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🏈 NFL, Paramount agree. In the first strike in what is expected to be a busy year of NFL broadcast rights renegotiations, Paramount could reportedly pay over $1 billion more for NFL rights under terms of a new deal. In return, the NFL would drop its 2029 opt-out, allowing the contract to run through the 2033-34 season.

🏀 The Pearl show. The newest addition to the CBS and TNT college hoops talent rosters made himself the star of the show on Selection Sunday. Bruce Pearl, who according to Alabama Live is still being paid by Auburn, advocated hard for the Tigers’ inclusion in the NCAA tournament. Then, the UMBC social team reinvigorated criticism over Pearl’s obnoxious Miami (Ohio) takes.

🗞️ WaPo remorse. News surfaced last week that about 60,000 readers canceled their digital subscriptions to the Washington Post last month when the paper gutted its sports, arts, metro and foreign desks. Now, the Post is supposedly trying to bring back some of its laid-off reporters.

🥍 Lacrosse shenanigans. During Sunday’s independent broadcast of a UNC-Penn State men’s lacrosse game, announcer Booker Corrigan appeared to believe he was not only running the tournament and calling the game, but also serving as the de facto replay review room. The NCAA later confirmed its on-field referee made the final call.

🏀 LaForce extends. Longtime TNT Sports reporter Allie LaForce will remain with the network as its top sideline reporter for college hoops, Unrivaled, and more. LaForce was a major presence for the NBA on TNT, but has worked across several sports including college football since the network lost NBA rights last year.

NBA Twitter aficionado Rob Perez, better known as World Wide Wob, has been on top of it all season.

If there is anyone who has the pulse of NBA fans online, it’s Perez.

He also happens to be one of the biggest fans of Inside the NBA I’ve ever seen.

All throughout the season — the maiden voyage of Inside on ESPN — Perez has been frustrated. He has lamented how the Worldwide Leader has cordoned the show off on many memorable nights this season. Rather than getting the insights and absurdities of Shaq, Chuck, Kenny and Ernie twice a week, every week, to accompany the hoops action, NBA fans have gotten remarkably little Inside this year.

This weekend was the show’s last appearance on ESPN/ABC of the regular season. And because the Nuggets-Lakers thriller went into overtime, ABC did not have much airtime to offer the crew.

The postgame show, the real and actual Inside the NBA, was on for just 23 minutes.

“I am a disgruntled loyal customer who gave new ownership a chance, and would like to turn in my membership card,” Perez wrote.

When ESPN first struck a deal to license Inside from TNT Sports, many feared this outcome. Even if you didn’t buy into the idea that the network would stifle the creative freedom of the cast and staff, it was easy to see things might be stuffier on ESPN than TNT.

As Perez noted, none of the four Inside postgame shows since Christmas has made it to 30 minutes. Local ABC affiliates clearly want to kick to local news rather than putting the Inside variety hour on. This is the problem when ESPN puts its top weekend showcase games on the broadcast network, though one ESPN will likely accept if it means better viewership.

One of the main concerns before the year was that Scott Van Pelt’s SportsCenter would supplant Inside at a certain point in the night. But Inside has rarely, if ever, aired on a weeknight when SVP would compete. Those nights have featured NBA Countdown and ESPN’s in-house B-team. Inside really only airs on Fridays, Saturdays and Sunday afternoons.

Even Charles Barkley recently complained that the crew was not being used enough. The Hall of Famer made an appearance on Pardon the Interruption recently, but the hosts hardly feel like part of the ESPN family. Even Kenny Smith, who has a side deal with ESPN, has been hard to find.

The calculation makes sense overall for ESPN. Management has to balance Van Pelt and the Countdown team as well. They want to make Inside part of the package for the biggest games, but putting those games on ABC is best for ratings. And they gave up relatively little to bring Inside aboard, trading a package of Big 12 football and men’s basketball games.

Most of all, ESPN can stomach this situation for now because Inside will be all over the postseason. Disney-owned networks still get one conference finals series and the NBA Finals each season. Just as they were at TNT, Chuck and Co. will be on-air nearly every night all spring. Plus they will be there live to cover the championship series for the first time ever.

In its recent broadcast deals, ESPN has favored having a presence at the biggest events over having the strongest recurring presence each week. The Inside schedule fits that strategy.

Some might also say that less Inside is a good thing. The Prime Video and NBC productions have drawn high praise. They will get a chance to shine in the spring as well. More perspectives can be good.

But Inside is an institution; it was supposed to help solve ESPN’s perpetual NBA studio problem. What the crew in Studio J says still sets the conversation in basketball. When the Inside guys lock in and take on a big NBA topic, they still make great television that puts the sport into perspective.

To have gotten less of that during the regular season, despite the show being on a bigger platform, is a disappointment.

With so many big sports moments in recent weeks where the media became a big part of the story, we had to bring in former ESPNer Joon Lee to break it down on our live talk show The Play-By-Play.

Lee, who now works as an independent journalist creating content for his YouTube channel and Substack, discussed Bam Adebayo’s scoring explosion, Kevin Durant’s latest burner account scandal, and the World Baseball Classic.

Click here to watch the show on YouTube, or listen on Apple and Spotify.

Not exactly a sports-movie moment from Northern Iowa when the team found out it was making the NCAA tournament

Fox’s Joe Davis and John Smoltz didn’t shy away from the brutal strike call on the final pitch of USA-Dominican Republic in the WBC semifinal

Everyone was impressed by John Wall’s insane college basketball knowledge

College basketball broadcasters all weekend had fun making Friends references in relation to Vanderbilt guard Chandler Bing

“They will not let Arch Manning play for the Jets. I’m telling you right now, they will manipulate the draft, they will never let him get drafted by the Jets. You can take that to the bank.” - Mike Francesa, preparing Jets fans for the worst.

“The lack of college all-22 film in 2026 is stupid and maddening. The NFL has let people access it for 14 years, and I think they are doing fine.” - ESPN’s Kevin Clark started quite a lively conversation online after calling for college football to make game video public for media.

“I wasn’t part of the ‘agenda.’ It shocked the world because it wasn’t somebody who they glorify as a scorer, as somebody who can get that record.” - Bam Adebayo, who clearly felt disrespected by the reaction to his 83-point explosion.

“I know some people with billions who support him and [have] a huge political pull. Intimately, I know these people, and they’re rocking with him if he wants to rock all the way and roll to an opportunity like that. He can do it.” - Former ESPNer Marcellus Wiley, suggesting Stephen A. Smith has some friends in high places who would support a presidential run.

“What they are diluting is the day Sunday. What makes y’all’s sh*t so much different than everything else is y’all got this whole day that’s loaded with stuff. And instead, you put a little bit here, you put a little bit there.” - Bomani Jones, warning the NFL against its proposed Thanksgiving Eve game.

Our Michael Grant spoke with Adam Schein this week after the premiere of his new live video show for the New York Post and California Post…

How did this opportunity come about?

“I was talking to the Post, and knew that they were looking to get into this space. They really have some unbelievable people at the top: the CEO, Sean Giancola; Troy Searer, who is the president of video; and Chris Shaw, who’s the sports editor. I think the timing was great, as they were trying to get into this space with a daily YouTube show. The California Post was born almost simultaneously, and it was an awesome confluence of events. I love having the daily on-camera show.”

Read the entire interview at Awful Announcing.