The Mo Egger Radio Show -- 10/21/26

00:00:01
Speaker 1: Bengals!
00:00:02
Speaker 2: It's an AFC North showdown. Bengals versus the Ravens, where every yard is earned. In fact, if the game gets any more physical, players may need to exchange insurance information. Cincinnati battles Baltimore. The game kicks off at 1 p.m., with coverage starting.
00:00:19
Speaker 3: At 9 a.m.
00:00:19
Speaker 2: Sunday. Stream for free on the new and improved iHeartRadio app or on ESPN 1530, the official home of the Cincinnati Bengals.
00:00:29
Speaker 4: All right.
00:00:30
Speaker 5: Yes.
00:00:30
Speaker 4: I got it.
00:00:31
Speaker 2: Yes.
00:00:32
Speaker 4: Bengals and Ravens. Thank you. Good afternoon. Mo Legger, ESPN 1530. Appreciate you listening.
00:00:37
Speaker 5: Yes.
00:00:38
Speaker 4: Bengals Ravens on Sunday. And it is maybe looking a little bit more likely, at least, that Lamar Jackson is going to miss a third consecutive game. Now, that hasn't been declared. But he didn't play last week. He didn't play two weeks ago. And at the portion of practice that the media is allowed to watch in Baltimore, Lamar Jackson not working out. The Ravens have a good backup quarterback. They have a backup quarterback that nearly led the Ravens to a playoff victory here at the end of the 2022 season. Tyler Hundley on the on the list of backup quarterback. I haven't ranked all the backup quarterbacks and I have a life, so I'm not going to. But he's he's in the upper range of backup QBs. That's cool. You got to win this game on Sunday. You got to win this game on Sunday. The conversation is very, very simple for me. You're either in the middle or you inch closer to elites. And I don't know that anybody is going to declare the Bengals prohibitive AFC favorites if they win this game. I think they will be the odds on favorites to win the AFC North. But the NFL's middle is big. It's big every single year. It feels... And this will change in the coming weeks, but it feels especially big this year. The Bengals are in that middle. There's a whole bunch of NFL teams that feel kind of the same. whole bunch of NFL teams that you could say to yourself, that team may end up being pretty good. And a whole bunch where you're like, I don't know, they may end up being pretty good, but they also might end up being pretty bad. I don't think the Bengals are going to end up being pretty bad, but the idea this year is to be better than pretty good. They could take a step toward that by beating the Baltimore Ravens in a road game on Sunday and And Dana and I talked about this yesterday. If you missed that conversation, it's available on the iHeartRadio app. But like, it's really set up well for him. For years, the Bengals have justifiably complained. We always have to play on a Thursday night in Baltimore. Not the case this go around. They're coming off a bye. They're enjoying good health. They have the healthier of the two MVP caliber quarterbacks. Like, come on, man. It's game on if they win this game on Sunday. I think we start talking like real big things about the Bengals if they win this game on Sunday. If they lose nationally, it's going to be shut up about it. And it's, you know, it is very much sort of a put up or shut up game. When this one on Sunday and you you at least jump to the fringes of the elites lose this one. You can talk all you want about, well, the schedule is soft. The remaining schedule is pretty easy, and there'll be big favorites against the Titans, and they should beat the Falcons, and that's all well and good. You're 3-3. And a franchise that hasn't made the postseason in any of the last three years, that is below 500 for that amount of time, that has had two years where Burrow has played the entire season and not made the playoffs, like, dude, lose this one, and you get whatever's coming your way. You get whatever criticism, You get whatever heat comes your way. And that goes for the team. It goes for the franchise. It goes for the coach. Like, Zach, go win a football game, man. You got a healthy team. You've had time to prepare. We're not making you play on a Thursday night at 830. We're letting you play Sunday at 1. And we may give you a backup quarterback as your opposition. Dude, Zach, go win a big football game. Go win a big football game on the road that matters against a division foe. And if not, whatever ire is aimed at Zach Taylor, frankly, he will have deserved. My name is Mo Egger. This is ESPN 1530. I appreciate you listening today. Show preview is available on Twitter at Mo Egger. Thanks, of course, to United. No, thanks, of course, to ShareFax Credit Union. ShareFax Credit Union. I am a ShareFax Credit Union member. And if I had my wallet with me, I would hold up for the folks watching on Twitter and YouTube. I would hold up my ShareFax credit union debit card. Go to ShareFax.org to learn about the benefits of membership. Again, that's ShareFax.org. Now, it's Wednesday. Joe Burrow typically talks on Wednesdays. He's scheduled to talk this afternoon. The scheduled time for his gathering with the media is 3.15. And I know everybody hangs on every word that Joe Burrow says. I ordinarily would have broken by now, but every week he has shown up late. The average time is right around 3.30, 3.35. And so I'm going to step aside here. And if Joe is on time, then during the break, he'll start his press conference. And my guy, Taren, he'll hustle and adjust. But I've decided I can no longer revolve everything we do around Joe Burrow's press conference because it never starts on time. I hope it does. I'm guessing it won't. We'll see. We've got to talk about the possibility of the Bengals trading Shamar Stewart, which is being brought up on ESPN.com today. I will be maybe the last to jump into the trade Eli De La Cruz or don't trade Eli De La Cruz debates today. Because my problem isn't with trading or not trading Eli De La Cruz. And your problem shouldn't be necessarily trading or not trading Eli De La Cruz. It should be something else. We'll get to that a little bit later on. At Mo Egger on Twitter. It's 13 minutes after 3 o'clock, so we'll step aside. And when we come back, hopefully, hopefully we'll be listening to Joe Burrow together on ESPN 1530 Cincinnati Sports Station. Cincinnati. An iHeartRadio station. Guaranteed human. ESPN 1530. iHeartRadio. 19 after 3. My guy Taren made a really good point during the break. So Joe Burrow typically talks at where he's scheduled to talk every Wednesday at 315. And by request, I said yesterday on this show, we take requests. I know folks love to hear Joe Burrow. Many love to hear him so they can psychoanalyze every single syllable. So we carry it live 315 every single Wednesday. Let's be honest. Chances are you would rather hear from Joe Burrow than me. And I'd rather hear from Joe Burrow than me. But he's he's never on time. And that's probably not his fault. But Tara made a good point on days where it's a normal working Wednesday. Joe is busy. as many as 20 minutes late for his press conference. Today, the vice president of the United States, J.D. Vance, is at Bengals practice. And if on a normal working Wednesday, Joe is constantly running behind for his weekly press conference, I would imagine the presence of the vice president complicates things just a little bit. And just really quick, that is not a political statement. So when Joe gets to the podium, whenever that is, maybe he'll bring the vice president to the podium with him. I don't know. But whenever Joe gets to the podium, we'll have it for you live. Kelsey Conway is going to join us in the five o'clock hour. She typically does on Wednesdays on the game on Sunday. She's written about Shamar Stewart this week needing to do more. She's also done an interview with Joe Burrow's mom as part of her Beyond Sunday podcast series. Shamar Stewart is the subject of a blurb. on ESPN.com involving players who could be traded. Jeremy Fowler, whose primary beat for years was the AFC North. Now he covers the NFL as a whole for ESPN. He writes this. One surprise name a few teams are tracking in Cincinnati is edge rusher Shamar Stewart. 2025 first round pick is not a factor in the team's rotation right now. played 17 defensive snaps, well behind the total for the fourth defensive end Cedric Johnson. Can barely see anymore. And rookie second-rounder Cassius Howell has been impressive. Cincinnati typically doesn't move its young draft picks, but it would be surprising if the Bengals haven't received inquiries on Stewart, whose upside remains high. So, the trade deadline is inching closer. The Bengals do have three more games between now and the deadline, which is on Tuesday, November the 10th. Should the Bengals make Shamar Stewart available? How is the answer anything but yes? That's not giving up on him. It's recognizing and understanding what he is. A backup, and backups are valuable. but he's a backup who's a valuable long-term asset. That's what Shamar Stewart is. Maybe things get better. Maybe injuries force him into a more high-profile situation. Maybe he plays great in practice and demands more playing time. Maybe he impresses in the small amount of playing time he's been getting and then warrants even more playing time. I don't know. Here's what I do know. Back in April, the Bengals decided we're going for it and we don't care as much about 2027. We Which is why they traded the 10th overall pick to get Dexter Lawrence. I think consistency is important. What you're going to do in April, the tone you're going to set in April, if you're in the hunt and the Bengals are, needs to carry through into the season. And has to be in play at the trade deadline. And so with Shamar Stewart, I think most of us would agree. He is more likely to help this team down the road than right now. Part of that is not his fault. Getting hurt, missing basically all of training camp. Part of that is a function of where he plays, meaning the position group. There's lots of guys. There's lots of options. How does Shamar Stewart crack the rotation? Um, It's also recognizing that there's maybe some other needs the Bengals could address. People have talked about running back. Folks have talked about in the secondary offensive line depth. Heck, maybe a more surefire option to help this team on the defensive line. But to me, there's got to be some consistency here. They decided the Bengals did back during the spring. We're going for it. And what we have to do with a long-term asset, we'll worry about that later. We're trying to win right now. I don't know what kind of value Shamar Stewart would have. I don't know how many teams are pushing each other out of the way to be the first to make the Bengals a trade offer. But I got to think, a dude who was drafted in the first round last year, who if you trade for, you get for the rest of this year plus two more. I would imagine that's a pretty valuable asset for a team looking to stockpile younger players with an eye toward the future or a team that has the reps available to him to play him. The Bengals right now do not. What would he be able to get? What position would the Bengals be prioritizing? Like, we could say linebacker, but we thought the Bengals were going to prioritize linebacker back in February, and they clearly did not. And, you know, that's resulted in, for lack of a better way of putting it, mixed results. But sure, yes, absolutely. They should be looking at what teams would be willing to give them for Shamar Stewart. That doesn't mean you take 50 cents on the dollar. That certainly doesn't mean that you give him away. You need good offers. You need something that's going to make sense. You need something that's going to make your team better right now. And this is not a get rid of him because he's a bad guy. This isn't a, well, get rid of him because he has no chance of being any good. It's this guy's more likely to help us later than now. I'm looking for players who are more likely to help us right now. Could I flip the long-term guy for somebody who can help my team right now when I'm trying to win a title? We'll see. We'll see where this goes. You know, whenever you bring up the Bengals at the trade deadline, you'll hear folks who say, it's just not something they do, man. It's just not who they are. That is out the window permanently. It went out the window on that Saturday night in April when we found out the Bengals had traded for Dexter Lawrence. The quintessential, the Bengals just don't do that type of move, move. So if the answer to any of these trade ideas or suggestions or possibilities is don't even talk about it because it's just not what they do. That's just not what they do as a Bengals explanation or excuse permanently out the window. I'm looking for short-term assets. I want to win right now. If they were 0-5, different story. If they were 1-4, different story. different story. If they lose on Sunday and then the following week at home against the dreadful Titans, a team that's had like guys going to their car to get a gun to go maybe shoot a team. If they lose to them, conversation changes. But right now where they are, the conversation hasn't changed. Find me players who could help right now. And if I have to trade away a guy who might be better equipped to help me down the road in order to do it, so be it. That's what comes with being all in. 27 after three. You can send me a tweet at Mo Egger. Thanks to Delta Dental. Delta Dental is building healthy and smart, vibrant communities for all. Go to deltadentaloh.com. FC Cincinnati plays tonight against DC United in a makeup game from one that was banged a few weeks ago. The orange and blue remain in ninth place, even though they never win. They got to get tonight's game. They're kind of running out of time. We'll spend some time on that. Keith Costigan, Apple TV joins us at 4.20. Kelsey Conway in the five o'clock hour. Wise Money Sports with Joe Wilson coming up as well. We'll do sports headlines and maybe, just maybe, Joe Burrow will be at the podium when we come back on ESPN 1530 Cincinnati Sports Station.
00:15:25
Speaker 6: Cincinnati's ESPN 1530.
00:15:26
Speaker 7: Traffic.
00:15:29
Speaker 2: From the UCSPN 1530 Cincinnati Sports Station.
00:15:34
Speaker 4: Sports headlines are a service to Kelsey Chevrolet, home of Lifetime, powertrain protection, and guaranteed credit approval from their family to yours for life. KelseyChev.com. Jesse Minner, the Ravens head coach, says that Lamar Jackson, quote, got a little bit of limited work. Now, Baltimore has not yet released their injury report, at least not that I have seen. So it's possible that they may still list him as DNP. He was not dressed for the practice today in Baltimore at the portion open to the media. A lot more on this tonight. Bengals game plan starring Dan Horde and Wayne Boxmiller from 6 to 8 tonight on ESPN. 15, 32 hours wall-to-wall Bengals as soon as we're done at 6 p.m. And of course, The game Sunday live at 1 o'clock on ESPN 1530 with pregame coverage starting Sunday morning at 9. FC Cincinnati is home tonight for DC United. That is a game that was postponed due to weather a number of weeks ago. They'll start at 7 o'clock tonight. If you're looking for radio coverage of that game, you can find it. On the project 100.7 and 106.3, the orange and blue entered tonight's action in a three-way tie for the ninth spot in the MLS Eastern Conference standings. We're still waiting for Joe Burrow. We'll bring you him as soon as he gets underway chatting with the local professional football media. Speaking of the local professional football media, if you joined us yesterday, if you didn't join us yesterday, where the hell were you? Paul Daner Jr. from The Athletic and The Growler Podcast. One whole hour on the Bengals. It was awesome. Paul is the best. If you missed it, we talked about a myriad of issues. That's right. I said myriad of issues. It's available right now on the iHeartRadio app. I think I'm going to be the last to jump into this conversation. It probably, though, won't be the last time we have this conversation. So Joey Votto last week on MLB Network said the Reds should trade Eli De La Cruz. And this has been a topic of conversation. We haven't really engaged in it in large part because, well, it took place late last week, didn't have a show Friday, Monday's a football show, lots of Bengal stuff yesterday. So let's do it now, at least until Joe Burrow shows up at the podium. Should the Reds trade Eli De La Cruz? Probably. probably should. My colleague Lance McAllister has a tweet about this that went viral, talking about how they're not going to win in 2027, not going to win in 2028. They're not going to be able to keep them beyond 2029. And that logic makes all the sense in the world. So trade them.
00:18:26
Speaker 8: Fine.
00:18:27
Speaker 4: And I know there's going to be pushback to that. And I understand the pushback. And I guess there's a part of me that doesn't Entirely, excuse me, disagree with the pushback. Wait a minute. We're already waving the white flag on 27. We're already waving the white flag on 2028. How about you try to win with them?
00:18:51
Speaker 7: Fine.
00:18:54
Speaker 4: My question is this. When are we going to stop doing this? When are we going to stop talking about the Reds needing to move on from a really good player that they didn't win with? Because, and I know I'm going to go back a few years, this isn't isolated.
00:19:14
Speaker 9: 2014, 2015.
00:19:16
Speaker 4: Now, admittedly, the guys they ended up trading, they traded later than they should have. But that was a stretch dominated by, golly gee, their window is probably closed. So you got to start thinking about trading Johnny Cueto and Brandon Phillips and Jay Bruce and Todd Frazier and Aroldis Chapman. And they didn't win with those players. I get it. Some of those guys were on a team that won 97 games. But like still. Trade away these guys, some of whom are now in the team's Hall of Fame. Others will be in the team's Hall of Fame that they didn't win with. Post 2021. Probably makes sense to trade away Sonny Gray and trade away. Jesse Winker and trade away a Eugenio Suarez and you didn't win with them. And now we're doing it with Eli De La Cruz, arguably their best player, one of the best players in the sport. And again, it makes sense. You can get a lot for him. You can get some long-term assets, but You can get a package of players in return that, you know, might help form the core of a team that can actually win. You want to maximize his value? Elie Delacruz will probably never be more valuable as a trade ship than he is right now. That doesn't mean he's not going to be valuable, but if you trade for Elie Delacruz, you get him for three years. The Reds should, if they do it, should have a high asking price. So yeah, man, we could do it. Talk about trading him. But how sad is that? And how repetitive and redundant does it feel? It's sad that we are already talking about trading Eli De La Cruz when it feels like he just got here. But I know like 2023, that season is now forever ago, but he's not an old player. He's not an aging player. He's a guy who's only getting better. but it's a guy they've wasted. L.A. Taylor Cruz will get MVP votes. He ain't going to win it. That's going to be Pete Crow Armstrong by a landslide, but he's going to get MVP votes because he had an excellent season, because he is one of the better players in the sport. I think you could argue the best player on this team. Obviously, Sal Stewart would have something to say about that. That is a semantics argument that you could have with somebody else. It is beyond annoying that we're doing this. Because I think we've all understood since day one, Elie Delacruz's time in Cincinnati is not infinite. It's not forever. There's an expiration date. Maybe it's when his original contract expires. Maybe they tack on a year somehow. But he's not going to play here for 12, 15 years. That's just the reality of things. And chances are, even if baseball's economics change, that reality is not going to change. So you said, okay, well, win with him while you got him. They haven't. And so now we do what we have done with this team, and they're very good players for years. Joe Burrow is talking more on this in a bit. Let's go to the podium.
00:22:32
Speaker 9: There's no hiding from that. Yeah, it's a big game.
00:22:38
Speaker 3: There's a lot of football to be played after this, but anytime we play the Ravens with placing in the Division on the line, it's going to be a big game, so we're treating it that way.
00:22:53
Speaker 9: Do you feel like you're getting a rhythm.
00:22:57
Speaker 10: Of three-ish games going into the bye, and how does that impact, or does it impact you going into something?
00:23:03
Speaker 9: Yeah, it's always a process.
00:23:07
Speaker 3: You're always constantly trying to improve and finding things that work for you, and you can do that on the bye week as well. So I was able to do some things on the bye that I think helped me get better and We'll continue to do that.
00:23:21
Speaker 11: For the first time in your career, when you've been doing your recent studies, you're facing a team not coached by John Harbaugh. Obviously, you guys played the Chargers, Jesse Minter, but how different was this week, and how different is Baltimore's defense now under him?
00:23:36
Speaker 9: Yeah, the scheme is different in some ways, but.
00:23:40
Speaker 3: In a lot of ways, it's similar as well. They're going to put their playmakers in position to make big plays. and they have some really good playmakers, and we have to limit their opportunities to affect the game and take care of the football and play smart and take our explosives when they come.
00:24:03
Speaker 10: The last time you guys were down there in the light of day, that was a big win for you guys back in 21. What kind of impact was that game, do you think, in 21 down there?
00:24:14
Speaker 9: Yeah, that was a long time ago now, but that was really before.
00:24:21
Speaker 3: Anybody had any respect for us at the time, and people played us that way. And so we had to go and earn our respect, and I think that was a big turning point in all of our careers was, you know, we earned some respect that day and.
00:24:36
Speaker 9: Kept it. So, you know, we're looking to go out and make plays like we did that day. Is it the same structure, though, the defense? Very different structure from back then, very different. I've called Kyle Hamilton the most underrated player, he thinks, in football.
00:24:50
Speaker 10: When you're preparing for each snap, how aware do you have to be of Kyle Hamilton?
00:24:55
Speaker 3: Yeah, he's a big physical player, long arms, tall, can affect the game in so many different ways. You can rush the passer, you can play coverage, you can play man-to-man. You can tap balls and intercept those as well. So you always have to be aware of where he is. They're going to put in positions to affect the game, and a lot of their defense is built around him. So, like you said, you've got to be aware of him.
00:25:21
Speaker 9: How unique is he for what he does?
00:25:25
Speaker 4: Yeah, there's not.
00:25:25
Speaker 9: You know, maybe Dermot James is.
00:25:33
Speaker 3: Another safety that's similar build and can affect the game in similar ways.
00:25:36
Speaker 9: I think Kyle's a little taller and longer, but similar play styles.
00:25:43
Speaker 10: Do you think Roquan and Hamilton make them different than what they've been before?
00:25:50
Speaker 9: All their defensive players are so smart. Kyle, Roquan, Marlon. Those guys have been playing for a long time and know.
00:26:02
Speaker 3: How to pattern read and know situational football and know what you're going to try to do in different spots. always attacking the football as well so they can cause turnovers.
00:26:14
Speaker 9: I got a lot of respect for these guys.
00:26:16
Speaker 12: What's it going to be like to face Trey Hendrickson on Sunday?
00:26:19
Speaker 9: Yeah, it'll be fun. It'll be fun.
00:26:22
Speaker 3: I got to practice with him for a long time and I'm sure he's excited to hit me a little bit after not hitting me for so long.
00:26:29
Speaker 9: Yeah, it'll be fun. It's like watching him on tape.
00:26:33
Speaker 3: Yeah, he's the same player. He's the same player. He's going to win in a multitude of ways and affect the game and got to put people near him and affect his rush ability or he can go and get it.
00:26:46
Speaker 12: How would you describe his whole tenure here? Just if you could put it up, like if you could just summarize it.
00:26:51
Speaker 9: Productive. How would you like getting in and out of the huddle so far through five games? Something you talked about coming into week one.
00:27:00
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think we've been really good at it. Obviously, you know, we haven't been perfect. You know, we've taken some some timeouts and some spots that we didn't want.
00:27:13
Speaker 9: And I'm.
00:27:15
Speaker 3: Not sure we've had any delays a game, but there's been a couple times that we haven't quite been as, as polished as we need to be. But I think overall, I think our sense of urgency has been good.
00:27:27
Speaker 11: Did you watch the games on Sunday in the division?
00:27:31
Speaker 9: And if you look, I mean, you guys.
00:27:33
Speaker 11: Are all kind of muddled and saying that he's really broken away. You talk so much about the urgency and before the bye, you were really saying, You.
00:27:40
Speaker 1: Guys need to pick up the play.
00:27:41
Speaker 11: Do you feel like this week's a tone-setting type of game for you guys?
00:27:46
Speaker 9: Yeah, it's a big game.
00:27:47
Speaker 3: It's a big game. You don't want to be 0-2 in the division. That's certainly not a place of comfort. We want to be 4-2 and controlling our own destiny. It really starts this week. Really recently, outside of last year, it's gone through Baltimore and We want to go and get this one to set the rest of the season upright, like you said.
00:28:13
Speaker 12: During the bye, there was a lot of talk, whether you saw it or not, about the run game, and there has been over the past few weeks. Just where's your confidence level in Chase Brown ahead of Sunday's game?
00:28:22
Speaker 9: Very confident in Chase.
00:28:25
Speaker 3: Chase has proven to be a playmaker in this league, and will continue to do things with the ball in his hands, and we all got to be better in the run game, and we all know it. We took a step in Miami two weeks ago, and did some good things. We got to be better than we were that day still.
00:28:43
Speaker 9: But.
00:28:45
Speaker 3: We got the right kind of people that want to go and improve and improve upon what we've shown and continue to grow.
00:28:52
Speaker 9: Certainly, certainly it will be a little different.
00:28:58
Speaker 12: You talked about getting respect from, was that in terms of defenses or just in general, getting respect from folks?
00:29:05
Speaker 3: The way that I was, Describing it earlier was from defenses, but you could say in general as well.
00:29:12
Speaker 12: Do you all feel like you still command that love for respect despite the last few years? Where do you feel like that sits now as you go into this game five years later?
00:29:18
Speaker 9: Yeah, it's certainly a little different.
00:29:20
Speaker 3: I think our offense commands a lot of respect across the league, and teams tend to play us differently than they have shown on tape. But I would say not the same as it once was, so we've got.
00:29:36
Speaker 9: To go and do it again. It's looking way down the road of the sketch.
00:29:40
Speaker 3: But with the way that the AFC North is stacking up, how much, how big could it be, you know, having the one o'clock game there and a primetime game here against Baltimore versus it's been flipped in years past.
00:29:50
Speaker 13: Yeah.
00:29:50
Speaker 9: This, you know, we're worried about this one right now.
00:29:52
Speaker 3: You know, that one will, will, will come at some point down the road, but yeah, we got to go and get a big win this weekend.
00:30:02
Speaker 9: And go from there.
00:30:03
Speaker 10: You've had some big games against these guys that not many quarterbacks have been able to do.
00:30:08
Speaker 9: Why do you think they would do that?
00:30:10
Speaker 3: Well, we make some big-time plays on the outside. Their front is disruptive. Their corners make everything tough. They're not going to give up anything easy. And we have guys that can make contested plays on the outside. And we can make plays outside the pocket, outside the structure. And really, Like I said before, these guys make everything so hard. And if you don't make contested plays, you're going to have a long day because they're going to stop the run. And they're going to make you throw it deep. They're going to play everything down from shallow to deep.
00:30:50
Speaker 9: And if you don't make those contested plays down the field, it's going to be a long day.
00:30:54
Speaker 1: What do you admire and respect about Ted?
00:30:57
Speaker 3: He's the same every day. Ted brings energy and enthusiasm and intelligence. to his daily process, and that permeates throughout the O-line, number one, and then throughout the team's second.
00:31:10
Speaker 12: How confident are you in this team's ability to respond the way it needs to respond in a hostile environment someday?
00:31:16
Speaker 9: Yeah, I'm very confident in it, but, you know, we've got to go and prove it.
00:31:20
Speaker 3: We haven't proven anything yet, and that's what sport is all about, is proving yourself against a worthy opponent in front of the world.
00:31:28
Speaker 9: So that's what we're going to go try to do on Sunday.
00:31:30
Speaker 12: Given how this game went for you last year here against Baltimore, was this one that you were maybe looking forward to more than most, given how that went for you as an offense?
00:31:36
Speaker 9: I'm not sure I'd say that.
00:31:38
Speaker 3: You know, anytime you play a divisional opponent, you're really looking forward to it. I always love playing the Ravens. We know what kind of game it's going to be. It's going to be a test of our mental fortitude like.
00:31:50
Speaker 9: It always is.
00:31:52
Speaker 13: So, yeah, Vice President Vance was here at practice today.
00:31:55
Speaker 9: Did y'all get a chance to interact at all? We did not. We did not. He, uh, came with everybody and left with swiftness and efficiency before the end of practice, so I didn't get to.
00:32:05
Speaker 12: What was your overall reaction to having him out there today?
00:32:09
Speaker 9: Yeah, a lot of people around.
00:32:10
Speaker 3: You know, that's what I love about what I do is it brings a lot of people together and people want to take time out of their day to come and watch what we do, watch what I do, and watch all the work that I've put in to come and watch greatness and.
00:32:29
Speaker 9: That's everybody in the locker room. That's why we do what we do. And whether it's on the TV, whether it's in person, whether it's on the practice field, you know, that's what we do. When did you find out he was going to come? When Mr. Brown came and told me on the sideline. He figured that by doing the kicks.
00:32:45
Speaker 14: Yeah.
00:32:48
Speaker 4: All right, Joe Burrow talking after today's practice, which, as you heard there, was attended at least for a while by Vice President J.D. Vance, Bengals, and Ravens. Dan Hoard, I know why Dan Hoard was asking that question about Ted Karras. It's because Ted Karras is going to be his and Wayne Boxmiller's guest on the Bengals game plan show starting at 6 o'clock. I saw that on Dan's Instagram. And see, because I try to be a full-service host, I am on the fly here. This is great radio. I'm pulling this up. They're going to be at Eli's Sports Bar on Western Row Road, which I can't say five times fast. Western Row Road. Ted Karras will be there 6-8 tonight. Bengals game plan. If you can't be there, listen to it on ESPN 1530. All right. Joe Burrow done. Bengals and Ravens on Sunday at one. We have a lot to get to. We have no guests until 420. Keith Costigan from Apple TV. I got more on the Ellie Dela Cruz thing. We got to talk about the Shamar Stewart thing. We have a lot. Live press conferences during this show always somewhat throw off my equilibrium. It's 10 away from 4. This is ESPN 1530 Cincinnati Sports Station.
00:34:11
Speaker 6: Cincinnati's ESPN 1530. Traffic.
00:34:16
Speaker 14: Get your midweek Bengals fix tonight at 6 o'clock on Bengals Game Plan on ESPN 1530 Cincinnati Sports Station.
00:34:26
Speaker 4: Yes, sir.
00:34:29
Speaker 1: I guess yes, ma'am is more appropriate.
00:34:31
Speaker 4: What's up, Mo Egger, ESPN 1530? Thanks for listening today. By the way, speaking of the Bengals game plan show, shout out to Box. Wayne Boxmiller, the Hall of Famer, the legend. It always terrifies me when legendary broadcasters inform me in real time that they're listening to this show. I was mentioning a few minutes ago the Bengals game plan show tonight. which starts at six o'clock is going to be broadcast from Eli Sports Bar on Western Row Road. And Dan and Box are going to be joined by Ted Karras. And Wayne was nice enough to text me and say, hey, just to help you out, which, by the way, I need all the help I could get. But just to help you out, Ted will be there from seven till eight tonight. So by all means, get there for the start of the show at six o'clock. But Ted Karras will be there in the second hour. I've said this on a few different occasions to guests we've had, or I've just said it, you know, you know, in general on this show, Ted Karras has had a terrific NFL career. He has been a good bangle, but there haven't been that many athletes. And that's not to say that there have been none. I don't know that there have been that many athletes who have sort of embraced the community the way Ted Karras has and, It's impossible to go anywhere without seeing a Cincy hat. And, you know, to be, I think, considered a fan favorite playing center is not something that's very easy to do. And as good of a player as Ted is, let's face it, he's played on a bunch of bad Bengals offensive lines. It's not like he's a superstar. He's obviously been a very, very good player in this league for a very long time, but I think it really speaks to the quality of the person. I don't know who the Bengals' nominee, if you will, for the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year award is going to be. And I do think it's sort of stupid that that is an award that's voted on by the public. It should not be a popularity contest. But I would love to see Ted win that award. Would absolutely love to see Ted win that award. And so you get a chance to go hang out with him tonight at Eli's on Western Road, which again, I can't say times fast. FC Cincinnati plays a game tonight that is a makeup game. And that is going to happen at seven o'clock tonight. Keith Costigan, Apple TV, we'll call it the orange and blue. I keep saying this about various results, massively disappointing Sunday night, massively disappointing a loss that a blown opportunity to pick up three points at home, a loss to a rival a A game that despite the fact that FC Cincinnati often dominated possession, once the Columbus crew went up, you never felt like FC Cincinnati was going to win. They are, you would like to think, going to be desperate to get three points tonight. We will see. Keith joins us coming up in just about 12 minutes. Bengals news of the day and just looking now. I don't see an official injury report for the Baltimore Ravens. I don't think anybody's going to be surprised if Lamar Jackson is listed as limited. And I don't think anybody's going to be surprised if Lamar Jackson is officially listed as out. Jesse Minter said today that Lamar got to do a little work, but he was not dressed for football activities during the portion of the practice. that the media members covering the, covering the Ravens get a chance to watch. So we will see Tyler Hundley is a very capable backup quarterback to me. Like Dana and I talked about this yesterday, the central figures in this game. I know Trey Hendrickson is one. And by the way, it was interesting. Joe Burrow didn't exactly go out of his way to say a whole bunch of nice things about Trey Hendrickson because he wasn't a very popular player, but the other central figure is Derrick Henry. When the Baltimore Ravens are at their best, Derrick Henry is running outside runs and he's coming downhill and a corner's got to try to tackle him or a linebacker's got to try to tackle him. And over the course of his long and distinguished Hall of Fame career, many have tried, many have failed. That to me, regardless of whether... And look, they're better if Lamar plays. Lamar's a star.
00:38:54
Speaker 14: Um.
00:38:55
Speaker 4: But the central figure to me and what I'm more interested as much as anything is, are they going to be able to stop Derrick Henry from just running up and down on them? And I think over the last couple of years, and it's with two different head coaches, when you've watched the Ravens and you see that offense stall, it often feels like it stalls in large part because they get away from giving the ball to Derrick Henry. Like the two running games to me in this game are fascinating. Can the Bengals tackle Derrick Henry? And then what is the, running game for the Bengals going to look like? How productive is it? Who's carrying the football? How many runs out of the shotgun versus under center do we see? How productive is Chase Brown when he gets it? How productive is Samaj P. Ryan when he gets it? Picked up some Ajay P. Ryan in fantasy. We'll see. It's the question about... Look, there's lots of things the Bengals have to be better at, but holy crap, we spend all offseason talking about offense being more efficient, more effective. That really only happens if they run it more effectively. How do they do so? Who's doing the running? Sunday's going to tell us a lot. Sunday's going to be maybe revealing about what the... the overall offensive strategy is as the rest of the season unfolds. I cannot wait for this game on Sunday. I said it from the moment the Miami game ended, it feels like the season really begins on Sunday. I think Sunday we, we either four o'clock on Sunday, we're talking about the Bengals championship bona fides. And again, that's not to say that they're going to be the odds on favorite, but I, I think like lose this one. We're all going to shrug our shoulders and go, same old, same old. We talk about them a lot. We talk a lot about the star power. We talk a lot about how good they're going to be. They're three and three. I've lost on the road to Pittsburgh, lost to a good Jacksonville team. Now they've lost to Baltimore. Win this one, and it kind of feels like game on. I can't wait. And I know in October you can go overboard in making a big deal out of one game. I think it applies here. Like, when you're a team that hasn't made the playoffs in a very long time with the star power that the Bengals are supposed to have, and it's set on a platter for you the way this one seems to be, gotta go win that football game. Take a step toward the fringes of the elite and move out of the very large middle that the Bengals occupy space in. right now. I got interrupted by Joe Burrow last hour when I was talking about Ellie Dela Cruz. So to summarize, because I didn't get a chance to put a bow on that segment, trade Ellie Dela Cruz, fine. Don't trade Ellie Dela Cruz, okay. Regardless of how you feel, I don't know that there is a more damning indictment against this team other than the simple fact that it hasn't advanced in the postseason in 31 years. Maybe aside from the fact that the Milwaukee Brewers and Tampa Bay Rays are in the World Series, I don't know that there's a more damning indictment against this team beyond the fact that for a long time now, there is a pattern of the Reds having players that it's maybe time to move on from and time to trade and time to see if you can get long-term assets in exchange for that they don't win with. Nobody expected Ellie Taylor Cruz to be a red for life. Nobody.
00:42:29
Speaker 12: Come on.
00:42:30
Speaker 4: Be honest. Nobody expected it. It was while you have him, if he lives up to the promise, and I don't know that he'll ever live up to some people's expectations, but if he ends up being really good, what are you going to have to show for it by the time you move on? It would be insanely unfulfilling. This doesn't mean they shouldn't do it. It would be insanely unfulfilling. for the le era to come and go with them not winning anything which is what they did with joey vato which is what they did with all the players they traded in the middle of last decade which is what they did with the players they traded before the 2022 season and so you can't help but ask that like fine trade them but when does it stop When does it stop where, not that you can't extend the players, not that you don't extend the players, but the ones that you have that are good, that other teams would covet, you don't win with. Trading Elie Delacruz would be easy to swallow if we had had a chance to watch him make a deep postseason run with the Cincinnati Reds. That hasn't happened. I do think you have to ask yourself this, though. As much as it may hurt to trade a guy who's as fun to watch as Elie As much as your kids may hate it, we have spent the better part of this season comparing the Reds to the Milwaukee Brewers. And how do you not? They're good every year. They play in a small market. Reds see them head-to-head a bunch. Usually they lose. The Milwaukee Brewers, if they were where the Reds are right now, what would they do with Eli De La Cruz? They would probably trade him. Like one of the things about that franchise, and one of my favorite sports talk radio shows in this country is Bill Michaels up there in Milwaukee, and I listen to him. And when the Brewers have traded guys like Josh Hader, or when they have traded Corbin Burns, or when they traded Willie Adamas, there's some hand-wringing like, God, I love Willie Adamas. How do you trade away a guy as good as he is? How do you trade away Josh Hader? And they've traded those players away at times while they've been in contention, at times while they're maybe the odds-on favorite to go back to the postseason as the NL Central winner. They trade those guys away, and they get long-term assets for them. Even this past offseason, they traded away Caleb Durbin, and there were folks who didn't understand why. They needed pitching depth. They got it from the Boston Red Sox in exchange for Caleb Durbin. Long-term asset traded for short-term need. What would the Milwaukee Brewers do with Ellie Dela Cruz? They would trade him. Now, they would win with him, of course, because they're the Brewers. And here we have the Reds who don't win with anybody. The Brewers would win with him. But the whole like, well, he's a fan favorite and my kid has his jersey and there's bobbleheads would not be a consideration. We got to get something long term for him. And again, it's not apples to apples because the Brewers are always good and trading away players while they have years of control on their contract. But what they would do with Ellie Delacruz is once they got done winning with him is flip him for something good. And they would probably win the trade because that's what they normally do. So like this Ellie thing, I don't think you can have it both ways and go, God, I wish the Reds were like the Brewers and then go, oh, you can't trade Ellie Delacruz. I know this stinks, man. I hate it. I love watching Elie Dela Cruz. When the Reds are miserable, and let's be honest, this was a miserable season, watching him is still awesome.
00:46:14
Speaker 1: It is.
00:46:16
Speaker 4: I hate that they don't win with guys like Elie and Joey Votto and many, many others. But if we're looking at this realistically, yes. Yes, there are some very good arguments in favor of trading him. And frankly, I can't shoot him down as much as I want to. And I think if we're going to compare the Reds to the Brewers, you have to ask, in a lot of situations, what would Milwaukee do? Milwaukee would trade him tomorrow. It might not be the most fun way to operate as a Major League Baseball franchise because it's more fun to fall in love with players that you root for for a very long time. That's just not the reality of the sport or the market. And to me... That's where the conversation begins. What would the Brewers do? Ask that about a lot of different things. More on that a little bit later on. 16 after 4 o'clock. Wise Money Sports coming up in just about 20 minutes. FC Cincinnati tonight at home against D.C. You gotta win this game. You talk about games you gotta win. They're running out of chances. Kickoff at 7 o'clock. Apple TV. Keith Costigan has the call. He joins us next on ESPN 1530 Cincinnati Sports Station.
00:47:29
Speaker 6: Cincinnati's ESPN 1530. Traffic.
00:47:34
Speaker 1: From the UC Health traffic.
00:47:36
Speaker 14: Ball in the Natty. Brought to you by Modern Office Methods on ESPN 1530, the official home of the Cincinnati Bengals.
00:47:46
Speaker 4: 23 after 4, this is ESPN 1530. Mo Egger, thank you for listening today. We're in a little bit of a holding pattern for our friend Keith Costigan of Apple TV. We'll see if we can get a hold of him. Bengals news of the day. There's not a ton. Neither team's injury report is out yet. More on them and the game on Sunday a little bit later on. I do want to read this from the University of Cincinnati in coordination with the family of Bob Huggins, who, of course, along with many others, will be inducted. into the James P. Kelly Athletics Hall of Fame at the University of Cincinnati on Friday. I'll read this verbatim. It is a few paragraphs long. The family of legendary college basketball coach Bob Huggins wishes to share a personal update regarding his health. Bob is living with a progressive cognitive condition that has begun to affect his memory and aspects of his daily life. While the family has chosen to keep this matter private over the past several months... They believe this is an appropriate time to share the news with the many people who have supported Bob throughout his remarkable career, particularly as he prepares to be honored with induction into the University of Cincinnati James P. Kelly Athletics Hall of Fame. Throughout his extraordinary basketball journey, Bob's greatest impact has extended far beyond wins, championships, and the basketball court from his early coaching years at Walsh university to his time in Akron, Cincinnati, Kansas State, and West Virginia. His defining passion has always been the young man he coached, the relationships that he built, and the lives he helped shape generations of former players have benefited not only from his leadership as a coach, but also from his mentorship, loyalty, and lifelong friendship. Bob is deeply grateful for the tremendous honor being bestowed upon him by the University of Cincinnati. His years leading the Bearcats represent an unforgettable chapter in his life, filled with cherished relationships, remarkable accomplishments, and memories that will always hold a special place in his heart. He is looking forward to returning to Cincinnati this weekend, celebrating with former players and friends, and sharing in a moment that recognizes not only his accomplishments, but also the enduring bonds formed along the way. Although Bob and his family recognize the challenges that lie ahead, they remain focused on the relationships, experiences, and moments that bring him joy. He continues to be surrounded by the unwavering love and support of his wife, June, and his daughters, Jenna and Jacqueline, and his entire family. The family respectfully asked for privacy, compassion, and understanding as they navigate this next chapter together out of respect for Bob and his family. Neither the family nor representatives of the University of Cincinnati will be providing additional comments or responding to media inquiries regarding his health at the time. Additionally, Bob and his family will not be available for media interviews or questions related to his induction into the University of Cincinnati's James P. Kelly Athletics Hall of Fame this weekend. That is a statement from the family of Bob Huggins. And again, the news of a progressive cognitive condition that they say has begun to affect his memory and aspects of his daily life. The unfortunate headline there from the University of Cincinnati statement, Cincinnati Athletics is excited to welcome Coach Bob Huggins and his family back to campus this weekend. He is undoubtedly one of the greatest coaches in college basketball history. We extend our heartfelt support to Coach Huggins. and his family as they navigate this next chapter together. So very unfortunate news to pass on regarding Bob Huggins. And again, he will be inducted into the James P. Kelly Athletics Hall of Fame at UC on Friday night. We'll pivot to the game tonight. FC Cincinnati is hosting DC United. This is a makeup game from one that was postponed a number of weeks ago. The Orange and Blue, another loss this time on Sunday to Columbus. failing to move up in the Eastern Conference standings, still stuck in ninth place, but an opportunity tonight. Apple TV has it. Keith Costigan from Apple TV, kind enough to give us a few minutes, hours before he makes the call. It's good to have you, Keith. Good afternoon. How are you? I'm good.
00:52:00
Speaker 15: I'm good.
00:52:00
Speaker 8: I wish I was here to, you know, talk about the great form you guys have been in over recent weeks, but it hasn't been that way. But tonight gives you an opportunity to pick up a win against one of your rivals in those final playoff spots. So hopefully good things on the horizon.
00:52:15
Speaker 4: I hope so. I really thought that they had turned a corner a week and a half ago. And then these last two games, not so much the vibes right now, Keith, not good. Yeah, I would agree.
00:52:27
Speaker 8: The one saving grace, I guess, would be the performance against Columbus Crew. It's never good when you lose to your rival. But I think the actual, you know, watching the game back, I thought Cincinnati were the better team.
00:52:38
Speaker 4: They looked more balanced.
00:52:40
Speaker 8: They actually looked better defensively than they have, you know.
00:52:43
Speaker 9: In other spells in this season.
00:52:45
Speaker 8: But you add all that up and you say, yeah.
00:52:47
Speaker 4: It was good.
00:52:47
Speaker 5: You still fell to defeat.
00:52:49
Speaker 4: So it is difficult.
00:52:50
Speaker 13: It is the first game.
00:52:52
Speaker 8: Kind of real spell we've had under Pat Noonan where he's had to deal with this kind of adversity. I think, you know, his track record with the team over the last few years shows he'll get you out of it. But when you're living that moment, it can be very difficult. But, you know, the other part of this is DC haven't played well as well. So it really is a big six-pointer tonight. And it's one that you would imagine Cincy would look to and say, this is the night we can get back on track.
00:53:17
Speaker 4: Man, I hope so. You know, you talk about the track record, and I've kind of defaulted to that for months on end, but there's a part of me that feels like at this stage in the season that what their weaknesses are are well-established, and maybe it's too late to fix them. Is that an unfair way of looking at things? No, no.
00:53:34
Speaker 8: I think, you know, when you continue to have issues defensively, when you continue to concede goals at the rate you have defensively, I don't think it's a stretch to say, look, we're having the same issues.
00:53:45
Speaker 4: From day one. I think it was New England early on. It was like 6-1.
00:53:49
Speaker 8: And I remember thinking, that's just an anomaly. That's not going to happen again. But it has been the issue throughout the season. I would say with that, you know, you could maybe look to the personnel. It hasn't changed that much in those defensive areas. So it may be something that doesn't get completely fixed overnight. till you know the postseason and looking into next year where we have a quick turnaround but yeah i would imagine most fans are in your camp and saying we've seen this all year it hasn't changed why would it change now.
00:54:17
Speaker 4: Yeah it's it's a frustrating place to be tonight fc cincinnati and dc united dc and there's there's a whole cluster of teams there between 8 and 13 in the eastern conference table for pat noonan's team where does dc present some problems.
00:54:34
Speaker 8: They're quite direct, and they get at you really, really quickly. So when you have struggled defensively, a team that don't necessarily play out of the back, they don't let you press them, can cause problems.
00:54:46
Speaker 5: I think you have to be aware of that first ball.
00:54:48
Speaker 4: You have to compete. But it's not just that.
00:54:50
Speaker 8: When you play the ball long, even if D.C.
00:54:52
Speaker 4: Don't win that.
00:54:53
Speaker 8: First ball, they're quite a good second-ball team. So you have to really, really be aggressive and win.
00:54:57
Speaker 9: Those moments there.
00:54:58
Speaker 8: I think D.C., are a team that their league position tells you where they are and the issues they have on both ends. But if you're not at 100%, they have the ability to beat anybody in the league because they play a little bit different. So I would say you have to manage that direct play, deny it when you can, and when it does come, really compete physically to win it and give yourself a platform to go forward.
00:55:21
Speaker 4: But again, I've said this before.
00:55:23
Speaker 8: In recent weeks, I look at this and I go, well, this is a winnable game for Cincy, but We said that before and now they haven't got wins.
00:55:31
Speaker 4: You sound a lot like me over the last two months. Whoever the next game is against, this is a winnable one. The season gets underway now and they've tried lineup changes. They've brought in players from outside. They've switched up the goalkeeper. It feels like one of those seasons that's just destined to knock it off the ground. That's not what we're used to talking about here in late October.
00:55:55
Speaker 8: Yeah, you know, again, over the last couple of years, Cincinnati have been so good. It's amazing to me, and we all know this as fans of whatever teams we support, even growing up, when you're playing well, you look at every game and say, we can win it, we can win it, we can win it. The minute things start to go wrong, you start to go, like I said, is losing this game. No matter who you're playing, and DC falls into that category. So it is something that's spiraled throughout the season. I do admire Pat in terms of the fact that he hasn't been afraid to try different things. You speak with him, he's very much a, look, if there's something in practice we can do differently to.
00:56:30
Speaker 4: Get better, we will do it.
00:56:31
Speaker 8: He's not a stubborn coach, which sometimes I think stubborn coaches dig that hole even deeper for themselves. So I like the fact that Pat has tried to do that. I still think since he can make the playoffs, They're not going to be an easy out for any team, regardless of seating.
00:56:46
Speaker 9: But you have to get there.
00:56:47
Speaker 8: And to get there, you have to win these kind of games.
00:56:50
Speaker 4: DC are labeling this a must win.
00:56:52
Speaker 8: I would say it's less so for Cincinnati.
00:56:55
Speaker 4: In terms of being alive.
00:56:57
Speaker 8: But if you don't win at home against DC United, I don't know if you necessarily deserve to be a part of that playoff picture.
00:57:03
Speaker 4: Very fair and very well put. We'll let you run. Have a great call tonight. Keith, thanks so much. Thank you.
00:57:09
Speaker 9: Thanks for having me.
00:57:09
Speaker 4: Keith Costigan, Apple TV, FC Cincinnati, hosting DC United tonight. Joe Wilson, Wise Money Sports. Just ahead, ESPN 1530 Cincinnati Sports Station.
00:57:22
Speaker 14: You've been listening to Football in the Natty, brought to you by Red Key Express on ESPN 1530, the official home of the Cincinnati Bengals.
00:57:34
Speaker 6: Cincinnati's ESPN 1530.
00:57:38
Speaker 1: From the UC Health.
00:57:40
Speaker 4: This is ESPN 1530. Mo Egger, thank you so much for listening today. Wednesdays at this time, I mean, wise money sports with our friends from Omega Wealth Private Capital, usually in studio. Today, however, because sometimes people have better things to do than hang out with me, our guy Joe Wilson from Omega Wealth Private Capital is on the phone. I don't know where you are, but I wish you were here.
00:58:07
Speaker 16: My mo, it is a glorious day to be in a car. Not a cloud in the holy skies. You wouldn't know that because you're stuck in that cave. I'm on my way to CBUS, baby.
00:58:21
Speaker 13: To the motherland. To being Ohio State University.
00:58:24
Speaker 4: How about that? That sounds nice. Being in a car right now sounds pretty nice. Having a team in the World Series sounds nice. We don't have that. The Milwaukee Brewers do. This, to me, is one of the greatest investments of all time. And if there's anybody who knows about great investments... It's you. So the Milwaukee Brewers in 2014 had a miserable season. Couldn't get people to buy tickets. They won 68 games. So they sold these. Yes, we can. They sold what are, what were called timeless tickets. They sold a thousand of them, limited number, a thousand timeless tickets for a thousand dollars a piece. If you bought one, you want a one, you got a one pound brass ticket that is good for any future home game, including basketball. game seven of the world series Yeah, the sale brought in a million bucks and the best seat available. So the Brewers in the World Series, first time since 1982, you have a lot of folks who are like, cool, got my timeless ticket. Let's go. I need my World Series ticket. Now they're getting tickets. They're not getting like the greatest seats in the house, which has caused some consternation. But you're an expert on return on investment. Is this the greatest return on investment ever?
00:59:37
Speaker 16: See, I'm going to take the opposite side of that. I like the idea of having a cool brass keepsake ticket. But from an investment standpoint, I must go on the other side.
00:59:49
Speaker 13: Think about this. Think about this. $ 1, 000 in 2015, right? That would be the equivalent, if they.
00:59:52
Speaker 16: Put in the S & P 500, of $ 4, 526. You could almost buy two cheap seats to the World Series games for that kind of money.
01:00:04
Speaker 4: Hmm. Well, yes, yes, yes, you could. But like this guarantees you admission, right? Like if you, if you want to play the, if you, well, but you can get in, like they're, they're not denying people the right to go. Now they're not, you're not going to sit two rows behind the dugout, but like, if you don't have a timeless ticket, you're on the secondary market or you have to buy season tickets. And then that costs a lot of money. I don't know, man.
01:00:29
Speaker 13: This is true.
01:00:30
Speaker 4: A thousand bucks. It's appreciated in value. Now I get to buy World Series tickets at face value.
01:00:37
Speaker 16: I would say, no, I'm still with it. I want the option of the money. I mean, think about it this way. I'm a money guy.
01:00:42
Speaker 1: Come on, bro.
01:00:43
Speaker 16: Would you have spent, all right, let's use your logic. In 2015, you could have bought a forever stamp for 49 cents.
01:00:51
Speaker 13: Today, that's going to cost you about 82 cents. That's a 4.8% return on your money.
01:00:56
Speaker 16: You could send letters forever, Mo, with the same amount of money and watch the game from your living room. Okay, here's one. What if the Brewers sold the team? What if the Reds did this and then they.
01:01:09
Speaker 10: End up leaving?
01:01:10
Speaker 4: Yeah, because ownership has different policies. Ownership might not be compelled to honor a previous arrangement.
01:01:17
Speaker 16: It is only as good as the deal as it stays solvent. I think you got to be aware of that with any investment, any promissory note of any type. It's only good as long as it is backed by that business or company. And if they move on, I mean, I don't know. They'd be curious to see if the St. Louis Rams ever sold any of these tickets back in the day.
01:01:38
Speaker 13: Remember them?
01:01:39
Speaker 5: Yeah.
01:01:40
Speaker 13: That would be a problem. What are you going to do, hop on a plane and fly somewhere?
01:01:45
Speaker 4: Yeah. That's a very good point. Do you think this is the sort of thing that's going to scare teams away from doing something similar in the future?
01:01:54
Speaker 13: I don't think so.
01:01:54
Speaker 16: I don't think they're going to do this because I think you've got the– let me rephrase that. If you're desperate for cabbage, it's a great influx of cash. I mean, think about that. The brewers were awful. They got some cabbage to come in. To me, it's a neat idea, but I think in practicality, it just falls short.
01:02:13
Speaker 4: You mentioned forever stamps. Is there anything else like this comparable in the world of investing?
01:02:19
Speaker 11: Sure.
01:02:20
Speaker 16: Prepaid prepaid funerals right you and i what if you lived to 90 you paid today you could invest that money you could have gone significantly better i think you got to be cautious of understanding what you pay today and what that value is going to be 15 20 years because the eighth wonder of the world compound interest it's everything so i don't know i don't know if i would if the beloved dredge offered this I have to see how cool the brass ticket was. Maybe that would be something we get like Marty to sign it, you know, Johnny bench.
01:02:55
Speaker 13: Okay. Maybe, but I don't know. I'm not, I'm not, I'm going to invest it and pay for it when it comes time.
01:03:01
Speaker 16: It's going to be 25 to 30 years where we ever have a chance to even do this again.
01:03:04
Speaker 4: Unfortunately. Yeah, no, you're, you're probably right about that. Joe Wilson, wise money sports, Omega wealth, private capital. We talked last week about the, the college football playoff expanding to 24 teams, which since last Wednesday, I don't like it. I don't like it at all. I think when you have 23 postseason games, they're significantly less special. We should have tried 12 teams for a while to see how it worked. 12 seemed absolutely perfect. Saturdays like this past week don't matter as much in the 2014 playoff world. We're going to have four lost teams. We're not going to have excellence. We're going to have a lot of blowouts in the postseason. I hate everything about it.
01:03:40
Speaker 13: I concur. And I'm fascinated.
01:03:42
Speaker 16: Of course, we'll never know the real reason, but there just had to be so many teams crying a lot about this. Uh, here, here's what I find interesting, right? When you break down the money, Mo, yes, they're reporting that ESPN is paying 345 million more a year, right?
01:03:57
Speaker 13: That's what they're saying.
01:03:58
Speaker 16: Um, the reality though, is that they're, they're, that's, that's not the net number because they're getting some money back from, from these big conference games, if you will. Um, Here's what's also interesting, the extra money for school. Some of these schools are only, it sounds big, but when you look at what their payroll is for these players, and here's what gets me, the coaches' buyouts. Do you know since 2014 there's been over a billion dollars in buying coaches' contracts out?
01:04:31
Speaker 13: Holy cow. Mo, here you go.
01:04:33
Speaker 16: You should be a head coach of a football team and then get fired and get the buyout. And you could be looking at the blue skies right now instead of your office.
01:04:42
Speaker 4: How about that?
01:04:43
Speaker 10: A billion dollars.
01:04:44
Speaker 4: Best job in America is fired football coach. You know what's interesting, though, is if you go back to where we were a year ago, Maryland fired their coach today. That's the first program to fire a coach, and it's late October.
01:04:55
Speaker 13: I did not hear that.
01:04:56
Speaker 4: Yeah, Maryland fired Mike Loxley. And a year ago at this time, we'd already had like three or four high-profile coaches get whacked. And I think the reason only one has been let go is the money that schools have to pay coaches to go away.
01:05:10
Speaker 16: Oh, I agree 100%. I love the old line from Coach O when he's like, yep, what do you owe me left?
01:05:15
Speaker 13: Yep, how do you want me to leave? Show me the door. I'm happy to leave.
01:05:18
Speaker 16: These buyouts are massive from some of these big, named, giant schools. I also agree with you in this 24 thing. I think it's going to be saturated. It's going to lose its special vibe and its feel. It's going to be playoffs forever. The college football is hot right now. It'll be interesting to see how long this lasts. That's what I think will be lost. We get this for two or three years and they're like, this is broken. We're going back to something else.
01:05:44
Speaker 5: I don't know.
01:05:45
Speaker 4: That wouldn't surprise me. What's interesting to me from a business perspective is, is the dollar amount that's going to go to every school because it's, it's relatively, it's, it's not relatively small. It is very, very small. And so, I know who this is good for. It's good for coaches who could say, well, we made the playoff. That's going to enhance my job security. Fans don't like it. It puts more stress on the players, and it doesn't seem like it's a financial windfall for anybody. So business-wise, how does this make sense?
01:06:11
Speaker 16: Well, ESPN doubled the games that they're covering. They paid about 26% more. So that's what the network thinks about these games. The headline number we already talked about, $ 345 million. But the new money is actually about $ 155 million, right, when you actually look at what's coming in from what they had already had planned. A team getting $ 2. 8 million sounds great, but when you've got a $ 30 million roster, I mean, it's barely paying the tip of the bill, right?
01:06:37
Speaker 13: Um, I don't know. I think this is very interesting.
01:06:40
Speaker 16: Um, I think mid majors are going to love it because we're going to be able to be in the quote unquote playoffs. Uh, but I, I think, I don't think this is going to live long. I would, I would get the under on this.
01:06:51
Speaker 4: This strikes me as something we see with like private citizens, families, income goes up, spending goes up faster because this is sort of happening with college football, right? College football got a raise and they spent it before the check cleared.
01:07:05
Speaker 13: Well, I mean, it's the U.S. government.
01:07:07
Speaker 4: Hello.
01:07:08
Speaker 16: It's what we do in these United States of America, baby.
01:07:11
Speaker 13: I mean, hit the register. Let's party. I agree with you. It's out of control. It's the wild, wild west.
01:07:18
Speaker 16: We've had many conversations on this show about the NIL. I don't think this is going to be the great answer for sure. It's going to help some teams, but it's just going to– the big, bad teams, the teams that are where I'm heading right now in the next hour, they're the ones that are benefiting, and these new majors are going to get– All right.
01:07:35
Speaker 4: If someone wants to know what their real return is after inflation and taxes, tell folks about Omega Wealth Private Capital.
01:07:43
Speaker 16: Here's my line of the day. Stop second guessing. Mo, we have markets at almost all-time highs. Fixed income accounts are at almost the highest that they've been in 25, 30 years. And yet the number one fear of most Americans is still running out of money. It should not be that way. The reason is Many firms are great at accumulating. They don't tell you how to start and how you can get through retirement. Go to OWQuiz.com.
01:08:09
Speaker 13: OWQuiz.com. Takes about seven minutes.
01:08:12
Speaker 16: Get an understanding of where you are in your retirement journey so you can be and stay low retirement ready.
01:08:20
Speaker 4: Enjoy Columbus. Hope to see your smiling face next week.
01:08:23
Speaker 13: I shall be back. Adios, muchachos.
01:08:25
Speaker 4: We'll see you then. That's Joe Wilson, Wise Money Sports. Thanks to Omega Wealth Private Capital, OWPrivateCapital.com. It's 12 away from 5 o'clock. Bengals injury report is out. Kyle Duggar, the only player on it. This team is, I know Tanner Hudson has gone on IR, and I know Swayze Bozeman is on IR, but pretty damn healthy right now. Pretty damn healthy right now. All things considered, the Baltimore injury report is not out yet. Jesse Minner said Lamar Jackson was able to do a little work. but was not dressed for practice in the portion of the workout that the Baltimore media got a chance to see. More tonight, Bengals game plan 6-8 on ESPN 1530 starring Dan Hoard and Wayne Boxmiller. Mentioned FC Cincinnati, the radio coverage of that game is on The Project 100.7. And 106.3, the Orange and Blue hosting DC United tonight. And I read this statement, excuse me, in its entirety about 20 minutes ago. The family of Bob Huggins in conjunction with the University of Cincinnati issuing a statement a few days before Bob goes into the James P. Kelly Athletics Hall of Fame announcing that Bob is living with what they call a progressive cognitive condition disorder. that has begun to affect his memory and aspects of his daily life. And so the ceremony on Friday, which is going to feature, among others, Jason Kelsey goes into the Hall of Fame. Connor Barwin goes into the Hall of Fame. Bob won't be doing any interviews. The family and the school have requested that media respect his privacy. And this is– I can't put it any– I can't put it in a fancier way than to just tell you that this just bums me out. Some of the happiest moments in my life involve watching Bob Huggins coach teams at the University of Cincinnati. And I have no problem saying that. And then getting a chance to work on broadcast starting in the 2000-2001 season and being there for the last five years of his time at UC. As a young kid, he was very kind to me and has continued to be and has been on our show. And I'm Never going to be one who ignores his faults. Never one to ignore some of the things he did to put his career in peril or to anger people. But as a 12-year-old kid, he made me a UC fan. I can't put it any more simply than that. I will never forget the first time I watched a UC basketball game with Bob Huggins on the sideline. They actually lost the game. It was against UK, November 1990. And turning to my dad going like, that guy's a lunatic. I like how his teams play. I decided to be a UC fan that day. As a kid growing up and as an adult who's still like, that's my favorite team. Nothing against any coach who has come since. Nothing against any version of UC basketball, but you always cling to like the teams and athletes and coaches you, you, you know, glommed onto in your formative years. That was Bob Huggins and UC basketball. So this is tremendously sad to read. I'm not going to lie to you and sad to read and then sad to read on the air. Our best wishes to a Bob Huggins and his family and the, the, The honor of going into the James P. Kelly Athletics Hall of Fame at UC is quite honestly way overdue. And I, you know, Friday night's about a lot of great student athletes, a lot of great contributors to UC sports. I'm glad he is going in. It never made sense to me why he hasn't been in all these years. The moment he went into Springfield, he is in the National Basketball Hall of Fame. And UC still had him not in their Hall of Fame, just made zero sense. And so I'm happy for him and his family that he gets that moment on Friday. It puts a very, very neat bow on his tenure at UC. I would argue that with the exception of Oscar Robertson, he is still the most recognized figure in UC basketball history, I still believe. that 21 years after he last coached a game at UC that when folks say UC basketball, Cincinnati basketball, that for a lot of folks, that's the first name that comes up. I always defer to Oscar and say like Oscar, you know, a little bit different stratosphere, but still like we still talk about, we still talk about those teams. And again, he last coached at UC 21 years ago. And so that's a, whether you hated him, whether you liked him. One of the reasons I got into this business was as somebody who thought as a kid, like I want to be on the radio one day, I used to love listening to sports talk shows where the central figure was Bob Huggins because everybody had an opinion on him. And there just aren't that many college coaches like that. There aren't that many sports figures like that. And so it just makes me sad. And hopefully he is okay. I'm thrilled that he's going to be there on Friday. The induction is well overdue. It is certainly deserved, but it will occur against the backdrop of some pretty sobering news. Seven away from five o'clock. This is ESPN 1530 Cincinnati Sports Station.
01:14:13
Speaker 6: Cincinnati's ESPN 1530. Traffic.
01:14:17
Speaker 2: Now here's your chance to win $ 1, 000. Just enter this nationwide keyword on our website. Bank. Bank. Bank. Enter it now.
01:14:28
Speaker 4: Enter it now, he said. Thank you. Go do that. What's up, Mulliger? ESPN 1530. Thank you for listening today. Hope you're having an awesome Wednesday afternoon. Our friend Kelsey Conway from The Enquirer and Cincinnati.com joins us. That 520 Bengals Ravens. Baltimore. Baltimore takes its time now with their injury reports. The official one is not out yet. Bengals, it's just Kyle Duggar on it, which is not a major surprise. Kelsey is going to join us in about 15 minutes. Talk about this game on Sunday and so much more. And we are looking forward to that. We have been busy today. I have a simple Ellie Dela Cruz trade request more on a Bengals trade possibility. We'll talk a little bit more about Bob Huggins. If you missed it, the family of Bob Huggins and the university of Cincinnati making an announcement. Exactly. Almost exactly. An hour ago, announcing that the Hall of Fame head coach is living with a progressive cognitive condition that has begun to affect his memory and aspects of his daily life. More on that. Really unfortunate news coming up a little bit later on. I have yet to throw a poll question out there on Twitter. I will. We look forward to that. But first, we'll talk to some other people on the phone. Phone calls. It's a call-in show. And I say it all the time. I'm not like the Reds. I don't make people wait forever. Well, sometimes we are forced to because we have other things, but I try not to. Ron, go ahead. Thanks for hanging on. You're on ESPN 1530. What's up? Oh, no problem, Mo.
01:16:10
Speaker 3: Hope you're doing well.
01:16:11
Speaker 4: I'm well. What's up?
01:16:14
Speaker 5: Mo, I really hope we did some scouting and some work here the last couple weeks to get ready to fix the Run defense, one, and then two, the middle of the field constantly being wide open. I mean, if the Dolphins had any type of passing game, I'm sure they would have been able to find the middle of the field wide open, because as we know, that's what's been killing us.
01:16:36
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's those two things, right? It's run defense and it's middle of the field, and the Baltimore Ravens are good at exploring weaknesses in both.
01:16:44
Speaker 5: Well, exactly, and I mean... Look, we had to know that based on the way Malik Willis was playing, or attempting to play, I should say, because he wasn't actually very good, as we know, the Dolphins were going to run the ball, and yet we couldn't stop them, Mo.
01:17:00
Speaker 4: No. No, I don't know why they didn't run it with Oli Gordon more frequently than they did. Uh, I, I, I joke, I joke about this from a, from a wagering perspective, you know, whoever, whoever the Bengals opposing tight end is on a given week, look at their receptions total and look at their yardage total and take it. Or if you play fantasy football, grab the tight end, the Bengals are playing because starting with game one, they haven't been good at covering that position, which speaks to deficiencies covering the middle of the field. And they've been shoddy against the run. Those things got to get cleaned up.
01:17:36
Speaker 5: Yeah, Mo, I mean, you're right, absolutely. I mean, now Dalton Schultz is a fairly decent tight end, but like... He had 140 yards. I mean, all these other tight ends have cleaned up on us. So you're absolutely right, and I'm sure Joel Klaskens would agree as well. You take whoever the tight end is going against the Bengals, and he's going to have a big day.
01:17:56
Speaker 4: Do it every week. Do it every week. So if you can grab Mark Andrews this week, who had a quiet game against the Cleveland Browns, but if you can grab Mark Andrews this week, go grab Mark Andrews because the Bengals have not been very good at covering tight ends.
01:18:13
Speaker 5: Yeah, and Mo, I mean, I'm sure you've heard people talking about this. Now, I agree that we need... Chase Brown just doesn't... I don't know if he's not seeing the holes, or maybe there are no holes.
01:18:24
Speaker 13: Although P.
01:18:24
Speaker 5: Ryan gets you two or three yards just based on the fact that he's a bruiser, but Najee Harris, I mean, he had four good years with the Steelers, and then He was injured, and I feel like he's still probably battling through the injury this year, but recovery is probably 100%. What are your feelings on, do we get another running back?
01:18:46
Speaker 4: Yeah, I want another running back. I don't know that naji harris necessarily does anything for me um but i don't look at it from the standpoint of are they better than chase brown are are they are they better than taj brooks um I don't know if Najee Harris does it for me, but yeah, you're looking at every position that has been deficient. There's a reason why Samaj AP Ryan got more touches against Miami. There's a reason why we expect him to get more touches against Baltimore, and that's because when they give it to Chase Brown, for whatever reason, they're just not very productive. And so I think you're always looking to upgrade every position. Again, I don't know that I view Najee Harris as an answer, but I am looking for other answers at that position. I don't know how you're not.
01:19:34
Speaker 5: Yeah, you have to, Mo, and I agree with you. You're looking for someone basically because Taj Brooks doesn't do anything for you. I mean, I guess I've seen him out there on special teams. He's returned a couple kicks. I feel like he's made a tackle or two maybe out there, but I feel like we'd be better served with a running back, and I just do Harris out there because Unlike some of these people, I don't know about you, but I'm not looking to throw any draft capital at picking up a guy or you.
01:20:01
Speaker 4: I mean, it would depend on the draft capital. You know, am I going to trade away a day one or day two pick on a running back? No. I think with Najee Harris, I think what they're looking for in as it relates to Chase Brown are the explosives. And if they're not going to get the explosives, then turn to the guy that they feel like could get a more tough yards. And that's a Majay P.
01:20:24
Speaker 2: Ryan.
01:20:24
Speaker 4: I think specifically with Najee Harris. you're not replacing, you're not filling the explosiveness gap with him. And so I'm looking for a back that I could fill the explosiveness gap with. Many have speculated that Jonathan Taylor is going to be there for the taking. I'm going to guess the Bengals are not going to meet whatever Indy's asking price is for him. Am I willing to part with draft capital to make the team better this year?
01:20:50
Speaker 5: Yes.
01:20:50
Speaker 4: Now is my first choice running back. Not really, but if there's an upgrade available at any position in a year where I'm trying to win and I have to sacrifice something long-term to get it, I'm at least open to the conversation.
01:21:05
Speaker 5: Yeah, I think you're right there. I just don't want to– I think anywhere between one and four is too high. If we can throw a fifth rounder at somebody and get a guy that– does have a little bit of burst. I mean, I just don't know, Mo. Chase Brown, you know, I guess there's a reason they didn't give him a contract extension. Maybe they saw something that we didn't know, even though he had that good year last year.
01:21:32
Speaker 4: Yeah, it could be that. It could be the hesitancy to want to pay a running back. It's having the franchise tag in your back pocket when the franchise tag number for running backs isn't exorbitant. I wonder about Chase because we've seen running backs, and I know he's not one of these bruising type backs, but you have seen at this position, there's a pretty well documented history. of players who play running back experiencing a very sudden and very steep decline. Now, I'm not going to go there after five games with Chase. I'll see how the next few games unfold. But if we get through the next three and the numbers still look the same and the offense still feels like it's too difficult, then that takes up to the deadline. And at that point, I don't know how you're not looking at at other running back options. Ron, I got to run, man. Thank you as always.
01:22:24
Speaker 3: All right.
01:22:25
Speaker 5: Take it easy, bro.
01:22:26
Speaker 11: Yeah.
01:22:26
Speaker 4: The, the chase Brown thing is, is fascinating. Um, you can put as much stock as you want into things like run block win rate, but the Bengals have been really good in that metric. It's nice to have a guy like Samaj AP, right? It's, it's nice to have him as a complimentary back as a guy who can catch some passes out of the backfield. He's reliable, uh, But the plan for the offense this year wasn't to make Samaj P. Ryan a bigger part of it. It was to get more explosives because they're running it more effectively. Getting explosive runs, but also getting more explosiveness from the pass game because they're running it well. Using play action. I don't know that Samaj P. Ryan is going to help you do that. I am, as we all should be, elated that you have a guy like that on the team.
01:23:17
Speaker 14: But....
01:23:19
Speaker 4: The outline for the offense all offseason wasn't, let's make Samaj AP Ryan a bigger part of it. Quarter after five on ESPN 1530. Kelsey Conway is going to join us in just about five minutes. Hey, we have a giveaway. It's an awesome giveaway. And I was just thinking about this because during the break, I was scheduling a delivery from Big Red Appliances and Mattresses. Big Red Appliances and Mattresses sold me a dryer today. because our dryer died over the weekend. And the repair guy came to my house and was like, I can fix it for $ 800. Like, yeah, I'm good, dude. Thanks. Appreciate it. I'll call Big Red. I'll buy a dryer that's better for less. So I got their delivery guy coming to my house tomorrow, bringing a dryer. But more important than that for you is they're giving me a kegerator to give away. I was so disappointed that Last night, somebody who I know and know well asked me, explain what a kegerator is. I'm at a point in my life where it's like you kind of take inventory and it's like, what about this person? This person might be done. We're giving away a kegerator. It's a refrigerator for a keg. Oh, and 500 bucks from the party source. So you could buy a keg and you could buy more than just a keg with 500 bucks. How do you enter? Well, go to the contest page at ESPN1530. com. I also have links up on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook. Those are the ones I'm doing, by the way. I'm not doing threads. I'm not doing blue sky. I'm not doing truth social. Twitter, Facebook, Instagram. Or you can just go to ESPN.com, look for the contest page, and sign up there. We call it Kegger with Egger. We announce the winner. on Monday, November the 9th on the Tony and Mo football show at 535. And I think I'm delivering this to your house. I think we're doing this like mow your lawn. That's not confirmed, but I think they're going to make me deliver, not make me, ask me to deliver the kegerator to your house. So sign up now. Huge thank you to Big Red Appliances and Mattresses. Big thank you to them for selling me a dryer on very short notice today and for giving me a kegerator to give away. Thanks to the party source as well. Thanks to Kelsey Conway, who joins us next on ESPN 1530 Cincinnati Sports Station.
01:25:42
Speaker 6: Cincinnati's ESPN 1530.
01:25:46
Speaker 7: Traffic from the natty thing football in the natty brought to you in part by skyline chili on espn 1530 the official home of the cincinnati.
01:25:59
Speaker 4: 24 after 5 this is espn 1530 bangles game plan is coming up in uh 35 minutes we did not talk to kelsey conway last week because uh she was at the beach and uh she had better things to do at the beach than do a radio hit You certainly can't blame her for that. But she's back and she's back with a whole new batch of Beyond Sunday episodes, including the newest one with Joe Burrow's mom. Hi, Kelsey.
01:26:26
Speaker 15: Hi, how are you?
01:26:27
Speaker 1: I'm well.
01:26:27
Speaker 4: How was the beach?
01:26:29
Speaker 15: The beach was great. And I am so excited to be on because I didn't even realize the day that the first episode of season two of Beyond Sunday was going to come out on the day that I come on with you.
01:26:41
Speaker 4: This all worked out great. So that's just a coincidence. I thought it was intentional.
01:26:46
Speaker 15: It was a complete coincidence. But I remember the last when I came in before the season started, I had told you like my ideal season two would be with the moms and we were able to make it happen. So I'm thrilled about that.
01:26:59
Speaker 4: Very good. All right. So the first one is with Joe Burrow's mom. And that is that is up right now.
01:27:05
Speaker 15: And it's a really great story for everyone. I mean, it's not just for moms and it really just gives you a behind the scenes look at like how Joe got to where he is and some of the stories that you've never heard. And it's just really cool perspective from his mom who... She's seen Joe Burrow play football so many times, but watching her tear up and get emotional, saying that every time he comes out of the tunnel at pay course, she still gets choked up. You can just tell that the entire family, Joe and his parents, they truly are living their dream. And I thought that was really awesome to be able to show that side of the family. Two Bengals fans. So next week, we've got DJ Turner's mom. And she's someone that you didn't really know much about DJ Turner's story about how he got to where he is, but... DJ Turner was able to overcome not being a starter in week one and to go on and become one of the NFL's better corners at the end of last season. And I learned so much about how he was able to navigate a tough situation from talking to his mom because he was raised... by two great parents that really pushed him to be able to be the best that he can. So I think everybody will really enjoy that one. And then Amarius Mims' mom in week three. And then we've got two more guests coming. I can't announce the names yet, but anybody who wants to hear more about their favorite players, stories from their moms, it's a great podcast for you.
01:28:27
Speaker 4: Yeah, the ones with the significant others, I enjoyed immensely. And so I'm looking forward to hearing from the players' moms. Can you ask Amarius Mims' mom if she could help him get shoes that stay on.
01:28:40
Speaker 6: You know, I should have.
01:28:42
Speaker 15: And unfortunately, I talked to her before that game. But it's funny, I went up to Marius and I asked him, you know, can I talk to your mom? And I was like, I got all these mom sweatshirts as like a gift for coming on with the logo. And I went up to Marius' mom and I'm like, is your mom as tall as you? Like, where does this height come from? Like, what size do I need to get her? Because if she's like you, then I don't even know what size. But yeah, she's... She was really great. And she reminds me so much of him. She's very carefree, had a big smile on her face. And really the three moms were just so full of gratitude. Like they came in their jerseys for their son. Like you could just tell they were so excited to be talking about their son. I just, I walked away from it being really thrilled with how the first three episodes came out. So I'm hoping that everybody that gets to listen feels the same way I do about it.
01:29:34
Speaker 4: I look forward to I look forward to checking out those episodes. I I'm not a very conspiratorial person, but you you wrote a piece about how it's time for Shamar Stewart to like kind of get it going here. Right. And nobody nobody would disagree with that. Like it's it's time. And I we all know he missed basically all of training camp because of the injury. But still, like, dude, it's it's time. And then I'm reading Jeremy Fowler. And Jeremy Fowler of ESPN is like speculating, Hey, you know, around the league teams are starting to wonder about Shamar Stewart. So like, I'm going, wait a minute, Kelsey saying it's time for this guy to get going. And Jeremy's over there saying, well, actually like he could be a guy that could be flipped at the deadline. Am I sensing enough exasperation that they're ready to say, fine, see, we'll go get somebody who could help us now, even if it's at a different position at the trade deadline.
01:30:22
Speaker 9: No.
01:30:24
Speaker 15: And that's one of those, um, You know, it's easy for national media members, and this is, you know, absolutely no slight at all, like Jeremy Fowler is a fantastic reporter. But I think it's easy for national reporters who don't know the Bengals inside and out, like the reporters that cover the Bengals every single day do in situations like this. Because clearly it's obvious, it's an easy storyline. Shamar Stewart's really not getting on the field here. You know, other teams might need a defensive end. I always go back to this. the Bengals were unwilling to trade Trey Hendrickson in like the most toxic situation ever because they just don't believe in giving up their players, people that they've drafted or they've paid. And so I just don't see a scenario in which the Bengals would do that, especially with a player who, I mean, they drafted him last year and I don't see Duke Tobin saying, yes, I'm ready to waive you know, the green flag and admit that I got that player wrong. I think that they're going to give him more time. But at the same time, the reason I wrote that story was I asked Al Golden, I said, you know, I feel like we've talked to you every week now about Shamar's role, but like, coming off the bye week because at first they wanted to give him minimal reps to let him get his legs under him so now we're at a point where there's no excuses he's had time to get his knee fully healed he knows the defensive scheme there's really no excuses for him to when he does get on the field to make the most of it because if he doesn't get going this year then you're talking about next year do the Bengals have to draft another edge rusher to replace Miles Murphy like you If you can't figure out what you have in Shamar Stewart now for the rest of this season, then you really are going to have to start talking about, I don't think trading him, but really admitting, okay, we probably do need now another edge rusher to play opposite of Boye Mafe next year because Shamar really is just going to be a rotational piece for us. So it's going to be up to him.
01:32:31
Speaker 4: Kelsey Conway from the Enquirer and Cincinnati.com is with us. Let's say that this is a close game on Sunday, which I think most of us expect for it to be, which means they're not going to be behind by a billion points and have to throw it a bunch, and they're not going to be up by 40 points and just running it exclusively. So let's say it's like a normal distribution of runs and passes. So let's say the Bengals run the ball 25 times. Of those 25, how many would you guess go to Chase Brown? How many go to Samaj P.
01:33:01
Speaker 5: Ryan?
01:33:05
Speaker 15: I think that it's gonna be.
01:33:13
Speaker 15: More in Samadji P. Ryan's favor. I don't know exactly the split that I feel like that's going to happen, but I just think that there is immense pressure on Zach Taylor to win this game. The Ravens are 5-1 in the last meetings in these games. And although it's week seven and it's super early... This is a game. You're coming off of a bye week. You're the healthier team in this game. There are no excuses for the Bengals heading into this game. And I think although Zach Taylor and Joe Burrow want to say they have confidence in Chase Brown, they are in the business of Who are we going to give the ball to that we know for sure is going to get us one or two yards and at least make sure we're going forward? And in that case, I think it is Samadji Piran. I also think he's a better pass protector. And you know, you've seen a million of these games against the Ravens. These types of games are all about, can they protect Burrow? And how do they stay protected? moving forward and not find themselves facing, you know, first and 15s and second and nines because they're not able to move forward. And so I just think in a game like this where there's so much expectation on it, I think they're going to go with who's the more veteran and the person that can give them the best chance to at least be able to move forward. And I do think that Samadji Piran, that's not to say that Chase Brown won't have a role. They like what he can do as a pass catcher. I could see him being someone that they lean into more as maybe just someone that is their scat back where they try to find him in more explosive ways. as a pass catcher. But I think if you're talking about pure run splits, I think that it's going to go more in favor of Samaj P Ryan this weekend.
01:35:05
Speaker 4: Why, why is the chase Brown thing running the football not worked?
01:35:10
Speaker 15: I mean, I think it's a little bit of everybody involved. I think the offensive line really wasn't giving him enough space early on in the season. And then in the last couple of games, it's been more, I think, on Chase not being able to see the holes the way that he had been at the end of last season. What I learned about Chase Brown is he's like a confident style running back. So if he can get some confidence going early on in a game or if he has a game where he goes off, he seems to be able to feed off that really well. So I think for him, he just hasn't had that game where he's really been able to make a huge impact and then carry that on into an incident.
01:35:48
Speaker 13: Next week.
01:35:49
Speaker 15: So I know he's an incredibly hard worker and it's going to do everything he can to try and figure this out because he's also in a contract year. So he's got a lot riding on this season, but it's one of the more perplexing things because expectations were so high from him last year because they figured it out. But I think early on in the season, it was more on the offensive line. And most recently it's been more on Chase. And then you also have to talk about the fact that he, you know, he fumbled in the last game. There'll also be something when you talk about the Samaje Chase split. I asked Zach Taylor about how important turnovers are going to be in this game. And he said, against Baltimore, possessions are so limited. You have to make the most of each possession. And right now, I think Samaje P. Ryan is someone you can expect to take care of the ball more than Chase Brown because of the fumble.
01:36:39
Speaker 4: By the way, I have a couple of poll questions on Twitter. One of them is about Shamar Stewart. I asked my audience, should the Bengals be willing to trade him at the deadline? 86% say yes. I don't think he ever.
01:36:52
Speaker 15: Was able to get back. in good graces with Bengals fans after what he did to start his career in Cincinnati. I wrote that in my story. I said he lost the benefit of the doubt from the front office and he lost the benefit of the doubt from the fans for simply sitting out and not even participating in rookie minicamp and anything. So I am not surprised at all that Bengals fans voted in that favor from him.
01:37:20
Speaker 4: I ask hard-hitting questions on Twitter because the other poll question is about whether people would go to pumpkin patches if social media didn't exist. So you can take everything happening on Twitter with polls with a grain of salt.
01:37:33
Speaker 15: What was the response to that? Because that's actually a really good question.
01:37:36
Speaker 4: Yeah, so it's my belief and nothing against owners of pumpkin patches, but I was thinking about this. I was carving pumpkins with my daughter last night. We bought the pumpkins at Kroger because she basically outlined that when she went to a pumpkin patch, nothing really happened. And it's more efficient to just go to Kroger and get the pumpkin. And I said to her, my daughter's nine. I'm like, if social media didn't exist, nobody would go to a pumpkin patch. People go for the picture, the foliage, the fall colors. They put on their vests. They put on their flannel. But- Nobody would actually go to one of those when you can buy a pumpkin at a store. If, if it wasn't for the, so like if, if there was ever a pumpkin patch that said no pictures, nobody would ever go. I think pumpkin patches exist for people to post photos on social media. And so I've asked this 58% say people would still go to pumpkin patches if social media didn't exist.
01:38:29
Speaker 15: That's actually, a really great question by you.
01:38:32
Speaker 13: So well done on that one.
01:38:33
Speaker 4: Thanks.
01:38:34
Speaker 9: Thanks.
01:38:34
Speaker 2: All right.
01:38:34
Speaker 4: Well, enjoy the game on Sunday. Thank you as always.
01:38:39
Speaker 15: Thanks for having me on, Mo.
01:38:41
Speaker 4: Make sure you listen to the latest episode of Beyond Sunday. Joe Burrow's mom, Kelsey, did a whole slew of those back during the summer with some of the significant others of Bengals players. The one with Dalton Reisner's wife is just terrific. It's very emotional. And I'm looking forward to listening to Kelsey and Joe Burrow's mom. Find that, as we say, where you get your podcasts. I had nothing against pumpkin patch owners, man. Like, you got a small business, go do it. I just, I've been three times in my life, and all three times I'm like, I don't know, dude. There's not a lot to do besides... And I'm not a corn maze guy, so don't hit me. Well, we got a corn maze. Like I go into the corn, I come out of the corn, nothing happens except I get lost. I think there are certain things that exist solely for social media pictures and the pumpkin patches. One of them. I'm going to get nasty letters from people who own pumpkin patches. I get it. 22 from a six hard hitting sports talk radio. We're doing here. We've talked about trading Shamar Stewart and then like, are the reds going to trade Ellie Dela Cruz? I have a simple ask when it comes to what the reds are going to do or not do with Ellie Dela Cruz. And I'll tell you what that is next on ESPN, 1530.
01:39:58
Speaker 14: You've been listening to football in the natty on ESPN, 1530, the official home of the Cincinnati Bengals.
01:40:13
Speaker 6: Sports Station. This is ESPN 1530.
01:40:17
Speaker 4: I want to thank our friends at the Dorothy Lane Market for hooking us up with a whole bunch of food. For me, it was a late lunch. But you could consider it early dinner. I went to the Dorothy Lane Market in Mason. I had never been. I went the day of the CareSource Classic up there in Mason. The college basketball doubleheader was awesome. They dropped off today. Dorothy Lane Market, natural beef burgers, hamburger buns, deli salad. Also, their pumpkin tiramisu, which was awesome. was awesome. Cannot recommend it enough. Check out DorothyLane.com. Dorothy Lane Market, always hooking us up with some great beef, some great eats. And in this case, pumpkin tiramisu. Sign me up for that. It could be the middle of summer. Nobody likes pumpkin stuff in the middle of the summer. This I would eat. 12 months out of the year, any season, doesn't matter. Dorothy Lane Market grinds their beef daily. They practice the art of butchery in their meat departments and absolute commitment to quality. DorothyLane.com.
01:41:24
Speaker 11: I did.
01:41:25
Speaker 4: I was driving. I'm like, man, that Dorothy Lane Market, I hear about it. They bring food all the time. I'm going. I went. It was awesome. Very, very simple ask when it comes to the should they trade Ellie conversation like, If we're being honest, and we should be, the Reds are far from contention. And if you're far from contention, you should be doing everything you can to get closer to contention. And it's hard to argue, as much as I loathe saying this, that hanging on to Ellie Dela Cruz gets them closer to contention. in an ideal world, I guess, you could wave a magic wand and within the next year or two, have the sort of team that Ellie is on that can go and contend for a championship. Here's my ask. Regardless of what they do, and obviously the big obstacle this offseason is the stupid lockout. Whatever they do with Ellie De La Cruz, let the decision be guided by baseball. Not... Fans are going to be really mad. Not golly gee, he's a fan favorite. Not yeah, but he has sold a lot of jerseys. Not well, his 12 year old fans are going to be really mad. Let the baseball people make the decision. I think to a degree, if Eli De La Cruz got traded this offseason, that would tell you Nick Kroll's got some autonomy here. You may argue he shouldn't have it. You may argue he shouldn't have the job that he has. Both of those are fair. But if you're going to have baseball people and you're going to have trades that impact the baseball team and the baseball product, let the baseball people make the decision. Not, well, you know... The folks upstairs in ownership, they're worried about the pushback to trading Elie Delacruz. If you trade him, there's going to be pushback. Like, it's common. How could there not be? And I think the pushback isn't going to be so much you traded Elie Delacruz. It's going to be, well, you wasted him just like you wasted so many that came before him. Oh, now you're probably going to waste Sal Stewart, too. Don't worry about that. Do what's right for the baseball part of it. That's it. If they hang on to him, great. Then the baseball people need to go find ways to win while he's here. Let them do what they need to do to go win while he's here. Or if they decide just from a baseball perspective, there's not enough out there that's going to compel us to trade him and we're going to wait, fine. But this decision, which is, it's a pretty big one, all things considered. Let's let baseball guide it. Not golly gee, man, we can make 40,000 Ellie Dela Cruz bobbleheads. That'll fill the ballpark. Not yeah, but in the team store, we can move a lot of Ellie merch if he's here. Not man, we're going to have people who get mad and decide to not come to games. Those people probably aren't going to games anyway. Let's let the baseball part of it guide the decision because you and I both know, you and I both know that hasn't always been the case. 11 years ago, I begged, begged, hey, look, don't let the all-star game be the thing around which baseball decisions are made. The all-star game is cool. It's going to be cool. But don't not trade Johnny Cueto or Todd Frazier because you got the all-star game. We did this with Billy Hamilton. Ownership likes him. I know, but he can't hit, dude.
01:45:21
Speaker 13: Sorry.
01:45:22
Speaker 4: Need a guy who can hit. Yeah, but he's a fan favorite. Who cares? If he's a fan favorite, why aren't more people going to games? This has been a recurring theme. Whatever they do, and the prudent thing, I hate to admit it, is trade the guy and get a lot for him. But whatever they decide to do, let's let baseball guide the decision. Not jersey sales, not ticket sales, not people being mad, not the team store. Baseball. We're done. Music is playing. Tomorrow, I guess we have to talk about Trey Hendrickson. By the way, Ravens have 15 dudes on their injury report. I have like 15 tabs open. Where is my Ravens injury report? Taryn, I am sorry to do this. I want to make sure we pass along this very, very important information. Ravens list 15 players on Wednesday injury report. Lamar Jackson officially listed as limited with an ankle injury report. Cam Juergens, a full participant, continues to work toward making his debut. Tavius Robinson, linebacker, no-go, pectoral injury, Jackson's designation, the biggest after he missed the opening portion of practice available to reporters. So we'll talk a lot more about that tomorrow. We'll go to Baltimore tomorrow. We look forward to, not physically, though, been to Baltimore and it's cool. We'll go to Baltimore and chat with a guy who covers the Ravens on top of all of our normal stuff. Make sure you catch anything you might have missed on the iHeartRadio app. Thanks to Long Neck Sports Grill. And, of course, make sure you enter Kegger with Egger or give it away at Keggerator. Thanks to, excuse me, Big Red Mattresses and Appliances. We have to go. Have a great night. Thank you for listening. Thanks to Taryn Bland for producing. The Bengals game plan is coming up next. This is ESPN 1530 Cincinnati Sports Station.
01:47:19
Speaker 6: Cincinnati's ESPN 1530.
01:47:23
Speaker 1: From the UC Health Traffic Center at the UC Health Back, Neck, and Spine Center, spine care is never one size fits all. From non-surgical treatments to the most complex cases, they've mastered what's best for you. Learn more at uchealth.com.