Jason Sudeikis channels Ted Lasso for special bonding moment with writer.
1. Allow me to pull back the curtain here and tell you how the Traina Thoughts sausage is made.
While scrolling through the hell pit known as Twitter on Thursday night, I actually came across a wonderful and uplifting tweet about something Jason Sudeikis did for a writer. When I read the story, I thought it would make for a nice lead item in today’s Traina Thoughts.
Cut to this morning when I logged onto my laptop. Again, I go right to Twitter, because I have no choice, and I see Jason Sudeikis is trending.
After investigating, I see the actor is getting tons of praise because he showed up to the Ted Lasso Season 2 premiere wearing a sweatshirt with the names of the three England players who faced racial abuse from fans after missing penalty kicks in the Euro 2020 finals
However, this was not the Jason Sudeikis story I wanted to write about. So now we have two great Jason Sudeikis stories today.
The Jason Sudeikis story I saw comes from Uproxx senior entertainment writer Mike Ryan.
More than three years ago, before Ted Lasso was around, Ryan interviewed Sudeikis, who was promoting the movie Kodachrome.
In the film, Sudeikis’s character tries to make amends with his dying father. Ryan’s father had died a few months prior; he mentioned that to Sudeikis during the interview.
Later in the day, after interviewing Sudeikis, Ryan got a powerful and heartfelt email from the actor. Here's how the email began:
“Just wanted to shoot ya a quick note and let ya know that I’m so sorry for your loss. And I thank you for feeling comfortable enough with me to share. Please please please feel ZERO regret in doing so.
"It’s important and f---ing necessary for us human beings to do that. To connect. To share. And to not concern ourselves too much with the outcome of such bravery. Especially the men of the world. Our generation is the first to ‘understand’ that notion, but darn it, I’d love to try and be the first generation of fellas to ‘live’ the notion as well. So let’s both continue to attempt to be on that ‘side of history,’ shall we?”
I highly recommend reading the entire email.
Everyone who has watched Ted Lasso knows Sudeikis is beyond perfect in that role as a compassionate human being. It’s not hard to see why after reading Ryan’s story.
2. The latest episode of the SI Media Podcast dropped Thursday, and it features an interview with New York Post sports media columnist Andrew Marchand.
It's been a wild couple of weeks in sports media and we covered it all. Marchand updates us on where Maria Taylor stands with ESPN, breaking down the entire Taylor–Rachel Nichols saga and ESPN's responsibility in creating the mess.
We also discussed Stephen A. Smith's offensive comments about Shohei Ohtani and why they happened. Marchand also weighed in on the future of NFL Sunday Ticket, broadcasters not traveling for road games and more.
Topics covered in the "Traina Thoughts" segment of the podcast with WFAN's Sal Licata include MLB's possibly banning the shift, Giannis's NBA Finals performance and the story about NBC wanting James Gandolfini to replace Steve Carell on The Office.
You can listen to the podcast below or download it on Apple, Spotify and Stitcher.
3. Amen, Ja. A. Men.
4. You'd think Tom Brady wouldn't want to help the NFL after SpyGate, but here he is trying to be a good guy.
5. In the latest example of how the world has gone completely haywire, now a simple hand gesture that has nothing to do with the middle finger will be a penalty at Texas Longhorns football games.
Former Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield has thoughts on this ridiculousness.
6. As an Italian, I watched this on a loop for about 15 minutes yesterday.
7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: Posted this on Twitter last night and people couldn't get enough. This guy is a must-follow on TikTok.
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.