... then you should check out this little gem of a story from a small town called "Bell, California."
Yes, for a massive state, that is massively in debt up to its eyeballs, they still have "public servants" in piss ant little towns gaming the system to give themselves shockingly huge salaries to run nothing more than the equivalent of a municipal lemonade stands.
Robert Rizzo (insert Jerky Boys: "Yeah.. that's right... RIZZO!" sound effect) is the city manager for Bell, and he makes $787,000 per year.
When news of Rizzo's base salary of $787,000 broke, he arrogantly told a Los Angeles Times reporter: "If that's a number people choke on, maybe I'm in the wrong business. I could go into private business and make that money."
Sure you could, donkey. Go for it.
"Maybe I'm in the wrong business" he laments. Dude. You aren't even IN an actual business.
True "business" is when a company creates or provides a certain product or service. Then customers purchase said product or service of their own free economic will, providing (hopefully) a profit for the business and creating jobs along the way.
Then, the state confiscates a certain portion of that business' profits in the form of taxes - and the salaries of the employees of that business - to help PAY FOR donkeys like Robert Rizzo to be "City Manager" for sprawling Bell, California (pop. 38,000).
Ha, ha, good times, California. When people hear that I went to school at UC Santa Barbara and left the state to come back east, they often ask why.
This story, would be reason #1,089.
Not that small time government graft and corruption is eradicated in the other 49 states. It is not. But California is the worst. Followed closely by New York, Illinois and Massachusetts.
Which brings me in a roundabout way to Jets CB Darrelle Revis. As I am sure you know, he is holding out for a new contract, claiming he should be paid as the "best cover corner in football" which I think most neutral observers would agree, he is.
His current contract is a pretty good 6-year rookie deal, guaranteeing him $12 million over the life of it. He is currently (and I stress CURRENTLY) outperforming his salary.
What happens when Revis gets a new huge contract, and is then underperforming his salary? Can the Jets lock him out, and demand a reduction in his pay?
I know what you are saying: "Czabe, the Jets can always cut him if they want, and all they owe is the signing bonus portion of the deal. That's very unfair to the players!"
Yes, but CUTTING a player is a drastic "solution" to him just underperforming his deal. It denies the team the services of a player who might still be worth 60% or 70% of his current pay.
In many ways, it is not a solution at all.
It would be like Revis getting the deal he is asking for, but then being forced to retire! He'd have his money, but he couldn't play. Not much of a win-win.
I am sympathetic to guys like Revis, who are fabulous players that have extremely short earning windows during in a physically brutal and fickle sport.
Plus, Woody Johnson inherited his soap fortune from mommy, daddy, and the family tree. Screw him. Pay the guy! Especially with a new taxpayer assisted Jet/Giant Stadium that has PSL's only the City Manager from Bell, California could afford!
It is indeed a new and beautiful day in sports radioland.
I'm back.
After an 8 month hiatus from the nationally syndicated sports radio airwaves, I am back. And the boys are coming with me. Scotty, Solly, and the dearly departed Al are all back from the radio dead.
See? That wasn't so bad, was it?
Sporting News Radio, as a subsidiary of Mission Media Group of Scottsdale, Arizona, has hired me to host their morning drive shift from 6-9 a.m. from our Washington D.C. area studios.
Oh yeah, football season is going to be fun again kids.
I'd like to say that I just knew it all along. That I was certain this would happen within a year's time, and that the show was just "too good" to not get snapped up by somebody.
But I didn't know that. And I had to assume, that perhaps my run had simply ended.
You guys did have faith, however. Yes faith in me, with perhaps a splash of naivete in how ridiculously stupid the sports radio industry can be sometimes.
As you know, I don't preen at myself in the radio mirror much. I take sports seriously, not myself. I know I am good, but lately I have wondered if "good" really matters any more in our industry.
So when the programming genius at FSR decided 7 years of unmitigated success from me and the guys was all he could handle, I wasn't all that heartbroken. It's the business, what can you do? I did my best. I was proud of the show, and our run lasted a pretty good long while. So truth be told, I was looking for a new lifestyle, and some new opportunities.
Then, I got everybody's emails. That's when things changed.
It wasn't just the sheer volume of emails from you listeners, it was their staggering depth. I am talking about 1500-word-plus emails describing just what it was that made the show so meaningful to them.
You guys remembered a billion more details of segments we did, or moments we had, than I ever could.
The scope of people who wrote to me, was amazing. Age ranges all the way up to 80, and a surprising number of people who claimed they were not even sports fans in the least!
It certainly changed my mind a bit. This wasn't just about me losing a job. Millions of YOU were losing their ride-to-work buddies. It was truly traumatic to many of you.
I was even shocked by some industry calls I got as well. The great Steve Sabol of NFL Films called personally. As I had missed his original call, I returned his call on a break. It rang through to his assistant. I waited on hold. Then, the booming voice of NFL films came bursting through. "Czabe! What the HELL is going on down there!?"
He said he had heard they canceled the show, but just NEEDED to find out directly from the source. I had a chat that bordered on un-seemly manlove because of how much I admire Sabol's work and genius. He concluded the call, by saying matter of factly that I won't be off the air very long. It was very kind.
But I also thought: "Yeah, but what the hell does HE know? I work in this business! He doesn't!"
So as I settled in to being a morning sports radio consumer myself, I quickly began to appreciate how dreadful the national landscape is in that regard. The guy who replaced me is, well, how shall I put this: he's there... for now. And that's all I'm going to say.
And the two other guys on the Disney Sports Channel? Holy regurgitated sports facts, Batman!
I would listen and think: "Do these guys realize, that NOBODY TALKS LIKE THIS when they are talking about sports?"
Which is my only core philosophy about the medium. Good sports radio, is a CONVERSATION. And the more honest, probing, funny, interesting, lively, and no-bullshit you can make that conversation, the better.
That's it. It's that simple.
When I broadcast, I just try to talk to my guys, and talk to the audience, and let the microphones melt away into nothing. Like they aren't even there.
So here we go again. I am so, so, so pumped for this chance. The fellas are equally charged up. They are my faithful engines of creative brilliance. And we're going to do all of what we did before, and then some.
As you may know, Sporting News Radio was once upon a time, One On One Sports Network based out of Chicago.
I got my national radio start there. I remember it like it was yesterday. I rolled into Chicago on August 12, 1994. The day of the F'ING BASEBALL STRIKE that would kill the World Series.
I didn't know a SINGLE PERSON in the city of 6 million. I was rooming temporarily with a friend of a friend I had never before met. My Honda Accord was stuffed to the ceiling with all the crap I owned and could drive in from my parents place in DC.
And it was raining.
Welcome to the big city, kid.
At the time, One On One Sports was the only real "network" doing 24/7 sports programming. ESPN Radio did nights and weekends, but hadn't yet ramped up fully into a round the clock deal.
Over the years, ESPN grew into the beast that it is, and then Fox Sports Radio appeared around 2000. One On One got marginalized a bit, and sold to Sporting News. I think it's fair to say, they became the 3rd horse in the national network race.
Recently, however, long time radio executive Clancy Woods got some investors together to purchase the radio portion of Sporting News. His clarity for the industry, and appreciation for talent is tremendous. I couldn't be luckier to work for a guy like this, because I know he "gets it" like you and I "get it."
This network is going to be a force. You can book that one.
Clancy likes to say that he is "distribution agnostic" about the network and its properties, of which I am now one. By this, he means he'd like to get the longform spoken word product out there in as many ways as possible.
Of course, terrestrial radio affiliates are primary, as is satellite radio, but other distribution channels are here and growing. Things like internet radio and direct audio streaming from websites like, well, www.sportingnewsradio.com.
I can't say for sure, where my show will be heard right away, but suffice to say I will be keeping you posted on all that stuff as I get my facts straight.
On satellite, a bizarre twist remains from the XM/Sirius merger. Apparently - and don't take my word for it, because I may be wrong - if you have an original XM receiver and buy the "Best of Sirius" package, you STILL can't get Sporting News Radio. However, if you have a Sirius package, you CAN get Sporting News Radio on Channel 127.
What does that mean for those of you like me, who have an Acura TL with a WELDED IN XM brand receiver? I don't know, but it doesn't look good right now. Maybe it means I'll have to buy a new car with Sirius installed, and one that doesn't have deer guts all up in its radiator.
I'll have to do more legwork on how and when you could get SNR on an XM unit.
If you have a Sirius receiver and kept it - like I said you should back in January - congrats. We'll see ya'll in September.
In the meantime, we hope to loop back and try to scoop up as many of our excellent market partners we had under the "old" mothership. And I'm talking Richmond, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, et al. We want you back. We're going to do whatever it takes to make that happen.
I even hear rumblings that we might add the show in the DC market. It might just be scurrilous rumors, but then again it may be happening. Stay tuned on that one too.
Thanks again for your most genuine letters and thoughts, and bear with us as we get everything ramped up at our new home.
I'll say this. I almost feel sorry for him now. Almost.
Tiger Woods is in a world of hurt. That much is apparent if you look at his face. The eyes give it away. The eyes always do. They are the window to the soul.
Tiger, has a troubled soul.
Here, look at the following series of pictures. These are the eyes of man who is more than just unhappy with being "18 over par, when my handicap is supposed to be zero."
These are sad, sad eyes. You can see the sadness right through the action shots of him hitting his shots.
Pundits are scrambling to explain why a guy who has been Secretariat on a course like Firestone, could finish essentially DFL this past weekend, and look horrible while doing it.
The short and easy answer, is the one Tiger gave himself following Sunday's slapfest 77. "It's been a long year.... a very long year."
We know what he's saying, even though he won't say it.
But is that all it is? Is a pending 6-figure-plus divorce and shared custody of his two small children enough to render golf's Superman into Clark from accounting with a 5 handicap?
I say, no way. The problem runs deeper. Tiger has lost his "why?"
You know, as in "why" am I playing this stupid game. The existential "why?" The very same nuclear question I myself have grappled with as a golfer, and maybe you have too.
"Why?"
Think about it. "Why" does Tiger play golf? Before, the answers were straightforward and clear.
a. He's great at it. b. He loves to dominate. c. He's climbing Mt. Nicklaus d. He loves making money. e. He's doing it for the kids. f. He can be married to a blonde hottie. g. He can get lots of side action.
Now, every one of those reasons has been either totaled, or at least severely dented.
a. He's no longer so good at it. b. His peers no longer fear him. c. The summit of Mt. Nicklaus is shrouded in fierce storms. d. It will take years to earn back all the money he's about to surrender. e. His kids may end up not liking him very much. f. The blonde wife is gone. g. How are you going to get the same kind of side action now?
So if you ask me, I'm sorta impressed Tiger can even break 80 right now on a tough course. If you were in such a deep fog of "what am I doing, and why am I here" how would you handle it?
I think the enormity and finality of what Tiger did to his own world, has finally come crashing down upon him. For the first part of this golf season, he was able to suppress that.
No longer.
Thud. It's here. It's real. It's not going away. He's just gonna have to deal with it.
Somehow, Tiger Woods is going to have to come to peace with who he is now - and there are redeeming qualities beneath the churlish veneer - and who he wants to be going forward.
He has to find a new, and compelling "why" for playing this game at the highest of levels.
He'll also have to summon off of his legendary will, determination, and focus to get those last four majors in the ten years between now and age 45.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Here's a shocking photo I bet you thought you'd never see! Tiger Woods, teeing off on Sunday on the first tee, before a "friends and family" sized gallery.
Wow!
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Also, CBS had a nice montage of just how all-over-the-place El Tigre was on Sunday. Let's see if the copyright department shoots this one out of the internet sky or not.
