1. NFL refs were again front and center in Thursday night’s Seahawks-Cowboys game, with 19 penalties being called.
After yet another penalty at the end of the first half, Amazon play-by-play man Al Michaels said, “There’s a flag. What else is new?”
But that was just a warm-up for Michaels. Late in the third quarter, after referee Clete Blakeman made yet another appearance on our screens to tell us about another penalty, Michaels let it fly, telling partner Kirk Herbstreit, “We’re gonna take the rest of the night off and let Clete Blakeman call the game.”
"we're gonna take the rest of the night off and let Clete Blakeman call the game" lol https://t.co/HydbjreBu3 pic.twitter.com/JehvOOCTDJ
— alex (@highlightheaven) December 1, 2023
This is the beauty about being in the “I don’t give a f---“ part of your career.
While Michaels’s bosses at Amazon might get a phone call from the NFL about Al's comments, Seahawks coach Pete Carrroll might actually get a fine, because he also went after the refs in his postgame press conference following the Seahawks’ 41–36 loss.
“It’s unfortunate that it feels like there was a whole other factor in this game,” Carroll said. “I don’t know, you guys saw it a lot better than I did, but there was just way too many penalties in this game, for both sides. We’ve got to get out of that kind of football.”
Carroll later added more comments about the refs, saying, “They know the game, they know how to make these calls, but they can’t call everything that when there’s a little this and a little that, and particularly when it doesn’t affect the play,” he said. “I’ll spend some time on this in the offseason for sure. And I’m not saying I’ve got all the answers. I’m not saying that at all. I’m just saying that I think the game needs to be adjusted here somewhat because there’s too much emphasis on those situations.”
2. We told you in Thursday’s “Traina Thoughts” about NFL content creator Kevin Fitzgibbons, who had his credentials suspended for the rest of the season by the league after Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill grabbed an iPhone from his hand so Hill could film himself doing a backflip after scoring a touchdown in a Week 6 game against the Panthers.
Hill revealed Thursday that he’ll be paying Fitzgibbons’s salary for the remainder of the year. Nice job by Hill cleaning up the messed by the NFL and the bullies in the league’s front office.
Tyreek Hill’s response on @kfitzsports getting suspended - “I told him I was going to cover his salary, whatever the NFL was going to pay him…I told him I was going to make sure that I do what’s right and take care of you, make sure you’re not out of a job. That’s my guy.” pic.twitter.com/oVFzj4tNDU
— Giselle Espinales (@GiselleSports) December 1, 2023
3. Ian Eagle’s son, Noah, will fill in for his dad and call some Nets games on the YES Network this season. Noah made an appearance during Thursday’s Charlotte-Brooklyn game, which led to him getting scolded by Ian (who recently appeared on the SI Media podcast).
"Over the moon!"@NoahEagle15 describes his excitement level of joining the YES broadcasting team to @Meghan_Triplett. pic.twitter.com/oQhnNEVVPi
— YES Network (@YESNetwork) December 1, 2023
4. Here are what the betting lines will look like for some possible College Football Playoff matchups.
Some hypothetical CFB lines from @andrewssports
— Chris Fallica (@chrisfallica) November 29, 2023
Georgia-15 v FSU
Michigan -12 v FSU
Georgia -8 v Texas
Michigan -5 v Texas
Georgia -1 v Oregon
Oregon -2 v Michigan
Georgia -10 v Washington
Michigan -7 v Washington
Texas -7 v FSU
5. Knicks forward Julius Randle does not care about your marriage proposal!
Wait for it pic.twitter.com/waf1N4VZxG
— New York Basketball (@NBA_NewYork) December 1, 2023
6. A new SI Media With Jimmy Traina episode dropped Thursday morning, and it features a conversation with broadcaster Mike Tirico of NBC.
The voice of Sunday Night Football discusses how much he pays attention to the schedule and flex possibilities late in the season, whether he’s feeling more comfortable in his second year as the SNF’s play-by-play guy, whether NBC went too far covering Taylor Swift’s appearance at the Chiefs-Jets game in Week 4, watching the O.J. Simpson Bronco chase with Lee Corso, whether he’d hear from the NFL if he dropped a betting stat during a game, why quarterback play has been a problem this season and much more.
Following Tirico, Sal Licata from WFAN radio and SNY TV in New York joins me for our weekly “Traina Thoughts” segment. This week we talk about my betting hot streak, the amazing trend of NFL unders hitting in prime-time games, Spotify’s year-end “Wrapped” feature, Sal’s issue with his car automatic starter and more.
You can listen to the podcast below or download it on Apple, Spotify and Google.
You can also watch SI Media With Jimmy Traina on Sports Illustrated’s YouTube channel.
