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Nine Sports Personalities We'd Like to See Moderate a Presidential Debate: TRAINA THOUGHTS

From the Rock to Tony Reali, these sports figures would make great presidential debate moderators.

Jimmy Traina

1. If you've watched the two debates that took place the past couple of weeks, you know there's been a problem with candidates interrupting and speaking over their allotted time.

During each debate, the moderator seemed helpless and defeated. 

If the debate commission would like to fix this problem, there's an easy solution: Turn to some sports personalities to get things back on track and bring some order to the debates.

I'm here to help by offering some suggestions on which sports personalities would make the best debate hosts.

You're welcome, America.

• 9) Mike and the Mad Dog: New Yorkers always want the greatest sports-talk-radio duo to reunite. What better way than on a debate stage? As any Mike and the Mad Dog fan knows, they are used to fighting, arguing and handwaving callers. They can use that experience with candidates who ramble. There's a strong chance a huge fight would break out between Chris Russo and Mike Francesa in the middle of the debate, which would be highly entertaining. Plus, you can get expert analysis, such as Francesa saying in 2008 that Barack Obama's momentum all started to turn because of Oprah.

• 8) Kevin Harlan: I have no idea about his debate abilities, but it would spice things up to hear the man with the best pipes in the business ask the questions. A question about trade with China would be way more exciting coming from Harlan than anyone else.

• 7) Vin Scully: Think about how awful a candidate would come off if they didn't listen to the nicest man on the planet and ignored his requests to stop speaking. Career suicide.

• 6) Big Cat and PFT Commenter: If you listen to Pardon My Take, you know these two ask questions nobody else in sports media would dare ask. We need that at these debates. And it's not just all antics with these two. They did one of the better interviews with Dr. Fauci at the beginning of the pandemic.

• 5) Paul Heyman: There isn't a political person alive who would be a match with one of the greatest talkers in wresting history. The chances of a candidate talking over their allotted time would be zero with Heyman running the show.

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 4) Bob Costas: If Costas didn't get rattled by Vince McMahon getting right up in his face, he won't get rattled by political candidates.

• 3) Bill Belichick: "We're on to the next question. We're on to the next question. We're on to the next question."

• 2) Tony Reali: Nobody has more experience moderating debates. Nobody knows the inner workings of a debate more than Reali. Nobody understands the importance of a mute button more than Reali.

• 1) The Rock: Nothing needs to be said here. Just watch the clip below.

2. A brand-new episode of the SI Media Podcast dropped Wednesday afternoon, and it features a conversation with author, reporter and podcast host James Andrew Miller.

Miller, who wrote epic books about ESPN and Saturday Night Live, talks about whether NFL ratings this year will have an impact on TV rights negotiations, how the pandemic could affect the NFL's TV contracts, whether ESPN will still pursue Peyton Manning for Monday Night Football, how ESPN has handled social justice issues the past few weeks, the return of Saturday Night Live, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Howard Stern's reported new deal with SiriusXM and much more.

You can listen to the podcast below or download it on Apple, Spotify, Stitcher and Google Play.

3. Joe Burrow is just 23 years old, but he has repeatedly shown he gets it more than most people.

Dusty Baker is 71 years old, and he does not get it.

4. Some of the reasoning here is just bizarre and nonsensical ("You’ve done it for over 120 years. You have 27 championships. You’ve done it as an alpha"), but Alex Rodriguez deserves credit for ripping his old team and Yankees GM Brian Cashman about the organization's bizarre decision to start rookie Deivi García in Game 2 against the Rays but pull him after one inning to use J.A. Happ.

Of course, Cashman once famously told A-Rod to "shut the f--- up," so maybe A-Rod was waiting for his chance to fire back.

5. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: This is a must-watch video for any Bobby Heenan fans out there.

7. SPORTS VIDEO OF THE DAY: Things are rough for Titans fans right now, so here's something to cheer them up.

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.

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