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Traina Thoughts Mailbag: Brady vs. Romo, Ian Eagle’s Future and More

Answering questions about NFL announcers, Cowboys games, NBA ratings and more.

Jimmy Traina

Has Brady taken some of the attention away from Romo when it comes to critics? And should Eagle see a bump in his NFL role?
Has Brady taken some of the attention away from Romo when it comes to critics? And should Eagle see a bump in his NFL role? / Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images; Kirby Lee-Imagn Images; Benny Sieu-Imagn Images

It’s time once again for another mailbag edition of Traina Thoughts. I asked you for questions, and as always, you never cease to amaze. Some of you sent in straight-forward sports media questions, while others went for the most random things.

It makes for a nice mix, so enjoy. Here we go.

Tony Romo has been excellent this year. He seems to have toned things down a little and isn’t jumping in on Jim Nantz’s calls, as we saw with the Hail Mary in Washington two weeks ago. I’ve always said I thought the Romo backlash was more about a Twitter pile-on than people actually disliking Romo. If you’ve watched his games this year, it’s clear that Romo is as good as anyone with breaking down X’s and O’s.

With Ian Eagle reportedly in talks to join Amazon for its NBA coverage, he would seem like a natural fit to take over on Thursday Night Football whenever Al Michaels decides to retire. Would CBS allow Eagle to add Amazon to his NFL portfolio? Hopefully, because Eagle deserves a lead role.

I agree with both Bill Simmons and Cousin Sal that Brady is getting bad advice on how to broadcast, is getting overcoached and is getting information overload by who knows how many people.

While Brady has gotten better as the season has gone on, he still doesn’t seem 100% comfortable and it feels as if he’s holding back and broadcasting the way someone told him to broadcast instead of just letting it fly.

I wouldn’t read a ton into the early-season ratings slump because the NBA had to go up against a very good MLB postseason that featured big markets and plenty of superstars. Fox, TBS and ESPN all enjoyed ratings increases for this year’s baseball playoffs.

There’s also a lack of star power and excitement around certain teams this season. Last year, we had the debut of Victor Wembanyama. The Warriors aren’t what they used to be. Joel Embiid has decided to skip half the games in Philly.

The only way the NBA can improve the regular-season product is to cut back on how many teams make the playoffs. If 16 out of 30 teams make the postseason, the regular season becomes meaningless. So, because the regular season is meaningless, front offices have decided to embrace load management. This, of course, hurts the games and damages fan interest.

I covered this topic last week with Joe Buck on the SI Media Podcast.

The trend of the Cowboys getting prime TV spots and top announcers isn’ t changing in the near future.

Nantz and Romo will call the Cowboys’ game against the Eagles this Sunday at 4:25 p.m. on CBS. Dallas is scheduled for Monday Night Football the following week. In Week 12, the Cowboys visit the Commanders at 1 p.m. I’d expect Fox’s No. 2 crew of Joe Davis and Greg Olsen to call that one with Kevin Burkhardt and Brady calling Niners-Packers at 4:25 p.m. In Week 13, the Cowboys will have Burkhardt and Brady calling their game because that is Thanksgiving. Dallas is back on Monday Night Football in Week 14.

However, you might finally get a Chris Myers or a Kevin Kugler calling the Cowboys game on Fox in Week 15 when they visit the Panthers.

This is strictly a cheap move by Fox to finagle the ratings for its pregame show since College GameDay is still the dominant college football pregame offering. By running Big Noon Kickoff past noon and getting the audience that’s tuning in at noon for the football game, Fox can claim those viewers for its pregame show rating.

I would be surprised if Fox, MLB Network and ESPN don't pursue Joey Votto. The question is, what does Votto want to do? MLB Network can offer him studio work and games. I don’t think Fox would bump John Smoltz from its No. 1 booth for Votto at this time. So my guess is that he lands at MLB Network.

The Jets and Giants being awful doesn’t affect my football viewing at all because I have Sunday Ticket, so I watch the games I want to watch every Sunday. I couldn’t care less about the Jets and Giants.

I’ve been fortunate enough to attend a World Series game, so I won’t go with baseball. I have no interest in attending a Super Bowl because football is better on TV than in person. I’d also pass on a college football national championship game because those are played on a neutral site and that stinks.

So, I’d go with courtside seats at Madison Square Garden for Game 7 of a Lakers-Knicks NBA Finals.

Players get paid way too much money these days so fixing a game isn’t worth it to them. I also think, as we’ve seen in the NFL, there are enough guardrails to catch players from betting on games that don’t even involve their own team.

If there were to be a gambling scandal in sports, it would have to do with a ref, not a player or coach.

You Are Looking Live!: How The NFL Today Revolutionized Sports Broadcasting by Rich Podolsky.

Here is the Amazon link to purchase.

This has been a topic on the SI Media Podcast for those of you bad people out there who don’t listen. I eat before and after the games, but not during. The reason is two-fold. One, I’m locked in on the games and don’t like any distractions. Two, my hands are busy working remotes. I have three TVs going on Sunday and I switch the volume around from game to game throughout the day.

I don’t know if this is a fat person trick or if others do this, but my bagel M.O. is simple. I ask if they have any hot bagels. If they have hot bagels—preferably an everything, a poppy or a sesame—I get it with butter because of the melting factor. If the store doesn’t have any hot bagels, then I get an everything or a poppy with cream cheese.

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 Google. You can also follow Jimmy on X 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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