JOCKS
A-to-Z Guide to Greater Cincinnati:
"Best Place to Live in North America"
College sports
High school and amateur
Major-league in more ways than two
BY TOM GROESCHEN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Major-league baseball and football, outstanding college basketball and a world-class tennis tournament get marquee billing on the Cincinnati sports scene. But the Tristate boasts many other spectator attractions. The list includes:
Some of the nation's best high school sports, exciting minor-league hockey, professional indoor soccer, college football, a PGA Seniors tournament, a rich Kentucky Derby-prep race and top-notch events such as the 1997 NCAA Women's Basketball Final Four and the 1996 NCAA Division I hockey tournament.
For the participant, Greater Cincinnati is one of the nation's busiest centers for softball, soccer and bowling.
Here's a rundown of local professional sports:
Reds
Cincinnati loves its Reds, who in 1869 became baseball's first professional franchise. The Reds have won three World Championships in the past 20 years (1975-76-90), leaving fans a bit spoiled. The talk shows go crazy when the Reds struggle.The Reds are such an institution that even Pete Rose, their legendary star who was banned from baseball in 1989 for gambling, remains an icon here. Rose now lives in Florida, but drew a standing-room-only crowd when he appeared for an old-timers game in 1993 at the restored Crosley Field in suburban Blue Ash, Ohio.
It's true that Reds principal owner Marge Schott doesn't know her history, or when to keep her mouth shut, but kids still line up during games for her autograph.
And now, the Reds are due to get a new stadium. Schott had made some noises about moving the team to Northern Kentucky, but really, nobody batted an eye. It's the Cincinnati Reds, and always will be.
Tickets: (513) 421-4510
Bengals
The Bengals enter 1996 with just a 21-59 record since 1991, but with offensive stars Jeff Blake (quarterback), Carl Pickens (receiver) and Ki-Jana Carter (running back) and optimism following last year's 7-9 mark, there are rumblings about a return to the playoffs. Cincinnati hasn't been there since 1990.The Bengals don't have the longtime, hardcore fan base that the Reds do, having been around since only 1968. But their two drives to the Super Bowl (seasons of 1981 and '88) produced some of the wildest fan fervor ever in these parts.
Bengal fans held their breath over 1995 and '96 when team president Mike Brown threatened to move the club, but the passage of a half-cent county sales tax ensured a new stadium for the Bengals as well as the Reds.
Tickets: (513) 621-3550.
ATP Tournament
The world's greatest men's players annually come to Mason, Ohio, in August for the ATP. With $2.2 million in prize money, it is one of the world's "Super Nine" tournaments - the tier just below the Grand Slam.Like John McEnroe, Ivan Lendl and Jimmy Connors before them, Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras make annual stops here, with Agassi winning the event in 1995. The tourney's searing mid-August heat hasn't deterred crowds from attending at the 10,000-seat stadium, which players rate among the finest facilities in the world.
It's one of the best-run sporting events in the United States. Most of the credit goes to longtime tournament director Paul Flory, the congenial host who goes out of his way to make the tournament fan-friendly.
One change this year is that Thriftway Food and Drug is no longer the main sponsor. It's now the Great American Insurance ATP Championship.
The main draw runs Aug. 4-10; the qualifier is Aug. 2-3, and the Seniors tourney is July 30-Aug. 2.
Tickets: (513) 651-0303 or Ticketmaster: 749-4949.
Kroger Senior Classic
The Senior PGA Tour event has lured the likes of Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Lee Trevino to the Golf Center at Kings Island.The 1996 tourney, held June 28-30, was won by Isao Aoki.
Information: (513) 398-5742.
Cyclones
When the Cincinnati Cyclones' minor-league hockey franchise was formed, you wanted to start an office pool on When They Would Fold. Several Cincinnati hockey franchises had lasted five years or less here, with the Stingers (five years), the Swords (three years), the Tigers (one year) and the Wings (one year) all failing.But, the 1995-96 season marked the Cyclones' sixth year, and only the Cincinnati Mohawks (nine years, 1949-50 to 1957-58) had a longer run here. The International Hockey League team averages nearly 8,000 fans at regular-season home games at Cincinnati Gardens, and often sells out on Fridays and Saturdays in the dead of winter.
How have the Cyclones done it?
Owner Doug Kirchhofer has combined clever marketing, fan loyalty, and that all-time favorite - cheap ticket prices. Not to mention some good teams. The Cyclones almost made it to the IHL finals last season, bowing out in Game 7 of the semifinals.
Tickets: (513) 531-PUCK or Ticketmaster: 749-4949.
Silverbacks
The people who own and operate the Cyclones brought a National Professional Soccer League team to the Gardens last year, but it was far less successful at the gate and on the field. Better luck this year.Tickets: 458-KICK.
Horse racing
The Tristate area has two thoroughbred tracks -- Turfway in Erlanger, Ky., and River Downs in Cincinnati -- and a harness racing track, Lebanon Raceway in Lebanon, Ohio. Two of the nation's top race tracks, Churchill Downs and Keeneland, are less than 100 miles from Cincinnati.Turfway annually hosts one of the top Kentucky Derby prep races, the $600,000 Jim Beam Stakes, in March. The 1996 winner was Roar, riden by Mike Smith.
Owner Jerry Carroll has turned Turfway into one of the country's better race tracks. Three years ago, he added another feature event -- the Kentucky Cup Day of Champions. This year's races, Sept. 21, carry a total purse of $1.25 million. And he opened a Las Vegas-style betting parlor that attracts huge crowds for simulcasts from across the country even when Turfway doesn't have live racing.
Turfway's dates: Sept. 4-Oct.4. Call (606) 371-0200.
River Downs hasn't been able to keep up with Turfway's success, largely because Ohio prohibits simulcasting races from outside the state. River Downs did get permission last summer to hold night racing, which has increased attendance.
River Downs' dates: Through Labor Day. Call (513) 232-8000.
Lebanon's dates: Sept. 20 through May 3, 1997.
Churchill Downs, home of the Kentucky Derby, is in Louisville. Dates are Oct. 27-Nov. 30.
Keeneland is in Lexington, Ky. Dates are Oct. 5-26.
Did you know?
Cincinnati has produced five world boxing champions:
- Aaron Pryor, junior welterweight (1980-1985). He was inducted into the Boxing Hall of Fame in 1996.
- Ezzard Charles, heavyweight (1949-51)
- Tony Tubbs, heavyweight (1985)
- Wallace "Bud" Smith, lightweight (1955-56)
- Freddie Miller, featherweight (1933-36)