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Lake Erie Monsters on FSN and WUAB
By George M. Thomas
Beacon Journal sports writer
Published on Tuesday, Sep 23, 2008
If the Browns' losing ways keep up, ESPN Cleveland's (WKNR 850-AM) Tony Rizzo will have reason to sing I Don't Like Mondays.
With the Browns' loss to the Baltimore Ravens, those working the phones and the inbox for the Rizzo on the Radio show on the AM sports talker didn't get a chance to take a breath or rest their overactive digits.
Northeast Ohio's football fans called in screaming for the head of Derek Anderson in an effort to quench their lust for someone to blame for the Browns' 0-3 start to the season.
''We got 500 e-mails and took about 50 calls, and they were 100 percent in favor of making a change,'' Aaron Goldhammer, Rizzo's sidekick, said Monday.
That's a lot of frustration for two hours of radio.
For the record, Rizzo, the sports anchor for WJW (Channel 8) said it's time for the Brady Quinn era to begin.
''We got this kid we paid a high price for. It's time to see if he was worth it,'' Rizzo said.
He said that wasn't meant as a complete indictment of starter Derek Anderson, although Rizzo believes Anderson has regressed. He said the blame for what's happening with the Browns lies with three entities: the coaching staff for some questionable work, and the players and media for having set great expectations — ones that put an enormous amount of pressure on Anderson.
Filling a void
I'm not too big to admit when I am wrong, and I confess I was more than a bit skeptical when Good Karma Broadcasting, headed by Craig Karmazin, bought WKNR, which now goes by ESPN Cleveland, almost two years ago. Part of me still doesn't like some aspects of its lineup.
I must give credit where due, however, as Karmazin has taken a stab at something and looks to have come up with a winner.
While cruising to Columbus to see the Buckeyes, I tuned in to the station to discover High School Hysteria, three hours of nothing but high school football, including a game of the week
with Bob Karlovec and Daryl Ruiter doing play-by-play and analysis.
With High School Hysteria, sports fans who happen to love prep football now have a must-listen destination on Friday nights. Hosted by Aaron Goldhammer, some of what I heard occasionally was uneven, but knowing Goldhammer, I suspect the kinks will get worked out.
There are few parts of the country where such a concept might work; Ohio, being as rabid as it is for football, is one. The station might have hit on something with this one.
Monsters stalk viewers
The Lake Erie Monsters doubled their television broadcast schedule from 10 games last season and added another partner in the process.
FSN Ohio will remain the cable home of the AHL affiliate of the Colorado Avalanche, and WUAB (Channel 43) will air 10 games this season as well.
The TV schedule opens Oct. 11 with the Monsters facing the Grand Rapids Griffins on FSN Ohio.
Ryder pulls 'em in
Dress it up in patriotism and viewers will flock to almost anything. Before someone gets the urge to fire off a testy e-mail, that wasn't meant as an insult but a statement of fact.
With the U.S. team on the verge of winning golf's Ryder Cup for the first time since 1999 on Sunday, fans who weren't occupied with the NFL boosted the event's numbers by 22 percent over last year. Impressive.
George M. Thomas can be reached at sportswriterabj@sbcglobal.net. Read his blog at http://www.ohiomm.com/blogs/sportsblitz/
If the Browns' losing ways keep up, ESPN Cleveland's (WKNR 850-AM) Tony Rizzo will have reason to sing I Don't Like Mondays.
Get the full article here.
Comments
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Posted 08:08 AM, 09/23/2008
ITS STIL GOOD TO BE ALIVE!
Akron, OH
Posted 08:25 AM, 09/23/2008
If only people were as passionate about their government...
Posted 11:00 AM, 09/23/2008
Fire the bums! The time has come. Cowher for President!
Posted 11:48 AM, 09/23/2008
why so we have to wait another 15 years for a super bowl. cowher isnt the same coach he was. he lost his passion to coach and deal with everything that comes with it.
Posted 12:27 PM, 09/23/2008
Speaking of WKNR, can they take Aaron Goldhammer off of the air and just let him do his behind-the-scenes work? I think everything the guy says is contrived to get a reaction out of listeners.
Cedar Rapids, IA
Posted 11:51 PM, 09/23/2008
No offense, but you Browns fans who want to pin this debacle of a season on D.A. are idiots! Here's my message to D.A.: "I think you're doing as good of a job as could be expected, so hang in there and don't get down. You've got no O-line or Wide Receivers, so be patient, stick it out and let some of these younger players get it together. It's just a game, after all." The real problem with this team this season is the fact that S.Steptoe is the leading receiver. We're paying like $70 million in contract money to wide receivers, and they suck. Edwards? Droppy-McDrop. Donte Stallworth? Waste of money. Jurevicius? Too old and injury prone. If you want D.A. to make some completions, one of these guys had better get healthy (or get their head out of the sand) and catch the ball. Additionally, a line that allows 5 sacks in the 2nd half is setting the QB up for disaster. D.A. still looked better than Rothelisberger did vs. the Eagles Sunday. Anyway, you Browns fans calling for D.A.'s head are morons. If they put Quinn in there with no receivers and a worthless O-line, he'll probably do worse than D.A., and in a best case scenario, Quinn will get hurt and miss the beginning of next season. Remember, it is still just a game!
Posted 09:10 AM, 09/25/2008
Stallworth = waste of money. Check! Jurevicius = old and injury prone. Nope! Blame the Browns for continuing to send players to the Cleveland Clinic for operations. Sounds like a Crennel decision (illogical). O-Line allows 5 sacks = Nope! With a stone-footed QB, this is going to happen. Get used to it. Tarkenton, DA is not.
Grafton, Oh
Posted 10:32 AM, 10/08/2009
Rizzy,
I'm not a Braylon supporter, but why do you think Massoquadi was open last week? Braylon was double teamed alot of the time. What will happen this week? But we need to play the rookies. No playoffs this year. We have spent the money on these draft picks play them! Play them at RB, WR and DB. Also play DA closest think to a quarterback we have. Brady is not ready. can you say Mike Phipps of 2009?
