College Basketball Broadcaster, John Fanta

Episode 599 of "SI Media With Jimmy Traina" features a conversation with NBC college basketball broadcaster, John Fanta.Fanta talks about wanting to be a versatile broadcaster who does it all, why he left Fox for NBC, using social media to help build his career, hearing from big names in sports media about his work, the difference between calling a college basketball game and NBA game and his work on NBC’s college football coverage.In addition, Fanta talks about this year’s NCAA Tournament, breaks down certain aspects of the bracket, reveals what he’d change about the Tournament, explains how he’ll watch the Tournament and shares his rules for entering bracket pools.Fanta, who recently went viral for his preview of the St. Johns-UConn Big East Final, also reveals that he didn’t script the piece and it was all off the top of his head. He also shares some truly amazing Bill Raftery stories.Following Fanta, Sal Licata from SNY TV and “The Sal Licata Show,” joins Jimmy for their weekly “Traina Thoughts” segment. This week, Sal talks about his new relationship with none other than Jerry Seinfeld. Sal also shares a horrible travel experience while Jimmy rants about the best steakhouse in New York, Peter Luger’s.Sponsored by:Underdog: Download the Underdog app and use code: SPORTSILLUSTRATEDAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Episode 598 of "SI Media With Jimmy Traina" features a conversation with Richard Deitsch from “Sports Business Journal” and CBC on all the latest sports media news.Among the topics discussed: NBC naming Jason Benetti as its play-by-play voice for “Sunday Night Baseball” while passing on hiring a full-time lead analyst in order to use local broadcasters each week; CBS’s decision to use Nate Burleson as a studio host for the NCAA Tournament; Why Pat McAfee’s value to ESPN continues to increase; What will Fox do for a No. 2 college football play-by-play caller with Benetti gone; Charles Barkley and Dick Vitale calling a First Four game together; the WBC and much more.Following Deitsch, Sal Licata from SNY TV and “The Sal Licata Show,” joins Jimmy for their weekly “Traina Thoughts” segment. This week, the fellas talk about the NFL free agency, the NBA’s decision to cancel “Magic City Night” in Atlanta, the WBC, the Oscars and the absurd price of concert tickets.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Episode 597 of "SI Media With Jimmy Traina" features a conversation with CNBC media and sports reporter, Alex Sherman.Sherman talks about the big deal with Paramount buying Warner Brothers Discovery and how that will affect sports fans. Will TNT events air on CBS? Will this cause streaming prices to increase? Will this affect CBS Sports Network?Sherman also talks about the NFL's impending major impact on all other sports regarding rights deals, the FCC looking into sports and streaming, the rise of Kalshi and Polymarket and much more.Following Sherman, Sal Licata from SNY TV and “The Sal Licata Show,” joins Jimmy for their weekly “Traina Thoughts” segment. This week’s topics include Sal’s non-vacation vacation, the WBC, the Yankees retiring C.C. Sabathia’s number, a ridiculous take from Bruce Pearl and more. In addition, Jimmy reads some reader emails and Apple reviews.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Episode 596 of "SI Media With Jimmy Traina" features a conversation with Puck sports media reporter, John Ourand.Ourand explains what’s going on with the NFL television rights deals, which will take place later this year. Is there any chance CBS or Fox could lose their Sunday packages? How much more of the pie will streaming services get? Will the NFL diminish Sunday Ticket? Are we doing to see more playoff games on streaming platforms?In addition, Ourand shares thoughts on what ESPN will do with the NFL Network, which they recently purchased, the NBA’s new deal with Amazon and where things with Fox keeping the World Series and much more.Following Ourand, Peter Schrager from ESPN fills in for Sal Licata and joins Jimmy for the weekly “Traina Thoughts segment. Topics covered with Schrager is the non-stop NFL schedule, his best celebrity interaction during Super Bowl week, dealing with the big blizzard that hit the the East Coast, a couple of Larry David-esque moments, his iced coffee addiction, television recommendations and more.Sponsored by: Underdog: Download the Underdog app and use code: SPORTSILLUSTRATEDAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Episode 595 of "SI Media With Jimmy Traina" features a conversation with the owner and editor of Awful Announcing, Ben Koo.Koo talks about his day-to-day responsibilities, his philosophy on what the site should post and how he feels about amplifying disingenuous people in sports media.In addition, Koo discusses the relationship Awful Announcing has with the networks that air sports, whether he feels Awful Announcing is respected in sports media, whether he regrets anything the site he posted, the most popular post the site has put out, the most upset a story has made a network and much more.Following Koo, Sal Licata from SNY TV and “The Sal Licata Show” joins Jimmy for their weekly “Traina Thoughts segment. Topics covered in this episode include issues with trying to purchase MLB.tv thorugh ESPN, the run of celebrity deaths, an iPhone problem Jimmy is having, Sal’s wild use of “legend” to describe a WWE announcer and more.Sponsored by: Rocket Money (rocketmoney.com/simedia)Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Episode 594 of "SI Media With Jimmy Traina" is an all-Traina Thoughts post-Super Bowl episode with Sal Licata from SNY and “The Sal Licata Show.”Topics discussed include Seattle’s win over New England, Bad Bunny’s halftime show, Super Bowl betting, a horrific “bad beat” for Jimmy that ended up getting mentioned on “SportsCenter” and DraftKings parlays being a total disaster on Super Bowl Sunday.Non-Super Bowl topics covered include good news for YouTubeTV subscribers, the rise of prediction market platforms and how Mark Wahlberg caused controversy for them last weekend, the Olympics, pricing at sporting events, an apology from Jimmy after a listener complaint, Jimmy getting a win after appearing on Richard Deitsch’s podcast, a “Scrubs” reboot and more.Sponsored by: Rocket Money (rocketmoney.com/simedia)Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Episode 593 of "SI Media With Jimmy Traina" features an interview with NBC Sports’ host, Maria Taylor.Taylor, who will host the network’s five-hour Super Bowl pregame show, discusses her prep for the event, why Super Bowl Sunday is in some ways an easier gig than a regular NFL Sunday, whether she has thought about how many people will be watching the pregame show and the physical and mental nature of doing a five-hour show. Taylor also talks about her role as the Lombardi Trophy presenter for the first time in her career.Other topics discussed with Taylor include what it was like to work with Brent Musburger and Lee Corso, her exit from ESPN, the Sunday Night Football drawing attention for TikTok dances and much more.Following Taylor, SNY's Sal Licata joins Jimmy for their weekly "Traina Thoughts" segment. This week, they discuss the Super Bowl, the Grammy Awards, another food incident for Jimmy, Will Arnett throwing out one hell of a teaser, the end of the “Washington Post” sports department and more.Sponsored by:Underdog: Download the Underdog app and use code: SPORTSILLUSTRATEDSurfshark: Go to https://surfshark.com/SIMEDIA or use code SIMEDIA at checkout to get 4 extra months of Surfshark VPN!Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Episode 592 of "SI Media With Jimmy Traina" features a conversation about all the latest sports media news with The Ringer’s Bryan CurtisTopics discussed include: Mike Tirico calling his first Super Bowl for NBC; Ratings for the AFC and NFL Championship games; Tony Romo backlash; Tom Brady’s improvement as an analyst; the problem with NFL rules analysts; college football’s strong ratings despite being a mess off the field; ESPN’s promotion for next year’s Super Bowl; the state of podcasts; The “Washington Post” reportedly shutting down its sports section; Radio Row and more.Following Curtis, SNY's Sal Licata joins Jimmy for their weekly "Traina Thoughts" segment. This week, they discuss fallout from the massive snow storm, whether NFL playoff games should be played at a neutral site, blunders by Sean Payton and Sean McVay, Bill Belichick getting snubbed by the Hall of Fame, the Super Bowl and show recommendations.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Episode 591 of "SI Media With Jimmy Traina" features a conversation with ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt.Van Pelt talks about whether he will be moving into ESPN’s 5 p.m. slot that used to be occupied by “Around the Horn,” the pros and cons of that time slot and how close his former partner, Ryen Russillo, came to returning to ESPN and joining him for a new show.In addition, Van Pelt talks about the controversy involving Jacksonville reporter, Lynn Jones, complementing Liam Coen during a press conference, going through a health scare years ago, his addiction to Diet Coke, his favorite Bad Beat of 2025, Super Bowl betting and much more.Following Van Pelt, SNY's Sal Licata joins Jimmy for their weekly "Traina Thoughts" segment. This week, they discuss dealing with the cold weather, reactions to recent podcast interviews with Mike Tirico and Laura Rutledge, the problem with NFL television rules analysts, the NFL conference championship games and Sal’s new show.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Episode 590 of "SI Media With Jimmy Traina" features a conversation with NBC’s Mike Tirico.Tirico discusses what it’s like to call a dud playoff game (Chargers-Patriots) and being given the most anticipated divisional-round game in Rams-Chargers. Tirico also takes listeners through his epic call at the end of the Ravens-Steelers Week 18 game and the reaction to his performance.In addition, the longtime play-by-play caller talks about calling his first Super Bowl this February, what his Super Bowl Sunday will look like, with him doing Olympic hosting duties immediately after the Big Game, and whether he looks forward to possibly calling the most watched event in history.Tirico also weighs in on calling the Olympics and NBA action for NBC and his Michael Jordan interview that played out over multiple editions of the NBC pregame show.Following Tirico, SNY's Sal Licata joins Jimmy for their weekly "Traina Thoughts" segment. This week, they discuss the NFL playoffs, old-school wrestling.Sponsored by: Underdog: Download the Underdog app and use code: SPORTSILLUSTRATEDAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy