1. NBC’s studio show for Sunday Night Football this season will look very different.
Tony Dungy is already out. Chris Simms revealed on Monday that he is out. Awful Announcing reported over the weekend that Matthew Berry is likely out. On Sunday, NBC officially announced the hiring of Mike Tomlin.
As of now, the cast is Maria Taylor, Tomlin, Devin McCourty, Jason Garrett and Rodney Harrison.
In addition, Taylor announced that Sunday Night Football would be leaving the studio and go on the road each week to be on site for that week’s game.
I’m sure networks have done some studies or focus groups that show fans prefer it when a studio show goes on the road, but I’ll never understand the appeal of this practice. Especially in this day and age of all networks trying to cut costs.
Outside of getting crowd shots of fans acting like buffoons, I don’t know what else you get by being on the road. Is it really worth spending the money to be onsite just so you can maybe film an overweight fan in the stands taking his shirt off or chugging a beer because those things are so wacky? This especially makes no sense when the cast is forced to be outside in the middle of December and January when it’s below freezing and they all look miserable and uncomfortable while all bundled up.
I know some TV executive will come up with some reasons, but as far as I’m concerned, taking a studio show on the road adds nothing of value.
2. Something very rare took place on Saturday: A good argument during the NFL draft.
Charles Davis and Daniel Jeremiah went at it over how many games rookie quarterback Fernando Mendoza would start for the Raiders this season.
Both guys ended up contradicting their own arguments because Davis said Mendoza would play a lot in his first year, while Jeremiah said Mendoza won’t play that much.
However, when Rich Eisen tried to get actual numbers out of the guys, Davis said Mendoza would make 12 starts and Jeremiah said he’d get seven starts.
All that fighting over a five-game difference was kinda dumb, but the segment was good TV.
3. The unhinged replies to Knicks superfan Ben Stiller after he posted right after New York’s playoff win against Atlanta on Saturday night, which took place around the same time as another notable event on Saturday, was my favorite thing of the weekend.
4. Trevor Bauer threw a seven-inning no-hitter in some random league on Sunday and I can’t get over the response from his teammates after the final out.
.
5. Two notable ABS moments from the weekend. Yankees second baseman Jazz Chisolm had the worst challenge I’ve seen so far this season.
On the other end of the spectrum, Mariners outfielder Rob Refsnyder challenged a horrible strike-three call, which got overturned. After keeping his at-bat alive, he then hit a game-winning home run.
6. This week’s SI Media With Jimmy Traina podcast features an interview withThe Ringer’s Bryan Curtis about the latest sports media news.
Curtis talks about the latest developments in the Dianna Russini–Mike Vrabel story, Prime Video’s “technical difficulties” vs. NBC’s scorebug mistake during early first-round NBA playoff games, and ESPN’s massive promotion of WWE.
In addition, Curtis weighs in on whether reporters should tip NFL draft picks and the decline of the NFL draft as a major television event.
Following Curtis, Sal Licata from SNY TV and The Sal Licata Show joins me for our weekly “Traina Thoughts” segment. This week’s topics include World Cup train tickets going from $12.50 to $150, the difficulties of logging into streaming services, WrestleMania 42, the New York Mets’ pathetic play and the NBA playoffs. In addition, I respond to some listener emails.
You can listen to the SI Media With Jimmy Traina podcast below or on Apple and Spotify.
You can also watch SI Media With Jimmy Trainaon YouTube.
7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: Radio DJ Casey Kasem passed away on this date in 2014. If you like hot mic meltdowns, Kasem had one of the all time best.
Be sure to catch up on past editions of Traina Thoughtsand check out the Sports Illustrated Media Podcasthosted by Jimmy Traina on Apple, Spotifyor Google. You can also follow Jimmy on Xand Instagram.
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JIMMY TRAINA
Jimmy Traina is a staff writer and podcast host for Sports Illustrated. A 20-year veteran in the industry, he’s been covering the sports media landscape for seven years and writes a daily column, Traina Thoughts. Traina has hosted the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast since 2018, a show known for interviews with some of the most important and powerful people in sports media. He also was the creator and writer of SI’s Hot Clicks feature from 2007 to '13.
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