marvin and mike

Those who don't believe Mike Brown still has sway with personnel -- and might indeed have influenced Marvin Lewis' decision to haul in the latest crop of bad apples -- forget some of the guys MB brought in (and retained after multiple misdeeds) before Marvin arrived... the list starts with Stanley Wilson and proceeds through Reggie Rembert, Fred Childress, Tremain Mack, Carl Pickens, Corey Dillon etc. Brown has never minded bottom-feeding, if it meant getting a great talent at a reduced rate. That didnt suddenly begin when he hired Lewis... that said, the coach can put a stop to it, and should. It's his integrity on the line, not Mike's. Lewis is too good a man to have his rep dragged around like this. If he wants to do something about it, he can.

I was at the Reds game Saturday night. In 25 years of covering MLB, I have never seen a team win a game the way the Reds did. They scored twice when only one guy was able to put his bat on the ball in fair territory... walk, 2 HBs, 2Ks and Denorfia's chop to short that should have been scored an error. You have to have some luck to make the postseason. It's wins like that that make you think the Reds have karma on their side, if you believe in that sort of thing...

BTW, I went as a ticket-buying fan. Sat for $12 in Section 533, upper deck RF line... absolutely great seats for not much money

Most underrated athletic assets in town: Paul Flory and his son Bruce, who year after year run the classiest event in local sports and somehow have made Cincinnati a must stop on the men's tennis tour... now they've landed Serena Williams, who will play a 1st-round match in the women's event on Tuesday... even if you care none about tennis -- I'm not exactly a tennis nut -- you have to prop the Florys for what they do year after year. Amazing.

Without Kearns and Lopez, the weight is even heavier on Dunn to produce. We'll see. Live big, and thanks for continuing to post even as your comments have to be moderated.