4/15/25 - The Mo Egger Radio Show - Mo Egger

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
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You found Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 4 (00:13):
What's up, good ad pronon on Moleegar. This is ESPN
fifteen thirty. Thank you for joining us.

Speaker 5 (00:19):
I hope you're having.

Speaker 4 (00:20):
The most awesome Tuesday of all time. Today we have
two pats on a Paul Pat Noonan's going to join
us in an hour, Pat Brennan at five oh five.
A full show previews available on Twitter at Molegar. Thanks
to Emery Federal Credit Union, your credit union with Hart
since nineteen thirty nine, that EMERYFCU dot org. The NFL

(00:42):
draft is now just nine days away and essential reading,
especially this week, because he does this. He does this
in a way that I think is more valuable than
any mock draft. You gotta read Paul Danner Junior, which
you should be doing every day if you're a Bengals fan,
and also checking out the Ground podcast. But uh, we

(01:02):
are just flooded with mock drafts. I like what Paul does.

Speaker 6 (01:06):
Uh.

Speaker 4 (01:06):
He takes a look at all the critical positional needs
and breaks it down every single day. So we're two
days into this. We've looked at safety, we've looked at linebacker,
and then separately we've looked at guard. Go read those
pieces with three more days to come at the Athletic
dot Com.

Speaker 6 (01:22):
How's it going. It's going good, It's going good.

Speaker 1 (01:24):
I like I like this this part of draft season
where we're almost there.

Speaker 6 (01:28):
Yes, when it's far.

Speaker 1 (01:29):
Away and you know how many mocks and big boards
and like and scenarios you have to play out, it
becomes a little overwhelming. But when we when we're at
this point, it's like and the and we're close to
it actually happening. Like I get I get very excited,
and I love this. I love this time of year.
I like this week, and I like the draft. The

(01:52):
two days leading up to it. I do what I
can to kind of tune it all out. Well, what
you're being given is lies anyway, smokes, smoke screens, lying season, right.

Speaker 6 (02:03):
Yeah, that's what it is.

Speaker 1 (02:05):
So you get everybody that's that's trying to get something
else out there.

Speaker 6 (02:09):
I I yeah, know those days.

Speaker 1 (02:11):
Are they're a lot to handle, but it's fun.

Speaker 6 (02:14):
I'm ready. I'm ready. Let's go.

Speaker 5 (02:15):
Well.

Speaker 4 (02:15):
I like your approach, and as you can tell, I've
printed out parts one and two.

Speaker 1 (02:19):
I'm surprised they still let you near the printer. After
the Beast came. I printed the beast.

Speaker 6 (02:24):
It was nice.

Speaker 1 (02:25):
Nobody said we have to have to talk or are
you gonna buy some toner. I hit print at three o'clock. Okay,
I walked out of the studio and it was done
printing at like five twenty two or something.

Speaker 4 (02:39):
It's perfect. Nobody said a word. So here's what I
like about your approach. Anybody can do a mock draft. Yeah,
I think what you do provides context, right, and that
to me is missing from not everybody, in fact, probably
not even most, but a lot of people who are
just working off a board and the rank and the players.
And so the Bengals are at seventeen, I'm taking the
seventeen best player or the our best guy at their

(03:00):
biggest position of need. What I like about what you
do is it provides context, who's back with the team,
who signed long term, who's maybe got a contract expiring
at the end of this coming season. History, And then,
I think, more important than anything else, their way of drafting, which,
as you put is so well established and then you
try to find folks, You try to find players who
fit the kind of the way they do things.

Speaker 1 (03:23):
Yeah, you got to you got to look at the history.
You got to look at the matchup. Maybe different if
you were in a place where they had, you know,
new gms and stuff every three, four.

Speaker 6 (03:32):
Five years.

Speaker 1 (03:32):
We know what's happening, like we know, you know, really
the variable this year is we know all about their
focus on defense, but how will Al Golden view things differently,
which is an interesting sort of bit of context that
adds into this. But other than that, we still we
do know we know their value of traits, We know

(03:53):
how they have drafted specifically recently, going with these high
athletic profiles in recent years, and we know their you
on how desperate they feel like the situations are at
certain positions and the hole they might have a linebacker
and safety and guard, and how focused they are on that.
Like there's when you take all of that and put
it together, you can look at what's really important right

(04:15):
now is looking at the draft contextually in terms of
if this then what It's one thing to say just
take a guy, but if you're doing it and then
know that that shorts you in round three that the
drop off is so steep. The difference between safety in
round one and safety in round three and four, or

(04:36):
a different position, or the difference between edge rusher defensive
tackle in round one and edge rusher defensive tackle in
round three which is not as big. That matters. That
matters as part of the conversation. If they come into
this draft saying, these are the five boxes we want
to check. We can check them in any order. How
do we get the most value out of them? That's
the game they're playing now, they have their board, they

(04:58):
know their needs. Where's the path that checks the most boxes,
that gets the most value out of out of all
of these picks. And you can say best player available,
and that's true in certain respects, but it's a matter
of the path that they want to take. And you've
got to understand what they like to do and what

(05:20):
this draft presents to them.

Speaker 4 (05:21):
So here, based on your work and understanding, you have
three more days of this. But based on your work,
here's where I have found myself. I have found myself
trying to convince myself that I could either get Xavier
Watts or Tate Ratledge at forty nine.

Speaker 6 (05:38):
Yeah, and going back.

Speaker 4 (05:39):
And forth between who's more likely to be there and
I maybe this isn't how you draft, but as I'm
doing this because I'm the guy that wants a guard,
because I want to protect Joe Burrow.

Speaker 6 (05:48):
I want to build an elit offensive line.

Speaker 4 (05:50):
So I go, Okay, man, if I can get Tate
rat Ledge, I think that'll satisfy me. And then I
can go after a safety in round one? But am
I sure he's going to be there? And then conversely,
I want a safety Xavier Wat's really going to be
there at forty nine and we're not gonna know. That's
the cool part of the draft, right, Like you might think, boy,
he's gonna be there and a team trades up and
scoops him up or whatever. But that's after kind of

(06:12):
doing this with all the other draft information out there,
and then doing this with your exercise. I've been going
back and forth between those two players and trying to
determine which one is more likely to be there when
they pick at forty nine, and whichever one I land at,
I'll take another position. You know, at seventeen, who do
you trust more? Cody Ford or Geno Stone?

Speaker 6 (06:34):
Cody Ford? Right, Yeah, you end up in this play.
I mean, that's that kind of thing.

Speaker 1 (06:39):
I'm not saying that that's the reason that you would
pick a certain way, but if you're weighing, well, I
mean to me, I just look at the state of
that guard position where Genostone, like I can see like
he's he's played well in the league before. Maybeah, he
played seemed to play better when things simplify at the
end of the year. Maybe him with al Gold, he
seemed to have the right attitude about things going into

(07:00):
this offseason. Okay, if you're gonna buy, you're gonna buy
that Genostone could be that and you're just drafting a
backup for him.

Speaker 6 (07:07):
He is still here.

Speaker 1 (07:08):
Okay, man, I don't want to be talking about Lucas
Patrick and Cody Ford is your two guards? Like you
need someone who has start day one, And I think
you get that sense from the team that the understanding
of somebody who's gonna come in and be able to
start and raise the floor of this line on day
one is very necessary right now, more so than what

(07:31):
feels like you know that that safety position, which it is,
but it's also it's also like we could go with
Genostone okay, whereas it's like you could go with Patrick
and Ford, Yeah, doesn't feel as good to me. And
so if you're talking about that, that number forty nine,
which is very which is obviously a pivotal spot in

(07:51):
this draft for need, that's one where I look at
and nice man, there's a good grouping of offensive linemen here,
guard tak Gold, these types of guys that get one
of those and feel great about the state of your offense.

Speaker 4 (08:05):
So here's what's happened at my house with Gino Stone.
We have a dog that we got in February of
twenty twenty four, so I think she is technically still
a puppy, and she's good at a lot of things.

Speaker 6 (08:19):
She's not good at fetch.

Speaker 7 (08:20):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (08:21):
And I commented to my wife when we were doing
this over the weekend, like just throwing stuff in the yard,
I said, she takes really bad angles. And as soon
as I said that, with her having no idea who
Genostone is, I think we're gonna call this dog, who
up until this point had been named Bella, I think
we're gonna have to start naming it Gino Stone because
she takes really bad angles at whatever she's chasing. So

(08:42):
we have Genostone the dog.

Speaker 6 (08:45):
The dog. That's not good. It's not good. Not good. Yeah,
I mean, you know that's fine.

Speaker 8 (08:51):
I think.

Speaker 4 (08:51):
Do you remember how every week I would make fun
of IRV Smith and I would ask you, like, what
does he run like? Like a guy with a refrigerator
strapped to his back or guy who's wearing two left shoes.
I feel like we're doing gonna start doing the same
thing with Geno Stone, and perhaps should have started right
around a week five last year.

Speaker 6 (09:08):
It's it's possible.

Speaker 1 (09:09):
I I I think that there's hope there.

Speaker 6 (09:14):
I really do. I don't.

Speaker 1 (09:17):
The bottom line is, though, I keep going back to
the al Golden quote from Notre Dame about how the
way your secondary tackles is the soul of your defense.
And it really was poetic, really and it struck me
and I've had a hard time shaking it when I
think about Geno Stone tackling, you know. And so when
that's the case, that's why you know, you keep going

(09:38):
back to, you know, whether we're talking about Starks or
Email Warrior whoever. In round one, replacing the soul of
your defense seems like it could be a thing that
could be that could be important to you and and
maybe that maybe it maybe it isn't, maybe it doesn't
end up going that way, But I do think that

(09:58):
that's it has be part of the conversation right now.
But yeah, you don't want to be sitting here talking
about Gino Stone and you're gonna look at the dog
every time after a bad game and get mad at
the dog. Is not the dog's fault. It's a good dog.
He doesn't have to be good at everything. It's not
his fault. You made that comp.

Speaker 4 (10:14):
Well, the poor dog is already having to learn a
new name, which is not easy, right, you know, with
Gino Stone Stony. Yeah, right now it's just Gino and
the dog is looking at us like that was Bella.
I've I've been Bella for the last you know, fifteen months,
and now you're throwing this at me, Like what am
I just because I'm bad at fetch?

Speaker 6 (10:33):
Yeah, like that sort of thing.

Speaker 4 (10:34):
But she takes really bad angles, and it reminds me
of reminds me of Gino Stone, also reminds me of
Germaine Pratt.

Speaker 1 (10:40):
Maybe maybe Bella and or Gino just needs a new coach,
maybe needs proper training.

Speaker 6 (10:46):
Maybe that was the problem.

Speaker 1 (10:47):
Maybe it needs an al golden coming in here and
really take this thing seriously.

Speaker 4 (10:52):
I want to ask you about something you wrote about
when writing about offensive Lineman.

Speaker 6 (10:56):
When we come back.

Speaker 4 (10:57):
Paul Danner Juniors here, the Growler podcast, the Athletic dot
Com and by the way, the Athletic dot Com does
have the most comprehensive draft guide you will find Dan
Burglar's The Beast, which is available right now, so if
you subscribe, you can get it, and if you don't
subscribe and you'll be able to get it and then
print it off. It's like five thousand pages. It's sixteen
minutes after three o'clock. Paul's here till four. We're here

(11:18):
till six on ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports.

Speaker 3 (11:21):
Station Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty.

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This report is sponsored by rap Bit Radios Rapid we
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Speaker 3 (12:02):
According to the readers at CityBeat magazine, the Moeger Show
on ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports Station.

Speaker 4 (12:09):
Twenty minutes after three o'clock, this is ESPN fifteen thirty
on Moegar. Paul Damer Junior is here. The draft is
nine days away. Get full Bengals draft coverage.

Speaker 6 (12:18):
At the Athletic.

Speaker 4 (12:21):
Dot com and check out the Growlar podcast Banging out podcasts.

Speaker 1 (12:26):
Yeah, we have our our live show, Our post draft
live show is back. It's gonna be the Tuesday after
the draft, on the twenty ninth, Wow down at bet
MGM Nation Kitchen and Bar down at the Banks where
we do all our live shows. Bengals Director of College
Scouting Mike Pott's gonna join us. And it's on a
Tuesday of a home Reds game. I have tickets of

(12:46):
that game, which is what you're three two one night, right,
We're gonna go at five to get you in front.
So he's gonna go to the Reds game, you know,
come on down Bengals talk with with Mike Potts as
we break down all the draft picks and stuff like that,
and then Red's game right after that.

Speaker 6 (13:01):
Boom. What a great place to spend a Tuesday night. Man,
it's all wrapped up into one there. It is very good.

Speaker 4 (13:08):
You wrote about the Bengals being open to drafting a
different breed of offensive linemen.

Speaker 6 (13:17):
They have a new offensive line coach, So what does
that look like?

Speaker 1 (13:20):
I don't know. I mean one that is very familiar
with martial arts, right, I mean, we've got the strike system. Now, okay,
do you what do you know about the strike system?

Speaker 6 (13:31):
I know, I don't know how to know it.

Speaker 1 (13:32):
Yeah, well, there's so I mean, Scott Peters kind of
invented It's.

Speaker 6 (13:38):
It's around the league. It's not like this is some secret.

Speaker 1 (13:40):
But you know, if you have a guy who has
this specialty, and we've seen a couple of players who
would maybe be third or fourth round prospects that they've
brought in and who have a specialty in that. I
had Brandon Thorn on the podcast on Monday, who's an
awesome trench warfare and does all He's unbelievable in all
things offensive line. He was talking about the connection that

(14:02):
some of those players that are there have with using
that system in college doing it really well, and how
maybe that could connect to a player that you spot
and look. I think Bengals fans to be sitting here
and say, yeah, try something different, Yes, how about a
new form of drafting development and strategy. I think that

(14:23):
sounds great, And I think from my perspective, when you
look back at the very sad, ugly avert your eyes
list of their drafting history and offensive line that we
pull out this time every year, is yeah, maybe maybe
time for something different because you're you're taking players and
they're consistently not producing. I have a list in today's

(14:45):
offensive line piece where it has rounds two through five. Okay,
and I pulled out all the AFC teams for reference.

Speaker 6 (14:53):
There it is.

Speaker 1 (14:53):
You printed it out, Yeah, I mean, there it is.
And what have you gotten? I mean they and they
are at the very bottom in terms of of starts.
They only have one player they've drafted in the last
ten years in rounds two to five on the offensive
line who has started more than twenty games and he
got bench last year. And then you have a team
like the Denver Broncos who have what is it, two

(15:13):
hundred and seventy three starts on the rookie contract. Out
of those guys, that's just the rookie contract starts and
you get five, six seven guys over ten year span.

Speaker 6 (15:22):
That is so valuable.

Speaker 1 (15:23):
You can't live that way where you're not getting anything
for offensive line play out of that portion of the draft.
And they've taken minimal swings, and in terms of the
higher value were they what two second or third round
picks Jake Fisher Court and that didn't go well. We
know how Jackson Carmen went. And if you need to

(15:45):
take more swings, you need to be better at developing
them when they get here, and especially when you're talking
about where they're at financially right now, you have to
be better at that. And so trying something new, giving
a little bit more of an investment, being willing to say, look,
I know it hasn't gone oh, but we got to
do it again has to happen. Find the right guy,
own that evaluation, pick that guy get it right one time.

Speaker 6 (16:07):
It can change a lot.

Speaker 1 (16:08):
It can change a lot, and they certainly need to
change the offensive line drafting that they've been doing over
the years and maybe this will be the time they
can go. You know, if you can have drafts where
you go mimes and a successful round two guard back
to back, you feel like you've turned over a leaf there.
And what's been such a big problence of this organization.

Speaker 4 (16:26):
Well my thing and I talked about it with you
and Jay from the parking lot of a Starbucks on
the podcast last week, which, by the way, there's a
moment from last week's podcast that I need to play
on the air and I gotta get it to tear
and durn the break. But my take on the offensive
line is, and I you and I talked about this
right after they took mems last year. If you're ever
gonna put Joe behind any lead offensive line, you're doing

(16:48):
it mainly through the draft. That doesn't mean you can't
supplement what you've drafted with a guy. But you know, hey,
if every three or four years we're just gonna sign
three or four offensive lineman number one, financially, it's different
than when they did that before the two twenty two season.
Number two that you just can't. So if you're ever
gonna build a top and elite offensive line, it's gonna
happen through the draft. So if I can get a

(17:10):
guard in round one or two, I will feel like
they are starting. They are starting that process. That's the
road to having Joe Burrow play behind an elite offensive
line sometime while he's in his prime. We are on
that road. We are on that path.

Speaker 1 (17:25):
Yeah, and think about and it's hard, I mean, asking
any rookie offensive lineman to come in and be great,
it doesn't happen hardly at all, to even be good.
I mean you're hoping for kind of average. And you
know what average would be if they got that out
of guard play, a significant improvement from last year right
where it was just awful in terms of specifically in

(17:47):
terms of pass protection. So if you can get that
and have average to developing towards by January, you feel
like you're really finding a guy who's a sending and
he's playing next to Mims who could potentially be at
a Pro Bowl level this year, Like that's his arc
right now?

Speaker 6 (18:02):
God, do you feel great?

Speaker 1 (18:04):
You feel I would feel great about that line better
than I've probably felt about any line that they've had.
If you can, if you can say that when you
consider the level Orlando Brown was playing at what a
mimes can be. It's like, you know, even in Kris
as solid, if you can just get something that feels
like you're building something on the inside, it feels so

(18:25):
much better.

Speaker 4 (18:26):
You have emphasized their need more than others, I think
for not only a guard, but a swing tackle. Yeah,
and obviously that can be the same person. Are there
scenarios where those are two different people in the draft?

Speaker 7 (18:38):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (18:39):
Yeah, I think you could see a double back on that.
You know, it's kind of like we were talking before
about the strike technique stuff, but you can find you
can do that. No one's gonna like this, but it
could look like twenty twenty one a little bit where
they did. They went second round guard, and they went
with Deontay Smith in the fourth round, more of a
developmental tackle who you would think maybe this year he's

(19:03):
the fourth tackle, okay, and next year he's the swing tackle,
and then the year after that before they know Brown
can't come back. You feel like he's ready to be
a starter, and maybe that's a development that's a type
of career path you would expect out of a fourth
let's say, a fourth round pick that's in play for sure,

(19:24):
because they need both those positions.

Speaker 6 (19:26):
I think I agree with you.

Speaker 4 (19:27):
I think a lot of people are going to balk
or are gonna go what are they doing because of
all the needs on defense.

Speaker 6 (19:31):
If in six picks they take two linemen, you.

Speaker 1 (19:34):
Know what if they got two starting guards out of that,
you know what I mean. Like, also, it's also worth it.
So many times we've done so many trends on the
double up trend in so many times the second guy
ends up better than the first guy, and that goes
across different positions. And so if it's somebody who like
almost all of these guys, it seems like the tackles

(19:55):
have flexibility to play both positions. Maybe he helps you
now as even he gets in the middle of that
big mix of the battle position battle there and could
be a part of that. But I'm just saying, like
that absolutely could be two people. You absolutely could see
a double up because they have both of those spots
open on their roster right now. I guess you know,

(20:16):
I guess Cody Ford is your swing tackle right now.

Speaker 6 (20:19):
I mean, they don't. They haven't filled that right and so.

Speaker 1 (20:22):
To me, it just add that to the list of
needs that they have to accomplish, which they just need
more picks mostly.

Speaker 4 (20:27):
All right, one other position I want to ask about,
and then a few other non draft related issues. Okay,
well one is somewhat draft related because it's Trey Hendrickson.

Speaker 7 (20:39):
No.

Speaker 1 (20:39):
Wait, I thought we were on a good run. I
was hoping that we weren't gonna have to talk about him. No,
it's okay, I'm happy to do it.

Speaker 4 (20:45):
It depends on how much you could elaborate on whether
or not they play a game in Madrid.

Speaker 1 (20:50):
If you've done ten minutes on that, we won't do. Tray,
I don't. I don't have ten minutes on that. I
would have a quick answer on that. And so so
if that's where we have to do, I'm here. I'm
here for you. Okay, thanks, if that's what is yet. Finally,
if this is what you need, I'm happy to do it.
And it's releve it's relevant again, you know it is.
It's relevant.

Speaker 7 (21:09):
So here we go.

Speaker 6 (21:09):
It always is.

Speaker 4 (21:10):
Paul Danner Jr. For another half hour. Sports headlines are
next on ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports.

Speaker 3 (21:16):
Station, Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty.

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Traffic from the UC Help Traffic Center The uc Cancer
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Speaker 4 (21:53):
We see Chevrolet Home of lifetime powertrain protection and guarantee
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(22:38):
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(23:01):
to lose its last game in regulation. They have just
one more to go. That game tonight in Philadelphia's on
Fox Sports thirteen sixty. Paul Dana Junior's here from the
Athletic and the Growler Podcast. I'm gonna play in the
next segment what I think is my all time favorite
snippet from the Growler podcast. Really yeah, Okay, from an
episode that I was a part of last week.

Speaker 1 (23:23):
Okay, was it the moment? Was it the end of
your was it the end of your segment? It was
right when you guys said goodbye to me?

Speaker 6 (23:31):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (23:32):
Yeah, Because I want to hear the epilogue of what
ended up happening next, because we you know, you checked
out and we went on recording. But I have to
imagine there was probably something that happened after that with me.

Speaker 6 (23:43):
Potentially I wentn't, got a cup of coffee, Oka, drove
to work. Okay, good.

Speaker 1 (23:47):
I'm glad to hear that nothing bad happened. Because I
was nervous for you.

Speaker 4 (23:50):
I did not go into the establishment that I was
parked outside of. I instead went to the Dunkin Donuts
and Shell gas station, and I decided that if anybody
is looking for a reality show idea, that they could
set up a camera crew at that combined Shell, Popeyes
and Dunkin Donuts and just film. Yeah, there's a lot

(24:10):
of stuff going on, a lot of stuff. So I
sort of felt like grabbing my phone and like popping
back in on the podcast to go, hey, guys, quick update.
I'm at Dunkin Donuts and Popeyes and Shell and there's
a lot going on here, and I just wanted to
let you know, but I didn't do that.

Speaker 1 (24:24):
Yeah, if you ever try to go through the Duncan
Popeyes combined drive through that, Yeah, it's there's a lot.
There's a lot happening on the back side of the
building as well. But the funny it's really hard to
get in and out of onto a really busy roads.
You have, you have a lot of good people watching. Yeah,
you have a near accident every three yes, yes, every
three minutes. Yes, it's very problematic. And so I mean,

(24:47):
I know I know people that have gotten been running
and gotten hit by a car.

Speaker 7 (24:51):
There.

Speaker 6 (24:51):
Like, if anything could happen at any moment, I'm with you.

Speaker 7 (24:54):
Set it up.

Speaker 4 (24:55):
There's a lot of stuff going on in that gas station,
parking lot, in the restaurant. I mean, there's just I
always thought that the best place to film a reality
show would be the Queen's Gate Marathon. I don't know, man,
that High Park at High Park, Dunkin Donuts, pop Eye Shell,
gas station. There's something there. Yeah. One more position you're

(25:15):
you're covering later in the week. You've done safety and
linebacker together. Day one, your sort of positional breakdown of
the Bengals going into the draft. You did offensive lineman
with a guard focus. Day two. Day five is going
to be skilled players. Give me a preview of what
the likely approach is going to be at running back.

Speaker 6 (25:35):
Day three. Day three running back. I mean it.

Speaker 1 (25:39):
I think I said this on one of the podcasts
last week. If I had to pick one beat on
a round position combo, it would be round five running back.
Really yeah, for a couple of reasons. One replicate Chase
Brown rights. The obvious is you're bringing in somebody you don't.

(26:03):
You don't need someone to come in and challenge Chase Brown,
right like they love Chase Brown, love Chase Brown. So
they are right. What I'm just saying, I mean, they
are very open about the fact they think he is
and will continue and will be great, and so they're
not looking, you know, an aggressive early move. While there

(26:24):
are circumstances that I guess you could make that argument,
I don't think it's even a part of the conversation.
The depth of this running back class, I mean, it
is wild. There are so many in every flavor that
you could want. Where they're gonna find what they're looking
for available to them on day three most teams are

(26:46):
I mean, I just I interviewed Dane Brugler that'll be
on tomorrow's podcast just a little bit ago, and he
was saying, you know, I got thirty two draftable grades
on running backs, not every team is taking a running
back right he's so you're gonna see some of that
quality pushback. We're in round five. They might be getting
somebody they have a round three grade on, And you

(27:07):
can do that and put that into the back of
the room. You're not using one of your higher need
picks and still get real value there. Somebody that can
give Chase Brown a breather can be up maybe maybe
the future, who knows whatever I mean, Chase Brown was
a fifth round pick two years ago. It all makes
too much sense, It fits too well to the entire

(27:29):
plan to say that that wouldn't be the direction they
could go because and I think a lot of teams
are gonna do this. You're gonna you're gonna see a
lot of teams, whether it be in around one or two,
have a running back that they love right there, that
man one of these top five running backs that are
on everybody's list here.

Speaker 6 (27:45):
And be like, yeah, but what's the difference.

Speaker 1 (27:48):
Like how big is the gap between this and what
we would get in a round four or five. And
and because of the depth and because of the what
this league is where you find these guys all the time,
you know you can you can hit it a pretty
high rate. There's a lot of success stories in round five.
Kyron Williams, Chase Brown, Tyler al Jyear, Tyrone Tracy last year.

(28:10):
These are all fifth round picks in the last couple
of years. So to me, that makes so much sense
that I think that's that's where running back ends up going.

Speaker 4 (28:20):
So you're gonna take a guard and maybe a swing
tackle and a running back for a team that's got
to repair their defense.

Speaker 6 (28:26):
They can need more picks, they need more picks.

Speaker 1 (28:29):
Well, I mean, I think, you know, I I you know,
I think the swing tackle conversation is a little bit
of a luxury if the right guy is there at
the right spot.

Speaker 6 (28:40):
I don't I don't think that is.

Speaker 1 (28:44):
Necessarily a plan or path a but I think it's
in the conversation. But I think guard round two, running
back round five, and defense all around it. I would
say that'd be my most likely path to.

Speaker 4 (28:56):
See Today, the Bengals had their local workout for play
who went to area colleges and a number of them
who went to schools outside the Greater Cincinnati area but
played high school ball here. I think this is fantasy
camp for nine of those players. Yeah, did you cover
it or you there?

Speaker 6 (29:11):
I was there. Anything could happen? No, Is that what
this says is a fantasy camp? Pretty much?

Speaker 7 (29:17):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (29:17):
I mean it's not a long it's a half hour
workout in shorts and that's all they do. Thirty minutes
thirty minutes in shorts, right, and and like the little jersey,
that's it. There's no helmets, there's no I mean there's
no like it's a lot of like a cool T
shirt or something. It's just like a little it's like
a little workout. Well I think I don't know if
they get to keep the shorts in the jersey, but

(29:40):
you know, yeah, I don't know, it would be the
only reason to go. Yeah, I mean I think they
fantasy camp.

Speaker 5 (29:49):
Quickly.

Speaker 1 (29:49):
You get the pants, you get the berries, swag of
some sort I can't speak specifically on, like you know,
the the goodie bag that they get.

Speaker 6 (29:58):
They got a good bag of it.

Speaker 1 (29:59):
I mean there's something that they don't walk out of
it empty handed. You get a jersey, like like a
practice jersey. I this is where I should have been
really pinned down today. Okay, next year, next year, go
to the workout. And that's the story.

Speaker 4 (30:13):
What do you get for you get showing up to
Bengals fantasy camp for thirty minutes.

Speaker 1 (30:17):
I would hope that there's maybe a photo of them
in action, right, you know, they can blow up there.
I was in a NFL facility wearing NFL gear.

Speaker 4 (30:25):
Tony Pike in his years, he was not one of those,
but had a helmet, had a jersey, and I think
I got to keep all that stuff.

Speaker 1 (30:33):
I think they've scaled back. I think there's a reason
the helmets aren't involved. Well, forty five guys worked or
got invited. I'm not sure if all forty five showed up.
Forty five players got invited. That's a lot of helmets,
a lot of helmets. I don't think they were going there.
But yeah, no, it's it's not it's not long, it's
not particularly telling.

Speaker 4 (30:49):
So it starts at eight things like eight thirty to you,
you could you could be you know, downtown having breakfast
by eight forty five.

Speaker 6 (30:56):
Correct.

Speaker 1 (30:57):
Yeah, That's why I'm always like, how did what happened?
And who are the losers?

Speaker 7 (31:02):
You know what I mean?

Speaker 6 (31:03):
It's like it's not it's it's very.

Speaker 1 (31:05):
Who runs the workout, the coaches are out, the new
it's you know, the new coaching staff is out there, right,
so you can kind of the first time you kind
of see them out there.

Speaker 6 (31:14):
Working with guys that they're never going to see again.
That's correct.

Speaker 1 (31:17):
Do they take it seriously, Yeah, they do take it seriously.
I think they take it seriously. I think they're trying.
Don't if it's only forty minutes, well, those they take
the thirty minutes seriously. They appear to be okay. If not,
they're doing a good job of faking. The scouts are
all there. I mean they're I think they're looking if
there's anybody that catches their eye that maybe then they

(31:38):
could look at as a contract their eye tying their shoes.

Speaker 6 (31:40):
It's thirty minutes. There's no time to catch anybody's eye.
Forty five players in three and thirty minutes. Yeah, I mean, yeah,
that's what it is. I think, you know, it's just
this is what the.

Speaker 5 (31:52):
NFL wants you to do.

Speaker 4 (31:53):
I think it's a neat thing that NFL teams do.
It's a neat tradition and and I I.

Speaker 1 (31:58):
I think the NFL teams are like, we we still
have to do this tradition.

Speaker 4 (32:02):
I enjoy because I did it yesterday. I said, at
five thirty five, I will read all the names, and
I did. I sounded like a high school principal reading
the names of kids who have graduated. Like I enjoy
that part of it. I think it's cool. I just
thought it was more than thirty minutes. I thought there
was actually like football practice.

Speaker 1 (32:19):
Not at all, No, not even a little. I mean
there's like, you know, there's there is a football. Sometimes
I go out there and I feel like there's not
even a football. So they actually had a football at
the I saw people catch footballs. At one point they
were being thrown. There was a quarterback he was throwing.
He was throwing a football.

Speaker 6 (32:37):
Forty there was a kicker, and there's a kicker at
the end. Who was doing kid? Miami's punter was there. Yeah,
punter was there.

Speaker 4 (32:42):
So forty five players, they all played different positions in
an a half hour.

Speaker 6 (32:46):
You're gonna go nope, nope, nope.

Speaker 1 (32:48):
No, all the position coaches are out there, are they?

Speaker 6 (32:51):
Yeah, it's not. Zach Taylor shows up at this thing.

Speaker 8 (32:55):
He was there.

Speaker 1 (32:56):
I think I think he gives the speech. He gives
the speech and huddle at the end. What is the speech?
I wasn't in cyber any guys. Thanks, I'd be I'd
be here for that Bengals all access video of that speech. Hey,
you know what, keep grinding towards your goals. Click this
on your resume.

Speaker 6 (33:13):
That's it.

Speaker 1 (33:13):
You can make sure you get that photo of you
out here in the in the teen gear working doing
your athletic movements.

Speaker 4 (33:22):
I mean, like, so, he gets a cup of coffee
in the morning, puts it on his desk, and it's
still hot by the time he comes back up to
his office after this practice.

Speaker 6 (33:29):
That's fact.

Speaker 4 (33:30):
It is fourteen minutes away from four o'clock. All Right,
we have to talk about another to do list, the
Madrid question, and maybe Tree hendrickson. Yeah, plus maybe play
my favorite part of your podcast, Yeah on ESPN fifteen
thirty Cincinnati Sports.

Speaker 3 (33:44):
Station Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 9 (33:49):

Speaker 10 (33:52):
holistic approaches to head and that cancer called five eight
five you see see see southbound US forty two at
mal Road. It's an accident. Police activity is still in
place along Clark Street over at Lynn Street. River Road
closed off due to landslides between Amsterdam Road and before

(34:14):
Hayward Street and northbound seventy five slow traffic for Mitchell
the Paddock on that hezamak with traffic.

Speaker 6 (34:21):
This report is sponsored by the Way from four.

Speaker 4 (34:23):
This is ESPN fifteen to thirty monthlegger Paul Danner Juniors
here from The Athletic and the Growlar podcast for another
few minutes. You have me on your podcast on a
pretty regular basis. And last week I was en route.
I had an appointment in Covington. I was trying to
get here to Kenwood. I had to stop, and so
in order to do the podcast on time, I did

(34:44):
it from the parking lot of a Starbucks. And I
don't think the podcast went off the rails. But in
the middle of talking about the draft, we got sidetracked
and we were talking about buffets.

Speaker 6 (34:54):
No, I don't like buffets, and how.

Speaker 4 (34:56):
I think it's gross that people blow out birthday candles
on a CA Yeah, And there were one or two
other real, unimportant, non draft related things. So I I,
you know, I I listened to the podcast, and I
usually zip past the part where I'm on because I've
heard myself and I'm uninteresting and not informative. So in
the course of doing that, I skipped ahead and I

(35:20):
called the very final few seconds of my appearance last week,
and I just I want you to hear this.

Speaker 6 (35:24):
Arran go ahead, and a.

Speaker 4 (35:27):
Woman standing next to her car holding one cigarette while
smoking the other.

Speaker 6 (35:31):
So that's got that.

Speaker 7 (35:33):
Brook Starbucks.

Speaker 6 (35:35):
So perhaps it's time for you to exit.

Speaker 1 (35:38):
So on that note, most saying hello to Doubles, doubles
cigarette woman next to you and everybody at the Starbucks.

Speaker 6 (35:45):
Uh, and we will we will talk to you, Okay.

Speaker 7 (35:48):
Thanks as always, guys, We'll see.

Speaker 1 (35:50):
Us see it much. Thanks again to Mow for joining us.
That was informative.

Speaker 6 (35:56):
There you go. That's that.

Speaker 4 (35:57):
I really enjoyed that. And and honest the audio doesn't
do a justice. I listened to it and then I'm like,
well it's on YouTube. I'm gonna go back and watch.
And the pained expression on your face and on Jay's face,
that was like, we just wasted twenty five minutes of
our time, of our audience's time. We're here to talk
about the draft, and we brought in this clown who's

(36:19):
not even professional enough to do it in an office
or a studio or he's in his car, he's talking
about a woman smoking multiple cigarettes. He's veering into why
he doesn't like buffets, and he's talking about birthday cakes
and why did.

Speaker 6 (36:36):
We do that? It was this moment of are we
really going to put that on the internet? And you did?
We did. Absolutely.

Speaker 1 (36:43):
Look, we had a regular segment that people clamored forward.
We would talk about aliens for twenty five minutes at
a time. Okay, and it's like, look, we understand what
the audience once. They need this stuff. They need this stuff.
I was being serious. It really was informat and Jay
went on to how he had stories about which was

(37:03):
great being in jail. Right after that, it was like, wow,
we did miss an opportunity for jadea way in as
the one person that had been in jail, it could
talk a little bit about that scenario.

Speaker 4 (37:12):
We did discuss prison etiquette. Yeah, that podcast we did
all right, a couple of other things really quickly. Jason
Lockhan for The Washington Post writes that the rest of
the league is watching closely what happens with the Bengals
and their draft and Trey Hendrickson, meaning maybe a trade
could still happen.

Speaker 6 (37:28):
Sure, I think a trade could still happen.

Speaker 1 (37:31):
Yes, and if they if they take an edge rusher
at seventeen. Here's the things we know. Miles Murphy's gonna
play a lot this year. Yeah, they have not hid
that Miles Murvy's playing a lot. So if they take
another first round pick, you know, he's probably gonna want
him to do play a lot.

Speaker 6 (37:49):
You know what.

Speaker 1 (37:49):
They have a lot of needs and they need more picks.
If they felt like that happened and they could add whatever,
a couple of picks on or some combination, yeah they could.
I wouldn't understand why the rest of the league would
be looking at them like are you gonna do that?
They're they're in they're in a buying this is a
moment where you would do it. And now it doesn't

(38:11):
mean it's gonna happen.

Speaker 4 (38:11):
And then Trey will go on the McAfee show and
cry about that. Is that what happens next?

Speaker 1 (38:16):
Well, maybe it'll be the team he gets traded to.
He'll be complaining about their take on the contract negotiation.

Speaker 4 (38:21):
Or the potentially Bengal's gonna play a game and complain No,
not at all. The Bengal's gonna play a game in Madrid.

Speaker 6 (38:28):
We don't know. We legitimately don't know, ye, Like, I mean,
they the the Bengals haven't been told they're playing in Madrid.
I know, we asked.

Speaker 1 (38:36):
We talked to Katie about this, yeah, and when we
were down in Palm Beach and she was specifically like,
I mean we we legitimately don't know.

Speaker 7 (38:42):
Now.

Speaker 1 (38:42):
The one thing we do know is that they will
be playing internationally, giving up a home game in twenty seven, right,
like that's happening. Katie said that to us specifically. But
they and they could be one of these road teams.
They're in the mix, but they don't know at this
point whether they're going to be or not. They're kind
of find out in a lot of ways that the
rest of the league is gonna find.

Speaker 6 (39:03):
Out if if we send the Bengals, do they get tariffed?
I don't know. I don't know how that works.

Speaker 1 (39:09):
I'm not sure that works. Is there a tear on NFL?
I don't know, Sam exports.

Speaker 4 (39:15):
I haven't really paid attention to the news today, so
I don't know if that's.

Speaker 1 (39:20):
I know my passport is about to expire and I
need to double check on that.

Speaker 10 (39:24):
Well.

Speaker 4 (39:24):
Thank you, as always, it was great. Next Tuesday, the
pre draft edition, Yes, the pre draft editions.

Speaker 6 (39:30):
We'll talk about totally different stuff than that we have incast.
We will you'll have.

Speaker 4 (39:34):
More positions, you'll have written about, You'll have done like
nine more podcasts.

Speaker 6 (39:37):
It's going to be great.

Speaker 4 (39:38):
There's gonna be a whole whole week to kind of,
you know, just sift through all the different content and
figure out what I want to talk.

Speaker 1 (39:44):
With you about, and if not, we can just talk
about our latest experience at the Shell Popeyes Duncan situation
and see what we got going on there.

Speaker 4 (39:51):
I advise our audience to go check that particular establishment
out and tell me I'm wrong.

Speaker 6 (39:57):
I've been there many times. There's a lot happening.

Speaker 4 (40:00):
Would be a great reality show all night. Reed Paul's
work the Athletic dot Com and check out the Growlar podcast,
an essential part of the Bengals pre draft process. Pat
Noon and the head coach of FC Cincinnati, will join
us next. It's coming up on four o'clock on Moegar.
This is ESPN fifteen thirty, Cincinnati Sports.

Speaker 3 (40:17):
Station, save PN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 6 (40:20):
That's us. It's four oh five.

Speaker 4 (40:22):
This is ESPN fifteen thirty on Moegor, thank you so
much for listening. Hopefully having an awesome Tuesday afternoon. FC
Cincinnati picked up three more points on the road Saturday,
a one nothing.

Speaker 6 (40:35):
Shutout clean sheet over DC.

Speaker 4 (40:37):
The Orange and Blue have picked up three points in
each of their last three and currently sit in second
place in the Eastern Conference. Despite what has been I
think most would describe the first couple of months of
the season, and you could even fold preseason training into it,
as a very tumultuous stretch of time. They've hung in there.
They've got to get healthier, but they have hung in there.

(40:59):
They are back on the road on Saturday for a
match against Chicago before coming home for a rare day
game Kids Day on the twenty sixth against Kansas City.

Speaker 6 (41:07):
The head coach of FC Cincinnati.

Speaker 4 (41:10):
Last time we had Pat Noonan on the show, I
begged him to bring me cigars from Nicaragua and he
came through and he's with us now.

Speaker 6 (41:16):
Coach, how are you?

Speaker 7 (41:18):
I'm doing good?

Speaker 8 (41:19):
Man?

Speaker 7 (41:19):
How are you I'm.

Speaker 6 (41:20):
Doing I'm doing really well.

Speaker 4 (41:22):
It seems like you know, the first you and I
talked about this before the season started, preseason training was
different because you had some comings and goings, and then
a lot of moving parts over the course of the
first couple months of the season. You're playing in multiple competitions,
there's a ton of travel, there's a lot of guys
who aren't healthy. You have some players play for their
national teams, and yet you guys have I think you

(41:44):
could say hung in there and maybe even more than that.

Speaker 6 (41:47):
Is that a fair way of putting it.

Speaker 7 (41:50):
Yeah, your word tumultuous was spot on. It's been. Yeah,
we've had a lot thrown at us. You don't want
that become you know, distractions or an excuse to you know,
not performing and not getting results. So that part I'm
pleased with as far as where the group's at because
we have a long way to go. But despite a

(42:14):
pretty up and down preseason and not having you know,
consistent player availability, the guys have kind of done a
good job of just you know, getting on with it
and trying to get better. So, you know, I say
kind of at the beginning of every year and we're
past that, you know, early phase, but getting results when
you're not at your best is important, and you know,

(42:35):
I think that's probably been the silver lining here with
you know, the start of the season and kind of
where we're at, so certainly a lot to improve on.
But if this is where you know we're positioned, when
we know we have a long way to go to
hit our stride and be at our best, then I
think we're in a pretty good spot.

Speaker 4 (42:52):
Between the travel and players not being available and late
additions late in the preseason and everything you had to
deal with, was that the craziest stretch that you've had
to deal with as a head coach?

Speaker 7 (43:05):
I think that's pretty fair. With transfer conversations with you know,
some of the contract stuff, with injuries, it was really
an up and down start to the season and that's
not ideal. And and that's also something that we have
to look at and try to to learn from because
you know, this isn't just hey, it's a little bit unfortunate.

(43:28):
There's plenty of things that can be prevented or that
need to be improved because we can't expect to have,
you know, the start to the season like like we
did with all those circumstances and expectings to work out.
You know, that's unrealistic and so some good, uh, some

(43:48):
good things to learn from, but we need to be
more consistent in player availability and and having you know,
some of these other conversations, you know, off field conversations,
I think settled and handled in a in a way
where here's the standard, here's the expectation, and everybody's on

(44:10):
the same page. So you know, there's a lot to
learn from it. It can't just be pointing out, you know,
what everybody else is doing, you know wrong, or what
we don't like.

Speaker 4 (44:20):
You talk about player availability. You had Matt Miosga on Saturday.
How good did it feel to see him run out
on the field.

Speaker 7 (44:28):
It was nice. It was nice. You could you could
kind of feel it within the group. You know, it's
been a long runback for Matt, and there was a
couple of setbacks, and you know, we were really cautious.
I think Matt was cautious with when when's the right
time because there was still pain, you know, in the
return to play. I think there was a you know,

(44:49):
a couple of mental hurdles that he needed to get over.
But the last two weeks with him, you know, fully
ingrained in training and meetings and kind of all of it,
and then certainly traveling with us on the road, his
presence was felt. You know, it's good or bad, it's louder.
You know, he's a he's a good communicator, but he's
got a big personality. And even in the you know,

(45:11):
the meetings and even in the meal rooms and on
the plane, his energy was felt and it was just
refreshing to be honest, and and then he comes in
and in a big moment along with some of the
other reserves. At that time, it was with Brad Smith
and he he kind of helps us see out the
game and get a resultant. So I think probably for

(45:31):
him to be involved in a in a meaningful game
and in an important moment with his first minutes was
was great. And so we'll look to try to build
on that. Uh. He's an important piece and we're gonna
have to find ways to get him, you know, game fit,
and that's probably just gonna be throwing him out there.
So a really good uh, you know, welcome back to

(45:54):
an important player for this group.

Speaker 4 (45:56):
Dot O Valenzuela starts on Saturday and scores the only
goal of the match his first start of the season.
Somebody who has been a part of this organization since
fourteen fifteen years old walked us through the decision to
put him in the starting eleven.

Speaker 7 (46:13):
Yeah, a little bit circumstantial, a little bit his growth
and you know, the maturation process because you know, if
I'm being honest, I think there was a couple of
players ahead of him with you know, Evander, Corey Baird
in the moment and Sergio. But with Sergio and Corey
there was as well as Evander, there was some injury concerns,

(46:35):
you know, not thinking some of these guys could probably
start the game, and it allowed dot to an opportunity
because I think the game prior should have been a
potential start for Dotto. But I just think he had
a week that I was a little bit hard on
him and maybe too critical and maybe unfair, but been
trying to push him in a way where he's more
consistent and the expectations are higher because you saw it

(47:00):
on the field in DC. He's a talented kid that
can really help our team. And so there's been you know,
signs off the field of him maturing and becoming a
better pro, and then on the field it's consistency and
I think he took his minutes well. He was one
of the you know, the guys if you look at
you know who played well, who was a positive you

(47:20):
know who underperformed? I think he was one that was
in the uh, you know, the positive category, and so
how do we build on that and continue to have
the right mentality the next week in training and have
a good training session and make sure that your name
is consistently you know, in the conversation for the starting
uh you know option.

Speaker 4 (47:41):
Pat Noon and head coach f Csoncinnati, you talked about
being hard on him. When you're hard on a player,
what does that look like? What does that sound like?

Speaker 11 (47:50):
Uh?

Speaker 7 (47:50):
You'll you'll know by the tone in h On the field,
A lot of times if I want to be more critical,
that's the one on one conversation to let a player know,
you know, either the disappointment or the expectations that I
don't think are being met, and making sure that you
know they walk they walk away in a more motivated

(48:13):
way than they you know, they came into the conversation
and that they understand. Look, I believe in you. We
got to see more. And so I typically do a
lot of that in a one on one fashion. But
then there's times on the field where okay, we can't
keep having the same conversation over and over you know,
just using Dado as an example, and I'm not saying
that's the case with Tim and we're having these conversations

(48:33):
every week, but it's, hey, this needs to improve, and
this is the moments we're talking about, and so usually
it's a change of tone or a one on one conversation.
But you know, it's tough love. You know that as
a young kid that you know a lot of people
rate very highly, myself included, and so in moments where

(48:54):
the expectations aren't being met or you want to see more,
you know, I think the approach to how you pull
that out of players is important, and you know they
all handle it in a different way, and so some
guys like being yelled at, some guys don't. Just getting
feel for your players and what's going to you know,
push them and push the right buttons as I think important.

Speaker 4 (49:15):
So I think a lot of observers would would look
at how you're playing, and you know, again ten points
the last four matches, despite all the stuff you've had
to deal with, really really good. You still want to
get more offense out of your club. Obviously you got
to get healthier. Beyond that, how do you increase your
goal count.

Speaker 7 (49:33):
Yeah, I think the relationships of our our you know,
attacking group has been inconsistent as far as the you know,
who's whose starting games. You know, the injuries kind of
take you out of rhythm. And so you know last
game at Dotto and and Kevin and Luca and you

(49:53):
know games before that it was Corey and Sergio and Evander,
and so we need more consistency with I think, you know,
our starting group. But I also think when we look
at some of these recent games, it's the hold up play,
it's decision making on the ball to move our group
up the field in different ways. I think that's been erratic.

(50:13):
And and why you see games like d C in
the second half UH turning in their favor and them
controlling more of the plays because you know, our attacking group,
you know, I don't think has been working well enough together.
So those are the things that you know, we need
to keep working on them with and UH and and
make sure that we get the relationships better, we get

(50:35):
the understanding of our ideas better, because you know, there's
still guys that are new to it. The Vands new
to it, Kevin's new to it. And while they're very talented, players.
You know, there's times where we're out of sync and
we need to continue to message the right things in
the right moments to get them to understand, you know,
how how our attacking group should look this.

Speaker 4 (50:56):
This little run you've you've gone on winning three straight
started in Nashville. There was a stretch in that game.
And you're certainly more qualified to speak to this than
I am. But I it was a stretch in that
game which was as good as I've ever seen Roman
Santano play. And this is a guy who's had some
really awesome moments. Would that be an accurate or an

(51:16):
unfair assessment on my behalf?

Speaker 7 (51:19):
Well that I would say that's accurate, I said after
the game. If it wasn't for Roman and Evander in
that game, we you know, we don't walk away with
with a win. You know, he stood on his head
for five minutes. The penalty save is you know, a bonus.
You don't expect your keeper to make that. When they do,

(51:40):
it gives you life, it gives you momentum. But he
needed to be ready for a minute later when he
had to make two ridiculous saves. And I say, a
minute later, I don't even think it was that long.
But aside from just the elite shot stopping, there's games
where you know, the composure, the decision making under pressure,
the distribution, you know, that all factors into how I

(52:04):
rate you know, these performances, not just shot stopping. And
so the very next game against New England, I think
it was poor and it's being consistent and not putting
our team in tough situations. And so there was probably
two or three moments where the clearances weren't going against
New England and were immediately under pressure. And I think that,
you know, stems directly from you know, his decisions on

(52:24):
the ball. So you know, I'm being critical, but we're
looking for more of those, you know, games like we
saw against Nashville without having to save us with these saves,
you know. And so you know, Roman's another one that
I'm hard on because I think there's so much more
to unlocked there. But in the end, when you when
I look at the the goalkeeper position, don't lose the

(52:47):
team games. And Roman has been consistent about not only
you know, not doing that. He typically in games like
that where he stands on the set, he's he's winning
us games and we're we're gaining points from it, so
that's the most important thing for me. And if you
have to sacrifice some of the decision making and the
ball at his feet, you want. I want goalkeepers that
know how to save the ball, and Romans pretty elite

(53:10):
with that.

Speaker 4 (53:11):
I stood in the mud last Saturday watching my seven
year old play soccer, and I thought about you guys
later that night against New England, and so maybe this
is a dumb question.

Speaker 6 (53:20):
How do you prepare for a bad weather game like that.

Speaker 7 (53:24):
I prepared for it to be much worse than it was,
to be honest, just because of the amount of rain.
You just don't know how the field's going to hold up.
You know, maybe you're seen standing water and you're going
to say, okay, we can't move the ball on the ground,
you know, in front of our own goal, so we
have to be more direct. I was anticipating having to
message that, but I tell you what, the field held

(53:46):
up in such a good way that you know I'm
standing there. Other than getting rained on, I thought the
game played really well because the field was in such
good condition. And so you know, I'd rather have rain
than snow then wind when it gets windy, it's just
really hard to control the ball and the game changes.

(54:06):
So if it's just rain in the fast paced game,
I'll take that any day of the week. But credit
to our you know, our guys at tq AL the
ground screw they were, you know, they had that field
well prepared. So you know, unfortunately you didn't experience the
same situation. I'm assuming, but.

Speaker 6 (54:22):
No, oh no, no no.

Speaker 4 (54:24):
We played in the mud for forty five minutes and
but we won, so you know, same result.

Speaker 7 (54:29):
Its all accounts a kid that gets to play in
the mud and win a game. That's not the worst.

Speaker 4 (54:34):
That's not the worst thing at all. Good luck on Saturday.
We always appreciate your time. Thank you so much.

Speaker 7 (54:40):
Was all well, thanks man, you got it.

Speaker 4 (54:42):
Pat Noon and head coach FC Cincinnati on the road
on Saturday eight to thirty match against Chicago and then
back at home they play the the rare daytime tilt
at two thirty on the twenty six. That's a kid's
day at TQL Stadium. That match will started two thirty
against Kansas City. Obviously you can hear all the games

(55:02):
on ESPN fifteen thirty. I enjoy talking with him nineteen
after four o'clock or other, Pat Pat Brennan. Pat Brennan
makes his triumph return to the show. You know, Pat's
gone through a little bit of a change. He's covering,
he's covering everything. He's really been covering the Reds along
with Gordon Whittmeyer with the Inquirer and doing a great job.
So Pat's gonna join us that Pat Pat Brennan at

(55:24):
five oh five.

Speaker 6 (55:25):
We are looking forward to that.

Speaker 4 (55:26):
The Rads are about to get healthy, maybe as healthy
as they're gonna be all year long. We will see.
We'll spend some time on that. Next on ESPN fifteen.

Speaker 3 (55:33):
Thirty Cincinnati's ESPN.

Speaker 4 (55:38):
Somewhat new imaging about that twenty four, twenty four minutes
after four o'clock. This is ESPN fifteen thirty. Brennanmanute John's
on baseball twenty five minutes away. Looking forward to that.
Reds start a three game series against the Mariners, and
you know what, Luis Castillo pitching against the rad This

(56:00):
is really kind of a footnote. First of all, the
Reds have won five out of six. They just swept
the Pirates. Secondly, Nick Lodolo pitches tonight. The team leader
in era Hunter Green's nine to eight era is not
the best on the team. Nick Lodolo's nine to six
is Hunter has pitched in one more game. So a
starting pitcher off to a great start in what is

(56:21):
a big season for him is getting the ball tonight,
and you have to feel good about that more than anything.
It's time for this team to take off. It's time
for this team to take off. I'm not the only
person who has said this. Look, man, we as fans
sometimes spent a lot of time hoping for ideal health.

(56:41):
It rarely happens. The start of the season for the
Reds has been the to a large degree, the opposite
of ideal health. Tyler Stevenson hasn't played yet. Austin Hayes
started the season on the injured list, Alexis Diaz non healthy,
not available, Spencer Steer was playing with one arm, couldn't
play defense, Matt McLean missed some time. Well, tonight they

(57:05):
get Austin Hayes back. By the way, the Reds play
three rightys in this series against Seattle. The Mariners are
gonna start three right handed pitchers. Austin Hayes. I think
where he is gonna make the biggest impact is against lefties.
Even though the Reds don't play lefty or go against
lefties starting pitchers. In this series against Seattle, they have
been atrocious offensively against lefties. So we'll see if Austin

(57:29):
Hayes can do that, can lift that up. But he's
also going to help lift up the overall offensive profile
against no matter who the starting pitcher is, no matter
which arm the guy is throwing from. Like you may think,
Austin Hayes is a relatively low ceiling player, I'm intrigued.
I'm intrigued to see if number one, the calf issue,
which is not unlike the caf issue he had last

(57:52):
year before he got traded, if that goes away or
if that pops up again. Number two, I'm interested in
this if this guy can regain his All Star If
he can, that's a really big boost to this team.
Now you might go, well, Mo, he's still kind of
a low ceiling offensive player, which is maybe not fair
to him. That's fine. He was the offensive centerpiece. In
terms of off season acquisitions, I think, frankly more than

(58:15):
Gavin Lux, I think more than Jose Travino in terms
of guys the Reds acquired from outside.

Speaker 6 (58:20):
He was the guy.

Speaker 4 (58:21):
So if he's the guy, you're asking him to make
an impact, and right now you're asking him to make
an immediate impact. Austin Hayes is back. Matt McClain is
also back. Reds have it feels like kind of dodged
a bullet here, right He only missed basically a week.
So now, can Matt McClain go a while without going
back on the injured list? Can he start to develop

(58:44):
a pattern of health, And more than anything, can this
team take off? I know Tyler Stevenson is not healthy.
He is getting there. He's supposed to catch a bullpen session,
actually a pair of bullpen sessions today. They need Tyler Stevenson.
Nothing against Jose Travino. The idea behind acquiring him was
for him to be a good, capable, reliable backup catcher.

(59:07):
And even if Tyler Stevenson isn't completely ready to catch,
you could use his bat. He was one of their
best hitters last year. It's time for this team to
take off. They've played sixteen games, ten percent of the season,
obviously a tiny fraction. They have good starting pitching, they
need to hit more. So two things about that. The
first one is they got Austin Hayes and Matt McClain back.

(59:29):
The second one is some of these guys who haven't
hit yet, the leash should not be very long. I
know Jamer Candelario is making a lot of money. I
I'm sorry, man, like I'm gonna give Noelve Marte a
chance at some point, even though they just said into Louisville.
If Jamer Candelario doesn't start hitting, Will Benson's in Louisville.
By the way, you talk about a great attitude. I'm

(59:51):
a big Will Benson guy. I can certainly understand the
frustration with him. Last year, I was frustrated with him.
I can understand why the guy didn't make the team.
I can understand why the guy got sent to Louisville.
The dude went right to Louisville on the day he
got demoted, went there and got four hits. Didn't take
the time, didn't take the three days you get, didn't sulk,
went down there, kept working. So they got some guys

(01:00:11):
who haven't hit a lick yet that have to start hitting.
They've got a team that's got to start taking off.
They have rebounded from the slow start, or you might
go ten games is not the start. Sixteen games is
the start, whatever it is, back to five hundred. They
have survived. We were just talking with Pat Noonan, the
FC Cincinnati coach. Right, FC Cincinnati entirely different sport. FC

(01:00:34):
Cincinnati missing a whole lot of dudes. They had the
Lucho Acosta situation, Evander joins the team late, a lot
of guys hurt, a weird schedule, and yet they have
figured out a way to hang in there and now
they're thriving. They've won three straight games, two games out
of the top spot in the Eastern Conference. It's not
apples to apples by any stretch, but the Reds have

(01:00:54):
treaded water. They've taken care of business against the Pirates
and then surprisingly, I think for a lot of folks
on two out of three against San Francisco. The schedule
does not have on it in the coming days. The
San Diego Padres, who right now look like the best
team in baseball, the schedule right now doesn't have on it.

(01:01:15):
In the coming days. The La Dodgers, who have struggled recently,
the schedule on it doesn't even have the Chicago Cubs,
who offensively are the best team in the sport right now.
They don't play the Cubs for another month. The schedule
has on it, not the New York Mets, not the
Philadelphia Phillies, not even the Atlanta Braves, who are better

(01:01:36):
than their five and eleven record. They started zero to seven.
They've got an eight to eight Seattle team. They've got
a Baltimore team that is probably better than its record,
but still likely not very good. They've got winnable series
coming up against a bad Miami team that is probably
not as good as its record, an awful Colorado team.

(01:01:58):
You are combining a perfect storm of things. You have
good starting pitching, You're as healthy right now as you've
been all year, by the way, I didn't even mention
that Alexis Das is back. And you've got a schedule
that sets up pretty nicely, dude, Like now's the time,
Like we keep wondering, we keep doing this as Reds fans,

(01:02:19):
we keep wondering, like why's it gonna be time?

Speaker 6 (01:02:21):
Why it's it gonna be time to like, you.

Speaker 4 (01:02:23):
Know, get going here and going a run and actually
play like a contender and make a statement that you
you know, are going to be in the race, are
going to be in the hunt. When's it going to
be time to like make a move, Not so much
make a move like a trade, although that would be nice,
Like make a move where you put together a stretch
of I don't know, could we ask for like nine

(01:02:45):
out of twelve something like that, or like twelve out
of fifteen something like that. You got to do those
things when you're healthy. They're gonna have other health issues
this year. Other guys are gonna get hurt, right, hopefully
not that many, and when they do, hopefully not for
a very long period of time. But you got some
guys who got to start hitting. You got the guys
who haven't been available who have to make an impact.

(01:03:05):
You've got good starting pitching, you got a somewhat favorable schedule,
Like now's the time. Now is the time for the
Reds as a team to make a leap. We have
been waiting for a while now to see the Reds
make it, like a legitimate charge. Now they did midway
through twenty twenty three, like a legitimate charge. This is
when you're supposed to do it when you're healthy, Like

(01:03:27):
how often man, when when the Reds were struggling, which
you know it's been less than four weeks very early
in the season. Wait till they get healthy. Wait till
they get healthy. You get patted on the head, Wait
till they get healthy. Nothing against Tyler Stevenson, who's really good.
They're healthy, man, they're healthy. The starting pitching is intact.
They've got two absolute studs at the top of the rotation.

(01:03:49):
They've gotten good bullpen work. They just got their their
closer back. We'll see if Alexis Daz actually closes. Like
the time is kind of now, man, and like we
do this all the time, like when's when's the time
for urgency? It's like now, now, now, So let's let's

(01:04:10):
see if this team can rise to the occasion. I
know this is not the most nuanced sports take. Most
says healthy team should start winning. Well, yeah, yes, all
we heard. Wait till they're healthy. Okay, they're probably today
as healthy as they're going to be. And again, I
know they got to get Tyler Stevenson back. Chances are

(01:04:34):
they're always going to be playing with somebody on the
injured list, somebody they could use.

Speaker 6 (01:04:39):
As long as there's not a lot of those guys. Okay,
you're good right.

Speaker 4 (01:04:44):
Now, there's not a lot of those guys, favorable schedule,
good starting pitching, healthy club go win some ballgames. Sports
Headlines next on ESPN fifteen.

Speaker 3 (01:04:54):
Thirty, Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty Traffic.

Speaker 10 (01:05:01):
From the UC Health Traffic Center. The UC Cancer Center
offers the latest research based and holistic approaches to head
and net cancer called five eight five UCCC. Earlier accident
cleared out southbound seventy five at Western Avenue on Martin
Luther King Drive. Another accident at Highland Avenue. Traffic is

(01:05:22):
slow on southbound seventy five between Shepherd Lane and Town Street,
a five minute delay in through there on that ezelic
with traffic.

Speaker 6 (01:05:31):
This report is sponsored by Generator.

Speaker 7 (01:05:33):
From ESPN fifteen thirty, Cincinnati's sports station.

Speaker 4 (01:05:37):
Sports Headlines are a service to Kelsey Chevrolet, home of
lifetime power drain protection and guaranteed credit approval from their
family to yours life, kelseyshow.

Speaker 6 (01:05:47):
Dot Com, Reds and Mariners.

Speaker 4 (01:05:49):
Tonight, Luis Castillo is going to pitch against Cincinnati for
the first time. Last pitch to gabp on seven two,
seven twenty two, or as a normal person would say,
twenty seventh, twenty twenty two, when he pitched against the
Marlins at GABP right before he got traded. Nick Lodolo
starts for Cincinnati six to forty tonight's first pitch on

(01:06:12):
seven hundred WLW. Reds have made some roster moves tonight.
Austin Hayes will make his regular season Red's debut. He
is going to be in dhing tonight and batting fifth,
and Matt McClain is back after his stay on.

Speaker 6 (01:06:26):
The injured list.

Speaker 4 (01:06:26):
Why don't I just give you the entire red starting
lineup which is available for sponsorship. Friedel in center, McLain
at second, Eli is playing short, Gavin Lux is playing
left field, batting fourth, Hayes DH and Candelario at third,
Ces at first, Freelian right, and Travinho is behind the plate.

(01:06:48):
The transactions the Reds made we told you about Hayes
and McLain. Alexis Diaz is also back off the fifteen
day injured list. Jacob Hertebes and Noel ve Marte have
been optioned to Louis. The weather is not great. The
Reds are home tonight. The baseball version of, or one
of the baseball versions of the Crosstown Shootout is tonight

(01:07:09):
as well. You see hosting Xavier. That game is going
to start at six o'clock. The Columbus Blue Jackets need
to win in regulation tonight, and need to win in
regulation in their last game, and they need Montreal to
lose their last regular season game in regulation, and if
those things happen, the Jackets are going to make the playoffs.

(01:07:30):
They play the Philadelphia Flyers tonight on the road. The
Flyers they got rid of my guy Torts, got rid
of John Tortorella, and they've won five of six since
that game. Tonight seven thirty is when the puck drops,
and you could hear it on Fox Sports thirteen sixty.
Our friend Pat Brennan's going to join us in just
about twenty minutes. I need to come up with I've

(01:07:54):
not done this Today've been busy a couple of pole questions.
It's gonna do something maybe about the Luis Castillo trade.
I might do something about at the at the risk
of like creating more Internet battles. We did a segment
on this show years ago and it was like what
people are mad about on the Internet today, And this

(01:08:16):
morning it was this Atlanta Braves TV reporter who got
a fans phone number while like on the air, and
I've spent the day trying to figure out how I
feel about this.

Speaker 6 (01:08:27):
Am I angry?

Speaker 4 (01:08:28):
Was I did? I think it's no big deal. I
think I've arrived at how I feel about this, and
and and maybe we'll play the audio and we'll do
something on it and throw a pole question out there.

Speaker 6 (01:08:39):
I don't know. The show very much a work in progress, but.

Speaker 4 (01:08:44):
When we do have a pole question, it'll be thanks
to United Heartland Insurance, which you hear me talk about
United Heartland Insurance all the time. Whether it's your house
or your car, your motorcycle, your boat, your life, your business,
your commercial fleet, whatever it is, United Heartland Insurance is
there for you. Three offices. You got Cincinnati, Hamilton and

(01:09:06):
Northern Kentucky. Uh I ands dot Com. Paul Danner Junior
was outstanding as always. And the draft is obviously approaching,
and you know I've seen We had Mike Renner on
the show yesterday from CBS Sports. He did a three
round mock draft and he has the Bengals taking in

(01:09:27):
the first three rounds defensive players, and holy hell, does
that make sense?

Speaker 6 (01:09:32):
Right?

Speaker 4 (01:09:32):
The Bengals defense was terrible last year. I do think
this as as much as there are a lot of
people who cover the NFL and cover the draft and
do it from a distance who are really really good.
In fact, I think we have two more people tomorrow,
and Mike Renner is one of them. I think those

(01:09:52):
who cover the team more closely, like Paul and like
Richard Skinner, and like Kelsey Conway and Jay Morrison and
Harley Goldsmith and Ben Baby And I'm sure I'm leaving
some out in my apology James Rapine. Obviously, I think
there's a slight difference between how people who cover the

(01:10:14):
team and who are here are approaching the draft and
how folks maybe nationally are covering the draft as it
relates to the Bengals. What the Bengals have done so
far this offseason would strongly indicate that they believe and
they may be right, they may be wrong, but it
would strongly indicate that they think that Al Golden can

(01:10:38):
take a lot of the broken pieces from last year's
defense and fix them, fix them individually, and then as
a result, fix the defense as a whole. It may
be failed strategy, it may be the right strategy. It
may be somewhere in between. But like when the offseason started,

(01:10:59):
so many any of us looked at the defense and
were like, Holy hell, they got to spend like a
lot of money on free agency and all of their
draft picks fixing this defense, every level of it. D tackle,
edge rusher, linebacker, corner, safety, just blow it up. Well
they didn't. They've obviously moved on from some players. Sam

(01:11:22):
Hubbard retired, they would have moved on from him. We'll
see what happens with Jermaine Pratt, but it's pretty much
same group of dudes. Joseph Osaiah is back. I think
there's been a not a new contract obviously, but kind
of a re upping with Miles Murphy, if you will.
And that to me, and I think you would agree,

(01:11:45):
is a reflection of how they feel about Al Golden
with players. They already have a lot of us talked
extensively and openly about Geno Stone being cut. That may
still happen. Hasn't happened yet. They haven't signed a corner,
they haven't signed to safety, they've signed a linebacker.

Speaker 6 (01:12:07):
Who's you know, Orang Burks.

Speaker 4 (01:12:10):
Did a really nice job in the role of the
Philadelphia Eagles had him pegged in. But you know, we're
not talking about a dude who has extensive experience as
an every down guy. So they're running it back with
a lot of these guys, and again, like it may work,
you certainly can you can convince me that Al Golden

(01:12:34):
is going to make it work with a lot of
these corners and to a degree, a lot of the
just dbs as a whole, because there's a lot of
early round draft choices there. There are a lot of
guys who have shown flashes. There are a lot of
guys who seem to have upside, but there's also a
really low floor with all those guys. But fine, all right,
let's run it back with all those corners. Let's bring
back a lot of guys from last year's awful defense

(01:12:54):
with Al Golden. That's been their approach and free agency.
So I think there are a lot of people who
are looking at the Bengals in the draft going, Okay,
they paid Tea, they paid Jamar, they brought back Mike Kisiki,
They've they've they've brought back samaj p Ryan, they brought

(01:13:15):
back Cody Ford, They've signed a guard in Lucas Patrick.
Six picks, six defensive players. Maybe that's the approach maybe
that's the approach. But what I've noticed is, and this
is I'm not taking a shot in anybody. Everybody has
their own way of doing a mock draft. I mean,
it would be this whole process would be boring if

(01:13:37):
everybody had the Bengals taking the same players in their
mock drafts. But I think I think nationally, I think
outside of Cincinnati, as you watch people go through these exercises,
you're going to have a lot of people who don't
live here having the Bengals take nothing but defensive players.

(01:14:05):
ESPN today has a three round mock draft. It's mel
Kiper and Field Yates and they have the Bengals taking
Walter Nolan at seventeen, Xavier watsont forty nine, and Jack
Sawyer at from Ohio State at eighty one. And God
knows that it'll make a lot of people happy. And
by the way, if you want to make the Jack
Sawyer Sam Hubbard comparison, you only do it if you

(01:14:25):
have him going in the third round. But anyway, so
three players, three defensive players, they only do three rounds.
That is a reflection of how bad the Bengals were defensively.
I think here you hear a lot of folks like
Paul and James or Pene has done this and others
who have talked about guard and swing tackle and running back.

(01:14:50):
Now I want them to take a guard. I want
to guard early. We can debate whether you take one
in round one or round two. Dana and I talked
about that. We'll have that entire conversation podcast at ESPN
fifteen to thirty dot com. Because I think that's how
you build an e lead offensive line. The twenty fifteen
Bengals had the last elite offensive line I can remember

(01:15:12):
the franchise having. Those were five players who were drafted
by the team. I think the folks who are covering
the team here look at the draft and go, here's
why they may take maybe two offensive linemen and maybe
a running back with that and not use six picks

(01:15:32):
on defensive players because I think they understand a little
bit more so than the people who aren't living here
that they're going to put a heavy emphasis on Al
Golden trying to get as much as he can out
of players who were here last year. That does not
guarantee that the Bengals don't take six defensive players, but
I think I would be surprised if in the first

(01:15:54):
three rounds there's not an offensive lineman. I'm not a draftnick.
They don't pretend to be one, which is why we
get all these experts on. But just there's a glaring
needed guard. I don't know that signing one guy whose
role is really hard to kind of articulate right now
means they're done addressing guard. I think if they take

(01:16:18):
a guard in the first two rounds, for a lot
of people who cover the draft from outside Cincinnati, it
would be surprising. I think closer to town you would
have people that would NodD along and go, yes, they
took a guard because A they need one. B there's
positional depth at the positions they need. And see they

(01:16:38):
think Al Golden can fix the defense without drafting nothing
but defensive players. Bredivan and Jones on Baseball's Next on
ESPN fifteen.

Speaker 3 (01:16:48):
Thirty, Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 9 (01:16:52):

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You found Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 6 (01:17:37):
Oh what's up?

Speaker 4 (01:17:37):
Five five ESPN fifteen thirty on Bowlager. Thank you for listening.
We have to get right to this because our guest.

Speaker 6 (01:17:44):
Is working right now. He's at Great American Ballpark.

Speaker 4 (01:17:48):
He's covering a game tonight and he's he's talking with players,
he's jotting down notes, he's filing stories.

Speaker 6 (01:17:55):
This guy does it all.

Speaker 4 (01:17:56):
You know, it's for years we've had Pat Brennan on
the show from the Inquire in CINCINNTA dot com and
he and he comes on with us, and you know,
his beat has for years been FC Cincinnati is primary
beat for years has been FC Cincinnati. And we love
talking about the Orange and Blue with Pat. And then
he comes on and then we you know, we make
fun of of whatever is going on with the Philadelphia teams,

(01:18:18):
and I take a few shots at him and he laughs,
and then it's a grand old time. And then I
always spend like the next forty eight hours wondering, God,
I hope I didn't make Pat mad. And so we
haven't done this in a while. We love having Pat
on the show, and so, you know, we the Eagles
won the Super Bowl, and then Pat started covering baseball
on top of other sports, and he was so busy,

(01:18:40):
and I wonder to myself, did did Pat have his
fill of this show? Because God, you really couldn't blame
anybody if they did. And as it turned out, Uh,
Pat just was really busy. I don't think he's mad
at us, and so I just wanted to get him
on and I want to talk about the Reds and
other stuff because he really truly is one of our
favorite occurring guests and he's with us.

Speaker 6 (01:19:01):
Now, how's it going?

Speaker 8 (01:19:03):
Wow? What an intro. I feel at home. I feel
at home.

Speaker 5 (01:19:07):
Well, we've missed you and and I've missed you.

Speaker 12 (01:19:10):
I've missed you. So this is a real love affair.

Speaker 6 (01:19:13):
It really is. Are you Are you in the press box?
Are you in the press dining room.

Speaker 11 (01:19:17):
Where are you now, Hi, I just stepped out of
the press dining room and trying to take a little breather.
These are long, long days at the ballpark, mo As
I've learned, yeah, over the last couple months.

Speaker 8 (01:19:30):
So but no, everything's great.

Speaker 11 (01:19:32):
I appreciate you having me on again and just catching
my breath right now, and there's no way I'd rather
do that than right here with you.

Speaker 13 (01:19:40):
Mo.

Speaker 4 (01:19:40):
Well, I mean this, I know this beat is new
to you, and I have no idea if this is
something you have wanted to do. I don't know, but
you've gotten really good at it in a very short
amount of time, supplementing and adding to what Gordon does.
And that's no slide on him or anybody else. But
I have thought for a while, like, God, you know what,
there's a lot of people who are covering the Bengals

(01:20:01):
and you've done an awesome job with FC Cincinnati. We
could use more people giving his Reds content and U
filled that void. So I and that's a lot And
it's a tough beat, man, I know that's a hard beat.

Speaker 11 (01:20:11):
So h Yeah, you know, I would say like I
wanted this job, but only in the sense that like I.

Speaker 8 (01:20:20):
Want to win a million dollars in the lottery.

Speaker 11 (01:20:22):
Tonight, you know, like it it was, And I guess
what I mean by that is it wasn't you know
that we had people occupying these roles at the Inquirer
and so it wasn't something I was and and they
were great.

Speaker 8 (01:20:37):
And you know, uh, a position came open.

Speaker 11 (01:20:41):
I had to fill in for a while, you know,
and you want people to think of you for a
situation like that, it would be I.

Speaker 8 (01:20:47):
Would be more concerned if they weren't.

Speaker 11 (01:20:49):
But then when the opportunity was presented to stick in, uh,
in this in this capacity, it was a no brainer,
but not something I planned for.

Speaker 8 (01:21:00):
But it's it's been really cool.

Speaker 11 (01:21:02):
You know, it's been it's been like drinking from a
fire hose so far.

Speaker 12 (01:21:07):
But we're but it'll it'll settle down here and uh
it's it's going well. So thank thank you for all
the kind of words.

Speaker 6 (01:21:14):
Well you are, you are doing a good job.

Speaker 4 (01:21:16):
I've got to imagine, and I you know, we're we're
not going to talk about your job for ten minutes,
trust me, but I've got to imagine when wants that,
I've got to imagine it's it's easier, at least to
a degree, easier to move into this role when you're
starting with a new manager versus somebody who had been
there prior.

Speaker 8 (01:21:33):
Oh yeah, that helped a lot.

Speaker 12 (01:21:35):
I mean, so much about this was new, you know
the well I think when you have a manager and
a coaching staff, you know, everyone's meeting.

Speaker 8 (01:21:46):
Everyone for the first time.

Speaker 11 (01:21:49):
Whether you're a beat writer who's been on this beat
for ten years or longer.

Speaker 12 (01:21:54):
You know, obviously some of the main stays in the clubhouse,
you're familiar with those guys. But generally speaking, when when
I was at Goodyear, everyone was meeting everyone for the
first time, the entire coaching staff for the most part,
not everyone on the staff obviously, but most of the
coaching staff and a bunch of key new players that
they had brought in during the winter months.

Speaker 5 (01:22:16):
So that that fluidity.

Speaker 11 (01:22:19):
Let's call it, that really did help kind of ease
the transition because I wasn't the only one going through it.

Speaker 6 (01:22:24):
Sure, yeah, no doubt about that. I am.

Speaker 4 (01:22:28):
I am optimistic about this team. They have bounced back
from three to seven. They have really good starting pitching.
There have been defensive improvements. It hasn't been perfect. But
that's something that a lot of us wandered about during
the offseason, where they're going to be better defensively, and
they've got to get Tyler Stevenson back, and maybe that's
happening here soon. This may be as healthy as they

(01:22:49):
get for a while and so, and the schedule is
favorable ish, like.

Speaker 6 (01:22:55):
Now's the time this team can take off. Tell me
why I'm right or wrong?

Speaker 8 (01:23:00):
Well, the.

Speaker 11 (01:23:03):
A the wrong side popped into my head first when
you propped me there, and that's because only because I
think they have squandered some There are some games that
you would have liked to have seen them bank on
the backs of the really, really good starting pitching. And
this was during that three and seven stretch to open
the season. They let some particularly in that Ranger Sere well.

(01:23:27):
There the three games where they didn't score a run
and lost one nothing that was a little bit damning.
You would have liked to have seen them, you know,
get something from those excellent starting pitching performances.

Speaker 8 (01:23:40):
You didn't.

Speaker 12 (01:23:41):
They've obviously come back around, and I think that.

Speaker 11 (01:23:46):
In terms of reasons for optimism, you know, this this
team hasn't been healthy. What they've done, they've done with
kind of piece mealing this together. You know, Austin Hayes
is hitting fifth tonight, He's making his debut for the season.
I loved, loves Austin Hayes and spring training I wouldn't
shut up about it. Gordon teases me about how much

(01:24:08):
I wrote about Austin Hayes, but that was just you know,
from the very first day of spring training, I was
watching him in the cage hit and it looked like
he had something that other guys, good players on this team,
impact players, were reaching for and might still be reaching
for in some cases. So I think Austin Hayes is
a huge kind of re addition to this lineup. And

(01:24:32):
then you know, I just the pitching. You don't count
on it being this good for the entire season, but
there's no indication it's going to let up anytime soon.
And like you said, you know they're certainly in the
middle of They're about to start tonight. I should say
a series that you would tip them to win at
least two out of three in and yeah, this is

(01:24:56):
a good part of the schedule. They are more than
treading water at the moment, and having won five.

Speaker 8 (01:25:00):
Out of six and it just it looks good.

Speaker 12 (01:25:03):
It looks like they're coming around, and this is you know,
you're seeing improvement in the areas where you wanted to
see it from this team.

Speaker 4 (01:25:10):
So the starting pitching, you know, tonight Nickolodolo goes and
he leads the staff in e RA at nine to
six and you wouldn't know that just which is remarkable.
Hunter Green's oh nine eight doesn't leave the team. So
so like I would say, like Hunter Green would be
Roy Halliday and uh and and Nick Lodola would be
Cliff Lee, and then Roy Oswalt would be uh Andrew Abbott.

(01:25:33):
I'm putting this in terms like that are right in
your wheelhouse, thank you. And then like Paul Hammels, you know,
he would be a Brady Singer who's been really good.
And then there's Nick Martinez. He's kind of like Vance Whirley,
remember him, right, So Nick Martinez.

Speaker 5 (01:25:48):
Last year he's like the Kyle Kendrick, the.

Speaker 4 (01:25:51):
Kyle Kendrick there you go. So like last year, Nick
Martinez was really good in the role that they asked
him to serve, which was, you know, he'd come out
of the bullpen or if they had a bullpen game,
he would start it and if they needed him to
go a little bit longer, he was okay, he hasn't
been awful, but he hasn't been awesome. It is could
you see there being a point where they go, you

(01:26:11):
know what, we might have to revisit his role.

Speaker 12 (01:26:14):
That's interesting you say that. Uh I think that's that's possible.
Probably too early to be thinking in those terms. I'd
be surprised if uh DJ and the Reds were there yet.
But you raise a really good point. You know, you
can see electric lights out stuff from Nick Martinez. But

(01:26:37):
when he goes, you know when and that goes, I
mean when when he falls off. He seems to fall
off sharply in his last couple outings, and you know
it's it's noticeable.

Speaker 8 (01:26:53):
I think it is.

Speaker 12 (01:26:54):
It's something to monitor right now, and you know, because
you know, you have that versatility in your back pocket
with him, so you don't have to necessarily force the issue.

Speaker 8 (01:27:05):
For too too long.

Speaker 12 (01:27:06):
If it carried on like that, I think tomorrow would
be a great opportunity.

Speaker 8 (01:27:11):
I think he's going tomorrow for the Reds.

Speaker 12 (01:27:12):
That would be a great opportunity for him to kind
of write the ship and kind of get back in
lockstep with what the rest of this rotation and really
the whole pitching staff is doing.

Speaker 4 (01:27:23):
Pat Brennan is with us from Great American Ballpark covering
the Reds for The Inquirer and Cincinnati dot Com on
Twitter or x at P Brennan E n Q A
couple more. Because I know you have a game and
you have to eat and do all that other stuff.
What's Alexis dias is well going to be.

Speaker 8 (01:27:41):
Well, He's not going to be handed to closer role.

Speaker 12 (01:27:44):
Terry Francona told us that in his office this afternoon,
and beyond that, Alexis told me Sunday night and repeated
it to a full gaggle of media members this afternoon
that no one has spoken to him about his role.
So from that I infer, well, obviously we know he
won't be handed the closer's role. That I think is

(01:28:08):
an acknowledgment of how good Emilio Pegan has been early
in the season, going four to four and save opportunities,
and he does look good. But and I think the
fair Terry also said, you know, there's a right way
to go about doing this, and kind of sliding Alexis
back into high leverage spots because right now they have

(01:28:28):
a great thing going, you know, set up wise end
closing the bullpen is really really producing right now, and
you don't want to disrupt that. So I think initially
we're going to see Alexis in kind of low leverage
situations should those present themselves, and then you know he's
going to get a shot again. I don't think there's

(01:28:50):
any question about that. But like Terry said today in
his office, there's a right way to go about this,
and they're going to do it the right way, and
part of that is to let Emilio continue to do
what he's been great at. Really over the last week.

Speaker 4 (01:29:08):
What was a bigger deal for you personally, because we
haven't had you on the Eagles win the Super Bowl,
which you know we were rooting for because you know,
we root against.

Speaker 6 (01:29:17):
The Chiefs here right, yes, of course, or the.

Speaker 4 (01:29:19):
Seventy six Ers announcing they're running it back with the
same coach and GM.

Speaker 8 (01:29:24):
Yeah.

Speaker 12 (01:29:25):
I mean, I gotta tell you, since we last SPOKEMO,
I would say that I've I've almost be I've officially
rescinded my Sixers fandom. Wow, I mean I'm in Yeah,
I mean, look, there's been an ugly there's all. They've
also been in the middle of, like they cooked up
this really ugly stadium debate because they were trying to

(01:29:47):
build their own venue and they were going to shoehorn
it into a pocket a center city where it would
have like destroyed the local Chinese, the local Chinatown community,
and that whole thing ended up just being a long
play to stay in the arena there in and in
the meantime, it just took up so much energy. And

(01:30:08):
you know, Josh Harris is one of the owners of
the Sixers team. If his Washington Commanders had beaten the
Eagles in the NFC Championship game, he would have been
out on the field at Lincoln Financial Field accepting the trophy.
And you bet you bet he would have done it too.

Speaker 8 (01:30:25):
He would have been out there.

Speaker 12 (01:30:26):
So I don't see him as being committed to Philadelphia.
There are just so many This is just classic Sixers
basketball in every facet. It's a completely dysfunctional franchise. So
I'm rescinding my fandom until further notice from this point forward.
Mo I am laughing with you at the Sixers. Okay,

(01:30:47):
I'm not cheering that, don't confuse that for cheering for
the Knicks.

Speaker 4 (01:30:51):
I don't expect it. No, that would be I wouldn't.
I would not expect that at all. That would be
I would. I wouldn't take you. I would say, you
can't do that. I would reject you. I know you've
had your hands full with the Reds. Are you following
f C Cincinnati?

Speaker 11 (01:31:04):
Oh yeah, dude, I wouldn't be here today without, you know,
the work that I did with with FC Cincinnati and
covering them, And I hope, I hope I get a
chance to convey to those people how much, uh, what
a meaningful chapter in my life that was all.

Speaker 12 (01:31:21):
In all seriousness, and it's uh.

Speaker 8 (01:31:24):
You know, my my.

Speaker 12 (01:31:25):
I don't think it's any secret my My transition here
has been a quick one. And uh yeah, I just
I wish the absolute best for FC Cincinnati. And there's
a lot of people over there that mean a hell
of a lot to.

Speaker 8 (01:31:39):
Me, So I definitely keep up. I actually went to my.

Speaker 12 (01:31:41):
First game as a ticket paying a ticket holding fan.

Speaker 4 (01:31:48):
Yeah, because you can pay for the tickets. So you
corrected yourself. Good job.

Speaker 8 (01:31:57):
You said that, not me.

Speaker 6 (01:32:01):
I pay attention. I'll just sit here, I listen to
every word.

Speaker 5 (01:32:05):
That was good.

Speaker 8 (01:32:06):
That was very good.

Speaker 12 (01:32:07):
You know, but I went to a game as a
fan for the very first time. Pretty cool experience at
TQL Stadium. I hadn't seen that much of it, or
as much as I thought I had. And yeah, they
look pretty good right now, don't they.

Speaker 4 (01:32:20):
They do know they've overcome a lot of stuff early
in the season. It is it was janky. That's the
word that I used. Well worked out into your game
story tonight for me.

Speaker 12 (01:32:32):
Okay, hey, if you see it in there, don't be
that won't be an accident.

Speaker 4 (01:32:36):
I appreciate that. It's it's nice to have you on.
I know you have been say I know, like down
a good year. Man, you had like a thousand things
going on. And we've always tried to be selective when
we reach out, and we will continue to do so.

Speaker 6 (01:32:49):
But we we love having you on.

Speaker 12 (01:32:50):
And I always appreciate the offer. And thank you for
being so warm and receiving me back onto the show seriously,
and forgive me a couple seconds here to just say
some things that I wanted to say for a while now.
I really appreciate it. And yeah, and whenever you want
to talk Reds, let's do it.

Speaker 6 (01:33:10):
Oh, we will, don't worry. Okay, you're the best.

Speaker 8 (01:33:14):
Thanks man, Okay, you too. Bye bye.

Speaker 4 (01:33:16):
Pat Brennan covering the Reds for The Inquirer and Cincinnati
dot Com. I am and I hope this has come
through over the years because we've had Pat on to
talk about FC Cincinnati.

Speaker 6 (01:33:28):
I am an.

Speaker 4 (01:33:29):
Extraordinary fan of his work and always always brings something
to the table when we have them on. Here we
are way late twenty one after five o'clock. This is
ESPN fifteen thirty, Cincinnati Sports Station.

Speaker 3 (01:33:41):
Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty Traffic.

Speaker 10 (01:33:45):
From the UC Help Traffic Center. The UC Cancer Center
offers the latest research based and holistic approaches to head
and net cancer. Called five A five UCCC northbound seventy
one accident off onto the right shoulder at Ridge Avenue,
Fine Street. Another accident at Shield Street and on Martin

(01:34:06):
Luther King Drive.

Speaker 9 (01:34:06):
It's an accident at Highland Avenue. It's the low traffic.

Speaker 10 (01:34:10):
What's abound two seventy five from Springfield like the Hamilton
Avenue on that ezaik with traffic.

Speaker 4 (01:34:16):
This report is CESPN fifteen thirty on moegor. Thank you
for listening.

Speaker 6 (01:34:20):
You're gonna hear Austin Hayes.

Speaker 4 (01:34:22):
Austin Hayes said to make his Red's debut tonight, coming
up in just about ten minutes. We used to do
a segment on this show, and probably ten years ago,
maybe eight nine years ago, and I probably have screwed
up the verbiage, but it was like today in What's

(01:34:42):
making the Internet Mad? Or today in What's making people
on the Internet mad? And it was a fun segment.
It was, you know, because if you go on the internet,
if you go on Twitter, especially, and like this is
back when you know Twitter, it was a little bit
more innocuous, like you could you. People were a little
bit more willing to have fun on Twitter, so it

(01:35:03):
was easier to make fun of the few people who
are constantly mad about stuff. Now it feels like there's
a lot more mad people on Twitter, although I still
thoroughly enjoy my Twitter experience because I don't follow idiots
and I've stopped paying attention to people who don't tell
you anything about themselves, and it's awesome and it's great.

(01:35:24):
And we stopped doing this segment and then we started
to on a daily basis, try to find whoever the
daily Internet villain in Cincinnati was and that's something I
still enjoyed doing. We haven't had a real good internet
villain here in Cincinnati for quite a while, but we
have found something that people have been mad about. The
Atlanta Braves, I guess last night were in Toronto and

(01:35:48):
they have a like a sideline reporter or or one
might say a roving reporter by the name of Wiley Ballard.

Speaker 6 (01:35:55):
Wiley Ballard.

Speaker 4 (01:35:58):
Whose names sounds like it came from a guy who
was on he hauw Wiley Ballard, So he's like their
Jim Day. If you watch the games on the FanDuel
Sports Network, Jim for the most part is the roving reporter.
He's positioned in the dugout. Sometimes he's out in the
stands and has done that job for years and does
a great job. So last night they're doing this game

(01:36:19):
and in the fifth inning they go to Wiley and
he's interviewing these two women in the stands and again
he's the Braves guy, but they're in Toronto, and I
guess that's part of this guy's act where he goes
into the stands and just talks to t random people.
There are these two women and two young attractive, blonde
haired women, very nice looking women. And so the two

(01:36:42):
play by play guys, or the two guys in the
booth Brandon Goddon and former Red CJ. Nikowski is the
color guy. They're on the FanDuel Sports Network. As Wiley
is talking to these two women, they start imploring him
to get their phone numbers. And instead of me just
describing it, here is the audio courtesy of the fan
Duel Sports nowork.

Speaker 2 (01:37:03):
We had a lot of fun up here off the
coroner rooftop. Who do we got you wish?

Speaker 7 (01:37:06):
Your name?

Speaker 2 (01:37:07):
My name is Lauren Laurence, all right, and I'm Kayla Kayla.
And you guys hanging out the rooftop lounge often.

Speaker 6 (01:37:14):
Once a year I come out to visit.

Speaker 2 (01:37:15):
Okay, we timed it pretty well.

Speaker 6 (01:37:17):
All right?

Speaker 8 (01:37:17):
Good?

Speaker 2 (01:37:17):
How are you guys feeling root for the Braves today?

Speaker 7 (01:37:21):
I don't know.

Speaker 9 (01:37:21):
I'm hoping for the bus?

Speaker 2 (01:37:24):
What about you? Are you Braves?

Speaker 8 (01:37:25):
Fan? Now?

Speaker 6 (01:37:26):
Not quite?

Speaker 7 (01:37:27):
Not quiet?

Speaker 2 (01:37:27):
All right, I'm gonna I'm gonna go to work up here, guys,
Good luck the rest of the way. Okay, Wiley, we
got five innings, four innings to get the numbers. Come on, come, on,
get us.

Speaker 6 (01:37:37):
Some more Braves fans.

Speaker 2 (01:37:40):
All right, so they want me to get your number.

Speaker 6 (01:37:43):
They want you to get I'm.

Speaker 2 (01:37:45):
Dead serious, they saying to my right now. Shouldn't believe
me because she thinks you guys are are not making
this up. Even if you guys weren't to, I might
use that in the future. That's as a pretty good move.
This is unbelievable.

Speaker 4 (01:37:57):
So the best part of this right now is that
Wiley could totally be faking and this might be the
new move. You just walk around with a fan duel
microphone and an earpiece in and convinced fans that they're
actually on TV.

Speaker 6 (01:38:07):
I thought, So there you go.

Speaker 4 (01:38:10):
And later on he would report back to the guys
in the booth that he got the number.

Speaker 6 (01:38:15):
He got the number, and so it went viral.

Speaker 4 (01:38:20):
And what has happened is since last night, since it
went viral, the instant reaction from a lot of folks
watching the broadcast and from a lot.

Speaker 6 (01:38:28):
Of the colleagues of.

Speaker 4 (01:38:31):
Wiley Wiley Ballard, a lot of his colleagues given him
credit for getting the girl's phone number live on TV,
and it was being described as this iconic Atlanta Braves
Television moment, and then a lot of folks saw this
and said, eh, maybe not kind of creepy, unprofessional. And

(01:38:55):
many have pointed out, and I think accurately, by the way,
that had that been a a woman, let's just say,
for the sake of example, let's say that's Annie Sabo.
Now Annie is happily married, but Annie on the TV
broadcast for the Reds is in Wiley's position, and Annie
does that, Chances are it's being looked at a little
bit differently.

Speaker 6 (01:39:13):
By the way.

Speaker 4 (01:39:13):
I also think it would be true if like Wiley Ballard,
who looks like a guy in his twenties, maybe early thirties,
Let's say Wiley is like a guy in his early seventies,
and then I think this is portrayed a little bit differently.
But a lot of people have kind of pointed out
the double standard. And you know, I was sitting in
a waiting room this morning reading about this story, reading
the reaction, and I've read think pieces about it. This

(01:39:36):
is not something you want to do. This is what
you can't do. This if you're going to be a
big jay journalist. And I've read people who have said,
and the guy's a TV guy for a baseball team.
He's only kind of a journalist, he's more of an entertainer,
and no big deal. And then then there's me in
the middle, sitting in one of the offices back here going, man,
how do I think about this incredibly important sports talk

(01:39:56):
radio story, this thing that's making the internet mad? I
think I have landed on how I feel about this?

Speaker 6 (01:40:03):
Are you ready?

Speaker 4 (01:40:05):
I thought it was mildly amusing when I saw it,
but also probably a misguided attempt at humor, and nobody
should lose their job. There should maybe be a hey, look,
next time, let's not send the guy on TV with
a microphone getting an unsuspecting woman's phone number. Largely innocuous,
not that well thought out. But yes, there's a double standard.

(01:40:27):
Had a female reporter done that, had you know, I
used Annie Sabo because she doesn't hear locally, but anybody
else in the realm, whether it's somebody nationally or locally,
done that, it would be talked about a lot differently.
Was it the most professional thing? By no stretch? Should
it have been sort of nipped.

Speaker 6 (01:40:44):
In the bud?

Speaker 4 (01:40:44):
Yes, somebody should have stepped in and said no. But
a broadcast crew with obvious good chemistry. Took a stab
at humor, and as I've done many times in my career,
sometimes you'd take a stab at humor, and even in
real time if it were you kind of think after
the fact, you know what, that's maybe something we shouldn't
have done. Now, that middle of the Road take is

(01:41:07):
obviously not what you're gonna find on the internet where
either all of these broadcasters should be fired or they're
heroes and they should make this a recurring on air
segment where they send Wiley Ballard out in the stands
to hit on women at the ballgame. Here's me in
the middle, going, you know what, maybe maybe let's not
do that again. And maybe somebody should have said, hey,

(01:41:29):
let's not do this. But I'm not sure that anybody
has to lose their In fact, I know nobody has
to lose their job over this, and hopefully that's not
the case. But sure, if you're among those pointing out
that had that been a woman in the same capacity
doing the same thing, it's talked about differently, it's viewed differently. Yes,
one hundred percent could not agree.

Speaker 6 (01:41:50):
Question is what do you do with the number?

Speaker 4 (01:41:52):
Well, he's on the road, right, he's on the I mean,
what do you think he's doing with the number? Now,
I'm guessing this wasn't like a setup. Like I'm guessing
this was organic. It wasn't like, Hey, we're gonna do this.
I'm gonna get your number when they cut you know,
I mean, I'm guessing it's not somebody he knows. So
look he's and I think like it would have been
one thing had he gotten the number after like the

(01:42:12):
inning's over and you know, they've cut the mic, and
the two broadcasters run like if the guy just like, hey,
by the way, my name's Wiley, I'm in town. Can
I get your number? And like, I don't think there's
anything really wrong with that. It's been years since I've
gotten a woman's phone number, and I was awful of
getting them when I was in the game. I don't
think there's anything wrong with that. But if you get
the phone number, they're only in Toronto for two more nights.

(01:42:34):
I mean, that's that could turn into a long term relationship.
There's no doubt about that. But he's he's getting the
phone number, he's there for two more nights, he's using
the phone, he's texting the woman, probably before the game, ends.

Speaker 7 (01:42:45):
Is he?

Speaker 6 (01:42:45):
I mean, because he had no attention to going up
there and getting number in the first place. Well, yeah,
but these things just find you sometimes.

Speaker 4 (01:42:51):
Sometimes sometimes opportunities like this find you. Not that they
ever really did me, but sometimes opportunities like this find
you and and you know, then it's up to you
and up to her. And then like there's her friend too, right,
there's her friend, you know, who knows what her role
is going to be in all this, because if you
watch the video, she doesn't look all that happy about this. Uh.

(01:43:14):
So I don't know. I don't know how it ends.
But perhaps in the future, if my guy Wiley Ballard
here is going to keep doing this, maybe wait until
the on air interview is over, and then once the
camera's off, you put the microphone down and go, Hi,
I'm Wiley. I have this thing where I go on
the road and get phone numbers from fans.

Speaker 6 (01:43:32):
Can I have it?

Speaker 7 (01:43:33):
Uh?

Speaker 4 (01:43:34):
And we'll see how it goes. It was an attempted
humor that, like I laughed. Gonna be honest with you,
I laughed. But if you're doing that, somebody like the
producer should have stepped in and said, hey, how about
we not like why don't we Why don't we just
let Wiley cut the mic, let him do what he's
got to do, and let's direct our attention on the field.

Speaker 6 (01:43:56):
But we'll see, we'll see. Should he lose his job? No?

Speaker 8 (01:44:01):
No, Should he be.

Speaker 4 (01:44:03):
Canceled to use the parlance of the day, No no.

Speaker 6 (01:44:07):
Should he even have to make an apology?

Speaker 7 (01:44:09):
No?

Speaker 6 (01:44:09):
Like, don't bring any more attention to it. But sure
is there a double standard?

Speaker 7 (01:44:13):
Like?

Speaker 4 (01:44:14):
Of course, of course there is no.

Speaker 6 (01:44:19):
Kidding around that. Uh So there you go.

Speaker 4 (01:44:23):
We weighed in on the thing that made, but we
might bring back that segment now mo ways in on
the thing that's making. I don't I don't even know
what we there's a sounder somewhere, but it was I
think it was today. And what's making people mad on
the internet?

Speaker 6 (01:44:38):
I don't know. We'll workshop it, so to speak.

Speaker 4 (01:44:41):
You'll hear Austin Hayes and sports headlines and an injury report.

Speaker 6 (01:44:45):
Next.

Speaker 3 (01:44:47):
Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty traffic.

Speaker 10 (01:44:53):
Traffic center that U SEE Cancer Center offers the latest
research based and holistic approaches to head and net cancer.
Called five eight five UCCC northbound seventy one. It's an
accident off on to the right shoulder at Ridge Avenue.
River Road closed off through the landslides between Amsterdam Road
and before Hayward Street and southbound seventy one. Got some

(01:45:16):
slow traffic between Fields Irdle and Feiffer Road on that
ezamc with traffic.

Speaker 6 (01:45:22):
This reporting sponsored by your.

Speaker 4 (01:45:23):
Redlines are a service Kelsey Chevrolet Home of lifetime powertrain
protection and guaranteed credit approval from their family to yours
for life, kelseyshow dot Com. The Reds and Mariners. Tonight,
first of three at GABP. Luis Castillo pitches a Great
American Ballpark for the first time since July twenty seventh,

(01:45:47):
twenty twenty two.

Speaker 6 (01:45:49):
I remember that night.

Speaker 4 (01:45:49):
He got a standing ovation after seven very good innings,
helped pitch against Nick Lodola, who has been awesome this year,
six to forty. Tonight's first pitch on a seven hundred
W l W.

Speaker 6 (01:46:03):
What do we have? We have a starting lineup tonight.

Speaker 4 (01:46:05):
You can tell like I'm trying to do multiple things
of once, Like I'm trying to come up with a
poll question, I'm trying to balance some stuff on Twitter.
I'm trying to get ready to set up some audio.
Sometimes you do multitests. Starting lineup tonight, friedel Or, as
it says on my piece of paper here with my
awful handwriting, Frattle McClain is hitting second.

Speaker 6 (01:46:29):
He's back.

Speaker 4 (01:46:29):
Matt McLean's back off the intered list. Ellie de la
Cruz playing shortstop atting third, Gavin Lux is in left field.
He is hitting forth. Austin Hayes is back off the
interur list. Makes his Red's debut tonight. Dhing Candelario at third,
Ces at first, Frehlian right, and Jose Travigno is behind
the plate on top of Austin Hayes and Matt McLain.

(01:46:50):
Alexis Diaz is off the injured list as well. Noelve
Marte and Jacob Herdabies have been sent to Louisville. The
baseball version of the Crosstown Shootout at UC tonight. They
played Xavier next week. Six o'clock is first pitch. Blue
Jackets Hockey on Fox Sports thirteen sixty. Columbus still alive.

(01:47:12):
They're a long shot. They've played an incredible stretch of
hockey down the last stretch of the last few weeks
and Anyway. Jackets at Philly tonight on Fox Sports thirteen sixty.
Columbus needs to win their last two games in regulation
and get a Montreal loss in their last game in
regulation to grab the last wild card spot. I had

(01:47:32):
a couple of things here, Paul questions service of United
Heartland Insurance go to UHIS dot com. So Luis Castillo
pitches tonight. Louis Castillo was traded by the Reds almost
three years ago to the Seattle Mariners and has since
gotten an extension from Seattle, which he got soon after
the trade, and frankly, it was a pretty economically team

(01:47:54):
friendly deal. Louis Castillo was traded for Noelve more, Edwin Arroyo,
Levi Stout, and Andrew Moore. Now I'm willing to go
jury is still out in large part because Edwin Arroyo
didn't play last year, and I know the Reds are
still really high on him. I am also not giving
up on Noelve Marte. The Reds may, and the Reds

(01:48:15):
may have good reason to, and he certainly deserved to
be in the doghouse for what happened last year. Was
sent down today a little bit of a numbers game.
I think the jury is still out. At the same time,
like Luis Castillo, in this like, there was an argument
to be made, and frankly I didn't make it, but

(01:48:37):
there was an argument to be made that straight, instead
of trading Luis Castillo, you sign him what he ended
up signing for.

Speaker 6 (01:48:46):
You know he's gonna make.

Speaker 4 (01:48:48):
He's making twenty four zero point one million dollars this
year now he has signed through twenty twenty eight. That's
probably not something the Reds would want to do, but
there was an argument to be made at the time
that you know what, instead, since you're not really paying
anybody else, why don't you pay a twenty nine year
old starting pitcher who is in his prime and still
really good. Especially the first year of that deal, the

(01:49:08):
Seattle Mariners paid him like eleven and a half million bucks.
And by the way, Louis Castillo since then has been durable,
led the league and starts two years ago. He's been
very good. He was an All Star in twenty twenty three. Now,
I'm not gonna say that I made that argument. My
point was like, at some point, if you're gonna go
in one direction, we say it all the time with
the Reds, like have a plan and stick with it.

(01:49:31):
Trading Louis Castillo fit within the framework of that plan.
And by the way, at the end of the twenty
twenty three season, when Noel de Marte got up here
and raked, looked pretty good. And I feel like like
noelve Marte got traded to the Reds and instantly, instantly
was named by MLB dot Com MLB Pipeline the number

(01:49:54):
one Reds prospect instantly, And so I'm not giving up
on him, and I know the there's a lot of
excitement about what edwar Arroyo might be able to do.
Hopefully he can start to stay healthy as well. So
I'll still say jury is out, but worth revisiting because
Luis pitches the gabp tonight and you can vote now
at mogar I I was trying to get a poll

(01:50:18):
question done in time to talk about the Braves guy.
A lot going on in here and didn't get a
chance to do it. Let's see here we got a
few minutes, Mike, go ahead. You're on ESPN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 13 (01:50:34):
God bless, thanks mo Hey.

Speaker 4 (01:50:35):
You know Wiley.

Speaker 7 (01:50:36):
I love the name Wiley.

Speaker 13 (01:50:38):
My favorite cartoon ever, Wiley Coyote and the road Runner.
How about Wiley Brown, the only one arm one thumbed
college basketball pivot man to everyone an NCAA championship at Louisville.

Speaker 5 (01:50:51):
So go Wiley, how about?

Speaker 6 (01:50:53):
How about?

Speaker 4 (01:50:54):
How about Wiley Wiggins who played the role of Mitchell
in Dazed and Confused?

Speaker 13 (01:51:01):
See see if we put our minds to it? But
you were making fun a while.

Speaker 6 (01:51:05):
I wasn't making fun of what I said.

Speaker 4 (01:51:06):
I said, the name Wiley Ballard sounds like somebody who
was on he Hall.

Speaker 6 (01:51:11):
He Hall's a great show.

Speaker 4 (01:51:12):
How did I grew up watching he Haul with my grandfather?

Speaker 6 (01:51:16):
Not making fun of the show he Haul?

Speaker 5 (01:51:19):
Okay, it just sounds like the name of it.

Speaker 4 (01:51:22):
Look, my name is Maurice Egger. Should I be making
fun of anyone's name?

Speaker 8 (01:51:26):
No?

Speaker 13 (01:51:28):
I love your know it's a beautiful thing. Hey how
about Al Golden? He's gonna have to be real golden, because, man,
I don't know, can they make that thing a top
top fifteen?

Speaker 7 (01:51:40):
D you think?

Speaker 6 (01:51:44):
I don't know? Man, I mean I think.

Speaker 4 (01:51:48):
They've got to be League average, which you know that's fifteen, right,
they got to be League average. I think the point
that I was trying to make, and I'm not sure
how well I made it. I think there's a lot
of folks around the country who look at the Bengals
draft and go, they're gonna take nothing but defensive guys,
and that may be what they do, but I think
here there's a little bit more of an understanding that
they think Al Golden can get this fixed without drafting

(01:52:10):
six defensive guys. And so it is likely they take
a guard, but maybe two offensive linemen, and heck, maybe
a lineman and a running back, or maybe two offensive
linemen and a running back. And I know if they
do that, a lot of folks and I get it,
are gonna say, well, defensively, they were a disaster last year.
I think here there's a little bit more of an
understanding that they think that Al Golden can get it

(01:52:34):
fixed without using six picks on defense.

Speaker 5 (01:52:38):
Okay, I don't know that it's gonna.

Speaker 4 (01:52:41):
Work, Mike, I have no idea if it's gonna work,
and I'm skeptical to a degree that it will. But
I think the good news is they don't need Al
Golden to build a top five defense. They need to
build a defense that when the Bengals scored ninety nine
points over the course of three straight games combined, they
don't lose them because that's what happened last year. They
scored ninety nine points in three straight games, they won

(01:53:04):
none of them, and that's sunk the season.

Speaker 13 (01:53:06):
Yeah, that's it. Can't happen again. You're right question, And
then I know you got to go. I was checking out.
I'm getting all geared up for the playoffs. The first
game can I nobody cares about, but the second game
might be interesting. NB A defensive efficiency. Now I'm looking
at the list and okay, see is number one and
defensive efficiency. But what is the criteria for what encompasses

(01:53:31):
defensive efficiency?

Speaker 7 (01:53:32):
Do you know? I don't know.

Speaker 4 (01:53:34):
Well, they they roll everything. I mean, they roll pace
into it. They roll effective field goal percentage, they roll
your your the other team's true shooting percentage, they roll
rebounding rate, they roll your ability to force turnovers. They
they fold, they fold a lot of different things into it.

(01:53:54):
But but it is it is a good metric. It's
it's like a lot of metrics, a flawed metric, but
it is a good metric. And so and by the way,
it's it's one that has been used for a longer
period of time than people believe, Like Ben Wallace to
this day, over twenty years ago, still has the highest

(01:54:15):
defensive efficiency rating in a single season in the history.

Speaker 6 (01:54:19):
Of the NBA.

Speaker 4 (01:54:20):
Gar heard, remember gar Herd, who played in the seventies
for a career, has the highest defensive efficient efficiency rating
of any player who's ever played. Now, you could obviously
go back and look at these things. Those metrics have
been tracked longer than people realize.

Speaker 13 (01:54:38):
Yeah, longer than I realized.

Speaker 8 (01:54:39):
I see you.

Speaker 13 (01:54:40):
You've never ceased to amaze the crap.

Speaker 7 (01:54:42):
Out of me.

Speaker 6 (01:54:43):
I found the formula, Mike, I found the formula ready.

Speaker 4 (01:54:47):
So it's a player steals times blocks plus opponents differential equals.
I can't read this thing.

Speaker 6 (01:54:54):
We have to go. This thing's complicated. I don't know.

Speaker 4 (01:54:56):
I just know it's a useful metric, and we have
to run. Mike, have a great night. Thanks to Terran
for producing. Thanks to you, Filip. We didn't get to
hear the Austin Hayes audio. We're too busy talking about
the Braves. Guy, Have a great night. This is ESPN
fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sport Station.

Speaker 3 (01:55:15):
Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty Traffic from.

Speaker 10 (01:55:20):
The UC Health Traffic Center. The UC Cancer Center offers
the latest research based and holistic approaches to head and
net cancer called five eight five UCCC westbound seventy four
before two seventy five, the right lane blocked off from
an accident. Traffic through their stop and go from North
Bend Road sub found seventy five near Shareon Road. An

(01:55:42):
object onto the roadway and river road closed through the
landslides between Amsterdam Road and Hayward Street. I'm at Ezelk
with traffic

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