It has been a long process, and it continues. Ben Mauk still does not know if he will be playing in 2008. The Bearcats QB was told his appeal would be looked at by the NCAA on Monday. Now it is Tuesday, approaching Wednesday, and still no ruling. It is very unlikely that he will get his sixth year of eligibility after being denied once earlier this year, but the UC faithful still have hope. Mauk threw for 3,121 yards and 31 touchdown passes to lead the Bearcats to a 10-3 record in 2007. The info on Mauk should come within the next 24-48 hours.

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The Bengals have turned down two potential first round picks from the Washington Redskins in exchange for disgruntled wide receiver Chad Johnson, according to ESPN.com.

Bengals' coach Marvin Lewis, who initially denied the team had received offers for Johnson during a Tuesday news conference, confirmed to ESPN that Cincinnati turned down Washington's offer of two picks.

"Once I actually read what was reported, I have to be truthful and say that the story is accurate," Lewis told ESPN. "Unfortunately, I didn't read it until after our press conference."

The Redskins offered its first-round pick, No. 21 overall, and a conditional third-rounder in 2009 that could escalate to a first rounder if Johnson and the Redskins hit certain performance levels, the sources said.

It is also believed that both the Cowboys and the Eagles also appear interested.

A trade of Johnson would force the Bengals to take an $8 million cap hit on their 2008 salary cap, but that could be split over two years if the team were deal him after June 1.

Adam Schefter of NFL Network reports what we've been hearing for weeks - the Cincinnati Bengals will not trade receiver Chad Johnson.

"No matter the offer," Schefter says.  "No matter the circumstances.  No deal."

It appears as if the Bengals are going to stand pat on this one, which means no draft day dealing for the Bengals, at least not any that involves them sending Chad Johnson elsewhere.

As an interesting side note to any of the reported teams that are in the market for Johnson, is that the Bengals are set to face each of them during the upcoming season.  It would be interesting to imagine Ocho Cinco returning to the Jungle as a member of the Redksins on December 14th.

It only took 47 plate appearances for Joey Votto to finally draw his first walk yesterday.  This puts the young first baseman on pace to draw nine walks in 2008, a sharp dropoff from his usual 70-80 (I realize "on pace" stats are a bit silly this early, but it's still a troubling trend).

What could be driving this trend?  These quotes from a March 9th Paul Daugherty article might shed some light on that (hat tip to Fire Joe Morgan for noticing this):

The other day, the Reds manager decided he wanted Joey Votto and Adam Dunn to swing their bats more. "I don't like called third strikes," Baker said..."(Votto) needs to swing more. I'd like to see him more aggressive."

Is this something that Baker instilled in Votto, or an idea that he came up with on his own?  Did he decide to start taking more cuts, or did Dusty decide to tinker with the kid's approach at the plate? 

For now, Votto's still retaining his solid batting average and power during this free-swinging binge (.300 average, 4 HR, .600 SLG).  History says that, if he doesn't refine his batting eye, that won't last.  Either way, this is an interesting plotline to keep an eye on.

Cleveland 116, Washington 86

This is what Danny Ferry had in mind when he snagged Ben Wallace, Delonte West, and Wally Szczerbiak at the trade deadline.  They needed a physical presence, a solid ball handler, and another outside threat.  What they got last night was complete domination of the Wizards.  They beat up Washington physically, and ran the ball straight down their throat.

The Wiz are completely out of sorts.  They got frustrated, chippy, and ran no semblance of an offense in the 2nd half.  Almost every possession had a 1-on-5 play with no board crashing whatsoever.  Heaven forbid they run a play for Caron Butler to take on Szczerbiak, or move Brendan Haywood out of the post and make Ilgauskas defend him.  Their whole gameplan now is to try and knock LeBron around with their bigs.  That didn't work so well last night - he's pretty good (30/9/12, ho hum).  The Cavs killed them on the boards (49-34), they let Wally and Daniel Gibson go off from deep, Agent Zero got a stupid technical foul, Haywood got kicked out for a flagrant foul...they say that a series doesn't start until the home team loses, but Washington shows zero signs of having the composure to take out Cleveland.

Utah 90, Houston 84

So much for Utah's road woes.  Two straight wins on the Rockets' home court, and now they get two at the Delta Center, where they're only 37-4 this season.

McGrady just looks fried during the fourth quarter of every game.  9-22 from the field last night, but down the stretch he just couldn't do much of anything.  The Rockets miss Rafer Alston more than they thought (PG Bobby Jackson had two assists in 30 minutes).  Having a shot blocker like Mutombo doesn't help much when the Jazz can just have Mehmet Okur drag him out to the 3-point line.  Nice to see that Utah can pull together when Boozer and Kirilenko have a bad game, and that they've got a backup point with the stones to take a big shot like Ronnie Price did last night.  Two more wins and McGrady goes home a first round loser again.

Josh Fogg was pulled from the rotation after just three starts, and Matt Belisle might be lucky to see it past two. Both starters have contributed to the Reds having serious problems with the No. 5 spot in the rotation.

Through four starts the dynamic duo has combined to allow 27 runs, 29 hits, and 6 walks while logging just 15 innings of work. Conversley, top propsect Homer Bailey is lighting it up in Louisville.

Bailey (3-1, 1.03) turned in another stellar performance this past weekend for Triple A Louisiville and earned his third victory of the season in the process. In 7.1 innings of work Bailey allowed no runs, five hits, walked one and struck out three. As if his 3-1 record with 1.03 ERA, 16:4 strikeout/walk ratio and 26+ innings weren't enough, the radar gun suggests Bailey is on his way back. He has been getting clock in the mid-to-upper 90's on a consistent basis.

It was logical after last year's fall from grace, minor injuries, and a unspectacular Spring performance to see why Reds' GM Wayne Krivsky opted to start Bailey in Louisville, but in less than a month it is pretty clear that he is the team's best option to pitch every fifth day.

The Reds continue to have to cut the dead weight from their roster and on Monday it was Juan Castro that became the latest casualty as the team designated him for assignment.  Will Fogg or Belisle be next?

With the draft just days away, let's take a look at some of the latest headlines surrounding this weekend:

All lined up: Long's contract nearly set
Palm Beach Post - "The Dolphins don't have to make the No. 1 pick until 10 minutes after the NFL Draft begins Saturday, but it appears that they won't have to wait that long to get the player they want - Michigan offensive tackle Jake Long. Negotiations between the Dolphins and Long's agent, Tom Condon, have reached the point that a contract could be announced any day, an NFL source told The Palm Beach Post on Monday."

Allen departs, but for how long?
Minneapolis Star-Tribune - "Pro Bowl defensive end Jared Allen returned home to the West Coast on Sunday, but the Vikings remained cautiously optimistic he will be wearing purple before next weekend's NFL draft."

Jets in rush for Vernon Gholston
NY Daily News - "Vernon Gholston said the Jets "welcomed me with open arms" last week in his official visit to Hofstra, and he thinks he'd fit in nicely as a rush linebacker in their 3-4 scheme. There's a good chance he will be available for the Jets at No. 6 overall"

Running back McFadden rushing to atone for his sins
Philadelphia Daily News - "McFadden, the second-leading rusher in Southeastern Conference history, has been criss-crossing the country the last 3 weeks meeting with many of the teams in the top 10 of the draft, including the Rams (picking second), the Raiders, the New York Jets (sixth) and the New England Patriots (seventh). They've grilled him on everything - the bar fights, his mother, the Cadillac Escalade he purchased last year while still at Arkansas, the paternity suits, his brothers' gang affiliations, his friends, even his plans for his signing bonus."