Hello everyone, it’s been awhile. I thought my days here were done but a couple of the guys on the RSR staff convinced me to dust off the keyboard, emerge from retirement and re-focus on sports media.
Let me if I may, reintroduce myself. I’m Mr. Mojo Rizon aka Media Watchdog, RSR’s answer to The Sporting News’ “Fly” and The Sun’s exiled “Mr. Flip.” If you remember those missed columns (hence my coming out of retirement party), you’ll get it.
Things have changed since my last writing. Social media, for better or worse, is like gas to a fire on breaking stories, worthy or otherwise. And because anyone with a smartphone can engage, social journalists are everywhere – so it’s hard to take it all in. Hard to cover it all. In this world even the POTUS is a part-time journalist.
That said, I’ll do my best. Praise will be bestowed when earned. Criticisms may cut deep but at the end of each piece (I’m thinking semi-monthly or when the mood strikes, whichever is greater), I hope you find it enjoyable, irritable, memorable or worthy of debate at your nearby water cooler. Maybe even all of the above.
Fair Warning! This article might be a tad long. It may even be very long. It’s been a minute or two since I sat down to do this so I’ve got some catching up to do. Let’s see where Qwerty and the poker deposit pulsa take me.
Fasten your seatbelt…
LJ8
The hottest topic in town is Lamar Jackson. He’s lifted the energy level in and around the Ravens and the excitement level in Baltimore is as high as it’s been since Super Bowl 47. LJ8 has electrified a town that needs the positive mojo on multiple levels. When the Patriots visit on November 3, the atmosphere at The Bank will be exhilarating.
But leave it to 105.7 The Fan’s Chuck Sapienza to whiz all over Baltimore’s parade. Who is Sapienza? Well thankfully he’s not a regular on-air personality but he isn’t opposed to sitting in for one of the guys every now and then to tell you how great The Fan is. The station should put Chuck on air from 10PM to 6AM. That way all the insomniacs in town can get a good night’s sleep by tuning in.
But I digress…
So recently Sapienza, The Fan’s programming director, decided to give it a go as a columnist on 1057TheFan.com, to warn suddenly hopeful Ravens fans. The warning?
Gee thanks Mr. Buzzkill…
Sapienza draws from his experiences in DC where he claims, in his own words, “worked for the Redskins in 2012 when current Ravens back-up Robert Griffin was a legend in the making.”
Legend in the making? Ok, we’ll go with that for now.
But RGIII ran a bit too much according to Sapienza.
“[Griffin] was Rookie of the year, earned an NFC East title and a home playoff game. No player since Michael Vick had his rare combination of passing and running ability. That was until Haloti Ngata collided with his right knee and turned RG3 into Robert. After that hit, Robert was never the same.”
It didn’t go down exactly that way. But let’s twist the facts to suit the narrative. It makes for a better story, right?
First thing you need to understand, Sapienza at the time was the Executive Director of the Washington Redskins Radio Network. So, was he paid by Dan Snyder? Sure. Was he really part of the team? Probably about as much as MTV was part of Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers.
It was a devastating injury for RGIII. But he missed just one game. The Redskins rushed him back and arguably made the injury worse. Then the team and the local media fed the beast and RGIII had a feast on the accolades. His head swelled. It all became about him. He was selfish and detached and eventually lost the locker room and his coaching staff.
The injury hurt no doubt. But RGIII on his best day couldn’t approach LJ8 on his worst day when it comes to speed, agility and elusiveness.
Stick to programming Chuck. While you last.
[Related Article: Next Man Up]
BaltimoreRavens.com
People come at me all the time talking about BaltimoreRavens.com, the Ravens official website. I hear things ranging from the site being too corporate to it being a collection of cheerleaders to it being a format for self-serving propaganda.
Stop. Just stop.
Compare the Ravens flagship online property to that of other teams around the league and what you’ll conclude, is that their digital team is as good or better than any other in the NFL. The web squad is talented individually and collectively with some award winning staff members and they do an excellent job of providing coverage of the team. Plus, their video library is second to none.
No, they’re not going to criticize any part of the organization but in fairness, would your company offer a digital platform to reveal all of its warts and shortcomings? Of course not. But at least give BR.com credit for taking the time to serve up criticisms from other sources in the articles they publish, particularly Late For Work.
BR.com is a bookmarked, go-to site that the Watchdog visits almost on a daily basis and inevitably you’ll find a gem like this video below, every time you make the trip.
WARNING: More than likely, the embed code provided by YouTube is going to force you to the Ravens official YouTube channel. THAT IS a pet peeve of the Watchdog’s. Do you have to be THAT greedy?
Same goes for the NFL with their YouTube posts. You are getting the clicks via the embed. Why not allow the embedding to work? You’d probably get more clicks. But for now, I’ll play along and hopefully so will all of you reading this. You’ll be glad you “invested” the extra click below.
(But be sure to come back…for the rest of the Watchdog’s ramblings.)
Ghosts & Goblins
It’s that time of the year when many get their freak on – Halloween. Apparently Jets QB Sam Darnold decided to get a head start on the fake Holiday. He’s already seen one too many ghosts.
Darnold was mic’d up when the Jets hosted the Patriots on Monday Night Football, a game during which he chucked four picks, the majority of which had the Gang Green faithful screaming expletives.
I often wondered if players ham it up a bit when mic’d up. I’m sure some do. But in the case of Darnold, like Patriots defenders on the field, he probably forgot the mic was even there.
“Seeing ghosts” is likely to stick to Darnold the way “I did not intentionally take steroids” to is forever attached to Rafael Palmeiro. Here’s a look…
Just imagine if LJ8 aimlessly threw the ball all over the field like this. How might that fuel the fire of all Jackson’s doubters?
TV Odds & Ends
As the NFL trade deadline approaches, the Media Watchdog wishes that trades were an option with some of the broadcast teams. Let’s start with the play-by-play guy who was assigned to the Ravens at Seahawks for FOX – Dick Stockton. I give the Philly native credit for doing a decent job at his age but the 76-year old is seemingly stuck in a time warp. Stockton called Mark Ingram, “Metcalf” probably because both wear/wore No. 21? But it has been 17 years since Eric Metcalf stepped onto an NFL field.
I’m surprised that he didn’t reference LJ8 as Kyle Boller…
Monday Night Football
Remember when that was the premier game of the week? Now the broadcast is just a dud. From the pregame crew to the wretched halftime “entertainment” to the Booger – it’s awful. You know the old saying, that you don’t fully appreciate something until it’s gone. Booger McFarland and Joe Tessitore really makes one long for the days of Mike Tirico and Jon Gruden –even Mike Patrick, Joe Theismann and Paul Maguire. Booger redefines Captain Obvious every week. And talk about a Patriots lovefest. I couldn’t help but to imagine that duo in matching Tom Brady onesies. Oh, and back to Tirico…hey NBC, can you please trade Al Michaels out and put the best play-by-play guy in the business next to Cris Collinsworth. I do believe in miracles.
Sticking with broadcaster trades, what is going on with Troy Aikman? There was a time when he was really dialed in and you could learn something new during each broadcast. Lately the only thing I’m intrigued by is the source of his bloodshot eyes and his redundant babbling. During the Chiefs at Broncos game last Thursday when Joe Flacco was under siege, Aikman’s verbal pounding of the Broncos’ QB was like that of a jilted woman. Then, to add insult to injury Aikman laughed at Flacco. You’re a real pro there Troy.
Seriously, if anyone could relate to the beating Joe took that night it would be Aikman who was once sacked 11 times by the Philadelphia Eagles at The Vet. Time to get this guy a body bag and some Visine.
Aikman saw Flacco was going back out there and started laughing LMAOOOO ??pic.twitter.com/ilcwtZ8peM
— I’M SEEING GHOSTS (@FTBeard11) October 18, 2019
Hurricane Nestor
On the opposite end of the eyeball spectrum is President, CEO, Chairman and Emperor of WNST, Nestor Aparicio. Besides kicking 105.7 The Fan’s ass on a daily basis (his words, not mine), Aparicio is busy slinging politics on Twitter, whining about the Orioles and starring in commercials. Have a look…
This is what too much Red Bull looks like… pic.twitter.com/xfssqSrh62
— Tony Lombardi (@RSRLombardi) October 22, 2019
Funny, when I think of Aparicio kicking The Fan’s ass, this scene from Liar, Liar comes to mind…
Talkin’ Turkey
Congrats to 105.7 The Fan, now the radio broadcast partner for Baltimore’s traditional Turkey Bowl featuring Calvert Hall and Loyola. Special props to Mike Popovec, one of the hardest working guys in local sports media, who never seems to get sufficient credit for his efforts as a fill-in host and on Maryland Terrapins broadcasts.
And of course, props to Scott Garceau, Tom Matte, Jamie Costello and WMAR-TV for keeping a Baltimore tradition alive and well.
More LJ8 Love
Here’s a clip from Jim Rome who is all-in on LJ8.
Mike Vick “In Awe” of Lamar
Many compare Lamar to Vick and the parallels are rather obvious. But here are a few big differences that separate the two:
1. Vick was the first pick in the 2001 NFL Draft. LJ8 was the 32nd pick in the 2018 NFL Draft. Jackson felt slighted. Enter chip-on-the-shoulder.
2. Lamar has shown an outstanding work ethic. He studies and puts in the work during practice to take his game to another level. LJ8 is driven to be great. Vick thought he was great and did nothing to improve. Showing up for games is all that he needed to do, in his mind. Film study for him was about as important as practice to Alan Iverson.
3. There’s no dark side to LJ8 – no (dog) skeletons in the closet or buried on a farm. He’s a natural born leader. How else do you explain a future Hall of Famer, Marshal Yanda, following the lead of 22-year old Lamar Jackson. Or this from Ronnie Stanley…
Add it up. LJ8 > Vick.
The defense rests…
And lastly…
We bring you This Week With Jason LaCanfora.
LaCanfora is supposed to be an NFL Insider. He’s not. At best he’s a poser. At worst he just a click bait artist. More accurately he’s the Chris Davis of insiders.
Those who follow him on Twitter do so for entertainment value, not for information. Following JLC is like rubbernecking on I-95. So, with each of the Media Watchdog posts, we’ll share and point out what is obvious so often. Jason is wrong again.
Here was the first sign that the Ravens would upset the Seahawks. Note how few likes, comments and retweets this post received for someone with 548,000 followers. Not much faith in JLC’s best bets. Remember the rubber-necking.
My Best Bets for this week https://t.co/yzKtHJff5L
— Jason La Canfora (@JasonLaCanfora) October 18, 2019
A look into the future. We’ll revisit to see how this one marinates.
The more teams I talk to, the more I believe someone signs AB after the trade deadline: https://t.co/dPowMXOhpv
— Jason La Canfora (@JasonLaCanfora) October 20, 2019
That’s it for this week. Until next time…
Whaddaya say, I say…”Roof!”
Do you know any more?
“Ah-woooooooo!”
