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Speaker 1: Dot com. What's up?
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Speaker 2: ESPN 1530. This is our show. Thanks for listening to it. Hope you're having an awesome Thursday afternoon. Is less going to mean more in baseball? Get to that in just a second. Wise money sports and daily in 30 minutes and fantasy football advice for week five. with our guy Dan Klaskens coming up in 40 minutes. Got a lot going on today. Jamar Chase has been practicing. He is officially not out of the league's concussion protocol, but today a positive development if you have been holding on to hope that he would play on Sunday. T. Higgins working out on the rehab field today. Bengals and Dolphins Sunday at 1 o'clock.
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Speaker 3: And you wonder.
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Speaker 1: how one's.
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Speaker 2: Injury issue impacts the other's injury issue in relation to what the Bengals are going to try to do to get them on the field this weekend, because they are playing an inferior opponent. And by the way, it's, it's not just those two wide receivers, no Andreo Shavas, Colby Young has been hurt too. So hopefully the Bengals have at least one of those guys on the field on Sunday. And right now it feels like it's more likely to be Jamar than T. I was listening to Tony and Austin talk about the Bengals running game. And apparently the Bengals' offensive line leads the NFL in run, block, win rate. That is a significant statistic. It means when the Bengals run the football effectively, the offensive line is doing its job. Now, I know what this turns into. It turns into, cool, we don't have to blame those guys. Now let's blame Chase Brown. I kind of feel like when you're bad at running the football, when you're bad at a thing in that sport, it's often more than one guy or more than one position group.
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Speaker 1: Here's what I can tell you.
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Speaker 2: From the perspective of doing this for a living, but also being a fan of the team, that since 2021, we have gushed over Joe Burrow. We have gushed over the offensive weaponry. We have seen him, Joe, and his teammates do some awesome things, both in terms of wins and losses and winning playoff games and also statistically. But I could also tell you this, that we have spent... What I believe is, and in an inordinate amount of time over the last six seasons, talking about issues the Bengals have offensively. I remember vividly, because it was 2022, 2022 on Tuesdays, we were doing the show at the Moorline Lager House. And I bring that up because I remember having these conversations specifically.
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Speaker 1: There, 2022.
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Speaker 2: By the way, a season in which they won 12 games, made the AFC championship game. But I remember during that season talking about these stretches where the Bengals on offense would just go into a rut. And I feel like on some level now, you have to acknowledge they spent a lot of time in 2023 playing with a backup quarterback and a lot of time in 2025 playing with a backup quarterback. But doesn't it feel to you like relative to what the Bengals have offensively from a talent perspective this that we spend a lot of time talking about the things they're not good at. Now, you might argue, well, some of that is nitpicky, and there's probably some truth to that. But it also feels like there are stretches of time where we have focused on either the Bengals in games getting off to slow starts on offense, or the Bengals having these long offensive lulls, Or the inability to run under center, the inability to run the football like this is not what it's supposed to be like when you have the talent the Bengals have on offense and the continuity the Bengals have on offense. And so that's where I point the finger at Zach Taylor, because he is the common denominator. I feel like I'm going to get to a point where I no longer have to qualify criticism of Zach Taylor by mentioning all the nice things that I've said about him. But I don't know, man. I don't have a great track record when it comes to a lot of things. I do think I have a good track record when it comes to being fair about Zach Taylor. And as the kids say, giving him his flowers when he is due. But I also know that in the period of time I've been doing this show since he became the head coach, that for a team that has had a great quarterback, good skill guys, oftentimes they've been bad on the offensive line. I don't think they have a bad offensive line. And again, analytically, statistically, Bengals have a good run-blocking offensive line this year. We spend a lot of time talking about deficiencies on offense. Now, is that play calling? Is that game planning? I don't know what it is. But I know Zach Taylor's side of the ball is offense.
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Speaker 1: So we'll see.
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Speaker 2: I'm telling you, man, what it's going to sound like, what it's going to feel like. I don't know if the Bengals lose on Sunday. And for the record, I don't think they will. It's not like I'm going out on a limb there.
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Speaker 3: I get it.
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Speaker 2: But if the Bengals lose on Sunday, I don't know if the postgame call-in show is going to be worth gathering the family around to listen to or.
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Speaker 1: Worth ignoring.
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Speaker 2: And I shouldn't say that because the postgame show airs on this radio station. Robert Weintraub, Sensei Magazine Weekly Bengals column is out. We'll chat with him coming up at 5.05. And our guy, Jay Morrison, as well. We have a National League Championship Series rematch. The Dodgers and Brewers last year met in the LCS.
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Speaker 1: L.A. swept them.
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Speaker 2: Shohei Otani had the greatest game many single baseball players ever had. The Tampa Bay Rays polished off the New York Yankees last night. There's one division series remaining. It's the White Sox and Guardians. Cleveland trying to stay alive and Chicago's trying to close out.
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Speaker 1: The series in four. We will see.
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Speaker 2: So for a couple of years now, Whenever I hear baseball's economic model used as an excuse for the Reds, my counter has always been, don't worry about competing with the Dodgers. From a Reds perspective, compete with and beat the Milwaukee Brewers. Milwaukee has been to the postseason now, eight out of the last nine years. They've won the division four consecutive years. They're back in the league championship series for a second consecutive year. They're trying to make the world series for the first time in 44 years. And so now with where we are, baseball is going to have a lockout, the labor situation, a lot of folks, and I get it using the success of Milwaukee and the Rays and to a degree, the guardians, though Cleveland hasn't yet advanced to the LCS as kind of like evidence to support the argument that baseball, you know, doesn't need a salary cap. That the bigger issue is you have teams like the Reds who haven't figured out a way to compete and be really good and have sustained success while a lot of their smaller market peers have figured those things out. And then you'll have some that will say, well, look, the Dodgers won the World Series each of the last two years. They're right now odds on favorite to win the World Series. They're going to win it again. Big market, high payroll teams usually win the World Series. And like, for me, there's room. We say this all the time.
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Speaker 1: There's room. for multiple truths.
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Speaker 2: It is true that the LA Dodgers have a financial advantage over teams like the Reds. But it's also true that teams like the New York Mets have financial advantages over teams like the Reds. Well, those two teams have achieved dramatically different results over the last seven or eight years. It is true that the Dodgers have a financial advantage over the Reds, which heightens their chances of winning.
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Speaker 1: It is also true the L.A.
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Speaker 2: Dodgers have been good for a really long time now at stockpiling their farm system, at player development, and at drafting. Every team can be good at those things, regardless of your financial advantages or disadvantages.
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Speaker 1: That is also true.
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Speaker 2: It is also true that teams like the Milwaukee Brewers, Tampa Bay Rays, maybe to a lesser degree the Cleveland Guardians, have found ways to at least be competitive, to consistently win divisions, to do well head-to-head against higher-spending teams. In Tampa Bay's case, winning a division with some of the highest-spending teams. In Milwaukee's case, winning a division that has the Chicago Cubs. All those things are true. What I do like, though, is, and I go back and forth, I will admit, I go back and forth on the salary gap thing. Because philosophically, I don't believe in them. But there's also a part of me that wants to cross that off as an excuse for not winning. I don't give the Reds an excuse for not winning for two reasons. One, it's been 31 years since you've advanced in the postseason. We don't talk about them winning the World Series. We talk about them winning one stupid round, which has never been easier to do. Number two in their division is a team that has figured out ways, and some of those ways aren't that much fun if you're a fan, but have figured out ways to be really good almost every single year despite dealing with the same financial disadvantages that the Reds are dealing with. More on that in a bit. UC Fall Ball is underway. A couple of games this weekend. Head coach of the Bearcats next.
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Speaker 4: Cincinnati's ESPN 1530.
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Speaker 5: Traffic.
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Speaker 4: This is Football in the Natty.
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Speaker 6: Brought to you by Belterra Casino and Belterra Park on ESPN 1530.
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Speaker 4: The official home of the Cincinnati Bengals.
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Speaker 2: At the portion of practice the media could watch, T. Higgins was not out there. He was on the rehab field. Jamar Chase was out there. Brian Cook was also out there, which... Pretty critical. More on that coming up in just a bit. The fall ball season underway for the UC baseball program. They have played a couple of fall exhibitions. Victory over Purdue. Victory over Kentucky at Prasco Park. Cincinnati will host Dayton this Saturday at 1 p.m. Xavier next Saturday at 2 p.m. The weather recently has been very good for baseball. fall ball underway for the uc baseball program and the head coach jordan bischel kind enough to give us a few minutes coach always awesome to have you good afternoon.
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Speaker 5: Good afternoon appreciate you having.
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Speaker 2: Me on always appreciate you joining us in in the fall when you're playing these these exhibitions you know i watched uh uc's basketball team play an exhibition game yesterday guys were allowed like seven or eight fouls so how does fall baseball look compared to what we watched during the spring.
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Speaker 5: Yeah, I think the biggest thing is we're probably just a little more liberal with substitutions, lineups, if you want to hit 10 guys in your order or pinch run, you know, that type of stuff. They're not really going to track that stuff. But outside of that, we try to keep it pretty competitive. We just only get two of these opportunities. This year we're getting four of them, which I think is great because, When we hit February, a lot of times we haven't been outside a ton before we play, so we have some really good learning opportunities to give us some ideas on, hey, what do we need to focus on as we work our.
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Speaker 1: Way to the spring.
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Speaker 2: What are the things that you've tried to focus on with your guys here during fall ball?
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Speaker 5: Yeah, I think the biggest thing, we've got a lot of youth on our pitching staff. Last year, our lineup was really young, and then we grew as the year went. This year, it's pretty similar with our pitching staff, how it's on the younger end. So, just trying to get those guys, you know, acclimated to the adrenaline of seeing somebody in a different uniform. So far they've done really well with it. We've played in 30 innings and only given up 10 runs so far. So, so those young guys have done a great job attacking the strike zone, but, You know the style we play. We love to bunt. We love to run. We put pressure on. So just trying to do that against an opponent that's not as familiar with it as our own guys is pretty valuable.
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Speaker 2: The answer to this question may change when we talk in February, but what do you like most about your team right now?
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Speaker 5: Yeah, it may change. I think the biggest thing is just the expectations, the level of what these guys are pushing themselves for has really reached a high watermark. And because we've got a bigger number of returners than we've ever had, it makes it easier to push them a little bit and be a little bit pickier and maybe not be hard on them, but drive for some small gains that You know, when you just have a really new roster, it's harder to do. And so just that experience factor is big in terms of trying to push to a new level. And the guys, I think we can accomplish a lot this year, which is obviously where we want to be.
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Speaker 2: This time of year, you're giving, you know, kids who are just getting acclimated to college, this is their first, like, in-game college experience.
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Speaker 1: What is the most difficult part of that transition?
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Speaker 5: I think just... Just the failure side, probably. Our recruiting class this year was ranked nationally in the top 25, which is great. It also means just about none of these guys have ever really struggled on a baseball field. They're here because they've been really, really good. And so all of a sudden, they're striking out more than they ever had, or they're giving up more hard contact than they ever have. And you don't want them to To lose confidence or get gun shy, you kind of need to help them get through that and understand that that's a part of it. And as they learn to deal with that failure, they'll come out on the other side better for it.
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Speaker 2: What role has your program's recent success had in recruiting? Because you talked about that top 25 recruiting ranking. I would view that as a direct result of, at least in part, the success you've had.
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Speaker 1: How much of that has been a factor?
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Speaker 5: Yeah, it certainly has been. That class recruited over the last year or two had, for the first time, probably more than a vision to look at. They had our first year or two of results to look at, and they could see some trajectory. We've seen it a lot with our visits over the last year or so. The guys we have visiting, they're all getting in a spot where they have several high-level opportunities and offers. We've got to compete hard to get them here against some really, really good programs, and that's a good thing. That's where we want to be, and are we getting them all? No, but getting in those rooms, we're going to land some of those guys, and that's been awesome to see. We have guys showing up to campus with the idea that they want to be professional baseball players and they want to play in the NCAA tournament a bunch of times before they do that, and they think they can do those things here.
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Speaker 2: Jordan Bischel, the head baseball coach at the University of Cincinnati. Fall ball underway. Cincinnati hosting Dayton this Saturday at 1 o'clock. Xavier next Saturday at 2. Both games are free and open to the public. Tell me about your program's new bunting and base running lab.
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Speaker 5: Yes, our cheetah lab.
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Speaker 1: We.
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Speaker 5: As I mentioned earlier, we love to put pressure on with our bunting, with our base running. If you look at a statistical breakdown, we probably have been the most successful Power 4 team in the country over the last couple of years in terms of both bunting for base hits and stealing base at a high percentage rate. Ultimately, like anything else, if you want to be really good at something, you need a pretty high level of focus and dedication to it and Typical practice when you're on a baseball field, you know, if you're hitting, it's probably at home plate, right? And so it's harder to get your bunting work done there. So it's hard to get full access to the field. And so we were able to secure a space in our Lindner building, which is just beyond our center field fence, where we remodeled it to basically put in, you know, the corner of an infield that includes home plate and about the first 60 feet of the baseline and Through there, we can do a bunch of video stuff with our base running to work on steel jumps. We can do all kinds of bunting, and it's just a really dedicated area where we can focus on, to us, a really critical part of what makes us successful. And to our knowledge, I don't know every program in the country, but To our knowledge, we're the first that's actually created a dedicated space for this, and it's going to help us continue to grow that area.
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Speaker 1: So you talk about the bunting.
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Speaker 2: Like, this is better than standing at the cage on your normal field bunting.
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Speaker 1: How is it different? Why is it better?
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Speaker 5: Well, on our normal field, it's just as good outside of the fact that there's only so many times in a day. Like, when we're at practice... if we've got five bunters using home plate to bunt, you're not using that space to work on your defense and hit fungos, or you're not using that space to take batting practice or get reps. And so there's just, you've got one field and you've got a lot of purposes for it. So all of a sudden we have to have another field, because it doesn't matter if you have a 10 foot high ceiling when you're bunting the baseball, we better not be hitting that ceiling. So it just creates a dedicated space, right? Where, where it's not getting in the way of getting other things done in other reps. And I do think there's a focus aspect to it too, right? It being a great base runner, being a great bunter takes a lot of technique and a lot of focus. And when you kind of seclude them in a room, it just makes it a little easier to lock in on the, on that specific task.
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Speaker 2: When I think of bunting and base running, like I think of base running, it's, that is a skill and that's not stealing bases per se, though.
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Speaker 1: That's great.
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Speaker 2: It's, it's knowing, you know, situations it's, it's knowing, you know, the scouting report, it's not making outs. It's knowing where the line is between aggressiveness and, and being maybe a little too aggressive. I'm curious about those two skill sets. How much are they, how well are they taught right now at the, at the prep level?
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Speaker 5: You know, the bunting especially is really, quite frankly, for our guys, poor at the prep level. And that's not an indictment of any coaches. It's more, again, we're bringing in guys who are probably hitting third or fourth in their order, who are probably all-state type players. I would guess a good high school coach doesn't want their best hitter dropping down bunts every time he steps in the batter's box, right? They want him swinging the bat. So for a lot of our guys, it's a pretty foreign concept. The idea of bunting was probably discouraged for a lot of those guys, and now we're trying to teach them that it's an absolute weapon, that it's a way to get a bunch of base hits and increase their production. So that part, we usually have some big adaptations. The base stealing side, we bring in a lot of good athletes. They've stolen a lot of bases, but the catchers are so much better at our level of throwing consistently. There's so much more scouting reports, so many better pickoff moves that We've got fast guys that probably know how to be really aggressive and take off a lot, but the deciding when not to go is probably a harder thing to teach, and to teach them to be selectively aggressive is, that is a real skill, and it takes a lot of time, and honestly, it takes getting thrown out a fair amount in the fall to learn, and that may not have been the time to go. We've got to be a little bit better there.
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Speaker 2: I liked the base-stealing drills when I was a kid, because you know what that meant? It meant to slip and slide, and so I was all about that.
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Speaker 5: Yeah, the sliding drills are most fun on the days it rains on our turf field. That makes it fun. And there's a home field advantage of that piece, too. I tell you what, you get that turf a little bit wet and it is just like a slip and slide. You got to take about three steps and dive. So we've gotten a few guys on that one.
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Speaker 2: All right uh fall ball underway uh this saturday one o'clock the dayton flyers and uh next saturday at two o'clock xavier both games free and uh open to the public always love having you coach can't thank you enough yeah it.
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Speaker 5: Always means a lot having me on we'll love to see some fans out there in the next couple weeks and obviously as we get around the spring i'm sure we'll talk again but i know there's There's plenty of fall stuff going on, so I appreciate you taking a couple minutes for us.
00:20:36
Speaker 1: Anytime. You got it, Coach. Thanks so much.
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Speaker 2: That's Jordan Bischel, apparently, with a train fast approaching the UC baseball team.
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Speaker 1: Fall ball.
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Speaker 2: They used to play two. Now they play four. Free and open to the public on Saturday at 1 o'clock. at UC, 2 o'clock on Saturday afternoon. Again, both games free and open to the public. Next Saturday would be the basketball games at 5, so you can make a doubleheader, see some fall baseball, then go watch Jarrett Calhoun's team take on Illinois at 5 p.m.
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Speaker 1: In exhibition action.
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Speaker 2: I was not here yesterday, so we did not get a chance to do Wise Money Sports, but the good news is I'm here today, so we'll do it in five minutes on ESPN 1530 Cincinnati Sports Station.
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Speaker 6: You've been listening to Football in the Natty, brought to you by Kingdom Built Exteriors on ESPN 1530, the official home of the Cincinnati Bengals. Cincinnati's ESPN 1530.
00:21:36
Speaker 4: Traffic.
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Speaker 7: From the UC Health Traffic Center, a mammogram takes 15 minutes and could save your life. Schedule yours with UC Health's breast imaging experts at 513-584-PINK. One accident now cleared a way on northbound 71 that was after Fort Washington Way. Left lane's blocked, though, from another crash on northbound 71 approaching Kenwood. That's got traffic stopping. Go from Smith Edwards. Delays up to 35 minutes at the moment. I'm Eddie Zellick with traffic.
00:22:08
Speaker 4: Cincinnati Sports Station.
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Speaker 6: This is ESPN 1530.
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Speaker 2: Sports headlines in just a few minutes. Dan Klaskens. I'll help you with your fantasy football team in 15 minutes. This is ESPN 1530. I'm Mo Egger. I was absent yesterday because of the UC game up in Mason. So we didn't get a chance to do Wise Money Sports. Our friend Brad Johansson from Omega Wealth Private Capital, kind enough to still come in on a Thursday and do it with me.
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Speaker 1: What is up?
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Speaker 3: I was caught in that traffic. Yeah?
00:22:40
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:22:40
Speaker 3: Up at the tennis center.
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Speaker 1: A lot going on in Mason.
00:22:43
Speaker 3: Yeah, a lot going on.
00:22:45
Speaker 1: A lot of folks at that facility that have never been there before.
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Speaker 3: Um, and they will be back.
00:22:51
Speaker 1: Yes.
00:22:51
Speaker 3: It's a facility.
00:22:52
Speaker 5: It is.
00:22:53
Speaker 1: How did, how was the event they put on? I thought it was really, really cool. I thought it was look, having great weather helped big time, right?
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Speaker 2: They obviously had an alternative venue, the university of Dayton, but, um, yeah, I think everybody took the, the basketball itself for the grain of salt, the teams and player, the teams, coaches and players included, um, But, you know, it's a great venue. I said this earlier in the show. I sat in the stands for the second game, and when the sun started to dip down and you had some twilight, it was gorgeous.
00:23:24
Speaker 1: Yeah. It's great.
00:23:24
Speaker 5: Yeah.
00:23:25
Speaker 3: I mean, it is a facility.
00:23:27
Speaker 5: Yes.
00:23:28
Speaker 3: And to be able to– I mean, it's a business. There's a business model, right?
00:23:32
Speaker 7: Yeah.
00:23:32
Speaker 3: That thing was going to Charlotte.
00:23:33
Speaker 5: Yes.
00:23:34
Speaker 3: And they said, give us more money.
00:23:35
Speaker 1: Yes.
00:23:36
Speaker 3: They gave them more money, and now you're having way more than just tennis and You've got the restaurant. Have you been in the restaurant in there?
00:23:44
Speaker 1: I've not been in the restaurant.
00:23:45
Speaker 3: Massive.
00:23:45
Speaker 1: Yeah. Now, the restaurant's for one percenters. I don't know that they would let someone like me in the restaurant.
00:23:50
Speaker 3: Oh, no, no.
00:23:51
Speaker 1: Anybody can go in?
00:23:51
Speaker 3: You can go in. You can go in at night and have dinner.
00:23:54
Speaker 1: Gotcha. Okay. So they're open year-round?
00:23:57
Speaker 3: I honestly don't know the answer to that.
00:23:59
Speaker 1: Because, you know, when I go for tennis.
00:24:01
Speaker 3: I'm going to say yes.
00:24:02
Speaker 1: Skyline tent. So I don't need the restaurant. But I'm glad that other folks have the opportunity to go check out the restaurant.
00:24:07
Speaker 3: You can watch people play pickleball while you.
00:24:09
Speaker 1: You can do that too? Yeah.
00:24:11
Speaker 3: Wow. Yeah.
00:24:12
Speaker 2: It was a lot of fun. Well, it's great to have you. I like, I want to talk about this with you. So the college football playoff.
00:24:17
Speaker 1: Yeah. Inching toward 24 teams, which I don't think anybody wants. Nobody wants this.
00:24:23
Speaker 3: Okay. If nobody wants it, why is it going to happen? Because you say nobody wants it and it will happen.
00:24:29
Speaker 1: Fans don't want it. No fan that I know wants a 2014 playoff.
00:24:33
Speaker 3: And yet.
00:24:34
Speaker 1: And yet we're going to have it.
00:24:35
Speaker 3: Because.
00:24:36
Speaker 5: Money.
00:24:36
Speaker 3: Yeah. And it's going to ruin it. Has money already ruined the college football that we know? That we used to know.
00:24:45
Speaker 5: Yeah.
00:24:46
Speaker 1: I don't know if it's ruined it entirely, but there are things I wish were.
00:24:49
Speaker 3: Oh, we're working on it.
00:24:50
Speaker 8: Yeah.
00:24:51
Speaker 5: I just.
00:24:53
Speaker 2: We've gone from four, which I thought was good because it felt exclusive, but there was some sameness to it.
00:24:57
Speaker 1: We've gone.
00:24:58
Speaker 2: I guess my biggest issue is, why don't we see how 12 works for a while? We don't have a large enough sample size to see how well it works. We're just instantly going to double that number.
00:25:07
Speaker 3: Isn't the answer money again?
00:25:08
Speaker 1: Of course.
00:25:09
Speaker 3: The answer is always money.
00:25:10
Speaker 1: Yes. Because.
00:25:11
Speaker 3: Okay, what are you going to do and how are we going to ruin it? Well, I don't know whether we're going to ruin it because we've got more money. Four was great. Why?
00:25:22
Speaker 1: It was exclusive.
00:25:23
Speaker 3: Because every single game mattered.
00:25:25
Speaker 2: Uh-huh.
00:25:26
Speaker 3: And you had to win every single game to be able to get into four.
00:25:29
Speaker 2: But it was unforgiving for a school that maybe suffered an early season loss.
00:25:33
Speaker 3: And I'm okay in extending it past that point.
00:25:36
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:25:38
Speaker 3: So somebody's saying now, why don't we expand it to 24 because we'll really find out who teams are. And I'll walk on the Florida on this one. Last week, and I said it, as the game came on, Florida and Missouri. Yeah. I think people are underestimating Florida. I think Florida may be one of the top five teams.
00:26:01
Speaker 5: Yeah.
00:26:01
Speaker 3: And they got spanked.
00:26:03
Speaker 7: Yeah.
00:26:04
Speaker 3: So in college football with guys being– 17 and 18 and 19 and whatever this is, and 26. Who's really good that week? Does 24 actually help us by the end of the year find out who's... really good. And that's, I don't think that's the point. I don't think the point of 24 is finding out who's really good. It's finding out how much money we can make on big games.
00:26:31
Speaker 1: So I guess from a competitive standpoint, I will talk about this from a business aspect, from a competitive standpoint, I go, number one, is there ever a year where the playoffs 24, where Ohio state won't make it, where Georgia won't make it, where Alabama won't make it like it.
00:26:47
Speaker 3: It's hard to picture that right now.
00:26:49
Speaker 2: We're also going to have like eight and four teams in the postseason, which nobody wants. And we're going to have 23 playoff games. I don't know that there's a huge appetite for that.
00:26:58
Speaker 3: So what happens to bowl games?
00:26:59
Speaker 1: That's the thing.
00:27:00
Speaker 3: Do we even, and I honestly don't know the answer. Do you know the answer? Do we even have bowl games?
00:27:06
Speaker 2: So that was going to be one of my questions. What is the financial viability of the remainder of the college football postseason?
00:27:13
Speaker 3: And, See, I don't know the economics of this. Haven't sponsors already purchased the give me some love sandbag bowl? And I have my millions already. And so we have to play it.
00:27:28
Speaker 7: Yeah.
00:27:29
Speaker 3: Who's in it? Right. We already have those bowls where eight people show up to the game and they're trying to figure out how to shoot the game.
00:27:37
Speaker 2: I went to one of them last year, the Liberty Bowl. There might have been seven people in Memphis for that game.
00:27:41
Speaker 3: I don't know what happens with this.
00:27:43
Speaker 2: So one of the things they're going to do if they expand the postseason is get rid of conference championship games. The SEC has balked at that because their championship game is quite lucrative. So take me through the math here. Expanded playoff. How can it make those conferences whole after they kill their own championship event?
00:27:59
Speaker 3: And I don't know where the money starts passing on because I don't know whether conferences can say, you can't give me an, and isn't sec holding out to say, okay, how much more are you going to give us to be able to do this 24 game playoff? And where is that money going to come from when we already have our group going to do this? The finances of this are take care of us at home. And if I can't take care of all my people in this conference, uh, Me having two, three, four teams, whatever that may be, in this playoff, excluding this game with the amount that I can get playing a championship, I have a problem with that.
00:28:40
Speaker 2: It's an interesting story in The Athletic about Miami University and their larger conference ambitions. I love ambition. I love people who think big. From a business perspective, and I need folks to read the story in The Athletic.
00:28:54
Speaker 1: I talked about it last week.
00:28:55
Speaker 2: Is this a A calculated financial gamble that's going to force other mid-major schools to either find huge donor capital or just say, this is who we are. We're second tier. Nothing we can do about it.
00:29:07
Speaker 3: Yes and yes.
00:29:07
Speaker 5: Okay.
00:29:09
Speaker 3: Because you already said it. They're mid-major. Now, Miami of Ohio.
00:29:13
Speaker 1: Yeah.
00:29:13
Speaker 3: Are we, is that what we're supposed to call them now?
00:29:16
Speaker 1: I call it, I refer to it as Miami University.
00:29:18
Speaker 3: Broadcasters, I mean, and I did Miami Ohio games and broadcasters are told, here's what you're allowed to call the school.
00:29:24
Speaker 2: In the game notes, I believe it says, please refer to us as Miami University.
00:29:28
Speaker 3: Okay.
00:29:29
Speaker 1: Which is what I call them.
00:29:31
Speaker 2: If I say Miami here in Cincinnati, nobody thinks I'm talking about the hurricanes.
00:29:35
Speaker 3: But they are, you just said it, are other mid-major schools. So you classify them as mid-major. Do they say, and I don't think they did in the broadcast notes when I was doing the games, do not refer to us as mid-major. But there are other schools who will say, please do not refer to us as mid-major. Do fans refer to them?
00:29:58
Speaker 1: Do.
00:30:00
Speaker 3: analysts refer to them as mid-major, probably all this. And I think that's what Miami's trying to get away from. Okay, you know what? If we're going to be anything, we have to join the crowd and find out. So in this search, we're finding out who decides we're good enough to join them. And are there enough conferences now who are fearful that their conference is going to go away?
00:30:26
Speaker 8: Mm-hmm.
00:30:26
Speaker 3: To add a school, and is Miami lucrative enough a name, Miami, Ohio, please refer to us as Miami University, to join a conference that says you're going to make us money? Yeah.
00:30:41
Speaker 1: It's a fascinating question. I appreciate the ambition.
00:30:44
Speaker 3: So the ambition is, hey, alums, we're going to need something. Set us up. Because you have to up your game on facilities. You have to up your game on merch. You have to up your game on people who are going to come in and play. Did the basketball team last year do enough of that to spur this this year? What did they win?
00:31:08
Speaker 2: 31.
00:31:09
Speaker 3: 31 in a row. Is that enough to say, look at me, and then you play somebody and say, look at me, we really weren't at that level?
00:31:21
Speaker 2: I'm curious just locally from a business perspective perspective, what does that mean for their season ticket base this year? How many of those folks that got into it last February were like, all right.
00:31:31
Speaker 1: I'm buying in.
00:31:31
Speaker 3: Does it translate to football?
00:31:34
Speaker 1: I don't think it has yet. No.
00:31:35
Speaker 3: And so you have to have, um, now Georgia doesn't really care all the time, whether their basketball team plays very well. Do they?
00:31:44
Speaker 1: I'm sure they would like for them to be fine, but yeah, nobody.
00:31:47
Speaker 3: Cares that much.
00:31:48
Speaker 1: Yes.
00:31:48
Speaker 3: So the question in a mid major is how many sports have to excel to For you to join another conference and everybody say it's worth it for you to come on over.
00:31:58
Speaker 2: I want to ask you about the owner of the Phoenix Suns, Matt Eshibia. I think I said that right. Prioritizing a fan-first philosophy. So he's going to put his games on free local television. He's done that for a while. He has sort of said, I'm going to keep doing this. Which means there's lots of money out there that he is saying no to. Is he making a basic investment in his fans that can maybe pay off later? And is there a large-scale business lesson there?
00:32:25
Speaker 3: Well, sure, there's a business. You're married.
00:32:29
Speaker 1: Yes. On my second one.
00:32:32
Speaker 3: Does she? What's her shopping habit? Big or not big? Is she a shopper?
00:32:41
Speaker 1: She's not like a let's go to the mall and shop, but the Amazon guy and I are on a first name basis.
00:32:46
Speaker 3: They come to the door, right? Yeah.
00:32:48
Speaker 1: Hey, what's up, man? Hey.
00:32:49
Speaker 3: And when they come to the door and they get dropped off, you go, another one?
00:32:54
Speaker 1: Yes.
00:32:55
Speaker 3: And she says, do you have any idea how much money I saved on this?
00:32:59
Speaker 1: Yes.
00:33:01
Speaker 3: It's constant, right? There's a lack of understanding for a lot of people that Spending money is spending money. Because the whole idea in their brain is, I didn't really spend that much money because I saved this much money. He's saying, all right, I'm going to lose 10 mil by putting it on TV where I could get other rights.
00:33:28
Speaker 2: Right.
00:33:28
Speaker 3: But I walk them in. They watch. They buy jerseys. They come to games. They buy tickets. They park for me.
00:33:38
Speaker 7: Yeah.
00:33:39
Speaker 3: Then they bring their friends to me and they go, do you know how much money I just saved? And he says, well, I lost 10 million, but you just brought in 20 million for me. He understands the concept of I'll give you something. And you're going to feel like you saved money because you just watched it on local TV.
00:34:00
Speaker 1: Yep. Free local television.
00:34:02
Speaker 3: And you're going to pay. Yeah. Yeah. I think it's brilliant.
00:34:05
Speaker 2: I think it's brilliant. I think you're brilliant. Omega Wealth Private Capital is also brilliant.
00:34:09
Speaker 3: You need a little vital check, Mo. Volatility, income, taxes, asset preservation, and your legacy plan. And I will help you with that. Give a call to Omega Wealth. I will be your advisor. All of the guys over there will help on the team to put your vitals together and make sure that you have a retirement plan so you can spend and save in the end, Mo.
00:34:36
Speaker 1: And then spend more of that on Amazon stuff.
00:34:38
Speaker 3: Amen.
00:34:39
Speaker 1: The Amazon guy has apologized to me when he's walked into my house. Like, hey, Mo, sorry.
00:34:43
Speaker 3: My guy leaves because the dog barks so much.
00:34:45
Speaker 1: Fourth time this week. I'm sorry, man. Like, the box never has my name on it, so... I'm in the same boat. We'll see you next week.
00:34:54
Speaker 3: All right, man.
00:34:55
Speaker 2: Dan Klaskens next, ESPN 1530.
00:34:59
Speaker 4: Cincinnati's ESPN 1530. Traffic.
00:35:03
Speaker 2: From Missy Football with our guy Dan Klaskens. He is the host of Fantistics Insider Football on SiriusXM Fantasy. Check out Insider Football.
00:35:13
Speaker 1: Excuse me. Insider Football.
00:35:16
Speaker 2: Dan, I'm a, I'm two and two and one, but four and O and another, a burgeoning juggernaut, if you will.
00:35:25
Speaker 3: Yes, yes.
00:35:26
Speaker 8: Well, one month does not make a season, Mo. So whether you're up or you're down, the grind continues.
00:35:32
Speaker 3: And, you know, kudos to you.
00:35:34
Speaker 8: I think now's the time to dig in and figure out how to help that 2-2 team, maybe.
00:35:38
Speaker 1: Yes, yes.
00:35:39
Speaker 2: We did win in that league last week, so we're back to 500. We have to navigate bye weeks and international games. And usually when the bye weeks begin, there's always somebody in every league that falls victim to not knowing if their guy's actually going to be playing.
00:35:54
Speaker 5: I know. I know.
00:35:55
Speaker 3: Well, here's the good news. We'll start there.
00:35:57
Speaker 4: The light week five by.
00:35:58
Speaker 8: Only Carolina and Kansas City are on by this week, so most fantasy managers should be in pretty good shape this week.
00:36:03
Speaker 3: But don't get too comfortable.
00:36:05
Speaker 8: Four teams are off in each of the next three weeks, so we want to plan ahead. Don't always use your last bench spot on a player who could help you this Sunday. I want you to be thinking about... Who's the quarterback or tight end to grab next week? Get them a week early, especially at your more valuable, thinner positions there. You also want to look beyond just the one matchup. You're choosing between two similar players. Look at who each of them play the next three, four weeks. We're going to look at it at least a month out there. Here's the bottom line, Mo. Good fantasy managers react to last week. Great ones are already planning for next week.
00:36:39
Speaker 1: We've got to navigate some injuries starting in Baltimore.
00:36:43
Speaker 8: Lamar Jackson, top of the list here, obviously didn't practice. It's not looking good for him to play, so we're expecting Tyler Huntley, barring a miracle here, to start in Atlanta this week. Zay Flowers has been limited both days, so Lamar's manager should get a backup plan there. Jaden Daniels, better news there, full practice today, trending towards playing. Bigger concern is weapons. Terry McCorn, Stephon Diggs have missed some practices this week, so we're going to keep an eye on that situation on Friday. The Eagles talk about a mess. Devontae Smith was out last week with a hamstring injury. It looks like Saquon Barkley is going to be out this week with a hamstring injury. Both those players probably likely there. They have offensive line issues. Their best one just retired. Will Shipley is leading this backfield, so it's a mess in Philly right now. He's looking like another week at least on.
00:37:24
Speaker 3: That quad issue.
00:37:25
Speaker 8: So Braylon Allen, we can keep firing him up in fantasy. DeAndre Swift and Kyle Menungai, both Bears running back, showing up on the injury report. Swift was upgraded from did not practice yesterday to the limited today. Meanwhile, Menungai, we haven't seen him back yet. So Swift training towards playing need Friday clarity on Menungai. Reminder, Stevenson, his status is very iffy this week with the knee issue there for the Patriots. If he's out, Travion Henderson gets real interesting. Tony Pollard dealing with the foot issue today. So we'll keep our eyes on him. He did return to practice today, but they're expecting some of that leftover Atlantic storm coming up there and some weather conditions. So another one to monitor. Obviously, you've been talking a lot about Jamar's return to practice today. He's obviously in the concussion protocol, but trending there. Higgins has missed out. Well, I mean, I don't know why they would even bother playing any of them against Miami with the bye coming. We'll see what happens there. I am really interested in Mike Gesicki. I wasn't interested when the OSU bus went out, but if either of those or both those receivers out, he's a real sneaky play this week in fantasy. Malik neighbors with the knee. We'll keep our eyes on that. It looks like a better news for Justin Jefferson. He's treading in the right direction with an ankle and Gary McLaurin still dealing with a hamstring injury. Looking really dicey here for week five.
00:38:31
Speaker 2: Yes, I am a, a Mike is sicky owners. So I'm keeping an extra eye on that. Then I even would under normal circumstances. Dan Klaskens is with us. Insider football.com. host of Fantistics Insider Football on Sirius XM Fantasy. I need your week five studs, duds, and sleepers.
00:38:50
Speaker 8: Yeah, let's start with the good stuff, the studs. Jared Goff, Detroit at Arizona, one of the highest scoring games projected here for week five. Arizona has been extremely vulnerable, especially through the air. Goff has plenty of weapons. I really like him. He's one of my favorite quarterback plays, two to three touchdowns at least. Kyron Williams, you've got to like him. Don't buy any ideas. Come to split backfield. He's really on it, especially the money carries here. He's a high-end RB1 and a great matchup Monday night versus Buffalo. On the dud side, I mentioned the struggles in Philly. That's why Jalen Hurts is outside my top 12. He's actually 15th in my quarterback rankings this week. So I guess you could start him in some cases, but temper your expectation. We all saw how good Jacksonville is on defense. and I expect them to have trouble moving the football. Bucky Irving, another dud this week. He didn't catch a pass last week after being an important part of that passing game. More concerning, Sean.
00:39:40
Speaker 3: Tucker's getting those goal line works.
00:39:42
Speaker 8: He got to Kenny Gainwell coming in and some passing situations. So with the running back being one of those, it's hard to say sit Bucky tonight versus Dallas, but he is outside my top 25, which is not what you want in your RB2. And I'll leave you with a couple sleepers wins. These are the part of the picks I've actually been nailing. We can keep that trend going. Cardinal Tate, the rookie, coming off breakout nine catches, 144 yards and 12 targets, barring extreme rain. So we'll keep our eyes on that. I do love him again this week. Cam Ward's really leaning on him. Tennessee's playing Houston. And Isaiah, likely. I know we've abandoned the Giants. with Jameis Winston under there, but likely 12 targets last week, caught seven of them, 66 yards. He's getting all the significant shares there in three of the four games inside the red zone. So I know tight end's difficult. Isaiah likely remains one of my favorites. He's certainly a guy I look at as a top 10 option this week and really the rest of the way.
00:40:31
Speaker 2: Dan Klaskens is with us. We're into week five, but it's not too late for folks to get involved with Do Good Fantasy, which helps support America's veterans.
00:40:40
Speaker 1: Tell us how.
00:40:42
Speaker 3: Yeah, man, we love playing fantasy. Maybe your team's good. Maybe it's bad.
00:40:44
Speaker 4: It doesn't matter.
00:40:45
Speaker 8: You can get in every week. You pick a new lineup in the do good fantasy salary cap challenge. So you don't have to worry about five weeks or injuries or none of that. All you got to do is donate $ 30 to DAV.
00:40:54
Speaker 3: That goes to good use.
00:40:55
Speaker 8: DAV helps a million veterans a year through their free programs and services. Every week, you set a lineup to support America's Heroes. So you can play fantasy, win some prizes. We have over $ 6, 000 in donated prizes, all while helping keep America's veterans the promise to them. And you can learn more there, Mo, about all of it over at DoGoodFantasy.com.
00:41:15
Speaker 2: Dan Klaskens, Fantistics Insider Football, Sirius XM Fantasy.
00:41:18
Speaker 1: Thank you, as always. We'll talk next week.
00:41:21
Speaker 3: Looking forward to it.
00:41:22
Speaker 8: Hearing about that 5-0 and 3-2 team. Hopefully a 3-2 Bengals we're talking about as our bi-week games next week.
00:41:28
Speaker 2: If we're talking about the Bengals losing to Miami, the entire week is going to take on a very sobering tone.
00:41:34
Speaker 1: It's going to.
00:41:35
Speaker 8: Be very depressing for you every day.
00:41:37
Speaker 1: That's for sure. Dan, thanks.
00:41:39
Speaker 3: Good luck to you, my friend. Talk soon.
00:41:40
Speaker 1: You're the best.
00:41:41
Speaker 2: Our guy, Dan Klaskens, Fantistics Insider Football. Go to insiderfootball.com. Robert Weintraub is next.
Speaker 1: Dot com. What's up?
00:00:02
Speaker 2: ESPN 1530. This is our show. Thanks for listening to it. Hope you're having an awesome Thursday afternoon. Is less going to mean more in baseball? Get to that in just a second. Wise money sports and daily in 30 minutes and fantasy football advice for week five. with our guy Dan Klaskens coming up in 40 minutes. Got a lot going on today. Jamar Chase has been practicing. He is officially not out of the league's concussion protocol, but today a positive development if you have been holding on to hope that he would play on Sunday. T. Higgins working out on the rehab field today. Bengals and Dolphins Sunday at 1 o'clock.
00:00:46
Speaker 3: And you wonder.
00:00:48
Speaker 1: how one's.
00:00:50
Speaker 2: Injury issue impacts the other's injury issue in relation to what the Bengals are going to try to do to get them on the field this weekend, because they are playing an inferior opponent. And by the way, it's, it's not just those two wide receivers, no Andreo Shavas, Colby Young has been hurt too. So hopefully the Bengals have at least one of those guys on the field on Sunday. And right now it feels like it's more likely to be Jamar than T. I was listening to Tony and Austin talk about the Bengals running game. And apparently the Bengals' offensive line leads the NFL in run, block, win rate. That is a significant statistic. It means when the Bengals run the football effectively, the offensive line is doing its job. Now, I know what this turns into. It turns into, cool, we don't have to blame those guys. Now let's blame Chase Brown. I kind of feel like when you're bad at running the football, when you're bad at a thing in that sport, it's often more than one guy or more than one position group.
00:01:45
Speaker 1: Here's what I can tell you.
00:01:47
Speaker 2: From the perspective of doing this for a living, but also being a fan of the team, that since 2021, we have gushed over Joe Burrow. We have gushed over the offensive weaponry. We have seen him, Joe, and his teammates do some awesome things, both in terms of wins and losses and winning playoff games and also statistically. But I could also tell you this, that we have spent... What I believe is, and in an inordinate amount of time over the last six seasons, talking about issues the Bengals have offensively. I remember vividly, because it was 2022, 2022 on Tuesdays, we were doing the show at the Moorline Lager House. And I bring that up because I remember having these conversations specifically.
00:02:39
Speaker 1: There, 2022.
00:02:41
Speaker 2: By the way, a season in which they won 12 games, made the AFC championship game. But I remember during that season talking about these stretches where the Bengals on offense would just go into a rut. And I feel like on some level now, you have to acknowledge they spent a lot of time in 2023 playing with a backup quarterback and a lot of time in 2025 playing with a backup quarterback. But doesn't it feel to you like relative to what the Bengals have offensively from a talent perspective this that we spend a lot of time talking about the things they're not good at. Now, you might argue, well, some of that is nitpicky, and there's probably some truth to that. But it also feels like there are stretches of time where we have focused on either the Bengals in games getting off to slow starts on offense, or the Bengals having these long offensive lulls, Or the inability to run under center, the inability to run the football like this is not what it's supposed to be like when you have the talent the Bengals have on offense and the continuity the Bengals have on offense. And so that's where I point the finger at Zach Taylor, because he is the common denominator. I feel like I'm going to get to a point where I no longer have to qualify criticism of Zach Taylor by mentioning all the nice things that I've said about him. But I don't know, man. I don't have a great track record when it comes to a lot of things. I do think I have a good track record when it comes to being fair about Zach Taylor. And as the kids say, giving him his flowers when he is due. But I also know that in the period of time I've been doing this show since he became the head coach, that for a team that has had a great quarterback, good skill guys, oftentimes they've been bad on the offensive line. I don't think they have a bad offensive line. And again, analytically, statistically, Bengals have a good run-blocking offensive line this year. We spend a lot of time talking about deficiencies on offense. Now, is that play calling? Is that game planning? I don't know what it is. But I know Zach Taylor's side of the ball is offense.
00:04:59
Speaker 1: So we'll see.
00:05:00
Speaker 2: I'm telling you, man, what it's going to sound like, what it's going to feel like. I don't know if the Bengals lose on Sunday. And for the record, I don't think they will. It's not like I'm going out on a limb there.
00:05:12
Speaker 3: I get it.
00:05:14
Speaker 2: But if the Bengals lose on Sunday, I don't know if the postgame call-in show is going to be worth gathering the family around to listen to or.
00:05:27
Speaker 1: Worth ignoring.
00:05:28
Speaker 2: And I shouldn't say that because the postgame show airs on this radio station. Robert Weintraub, Sensei Magazine Weekly Bengals column is out. We'll chat with him coming up at 5.05. And our guy, Jay Morrison, as well. We have a National League Championship Series rematch. The Dodgers and Brewers last year met in the LCS.
00:05:49
Speaker 1: L.A. swept them.
00:05:50
Speaker 2: Shohei Otani had the greatest game many single baseball players ever had. The Tampa Bay Rays polished off the New York Yankees last night. There's one division series remaining. It's the White Sox and Guardians. Cleveland trying to stay alive and Chicago's trying to close out.
00:06:06
Speaker 1: The series in four. We will see.
00:06:09
Speaker 2: So for a couple of years now, Whenever I hear baseball's economic model used as an excuse for the Reds, my counter has always been, don't worry about competing with the Dodgers. From a Reds perspective, compete with and beat the Milwaukee Brewers. Milwaukee has been to the postseason now, eight out of the last nine years. They've won the division four consecutive years. They're back in the league championship series for a second consecutive year. They're trying to make the world series for the first time in 44 years. And so now with where we are, baseball is going to have a lockout, the labor situation, a lot of folks, and I get it using the success of Milwaukee and the Rays and to a degree, the guardians, though Cleveland hasn't yet advanced to the LCS as kind of like evidence to support the argument that baseball, you know, doesn't need a salary cap. That the bigger issue is you have teams like the Reds who haven't figured out a way to compete and be really good and have sustained success while a lot of their smaller market peers have figured those things out. And then you'll have some that will say, well, look, the Dodgers won the World Series each of the last two years. They're right now odds on favorite to win the World Series. They're going to win it again. Big market, high payroll teams usually win the World Series. And like, for me, there's room. We say this all the time.
00:07:33
Speaker 1: There's room. for multiple truths.
00:07:37
Speaker 2: It is true that the LA Dodgers have a financial advantage over teams like the Reds. But it's also true that teams like the New York Mets have financial advantages over teams like the Reds. Well, those two teams have achieved dramatically different results over the last seven or eight years. It is true that the Dodgers have a financial advantage over the Reds, which heightens their chances of winning.
00:08:10
Speaker 1: It is also true the L.A.
00:08:11
Speaker 2: Dodgers have been good for a really long time now at stockpiling their farm system, at player development, and at drafting. Every team can be good at those things, regardless of your financial advantages or disadvantages.
00:08:28
Speaker 1: That is also true.
00:08:31
Speaker 2: It is also true that teams like the Milwaukee Brewers, Tampa Bay Rays, maybe to a lesser degree the Cleveland Guardians, have found ways to at least be competitive, to consistently win divisions, to do well head-to-head against higher-spending teams. In Tampa Bay's case, winning a division with some of the highest-spending teams. In Milwaukee's case, winning a division that has the Chicago Cubs. All those things are true. What I do like, though, is, and I go back and forth, I will admit, I go back and forth on the salary gap thing. Because philosophically, I don't believe in them. But there's also a part of me that wants to cross that off as an excuse for not winning. I don't give the Reds an excuse for not winning for two reasons. One, it's been 31 years since you've advanced in the postseason. We don't talk about them winning the World Series. We talk about them winning one stupid round, which has never been easier to do. Number two in their division is a team that has figured out ways, and some of those ways aren't that much fun if you're a fan, but have figured out ways to be really good almost every single year despite dealing with the same financial disadvantages that the Reds are dealing with. More on that in a bit. UC Fall Ball is underway. A couple of games this weekend. Head coach of the Bearcats next.
00:09:55
Speaker 4: Cincinnati's ESPN 1530.
00:09:56
Speaker 5: Traffic.
00:10:00
Speaker 4: This is Football in the Natty.
00:10:02
Speaker 6: Brought to you by Belterra Casino and Belterra Park on ESPN 1530.
00:10:09
Speaker 4: The official home of the Cincinnati Bengals.
00:10:11
Speaker 2: At the portion of practice the media could watch, T. Higgins was not out there. He was on the rehab field. Jamar Chase was out there. Brian Cook was also out there, which... Pretty critical. More on that coming up in just a bit. The fall ball season underway for the UC baseball program. They have played a couple of fall exhibitions. Victory over Purdue. Victory over Kentucky at Prasco Park. Cincinnati will host Dayton this Saturday at 1 p.m. Xavier next Saturday at 2 p.m. The weather recently has been very good for baseball. fall ball underway for the uc baseball program and the head coach jordan bischel kind enough to give us a few minutes coach always awesome to have you good afternoon.
00:10:55
Speaker 5: Good afternoon appreciate you having.
00:10:56
Speaker 2: Me on always appreciate you joining us in in the fall when you're playing these these exhibitions you know i watched uh uc's basketball team play an exhibition game yesterday guys were allowed like seven or eight fouls so how does fall baseball look compared to what we watched during the spring.
00:11:13
Speaker 5: Yeah, I think the biggest thing is we're probably just a little more liberal with substitutions, lineups, if you want to hit 10 guys in your order or pinch run, you know, that type of stuff. They're not really going to track that stuff. But outside of that, we try to keep it pretty competitive. We just only get two of these opportunities. This year we're getting four of them, which I think is great because, When we hit February, a lot of times we haven't been outside a ton before we play, so we have some really good learning opportunities to give us some ideas on, hey, what do we need to focus on as we work our.
00:11:45
Speaker 1: Way to the spring.
00:11:46
Speaker 2: What are the things that you've tried to focus on with your guys here during fall ball?
00:11:54
Speaker 5: Yeah, I think the biggest thing, we've got a lot of youth on our pitching staff. Last year, our lineup was really young, and then we grew as the year went. This year, it's pretty similar with our pitching staff, how it's on the younger end. So, just trying to get those guys, you know, acclimated to the adrenaline of seeing somebody in a different uniform. So far they've done really well with it. We've played in 30 innings and only given up 10 runs so far. So, so those young guys have done a great job attacking the strike zone, but, You know the style we play. We love to bunt. We love to run. We put pressure on. So just trying to do that against an opponent that's not as familiar with it as our own guys is pretty valuable.
00:12:30
Speaker 2: The answer to this question may change when we talk in February, but what do you like most about your team right now?
00:12:40
Speaker 5: Yeah, it may change. I think the biggest thing is just the expectations, the level of what these guys are pushing themselves for has really reached a high watermark. And because we've got a bigger number of returners than we've ever had, it makes it easier to push them a little bit and be a little bit pickier and maybe not be hard on them, but drive for some small gains that You know, when you just have a really new roster, it's harder to do. And so just that experience factor is big in terms of trying to push to a new level. And the guys, I think we can accomplish a lot this year, which is obviously where we want to be.
00:13:20
Speaker 2: This time of year, you're giving, you know, kids who are just getting acclimated to college, this is their first, like, in-game college experience.
00:13:29
Speaker 1: What is the most difficult part of that transition?
00:13:32
Speaker 5: I think just... Just the failure side, probably. Our recruiting class this year was ranked nationally in the top 25, which is great. It also means just about none of these guys have ever really struggled on a baseball field. They're here because they've been really, really good. And so all of a sudden, they're striking out more than they ever had, or they're giving up more hard contact than they ever have. And you don't want them to To lose confidence or get gun shy, you kind of need to help them get through that and understand that that's a part of it. And as they learn to deal with that failure, they'll come out on the other side better for it.
00:14:08
Speaker 2: What role has your program's recent success had in recruiting? Because you talked about that top 25 recruiting ranking. I would view that as a direct result of, at least in part, the success you've had.
00:14:23
Speaker 1: How much of that has been a factor?
00:14:26
Speaker 5: Yeah, it certainly has been. That class recruited over the last year or two had, for the first time, probably more than a vision to look at. They had our first year or two of results to look at, and they could see some trajectory. We've seen it a lot with our visits over the last year or so. The guys we have visiting, they're all getting in a spot where they have several high-level opportunities and offers. We've got to compete hard to get them here against some really, really good programs, and that's a good thing. That's where we want to be, and are we getting them all? No, but getting in those rooms, we're going to land some of those guys, and that's been awesome to see. We have guys showing up to campus with the idea that they want to be professional baseball players and they want to play in the NCAA tournament a bunch of times before they do that, and they think they can do those things here.
00:15:20
Speaker 2: Jordan Bischel, the head baseball coach at the University of Cincinnati. Fall ball underway. Cincinnati hosting Dayton this Saturday at 1 o'clock. Xavier next Saturday at 2. Both games are free and open to the public. Tell me about your program's new bunting and base running lab.
00:15:37
Speaker 5: Yes, our cheetah lab.
00:15:39
Speaker 1: We.
00:15:40
Speaker 5: As I mentioned earlier, we love to put pressure on with our bunting, with our base running. If you look at a statistical breakdown, we probably have been the most successful Power 4 team in the country over the last couple of years in terms of both bunting for base hits and stealing base at a high percentage rate. Ultimately, like anything else, if you want to be really good at something, you need a pretty high level of focus and dedication to it and Typical practice when you're on a baseball field, you know, if you're hitting, it's probably at home plate, right? And so it's harder to get your bunting work done there. So it's hard to get full access to the field. And so we were able to secure a space in our Lindner building, which is just beyond our center field fence, where we remodeled it to basically put in, you know, the corner of an infield that includes home plate and about the first 60 feet of the baseline and Through there, we can do a bunch of video stuff with our base running to work on steel jumps. We can do all kinds of bunting, and it's just a really dedicated area where we can focus on, to us, a really critical part of what makes us successful. And to our knowledge, I don't know every program in the country, but To our knowledge, we're the first that's actually created a dedicated space for this, and it's going to help us continue to grow that area.
00:16:53
Speaker 1: So you talk about the bunting.
00:16:55
Speaker 2: Like, this is better than standing at the cage on your normal field bunting.
00:16:59
Speaker 1: How is it different? Why is it better?
00:17:02
Speaker 5: Well, on our normal field, it's just as good outside of the fact that there's only so many times in a day. Like, when we're at practice... if we've got five bunters using home plate to bunt, you're not using that space to work on your defense and hit fungos, or you're not using that space to take batting practice or get reps. And so there's just, you've got one field and you've got a lot of purposes for it. So all of a sudden we have to have another field, because it doesn't matter if you have a 10 foot high ceiling when you're bunting the baseball, we better not be hitting that ceiling. So it just creates a dedicated space, right? Where, where it's not getting in the way of getting other things done in other reps. And I do think there's a focus aspect to it too, right? It being a great base runner, being a great bunter takes a lot of technique and a lot of focus. And when you kind of seclude them in a room, it just makes it a little easier to lock in on the, on that specific task.
00:17:57
Speaker 2: When I think of bunting and base running, like I think of base running, it's, that is a skill and that's not stealing bases per se, though.
00:18:03
Speaker 1: That's great.
00:18:04
Speaker 2: It's, it's knowing, you know, situations it's, it's knowing, you know, the scouting report, it's not making outs. It's knowing where the line is between aggressiveness and, and being maybe a little too aggressive. I'm curious about those two skill sets. How much are they, how well are they taught right now at the, at the prep level?
00:18:26
Speaker 5: You know, the bunting especially is really, quite frankly, for our guys, poor at the prep level. And that's not an indictment of any coaches. It's more, again, we're bringing in guys who are probably hitting third or fourth in their order, who are probably all-state type players. I would guess a good high school coach doesn't want their best hitter dropping down bunts every time he steps in the batter's box, right? They want him swinging the bat. So for a lot of our guys, it's a pretty foreign concept. The idea of bunting was probably discouraged for a lot of those guys, and now we're trying to teach them that it's an absolute weapon, that it's a way to get a bunch of base hits and increase their production. So that part, we usually have some big adaptations. The base stealing side, we bring in a lot of good athletes. They've stolen a lot of bases, but the catchers are so much better at our level of throwing consistently. There's so much more scouting reports, so many better pickoff moves that We've got fast guys that probably know how to be really aggressive and take off a lot, but the deciding when not to go is probably a harder thing to teach, and to teach them to be selectively aggressive is, that is a real skill, and it takes a lot of time, and honestly, it takes getting thrown out a fair amount in the fall to learn, and that may not have been the time to go. We've got to be a little bit better there.
00:19:45
Speaker 2: I liked the base-stealing drills when I was a kid, because you know what that meant? It meant to slip and slide, and so I was all about that.
00:19:53
Speaker 5: Yeah, the sliding drills are most fun on the days it rains on our turf field. That makes it fun. And there's a home field advantage of that piece, too. I tell you what, you get that turf a little bit wet and it is just like a slip and slide. You got to take about three steps and dive. So we've gotten a few guys on that one.
00:20:09
Speaker 2: All right uh fall ball underway uh this saturday one o'clock the dayton flyers and uh next saturday at two o'clock xavier both games free and uh open to the public always love having you coach can't thank you enough yeah it.
00:20:24
Speaker 5: Always means a lot having me on we'll love to see some fans out there in the next couple weeks and obviously as we get around the spring i'm sure we'll talk again but i know there's There's plenty of fall stuff going on, so I appreciate you taking a couple minutes for us.
00:20:36
Speaker 1: Anytime. You got it, Coach. Thanks so much.
00:20:39
Speaker 2: That's Jordan Bischel, apparently, with a train fast approaching the UC baseball team.
00:20:44
Speaker 1: Fall ball.
00:20:45
Speaker 2: They used to play two. Now they play four. Free and open to the public on Saturday at 1 o'clock. at UC, 2 o'clock on Saturday afternoon. Again, both games free and open to the public. Next Saturday would be the basketball games at 5, so you can make a doubleheader, see some fall baseball, then go watch Jarrett Calhoun's team take on Illinois at 5 p.m.
00:21:08
Speaker 1: In exhibition action.
00:21:09
Speaker 2: I was not here yesterday, so we did not get a chance to do Wise Money Sports, but the good news is I'm here today, so we'll do it in five minutes on ESPN 1530 Cincinnati Sports Station.
00:21:20
Speaker 6: You've been listening to Football in the Natty, brought to you by Kingdom Built Exteriors on ESPN 1530, the official home of the Cincinnati Bengals. Cincinnati's ESPN 1530.
00:21:36
Speaker 4: Traffic.
00:21:37
Speaker 7: From the UC Health Traffic Center, a mammogram takes 15 minutes and could save your life. Schedule yours with UC Health's breast imaging experts at 513-584-PINK. One accident now cleared a way on northbound 71 that was after Fort Washington Way. Left lane's blocked, though, from another crash on northbound 71 approaching Kenwood. That's got traffic stopping. Go from Smith Edwards. Delays up to 35 minutes at the moment. I'm Eddie Zellick with traffic.
00:22:08
Speaker 4: Cincinnati Sports Station.
00:22:10
Speaker 6: This is ESPN 1530.
00:22:13
Speaker 2: Sports headlines in just a few minutes. Dan Klaskens. I'll help you with your fantasy football team in 15 minutes. This is ESPN 1530. I'm Mo Egger. I was absent yesterday because of the UC game up in Mason. So we didn't get a chance to do Wise Money Sports. Our friend Brad Johansson from Omega Wealth Private Capital, kind enough to still come in on a Thursday and do it with me.
00:22:37
Speaker 1: What is up?
00:22:38
Speaker 3: I was caught in that traffic. Yeah?
00:22:40
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:22:40
Speaker 3: Up at the tennis center.
00:22:42
Speaker 1: A lot going on in Mason.
00:22:43
Speaker 3: Yeah, a lot going on.
00:22:45
Speaker 1: A lot of folks at that facility that have never been there before.
00:22:48
Speaker 3: Um, and they will be back.
00:22:51
Speaker 1: Yes.
00:22:51
Speaker 3: It's a facility.
00:22:52
Speaker 5: It is.
00:22:53
Speaker 1: How did, how was the event they put on? I thought it was really, really cool. I thought it was look, having great weather helped big time, right?
00:23:01
Speaker 2: They obviously had an alternative venue, the university of Dayton, but, um, yeah, I think everybody took the, the basketball itself for the grain of salt, the teams and player, the teams, coaches and players included, um, But, you know, it's a great venue. I said this earlier in the show. I sat in the stands for the second game, and when the sun started to dip down and you had some twilight, it was gorgeous.
00:23:24
Speaker 1: Yeah. It's great.
00:23:24
Speaker 5: Yeah.
00:23:25
Speaker 3: I mean, it is a facility.
00:23:27
Speaker 5: Yes.
00:23:28
Speaker 3: And to be able to– I mean, it's a business. There's a business model, right?
00:23:32
Speaker 7: Yeah.
00:23:32
Speaker 3: That thing was going to Charlotte.
00:23:33
Speaker 5: Yes.
00:23:34
Speaker 3: And they said, give us more money.
00:23:35
Speaker 1: Yes.
00:23:36
Speaker 3: They gave them more money, and now you're having way more than just tennis and You've got the restaurant. Have you been in the restaurant in there?
00:23:44
Speaker 1: I've not been in the restaurant.
00:23:45
Speaker 3: Massive.
00:23:45
Speaker 1: Yeah. Now, the restaurant's for one percenters. I don't know that they would let someone like me in the restaurant.
00:23:50
Speaker 3: Oh, no, no.
00:23:51
Speaker 1: Anybody can go in?
00:23:51
Speaker 3: You can go in. You can go in at night and have dinner.
00:23:54
Speaker 1: Gotcha. Okay. So they're open year-round?
00:23:57
Speaker 3: I honestly don't know the answer to that.
00:23:59
Speaker 1: Because, you know, when I go for tennis.
00:24:01
Speaker 3: I'm going to say yes.
00:24:02
Speaker 1: Skyline tent. So I don't need the restaurant. But I'm glad that other folks have the opportunity to go check out the restaurant.
00:24:07
Speaker 3: You can watch people play pickleball while you.
00:24:09
Speaker 1: You can do that too? Yeah.
00:24:11
Speaker 3: Wow. Yeah.
00:24:12
Speaker 2: It was a lot of fun. Well, it's great to have you. I like, I want to talk about this with you. So the college football playoff.
00:24:17
Speaker 1: Yeah. Inching toward 24 teams, which I don't think anybody wants. Nobody wants this.
00:24:23
Speaker 3: Okay. If nobody wants it, why is it going to happen? Because you say nobody wants it and it will happen.
00:24:29
Speaker 1: Fans don't want it. No fan that I know wants a 2014 playoff.
00:24:33
Speaker 3: And yet.
00:24:34
Speaker 1: And yet we're going to have it.
00:24:35
Speaker 3: Because.
00:24:36
Speaker 5: Money.
00:24:36
Speaker 3: Yeah. And it's going to ruin it. Has money already ruined the college football that we know? That we used to know.
00:24:45
Speaker 5: Yeah.
00:24:46
Speaker 1: I don't know if it's ruined it entirely, but there are things I wish were.
00:24:49
Speaker 3: Oh, we're working on it.
00:24:50
Speaker 8: Yeah.
00:24:51
Speaker 5: I just.
00:24:53
Speaker 2: We've gone from four, which I thought was good because it felt exclusive, but there was some sameness to it.
00:24:57
Speaker 1: We've gone.
00:24:58
Speaker 2: I guess my biggest issue is, why don't we see how 12 works for a while? We don't have a large enough sample size to see how well it works. We're just instantly going to double that number.
00:25:07
Speaker 3: Isn't the answer money again?
00:25:08
Speaker 1: Of course.
00:25:09
Speaker 3: The answer is always money.
00:25:10
Speaker 1: Yes. Because.
00:25:11
Speaker 3: Okay, what are you going to do and how are we going to ruin it? Well, I don't know whether we're going to ruin it because we've got more money. Four was great. Why?
00:25:22
Speaker 1: It was exclusive.
00:25:23
Speaker 3: Because every single game mattered.
00:25:25
Speaker 2: Uh-huh.
00:25:26
Speaker 3: And you had to win every single game to be able to get into four.
00:25:29
Speaker 2: But it was unforgiving for a school that maybe suffered an early season loss.
00:25:33
Speaker 3: And I'm okay in extending it past that point.
00:25:36
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:25:38
Speaker 3: So somebody's saying now, why don't we expand it to 24 because we'll really find out who teams are. And I'll walk on the Florida on this one. Last week, and I said it, as the game came on, Florida and Missouri. Yeah. I think people are underestimating Florida. I think Florida may be one of the top five teams.
00:26:01
Speaker 5: Yeah.
00:26:01
Speaker 3: And they got spanked.
00:26:03
Speaker 7: Yeah.
00:26:04
Speaker 3: So in college football with guys being– 17 and 18 and 19 and whatever this is, and 26. Who's really good that week? Does 24 actually help us by the end of the year find out who's... really good. And that's, I don't think that's the point. I don't think the point of 24 is finding out who's really good. It's finding out how much money we can make on big games.
00:26:31
Speaker 1: So I guess from a competitive standpoint, I will talk about this from a business aspect, from a competitive standpoint, I go, number one, is there ever a year where the playoffs 24, where Ohio state won't make it, where Georgia won't make it, where Alabama won't make it like it.
00:26:47
Speaker 3: It's hard to picture that right now.
00:26:49
Speaker 2: We're also going to have like eight and four teams in the postseason, which nobody wants. And we're going to have 23 playoff games. I don't know that there's a huge appetite for that.
00:26:58
Speaker 3: So what happens to bowl games?
00:26:59
Speaker 1: That's the thing.
00:27:00
Speaker 3: Do we even, and I honestly don't know the answer. Do you know the answer? Do we even have bowl games?
00:27:06
Speaker 2: So that was going to be one of my questions. What is the financial viability of the remainder of the college football postseason?
00:27:13
Speaker 3: And, See, I don't know the economics of this. Haven't sponsors already purchased the give me some love sandbag bowl? And I have my millions already. And so we have to play it.
00:27:28
Speaker 7: Yeah.
00:27:29
Speaker 3: Who's in it? Right. We already have those bowls where eight people show up to the game and they're trying to figure out how to shoot the game.
00:27:37
Speaker 2: I went to one of them last year, the Liberty Bowl. There might have been seven people in Memphis for that game.
00:27:41
Speaker 3: I don't know what happens with this.
00:27:43
Speaker 2: So one of the things they're going to do if they expand the postseason is get rid of conference championship games. The SEC has balked at that because their championship game is quite lucrative. So take me through the math here. Expanded playoff. How can it make those conferences whole after they kill their own championship event?
00:27:59
Speaker 3: And I don't know where the money starts passing on because I don't know whether conferences can say, you can't give me an, and isn't sec holding out to say, okay, how much more are you going to give us to be able to do this 24 game playoff? And where is that money going to come from when we already have our group going to do this? The finances of this are take care of us at home. And if I can't take care of all my people in this conference, uh, Me having two, three, four teams, whatever that may be, in this playoff, excluding this game with the amount that I can get playing a championship, I have a problem with that.
00:28:40
Speaker 2: It's an interesting story in The Athletic about Miami University and their larger conference ambitions. I love ambition. I love people who think big. From a business perspective, and I need folks to read the story in The Athletic.
00:28:54
Speaker 1: I talked about it last week.
00:28:55
Speaker 2: Is this a A calculated financial gamble that's going to force other mid-major schools to either find huge donor capital or just say, this is who we are. We're second tier. Nothing we can do about it.
00:29:07
Speaker 3: Yes and yes.
00:29:07
Speaker 5: Okay.
00:29:09
Speaker 3: Because you already said it. They're mid-major. Now, Miami of Ohio.
00:29:13
Speaker 1: Yeah.
00:29:13
Speaker 3: Are we, is that what we're supposed to call them now?
00:29:16
Speaker 1: I call it, I refer to it as Miami University.
00:29:18
Speaker 3: Broadcasters, I mean, and I did Miami Ohio games and broadcasters are told, here's what you're allowed to call the school.
00:29:24
Speaker 2: In the game notes, I believe it says, please refer to us as Miami University.
00:29:28
Speaker 3: Okay.
00:29:29
Speaker 1: Which is what I call them.
00:29:31
Speaker 2: If I say Miami here in Cincinnati, nobody thinks I'm talking about the hurricanes.
00:29:35
Speaker 3: But they are, you just said it, are other mid-major schools. So you classify them as mid-major. Do they say, and I don't think they did in the broadcast notes when I was doing the games, do not refer to us as mid-major. But there are other schools who will say, please do not refer to us as mid-major. Do fans refer to them?
00:29:58
Speaker 1: Do.
00:30:00
Speaker 3: analysts refer to them as mid-major, probably all this. And I think that's what Miami's trying to get away from. Okay, you know what? If we're going to be anything, we have to join the crowd and find out. So in this search, we're finding out who decides we're good enough to join them. And are there enough conferences now who are fearful that their conference is going to go away?
00:30:26
Speaker 8: Mm-hmm.
00:30:26
Speaker 3: To add a school, and is Miami lucrative enough a name, Miami, Ohio, please refer to us as Miami University, to join a conference that says you're going to make us money? Yeah.
00:30:41
Speaker 1: It's a fascinating question. I appreciate the ambition.
00:30:44
Speaker 3: So the ambition is, hey, alums, we're going to need something. Set us up. Because you have to up your game on facilities. You have to up your game on merch. You have to up your game on people who are going to come in and play. Did the basketball team last year do enough of that to spur this this year? What did they win?
00:31:08
Speaker 2: 31.
00:31:09
Speaker 3: 31 in a row. Is that enough to say, look at me, and then you play somebody and say, look at me, we really weren't at that level?
00:31:21
Speaker 2: I'm curious just locally from a business perspective perspective, what does that mean for their season ticket base this year? How many of those folks that got into it last February were like, all right.
00:31:31
Speaker 1: I'm buying in.
00:31:31
Speaker 3: Does it translate to football?
00:31:34
Speaker 1: I don't think it has yet. No.
00:31:35
Speaker 3: And so you have to have, um, now Georgia doesn't really care all the time, whether their basketball team plays very well. Do they?
00:31:44
Speaker 1: I'm sure they would like for them to be fine, but yeah, nobody.
00:31:47
Speaker 3: Cares that much.
00:31:48
Speaker 1: Yes.
00:31:48
Speaker 3: So the question in a mid major is how many sports have to excel to For you to join another conference and everybody say it's worth it for you to come on over.
00:31:58
Speaker 2: I want to ask you about the owner of the Phoenix Suns, Matt Eshibia. I think I said that right. Prioritizing a fan-first philosophy. So he's going to put his games on free local television. He's done that for a while. He has sort of said, I'm going to keep doing this. Which means there's lots of money out there that he is saying no to. Is he making a basic investment in his fans that can maybe pay off later? And is there a large-scale business lesson there?
00:32:25
Speaker 3: Well, sure, there's a business. You're married.
00:32:29
Speaker 1: Yes. On my second one.
00:32:32
Speaker 3: Does she? What's her shopping habit? Big or not big? Is she a shopper?
00:32:41
Speaker 1: She's not like a let's go to the mall and shop, but the Amazon guy and I are on a first name basis.
00:32:46
Speaker 3: They come to the door, right? Yeah.
00:32:48
Speaker 1: Hey, what's up, man? Hey.
00:32:49
Speaker 3: And when they come to the door and they get dropped off, you go, another one?
00:32:54
Speaker 1: Yes.
00:32:55
Speaker 3: And she says, do you have any idea how much money I saved on this?
00:32:59
Speaker 1: Yes.
00:33:01
Speaker 3: It's constant, right? There's a lack of understanding for a lot of people that Spending money is spending money. Because the whole idea in their brain is, I didn't really spend that much money because I saved this much money. He's saying, all right, I'm going to lose 10 mil by putting it on TV where I could get other rights.
00:33:28
Speaker 2: Right.
00:33:28
Speaker 3: But I walk them in. They watch. They buy jerseys. They come to games. They buy tickets. They park for me.
00:33:38
Speaker 7: Yeah.
00:33:39
Speaker 3: Then they bring their friends to me and they go, do you know how much money I just saved? And he says, well, I lost 10 million, but you just brought in 20 million for me. He understands the concept of I'll give you something. And you're going to feel like you saved money because you just watched it on local TV.
00:34:00
Speaker 1: Yep. Free local television.
00:34:02
Speaker 3: And you're going to pay. Yeah. Yeah. I think it's brilliant.
00:34:05
Speaker 2: I think it's brilliant. I think you're brilliant. Omega Wealth Private Capital is also brilliant.
00:34:09
Speaker 3: You need a little vital check, Mo. Volatility, income, taxes, asset preservation, and your legacy plan. And I will help you with that. Give a call to Omega Wealth. I will be your advisor. All of the guys over there will help on the team to put your vitals together and make sure that you have a retirement plan so you can spend and save in the end, Mo.
00:34:36
Speaker 1: And then spend more of that on Amazon stuff.
00:34:38
Speaker 3: Amen.
00:34:39
Speaker 1: The Amazon guy has apologized to me when he's walked into my house. Like, hey, Mo, sorry.
00:34:43
Speaker 3: My guy leaves because the dog barks so much.
00:34:45
Speaker 1: Fourth time this week. I'm sorry, man. Like, the box never has my name on it, so... I'm in the same boat. We'll see you next week.
00:34:54
Speaker 3: All right, man.
00:34:55
Speaker 2: Dan Klaskens next, ESPN 1530.
00:34:59
Speaker 4: Cincinnati's ESPN 1530. Traffic.
00:35:03
Speaker 2: From Missy Football with our guy Dan Klaskens. He is the host of Fantistics Insider Football on SiriusXM Fantasy. Check out Insider Football.
00:35:13
Speaker 1: Excuse me. Insider Football.
00:35:16
Speaker 2: Dan, I'm a, I'm two and two and one, but four and O and another, a burgeoning juggernaut, if you will.
00:35:25
Speaker 3: Yes, yes.
00:35:26
Speaker 8: Well, one month does not make a season, Mo. So whether you're up or you're down, the grind continues.
00:35:32
Speaker 3: And, you know, kudos to you.
00:35:34
Speaker 8: I think now's the time to dig in and figure out how to help that 2-2 team, maybe.
00:35:38
Speaker 1: Yes, yes.
00:35:39
Speaker 2: We did win in that league last week, so we're back to 500. We have to navigate bye weeks and international games. And usually when the bye weeks begin, there's always somebody in every league that falls victim to not knowing if their guy's actually going to be playing.
00:35:54
Speaker 5: I know. I know.
00:35:55
Speaker 3: Well, here's the good news. We'll start there.
00:35:57
Speaker 4: The light week five by.
00:35:58
Speaker 8: Only Carolina and Kansas City are on by this week, so most fantasy managers should be in pretty good shape this week.
00:36:03
Speaker 3: But don't get too comfortable.
00:36:05
Speaker 8: Four teams are off in each of the next three weeks, so we want to plan ahead. Don't always use your last bench spot on a player who could help you this Sunday. I want you to be thinking about... Who's the quarterback or tight end to grab next week? Get them a week early, especially at your more valuable, thinner positions there. You also want to look beyond just the one matchup. You're choosing between two similar players. Look at who each of them play the next three, four weeks. We're going to look at it at least a month out there. Here's the bottom line, Mo. Good fantasy managers react to last week. Great ones are already planning for next week.
00:36:39
Speaker 1: We've got to navigate some injuries starting in Baltimore.
00:36:43
Speaker 8: Lamar Jackson, top of the list here, obviously didn't practice. It's not looking good for him to play, so we're expecting Tyler Huntley, barring a miracle here, to start in Atlanta this week. Zay Flowers has been limited both days, so Lamar's manager should get a backup plan there. Jaden Daniels, better news there, full practice today, trending towards playing. Bigger concern is weapons. Terry McCorn, Stephon Diggs have missed some practices this week, so we're going to keep an eye on that situation on Friday. The Eagles talk about a mess. Devontae Smith was out last week with a hamstring injury. It looks like Saquon Barkley is going to be out this week with a hamstring injury. Both those players probably likely there. They have offensive line issues. Their best one just retired. Will Shipley is leading this backfield, so it's a mess in Philly right now. He's looking like another week at least on.
00:37:24
Speaker 3: That quad issue.
00:37:25
Speaker 8: So Braylon Allen, we can keep firing him up in fantasy. DeAndre Swift and Kyle Menungai, both Bears running back, showing up on the injury report. Swift was upgraded from did not practice yesterday to the limited today. Meanwhile, Menungai, we haven't seen him back yet. So Swift training towards playing need Friday clarity on Menungai. Reminder, Stevenson, his status is very iffy this week with the knee issue there for the Patriots. If he's out, Travion Henderson gets real interesting. Tony Pollard dealing with the foot issue today. So we'll keep our eyes on him. He did return to practice today, but they're expecting some of that leftover Atlantic storm coming up there and some weather conditions. So another one to monitor. Obviously, you've been talking a lot about Jamar's return to practice today. He's obviously in the concussion protocol, but trending there. Higgins has missed out. Well, I mean, I don't know why they would even bother playing any of them against Miami with the bye coming. We'll see what happens there. I am really interested in Mike Gesicki. I wasn't interested when the OSU bus went out, but if either of those or both those receivers out, he's a real sneaky play this week in fantasy. Malik neighbors with the knee. We'll keep our eyes on that. It looks like a better news for Justin Jefferson. He's treading in the right direction with an ankle and Gary McLaurin still dealing with a hamstring injury. Looking really dicey here for week five.
00:38:31
Speaker 2: Yes, I am a, a Mike is sicky owners. So I'm keeping an extra eye on that. Then I even would under normal circumstances. Dan Klaskens is with us. Insider football.com. host of Fantistics Insider Football on Sirius XM Fantasy. I need your week five studs, duds, and sleepers.
00:38:50
Speaker 8: Yeah, let's start with the good stuff, the studs. Jared Goff, Detroit at Arizona, one of the highest scoring games projected here for week five. Arizona has been extremely vulnerable, especially through the air. Goff has plenty of weapons. I really like him. He's one of my favorite quarterback plays, two to three touchdowns at least. Kyron Williams, you've got to like him. Don't buy any ideas. Come to split backfield. He's really on it, especially the money carries here. He's a high-end RB1 and a great matchup Monday night versus Buffalo. On the dud side, I mentioned the struggles in Philly. That's why Jalen Hurts is outside my top 12. He's actually 15th in my quarterback rankings this week. So I guess you could start him in some cases, but temper your expectation. We all saw how good Jacksonville is on defense. and I expect them to have trouble moving the football. Bucky Irving, another dud this week. He didn't catch a pass last week after being an important part of that passing game. More concerning, Sean.
00:39:40
Speaker 3: Tucker's getting those goal line works.
00:39:42
Speaker 8: He got to Kenny Gainwell coming in and some passing situations. So with the running back being one of those, it's hard to say sit Bucky tonight versus Dallas, but he is outside my top 25, which is not what you want in your RB2. And I'll leave you with a couple sleepers wins. These are the part of the picks I've actually been nailing. We can keep that trend going. Cardinal Tate, the rookie, coming off breakout nine catches, 144 yards and 12 targets, barring extreme rain. So we'll keep our eyes on that. I do love him again this week. Cam Ward's really leaning on him. Tennessee's playing Houston. And Isaiah, likely. I know we've abandoned the Giants. with Jameis Winston under there, but likely 12 targets last week, caught seven of them, 66 yards. He's getting all the significant shares there in three of the four games inside the red zone. So I know tight end's difficult. Isaiah likely remains one of my favorites. He's certainly a guy I look at as a top 10 option this week and really the rest of the way.
00:40:31
Speaker 2: Dan Klaskens is with us. We're into week five, but it's not too late for folks to get involved with Do Good Fantasy, which helps support America's veterans.
00:40:40
Speaker 1: Tell us how.
00:40:42
Speaker 3: Yeah, man, we love playing fantasy. Maybe your team's good. Maybe it's bad.
00:40:44
Speaker 4: It doesn't matter.
00:40:45
Speaker 8: You can get in every week. You pick a new lineup in the do good fantasy salary cap challenge. So you don't have to worry about five weeks or injuries or none of that. All you got to do is donate $ 30 to DAV.
00:40:54
Speaker 3: That goes to good use.
00:40:55
Speaker 8: DAV helps a million veterans a year through their free programs and services. Every week, you set a lineup to support America's Heroes. So you can play fantasy, win some prizes. We have over $ 6, 000 in donated prizes, all while helping keep America's veterans the promise to them. And you can learn more there, Mo, about all of it over at DoGoodFantasy.com.
00:41:15
Speaker 2: Dan Klaskens, Fantistics Insider Football, Sirius XM Fantasy.
00:41:18
Speaker 1: Thank you, as always. We'll talk next week.
00:41:21
Speaker 3: Looking forward to it.
00:41:22
Speaker 8: Hearing about that 5-0 and 3-2 team. Hopefully a 3-2 Bengals we're talking about as our bi-week games next week.
00:41:28
Speaker 2: If we're talking about the Bengals losing to Miami, the entire week is going to take on a very sobering tone.
00:41:34
Speaker 1: It's going to.
00:41:35
Speaker 8: Be very depressing for you every day.
00:41:37
Speaker 1: That's for sure. Dan, thanks.
00:41:39
Speaker 3: Good luck to you, my friend. Talk soon.
00:41:40
Speaker 1: You're the best.
00:41:41
Speaker 2: Our guy, Dan Klaskens, Fantistics Insider Football. Go to insiderfootball.com. Robert Weintraub is next.
