Cincy Sports Journal will have various updates and observations regarding Sunday’s Super Bowl LVI. Along with non-Super Bowl sports headlines of local interest. In this journal featuring updates throughout this week.

Super Bowl Sunday, February 13, 2022

The Cincinnati Bengals lost to the Los Angeles Rams 23-20. In one of the most suspenseful Super Bowl’s in years. There will be a full recap of Super Bowl LVI tomorrow. In a special edition of Cincy Sports Journal’s Weekly Review.

College Basketball Scoreboard

Northern Kentucky Men’s Basketball completed a regular season sweep over Wright State. Winning in Dayton, OH earlier this afternoon 75-71. Xavier Women’s Basketball snapped their five-game losing streak. In a nationally televised 62-60 win on the road against Providence. In New Orleans, Cincinnati Women’s Basketball lost to Tulane 56-80.

Winter Olympics update

The most significant story on Sunday for Team USA was Erin Jackson’s gold medal win in speed skating. Winning the women’s 500-meter race earlier this morning Cincinnati time. Jackson is the first African American to win gold in speed skating. Not long after Jackson’s race, Team USA’s Men’s Hockey team beat Germany 3-2. Wrapping up preliminary play unbeaten and earning a bye to the quarterfinals.

Meanwhile, USA Women’s Hockey will face Finland tomorrow. In the semifinals at 8:10 AM Eastern on USA Network. In Ice dance, Americans Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue won bronze. In their last event together in their Olympic careers. While teammates Madison Chock and Evan Bates finished fourth.

February 12, 2022

The Cincinnati Bengals had a walkthrough at Super Bowl site SoFi Stadium today. As we head into the homestretch of the Super Bowl pregame festivities. There comes a moment during the lead up to Super Bowl’s. Where I’m just eager for the game to kick off after days of pregame hype. This is one of those year’s but not for the same reason as usual.

Super Bowl hype is often overdone, the halftime shows typically underwhelm me. I can’t recall many Super Bowl ads that stands out a month after the game. From all the food to the six-hour pregame show, the Super Bowl is a showcase of excess. Even with the Bengals in the big game, the gaudiness of the Super Bowl is exciting but still annoying. Especially with the game taking place in the massively glamorous SoFi Stadium. As a football fan, I would love to see the Super Bowl played in colder gritty environments. Instead of mild or warm climates while most of the country freezes.

This year I’m more excited by the circumstances than the game itself. By the time most Super Bowl’s come around, I’m typically ready and excited for the NFL season to be over. Partly because I’m eager for spring by the time February comes around. Plus, up until this year the Bengals hadn’t been to a Super Bowl in my lifetime. I’m excited by the fact that the Bengals are in the big game. After lackluster seasons that made them a laughingstock in and beyond Cincinnati. The Bengals and Cincinnati have the nation and the world’s attention.

Instead of wanting the game to be over with. I’m excited by the Bengals being in the position they’re in. One win away from something that has been a fantasy for Bengals fans. Being in the Super Bowl for the first time in a generation is a massive victory. After the journey the Bengals and their fans have endured through the years. That’s the most exciting thing about this Super Bowl. After years of struggling to fill Paul Brown Stadium; Bengals fans and this region have plenty to celebrate.

Winter Olympics update

The U.S. Men’s Hockey team beat Canada 4-2 early Saturday. Canada’s roster features former Cincinnati Cyclones player David Desharnais. Earlier this week, the U.S. routed another former Cyclones player. Back on Tuesday, the U.S. beat China 8-0. China’s roster features former Cyclones player Jeremy Smith. The Michigan native plays professionally in China. Team USA will face Germany in their last preliminary game; tomorrow at 8:10 AM Eastern on USA Network.

College Basketball weekend scoreboard

No.25 Xavier Men’s Basketball snapped a two-game losing streak Friday night. Through their 74-68 home win against No.24 Connecticut. While Xavier’s men’s team bounced back from back-to-back losses. Xavier’s women’s team is in the midst of a five-game losing streak. Losing Friday on the road 47-68 against Creighton.

Also on Friday, the visiting Northern Kentucky’s men’s team beat Green Bay 71-62. Northern Kentucky’s women’s team lost at home 78-53 to IUPUI Saturday. Elsewhere on Saturday, Cincinnati Men’s Basketball lost to Tulsa. Losing on the road 77-83 to the 8-15 Tulsa Hurricanes. While a Memphis team that beat AAC leaders Houston earlier today awaits Tuesday.

Coming up Sunday (besides the Super Bowl)

Northern Kentucky Men’s Basketball will face rival Wright State. Going for a regular season sweep; in a road game moved up to Noon Eastern. So fans can watch that game and the Super Bowl without time or travel constraints. The NKU/Wright State game can be seen on ESPN+ and heard on WKRC-AM (550). In Women’s College Basketball, Xavier will face Providence on the road. Tip-off is set for Noon Eastern on FS1. While Cincinnati will face Tulane at 3 PM Eastern in New Orleans.

In the Winter Olympics, Nick Goepper will compete in men’s slopestyle freestyle skiing. The qualifying round starts tomorrow at 11:30 PM Eastern. Ohio raised ice dancer Madison Hubbell will also compete tomorrow. With her partner Zachary Donohue in the free dance competition. Hubbell and Donohue finished third in the rhythm dance tonight.

Cincy Sports Journal will have updates here on Super Bowl Sunday. As the Bengals and several local teams and athletes strive for big wins. On a Super Bowl Sunday for the ages in the Queen City.

February 11, 2022

Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase were among the winners at last night’s NFL Honors ceremony. Burrow won the Comeback Player of the Year award. For leading the Cincinnati Bengals into the Super Bowl. After the quarterback’s 2020 rookie season-ending injury. Burrow also won the Unstoppable Performance of the Year award. For his Week 17 performance against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Burrow’s Bengals and LSU Football teammate Chase also won two awards. The Rookie of the Year and Offensive Rookie of the Year awards. Former Bengal and Los Angeles Rams offensive tackle Andrew Whitworth won the Walter Peyton Man of the Year award. Awarded for a player’s charitable efforts off the gridiron. Whitworth has been nominated for this award several times during his Bengals and Rams careers.

The list of reasons why Whitworth won this award is long. Whitworth launched the Big Whit Homes for L.A. Families program last year. He’s also donated $20,000 after each home game. He’s also helping with the rebuilding efforts in his native Louisiana after Hurricane Ida last year. He’s also taking on housing insecurity, one of Los Angeles’ and the world’s biggest issues. These are just the charitable efforts he’s taken on this season.

There are full circle moments relating to Whitworth and this Super Bowl. Beyond facing the team he began his NFL career with. Along with his Hurricane Ida relief efforts. Whitworth has also contributed to the relief efforts following devastating wildfires in California. Sunday’s Super Bowl will happen in the midst of wildfires in Southern California.

The fires aren’t getting mentioned much in the pre-game weather-related news. Perhaps because they aren’t likely to impact the Super Bowl directly. Along with the horrific sense that society is accepting atypically long wildfire seasons as normal. What is getting mentioned more is the heat going into Super Bowl Sunday. The Los Angeles area is facing a heat advisory going into this weekend. Sunday’s game could be the hottest Super Bowl in history. With temperatures expected to climb up into the 80’s.

Closer to home and on a much more upbeat note. Whitworth brought up an interesting moment in his acceptance speech. That unfolded during his time playing for the Bengals. He met Greater Cincinnati native and Detroit Lions player Derrick Barnes, as a kid at the Boys and Girls Club. They met again when the Rams and Lions played earlier this season. Barnes brought up how much that visit meant to him growing up. Whitworth cited the moment as an example; of how people can make a positive impact without immediately realizing it.

Winter Olympics Update

The U.S. Women’s Hockey team is advancing to the semifinals. After beating the Czech Republic 4-1 overnight. Another big moment from Friday in Beijing was the last ride for Shawn White. The American snowboarder competed in his last Olympic event. Last weekend, White announced these Olympics will be his last as a competitor.

The 35-year-old three-time Olympic gold medalist finished fourth in the men’s halfpipe. His teammates Taylor Gold and Chase Josey finished in the top seven. Meanwhile, U.S. alpine skier Mikaela Shiffrin completed her first competition on of these games. Finishing ninth in the Super-G after skiing out of her first two events. A perplexing moment followed but a momentum-building moment for one of the world’s best skiers.

College Basketball scoreboard

No.25 Xavier Men’s Basketball will host Connecticut tonight. Tip-off is set for 7 PM Eastern on FS1 and WLW-AM (700). Also in Men’s Basketball, Northern Kentucky will face Green Bay on the road. Tonight at 8 PM Eastern on ESPN+ and WSAI-AM (1360). In Women’s Basketball, Xavier will face Creighton on the road at 7:30 PM Eastern on FloSports.

Coming up Saturday

More Super Bowl pre-game updates and analysis. Plus, coverage of college basketball games of local interest.

February 10, 2022

Since the Cincinnati Bengals’ last Super Bowl appearance 33 years ago. The Super Bowl has evolved in a few ways. From a sporting event into the mammoth national spectacle that it is today.

Perhaps the biggest way the game has evolved is through its halftime show. In the Super Bowl’s early years, the halftime shows typically featured marching bands. Ranging from high school bands from the host city. To renowned HBCU bands like Florida A&M, Grambling State and Southern University. Instead of the internationally famous music acts it attracts today.

Those early shows often featured a theme. When the Bengals played in 1982’s Super Bowl XVI in Detroit. The show’s theme was a tribute to the 1960’s and Motown. Performed by the group Up With People. Which performed multiple Super Bowl’s in the 1970’s and 80’s.

In the Bengals’ most recent Super Bowl appearance before this year. 1989’s Super Bowl XXIII’s halftime show could be considered one of the strangest ever produced. The show titled “Be Bop Bamboozled” featured a wild mix of things. A magic trick, 3-D glasses, choreography and an Elvis impersonator that didn’t sing any Elvis songs. The Super Bowl began having the halftime shows viewers are now accustomed to in the 1990’s.

Media hype surrounding the Super Bowl has also grown since 1989. When Bengals founder Paul Brown did the Ickey Shuffle during a pre-SB XXIII press conference. Media day wasn’t the media circus it became just before the pandemic. The massive media attention is due to the stakes of the game. Along with the massive audience the game attracts.

Super Bowl XXIII was seen by roughly 81 million viewers. Sunday’s game might attract around 100 million. Several Super Bowl’s in this century are among the most watched programs in U.S. television history. As the audience has grown through the decades. Kickoff was gradually pushed later into the day. Early Super Bowl’s were already concluded before this year’s 6:30 PM Eastern kickoff time. Super Bowl XXIII was among the last to start around 5 PM Eastern.

The late start time could be a factor behind some local schools opting to close this Monday. Regardless of how the Bengals fare in the game. While also spurring annual calls for the game to be moved to Saturday. Even before 1989, the Super Bowl went from being just a game to a TV spectacle. That’s more the case than ever in today’s vast media environment. One with fewer events that bring the country together. In the way the Super Bowl does.

Schoenefeld wins gold medal at Winter Olympics

Lawrenceburg, IN’s Justin Schoenefeld won gold in his first Olympics. Winning in the mixed team aerials freestyle skiing event this morning. Schoenefeld joined teammates Ashley Caldwell and Chris Lillis on the podium. The 23-year-old Schoenefeld is the first Hoosier to win gold in the Winter Olympics. It was part of a gold rush Thursday for Team USA. Nathan Chen won gold in figure skating and Chloe Kim won in snowboarding. Meanwhile, U.S. Women’s Hockey will face Czechia in the quarterfinals; tonight at 11:10 PM Eastern on USA Network.

College Basketball scoreboard

Northern Kentucky Women’s Basketball beat UIC 67-57 in Highland Heights, KY tonight.

Coming up Friday

A recap of Bengals winners at Thursday’s NFL Honors ceremony. The ceremony starts at 9 PM Eastern on ABC, ESPN+ and NFL Network. Plus, more Olympic and College Basketball updates.

February 9, 2022

While the Winter Olympics are beleaguered by a long list of controversies. One controversy surrounds the National Football League ahead of the Super Bowl. Presenting an idea to reform the league’s ownership structure.

The controversy at hand is the league’s dearth of Black head coaches. In a league where a majority of players are racial minorities. This was brought to the forefront last week. When former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores sued the NFL. Accusing the league and its teams of discriminatory hiring practices. The lack of diversity among team owners could be a contributing factor. To the low number of Black NFL head coaches.

There’s a way teams could potentially change that. Which wouldn’t require any owner to sell to sell their team. Give players a substantive management stake in their franchise. Give players more of a say in the hiring of coaches. After all, they’re the ones the coach will be coaching.

Such a move could also help Major League Baseball. Which is still mired in a lockout. Which is likely to disrupt Spring Training, pitchers and catchers were set to report next week. Instead of owners and players standing at loggerheads. They could be collaborative partners in helping their franchises thrive.

Another reason for ownership reform centers around accountability. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is doing a lousy job of fostering a culture of accountability among owners. Giving cynics and non-cynics room to roll their eyes. While Goodell addressed the NFL’s diversity issues. During his state of the league speech today.

Think about some of the people that own NFL teams. If held to the performance and behavioral standards many employers expect for employees. Some NFL franchise owners wouldn’t have their jobs. Dan Snyder would not be the owner of the now Washington Commanders. Due to sticking with the team’s previous derogatory nickname until he faced sustained corporate pressure. The misogynistic workplace culture he’s accused of presiding over. Along with Washington’s lousy record on the field during most of Snyder’s ownership.

Los Angeles Rams owner Stan Kroenke would be widely reviled. If he moved a factory or corporate office from the heartland to the west coast. In the manner he and the NFL ripped the Rams from St. Louis. Meanwhile, based on the Bengals record on the field during most of his ownership. Mike Brown would’ve been fired years ago if he wasn’t the owner.

Compared to his fellow NFL franchise owners. Brown increasingly looks like one of the good guys. In a league that also has few female executives. Brown’s daughter Katie Blackburn has a key role in the Bengals management. The Bengals’ Executive Vice President is the first woman to serve on the NFL Competition Committee.

Mike Brown remained loyal to Marvin Lewis for years despite playoff losses. He gave Adam “Pacman” Jones and Chris Henry more chances than other team’s might’ve. Both had legal troubles while playing for the Bengals. Despite public trepidation due to a pre-Draft assault investigation. The Bengals drafted Joe Mixon in one of their best moves in recent years. Mixon is the heart of the Bengals rushing offense and hasn’t gotten in trouble as a Bengal.

The NFL isn’t going to fix their issues overnight. However, by holding owners to a higher standard. Or at the very least a standard. The league can improve their embarrassing record on race. Along with not stumbling over themselves for a change.

College Basketball Scoreboard

No.25 Xavier Men’s Basketball lost 73-71 at Seton Hall.

SMU beat Cincinnati’s Women’s Basketball 71-66 in Cincinnati.

Cincinnati Men’s Basketball beat South Florida on the road 70-59.

Northern Kentucky Men’s Basketball walloped Milwaukee on the road 75-39.

Coming up Thursday

How the Super Bowl has changed since the Bengals last SB appearance.

Lawrenceburg, Indiana’s own Justin Schoenefeld will compete in Olympics Thursday. In the Men’s Freestyle Skiing event starting at 6 AM Eastern. Team USA’s Women’s Hockey team will also play Czechia in the quarterfinals tomorrow.

In Women’s College Basketball, NKU will take on UIC. Tomorrow at NKU’s home BB&T Arena at 7 PM Eastern on ESPN+. Earlier today, the Horizon League announced UIC will not be allowed to participate in the league’s 2022 winter and spring championships. Due to UIC’s pending move to the Missouri Valley Conference.

February 8, 2022

Cincinnati Bengals arrives in Los Angeles for Super Bowl

The Bengals arrived shortly after Noon Pacific time in Los Angeles Today. With an arrival that at times evoked the anticipation and local coverage. That one might expect to see for a Papal visit. Cincinnati arrived after getting a grand send off from fans Monday night. Through a pep rally at Paul Brown Stadium. Current and former Bengal players were part of a celebration. Which featured speeches and a fireworks display.

Among the big moments of the night was from C.J. Uzomah. Along with being one of the most jovial players on the roster, he’s also of the Bengals best motivators. Striving to play Sunday after suffering a knee injury early in the AFC Championship Game. Uzomah threw off his knee brace to the roars of the crowd. All part of a celebration unlike anything Cincinnati’s experienced in the 21st century.

2022 Winter Olympics update

Ohio State alum Jincy Dunne and her Team USA hockey teammates lost 4-2 to Canada. In Team USA’s last preliminary game early Tuesday morning. Dunne didn’t score or have any assists but had two shots. The U.S. wraps up the preliminary stage 3-1-0. Now they turn their attention to the win or go home quarterfinals. Team USA will face Czechia, more commonly known as the Czech Republic. Thursday at 11:10 PM Eastern on USA Network.

Coming up Wednesday

Cincinnati’s Men’s and Women’s Basketball teams will play tomorrow. Along with Xavier and Northern Kentucky’s Men’s Basketball teams. A schedule of College Basketball games of local interest is available here.