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‘Prop Queen’ Ariel Epstein Continues Growing Sports Media Empire

“It’s just been such a pleasure [over] the last couple of weeks to really be part of something that’s growing and also knowing that everybody who’s in the building is coming from very established backgrounds.”

Derek Futterman

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Creating and navigating a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet takes practice, especially when writing unique formulas and code. When understood and employed correctly though, the possibilities can seem as if they are innumerable, providing a benefit to the user. For Ariel Epstein, she and her friend created a spreadsheet to make accurate sports bets pertaining to strikeout propositions; that is, bets related to one aspect of the game rather than the complete outcome.

Together, they worked to list every pitcher across Major League Baseball, their game-by-game statistics and other information to a point where they were making accurate bets at a rate of over six in every 10. Through her expertise with strikeout props, she earned her distinct nickname: “Prop Queen.”

It also helped that Epstein was enamored with baseball from a young age, vividly remembering the moment former New York Yankees catcher Jorge Posada grounded out to end Game 6 of the 2003 World Series to deliver a championship to the Florida Marlins. Although Epstein grew up as a recreational gymnast, she knew she would never be athletic enough to pursue it professionally and therefore yearned to find a way to stay involved with sports.

“My grandpa showed me the Yankees’ announcers, and I just thought it was the coolest job ever that they got to go to games and get paid to do it and talk about it,” Epstein said. “I always loved to talk [and] I love sports [so] it was just a match made in heaven.”

Epstein began playing fantasy baseball at the age of nine years old with friends and family members – and thanks to her passion and knowledge of the sport, she would often win the league handily and leave her competition in the dust. Once she aspired to work in sports media, Epstein looked to gain experience in any way possible – starting with a high school internship at The Journal News in her home of Rockland County, N.Y. From there, she kept following various professional sports and looked to begin her career at Syracuse University; however, she was initially rejected from the school and instead matriculated at Penn State University.

After two years largely working in radio and covering athletic events around campus, Epstein transferred to Syracuse University to gain more experience working in television and became a member of what she calls the “Newhouse Mafia.” Entering the school as a junior meant that she would have to work extra hard and accept opportunities to expand her skillset, a lesson bestowed on her by sportscaster and Syracuse University alumnus Ian Eagle.

“There was a point where they asked him to do boxing for the first time,” Epstein recalled Eagle telling the students. “He never knew boxing but he called Kenny Albert, I think he said, and he did a lot of research and he tried really hard to just learn it because he didn’t want to say ‘No’ to anything. That really stuck with me through all of my career to keep saying ‘Yes’ so you could get your face and your name out there.”

During her time at Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, Epstein was fortunate enough to meet people who pointed her in the right direction and helped her build a portfolio. As a member of WAER-FM, Z89 Radio and CitrusTV, she worked at an accelerated pace and earned an opportunity to cover the Final Four in Houston, Texas as a senior.

In the summer preceding her senior year though, she landed an internship with the New York Yankees’ video production department where she learned how to shoot, edit and produce video, making her more versatile while boosting her confidence.

A lifelong Yankees fan Epstein joined the franchise early in her career Photo provided by Epstein

“I got some of those jitters out by interviewing people like Derek Jeter and Álex Rodríguez,” Epstein said. “That kind of felt [like] if I was able to do that, I was able to do anything and interview anybody.”

Out of college, Epstein began writing with SB Nation in an entry level role in order to further establish herself in sports media. She continued to refine her craft and work with more aplomb as time went on, asking players and coaches questions before and after games and, by circumstance, learning how to navigate venues such as Madison Square Garden.

“The hardest part about graduating, to me, was feeling like I belonged,” Epstein said. “It was really hard for me as not only someone who [was then] only 21 years old, but I also look about 10 years younger than I really am. People always think I’m still in high school – but I graduated college. I really wanted to feel like I fit in and belonged so it really helped by doing every little job to get extra confidence in the professional world.”

A few months later, Epstein made the move from working in New York to New Bern, N.C. to join WCTI-TV as a weekend sports anchor and reporter, along with working as a sports radio host on 252 ESPN Radio. While covering sports on the ABC/FOX local television news affiliate, she sought to uncover local angles to national stories and bring a perspective one could not find on larger national networks.

“My boss Brian North – he told me at WCTI, ‘You’re not a national station. You are a local station,’” Epstein recalled. “‘People are tuning in to us to hear the local angle. Do not tie it in to what happened in the 49ers game despite it being potentially the biggest game.’”

Starting in a smaller market also allowed Epstein to continue to adapt and, if necessary, learn lessons through failure. One day during her first few months at the station, she was essentially her own crew in producing a high school football playoffs show – outside of seven photographers she delegated to shoot local games. Epstein was working as a cameraperson, producer, editor, writer and anchor for the program.

Additionally, she compiled highlights to play over the air and was often unaware of the accompanying game score. In balancing all of these responsibilities, her countenance was one of visible distress and completing the broadcast seemed like an insurmountable task.

“It was the biggest meltdown I’ve probably ever had,” Epstein expressed. “I had to compose myself on air and then when I got off camera, I just broke down crying because it really just was horrible…It really just taught me that if you mess up, you’ve got to just push through, learn from your mistakes and then move on.”

Although Epstein remained in local news for the next few years, she did not want to remain locked in a contract and decided to move on once her deal expired in 2019. Unemployed, she returned home to New York where she was freelancing for various entities, including for the Rockland Boulders (Minor League Baseball team), SNY, and the U.S. Open Tennis tournament. One day she was scrolling through Twitter and noticed a company called SportsGrid appear on her feed – the start of her foray into sports betting.. 

The company was fairly new having recently transitioned from focusing on fantasy sports to sports betting and according to Epstein, had a website that looked like a place to go to buy something illegal. Nonetheless, she knew the company was legitimate because of a friend who knew one of its employees and recognized the growing impact of sports betting after reading the moneyline off of a graphic in an audition for a role at CBS Sports HQ.

The U.S. Supreme Court had recently struck a decision overturning the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act in Murphy v. National Collegiate Athletic Association (2018), effectively giving the states regulatory power over sports betting. Because of this and the augmentation of related content, Epstein recognized that there may be an opportunity to work with the company, especially once she saw it only had men on their platform. Motivated to create an opportunity and enter the niche sector of the sports content marketplace, she messaged the CEO on LinkedIn expressing her interest to audition for a role.

“The fantasy market by then was oversaturated with talent; people were doing fantasy all over the neworks so there wasn’t really room for me to do that,” Epstein said. “I was doing fantasy my entire life…. [and] I knew that betting was going to kind of be like that and that’s why I jumped in.”

Once she joined SportsGrid, she worked as a betting analyst on Pro Football Today, a show that would air during the football season on MSG Network. Additionally, she hosted FanDuel’s Inside the Lines segment surrounding pregame coverage of New York Knicks basketball and would also provide sports betting updates on ESPN New York 98.7’s flagship afternoon program: The Michael Kay Show.

Essentially, SportsGrid was a content outlet for sportsbooks to promote their services and try to attract new users; in fact, she hosted a multiplatform three-hour weekday morning show called The Morning After in which she discussed the sports news of the day and tied it into betting.

Ariel Epstein known as the Prop Queen has seen her profile grow in recent months Photo Provided by Epstein

“I think the biggest thing with betting [is] interaction; it was the biggest thing I learned when I was on social media [is] how much people interacted with the betting content and that was so much fun,” Epstein said. “….As opposed to just throwing out random questions, we prefaced it with odds and I think that helped people to understand what good or bad odds; short or long odds, etc. meant for anything.”

Starting out in the industry communicating to a niche audience, Epstein had to find a way to gain ethos and the trust of her audience. Therefore, she always delineates the logic behind certain picks she makes, providing an explanation for those who are trying to make an informed decision.

One time, she received a direct message from someone on Twitter thanking her for doing it, as it helped him comprehend a pick and ultimately resulted in his winning the bet. His pick, it should be noted, differed from what Epstein had proposed to her followers; even so, it was her cogent analysis that compelled the Twitter user to change one aspect of the prop that led to his win.

“People can’t give you crap if you give them information that backs up your pick,” she said. “I’ve always tried and prided myself on that [and] as a female, make sure everybody respects the pick I give out because it comes with great detail and analysis.”

When she was with SportsGrid, Epstein was once again working in multiple roles – albeit remotely as a result of the pandemic. These included researching betting information using overnight data, accumulating what she believed would be winning picks, recording the content and then editing it for distribution in a timely manner. While she worked long days, it was her persistence and passion for the craft that helped her become a reliable and trustworthy source of information.

Two years after she started at SportsGrid, Epstein began working with Yahoo! Sports where she was creating video content for its sportsbook. Now working with a company that had thrived in the fantasy space, she sought to foster a connection between it and sports betting as a means of cross-promotion.

For example, she would use her foresight to determine which players would do well in fantasy sports for the day, and then mention a related prop to bet on, such as betting the over on their total rebounds. Conversely, if she felt a player would not perform well or if a fantasy user was set to face that player, she would advise them to take the under on props such as total points.

“Those would be the kinds of correlations I would make across the Yahoo! platforms and I always just joke that [the] prop market is the gateway drug into betting because people are so familiar with fantasy [sports],” Epstein said. “I think it was great for having a platform that you could just take the average sports lover and bring them into a market that could also help entertain them while watching the game.”

In 2021 – the year in which she began her first year with Yahoo!, the sports betting market had a valuation of $76.75 billion with an annual compound growth rate of 10.2%, according to a market analysis report by Grand View Research.

Moreover, a survey conducted by Morning Consult found that there was an 80% increase in the number of people betting on sports, a figure likely accentuated thanks to the practice becoming legal in 11 additional states. It was also during this year when Epstein began contributing to Turner Sports’ coverage of the National Basketball Association on both TNT and NBA-TV.

The NBA’s current media rights deal began in the 2016-17 season and is set to expire following the completion of the 2024-25 campaign. Over that time, sports media has gone through immense changes in the way games are distributed and consumed, including technological innovations in streaming and direct-to-consumer platforms on which to watch games. Similarly, sports betting advertisements and related content have permeated through much of the broadcasts both regionally and nationally, leading to new revenue streams.

Even though the exact revenue increase is unknown, a 2018 estimate by the American Gaming Association expressed the league could bring in at least $600 million per year through the legalization of sports betting.

“They’ve just done a lot, whether it’s in-game promotions; whether it’s live betting opportunities [and] making sure there’s a million different player prop options a day,” Epstein said. “They are probably the league that is daily high in demand. [It is] a very intriguing market; I’m pretty sure it’s second or third to the NFL and college football.”

Epstein continues to reiterate to sports networks that the discussion around sports betting does not need to solely relate on what bets to make for a given matchup. Instead, she implores conversational discussion; that is, betting analysts fusing their esoteric knowledge with analysts focused on the sport itself to create compelling and engaging content.

For example, a betting show could analyze how Carlos Correa signing with the Minnesota Twins altered the San Francisco Giants’ and New York Mets’ chances at winning the World Series after those two teams reportedly had agreed to contracts with him but subsequently backed out because of concerns with his physical.

Ariel Epstein joined MLB Network in 2022 to co host Pregame Spread Photo provided by Epstein

It is part of the reason why she joined MLB Network this past year to host Pregame Spread with Matt Vasgersian. The network had been on her radar from the time she was in Syracuse University when she met with some executives about a production assistant role she had no interest in just to make herself known. Then for the next five years, Epstein made it a point to keep in touch with these executives twice per year, allowing her to stand out if an on-air opportunity ever arose.

Ironically enough, Vasgersian (colloquially known as “Matty V”) was listening to Epstein on the way into work one day and realized that she would be a great fit to join the network to provide sports betting content. When Vasgersian approached network executives with the idea, he was unaware that they were already working on bringing Epstein aboard for the same purpose. Once the deal was closed over lunch with Vasgersian and the executives, they got to work creating the new studio show conceived by adaptations in the way sports were and continued to be consumed.

“When Matty V came to them with my name, they already knew who I was from my emails so I barely even had much of an audition process,” Epstein said. “They kind of already knew that I was going to be Matty’s co-host for the show.”

Although her primary role with the network is on Pregame Spread, she has also contributed across its programming as a senior betting analyst and hopes to be able to innovate in terms of betting and live game coverage. She affirms that even though sports betting will likely remain a secondary conduit of information, it can grow akin to alternate broadcasts to appeal to a different category of fans.

“A majority of the numbers are still going to come in on the main broadcast,” Epstein said. “I think the next step is getting a betting analyst into the broadcast booth. It’s something I’ve definitely talked about with people[;] …getting us out of the pre/postgame show and into the broadcast booth to give the live betting analysis.”

Today, many sports books are creating their own content without the use of external entities, fundamentally shifting the media ecosystem. As a result, PointsBet sportsbook reached out to Epstein to see if she would be interested in joining their team and appearing on programming taking place from brand new studios in downtown Manhattan. In essence, the sportsbook was looking to revamp the way in which they were doing things across the board, organically building new sources of content. She recently began working with them and has enjoyed her experience thus far.

“It’s just been such a pleasure [over] the last couple of weeks to really be part of something that’s growing and also knowing that everybody who’s in the building is coming from very established backgrounds,” she said. “[It] is a great core of people [who] are putting together really high-quality content – and everybody’s educated on what they’re talking about and [are] super entertaining.”

In her new role, Epstein appears on both The Straight Line football show with Ryan Leaf and Count It, a basketball show hosted by Kazeem Famuyide. Furthermore, she is creating content for the sportsbook on social media and its newsletter. With many states moving to legalize sports betting, Epstein and her colleagues at PointsBet are focusing on the regionalization of the practice, looking to reach consumers across the country. The sportsbook has a partnership with NBC through which it provides odds and advertising for local affiliates, along with on the Peacock streaming service.

Ariel Epstein recently struck a deal to join PointsBet as a regular contributor and sports betting analyst Photo provided by Epstein

“I think it really helps to give people the names that they know in the states that they live in,” Epstein said. “If you make it relatable to what people know best, then they’ll say, ‘Oh okay, that kind of makes sense,’ and they’ll jump in with you or they’ll go focus in on that game or they’ll watch that bet-stream because it’s their team.”

Providing specialized sports content through the lens of betting has also become a focus of various radio stations as of late. Audacy and the BetQL Network, for example, have launched various radio stations in the “wagertainment” format including in New Orleans, Las Vegas, and Washington, D.C. Similarly, sports betting network VSiN has content partnerships with iHeartMedia and Gow Media’s SportsMap Radio among others to broaden the reach of sports betting as a whole, as recently outlined by Barrett Sports Media’s Demetri Ravanos.

“I think it’s important to have these places where you can go to get your betting information because I don’t want to turn on a random network and hope that I get a betting show,” Epstein said. “I could be on my drive home; I could just be sitting at home – I want a place that I can go to see and hear what people are betting on and know when I turn on that station, that’s what I’m getting.”

The implementation of sports betting into sports media is an ongoing process with changes happening at a rapid pace. The multi-tiered approach to reaching consumers and transforming it into concurring and recurring engagement is what continues to be improved on – while also ensuring users bet responsibly.

Epstein looks to be a part of that, whether that be talking about the game at hand or sharing and explaining her latest prop, her preferred mode of betting over same-game parlays. After all, she is the “Prop Queen” and her work and expertise has helped sports media usher in a new part of coverage that shows no signs of slowing down any time soon.

“I would say my goal in this business is to continue to help show that sports betting is fun, but teaching people how to do it in a smart way and that it continues to be fun because you don’t go bankrupt,” she said. “I’ve always just loved the game. I love sports betting because I get to focus on the game.”

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How to Help Your Clients with Low Website Conversions

Don’t assume there isn’t enough traffic; focus on optimizing user engagement once visitors arrive on the site.

Jeff Caves

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Graphic for how to increase website conversions
Credit: WPDesigner.Biz

Are your clients dealing with low website conversions? Whenever a marketing campaign is run, and the goal is to convert website visitors into leads, the temptation is to blame low traffic, amongst other issues, for low form fills or appointments being generated.  Just spend more money, you may think! Sometimes, you must look at at least four other potential issues to tackle poor conversion rates. Here are some actionable steps using the IT services industry to increase website conversions.

IT Solutions specializes in providing products, services, or solutions related to technology, particularly in areas such as software development, hardware sales, IT consulting, cybersecurity, cloud computing, networking, and digital transformations. They faced challenges with their website conversions. Despite driving substantial traffic through Google Ads and other SEO tactics, they struggled to convert website visitors into form fills for appointment requests. A 2% to 5% conversion rate could be considered reasonable. Of course, conversion rates can vary based on various factors, such as the competitiveness of the local market, the quality of the website (and radio stations help most to fix that) and its user experience, the effectiveness of marketing campaigns, and the reputation and offerings of the IT solutions business. Focusing on improving the quality of leads and providing exceptional customer service can be just as crucial as achieving high conversion rates. Don’t blame EVERYTHING on the marketing tactics! 

The Diagnosis

Upon thorough analysis, several critical issues were identified with IT Solutions’ website:

1. High Bounce Rate: Nobody was checking out the business. If 70% or more of website visitors only visit the landing page, that is an issue.  It could be slow loading times, irrelevant content, poor user experience, or unclear calls-to-action that prevent them from wanting to know more about IT Solutions. You can check the bounce rate on the Google Analytics page for the website in the left-hand sidebar, click on “Behavior” to expand the menu, then click on “Site Content,” and finally, click on “Landing Pages.” You’ll see a list of landing pages and their respective bounce rates.

2. Complex Navigation: It was hard to move around the website to find relevant information about IT services, and it was unclear who they were initiating contact with and for what purpose.

3. Unclear Calls-to-Action (CTAs): The website lacked clear and compelling CTAs guiding visitors toward requesting an appointment. Simply stating “click here for an appointment” is like asking for a meeting whenever or without establishing value. Here are 28 CTAs for free.

4. Lengthy Forms: The appointment forms were long, without qualifying information, and requested excessive information upfront, deterring potential leads from completing them.

Action Plan

1. Optimize Landing Pages:

   – Redo high-traffic landing pages with clear messaging and compelling CTAs.

   – Showcase IT Solutions’ services as benefits, making it easier for users to request appointments, thereby increasing user engagement and conversions.

2. Simplify Navigation:

   – Reorganize the menu and add more action-oriented links.

   – Provide additional options for users to access relevant information, such as “Get a free IT Solutions 15-point checkup NOW” and “Take this 5-question survey to diagnose your IT issues,” motivating them to book appointments.

3. Enhance CTAs:

   – Utilize concise and persuasive messaging throughout the website.

   – Encourage visitors to take action, whether requesting a free download about “5 things you can do to solve your IT issues on your own” or “get a free pizza for booking an appointment.”

4. Improve the Form Fill:

   – Add a further line about the number of employees who qualify for incoming leads.

   – Highlight the value of leads based on company size, prioritizing forms with higher potential impact.

Review landing pages, navigation, CTAs, and form experience to address website conversion issues. Don’t assume there isn’t enough traffic; focus on optimizing user engagement once visitors arrive on the site.

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‘NHL on TNT’ Gives Hockey Fans the ‘NBA on TNT’ Treatment

Watching Albert and Olczyk call a hockey game is like watching Picasso paint and da Vinci sculpt. They are masters of their respective crafts.

John Molori

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NHL on TNT studio

Let’s play a little word association, sports media style. If I say TNT, what is your response? Chances are it will be a three-letter abbreviation of your own, namely, NBA. Over the years, TNT has built a reputation as arguably the premiere network to telecast the National Basketball Association.

The NBA on TNT pregame and halftime shows have become the gold standard with stars like Ernie Johnson, Jr., Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley, and Shaquille O’Neal. Still, it’s not just this quartet of roundball royalty that has fortified TNT’s hoops coverage.

The rep was also built on tremendous play-by-play announcers like Bob Neal and Kevin Harlan, color analysts like Doug Collins and Reggie Miller, and courtside reporters like the late Craig Sager and current sideline star Allie LaForce.

Indeed, TNT and the NBA have become synonymous, but I have some news for you. This network is not just about professional basketball. This past week I went off the grid with TNT looking at their in-game and studio coverage of the NHL.

On March 24, the NHL on TNT provided coverage of the Pittsburgh Penguins at Colorado Avalanche matchup. Kenny Albert did play-by-play with Eddie Olczyk on color. Albert is not as noted as his legendary broadcasting father Marv Albert, but he has certainly staked his claim as one of the best in the business – able to cross over to multiple sports with equal aplomb.

Hockey is a strong suit for Albert. His rat-tat-tat, drama-building style draws viewers in and keeps us on the edge of our seats. Similarly, Olczyk is one of the top four or five NHL game analysts in the business. His style is understated, providing calm and clear analysis of key plays. They work really well together.

Albert eschews any kind of hackneyed and trite catch phrases for his goal calls. An emphatic, “He shoots and scores!” is plenty enough.

Hockey is a different beast when it comes to play-by-play. Unlike basketball, baseball, football, or even soccer and tennis, there is a minimum of breaks in the action. With hockey, a play-by-play announcer has to know the names of the players like he or she knows her kids’ names.

To me, it is the hardest sport for play-by-play and equally difficult for a color analyst. In basketball, after a team scores, the play-by-play announcer will keep silent and give the color analyst time to talk until the play crosses center court. In baseball and football, there is ample room for commentary.

Hockey does not offer such space, but Olczyk gets the most out of the minimal amount of time. Watching Albert and Olczyk call a hockey game is like watching Picasso paint and da Vinci sculpt. They are masters of their respective crafts.

Coming back from a break in the game, Albert and Olczyk provided on air commentary and then tossed to ice level reporter Brian Boucher who has grown into a tremendous asset to the TNT broadcasts. Boucher provided real talk about Colorado’s objectives of staying on top of their division and vying for the top seed in the Western Conference.

The Penguins, squarely in a rebuilding year having dumped talent at the NHL trade deadline, surprisingly jumped out to a 2–0 lead in this game, and the TNT between periods studio crew was all over it. The excellent Liam McHugh hosted alongside Colby Armstrong, Anson Carter, and Keith Yandle.

Armstrong was especially entertaining. With Pittsburgh outshooting the Avs 16-4, Armstrong noted that it’s the best he’s seen Pittsburgh play in a long time. His reasoning was that teams get geared up for playing Colorado even if it’s out of fear. Great stuff.

Both teams tallied two goals in the second period giving Pittsburgh a 4-2 lead heading into the final frame. When Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon set up Jonathan Drouin for a goal to make it 4-3, Albert and Olczyk showed their strengths.

Albert called the pass from MacKinnon and one-timer goal from Drouin, and immediately noted that MacKinnon now had a point in all 34 of Colorado’s home games this season. On the goal replay, Olczyk showed how the play developed pointing out how McKinnon allowed Pittsburgh’s Evgenii Malkin to come in close before making the past to Drouin.

The TNT production team then showed a graphic displaying that McKinnon is now second all-time in longest home points streaks trailing only Wayne Gretzky. This was a sublime sequence of symmetry between talent and technicians like a songwriter, musician, and singer creating beautiful music.

What was supposed to be a blowout win for Colorado had now become a hockey barn burner, and the TNT crew was up to the task. Every goal and key play was followed up with replays from multiple angles showing the genesis of the action.

TNT has certainly taken to the velocity of the hockey broadcast with movement that challenges directors, graphics professionals, and videographers.

When there were breaks in this non-stop action, Olczyk was at his best. No hockey analyst draws on his experience as a player and explains that experience better to viewers. The TNT broadcast also lets Boucher freewheel and join in the flow of discussion without having to be introduced.

TNT does not merely rely on the traditional wide shot of the entire rink. We see close-up shots of each goaltender after a great save and the sweat of players on the bench or in the penalty box.

When McKinnon tied the game at 4-4 with 4:38 left in the third period, we got a series of tremendous crowd shots showing the Colorado fans going absolutely berserk. The sage Albert and Olczyk wisely remained quiet for several seconds, letting the cheers do the talking.

When Drouin scored the game winner at 4:06 of overtime, Albert exercised controlled enthusiasm, raising his voice on the call of the goal, but not becoming the show and overshadowing the play itself. He is definitely in the mold of Dan Kelly, Gary Thorne, and Sean McDonough, announcers who enhance but do not supersede the game.

Putting a cherry on top of this hockey Sunday, TNT showed a graphic that the Avalanche now led the NHL in comeback wins this season with 25 and that they were riding a 9-game winning streak. In analyzing the goal, Olczyk opined that the altitude of playing in Colorado was prevalent as the Penguins seemed to tire as the game progressed – really interesting insight.

In the postgame show, Anson Carter made a great point that the chemistry between Drouin and MacKinnon stems from the fact that they have been playing together going back to junior hockey. McKinnon joined in from the arena for a postgame interview. The analysts asked solid questions and even did a funny MVP chant together as the interview ended.

The NHL on TNT takes no back seat to its elder NBA sister. The broadcast provides viewers with flash, dash, and serious hockey talk from every angle – in studio, from the broadcast booth, and on the ice.

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Kim Mulkey Now Has Everyone Anticipating Washington Post Story

I can’t imagine what headline, under normal circumstances, the Washington Post would have to put on a Kim Mulkey story to make me want to read it.

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photo of LSU women's college basketball coach Kim Mulkey
Credit: Dailymail.co.uk

The Washington Post, you might’ve heard, has a story coming out about controversial LSU women’s basketball coach Kim Mulkey. The reason you might’ve heard is because Kim Mulkey told you. The Tigers coach read a fiery prepared statement just before her team started the Women’s NCAA Tournament. In the statement, Mulkey threatened to sue The Post for defamation before the first word was even published.

Now, I’ve never run a public relations firm but that did not seem like a good idea. The Washington Post story on Mulkey is one of the bigger stories in sports right now and nobody even knows what’s in it. The reason the story, apparently unflattering to Mulkey, is even on anyone’s radar screen is Mulkey herself.

It all started with an innocuous social media post by Sports Illustrated’s Pat Forde right in the middle of the most anticipated two days in sports, the NCAA Tournament Round of 64. On his X account, Forde posted: “Hearing some buzz about a big Washington Post story in the works on LSU women’s hoops coach Kim Mulkey, potentially next week. Wagons being circled, etc.”

You know what generally will go unnoticed at 4:00 on the first Friday of the NCAA Tournament? A post on X about a women’s basketball coach. But don’t tell Mulkey, she saw Forde’s post and decided to fight fire with nuclear weaponry. The result: the average person like me now is really interested in what has Mulkey so incensed. By “average person like me” I mean that I can’t imagine what headline, under normal circumstances, the Washington Post would have to put on a Kim Mulkey story to make me want to read it. Maybe:

“LSU Women’s Coach Discovers Ark of the Covenant”

Or:

“Mulkey Reveals True JFK Assassin(s)”

Perhaps:

“Famed Women’s Basketball Coach Reveals the Mystery Behind Slow Drivers in the Left Lane”

Literally any of those catch my attention more than whatever will likely be the Washington Post headline about Mulkey. But now Mulkey is “Mad as Hell and is not going to take this anymore” so I now have an interest I would never before have had in this story. It has been fascinating to watch the online speculation about the subject of the article and all we really know, as of now, is that it will be written by Kent Babb. This is a dream come true for Babb; he writes an article that is, presumably, not flattering about Kim Mulkey and, before it is even published, she gives the article the greatest commercial anyone could give it. Babb couldn’t have entered into a business agreement with Mulkey and had this turn out better for him.

For those who don’t follow Babb, he is a former NFL reporter who now is an award-winning writer for the Washington Post. In his 14 years with The Post, he has written sports features and authored a couple of books. One of those sports features stories was a deep dive into what he viewed as a large inequity in the level of pay for LSU head football coach Brian Kelly and his LSU players. It is this piece Mulkey described as a “hit piece” and, based on that piece, referred to Babb as a “sleazy reporter.” Babb, and many others, resented the fact his story was labeled as a hit piece. In fact, Babb essentially confirmed he was the author Mulkey was referencing when he shared the original article on X with the comment: “Hit piece?”

Whether a printed piece or a recorded interview, I can’t imagine a better promotion for it than the subject of the interview threatening a libel/slander lawsuit, especially before it is even released. That simply screams “This piece is salacious!!” Also, libel and slander suits get settled all the time, right? Of course they don’t, they seem to never even get filed. That little thing called discovery is a scary thing for most public figures.

The NCAA Tournament has been very entertaining, and I think the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight will be terrific. For only the fifth time ever, the top two seeds have advanced to the third round which sets up for a remarkable weekend. For me, I guess it will now include a Washington Post article, not a sentence I’d normally say.

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