Tuesday, January 20, 2015

Dominic Raiola. See ya

The long-time center of the Detroit Lions was finally, mercifully, put out to pasture. At the ripe old age of 36, with his last contract expired, Raiola was deemed expendable by the club. Translation? They don't want him back, even if he was willing to take a pay cut.

Raiola thought he had "one more year" left in him, but many aging jocks think that when their "time" comes. The painful reality that they have outlived their usefulness is a tough pill to swallow. But once upon a time, Dom took the job of another guy, and now it's his turn to suffer the same fate. Now a free agent, will another team sign Raiola? It's possible, but unlikely. A 36 year old center that just got kicked to the curb by his original club is hardly a hot commodity in the open market.

Some are singing the praises of Raiola. He was a 14 year veteran, a grinder, hard worker, even a team leader and spokesman, they say. Dom will be missed, they add. To all of which yours truly says -- balderdash.

Since Raiola joined the Lions back in 2001 (ironically enough, the same year the disaster of 9/11 happened) they have compiled a total record of 71-153 for a pitiful winning percentage of .331. During that time the Lions would only go to two playoff games and be defeated in both. Raiola might well be the losingest player in the history of the NFL, though yours truly tried in vain to confirm such a notorious stat.

Yet throughout Dom kept yapping. And yapping. And yapping some more. It's bad enough when winners flap their gums, but aren't losers supposed to be quiet and show a little humility? Not Dom. The man gravitated to reporters and microphones over the years like he was a rock star and throngs of groupies hung on his every word. Mostly, it was laughable. Has the man no shame or is he just that clueless?

Perhaps as a result of the frustration that came with all the losing, in recent years Raiola took on a new dimension. This is sometimes referred to as a "loose cannon" or "ticking time bomb".

Besides a couple stomps (which seem to be peculiar to the Lions only -- go figure), Raiola had taken to other cheap shots on the field in attempts to injure opponents.

He had even flipped off and cursed the Lions' own fans in their own stadium when they expressed their disapproval after yet another loss. Definitely low-class stuff. Decorum 101 of the professional athletes' rules of conduct clearly states thou shalt not negatively interact with the paying public in attendance "on the road", let alone at home.

Though not a Lions fan myself, I certainly know many who remain hard-cores, and more power to them. Thing is, while they continue to root for their team, many had come to despise Raiola for various reasons over the years, in no small part due to his continued big mouth. Lose, lose lose, and yap, yap, yap. Not cool.

So let others sing the praises of Raiola's 14 years of faithful service to the Detroit Lions, and may they some decade soon sniff the Lombardi Trophy -- or at least win another playoff game.

But when it comes to Raiola finally going bye-bye, there's another way of summing it all up quite succinctly in just two words a few different ways ----

Good riddance.
About time.
Later loser.
And most of all...
Finally, silence.

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