The Cleveland Indians arrived in Cincinnati tonight for their 3-game series dubbed "The Battle of Ohio." Right now isn’t a good time to be touting you are from Ohio in the sports world...especially if you are these two ball clubs.
The REDS are the only sixth-place team in the majors...with their pathetic 14-26 record. They’ve lost 20 of their last 26 games...and look really bad in doing so. They have the second worst ERA in the majors [only Colorado’s is worse] and opposing hitters are hitting a whopping .306 against them. Eric Milton, their big free agent addition, is 2-5 with a 7.16 ERA.
The INDIANS aren’t much better. They have a 17-22 record [not horrible] but they were a team that many thought could take the AL Central. They’ve scored an American League low 153 runs for the season and are hitting .238, the worst in baseball.
But that ain’t all. The University of CINCINNATI is going thru a crisis of sorts as well. In what was supposed to be a summer of celebration of heading to big time athletics [the Big East], head hoops coach Bob Huggins may not be around much longer. He had a rolling 4-year contract that had a "extension year" added at the end of every season. Well, after last season...they got rid of that after his DUI arrest. This season....they still didn’t offer him an extension. So, as of now, he is working with a 2-yr deal that, it seems, won’t be renewed. There is a new president at U-Cincy who is trying to clean the place up. The men’s team is one of those targets. Heading into Big East play....Huggins’ program is notorious for their low graduation rates and "thug image". Students and fans are screaming for Huggs to stay....but the prez wants him gone as soon as she can. Stay tuned...
{**UPDATE: Just a few hours after I wrote this, Bruce Ivory [the associate athletic director of academic standards] resigned due to a DUI arrest. This marks the third DUI arrest for the program in a year. Huggins last summer, assistant coach Keith LeGree in March, and now Ivory.}
At least they aren’t being investigated like OHIO STATE. The NCAA informed Ohio State that they found nine infractions. Most involved the basketball program where boosters had hooked some players up...but there were a few in the football program as well. This comes after getting a new AD and after the whole Maurice Clarett debacle.
Up the way a bit....the CAVALIERS marquee player, LeBron James, swiftly canned his agents in order to hire his friends and rap labels to represent him [it worked for Ricky Williams]. This coming on the heels of a total meltdown of the franchise. They fired their coach...they fired their GM...and basically players quit on the team. Not to mention that their All Star center may walk on them too. This was a team that was assured getting into the playoffs before totally choking after the All Star break. They finished the season 11-19 after starting 31-21....falling one win short of making the playoffs.
At least when football arrives the BROWNS and BENGALS will make everyone forget about this. Well, the Bengals are trying to have a winning season for the first time in 15 years. The Browns are just....uh....I don’t know?!? They are too busy figuring out what to do after their tight end just wrecked his career on a motorcycle [ask Jay Williams how fun that is]. Soldier Winslow's 1.5 game career won't get any longer for a while as he will miss the entire 2005 season. And those BLUE JACKETS just watched the 2005 season go by without one puck dropped.
The whole state seems to be in a funk. But, at least someone will have to win this weekend's games at the "Great" American Ball Park.
Read more of the highs and lows of Ohio sports on The Ohio LeBlog
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