CTC has Ohio sports and

The following is a list of players from Ohio schools who were selected in this past weekends’ NFL Draft. All draft pick data is courtesy of our friends at Pro Football Fans.

• 1st Round - New York Jets - #6 - Vernon Gholston - DE - Ohio State
• 3rd Round - St. Louis Rams - #65 - John Greco - OT - Toledo
• 4th Round - Denver Broncos - #108 - Kory Lichtensteiger - C - Bowling Green 
• 4th Round - Buuffalo Bills - #114 - Reggie Corner - CB - Akron
• 4th Round - Denver Broncos - #119 - Jack Williams - CB - Kent State
• 6th Round - Miami Dolphins - #176 - Jalen Parmele - RB - Toledo
• 6th Round - Indianapolis Colts - #205 - Pierre Garcon - WR - Mount Union
• 6th Round - Baltimore Ravens - #206 - Haruki Nakamura - S - Cincinnati
• 7th Round - San Francisco 49ers - #214 - Larry Grant - OLB - Ohio State
• 7th Round - Detroit Lions - #216 - Landon Cohen - DT - Ohio
• 7th Round - Cincinnati Bengals - #244 - Angelo Craig - OLB - Cincinnati
• 7th Round - Chicago Bears - #247 - Kirk Barton - OT - Ohio State

A few of the undrafted free agents from Ohio schools that we have found include:

• CB Andrew Hawkins - Toledo - Cleveland Browns
• LS Ryan Senser - Ohio - New Orleans Saints
• RB Kalvin McRae - Ohio - Kansas City Chiefs
• CB Jerrid Gaines - Miami - Cleveland Browns
• P Brett Kern - Toledo - Denver Broncos
• WR Jabari Arthur - Akron - Kansas City Chiefs
• DE Collin Ferrell - Kent State - Indianapolis Colts

• 1st Round - #9 - Keith Rivers - OLB - USC
• 2nd Round - #46 - Jerome Simpson - WR - Coastal Carolina
• 3rd Round - #77 - Pat Sims - DT - Auburn
• 3rd Round - #97 - Andre Caldwell - WR - Florida
• 4th Round - #112 - Anthony Collins - OT - Kansas
• 5th Round - #145 - Jason Shirley - DT - Fresno State
• 6th Round - #177 - Corey Lynch - S - Appalachian State
• 6th Round - #207 - Matt Sherry - TE - Villanova
• 7th Round - #244 - Angelo Craig - OLB - Cincinnati
• 7th Round - #246 - Mario Urrutia - WR - Louisville

Find all of the 2008 NFL Draft picks online at Pro Football Fans!

Unlike their in-state rivals from Cleveland, the Cincinnati Bengals had much work to do as the 2008 NFL Draft began today. Marvin Lewis’ team has many holes to fill with defensive worries and an unhappy superstar WR. The Bengals selected Keith Rivers, a OLB from USC with the 9th pick of the 1st round and followe with Jerome Simpson, a WR from Coastal Carolina, with a 2nd round pick, the 46th pick overall. Cincinnati has 8 picks remaining to be made for Day #2 of the 2008 NFL Draft including two 3rd round picks, two 6th round picks and two 7th round picks, many of which will likely be used to improve the Bengals’ defense and add depth.

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In a battle of a 9-5 team @ a 5-9 team, the team with the winning record would be expected to win. But throw in the fact that the Browns upset the Bengals a few years ago when the roles were reversed and add in the “Battle of Ohio” rivalry and the Benglas had the recipe for an upset. While leading 6-0 inside the final 2 minutes of the 1st half, the Benglas picked two Derek Armstrong passes off leading to 13 points and a 19-0 halftime lead. The 19 points proved to be enough as Cincinnati held off Cleveland for a 19-14 win.

With the loss, the Browns now need Tennessee to lose @ Indianapolis on Sunday and a Cleveland win vs. the San Francisco 49ers.

Buy Cleveland Browns apparel, Cincinnati Bengals merchandise & cheap NFL jerseys, hats & clothing online at DFN Sports sites.

The NFL Pro Bowl rosters have been announced and three Ohio NFL players have been named to the AFC’s Pro Bowl. Cleveland WR Braylon Edwards and Special Teams master Josh Cribbs and Cincinnati WR T.J. Houshmandzadeh are those three players who have received Pro Bowl invitations. Below are some stats for each player:

• Houshmandzadeh - 101 receptions, 1,028 yards, 11 TD
• Edwards - 69 receptions, 1,170 yards, 13 TD (tied for team record for receiving TDs)
• Cribbs - 53 kickoff returns, 1,637 yards, 30.9 ypr, 2 TD

Coming off a embarrassing 34-7 loss to Pittsburgh in Week #1, not a single person in America thought that the Cleveland Browns would score 51 points and beat their in-state rivals the Cincinnati Bengals. But the Browns did indeed score 51 en route to a 51-45 win over the Bengals as the Cincinnati defense seemed unable to stop Jamal Lewis (215 yards rushing, 1 TD) and Derek Anderson as he hit Braylon Edwards and Joe Jurevicius for 2 TDs each and Kellen Winslow, Jr. for another TD. Carson Palmer led the Bengals offensive attack with 401 yards passing and 6 TDs, but the Cleveland defense was able to hold Cincinnati to just 7 points in the 4th Quarter as Cleveland held on for the win to improve to 1-1 on the season.

Week #3 will see the Bengals travel to Seattle to face the Seahawks @ 4:05 pm while the Browns are @ Oakland also at 4:05 pm.

After a dismal kickoff the the season on Sunday, the Cleveland Browns are making changes already. Starting QB Charlie Frye was traded to the Seattle Seahawks today, reportedly for a draft pick.

Since we haven’t reported on either Ohio NFL team yet, the Browns fell 34-7 to the Steelers on Sunday and the Bengals won on Monday night 27-20 over Baltimore. The two teams will square off in Cleveland this Sunday in the first of two regular season meetings.

After I finally took the time to match up all of the dates for sporting events I figured out that tonight is a great night for Ohio sports, but specifically for Ohio football. Not only is it the kickoff of the college football season, but the Cleveland Browns also have their final preseason game in Chicago. Meanwhile, Miami and Ball State will face off and Kent State is @ Iowa State in a game that VanDelay Sports has picked Kent to win. Big East member Cincinnati also kicks their season off tonight, and both the Reds and Indians are in action and playing well in the world of Major League Baseball.

Here’s a rundown of tonight’s Ohio sporting events:
- Cincinnati Bearcats vs. SE Missouri State - NCAA - 7 pm
- Miami @ Ball State - NCAA - 7 pm
- Cleveland Indians vs. Seattle Mariners - MLB - 7:05 pm
- Cincinnati Reds @ Pittsburgh Pirates - MLB - 7:05 pm
- Kent State @ Iowa State - NCAA - 8 pm
- Cleveland Browns @ Chicago Bears - NFL - 8 pm

Meanwhile, the Bengals play another preseason game on Friday night and on Saturday Ohio State, Akron, Toledo, Ohio and Bowling Green all kick off their 2007 seasons.

How come all the teams I’m passionate about have coaches/managers who look like they could be asleep during games?  

Who am I talking about? Marvin Lewis, Tim O’Shea, and worst of all Jerry Narron! 

These guys subscribe to what I call the “golf announcer” method of coaching. They are calm, cool, collected. They show very little emotion on their faces during a game. They rarely – if ever – get ejected arguing a bad call. In fact, if you only watched their faces, you would have very little idea of what was actually going on in the game play. 

Like when the latest Bengal is brought in by the po-po, Marvin either issues no comment at all, or a very nonchalant statement about how they don’t tolerate that sort of behavior (though the Bengals’ lack of action says otherwise). 

Tim O’Shea, coach of the Ohio University Bobcats basketball team, has only had 1 technical foul in his career. I was there, it was well deserved and SO great to see out of him.  This guy would have been surprised too.

 

(Photo Courtesy of OhioBobcats.com)

 Or when a relief pitcher has just pitched his 4^th grand slam ball of the year, I’d like to see a little bit of emotion from Jerry Narron. Instead, he has a bored and slightly pleasant look on his face, as if he’s visiting with his grandmother in the retirement home. 

WAKE UP NARRON! Take some lessons from Lou Piniella and get fired up! Get the team fired up! You are not at the retirement home – you are managing one of the worst teams in baseball!  

Clearly, the “I don’t really care if we win or lose” face that you’re putting on for the public isn’t really working. 

Sun, Nov 11 @ Baltimore

Hopefully McNair is injured by then and we can see Troy Smith flop.  Will Derrick Mason ever get old? - Kirby’s Prediction: Bengals Lose, Record 5-4 

Sun, Nov 18: Arizona

Some year, Arizona will get it right.  This is not that year.  They have some explosive offensive weapon.  I’m interested to see if they got a draft steal on Alan Branch. - Kirby’s Prediction: Bengals Win, Record 6-4 

Sun, Nov 25: Tennessee

This is another one of those teams that makes me think that I should be a GM.  Vince Young has no help.  This should be an easy win. - Kirby’s Prediction: Bengals Win, Record 7-4 

Sun, Dec 2 @ Pittsburgh

The Bengals have won in Pittsburgh two times in a row.  Make that three. - Kirby’s Prediction: Bengals Win, Record 8-4 

Sun, Dec 9: St. Louis

Again, we should see a battle of two explosive offenses.  These teams are very similar.  We should see a lot of Rudi. - Kirby’s Prediction: Bengals Win, Record 9-4 

Sat, Dec 15: @ San Francisco

The Niners have a young offense grounded in Frank Gore. They also added Ashley Lelie and Darrel Jackson to the WR mix.  The secondary was upgraded with the signings of Michael Lewis and Nate Clements.  It should be a much improved team. - Kirby’s Prediction: Bengals Lose,  Record 9-5 

Sun, Dec 23: Cleveland

This should be an interesting match-up. The Browns have had numerous injuries to key players in the past few years.  I don’t expect that we will see the same Browns team that we saw earlier in the season.  Charlie Frye could be leading a playoff run.  Brady Quinn could be answering the questions that made him drop to #22.  Either way, it should be a Bengals win at home. - Kirby’s Prediction: Bengals Win, Record 10-5 

Sun, Dec 30 @ Miami

I don’t understand this franchise.  They are still looking to replace Dan Marino and then they pass on Brady Quinn, a potential franchise QB.  There is no way that Ted Ginn will play 16 games.  The defense is getting older. There must be something really wrong with Daunte Culpepper if they traded for Trent Green and his cane.  Ronnie Brown is about the only thing going right for this team. - Kirby’s Prediction:  Bengals rest their starters and win by 20.   

Overall Record: 11-5