In this week’s review, there’s no place like the road for FC Cincinnati. Plus, two Cincinnati Reds’ quests to be MLB All-Star Game starters rests in the hands of voters.

FC Cincinnati win two road shutouts

FC Cincinnati won back-to-back road matches last week. Improving their record to 3-5-1 through beating the two worst teams in the Eastern Conference. While cobbling together their best stretch of soccer since last year’s MLS is Back Tournament. Last Wednesday, FCC won 1-0 against the Chicago Fire. The lone goal came from Alvaro Barreal in the 50^th minute. Chicago’s Robert Beric almost tied it in the 91^st minute. Through an attempted goal overturned through an offside call; determined through the use of video review.

FC Cincinnati beat Toronto FC 2-0 last Saturday night. Beating Toronto in their temporary home in Orlando, FL. FC Cincinnati’s goals came from Allen Cruz in the fourth and Luciano Acosta in the 68^th minute. The consecutive shutout wins marked a big moment for FCC goalie Kenneth Vermeer. Through the 100^th clean sheet of his club career.

Last Saturday’s win marked the last match of Jurgen Locadia’s stint with Cincinnati. Locadia joined FC Cincinnati last year through a loan agreement that expires Wednesday. With English Premier League club Brighton and Hove Albion. The 27 year old Dutch forward scored two goals and started in 17 of 26 matches. Next up for FC Cincy, a road match against the Houston Dynamo this Saturday. Kickoff in Houston is set for 8:30 PM Eastern on WSTR-TV (64).

Cincinnati Reds week in review
The Cincinnati Reds are emerging from a week full of splits. Starting it off by splitting a two-game road series against the Minnesota Twins. Losing the first game 5-7 last Monday night. Last Monday’s game featured a pregame tribute to the late Mike Bell. Mike had close connections to both teams. Being Reds manager David Bell’s brother and he was also a bench coach with Minnesota. Mike Bell passed away in March after a bout with kidney cancer at the age of 46.

Last Monday’s game was also part of a debut moment for Major League Baseball. The league is striving to enforce rules discouraging players from putting certain substances on baseballs. Which would doctor the ball in ways that would make hitting more difficult. Through the roll out of de facto sticky stuff checkpoints. Players, primarily pitchers, are being checked for sticky stuff after various points in games.

Players that violate the rules face an ejection and a ten-game suspension with pay. Teams cannot fill the roster spot during the suspension. So far, Washington Nationals staring pitcher Max Scherzer had his hair checked at one point in a game. Oakland Athletics reliever Sergio Romo pulled his pants down during a check. While a Seattle Mariners pitcher was ejected and faces a suspension.

Speaking of suspensions, Reds first baseman Joey Votto missed last Tuesday’s 10-7 win in Minnesota. Due to a one game suspension over what the league dubbed “aggressive actions.” In a first inning argument with an umpire that resulted in his ejection on June 19^th. Cincinnati wrapped up the week splitting a four-game home series against the Atlanta Braves. Facing some of the largest home crowds they’ve had since the pandemic began. The Reds won 5-3 last Thursday and 4-1 Saturday. While losing 3-2 Friday and 4-0 last Sunday afternoon.

What’s coming up this week for the Reds?

The Reds longest home stand of season continues this week. With a game against the Philadelphia Phillies today at 6:40 PM Eastern. Making up of a washed out game on June 2^nd; originally meant to be the Reds Re-opening day. The Reds will face the San Diego Padres Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at 7:10 PM Eastern. The Reds will welcome the Chicago Cubs to town for an Independence Day weekend series. Friday’s series-opener is set to start at 7:10 PM; Saturday’s game is set to start at 4:10 PM Eastern. The series wraps up with a July 4^th Sunday showdown set to start at 1:10 PM Eastern.

Castellanos and Winker advance to final round of All-Star voting

Reds outfielders Nick Castellanos and Jesse Winker are in the final round of MLB All-Star Game voting. Castellanos ranked second and Winker ranked third in the outfield voting. Braves outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr. ranked first in the first round. The final round of voting is already underway and ends Thursday at 2 PM Eastern. Starters for the Midsummer Classic will be announced later that day at 9 PM Eastern on ESPN.

The rest of the roster will be revealed Sunday at 5:30 PM Eastern on ESPN. There’s a variety of ways to vote online; mlb.com/vote is one way. Fans can also vote through using the MLB At Bat and MLB Ballpark apps. Reds fans can also vote through using reds.com and through Google in the U.S. and Canada. Fans can vote for up to 17 players per day in the final phase.

College Sports meet America’s three branches of government

Last week’s review was published just a few hours after the U.S. Supreme Court’s NCAA v. Alston ruling. The ruling came in time for it to be covered in that article. The unanimous defeat for the NCAA side in the case was merely the start of a hectic week. Where college sports and three branches of government intersected in various ways. States are scrambling to pass laws to permit college athletes to profit from using their name, image and likeness (NIL). Ahead of the July 1^st enactment of laws permitting NIL compensation in several states. Last week, the Commonwealth of Kentucky joined that list.

Kentucky became the first state to permit NIL compensation through an executive order last Thursday. According Columbus Dispatch reporter Jessie Balmert, Ohio might go the executive order route too. After efforts to pass a State Senate NIL compensation bill went haywire in the house. For a more in-depth look at both of these stories. Check out this Cincy Sports Journal post published last Friday.

Bengals Ring of Honor induction ceremony date announced

We have a date for the induction ceremony for the Cincinnati Bengals’ inaugural Ring of Honor class. The induction ceremony will be in prime time on September 30^th. During the Bengals’ Thursday Night Football game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Voting for two members of the inaugural class closed on June 18th. Season ticket holders and Paul Brown Stadium suite owners were eligible to vote. Deciding from a list of 17 players in a nearly month long window of voting. The top two will join Paul Brown and Anthony Munoz in the inaugural class.

The final two members will be announced in late July. Coming around the same time the Bengals start up training camp on July 27th.