1. “The job of a rules analyst is the most overrated thing to ever happen to sports broadcasting.”
I wrote this on Traina Thoughts two weeks ago. After watching the AFC and NFC Championship games on Sunday, I can say that the job of the rules analyst is not only the most overrated thing to happen in sports broadcasting, but it has also become the most boring thing in sports. broadcasting.
The rule parser should ONLY be included to explain a rule that the audience may not know or understand. This is the only circumstance where these guys could, could be useful
However, in practice, these guys are strictly used to either defend the referees when they make a bad decision, or just tell us what we’ve seen.
In the Eagles’ win over the Niners on Sunday, San Francisco was called for a key 15-yard penalty late in the third quarter with Philly leading 21–7.
The call was wrong and cruel, but Mike Pereira told us the refs got it right, even though anyone with functioning eyesight could see they didn’t get it.
Fox play-by-play man Kevin Burkhardt gave Pereira the opportunity to tell the truth, but Peyera was shamed instead.
“Mike Pereira, do you like this call?” Burkhardt asked.
“Yes, I do,” Pereira said as he insulted the intelligence of every viewer. “He actually hits the kicking leg, but he hits it with such force.”
He didn’t actually hit him that hard and more importantly, HE WAS PUSHED INTO THE EAGLES WRIST BY AN EAGLES PLAYER!
But Pereira can’t point that out because it will make the terrible referees look even worse.
At least Fox used Pereira sparingly. CBS pays Tony Romo $17 million a year, yet he turned the AFC title into The Gene Steratore Show.
If you’ve ever had a drink and Jim Nantz or Tony Romo said, “Gene, what do you think?” or “Let’s go to Gene’s” or “Let’s get Gene,” you’ll still be drunk.
At one point, Joe Burrow was tackled and hit the grounder, and a second later the ball went out. At once Nantz brought in Steratore. Why? Again, anyone with functioning vision saw Burrow fall to the ground before the ball came out. There wasn’t a single person watching it who thought it was groping. Still, we had to hear Steratore. There’s no point.
There was another play where a Chiefs linebacker tackled Bengals tight end Hayden Hurst long before Burrow’s pass reached him. The referees correctly called pass interference. CBS brought Steratore back on board. Why? On replay it was crystal clear that it was a penalty. Why did we need to hear Steratore?
There was enough anarchy during the Bengals-Chiefs fourth quarter. CBS only made their telecast more confusing and disjointed by including Steratore on what seemed like every single play.
It doesn’t help that NFL referees make so many poor payments. This puts the rules analysts at a disadvantage because they don’t want to tell 50 million people that the refs screwed up. To his credit, Steratore actually said the refs made a bad call when they flagged the Bengals after pass interference late in the fourth quarter. But again, we all saw that this was a bad decision. We didn’t need Steratore to confirm this for us.
No network that broadcasts the NFL understands that less is more. Steratore’s usage during Bengals-Chiefs was completely out of control. This hurt the flow of the telecast and did not serve the viewers in any way, shape or form.
2. I honestly don’t even know what to say about the referees at this point. They are just so, so bad and they ruin games. Having said that I love how bad the refs are because they are exceptional for content.
Meanwhile, #NFLRigged has been trending on Twitter since Sunday night. If you need a laugh just click on the hashtag and read weird stuff and wild conspiracy theories.
3. Nick Siriani just won the NFC Championship game. He’s going to the Super Bowl. He rides high. However, his daughter has no interest in hearing what he has to say.
4. When we last saw Chargers quarterback Joey Bosa, he was throwing his helmet and taking unsportsmanlike conduct penalties. He didn’t seem in much better spirits Sunday when he was in Philly to watch his brother Nick play. Bosa let some Eagles fans get under his skin and lost his cool in an unpleasant way.
5. I know this happened on Saturday and many of you probably saw it, but Pat Beverley brought a camera onto the court to show the refs that they botched the decision by not calling a foul against the Celtics when they hacked LeBron James on pause, it was absolutely outstanding.
6. This week SI Media Podcast includes a conversation with Good morning, football hosted by Jason McCourty.
McCourty discusses his first year on the NFL Network show, how he’s adjusted to doing a show that starts at 7 a.m., what it’s been like to fill in for Nate Burleson, whether it’s hard for him as a former player to criticize current players and who his GMFB cohosts is the most cranky in the morning.
The 13-year NFL veteran also talks about Bill Belichick’s rules for Patriots players regarding the media, Tom Brady going viral for his expletive-filled response to his future, the difference between people on the East Coast and the Midwest and more .
Following McCourty, Sal Licata of WFAN Radio and SNY Television in New York joins me for our weekly “Thoughts on Traina” segment. This week we discuss Scott Rolen’s induction into the Hall of Fame, Shannon Sharpe’s scandal at an NBA game, the Rocky movies, movie soundtracks, and more.
You can listen to the podcast below or download it from Apple, Spotify and Google.
You can also watch SI Media Podcast on YouTube.
7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: Here’s how the holiday went for some Eagles fans on Sunday night.
Be sure to catch up on past editions of Traina Thoughts and check Sports Illustrated Media Podcast hosted by Jimmy Traina on An apple, Spotify or Google. You can also follow Jimmy Twitter, Instagram and TikTok.