Thursday Show / Nonsense

03/03/2010 11:00 pm

Nick Brunker

Tags:

Mo is taking in some Spring Training Baseball in Goodyear this weekend....so I'll be coming at ya today, tomorrow and Monday. Here's what we'll get into from 3-6pm this afternoon...

- Reds Spring Training....Despite the question marks surrounding Aaron Harang heading into 2010, he makes the most sense to start on Opening Day. Plus, as we approach the first Spring Training game tomorrow, what things are you most interested in seeing from this team? Where are your biggest concerns?

- Bengals in Free Agency....With NFL free agency underway, there hasn't been much news on the Bengals front. Although, there are some big names that could help the Orange and Black in 2010. Who are you most interested in? I have two names.

- NFL Draft....Are there really any Bengals fans that believe Tim Tebow would make sense for this team?? Chick Ludwig says it could happen. I say...HELL NO.

- College Basketball....Why in the world would an NCAA Tournament expansion benefit the sport? Easy answer: It wouldn't. In fact, it would probably make college basketball practically meaningless for most of the year.

- Xavier hoops....they're once again dominating play in the A-10...are they primed for a deep NCAA Tournament run? I'll talk about that with Joe Sunderman.

- Should athletes be allowed to have weapons in locker room?....Mo posted a story yesterday about an Orioles player who disagrees with MLB rules regarding guns / weapons in the clubhouse. It brings up an interesting debate. I'll explain.

Guests:

4:30p - Joe Sunderman, Xavier play-by-play
5:00p - Mo Egger, live from Goodyear

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BREAKING NEWS From the Bengals....The Bengals today terminated the contract of WR Laveranues Coles, releasing him to free agency. In 2009, Coles played his 10th NFL season and his first with the Bengals, catching 43 passes for 514 yards and five touchdowns.

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Harang gets Opening Day nod for the Reds.....Harang's fifth straight Opening Day assignment would tie the club record for most consecutive first-game starts held by Pete Donohue (1923-27) and Mario Soto, who did it from 1982-86. Soto holds the overall club record of six Opening Day starts. Harang won 16 games in both 2006 and '07 and was among National League leaders in wins, innings, starts and strikeouts. But struggles and injuries set him way back the past two seasons. In 2008-09, he was a combined 12-31 with a 4.52 ERA.

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Harang's last 4 Opening Day Starts....

2009: Loss 2-1, 5.0 IP, 7 hits, 1 ER, 3 BB, 2 K
2008: Loss 4-2, 3.0 IP, 3 hits, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 K
2007: Win 5-1, 7.0 IP, 6 hits, 0 ER, 2 BB, 5 K
2006: Loss 16-7, 5.0 IP, 9 hits, 6 ER, 3 BB, 3 K

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Dusty on Harang starting Opening Day...."Me and Bryan sat down and talked and we wrestled with it big time," Baker said. "I talked to Arroyo and Harang. Some of the mannerisms and things I came away with is that Harang is No. 1 for what we need, confidence wise. He’s throwing the ball great."

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Based on who you can consider the "ace" of the Reds staff, you'd think Bronson Arroyo would get the start on Opening Day....but if you look at the numbers, that just doesn't make sense. Here are his day vs. night stats...

2006:
Day: 5-6, 4.29 ERA
Night: 9-5, 2.52 ERA

2007
Day: 1-6, 5.36 ERA
Night: 8-9, 3.93 ERA

2008
Day: 5-3, 4.94 ERA
Night: 10-8, 4.11 ERA

2009
Day: 2-4, 4.88 ERA
Night: 13-9, 3.46 ERA

Career
Day: 21-29.... 4.55 ERA
Night: 65-54....4.10 ERA

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Arolids Chapman to debut Monday vs. Kansas City....

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Todd Frazier gets special attention in camp....

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Bengals' tender offers due today....via Joe Reedy

Three of the tenders have been reported - linebacker Rashad Jeanty will receive a low tender and defensive end Frostee Rucker will be tendered for his original draft pick, which is a third-rounder. Both are worth $1.176 million. Linebacker Brandon Johnson has received a second-round tender worth $1.759 million. Tight end J.P. Foschi will not be offered a deal and will become an unrestricted free agent.

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Perhaps the best news you'll hear today.....Mardy Gilyard could slip to 2nd Round....

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Bengals make tender offers
Official Release

The Bengals today announced that the team has extended tender offers to six players, making them restricted free agents (RFAs) as of tomorrow (Friday), when the NFL league year begins.

The six are LB Abdul Hodge, LB Rashad Jeanty, LB Brandon Johnson, CB David Jones, G Evan Mathis and DE Frostee Rucker. Their eligibility for RFA status is based upon their accrued years of experience toward free agency in a 2010 season with no salary cap.

By making the tenders, the Bengals gain the right to retain the players by matching any offer sheet any would sign from another team. If an RFA does not sign an offer from another team, he can remain with his original team by signing the one-year tender, or by negotiating a longer-term contract with his club.

Brandon Johnson was tendered at a dollar amount which stipulates that if the Bengals decline to match a competing offer, the team signing him must compensate Cincinnati with its second-round choice in the 2010 draft. The other five players were tendered at “draft status level,” which means that if they entered the NFL through the draft, any team signing one of them must compensate the Bengals with a 2010 draft pick in the same round in which they were selected.

The deadline for a restricted free agent to sign an offer sheet from another team is April 15. Any RFA who has not signed an offer sheet by that date will have his 2010 NFL rights revert exclusively to his 2009 club.

The Bengals are not sending tender offers to three other potential RFAs who were with Cincinnati in 2009. The three are TE Daniel Coats, TE J.P. Foschi and DT Shaun Smith. Those players are scheduled to become free agents tomorrow, at which point they may negotiate with the Bengals or any other NFL team, without compensation or signing deadline issues.

BENGALS TENDER FIVE EXCLUSIVE RIGHTS PLAYERS
The Bengals today announced that the team has made tender offers to five players who are classified as third-year players for 2010. The five are C Kyle Cook, S Kyries Hebert, G Nate Livings, QB Jordan Palmer and OT Dennis Roland.

All five were with the Bengals in 2009. Their contracts have expired, and by making the tender offers, the Bengals retain their exclusive NFL rights for 2010.

The players each have the option of signing the tender offer or negotiating a longer-term contract with Cincinnati.

The Bengals are not sending a tender offer to third-year TE Matt Sherry, who spent last season on Cincinnati’s Reserve/Injured list. Sherry will be eligible to negotiate with any NFL team as of tomorrow, when the NFL’s veteran free agency signing period begins.

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Bengals, NFL enter new world tomorrow
Geoff Hobson, Bengals.com
The last time the Bengals went into free agency off an AFC North title, they pretty much stayed in their own building and re-signed or extended the contracts of their own. Now in the hot house uncertainty of 2010 and 2011, look for more of the same when the NFL’s brave, new world opens Friday. With no salary cap for this season and no guarantee of a next season, no one quite knows what to expect league wide. Oh, the Redskins or somebody are probably going to sign Julius Peppers in the wee hours of Friday morning to a contract that dwarfs the budget of the six New England states. But other than that there is no conventional wisdom or, for that matter, even unconventional.

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Broncos use 1st round tender on Brandon Marshall
ESPN.com
The Denver Broncos have tendered wide receiver Brandon Marshall with a first-round tender, a source told ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter. If another team makes a player with a first-round tender on them a contract offer during the free-agency period beginning Friday, the player's current team has seven days to match it, or it will receive a first-round draft pick as compensation.

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A possible Tight End for the Bengals??.....Peggy Kusinski of NBC Chicago reports that friends of Olsen say he was not happy about the hiring of Martz, and that he quietly sent his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, into "trade request" mode. According to Kusinski, the Arizona Cardinals and New England Patriots may be interested.

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Final NFL Combine Thoughts
Joe Reedy, Enquirer
Mardy Gilyard and Tony Pike still have some improvements to make. At UC’s pro day next Wednesday, Gilyard needs to run a 40 time better than what he ran on Sunday. The times range anywhere from 4.52-4.56 seconds. Pike needs to show teams that he can be more consistent on short and intermediate throws, which he had problems with also during the Senior Bowl.

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Chad will miss field-time for participating in DWTS....Monday night's announcement that Chad Ochocinco will compete on "Dancing with the Stars" means the Bengals wide receiver will not participate in the team's offseason conditioning program for a third straight year. That's not a surprise to coach Marvin Lewis.

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AFC North Draft Watch
ESPN.com

Cincinnati Bengals
Theme: Getting vertical. Cincinnati, like Baltimore, wants to improve the deep passing game. Was the problem in 2009 quarterback Carson Palmer or his supporting cast? For the first time in his career, Palmer struggled with deep accuracy. The struggle was highlighted down the stretch when Cincinnati lost four of its last five games. But other than receiver Chad Ochocinco, no one else was able to get behind the defense consistently. Look for the Bengals with the No. 21 pick to have similar targets with Baltimore, such as Gresham, Benn and Tate. Cincinnati also is rumored to be interested in Owens. Usually, the Bengals are not major players in free agency.

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Xavier crushes Fordham....Junior forward Jamel McLean led the way with 16 points as the No. 25 Xavier Musketeers rolled Atlantic 10 foe Fordham 82-56 Wednesday night at Rose Hill Gym. Terrell Holloway posted 14 points while fellow New York native Mark Lyons earned 11 points on the night.

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Bearcats almost out of chances
P-Doc, Enquirer
Nights like Tuesday define the Cincinnati Bearcats. Promise and frustration, in equal measure. Minutes where you think their corner has been turned, followed immediately by minutes that show you it hasn’t. You see the potential. You just don’t see it long enough or often enough. It’s like spending a week in Ireland and waiting for the sun. It’s great when it’s there. It’s not there a lot.

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This is tremendous....

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Expanding the NCAA tournament is getting "increasingly likely"
SI.com
The tournament's unofficial czar has spent much of his time recently jetting around the country to brief university presidents, conference commissioners and athletic directors on the latest developments. At one point, he visited 13 cities in five days. The timing is such that the NCAA will have to make some definitive decision about the tournament's future within the next five months -- and there are numerous reasons some form of expansion seems increasingly likely.

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John Daly proves, once again, that he's a d-bag
CBS Sports
Daly, who has done so many moronic and self-destructive things in two decades as a professional that there are more than 450 pages contained in his PGA Tour disciplinary file, has crossed yet another boundary. On his Twitter site, Daly asked his fans to call the cell phone of Garry Smits, the golf writer at the Florida Times-Union, and swamp him with voice mail messages. Daly posted Smits' phone number twice on his Twitter page, called him a "JERK" and a "non-sports writer," asking fans to bury Smits with calls.

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BIG news about the 2010 Battle of the Babes Tournament is TONIGHT!! If you're not following me on Facebook....sign up today by clicking the button above my picture. I'll be sending out details via Facebook later TONIGHT!!

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Congrats to Cyclones' Brett Motherwell
Official Release
The Cincinnati Cyclones, ECHL affiliate of the NHL’s Montreal Canadiens and Nashville Predators, learned this afternoon that defenseman Brett Motherwell has been named the AMI Graphics ECHL Plus Performer of the Month for February.

Motherwell, 23, is in his third season as a professional and first with the Cyclones. His +14 rating for the month was three better than a pair of other ECHL players. Brett helped guide the team to a 9-2-2 record during the month. He becomes the sixth player in team history and first this season to win the honor. During January, defenseman Brian O’Hanley narrowly missed winning the award after posting a +11 effort. The co-winners turned in a +12 during the first month of the year.

Motherwell, a native of St. Charles, Illinois, was even or better in all 13 games during the month and was on the plus side of the ledger in nine contests. Brett finished February with three games of being +2 in a game or higher. His best game of the month saw him take a +4 in a 6-3 win over defending Kelly Cup champion South Carolina on February 4. He also had a career-high three assist effort in a 3-2 win over Wheeling on February 24. He becomes the sixth player in team history to win the award.

The Cyclones play asouthern swing through early next week and the second of six straight contests away from U.S. Bank Arena. The club will return to home ice for a Thursday, March 18 game against Johnstown at 7:30pm.

Tickets for the 2009-10 Cincinnati Cyclones season are now on sale. The Cyclones Sales Department canbe reached at 513-421-PUCK, extension 3. The Cyclones have selected Friday night games carried on ESPN 1530 and all contests aired on their website at www.cycloneshockey.com. The next radio game on ESPN 1530 is Friday night at 7pm when the squad takes on the defending Kelly Cup champion South Carolina Stingrays.

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Spend your Thursday with Bianca Deacy...