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Bomani Jones: ‘I’d Love To Hear Raleigh Station Explain Why I Got Fired’

“We ain’t really about to be out here saying nothing obvious.”

Jordan Bondurant

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Sunday night will mark the entrance of Bomani Jones into the late-night space. His show Game Theory, which premieres at 11:30 p.m. ET on HBO, is something Jones has long considered doing.

Appearing on the Media Noise podcast with Demetri Ravanos to promote his HBO show, Jones said when Jon Stewart exited The Daily Show in 2015, he had his agent contact the show and Comedy Central to consider Jones as Stewart’s successor.

He knew he wouldn’t get the job, and it ultimately was awarded to Trevor Noah, but the style of show Stewart put on was something Jones thought he could do.

“If I think, ‘Yeah I can host that,’ let ‘em know that I think I can host that,” he said. “They might think so too! The worst that they can do is be like, ‘I ain’t ever heard of that guy,’ or ‘Meh, I just don’t see it for him.’ All of those things were possible. But what was also possible was, ‘Huh, that’s an interesting idea!’”

It turns out that Adam McKay, who is an executive producer of the show, told Jones early in the development of Game Theory that in 2015, he wanted to try and make a TV show with Jones. It didn’t happen because of contractual obligations Jones had to ESPN, but Bomani said to look at the possibility that could’ve come from that — even more so if McKay had been running The Daily Show at the time.

All roads have led Jones to HBO. Bomani told BSM that him getting fired from hosting at a small sports radio station in the Raleigh/Durham area early in his career actually turned out to be a blessing.

“I was probably gonna be moving to do something else, and it really did work out,” he said. “Because the next job that I got was a significant raise, and it was on Sirius and all this stuff. So they made a call that I’d love to hear them explain it.”

Jones said he felt at home doing radio. Radio opened doors for him to break into TV.

Game Theory will tackle sports stories from a completely different angle. But while this will be a late-night program, it won’t fit the typical late-night TV mold. It won’t try to say what everyone else is thinking, either.

“We ain’t really about to be out here saying nothing obvious,” he said.

Don’t expect the show to be done in front of a studio audience like Last Week Tonight or Real Time with Bill Maher, either. Jones knows that studio audiences for TV have to be fed cues for when to clap and react, and they can’t necessarily react honestly. He said having a studio audience is not anything he or show staff seriously considered.

“I don’t think we’ll lose anything from not having a studio audience,” he said. “I guess maybe for me just because there’s no studio audience in a podcast or ESPN television studio either. Them lines are gonna have to hit one way or another.”

Look for Demetri’s Media Noise podcast and his interview with Jones to hit BSM and your podcast app on Friday. Game Theory with Bomani Jones premieres Sunday, March 13 at 11:30 p.m. ET on HBO and HBO Max.

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Colorado Rockies & DirecTV Reach Agreement to Carry Games on TV

“Colorado sports fans have made DIRECTV the top destination for their favorite local teams. We will continue to work with MLB…so fans can get their games.”

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Colorado Rockies

Breathe easy, Rockies fans — you will be able to watch your club on linear TV this year. At the buzzer, DirecTV and the Colorado Rockies agreed on terms to distribute the team’s games throughout its local service.

Starting today, DirecTV Choice subscribers across Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Southern Idaho, Western Nebraska, and Northern New Mexico can now watch the Rockies on a special channel simply titled, “ROCKIES.” The games will be available on DirecTV and DirecTV STREAM via channel 683.

“Colorado sports fans have made DIRECTV the top destination to get all their favorite local teams,” said Rob Thun, chief content officer of DIRECTV. “We will continue to work with MLB, the NBA, NHL, and other top leagues and their local franchises so the most avid fans can get the games they want while other customers have more choice over the content they want to pay to have in their homes.”

Reports just days ago out of Colorado said there were “no guarantees” the Rockies would not find a TV home in time for Opening Day following the sunsetting of AT&T SportsNet. The only other way to watch the team is to use its direct-to-consumer Rockies.tv streaming service, which fans say is too pricey for a team that lost 103 games last season. Luckily, the team was able to secure a TV home for 2024, though the future is still uncertain.

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Erin Andrews Reveals Infertility Journey in Emotional ‘Today Show’ Interview

FOX reporter Erin Andrews sat down with ‘The Today Show’s’ Kristen Welker to discuss her journey, how Welker’s own journey inspired her, and more.

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Erin Andrews

FOX reporter Erin Andrews shared her story of infertility and surrogacy with NBC’s Today Show. Last summer, Andrews and her husband welcomed a baby boy via surrogate after trying for a decade to get pregnant via IVF, during which she was diagnosed with cervical cancer in 2016. Today, she sat down with Kristen Welker to discuss her journey, how Welker’s own journey inspired her, and more.

Andrews says Welker’s announcement on the Today Show made her think a baby could be possible. “I remember Kristin Welker’s announcement on your show,” Andrews said last year, “and I actually watched that the morning Mac was born, because that just hit me.”

When they finally sat down, Welker asked Andrews why her journey resonated with the sports reporter so much:

“Because I see myself in you. Kristen, the video of you moderating debates after you’re waiting on bad news or maybe you just received it, that’s me. I can tell you every stand-up I’ve done at a football game where I’ve gotten the news that it didn’t work. I’d be talking about Tom Brady going for this record and my record is that I still was failing…I would have chest pains every time I was waiting for the call if it worked, and I knew it wouldn’t work.

Erin Andrews on ‘Today’

Andrews knew surrogacy was the only path to having a child. Although her family’s first attempt failed, her second attempt was a success, and she got to hear her child’s heartbeat for the very first time. The pair discuss the complex emotions that come with surrogacy, saying that bonds with their child could be affected because they didn’t carry their child. However, Welker assured Andrews that those feelings go away once you can talk to your child.

Once her son was born in June, who Andrews called, “a miracle,” she then talks about her child glowingly, talking about how he is just like mom — vocal. “He’s all me,” she says.

Andrews supports Baby Quest, a non-profit that grants money to families in need of IVF or surrogacy to have a baby but don’t have the funds to pursue these expensive treatments. Both Andrews and Welker acknowledged how difficult and unattainable their journies are for some families — and Andrews even used the NFL’s “My Cleats, My Cause” initiative to raise awareness for her cause.

“People don’t need to feel embarrassed that they have a surrogate or are looking for other help,” Andrews said.

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Curt Menefee and Joel Klatt to be Lead Fox Sports UFL Broadcast Team

Curt Menefee, Joel Klatt, and Brock Huard will make up the first XFL on FOX announce team, while Kevin Kugler, Devin Gardner, and Jake Butt are the #2 team.

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FOX is ready for the United Football League (UFL) season and recently announced its broadcast lineup for the upcoming season. Curt Menefee returns to the booth alongside Joel Klatt to make up the primary UFL commentary team. Joining Menefee and Klatt from the sidelines will be former NFL and University of Washington QB Brock Huard.

Menefee and Klatt will call the season-opening matchup between the defending two-time USFL Champion Birmingham Stallions and the reigning XFL Champion Arlington Renegades on Saturday, Mar. 30 at 1 p.m. ET. The second team of Kevin Kugler and former Michigan quarterback Devin Gardner will call the second game of the day when the St. Louis Battlehawks take on the Michigan Panthers at 4:00 p.m. ET on FOX. Former Denver Broncos tight end Jake Butt will man the sidelines for that game.

Former NFL and USC QB Mark Sanchez was also mentioned in the FOX news release but details of his involvement were not made clear.

The UFL season kicks off on FOX this weekend and continues over on ESPN. Both networks will split coverage of the league all season long.

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