For those you that have paid attention to me this preseason know that I tabbed Ronnie Brown as one my sleepers at running back. However, a series of events has unfolded since then, forcing me to tone down my expectations for Brown.

For starters, he injured his hand last weekend and was wearing a cast after game with a thumb injury. There are some indications that he may be losing ground to Ricky Williams. The Palm Beach Post reported on Monday that Williams has overtaken Brown on the team's depth chart.

It is likely to be a running back-by-committee, but Brown may actually have a lesser role now (at least to start the season).  

Then came the shocker as ESPN's Chris Mortensen reported on Monday Night Countdown that Ronnie Brown could be on a team other than the Dolphins by Week 1.

I am not convinced that the organization and namely team president Bill Parcells is sold on Brown, who is attmepting to return from an ACL injury that sidelined him for most of the 2007 season.

When Brown tore his ACL in Week 7, he was the top-ranked fantasy running back. He led the NFL in total yards, averaging 170 in his last five games. Meanwhile, Williams has ten NFL carries in the last five years, so it’s anyone’s guess if he can stay healthy. He is a huge risk, but certainly has upside.

For now, we are going to keep the CHEAT SHEET in tact, but this is a situation that will need to followed closely by fantasy owners and one that could have a major impact by time draft night rolls around.

If I were drafting today I would still take Brown over Williams in nearly every format. 

From ESPN.com:

The Cincinnati Bengals are close to reaching an agreement with free-agent receiver Chris Henry, a source told ESPN.com Monday night. Henry is en route from Charlotte, N.C., to Cincinnati to sign a contract with the team as early as Tuesday, the source said.

The Bengals refused comment on Henry when contacted by ESPN.com on Monday night.

"We don't comment on speculated player moves," Cincinnati team spokesman Jack Brennan said. "We only comment when something is done."

Henry, a former Bengal, was released by the team in April after his fifth arrest in three years, this one in connection with an incident said to have taken place March 31. But charges of assault and criminal damaging were later dropped, making him eligible to play in 2008.

The Cinncinati Reds traded away their big bat in Adam Dunn, have lost eight straight at home, and are headed towards yet another losing season. Needless to say, there is not much to celebrate in the Queen City right now.

The one bright spot of the season though, has been All-Star P Edinson Volquez, who picked up his 15th win over a very good St. Louis ball club on Sunday. Volquez only allowed 3 hits in 7 innings and has now pushed his record to an impressive 15-5.

"Nobody goes the whole year without scuffling," Reds manager Dusty Baker told the team's website. "Everybody was worried about him, saying he was tired. He's caught his second wind."

Does Volquez still have a shot at winning 20 games this season? 

Mathematically, the answer is yes. He should get about seven starts. However, getting five wins in that stretch appears a bit of stretch. Should he pull off the amazing feat he would become the Reds' first 20-game winner since Danny Jackson in 1988.

Here's a list of Reds' 20-game winnners over the past 50 years:

1961 Joey Jay 21-10
1962 Joey Jay 21-14
1962 Bob Purkey 23- 5
1963 Jim Maloney 23- 7
1965 Sammy Ellis 22-10
1965 Jim Maloney 20- 9
1970 Jim Merritt 20-12
1985 Tom Browning 20- 9
1988 Danny Jackson 23- 8

Here's a pretty good take on free agent compensation from U.S.S. Mariner: 

Seriously, when you stop and think about how the system works and the results it provides, everyone loses. They’re bad for everyone, and it’s pretty remarkable that they still exist. Let’s look at what they’re supposed to do and what they actually do.

Goal #1: Promote parity by allowing teams to recoup talent lost when big market teams steal their players

This clearly doesn’t happen. Go through the list of who gets compensation picks every year, and it’s not the Marlins, Rays, and Royals. It’s the Yankees, Red Sox, and Dodgers, plus other similar big payroll teams. There’s a couple of reasons for this:

1. Type A and Type B free agents are generally good players. Good players make a lot of money, so they are more likely to be on teams with big payrolls. When their contracts expire and they sign with a new team, they’re generally just going from one big payroll team to another, and so the big boys who certainly don’t need extra picks for competitive balance reasons end up with an advantage in the draft anyway.

2. The system requires you to take a financial risk in order to get the draft pick. Teams on strict budgets can’t always afford to take the risk that a player will accept arbitration and eat up a big chunk of their payroll, but it’s just not a big deal to the Yankees if Damaso Marte makes a couple million more than they were counting on. The big payroll teams are more able to take the risk, and thus, more likely to get the reward.

Goal #2: Provide a disincentive for teams to sign free agents away from other clubs, making it more likely for players to stay with their original franchise.

Again, it clearly doesn’t work this way. If you lose a Type A free agent (and you offer them arbitration), you get two high draft picks. If you sign a Type A free agent that another team had offered arbitration to, you lose one high draft pick. In many cases, you actually get rewarded for letting your player leave and bringing in someone else’s exact equal. For instance, if the Mariners were to have to decide between re-signing Raul Ibanez this winter or offering the exact same contract to say, Pat Burrell, then they’d gain an extra pick from signing Burrell and letting Ibanez leave. In fact, we’ve seen teams essentially swap free agents at the same position and both teams have come out with +1 draft picks - the Orioles and Rangers did this in 1994 with Rafael Palmeiro and Will Clark.

Those are basically the two overriding goals of free agent compensation, at least in theory. The current system fails spectacularly at both, and just for good measure, has even more flaws as a byproduct of the system.

From the Spoiler.com:

In a thoroughly well-timed move, the latest German edition of Playboy will be released tomorrow with a feature showcasing the four sexiest athletes to ever represent the nation.  

Petra Niemann is competing in her third Olympiad, and sailing is her game. “I’ve been working hard with my psychologist,” she told Playboy, as if to suggest this had something to do with sport or being naked.

Kayaker Nicole Reinhardt is one of Germany’s best hopes for gold in Beijing, and is grateful that her sport is about technique, so the “dickere und kräftigere” (”butch”) ladies have nothing on her svelte frame.

Romy Tarangul, just 20-years-old, has sadly been eliminated from the Judo competition already. Tsk.

Katharina Scholz is a field hockey starlet, and also a WAG of ex-national hockey captain Oliver Hentschel. She isn’t the first German from her discipline to pose in the buff for the popular magazine - the hilariously-named Fanny Rinne also did so prior to the Athens Olympiad.

I realize that the LLWS is considered a great American past time but trying to watch the games drives me nuts because;

1.  No-one appears to understand that the bill of your hat should be curved, not flat and most certainly not worn on the side of your head.  In two games yesterday both pitchers wore their hats like they were Gomer pumping gas in Mayberry.

2.  Apparently catching is no longer a requirement for these teams especially behind the plate.  I can't tell you how many passed balls there were and in fact Maryland won a game 3-2 in which they didn't have a single hit but scored all their runs on passed balls.

3.  Could someone actually test the actual age of these kids?  I know some kids mature faster than others but a full beard could be a clue.

4.  Stop showing the parents every 2 seconds when there is no reason for it.  The only thing worse was the constant shots of Michael Phelps mom during the Olympics.

5.  Move the bases out to a reasonable distance so they aren't playing softball instead of baseball.

6.  Get some coaches with some backbone that actually tell a kid he blew it or isn't playing well instead of "Well Bobby I know we just gave up 5 runs because you weren't able to catch or throw the ball correctly but we win and lose as a team"

I know that T.J. Houshmandzadeh and Rudi Johnson have yet to make an appearence, but after limited action through two preseason game the Bengals' first-team offense can be summed in one word - UNIMPRESSIVE.

Cincinnati lost 27-10 to Detroit Sunday night at Paul Brown Stadium in their second exhibition game of the year.  Quarterback Carson Palmer dealt with pressure on neary every play and looked  out of whack and slow footed. Through two preseason contests Palmer has posted a dismal 55.7 QB rating as he has completed 11 of 22 passes for just 83 yards with 1 TD and 1 INT.

"I’d be worried if we were playing Baltimore on Sunday, but we've still got some time," Palmer said, referring to the team's regular season-opener against the Ravens on Sept. 7. "T.J. is going to be ready hopefully within a couple of weeks and it's not worry time yet. We still have two preseason games left and a little time before the opener. That's not saying I don't want those guys to practice on Wednesday with us, but that's not reality. They'll be ready when they're ready and they seem like they'll be ready for the opener, so it doesn't seem like I have anything to worry about right now." 

The running game has missed Rudi, but they really miss are holes. The first-team offensive line has been worked two weeks in a row against the run and the pass. That will not change unless they shake up the depth chart, and even the then the talent and depth remains suspect. Chris Perry has had his moments this preseason, but at the end of the day he's averaged just 3.6 yards per carry and has managed only 3 receptions (a supposed strong suit) for just three yards. Kenny Watson has been the better of the two runners, gaining just 5 yards less than Perry on 8 less carries.

There is no doubt that Houshmandzadeh's return will give the passing game a lift. It was nice to see second-round pick Jerome Simpson finally show some signs of hope. He finished 5 catches for 114 yards in the loss to the Lions. 

The worst news of the night though was the sprained left shoulder suffered by Chad Johnson.  Johnson exited the locker room after the game with his left arm in a sling. He said he fell awkwardly, but received good news from team doctors.

"I'm good, I'm good, I'm good," Johnson told the Dayton Daily News. "I'll be back in a week."

Cincinnati's two rookie third-round draft picks — defensive tackle Pat Sims and wide receiver Andre Caldwell — also were lost to injury in a two-minute span.

Caldwell's foot injury was announced at the end of the third quarter and Sims, a victim of a foot injury, was wheeled off the field on a cart with 13:18 to go.