SI

Chris Russo, Stephen A. Smith Get Into Wild Argument, Make TV Magic: TRAINA THOUGHTS

First Take gave us pure entertainment while debating Steph Curry's place in NBA history

Jimmy Traina

1. It is not my intention to write about First Take every Wednesday, but I feel like I don’t have a choice today.

As I wrote in Traina Thoughts last month when it was announced that New York legend and SiriusXM radio host Chris “Mad Dog” Russo would join Stephen A. Smith on the ESPN hot-take show every Wednesday, you’re either going to get what these two are doing or you won’t.

For those of you who do get it, today’s show was a bonanza for hilarity and amusement.

They argued about the MLB lockout, with Russo siding with the owners and Stephen A. siding with the players.

They argued about how good Kyler Murray is and whether he deserves a new contract.

But the highlight was a heated argument about whether Steph Curry is a top-10 all-time NBA player.

There were so many magnificent moments squeezed into the two minutes of anarchy:

• Dog demanding to go through the top 10, Stephen A. getting out of his chair with excitement and Dog cutting off Stephen A. when he tried to list his top 10 saying, “I’ll do the asking!”

• Dog screaming, “Don’t even go there!” when Stephen A. hesitates to say whether Larry Bird was better than Curry.

• Stephen A. cackling and saying, “He got me.”

• Dog getting furious when Stephen A. keeps bringing up shooting and busting out his imitation of something shooting a basketball.

• Dog looking into the camera and screaming, “HE’S. BILL. RUSSELL” when Smith hesitates to say that Russell was better than Curry.

• Last but not least: Dog’s earpiece falling out.

If screaming and yelling isn’t your thing, I get why you may not enjoy those clips. If you appreciate performance art, those clips are as good as it gets.

But what shouldn’t be lost here is the chemistry between these two. They’ve only done three shows together and it feels like they’ve been doing this for years. 

Give Stephen A. credit. He’s letting Dog do his thing. Make no mistake. First Take is Stephen A.’s show. He doesn’t have to be as gracious as he’s been with Russo. And give Stephen A. credit for being smart. He knows that by letting Russo be Russo, he’s making outstanding television.

2. This year's Super Bowl halftime show featuring Dr. Dre, Eminem, Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige, Kendrick Lamar and 50 Cent generated only 33 complaints to the FCC. The Jennifer Lopez–Shakira halftime show two years ago generated 1,300.

3. North Carolina quarterback Sam Howell shared this anecdote about the nonsense prospects go through at the combine.

4. This is a pretty great hype video from The Pat McAfee Show for their interview with Vince McMahon on Thursday. The “interview” will reportedly set up a McAfee vs. McMahon match at WrestleMania next month.

5. As I've said a million times, this is a horrible time to be a sports fan when it comes to how much it will cost you to watch sports. If you're a soccer fan, you're going to need a second job to pay for all the streaming services you'll have to subscribe to in order to watch the sport.

6. The latest SI Media Podcast features a fun interview with First Take host Molly Qerim. Topics discussed include First Take’s successful format change, how her role has changed, the process for putting a show together, what Stephen A. Smith is like behind the scenes, the addition of Chris Russo to the show and much more.

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

You can also watch the SI Media Podcast on YouTube.

7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: If you haven't seen what happened on Wheel of Fortune Tuesday night, prepare to be left in stunned disbelief.

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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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