Loveland Magazine

LOVELAND MAGAZINE

News and Events from the Loveland, Ohio Area

Without fear or favor

Since 2004

Category: Sports

  • Events for Fentanyl Awareness Week in Loveland

    Events for Fentanyl Awareness Week in Loveland

    Event Information
    Last day to buy tickets is 06/12/2024, Midnight, (GMT-05:00) Eastern Time (US & Canada)

    Wednesday 6/12: Join us in front of Fleet Feet along the bike trail for a 5K. This community event is open to everyone and is FREE! Just show up in your DoitforJack shirt or purchase one there. 6:15 PM for Group Photo, race starts at 6:30 PM. Visit “The Works” afterwards for dinner and a % of sales will go back to the foundation.

    Thursday 6/13: Dine to Donate % of sales donated to the foundation. Ramsey’s Trailside, Paxtons Grill, Teak Sushi and Thai, and Tano Bistro.

    Friday 6/14: Free concert in Nisbet Park with Max Geers playing live music. Grab to-go dinner, DORA, or pack a cooler. Hang out with us for this family friendly community event. If you purchase tickets to Cindy’s Party, you can pick up you SWAG bag here. Wear your DoitforJack shirts!

    Saturday 6/15: Start your day with Yoga along the river, nap and then come to Cindy’s Friendly Tavern 125 Karl Brown Way.

    To purchase Yoga & Mimosas Tickets, click here. Saturday June 15th at Rodi Italian 9:30a.

    Jack’s Party at Cindy’s Friendly Tavern 3p-6p.

    Your ticket will include admission to the party, an event shirt, 2 drink tickets and additional “DoitforJack” SWAG. We will have live music and the grill fired up! You can pick up your event bag at Nisbet Park on Friday 6/14 5-7 or at the party. Tickets can be bought below. Wear your DoitforJack Shirt!

    NEW this year- a chance to win a week at this amazing house in Florida.  There are ONLY 250 tickets for $100 each. Can’t come? Great way to donate and win. Click HERE to purchase your winning ticket.

    The Do It For Jack Fentanyl Awareness Weekend would have marked Jack’s 27th birthday—and while we’ll spend the weekend celebrating Jack, the Jack Quehl Foundation will also be working hard to raise critical funding to help build awareness around the threat fentanyl poses to our community. Our goal? To save lives. Can’t make it? Donate HERE.

  • Reds Take Fans To The Brink of Madness

    Reds Take Fans To The Brink of Madness

    by Chris Ball

    Loveland, Ohio – The Roller Coaster Season Is In Danger Of Coming Off The Rails

    How many different ways can one team lose a baseball game? Well, in losing 12 of their last 14 and 15 of their last 19 the Reds have certainly found many of them. And most have been in excruciating fashion.

    On Monday night against the Diamondbacks it was a walk off two run single by former Red Kevin Newman and a blown save by Alexis Diaz. The Reds were in a position to walk away with a win after scoring two runs in the top of the eighth which featured a Mike Ford triple, to lead 5-4. In a stretch where their offense has struggled so mightily, scoring 5 runs off of 10 hits seemed at the time to be as refreshing as a pool of water to a man lost in a baking desert.

    Time was, seeing Alexis Díaz walk out of the bullpen in such a situation was enough to give Reds fans goosebumps at the anticipation of some electric stuff and the sound of the door slamming shut on the opposition.

    But not this night.

    Diaz proceeded to hit the first man he faced and walked the next two to load the bases with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning, before eventually surrendering the game winning hit to Newman. It was a troubling sign of the inconsistency and unreliability that has plagued this roster all season. The numbers simply look bleak, there is no way around it.

    Starting with Díaz, he converted his first 22 save chances last season and 37 overall. While his blown save on Monday was only his second in nine opportunities, the more conceding issue is that he has a 6.75 ERA in 16 appearances. In 14 2/3 innings this season, Díaz has allowed 12 walks and has hit three batters. This means that since August 1, 2023 Alexis Diaz has more walks + hit batters than he has strikeouts or innings pitched. Though plenty of Reds are struggling this year the issues with their closer is magnified due to the fact that they are likely going to play in a significant number of close games this year. With an offense that scores so infrequently, they cannot afford to have their go-to closer have games like Monday’s slip through his fingers.

    Losing such games is yet another disturbing trend for the 2024 Reds. They have both the most 1-run losses (9) and also the fewest 1-run wins (1). This only got worse after Wednesday’s 2-1 loss, unfortunately. Last season it was a much different story for the “Rally Reds” where they had 34 one-run wins which was the most in all of baseball. While injuries have ravaged this team (especially with the crippling announcement that TJ Friedl will miss 4-5 weeks with a fractured thumb, after just coming off the IL from a wrist injury) the magic just seems to be missing from this version of the team, at times.

    And then, you get a result like we saw on Tuesday night, a 6-2 victory over those same (very hot) Diamondbacks, where the Reds remind you what they can do in a more complete way. Will Benson hit a 2 run home run, Tyler Stephenson had 3 hits, Candalario and Fraley chipped in with two apiece. 9 different Reds collected hits on Tuesday night and the team scored their most runs in their last 15 games. When combined with a very efficient outing from Hunter Greene (2 runs, 5 hits, 5 strikeouts and only one walk) and a lockdown bullpen effort, it’s just about enough to give us you hope, especially as the Reds are 13-1 this season when scoring at least six runs.

    Then, just as fast as the hope manifested, it evaporated Wednesday afternoon. The Reds wasted a beautiful outing from Andrew Abbott in which he gave up just 1 run on 4 hits with 2 walks and 4 strikeouts in 7 innings. The offense again managed only one run off of three hits against a pitcher whose ERA was over 4 coming into the game.

    The loss was charged to Fernando Cruz who, like Alexis Díaz, has had some frustrating moments this year, but on balance has been one of the Reds’ most reliable bullpen arms. Cruz was able to get two outs on Wednesday but allowed a double to Pavin Smith who was immediately driven in by Lourdes Gurriel Jr. for the eventual game winning run. It was yet another hair pulling close loss that makes you wonder when the pain of this brutal stretch of play will end.

    Reds fans, myself included, have previously fallen back on the phrase “it’s early” when trying to hold out hope that the struggles and poor play was simply a phase and not a sign of a deeper, creeping malignancy within the team this year. There was always a belief that at some point the Reds might reach a turnaround, whether it be a key player catching fire, someone like Friedl returning from injury, or a promotion like Mike Ford helping light a much-needed spark, and that it would happen before the season slipped away.

    The hour grows late, unfortunately.

    The team sits 7 games under .500 and 8 games back of the division-leading Brewers, 43 games into the season, with a record of 18-25. By comparison, the Reds’ last five 41-game starts (and finishes):

    • 2023: 18-23 (82-80)
    • 2022: 12-29 (62-100)
    • 2021: 19-22 (83-79)
    • 2020: 18-23 (31-29)
    • 2019: 18-23 (75-87)

    Though the Bell era has never been known for stellar starts, the 18 wins the Reds have this year seem as though they are a bit of a letdown from the talent and ability level the players possess, injuries or not. Fans are understandably angry about the lack of signs of progress and they’ve had plenty of mediocrity to deal with over the years. Since Castellini took over the “majority share” holder in 2006, 17 years:

    • 1354-1501 (Win % .474)
    • 2 NL Central Titles
    • 4 playoff appearances (2-7, collapse to Giants, swept by Phillies)
    • They have averaged 4th place in the NL Central under his tenure.

    Keeping faith isn’t easy and it’s understandable that Reds fans are angry with the product on the field. But there are signs of life.

    As of Tuesday, May 14th, the Reds batting average is second worst in the league at .217 but their barrel percentage is 18th, they are 21st in hard hit percentage, and 4th in exit velocity. Thus, for as bad as their results behind the dish have been, it’s not all due to the fact that the swings and contact that they’ve made is “bad”. The foundation for a more serviceable offense is there and all it could take is a little more luck to break it open. So I personally believe it’s “still early” to stick a fork in the year, but that clock might strike midnight soon if the Reds can’t start winning games like they lost on Monday. Like much about baseball, getting back on the right track can’t be done overnight. If it happens it will be a painful and piecemeal incremental process that will depend on the rotation staying solid and getting a significant output from Spencer Steer and Elly De La Cruz. It certainly helps that Jeimer Candelario is playing better, hitting .297 with 11 hits, a homer, 7 RBIs and 3 runs in his last 10 games (not counting Tuesday’s very good outing). If he can elevate his play, with how off he appeared to be early on, there is no doubt that other Reds can follow suit and weather the current storm of a brutal schedule and stop the bleeding.

    If not, it could be a long summer in Cincinnati without meaningful Reds baseball on the docket at Great American Ballpark.

    Christopher Ball is a longtime Loveland resident and an attorney. He graduated from Loveland High School in 2003 and was a member of the football team before going on to become a coach’s assistant at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana. He has been following and rooting for the Reds and Bengals since the early 1990s and has been through the many ups and downs that fandom has wrought over the years.

  • Loveland Bike Trail: O’Bannon Creek bridge ribbon cutting May 22

    Loveland Bike Trail: O’Bannon Creek bridge ribbon cutting May 22

    Loveland, Ohio – The Ohio Department of Natural Resources and Ohio State Parks just announced that the new Loveland Bike Trail bridge over O’Bannon Creek in Historic Downtown Loveland will have a ribbon cutting ceremony on Wednesday, May 22 at 11:30 AM.

    The trail and bridge has been open to the public since May 2.

    The public is invited. The bridge is adjacent to Loveland’s Nisbet Park.

  • Joe Burrow is Back!

    Joe Burrow is Back!

    Bengals Fans Collectively Rejoice As Their Franchise Quarterback Returns.

    by Chris Ball

    The Cincinnati Bengals will only go as far as Joe Burrow will take them, it’s an immutable fact, the same as the sky being blue and water being wet. This was why the entire city was likely cheering at home to see their franchise quarterback return from a torn scapholunate ligament on his throwing hand on November 16 of last year against the Ravens, which required surgery.

    Before that, Burrow had been hampered by a calf injury that severely impaired his movement and his ability to plant and throw the football. But when he got healthy he won four of his last five starts before eventually suffering his season ending hand injury against Baltimore. He finished the 2023 season with 15 touchdowns, six interceptions and a 66.8 completion percentage across the 10 games that he played in. During those contests where he was healthy, such as against San Francisco, Buffalo, and Houston he threw for a combined 978 yards, 7 touchdowns and just two interceptions.

    After the injury, though Jake Browning went on a heroic run, and deserves a significant amount of credit for his leadership and tenacity, the Bengals ultimately fell short of making the 2023 playoffs by a very narrow margin. However, having a backup like Browning on the roster is absolutely critical to the team’s ability to contend, given the nature of the league and the ferocity that modern defenses can unleash.

    The 2024 Bengals added significant pieces at positions of real need. This included the signing of Trent Brown and bringing in Zack Moss at running back, ending the Joe Mixon era in Cincinnati. They also signed Mike Gesicki, a solid pass-catching tight end that hopefully plastered over a glaring hole at the position that Bengals’ fans have been clamoring to be addressed for months.

    The team has stood tough and dealt with trade requests from disgruntled but important plyers Tee Higgins and Trey Hendrickson, doing all they can to ensure that both will be on the roster next year to help this team, even if it is for only one more year. Their draft strategy was a successful one, taking Amarius Mims to solidify the future at right tackle, Kris Jenkins to fill gaps at the interior defensive line, and Jermaine Burton to add the potential of an explosive playmaker at receiver given the departure of Tyler Boyd (and likely Higgins after next year).

    The front office has been busy ensuring that when Joe Burrow is completely healthy, he has the potential for a very solid team around him in terms of protection and offensive firepower. Losing a franchise quarterback as young as Burrow to two season-ending injuries has made Bengals fans understandably wary of getting their hopes too high, but its easy to forget all the pain and heartbreak seeing him take the field again and sling the pigskin, even if it is just an offseason workout.

    Bengals fans certainly hope that 2024 is a positive step forward for a team that was in the Super Bowl just two short years ago. Joe Burrow’s hand injury honestly appears, from the film, to be a non-issue, but it is easy to expect his health to be a major question each week this upcoming season. Orlando Brown, Jr., Trent Brown, as titanic men, can certainly address those concerns, along with their fellow linemen, but there is no question that the Bengals’ most valuable commodity (perhaps ever) cannot be allowed to be roughed up as much as he has been in his young career.

    But for now, it’s enough to just sit back, watch Number 9 take the field in the orange and black, and imagine how glorious it will be to take it all in come that first game in the fall.

    Christopher Ball is a longtime Loveland resident and an attorney. He graduated from Loveland High School in 2003 and was a member of the football team before going on to become a coach’s assistant at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana. He has been following and rooting for the Reds and Bengals since the early 1990s and has been through the many ups and downs that fandom has wrought over the years.

  • TJ Friedl Returns to Action for the Louisville Bats

    TJ Friedl Returns to Action for the Louisville Bats

    by Chris Ball

    The Reds Outfielder Is A Step Closer to Rejoining the Reds And Giving Them Much Needed Help in the Lineup

    It’s no secret that the Reds are not playing with a full deck. Their offense has been frustratingly inconsistent this year. They are 28th in batting average at .218, 26th in on base percentage at .299, and 28th in hits per game. Luckily for them, they are in the top 13 in the league in doubles, triples, and home runs, all of which has lead them to the 7th best offense in terms of runs per game, posting 4.8 per contest. Each of their current impact players have struggled at various times this year, though the likes of Elly De La Cruz and Spencer Steer have done their parts to carry the team on offense. There’s also signs of life from Jeimer Candelario who looked almost unplayable at times early this season, but banged out 5 hits in the Padres series including a home run and two RBIs.

    But the rest of the Reds offense has come up largely empty so far this year. Only a handful of Reds are hitting above .230 and many are below the Mendoza Line. Although it is still early in the season, this pace is clearly unsustainable long term and won’t bring this team any closer to a playoff birth or even a winning season. What’s made it all the more frustrating is that the offensive woes have only worsened as the Reds pitching has blossomed, with Nick Lodolo dominating and Hunter Greene throwing much better.

    The hope is that with Friedl’s return, should all go well, the Reds will get a much needed increase in their offensive firepower that they’ve otherwise been missing. Friedl suffered a fractured wrist during spring training. Nick Martini, Stuart Fairchild, and Bubba Thompson simply are not getting it done in the outfield. And in Thompson and Martini’s cases, it looks unlikely that they ever will be able to have long term success at this level.

    Friedl hit .279 last year with 18 homers and 66 runs batted in, and those are numbers that the Reds would absolutely take in a heartbeat over what most of their outfielders have given so far this season. Most importantly, he hits left handed pitching at a .354 clip, which is exactly what this team needs as they have looked baffled against southpaws so far in 2024.

    In his first rehab start for the Louisville Bats on Thursday night, Friedl went 1-3 with a double and a walk, and looked good at the dish with several hard hits. Though it is just the beginning of TJ’s rehabilitation stint, Reds fans are ready to see one of their favorite players return and perhaps give some more pop to the bats at Great American ballpark.

    Watch the video of Friedl’s double by clicking here.

    Christopher Ball is a longtime Loveland resident and an attorney. He graduated from Loveland High School in 2003 and was a member of the football team before going on to become a coach’s assistant at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana. He has been following and rooting for the Reds and Bengals since the early 1990s and has been through the many ups and downs that fandom has wrought over the years.

  • Elly De La Cruz Makes History For The Reds

    Elly De La Cruz Makes History For The Reds

    Elly De La Cruz with a young fan at this year’s Reds Fest

    by Chris Ball

    Loveland, Ohio – Baseball is America’s pastime, and its records stretch back more than a century. And so when such records are broken, it means just a little bit more as compared to any of the other major American sports. This is why when fans read what Elly De La Cruz has accomplished these past few weeks, it makes it all the more impressive.

    With his monster April, Elly is now the only player since at least 1901 with at least 8 home runs and 17 steals in a calendar month. Oh by the way he also uncorked a throw to first at a jaw dropping 106.9 miles per hour. When he struggled at the beginning of the season Reds fans questioned whether De La Cruz had the focus and discipline necessary to make it at the major league level. Those criticisms are much quieter now given all that he has accomplished and how it seems that he has carried this team given the struggles or absence of other very important Reds players.

    The other important point to consider for De La Cruz is how his game has improved just over the course of the early part of the season. He’s cut his strikeout rate from 50 percent to 30 percent and increased his walk rate up to around 15 percent when it had been as low as 5 percent. Though Elly’s other hitting numbers may pop off the page a bit more, the evolution of his plate discipline is what makes those numbers possible.

    His offense isn’t the only thing getting better. It was difficult to watch Elly muff routine ground balls or sail easy throws during the first few games of the season. But that all seems like a distant memory, far in the rear view, as we watch him play now. His defense has greatly improved and, while still raw at times, is something he’s clearly refining at one of the most physically demanding positions in defensive baseball.

    Though it is only his first full season at this level, Elly has clearly shown that he has all the tools necessary to be a star in Major League Baseball not just years firm the road, but right this very moment. The future is now for Elly and the Reds and we are all privileged to watch.

    On another important note for the Reds, perhaps Jeimer Candelario is beginning to slowly turn things around. Against the Padres on Tuesday night he had two more hits including a solo homer, albeit in a losing effort. After posting some of the worst metrics of his career, Candelario has two multi hit games in a row and broke an 0-19 slump. If he starts to produce at even average levels it will be a big boost to a ball club fighting and scraping for every win it can get in the ultra competitive National League Central.

     

    Christopher Ball is a longtime Loveland resident and an attorney. He graduated from Loveland High School in 2003 and was a member of the football team before going on to become a coach’s assistant at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana. He has been following and rooting for the Reds and Bengals since the early 1990s and has been through the many ups and downs that fandom has wrought over the years.

  • An Appreciation of Our Reds

    An Appreciation of Our Reds

    by Kyle Bush

    When the Reds faced the Texans over the weekend, it prompted me to reflect on the impact that facing the same club ended up having on the Reds’ 2023 season (and perhaps the modern history of the franchise, going forward?). That series turned everything around in a big way a year ago, when the Reds ended up surprising everyone by man-handling the team that a mere 6 months later would become the World Champion Texas Rangers – by sweeping them with 3 dramatic come-from-behind wins at Cincinnati’s own GABP. And 2 of those wins were shockingly glorious walk-off victories. Certainly none of that high-flying drama had been expected. But for me – and I suspect other long-time Reds fans – that series is what started to help rekindle the unique baseball-specific feeling fans of the game are susceptible to, at least in small doses between long stretches of lean years, that makes us believe we may be getting a turn at having one of those rare but precious things: a Team of Destiny. It certainly helps explain why we die-hard but sometimes tortured fans keep coming back for more.

    Because of how significant last year’s Texas series ended up being, I found myself appreciating all over again how far this team has come. The Reds began the 2023 season a disappointing 7-15 going into the matchup with Texas and were just coming off a miserable and humiliating 4-game sweep by the Pirates in Pittsburgh. The pure joy the young Reds team showed when they pulled out of that losing tailspin in such grand fashion seemingly gave our beloved squad a rocket boost, and fed their desire to take things to another level of play that only continues to grow with these guys. Our boys.

    Prior to this weekend’s series, I made a point to look up an article from the final game of that sweet sweep last year. It was worth reading. In fact, it was a little like looking back at a video of my child’s first steps; only in this case it was my adopted kids – the young-but-hungry 2023 Cincinnati Reds who ultimately endeared themselves to a national audience so much that, starting sometime in June, they had folks calling them “America’s Team.” And as it turned out, even though they ended up 2 victories shy of making the playoffs, they still ended up having a year to remember for fans who had slowly but surely noticed that The Boys were back, and they were prepared to show the world how fun baseball can be.

    So yes – a hat-tip to (current Washington National) Nick Senzel for hitting that walk-off homerun in the series finale and helping our Reds pull off a season-changing series sweep last April. To me, it felt like the first domino in a happy chain reaction had not only been pushed, but hit with a bat, signaling that something new and interesting and delightful was being launched then and there. They seemed to be a different team after that. One that remains determined to play an exciting brand of baseball that, as fans, we should all fully embrace, appreciate, and not take for granted. Someday we will miss this team. I, for one, intend to enjoy the heck out of them while they’re young, inspired, hungry, together, and playing for us. Even the idea of them someday not being together makes me practically choke up. This team will get you hooked if you give them a chance.

    Ironically (ironic-Elly?), about 5 weeks after feasting on the soon-to-be world champion Texans, an injury to Senzel led to (then 21-yr-old) Elly de la Cruz’s major league call-up to the Reds on June 6. Safe to say, right from the start it was clear no one had ever seen anyone quite like this guy. The very next day EDLC smacked his first major league homerun, a 458-foot rocket. They grow up so fast, these young future superstars. Two short weeks later, perennial Reds team captain Joey Votto had this all-time classic quote about Elly : “He’s the best runner I’ve ever seen, and he has the most power I’ve ever seen. And he has the strongest arm I’ve ever seen.” And three days after Quote-Machine Votto said that, on June 23, in the 15th major league game he played in, Elly hit for THE CYYYYCLLLLLE!!! against the Braves, which proved to be critical production in one of the most exciting and suspenseful regular season games I’ve ever seen. The Reds finished all their scoring in that game by the 6th inning, then they somehow held off the furious comeback attempt by a powerful Braves offense to squeak out an 11-10 victory over one of the top-tier teams in the National League. That win capped off a 12-game winning streak for the Reds in exhilarating fashion, and the city was fully abuzz as everyone whose love of Reds baseball had maybe been dormant the past few years was suddenly awakened to this team of energized young phenoms. And it just kept going from there. Case in point from our guy Elly – on July 8, a mere month into his major league career, he became the first Red in 104 years to steal 2nd, 3rd, and home in the same inning.

    The. Same. Inning.

    Great googly moogly can that guy fly. He is pure determination and joy on the basepaths, complete with lightning speed, flying hair, and his own pumped-up affirmations each step of the way. Honestly, if you don’t love the endless wonderful surprise of watching him play this game, then baseball probably isn’t for you.

    Seeing Elly progress from last year to this season, and even his maturation just since the beginning of the 2024 season, it seems to me that it would be a crime against baseball – and a slight to the endless possibilities and wonder of the human spirit – to take this man for granted. So let us not take this man for granted, Reds fans! Elly is not only going to be somebody in this game; he already is somebody in this game. He’s got the whole league sitting up and paying attention with amazement, awe, and appreciation, as people marvel about what the ceiling is for a guy with his unique set of abilities and talent. There may even be a little fear beginning to show by some opposing teams, if I’m reading correctly what it meant when a very good pitcher for a very good Phillies team walked Elly 4 times in one game last week. They weren’t intentional walks, but they sure didn’t look like they wanted to give him anything he might hit. It looked like they were not expecting that he’d lay off so many tempting pitches just out of the strike zone, but astonishingly that’s becoming part of his game now as well. In that case, he can level up from being an unparalleled disruptive force once he’s on base to now being a disruptive force who gets into the minds of opposing pitchers from the moment he steps into the batter’s box with his newly discerning eye for strikes.

    Obviously, I love watching this team play. So much so that I want everyone to love watching this team play. I would say, “See you at the ballpark,” but I probably won’t. I’ll be too busy watching the game. Still, if you want to see something you’ve never seen before, and things you may never forget once you witness them, you better get on board and catch Reds fever before you regret not doing so. This team is wild!

    Kyle Bush was a principal in Loveland Schools for 20+ years, but has been a Reds fan since The Big Reds Machine won the World Series in 1975 & 1976, when he was 5 then 6 years old.

  • The Bengals Address Key Needs In the 2024 Draft

    The Bengals Address Key Needs In the 2024 Draft

    Amarius Mims photo via Cincinnati Bengals on FaceBook

    by Chris Ball

    Loveland, Ohio – The 2024 Bengals have a clear set of goals entering the upcoming season: keep Joe Burrow upright and keep him healthy. That starts at one key position group: the offensive line. That group has come under intense scrutiny ever since the team took Burrow at the number one pick overall in the 2020 draft. The rate at which he has been sacked has been well documented. In 2021 it was a league high 51 times, and by 2023 he had been sacked the second-most times among all NFL quarterbacks since he entered the league. Burrow’s hits and his injuries are well-known factors league wide, as are the Bengals’ efforts to mitigate that damage and keep their franchise pillar on the field.

    While they have done well bringing in linemen in free agency, signing the likes of Alex Cappa and Ted Karras, it has been a very different story drafting and developing in the trenches. Whether it be Jonah Williams, Cedric Ogbuehi, or (dare we say it), Billy Price, the Bengals have yet to turn their top draft picks along the line into genuine stars that can show they can protect the most important position and player on the field on a consistent basis.

    Amarius Mims photo via Georgia Dogs Roster

    Bengals fans all hope that trend is coming to a close with the pick of Georgia offensive tackle Amarius Mims. He is an absolute titan of a man, at 6 foot 8 inches and 340 pounds such that it is hard to imagine a freight train being able to get past him. Never mind that he has less than 11% body fat and ran 5.07 in the 40-yard dash, there is simply no question that the physical traits and raw skill are unquestionable when it comes to Mims.

    Those traits and his potential were never in question, but there are some concerns that may prevent him from becoming the Bengals’ right tackle of the future. This issues namely come from his lack of consistent starting experience. He was able to start just eight games over three years at Georgia, and was out for six games last year with an ankle injury. While the injury itself isn’t necessarily one that is thought to impact his career long-term, any malady is magnified a hundredfold when the subject is a first round pick of the impact of a player like Mims. The lack of consistent starting and playing at Georgia means that it will be up to the Bengals staff, namely Frank Pollack, their offensive line coach, to transition Mims into the physically and mentally demanding world that is the National Football League.

    The signing of Trent Brown will undoubtedly help this transition, both from mentorship and timing angles. However, Brown has his own injury issues, as do the Bengals as a team, and there is therefore a significant possibility that Amarius Mims will see significant snaps in 2024. He has all the talent in the world to step in and contribute, it is now on the Bengals and their staff to make sure he is ready to be the tackle all Bengals fans hope he could be.

    As Bengals fans are learning, there simply isn’t enough money to go around when it comes to retaining players we all know and love. This was the case with D.J. Reader who signed a two-year deal with the Lions this past offseason. Reader was a leader and his run-stopping ability could not be denied. Run defense was an area where the team struggled overall last year (they were 26th in the league, allowing 126 yards per game) and losing Reader signaled that problem might only get worse in 2024 and beyond.

    Enter Kris Jenkins. The Bengals selected the Michigan defensive tackle and 2023 National Champion with the 49th pick in the second round of the NFL draft. According to PFF his run-stop percentage ranks in the 99th percentile and it’s hard to imagine a better fit for the Bengals’ needs in round 2 of the draft. When he’s paired with newly-signed Sheldon Rankins, who has a 71.5 pass rush grade and a 10.2 percent pass rush win rate (all very respectable numbers), that tandem could be very dangerous in the years to come, as they complement each other extremely well.

    The Bengals had significant holes to fill coming into 2024, but their first two picks appear well-positioned to address those needs and exceed expectations in the coming seasons. A smart and focused draft now could mean exceptional success during Joe Burrow’s prime years.

    Christopher Ball is a longtime Loveland resident and an attorney. He graduated from Loveland High School in 2003 and was a member of the football team before going on to become a coach’s assistant at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana. He has been following and rooting for the Reds and Bengals since the early 1990s and has been through the many ups and downs that fandom has wrought over the years.

  • How Are the Reds’ Most Important Players Performing So Far?

    How Are the Reds’ Most Important Players Performing So Far?

    Spencer Steer photo by Major League Photo Day

    by Chris Ball

    There Are Plenty of Interesting Players To Watch As the Reds’ Season Gets Going

    Loveland, Ohio – There was no question that this year, the Reds’ success would hinge upon the progress made by some of its youngest members. Although the average age of the Reds players is 28 years, good for 17th in Major League Baseball, perhaps no other team has asked so much of its newest major-leaguers. With so much pressure and the highest of expectations on their shoulders, it’s going to be important to be patient with the likes of Elly De La Cruz, Andrew Abbott, Hunter Greene, and Christian Encarnacion-Strand. The hope was that additions of veteran players like Jeimer Candelario and Frankie Montas, and the retention of Jonathan India would provide a stable core that might lead this team while its young players fought to adjust.

    While the results have been wildly varying across the board, the sample sizes are exceedingly small in terms of the entire big-league season. It’s therefore impossible to draw any lasting conclusion about how various players will perform based on the statistics as they stand now, but it is very interesting to see just who is starting off the season strong and who might be falling behind.

    Elly De La Cruz, for example, is one of the most polarizing players on the Reds’ roster and will likely remain so for quite some time. Early on, many fans noted his inability to hit any sort of breaking ball, and his reluctance to swing the bat at all. His inexplicable errors in the field at shortstop didn’t make his critics any quieter. However, it almost seemed to go unnoticed that during the course of this perceived struggles he consistently got on base (albeit not with flashy homeruns) and continued to create chaos on the basepaths. As of the writing of this article he’s been on base in 18 straight games and has a .318 average with 3 home runs and 7 runs batted in. In recent games he’s started hitting for power once again with several home runs and even one inside-the-park that showcased his exceptional speed. Many of De La Cruz’s loudest critics on Twitter and Facebook have suddenly gone very quiet as he’s improved with each week of the season. Elly’s talent and the hype surrounding hm will unquestionably lead to overreaction (both positive and negative) to every play he makes (or doesn’t make), but the most important factor to remember is that he is a young player with immense potential, and who deserves fans’ patience as he works to unlock his full potential.

    Hunter Green photo by Major League Photo Day

    In much the vein, Hunter Greene is a pitcher who faces tremendous expectations after being drafted second overall in 2017. He was awarded a 6 year 53-million-dollar contract in 2023 and while that deal is but a drop in the bucket compared to other marquee pitchers in the league, for a team like the Reds it is still a significant investment that shows how the Reds value Greene as a key part of their rotation going forward. Over his last 33 starts, Greene has pitched 175 innings with a 4.01 ERA and 240 strikeouts. While that is not necessarily “ace” material it is the mark of a solid starter at the major-league level and shows tremendous improvement over the prior seasons Greene has had. Even though he has been pitching for a few years, he is only 24 years old and has much to learn and plenty of time to develop. The pitcher Hunter Greene is now is not necessarily the player he will be in years to come. If he continues to improve as he’s shown so far, he could be a key piece to the Reds’ rotation in the future, despite the occasional rough outing.

    On the flip side, Jeimer Candelario has struggled mightily to start the year. He’s batting only .152 through 12 games and has not looked comfortable at any point since signing a 3 year 45 million dollar contract this offseason. While Christian Encarnacion-Strand has also had his difficulties at the plate, he has at least shown some signs of life. Candelario has shown no such flash thus far, and Reds fans are understandably worried. The team will need much more from Jeimer if they are going to contend this year.

    Spencer Steer photo by Major League Photo Day

    No early season discussion about the Reds would be complete without lauding the play of Spencer Steer. Of all the Reds’ young players, Steer seems to get less consideration than others, but this year he has outperformed them all. He was named the National League Player of the Week recently and is currently batting .372 with 3 home runs and 15 runs batted in. He’s been a consistent MLB leader in WAR and has also proven that he can play left field very well given that it is not necessarily the position where he’s most used to handling. He’s a threat to get a big hit any time he steps up to the plate, and he’s carried the Reds in games where others were underperforming at the dish. There is simply no question that without Steer, the team would be nowhere close to where they are in the standings.

    The first few weeks of the Reds’ season has provided plenty of highs, highlights, and frustrating moments. This team is going to have to fight and scrap for every win while the likes of McLain, Friedl, and Marte are unable to play, and that is exactly what the Reds are doing. If players like Candelario can get hot, this team can become even more of a threat to make a big push before they get some of their best players back on the diamond.

     

    Christopher Ball is a longtime Loveland resident and an attorney. He graduated from Loveland High School in 2003 and was a member of the football team before going on to become a coach’s assistant at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana. He has been following and rooting for the Reds and Bengals since the early 1990s and has been through the many ups and downs that fandom has wrought over the years.

  • Transgender student bathroom ban bill passes out of Ohio House Higher Education Committee

    Transgender student bathroom ban bill passes out of Ohio House Higher Education Committee

    Getty Image

    House Bill 183 would require Ohio K-12 schools and colleges to mandate that students could only use the bathroom or locker room that matches their sex assigned at birth.

    Local Cosponsors are:

    Jean Schmidt, District 62 (R)
    Jennifer Gross, District 45 (R)
    Thomas Hall, District 46 (R)
    Bill Seitz, District, 30 (R)
    BY:  – Ohio Capital Journal

    A bill that would ban transgender students from using the bathroom and locker room that matches up with their gender identity passed out of the Ohio House Higher Education Committee Wednesday by a 10-5 party line vote.

    State Reps. Beth Lear, R-Galena, and Adam Bird, R-New Richmond, introduced House Bill 183 which would require Ohio K-12 schools and colleges to mandate that students could only use the bathroom or locker room that matches their sex assigned at birth. It would also prohibit schools from allowing students to share overnight accommodations with the opposite sex.

    HB 183 now awaits further consideration in the House, which is next scheduled to be in session April 24.

    Parents, grandparents, and school superintendents asked Bird for this bill, he said.

    The American Medical Association officially opposes policies preventing transgender individuals from accessing basic human services and public facilities consistent with gender identity.

    HB 183 would not prohibit a school from having single-occupancy facilities and it would not apply to someone helping a person with a disability or a child younger than 10 years old being assisted by a parent, guardian, or family member.

    State Rep. Gayle Manning, R- North Ridgeville, thought about bringing an amendment to the committee that would have carved colleges and universities out of the bill, but she decided against it.

    “I’m hopeful we will continue to have these discussions on the removal of higher ed,” she said. “The reason being, we’re talking about adults. Universities are similar to a city with the number of students that they have. Frivolous lawsuits that will increase the cost of tuition eventually and the cost of our families.”

    Manning voted in favor of the bill even though she hopes lawmakers can continue conversations to “find a better solution.”

    Bird opposes taking the higher education component out of the bill.

    “The reason I oppose that is because we have college credit plus in Ohio,” he said. “We seventh graders going to college, kids in high school going to colleges and in that college environment, we got to make sure they are protected.”

    State Rep. Joe Miller, D-Amherst, vocalized his disdain for the bill before the committee voted.

    “Here we are again … taking away school districts and colleges’ ability and their leadership to make decisions that are best for providing safe, equitable access for all Ohio students,” Miller said. “I hope that this doesn’t see the floor and doesn’t see the governor’s desk.”

    More than 100 people submitted opponent testimony on HB 183 and more than 30 people submitted proponent testimony.

    “We do love and care about all kids,” Bird said when asked about all the backlash the bill has received. “Me and my Republican colleagues have heard from constituents all across the state. They may not have been loud. They may not have been vocal. They may not have come with a sign to the Statehouse, but we are here representing the vast majority of Ohioans who want protections.”

    Trans advocates speak out against HB 183

    Transgender advocates hosted a press conference following the House Higher Education Committee to voice their opposition to HB 183.

    Trans Ohio Board Member Carson Hartlage said HB 183 is harmful to all students, including cisgender students.

    “Most trans non binary and gender non conforming students only begin using restrooms that align with their gender identities after they’ve experienced some form of trauma when using a restroom that aligns with their sex assigned at birth,” Hartlage said.

    Thirty percent of LGBTQ+ students said they were prevented from using the bathroom that aligned with their gender, and 26% were stopped from using the locker room that aligned with their gender, according to Ohio’s 2021 state snapshot by GLSEN, which examines the school experiences of LGBTQ middle and high school students.

    When looking specifically at transgender and nonbinary students, 42% were prevented from using the bathroom that aligned with their gender and 36% couldn’t use the locker room that aligned with their gender, according to the Ohio GLSEN report.

    Ohio’s first openly transgender public official and member of the Gahanna-Jefferson Public Schools’ Board of Education Dion Manley shared his concerns.

    “As a trans man is I’ve been going into men’s restrooms for 25 years without incident,” Manley said. “I go visit the schools on a regular basis. So these legislators want me to go into a girls restroom in the elementary school, middle school, and high school.”

    Mallory Golski, civic engagement and advocacy manager at Kaleidoscope Youth Center, said how Ohio was recently at the center of history in a positive way with Monday’s eclipse.

    “We’re here reflecting on how we’re at the epicenter of another piece of history,” she said. “And unfortunately, we’re at the wrong place at the wrong time. Unlike the fleeting blackout of the total solar eclipse, the history I’m talking about here today at the statehouse leaves transgender youth in the dark.”

    Jeanne Ogden’s daughter would be directly impacted by this bill. Her daughter’s college classroom building does not have single-use restrooms in the building, forcing her daughter to go across the street to use the restroom.

    “These kids getting bullied and yes, their mental health is suffering,” said Ogden, the executive director of Trans Allies of Ohio. “Trans people are tired. Parents are exhausted.”

    Follow OCJ Reporter Megan Henry on Twitter.

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    Megan Henry
    MEGAN HENRY

    Megan Henry is a reporter for the Ohio Capital Journal and has spent the past five years reporting in Ohio on various topics including education, healthcare, business and crime. She previously worked at The Columbus Dispatch, part of the USA Today Network.

    Ohio Capital Journal is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.

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