Reds

Ranking 25-and-under pitchers traded this winter
SI

1. Gio Gonzalez, Nationals
2. Mat Latos, Reds. One of the reasons Arizona traded Scherzer to Detroit after the '09 season was that they believed Edwin Jackson was a better bet to withstand the grind of making 32 starts than Scherzer. Similar doubts could plague Latos, who has been pitching in the pros for five years and accumulated only 614 1/3 innings. He began last season with shoulder bursitis after what I found to be an aggressive jump in innings in the previous season. His velocity has dipped slightly the past two seasons.
The good news for Latos is that he pitched well in the second half of the season (2.87) and he is a four-pitch pitcher, not just a velocity guy, with a big frame (6-foot-6, 225 pounds) who doesn't turn 25 until December. Said the evaluator, "I like Latos. I don't know if he's quite there just yet. People questioned his makeup in the past -- like another A.J. Burnett -- but he could be ready to turn the corner."
3. Michael Pineda, Yankees

Fay: Latest on Roy Oswalt

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NCAA

Sporting News: UC football #1 recruiting class in Big East

CBS: Memphis headed to Big East

ESPN: Bracketology

1 seed: Kentucky, Ohio State
4 seed: Indiana
6 seed: Louisville
10 seed: Purdue
12 seed: Xavier
12 seed: Cincinnati

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NL Central

Oswalt: Right pitcher, wrong price for Card
St Louis Post Dispatch
Roy Oswalt really, really wants to pitch for the Cardinals.
General manager John Mozeliak is a big fan of Roy’s work. Former Astros slugger Lance Berkman would cheerfully lead his clubhouse welcoming party.
Who wouldn’t want to see Oswalt wearing a Cardinal uniform? Who doesn’t remember all those great games Oswalt pitched against this franchise over the years?
This would a classic fit.
But . . .
Oswalt wants $10 million to pitch this season. He wants a guaranteed slot in the starting rotation.
Nagging back issues cloud his immediate future. That issue hindered him last season in Philadelphia and led to his departure from the Phillies.

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NCAA football

Big 10 kicking around idea for 4-team national title game
Chicago Tribune
Sources told the Tribune that a Big Ten plan would remove the top four teams from the BCS bowl pool and have semifinal games played on the college campus of the higher seed. That would do away with the facade of "neutral" sites such as New Orleans, Miamiand Pasadena, Calif., and ease travel concern for fans.

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UC basketball

UC announces new Social Seats promotion

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Show preview
6:05, Reds Hot Stove
7;05, Sports Talk
Guest
Chase Blackburn, NY Giants LB, from Marysville, OH
Topics
Roy O.

iHeartRadio Out of town? On the go? Want to listen to the show?

Show preview
6:05, Sports Talk
Topics
Super Bowl
Commercials
Halftime

Facebook: Friend me on Facebook by clicking HERE

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My favorite

Watch them all HERE

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Super Bowl

Moeller/Giants LB Greg Jones proposed to his girlfriend on field after game
Star Ledger
“She was bawling,” Jones said this morning as he and his teammates left the Marriott Downtown to board their flight back home. “I was like, ‘I don’t know how long she’s going to keep crying.’”

Super Bowl

The throw and catch

(Marcio Jose Sanchez - AP Images)

Opening observations
*Remember when we used to complain about SB blowouts?
*How about the throw from Eli and catch by Mario? Wow....Eli dropped it into the bucket and Mario was masterful with his feet.
*I agree with Belicheck's decision to concede the TD....I'll take my chances with ball in Brady's hands over shot to block/miss FG. But why not a play or two earlier?
*Giants were 7-7 at one point, finished 9-7, were outscored by six points in regular season, ranked 25th in points allowed per game, 27th in yards allowed and 32nd running the ball.
*Wonder how many bet a safety would be first score of game?
*Patriots had drive to end half and to start second half...and that was it.
*Welker is getting killed for his drop....fair...but what about the throw by Brady?
*I thought Gronkowski was going to catch the Hail Mary defelection
*Eli has 5 post season game winning drives....9 plays, 88 yards Sunday.
*How many brothers in sports each have rings and have more than 3 rings combined?
*Brady completed 16 in a row....he was 11 of 25 outside of that....he underthrew Gronkowski on INT, was off target to Welker and had the safety.
*Still can't believe the interception by Giants LB Chase Blackburn. First thing I said was, "how many times do you see a #93 50 yards down field in coverage?". He found the ball and had good hands.
*Steve Weatherford, 3 punts inside 10 for Giants.
*Jason Pierre Paul/Justin Tuck.....wow
*Amazing Giants recovered their own fumbles twice
*I think Aaron Rodgers has a career in broadcasting when he's done playing.

(credit: Rob Carr/Getty Images)

Gisele consoles Brady, rips receivers
CBS New York
“You (have) to catch the ball when you’re supposed to catch the ball,” she snapped back. “My husband cannot (bleeping) throw the ball and catch the ball at the same time. I can’t believe they dropped the ball so many times.”

Two local products win rings: Greg Jones of Moeller, Jake Ballard of Springboro

PS.......Don't forget Giants LB Chase Blackburn is from Marysville, OH and played football at Akron.

(David J. Phillip - AP Images)

Commercials: Watch and rate 'em

My observations
*If I'd spent $3.5M for most of those commercials I'd be firing people.
*I became bored with the commercials to the point I was walking out of the room to do stuff.
*I did like the Doritos Baby, Chevy survival with Twinkies, Dog chasing VW, Dog Sketchers, Clint Eastwood, Budweiser through the years, NFL evolution.

Halftime

*I get a kick out of people that turn into music critics at halftime of the Super Bowl and get bent out of shape over the performances.
*If you didn't like Madonna I'm not sure what you were watching or what you wanted.
*I thought Madonna was spectacular.
*I thought the staging, choreography and presentation was spectacular.
*I'd rank it in a Top 3 of U2 and Prince.
*During "Like a Prayer" I wondered if Tim Tebow was going to walk out.
*MIA....really? What, are you 12 years old? I didn't even notice it at the time it happened.

NBC apologizes for lewd gesture by singer MIA
FoxNews
"We apologize for the inappropriate gesture that aired during halftime," NBC spokesman Christopher McCloskey said. "It was a spontaneous gesture that our delay system caught late."

Here is what MIA did and said.

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NFL

Goodell would consider canceling the Pro Bowl

Must see: Feature of the weekend

I watched 6+ hours of Super Bowl pregame stuff yesterday. The best segment of the day was done by Peter King. This is his feature on former New Orleans Saint Steve Gleason. He was diagnosed with ALS just over two years ago.

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College basketball

Latest RPI
JerryPalm, CollegeRPI.com
1 Syraucse
4 Ohio State
5 Kentucky
18 Indiana
29 Louisville
53 Xavier
64 Purdue
72 Dayton
78 Ohio
95 Cincinnati

Shane Larkin making a big impact at Miami
Sun Sentinel
Wednesday against Maryland, with his mother and father, Hall of Fame shortstop Barry Larkin watching from the stands at BankUnited Center, the freshman scored six points in the second overtime. The final two came at the foul line, where he's 35-for-37 this season, with 19 seconds left and Miami leading by two.
"Shane stepped up big for us," center Reggie Johnson said after the 90-86 win, adding, "He grew up tonight."
It's been an admittedly up-and-down season for Larkin, who scored two points against Ole Miss and 16 the next game against Purdue, a career-high 18 against UNC Greensboro and zero the next game against Virginia. He has modest statistics: 7.3 points, 2.5 assists, 2.5 rebounds and 1.9 steals per game. He's tied for first in the ACC in the last category. Defensively, intensity has been inconsistent.

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Reds

(Jennifer Hildebrand-US Presswire)

Latos ready to go the distance
FoxSports
"The team has a lot of talent at every position," Latos said. "I think, with adding Madson to the back end of the bullpen and adding Luddy, two good guys, if just adds to the ballclub. Hopefully, we can make a postseason run."

Power rankings: No. 12 Reds
Chicago Tribune
Cozart isn't likely to be an All-Star, at least not unless he develops into a 20-homer guy. But Jocketty believes the 26-year-old is reliable enough to be a first-division shortstop. He has good hands and a quick first step, helping him cover ground in the field, and lines the ball around the park with the ability to hit home runs down the left-field line.

Jocketty: Nothing new on Oswalt

Votto's future: Early speculation
ESPN
So here six teams that could be the top pursuers for Votto in 2013, those teams that have a confluence of a possible opening at first base, some money coming off the books and the ability to afford a player who will likely draw a contract similar to Prince Fielder's. (I don't think necessarily as much as Fielder's $214 million deal. For one thing, Votto will be two years older than Fielder when he hits free agency; and we don't know how much the Tigers may have overbid to sign him.)

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Stuff

How about my alma mater? The Carmel High School girls swim team goes for a 26th straight state title on Saturday.

Best Super Bowl commercials all-time
LA Times
When it comes to ma­jor cross-cul­tur­al tele­vised events in the U.S., there’s the Su­per Bowl and then there are the Su­per Bowl com­mer­cials. One gets watched and dis­cussed the next day; the oth­er is talked about for years. Re­mem­ber the Bud­weiser Frogs? Now, re­mem­ber who won the game in 1995, the year they were in­tro­duced? Over the 46 years of the game, the cost of a 30-second spot has gone from $42,000 to $3.5 mil­lion. To many, the com­mer­cials have be­come an event un­to them­selves, with big budgets, ma­jor stars and dazzling visu­al ef­fects. Here are some of the most mem­or­able from Su­per Bowl his­tory.

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MLB/NFL

How parity in MLB matches up with NFL
SI
One of the great myths about the NFL is that the salary cap affords the league much better competitive balance than is possible in the cap-less Major League Baseball. This would not be a good week to be promoting that myth, seeing that the New York Giants and New England Patriots have become what Meryl Streep and George Clooney are to the Oscars. Ho-hum. The Giants and Patriots have filled one-third of the available spots over the past 12 Super Bowls.

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Xavier

(Mark Weber/AP)

For Mack and XU, aftermath of fight still lingers
John Feinstein, Washington Post
Almost in the blink of an eye, Xavier went from a team ranked eighth in the country, one of those college basketball stories that people point to as proof that you can do things right and still succeed on the national stage, to a team and a school ripped and reviled almost everywhere it went.

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Tate: Negative Nellies don't bother Thomas
IllinoisHQ.com
He has seen the face of negativism. Thus, the grumbling and mean-spirited nature of Illini Nation in 2011-12 — maybe the worst it has ever been — is not new to him. Any degree of pre-planning on his part would have made it obvious that, soon after his arrival, he might be required to make strategic decisions to retain or dismiss coaches in three major UI sports: football and both basketball programs. Like the rest of us, he knew. It didn't sneak up on him.
"The good," says Thomas, "is that Illinois has a fan base that is not apathetic. When people care about your program they're going to express their opinions. When we get to the point where people aren't vocal, you're probably in a worse place. I'll take a passionate fan base that wants to express an opinion over one that's disinterested. It's a greater problem trying to get people interested.

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Listener photos

From Brad: Our 7th grade son (Samuel) completed a school project on the, "History of Baseball". 
The Ballpark was made of cardboard along with pictures pasted on the cardboard.  My wife did buy the "turf" and little plastic baseball , players, but everything else was "cut & paste" at home.
WLW listener from Dayton area & Big Reds fan too !

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Cool story

From Joe:
Last weekend I proposed to my girlfriend. She works for the Reds and so I thought it would be awesome to do it there. A couple weeks in advance, I spoke with one of her managers about an idea I had and she informed me that it could happen. So, the day it happened I got off work early and headed to the stadium. When I arrived I was escorted to the Reds dugout. Before I got there, I placed a note on one of the seats and then I hid in the dugout with two dozen roses. One of her managers told her that she needed to count some seats in the diamond club. When she got down to the seats she saw the note and before she could even realize what it said our song started playing over the loud speakers and the picture of the two of us showed up on the scoreboard. I walked out and met her by the seats and asked her to marry me. A few seconds later we heard all of this screaming and yelling from the club section. Everyone she works with was up there watching the whole thing. It was awesome and definitely a day that we will never forget. I later contacted everyone at the Reds and told them how much I appreciated everything and that I am an even bigger Reds fan!!!!

From Michael
Not sure if you heard about or saw what the Indy Super Bowl organizers did with the Indy “Super Cars” last week, but I thought it was a nice touch.
They took 30 of the cars (all but the Super Bowl, Giants, and Patriots) and dispersed them across the state at various locations (from Bloomington to Muncie) for fans to get the opportunity to see them.  Attached is a picture of my son and I at the Fishers Train Station with the Bengals car.  They had volunteers with each car willing to snap photos for you. Another solid effort by the city.

Reds

Fox: Could the Reds still and Oswalt?

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Indianapolis Friday night

Police struggle with foot traffice in downtown Indy, close streets
Indy Star
Lured by springlike weather and the excitement of Indianapolis’ first Super Bowl, visitors flocked to Downtown tonight but were met with human gridlock.
The crush of the crowds made watching the LMFAO concert a struggle to stand up. Police closed several streets to limit crowds and make room for ambulances and other emergency trying to get through.

(Indy Star photo)

Twitter photos

From Shaun:

@snapdaddyc

George Srour

@gsrour

Adrienne Broaddus

@abroaddus

Deb Licklider
@deblecklider

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Super Bowl

Blog: Mo from Radio Row at the Super Bowl in Indianapolis

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Ooops

This is the front of the official NFL Super Bowl Tervis Tumbler glass that I purchased in Indianapolis.

This is the back of the official NFL Super Bowl Tervis Tumbler glass that I purchased in Indianapolis

Notice how Bengals is spelled on the official NFL Super Bowl Tervis Tumbler glass.

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OSU

Statement from Gene Smith, Ohio State Director of Athletics

“I am disappointed that negative references have been made about our football coaches, and particularly head coach Urban Meyer regarding recruiting. In our league appropriate protocol, if you have concerns, is to share those concerns with your Athletic Director (AD). Then your AD will make the determination on the appropriate communication from that point forward. The ADs in our league are professionals and communicate with each other extremely well. Urban Meyer and his staff have had a compliance conscience since they have arrived.”

Statement from Ohio State Head Coach Urban Meyer

 

“I was pleased to take part in a productive, regularly scheduled meeting of the Big Ten Conference coaches today in Chicago. We had an opportunity to discuss a number of issues with each other and conference staff, including those that have arisen this week. It should be noted that my coaching staff is in full compliance with our recruiting efforts, and no one on this staff did anything illegal or unethical. We will continue to comply with NCAA rules and recruit with relentless effort, especially the great state of Ohio.

“I want to thank Commissioner Delany for his insight and leadership, and at this point we all look forward to moving past this week and getting ready for the start of spring football.”

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College basketball

What if college basketball had a trade deadline?
NBCSports.com
Xavier trades Tu Holloway to Duke for Tyler Thornton and likely Duke commit Tony Parker
OK first off, we have to assume that the Blue Devils will land the highly coveted big man they are aggressively pursuing. If they do, why not flip his rights to the Musketeers  for one of the country’s most talented point guards currently on an underachieving team?
The Musketeers would never admit their season is proverbially over, but I’m sure Chris Mack would embrace a blue-chip recruit to replace senior Kenny Frease. He also would receive a defensive stopper that could develop into a starter in Thornton.
For Coach K, he now gets a true point guard, which allows Austin Rivers to play off the ball and drive to the hoop from the wing.
Both teams win, and Duke may just be in position to capture the program’s fifth National Championship this season.

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Twitter

Follow for show and guest updates, breaking news and my random thoughts.
I'll also retweet the stuff from around Twitter that I think you might find interesting.
Follow @lancemcalister.

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Super Bowl

The 21 Rules of Surviving a Super Bowl Party
Wall Street Journal
10. Bringing a box of doughnuts to a Super Bowl party is like telling your friends you hate them.
11. You have to decide right away if this is going to be a "shushing" or "nonshushing" Super Bowl Party. In a shushing party, it's acceptable to shush someone if you want to hear what the analysts are saying. In a nonshushing party, you get smacked in the jaw if you shush somebody.
12. There is no shushing people during the commercial breaks. Absolutely not.
13. There's always one guest at every party who works in advertising or marketing and can tell you every behind-the-scenes detail about a Super Bowl commercial. This information is nowhere near as interesting as they think it is.

A Game Guide for Three Types of Fans: Novice, Casual, Expert
Wall Street Journal
Sunday's Super Bowl could be the most-watched TV show in the U.S. ever. Last year's game drew 111 million viewers, the most ever for a TV show. This year's matchup could well surpass that. As a percentage of households—the traditional measurement—the game won't approach what certain broadcasts earned in the 1970s and 1980s did, including "M*A*S*H," "Dallas" and several Super Bowls. But in this era of fragmented audiences, the game's value has soared because it leaves everything else in the dust.
This doesn't mean that all these people watch the game in the same way. Setting aside each team's loyalists, the vast majority of the viewers for Super Bowl XLVI fall into three main categories. For some, this is the only football game they will watch all year. They care little about the teams, or even the sport, but indulge in the personal and emotional sagas that the game always carries with it. Others—call them casual sports fans—keep up with the country's most popular sport throughout the fall but may have had more pressing matters in the past two weeks than breaking down the Patriots zone-blitz packages. Members of the final group make no apologies. For them, it's X-and-O heaven

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UC

Hoard: Bearcats get wake-up call

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Bengals

Boomer makes a Super call
Geoff Hobson, Bengals.com
INDIANAPOLIS — Boomer Esiason, who has called more Super Bowls than Joe Montana won, surfaced here Thursday saying he thinks the Bengals have a shot to win the AFC North next season.
“Absolutely, because of two things,” said Esiason, who is the analyst on Westwood One’s national radio call. “Baltimore is old on defense and Pittsburgh isn’t blowing up their whole team but they’re going to lose a lot of players. I think the Bengals have a chance now. If they do it right. They’ve got to get some good players in there and with a couple of good draft picks this could be a team that is a formidable foe for both Pittsburgh and Baltimore.”

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MLB

Eventful offseason has clear winner
MLB.COM
10. Reds: Cincinnati gave up a lot for frontline starter Mat Latos, sending promising slugger Yonder Alonso, starter Edinson Volquez, highly touted catching prospect Yasmani Grandal and a solid young reliever in Brad Boxberger to San Diego. But general manager Walt Jocketty also got Madson for $8.5 million, added outfielder Ryan Ludwick for $2.5 million, signed innings-eater Jeff Francis to a Minor League contract and gave up little for solid lefty reliever Sean Marshall. Now, with a deep pitching staff and a solid club all around, the Reds are legit contenders in a wide-open National League Central.

Josh Hamilton suffers another very public relapse
Jeff Passan, Yahoo Sports
The worst part about Josh Hamilton’s relapse is that he didn’t care. The most famous addict in sports does not go to a bar in the town where he is best known without full knowledge that his exploits will become public in a matter of hours. That it took three full days for Hamilton’s latest relapse to go viral – and that incriminating pictures have yet to surface – is something of a miracle.
..............That long-term contract Hamilton wanted from the Rangers? Gone. It has to be. Already the Rangers had shown little inclination to lock up long-term a player who two years ago won the American League MVP award despite missing the final month. Texas, like most other clubs, fears Hamilton’s body, brittle from his years of drug abuse, won’t hold up. Whatever leverage Hamilton held is kaput, and only the madness of free agency will land him a payday.
All it takes is one screw-up, one moment different than the millions of good ones, and an addict self-inflicts another scar. Like Hamilton said when acknowledging his wild night out three years ago, “Some people it just don’t mix with, and I’m one of those people.”

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Events for a cause

Bowl For Kids Sake

You Play and Kids Win!
Bowl for Kids' Sake is for everybody. BFKS is Big Brothers Big Sisters largest fundraising thank you party!  After raising awareness and funds, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Butler County, thanks our volunteers with Bowl for Kids' Sake “Thank You for Starting Something” events.  Bowl for Kids' Sake is not about bowling, it's about having a ball while raising money to help children in Butler County. Throwing a gutter ball never felt so good!
Bring family.  Bring friends.  Bring neighbors.  
All are welcome!