Some Media Members Offer a Weak, Cringeworthy Defense of Pat Fitzgerald
1. In this day and age of conspiracy theories, things that seem straightforward get questioned or doubted.
The Pat Fitzgerald situation is straightforward. Northwestern football players revealed detailed accounts of hazing. Other players alleged Fitzgerald made Black players cut their dreadlocks, among other things. The school did an investigation. University president Michael Schill said 11 current or former college athletes acknowledged the hazing with the football team. Fitzgerald got fired.
This is not a complicated story.
Yet, some in the media made sure to go public with their opinion that there may be more to the story.
Actually, the details we have now seem like more than enough. There is no need for “many more details to come.” Eleven players confirmed the hazing. Do you need 15 to confirm it? Twenty? What’s the magic number? Also, Pat Fitzgerald’s being charismatic has absolutely nothing to do with whether Northwestern players were participating in hazing.
You never heard anyone have a bad thing to say about him, but 11 players just corroborated the hazing accusations. That means (a) you have heard someone have a bad thing to say about him, and (b) he didn’t run his program the right way.
Again, 11 people told the university president that hazing was going on, not one or two. Just because you like Pat Fitzgerald, that doesn't mean the players revealing what happened are lying.
And let me be clear about something because I know many of the Fitzgerald defenders are going to say, “He didn’t know about the hazing.”
Whether he knew is irrelevant. He’s the head football coach. If he didn’t know, that’s also on him.
The only take these people should have is that the kids at The Daily Northwestern did something that took guts in reporting the story about their own school, and they were ultimately proved right based on the president’s statement.
2. Speaking of bizarre media stuff, this Seattle radio host harassing Orioles pitcher Félix Bautista about Baltimore’s social media team nicknaming him “King Félix” because he feels it’s a slight to Mariners legend Félix Hernández is so embarrassing and just plain weird.
3. Our friend on Twitter, @SportsTVRatings provided us with an update on viewership numbers for various sports events over the weekend.
What should be noted is that WWE’s Friday Night SmackDown on Fox outrated all these sporting events, drawing 2,561,000 viewers. I was at this show since it took place in Madison Square Garden and if you’re a wrestling fan who has the chance to attend a live show, you must. Being in the stands for Roman Reigns demanding that the crowd acknowledge him and for nearly 20,000 people all singing Seth Rollins’s theme song for what felt like five minutes straight was absolutely electric.
4. Speaking of ratings, ESPN's various SportsCenters have experienced ratings growth, led by recent SI Media podcast guest Scott Van Pelt, whose viewership is up 13% over the first half of 2022.
5. Netflix's documentary, Quarterback, which covered the 2022 seasons of Patrick Mahomes, Kirk Cousins and Marcus Mariota, comes out Wednesday and based on the trailer, looks like a must-watch.
6. Before I left for vacation, I dropped two podcasts.
First up was a great conversation with Adam Schein of SiriusXM and CBS Sports Network.
Schein talked about the challenges of doing a national show for SiriusXM and the differences between hosting a radio show and podcast, who he'd like to interview right now, what he does on the radio during a slow news day, the radio gimmicks he hates, why he took on a podcast, having the perfect voice for radio and more.
I also did a quick podcast about the ESPN layoffs and shared my thoughts on the sad turn of events at the World Wide Leader. This podcast also featured my weekly “Traina Thoughts” segment where we read Apple reviews for the month of June.
You can also listen to the podcasts on Apple, Spotify and Google.
You can also watch SI Media With Jimmy Traina on YouTube.
7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: I saw this video on Twitter and had no recollection of when it happened. Slugger Albert Belle, who should be in the Hall of Fame, was once hit by a pitch but refused to go to first base.
Be sure to catch up on past editions of Traina Thoughts and check out SI Media With Jimmy Traina on Apple, Spotify or Google. You can also follow Jimmy on Twitter, Instagram and TikTok.
