Ken Picciano

Sports Nut… Basketball official, St Bonaventure grad ‘84 - Bonnies fan … N.Y. Giants and Yankees fan. Boston Celtics and Bruins fan. Horse racing handicapper.

[Ken Picciano @kenpitch]

@pawluk_michael [email protected]

[Ken Picciano @kenpitch]

Join me and make a gift to the Men's Basketball Team Unfurl Match https://t.co/aaTJqQlPIn

[The RacingDownWind Community @RacingDownWind]

Good Morning RDW, Community: 🌅🌞☀️

Happy Pacific Classic Day 🏇

Here is Saturdays Game Plan⁉️

If this Post gets 225 Likes, Comments or Re-Posts
I will post RDW GRID for Saratoga & Del Mar today.

Who do you think will Win the Pacific Classic?

@TheNYRA @Saratoga1863 @DelMarRacing #DelMar @TwinSpires @FanDuel_Racing #HorseRacing #PacificClassic #BreedersCup #FreePicks

[the Sports ON Tap @thesportsontap]

In 2013, Mariano Rivera announced it was his last season.

Every team in baseball lined up to give him retirement gifts. A gold record. A rocking chair made from broken bats. A fire hose nozzle from the FDNY.

He accepted all of it.

But at every single ballpark, he asked for something else first.

He wanted to meet the employees.

Not the executives. Not the owners. The ushers, the ticket sellers, the custodians, the grounds crew. The people who show up at 6 a.m. and leave at midnight and never get thanked by anybody.

The Yankees' media relations director helped coordinate it, working with each team to pull together a group.

And Rivera did it at stop after stop, all season long, in his final year, at 43 years old, while still closing games.

Here's what he told about 20 Rangers employees in Arlington:

"We would never have a chance to see you guys, and that's why I wanted to do this. That was important to me, to make sure to thank those that work behind the scenes. No one sees them."

In Cleveland, he sat down with 25 staff members for half an hour before a game.

And partway through, he stopped and asked a question.

"Where's the drummer?"

For forty years, a man named John Adams had sat at the top of the bleachers in Cleveland with a bass drum, pounding out a beat to start rallies. Every home game. Four decades. He bought his own ticket for the seat next to him so the drum could sit there.

Adams raised a drumstick from the back of the room so Rivera could find him.

Rivera's response: "Hey, you the man. Being loyal, being there day in and day out. I really respect that."

At Fenway, he finally met a man named Baz who had been a fixture in that ballpark for decades. Baz afterward: "Pretty special. I've got tears in my eyes."

In Anaheim, where Rivera made his major league debut in 1995 and got his first career save in 1996, he sat with longtime Angels staffers and listened to their stories.

At every one of these, he took a photo with every single person and handed each of them a signed baseball.

His explanation of the whole thing:

"I want to be remembered as a player that gave for others. It's not that I'm better than anyone else; that's not true. I have been blessed and treat everybody the same because I wanted to be treated like that. With respect."

And this wasn't a farewell lap by a guy limping to the finish.

He saved 44 games that season with a 2.11 ERA at 43 years old. He pitched a scoreless inning at the All-Star Game, which kept his career All-Star ERA at 0.00 across thirteen appearances.

He finished with 652 saves, the most in the history of baseball, and a 0.70 postseason ERA that will probably never be approached.

In 2019 he became the first player ever elected to the Hall of Fame unanimously. Every single ballot.

Not Ruth. Not Mays. Not Aaron. Mariano Rivera.

The greatest closer who ever lived spent his last season making sure the people nobody notices got to be noticed once.

For more stories like this, follow us on any platform @thesportsontap

[Ken Picciano @kenpitch]

@RacingDownWind I am playing Saratoga today :)

[Bonnies Men's Basketball @BonniesMBB]

Bonnies legend Andrew Nicholson invited the Bonnies to spend a weekend in Toronto at his Recess Athletics Club — an opportunity for Andrew and our players to share in a basketball clinic for young players. “I wouldn’t have been here if it wasn’t for St. Bonaventure.”

[Ken Picciano @kenpitch]

@JimmyRandazzo 22

[Marco Foster @MarcoFoster_]

Scott Pelley responds to Trump saying he doesn’t care about the country: “I’ve never worn the uniform, but I’ve been in combat for this country. In Afghanistan, and Iraq, Kuwait. Been shot at. Spent nights in foxholes filling up with water in the desert. I’m not aware that the president has ever done any of those things for his country. You become a journalist because you love the First Amendment, you love the country. While all the other descriptions the president used about me might be applicable, not that one”

[Ken Picciano @kenpitch]

@RacingDownWind @TheNYRA @ChurchillDowns @BelmontStakes @FanDuel_Racing B

[The RacingDownWind Community @RacingDownWind]

RDW Community: Saturdays Game Plan⁉️

It's The Preakness Stakes 🏇🧲

If this Tweet gets 350 Likes, Reposts or Comments, I will post the RDW Grid for the Full Preakness Card.

Wayne Lukas Won 7 Preakness's between 1980 & 2024.
Who was your Favorite of his Preakness Winners?

Also, Let me know who you like for tomorrows Preakness.

#Preakness151 @PimlicoRC @LaurelPark #HorseRacing #FreePicks #HorseRacingTips @TwinSpires @TheNYRA @SantaAnitaPark @GulfstreamPark @keenelandracing

[The RacingDownWind Community @RacingDownWind]

RDW Community: Friday's Game Plan 🏇

Playing Laurel & Black-Eyed Susan Stakes??

Let me know who you like in Race #-13 ⁉️

If this Post gets 250 Likes, Comments or Re-Posts
I will post the RDW Grid for Fridays Racing Card.

The rest is up to you.

Cheers RDW
@LaurelPark #Preakness #TripleCrown #Horseracing
#WayneLukas @TwinSpires @BelmontStakes

[Ken Picciano @kenpitch]

@RacingDownWind @theoldycapper Thank you so much for your superior handicapping analysis and picks!

[The RacingDownWind Community @RacingDownWind]

RDW Community Members 👀

First I want to give a shout out and say Thanks to all of you who sent me your kind messages today. It’s why I created the RDW Grid 4-Years ago, to help others.

Today it paid off with some nice winners

If this post gets 350 ✔️ Likes, Repost, Comments or Photos of your winning tickets from the Grid Today,
I will Post the RDW Grid Selections for the Full Kentucky Derby Card.

Cheers RDW 🤠🐎
@KentuckyDerby @ChurchillDowns @FanDuel_Racing @TwinSpires #Derby152 #KentuckyDerby152

[Ken Picciano @kenpitch]

@RacingDownWind SA

[Ken Picciano @kenpitch]

@RacingDownWind @KentuckyDerby B

[Ken Picciano @kenpitch]

Join me and make a gift to Athletics Giving Day 2026 #SBUAthleticsGivingDay26 https://t.co/eyzTadzqTN

[Ken Picciano @kenpitch]

@BirdieBallUSA Tommy Fleetwood

[John @ BirdieBall @BirdieBallUSA]

Annual Masters Contest! Pick the winner. We will draw two winners from correct answers. Win a large 4 x 14 TourTurf or a 4 x 14 RollTech. Both amazing with a total value of $1700. Just Reply, Re-Post and Like. 20% off sitewide sale. Sim green below. https://t.co/dBRQe26GtA

[FOX College Hoops @CBBonFOX]

High Point HC Flynn Clayman sets the record straight on the strength of his team after beating Wisconsin 👀

[The Next Round @NextRoundLive]

Mark Pope on the report that Kentucky offered Yaxel Lendeborg between $7M-$9M:

"There's nobody more surprised about what the head coach at Kentucky has done than the head coach at Kentucky. I'm shocked by it every single day."