1. The sports world is all about one thing right now: Aaron Rodgers wanting to leave Green Bay.
Hot on the heels of Fox’s Terry Bradshaw calling Rodgers “weak” there’s more drama regarding the star quarterback.
• According to The Athletic, Rodgers, who supposedly has major beef with Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst, would refer to Gutekunst as “Jerry Krause” in group text messages with teammates. Krause was blamed for trying to break up the Bulls and was often mocked by Michael Jordan, as we all saw last year in the ESPN docuseries The Last Dance. Give Rodgers credit for the creative insult.
• On Tuesday, some fans at a minor league baseball game in Appleton, Wis., booed Rodgers when he appeared on the video board.
• Rodgers got some good news about his possible retirement plans. Jeopardy! ratings took a tumble following his two-week stint as host.
2. Stephen A. Smith’s breakdown of Tom Brady’s Kentucky Derby is a solid piece of content.
3. The statement released by the Rangers on Tuesday night after the NHL didn’t suspend Tom Wilson for sucker punching Artemi Panarin is right up there with Dan Gilbert’s comic sans screed against LeBron James for Most Surreal Sports Press Release.
Oh, and the Rangers and Capitals play again Wednesday night, which should be fun.
4. This sequence of events in Tuesday night’s Cleveland-Royals game, which highlights Angel Hernandez’s ineptness …
… led to this great quote from Cleveland manager Terry Francona.
5. Shaq had some personal issues on live TV Tuesday night.
6. The latest episode of the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast features two interviews.
First up is reporter John Ourand from Sports Business Journal. Ourand breaks down the NHL’s blockbuster TV deals with ESPN and Turner Sports, weighs in on whether this is a good or bad time to be a sports fan when it comes to consumption of games, linear TV’s reliance on live sports and the problem with streaming services. Other topics discussed with Ourand include Dan Le Batard’s startup, Meadowlark, partnering with DraftKings, the rise of gambling content on game telecasts and more.
Following Ourand, former NFL defensive back Aqib Talib, who called two games for Fox last season, joins the podcast. Talib talks about his experience in the booth and the reaction he received from viewers. Talib also discusses covering the NFL draft for Bleacher Report, why he thinks mock drafts are bulls—, what he learned about Tom Brady and Bill Belichick while playing for the Patriots and why he thinks Peyton Manning should be the top-paid broadcaster in the NFL.
You can listen to the podcast below or download it on Apple, Spotify and Stitcher.
You can also watch the SI Media Podcast on YouTube.
7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: As I noted on Twitter early this morning, Wednesday is Kurt Loder’s birthday.
One of Loder’s most memorable moments came in 1995, when a wacky Courtney Love crashed his interviews with Madonna at the MTV Video Music Awards. At times Loder looked terrified, but he also masterfully stirred the pot, while also sitting back at times to let Love embarrass herself as the trainwreck unfolded.
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 Stitcher. You can also follow Jimmy on Twitter and Instagram.
