This was originally a very shitty blog about the intersection of sports, politics and El Paso. I tried to remove the sports and politics which was 75% of it. Hopefully it’s less shitty now. People getting shot based on the color of their skin. In 2019. In the United States of America. It’s heartbreaking. I’m a heartbroken white man in El Paso, Tx. I’ve lived here happily for four years….
Episode 85: Ben Strauss, The Washington Post
Great to finally have Ben on the podcast! Ben has reported extensively about ESPN & politics in the aftermath of Dan Le Batard’s comments. The bulk of the podcast is on those topics but we talked about a few other sports media topics (DAZN’s “ChangeUp”, Sunday Ticket and The Athletic) in the last 1/3rd of the podcast. Ben’s recent deep dive on ESPN chief Jimmy Pitaro and ESPN’s policy around…
Dear ESPN: Give Mike Wilbon the pay cut he’s asking for!
I got a couple of questions asking why ESPN’s Michael Wilbon hates the Nielsen TV ratings in the USA and loves the TV ratings in China.That’s easy: he either is a man with a huge inferiority complex about the NBA not being nearly as popular as the NFL or he plays a man with a huge inferiority complex about the NBA not being nearly as popular as the NFL on…
The Athletic: Hopefully I’m Just Bad At Math
I can’t make the situation at The Athletic (and certainly not Alex Mather’s crazy math) make any sense unless I look at it this way: the greater fool theory is definitely in play and the investors are absolutely certain that a greater fool is out there. I wouldn’t bet against them finding a greater fool. I see really solid people whose work I appreciate whether it be Bill Shea in…
Episode 84, Jonathan Tannenwald, The Philadelphia Inquirer
With the Women’s World Cup Soccer tournament beginning it was a pleasure to have the soccer beat writer from The Philadelphia Inquirer, Jonathan Tannenwald, back on the podcast. Topics discussed include the state of soccer, the state of MLS, how mostly it’s old white men like Zlatan Ibrahimović moving the MLS TV viewing and not the up and coming young Americans and South Americans, what it would take to get…
Episode 83: Burke Magnus, ESPN
A pleasure to have ESPN EVP of Programming & Scheduling Burke Magnus back on the podcast. Topics discussed include: will the launch of ACCN mean fewer ACC games on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN News and ESPNU, the demands of Burke’s job, NBA commissioner Adam Silver’s comments about the NBA games being a TV show, what matters most in NBA finals (more games, not who’s playing), how the rise of OTT services…
Episode 82: Kyle Brandt, NFL Network’s “Good Morning Football”
It was a blast to talk to “Good Morning Football’s” Kyle Brandt. We talked his “The Real World” beginnings, the NFL draft, and Kyle’s energy level. Kyle notes that never having played in the NFL and having to work with the likes of Nate Burleson and Kurt Warner drives him to always be seeking validation. Kyle talked about the morning makeup of his co-workers (spoiler: according to Kyle, Nate is…
Episode 81: Nick Wright, FS1
It was a pleasure to finally talk FS1’s Nick Wright. We talked about Nick letting his hair grow out (seriously!), what the rising & grinding schedule is like for someone with a 6:30A TV show and a 6P radio show (Nick has a dual-sleep schedule that works for him), NBA vs. NFL, “the ratings don’t matter to your life” (a Bryan Curtis shoutout on my podcast!), the NBA conference finals,…