Traina Thoughts: Kirk Herbstreit Shut Down by ESPN Producer After Ill-Advised Michigan State Tweet

An ESPN producer was not happy with Kirk Herbstreit's ill-advisted tweet about Michigan State coverage.

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1. There was some legit ESPN-on-ESPN crime going down on Twitter on Thursday thanks to Kirk Herbstreit.

The network's lead college football analyst was reacting to the NCAA clearing Michigan State of any potential violations, which ended the investigations into the school’s handling of Larry Nassar’s repeated sexual abuse and allegations of student misconduct in the football and men’s basketball programs.

Herbstreit fired off this missive in a now-deleted tweet: “Can't wait to watch, read, and listen to ALL the follow up stories from the same folks that had @MSUBasketball and @MSU_Football Guilty Until Proven Innocent. Is that one reporter that followed Coach Izzo around at post game pressers gonna chase him down now?!?”

Besides being a bad take, the other issue here is that the reporter Herbstreit called out just so happens to work for—cue the SportsCenter theme in your brain—DaDaDa, DaDaDa: ESPN and Outside the Lines!

And the producer in question, Nicole Noren, did not let Herbstreit's tweet go by unanswered.

Thanks Kirk. We also look forward to the follow-up stories we’re working on about holding education officials accountable in regards to reports of violence against women.
p.s. https://t.co/CnU3Dt5181

— nicole noren (@nicole_noren) August 30, 2018

Naturally, after the fallout, Herbstreit offered the obligatory apology.

I've seen some strong reactions to my now deleted tweet about MSU. I apologize for the unnecessary dig at the reporters who worked hard on an important story.

— Kirk Herbstreit (@KirkHerbstreit) August 30, 2018

Seems like ESPN may need to update its social media policy for talent to include an item about not criticizing journalists for, you know, actually doing their jobs.

2. Peyton Manning says he came very close to not doing the famous "United Way" skit when he hosted Saturday Night Live in 2007.

"I want him to hit my kid in the face." 😂

Peyton Manning shares how that United Way SNL skit almost didn't happen: https://t.co/gdI6SB6Ybw

— Indianapolis Colts (@Colts) August 30, 2018

Thank goodness Manning listened to reason so we could be treated to this gem:

3. Yet another reason I love Baker Mayfield. Remember when the No Fun Police had a fit because he did this at Ohio State last year?

Baker Mayfield just did that. pic.twitter.com/Qo2Aw1pPE8

— ESPN (@espn) September 10, 2017

Mayfield is now spoofing his flag plant in a new commercial.

Baker Mayfield announces his presence at the Nissan Heisman House with authority.#PlantTheFlag #Sooners https://t.co/25huUEvXAh

— 𝕺𝖐𝖑𝖆𝖍𝖔𝖒𝖆 𝖛𝖘. 𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝖂𝖔𝖗𝖑𝖉 (@soonergridiron) August 30, 2018

4. THE SPORTS ILLUSTRATED MEDIA PODCAST

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If you're a sports media nerd or a superfan of The Office or both, you will thoroughly enjoy the latest SI Media Podcast. Over the first 44 minutes, I interviewed Ryan Russillo about his career, working for ESPN and The Ringer, why he left ESPN last December, how he feels about doing radio, why he thinks he's good at radio, whether he'd like to have his own TV show and much more. Russillo doesn't hold back, either, talking about ESPN "liking" him, but not "loving" him, being told he was being laid off only to not get laid off and more. The final 20 minutes of the podcast we do a deep dive into The Office and argue about Russillo's take that Pam Beesly is "evil." You can listen to the podcast below or download it on iTunes.

5. You didn't need more proof that Bob Ley is a boss and a legend, but here's some anyway.

LeBron James is onto something: SportsCenter would be a much better show with cursing.

Who's with me?

— Richard Deitsch (@richarddeitsch) August 30, 2018

I say it mentally every day.

— Bob Ley (@BobLeyESPN) August 31, 2018

6. Calling all gamblers: SI.com has you covered in a big way this football season. Our weekly Tip Sheet will be a must-read for any college football bettor. I'm also hosting The MMQB Gambling Podcast, which features MMQB senior editor Gary Gramling and DRF Sports Form managing editor Scott Gramling. It drops every Friday. So far we've covered team win totals for every club and a variety of prop bets for the 2018 season. During the year, we'll go through the lines for every NFL game and give our best bets each week, so please check it out and subscribe.

7. RANDOM COLLEGE FOOTBALL VIDEO OF THE DAY: Sometimes the best action doesn't happen on the field, but off it, as proven here by the legendary Lee Corso.

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: No Traina Thoughts on Monday. Enjoy your holiday. See you on Tuesday when we go into full football mode.