I was surprise when this morning's copy of the Dispatch finally arrived and I saw a picture of SK and an article by Todd Jones on the game on the front page of the sports section. Until I read a few paragraphs in to realize that it was an underhanded excuse to bash the school and athletic program by focusing on the number of changes in the Presidents office, football coach and AD positions. This paper has it bad for UC and the city of Cincinnati overall...no positive coverage allowed. You would think that this team and its accomplishments would be worth a straight up article...not allowed, however.

Haven't read the article....but for what its worth, the dispatch usually covers UC sports better than the enquirer does.

So I wonder if in the comment section everyone is yelling at them to stop displaying little brother syndrome, like so many on here do to people who post about o$u?

(02-07-2014 07:32 PM)Bearcat419 Wrote:  Haven't read the article....but for what its worth, the dispatch usually covers UC sports better than the enquirer does.

Mmmm, K damning with faint praise. Me likey. Could we not say the same aboot a paper published in Anchorage AK ?

The local media coverage of UC is less than abysmal. Correcting this should be a top priority of our new AD.

Men's basketball: Resilient Bearcats keep on winning

By Todd Jones The Columbus Dispatch • Friday February 7, 2014 5:28 AM


Al Behrman | Associated Press Cincinnati guard Sean Kilpatrick shoots against Connecticut guard Niels Giffey. Kilpatrick led the Bearcats with 26 points, 12 rebounds and six assists.

CINCINNATI — The highest-ranked college basketball team in Ohio is a cornerstone of stability on a campus where athletic news customarily involves change.

Cincinnati lived up to its No. 7 ranking, the team’s highest in 10 years, and extended its winning streak to 15 games with a resilient 63-58 victory last night over No. 22 Connecticut.

On a day when UC named a new athletic director, a Fifth Third Arena crowd of 12,432 saw the Bearcats (22-2) show why they entered the top 10 of the Associated Press poll this week. UC exuded determination while trailing by 10 in the first half, by five at halftime, and by eight with 15 minutes left before outscoring the Huskies 16-10 in the final 5:21.

“Right now we have a tremendous team ego,” Cincinnati coach Mick Cronin said. “Everybody is wrapped up in getting a win. No one is into individual (statistics). If we stay that way, we’ll continue to win.”

The win over Connecticut (17-5, 5-4) improved Cincinnati to 11-0 in the American Athletic Conference for a 21/2-game lead over second-place Louisville, which lost at home to the Bearcats and still must play at Cincinnati.

Cincinnati’s 17th consecutive home win also showed why Sean Kilpatrick, a 24-year-old, fifth-year senior, is considered the front-runner to be named the league’s best player. He had 26 points, 12 rebounds and six assists while playing all 40 minutes, which prompted Cronin to say he should be a candidate for national player of the year.

“I’m just doing my job,” Kilpatrick said.

Cincinnati held Connecticut to 18 points below its scoring average and 32-percent shooting in the second half as the Bearcats received clutch play from senior forward Justin Jackson and Titus Rubles. The steady leadership of UC’s three senior starters contrasts with the near-constant turnover at the school in recent years, which continued yesterday.

Mike Bohn was announced as Cincinnati’s athletic director two hours before tip-off. The former Colorado athletic director came to Cincinnati to replace Whit Babcock, who resigned Jan. 24 after 27 months at the school. Since 2006, Cincinnati has had three presidents, three athletic directors, four football coaches and two conferences. The Bearcats’ one constant has been Cronin, a Cincinnati native in his seventh season as coach of his alma mater.

Cronin was given yet another new boss yesterday because Babcock left for Virginia Tech, a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference, one of the nation’s five most powerful leagues.

Cincinnati’s change in athletic directors comes at a time when the school is considering renovating Fifth Third Arena while it is already putting $86 million into updating on-campus Nippert Stadium, where the Bearcats play football.

Facility renovations are part of UC’s plan to attract an offer to join a power league, which the Bearcats were part of until the Big East remade itself in December 2012. The new Big East, now built around Catholic nonfootball schools, didn’t extend an offer to UC and instead gave membership to the Bearcats’ crosstown rival, Xavier.

League reshuffling left Cincinnati this year in the AAC, but the Bearcats trudge on, just as they did last night while trailing Connecticut for a stretch of 22 minutes.

“It’s all about keep on grinding, doing what you do, and you’ll come out in the end,” Jackson said. “The only score that matters is at the end.”

Cincinnati hasn’t lost since Dec. 14 when the Bearcats lost 64-47 to Xavier, and they are off to their best start since their 2001-02 team went 26-2 on the way to a 31-4 record.

“We’re on a mission,” Kilpatrick said.

tjones@dispatch.com

@Todd_Jones

http://buckeyextra.dispatch.com/content/...nning.html

(02-07-2014 07:22 PM)cmhcat Wrote:  I was surprise when this morning's copy of the Dispatch finally arrived and I saw a picture of SK and an article by Todd Jones on the game on the front page of the sports section. Until I read a few paragraphs in to realize that it was an underhanded excuse to bash the school and athletic program by focusing on the number of changes in the Presidents office, football coach and AD positions. This paper has it bad for UC and the city of Cincinnati overall...no positive coverage allowed. You would think that this team and its accomplishments would be worth a straight up article...not allowed, however.

Based on your description, doesn't sound any worse than what the local press says about UC.

Not the only one taking jabs:

Napier could never relax on this night.

Quote:"I didn't play good basketball," he said. "I had a bad shooting night. They definitely played good defense. They were getting away with a lot of cheap fouling. Sometimes you've got to deal with it. I just couldn't make a shot.

Read more here: http://www.bnd.com/2014/02/07/3045811/je...rylink=cpy

Since 2006, tosu has had 4 Presidents (one forced to resign), 2 Athletic Directors, 3 football Coaches (2 resigned/fired), Football Team suspended from post season play, and one conference.

You tell me which campus has had a greater change?

(02-07-2014 08:06 PM)BearcatBeta Wrote:  Since 2006, tosu has had 4 Presidents (one forced to resign), 2 Athletic Directors, 3 football Coaches (2 resigned/fired), Football Team suspended from post season play, and one conference.

You tell me which campus has had a greater change?

You should post that comment promptly imo.

Far better coverage than the local rag in Dayton. DDN did put together a story on UC earlier in the week after the Cats were ranked in the Top 10.

The only thing that didn't make sense to me was saying the Big East didn't offer an invite to UC. Well no sh*t. They didn't offer OSU, or Purdue, or UConn, or any school that plays football. Why would they have? They would have been turned down. I didn't get the point of that.

Everything else seemed fair. There has been a lot of turnover here. I don't even think that's a bad thing. 1.) we have hired attractive candidates 2.) we have improved significantly as a university and football program while the basketball program returns to prominence 3.) it highlights Mick's commitment to this university and community, which we shouldn't take for granted.

Every time I see that $86M figure...man oh man, people are going to be REALLY surprised when the actual costs come out...

(02-07-2014 08:56 PM)BearcatMan Wrote:  Every time I see that $86M figure...man oh man, people are going to be REALLY surprised when the actual costs come out...

And you have knowledge of the actual costs? Care to share?

(02-07-2014 09:02 PM)ctipton Wrote:  

(02-07-2014 08:56 PM)BearcatMan Wrote:  Every time I see that $86M figure...man oh man, people are going to be REALLY surprised when the actual costs come out...

And you have knowledge of the actual costs? Care to share?

Well the contingency budget is $167M. That's public information and viewable if you look hard enough. Not saying that'll be the cost, but it sure as hell will be more than $86M. There have already been large change orders on the project due to the subgrade structural work they had to do to shore up the old tunnels enough to hold the weight, which all wasn't part of the planned costs

(02-07-2014 08:05 PM)eroc Wrote:  Not the only one taking jabs:

Napier could never relax on this night.

Quote:"I didn't play good basketball," he said. "I had a bad shooting night. They definitely played good defense. They were getting away with a lot of cheap fouling. Sometimes you've got to deal with it. I just couldn't make a shot.

Read more here: http://www.bnd.com/2014/02/07/3045811/je...rylink=cpy

Napier does almost as much flailing and flopping as Russ Smith.

As far as the jobs go, keep them coming, I like my team with a chip on their shoulders.

Which is worse, the dispatch taking one shot at the turnover at UC in the middle of an article about the team's performance or PDoc's article smugly bringing up Cronin's possible departure?

(02-07-2014 09:27 PM)BeerCat Wrote:  

(02-07-2014 08:05 PM)eroc Wrote:  Not the only one taking jabs:

Napier could never relax on this night.

Quote:"I didn't play good basketball," he said. "I had a bad shooting night. They definitely played good defense. They were getting away with a lot of cheap fouling. Sometimes you've got to deal with it. I just couldn't make a shot.

Read more here: http://www.bnd.com/2014/02/07/3045811/je...rylink=cpy

Napier does almost as much flailing and flopping as Russ Smith.

As far as the jobs go, keep them coming, I like my team with a chip on their shoulders.

I think Napier is an outstanding basketball player. But that headbobbing kneejerking **** annoys the hell out of me. It was hilarious when he was guarding Caupain and Troy bobbed his head and Napier was called for a reach-in. Napier turned to look at the ref like "who me?"

Touche.

(02-07-2014 08:44 PM)Overrated Wrote:  The only thing that didn't make sense to me was saying the Big East didn't offer an invite to UC. Well no sh*t. They didn't offer OSU, or Purdue, or UConn, or any school that plays football. Why would they have? They would have been turned down. I didn't get the point of that.

Everything else seemed fair. There has been a lot of turnover here. I don't even think that's a bad thing. 1.) we have hired attractive candidates 2.) we have improved significantly as a university and football program while the basketball program returns to prominence 3.) it highlights Mick's commitment to this university and community, which we shouldn't take for granted.

Agreed. Actually except for this statement I thought the tone of the article was complimentary. It made it seem like this is a team (and a school) that conquers all adversity.

Happened to be in Columbus yesterday and I was pleasantly surprised to see coverage on the front page of their sports section. After reading the story I was irritated enough to send an email to the writer. Here are a few selected comments from my message to him:

I do take exception to one statement. The dissolution of the old Big East was an ugly divorce but Cincinnati never wanted to be part of the new Big East. Stating that conference, "...didn't extend an offer to UC..." implies that UC was passed over. Nothing could be further from the truth. Rutgers, UConn, Louisville, USF and Cincy no longer had common interest with the Catholic seven. So the BCS football schools parted ways and sold their financial interest in the Big East name while forming the AAC.

As to recent changes in presidents, athletic directors and coaches--if you hire well, your people will be recruited. President Zimpher went on to lead the largest university system in the country in New York; the football coaches all departed for higher profile head coaching jobs with Kelly already leading Notre Dame to the national championship game and Dantonio's MSU team winning impressively to close the 2013 Big Ten Championship and the 2014 Rose Bowl.

Cincinnati's current athletic budget is certainly smaller than most P5 conference schools but their return on investment has been remarkable (and would make a great feature story). In less than a decade we've enjoyed two BCS bowl appearances and one of the best winning percentages among all BCS football programs. Setting the stage for this year's top ten basketball team were three straight NCAA tournament bids, with a Sweet Sixteen appearance. Many high major universities spend far more and get far less in return, on the field and the court.

It's just disappointing to me that a feature story on such a great game and season for an Ohio school becomes a platform for derogatory comments about the University of Cincinnati. I wasn't going to let that go without calling out the writer and I hope others do the same.

If we are getting some jabs from cow town, we are doing something right.