Best Sign of Things
to Come Last Season:
During the Bengals opening game at Paul
Brown Stadium in 2002, a sweltering day, the concession stands ran
out of bottled water. The staff then started selling tap water in
cups for $3. The team proceeded to post the worst record in club
history, 2-14.
Best Reason for Hope This Season:
The last time the Bengals posted a winning record, a different Bush
was in the White House, a different Brown was in charge of the team
and Milli Vanilli still had credibility. Hey, at least they were
desperate for success. The good times might be back with the hiring
of Marvin Lewis — a confident, no-nonsense guy with
more charisma and presence than the last three Bengal coaches combined
— as head coach. In their first moves under Lewis, the team
signed more promising players in one week (four) than in their entire
free agent history. Lewis’ reaction to the departure of disgruntled
linebacker Takeo Spikes? “I don’t comment on other people’s
players.” How’s that for decisiveness?
Best Gesture for the Future:
By throwing two interceptions near the end of last season’s
final game, Bengals quarterback Jon Kitna screwed himself
out of an almost $2 million bonus. His contract stated he’d
receive the extra money if he played in 80 percent of the team’s
offensive plays, but by shorting himself a few offensive drives
he ended up at the 79.89 percent mark. Ouch! Out of the blue a few
weeks ago, the team announced it was conspiring with the NFL in
some fuzzy math to push Kitna over the threshhold. The totally unexpected
move might make Kitna the most motivated starting QB in the league
next season.
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Best Alternative Sports Talk Show:
Prime Time Sports on The Buzz
Cincinnati might have some lackluster sports teams — OK, we’re
talking the Bengals here — but when it comes to sports talk, it’s
an embarrassment of riches. Unlike “normal” talk radio — that
baiting, largely conservative nonsense that litters the AM dial — local
sports chatters are at least insightful and often hilarious. And while
they don’t run from irreverence, they rarely go for the sensationalistic,
like so many national (and syndicated) broadcasters do. The best sports
talk twosome to emerge over the local airwaves in the past couple of years
is the duo that fronts “Prime Time Sports,” which airs during
evening drive time (5-7 p.m.) on The Buzz (1230 AM). Like a good play-by-play
team, there’s a good ex-athlete “insider” mind in the form
of Eric “E.T.” Thomas, a former Bengals cornerback. The role
of colorful gabber is played by Wayne “Box” Miller, who, on top
of broadcasting, is also a poet and musician. The duo’s collective
pull has enabled them to lure guests like Deion Sanders, Barry Bonds and
Oscar Robertson, but it’s the rich daily musings and caller interaction
that makes “PTS” a keeper. The show intelligently addresses African-
American issues in sports — even hockey! — and offers energetic
repartee and razor-sharp insight that any sports fan could love. (MB) |
Best Sign of a Shaky Future:
After a season in which the Reds overachieved with injured
stars and a patched-together pitching staff, the team decided the
best way to improve was to get rid of its E.R.A. leader (Elmer Dessens)
and batting average leader (Todd Walker). If the rubber bands and
paper clips hold together, the Reds could contend in 2003. If not,
at least that new stadium will look nice.
Best Reds Usher:
Our man Tom used to spend most of the game preparing red
seat fans for foul balls. Where is he working in Great American
Ball Park? Will be still be so cautionary? Compared to many of the
stuffy ushers, Tom seems to really love his job.
Best Feud:
Former Reds CEO Marge Schott waged a high-profile battle
with her co-owners over wanting better seats at the new stadium.
Hey, who doesn’t? At least she probably got Opening Day tickets.
Best Disobedience of Tom Hanks:
In the baseball movie A League of Their Own, Hanks — playing a washed
up big leaguer who’s forced to manage a woman’s team during World
War II — utters the famous phrase, “There’s no crying in baseball!” Tell
it to the Reds, Tom. No less than three players were spotted openly sobbing
by sports reporters last season following demotions, injuries and general lackluster
performances.
Best Shade of Green:
Few things in sports beat a well manicured, emerald green Major
League Baseball field, and the Great American diamond promises
to be the stuff of dreams. It’ll almost be a shame to let the
players on it.
Best Comeback:
UC basketball coach Bob Huggins gave everyone a scare when
he suffered a heart attack in the Pittsburgh airport. He took his
time coming back to his job, but in many ways his work with this
year’s young team might have been his best coaching job. Although
he complained constantly about his troops’ poor shooting and
even booted them from their lockerroom, he guided the Bearcats to
their 12th consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance. Even though the
team lost in the first round, Huggins went out in style — getting
ejected over a bad call.
Best “Fare Thee Well”:
Local fans must be pleased to see ex-XU coach Skip Prosser
doing so well at Wake Forest, where this year’s squad won the
school’s first outright Atlantic Coast Conference title in
40 years. Prosser has a young team and should be a force on the
national scene for at least a few years.
Best “Wish You Wouldn’t Go”:
Fortunately for Xavier fans, David West stuck around for
his full run with the Muskies, and this season the senior has done
everything that was expected of him; he’s even been named Player
of the Year in at least one poll. Unfortunately, this is his last
hurrah. Will XU ever be a No. 3 seed again in the NCAA Tournament?
Best Sight for Sore Eyes:
The Big Red Machine softball game
The all-star softball game last September that served as the official end
to Cinergy Field was chock full of highlights: Pete Rose’s head-first
slide into third base; Ken Griffey Senior’s defensive gaffes in right
field, which resulted in him trading places with a confused-looking ball
boy; guys like Andre Dawson, Ryne Sandberg, Vince Coleman and Paul O’Neill
looking like they could still play; Johnny Bench striking out; Tony Perez’s
huge smile; Joe Morgan flapping his arm waiting for a pitch; the Rose bobblehead
in his post-4,192 pose. Nothing, though, topped the end of the exhibition
game, when Rose, Morgan, Bench and Perez stood arm in arm on the mound
and addressed the crowd via microphone. Unforgettable. (JF) |
Best Sports Announcer:
Lance McAlister can be a wiseacre, but he’s always cordial
to callers and guests even if he staunchly disagrees with them.
He was the only guy to have the balls to call out Dick LaBeau after
the first few games of the Bengals season. His little boy has leukemia
and he’s talked about it on and off during the show (mostly
because listeners keep asking him about it). Some sports figures
like Sean Casey — McAlister’s son is named Casey, after
him — and Ken Griffey Jr. visited his kid in the hospital,
but it didn’t stop him from crticizing them when they deserved
it.
Best Reason to Renegotiate the Bengals’ Lease:
In 1999, owners of all 30 National Football League teams directed the league
to set up the G-3 program to provide low-interest loans to teams facing opposition
to public funding of new stadiums. To date the NFL has loaned a total of $650
million to eight franchises but offered nothing to Hamilton County, where taxpayers
were footing the bill for $450-million Paul Brown Stadium. Hamilton County
Commissioner Todd Portune discovered this little gem before deciding to file
a lawsuit against the Bengals and the league.
Best Temporary Relief for a Seven-Year Itch:
Cinergy Field’s implosion in late December marked the
end of a seven-year era that started with Hamilton County taxpayers
voting to increase the sales tax to build new stadiums for the Reds
and the Bengals. County Commissioner Tom Neyer Jr. left office around
the same time, bringing to a close the run of Republican commissioners
— Bob Bedinghaus, Guy Guckenberger and Neyer — who directed
all stadium building efforts. During their tenure, the overall project
cost doubled and taxpayers’ debt obligation increased from
20 years to more than 35 years.
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