Traina Thoughts: Northwestern's Pat Fitzgerald Thinks People Don't Go to College Football Games Because of Smartphones

Northwestern football coach Pat Fitzgerald rants about people using their phones.

1. In one of the more "get off my lawn" rants you'll ever see, Northwestern football coach Pat Fitzgerald somehow blamed smartphones for the decline in college football attendance.

"I think phones, I think technology has been the decline in attendance," said Fitzgerald in a sentence that didn't exactly make total sense on Friday.

He later added that fans would "rather have 12 TVs set up in their TV watching cave than go to a game and experience the pageantry and tailgating."

NO KIDDING! Multiple TVs at home will always be better than going to a college football game. The home-viewing experience is a far superior experience than attending a game when it comes to football and it has nothing to do with iPhones.

Why go to a Northwestern game and get stuck having to watch only that game on that Saturday when you can stay home and watch all the good games? Why deal with people who behave like animals at live sporting events? Why deal with offensive prices for food and drinks?

Fitzgerald seemed to have a much bigger problem with the impact phones and social media have made on society (he was very angry that people at dinner look at their phones instead of having conversation with one another), but he tried to shoehorn in his odd take that the phones have caused a decline in college football attendance.

Whether every single person in America had a smartphone or not, and whether Instagram existed or not, nobody wants to go to a Northwestern-Indiana game in the middle of November when it's freezing outside. Sorry.

2. Speaking of social media controversies, some people on Twitter—of course—are upset because Tom Brady jumped off a cliff while pulling his daughter along with him because she seemed afraid.

Here's what I don't understand about this: You're Tom Brady. You're the greatest quarterback of all time. You have a great life, great kids, great wife and more money than you'll ever need. Why on Earth would you even waste one second of your life posting anything on Instagram?

3. The Dan Le Batard saga continued on Monday. He skipped his radio show because he wasn't mentally prepared to do it after "going back and forth" with ESPN president Jimmy Pitaro about the network's "no politics talk" policy. Le Batard, though, was slated to do his Highly Questionable TV show on Monday and ESPN expects him back on the radio on Tuesday.

4. How did Mariano Rivera memorize his lines for this TV commercial?

5. The trailer for the upcoming movie A Beatiful Day in the Neighborhood starring Tom Hanks as Mister Rogers was released Monday morning. Just give Hanks the Oscar for best actor right now.

6. If you're an NFL fan, make sure you listen to the newest SI Media Podcast with Sports Business Journal's John Ourand, who went in-depth on the league's broadcasting future, streaming possibilities, Sunday Ticket, Red Zone channel and whether ABC/ESPN would get additional games. We also talked about FOX's new college football pregame show, ratings for the MLB All-Star Game and Women's World Cup, and much more.

You can listen to the podcast below or download it on iTunes, Spotify or Google Play.

7. RANDOM YOUTUBE VIDEO OF THE DAY: Happy 54th birthday to WWE legend Shawn Michaels. Most people think of the Montreal Screwjob when they think of Michaels, but I always think of this first. Plus this might have been Bobby Heenan's greatest performance.

Be sure to catch up on past editions of Traina Thoughts and check out the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast hosted by Jimmy Traina on iTunes, Spotify or Google Play. You can also follow Jimmy on Twitter and Instagram.

IN CLOSING: Odell Beckham saying he kept the New York Giants brand "alive" is one of the great delusional quotes of my lifetime.