I just used this picture because I like these socks....
Late start to the day today....I did the very early morning show on ESPN Radio yesterday and today, so with no show to host this afternoon, and my wife home from work to handle parenting duties, I decided to sleep until noon.
Before my head hit the pillow shortly after 6am, I silently wished that I would awaken with some kindof hard-hitting MLB Draft take.
Alas, I've got nothing for you. Not gonna pretend that I know much about amateur baseball, and I'm not anyone won't forgive me if I don't start boning up on who the best pro prospects are.
Fortunately, guys like Christopher Crawford and Doug Gray study this stuff for a living, and so I count on them to tell me what I need to know about who the Reds took and why.
It's painfully obvious that the Reds need to start hitting on their early round draft picks, especially given that this has been the third straight year they've chosen in the top five of the first round, and even more especially because it seems likely they'll be picking in the top five again a year from now.
The lack of return from recent first round picks is sobering, which is why those who want the Reds to move on from Jesse Winker should think twice about wanting to punt him to the curb (Yes, those people do exist.)
Winker was a 2012 supplemental first round pick, and while his game has all kinds of deficiencies, the idea that we should settle on how he is and adjust accordingly means that we are going to accept that yet another recent first rounder is a flop.
There's other issues here, like how a guy considered by some to be the club's top prospect a few years ago could have so many weaknesses, but given how many times we have to hear about how the Reds bailed on a player prematurely - DiDi Gregorius and Edwin Encarnacion come to mind - the Reds better be damn sure that they won't regret cutting loose a 24 year-old former first rounder just because his defense has been a little underwhelming through his first 100 or so big league games.
End of draft take.
Here's some stuff....
Dick Williams. Homer Bailey. Nice to get you guys together. Let's mediate your divorce. This isn't working. Not for the team. Not for the pitcher. Let's move on. No hard feelings.
Washington is on the verge of its first major pro sports title since the 91 Redskins won a Super Bowl over Buffalo. This means we're a Capitals win away from moving up on the list of miserable sports cities, right?
Am I the only NBA diehard that didn't realize that Kendrick Perkins was on the Cavs? Am I the only person watching the NBA Finals that believes that Cleveland only wins a game in this series if Golden State lets them?
Can you imagine how furious you'd be if you were a 76ers fan? All the work and pain that's built up to having a team that's on the verge of being a viable contender, and now you possibly have a seat the table with LeBron James, an important draft coming up, critical decisions looming, and the whole thing gets blown up because of burner accounts on Twitter?
The US Open Cup is a big deal. But given that last year's FC Cincinnati US Open Cup run was part showcase to demonstrate this community's passion for soccer/part opportunity to prove the club could hang with MLS sides on the pitch, is it as big of a deal as last year? Does it fall behind winning a league title in importance, especially given how well FCC has played in the USL this season?
I'm just asking.
The President of the United States uninvited the Super Bowl champion Eagles to the White House. It begs the question of whether the league's new anthem policy accomplished its goal of getting Donald Trump off its back since he's still tweeting/talking about the NFL, which the league clearly does not want.
There's a part of me that wants these visits by title teams to just end, because instead of it being a simply non-partisan celebration of what a collection of players did, well spend all of our time discussing which players went, which players didn't, and their motivation behind going and not going.
By the way, I have no problem with a player making the trip, nor do I take issue with someone who'd decline the opportunity.
Here's some other stuff...
The aforementioned Doug Gray has a nice day one Reds draft recap.
Nice piece from Shannon Russell of The Athletic on former UC star Mardy Gilyard continuing to toil in the Arena league.
I'm a big Scott Van Pelt fan, so I enjoyed reading this.
Here's a good list of things to watch this NFL season, which can't get here soon enough.
Are the Bengals taking a big risk by not planning for life after Andy Dalton?
Radio Show: Extra Innings tonight and tomorrow night on 700WLW. One more morning of First and Last tomorrow morning. And back in my comfy spot at 3:05 on Thursday on ESPN1530. If I was being honest when I wrote my blog, I'd bang out 1,000 words about how much my on-air performance sucked yesterday.
Follow me on Twitter @MoEgger1530.
(Photo: Getty)