http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/AB/20080227/COL03/302270113/

Highlights:

It helps that Votto is so entirely without pretense he could teach a humility class, and that when they were passing out fat heads to eternally praised ballplayers, Bruce was playing golf.

It's good that off the field, neither takes himself entirely seriously. What seals it is their stated desire to be Reds a long time. We don't hear that a lot much from our sports stars. First, Brandon Phillips. Now, Votto and Bruce. What's going on?

Notably absent: The Reds' best offensive player, a self-effacing guy who's already signed one extension in Cincy, has publicly stated his desire to sign another, and took it upon himself to take Bruce under his wing this offseason.  Let's give Daugherty the benefit of the doubt, though.  Maybe he just forgot.

The Reds are in transition, from a team whose clubhouse revolved around Ken Griffey Jr. and Adam Dunn to one filling up with happy-to-be-here players. What that means come March 31 is anybody's guess. But the face is changing. It's looking more like Big Thing and The Champ.

Whoops!  Guess not.  Way to turn an article about 2 exciting young talents into another forum to air your personal vendetta against the Reds' best offensive player.  Stay classy, Doc.

I don't understand it.  The media often laments the lack of spontaneous, fun-loving players in baseball; everybody's just spouting off cliches.  We have a genuinely funny guy who's a damn good baseball player, a great person off the field according to everybody who covers him, and a great teammate according to everybody in the locker room, and he constantly gets shit on by everyone who covers Reds' baseball.  He's signed one extension, wants to sign another, he's provided the best moments on the field (Opening Day 2HR game, GW GS vs. CLE) and off the field (Banana Phone, Ichiro at the cage, "The Next Big Thing") that this town has seen in the last decade.  But apparently, he's not happy to be here.  He's the sullen dick that's been bringing down the locker room all these years.

And, just so everybody knows, I went to saw the Reds when they came to DC last year, and I'm happy to report that Dunn jogged both out to his position and back to the dugout in each inning.  I was watching that specifically.