Al Michaels Hits Back at ‘Low Energy’ Criticism

Also in Traina Thoughts: Cord-cutting numbers; longtime ESPN host is out; a QB will wear No. 50 and more.

1. Before I get into today’s column, please send me any questions you have for this week’s SI Media Mailbag. You can email them to Jimmy.Traina@si.com or shoot them over to me on Twitter. Thanks.

When it comes to NFL broadcasters, Al Michaels faces minimal criticism compared to most. However, in his first season calling games on Amazon, there was a little bit of blowback on social media regarding Michaels’s energy while calling some of the awful games that were played Thursday nights.

It didn’t help that Michaels called the Chargers-Jaguars playoff game on NBC with Tony Dungy, who seemed like he didn’t have a pulse for three hours.

But the legendary broadcaster, who has done it all over his 50-plus year career, is smart enough to know that it does no good for a play-by-play person to pay any attention to social media.

In an excellent feature on Michaels from Sports Business Journal, the 78-year-old pulled no punches when discussing those who chastised his performance last season.

“Look, sometimes I’ll take some s---,” said Michaels. “People say, ‘He didn’t get excited enough.’ What do you want me to do? Scream, holler, yell the game? That ain’t me. That ain’t [Joe] Buck, that ain’t [Jim] Nantz. I can’t pay attention to anti–social media. We live in a country with 330 million people. And if eight people rip you on social media, I’m going, ‘Huh?’ Now anybody sitting in a basement has a platform. You can’t let things like that distress you. I’ve been doing this for so long. And I wouldn’t be here at this point still doing a major package if I was doing it the wrong way.” 

The Sports Business Journal story also points out that Al's brother, David, warned him that he was going to get in trouble for criticizing the Amazon matchups.

“No, I’m not,” Al responded. “Watch what happens.”

Sure enough, Amazon has some solid matchups on paper this season, including Vikings-Eagles in Week 2, Giants at Niners in Week 3, Bengals at Ravens in Week 11 and Dolphins at Jets on Black Friday.

2. Cord cutting has led to some historic numbers. According to Nielsen, July was the first month where linear TV was responsible for less than 50% of TV viewing.

Broadcast and cable combined to account for 49.6% of TV watching. Streaming services grew in July to a record high of 38.7% of all total TV watching.

Amazingly, broadcast TV made up just 20% of TV viewing in July. To say CBS, Fox and NBC desperately need the NFL back is a huge understatement.

Year-over-year, broadcast viewing is down 5.4%, and cable viewing is down 12.5%.

3. I’m not sure what this says about me, but I find it very exciting that a quarterback will wear No. 50 during the preseason.

Teddy Bridgewater says he’ll wear No. 50 in the preseason. pic.twitter.com/YHpndvJA8V

— Eric Woodyard (@E_Woodyard) August 14, 2023

4. Sage Steele announced Tuesday that she has left ESPN after a controversial few years in which she appeared on a non-ESPN podcast and bashed the company for instituting a COVID-19 vaccine mandate, calling it “sick.”

Life update.
Having successfully settled my case with ESPN/Disney, I have decided to leave so I can exercise my first amendment rights more freely.  I am grateful for so many wonderful experiences over the past 16 years and am excited for my next chapter!#SteeleStrong

— Sage Steele (@sagesteele) August 15, 2023

ESPN gave as generic a statement as you can regarding Steele’s departure.

ESPN's official on-the-record comment: “ESPN and Sage Steele have mutually agreed to part ways. We thank her for her many contributions over the years.”

— John Ourand (@Ourand_Puck) August 15, 2023

5. Actually, he’s disgruntled.

Is he Disgruntled Adrian?? Or is he holding Darryl Morey accountable for his dishonesty and lack of transparency throughout the contract negotiation process this summer?

— Chief Hélà 🤞🏾 (@KyrieIrving) August 14, 2023

6. The SI Media With Jimmy Traina podcast took a break last week, but we’ll be back this Thursday with a new episode. In the meantime, use this downtime as an opportunity to catch up on some of our best summer episodes in case you missed them.

• Chris “Mad Dog” Russo

• Scott Van Pelt

• Adam Schein

• Pat McAfee

7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: Just a classic Jerry Seinfeld blow-off here.

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.