Skip to main content

New on SI: NFL Makes Terrible Television Decision: TRAINA THOUGHTS

Amazon will be your only option for watching a late-season 2020 NFL game

1. Get off my lawn. O.K., Boomer. You're old. You just like to complain. Blah, blah, blah.

Save all of those unoriginal and uncreative responses, because no matter what you say, the NFL's decision to give Amazon an exclusive late-season Saturday game absolutely stinks on every level.

Sports Business Journal's John Ourand

reported today that Amazon has renewed its streaming deal for Thursday Night Football through 2022. However, there was a twist. Amazon is also getting exclusive rights to air one Saturday regular-season game.

The game will be shown on regular television in the local markets of the two teams playing, but everyone else in the country who likes to watch TV the old fashion way and not via streaming is screwed. Amazon.com will be your only choice.

I know many of you reading this right now are saying to yourselves, "What's the big deal? Just watch it on your laptop or Apple TV or Amazon FireStick or run a USB cord, etc., etc." It doesn't work that way. Just because those are easy options for YOU, it doesn't mean those are easy options for everyone. If you don't think this shuts out a decent number of people from watching the game, you have to get out of your bubble.

And we're not talking about an October Jaguars-Titans Thursday night game. The Saturday game Amazon has exclusive rights to air will come in the second half of the season, so chances are, it will have playoff implications. And if you don't stream, you can't watch it.

I understand that we're becoming a streaming world. But there are still millions of people who don't stream. To rob them of watching a late-season NFL game because Amazon is paying the league God knows what is nothing but a slap in the face to fans.

In other words, typical NFL and Roger Goodell.

2. I loved the response I got to Tuesday's Traina Thoughts, in which I proclaimed that the best sports scene in movie history was in Swingers. Many readers were in agreement, which is always a shock, while others sent in some outstanding choices of their own.

3. With the NCAA tournament, I'm actually stunned this figure isn't higher.

4. Phil Jackson won 11 NBA titles as a head coach, but SiriusXM's Chris "Mad Dog" Russo is not impressed (and he's right). 

5Sopranos stars and the hosts of the new Talking Sopranos podcast, Michael Imperioli and Steve Schirripa, joined the latest episode of the SI Media Podcast. We went in-depth on many aspects of the show: the writing, whether things were ad-libbed, the deaths of Bobby and Christopher, Pine Barrens and much more. The guys also defended the Knicks and James Dolan.

You can listen to the podcast below or download it on Apple, Spotify, Stitcher and Google Play.

6. RANDOM YOUTUBE VIDEO OF THE DAY: Happy 66th birthday, Jerry Seinfeld. Thank you for one of the best TV moments ever.

7. SPORTS HIGHLIGHT OF THE DAY: If you think bat flips have become a big deal in recent years, just remember that nobody bat flipped or admired his home runs more than the great Rickey Henderson.

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 Stitcher. You can also follow Jimmy on Twitter and Instagram.

Popular posts from this blog

New on SI: NFL Kickers Have Historically Bad Week With Record-Tying 12 Missed PATs

It's been a historically bad week for NFL kickers, with 12 missed PATs through the conclusion of Sunday's evening games. View the original article to see embedded media. Kickers in many ways have a thankless job. Make a kick, and often times nobody really cares. Miss one? Well, people won't stop bringing it up. The 2021 season has already established a new high-water mark in kicking with Ravens kicker Justin Tucker's NFL record-setting 66-yard field goal to beat the Lions in Week 3. Two weeks later, though, we might have established a new low point. Prior to kickoff on Sunday Night Football  between the Bills and Chiefs, kickers had missed a whopping 12 extra points in Week 5. That ties the league's Super Bowl era record set in Week 11 during the 2016 season, the year after the NFL moved PAT's back to the 15-yard line. Rams kicker Matt Gay got the train rolling on Thursday when he missed his first PAT attempt of the game in the third quarter. That set a ...

New on SI: Tom Brady 'Should Be Fine' for Thursday's Game vs. Eagles After Sustaining Thumb Injury

Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady said he sustained a thumb injury in the second quarter of Tampa Bay's 45-17 win against the Dolphins on Sunday. View the original article to see embedded media. Tom Brady arrived at Tuesday's press conference with his throwing hand wrapped but the Buccaneers quarterback said he doesn't "anticipate having a problem" ahead of Thursday night's game against the Eagles. Brady confirmed that he sustained the injury to his thumb in the second quarter of the Bucs' 45-17 win against the Dolphins on Sunday. The NFL's all-time passing yards leader went on to throw for more than 400 yards and five touchdowns in the same game for the first time in his career.  Despite the bulky appearance of the wrap, Brady said that the issue is "more discomfort" that should be gone in the next few days rather than a serious injury.  "It should be fine for Thursday," Brady said Tuesday . "... You deal with differen...

New on SI: Brett Favre on Aaron Rodgers' Future in Green Bay: 'I Think That Aaron Will Finish Somewhere Else'

Former Packers great Brett Favre said Aaron Rodgers was surprised by Green Bay's decision to draft Jordan Love. Former Packers legend Brett Favre believes that star quarterback Aaron Rodgers won't finish his career in Green Bay. "I think he will play somewhere else," the three-time MVP said Wednesday on the Rich Eisen Show. Favre said he was "very surprised" about the Packers' decision to select Utah State QB Jordan Love No. 26 overall in the 2020 NFL draft last Thursday, noting that the team's decision not to draft "any weapons that can help immediately" sends a "disrespect message" to the team's current quarterback. "He has every right to feel disrespected, if he is," Favre said of Rodgers. The former Packers great said he had talked recently with Rodgers.  "Let's just say [Rodgers is] surprised that they went in that direction," Favre explained. "It's not his job to mentor Jordan Lo...