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🎤 QUICK START ✍️

🏈 JJ Watt says he will hold up his end of the bargain and come out of retirement to play for the Cincinnati Bengals if Burnley can finish the EFL Championship without allowing a goal. One person seemingly not even entertaining a comeback is Fox NFL analyst Rob Gronkowski. Ian Rapaport shot down a rumor that he was considering a return with the Denver Broncos.

🤼‍♂️ Fox Sports quickly denied a floated rumor from wrestling podcast guru Conrad Thompson that Vince McMahon was working with the network to launch a new show.

🏀 NBC confirmed news that was long assumed in announcing that Noah Eagle will be a big part of the network’s NBA coverage as a play-by-play announcer behind Mike Tirico.

🚨LEADING OFF 🚨

An uneasy chase

The sport of hockey could not have scripted it any better. Over 9 million people in the USA watched the incredible 4 Nations Face-Off final between Team USA and Team Canada to make it the most watched game on record outside of the Olympics. Matthew Tkachuk is going on late night shows. And now with that unprecedented momentum, the NHL is looking to capitalize with a chase of its most hallowed record - Wayne Gretzky’s career goals mark.

Except the player chasing that record was not involved in the 4 Nations Face-Off because his country was banned from the competition.

The country is Russia and the player is Alexander Ovechkin.

There is no denying the importance of Ovechkin potentially breaking Gretzky’s record as a moment of great sporting significance. In fact, three Capitals games for the latter part of the regular season are moving to national television in hopes of capturing the record breaking goal. Currently, Ovechkin is on 883 goals after scoring Tuesday night, just 11 shy of The Great One’s total of 894.

There is also no denying the elephant in the room - Ovechkin’s longstanding personal relationship with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin.

Ovechkin’s support of Putin goes back at least to the original 2014 invasion of Ukraine. In 2017, Ovechkin announced a “PutinTeam” social media movement in favor of the dictator’s presidential campaign. That next March, Putin won the “election” with 77% of the vote. After Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, ESPN’s Emily Kaplan reported that Ovechkin refused to take down an Instagram photo of he and Putin together or deactivate his account for fear of his family’s safety. To this day, Putin’s profile picture on Instagram is the same one of him and Putin.

Trying to reconcile an athlete’s ability between the lines and what happens outside of them is not unique to Ovechkin or how the hockey media and ESPN will cover this chase. However, the geopolitical situation (especially as upside down as it has become in the last month) certainly is unique.

Ovechkin’s chase is a historic moment, but you wouldn’t blame ESPN or the NHL for approaching it with some trepidation over what the political fallout might be. Focus on it, and you run the risk of being criticized for taking away from the player’s record-setting accomplishment. Ignore it, and face criticism for trying to cover up his support of the Russian dictator and risk being used as propaganda.

Given how tense (and weird) the political calculations are between Russia, Canada, and the United States are at the moment, and how politicized the 4 Nations Face-Off became, it’s likely something that will gain increasing attention in the weeks ahead. And it could turn out to be one of the most delicate needles ESPN and others in sports media have ever had to thread.

📣 SOCIAL EXPERIMENT 🌟

JJ Redick had an incredibly endearing reaction to Richard Jefferson earning the full-time role in the ESPN lead NBA booth that was half sincere and half sarcastic.

Stephen A. Smith gave the opposite of his famous “stay off the weeeeeeed” advice for 76ers head coach Nick Nurse after his tumultuous season in Philadelphia.

ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter is not a fan of the Green Bay Packers’ push to ban the Philadelphia Eagles’ trademark tush push play.

🔦 IN THE SPOTLIGHT ☀️

Marisa Ingemi of the San Francisco Chronicle has made a landmark full-time beat on the area’s women’s sports teams her own, showing what could be possible as women’s sports continues to grow nationwide.

🏄 CHANNEL SURFING 🌊 

✍️ At Puck, John Ourand notes that ESPN is willing to play ball on a new (and better valued) deal, but that MLB is taking its ball and going home in looking for new rights partners. That’s enough ball related puns for now.

🎙️ Embattled Chicago White Sox announcer John Schriffen spoke to the Chicago Tribune about what he learned from his tough first season in the booth and how he plans to change his approach in 2025.

🎙️ Popular Kentucky Sports Radio host Matt Jones announced that he signed a new five-year deal to continue his show with iHeartMedia, which probably rules him out of a run for Mitch McConnell’s Senate seat.

📺 WHAT TO WATCH 📺 

If you’re a fan of football players running around in shorts and t-shirts then you’re in luck! NFL Combine coverage starts this Thursday on NFL Network and runs through the weekend. At the very least, it’s the ultimate in sports content that you can pull up on your phone or computer in the background while you try your best to survive at work and the most jarring reminder that the NFL rules all.

🔥THE CLOSER🔥

The next Charles Barkley isn’t in the NBA

WNBA legend Diana Taurasi abruptly announced her retirement on Tuesday. The Phoenix Mercury star leaves the professional game as the WNBA’s all-time leading scorer, a 3-time champion, and 11-time All-Star. She will certainly go down as one of the greatest basketball players in the history of the sport.

But what’s next?

Immediately, our thoughts turned to a potential future media career for Diana Taurasi. And why not? She’s already shown that she is fantastic at television following the success of her entertaining, red solo cup fueled college basketball altcasts with former UConn teammate Sue Bird. And her takes about Caitlin Clark and the WNBA rookie class sparked the fire for the vets vs rookies debate that was a major narrative for the league’s remarkable season.

While the NBA world has always talked about a natural successor to Charles Barkley, the truth is that the most logical person to fill those ideological shoes is Taurasi given her personality and reputation for trash talk.

If Taurasi could provide for the WNBA what Barkley does for the NBA - no nonsense, fun analysis with no filter and no favor, it could be huge as the league continues to grow in viewership and momentum. ESPN already has a great thing going with their women’s basketball studio crew, but the addition of Diana Taurasi could take it to the next level. It’s a perfect time and a perfect opportunity for literally the perfect person to fill that kind of role as the WNBA continues its ascent.