37th edition of My Random Thoughts: Sports, TV, music, food, life.......
Things that popped into my head this week
What a treat to catch Marty Stuart and his Fabulous Superlatives perform last week at Brown County Music Center. A five time Grammy winner, member of the Grand Ole Opry and Country Music Hall of Fame. Great show. Great venue.
One of my biggest takeaways from this week has been noticing the number of kids, teens, families, young adults at GABP this week. That's the Elly factor.
I could not be happier for Will Benson. He struggled. He stuck with his process. He's getting results.
I currently have five socks without matches. How is that even possible?
On occasion, I like to go old school and crunch up potato chips to put on a peanut butter sandwich. That, or fix bologna, cheese and ketchup.
If Messi plays vs FC Cincinnati at TQL on August 23, would he be the biggest sports star to ever play in the city of Cincinnati? That sounds like a topic for the show the week of.
I miss sliding a bat between the handlebars of my bike, sticking my glove on one handle and taking off for a game.
How about the roster work Wes Miller is getting done this offseason? UC's roster is starting to feel like a Big 12 roster.
I don't worry about Reds prospects reaching free in agency in six years, or being traded before that. You know why? Because I'm enjoying watching them play.
I've been blessed to do a lot of different forms of broadcasting in my life: Radio and TV play-by-play, disc jockey, TV anchor/reporter, TV host, radio host. I most enjoy hosting the Inside Pitch and Extra Innings. I get to be being the first voice setting up a game and the last voice wrapping up the game.
I would highly recommend Hard Truth Distillery in Nashville, IN. Great spot. 325-acre wooded campus + 18,000-square foot state-of-the-art distillery + Restaurant + Music venue. We got a bottle of the Peanut Brittle Bourbon to bring home. Oh, man.
What if Eric Davis and Elly De La Cruz joined forces to recreate a Magnum .44 poster?
There is no way Joe Mixon is on this roster Week 1 at his current contract of $12M a year.
I just can't imagine being the type of person that finds joy in raining on the parade of others.
I watched fans leave the concession line on Thursday because Elly De La Cruz was coming to the plate.
I refused to give Nancy Zimpher the power to make me dislike UC basketball. I refused to give Mike Brown the power to make me dislike the Bengals. I've refused to give Phil Castellini the power to make me dislike the Reds.
I believe my high school (Carmel, IN) won seven state championships in athletics my junior year. We had celebrations in the gym and were dismissed after half a day, for each. The state eventually put a stop to that policy. Go Greyhounds!
I'll never understand fans getting upset when a player gets a day off. Clearly the manager has a good reason for doing it....most likely related to keeping said player, healthy and productive. It's a 162 game season. Each game can't be managed like Game 7.
When I got my first job in TV, my WSBT-TV news director joked I should start smoking to deepen my voice and get in some fights to scar my face because I looked so young. I still have no idea how I got that gig.
The Álvaro Barreal full volley into the top left corner of the net for an FC Cincinnati goal Tuesday at TQL is one of the finest goals I've ever seen.
This Reds bullpen could use a Scott Sullivan type guy.....that can give them multiple innings multiple times a week.....100+ innings a season.
Zac Taylor started his career 6-25-1. Many fans wanted him fired. Then the Bengals gave him talent. What if that's David Bell? Sounds like a topic for next week on Sport Talk.
Our childhood version of the 'juiced' baseball was a opening a new can of tennis balls. Those babies would fly off your bat during neighborhood games.
Can you imagine the reaction of it were Joey Votto, Nick Senzel, Hunter Greene or Will Benson scratched from the lineup with allergies earlier in the week, rather than Jake Fraley?
When I was a kid and we had a babysitter, I begged my parents to let me stay up to watch the 11pm Al Schottelkotte news on WCPO. I loved the intro....."Eeeeeeeeeeleven o'clock in the tri-state.....Aaaaaaaaaal Schottelkotte news time. Yea, I know. I'm a news dork.
Who has the best fried chicken? The Nashville House (Nashville, IN) was pretty damn good. Greyhound Tavern is excellent. We are headed to The Purple Poulet next weekend, for the the first time in a couple of years.
Hey FC Cincinnati fans, Laurel Pfahler does a really nice job covering the team. She's created her own site, Queen City Press, through Patreon. You can subscribe for as little as $3.00 a month. That's 10-cents a day. I do. I enjoy it.
Don't worry about things you don't care about.