Most Cincinnati sports fans will willingly tell you there’s a curse at work against the hometown professional sports franchises. The plight of being a fan in the Queen City is not for the faint of heart, and if you’ve been around long enough, you already know that both the Reds and Bengals must have been put on this Earth to make their fans suffer.
One small example just occurred at the Great American Ball Park. As we described in Wednesday’s column, Reds fans were enthralled with the team’s 5-4 come-from-behind win in the ninth inning to knock off Toronto on Monday afternoon.
Turns out that was a mirage; the Blue Jays responded by feasting on a tired Reds pitching staff by scoring a total of 25 runs in the next two games. For a change, the Cincy offense did its part, scoring nine runs in the second and third games of the series, but it wasn’t enough.
As this blurb is being written on Friday morning, the Redlegs have lost ground in what appears to be a futile pursuit of the third NL Wild Card berth. The surging – winners of nine of their last 10 — San Francisco Giants have surpassed Cincinnati and are four games behind the New York Mets. On the other hand, the Reds have slipped to 70-70 on the season, and five games behind the Metropolitans. Not only that, but the Cardinals and Diamondbacks are a mere half-game behind the Reds.
There’s still a chance for Cincy, but hope is dwindling rapidly. It will take a run in the club’s final 22 games that appears nearly impossible at this point. The home series against the Mets could lift the spirits of fans, but the Reds need a sweep of the New Yorkers to achieve much hope of a late-season playoffs push. That may not even be enough, and the impending road trip to San Diego, Sacramento and St. Louis will likely tell the tale of the 2025 season.
This has been yet another confounding season of Reds baseball, but it has been apparent for most of the year that the way the roster is constructed, a .500 record is about all one can realistically hope for. The team has certainly had its moments this season, but when it gets right down to it, they simply don’t match up with the best teams in baseball.
Numerous fans are disgruntled with the Reds’ front office, and rightly so. As long as the current regime is in charge, don’t look for a successful run in the postseason anytime soon for your beloved Redlegs.
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WILD CARD RACES GETTING WILDER
We noted the logjam in the NL Wild Card race above, and the American League race is even more convoluted.
At the moment, the Seattle Mariners are clinging to the third AL Wild Card spot behind the Yankees and Red Sox, but the race is far from over. No less than four teams still have a legitimate shot of getting past the Mariners.
Bruce Bochy’s Texas Rangers are a game and a half behind Seattle, Kansas City and Tampa Bay are both two games out, and the Cleveland Guardians remain hopeful at three and a half games out of the third spot.
This is precisely what MLB was looking for when the current format was changed in 2022, and the plan is working like a charm. It keeps hope alive for more teams, and the competition down the stretch to make the postseason has never been more exciting.
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GREAT START IMPERATIVE FOR BENGALS
As alluded to in the opening, this is the other Cincinnati professional sports franchise that continues to shatter the hearts of fans for years upon years. The Bengals may even more frustrating to root for than the Reds, if that’s possible.
After all, they have reached the Super Bowl on three occasions, and it could be argued that they should have won all three matchups. But alas, the Bengals dropped each of the three title tilts in rather heartbreaking fashion.
This year’s team is a longshot to reach the Super Bowl, simply because it will be extremely difficult to win consistently with a porous defense. We’ve said it time and time again, and you may be sick and tired of hearing it from this observer, but unless the Men in Stripes can find a way to win 41-38 week after week after week, they aren’t going anywhere.
Getting off to a good start is a necessity, beginning with their annual visit to Cleveland on Sunday afternoon, a place that has been a house of horrors for Joe Burrow. Says here the Bengals will win that one, simply because the Browns’ offense is full of question marks. Then again, the Cincinnati defense may make them look like world beaters.
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CATS AIMING FOR UPSET
The Kentucky football team is hoping to show an improved offense this afternoon when they tangle with the Ole Miss Rebels at Kroger Field, with the nationally televised matchup kicking off at 3:30 on ABC. The running game was effective in their 24-16 win over Toledo, but the passing game was less than impressive.
Running backs Dante Dowdell and Seth McGowan led the ground game with 130 and 78 yards, respectively, but QB Zach Calzada struggled in his first game as a Wildcat. He was just 10-of-23 with a measly 85 yards with an interception, and the Cats will need him to step up his game in a big way against the No. 21-ranked Rebels.
Ole Miss opened last week with a 63-7 annihilation of Georgia State.
Coach Lane Kiffin’s charges will also be looking to avenge last year’s 20-17 upset loss at home to UK, a defeat that effectively cost the Rebels a spot in the College Football Playoff. The teams have had close battles in recent years, with the last four matchups decided by three points or less.
Ole Miss features a no-huddle, fast-paced offense, and the Cats’ defense will have to be on its toes.
You can bet that Kiffin would love nothing more that a decisive revenge victory in Lexington this afternoon, and the Cats are hoping to avoid a shootout. It will be up to defensive coordinator Brad White to devise a game plan to thwart quarterback Austin Simmons – who was 20-for-31 for 341 yards and three scores last week — and limit running back Kewan Lacy, who rushed for 108 yards and three touchdowns in the rout. A player to watch on the Kentucky defensive unit will be linebacker Alex Afari Jr., who totaled 13 tackles and a sack against Toledo.
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EAGLES FACE STERN ROAD CHALLENGE
Morehead State opened its season with a 38-31 home victory over Allen University last week, but the Eagles face a major step up in competition this evening when they venture to Illinois State to meet the Redbirds. ISU is currently ranked seventh in the latest FCS Coaches Poll, despite dropping a 35-3 decision at 18th-ranked (in the FBS) Oklahoma a week ago.
The Eagles, led by Head Coach Jason Woodman, in his second year at MSU, has a roster featuring nearly 75 players new to the program, including close to 50 true freshmen.
In last week’s win over the Columbia, S.C. school, Morehead State rushed for 210 yards, led by Craig Cunningham, who ran for 94 yards on 12 carries, and a touchdown. Quarterback Carter Cravens was 16-for-21 through the air for 219 yards and a score. An 83-yard kickoff return in the fourth quarter from freshman Sidney Webb helped to seal the deal in the win over Allen.
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TOPS LOOKING TO STAY HOT
The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers face their initial road test this evening at Toledo and are hoping to continue putting prolific numbers on the scoreboard. The Toppers opened the season two weeks ago with a 41-24 win over Sam Houston State, and followed that up with a 55-6 pasting of North Alabama last week.
Those lofty numbers will be difficult to sustain when WKU meets Mid-American Conference favorite Toledo at 7 p.m. The Rockets opened at Kentucky last Saturday and fell 24-16 to the Wildcats, but their defense will present problems for the vaunted Western passing attack, spearheaded by quarterback Matthew McIvor. McIvor has completed 57-of-82 passing attempts for 706 yards and eight touchdowns in his first two games as a Hilltopper.
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“You just have to keep the same mentality of trying to prove yourself every single day. But it’s a lot easier when you have people telling you how bad you are than when people are telling you how good you are.” – Joe Burrow
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“The lottery is a government institution and the poor its best patrons.” – Mark Twain
