Mr. Mojo Rizon

Former Raven Boller making moves

2009-11-22T04:26:00.000-08:00

Like a giddy schoolgirl ~ I’m sure you’ve either experienced it directly or you’ve watched a similar scene unfold around you…young girl is smitten with a boy and she laughs at anything the boy does. He belches and she goes into uncontrollable laughter. Such is the life of an adolescent girl and such is the on-air behavior of Bruce Cunningham when he is joined by guest Mike Preston on Mondays and Fridays at 105.7 The Fan.

Any sarcastic and/or wise crack from Preston and the namesake of The Bruce Cunningham Show cackles hysterically to the point of being mute. Last week Preston described Antwan Barnes as a “good player, bad mind.” Cunningham roared with laughter and called Preston’s analysis of Barnes his “best ever.”

Wonder how Preston would describe Cunningham?

Mojo Man has a few ideas on that one…

Cryin’ Ryan ~ Former Ravens defensive coordinator Rex Ryan is now the poster boy for Kleenex.

"I've got a new sponsor," Ryan said on Wednesday. "The Jets have Toyota and I've got Kleenex, for obvious reasons."

The never bashful Ryan’s tone is usually bravado but that wasn’t the case when he cried in front of his players during a team meeting Monday morning after the Jets’ 24-22 loss to the Jaguars on Sunday. The pity party obviously leaked through the closed doors.

"Everything's out and sometimes you say things to your team and you don't realize that everybody will find out," Ryan said. "That's fine and dandy. One thing I'll say is I'll be true to myself.

"I'm man enough to be me."

Dick Vermeil was so touched by Ryan’s manliness and connection to his feelings that he had a good cry too. No truth to the rumor that the Lifetime Channel is now trying to secure the broadcast rights to future Jets games.

Speaking of former Ravens, Kyle Boller is making news not so much for his on the field accomplishments but rather for his off-field conquests, the latest of which is former Miss California and Miss USA runner-up Carrie Prejean. In her book Still Standing, Prejean acknowledged Boller in a dedication.

"To my Kyle: I am so blessed to have you in my life. You have shown me what love is. Thank you for supporting me through all this drama. I knew when we met there was something so special about you."

Didn’t Brian Billick say something like that back in 2003?

Count Mr. Mojo among those who would love to see LeBron James in a Browns uniform. Apparently the NBA’s biggest crybaby thinks he has what it takes to play in the NFL.
"If I put all my time and commitment into it, if I dedicated myself to the game of football, I could be really good," he said.

Someone should remind James that the NFL is stricter than the NBA when it comes to performance enhancing substances. Just sayin’…

Browns head coach Eric Mangini called James 'a freak athletically,' and added that the 6’8”, 260 pounder would make a good tight end, receiver or outside linebacker. Suit him up and how about Ray Lewis pull out one of those $25,000 hits like he laid on Ochocinco.

Hey word on the street is that WBAL might be losing the Ravens broadcast rights. The station and the team are currently working under a profit sharing arrangement that apparently is falling short of the team’s expectations. Maybe the Ravens should worry more about the team falling short of our expectations.

Despite the frosty relationship between the Ravens and CBS Radio, look for 105.7 The Fan to get involved. I’m sure Cunningham would love that madly.

We hear that the Raiders’ Jamarcus Russell took his demotion in stride and is trumpeting the team party line. Mojo is wondering if just maybe Russell’s apparent willingness to step aside for Bruce Gradkowski is simply to avoid getting punched out by head coach Tom “Jawbreaker” Cable. Hey Heyward-Bey – nine games 6 catches for 96 yards.

I have to say, this line on the Ravens v. Colts game is pretty perplexing. How does Vegas justify initially installing the Ravens as a one point favorite? C’mon man! The line is correcting itself (at least in the Mojo mind) but still falls far short of where it should be with the Colts as a 6+ point favorite. Yeah, yeah I know that the Ravens played a few good teams tough, losing four games by a total of 21 points against clubs sporting a combined 21-6 record. And yes I know that the game is at home. But favored against an undefeated team? Please.

This is a Ravens team that just 5 days ago could manage only 1 offensive touchdown against the league’s worst defense AND that TD was scored when the Browns had only 10players on the field. If the Ravens don’t get off to a fast start offensively, this one could be over quickly. EVERYBODY (except the blowhard Jamie Dukes) is picking Indy. Mojo is with everybody – Colts 27, Ravens 13.

As if you didn't know this, the Cleveland Browns suck!

2009-11-15T09:32:00.000-08:00

The Browns are a pretty pathetic organization and they’ve had an extra week to savor the stench of their latest rotten egg laid against the Chicago Bears on November 1, falling to the hapless Bears by the score of 30-6. I can’t wait for the Ravens to get out to a quick 7-0 lead and then listen to the cascade of boos falling from the collection of malcontents in Browns Stadium.

If the Browns improve, they’ll stink. Right now they live at the sub-stink level.

ESPN of course is hoping that the Ravens don’t score first. Early points from Joe Flacco & Company could make the game unravel quickly for Cleveland and viewers might even get to take in the 9PM airing of Two and a Half Men.

So it’s no surprise to learn that ESPN was among a group of “investors” coughing up the cash to ensure that the Ravens v. Browns game would not be “Browned-out” and will be aired in the Cleveland metro area. The tickets we hear were distributed to the USO and other Cleveland area organizations.

Wonder if George Kokinis will be there…

Speaking of Kokinis, his battle with the Browns will be interesting to watch. Both sides have hired heavy hitter attorneys. You would think that somehow Roger Goodell, assuming he can stop writing tickets to NFL players for silly fines (see Chad Ochocinco), will intercede and prevent an ugly, drawn out battle.

It’s nice to have Cleveland in the AFC North. The Ravens, Steelers and Bengals all get three bye weeks thanks to Randy Lerner and is sorry ass fantasy team.

All the smack talk aside, the Browns have no chance on Monday Night. The Ravens Achilles Heel is the big play and the Browns, outside of Joshua Cribbs, can’t produce one. They can’t block, they can’t tackle and they can’t throw. The two thorns in the Ravens collective side over the past few years have been Kellen Winslow (Tampa) and Braylon Edwards (New York Jets). Thanks to Eric Mangini both are gone. But I’m sure he’ll pin that on Kokinis.

Hey did you hear about the ticket scam in Pittsburgh? Apparently there are a ton of counterfeit tickets floating around. Not to worry…stadium officials are on it and plan to oust and penalize the imposters. Now if they can only figure out what to do with those counterfeit, imposter, front-runner Steelers’ fans who infiltrate opponents’ stadiums like cockroaches in an unattended restaurant kitchen.

Bring out the hankies for Giants’ co-owner John Mara who is whining about his team having to fly to Denver on three days rest for a Thanksgiving Day battle against the Broncos. I thought Mara, a supposedly influential competition committee member, could pull rank and avoid these unsavory conditions for his G-Men. Maybe Mara should worry more about stupid coaching decisions and a secondary more interested in being philanthropic than stingy.

DID YOU KNOW that the Kansas City Chiefs are 3-30 in their last 33 games? This weekend they play their equally inept archrival the Oakland Raiders. One of the Chiefs 3 wins over what amounts to slightly more than 2 seasons is against the Raiders. This time the Chiefs go into the Black Hole hoping to make it 4 of 34. The Chiefs have won six straight at the hole.

Many in these parts wanted the Ravens to land WR Anquan Boldin. Boldin hasn’t exactly set the world on fire this season (35 catches, 404 yards, 1TD). He was scratched last week. During the past two years Boldin has missed 7 games for Arizona. The Cardinals are 6-1 in those games.

Back to Cleveland, many have criticized the Browns for passing on Adrian Peterson in the 2007 NFL Draft, opting instead for offensive tackle Joe Thomas. Many forget that the Browns passed on LaDainian Tomlinson back in 2001, preferring underachieving defensive tackle Gerard Warren. Such is the Browns’ way…

And finally during Cleveland week, let’s turn towards the King of Cleveland (for now), LeBron James who wants to recognize Michael Jordan’s accomplishments by dropping his No. 23 for No. 6.

"I just think what Michael Jordan has done for the game has to be recognized some way soon," said James. "There would be no LeBron James, no Kobe Bryant, no Dwayne Wade if there wasn't Michael Jordan first.”

Nice words LeBron but c’mon man! Jordan was the greatest but how did his accomplishments pave the way for you? If Michael hadn’t come along you guys wouldn’t be as good? They have nothing to do with each other not related to money – salaries and endorsements.

James comes off as a good guy with his number swap announcement but give him a few games and his next loss and he’ll don the more appropriate crybaby persona that fits him better than No. 23.

By the way, he’s the next big thing to leave Cleveland and he won’t be the last.

Hey, how did watching C.C. Sabathia and Cliff Lee square off in the World Series work for you Clevelanders?

Read it and weep…Ravens 30, Browns 10

MR. MOJO RIZON: On bad weather, kicking, radio & leatherheads

2009-10-28T11:10:00.000-07:00

Tonight’s game between the Philadelphia Phillies and the New York Yankees marks the beginning of the 105th World Series. Excuse me but has anyone looked at the calendar? The so-called “October Classic” could potentially spill a few days into November. What a joke! Forecast for tonight’s contest – Rain, 42 degrees. Oh yes, the boys of “summer.” I’m going with my heart over my head in this series. Give me the Phillies in 7.

Count me among those who would love to see the Series’ games played in the afternoon from time to time. That said even if they did play afternoon games, chances are the game would finish in the dark. Clocks roll back an hour on Sunday which by the way is another joke! Wouldn’t you prefer to have daylight extended another hour into the afternoon and not drive home from work in the pitch black? Seems to me they should call it Daylight “Spending” time because I’ve yet to see the alleged daylight savings.

I have to agree with 24x7 blogger Terry Ford who argued in a recent column that the Ravens should have kept Matt Stover. I also agree with site founder Tony Lombardi that the Ravens kept the wrong guy when they selected Steve Hauschka over Graham Gano. With the depth of Gano’s kickoffs and long range potential coupled with the comfort and accuracy of Matt Stover on the bench, that has to be better than Hauschka and some slappy fifth string linebacker running downfield on special teams, right? Look at it this way, if Gano can double Hauschka’s touchbacks wouldn’t that ease the physical burden on the remaining 45 man game day roster? By the way, Hauschka’s kicks are regularly landing between the 5 and 10 EVEN IN THE DOME!

AROUND THE RADIO DIAL…Hey if the Ravens want to correct their defensive woes, they only need to tune into 105.7 The Fan between 10am – 1pm, Monday through Friday. The co-host there apparently invented the game of football and he is even an assistant coach for a local area high school team! That certainly gives him the chalk talk street cred of Bill Belichick right? Of course I jest but it isn’t difficult to envision The Bulldog hob-knobbing with the game’s pioneers. I think he would fit right in with the Leatherheads.

You’ve got to give credit where it’s due…The Bruce Cunningham Show, words that clearly serve as music to the ears of the show’s host who you can almost picture getting warm and tingly every time he says them, really scored a coup bringing in Mike Preston on Mondays and Fridays. Even the many Preston haters who frequent message boards like Ravens24x7.com’s must admit that he’s enjoyable on the air. Brucey better be careful though. Given the struggles of the newspaper biz Preston might have his eye on Cunningham’s chair. If the suits at CBS Radio are listening on Mondays and Fridays they should give it some thought too. If you think that might be a bit much in terms of prep work for Preston, well one only needs to listen to the current host to gauge how much planning goes into that show. Mark Zinno should be atop BC’s Christmas Card List.

Speaking of those CBS suits, you have to wonder if they listen at all. Here they are the Flagship Station of the Baltimore Orioles and they keep jamming Yankees down our collective throat. XM Radio’s Jenn Royal who covers the Yankees for XM has become a regular on the Scott & Anita Show. She comes off as more of an A-Rod groupie than an analyst. Earlier this week listening to Royal’s Yankee cheerleading was so bad that the Mojo Man actually had to tune into Jerry Coleman. Five annoying sound effects later and Mr. M.R. jumped back on with Scott & Anita. The gods must have been shining down upon me during the switchback. Royal pain in the ass was off the air by then and the Yankee slob-knobbing was over.

BALTIMORE SPORTS SCENE: Tyree a Raven? I DON'T THINK SO

2009-09-12T05:04:00.000-07:00

Some in the media have made a big deal over how one year can make such a huge difference in the NFL. And while one year, one season can turn a have into a have-not and vice versa, it is hardly a big deal. Major turnarounds like that of the Dolphins’ are becoming less and less uncommon.

The Ravens also enjoyed a turnaround season that included a prosperous journey from the world of have-nots to the AFC Championship Game. On Sunday they enter the 2009 season as prohibitive 13 point favorites over the visiting Kansas Chiefs.

In an attempt to say, “What a difference a year makes” The Sun’s Jamison Hensley in a recent piece drew comparisons between this year’s Ravens being heavily favored in their ’09 opener while they entered the ’08 campaign as big dogs to the Bengals – 11 ½ point dogs at that!

Sorry Jamison, better check your stats or do a little Googling on sports betting lines from 2008.

The records will show that the Ravens were only 2 point underdogs to Marvin Lewis’ squad on Opening Day 2008.

Want a redo?

How about a new editor?

So let me get this straight…the Ravens essentially rented a couple of birds last year (Rise & Conquer) from some couple in Atlanta to add to the average fan’s game day experience. The birds were supposed to fly through the stadium and help stir the crowd into a frenzy adding to the home field advantage.

Trouble is no one bothered to tell the birds.

They didn’t fly around.

They didn’t make noises the way the make pretend ravens do.

They did nothing but sit on someone’s forearm like a stuffed animal exhibiting an occasional pulse and a slight turn of the head.

One did injure its ankle doing nothing and died from a related disease.

It’s a good thing L.J. Smith isn’t a raven…well you know, not a real one anyway.

Mr. Mojo looked up David Tyree the other day on Wikipedia and according to that resource which apparently borrows its accuracy from The Sun, Tyree is already a Raven.

Not so fast there wiki-wiki wa-wa.

If you are a fan of the one catch wonder, don’t get too used to the idea of Tyree in a Ravens uniform. While Coach John Harbaugh was gushing all about Tyree’s workout, Mr. M.R. thinks the boatload of accolades from ball coach was a bit over the top and nothing more than a bluff.

“He’s not a Raven at this point,” Harbaugh said before Wednesday’s practice. “We saw a lot. David Tyree did a tremendous job.

“He got after the workout. He attacked the workout, and that’s the way he’s played all those years.”

Really?

If Tyree was that good, he’d be a Raven today. Check that, if he was that good, Tyree would still be a Giant.

The truth is he’s not that good and the Mojo Man is even hearing that he’s not all that sound physically, again contrary what The Sun might lead you to believe.

When you talk about style over substance and tie it into the local sports talk scene, one name that comes racing front and center faster than Usain Bolt is the-not-yet aforementioned Bruce Cunningham. Cunningham is sports talk’s Milli Vanilli. He fakes his way through his daily 2 hours with phone calls, emails and Mark Zinno. He adds little in the way of insight, relevant information or thought provoking opinion – unless of course the topic is Motown or Cunningham's DJ glory days.

Mr. "Love ya madly" often serves up the rhetorical question, “Can you believe they pay me to do this?”

Actually I can’t.

The Ravens have let it be known that they will invest $8-9 million to install brand new shiny high-def screens at M&T Bank Stadium for the 2010 season. So if you take the roughly 70,000 seats and add in the $10 per seat per game ticket price increase this season then throw in some bump in the cost of suites, you just might get to $8-9 million fairly quickly. One could argue that the money is being reinvested in a way that is fan friendly and not pouring into the ample coffers of Steve Bisciotti.

So let me ask, would you willingly fork over an additional $100 per seat for the season for the HD screens?

Coming Soon

2009-07-22T06:30:00.001-07:00

Coming soon