UC is Secure Amid Quasi-am Madness

And the Reds are (metaphorical) apartment dwellers

Day Last at the beach is today. It’s amazing and lamentable how we can anticipate this week all year, and how quickly it passes upon arrival. Which is an SAT way of saying, sometimes it’s so hard to quit vacation, you wonder if the pain is worth the trip. (It is, of course, but you get what I’m saying.)

This holds true even in retirement, BTW, even as “retirement vacation’’ seems redundant. I’m doing TML today mainly to give my two Fun-espondents their share of the Space. If you don’t read Hey Michelle and Imbiber Dave, you are missing what to do and where to go around here, and what to drink/eat when you get there.

These folks work for the love of it and produce fun, informative stuff every Friday. TML says ckemout.

Now, then. . .

THE PAC-12 CONFERENCE IS BLOWING UP. CBS Sports:

Arizona has entered significant discussions about leaving the Pac-12 and joining the Big 12, sources tell CBS Sports' Dennis Dodd, with a move expected to be finalized soon. One source said the Wildcats have become a "hard lean" toward the Big 12 after days of conversations about whether to leave the conference they have known as home since 1978.

Power brokers at both schools, including crucial members on the Board of Regents, do not desire a split and would prefer to keep the unique UA-ASU rivalry and partnership. The question becomes: Is the Big 12 wanting to stay at 14 members, or is it willing to move to 16 members by bringing Utah aboard as well?

Big 12 executives on Thursday approved Arizona as the conference's 14th member should the Board of Regents give the go-ahead for a move, according to multiple reports.

What all this means around here is, UC has won its seat in college sports ultimate game. Musical chairs no longer applies in Clifton. John Cunningham et al’s ability get the Bearcats in the big leagues assures UC of money the likes of which it has never seen and on-field opportunities not provided by any conference the school has ever played in, Big East basketball excluded.

More than that, UC has security in a quasi-am world gone mad. Ask the remaining members of the Pac-12 how great that is.

Experts said long ago that the future of big-time college sports included a 64-team tier of four major conferences. If the Big 12 adds Arizona, Utah and Arizona State, it’s there.

That 16 might not dominate football the way the SEC does, or basketball the way the ACC/Big 10 do (though it’s not far off) but it has a national TV deal and enough flagships to keep the conference wholly credible.

JUST BECAUSE LUKE MAILE HAS earned himself a spot in the back end of the Reds bullpen is no reason to panic. Those who advocated more pitching help (we know who we are) should not gloat. As previously noted, TML’s #1 Rule of Schedules is, it’s not whom you play that matters, as much as when you play them. The Cubs are hot, especially at the plate, and the Reds don’t pitch well, certainly not consistently. Since the Break, The Club is 10-10. The Cubs are 14-6, have averaged seven runs a game and have scored 10 runs or more in a game seven times.

This too shall pass.

The Reds didn’t lose 3 of 4 at Wrigley because they didn’t acquire Lucas Giolito or Brad Hand. But here’s an analogy worth making:

You’ve spent years clipping the metaphorical coupons of your financial life, with the goal of buying a home. You’ve foregone vacations, date nights, lavish holiday gifts, believing that someday, the promised land of down payments and mortgage checks will be yours.

You finally get there and are thisclose to bidding on a house. The Fed raises interest rates a quarter of a percent. Do you back off, again? Resume coupon-clipping? You don’t know what mortgage rates will do. Do you return to the apartment? Or do you say, we’ve saved long enough our dream is right there and we can afford it, let’s do it?

The apartment people are the Cincinnati Reds.

See you next week, people. Back in the saddle.

AND NOW. . .

HEY MICHELLE fills your weekend with mirth and merriment, even if you don’t know what mirth is.

Karen Wellington FUN RUN 5K ( or you can walk like me :)! ~ Saturday get a little exercise and giveback! Voice of America MetroPark in West Chester registration 7:30am, Race Start 9:00, Awards 10:15.. Putting FUN on the calendar of women battling breast cancer. 

Paddlefest ~ Kayaks, and paddle boards take over the Ohio River for one of my favorite events. There will be bands on boats, you can take tours into little coves, toss a beach ball to friends as you float and have a great time! There is a 4.2 mile or 9 mile points. Check out ohioriverpaddlefest.com for all the scoop! 

Cincy’s Largest Jazz Festival ~  Saturday 5-10 at Central Park in Forest Park. Bigger than ever.. more bands, vendors and food trucks. 

Hoop it Up~ Saturday 9-8 at The Banks! Watch the 3X3 tourney 

Lebanon Blues Fest ~ Friday 6pm, Saturday 11am Music from 11 blues acts. 

 Ault Park Summer Sips ~ 6-10 Friday Live music , make your own cocktails, food trucks ticketed event 

GoettaFest ~ Newport on the Levee Thursday - Sunday live music and tons of creative goetta food items! 

127 The World’s Longest Yard Sale ~ Starting in MainStrasse (Covington) shop til ya drop for 690 miles  Thursday - Sunday 

 Reds are BACK !~ Friday night Fireworks games Saturday & Sunday ! 

Boy George and Culture Club ~ Riverbend… This will be a blast from the past! Saturday 7:00  

Walnut Hills Five Points funday Sunday ~ 3-8 Reggae, food, art and more 

 Shakespeare in the Park ~ “Comedy of Errors” fun one for everyone! Friday at Carnegie 7:00, Saturday General Ormsby Mitchel Park Ft. Mitchell 7:00, Washington Park 7:00 Free event ! 

Hey Michelle,

Do you want to know where to eat, drink and have fun in Cincinnati? Follow me @HeyMichelle1 on IG  https://heymichelle-help.com

IMBIBER DAVE REMEMBERS CONEY. . .

Fun trip with the family to Coney Island this weekend. I hadn’t been in years, and the place has changed quite a lot. Not that it was ever quite as dangerous as Action Park (enjoy looking that up if you’ve never read about it), but most of these changes were wise.

Now this is the pool where I spent my summers as a child. Not only did I learn to swim, but also was trained to be a lifeguard in the cold well waters of sunlight pool. So I miss the original high dive, zipp and zoom flume, but at least they still have the old metal butt burner slide in the middle of the pool!

Now maybe this was a thing when I was a kid, but I genuinely do not remember the veritable army of floats lined up along the rope lines separating the shallow from deep end. This was retirement imbibing at its finest. You do you, leathery people. Hilarious.

It was awesome to see my kids enjoy many of the same things I did thirty years ago. Who doesn’t love jumping off an island into a giant pool? Oh and now that The Floor Is Lava and Ninja Warrior are phenomenons, the obstacle course they built in the deep end was amazing.

Grab some Larosas or Skyline and then head over to the pavilion where putt putt and a number of other games are included with your admission.

A few more cannonballs at the diving well and you can make this down as a successful day!

Cheers!
cincybeerguydave@gmail.com

BEACH READ O’ THE WEEK. I went with a sure thing. Dennis Lehane is always good for a week at the ocean. His latest, Small Mercies, is no different. TML sez readit with your toes in the sand.

TUNE O’ THE DAY. . . I resisted the obvious Vacation, opting instead for a far better Go-Gos tune (which I’m sure some of youse believe to an oxymoron). My favorite girl band, believe it or not. Pure pop nonsense, done well.