I know many of you wanted the Reds to win at least one playoff game, but batting .124 (11-for-89) in a three-game series isn’t going to cut it. But look on the bright side: We all were spared the pain of watching Francisco Cordero try to record a save against the Phillies.

Easy money: The look into the sleazy world of sports agents in Sports Illustrated caused few waves — or ripples — at THE OSU after Josh Luchs claimed that former Buckeye Santonio Holmes told him he was getting paid by an agent. Luchs, who provided the fascinating first-person account, had hoped to throw cash Holmes’ way in 2005.

Of course, Holmes denies talking to Luchs or taking money from any agent. He also said he flosses daily. The denial was good enough for OSU, which issued an 87-word statement that indicated it had “investigated” and considers the matter closed.

I’m sure the “investigation” went something like this:

OSU: “Hey, Santonio, how are you? Did you see SI today?”

SH: “I only like to read my bank statements.”

OSU: “Some agent says he tried to pay you while you were upholding the honor of Coach Tressel’s squeaky-clean program.”

SH: “Squeaky what?”

OSU: “Yeah, I know that even though you were supporting a family, you’d never accept illegal walking-around money.”

SH: “I gotta go. Rex Ryan is yelling at me. Call my agent.”

OSU: “Good one, Santonio.”

Lace ’em up: We took the kids shopping for basketball shoes and made the mistake of ambling into the Nike store in Monroe. The staff was a little too peppy and some kid showed us a shoe with LeBron’s name on it. Next to the purple, overpriced LeBron product was a Kobe shoe.

Then some guy got on the PA system and began yelling about the Bengals and Reds. They might as well have pulled a fire alarm, because we were out of there. The kids can’t wait to test out their new adidas sneaks.

Going low: How tough is the Ohio boys state golf tournament? About as tough as a $3.99 steak.

Wayne junior Michael Bernard, who won the Ohio Amateur this year, shot a 74 at the district tourney at Weatherwax. That wasn’t good enough to move on.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2163 or bkollars@DaytonDailyNews.com.