1. The phrase “end of an era” constantly gets thrown around in such a reckless and nonsensical manner when it comes to sports, but this is truly the end of an era.
ESPN announced Thursday morning that the legendary Lee Corso, who turns 90 in August, would work one more edition of College GameDay—in Week 1 on Aug. 30—before retiring after 38 years with the network.
College GameDay is widely considered among the two or three best studio shows of all time, and Corso has been there from the very beginning.
Corso was beloved for many reasons: staying power, familiarity, authenticity and being one of the great characters in sports media.
I know that saying someone is authentic and a character might sound like a contradiction, but it’s not. Corso’s true self is a character. And he remained the same all those years on GameDay, which made him authentic.
Sports fans love authenticity and familiarity more than anything when it comes to our TV stars. We also love it when someone on TV gives off a little of that “I’ll do what I want” attitude.
While Corso wasn’t brash or arrogant, he absolutely had a couple of instances that showed he wasn’t afraid to let it fly.
Corso became as much a Saturday tradition as the actual games. College football did not officially begin each week until Corso made his pick for the big game of the day by donning the mascot headgear in one of the greatest all-time traditions in sports television.
Tributes for Corso came pouring in from colleagues.
Love ya Coach-you’ll be missed more than ya know. Been our honor to be with ya all these years. https://t.co/tQHMn5wjyV pic.twitter.com/XdH0btZx9K
— Kirk Herbstreit (@KirkHerbstreit) April 17, 2025
What Lee Corso means to me. pic.twitter.com/vS2gg410dW
— Rece Davis (@ReceDavis) April 17, 2025
Naturally, they talked about how special he is as person. But for college football fans, we know what we saw on television every Saturday during the fall. And that was one of the most iconic figures in sports media history.
2. This week’s SI Media With Jimmy Traina features an interview with TNT's Charles Barkley.
Barkley reveals whether he’s happy or unhappy with TNT’s decision to continue Inside the NBA, but air it on ESPN, explains why he’s still upset with how TNT has handled things and lays down the law about how much he’s going to work going forward and why he has no interest in fulfilling the final seven years of his contract.
Barkley also expresses regret over recently saying, “Y’all got some big b----es here” regarding San Antonio women, shares his frustrations over Stephen A. Smith’s possible presidential run, weighs in on the NBA playoffs and explains why the Lakers have no shot to win the NBA Finals.
Following Barkley, Sal Licata from WFAN radio and SNY TV in New York joins the show for the weekly “Traina Thoughts” segment. This week’s topics include the Masters, the Chiefs getting their request to be the traditional Christmas Day team turned down and a great new WrestleMania doc. In addition, I reads March Apple reviews for SI Media With Jimmy Traina.
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 Traina on Sports Illustrated‘s YouTube channel.
3. Tuesday’s Grizzlies-Warriors play-in game drew 3.4 million viewers on TNT. It was the most watched game of the season on cable.
4. When ESPN’s Jay Bilas joined me on SI Media With Jimmy Traina in late February, he told me that he prefers the NBA to college basketball. Bilas, who has called college hoops for 30 years, worked some NBA games this season and now he will get his first-ever NBA playoff assignment. He will be on the call with Mark Jones for Saturday night’s Timberwolves-Lakers game.
You can see the rest of the ABC/ESPN broadcaster assignments for this weekend’s NBA playoffs here.
5. ESPN’s Cassidy Hubbarth worked her final NBA game for the network on Wednesday night. The sideline reporter will become part of Amazon’s NBA coverage beginning next season. Colleagues Mike Breen, Doris Burke and Richard Jefferson offered Hubbarth as heartfelt a sendoff and you’ll ever see or hear during a game.
Mike Breen, Doris Burke and Richard Jefferson pay tribute to Cassidy Hubbarth at the end of her final NBA broadcast on ESPN. pic.twitter.com/qugtKus1kp
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) April 17, 2025
6. In addition to the Charles Barkley podcast, we dropped a second edition of SI Media With Jimmy Traina this week. This episode features an interview with the WWE’s Paul Heyman ahead of WrestleMania 41 this weekend.
The man known as Roman Reigns’s “Wiseman” discusses the WrestleMania main event between Reigns, CM Punk and Seth Rollins, his recent run of having to dole out favors and what it’s like to have WrestleMania in Las Vegas.
Heyman also discusses John Cena’s heel turn, the wild European crowds that the WWE recently performed in front of and the fantasy booking of possibly managing a heel Cody Rhodes.
Heyman also reminisces about the time in the early ‘90s when he almost became the morning radio man at New York City's Hot 97 to go head-to-head with Howard Stern.
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 Traina on Sports Illustrated‘s YouTube channel.
7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: In honor of WrestleMania week, here’s what I think is the most memorable spot in WrestleMania history, via Edge and Jeff Hardy, from WrestleMania 17.
Be sure to catch up on past 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 X and Instagram.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Lee Corso’s Retirement From ESPN Is the Rare Case When ‘End of an Era’ Fits.
