*By Conor White*
As the Short-Season Single-A affiliate of the New York Yankees, it isn't often the Staten Island Yankees make headlines.
That may be why the namesake team announced it would temporarily change its public image, trading in the rich tradition of baseball's most successful team for the street cache of a newly famous New Yorker: Pizza Rat ー [the hungry rodent that just wanted a slice to itself.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPXUG8q4jKU)
"It's an aggressive name, I think it's probably a little edgy, a little different," said Staten Island Yankees president Will Smith. "But I think everybody needs to remember that it's a promotion."
Still, the Staten Island Borough president James Oddo called the idea "dopey" in a statement.
The promotion will run for each of the Staten Island Yankees' five Saturday night home games this season, and fans in attendance will see a fully rebranded team, complete with uniforms. In an interview Thursday on Cheddar, Smith said the gear has been flying off the shelves.
"We've pretty much blown through all of our merchandise that we have," said Smith. "We're trying to place re-orders, I was actually trying to do that this morning, trying to order another thousand T-shirts, because we just didn't order enough, and you just don't know, but we're actually tracking way, way, way ahead of our entire online sales last year, and so far, so good."
The Pizza Rats name was first floated back in 2016, when it was the overwhelming favorite in an online poll to rename the team. Now, thanks to the promotion's immediate success, fans are wondering: Could the name change become permanent?
"Anything's possible," teased Smith. "I've always said until there's a new name, there's no new name."
For the full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/every-pizza-rat-has-its-day).
Tennis stars Carolina Wozniacki and Kevin Anderson and USTA Chief Revenue Officer Lew Sherr sat down with Cheddar days before the kick-off of the 2018 U.S. Open. Wozniacki expects some serious competition as Serena Williams is back in the mix after giving birth last September.
NBA Hall-of-Famer Clyde Drexler, commissioner of the BIG3 3-on-3 league, sat down with Cheddar and talked about those rumors that Kobe Bryant might join the league, as well as the league's push to bring 3-on-3 ball to Tokyo 2020.
Facebook was forced to remove its data security app, Onavo, from the App Store after Apple updated its data collection guidelines. Meanwhile, the social media giant also voluntarily removed the quiz app, myPersonality, from its platform after the app improperly collected data on more than 4 million users. And we're joined by Mike Francesa, New York sports radio legend, to hear about the launch of his new app, 'Mike's On.'
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Jason Robins, DraftKings CEO, told Cheddar the company has been working on several ventures to capitalize on the Supreme Court ruling that cleared the way for states to allow sports betting. The company's first such product rolled out this month.
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NEO U, a new gym in New York, is not just a place to get in shape, it's a studio where fitness professionals can share their workouts with online followers around the world. The co-founder Nate Forster wants trainers and partners like Soul Cycle, Equinox, and Peloton to see the NEO U platform as an opportunity, not competition.
The Denver Nuggets shooting guard has already made it to the real NBA, and now he has his sights curiously set on getting his team to compete in the top tier of NBA2K, the basketball league's esports analog.
Super Bowl champion Reggie Bush says college athletes should be paid and the NFL should do more to protect players, including guaranteed contracts. "We're modern-day gladiators," Bush says about football players. "It's a brutal sport."
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