Off The Beaten Path
Have you noticed that more and more athletes are making cameo appearances on TV shows?
Joey Votto will lend his voice to The Cleveland Show Sunday night on FOX.
Sounds like an Off The Beaten Path topic tonight. Give me an an appearance by an athlete in a TV show (sitcom/drama--not Saturday Night Live). John Kiesewetter, of the Enquirer, mentions this Johnny Bench appearance in a 1973 Partridge Family episode. He plays a waiter at Kings Island. His appearance comes at the 5:50 mark.
How about this classic? Sparky Anderson, on WKRP in Cincinnati (1979)
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Bengals
Bengals DE Michael Johnson, who was designated March 1 as the team’s franchise player for 2013, today signed the one-year tender offer extended by the club as part of the NFL’s Collective Bargaining Agreement.
The signing ensures that Johnson will play for Cincinnati in 2013, at a salary specified by the CBA, and the franchise-player system allows Johnson and the Bengals until July 15 for the possibility of substituting a longer-term agreement.
Last season, Johnson helped lead the Bengals to the playoffs with 11.5 sacks, second-most by any Cincinnati player since 1983 (exceeded only by DT Geno Atkins’ 12.5 last season). Johnson’s sack total from ’12 stands as the fifth-highest in Bengals history.
“We are glad to have this accomplished and to know we’ll have Mike with us for all of our offseason work,” said Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis. “As I’ve said, making Mike our franchise player was part of the process to keep our defense together. It’s been a good defense the last couple years and with the right work it can be better. Mike has worked hard to improve himself every year during his time as a Bengal, and we have every reason to believe he will continue to grow as a leader and productive player. And we will stay in contact with Mike’s representatives about possibly doing a longer deal.”
Johnson (6-7, 270; Georgia Tech) is a fifth-year NFL player in 2013. He was named AFC Defensive Player of the Week after a three-sack performance on Sept. 23 at Washington. A Bengals third-round draft choice in 2009, he has played in every regular-season and postseason game of his Cincinnati career (67 total), and he has regular-season career totals of 23 sacks, two interceptions and 18 passes defensed.
“This guy has come up in our system, he plays about 85 percent of our snaps, and he’s the kind of guy we love to have around,” said defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer. “He’s hard-working and a great team player. He’s an outstanding run defender in addition to his pass rush production. He’s got great length and size, and great speed off the edge.”
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Latest brackets
Jerry Palm, CBS Sports
1 Indiana, Louisville
4 Ohio State
5 Butler
9 Cincinnati
12 Kentucky (play-in)
Joe Lundardi, ESPN
1 Indiana, Louisville
2 Ohio State
6 Butler
11 Cincinnati
12 Kentucky (play-in)
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Bengals/NFL
49ers sign Bengals LB Dan Skuta
Titans owners backs big spending on free agents
The Tennessean
“There are certain guys we may have to pay a little more than they should maybe be getting, but I want to win. … We may have to pay some more money, but I’m in. I’m ready to go with it.”
Stat of the day
The NFL has spent $707 million on the Top 25 free agents, of which $297 million is guaranteed. Those 25 FAs have a combined six Pro Bowls. Rick Gosselin, Dallas Morning Nes @RickGosselinDMN
Bengals
This is cool: Bengals players call season ticket holders
Reedy: Reviewing Thursday's activity
Hobson: Visiting Day
Free Agent Scoreboard
Staying
Robert Geathers
Wallace Gilberry
Michael Johnson
Kevin Huber
Mike Nugent
Clark Harris
Cedric Peerman
Going
Manny Lawson (Bills)
Bruce Gradkowski (Steelers)
Pat Sims (Raiders)
Josh Brown (Giants)
Dan Skuta (49ers)
Coming
HERE is the best free agent tracker you will find, by team, player and position
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WBC
Dominican Republic beats United States 3-1
Steeeeeeeeeerike!?
Check out the call by home plate umpire Angel Hernandez
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Stuff
Shaun Alexander trying to score in Hollywood
Remember these former Cincinnati hockey guys?
Former Cincinnati Cyclone Dave Desharnais signs four year extension with Canadiens.
Great article on former Cincinnati Mighty Ducks left wing Chris Kunitz by ESPN.com. Kunitz, now with the Pittsburgh Penguins, currently ranks second in the NHL in goals (18) and points (39), fourth in assists (tied with former AHL Mighty Duck Ryan Getzlaf at 21), and leads the league in plus/minus (+23). The 33-year-old Kunitz recorded 41 goals and 42 assists in 113 AHL games with Cincinnati from 2003-2005. (Thanks Don Helbig)
Kudos to Clones
From listener Ben
I have to give major kudos to the Cincinnati Cyclones, on January 31 , they made Erin Golden, a co-worker of mine at Bass Pro Shops an honorary captain of their game and presented her with a jersey and took her to center ice. Alas Erin passed away a few days ago due to complications with Brain Cancer at the age of 22. I just wanted to pass along a big thank you to the Cincinnati Cyclones for doing that.
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Xavier
St Joe's 58 Xavier 57 (Boxscore)
Ouch...that hurts.
Ever seen a full-court baseball pass (Justin Martin) bounce off the backboard and into the hands of a player (Philmore) like the end of the game? Philimore reminded me of Patrick Ewing, Game 7 vs Pacers in 1995. XU assistant Travis Steele told Joe and Bryon it was not by design, and thought Philimore rushed it, with clock in mind (1.4 seconds).
XU led 57-56 and had the ball with :28, but got nothing when Philmore flipped up a wild reverse shot at end of shot clock that might have him rim. St Joe's rebounded, either way.
With time running out, Langston Galloway drove and was fouled and hit 2 FT's with 1.4 seconds to win it for St Joe's.
XU had opened up a an eight point lead (44-36) with 11:23 remaining.
St Joe's then went on a 14-1 run to lead 50-45.
Semaj Christon had 10 points, but shot just 3 of 14.
Brad Redford added 14, including 4 of 7 on 3's. He's 21 of his last 40 on 3's.
Travis Taylor 16 points, 9 rebounds.
Listener Jeff: In their last 6 games, Xavier lost four times, VCU by 4, UMass by 5, Butler by 5, St Joe by 1.
Up next: Xavier awaits an NIT invite.
The final play from SB Nation
Despite loss, Xavier exceeded all expectations,--except its own
CBS Sports
As a result, when Xavier lost a heartbreaker to Saint Joseph's in the final seconds of the Atlantic-10's first-round meeting, the fourth-year head coach wasn't sure how to answer whether his team had exceeded expectations.
“It depends who made the predictions,” Mack said.
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UC basketball
Cronin rips conference realignment again
Bill Koch, Enquirer
“The whole thing is tragic,” Cronin said. “Nobody cares about student-athletes. All anybody cares about is money. Everybody in the NCAA, in college administration, they talk about academics and student-athletes. If people cared about student-athletes, West Virginia wouldn’t be in the Big 12 with ten teams flying 800 miles to their closest road game. That’s really conducive to studying.
Big East fracturing emblematic of cracked college sports priorities
Washington Post
This is the scourge that is realignment: The constant shifting of alliances in quest of ever bigger paydays to offset budget shortfalls. And it overshadowed all the fun in the quarterfinals Thursday, made each tick of the clock regretful.
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Big League Stew: Pete and Kiana go shopping for furniture
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Fizzle
Georgetown 62 Bearcats 43 Boxscore
Well, that was a weird game. UC was down 16, up 2 and lost by 19.
Georgetown jumped to a 24-8 lead.
UC went on a 25-7 run to take the lead 33-31.
Georgetown then finished on a 31-10 run.
Sean Kilpatrick was just 2 of 12 (0-8 3pt) with 4 points...and 5-25 in two games vs Hoyas.
As much as UC played 5 on 5 and got contributions from the bench yesterday, it was more 2 on 5 today.
Mbodj just 4 points, 3 rebounds and 4 turnovers.
Rubles, Sanders and Thomas combined for 2 points.
UC was outrebounded by one and shot just 37%.
Cash led the comeback and had 14, Parker added 12.
I have never, ever seen a team go through so many offensive droughts of 5-minutes plus.
I think I have this right: They scored 8 points in first 15:30 of game and scored 10 points in final 16-minutes of game.....or 18 points in a 31:30 of basketball.
UC got jobbed on early calls and Mick picked up a tech.
After Providence hit just 1-16 on 3's, Georgetown hit 7-17.
UC is 22-11 and next up: 3rd straight trip to NCAA tournament.
Rounding back into form?
Listener Jeff
Cashmere Wright stats before/after knee sprain on January 15.
Before Injury: 18 G 15.1 PPG 47% FG 44% 3PFG.
After Injury: 10 G 8.2 PPG 23% FG 18% 3PFG.
Last 10 Days: 4 G 12.5 PPG 47% FG 50% 3PFG.
Never seen a game like this:
Charlotte beats Richmond 68-63
Charlotte trailed 63-60 with :04 remaining.
Richmond chose to foul Charlotte, rather than allow a three-point attempt.
There was a technical called on Richmond's Derrick Williams for a shove in the free-throw lane. That was followed by a double technical/ejection on Richmond coach Chris Mooney.
Charlotte hit 8 of 10 FT's in final :04 and won the game. Video of how it all looked.
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Reds
Dusty wants a decision on Chapman soon
John Fay, Enquirer
“I’d like to decide soon and get my team together,” Baker said. “I don’t like having guys in the middle. That’s a bad situation when you’re in the middle of anything. An unknown. Then everybody else is in an unknown situation. That’s unfair to him or us — the situation he’s been put in. He was in that same situation last year.
Choo earns wide spread respect in move to Reds
MLB.com
Ever respectful of leadership and ever genuine in his bid to win and be the best Major League player he can be, Choo has earned instant respect in this Cincinnati clubhouse for the way he's approached this team and this transition. Acquired from the Indians in a three-way trade in December, Choo has wasted no time working the room, making an effort to get to know each guy on a personal level. "I spent six or seven years in the Minor Leagues," Choo said, "and I learned how important teammates are. The most important thing in baseball is knowing your teammates."
Bruce lets actions do the talking
MLB.com
"Honestly, I try to play the game the right way and I try to lead by example, and whether I have one day in or 10 years in, it doesn't matter," Bruce said. "I think there's a correct way to play the game, and that's what I try to do every day. I think some of the younger guys or guys who haven't had the opportunity to play at this level for very long, if they want to ask me questions, I'm happy to answer, but I definitely don't consider myself a salty veteran or anything like that."
NY Times on WBC experience and Brandon Phillips: “A lot of people don’t really know about the W.B.C. until you get here,” Phillips said. “It’s a lot of work, but you’ve got to take honor in this, and if you don’t want to do it, then you shouldn’t do it. But it’s a beautiful thing. This is the best thing that ever happened to me, wearing the red, white and blue.”
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