Cleveland radio host loses his mind over plans for parade for 0-16 Browns
At this point, it seems a foregone conclusion that the Cleveland Browns are headed for just the second 0-16 season in NFL history. They fell to 0-13 on Sunday, after a 23-10 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.
And some Browns fans, God love them, want to make light of the sad situation, with plans in the works for a parade if the team pulls off the reverse-perfecto. Season ticket holder Chris McNeil has filed paperwork with the city for permission to hold the parade, and over 4,800 people have RSVP’d “yes” on the parade’s Facebook page.
McNeil said he wants to hold the parade not as a funeral or for Browns’ fans to wallow in their collective misery, but to “embrace” the team’s epic-scale losing.
But at least one well-known Clevelander isn’t having it.
Tony Rizzo, a host on WKNR-ESPN 850, flipped out during his Sunday evening postgame show, threatening to fight anyone involved in the 0-16 parade.
“If you are one of the people out there that is planning a parade for 0-16, I will fight you,” Rizzo declared. “Come down and see me right now, I’m at Buffalo Wild Wings. You’re going to celebrate my misery for four months? One of the (organizing) guys came up to me at Dawg Pound Drive…and I said, ‘Get away from me.'”
More from Rizzo’s rant, via ClevelandScene:
“That is the loser-est of all loser moves I’ve ever heard in my life. My God man, have some pride in yourself.”
“If you are one of the people planning that parade, you better stay the hell away from me, my show, and my family, cause I’ll fight you.”
“I will do everything in my power to stop that. I will talk to Senator Sherrod Brown, Mayor Frank Jackson, I’ll talk to everyone I can. I swear to god . . . I’ll be there and I will mow you down under my tires. I promise that . . . If you have that parade it will end ugly. I know billionaires, senators, mayors, governors. That is going to go away, mark my words. It ain’t going to happen on my watch, I promise you that.”
You can listen to the whole ridiculous rant here.
Rizzo clearly misses the entire point of the parade, and why scream at fans anyway? Jimmy Haslam is lining his pockets with the millions in revenue dollars he gets for being an NFL owner, and clearly needs some help in running the franchise: Hue Jackson is the fourth head coach the Browns have had since Haslam bought the team in 2012. Why doesn’t Rizzo send some anger his way?
Chris McNeil gives his hard-earned money to a team that we can almost guarantee will break his sporting heart every. dang. season. So why not poke a little fun at himself for continuing to support this sad-sack franchise?
Also, a little unwise of Rizzo to threaten to fight anyone – in 2013, he was arrested for domestic violence against his wife.
