Al Michaels Was Not a Fan of the Rams’ P.A. Announcer

Also in Traina Thoughts: a message for Baker Mayfield; a tale of two calls; Marshawn Lynch prank and much more.

1. Legendary play-by-play man Al Michaels has had to deal with a rough schedule during Amazon Prime’s first year airing Thursday Night Football, and he hasn't been shy about expressing his frustrations.

The latest TNF game featured another dud matchup with the 5–7 Raiders facing the 3–9 Rams. The game was played at SoFi Stadium, where Los Angeles rarely has a home field advantage. Throughout the season, the stadium has been so filled with the sounds of opposing fans that the Rams have had to use a silent count. At home!

So with the Raiders in town, Michaels and analyst Kirk Herbstreit speculated at one point about which team had more fans in the building.

“It’s hard to tell where the crowd is right now,” said Michaels. “I think mainly Raiders a little bit, but you have a P.A. announcer here who incessantly screams, ‘WHOSE HOUSE?’”

Herbstreit interjected, “You love it.”

“I hate it,” snapped Michaels.

“He wants them to say, ‘Rams’ house,’” continued Michaels, “but as far as the Raiders are concerned, well, this is kinda like their Airbnb.”

Salty Al Michaels is the best Al Michales. pic.twitter.com/vwgxkkz6SM

— Jimmy Traina (@JimmyTraina) December 9, 2022

Viewers seemed to get a kick out Michaels’s strong dislike for the P.A. announcer.

al Michaels calling the Rams house, the Raider’s “AirBnB” is the most goated announcer call of the season

— a can of sprite remix (@bigbillhellsMD) December 9, 2022

i want someone to love me with the intensity that Al Michaels hates the Whose House Rams guy

— Blooper (@BlooperBraves) December 9, 2022

Al Michaels roasting the Rams “whose House?” stadium chant is hilarious

— Brad (@Graham_SFN) December 9, 2022

Al Michaels: "It's tough to tell who has more fans here but the Rams have this announcer that incessantly screams 'Whose House'.... I hate it...."

Lmao

— Trader Aaron (@Vrabel56) December 9, 2022

wow, hope the Rams PA announcer isn't an Al Michaels fan, because Michaels just killed him lol

— The Mad Raider (@RaiderLoot) December 9, 2022

i've never heard al michaels as upset as he is about the rams pa announcer yelling "WHOSE HOUSE" lmao

— Robby Kalland (@RKalland) December 9, 2022

2. I understand that last night was basically a fairytale for Baker Mayfield. Several hours later, it’s still hard to fathom what Mayfield did in bringing the Rams back from a deficit to pull off a wild win after being with the team for two days. BUT PLEASE STOP DOING THIS, BAKER!

a literal Ram pic.twitter.com/obqzFMxYb1

— NFL (@NFL) December 9, 2022

The Baker Mayfield head butts are BACK pic.twitter.com/0NSDTDXOYe

— Jack Duffy (@TheJackDuffy) December 9, 2022

3. What a stat.

Making last night that much more improbable: Teams are now 4-551 when trailing by 13 or more points in the final four minutes in the last five seasons, including playoffs. Half of those four wins have come in the last four days, courtesy of Tom Brady and Baker Mayfield.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) December 9, 2022

4. Denver’s Jamal Murray drained a three with .9 seconds remaining to give his team a 121–120 win against Portland last night.

Naturally, the Nuggets’ TV call was electric.

JAMAL MURRAY CALLED GAME pic.twitter.com/gy97R3qlif

— NBA (@NBA) December 9, 2022

Just as, if not more, amusing was how un-electric the Portland TV call was.

5. This was good use of Marshawn Lynch on Amazon Prime’s pregame show last night.

6. A brand new SI Media Podcast dropped this morning and this week’s guest is The Athletic’s sports media reporter, Richard Deitsch. Topics covered include:

• Fox's World Cup coverage
• Jon Heyman whiffing on Aaron Judge
  
• Adam Schefter doing PR for Deshaun Watson
• Is TNF on Amazon a success?
• Athletes as podcasters
• Good Morning America scandal
• ManningCast

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

You can also watch the SI Media Podcast on YouTube.

7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: Today is the fourth anniversary of this play.

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.