Jimmy Kimmel and Cousin Sal | SI Media Podcast

Traina, Kimmel and Cousin Sal hit on "Once Upon a Time in Queens," the 1980s, going viral and much more.

Episode 356 of the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast hosted by Jimmy Traina features an interview with Jimmy Kimmel, who is an executive producer on ESPN's latest 30 for 30 documentary, "Once Upon a Time in Queens."

Jimmy's Cousin Sal is also a producer on the doc and joins the podcast to discuss the best nostalgic moments from the doc, why they wanted to tell the story of the 1986 New York Mets and which former players stood out for their performances in the show.

Kimmel also talks about his time on Fox's NFL pregame show, how much Terry Bradshaw and Howie Long hated him and almost getting voted off NFL on Fox.

Other topics discussed include why the 1980s were the best decade, what Kimmel's mentality is doing a late-night show during the age of streaming, the one guest he'd like to have on his show, his reaction to going viral and which question he hates being asked.

Following Romo is the weekly "Traina Thoughts" segment. This week, Jimmy and Sal Licata from WFAN and SNY read the latest SI Media Podcast reviews on Apple, reveal Week 1 NFL television observations, give credit to Tom Brady for being right about a big issue and talk about the MTV Video Music Awards.

The following transcript is an excerpt from The SI Media Podcast. Listen to the full episode on podcast players everywhere or on SI.com.

Jimmy Traina: I remember the '86 Mets and there were still so many things I learned or didn't remember, and it was great. Like you mentioned, Sal, for one team to get in four brawls in a season is pretty wild. So I thought that was great. And you know him here in New York, because he does the Mets games here in SNY, that Keith Hernandez is a character and a great storyteller. But, you talk about the partying and all that, but that whole narrative with him and his daddy issues, if you will, that was really something that's going to be new to people. And I thought Keith was great with you guys when he opened up about the relationship with his dad. Were you guys surprised by that, or did you know that going into the doc?

Jimmy Kimmel: I always thought Keith was a great player and I enjoy his broadcast work. But I have so much more respect for him now after watching him talk about his father, who was very hard on him and on his brother. One of the most interesting things that he said was, that the worst thing that he ever did was get his dad a satellite dish. And this was not said in a flip way; he meant it. He'd go 3-for-4, and he'd get a call from his dad about that fourth at bat, "You didn't get a hit," and his dad was very, very tough on him. And father issues play a major role throughout the whole documentary, not just with Keith. I mean it does seem to be the through line when it comes to the '86 Mets team.

Sal Iacono: And I had him on my podcast after he finished his second book. And there's a lot of those stories about his father and how close they were. But it was a weird love-hate relationship. His brother Gary, who Keith says was the better of the two when they were growing up as baseball players, and then the father, yeah, it ends up being a sad thing. One of the things was when he retired, he thought about just taking walks with his father after it was all over. And his father died only a few months after his retirement. And it may or may not have been a coincidence after you look it through. But, yeah, it's unbelievable with Hernandez and you would think, Jimmy, that he is the leader, right? But I feel like every 20 minutes it changes for me, but ultimately, I think Keith Hernandez was the leader of this team. 

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