WEBVTT - 2-3-26 Sloan with Nick Lachey 0:00:00.240 --> 0:00:06.000 Dondio. Super Bowl sixties all set. You got the Patriots 0:00:06.040 --> 0:00:10.000 back again, you got the Seattle Seahawks back again. The 0:00:10.039 --> 0:00:13.360 Bengals are not back again. The Bengals. It's been five 0:00:13.720 --> 0:00:17.479 years since our Bengals went to the Super Bowl, and 0:00:17.600 --> 0:00:20.160 Nick Lache has had enough. He just dropped this song 0:00:20.200 --> 0:00:29.080 on social This is Brown in the name of Joe Barrow. 0:00:31.200 --> 0:00:36.800 Won should take your bends and go selling my brown, 0:00:39.400 --> 0:00:57.640 sell my crown on the phone, say well, damn damn Lache, 0:00:57.800 --> 0:01:00.760 that's baby making music. That's not a distract. That's baby 0:01:00.800 --> 0:01:01.360 making music. 0:01:01.440 --> 0:01:04.200 You got there, Well, maybe we killed two birds of one. 0:01:04.319 --> 0:01:06.880 Don make some babies and pissing people off. Wow? 0:01:07.520 --> 0:01:09.400 That there you go. Well, wow, how did I How 0:01:09.440 --> 0:01:10.319 did I come into the storm? 0:01:10.480 --> 0:01:10.680 Well? 0:01:11.080 --> 0:01:14.280 It was because the Bengals suck. That's how you were born. 0:01:14.640 --> 0:01:15.040 That's how. 0:01:15.319 --> 0:01:18.160 Hey, something something good should come out of them at 0:01:18.160 --> 0:01:18.800 this point. 0:01:19.959 --> 0:01:21.720 What's going on? Where are you right now? You're out 0:01:21.720 --> 0:01:22.080 in La. 0:01:23.360 --> 0:01:24.399 I'm out in La, Okay. 0:01:24.560 --> 0:01:26.640 So you're smart because it's too damn cold to come 0:01:26.640 --> 0:01:28.800 here and do this live right. 0:01:28.880 --> 0:01:31.480 Yeah, I'm talking to my my family back back east 0:01:31.520 --> 0:01:34.240 and it is absolutely freezing cold. So yeah, I'm not 0:01:34.480 --> 0:01:35.119 I'm not jellings. 0:01:35.440 --> 0:01:37.720 Yeah, missing, we're jealous here. We got snow today too. 0:01:37.880 --> 0:01:42.080 So how they hell? Nick Lache, how did you become 0:01:42.200 --> 0:01:45.039 the de facto voice of a long abused Bengals fan? 0:01:45.120 --> 0:01:45.800 How did this happen? 0:01:47.160 --> 0:01:49.880 I'm a long abused Banks fan. You know. It's it's 0:01:49.920 --> 0:01:52.520 been I guess, about forty five years since I first 0:01:52.560 --> 0:01:55.080 started watching the Bengals, and I've been on the same 0:01:55.320 --> 0:01:57.800 you know, roller coaster that everyone else in that city has, 0:01:57.880 --> 0:02:00.720 and man, I don't know, it just felt like enough's enough. 0:02:00.840 --> 0:02:03.400 It's it's uh, you know, we've been so beat down 0:02:03.440 --> 0:02:05.600 in the fan base, and I feel like at this point, 0:02:05.760 --> 0:02:08.000 most people they're just like, well, I guess that's just 0:02:08.040 --> 0:02:09.600 the way it's going to be for my life, and 0:02:09.760 --> 0:02:11.799 we'll get them next year. And I just I feel 0:02:11.840 --> 0:02:13.359 like it doesn't have to be that way, you know, 0:02:13.440 --> 0:02:16.000 And I think people have started to lose hope, and 0:02:16.320 --> 0:02:18.679 even worse, I feel like eventually the players start to 0:02:18.720 --> 0:02:21.400 lose hope, and you get you get the Carson Palmer 0:02:21.480 --> 0:02:24.160 situation where players, you know, just want out. It's just 0:02:24.440 --> 0:02:26.440 it doesn't have to be that way. And and so 0:02:26.520 --> 0:02:28.519 I just was trying to find a fun, kind of 0:02:28.960 --> 0:02:32.240 interesting way to express all that dissatisfaction. And I love 0:02:32.280 --> 0:02:35.000 writing writing music, It's what I do obviously, so figured 0:02:35.040 --> 0:02:36.239 this is a good way to kind of get my 0:02:36.600 --> 0:02:38.400 get my feelings out. Brick cathartic on it. 0:02:38.720 --> 0:02:42.040 Yeah, therapy, Yeah, you have an opportunity that most of 0:02:42.120 --> 0:02:44.880 us don't. All right, So it's not the first time. 0:02:44.919 --> 0:02:46.639 I mean, I've been around long enough to remember the 0:02:46.760 --> 0:02:50.360 nineties and that that dire straight when fans were showing 0:02:50.400 --> 0:02:52.600 up to games with bags of their heads asking Mike 0:02:52.680 --> 0:02:56.239 to sell the team. Then what's changed in those last 0:02:56.320 --> 0:02:56.799 thirty years? 0:02:58.360 --> 0:03:00.920 Nothing? Nothing's changed. I mean I think every now and then, 0:03:01.000 --> 0:03:02.400 and I said this in my in my post a 0:03:02.400 --> 0:03:04.560 few weeks back, when you know, when they announced they 0:03:04.600 --> 0:03:07.519 weren't making any changes to any of the personnel, to 0:03:07.600 --> 0:03:10.400 the coaching staff, to you know, Duke Tobin was coming back. 0:03:10.440 --> 0:03:13.760 I mean, I said, this is ridiculous. We have totally 0:03:13.840 --> 0:03:17.480 accepted losing, and our ownership is not interested in winning. 0:03:17.560 --> 0:03:21.040 I mean, I think it's just purely what bigger sample 0:03:21.120 --> 0:03:22.760 size do we need at this point than you know, 0:03:22.880 --> 0:03:25.880 the thirty five years that he's run this team. I mean, 0:03:25.919 --> 0:03:29.280 it's absolutely we've had eight winning seasons, eight in thirty 0:03:29.360 --> 0:03:32.040 five years. Yep, I mean you can it's just dumb luck. 0:03:32.040 --> 0:03:33.480 And I said that, I said, every now and then 0:03:33.880 --> 0:03:36.360 we catch finding in a bottle, might make a super Bowl, 0:03:36.480 --> 0:03:38.120 might win a playoff game, and it keeps us as 0:03:38.160 --> 0:03:40.720 a fan base on the hook. But I think we 0:03:40.840 --> 0:03:42.720 have to start to demand more. I mean, this is 0:03:42.960 --> 0:03:46.600 a football rabid city. We all know that we love football. 0:03:46.640 --> 0:03:50.080 We love our Bengals, and unfortunately our Bengals don't love 0:03:50.120 --> 0:03:52.840 us back. And that's you know, that's an abusive relationship, 0:03:52.920 --> 0:03:55.120 quite honestly, and and he needs to be called out 0:03:55.160 --> 0:03:57.000 for it. I mean the proof is then everyone did 0:03:57.000 --> 0:03:59.360 in the analytics these days, right, it's all a numbers game, 0:03:59.640 --> 0:04:03.280 and the numbers Mike Brown is a Loser's he's a 0:04:03.400 --> 0:04:07.000 He's a historic loser. I didn't realize the Bengals set 0:04:07.000 --> 0:04:10.200 an NFL record for the fewest games needed to reach 0:04:10.280 --> 0:04:14.240 two hundred loss. I mean it's historic losing that we've 0:04:14.320 --> 0:04:17.760 all been witnessed to and quite frankly, have financially supported 0:04:18.240 --> 0:04:21.080 for the thirty five years. Meaning people can you know, 0:04:21.200 --> 0:04:23.160 they're harder money. They take their harder money go out 0:04:23.160 --> 0:04:26.040 to sit in the cold and watch what he refuses 0:04:26.120 --> 0:04:28.480 to improve as a product on the field, and it 0:04:28.560 --> 0:04:29.880 just it's it's ridiculous. 0:04:30.000 --> 0:04:32.720 Well, but I will say this, I think you're looking, 0:04:32.800 --> 0:04:35.440 Nick at the wrong damn scoreboard. So the best stretch, 0:04:35.560 --> 0:04:38.599 arguably in the Mike Brown tenure, was the Marvin Lewis 0:04:38.640 --> 0:04:41.800 here six Way had six wild card appearances in seven years, 0:04:41.839 --> 0:04:45.240 but six eliminations in those wildcard games never advanced. But 0:04:45.400 --> 0:04:48.520 you're looking at the wrong scoreboard. The value of this team, Nick, 0:04:48.720 --> 0:04:51.479 is five point five billion with a buff of an 0:04:51.520 --> 0:04:53.960 initial investment I think of eight million dollars. That's a 0:04:54.120 --> 0:04:58.240 sixty nine thousand percent return since nineteen sixty seven, or 0:04:59.120 --> 0:05:02.039 twelve point four percent annually. That's better than the market 0:05:02.080 --> 0:05:04.839 average of ten percent. Are you looking at the wrong scoreboard. 0:05:06.000 --> 0:05:07.680 No, I'm looking at the right score which is why 0:05:07.680 --> 0:05:09.680 I'm saying sell the team and take your five point 0:05:09.800 --> 0:05:12.760 nine or whatever it is billion, and walk into the 0:05:12.800 --> 0:05:15.200 sunset and let someone else take over the team who's 0:05:15.279 --> 0:05:17.960 interested in winning and interested in creating a winning culture 0:05:18.320 --> 0:05:20.440 for the people of Cincinnati. That's what we deserve as 0:05:20.440 --> 0:05:22.520 a fan base, That's what the Bengals deserve, The players 0:05:22.560 --> 0:05:26.200 deserve You've shown clearly you're not interested in providing that 0:05:26.400 --> 0:05:29.440 you know and in establishing a winning culture. Mike Brown's 0:05:29.480 --> 0:05:32.120 not interested in doing that. He's interested in the numbers 0:05:32.160 --> 0:05:34.520 you just dropped. He's interested in what the team's worth. 0:05:34.600 --> 0:05:37.080 So sell it and walk off into the sunset and 0:05:37.200 --> 0:05:40.200 let another ownership group come in who can try and 0:05:40.279 --> 0:05:42.440 do it a winner in Cincinnati. I know everyone's worried 0:05:42.680 --> 0:05:44.600 if Mike Brown sells the team that the Bengals are 0:05:44.640 --> 0:05:48.000 leaving Cincinnati. I don't think the NFL is interested in 0:05:48.080 --> 0:05:50.560 the Bengals leaving Cincinnati. It's good for the NFL to 0:05:50.600 --> 0:05:52.839 have a team in Cincinnati. It's good for the city. 0:05:52.920 --> 0:05:55.479 It's not There's plenty of other ownership groups that could 0:05:55.480 --> 0:05:58.000 come in, build a winner and keep it right there 0:05:58.040 --> 0:05:59.719 in Cincinnati. It doesn't have to be one of the others. 0:06:00.000 --> 0:06:02.600 The moment to well, Cleveland needs a football team, could 0:06:02.640 --> 0:06:03.440 we move to Cleveland. 0:06:04.640 --> 0:06:07.000 Wow, they've got a football team that may be even 0:06:07.040 --> 0:06:11.200 worse than ours. Sad again starts Yeah, the minute we 0:06:11.240 --> 0:06:14.320 start comparing ourselves to the Browns, we're in really bad stage. 0:06:14.400 --> 0:06:16.920 So you know what the bottom line is, we have 0:06:17.040 --> 0:06:21.000 a probably not probably in one hundred percent. We have 0:06:21.160 --> 0:06:24.680 the most incredible quarterback in the history of our franchise 0:06:24.680 --> 0:06:26.880 who's in the prime of his career. And what I'm 0:06:26.920 --> 0:06:28.560 afraid of, and I think what the people is the 0:06:28.560 --> 0:06:30.360 status should be afraid of, is that he's going to 0:06:30.400 --> 0:06:32.000 get frustrated to the point of saying, you know what, 0:06:32.160 --> 0:06:33.840 I can't take this anymore. I want to win and 0:06:33.920 --> 0:06:35.520 it's not going to happen here, and I want out. 0:06:35.760 --> 0:06:37.320 And I think we saw shades out a little bit 0:06:37.360 --> 0:06:38.760 this year, you know, even though he would deny it, 0:06:38.839 --> 0:06:41.960 but uh, this is the this is the prime moment. 0:06:42.120 --> 0:06:44.279 I thought, like many people did, that when he came 0:06:44.600 --> 0:06:47.520 he's a perfect quarterback for our team. Iile kid. And 0:06:47.600 --> 0:06:51.159 since that, I thought the whole thing was going to change. 0:06:51.320 --> 0:06:53.080 That finally the Bengals going to find a way to 0:06:53.400 --> 0:06:55.720 redefine who they were as a franchise. And here we are, 0:06:56.240 --> 0:06:58.480 you know, four or five years later, feeling like the 0:06:58.560 --> 0:07:00.680 same thing is happening all over again, and it's just 0:07:00.839 --> 0:07:03.479 it's it's really sad, honestly. It's just after the people 0:07:03.520 --> 0:07:06.560 who have supported this team, you know, so passionately and 0:07:06.640 --> 0:07:11.120 loyally for for decades and put through the same cycle 0:07:11.200 --> 0:07:13.800 of futilities. It's unfortunately all. 0:07:13.720 --> 0:07:16.120 Right, Nicklas, do you want you want to buy this is? 0:07:16.160 --> 0:07:17.640 If that says, are you trying to leverage him so 0:07:17.720 --> 0:07:19.640 you can squeeze and help buy this team? Maybe not, 0:07:19.720 --> 0:07:22.000 just because I mean, you've got that ridiculous love is 0:07:22.040 --> 0:07:24.720 blind money. I get that, the ninety eighth agreement, ridiculous 0:07:24.800 --> 0:07:27.280 ten seasons. Now you're gonna shoot at You're you're a 0:07:27.360 --> 0:07:30.120 multi uh I don't. I can't even count that high. 0:07:30.120 --> 0:07:31.760 You got all this money, You're gonna buy this team. 0:07:31.760 --> 0:07:33.600 You're gonna get some friends together, and this is about 0:07:33.640 --> 0:07:35.560 the leverage and Mike brownout so you can swoop in 0:07:35.600 --> 0:07:36.240 and save the day. 0:07:37.400 --> 0:07:39.000 I wish that was the case. I wish I had 0:07:39.040 --> 0:07:41.240 anything close to uh to the money would take to 0:07:41.320 --> 0:07:43.960 buy an NFL French No, of course not. I'm a fan. 0:07:44.040 --> 0:07:45.400 At the end of the day, I'm a fan and 0:07:45.480 --> 0:07:47.240 I want to see this team win. I've been through 0:07:47.240 --> 0:07:49.640 the heartbreak. I've been, I've been at the playoff games. 0:07:49.640 --> 0:07:51.600 I've seen the futility. I've been you know, been to 0:07:51.640 --> 0:07:53.920 the Super Bowl. I've watched it all happen. I'm a 0:07:54.000 --> 0:07:56.960 fan and I would love to see this horrible cycle 0:07:57.040 --> 0:07:58.800 that we've been living in as fans. I'd like to 0:07:58.840 --> 0:08:00.960 see it change, and I think that never gonna change 0:08:01.120 --> 0:08:02.440 as long as Mike Brown is the owner. 0:08:02.840 --> 0:08:04.680 What makes you think somebody somebody else comes in and 0:08:04.760 --> 0:08:06.520 buys it. I don't know, private equitor, what the hell 0:08:06.520 --> 0:08:08.880 it is? Uh? And it's not you're involved in this thing. 0:08:09.320 --> 0:08:12.080 I mean, it could be they want up moving the team, 0:08:12.160 --> 0:08:14.160 or maybe careful what you wish for it. Maybe it 0:08:14.200 --> 0:08:15.560 does get worse. Is that possible. 0:08:16.640 --> 0:08:18.400 I don't think it's possible for it get for it 0:08:18.440 --> 0:08:20.880 to get worse. Honestly, I think you know you can. 0:08:20.960 --> 0:08:24.000 You can luck yourself into a playoff appearance every few years. 0:08:24.040 --> 0:08:26.240 I don't think that that's I don't think that's a 0:08:26.360 --> 0:08:28.080 fear of it getting worse. But I do is think that. 0:08:28.200 --> 0:08:30.080 And I think people in Cincinnati are a right to 0:08:30.120 --> 0:08:31.880 be a word, you know, worried about this, that someone 0:08:31.920 --> 0:08:33.880 would come in and move the team. I just don't 0:08:33.880 --> 0:08:37.800 think that's gonna happen. I've I've got strong, strong feelings 0:08:37.840 --> 0:08:40.040 that the NFL does not want to see the team move. 0:08:40.320 --> 0:08:42.160 I don't know if the NFL would would mind and 0:08:42.240 --> 0:08:44.040 that ownership change. I mean, look at Buffalo. You know, 0:08:44.080 --> 0:08:46.480 they've they were sold. Rob Wilson you know, passed and 0:08:46.520 --> 0:08:48.400 they sold the team and now they're building a new 0:08:48.480 --> 0:08:51.920 stadium and the team's you know for a playoff you know, contender. 0:08:52.000 --> 0:08:54.199 So I mean it doesn't mean the team has to move. 0:08:54.320 --> 0:08:56.880 Cincinnati is a great football town. I mean, look, my god, 0:08:56.960 --> 0:08:59.840 we've supported a team that's been horrible. We've been selling 0:08:59.840 --> 0:09:03.520 out that's staying for for decades on on horrible products 0:09:03.559 --> 0:09:05.560 that are being craded out in front of us. I mean, 0:09:05.600 --> 0:09:08.040 what more do you need to see, you know, as 0:09:08.080 --> 0:09:10.520 an owner than that. It doesn't mean the team is 0:09:10.600 --> 0:09:13.079 moving and leaving Cincinnati. If the ownership changes. 0:09:12.840 --> 0:09:14.800 Well, I'll say this Nick also what they watch. 0:09:14.880 --> 0:09:16.920 But that's what they want to think though, right, I mean, 0:09:16.960 --> 0:09:19.679 it's in your base, you know, mentality like hey, well yeah, 0:09:19.880 --> 0:09:21.839 do take the team. Don't We don't care what it 0:09:21.840 --> 0:09:23.520 looks like, just don't take our team. Don't take our team. 0:09:23.920 --> 0:09:25.719 I think that's that's kind of what we've been, you know, 0:09:25.880 --> 0:09:28.800 like a bludgeon into into believing it's not it's not 0:09:28.840 --> 0:09:29.679 necessarily the case. 0:09:29.840 --> 0:09:31.680 Here's what here's why I don't think that's true. Right, 0:09:31.760 --> 0:09:34.080 there's the art Modell Rule with basically said when Art 0:09:34.120 --> 0:09:37.360 Modell moved, the moved to Baltimore and then subsequent win 0:09:37.400 --> 0:09:39.520 a Super Bowl to tell you how curse Cleveland. Maybe 0:09:39.559 --> 0:09:41.880 the state is with professional football. I don't know, but 0:09:42.200 --> 0:09:44.280 they enacted the artmdal so meaning if you take public 0:09:44.360 --> 0:09:46.559 money that you've got to give them six months to 0:09:46.600 --> 0:09:49.560 get a Ohio ownership group together to buy the team 0:09:49.600 --> 0:09:51.920 at fair market value. That's what it says. So they 0:09:52.080 --> 0:09:54.800 just took public money. By the way, seventy four percent 0:09:54.960 --> 0:09:57.599 of the money to redo pay Corps is from the 0:09:57.679 --> 0:10:00.319 tax payerge the other twenty four twenty six percent it 0:10:00.400 --> 0:10:02.400 is from the Bengals in the NFL. So kind of 0:10:02.440 --> 0:10:04.920 a minimal investment right there. But you know, only in 0:10:05.000 --> 0:10:07.880 Cincinnati we celebrate we're getting screwed, but we're getting screwed 0:10:07.960 --> 0:10:09.520 last than we did in the nineteen nineties with that 0:10:09.559 --> 0:10:10.559 horrific stadium deal. 0:10:11.320 --> 0:10:12.839 Yeah, I mean, I've got the best stadium do in 0:10:12.880 --> 0:10:15.400 the league. They I mean, up until about ten years ago, 0:10:15.440 --> 0:10:19.000 when the NFL implemented a floor to the salary cap, 0:10:19.200 --> 0:10:21.920 the Bengals were spending less than anybody else in the league. 0:10:22.880 --> 0:10:24.640 Because of the revenue sharing. They're making all kinds of 0:10:24.679 --> 0:10:26.600 money and they're not even pumping it back into their 0:10:26.600 --> 0:10:29.160 own roster. It wasn't until the NFL changed the rule 0:10:29.600 --> 0:10:32.199 to force teams like the Bengals to actually spend the 0:10:32.280 --> 0:10:35.400 money on their players that they even did that. I mean, 0:10:35.920 --> 0:10:38.319 there's no more evidence we need to see that this 0:10:38.480 --> 0:10:41.160 ownership group does not care about winning. They simply don't. 0:10:41.480 --> 0:10:43.719 They care about all the numbers you illustrated earlier with 0:10:43.800 --> 0:10:47.000 the team's worth so great. I mean, what a phenomenal 0:10:47.080 --> 0:10:50.439 investment you inherited. Take it and run. Let somebody else 0:10:50.480 --> 0:10:51.760 come in who cares about winning? 0:10:52.880 --> 0:10:55.000 Uh? Nick Lashey, do you think that the Bengals care 0:10:55.040 --> 0:10:56.520 about Cincinnati, care about the fans? 0:10:58.760 --> 0:11:01.880 I mean, what evidence do you see that? How active 0:11:01.880 --> 0:11:04.080 are they in the community? I mean, what about all 0:11:04.120 --> 0:11:07.000 the great foundations they know? Don't I don't think they 0:11:07.040 --> 0:11:10.160 care about Cincinnati all. I mean, and if they did, 0:11:10.840 --> 0:11:13.040 it would be about more than just money, right. Yeah. 0:11:13.160 --> 0:11:14.880 I mean, this team is a part of the fabric 0:11:14.960 --> 0:11:17.800 of the city and everyone in that city wants to 0:11:17.800 --> 0:11:21.319 see him win. Everyone but the people who need and 0:11:21.400 --> 0:11:22.760 want to see them win, and that's the owners. 0:11:22.880 --> 0:11:25.040 Yeah. Well, I'll say this. I had a council member 0:11:25.160 --> 0:11:28.360 Mark Jeffries late last week on my show and we 0:11:28.440 --> 0:11:31.480 were talking about it. Kind of I didn't see this coming, 0:11:31.600 --> 0:11:34.800 but we're talking about one of his initiatives is youth 0:11:34.840 --> 0:11:37.800 football in the city. As you know, it's very expensive 0:11:37.800 --> 0:11:40.000 to rent fields at CPS because of crime. You have 0:11:40.080 --> 0:11:42.439 to have armed security and you're run it from CPS. 0:11:42.600 --> 0:11:45.199 No youth football teams can afford that. You don't have 0:11:45.280 --> 0:11:47.079 that in the suburbs. You got that in Cincinnati. So 0:11:48.160 --> 0:11:50.199 he brought up the fact that you know the Reds 0:11:50.240 --> 0:11:52.679 obviously with the Reds Community Fund and the Urban Youth 0:11:52.720 --> 0:11:56.599 Academy does great. FC's doing that with youth soccer. And 0:11:56.679 --> 0:11:58.760 then he brought up the Bengals and said, look, the 0:11:58.880 --> 0:12:01.400 Dallas Cowboys at the top of the league, nine million 0:12:01.440 --> 0:12:03.679 dollars a year. They give back to the city of Dallas, 0:12:03.880 --> 0:12:05.679 to the community. The Packers do about a million and 0:12:05.720 --> 0:12:08.559 a half, My Bills do about a million. One Seattle 0:12:08.640 --> 0:12:12.840 does six hundred and sixty two million. Cincinnati last year 0:12:13.120 --> 0:12:15.720 thirty thousand dollars. In the year before that in twenty 0:12:15.800 --> 0:12:20.000 twenty three was zero. Now, granted, you can do charitable 0:12:20.040 --> 0:12:22.800 donations and they're very generous when I understand privately they 0:12:22.840 --> 0:12:25.000 don't want the they don't only want the attention, They 0:12:25.120 --> 0:12:29.040 just want to do it from from a philanthropic perspective 0:12:29.080 --> 0:12:32.200 as opposed to getting credit. But when you're poning up 0:12:32.200 --> 0:12:33.840 the money where for a stadium, you've kind of got 0:12:33.960 --> 0:12:35.320 to make the effort. You kind of got to make 0:12:35.360 --> 0:12:37.600 it known that you're doing these things. How isy would 0:12:37.640 --> 0:12:40.199 be for them to lean into youth football in Cincinnati, 0:12:40.400 --> 0:12:42.520 as the Reds did with baseball and FC would do 0:12:43.040 --> 0:12:46.400 with soccer. To your point, there's some ammunition here. 0:12:48.280 --> 0:12:50.240 I think it's an incredible point it's made, and it's 0:12:50.240 --> 0:12:51.719 one that a lot of people pay attention to you. 0:12:51.760 --> 0:12:53.199 I mean, there's a lot of there's a lot of 0:12:53.640 --> 0:12:56.680 criticism of the Reds, and but baseball and football are 0:12:56.679 --> 0:12:59.079 two totally different animals. You know, the structure of those 0:12:59.080 --> 0:13:02.000 sports is totally different. The banks have absolutely zero excuse. 0:13:02.280 --> 0:13:04.280 They're making billions and as I said in my post 0:13:04.320 --> 0:13:07.200 a few weeks back, billions on the backs of hard 0:13:07.280 --> 0:13:09.760 working Cincinnatians and they're going out there and spending their 0:13:09.840 --> 0:13:14.679 money on supporting this team. We've made this family billions 0:13:14.800 --> 0:13:16.800 of dollars and what have they given back? To the 0:13:16.840 --> 0:13:19.120 community and the city that's doing that and supporting them, 0:13:19.760 --> 0:13:22.640 it's next to nothing. I mean, they don't care. I 0:13:22.679 --> 0:13:25.000 can't say it any more clearly. They simply don't care. 0:13:25.040 --> 0:13:26.760 They don't care about winning, and I don't think they 0:13:26.840 --> 0:13:29.960 care about the city of Cincinnati. I think the evidence 0:13:30.040 --> 0:13:32.160 is in everything you just said. I mean, they care 0:13:32.200 --> 0:13:34.520 about making the money, and they've done it time and 0:13:34.640 --> 0:13:37.520 time again, and we've supported it time and time again. 0:13:38.160 --> 0:13:40.679 Nick Lache, You're not the first person to say, hey, 0:13:40.760 --> 0:13:43.160 sell the damn team already, and I'm load to tell 0:13:43.200 --> 0:13:45.240 people to do with their own damn money, because at 0:13:45.280 --> 0:13:47.120 the end of the day of tickets, I think we 0:13:47.200 --> 0:13:49.960 are like twoe point two percent off season ticket sales 0:13:50.040 --> 0:13:52.160 year over year, which is, you know, it doesn't sound 0:13:52.200 --> 0:13:53.640 like much, but in the NFL world, it's a lot, 0:13:53.640 --> 0:13:55.000 a little bit of a dropping. Some of the teams 0:13:55.040 --> 0:13:57.400 are doing that as well. People are still showing up 0:13:57.400 --> 0:13:58.760 for the product. Isn't that the issue? 0:14:00.160 --> 0:14:01.760 That is the issue? I mean, I think then people 0:14:01.800 --> 0:14:03.719 are scared to say, hey, we're gonna we're gonna you know, 0:14:03.960 --> 0:14:05.839 we're gonna vote with our pocket but you know, so 0:14:05.960 --> 0:14:07.880 to speak, and we're gonna boacout the team and we're 0:14:07.880 --> 0:14:09.360 not gonna show up well, and then he's gonna take 0:14:09.360 --> 0:14:11.120 the team away. He'll move the team to San Diego 0:14:11.160 --> 0:14:13.320 and we lose our team. That's the that's the fear 0:14:13.360 --> 0:14:16.520 based model that we're operating in year in and year out. 0:14:16.559 --> 0:14:18.480 And I think it's time that we kind of have 0:14:18.640 --> 0:14:21.080 to demand more. I mean, we have to have an 0:14:21.120 --> 0:14:24.480 expectation of winning, or an expectation of at least running 0:14:24.800 --> 0:14:28.240 up front. Our scouting department is the smallest in the league. 0:14:28.400 --> 0:14:30.920 I mean, we we clearly showed we can't evaluate talent. 0:14:31.040 --> 0:14:34.120 We can't evaluate college talent. We can't even evaluate our talent. 0:14:34.400 --> 0:14:36.000 I mean, look at wwarth a few years back. A 0:14:36.040 --> 0:14:39.240 guy who loved Cincinnati wanted to stay here, and Mike 0:14:39.320 --> 0:14:41.360 Brown told him he thought his best years were behind him. 0:14:41.520 --> 0:14:44.000 You know, go ahead, sign somewhere else. He goes on 0:14:44.120 --> 0:14:46.400 times with the Rams, there's a perennial hall pro and 0:14:46.440 --> 0:14:49.480 wins the super Bowl multi of the year. We can't 0:14:49.480 --> 0:14:52.720 even evaluate our own talent. It's a joke if we 0:14:52.880 --> 0:14:55.600 if we spend no money to that, I shouldn't say 0:14:55.600 --> 0:14:58.800 we they spend no money to invest in the scouting department. 0:14:58.880 --> 0:15:02.160 That can start to evaluate or coaching staff. But we 0:15:02.320 --> 0:15:05.840 just accept losing just another year to day. It's just 0:15:06.000 --> 0:15:06.520 it's nuts. 0:15:06.880 --> 0:15:09.160 Well, the good news is Reds Baseball is not that 0:15:09.320 --> 0:15:12.320 far far away. You got your Haino Suarez back in 0:15:12.400 --> 0:15:15.560 the lineup. But the bullpen looks good, the rotation looks good. 0:15:15.760 --> 0:15:17.760 You got depth in the outfield, you got depth in 0:15:17.800 --> 0:15:20.320 the bench. Better days are ahead for the Reds and 0:15:20.320 --> 0:15:21.440 the Bengals. Is that what you're saying? 0:15:22.880 --> 0:15:25.840 You know what I mean, it's there's all nothing but 0:15:25.960 --> 0:15:27.560 hope on the horizon, right, I mean, it's like that 0:15:27.640 --> 0:15:30.040 when baseball season start. But gosh, I mean, at the 0:15:30.120 --> 0:15:31.840 end of the day, the great baseball town, it's also 0:15:31.880 --> 0:15:34.880 great football town. And and this city deserves they deserve 0:15:34.960 --> 0:15:37.920 more again, man, I mean, Brown family has made so 0:15:38.040 --> 0:15:41.240 much money on the backs of Cincinnatian's great. Good for you. 0:15:41.680 --> 0:15:43.760 Let somebody else come in and buy the team who 0:15:43.840 --> 0:15:45.840 cares about winning? Because it's clear to me, and I 0:15:45.840 --> 0:15:48.560 should be clear to everybody that the Brown families simply 0:15:48.680 --> 0:15:51.080 just not so, you know, I mean, if you care 0:15:51.120 --> 0:15:52.440 about Cincinnati, prove it. You know. 0:15:52.800 --> 0:15:55.280 Why why should they listen Nick? Why why should they 0:15:55.320 --> 0:15:55.680 listen to you. 0:15:57.040 --> 0:15:59.960 Oh, I'm absolutely shured're not listening to me, nor will 0:16:00.080 --> 0:16:02.040 they listen to me, you know. I mean, there's no 0:16:02.120 --> 0:16:04.040 one to can force themselves. Sure they can, you know, 0:16:04.160 --> 0:16:07.360 continue to do what they do, and they probably will, 0:16:07.560 --> 0:16:11.360 but it's not right. Don't don't pretend you care about Cincinnati, 0:16:11.400 --> 0:16:13.560 you know, pretend you care about the city of Cincinnati 0:16:13.640 --> 0:16:16.200 and all those things, when this is how you operate 0:16:16.240 --> 0:16:19.680 a team that means so much to the people of Well. 0:16:19.720 --> 0:16:21.600 It's not just the It's not the Bengals. I mean, 0:16:21.640 --> 0:16:23.520 the Reds were suffering. Who saw what happened in La 0:16:23.640 --> 0:16:27.080 you watch those games live Nick Lache and getting swept. 0:16:27.120 --> 0:16:29.280 But hopefully this year they do better. But again we 0:16:29.320 --> 0:16:31.720 don't know what the season is gonna wind up coming to. 0:16:31.840 --> 0:16:33.640 For what's gonna happen at the end of the season. 0:16:33.640 --> 0:16:36.080 I guess I should say, do you see, Bearcats aren't 0:16:36.160 --> 0:16:38.520 very good? Xavier is getting better, but not very good. 0:16:39.120 --> 0:16:41.160 All our hopes and dreams right now are centered on 0:16:41.280 --> 0:16:44.680 Oxford and the Miami RedHawks and the undefeated team. Everyone's 0:16:44.720 --> 0:16:47.360 going nuts or Oxford the only the only like like 0:16:47.560 --> 0:16:49.520 feel good moment, and n FC is gonna start a 0:16:49.560 --> 0:16:51.520 vander May wind up leaving that he may get bought 0:16:51.560 --> 0:16:54.080 away by bigger teams, slaw, by bigger fish. That's a problem. 0:16:54.320 --> 0:16:57.360 And so I look around and go, damn Cincinnati sports 0:16:57.400 --> 0:17:00.080 sucks right now. It's it's tough to be optimistic, to 0:17:00.160 --> 0:17:02.680 be safe for the Reds. We're always optimistic here. The 0:17:02.760 --> 0:17:05.040 biggest you know what the biggest sports news was the 0:17:05.119 --> 0:17:07.640 last week is the fact that our boy John John 0:17:07.920 --> 0:17:09.960 had a half court shot at the Miami game. 0:17:11.000 --> 0:17:13.280 I asked him what what AI for? He used to 0:17:13.520 --> 0:17:15.600 the school that went off, and he he claimed to 0:17:15.680 --> 0:17:17.359 me that it was it was the actual footish. But hey, 0:17:17.440 --> 0:17:19.160 let me give a quick shout to my my red 0:17:19.200 --> 0:17:22.920 Hawks before the summer of ninety five to joy ninety 0:17:22.960 --> 0:17:25.440 degrees and start my musical career. But the year before that, 0:17:25.480 --> 0:17:27.960 I was at Miami and I was the athletic trainer 0:17:28.000 --> 0:17:32.119 for men's basketball and we went to the tournament, won 0:17:32.160 --> 0:17:34.760 of the first round games, a great team. Guys who 0:17:35.160 --> 0:17:38.600 know Miami knows, like Devin Davis, Jimmy Mahafe and Derek Crops, 0:17:38.960 --> 0:17:40.479 and so it's great to see I know everyone knows 0:17:40.520 --> 0:17:42.200 the wall the Zerbeak heres, but it's great to see 0:17:42.600 --> 0:17:45.000