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Justin Bieber Headed for Conflict With Lightning-Rangers Eastern Conference Final Game 7?

Also in Traina Thoughts: NBA Finals ratings; Mets broadcaster debate ‘stroking out’

Jimmy Traina

1. Is it too late to say Sorry? (bad Justin Bieber song pun No. 1)

That’s what the pop star may be saying to his Beliebers if he has to cancel a scheduled concert at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday, June 14.

If the Lightning-Rangers Eastern Conference Final goes seven games, Game 7 is scheduled to be played Tuesday, June 14 at Madison Square Garden.

Oops!

This is not the first time we’ve seen potential concert-sporting event conflict. Back in 2015, the Astros and Taylor Swift were set up for a possible scheduling issue, but the Astros showed good Intentions (bad Bieber song pun No. 2) and took care of the problem months in advance:

The problem with the Bieber-Rangers dual booking is the Bieber concert is getting moved on super-short notice or the Eastern Conference Final would have to get delayed. Game 7 between the Lightning and Rangers couldn’t be moved up to Monday, June 13 because Biebs is not just playing at MSG One Time. (bad Bieber song pun No. 3) He is also doing a show on the 13th at MSG.

A source told me Tuesday that if there is indeed a conflict, the Bieber show would get postponed a day to Wednesday, June 15, which would leave some Bieber fans asking, “What Do You Mean?” (bad Bieber song pun No. 4)

That would mean the NHL and the Rangers would feel the wrath of the Beliebers, and that won’t be fun.

The Bieber fans, though, should be happy the concert would just get postponed and not cancelled because then they really would've been out of luck.

Here are some other Yummy (bad Bieber song pun No. 5) responses I’ve gotten over the past 24 hours since tweeting about this news:

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You can see plenty of more responses under this tweet:

2. ABC has gotten just under 12 million viewers for Game 1 and Game 2 of the NBA Finals between the Celtics and Warriors. That’s not great considering you have a storied franchise in Boston and an all-time great in Steph Curry going head-to-head.

3. Mets announcers Gary Cohen and Keith Hernandez spent a lot of time last night talking about stroking.

4. I’ve always tried not to rely on the easy go-to of bashing some nonsensical list or rankings in Traina Thoughts. I’m waiving that rule today to point out this is one of the worst lists I’ve ever seen. Kliff Kingsbury, who has done nothing, at 4? Mike McCarthy, who is beyond awful at clock management, at 10, but no Mike Tomlin? And the cherry on top of the sundae, no Sean McVay COMING OFF A SUPER BOWL CHAMPIONSHIP?!? If you’re going to make a list, try to have it have some credibility.

5. The New York Post‘s Andrew Marchand reports that the longtime voice of the Yankees, John Sterling, will cut back on his schedule in the second half of the season and miss about 25–30 road games. If you’ve followed me for a while, you know that there are few people I enjoy more in the sports broadcasting world than the man known as Pa Pinstripe (who once appeared on the SI Media Podcast), so this bummed me out. But Sterling, who will be 84 years old on July 4, so this was inevitable. If you’re a Sterling fan, enjoy him now as much as you can.

6. The latest SI Media Podcast features a conversation with The Athletic’s media reporter and former SI writer Richard Deitsch.

Among the topics covered: why it’s become a thing to knock Bill Simmons; is the Greg Olsen–Tom Brady–Fox Sports situation “weird”?; what the Brady–Fox Sports deal is all about; ManningCast copycats; NESN to offer its own streaming service for $29.99 a month; and Al Michaels being named emeritus at NBC Sports.

We also talked about Deitsch’s decision to stop tweeting on Feb. 20 and when he’ll be back on the social media service.

Following Deitsch is the weekly “Traina Thoughts” segment with Sal Licata from WFAN radio and SNY TV in New York. Jimmy and Sal break down the surreal Tommy Pham–Joc Pederson–Mike Trout fantasy football controversy, share their thoughts on Derek Jeter joining Twitter and answer listener emails.

You can listen to the podcast below or download it on Apple, Spotify and Google.

7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: Today, June 7, would've been the 64th birthday of Prince, who still has the best Super Bowl halftime show of all time.

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 Google. You can also follow Jimmy on Twitter, Instagram and TikTok.

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Jimmy Traina
JIMMY TRAINA

Jimmy Traina is a staff writer and podcast host for Sports Illustrated. A 20-year veteran in the industry, he’s been covering the sports media landscape for seven years and writes a daily column, Traina Thoughts. Traina has hosted the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast since 2018, a show known for interviews with some of the most important and powerful people in sports media. He also was the creator and writer of SI’s Hot Clicks feature from 2007 to '13.

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