1. It’s the Friday of July Fourth weekend. You need something light. You need something entertaining. You need a laugh to put you in a good mood.
May I present to you Chris “Mad Dog” Russo.
The SiriusXM host went ballistic Wednesday afternoon when he found out Yankees slugger Aaron Judge would be getting a rest for that night’s game against the Angels and Shohei Ohtani.
Russo was livid that the Yankees would deny baseball fans a chance to see Ohtani face Judge and used this incident to blast baseball’s lack of instinct when it comes to creating theater and drama.
The Dog did a lot of screaming and, as he always does, he hit the highest levels at the perfect time.
“Tomorrow it’s gonna pour so he’s gonna get a day OFF ANYWAYYYYY!!!”
“We’re in the ENTERTAINMENT BUSINESS. You’re trying to sell tickets. Baseball has enough trouble getting eyeballs to the sets. MY GOD! No wonder the Stephen A. Smiths of the world and Bayless and guys like that never talk about the stupid sport.”
In between, he took shots at Yankees front office “minions,” Aaron Boone, Major League Baseball and ESPN.
The entire two-plus minute clip is a clinic on how to do outrage on sports talk radio and making it authentic and not forced. And it’s hilarious.
2. Following the Independence Day weekend, Traina Thoughts will be off until Wednesday. If you’r traveling over the holiday weekend or hitting the beach and need something to listen to, allow me to suggest some recent episodes of the SI Media Podcast.
This week’s guest is former Super Bowl champion and current podcaster Chris Long, who talks about Carl Nassib’s becoming the NFL’s first active openly gay player and how he’d deal with teammates who don’t want to get vaccinated. In honor of Fourth of July weekend, Long also does power rankings for summer holidays and popular meats at every barbecue.
Last week’s SI Media Podcast featured legendary wrestling announcer Jim Ross and Sports Business Journal reporter John Ourand.
Two weeks ago, SI’s Jon Wertheim joined the SI Media Podcast to talk about how 1984 was a monumental year for sports and pop culture.
Three weeks ago, Stugotz came on the SI Media Podcast to discuss life after ESPN for The Dan Le Batard Show.
Lastly, ESPN’s Doris Burke and Evan Longoria joined the podcast a few weeks back. Burke talked about the NBA playoffs while Longoria gave us insight into baseball’s “sticky stuff” controversy.
3. As someone who became addicted to TikTok during the pandemic and now even posts video over there, I want to publicly thank J.J. Watt for this.
4. Hard Knocks has lost a lot of its luster over the years, but it’s still worth watching. This season’s edition will feature the Cowboys, which should be entertaining thanks to Jerry Jones.
5. If you are an In Living Color fan, you gotta tip your cap to Shaq for this.
6. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: Happy 74th birthday to the social assassin, Larry David.
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.
