The Press Box

Sky Hasn't Fallen on Bengals after Jets' Pasting

2010-01-04T21:12:00.001-05:00

37-0.

On national TV, the Bengals got whupped. Beaten to a bloody pulp. The only positive from this game is that a bomb didn't go off in the locker room.

Chad Ochocinco played less than a half and was held without a catch, ending a string of 120 straight games played with at least one. He hurt his knee in warmups (though the MRI on his knee today was negative).

He said he would change his name back to Johnson if he got shut down, but after the game he responded to the question with an emphatic "child please."

Overall, the offense set a team record for fewest net yards in a game (72). Carson Palmer was an outrageous 1/11 for zero net yards and an INT. WOOOF.

Valuable defensive tackle Pat Sims broke his arm and is done for the season. Backup safety Tom Nelson, whom was filling in for the injured Chris Crocker, suffered a left knee injury after getting burned by the Jets on seemingly 20 plays in a row. The Jets found the weakness in the D (Nelson) and abused him as much as humanly possible.

37-0 seems like quite possibly the worst way to head into the playoffs.

But all is not lost.

Knowing his team needs to get healthy, coach Marvin Lewis chose to rest five starters— LDT Domata Peko (knee), LE Robert Geathers (knee) and FS Crocker (ankle) on defense, and RB Cedric Benson (hip) and TE J.P. Foschi (neck) on offense.

That's five key guys (OK, maybe four...Foschi stinks) that will be well-rested in the rematch this Saturday at 4:30. As much as you wanted to believe coach Lewis and the players that said they were "in it to win," once the inactive list had that many key cogs on it, it was obvious Lewis didn't feel the urge to win this one.

If anything, this is a credit to the Houston Texans and a message to the Jets. The Texans beat the Bengals at home early in the season, and Matt Schaub and Co. would have been back in Cincinnati for the franchise's first-ever playoff game with a Bengals win.

The Bengals want to play the Jets and their rookie QB Mark Sanchez.

While the final score clearly indicated dominance, Sanchez was a paltry 8/16 for 63 yards. Yes, the Jets didn't need to throw the ball, as the running game provided all the scoring necessary. However, any time Sanchez had to drop back and throw the ball, he seemed uncomfortable and hesitant against two of the best corners in the league in Leon Hall and Johnathan Joseph.

The Bengals know Braylon Edwards as well as any reciever in the league from his days with division rival Cleveland. Jerricho Cotchery is not a deep threat and doesn't need anything more than single coverage, and there isn't much of a tight end presence.

The key will be if the top-five run defense of the Bengals that got abused for 257 rushing yards can fix it against the No. 1 rated run offense.

Two starters on the line will be back. Peko is one of the best at stopping the run in the NFL, and is certainly the best on the Bengals. The exotic schemes that defensive coordinator has been dialing up for most of the year will be back. I don't expect the Jets O-line to handle the Bengals D-line again.

After only allowing one 100-yard rusher all year up to Week 12, the Bengals have allowed a 100-yard rusher in three of the past four games (1-3). Peko has been out for the past four games—go figure.

The playbook for the Bengals was as vanilla as could be. No reason to open it up in a meaningless game. The Jets, on the other hand, busted out the Wildcat, and now you can bet the Bengals will be ready to defend it next week.

“There isn’t much more they can do,” said Ochocinco of the Jets offense. “There is no trickery. They can add to their game plan.”

In the meantime, the Bengals have been hatching up schemes for over a week and will be eager to show the world that the passing game is still there. Palmer will not let his ballboy in college beat him like that twice in a row. No way does the veteran not give it his all in virtually his first playoff game.

The one matchup that still is a concern is Chad Ochocinco vs. Darrelle Revis. Chad might be banged up, and Revis is the real deal. He is a shutdown corner that can be left alone on the "Revis Island." Chad needs to stop talking trash to that guy.

Overall, the reaction to this game has been predictable; a lot of it has to do with the time slot. But Bengal fans are all gloom and doom, and think the sky is in the process of falling.

37-0. And it wasn't even that close.

But take heart; the Bengals have opened as three-point favorites at home against the Jets, a week after being 10-point dogs and a day after 37-0. Vegas knows something, and it's simple: The biggest turd of the season will mean nothing come Saturday.

Bengals Upend Chiefs, Cruise To AFC North Title

2009-12-29T23:05:00.002-05:00

In a game that was closer than it should have been, the Cinncinati Bengals (10-5) finally clinched the AFC North title on their third try Sunday, with a 17-10 win over the Kansas City Chiefs (3-12).

The Bengals were literally running on fumes by the time they took the field, after a tough loss in San Diego last week, they had a late flight home, then flew to New Orleans on Tuesday to attend Chris Henry’s funeral. The receiver died from injuries suffered during what police describe as a domestic dispute in North Carolina last week.

They had just enough left in the tank. For only the second time since 1990, the Cincinnati Bengals will make it to the playoffs.

Cedric Benson had 133 yards on 29 carries as the Bengals pounded the Chiefs on the ground. He had a few long runs including a 32-yarder that jump-started the offense in the third quarter.

In an exciting subplot that didn't pan out, ex-Chief Larry Johnson only had four carries for 11 yards.

The first half was uneventful, with both teams deadlocked 3-3, offensively stunted. The Bengals, clearly distracted after just recently burying one of their teammates, were booed off the field after committing a plethora of mistakes and penalties.

Cincinnati had 53 total yards of first-half offense, and Carson Palmer struggled mightily, going four-of-nine for just 19 yards and pick, and getting sacked once (for a nine yard loss). Their offensive game plan was nothing but runs up the gut and short screens and slants.

The 10 total yards of net passing in the half was the worst by a Bengal since the legendary Jeff Blake against the Houston Oilers in 1996.

The Bengals received a late Christmas gift towards the end of the second quarter when the Chiefs long snapper Thomas Gafford sent one over the head of the punter, allowing the Bengals to set up inside the 10 yard line. Yet the Bengals couldn't capitalize, settling for a Shayne Graham 29-yarder with just under two minutes to play.

At the half, the scrappy Chiefs had outplayed the Bengals, and the crowd began buzzing, thinking about the "Bungels" of old; wondering if it was possible that their home team could falter for the third straight week and possibly not clinch a playoff spot. (Little did anyone know at the time that Cincinnati also would have won the AFC North even if they'd lost, thanks to the fact that the Ravens fell against the Steelers later that day).

The offense finally got the wheels in motion at the start of the third quarter on a drive that took 5:50 off the clock, and culminated in a Laveranues Coles 10-yard TD.

But the Chiefs battled back and were able to tie the game at 10-10 early in the fourth.

Later in the fourth, starting at their own two-yard line, the Bengals drove down the field to take the lead on a six-yard touchdown pass to Chad Ochocinco with 2:03 left on the clock. Ochocinco made a beautiful diving catch and then raised one finger on one hand and five on the other, a tribute to Henry's jersey number 15.

The entire Bengals team wore No. 15 decals on their helmets in his memory.

The Bengals' 14-play drive went 98 yards with seven first downs and took 7:18 off the clock. It was their longest drive of the season, and they completed all three of their third down attempts.

The Bengals D would hold the Chiefs in check over the final two minutes, and with the win they were able to crown themselves division champs for the first time since 2005.

But the question marks surrounding the squad were not answered.

Another bad team another week of playing down to the level of competition. I'm assuming that offensive coordinator Bob Bratkowski didn't want to bust out much of the playbook against a clearly inferior opponent, but the "Cardiac Cats" cut it too close. There was a real possibility of them losing the game and the vanilla game plan didn't help.

But once again the Bengals offense was able to get a score when they absolutely had to. Credit Palmer for not getting frustrated, and credit the line that blocked wonderfully on the game winning drive.

False start penalties continue to be a concern. Chronic guilty parties LT Andrew Whitworth and RT Dennis Roland both had flags tossed their way. At this point in the season it seems that this is an issue that can't be fixed and will have to be taken into account for the rest of the year.

A key injury will set the Bengals back even more defensively. Rookie linebacker Rey Maualuga broke his ankle and is likely done for the year. He will be sitting next to Antawn Odom, Roy Williams, and Reggie Kelly on injured reserve.

The Bengals' tenth victory of the season allowed coach Marvin Lewis to pass team founder Paul Brown for second place on the team's all-time wins list, with 56.

The Bengals played an ugly game, but they got the win and that's what counts in the end. Next week they travel to New York to play the playoff hungry Jets (8-7) in the final game at the Meadowlands. It will be the first prime time game of the season for the Bengals, who can still get the three seed in the AFC with a win and a Patriots loss to the Texans next week.

The Bengals know that the only thing people will remember is how they perform in the playoffs.

"The AFC North hat is just a hat," Palmer said. "The AFC Championship hat is one you want, but the Super Bowl hat is what we are working for. The title is one of the many goals we set out to achieve. We are not going to pound our chest over this. We don't feel like we have conquered the world. We still have a lot of work to do."

The 2009 Bengals didn't dump Gatorade on coach Lewis after the game. They know that the bigger task at hand has only begun.

LeBron James and Dwyane Wade on the Same Team?

2009-12-24T20:34:00.001-05:00

Dwayne Wade and LeBron James on the same team in 2010 is a long shot. But it's not out of the question.

Can two mega-stars in their prime ever coexist? Can their egos be set aside?

Wade recently made some very intriguing comments to the New York Post regarding his free agency after the season:

"Before we agreed to terms, LeBron and I had a couple conversations," Wade said. "I can't recall exactly what we said, but the gist of it was we wanted to give ourselves the flexibility and the option to play together."

The two played together in the 2008 Olympics so they have experience playing together. The two most successful players from the 2003 draft have developed a friendly relationship over the years.

The only way this would work is if the dynamic-duo would take a significant pay cut. Nobody expects pro athletes to do that. There's going to be a white Christmas in Hawaii before a athlete surrenders some of his money.

But Wade says that is not necessarily the case:

"A lot of times in this league, players usually wind up going where they can get the most money. We're both blessed within that area. We've made a lot of money. So we wanted to base our decision on two things, the organization and the ability to win a title. And that's what we'll do. When the season is over, we plan to sit down and talk about it."

This is great news for New York Knick fans. The franchise might be able to pull off something this outrageous. James and Wade can make up the lost salary with all the endorsements deals they can handle.

"I'm not saying it will happen. But I'm intrigued by the idea."

How much money can a franchise make off the star power of combing those two? How many new fans can they attach with a combo like that?

I'm quivering at the mere thought. This is going to be quite the summer for the NBA.

Cincinnati Bengals Emotional Comeback Denied By San Diego Chargers

2009-12-21T18:37:00.001-05:00

The set up was perfect.

The Cincinnati Bengals had been trailing all game long against the San Diego Chargers in a sunny Qualcomm. They looked deflated after the horrific tragedy that occurred Wednesday.

But with Chris Henry on the minds of everyone in stripes, the comeback began.

It all started with a outstanding bobbled one-handed interception by linebacker Keith Rivers with the Chargers up 24-13 and chalk full of confidence.

Carson Palmer found Laveranues Coles in the end zone a few plays later. After a courageous two-point conversion run by Palmer, the score stood at 24-21.

After punts by both teams the Bengals were backed up to their own three yard line with around six minutes to go. Palmer methodically drove the team down field with slants up the middle to JP Foschi and Andre Caldwell.

Quan Cosby, the punt returner, who made the first catch of his career earlier in the game, caught a huge third down bullet from Palmer.

Sitting at the 30-yard line of San Diego, it began to feel like one of those "cardiac cat" drives that the Bengals did on a weekly basis early in the season. The clock was under two minutes and the Bengals were making all the right plays.

But then a hard hit by safety Eric Weddle on Andre Caldwell knocked the ball back 20 yards and was recovered by a diving Palmer back at the 45 yard line.

The Bengals were able to get back in field goal range but couldn't pick up the 36 yards needed for a first down. Shayne Graham drilled a game tying 34 yard field goal with 54 seconds left and overtime looked eminent.

But the Bengals prevent D prevented that from happening.

Phillip Rivers was able to get his team in field goal range with no timeouts and Nate Kaeding easily booted a 52-yarder with three seconds to go.

27-24, game over.

A few things must be remembered about this devastating loss:

Carson Palmer showed the doubters that he is perfectly fine going 27 of 40 for 314, with two TD's and one INT. He showed how much he wanted to win the game with the run for the two-point conversion, the dive to save the Caldwell fumble, and the terrific block he executed on a Ocho Cinco reverse. He lead his team by example and his teammates needed to take note.

Chad's performance was typical for him (three receptions for 79 yards and a TD), but the emotions he battled through and the focus he showed must be applauded. He was wearing a heavy heart and came through with an inspired performance. The 49-yard bomb for a TD was a thing of beauty and a refreshing sight for fans.

Keith Rivers had his best game as a Bengal. He only had three tackles, but one was for a loss and he had a INT, sack, pass deflection, and a QB hit. He played well in coverage and took away the gaps in run coverage.

Rey Maualuga, on the other hand, had one of his worst games. He over ran the QB and running back numerous times, he was shaky in pass coverage and missed a few tackles. He certainly played like a rookie.

While cornerback Leon Hall has been outstanding this year, he got lit up by the Chargers Vincent Jackson. Hall was beat on two long TD throws to Jackson and played too far off him in coverage.

Cedric Benson didn't look very good (53 yards on 15 carries), but Larry Johnson (35 yards on four carries) looked explosive. Marvin Lewis needed to give LJ more touches as the game went along.

Penalties once again were a problem. The in-excusable sequence of three penalties and a timeout without even snapping the ball is insane for a NFL team. Nine penalties for 55 yards is not going to get it done against a team like the Chargers. They must clean-up the false starts and delay of game penalties or the Bengals are going no where.

Next up is a sorry Chiefs team that has nothing to play for. A win and the Bengals are in the play-offs. The chance of a two seed is history but the performance on Sunday leaves hope for the rest of this season.

A Bengals team that can have a key players return injury (Domato Peko, Chris Crocker, Bernard Scott) could certainly beat San Diego the second time around. This team has a lot of fight left in the tank and I think the best is yet to come.

The Bengals still haven't peaked in '09, but Sunday was a step in that direction.

Cincinnati Bengals Stale Pass Offense Still Sputtering

2009-12-07T21:08:00.000-05:00

Another day another win full of question marks for the Cincinnati Bengals after Sunday’s 23-13 victory over the Detroit Lions. Of course it’s incredible that the Bengals control the AFC North at 9-3, a year after finishing 4-11-1.

Cedric Benson picked up where he left off after a two game hiatus to gain 110 yards on 36 carries. The run blocking continues to impress and Benson looked fresh (although 36 carries is too much when you have a healthy Larry Johnson).

The problem is that the previously standards have been set for this team. The bar has been raised a few feet and now the new expectations are not being met.

This has nothing to do with the defense that has given up the fewest points in the league at 187.

The job that defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer has done will likely earn him a head coaching gig next year. Middle linebacker Dhani Jones is the definition of a leader, both on and off the field. And the starting corners Jonathan Joseph and Leon Hall both deserve Pro Bowl consideration.

Kudos to the entire D. BUT, let’s talk about the offense. Throw out the Jonathan Fanene defensive TD, and the Bengals offense scored 16 points on the leagues worst secondary. This is a week after dropping 16 on the punch less Browns.

Is it the QB’s fault?

For the first time since 2004 Carson Palmer is looking quite average. He finished 17/29 for 220 yards with one TD and two INT’s plus a lost fumble. Although both INT’s looked to be Laveranues Coles’ fault, Palmer was not very accurate. He missed a couple of throws down the field and at times got “happy feet” in the pocket.

Maybe it’s due to the multiple injuries he has suffered over the years, but Palmer does not hang in the pocket and trust his lineman the same way Tom Brady or Brett Favre does. He is tucking the ball away and running more than ever.

The issues with any receiver without a Mexican last name are becoming more apparent as well. As stated above, Coles was either not breaking correctly out of his routes or Palmer miss read the defense on multiple plays.

Caldwell, the supposed third receiver, didn’t have a single catch. A closer look reveals that he simply wasn’t open. If he can’t create separation against the Lions 31st rank pass coverage then there is a problem.

The lack of a deep threat continues to plague this team. Without Chris Henry, the deep ball isn’t even an option any more. And the second round pick of last year Jerome Simpson is unable to get on the field. He was drafted for his explosive play ability and superior speed. He has been a complete bust a pick so far, especially considering the outstanding play of this years second round pick linebacker Rey Malaluga. Simpson has one catch for two yards in his career.

Having said that, Chad OchoCinco is looking just fine (except for the false start that has become routine). Nine catches for 137 and a TD is another day at the office for “the interesting one”. The best play of the game was a 36-yard beauty that Palmer led right into the hands of Chad for the lone offensive TD. It was a reminder of what could be done in this offense.

But Chad can’t do it alone. The tight end position continues to be a major weakness. Ben “stone hand” Coats dropped yet another TD. J P Foschi wasn’t much better; he only had a 16-yard grab with a holding penalty to boot. As the season rolls along it has become clear that the tight end spot is the weakest on the team.

Meanwhile fourth round pick Chase Coffman out of Missouri rots away on the practice squad. He had all the opportunity to make a difference but it seems he is simply not NFL ready yet. Consider this a red shirt season for Coffman.

Penalties are not helping either. Nine more for 75 is not going to cut it against better teams. The offensive line has been called for way to many false starts and holding penalties. Andrew Whitworth seemingly has at least one of each per game. Dennis Roland has been guilty of similar crimes in recent weeks.

As the season rolls along the cliché “we are who we are” begins to ring true. The 2009 Bengals are a team built off defense and running the ball. The offense isn’t going to light up the scoreboard. Yards are gained in chunks, not gobs. The big play, quick strike ability doesn’t exist in Cincinnati this year.

It’s about ball control, time of possession, and sound special team coverage. Will this formula work outside of the AFC North? A date at the Meterodome with the Vikings is on tap, followed by a trip to sunny San Diego to decide who get the No. 2 seed in the AFC.

The Bengals have played to the level of competition all year long, will this trend continue?

Brian Kelly: Put Cincinnati Out of Its Misery

2009-12-03T21:56:00.002-05:00

Every December reminds me why I love to hate college football. And I’m not here to talk about the insane BCS “play-off” system either. It’s the process of coaching changes and the destruction it leaves the school that gets dumped.

Why does the NCAA condone a system in which its top coaches are forced to make career decisions in early December, when they should be attending to the business of winning big games? Does all the hard work and team camaraderie that has been achieved since August get lost in the dollar signs?

It’s all about recruiting. It’s about National Signing Day, which for some reason occurs in February. Not having a coach for a long enough time period can lead an athletic director to pull the trigger in panic and drop the ball (see Notre Dame for the past three coaches).

Cincinnati's Brian Kelly has been a winner everywhere. No need to barrage you with stats but the guy has never had a losing season. He has taken the UC football program and given it an extreme makeover winning addition. The excitement for UC football has never been so high. Prior to his arrival, the Bearcats had only one season with double-digit wins (1951).

The team is undefeated and ranked No. 5, a year after getting to their first ever BCS bowl. Kelly has assumed the throne in the Queen City and is as beloved a figure as Pete Rose right now. The guy can rob a bank in the Nati' and get a slap on the wrist. He is the savior, the one that did the unthinkable.

All this excitement is now being transformed into paranoia and depression.

Once Notre Dame started going down the tubes the rumors began to swirl. Kelly is Irish, he is Catholic, he's an east coast guy, he can handle the media pressure because his dad was a politician were all reasons he could fit the job description.

Forget the fact that Kelly had once told the media how much he loved the Cincinnati school system and his kids told him they don't want to ever move. That was waaaay back in September, ancient news now.

As Cincinnati's historic season rolled on, so did the rumors of their coach. Once Notre Dame lost to Navy, it turned into a Kansas size tornado of speculation. As Bob Stoops, Urban Meyer, John Gruden, Gary Patterson, and Kirk Ferentz all publicly declined, Kelly's name crept farther and farther up the list.

This week alone there has been a report on Irishcentral.com that a so-called “Irish expert” already confirmed he will sign a contract on Monday. Another report says that Kelly announced he was staying put on a Cincinnati radio station.

The No. 5 Bearcats (11-0, 6-0) play for a Big East title and possible berth in the BCS National Championship Game on Saturday at Pittsburgh (9-2, 5-1). The players and their coach have been forced to talk about a team they might never play more than the team they play for a Big East Championship this week.

Kelly isn’t being vocal about it to his players either.

"He hasn't addressed it," tight end Ben Guidugli said. "We would have liked for him to address it, but he didn't. It's not taking anything away from this game. All the work we have done, we are not going to let anybody take away from this game we got coming up."

An 18th-straight regular season victory, combined with a Nebraska upset of Texas in the Big 12 Championship Game, could deliver a spot in Pasadena, Calif., on Jan. 8 against the winner of the SEC title. At the very least it would be back-to-back BCS Bowl appearances to match consecutive Big East titles.

But Kelly could be the next Irish coach as early as Sunday or Monday. Kelly’s even familiar with the awkward situation. After Mark Dantonio left Cincinnati in the dust to go off to the Big Ten to coach Michigan St, Kelly came in to lead the Bearcats to a win in the International Bowl.

The bottom line is that the Irish will flash enough dough to get their man and the Bearcats will revert to the norm. A season that should be so memorable, a season that could end with a perfect record just leaves fans with the depressing knowledge of knowing that it’s team is nothing more than a pit stop on the coaching carousel.

Kelly was on the verge of owning the city. He was inching toward the Bob Huggins stratosphere of king of the city. He could have signed a 15-year contract extension if he wanted.

Instead he will take the money and slowly get beaten to a pulp by the Notre Dame media. Every year will be like sticking your head in a pressure cooker and hoping for the best. At first he will be loved, but look how far Charlie Weiss fell after taking the Irish to a BCS game in his first season.

Good luck getting to a BCS bowl with that defense BK.

“It’s not comfortable for me,’’ Kelly said Tuesday. “It’s not comfortable for those involved. (But) it’s the reality of it. The only thing I can control is the message every day to our football players, how we can become champions. I can’t handle all these other things out there.’’

Yes you can actually. Do what so many others have done and say thanks, but no thanks. Instead, the most legendary year of an entire program has been overshadowed by a 6-6 team’s interest in their coach. This is the way college football works in 2009. Loyalty is drowned by fame and fortune.

Carson Palmer, Cincinnati Bengals Need to Air It Out Sooner or Later

2009-12-02T22:32:00.006-05:00

OK, we get it, Marvin: the 2009 Cincinnati Bengals want to establish the running game.

You have proven to the entire league that the four-headed monster that is Cedric Benson, Bernard Scott, Larry Johnson, and Brian Leonard can run, jump, juke and spin around opponents.

Fans are beginning to wonder if QB Carson Palmer is even the key to success anymore.

While the pass happy magical-turned-nightmarish 2005 is a distant memory, the key to winning is the same. Palmer was a Pro Bowler that year, had a fantasy player's dream of a stat line.

Now he is tucking the ball and running at a career-best rate. Everybody is getting in on the running game it seems.

Palmer hasn't thrown for over 300 yards going back to the 2007 season. He threw for 110 yards against the freakin' Browns last week. What is the deal with Palmer, has he lost his skills?

Not quite...

Palmer is one of the top seven or eight QBs in the NFL. He is forgotten by the national media because of the flashy, yet overrated young guns like Matt Ryan, Jay Cutler, and Tony Romo.

This season he hasn't been asked to carry the team until the end of games. When he does throw, it has been screens, slants, and curls. Long bombs have been harder to find than a believable Tiger Woods excuse.

This has nothing to do with Palmer's arm strength or accuracy. It’s the lack of a deep threat (Chris Henry on IR hurts bad) as well as the overall offensive philosophy that has changed.

Why not have Palmer sit back in the pocket that extra two-to-three seconds and wait for the deep ball?

The Bengals are well aware that No. 9 going down also means the team goes down. He is the one guy that can't get hurt. They already had two scares this season with his health.

In a "here we go again" moment, Palmer sprained his ankle in the first game of the preseason and didn't play again till Week One after missing 12 games last year. In October, Palmer sprained his non-throwing hand, having to wear a protective glove and hand-off with his throwing hand ever since.

So, naturally, Bengal fans are concerned for his health. But concerned with the 29-year old's ability? No way.

Remember earlier in the season when the Bengals earned the nickname "the Cardiac Cats"? They made a habit of demoralizing the opponent with a last second scoring drive.

Palmer drove the length of the field to beat the Broncos with 17 seconds left (until the immaculate deflection).

He conducted a clock devouring six-minute drive that culminated in a TD and a win with 20 seconds to go against Pittsburgh. He had a 15-yard scamper setting up a field goal on a fourth down in overtime against the Browns that prevented a tie, and he marched down the field against Baltimore in the final minute as well.

Coach Marvin Lewis understands this. He knows what Palmer is capable of. That's why he is protecting him so much. But as the NFL schedule hits Week 13, it's time to go deep.

Enter the Detroit Lions.

The Lions will visit Paul Brown this Sunday sporting the 31st-ranked passing defense. They rarely pressure the QB and have an extremely mediocre secondary.

This is the game where Palmer can dial up some bombs to Chad or some deep slants to Coles. They need to put up 21 by halftime, to show the Lions (and more importantly the rest of the NFL) that they are more than a running team. Open up the floodgates early to quiet the offensive doubters.

Aside from the 45-point Bears explosion, the offense has put up a measly 17, 18, 17, and 16 points. But they won three out of four.

Sunday needs to be the day to take advantage of the matchups and make a statement, not to mention the importance of keeping the one and only Chad Ochocinco interested. You know deep down he is fuming over the pedestrian numbers being put up. The last thing the Bengals need is a late season Chad concern.

I have a feeling this won't be the case since coach Lewis brought in his new toy, Larry Johnson.

He is saving the majority of the playbook for the Vikings and Chargers in back-to-back road games following Sunday. Lewis understands the significance of those two games, and the insignificance of the Lions game.

Be prepared to complain about the offense for another week Bengals fans. But when they travel to the Metrodome to play the Vikings, I’ll expect the offense to finally have the training wheels taken off.

Maybe a basic game plan can still yield 28 against the Lions, or it will be another 16-7 yawner.

First intermission update

2009-11-28T20:15:00.000-05:00

The Calgary Flames venture inside Nationwide Arena tonight to battle the Columbus Blue Jackets. Tonight’s meeting marks the third time this season these two teams have locked sticks. The Jackets got the better of Calgary in the first matchup, claiming a hard-fought 2-1 win in Columbus, Oct. 13.

The Flames, however, would return the favor a week later in Calgary, netting six goals in a 6-3 rout of Columbus.

Tonight also marks the first home game for the Jackets since a 3-2 shootout victory over Edmonton nearly two weeks ago.

The recently completed road-trip was nothing shy of brutal for the CBJ and it was important the team get off to a good start tonight against Calgary.

The first period saw no scoring, though that is not to suggest it was devoid of action by any stretch of the imagination.

The Jackets defense was the source of much criticism while the team was away, surrendering 18 goals in four losses last week. Jackets netminder Steve Mason stopped 10 shots in the first period and the defense did a pretty nice limiting the number of giveaways to only four.

Offensively, Columbus was held to only five shots in the first period, but those five shots were legitimate scoring chances. As usual, Captain Rick Nash was in the thick of the action for Columbus; despite his best efforts though, he was unable to snap a scoring drought that has spanned now six periods.

Most of the scoring opportunities came in the latter half of the first period for Columbus and we’ll see if the team can parlay some of that momentum into the second 20 minutes.

Ten Reasons Why the Bengals Lost to the Raiders

2009-11-23T18:45:00.002-05:00

Eric Ball, Press Box Writer

Talk about your classic "Don't let a bad team hang around" game. The Cincinnati Bengals couldn’t hold a 14-0 lead and let the Raiders slowly inch back into this ugly contest. The Raiders scored 10 unanswered points over the final minute to take a 20-17 win. How did this possibly happen?

1. The playcalling on offense. The Bengals abandoned the passing game in the second half. Offensive coordinator Bob Bratkowski called way too many runs on second and third and long. Bernard Scott did rush for 119 yards on 19 carries but didn’t convert enough third downs to run out the clock.

Fullback Jermi Johnson had a key fourth quarter fumble with the Bengals inside the Raiders 15-yard line. He almost never gets a carry, why decide to give him one when Scott was running so well? For the day the Bengals had three fumbles and QB Carson Palmer’s last hail mary was picked off to make it four total turnovers.

2. The previously invincible offensive line couldn’t protect Palmer in the second half. The Raiders were getting consistent pressure which led to an antsy Palmer. He rushed numerous throws in addition to the strip-fumble

3. Shayne “franchise tag” Graham shanked a 37-yard field goal that ended up costing his team. This guy used to have the highest percentage of made field goals of all-time. He is now a below average kicker that will most likely not be a Bengal next year.

4. Defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer allowed rookie nickel cornerback Morgan Trent to “cover” Raiders wide receiver Louis Murphy on the final drive.

Trent got twisted around when getting burned by Murphy’s game-tying, 29-yard TD with 33 seconds remaining. The rookie sixth-round draft pick has played well up to today, but QB Bruce Gradkowski kept throwing his way in the fourth quarter.

This was the first game the Bengals really could have used recently IR’ed safety Roy Williams.

5. With Bernard Scott (21 carries, 119 yards) promoted to starting tailback in the wake of Benson’s deactivation, the kickoff return job fell by default back to Andre Caldwell.

Caldwell fumbled Oakland’s kickoff with 0:27 on the clock, setting up Sebastian Janikowski’s game-winning, 33-yard field goal with 0:15 remaining. Caldwell shouldn’t have even returned it as he caught the ball mid-way in the end zone.

Scott had returned a kick to the house last week against Pittsburgh after a mediocre performance by Caldwell to start the season.

6. Their opening drive, which went for a touchdown, was more crappy magazine than textbook perfection. The drive covered 78 yards, but included six plays for negative yards. Three were penalties. Chad OchoCinco had two false starts and the team overall seemed to lack focus.

7. Cincinnati is 0-10 in Oakland, 1-14 on the road vs. the Raiders. Not sure what it means but that is not a good stat for the Bengals. The Oakland Coliseum was half empty and the crowd was a non-factor. Didn’t matter

8. The Bengals have scored less than 20 points six times in 10 games. Since putting up 45 against the Bears, the Bengals have combined to score 45 in the last three games.

9. The prevent D in the last two minutes. Soft coverage, shoddy tackling, and no pressure on the QB… sound like a recipe for success??

10. Jonathan Joseph lets a game-ending interception fly right through his hands. On one of the final plays on the game-tying TD drive, QB Bruce Gradkowski threw a rocket that Joseph jumped the route and simply didn’t catch.

“We didn’t play winning football long enough or consistently enough. When you don’t win we better learn a hell of a lesson because we paid a hell of a price.”

—Bengals coach Marvin Lewis said after the game. Sounds about right.

Browns can do better than Eric Mangini

2009-11-17T10:20:00.004-05:00

Browns fans were in their seats for kick-off of last night's showdown with division-rival Baltimore, apparently electing not to follow through with the proposed plan to wait until after kick-off to find their seats.

It's a good thing, too; a gesture like that would have almost certainly caused the franchise much embarassment.

Though, in retrospect, it probably would not have been any more embarassing than the product the Browns put on the field last night.

Between the head coach and defensive coordinator yelling at one another, the glaring inability of a miserable offensive unit to forge any kind of rhythm and the team's best player leaving the field on a stretcher just after the game's final, inconsequential, play the scene inside Cleveland Browns Stadium last night more closely resembled an ass kicking than a football game.

The Browns are worse than bad, they are dysfunctional and that is a problem much deeper than who your starting quarterback is. Cleveland has zero continuity offensively, no methodology, scheme or identity and plays are called seemingly with no regard for down, distance or situation.

On multiple occassions last night quarterback Brady Quinn, starting for the first time since a week-three benching in Baltimore, threw to spots where no receiver could be found. The offensive line commits drive-killing penalties when it's not allowing drive-killing sacks. Running back Jamal Lewis has lost a step-and-a-half and now runs like a shell of his former self.

Despite all the offensive struggles the Browns defense actually isn't all that bad. Statistically, sure, they're terrible, but keep in mind that unit is playing against a stacked deck. The Browns offense is so bad, it sets the defense up for certain failure.

Cleveland's defense last night held an offense that averages 349 yards and 24 points per game to just 289 yards and 10 offensive points. Defensively, the Browns have some guys capable of doing good things.

David Bowens had a big game last night, recording seven tackles and a pair of sacks. Kaluka Maiava, the rookie from USC, notched six tackles last night and I was particularly impressed with the play of Brandon McDonald who recorded four tackles of his own, including a sack of Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco who was routinely confused by the defensive audibles made by McDonald. Of course, we cannot forget about Shaun Rogers who blocked another extra point and spent the bulk of his evening pressuring Flacco.

For all the struggles the offense has experienced as a unit, even it has a couple guys that seem to have some talent. Rookie Mohamed Massaquoi had a thirty-yard catch and run last night, Joshua Cribbs has proven, time and again, to be a dynamic player on offense and special teams and Chris Jennings looks like a guy that will compete for the starting job at running back next season after Lewis mercifully retires.

I haven't given up on Brady Quinn yet, either. Obviously, he did not play well last night. I won't even try and make the contrary argument, but in Quinn's defense he, too, has been placed in an extremely difficult situation.

Brady Quinn's childhood dream of being the starting quarterback of the Cleveland Browns is beginning to resemble a horrific calamity thanks largely to the Mangini Regime.

That coaching staff has jerked this guy around since August, never really giving him an honest opportunity to be the starting quarterback.

First, Mangini benched Quinn in week three in favor of Guy Who Wasn't Good Enough To Beat Out Charlie Frye, claiming the demotion was performance-based and in now way associated with Quinn's contract escalators that would've granted him another 11 million dollars had he taken 70% of the snaps this season, then Mangini flatly denied having any knowledge at all about said escalators.

Not before it became mathematically impossible for Quinn to take 70% of this season's snaps did Mangini finally give him back the starting job. Even then it took Derek Anderson posting a quarterback rating lower than my shi tzu's reading level and some of the team's most loyal fans organizing a boycott before the head coach made a change at quarterback.

Fortunately for Quinn, he got the gig back just in time to face Baltimore and its tenacious defense still seething after getting swept by Cincinnati the previous week.

Then, as a cherry on the sundae, Mangini went out there and made Brady Quinn throw hitch routes and bubble screens to Steve Heiden and Mike Furrey all night.

The front office in Cleveland is an absolute joke, bottom line. Mangini is a closer-than-Browns-fans-care-to-admit-second only to Tom Cable as the worst coach in the entire NFL.

Lest we forget, this is a team that only a few years removed from winning 10 games and competing seriously for a playoff spot; it may not be as far away as people think.

It's been rumored Browns owner Randy Lerner is interested in bringing in a football czar, similar to what the Miami Dolphins did when they brought in Bill Parcells to run the team's football operations. That person, according to recent reports, is Mike Holmren.

I don't claim to be well-enough connected to speak intelligently on whether or not that is a legitimate possiblity. However, I do think it'd be a fantastic fit if Holmgren was at all interested.

Holmgren is an offensive-minded guy that has made a career out of developing and working with quarterbacks and I really believe he's a guy that could get the Browns moving in the right direction.

The first order of business should be to fire Eric Mangini, though, he's systematically alienated players and coaches alike since day one; not a good dude and an even worse coach.

Clearly, some drastic, fundamental changes need to take place in order for this once-proud franchise to climb from the darkest depths of NFL obscurity. Browns fans deserve better than this.

They deserve better than Eric Mangini.

Buckeyes book trip to Pasadena

2009-11-16T12:09:00.004-05:00

A fantastic scene took place on the Ohio Stadium field-turf Saturday evening just after the Buckeyes secured a 27-24 heart-stopping, conference-clinching, overtime victory over an Iowa team that played better than anyone outside Iowa City thought it would.

Great teams peak at just the right time.

USC peaked in week two after it beat Ohio State. Since then the Trojans have lost three times and their two most impressive wins came in successive victories over California and Notre Dame, two teams that also peaked in early September.

After spending much of the first two months of the season in something of a listless spell, enduring losses to USC and Purdue in the process, the Buckeyes are finally starting to play football the way we expected them to when the season began.

For the second week in a row the Buckeyes beat a top-12 opponent and in so doing have closed their fingers around the throat of the Big 10.

Ohio State did a ton of things well Saturday. And it's a good thing, too, because the Hawkeyes came to play. Red shirt freshman James Vandenberg, who doesn't turn 20 until the end of this month, traveled into a hostile environment and in front of more than 105,000 people--many of whom didn't particularly care to him succeed--delivered an admirable performance.

His numbers won't blow you away, 20/33, 233 yards, two touchdowns, three interceptions and a costly sack in overtime that probably cost his team a field-goal opportunity. But, Vandenberg was gutsy and numbers won't measure that. He kept his team in the game, making multiple big throws to help fuel the furious Hawkeye comeback that saw Iowa score 14 unanswered points in the final 11 minutes of the game to force overtime.

There's undoubtedly an aspiring sports columnist sitting at his laptop in rural Iowa City right now second-guessing Kirk Ferentz's decision to settle for overtime in the final 52 seconds of that game with decent field position and a timeout in hand.

My heart goes out to that person.

Rather than second-guess Ferentz, however, Buckeye fans should commend the resiliancy of a defensive unit that stepped up when it really needed to, the much-improved play of the offensive line, the fantastic runs by Brandon Saine and Boom Herron and *gulp* the decision making of Terrelle Pryor.

We'll work backwards; Pryor was solid, again. Apparently he's been pretty banged up at least for the last two games against Penn State and Iowa. Ironically, despite the injuries he's turned in his two best performances as a Buckeye.

My almost-certainly-ridiculous-theory is that, in a backwards kind of way, the injuries have worked to the benefit of Terrelle Pryor because they've kept him in the pocket and forced him to make safe throws instead of running around always trying to make a big play down the field.

Perhaps that statement was the dumbest thing I've ever written, regardless, there can be no denying Pryor was cool as a cucumber Saturday, completeing 14 of 17 passes for 93 yards. The longest completion Pryor had Saturday was a 17-yard throw to tight end Jake Ballard in the third quarter. Only five of Pryor's 14 completions went 10 yards or more.

Perhaps the most telling statistic of all: 0 interceptions. In fact, the Buckeye offense didn't turn the ball over at all Saturday.

So, while it's true Pryor's raw numbers are quite pedestrian, I think we can all agree that 14/17 for 93 yards in a win is a lot better than 17/31 for 221 yards, a touchdown and four turnovers in a loss at Purdue.

Of course, much of the reason for Pryor's improved play is because the Buckeyes have been able to forge a legitimate running game that rushed for 226 yards against Iowa and 228 yards the week before that.

Brandon Saine led Ohio State in rushing Saturday, netting 103 yards and a pair of touchdowns on only 11 carries; I'll be honest, I thought his 49-yard scamper to the endzone immediately following Vandenberg's second interception was the final nail in Iowa's coffin.

Daniel 'Boom' Herron was equally impressive Saturday, carrying the ball 32 times for 97 yards and a touchdown of his own.

Pryor carried the ball eight times for 29 yards, including one howtheheckdidhedothat?! 19-yard scamper on third-and-10 that served as the prelude to Herron's 11-yard touchdown jaunt on the next play.

Ohio State's recent propencity to run the ball successfully has enabled Pryor to make plays in the passing game when the situation dictates because opposing defenses now have to respect the threat of Saine and Herron carrying the ball out of the backfield.

In the interest of fairness, none of the aforementioned improvements are possible without an offensive line as that has been lights out in recent weeks. It's amazing how good a running back will look carrying the ball through a hole big enough to drive an SUV, or at least a well-equipped mid-sized sedan, through.

Finally, all this would not be possible were it not for the defensive foundation the Buckeyes are predicated upon. That Silver Bullet defense is the best in the country this side of Tuscaloosa or Gainesville.

The defensive numbers for Ohio State weren't quite as flashy last Saturday as they were the week prior in Happy Valley, but they forced Iowa into a handful of offensive mistakes and were nothing short of dominant during the Hawkeyes' final possession in overtime.

Knowing the defense will keep the team in any game gives Tressel and the rest of that coaching staff the option of being more conservative in the offensive approach. See also: 93 yards passing and a run/pass ratio of three to one.

That, my friends, is Tressel Ball.

The Buckeyes have two games remaining against one Michigan and, likely, Oregon in the Rose Bowl. It'll be interesting to see how the Bucks finish this roller coaster 2009 campaign.

A win over Michigan this week will prevent the Wolverines from playing in a bowl game for the second consecutive year.

Coach Tressel is 7-1 in his career at Ohio State against Michigan and as the Wolverines continue their free-fall in college football obscurity it is likely the Buckeyes will hand Tressel his eighth win against That Team Up North. Undoubtedly, the only thing Ohio State coaches and players are concerned with right now is the game against Michigan this Saturday.

Michigan's defense is abysmal. Ranked ninth in the conference the Wolverines defense surrenders 400 yards and 28 points per game.

Look for the Bucks to get a lead early Saturday and ride Tressel Ball all the way to their fifth-straight Big 10 Championship.

January 1 should be tons of fun, too. After all, the Buckeyes are peaking at just the right time.

The Cincinnati Bengals physicality punishes Pittsburgh Steelers

2009-11-15T21:45:00.002-05:00

Eric Ball, Press Box writer

Are you a believer yet?

The bandwagon is filling up with fans at a feverish pace.

The Cincinnati Bengals went into Pittsburgh and came out with a hard fought, tough as nails 18-12 victory. Neither team scored an offensive touchdown in what turned out to be a battle of the trenches. Usually the Steelers win the physical match-up, but not against this Bengals team.

''That's probably the most grinding football game I ever experienced,'' Bengals coach Marvin Lewis said after the game. The Bengals were able to punish the Ravens and Steelers on back-to-back weeks and beat them at their game.

The D was able to get consistent pressure on QB Ben Roethlisberger. He came into the game tied for first in the NFL with a completion rate of 70.6 percent, but he was 20/40 on Sunday with an INT. He rarely seemed comfortable in the pocket.

DE Jonathan Fanene had six tackles with two being for losses, two sacks, two QB hits and a pass deflection. DE Frostee Rucker was able to intercept a tipped pass that set up a field goal. For the game the Bengals were able to take down Big Ben four times.

Every time the Steelers got into the red-zone, the Bengals D got stingy. Pittsburgh could only muster four Jeff Reed field goals. Once again the stellar secondary led by Leon Hall, and Jonathan Joseph were able to shut down WR Hines Ward (26 yards) and rookie WR Mike Wallace (16 yards). That was big considering both had big games in the first match-up.

''They're clearly the best team in the division,'' Pittsburgh safety Ryan Clark said. ''I'd give my left arm to play them again.''

Offensively the Bengals didn’t set any records by any stretch. It was a lot of short slant routes and runs up the gut. QB Carson Palmer was 18/30 for 178 yards and didn’t have a turnover. In fact the team was turnover free.

RB Bernard Scott came in to replace the injured Cedric Benson and finished with 33 yards. As a team the Cincinnati only gained 61 yards on the ground.

But Scott proved coach Lewis right when he inserted him as the new kick-off returner He took a first quarter kick 96 yards for the only TD of the game. What a way to start off in your new role.

The biggest issue facing Cincinnati now is the health of Benson, who left the game with a hip injury. If Benson's injury were serious, that would be a big loss for the Bengals. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports that he is expected to play next week at Oakland. There have been rumors linking free agent Larry Johnson to the Bengals even before Bensons injury. This story will gain more steam as the week progresses.

The Steelers were without star safety Troy Polamalu for all but the opening series as he aggravated the left knee injury that previously sidelined him for four games. He underwent an MRI exam, but there was no immediate word about his status.

By sweeping the season series for the first time since 1998, the Bengals effectively lead Pittsburgh by two games because they own the tiebreaker and, for the first time in their history, a 5-0 division record.

''In the past, we would lose games like this,'' center Kyle Cook said.

Cincinnati ate up much of the clock in the final seven minutes, culminating in a 43 yard Shayne Graham field goal. The Steelers got the ball back with slightly less than two minutes to play, but Roethlisberger threw incomplete on four consecutive downs from the 33, and it was over.

"This was a statement game," Cincinnati safety Chris Crocker said. "Beat Pittsburgh two times. Beat Baltimore two times. Now everyone [in the AFC North] is looking at us from behind."

So what did we learn today class?

1.) The Bengals beat the Super Bowl champs without big days from their two biggest offensive weapons. Benson had 22 yards on seven carries before leaving the game and Chad OchoCinco only had two receptions for 29 yards.

2.) The Steelers offensive line struggled against the front four of the Bengals D. Rashard Mendenhall was held to 36 yards and the pressure on Ben was there all game long.

3.) Carson Palmer didn’t have a great game and his team still won. Usually the Bengals live and die by the play of the franchise QB. He was high on a multiple throws and put a little too much mustard on a few as well. But he played the game manger role and was able to keep the Steelers off balance even without a great effort in the running game.

4.) Willie Parker is done in black and gold. One carry for seven yards? No way he is a Steeler in 2010.

5.) The Bengals are for real, for real. Talking heads on T.V, and radio were all predicting a Pittsburgh win. Even Vegas still didn’t believe in them. After being favored to lose by three AT HOME against Baltimore, the Bengals were once again favored to lose, this time by seven.

6.) The Bengals are a perfect 4-0 on the road this season, with wins at Lambeau Field, Baltimore's M&T Bank Stadium and the Big Ketchup Bottle in Pittsburgh.

7.) With a AFC North crown in clear view; the goal shifts to play-off positioning. This team has a real shot of finishing in the top two and earning a coveted bye in the play-offs. Who wudda thunk it after that week one miracle tip loss against Denver? The Cincinnati Bengals are 7-2 and the bandwagon is getting bigger by the day.

I’ll leave you with the quote of the game courtesy of LB Brandon Johnson, whom filled in nicely for injured starter Keith Rivers.

“I’m almost diabetic right now it’s so sweet. I’m so excited right now I can barely contain myself.”

Notre Dame football coach: not a great job anymore

2009-11-13T13:39:00.002-05:00

Eric Ball- Staff Writer

Notre Dame is a shell of its former self.

Sure they have a stud quarterback that can put points on the board with the best of them. But the tradition in South Bend is fading faster than the value of the dollar. It isn't prestigious to go to Notre Dame anymore.

As the Fighting Irish wrap up another disappointing season; the status of Charlie Weis continually is questioned. If he were to be fired, Cincinnati's Brian Kelly and ESPN's Jon Gruden have been mentioned as a successor (along with Urban Meyer, but he would be straight loony to leave the swamp).

My question is why?

Why would Kelly leave a program right as they are peaking? Kelly is quickly achieving a tremendous reputation in the Cincinnati area and the fans think the man turns everything into gold. He can do no wrong in the Queen City, turning into one of the biggest figures in the whole state of Ohio in 2009. Why leave the throne?

With quarterback Jimmy Clausen possibly leaving after this year, whomever takes over will have to enter the dreaded "rebuilding stage." The backup quarterback is saddled with an ACL injury that will keep him out of next year's spring practice.

It will be rocky for whomever takes over. So if you're Kelly, why piss off the same people that worship you and willingly be placed under a gigantic microscope of second guessing and criticism?

Jon Gruden has settled in nicely as an ESPN Monday Night Football analyst. He brings strong passion and valuable insight to the table every week.

Lots of swirling rumors report that a return to coaching in 2010 is eminent for Gruden. But will he have the patience to deal with college kids after being in the NFL for so long? Not to mention the lack of recruiting experience he brings to the table.

Think about football in the Fighting Irish's heyday under Lou Holtz, and think about it now. Back then, being on TV every game was a huge deal. Now every BCS conference team has games on T.V. The Big Ten even has its own channel.

The team hasn't won a championship in 21 years and hasn't had a Heisman winner in 22, yet the ridiculously high expectations from the fan base continue. The tradition of a school is a non-factor for kids today, that used to be a major selling point at Notre Dame.

It's not a great place to go to school in terms of hot girls or campus/town life either. That is a major reason why the Florida schools, Texas, and USC are flourishing. They have the "extras" that ND can't provide. The weather stinks, lots of rain and wind. Why deal with that when you can go to school next to a beach?

While everyone else is battling for conference titles, Notre Dame is on an island as an independent. As a player, if you lose three games, you have nothing to play for. And playing USC every year doesn't help.

So what is appealing about the Notre Dame job? Money. It's a fat pay check that can rarely be matched. And unfortunately in college football, the coaches follow the money. So even if Gruden or Kelly read this article, the endless money symbols will cloud their judgment. This is how Notre Dame stays relevant ... $$$.

As you listen to the never ending debates about Charlie Weiss getting fired just remember that the same debates will continue to ring, regardless of the head coach. But when the $$ is right, most coaches can handle that juuuust fine.

Tressel: "We're preparing for Iowa"

2009-11-10T16:00:00.007-05:00

The popular topic of conversation in Columbus after last Saturday's 24-7 win over Penn State is the improved play of an offensive unit that rushed for 228 yards, converted six of 16 third downs and possessed the football for more than 34 minutes.

The play of Terrelle Pryor is the specific topic of conversation for many fans and media moguls on the heels of Saturday's performance. 8/17, 125 yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions; in addition to his five carries for 50 yards and another touchdown.

Nevermind the fact that 67 of Pryor's 127 passing yards came on one strike to DeVier Posey running unabated down the left sideline.

As far as I'm concerned the fact those numbers leave everyone feeling so froggy is little more than a testament to just how bad he's been at times this season.

I'm not trying to say Pryor didn't play well against the Nittany Lions; in fact, Saturday was probably Terrelle Pryor's best performance as a Buckeye. But, to suggest the improved play from the quarterback position should be the lead story coming out of Happy Valley borders on crazy.

Ohio State's defense is really, really good.

The Silver Bullets held a PSU attack that averages 406 yards and 28 points-per-game to just seven points and 201 total yards. Defensive end Cameron Heyward played like a dude pissed off against Penn State, setting career bests in tackles (11) and sacks (2).

The Press Box was inside Coach Tressel's press conference Tuesday afternoon when he was asked about Heyward's play, "Cam's a guy that's in the building all the time," Tressel said. "He's always putting in extra time in the film and or weight room. He just loves to prepare."

Of course, it wasn't just Heyward that turned in an impressive performance last week, Tressel was quick to credit the entire defensive unit for throttling Penn State, "We had to be relentless," Tressel said.

"No matter what they did or what the situation we had to keep coming after them."

That they did.

Penn State running back Evan Royster entered Saturday's game with 859 yards rushing for the season and Ohio State's defense held him to just 36 yards on 13 carries. Derek Moye leads the Nittany Lions in receptions, receiving yards and touchdowns and the Buckeyes didn't allow him to catch a single pass in the entire game.

Pit a suffocating defense against a turnover-prone, injury-riddled offense that will start a freshman quarterback on the road and Vegas will make you a 15.5 point favorite.

When the Iowa Hawkeyes invade the Horseshoe this Saturday they will be 15.5 point underdogs after a debilitating loss at home last week to Northwestern left them with only a dream of what could've been and no starting quarterback.

Iowa's junior quarterback Ricky Stanzi had surgery to Monday repair the severely sprained ankle he suffered last week.

"The word we have is that Stanzi is out," Tressel said.

Redshirt freshman James Vandenberg will get the start under center for Stanzi Saturday. Filling in for Stanzi last week, Vandenberg completed 9 of 27 passes for 82 yards; his first throw of the day was intercepted.

Coach Tressel insists that won't affect his team's preparation one bit.

"We're preparing for Iowa," Tressel said. "They won't change dramatically in what they're doing on offense and it's going to be a heck of a challenge for us."

"They've had time to work and prepare and get better since last Saturday," Tressel said of the inauspicious numbers posted by Vandenberg in the absence of Stanzi. "If you watch them on film, everyone is always doing what they're supposed to be doing."

"The picture is clear for us, we're playing a good team, with a lot at stake."

The Buckeyes and Hawkeyes will duel Saturday for a Big 10 championship and a berth in Pasadena on Jan. 1 for a Rose Bowl date with the Pac 10 champion that will almost certainly prove an easier opponent than whichever SEC also-ran is playing in the Capital One Bowl.

Perhaps equally important is the 19 seniors that will be playing their last game inside Ohio Stadium this week.

For all fifth-year seniors Saturday will mark the 35th time they've played inside the 'Shoe and for all fourth-year seniors it will be their 28th game at home.

Tressel's right, there is a ton on the line Saturday.

Sure, the Buckeyes are used playing in big games. This is a team that has won four straight Big 10 championships and played in two BCS National Championship games in the last four years.

The difference is, we're favored to win this big game.

The Buckeyes have spent the better part of the last four years getting crapped on nationally. Certainly, much (fine, all) of that criticism was justified but the fact of the matter is the Buckeyes have not been given much of a chance to win a big game since since they beat Michigan in 2006.

Less than a week removed from winning a game against a top-15 for the first time since I can remember the Bucks are starting to get some love from those national media folks.

On Monday's show Colin even went so far as to call Ohio State a "really good football team."

Boy, is it getting in here?

It'll be interesting to see how the Buckeyes handle the success they've finally enjoyed. Eight days ago I wrote about the implications of last week's game moving forward. The fundamental argument of that piece was Ohio State could do wonders for its national image heading into next season if it could win its next four games (@ PSU, Iowa, @ MICH, Rose Bowl).
They successfully completed the first leg of that gauntlet with last Saturday's impressive performance.

The second leg will be Saturday against the Hawkeyes.

Bengals D Show Flacco, Ravens How To Be Top Notch

2009-11-08T21:01:00.001-05:00

Eric Ball, Press Box writer

How long does it take to earn respect? Even after jumping to a 5-2 start the Cincinnati Bengals were still not viewed as serious contenders.

Virtually all of the “experts” predicted the Baltimore Ravens defense would avenge the 17-14 loss of a month ago. Boy were they wrong on a gorgeous November afternoon. It turned out to be the Bengals defense that set the tone on a sunny side up 17-7 victory in front of a sold-out Paul Brown Stadium.

The Ravens were stymied by the excellent pass coverage of the Bengals secondary. The Ravens were a poultry 1-10 on third down conversions in the game while the Bengals converted 8-18. The one conversion for Baltimore came with 2:40 remaining in the fourth quarter.

The Bengals DB’s are quietly becoming one of the top tandems in the league. Leon Hall had an INT, three tackles and two pass deflections while Jonathan Joseph also had an INT to go along with four tackles and five pass deflections. In the two-game sweep the duo essential shutdown the Ravens receivers.

Ravens QB Joe Flacco and WR Derrick Mason connected on just three of 13 targets Sunday, and Flacco connected on just five of 18 receiver passes. Baltimore receivers in the two games against Cincy were thrown to 27 times and made just nine catches. A mind boggling stat that speaks volumes of the terrific coverage. For the game Flacco was 18/32 for 195 yards and two interceptions.

The Bengals offense came out firing much like in their last game against the Chicago Bears. After a hot start, QB Carson Palmer “cooled off” to finish 20/33 for 224 yards and one TD.

His favorite target on this day was WR Laveranues Coles whom caught six balls for 74 yards. Coles finally looked like the player the Bengals signed for $27.5 million. He broke multiple SS Ed Reed tackles (tough task) and converted a couple stick moving third downs.

It was another typical ’09 Palmer performance that featured slants, curls and a few more scrambles. The one deep ball thrown to Chad was forced into double coverage and broken up. Palmer’s new found scrambling ability bought him and his recievers more time and now defenses have to stay at home on coverage down the field. It does seem that the days of long bombs are over for the Bengals.

After a 73-yard opening drive that culminated in a TD to WR Andre Caldwell, the Bengals drove 80 yards on their second series. Two pass interference penalties on the Ravens covering Chad Ochocinco—one of which converted a fourth down— led to a Cedric Benson one-yard touchdown.

Shayne Graham's 23-yard field goal on Cincinnati's third possession increased the Bengals lead to a 17-0. At halftime, the Ravens were out-gained in total yards 235-44. At one point the Bengals had 12 first downs and the Ravens had run 11 total plays. Mid way through the third quarter the Bengals had 19 first downs to the Ravens five.

Once again RB Cedric Benson ran for over 100 yards against a cocky Ravens defense. A few Ravens (mostly Ray Lewis) considered last month’s 120 yards a fluke. Well, after another 117 yards and TD, maybe Lewis and company will take him seriously next time.

He was aided by another stellar performance by the O-line. Benson enjoyed a few gapping holes in a first quarter where he gained 45 yards. And for the first time all year…no false start penalties!

The multi-millionaire rookie RT Andre Smith could have played for the first time this season, but I think Marvin Lewis didn’t believe he was one of the best eight O-line players available. Not sure if that speaks to the terrific play of the line or the ridiculously slow progress of Smith. Either way it’s a luxury to have the overpriced BMW in the shop for as long as it needs to be.

Chad had a roller coaster ride of a game. He made several catches in double coverage while picking up first downs in the process. He made an unbelievable dive on a fade route that was a beauty to watch. He had 66 yards on five catches. BUT…

Once again he was stripped by Bengals killer Ed Reed and lost the fumble. It was a punishing drive that would have made the Ravens “kiss the baby”. Instead it gave the Ravens a little bit of life in the fourth quarter. He also had a second fumble that was nullified by an illegal contact penalty earlier in the game. Speaking of penalties…

The Ravens shot themselves in the foot time and time again. They had seven penalties for 80 yards on the day. The Bengals second TD drive was aided by multiple pass interference calls on the Ravens secondary. The Bengals knew what looks obvious to the rest of us now—the Ravens DB’s are unable to cover receivers one on one. This is a major issue for Baltimore and their alleged top-notch defense.

Hard Knocks hero RB Brian Leonard once again provided some huge third down plays. He converted three of em’ and came a foot short of another. He has been everything that RB DeDe Dorsey wasn’t, a tough, physical grinder that always knows where the first down marker is.

The injury bug chomped down on WR Chris Henry’s form-arm. Looks like he will be out for the year (terrible luck in a contract year). LB Keith Rivers also left the game with a calf injury, as did G Evan Mathis with an ankle. CB Fabian Washington of the Ravens also went out of the game on the same play Henry went down.

Bottom line for the Bengals: last year they lost to the Ravens 34-3 at Paul Brown while being swept in the process. This year it’s a 17-7 home win and a Bengals sweep. My oh my what a difference a year makes. With the win, Palmer improved to 8-3 in his career against the Ravens.

At 6-2 overall and 4-0 in the AFC North, the Bengals are forced to play yet another divisional game that could decide the final standings when they travel to Heinz field to battle the Steelers. I’m sure the talking heads will favor Pittsburgh, citing last year’s success. But clearly last year means nothing in the NFL and especially to the 2009 Cincinnati Bengals.

NFL Fans Suffer from Bye Week Blues

2009-11-07T18:24:00.002-05:00

Eric Ball, Press Box writer

Without a doubt the longest stretch in the NFL season for a fan is the bye week.

The six days leading up to it crawl by as you read stories of players resting and taking a few days off.

The headlines on ESPN hype up the big matchups of the week and break down the upcoming games with no mention of your team.

Hearing of vacation destinations for bye week players makes me more nervous then interested in the off week (maybe because I'm a Bengals fan...but still).

Once Sunday arrives, your whole routine is thrown off. Who wants to watch the pregame shows when the team you root for will not even be mentioned? The Lions and Rams will get more coverage for this one week.

Once the games start, an odd feeling of indifference strikes. Most Sundays are filled with hype and a large dose of emotion. On bye week you are relegated to rooting for fantasy players and teams playing divisional foes.

By the end of the day nothing has changed much in the grand scheme of things. Maybe you gained or lost a half-game.

Then the highlights begin to roll in. There is no opportunity to see what the "expert" analysts think of your team's game. (One of the great feelings a fan has is when his or her team wins and you can watch the highlights and talking heads gush over them on ESPN, NBC, FOX, and CBS.)

No predictions about the upcoming games or updates on injuries. Nothing at all when it's bye week.

After it's all said and done, the bye is still not over. Now the team is subjected to minimal mention at the beginning of the week because they haven't played in a while. Rarely does a big story occur during a bye.

Dan Snyder and the Redskins had the perfect bye week because it allowed people to forget about their awful season for a week. The media pressure went down a notch (from boiling to simmering).

But for a team like the Cincinnati Bengals, the bye was ill-timed. Off a 45-10 pasting of the Chicago Bears, the momentum was strong for QB Carson Palmer and the offense. The team was relatively healthy and seemed extremely focused. Taking a week off doesn't do anything for this team.

Odd stat of the day: Marvin Lewis is 1-4-1 with the Bengals after a bye. Not sure how to interpret that one. Do the players get too much time off? Does Lewis fail to keep the squad focused on the task at hand? Or is the stat a complete coincidence? I wish I had the answer.

So while byes can be quite beneficial for teams that are banged-up or trying to release some of the steam from the pressure cooker, it doesn't always help every team—and it makes fans suffer through two painfully long weeks.

Sunday can't come soon enough.

Bucks matchup with Nittany Lions has far-reaching implications moving forward

2009-11-03T11:41:00.004-05:00

Whether or not Ohio State travels to Beaver Stadium and knocks off Penn State in Happy Valley Saturday afternoon, I couldn't tell ya.

I mean, they might win.

After a humiliating road loss to Purdue, the Buckeyes have outscored a pair of afterthoughts 83-7 leading up to Saturday's aforementioned showdown.

We're being told Terrelle Pryor is playing better, nevermind the overwhelming evidence to the contrary.

The defense, in addition to tossing a trio of shutouts thus far, is ranked sixth in the country.

An increasingly healthier offensive line has helped spur the resurgence of a previously underachieving running game.

It's entirely possible the Buckeyes beat the Nittany Lions Saturday.

It's also equally possible that Penn State hands the Bucks their third loss of the 2009 season.

It'll all come down to one thing: Can Ohio State's offense score enough points to beat Penn State's fifth-ranked defense?

The Ohio State defense will keep the Bucks in the game, regardless, though we certainly don't want to take anything away from Penn State's offense, which averages 429 yards a game and tops the Big 10 Conference--though I suspect that's something like being the prettiest girl in a room full of girls that aren't very pretty.

We could be wrong.

Pryor's alleged improvement could be exposed as an awful mirage, the running game may get stifled and PSU's defense may end up throttling an offense that ranks in the latter half of the Big 10 in nearly every single statistical category.

I expect a very close game Saturday afternoon that probably won't be decided until the final minute, but mark my words, the game will come down to the ability of a Terrelle Pryor-led offense to engineer a game-clinching drive against one of the best defenses in the country.

And it'll make for fabulous television.

A lot of people think claims like that merely set Pryor up for failure because he cannot possibly meet the expectations fans and media have set for him.

I think that's ridiculous.

If you're going to be the starting quarterback at The Ohio State University that pressure comes with the territory. Pryor should have known that he was going to be subjected to this magnifying glass from the very beginning.

The bigger the stage, the higher the expectations.

I'm not going to make a value judgment on whether or not this kind of treatment is fair, I'm just saying that's the way it is and if you're Terrelle Pryor, you've got to answer the bell.

At Northwestern, yeah, these expectations are unfair to Pryor or anyone else.

Of course, it should be noted that Terrelle Pryor and many others wouldn't get a second look from Northwestern and the only reason places like Ohio State accept them is because they run 4.3/40-times.

But, if you're Terrelle Pryor and you're going to be the Ohio State quarterback and allow yourself to be hailed the next Vince Young and compete for Big 10 Championships, that kind of criticism is the cost of doing business.

Now, I'm not going to pretend that I possess the unique ability to break down Saturday's game in a way that'll influence your decision regarding its outcome.

That's Corso's job.

I am simply trying to comment intelligently on the importance of Saturday's game for the future of Ohio State football; don't misunderstand it, Ohio State needs to beat Penn State more than Penn State needs to beat Ohio State.

Sure, this is a season-defining game for both schools, but, the ramifications for Ohio State are considerably more damaging than they are for the Nittany Lions if the Bucks fail to emerge victorious.

We are on the verge of a power shift in the Big 10 if Ohio State loses another nationally televised game against a team its equal.

In short, if the Buckeyes lose Saturday they'll probably do no better than a New Year's Day Outback Bowl date with LSU or Alabama in a game they'd lose by two touchdowns.

Buckeye fans have listened to people crush Ohio State since Florida ran 'em out of the gym three years ago. Some of those criticisms are totally valid and some are probably a little overblown; the truth is always in the middle. The fact of the matter is that in the past Ohio State would get the nod to BCS Bowl Games based on name and reputation only.

If the Bucks lose Saturday, gone are the days of Buckeye Football being given spots in marquee bowl games based solely on legacy.

This works two ways, however.

A victory Saturday is Ohio State's first step on the long road back to national credibility.

The Buckeyes close their regular season with a showdown in Columbus against an Iowa team that has BCS Championship aspirations sandwiched between a pair of road games against PSU and Michigan.

Three straight wins probably sends the Buckeyes to the Rose Bowl for a matchup with the Pac 10 champion.

Granted, it's probably not enough for Ohio State to win the Big 10 in order to repair its damaged image, the Buckeyes have to actually win a BCS game.

But if they're ever going even get that chance, they've got to beat Penn State in a hugely important game.

Like I said, I have no idea whether or not they'll pull it off, but one thing is for certain, the result will play a large role in determining Ohio State's success going forward.

The first ever Press Box Power Poll

2009-10-30T15:14:00.006-04:00

Usually I try and reserve this space exclusively for Ohio sports teams.

That is, instead of writing a column about all of Major League Baseball, we just talk about the Indians and Reds, though to be fair, mostly the Reds.

However, I sometimes enjoy dressing up like Bill Simmons and pretending that more than, like, five people actually read us. More to the point, my bloated ego tells me I have valid insights into the NFL and that you actually want to read about them.

As a result, I present to you the innaugural Press Box NFL Power Poll--a worst-to-first ranking of all 32 NFL teams.

#32 Tampa Bay Buccaneers: The Bucs have been been outscored 96-203 thus far and have collected exactly zero wins through seven games. They've had two weeks to prepare for a Green Bay team fresh off a frustrating defeat at home against the Vikings last Sunday; expect Tampa to suffer loss number eight this week against the Packers.

#31 Cleveland Browns: Observing this Browns team and the dysfunction that routinely surrounds it is like watching a rusted-out Ford Fiesta blow away an eight-point buck doing 60 miles-per-hour. Cleveland fired its GM, George Kokinis last Monday, warming the seat for Kokinis' long-time friend Eric Mangini. My only question is: As the worst team in the AFC, how many times does Derek Anderson have to prove himself unable to quarterback an NFL offense before Brady Quinn is under center?

#30 St. Louis Rams: A victory over Detroit last week may very well prove to be the only win for a Rams team sorely seeking an identity.

#29 Oakland Raiders: The Raiders competed last week against San Diego, sort of. Now, they'll have a bye-week to prepare for the Kansas City Chiefs--a team they've already beaten this season. Of course, no one in Oakland even cares about the game, it's Tom Cable's apparent affinity for harming those around him that is dominating headlines.

#28 Kansas City Chiefs: A new, offensive-minded coach coupled with a quarterback who successsfully manned New England's high-octane offense a season ago should've produced better results. A 1-6 record shows just how many holes this team has yet to fill.

#27 Detroit Lions: The Lions want so badly for everyone to believe that despite only one win thus far, this team is getting better every week and that quarterback Matt Stafford is the next Matt Ryan. I, for one, was chugging the Kool-Aid, though a home-loss to the hapless Rams last week have since left me sipping.

#26 Tennessee Titans: Vince Young was effecient under center for the Tennessee last week as the Titans grabbed their first win of '09. This week, however, could be much different as the Titans travel cross-country to San Franciso.

#25 Washington Redskins: 'Skins Head Coach Jim Zorn was stripped of his play-calling duties in favor of a guy who was calling out bingo numbers when the season began. Of course, it doesn't really matter if my shi tzu is running Washington's offense as long as the team continues to execute poorly on the field. That said, a defense that has allowed the fifth fewest points in the NFC means that Washington is usually able to stick around just long enough for its offense to blow the game down the stretch.

#24 Seattle Seahawks: The Seahawks had every opportunity to make people believe they could still compete seriously for an NFC playoff spot with an impressive performance last week. Unfortunately for Seattle fans, the Seahawks traveled to Dallas and laid a giant, rotten egg, losing in blowout fashion.

#23 Buffalo Bills: The only good news for Buffalo this season is that TO seems to toeing the line in Orchard Park. However, with Head Coach Dick Jauron's seat getting warmer by the minute and the glaring inability of Trent Edwards to consistently maintain offensive rhythm, the Buffalo Bills seems destined to remain mired in mediocrity.

#22 Carolina Panthers: I've wanted to leave Carolina for dead on a multiple occasions this season, but every time I'm set to dial the morgue the Panthers do just enough convince me this team can still make a playoff run. Turns out, Carolina's offense is exponentially more efficient when Jake Delhomme tosses the pigskin to the right team. While the jury may still be out on the Panthers, back-to-back divisional tests with New Orleans and Atlanta will tell us a lot.

#21 Jacksonville Jaguars: Flirting with bad and worse most of the season, Jacksonville has spent much of the 2009 campaign battling small crowds, blackouts and a glaring inability to pressure the opposing quarterback.

#20 Miami Dolphins: The Dolphins may post an unblemished record if they could play the New York Jets every week. Last Sunday's win showed everyone how good Miami is on defense and special teams. The stone-cold reality, however, is they simply may lack the offensive firepower to compete for a second straight AFC playoff berth.

#19 San Francisco 49ers: Alex Smith looked pretty good captaning San Fran's offense in Indy last week and the defense was pretty solid, too. But, back-to-back losses to Houston and the Colts also showed the niners still have some wrongs to right before they can be considered one of the elite teams in the NFL.

#18 New York Jets: Mark Sanchez's inconsistent play has dominated most Jets conversations recently, but Sanchez is not why New York faltered to Miami last week. The Jets lost because the special teams unit couldn't bottle up Buckeye Alum Ted Ginn on a pair of kickoff returns that resulted in 14 Dolphins points.

#17 Chicago Bears: A blowout win over Cleveland last week may have been just what the Bears needed to get back on track after back-to-back road losses in Atlanta and Cincinnati. The Bears will again look to establish themselves Sunday when the Cardinals pay a visit to Soldier Field.

#16 San Diego Chargers: The Chargers are supposed to be better than this, right? At 4-3 the Bolts have lossed a couple of tough games already, including a home-loss to Denver on Monday Night Football.

#15 Houston Texans: Houston is 5-3 for the first time in franchise history and a victory over Indianapolis on Sunday would be probably be the biggest win ever for the Texans as the team searches for respect among fans and pundits alike.

#14 Green Bay Packers: Three of Green Bay's four wins have come against the Browns, Lions and Rams. Call me when the Packers win a game that matters. That said, Aaron Rodgers is the highest rated passer in the NFC and, if the offensive line can give him time to throw, could carry the Pack into the playoffs.

#13 Arizona Cardinals: All the respect Arizona built with an impressive road win over the Giants two weeks ago was stripped away with each turnover committed by Kurt Warner last week in a humiliating home-loss to Carolina. The best weapon at Arizona's disposal is the lame-ass excuse for a division in which the Cardinals play; this inconsistent team appears again destined for nine wins, almost certainly enough to win the division and sneak into the playoffs where it has historically proved dangerous.

#12 Atlanta Falcons: The Falcons seem to be a team that will wins the games it should, but not the ones it shouldn't. This fact should bode well for Atlanta's playoff hopes as the Falcons will play Tampa Bay twice, Washington, Carolina and Buffalo yet this season.

#11 New York Giants: New York has dropped three in a row and last week Giants fans watched in horror as the Eagles gashed the league's top-ranked defense. New York will welcome in the Chargers next week for a game that will tell us a lot about both teams.

#10 Baltimore Ravens: The Ravens snapped a three-game losing streak last week with an impressive rout at home over the previously unbeaten Denver Broncos. This week, Baltimore travels inside the Jungle seeking revenge against a Bengals team it self-destructed against in week four. Baltimore ran the ball effectively last week and if the offense can control the flow of Sunday's game that way, the Ravens will be successful.

#9 Dallas Cowboys: The Cowboys have won three straight games against Kansas City, Atlanta and Seattle. It's no coincidence that an improved Dallas rushing attack has rejuvinated Tony Romo in the passing game. Each passing week provides more and more evidence that Dallas is starting to fire on all cylinders.

#8 Philadelphia Eagles: The Eagles torched the NFL's best defense last week in a rout over the Giants. When Donovan Mcnabb is that good, there's not a defensive unit in football that can stop him. If Mcnabb and the Eagles are able to duplicate that performance Sunday night against Dallas, they'll stake claim to first place in the NFC East.

#7 Pittsburgh Steelers: Monday's showdown with Denver could see Pittsburgh playing for sole possession of first place if Baltimore can upend the Bengals. Regardless, the Steelers have quieted many doubters with wins over San Diego and Minnesota during a four-game winning streak.

#6 Cincinnati Bengals: The Bengals are flying high after dismantling the Bears and will have two full weeks to prepare for Baltimore's visit to Paul Brown this week. I say with absolute conviction this game will come down to which team is able to more effectively run the football against the other. In the first meeting, the Bengals rushed for well-over 100 yards and if Cedric Benson can duplicate that performance Sunday, the Bengals will walk away with a season-sweep of the Ravens.

#5 New England Patriots: Nothing cures a struggling offense like back-to-back games against the Titans and Bucs. The Patriots have since had a bye week to rest before they attempt to cage Miami's wildcat this week and strengthen their grip on the AFC East lead.

#4 Denver Broncos: The Broncos have passed every test they've faced this season, except for Baltimore's defense. Now, Denver travels back to the Mile High City for a date with Pittsburgh. The Broncos are 1-0 this season and another strong performance on a national stage will again command respect from critics.

#3 Minnesota Vikings: No, I haven't yet grown tired of giving everyone who laughed at me when I said Brett Favre would make a serious impact on the Vikings a hearty, "I TOLD YOU SO!!"

#2 New Orleans Saints: The Saints are probably the most complete team in the NFC and it's nice to see Drew Bress garner respect on a winning football team. An impressive comeback win on the road over Miami coupled with a victory over a hungry Falcons team last week proves this team is well-rounded and for real.

#1 Indianapolis Colts: Peyton Manning is the best quarterback in the NFL. No question about it. In fact, I'd argue it's not even close. The Colts are unblemished despite an aging offensive line and and an inconsistent defense. At this point, they've got to be the favorite to win the Super Bowl.

Buckeyes suffer in weak conference

2009-10-29T15:14:00.001-04:00

Chris Smith, Press Box writer

I was listening to Colin Cowherd on ESPN radio when he suddenly goes into a rant about how horrible the Big Ten is, except for maybe Ohio State. Cowherd didn't give OSU much credit, but he did say that “at least they send people to the NFL,” and also mentioned that if Terrell Pryor would get it together offensively we would be competitive nationally. He concluded that right now we are by far the best team in the Big Ten –which in his tone wasn't saying much.

I started to get offended at first, especially after he played a produced comedy bit in which he poked fun at the ironic fact that we have 11 teams in the Big Ten and how two 4-4 teams are playing for the “Wooden Toothbrush” as the mock play-by-play announcer said something like, “the game was decided by 5 turnovers to 4 turnovers.”

I was already thinking by this point that he might be right so I was out of listening mode. The Big Ten, as much as we want it to be good for the sake of the Buckeyes, is not very good and could use some serious restructuring.

As an Ohio State fan watching our BCS bowl money escape to other Big Ten schools gets very frustrating. In general, Big Ten schools need better coaching staffs.

I know Jim Tressel has come under heat from fans lately for not adapting to the offensive trends that have become popular in college football, but what about the rest of the Big Ten? Other than the hiring of Rich Rodriguez at Michigan, Big Ten football is stagnate in comparison with other conference's offensive trends.

Look at the SEC, which is by far the most dominate conference in college football, how many future Hall of Fame coaches are in that conference? Steve Spurrier, Urban Meyer, Nick Saban, maybe even Les Miles?

Now compare that to the Big Ten.

Furthermore, look at how competitive the SEC is for big-name coaches compared to the Big Ten. Other than Rodriguez and Tressel which other coach in the Big Ten has a contract that would rate in the top -10 in college football?

Mediocrity has become commonplace in the Big Ten Conference. The acceptable standard in many programs is simply sub-standard.

That may be hard for OSU and Michigan fans to swallow, mediocrity, but for the rest of the Big Ten that is the standard. Why is that? We get ridiculed nationally for not having a championship game, and our teams historically suffer in bowl games because of the long lay-off.

I have been cursing Coach Tressel most every Saturday for the lack of imagination throughout his offense, but he can only play the teams that are in front of him. If the Big Ten was better as a whole every team would have to be more innovative. It is like the snowball effect, competition builds competition.

So, if I were the Big Ten commissioner what changes could I make?

For one we have to have a championship game. It is not fair to the two historical juggernauts, Ohio State and Michigan that they play every year yet some teams don't have to play either teams –sometimes for a title win-- Northwestern.

My second day as commissioner, I would add another team, maybe two.

Two, if I could convince the other schools to force Northwestern to go to the Ivy League. They are never going to be competitive with their grade standards. They would make a nice fit with Army as an Independent, too.

I would then go on a National search for schools that want to come to the Big Ten and spend money on a football program.

Regardless, I realized that in order to ridicule Jim Tressel I must first blame the Big Ten.The Big Ten is horrible, and Ohio State carrying the flag is starting to wear on our program nationally; but we will not get better on a national stage until the entire conference gets better.

After an easy win, Bucks look toward New Mexico St.

2009-10-28T10:25:00.004-04:00

As motivation for today's piece I fired up the 'ol Big Ten on Demand and flipped on Michigan at Ohio State, Nov. 18, 2006.

You know the game I'm talking about. The second-ranked Wolverines invaded Columbus to duel with our top-ranked Buckeyes with the Big Ten Title and national championship game on the line.

The two teams played an absolute classic and when the smoke had cleared the Bucks escaped with a 42-39 victory, solidifying themselves as the best team in the country and securing a place in the BCS National Championship Game

At the time, the game was considered "The Game of the Century."

Now, I like to refer to it as simply, "The Last Time Ohio State Won an Important Game On a National Stage."

No, really, look at the history, three straight BCS Bowl losses, two losses in national championship games, consecutive losses to USC and fumbling away last year's Penn State game at home means the last time Ohio State won a game the entire nation was watching was Nov. 18, 2006.

Today's date is Oct. 28, 2009 and the 17th-ranked Buckeyes prepare for a Halloween date with the 3-5 New Mexico St. Aggies who kind of resemble a poor man's Texas A&M.

The Press Box was fortunate enough to be inside Jim Tressel's press conference yesterday as the coach tried to drum up Saturday's opponent.

"We're going to come out with our guns blazing," Tressel said. "New Mexico St. is a team that's going in the right direction and we have to be ready for them."

Tressel also mentioned specifically Aggies return man, #23 Tonny Glynn and flanker, #10 Marcus Anderson as guys OSU would need to pay special attention.

Of course, any upwardly-mobile, rationale-thinking person knows Tressel's comments are little more than subtrafuse and window-dressing for a clearly inferior opponent.

The Buckeyes are 40-point favorites in Saturday's game.

When asked about being such an overwhelming favorite Tressel retorted, "We haven't scored 40 points very often."

And everyone got an amused chuckle.

(Pressbox insider's note: I sat near the back of the room yesterday, near all the mics and cameras so when Coach Tressel makes that joke my cheap, annoying, hyena-laugh can distinctly be heard on the clip."

Before anyone could look towards New Mexico St., Tressel first reflected on last Saturday's game against the Gophers.

"The two things we talk about most are defense and special teams and we did both very well Saturday," Tressel said. "Meanwhile, our offense was opportunistic and I thought that was critical."

Without question, the Bucks, the offense especially, were better against Minnesota.

Buckeye defenders held the opposing offense to just 17 first downs and forced four Gopher turnovers. Meanwhile, the Buckeye offense posted more than 500 yards of total offense and Terrelle Pryor became just the third Buckeye ever to throw for more than 200 yards and rush for more than 100 yards in the same game.

Pryor's performance Saturday garnered him Big 10 Player of the Week honors.

"Terrelle made some real good decision Saturday," Tressel said. "His progression, balance and decision making were all very good."

For all the good things Pryor and the offense did Saturday, it had still only collected seven points at halftime.

"It was disapointing to have that many yards and only seven points; it means we weren't being opportunistic," Tressel said.

That was not the case in the second half, however, as the Buckeyes posted 31 unanswered points en route to the 38-7 win.

"We're getting there, we're progressing," Tressel said.

Of course, injures have been a big storyline surrounding the offensive woes in Columbus this season and just when it looked like the offense was finally getting healthy, the plot thickened.

Tressel announced Tuesday offensive lineman Mike Adams, who left Saturday's game with his foot in a walking boot, will miss at least the next two games and Brandon Saine and 'Boom' Herron are both questionable for the Aggies.

If neither running back can go, it is expected that Jordan Hall would start and Jermil Martin, who carried the ball eight times for 73 yards Saturday, would also see significant action.

Tressel also didn't rule out the possibility that freshman back Jaamal Berry could see some playing time.

"If Brandon or Boom can go, you don't want to give away that year [of eligibility] with Jaamal," Tressel said. "But if those guys are still hurt, we may not have a choice."

Ohio State has had to overcome a slew of offensive injuries this season, but Tressel doesn't believe that has anything to do with the unit's struggles this season.

"If you believe in individual practice and improvement, then maybe that's had an impact, but I don't know that [injuries] have affected the performance of the whole," Tressel said.

For Tressel, this Saturday isn't just about earning a victory, it's about building momentum for the sprint to the finish in a neck-and-neck conference.

"We have to have the right perspective," Tressel said. "Go out, get a win and then realize that we have to get better to beat Penn State, Iowa and Michigan."

Coach is right, too.

The Buckeyes will trounce New Mexico St. Saturday, though I'll happily take the points, and will then begin a three-game-gauntlet to save their season in two weeks against the Nittany Lions.

The team looked pretty sharp last Saturday and if it can duplicate that performance against NMSU, then Buckeye fans may get to see another Michigan game with Big 10 Title on the line.

Bengals make it Look Easy against Bears

2009-10-26T01:55:00.001-04:00

Lots of different scenarios were predicted for this game, a 45-10 Bengals romp was not one of them.

Up 21-0 in the first 17 minutes the Bengals never looked back. It was a complete beat down.

The Bengals scored 31 points in the first half, their most in the first half since scoring 31 on Sept. 23, 1990, vs. New England.

After a disappointing home loss to the Houston Texans, the Cincinnati Bengals came out and took the Chicago Bears to the woodshed. They beat them senseless and threw away the escape key. The Bengals surpassed last seasons win total in the process.

When it was all said and done, Cedric Benson had a career day with 189 yards and a TD. He showed the Bears what they were missing with multiple plays of tackle breaking, ankle turning runs. He showed his old team the speed and agility they thought they had when he was drafted fourth overall in 2005.

"He wanted to get back at us," Bears safety Danieal Manning said. "We expected that, and would expect nothing less."

Benson was so inspired that he got a little too excited.

"There were a few times where I may have gotten a little too hyped up, a little too antsy," he said. "A couple of drives, I found myself having to calm myself down and gather my emotions to stay poised. Once I got past that, we were good to go. Keep it rolling."

"Everybody knew. What a wonderful day and a wonderful thing, to go out there and strut your stuff."

He simply looked faster than the Bears D, after his first 31 carries he possessed a nine yard per carry average with only a long of 26. He consistently was getting first downs on seemingly every play. The Bengals finished the game with 30 first downs to the Bears 15.

The Bengals were superb in all facets of the game. QB Carson Palmer torched the Bears secondary for five touchdowns and 233 yards while completing 20 of 24 throws. Every ball was on the target and Palmer was only a victim of two drops on the day and no turnovers. Huge improvements over last week’s drop fest and tight end nightmare.

The O-line had zero penalties and Pamler wasn’t even sneezed on by Bear defenders. The 6’9 Dennis Roland out of Georgia has shown Andre Smith that he will not be just handed a starting position when he is healthy.

WR Chad OchoCinco recorded his second 100 yard receiving game in as many weeks for the first time since Sept. 2007. He hauled in 10 receptions for 118 yards and two TDs. He was wide open in single coverage for most of the game; OchoCinco was making CB Charles Tillman “kiss the baby” all game long.

The Bengals line was dominant on both sides of the ball. After losing the league leader in sacks last week Antwan Odom’s replacements filled in nicely. DE Frostee Rucker had a sack and three QB hits and DE Michael Johnson was in QB Jay Cutler face on numerous occasions.

CB Leon Hall had two INT’s with substantial return yards to boot both times. SS Chris Crocker had a pick as well. Linebackers Dhani Jones and Keith Rivers shut down TE Greg Olson (24 yards) and did not miss any tackles.

Even the special teams had zero penalties. All the long snaps were accurate and punter Kevin Huber only recorded one official punt. Now that is the best way to neutralize the Bear’s stud punt return-man Devin Hester

In a statement game for both teams, the Bengals physically pounded the Bears. The Bengals could do anything they pleased. Carson Palmer looked light years better than Jay Cutler and his three INTs.

The Bengals confidence has returned, making the bye week a lot more enjoyable. Resilient 5-2 sounds a whole lot better than reeling 4-3. With Baltimore and a trip to Pittsburgh on the slate after the bye, nothing has been determined yet. But I think it is safe to say this years Bengals are play-off material.

A preview of the Minnesota game

2009-10-23T15:33:00.001-04:00

Chris Smith, Press Box writer,

After last week's train wreck against Purdue it is time to look ahead to Minnesota. I don't know if you can even describe it as “train wreck,” the analogy of a train would seem to imply locomotion, in which the Buckeyes have none. The “Silver Bullet” defense was starting to look like they have been dwindled down to BB's shot out of my Red Ryder gun.

But who wouldn't after spending 38 minutes on the field the week before against Wisconsin, and then carrying this lackluster offense in yet another game. Jim Tressel's offense is like a tick that sucks the life out of all things Buckeye Football.

The only thing I can do is to erase the game from my mind in order to game plan for the next week and to even be able to fathom the idea of watching another OSU football game.

It was a fluke that cannot be explained; there is no way they can possibly play that bad again, so we must erase the game and look at the team that was supposed to go in and make easy work of the Boilermakers.

Minnesota (4-3;2-2) does not pose much of a running threat, evidenced by the fact that Duane Bennett who has yet to reach the 300 yards for the season. Minnesota's most significant win this season has come against Purdue, though the Gophers did compete well against the Cal Bears, then ranked 8th in the country.

The Gophers are ranked 114th in country in total offense averaging, 293 yards of offense a game--who knew there was a team worse on offense than the Buckeyes?

Ohio State is currently ranked 91st in the nation in total offense.

The “Sweater Vest” offense should be able to find seam early seems with Brandon Saine or, God forbid, some designed runs by Terrelle Pryor against a defense that surrenders 164 yards rushing per game.

I look for our defense to dominate Minnesota’s weak passing attack, but the Gophers do have Eric Decker at wide receiver, who is perfectly capable of gouging a defense for long plays and yards after the catch.

The OSU defense proved itself vulnerable last week and I look for Minnesota to use the same passing attack that Purdue utilized until the Silver Bullets prove they can stop it; they will roll out quarterback Adam Weber and do some things to disrupt the pass rush and move the pocket.

The question must be asked, how composed will Terrelle Pryor be after a week’s worth of criticism?

Furthermore, can the offensive line do anything that gives this offense a chance to establish itself and build some momentum going forward?

Finally, it has to get better, right?

Spanning the Ohio sports globe

2009-10-23T12:49:00.007-04:00

So, I had every intention of doing a podcast last night, but a house fire in the city made for a long night and I was far too tired to even talk sports by the time I got home.

"Wow Nate, you are just full of excuses..."

Yeah, yeah.

Don't worry though, everything that was going to get tackled last night will be discussed in the following sentences.

Think of this as a literary podcast.

Ohio State will look to recover from last Saturday's huge, embarassing failure against Purdue when the Bucks take on Minnesota tomorrow afternoon inside Ohio Stadium.

Terrelle Pryor has received more publicity this week for playing like his eyes were closed than if he'd torched the Boilermakers' secondary for 400 yards and five touchdowns.

It all started Wednesday when Pryor's high school football coach during the qb's time at Jeannette High School in Pa. told ESPN's Joe Schad the Buckeyes coaching staff was not maximizing Pryor's effectiveness.

"Jim Tressel is a great coach and he's been running his offense successfully for 30 years," Ray Reitz told Schad on Wednesday. "But I'd like to see some zone-read plays where with one mistake [by the defense], he can be gone. With some zone-read plays, they wouldn't be able to take away all the outside runs because he'd be a threat to go between the tackles. ... Give him time to grow. Put the ball in his hands and if there is a breakdown let him run. It doesn't look to me like he's relaxed. It doesn't look like he has rhythm. It doesn't look like he's comfortable."

Reitz concluded by saying that Pryor looked "robotic" and added that Ohio State may be better suited to run a traditional option offense with Pryor.

Clearly, it doesn't take Lee Corso to realize that Pryor looks painfully uncomfortable on the field right now; the reasons for that are many and vary depending on whom you listen to.

Certainly a lot of the blame falls squarely on the shoulders of the coaching staff at Ohio State and its glaring inability to decide what kind of offense Terrelle Pryor should be running.

Reitz himself acknowledges Pryor may have been better off in a spread offense simliar to the systems in Michigan or Florida.

What about the University of Cincinnati? Can you even imagine Pryor running rampant in Brian Kelly's offensive system chock full zone-reads and run/pass options?

The fifth-ranked Bearcats feature a quick-strike offensive attack that's averaging more than 450 yards and nearly 41 points per game.

Last week during the podcast, I talked about Cincinnati's dangerous offense.

No disrespect to UC quarterback Tony Pike, or backup Zach Collaros for that matter, but Pryor's explosive running ability coupled with Kelly's offensive genius offers endless possibilities.

If you haven't already, scroll down and read Ian's letter to the editor, especially near the end when he talks about Ohio State's sheer unwillingness to mold its offense to fit both its personnel and the evolving college football landscape.

I understand that Tressel's personality is somewhat conservative by nature and it's therefore tough to ask him to just go against everything he's believed in during a 30-year coaching tenure that has garnered him success at all levels.

But that's when it's time to bring in an offensive coordinator to call the plays and add a different perspective to an offense that is desperately seeking a spark.

Furthermore, the fact that we're even having a "what if Pryor played in this offense or that offense" conversation should serve as a sign the Ohio State coaching staff is just, at all, using his talents properly.

The Cleveland Cavs open regular season play Tuesday night at home against the Boston Celtics. Given Ohio State's struggles coupled with another Browns season mired in absolute, unbridled obscurity (I'm being kind) Cavs fans are positively frothing at the mouth to cheer for a winner.

Fortunately, they have every reason to believe this year's Cavs team will give them something to cheer for as the NBA season looms.

The Cavs will return the majority of its roster that won 66 games a season ago and guys like Daniel Gibson and J.J. Hickson are only going to get better as the season progresses.

Another important factor for Cleveland as it navigates through the season and into the playoffs will be the play of its guards in an effort to relieve Lebron from some of the extraordinary pressure he faces anyway.

It's no secret Mo Williams and Delonte West were enormous failures during last season's playoff loss to Orlando.

Much like Mark McGwire, I'm not here to talk about the past.

Neither Williams nor West, prior to last season, had ever been in a situation where they were expected to substantially contribute to a deep postseason push.

True, both players had, and continue to have, sound, productive careers but to suggest either had accumulated much playoff experience is factually inaccurate.

Now that both players have had a taste of what its like and what is expected of them in the playoffs, I really believe both will respond differently.

Of course, no Cavs preview would be complete without mentioning the acquisition of Shaquille O'Neal in the offseason.

From day one Shaq has said publicly that his mission is to help Lebron win an NBA Championship this season.

A warning to all Clevelanders out there...

I know how fickle you folks can be. If your superstar de jour doesn't come in and immediately meet the outrageous expectations you, as a fan base, set for him the signing will promptly be considered a flop.

The Cavs didn't sign Shaq for the regular season; they don't need him to win the division or finish first in the eastern conference. This is a 60-win club without The Diesel.

The Cavs signed Shaq for the push through the playoffs.

So, please don't be surprised if by New Year's Eve the Big Aristotle is only averaging seven points and three rebounds a game while only playing 28 minutes a night.

You heard it here first.

There is no way Mike Brown is going to let Shaq run himself into the ground over the course of an 82-game schedule when the entire reason for signing him was so the Cavaliers could win 16 games beginning in mid-April.

The regular season will serve as one giant land mine the Cavs will have to side-step in an effort to have their horses healthy come playoff time; and if Shaq can stay healthy and successfully assimilate into Cleveland's offense this is a team that could very well win a championship in what could very well be Lebron's final season by the lake.

The Columbus Blue Jackets dropped their second straight game last night in Edmonton to the Oilers by a final score of 6-4.

Despite falling behind 1-0 in the opening minute of the game, Columbus was able to build a 4-1 lead over midway through the second period.

Much to the chagrin of Jackets fans, the Oilers outscored Columbus 5-1 over the final 30 minutes of the game, including a trio of unanswered third period goals to put the game out of reach.

The Jackets have now lost two in a row after winning four straight. Columbus now has a record of 5-3 record and consecutive losses are hardly cause to jump off the bandwagon.

However, it should be noted the team hasn't won since I spent an entire podcast segment calmoring on and on about how good it is.

That's a coincidence, right?

Seriously though, the Jackets have looked sloppy in consecutive losses that have seen them allow rebounds right in front of the net, get out-hit on both ends of the ice and surrender more power play goals than they had in the previous five games combined.

These facts don't point to the idea that we've somehow overestimated this team, rather they show a glaring inconsistency that has to be shored up if the team is to seriously compete for a division title.

It's true in any sport, teams must crawl before they can walk. That is, rarely do championship teams just happen overnight. Instead, very often what we see is a team make incremental progress over the course of a couple years before finally piquing at just the right time.

The Cavs are a great example of this.

Making the playoffs last year was a giant step for this franchise. However, if it is to build on the success it enjoyed last season, the team must learn to be more consistent, especially on away from Nationwide Arena against tough competition.

The Jackets are back in action Saturday night in Anaheim for the third game of its current four-game west coast road trip.

A letter to the editor

2009-10-23T11:14:00.002-04:00

This comment was left by Ian Sample and we thought it was so good that is deserved to have its own space on the blog.

I generally agree with most of what's written on The Pressbox. However, Monday's column on Ohio State totally missed the mark.

OSU fans aren't up in arms because we lost to Purdue; we're up in arms because of the product that was put on the field in West Lafayette.

The offense is stagnant, proclaimed messiah Terrelle Pryor, whose stats were supposed to resemble those of NFL legend Y.A. Tiddle, is dangerously on the edge of becoming a major bust, the defense was mercilessly exposed by a pedestrian Purdue offense and the offensive line resembled a group of fourth graders playing Red Rover.

To elaborate, Terrelle Pryor, in my opinion, is confused and insecure. He can't read defenses, he flees from the pocket at the first sign of a pass rush, he stares down receivers and God forbid he does get a pass off, his throwing style is so flawed that his passes flutter rather than spiral.

Furthermore, the coaching staff's reluctance to put any blame or responsibility whatsoever on his shoulders tells me that he's not ready to be a leader on this team. That said, the OSU coaching staff has done nothing whatsoever to put Pryor in a position to be successful. Even if the line does protect Pryor long enough to pass, his receivers are well out of his throwing range (which, granted, is only about 20 yards).

The offensive playcalling is atrocious.

Jim Bollman's offensive formations are so obvious that his plays may as well be announced on the scoreboard. Want to tell the defense you're going to run a bubble screen? Put a running back 5 yards off the line of scrimmage and 7 yards to the left of the quarterback.

Because of coaches like Urban Meyer, Rich Rodriguez, and Nick Saban, college offenses have continuously evolved over the past 10 years, but not Ohio State's. While other coaches adapt to the times, OSU's offense has become outright obsolete.

This wasn't just another Big Ten road loss. It wasn't even a bad loss to a 1-5 team that already had home losses to Notre Dame, Northwestern, and Northern Illinois. It was a loss in which one of the nation's most powerful programs was utterly outcoached, outhustled, and outclassed by a hopeless, spiraling, collapsing Purdue team. And it was more than just a loss to shake off and forget about. It's a loss that leaves major questions about the future of OSU football and adds even more damage to a dwindling national perception. What recruit would want to come to Columbus to play Tresselball?

Yeah, OSU can still win a share of the Big Ten title, but most likely they won't.

And, quite frankly, I hope they don't. Why would anyone want to relive another trip to the Rose Bowl to get squashed by USC?

Cincinnati Bengals Michael Johnson: The New Most Important Johnson

2009-10-21T22:41:00.002-04:00

Just when it looked like the Cincinnati Bengals had a consistent pass rush for the first time in years, DE Antwan Odom and his eight sacks promptly lands on the IR. Odom tore his Achilles against the Houston Texans on Sunday and is now lost for the season.

To add insult to injury, DT Domata Peko went down with a knee injury as well. His status for Sunday’s game against the Chicago Bears is in the air. With the pair, the Bengals are third in the league with 16 sacks through six games.

Enter Michael Johnson. The rookie from Georgia Tech was considered a top-10 prospect going into his final year of college, a physical specimen that would translate well to the NFL. The knock on him was his effort. He took plays off, scouts said.

He dropped all the way to the third round in the ’09 draft. He impressed early on in training camp with his 6’7" and 260-pound frame. But like most first year players, the learning curve was steep.

After the first six games of the season Johnson has collected 11 tackles. He has slowly received more playing time as he learns the consistent effort needed to be successful in the NFL. With the way Odom was playing, it was hard for him to even get on the field at all. Now he will be playing a much bigger role for this team.

Johnson has the physical tools to be a disruptive force on opposing QBs. Long arms and quick feet allow him to get penetration in the backfield. He has a pass deflection in each of the past three games. He will block a kick sooner or later in his career.

“Every week he gets quite a few snaps,” said Bengals coach Marvin Lewis of Johnson. “I think Michael played his best football that he played this season yesterday (Sunday.) Hopefully that continues as a trend. He’ll have an opportunity to do more and more.”

While the injury to Odom is a real bummer for Bengal fans, the door is now open for Johnson. If he can put fourth maximum effort on every snap his physical talents will do the rest. DT/DE Johnathan Fanene will start this week for either Peko or Odom. If Peko is ruled out, then Johnson will get his first career NFL start.

If the Bengals want to keep the top spot in the division, they must get big contributions from Johnson. If not, then the secondary will continually be relied upon to defend receivers for six to seven seconds. Just like the last 15 plus years.

I'll take my coffee with three creams, two sugars and a drop of perspective, please

2009-10-19T10:24:00.005-04:00

Last weekend was a big one for The Press Box. The opportunity to work from press row inside Nationwide Arena during the Jackets' 4-1 win over the Kings Saturday and the debut of our Press Box Podcast were both firsts in Press Box history.

As always, I want to thank those of you reading this daily, listening to the podcast, "fanning" us on Facebook and generally just for the encouraging words and an affirmation that good things are happening with this little experiment.

To the column...

The year's first BCS Standings were released yesterday afternoon and The Buckeyes were ranked 19th in the country.

Prior to last Saturday, Ohio State was ranked seventh in the AP Poll and though the BCS Standings hadn't yet been released, I'm willing to bet OSU's ranking was higher than 19.

Of course, this 12-spot free fall came on the heels of Ohio State's 26-18 calamity in West Lafayette last Saturday in which the Buckeyes turned in a disastrous performance marred by untimely penalties, poor play on the offensive line and five turnovers (four of which can be traced directly to the quarterback position).

Ohio State fans are one poor performance away from spiking the scartlet kool-aid with cyanide... just but not before they hold a public tar-and-feathering of Jim Tressel at the fifty-yard line inside Ohio Stadium.

I think everyone just needs to chill the hell out.

The Oklahoma Sooners were not even ranked in the first BCS Standings after a 3-3 start which saw them lose to three top-20 teams all without their Heisman Trophy Candidate quarterback Sam Bradford.

The Sooners play 25th-ranked Kansas on Saturday and OU will likely be favored to win that game, despite being the lower-ranked team.

OU fans have got to be among the most disapointed fans in the country right now. This is a team that had serious national title hopes when the year began and injuries and close lossess have totally derailed those aspirations.

How'd you like to trade places with a Sooner fan right now?

The Buckeyes are in a similiar position to that of Oklahoma, only not as bad.

Oklahoma was returning arguably the best quarterback in the country to a team that nearly won the National Championship a season ago and was ranked third in the first poll of the season.

After Ohio State lost a close game to Texas last year in the Fiesta Bowl Buckeye fans had talked themselves into the idea this team could seriously compete for a national championship, myself included, but at no point was Ohio State seriously a threat to compete with the likes of Florida, Alabama and Texas.

I think if we all had objectively evaluated this team when the season began, we could've come to terms with this fact two months ago.

As it turned out, however, we had to endure a heart-breaking game against USC and an embarassing loss to Purdue last week to finally reach the very same conclusion that's been staring us down all along.

This team just had too many holes to fill.

In retrospect, one of the most underrated storylines entering this season was how the loss of our two best receivers and starting running back would effect an offense that struggled last season with all those weapons.

Couple the sub-par, injury-plagued, offensive line with a head coach that would kick a field goal with his team down four points and 10 seconds to play in the game on a fourth-and-goal play at the opponents one-yard line.

Furthermore, all the talk about how Terrelle Pryor has regressed makes me wonder if perhaps he just wasn't quite that good to begin with. Isn't it possible that fans, media and coaches just convinced themselves Pryor was better than he really was?

The last thing I want to do is grab my newspaper, squat down and take a giant crap on this team; that's the opposite of what I'm trying to do here.

Because here's the thing.

Ohio State is still the 19th-ranked team in the country and much like Oklahoma, the Bucks are better than many of the teams ranked ahead of them.

Houston and Utah are ranked 17 and 18, respectively. Ohio State beats either one of those teams.

Are they as good as Florida, Alabama, USC or Texas? Absolutely not.

But there's no way eighth-ranked TCU comes to Columbus and walks out with a win. Boise State is ranked fourth in the BCS. I'm not sure that's a game Ohio State would lose, either.

The Bucks are ranked 19th as a result of a flawed computer-based polling system that requires fluency in trigonometry to accurately decipher.

The Bowl Championship Series is so complicated that ESPN.com dedicates a page to explain the BCS rankings and how they're decided as well a page to describe what, exactly, the BCS is.

In reality, the Buckeyes are anywhere between the seventh and the 12th best team in the country, falling somewhere between Miami (Fl.), Georgia Tech, Oklahoma State, Oregon and Penn State

The cool part is, they've accomplished all this in spite of the myriad of problems outlined above and for all the complaints that we, as Buckeye fans, have against this year's team it still has every opportunity to have a successful season.

Immediately following the aforementioned loss to USC on September 12, I began to consider what was still realistically possible for Ohio State to accomplish this season and two things came to mind: win a fifth straight conference title and play in a BCS Bowl game.

Despite the loss to Purdue, Ohio State can still accomplish both of those goals.

The Buckeyes will host Minnesota and New Mexico State to close out the month of October before three straight tests in November at Penn State, against Iowa and in Michigan.

We'd like to assume the games against Minnesota and New Mexico State will serve as little more than a tuneup for the impending trip through the safari against the Hawkeyes, Nittany Lions and Wolverines.

And if Ohio State can win its next five games it will earn at least a share of the conference crown and probably a trip to Pasadena or Tempe.

Check out part one of the Press Box Podcast for more on Ohio State's chances of winning a Big 10 title.

The argument that if the Buckeyes perform the way they did Saturday again this season they'll lose another game is one I shan't dispute. If we're in Happy Valley Saturday, we lose that by 15+ points.

But that's a different column for a different time.

My underlying point is that simply losing to Purdue is not cause for everyone to freak out and go crazy.

After all, we could all live in Norman right now.

Intermission number two

2009-10-17T20:19:00.002-04:00

It seems like most hockey games generate some semblence of a flow very early in the game.

Is it going to be a fast-paced, up-and-down affair? Or will it be a slower, more deliberate game?

The weird thing is that this game hasn't really generated any kind of flow through the first two periods. Neither teams has really dominated play and six combined penalties have really kept either club from sustaining any kind of momentum.

Play has been physical, but not really in the traiditional sense of the word. Like I said, things have been downright chippy and as I type this very sentence Columbus begins its fourth power play of the night.

Fourth time's a charm, I guess.

Raitis Ivanans was sent to the sin bin with about five minutes to go in the period and a patient Jackets power play saw the team finally take advantage at the 17:02 mark in the period when Raffi Torres netted his third goal of the season when he beat Quick, who, again, was quite slow.

Don't worry, that pun will never get old.

The home team takes a 2-1 lead into the second intermission and the real story behind the team's success in this game can be found in special teams.

Not enough good things can be said about this penalty-killing unit. LA had another power play opportunity go by the wayside in the second period as Columbus was able to throttle the Kings attack.

My condolences go out to the professional looking woman sitting about 20 feet away from me as she tries to enjoy a night out with her husband while some drunk douche sits next to her wearing a Steve Mason jersey and screaming at anyone who'll listen.

Finally, it's "Hockey Fights Cancer Night" here at Nationwide Arena and a group of cancer survivors just formed a human ribbon on the ice. Pretty powerful stuff.

The first intermission

2009-10-17T19:45:00.002-04:00

The Jackets and Kings are locked in a 1-1 tie at the end of the first period.

The LA got the scoring underway at the 10:08 mark of the first period when captain Dustin Brown took a pass from Ryan Smyth down the middle of the ice and beat goalie Steve Mason glove side to give the Kings a 1-0 lead.

In an unrelated sidenote, the intermission entertainment tonight consist of the Donatos Future Jackets and an eight-year-old name Spencer from the Blue Team just scored on a breakaway goal with seconds to play to give his team the win.

Back to the piece...

The Jackets squared the game with just 46 seconds to go in the first period when Jason Chimera fired an absolute missile from the left slot and Kings netminder Jonathan Quick was far too slow as the puck bounced off the net and almost back to Chimera.

Only two combined goals were scored in the first period, but that number could have easily been higher. Both teams had a pair of power play chances in the opening period and neither could take advantage.

It shouldn't come as much of a surprise that LA was unable to score on its man-advantage opportunity. Columbus has the best penalty kill unit in the entire league.

That's not just a biased statement, either.

Entering tonight's game Columbus had killed 18/19 power plays this season that number increased to 20/21 after the pair of power plays killed off early.

The game has been chippy, too. Seemingly each stoppage in play saw a Jackets player and Kings player exchange pleasantries on the way to their respective benches.

Finally, and I'll leave you with this thought, I cannot say enough good things about the fan base here in Columbus. The place is nearly sold out, the crowd is into the game and the most impressive part of it all, they clearly understand what's going on.

This is an educated, passionate group of fans; the best in all of hockey.

The first intermission

2009-10-17T19:37:00.003-04:00

The Jackets and Kings are knotted at one at the end of the first period.

The Kings drew first blood when captain Dustin Brown took a pass from Ryan Smyth right down the middle of the ice and beat Steve Mason for the first goal of the night.

That goal took place at the 10:08 mark in period one.

Nearly the entire rest ofthe

Live from Nationwide Arena

2009-10-17T18:58:00.005-04:00

Greetings from Nationwide Arena. The Press Box is seated firmly on press row as our hometown Jackets look to improve upon the team's best start in franchise history against western conference foe Los Angeles Kings.

Be sure to head inside The Press Box during intermission for an game updates and analysis.

In the mean time, enjoy the pics...

'Cats make case for themselves on national stage

2009-10-16T11:45:00.002-04:00

DVR is truly a revelutionary tool. Really. What many thought only 10 or 15 years ago to be impossible is now positively common and the DVR phanominan has completely changed the viewing experience for sports fans.

My work schedule is comprised largely of night shifts through the week. This means that instead of watching the Big East Showdown between Cincinnati and South Florida Thursday night I had to attend the Meet the Candidates event for Perry Township Trustee in East Liberty, Ohio.

I spent a fair amount of time during the days leading up to this game trying to decide how I'd approach experiencing it.

That is, do I insist on text updates from friends, follow the Gamecast on ESPN and try to find some postgame reaction on the radio for my drive home?

Or...

Do I completely ostracize myself from the rest of the sports world, set the DVR, be sure to extend the end time by an hour so I catch the entire game and pretend it's live as I watch it first thing the next morning over a cup of coffee and a bowl of my favorite sugar-coated cereal?

Generally speaking, I choose the former option; I think keeping up with the game is a richer, more honest experience because you're feeling the same way about the game as you would if you were watching it on replay, but you can take some solace knowing that you're not alone in your trepidation, or jubilation, whatever the case may be.

There's just something to be said for experiencing a game live even if you can't watch it first-hand; it's that commaraderie with your fellow fans that's a big part of the fun.

That said, I do think it's easier to grasp the overall flow of the game when watched via the DVR. Highlights are nice, but they rarely tell the entire story, a lot of times the real story in the game is within the details, the incomplete passes, the one-yard runs, etc.

And because I wanted to really get a good look at Cincinnati I made the somewhat difficult to decision to fire up the DVR.

So, what most of you reading this knew before you went to bed last night I learned about an hour ago.

The eighth-ranked Bearcats grabbed a 10-point first half advantage on the road last night and, with their backup quarterback leading the way for much of the second half, built the lead in the final two quarters en route to a 34-17 victory over previously 21st-ranked South Florida.

I think there were a couple of things we could derive from last night's game in Tampa.

The Big East is a competitive conference. I'll grant you that with only eight teams in the conference it may not be as deep as the SEC, Big 10 or ACC but the elite Big East teams can play with elite teams in any other conference.

Thursday's game looked like a game between the eighth-and 21st-ranked teams in the country.

Sure, there were points during the game when each team looked pretty ugly, but neither team had its full complement of players, either.

SFU was missing its starting quarterback, senior Matt Grothe, who hasn't played since a 59-0 lambasting of Charleston Southern in week three. Instead, the Bulls were running out true freshman B.J. Daniels who looks more like Juice Williams than SFU fans may care to admit.

The Bearcats were without the services of their fifth-year senior signcal caller, Tony Pike who was lost with a sprained left wrist.

For Pike it was an inopportune time (wait, there's an opportune time?!) to sprain his wrist as there were 25 NFL scouts among those in attendence last night.

The Bearcats, however, didn't really miss a beat on offense as backup quarterback Zach Collaros engineered a trio of scoring drives that included a 75-yard scamper to the endzone on his first offensive play.

The Bearcats looked awfully good last night.

I think it's really sad that teams from so-called lesser conferences have to, not only, win the games they play, but earn beauty points for doing it.

ESPN aired a pair of top-10 teams in consecutive nights and everyone's favorite disclaimer throughout each telecast was, "If you're going to be the (insert ranking here)th team in the country, you can't/have/need/ to..."

It's really not fair. And it's especially not fair to Cincinnati and South Florida because they play in a BCS conference. That is, the winner of the Big East is assured a BCS Bowl bid in the same way the Big 10 or Pac 10 is.

There's not much anyone can do about it, I suppose. This is the world we live in and teams like UC and South Florida just have to deal with it.

The Bearcats unquestionably proved themselves worthy of their ranking last night.

Raymond James Stadium was borderline hostile last night and UC was able to go in there and get a victory, even after looking so bad in the first quarter.

The fact the 'Cats struggled doesn't mean they're unworthy of top-billing; quite the opposite is true. The fact that Cincinnati could struggle in the early stages of that game, come back and make the adjustments they needed to on both sides of the ball, proves they are worthy of that ranking.

Furthermore, Cincinnati did all this against a team that also looked like it belonged. This point ties into my initial point about the Big East as a conference, but USF clearly belonged on the same field as UC.

That Bulls defense suffocated Cincinnati through the first 23 minutes of that game and Daniels spent much of the first two quarters making mincemeat of a bewildered Bearcat secondary.

The Bearcats have six games remaining on their schedule and they'll be favored to win all of them. Their toughest remaining test is one of the only two remaing road games for UC when they travel to Pitt to close the season.

As far as I can tell, if UC wins its remaining games and is not playing in the BCS Championship Game, a crime has occurred..

Some of you reading this may be getting winded as you yell at me about why the Bearcats just aren't on the same level as Virginia Tech, Ohio State or Oklahoma but I'd submit to you that is a charge that cannot possibly stick unless Cincinnati is given the opportunity to play in a game of that magnitude, especially since they come from a BCS Conference.

Now, I'll submit to you that if there are three undefeated teams at the end of this season, UC could conceivably get left out in the cold.

For example, if Florida and Texas are also undefeated at the end of the season, it would probably stand to reason that UC would be not get into the title game.

That's not what I'm clamoring about.

I'm arguing that if, say, Florida is the one of two undefeated teams and Cincinnati is the other, the Bearcats belong in the championship game over any one-loss team.

I guess that means we pull for Oklahoma Saturday afternoon.

Jackets earn comeback win over Flames Tuesday night

2009-10-14T09:12:00.004-04:00

The Blue Jackets continued the best start in franchise history last night at home with an impressive 2-1 victory over the Calgary Flames.

Last night's defeat was the third in a row for a Calgary team that began the season an unblemished 4-0.

The focus, however, especially in Columbus, was on a Jackets club that continues to win in a variety of ways.

After falling behind last night 1-0 late in the first period, Columbus came out in the second period like a house on fire putting 13 of its 33 total shots on goal in that second period.

The Jackets' persistence finally paid off at 15:32 mark of the second period while on the power play when Anton Stralman was assisted by Derrick Brassard and Rick Nash to net the first Columbus goal of the game, squaring the contest at one.

Columbus would take the lead for good 2:04 later when Kristian Huselius fielded a nifty pass from Nash to beat Flames netminder Miikka Kiprusoff.

Nash's pair of assists last night marked the fourth consecutive multipoint game of the season for the Columbus captain.

After taking the lead, Columbus got back to what it does best--playing really good defense.

That defense, of course, is anchored by Calder Trophy winner Steve Mason who stopped 22 shots in the win, including some huge saves down the stretch in heavy traffic.

Mason was pulled in his last outing in San Jose during a 6-3 defeat at the hands of the Sharks and did not play in the team's 2-0 win against the Phoenix Coyotes last Saturday.

Tuesday night's win marked the fourth consective Columbus victory over Calgary; the Jackets have won 13 of 17 all-time against the Flames in Nationwide Arena.

The Blue Jackets killed off their only shorthanded situation of the game last night, it was the 18th penalty kill in 19 chances this season; that's the best penalty kill percentage in the league thus far.

The Jackets are in action again Saturday night when the Kings come to town.

After a win over rival Waterson, Desales sets its sights on Elder

2009-10-13T10:04:00.003-04:00

Brad Bohus, Press Box Writer

For most of us Friday is a day to end another week and start a two-day trip of rest and relaxation. This is not true for the Stallions of St. Francis DeSales High school. For the Stallions, Friday is a day of preparation and determination for that night holds the pride and glory affectionately known as Friday Night Football.

With only weeks before the start of the playoffs, hard work is the only means of accomplishment; a shaky 2-2 start saw losses to Cardinal Mooney and Cincinnati Anderson.
Since that defeat to Anderson, the Stallions haven’t lost and last Friday saw Desales get back on track with a nail-biting, CCL clinching win over Bishop Watterson when safety Evan Kendrick intercepted a late-game pass to seal the deal.

Running with the momentum of a three-game winning streak, the Stallions will head down to Cincinnati Elder on Friday.

Led by junior quarterback, Nick Gentile, sophomore slot back Warren Ball Jr. and senior slot back Adam Griffin, DeSales will shoot for the biggest upset of its season against a tough Elder squad.

Gentile, looking to avenge the playoff defeat in the state Final Four last year at the hands of Elder when his brother (Thomas Gentile) was the keeper of the pigskin, will be ready to go at full capacity.

Ball, who did not play against Bishop Watterson due to injury, will be the pivotal factor for the Stallions, hopefully returning the tenacity to the Stallion backfield.

Along with Ball, Griffin, and Gentile, strong appearances from defensive players like Travis Jackson, Kendrick and Chi-Chi Ariguzo may spur the Stallions to a much-needed upset over Elder.

After Friday the Stallions have only two non-conference games against LaSalle on Oct. 23 and Cleveland Benedictine on Oct. 30 to close the regular season.

With the noteworthy pocket presence of Gentile, and the explosive nature of the DeSales backfield, the program is growing into an offensive powerhouse.

While the offense is growing and bathing in potential the defense is another story.
With something of a hole in the line the Stallion rush defense is struggling, allowing 3+ yards per carry this season.

That said, help is on the way.

With new “recruits” enrolling in the next couple of years, a little luck and a lot of practice I predict a state title in sight for the Stallions.

In my opinion, DeSales is one of fastest growing football programs in central Ohio and not too far from the ring.

Ohio State vs USC: The Sequel--do you want to see it?

2009-10-08T10:38:00.009-04:00

Moments after the USC Trojans had their BCS National Championship hopes effectively ruined in a shocking 16-13 loss to Washington I got to thinking, could the Bucks and Trojans possibly meet again on New Year's Day in Pasadena?

The Rose Bowl, which traditionally pits the conference champions of the Big 10 and Pac 10 against one another, often serves as a sort of consolation prize for programs like USC and Ohio State who perennially have their sights set on a much bigger prize.

Barring some incredible upsets, however, it is unlikely that Ohio State or USC can overcome early season losses to reach the championship game this year.

The Buckeyes, who have been the punchline for a lot of jokes by members of the national media will unlikely get the benefit of the doubt from voters after falling short in another nationally televised game against a top-five opponent earlier this month.

USC, too, will need a ton of help if it is to reach the championship game after losing to a team that did not win a single game last season.

Therefore, the two teams are on something of a collision course to meet again on January 1 if each is able to run the table the rest of the season.

It should be noted that neither the Buckeyes nor Trojans can coast through conference play.

After their bye week, the Trojans will head to South Bend for a match-up against a much-improved Notre Dame squad that has scored no fewer than 30 points in any of its game thus far, and in its second-to-last game of the season, USC will play crosstown rival UCLA.

The Trojans should be favored in the rest of their games.

Ohio State has a similarly difficult schedule the rest of its season.

The Buckeyes look to remain unblemished in conference play Saturday afternoon at home against a somewhat underrated Wisconsin squad that has played well in spurts this season.

The month of November serves the Bucks an absolute gauntlet to close the season.

Road games against Penn State and Michigan will undoubtedly be nail-biters.

Like USC, the Buckeyes will probably be favored in all their games except the match-up with Penn State on November 7.

That said, my question to fellow Buckeye fans, do we even want anything to do with USC in the Rose Bowl?

This Trojan team has already ripped our hearts out once this season, do we really want to return to the site of last year's massacre and run the risk of getting humiliated again, this time in the Rose Bowl in what would be a de facto home game for USC?

The alternative would be to root like hell for Oregon later this month and take our chances with the Ducks.

I, of course, have my own opinions on the matter, but I'd much rather hear from you.

As a Buckeye fan, do you want to play USC again this season in the Rose Bowl?

You can let us know in a variety of ways, check out the discussion board on Facebook, post on our wall, or just leave a comment here. Regardless, we'd really like to hear from you.

Solving that pesky QB problem in Cleveland

2009-10-07T15:05:00.004-04:00

This column is intended for Browns fan, assuming, of course, the few remaining die-hards haven't already gauged out their eyes with the wrong end of a butter knife or joined the Witness Protection Program.

Derek Anderson made his first start of the 2009 season last Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals after Head Coach Eric Mangini benched starter Brady Quinn in the middle of a week 3 tail-kicking in Baltimore.

Anderson filled in admirably in a tough spot, completing 26 of his 48 pass attempts for 269 yards and a touchdown in a heart-wrenching 23-20 overtime loss.

Anderson's touchdown pass represented just the second offensive TD all season long for the Browns.

All told, Cleveland scored 20 points Sunday, the most the team has scored in any game thus far.

The fact that Anderson was able to breathe some semblance of life into an offense that was dangerously close to flat lining has only fueled the ongoing debate by the lake...

Just who should be quartbacking the Cleveland Browns?

The answer is not quite as simple as it may seem.

Brady Quinn is a better overall quarterback than Derek Anderson. That is, he has a greater skill set, he's more mobile and should be the long-term solution in Cleveland.

It's like my buddy Alan said in a chat on August 13, Anderson couldn't beat out Charlie Frye in training camp a couple years ago and everyone seems to forget that.

But here's the thing.

Anderson is not the guy long term in Cleveland. However, he gives the Browns the best chance to win right now.

"Wait," you're undeniably thinking right now, "that's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard."

It's not, and here's why.

Quinn is a better quarterback than Anderson, but Anderson has a couple things Quinn does not: a big, big arm and an ability to play without worrying about throwing an interception or making a costly mistake

Anderson can make more big plays down the field than Quinn and because the Browns are simply unable to sustain long scoring drives, big plays throwing the football are really the only way Cleveland can hope to put points on the board.

The Browns scored their first touchdown last Sunday when Anderson found Steve Heiden on a play action pass in the corner of the endzone. That play, however, was set up by a 29-yard pass from Anderson to rookie receiver Mohammed Massaquoi--a play that Quinn probably doesn't make.

The official scoring summary of that drive: 4 plays, 38 yards.

In the interest of fairness, it should be noted that Cleveland's second touchdown drive midway through the third quarter was a crisp 10-play 63-yard drive that saw the Browns move the ball efficiently down the field.

The last six points posted by Cleveland Sunday was a pair of Billy Cundiff field goals that resulted after a Bengals turnover and a long punt return by Josh Cribbs.

I'm not hating on the Browns or Anderson or Quinn, I'm simply demonstrating my point, which is that Cleveland's feature back right now in the absence of injured Jamal Lewis is James Harrison and the Browns offensive line is inconsistent on a good day.

Consequently, The Browns are simply not going to be able to move the ball down the field with any degree of regularity and therefore the only real chance they have to score points is by creating big plays and Derek Anderson gives them the best chance to do just that.

Brady Quinn will start down the road for the Browns, probably at some point again this season, but right now Derek Anderson should be taking snaps under center in Cleveland.

Now that you know what we think. Let us know what you think, who should be starting at quartback in Cleveland? Comment here or leave a message on our Facebook wall and let your opinion be heard!

Jackets' netminder, Mason, geared up for sophomore season

2009-10-05T13:51:00.003-04:00

Steve Mason took Columbus by storm last winter in his first season tending goal for the Blue Jackets.

In 61 games last season Mason posted a record of 33-20-7, holding opponents to just over two goals a contest; one-third of his wins were shutouts and Mason stopped more than 91% of shots faced.

Mason led all NHL goalies in shutouts and GAA (Goals Against Average) a season ago.

As a team, Columbus totaled 92 points last season and earned a playoff berth.

It was the most successful season in franchise history, thanks in no small part to the Jackets' rookie netminder.

Mason was Columbus' third-round pick in 2006--the 69th overall player chosen in the draft and, despite pre-season knee surgery that rendered him inactive for the start of training camp, was called upon in early November after starter Pascal Leclaire went down with an injury.

Mason made the most of his opportunity that night, helping Columbus to a 5-4 win over the Edmonton Oilers.

Things only got better from there.

Mason stopped 15 total shots in a November 22 victory over the Atlanta Thrashers to earn his first career shutout as Columbus topped Atlanta, 2-0.

As November gave way to December, Mason only got better, in a remarkable 12-7-1 streak he recorded five shutouts and allowed less than a goal-and-a-half a game.

That incredible stretch of netminding garnered Mason NHL Rookie of the Month honors for November and December.

Mason's strong play in goal also earned him the starting job, and paved the way for Leclaire to be traded in a mid-season, deadline deal with Ottawa, along with a second-round pick, for Antoine Vermette.

Regrettably, a nasty, six-week bout with Mononucleosis sidelined Mason in late January and into February.

Even upon his return, Mason wasn't 100% but was thrust into duty anyway for a variety of reasons, not the least of which was that Columbus was in a playoff chase and the Leclaire trade left the Jackets without a reliable backup.

Blue Jackets General Manager Scott Howson, during the offseason, admitted that what the team did to Mason was "probably unfair" last season regarding the amount of minutes Mason was asked to log despite his illness.

Depsite the success he's already enjoyed, Mason is determined to build on last season's efforts, "I feel great. I feel ready to go," Mason said. "As much as last season was a good season for myself, I want to do even better this season."

With one game already in the books, he's off to a pretty good start.

Mason stopped 32 of the 33 shots he faced in a 2-1 Jackets victory over the Minnesota Wild.

"One season doesn't really prove anything," Mason went on. "If you want to be one of the best in the NHL, you have to do it for 10 or 15 seasons. And I want to be the best."

Check out this fascinating interview with Steve Mason.

The Jackets are in action again tonight on the road against the Vancouver Canucks. The puck will drop in that game at 10:00 p.m. on FS-Ohio.

Blue Jackets look to build on last season's momentum

2009-09-19T18:42:00.001-04:00

The Columbus Blue Jackets shocked most of the NHL a season ago when the team came out of nowhere to earn its first playoff spot in franchise history simultaneously shirking the somewhat dishonorable distinction as The Only NHL Team to Have Never Made the Playoffs.

The Jackets tallied 92 points last season, the most in the history of the franchise, despite playing in arguably the toughest division in hockey with the likes of Detroit, Chicago and St. Louis.

As the seventh seed in the Western Conference Playoffs the Jackets drew the unenviable task of playing defending champion Detroit in the first round and were promptly swept away by those puppy-kicking, cookie-thieving, no-good-girl-scout-strangling Red Wings.

Unfortunately for the Jackets and their fans the team expounded nearly all of its energy during the furious late-season push to make the playoffs.

Now, as the 2009-2010 season looms expectations in Columbus are nothing short of dizzying. The team has clearly shown a commitment to winning and the recent signing of guys like Antoine Vermette and Derick Brassard to long-term contracts serve as proof.

Vermette, acquired in a mid-season trade from Ottawa for goaltender Pascal Leclaire and a second-round draft pick last season, was signed to a five-year extension earlier this week; he netted seven goals and dished out six assists in just 17 games for Columbus last season.

A few days prior to the Vermette deal, the club agreed to a four-year extension with Brassard. Brassard scored 10 goals and added 15 assists in only 31 games last year before his season was cut short with a dislocated shoulder that sidelined him for the remainder of the season.

Having Vermette and Brassard for a full season coupled with stars like Rick Nash and defending Calder Trophy Winner Steve Mason make the Blue Jackets a legitimate threat to seriously compete in the Western Conference.

Even the well-written and insightful NHL Examiner Chris Morgan thinks the Jackets can seriously compete in the gauntlet that is the Central Division.

Columbus has received some national media attention, too.

Columbus will begin its regular season at home on Saturday, October 3 against Minnesota, it will mark the third time in four years the Blue Jackets have begun their season Nationwide Arena.

Ohio State Buckeyes torch Toledo Rockets, 38-0

2009-09-19T18:40:00.001-04:00

Contrary to popular belief, #11 Ohio State's season did not end with that defeat-from-the-jaws-of-victory loss to USC last Saturady night.

In fact, the Buckeyes still had one more non-conference hurdle to jump before the team begins Big 10 play next week and football fans in Columbus and out wanted to know how the Bucks would react when they met up with the upset-minded Toledo Rockets at Cleveland Browns Stadium Saturday afternoon.

More specifically, would Buckeyes Head Coach Jim Tressel, whose playcalling was the subject of much media criticism during the week, open up the offense against a grossly overmatched Rockets defense that starts three freshman in its secondary and surrenders 500 yards and 45 points per game?

The answer to that question came on the third offensive play of the game for Ohio State when quarterback Terrelle Pryor took a third-and-eight snap from the shotgun and fired a 74-yard touchdown pass to receiver Dane Sanzenbacher who was streaking down the left side of the field.
After a Toledo three-and-out the Buckeye offense wasted no time extending its lead.

The Buckeyes drove the ball efficiently down the field and Pryor capped off the 12-play, 68-yard drive with an 18-yard touchdown pass to Sanzenbacher to give Ohio State a 14-0 advantage.
The rout was on.

Daniel 'Boom' Herron would add a four-yard touchdown run and kicker Aaron Pettrey added a field-goal as time expired in the first half to give the Buckeyes a 24-0 lead heading into the locker room.

Ohio State would add a pair of second-half touchdown to polish off Toledo, 38-0.

All told, Pryor completed 17 of his 28 attempted passes tallying 262 yards and though he did toss a pair of interceptions, he also threw three touchdown passes.

Pryor wasn't just torching Toledo with him arm, either.

Carrying the ball 12 times, Pryor racked up 110 yards rushing with a touchdown; 45 of his 110 rushing yards came on an impressive third-and-five scamper that saw the quarterback shirk a number of Rockets defenders as he gracefully glided down the field.

Brandon Saine added 45 yards on nine carries for the Bucks as the team continues to struggle in its attempt to forge any semblence of a running game.

Sanznebacher snagged five balls from Pryor, totalling 126 yards and the aforementioned touchdowns.

Ohio State's defense continues to impress, too, holding Toledo's potent offensive attack to zero points, 11 punts and a pair of turnovers.

Entering Saturday's game, Toledo's offense had scored a total of 85 points in its previous two games, including a 54-point outburst against Colorado last Friday.

The Buckeyes will begin conference play next week when Illinois pays a visit to Columbus. Kick-off for that game is slated for 3:30.

Exhaustive college and professional football analysis from someone who's only marginally qualified to speak intelligently on the subject

2009-09-08T08:48:00.002-04:00

I've been working on this bad boy for the better part of the last week. I hope you enjoy it, I do. Whether or not you loved it or hated it, comment on it. Really. Whether it's here or on Facebook via text, email or carrier pigeon let me know what you think.

I got a text Saturday afternoon just as Ohio State was pulling victory from the heart-wrenching jaws of defeat that read, "Please tell me why I have any reason whatsoever to feel good about our chances against USC next week."

For my predictions/thoughts on tomorrow's Showdown in the 'Shoe, please refer to my post on August 18.

It should be noted, however, that our entire fan base grossly overlooked a quality Navy team heading into Saturday's game. For crying out loud, we were 27-point favorites against a team that has won eight or more games in a six consecutive seasons.

Don't get me wrong, I'm guilty of that, too. While I said all along there was no way we'd cover the spread against the Midshipmen I thought we'd probably win by a couple touchdowns, at least.

Navy deserves a ton of credit. They threw the ball a lot more than our defense was prepared for and its defense made some big plays against our offense in the second half that helped propel the comeback. Mix in the novelty (and brilliant execution of) Navy's triple option offense and the writing was on the wall for an absolute dogfight Saturday, as fans we just chose to ignore it.

By comparison, The Trojans-enz played a team that has not eclipsed six wins in three consecutive seasons and has only two winning seasons in the last seven.

Speaking of competing against teams that possess scarcely a shred of respectability in major college football, Michigan and Notre Dame each posted blowout wins at home against mid-major conferences over the weekend.

Michigan routed Western Michigan 31-7 in Ann Arbor, at the same time Notre Dame was mopping the South Bend Kentucky Bluegrass with Nevada, 35-0.

Those scores disappointed me on a couple of different levels. First off, I was really hoping to be treated to a pair of humiliating defeats of the Two Teams I Hate Most in All of College Football, but what made matters worse was when I couldn't even enjoy ESPN's college football scoreboard show the rest of the night because I had to listen, time and again, to Rece Davis drivel on and on about how impressive those teams looked against their respective opponents and how that somehow again makes them relevant.

In my opinion, this just proves how far those two former powers have fallen.

Five years ago when Notre Dame and Michigan actually mattered and wins against those schools actually meant something blowout victories against the likes of the Nevada Wolfpack and the Western Michigan Broncos would have been little more than an afterthought on the highlight shows. Now, after a couples years of relative obscurity those two disgraced programs earn double-digit victories and it's newsworthy.

Looking to your right, does that look like the kind of guy that can lead a program to a BCS National Championship? The only thing Charlie Weiss is leading is the march to the local Dunkin' Donuts.

The Irish and Wolverines match up this Saturday, I hope Notre Dame wins the game 2-0 after the Michigan long snapper, on a punt attempt, snaps the ball through the endzone for a safety.

This weekend will definitely be an emotional roller coaster because of regardless of what happens Saturday night with my beloved Buckeyes the turnaround must be rapid because the Bengals open their regular season Sunday afternoon against the Denver Broncos.

I've been looking forward to the impending NFL season since the Reds dropped 10 of 12 immediately after the All-Star break in mid-July.

At this point, I'm like a single-mother in her 30's desperately seeking a young, hot stud to sweep her off her feet for a five-month passionate love affair complete with a weekend getaway to Miami in early February for the 2010 Super Bowl!

It's been so long since a favorite sports team of mine has competed seriously for a championship in anything that I longingly anticipate that nervous, butterflies-in-the-stomach feeling associated with watching your favorite team play in a big game.

Consequently, I spend much of the off-season, training camp, spring training, whatever, trying to drum up a sense of sincere, unbridled anxiousness for the return of my favorite team de jour and the best way to do that is to totally manipulate myself into believing that we can seriously compete for a championship.

"We really did have a decent draft. Our defense is going to be much improved over a season ago. Carson Palmer will finally be healthy for an entire season. Chad Ochocinco will finally prove himself to be a legitimate star receiver in the league. WE CAN WIN THE SUPER BOWL!!!!"

But, here's the thing.

Everything I just told you was absolutely correct. With the glaring exception of selecting Andre Smith or as I like to call him, An Offensive Lineman's Ryan Leak, over Eugene Monroe we really did have a decent draft. Rey Maualuga will certainly add depth to an already pretty decent linebacking corp. and getting a healthy Keith Rivers back this season was like having another draft pick after he was lost for most of his rookie campaign when Steelers receiver Hines Ward broke the linebacker's jaw in week six.

I think the efforts of Carson Palmer will merit Comeback Player of the Year honors as he will have a fantastic season thanks in no small part to guys like Cedric Benson, Chad Ochocinco and Chris Henry.

Of course, it's entirely possible my pot is laced with something and I am completely full of crap; if that's the case, I'll be eating crow by week three because we're going to know early on how good this Bengals team actually is as we have an absolute gauntlet to run in the first five weeks.

The season opens up inncocently enough at home against the Denver Broncos. This is an important game early for the WhoDeys. It's not that we're going to be able to put a ton of stock into a week one victory over Denver as most pundits predict the Broncos to win only six or seven games this year.

I feel like I should mention that right now somewhere near the greater Denver area there is a 23-year-old aspiring sports columnist posing as a freelance writer typing away on his laptop into blogger a column outlining why the Broncos will be better than everyone thinks this season. This is why sports are such a wonderful thing; every new season brings all new hope.

Most pundits only forecast five or six wins for us this season, too. This means, of course, most everyone thinks Denver and Cincinnati are pretty similar on paper.

Therefore, if the Bengals this season are going to be better than a 5-7 win team, they have to beat other 5-7 win teams consistently.

Maybe I've just had too much coffee this morning.

Either way, our season opener is very significant, a win will leave me feeling like a 16-year-old boy who's girlfriend just let him undo her bra during a drive-in movie, but a loss will leave me spending all of next week in the fetal position watching "The Notebook" 12 times in a row and wishing I were Ryan Gosling.

Week two sends the Bengals to Lambeau Field for what is probably our toughest out-of-division road game all season. We'll probably walk into those hallowed grounds as underdogs, by 5-8 points, regardless of what happens in week one.

To round out the month of September the Pittsburgh Steelers come to town for week three. There are few professional sports teams I harbor more disdain for than the Pittsburgh Steelers.

No, no that's not quite strong enough. There are few things I hate more in this universe than the Steelers. Honest to God, the Steelers are right up there with famine, disease, poverty and Bill O'Reilly as Nouns I Disdain Most in This Universe.

Speaking of Bill O'Reilly...

To this day, my bitter abhoration for the entire Steel City is the only thing I have in common with Browns fans.

That said, my goodness did they look strong against the Titans last night.

Losing Troy Palamalu for the better part of the next month will leave the defense a bit vulnerable, but they are still stingy against the run, those outside linebackers can rush the passer like few others and Ben Roethlisbooger (Oops. that's not how you spell it!) is borderline flawless, especially when he gets time in the pocket to throw the football.

Finally, to close out the every Friday blog from now until the end of the regular season, I'm going to pick three games a week against the spread. You know, just in case they ever legalize gambling.

Minnesota (-4) at Cleveland: The Browns didn't even name a starting quarterback until earlier this week. I told you August 21 the Vikings were the team to beat in the NFC, at least while Brett Favre is healthy. I was truly shocked when I saw the line on this game earlier in the week. Four is much too low for the Vikes in this one, even on the road.

Vikings: 24 Browns: 13

Browns fans, look at it this way, I think you'll score an offensive touchdown in this game.

Dallas (-6) at Tampa Bay: I've heard a couple different pundits claim the Bucs may be the worst team in the NFL this season. I don't know about that, but first-year coach Raheem Morris will have his hands full this year, and the headaches have already begun when Morris canned the offensive coordinator earlier this week. The Cowboys, meanwhile, are notoriously fast starters and I think the offense will roll in this game.

Cowboys: 27 Bucs: 10

The Cowboys offense will have to carry that momentum all the way through the season.

St. Louis (+8) at Seattle: The Rams were positively dismal a season ago, and despite a coaching overhaul probably won't be much better this season. Seattle struggled last season, too but a healthy Matt Hasselbeck and the signing of T.J. Houshmanzada (yes, I had to double-check the correct spelling of his last name) has many thinking the Seahawks are primed for a Miami Dolphinsesque turnaround.

Seahawks: 21 Rams: 6

Despite a comfortable win, Seahawks will have to wait until their team plays someone noteworthy before they begin predicting a division title.

So, here's to another great season of professional football. Have a fantastic, safe football-filled weekend cheering on your favorite team.

GO BUCKS....GO BENGALS!

A drive-thru blog for your Wednesday morning

2009-09-02T09:23:00.003-04:00

This edition of the Pressbox will last only as long as my last couples bites of cereal and few sips of coffee. I guess you could call this a Pressbox Drive-Thru.

Fear not, we'll never mess up your order and my fingernails are always clean.

Here's a shoutout to my good buddy Alan for giving me a heads-up on the latest Sports Illustrated. The August 31 SI has an Outstanding (big O) feature on the '75 Reds including some fascinating personal features on guys like Morgan, Rose and Bench. Even if you're not a Reds fan, this is still a great read.

I saw the Dodgers in person over the weekend and I've got to tell ya, they are awfully good and awfully deep. What's more, in the last three days the Dodgers have acquired infielders Ronnie Belliard and Jim Thome as well as pitcher Jon Garland.

Belliard and Thome will likely be used off the bench.

Can you imagine being Brad Lidge in Game 5 of the NLCS, nursing a one-run lead and with two on and two out in the ninth and the Dodgers are running Jim Thome out there to bat for the pitcher?

The move I really, really like by the Dodgers though is Jon Garland, who came over from the White Sox with Thome and here's why...

The only real question mark on this Dodgers roster is the starting pitching. By and large, the rotation is pretty good, but it definitely lacks substantive depth. This point was validated on Saturday when they ran out rookie knuckleballer Chuck Haeger against the Reds.

No, Garland is not Cy Young, or even Tim Lincecum or C.C. Sabathia. But, what Garland is, however, is a guy that gives you a decent, strong start everytime out. If you're a Dodgers fan, this move isn't going to pay off dividends in the immediate future, rather you'll see the benefits begin to manifeset themselves somewhere around the second week of October.

That said, I want you to remember me, Dodger Fan, when Garland goes 6+ three earned, scatters seven hits and strikes out five in Game Four of the championship series, while also enabling Joe Torre to bring staff ace Chad Billingsly back on regular rest.

What're you doing Saturday?

If the answer to that question is anything other than, "spending the day watching college football, dawning a beer dispensing helmet, with the remote taped to my hand while my free hand is tucked slightly down my pants" I pity you, because that's precisely what I'll be doing.

No, I have no shame, just ask Kate.

There are a myriad of outstanding college football games on the tube Saturday afternoon beginning with the Bucks at noon, continuing with Georgia and Oklahoma State at 3:30 and ending with a couple blockbusters in the evening like BYU at Oklahoma and Alabama at Virginia Tech.

A quick note, if you're like me and live in Big 10 country, you likely won't see the Georgia, OK State game because Western Michigan plays Michigan at the same time on the same network.

Of course, I'd submit to you that watching the Western Michigan Broncos beat the holy hell out of Meechigan Saturday afternoon may be the most fun I'll have all day.

That said, a lot of people in Stillwater, Oklahoma think the Cowboys are more than capable of pulling out an upset against Georgia and I'm not inclined to disagree. If that Oklahoma State offense is anywhere near as good as it was a season ago, the 'Dogs may be in for a long day.

Speaking of long days, I'm due for one myself. Enjoy your Wednesday afternoon and please, please tell everyone you know about the literary brilliance contained inside this white space so I can finally start making money doing this.

I told you I had no shame.

Favre, Vick and a muddled NFC

2009-08-21T09:50:00.014-04:00

Before you proceed too far into the literary brilliance that is my blog, I want you to check out this video I happened upon last night while Kate and I weren't having sex. It'll be worth the price of admission, I promise. This is especially true for all my northeast, Ohio friends.

I'm talking to you Ables, Alan and Geiser.

So, the big headline-grabbing NFL news recently has centered around the fact the St. Louis Rams will be without cornerback Eric Bassey for the entire season because of a knee injury suffered last week.

Beyond that, there isn't much going on in the NFL lately.

Except for that pesky Brett Favre story, of course.

The Brett Favre saga is sort of like a B-rated horror flick, you know, when the bad guy just will not die at the end of the movie no matter how many times he gets shot in the head or stabbed in the heart. Whatever. I'm reasonably certain this move makes my old high school friend, and die-hard Viking fan, Jenny Bachelder extremely happy.

As well it should, because here's the thing.

Say what you will about Brett Favre the person; Lord knows there's plenty to be said. But, the fact of the matter is that with a healthy Brett Favre under center the Minnesota Vikings are the best team in the NFC and the reasons for this are plenty.

The Vikings won 10 games last season largely with a quarterback who once gave himself a concussion after head-butting a wall!

A defense that allowed the fewest rushing yards per game a season ago accompanies a potent offensive attack that doesn't need a Hall of Fame quarterback to be successful because it features the best running back in the game.

Furthermore, the addition of Percy Harvin as a change-of-pace guy adds another wrinkle to an offense that scored 28 points or more in a game seven times last season. Finally, there's Favre who's usually good for two or three howtheheckdidhedothat?! plays a game.

My point, of course, is the Vikes don't need Favre to be in the "best team in the NFC" conversation. However, the fact they were able to sign him, in my opinion, ends the whole damn conversation.

Now, for those out there just spit out their coffee reading the idiocy I just published, I have a question for you:

If a Brett Favre-led Vikings team is not the best club in the NFC, who is?

The aforementioned "best team in the NFC" conversation probably focuses on teams like the Eagles, or Cowboys, or Giants or Bears or Packers or maybe even the incumbent Arizona Cardinals.

All those teams have major question marks as the season looms. This is not to suggest the Vikings do not have looming questions, too; but as far as I can tell, that list of questions is much shorter than most.

I suppose the Vikings had to settle for Favre after the Eagles scooped up Michael Vick last week.

The Philadelphia Inquirer greeted the Michael Vick signing with a headline last Friday that read "Hide Your Dogs!", a headline that I find to be both journalistically irresponsible and borderline libelous. I understand what Vick did was terrible, but that doesn't mean he should be treated like a second-class citizen and it doesn't mean he should be prevented from playing football in the NFL.

I overheard one person say last week that because she loved dogs, she could never support Vick's return to pro football.

Look, I love strippers, but that doesn't mean I believe Pacman Jones should be kicked out of the league, either, which brings us to the part of this Michael Vick conversation that just irritates the hell out of me.

All this false indignation over Vick makes me want to kick something really, really hard; it's not that Vick committed a crime, it's not even that the crime was committed by Michael Vick, it's the novelty of the crime itself that has everyone's panties all wet.

If Vick had mugged a stripper or beat his girlfriend like a normal famous athlete than we would not be having this conversation, trust me.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not defending what Michael Vick did, but what I am saying is that Vick absolutely, positively, unequivocally paid his debt to society and is now a free man and if he wants to pursue a career in the National Football League he should be allowed to do so.

Andohbytheway, the Philadelphia Eagles are significantly better with Michael Vick than without him. In fact, I'd contend the Vick signing makes the Eagles one of the two or three best teams in the NFC and certainly the favorites to emerge from the NFC East.

I'll leave with you this tiny anecdote before I bid you a fantastic Friday.

I had tickets to yesterday's afternoon matinee at Great American Ballpark between the Redlegs and the San Francisco Giants. I elected not to make the trek to GABP largely because I had better things to do with my time than watch my favorite baseball team cap off another pitiful homestand with, yet another, humiliating performance; additionally, Judge Mathis is on at two o'clock.

As it turned out Aaron Harang pitched a gem and centerfielder Drew Stubbs, in just his second career start, belted a walk-off homerun off the foul pole in left field in the 10th inning to procure a 2-1 Reds win in 10 innings; sometimes sports are positively ironic.

Around the college football world in 30 minutes

2009-08-18T09:31:00.009-04:00

Before we begin, I'd like to dedicate this column to Franz Ferdinand who's quickly climbing the ladder of my favorite artists of all time, a very exclusive club currently reserved for only a scant, few other bands including Oasis, Modest Mouse and The Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Another brief note before we jump too far into our topic de jour, I am the newest news and sports correspondent for WPKO/WBLL out of Bellefontaine, Ohio. This job marks the closest thing to a tangible career I have ever had and I wouldn't have had the nerve to pursue such an opportunity were it not for my incredible inner-circle of friends/family who have supported me the entire time.

Those people include, but are nowhere near limited to: Zach, Ian, Yutz, Alan, Marcus, Adam and, of course, my beautiful bride-to-be, Kate.

Now, on to the piece...

The USA Today Top 25 Preseason Coach's Poll has been released and Florida is the top-ranked team in the country. Why not? The Gators return many of their starters from a season ago, including Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow.

Texas comes in at number two and Oklahoma three--for similar reasons as Florida.

Of course, The 'Horns and Sooners had virtually identical seasons a year ago and enter this campaign with many of those similarities.

The poll might as well read:
2a. Texas, 2b. Oklahoma

USC is four, Alabama five and our beloved Ohio State Buckeyes are the sixth-ranked team in the nation.

The thing about preseason polls, though, is that they are completely and utterly irrelevant.

Head coaches from every BCS conference might as well get together on a Friday night in July, throw back more Captain Morgan than anyone should and draw names from a hat. The impact on the regular season would be the same.

Don't believe me?

Four of the top-10 teams from last season's preseason poll were not in the final top-10 rankings and two of those four teams (LSU and Clemson) were not ranked at all by season's end.

By contrast, Utah and TCU were not in the preason top-25 at all and were both top-10 teams by the end of the year.

These were just top-10 patterns, too. The rankings top to bottom were completely ridiculous. Michigan was ranked 24 in last year's poll and finished unranked as did Auburn, Kansas and Wisconsin--all top-15 schools entering last season.

In the spirit of those unpredictable trends, I submit to you a couple of my own predictions as we prepare to embark on another riveting college football season sans any kind of discernible method to crown an overall champion.

Nebraska will play in the Big 12 Championship Game: The Cornhuskers enter this season ranked 22nd in the nation, it's the team's highest preseason ranking since 2007 when they were ranked 19 entering the year. Of course, the team stumbled its way through '07 and finished unranked. Head Coach Bill Callahan was fired at the end of the season and the Bo Pelini era began. The team enjoyed a degree of success last season and earned a spot in the Gator Bowl.

It is the not-so-humble opinion of this aspiring sports columnist that Nebraska will be much better this season, despite its freshman-laden roster which includes well over 100 under-classmen and only 16 seniors.

The biggest reason for this claim is the team's schedule. Other than a home game against Oklahoma, the 'Huskers only other real test is a road game in Lubbock against the Mike Leach led Texas Tech Red Raiders, or, as I like to call him, That Guy That Looks A Lot Like Vince Gill

Beyond that, coin-flip games like Missouri, Kansas and Iowa State, games the Cornhuskers have lost in recent memory, should fall in favor of Nebraska this year; 10 wins is not, at all, an unreasonable win total this season.

Jevan Snead will be a household name by season's end: When SEC coaches voted for their preseason Offensive Player of the Year Tim Tebow received all but one of the votes; Steve Spurrier voted for Ole Miss quarterback Jevan Snead. I suppose it's possible that Spurrier voted that way in some passive aggressive attempt to stick it to Florida, his former employer, but regardless of his rationale it's not an altogether ridiculous thought.

Florida lost only one game a season ago, a heart-wrenching one-point defeat at home to none other than the Snead-led Rebels. The game was an SEC classic in which Snead willed his team to victory with a gritty performance that saw him throw for 185 yards, two touchdowns and rush for another.

Ole Miss closed out last season with six consecutive victories including a comeback win over Texas Tech in the Cotton Bowl and is ranked 10th in the aforementioned completely meaningless preseason top-25 poll.

USC will lose at least two games this season: I am keenly aware of the fact that "USC" and "rebuilding" are not two terms that have often collided in the same sentence for the better part of the last decade. However, this season may be the closest thing Trojan Nation has seen to a rebuilding year since I was in junior high.

The team lost eight starters from last year's punishing defense and serious questions at the quarterback position loom as the season begins. Junior quarterback Aaron Corp will enter the season as the Trojans starter, however, freshman Matt Barkley is the unquestioned Carson Palmer/Matt Leinhart/Mark Sanchez in waiting and if Corp struggles this season, especially if he struggles in a loss, do not be surprised if Head Coach Pete Carroll turns to Barkley and when he does, it'll be for good.

Finally, I feel like I should make the clarification that I believe USC will lose two games and the team's trip to Ohio's Capitol City on September 12th may not necessarily be one of those games. Even if USC escapes Columbus with a victory, it still plays road games at California and at Oregon as well as its annual rivalry showdown with a much improved UCLA club to close out the regular season.

Speaking of USC vs. Ohio State...

On two completely separate occasions last weekend I was asked whether or not I thought Ohio State could avenge last season's beatdown at the hands of the Trojans. Since everyone seems to be so concerned with my opinion on that game I'll offer it here.

The Buckeyes have a much better chance at beating USC this time around, and even if they don't the final score will be nothing like the 34-3 butt kicking given to the Bucks last season.

In many regards USC/OSU II resembles Texas/Ohio State II from the fall of 2006.

In fact, this edition of Ohio State football is a lot like the 2006-2007 Buckeyes. That is, a team, with a few question marks on defense beginning to come into its own with a potentially All-Universe quarterback entering his first full season under center.

Furthermore, USC, as previously mentioned, will not be nearly as good as the team Ohio State saw a season ago, just like in 2006 when Texas was without Vince Young and started an inexperienced Colt McCoy at the quarterback position.

An added bonus for the Bucks, just like in '06, the game will be played in The 'Shoe, as opposed to the hostile environment found in Southern California.

Finally, the Big 10 isn't that deep of a conference this year. Other than the Buckeyes and Penn State, the only other team in the top 25 as the season begins are the consummate underachievers that comprise Iowa University football.

Don't you love how I spent, like, four full paragraphs at the beginning of this blog downplaying the importance of preseason polls and have subsequently referenced those very polls several times since in an effort to validate my points?

Anyway, if Ohio State can pull off a win against the Trojans the opportunity to run the table this season certainly exists.

I would be remiss if I didn't close this column by pointing out the fact that I am pretty much full of crap most of the time about most things, so taking my predictions to Vegas and betting the family nest egg on the claims I make in this space is an extremely stupid thing to do.

That said, one thing I can say with absolute certainty is that this college football season promises to be positively fascinating and I, for one, cannot wait for the games get underway.

Catching up with Al

2009-08-13T10:39:00.003-04:00

Since we're talking football today I feel compelled to point out that Madden 10 is due to be released in approximately 11 hours and nine minutes. I asked Kate this morning about the plausibility of purchasing the video game and an XBox 360 to play it on.

"Just how're you going to pay for it?"

Touche.

What she doesn't know is that I'm thiseclose to donating sperm in an effort to offset the cost.

So, I promised a football column today and I had several strong insights all ready to post. Then right as I was preparing to blog I started talking to my good buddy Alan via the magic of Facebook chat, and as the conversation progressed we ended up touching on most of the same topics I planned on covering today anyway.

As a result, I've decided to post our chat transcript from this morning.

Kornheiser and Wilbon ain't got nothin' on us...

Nathaniel
hey man, whats crackin?

Alan
hey! Just crawled out of bed. what are you up to today?

Nathaniel
not much, man; trying to find the motivation required to do some dishes

Alan
Yeah I have laundry on tap myself. I'm catching up on PTI as we speak too.

Nathaniel
haha nice. ive got caddyshack on the golf channel

Alan
Yeah I saw that. I was trying to see who has first round coverage of the PGA today. TNT in case you're wondering.

Nathaniel
haha. good looking out, man...i checked first thing this morning while i was listening to mike and mike. i didn't think u were a big golf guy

Alan
I usually watch the majors. watson story was great last month. I'm glad you finally blogged again, I'm reading it right now. I missed it.

Nathaniel
thanks, man...im getting prepped to write again today. there was just a ton of stuff going on in july and finding the time and motivation was sometimes difficult. i've had a little more free time this week, however. lol

Alan
good, I look forward to it. It's fun to hear a sports voice that isn't biased to east coast teams and doesn't have to keep the language and references up to Mickey Mouse's standards

Nathaniel
haha. it's funny u mention that because i definitely dont wanna be too vulgar (my mom reads it, kates parents read it, etc) but i definitely try and be kind of edgy. how's business at the erma?

Alan
pretty much the same. it's actually a little better than the huge drop off that happened when everything crashed in the fall. i cracked 130 last night so it can't be too bad. I'm just happy to be working at a place I enjoy being at again. what are your plans for work now?
on a side note, am I obligated to care about the little league world series?

Nathaniel
not one bit. i don't. it was fun to watch when we were that age, but there's just too much going on in the sports world to devote any level of energy to the llws right now

Nathaniel
i have a pretty good lead on a job at a local radio station. a lead that, ironically enough, i happened upon while i was working at the erma a few weeks back. but i have a final interview there tomorrow morning; suffice it to say ive put a lot of eggs in that basket

Alan
man that sounds ideal. is it talk radio?

Nathaniel
no, its not. i'd be the evening news guy, covering pta meetings and local courts. but, i feel like there's a lot of room for advancemant. if they end up hiring me i'm gonna try and find a niche covering some hs football or something, maybe see if they'll let me blog for the website

Alan
yeah that's awesome. everyone starts with something like that covering local.

Nathaniel
exactly....especially in this job market
hows the wife?

Alan
she's great. she picked up a bartending job at that place that tammy works at and has climbed the ladder there fairly quickly. she's all but done with the erma as well. she's been making cakes for weddings and baby showers on the side too this summer. we both couldn't be happier.

Nathaniel
thats pretty cool, man.
really cool, actually. good for her

Alan
btw I'll say at least two wins for the lions, zero arrests for the bengals this year.

Nathaniel
haha. nice
i hope the whodeys can stay clean this year
and im thinking closer to five or six wins for the lions...matt stafford may just channel his inner matt ryan

Alan
i don't see a micheal turner in that backfield

Nathaniel
touche

Alan
I don't really know what's going to happen with the nfl season this year. other than pitts winning the north I feel like most divisions are wide open.

Nathaniel
yea. im inclined to agree. the nfc north is what really fascinates me. gb, minn, and chi all have a serious chance

Alan
yeah all three teams have talent, but showed flaws in different areas last year. who do you like in baseball? the consensus in my circle is that is seems to be the yankees year.

Nathaniel
yea, thats not an awful bet. i really, really like philly though. hammels and lee are a dynamic 1-2...not that the same cant be said for burnet and sabathia...i just cant bring myself to pick ny--even if it is the smart bet

Alan
NY-Phi is my world series pick.....which makes me want to jump off my balcony.
I'm focusing my energies on hockey and college football from here on out...

Nathaniel
not too excited about the brownies this year, huh?

Alan
they went four games last year without an offensive touchdown and the only thing they did to address that was draft a center! and the saying goes, if you have two quarterbacks, your have no quarterback. I'm not giving them any ticket money unless they're competitive. They don't deserve it.

Nathaniel
strong words. thats a good point, though. and i agree with you, mangini would be a damn fool to drag this qb controversy out into the preseason. the job is brady quinn's good or bad

Alan
my feeling is that eric knows quinn will start, he's just not tipping his hand to other teams yet.
derek anderson couldn't beat out charlie frye in camp two years ago and apparently no one remembers that.

Nathaniel
ah, good ol charlie frye. i bumped into him last week when he pumped my gas

Alan
did seattle eventually cut him? I lost track of him after they traded him.

Nathaniel
ya know, i couldnt tell ya. hes no higher than their 3rd stringer, seneca wallis is the backup for matt hasselbeck

Alan
signed with the raiders in june, according to wikipedia

Nathaniel
hm. interesting. i think i'd rather pump gas, dude. oakland is an absolute greasefire

Alan
ha ha yeah. oakland will be better this year though. I think they may actually finish ahead of denver

Nathaniel
now THERE'S a greasfire.

Alan
lol

Nathaniel
im somewhat interested to see how jamarcus russel plays in oakland

Alan
that's pretty much what their year boils down to. they already have an established defense and all the talent in the world at rb.

Nathaniel
we'll both see the raiders...the west is one of the outside divisions played by the north this year

Alan
that's right. what's the nfc division we play? north?

Nathaniel
yea
which is why im reasonably excited about the bengals. as far as im concerned, the toughest game on our ledger are the two we play against pittsburgh.
i think that division will be close, but i dont know that it'll be all that good

Alan
yeah it won't be as brutal as last year at least. bears and viks will be tough too.

Nathaniel
yea, i dont know cleveland's schedule offhand, but i know we go to gb and minn, two very tough places to play

Alan
its not bad. other than in the division the only tough road game is chicago. other than that, at buffalo, kc, and denver.

Nathaniel
yea, thats not dreadful.

Alan
what do you think of cowherd's show sportsnation?

Nathaniel
oh, its terrible, man...
which is kind of a shame because i really enjoy the herd

Alan
really? i like it. plus that blonde is smoking hot

Nathaniel
hmm. maybe i should give it another chance, then...
because not only did i think the show was kind of ho-hum, i thought the blonde was only like a 5.5 or 6

Alan
ha ha. c'mon her sports knowledge alone makes her a seven

Nathaniel
thats a fair point. i am exponentially more attracted to a chick that can talk sports intelligentially. it's a huge turn on for me. i called one of those 900 numbers last week and when the chick asked me what i wanted i told her to moan loudly pete rose's career hit total!

Alan
ha ha nice! picturing pete rose though would kill my erection faster than chasing three zolofts with a half a bottle of whiskey.

Nathaniel
that's true. look at it this way, at least i didnt say marge schott!
so, were u pleased or disapointed that brett favre didnt come back this year?

Alan
what a joke. I'm so over that guy. we all saw how horrible he was down the stretch last year right? didn't they start 8-3 last year and he tanked so bad they missed the playoffs?

Nathaniel
thats right. but if u listen to major news outlets in ny favre injured his shoulder and was playing hurt down the stretch

Alan
then he shouldn't have been in and i have one more reason to doubt mangini. they have a decent enough back up in clemens
well i need to get things done sometime today

Nathaniel
have a good one, buddy...send my best to the wife

Alan
will do, good luck with the job

While I was away...

2009-08-12T09:49:00.004-04:00

Before I begin, I owe you an appology for my extended abscence from this space. I have not posted in far too long, for a myriad of reasons, some of which we'll get to during this column today.

Despite my hiatus I want you to know that I will absolutely make a more concerted effort to post. After all, there are at least three people who anxiously anticipate a daily Pressbox update.

In an effort to prove my newfound dedication, I'm playing hurt today. I'm reasonably certain I have come down with a nasty case of bronchitis. I am usually good for one nasty bout with bronchitis each year, usually during the winter. I guess that's what I get for doing those bong hits in the Max & Erma's freezer.

I really should go to the doctor; too bad I'm one of the approximately 46 million Americans without health insurance.

Speaking of Uncle Max, though...

I had an epiphany during another brutal shift and quit my job Sunday afternoon. It was both invigorating and completely horrifying at the exact same time. On the one hand, serving overpriced food to ungrateful patrons had absolutely run its course. On the other hand, the bills won't stop rolling in just because the money does.

I guess it's a good thing I have a sugar momma.

Obviously, I don't mean (all) of that. No, really though, Kate is totally cool. She even has her own blog now, too.

www.cooking-with-kate.blogspot.com

OK, let's get to the sports.

Pennant races are heating up and football season is right around the corner. Other than the second week of March during March Madness and spring training, this is the best time of the year.

Just because My Favorite Baseball Team has totally collapsed does not mean my interest in baseball has at all subsided. There are still a ton of cool stories out there and they should be embraced.

So, if you're an Indians fan, Pirates fan, Royals fan, Nationals fan, Orioles fan, Padres fan or Reds fan I'm going to toss out three stories to keep an eye on as September draws near and the playoffs loom.

The NL Wild Card: This is a fascinating race that could very well end up going to down to the last week of the regular season. The Rockies were done like dinner six weeks into the regular season as they floundered near the bottom of the NL West and fired manager Clint Hurdle. Since then the Rockies have caught fire a la 2007 when they steamrolled all the way into the Fall Classic.

Meanwhile, the San Francisco Giants have overachieved all season long and have embodied everything I hoped to see out of the Reds this season. That is, a suspect offense carried by a dominant pitching staff, a solid 'pen and a bonified closer to finish games. Unlike the Reds, of course, the Giants offense has been better than advertised and its pitching staff has not been rot with injuries. Furthermore, nice acquisitions like Freddie Sanchez and Ryan Garko could very well end up paying huge dividends down the stretch.

While much of the attention has gone to the Giants and Rockies the Marlins and Braves continue to stay in the hunt, doing just enough to stick around long enough for a possible September run.

The Boston Red Sox: Not that I want to give the Boston Red Sox any more attention than the major media outlets already pay them, but this team truly is a fascinating storyline down the stretch--especially if it ends up folding like a cheap lawn chair on sale at Target.

I'm positively embarassed to admit this, but 10 years ago the Red Sox were my favorite American League team. They were consumate underachievers and perenial underdogs, I related to them in this way. That is simply not the case anymore. The team won the World Series and almost immediately became a cliche. Now, they spend as much money as the Yankees and the fan base is twice as obnoxious.

That said, the fact that the Red Sox were swept last weekend at Yankee Stadium amused me. What really got me going, though, was the group therapy session that commenced in Beantown lacking only cyanide-laced fruit punch.

I believe a Red-soxless post-season would knock Red Sox Nation down a peg or two...maybe. But, that's not even the point. The point is that sometimes it's nice to see some fresh faces in October. In this case, the Texas Rangers, who trail Boston by only a game-and-a-half in the chase for the American League Wild Card.

The National League Central: A month or so ago there were four teams right in the hunt for the NL Central crown. Now, there are only two. The St. Louis Cardinals lead the Chicago Cubs by three games and thanks to a couple savvy July trades have put themselves in prime position to claim the division title. There can be little question the Cardinals have the offense required to make an October run, but the starting pitching may not be deep enough to support the potent attack.

On the other hand, the Cubs boast some of the best starting pitching in all of baseball, but the fact of the matter is that the offense may not be consist enough to catch the front-running Cardinals down the stretch.

Maybe, just maybe, the pain of watching your favorite baseball team completely fall from contention has been too burdensome and you simply cannot watch any more baseball until the World Series. If that is the case, I can hardly blame you.

As a result, tomorrow will begin a week's worth of football previews as we gear up for gridiron season.

Before I go, I'll leave you with one question in an effort to compel you to come back tomorrow for the answer: Which number will be higher this upcoming NFL season, the number of victories for the Detroit Lions or the number of Cincinnati Bengals arrested?

I will now post the exact same piece for the third time in two weeks

2009-06-22T14:08:00.005-04:00

Dude.

We have so had this conversation before. A couple times, actually.

I mean, what are we gonna do?

3-7 in the last 10. An uncharacteristically poor start from Johnny Cueto after he was spotted a five-run lead in the first non-Opening Day sellout in, probably, five years. A few chinks in the armor of a previously unchinkable bullpen.

Has it finally happened? Has the other shoe finally dropped?

I don't think so. We're still in it. There's still a ton of time. Votto and Eddie will be back soon.

I repeat that to myself three times in the bathroom mirror every night before I go to bed.

It seems like every series in the last six weeks has been a "big series." Every Tuesday and Friday (or Monday and Thursday depending on how the schedule falls that week) I sit here and clamor on about the importance of the impending three or four-game series with Team X.

I drivel on and on and on and fucking on about the pitching match-ups and standings implications and finally conclude that we will learn something about this team as a result of the series.

And each series I've been totally wrong.

Reds fans have not learned anything new about this team in the last six weeks. We continue to flounder around .500, stay in the middle of the pack in the playoff hunt, and generally tread water.

Everyone else is doing the exact same thing.

Despite the fact that yesterday's game was a complete microcosm of our season thus far and Saturday night's loss was probably the worst of the year we still went 3-3 on the homestand and remain exactly .500 through 68 games.

What's more is that we'll have an opportunity to make up some ground in the coming weeks.

Beginning tomorrow the team begins a six-game trip starting in Toronto and ending in Cleveland before coming home for nine including three a piece with St. Louis and Milwaukee.

Speaking of Cleveland...

That's one fan base I would absolutely not want to trade places with. Ever. As if the debacle with Orlando wasn't bad enough the Indians are grossly underachieving for the second consecutive season.

And the tribe doesn't just lose. They invent new methods of torture.

To be perfectly honest, I've seen snuff films more watchable than the Indians bullpen.

I'm not just picking on the Tribe here, either. I woke up this morning and my buddy Alan had left the following message on my Facebook Wall:

I'll trade you teams straight up. I'll even throw in the Lake Erie Monsters to sweeten the deal.

Anyway, after the six-game swing through the American League the team comes home to face the lowly Diamondbacks for three followed by the Cardinals and Brewers. Realistically, the team can go 8-7 or 9-6, but if they can get Joey Votto and Edwin Encarnacion back in the middle of this span and reel off 10 or 11 of 15 we can make a run into first.

My point is that we continue to hold on by a thread and remain barely relevant in the playoff chase, but if we can get all of our guys healthy, I really believe we're primed to make a run at this thing.

I'm keenly aware I've written/said the proceeding statement approximately 14 million times in the last week. In fact, Kate found the other day "but if we can get all of our guys healthy, I really believe we're primed to make a run at this thing." written continuously on a single Word Document much like Jack Nicholson in the The Shining

The difference between saying it now and saying it last week is that now it does appear as if we're finally getting healthy. Votto is due back no later than the end of the month and Eddie will begin a rehab assignment in Louisville this week.

Last week, on the other hand, was spent sizing Joey Votto for a straight jacket.

I was talking with Zach last night about the importance of patience. The conversation was general in nature and not at all directly related to baseball. However, I do find the lesson applicable when approaching the 2009 Cincinnati Reds.

We still have more than 90 games to go and we're only four games out. And we're finally showing signs of getting our entire roster healthy.

In short, there's finally some light at the end of the tunnel.

The real issue behind the Raul Ibanez story

2009-06-12T07:52:00.012-04:00

When the Philadelphia Phillies came to town May 19-21 to battle the Redlegs one player stood out to me more than Utley, Howard or Rollins. That player was Raul Ibanez.

And I'm not just saying that.

In that series Ibanez was 3-12, hit two homeruns, doubled twice, drove in five and scored at least one run in every game during that series.

My knowledge of Ibanez to that point was reasonably limited as he has spent much of his career in the American League and, generally speaking, I refuse to acknowledge the AL as real baseball.

Of course I'm kidding. Mostly.

But, my point is that I'd certainly heard of Ibanez and knew he him to be a solid outfielder, but to say I followed his career with any regularity would be misleading. Even after the Phils blew threw the Queen City, taking two of three, I didn't think much of Ibanez other than, "Wow, I'm in no hurry to face that guy again."

I assure you never once did I wonder about his hot start and I certainly never tried to draw any kind of serious connection to Ibanez and steroids.

This, of course, is mostly because I'm an upwardly-mobile, forward-thinking person with a shred of common sense.

This means that I have absolutely nothing in common with Jerod Morris.

Morris, on a blog titled Midwest Sports Fans, crafted a story in which he questioned whether the numbers Ibanez has posted this season point to the use of steroids, or Performance Enhancing Drugs or whatever the hell players take/took, whatever.

In the interest of fairness, the numbers Ibanez has put up thus far have been remarkable. At the age of 37 Ibanez is raking like never before. 20 homeruns, more than 50 RBI, an OPS clear of 1000 andohbytheway, he leads all Major League outfielders in All-Star voting.

Ibanez has always been good; never this good. Prior to this season the most homeruns he has hit in a season has been 33, a feat he accomplished in 2006 while playing for the Seattle Mariners.

These points were the fuel behind the Morris posting in which he made a half-hearted effort to compare the playing situation for Ibanez this year and in past years. Eventually concluding the playing situation for Ibanez this year and in past seasons is virtually the same, thus it's fair to surmise PEDs are the cause of Ibanez's spike in numbers; the link to Morris' blog can be found at the top of the page.

Of course, Ibanez came out and blasted the blog like a four-seamer left middle-in.

"I'll come after people who defame or slander me," Ibanez told the Philadelphia Inquirer Tuesday night. "It's pathetic and disgusting. There should be some accountability for people who put that out there."

"I'll put that up against the jobs of anyone who writes this stuff," Ibanez went on, according to the report. "Make them accountable. There should be more credibility than some 42-year-old blogger typing in his mother's basement. It demeans everything you've done with one stroke of the pen."

While I totally agree with everything Ibanez said, I do take some offense to his final point.

I'm not 42, and I don't live in my mom's basement. I'm 22 and live off my girlfriends couch.

There is a HUGE difference!

But, this brings us to my real issue with the whole situation. There are countless people out there just like me and Jerod Morris.

We love sports, care about our teams and want to be sportswriters more than anything else in the whole world. Some of us went and got journalism degrees and then realized there is absolutely no future in traditional newspaper sportswriting.

So, we post to blogs, Facebook and Myspace. All the time. We plug our writing to our family, friends, pets and panhandlers all with the faint hope that maybe one day we'll get noticed, one day realize our dreams.

This requires us to be somewhat edgy. After all, if we're boring no one will want to read our stuff.

For me, "edgy" means the occasional comical reference to human feces and casual sex--though not necessarily at the same time.

Apparently for Jerod Morris "edgy" means defaming an All-Star outfielder enjoying a career year.

One of my favorite radio personalities, Colin Cowherd, defended this blog yesterday on his show claiming that fans and the media have the right, especially in this era, to question bloated offensive numbers.

Maybe.

But I would contend, fervently, this "questioning" should take place responsibly and with more proof than, "Hmm. Ibanez has never hit this many homeruns before the All-Star break in his entire career."

This thing isn't even about Raul Ibanez, he's just an innocent bystander.

Rather, it's about Jerod Morris trying to draw attention to his writing by publishing something a little bit controversial, and that's what pisses me off more than anything else.

Without considering the ramifications of what he was saying Morris published this piece (of garbage!) in the hope he would cause some kind of stir.

Mission accomplished, dishrag.

Look, I have no real rooting interest in the Raul Ibanez story. I hope he's clean simply because baseball's reputation has been tarnished enough and I love the game far too much to see it take another black eye.

But, the fact of the matter is, if he did take steroids I'd just chalk him up to the laundry list of other players who did the exact same thing.

Oh, and let's not forget that much of this rampant steroid use took place during a time in which baseball was borderline irrelevant, virtually no one was coming to the ballpark and people were still bitter about the strike.

Naturally, no one cared about steroids then; the game was entertaining.

Don't even get me started.

If there was any tangible proof at all that Raul Ibanez used steroids then Morris would have been justified in writing what he did. The sad fact of the matter is that no such proof exists and the only reason we're even having this stupid conversation is because an aspiring sportswriter wanted to get noticed.

I just hope he finished before his shift at Burger King started.

Better ugly than good

2009-06-11T08:43:00.005-04:00

Fortunately, there's no style points issued in Major League Baseball. A win is a win is a win regardless of ugly it may be.

Now, far be it for me to piss and moan about the manner in which the Reds earn a victory, doing so is a little like a fat guy complaining the woman he's sleeping with isn't quite hot enough.

After all, winning ugly is a lot better than losing pretty and in recent years the Reds have done neither; my point, of course, is that we'll take a win any day, under any circumstances.

It would be intellectually dishonest for me to sit here and outline how well the team played while I order my World Series tickets. The fact of the matter is, we didn't play that well at all.

That said, we won the game and we did so as a direct result of our superior pitching.

Aaron Harang, despite throwing approximately 16,295 pitches, tossed seven and two-thirds shutout innings and even though Francisco Cordero blew his first save of the season after waiting out a rain delay that lasted more than two hours, the duo of Nick Massett and David 'Stormy' Weathers combined to shutout the Nationals in extra innings as our putrid excuse for an offense mustered across a pair of runs in the 12th to pull out the victory.

After the Brewers blew (another) lead at home against the Colorado Rockies last night our fightin' Redlegs picked up another game in the division and now trail the Bernie Brewers by only a game-and-a-half.

This is precisely the reason why I firmly believe we'll be in contention all summer long.

Our pitching is better than everyone else's pitching. A lot better.

I outlined for you yesterday the outstanding line from Johnny Cueto Tuesday night, Harang's line last evening was equally impressive and what's more is that our best pitchers are probably in the bullpen.

After the win last night the Reds are now 22-4 this season in games in which they've scored first.

In contrast, The Brewers, despite leading the division, are 3-6 in the month of June even though they've held a lead in every single game.

To be fair, Brewers closer Trevor Hoffman has completely rejuvenated his career and is among the league leaders in saves thus far. That point is irrelevant, of course, if the Brewers are unable to get to that point in the game.

I'm still holding out hope that Uncle Walt Jocketty will acquire for us some kind of outfield right-handed power bat sometime before the trade deadline. And if that happens and Joey Votto comes back healthy we'll truly be poised to make a run at this thing, even with a revolving door at third base and Corey Patterson 2.0 manning centerfield.

That said, it's not likely we'll trade for the aforementioned power bat and God only knows when/if Votto will come back, so it's a real possibility that we'll have to forge through the duration of this campaign with Laynce Nix batting cleanup.

If that's the case, and it likely is, I still believe we can compete seriously for a division title this year. My belief is rooted deeply in my aforementioned thesis our pitching is good enough to compete.

If my previous argument didn't convince you, try this on for size.

Dating back to last Wednesday, more than a week ago now, our starting pitchers have logged seven consecutive quality starts. That is, for seven consecutive games in a row our starting pitchers have logged six or more innings and allowed three or fewer runs.

While we're only 4-3 in those games, we've managed to pick up two games in the division as we continue to chug along towards October.

It's a bumpy ride, but I'm honored to be on it.

Reds baseball in 30 minutes or less

2009-06-10T09:09:00.004-04:00

So, I figured in the 30 or so minutes I have left before I have to go to a "real" job where I make "real" money, I'd post a handful of musings and ramblings about last night's 3-2 rain-soaked victory over the Washington Nationals.

Johnny Cueto is positively brilliant. I cannot emphasize this strongly enough. This dude has been our best pitcher all season long, hands down. He's a joy to watch pitch and if the Reds can stay in contention all summer long, he's a legitimate Cy Young Award candidate; you heard it here first. The justification for the preceeding statement isn't necessarily rooted in his line last night, though it was more-than-strong, and it wasn't rooted in the number of strikeouts or the innumerable things he did well on the mound.

Instead, that statement is justified in the worst inning Cueto pitched last night, the first inning. The Nationals knocked two hits and drew a pair of walks off the Redlegs righty in the opening frame, and though a marvelous defensive play from Alex Gonzalez prevented the Nats from scoring, Cueto still was forced to throw 27 pitches and and battle the entire way.

During that inning, I began to have flashbacks to last season. A season ago Cueto was mighty suseptible to surrendering the big inning, and more often than not it was a direct result of walking guys and not pitching to contact. And even if Cueto dodged one bullet, it always seemed like he was in trouble again the very next inning.

The remarkable things that Johnny Cueto does, while still impressive, do not surprise me anymore because I've seen flashes of that brilliance for nearly two years. Rather, what I find most impressive is the maturation process Cueto has undergone to turn himself into a formidable starting pitcher in the offensive-rich National League Central Division.

After Cueto weasled his way out of the first inning last night he retired 10 straight hitters before giving up a fourth inning solo homerun to Elijiah Dukes, the only run Cueto would allow in his seven innings of work.

Cueto now has an ERA of 2.33 and may very well find himself making a trip to St. Louis for the All-Star game.

Speaking of All-Stars, after Brandon Phillips suffered through a postively dismal month of April, he has been the Reds most consistent batter, with the exception of Joey Votto who we may not see again for quite some time.

Phillips struck again last night.

A two-run double down the right field line in the fifth inning proved to be the game winner for the Reds. Phillips looked awful against Nats lefty Ross Detwiller to that point. But, when Detwiller tried to fool Phillips with a fastball on the outer-half, the Reds second baseman shot it neatly down the right field line giving the Reds a lead they would not relinquish.

It's so good to see Phillips get basehits to the opposite field, it's evidence that he's not trying to do too much at the plate.

There's an old saying in the game of baseball, "Momentum is only as good as the next day's starting pitcher," and we're sending out Aaron Harang tonight to oppose the Nationals. I wrote last week that Harang didn't pitch all that well during his last start despite a strong line.

I have a hunch he's going to go out and toss a gem tonight.

Defecation, beer and a big night in the sports world

2009-06-09T08:45:00.009-04:00

The best part about being done with school has got to be all the friends I get to see now that I'm finally home.

The other night after work I visited my oldest, best friend, Zach and his fiancee Carrie at their apartment. I've known Zach my entire life and have probably spent more time with him than any other human on this planet, my parents included.

What's really cool about our friendship is that we pretty much do the same stuff we did when we were 12 years old. For example, at 12 we'd play Playstation and drink Mountain Dew. Now, we play XBox 360 and Wii while we drink beer.

We drank a lot of beer that night.

Consequently, I was far too gone to drive home that same night. (A move I would pay for dearly later; but that's an entirely separate story altogether.)

Anyway, I'm driving home the next morning and it's a little bit of a drive from my apartment to Zach's--about an hour--so I decide to stop for some gas, a cup of Speedway's finest House Blend and a desperately needed restroom break.

Now, ya know how after a night of long, excessive alcohol consumption your poop is always kind of runny and explosive?

The Beer Poops.

Well, suffice it to say I had a bad case of the Beer Poops as I walked into Speedway that morning.
My condition didn't go unnoticed, either. As I approached the counter to pay for coffee and gas the attendant looks at me and says, "Long night, huh?"

After a chuckle, I nod, "Why yes it was. How'd you know?"

"Well," he replied, "You haven't shaved, your hair is a mess and you waddled in here like you hadn't taken a dump in three days."

Dumbfounded, I attempted to craft a response, but before I can reply he cuts me off again.

"I understand, man, had a bad case of the Beer Poops myself just a few days ago."

Speaking of defecation...

The Reds had no business losing two of three to the Cubs last weekend.

None whatsoever.

Despite being sorely outmaned we had an opportunity to win every one of those games. This statement holds especially true during Sunday's marathon matinee that went 14 innings before the Cubs plated three in the 14th off Mike Lincoln who will, undoubtedly, be greeting Wal-Mart patrons by the end of the month.

I got a funny text from my good buddy Samps during the 14th inning fiasco that read: If we don't release Lincoln when [Edinson] Volquez comes off the DL I'm going to buy a seat next to the Reds bullpen and spend an entire game heckling him.

You'll have to wait your turn, brother.

Not only did the Reds fall apart in the 14th, but the only reason the game got to that point was because the offense squandered more chances than Darryl Strawberry.

The Reds loaded the bases with only one out in the 12th inning before failing to plate the winning run. Furthermore, they had runners in scoring position with a chance to win in the eighth, 10th, 12th and 13th innings and were unable to plate the winning run.

That series was an important one, certainly; they all are. But, losing two of three to the Cubs is not going to kill us. We're still only 3.5 out.

It's not like we were playing in a pivotal game five in the Stanley Cup Finals or anything.

It figures that no sooner do I write a blog imploring sports fans to give the NHL Finals a try is the most important game of the series is a complete and thorough blowout.

The Detroit Red Wings throttled the Pittsburgh Penguins en route to a 5-0 lambasting and a 3-2 series lead. The Wings can close out the series tonight in game six. The good news for Pens fans, the game will be played in Mellon Arena.

Probably the best sporting event last weekend, if you didn't catch Tiger's come-from-behind- crowd-pleasing 65 at the final round of The Memorial, was game two of The NBA Finals.

A classic, in any sense, the Magic were able to hold Kobe Bryant in check for much of the game, but were unable to get any tangible production from their backcourt by anyone not named Rashard Lewis.

As someone who is completely unqualified to analyze NBA basketball, I think much of the reason for Orlando's glaring inability to get the same production from their backcourt they received in the Cleveland series is because Kobe Bryant is so good defensively.

For all the attention he receives for his offensive accomplishments, of which there are many, Bryant has shown himself more than capable of shutting down the other team's best offensive player for 48 minutes, 53 if necessary.

In six chances, the Magic have never won an NBA Finals; a trend they'll try and buck tonight when they go home for game three.

After a positively dreadful night in the sports world last night that saw no hoops, no hockey and no Reds baseball the highlight of my night came when Kate made fish and chips for dinner.

Tonight will be different, however. The Wings try and close out the Pens in game five, the Magic look to avoid the panic button in game three and The Redlegs travel to the Nation's Capitol to take on the Washington Artists Formerly Known as the Expos with a Roster that Bears a Strong Resemblance to the Cincinnati Reds Circa 2001-2003.

A sports night this important may call for a beer or several.

Just be careful to stay away from the Beer Poops.

Pictures Courtesy of Lucas Adams

2009-06-08T13:50:00.006-04:00

Lord Stanley vs. Larry O

2009-06-05T09:30:00.004-04:00

So, last night while I wasn't watching Chris Carpenter outclass the Cincinnati Reds I flipped between Game One of the NBA Finals and Game Four of the Stanley Cup Finals.

I don't know how many more viewers tuned into the NBA Finals than did the NHL Finals, but I don't have to know; the difference was undoubtedly sizable. That said, I would submit to you the hockey game was far more exciting than was the basketball game.

While the Los Angeles Lakers were steamrolling the grossly overmatched Orlando Magic the Pittsburgh Penguins were fighting valiantly to even the series against the odds-on favorite Detroit Red Wings.

I'm not here to break down Game Four of the Stanley Cup Finals; I'm nowhere near qualified to do so. (Which is part of the problem, by the way, there aren't nearly enough people in the sports media qualified to speak intelligently on the NHL so the coverage sucks.) What I am here to tell you, however, is that game last night was one of the three most exciting playoff games I've seen all postseason in any sport.

This is thanks in no small part to the atmosphere inside Mellon Arena last night. In the middle of the second period, trailing by a single goal, the Penguins netted three goals in about six minutes, one of which was shorthanded, to take a 4-2 lead in a game they'd eventually win by that very score.

Furthermore, I was impressed by the camera work done by Versus. Hockey is probably the one sport where the fan experience is enhanced greatly by attending the game versus watching it on television. In fact, watching hockey on television can sometimes be, to be fair, downright painful. The camera angles make it difficult to follow the puck and about half the ice is completely lost to the TV audience.

This was not my experience last night. The camera work done by the Versus crew made watching the game totally enjoyable.

Of course, this all goes back to the quality of the game itself, which was outstanding. The fans were raucous and the Penguins clearly responded to that electricity which was so palpable that the hairs on the back of my neck stood up after the Pittsburgh scored its fourth goal.

It should be noted that I have no real rooting interest in the Stanley Cup Finals. I can find reasons to pull for and against both teams, so I'm simply watching the games as a sports junkie who loves competition.

Chances are, you have no real rooting interest in the Stanley Cup Finals, either. If that's the case I would implore you to tune in anyway, just for the sport of it. There aren't words to describe the insanity that ensues when a home team nets a goal in an important playoff game. The NHL has a (relatively) small but extremely loyal following and this group of people take their hockey very seriously and it clearly shows.

I'm not out to start some kind of anti-NBA Finals campaign here. I'm really not. The NBA Finals certainly have fascinating storylines and a little something for everyone. And I'm sure that for the remaining four games before the Lakers win the thing, the Finals will have great ratings and everyone will love it.

Just take a second though and flip on the Stanley Cup Finals, sit back and enjoy the spectacle.

Just don't be alarmed when the hairs on the back of your neck stand up after a Sydney Crosby goal.

A Carpenter and his buzzsaw

2009-06-05T07:26:00.004-04:00

I, like the rest of you, was feeling pretty bummed after the Reds fell to the Cardinals last night in the finale of a four-game set in the Gateway city, 3-1.

Nevermind the fact that it became obvious at about 8:25 the Reds were not going to collect more than four hits against Chris Carpenter and it became even more obvious at approximately 8:40 that Aaron Harang would not be able to match Carpenter pitch-for-pitch.

Not that I have any real right to hate on Aaron Harang.

In fact, I have no right whatsoever to hate on Aaron Harang. But, the fact of the matter is that while his line last night was very strong, eight innings, eight hits, three runs, two walks and five K's, he was far from the Aaron Harang of 2006.

If it were not for a handful of crucial double plays and some sparkling plays in the field, that game could have easily been 8-0; the numbers simply do not tell the entire story.

So...

Like I said, I was feeling pretty bummed after the loss. I tend to get rather emotional when we lose and after last night's loss I was nothing short of dejected.

As I often do, I tried to derive some kind of deeper meaning from the game last night. I wanted to know what we could learn about the team as a result of last night's loss. After a few moments of thoughtful consideration, I flushed the toilet and came to the conclusion the game last night would probably serve as a microcosm for the rest of the season. That is, we would stay competitive through much of the season, but eventually fall short when it mattered most.

It's not that there's any shame in losing 3-1 to the Cardinals when Chris Carpenter is pitching. Hell, we plated a run off him, that's more than the rest of the league has been able to scratch across. But, what troubled me is that we didn't really compete. I knew as soon as Albert Pujols hit that third inning, two-run, two iron to the moon that we were going to lose that game.

Now, certainly this isn't for lack of trying, we just simply do not have the guys to match up against Chris Carpenter when he's pitching that way. This conclusion, while troubling, seemed to make the most sense, given the combination of our recent history and current situation.

Then, a funny thing happened. I had sex.

Now, the details of my sexual conquest will go unmentioned, as they are most unappetizing. Just know that I was thinking much clearer upon conclusion.

Boy, it sure is funny how 45 seconds can change a guy's perspective on things.

As I laid there, thinking more about the Reds and the game last night and my theory, I came to, another, conclusion.

I am completely full of bologna.

We played last night's game sorely shorthanded and still hung in against the best pitcher in the National League and one of our better starters had far from his best stuff, and he still went eight innings of three-run baseball.

In fact, after I put my Apocalypse signs away and looked at the game objectively, we actually played pretty well.

Sure, it really, really stinks to lose the game, any game, ever.

But, here's the thing.

We still walked out of St. Louis with a four-game split. We've still taken it to those creeps four out of seven times already. We're still 19-14 against teams in our division.

And the best news of all: We're still only 2.5 games out of first place in the central division, despite a record of 2-5 on that god awful roadtrip.

As I noted yesterday this season has been one of many ups and downs. There have been times throughout the course of this season when I was absolutely certain this team would win the World Series and there have been times this season when I was absolutely certain this team would lose 100 games.

Of course, what do I know? I probably belong in a mental hospital.

After a long week away. Our team finally comes home and I couldn't be more pleased to have them back, regardless of how abbreviated the stay might be.

And it will be abbreviated. Just a three-game set with the struggling Cubs before we head back on the road. However, what this homestand lacks in substance it makes up for in importance.

The Cubs come in struggling mightily with an overall record of 26-25. They're currently in fourth place, 3.5 behind Milwaukee and a game behind us.

If we're going to take two of three from the Cubbies this weekend, we're going to probably have to score some runs to do it.

Micah Owings will take the hill for us tonight. While it is true he's solidified the fifth spot in the rotation, he's still 3-6 with an ERA of over five.

Matt Maloney will start for us Saturday night. Maloney is 4-0 with an ERA of an even two at AAA Louisville this season; he's clearly capable. But, he's also making his Major League debut. So, there will undoubtedly be some nerves, and possibly even some nausea.

Maloney will be pretty anxious, too.

Bronson Arroyo will make the start in the Sunday matinee. Arroyo is second in the league in wins, but an ERA over five makes me think that we may be in for a nine-run inning every time two consecutive batters reach base.

As if scoring runs was not a tall enough task for the Reds this season, it just got a little bit harder.

Carlos Zambrano was supposed to make his first start after a six-game suspension last night in Atlanta, but as luck and Mother Nature would have it, the game was rained out. Yep. That means he's pitching tonight against us.

On the bright side, the Reds have enjoyed success against Big Z in the past. What's more, there exists a 73.6% chance Zambrano goes crazy over a ball or strike causing him to freak out, throw second base and go positively postal on a water cooler.

Ryan Dempster will start Saturday night for the Cubs. The former Red has posted a winning record thus far, however, his ERA is over four, well above where it stood during his All-Star campaign a season ago.

Randy Wells will oppose Arroyo in the Sunday finale. Wells has made five starts for the Cubs this season and while he's 0-2 his ERA is under two and received a tough-luck no decision last Tuesday after he carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning against the Atlanta Braves.

This series wraps up a series of 13 consecutive games against National League Central opponents. The Reds are currently 5-5 during the streak.

This is a big series for both teams. But, two out of three one or way the other will not send either team spiraling into panic mode.

In fact, and we'll end with this thought, the Reds absolutely refuse to panic. This fact has been evidenced time and again thus far and is probably my favorite part about this team.

There have been numerous opportunities for this team to cave already and they still haven't. That's go to mean something, right?

I think so.

Your daily dose of Redlegs baseball

2009-06-04T09:17:00.002-04:00

This season has provided more ups and downs than a rollercoaster at Cedar Point. But Whatever. As a Reds fan, I wouldn't have it any other way.

I repeat that very phrase multiple times in front of the bathroom mirror before I go to bed every night.

Here's the thing: We're 28-24 through 52 games--approximately one-third of the season--and only 2.5 games behind the Milwaukee Brewers in a decidedly competitive National League Central Division; I could not possibly be more pleased.

I would have been pleased with a 28-24 record under the best of circumstances. That is, with everyone healthy and playing well. So, the fact this team has been thrown more curve balls than Jay Bruce and is still right in the thick of things, to me, is a very good sign.

Last night was the perfect example of what I'm talking about. The team probably played its best game of the season in a 9-3 beating of the Cardinals, and it did so without the services of Joey Votto, Edwin Encarnacion and Willy Taveras.

The problems don't stop there, either. Brandon Phillips has a broken thumb and Jay Bruce hasn't hit the weight of my dog Maggie in the last 11 games.

Andohbytheway, Edinson Volquez, our best starting pitcher from a season ago, has missed one start, lasted only an inning in another and just went back on the disabled list.

As Reds fans, we're left with a roster that looks like it should be competing against the Iowa Cubs instead of the Chicago Cubs, yet here we are.

28-24, 2.5 games out of first.

The reasons for this overachieving ballclub are many. I'll get to that later.

My point is that had you told me last March that Encarnacion, Votto, Volquez and Phillips would all have missed significant time with injury, and we would stand only 2.5 games out of first I would have probably checked your pulse.

We're doing it with smoke and mirrors. It's often gritty and ugly, but it sure is fun.