A FEW MO' THINGS, 11/6/12
I feel like if you tried this with those ticket scalpers you see on Third Street, that they'd come find you and do awful things.

Today we celebrate one of the grand traditions in our country: Determining what 19th Century election your local poll officials first worked on. 

With Election Day here, I have but one simple request.  No matter tonight's (or tomorrow's) outcome, please don't make the rest of us miserable if your guy doesn't win.

Thank you.  Continue with the vitrioil.  I'll keep my space from of that stuff....

-Know what's not miserable?  Watching the UC basketball team.  Yes, it's been two less-than-meaningful exhibition games and no I'm not drawing any conclusions about how many games they'll win or how far they'll go, but exhibition games are usually more unwatchable than cable TV news during an election season.  For good reason too....teams haven't been practicing as much as coaches would like, there's an influx of newcomers, and there's some orchestration between the coaches that kinda limits the flow of games.

This Bearcat team though, has no true freshmen.  The newer rules have allowed Mick Cronin to work with his team more.  And the core guys have been together for a while.  UC teams, even deep into the season, have often lacked cohesion on offense, and it's been a challenge for them to push the tempo and get easy buckets.  Forget who's providing the opposition, the Bearcats look as good this early as they have in years, going back well before Mick Cronin took over. 

This isn't to say they aren't a work in progress....Nyarsuk looks a little lost, Shaq Thomas seems a little unsure of his role, and there's still not much of an inside offensive presence, but Titus Rubles is the kind of player they haven't had in a very long time, JaQuon Parker seems more aggressive than he's ever been, and the experienced Bearcat players play together unlike any UC team we've seen this early.

I have no idea how many games they'll win, primarily because so much about Cincinnati's league opponents remains a mystery, but I still feel really good about making one prediction....

The Bearcats are going to be very, very, fun to watch this season.

-The Knicks are 3-0.  I'm not going to shove this down your throat or waver from my prediction of a 43-45 win season and a spring filled with dysfunction, but the Knicks are 3-0.

-What now for the Bengals? 

I don't mean "what now" as in "what move or changes do they make right now? or "what player that you've never seen before do you wish they draft?"

What now in terms of the average fan maintaining interest in the season?

What now in terms of what they Bengals sell you and I on in 2013?

They're not blowing up the roster.  They're not canning the coach.  And they're not making the types of wholesale organizational changes we all know are still needed.

The Bengals as you see them heading into week ten of 2012 will probably look a lot like the Bengals as they head into week one of 2013.  And these next eight games could/may/hopefully will go a long way toward determining whether this team can improve upon this season.

I just don't expect most people to care that much.

-I'm a few days late on this, but YES, YES, YES, YES......
Angel Pagan to the Reds.

The Reds would like to re-sign left fielder Ryan Ludwick, but the outfielder they need to pursue is Pagan. Dusty Baker loves Drew Stubbs' defense in center field, but Stubbs has become so ineffective against right-handed pitching that he's really nothing more than a platoon guy now.

Pagan fills the three primary holes for the Reds: a better center fielder, a leadoff hitter and a left-handed/switch-hitter to help balance all the right-handed bats in the Cincinnati lineup. The Reds have to give Joey Votto a $7.5 million increase in 2013, but his $19 million drops back to $12 million in 2014 (before rising again). But they've axed $14 million worth of Scott Rolen and Ryan Madson. It's a tight squeeze, but this is a team that can win it all with just a move or two. Pagan should be that move.

-I don't really know what's going on here, but this made me laugh....

-Here's the latest media member to pick up on the fact that John Calipari can indeed actually coach.

-Interesting question: Is this the greatest rookie class ever, in the history of the NFL?

-More later, including today's big radio.  Todd Frazier is among our guests this afternoon on ESPN1530. Hey you, in the salmon-colored pants, get out the way....