The NFL season may be over, but the sports year still moves on. T.J. Rives talks all things sports media on the Last Word on Sports Media podcast. This week, T.J. is joined by Last Word on Sports media writer Steve Carney as the sports world have moved on to the Winter Olympics from Milan-Cortina.
Plenty Of Olympics Drama Coming From Milan
T.J. asked Steve how much of the Olympics he has been able to keep up with this year, and Steve admitted that he kept the Peacock streaming service almost specifically for their Olympics coverage. He also mentioned that his college football podcast co-host Price Atkinson is in Cortina working the curling matches as a public address announcer. They discussed the wild moment that saw American figure skater Ilia Malinin, who was the heavy favorite to win gold, fall twice and not even come close to making the podium. T.J. mentioned how people thought Malinin was as close to a sure thing as you’d find in sports, but Steve wasn’t so sure.
“If there were locks [in sports,]” Steve pointed out, “there wouldn’t be big ass casinos in Las Vegas.”
Both praised Malinin for the poise he showed, discussing the events of his free skate just moments after falling, and for his honesty in saying that he maybe wasn’t ready for the pressure the free skate was going to bring. Steve compared Malinin’s performance to another pair of Olympic skaters: figure skater Michelle Kwan and speed skater Dan Jansen. Both had heavy expectations like Malinin and came up short multiple times, though Jansen did eventually get his gold in Lillehammer. They also praised Andrea Joyce, who had known Malinin since he was a small child and covered his parents, who were both professional skaters, for asking the right questions and using the right tact to prevent a robotic response.
MLB Finds Itself Ready For Season Start
After both guys admitted they didn’t watched the NBA All-Star Game, they turned to the start of the Major League Baseball season. There’s plenty of drama surrounding the abrupt resignation of MLB Players Association head Tony Clark, and how it may affect the upcoming collective bargaining negotiations between the league and the players. But a large part of the conversation came to the number of different services one needs to be able to watch every game. Along with the cable or streaming charge for the local broadcasts, you’ll need Peacock for the Sunday leadoff and Sunday night games, Apple TV for Friday Night Baseball, ESPN for their Wednesday night package, plus Netflix for Opening Day, the Field of Dreams game, the Home Run Derby, and more ancillary programming. T.J. pointed out that baseball’s audience is older, and maybe the sport has spread itself too thin.
“My father is eighty years of age. This year he’ll turn eighty,” T.J. said. “He’s not going to have five different apps in addition to the game that’s on Fox or the game that’s on cable. He’s not gonna have five of them. He might have one of them, and he is not alone.”
The guys wrapped up talking about Michael Jordan in victory lane at the Daytona 500 after settling his lawsuit with NASCAR, and the anniversary of Harry Caray’s death, which was 28 years ago Wednesday.
Click below to listen to the latest episode of the Last Word on Sports Media podcast!
