As the NFL prepares to reveal its 2024 schedule on Wednesday night, there has been discussion pertaining to the prime-time football game it will play to begin the season on Friday night. The Week 1 matchup between the Green Bay Packers and Philadelphia Eagles will take place from Corinthians Arena in São Paulo, Brazil broadcast exclusively on Peacock on Friday, Sept. 6 at 8:20 p.m. EST. Much to the chagrin of Daryle “The Guru” Johnson though, the matchup is taking place on a Friday rather than another day of the week.

The Packers-Eagles matchup represents the first NFL game to be played on a Friday during the league’s opening week in 54 years. It will follow an opening night matchup on NBC and Peacock featuring the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs hosting the Baltimore Ravens. The NFL has played just 12 games on a Friday since merging with the AFL ahead of the 1970 season, the most recent of which is the Black Friday Football matchup that was presented on Amazon Prime Video.

Under the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961, antitrust immunity is withdrawn for any professional football telecast if a high school or college football game is being played within 75 miles on a Friday night (after 6 p.m.) or Saturday from the second weekend in September until the second weekend in December.

“That’s for high schoolers; that’s for Happy Hour. Football – and I get it the end of the year all depending on when Christmas or New Year’s Day [are], you get the Friday or Saturday games, but to just come out and do that to the kids, I just don’t like it man,” Johnson said on Monday’s edition of Steiney and Guru on 95.7 The Game. “[Roger] Goodell, just whatever figure it is, if you meet it, you can get the NFL.”

With the rest of the schedule being released on Wednesday night at 8 p.m. EST, the program thought about how many prime time games the San Francisco 49ers should be granted. The team has a plethora of star players, including quarterback Brock Purdy, running back Christian McCaffrey and defensive end Nick Bosa, and has won two NFC Championships in the last five seasons. Last season, the schedule release tabbed the 49ers for five games in prime-time television, which was in a tie for second place in the NFL. The Kansas City Chiefs and Dallas Cowboys led the way with six prime-time games each at the time of the schedule release. Last year, the NFL attained an average of 17.9 million viewers across its regular-season slate of games, an increase of 7% from the 2022 season.

“I’m going seven,” Johnson said. “I think they’re going to be a fixture on Thanksgiving night – that night game, I think they get that.”

“I would like that,” Evan Giddings replied, filling in for Matt Steinmetz. “Honestly I just want to see the Niners in the spotlight as much as possible. We’re going to watch the games obviously – maybe get down to one or two depending – but the Niners deserve, I think, just as many prime time games as the Chiefs even though they lost to them.”.

On April 15, New York Yankees play-by-play announcer John Sterling announced his retirement, effective immediately. He had been behind a microphone for 65 years and as it turns out, he didn’t go a full month without coming back on the air. While not calling a Yankees game, he did do a 90-minute call-in show over the weekend and led WFAN up to its pregame baseball coverage.

“Live From the ‘Evan and Tiki Studio‘ here at WFAN, this is John Sterling and I’m here for an hour and a half before the Yankee game, how noteworthy,” Sterling said as the show began.

“Now, some of you know that I am retired,” he continued. “So, what am I doing here? The General Manager Chris Oliviero…he thought I should come in because some people didn’t have a chance to say goodbye and I’m all for it. But I’m also for, you know I watch every game. Being retired is fabulous. I see every Yankee game every Met game, I listen to every Yankee game and Met game, and then the Knicks and the Rangers and the rest of the basketball and hockey playoffs. Anyway, I don’t miss a game.”

Then he gave out the phone number and the calls poured in.

Sterling, it seemed, would have much preferred to talk Yankees baseball or about the basketball and hockey playoffs. But, as one could imagine, everybody who called in wanted to thank Sterling for his years calling games and many were emotional speaking to him as they shared their thoughts, memories and well-wishes.

One caller asked Sterling what retirement has been like and he said, “Basically living a very easy life…I’ve had a wonderful time. Dinners with friends and family…It’s been wonderful and it’s going to stay wonderful too.”

The show was filled with great memories from both those that called in as well as Sterling.

“I guess it’s time to hit the road jack, huh?” Sterling said as the show wrapped up. “I loved being here. I loved it as much as you can imagine. Think of how lucky I am to hear all these wonderful things for the last hour and a half. Upcoming is Yankee baseball as the Yankees try to make it two in a row against Tampa. And who knows where we will meet each other next but you know what, we are going to meet each other next, I don’t know where, I don’t know when, but I believe it. This is John Sterling. Thank you so much for listening. I am a very lucky person and I wish you all the very, very best.”

As the spring ratings period continues, The Greg Hill Show on WEEI is maintaining its tradition of live broadcasts on the road. At the end of this week, the program will broadcast its Friday edition live from the CCBA Witherell Recreation Center in Lebanon, N.H. starting at 6 a.m. EST, the third live show of the spring. On the night before, the show is holding a meet and greet event with its listeners featuring Greg Hill, Jermaine Wiggins and Courtney Cox. Following this week’s program, the show will broadcast from Flying Bridge Restaurant in Falmouth, Mass. for another live show on Thursday, May 23; however, there will be a wrinkle in that Cox will not be present.

Cox had been waiting to share the news with her co-hosts, and it was keeping her up at night since they had not yet discussed it. She will come to the meet and greet the night before before departing for vacation the next day. The news surprised Hill and Wiggins, which led to a discussion about Cox’s whereabouts and what the show would be like without her present. Hill in particular was not aware of this and articulated that he did not think anyone had “ever flexed a road show” in the past.

“I was given the dates, and that week was supposed to be off for road show,” Cox said. “I have something next week, and when it came out, I tried to get Ken [Laird] to finagle and move it earlier in the week and he couldn’t do it.”

Wiggins acknowledged that Cox trying to get WEEI to change the date of the live show was indicative of power, to which she replied that it was not the case since the effort was unsuccessful. Nonetheless, she is going to make the drive to Falmouth to be present at the meet and greet but wanted to get in front of the news.

“I am sorry,” Cox said. “When I tell you it’s like everyday when we talk about the road show, I’m hoping Greg brings it up and I can’t hold it in anymore because I don’t want [it] to be next week and people come to the road shows and I don’t want to disappoint anyone.”

Hill referred to Cox as the “road show queen” and remarked that she takes the on-site broadcasts very seriously. Wiggins then offered her advice about how to approach this time of year going forward to prevent this kind of a situation from occurring. While Hill conveyed that Wiggins was big on giving unsolicited advice, Cox was open to hearing the feedback.

“Spring book – road show time,” Wiggins said. “Try not to plan any vacations around that unless it’s like something you can’t control and you’ve got to miss. Vacation – summer, winter or holiday book. Fall and the spring, especially like May and June, because you know that’s the road show time.”

Cox read a comment from a listener who asserted that not having her at the road show would be a bonus, to which she replied, “You’re welcome.” Hill, Wiggins and Cox will be present at this Friday’s road show emanating from Lebanon, N.H., continuing the eight-show schedule that began a few weeks ago in Brattleboro, Vt. Hill and Cox hosted episodes of the show from Bermuda last week for The Greg Hill Classic, a golf tournament benefiting The Greg Hill Foundation, taking place from Tucker’s Point Golf Club.