don't forget. We have UK basketball tonight on
ESPN fifteen thirty, with the Wildcats taking on Oklahoma in
the in the conference realignment era, where we are are
still getting used to certain teams and certain conferences. Some

(01:26:04):
I've gotten pretty used to, others not so much. Like
I still see Cal playing North Carolina and Duke in
Virginia Tech and it's like, yeah, Cal's in the acc
I'm not used to that. Oklahoma being in the SEC
is one that every time I see the Sooners matched

(01:26:24):
up against an SEC school, I make a face. I'm
not used to it. UK taking on the Sooners tonight
pregame at seven thirty on ESPN fifteen thirty typically on Tuesdays.
We talked with Paul Danner, Junior of the Athletic from
the Athletic and he's at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis,
So he was not able to join us yesterday because

(01:26:46):
he was there listening to Duke Tobin and Zach Taylor
and he was working all worked there in Indy. But
I did want Paul's thoughts on what went down yesterday,
what's happening at the combine, and so kind enough to
give us a few minutes. I know, I know you're busy.
You just got back from Disney World with the family,
and now you're at the combine in Indy. Which experience
is more magical?

Speaker 8 (01:27:08):
You know, it's the.

Speaker 19 (01:27:09):
Majesty of looking at ansizes and how people are built
and talking about their glutes and their explosion techniques, and
it's just it's almost the same as giving Mickey Mouse
a hug it does feel very similar to that.

Speaker 5 (01:27:28):
Disney smells much better than Indianapolis. I can attest to that.

Speaker 2 (01:27:31):
All right, very good. So there's a lot going on.
Let me just give you my interpretation of what Duke
Tobin had to say yesterday. Are you ready, let's hear it.

Speaker 5 (01:27:43):
All right.

Speaker 2 (01:27:44):
So for a couple of months, Joe Burrow has been
putting pressure on the front office to get certain things done. Yesterday,
Duke says he agrees with Joe Burrow. So Duke Tobin
is putting pressure on ownership to get things done. That's
my interpret.

Speaker 19 (01:28:01):
Yeah, I think when we didn't think the line could
be drawn any clearer mo or deeper in the sand,
it was. It was sort of a little bit like
the back ho showed up and just dug in a
little bit more of Look, we all want to do
these same things. We all want these guys paid. I
want T Higgins. I've wanted T Higgins every year anywhere

(01:28:25):
that I am a general.

Speaker 5 (01:28:26):
Manager of a team.

Speaker 19 (01:28:28):
I want T Higgins on it like you can't go
further than that, and him saying he feels like he's
optimistic they can get it done. The same conversation definitive
again with Jamar Chase yesterday of look, he's going to
be the highest paid non quarterback ever. All of that
stuff does literally just kick it right up to Katie

(01:28:50):
in the front office to say, we're expecting to get
these done.

Speaker 5 (01:28:54):
All of us are in agreement here.

Speaker 19 (01:28:56):
The only question is the same one that still existed
when we showed up and Deanapolis.

Speaker 1 (01:29:01):
Can they do it?

Speaker 11 (01:29:02):
Can they do it?

Speaker 5 (01:29:03):
And it's just everybody is dug in.

Speaker 19 (01:29:05):
As deep and as clearly as you could possibly be,
and we'll all just sit and find out if the
Bengals can figure it out.

Speaker 2 (01:29:12):
Were you surprised by either Duke's approach or anything he
had to say about the Big Three, t Tray and Jamar?

Speaker 5 (01:29:20):
I thought, I thought what came out of yesterday? Or
two things.

Speaker 19 (01:29:24):
One he put Tea in Jamar in very different buckets
than Trey Hendrickson in tone, in the way it was discussed.

Speaker 5 (01:29:32):
It was, yeah, we'll see what happens with Trey. We'll
get to Trey.

Speaker 19 (01:29:36):
And you know, I even specifically asked him about the
concept of trading Trey Hendrickson. His answer wasn't go find
your own edge rusher. It was it was I don't
like to talk about those things. They take on lives
of their own. I want Trey. We're trying to get
an extension done with Trey. That should tell you all
you need to know about how we feel about him.

Speaker 5 (01:29:57):
That's part of it.

Speaker 19 (01:29:58):
The other part was I felt like saying, look, we
we want to get all of these things done and more.
We need to build out this defense and the urgency,
which with he talked about Chase and Higgins deals needing
to get done because there's uncertainty in what they can

(01:30:18):
do if they don't have those done. I thought was notable.
It was it was gas to, you know, pedal down, man.
It was these things need to happen, and they really
kind of need to happen fast. It was kind of
what he was saying, because otherwise it does make things
a lot harder when they get into free agency and
assessing their needs and being able to properly attack it.
That's the first time I feel like we've heard that

(01:30:40):
before of you know there. This is because we've talked
about so much. Don't let this drag out, don't let
this go as season, don't let it in.

Speaker 5 (01:30:48):
Nothing's haamp again.

Speaker 19 (01:30:49):
No one wants to watch Jamar Chase and a hat, so,
so if you're trying to avoid that, I think this
is also part of that. It sounded like Duke was
in many ways talking to the talking points that.

Speaker 5 (01:31:00):
We've been having every week here for a while.

Speaker 8 (01:31:02):
Now.

Speaker 5 (01:31:04):
We want to get it done. We want to get
it done fast.

Speaker 19 (01:31:06):
We want to have certainty so we can go and
add and spend a little in free agency to help
fix this and supplement this defense.

Speaker 2 (01:31:14):
The franchise tag window closes on Tuesday, so there are
six days. What's your best guess as to how things
will play out with that?

Speaker 19 (01:31:22):
I think he gets I think they go down to
the wire trying to get this long term deal finalized.
They don't, they tag him, and they keep negotiating, and
I don't, you know, I still feel like it gets done,
and I think they then get it done like right
before free agency, you know, I feel like it's just

(01:31:43):
gonna be. They're gonna need one more deadline to help
push them closer, and then you know, the free agency
kind of deadline maybe helps put it over.

Speaker 5 (01:31:51):
I mean, the tag is gonna happen regardless.

Speaker 19 (01:31:54):
If they can't get a deal, it's just gonna be
a matter of when they can find a way to
get it done. It just it feels like it's just
silly mo Like everybody wants to get it done and
they have the money to do. Like everybody wants this, right,
everybody wants this, so sit down and figure it out
and keep it together. And just feels like that's all

(01:32:15):
it's gonna take. It's it's gonna take everybody to stop
posturing and negotiating and just get to the middle.

Speaker 5 (01:32:21):
Right, Like you ever, you know, you buy a house
and it's like you guys like, oh.

Speaker 19 (01:32:26):
I'm gonna come in at two forty and you're gonna
Can I just start at where I'm gonna be? Can
we just go right to the middle, right now, let's
let's just go to the middle and end.

Speaker 2 (01:32:34):
This well but gets thrown into the mix. Paul Danner
Juniors with this from the Combine in Indianapolis. You know,
last night, uh, while you were sleeping, T Higgins is
tweeting out the blue cap emoji. Now, I didn't know
what the blue cap emoji means. I didn't know. I
didn't know the blue cap emoji existed. But apparently the

(01:32:58):
blue cap emoji has some specific meaning and because we're
in vague tweet season, on the day that Duke Tobin
talks about T Higgins, T Higgins tweets out late last
night a blue cap emoji. I need your analysis of this.

Speaker 5 (01:33:13):
My analysis is you know, you know, I think these
are always about video games. Okay, you know where I'm
stand on this.

Speaker 1 (01:33:19):
Okay.

Speaker 19 (01:33:19):
That said, my analysis is not of t Higgins cap
emoji tweet. It was of who was promoting said cap
emoji tweet quickly, Ian Rappaport Pro Football Talk.

Speaker 5 (01:33:36):
I mean, if what is Ian rap and all?

Speaker 19 (01:33:39):
This isn't anything against Ian, but like, how is Ian
Rappaport so quickly decoding a hat?

Speaker 1 (01:33:45):
Right?

Speaker 19 (01:33:46):
Like, how is that happening? Because this is this is
fed by this is fed properly up the channels. Man, hey,
look what's happened. I mean, PFC is even like suggesting
that that that they know exactly what it is that
this emoji hat was about into specifics.

Speaker 5 (01:34:03):
In a story that was up quickly, and like, you know,
you could get a story up quickly. But that's man,
that's that's some good work.

Speaker 10 (01:34:11):
Uh.

Speaker 5 (01:34:11):
If you just took that from an emoji, No you didn't.

Speaker 19 (01:34:14):
This was fed that was a way for him to
be vaguely aggressive, shall we say, in his thoughts and
and here we sit, it's none of that's none of
that's particularly good.

Speaker 5 (01:34:26):
But it's just it's just this season. It's just this
is what it is, you know.

Speaker 2 (01:34:30):
So for the uninitiated, and I'm sure there are some
who can count themselves among the uninitiated. What does the
blue cap emoji signify?

Speaker 5 (01:34:39):
What's lies? It's caps false lies. Lies, we're told, Yes,
so I get.

Speaker 8 (01:34:44):
And that's just it.

Speaker 19 (01:34:45):
I mean, Tobin spoke between us on the on the
side of local media and what he said on the podium,
he spoke for an hour. There were a lot of
words he could have been lying about, or that anybody
else could have been saying. So it's just I'm saying,
it's hard to decide for exactly what that's a specific
reference to unless you.

Speaker 5 (01:35:03):
Were told what that was a specific reference. All right.

Speaker 2 (01:35:07):
One more on on Jamar Chase. So you know, Duke
comes out and says we want to make him the
highest paid non quarterback in the NFL. And I think
for a lot of folks, you know, they hear that
and go cool, all right, Well, let's let's let's let's
get this done. Call the press conference, have the ceremony.

Speaker 5 (01:35:22):
Get is it?

Speaker 2 (01:35:24):
It's not that cut and dry, is it?

Speaker 5 (01:35:27):
I think I think it kind of is. I mean,
I think that I just don't I've heard zero doubt
from anyone anywhere, no matter who you talk to about this,
that this is gonna get done. They're eventually going to
get to it.

Speaker 1 (01:35:45):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (01:35:45):
I know what happened last year, but I don't know
how much.

Speaker 19 (01:35:49):
Both sides really meant it last and they were trying,
but I feel like the concept of this was always
that it got done. Around this year, they know what
it looks like. Now they're out. You're saying he's going
to be the highest paid non quarterback. Like I just
I know they can always go sideways and get squirrely,
and certainly, you know, making t Higgins mad if you

(01:36:12):
do in the process doesn't help when they share an
agent and all that stuff.

Speaker 5 (01:36:16):
But I just feel like she does have an inevitability.

Speaker 19 (01:36:20):
I don't know the timing of how that all is
gonna work, but I just think they're gonna do whatever,
And I just don't sense any worry about that from anyone.

Speaker 2 (01:36:29):
Were there any non T Higgins non Jamar Chase, non
Trey Hendrickson thought shared by Duke Tobin that stood out
to you.

Speaker 8 (01:36:40):
Yeah, you know.

Speaker 19 (01:36:43):
I asked him again about the small scouting staff, which
I know is something that fans have been talking a
lot about more recently because of some of the recent
drafts that have you know, done what they've done. I
think his response and I sort of phrased it in
a way of look like, I know you. We all
know your stance on this, like we we know how

(01:37:04):
you you don't feel like you need more opinions, just
the right opinions, and you feel like you have them.
And I said, but the league's changing, you know, like
your coaching staffs are bigger. Uh, what's happening in the
draft is bigger, like analytics is growing everywhere, like all like,
have you are you open to growing it?

Speaker 5 (01:37:20):
And his answer was essentially, and it was long and
very thoughtful, but it was it was essentially, well, I'm
open to it.

Speaker 19 (01:37:26):
If I he's if I felt like we were missing something,
if I felt like there was an area or a
concept or whatever you're you're looking at, felt like they
were missing something, He's like, I'd add, I would I
would add something if I felt like that was the case.
But he said, look, if I bring in a new voice,
even if it's somebody that I know and trust around

(01:37:48):
the league, and he's like, I have those people and
the ideas of who they would be if say Trey
Brown got one of those jobs he interviewed for, are there.
But when I talk about actually bringing in somebody new,
it would take me time to build trust in their opinion.
And he's, you know, right now, I think they're just
at a point where he's like, I feel like we
are operating incredibly efficiently and I have full trust in everybody,

(01:38:13):
and I know and trust all of their opinions. Uh
so fully that bringing in uh I'm not going to
say a wild card, because he didn't call it that,
but bringing in somebody knew who there's still some wondering about,
you know, working with for the first time at this juncture.
It wasn't something that he was he he was gonna
do and but you know, that's kind of it was
more almost a different reiteration of the same the same

(01:38:36):
kind of philosophy that we've heard from Duke over the years.
So that's that's where that stands. And he's He's not
going to back down from his opinion that that that's
how it should it should run, and how everything should
should run in his organization.

Speaker 2 (01:38:50):
You did a mock draft point five. At the end
of the combine, do we get mock draft one point zero?

Speaker 5 (01:38:57):
One point oh? Well, there will be I might have
to do like a zero point seventy five. I don't.
I'm really railing against a one point zero system here.

Speaker 8 (01:39:08):
I just I don't.

Speaker 5 (01:39:09):
I don't believe in it. I believe one point zero
every year.

Speaker 19 (01:39:12):
Should be after free agency mock draft. That is when
you can actually it counts. Everything else's training camp is
pre season whatever, I feel like it counts. So after
that free agency and we'll have a combine. Everything we set,
we'll no needs better. Now we can properly dive in
and give it a real one point That's when one

(01:39:32):
point oh will come.

Speaker 1 (01:39:33):
You know.

Speaker 19 (01:39:34):
Sometimes I'm asked politely to go ahead, and you're gonna
need to do another one in between now and then,
so you may see another one uh, but it will
not be one point oh.

Speaker 5 (01:39:45):
That's when you know I'm officially on board with it.
All right.

Speaker 2 (01:39:47):
Well, I know there's a lot of intel gathering in Indianapolis,
and you've been busy gathering draft intel when you have
been listening to Duke Tobin and so I know that'll
greatly inform what next mock draft looks like. I have
one other thing to discuss with you. It's really not
related to the Bengals.

Speaker 8 (01:40:04):
Are you re I'm ready.

Speaker 2 (01:40:07):
About a week and a half ago, I got a
text message from your dad. Oh oh no, yeah, and
it had been a while, and what he wanted to
know was if Wes Miller, the head coach of the Bearcats,
really had his team play dodgeball and if that really
is what has turned the season around with the Bearcats

(01:40:27):
have now won five out of seven. And I answered
the question and said, well, I do you know, Yeah,
they played dodgeball. I'm not sure that's why they're playing better,
but yeah, they played dodgeball. My question is, does he
not trust you to answer these questions?

Speaker 4 (01:40:42):
You know what?

Speaker 5 (01:40:43):
He would probably tell you.

Speaker 19 (01:40:44):
That that text probably is somewhere in our text conversation,
and I didn't get back to him and patients.

Speaker 2 (01:40:51):
He got tired. You're too busy, so that moan, though it's.

Speaker 5 (01:40:56):
Possible, it's possible.

Speaker 1 (01:40:57):
No, I don't know that I got that specific one
though I thought maybe I did skip.

Speaker 19 (01:41:02):
Over it, and he's like, I'm going to a better source,
or look, you're you're the UC guy.

Speaker 2 (01:41:06):
You can't try. I can't be trusted on UC matters
well a lot more so than you think. But well,
it was nice to hear from Senior, and I just
thought I would share that with you. Enjoy the rest
of the week in indian Thank you as always appreciate it.
My calculator Paul Danner Junior from the Athletic read his
work at the Athletic dot com, filing dispatches from the

(01:41:29):
scouting combine in Indianapolis, and also the host of the
Growler podcast. We're going to talk about our red and
an injury that is lingering from last year next on
ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports Station.

Speaker 6 (01:41:43):
Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty. Traffic from the UC Health Traffic Center.
Around forty percent of cancers are preventable. Lifestyle changes and
screenings can make a difference. Call five one three, five
eighty five uccc SO I found seven five and accident's
leaving only the right shoulder open between Glendale Milford Road

(01:42:05):
and Shepherd Lane. A thirty minute delay as a result.
Back from Sharon Road southbound seventy one seventy five. It's
an accident on the entrance ramp from Donaldson Road. I'm
atie Zeleak with traffic.

Speaker 2 (01:42:17):
This report is Sponsorble. We do this once a week.
Last couple of weeks it's been on a Thursday, but
typically on Wednesdays. We talked with one of the experts
from Orthos Sincey Orthopedics and Sports Medicine, and then I've
been talking about Orthos Sincy for a while. I recently
went to Ortho Sincy the NKU office, the one in

(01:42:37):
Highland Heights because I've had a neck issue that I
waited way too long to fix and Orthos Sincey fixed it.
My guy, doctor angel Alaskaz took care of me. He's
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for being so awesome to work with. One of the

(01:42:58):
awesome things about Orthos he is they have specialists, locations
and services all over the tri State, including walkin orthopedic
urgent care at five locations with extended evening and weekend hours,
and Edgewood and Anderson learn more at orthosinc dot com.
That's ortho ci ncy dot com. Doctor Amelia Wiggins from

(01:43:19):
Orthosincia is with us. I want to ask you about
Spencer Steer. So this is a guy, a good player.
Last year, he bangs up his shoulder sliding into a
base and he plays through it right, and then he
spends the off season resting, rebuilding strength, and he shows
up to spring training and the shoulder has still been
sore and they limited his throwing and he was dhing

(01:43:41):
at the start of the spring and hopefully he's going
to be okay. What's interesting is he rested a bunch
during the off season, the pain hasn't really gone away,
and they've done an MRI and can't find any structural damage.
So let's start there. When they do the MRI, what
are they looking for.

Speaker 17 (01:43:58):
Oh, with an MRI, you know, we'll obviously be looking
for a laborl tear or rotator cuff injury, any muscle damage,
or even a fracture to the bone. Sometimes a bone
contusion can cause discomfort. So there's a lot of stuff
that they'll be looking for with an MRI. They probably
got it with contrast, which means they inject to die
into the joint to get the best view of the laborum.

(01:44:19):
So it sounds, you know, it sounds like that's good
that there weren't wasn't any structural damage, because you know,
when we get an MRI, we're thinking, all right, it's
something torn that needs a surgery to fix it, or
if there's a muscle strain, then we can kind of
come up with a prognosis. All right, this will take
a few months, a few weeks, et cetera to heal.
So demor I just give us a closer look at

(01:44:40):
the pathology there, and then we can anticipate a timeline
to treatment and recovery from that.

Speaker 2 (01:44:46):
All right, So obviously results are negative. So what are
some of the likely causes for this soreness?

Speaker 16 (01:44:53):
Yeah, so that's that's good.

Speaker 17 (01:44:55):
You know that it is negative, although sometimes that's more frustrating.
Sometimes you want to see the tear.

Speaker 16 (01:45:01):
That you can just fix it and kind of get
on with it, you know, I think so, you know.

Speaker 17 (01:45:08):
Most shoulder, most overhead athletes, you know, we'll have some
level of impingement and that might be playing a role here.
That's where the labor or the rotator cuff can get
pinched between the ball and the socket there. That happens
a lot with baseball players, especially you know, high level
athletes there, and that impingement can linger. And really the

(01:45:32):
treatment is just a lot of therapy and a lot
of throwing biomechanics. You know, when we take time away
from the sport, we've got to build back from the
base from the ground level, and that's.

Speaker 16 (01:45:46):
That's time consuming, you know. Yeah, so maybe so there
might be some impingement.

Speaker 17 (01:45:53):
There's a lot of biomechanics that go into throwing and
muscle recruitment. So if there was an injury to a muscle,
you know, it's that's gonna heal, but your brain needs
to reconnect with those muscles, and after an injury, that
can be hard to lay down those your muscular connections again,
so to to recruit those muscles appropriately and the secrets

(01:46:16):
that they need to be recruited. It's something that he'll
be working through with his trainers, and I think that
takes some time and could be playing a role here.

Speaker 16 (01:46:25):
The other thing to think about is that I think
he played through it a little bit.

Speaker 17 (01:46:29):
I think he didn't rest it right away, and so
the injury can become chronic news and the body doesn't
heal it. You know, if your rest after an injury,
and acute injury, your blood supply is the best there
after the injury, it can heal, and just that muscle
can heal and move on. Chronic injuries. Linger, you know,
there's a reason why we shut you down. Kind of

(01:46:50):
less is more at the beginning. So if this has
become chronic, if he now has chronic inflammation in the
muscle in the rotator cuff tended, that can continue to
be uncomfortable, it can continue to alter his throwing biomechanics,
and that that also could be playing a role here,
the fact that he just didn't shut it down soon enough.

Speaker 16 (01:47:09):
So are we taken longer on the back end?

Speaker 8 (01:47:11):
Yeah?

Speaker 2 (01:47:11):
So are we talking about something that we could be
thinking about and worrying about and talking about deep into
the season, you.

Speaker 16 (01:47:20):
Know, hopefully not, hopefully not.

Speaker 17 (01:47:22):
It's not like they've got a good plan moving forward,
you know, keeping him at first base, maybe third base,
you know, try to limit his throwing.

Speaker 16 (01:47:29):
Obviously he can hit no problems.

Speaker 8 (01:47:31):
So that's good, I think.

Speaker 17 (01:47:33):
You know, you always hope that things will get better
in a few months, and when they become chronic, then
it can be a few more months. But hopefully they
can just continue to tailor his return and not go
too fast and then we can have him healthy, you know,
earlier mid season and forget about it.

Speaker 2 (01:47:52):
Yeah, let's hope. So doctor Emilia Wiggins from Orthosinsia is
with us. We rarely talk about NBA players in this segment,
but there's a major injury involving the most promising young
player in the sport as far as I'm concerned, and
the injury is something that I've never heard of. Victor
Webbin Yama of the San Antonio Spurs is going to
miss the remainder of the season because he is dealing

(01:48:14):
with deep vein thrombosis. No real official word on when
this started, so it kind of came from left field.
What is deep vein thrombosis?

Speaker 17 (01:48:27):
That's a blood clot. That is a blood clot, and
that's the medical term for that. And I'm sure you've
heard of family members or friends having a blood clot
in their leg. You know a lot of times people
get them after traveling for long distances. If they don't
get up on the plane and walk around, you know,
the blood can can accumulate in the legs and clot.

(01:48:50):
It's unusual to happen in an upper extremity. It's even
more unusual to happen in a young, healthy athlete. Typically
we see blood clots in our older population that are
less healthy, less active, less mobile, So this is it
is very unusual, and typically they're more in the lower extremities.

Speaker 16 (01:49:09):
So we don't often see blood clots in the upper extremity.
So this is you know, this is concerning. I was
reading upon this as well. It's this concerning issue for him.

Speaker 2 (01:49:23):
What are the causes We kind of went into that,
what are some of the symptoms and and how do
they determine that this is something that he's not going
to be able to play through.

Speaker 1 (01:49:32):
Well.

Speaker 17 (01:49:32):
Blood clot is very dangerous because that is a plot
in the vein and if the dilat is that can
go to your lungs, and that's what that's what we
call a pulinary imbli or polary imbliss, a PE for
people have a PE and those are deadly. You if
a blood clot goes into your lungs, they will obviously
stop while you're.

Speaker 16 (01:49:52):
Breathing, and those can be deadly. In a matter of seconds.
So that's obviously that's why they've shut him down. If
they don't that clot to dislodge, and that is obviously
very scary. The question is why did he get this?
You know, why did he get this?

Speaker 17 (01:50:09):
That you can have it from being sedentary, you can
have it from having a clotting disorder. So they'll need
to look at his blood to see if he is
prone to spontaneously developing clots. Some people are missing certain
factors in their blood it makes them more prone to these.
Another reason that specifically overhead athletes could get blood cloths

(01:50:30):
in their shoulders is what's called thoracic outlet syndrome, and
that is where up where the break will plexus and
the subclavian artery and vein are up under your clavicle.
Sometimes people the muscles get too tight and can impress
on the vein. Sometimes people have an extra rib there
and that can compress on the subclavian vein and that

(01:50:53):
could cause a blood clot. So there they'll be looking
into why. The hope for his career would be that
it's that thoracic outlet syndrome because that you can do
surgery for to correct. You can take out the extra rib,
you can release the muffles around the vein and get
the blood flowing properly. If he has a clotting disorder,

(01:51:13):
then that could become more of a chronic, long term
issue for him, which would be very problematic.

Speaker 2 (01:51:21):
Going to be wishing for the best. It sounds scary.
Hopefully d's a good resolution. Doctor Ameilia Wiggins from Ortho Sincy.
I appreciate the time as always, Thank you so much,
thank you. There you have it, our friend, doctor Amelia
Wiggins from Orthos Sincy. I say this every single week
because it's true. The great thing about Ortho Sincy is

(01:51:41):
they have specialists and locations across the Tri State. This
includes walk in orthopedic urgent care weekdays nine eight to
nine pm Saturday's nine eight to one p at both
Edgewood and Anderson. It's easy because you don't need an
appointment and it's definitely cheaper than going to an er
when you have an urgent orthopedic injury. Go to orthosinc
dot com. That's Ortho ci Ncy dot com. Some more

(01:52:06):
combine and draft talk as it relates to the Bengals.
Next on ESPN fifteen.

Speaker 6 (01:52:11):
Thirty, Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty traffic.

Speaker 7 (01:52:17):
cancers are preventable. Lifestyle changes and screenings can make a difference.
Call five one three five eighty five UCCC West found
two seventy five at Springfield Pike. The left lane blocked
from an accident.

Speaker 8 (01:52:33):
Traffic.

Speaker 7 (01:52:33):
There's stop and go from seventy five on southbound seventy five.
Accident moved off onto the right shoulder between Glendale, Milford
Roade and Shepherd Lane. Still got a thirty minute delay
from two seventy five. I'm at Ezelik with traffic.

Speaker 5 (01:52:48):
This report is sponsored by rapid Rate.

Speaker 2 (01:52:50):
My favorite NFL analyst, specifically as it relates to the
NFL drafts Hambroucouse. He is with sumer sports dot Com.
He also is the host and you can get this
on the iHeartRadio app of the Draft FM podcast. He's
a former two lane linebacker. He is a current Summer
Sports senior analyst, and he has got a mock draft
and he is at the Combine in Indianapolis. Sam, I

(01:53:11):
appreciate it. You have the Bengals with the seventeenth overall
pick in your mock draft, taking Mike Green. He is
an edge defender from Marshall. Why do I want this player?

Speaker 9 (01:53:23):
So it's a really an excellent question because I've been
trying to solve that all day. A lot of people
have six plus edghushers going in the first round. That's
what I think is probably going to be the number.
And I've been trying to differentiate between all these guys
right now as an analyst. As an analytics guy, I'm
not confident anyone is better than the other one. But

(01:53:44):
talking to a lot of people about Abdol Carter at
the top of the draft, he seems to have separated
himself with his mix of size, athleticism, production in college
and contact, playing at the highest level and playing a
lot of games. Mike Green, for example, as the production
and he has the athletic traits to be a successful
defensive pass rusher. However, on the flip side, he did

(01:54:07):
play at Marshall. He played a sun Belt schedule. That
being said, he was great at the Senior Bowl. He's
mentally productive, and I think he would be a good
set up player for twenty twenty six to play behind
Trey Hendrickson and Sam Hubbard. If they move on to
free agency, I think he'll be able to fill that
slot right after.

Speaker 2 (01:54:25):
So the talk to this point has been well, edge
is deep and defensive tackle is deep. Well, we'll address
that position here in just a second. But edge is deep.
And so there's a guy like Mike Green and you
talked about like the top six. Maybe there's not a
huge difference between those players. How steep is the drop
off from a player like this to a guy that

(01:54:45):
they can maybe get mid second round.

Speaker 9 (01:54:49):
So when they say that the edge class is deep,
I think it's particularly talking about that first round.

Speaker 8 (01:54:54):
I don't know if it's going to go into you know,
Day three, days four, excuse me, Day.

Speaker 9 (01:54:59):
FO three, rounds four, five, and six, where it's going
to be super deep and you're gonna be able to
get a guy that can contribute. I do think there
are guys such as Josiah Stewart from Michigan who I
really liked the Senior Bowl.

Speaker 8 (01:55:11):
Princely Princely U.

Speaker 9 (01:55:13):
I can't pronounce his name, but Princely U from Ole,
miss I think he's gonna go probably Day two early.

Speaker 8 (01:55:18):
He'll be an excellent eddresser.

Speaker 9 (01:55:19):
But I just think that the quality is going to
be a little better in the first round, even though
there is kind of a mush of guys in his
middle teams picks.

Speaker 2 (01:55:28):
All right, so let's slide inside and stay on the
defensive line and look at three techniques. Would you say
the same thing about the depth there?

Speaker 9 (01:55:37):
So very interesting that you say that I was considering
three positions of need that I thought they could be
able to get in the middle rounds.

Speaker 8 (01:55:45):
Defensive tackle was the second one. Cornerback obviously probably.

Speaker 9 (01:55:48):
The most pressing need, but there's not a bunch of
guys in that slot defensive tackle. You know, you're talking
about Mason Graham all the way up at the top.
But Walter Nolan is a guy I really considered from
my spots the Bengals. I ended up putting him more
around his consensus rating to the Ravens. But I'm really
hearing a lot of talk, particularly from Lambs Airline of

(01:56:09):
NFL dot Com, that people are starting to think that
Walter Nolan may actually be the best defensive tackle athlete
in this draft. The problem is he lacks a little
bit of size, but in an attacking al Golden defense,
I actually like that fit at Notre Dame. You know,
they were playing with guys like Howard Cross, for example,
who was a little bit smaller but was able to

(01:56:30):
get penetration in a very active Marcus Freeman.

Speaker 8 (01:56:34):
Al golden defense.

Speaker 9 (01:56:35):
And I think if that's going to be the meta
the stereotype coming in about this defense, I think Walter
Nolan may be a fantastic fits.

Speaker 2 (01:56:43):
All right kind of in passing. You mentioned corner there,
which I think is a really interesting position because there
are a lot of players the Bengals have invested early
around draft choices at that position, and yet maybe nobody
that you could say, God, you know what, this guy
this coming season, you can lock him into this role.
There's a lot of uncertainty there, so and you can

(01:57:04):
tell me that I'm wrong if I am, But is
there is there a sense that maybe they can't find
somebody in this draft at that position who can add
to that mix and help immediately in twenty twenty five.

Speaker 8 (01:57:17):
So it's going to be really interesting.

Speaker 9 (01:57:19):
Alongside my question about the edge rushers and the differences
between those guys, in which the answer with Albill Carter
seems to be in a different tier given his profile.
I wanted to know who are the Day two cornerback guys,
not necessarily the guys on the edge of the first
round like Shavon Revel or Benjamin Morrison out of Notre
Dame who.

Speaker 8 (01:57:37):
May be able to help. And it feels like there's
not either a consensus yet.

Speaker 9 (01:57:42):
People maybe haven't made it that far in the prep
or people are waiting for people to separate using the
combine the pro days and diving deeper into the film.
But I have not gotten a good answer on this question,
and I'm going to keep asking it. But I think
you know, we're already at this port portion of the
draft season. I think it's gonna be tough to get
dB help or cornerback help on Day two or Day

(01:58:05):
three unless you trade up potentially right outside of the
end of the first round to get Schevon Rurel or
Benjamin Morrison. There are a couple of other names a
good cornerback out of Florida State as well, but it
just does not feel like anyone is separating from the pack.
A name to watch out for from the Senior Bowl, however,
that I think will be in that range as Quincy Riley.
I liked him, but I think he's gonna be more

(01:58:25):
of a developmental prospect or a third cornerback.

Speaker 2 (01:58:28):
Sam Brookal Suomer Sports senior analyst, former two line linebacker,
host of the Draft FM podcast, has his mock draft
up at suomer sports dot com. I do not think
the Bengals are gonna draft an interior offensive lineman in
round one. I do think you can make a reasonable
case that they should. And so one thing that I

(01:58:48):
looked at when I looked at your draft was how
many interior offensive linemen you had going in round one?
And I believe the answer is one that was Tyler Booker.
Would you make the case that maybe, if he's there,
the Bengals take him.

Speaker 9 (01:59:04):
So here's the interesting part is, I think there's only
maybe one or two certified tackles in this class. I
think a lot of these guys, particularly on Mo Membo
from Missouri, could be an elite guard at the next level.
Guys like Josh Simmons. There's a lot of discussion about
swing offensive linemen who have really been capable to provide
depth and also to fill in massive roles for teams

(01:59:26):
that are kind of building up another interior offensive linean
that I think is going to slip into the first round.
Perhaps there's a lot of height behind him is North
Dakota State's graz Abel. But I think people are just
drafting talent at the lineman position rather than tackle or
guard or this or that. I think people are looking
for guys that are probably tackles in terms of build,
meaning long arms, you know, the stereotypical tackle position, but

(01:59:49):
looking for the production in terms of the analytics and
also the profile to be able to swing back into
the guard position if possible.

Speaker 8 (01:59:57):
And I think people are viewing that properly.

Speaker 9 (01:59:59):
Here's what nota It's an ultra deep year across free
agency and the draft at the interior offensive line positions.
A lot of people are talking about Trey Smith twenty
five million dollar apy. I really think you'll be able
to get down substantially lower than that and perhaps fill
in a Pro Bowl level or certified starter level guy

(02:00:20):
in free agency for a pretty tidy cost. And then meanwhile,
you can go into the draft in rounds one, rounds two,
even in the rounds four, go ahead and draft a
pretty solid meat and potatoes offensive guard offensive center who
can really contribute. So I think that the Bengals are
going to be able to really address that need in
this entire offseason. Whether do they do that in free

(02:00:42):
agency or in the draft, I'm not exactly sure yet,
but they should be able to address it at any point.

Speaker 2 (02:00:48):
What do you do now? You go back to Elmo's
from more from cocktail or do you switch it out?

Speaker 9 (02:00:52):
So I'm actually about to go to the Big Data Bowl,
which the NFL puts on for all the nerds out here.

Speaker 8 (02:00:58):
But you know, I went Monday and Tuesday at Saint Elmo's. Wow.

Speaker 9 (02:01:02):
I switched up a little bit. I got trimp cocktail
the first day and steak second day. I got the
tomato juice, skipped out on the cocktail, went with the
port chop. Both excellent. I just need some veggies now, Man,
I'm a little stopped up from all the meat.

Speaker 2 (02:01:16):
I gotta get right. Maybe I gotta go get a
sallad somewhat. I'm atvis of the Sumer Sports Expense Report.
That's I'm interested in that. I I might have to
might have to take you up on that. All right, Sam,
good stuff, enjoy the combine. We'll talk to you man.
Thanks so much, Thank you so much. Sambrookussumer sports dot
Com and host of the Draft FM podcast, Good Stuff

(02:01:36):
from the Combine in Indianapolis. We'll have that podcast for
you on the iHeartRadio app. Same with our conversation with
Paul Danner Junior podcast at the show a service of
Long Neck Sports Grill. This is ESPN fifteen thirty, Cincinnati Sports.

Speaker 6 (02:01:49):
Station, Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 7 (02:01:54):
of cancers are preventive. Lifestyle changes and screenings can make
westbound two seventy five at Springfield Pike. It is an
accident that blocks off the left the lane southbound seventy
one seventy five. Accident is on the entrance ramp that

(02:02:16):
from Donaldson Road in southbound seventy five traffic stop and
go from hoppele Street down toward Fort Washington Way. I'm
at Ezeleik with traffic.

Speaker 2 (02:02:26):
Of United Heartland Assurance. Go to uh i NS dot
com and they'll take care of any insurance need or
question you have. Let's face it, when it comes to
insurance questions, I'm not an expert. You're not an expert.
People that United Heartland Insurance are experts, so check them
out UHI ins dot com. They've got offices in Hamilton,

(02:02:48):
Cincinnati and Burlington. Do you have T Higgins contract fatigue?
Vote now on Twitter at mueger. The results will evolve
throughout the course of the night. A couple of things
really quick, don't forget tonight we have UK basketball. The
Wildcats are taking on Oklahoma. That game is going to
tip off right around nine to fifteen. Pregame coverage on

(02:03:09):
ESPN fifteen thirty will start at seven thirty. If there's
anything you might have missed on this show, you can
find it, of course, on the iHeartRadio app, or just
go to my page at ESPN fifteen thirty dot com.
Podcasts of this show are a service of Long Neck
Sports Grill, with three locations in northern Kentucky. No better

(02:03:30):
place to post up and watch the games. Wilder, Hebrin
and Richwood. I am off the rest of the week.
I am off Monday and Tuesday. Back at it on Wednesday,
I'm off to spring training. Have a great weekend, have
a great week. Thanks to Tarren Bland for producing, and
thanks to you for listening. We'll talk to you next
Wednesday on ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati sports station.

Speaker 8 (02:03:57):
I'm Rick Julius, a partner at Court

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