I'm short on time and ideas. Prevailing circumstances have kept me and my homey from finishing Week 3 of the Greatest Season Ever before due time came. Merrill Hoge busted off 179 rushing yards in a game, Vinny T and the Bucs got loose. My homey's Chiefs lost to the Oilers. Both our teams are 2-1. There's a lot of football left to be played.

Now I will channel the ALF of sports analysts, Peter King. From time to time I read his column on SI.com, and that guy has got it made. What an incredibly easy thing to do. I love talking about snackin' and travel and such.

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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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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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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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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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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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