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Mike Golic Sr. Sets Record the Straight on His Relationship With Mike Greenberg

Ahead of his ESPN return, the radio host addressed where he stands with his former ‘Mike & Mike’ co-host.
Jimmy Traina|
Mike Golic Sr. worked for ESPN from 1995 to 2020.
Mike Golic Sr. worked for ESPN from 1995 to 2020. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

1. People come and go from ESPN all the time, but some returns are more surprising than others. I think it’s fairly safe to say no one saw Mike Golic Sr.’s getting another chance at the Worldwide Leader when it was announced last month that he’d be teaming up with his son for a new ESPN Radio show.

Golic Sr. had one of the best sports-talk radio runs with Mike Greenberg during their 17 years together on Mike & Mike. However, Greenberg parted ways with the show in 2017 to become the face of Get Up.

Golic Sr. was then teamed with Trey Wingo for a show that lasted from 2017 to ’20.

Six years later, Golic Sr. is back with his son, Mike Golic Jr.

The new show, called The Golics, will debut on Monday. Ahead of its debut, Mike Sr. and Mike Jr. both joined me on the latest SI Media With Jimmy Traina.

Given how things ended with Mike & Mike and reports of a strained relationship with Greenberg, I asked Golic Sr. to pull back the curtain on their relationship and the abrupt end of the show.

“It did not end well,” said Golic. “That that's been pretty much documented. But somewhat like my football career, when I got cut by the Houston Oilers and went to the Philadelphia Eagles, I didn’t reminisce about the Houston Oilers. I was playing for the Philadelphia Eagles. The same thing when I left Philadelphia to go to Miami. You move on and you study the task at hand.

“As far as the relationship with Greeny, we don’t keep in touch much in all honesty, but occasionally we’ll check in. Quite honestly, mostly it’s about how the kids are doing, how his kids are doing, how my kids are doing, because I was growing my family during Mike & Mike and Greeny had his kids during Mike & Mike and we were always a very family-oriented show, so kids were always involved.”

“Again, we don’t keep in touch much, but he texted me about coming back to ESPN and was very happy for me, and certainly for Mike [Jr.]. As I said, we talk about the kids, so it’s cordial. Even when we were doing the show, he lived in Westport [Conn.], I lived in Avon, an hour and a half from one another. It’s not like we were ever in a position to hang out. But we certainly meshed well on the show. So, it’s not very frequent we keep in touch, but when we do, it's cordial.”

You can listen to the full interview with the Golics below or watch it on YouTube.

2. People (especially those on social media) will rip this idea and then watch every minute.

3. You can always count of local news for the good stuff. If you’re on social media and pay attention to politics, you know that this photo of Senator Mitch McConnell was posted by his office a month ago to provide an update on his health status.

This week, after news of Kyle Shanahan’s car accident, one rascal on the Internet photoshopped the Niners head coach into the McConnell picture.

Here’s the kicker: Chicago’s WGN used the doctored photo of Shanahan in its report on the incident.

4. I can’t recall ever seeing an athlete defend a team’s alternative jersey the way Josh Allen did on Wednesday. The uniform did NOT go over well with Bills fans at all.

So, Allen did some damage control, and quite frankly, the organization should give him a bonus for this performance.

5. The WNBA’s official account on the app formerly known as Twitter posted a video showing that Paige Bueckers and Angel Reese made a $400 bet on the All-Star Game last weekend. Then the account deleted the post.

This is one of those cases where two things can be true at the same time. It’s pretty dumb for the league’s official account to post this. Bueckers and Reese making a bet on an exhibition game that counts for absolutely nothing is not a big deal on any level.

6. Speaking of betting, no one will be more into MLB awards season than this person.

7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: I’ve always thought This Is the Time was Billy Joel’s most underrated song. He just dropped this live performance of it on his YouTube channel to celebrate the 40th anniversary of his album The Bridge, which features the song.

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.

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Jimmy Traina
JIMMY TRAINA

Jimmy Traina is a staff writer and podcast host for Sports Illustrated. A 20-year veteran in the industry, he’s been covering the sports media landscape for seven years and writes a daily column, Traina Thoughts. Traina has hosted the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast since 2018, a show known for interviews with some of the most important and powerful people in sports media. He also was the creator and writer of SI’s Hot Clicks feature from 2007 to '13.

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Ryan Clark’s Departure Leads to Bad Takes About ‘NFL Live’

You need to take context into account when discussing the ratings for ESPN’s afternoon football show.
Jimmy Traina|
‘NFL Live’ averaged 469,000 viewers for the first quarter of 2026.
‘NFL Live’ averaged 469,000 viewers for the first quarter of 2026. | ESPN

1. We don’t really do perspective and context in 2026, but I’m going to attempt it in today’s column.

The big sports media story of the week has been ESPN’s layoffs (as discussed in a new episode of SI Media With Jimmy Traina). Ryan Clark’s release has generated the most headlines because he was told on air during NFL Live that he was being let go.

Since then, there has been discussion on social media about Clark’s role in making NFL Live a success and the history of NFL Live’s viewership.

I’m not going to debate what impact Clark had on the show because it’s an ensemble and there’s no way to quantify how many viewers watched for Clark or Laura Rutledge or Dan Orlovsky or Marcus Spears or Mina Kimes. It’s just flat-out absurd to attribute the show’s success to one person, as one former ESPN employee did this week.

However, when it comes to the viewership of NFL Live over the years, we have data that tells us where things stand.

Trey Wingo, who was a longtime cast member on the show during his 20-plus years at ESPN, shared a graphic on social media on Wednesday showing NFL Live’s ratings over the years.

Wingo was totally right in pushing back on the stupid claim that “nobody” watched NFL Live until recent years. Here’s what Wingo’s graph doesn’t tell you, though: ESPN, as a network, had A LOT more subscribers back in 2012 and ’13 than it does now.

While NFL Live pulled in 688,000 viewers in 2013, ESPN had 99 million subscribers in that year.

Thanks to massive cord-cutting over the past several years, ESPN is now in 61 million homes.

Simple math will tell you that NFL Live had 240,000 fewer viewers in 2025 than it did in 2013 while ESPN is in 38 MILLION fewer homes in 2025 than it did in 2013.

So, while Wingo’s version of NFL Live absolutely pulled in viewers, this current iteration is also doing just fine from a viewership perspective given cord-cutting.

2. A brand-new SI Media With Jimmy Traina dropped this morning. This week’s show features an interview with Puck media reporter John Ourand.

Ourand goes in-depth on the ESPN layoffs, explaining why they happened and how they happened. We also discuss the unfortunate situation with Ryan Clark finding out while he was on the air that he was being let go, how the NFL Network factors into all this, why the network parted ways with longtime broadcaster Karl Ravech and much more.

Other topics covered with Ourand include the bidding war for the broadcast rights to the next World Cup in 2030, why the NBA is anxiously waiting for LeBron James to make a free agency decision, Tom Brady’s very busy weekend and the NFL’s negotiations for new broadcast deals.

Following Ourand, Sal Licata from SNY TV and The Sal Licata Show joins me for our weekly “Traina Thoughts” segment. This week, we discuss the World Cup final and the halftime show, a wild story about James Dolan and Madison Square Garden, Fanatics Fest, Larry David’s new HBO show, most buzzed-about New York sports event and more.

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 YouTube.

3. I recently wrote that it felt like Caitlin Clark Mania took a little bit of a hit because she missed so much time with an injury. But now that’s she’s been back, she remains the single biggest impact on a sport’s ratings since Tiger Woods.

4. When I saw this clip of Florida coach Jon Sumrall snapping at a reporter on Wednesday because his cell phone rang during a press conference, I thought Sumrall’s ridiculous reaction was legit.

Later in the day, he claimed on social media that he was joking. If that’s the case, give him an Oscar.

5. A non-political take about politics: It’s pretty insane that an Arizona congressional race features a former Jets kicker and a former Jets doctor.

6. This was a good take by WWE superstar/Good Morning Football host Seth Rollins. Give me all the wacky and wild uniforms possible in football.

7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: Larry David is completely unfamiliar with Lucky Charms. And I’m not surprised one bit.

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.

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Jimmy Traina
JIMMY TRAINA

Jimmy Traina is a staff writer and podcast host for Sports Illustrated. A 20-year veteran in the industry, he’s been covering the sports media landscape for seven years and writes a daily column, Traina Thoughts. Traina has hosted the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast since 2018, a show known for interviews with some of the most important and powerful people in sports media. He also was the creator and writer of SI’s Hot Clicks feature from 2007 to '13.

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The WNBA Has Another Embarrassing Situation on Its Hands

Andy Nesbitt|
Paige Bueckers and Angel Reese were seen in a video making a bet on a Wings-Dream game.
Paige Bueckers and Angel Reese were seen in a video making a bet on a Wings-Dream game. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The WNBA continues to be in the news for all the wrong reasons. That continued Thursday when the league put out a ridiculous statement about a video it posted on social media earlier in the week that showed two of its best players placing a bet on their game.

In case you missed it, Paige Bueckers and Angel Reese were shown in the video placing a $400 wager on Wednesday night’s Wings-Dream game. The WNBA posted the video on its social media with the caption saying “We did?” with a laughing face emoji. The league then doubled down on it by adding: “Paige Bueckers on the bet she made with Angel Reese at All-Star Weekend on tonight’s matchup.”

BACCELLIERI: With Job Status Still Hazy, WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert Can’t Get Out of Her Own Way

The WNBA quickly deleted the video after just about everyone on the internet questioned why a professional sports league would be showing off two players betting money on a game that they were going to be playing in. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realize that’s a really bad look.

Because it’s the internet, though, the video lived on:

The WNBA, realizing it couldn’t hide from the deleted video, released the following statement on Thursday:

“While the social media post was intended to be lighthearted, WNBA players are well aware of the league’s policies prohibiting betting on WNBA games and receive training every year reinforcing those policies. We recognized that the post missed the mark, removed it shortly after it was published, and addressed the matter internally. We will also use this as an opportunity to reemphasize with the players involved that conversations about wagering on WNBA games, even when intended as a joke, can have negative consequences.”

How something like that video was not only made but then shared to millions of followers on social media is astounding. How could anyone think that it would be seen as “lighthearted” when it was two star players agreeing to betting money on a game that they would be playing in? It should have been an idea that was laughed at in a meeting and then never brought up again. Instead, it went out to the world and now the WNBA has a big problem on its hands.

WNBA’s rules on players gambling

The WNBA, like every other professional sports league, bars players from betting on games. The league’s new CBA clearly states that players who are caught doing that can be suspended or even thrown out of the league forever.

From the CBA: “Any player found by the Commissioner after a hearing to have been guilty of wagering (directly or indirectly), or of offering or attempting to wager, money or anything of value on the outcome, score, or any other aspect of any WNBA Competition shall, in the sole discretion of the Commissioner, be subject to a fine, suspension, and/or dismissal and disqualification from any further association with the WNBA.”

Reese and Bueckers were clearly seen doing just that in the video. Bueckers had a chance to distance herself from it at the end of the video but instead she went all in, saying, “Bet. I’ll stand on it. I’ll stand on it.”

WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert has been under fire for a number of issues recently, with more and more people calling for her job. Now she has to deal with another scandal that has gone viral and makes everyone on the outside wonder what in the heck is happening inside the league.

Earlier this month Engelbert went viral for canceling an interview with the Dan Patrick Show at the last moment. Patrick then went off on her during his show.

“You’re the commissioner, and you’re listening to the PR department, which is fine, but did you check with PR before you said yes to us?” Patrick said. “We promoted it all day yesterday. Now, look, I know people get busy, people have agendas. It was her opportunity to finally say, ‘Hey, you can ask me the tough questions, okay?’ I thought this was going to be a good thing for the WNBA because people still want answers here. There are so many people who have an opinion and agendas here, and this was a chance to sit down. And yes, would the questions be tough? Yes, yes. And I’m sure that had something to do with it.”

Patrick added:

“It’s just disappointing. ... If you want to be treated as a serious league, this is what happens! These are tough questions, but this is a fair outlet for you, a fair platform. I will treat you with respect.”

Now Engelbert and the WNBA will face even more tough questions over a less-than-ideal situation that it created.

Not great.

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Andy Nesbitt
ANDY NESBITT

Andy Nesbitt is the assistant managing editor of audience engagement at Sports Illustrated. He works closely with the Breaking and Trending News team to shape SI’s daily coverage across all sports. A 20-year veteran of the sports media business, he has worked for Fox Sports, For the Win, The Boston Globe and NBC Sports, having joined SI in February 2023. Nesbitt is a golf fanatic who desperately wants to see the Super Bowl played on a Saturday night.

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ESPN Boss Jimmy Pitaro Explains Reason for Mass Layoffs, Which Include a Number of Big Names

Kristen Wong|
Tom Pelissero is among the names expected to be cut in ESPN’s latest round of layoffs. | Kara Durrette/Getty Images

Long considered one of the most unshakeable giants in the sports media industry, ESPN is undergoing its latest round of mass layoffs this summer.

The unfortunate news, which marks the network’s first major wave of layoffs in three years, comes nearly six months after Disney finalized its acquisition of NFL Network in an expansive deal that gave the league a 10% equity stake in ESPN, a holding reportedly valued in the billions of dollars.

ESPN’s layoffs, expected to affect both on-air talent and non-camera-facing employees, are in large part driven by the NFL Network acquisition, according to an internal memo from ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro obtained by Front Office Sports.

“Over the past several months, we’ve made significant progress integrating the NFL assets that we acquired into ESPN. Throughout this process, we have taken the time to carefully evaluate our collective teams, resources and organizational structure to best position us for the future. As a result, we had to make some difficult decisions about job impacts that we will be communicating today,” the memo read.

“While most of the job impacts are tied to the acquisition, we will also notify colleagues in other parts of the company today that their positions have been impacted. We are committed to treating employees with compassion and respect and to providing support as they navigate this transition.

“Even in moments like these, the strength of ESPN comes from our people, our teamwork and our shared mission to serve sports fans.”

News of layoffs immediately rocked the sports world, with NFL analyst Ryan Clark one of the first to be let go. Clark was reportedly informed of the decision during his appearance on Monday’s episode of NFL Live.

“Sending prayers and love to all those laid off today by ESPN,” Clark wrote on X (formerly Twitter) on Tuesday. “So many of you have poured your life into that company, & I know how you’re feeling right now. My hope is as this door closes another opens for you all. God bless!”

Prior to this summer, ESPN went through its most recent massive talent purge in 2023 as part of its parent company Disney’s mandated job cuts. Disney CEO Bob Iger announced in February ‘23 that the company planned to reduce 7,000 jobs, via either not filling positions or layoffs. That year, ESPN cut ties with around 20 commentators and reporters including Jeff Van Gundy, Jalen Rose, Suzy Kolber and Max Kellerman.

Full list of media members reportedly getting laid off by ESPN

This list will be continually updated.

  • Ryan Clark (NFL analyst)
  • Tom Pelissero (NFL Network insider)
  • Charles Davis (NFL Network analyst)
  • Bart Scott (NFL analyst)
  • Karl Ravech (MLB play-by-play announcer)
  • David Lloyd (SportsCenter anchor)
  • Stephania Bell (Fantasy football analyst)
  • Cam Newton (First Take contributor)
  • Andreas Hale (Combat sports reporter)
  • Dan Hajducky (ESPN.com staff writer)

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KRISTEN WONG

Kristen Wong is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. She has been a sports journalist since 2020 and has a bachelor’s in English and linguistics from Columbia University. Before joining SI in November 2023, Wong covered four NFL teams as an associate editor with the FanSided NFL network and worked as a staff writer for the brand’s flagship site. She is a lifelong Liverpool fan who enjoys solving crossword puzzles and hanging out at her neighborhood dive bar in NYC.

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