Unabated Sports

Where were you when the RedHawks were recliming the Victory Bell? Did you miss it? Don't worry, we got your back. We were on the sidelines, shooting video of the big moment. Yes, that's right video. We have taken the concept of a full service radio show to the next level. We are now a multi-platform sports information resource. We can now start puting video on the website, so make sure that you check back.

More importanly, would you watch "ping pong" if this woman were playing? That's what the sport of Table Tennis is hoping for. An industry manufacturer, Killerspin, is promoting Biba as the Anna Kournikova of Table Tennis. Except that she can actually play her sport well. Biba, and her table tennis skills, will be on display this weekend at the Arnold Classic in Columbus.

As the regular season winds down and the NCAA Tournament bubble gets smaller and smaller, UC welcomes the highest-rank opponent to ever visit Fifth Third Arena. I found that fact odd considering the Bearcats have been #1 on several occassions but their leavel of competition has never been what this year's team has faced. For having survived it, Andy Kennedy's team has found themselves so very close to a goal that seemed impossible last summer: a 15th straight appearance in the Big Dance. Despite a Presidential Motorcade, an accident that clogged traffic on I-75, and a full night of options on TV, it seemed like most of the crowd was in the house for tip-off. Which was good, cause it seemed like the defense fed off the noise early on. Villanova uses a four-guard line-up. Despite this, they didn't seem to be too bothered with UC's size advantage, something the Cats have rarely had these days. Going into the first TO, both teams had 8 points.

Coming out of the break, though, the Wildcats stormed out on a 5-0 run despite a fantastic drive by Devan Downey who couldn't finish a million dollar move. On the offensive side, the Bearcats size doesn't seem to do much other than afford them an extra rebound or two. Cinci spent most of their attempts trying to shoot over these smaller players. Coach Kennedy (or "The Real Coach K" as some fans' shirts suggest) had to call a time-out as Nova rolled out a 20-11 lead as their shots splashed in and too many of UC's rolled out.

There have been a couple times tonight where some good ball movement or fancy dribbling have completely taken apart the defense. It's like they're in pre-season form. Makes me wonder if they're trying something different for tonight and there's been breakdowns between the players. The transition defense has been effective at times forcing some UV turnovers and cutting a double digit deficit in half. As soon as I type that, thogh, Villanova's three point shooting puts UC back at arm's length. Very similar to the game I saw on TV Sunday where they just seemed to keep making clutch shots against Georgetown. Speaking of clutch, Chadd Moore certainly brought his "3" game with him making multiple shots in the first half from behind the line. Eric Hicks, however, did not score his first field goal until about a 18 and a half minutes into the game.

Considering how quickly things fell apart at times, I gotta feel not so bad about Cinci being down 6 at halftime. Stacey Dales-Shuman was booed pretty loudly as she interviewed Jay Wright as he and his Wildcats headed into the locker room.

No Wizard of Oz for the 3 time national champ dance team as they dance to "Cause I'm A Woman." Yes, they are. Should be fun having them in our studio for next week's show.

A lot of support for A.K. as I walked through the fans at the half. Several signs and shirts say go ahead and hire the guy. I even saw a few of the infamous "Nuck Fancy" shirts.

The second half starts much the same way the first did. When UC makes a nice little run, Nova pops 3s like their hot. The fellow next to me said, "We just might be looking at the national champs." The way the Wildcats seem to answer every rally UC has (and Georgetown on Sunday) I can see that.

I can also see 99% of the fans in the middle section of the arena sitting on their butts while UC's trying to make a comeback. It's a stereotype that surrounds the "red sweaters" but it almost takes an Act of Congress to get them on their feet. It's been a pretty good enviroment tonight, but it could have been a little noisier if a few of them hadn't spent most of the game with their arms crossed and their chins resting on their chest.

"HIRE ANDY" was a chant that went up after an exciting win last week. Tonight, it went up with 11:27 to go and the team down by 5. Definitely not a fairweather notion by Bearcat Nation.

UC's deficit got back to double digits as the game clock went under 10 minutes to go. Yet, those plucky Bearcats would not go quietly into that good night. Hicks, who had missed his first three shot, has made his next 6 (if I'm reading the stat sheet right) and really gotten back into the flow of the offense. Only a four-point deficit with four minutes to go and the "red sweaters" finally start standing. Cutting it to one brings the house down. They're still standing even after a couple minutes of back-and-forth. My seat begins to shake as a Hicks free throw ties the game with 90 seconds to go. Lunatic-type jumping takes over as Kennedy's squad takes their first lead in over an hour and a half of real time.

Unfortunately, most of the sold-out crowd is heading home crestfallen as the Wildcats last shot went in and the Bearcats did not. Despite this, the chant went out once again: "HIRE ANDY." We'll see if the administration's listening. And we'll see if this moral victory, threatening the #2 team in the land, will help UC on Selection Sunday.

No, not that cancelled TV show starring the hot Italian. This is News Guy Woody coming to you from Fifth Third Arena for another round of Bearcat Basketball. Tonight, Providence is in the house. The Friars are 11-11 and 4-7 in the conference. With that in mind, this game is only big if UC loses. One of the guys from Bracketology 101 who was on our show last night said this is a "must-win" if Andy Kennedy's squad wants to get to the NCAA Tournament for a 15th straight year. Speaking of the coach, a student has been holding up a sign that simply says "HIRE ANDY." A sentiment echoed by most people in here, I'm sure. Well, as long as they win tonight.

And a valuable lesson learned by tonight's Star Spangled Banner singer: if you're asked to sing the national anthem, don't hold your last note too long. She almost got trampled by players from both sides coming across the court to shake hands.

The Cats looked sharp coming out 5-0 but really started to look sloppy with lazy passes and some poor rebounding. A media time-out couldn't come soon enough as the early comfortable lead was restored. But Jihad Muhammed, who had been averaging 18.4 points over his last five games, has reverted to his old form and Eric Hicks has been looking frustrated on the offensive side without a lot of good looks. He's begging for the ball and not getting it too much early on. The agitation seems to carry over to the defensive side. AK seems to have sensed it or maybe I'm reading too much into an early substitution.

The lead ballooned for a bit until some unpopular foul calls took away offensive chances and some lapses in defense made it a one possession game with 7 1/2 minutes to go. A media timeout seemed to spark UC again as Jihad drained two free throws and inspired defense set up a fast break opportunity. But when that was foiled, the Cats fell flat again. The Friars are still very much in this game.

A very strange thing happens, or doesn't, here on the home court. Following controversial charging calls, the giant jumbo screens flash a generic graphic instead of a replay. They don't seem to show replays after any foul call.

Connnor Barwin may be on the cover of tonight's media guide, but it took him over 15 minutes to get any playing time. But he won them an extra possession with a nice jump ball and the crowd seemed disappointed he didn't take an open looong distance shot. Fortunately, he got the ball off to Devan Downey who made a 3-pointer. Still, UC could not keep Providence down as the lead at half was just a single point.

One of the promotions that took place during the timeout is the standard "make a foul shot, three-pointer, and half-court throw to win a prize." If you can pull it off, you win rent for a year. Even if you only hit one or two shots, you win something. The poor kid tonight couldn't even hit a free throw. So much for that flat screen TV, Choke Boy.

After the acid trip that was the Dance Team's Wizard of Oz recreation which resulted with Scott Springer getting a flower from a cowardly lion... I'm gonna stop the sentence there because anything that follows it would just pale in comparison.

We all know halftme is a chance for players and coaches to make adjustments. And it looks Andy Kennedy, his staff, and players did as they came out sharp. But who knew fans also made adjustments? One of the students made a sign that featured a pair of glasses. Above them: "MISSING: If found, please return to the referees."

Strange View Of The Night: 5'10 Devan Downey stuffing 5'10 Sharaud Curry. It's just weird seeing the little guys under the basket playing big man ball.

As good as the half started, UC would let the comfortable lead once again slip through their fingers. It just seems like the attention to detail seems to fade away the longer the players are on the court. Out of timeouts, they've been fine. After a while, the Friars get back in the game. And, after a while, even tht TOs didn't seem to get Cincinnati back on track.

Despite UC trailing by 7 with less than 10 to go, that fan is still holding up his "HIRE ANDY" sign. In fact, he's also sporting an "A.K. is A.O.K." shirt. Strong support even in the face of a dissappointing performance by a team that really can't afford to lose this game.

The crowd finally reaches rockin' status with 7:30 to go. It seems like the players weren't the ony ones sluggish. I mean, the 12,000 or so fans have been cheering but nothing that loud. It got so contagious I absent-mindedly started clapping follwing a DD fast break that brought the team to within one. (Not supposed to cheer on press row.) The karma gods punished me by having him miss the ensuing free throw. Sorry, Devan. UC recovered with some impressive ball movement that led to a fantastic dunk by Hicks that raised the roof of the Shoemaker Center. The Cats resume the lead but give it back up again with a little over 3 minutes to go. Compared to how loud it was a couple minutes ago, it got real quiet real quick.

A James White "3" changed that real quick. Up two with two to go. Can Cinci hold? Nope. Tied with 60 seconds to go. Some unkind iron put Providence in the catbird seat with around 40 ticks left in the game. But their long three didn't go and Downey goes to the line with a chance to go up with less than 4 seconds. The iron was a little kinder on that first free throw as the shot went in, out, off the backboard, and finally in. The second went in with a lot less dramatics.

Did I say dramatics? Curry scoots down the court for the Friars and lays up a beauty of a shot that rattles in, then out. Instead of overtime, a 66-64 win that puts UC at 18-9 and 7-6 in the beast that is the Big East.

Remember what I said at the beginning about the crowd's feelings toward the interim head coach? Chants of "WE WANT ANDY" went up from both student sections after the victorious squad hit the locker room.

Heard this gem last week on the Colbert Report:

"I cannot wait to see that medal count. Every morning when I open the paper I go straight for it. I don't give a damn which sports we win the medals in. As far as I'm concerned Ice Dancing is just as manly as Two Man Luge. But you know winning isn't everything. It's just as important that we rub it in. Medal counts are a great quantifiable way to say: Yes, we're in an unpopular war, we're bitterly divided and we're embroiled in scandal, but if you get all up in our Bobsled grill we will bring the frozen solid sh*t hammer down. And I say the three-tiered medal stand not humiliating enough for the losers. I believe the medal stand should be made out of the losers. That really gets the point across, and it's more inclusive that way."

See it for yourself.

Here's the schedules for the Muskies, RedHawks, and Bearcats as they play their final month of the season. XU is in blue, UC is in black, and MU is in red.

Feb. 8 Richmond
Feb. 11 LaSalle
Feb. 12 @ Pittsburgh
Feb. 12 Ball State
Feb. 15 @ Syracuse
Feb. 15 Fordham
Feb. 15 Ohio
Feb. 17 Providence
Feb. 18 Duquesne
Feb. 18 Illinois State (ESPN Bracket Buster)
Feb. 21 @ Dayton
Feb. 22 Akron
Feb. 23 Villanova
Feb. 25 @ Rhode Island
Feb. 25 @ Kent State
Feb. 28 @ Seton Hall
Feb. 28 St. Joseph
Mar. 1 @ Bowling Green
Mar. 4 @ UMass
Mar. 4 West Virginia
Mar. 4 Buffalo

Sure, a sold-out Fifth Third Arena is rocking. Sure, it's Big Monday. Sure, it's UC vs. Louisville. But my favorite time of year is over. The NFL season is complete, and the long off-season is now underway. Yeah, college basketball is a decent substitute but it's not the same. Especially with the local teams on the outside looking in at the Big Dance. Take this game, for example. The Bearcats jumped out to a big lead early, but I still couldn't get too juiced. I mean, they jumped out on West Virginia and how did that turn out? Sure enough, the 12 point lead evaporated in a matter or minutes. By halftime, Cincinnati held on to a one point lead.

I switched over to a seat amongst the fans. That definitely perked me up for a bit. Nothing like the screamings of a passionate crowd to get the blood pumping. Of course, Andy Kennedy's squad had something to do with that holding a lead until the final buzzer. Some quality point floor play by Devan Downey, strong defense, and some good performances on the foul line gave the Cats a clutch win against the Birds. UC is now 16-8 overall, and 5-5 in the Big East.

Best line of the post-game press conference came from the coach, Andy Kennedy, on Eric Hicks, who suffered a concussion in the game: "If there's one place you can hit him and not hurt him, it's in the head." Yeah, people have said that about me before.

Close second from the coach, about Jihad Muhammad: "Can't live with him, can't live without him."

For all the Pittsburgh fans (and players) who accused the NFL and it's officials of trying to manipulate the final results of the post-season... the shoe is now on the other foot. Less than a month ago, fans of the Black and Gold across the nation called up radio talk shows and accused America's elite sport league of fixing a playoff game. Joey Porter not only said the league office would have preferred media darling Peyton Manning and his Colts moving on, but that they were active in securing that. Well, then. how do you like these apples? What did Bill Leavy and his crew give us? Touchdowns overturned, crucial first downs called back, even players penalized for doing nothing more than making a tackle! If I follow the logic of Porter and Steelers Nation, Super Bowl XL was either payback for such horrible officiating in Indianapolis or the conspiracy that tried so hard to knock off the Steelers now hitched their wagon to Jerome Bettis's farewell homecoming celebration. More than likely, it was just godawful decision making by the men in stripes. The Super Bowl is a pop culture event, regardless of the two teams involved. So I can't imagine anyone feeling the need to tweak the Nielsons with a "hot" match-up. When I look at this post-season's officiating and see either fixed games or inept referrees. More than likely it's the crappy refs. At least, I hope it was. Wait, I'm hoping for innefectiveness from a squad of professionals who are supposed to be at the top of their game?! How sad is that?

The analyst for the Cincinnati Bengals Radio Network, Dave Lapham, joined us on Thursday's show. He predicted a
Pittsburgh to win 21-20 over Seattle. He also talked about his experience the last time the big game was held in Detroit. Speaking of the Motor City, if you're there Saturday night, join Dave and stop by the Taste of the NFL. A chef will represent every NFL city and cook up a dish to represent their area. The purpose: to address the needs of the hungry and homeless by raising awareness and money through special events and prorams. That's our Dave, always trying to help out.

Alright guys, nice work. Felipe Lopez is now locked up for at least this year. You don't know how much of me was worried that he would get completely backshelved in order for them to tango with Adam Dunn, who is now the one guy left to negotiate with. Felipe deserved every dollar he asked for, after making mere peanuts (in MLB terms) for an All-Star caliber player last year.

On a sidenote, don't expect to see Paul Wilson in the same place he was last year on Opening Day. Although he's apparently healing well, whenever a player is not ruling out setbacks, and claims the injury came from wear and tear, that just means he's an out of shape guy who's going to take a long time to get back into shape. He claims that it didn't take much to get head trainer Mark Mann to go down to Florida early to work with him, but I don't really believe that. The Enquirer says he 'pleaded' while the Reds' site said it wasn't hard to convince him. I'll go with the former. Either way, I just hope he doesn't try to rush back, like last year when he definitely played through pain and made the whole situation worse.

Either way, Lopez is a good start, and Wilson should take his sweet time.

Remember the old days, when old #7 was slinging the rock around for the Red & White and not the dreaded Black & Gold? Man were those the days...

Sure, this Sunday will have the two best NFL teams on the field fighting for the league championships. As if that weren't enough, there's something else that adds to the entertainment value: the Super Bowl commercials. And this year will be no different. You can even watch the commercials without watching the game. For the past twenty or so years, advertisers have used this as a forum to grab attention for their products with some outlandish attempts. We'll find out on Sunday who will be the next company to benefit from the biggest television event of the year.

Ben I love ya, but these are just too funny. Sidenote: that basement totally looks like some Miami house party, but you didn't hear that from me.

For those who have spent any amount of time in Clifton, you know how hard it is to get other people to come down there. It's been nationally recognized as a tough sell for football recruits. How did Mark Dantonio do this year when it comes to bringing in young talent? Check out Bearcat Insider to hear a one-hour long webcast at 5:30 today about the players who will don the Bearcat helmet. We'll also have Dave Berk on around 6:25 Thursday night to wrap up the recruiting season. So listen to the webcast, then listen to ESPN Radio 1450 The Ticket Thursday night.