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Earlier this month I brought up a list of the Reds rumors; players who are reportedly on the trading block. Today, the first of those players has been dealt as the Cincinnati Reds dealt starter Kyle Lohse to the Philadelphia Phillies for AA left-handed starter Matt Maloney.

Lohse was 6-12 this season for Cincinnati in 21 starts with a 4.58 ERA and is 60-74 over his career with Minnesota and Cincinnati. Maloney will report to the Reds’ AA affiliate in Chattanooga after 21 starts at AA Reading, going 9-7 with a 3.94 ERA.

Attention Cleveland Browns fans! Tim Couch, once thought to be Cleveland’s savior at QB, is back in the NFL. After sitting out two full seasons, the #1 pick in the 1999 NFL Draft will make a return the the NFL with the Jacksonville Jaguars. The signing will give Couch a chance to backup Jaguars’ starting QB Byron Leftwich.

The San Jose SaberCats proved why they were the favorites in Arena Bowl XXI today as their precision offense could not be stopped by the Columbus Destroyers’ defense. Scoring 8 TDsin 9 possessions behind QB Matt Grieb, the SaberCats won their 3rd Arena Bowl Championship in 6 years in defeating the Columbus Destroyers by a score of 55-33. With the 3 Arena Bowl Championships, the SaberCats now site in 3rd place for all-time Arena Football League Arena Bowl Championship.

The Columbus Destroyers are in a tough spot - down 48-27 with just under 4:30 remaining in Arena Bowl XXI - but a comeback is what the Destroyers and their fans have on their minds. Consecutive passes to WR Cole Magner from Matt Nagy have the Destroyers at midfield in desperate need of a touchdown to stay in the game.

Keep checking back for Arena Bowl XXI updates!

The San Jose SaberCats look poised for another Arena Bowl Championship as the have just picked off a Matt Nagy pass. With a lead that is already 41-27 and just 8 minutes remaining in the 2007 Arena Bowl.

The Arena Bowl is here and the Columbus Destroyers are looking to win their first Arena Bowl Championship in franchise history. It is currently 27-14 San Jose at the half as the SaberCats look solid on offense as they look to win their 3rd Arena Bowl Championship in 6 years. Statistically, the game has been very close as neither team has much of a statistical advantage.

It’s been over a month since I last mentioned the tasteless Labatt Blue talking deer commercial. You know the one; “we get the fawns up at 5″ says the talking deer in the store. He then goes on to have one of the most obvious f-bombs in the history of TV bleeped out poorly.

I have received a few comments for my speaking out against SportsTime Ohio and the Labatt deer commercial, and there’s one thing I don’t intend to do, and that is back down on my stance. For someone who has kids and loves sports, but wants to raise their kids in an environment where curse words are not used, how do you explain to them this commercial? The f-bomb is the one word that is not allowed on TV, minus certain channels and movies. I truly feel that the continued airing of this commercial by SportsTime Ohio is not only tasteless but also irresponsible. Anything other than correcting this matter immediately is unacceptable.

I would have loved to report on this earlier, but I was eating lunch at Cedar Point when the Wireless Web and ESPN.com informed that Kenny Lofton was making a return to Cleveland. Now if you are a younger Cleveland Indians fan, or not a Tribe fan at all, this may not be a big deal to you. But for those who know mid-1990’s baseball and the Cleveland Indians, it is a widely-known fact that Kenny Lofton is one of the fan favorites and one of the best Cleveland Indians of all time.

The return of Lofton to the Indians could not have been at a better time. The Tribe just dropped 3 of 4 at home to the Boston Red Sox and need a spark. That spark arrived in town earlier today and batted 2nd in the order as Cleveland pouned out 10 runs and 16 hits. The true evidence of Lofton’s impact came in the 3rd inning when Lofton bunted 3rd-base side with 1st and 2nd and no outs. After beating it out for a bunt single, Lofton proceeded to break up a would be double-play and force a throwing error which allowed two runs to score.

I think that Mark Shapiro’s move to bring Lofton back to Cleveland will help the team in many ways. First, the added speed with a good bat that can hit #1 or #2 in the order was needed as the Indians’ outfield seemed full of players who have yet to step up. Secondly, having a veteran with playoff experience could be huge for the Indians, a team of young up-and-coming stars. Finally, Lofton was one of the most well-liked players during the Indians’ run in the mid- and late 1990’s. Since trading away their stars in 2002, their has been a lack of trust in the Indians’ ownership and GM despite their success. Bringing back a well-liked fan favorite like Lofton could mean an extra 3,000-5,000 fans per game the remainder of the season if the Indians continue to contend.

The Cleveland Browns made big headlines in April when they selected T Joe Thomas at #3 in the NFL Draft, traded up to select QB Brady Quinn #22 in the draft and then traded up to select CB Eric Wright in the 2nd round. With training camp starting tomorrow the pressure was on to sign their three stud draft picks, but the Browns came through. After listening to an interview with Browns’ GM Phil Savage this morning it was easy to tell that Thomas & Wright were closer to signing than Quinn, and this evening that was confirmed as both Joe Thomas and Eric Wright have indeed signed and will be in training camp on Friday with the Cleveland Browns.

I was listening to Munch on Sports on ESPN 850 WKNR this evening and heard a ad for SportsTime Ohio claiming that STO provides “The Most Complete Coverage of Ohio Sports.” The Most Complete Coverage of Ohio Sports? Seriously? Does SportsTime Ohio seriously claim to have “the most complete coverage of Ohio sports?” Now I have not hesitated to be critical of SportsTime Ohio in the past, but I am extremely disappointed in the false claims by this station. STO has stated in their TV commercials that they cover Cleveland, Youngstown, Toledo and Columbus, but this claim of “the most complete coverage of Ohio sports” is just plain ridiculous. With no coverage of Cincinnati’s 2 pro teams (Bengals, Reds), the Columbus pro teams (Blue Jackets, Crew, Destroyers) the 6 MAC colleges (Ohio, Miami, BG, Kent, Akron & Toledo) and the UC Bearcats, this claim to have “the most complete coverage of Ohio sports” is a blatant lie.