Bomani Jones: the cerebral sports pundit leaves things late on HBO

Was getting into bed with the gambling industry just part of a plan by NFL owners to recoup millions in talent wages? Asking for Calvin Ridley, who’s having an especially rough week.

On Monday the league sidelined the star Atlanta Falcons receiver for the 2022 season after an internal investigation revealed Ridley had bet on games during a five-day stretch late last November. In the wake of the news Ridley admitted to betting $1,500. He was slated to make $11m this fall.

If this isn’t the worst loss in gambling, it’s a sure sign of impaired judgement. Never mind that Ridley says he doesn’t have a gambling problem. “Yes you clearly do!” Bomani Jones roars. “Whether you have an addiction, that’s a different discussion. But a problem? The problem is why we’re all here.”

You’d be hard pressed to name a pundit who’s better suited to tackle this story than Jones. Besides being a sports savant and a sharp cultural critique, the 41-year-old pundit is also thoroughly engaging. Now in addition to his protracted run at ESPN – where he stands out for his longform, nuanced takes on television, radio and as a podcast host – Jones will be moonlighting on HBO as host of a new late night show called Game Theory, which debuts on Sunday. The plan is to export the casual infotainment vibe of his hit podcast, The Right Time, to premium cable –where the Emmy winner joins a heavyweight card that includes much-admired sportscaster Bob Costas and the no-bullshit interviewer Bryant Gumbel. Talk about a gamble.

The notion of a sports-themed TV satire modeled after The Daily Show has been tried time and again. The late Norm Macdonald saw his half-hour Comedy Central series, Sports Show, cancelled after nine episodes in 2011. In 2017 ESPN invested