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Looking Back at 2021 Sports Media Highlights, Memorable Moments: TRAINA THOUGHTS

ManningCast, Amazon's NFL deal, ESPN controversy among year's top stories

Jimmy Traina

This is the last edition of Traina Thoughts until Jan. 4. I want to thank all of you for reading throughout the year and for the continued support over the many, many, many years I’ve been doing this. Some of you have been with me since the old-school Hot Clicks days and that just blows my mind.

There will be a brand new edition of the SI Media Podcast next Wednesday, so check my Twitter or Instagram (or subscribe here) to get that episode when it drops.

This week’s SI Media Podcast came out early Wednesday morning, and it’s a special 2021 Sports Media Year in Review edition with Andrew Marchand of the New York Post and John Ourand of Sports Business Journal.

We went through the top sports media stories of the year, such as Amazon landing exclusive rights to Thursday Night Football, the success of the ManningCast, the Maria Taylor–Rachel Nichols controversy, Pat McAfee’s monster deal with FanDuel, Adam Schefter’s bizarre 2021 and much more.

We also discussed the sports media figures who had the best 2021 and those who had breakout years.

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

You can also watch the SI Media Podcast on YouTube.

And while the podcast covered the “serious” side of sports media, there were also many lighthearted and wild moments over the past 12 months that should be acknowledged. So we’ll do that here.

• The wildest moment very well may have been ESPN Colombia’s Carlos Orduz somehow escaping injury when a massive monitor literally came crashing down on him during a broadcast.

• Right before the NFL draft, Good Morning Football’s Kyle Brandt gave quarterback Zach Wilson a pump-up speech as Randy “Macho Man” Savage and it might have been the greatest Macho Man imitation ever.

• In May, Cleveland native Kevin Cedar applied for a job as the Browns' video editor by putting together a truly impressive video that featured a number of significant references that he wrangled up by using Cameo.

• We love a good Larry David story, so we couldn’t get enough of this one via Charissa Thompson, who revealed what happened when the Curb Your Enthusiasm star bumped into Tom Brady.

• Kenny Mayne anchored his last SportsCenter in May and went out with an Aaron Rodgers interview that ended on an f-bomb walkoff.

• CBS play-by-play man Ian Eagle appeared on the SI Media Podcast in August and shared a hilarious story about being fat shamed by Tom Brady.

• Cowboys owner Jerry Jones shocked the world during an episode of Hard Knocks this summer when he was seen putting salt on a McGriddle.

• MLB Network’s Pedro Martinez had enough of the bad umpiring during the playoffs and decided to not filter himself during his evaluation.

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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