A Truly Impressive Prediction Highlights Aaron Rodgers-As-Vice President Coverage

Also in Traina Thoughts: Scott Van Pelt on college sports controversy causes stir; Caitlin Clark helps another ratings record; Shohei Ohtani likes magic and more.

1. Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. confirmed to the New York Times on Tuesday that Aaron Rodgers (along with Jesse "The Body" Ventura) were at the top of his list of potential running mates.

The New York Jets quarterback has been open about his support of Kennedy, but who knows if he'd actually want to be vice president. 

Rodgers hasn't confirmed nor denied Kennedy's claim, which has added to the speculation about the quarterback's future. Some might say that Rodgers hasn't done so because he loves the attention and those people would be correct. 

A few things about the possibility of Vice President Rodgers.

• First and foremost, Kennedy has no shot to win, so Vice President Rodgers won't be a thing, but if Kennedy offers Rodgers the position and Rodgers accepts, it may well be the greatest content boon for bloggers, writers, websites, social media and more.

• Let's give a tip of the cap to Twitter user @Packer_Pundit, (real name: Kyle Fellows) who sent out this tweet almost one year ago:

Jets fans gonna be big mad when Rodgers doesn’t play in 2024 so he can be Robert Kennedy’s running mate.

— Kyle Fellows (@TheKyleFellows) April 25, 2023

Fellows had an excellent follow up after the Rodgers/Kennedy news broke Tuesday.

My wife has requested that next time I use my powers on something useful https://t.co/kKXCSdChti

— Kyle Fellows (@TheKyleFellows) March 12, 2024

• If you are a regular Traina Thoughts reader or follow me on Twitter, you know almost everything comes back to Curb Your Enthusiasm, so I had to share this tweet with all of you:

Aaron Rodgers quitting the Jets to run for VP for the crackpot independent candidate married to Cheryl Hines is by far the best way to conclude CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM, kudos to Larry David for drawing this up.

— Sonny Bunch (@SonnyBunch) March 12, 2024

• This was the most accurate tweet I saw about Rodgers:

Aaron Rodgers odds:

actually runs for VP: +750
doesn’t run for VP but confirms the story was legit: +900
does a TV/youtube hit where he smirks at the camera and says it’s ridiculous how the media has blown the situation out of proportion, citing a relatively minor detail: -1000

— Rodger Sherman (@rodger) March 13, 2024

• It's worth remembering this quote from Rodgers from early January:

"Anything in this building that we’re doing that has nothing to do with winning needs to be assessed. Everything that we do has to have a purpose … the bulls--- that has nothing to do with winning has to get out of the building.”

2. I don't think I've ever seen Scott Van Pelt criticized on social media, but it finally happened when some people took issue with his take on what's going on in college football with players focusing solely on making money.

Scott Van Pelt weighs in on Nick Saban's NIL comments.

"It's fantastic that players get to make money now. But every single coach, in every single revenue sport, if you're paying attention, is saying the same thing. This is the only thing that any recruit is asking about now." pic.twitter.com/VVn471us7c

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) March 13, 2024

3. Sunday's Big Ten Conference championship game between Iowa and Nebraska is now the most-watched women's college basketball conference tournament game ever after drawing 3 million viewers.

CBS Sports delivers the most-watched women’s college basketball conference tournament game ever on any network as the Big Ten Championship between Iowa and Nebraska averaged more than 3 million viewers and peaked with 4.450 million viewers in OT pic.twitter.com/wWDzdN6LWX

— CBS Sports PR (@CBSSportsGang) March 12, 2024

4. Shohei Ohtani was really into this card trick.

SHOHEI OHTANI has an INSANE Reaction to my MAGIC! ⚾️ 🪄 pic.twitter.com/PxLfsZf18U

— Shlomo Levinger (@shlomolevinger) March 13, 2024

5. There are a lot of wild LeBron James stats out there, but this one is truly mind-boggling.

LeBron James’s career average of 27 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists is extraordinary. Somehow, the Lakers star has never actually posted a 27-7-7 stat line in a single game. https://t.co/XLydYcF4FY

— WSJ Sports (@WSJSports) March 13, 2024

6. The latest episode of SI Media With Jimmy Traina features a conversation with ESPN legend Bob Ley.

Ley shares memories of NFL reporter Chris Mortensen, who passed away last week, and explains why Mort was so special to so many people.

Ley also weighs in on the state of sports media, whether he feels he got out at the right time when he retired in 2019, ESPN's addition of Pat McAfee and how Stephen A. Smith gets the "Jordan Rules" treatment.

Ley also explains why cutting the cord was one of the first things he did when he retired, how he keeps up with the day-to-day sports news and what he’s been doing in retirement. Ley, who is a New York Mets fan, also finds out during the podcast that the Mets will have a dance team this year, which generates quite a response.

Following Ley, Sal Licata from WFAN and SNY joins Jimmy for the weekly “Traina Thoughts” segment. This week’s topics include functioning without football, the NFL combine, muting people on Twitter, A&E’s great shows on WWE history, the passing of comedian Richard Lewis and 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 Sports Illustrated’s YouTube channel.

7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: The Aaron Rodgers/vice president news makes this a good time to remind you all that Veep was a great, great show.

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.