SI

Angry Patriots Fans Turning on Bill Belichick Makes for Funny Talk Radio

Also in Traina Thoughts: Great call from Brian Anderson; Bush league move by the NHL; Jason Kelce’s daughter has A LOT of questions and more.

Jimmy Traina

1. Bill Belichick has won six Super Bowls as Patriots head coach, but apparently that doesn’t give him enough cachet with some New England fans, who have turned on the coach after the team’s abysmal start this season.

Many Patriots fans are pulling out the argument that without Tom Brady, Belichick is nothing. Some New England fans think the game has passed the 71-year-old by.

All of this anger, of course, is great news for sports-talk radio in Boston. You have to have to be off in some way to call a sports-talk radio station and go off. (I say this as someone who used to call Mike and the Mad Dog all the time.) Most people who call sports-talk radio are unhinged in some way or form. This is certainly the case with Patriots fans who have had enough of Belichick.

One caller kept using a word I don’t think I’m allowed to use here to describe the team and certain players. Another caller said Bill Belichick is “a bigger fraud than Lance Armstrong.” Another caller said Belichick is “a human garbage piece of crap.”

THE GUY WON SIX SUPER BOWLS!!! If that doesn’t give you a free pass for life, I don’t know what does.

2. The Braves pulled off a 5–4 comeback win against the Phillies on Tuesday thanks to a two-run homer by Austin Riley in the bottom of the eighth. Atlanta sealed the victory thanks to a game-ending double play that saw center fielder Michael Harris II make a great catch and Bryce Harper get doubled off first.

The call of this play by TBS’s Brian Anderson was outstanding.

Here’s how the call sounded on Braves radio.

And here’s a cool piece of technology to show you how far Harper went around the bases before getting doubled up.

After the game, Braves relief pitcher A.J. Minter said the Braves won because of two things. Actually, three things.

3. On the flip side of Brian Anderson on Tuesday night was Bob Costas, who called the final out of the Diamondbacks win against the Dodgers as if he was calling a game in the middle of July. Yes, it was a routine play and there was no drama, but Arizona taking two games in L.A. was shocking. Costas could've added a little excitement to his call.

4. This was quite a quote from Raiders wideout Davante Adams, who didn’t want to “take anything away” from Aaron Rodgers and Derek Carr, but claims Jimmy Garopolo “does a good job of not coming in acting like he knows everything.” Ouch.

5. The NHL put a stop to teams wearing Pride jerseys because some players were uncomfortable with that. O.K., fine. But now the league is stopping any player from using Pride tape on their sticks. This one I don’t understand at all. No one is being told to use Pride tape. The players would do this on their own. So why stop it or even make a dumb rule about it? Pathetic move here by the NHL.

6. The latest SI Media With Jimmy Traina podcast dropped Thursday. The episode features a conversation with The Ringer’s sports media columnist and podcast host, Bryan Curtis.

Topics included NBC’s Taylor Swift–heavy broadcast of Chiefs-Jets, Cris Collinsworth’s odd commentary on Zach Wilson and NBC’s Rodney Harrison taking a ton of heat for calling Wilson “garbage” during a postgame interview with the Chiefs’ Chris Jones.

Other items covered on the podcast: whether interest in Deion Sanders and Colorado football has peaked, why the NFL’s prime-time schedule is in big trouble, ABC getting Wednesday-night NBA games, ESPN’s usage of Alex Rodriguez, the proliferation of podcasts and much more.

Following Curtis, Sal Licata from WFAN radio and SNY TV in New York joins me for our weekly “Traina Thoughts” segment. This week we discuss Sal missing an NFL Sunday to look at houses, Patrick Mahomes’s controversial slide at the end of the Chiefs-Jets game, the demise of Threads, the lack of interest in the MLB playoffs 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: Jason Kelce’s wife, Kylie, shared this adorable video from Sunday when she watched the Eagles play the Rams with her daughter Wyatt, who had a lot of questions.

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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