1. New York Post sports media columnist Andrew Marchand broke the news Wednesday night that veteran ESPN narrator Tom Rinaldi was leaving the network to join Fox Sports.
Fox confirmed the news Thursday morning with a press release saying Rinaldi will begin work on all of his sporting events starting in 2021.
Reporter James Andrew Miller shared some ideas about Rinaldi’s jumping ship, and nothing seemed good to ESPN.
Based on Miller’s information here, it looks like Rinaldi wanted to let ESPN be what happened. Now we have to find out why. Was it just a “need a new challenge” situation? (Rinaldi was with ESPN for 18 years.) Or was Rinaldi not happy with ESPN, which has just suffered massive layoffs across the company?
ESPN’s statement about Rinaldi’s loss was strange, to say the least.
“An even more disciplined approach to our business?” What does this have to do with Rinaldi wanting to leave and telling ESPN not to match Fox’s offer, Miller reported?
The opposite is that Rinaldi seems a bit strange to Fox, who likes to keep things light and frivolous. Rinaldi likes to cry.
No matter the reason, it hurts ESPN. Rinaldi was one of the faces of the company and an important part of the popularity College GameDay.
Based on several tweets posted by ESPN staff since the news broke, it’s also clear that Rinaldi was one of the world leader’s most liked people.
This is how Rinaldi’s comrades reacted to the news of his departure.
2. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. he currently plays in the Dominican Winter League and let us know, thanks to the following video, his celebrations, with Undertaker themed music, are MUCH better than the Major League Baseball celebrations. We need more in MLB.
3. Kawhi Leonard appeared Jimmy Kimmel live Wednesday night and was a great guest thanks to his unique personality, of which Kimmel provoked him. One of the highlights of the interview was Kimmel asking Leonard about Billy Crystal as a Clippers super-fan.
Kimmel wanted to know if Leonard was a Crystal fan. This was Kawhi’s exact answer: “You know, some of his films were ahead of my time. That of Mary or the Lady, who, you know, was having a conversation so that men and women could be friends”.
Viously, obviously, the movie Leonard was referring to was When Harry met Sally and the film’s actress is Meg Ryan, who played Sally.
I’m not sure if Leonard got mixed up with this There is something about Mary, but I hope that’s what happened.
Kimmel later asked Leonard if he knew the famous line came from the false deli of orgasm. When Harry met Sally (“I’ll have what you have.”)
Kawhi’s response: “Why would you do that?”
4. This is an impressive idea from Knights Larry Nance Jr.
5. Legendary sports talk radio host Chris “Mad Dog” Russo joined this week’s SI Media podcast for a conversation.
You can listen to the following podcast or download it to Apple, Spotify, Stitcher, and Google Play
You can also watch the podcast on YouTube.
6. Random VIDEO of the day: Happy 74th birthday to the great Eugene Levy. If you haven’t seen it Schitt’s Creek however, you have to change it because watching Levy as Johnny Rose is a very enjoyable experience.
7. SPORTS VIDEO OF THE DAY: With the chargers in play Thursday Night Football tonight, I wanted to take this opportunity to call on Natrone Means, one of the best runners of the 90s, a guy who always made Chris Berman pumped during First hour of the NFL as “Natrone Means Business” and one of the best Bol Tecmo players.
Be sure to catch up with past editions of Traina Thoughts and watch the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast hosted by Jimmy Traina at apple, Spotify or Stitcher. You can also follow Jimmy Twitter i Instagram