It's the End of an Era at ESPN Radio as Mike Golic Is Off Mornings for First Time in 20 Years: TRAINA THOUGHTS

ESPN's radio revamp ends Mike Golic's impressive morning run.

1. ESPN officially announced a brand-new radio lineup that will begin Aug. 17. Here's what mornings and afternoons will look like:

6-10 a.m.: Keyshawn, Jay and Zubin with Keyshawn Johnson, Jay Williams, Zubin Mehenti
10 a.m.-noon: The Dan Le Batard Show With Stugotz.
Noon-2 p.m.: The Mike Greenberg Show
2-4 p.m.: The Max Kellerman Show

The Dan Le Batard Show got cut by an hour, and Greenberg and Kellerman will add radio gigs to their TV gigs, so that should tell you how much ESPN values them. And Wingo and Golic are done in the mornings. 

Mike Golic started at ESPN in 1998. He spent 17 years cohosting ESPN's morning radio show with Greenberg before spending the past three years cohosting with Trey Wingo. 

He didn't even get mentioned in the ESPN press release announcing the changes. The post on ESPN's media site touts Greenberg's return to radio in the headline, but there is no mention of Golic's 20 years of service.

You would think after Golic's ugly breakup with Greenberg in 2017, when Greenberg left the popular radio show for his own TV show, ESPN would go out of its way to throw some props Golic's way, but maybe those will come another day.

It's just really hard not to notice that Golic suffered a blow when Greenberg transitioned to Get Up, and now Golic is out of a radio job as Greenberg comes back to radio.

Obviously, this is not Mike Greenberg's fault in any way, shape or form. 

This is more about Golic being a good soldier for ESPN and not getting enough credit for it. Hell, I was never a Mike and Mike or Golic and Wingo listener, but the success of Mike and Mike speaks for itself. 

After being on the radio every morning for sports fans for the past 20 years, Golic deserves some recognition from his company.

For now, though, Golic's current and former colleagues have paid tribute to him on Twitter. 

For example, Dan Patrick Show producer Paul Pabst let us know that Golic was extremely resourceful when it came to sneaking in a nap at work.

2. Stephen A. Smith thought the lack of sex was going to be the biggest problem for NBA players stuck in the Orlando bubble, but it might be the food instead.

3. This is great stuff on how the coronavirus protocols will impact baseball on the field. Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole couldn't reuse a ball he liked during an intra-squad game Tuesday night because it had to be thrown out after several players touched it.

4. I recently wrote that MLB should make the Extra Innings and MLB.tv packages free for the 2020 season since 1) this is a fake season, 2) they need to throw fans a bone and 3) they need some good PR.

MLB did not take my advice. MLB.tv will cost you $60 for the season.

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5. This is why old-school WWF is the best. Here's Gorilla Monsoon announcing that the Ultimate Warrior has been suspended, while also announcing that the Ultimate Warrior was about to wrestle Owen Hart.

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6RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: Ten years ago today, LeBron James announced he was "taking [his] talents to South Beach" during The Decision. It's funny to look back on what Cavs fans had to say at the time.

7SPORTS VIDEO OF THE DAY: Umpire Joe West came out as a coronavirus truther Tuesday. Hopefully he will maintain his distance from all the players this season and not get this close to any of them.

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 Stitcher. You can also follow Jimmy on Twitter and Instagram.


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Jimmy Traina
JIMMY TRAINA

Jimmy Traina is a staff writer and podcast host for Sports Illustrated. A 20-year veteran in the industry, he’s been covering the sports media landscape for seven years and writes a daily column, Traina Thoughts. Traina has hosted the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast since 2018, a show known for interviews with some of the most important and powerful people in sports media. He also was the creator and writer of SI’s Hot Clicks feature from 2007 to '13.