Bob Zito
Episode 335
30 JUNE 2025
He has had his hands in a number of sports over the years. He captained the bowling team in high school, then played on the first-ever JV basketball team at Fairfield University, and later coached basketball and soccer at the club and high school levels. He even ran the New York Marathon, back in 1988. Plus, he was a sportswriter for eight years, and present day runs a sports management business that represents athletes across five different sports. On the faith side, he serves on the Board and has a scholarship at St. Peter’s Prep and also is the Vice Chair of the FDNY Foundation Board of Directors. When he was Executive Vice President of the New York Stock Exchange, he established the NYSE Fallen Heroes Fund. He has even visited a basilica in Italy where he saw the remains of Saint Zita in the church’s altar.
Notable guest quotes:
“My dad insisted that we go to Catholic grammar school… He insisted that we go to Catholic high schools … My dad tried to make Mass every day, spearheaded a fundraising effort at our parish… and I just remember them always being close to the church.”
“When I was at St. Peter’s Prep in my freshman year, I actually started a weekly sports newsletter to try and capture everything that was going on at the school.”
“We’ve seen so many schools be shuttered, especially here in New Jersey, Catholic schools, because the archdiocese can no longer afford them because enrollment is down and it’s sad to see but it’s a fact of life and it makes you appreciate schools like (St. Peter’s) Prep even more.”
“Cento Amici is an organization; we’ve been around for now for 37 years, my dad and I started it. It raises funds for need-based scholarships in New Jersey. Right now, we’ve got 14 schools… We raise money, give it to the schools, and the schools then confer to students who are deserving of that money.”
“I’m just doing what I enjoy. I love helping young adults and children and seeing them progress. On the athlete side, I love it when one of our guys or girls is successful.”
“One of the things I have seen in the sports business is the importance of family. When an athlete has a strong family background, that athlete has a great opportunity to succeed. When the family unit is not there, there are just too many people pulling at the individual, and not always pulling in the right direction, and it’s very sad to see.”
“My wife … and two of her good friends… All devout Catholics have an organization where they help patients who typically are in serious medical difficulty… I love watching what they do. That, to me, is more God’s work than what a lot of people are doing.”
“I was kind of amazed by this particular Basilica because I had read that Santa Zita was buried in the facility, so we went in and went up to the altar and there in a glass tomb in the altar are the remains of Santa Zita.”
Related link: