NFL Draft Prospects + Bellagio Fountains + Boats = So Many Twitter Fantasies
1. The NFL announced Tuesday that players at this year's draft, which will be held in Las Vegas beginning April 23, will be transported to the red carpet stage by boat.
This is an important distinction: The players will not be going to the stage via boat after they are selected by a team during the actual draft. The boats will only be used during the red carpet nonsense at the Fountains of Bellagio.
But because reading comprehension isn't exactly a strong suit for people on Twitter, everyone saw a tweet yesterday and immediately assumed draft picks were coming to the stage by boat after Roger Goodell announced their selection.
You can't blame fans for jumping the gun, though. The fantasies they had about what could happen to Joe Burrow and Roger Goodell, specifically, were just overwhelming. Offshore betting sites even offered prop bets.
So while the players won't be going to the stage via boat during the actual draft, water and boats will still be a big part of the day, and here's what people want to see.
2. The two weeks between the AFC and NFC championship games and the Super Bowl are, in my opinion, the worst two weeks of the sports year. Nothing happens, and everyone has to try to create fake storylines about two teams.
There is one good thing about this time period, though: Chris "Mad Dog" Russo's Super Bowl trivia contest on SiriusXM. If you're unfamiliar with the contest, callers have to answer four questions correctly to win tickets to the Super Bowl. Russo harasses, badgers and roots against the callers. The result, as you'll hear below, is radio gold.
3. I don't really care if the Astros apologize or not because they cheated, got caught and got punished. But society is very big on phony apologies, so the Astros have to do something. However, I'm not sure this is the best plan since (1) this is not how apologies work and (2) this will not end the ridicule or scorn the players will face all season.
4. This is a cool clip from Sunday's NFC title game, in which Niners coach Kyle Shanahan tells the ref what is going to happen on a play, including a holding penalty, before the snap. Sure enough, there was a a hold and it was called.
5. Someone let these people know that the game is a million times better on TV than it is in person.
6. FOX NFL Sunday host Curt Menefee joined the latest episode of the SI Media Podcast. Menefee gave us the inside scoop of Jimmy Johnson's Hall of Fame surprise Wednesday night (Menefee was the only cast member who knew about it) and talked about his approach for the five-hour pregame show he has to host on Super Bowl Sunday this year.
Menefee also talked about getting the hosting job after James Brown left for CBS, what it's like to work with Terry Bradshaw, his relationship with other pregame show hosts, his impression of Gronk after working with him this season and much more.
You can listen to the podcast below or download it on Apple, Spotify, Stitcher and Google Play.
7. RANDOM YOUTUBE VIDEO OF THE DAY: Ric Flair won the 1992 Royal Rumble and his postmatch interview with Bobby Heenan, Mr. Perfect and Mean Gene was epic.
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 Stitcher. You can also follow Jimmy on Twitter and Instagram.
