Awesome
Kelly brought Casey and Peyton by Thursday night! I hadn't seen them since Tuesday morning. They got to hang out for a few minutes. I showed them all the stuff in my room, the stuff attached to my chest and explained what was going to happen Friday. Leave it to Casey to ask the key question: "Instead of putting in a pacemaker to jumpstart your heart when you faint, why don't they just figure out how to stop you from fainting?"

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Friday show
Bengals Breakdown
Buffalo Wings and Rings...Princeton Pike
Mo Egger will fill-in for me. He will be joined by David Fulcher and C. Trent.
It's a regular show with food, fun, prizes and football..........AND your calls with reaction to the game.

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UC-Pitt...it's a sellout
CINCINNATI - Tickets for the University of Cincinnati football team's Ring of Red matchup with Pittsburgh on Nov. 22 have sold out, the Department of Athletics announced Thursday.
The No. 19/20 Bearcats (8-2, 4-1 BIG EAST) and No. 20/19 Panthers face off Saturday at 7 p.m. in Nippert Stadium in a game televised by ESPN2. Cincinnati sits in first place in the BIG EAST standings, a half-game ahead of Pittsburgh and West Virginia.
In celebration of Ring of Red day, all UC fans are encouraged to show up early, be loud, and wear red. The Bearcats will don their new adidas-made red jerseys for the first time this season and the first time since 2003. 
Game day activities begin at 5 p.m. when the Bearcats make the "CAT WALK" from the Kingsgate Marriott heading south through Sigma Sigma Commons, ending up at the entrance to Nippert Stadium.
Patrons are advised to make their way into the Stadium beginning when gates open at 5:30 p.m. and should be in seats no later than 6:45 p.m. as UC football will honor 2007 team MVP Ben Mauk with his belated Senior Day presentation.

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Heard it from Hoard
GoBearcats.com
I don't ever remember being as geeked about an upcoming sporting event as I am about Saturday's UC-Pitt game.

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Hey...here I am
Good news....I'm alive and blogging.
Bad news.....I'm in the hospital and need a pacemaker.
What a wild couple of days.
After experiencing 36 hours of mild discomfort in the right side of my chest, I decided to go to the emergency room. While in the exam room I starting feeling lousy after taking Nitroglycerin and fainted. I have always fainted easily. 
But the next thing I knew there were 8 doctors and nurses surrounding me. This time, instead of just fainting, my heart actually stopped, and I flatlined for 60-seconds before coming out of it on my own.
Everyone was freaked. In fact, my cardiologist said he's never seen/heard of someone flatling for that long and coming out of it on their own. I didn't really believe it until I saw the printout. It's kind of scary to see a heartbeat and then nothing but a flatline from 12:06 to 12:07. I feel like I've become a case on "House".....everyone that sees me says, "so you are the guy that flatlined for 60 seconds.".
Long story short.... it appears my chest discomfort was simply stress related.
Luckily, the fainting shined the light on the bigger issue...my vagal response(fainting). My heart may have stopped for a shorter amount of time during other times I fainted but I didn't realize it. This time I was on a monitor that recorded the event.
Wednesday I went thru a boatload of testing....from the stress test on the treadmill to an echo and other stuff. There is no damage to my heart...no blockages...nothing...heart is strong and fine.
My options...roll the dice that the fainting/fllatlining doesn't happen again..while I'm alone or for a longer amount of time...OR.....get a pacemaker to shock my heart if/when it does occur again.
I'll take Door #2 and pacemaker. I'll probably have it done Friday.
I'm in the excellent care of my two new favorite doctors...the best in the business......Cardiologist Stuart Steinberg and Electrophysiologist Sheldon Brownstein.
If not for John Fay's column in The Enquirer (about his heart issues) I don't think I would have gone to the emergency room Tuesday. Thanks John!
I feel fine....no pain or discomfort. I'm a little bored....I have to sit around Thursday and do nothing. The burger Kelly brought me beat the mystery meat served for dinner. A nurse did come room to room with ice cream Wednesday night!
I have cable, (I watched UK-UNC and will watch the Bengals) and my laptop.
And hey, nothing beats being alive.
I really miss Casey and Peyton...they are not allowed on my wing.
Nick will fill in again Thursday. Mo will host Bengals Breakdown Friday at Buffalo Wings and Rings with David Fulcher and C. Trent.
I told the doctors I have to be up and ready by Sunday. A month ago I bought tickets to take Peyton to see The Cheetah Girls at US Bank Arena.
So..... this is my first official blog posting from a hospital.
I'll be blogging and answering emails Thursday. Catch you then.
PS
Since I'm gone, the Reds can go ahead and make some moves

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Thursday thoughts from the hospital room
*Is the Bengals game tonight good for a man in my condition?:)
*Nurse today looks like Mary McCormack...as Marvin would say, that's a good thing.
*Breakfast of french toast and sausage links. Amazing something that looks so good can taste so blah.
*Ever try sleeping in a hospital room....with nurses checking blood pressure, temp, ect?
*My What If Sports Hardball Dynasty team went on a seven game winning streak without me.
*Hey, 9:30 am, The Jerry Springer show is on against the Tyra Banks show...tough call.
10am, Hey, Lap's on ESPN.....Chad did what?
*10:30am, Kelly brings McDonalds for breakfast...yes!
*11am, hospital chaplain Mike stops by....says he reads the blog and listens all the time....very cool! What a kind man. I'll take all the friends in really high places I can get.
*11:15am, your email thoughts and prayers are overwhelming...thank you.
*11:40am, Dr. Steinberg stops by....says he and Dr. Brownstein agree I'm "an odd case". PS Kelly says she's know that for years. 
*11:50am, Rachel Ray is making pumpkin turnovers. I've told Kelly to take notes for Thanksgiving.
*1pm, lunch is here...amazing how food taste without salt. I either had chicken noodle soup of strips of paper.
*Listening to Joe and Byron call the XU game
*Green light: I'm offcially a go for a Friday morning pacemaker procedure. Maybe I ask Mo to use his webcam for it? Or a live blog from it:)
*4pm best news of the day...report card day. Casey got straight A's.....Peyton got straight O's....for Outstanding!

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From the Bengals
Bengals wide receiver Chad Ocho Cinco will be deactivated for tonight's game at Pittsburgh, for violation of a team rule. The Bengals will have no further comment until after the game.

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Chad stuff.....did he really over sleep for a meeting?
FOX Sports Radio NFL Insider, Adam Schefter of the NFL Network, told Brian Webber and James Washington why Chad Johnson may have been deactivated for this evening's game in Pittsburgh...  
SCHEFTER: I got a call this morning, very early this morning, that there was some type of altercation, whatever that may be, with the Bengals last night where either, and I don't have full specific details, there either was a fight or he walked out of a team meeting or both. And I called the Bengals early this morning, I left a message. I didn't hear back, and then all of a sudden about 45 minutes or an hour later I got an e-mail that the team had deactivated Chad Johnson tonight. They would have no further comment until after the game. But I think what happened was the model behavior that he has been on throughout the course of the year certainly went on reserve. Basically he resorted back to being the old Chad Johnson we've heard about. Because if you'll remember at the start of the year there was a verbal deal that was made where if he was on his best behavior, didn't cause any problems, didn't do anything, the Bengals would agree to sit down and listen to what he had to say during the off season about a potential new contract or a trade, or whatever it is that would make him happy. Well clearly this does not go along with what the Bengals had requested from Chad Johnson at the beginning of the season. And you have to wonder how this will affect his long term future there.