1. If you’re one of my loyal readers who has been with me from the Hot Clicks days through the Traina Thoughts days, you know that I’m pro outrageous and over-the-top celebrations.
I want dancing, choreography and props. Give me anything unique and different.
So it brought a big smile to my face yesterday when I saw what happened Wednesday after new Cubs outfielder Joc Pederson blasted a home run to tie Chicago’s game with Milwaukee in the eighth inning.
Not only did Pederson have a great reaction to the dinger, tossing his bat and flexing while staring at his teammates, so did his Cubs teammates, who came up with a celebration I had never seen before.
When Pederson returned to the dugout, he was rewarded with a waffle maker.
Apparently, the waffle maker has been a big part of the Cubs for years, thanks to outfielder Ian Happ.
According to the Chicago Tribune, Happ and Pederson had texted about the waffle maker the night before.
“Happ says, ‘Yeah, I’m bringing the waffle maker. You know, you’re gonna waffle some balls,’ ” Pederson said. “It was pretty funny.”
“When a guy hits a ball hard, it’s considered waffling a baseball,” Happ told the Chicago Tribune in 2018. “So Tommy (La Stella) and I talked about it in April, and we should put a waffle maker in the dugout.”
I’m just hoping this starts a trend where every Major League Baseball team starts using household appliances for celebrations.
2. Tom Brady’s reaction to the current trading card explosion is pretty much the same as mine and most of yours: “I wish I kept those cards.”
3. Josh Allen is 100% right. Cantaloupe is a top fruit.
4. For those of us who have a darker sense of humor, this clip hits us more than the one from the other day when the contestant brought up the field goal to Aaron Rodgers.
5. For my old-school Mike and the Mad Dog fans out there, this was a very interesting revelation dropped by Chris Russo during his Tuesday (or as Dog would say, “Tuesdee”) appearance on The Howard Stern Stern Show.
6. This week’s brand-new Sports Illustrated Media Podcast, hosted by yours truly, features an interview with New York Post sports media columnist Andrew Marchand. Some of the topics discussed include whether Ian Eagle or Jim Nantz should call the Final Four for CBS/Turner, how he went with CBS and how both sides feel about his new deal, ESPN’s decision to fire NBA analyst Paul Pierce after he posted an Instagram Live video of himself partying with strippers, Kirk Herbstreit blasting ESPN colleague Dan Orlovsky over Orlovsky’s comments about Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields, how Jim Rome’s career stacks up against other radio hosts and much more
You can listen to the podcast below or download it on Apple, Spotify and Stitcher.
You can also listen to the SI Media Podcast on YouTube.
7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: We continue to celebrate WrestleMania Week by remembering the time New York Giants Hall of Famer Lawrence Taylor wrestled Bam Bam Bigelow at WrestleMania X.
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.
