44th edition of My Random Thoughts: Sports, TV, music, food, life.......Things that popped into my head.
I consider this the Bengals Dollars & Sense Super Bowl Season. Roster wise, salary cap wise, staff wise....is makes sense to believe there will never be a better opportunity for the Bengals to win the Super Bowl.
No rule indicates you can't win your division if you lose a season series to a team. In fact, the 1975 World Champion Reds lost their season series to the Dodgers and still won the NL West by 20 games.
We caught Blessid Union of Souls at Element Eatery off Red Bank Road. Love that band. Cool place.
Nothing better when I was kid than Reds-Dodgers for a three game weekend series at Riverfront. 150,000+ fans. Same lineups year after year. Garvey-Lopes-Russell-Cey, etc. Man, I could not stand Garvey's perfect hair, smile and popeye forearms.
Sports phrases I'll never understand: They almost lost. They barely won. They almost blew it.
Michael Lorenzen would make sense for Reds. He's 31. Productive. Could start until Greene and/or Lodolo returns, then slide into the pen and pitch multiple innings. He'd be a rental, owed only about $2.75M the rest of year. Shouldn't cost a major prospect. Problem is he makes sense for any team looking for pitching.
I sat at Reality Tuesday this morning with a breakfast sandwich and a Jake Bauer Macadamia Nut latte. Life is good.
As poor as MLB home plate umpiring is, I'd abandon the rotation of crews in a series. Have the highest rated home plate umpires stay behind the plate during the season. Pay 'em more. Lesser rated umpires get the bases.
The Barbie movie has spiked the resale value of classic Barbie dolls. I had GI Joe, Evel Knievel and his Stunt Cycle, Big Jim and Stretch Armstrong!
How much will Joe Burrow get after Justin Herbert got 5-years/$265.2M? Answer: More
Emails I got after the Joey Votto interview on High Heat...... "He should be working on his hitting, not doing TV interviews." .........."He has anger issues that need to be addressed. It was unprofessional"
I cannot recommend enough stopping by Findlay Market on a Saturday. Shop and pick out dinner for the grill and sides. Can't beat it.
Yearly trade deadline reminder: Consider why the other team would do the deal you are proposing.
The Reds open a four game series at Wrigley Field Monday and all four games are night games. Odd. I attended/covered the first night game at Wrigley. It was rained out and didn't count. Figures.
The next time you think David Bell brought in the wrong reliever, consider which has a better chance of being true:
A. Bell not knowing what he's doing or B. You having no idea who was unavailable to pitch that night.
Love songs that take me places: 'You're Still the One," Shania Twain....our wedding song. "I'll Melt With You", Modern English. First time I danced with Kelly, at a bar called Galway Pub in Elmhurst, IL.
Each year, Baseball's Hall of Fame celebrates and shines the spotlight on the greatest to ever play the game. And they hold the ceremony on a Sunday afternoon while MLB plays 14 games. Yep. That's MLB marketing.
Something I wish people wouldn't be afraid to say more often: I don't know.
What Shohei Ohtani is doing really is tough to comprehend. But I also can't comprehend Babe Ruth hitting more home runs in seasons than other teams did.
Another spot to shop and support the local economy? City Flea at Washington Park. It's a monthly Saturday market and small business incubator. Tons of tents/booths and people showing off their creations: Clothes, home decor, vintage trinkets, food, etc. Cool stuff. Drinks, music. Great vibe walking around.
Do you really believe it makes sense for the Bengals to pay Joe Burrow 50+M a year, JaMarr Chase $25-30+M and Tee Higgins $20-25M a year?
Reds pitchers consistently walking a batter to start the inning is taking time off the battery life of my pacemaker.
Two more adds to my all-cost ripoff team: Toilet paper and contact solution.
I enjoy discovering/suggesting bands to Peyton. She already is aware of some, she even likes some. My latest: The Regrettes.
They play at Fountain Square this weekend.
It MLB wants to help take some focus off MLB umpiring, they should tell TV broadcast partners to get rid of the strike zone box on the screen. It's not a true representation of the zone, or, even what the umpires are graded on.
A caller last night wanted to discuss how soft Joe Burrow is. Just because you call doesn't guarantee you get on.
That FC Cincinnati-Sporting Kansas City match last week was just another example of why I love sports. Just insane. There were moments I thought they were going to going to lose. Then I was hoping they'd at least tied. Then it looked like they'd lose. Then they won.
As tlightlipped as the Bengals and Burrow have insisted they will be on the contract, it will be interesting to see if news of a done deal is first released by the team or 'broken' by national media.
I get Buddy Bell resigned a number of weeks ago. Nobody is owed an explanation. He's 71. Been in baseball for decades. Has a family. Cool.
What I don't get is why the organization didn't recognize his career and impact on the organization. He was a player, Minor League Field Coordinator,
VP/Senior Advisor to President of Baseball Operations, part of legacy family. I'd think a 'thank you' and acknowledgement by the organization would have been a nice/classy tough. Do other organizations just let people with that type of footprint go away? By saying nothing they got to deal fallout from the Jon Heyman tweet.
Call me sappy, but there is something wholesome, old school and satisfying about the weekly dinner scene on the CBS show Blue Bloods.
Man, we love that show.
I like Tyler Stephenson. But if he isn't good at calling games, or framing pitches, or blocking pitches, he's gonna have to hit 20 bombs and drive in 80.
If he doesn't do that, exactly what does he contribute?
It seems I get a couple of emails a month from people getting a pacemaker and asking about mine. I'm lucky. My pacemaker rarely comes into play in my life.
When I fly I have to go through a separate security scan. I'm not supposed to ride rollercoasters. I don't really like lightning storms. I do think it's cool I have an app that monitors everything and even shows me the battery life of it.
My mom saved all my Hardy Boys hardback books that I was obsessed with as a kid. Wonder how much they are worth? I also loved Encyclopedia Brown books!
As abysmal as MLB official scoring is, just do away with an error on batted balls. Just give a hit to a batter reaching safely on a batted ball.
Reds vs Dodgers at 10:10? Where's my transistor radio and that plastic earpiece to put under my pillow?
Don't worry about things you don't care about.