Cubs’ Rizzo donates $150,000 to Douglas High for field lights Manning loses starting QB job
Through three All-Star selections and a World Series title, Chicago Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo hasn’t forgotten where he came from.
Rizzo announced Monday that his foundation donated $150,000 to his alma mater, Douglas, to go toward a $300,000-project to install lights for the Eagles’ baseball and softball fields in Parkland.
The other half will be raised, in part, through a fundraiser dinner Jan. 25 at Coral Springs Center for the Arts. With the goal to complete the projects and install lights by the start of the spring 2019 season, Douglas’ baseball field will be renamed Anthony Rizzo Field.
“I owe my first start of my career to those who taught me the fundamental baseball skills I needed to become the player I am today. Without the help of my coaches, I don’t know if would have had this much success,” Rizzo said in a statement. “I am grateful for the support and encouragement they gave me when I needed it.”
His alma mater reciprocates that appreciation.
“I think it just says a lot about him as a person and him wanting to give back,” Douglas baseball coach Todd Fitz-Gerald said. “He wants our baseball and softball programs to be successful.”
Douglas, one of the premier baseball programs in the state and possibly the nation, has always been hindered by the inability to host night games.
“It’s huge for just overall atmosphere of high school baseball, No. 1,” Fitz-Gerald said. “No. 2: It’s hard for parents to make a 3:45 game. [They’ll] be able to come and watch their kids play instead of having to leave work early or take time from work.”
In 2016, Douglas won its first state baseball championship. The Eagles were named national champions after that season.
Eli Manning is not going to be the starting quarterback for the Giants for the first time in more than 13 years.
And he about it.
Tears welled in his eyes talking to reporters and his chin quivered when asked about how much this hurt.
The Giants announced Tuesday that Geno Smith will start in place of Manning when the Giants (2-9) face the Raiders on Sunday in Oakland, Calif.
Coach Ben McAdoo gave the 36-year-old Manning the option of starting to keep his streak of 210 consecutive starts alive, but the two-time Super Bowl MVP didn’t want any part of that.
“It’s not a preseason game where you are going to start to the half, the next week a quarter, a series, that’s not fair,” Manning said. “That’s not fair to me, not fair to Geno, not how you play. You play to win. When you are named the starting quarterback you think it’s your job to go win the football game.”
Manning’s face and eyes got redder the more he talked, adding it’s been a hard day for him and he needs time to figure it out. His session with the media lasted less than four minutes. He then took his backpack and left the locker room.
McAdoo said he made the decision to start Smith over the weekend, and coowner John Mara and general manager Jerry Reese were in agreement.
The second-year coach said the organization needed to learn more about Smith and rookie thirdround draft pick Davis Webb in the final five weeks of the season. He is not happy refused to say if this was the end of the Manning era with the Giants.
Manning and Smith were told about the decision Tuesday, and later the team was filled in.
Manning has started every Giants game since Nov. 21, 2004 in his rookie season, when he took over for future Hall of Famer Kurt Warner.
The 49ers will start Jimmy Garoppolo at quarterback Sunday night.
Coach Kyle Shanahan met with his quarterbacks to tell them Garoppolo, 26, will make his first start for the team against the Bears in Chicago, about 30 miles from his hometown of Arlington Heights, Ill.
The 49ers acquired Garoppolo on Oct. 31 from the Patriots for a 2018 second-round draft pick
Running back Darren McFadden announced his retirement two days after his release by the Cowboys. The 30-year-old McFadden, who was in his 10th season, was an afterthought for the Cowboys even after 2016 NFL rushing leader Ezekiel Elliott started his six-game suspension over alleged domestic violence. McFadden was the fourth overall pick by the Raiders in 2008 out of Arkansas. He finished with 5,421 yards rushing and 28 touchdowns.
Raiders receiver Michael Crabtree and Broncos corner Aqib Talib had their suspensions for fighting reduced from two games to one after appeals.
League appeals officers Derrick Brooks and James Thrash trimmed the bans after hearings.