SI

College Football Coach on Writers Picking His Team to Finish Last: ‘They Don't Know S---‘

Also in Traina Thoughts: New ‘SI Media With JImmy Traina’; Joey Votto cuts a WWE promo; Joe Burrow drops great YouTube quote; and more.

Jimmy Traina

1. If you’re like me and you don’t have one college football team you root for and you adopt different teams each year, I have your squad for the 2023 season.

The Charlotte 49ers of the AAC.

Charlotte’s coach, Biff Poggi (right off the bat, that's a great name, so I'm already partial to Poggi), seems to be quite a character based on his media interactions this week.

On Tuesday, Poggi didn't hide his disgust at AAC media day when the journalists in attendance could muster up only three questions for him.

“That’s it? Three questions?” Poggi asked in disbelief as he slapped the lectern. “Maybe that’s because you have us ranked last. That’s all that you think of us. … So, we get that message. Thank you.”

Poggi was back at it, this time on SiriusXM College Sports Radio.

“I can’t wait to start playing because I can tell you this, this will be the last time we ever come to this building and get the disrespect we’ve gotten,” said Poggi.

SiriusXM host Roy Philpott then asked: “You’ve been picked last in the conference. Is that part of the disrespect?”

And now it was Poggi's time to shine:

“Last. Yeah. Last. Press conference, three questions. You know, ‘You guys suck, let’s get to the next guys.’ And I would like to take whoever those writers were who voted on that, and hold them upside down by their ankles and smack their heads off the ground a couple times because they don’t know s---.”

I love the passion. I love that Poggi reminds me of Brian Dennehy’s character in Tommy Boy. I love the content.

Go 49ers!

2. Last week I wrote about longtime sports columnist Bob Kravitz, who was laid off from The Athletic and wrote a scathing takedown of the company. Among Kravitz’s revelations was that The Athletic told him he had to generate 395 subscriptions in a three-month period while he was recovering from quadruple bypass surgery.

Kravitz is the guest on this week’s SI Media With Jimmy Traina. He expounded on the claims he made in his column while also revealing many other things about working at The Athletic. He also talked about why he wrote the piece and whether he regretted it. He also shared his opinions on the state of sports media.

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

You can also watch SI Media With Jimmy Traina on YouTube.

3. While being interviewed by Chris “Mad Dog” Russo on the MLB Network’s High Heat, Reds first baseman Joey Votto cut one hell of a WWE promo on the host.

4. Joe Burrow had a fancy way of saying, “I go into the YouTube rabbit hole” at his media session Wednesday. This is outstanding.

5. A lot of people flipped over Wednesday after seeing this tweet from Colts owner Jim Irsay.

I don't see the issue with it. Running backs are being paid what the market dictates. There’s a salary cap in the NFL. It’s been proven that you get by without a stud running back. Just facts.

6. I love Paul Heyman. I threw out the bait on Twitter on Wednesday, and he took it.

You can listen to the full podcast with Cody Rhodes below or download it on Apple, Spotify and Google.

You can also watch SI Media With Jimmy Traina on YouTube.

7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: A reader emailed me Wednesday to scold me for not posting any Curb Your Enthusiasm videos in this space lately. So this one is for you, Joseph in Saginaw, Mich.

Be sure to catch up on past editions of Traina Thoughts and check out the SI Media With Jimmy Traina on Apple, Spotify or Google. You can also follow Jimmy on Twitter, Instagram and TikTok.

Published
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.

Home/Extra Mustard