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Tom Rinaldi: I Am Too Thin-Skinned For Social Media

“I know there is great value to it, especially in what we do. I know it is a way to connect with people and social media can do a lot of good, but that first sting when I wasn’t even trafficking it, it was so beyond the pale harsh that I didn’t want to traffic in that.”

Ricky Keeler

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It is Masters week and while Tom Rinaldi will not be covering The Masters this year since he is now at FOX Sports, the StuPodity podcast  gave him the opportunity to talk about it on one of this week’s episodes. 

At the beginning of the podcast, StuGotz and Mike Antoniou were talking about how Rinaldi has the ability to tell stories that make people feel emotional and sometimes make you want to shed a tear. Rinaldi gave the duo a good answer as to how in a divisive time, people want to be inspired and he hopes the stories he tells can help people as they look for positivity.

“I like to think there are more shades and colors on the palette than that,” Rinaldi said. “It really isn’t me. When you tell stories in sport where people are already invested, that’s the magic of it. We live in such a divisive time and the one institution which by design is meant to divide. Yet, the institution has found a way to unify, to call people together, to have people experience something communally. People want to be moved. They want to be inspired. They want to feel. If you are already invested, I don’t know if it’s that great a leap.

“Digitally, when you open your newsfeed these days, you aren’t seeing a lot of stories of greatness and striving and accomplishment. You see a lot of stories of strife, difficulty, of loss, and pain. Greatness, whether you assign it any value, is chronicled in the sports column. As a record of human achievement, I think that is pretty incredible.” 

Throughout the podcast, Rinaldi tells great stories of playing Augusta with a great friend and taking in the friend’s emotional experience or an embarrassing moment talking to the late Jerry Sloan, he also mentioned a sad, serious story about why people won’t get to see him on social media. 

It was back in 2012 when there was a 20-minute delay during the Wimbledon final between Andy Murray and Roger Federer. ESPN decided to air a 10-minute feature on Murray’s hometown in Dunblane, Scotland. Murray was in the school when an infamous mass shooting happened in 1996. They went back to the town to ask people what it would mean if Murray were to win Wimbledon. An ESPN colleague showed Rinaldi what people were saying about the company’s decision to air the feature.

“In defense of our former colleague, I don’t think he understood the context. The tweet was ‘the last thing I want to see on a Sunday morning is Tom Rinaldi talking about dead children’. Right then and there, I knew. I am too thin-skinned, I see it as too much of a time suck, but I never ever wavered. I know there is great value to it, especially in what we do. I know it is a way to connect with people and social media can do a lot of good, but that first sting when I wasn’t even trafficking it, it was so beyond the pale harsh that I didn’t want to traffic in that.”

Rinaldi was a part of College Gameday at ESPN for 17 years and he gets asked on occasion what that show is all about and he mentions the bond that Kirk Herbstreit and Coach Lee Corso have. 

“I was asked what College Gameday was and to me, I gave an easy answer. It is Herbie’s hand on Corso’s forearm. That’s the thing we all desperately hope our family might be. That we will look out for each other, love one another. Herbie’s ability to simultaneously acknowledge, support, laugh at, and love Lee through everything. It is the thing which is his signature.”

I don’t think you will cry during this podcast, unless it is tears of laughter hearing Rinaldi’s Masters style promotion of the podcast. However, it is good to know more about the man that brings the inspirational stories to our television or social media feeds and allows us to take it in.

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Saquon Barkley to WFAN’s Tiki Barber: “Don’t Feed Into the B.S.”

Barkley said any narrative that he chose to go to Philadelphia over staying with the Giants is incorrect because New York never offered him a contract.

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Logo for the New Heights podcast and a photo of Saquon Barkley

Former New York Giants and current Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley made an appearance this week on New Heights, the podcast hosted by Travis and Jason Kelce. In addition to several football related topics, Barkley spoke about his war of words with WFAN host and former Giants running back Tiki Barber.

After Barkley signed with the Eagles on a three-year, $37.5 million deal, Barber said that Barkley was “dead to us,” referring to New York Giants fans. Barber has said those comments were more about what the fans were thinking and were “tongue-in-cheek.” Barkley came back at Barber on social media and said he was a “hater” since he came to New York.

In explaining what made him upset about Barber’s response, Barkley said he didn’t think it was right to be attacked by a former player.

“I love seeing NFL guys, I love seeing OGs, I love seeing you guys, you have a platform, this is a place where you know ball, you can talk, you can educate fans,” Barkley said. “Maybe use that time to show, ‘Maybe this is why Saquon is going to Philly’ … the business side of it, use that to show, I’m not saying you got to have loyalty to me because I don’t care for that, to be honest, but you are an ex-NFL player, an ex-NFL athlete, don’t feed into the B.S., let fans do that, they’re supposed to do that, they’re emotional.”

Barkley said any narrative that he chose to go to Philadelphia over staying with the Giants is incorrect because New York never offered him a contract.

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Joe Buck Misses Calling Baseball But Says He’s Already Called it for “A Lifetime”

“People go, ‘Do you miss calling baseball?’ — I did it for 35 years, that is a lifetime in broadcasting…I feel like I put my time in.”

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Credit: Richard Shotwell AP

Longtime sports broadcaster Joe Buck gave up calling baseball when he made the switch to ESPN and, while he says he misses the sport, he’s called 35 years’ worth of the sport. On the latest edition of Nothing Left Unsaid with Tim Green, Green asks his former broadcast partner about the lack of baseball in his life. While Buck says he misses parts of baseball, he doesn’t miss all of it.

“People go, ‘Do you miss calling baseball?’ — I did it for 35 years, that is a lifetime in broadcasting…I feel like I put my time in. I did 24 World Series — that’s a lot, 24 more than I ever expected to do on national television. What I do miss is calling the game for the home crowd. I do miss the local stuff, where you go into the booth, and you’re the Cardinal announcer, and when the Cardinals win, ‘Yay,’ and when the Cardinals lose, ‘Boo.’ When you do the network stuff, it’s like death by 1000 cuts. It’s, ‘you hate my team, screw you,’ and it gets in your head and it takes a little bit of the fun out of it…I don’t miss the stress that comes with all that, but I do miss calling baseball for [a local team]…You show up, you’re not just there for an organization, but for their fans, and you’re kind of rooting along with them. That’s fun. And so, I miss that, but as far as the national stuff, I don’t miss a lot of that.”

Buck reiterated points he made months ago on 810 WHB with Jason Anderson. “I miss doing local baseball. I miss putting on a headset and being the eyes and ears of Cardinal fans, Royal fans, Rangers fans, whatever,” Buck said back then. “That’s more fun than being Switzerland and getting all the junk that comes with it.”

He stopped calling baseball when he and longtime football partner Troy Aikman moved from FOX to ESPN to call Monday Night Football. While he said publicly that he would miss calling the World Series, he also said the 2022 World Series would have been his last anyway. Buck says he may one day feel compelled to call baseball again, though, saying, “I’ve never said that before, but I just feel like I’m 53, basically 54, [and] I think it’s too early to say nevers at this point in my life. I think at some point, I’ll get the itch again.”

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Former Red Sox Pitcher Jonathan Papelbon Joins Roster of ‘Foul Territory’ Hosts

“I am joining the Foul Territory podcast full-time, no more guest spots…I’m coming in and I can’t wait to pop a bottle on this year’s baseball season.

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The already-stacked roster on Foul Territory just got its closer. Jonathan Papelbon, formerly of the Boston Red Sox, Washington Nationals, and Philadelphia Phillies, announced today that he was joining fellow former All-Stars A.J. Pierzynski, Todd Frazier, Adam Jones, Lorenzo Cain, Brock Holt and Jason Kipnis on the show.

The podcast also features former MLB Network host Scott Braun and former 11-year MLB catcher Erik Kratz.

“I am joining the Foul Territory podcast full-time, no more guest spots,” Papelbon said in a video posted to his X account. “Whether it’s a big Ohtani gambling scandal or me giving you baseball gambling winners…I’m coming in, no bulls—-, real talk, and I can’t wait to pop a bottle on this year’s baseball season.”

Papelbon has been a contributor to the show in the past as a guest but will now join in an official capacity. He has also contributed to linear and digital content for NESN since 2021 and will reportedly head to the booth this year.

The former closer will join Alanna Rizzo on the Foul Territory network, who was brought on just a week ago to co-host the podcast’s live program, Fair Territory, with baseball insider Ken Rosenthal.

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