Is there any other major sports city with less hope than Cincinnati? Think about it. Try to think of another city with multiple professional franchises in which none of them have a glimmer of hope of making it to the sports "promise land". Can you? I can't.

I will preface this by saying that I was born in Jewish Hospital, grew up with the Big Red Machine and Kenny Anderson posters on my wall, attended Miami University, and live in the thriving metropolis of West Chester, which with the exception of those sports teams offers everything that downtown Cincinnati does. At least until the Banks project is done in 2028-ish. So I am a fan, born and bred.

Unfortunately those posters were almost the last evidence of good memories of pro sports in this town. For almost 2 decades, the closest we've been to a championship was an Al Leiter pitching performance in game #163 and a destroyed knee on the first pass of a Steeler game. I had the privilege (and pain) of attending both events.

But all I'm looking for, asking for, pleading for is hope...on the Reds front, management is begging for patience while they put their plan and players in place. I have heard this before...a few times. The fact that someone who has "done it before" is saying it, doesn't make me feel one bit better. Lots of things have been done only once.

Remember when Marvin Lewis was making as much as other head coaches just coordinating a defense because of his "guru" status? Now he can't get his defense out of the bottom 10 in the league. Sometimes, things only happen once.

Do I think Jocketty and Castellini want to win? Of course! But passion doesn't always lead to positive results. What leads you to believe they will win next year, or the year after? The team you are looking at is the team they will field for the next 3 years essentially. If they improve by 8 games a year over the next 3 years, they would still not be in first place based on the Cubs record this year.

Without Dunn, Jr. and David Ross on the books, they have almost $30 million a  year freed up in salary. Last time I checked there was no one in MLB making that much (yet), so in theory they can go after anyone right? Vlad Guerrero? Brandon Webb next year? But when you mention those names, the general public response is "Well of course we're not going to get them." I know this is true but why does it have to be? It is this mentality that is making the Reds the same as the Royals. A team who can bring up youth and talent but once they make money-there they go to playoff contenders and the Reds get more prospects to start over yet again. What does it say about your team when your highest paid player (and by a couple million) plays in about 60 innings a season? Signing the best player out of Venezuela doesn't give me hope. I hear "just wait until the offseason, there will be a couple good new signings", no one big but a couple of "solid contributors". Well I'm tired of waiting. God Bless Jay Bruce when he's playing for the Dodgers in 5 years.

As far as the Bengals, why would anyone be surprised that Chris Henry is back in stripes? What else would make you believe that the character issue is important to Mike Brown? Words? Because they said so? They know the fans want to win so bad that they would bring OJ back if they knew he could be productive.

Do you think Mike Brown cares what you think? He cares if you buy a ticket...and for this year, his work is already done. Every ticket is sold for the season...he doesn't even have to show up and he won't lose a dime. Sure people can not go and he'll lose a bit of concession money but in the long run, once people like me quit going to the circus, there will be a line of others waiting to take my ticket and experience the frustration for themselves.

I weep for Carson Palmer, the face of this franchise, who will be the next Dan Marino...the next best QB to not win a Super Bowl (or even play in one). People will say, "Weeping for a millionaire? Please!". But he is basically putting his effort and life's work on display for an organization who does not have the ability to help him succeed. Mike Brown wants to be a "redeemer". Admirable...but how about "redeeming" some value to those season ticket holders whose prices you have raised by almost 50% since PBS opened up with it's sandy field?

Hire a GM that is not a relative or the head coach, get some scouts that are not coaches, and give us hope. Or hell, give me the $600,000 you are giving to Chris Henry...I can do a lot of good for a lot of deserving people with that. Key word....deserving. The Chinese proverb only made it to "fool me twice, shame on me." It didn't go so far to say, "Fool me five times...

Hope. A glimmer of hope. That is all I pray for. As I cross the threshold of 40, I think back to all the good memories I had as a kid going to Riverfront and watching a team that you could talk about and know that in the last quarter of their seasons, you could watch and hope knowing that the games were meaningful. My son is 8 and becoming a sports fanatic. All I want it to take him to a game late in the season that was meaningful or even, dare I say it, a World Series or Super Bowl? Hell at this point I'd take a wild card game...

When I was a kid, I never understood why people would go to a Reds or Bengals game and just stand around and talk instead of watching the game. "Why don't these people just go to a bar?" Now I know, because the majority of the games don't mean anything. They are social gatherings...why? Because there is no hope.

See you at the bar...