I'm off to a late start, in large part because the celebration of James Rapien moving on lasted deep into the night.  James will be producing his final show today, although you'll hear him over the next week and a half, both on Cincy 3:60, and filling in for me in the afternoon.  He's had a hell of a run here, one deserving of a cake...

The show at 3:05 will have a new producer, who will do just fine. The show at noon will have a new voice, which will be okay.  But James will undeniably be missed.

On to some stuff....

*Last night's Rams/Chiefs tilt was fantastic, although marred by way too many penalties. You watch teams like LA and Kansas City, as well as New Orleans, and sometimes New England, and even at times still, Philly, and you see teams playing a different game than the Bengals.

You also use adjectives and phrases to describe those teams, and their head coaches: Aggressive. Creative. Cutting-edge. Forward-thinking. Ahead of the curve.

Do any of those apply to anyone currently working at PBS?

*What Marvin said, speaking about Auden Tate....

“He will get there when he gets his opportunity, when the time comes. His involvement in the offense is what it is,” Lewis said of the seventh-round pick. “He’s a guy that’s been on the practice squad for a reason, OK?”

“He’s been a free agent for all 32 (teams) to take a look at,” Lewis continued. “You see what I’m saying? It is what it is. Not many times you’re going to take a guy off the practice squad and go win an NFL game with him.”

What Marvin meant to say, speaking about Auden Tate...

"If the people I work for would've gotten me wide receivers better than Auden Tate at or around the trade deadline, I wouldn't have had to play a practice squad player in such a critical game

*XU loses, UC wins.  The Musketeers lost a tough one against an excellent Auburn team. Quentin Goodin will have better days.

The Bearcats played pretty well against Western Michigan.  Jarron Cumberland needs to have nights like last night's. 

UC is a huge work in progress, and the evolution of this team will be slow, which is fine given how long the season is, but a problem given the difficulty of Cincinnati's upcoming schedule. Cumberland being assertive, shooting well, and making defenses pay for honing in on him too much can greatly help the Cats get through the rough patches that come with molding a team that's loaded with players being asked to do more than ever.  

I wish I had more time. I don't. I will for the radio show. It starts at 3:05 on ESPN1530.