BY PAUL DAUGHERTY
The Cincinnati Enquirer

It's getting so tiring. It's getting so I'd like to throw up my hands, only I can't type if I do that. So maybe I'll just bang my head against the wall.

The Reds have determined, again, that they will play nowhere but on the river, west of the suspension bridge. This Reds demand is almost as grueling as watching the current team play a full nine innings.

Insiders suggest the team may be weakening on that pose. Could be. Publicly, the Reds are as resolute as a big rock.

Their latest exercise in spoon-banging comes in the form of an "internal memo." Or infernal memo, depending on your point of view. It seems the team can't possibly go on unless it has a palace bestride the mighty Ohio, teeming as it is with tree limbs, truck tires, animal carcasses and the occasional used car.

Oh, the nerve. The gall. The unrestrained insolence. The absolute impudence of the Cincinnati Reds, in being on the dole to the tune of $250 million, then refusing to take the money unless it's spent exactly where they want it.

I don't know who's worse: The Reds for spitting at a free stadium at Broadway Commons; or the good bureaucrats of Hamilton County, for allowing the team such latitude in its gripes and threats.

Indisputable truths

Here are two things we know about the Reds:

(1) They cannot move.

(2) They are bad.

One has little bearing on the other, of course. But we would be a lot more sympathetic to the team's position if the team weren't losing as much as Charlie Brown.

And, to dissuade those who are sure Hamilton County sold out to the Bengals while selling the Reds down the river (so to speak), we suggest this:

The Bengals are where they are because they dealt steadily and in good faith with the county; the Reds are where they are because Marge Schott thought she could get what she wanted by bullying people and screaming really loud.

Dear Ms. Schott: It hasn't worked.

Fact is, after the sales tax passed, county officials made it plain that the Reds and Bengals were on equal negotiating footing. It is not the county's fault, or the fault of the Bengals, that the Bengals took the lead.

The Bengals didn't cancel negotiating sessions the way the Reds have. The Bengals spoke in one voice, that of Mike Brown. The Reds speak, I think, in tongues. Is it Schott, the probationer owner, who speaks for the baseball team? Is it John Allen? Ron Roberts? The man on the moon?

It is true that Hamilton County leaders will not agree to build a stadium for a team that doesn't want to play there.

It's also true that, beyond the horrible Wedge site or a redone Cinergy Field, the Reds have no viable option beyond Broadway Commons, which they loathe. So, fine. Your lease at Cinergy Field runs through 2010. Play there. Have a great time. Watch out for falling chunks of concrete as you walk through the parking garage.

And don't think for a second the team will leave. General Manager Jim Bowden's unfortunate display of bluster in February just showed how little leverage the club has.

Nowhere to run

After Bowden decided the Reds could move to Northern Kentucky or Indianapolis, Northern Kentucky said, "No, thanks" and Indy said, "Huh?"

Any move out of the area is even less of an option. The National League is aware of what is going on here. NL President Len Coleman knows taxpayers have approved a new stadium; he is informed of the negotiations, or lack of them. Coleman knows the county is trying, and the team is not. We will see Schott play left field before we see the Reds leave this area.

Meanwhile, "talks" lag on. They seem to serve no purpose. I used to think Broadway was the best deal. Now, I think the best deal is the one that gets this whole issue off the table. There may be a group of people somewhere who have soured a sweet thing worse than the Cincinnati Reds. I'm not familiar with them.

Paul Daugherty welcomes your comments at 768-8454.

DAUGHERTY ARCHIVE

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