1. I caught a little bit of the Cowboys-Rams preseason game that aired on the NFL Network on Sunday.
Fortunately, the part I was able to watch featured Rams head coach Sean McVay mic’d up and providing commentary, as well as some solid play-by-play.
It’s not hard to figure out why McVay was a hot commodity in the broadcasting world a few years ago when rumors swirled that he might leave the sidelines. Yes, this was obviously a small sample size, but McVay showed promise on many levels: very funny, broke down X’s and O’s in a digestible way, great TV voice, excitable personality but not over the top.
Here’s a clip of McVay calling a fourth-and-3 play by the Cowboys.
Sean McVay's energy is always on 💯
— NFL (@NFL) August 11, 2024
📺: #DALvsLAR on @NFLNetwork
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/9J0TkyVk9r
Here he’s calling a run-stuffing play by his defense.
Sean McVay is loving what he sees from rookie DL Tyler Davis so far!@SoFi Coach Cam. 🎥 pic.twitter.com/KaZIplgWrf
— Los Angeles Rams (@RamsNFL) August 11, 2024
Here he is reacting to the Rams getting a personal foul and going after the ref.
Sean McVay is a funny guy #DALvsLAR pic.twitter.com/Z28atyDesJ
— Lord Dylly 🏈 (@Lord_Dylly) August 11, 2024
McVay is under contract with the Rams through the 2026 season, but you can be sure CBS, Fox, NBC, Amazon and others are already preparing for a bidding war for his services.
2. HBO’s host of Last Week Tonight, John Oliver, dedicated his weekly “And Now This” segment Sunday night to the very random tangents of Phillies analyst John Kruk.
John Kruk montage at the end of Last Week Tonight pic.twitter.com/YLcx2bm3mF
— Nick Piccone (@_piccone) August 12, 2024
3. Mariners center fielder Victor Robles was mic’d up during Sunday night’s game against the Mets on ESPN and his story about watching monkeys on TV was totally interrupted by a fly ball that came his way.
Victor Robles mic’d up, talking about monkeys, makes a play, yells at his infielders, then back to the monkeys. We’re back, baby. #Mariners pic.twitter.com/8ifPknV2Tm
— Matt Loveless (@MattLoveless) August 11, 2024
4. One Bills fan was completely blown away when Josh Allen gave him a hat, which made for a great visual.
I cover sports media, but larger story is end of WCBS' news format and the loss of jobs. Audacy had basically duplicate stations with 880 & 1010 WINS.https://t.co/d41TqsgIKs WFAN reaches deal to license 880 AM to ESPN New York
— Andrew Marchand (@AndrewMarchand) August 12, 2024
6. The latest episode of SI Media With Jimmy Traina is an all–Traina Thoughts edition with Sal Licata from WFAN radio and SNY TV in New York.
Among the topics discussed on the podcast: The shocking news that Charles Barkley will not retire or join ESPN, NBC or Amazon and remain with TNT after the network loses the NBA; the debut of the new NFL kickoff rule; the news that Ben Affleck and Matt Damon are working on a movie about Hulk Hogan taking down Gawker and Deadspin; reaction to my interview with CM Punk from the previous week; the recent booking issues between SiriusXM’s Chris “Mad Dog” Russo and NBC’s Mike Tirico and much more.
You can listen to the SI Media With Jimmy Traina 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: Discovered this old Jason Alexander interview with Charlie Rose while going down a YouTube rabbit hole on Sunday.
The full interview is worth a watch, but if you don’t have the time, here are two clips I posted that are must-watch for any and all Seinfeld fans.
Never saw this interview before and it’s pretty amazing on many levels. Jason Alexander discussing how he, Julia Louis-Dreyfus & Michael Richards negotiated with NBC for $1 million an episode for Seinfeld. pic.twitter.com/zeZrM2rOX6
— Jimmy Traina (@JimmyTraina) August 11, 2024
On that note, here is Jason Alexander explaining in that same interview how the Seinfeld casts’ salary was terrible for television. Fascinating stuff here (plus a savage stray directed toward “Mad About You”). https://t.co/6gOWkvGwxO pic.twitter.com/jIBsJ6BUkA
— Jimmy Traina (@JimmyTraina) August 12, 2024
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 Twitter and Instagram.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Rams’ Sean McVay Will Be a Tremendous Broadcaster When He Leaves Coaching.
