Every day there are three things. Some days the three things doubles as a preview of the radio show. This would be one of those days.
1) 2018 and looking for 2017's extremes. I wrote a little bit yesterday about the Bengals future, which I'm going to touch on this afternoon on the radio.
My big prediction for this coming season is that by the end of it, I'm going to feel really good about next season, a feeling that'll likely be independent of whether the Bengals even make the playoffs. We all want the Bengals to have a big season, and when you're as tired as we are of them not advancing in the postseason, it's hard to use any other measurement to determine whether the season was a success.
But, isn't this year- with so many inexperienced players being added to a pretty solid core - almost as much about 2018 as it is 2017?
And...I wrote more than 2,000 words this morning on why I believe the Bengals will go 8-7-1 this season. Here's who I'm looking for today...
The fan who says the Bengals will be either really, really bad or really, really good.
I don't think it's hard to peg them in the six to ten win range. That's where most of the NFL will end up. I want to hear from those who think they'll win fewer than six and more than ten, along with your rationale.
2) The Reds. I posted this after last night's win.
It feels to me like things are slowly (that word is key) coming together. Mind you, that doesn't mean "coming together enough to win the World Series next year," but with the progress of the young pitchers, and the seeds being planted for next year's rotation along with five-plus months of more positives emerging from the every day eight than negatives, and good stuff happening down on the farm, I feel pretty good about what the Reds are doing, and more importantly, where they are going.
Not sure we'll have time to get to this much on air today, but I'm interested in your thoughts.
3) I'm a liar. For years I swore that if I ever had a child, that I'd wait until he/she was beyond the toddler stage before taking them to a baseball game.
And I swore I wouldn't use public platforms to bombard others with his or her pictures.
I lied.
Here's two from Sunday, of three and a half month-old Crosley pregaming at the Holy Grail and taking in her second-ever Reds game.