A FEW MO' THINGS, 11/9/12 EDITION
After a brutal few weeks, it'll be nice to see Cash and the boys on Sunday.
Greetings from Philly. Tomorrow, UC plays Temple here. Today, I will eat cheesesteaks here. Is that a little cliché? Yes. Does my stomach care? Probably not.
Mildly busy sports weekend, with Sunday’s Bengals/Giants tilt and some college football, but the highlight of the weekend clearly is the return on college basketball.
To say that I’m excited about the college hoops season beginning would be like saying that Donald Trump is angry with the result of the Presidential Election.
(Look, I know we are a divided populace, but I think watching Donald Trump turn into this somewhat-terrifying nutjob is something the country can rally around. Who among us, Democrat or Republican, doesn’t love watching an otherwise successful, even if ego-driven businessman, devolve into a psychopath? We should embrace this. Together.)
This is the most excited I’ve been about a UC team since the ’99-’00 season. There are unknowns, as there are with every team in the country, but the uncertainty is minimal compared to most Bearcat teams of the last decade. This team could have the best chemistry and the highest offensive ceiling of any Cincinnati squad in a long time.
I’m excited for Sunday, not just because it’s the season opener, but because I’ll realize a dream come true of sorts. I became a Bearcat fan in the late 80s and early 90s, primarily listening to the games on radio, first on 1530WCKY, then on 700WLW. The last 12 seasons, I’ve worked on UC broadcasts with Dan Hoard and Chuck Machock. It’s a great gig that combines two passions….Cincinnati hoops and broadcasting.
On Sunday, I’ll fill in for Dan, calling play-by-play for the Bearcats. Needless to say Dan’s job (he’s calling the Bengals game) will be safe. The last time I called a basketball game, I was a junior in college doing UD women’s games for the school’s radio station, and I’ve always been more interested in doing opinion-based broadcasting than play-by-play, or anything else.
But any sports fan has at some point dreamed of calling the action for their favorite team. This will kind of be like going to a broadcaster’s fantasy camp. I don’t necessarily have a bucket list, but if I did, calling a Bearcat basketball game would be on it.
I’ll try not to screw it up.
I’m excited for the Bearcats, but intrigued by other teams. How quickly do the pieces fit together at Kentucky? Is Semaj Christon as good advertised and can he drag a depleted roster through a tougher A-10? How do XU players fit into new roles? Can IU defend enough? Do the Dayton Flyers have enough ready-to-contribute players and will they get stops when needed? What’s Ohio State’s ceiling? And with more networks showing more college basketball games than at any point in the history of the sport, how unproductive will I be for the next five months?
It’s going to be a fun college basketball season, maybe an unforgettable one. This is good, because so far, I’d like to forget this NFL season.
Bengals v. Giants
No sellout, no TV. Not for a game against the defending Super Bowl champs. Not for a game played in spring-time weather. Not for a game that, mathematically at least, still has meaning for the home team.
You can go on a tour of Arkansas trailer parks and find marriages on steadier ground than the marriage between the Bengals and this city.
Have they come around a little? Yes. And does the 3-5 start completely derail the direction the franchise has been going in the last 23 months? Possibly not. But what matters to fans when they make emotional and financial investments in a team, especially one that’s gone more than two decades without winning a playoff games, is there here and now.
And now, there here and now, is no good.
The problem the Bengals face is that while they may genuinely believe that this team is equipped to win with this nucleus, and this coach, their sell job to the public is going to be very, very difficult. Even after their most recent crap years, they’ve had something to sell, with different degrees of effectiveness. Last year it was the new era, the new QB, and the new dynamic in the locker room. In 2009, it was the return of Carson. Ten years ago, it was a new coach. Some bought it, some didn’t, but there was usually something to point to, or to cling to, to suggest that the results would be different than the previous year.
I don’t know what the Bengals will point to next year. I’m guessing their public won’t cling to it.
AJ Green said this week that the Giants have some holes on defense, and he’s right. Their secondary isn’t good, and the big question in New York, other than are the Knicks for real (no) and how does Mother Nature screw them again, is if the Giants offense can carry a defense that’s had issues going back to week one.
By the way, they’re dealing with these questions while sitting at 6-3.
Must be nice.
The formula sounds easy, throw it deep and throw it often against these guys. But nothing comes easy for the Bengals, especially that elusive fourth win.
At least they’ll play hard.
Giants 27 Bengals 23
I've lost track of how crappy my picks have been this season.....Miami's (-6.5) defense will shut down Tennessee, regardless of who they play at QB....Stafford to Johnson. Finally. Detroit (-2.5) beats Minnesota....They're still the Patriots. They're still the Bills. New England (-11.5) big over Buffalo....Get out the bubbly, Mercury. New Orleans (+2.5) upsets Atlanta....Doug Martin will get overpaid this offseason, then fall flat on his face in 2013, but he'll have a big day at Tampa Bay (-3.5) beats San Diego....Pick I've felt the least good about this season. "Least good" is solid grammar, by the way. Denver (-3.5) gets past Carolina....Carson Palmer has always been good against the Ravens. That matters as much as how much success I've had against the Ravens. Baltimore (-7.5) by a bunch over Oakland....The overrated Jets (+6.5) and their overrated coach keep it close against Seattle....Which team are you more tired of hearing about? Dallas wins. (+1.5) Philly loses. A nation shrugs its shoulders....San Fran (-11.5) beats St. Louis in an NLCS rematch....A can't miss on Sunday night, Chicago (-1.5) beats Houston in a classic. A can't-watch on Monday night, Pittsburgh (-11.5) whacks KC in a dud.
Cincinnati. V. Temple
Munchie, Brendon, or Jordan? Butch Jones has a 66% chance to get this right. I’m guessing it’s Kay. I’m guessing Legaux still has a role in the offense. I’m guessing we see Luallen as well. I’m guessing George Winn has an ever bigger role in the offense. I’m guessing that Temple won’t score that much. I’m guessing that Lincoln Financial Field looks virtually empty. I’m guessing that I miss John Chaney coaching Temple’s basketball team. And I’m guessing I take a few steps closer to a pulmonary embolism after I cram seven cheesesteaks down my throat this weekend. Next week against Rutgers looms large if the Cats can take care of business. They will. Bearcats 27 Owls 13
Ohio State v. Bye, Kentucky v. Bye
Ohio State will do well against Bye, even if both the Buckeyes and Bye are ineligible to play beyond Thanksgiving weekend. Kentucky however, is probably going to struggle against Bye. Bye’s defense is a little too stout for that less-than-potent Wildcat attack.
They’ll start beating Bye regularly if they hire Bobby Petrino.
Let’s talk hoops. Lotta people asking what’s to be expected from the Wildcats. The answer is “Not sure, but not really.” They have a ton of youth, yet a ton of talent. If the barometer is what UK looked like on the floor last season, this team will look lost by comparison. But is there any denying that this team, by the end of the SEC’s dog days, will be regularly running teams off the floor?
Ohio State is interesting….Jared Sullinger is gone, but DeShaun Thomas and Aaron Craft return. There are different roles for Lenzelle Smith, Shannon Scott, and LaQuinton Ross. These guys are going to be good, the question is how much? Craft has to do more offensively and needs to turn the ball over less, and replacing Sullinger might be easier with a coach like Thad Matta who continues to bring in great talent, but it still isn’t, by definition, “easy.”
Wildcats 74 Terrapins 64
Buckeyes 69 Golden Eagles 61
Miami v. Kent State
You can’t follow up a win over Ohio U with a loss to Buffalo. You just can’t. Golden Flashes 28 RedHawks 10
Thomas More v. Mt. St. Joseph
How do you not love the Bridge Bowl trophy? Saints 21 Lions 20
Enjoy the weekend. If you can't, on the weekend that college basketball returns, then I can't help you.
