The broadcaster tells a hilarious story about getting mocked by the quarterback during a rough morning.
1. This week’s SI Media Podcast features a truly fantastic interview with CBS and Turner Sports play-by-play man Ian Eagle.
On the more serious side of things, with Marv Albert now retired, I asked Eagle about the possibility of his becoming TNT’s lead NBA voice. I also asked the versatile play-by-play broadcaster whether he’d be interested in calling Amazon’s Thursday night football games.
On the lighter side, Eagle did some spot-on imitations of Bill Raftery and Chris "Mad Dog" Russo, came clean about being addicted to TikTok and cleared up some of the controversies surrounding his notable food habits.
I also asked Eagle, who has covered Tom Brady for many, many years, whether we’re seeing more of the quarterback’s personality now because he’s out of New England, or if Brady has always been this fun and he’s just more comfortable now because of his age and where he is in his career.
That led to Eagle sharing an excellent story about being shamed by the greatest quarterback of all time.
As Eagle tells it, he got into New England for meetings with Patriots players one morning after not getting a lot of sleep because of work and travel. Eagle is not a coffee drinker, so he decided, at 9 a.m., to have some Pepsi for a jolt of energy. There were also some donuts on the premises, so Eagle figured he’d partake in a chocolate-frosted sweet treat, as well.
As Eagle was chasing his donut with a soda, Brady entered.
“So Tom walks in,” Eagle said on the SI Media Podcast. “I have a large Pepsi in front of me and a half-eaten chocolate frosted donut and he walks in and he says, ‘Having a good morning, Ian? How’s that all working out for you?’
"I said, ‘No, no, no. Normally I wouldn’t have a Pepsi at 9 a.m.’ He doesn’t want to hear it. ‘You’re having a Pepsi at 9 a.m. and you’ve eaten a donut. You know, I go to a healthy donut shop which is only a half mile away.’
"I was like, ‘Well, that’s kind of an oxymoron. Why would you have a healthy donut?’
"And I said, ‘Well, have you ever had a Pepsi?’
He goes, ‘No, never had a soda.’
"So he crushed me at that point and I believe he fat-shamed me.
"Three week later, we have [the Patriots] again. Road game. First thing he says when he steps up, ‘Where’s your donut? Where’s your Pepsi?' He knows to keep going back to it. A year later he’ll go back to it. He doesn’t forget s---. Ever."
The video below is a condensed version of the story, so I strongly recommend you listen to the podcast to get the full version.
So to sum up: Tom Brady has never had soda, Ian Eagle has never had coffee, and Brady is dead-serious about following the TB12 Method and he becomes more and more likable every day.
You can listen to the podcast below or download it on Apple, Spotify and Stitcher.
2. With all due respect to the great Kyle Brandt of Good Morning Football, his take here is off.
This is the correct answer.
3. If you are a sports fan, you are going to pay more and more money to watch games thanks to the proliferation of streaming services. Case in point, if you want to watch Notre Dame's home opener against Toledo on Sept. 11, you need to have Peacock. The game will not be on NBC. Peacock only.
4. I'm normally Team LeBron on all things, but I was bummed yesterday to see him delete this tweet, which set Twitter ablaze.
I'm sure LeBron's mentions were a complete s---show, but he should've stood by what he said, left the tweet up and just muted the conversation. Because if the Lakers don't win it all next season, everyone is still going to drag out that tweet.
5. I love this video. Jinxes are real and it's good to see that young sports fans know that.
6. Reports say Mike Richards, who was an executive producer on the show, will be named as Alex Trebek's full-time replacement on Jeopardy!
7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: If you ever wanted to see what it looked like when a hippo ate a watermelon, here you go.
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.