CincySportsFan

IF done correctly, isn't it basically using geometry (where two lines intersect) to place the ball? The back judge has the easy part, as his line is already established by the sideline. The harder part is that of the referee, who must determine the path (line) the ball traveled. I'd imagine they go from where the punter kicked it to where it landed out of bounds. Then just wait until the BJ crosses between those two points. But, I agree that on "curving" kicks or those affected by the wind, just seeing where the ball landed does not necessarily indicate it's true path.

Over the past week, I have read articles saying the Michael Lorenzen has been approached by a couple of teams interested in him being a starter. That's what he's always wanted to do, so I imagine he'll be signing with someone other than the Reds. Also Sonny Gray and Luis Castillo have both been mentioned as part of trade packages. Hey Bob...the next time you have to "align your payroll", just sell the team.

Not the first time this has happened. Probably about 10 or so years ago, I saw the same thing happen at Grant County (don't remember who they were playing). Like HCP, I was in complete disbelief as to what I was seeing. I even asked two guys next to me, if I actually saw what I thought I saw. Unbelievable.

This might be the only good news Reds fan get this offseason.

Fixed it for you.

I again fall back onto my theory that the committee decides what teams they want to put in there...and THEN they find the criteria that is needed to satisfy those results. No way can you say one week that head to head matters, and then the very next week, say that it doesn't.

I have zero faith that the Reds will do much of anything right this offseason. In all honesty, it would not surprise me that not only will Castillo be gone, but Sonny Gray and Jesse Winker as well. Mike Moustakas will/would be gone too, if they could find a dance partner willing to give them a bag of balls in exchange, just to dump his salary. They don't care about anything other than slashing payroll. Not only is the goal probably to get below $100M, but maybe even $90M. And when you consider that Votto is going to take up $25M of that, and Suarez another $11M...there's not a lot left to go around. Next season is going to be rough to watch. Will be another battle with the Pirates to stay out of the basement.

Reds decline $10M option for Wade Miley and put him on waivers. He's quickly picked up by the Cubs.

I'm by no means an expert in weaponry...but, it's still pretty easy to differentiate between blanks and live ammunition, isn't it? I mean, there's no projectile/slug, right? Aren't the ends of the bullet casing visually distinct? I mean, Joe Q. Public may not initially recognize a blank from a live round...but, I'd think anyone who's supposed to be the "expert" on set, should. Which then leads to some other difficult questions down the line. 1.) Was the armorer really an expert? 2.) Were proper protocols followed? 3.) Did someone want to sabotage the film? 4.) Did someone really want someone else to get shot?

In a pretrial hearing last week, defense lawyer Kevin Gough expressed concern that “White males born in the South, over 40 years of age, without four-year college degrees, sometimes euphemistically known as ‘Bubba’ or ‘Joe Six Pack,’ seem to be significantly underrepresented” in the jury pool. The defense team has “a problem with that,” he said. Hollywood couldn't write something like this. Unbelievable.

Reds aren't signing Correa. He turned down a 6-year, $120M deal from the Astros before the season started. That's for a team that's gone to the World Series multiple years. He ain't gonna want to come to Cincinnati. If we're dreaming of pie-in-the-sky scenarios, I'd say there'd be a greater chance for the Reds to sign Kyle Schwarber.

Yeah, we'd be about 4 or 5 years too late on him. Respected the heck out of him when he was with the Pirates...but, it'd be a firm pass from me now.

Brent Celek, Connor Barwin or Kevin Huber would be ones associated with the program, like Kelce. Don't know if any of them would move the meter like Travis might have.

I think I read something yesterday that said the initial pool was pretty close to the demographics, but that the defense ended up eliminating 8 black prospects. Of course, they said it had nothing to do about race (yeah, right). The judge even made some comment about how there was something racial in the selection process, but said his hands were tied with regards to what he could do.

Nick Castellanos opts out. Castellanos, 29, had .309/.362/.576 slash line this year. Had $34M and 2 years to go. Now a free agent.

CFP = Farce, in my opinion. Imagine if the NFL selected it's playoff teams by a committee instead. There'd be people arguing that the Patriots should be in over the Bengals right now, because even though Cincinnati has a marquee win over Baltimore, they've lost to Chicago and the Jets, a team that New England has manhandled...TWICE! And hey, the Patriots have been to the Super Bowl how many times, and won it? This just blows the whole "I like CFB, because every week matters" mantra out of the water. Because it doesn't. You can literally win Every.Single.Game...and not make the playoffs because of what someone "thinks" about your team. If they want you in (or out), they'll come up with a way to justify it. It's great if your team benefits from it (Ohio State, Bama, etc.)...but it sucks if your team is the one getting hosed.

Yeah, I think everybody saw the writing on the wall. His salary would darn near double from the $4M this past year, and would still be splitting time with Stephenson. Just hate that we have a guy for 8 years, and he wins 2 Gold Gloves, and get pretty much nothing in return. Somewhat surprised me when I saw that he was the second longest tenured Red, behind Votto.

First significant move of the year...catcher Tucker Barnhart has been traded to the Detroit Tigers, for minor league infielder Nick Quintana. Barnhart had an option for $7.5 million this year, or a buyout of $500,000.

7:05 start times for World Series games. Starting after 8pm is just stupid. MLB needs to start dictating what's good for the game, instead of just leaving it to the broadcasters.

Had a friend of mine post on Facebook Sunday evening that his wife had suffered what they believe was a heart attack. Said that, at the time, she was "sedated and stable", but that they were still trying to find a hospital that would treat her...after 20 hours. The following day he posted that she had passed. She was in her mid-50's.

MLB has got to be better in getting the best umpires in the brightest spotlight. No more of "he's got seniority" or "it's his turn" blah, blah, blah. Laz Diaz was rated in the bottom 6% in accuracy and the bottom 12% in consistency for the entire year (in calling balls and strikes)...but, instead of watching game 4 of the ALCS from his sofa, he's actually behind the plate! So, it really shouldn't surprise anyone if he missed a crucial game-changing call, right? I know that everyone is human, and even the best umpire is going to miss calls. But, when you have statistical proof that one guy regularly misses more calls than someone else...WHY HAVE HIM IN SOME OF THE BIGGEST GAMES OF THE YEAR?!? We literally tell the players/teams that the regular season means something and that they need to be at/near the top in order to make the postseason. But for the umpires...nah, let's forget about how they did during the regular season. Joe West? Sure, let's put the old guy in one more time behind home plate in a one-game, winner-advances, loser-goes home, situation. Can we get Angel Hernandez? Sure, why not. How about Laz Diaz and CB Bucknor? Absolutely. Oh, and can we get Ted Barrett as a crew chief? Consider it done. Either give me the best that you've got, or bring on the robo-umps.

Substitutions can be made by the defense pretty much at anytime. So, (to take it to extreme) you can come out in your "heavy" package all you want...but, you're likely not going to be matched up against their dime package every time. Maybe you catch them off guard the first play, in the first series, anticipating your personnel. Maybe. After that, they're going to be ready. Look, I'm not going to say there's never a time or place for that personnel. But, when you come out with it enough, that the color guy notices it, I'm going to assume it's out of your norm. And when the head coach is asked about it, and he says they did it because they expected the defense to be ready for their regular personnel...you get what Daryl (and I) have the problem with...you're saying you're actually letting their defense dictate your offensive personnel. That's not a good look. This wasn't the '85 Bears we were going up against.

Not debating whether or not we needed to move on or not on players from the past, and how much credit Taylor deserves for that. Likewise, the same could be said for the players that have come in since then. But yes, Taylor as the play caller, is the one that I'm disappointed in. What's the old adage...the coach's responsibility is to put the players in the best position to excel? Week one, we put the defense in a bad position by failing on fourth down on our end of the field, when we're up 14 and suddenly let the Vikings back into it. Last week, we run the ball three straight times forcing our kicker to attempt an extra long kick to win the game. And yesterday, we game plan to take at least one of our top 3 receivers out of the game, because we know the defense is going to be focused on that? That's like being the coach of the Lions in the 90's, and sitting Barry Sanders because you know the other team is going to be preparing for him. Aside from certain down/distance packages, I think everyone would agree the hardest combination to defend is going to be Chase, Higgins, Boyd, Uzomah and Mixon, wouldn't you? I think @nkypetemight be right, in that Taylor could be overthinking some things.

I just don't see how handicapping yourself becomes an advantage.

And did anybody else catch the comment by the sideline reporter after halftime, where she had Taylor's explanation for the Bengals frequent use of 2 tight end formations? I couldn't believe that's what he said, and thought I must have misheard/misunderstood it. But just a minute or so later, Daryl Johnston had the same questioning thought that I had. Basically, it boils down to this... Detroit Defense: We need to try to stop Cincinnati's top 3 receivers Zac Taylor: Hey, I know what you're going to do...so, I'm going to take advantage of this, by not playing my top 3 receivers all at once, and will go with extra tight ends and linemen instead. This is not the same as a QB adjusting the play, according to what the defense is showing him at that moment. This is predetermining your personnel/sets based upon what you think the defensive philosophy is going to be. This is the tail wagging the dog. It's totally backwards and is the worst warning sign I've seen with Taylor at the helm. Bengals are winning in spite of Taylor, not because of him.