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🎤 QUICK START ✍️

🏀 Stephen A. Smith v. Memphis. We’re still not sure why ESPN’s highest-profile talent is using their airwaves to discuss Memphis’s crime rate, but here we are. Smith’s incendiary comments received a rebuttal from the city’s Democratic mayor and praise from a MAGA state senator. Smith refuted the pushback using FBI Director Kash Patel as his defense. We're sure this guy wants to be the Democratic nominee for something?

🏈 CFP false start. The proposed 16-team College Football Playoff format, which would have granted four automatic slots each to the Big Ten and SEC, was much ado about nothing. According to college football insider Brett McMurphy, the conference commissioners tasked with approving a new CFP format for 2026 and beyond have decided to “start over.” They did, however, decide to start requiring player availability reports.

🤼 Bubba the Lie Sponge. Wednesday, Tampa radio host Bubba the Love Sponge “revealed” live on air that 71-year-old professional wrestling legend Hulk Hogan was on his deathbed. Hogan’s reps were quick to dispel the rumor. It’s just weird that this isn’t even the craziest story involving Bubba and Hogan.

🚨LEADING OFF 🚨

The Caitlin Clark narrative economy is thriving

I’ll start out by admitting I don’t have any good answers to the questions I’m going to pose. I know that isn’t very reassuring, but it’s only fair because I’m not entirely sure anyone has any idea what to do with the Caitlin Clark Narrative Industrial Complex (CCNIC).

All I know is, when I become aware that something has happened involving Clark, whatever it is, no matter where I am, my immediate reaction is to roll my eyes and sigh deeply. Because I know what’s coming. And I know who it’s going to come from. And I know what they’re going to say.

Case in point, the incident this weekend when Clark was poked in the eye by Connecticut Sun guard Jacy Sheldon. Clark responded with a bump and shove, which caused Connecticut’s Marina Mabrey to walk over and push the Fever star to the floor.

It was a raucous scene and, admittedly, the kind of thing we’ve gotten used to seeing at some point in Indiana Fever games. For whatever reason, there often comes a point where Clark is involved in some trash talk, gets into it with an opponent, or is fouled unceremoniously. Afterward, even if Clark is complementary or nonchalant about what happens on the floor, the CCNIC steps into high gear.

This weekend’s fracas was no different. Dave Portnoy and his ilk lashed out against the Sun players and the WNBA. Clark apologist Christine Brennan rushed to her defense, saying the league needed to step in to protect its “corporate draw” (a peculiar phrase). Aggregators dragged Angel Reese into all of this.

It’s not as though there isn’t a conversation to be had around Clark, her impact on the league, the way she’s treated during games, and the larger narratives around women’s sports. It just always feels like we’re right back where we started every week.

I’m not saying anything Monica McNutt, Chiney Ogwumike, and others haven’t already said. I just genuinely wonder how we break this Groundhog Day time loop. I think there’s something to be said for Clark being more vocal and forthright, but it’s also not entirely her responsibility. Perhaps some of the culture warriors who care less about women’s basketball and more about scoring points in right-wing media circles will get bored or distracted. Maybe we need those who don’t want to admit Clark is the one true ratings juggernaut of the WNBA to let it go.

I just don’t know if I'll see any of those things happening anytime soon, let alone all three. And even if they did, it’s hard not to recognize the way “Caitlin Clark vs. WNBA” is an avatar for much larger discussions happening around America right now, for better or much worse.

All I know for sure is that I genuinely hope that we can go at least a couple of weeks without a Caitlin Clark-related incident during an Indiana Fever game. It would be nice to get a break from the CCNIC for a little bit. One can dream.

👀 AROUND AA 📰 

How ‘TNT DNA’ took the French Open to the next level

There were many skeptics when TNT took over the U.S. coverage of the French Open (more about the name below). The outlet hadn’t aired tennis since 2003, the incumbent NBC had broadcast from the red clay for nearly half a century, and TNT’s move was viewed as part of a desperate scramble to acquire rights to fill the void left by the loss of the NBA.

But the fortnight in Paris changed that outlook and left many tennis fans wishing TNT could do more tennis.  Beyond the solid ratings, studio commentators Andre Agassi and Sam Querrey were breakout stars, and the studio set outside the main stadium became a go-to stop for players (women’s singles champion Coco Gauff appeared four times). TNT’s efforts to mic players and coaches were illuminative, though limited, and an area the network needs to work through to get more participants. 

Awful Announcing’s Daniel Kaplan spoke with Craig Barry, TNT Sports chief content officer and veteran of sports telecasts, about why TNT would not call the event the French Open, Andre Agassi’s possible return, and TNT’s coverage compared to the other three Slams. Click here to read their discussion.

📈 INDUSTRY INSIGHTS 💰

• After 23 years as an NFL sideline reporter for Fox Sports, Laura Okmin is leaving the network. In an interview with Front Office Sports, Okmin revealed that, despite being offered a contract renewal to continue working on NFL sidelines for Fox, she’s opting to call it quits on television. Instead, Okmin will focus on her company, GALvanize, which helps mentor young women entering careers in sports. The veteran sideline reporter will continue to cover the NFL postseason and Super Bowl for Westwood One on the radio.

• Tuesday’s series-clinching Stanley Cup Final Game 6 between the Edmonton Oilers and Florida Panthers averaged 2.8 million viewers across TNT and truTV, down 33% versus last year’s Game 6 between the same two teams on ABC (4.2 million viewers). According to Jon Lewis of Sports Media Watch, it’s the least-watched Stanley Cup Final Game 6 since the 1994 New York Rangers-Vancouver Canucks game, which drew 2.37 million viewers on ESPN in a non-exclusive telecast.

• The NBA Finals aren’t faring much better in the ratings. Monday’s Game 5 between the Indiana Pacers and Oklahoma City Thunder averaged 9.54 million viewers on ABC, down 22% from last year’s Dallas Mavericks-Boston Celtics series-deciding game (12.22 million viewers). It was the least-watched NBA Finals Game 5 since the 2020 “bubble.”

• The NFL’s main media partners — Fox Corporation, CBS Broadcasting Inc., NBCUniversal Media, LLC, and Disney’s ESPN and ABC — jointly argued in a brief to a federal appeals court that it is essential for Sunday Ticket to remain priced at high levels, as their broadcast deals would otherwise cease to make economic sense.

📣 NOTABLE QUOTABLES 🗣️

“I do think there is an opening in the golf space. And I think that in time, that’s something that would interest me. I love what I do. I’m very happy doing what I do. I want to keep doing it. But I’ve done it for 35 years, too. And if you have grilled chicken every night, every once in a while, it’s nice to have the stir-fried chicken and just mix it up a little bit, right?” - ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter on the possibility of becoming a golf reporter.

“I want our fans to know, you’re entitled to your opinion about everything that’s going on. Baseball fans pay a lot of money now.” - Nationals announcer Bob Carpenter in a message to fans as the Nats dropped their 10th-straight game.

"I'm boycotting them.” - Phillies announcer John Kruk regarding the 76ers. No further context was provided.

"That’s a blemish on my career I do not believe I deserve. I’ve been consistent in that position." - Stephen A. Smith on the time ESPN suspended him for his comments around Ray Rice’s domestic violence incident.