Cincinnati’s Monday Sports Manager

A round-up of the week’s sporting news.

Bearcats
The UC football season ended with a 20-7 loss in the Orange Bowl versus the Virginia Tech Hokies. It was disappointing but I was glad I ventured down to south Florida for the game. I will not dwell on what went wrong (bad play calling in the red zone, bad tackling, and four interceptions). Anyone can have a bad game. It is unfortunate it had to be the last game of the season on the biggest stage they had ever been on.

So the positives?

• I thought UC fans outnumbered VT fans 3 – 1 at the Orange Bowl. There were a lot more UC tailgates too I thought. Given the economy, I’d give the UC fans an "A". Hopefully this is just the first BCS game UC plays in.
• Pike will be back and while he had a bad game, I’ll take a starting quarterback returning for his senior year as a huge positive. (We do lose a lot of senior leadership and Pike I think has to take that on his shoulders.)
• A lot has been said that the defense will lose a bunch of seniors. But with Kelly’s "Next Man In" mantra, I think I am less concerned about this. They do rotate in underclassmen during the game. And the coaching staff should have those new starters ready to play.
• Ground broken on new indoor practice facility and plans underway to study expansion of Nippert.
• Kelly is back and makes a commitment to UC program. I thought there was some strange play calling in the bowl game like when say we had first and goal on the three yard line and we couldn’t score. But I am glad Kelly is staying put regardless of my mostly uneducated opinion anyway.

So here are some photos from the tailgate and the pre-game. Photos of the game didn’t come out very well.

That it for Cincinnati’s Monday Sports Manager until next football season.