'Monday Night Football' or Game 7 of the NBA Finals? TRAINA THOUGHTS
1. Let's go into fantasy land for a minute, because we could all use a little fantasy right now.
Based on potential plans for leagues restarting their season, there is a possibility sports fans would be faced with making a decision on Monday, Oct. 12.
With the NBA's latest proposal to restart its season on July 31, Game 7 of the Finals would be played on Monday, Oct. 12. On that same night, the Chargers will play the Saints in New Orleans.
Obviously, we would need the NBA Finals to go seven games for this to be an issue. And we'd need the NFL season to have no interruptions because of anything related to the coronavirus. And, yes, I know most legit sports fans will watch one game and stream the other. But like I said, let's go into fantasy land.
The ratings for this head-to-head matchup will be fascinating for sports media nerds.
The NBA will win, but by how much is the question.
You'd think Game 7 of the NBA Finals would easily top a regular season NFL game, but you can't discount how many people watch Monday Night Football for their fantasy football matchup and wagering. When money is on the line for people, they're going to watch with their wallets.
There's also the LeBron factor. If the NBA has The King and the Lakers in the NBA Finals, their margin of victory would be more significant over MNF than if another team from the Western Conference makes the Finals. The NBA also has the network TV vs. cable TV advantage.
But don't underestimate how much damage even a regular season NFL game will do to the ratings of a winner-take-all championship game.
Either way, Disney wins big because the NBA Finals will air on ABC and Monday Night Football airs on ESPN.
2. Dr. Fauci has gone missing, but a horse named Fauci is ready to run at Belmont today.
3. Today marks the anniversary of a busy day for Vin Scully. On Saturday, June 3, 1989, Scully called a Cubs-Cardianls game that went 10 innings for NBC in the afternoon. He flew to Houston so he could call the Dodgers-Astros game locally on Sunday. However, when he landed in Houston on Saturday, he headed to the Astrodome because that day's Dodgers-Astros game had gone into extra innings. In fact, it went 22 innings, so Vin ended up calling 13 innings of that game.
In total, he called 23 innings in two cities in one day.
Here is the final out from the Cubs-Cardinals game if you want some Vin and '80s nostalgia.
4. Just want to give a shout out to Spencer Hall, who announced on Tuesday that he was leaving SB Nation after 11 years. Most of you know that I created and wrote Hot Clicks from 2007 to 2013 (now written by Dan Gartland, who does an amazing job) and I have such a huge amount of respect for "bloggers" from that era who did great work while cultivating big followings in the pre-Twitter era, such as Greg Wyshynski, J.E. Skeets, Tas Melas and others. If you're a college football fan, you know that Hall's "Everyday Should be Saturday" blog was legendary.
5. Erin Andrews is the guest on the latest SI Media Podcast. Andrews talked about what it could be like doing sideline reports in empty NFL stadiums, the excitement surrounding the Bucs-Saints Week 1 matchup, Phyllis George's place in sports broadcasting history and dealing with critics. Andrews also told a couple of outstanding stories about Larry David attending her wedding, discussed quarantine life and shared some kitchen disaster stories.
You can listen to the podcast below or download it on Apple, Spotify, Stitcher and Google Play.
6. RANDOM YOUTUBE VIDEO OF THE DAY: Meant to post this a couple of weeks ago when it was the five-year anniversary of David Letterman's final show and forget because I'm a dope. Julia Louis-Dreyfus' delivery on her line for the last Top 10 List remains one of my favorite moments ever on TV.
7. SPORTS HIGHLIGHT OF THE DAY: I don't know how I've never seen this before this morning, but here is two-and-a-half minutes of Steve Austin giving the Stone Cold Stunner to The Rock and The Rock selling them like there's no tomorrow.
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.
