Jeremy Branham: Houston’s Reaction To Bill Simmons Is About Media Treatment Of Astros
“Branham added that ESPN MLB Insider Jeff Passan’s treatment of the team since the sign-stealing scheme was revealed is something that annoys him to this day.”
The comments made by The Ringer’s Bill Simmons set off a new fire among Houston sports fans who feel like it’s them against everyone else.
Over on ESPN Houston, The Killer B’s co-host Jeremy Branham said that attitude really started forming in the last few years amidst the Houston Astros cheating scandal.
“The fact that the national media are hellbent on thinking that the cheating scandal was all Astros, only Astros and will always be Astros, and that they should be admonished and treated like step-children and all the ways that the Astros get treated because they cheated,” he said.
Branham added that ESPN MLB Insider Jeff Passan’s treatment of the team since the sign-stealing scheme was revealed is something that annoys him to this day.
“The fact that Jeff Passan won’t let it go, and he’s overdone it in the way that he treats the Astros, will always be something that sticks in my craw,” he said.
Co-host Joel Blank asked listeners to weigh in with their thoughts on the one hot take or storyline that drives them nuts.
“The thing that irks me about national media is how they are completely unoriginal,” one listener text message read. “All they do is parrot headlines, and their hot takes are just ignorant and exist as an attempt to be original.”
Blank said the Simmons comments are more than likely just a hot take meant to get a rise out of Houston fans. He said when it comes to the Astros scandal, Houston gets the brunt of the blowback despite other MLB players acknowledging other teams were stealing signs as well.
“It’s like fake news,” he said. “It’s only looking at one side of the story, it’s not covering it all the way across the board, and the players have shed some light on the truth of all that. And most people just ignore it.”
Jordan Bondurant is a features reporter for Barrett Sports Media. He’s a multimedia journalist and communicator who works at the Virginia State Corporation Commission in Richmond. Jordan also contributes occasional coverage of the Washington Capitals for the blog NoVa Caps. His prior media experiences include working for the Richmond Times-Dispatch, the Danville Register & Bee, Virginia Lawyers Weekly, WRIC-TV 8News and Audacy Richmond. He can be reached by email at bondurantmedia@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter @J__Bondurant.
Mike Mulligan dislikes everything about Jeff Van Gundy. At the end of Thursday’s edition of Mully & Haugh, the 670 The Score morning man reacted with disgust to audio of the ABC analyst suggesting that an assist should be awarded to a player that passes to a teammate that is fouled if the teammate hits his free throws.
Dan Bernstein, who was in studio for the crossover segment, asked Mully if he really hates the suggestion or does he just hate that it is coming from Van Gundy.
“Unfortunately, my mind turned off when it was his voice,” Mully responded. “So, I don’t even know what we’re talking about.”
Others in the studio suggested that the disdain stems from the fact that Jeff Van Gundy was the coach of the Knicks, a team Mully hates. He disagreed.
“I think he’s terrible, and I think that broadcast is bad,” he said.
Bernstein noted that he is a huge fan of Stan Van Gundy’s work for TNT. He asked Mike Mulligan if his hate covers all of the Van Gundys or did it just apply to Jeff.
“Stan seems like a decent guy,” Mulligan answered. “I don’t adore his brother, but I do like his brother.”
The first two games of the NBA Finals between the Miami Heat and Denver Nuggets have attracted a larger than anticipated audience. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver shared with Dan Patrick that he has attended the first three NBA Finals games, and the atmosphere inside both arenas has been electrifying. The same seems to be true from the media angle with comparable ratings to last year’s matchup featuring the Boston Celtics and Golden State Warriors, a pleasantly surprising outcome marking sustainability and viability the league has worked to strengthen over the last decade.
“Probably after last night, we’re going to be up a little bit, which says a lot about the league that you have two midsize markets,” Silver said. “A popular team in Miami, and a Nuggets team that has never been in the Finals, and the fans are responding.”
Silver became the commissioner of the league in 2014, and since then has been a part of the league expanding its digital footprint. The NBA national media rights deal with The Walt Disney Company and Warner Bros. Discovery expires at the conclusion of the 2024-25 season, and speculation has already begun as to which entities will bid to present league games.
Patrick asked Silver how the Association can do a better job in utilizing its national media rights to market superstar players in smaller markets. Prior to the NBA Finals, Nikola Jokić was a two-time recipient of the Most Valuable Player award and a five-time NBA All-Star, but was only ninth in social media views. Over the last 30 days, Jokić has skyrocketed to No. 1 on the list, drawing more than 300 million video views across the NBA’s social media platforms.
“We have some influence,” replied Silver. “It’s interesting. To the networks, they do focus on the teams and players that they think are going to be most popular. In fairness to them, the ‘Joker’ hasn’t been in the Finals before.”
On Wednesday, ESPN analyst Jeff Van Gundy appeared on The Dan Patrick Show and reiterated ideas he has previously stated about modernizing basketball. Some of these ideas included doing away with halftime, offensive goaltending and changing the rules on free throws. Silver heard these remarks before appearing with Patrick on Thursday, and responded to the inquiry with intrigue regarding halftime.
“When we’ve looked to shorten it a bit – because I think you know we changed the format of the last two minutes a couple of years ago to speed the game along – and I think we forget sometimes that the guys really do need the break,” Silver said. “Put aside the programming at halftime; the commercials… maybe you could shorten it slightly. But I think it is meaningful to the players in addition to the coaching that goes on at halftime, [plus] the opportunity to get a breather.”
Silver also commented on the recent merger between the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and LIV Golf, which has come under scrutiny because of human rights violations in Saudi Arabia. The Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF) owns a majority stake in LIV Golf, and has made lucrative offers to external golfers in an attempt to lure them to the entity. Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson, along with several other golfers, took the money, and PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan is coming off as hypocritical after making remarks about how the deal comes off to families of survivors of the September 11 attacks. Silver divulged how the fund has not tried to make an offer for an NBA team; yet even so, the league only permits individuals to buy teams at the moment.
“When the Saudis invest in sports, it gets outsized attention,” Silver said. “I don’t want to complain about that because we want to get outsized attention. On the other hand, somebody could go down the list – they are investors in some of our largest American corporations. Some of the most well-known brands have investments from them…. With a sport like basketball, our Finals are distributed virtually everywhere in the world where the sport is played. It’s an opportunity to bring people together.”
“We’re confident Phoenix sports fans and betting enthusiasts will quickly incorporate the show’s unique combination of insights and ‘Wagertainment’ into their daily listening habits.”
As the BetQL Network continues its burgeoning expansion across the country, its flagship program You Better You Bet will now be heard on 1580 and 99.3 The Fanatic, a sports betting station in Phoenix, Ariz. The radio show will be aired weekdays from 12 to 4 p.m. MST on weekdays, and is hosted by Nick Kostos and Ken Barkley. With the addition, the program is now available to consume on 48 stations in 44 markets nationwide, some of which include Chicago, Ill., Los Angeles, Calif. and New York, N.Y.
“We’re pumped to continue the growth and reach of You Better You Bet and introduce the show to Arizona’s sports betting station,” Mitch Rosen, vice president of Audacy’s BetQL Network, said in a statement. “We’re confident Phoenix sports fans and betting enthusiasts will quickly incorporate the show’s unique combination of insights and ‘Wagertainment’ into their daily listening habits.”
Rosen was promoted to vice president of BetQL Network after previously serving as its director of operations. He is responsible for overseeing BetQL brand manager Andrew Williams while leading the network’s talent, production and writing teams. Additionally, Rosen continues to work as the vice president and brand manager of 670 The Score while supporting the expansion of BetQL Network’s reach and partnerships.
BetMGM is the exclusive sportsbook partner of the BetQL Network and has category exclusivity on the network’s programming. The BetQL Network distributes nearly 100 hours of original content on a weekly basis across Audacy and BetQL digital platforms. This comes at a time when the global sports betting market continues to augment in value, with an expected total valuation of just over $182 billion by 2023, according to a report by Grand View Research.
Both online and in-person sports betting is legal in Arizona, but it has yet to become precedent across the entire country. The U.S. Supreme Court decision made in Murphy v. National Collegiate Athletic Association (2018) gave the states regulatory power over sports betting, a practice that had long been illicit outside of the state of Nevada.
“Sports betting in Arizona has become very popular since becoming legal in 2021,” Ron Cohen, president and general manager of CRC Broadcasting Company said in a statement. “The addition of You Better You Bet provides another compelling reason why Phoenix area sports fans choose KQFN The Fanatic for timely, valuable and entertaining sports programming. The addition of this show has further solidified The Fanatic as Arizona’s sports betting station!”
