+ I've been in the minority on this one. I'm very interested to see what Bernard Scott can do. I believe he'll make the squad and contribute on special teams and the offense. I realize his history outweighs his potential right now and that perception, based on a certain history, can limit what people think of him. There's nothing wrong with that. It's just not a view that I'm holding onto right now. A risk? Yes. A big risk? Only depending on how much of a premium you put on what other fans and/or media perceive them (and I don't over-react to that... not at all). In truth, Scott is a six-round pick that's owed $310,000 in base pay (this year) and a signing bonus of $77,500. Look at what he did in college.

Scott dominated at the Division II level, racking up 4,321 yards and scoring 63 rushing touchdowns in 25 college games. He also caught 93 passes for 1,391 yards and 10 touchdowns, showing his versatility.

The question now, with the risk factor, is if the Bengals can trust Scott enough not to repeat his past. If he's suspended, or released, the Bengals will have Cedric Benson and Brian Leonard at running back. Does that mean the Bengals put Fui Vakapuna on the team's practice squad as an insurance policy for both running back and fullback? An interesting thought. But Scott wants to prove himself.

“I want to prove that I can play on this level and do the right things. I need to prove to the Bengals organization that they made the right decision by selecting me. I think I can do some good and help the team out.”

+ WDR reexamines the Bengals super-sweet (from a point of view) stadium deal. The issue is that Hamilton county is paying money to upkeep the stadium "roughly 357 days a year." We think this piece was initiated by an Enquirer piece that says:

A consultant's report from February indicates the fund will have a $4.7 million deficit next year -but that assumes sales tax revenue falls only 1 percent. So far this year, sales tax numbers are down more than 7 percent.

Paul Daugherty writes that "While MB and Family are under no legal obligation to do anything except cash checks and demand new lightbulbs, you'd think they might do something as a gesture of goodwill."

The economy is a large part in this. Certainly, the deal that Mike Brown negotiated with the county does favor the team more than county, who was recently forced to slash $6.1 million off the budget "by the end of this year."

If you want to blame Mike Brown being apart of the county's financial woes, or criticize him for not displaying a "gesture of goodwill", go for it. The economy just sucks. Everywhere. No matter how you look at it. A lot of people could help. My thought is you could do your best to help in November (but since this isn't a political blog, we're moving on).

+ Sports Business Journal featured a piece on Bengals.com writer Geoff Hobson earlier this week. Hobson is often criticized for being a "lap dog" (as he puts it) to the Bengals.

“Ultimately, I work for the team,” said Hobson, who was the first writer to make what now is a common jump from independent to team-owned media. “That’s the thing. They do sign my checks. I think I’ve been able to marry both. But it’s been tough. Some people on the team think I’m too tough on them. The bloggers and people on the message board and my critics think I’m a lap dog for the team. I guess since neither side is always happy I’m doing my job, right?

This is where I got a kick.

“If beating up the Bengals is what you’re looking for, there’s plenty of it out there,” Hobson said. “But I’m not sure why anybody expects to find that on a team site. It’s Bengals.com. It’s not BeatUpBengals.com.”

The article was released on July 20. On July 21, the owners of WDR bought BeatUpBengals.com and redirected the URL to WDR.

+ Matt Loede wonders if the Bengals should look at Edgerrin James. The only thing that James has at this point, that could benefit the Bengals, is name recognition. He played in 13 games last year, starting seven and finished with a 3.9 yard-per-rush average and three scores. Maybe the Bengals running backs aren't ideal, but in truth, we don't know. We could have a very realistic scenario in which all running backs, save for Cedric Benson, and our fullback are new. Question is, what can James bring us at this point in his career? Think of it this way. He's still a free agent.

Joe Reedy doesn't care for the NFL Draft schedule change. Speaking of which, Reedy examines the Bengals offensive line and the wide receivers (and tight ends).

Stripe Hype lists the Bengals rating on Madden 2010. Not good. And Simeon Castille is already gone.

The Enquirer's Chat with Marvin Lewis | Summary.

The University of Cincinnati's Board of Trustees approved Brian Kelly's new contract, which guarantees him $1,337,500 million in the first year.