Gilyard feature
Palestra.Net
Just a few years ago, Cincinnati WR Mardy Gilyard was living on the streets with dreams of going back to school and playing football again. Now he's a primary playmaker for the BCS-bound Bearcats. Ryan Cost of palestra.net has more.

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Giants interested in Edwin
John Fay, Enquirer

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Bengals news
    Placed G/OT Kirk Barton on the Reserve/Injured list. Barton, a rookie from Ohio State, suffered a high ankle sprain yesterday in practice. Barton entered the NFL this year as a seventh-round draft choice of Chicago and played in Chicago's Sept. 7 season opener at Indianapolis. Following stints on the rosters of Miami and San Francisco (no games played), he was signed by the Bengals on Nov. 28 from the Miami practice squad. He was a Bengals game-day inactive last week vs. Baltimore.
      Signed rookie HB James Johnson to the roster from the Bengals practice squad. Johnson (5-11, 202; Kansas State) originally signed with Cincinnati as a college free agent on May 2 of this year. He played in all four preseason games, with 94 rushing yards on 21 carries (4.5) and two receptions for 10 yards. He was waived on Aug. 30, and had been on the practice squad since Aug. 31.

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Carson update
C. Trent
Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer has been throwing "all week," head coach Marvin Lewis said on Friday and reported Palmer's injured right elbow is responding well.

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Interesting note on Reds and Josh Hamilton
Marlins.com
Hamilton definitely still had size and strength working for him when he was being considered for the '06 Rule 5 Draft. But he hadn't played all that much, participating in 56 games in '02, then not again until the '06 season. That summer, with Hudson Valley in the New York-Penn League, Hamilton managed to get only 50 at-bats before a knee injury ended his comeback. Still, the Reds, courtesy of a draft-day trade with the Cubs, took a shot that Hamilton still had the skills to be a Major Leaguer.
"I had the pick, it's the night before the Rule 5," Cubs scouting director Tim Wilken recalled. "We had not seen the guy play in four years. He played for three weeks and came up lame. I went downstairs to sell the pick. I asked every club down there that I could find. The only team that made a bid was the Reds, [scouting director] Chris Buckley and [GM] Wayne Krivsky, and they went with it. They didn't see him either. They went on a whim."

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Compare and contrast
Cincinnati Bengals
Administration (7)
Mike Brown President
Pete Brown Senior Vice President - Player Personnel
Katie Blackburn Executive Vice President
Paul Brown Vice President - Player Personnel
John Sawyer Vice President
Troy Blackburn Vice President
Jan Sutton Administration Assistant
Player Personnel (7)
Jim Lippincott Director of Football Operations
Duke Tobin Director of Player Personnel 
Greg Seamon Scout
Scouting Consultants: Earl Biederman, John Cooper, Bill Tobin 
Debbie LaRocco Personnel Assistant
Indianapolis Colts
Administration (7)
James Irsay, Owner and CEO
Bill Polian, President
Casey Coyle Irsay, Vice President
Pete Ward, Senior Executive Vice President
Bob Terpening, Executive Vice President
Tom Zupancic, Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing
Bill Brooks, Executive Dir. of Administration
Football Operations (19)
Chris Polian, Vice President of Football Operations
Steve Champlin, Director of Football Administration
Tom Telesco, Director of Player Personnel
Dom Anile, Sr. Consultant to Player Personnel
Clyde Powers, Director of Pro Player Personnel
Todd Vasvari, Eastern Regional Scout
Bob Ferguson, Special Asst. to the Dir. of Player Personnel
John Becker, Area Scout
Ryan Cavanaugh, Area Scout
Mark Ellenz, Area Scout
Bob Guarini, Area Scout
Byron Lusby, Area Scout
Matt Terpening, Area Scout
Kevin Rogers, Pro Scout
J. W. Jordan, Salary Cap/Personnel Analyst
Stefani Paul, Player Development Administrator
Jamie Moore, Scouting Assistant
Jon Shaw, Scouting Assistant
Debbie Finn, Asst. to the Director of Player Personnel

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Former Bearcat facing drug charges
WCPO
A former University of Cincinnati Bearcats basketball player is facing charges after sheriff's deputies intercepted 11 pounds of marijuana.

 

Story on Corie in September, 2008
UC Magazine
These days the father of five says he doesn't miss the "bling-bling" lifestyle. And he's happy to exchange a hip night at a West Coast club for a Midwest birthday bash at Chuck E. Cheese's.
"I can't even explain it," he says. "My wife and my kids are basically all I live for. I've been blessed to have beautiful, healthy, cute kids. And they all have great personalities. They are just a joy. I know they love me as much as I love them."

 
(photo/Lisa Ventre)

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Gallery of the week: Jamie Eason is back New photos
Careful opening

Gallery of last week: Lucy Pinder
Careful opening

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Bengals' receiver duo may be short-lived
Indy Star
The pass-catching tandem of T.J. Houshmandzadeh and Chad Johnson, together since Oregon State in 2000, may be splitting.
At least according to Houshmandzadeh.
"One way or another it will be, I think, whether it's him or me," he said of Cincinnati's impending offseason decisions.

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Avery gets six games for remarks
ESPN
"Mr. Avery has expressed remorse for his recent comments and has sought a professional anger management evaluation," NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said in a statement obtained by NHL.com. "I will require that he follow through with that process as a condition of his returning to the ice and that he complies with any and all recommendations."

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Remember when?
Bengals vs Colts this Sunday.
Think back to Bengals vs Colts two years ago...December 18, 2006.
It was a Monday Night Football game. Remember the excitement and build-up?
The Bengals had just reeled off four straight wins to get to 8-5.
The Colts had just allowed 375 rushing yards on 42 carries to Jacksonville in a 44-17 loss the week before.
The Bengals defense had allowed just 33 points in during their four game win streak, beating New Orleans 31-16 , Cleveland 30-0 , Baltimore 13-7 and Oakland 27-10.
That night the Bengals lost to Indy 34-16. Carson was just 14 of 28 for 176 yards and four sacks. Peyton Manning threw four TD's
The next week was the bad snap on the PAT and the Christmas Eve loss to Denver. The next week was Shayne's FG miss and the OT loss at Pittsburgh.
Needing just one win in their final three games, the Bengals lost all three.
The Bengals are 8-22-1 since kickoff of that Monday night game.

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Imagine sports without beer
Mike Bianchi, Orlando Sentinel
You see, I am doing what every red-blooded, beer-bellied American sports patriot should be doing right now: celebrating the ratification of the 21st Amendment to the United States Constitution.
It happened 75 years ago today on Dec. 5, 1933. That's when Prohibition was officially repealed in this country. Happy days are beer again!

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Willingham on Weis: "Maybe ND got it right"
Chicago Sun Times
Tyrone Willingham believes "Maybe Notre Dame got it right" in its decision to retain Charlie Weis for a fifth season, despite a record slightly worse than the one that cost Willingham the job as Irish football coach after three seasons.
"It's not just my issue, it's a college football issue - we have to give coaches a chance to do their job," Willingham said Thursday from Seattle, where he recently was fired as the University of Washington's coach after four seasons, the last of them winless.

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Football finals to stay in Canton, Massillon
Cleveland Plain Dealer
The Ohio High School Athletic Association's board of directors voted, 9-0, Thursday to pick up both option years on its contract with the Canton and Stark County Convention and Visitors Bureau.

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Great stuff
If you missed Cut Man's 8:30 interview with Xavier's BJ Raymond, it is worth checking out on the podcast page of 1530homer. What a sharp, mature, articulate guy that understands the "Xavier Way" and understands the meaning of leading. He had a fantastic explanation of how he's grown as a leader and who he's learned from. He admitted he's learned how to lead from former teammates and also learned how not to lead from former teammates. Great stuff.

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Colts at their best when time is short
Indy Star
The Colts take an 8-4 record into a Sunday meeting with Cincinnati at Lucas Oil Stadium. The margin has been four points or fewer in six of those eight victories, six points in another.
It might well be a lost season were it not for the Colts' 68-22 scoring advantage in the final two minutes of the second and fourth quarters. 

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Cats say give them Liberty
Lexington Herald Leader
"This is our 50th anniversary, and as the seventh-oldest bowl game, we'd love to have Kentucky," Liberty Bowl executive director Steve Ehrhart said. "We've been in close touch the last several years, and we have great respect for Coach Brooks and the job he's done at Kentucky."

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What happened to UL football?
Eric Crawford, Louisville Courier Journal
The time has come for some answers.
The University of Louisville suffered its most lopsided loss in two decades last night, 63-14 at Rutgers, and the questions can no longer be addressed as the product of an unreasonable fan base or a knee-jerk media.

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Reds keep ticket prices steady
Enquirer
"We made the decision in August," said Karen Forgus, vice president of communications and marketing. "(Owner) Bob (Castellini) was adamant because of the way the team played. He said they're not going up -- not one dollar."

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UK news
LEXINGTON, Ky. – University of Kentucky men’s basketball player Ramon Harris has been released from the hospital and is listed as day-to-day.
Harris and teammate Michael Porter collided during Wednesday night’s game against Lamar after chasing after a loose ball. Porter received 10 stitches to a laceration over his left eye, while Harris suffered a blow to the back of his head. He was taken to UK Chandler Hospital where he remained under observation over night until being released this afternoon.

UK basketball news
LEXINGTON, Ky. – University of Kentucky men’s basketball player Michael Porter did not practice Thursday due to swelling over his left eye.
He will be reevaluated on Friday and is considered day-to-day.
Porter and teammate Ramon Harris collided during Wednesday night’s game against Lamar after chasing after a loose ball. Porter received 10 stitches to a laceration over his left eye.

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Reds not that far from redemption
CBS Sports
For a team that lost 88 games last season, the Reds sure appear to be attracting a disproportionate share of the "if everything goes right ..." dark-horse buzz. It kinda makes sense: They're armed with one of the game's better cores of young, cheap talent. They return 80 percent of their starting rotation. They have a GM who sees the big picture and a manager who ... uh, knows his way around a toothpick? Treats his players like men, as opposed to wolves or robots?

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Our favorite female golfer
The Love of Sports
When we last left Anna Rawson (and really, why would we ever?), she was busy being almost a pro golfer and a little bit more a model.

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Utecht calls season a "bust"
C. Trent
"Well, it's not in my personality to quit, so as far as I'm concerned, they say guys can come back in two weeks and I want to do that," Utecht said on Thursday, with a boot on his right foot. "I still have a lot to prove here. I think they'll give me the opportunity to be here if I can come back and come into next year. This season's been a bust for me. Now all I can do is try to capitalize on what I know I can do and try to stay healthy."

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Reds sign Lincoln
The Reds and free agent RHP Mike Lincoln, 33, have agreed to terms on a 2-year contract through the 2010 season...last year he was a candidate for the National League Comeback Player of the Year Award after posting a 4.48 ERA in a career-high 64 apps for the Reds...Lincoln did not play professionally for 3 seasons from 2005-07 while recovering from 7/13/04 “Tommy John” surgery to repair the torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow...on February 5 he was signed to a minor league contract and was 1 of 5 non-roster invitees to make the Opening Day roster (Paul Bako, Johnny Cueto, Kent Mercker, Corey Patterson)...in 2008 Lincoln made 12 apps of at least 2.0 innings and 21 apps of more than 1.0 inning...he retired the first batter in 49-64 apps (.766), the best percentage on the bullpen staff.

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Book signing info for "Xavier Tales"
Sat. Dec. 6: Barnes and Noble-Kenwood, 10 a.m.-noon (with Byron Larkin, Richie Harris)
Sat. Dec. 6: Borders-Mason, 2-4 p.m. (with Ray Tomlin, Maurice McAfee)
"Xavier Tales" is now available at the Xavier bookstore, Joseph-Beth Booksellers, all area Borders and Barnes & Noble stores, Cardboard Heroes at Kenwood, The Enquirer downtown (312 Elm St.), and online at www.xaviertales.com