1. This week’s SI Media With Jimmy Traina, which came out Thursday morning, features a conversation with two members of CBS’s lead NCAA basketball crew, Ian Eagle and Bill Raftery.

The duo, which has worked together since the early 1990s when they called New Jersey Nets games, talked about their special relationship, shared stories and Eagle even did his Raftery impression in front of Raftery.

Over the course of the interview, Raftery dropped two noteworthy pieces of information.

When I asked him if he had a favorite among his many catchphrases, such as, “Onions,” “Nicklel-Dimer,” “With the kiss,” he gave a surprising answer.

“This sounds crazy,” said Raftery, “but I actually am tired of saying them. All of them were natural, so now they’re not natural.”

Is Raftery also tired of doing games? I asked the 81-year-old if he’s thought about retirement.

“It’s in somebody else’s hands,” Raftery said. “I enjoy it. I think I’m as industrious about getting ready for a game, maybe more so, than I was 15 years ago. I think they’ll tell you when it’s time. Things change as we’ve seen recently with some of the football changes at different companies. So, no, I haven’t thought about it all.”

When asked if Raftery will stay as long as CBS will have him, he responded, “Yeah. If they feel that I’m not up to, then it’s time to pack it in.”

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.

2. This was a great moment on ESPN’s NFL Live on Wednesday. On Autism Awareness Day, the show decorated its studio with drawings from Dan Orlovsky’s son, Madden, who has autism. Orlovsky brought Madden to the studio for Wednesday’s show and the result was an emotional and heartfelt scene.

3. Mets analyst Keith Hernandez getting caught on a hot mic saying “piss-poor hitting” about the struggling Mets on Wednesday is not and should not be a scandal. This is the honesty we actually need during games, not during commercial breaks.

4. There is one thing I don’t understand about the Mary Kate Cornett–Pat McAfee story.

In case you missed it this week, Cornett said she was going to sue McAfee because he had discussed an online rumor about her on his ESPN show.

However, McAfee never mentioned Cornett by name. Speaking strictly from a legal standpoint, not a moral standpoint, can Cornett win a lawsuit when McAfee didn't mentioned her by name? And can she win a lawsuit when the rumor was already all over social media? McAfee didn’t create or invent the story. He was repeating what was all over the internet. I’d love a lawyer who is reading this to hit me up and educate me.

5. This was a super cool play by the Pacers’ Tyrese Haliburton during Wednesday’s game against the Hornets.

However, thanks to this day and age of everyone legally betting parlays, all I could think about when I saw this was, “Imagine if you bet over on Haliburton’s points and didn’t hit it because he did this instead of just taking the layup.”

6. Today, April 3, is National Burrito Day, so we have to post one of the more amusing insults in NFL history, via J.J. Watt.

7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: Happy 64th birthday to the funniest human being of my lifetime, Eddie Murphy.

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 X and Instagram.


This article was originally published on www.si.com as Bill Raftery, 81, on Retirement: ‘I Haven’t Thought About It At All’.

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