1. I saw a lot of people on social media today going gaga over the Clippers' new arena. The Wall, a section behind one basket filled with home teams fans going wild, seems to be a huge hit and that’s all well and good.


And maybe it’s my old age and jaded look on things, but I don’t understand how anyone can praise a new arena when it costs $70 to park there.

SEVENTY DOLLARS! TO PARK A CAR! AT A MEANINGLESS REGULAR SEASON BASKETBALL GAME.

Am I the only one who finds this beyond insane?

It’s disgusting, but the reality is that no group of people allows itself, willingly and happily, to be taken advantage of more than sports fans, so nobody will make a stink about it.

We pay for a million streaming services. We pay inflated prices for cable. We pay ridiculous prices for tickets. We pay even more ridiculous prices for concessions. We pay offensive prices for parking. And forget apparel and paraphernalia.

It never ends, it only gets worse and I just don’t get it.

2. A brand-new episode of SI Media With Jimmy Traina dropped this morning and it features a conversation with CBS’s James Brown.

The longtime NFL Today host talks about life before broadcasting, when he attended Harvard University and tried out for the Atlanta Hawks, and what happened when he didn't make the team.

Brown then goes into his broadcasting career and discusses his decision to leave Fox's pregame show to join CBS, what he expects to get out of NFL Today each week, the changes at NFL Today this season with Phil Simms and Boomer Esiason out and Matt Ryan in, what his typical Sunday is like each week and his biggest broadcasting flub, which was an epic 1-2 punch when he did play-by-play.

Following Brown, Sal Licata from WFAN radio and SNY TV in New York joins me for our weekly “Traina Thoughts” segment. This week’s topics include the Dodgers-Yankees World Series, a terrible gambling beat, the NFL trade deadline falling on Election Day and a review of the movie, Saturday Night.

You can listen to the SI Media With Jimmy Traina podcast below or on Apple and Spotify.

You can also watch SI Media With Jimmy Traina on Sports Illustrated‘s YouTube channel.

3. I led Wednesday’s Traina Thoughts with President Barack Obama talking on the Young Man and the Three podcast about his Key & Peele skit coming to real life at the Olympics with some NBA stars.

I ended up listening to the rest of the podcast later on and said this on Twitter last night and will say it here. With NBC and Amazon coming into the NBA fold next season, those outlets need talent. I have no idea if the possibility of a former President becoming an NBA analyst is even a possibility, but those outlets should absolutely inquire into having President Obama as a contributor.

Obviously, I don’t expect President Obama to be a weekly fixture on a pregame show, but there is a way to use him periodically as a contributor, whether it’s doing an essay or an interview.

This clip of him bashing the NBA All-Star Game and giving Tyrese Haliburton a hard time is as good as anything I’ve seen on an NBA show in recent time.

And not just because the look on Haliburton’s face as he’s getting scolded by the former President of the United States was priceless.

4. One of the best things about sports is when you see something you’ve never seen before.

I’ve been watching sports since the 1980s and have never, ever heard of an athlete getting jury duty.

But that’s what has happened to Dallas’s phenomenal kicker, Brandon Aubrey. And he couldn’t get out of it!

5. If you’re looking for a college football team to root against the rest of the season, make it Penn State.

Look at this childish and pathetic reaction by Nittany Lions coach James Franklin when the media tried to ask him about rape charges against two of his former players.

All he literally had to do was say no comment, but instead he made a spectacle of the situation.

6. Absolutely terrible job by me not seeing this sooner and mentioning it earlier this week, but Seahawks cornerback Tariq Woolen using an illegal stream to watch his team play while he’s injured, and then bragging about it on Twitter, automatically makes Woolen one of my favorite NFL players of 2024.

7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: With the Rams playing on Thursday Night Football tonight, I thought today would be a good time to remember the famous “Chris Evert” incident that would’ve set Twitter on fire if it was around back then.

Be sure to catch up on past editions of Traina Thoughts and check out the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast hosted by Jimmy Traina on Apple, Spotify or Google. You can also follow Jimmy on Twitter and Instagram.


This article was originally published on www.si.com as Newest Example of Price Gouging in Sports Is a Doozy.