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.

🎤 QUICK START ✍️

📺 Around the Horn comes to an end this week but don’t expect an expanded Pardon the Interruption to fill its timeslot.

📺 Speaking of Around the Horn, Tony Reali was hopeful he could convince his bosses to change their minds, but was unsuccessful. As for his next move… could the Olympics come calling?

🏀 Caitlin Clark continues to bring ratings as the opening Indiana Fever-Chicago Sky game drew 2.7 million viewers, the most watched WNBA regular season game since 2000.

🚨LEADING OFF 🚨

Everybody Hates Robert

It has not been a great twelve months for Robert Griffin III. The former Heisman Trophy winner and Baylor star had it good at ESPN. He was one of their top college football analysts, calling good games every week. Additionally, he was one of the rare individuals who also offered NFL analysis starring on Monday Night Countdown. And to top it all off, he was a regular on ESPN’s morning show rotation, starring on Get Up and First Take.

But then it all came crashing down in an instant when RGIII was laid off before the beginning of the football season. While it seemed peculiar at the time, the strange saga of Robert Griffin III since then shows that maybe ESPN wanted to get ahead of any headaches that might come.

RGIII was always a unique personality with some definite quirks. But then he started wading into sports, comedy, culture, and politics and things went off the rails.

First came comments about Jackie Robinson that drew widespread condemnation when he said that breaking baseball’s color barrier was not political. Then most recently his comments on Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark that erupted into a personal, ugly feud with Ryan Clark.

Considering this comes against the backdrop of TikTok meme videos and his safe space Twitter schtick and it’s impossible to understand what the end goal here is for RGIII. All we do know is that in the last year he’s made a lot of people very angry. To be fair, Ryan Clark’s behavior and ownership of this debacle has been unsavory and inexplicable for someone who seems so conscious of building his personal brand as well

And for RGIII it’s not just publicly that he seems to be drawing slings and arrows but privately as well. Both Clark and Stephen A. Smith have been very clear that Griffin wasn’t a popular figure behind the scenes during his time at ESPN. At this point, it’s hard to see who is left that supports RGIII at this point in time.

Griffin will return to the broadcast booth this fall as Fox’s number two college football analyst as a replacement for Brock Huard beside Jason Benetti. And by all accounts he will do so in a vastly different standing than when he started his broadcast career. Hopefully by returning to announcing, he can leave the drama of the past year behind.

📣 SOCIAL EXPERIMENT 🌟

Sports will peak with the running of the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile race. Cancel the NBA Finals. Cancel the Super Bowl. We can’t top this.

ESPN’s Mike Greenberg loves this new era of NBA parity with a seventh different champion in the last seven years now guaranteed.

Is today the day that we say goodbye to the “Tush Push” with the signature Eagles play up for a vote to be banned?

🔦 IN THE SPOTLIGHT ☀️

Just when you thought we have seen and done it all with Bill Belichick and Jordon Hudson, we have been proven wrong once again. Not only did a new report drop that Hudson wanted partial ownership of the Hard Knocks series that was supposed to feature the Tar Heels, the pair may even be engaged. Can we just forget the coaching sideshow and skip to the reality show?

🏄 _{CHANNEL SURFING} 🌊 

🏈 Roger Goodell gave his strongest indication yet that 16 international games are coming, which makes it an almost certainty to happen sooner rather than later. [CNBC]

⛳ TGL’s success has been proven with a new expansion franchise from Detroit which has already doubled the valuation of teams. [Sportico]

⚾ Major League Baseball is citing higher attendance numbers, ratings, and social media engagements as proof that Rivalry Weekend resonated. [MLB]

🗣️ NOTABLE QUOTABLES 🗣️

“I hate Dave right now. I’m not gonna lie, I f*cking hate him. Hate his f*cking guts. Yeah, I hate him.” - Kirk Minihane on Barstool Sports boss Dave Portnoy.

"Taylor Swift is one of the best things to happen to the NFL." - Michael Strahan on the importance of the NFL embracing pop culture and its casual fans.

"That was the only part that made me uncomfortable and disheartened, because I felt that the four of us should have went into ABC to negotiate that deal." - Kenny Smith sharing his feelings about Inside the NBA’s upcoming move to ESPN.

🔥THE CLOSER🔥

Blessing or curse

The Conference Finals in the NBA and NHL present a fascinating opportunity for both leagues. Of the eight teams remaining, only the New York Knicks can be called a big brand by any stretch of the imagination.

On the NHL side, the Stars and Oilers will duel in the west while the Panthers and Hurricanes fight for the east. Three franchises from below the Mason-Dixon line will always be a bit strange in the Stanley Cup semifinals, but it’s become commonplace in recent years.

However, no matter how much recent success these teams may have had (Florida in particular looking for their third straight final), it may be difficult for casual fans to get involved. Maybe a Carolina-Edmonton rematch can be enough to hook viewers in with the Oilers almost overturning a 3-0 deficit in last year’s final, but it’s more likely that the series will have a ceiling to its viewership numbers. With games on TNT instead of ABC in the Stanley Cup Final rotation, we can safely say ratings will be down from last year.

The NBA faces a similar dilemma, but arguably a much bigger opportunity. The Thunder and Timberwolves feature the two players at the front of the line to vault to “face of the league” status in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Anthony Edwards. A Thunder win would see the NBA’s best team in the regular season get a championship opportunity they certainly deserve. But a Wolves upset victory won’t draw any complaints in the league offices with Edwards’ explosive star power.

On the other hand, the NBA is probably rooting for a Knicks victory over the Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals. While Tyrese Haliburton deserves way more love than he currently gets, a first finals series in MSG since 1999 would be a godsend for the league. The Knicks have been a sleeping giant for so long and with Jalen Brunson leading the way they have a player with true superstar capabilities.

A Knicks-Thunder or Knicks-Wolves NBA Finals wouldn’t match the battles between Steph Curry and LeBron James. But it could go a long way in serving the league’s ratings interests both for the present and the future.