Let's say I'm a major league pitcher ....

my arm/shoulder gets sore ... the team tells me to see the doc ... should I trust Doc Hollywood AKA Dr. Kremchek? Some people call Dusty the 'Widowmaker' for his propensity to destroy pitcher's elbows and shoulders (Robb Nenn, Mark Prior, Kerry Wood, Edison Volquez are commonly cited examples) ... well then what do you call Doc Hollywood after the 3rd Reds pitcher (Ryan Madson, Nick Massett & now Sean Marshall) in 53 weeks had an arm injury misdiagnosed? Doc FrankenMRI? The Cincy Scalpel? Dr. I'm-not-James-Andrews? Dr. Strange-eyes? Doogie Howser? I haven't even gotten to Joey Vottomatic's screwed up knee injury from last season which has turned Vottomatic into Ichiro without the on-field stretching routines (or unneeded interpreter & throng of Japanese media). So for those of you counting, that's three bullpen guys and a franchise 1st baseman Doc ____________________ (it's a fill-in the blank answer ... duh!!!) has left caddywompus in a year!!! Whatever Doc Hollywood - his preferred name, not mine - is paying the Reds to keep his title/job isn't enough to justify missing out on the Reds window to be one of the top teams in the Major League. There is a perfect MLB storm brewing for the Reds to be exceptionally good right now and for the next couple (2-3) years. The Yankees & Red Sox have tightened the purse strings after the arms race of the 2000s and both are vintage - great for wines, poor for post-PED baseball players. (Side note: Do you see a huge coincidence in the relative decline of the Yankees and Red Sox since the PED scandal was exposed and new PED enforcement strategies were implemented? Not only did both teams have juiced payrolls, the had juiced players! Anyone who doesn't see the coincidence is either blind or Bud Selig.) The Dodgers are set for a revival, but buying your way to a title takes time ... ask the Los Angeles Angels of **Your SoCal city here for the right amount of $$** or Miami Heat. The Cardinals are depleted by age and injuries to key pieces, the Mets are still dealing with Bernie Madoff financial fallout and the Braves ... well they are the Braves (How many championships did they win in the late 90s when they should have been cleaning up titles? 1? With 3 HOF pitchers? Holy Bobby Cox Batman!) If the Reds are going to win their 4th World Series in my lifetime, they need to do it in the next two seasons. The red window slams shut faster than an Aroldis Chapman heater after 2015 ... unless PEDs become permissible again and Reds Country shows up in droves (3.5 million or more) to GASP. The salary structure after 2015 is as sustainable as our national debt, and Bob Castellini didn't become a multi-millionaire by losing money on the regular. To have the big guy's desire to 'bring championship baseball back to Cincinnati' derailed by medical malpractice is a bigger travesty than Barry Bonds' hat size. It's time for the Reds medical staff ... cough, cough, Dr. Kremchek, cough ... to get things right, players rehabbed and back on the field ASAP! Championship level means everything at championship level ... including the hot tub!!!

Cool video from my favorite college in the country: http://miamioh.edu/features/love-honor/index.html

The Silly Season/Coaching Carousel has been swinging like Drew Stubbs the past couple weeks in both college and high school basketball. It's always interesting to see how positions get filled and also leads me to question what constitutes desire to improve or move up in the coaching ranks. I was drawn to coaching like Col. Sanders was to white jackets, black bow ties and fried chicken. Unlike Col. Sanders, my recipe wasn't a secret. I knew the formula ... pay my dues, coach freshman, JV basketball, spend a couple years as varsity assistant and then become the top dog. There were several times where I almost destroyed the formula like I did back in Mr. Gardner's chemistry class - POOF! - but I managed to find myself sitting in the 1st chair on the bench right about the time I thought I should get there. First top job I found myself in had me changing the formula like Heinz ... 57 varieties of things I never thought a head coach would have to worry about suddenly  were on my plate. The biggest alteration to my head coaching formula: FIT. And that's where some of these hires have me scratching what little hair I is atop my head. In my not so humble opinion, the only time a coach should leave a position where he FITS is if he thinks he has taken that program as far as he can. Jim Larranaga is a good example at the collegiate level as is David Moss in the Cincinnati high school ranks ... their teams couldn't achieve much more and it was time to move. In a similar vein I wouldn't have batted an eye is Brad Stevens or Shaka Smart left for gr$$n$r pastures. However bigger isn't always better, and moving to a bigger school isn't always a sign of ambition or lack thereof. My ambition is to take Clark to Columbus at the end of March. I wouldn't leave unless I thought I could take - insert new school name here - to Columbus at the end of March. If I was a college team my ambition would be the same .. I want to play on the first weekend in April at a very large dome! So when people ask me, as happens pretty frequently, "You looking to move?" and I say, "No" I get a lot of funny looks. I know Clark is a small school .. we have a small gym .. we play in a league not a lot of people have heard of .. and we generally don't get any publicity. But I FIT there and I have kids who FIT what I like to do and I have an athletic director who thinks we can achieve big things. So do I lack ambition? No way!!! I'm trying to get my squad to the top of the mountain!!! And if I never get there it doesn't mean we haven't accomplished many very worthwhile goals. Winning and losing isn't the end all, be all of goal setting .. and coaches who focus only on those goals are bound to get disillusioned with their school. If I can teach my players the value of investing yourself fully in the pursuit of high level goal, the work ethic to dedicate all of your energies toward that goal, fail and pick yourself back up to repeat the process, then I believe I have taught them a lot more then how to put an orange ball through an orange circular rim. Winning??? That will come as a natural by-product of teaching my players the process of achievement ... and that process is transferable to any life situation. Coaching 101 boys and girls ... easy as can be!!!

Reds are in the 'Burgh for a 3 game set. The Gunners host Norwich City in a must win match. The Buckeyes invade Paul Brown Stadium for their Spring Game. Should be a great weekend for sports!!!

Catch you on Monday!!