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Traina Thoughts: Rainn Wilson Bashes World Cup, People Respond With 'The Office' Memes
1. Dwight Schrute was never afraid to say what was on his mind and that seems to be true for the phenomenal actor who portrayed him, Rainn Wilson. Clearly not afraid of the sensitive soccer crowd, Wilson went all in on the World Cup yesterday.
Soccer fans don't seem as sensitive as hockey fans when it comes to people knocking their sports, but Wilson did receive some blow back. The best part, though, was people using Dwight memes and The Office references to reply to Wilson's World Cup bashing.
2. I didn't lead with the LeBron news today because you've been inundated with takes and opinons about it for 12-15 straight hours already. (If you want a roundup of the best tweets and memes, my colleague, Dan Gartland has you covered in today's Hot Clicks.) I said last week that I didn't want him to sign with L.A. because as an old person on the East Coast, I won't be able to stay up to watch him play that much. I think it would've been so much more fun if he signed with Philly and teamed up with Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons. But instead, we'll get to watch LeBron continue to lose to the Warriors. Anyway, the one must-read story you need today on LeBron comes from SI's Lee Jenkins who has a plethora of inside details on how the signing went down. After you read the story, you should listen to Jenkins's recent appearance on the SI Media Podcast, where he talked about his prolific writing process.
3. Everyone is fawning over this Giannis Antetokounmpo tweet, but I hate it. All he's doing is giving the carnival barker exactly what he wants. Plus, if Giannis needs to be motivated by a guy who embarrasses himself to fewer than 200,000 people a day on a little-watched network, it's a bad look.
4. You won't see a better catch than the one Blue Jays center fielder Kevin Pillar made yesterday. It has everything. Long run, crazy high leap/climb, extremely difficult grab.
5. Welcome to the NFL. Giants rookie running back Saquon Barkley had the top-selling jersey over the past three months. And the Jimmy G bangwagon seems to be full, as he comes in at No. 2.
6. A very passionate and heartfelt Twitter thread about the Shake Shack burger. Enjoy.
7. Bret "The Hitman" Hart turns 61 years old today. While he'll always be most known for the Montreal Screwjob and the double turn with Stone Cold Steve Austin, people should not forget he played as big a role as anyone in blurring the lines between reality and script at the beginning of the Attitude Era. This promo is an all-timer.
8. This week's SI Media Podcast features an interview with author, podcast host and ESPN historian James Andrew Miller. Topics covered on the podcast: What is the vibe in Bristol these days? Has the narrative that ESPN has a politics problem calmed down? What will ESPN do about Get Up? Was there any fallout from Adrian Wojnarowski's epic NBA draft night on Twitter? Why did Colin Cowherd re-up with FOX Sports? Are former refs in NFL booths really necessary? Did Tony Soprano die in The Sopranos series finale. You can listen to the podcast below or download it on iTunes.
Traina Thoughts is the best of the Internet, plus musings by SI.com writer, Jimmy Traina. Get the link to a new Traina's Thoughts each day by following on Twitter and liking on Facebook. Catch up on previous editions of Traina Thoughts right here.And make sure to listen to and subscribe to the SI Media Podcast hosted by Jimmy Traina.
IN CLOSING: Craziest stat about LeBron leaving Cleveland is the Cavs went from 4-to-1 favorites to win the NBA title to 500-to-1.
