1. Charles Barkley is unlike any broadcaster in the history of sports media. There is no other person of his profile who would go on a national radio show and give all the details of his negotiations with one company and where he stands with another company.
But Barkley did it Monday during an interview with Dan Patrick, where he opened up about the possible LIV Golf Tour merger and departure from TNT.
Besides saying, “Of course it’s about the money” and that LIV would have to give him an “astronomical” deal to get him to leave Turner Sports, Barkley gave Patrick a bunch of information about where he stands the one with TNT and LIV.
- Barkley had dinner with LIV Golf boss Greg Norman last week, but LIV has not made Barkley an official offer.
- Turner has not contacted or spoken to Barkley about his future. “They’ve been very quiet,” Barkley said.
- Barkley told Patrick he makes about $20 million a year between Turner and endorsements. If LIV offered $60 million per year, Barkley would take the LIV offer.
- Barkley said he has given LIV enough publicity for the week. If LIV doesn’t make him an offer by Thursday night, he’s probably done with joining LIV. “I’m not going to keep TNT in limbo,” Barkley said.
Given the money LIV has thrown at golfers, I’d be surprised if they didn’t give Barkley the money he wants. It’s pretty annoying, but I honestly think we’ve seen the last of Barkley Inside the NBA.
And while Barkley’s comments are the news here, I have to say one thing: Dan Patrick is an incredible interviewer. He asked Barkley every question that needed to be asked.
2. The Blue Jays beat the Red Sox 28–5 on Friday, 4–1 on Saturday and 8–4 on Sunday. That adds up to 40 runs for Toronto and 10 for Boston. The Red Sox were led by a comedy of errors that you have to see to believe.
3. Cardinals shortstop Miles Mikolas appeared in his postgame interviews Sunday wearing a cowboy hat.
This led to studio analyst Al Hrabosky wanting to make a Ron Burgundy reference. However, Hrabosky dropped the name of a famous porn star, which led to a huge backlash from Hrabosky’s on-air partner.
4. WWE on Monday officially announced Stephanie McMahon and Nick Khan as co-CEOs.
More importantly for WWE viewers, the company also announced that Triple H, aka Paul Levesque, “will assume all responsibilities associated with being the creator of WWE in addition to his regular duties.”
It will be fascinating to see if Levesque can implement any changes he wants, considering that while Vince McMahon has left the company, he is still Levesque’s father-in-law.
5. I missed this last week because I don’t pay attention to anything related to the ESPYs, but Kevin Durant responding on Twitter to Peyton Manning’s jokes about him at the 2017 ESPYs was vintage Kevin Durant.
6. This week’s SI Media Podcast features a fun conversation with the always entertaining Peter Schrager.
Topics covered include changes to Good morning Football actors, inside stories from Sean McVay’s recent wedding, Zach Wilson’s latest turn in the spotlight, which current NFL players would make good broadcasters, the death of comedy in movies, Legacy even more.
You can listen to the podcast below or download it on Apple, Spotify and Google.
You can also watch SI Media Podcast on YouTube.
7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: Congratulations Chris “Mad Dog” Russo. It was announced Monday morning that Doggie will be inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame later this year. In honor of the occasion, let’s revisit a classic Mad Dog moment.
Make sure that catch up with past issues of Traina Thoughts and look Illustrated Sports Media Podcast hosted by Jimmy Traina at Apple, Spotify or Google. You can also follow Jimmy at I tweet, Instagram AND TIK Tok.