Editor's note: JWill's three takes will be a regular feature on Cincinnati.com going forward. It will encapsulate things which sports columnist Jason Williams observes around Cincinnati sports (and occasionally non-sports) and serve as a sounding board/interaction with readers.
Reds:Aristides Aquino, Jose Barrero key Cincinnati Reds offense to win over Cubs
Bengals:With three throws, Joe Burrow showed he's back
Western & Southern Open:Rafael Nadal hopeful he'll play
1. Bengals fans quick to forgive
Most impressive takeaway from the Bengals preseason opener on Friday: Paycor Stadium was nearly sold out.
Some 60,760 fans showed up for a meaningless game in which no stars played. Only one projected starter on offense and defense played, and it was an offensive lineman. Maybe nothing shows how quickly Bengals fans have been to forgive than the stadium being at 93% capacity for a preseason tilt.
The Bengals hadn't topped 40,000 fans for a home preseason game since 2017.
“As good a crowd as I’ve ever seen for a preseason game,” Bengals coach Zac Taylor said. “That’s really cool to see.”
Please forgive the new columnist for still being a bit in awe of how fast things have changed in Bengaldom. It was just 12 months ago when Ja’Marr Chase couldn’t catch anything. No one knew for sure if Joe Burrow’s reconstructed knee would hold up. Fans wondered if Taylor would make it through the season. And Mike Brown was still public enemy No. 1 in Cincinnati sports.
Only 34,667 could be bothered to come out for the Bengals' one home preseason game in 2021. And Burrow played in that game, if only for three snaps. Who knew it would be the first three snaps of a Super Bowl season?
Down the street, the Reds organization should be taking note. Fans forgive and forget years of mediocrity at warp speed if you win.
2. Serena Williams makes final stop in Cincinnati
Serena loves Cincinnati. It'd be great if Cincinnati shows the retiring global tennis icon the love one last time, beginning Monday night in the Western & Southern Open at the Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason.
One of the great athletes of our time and anytime, Williams is scheduled for a first-round match against 2021 U.S. Open champion Emma Raducanu. It might be local fans' last chance to see Williams, who has announced she's retiring soon, perhaps after the upcoming U.S. Open.
Never forget that Williams, in 2018, said of Cincinnati: "I love it here. I was at practice the other day, and I looked at my coach and I was, like, 'I really love coming here.' It's a great city, for my daughter as well. It's super chill and relaxed. I'm so happy to be out here."
Williams making a run to the title this week sure would make Greater Cincinnatians happy.
3. New Bob Huggins book out
Check out long-time Cincinnati sportswriter Bill Koch's new book on former UC basketball coach Bob Huggins titled "Huggs: Former players talk about what it was like to play for Hall of Fame coach Bob Huggins."
It's a perfect project for Koch, who covered UC and Huggins for both The Enquirer and former Cincinnati Post. No one in the media understands the Hall of Fame coach better than Bill. And no one loves and appreciates Huggs stories more than Bill, who did exhaustive work for the book interviewing former Huggins players at UC, West Virginia, Akron and Walsh College.
Koch, who retired from The Enquirer in 2014, talked to all the big UC stars during the Huggins era – Kenyon Martin, Nick Van Exel, Danny Fortson, Corie Blount and many others.
The book is available on Amazon.com.
Contact sports columnist Jason Williams by email at jwilliams@enquirer.com and Twitter @jwilliamscincy.
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