Episode 253: Reborn

Lee: Like a Phoenix rising, so are the days of Cin-Day sports. *[meme sound] BRUH!* What kind of reference was that I just made? *stupid laughter* Anyway, welcome to the Cincinnati and Dayton Sports Podcast, one and all. If this is your first time listening to a podcast of mine, well, as the name suggests, I talk about Cincinnati and Dayton, Ohio area sports. From the high school ranks to collegiate and up to the professionals. If it’s sports in Cincinnati and Dayton, and Eastern Indiana, and Southeastern Indiana, and Northern Kentucky and up towards Lima and in Columbus, unless it’s That Team in Columbus, aka Ohio State, I’ll talk about on this podcast. And my name is Lee W. Mowen. I’m a play by play broadcaster, PA announcer one time sports talk host and, hopefully a podcaster that keeps up with his podcast. We will see how that goes outside this episode. The next one I’m going to record, which yeah, two episodes in one sitting. I must have really, REALLY wanted to do this podcast again. Yeah, I’ve done two episodes (this year) and the one that most people remember is DeMar Hamlin back in January, talking about him and wishing him well, which an update on that. He’s back in the league, although he’s been inactive for the Buffalo Bills for most of the season. I’m not sure, he played in one game. He was like inactive in seven out of the eight. But I’m not sure as of recently if he’s played more or not. And (back to talking about the two episodes I bothered to record), the one that most people might not know about because I forgot to post it on social media. Like the idiot I am was talking about how crap 2023 was. So you didn’t miss much. Promise. So welcome all. And before I continue on, I want to thank the fine folks over on Threads that helped me with, a few, suggestions on how to resume this podcast. And I tell you, there are a lot of great people over on Threads. There’s still a lot of great people out there. But I wanted to thank those on Threads that helped me out and actually got me to podcast again because I needed a few more months before I did podcast. So there you go.

What’s New with the Podcast Host?

Lee: So what’s new with Lee in 2023? Well, this year has been crap. Absolute crap. To give you an idea on why it’s been crap, well, we are now getting into winter sports for high schools in Ohio. I believe Boys Basketball tips off this weekend. Girls basketball tipped off, I believe, the weekend before Thanksgiving. Hockey, same weekend; although if you want to count preseason, the first week of November. So we’re fully into winter sports with only seven more football games to play. And those are all the division state title games, which we’ll talk about a little later. But yeah, why do I mention this is the start of winter sports? Well, I still haven’t been paid in full for all the basketball broadcasts I’ve done, all solo with camera work, graphics, and actually calling the game. I got paid a little, but, not all of it. I did about 66 playoff games and also produced all the radio broadcast on the OHSAA radio network for the Boys and Girls State semis and finals, which, with all those radio broadcasts, would be 24 games. Yeah, that sounds about right. Yeah. Where’s my money? I’m getting tired of being stiffed for pay and why haven’t you asked me to broadcast? But more importantly, where’s my money? Yeah, that’s happened. And yeah, most of my opportunities elsewhere have dried up. This fall I’ve only got to broadcast one soccer match, and it was the last one at Wright State University, and it was a 5-1 Raiders win over Northern Kentucky. So it’s always a plus when you can beat your rival by scoring (why am I laughing here?) four more goals, which, yeah, I didn’t expect to call six total goals in that match, but I did. And, ah, the rest was football. Which if you didn’t know, I broadcast for ESP Media in Cincinnati and with the Princeton High School Vikings, the first undefeated regular, season since 1991, 1st conference title since 2003, first solo title since 1993. So, yeah, history made this year at Princeton and Vikings looked good all year long. Just the second half of the regional semi-final game against Lakota West. It didn’t go so hot, and that’s when my football season ended. So there you go. So, yeah, waiting for money, which I could tell you all the organization that says, yeah, we’ll pay you. And they never did. Like SUV TV, who somehow still has the contract for Flyin’ to the Hoop, even though it’s coming up about ten years since the Flyin’ to the Hoop broadcast I did, and I still have not received a single dime. Where’s my money, SUV TV? You can block me on Twitter all you want, but it still doesn’t hide the fact you’re screwing me out of money. So, yeah, this year’s been crap. The highlight is coming back to the Champions City Kings in Springfield to broadcast my fifth Prospect League season, my third with the Kings. Always love working with the Champion City Kings. Great people. And it’s my favorite part of summer. The other part of summer is doing a job that I’ve been doing since 2011. And the one year I got to announce, nah we don’t carry three PA (Public Address) Announcers and the other two keep saying, now batting before every at bat. I’ll give you a little advice, PA Announcers if you do baseball or softball, you don’t have to say “Now Batting” before every at bat. It doesn’t sound good. There, I’m glad we had this talk. So, yeah. 2023 for Lee W. Mowen has been crap. And the sooner the year gets over and the sooner things get better, well, that’s something I’m looking forward to. But just because my 2023 was crap doesn’t mean we’ve had a crap year for sports in the area. [ta-da sound effect] Yeah, I’m adding more sound effects to my podcast. I don’t know why it seemed like a good idea at the time. More personality, I guess.

Recap of the 2022 Bengals Season and Sports in 2023

Lee: Anyway, what’s happened with sports in 2023? Well, I’m glad you asked. So the Cincinnati Bengals had a great 2022 season. In fact, they won what was it? How many straight? Ten. No, they won more than that (in a row). Right? Yeah, they were five and four. And they won the rest of the regular season. And of course, the Damar Hamlin game, which I’m glad he’s back. A little sad that he’s not getting an opportunity to play for the Bills, but, hey, he’s back. So that’s pretty cool. Bengals made it to another AFC Championship, back to back, back to back AFC North titles and the strangest playoff game I ever seen against Baltimore and the Ravens. How do you cough the ball up near the goal line and Sam Hubbard runs it all the way? The Cincinnati Kid; that play. (Laughing with impending doom for 2023 Bengals season) Well, the Ravens are getting revenge during this 2023 season. But never mind on that. We’ll talk about that in a little while. Yeah, I mean, the future is bright for Joe Burrow. Definitely one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL, and depending on who you ask, the best quarterback in the NFL. But this year’s been a little tough. Tough, loss in the AFC Championship to Kansas City on a flag that shouldn’t have been thrown, in my opinion. Joseph Ossai did not hit him out of bounds. That is not a late hit. I don’t care what you say. You just wanted Kansas City in the Super Bowl. Yeah, I might be a little salty, but I can admit it. And also, it could be the orange colored glasses on my head, which is weird because I don’t wear glasses, but you get what I’m saying. So, another good season for the Bengals. That, brings us over to hockey. Blue Jackets. They got rid of Brad Larson. That’s a plus. And they had another tough start to the why am I reading that? Anyway, the Reds, they almost made the playoffs. (Cue Roblox Oof sound because) Yeah, I can’t believe I’m positive on almost making the playoffs. But hear me out. So last few years, even the 2020 shortened season, thanks to COVID-19, the Reds have really underperformed. I mean, that team in 2020, we should have crushed our oppositions. We just didn’t. The hitting wasn’t there. I mean, eventually, yeah, they fired hitting coach Alan Zinter. And I don’t know how much was on him or how much. I don’t know. I mean, it got better this year. Maybe? I will say 2023. Even though there weren’t playoffs for the Red Legs, we got to see glimpses of the future. Now, hopefully, they stay in Cincinnati, but, we’ll talk about that later. Like, really later, like a few years. So the first name is probably the most well-known (what happened to my known?) name of the bunch. Elly de La Cruz. In his minor league trip, his longest day was High-A Dayton. And yours truly got to announce him that first half of the season. Then he got called up to Chattanooga and spent a little time with the Lookouts, a little bit of time with the bats, and then called up to Cincinnati. The Louisville Bats, by the way, not just the animal, but the Louisville Bats. Yeah. Elly de La Cruz. Electrifying I know he had a terrible slump towards the end of the season, but he’s, ah, a rookie. Give him a chance. I think once he figures things out and once he can start hitting curveballs, he, needs that guy from Major League to help him out. If I don’t hit curveball, then I don’t worship you. I forget the line and I know baseball fan card revoked. There you go. Yeah. Elly De La Cruz lightning fast, and now there’s talks about him going in the outfield. Okay, we’re not going to talk about that. We’re going to talk about the one game in Milwaukee where he stole 2nd, third, and home in the same at bats. Dude’s. Electric. I mean, he’s going to have a bright future and I hope for all of our sakes in Cincinnati, his entire career is with the Reds. Another name, Matt McLain this is someone that I’ve been high on for quite some time. A, few years ago he was with Dayton. I think it was 2021. Might have been, yeah. Because what’s, it 2019? No, I’m pretty sure it was 2021. Anyway, Matt McClain, shortstop, excellent player, excellent batter, and unfortunately his season got derailed with an injury. He tried to come back, couldn’t. And what was it, a stress fracture that put him up for good? There was, an upset, not an upset, but, something, that happened and he just couldn’t come back. Trying to think of the word and I can’t well, that’s another Oof if I remember to put it in, but I probably won’t. I thought Matt McClain was in the running for Rookie of the Year until his injury, but fortunately it didn’t happen. But I think Matt McClain again, hopefully his entire career spent with the Reds. We also got to see Christian Encarnacion-Strand. And let me tell you, if you don’t know about CES, which is okay, because the time the Dragons faced him, he was with the Cedar Rapids Kernels, the High-A of the Minnesota Twins and the Tyler Mahle deal sent him over to Cincinnati. Excellent power and I think definitely the first baseman of the future, especially now that Joey Votto is officially a free agent. And it doesn’t look like the Reds are going to offer him a, one year contract to retire as a Red. Blue Jays have interest in him, which is his home country, remember? And the only professional baseball team in MLB up in Canada. Bring back the Expos, by the way. Also, the Reds got rid of Nick Senzel I mean, I know he got platooned to a bench roll because there’s so much down on there, but really, just nah, dude. The problem with Nick Senzel is he can’t stay healthy. I know this. He’s got (had) bouts of vertigo, he’s had injuries. Know it got shuffled to the outfield and just, I thought he did everything he was asked for, and I thought maybe that get him another year. But that’s the one thing with sports. Once you get attached to players that you hope become reds, sometimes it doesn’t happen or become your favorite team. That’s why attachment in sports is tough, because you never know when your favorite players played their last game of your team. But there you go. Garrett Ashcraft, outstanding pitcher, and I can’t wait to see how he bounces back. Hunter Greene not a rookie, but I think he’s become the pitcher Reds need. Nick Lodolo problem is bad injury and he just never come back. Maybe he had the one that, offset his recovery and he just couldn’t come back. Is that the one I’m thinking of? Sure. Let’s say that Andrew Abbott. The problem with Andrew Abbott towards the latter half of the season, he was pitching over his, career high, so he was kind of getting tired. But, man, that South paw’s a beast, and he should be back with the Reds this year, I think. Definitely an arm we need to keep. So that’s the Reds? Yeah. Yours truly got happy that we almost made the playoffs. Look, when your owners think that you’re running a nonprofit organization as owning a baseball team in the highest ranks outside the national team for the Olympics, you take what you can get. Castellinis are still there. Where are we going to go? Well, hey, we actually had a team that had promise and we came back. Funny how that works when the team doesn’t look like absolute crap and loses 100 some games for the second time in franchise history. But never mind on that.

2023 Bengals Season

Lee: So that brings us to Fall, the 2023 season for the Bengals. [manic laughter because help][now I’m sad, help] Man, oh, man. Ah what a season, Joe Burrow getting that calf injury, second day of training camp. That set the tone. I mean, I don’t want to put all that on, but this year’s just kind of weird mojo. The defense isn’t as dominant as it was. I mean, with Vonn Bell and Jesse Bates taking bigger deals, I don’t fault them at all. But their losses really decimate the defense like that. I just don’t understand the disconnect there. But maybe there’s something I’m not thinking of. So there’s that. Joe Burrow wasn’t his full self. (until about Arizona)? Was still kind of hindered, but he did enough to get the win and that’s, you know, a hurt calf still leading the team. If you want to look me straight in the eye and tell me Burrow isn’t one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL, I’ll just laugh in your face. But he finally got better. And you just saw, I think it was the Arizona game on the road where he started showing his, mobility back. That bye week definitely helped out. And hey, we swept the NFC West, so where’s our Super Bowl title? No, that’s not how that works. And Thursday Night Football before Thanksgiving, Clowney with the tackle on him and then torn ligament, which, by the way, in case you haven’t heard, successful surgery, should be back for training camp 2024. And he’s looking to come back on the sidelines to help out Jake Browning, AJ McCarron and Drew Plitt, who’s on the, training, roster. He’s not with the team, but you get what I’m saying. Joe Burrow, even though he can’t play, he’s still out there as a coach. Dude’s going to be in football for a long time. He’s going to be in Cincinnati till, 2030, which, yeah, windows wide open for a Super Bowl. Now, hopefully, pieces fall together and this offseason is going to be really interesting. We got six games left the regular season. Can you believe that, football fans? I can’t, but yeah, offense not the same pizazz with Browning under center and looking at some of the highlights and the 16 to 10 loss to Steelers, which of course, they had to fire their OC [Offensive Coordinator] Matt Canada before that game. But, never mind. Yeah, just different quarterback, different style. And problem is with Browning, he holds onto the ball too long, which plagued Burrow in his, rookie and second year with the Bengals, honestly. So, yeah, tough year for the Bengals. Not out of a playoff spot, but it’s just a lot of doom and gloom. And I tell you on (the) Facebook groups, is there anyone that isn’t a Negative Nancy? My God, you think they coach NFL football the way they talk? Like, go get a headset, get a job in the NFL, coach. Or if you think you’re better go play, I guarantee you aren’t because, heck, NFL players go through heck of a regimen. And football is a really physical sport. You sure you want to be saying that stuff? But there you go. Bengals, 2023 season.

Lee: There is something new with the Cyclones for 2023, no longer affiliated with the Buffalo Sabres, now affiliated with the New York Rangers, which means the next step up in the American Hockey League, the Hartford Wolf Pack. Bring back the Whalers, but we’ll see how this new regimen looks so far. Another solid year for the Cyclones (and they) looked for another play by play broadcaster in the offseason, and yours truly didn’t get an interview. Yay, part of that 2023, but no, I follow Cyclones, and it’s nice to see them do well. Jason Payne is an excellent coach and they just got back one of their, fan favorites and Lincoln Griffin. So we’ll see how the rest of the season goes for the Cyclones. And yes, yours truly will talk about the Cyclones on future episodes of the Cincinnati Dayton Sports Podcast. And, one more thing to talk about for 2023. I mentioned we’re in the winter portion of high school sports now, so that means we had to crown some champions in all the fall sports, right? Well, not quite yet. Football. The state title games are played this weekend, which we’ll talk about after. But let’s talk about the state finalists and champs for all the sports. And we’re going to start with volleyball. And, if you don’t know, the volleyball state finals are held at Wright State University at the Nutter Center, a wonderful venue, which I can’t believe I’m two years older than, but never mind. So, yeah, the state title games are held right here in Dayton, and we had three local teams take state titles out, of the four divisions. The Kings Knights from the Eastern Cincinnati Conference took the Division One title. And with that, they were the first team not in the Girls Greater Catholic League since 1994 to make it that far from Cincinnati in Division Two. Speaking of the GGCL, Mercy McAuley with the state title division three went to Lake Catholic. And our last local team, division Four, new Bremen and the Cardinals. Which means with New Bremen state title win, that’s, what is it, State title win number infinity and beyond for the Midwest Athletic Conference. Man, if you don’t know high school sports in Ohio, the MAC it is some of the smallest schools you come across because most of them are in rural areas, technically in Northwest Ohio. But the reason why I call them Southwest Ohio, they’re in the Miami Valley, which is the Dayton region. Hence why I talk about them. So there you go. Yeah, some of the toughest schools might not have the student body of some of the biggest schools in Ohio, but they have some of the best teams you can come across in this area. So congrats to the new Bremen Cardinals for their state title win, division Four, Mercy McAuley in Division Two, and the Kings Knights, division One, by the way, in school history, officially first state title ever. However, they, did have the state title in tennis in 2005, but it wasn’t OHSAA affiliated. So there was a lot of hair splitting. So in case anyone wants to split my hairs, then there you go. That’s volleyball. So let’s talk about soccer, if I can find the right tab. There we go.

Lee: Your girl soccer champions: we had two Cincinnati area teams take two of three, and these are played at historic Crew Stadium in Columbus, the former home of the Crew. The new home of the Crew is Lower.com Field, which I thought they played those there. I don’t know why I thought that, but I’m wrong. For Division Two, it was Cincinnati Summit Country Day, knocking off Rocky River 1-0. In Division Three, Cincinnati Country Day (won) over Ottawa-Glandorf 1-0. And Division One, the largest division in OHSAA action, it was Walsh Jesuit out of Cuyahoga Falls over Olentangy Liberty 2-1. See, not all of them were 1-0. In Boys’ Soccer, We’ll start with Division Two. Tippecanoe, right in Tip City, just north of Dayton, they knocked off Richfield Revere, 2-0. In Division One, Unfortunately, this is loss for our Cincinnati fans, but Archbishop Mueller I want to talk about the Crusaders for a moment. Only allow two goals on the air the season opener match, state title game. You know how insane that is? And in fact, Mueller was the top ranked team not in Cincinnati, not in the area, not in Southwest Ohio, not in Ohio, the United States. They were the top boy soccer team. Believe Max Preps had that rating. But they fell in penalty kicks to St. Ignatius, 6-5. [So 1-1 and then six to five (in penalty kicks.)] St. Ignatius takes the D1 title. In Division Three, Willoughby Andrews Osborne defeated Worthington Christian 2-1. That’s your soccer look. Tippecanoe and the Red Devils 22-1-1, that’s a heck of a year. For Moeller, I want to look at the record, because, again, not, a loss until that (state title match) 24-1-0. 24 straight matches. Yeah. And when you have to go to penalty kicks to decide who’s taking home the state title. Chins up, lads, chins up. Because, that, man, I still can’t believe just two goals allowed. Two in 25 matches. You know, there is one more team I forgot to talk about, but, we’ll cover that after this (It’s FC Cincinnati, spoilers.)

Lee: I want to look at Girls Tennis. If you’re asking “Why not Boys Tennis?” Well, they play in the spring. Why do the girls play tennis in the fall and the boys in the spring? The answer is, I honestly don’t I don’t know if I ever asked that. But do want to mention normally held at the home of the Western and Southern Open (Lindner Family Tennis Center) in Mason, right across from Kings Island. But they did renovations, so they moved them to Wooster, the College of Wooster. I think they’re due back next time, maybe next year? I don’t remember. Oh, by the way, western and Southern Open and staying. That’s a new update for 2023. Yeah. (There were) originally talks of moving it to Charlotte, North Carolina, because we can’t have anything nice. Except we did (keep it), and apparently it was a very expensive deal to have, but we got it, and it’s no longer Western & Southern Open. I just realized that trying to think of they named a sponsor for that yet, but the big open in Cincinnati is staying in Cincinnati, so to the other Queen City: [*phht*] (because I’m a mature adult) Anyway, I’m sorry. Division One singles: I was trying to find the teams because you have teams with state titles, and then you have individual athletes with state titles. At least I thought you did. For Division One singles, I don’t believe there was anyone local that got to play in the title match. I see Westlake and North Canton Hoover. So there you go. Division One doubles: Mason’s Emma Wagner and Pratyusha Chauduri won the school’s first doubles trophy over New Albany’s Richie Francois and Paige Cornelius, 6-0, 6-1. By the way, Wagner is a freshman and Chauduri is a sophomore. Yeah, that double pairing; they stick around at Mason, you might see more trophies for Girls’ Tennis over at MHS. Just a guess. And, they knocked off a doubles pairing with their third appearance in state tournament, and they finished up as runners up for the second year in a row. Hey, with all the girls playing tennis (in Ohio), that’s a feat. And Division Two, there’s only two divisions in tennis because I don’t know how many schools actually field tennis. Should ask an expert on that, but not right now. So, for the Division Two singles, unfortunately, two local schools were in the way of Bexley’s Amaya Bowles, won 6-1, 6-2 over Indian Hill’s Martha Thompson and over Eaton’s Mallory Hitchcock 6-1, 6-3. And the 14th two time state champion in state history for Bowles of Bexley, a nice little village in the eastern part of Columbus, just east of downtown. That’s pretty cool. D (Division) Two doubles: Columbus Academy’s Arya Chabria and Yasemin Bilgin outlasted. Shaker Heights Hathaway Brown’s Summer Mu [Oh, Hathaway Brown is the school, I thought Shaker Heights was: Sorry] and Kate Mills, 7-6(6), 4-6, 7-5. And that’s your look at tennis.

Lee: I did look at field hockey. If you want to talk about sport that doesn’t have a lot of schools playing, I know (Kettering) Fairmont (DID). I know some of the Cincinnati schools do, but, not a lot. I don’t even know if Fairmont has it anymore. I should’ve looked that up before, but, hey, I’m on a roll. By the way, it was Thomas Worthington, columbus second straight title in field hockey.

Lee: Now we can talk about football because, again, it’s the last sport in, OHSA, action that has not crowned state titles yet. We’ll start off Thursday with the Division Two (game.) By the way, for football there are seven divisions. (Division) One is your biggest schools; seven is your smallest schools. What does that mean to you? That know (what was this translation?) that I don’t know. But in case that helps explain things, there you go. Four of the seven divisions will have a Southwest Ohio school playing for a state title. Two years ago, we had all seven divisions (with a local school) and Cincinnati-Dayton went 4-3. That was cool. Southwest Ohio’s Best Ohio, argue with a brick wall if you don’t agree. So our first football final match is Thursday the 30th at 7:00 PM. Division Two, it’s top seeded Massillon Washington. Yes the same school that you might know Paul Brown from, taking on Akron’s Archbishop Hoban. The third seeded Knights, who are 1-1. The Tigers are 15-0, and that’s Thursday at seven. Three games on Friday, December 1st, we’ll start off with Division Six, and it’ll be the Versailles Tigers, representing northern Darke County, 13-2 against top seed of Kirkland, 14-1. Now, if you’re Kirkland, you’re probably breathing a sigh of relief, like, thank god we don’t have to play Marion Local. Newsflash: You get to play a foe of Marion Local and one of the teams that played the Flyers the closest. Yeah, if you don’t know high school football in Ohio, Marion Local, they’ve been (really) good since 2000, I think. They have, what is it? Twelve state titles in football since 2000. It’s something ridiculous, but yeah. Versailles takes on Kirtland. That’s 1030 in the morning for Division Six. Division Three: Columbus will bring out Bishop Watterson and the Eagles, 14-1 on the year, and they get #1  Toledo Central Catholic, 15-0. And, you might know TCC. In Division Two last year, they knocked off the Kings Knights, and that was the best run that Kings football ever had. And it was a tough loss. But TCC. They’re pretty good in Northwest Ohio, and they’re undefeated in Division Three. They dropped the division down. Divisions are based on student population, boys and girls. So in case you’re wondering, is it school size, is it body size, it’s that. There you go. So that’s at 3:00 PM for the D3 title. Division One, the largest schools, from Clark County for the third straight year, the Springfield Wildcats, they started off 1-3 this year, but they’re now 10-5, and they’re playing St. Edward for the third straight year. St. Edwards had Springfield’s number in the (previous two) state title games. So, hopefully, for our Clark County friends, third time’s the charm, go get them Springfield. That will be at 7:30 Friday night and three more again Saturday morning. At 10:30 in Division Seven, yeah, Marion Local, they’re back and they’re undefeated, and there’s not a lot of teams that can keep up with the Flyers. What amazes me about Division Seven football is, again, that’s your smallest schools. Maria Stein, that’s where Marion Local is from, it’s literally a village where if you blink, you drove through it. I know this because, my mom’s vet, was up in Maria Stein. So that’s how I know about Maria Stein. Marion Local, they get #5 Dalton, who’s 13-1. Saturday morning at 10:30. Division Five, we have the team that beats my Alma mater Valley View in Liberty Center, 15-0 and against another 15-0  team I believe that’s Massillon Perry. That’s Saturday at 3:00. That should be a really fun one to watch and Division Four, right from my town, Archbishop Alter of Kettering. 12-3 on the year, they get #5 Glenville from Cleveland, 12-2 Glenville. I believe they’re defending state title winners. I believe they won Division Four (last year), and that’s at 7:30. So again your local teams: You’ll have Division Six Versailles playing Friday morning at 10:30. You’ll have Division One Springfield Friday Night at 7:30. Division Seven: Saturday morning, 10:30 for Marion Local; and Division Four Alter Saturday night, 7:30. And that wraps up almost everything in 2023. Except, how about FC Cincinnati: The Supporter’s Shield winner? And, in case you don’t follow Major League Soccer, the Supporter Shield is pretty much best record. Man, oh, man, I knew that. FC Cincinnati with (Pat) Noonan as the coach the coach of the year, I might add. And Chris Albright, the GM. I knew the future, was bright, but I didn’t think it’d be this dominating bright. In fact, they are in the Eastern Conference final. You know who they’re playing? The Columbus Crew. I had a lot of people because on threads I’ve mentioned, I follow FC Cincinnati and the Crew. I had a lot of people look at me like, are you an idiot or are you just one of the most evil people that’s ever lived? And the answer is no, but I’ve always liked the Crew since I got into sports, because we didn’t have a team in Cincinnati. And then once FC Cincinnati came around, I followed the Crew, and they were in the USL League Two. Yeah. And then they got the move to MLS. I couldn’t just abandon the Crew like that. I don’t like jumping off fan bases like that unless it’s something know, crappy. But yeah, Crew and FC Cincinnati, if that is not, must watch soccer. I don’t know what to tell you because, man, oh, man, the Audi MLS Cup playoffs, it’s great to see because FC Cincinnati and the Columbus Crew have such loyal fan bases, and it’s a lot of fun to watch.

FC Cincinnati is one match away from the MLS Cup

Lee: And apparently Firefox does not like the MLS website. Oh, good golly. Yeah. Pretty much what I need to tell you is FC Cincinnati, they kicked ass this year, and it’s been a lot of fun to watch them play. Yeah, Firefox doesn’t like that. So for FC Cincinnati, the Supporter Shield winner: 20 wins, five losses, nine draws, or ties, as the standing say. But it’s soccer talk, it’s draws. Technically, it’s football, but never mind. Goal differential is plus 18, which is not the best in the east. In fact, out of the top four, Columbus plus 21, so not bad there. Yeah. I honestly think luckily Hell is Real is in Cincinnati. If it was in Columbus, I’d be worried, because I don’t think FC Cincinnati has done so hot in Central Ohio. Well, FC since night has been more dominant at home. So there you go, 13 two and two at home compared to seven, three and seven. That would be again, wins, losses, draws. So still, that’s not bad for Columbus at home.12-1-4 at home. Yeah, I’m glad it’s not at Lower.com field and away 4-8-5. So there you go. The crew went 16, nine and nine, and they had 57 points to Cincinnati, 69 1st. place finished for FC Cincinnati, third place finished for Columbus. Again, the top nine get in in both sides, in case you’re wondering in the west, St. Louis, first year St. Louis, that was the team that gave FC Cincinnati the first loss. They went 17-12 -51, seventeen wins, twelve losses, five draws. They were knocked out pretty early in the playoffs, actually, which surprised me a lot. Let’s look at the bracket because now I actually have something to talk about on here. So, the conference final at TQL Stadium, FC Cincinnati against Columbus crew, that’ll be at 06:00 PM. And all these matches are on Apple TV. I don’t understand why they went with Apple TV. Not everyone can watch them. Luckily, there is radio and it’s on 1530 or 1360 AM in Cincinnati. Columbus, are they on 97.1? I don’t know. I think they are, but I’m not sure. On the western side of things, it’s LAFC. Against Houston in the Dynamo, and then we’ll have the MLS Cup December 9 at 4:00 against those winners on the side of the brackets. Columbus coming off a 2-0 win. They need extra time against #2 Orlando (City SC), so nice upset for the Crew. For Cincinnati, they got a late goal in the second half to knock off #4 Philadelphia 1-0. Houston knocked off Sporting Kansas City 1-0, and LAFC 1-0 result over #2 Seattle. So we had two three seeds over the second seed. Yeah, FC Cincinnati, Acosta, the MVP. It’s been a lot of fun. Fall long and again, future’s bright with Pat Noonan leading the way and Chris Albright, the GM. They have done this is their second year with the Cincinnati organization, and they’re already one match away from the, you know, supporter Shield’s. Nice. But you know what be nicer? Adding a star over your logo. Columbus, actually their logo, I don’t see it on their logo. So for soccer, for MLS and soccer in general, a star means you won their championship. So if you see Columbus crew with two, they won two MLS Cups. I remember one of those being in college. So there you go.

Lee: That is 2023 wrapped up. And wow, I’m about ten minutes over than I thought it would be. But hey, it’s okay.

 What’s Up Next for The Podcast

Lee: We talked about local sports again, so you might wonder what’s up next for the podcast. Well, I mentioned I was going to do another episode once this is up and live, but, I think we’re going to talk more about Ohio State. [boisterous laughter because no.] [BRUH!] Yeah, that’s not happening. If you want that team at Columbus coverage, just listen Dayton Sports Radio, because that’s all they talk about. And it’s just enough (of it). That’s why this podcast exists, because I’m tired of hearing how great That Team in Columbus is. And yet, they’re not great. How’s that humble pie tasting, by the way? Out of the college football playoffs? Delicious. Now, for fans that do not like That Team in Columbus, don’t load up on Buckeye tears; It’s too salty. Don’t risk your health or something. No, seriously, am I a lot cooler with these sound effects? Yeah. I wanted to make it where it’s not just my voice talking because for as long as I’ve been doing this podcast, since 2017, I can’t stand my voice. So editing is not fun. And I don’t like it when I just ramble on like that. My plan is I like to have a, topic and then talk about that topic, which I know I’ve done. What was it last year, two years ago, where I would literally have, like, here’s the episode about the Cyclones and everything, ice hockey and here’s an episode about basketball and everything that’s happening there. I think I’d like to do that again. I also like to have topics, just, to put, a little spoiler in your ear because I’m not exactly sure when I’m going to be releasing this next episode. But I’m talking about things that are overdone because I heard it on local sports radio and I was just like, why are we still talking about it? It’s 2023. When’s the last time Michael Jordan stepped on the court? And now I said too much. Yeah, prepare for that next episode, which it’s a little bit different than the norm, which normally I talk about Cincinnati and Dayton Sports and that’s kind of it, but I just feel like branching out might be okay for me and maybe people actually start listening again. So that’s what I like to do with this podcast is kind of broaden it a little bit. Not so much know, I’m talking about that team in Columbus all the time, but know some topics, some things going on, maybe, I don’t know. Again, I kind of spoiled what the next episode is going to be. It is not about all ah, about Michael Jordan. It’s about things that are overdone and talked about, know, oblivion. So, yes, Ohio State is definitely going to be talked about in this episode. So stick around for that. But it is nice to come back again. A big thank you to everyone on threads that helped me out, that point me in ways to go, it means a lot to me. So I appreciate one and all that took the time and helped me out. Thank you. And I feel like with this episode, I can’t wait to come back and talk more on this podcast, which is something that’s been lacking for a while now. If you’ve been with me, if you’ve been a fan of this podcast since the beginning or sometime in the middle, thank you, and I hope you know it’s very appreciative and it’s definitely not overlooked. I do appreciate you. And for those that are new to the ride, well, I’m insane, and I think things that I say are funny, so be prepared for that. I guess if you want to listen to old episodes or find out more, the best place I can point you is sindapod.com spelled Cindaypod.com, and that’s where all the episodes of my podcast live. Also, you can listen to this podcast on wherever you find, you know, the dollar tree bargain bin, the garbage bin behind the dollar tree. Why am I making two separate dollar tree references? Maybe because I’m mad that they don’t carry as much electronic stuff as they did back in the day. But never mind. Anyway, all the platforms should have the Cincinnati Dayton Sports Podcast if you want to find out more about me. Well, I have a website too. It’s called theleewmowen m-o-w-e-n.com (that’s my last name!) And you can find me still trying to build up my website from the summer because oh, yeah, that also happened. Everything from my old website got hacked to oblivion and it’s gone. I don’t have any of the numbers for the organizations I worked for. I was able to scrounge up thanks to archives of social media and everything that I’m over 1600 broadcasts. That’s right. Yours truly has done, what is it, 1606 broadcasts and over 500, maybe even 600 at this point. PA announcing games, that I’ve been the PA announcer for. I probably should check before I say these things. I don’t want to. So there you go. On social media, find me at @theleewmowen I don’t know if I’m going to resume social media for @CinDayPod. I don’t know, maybe. But those are your best options. And yeah, thank you all for listening. All the sound effects were provided by Voicemod for free. And I believe the opening theme was from Upbeatt.IO, which offers free and premium songs. So that’s where that comes from and some of the others from the Splash app, which closed down about three years ago. Sadly, it was an app where you can make your own sounds and music, and it was great. I just wish something like that would come along. Anyway, this podcast is reborn like a phoenix in the sky. I already used that reference. We’ll talk to you again soon. Again, Cindapod.com theleewmowen.com and wherever you find your podcasts, that’s where you find the Cincinnati and Dayton Sports Podcast. ‘Til next time.