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Rita
Rita
Mark Adams
Published by Chris R
11-23-2007
Rita

Reprinted with permission by Mark Adams.

MINNEAPOLIS (MN) -- Many of you across the country will not know of Rita but for Dayton Flyer Fanatics she was and will forever be known as the, ‘Queen of Flyer Feedback”. Rita was the first caller to my post game call-in show for 10 consecutive years. Last night my dear friend passed away in her sleep and I will miss her.

On the very first night of my very first show in November of 1997 I opened by asking that everyone feel free to call the show. I boldly stated that this was not a show for beer guzzling guys alone and that I wanted to hear from some female Flyer Fanatics as well.


Dayton had lost an overtime affair as Wally Szczerbiak of the Miami Red Hawks dropped 43 points on the Flyers. It was a great game, but in the world of talk radio these types of games can create a lot of negative talk and I did not want to host a negative show. One light lit up on the phone line bank and my life changed forever.


It was 83 year old Rita Weisenbach and she was my very first caller! One Flyer Fanatic was all it took as fans of all ages, male and female alike flooded our lines that night and for every show for 10 straight years. Rita led the way!
The very next game I entered the arena and several fans called out, “Hey coach! How’s Rita?” A star was born and it certainly wasn’t me…it was Rita and deservedly so. I looked forward to her calls and so did every Flyer Fanatic. Win or lose Rita brought a smile to everyone’s face on every single call.


As the years passed, we became friends and she became a defacto Grandmother for my kids. We exchanged cards on holidays and sent post cards to each other on vacations. Rita loved the trips with her daughter Kathy and her lovely family to the Smokey Mountains. I always looked forward to the beautiful picture post cards she would send to the Adams Family.


Rita’s birthday became quite the event on the show. It always fell during the last few games of the season.


My thanks to Tom Kerrigan for his selfless efforts to provide limo service fit for our Queen. Rita pulled up to the arena in a limo and had her own area to sit in at the arena.


I’ll never forget how I asked Don ‘Monk’ Meineke to stick around a few extra minutes as Rita arrived. Her eyes lit up as soon as she saw Monk as he was her favorite Flyer of all time. He was so gracious and she was so enamored to be in Monk’s presence. Rita looked like a smitten school girl fawning over her beau. What a moment!


Her birthday parties took on a life of their own down at Flanagan’s Pub. I remember several parties where fans were lined up around the block just to get in to celebrate her birthday. Pat Flanagan would outlaw smoking that day so that the Queen would be safe and healthy. Thanks Pat!

I also remember the night when Rita was on national TV. I was calling the game for ESPN and I convinced our producer to take a camera up to her section as it was her birthday. I gave her a necklace for her birthday that year and it was all caught on TV. She was identified as, “Rita, The Queen of Flyer Feedback.” A star was born, not just in Dayton, OH but all around the country.


Rita was surprised by her stardom and frankly, I am not sure she ever really understood how much she meant to Flyer Fans. Oliver Purnell and Brian Gregory often asked about her. A few months ago I ran into Brooks Hall and he asked about her as well. Everywhere I went in Dayton, OH and beyond the most common question I always heard was, “How’s Rita?”


I loved engaging Rita in conversations with guests on the show. I often asked my unmarried guests if they would be interested in dating Rita. Rita would laugh in a semi-flirtatious way and invariably I would inform my single guest that they couldn’t handle Rita. She would always agree or say, “I don’t know.”


One day several summers ago, Dan Steir the Coordinating Producer for ESPN College Basketball called me. In that conversation, he mentioned to me that he listened to the show after a game one time when he was in Dayton, OH. Even he knew who Rita was. She literally helped me get noticed by ESPN…amazing!


And of course, there were the Rosaries prayed every game she watched and listened to on WHIO. She always prayed a minimum of four Rosaries and a maximum of six plus. Over my time with Rita on the show she literally prayed tens of thousands of prayers for her Flyers. I could not help but notice that since Queen Rita started reporting her rosaries the Flyers won a lot of games. Coincidence? I think not!


My son Patrick and I saw Rita just a few weeks ago. We visited her in the hospital and we had the most wonderful visit. She was as beautiful as ever and we talked about the Flyers, old times, the show and our families. Rita wanted badly to bust out of that hospital. I told Rita to be sure to walk the hallway multiple times every day and badger every hospital employee she could find along the way that she wanted to go home. She promised me that she would do just that and 10 days later she headed home.


As I left Rita that day, I kissed her and we hugged. Her eyes were bright and clear and while she was challenged by her current physical failings she was still the beautiful Queen!


In her final hours on this earth, she called the Flyer Feedback Show after the Flyers beat Toledo 76-70 on Wednesday night. I heard George Lareux introduce her and she called him by name. She made George’s day and she made my day as well one last time. I sat alone and listened and thought about the last ten years and the friendship we had forged. The next day was Thanksgiving and I gave thanks for having Rita in my life.


On Thanksgiving Day Rita sat among her children and grandchildren enjoying her time with family. She went to bed late that night and as she fell asleep I trust that she knew that she was loved by so many!


Rita was and will always be my Queen and it was my pleasure to serve her!
I miss Rita already and I know that God will richly bless her!

Tonight it is time for Rita and I to sign off together for the last time, ‘Rita, Honey you’re coming home!’


Mark Adams is a college basketball analyst on the ESPN family of networks. Visit his web site at www.adamshoops.com.
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  #1  
By AustinFlyer on 11-23-2007, 10:30 PM
Nice article, Mark.
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  #2  
By Avid Flyer on 11-23-2007, 11:05 PM
Well Rita you will be missed by all flyer fanantics but we know you will continue to watch your beloved flyers from your new home where your prayers will even have more meaning. God Bless you Rita!
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  #3  
By Bill McPeek on 11-23-2007, 11:54 PM
Mark, what a lovely tribute. Thanks for sharing Rita with us.
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