1. My colleague, Ross Dellenger, broke the news Monday that college football is considering rules changes to shorten the length of games.
I was shocked to read in Dellenger’s column that the average length of a college football game last season was 3 hours and 21 minutes. That’s up from 3 hours and 16 minutes in 2018. I would’ve guessed the average length was at least 3 hours and 45 minutes.
The most significant proposals: The clock will continue to run after a first down except inside of two minutes in a half, and the clock will continue to run after an incomplete pass once the ball is spotted for play.
I like the idea of the clock running after a first down except in the final two minutes of a half because that will keep the drama alive for a team trying to make a comeback.
Another proposal that makes sense is prohibiting coaches from taking consecutive timeouts, which happens when a team is trying to ice a kicker. This is a great rule change that should’ve been implemented years ago. It’s absurd when the final three seconds of a game takes five-plus minutes of real time because a team calls two or three timeouts in a row.
However, one proposal that’s not on the table is shortening halftime, which makes no sense. This is the easiest way to chop five minutes off a broadcast. The college football halftime is 20 minutes. The NFL halftime is 12 minutes. There’s no reason for college football’s halftime to be more than 15 minutes.
Of course, everything in sports is about money, so the argument for the longer halftime will be more ad revenue for the networks, but they can just cram more ads into the shorter halftime window if they’re that concerned about losing that money.
Former Michigan standout and current Lions star Aidan Hutchinson summed up the differences between college football halftime vs. NFL halftime during an interview with SiriusXM’s Chris Russo during Super Bowl week.
When Russo asked Hutchinson if halftime adjustments were a real thing, the rookie said, “Usually I’m taking a piss in the back.”
He then added, “Dude, you go in there, you take a piss, the next thing you know, you’re back on the field, you’re back rollin’. Those NFL halftimes are so much faster than college. How they feel as a player, it’s ridiculous.”
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2. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a more toneand disgusting response to a controversy (to say the least) than Karl Malone’s reaction to The Salt Lake Tribune asking him about Malone allegedly impregnating a 13-year-old when he was 20.
I’m not discussing any of that backlash,” he told the Tribune. “I don’t care. That’s my life, that’s my personal life, and I’ll deal with that like I’ve had to deal with everything. So, whatever.”
Malone later added, “Whatever, I’m human.”
I can’t think of a worse way for Malone to address his actions, and the NBA should cut all ties with him ASAP.
3. Marshawn Lynch says his habit of skipping media sessions during his career cost him more than $1 million in fines from the league.
4. Phillies outfielder Nick Castellanos got in on his own meme, which was the subject of this outstanding story by my colleague Jon Wertheim with this Instagram caption.
View the original article to see embedded media.
5. We've highlighted many Wheel of Fortune blunders over the years, but this one really stands out.
6. This week’s SI Media With Jimmy Traina podcast recaps Fox’s broadcast of Super Bowl LVII. The Ringer’s Bryan Curtis joined me, and we covered it all including Kevin Burkhardt and Greg Olsen, Mike Pereira, Terry Bradshaw, Andy Reid’s weird media rule, Radio Row and Michael Irvin.
You can listen to the podcast below or download it on Apple, Spotify and Google.
7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: I missed this yesterday since there was no Traina Thoughts because of Presidents’ Day.
Here is the incident, which would’ve had social media in a code-red state had it been around back then. And yes, that is Michael Richards aka Kramer in the skit.
