SI Media Mailbag: Charles Barkley As a Free Agent, Phrases That Have to Go and More

Welcome to the fourth installment of a weekly mailbag that I will be writing every Tuesday about the world of sports media (and anything else you want to chime in on). Please email me any questions you have to Jimmy.Traina@si.com or send them via Twitter.

Here we go …

This is a cousin to the hold-for-the-last-shot question. I think it’s past time to retire “unanswered points” in lieu of straight. What announcer phrases would you send to the graveyard?

— DrNachoMD (@DrNachoMD) April 17, 2023

This is a great question. There are two things at play here. There are phrases that need to go away forever. There are also statements that broadcasters have to say, but it’s the way they say it that’s annoying.

For instance, NFL play-by-play folks quiver with excitement whenever they get to say, “All touchdowns are reviewed from upstairs” and “All reviews under two minutes come from upstairs.”

These rules have been in place for many, many years now, but a play-by-play person will tell you they have to explain this to the viewer who doesn’t watch football regularly. Personally, I say screw that viewer and just cater to those of us who watch every single week. We all know all touchdowns are reviewed. You don’t have to act like you’re breaking news or dropping a bombshell when giving this information.

And while we’re on “All touchdowns are reviewed from upstairs” and “All reviews under two minutes come from upstairs,” maybe broadcasters could use something other than “upstairs.” Mix up every now and again.

Other sports broadcaster phrases that need to go:

• I heard an NBA guy say over the weekend, “Rebound the basketball.” What else would NBA players be rebounding? Same goes for “passer of the basketball, “scorer of the basketball,” etc.

• “Walk-off” for anything other than a home run has to go. I don’t even like it for a home run, but football people have tried to bring “walk off” to their sport, and it’s just bad. “Walk-off field goal” is just dumb.

• Any and all “Keys to the Game” graphics across all sports have to go. Just a complete insult to the intelligence of the viewer. “Win the turnover battle.” “Score first.” “Limit penalties.” Thanks. Super helpful.

• “We’re not gonna speculate about injuries.” Just say, “We don’t know what the injury is and we’ll let you know as soon as we get the information.” You don’t have to pat yourselves on the back for being above speculation.

• Here’s one from just last night.

The #Astros take on the @BlueJays tonight starting at 6:30
Here are the @Toyota keys to the game.#ToyotaUSAhttps://t.co/HOTx8nZbka pic.twitter.com/P9KxugJil7

— AT&T SportsNet™ | SW (@ATTSportsNetSW) April 18, 2023

So in case you didn’t realize it, this broadcast thinks it would help the Astros if pitcher José Urquidy continues to pitch well instead of pitching poorly, and they also think it might benefit the Astros if they perform well on offense. WHO KNEW?!

• “The analytics say …” For some reason, this is now shouted by every NFL analyst when a team goes for it on fourth down or goes for a 2-point conversion. If it’s 4th-and-an-inch from the 50-yard line and you have a good offense, it’s not analytics that tell you to go for it. It’s common sense.

• “You play to win the game.” I know I’m gonna get a lot of blowback on this one, but I didn’t think it was funny or amusing when Herm Edwards said it, and it’s completely played out now since broadcasters love to imitate Edwards anytime a crappy team pulls off a big upset. And not everybody plays to win the game.

The following was released by the NBA. pic.twitter.com/t92m7uPKR1

— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) April 14, 2023

• If you are a regular Traina Thoughts reader or SI Media With Jimmy Traina listener, you will understand this one: “Let’s go to Gene.”

Why do bkb announcers regularly, at the end of a quarter, opine that a team is ‘holding for the last shot.’ They might be, but the p-by-p person doesn’t KNOW it to be true. And quite often, the opponent gets its OWN shot off before the horn. What purpose does this comment serve?

— Chris Juzwik (@juz44) April 17, 2023

So, clearly, Chris wants “hold for the last shot” to go to the graveyard. I can’t say that this one bothers me; you do have a point that rarely does a player put up the shot with 0.0 on the clock.

If TNT loses the NBA, which network does Barkley end up on?

— Patrick Webb (@webb_02) April 17, 2023

If TNT gets out of the NBA business, the future of Charles Barkley will instantly become the biggest story in sports media. All signs point to streaming services getting some sort of NBA package and nobody has more money than Apple or Amazon, so they can give Barkley a blank check. But would Barkley really want to be relegated to a streaming service? I don’t think so. That would leave ESPN and potentially NBC, who may get back in the NBA business. ESPN can do a TON with Barkley. Give him his own show, his own podcast, put him all over the place and finally fix its NBA pregame show that has basically been a nonfactor for its entire existence. But the rub there is, as good as Barkley is, would he be the same kind of draw without Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith and Shaq?

I could see one of the streaming services trying to bring in all four of them.

Find out why ESPN insists on the bottom line during live sporting events. Totally shrinks the screen to black bars on both sides. It's useless except for breaking news.

— Hoya Vey (@HoyaVey) April 17, 2023

This is an easy one. Because there are sponsorship deals for the BottomLine ticker and ESPN makes money off it, and they also use it to promote stuff across all the Disney platforms.

@JimmyTraina
With Greg Gumbel no longer doing NFL pbp - how will the CBS BOOTHS look this year ? Does Catalon move up? New Faces? Does JJ Watt, Devin McCourty and or Matt Ryan play a role with CBS in 2023?

— AEM2022 (@AEM20221) April 18, 2023

CBS hasn’t announced its booths for the 2023 season. If I had to guess, Andrew Catalon will move up to the network’s No. 4 slot behind Jim Nantz, Ian Eagle and Kevin Harlan. Matt Ryan will have a future in broadcasting somewhere because he was a good quarterback and network executives love quarterbacks. I’m sure Devin McCourty will land somewhere, too, because, in addition to quarterbacks, networks executives love former Patriots. Off the top of my head, Rob Gronkowski, Tedy Brucschi, Jason McCourty, Julian Edelman, Rob Ninkovich, Willie McGinest, Damien Woody, are all in broadcasting, with the GOAT coming next year.

J.J. Watt is a fascinating figure when it comes to broadcasting. He has star power and has shown he isn’t afraid to share his opinions about the game on social media. I’d be surprised if we didn’t see Watt in a studio show soon.

With the NFL schedule about a month out from being revealed, what do the schedule makers do with the Jets if Aaron Rodgers is not part of the team yet? I know it seems all but a done deal, but it is the Jets.

— Maclean Sarr (@SarrMaclean) April 18, 2023

This isn’t as big a problem as you think because ESPN and Monday Night Football will join NBC and Sunday Night Football this season in getting flex scheduling late in the season. Plus, all indications are that Rodgers will be a Jet, and I’m assuming the league is proceeding that way. If, for some wild reason, that doesn’t happen, there may be a couple of clunkers early in the season with the Jets appearing on prime time. But New York is still the No. 1 TV market, and the saga of the Jets getting screwed would be a story line that could help ratings.

Jim Nantz told me last week on SI Media With Jimmy Traina that he expects CBS will have him and Tony Romo call the Jets game in Week 1. If Rodgers isn’t on the Jets, that will probably change.

Email question:

Jimmy, any idea why the broadcast coverage of games, rarely, if ever, provide the starting lineups anymore? With all of the production that goes on, it sure would be nice to know who’s starting for Rutgers, before they become roadkill for (pick your Big Ten powerhouse).

Also, where’s Gus Johnson? He can’t be regulated to only calling Fox CFB on Saturdays. Any chance Amazon comes calling to juice up Thursday Night Football? —Raheim

I’ll be totally honest. I had not noticed that networks stopped showing starting lineups. I know I always see them when I watch an NFL, NBA, MLB or college football game, which are the four main sports I watch. I can’t say I pay close attention to the lineups when I watch college football because I don’t know who half the players are, anyway.

And, yes, sadly, Gus is relegated to Fox’s No. 1 college football game each Saturday. It’s amazing that Gus is the lead voice of college football on Fox and so many fans want him elsewhere. I’ve always said Gus just doesn’t feel right on college football. I can’t figure out why, but he was just such a perfect fit for the NFL. Al Michaels still has two more years on his Amazon contract for Thursday Night Football, so you won’t be seeing Gus there.