Speaker 1: Did you hear that?
Speaker 2: Can you hear the bumper? Six o six? In the
Speaker 2: Queen City of Cincinnati. Chick Ludwig seven hundred w l
Speaker 2: W Sean Dickmann is co hosting tonight. Russ Jackson is
Speaker 2: producing and running a big board in our control room.
Speaker 2: This is sports talk and like Eric Carmon and the Raspberries,
Speaker 2: we're going all the way to nine o'clock and that's
Speaker 2: when Donna d takes over the waves and we have
Speaker 2: news with the Reds acquiring two outfielders and JJ Bledet
Speaker 2: and Dane Myers. Tonight's Cyclones game is postponed with the
Speaker 2: k Wings because of the ECCHL player strike. The Miami
Speaker 2: RedHawks trail Fresno State nine to three at halftime in
Speaker 2: the Snoop Dog Arizona Ball. And oh yeah, the Michigan
Speaker 2: Wolverines have a new football coach in longtime Utah coach
Speaker 2: Kyle Whittingham, a move that also impacts the University of Cincinnati.
Speaker 2: And speaking of the UC Bearcats, we welcome in from
Speaker 2: the Inquirer and Cincinnati dot Com Scott Springer, who covers
Speaker 2: the Bearcats. Scott, thanks for hanging tough with us tonight.
Speaker 2: Can we go ahead and put Scott on there. Here
Speaker 2: we go, Scott, thanks so much for joining us tonight.
Speaker 1: Hey.
Speaker 3: I talked to Kyle Whittingham at the twelve media days
Speaker 3: there in uh in Frisco, Texas back in July. Good guy,
Speaker 3: what a hire? And what did he just you know
Speaker 3: what to them because uh, you know, they're they're kind
Speaker 3: of shoving him out the door. And he ends up
Speaker 3: getting a better job and he's probably going to take
Speaker 3: some of his staff, including his offensive coordinator who came
Speaker 3: from New Mexico I think it was and brought the
Speaker 3: quarterback there that that ran all over the place. So
Speaker 3: good hire by Michigan.
Speaker 2: No doubt. And I also think of Kerry Combs, who
Speaker 2: is named, uh the special teams coordinator for the Michigan
Speaker 2: right before everything blew up there.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think he gets paid either way. I hope
Speaker 3: he's six. Carry's a good guy. I'm always rooting for
Speaker 3: the Ogs man, no doubt, no doubt. Yeah, Uh, far
Speaker 3: as I can tell, he's got a signed document that
Speaker 3: says he gets paid. So it happened with Sarron Moore
Speaker 3: is not his fault.
Speaker 2: So it's a beautiful thing.
Speaker 1: Man.
Speaker 2: That's fantastastic for Carrie. We're definitely rooting for him. And
Speaker 2: and how about the Bearcats coming up, getting ready to
Speaker 2: go against Navy on January second in Memphis and a
Speaker 2: lot of changes. New quarterback Brady Lichtenberg gets his chance here, Scott.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, And he actually played in the last Bowl
Speaker 3: game and there was Sabby Fenway ball he got in
Speaker 3: and the third quarter had won Kerry for five yards.
Speaker 3: So nothing to write home about. But there's like four
Speaker 3: Bearcats that played in that game. Gavin Gerhard jack Dngele,
Speaker 3: Rob Jackson. I'm thinking I think that might be it
Speaker 3: that Brady got in that game. So he's been around,
Speaker 3: and hey, you know, from adversity comes opportunity, said the
Speaker 3: great Rick Menner. And this is his chance. Brendan Sowersby,
Speaker 3: you know all signs that I can tell your point
Speaker 3: to Texas Tech and he's not going to be there.
Speaker 3: And that would have been a nice matchup if you
Speaker 3: looked at Soorsby versus Blake Rba, the Navy quarterback, and
Speaker 3: early on UC was favored in this game, and that
Speaker 3: was considering swords Pe would play. Now they're like a
Speaker 3: touchdown underdog and they're gonna have to go out and
Speaker 3: prove themselves. And you know, Navy's good number twenty two
Speaker 3: team in the nation. Two losses. Notre Dame thumped them
Speaker 3: pretty good and they lost to North Texas. Won the
Speaker 3: Army Navy game on a fourth and eighth call, you know,
Speaker 3: by the goal line and got you play and won that.
Speaker 3: The one thing I think maybe helps you see a little,
Speaker 3: and it's a big maybe, is that's their biggest game
Speaker 3: of the year. That was December thirteenth, and they had
Speaker 3: to come off of that and go into exams, and
Speaker 3: they had just two practices and then they gave them
Speaker 3: ten days off and they're not practicing until the twenty
Speaker 3: ninth in Memphis, right before the ball game. So UC's
Speaker 3: gonna have several more practices. Will that matter, I don't know.
Speaker 3: You know, because Navy just played a game and you
Speaker 3: see hasn't played since November twenty ninth, and TCU and
Speaker 3: you have a quarterback change. You do have some other
Speaker 3: opt outs. But my take on it now, and it
Speaker 3: would be okay, you look at Navy and say Navy's
Speaker 3: the better team, and those Navy kids are tough and
Speaker 3: they are regimented. I'm sure they're home doing sit ups
Speaker 3: and not eating pumpkin pine and stuff. But you know,
Speaker 3: if you can catch him maybe a little too fat
Speaker 3: and sassy from that Army win and with not enough practice,
Speaker 3: you know, maybe that works in your behalf. If you're
Speaker 3: UC it's hard to say, but you know, you're not
Speaker 3: going to have Coleone playing and some of the other guys,
Speaker 3: and but you do have all your offensive line, and
Speaker 3: you do have some decent running backs, you have all
Speaker 3: your receivers coming back there. They're going to be a
Speaker 3: little weak in the secondary. But Navy doesn't throw a ton. Now,
Speaker 3: having said that, he did throw for three hundred and
Speaker 3: thirty nine yards against Air Force this year, so they
Speaker 3: can throw. But the kids that are playing, or the
Speaker 3: kids that want to be there and have a chance
Speaker 3: to get some tape and go on national TV and
Speaker 3: have a chance. And the thing I like best is
Speaker 3: Joe Royer's playing. I think that really says something. And
Speaker 3: you know that's something new in these days where everybody
Speaker 3: just wants there. If they're not in a college football
Speaker 3: playoff game, they just say, well, I'm going to opt out,
Speaker 3: and you know, go pump iron and get ready to
Speaker 3: run my forty and look good in my underwear and
Speaker 3: all that, and Joe's going to go play. So good
Speaker 3: for Joe.
Speaker 2: Royer, good elder boy, very positive sign. Scott, This is
Speaker 2: Sean McMahon. How you doing tonight?
Speaker 1: Great? What's up?
Speaker 4: Hey?
Speaker 5: I got a quick question for you. You mentioned how
Speaker 5: good of a Navy team this is. They're ten and
Speaker 5: two U SEE sitting at seven and five. U SEE
Speaker 5: hasn't won a game since October. They beat Baylor in
Speaker 5: their homecoming game. What's the path to victory for you see?
Speaker 5: With them missing so many key players.
Speaker 3: Well, you have to hope that Reggy Lichtenberg plays with
Speaker 3: the biggest ship in the world on his shoulder. You
Speaker 3: have to be able to run the ball. But you
Speaker 3: know this just in maybe defends the run quite a bit.
Speaker 3: They see that in practice all the time, so he's
Speaker 3: gonna have to make some throws. The upside is you
Speaker 3: have all the receivers back playing and including Cyrus Allen,
Speaker 3: who's one touchdown catch away from the school record. So
Speaker 3: if they can throw the ball successfully on Navy, and
Speaker 3: you know you're gonna have to make some stops defensively,
Speaker 3: but you do have most of your defensive line back.
Speaker 3: You don't have Corleone. They've got a guy named Landon
Speaker 3: Robinson on the other side on their defensive line who's
Speaker 3: kind of like Corleone but not as heavy, about six
Speaker 3: foot two eighty five. But he's the first team All
Speaker 3: American and he's an Ohio guy, and he's really good. So,
Speaker 3: like I said, I think, you know, maybe if you
Speaker 3: get enough of these practices and you can work some
Speaker 3: wrinkles in, you have a chance. You know that these
Speaker 3: games are so hard to predict. But you know, I
Speaker 3: watched East Carolina in Pitt today and I think East
Speaker 3: Carolina had had eight or nine opt outs, including you know,
Speaker 3: key positions, quarterback, running back, all over the place, and
Speaker 3: they want and they beat pit you know, a pretty
Speaker 3: solid team, So it can be done. You know, I
Speaker 3: always say that the tough team wins, whoever wants it,
Speaker 3: the tough guy wins. Now that's that's kind of tough
Speaker 3: when you're going against the Service Academy, because those boys
Speaker 3: are tough.
Speaker 2: Scott Scott Springer with us. Yeah, Scott Springer with us
Speaker 2: for a little bit more. Man really appreciate your time, Scott,
Speaker 2: and we were talking off the area, Sean and I
Speaker 2: Sean bumps into Brady Lichtenberg's mom at a concession stand
Speaker 2: at the What the Baylor game? Was that the Baylor game? Yeah,
Speaker 2: we were.
Speaker 5: We were standing underneath the second deck of the pavilion,
Speaker 5: though kind of by the deader the old deadly building,
Speaker 5: the CCM building, And I noticed this woman stands next
Speaker 5: to me and she's got a number, a number chain
Speaker 5: wrapped around her neck. It's in the number sixteen, and
Speaker 5: I'm thinking, who's sixteen? I can't remember off the top
Speaker 5: of my head. There's so much roster change every single year,
Speaker 5: it's hard to keep up. And I finally just asked them,
Speaker 5: was like, do you have a son on the team?
Speaker 5: She goes, yeah, my son's Brady Lichtenberg. And I was
Speaker 5: stunned to hear he was still actually on the team.
Speaker 5: I'm pretty passionate fan. I felt kind of embarrassed to
Speaker 5: admit I didn't know he was still on the team.
Speaker 5: So I was pretty thrilled to hear that he's stuck
Speaker 5: through the coaching change and he's stuck behind. You know,
Speaker 5: he's he's been the number two guy for a long
Speaker 5: time and he's finally getting his opportunity and his mom
Speaker 5: was as sweet as could be. So you know, I'm
Speaker 5: rooting for the guy as hard as possible to go
Speaker 5: get the win for Uce and to represent the Bearcats.
Speaker 5: And you know, I hope he makes the most of
Speaker 5: his opportunity.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Toledo kids, Yeah, Yeah, Toledo kid, Toledo Saint John.
Speaker 2: That came in with some really good credentials, but he's
Speaker 2: gutted it out here, Scott, and that says a lot
Speaker 2: about the person.
Speaker 3: Tashi is his second start in twenty twenty three, the
Speaker 3: first year in the Big Twelve. He started at West Virginia. Unfortunately,
Speaker 3: cracked his ribs in that game and that game didn't
Speaker 3: go so well, but a lot of them didn't go
Speaker 3: very well that year. But that's when he had most
Speaker 3: of his playing time in twenty twenty three. So like
Speaker 3: career wise, he's twenty six or forty five, I think
Speaker 3: three hundred and thirty three yards, three touchdowns, ninety four
Speaker 3: yards resting one touchdown. But but this year it was
Speaker 3: mainly that Northwestern State game where the other both the
Speaker 3: other quarterbacks got in. Samon Jones also got in. Bran
Speaker 3: Or through for a touchdown in that game. Other than that,
Speaker 3: Brady you know, got in for a cup of coffee
Speaker 3: against Utah when that one got out of her hand.
Speaker 3: And so, yeah, he hasn't had his opportunities because you
Speaker 3: have Brendan Sersby, who if you're believing everything you read
Speaker 3: is going to command over five million bucks and you know,
Speaker 3: I love the guy, but she was I don't know
Speaker 3: if I'd pay five millions, you know, yeah, it's it's
Speaker 3: I'd be thinking, well, what can I get for two
Speaker 3: and a half or you know, you know, maybe I
Speaker 3: get somebody that can move the team.
Speaker 2: Scott looking at looking at Navy style with their misdirection,
Speaker 2: the way they run the football, man, that's going to
Speaker 2: be a challenge for the for the Bearcats.
Speaker 3: Well, yeah, it's just a it's an old offense, but
Speaker 3: it's new in terms of the players because most people
Speaker 3: don't run it anymore. Old school wing tea and you know,
Speaker 3: you have to, you know when they say the dive,
Speaker 3: the quarterback in the pitch and assignment football and those things.
Speaker 3: But they're able to throw out of it too. So
Speaker 3: it's just something a lot of the kids haven't seen
Speaker 3: since their high school days. Tyson Vite, I think you
Speaker 3: said the last time he coordinated against. It was against
Speaker 3: Wofford like in two thousand and four or something like that.
Speaker 3: So it's but that's what they do, and that's how
Speaker 3: Navy and Army win, you know, because typically they're recruiting
Speaker 3: undersized guys, so that kind of offsets that with their
Speaker 3: ability to run that offense.
Speaker 5: To a tee Scott, Navy you mentioned loves to run
Speaker 5: the ball at Service Academy football. It's classic. But they're
Speaker 5: not afraid to throw the ball deep down the field either.
Speaker 5: You see, obviously has to watch out for that. Do
Speaker 5: you expect them to kind of load the box We're
Speaker 5: used to seeing them play the three three five defense.
Speaker 5: Do you think they're going to put more guys up
Speaker 5: front in an attempt to stop Navy's run game and
Speaker 5: force them to throw the ball more.
Speaker 3: I think they're gonna have to because I don't see
Speaker 3: how you can play three three five. I mean, honestly,
Speaker 3: and I'm not no expert, so I'm not going to
Speaker 3: go on some great critique of the three three five.
Speaker 3: But yeah, from a press box in some of the games,
Speaker 3: I've looked out through my binoculars and I said, we'll shoot.
Speaker 3: They could just run it to the left and there's
Speaker 3: nobody there, so I you know, I don't understand the
Speaker 3: movement and everything, but there's no way you can have
Speaker 3: three down linemen against the Army. And Scott Saderfield has
Speaker 3: said as much in practice this month.
Speaker 2: Let's definitely hope with the Bearcats being one and eleven
Speaker 2: in November these last few years they can get it
Speaker 2: would be really nice to get a Bowl win if
Speaker 2: we could take a little U turn here, Scott and
Speaker 2: just look at basketball here for a second. Lipscom comes
Speaker 2: in here what from Nashville, Tennessee on Monday night, and
Speaker 2: it's the last uh what pre conference game before we
Speaker 2: really get rocking and rolling next Saturday at home against
Speaker 2: the Houston Cougars.
Speaker 3: Hikes, Yes, oh yeah, yeah yeah. Well then you shoot,
Speaker 3: you look at the big twelve. They got four of
Speaker 3: the top ten. Yes, you know, Houston's number eight, and
Speaker 3: then you have Iowa State in there in Arizona and
Speaker 3: BYU at ten. I think, so yeah, crazy league, which
Speaker 3: you know, on the outside, you have every opportunity to
Speaker 3: crawl back in this thing if you can get some wins,
Speaker 3: and you know, it helps your your ratings and all that.
Speaker 3: On the other side, of it. You know, you can
Speaker 3: go down the tank in a hurry. And last year
Speaker 3: in January was not good for you see, they they
Speaker 3: rebounded a bit in February. So but I think you're
Speaker 3: probably going to see some changes come Monday because the
Speaker 3: way that Clemson game played out, and you know, he
Speaker 3: started a different lineup in the second half that included
Speaker 3: Gisel James and included Sincere Buck Harris and and with
Speaker 3: that lineup they made some strides. So I don't know
Speaker 3: for sure that they're going to change the line but
Speaker 3: the indications where there was going to be some form
Speaker 3: of a change, and you have to look at, you know,
Speaker 3: in just two short games, the contributions that Gisel James
Speaker 3: has made, you know, coming back, you know, surprisingly and
Speaker 3: no one really thought he was going to be back,
Speaker 3: and he came back and was effected right away and
Speaker 3: has effected the team right away, and they played differently.
Speaker 3: You know, they had a little more pep in their
Speaker 3: step when he came back the first game. And I
Speaker 3: don't know what the heck happened down there in Greenville.
Speaker 3: You know that game, it's thirty to five and you're going, man,
Speaker 3: this is like the Washington Generals against the Globe Trotters,
Speaker 3: and then in the second half they have a chance
Speaker 3: to win. And he's Wes Miller said, you know, in
Speaker 3: the four Power four losses Xavier, Louisville, Georgia, Clemson, you
Speaker 3: have either had leads or you know, in the Clemson game,
Speaker 3: you're a possession from winning. You know, somehow that would
Speaker 3: have been the craziest win ever. But I can tell
Speaker 3: you that the Clemson media were sitting there and I
Speaker 3: think they had their stories written at halftime and they're
Speaker 3: ready to call it a night, and then suddenly they're
Speaker 3: biting their fingernails.
Speaker 2: So yeah, those stories got The bear Cats have all
Speaker 2: this talent, and what drives me crazy is being able
Speaker 2: to close. That's what That's what they have to do.
Speaker 2: Close the deal, win a close game, and who knows
Speaker 2: what could happen if that happens.
Speaker 3: Well, you know, if they win Monday, they're eight and five.
Speaker 3: So is that great? No, not at all. And considering
Speaker 3: the records of the other Big twelve schools, you know
Speaker 3: it's an upward climb. But you know, eight and five
Speaker 3: is a lot different than five and eight, and so
Speaker 3: you definitely have a chance to make up the ground
Speaker 3: in that league. It's just not you know, you had
Speaker 3: some really disappointing games. But again, you know, coach speak
Speaker 3: or whatever. You know, come February March, if you make
Speaker 3: a run and you're winning, Nobody who even remembers those
Speaker 3: November losses. Uh, you know, and there's certainly that Eastern
Speaker 3: Michigan hunt is one you want to raise from your
Speaker 3: mind forever. That's just a brutal night.
Speaker 5: Yeah, that was one of the worst losses I've certainly
Speaker 5: seen in my time as a as a UC Bearcat fan. Scott,
Speaker 5: you brought up Jisel James coming back probably the headline
Speaker 5: of the year so far for this basketball team. What
Speaker 5: does he bring offensively and defensively to this program for
Speaker 5: West Miller Well experience.
Speaker 3: He's a third year player, and I think he brings
Speaker 3: confidence when he's on the floor, they just seem as
Speaker 3: a unit to be more comfortable. So he's knocked down
Speaker 3: a shot so far. I know in the past, you know,
Speaker 3: he hasn't exactly been the greatest of Marshman from three,
Speaker 3: but he's hit him so far. And he's always had
Speaker 3: a decent mid range game. And you know, the kid
Speaker 3: can score points. So uh, they just seem more comfortable
Speaker 3: with him out there. And then when you add in
Speaker 3: Sincere Harris's defense, he's he's very you know, he can
Speaker 3: drive you crazy. I mean he him make a steal
Speaker 3: and and then maybe go down and clank the layup
Speaker 3: and that that drives you, battie. But you know, every
Speaker 3: now and then one might sneak in there. So he
Speaker 3: plays defense like an old Bearcat player. And Wes Millers
Speaker 3: even said that, and that's something you know, people like
Speaker 3: us miss you don't see that that that toughness, that
Speaker 3: persistence and all that. And the more those guys, the better.
Speaker 2: Would you can would you think that he would continue
Speaker 2: to get more playing time as as we go on
Speaker 2: in the season. Scott Paris or Gizzle Gizzle James, I'm sorry,
Speaker 2: oh I I.
Speaker 3: Think he's going to start Monday, but I don't know.
Speaker 3: You know, I don't know positively because West doesn't you know,
Speaker 3: run the starting lineup by me. But just from listening
Speaker 3: to the postgame press conferences and seeing what I've seen,
Speaker 3: you know, things have to change. And kerk Crease it
Speaker 3: can be very good, but you know there's times where
Speaker 3: he can't hardly hit the backboard and he's just going
Speaker 3: down and doing behind the back turnover passes and you
Speaker 3: don't need that.
Speaker 2: Jizzle brings the sizzle. Man, we want him back. We've
Speaker 2: got him back. Let's let's go. Scott.
Speaker 3: I'm happy he is back.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 3: I mean, I'm a parent of four boys, and first
Speaker 3: time I saw him just walking in the crowd, I said, man,
Speaker 3: I'm happy to see you.
Speaker 2: Fantastic.
Speaker 3: You know, kids struggle with stuff, and so I'm glad
Speaker 3: he's back.
Speaker 2: Yeah, good headline. All right, Scott. Hey, really appreciate you
Speaker 2: joining us tonight with the family altogether in town. Thank you, sir, Yes, sir,
Speaker 2: I'm off all right, Thanks Scott, appreciate you. Hey, he's
Speaker 2: shown McMahon. Great to have him in here tonight. This
Speaker 2: is the Chickster chick Ludwig. Man, I've got my coffee,
Speaker 2: I've got my computer. All we need is you and
Speaker 2: we're glad to have you tonight for three rocking hours
Speaker 2: of sports talk reds. Gosh, there's so much going on.
Speaker 2: We're going crazy, college football, basketball, We're getting ready for
Speaker 2: the Bengals tomorrow. Even the El's got some news. The
Speaker 2: COHL with the strike. No game tonight against the k
Speaker 2: Wings at the Heritage Bank Center. So Chick lud Wig
Speaker 2: alongside Sean McMahon Sports Talk seven hundred WLW six eight
Speaker 2: in the Queen City of Cincinnati. Chick Ludwig alongside Sean McMahon,
Speaker 2: A couple of elder guys. But I'm Ohio State and
Speaker 2: he's UC and we are having a blast tonight, going
Speaker 2: all the way till nine o'clock. Appreciate Scott Springer joining
Speaker 2: us talking all things you see football and basketball. Well,
Speaker 2: now it's time to talk some Cincinnati Reds. And it
Speaker 2: won't be long until spring training gets here and we're
Speaker 2: playing baseball. I can't wait. I can't believe we're already
Speaker 2: at this point in the year. Chick around the corner, man,
Speaker 2: it really is. And the Reds looking for outfield depth,
Speaker 2: Well they got it. They're getting it. They're getting it
Speaker 2: with the acquisition today of two outfielders, JJ blood Day
Speaker 2: who used to play for the Athletics, and then Dane
Speaker 2: Meyers in a trade with the Marlins today. So what
Speaker 2: does it all mean? Uh? Tito francona manager, has talked
Speaker 2: about wanting depth and then wanting versatility, wanting wanting some
Speaker 2: players who can win Okay, so these moves are going
Speaker 2: to get absolutely trashed by fans. Okay, it's already coming
Speaker 2: in strong that it's there. They're dumpster diving that reclamation projects,
Speaker 2: change of scenery projects. Put them into Great American Ballpark,
Speaker 2: which is a small park, and let's see what they
Speaker 2: can do. What do you think, Sean?
Speaker 5: It kind of just feels like more of the same.
Speaker 5: I hate to say it, but it's nothing that excites me.
Speaker 1: Now.
Speaker 5: I'm I'm not a baseball manager and I'm not I
Speaker 5: don't run an organization, so I can't in depth tell
Speaker 5: you exactly what the Reds need. But this feels like
Speaker 5: more of the same that they've gone for in the past. This,
Speaker 5: this just feels like they're just redecorating. They're just they're
Speaker 5: just changing. They're putting lipstick on a pig. It feels like.
Speaker 2: Will Myers, Nick Martini, Austin Slater, Connor, Joe Tommy fam
Speaker 2: Garrett Hampson, Bubba Thompson, the names go on and on
Speaker 2: and on and on the thing with to me acquiring
Speaker 2: these two guys, you want competition, yep? Okay, And like
Speaker 2: I said, Tito Francona has talked about, uh, depth. You
Speaker 2: want to you want to give TJ. Friedel a little
Speaker 2: bit of time off every once in a while in
Speaker 2: center field because he was ground down, uh in September
Speaker 2: last year. You could see it too, You actually see it.
Speaker 2: So with TJ. Friedel in center and the former third
Speaker 2: baseman now playing in right field. But you've got Will Benson,
Speaker 2: You've got Reese Hines, You've got Blake Donne, you've got
Speaker 2: Tyler Callahan. With these two guys automatically give you is
Speaker 2: great competition. Yeah, so may the best man and may
Speaker 2: the best men win.
Speaker 5: One thing I wondered, Chick, is if you are able
Speaker 5: to give guys like TJ. Friedo breaks, or able to
Speaker 5: rotate guys in and out of the outfield, how could
Speaker 5: that help them offensively? You know, giving guys time off.
Speaker 5: How could that help improve their batting at the plate?
Speaker 5: You know, we'll see you would hope that would have
Speaker 5: a positive effect on everybody.
Speaker 2: You know, like you said, TJ. Friedo got ground down,
Speaker 2: he got tired at the end of the year. Could
Speaker 2: that help him in other areas?
Speaker 5: It's tough to say at this point, obviously, but we'll
Speaker 5: see how it helps the Reds in terms of their
Speaker 5: depth and longevity as well.
Speaker 2: What I like the fact that guys show up at
Speaker 2: the ballpark knowing, did you you better be ready because
Speaker 2: you're going to come into the game as a defensive
Speaker 2: replacement or or a pinch runner, pinch hitter. And Noel
Speaker 2: v Marte looks like he's got the lead in right field. Yeah,
Speaker 2: and TJ Friedel this club needs power in left field.
Speaker 2: It's it's that simple. And hopefully if JJ Bledet can improve,
Speaker 2: and we saw some good numbers from him in twenty
Speaker 2: twenty four with the A's twenty home runs forty three doubles,
Speaker 2: he did back two forty three and he's he's really
Speaker 2: cheap at one point four million, So yeah, money's not
Speaker 2: a concern for either of these guys. And you've got
Speaker 2: you know, they're decent hitters.
Speaker 5: About two forty two to fifty for both of them,
Speaker 5: which in today's league isn't bad. A lot of people
Speaker 5: look at that and they scoff at that. But with
Speaker 5: the way that today's hitters are hitting, not many people
Speaker 5: are actually hitting above three hundred, so two forty two
Speaker 5: to fifty is probably slightly above league average, maybe right
Speaker 5: about there.
Speaker 2: Well, and Dane mais bat in two thirty five last year,
Speaker 2: six home runs, thirty one RBIs in one hundred and
Speaker 2: six games, six seventeen ops as well. Yeah, yeah, right
Speaker 2: handed hitter. He's right handed and JJ Bletate lefty, so
Speaker 2: both highly thought of.
Speaker 1: Man.
Speaker 2: Fourth overall pick was JJ the day coming out of Vanderbilt. Yeah,
Speaker 2: with the with the Marlins, and then he gets traded
Speaker 2: to the Athletics, So, uh, want don't know what the
Speaker 2: fans think. Is this love here? Are we rearranging deck
Speaker 2: chairs on the Titanic? Or could these guys amount to something?
Speaker 1: You know?
Speaker 5: One thing, Chick that I heard Lance bring up was
Speaker 5: why did the Reds seem like they never go after
Speaker 5: players who are good right now? Yeah, they go after
Speaker 5: guys who were were good and at one point in
Speaker 5: their career and you just hope that they're going to
Speaker 5: be a spark for this team and it's really never
Speaker 5: worked out it. The first name that comes to mind
Speaker 5: for me is Mike Mustakis. Yes, that was the guy
Speaker 5: who I remember when the red signed him, I felt
Speaker 5: like a big deal. It really did ended up being
Speaker 5: kind of a nothing burger, which stinks. You never want
Speaker 5: you never you always want these guys to work out, right,
Speaker 5: you want them to be comeback Player of the Year
Speaker 5: and to have the best year they possibly can. By
Speaker 5: no means is anybody rooting against these guys. But you know,
Speaker 5: why can't they go after guys that are are killing
Speaker 5: it in the league right now?
Speaker 2: At least it's not costing them a lot like Candelarios
Speaker 2: and uh and Mike Mustakas those those hurt. That's rough
Speaker 2: they really did. Hey, yea, we got time to go
Speaker 2: out through the phones. We got Bill in Monroe, Bill
Speaker 2: by your season tickets Bill with these two signings.
Speaker 1: Not at all.
Speaker 4: I got my pack for Christmas, for their lives, and
Speaker 4: that's about what we did last year. But I just
Speaker 4: don't understand you have.
Speaker 3: A glaring need. You had this need for two or
Speaker 3: three years.
Speaker 4: They're competitive, they need something to put them over the top.
Speaker 4: And they this kid going back to General Dollar to
Speaker 4: try to find it here to fill that spot, and
Speaker 4: it's not gonna happen.
Speaker 2: What's crazy, Bill? To me, what's crazy is they offered
Speaker 2: Kyle Schwarber a boatload of money, what one hundred and
Speaker 2: twenty million over five years, So the money was there,
Speaker 2: then all of a sudden, no it's not We're back
Speaker 2: to the payroll from last year and where did the
Speaker 2: money go?
Speaker 4: Yeah, chick, I don't even understand the Schwarber thing because
Speaker 4: I'm from Monroe here. I mean my Wiatt babysat Kyle Schwarber.
Speaker 4: But she works have been around local school as you
Speaker 4: might even know her. But the trick is Kyle Schwarber
Speaker 4: would have been worth and I don't know how who's
Speaker 4: doing the mass of the Reds, but they're not very good.
Speaker 4: Kyle Schwarber would have probably that would project be worth
Speaker 4: at least ten to twelve million a year to the
Speaker 4: Reds when all of a sudden done and you project
Speaker 4: that over five years, that's sixty million. If the Reds
Speaker 4: are going to jump a guy like Kyleg Swarber, you've
Speaker 4: got to offer him.
Speaker 3: More than what everybody else is.
Speaker 4: He would have taken one hundred and fifty million from
Speaker 4: the Reds and done it gladly and been worth more
Speaker 4: than that down the road. But the short sightedness and
Speaker 4: just the repetition, it just breaks your heart. Because the
Speaker 4: Reds have great pitching, they have great young players, they
Speaker 4: have position players, but they need that bopper in their lineup.
Speaker 4: I mean it's not rocket scientry, and you just don't
Speaker 4: see him doing any of that. Luise Robert, the guy
Speaker 4: hasn't played a full year in six years for the
Speaker 4: White Sox.
Speaker 2: You're absolutely right.
Speaker 4: I mean you've got to go after somebody and be
Speaker 4: aggressive doing it. I mean, like it's urgent. Don't try
Speaker 4: to talk a guy down like kyleege Schwarbery. I mean,
Speaker 4: he's only led what two straight years and home runs.
Speaker 4: I hear guys knocking because he's going to strike out
Speaker 4: two hundred times. He's not there to play defense, and
Speaker 4: he's not there because he strikes up. He's there because
Speaker 4: he knocks in about one hundred and thirty five one
Speaker 4: hundred and forty runs a year. He's going to hit
Speaker 4: you fifty or sixty home runs. Bill is what answers
Speaker 4: what the Reds need?
Speaker 2: Bill?
Speaker 5: What does it say to you as a fan when
Speaker 5: the Reds make these kinds of signings? What what message
Speaker 5: do you get from the organization when when you see
Speaker 5: them go after guys like this?
Speaker 4: Well, I doubt that I'm very different than any of
Speaker 4: the average fans. You're a fan because you're passionate about
Speaker 4: a sport. I'm an Ohio State football, Kentucky basketball fan.
Speaker 4: These guys go after what they want and they do
Speaker 4: it knowing that they're going to put a great product
Speaker 4: on the field.
Speaker 2: Ain't bad. Well, I'm with you with the guys, yes, sir.
Speaker 4: But but but when you're talking about the Reds, Cincinnati
Speaker 4: fans have not only been they're passionate and they've been patient.
Speaker 4: Is this time for Casteline and that family to either
Speaker 4: put up or shut up?
Speaker 2: Do you think they've been too patient?
Speaker 4: Bill?
Speaker 3: What's that?
Speaker 2: Do you think Red fans have been too patient?
Speaker 4: And I think that's to their credit since they baseball
Speaker 4: fans are are are are true read I mean they're
Speaker 4: they're they're they're purists, and they are they are passionate.
Speaker 4: But my gosh, man, either do what you said you're
Speaker 4: going to do or the true giveaway was where you're
Speaker 4: gonna go. I mean might have been something we laugh about,
Speaker 4: but they don't know just how accurate that was.
Speaker 5: Well, then what about the comment they made about the
Speaker 5: ticket sales too, after they couldn't get Kyle Schwarber right
Speaker 5: about him driving ticket sales.
Speaker 4: Well, when you got such short sightedness, like I said,
Speaker 4: Kyle Schwarber, you may be paying him.
Speaker 3: I mean he was worth thirty million a year.
Speaker 4: He's yeah, but you may have been paying him one
Speaker 4: hundred and fifty but his total worth might have been
Speaker 4: two hundred and fifty million. How can you not see
Speaker 4: that the local guy comes home. I mean, just like
Speaker 4: he did with Griffy. You bring these Cincinnati guys home
Speaker 4: and and Red Spans is gonna show out.
Speaker 3: They're gonna be there.
Speaker 4: They're gonna buy stuff, They're gonna show the games, They're
Speaker 4: gonna buy the jerseys.
Speaker 2: I'll agree with you. Hey, we've got to run. Hey,
Speaker 2: appreciate the call, Thank you, sir. One thing about this
Speaker 2: city chick is though, and we've got touchdown Tommy calling
Speaker 2: in from Milford, our favorite eagle, Tommy.
Speaker 1: Are you there? But well you say, chicks there? All right.
Speaker 2: Great to hear your voice as always.
Speaker 6: It's always good to talk to you guys as well. Hey,
Speaker 6: I kind of caught the back end. Just came out
Speaker 6: of Cooper's Hawk. Had a great, great time there. But
Speaker 6: the thing I got with the reds Man, the hard
Speaker 6: part is that everybody's got to understand there is no
Speaker 6: there is no payroll caps, you know, and you know
Speaker 6: when you're gonna compete against La and New York, and
Speaker 6: you can't afford to buy players. And the players you're
Speaker 6: gonna buy, our guys are either past their prime or
Speaker 6: you're looking for lightning in a bottle. You know, it's unfortunate,
Speaker 6: you know, and then you make bad moves. I mean,
Speaker 6: you know, Candelara, I mean that that hurts you from
Speaker 6: Pittsburgh got sixteen million dollars. I mean, that's that's almost
Speaker 6: ten percent of more than ten percent of your payer
Speaker 6: are not getting anything out of it. And guess what's
Speaker 6: gonna happen with day La Cruz. Where's that gonna go?
Speaker 6: They're gonna get more draft picks and players, and because
Speaker 6: they're not gonna be to afford him either. Yeah, the
Speaker 6: Reds fans are just in a bad spot.
Speaker 4: Man.
Speaker 2: It would have been nice to get him signed a
Speaker 2: here or two ago. Really for the long term.
Speaker 1: Yeah, who knows.
Speaker 2: Yeah, they're gonna have to open up that pocketbook for that. Wow,
Speaker 2: they're gonna have to the breaks truck for there's no doubt.
Speaker 6: And you know what, you know what's gonna happen. I mean,
Speaker 6: for pr they're gonna have to do it. But you know,
Speaker 6: Casoline doesn't have the cash. I mean, unfortunately, he's an
Speaker 6: owner that runs as a business versus many of these
Speaker 6: owners run this as a hobby. I mean financially, I mean,
Speaker 6: we just can't compete in that space. And you know, unfortunately,
Speaker 6: it's gonna be interesting if the NFL got it right
Speaker 6: by putting a salary cap in there. It allows middle
Speaker 6: market teams to participate. And when the Reds don't do
Speaker 6: well drafting, you've got nowhere else picked up players. And
Speaker 6: if you look at their starting lineup, I think half
Speaker 6: of their starting lineup, maybe even slightly more than that,
Speaker 6: are guys they picked up in trade.
Speaker 1: They were in guys they developed well, and they're just hoping.
Speaker 2: The Spencer Steers of the world and yeah, you know,
Speaker 2: and some of the free agents they've picked up will
Speaker 2: just continue to improve. And I'm I'm excited about South Stewart.
Speaker 2: The guy can play first base. He can d h.
Speaker 2: I love Spencer Steer, my favorite player. He can play
Speaker 2: left field, first base, So there's some versatility there. They're
Speaker 2: just trying to catch lightning in a bottle here with
Speaker 2: the two guys that they acquired today, So we will see.
Speaker 6: It's frustrating, it is, right, Yeah, but it's you know,
Speaker 6: the good news is the guys you talked about, they're
Speaker 6: great teammates. I mean, and Frankcona is a great guy
Speaker 6: in the clubhouse. I mean, as a fan, you can
Speaker 6: at least root for good guys, right, Yeah, you don't
Speaker 6: have trouble makers. You got guys that are trying to overachieve.
Speaker 6: I mean there's something about you know, taking the lunch
Speaker 6: pail to work and essentially, you know, make making you know,
Speaker 6: limit lemon lemonade out of lemons, you know.
Speaker 2: And everybody I talked to Tommy loves Will Benson do
Speaker 2: the Reds love y? Is it time to uh fish
Speaker 2: or cut bait with this guy?
Speaker 6: I like him, but just too And yeah, I mean,
Speaker 6: you know, you know what it's like. I mean, you know,
Speaker 6: a baseball player, unlike football, you got one hundred and
Speaker 6: sixty two games. You could get hot for twenty games
Speaker 6: and if you're if you if you stink for one
Speaker 6: hundred and forty, you stink. Right In NFL, you have
Speaker 6: a couple of good games, you're still a good player.
Speaker 6: But unfortunately it's a grind, and some guys aren't aren't
Speaker 6: ready for the grind. And when you look at Benson.
Speaker 6: I mean he looks like a thoroughbred.
Speaker 1: Yes, I mean, how big that guy.
Speaker 6: And he's got a cannon yeah, you know, and he
Speaker 6: improved last year bad swing, Yeah.
Speaker 2: He improved his swing last year.
Speaker 6: So uh And and the Reds don't have a whole
Speaker 6: lot of money any so, I mean, you can kind
Speaker 6: of live with some of that, but unfortunately you can't
Speaker 6: be in your starting eight. They're starting nine, you know,
Speaker 6: because you got to have a guy that produces every day. Yeah,
Speaker 6: and they still need they need pumper in the outfield.
Speaker 6: They still need an outfield thumper.
Speaker 7: You know.
Speaker 6: I like Freido and I like you blah blah blah.
Speaker 6: You know, but they're they're good. They're good role players.
Speaker 6: You know, you need you need a stud. And I
Speaker 6: was hoping they're gonna draft one three years ago and
Speaker 6: they still haven't drafted a stud.
Speaker 2: We're hoping that Noel Marte can can be that guy. Uh,
Speaker 2: he shows signs. They all show glimpses, don't they, Tommy.
Speaker 6: Yeah, I mean, like I said, I mean, it's uh,
Speaker 6: you know, it's uh, they look good dressed up. But
Speaker 6: I mean, look at the score book and the box
Speaker 6: score at the end of the game. It was like
Speaker 6: no impact or order to get hot. One game and
Speaker 6: they're gone for three games.
Speaker 2: Turn them into the gas house gang. Let them steal,
Speaker 2: get on base and steal and uh because it's just
Speaker 2: not a power hitting team. They need a stud to
Speaker 2: hit the ball over the wall at gab and Tommy,
Speaker 2: we got a run, man, It's always great hearing you.
Speaker 6: Absolutely Man. We'll go rads man.
Speaker 1: I'm still behind him.
Speaker 6: But hopefully they get a couple of good you know,
Speaker 6: couple of lightnings in a bottle like we talked about.
Speaker 6: You know, it could happen.
Speaker 2: Fantastic, All right, Tommy, I appreciate you, thanks so much.
Speaker 2: As a sports talk the Chickster chick Ludwig with Shawn
Speaker 2: dick Mann on seven hundred at w LW seven oh
Speaker 2: six in the Queens City of Cincinnati. Chicklog Wigs seven
Speaker 2: hundred WLW sitting alongside Sean McMahon co host tonight, it's
Speaker 2: an honor, pleasure and privilege to welcome in our next guest.
Speaker 2: He's a Bengals insider. He writes for clans since he
Speaker 2: dot com. He's the author of the Jungle Roar Pod.
Speaker 2: You know him as Trags. You can follow him on
Speaker 2: Twitter at trags. He is Mike Petrellia Mike, Happy New
Speaker 2: Year to you. And two thirds of the Bermuda Triangle
Speaker 2: play tomorrow at pay Course Stadium. The only team missing
Speaker 2: is the Jets, but Boomerisiasin calls the Jets, the Cardinals
Speaker 2: and the Bengals the Bermuda Triangle.
Speaker 7: I'm glad you filled me in there, check And by
Speaker 7: the way, Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy twenty twenty six
Speaker 7: from not only me, but a former colleague of yours,
Speaker 7: a lovely Debora am Tucker.
Speaker 1: So she sends her greetings. We appreciate that. I thought
Speaker 1: you would appreciate.
Speaker 2: Thank you very much, And Trags did last week at
Speaker 2: least remind us us of what could be what hopefully
Speaker 2: will be next season when you've got the big three
Speaker 2: on the field at the same time.
Speaker 7: Yes, I don't think there's any question about that, especially
Speaker 7: if you have Chase Brown as productive as he was
Speaker 7: in the run game and the run blocking as strong
Speaker 7: as it was last week. That's to me what really
Speaker 7: opens up the pass game for the Bengals this team,
Speaker 7: when they have all of their weapons on the field
Speaker 7: at the same time and the blocking is just respectable.
Speaker 7: It doesn't even have to be spectacular. If it's respectable,
Speaker 7: this offense is almost impossible to defend. And that's what
Speaker 7: the Bengals had schemed up in the offseason, at least offensively.
Speaker 7: When you resigned Jamar Chase and t Higgins and you
Speaker 7: know you have Chase Brown under control for the next
Speaker 7: couple of seasons. That's what the Bengals envisioned. They did
Speaker 7: not envision the defense falling apart and being as ill
Speaker 7: suited to handle the you know, the core of the
Speaker 7: season and the bulk of.
Speaker 1: The season, I should say, the way it has. And
Speaker 1: you know, they got a.
Speaker 7: Tremendously bad break in the injury to Joe Burrow obviously,
Speaker 7: but that is separate and apart from the defense failing
Speaker 7: them the way they did.
Speaker 2: Mike Petrelli is with us trags and great story off
Speaker 2: on cl nssinc dot com. Jamar Chase try to get
Speaker 2: into the end zone? Are you kidding me? For the
Speaker 2: first time since October sixteen? Doesn't seem that.
Speaker 1: Long, but it is.
Speaker 7: It is, and it's because the defenses have made him
Speaker 7: the priority to shut down. I mean, when people say,
Speaker 7: you know, you can't pick and choose between T. Higgins
Speaker 7: and Jamar Chase. Well, defenses have picked Jamar Chase to
Speaker 7: shut down. T. Higgins is going to make his fifty
Speaker 7: to fifty catches high pointing the ball like he does
Speaker 7: all the time, but they do not want Jamar Chase
Speaker 7: exploding down the field because I think defensive coordinators feel
Speaker 7: like if Jamar Chase gets his rhythm going in a game,
Speaker 7: he's almost.
Speaker 1: Impossible to stop. Whereas with T.
Speaker 7: Higgins, he's going to make it you know, maybe a
Speaker 7: player or two big downfield. But he is a different
Speaker 7: type of receiver in terms of his explosiveness. So teams
Speaker 7: have shown a lot of double cloud to Higgins and
Speaker 7: Jamar Chase, a lot of double teams, bracketing coverage, special
Speaker 7: gimmick defenses on Jamar Chase, all designed to shut Number
Speaker 7: one down and keep him out of the end zone.
Speaker 7: Even that being said, Jamar Chase last week and even
Speaker 7: in the game against the Baltimore Ravens when they were
Speaker 7: shut out, he had ten catches for one hundred and
Speaker 7: twenty yards. He's still going to put up numbers. Bengals
Speaker 7: are going to still find ways to.
Speaker 1: Get him the ball.
Speaker 7: But what defenses have decided to do is make sure
Speaker 7: you keep Jamar in front of him and keep him
Speaker 7: out of the end zone tricks.
Speaker 5: Do you think part of helping Jamar get into the
Speaker 5: end zone is making improvements in the running game for
Speaker 5: the Bengals offense.
Speaker 1: Yeah, no question, Sean. Because when you can run the
Speaker 1: ball and you.
Speaker 7: Demand the respect of the opposing defense to run the ball,
Speaker 7: you spread out the defense in the red zone.
Speaker 1: When you don't all of your.
Speaker 7: Resources from the linebackers on back to the secondary and
Speaker 7: the specialized defenses that are designed for the red zone,
Speaker 7: especially low red zone, which is inside the ten yard line,
Speaker 7: they can shut down your receivers much more easily, make
Speaker 7: the space and the windows much tighter. That's what the
Speaker 7: Bengals have faced pretty much all season long. But in
Speaker 7: the games where Chase Brown has been able to run
Speaker 7: the ball effectively in the low red zone, and let's
Speaker 7: not forget some AJP rhyme, when those two can run
Speaker 7: the ball, it takes at least one linebacker, perhaps two
Speaker 7: depending on how well the Bengals are running the ball,
Speaker 7: and gives you know, more one on one opportunities in
Speaker 7: the red area in the end zone itself.
Speaker 1: For Chase Higgins and Andrea Josebash.
Speaker 2: Never going to complain for a victory in the National
Speaker 2: Football League. A lot of fans are screaming that it
Speaker 2: didn't mean anything. It could possibly cost them a higher
Speaker 2: draft pick. But drags, you are playing for thirty two teams,
Speaker 2: the one you're on now, in thirty one other clubs,
Speaker 2: you better bring it every Sunday, every snap.
Speaker 1: Well, here's the thing about that, chicken. It's a great point.
Speaker 7: People can make the argument about the draft picks all
Speaker 7: they want, but the thing, given where the Bengals are
Speaker 7: going to be drafting, you know, in the high single digits,
Speaker 7: you know, eighth, ninth, maybe tenth, or the low teams
Speaker 7: wherever they wind up drafting. If they win let's say
Speaker 7: seven games, the young players on this defense that the
Speaker 7: Bengals are counting on have to show something going into
Speaker 7: twenty twenty six. They have to show the coaching staff
Speaker 7: that they belong on an NFL defense going into next year,
Speaker 7: that Al Golden can rely on them going forward. Because
Speaker 7: Al Golden and Zach Taylor will be back next year.
Speaker 7: You can almost take it to the bank right now.
Speaker 7: They're not going to be any changes in that regard,
Speaker 7: and if that is the case, then both of them,
Speaker 7: especially Al Golden, need to know who they can rely
Speaker 7: on going into next year. That's why these last three
Speaker 7: games last week in Miami included matters so much. It
Speaker 7: matters on the defense. These defensive players have to show
Speaker 7: that they have made strides from those Jets and Bears
Speaker 7: games that were absolute disasters, unqualified disasters, to the point
Speaker 7: now where they're playing respectively, and it's a lot easier
Speaker 7: to also play defense when you're playing with the lead,
Speaker 7: which Bengals did not do a good job of midway
Speaker 7: through the season. So that is what the Bengals are
Speaker 7: playing for in these last two games. The defense of
Speaker 7: the young players like Barrett Carter, Demetrius Knight.
Speaker 1: Junior Shamar Stewart.
Speaker 7: How about him, Let's see him get at his first
Speaker 7: career sack tomorrow against Arizona. I think that's something you
Speaker 7: can also be on the lookout for, not just Jamar
Speaker 7: Chase finding the end zone for the first time in
Speaker 7: two months.
Speaker 5: Triggs, we don't quite have a full year sample size
Speaker 5: of an Al Golden defense, but year to year, are
Speaker 5: have you seen anything from Al Golden that you.
Speaker 1: Like so far? Yeah?
Speaker 7: I do think the way he is manipulated the players
Speaker 7: and used him in different positions. I think the fact
Speaker 7: that he can use some of his corners inside and outside,
Speaker 7: specifically Dax Hill, helps the Bengals play more defenses. He
Speaker 7: can scheme up more defenses to stop passing driven league,
Speaker 7: especially when you've got guys. You know, Patrick Mahomes will
Speaker 7: come back healthy, no doubt. Josh Allen, you know that's
Speaker 7: that game against Buffalo. Go back and watch the first
Speaker 7: three quarters and how good the defense played. He played
Speaker 7: very very well. Obviously, you know, the turnovers change that game.
Speaker 7: Not really the bad defense, but the turnovers back to
Speaker 7: back passes by Joe Burrow really flipped that game. The
Speaker 7: Bengals win that game on the road. We have a
Speaker 7: different take on the Bengals defense for the last six
Speaker 7: weeks of the season, much different.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was great to see Jalen Davis, who you're
Speaker 2: really starting to blossom and hopefully he can figure in
Speaker 2: the next year. But you're exactly right, this club needs
Speaker 2: to find out, well with these young defensive players who
Speaker 2: can be here, Who who they can count on, who
Speaker 2: they can trust for twenty twenty six.
Speaker 7: No question, And you know I think Jalen Davis is
Speaker 7: one of those role players at the Bengals love he's
Speaker 7: you know, not he's not Mike Hilton, but he is
Speaker 7: starting to play a lot like him, which is a
Speaker 7: good thing.
Speaker 1: And Jalen Davis is beloved in that locker room.
Speaker 7: Zach Taylor can't speak highly of him enough, neither Canal Golden.
Speaker 7: He's somebody that went right from the practice squad to
Speaker 7: playing full snaps. That's hard to do, That's very difficult
Speaker 7: to do, but Jalen Davis managed to do it because
Speaker 7: he pays attention in the film room. He you know,
Speaker 7: is a very good teammate in the locker room, and
Speaker 7: he's terrific in practice from everything we you know, we're
Speaker 7: told by Zach Taylor and also Al Golden. So Jalen
Speaker 7: Davis is a nice refreshing story as.
Speaker 1: We finish up the season. But that doesn't mean the.
Speaker 7: Bengals aren't going to be in the market for, you know,
Speaker 7: starting nickel going into next year. I think that I
Speaker 7: think they like Dax Hill and DJ Turner on the outside,
Speaker 7: I think they are probably in the market for a nickelback.
Speaker 7: I definitely think they are on the market for a safety,
Speaker 7: if not two safeties. They are in the market for
Speaker 7: two defensive edges, even if Trey Hendrickson comes back on
Speaker 7: a franchise tag, and they're definitely in the market for
Speaker 7: one or two interior tackles on the defensive line.
Speaker 2: And really, you just took the words out of my mouth.
Speaker 2: At every phase of the defense front, middle, and back,
Speaker 2: they need help. And it'll be fun to see Corey
Speaker 2: Kiner come back here with the Arizona Cardinals tomorrow. Former
Speaker 2: U SEE running back.
Speaker 7: And you know, obviously mister Ohio football with Roger Bacon
Speaker 7: back in twenty twenty, I would hope now he's.
Speaker 1: Listed on their depth chart as the third.
Speaker 7: Running back in the backfield behind Michael Carter and another
Speaker 7: running back. But I would think that Jonathan Gannon, the
Speaker 7: head coach of the Cardinals, would try to get him
Speaker 7: some good reps tomorrow, hometown team coming back to Cincinnati,
Speaker 7: not only a star with Roger Bacon, but as you said,
Speaker 7: the Cincinnati Bearcats. It's a great story to follow and
Speaker 7: hopefully he gets some good reps, but also a King
Speaker 7: Davis Gaither is coming back as a starting linebacker tomorrow
Speaker 7: as well, so that's also kind of a feel good story,
Speaker 7: but not nearly the feel good story that Corey Coyner is.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you're absolutely right, Drags and looking forward to seeing
Speaker 2: Marvin Harrison. He's got a heel injury, only one catch
Speaker 2: in December. Looking forward to him and Jacoby Brissette. Oh
Speaker 2: my gosh, he's got nine lives and he's beaten the
Speaker 2: Bengals before as a backup quarterback journeyman.
Speaker 7: Yeah, who can forget Opening Gay twenty twenty four, a
Speaker 7: game the Bengals had no business losing to first year
Speaker 7: coach Gerrod Mayo, and they lost sixteen to ten.
Speaker 1: That was not that loss.
Speaker 7: That single loss last year kept him out of the playoffs.
Speaker 7: Can't say that this year. But Trey McBride, keep an
Speaker 7: eye on him. He is an outstanding tight end. He
Speaker 7: plays on Arizona, so nobody talks about him a lot
Speaker 7: in the NFL, but he's a tremendous tight end and
Speaker 7: he is probably, with Harrison dinged up, probably their number
Speaker 7: one weapon on offense.
Speaker 2: Mike Petrellia, you can follow him on trags. You've been
Speaker 2: generous with your time, you and your you and your
Speaker 2: significant other. Happy New Year, Love you guys. Merry Christmas trags.
Speaker 3: Hey, Sean, you do a great job.
Speaker 2: Check It's always a pleasure being on with you. Happy
Speaker 2: New Year, guys, thank you so much. And this is
Speaker 2: Sports Talk. Hey, you want to check in on the Bengals. Yeah,
Speaker 2: we'll talk some more and we're even going to touch
Speaker 2: on the Michigan football coach. Oh yeah, big nets all
Speaker 2: coming up on seven hundred WLW seven thirty six in
Speaker 2: the Queen City of Cincinnati, Chick Ludwig alongside Sean McMahon.
Speaker 2: This is Sports Talking until nine o'clock tonight. And Hey,
Speaker 2: loving our next guest. He's covered the Ohio State Buckeyes
Speaker 2: for twenty years and after nine years at the Dayton
Speaker 2: Daily News, he started his own news letter and you
Speaker 2: can sign up for it at cuss Cus cuss Words
Speaker 2: Sports and the link is on my Facebook page. Check
Speaker 2: it out. We welcome in Marcus Hartman. Marcus, Happy New Year.
Speaker 2: How are you, stud?
Speaker 8: I'm pretty good, Chick. I appreciate you having me on.
Speaker 8: Happy New Year to you as well.
Speaker 2: Fantastic. Well, we can't wait till this coming week Wednesday
Speaker 2: night and Thursday. Oh my, the college football playoff quarter finals.
Speaker 2: And it all starts with the Cotton Bowl seven point
Speaker 2: thirty on Wednesday Night, New Year's Eve, the Ohio State
Speaker 2: Buckeyes against the Miami Hurricanes, two teams that have quite
Speaker 2: a history back in two thousand and three when the
Speaker 2: Buck guys pulled that baby out out in the desert.
Speaker 2: The Hurricanes fans and players haven't forgotten.
Speaker 9: Yeah, yeah, it's amazing the subplots there. You've got to
Speaker 9: this game, people asked Jeremiah Smith, I think I looked
Speaker 9: it up with weren't about three years later, two and
Speaker 9: a half years later, if the people down in Miami
Speaker 9: are still mad about how that game went down?
Speaker 8: And he said, yes, for sure they are.
Speaker 9: So you can tell, you know, the the parents and
Speaker 9: the grandparents of these players are gonna want some revenge,
Speaker 9: even if the players aren't that aware of it firsthand.
Speaker 9: And I think it's a pretty interesting matchup on paper,
Speaker 9: you know, I think ironically, you know, I really thought
Speaker 9: Georgia probably deserved to jump ahead of Ohio State after
Speaker 9: the Big Ten championship game.
Speaker 6: And I think that this is a little tougher draw.
Speaker 9: I mean, I think you look at especially you know,
Speaker 9: on the hoof, I think Miami is one of the
Speaker 9: best teams out there and it's hard to the acc
Speaker 9: sometimes you know, you don't know exactly how tested they are,
Speaker 9: but if you watch them play, you know they've got
Speaker 9: some dudes. So it's gonna be a game where you're
Speaker 9: gonna have to go out there and earn it, you know,
Speaker 9: in a matchup type game where there's gonna be a
Speaker 9: lot of physical similarities between these teams.
Speaker 2: Wow, what Miami did going into Kyle Field in the
Speaker 2: was just phenomenal and chopping down Texas A and M.
Speaker 2: That was just incredible.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 9: I was sort of going back and forth during the
Speaker 9: game about which team would would be Ohio State would
Speaker 9: rather see, and at the end, I definitely still felt.
Speaker 8: Like it was they would rather see Texas A and M.
Speaker 9: I know A and M a little more complicated on defense,
Speaker 9: you know, maybe kind of do some of the things
Speaker 9: that maybe that Indiana had done that kind of messed
Speaker 9: with Ohio State. But I think the better roster would
Speaker 9: be Miami. And you look at I don't know how
Speaker 9: Texas A and M was going to score at all.
Speaker 8: Against Ohio State.
Speaker 9: Miami's obviously got a veteran quarterback, a good offensive line,
Speaker 9: and then they've got some skill guys that you really
Speaker 9: have to worry about. So I think they were a
Speaker 9: better all around team. And the funny thing is looked
Speaker 9: at the stats and I felt like the stats were
Speaker 9: a little more even in that game. It really if
Speaker 9: you just watched it, Miami had you know, four or
Speaker 9: five scoring opportunities. They missed some field goals, so it
Speaker 9: felt like Miami should have won that game more than
Speaker 9: they did. But you know, whatever happened last Saturday doesn't
Speaker 9: necessarily have anything to do with what happens next week either.
Speaker 2: Absolutely. Marcus Hartman is with us talking Buck Eye Football,
Speaker 2: and two guys on Miami scare me their their defensive vents,
Speaker 2: Rubin Baine Junior and akem Mesidor Man. They get after
Speaker 2: it in their speed and quickness. Man, the buck guys
Speaker 2: offensive line is really really going to be tested.
Speaker 4: Yeah, you know it.
Speaker 9: There's no doubt those guys are are very good players.
Speaker 9: But it's kind of interesting Ohio State and you know,
Speaker 9: in terms of just one on one matchups generally have
Speaker 9: been pretty good, especially in past protection. Both their tackles
Speaker 9: have held up pretty well.
Speaker 1: You know.
Speaker 9: Austin Thyreveld started the year, you know, with the big
Speaker 9: match up against Texas and pitched a shutout. Has kind
Speaker 9: of just been a steady guy from then on. What's
Speaker 9: really bothered them has been more stunts and like the
Speaker 9: sim pressures that Indiana was able to run pretty successful.
Speaker 8: You know, where they you don't know who's come.
Speaker 9: It's kind of like the modern cousin of the zone blitz,
Speaker 9: where you're not sure who's coming and who's not in
Speaker 9: the end up blocking air. That's been more of an
Speaker 9: issue for Ohio State. Now, who knows, Miami may install
Speaker 9: some of that stuff here in their ten days off,
Speaker 9: but obviously it's going to come down to I think
Speaker 9: how well Ohio State's offensive line plays, because I think
Speaker 9: that's the biggest question mark.
Speaker 1: Of the four lines.
Speaker 9: Mean, Ohio State's defensive line is elite. Miami has a
Speaker 9: good offensive line and a good defensive line, especially those
Speaker 9: edge You guys, the Ohio State offensive line's been a
Speaker 9: little bit more up and down this season. You know,
Speaker 9: they came off a great game against Michigan, they kind
Speaker 9: of struggled against Indiana. They're going to have a new
Speaker 9: right guard, probably the Gabe Van Sickle, but you know
Speaker 9: he's replacing a guy Tigra Shabola from Makota West, who
Speaker 9: also had his share of ups and downs, but he's injured,
Speaker 9: so it'll be interesting to see kind of how that
Speaker 9: shakes out in terms of what they're able to do,
Speaker 9: what the communication is like, and just physically. You know,
Speaker 9: how how Van Sickle look when he's out there against
Speaker 9: a top ten opponent.
Speaker 2: No doubt Marcus and giving Julian Saying time to get
Speaker 2: the ball to his you know, his incredible wide receivers
Speaker 2: in Carnell Tate and Jeremiah Smith, and opening some holes
Speaker 2: for the running game too.
Speaker 8: Yes, yeah, And I think you know the other thing
Speaker 8: was Brian Hart.
Speaker 9: I'm sorry, Brian Day said this week, you know he
Speaker 9: is going to call plays, yes, which I think is
Speaker 9: I feel like, you know, one of the underrated storylines
Speaker 9: of last year was halfway through the playoff, Day said, oh, yeah.
Speaker 9: By the way, I've been way more involved in the
Speaker 9: offense here in the playoffs than I was in the
Speaker 9: regular season. And because a lot of the kind of
Speaker 9: day to day grind of the head coaching job is
Speaker 9: over there in December and January, and I don't think
Speaker 9: it's a coincidence that they came out there and they
Speaker 9: were looking to attack in the passing game, and they
Speaker 9: were more aggressive when Day you know, had his fingerprints
Speaker 9: completely on the offense instead of just kind of overseeing,
Speaker 9: you know, kind of from afar what was going on.
Speaker 9: So I think we would have seen a similar transition
Speaker 9: again this year anyway.
Speaker 8: The only question is.
Speaker 9: As we you know, as people, as Bengals fans know,
Speaker 9: it's it's tough to manage the game and call the
Speaker 9: plays at the same time sometimes, So as long as
Speaker 9: I've been saying is it's probably good for Ohio State
Speaker 9: if they can have a double digit lead going into
Speaker 9: the fourth quarter not have to worry about any potentially
Speaker 9: difficult game management decisions. And I think the way that
Speaker 9: they will call the game may lend itself to trying
Speaker 9: to go out there and kind of get control of
Speaker 9: the game, make Miami play from behind and just kind
Speaker 9: of see what Carson Beck does in that situation if
Speaker 9: he's got a press, and.
Speaker 1: Go from there.
Speaker 5: Marcus Sean mcman here, this game profiles to me very
Speaker 5: similarly to that of the game that Miami just played
Speaker 5: against A and M I have a feeling this is
Speaker 5: going to be pretty low scoring.
Speaker 2: These are two really good defenses.
Speaker 5: Matt Patricia has been an excellent defensive coordinator for Ohio State.
Speaker 5: This is probably the best defense Miami's faced all year.
Speaker 5: To me, I think that the game comes down to
Speaker 5: how well does Miami's offense play against Ohio States defense,
Speaker 5: because I don't think they've seen anything like this this year.
Speaker 8: Yeah, I think, I think you're right.
Speaker 9: I mean, and they've got a veteran quarterback who will
Speaker 9: turn the ball over from time to time, so obviously
Speaker 9: that's the big the caveat for Miami. I mean, if
Speaker 9: Carson Beck throws a couple of interceptions, they're going to
Speaker 9: be in real big trouble. I think in Ohio State,
Speaker 9: for all as good as they've been, they have not
Speaker 9: forced a whole lot of turnovers.
Speaker 4: You know.
Speaker 9: They haven't had as many snaps as some defenses, so
Speaker 9: there's been fewer opportunities.
Speaker 1: But that's the one thing.
Speaker 9: So again, they've got almost that as a wild card
Speaker 9: that's kind of in their back pocket. If they force
Speaker 9: a few turnovers, it's going to be they're just about unstoppable.
Speaker 9: But I agree, I mean, I think it's going to
Speaker 9: be up to I think the two things.
Speaker 8: I mean, and that's how it usually goes.
Speaker 1: I mean, the Ohio State.
Speaker 9: Offensive offense needs to come out and you know, establish
Speaker 9: some things that it's able to do to move the
Speaker 9: ball consistently after only scoring ten points against Indiana. But
Speaker 9: I think you're right, maybe the bigger challenges. Can Miami
Speaker 9: get much of anything going against Ohio State? And obviously
Speaker 9: they've got the skill guys, They've got a good offensive line,
Speaker 9: but the Ohio State is awfully tough and thematically they've
Speaker 9: done a lot of different things. So this will be
Speaker 9: a very good chance. I mean, I think for both
Speaker 9: sides of the ball, this is the time you go
Speaker 9: out there. If you're as good as you think Ohio
Speaker 9: State has been all year.
Speaker 8: This is a great chance to go prove it.
Speaker 9: I mean, if they're that good, they should be able
Speaker 9: to win if they just play their game.
Speaker 8: But it's a great opportunity for Miami to say, hey,
Speaker 8: you know, we're.
Speaker 1: The you and we're back.
Speaker 9: And I kind of ironic that really, you know, they
Speaker 9: never really recovered.
Speaker 8: From that National Championship game, never been the same.
Speaker 9: Since they lost that Fiesta ball, So this is really
Speaker 9: their best opportunity to prove themselves on this stage.
Speaker 5: Marcus do you think that this game is a lot
Speaker 5: higher scoring than that, or do you see it being
Speaker 5: fairly low scoring as well.
Speaker 9: I don't think it's going to be a shootout. I
Speaker 9: don't think it's going to be thirteen to ten either.
Speaker 9: I think both teams will have some success. You know,
Speaker 9: Miami has an efficient offense, which I think is it's
Speaker 9: sort of what you want to be against Ohio State.
Speaker 9: They haven't given up a lot of big plays, but
Speaker 9: you need big plays. So that's sort of the catch
Speaker 9: twenty two. They're trying to generate big plays against the
Speaker 9: defense that doesn't give up a lot, but also be efficient.
Speaker 9: And so I think they will be able to move
Speaker 9: the ball, and I think Ohio State kind of the
Speaker 9: same thing. I think that they'll be able to I
Speaker 9: think they'll be more consistent moving the ball, and they've
Speaker 9: got those explosive wide receivers. If they're both that hundred percent,
Speaker 9: that would make a huge difference compared to what we
Speaker 9: saw certainly against Indiana and against in Michigan. You know,
Speaker 9: those guys had each had the one big play, they
Speaker 9: didn't do a whole lot the rest of the game,
Speaker 9: and obviously that was enough. So I think both offenses
Speaker 9: will have some success. I think they'll move the ball
Speaker 9: some and he talked about it's going to be you know,
Speaker 9: weather won't be a factor. So I think it'll be
Speaker 9: more of a game where you know, the winner is
Speaker 9: somewhere in the twenties and you know, something like a
Speaker 9: twenty four to fourteen type game, or maybe a twenty
Speaker 9: four to seventeen type of a game.
Speaker 1: I would think, I don't know what.
Speaker 9: I don't usually look at the lines. I think Ohio
Speaker 9: State is favored by like ten. I'm not sure what
Speaker 9: the over under is, but that's kind of.
Speaker 1: What it feels like.
Speaker 2: Yeah, the over under is forty two and a half
Speaker 2: in Ohio State. I'm stunned is a nine and a
Speaker 2: half point favorite. I'm not a gambler. I don't bet,
Speaker 2: but I would take I would take Miami Ohio State time.
Speaker 2: Ohio State at times this year has started slow. Penn
Speaker 2: State ran on them, God Pue ran on them. They
Speaker 2: throw an interception against Michigan to start the game. So
Speaker 2: I'm you know, I'm a little bit concerned as a
Speaker 2: buck Eye grad and fan.
Speaker 9: What well, then that's you know, that's why I came
Speaker 9: away thinking. I mean Miami would be you'd rather play
Speaker 9: A and M because I think they would have had
Speaker 9: a harder time scoring. When you talk about being able
Speaker 9: to confuse Read, I mean he was obviously confused at
Speaker 9: times with whatever what Miami was doing.
Speaker 8: But Miami just has more game breakers, you know, And
Speaker 8: that's really what it kind of comes down to.
Speaker 9: Uh And and you know, the great thing about the
Speaker 9: playoff and about these intersectional games is, you know what,
Speaker 9: you really don't know what these teams have on the
Speaker 9: line until they line up against each other, and then
Speaker 9: that's where the proof comes out. So this is a
Speaker 9: great opportunity for for these teams to kind of prove
Speaker 9: what they really look like against each other. But I agree,
Speaker 9: I mean, I yeah, I would think logically it's more
Speaker 9: likely to be decided by less than nine points, I think,
Speaker 9: So I think, how we're going to put a bet down,
Speaker 9: the safest that would be to take Miami on that one,
Speaker 9: even if you think Ohio.
Speaker 1: State is going to win.
Speaker 8: But like I said, I mean, you know, it's it's
Speaker 8: a chance for o High State to just go out there.
Speaker 10: And prove it.
Speaker 8: I mean, you know, if they if they are as good.
Speaker 9: As the press Cuppings had been most of the year,
Speaker 9: and I'm a believer, especially in the defense.
Speaker 8: You know, then this is a chance for them. It's
Speaker 8: a It's a game that they should win if they
Speaker 8: go out there and take care of business. But Miami
Speaker 8: is certainly dangerous.
Speaker 2: And the game is at at and T Stadium in Arlington.
Speaker 2: Good vibes from the Buckeyes from last year, Marcus, give
Speaker 2: me a winner in all four games, Miami and Ohio State.
Speaker 8: I think I got to go with the Buckeyes.
Speaker 2: Okay, how about Oregon and Texas Tech on Thursday, January
Speaker 2: one in the Orange Bowl.
Speaker 9: You know, that's a really fascinating matchup because these are
Speaker 9: teams that are kind of built similarly, and they're going
Speaker 9: to have a lot of name, image and likeness guys,
Speaker 9: a lot of transfers.
Speaker 8: But they're both talented, and so I think you got
Speaker 8: to go with Oregon.
Speaker 9: I really like Dante More, I think that they're pretty
Speaker 9: good on the lines, and I believe that they're.
Speaker 8: Going to be healthier at the skill positions than they
Speaker 8: have been.
Speaker 1: So I'm going to go with Oregon.
Speaker 2: Great and then the granddaddy of them all been out
Speaker 2: there twice. I love it the Rose Bowl, Alabama and Indiana.
Speaker 9: I'm not a believer in Alabama, and I am a
Speaker 9: believer in Indiana, at least in this round.
Speaker 8: So I think Indiana's tough to play against.
Speaker 9: I think they're good all around at every level of
Speaker 9: football and every level of offense and defense. I think
Speaker 9: Alabama is a bit of a paper tiger with no
Speaker 9: running game, and they've just been they haven't quite been Alabama.
Speaker 8: I'm going to go with Indiana fantastic.
Speaker 2: And lastly, in the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans at
Speaker 2: Caesar's Super Dome, Ole Miss and Georgia, I think you.
Speaker 9: Gotta go with Georgia. I mean, maybe there's still a
Speaker 9: chance at this Georgia. I guess from what I've talked
Speaker 9: to people, this is not, you know, the death star
Speaker 9: Georgia type team. But they're still pretty good. They've still
Speaker 9: got a good roster. I believe they already beat Ole
Speaker 9: Miss once.
Speaker 8: Right, and then you've got Ole Miss without Lane Kiffin.
Speaker 9: They're a good team on legit team for sure, But
Speaker 9: Georgia knows how to how to play in this kind
Speaker 9: of a stage and this.
Speaker 1: Is new for Ole Miss.
Speaker 8: I'm gonna have to go with the Bulldogs.
Speaker 2: You've been generous with your time, Marcus Hartman, and my
Speaker 2: partner here, Sean McMahon, has one more question for you.
Speaker 5: Yeah, Marcus, the focusing specifically on the Alabama Indiana game,
Speaker 5: This is just kind of a funny question. Do you
Speaker 5: ever think you'd see Indiana favorite as a touchdown favorite
Speaker 5: against Alabama in the Rose Bowl?
Speaker 9: That is, no doubt a very wild thing all the
Speaker 9: way around. You know, one of my favorite stats for
Speaker 9: a long time was Indiana and Minnesota shared the Big
Speaker 9: Ten title in nineteen sixty seven, and they are the
Speaker 9: only teams to not win at least to share it
Speaker 9: since then.
Speaker 8: Wow, not counting you know the newer teams that have joined.
Speaker 9: In, and so now Indiana has put all that to bed,
Speaker 9: and you know, you watch them play. They passed the
Speaker 9: look test. I mean, they're a good team. And again
Speaker 9: Alabama's almost the opposite. They don't really pass the look test,
Speaker 9: like they tend to somehow figure out how to win.
Speaker 9: So no, I would have never anticipated that kind of thing,
Speaker 9: but I also think that it's.
Speaker 8: Fair right now.
Speaker 2: Well, Marcus, really appreciate your time tonight and tell folks
Speaker 2: how they can reach you and get your newsletter.
Speaker 9: Yes, as you said, you can find the newsletter online
Speaker 9: at cut words sports dot com, c U S W
Speaker 9: O R D S S P O r T S
Speaker 9: dot com and that is free.
Speaker 8: That's good to know.
Speaker 9: And if you can look that up and give me
Speaker 9: a follow, I would really appreciate it. I will be
Speaker 9: out there in Dallas with some with updates on that newsletter,
Speaker 9: and I'll also be writing for Press Pros magazine, which
Speaker 9: I understand is something that Chick is familiar with. I
Speaker 9: talked to the publisher today and he said to make
Speaker 9: sure and and get a shout out for them. So
Speaker 9: I will be there for both accords here next week
Speaker 9: and I'm very much looking forward to flying out tomorrow.
Speaker 2: Fantastic Marcus, safe travels, Happy New Year, and dare I
Speaker 2: say it, go bocks man. It's not a matter of
Speaker 2: life or death. It's more important than that. Thanks so much, Marcus,
Speaker 2: Thanks very much following me time all right, appreciate it.
Speaker 2: And Press Prosmagazine. I just wrote a story for like
Speaker 2: a holiday issue, Marvin, the Bengals and Me a look
Speaker 2: back on my career covering the Bengals over twelve years.
Speaker 2: I don't have to pick up a copy of that.
Speaker 2: Oh awesome. Yes, Pressprosmagazine dot Com appreciate it. This is
Speaker 2: sports talk and we're gonna get eight o'clock hour is
Speaker 2: gonna be wide open. We're gonna give some shout outs
Speaker 2: and have some fun. He's Sean Nick mahon. This is
Speaker 2: Chick Ludwig and it's awesome having Russ action. Jackson Back
Speaker 2: is a producer on seven hundred WLW Sinnati three minutes
Speaker 2: through the top of the hour. Gonna have some fun
Speaker 2: in the eight o'clock hour. This is Chick Ludwig alongside
Speaker 2: Sean McMahon and Sean Yes, Sir, the Red's Mate. A
Speaker 2: couple of moves, bringing in a couple of outfielders. Thank goodness.
Speaker 2: We are pitching rich. Yeah, because it's tough to get
Speaker 2: pictures to come in to Great American Ballpark. The Devil's
Speaker 2: Layer that Adam Wainwright calls it. But we were able
Speaker 2: to acquire a Brady Singer last year in a trade.
Speaker 2: Haven't traded him yet out of here, so we are
Speaker 2: pitching rich, especially with starters.
Speaker 5: This is arguably the best starting lineup we've seen for
Speaker 5: Reds pitching in a while, in a long time. You're
Speaker 5: in a really good spot with that. I think you know,
Speaker 5: last year you had a lot of injury. Hunter Green
Speaker 5: was out for a while, n if he had not
Speaker 5: been injured for two months. Yeah, yeah, hugs, and they
Speaker 5: still made the playoffs. I still feel bad for Hunter
Speaker 5: Green in the regard that he pitches so well so often,
Speaker 5: and more often than not, the offense is the thing
Speaker 5: that lets him down because he goes out there, he
Speaker 5: pitches so well and he keeps his e R down.
Speaker 5: You know, he maybe allows a run or two and
Speaker 5: the Reds offense just can't respond and take the lead,
Speaker 5: uh and and take the take over the game for
Speaker 5: Hunter And it's frust It's gotta be frustrating for him.
Speaker 5: It's it's it's a talking point that's been talked about
Speaker 5: a lot on this station. But I feel bad for
Speaker 5: the guy in that in that regard. But yeah, pitching wise,
Speaker 5: the Reds are in a really good spot.
Speaker 2: And just looking at the starting possible rotation as far
Speaker 2: as starters go, Hunter Green, Nick Lodolo, Brady Singer, Andrew Abbott,
Speaker 2: Chase Burns and gosh, there's Brandon Williamson and Juli and
Speaker 2: Aggie are coming off injuries. But then there's rhet louder
Speaker 2: to not pitch last year. Be awesome to have this
Speaker 2: guy back, Yeah, it would, it would.
Speaker 5: You've got plenty of depth at the pitching position, and
Speaker 5: like I said, you put yourself in a really good
Speaker 5: spot and now offensively, you just got to get it
Speaker 5: figured out.
Speaker 2: That's that's been there. That's been there, wees for a
Speaker 2: long time. Now.
Speaker 5: I'm not breaking any news here, but you know, the
Speaker 5: word frustrating is gonna come up time and time and
Speaker 5: time and time again.
Speaker 2: Emelio Pagan is back, probably as the closer. He didn't
Speaker 2: get that kind of coin to set up. Yeah, okay,
Speaker 2: I love Tony santition, but he cannot grind They cannot
Speaker 2: grind him down like they did last year.
Speaker 5: No, No, he was hitching was almost every day. He
Speaker 5: was too good for them to continually use him the
Speaker 5: way that they did. They need that's a guy that
Speaker 5: you want to give him some time to rest because
Speaker 5: he proved to be incredibly valuable for this team in
Speaker 5: situations where they needed him to step up, and he
Speaker 5: did a great job. It's just you know, again, it's
Speaker 5: kind of like the TJ. Friedl thing we mentioned. He
Speaker 5: just got wore down by the end of the year,
Speaker 5: and you just can't play when you're tired. Man, It's hard.
Speaker 2: And Connor Phillips had a great ending to the season
Speaker 2: and Graham Ashcraft is sitting there too, so they got
Speaker 2: some warriors out there. But we've reached the top of
Speaker 2: the hour. Break news coming up. He's Sean McMahon. This
Speaker 2: is chick Lud. We just a couple of wild and
Speaker 2: crazy elder guys. But Sean went to UC the Chickster
Speaker 2: went to the Ohio State University. And Russ Jackson Action
Speaker 2: Jackson back in our producing tonight, running the big board
Speaker 2: in the studio, and this is Sports Talk on seven
Speaker 2: hundred WLW eight O seven in the Queen City of Cincinnati.
Speaker 2: Chickhoad Wigan seven hundred w l W. Sean McMahon is
Speaker 2: co hosting, and Russ Jackson Action Jackson is producing and
Speaker 2: running the big board in our control room. This is
Speaker 2: Sports Talk and we're going all the way to nine
Speaker 2: o'clock when Donna d takes over these airwaves and she's
Speaker 2: going to be talking relationships. Well, I want to take
Speaker 2: this opportunity to give a series of shout outs to
Speaker 2: our loyal listeners. And I want to start with Dennis Moore,
Speaker 2: always listening on Saturdays in Mount Healthy. He's the brother
Speaker 2: of the great Terrence Moore, sportswriter author, does a phenomenal job.
Speaker 2: I had Terrence on a couple of weeks ago. He's
Speaker 2: just fantastic. Check all of his books out at terrencemore
Speaker 2: dot com. Bob for Beck, the airline pilot listening live
Speaker 2: in Brazil, and I sent him a text wishing him
Speaker 2: a happy New Year, and say hello to the girl
Speaker 2: from Ipanina for us, and hey a shout out to
Speaker 2: Bruce McDaniel and Wilder Kentucky. Bumped into him on Tuesday
Speaker 2: night doing the show with Lance, the Roundtable Show. Fantastic
Speaker 2: guy listens all the time. A loyal seven hundred WLW listener.
Speaker 2: And if you're looking for a place to sell celebrate
Speaker 2: a Bengals victory tomorrow over the Arizona Cardinals, you'll want
Speaker 2: to come to Wings and Rings, the Beckett Ridge location.
Speaker 2: I will be with Jim Breach, the leading score in
Speaker 2: Bengals franchise history from five thirty to eight thirty. And
Speaker 2: it's at forty seven eighty two Plum Square in Westchester,
Speaker 2: we'll be broadcasting live on seven hundred WLW and Cincinnati's
Speaker 2: ESPN fifteen thirty. Now Sean Ludwigs have a tradition and
Speaker 2: it's called the Eve Before New Year's Eve Celebration. Love
Speaker 2: it and it takes place at j Taps Tavern on
Speaker 2: Glenway Avenue on the West Side, Best Side. So I
Speaker 2: was planning on going early, but I was with Lance
Speaker 2: and Austin Elmore at Long Necks and Wilder on Tuesday
Speaker 2: night for the roundtable show. I got done at seven
Speaker 2: thirty and then I hustled over to the West Side
Speaker 2: and greeted a whole bunch of friends, made some new friends,
Speaker 2: and Russ Brady was there University of Louisville stud from
Speaker 2: Elder High School taking photos. And I met three women
Speaker 2: who are in my brother Dan's eighth grade class at
Speaker 2: Saint William's School. About that, Okay, they're awesome, Okay, Barb
Speaker 2: Pulman McPhillips, Mary Ann Mingus Bachencotter and then Susan Langenbrunner Richardson.
Speaker 1: And you know what they like me.
Speaker 2: It's hard not to like you check unbelievable, unbelievaby. I
Speaker 2: have at least a handful of fans here, but they
Speaker 2: love it. Yes, they're the newest chick magnets and they
Speaker 2: love it. When I talk about Saint William Parrish, West
Speaker 2: Price Hill and the West Side best side. And you
Speaker 2: know what, Sean, when you think about it, what what
Speaker 2: does the West side have? Okay, we've got churches, plenty
Speaker 2: of those. We've got ball diamonds, we've got chili parlors,
Speaker 2: and we've got watering holes. We got a lot of
Speaker 2: those on the West side side of town. That's what
Speaker 2: makes We're born there, we grow up there, we work there,
Speaker 2: and we're probably gonna die there. So I like to
Speaker 2: tease everyone, Hey, you need a passport to get off
Speaker 2: the hill. Yep. But it is a tremendous place. And
Speaker 2: where else can you drive for a half hour and
Speaker 2: only go a mile. That's how it feels on the
Speaker 2: West so high, you know. And but still we love
Speaker 2: our hometown, we do.
Speaker 7: And uh.
Speaker 2: And then you never know who you're going to bump into.
Speaker 2: And Sean, we've talked about this off the air. You're
Speaker 2: at a football game and you bump into the immortal
Speaker 2: voice of the Cincinnati Reds. Yes, Tommy, Yeah, you know.
Speaker 5: The funny thing about that chick was the that was
Speaker 5: the game I brought up earlier, the homecoming game you
Speaker 5: see and Baylor, which was the last football game that
Speaker 5: they won. I was meeting up with some friends of mine,
Speaker 5: some old colleagues from when I was working for UC
Speaker 5: football at the time, and one of my buddies shot
Speaker 5: out to Steve Maller by the way, buddy of the
Speaker 5: buddy of the program, Steve Mauer, and he tell he
Speaker 5: walks up to me and he goes, hey, by the way,
Speaker 5: I saw Tommy. I was like, Tommy throll. He says yeah, Like,
Speaker 5: no kidding. I didn't know he was here. So I
Speaker 5: quickly got on my phone. I shot Tommy at text.
Speaker 5: I said, Tommy, you're here somewhere. He goes yeah, and
Speaker 5: so I asked him where he was at. We met up,
Speaker 5: we got a photo together. I actually made a post
Speaker 5: about it on Instagram. Even Audie Elmore was like, how
Speaker 5: did they How did you meet up with Tommy? And
Speaker 5: I was like, someone told me he was there. They
Speaker 5: recognized him. So I got sent over and chit chatted
Speaker 5: with Tommy. It was his first UC football game. I
Speaker 5: promised him I'd get him some UC swag, so I
Speaker 5: got to work on that for the next time that
Speaker 5: I see him. I owe him some UC bearcat gear.
Speaker 5: But he loved Nippert. He loved his experience there, and
Speaker 5: it's neat bumping into people in the wild like that.
Speaker 2: Oh, that's fantastic. And also last week when we were
Speaker 2: at the when Jim Breach and I were at the
Speaker 2: Wings and Rings Finnytown location, a gentleman was hanging around
Speaker 2: like the last half hour of the show and he
Speaker 2: comes up to us during a break and he just
Speaker 2: is going crazy. He loves WLW, loves listening to Bengals
Speaker 2: post game. His name is Ryan Favors from and he's
Speaker 2: got family all over Madisonville, Kennedy Heights, finny Town, and
Speaker 2: he's going to try to make tomorrow's show. But I
Speaker 2: wanted to give a shout out to Ryan Favors. And
Speaker 2: when I asked his name and I said, hey, I'll
Speaker 2: try to drop your name in a shout out on Saturday,
Speaker 2: his eyes lit up like silver dollars. There you go, Ryan.
Speaker 2: Just awesome. So and last week at Finnytown, a guy
Speaker 2: comes up. I'm just getting there and getting set up
Speaker 2: and with Mike Mills are on site engineer and a
Speaker 2: guy comes up. He's got a University of Cincinnati sweatshirt
Speaker 2: on and he says, are you chick Ludwig, I'm there, Yeah,
Speaker 2: and he goes, I'm Kevin Johnson. Shake hands with him,
Speaker 2: and he's a fraternity brother of Alfred Nipperts. How about that, Delph, Yeah,
Speaker 2: Alifred Nippert Sigma Alpha epsilon SAE SAE. And he said,
Speaker 2: how did you get to meet Alfred Man? Well, I've
Speaker 2: got to give my partner here a big time shout
Speaker 2: out because last year Alfred called in after a game
Speaker 2: and we found him so interesting because he's the half
Speaker 2: brother of Jimmy Nipperts okay at Nipperts Stadium is named after,
Speaker 2: and the half brother of Lewis Nippert, who owned the
Speaker 2: Reds during their World Series back to back championships. Yeah,
Speaker 2: in seventy five and seventy six, it was amazing.
Speaker 5: I remember he called in after one of those UC
Speaker 5: games and I remember you were on the air before
Speaker 5: the news. I think it was at like the top
Speaker 5: of the hour and we only had a few minutes.
Speaker 5: We didn't have quite enough time to really get in depth.
Speaker 5: Conversation and we ended up tracking down his phone number
Speaker 5: and we ended up bringing you brought him in a
Speaker 5: couple of times, yes, to come in studio and talk.
Speaker 5: And he has just so many fascinating stories. And it's
Speaker 5: amazing because I actually grew up chick across from the
Speaker 5: old Procter and Gamble estate and obviously the Gambles and
Speaker 5: the Nipperts correct, you know, you know, married into each other,
Speaker 5: and they knew each other. They're two very powerful families
Speaker 5: in the city. And it was such a neat connection
Speaker 5: to make and to have him come on the show.
Speaker 5: And he messages you very frequently.
Speaker 2: Yeah, we we we are texting one another all the time,
Speaker 2: living in Nashville, but then making frequent trimps to Cincinnati.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 5: So got to be cool to know that your your
Speaker 5: half brother is named Uh, there's a there's a stadium
Speaker 5: named after after your half brother, and like you call
Speaker 5: it the Wrigley Field of College football football because that's
Speaker 5: really what it is, the third oldest in FBS.
Speaker 2: Well, and when Jimmy passed, his dad uh donated really
Speaker 2: the money to finish Nippert Stadium. Yes, okay, James Gamble, Yeah,
Speaker 2: then to build the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity house. I
Speaker 2: didn't know that part. Yes, that's one hundred years old. Also,
Speaker 2: how about that? That is incredible man, So rub and
Speaker 2: shoulders with some folks in high places.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Really?
Speaker 5: And where where would Nippert Stadium be without without Jimmy Nippert,
Speaker 5: without you know, the the Gambles donating all that money
Speaker 5: the pro Where would the program be without that incredible history? Yes,
Speaker 5: which is why it's such a privilege to know Alfred, Yes,
Speaker 5: James Gamble, Jimmy Nipperton.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Wow, spiked in a game against Miami winds up passing
Speaker 2: on Christmas Day. Yeah, and just a tremendous They've played
Speaker 2: on that dirt for a long time. They sure did,
Speaker 2: They sure did.
Speaker 7: So.
Speaker 2: I think I'm done giving out all my shout outs here.
Speaker 2: If I can give out a couple, I just want
Speaker 2: to shout out my family that's listening tonight. I told
Speaker 2: them all about it. They're all excited.
Speaker 5: So shout out to all my siblings, my mom, and
Speaker 5: my dad back home listening right now. And also I
Speaker 5: want to give a shout out to an old landlord
Speaker 5: of my old neighbor of mine, Marge Nissen. She's a
Speaker 5: chick magnet herself. She listens to fifty five KRCNWLW. She's
Speaker 5: been a loyal radio listener for a long time. She
Speaker 5: is a sweetheart of a woman. And she was actually
Speaker 5: my brother's old landlord in Clifton when he was living
Speaker 5: in the same house that I was living in. And
Speaker 5: we still keep in touch to this day. She's a
Speaker 5: loyal listener. We got a Christmas card from her, so
Speaker 5: we still keep in touch. I want to make sure
Speaker 5: that her name gets out on the airwaves as well.
Speaker 2: Oh that is fantastic. Well, we're going to take a
Speaker 2: break here. When we come back, we are wide open.
Speaker 2: We're going to continue to probe here these Reds signings
Speaker 2: today with a couple of outfielders, JJ Blede and Dane Myers.
Speaker 7: And.
Speaker 2: Hey, talk some Bengals, talk some Reds, And if you
Speaker 2: want to check in on the college football playoff quarterfinals,
Speaker 2: please do. Michigan's got a new coach that directly impacts
Speaker 2: the University of Cincinnati because he leaves Utah in the
Speaker 2: Big twelve. And uh yeah, they took care of the
Speaker 2: The Utah Utes took care of the Bearcats, and then
Speaker 2: every other team followed that blueprint down the remainder of
Speaker 2: the schedule for UC. So we are at five one
Speaker 2: three seven four nine, seven one, eight hundred The Big One.
Speaker 2: I've got my coffee, I've got my computer, and Sean
Speaker 2: on his his what water bottle water, He's got his laptop.
Speaker 2: All we need is you. Once again at five point three,
Speaker 2: seven four nine, seven thousand, eight hundred The Big One.
Speaker 2: This is Sports Talk till nine o'clock on seven hundred WLW.
Speaker 2: Twenty three minutes after eight seven hundred WLW. This is
Speaker 2: Chick Ludwig alongside Sean McMahon. Red's make a couple of
Speaker 2: acquisitions today in the outfield. And before we get to
Speaker 2: that and the Bengals and our calls, Sean wants to
Speaker 2: give a couple more shout out.
Speaker 5: I do want to give a couple more because I'm
Speaker 5: getting flamed by friends and family right now.
Speaker 2: I love you, guys, everybody who's listening, Thank you. I
Speaker 2: appreciate it.
Speaker 5: So shout out to my buddies from high school, duboys
Speaker 5: as we call each other, and shout out to my
Speaker 5: former UC football video crew, everybody involved, Nick, including you.
Speaker 2: I'm talking to you, Yes, you Nick. So that's all
Speaker 2: I had, Chick.
Speaker 5: I just was getting a lot of messages and some
Speaker 5: people all of a sudden got real jail and I
Speaker 5: had to rectify it.
Speaker 2: Well, before you hit iHeartMedia Cincinnati as a producer man.
Speaker 2: You had some great experience as a what a videographer
Speaker 2: for University of Cincinnati.
Speaker 5: Shot to some practice film for the coaches and some
Speaker 5: game film as well. Got to work behind the scenes
Speaker 5: for a couple of years, and then I did student
Speaker 5: radio for the next two years. So I had a
Speaker 5: lot of really cool experiences. And the best part about
Speaker 5: my career Bearcats never lost at Nippert Stadium in my
Speaker 5: four years. They were undefeated at Knippert all four years
Speaker 5: I was there, And I get to carry that flame with.
Speaker 1: Me all the way.
Speaker 2: That is fantastic. Well, hey, let's go out to the phones.
Speaker 2: Nick is on the west side, the best side. Wants
Speaker 2: to talk reds Hi Nick.
Speaker 1: Hey, Chuck, Hey, Sean.
Speaker 8: I mean, thanks for the shout out.
Speaker 10: I appreciate it, though.
Speaker 2: I didn't know you were on the line with signing.
Speaker 10: How do you feel that compares to other signings like
Speaker 10: Jacob Webb of the Cardinals or you know, a funny
Speaker 10: good way, Like, do we think that this is enough
Speaker 10: to move us in the right direction in the now
Speaker 10: central or do we think we still need more pieces?
Speaker 1: Oh?
Speaker 2: I think they can always add more.
Speaker 11: Uh.
Speaker 2: What this does to me it increases the competition. And hey,
Speaker 2: let the best man or men, let the cream rise
Speaker 2: show us in uh in spring training and have a
Speaker 2: carry over to the regular season. Because Dane Myers and
Speaker 2: JJ Bleday, Uh, yes, they can be kind of considered
Speaker 2: reclamation projects. Change of scenery hopefully will help them. Uh.
Speaker 2: We could look at JJ Bleday as a dumpster dive. Okay,
Speaker 2: but they're gonna compete with will Benson, Reese Hines, Blake Dunn,
Speaker 2: Tyler Callahan and find out who can play. And I'm
Speaker 2: I'm in Willie's camp who called earlier, Willie Cunningham. I'm
Speaker 2: gonna stay pop and I'm gonna look forward to this
Speaker 2: season and have faith in Tito Francona that he can
Speaker 2: put this team together and get back to the playoffs
Speaker 2: and win.
Speaker 1: I believe if you believe.
Speaker 3: Thank you. I appreciate it.
Speaker 5: Hey, thanks so much, Nick, appreciate it. That was the
Speaker 5: nick I shouted out. By the way he said he
Speaker 5: was going to call in. I didn't think he was serious. Fantastic. Hey,
Speaker 5: we've got Kevin, our good friend in Columbus.
Speaker 11: What do you think can the Bengals turn around their
Speaker 11: defense in a year?
Speaker 1: Hey?
Speaker 11: Do you remember back when the Colts did that? They
Speaker 11: hired Tony Duneie back when Peyton Manning was quarterback. Remember
Speaker 11: they had the same problem, great offense and terrible defense
Speaker 11: and they did something like that.
Speaker 2: Right, Well, the uh, it's gonna take a lot of
Speaker 2: You got hired as their.
Speaker 3: Head coach, I remember, Yeah, to face the defense.
Speaker 2: Yes, Uh, it's going to take man, it's gonna take
Speaker 2: your overhaul major.
Speaker 11: Yeah. And I can't remember the exact years, but it
Speaker 11: seemed like they were able to turn it around and
Speaker 11: get to the super.
Speaker 1: Bowl and all.
Speaker 2: How about this year with Ben Johnson. Yeah, with the
Speaker 2: Chicago Bears. Yeah, they're the new kid on the block.
Speaker 1: They are.
Speaker 2: Isn't this a weird season? Uh, Kevin, because there's no
Speaker 2: there's no Joe around that. Yeah, there's no Joe Burrow,
Speaker 2: there's no Patrick Mahomes, and there's no Lamar Jackson. But
Speaker 2: we've got Trevor Lawrence. You're gonna have uh, the Houston crowd.
Speaker 1: C J.
Speaker 2: Stroud and uh, yep, yeah yeah around to here.
Speaker 1: Yeah, but Bego's gotta do something. They only got Burrow
Speaker 1: for a few more years.
Speaker 2: Right, Yeah, you're absolutely.
Speaker 11: Right, and God do something on the Red's end. Frank Coda,
Speaker 11: Maybe it takes more than one year. I still think
Speaker 11: he can whip these guys into a contender. But you'll,
Speaker 11: we need some offense. Isn't it funny? They need offense,
Speaker 11: pigles need defense.
Speaker 2: That's exactly right.
Speaker 11: But hey, hey maybe maybe they get it together. It's
Speaker 11: always hope for spring training, right, chicks can't wait?
Speaker 1: That's all I got.
Speaker 2: You're right, Thanks so much, Kevin, all right, and yes
Speaker 2: go bucks, uh Sue? Oh boy, here we go, here
Speaker 2: we go?
Speaker 1: Hi?
Speaker 12: Oh yeah, Well I will talk about Reds and then
Speaker 12: I'm glad for a couple of the new players that
Speaker 12: they've gotten. But I was downtown l last week, and
Speaker 12: I haven't been downtown for ages. I think it's good
Speaker 12: that the Reds test will be at the new Convention Center,
Speaker 12: but when you haven't been down there a long time,
Speaker 12: you have to find your way again downtown. And mis
Speaker 12: condoned neat to see that ice skating places near there,
Speaker 12: but I am going to try to get down to
Speaker 12: see it. But don't know about that fountain, but it's
Speaker 12: easy to find. We found that out, and I'm hoping that.
Speaker 1: The Reds do have a better sheet.
Speaker 12: And then your bangals.
Speaker 2: Okay, all right, amen, alright, Sue. And when you say
Speaker 2: he went downtown, I remember is a kid, our aunts
Speaker 2: and uncles, our parents took us downtown for Christmas shopping.
Speaker 2: Well downtown. Yeah it was awesome. Yeah, I bet it
Speaker 2: was taking the bus downtown. And yeah, just I would
Speaker 2: love to see Cincinnati's downtown in those days. In those
Speaker 2: days must have been real toes. Yeah, Oh my gosh.
Speaker 5: They had the what was it, the Santus Workshop elves downtown.
Speaker 5: They used to have a huge display of elves that
Speaker 5: would make it look like they were making presents, and
Speaker 5: it was like widely. It was an internationally claimed as
Speaker 5: as a as A as a big deal, no doubt.
Speaker 2: Hey, if we reached the bottom of the hour News,
Speaker 2: we have a half hour to go and then Donna
Speaker 2: d and Doctor West are going to take over these
Speaker 2: airwaves and talk relationships at nine o'clock. Until then, Chick
Speaker 2: Ludwig with Sean McMahon seven hundred WLW Sports Talk thirty
Speaker 2: seven in the Queens City of Cincinnati, Chick Ludwig alongside
Speaker 2: Sean McMahon. This is Sports Talk. We're going to the
Speaker 2: top of the hour and then Donna d along with
Speaker 2: her guest Doctor West, gonna be talking relationships and just
Speaker 2: to remind her the place to celebrate after a Bengals
Speaker 2: victory tomorrow, Wings and Rings, Beckett Ridge location, Plum Square
Speaker 2: in Westchester. I'll be there with Jim Breach Bengals Legend
Speaker 2: from five thirty to eight thirty, broadcasting live from Wings
Speaker 2: and Rings on seven hundred WLW and Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty. Well, Sean,
Speaker 2: today is a college football plut watchers dream. Oh yeah,
Speaker 2: it is Walter Wall from morning until midnight tonight.
Speaker 5: College football eleven am kickoff with a Military Bowl today
Speaker 5: between EASTCU and pitt And that was a great game,
Speaker 5: by the way East Carolina prevailed. I think we heard
Speaker 5: Marcus Hartman earlier talking about that game and how East
Speaker 5: Carolina was down so many pieces offensively quarterback, tight end,
Speaker 5: some wide receivers and they still managed to win today.
Speaker 2: That was a great win for East Carolina.
Speaker 5: But yeah, Wall to Wall coverage from morning until night
Speaker 5: with college football bowl games, and me personally, Chick, I'm
Speaker 5: still about bowl season. I don't care what anybody says
Speaker 5: about the playoff dominating. Anybody who says bowl games don't
Speaker 5: matter is just playing wrong. I love it this time
Speaker 5: of year.
Speaker 4: I do too.
Speaker 2: I'm always hunting the game, yep. And you got to
Speaker 2: have that remote ready. You had the People's National Championship
Speaker 2: on today.
Speaker 5: That's the pop Tart Bowl, the BYU Cougars beating the
Speaker 5: Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets twenty five to twenty one today.
Speaker 5: Always a great game, the pop Tart Bowl, and BYU
Speaker 5: of course just missing out on the college Football Playoff.
Speaker 2: Felt good to get a win in the Pop Tarts
Speaker 2: fifteen points in the fourth quarter for BYU knocking off
Speaker 2: Georgia Tech twenty five to twenty one in the pop
Speaker 2: Tarts Bowl. But I'm bumming because it's an honorary Miami
Speaker 2: in yes, honorary. They fall today to Fresno State in
Speaker 2: this snoop dog Arizona Bowl eighteen to three, a game
Speaker 2: called on the CW by our very own Tom Brennaman.
Speaker 2: How about it? And he gets to hang out with
Speaker 2: Snoop Dogg. It's the second year in a row two
Speaker 2: That is fantastic. And I didn't see that Snoop Dogg
Speaker 2: joined Tom. Oh yeah, in the in the presspot.
Speaker 5: He needs to do that here though. Tom needs to
Speaker 5: bring him in. Yeah, preferably on a Monday or Tuesday
Speaker 5: when I'm usually working with Tom. So selfishly, I can
Speaker 5: hang out with Snoop Dogg. Now, whether or not he
Speaker 5: wants to come in at eight o'clock in the morning
Speaker 5: is his prerogative. Yeah, we'll see, but I think that'd
Speaker 5: be a lot of fun. You will be up all
Speaker 5: night and then come in probably, Yes, fantastic.
Speaker 2: Well, in the third quarter here, late third quarter, North
Speaker 2: Texas a shootout here twenty fifth ranked thirty five to
Speaker 2: twenty lead over San Diego State in the New Mexico Bowl,
Speaker 2: and Missouri has a ten to three lead at the
Speaker 2: seven oh eight mark. In the second quarter, Missouri, the
Speaker 2: Tigers have a seven to three lead over nineteenth rank Virginia.
Speaker 2: So and then later tonight we've got LSU at Houston
Speaker 2: nine to twenty kickoff in the Texas Bowl. That's at
Speaker 2: NRG Stadium, home of the Houston Texans, YEP and and
Speaker 2: you give us those other scores there Sean from uh yeah,
Speaker 2: if you got them up. Yeah.
Speaker 5: Penn State, who at one point in their season was
Speaker 5: three and six, came back from the dead to being
Speaker 5: at six and six. They made it to the Bad
Speaker 5: Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl. They prevailed over Clemson twenty two
Speaker 5: to ten. Today, man, what a disappointing season for both
Speaker 5: of those teams. Twenty two to ten over Clemson for
Speaker 5: the Penn State Nitney Lyons and that's all I've got.
Speaker 2: That's the only other score that we didn't touch.
Speaker 5: Army did beat Yukon forty one to sixteen as well
Speaker 5: in the Wassabi Fenway Bowl, a bowl game that was
Speaker 5: the last bowl game that you see actually made it to.
Speaker 5: They played Louisville, and that was when Fickel had just
Speaker 5: left to go to Wisconsin and Scott Saderfield had just
Speaker 5: left Louisville to come coach the Bearcats. So that was
Speaker 5: the last time you see was in a bowl game.
Speaker 5: So forty one to sixteen Army over Yukon not surprising.
Speaker 5: Chick Yukon play Hey, listen, playing an academy is tough.
Speaker 5: Those offenses are hard to defend. They absolutely are. It
Speaker 5: was cool to have games. That game was at Fenway,
Speaker 5: the Pinstripe bull is at Yankee Stadium Stadium.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so two historic places like that. That is a phenomenal.
Speaker 2: But you know, even though Miami lost today, Man, congratulations
Speaker 2: to the job that Chuck Martin did for the Miami
Speaker 2: RedHawks this year. Losing your quarterback at a really a
Speaker 2: terrible time. Just jumped out middle of the season, just
Speaker 2: jumped out, decided to just start preparing for the NFL Draft.
Speaker 2: He's been at several different places. But to leave your
Speaker 2: teammates like that, that was tough. That was a confusing
Speaker 2: move on his part. I didn't really understand it.
Speaker 5: I know entirely. I you know, if you think you
Speaker 5: have a shot the NFL, good for you. But I
Speaker 5: really didn't think leaving the middle of the season was
Speaker 5: the right move. That's not a great look to NFL
Speaker 5: scouts to just go I'm gonna jump out of my
Speaker 5: team and go get ready like you're in the middle
Speaker 5: of a season. Man, you still got a team you
Speaker 5: gotta lead. But yeah, like you said, Chuck Martin taking
Speaker 5: his team to the MAC Championship.
Speaker 2: But of course they did.
Speaker 5: I don't think they did not win the MAC Championship
Speaker 5: that belonged to Western Michigan this year, but they got
Speaker 5: there partially like kind of like how Duke did with
Speaker 5: the ACC. Those head to head tiebreakers allowed them to
Speaker 5: get in and play for a conference title.
Speaker 2: Now, at the same time here that we've got wall
Speaker 2: to wall college football, there's two NFL games today. The
Speaker 2: Texans defeat the Los Angeles Chargers twenty to sixteen in LA,
Speaker 2: and then the Ravens have a thirteen to seven lead
Speaker 2: over the Packers at the thirteen minute mark in the
Speaker 2: second quarter. Packers are already in right, and so there's
Speaker 2: really only a couple of spots open, and that is
Speaker 2: the NFC South, either Carolina or Tampa Bay. Carolina has
Speaker 2: the upper hand there and they look like they have
Speaker 2: all the momentum. Yes, and then the AFC North all
Speaker 2: but settled with the Pittsburgh Steelers having a two game
Speaker 2: lead over the Ravens with two games to go.
Speaker 5: Here, so you said it earlier, Check, this has been
Speaker 5: a weird season. It really weird the amount of the
Speaker 5: teams that are making it to the playoff this year.
Speaker 5: I don't think anybody could have predicted a season like this,
Speaker 5: it's it's entertaining. Obviously not for Bengals fans, but if
Speaker 5: you're just a sports fan, it's entertaining to see these
Speaker 5: Some of these teams rise at like Carolina. Who would
Speaker 5: have thought Carolina and the Texans or the collapse of
Speaker 5: the Colts.
Speaker 2: The Colts oh at eight and two at one time,
Speaker 2: and then Daniel Jones has a has an injury, the
Speaker 2: Achilles injury and base signing with Sauce Gardner as well, Yes,
Speaker 2: who was who got injured? And then to bring back
Speaker 2: wow a grandpa. Yeah in literally yes, at forty four,
Speaker 2: no doubt. It's incredible, man, it really is. Got to
Speaker 2: give him credit, you do, I mean for he what
Speaker 2: he had three days to learn an offense? Oh my gosh,
Speaker 2: three days. He's made over two hundred million dollars in
Speaker 2: his uh, in his career. I'm eager to see what
Speaker 2: his pro rated salary is this year. Yeah, you know
Speaker 2: for just a handful of games here. Yeah, I know
Speaker 2: his insurance gets extended too.
Speaker 7: Uh.
Speaker 2: Yes, that is uh, that is fantastics a good benefit
Speaker 2: for this. Now we're gonna take one more break here
Speaker 2: and then we'll kickfight, scratch and claw to the top
Speaker 2: of the hour, and what I want to talk about
Speaker 2: when we come back from break the NFL versus the
Speaker 2: college football playoffs and college football for viewership. Yeah, because
Speaker 2: the NFL, they don't care. They're gonna they are a
Speaker 2: money making steamrolling machine. They don't care who else is on.
Speaker 2: They're coming for ratings. The National Football League is a monster.
Speaker 2: When we come back on seven hundred WLW nine minutes
Speaker 2: before the top of the nine o'clock hour, this is
Speaker 2: Chick Ludwig alongside Sean McMahon. This is Sports Talk on
Speaker 2: seven hundred WLW. Thanks to all the loyal listeners were
Speaker 2: checking us out today and allowing us to be a
Speaker 2: part of your day. Sean, I love reading Yahoo Sports.
Speaker 2: Jay Busby and he brings up a metaphor. Have you
Speaker 2: ever gone to the airport and you go to your
Speaker 2: gate and there's no seats, but you see a guy
Speaker 2: stretched out over three or four seats. Two more of
Speaker 2: the seats are taken up by his luggage is overnight
Speaker 2: bag and all this so he's taken up all this space. Okay,
Speaker 2: that is the NFL, that guy, Yep, everybody else Okay,
Speaker 2: it could be college football. It was back in nineteen
Speaker 2: sixty one, the Sports Broadcasting Act of nineteen sixty one
Speaker 2: protected college and high school football from the NFL's you
Speaker 2: could call it incursion, and it mandated that the shield
Speaker 2: the NFL could not play Saturday games before the second
Speaker 2: Saturday in December, right when college football's regular season ends.
Speaker 2: The problem is, nobody back in sixty one foresaw what
Speaker 2: is happening today with number one, all the bowl games
Speaker 2: and the college football playoffs. So no matter that we
Speaker 2: have what eight games today or however many there are,
Speaker 2: the NFL is going to play on Saturdays and steal
Speaker 2: viewers because they can. They're the NFL, the almighty, the
Speaker 2: all powerful. But like you said, Sean during the break,
Speaker 2: they're showing up in competition with college football on networks
Speaker 2: that not all of us have access to.
Speaker 5: Right, these streaming services that people don't want to pay
Speaker 5: extra money for, like the Peacocks and Netflix.
Speaker 2: And namely Prime. Yea, yeah, Netflix, it is NFL network,
Speaker 2: Peacock and Amazon Prime. And I'm looking at this on there. Okay,
Speaker 2: I've got the NFL network, but I don't have these
Speaker 2: other stations. I can't watch right exactly.
Speaker 5: And then you know, people resorted to other means of
Speaker 5: watching those games via illegal streaming services online. They resort
Speaker 5: to those methods, and they wonder why they lose viewers.
Speaker 5: It's because you make these games exclusive and then you
Speaker 5: drive people to I guess you would call it I'm
Speaker 5: gonna put this in their quotes, desperation to watch these games.
Speaker 2: It's mind numbing.
Speaker 5: And you would think that they would want to work
Speaker 5: hand in hand with college football because these networks are
Speaker 5: paying so much money to get both of these products,
Speaker 5: college football and the NFL on their air waves. You
Speaker 5: would think they would work hand in hand. And it's
Speaker 5: been what sixty four years since that bill was signed. Yeah,
Speaker 5: so you would think that between then and now there'd
Speaker 5: be other legislation or I mean, I don't want Congress
Speaker 5: to get involved in those sorts of things. I would
Speaker 5: prefer the NFL and college football talk this sort of
Speaker 5: thing over and go, hey, look, the NFL is nothing
Speaker 5: without college football. You get your players from college. You
Speaker 5: should want to work with us. We can work with you.
Speaker 5: Will have our games on Saturdays, you have yours on Sundays.
Speaker 5: We can promote the heck out of your games if
Speaker 5: we have our playoff games and you know, they can
Speaker 5: be lead ins to NFL games.
Speaker 2: You know, maybe you do it that way. Maybe you have.
Speaker 5: College games lead into NFL games on the same day. Yes,
Speaker 5: you have sort of almost warm ups to the NFL games.
Speaker 5: You can do things that can make sense, but they
Speaker 5: choose not to because, like you said, they're the NFL.
Speaker 5: They're going to have their way. And that's incredibly frustrating
Speaker 5: because college football is just as, if not bigger arguably
Speaker 5: than the NFL. Because there are certain regions of the
Speaker 5: country that don't have a team that root for college teams. Yeah,
Speaker 5: I think about the Deep South. Check, I think about
Speaker 5: I think about Atlanta, Georgia. Yes, you know they have
Speaker 5: the Falcons, but people down there are rooting for Alabama
Speaker 5: and Auburn and Georgia and Tennessee. The college is a
Speaker 5: religion down there, no doubt it's not. The NFL is
Speaker 5: second to college football, So you would think that they
Speaker 5: would want to work hand in hand and figure this
Speaker 5: out together, as opposed to the NFL just saying now
Speaker 5: we're going to have our way.
Speaker 2: It's it's it's mind boggling, it really is. And I
Speaker 2: just wanted to bring that up because, yeah, there are
Speaker 2: two NFL games on while college football is being played. Yeah,
Speaker 2: and I'm more focused on the college games. Oh, absolutely, yes.
Speaker 2: And Wednesday night, I mean I live for. My favorite
Speaker 2: day of the year is jan one. I mean my
Speaker 2: brother's house in Westchester. He's a food broker, my brother Jeff. Yes,
Speaker 2: and there's gonna be great food. There's going to be
Speaker 2: great football on And Ohio State is on the night
Speaker 2: before New Year's Eve, seven thirty. It's either going to
Speaker 2: be a wonderful New Year's Eve or a lousy one. Yeah,
Speaker 2: I'm worried about the Miami Hurricanes.
Speaker 5: Hopefully, Chick it doesn't end up like the Georgia game
Speaker 5: a few years ago, where right at the stroke of midnight,
Speaker 5: the Buckeys lose the game on a missed field goal.
Speaker 5: Hopefully you start the new year on a positive note
Speaker 5: for you and your Buckeyes.
Speaker 2: But I remember Georgia obliterating Marvin Harrison junior. Yes, waiting
Speaker 2: for the flag to come out for uh, you know,
Speaker 2: illegal contact or p I or something unsportsmanlike conduct roughing,
Speaker 2: you know, yeah, targeting whatever. Come back from the commercial break,
Speaker 2: the Buckuys, You're kicking a field goal? What yah are
Speaker 2: you kidding me. Yeah, And then Georgia exploded for a
Speaker 2: long Instead of grinding out a long run, they scored
Speaker 2: quickly and reminded me of the Bengals against Buffalo. Just
Speaker 2: make Josh Allen matriculate the bulk. No, no, forty yards boom, yeah,
Speaker 2: you know, and they're right back on the So it's crazy. Yeah.
Speaker 5: And while we're on the college topic here, chick, we've
Speaker 5: got a few minutes left. We mentioned it briefly in
Speaker 5: the show, but we didn't really talk much about it.
Speaker 5: The Kyle Whittingham hire at Michigan. That's a big deal.
Speaker 5: I don't think anybody across the country even thought for
Speaker 5: a moment about Kyle Whittingham being a serious candidate for
Speaker 5: Michigan because he's been at Utah since two thousand.
Speaker 2: And five, twenty one years, twenty one years.
Speaker 5: And from what I'm hearing, he's kind of he was
Speaker 5: kind of pushed out, which shocks me because Utah, I mean,
Speaker 5: they were big because of Urban Meyer. And by the way,
Speaker 5: Urban Meyer was the last coach at Utah before Kyle Whittingham.
Speaker 5: So this it's amazing to think that Kyle Whittingham was
Speaker 5: there through Urban Meyer's best years at Florida and his
Speaker 5: best years at Ohio State. And he has been there
Speaker 5: for so I chick, I was like in kindergarten when
Speaker 5: Kyle Whittingham got higher. The fact that they wanted him
Speaker 5: pushed out after a ten and two season makes no
Speaker 5: sense to me.
Speaker 2: But for Michigan, I.
Speaker 5: Think it's a good hire. We'll see if it's a
Speaker 5: long term solution or if it's kind of a mid range.
Speaker 2: I don't know. I like the five years, not these
Speaker 2: ten year, one hundred million dollar deals. Yeah, it's a
Speaker 2: five year deal. His job is to restore credibility in
Speaker 2: a place that's marred by all these controversies and these scandals.
Speaker 5: Yeah, and he builds a really good program man the
Speaker 5: guys that he brings through his program. Utah was always
Speaker 5: a tough play. I saw something earlier from an Oregon
Speaker 5: fan online who had mentioned that he always hated playing
Speaker 5: Utah because Utah was always bringing their a game every
Speaker 5: single time. It didn't matter how good or how bad
Speaker 5: they were. They just were a physical team under Kyle Whittingham.
Speaker 5: And that's a testament to Kyle and the program and
Speaker 5: the culture that he built while he was at Utah.
Speaker 2: No doubt with the Gosh Mountain, west Pac twelve and
Speaker 2: the Big twelve.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: So he's been around, he's seen it all, he's done
Speaker 2: it all, and this is a great hire. It's a
Speaker 2: good hire. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And hey, we want to
Speaker 2: thank our guest today Scott Springer from the Enquirer in
Speaker 2: Cincinnati dot Com Trags, Mike Petralia Bengals insider, Marcus Hartman
Speaker 2: from Cussword Sports and Press Pros magazine, and of course
Speaker 2: William Jefferson, Willie Cunningham, Willie J. Cunning That was fantastic
Speaker 2: and Sean, it's been an honor, pleasure and privilege being
Speaker 2: with you today. Thank you very much. Chick I enjoyed it,
Speaker 2: fantastic and until next time on behalf of Sean McMahon.
Speaker 2: This is the Chickster Chick Ludwig saying thanks for listening
Speaker 2: to the Home of the Reds and the best Bengals coverage.
Speaker 2: Seven hundred a WLW