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Traina Thoughts: Bob Costas Takes FS1, MLB to Task Over Postseason Coverage
1. Bob Costas appeared on Chris "Mad Dog" Russo's SiriusXM show Wednesday to talk about the 2019 baseball season, but the duo made sure to remind everyone of what a debacle the 2018 postseason was in terms of television coverage.
Ridiculously late start times was a major problem during the 2018 playoffs, but Costas and Russo also discussed the issue of the games airing on FS1.
"How the hell can you have Game 7 of the LCS between the Brewers and the Dodgers, one step from the World Series, be on FS1, which many people either don't have or casual fans don't know where to find it," Costas asked Russo.
The veteran brodcaster was just getting started, and pivoted to also taking a shot at the NFL while knocking MLB.
"And how, by the way, can by contract, the almighty, high-handed NFL be able to dictate that Joe Buck has to detour from Boston, after Game 2 of the World Series, on the one off day prior to Game 3 of the Series, in Los Angeles, has to detour to Houston, for a game between the Texans and I don't even remember who, some utterly meaningless, in the long run, Thursday Night Football game, has to do that game and then go off to Los Angeles, and by the way the game turned out to be 18 innings and it's a tribute to Joe Buck that he's able to do both so capably, but what does that say implicitly... would the NFL stand for it if during Super Bowl week, the game was on NBC and Mike Tirico went off to do Bowling Green against Kent State on NBCSN, would they stand for that?"
Costas was not done, saying, "When you've got a college football game, the outcome of which I cannot even remember, being on instead of Game 7 of the LCS, you got a big problem."
Costas, who works for MLB Network, continued on by telling a story about people not being able to watch postseason games in hotels because most don't carry FS1.
I've always thought the "can't find the games" narrative was a little weird because all you have to do is hit "Guide" on your remote control and do a little scrolling and you can find the game. I guess this is an issue for technologically challenged people, and, yes, the casual fan is not going to have FS1 at the front of their minds, so maybe it's a more legit issue than I thought. I do think postseason start times are a much bigger problem that is doing long-term damage to the game. Playoff games were ending at 3 a.m. on the east coast last season.
However, Costas's point about FOX putting a useless Pac-12 fooball game on its network and shipping an LCS game off to FS1 is dead on. It's nothing but an embarrassment for Major League Baseball.
Sadly for Costas, Russo and most baseball fans, the FS1 problem is here to stay because MLB signed a new deal with FOX in November that will allow them to put playoff games on FS1 through 2028.
2. I missed this Thursday after I took the day off to go to Yankee Stadium, but Charlotte Flair ripping ESPN over how they described her via graphics was pretty intense.
3. Speaking of ESPN, I pointed out on Wednesday that the company didn't seem to be covering the story of awful Betsy DeVos proposing to cut $18 million in funding for the Special Olympics, and I pointed out that Kevin Negandhi did a tremendous job addressing it on Twitter. That day Tony Reali and Julie Foudy both weighed in with their thoughts, so props to both of them and ESPN.
4. The newest Sports Illustrated Media Podcast features an interview with Darren Rovell. The senior executive producer for the Action Network talks about whether it was difficult to leave ESPN for his new company, the challenges of working for a startup, his daily responsibilities, what he’s learned about gamblers, whether he likes sportsbooks offering refunds for losing wagers, what gamblers want from media outlets that cover gambling, remaining in the sports business world, his reaction to Zion Williamson’s shoe exploding, whether Tony Romo is worth $10 million a year and much more.
You can listen to the podcast below or download it on iTunes, Spotify or Google Play.
5. Doesn't get any better than this. Great job by Giannis.
6. Watching this GIF is a perfect way to take you into the weekend.
7. RANDOM YOUTUBE VIDEO OF THE DAY: Veep, which might be the fourth best sitcom of all time, behind Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiam and The Office, returns to HBO this Sunday. We celebrate the return with this VERY NSFW compilation of the show's best insults.
Be sure to catch up on past editions of Traina Thoughts and check out the Sports Illustarted Media Podcast hosted by Jimmy Traina. You can also follow on Twitter and Instagram.
IN CLOSING: That Greg Schiano story is gonna be so juicy when it comes out.
