College basketball
Lunardi's latest: XU hangs onto "last four in" status, "Huge" Sunday for UC
Xavier
Russell: Notes from XU's win over Richmond
Kentucky
Clay: NCAA title the goal, but pause (briefly) to enjoy SEC crown
How did Pat Knight's team respond? They won by 23 points.
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Kentucky Speedway
Kentucky Speedway getting the fix on traffic
Lexington Herald Leader
To prevent another traffic debacle, Kentucky Speedway owner Bruton Smith and Kentucky state government are spending more than $11 million combined.
The state is kicking in some $3.6 million to widen the road (Highway 35) that runs parallel to the Speedway and to build a pedestrian tunnel to run beneath that road. The tunnel will connect Kentucky Speedway with 143 acres of land across Highway 35 that Smith has purchased to create new parking lots.
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Did you miss them?
Guest on Sports Talk
Jim McNally, former Bengals OL coach, returning as consultant.
Listen HERE. (6:35)
Bill Bray, Reds reliever. He talked about Braun ruling, impact on NL Central, decision on expanding playoff due next week for '12, typical day at camp, housing in spring training, the visit from Topps baseball people. Listen HERE. (7:05)
Todd Jones, Columbus Dispatch. He was part of last week's NCAA mock tournament selection process. Listen HERE. (8:05)
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Reds
Baseball cards not kids stuff anymore, Topps still tops
Gary Schatz/Full of Schatz
Reel, who lives in Mason, OH, was watching Mike Leake open packs from a sample box of its current edition.
Leake looked like a teen with a skateboard tucked under his arm as he separated out his favorite players, some of the cards included Hall of Famers in gold trim, a feature of the new set.
Baseball cards became big items in the 80's. Rare cards were selling for thousands of dollars. Several competitors joined Topps in the marketplace. Instead of buying packs at a time the now 30 year olds were buying whole sets.
The business was swiftly changing and growing.
McCoy: "K" or no "K", Stubbs is big part of Reds
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Bengals
Hoard: Searching for clues at the NFL Combine
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Did you miss them Friday night?
John Fay joined me at 6:35 to talk Votto's contract, Rolen's health, the 25-man roster and more. Listen HERE.
Geoff Hobson joined me at 7:05 to talk contract extension for Marvin, Bengals offseason/draft and the combine. Listen HERE.
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Impressive
"Ohio the best college hoop state in the country: Akron, Ohio, Kent, X, Dayton, Cleve St, Cincy, OSU all either are or will be 20+ win teams"
College basketball analyst Mark Adams/@EnthusiAdams
Ohio D-1 college basketball programs with or with a shot at 20 wins
23 Ohio State
21 Ohio
20 Cincinnati
20 Cleveland St
19 Akron
18 Kent
17 Dayton
17 Xavier
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Bengals
Reedy: Pead looking to impress
Lewis plans to talk to Bengals about extension
Geoff Hobson, Bengals.com
"We haven't had the time and opportunity to do it," said Lewis, citing vacations and other commitments. "Hopefully we'll get it resolved.
"I'm not going to coach until I'm 80 years old, so I wouldn't mind that at all," said Lewis, 53, of ending it in Cincinnati. "I enjoy what I do. I like where we live. I enjoy the people I work with day in and day out and I think we're moving in the right direction. I think there's a great commitment to winning and I appreciate that."
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Reds/NL Central
Cardinals: Wainright feels back on track
Votto plans to keep contract talks private
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UC
Koch: Would UC fans rather beat XU or UL?
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Show preview
Sports Talk, 6:05
Guest
Geoff Hobson, Bengals.com from the NFL combine
Topics
Reds: Pick your breakout candidate for 2012?
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Lamar coach Pat Knight had a father-like meltown last night
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Happy Birthday
Bronson Arroyo: 35
Robert Stephenson: 19 (Reds 2011 1st rd pick)
Nick Essasky: 52
On a non-Reds note...Happy Birthday to Stubby Clapp. He turns 39 today.
He was a minor league legend in Memphis and appeared in 23 games for the St Louis Cardinals in 2001.
Check out this outburst as minor league manager.
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Bracket racket
Jerry Palm: Xavier 11-seed, UC 12-seed
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UC
ESPN: Checking in with UC AD Whit Babcock
"I would like to have another BCS opponent, but I'm not sure we can get there this year," Babcock said. "My philosophy is to have two, but right now we only have one. This year has been a challenge."
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Get well wishes to Charlie Coles
OXFORD, Ohio—Miami University men’s basketball head coach Charlie Coles is being held at the hospital for observation and rest due to a virus. He will not be on the sidelines for the RedHawks’ game at Buffalo at 3 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 25. Associate head coach Jermaine Henderson, in his 14th season as a coach with the program, will step in for Coach Coles during Saturday’s game.
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Reds
Over/under: Wins for Reds
ESPN.COM
Which is the real talent level of the Cincinnati Reds?
Is it the squad that won 91 games in 2010 and outscored its opponents by 105 runs?
Or is it the squad that won 79 games in 2011 and outscored its opponents by 15 runs?
Slimmer Bruce to adjust hitting approach
Mark Sheldon, MLB.COM
GOODYEAR, Ariz. -- With Jay Bruce 15 pounds lighter this year as he reported to camp, manager Dusty Baker expects the right fielder to make adjustments in his hitting approach.
"He has a new body," Baker said. "He's going to have to learn what he can do with that new body, especially hitting. His trunk rotation will be a lot more compact, a lot more powerful. Consequently, he'll have to learn he can wait longer now because he has less trunk to rotate."
Mesoraco intent on proving his worth to Reds
Megan Zahneis, MLB.COM
His teammates have been an invaluable part of his growth and preparation as he assimilates himself into the big leagues. He has plenty of praise for catching mentor Ryan Hanigan.
"He's a very smart, very sharp guy that it'll be a joy for me to learn from," Mesoraco said. "He's worked with pitchers that have been around for four or five years, so he knows every situation and he is very approachable for me to talk to. He's always there to help."
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UC
RPI movement: UC moves from #81 in the RPI to #74
Only 7 teams have more Top 25 RPI wins than UC (3)
6-Duke
5- Syracuse, Michigan St, Kentucky,
4-Kanasa, Ohio State, Notre Dame
3-Cincinnati, Michigan, Missouri, Georgetown, Temple, Indiana, Kansas St, New Mexico, Illinois, Tennessee
Others
Xavier 1, Louisville 2, West Virginia 1, Dayton 2
Only 15 teams have more Top 50 RPI wins than UC (5)
9-Kansas, Michigan St, Michigan
8-Notre Dame, Syracuse
7-Duke, Baylor, Georgetown, Ohio State
6-Missouri, Kentucky, North Carolina, Indiana, Louisville, UConn
5-Cincinnati, Purdue, Wisconsin, Kansas St, UNLV, Marquette
Others
Xavier 2, West Virginia 4, Dayton 3
Observations
*Loudest, most raucous I've heard 5th/3rd in a long, long time
*Cool scene when players went to/into student section to celebrate
*Felt like the 90's, looked like an NCAA team
*We sat in the very last row...section 222, row 31. I stood up and could touch the ceiling.
*Ton of UL fans in our section. They were chanting/spelling C-A-R-D-S. Yes, they did spell it correctly.
*Cashmere was the man...6 of 13 3's, 22 points, 5 asst, 1 TO, 5 RB..best game as Bearcat?
*He was draining 25 to 28 footers....I found myself saying, "Nooooo.......Yes"
*UC hit 8 of 31 on 2's (26%)...11 of 27 on 3's (41%)
*Justin Jackson hustled his rear off
*Big, big 14-0 run by UC
*Missed 4 FT's final 2:03...ugg
*Gates still misses too many close in shots...but...he went for 10pts/10 rb and hit a big FT
*Led by 9 3:00 left...went into shutdown/prevent defense mode. Gotta get better closing out games.
*D outstanding...UL 1 of 14 on 3's
*UL had to be stuck on 45 points for nearly 7-minutes
*3 straight wins over UL
*7-4 last 11 vs Top 25 teams.
*Gonna need Parker healthy
What last night means for UC
20 wins overall
First back to back 20 wins seasons since 2005-2006
10 Big East wins
Guarantees a winning Big East record w/ 3 games remaining
Three Top 25 RPI wins (#15 Georgetown, #24 UConn)
Top 25 RPI wins for other teams:
0-Baylor, Gonzaga
1-Florida, Louisville, UConn, Vandy, Memphis, Wichita St, Creighton, San Diego State
2-North Carolina, Wisconsin, UNLV, Florida St, Seton Hall
3-Marqutte, Missouri, Temple, Georgetown, Indiana, New Mexico
Tweet, tweet
Former Bearcat Kenny Satterfield
@Ksatt11
Big win for cincy tonight good job @CashmereWright1 @DDixon3 @SeanKilpatrick_ #Bearcatnation the wave is back I like that
Pitino goes off about referees, UC fans
CBS Sports
He wasn’t fond of how the Cincinnati fans acted. He did say Cincinnati had the biggest homecourt advantage he’s seen this season, and would like to see the Louisville crowd bring the same energy on Sunday.
There’s one caveat, though, according to Pitino: “without some of the low-class behavior.”
Who needs an offense
Paul Dehner Jr, GoBearcats.com
In one of the most important games of the season, against the 11th most efficient defense in the nation, Cronin combated confusion by taking thought out of the equation. No plays, no sets. He allowed his players to do what they do best.
"Just play," Wright said after the 60-56 win. "If you open shoot. If you can drive, drive. I felt that was a very comfortable situation for me. Not worrying about mistakes, just going out there and just playing."
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Ryan Braun
(AP photo)
Braun ruling deals blow to Selig's testing program
Jeff Passan, Yahoo Sports
Ryan Braun beat the program Thursday. His lawyers never bothered arguing whether or not Braun had taken the synthetic testosterone that showed up in his urine during the 2011 playoffs. They argued about the urine that showed up in the cup, which Braun signed to affirm had been sealed and packaged correctly. And they argued about the cup that went into a box that was supposed to go to FedEx that Saturday night. And they argued that because the FedEx store was closed and the test collector took the sample home and put it in his refrigerator until Monday – the standard-operating procedure in every major doping program across the world but one not spelled out distinctly among Selig’s 18,175 words – that the sample did not follow the proper chain of custody and thus was invalid.
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