Things were getting dicey heading into last week. I found myself wondering what was going to happen first — Hoagy Time breaking into the W column or somebody not named Isaac Thorn completing a CityBeat Sports Blog.

Fortunately for me, I got great pitching performances from Johnny Cueto, and my odd affinity for Randy Wolf has paid off big time, too.

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UC, off to its best start (14-0) since the glory days of Kenyon Martin, finally hit the Top 25 today: The AP poll has the ’Cats at No. 24, while the ESPN/USA Today Coaches poll has them at No. 25.

Coach Mick Cronin, who seems to have been taking media savvy courses at the Marvin Lewis School of Petulance (speaking of, will he be back with the Bengals next year?), was his usual perplexing self when analyzing what the ranking means to him and his team.

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The Penn State student-run newspaper, Onward State, over the weekend wrongly reported that former Penn State football coach Joe Paterno had died, leading CBS News and the Huffington Post to publish his obituary. Paterno, who died early Sunday morning, was still alive when Onward State “broke” the story. The managing editor of the student paper has since resigned while CBS and HuffPost have not yet taken laid the blame of the wrongly reported story.

This is not the first time such a big media outlet has made an error — remember NPR falsely reporting the death of Congresswoman Gabriel Giffords? Those who have put their faith in new media as a means of obtaining the news should be crying out for precautionary steps to be taken to avoid such a faux pas. Like fact-checking, for one.

Or they can simply rely on The Onion to report things the way they are: "Joe Paterno Dies In Hospital; Doctors Promise To Tell Their Superiors First Thing Tomorrow."

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Another week of sports stories has washed ashore with some (like something or other about Alex Rodriguez but not the Kabbalah) sure to ring through our ears and eyes, ad nauseum like the Brett Favre Retirement Spectacle of last year.

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It was a disappointing week for both UC and Xavier as the past seven days have seen the teams go a combined 0-4. While both teams faced tough opposition I would have expected both to at least earn one win out of the two games they played.

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The Cincinnai Bengals are back at it again with their recent signing of troubled cornerback Adam “Pacman” Jones. Jones agreed to a two-year deal with the club on Thursday, making the Bengals his third team in his short and troubled NFL career.

Thankfully, the Bengals made sure to include language in the contract to protect themselves in case Jones decides to get into any off the field trouble. Tom Hunter, Jones' agent, told The Associated Press on Thursday night that the deal would be signed on either Friday or Monday.

Jones, who did not play during the 2009 season, was suspended for six games in 2008 while playing for the Dallas Cowboys and was suspended the entire 2007 season, both due to his off the field issues that violated the league’s player conduct policy.

The Bengals may have added Jones in hopes that he will add depth to the cornerback position while possibly showing flashes of his Tennessee Titans days. Jones is a gifted athlete and is only 26, although it has yet to be seen if he can keep a level head off the field and clean up his act.  

The Bengals feature one of the better cornerback duos in the league in Leon Hall and Johnathan Joseph. Coming off the bench are two young and gifted prospects in Morgan Trent and this year’s third round pick from Wake Forest, Brandon Ghee. Jones will be hard pressed to make the team, especially if there are any doubts that he will be a distraction come training camp.

This signing comes to no surprise due to the Bengals’ recent history of troubled stars and giving players multiple chances. At the same time, I highly doubt that anyone expected Adam Jones to end up on this squad. I question why the front office would go out and bring in another distraction of this magnitude. With the recent success and big outlook on this upcoming season, the Bengals don’t need to take any risks. Then again, if bringing in Matt Jones after a cocaine possession charge wasn’t enough excitement for Bengals fans, this just might be the icing on the cake. Let’s just hope that Marvin Lewis can control this bunch for one more year.

Pitchers and catchers reported to the Reds’ spring training facility in Goodyear, Ariz., over the weekend, which means we are only days away from hearing about how awesome the team’s dudes are looking or how quickly they get hurt and have to sit out, leaving us to wonder if they’ll be ready by Opening Day. (March baseball involves a lot of speculation.)

The Reds will open camp with one of the most talented rosters they’ve had in the last 15 years, as General Manager Walt Jocketty added considerable muscle to the pitching staff during the offseason. New Reds to keep an eye on include:

• Starting pitcher Mat Latos, who is expected to be the team’s No. 2 behind Johnny Cueto;

• Sean Marshall, one of baseball’s best left-handed relievers last season;

• Closer Ryan Madson, who the Reds picked up late in the offseason in a team-friendly one-year deal.

The first two mentioned, Latos and Marshall, were acquired via trade of prospects, which demonstrates a dedication by Reds’ management to make a run at another division title (and perhaps more) during the final two years of former MVP Joey Votto’s contract. (See CityBeat sports columnist C. Trent Rosecrans’ Jan. 24 take in “Reds Try to Win Now Without Breaking the Bank.”)

Soon the offseason speculation will give way to preseason hype, as young, no-name guys start hitting .400 during practice games and veterans post high ERAs because they’re practicing specific pitches instead of trying to get everyone out. There will be tons of reports from Goodyear, such as “Bob Castellini Talks Reds, Baseball" and “Roster Projection.”

Before we know it, we will have casually followed weeks of the Reds playing America’s summer game in sunny Arizona, which will distract us from the fact that we still have at least another month of crappy weather before we can enjoy the unofficial start of springtime and Reds’ Opening Day on April 5.

Until then, enjoy the pretend summertime in the highlights and mass influx of information from the team’s month-long practice session. And if you need even more sports speculation, trade rumors and contract talk, here’s a sweet site dedicated to re-reporting everything it can find on your favorite team: mlbtraderumors.com.

Jay Bruce hit .234 with two home runs in his first 77 at-bats through April 25. At the time I asked, “Will the Real Jay Bruce Please Stand Up?” Six weeks later the Reds’ right fielder is hitting .292 with an NL-leading 17 home runs and 46 RBI.

I guess he answered my question. Or has he?

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It’s a big day for fans here in the Queen City, for those repping the navy and white and the red and black. After the five months of build-up March Madness has finally arrived and after success for other semi-local teams — Ohio State, Kentucky and Louisville — the Bearcats and the Muskies look to continue the trend.

Sixth-seeded Cincinnati will face the eleventh-seeded Texas Longhorns in the second round of the East region. The game is slated to tip at 12:15 p.m. today on CBS.

The Bearcats will need to contain the Longhorn’s one-man show in J’Covan Brown. The junior guard averaged a Big 12 best 20.1 points per game on a team that averaged 73 a game. Production drops off seriously after Brown — Texas only has one other player averaging double figure points. If the Bearcats decide to play man-to-man, a combo of Dion Dixon and JaQuan Parker will look to slow down Brown. Cashmere Wright will have the duty of slowing down freshman point guard Myck Kabongo, a former McDonald’s All-American.

Offensively the ‘Cats will look to use their superior size — Texas has only one player taller than 6-foot-7 — down low with Yancy Gates, Cheikh Mbodj and Justin Jackson. If UC can get the ball down low on a consistent basis then the duo of Wright and Dixon will be able to penetrate and create open outside shots for Parker and leading scorer Sean Kilpatrick. Unlike Texas, UC has a well-balanced offense with four players averaging double digits and a fifth player averaging 9 points per game.

Texas is a young team with six freshmen on the roster and has lost more than one close game during a tough Big 12 schedule despite their lack of experience. The Bearcats also have fought their way through their fair share of adversity this year. If Mick Cronin’s guys play with the defensive tenacity that saw them knock off a nation-leading seven ranked teams during the season, than surely we will see them in round three.

Catch plenty of action and throw back a green beer (or 12) before the 10th-seeded Musketeers face off against seventh-seeded Notre Dame in a battle of Catholic supremacy ... on the hardwood (in terms of religion, they’re all winners).

On paper this looks like a great game and hopefully it plays out that way on the court. As most college hoops fans know, the Muskies are led by the outstanding backcourt duo of Tu Holloway and Mark Lyons. They average 17 points and 15.5 points, respectively.

Notre Dame doesn’t have a go-to scorer after losing their stud, Tim Abromaitis, early in the year. But what the Fighting Irish don’t lack is a core group of players that work their tails off and come up with wins. A big match up in this game will be between big-men Jack Cooley and Kenny Frease. If either one can have a monster game expect that team to win.

I think Xavier will have their hands full but I also think the Musketeers play some of their best ball during tournament time. I think Xavier pulls it out by five or so. Although the Reds look like their going to be damned good this year I’m not ready for the hoops season to end early. Best of luck to both teams!