Times Are Tough in Cincinnati

Not one member of the Cincinnati media — be it print or electronic — covered the Big East Conference media day this week in Newport, R.I. Cincinnati was the only Big East member that didn't have media tagging along.

Bearcat Coach Brian Kelly, left, was scratching his head and scolded the Cincinnati press corps, challenging it to become "a credible source of information."

Kelly continued: "I think, quite frankly, that Cincinnati is the only one that dropped the ball in not having any print or electronic media here."

So what gives? The Cincinnati Post appears to have an excuse. Officials announced this week that the paper is going out of business on Dec. 31. As for the Cincinnati Enquirer, you have to think the idea is to continue to cut its way to prosperity, especially when the competition is limping off into the sunset. With the Post all but buried, why worry about spending money?

It didn't take much to set off the Post's Lonnie Wheeler, who took a few swings.

"The issue is not, as so many UC fans have hotly supposed, about a conspiracy theory against the Bearcats. For heaven's sake, it's not about some editor's rooting interest in Ohio State or Xavier. And it's only partially about Cincinnati football.

"Rather, it's about playing the game at the appropriate level. It's a matter of spending the dollars necessary to do what needs to be done, a consideration that of course goes to the top of the respective corporations.

"Put it this way. Often, as I've chastised the Reds for prioritizing the payroll or the Bengals for failing to hire more personnel people, I've written with a weighty awareness of the double standard involved. I've realized that if either of our big-league teams, or the community at large, would point out the hypocrisy inherent in those charges, we'd be exposed.

"In other words, if the Reds or Bengals went about their business as the Post and the Enquirer do, we'd rip them from here to there. And we have."