1. Keith Hernandez showed why he is one of the great characters in baseball during Wednesday afternoon’s Mets-Phillies game.
The SNY analyst took us on a journey in the top of the third inning when he explained how he fell for an email scam earlier that day.
“I got an email with the FPL—which is Florida Power and Light—logo that said, ‘You did not pay a down payment of X amount of dollars and we are going to turn off, send a guy out today if it’s not paid within 30 minutes; we’re gonna shut your power off.’ And I bit the hook.”
Hernandez then added, “I called the number like an idiot and I’m listening to this guy and finally I snapped. ‘I know you are a monopoly; I‘ve been here for 27-plus years, I pay on time and you’re gonna send a guy out and shut my power down in 30 minutes. That is BALONEY!’”
Hernandez later added that he paid through Zelle, which he had never heard of, setting up his partner, play-by-play man Gary Cohen, for a zinger.
“Unfortunately these kinds of scams often get perpetrated on senior citizens like yourself.”
The beauty of the story is that you could feel Hernandez’s frustration come through the screen as he told it. He seemed like a defeated man, and every single one of us could relate to that feeling after messing up.
What’s stunning here is that Hernandez should’ve immediately realized he was being scammed as soon as his, “I’m Keith Hernandez” line didn’t work.
2. A brand new Sports Illustrated Media Podcast dropped this morning and it features a conversation with Ian Eagle from Turner Sports and CBS. The podcast closes out with the weekly Traina Thoughts segment. This week, Chris Long, former Super Bowl champion and host of the Green Light Podcast, fills in for Sal Licata.
Eagle previews the NBA playoffs, talks about the Brooklyn Nets’ bizarre season and explains what went wrong with the Lakers. He also weighs in on the Inside the NBA crew mocking the Timberwolves’ celebration after winning their play-in game, Greg Gumbel's recent SI Media Podcast comments on broadcasters not bringing any viewers to a telecast and the recent explosion in NFL broadcaster salaries. We also discussed the NCAA tournament, Bill Raftery, Chris “Mad Dog” Russo and more.
Following the conversation with Eagle, Long joins Jimmy for the weekly Traina Thoughts segment. This week’s segment features thoughts on the story that Tom Brady and Sean Payton had a plan to join the Dolphins, the USFL, the NFL’s social media trend, AppleTV’s Severance, Tiger Woods and much more.
You can listen to the podcast below or download it on Apple, Spotify and Google.
3. I know internet law says I’m supposed to be outraged by Baker Mayfield saying he’d like to boo fans at their cubicles, but I actually thought it was an amusing comment.
4. I know Internet law says I’m supposed to be outraged by Bill Simmons saying “F--- Jalen Green” on his podcast when discussing the NBA Rookie of the Year award, but I actually thought it was said in jest and wasn’t meant to be taken as a hateful comment because he explained why he liked the Pelicans’ Herb Jones over the Rockets’ Green for the award.
5. The over/under on last night’s Hornets-Hawks game was 235.5. The final was 132–103. For those of you who struggle with math, that’s 235 points. Charlotte’s LaMelo Ball tried his best to help the over bettors. but Atlanta’s Gorgui Dieng wasn’t having it. What a lightning quick ecstasy/agony moment.
6. Sportico has released new evaluations of the top 10 most valuable franchises in U.S. sports.
7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: This was 100% me when I worked in Manhattan pre-COVID-19 and would do a daily coffee run with co-workers.
