SI

ESPN Elevates Greg McElroy to Work Alongside Sean McDonough on the No. 2 CFB Booth

Also in Traina Thoughts: ‘Hard Knocks’ was a complete snoozefest; Orioles embarrassment continues; Barstool/ESPN/Penn explanation and more.

Jimmy Traina

1. With analyst Todd Blackledge now at NBC as part of its new Big Ten package, ESPN had a void to fill with its No. 2 college football booth.

Sports Illustrated has learned that Greg McElroy has been promoted to fill Blackledge’s spot and will work alongside play-by-play man Sean McDonough and sideline reporter Molly McGrath this season on Saturday Night Primetime.

McElroy, who has called games for the past seven seasons, including the past three seasons with Joe Tessitore, has signed a long-term deal with ESPN.

ESPN’s No. 2 booth is significant because it will call one of the two College Football Playoff games. The No. 2 crew also normally calls the championship game for ESPN Radio while Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit work the title game on TV.

Expect ESPN’s full roster of college football broadcasters for the 2023 season to be released Wednesday.

2. Hard Knocks hasn’t been great for a while, but it was sad to see what happened to the franchise last night.

Unless you are a Jets fan, I’m not sure why you’d tune in for another episode this season. Nothing happened. Absolutely nothing. The entire hour was “Aaron Rodgers is on the Jets now.”

There were two highlights. The first was a player struggling to pronounce “charcuterie board.” 

The second was the first Hard Knocks appearance by the show’s narrator, Liev Schreiber.

The Jets famously made a stink about not wanting to do the show and have said they weren’t going to give the show much to air. That was blatantly clear in Episode 1 because it sure felt like HBO trotted out Schreiber because it had nothing else.

Again, if you’re a Jets fan or an Aaron Rodgers fan, you will eat up Hard Knocks. It’s basically a Rodgers infomercial. If you’re not a Jets fans and you are someone who is a fan of the Hard Knocks story lines formula of following players’ journeys, getting an insight into camp battles, getting an inside look at locker room banter and finding that unknown breakout star, it sure looks like you won’t enjoy this season at all.

3. The Orioles’ self-inflicted controversy took another humiliating turn Tuesday night when the home crowd busted out a “Free Kevin Brown” chant during Baltimore’s game against Houston.

To get further insight into what a bush league Mickey Mouse operation the Orioles are running, I highly recommend this piece from a writer who used to cover the team.

And to add insult to injury, the Orioles ended up losing last night thanks to a ninth-inning grand slam by the Astros’ Kyle Tucker. 

4. If you’re into the Barstool Sports/ESPN/Penn Entertainment story that broke yesterday, click on this tweet below and read the threat. It’s an excellent summary of what happened and what will happen.

5. Mariners center fielder went full Ashton Kutcher on Tuesday night and Punk’d every person in Safeco Field.

6. The latest SI Media With Jimmy Traina podcast features an interview with Chris “Mad Dog” Russo.

The radio Hall of Famer talks about his future on SiriusXM and what his plans are for when his contract runs out after the Super Bowl. He also discusses that viral interview with Joey Votto, the most influential people in sports media, ESPN firing Jeff Van Gundy, the state of the Yankees, why he hated Netflix’s Quarterback and much more.

Following Russo is my weekly “Traina Thoughts” segment with Sal Licata. This week, we discuss a big milestone for SI Media With Jimmy Traina, the passing of Paul Reubens, Sean Payton’s comments about the Jets and Nathaniel Hackett, cord cutting, horse racing and much more.

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.

7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: Since I wrote about Hard Knocks being stunningly boring, let’s remember the good times.

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

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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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