Unabated Sports

After Sunday's 21-14 Bengals win over Green Bay, what is your opinion of Brett Favre?

He's still got it! He's the only thing keeping the Packers alive.

He was a great QB who's really gone downhill.

He's reckless! He's costing Green Bay games.

He's always been overrated.

We created the scariest place in the Queen City. Click here to tour the Unabated Sports Haunted House. Enter, if you dare! Is there another room we could have added to make it that much scarier?

The University of Cincinnati holds onto a 22-16 win in the Carrier Dome. That evens up their record at 4-4. Following their victory against Syracuse, UC needs two more wins to become bowl eligible. Here's a look at their remaining three games. Can the Bearcats win a pair of these?

Wed. Nov 9 WEST VIRGINIA (ESPN)
Sat. Nov 19 at South Florida
Sat. Nov 26 at Rutgers

In the midst of all this football, the NCAA basketball season began quietly last weekend. We went to one of the top college hoops writers in the nation. Hear our interview with Mike Decourcy. The first time we talked to him, he helped us make sense of the crazy Bob Huggins dismissal. This time, he gave us a preseason breakdown of all the area teams. What does he think of your favorite team? Listen to find out.

You guys are still rolling along in the fifth week of this round's King of the Hill. Here's who is still alive and who they went with last week. And there's a picture of the only team that someone selected that lost. There's your Browns, Greg. Now join the rest of us on the sidelines until the next round.

Dave - Redskins (Chiefs, Colts, Bengals, Seahawks)
MOe - Colts (Falcons, Panthers, Giants, Bucs, Packers, Bengals)
Marc - Redskins (Seahawks, Broncos, Bengals, Colts, Cowboys, Steelers)
Brian - Redskins (Seahawks, Broncos, Bucs, Colts, Rams)
Bob - Steelers (Falcons, Jaguars, Bengals, Cowboys)
Sean - Falcons (Seahawks, Broncos, Bengals, Colts)
Brad - Bears (Seahawks, Browns, Bucs, Colts, Cowboys, Redskins)
Mike from Sharonville - Falcons (Seahawks, Broncos, Bengals, Colts, Packers, Redskins)

On the Sideline:
Greg - (Browns, Falcons, Broncos, Bengals, Seahawks, Rams)
Darin - (Steelers, Broncos, Bengals, Colts)
Woody - (Rams, Ravens, Colts, Cowboys, Bengals)
Jeff: (Panthers, Eagles, Steelers)
Martin: (Panthers, Packers, Bengals)
Bill: (Jets, Rams)Beefy: (Bills)
Mike from Fairfield: (Vikings)

And here's where we put our round winners.
HILLS: Jeff-1

For those of you still alive, don't forget to send in your Week 8 choice.

The Voice of the Bengals and Local 12 Sports Director was our very first guest, our first repeat guest, and he recently became our first threepeat guest. Hear our third interview with Brad Johansen. He's become to Unabated Sports as Tom Hanks has been to Saturday Night Live or John Goodman to Late Night With Conan O'Brien.

Ugh. That was rough. I feel awful after that game. How do you feel?

Frustration

What is the most frustrating part of the Bengals loss to the Steelers?

The first drive: overturned touchdown, dropped TD catch, missed field goal.

Kimo von Oelhoffen's great game. He sucked here!

Randy Cross saying "imposing their will" over and over again.

The Bus killing us again.

Did I foget anything?

As the Hoosiers try to upset the Buckeyes today, people are starting to notice the job Terry Hoeppner has done trying to bring life to Indiana's football team. The former Miami University coach has brought some of his RedHawks ties with him to Bloomington. One of them sat down with us recently. Hear our interview with Bobby Johnson. You definitely want to listen to the part where Jeff shares an emberrassing story from his past involving a Madonna song.

It's always entertaining to see how the boys react when we call up a beautiful woman to interview. This time it was Brittany Jackson, who played hoops for the vaunted Lady Vols program and recently tore up the magazine stands in a recent FHM shoot. Martin and myself made up a series of questions so Jeff could actually go one on one with one of Tennessee's top three-point shooters. Hear our interview with Brittany Jackson. It should come as no surprise that the up-and-coming broadcaster bested our Jeff but he gets put in his place when she mentions what song she would play to fire up a crowd.

Wow. The eyes of the linebacker are scary. The Buckeyes come-from-behind victory over the Spartans was absolutely crucial to staying alive in the Big Ten Championship picture. Once again, we had our photographer on the sidelines to catch the big moments. See our exclusive pictures from the Buckeyes-Spartans game!

The Cincinnati Bengals are 5-1. The Cincinnati Bearcats upset UConn on Homecoming Day. The RedHawks rolled over Akron. Ohio State got by Michigan State. With the exception of Indiana losing to Iowa, it looks like all the area teams won. On top of that, a lot of outstanding games around the dial on Saturday that came down to the last second or so: Michigan handing Penn State it's first loss on the last play of the game, Wisconsin's improbably punt block to keep Paul Bunyan's Ax, and, of course, USC-Notre Dame. Add in the fact that college basketball players began practicing this weekend and does it really get any better than this?

Well, it is Steeler week. And if you show up at Crossroads Sport Bar & Grill in Mason tonight, you can enter to win free tickets to the Cincinnati-Pittsburgh game at Paul Brown Stadium.

The World Series is right around the corner and the Reds season has been done since about Memorial Day. What went wrong in 2005? What could happen in 2006? Hear our interview with Anthony Castrovince from cincinnatireds.com.

Once again, another good showing from the vast majority of you still alive for Week 5. The only one eliminated was me who was burned for going with overwhelming history.

Here are the Week 6 picks.

Darin - Steelers (Broncos, Bengals, Colts)
Marc - Seahawks (Broncos, Bengals, Colts, Cowboys, Steelers)
Sean - Seahawks (Broncos, Bengals, Colts)
Brian - Seahawks (Broncos, Bucs, Colts, Rams)
Bob - Falcons (Jaguars, Bengals, Cowboys)
Brad - Seahawks (Browns, Bucs, Colts, Cowboys, Redskins)
Mike from Sharonville - Seahawks (Broncos, Bengals, Colts, Packers, Redskins)
MOe - Falcons (Panthers, Giants, Bucs, Packers, Bengals)
Greg - Falcons (Broncos, Bengals, Seahawks, Rams)
Dave - Chiefs (Colts, Bengals, Seahawks)

On the Sideline:
Woody - (Rams, Ravens, Colts, Cowboys, Bengals)
Jeff: (Panthers, Eagles, Steelers)
Martin: (Panthers, Packers, Bengals)
Bill: (Jets, Rams)
Beefy: (Bills)
Mike from Fairfield: (Vikings)

And here's where we put our round winners.
HILLS: Jeff-1

The Cincinnati Bengals are looking to bounce back today after a tough loss in Jacksonville last week. Before that highly-rated game, we had a chance to once again pick the brains of the man who puts the team online. Hear our interview with Geoff Hobson from Bengals.com.

Jacob Bell, a former Miami University offensive lineman, joined us before his Titans welcomed the Cincinnati Bengals into Nashville. Bell, 25, was named to two all-NFL rookie teams last year after starting 14 games at right guard for the Titans. Hear our interview with Tennessee Titan OL Jacob Bell. We asked him about the difference between the college and pro lifestyle and you'll be surprised by his answer.

Andy Kennedy seems to have a good grasp on his status as Interim Head Basketball Coach at the University of Cincinnati: "I've got the job today." That's good. If I were him, I wouldn't sign any long-term leases in the near future. Because there's one thing that stands out to me from the press conference back in the summer announcing his new position: No Nancy Zimpher. When the decision to remove Bob Huggins reached it's climax, she found the time to address the media on a number of occassions. When the school announced the coach's replacement, though, both the school's president and athletic director were not present. Not exactly a ringing endorsement. According to rumor, she'll be addressing the crowd during halftime of the football game this Saturday. Should be interesting to see the reception she'll get.

Maybe I'm looking at this wrong. Maybe Dr. Zimpher felt her presence at that press conference would distract from Kennedy's promotion. After all, it's been a goal of his to become a head coach and it would be rude to take the spotlight from an already-mixed blessing. Maybe her schedule was so packed that there was no time for her to attend such a conference. But following a week of PR blunders, this could have been a good chance for her to show the fans that she is invested in the basketball team's current fate and future.

It would have been a nice olive branch to fans who are still angry over Huggins's dismissal. A vocal group believe she has no interest in maintaining the on-the-court success of a team that has become a big part of people's lives. In many fans' eyes, she has done everything in her power to dismantle the basketball program and nothing to build it up. Some are angry that she dismissed improving academic numbers and dropped the axe to get rid of a national perception stigma that hangs over the college.

The healing process, barring a national championship in April, is going to take a good amount of time. Some gestures as this stage could go a long way to speeding up recovery time. Instead, all the fans have been hearing is corportate lingo from an academic who just doesn't get why fans would be so loyal to a problem child/golden boy like Bob Huggins.

Since Notre Dame is in the spotlight this week, I thought it might be a good time to look at how the Irish's defensive co-ordinator, Rick Minter, is viewed almost two years after he was fired as the University of Cincinnati's head football coach. Is it an impossible job to get people excited about football at Nippert Stadium? An ESPN writer suggested so in his NFL Facts a few weeks ago:

Minter was head coach at Cincinnati for a decade and then rejoined Holtz at South Carolina after the Cincy athletic director canned Minter for making Bearcats fans believe Cincy could be a top-20 program.
Minter is an awesome football coach, the best defensive mind in college football. If Notre Dame continues to shine this season, some wise athletic director at a BCS school would be wise to hire Minter.

Now that UC is bringing a struggling team into Big East play this week, it makes some wonder if expectations might be a little unrealistic in Clifton. Is it possible to lure 30,000 people to Nippert Stadium on Saturdays in the fall? If you don't go now, what would motivate you to go? If you go now, what could UC do to improve the atmosphere?

UC's men's soccer team is enjoying the move to the Big East so far. The Bearcats knocked off UConn, the number 1 team in the nation last month, and beat Notre Dame, the 18th ranked team in the country on their way to the Top 25. Hear our interview with Cincinnati men's soccer coach Hylton Dayes. Head coach Hylton Dayes is in his fifth season with the Bearcats. He is 42-34-16 during his tenure at UC. Cincinnati gets back to BIG EAST action with an Oct. 15 tilt at Syracuse. The Bearcats and Orange will kick off at 7 p.m. from the Lampe Athletics Complex.

The University of Cincinnati volleyball team will step into the national spotlight when it hosts No. 6 Louisville this Sunday (Oct. 16) at 12:30 p.m. in Fifth Third Arena. All tickets are just $1. The contest will be broadcast live on ESPNU, the new college sports branch of ESPN. We had a chance to talk to the man in charge of the team before the big game. Hear our interview with UC Volleyball coach Reed Sunahara. Cincinnati matched a school record for fewest points allowed in a three-game match as the Bearcats routed Morehead State on Tuesday night. UC improves to 12-6 with the 30-16, 30-14, 30-16 win.

Well, it was bound to happen. I think even the most optimistic fan among us didn't see this team going 16-0. But, still, that was a rough game. The offense moved the ball well at times and the defense had stretches where they seemed to have Byron Leftwich's number. But from the moment Reggie Myles touched the football and wiped out a 69 yard punt, the penalties piled up and special teams was either feast or famine. The rushing defense disappeared for most of the game. Then again, it was Fred Taylor who was gashing them so maybe there's some comfort you can take there.

So what do you take out of the loss? Is it just a bump in the road? Is this the beginning of the end for our post-season aspirations?

Bengals Lose

What does the Bengals 23-20 loss Sunday night in Jacksonville mean to you?

Doesn't matter! Definitely playoff bound!

Disappointed, but still mostly confident about the big picture.

Getting twitterpated. Not sure about the post-season.

Forget it. Turn off the lights. Season's done.

We had Coach Montgomery on our show back before the season started. We got to talk to the coach of the Miami RedHawks the night before the annual Victory Bell game. Hear our second interview with Shane Montgomery.

It looks like everyone who picked a team this week was right. Most everyone went with the home team who was able to pull out a close one. Start looking ahead to Week 5 and don't forget to email you pick to unabatedsports@gmail.com or post your prediction here. You can't win if you don't pick a team. Here's the winners from Week 4.

Woody: Ravens (Colts, Cowboys, Bengals)
MOe: Giants (Bucs, Packers, Bengals)
Mike from Sharonville: Bengals (Colts, Packers, Redskins)
Brad: Bucs (Colts, Cowboys, Redskins)
Marc: Bengals (Colts, Cowboys, Steelers)
Greg: Bengals (Seahawks, Rams)
Brian: Bucs (Colts, Rams)
Sean from Fairfield Township: Bengals (Colts)
Darin from Forest Park: Bengals (Colts)
Dave: Bengals (Seahawks)
Bob in Liberty Township: Bengals (Cowboys)

On the Sideline:
Jeff: (Panthers, Eagles, Steelers)
Martin: (Panthers, Packers, Bengals)
Bill: (Jets, Rams)
Beefy: (Bills)
Mike from Fairfield #2: (Vikings)

And here's where we put our round winners.
HILLS: Jeff-1