1. I realize that some of you reading this don’t follow wrestling, don’t care about wrestling and aren’t interested in wrestling. And that’s why this video is so good—because even if you fall into that category, you will still enjoy watching this behind-the-scenes look at Pat McAfee’s WrestleMania day.
McAfee’s appearance on Night 1 of WrestleMania was a surprise for WWE fans. He was not promoted nor advertised to be at the event. He ended up coming out for a segment with The Miz, which also featured Niners tight end George Kittle.
In the video made by McAfee’s team, the curtain is pulled back, and you see what the sports media personality had to go through to keep his appearance a surprise. As McAfee is flying to Los Angeles for the event, he reveals that only three people knew he was going to be at WrestleMania. You see his stealth arrival at SoFi Stadium and his jaunt to a bus, where, according to McAfee, he hung out for “six to 10 hours” until hitting the ring for his segment.
We also see Kittle crash McAfee’s bus for a pre-Mania embrace and the moment McAfee went from bus to ring while covered in a hoodie and blanket and using his iPhone flashlight to be able to see where he’s going.
The entire video is extremely well done and worth your time, wrestling fan or not.
Good morning beautiful people..
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) April 13, 2023
A few weeks ago.. I was offered the opportunity of a lifetime with the @WWE.. and NOBODY was allowed to know a thing about it.
Here's a full @EvanFoxy Flick of the Behind The Scenes from the day...#WrestleMania #TBT pic.twitter.com/QmnCY3dAsB
Between his daily show, which is a huge hit, and his gig as a panelist on the iconic College GameDay, it would be very easy for McAfee to shun the WWE, so it’s very cool to see how much passion he still has for wrestling and what wrestling means to him.
2. MLB’s rules changes have had a major impact—all positive—two weeks into the season.
A look at how 2023 rule changes are impacting our game through the first two weeks of the regular season. pic.twitter.com/QuRS7KnYl3
— MLB (@MLB) April 13, 2023
3. One of the best things that happens sometimes when athletes feud is someone getting hit with a stray out of nowhere and then that person has to jump in.
Former Wizards teammates, Spencer Dinwiddie and Kyle Kuzma have been feuding since Dinwiddie, after he left Washington, said Kuzma was not interested in winning.
Earlier this week, Dinwiddie appeared on FanDuel TV and said of Kuzma, “I think if you look at him and the way he approaches life, fame all that stuff, then we can see that his priorities tend to vary. That’s why he dresses the way he does, he approaches basketball the way he does, the comments he makes.”
Kuzma then fired back with a lengthy Twitter thread.
Ok so since I’m so “famous” @FanDuelTV & @SDinwiddie_25 let me give you all some clout. I’m usually unbothered but things on the internet but I will not allow this delusional guy to continue to talk about my teammates and I.
— kuz (@kylekuzma) April 12, 2023
Here’s a thread: 😭😭😭
2.) what in the world have you won in this league? Lol you’ve been bounced around like a basketball my boy.😭😭😭
— kuz (@kylekuzma) April 12, 2023
Dinwiddie then fired back when he met with the press following the Nets’ practice Thursday and dragged former Laker Rick Fox into the drama.
Spencer Dinwiddie responds to Kyle Kuzma's tweets:
— Nets Videos (@SNYNets) April 13, 2023
"He resorted to some name-calling, Dinsh---ie, last time I [heard that I] was 10 years old. We don't get mad at Rick Fox for winning a championship with Kobe & Shaq. We can't act like Rick Fox led them to the championship" pic.twitter.com/F7UQXN3IW8
Naturally, Fox then took to Twitter to say his piece.
Hello @SDinwiddie_25 #NiceToMeetYou Thanks for the introduction @ClutchPointsApp ~ this is a photo of the 3 Captains that @PhilJackson11 chose to lead his @Lakers Teams to Back2Back2Back Championships ~Who is @RickFox? I AM #TheOther #TheEnforcer
— Rick Fox (@RickFox) April 14, 2023
KEYS:#DefenseWinsChampionships pic.twitter.com/QdOBPOKeYQ
This all seems like it should be a reality show on Bravo.
4. Give Salt Lake City Tribune NBA writer Andy Larsen credit. It was revealed that Larsen is the lone writer to not vote for Orlando’s Paolo Banchero for Rookie of the Year. Larsen went with Utah’s Walker Kessler, which, of course, outraged some people.
Someone just ruined Paolo Banchero’s chances of being unanimous rookie of the year 😅
— NBACentral (@TheNBACentral) April 14, 2023
(Via @CroesFire ) pic.twitter.com/KOpZdOlcft
Larsen did not run and hide. He responded to people on Twitter for a good part of Thursday.
Basically... the advanced stats all favor Kessler, and I've always been an analytically-oriented voter. I think I would have made this vote even if I covered another team.
— Andy Larsen (@andyblarsen) April 14, 2023
Here's where the rookies rank in EPM, and here's what I wrote in explaining my vote. pic.twitter.com/bmYd0RQEwI
Larsen’s feed is worth checking out to see how he replied to so many critics, and he did an excellent job handling all sorts of replies.
I mean KD's right but also there's a reason all of the front offices use analytics now
— Andy Larsen (@andyblarsen) April 14, 2023
5. Fred VanVleet went viral in early March when he blasted an official during a hilarious postgame press conference.
Fred VanVleet went OFF on referee Ben Taylor and NBA reffing in general in his post-game after the Raptors loss. Haven't heard anything like this. pic.twitter.com/VcMkGTh0k3
— Faizal Khamisa (@SNFaizalKhamisa) March 9, 2023
VanVleet gave another great performance Tuesday when discussing athletes dealing with social media.
Asked Fred about team discussions on the perils of social media:
— Vivek Jacob (@vivekmjacob) April 13, 2023
"We're making millions of dollars to play basketball, I don't know if you can be bullied in a DM. I'm just being real, block it or... what are we doing? I'm not trying to be insensitive, it just is what it is." pic.twitter.com/rgQaHFkWpB
6. This week’s SI Media With Jimmy Traina features an interview with Jim Nantz, who did not hold back on a variety of topics, including:
• Was his “on the CW” comment regarding Brooks Kopeka a shot at LIV
• Did CBS snub Phil Mickelson during the final round of the Masters
• What was it like calling his final NCAA tournament
• What does he think of the Tony Romo backlash
You can listen to the podcast below or download it on Apple, Spotify and Google.
You can also watch SI Media With Jimmy Traina on YouTube.
7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: This video is a couple of months old, but it popped up on my TikTok this week, and it’s so good. If you ever watched Stanley Tucci’s CNN show or any of his TikTok videos, you know Tucci has a very distinct way of speaking and cooking.
View the original article to see embedded media.
And this guy couldn’t have done a better imitation.
