Alex Gonzalez done for the season
C Trent's blog

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16-year old says no to Reds
ESPN

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My stat of the day: Top 10 worst batting averages for a season by a Reds hitter
(Minimun 150 at-bats, since 1940)
1. Darrel Chaney .181 in 227 ab's, 1973
2. Bill Plummer .182 in 159 ab's, 1975
3. Benny Zientara .187 in 187 ab's, 1948
4. Corey Patterson .188 in 191 ab's, (Season still in progress)
5. Dennis Menke .191 in 241 ab's, 1973
Darrel Chaney .191 in 209 ab's, 1969
Johnny Edwards .191 in 282 ab's, 1966
8. Nick Essasky .193 in 322 ab's, 1984
9. Jason LaRue .194 in 191 ab's, 2006
Eddie Miller .194 in 299 ab's, 1946

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Big East announces conference matchups
GoBearcats.com
UC will face the regular-season BIG EAST champion Georgetown University, Providence College, and St. John's University in home-and-home series.

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Anyone need a cart girl?
Ohio's Golf

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Show preview
Topics
Reds
Majoring in Athletics
Mt Rushmore of Sports
50 Strangest Baseball Moments

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Guess it's pile on David Weathers day
Oh how soon we forget.
Weathers had a bad game last night. Horrific.
Yet he had the 2nd best ERA on the team in June.... 1.98 in 14 games.
His ERA was 1.17 in his last eight appearances and 3.28 in 27 appearances since coming off the DL.
He had the best percentage of preventing inherited runners from scoring on the team entering last night.....allowing just 1 of 11 runners to score: 9%
For comparison
Cordero 7 of 9 inherited runners scored (78%)
Burton 6 of 14 (43%)
Bray 8 of 19 (42%)
Affeldt 10 of 29 (34%)
Lincoln 8 of 26 (31%)
Also....Weathers had retired the first batter faced 63% of the time.....Cordero 51%
And one year ago Weathers saved 33 of 39 games....85%
Cordero has saved 15 of 18 games.....83%
Weathers bring something this team needs more of....professionalism and accountability.
I'll be sad to see him go in the next couple of weeks.

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Maxim Hometown Hottie
Careful opening

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Former Bearcat injured
Indy Star
.......expected to start at strong-side linebacker this season, recently suffered a torn pectoral muscle during the team's offseason conditioning program, according to a report on NFL.com. The team declined comment, but a person with knowledge of the incident confirmed the injury.

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Majoring in Athletics
I need you to clear your mind. I need you to think out of the box.
I want you to consider allowing a high school athlete to major in Athletics in colllege.
I've never understood why people are such snobs when it comes to a college education and the value society places on book smarts vs sports skills. Some people can play the violin. Some can sing, paint, are good with numbers or want to design buildings. More power to them.
Why is that different from those individuals good at putting a basketball through the net, hitting a fastball or throwing the deep ball? Who are you to place more value on one skill set over the other? Who are you to force an athlete to choose a major, other than what they do best, and then force them into a classroom to study it? Did you choose to major in what you were interested in, enjoyed and did best? Why shouldn't an athlete get the same chance?
If a high school student wants to play sports on the pro level, why not surround them with enough to give it their best shot? Or at least give them the best shot and provide a fallback "Plan B" if it doesn't happen?
I majored in Radio/Television at Butler University. I wanted to go into communications. Butler prepared me. If Johnny Jumpshot wants to play in the NBA, why should he not get to take classes that prepare him?
College athletes should be required to take core classes, like everyone else. Classes from math to sciene, english and social studies. After that, build their classes around the pursuit of an athletic career. Just like I took classes built around broadcasting.
If I wanted to play basketball or baseball, my classes might include:
Nutrition, Training, Finance, Sports Marketing, Media, Coaching, Event Planning, History of the Sport, Physical Education.. I would get to prepare myself for a chance at a pro career. I would get to prepare myself for a life without a pro career or after a pro career.
Of course I would get class credit for practices, games and offseason conditioning. Why not? I would be working on my craft. Just like you working on the craft of being an accountant.
My teachers would include my head coach, position coach and strength and conditioning coach. I'd also learn about being an athletic director, physical education teacher, coach, sports information directior, broadcaster, trainer, etc. I'd take classes taught by former athletes, agents, SID's, and broadcasters. I'd learn the long odds I face at a pro career. I'd hopefully learn my other career options. But how dare you tell me my craft is silly, doesn't matter or that odds say I'll never make it so I should not try.
You worry about your craft, I'll worry about mine.
Now remind me....why is major in atheltics such a bad thing?

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Lexington Little Leaguer hangs out with White Sox
Lexington Herald Leader
Bender, who can catch and throw while balancing on his right leg, received a personalized White Sox jersey with Swisher's number 30 on the back.
(Adam will be a guest of the Reds Sunday)

(AP photo)

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UK basketball museum closes
Lexington Herald Leader
The museum had a history of financial struggles dating to its inception in 1999. That history led, inevitably it seemed, to a University of Kentucky news release on Tuesday that officially, if vaguely, announced its demise.

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On this date
1903 Ed Delahanty, who once hit four homers in one game, goes over a Niagara Falls' railroad bridge and drowns. The circumstances concerning the Senators' outfielder death is never discovered.
1963 In one of baseball's most memorable pitching duels, Giants' Juan Marichal and Braves' Warren Spahn both hurl 15 scoreless innings before Willie Mays ends the marathon with a homer off Spahn in the bottom of the 16th giving San Francisco a 1- 0 win.

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Fogg fantastic at AAA
Louisville Courier Journal
Forget the nine days Josh Fogg has remaining on his major league rehab assignment. He's ready now.

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Franklin vs Hamill in UFC 88
MMAJunkie.com
UFC 88, which features a main event between Chuck Liddell and Rashad Evans, takes place at Phillips Arena in Atlanta. The Franklin-Hamill fight will likely be the night's co-main event.

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Bruce in the outfield
Before you get halfway through this, roll your eyes, and say, "Now he hates Bruce", just think about it. I'm disappointed in Bruce in the outfield. He misses the cutoff man too often. He often appears nonchalant in fielding balls. He has a maddening habit of taking his eye off the ball when he is fielding balls on the ground. Watch how many times he reaches to pick up a ball that has stopped rolling and doesn't get it the first time. I know he's a rookie. I know he's just 20 years old. I just don't understand how somebody that has played baseball since he was probably five years old, still has these correctable issues. And how were the issues not fixed through six levels of the Reds minor leagues?

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Local product faces Reds Wednesday
Pirates starter John VanBenschoten is a local product from Milford High School (graduated in '98). He attended Kent St. and was a first round pick of the Pirates in 2001 as a pitcher even though he played mostly 1B in college. He led the NCAA's with 31 HR's his junior year. This is the first time pitching in Cincinnati.

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The June Swoon
Reds batters hit .218, their lowest average for a single month since they hit .217 in May 1996.

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Majoring in athletics
I talk about this just about every year. And I usually get yelled at.
I think the only people who like the idea, other than me, are Jason Whitlock and Mike DeCourcy. Why is this so hard for people to embrace?

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UC trustees reward Zimpher
Business Courier of Cincinnati
"You're simply getting things done," said trustee Gary Heiman, whose compensation committee approved a 22 percent bonus for Zimpher on June 9 despite Zimpher's request that the bonus be limited to 15 percent. The committee also bumped Zimpher's car allowance by $3,000 and extended the same increase in base pay as that received by UC faculty this year. The compensation changes brings Zimpher's total base pay to $419,000 for the fiscal year starting July 1.

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This topic is always fun....we will do the national angle and the local angle.
Building the Mt Rushmore of Sports
CBS Sports
There are many monuments in the United States that fill us with a sense of national pride. The Statue of Liberty, the Liberty Bell and the Vietnam Wall are a few that come to mind. But when selecting a monument worthy enough and perfectly set-up for the sports treatment, Mount Rushmore inevitably comes to mind.

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Speaking of growing Reds fans from a young age
Reds Heads Kids Club
Being a Reds Heads member is a great way for kids to show their Cincinnati Reds pride and be part of the coolest club in all of Reds country!

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Man dies after assault at softball game
MSNBC
Sean Sanders, 27, ran off the field after punching Daniel Andrews, 37, in the head at the end of the game Sunday afternoon in Parma, a Rochester suburb, and was captured a mile away some six hours later, authorities said.