1. People come and go from ESPN all the time, but some returns are more surprising than others. I think it’s fairly safe to say no one saw Mike Golic Sr.’s getting another chance at the Worldwide Leader when it was announced last month that he’d be teaming up with his son for a new ESPN Radio show.
Golic Sr. had one of the best sports-talk radio runs with Mike Greenberg during their 17 years together on Mike & Mike. However, Greenberg parted ways with the show in 2017 to become the face of Get Up.
Golic Sr. was then teamed with Trey Wingo for a show that lasted from 2017 to ’20.
Six years later, Golic Sr. is back with his son, Mike Golic Jr.
Welcome home, @golic & @mikegolicjr!
— ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) June 29, 2026
More: https://t.co/HxeueWD9Qx pic.twitter.com/5xyfDPO9ni
The new show, called The Golics, will debut on Monday. Ahead of its debut, Mike Sr. and Mike Jr. both joined me on the latest SI Media With Jimmy Traina.
Given how things ended with Mike & Mike and reports of a strained relationship with Greenberg, I asked Golic Sr. to pull back the curtain on their relationship and the abrupt end of the show.
“It did not end well,” said Golic. “That that's been pretty much documented. But somewhat like my football career, when I got cut by the Houston Oilers and went to the Philadelphia Eagles, I didn’t reminisce about the Houston Oilers. I was playing for the Philadelphia Eagles. The same thing when I left Philadelphia to go to Miami. You move on and you study the task at hand.
“As far as the relationship with Greeny, we don’t keep in touch much in all honesty, but occasionally we’ll check in. Quite honestly, mostly it’s about how the kids are doing, how his kids are doing, how my kids are doing, because I was growing my family during Mike & Mike and Greeny had his kids during Mike & Mike and we were always a very family-oriented show, so kids were always involved.”
“Again, we don’t keep in touch much, but he texted me about coming back to ESPN and was very happy for me, and certainly for Mike [Jr.]. As I said, we talk about the kids, so it’s cordial. Even when we were doing the show, he lived in Westport [Conn.], I lived in Avon, an hour and a half from one another. It’s not like we were ever in a position to hang out. But we certainly meshed well on the show. So, it’s not very frequent we keep in touch, but when we do, it's cordial.”
You can listen to the full interview with the Golics below or watch it on YouTube.
2. People (especially those on social media) will rip this idea and then watch every minute.
LeBron James and ESPN are closing in on an agreement for a behind-the-scenes documentary series that will be similar to Michael Jordan’s “The Last Dance,” according to industry sources.
— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) July 30, 2026
One of the sources described the talks as being at the “one-yard line.” pic.twitter.com/pSEaQN03aZ
3. You can always count of local news for the good stuff. If you’re on social media and pay attention to politics, you know that this photo of Senator Mitch McConnell was posted by his office a month ago to provide an update on his health status.
Mitch McConnell has released a photo and the first statement on his condition:
— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) July 12, 2026
"I was briefly unconscious and was taken to the hospital. While receiving excellent care over the past several weeks, I’ve also had to deal with a mild case of pneumonia." pic.twitter.com/hsLqBgwhmE
This week, after news of Kyle Shanahan’s car accident, one rascal on the Internet photoshopped the Niners head coach into the McConnell picture.
First image of Kyle Shanahan recovering in the hospital after his accident has been released: pic.twitter.com/s43m8H6fM3
— East Bay Chris (@EastBayChris) July 28, 2026
Here’s the kicker: Chicago’s WGN used the doctored photo of Shanahan in its report on the incident.
WGN posted a meme of Kyle Shanahan as Mitch McConnell when reporting on his car accident. pic.twitter.com/GmeIPhNvlw
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) July 30, 2026
4. I can’t recall ever seeing an athlete defend a team’s alternative jersey the way Josh Allen did on Wednesday. The uniform did NOT go over well with Bills fans at all.
Resilient. Gritty. Blue Collar.#BillsMafia | https://t.co/dSv2Kf4qfF pic.twitter.com/sSEbyEEyPt
— Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) July 27, 2026
So, Allen did some damage control, and quite frankly, the organization should give him a bonus for this performance.
Nickel City uniforms are QB1 approved. 👍 pic.twitter.com/mV7IVoOIHu
— Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) July 29, 2026
5. The WNBA’s official account on the app formerly known as Twitter posted a video showing that Paige Bueckers and Angel Reese made a $400 bet on the All-Star Game last weekend. Then the account deleted the post.
This is one of those cases where two things can be true at the same time. It’s pretty dumb for the league’s official account to post this. Bueckers and Reese making a bet on an exhibition game that counts for absolutely nothing is not a big deal on any level.
The WNBA posted a video of Angel Reese and Paige Bueckers betting $400 on which woman’s team would win.
— Deadspin (@Deadspin) July 30, 2026
They deleted it after realizing this violates league rules.pic.twitter.com/mYASb4eMzY
6. Speaking of betting, no one will be more into MLB awards season than this person.
THIS PARLAY MIGHT ACTUALLY WIN
— br_betting (@br_betting) July 30, 2026
EVERY LEG IS ODDS-ON TO WIN 😱🤯
(Via @FDSportsbook) pic.twitter.com/brfCFpWoLr
7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: I’ve always thought This Is the Time was Billy Joel’s most underrated song. He just dropped this live performance of it on his YouTube channel to celebrate the 40th anniversary of his album The Bridge, which features the song.
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 Google. You can also follow Jimmy on X and Instagram.
