A FEW MO' THINGS, 11/7/12 EDITION
Hit play, turn up, walk away.

-The Reds want to make Aroldis Chapman a starter.  This is apparently news, even though the team has readily admitted as much since the day he signed with the team.

I have many questions, but the two near the top of my mind are....

1) If closers are such the dime-a-dozen commodities everyone makes them out to be, why did we spend 2008-11 railing against a guy who converted a save 83% of the time?  We couldn't wait to run Francisco Cordero out of town, and while the ideal replacement might have been a healthy Ryan Madson, Chapman's emergence was regarded by everyone to be a complete upgrade from CoCo.  So if we move Chapman to the rotation, we get a return to a Cordero-type closer within a year of letting a fairly reliable closer walk.

Makes sense.

2) If there's still so much mystery surrounding Aroldis Chapman, both on and off the field, can you completely trust that his arm will be able to handle the increased innings total?

Yes, Chapman was a starter before he came to the US, but what do we really know about his time pitching in and for Cuba?  Do we really know how many innings are on that arm?  Do we really know how often he actually pitched or how many times he might have pitched on consecutive day?  What do we really know?  And how does the unknown factor into the decision-making when it comes to his role in 2013?

I lean toward keeping him as closer, but making him a starter isn't necessarily a wrong answer either.  A Cueto-Latos-Chapman-Bailey-Arroyo rotation is clearly enticing, but before we make the move, can we answer those two questions?

-Know who this Bengals fan has absolutely zero sympathy for?  Cowboys fans.

-The NCAA is stupid.  This is the 3923823424th example.

-Then sometimes the NCAA does the right thing, as they did with former Musketeer Dez Wells at Maryland.

-Pumpkinheaded Turkey Claus is going to give me nightmares.

-Butch Jones wants more fans at Nippert Stadium.  I don't blame him.  What coach doesn't want more fans at his program's games?

I too want more fans at Nippert Stadium.  The place, when full, makes for a great setting for college football.

But he's got to realize a few things....

Nippert Stadium has a ton of charm and history, but it can be a very uncomfortable place to watch football.  It's physically not capable of handling large crowds.

UC's home opponents do nothing to excite casual fans.  The two FCS games were beyond their control once West Virginia bailed from the Big East, but no one here cares about the other remaining Big East schools besides Louisville.  The lack of marquee opposition had to cut into season ticket investment.

The brand of football, while often effective, isn't the most aesthetically pleasing.  It's not a blast watching Munchie Legaux miss on half of his passes.  Even their win on Saturday was tough to watch...a game that featured 20 penalties, six fumbles, 87 replay reviews, and that took over four hours. 

The realization is setting in with some fans, fair or not, that as good as the team might be in a given year, playing for the sport's ultimate prize seems like a pipe dream. 12-0 three years ago got the Bearcats a beatdown in a non-title game bowl game.  Fellow Big East member Louisville has a very good chance to finish undefeated and has almost no chance to play for the whole thing.  This may change either for the better or worse when college football actually comes up with a more legit method of determining its champion, but it doesn't help now.

The fan base is limited in size.  The team doesn't ooze with outward charisma. And many fans think the next good season could ignite yet another search of a new coach. 

These may not apply to you.  They don't apply to me.  But they apply to enough to make selling out games on a consistent basis a chore for UC football.

Upset by the result of this year's Presidential Election, former Reds pitcher Todd Coffey has decided to quit Twitter in protest.  I'm not sure how the medium will even be able to continue.  Also, I now know that Todd Coffey was on Twitter, so there's that.

-This is election-related, which I've meant to avoid today because everyone is burned out on it, but this is still pretty funny.

-So is this.

-And so is this....

-This was not awesome.

-Good stuff here...the World Series brand needs reviving.

-At some point, don't you just find a new hobby?

-I hope you find our radio show this afternoon.  It starts at 3:04.  It airs on ESPN1530.  We'll preview it on the blog later. In the meantime, reconsider who you voted for.