Welcome to The A Block, Awful Announcing’s daily newsletter, where you’ll always find the latest sports media news, commentary, and analysis.

Did someone share this newsletter with you? Sign up for free to make sure you never miss it.

⚽ Poch ‘a little bit sad.’ USMNT head coach Mauricio Pocchetino ragged on media at his Thursday night press conference for not congratulating him for winning Group D, saying “it is a little bit sad,” a surprising quip for a veteran coach, albeit one that is coaching in his first World Cup.

⚽ Backtracking on Bosnia. Los Angeles-based ABC 7 reporter Abigail Velez apologized on social media after what she said was an “insensitive” and “inappropriate” comment that she didn’t know anything about Bosnia and didn’t want to know about the USMNT’s Round of 32 opponent in the World Cup, which has a violent history as a former part of what was once Yugoslavia.

💻 Barstool revelations. In a new profile at the Wall Street Journal, Barstool owner Dave Portnoy alleges that when Call Her Daddy host Alex Cooper was trying to leave the company, she threatened to share that she and former cohost Sofia Franklyn had been sexually harassed while working at Barstool.

⚾ NBC unveils ‘Star Spangled Sunday.’ NBC and Peacock will air all 15 MLB games next Sunday, July 5, as part of baseball’s Independence Day celebration. The showcase, part of NBC’s new MLB package starting this year, includes two national broadcasts on NBC and the rest streaming on Peacock, with the same graphics and theme music.

Read more of today’s top stories at Awful Announcing.

In the aftermath of the latest Caitlin Clark controversy last week, I checked in, as I usually do, with The Athletic’s informative No Offseason podcast, which covers women’s basketball.

Host Zena Keita explained that, despite Alyssa Thomas ultimately receiving a suspension for the closed-fist shot that she landed on Clark, the league’s press release was notably succinct. While the WNBA’s official ruling on Thomas’ hit was to tag her with a Flagrant 2 foul and a one-game suspension, Keita noted that the punishment may have come because Thomas should have, in theory, been ejected when the play took place in the second quarter.

But the league did not elaborate on its reasoning. Keita argued this created precisely the type of vacuum in which conspiracies continue to flourish around Clark: The league was favoring the Indiana star, it was punishing Thomas for previous incidents, etc.

That the league would reveal so little couldn’t have been a surprise given that Dan Patrick, on his show Friday, reported that the WNBA had declined comment on the confrontation all day Thursday. “This is a time when you have to answer a tough question,” he said. Instead, the league cited loaded travel schedules and could not cobble together any response to the play as it enforced its discipline.

That effort was also seemingly fumbled. Phoenix coach Nate Tibbetts told reporters Sunday that “this was not a thorough investigation.” Tibbetts said that none of him, Thomas, or team security was interviewed by the league as it determined its punishment, which he explained is the usual protocol in the NBA.

In a very strong column at The Ringer this week, women’s basketball reporter Seerat Sohi wrote that “When it comes to officiating, investigations, punishments, or the lack thereof, the league’s decisions often seem influenced more by external pressure—whether from players or social media—than by an actual vision.”

The need for vision, the need for a protocol, this is a big part of what the WNBA lacks as it catches up to its own sudden explosion in popularity. The scrutiny continues to outpace the league’s ability to manage it.

Later in the No Offseason episode, reporter Annie Costabile named another element that the WNBA is lacking from its brother league’s protocol: a so-called “Last 2 Minutes” report. These releases are likely best known for going viral on NBA Twitter when officials miss a call. Essentially, they are the league and referees’ way of holding themselves accountable.

It is a small example of a larger problem facing the WNBA, which is that it has very few mechanisms to ensure accountability. The Last 2 Minute report is a start. Regular injury reports, implemented this season, are another. How about pool reports from on-site journalists selected to interview officials? These offer, at the very least, an on-record explanation for what happened on the court, a vast improvement on the vacuum we get now.

And as veteran radio host Dan Patrick revealed Friday, even as his producers worked to reach the league throughout Thursday, they could not reach a league representative for a statement on the incident, despite head coach Stephanie White becoming the latest figure to excoriate the league over its officiating. The result, Patrick said, is that the situation spiraled "out of control" and allowed the most bombastic opinions in the media to set the tone of the conversation.

More broadly, Patrick’s revelation shows just how insulated the league remains. If Commissioner Cathy Engelbert and her team had provided a simple statement to Patrick, it would have blasted out across social media instantly. Such a simple act may feel quaint in today’s crazed media environment, but these responses stitch together over time and make it harder to concoct nonsense perspectives or outright lie.

So much reporting happens in background conversations with people whose job it is to give their side’s perspective. Engelbert and Co. clearly do not have relationships with enough of the media that covers the WNBA, or at least enough of the newcomers with bigger megaphones that have recently begun covering the WNBA more consistently, to shape the discourse.

Small steps like regular reports, on-record statements, thorough investigations, descriptive press releases, and background conversations aren’t flashy. If done well, audiences may not even notice they happen. But they are key building blocks the WNBA needs to focus on to gain fans’ trust and slowly return to a shared reality.

Alexi Lalas is inspiring talk within sports media about the all-time broadcasting villains; that is, the announcers and analysts who were deeply aggravating audiences even as they remained among the top on-air stars in their sport.

Last week on our talk show, The Play-By-Play LIVE, we built our Mt. Rushmore of controversial sports broadcasters. All active analysts (with one exception), with one for each of the four major sports.

Watch the episode on YouTube, or listen on Spotify or Apple.

If you dip into the social media replies or online comments of certain sports reporters these days, the Dianna Russini scandal might feel like it’s still the biggest story in the news.

Many who hear about it these days are NFL writers or investigative journalists who were close with Russini or worked with her. The most prominent case, though, was brought to the fore by WFAN’s Craig Carton during a recent, random clash with Dan Le Batard. While railing against Le Batard for being sanctimonious, Carton threw out that Le Batard refused to fully address the allegations facing Russini, a longtime contributor to his show, and Mike Vrabel, while criticizing others in the industry for their improprieties.

The specifics of Carton’s case against Le Batard are less relevant to the larger legacy of the Russini scandal a few months out than the manner in which it has lingered around Russini’s colleagues. A host or reporter’s willingness to cover Russini’s alleged relationship with Vrabel is becoming a litmus test for authenticity in a sports media world that is, like the rest of the media, increasingly being measured by authenticity.

There is the basic concept of whether you are willing to address the story at all. News programming comes from the bottom up these days, and even the biggest mainstream hosts feel pressure to talk about what is trending online. Those who don’t, especially with a story as big, salacious and complex as the Russini scandal, risk being seen as stubborn or out of touch.

More importantly, though, is whether someone in the media is willing to set their personal ties to Russini aside in the name of their work and their audience. When Pablo Torre spent an episode devoted to revealing Oz the Mentalist’s deceit, our Awful Announcing YouTube chat was hotter than I can ever remember it as viewers debated why Torre would “waste” his time on Oz when he had, in their view, glossed over the Russini story. Is Torre held to a higher standard as an Athletic partner and employee of Le Batard’s? Sure. But I don’t think their point was unfounded.

There are far more serious examples of this for other media figures: the Epstein files, perhaps COVID-19 theories earlier this decade. Sometimes, all the audience wants is to force these commentators to confront their previous bad takes. It is a common way for online audiences to test content creators and exert influence over them.

The idea here is not that the audience is right to boil down a reporter’s authenticity or reliability to their perspective on Russini. It is, at the end of the day, quite low stakes. However, it is the first story I can remember that morphed into this sort of litmus test in the sports world.

And if the audience is paying attention to what’s being said about the scandal and it is rising to the attention of someone like Carton who wants to lob a grenade at a rival host, we’ve crossed over to a more potent and damaging form of this phenomenon.

“…Especially for Bosnia, how much this country has suffered, and to see this happiness makes me very emotional, gives me goosebumps.” - Fox Sports’ Zlatan Ibrahimović, punctuating Bosnia and Herzegovina’s first appearance in the World Cup knockout rounds with a personal touch, tracing to his father’s roots in the country.

“If you don’t want to be a part of that, A, maybe don’t openly insult your paying customers after a game, but B, don’t sign here.” - San Francisco Giants beat reporter Susan Slusser, sounding off after a local radio host questioned whether the backlash to players’ protest of the team’s Pride Night might affect whether future free agents sign with the franchise.

“Analytics have / are ruining the game we playing AI hoops.” - Celtics star Jaylen Brown, responding to a viral report from ESPN’s Bobby Marks claiming some execs in the NBA see Brown, the 2024 Finals MVP, as the seventh-best player on a great team.

“You have to answer tough questions sometimes. And this is a time when you have to answer a tough question. … Have somebody available for comment.” - Dan Patrick, revealing that the WNBA did not give his show a statement about the flagrant foul against Caitlin Clark last Thursday, for which Phoenix forward Alyssa Thomas was ultimately suspended.

“I hate this f*cking deal for Minnesota, alright. I don’t like LaMelo Ball. … I might be the most negative guy on it. That’s fine.” - Barstool’s Ryen Russillo, not mincing words on the Timberwolves’ high-risk deal to acquire point guard LaMelo Ball.

“The owner going on five-and-a-half years ago with a big wallet and a big mouth and made big promises and now he’s in the witness protection program.” - Mike Francesa, using owner Steve Cohen’s words against him after the New York Mets fired their manager.

Does Kelly have anything substantial to offer CBS? His previous stints on TV weren’t particularly memorable. There wasn’t a groundswell of viewers eager to hear Kelly’s latest analysis. Kelly also doesn’t have the best reputation for his interpersonal skills. That’s not even counting his dealings with the media.

…

Regardless of your opinion of Kelly, we can all agree he is not perceived as likable, which can be a problem on TV. Even worse, he’s not polarizing enough to get an audience to hate-watch his appearances.

Click to read more from Awful Announcing’s Michael Grant about CBS’s peculiar decision to hire former Notre Dame and LSU coach Brian Kelly as a game analyst for its Mountain West package.