Bengals Bantering of Sports: World Cup; Chad Costing Wins in '10?; New Mortal Kombat

From what I've read, the United States finishing with a tie against England during Saturday's World Cup Group C match was a good thing. Goalie Tim Howard is deemed a hero. Robert Green deemed a goat. USA Today's Kelly Whiteside called America's tie with England a "huge accomplishment". However, many will point towards a disastrous, egg on face, attempted save by England's Robert Green that gave America their "gift" of a tie.

All of the buildup, all of the anticipation and even anxiety ended with a tie. The game ended (1-1) exactly where it started (0-0). On Friday, South Africa and Mexico played to a 1-1 tie. Uruguay and France went scoreless. Of the seven matches played by this posting, three have ended in a tie. On the other hand, I have to admit. It kind of gets exciting when teams threaten to goal. Each point is so critical and at the rate we're going, you never know if another goal will be scored.

I do wonder though why ties work during the World Cup, which is soccer's biggest international event. Can you imagine if the Super Bowl, World Series, Stanley Cup, NBA Finals, Daytona 500, Final Four ended with a tie? Of course not, because it's not possible. Each event will provide a winner no matter what. Alright, so we're not in the finals of the World Cup, therefore the comparison doesn't apply. Let's then replace everything with any NFL Playoff game, any MLB playoff game, any NHL playoff game, any NBA playoff game, any Chase for the Cup race or any game during the NCAA tournament.

Admittedly, I don't follow soccer so I'm just throwing that out there, like any other naive spectator. We tuned in Saturday to throw in our patriot support of our American team and we'll continue doing so. America is scheduled to take on Slovenia on June 18. U-S-A!

Sorry for the soccer talk guys.

+ Quick note: Jonny Gomes is the frickin' man, hitting two three-run homeruns on Saturday leading the Reds towards a 11-5 win over the Kansas City Royals. Gomes leads the National League with 47 Runs Batted In; Rolen has 45 Runs Batted In, tied for fourth most in the National League.

+ Bengals rookie Jordan Shipley has been working with the first team as the team's third receiver spot.

+ Intern coach Dermontti Dawson is taking time to work with Bengals center Kyle Cook.

“We talk about the little things; he played against bigger guys in this division,” Cook says. “Just like the leverage and the striking ability because in our division we play a lot of big nose tackles. It wasn’t like he played a lot of 275- and 280-pound guys. He played big guys. A lot of things he did you can listen to and incorporate them into your own game.”

+ Former Bengals linebacker Landon Johnson is struggling to win a spot with the Lions and Tom Kowalski suspects that his best shot at making the team is through special teams.

+ Bengals defensive end/outside linebacker Michael Johnson is spending time mentoring Marcus Alexander, a high school student in Selma.

+ Cliff Geathers, younger brother of Robert Geathers, is learning lessons with the Cleveland Browns after starting a fight on Thursday.

+ NESN's Rob Lunn suggests that Chad Ochocinco being absent from voluntary practices is a good thing.

Ochocinco has been publicly absent from voluntary team workouts, instead pursuing a stint on Dancing With the Stars. The receiver, who is notorious for his clownish behavior, is also known for preferring to train and prepare for an upcoming season on his own. Normally, I would say this goes against the team model and eats away at the foundation of an organization, but not this time.

On the other hand, Chick Ludwig comes out and just says it. Chad's absence is costing the Bengals victories in 2010.

Chad needed to be in Cincinnati, too, working not only with his QB, but the other wideouts. The offense has a ton of potential with all the weapons that have been added. But what good are a bunch of guns when the cannon is missing?

+ Revenue from the NFL Player's Association's "commercial business" has dropped 15% in the past two years.

Hit by declines in fantasy sports and trading card revenue, total commercial revenue fell by around $10 million, or 8 percent, in the most recent year. That follows a comparable decline the previous year, when revenue fell from $135 million to $125.6 million.

...though assets have risen six percent over that span, "increasing to $311 million from $293.2 million, and signaling that the union is steadily building a war chest for an expected labor disturbance next year."

+ ESPN's Len Pasquarelli writes that the 28 unsigned restricted free agents given one-year tenders could be losing money because "several have been warned in writing that they risk the loss of $1 million or more if they don't agree to the qualifying offers by Tuesday."

+ It's in our division so we have to comment on it. Eric Mangini is endorsing Jake Delhomme without actually naming him the Browns' starting quarterback. ESPN's James Walker wasn't impressed with any of the Browns quarterbacks during their minicamp this weekend.

+ Finally. Some of you have probably seen it. If you haven't, you need to. If you have, watch it again. The following is a pitch a Mortal Kombat movie that was pitched to Warner Brothers. This won't be an upcoming movie until one of the major studios sign up. Still, it's cool.