Paul Daugherty's Morning Line: What other hoops must FC Cincinnati jump through for MLS?

Once, when the Bengals and HamCo were doing one of their lease dances over who’s supposed to pay for what within the walls of Paul Brown Stadium, I wrote that the team’s logo should not be orange and black stripes, but a photo of Mike Brown’s palm, extended and faced upward.

Along those lines, FC Cincinnati should amend its logo. Can we get a graphic designer to draw a pair of legs, midair, poised to jump through a hoop?

We are told that FCC’s MLS bid is totally tidy now that the residents of the West End have agreed on what the futbol team must do to make (almost) everyone happy in that section of the city. It’s a long list of musts. The club deserves credit for extending itself in such a fashion. The Community Benefits Agreement looks to be a good deal for everyone. Especially if it helps keep the West End affordable to everyone who wants to live there.

More: Key dates in FC Cincinnati's lurching effort to get a stadium approved

Analysis: Is FC Cincinnati on brink of MLS expansion?

As much as we love what has happened in Over The Rhine, it has not been such a happy experience for the folks dispossessed. Hopefully, that won’t occur to such an extent in the West End.

And there is never anything wrong with seeing pro sports entities and those who own them squirm a little. The rest of us have squirmed a lot over the decades.

So, unless MLS has some double-secret hoop for FC to jump through, the deal is nigh. That’s great, isn’t it?

Isn’t it?

What say you, John Q. West Chester? How goes it, Mr. and Mrs. Mason?

Nippert Stadium is an urban site. But it is a familiar urban site, with lots of reasonably close parking. Minivan Families saw it as a “safe’’ place to take their kids.

We all know what “safe’’ means.

The “safe’’ card was played back in the late-90s, when the great urban creature Jim Tarbell pushed to have the Reds ballpark at Broadway Commons. The pro-riverfront (re major-ly rich and influential) crowd tried to say the Broadway site wasn’t big enough. Even as what I called The Cramsite had to be wedged very close to US Bank Arena. The riverfront people sold you on the notion that a ballpark that close to the Justice Center was not ideal. They also said a renewed central riverfront needed 81 Reds games a year, which was true, though I’m guessing some other big player would eventually have made use of that prime property.

What was also sold, subtly, was that Broadway was not in a “good’’ neighborhood. Those of us of a certain age recall the TV ads painting that area as dangerous. I remember spending several hours over a couple days walking the several blocks that would have backed up to the ballpark. I asked tradespeople if they felt safe there. All said yes. I asked a mailman: Yes.

I asked residents. After a few told me it was an insulting question (it kinda was) they said yes. Not one person said they felt unsafe there.

Will you feel the same at a West End soccer venue?

I think it’s a stupid and demeaning question, personally. But you better believe it’s one being asked around here.

So I’ll ask again: If you’re a big FCC fan, you live in the ‘burbs and you have little kids, are you OK with trekking to the West End?

That, combined with your willingness to pay higher prices for everything, will determine how successful this enterprise will be.

Lemme know. If you prefer anonymity, email me at pdoc53@gmail.com.

Now, then. . .

REDS WIN. WHY IT MATTERED. . . Scooter Gennett was the best acquisition the Reds have made in several seasons. He’s angling his way toward an All-Star berth. A 5-2 trip West is laudable. Here come the Cubs.

THE “VOLUNTARY’’ WORKOUTS DEBATE. Tom Brady blew ‘em off, for the first time. Brady has this silly notion that family time is more important than soft-tossing and being bored out of his skull by something he’s done almost two decades.

His former teammate Matt Cheatham explained, to ESPN.com:

“It’s not even a question of preparing your body, but psychologically, Tom is in uncharted waters," Chatham said. "The hardest part for older players -- and my last season I was 31 -- is the routine. It gets really f---ing old.’’

Well, yeah. The NFL (and big-time football generally) operates under the assumption that more is better. Sometimes, more is just more. If the idea is to prepare veterans for the season that starts four months from now, it’s a marginally good idea. Physical shape, sure. Mental? No way. Nothing done in voluntary spring workouts is going to have a big bearing on real football games.

Especially for a guy like Brady.

Everyone take a deep breath. Now exhale slowly.

PRESENTING THE RECENT HISTORY OF THE CLEVELAND BROWNS. . .Apparently, they’re on Hard Knocks this year. Didn’t that used to be a show on HBO?

FORMER ENQUIRER SCRIBE John Erardi has bio-ed Tony Perez. A got a copy yesterday and will plow through it as quickly as possible and report back. “E” made the trip to Cuba, the lucky pierro.

AND NOW, A FEW CHOICE HUNDRED FROM THE BEER-ESPONDENT:

BeerManDave says Drink Big:

The flying tin cans took me to San Jose this week. If you've been reading the blog lately, you know I've been making countless endless promises related to drinking less hoppy beers. In this instance, however, I sincerely hope that you will give me a break, being that, in case you are not aware, the West Coast IPA is kind of a big deal. You can definitely taste the inspiration for many of our local favorite brews when sampling Bay Area micro brews.

As luck would have it, Russian River Brewing Company had just released its famous Pliny the Elder Imperial IPA. With over 193,000 ratings on Untappd, the fact that it carries a 4.5+ star rating (out of 5) is impressive. This type of beer sets the bar for many others, so it should come as no surprise that the vast majority of breweries offer top notch interpretations.

Check out New Glory's Sip, Sip, Pass Imperial IPA, Knee Deep's Breaking Bud IPA, Alpine's Duet IPA, and Shatter Cone's Seismic IPA. Two slightly different options that I had the pleasure of sampling were Ballast Point's Aloha Sculpin IPA and Offshoot's Relax [it's just a hazy IPA]. Man is it easy to find good beer in California. If you find yourself in the sun soaked golden state, create a personal challenge and try to find a sub par IPA. No fake news promises this week, I'm just gonna keep drinking great beer and hope I don't get too much hate mail. Cheers! cincybeerguydave@gmail.com

TUNE O’ THE DAY. . . In a crossfire hurricane.