Daugherty: US Women's soccer drew 30K to Nippert. On a Tuesday.

There is a scene in my favorite movie, "Diner," in which two losers played by Kevin Bacon and Mickey Rourke happen upon a young woman riding a horse on an estate by a road in the countryside near Baltimore.

“What’s your name?’’ Rourke asks.

“Jane Chisholm,’’ she says. “Like the Chisholm Trail.’’

Rourke nods, Jane Chisholm rides off, Rourke looks blankly at Bacon.

“What f-----‘ Chisholm Trail?’’ he says. To which Bacon replies, “You think there’s somethin’ going on we don’t know about?’’

That’s a little how I feel about 30,000-plus people attending an exhibition womens soccer game at Nippert Stadium Tuesday night.

I’m not completely oblivious. I know soccer is more than a blip on the local sports radar. I know it’s not a passing thing, unless it’s Djiby crossing to a teammate. (Wait. Djiby doesn’t pass. He ... scores! Never mind.)

I know, too, this wasn’t just a collection of females kicking it around. The U.S. Women's National Team is a formidable side (soccer lingo, how about me?) that has consistently performed well internationally.

But ...

An exhibition? On a Tuesday night when school is back in?

Were the tickets mostly free? Did they give away Don Garber bobbleheads?

Do we understand that the Reds would kill for 30K on a school night in September? That the 50-year-old Bengals had barely 20K more than 30,000 Thursday night, as members of the vast NFL military-industrial complex?

FC Cincinnati has routinely outdrawn the Reds this summer. I’m looking into a story about why Loveland High – state football champs just a few years ago – didn’t have enough players to fill its 9th-grade team this fall. Could be declining enrollment, could be parents not wanting their kids to get concussed. Could be the growing appeal of soccer. High school baseball has suffered a little, at the hands of lacrosse.

Something is happening. Something is definitely going on.

I’ve seen it for years, just haven’t paid it a ton of attention. I’ve been to homes of people I’ve written about and seen the Mia Hamm posters in the daughter’s bedroom. I’ve talked to friends and interview subjects about their “bonding time’’ with their kids – Saturday morning, watching Premier League on TV. I’ve been to Hap’s during the World Cup.

Hell, my daughter met her future husband playing soccer, on a team for kids with disabilities, coached by her future father-in-law, who grew up in Greece ...

Playing soccer.

The president is doing what he can to isolate America. The sports world has different ideas. Those of us of a certain age remember fútbol as a side sport as kids, same as track or wrestling. The Homecoming King was never a midfielder, you know?

It’s time we adjust our thinking.

Some of you might be saying "Duh" right about now. You’d be 20- and 30-somethings, most likely. Others might be shaking your heads. 60-somethings, yeah?

Because what I do demands I find the largest audience and write to it, maybe some priorities need rearranging. Thirty-thousand on a Tuesday in September, for a game that doesn’t count. Hmmm.

IN MINOR SPORTS NEWS ...

We had Carl Lawson on Beyond The Stripes last night. The rookie hybrid (LB/edge rusher) was, as Trump said of the Kim Jong Un, “a smart cookie.’’ I like players who give it back to me on the Hot Seat segment. He did that. TML sez ckitout. Or stop by at the Holy Grail sometime. We’re there every Tuesday at 7, from now until the end of time. Or until the end of the Bengals season, whichever comes first.

MLewis has had “good success’’ as they say, in finding and teaching guys like Lawson in that role. Peter Boulware, Levon Kirkland, Chad Brown. All Pro Bowlers.

A few other notions:

Now, it’s the players’ turn. They’ve had their say and their way re the OC. If things don’t go well the next several weeks, the spotlight falls on them.

AJ M’s defense of Dalton is why he needs to be somebody’s starting QB. That was leadership, friends.

Might see how good this D really is Sunday. It did well v two bad offenses, but still allowed massive drives at winning time.

Meantime, today is Big News Wednesday, during which MLewis and ADalton hold fascinating news conferences from which much knowledge is gleaned. We’ll keep you posted.

Other minor news ...

MAYBE I SHOULD JUST ASK MIKE FLORIO when I want to know what’s really going on with The Men. He writes that players were “near mutiny’’ before Zampese was fired and that some want Kaepernick to replace Dalton.

Haha.

He’s also the guy who reported that Chad Johnson had Hue Jackson in a headlock at halftime of the Kimo Playoff Game. If 85 ever tried that on Jackson, he might not be alive today.

Florio’s “reporting’’ aided and abetted this column from sportsonearth. It suggests Dalton’s job is on the line.

Not exactly.

If the Bengals gave Dalton’s job to McCarron, Dalton would be finished here, for all intents and purposes. He’s in the middle of a long, club-friendly contract. He has the support of his teammates. He has been bad this year and only average last year. But he has shown he can be good. The Bengals aren’t going to whack Zampese, then not give Lazor a chance to get Dalton settled down.

The only way McCarron plays (assuming Dalton’s healthy) is if he comes in during a game. That way, Lewis can say the team needed a “jumpstart’’ and Dalton would be back in the saddle the following Sunday.

Dalton’s not Elite. He’s not Top 10. He’s good enough to win with, if everything else is working well.

It’s interesting how folks who don’t work here, and couldn’t find PBS with a GPS and a Sherpa guide, seem to know so much about what’s going on here.

Now, then ...

HOW MUCH DO YOU TRUST SEPTEMBER? Reds are 9-8 in the month. That follows a 15-14 August. I think April and September are the least revealing months, June-July-August the most. The Reds were 33-49 in June-July-August.

But Mahle, Romano and BobSteve have all made very good starts this month. What does that mean to you?

If they want to contend next year or the year after, they need one of these kids to come through the way Zach Davies has for Milwaukee. Not just a lower-rotation guy. A star. Teams don’t contend with middling starting pitching. Looie has Wainwright, Martinez and Lynn, more than middling, and has been on the fringe most of the year. I’d take any of those three across a whole season over anyone that has started for the Club in '17.

As for last night: No worries. Adleman likely won’t be here next year.

HOME RUN DERBY ... Most dingers in a season in 17 years. SI.com:

When Alex Gordon hit a home run for the Royals in the eighth inning on Tuesday, it was the 5,694th home run of the season, breaking the record for most home runs in a single season set in 2000.

This season, 31 players have already hit at least 30 home runs.

According to ESPN's Pedro Gomez, MLB is currently on pace to hit 2,000 more home runs than were hit three years ago.

Yep, and six of the top 10 have losing records. Two – Reds, A’s – are in last place.

What’s it all about, Abner?

TUNE O’ THE DAY ... This must be good. Has 40 million views on YouTube. When the Kid Down the Hall discovered rock, this was one of the few of his tunes I actually liked. That was a long time ago.