It's the 15-Year Anniversary of One of the Best Basketball Games Ever Played: TRAINA THOUGHTS
1. This Sunday, April 19, marks the 15-year anniversary of The Office's hugely popular "Basketball" episode.
The fifth episode of Season 1, which featured the office vs. the warehouse, gave us a little bit of everything: Michael being the complete buffoon that he is; Pam on the sidelines secretly rooting for Jim to destroy Roy; Dwight being Dwight; Kevin draining three-pointer after three-pointer after not being allowed to play in the game; and Stanley being a terrible basketball player.
Steve Carell talked to me about the episode on a 2019 edition of the SI Media Podcast, revealing how the shots of Brian Baumgartner (Kevin) sinking all those buckets came together.
Carell also explained how the episode was shot and what went into it on the podcast, which you can listen to below or on Apple, Spotify and Stitcher.
In addition to a wonderful 30 minutes of television, the episode also has some great deleted scenes, which you can watch below.
2. Speaking of the SI Media Podcast, we are revamping its logo and you are going to decide which one I use. Please vote in the poll below and let me know which logo you prefer. Since you don't have much else to do these days, I'm also going to ask that you PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE click this link and subscribe to the SI Media Podcast.
This week's podcast featured an interview with New York Post sports media reporter Andrew Marchand. Topics we covered included Drew Brees passing on ESPN to join NBC, CBS parting ways with Dan Fouts, Charles Davis leaving FOX for CBS, the NFL Draft, Mike Francesa vs. Funhouse and more.
You can listen to the podcast below or download it on Apple, Spotify, Stitcher and Google Play.
3. Props to Jay Glazer, who took his rough day in stride during an appearance on Chris Long's Green Light Podcast on Thursday. As we pointed out, Glazer messed up, but he handled Long's ribbing tremendously well.
4. ESPN has given us a five-minute tease for The Last Dance, which debuts Sunday night.
5. NFL scouts are some of the weirdest people on the face of the earth.
6. RANDOM YOUTUBE VIDEO OF THE DAY: I just rewatched the spectacular "Pine Barrens" episode of The Sopranos a couple of days ago and this is such an underrated scene.
If you've never heard the backstory on the scene and how Steve Schirripa made James Gandolfini crack up, here you go.
7. SPORTS HIGHLIGHT OF THE DAY: With The Last Dance debuting Sunday, we had no choice today but to remember this "spectacular move."
Be sure to catch up on past editions of Traina Thoughts and check out the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast hosted by Jimmy Traina on Apple, Spotify or Stitcher. You can also follow Jimmy on Twitter and Instagram.
