Kickoff Countdown: Bengals, Reds, Olympics, and College Football Buzz

The Key for the week of August 5, 2024

Are you ready?

Football ramps up (as much as it can for pre-season) this week as the NFL gets down to business with the first round of exhibition (yes, they hate when you call it that) games. (Forgive Ben if he cheers for the Philadelphia Eagles) For the Bengals, that means that the first team, including JoeyB, is expected to get some significant snaps—a change from earlier policy, especially for QB1, when injury or surgery recovery prevented him from pre-season action. The rust, in the past, was evident—0-2 to start 2023, 0-2 to start 2022. Ja’Marr Chase notwithstanding, expect starters to see more than one series of work in the first  pre-season game at home, against Tampa Bay.

Are you going? 

The Reds head to last-in-the-East Miami after losing a home series to fourth-in-the-West San Francisco with the team officially saying they’re still in the Wild Card race. Cincinnati remains in sixth place for the last of three Wild Card positions, behind, among others, three in their division—the Cubs, Pirates and Cardinals. The low of the weekend—being no-hit by the Giants—was countered, in part, with the stellar showing of Hunter Greene. MLB.com tells us that over his last six starts, Greene has given up just two runs, struck out 46 and walked 11. The ace of the staff is showing his potential now, and in the future. But will you go to a Reds game if Greene isn’t pitching? The Reds have two home stands left in August, two in September. It will be telling to watch the attendance as we head to the end of the season. 

Are you watching? 

A whole lot of people around the world are watching the Paris Olympics, bouncing back from the pandemic malaise that the Games suffered during their last two editions. NBC says viewership in the US is up 77% from Tokyo’s numbers. A more favorable time zone may be part of that, American stars Simone Biles and Katie Ledecky part of that as well. International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach says it’s expected that half of the world’s eight billion population will have watched the Games on TV or engaged on social media. 

Ben’s Best Bet 

In the way-too-early look at college football (as practice opened last week), Georgia is the early favorite for the national title, according to Bet MGM, with Ohio State a strong second. Behind the top two are Texas, Oregon and Alabama and new head coach Kalen DeBoer. With the SEC welcoming always-tough Oklahoma and Texas, and the Big Ten announcing its findings on Michigan’s signal-stealing scandal which could include suspension and show-cause penalties against Head Coach Sherrone Moore, Ohio State may find an opening to claim not only a conference title, but a national championship. Ben says the Buckeyes are not a bad bet to end the season #1