1. I honestly didn't want to lead with the Chris “Mad Dog” Russo “retirement” story because I think it's completely ridiculous.
Let me be more specific: If you actually thought that an enormously popular and legendary Hall of Fame sports-talk radio host (one who makes millions of dollars, no less) would retire from his job after promising to retire if a team won a game and couldn’t understand that this was a radio bit, then you are just a dumb human being. Plain and simple. There’s really no other way for me to say it.
But here's what has resonated with me more than anything regarding this story in which Russo said if the Diamondbacks won Games 6 and 7 in Philadelphia, he’d retire from his daily SiriusXM radio show.
Chris Russo is 64 years old. He was a host on New York’s WFAN for 19 years, and he’s been a host on SiriusXM for 15 years. And somehow, in 2023, he’s as relevant as ever.
The “retirement” thing not only became a national story in the media, but Russo was actually in the head of the Diamondbacks. Here’s a team playing for a chance to go to the World Series, and their manager, Torey Lovullo had to spend time talking about Russo at his pregame press conference Tuesday.
Want to run through a wall?
— Cameron Cox (@CamCox12) October 24, 2023
LISTEN TO THIS from Torey Lovullo....
Longtime sports talk host Chris ‘Mad Dog’ Russo (@MadDogUnleashed) says he’ll retire if the #Dbacks best the Phillies in Game 7.
"I would love to see him quit if we won today. You know what I mean? There's… pic.twitter.com/z351f9NeLE
And then after the Diamondbacks pulled off the 4–2 win against the Phillies in Game 7, Arizona players were chanting Russo’s nickname during their postgame celebration.
Dbacks calling out Mad Dog is amazing pic.twitter.com/BI852OU36X
— Marc Luino (@GiraffeNeckMarc) October 25, 2023
And Lovullo was once again talking about Russo.
"So I've already told @MadDogUnleashed he's got to put his money where his mouth is. I think he had his last day at the network today as far as I'm concerned."
— PHNX Diamondbacks (@PHNX_Dbacks) October 25, 2023
TOREY LOVULLO IS A SAVAGE pic.twitter.com/lLr7ayQUVz
Think about that for one second: A team just clinched a trip to the World Series, and it’s thinking about a SiriusXM radio host.
There’s just one downside to this whole thing for Russo. He’ll have to deal with yahoos on social media saying he isn’t a man of his word for not retiring or his credibility has taken a hit. But like I said before, if you honestly thought he’d retire, you’re the one with no credibility.
This entire saga is nothing but a win for Russo. And you can bet that SiriusXM executives are beyond thrilled with all of this.
2. The NBA is back. Inside the NBA is back. Charles Barkley going off on something is back.
"Man, if you can play, shut the hell up and play!" 😳
— TNT Sports (@tntsports) October 25, 2023
Charles Barkley has a message to NBA players on load management... pic.twitter.com/0FZDV07G9S
Also back: Barkley’s fantastic one-liners.
Charles Barkley:
— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) October 25, 2023
"That lady is about the same age as the Warriors starters."
pic.twitter.com/V6SDpOzzYe
3. In yesterday’s Traina Thoughts, I pointed out the atrocious officiating in the Browns-Colts game. I also wrote that the NFL needs to make every play under two minutes reviewable. Indianapolis owner Jim Irsay must be a reader, because he tweeted the same idea Tuesday while also confirming that the NFL said the refs got it wrong during his team’s game Sunday.
In typical Irsay fashion, he shared these thoughts in the same tweet in which he gave an update on Anthony Richardson, so here was the relevant portion.
“The NFL admits and understands that they did not make the correct calls at end of Sunday’s Colts/Browns Game. I believe we need to institute Instant Replay for all calls, including Penalties, in the last two minutes of All Games.”
URGENT NFL/COLTS NEWS:
— Jim Irsay (@JimIrsay) October 25, 2023
🏈 #5 QB Anthony Richardson’s surgery today in LA was a success! It was a long procedure and his shoulder injury has been repaired. No new surprises were found during surgery - they just repaired what was expected. Anthony is doing well and thanks everyone…
4. Great stuff here from Austin Reaves on Ryen Russillo’s podcast. The Lakers’ guard recalled the time he had to confront LeBron James after old tweets of his knocking the iconic player were unearthed.
“I was just like ‘S---, I’m gonna get in trouble for this one.’”
— The Ringer (@ringer) October 24, 2023
Last season, a 2012 post from Austin Reaves poking fun at LeBron resurfaced. He spoke with @ryenarussillo about how he handled it in the locker room. 😂 pic.twitter.com/sTxWJR3T5o
5. “Bad Beats” is always great, but this week was extra great. As you’ll see in the Pitt–Wake Forest recap, it’s not only NFL refs who are inept.
Bad Beats
— Stanford Steve (@StanfordSteve82) October 24, 2023
week 8 pic.twitter.com/Z2Ynawk9jl
6. The latest SI Media With Jimmy Traina features a conversation with the founder and CEO of The Ringer, Bill Simmons.
Topics discussed include why Simmons doesn’t do a lot of interviews, the state of sports media, what makes someone a good podcaster, how he preps for a podcast, how he remembers his time at ESPN, whether he regrets calling Roger Goodell a “liar,” getting suspended from Twitter, his issue with how people aggregate his podcast and the ESPN NBA Countdown vs. TNT’s Inside the NBA battle.
Other topics covered include the NBA and MLB broadcaster problem, the way gambling has taken over everything in sports, his upcoming Vince McMahon Netflix documentary and much, much more.
Following Simmons, Sal Licata from WFAN radio and SNY TV in New York joins me for our weekly “Traina Thoughts” segment. This week, Jimmy and Sal discuss Twitter charging $1 a year to use the service, the reaction to the viral Chargers fan from Monday Night Football, whether the Buccaneers’ creamsicle uniforms are the best in sports and upcoming NFL schedule items. Plus, we answer listener questions.
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.
