1. When the football season arrives, I like to remind you guys that ESPN’s Joe Buck and Troy Aikman are the best broadcast duo in the sport. I also like to regularly point out that Aikman is by far the best analyst in the sport and one of the main reasons why is that he doesn’t pull punches when it comes to the refs (or anything else for that matter). You guys also know that I’m not a fan of rules analysts, and that’s putting it mildly.
I tell you all this because there was a moment in last night’s awful Bengals-Broncos game, which featured 18 penalties, that was made just for me.
After the Broncos got called for a penalty, while leading 21–3 midway through the third quarter, ESPN’s rules analyst, Russell Yurk, OF COURSE, had to interrupt the broadcast to side with the refs in a totally robotic manner.
“Forceable contact with the shoulder going back toward his own goal line,” Yurk declared. “That’s a blindside block. That’s a good call.”
Reading the quote doesn’t do it justice. You have to hear the complete arrogance in Yurk’s tone as if the refs would never, ever get anything wrong.
"I'm not gonna keep my mouth shut. That's a good call. Just not a necessary call."
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 30, 2025
"Nothing brings a broadcast to a screeching halt more than these yellow flags."
"The product's just not very good. I'm gonna be honest...I mean, this is ridiculous."
- Troy Aikman pic.twitter.com/8pErfB34T2
Luckily for viewers, Aikman wasn’t having this nonsense, and, unlike the rules analysts across the networks, he isn’t in the business of insulting the intelligence of people watching the broadcast.
“I’m not gonna keep my mouth shut,” said Aikman. “That’s a good call. Just not a necessary call. He had no opportunity to try to make a play.”
YES! YES! YES!
We are in desperate need of more play-by-play people and analysts pushing back on the rules analyst when they crash the telecast to blindly defend the refs.
Aikman didn’t stop there. After taking the refs to task for throwing the unnecessary flag, he then went to a place that had to raise some eyebrows in the league office and cause a tinge of panic in Bristol after yet another penalty call.
“Nothing brings a broadcast to a screeching halt more than these yellow flags. … The product just not very good. I’m gonna be honest. Just not very good. This is ridiculous.”
Only Aikman would have the stones to say this during an NFL game.
2. I have no idea what this is about, but I am intrigued. Former ESPNer Todd McShay says that once it hits Oct. 1, he can unload on former colleague, Paul Finebaum, who McShay called, “one of the all-time cowards” in this clip.
This is how you tease a podcast. pic.twitter.com/TleallAl9n
— Jimmy Traina (@JimmyTraina) September 30, 2025
3. As the MLB playoffs get going today, the league is coming off a regular season that featured a nice ratings increase across the board. ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball was up 21% in 2025, while Fox saw a 9% increase in its ratings for the season. TNT games were up 29% as well. Hopefully the sport can keep that momentum up for the postseason.
On a side note: Since I mentioned Joe Buck above and we’re talking MLB playoffs, I still wish Buck would call one of these four wild-card series for ESPN. He should’ve been on a flight from Denver to Los Angeles last night after the Broncos game and in the booth to call Reds-Dodgers tonight.
4. Here is this week’s edition of the best segment on all of sports television: Bad Beats.
Bad Beats
— Stanford Steve (@StanfordSteve82) September 30, 2025
Week 5 pic.twitter.com/fOIPYXEYt7
5. It’s not easy to come up with a quote that fully sums up what an embarrassment the Jets have been for basically their entire existence, but running back Breece Hall met the moment Monday night after a loss to the Dolphins, saying, “Teams will shoot themselves in the foot and we come back and shoot ourselves in the head." Perfection.
"It's just a tale of three out of our four losses. Teams will shoot themselves in the foot and we come back and shoot ourselves in the head."
— Jets Videos (@snyjets) September 30, 2025
- Breece Hall pic.twitter.com/N7bWZZD30v
6. The latest episode of SI Media With Jimmy Traina features a conversation with ESPN and Amazon Prime’s Kirk Herbstreit.
Herbstreit talks about what College GameDay has been like without Lee Corso, the popularity of the show’s field-goal contest segment, Pat McAfee volunteering Herbstreit to donate money to the contest winners without clearing it with Herbstreit first, McAfee’s viral dive in a speedo on a recent GameDay episode and what Nick Saban brings to GameDay.
In addition, Herbstreit breaks down his crazy schedule with Thursday Night Football, College GameDay and ABC’s top game of the week, explains his issues with college football’s schedule, and reveals where he stands on the Tush Push.
Following Herbstreit, Sal Licata from WFAN radio and SNY TV in New York joins me for our weekly “Traina Thoughts” segment. This week, we discuss my appearance on a Bill Simmons Reddit page, our weekly gambling outcomes, baseball implementing the ABS challenge system, the NFL Today’s throwback edition featuring Brent Musburger, Sal having to go to a 50th birthday party during a big football day and much more.
You can listen to the SI Media With Jimmy Traina podcast below or on Apple and Spotify.
You can also watch SI Media With Jimmy Traina on Sports Illustrated‘s YouTube channel.
7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: It was 40 years ago today that Howard Stern got fired from WNBC, which ended up being the best thing that could ever happen to him professionally. One of the best things to come out of Stern’s firing was that he ended up doing some interviews right after getting axed, including this one, which is just vintage ’80s.
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 X and Instagram.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Thanks Goodness We Have Troy Aikman Calling Games.
