Let’s dive into the world of sports. If Roger Goodell had his way, we’d probably have an NFL game every day of the week. And honestly, I think most of us would be totally fine with that. The logistics just don’t allow for it, but the NFL loves to seize any opportunity to squeeze in an extra game.
Speaking of which, the past couple of seasons have featured Friday night games during the first week of the regular season. This year, things might get even more interesting, with reports suggesting the season could kick off with a Wednesday night game. According to Puck’s John Ourand, the league is deciding between opening with the Rams-Niners game in Australia on September 9 or having the defending champion Seahawks play on Wednesday, followed by Rams-Niners on Thursday, September 10.
The Seahawks have a pretty packed home schedule next season, with games against the Cardinals, Niners, Rams, Cowboys, Giants, Chiefs, Chargers, Bears, and Patriots. My personal prediction is that the league will capitalize on John Harbaugh’s first game as the Giants’ head coach and give us Giants at Seahawks in Week 1.
By the way, it looks like Week 1 could see games on Wednesday, Thursday, Sunday, and Monday, making for an exciting start to the season.
On a completely different note, the NBA recently fined the Jazz $500,000 for tanking, which is kind of hilarious when you consider the two games in question were a three-point road loss to the Magic and a win over the Heat. Yes, you read that right – the Jazz got fined for tanking a game they actually won!
In other NBA news, it’s been said that the regular season has become a bit of a joke lately. But you know what would make it more interesting? More mic’d up clips of coaches mocking their players’ outfits. I mean, who doesn’t love a good laugh?
Moving on to the NFL again, remember those team report cards the NFLPA used to release? Well, it looks like those are a thing of the past now, thanks to a case the NFL won to keep them from being made public. JJ Watt had a pretty spot-on reaction to this, pointing out the hypocrisy of the league allowing third-party rankings of players on national TV while suppressing actual player feedback on team conditions.
This week’s episode of SI Media With Jimmy Traina is definitely worth checking out, especially if you’re still reeling from the Super Bowl. Jimmy discusses the Seattle win, Super Bowl betting, and even shares his own “bad beat” story that ended up on SportsCenter. Non-Super Bowl topics include good news for YouTubeTV subscribers, the rise of prediction market platforms, and more.
Last but not least, if you’re feeling nostalgic, it’s worth noting that it’s been 35 years since the iconic Seinfeld episode “The Phone Message” aired. You know, the one where Jerry and George steal a tape from George’s girlfriend’s answering machine? It’s a funny episode, and even more interesting when you consider that Larry David has admitted to doing something similar in real life. Anyway, that’s all for today, folks! Be sure to catch up on past editions of Traina Thoughts and follow Jimmy on social media for more sports chatter.
