26th edition of My Random Thoughts: Sports, TV, music, food, life.......
Things that popped into my head this week.
I’m not against Ezekiel Elliott. He’s just a shoulder shrug for me.
If you can't find hope, optimism and fun in the start of baseball and the Reds season move on to something else. Work harder at making yourself happy and spend less time throwing your misery at everyone else. No harm no foul.
I appreciate Sean Miller making a commitment to joining me on Sports Talk on a regular basis this season. And big props to Tom Eiser, XU Associate Athletics Director of Communications for coordinating.
Wait.....I always thought Journey's song 'Stone in Love' ('81) was titled 'SO in Love'. The song title flashed on my car radio screen this week and I actually looked up what Stone in Love meant: 'totally' or 'completely' in love. Well, well.
Nothing brings the excitement and drama of a great game to a grinding halt like replay review.
I'll admit to an inner joy/excitement when I walk up to the Kroger deli counter and find I'm the only one in line.
Athletic claim to fame: I scored the winning run for Carmel High School's summer league team. I pinch ran, stole 2nd and scored on a single up the middle, beating the throw home by North Central centerfielder and 1983 Kansas City Royals 1st round pick Gary Thurman.
Markquis Nowell, Kansas State, Julian Strawther, Gonzaga......dayum......cold, blooded.
I was told I looked like Ralph Macchio (Karate Kid) when I was in high school.
Upon further reflection, I like the Orlando Brown signing. But I don't looooove it. He's clearly an upgrade. I guess I pause on the how and why this unfolded in such an out of the blue manner it did.
The Lucho Acosta 40-yard diagonal pass to Sergio Santos on his goal for FC Cincinnati last Saturday night was a thing of beauty.
Years ago, I had an opportunity to do Sports Talk radio in Detroit. I knew there was no way I could talk hockey as much as that city demanded. Passed.
There has to be another message board, Facebook group or Reddit thread for the people that just post “Sell the team, Bob” and “where ya gonna go?” It adds nothing to this page. It’s old. It’s boring.
Do you remember the names of any of your grade school teachers? (1) Mr. Pell, my gym teacher and 7th grade basketball coach at Anderson Middle School (2) Mrs. Dennedy, who was known as DT Dennedy for giving out detentions. For the record, I never got detention.
I'm a subscriber to Dollar Shave Club. Their new razor is really nice.
I once did a sportscast at WSBT-TV in South Bend with suspenders and a tie, but minus my sport coat. My news director, Bill Crafton, guaranteed me that would be the last time I did that....adding "the news set is a sacred place!!!"
I'd be cool with replacing the MLB All-Star break every four years with two weeks of the World Baseball Classic and dropping 10 games from the ML schedule.
Kiefer Sutherland stars in Rabbit Hole, coming to Paramount+ on Monday. Oh, heck yea!
Lucas Sims, Tony Santillan and Tejay Antone start the year on the IL. I'll go back to restate my concerns with the Reds bullpen. While reliever performances are the most volatile in baseball, a ML bullpen is the cheapest area of a team to address.
We watch so many TV show, across so many streaming platforms, we struggle to remember all we are watching. I've created a Google Doc with a handy list!
Happy to hear Jim Kelch will return to join Nick Curran on radio for Louisville Bats home games and select road games. Big fans of their work.
When Brian Kelly first arrived at UC, he invited me to lunch one afternoon. He wanted to pick my brain about the Cincinnati sports landscape and local media coverage. I will never forget that.
Why are college basketball referees coming to the scorers table to turn and twist a video knob on review plays? That should be for another official in charge of the review....be it sitting courtside or at a command center.
Sunday is our 35th consecutive fantasy baseball draft. This one is live on-line w/ ESPN. Our first was with Stats Inc. We had to handwrite/rank players at each position on a form and mail it to their headquarters in Skokie, IL. They ran the draft and mailed us our team.
Get ready...it's almost here...that time of year people complain about the batting order.
Am I the only one that struggles to execute the 'Tear Here' seal on a bag of food when opening for the first time? Very frustrating.
I really appreciate listeners that catch up on the show with my podcast during their lunch hour. My podcast is available through iHeart, Spotify and Apple.
My Ethics in Journalism professor at Butler, Neil Nemeth, once said to me "being good has come easy, can you work hard enough to be great?" I made that into a plaque that has hung in my home office since 1988.
I interned in the WRTV (Indianapolis) Sports Department for Ed Sorenson and Brian Hammons. 50+ hours a week. Class credit only. Covered Pacers, Colts, Indy 500, IU, PU...loved every minute of it.
Don't worry about things you don't care about. I can't stress this enough.