*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).
BetMGM host Olivia Harlan Dekker gives her plays for some of the NCAA Tournament's biggest storylines, and explains why she is selling on both Coach K and - yes - Sister Jean.
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Erika Nardini, CEO of Barstool Sports, joined Cheddar News senior reporter, Michelle Castillo at South by Southwest to talk about Barstool Sportsbook and the NCAA March Madness tournaments. "What we really believe is that there's going to be the next generation of sports bettor, [who] will follow sports the way Barstool Sports follow sports," she said. "They'll like winners. They'll like losers. They'll like the storylines. They'll like the drama with the fans.”
Amy Purdy, the three-time Paralympic medalist and first double-leg amputee competitive snowboarder, made her debut as a commentator at this year's games, and she joined Cheddar News to recap the event. "I like to challenge myself because I was challenging myself as a Paralympic athlete myself," she said. "But then to be able to be a commentator and be able to, you know, support the game, support the athletes in a completely different way, it was a lot of fun."
College basketball forward for the HBCU Texas Southern University, Mimi O'Neal, daughter of Hall of Famer Shaquille O'Neal, is pushing for more changes in light of gender equity scandals in NCAA college hoops brought to light on social media last year.
It's been an eventful past few weeks for the WNBA. One of the league's top players, Brittney Griner, remains in Russian custody after being detained at an airport last month. The league is also dealing with a scandal after fining a team for providing charter flights to their players. Emily Caron, sports business reporter for Sportico, joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Tyler Fulghum, ESPN betting analyst, joins Cheddar Bets to break down the best value picks of the remaining teams in the biggest conference tournaments.
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BetMGM host Olivia Harlan Dekker joins Cheddar Bets to break down the biggest and best wagers on the quarterfinal round of NCAA Conference Tournament Week.
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