Sports With Friends

Jayson Stark is the senior writer of MLB at The Athletic. A true hall-of-fame, Stark was the 2019 winner of the BBWAA Career Excellence Award, for which he was honored. Jayson has covered baseball for more than 30 years.

Rachel Herzog is the Pre/Post Game host of the New Jersey Devils on MSG Networks. She is currently in her second season. Herzog played both high school and college hockey, the latter at St. Cloud State University. Before her work in New Jersey, she worked at WDAY in Fargo, ND.

Major League Baseball is undergoing a broadcasting metamorphosis in 2026. 22 of 30 teams have in-market, blackout-free streaming subscriptions available, while 8 remain broadcasting with traditional regional sports networks (RSNs).

) Tim Benz has been covering Pittsburgh sports since 2001. In addition to writing for TribLIVE, he is a Steelers radio host on FOX Sports Radio Pittsburgh 970 AM and a contributor to WTAE-TV, WDVE, and WXDX-FM.

Kevin Falness is the executive producer and pre/post-game host of the NHL’s Minnesota Wild. He joined the Wild as exec producer before their inaugural season in 2000-2001. Before joining the Wild, Falness worked as the executive producer of KKFN The Fan radio in Denver, Colorado.

As 2026 began, a new sports media controversy emerged. Main Street Sports Group, formerly Diamond Sports, missed a payment to the St. Louis Cardinals for their local TV rights. Days later, they missed payments to numerous NBA teams.

This episode continues a long tradition that began eight years ago. The whole origin story of this tradition is explained in the first few minutes of the show.

Daryl Ruiter has been covering Cleveland sports for a quarter-century. Since 2011, he’s been the beat reporter for the Cleveland Browns on 92.3 The Fan in Cleveland. The Ohio native also covers select Cavaliers and Guardians games.

In December 2025, the 12-team college football playoff was revealed. This episode comes out after the regular season and before the bowl season and subsequent playoff.