"Ranting With Rizzo" Replay For May 28th 2011

The Bruins are in the Stanley Cup Finals,
the Canucks try and win one for the first
time ever, and we have a Heat, Mavericks
NBA Finals to discuss as well as Baseball
and all that other fun stuff. Enjoy !

On Memorial Day We Say, Thank You !

While it's easy on Memorial Day weekend to enjoy
the BBQ's, Friends, Drinks, and Weather, it's also
easy to lose site of the fact that we have many
lost veterans to thank for this. When combining
sports and military veterans, we tend to remember
guys like Pat Tillman, and even Ted Williams, but
there are other like Yogi Berra who served in the
Navy, and Roger Staubach who served in the Vietnam
War. Even Joe DiMaggio served in the Air Force in
the 40's, but it's the non athlete, non famous,
non star that is just as responsible for our good
fortune and freedom this weekend and every day.
So let's not forget that.

Braylon Edwards & Vince Lombardi

Chris Faytok/The Star-Ledger

Although I completely agree that those two
names do not belong in the same sentence,
I will do this only for the purpose of this
blog post.

Braylon Edwards followed up on a promise he
made, and it was a great thing to not only
keep this promise, but to make this promise,
in the first place. I know I trash him when
he screws up, so he deserves praise when he
does the good stuff too. He made a promise
to help 100 Cleveland area kids with their
college tuition when he was with the Cleveland
Browns, and he kept that promise +1 and is going
to help 101 kids in Cleveland in total. Props to
Yahoo sports for recognizing this story and
making sure it got written.

Leave it to the NY Post to recognize that the
man that takes care of Vince Lombardi's grave
is a Jet fan. So What ! What's important here
is that it's being neglected at all, and that
maybe the people making money off the
Broadway play should dish out a couple of
dollars to make sure that this legendary figure
gets his rightful respect. I would bash the
league that names their Championship Trophy
after him, but right now they're a little tight
on money. It's really a good thing he isn't here
to see that even his own family drop this ball as
well. Maybe they need a little coaching.

Knee Jerk Reaction To Posey Injury

I know there are some among you that think
this might be worth considering, and if you
are among them, then I'm sorry, but eliminating
the collision with the catcher at home plate
because some star catcher got hurt is just
plain STUPID. Yes, I know that sounds harsh,
and maybe even offensive, but you can't go
overreacting every time someone gets hurt on
a play that occurs hundreds of times.
If that was just some everyday non star,
no one would have cared past the high light
piece. It's only a big deal because he's
now worth millions to the SF Giants.
Maybe they should have done with Posey the
same thing the Washington Nationals did with
their big investment Bryce Harper and move
him to the outfield once they ponied up the
big bucks. Just don't forget that he could
still get really hurt running into the outfield
wall, and then they would have to consider
removing those as well.

"Ranting With Rizzo" Replay For May 21th 2011

Last weeks show was chock full of
NFL, NHL, MLB, and a guest that
threw in two cents of his own.
Check it out !

Sometimes You Can Go Home

The title of this story is one that may be a
bit off, but not entirely. You see, at one
time there was a team in Winnipeg, Manitoba,
Canada, the Jets. You know, where they love
hockey. Well in the infinite wisdom of the
NHL and ownership about twenty years ago they
moved that team to the desert, yup, the desert.
Winter sports with ICE to the desert. That
team became the Phoenix Coyotes, a team that
is easily at least 25 million dollars in debt.
Now NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman has done many
good things with and for the NHL, but that was
NOT one of them. Well this week he got the chance
to right a wrong. The GlobeandMail is reporting
that the Atlanta Thrashers are moving to Canada,
and yes they are moving to Winnipeg. No word
yet on the name, but I do hope that like the
Browns of the NFL they retain their name and
once again become the Winnipeg Jets like when
the Browns left Cleveland and became the
Baltimore Ravens, but the new Cleveland team
was once again named the Browns.

It is the right thing to do here. It's Atlanta's
second failed NHL franchise (The Atlanta Flames
are now the Calgary Flames, see a trend here?),
and the fans there wont even know their gone.
So let's hope the Atlanta experiment is now over
with, and perhaps Mr. Bettman will allow the group
that wants to but the Coyotes and move them back
to Canada do that as well. One can only hope.

No NFL, Like Watching Paint Dry

Things are getting so bad over at ESPN, that
with of the lack of mini camp, training camp,
and free agency news, they have resorted to
having their writers do Power Rankings of
the Top 10 helmets in the NFL. Really???,
is this what it's come to? OK I give up,
above is my vote. What's yours?

Stuff That Legends Are Made Of

This video hardly needs any explanation,
and is quite impressive to say the least.
Ladies and Gentleman, Tampa Rays All-Star
3rd Baseman Evan Longoria.

"Ranting With Rizzo" Replay For May 14th 2011

The world of sports lost quite a few
prominent people this past week, and
we take a moment to acknowledge them
as well as preview the Stanley Cup
playoffs and how the MLB season is
progressing at the quarter pole.

Favre To The Rescue

I found it quite comical and enlightening
to say the least when I read this story,
but Favre isn't such a creep after all.
I mean who knew that he was behind a study
that was tracking the declining bee
population and had linked it all to cell
phone use. I mean who knew? Not Me !

And then There Were Three

Photo by NBAE/Getty Images

I was hoping there wouldn't be a third,
but I guess "they" were right, they do
come in three's. After reporting earlier
on the death's of Bill Gallo, and Michael
Baze, I'm saddened to report that former
Michigan Wolverine & NBA player
Robert "Tractor" Traylor was found
dead of an apparent heart attack in his
home in Puerto Rico. He was only 34
years old and surely died way too young.

"Ranting With Rizzo" Replay

The NHL and NBA Playoffs take center stage
as usual, but a "Rant" regarding Derek Jeter
kicks off the show and ticks off this host.
Email the show at rizzo@wdisam.com

Tired Of Being Pushed Around

Courtesy: uk.eurosport.yahoo.com

Mario Balotelli probably knows a thing or two
about being pushed around. I mean look at him,
he is a Black man, who is also Italian. I can
easily say this because I am an Italian American
whose parents were born in Italy, and I've put
no racist malice into that statement. Italians
are not typically black, at least not by stereo
typical standards. Balotelli was taken in by
Italian foster parents at the age of three, but
he was born in Palermo,Italy and with that he is
not only Italian, but also a world class
footballer who also happens to play for the
Italian national team, and that was another thing
that didn't come easy.

With that as your background it is nice to see
this story that came out of the UK. Balotelli
was at an autograph signing when through an
exchange with a young fan he decided that it was
his job to intervene in a dispute between the
young fan and a school bully. The story from
there only gets better, and makes it nice to see
that Balotelli has not only managed to keep a
nice perspective here, but found the time to help.
A lesson we can all learn. Nice Job Mario !

Covering The Game Of Life Instead

Just because your a blogger, writer or even
have your own talk show doesn't mean that you
don't follow other writers, or hosts.
Truth be told, you probably follow them more.
I started following David White when he covered
the Raiders, and would always check out his
stories on various Bay Area sports news, even
when it turned out he was covering the hated
49er's and he was quite the informative guy.

Yesterday David announced that he was giving
this up, that as he puts it, "It's his turn".
David will no longer be writing for The Chronicle,
instead he will be a full time pastor at the
Porterville Church of God ministry. I'll miss
David, but understand that life is always more
important than sports, and I'm glad that one
more of us realized that. It's always been
that way, but sometimes, myself included, we
get a little too consumed by how much our
world will end if our team loses, and to this
day it still hasn't. It will be interesting
to see how he covers God's latest "sporting"
event due to take place on the 21st of May,
2011, actually I wonder if he'll cover it
at all. Thanks, and Good Luck David !

NY Mets: Is Trading Wright Wrong?

Aristide Economopoulos/Star-Ledger

The short answer is, NO. Lots of talk this
past off season and season has the NY Mets,
making trades, starting over, and not being
able to sign Jose Reyes, but the truth of the
matter if they wanna save money is quite
simply this: Unload Jason Bay the minute he
becomes a commodity again, and he will.
Carlos Beltran's salary comes off the books
this year, so there you can go youth, and
David Wright can get you more in a trade than
Jose Reyes can right now, and Thank God for
that! Wright has one more year after this
left on his contract and that will make the
team that wants to acquire David much more
open to giving you more of what the Mets may
ask for as opposed to give you lots for the
possible rental of Jose Reyes for the
remainder of this season when Jose becomes
a very valuable free agent.

Yes the Mets have money problems, we all know
that, but one cure for that ill is bringing
fans to the ballpark with wins, and let's
face it, Jose Reyes is a much better player
than David Wright, that's RIGHT, much better.
David has been a disappointment for quite a
bit now, and his strikeouts just keep on
coming. As evidenced by today's 4-2 loss
to the Dodgers, Jose Reyes triples, and gets
and RBI in the bottom of the ninth, and David
Wright strikes out to end the game.

Next year Wright is set to earn over 15 million
dollars, but since 12 million from Oliver Perez,
6 million from Luis Castillo, and 1 million from
Gary Matthews Jr. (yes they are still paying him)
come off the books, it is simple to see that you
can afford to pay Jose to stay and use that money
and payroll still goes down. Fourteen million just
by those numbers alone, if the rumored 20 million
that Jose is supposed to earn is true, and he just
might give you a hometown discount if he really
feels wanted.

David Wright's legend has now reached a point where
it is bigger than he is. His numbers keep getting
worse, and his clutch(ness) is stuck in first gear.
Just look at what he's done the past three seasons
alone, while it's clear that Jose is that Carl
Crawford type of player teams were drooling over
this past off season. Look at recent history and
you can also see that Jose's numbers are on the
rise as opposed to decline. He's six months
younger and definitely more dynamic, and honestly
I just can't bear to watch Wright throw another
ball away. The errors were supposed to get better
once Ike Davis became the 1st baseman, but he
isn't a magician you know.

With whatever you get back from a David Wright
trade, Ike Davis, Jose Reyes (re-signed), and
a bit of youth that continues to mature, the
2012 Mets will definitely benefit from the
departure of David Wright and his monotone
excuse filled voice that has all the leadership
of a mating Panda bear. Time to move on !

Random Skirts

So Tony LaRussa's daughter is now a
cheerleader with the Oakland Raiders,
and Doug Flutie's daughter is now a
cheerleader with the New England
Patriots. Do you know how much those
gigs pay? Like $100, $150 a game.
Like really? Their dads couldn't hook
them up or something? Hmmmmmm,
Maybe they did.

Playoff Slapshot

Quick Thoughts on the NHL Playoffs

This is the 2nd year in a row that the
Boston Bruins take a 3-0 series lead
against the Philadelphia Flyers.
Last year they blew it and lost the
series AND Game Seven 4-3, can they
hold on this year?

The Tampa Bay Lighting took out the
Washington Capitals with a 4-0 series
sweep. Was it too fast? Will they get
rusty waiting for an opponent? I don't
know, but if the Bruins can close, then
I guess the answer is NO.

"Ranting With Rizzo" Replay

During this show we talk about the Bruins and
Celtics moving forward as well as the MLB
season as it progresses and how the NFL draft
went for some, and what it might say. Enjoy !

Money, Money, Money

In last weeks ESPN the magazine their was
a page on top earners in sports all across
the gamut, for those "sports" or games that
were available. We can agree that not
everyone on this list is an athlete, but
they do make money playing games, and that
can't be all bad.

A couple of things that might catch your eye
are things like:

In two categories the women earn more than the
men, and as you can see, if you didn't already
know, that's rare.

NFL, MLB, and NBA do not have the top three
earners.

The lowest earner on this list is Female Bowler
Shannon Pluhowsky at $40,300 for 2009/10 but
this doesn't mention any endorsement money so
it can't be all that bad to bowl for a living.

The highest earners are Manny Pacquiao and
Alex Rodriguez at 32 million, but even
though it's prize money and not salary,
Pacquiao only needed two fights to do that.

A recent beer commercial has made light of
a "pro" dart player on a a date with his
stretching and warm up antics, but the top
earner on this list, Phil Taylor is laughing
all the way to the bank with over a million
in earnings, and again I'm sure the sponsors
help make that a little more profitable too.

And yes Professional eater Joey Chestnut may
die at an early age while suffering all sorts
of gastrointestinal problems along the way as
a member of MLE (Major League Eating), but he
will earn over 200 grand along the way as long
as he stays at or near the top of his "game"

Here's the list, see for yourself. Enjoy!