BY PAUL DAUGHERTY
The Cincinnati Enquirer

It is time for the Reds and the rest of us to succumb to the lullabye of Broadway. It's inevitable, like the rolling of the river the Reds won't see in their new home on Broadway Commons.

Are we being harsh? Yup. Somebody has to be. It's nobody's fault but the Reds that the Reds fiddled when time came to pick stadium spots. Now they will watch the Bengals play west of the suspension bridge. Marge Schott and her stand-in, John Allen, must have cringed Thursday when they heard Bob Bedinghaus say, ''The central riverfront is for development other than stadiums. The purpose was not to make more space available for a baseball field.''

The Reds still argue for a spot west of the suspension bridge. Great. Jammed as it would be next to the Bengals place, we could call it Shoehorn Yards. Bring back Kevin Mitchell. Have him hit 500-foot home runs that land on the 50-yard line.

Next stop, Stadium World?

Better yet: Why not cover the entire riverfront with sporting playpens? Now that the Cyclones have committed to resuscitating Riverfront Mausoleum, we would have a hockey arena, baseball and football fields and, of course, the Olympic stadium Nick Vehr will be needing in 2008. All on the waterfront. We could call it Stadium World.

As far as I can tell, the Reds argument for a stadium on the river goes like this: We like it down here because we like it down here. They make specious arguments against Broadway. The neighborhood's not safe. Not safe? It's next to the lockup. There won't be enough parking. Yes, there will, as much as would be had on the river. Fans might have to walk a few extra blocks. Walking is a good thing. It's not the river, the Reds yowl. Thank goodness. Explain to me the magic of the Ohio River, upon which floats half the state's waterborne detritus. Tell me how watching a brown river is better than looking up at a green hillside. Allegedly, baseball is a pastoral game. I would not get all goose-pimply and pastoral watching tree parts float past my club seat.

Here's what I'd like: An early dinner atop Mt. Adams. A tram ride down the hill to the ballpark. A center field opening allowing a full frame of the magnificent hill. Any city can give its fans a view of downtown. Lately, any city does.

We could be different. And better.

After the game, we could all celebrate our good fortune with a root beer, or something, at a Main Street pub.

Either that, or we could build Shoehorn Yards, drive in, park close, go to the game, admire Carew Tower, and drive home. Which sounds better to you?

The Bengals deserve their spot. They had their act together. Mike Brown, unintentionally reinventing himself as civic Good Guy, agreed to nudge his new, publicly funded palace a few blocks west. Of course, the city and county agreed to build him a practice facility right next door. But Brown saw the wisdom of keeping things on schedule. The Bengals will be playing in their new place in 2000.

The Reds could be, too. Bedinghaus said land acquisition is easier at Broadway. He should know. The county had an option to buy the property last August, when it was seen as a potential site for the Bengals.

Letting money flow away

Every day the Reds insist on a river view is a day they bleed money. They lost $10 million last year; how much is the dirty Ohio worth?

And they aren't going to Kentucky. Try getting taxpayers in Paducah to pay for a stadium in Covington. Try getting corporate Cincinnati swells to lease lux-boxes in K-Y.

''We started on this process what seems like a lifetime ago,'' Bedinghaus said. Only one lifetime?

Bedinghaus talked hopefully of ''changing the face of this community.'' Before they are done, they will have discussed more face changes than Zsa Zsa Gabor.

If the Reds are smart, they will accept their fate, and hum the lullabye of Broadway. It's catchy, if you take the time to listen.

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SCHOTT THREATENS TO MOVE IF REDS AREN'T ON RIVER