Happy new year, friends! It’s dawned on me that I haven’t written in a while, so I thought I’d do just that ahead of the start of the second semester tomorrow here at the University of Cincinnati.
Here’s something I’ve been realizing recently: I am imperfect for the journalism program here at UC. I’m majoring in journalism because it will make me more marketable in the job market, but as I said I find myself imperfect for the program. One thing that is preached within the program is objectivity. But come on. Do you honestly think I can always be objective? I’m not trying to be some cold hard news journalist, even though I admire and respect those who deliver them to our lives. I have aspirations to be a sportscaster. I’ll tell it like it is on Sports; “Any Way You Want It!”, but that’s because I’m very opinionated, as you all know. Sure I always make sure I know the facts of whatever I’m talking about, but man it’s hard to always be objective. So much so that I have become a columnist whenever I cover games. My first love will always be sportscasting, but I do believe in being versatile in your skills. That’s why I still cover games, but column writing, to me, is more of an opinion and you can put more of your voice into it. Of course I respect that you’re not allowed to cheer in the press box or on press row, but I firmly believe that you can be a fan of the team you cover.
Speaking of which, I haven’t blogged much about them, so I want to share my thoughts on the Bearcats men’s basketball team. I’ll blog abut them more here in the next few months, but what a game last night at Fifth Third Arena. As unhappy as Mick Cronin might have been after the win over UConn, this is a very important win for this Bearcats team. I columned about it last night that the Bearcats were playing their second game less than 48 hours after a road win in overtime at Tulsa with three starters battling the flu. Yes, the Bearcats had several mental lapses in the game last night, but some of the players had to have been, I think, exhausted after a mental grind of a win at Tulsa on Thursday.
I get it that every conference game is going to be a grind, but two games in three days is tough, especially with the circumstances the Bearcats dealt with on Thursday. And on top of that, UConn is a good team. I knew even when the Bearcats went up by 11 early in the second half that UConn wasn’t going to go away. The Bearcats are the defending conference regular-season and tournament champions, so they’re going to get every team’s best shot. That’s why this win over UConn is so important.
To read my whole column from last night’s game, click on this link: http://www.bearcastmedia.com/11397-2/
This is a fun team to watch. I said going into this season that there is no pressure on this team to do anything; win a national title, regional championship, get to the Sweet 16, or just win a conference regular season or tournament championship. There’s no pressure on this team to do any of that. And yet, here they are at 14-3, 3-1 in the American Athletic Conference. They’re young, not nearly as experienced as they were last year and are still trying to replace the departures of Gary Clark, Jacob Evans III and Kyle Washington. Every game is a chance for them to get better, and I think they will with the coaching of Mick Cronin.
Also over the Holidays, what a victory for the Bearcats football team in the Military Bowl. Hayden Moore finished his Bearcats career the right way, coming in for an injured Desmond Ridder and leading this team to victory in a very exciting game against an old foe in bowl games: Virginia Tech. Luke Fickell kept saying all year that Moore was going to be needed to win a game for the Bearcats this season. I just never thought he would do it in his final game as a Bearcat and in a bowl game, but it was incredible to see him shine on a big stage and the team rally around him.
Alright, by now I’m sure most of you are imploring me to get to my thoughts on the Bengals firing Marvin Lewis and who their next head coach is going to be, which appears to be Zac Taylor. Here’s the deal, after 16 seasons it was about time the Bengals moved on from Lewis. It wasn’t just the fact that he couldn’t win a playoff game or any big game in the regular season. It was the fact that this year, fans started to deviate from the Bengals. Paul Brown Stadium looked like a ghost town on some Sundays throughout the season. Even I was emotionally spent starting after the Broncos game in week 13.
I used to firmly believe that all Mike Brown cared about was that the Bengals were relevant, and that’s what Marvin Lewis restored the Bengals to here in the Queen City; relevancy. I guess after such futility in the 1990s and early 2000s Mike Brown was happy that the Bengals were relevant and fans were starting to show up. Maybe that’s why he kept Lewis around. Did Brown think Lewis was going to be the coach to deliver the Bengals their first ever Super Bowl championship? I guess so, and that’s why I thought Brown didn’t care about winning. He only cared that the Bengals were relevant.
But now moving on from Marvin Lewis and targeting a young, offensive mind who has coached in Cincinnati before- Taylor was the Bearcats offensive coordinator in 2016- it shows that maybe he does care about winning. We all know Mike loves continuity, but sometimes change is needed in order to have the best chance at winning. Plus, reportedly giving control to Katie and Troy Blackburn I think is a good thing. All I know is, this head coaching hire and these next two or few seasons are going to tell us a lot about the direction the Bengals organization is going as far as what they accomplish.
As I wrap up this first piece in a long time, I just watched the New Orleans Saints hang on to beat the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Divisional playoff game. That’s who I’m rooting for in the playoffs because, after all, Who Dat sounds a lot like Who Dey doesn’t it? Plus, as you know Drew Brees is my favorite active athlete outside of the Queen City, and he deserves to win a Super Bowl this late in his career.
On another note, Sports; “Any Way You Want It!” will have a new day and time this semester, which I will let you all know when that is as soon as I get word of it. Plus, Zach Fries will be my co-host, so you can expect some really good bantering between us.
As always, WHO DEY!, Go Bearcats! and go live your best lives!
Alex “Frankie” Frank
Let me be Frank and Cut to the Chase 