John Clay's Sidelines

(AP photo/Al Behrman)

Does the city of Cincinnati owe Mike Brown an apology?

The Bengals are 4-2. Rookie quarterback Andy Dalton and rookie wide receiver A.J. green are burgeoning stars, both playing above first-year expectations. The Cincinnati defense has been ranked atop the NFL in yards allowed.

Now word comes this morning that the Bengals are about to trade “retired” quarterback Carson Palmer to the Oakland Raiders for a pair of first-round draft picks.

Many felt Brown should have traded Palmer in the pre-season rather than let the holdout quarterback sit with nothing in return. But by waiting until the trading deadline, and with Oakland in dire need of a quarterback following Jason Campbell’s season-ending injury, Brown appears to have played his cards correctly.

True, Cincinnati has yet to play either Baltimore or Pittsburgh. But the Bengals are surely more competitive than most thought. And now they are fortifying their future with a pair of first-rounders, the first of which would come next season.

And maybe Mike Brown is smarter than we thought.

If you are in Lexington and wish to see the Bengals’ exhibition opener tonight at Detroit, sorry for your luck.

No local TV station is carrying Bengals’ pre-season games this year. WDRB-41 is carrying the game in Louisville. WKRC-12 in Louisville Cincinnati, WSYX-6 in Columbus, WKEF-22 in Dayton and WLIO-35 in Lima are also carrying the game, which kickoffs at 7:35 p.m.

For $19.99 you can watch the game on NFL.com. If you get the NFL Network, you can see a replay of the game at 10 a.m. on Saturday.

Or you can listen to the Cut-Man, Alan Cutler, who is back as host on the Bengals’ radio network. In Lexington, that’s WLAP-630.

If you still need your NFL pre-season fix, Fox has Tampa Bay-Kansas City tonight at 8.

(H-L photo/Ken Weaver)

Joe Reedy, the Bengals’ beat writer for the Cincinnati Enquirer, did a 20-question post today about the pro team from Cincinnati, which is currently prepping at Georgetown College for its exhibition opener Monday Friday night against the Detroit Lions.

The questions were posed to Joe’s twitter account. In one answer, he gave a shout-out to a former UK defensive end now trying to make the transition to linebacker.

Excerpt:

I know its early but what undrafted rookie has the best shot to make the roster as of now?

LB and former UK standout DeQuin Evans.

When I was at Bengals camp last Saturday, word was Evans had impressed the coaches with his drive and athletic ability. The Bengals are also in need of linebackers. Now the question is how quickly Evans can make the transition, and what the roster-crunch will be like.

Click here for a video I did with Evans last Saturday at Georgetown.

Alan Cutler

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer has the news that WLEX’s Alan Cutler will be returning to the Bengals Radio Network this year.

Cutler was part of Bengals broadcasts for eight years before a round of Clear Channel layoffs took him off the job. But now he’s back.

An excerpt:

Now the Cut-Man is back. He was hired by the team, which has taken radio rights in-house this year. The Bengals control radio content for six hours (11:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m.) around Sunday games.

“The call came out of the blue. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I’d be back,” he says. “I was very surprised and quickly said yes.”

Dan Hoard has replaced Brad Johansen as the Bengals’ play-by-play man on radio. He’ll be the one trying to be heard over color man Dave Lapham.

Wrote this morning that Carson Palmer was being selfish in his refusal to play for the Bengals despite having four years left on his contract.

Meanwhile, owner Mike Brown says he is not about to “reward” Palmer by trading the quarterback.

What do you think? Should the Bengals trade Carson Palmer?

(AP photo)

Monday morning notes and links:

- Congrats to ex-UK golfer Russ Cochran on winning the Senior British Open.  The 52-year-old Cochran picked up a check for $310,000 for his third Senior Tour win. The Paducah native is the eighth American in the last nine years to win the Senior Open Championship.

- News that John Calipari is organizing an exhibition game for his Dominican Republic National Team against UK legends was the highlight of an otherwise quiet Sunday for UK sports. WKYT reports that Joe B. Hall has been contacted about coaching the Kentucky team.

- The Los Angeles Times climbs aboard the Shabazz Muhammad bandwagon, profiling the Las Vegas star. Some believe that UCLA is the leader for Shabazz’s services, but Muhammad says he will bring his trademark gold shoes to Lexington to visit UK’s facilities at some point.

- Gary Harris, the top Indiana prep player in the Class of 2012, put on a show at the AAU Super Showcase in Orlando, reports Jody Demling of the Courier-Journal. Kentucky appears to have some interest in the muscular guard, who also likes football. But Louisville and Indiana are both targeting Harris.

Continue reading ‘Russ Cochran, Shabazz, Joe B. and Monday morning notes’

This morning’s Wall Street Journal has a story on Paul Brown Stadium, and how it has turned out to be a public funding fiasco.

The stadium, which opened in 2004, replaced Riverfront Stadium and was built with Hamilton County assuming practically all of the debt burden. With the actual cost of the stadium rising well above what was projected, that has turned out to be an elephant on the back of a county that has been forced to cut funding to programs and projects during the economy’s downturn.

An excerpt from the WSJ story:

At its completion in 2000, Paul Brown Stadium had soared over its $280 million budget-and the fiscal finger-pointing had already begun.

The county says the final cost was $454 million. The team’s estimate, which doesn’t include infrastructure work around the stadium, puts the tab at $350 million.

But according to research by Judith Grant Long, a Harvard University professor who studies stadium finance, the cost to the public was closer to $555 million once other expenditures, such as special elevated parking structures, are factored in. No other NFL stadium had ever received that much public financing.

It doesn’t help that the Bengals continue to put out an inferior product. Cincinnati has produced but two winning seasons since 1990. The Bengals have not won a playoff game since 1990 either.

Continue reading ‘Wall Street Journal tackles Paul Brown Stadium fiasco’

(Hat tip to Kevin Kelly of the Cincinnati Enquirer)

The receiver/dancer/reality star formerly known as Chad Johnson tweeted this picture:

The Bengals released their 2011 training camp schedule for Georgetown College.

Here it is:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE; MONDAY, JUNE 28, 2010

FROM CINCINNATI BENGALS PUBLIC RELATIONS

BENGALS 2010 TRAINING CAMP

at Georgetown (Ky.) College

PUBLIC SCHEDULE

(Practice times are approximate. Admission is free. On-campus parking is $15 per car, $25 for school buses and passenger vans, and $50 for large buses.)

Continue reading ‘Bengals training camp schedule announced’