Nobody Had a Better Dan Campbell Rant After the Lions’ Loss Than Chris ‘Mad Dog’ Russo
1. Lions coach Dan Campbell became a sports-talk radio dream Sunday when he repeatedly passed up field goals to attempt fourth-down conversions.
His decision to pass on possibly adding three points when the Lions led 24–10 in the third quarter to go up three scores was particularly controversial.
Enter SiriusXM host Chris “Mad Dog” Russo.
While most in the media LOVE Dan Campbell, therefore causing them to take it easy on the Lions’ head coach, Russo doesn’t play that game. He smelled blood and went for it.
It was a vintage Russo rant, with the Radio Hall of Famer making his typical old-school references while screaming and yelling. The highlight was Russo getting so angry, he dropped a “Jesus” and then quickly apologized.
Only Chris “Mad Dog” Russo can get so worked up about a coaching decision and still catch himself for committing blasphemy in the middle of it.
And before you watch the clip and then possibly email or tweet me about Campbell’s decision, let me make one thing clear: Whether Campbell was right or wrong to pass up field goals is irrelevant here. This is about enjoying the entertainment value of Russo going bonkers over Campbell’s decision and showing everyone how sports-talk radio should be done.
2. Speaking of SiriusXM, you may have remembered that I recently made a big stink on SI Media With Jimmy Traina about its app update being a complete disaster.
I’m thrilled to report that SiriusXM has fixed the app. It brought back the crucial 15-second rewind and fast forward buttons, which was my No. 1 request. It also made a bunch of other changes.
- Skip forward 15 seconds and back 15 seconds have returned to the player controls alongside skip forward segment and back segment
- Restart show functionality has been reintroduced for live talk shows, replacing the less-useful Back 1 Hour button
- For on-demand content, the sleep timer button has been moved into the three dots menu in the lower bottom right of the player to make room for other more commonly used functionality
- For on-demand content, the playback speed button has been moved to the bottom of the player
- For on-demand content, a restart show button has been added to the bottom of the player
- We’ve added picture-in-picture support so video content can continue to play when the app is backgrounded
- Cross-fading experience between audio tracks has been improved
- Improved results when searching for an episode, podcast or show name
- Added an Undo button in case you mistakenly remove an item from your library
Give SiriusXM a huge amount of credit here. Most companies don’t listen to its customers. Sirius listened and took action. Well done!
3. The NFL ratings machine rolled on for Championship Sunday.
CBS drew 55.4 million viewers for the Chiefs’ win against the Ravens.
Fox landed 56.6 million viewers for the Niners’ comeback win against the Lions.
4. I’ve always said we’ve gotten numb to LeBron’s greatness, his statistical domination and every other aspect of his career. Here’s another wild nugget about James’s historic legacy. He has somehow played against 10 father-son duos in his career.
5. Here’s some sports media news about the man who breaks most of the sports media stories. Frequent SI Media With Jimmy Traina podcast guest Andrew Marchand has jumped from the New York Post to The Athletic.
6. The latest SI Media With Jimmy Traina features an outstanding conversation with Good Morning Football host Kyle Brandt.
Brandt talks about the strong ratings for GMFB, how he feels about the NFL season winding down, what a Super Bowl in Las Vegas means for people in sports media, why he doesn’t love talking about the Cowboys, why he avoids the social media game, his unique segment for CBS’s NFL Today, his experience on Wheel of Fortune and much more.
Following Brandt, Sal Licata from WFAN radio and SNY TV in New York joins me for our weekly “Traina Thoughts” segment. This week, we talk about Doc Rivers leaving ESPN after the network fired Jeff Van Gundy, CBS’s upcoming special on the NFL Today, the best potato chips and more.
You can listen to the podcast below or download it on Apple, Spotify and Google.
You can also watch SI Media With Jimmy Traina on Sports Illustrated’s YouTube channel.
7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: Curb Your Enthusiasm returns for its final season this Sunday, so I’m featuring Curb videos all week in this space. We all hate people who don't park properly and thanks to Larry we now have a name for those people.
Be sure to catch up on past editions of Traina Thoughts and check out SI Media With Jimmy Traina on Apple, Spotify or Google. You can also follow Jimmy on Twitter, Instagram and TikTok.
