Off The Bench by Chatterbox Sports

Reds First Full Squad Workout! Bearcats. All-Star Game. Guaranteed Contracts | OTB presented by UDF

Today is the Cincinnati Reds' First full day (All Players Reporting) of Spring Training. Bearcats get a win over the weekend over UCF. The NBA All-Star game was something. Presidents day loaded with sports that happend over the weekend

Bearcats Preview. Caitlin Clark. Rob Manfred. NIL Rant. Tiger Woods. Call ins | OTB presented by UDF

In today's Episode of Off the Bench Trace and the guys talk about Caitlin Clark and her breaking the record. Trace rants about NIL and how schools themselves should be responsible for paying their athletes, not the Donors. We talked about Rob Manfred and the comments he made yesterday. We introduce a not-so-new segment called Love it or Hate it. At the end of the show, we bring in Scott Springer to talk Cincinnati Bearcats.

Chris Holtmann FIRED! Xavier Season is OVER. Rocco Miller and Paul Fritschner | OTB presented by UDF

Todays Episode of Off the Bench we had on Paul Fritschner and Rocco Miller to discuss college basketball. Paul talks about the Xavier Musketeers and their hopes for the tournament all but dashed yesterday after an abysmal preformance against Seton Hall. Rocco Miller talked about the Bracketology and how the Tournament teams are starting to come into the frame. We talked some Reds Offseason with Jonathan India being a main topic of discussion.

Cincinnati Bearcats Basketball Review. Justin Fields a Steeler? Kentucky Win! | OTB presented by UDF

Story we are following from NBC Sports: Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins could become a free agent when the new league year starts in March, but the team has two ways to keep that from happening. They could sign him to a long-term deal or they could use a franchise tag to keep him from hitting the open market and extending the time to negotiate a new deal until mid-July. If no deal came before that point, Higgins would have the choice of sitting out or playing the 2024 season with a guaranteed salary that is projected to be $20.7 million. Paul Dehner of TheAthletic.com reports that the team is expected to use the latter option and apply the franchise tag to Higgins. He notes that the team has the cap space to carry that salary in the 2024 season and that Joe Burrow’s cap number remains relatively low in 2024 before jumping up by nearly $20 million in 2025. The overall makeup of the wide receiver market might also make it a plus for Higgins to wait on signing a multi-year deal. With receivers like Justin Jefferson, CeeDee Lamb, Brandon Aiyuk, Michael Pittman Jr., and fellow Bengal Ja’Marr Chase closing in on new deals, Higgins could benefit from a reset market by moving for a longer deal at some point in the future. Any tags must be issued by March 5, so there will be clarity on the Bengals’ plans in the near future. Story from SI: CINCINNATI — The frustrations are evident for Cincinnati after another home loss in the Big 12. UC dropped a crucial game on Tuesday 68-59 to Iowa State. Head coach Wes Miller declared they will figure it out. "I'm sorry I'm just in a bad mood guys," Miller said apologizing to the media. "I hate losing. I hate it. So I'm not mad. You guys are doing your jobs. I don't mean to be a prick, I can't help it. It's nobody's fault. I hate losing. We are going to figure it out. This team is going to figure it out." It is safe to say that Bearcats point guard Jizzle James looked like arguably the best player on the court Tuesday. The true freshman was everywhere tonight for the Bearcats, as his impact in this game was truly the reason the Bearcats were able to fight near the very end, despite a season-high 25 turnovers as a team. James made an immediate impact in the opening minutes of this one and never looked back James knocked down his first two field goal attempts of the night, which happened to be two huge three-pointers in the first half. The freshman led the Bearcats second half comeback effort as 10 of his 16 points came in the second half. Caleb Williams, Justin Fields, Pittsburgh Steelers, Cincinnati Bengals, Kenny Pickett, Cincinnati Reds, Kansas City Royals, Royals new stadium, Wes Miller, Cincinnati Bearcats, Iowa State, College Basketball, Tee Higgins, NFL franchise tag, NFL Draft, Jonah Williams, Kentucky Basketball, UK basketball, John Calipari

NFL Post Super Bowl Hangover. Cincinnati Bearcats Basketball. Reds Offseason | OTB presented by UDF

Trace, Elliot, and Casey talk about the Super Bowl hangover that everyone is feeling. Not much is happening except for college basketball here in Cincinnati so we brought in Keegan Nickoson from the Bearcat Journal to talk about the Bearcats. Previewed the Bearcat game tonight against Iowa State. The Boys also talked about the Reds and their offseason moves and predictions for regressions.

NFL Super Bowl Review. College Hoops Moral Victories. Waste Management Open | OTB presented by UDF

Trace, Elliot, and Casey all react to Super Bowl 58 and the Kansas City Chiefs 3rd Superbowl Victory in 5 years. Is Patrick Mahomes the GOAT of this generation? The game was spectacular all around and credit was given out to many different players, coaches, officials, and more. We covered the College Hoops locally in Cincinnati the Bearcats and Musketeers both lost and are on the brink of their seasons being over. We also talked about the Waste Management and the disaster that was. 

NFL Super Bowl Preview! NFL Awards and Hall Of Fame. BIG ANNOUCEMENT. | OTB presented by UDF

Well let the countdown begin for super bowl sunday . The AFC champion Kansas City Chiefs take on the NFC champion San Francisco 49ers. Beating he 49ers would make the chiefs the first super bowl repeat winner in 20 years. For Patrick Mahomes, he’s looking for his third super bowl title in his first six seasons. Brock Purdy is looking for his first championship ring in just his second year in the league. At just 44 years young, Kyle shanahan has been the head man in san francisco since 2017. He’s led the Niners to four playoff runs, three division titles, Four NFC championship games, and now a second trip to the Super Bowl… His father Mike won a super bowl as offensive coordinator with the niners in 1994, then later won 2 as a head coach in denver. Kickoff is set for 6:30 on CBS. Kansas city is a two-point underdog according to the wise guys in Vegas. Kansas City general manager brett veach said he is aware of the challenge the organization faces in re-signing both defensive tackle Chris Jones and cornerback l’jarius Sneed but said it would be an off-season priority to get both players under new contracts. Last night, lots of hardware thrown around at the NFL honors ceremony… Lamar Jackson was a near-unanimous choice for the league's Most Valuable Player award. Dak prescott was a distant second. Christian McCaffery became the first forty-niner to be named offensive player of the year since Jerry Rice in 1993. McCaffrey lead the league in rushing and total yards from scrimmage. Miles Garrett took home the Defensive Player of the Year. He’s the first Cleveland brown to ever win that award. The Houston Texans hit the lottery with two of the first three picks in the draft and both delivered the goods. CJ Stroud was named offensive Rookie of the year and willAndersonn the defensive Rookie of the Year. Joe Flacco edged out damar hamlin for the leagues comeback player of the year and for the second time, kevin stefanski was the coach of the year. The NFL hall of fame announced it’s 2024 class. Unfortunately, willie anderson came up short. Julius peppers, dwight freeney, devin hester, patrick willis and andre johnson are the modern-day players. As for the senior finalists, Steve mcmichael of the Bears and former Ohio state great randy gradishar. Speaking of the Bearcats, it’s a big-time game, with no doubt a big-time atmosphere tomorrow after at Fifth Third Arena when number five Houston comes to town. Kelvin sampsons team has lost three games all year, all in the big 12 to iowa state, TCU and Kansas. Uc has lost to kansas, beat TCU and will play iowa state next week. Tipoff set for 4 o’clock tomorrow. The game can be seen on ESPN 2. A sellout crowd is expected at the Cintas center tomorrow when X plays number 19 Creighton. The blue jays won the first meeting in omaha 85-78, a game that was tight until the final four minutes. The Muskies must improve their shooting from the first game…..40 percent from the field and just 33 percent from 3.

Xavier holds on to the win! NFL Super Bowl Preview! State of MLB Free Agency. | OTB presented by UDF

Xavier Musketeers held on to beat Villanova in a tight matchup last night 56-53. The NFL Super Bowl is right around the corner now! The Chatterbox crew all talk about the Superbowl matchup and what we expect from the game. Who are the Best players in the Super Bowl, What bets we might take, expectations and predictions. The MLB free agency period is still at large. Many notable names are still available to sign including notable names like Blake Snell and Cody Bellinger

NFL Super Bowl. College Hoops. Sports Mega App? Marty Brennaman! | OTB presented by UDF

Well, let the countdown begin for Super Bowl Sunday. The AFC champion Kansas City Chiefs take on the NFC Champion San Francisco 49ers. Beating the 49ers would make the Chiefs the first Super Bowl repeat winner in 20 years. A lot of questions for Andy Reid yesterday about the possibility of him retiring after this game. Reid said now is not the time and he’s ready to go for this Sunday. For the 49ers, did you see some of the comments made by defensive coordinator steve wilks. He called out his team in their weekly film session after watching last week's championship game and called his unit’s play “disgusting” and “unacceptable.” He felt that the defense did not play hard and that's something you just can't coach. College hoops, the Xavier musketeers, 12-10on the year, look for their third straight win tonight as Villanova comes to town for a 7 o’clock tip-off. The Wildcats are 12-10 as well and ended a four-game losing streak over the weekend with a win over Providence. Speaking of Xavier, did you see the news about Jerome Hunter? Remember, this is a kid who was expected to be the team's best player this season before he underwent heart surgery. He’s been practicing more and more with the team this year, then on Monday, he ruptured his Achilles Tendon. The rehab is expected to be at least six months. Last night, three days after drilling Duke, number 3 North Carolina lost at home to Clemson 80-76. The Tigers lost their first 59 games at Carolina before getting their first-ever win there four years ago. This is the kind of win that could hurt UC’s chances of getting to the tournament. The Ctas and Tigers have very similar resumes to reach the big dance, so this is a huge win for Clemson. UC has a chance for its “marquee win” this Saturday when number 5 Houston comes to the fifth-third arena. Houston beat Oklahoma state last night. Kentucky ended a two-game losing streak with a 109-77 win over Vanderbilt. The Wildcats shot 55 percent from the field and hit 15 three-pointers in the win. One other note, Texas tech lost at Baylor last night. Our good friend chad Brendel made the point that every opponent in the conference that has played UC, lost its next game…… ESPN, Fox, and Warner Bros. Discovery announced plans on Tuesday to launch a sports streaming platform in the fall that will include offerings from at least 15 networks and all four major professional sports leagues. The platform will include games from the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, WNBA, NASCAR, and college sports, including the men's and women's NCAA tournaments, as well as golf, tennis, and the FIFA World Cup. A couple of baseball notes, Jose Altuve signed a five-year deal to stay in Houston to the tune of 125 million dollars. If Kershaw is indeed back next year, it means he’s pitching in the same starting rotation as Shohei Ohtani.

NFL in Brazil. Super Bowl. Reds Sign Josh Harrison. Dartmouth Employees? | OTB presented by UDF

Dartmouth basketball players are now employees of the university. The NCAA cooked. NFL playing a game in Brazil on Friday opening weekend. Reds sign Josh Harrison, hometown guy. - do the Reds need anything else? Lunardi still has Cincinnati out. What does it take? Bobby Whitt extension. Who should be the next red-extension?