Rey Maualuga of Cincinnati Bengals Charged with DUI

The offseason was less than one month old when Mr. Rey Maualuga decided to use some awful judgment.

The 23-year-old was arrested at 1:45 a.m. Friday in Covington, Ky. on charges of drunken and careless driving after he allegedly struck two parked cars and a parking meter.

Maualuga, 23, of Cincinnati, appeared in Kenton County District Court via video link from jail. He pleaded not guilty and was released on his promise to return for future appearances.

Maualuga smelled of "intoxicants" and told the officer that he had "about six Captain and Coke drinks," the report states. The officer gave Maualuga field sobriety tests, which he failed, the report states.

"Subject had slurred speech, blood shot, watery eyes and he was unsteady on his feet," the officer wrote.

Maualuga had a blood-alcohol level of .157, according to a Covington Police report. The legal limit is .08.

A Bengals spokesman declined comment.

Covington literally borders the city of Cincinnati, so I'm sure he had partied in the city and was trying to make it to his apartment or whatever in Kentucky.

But this story gets funnier. He was driving a 2003 Pontiac Sunfire. C'mon Rey, that's the best a second round pick can do? No Hummer or Escalade?

Even funnier: He was with two female passengers.

Funniest: One of the girls was 18, and the other was a minor! Rey Rey! Can't find any 23-year-olds in the city on a Thursday night?

In the words of Michael Irvin—C'MON MAN!!!!

The Reds Hot Stove Finally Heats Up

It's the end of January and that means the Reds start their Christmas shopping.

The majority of players left are at least 50 percent off. Everything must go! Agents are beginning to sweat as they look at their list of clients that are jobless with less than a month to go before pitchers and catchers report.

The Reds are finally making noise—albeit a very hard to hear sound. This is what a team with a payroll in the bottom third of baseball has to do. A-Rod and Manny would never even give the Reds the time of day. But a washed-up Willy Taveras will. Buy low, don't expect much, that's the Reds way.

The Dusty Baker era has provided two last minute signings gone horribly wrong. Corey Patterson signed for 3M to be the Reds '08 lead-off hitter. After putting up a gaudy .205 average with only 14 steals, he was toast. Last year Taveras was the 4M bust. The Reds are on the hook for another exhilarating year of Taveras grounding out to short 200 times.

This year the Reds already made a splash by signing left handed rocket-arm Antonio Chapman to a fat contract. But his salary will only be 1M towards the cap this year. So he isn't gobbling up a Scott Rolen size chunk of the payroll. So the Reds do have a little bit of cash to work with.

Many fans are calling for a 35 year-old Orlando Cabrera to take over at shortstop. Paul Janish and his .214 average is currently slotted in as the starter. He covers a lot of ground on the field but has a minuscule 22 RBIs in 381 major league ABs. He is a great back up, but certainly not a starter for a play-off caliber team. It remains to be seen how much Cabrera is asking for at this point.

The outfield's only certainty is Jay Bruce in right. Chris Dickerson and Drew Stubbs are projected to fill left and center. That threesome doesn't exactly scare any teams. Dickerson is constantly battling injuries and Stubbs only played in the majors when the Reds were miles away from first and winning wasn't too important.

What player could bring leadership, plate discipline and excitement to Cincinnati?

Jerry Crasnick at ESPN.com reports that Scott Boras is targeting the Reds as a possible location for free agent Johnny Damon.

If they can get him for under 5M—this would be an excellent move. But considering the Yankees claim he was asking for too much money, this might all just be smoke and mirrors.

Is Boras just creating fake rumors to scare big markets teams? Would Damon ever want to play in Cincinnati after being in New York and Boston?

He would be a great fit for the Reds. If a salary cap was involved, Damon might play for a small market team like the Reds. Instead fans of financially starved teams are left dreaming.

Walt Jocketty announced the signing of RHP Jose Arredondo to a minor league deal. Arredondo, 25, went 10-2 with a 1.62 ERA in 52 games in 2008 with Angels. He led both leagues’ relievers in victories, and opponents batted only .190 against him. He was considered a lights out future closer.

So how did the Reds sign him to a minor league deal? In 2009 he went 2-3 with 6.00 ERA in 43 games. Hmm that's not going to get it done for the Nationals. He battled elbow problems all season and had surgery to fix it. Problem is, the surgery will require him to miss the ENTIRE 2010 season. The Reds are hoping that '09 was a anomaly and when healthy, Arredondo can boast the Reds 2011 bullpen.

And yes, already talking and thinking about the 2011 season is not a good omen for your 2010 chances.

Johnny Gomes is still out there. So is Jermaine Dye. There are 93 unsigned free agents looking for jobs. As a frosty January comes to an end, the Reds, and other small market teams hot stove is just beginning to heat up.

Carson Palmer Skips Pro Bowl For Thumb Surgery

The Pro Bowl is such a joke.

The reason why Tennessee Titans quarterback Vince Young was named to the Pro Bowl as a fourth alternate is because third alternate, Carson Palmer, is recovering from thumb surgery.

As reported by the Cincinnati Enquirer , Palmer had successful thumb surgery last week on his non-throwing hand and is recovering in his home in California.

The thumb was injured way back in week five against the Ravens. For the rest of the season he played with a glove on his left hand. Palmer was forced to hand the ball off with his throwing hand which made for some awkward hand-offs. Plenty of commentators foreshadowed a chance that the unorthodox hand-offs could lead to a fumble sooner or later. Despite not looking pretty, Palmer never had a problem with the exchange.

Palmer would rather go through surgery than play in the meaningless contest. The lack of memorable moments in the game is outrageous considering the star power. Name me your favorite Pro Bowl memory? I can't think of one.

Gobs of players find any injury excuse to get out of playing in a game that has less importance than a preseason game. Now that's saying something.

The game is next Sunday, a week before the Super Bowl. Great, don't let any player from the two best teams in the NFL get a chance to be in the game. Makes perfect sense to me.

I always thought the Pro Bowl was a way to extend the NFL for one more week. It already has the smallest schedule of any of the four main sports, so why shrink the calender? Does moving it to Jan. 31 really make the NFL any more money than having the game two weeks later?

Players know that their bodies are basically what gets them paid. So why put your money-maker on the line in a exhibition that pays you only a sliver of your current multi-million dollar deal? Why put forth any effort at all? What's the worst that can happen; some random coach from a team you play every four years gets mad and benches you?

These are the questions I'll be asking when I get to meet Roger Goodell.

Something needs to be tweaked in this game to make it relevant.

Why Are the Bengals Sticking with Bratkowski?

The biggest running complaint about the 2009 Bengals wasn’t concerning receivers, special teams or the tight end; it was about the play calling. The once high-powered Bengals offense had been reduced to a motorized scooter running out of battery power.

Offensive coordinator Bob Bratkowski has taken the majority of the criticism, and rightfully so. The run, run, pass scenario played out way too much for most fans' liking. The creativity consisted of a reverse to a receiver with the quarterback having to throw a block. The lack of flea-flickers and zigzag routes didn’t bother fans as much as the predictability. Talk radio was consistently oozing ungodly amounts of "fire Bratkowski" venom.

More often than not, a seasoned Bengals fan had a good idea of the play that was about to be run. If it's pretty obvious to the general public, imagine the lack of strategy needed for opposing defenses. The midseason tweaks and adjustments were ineffective, and it cost the team dearly in the end.

Unfortunately, the Bengals have an owner that takes penny-pinching to a new height. Firing a guy before his contract is up would require Mike Brown to fork over some extra cash—not going to happen. Bratkowski will be back for his 10th season as offensive coordinator of the Bengals, according to the team's official Web site.

How is this possible? Coordinators are hired and fired at will. There are only two head coaches (Jeff Fisher, Andy Reid) that have been at their current positions for more than 10 years; a coordinator sticking around that long is unheard of. It's understandable if Brat has achieved multiple seasons of success during the decade. Well, having two playoff losses doesn’t scream being worthy of such a rare feat.

For the entire second half of the ‘09 season, the passing game consisted of nothing but slants and screens—with maybe the occasional overthrown deep ball just to keep the defenses thinking the Bengals had some sort of vertical attack.

The running game was without a doubt the bread and butter of the ’09 offense. But the stubbornness and repetitiveness of the Bratkowski approach was easily sniffed out as the year wore on. Cedric Benson had more than 27 carries six times, and that includes the three-and-a-half games missed because of his hip injury. He had 301 total carries, and he might have had close to 400 without the injury.

The best offensive performance in the second half of the season was the 27-24 loss to the Chargers. The deep slants were there, and Chad Ochocinco caught a 49-yard bomb that came courtesy of a vintage Carson Palmer pass. The running game was actually not relied on to do the heavy lifting for once, as Benson only had 15 carries.

The 24 points were the most scored in a game during the second part of the year. Palmer looked comfortable with the aggressive game plan as he racked up a season-high 314 passing yards (43 yards more than the next highest).

The hurry-up style implemented in the second half of the game provided a more fluent and balanced attack. Never was the game plan or offensive fireworks it provoked ever implanted again for the rest of the season. The result was scoring 17 points against the Chiefs and a combined 14 points in two straight games against the Jets.

This past season, the Bengals defense was seventh against the run and sixth against the pass for the forth overall ranked D. It is only the third time in franchise history—and the first since 1989—that they had finished in the top 10 in all three categories in the same season. In short, they had a phenomenal season, and next year the unit could get even better with all the young guys coming back.

The major question for Bengals fans going into the 2010 season is simple: Can Bob Bratkowski be trusted with navigating this stale and underachieving offense?

Evan Turner Puts OSU on His Back, Earns Player of the Week Honors

Junior forward Evan Turner averaged 23.5 points over two games last week to lead Ohio State to back-to-back wins over ranked opponents, as the Buckeyes defeated the sixth-ranked Purdue Boilermakers and the No. 13 Wisconsin Badgers. His prize? Big Ten Player of the Week.

During Tuesday’s contest at Purdue, Turner posted 23 of his career-high 32 points in the second half to ignite a late rally as OSU recovered from a 13-point deficit to top the Boilermakers, 70-66.

Ohio State is No. 21 in the Associated Press media poll and No. 25 in the ESPN/USA Today coaches poll that were released today.

With Turner in the lineup, Ohio State is 3-1 against the Associated Press Top 25 this season. In those contests, the 6'7 "guard is averaging 24.2 points, 9.6 rebounds, and shooting 58 percent from the floor.

This is the fourth Player of the Week award for Tuner on the year and his seventh overall.

If the Ohio State Buckeyes want to make any sort of noise in the NCAA tournament it will be because of Evan Turner.

After a promising start to the season, the entire Buckeye nation was slapped in the face when Turner landed roughly on his back after attempting a dunk. The early reports were that he would be out for eight weeks with a fractured back. It looked just as painful as it sounds.

But merely a month later Turner was back on the floor and picking up where he left off. The team struggled in his absence, going 3-3 ,with the wins against Presbyterian, Delaware St., and Cleveland St—not exactly the cream of the crop. Now that Turner is back, the Buckeyes are once again a force and Turner still isn’t even 100 percent yet.

For the season he is averaging 18.5 points, 9.4 rebounds, and 5.3 assists a game. He still has some issues to iron out, specifically his 28 percent mark from three-point range and his 4.2 turnovers a game. And is his back fully healed? Can a hard foul tweak it again?

He is the catalyst for the squad and makes the offense flow as smoothly as a waterfall. Whether it is a slam dunk, a tough board, or a steal on defense, Turner is the guy making all the big plays when it counts. But he can’t win it all himself.

Turner is going to need David Lighty, Jon Diebler, and William Buford to continue spreading the floor with their shooting. All three players are averaging 13.3 points a game and provide balance to the inside outside attack.

Turner is looking more and more like a lottery pick, and dominating the conference at this sort of pace will certainly garner Big Ten Player of the Year honors. His size and speed will make him a hot commodity to NBA scouts.

So this is the year OSU, be prepared to ride the achy back of Evan Turner into the tournament. He has proven to fans and players a like that he is up to the challenge.

Aroldis Chapman's Signing Sends Positive Message To Reds Fans

Maybe the Reds haven't given up on 2010. As an extremely dull offseason rolled on something happened.

The Reds forgot about their mid-market status and splurged on a player that the Red Sox, Angels, or Yankees usually sign.

The Reds made an extremely high-risk, high-reward move that has the potential to either turn the franchise around—or bury them into the only place they haven't hit yet—below the Pirates. The Reds are investing a big piece of its franchise on the left arm of a 22 year-old kid from Cuba.

So $30 million later, Aroldis Chapman is a Cincinnati Red. He's a lefty and reportedly throws a 100 mph heater. The Reds haven't had a decent lefty since the 90's. But the Reds actually have a rich history with players from Cuba.

One of the greatest position players in Reds history is Cuban native Tony Perez, the only Cuban-born major league player in the Baseball Hall of Fame. He was elected in 2000. In 1911, the first two Cubans to play major league baseball both played for the Reds—Rafael Almeida and Armando Marsans, who was a star.

So in a way, the historical implications make sense, and the oldest professional franchise cares a heck of a lot about its history. But reports of wildness scared away other suitors. He has allowed 200 walks in just over 400 innings of work in Cuba. He is compared to a young Randy Johnson—wildness and all.

Several scouts call Chapman, “A can’t miss,” and even though he isn’t ready to step into the Cincinnati rotation, he probably isn’t far away once he can tighten up his control.

Bryan Price, in his first year as the Reds’ pitching coach, knows what kind of chance he’s getting.

“These opportunities don’t come along too often,” he said. ”Young, left-handers who throw hard are a commodity in our sport, especially ones who are around the plate.”

Chapman’s agent cited the fact that Price and manager Dusty Baker speak Spanish as a factor in signing with the Reds.

The signing of Chapman also means Aaron Harang and Bronson Arroyo will most likely not be back for 2011.

Both are in the last year of their contracts, with options for 2011. The Reds could use the payroll flexibility and if all goes well, Chapman and first-round pick Mike Leake pitches to this potential, both will be in the rotation, along with Edinson Volquez, Johnny Cueto, and Homer Bailey for 2011.

GM Walt Jocketty, who admits to the riskiness of the signing sums up the move:

“For us to compete in the market size we’re in, we have to do some things like this from time to time—a bold move. We can’t go after the high-priced free agents who are out there. This is stretched out over a long period of time. It’s a significant undertaking for this organization. But it’s something we felt we had to do. There’s a big upside.”

You have to applaud Jocketty for working with the payroll he has been given, but will it pay off? Will more Reds fans go to games this year? Will the Reds sell thousands of Chapman jerseys in 2010? Will team leaders Arroyo and Harang look at this as a precursor to their eminent departure?

This is the kind of move that will make or break Jocketty. This is the move that will let fans know there is some ray of hope. Before the signing, there was no hope going into 2010. There wasn't even a chance that they would be .500. Now there is at least a reason to be optimistic about the Cincinnati Reds.

At the very least the Reds helped Cincinnati fans brighten up a bit a day after the neighbors across the street blew a golden opportunity against a rookie QB.

Carson Palmer's Passing Precision Perfectly Fine

The popular consensus this week is that Bengals QB Carson Palmer has dropped a peg on the quarterback hierarchy.

"He was beyond awful in Sunday's Jets game."

"He is throwing the ball away consistently on blitzes."

"He doesn't look like the same quarterback that he was in '05."

Well nobody can argue with the first two statements. He hasn't been very good at handling pressure and he has had some questionable interceptions. It's no secret, Palmer's numbers haven't been up to par in the second half. For the year he completed 282 of 466 passes (60.5 percent) for 3,094 yards with 21 touchdowns against 13 interceptions.

But the third statement is false, Palmer is just fine. After the Week 10 win over the Steelers, the Bengals sat at 7-2 with a 5-0 AFC North record. Coach Marvin Lewis decided that it was time to play keep away. The entire game plan revolved around the running game, bend-but-don't-break defense, and controlling the time of possession battle. The passing game was very vanilla.

In the first half of the season the passing game was much more a part of the offensive philosophy. Palmer successfully led game-winning fourth quarter drives against every single divisional opponent (Browns, Steelers, and Ravens) and that is not counting the game-winning drive with seconds remaining against Denver that was wiped out by the immaculate deflection. Anytime the Bengals are in a game at the end, Palmer has delivered.

He led a game-tying drive against the Chargers that went for naught due to a poor prevent defense. He lead the division-clinching drive against the Chiefs two weeks ago. Put the ball in his hands at the end of a game and good things happen.

Each of those drives showed me that Palmer still has it. He comes up big when his team needs him most and doesn't buckle under the pressure. Is it his fault that the offensive line has way to many false start penalties? Is it his fault that the pass protection has slowly but surely deteriorated?

Or how about his lack of receivers?

Jets CB Darrelle Revis was selected as a starting corner for the AFC in the Pro Bowl, and deservedly so. No receiver has more than 35 yards against him this season.

WR Chad Ochocinco is getting put on Reevis Island and somebody needs to give Palmer a reliable target...Laveranues Coles is a solid veteran that needs to show up, especially against his old team. He hasn't been on the same page with Palmer this year but his numbers aren't awful (514 yards, five TDs.)

WR Andre Caldwell has really lost his confidence since that game-changing fumble against Oakland. He has made some huge plays this season but none of late. He needs to create that separation on those slants that he seemingly loves to run. WR Chris Henry's deep threat is missed greatly.

TE J.P. Foschi is not much of a receiving threat at tight end. He doesn't have great hands and can't make a guy miss in the open field.

Palmer isn't working with a bunch of All Pro's. Drops, missed blocks and penalties can't be blamed on the QB. He is still accurate and more than capable of leading a team deep into the playoffs. Now the playbook will be opened up to trick plays and others that have been waiting on deck until the playoffs.

He has gotten this team into the playoffs and he knows the rarity of that. This is the third postseason appearance in the last 19 years for the Bengals. How bad do you think a seven-year veteran wants to win his first playoff game?

Saturday will come down to quarterback play and give me Carson Palmer over his former ball boy Mark Sanchez.

Sky Hasn't Fallen on Bengals after Jets' Pasting

37-0.

On national TV, the Bengals got whupped. Beaten to a bloody pulp. The only positive from this game is that a bomb didn't go off in the locker room.

Chad Ochocinco played less than a half and was held without a catch, ending a string of 120 straight games played with at least one. He hurt his knee in warmups (though the MRI on his knee today was negative).

He said he would change his name back to Johnson if he got shut down, but after the game he responded to the question with an emphatic "child please."

Overall, the offense set a team record for fewest net yards in a game (72). Carson Palmer was an outrageous 1/11 for zero net yards and an INT. WOOOF.

Valuable defensive tackle Pat Sims broke his arm and is done for the season. Backup safety Tom Nelson, whom was filling in for the injured Chris Crocker, suffered a left knee injury after getting burned by the Jets on seemingly 20 plays in a row. The Jets found the weakness in the D (Nelson) and abused him as much as humanly possible.

37-0 seems like quite possibly the worst way to head into the playoffs.

But all is not lost.

Knowing his team needs to get healthy, coach Marvin Lewis chose to rest five starters— LDT Domata Peko (knee), LE Robert Geathers (knee) and FS Crocker (ankle) on defense, and RB Cedric Benson (hip) and TE J.P. Foschi (neck) on offense.

That's five key guys (OK, maybe four...Foschi stinks) that will be well-rested in the rematch this Saturday at 4:30. As much as you wanted to believe coach Lewis and the players that said they were "in it to win," once the inactive list had that many key cogs on it, it was obvious Lewis didn't feel the urge to win this one.

If anything, this is a credit to the Houston Texans and a message to the Jets. The Texans beat the Bengals at home early in the season, and Matt Schaub and Co. would have been back in Cincinnati for the franchise's first-ever playoff game with a Bengals win.

The Bengals want to play the Jets and their rookie QB Mark Sanchez.

While the final score clearly indicated dominance, Sanchez was a paltry 8/16 for 63 yards. Yes, the Jets didn't need to throw the ball, as the running game provided all the scoring necessary. However, any time Sanchez had to drop back and throw the ball, he seemed uncomfortable and hesitant against two of the best corners in the league in Leon Hall and Johnathan Joseph.

The Bengals know Braylon Edwards as well as any reciever in the league from his days with division rival Cleveland. Jerricho Cotchery is not a deep threat and doesn't need anything more than single coverage, and there isn't much of a tight end presence.

The key will be if the top-five run defense of the Bengals that got abused for 257 rushing yards can fix it against the No. 1 rated run offense.

Two starters on the line will be back. Peko is one of the best at stopping the run in the NFL, and is certainly the best on the Bengals. The exotic schemes that defensive coordinator has been dialing up for most of the year will be back. I don't expect the Jets O-line to handle the Bengals D-line again.

After only allowing one 100-yard rusher all year up to Week 12, the Bengals have allowed a 100-yard rusher in three of the past four games (1-3). Peko has been out for the past four games—go figure.

The playbook for the Bengals was as vanilla as could be. No reason to open it up in a meaningless game. The Jets, on the other hand, busted out the Wildcat, and now you can bet the Bengals will be ready to defend it next week.

“There isn’t much more they can do,” said Ochocinco of the Jets offense. “There is no trickery. They can add to their game plan.”

In the meantime, the Bengals have been hatching up schemes for over a week and will be eager to show the world that the passing game is still there. Palmer will not let his ballboy in college beat him like that twice in a row. No way does the veteran not give it his all in virtually his first playoff game.

The one matchup that still is a concern is Chad Ochocinco vs. Darrelle Revis. Chad might be banged up, and Revis is the real deal. He is a shutdown corner that can be left alone on the "Revis Island." Chad needs to stop talking trash to that guy.

Overall, the reaction to this game has been predictable; a lot of it has to do with the time slot. But Bengal fans are all gloom and doom, and think the sky is in the process of falling.

37-0. And it wasn't even that close.

But take heart; the Bengals have opened as three-point favorites at home against the Jets, a week after being 10-point dogs and a day after 37-0. Vegas knows something, and it's simple: The biggest turd of the season will mean nothing come Saturday.