Sports Today: Reds decline continues as we run out the clock until Bengals training camp

RELATED: Reds best starter likely to be sidelined

Feldman has been no world-beater this season, but he has done most of what he was brought in to do: Give the Reds a reliable start every five days. He could have soaked up a few more innings here and there, but beggars can’t be choosers when talking about the worst rotation in baseball (by far).

As far as what has happened on the field since the All-Star break, it’s hard to wonder if they are not on the cusp of being broken by all the bad starts they’ve gotten this season.

Are truly bad days ahead after a fairly hopeful first half?

Then again, maybe it’s just the way the Nationals make teams look, which is ironic because the listlessness of the last two days reminded me a lot of the end of the Dusty Baker era in Cincinnati…

RELATED: Reds winless since the All-Star break

If you want a reason to watch tonight (besides the fact baseball is awesome), young starter Sal Romano, who is more than just a character from Mad Men, is scheduled to take the hill for the Reds, who need to see some positive things from players like him between now and the end of the season..

As mentioned above, football season is nearly here. 

How do I know? The Bengals will hold their first practice of training camp next Friday at Paul Brown Stadium.

They will have a lot of questions to answer, so it should be an interesting month on the riverfront.

Here's a roundup of stuff going on with them this week.

RELATED: 7 fun football facts for mid-July 

There is still lots going on in the college basketball world as summer continues, too. 

The latest locally relevant story: Versailles star Justin Ahrens tweeted last night he has been offered a scholarship by new Ohio State coach Chris Holtmann, who also added a graduate transfer from a surprising place this week.

Ahrens was a verbal commitment to the Buckeyes until early June when Holtmann replaced Thad Matta.

He is also a target of first-year Dayton Flyers coach Anthony Grant, who is much more limited in what he can do as far as offering scholarships for 2018.

Meanwhile, former Flyers coach Archie Miller enjoyed probably his best day on the job as Indiana’s new coach yesterday: He got verbal commitments from three major prospects, including Jerome Hunter of Pickerington North, who also had offers from Ohio State and Dayton…

High school football season will be here before you know it, too. 

Yesterday some of the area’s top programs were at Welcome Stadium for a passing camp hosted by UD.

On top of that, my series on area teams undergoing a coaching change got off the ground with a look at how things are going in Urbana this summer.