1. Somehow the Commanders and the Bears managed to score fewer points (19) on Thursday night than the Colts and the Broncos a week ago (21).
We told you last week that the only thing that made Indianapolis’ 12-9 win over Denver a little watchable was the performance of play-by-play man Al Michaels, who didn’t hold back in letting viewers know he was a pig the game.
Unfortunately for Michaels, his partner, Kirk Herbstreit, Amazon Prime Video, NFL fans, the league and anyone else associated with football, Washington and Chicago gave us another pig last night.
After back-to-back weeks of inept football, viewers became concerned about Michaels.
One side note before I get to that: While combing through Twitter to see what people were saying about the legendary broadcaster, I was amazed at the number of tweets I saw that said something along the lines of, “Why should anyone feel bad for Michaels? He left Sunday Night Football for the money.” Or, “Al took the money and ran.”
Let’s be clear about one thing. Al Michaels did NOT want to leave Sunday Night Football. It’s clear that NBC pushed Michaels out because of his age, because Mike Tirico stayed in the wings and because it didn’t make much sense to pay Michaels and Tirico big salaries.
But Michaels didn’t want to retire. So, once Joe Buck and Troy Aikman landed at ESPN for Monday Night Football and once Fox decided to promote Kevin Burkhardt to his No. 1 announcer position after Buck left, Michaels decided to take the Prime Video gig. So while Michaels gets a LOT of money from Amazon and no one should throw a pity party for him, there’s nothing wrong with saying he got a raw deal. All of us would love to do what Al does, but all of us would also be pushed out of our jobs because of age.
And we’d also be in trouble if we went from calling what is usually the second best game of the week on Sunday night (after Sunday’s 4:25 p.m. game) to seventh or eighth best’ the week
Most people seem to understand, which is why the best part of last night’s match was seeing the concern for Michaels on social media and the reaction to Al’s performance.
2. Former NBC Sports executive Dick Ebersol gave one of the worst backtracks you’ll ever see on Thursday. Ebersol had given an interview where Tony Romo broke.
“I’ve known Tony Romo, since he first hit the pros,” Ebersol told CNN. “He is a very attractive guy; he should have been a great, great broadcaster. Something has happened since he got into that chair. And he doesn’t seem to be part of it. As he was on his way up. He doesn’t seem to be the storyteller he should be. The thing that makes [Al] Michaels great, [Joe] Buck great, and all these guys is that they’re real storytellers. And Tony has gone further and further away from that, I think.”
Of course, those comments received considerable attention on the World Wide Web, so Ebersol issued a statement to the New York Post.
“Tony Romo is like a son to me. I am his biggest fan on and off the field. As a fan and producer, I have always been known to offer spontaneous notes. But this time, after a long day of interviews, I went too far and bluntly said things that I don’t believe and that are not true. No announcer is more passionate about the NFL than Tony Romo, and I personally can’t wait to hear his call every Sunday. It’s as good as it gets.”
So Ebersol trashed Romo because … he did too many interviews in one day?
3. If you enjoy a good angry postgame press conference like I do, Commanders coach Ron Rivera gave us a good one last night.
4. Chiefs Travis Kelce was miked for a four-touchdown game against the Raiders on Monday night, and it was pretty funny.
5. If hockey wants to improve its rating, I suggest having more former players / podcasts hosting players who tackle players from the stands on arena bikes during the game, like Biz Nasty and Ryan Whitney did to Sidney Crosby on Thursday night.
6. This week’s Sports Illustrated Media Podcast features a chat with radio legend Dan Le Batard.
Le Batard talks about his time at ESPN, why he had to leave the company, the ups and downs he had there over the years and the generous move ESPN made when he left. Le Batard also discusses going out on his own, why he partnered with DraftKings, having such a loyal, rabid fanbase, why he hates sports controversies, Stephen A. Smith’s status at ESPN and more more.
The podcast concludes with the weekly “Traina Thoughts” segment with Sal Licata, from WFAN and SNY in New York. This week, we discuss the MLB postseason, Bob Costas calling a playoff series for TBS, Davante Adams pushing a cameraman and Troy Aikman’s controversial comments. We also hand out a weekly NFL “best bet”. I’m 5-0 on the season, while Sal is 3-2, so maybe it’s time to fade me out.
You can listen to the podcast below or download it on Apple, Spotify and Google.
You can also watch the SI Media Podcast on YouTube.
7. VIDEO OF THE DAY: Happy 55th birthday to ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith.
Be sure to catch up on previous editions of Traina Thoughts and check out the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast hosted by Jimmy Traina on Apple, Spotify or Google. You can also follow Jimmy on Twitter, Instagram and TikTok.
