1. The talk that dominated the sports world last week finally died down, but Tom Brady has now entered the discussion.
Last week, with the NHL’s 4 Nations Tournament becoming a massive success and the NBA’s All-Star Game continuing to be a disaster, it was wall-to-wall “NHL vs. NBA” coverage on pretty much every sports show in the country.
These discussions caught the attention of Brady, who weighed in with his take via newsletter, which you can read here.
After writing about his love of hockey and how impressed and blown away he was with the 4 Nations Tournament, Brady transitioned into the NBA vs. NHL narrative.
Here is a portion of Brady’s thoughts, which are 100% dead on.
I was also intrigued by the response from sports fans and sports media. At first, it seemed to be nothing but love for the tournament-concept and the game play–and it resulted in the NHL getting a ton of positive, national attention for the first time in a long time. And rightly so. I’m no hockey expert, obviously, but I trust the guys who live and breathe the game who were saying this was some of the best, high-level hockey they’d ever seen. I also trust the numbers, which say that the final between Canada and the USA was the second-most watched hockey game in North America over the last decade.
But then, the attention started to take a negative turn that didn’t sit quite right with me. The tournament took place at the same time as NBA All-Star Weekend, which is an event that has become more of a skills showcase over the years and could not be more different from the Four Nations Face-Off if it took place on the moon. For some reason, the contrast between these two events turned the sports news cycle into a referendum on the intensity of the NBA all-star game and the quality of participation from the sport’s superstars, instead of a whole-hearted celebration of amazing end-to-end hockey.
It was so confusing. Why were we talking about LeBron’s decision not to suit up and the lack of defense in the All-Star game when we could be talking about the Tkatchuk brothers dropping the gloves like a scene out of Slapshot? Or both goalies turning into octopuses made out of brick wall, or 37-year-old Sidney Crosby playing through an elbow injury, or the greatest player in the world getting himself open in front of the net half-way through overtime to bury the game winner past the best goalie in the game?
The bigger problem with all these hot takes, though, is that they don’t actually solve the problems that the talking heads were talking their heads off about. You want the greatest athletes in the world to go out and play their hearts out in an exhibition game, as if it’s a real game, but you haven’t asked the most important question: what are the players actually playing for, and is there enough to make going hard worth the risk?
Tom Brady
YES, YES, YES! Every single word Brady said here is accurate.
Here is what I wrote in the Feb. 17 Traina Thoughts:
“All-Star games don’t matter. In any sport. They are exhibitions. They mean nothing. They don’t count. The players don’t care about them. There is no incentive to try or win. So stop getting all hot and bothered about All-Star games.”
It’s no surprise a seven-time Super Bowl champion who is the greatest quarterback of all time would get it.
2. From 2003 to 2010, ESPN’s Jay Bilas would crossover to CBS to call NCAA tournament games with the legendary Dick Enberg.
How was the ESPN broadcaster able to work for CBS? And why did he stop doing the tournament in 2010?
“I don’t really know,” Bilas said during his appearance on the latest episode of SI Media With Jimmy Traina.
“I think it’s because ESPN decided they didn’t want to do it anymore. My understanding, and I don’t know all the ins and outs of it, but as you know, the rights holder of the tournament can put restrictions on how highlights are used on other outlets.
“So SportsCenter could only use, I don’t know what the number was, maybe a minute-and-a-half per 30 minutes of highlights for the tournament, and I think when I was traded over there, the trade was me and Len Elmore for highlight restrictions being taken off and they could run more highlights during an hour of SportsCenter or whatever it was.
Bilas was totally on board with the ESPN-CBS loan agreement and was thrilled to get a payoff for all of his regular-season work.
“All I knew was that I loved it. I got to do games with Dick Enberg, who I met when I was in college. We had become good friends and to be able to work with him and do the games was a joy. You know, it’s the national championship. You work the whole year doing 50 games or whatever we do plus studio and all that stuff, and you’re immersed in it and then you get the opportunity to do that, it was really fun.
Was Bilas bummed when the CBS-ESPN deal for his services ended?
“Yeah. I would love to do it. I’ve always been a team guy. I signed a contract with ESPN, so they determine that. When they did the deal, I was thrilled. When they didn’t, I was disappointed, but I don’t work for anybody but them.”
During his appearance on SI Media With Jimmy Traina, Bilas also revealed the changes he’d like to see in college basketball, starting with replay and quarters, whether he wants to see the tournament expanded and shared hilarious stories about Bill Raftery, Larry David and fans sending him money.
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. While Brady is out here writing his newsletter, NFL reporters are getting into fights in Starbucks over whether Brady is trying to recruit Matt Stafford to the Raiders. Even Shams and Woj didn’t behave like this during the peak of their feud.
Jordan Schultz of Fox verbally accosted Ian Rapoport of NFL Media at an Indianapolis Starbucks on Wednesday afternoon. A report was made to NFL Security, which is investigating. https://t.co/Ld0weFWYoP
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) February 27, 2025
The winner of the fight, though, was clearly Adam Schefter.
INDIANAPOLIS — Head on a swivel. pic.twitter.com/RxfigNsCmW
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) February 27, 2025
4. Michigan State beat Maryland on Wednesday night on a halfcourt buzz-beater.
Here was the call from Jason Horowitz on the Big Ten Network.
TRE HOLLOMAN FOR THE WIN ‼️ @MSU_Basketball #B1GMBBall on BTN 📺 pic.twitter.com/RblpcwOvhn
— Big Ten Men's Basketball (@B1GMBBall) February 27, 2025
Here was the reaction from Horowitz and analyst Robbie Hummel.
Robbie Hummel and Jason Horowitz’s reactions to the buzzer beater were too good ‼️#B1GMBBall x @MSU_Basketball pic.twitter.com/sOrLTFdiDC
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) February 27, 2025
Here are the radio calls from each school.
5. This has to be the dumbest thing that’s happened in sports in a long, long time. And that’s saying a lot. The NCAA has given the Northwestern women’s basketball team two forfeits because they didn’t make it to Los Angeles for games against UCLA and USC DURING THE WILDFIRES!
B1G has issued forfeits to Northwestern women’s basketball team for not traveling to the LA schools. pic.twitter.com/NMQAP5s12f
— Bryan Fischer (@BryanDFischer) February 26, 2025
6. This is story via Dwyane Wade, about Pat Riley taking away LeBron James’ chocolate chip cookies is just surreal.
D Wade says the first moment he thought LeBron might leave MIA is when Pat Riley took his cookies
— Heat Culture (@HeatCulture13) February 26, 2025
“One thing you don’t do, is f*ck with LeBrons cookies… 4 finals in a row. You don’t need to micro manage us, I felt Riley went too far with his micro managing”
(Via… pic.twitter.com/KAoVWA9cWX
7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: RIP Gene Hackman. The Replacements >Hoosiers.
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 The Best Take Regarding Recent NBA Vs. NHL Narrative Came From … Tom Brady.
