Mo Egger

Mo Egger

Mo Egger delivers his unique take on sports on Cincinnati's ESPN 1530!Full Bio

 

Three Things: The Reds And The Search For Interesting. Plus, The Final Four, And The Cats Head To The Pit.

Every day there are three things, none worth devoting an individual post to, but each worth at least mentioning. 

1) The Reds, and the search for interesting. I'm working on a blog for this weekend about how, even if the Reds aren't very good, I'll still find them interesting. All baseball teams have compelling backstories, and each season is so unique that I can't wait to see what begins to unfold on Monday.  Despite the outlook for the season, I still find a lot of things about this year's version of the Reds to be pretty intriguing.

I'll blog about them over the weekend. Can't imagine you'll be able to live without knowing what they are.

But I'm more than just your casual fan with a passing interest.  

There have been two major themes I've heard from perhaps more casual fans during the offseason: That apathy has set in and that with most of the major trades behind them but more losing likely in front of them, the Reds just aren't that interesting.

I totally disagree with the former.  More people are interesting in, and consuming, Cincinnati Reds baseball than ever before. The latter, well, you tell me.

What's interesting about this team heading into 2017? What players are most compelling?  And what can this team do, with the losses (probably) outweighing the wins, to keep your attention for most of the summer? Or do the on-field product and the things that surround this team lack appeal for anyone besides the diehard, less casual fan? 

Looking for your input here.

I'm also on the hunt for the most optimistic Cincinnati Reds fan. I'll best most of us have this team losing somewhere between 85 and 95 games  Can I find anyone who legitimately believes that they'll be better?  

I guess, I should ask if anyone believes that they'll be worse.

I've got email.

I've got Twitter

I've got a phone number later this afternoon.  Tell me what you think.

(ICYMI: I had Dick Williams on the show yesterday. Listen to the interview here.)

2) The Final Four. In the absence of a local team playing in it, there are fewer big sporting events that seem as anticlimactic as college basketball's national semifinals and finals.  I really don't think there's much that can be done about this, and I don't need there to be a national frenzy about the games this weekend to enjoy them.

I don't want to be too influenced by the show that Gonzaga put on against Xavier, but their depth, their defensive prowess, and my fears about South Carolina not being able to keep pace (I'm rooting for Frank Martin) has me leaning toward the Bulldogs.

I've got Carolina over Oregon, and their coach who looks like every male high school teacher that's ever lived.  The Tar Heels can murder teams on the glass, and while the Ducks have survived without Chris Boucher, they'll miss him this weekend.  

All of this from a guy who's going to finish in the lower third of the iHeartMedia NCAA office pool.

3) The Bearcats head to The Pit.  Tommy Tuberville could barely be bothered to look into recruiting kids from Elder High School.  Luke Fickell is taking his entire team there.

The Bearcats will have an open-to-the-public practice at The Pit tomorrow. This is a smart, and almost painfully-obvious move. Clearly, there's recruiting benefits when it comes to potential future Bearcats. But for a program that distanced itself from the public with a head coach who seemed to look down his nose on the city, it's a clear attempt by the UC football program to wrap its arms around the city.

This isn't the first time I've typed this, nor will it be the last...

Luke Fickell gets it, man. 

(ICYMI: Fickell joined me yesterday on ESPN1530. Listen to the interview here.)

Radio Show: Sean Casey is among our guests at 3:33.  I've got all kinds of Reds/Opening Day takes, and Dane Brugler, my favorite NFL Draft analyst, will join us at some point as well. The fun starts at 3:05 on ESPN1530

Follow me on Twitter @MoEgger1530.

Like me on Facebook.

Email me: mo@espn1530.com


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