Laundry list

-- A couple of readers have commented that I reported a few weeks ago that linebacker Ahmad Brooks was close to getting back on the field. That's what I was told by people inside the Bengals organization. Obviously, Brooks' groin injury is more serious that originally described.

-- Cut the garbage with the name calling and insults on this blog when you post a comment. I don't care what you call me. But be civil with each other. Partake in spirited give and take and discussion, but you weaken your case when you resort to personal attacks. You can do better than that.

-- My favorite road trip of the season is coming up soon, Baltimore. The train ride in the BWI is effortless; gee, real public transportation. And the pre-game atmosphere around M&T Bank Stadium -- leftover, Baltimore football fans tell me, from the era of the Colts at Memorial Stadium -- is the best in the NFL.

-- I like Tony Dungy a lot. I like what the Colts franchise has done in Indianapolis. But I wish Baltimore, like Cleveland, had been able to keep the colors, name, uniform and history in Maryland and make Indiana start over again.

-- Speaking of Baltimore, Oriole Park at Camden Yards is still the ultimate in the new era of baseball parks, even 15 years after it opened. It reminds me of what the Reds ballpark could have been at Broadway Commons.

-- Wide receiver Chad Johnson continues to mind his manners and play it low key during the week. He's behaving. If only the defense were as productive as Chad.

-- Fellow wide receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh is well on his way toward being this team's MVP. He belongs in the Pro Bowl.

-- Here's my lyric of the month. It's Bruce Springsteen's "Long Walk Home" from his new "Magic" album. It's one of his most compelling rockers in some time. There's an element of disillusion and lost hope in the narrator as he visits his hometown -- but also a sense of optimism and faith that what has been lost there and nationally can be regained.

Here everybody has a neighbor
Everybody has a friend
Everybody has a reason to begin again

My father said "Son, we're lucky in this town,
It's a beautiful place to be born.
It just wraps its arms around you,
Nobody crowds you and nobody goes it alone

You know that flag flying over the courthouse
Means certain things are set in stone
Who we are, what we'll do and what we won't."