Show preview
6:05, Sports Talk
Guest
Mike DeCourcy, 6:10
Andrew Whitworth, 6:35
Rich Neumann, Mark Harden, LaRosa's Royal 8 Hardwood Classic, 7:05
Xavier vs St Bonaventure, 7:30
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Thanks
When your day gets busy, it's tough to keep up with everything.
I try to provide you multiple ways and reasons to invest in and follow my show.
I thank you for:
-Tuning into Sports Talk at night on 700 WLW.
-Downloading the iHeart radio app to listen when you are out of town
-Using the podcast page to catch-up when you miss a show
-Following me on Twitter to get show updates and info (@lancemcalister). Thank to the over 18,000 now following.
-Liking my Facebook page and joining in on the conversation
I appreciate you following my show, despite an ever-changing schedule.
During this time of year, my time slot is at the mercy of Reds Hot Stove, UC and XU basketball and the Mick Cronin Show. I appreciate you finding me when I'm on.
I can't wait to get back to hosting afternoons, 3-6pm on ESPN 1530, when baseball starts up again. I'll return on Wednesday, April 3rd.
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Xavier
Report: Georgia Tech hires Bobinski
Atlanta Journal Constitution
An official announcement from Tech could come Thursday. Bobinski will replace Dan Radakovich, who left Tech in October for the same position at Clemson. Bobinski will be the school's eighth AD.
Bobinski has been at Xavier since 1998, first as athletic director through 2004, then in development until 2006. He has been athletic director since that point.
A Message from Xavier University President Michael Graham, S.J.
“Xavier University Athletic Director, Mike Bobinski, has accepted the Athletic Director position at Georgia Tech.
Mike will remain at Xavier until March 22. Mike joined the Xavier family in 1998. In his 15 years with the University, he has provided tremendous leadership for our student athletes and athletic staff. Xavier’s graduation rate for student athlete is 97 percent, which ranks us 11th in the nation. Xavier’s men’s basketball team is one of only four teams that have made the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 four times in the last five years.
A search committee to identify a new Athletic Director has been identified. The University will conduct a confidential search process through the President’s Office. There is no set timetable. The search will be complete when we have identified the best person to lead our mission-driven intercollegiate athletics program and to continue to build on its success.
We will make no further public comments about this until we are ready to introduce our selection of the Athletic Director who will lead Xavier into the future.
Xavier University is sincerely grateful to Mike Bobinski for his years of dedicated service and wishes him the very best in his new role at Georgia Tech.”
Could Greg Amodio be Bobinski's replacement at Xavier?
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Bengals
Mel Kiper's first mock draft
ESPN Insider
Montee Ball
Cincinnati Bengals (10-6)
COLLEGE: Wisconsin
AGE: 22
HT: 5-11
WT: 212
POS: RB
Analysis: In terms of pure draft value, Ball might be a bit of a reach on my board at this spot, but in terms of fit, it's hard to find a better one among teams drafting in this range. Once fully healthy, Ball showed off a quick burst into and through the hole, and the ability to do major damage on the second level, both making defenders miss and simply running through tackles. If Cincinnati is healthy at guard to start the season (the Bengals weren't in 2012), Ball is a player who could take some pressure off Andy Dalton in 2013 by improving its ground game. A "nose for the end zone" is a bit of a throw-away phrase, but Ball truly has it.
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UC basketball
News from Cincinnati. Coach Mick Cronin said Cashmere Wright is day to day with a sprained knee. @AndyKatzESPN on Twitter
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Reds
Dodgers mulling a run at Scott Rolen
LA Times
The Dodgers have had internal discussions about whether to pursue third baseman Scott Rolen according to a person familiar with the team's thinking.
The team has not reached out to Rolen to gauge his interest, the person said. Rolen previously has preferred to play close to his Indiana home.
(US Presswire)
Core values: Reds
CBS Sports
With Votto, Phillips, Bruce, Chapman, Latos, Cueto, Hamilton, Shin-Soo Choo, Todd Frazier, Devin Mesoraco, Zack Cozart, Homer Bailey and more, the Reds have star power, role players, depth and potential for improvement in several areas. They are set up to contend every year for the foreseeable future. They went 97-65 last season, winning the NL Central, and there's plenty more where that came from.
In fact, the Reds are so well set up that I don't think it's a stretch to say it would be a failure if they get to 2020 without having won a World Series ring or at the very least an NL pennant
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College basketball
Latest RPI
CBS Sports
Louisville 6
Indiana 14
Butler 15
Ohio State 26
Cincinnati 30
Kentucky 64
Dayton 90
Xavier 96
Wright State 116
vs Top 50,Top 100 RPI
Cincinnati 2-1/6-3
Kentucky 0-4/1-5
Xavier 2-1/2-1
Butler 3-1/6-2
Louisville 2-1/8-1
Indiana 2-2/5-2
Ohio State 1-3/4-2
Dayton 0-3/2-3
Wright St 0-1/0-1
UC 75 DePaul 70
It was a hold your breath moment when Cash went down. Lord help them if he's out for a lengthy stretch. They took a punch early and got down 9-0 and 13-2 and Mick called two timeouts in first four minutes. Then UC outscored DePaul 68-46 to take an 11 point lead with 1:02 left. DePaul got it three, at 73-70, but SK hit FT's. Road win, short prep time, no Cash for 15+ minutes. They'll take it. Wright had 20 points and 7 assists in 22-minutes. Without Cash they struggled to ball handle with 19 turnovers.
Mbodj was all over rim with 7 blocks. Mbodj and Nyarsuk combined for 8 points, better than no points, I guess. Rubles: Four fouls, 0-1 FG, 3 rebounds in 21 minutes?
UK 75 Tennessee 70
Fun game. Nine ties and 12 lead changes. Interesting comment by Cal about how this team simply isn't going to "whomp" on people like his past teams. I hope with each game, UK fans realize and appreciate how special last year's team was. John Clay, Lexington Herald Leader, referred to this as the n"new normal" for UK. This team is not going to beat teams senseless. Loved Wiltjer asking for Cal to run plays for him. He had 17 points, 5 boards, 2 assists, 2 blocks. Huge 3pt by Mays. Can Noel stuff a stat sheet or what? 12 points, 9 rebounds, 6 blocks, 4 steals, 2 assists.
Still a team that faces lulls/loses interest/gets on their heels. They are young, they don't always seem to want to play hard, but there is clearly upside. Always a concern when players talk about guys needing to trust and buy-in. There is something to be said for guys "hurrying" to get to the NBA. How far can UK reach to match their potential by March? Can't cheat or buy experience like Darius Miller.
Bearcats get road win, lose Wright to injury
Video: Mick talks about the win
DeCourcy: Wright will have MRI
Nail-biters the new norm for Kentucky
John Clay, Lexington Herald Leader
Welcome to the new normal.
This is the way it's going to be this Kentucky basketball season. We are 16 games in with 15 regular-season games to go and a pattern has been firmly established.
John Calipari isn't kidding when he says these are going to "be hard games for us." Every game. Even in the SEC.
He wasn't kidding Tuesday night.
Crunching the numbers: UK vs Tennessee
Men's scoring could be historicially low
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Bengals
Don't blow another one, Jaguars: hire Jay Gruden
Orlando Sentinel
I've been telling people for years that Jay, not Jon, is the best coach in the Gruden family. Back when Jay was just an Arena League coach with the Orlando Predators, I scratched my head when Florida and Florida State wouldn't even give him a second glance as an offensive coordinator. Instead, they hired guys like Jeff Bowden and Steve Addazio. I even tried to tell the Miami Hurricanes when they ridiculously thought they were going to get Jon Gruden as their head coach that they should hire Jay instead.
Why won't anybody listen to me?
Whitworth Pro Bowl bound
Bengals OT Andrew Whitworth has been added to the AFC squad for the Pro Bowl, the NFL announced today. The game will be played in Honolulu on Jan. 27.
Whitworth was a first alternate in last month’s voting, and he will replace Denver’s Ryan Clady, who will be unable to play due to an injury. It’s the first Pro Bowl selection for Whitworth, a seventh-year NFL player in 2012. He was a Bengals second-round draft choice out of Louisiana State in 2006.
“This is recognition for Whit that we’ve felt was overdue,” said Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis. “He’s been a key part of all our success in recent years, a great player on the field and a key leader in our locker room.” MORE
NFL
Browns hoping for new uniforms for 2014
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Reds
Fay: Still no word on Rolen
From MLBPA: Homer Baily, Shin-soo Choo, Chris Heisey, Mat Latos, Mike Leake, Logan Ondrusek, Alfredo Simon file for arbitration. Here are projected arbitration numbers from MLBTradeRumors.com.
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UC football
5 bold predictions for Big East football
ESPN
5. Greg Blair will be Big East Defensive Player of the Year. You guys have heard me talk a lot about Blair in the past few weeks. I think he goes into 2013 as one of the preseason favorites to be the best player in the Big East on defense. He is very active in the middle of the Cincinnati defense and has a knack for making big plays. With his sixth season of eligibility, I think he is completely determined to have an even better year than 2012.
Video: Tuberville in headlines
Grading the hires
SI.com
Cincinnati: Tommy Tuberville, former Texas Tech head coach. A month ago I would have given this hire an A, but Tuberville's tenure so far has been littered with controversy, from the way he departed Lubbock to numerous committed Bearcats recruits saying the new staff cast them off. And it now seems Tuberville hightailed it out of Texas Tech to beat his boss to the punch. This will end poorly, probably with self-professed "hired gun" Tuberville jumping ship again. Grade: C
Kentucky: Mark Stoops, former Florida State defensive coordinator. It was not realistic to think the SEC's doormat would land a big name (unless that name was Bobby Petrino). Stoops carries cachet from his time at FSU, where he produced top five defenses the past two years, and at Arizona and Miami before that. He already made one commendable move in hiring Texas Tech offensive coordinator Neal Brown to install the Air Raid that Kentucky formerly employed under Hal Mumme. Grade: B+
Tennessee: Butch Jones, former Cincinnati head coach. Former Cincinnati coaches (Mark Dantonio, Brian Kelly) have a pretty good recent track record and Tennessee has ample reason to believe Jones -- who's won or shared four conference titles in six seasons as a head coach -- will continue the tradition. But it's also no secret Jones was hardly the Vols' first choice. He'll need immediate success in the SEC East to win over a skeptical orange fan base. Grade: B
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