Terry Francona said to have staged shouting match over NFL game before Reds’ final regular season game

Reds manager Terry Francona is said to have staged a shouting match between coaching staff over an NFL game in an effort to reduce the tension being felt by his players over the team’s final regular-season game against the Milwaukee Brewers.The news of the unusual tactic for calming his players’ nerves amid the Reds’ down-to-the-wire playoff push was shared during the middle of the broadcast of Sunday’s Reds-Brewers game on FanDuel Sports Network.Reds announcers John Sadak and Jim Day described the moment during the bottom of the second inning.”You mentioned the adrenaline for Spencer Steer,” said Sadak. “Jim Day, Terry Francona and the rest of the coaching staff tried their darndest to make it a normal day in the clubhouse.””Yeah, even staging something,” responded Day. “There was an NFL game this morning and he was in the office with other coaches watching the game and purposely got into a shouting match and purposely was shouting at the game, shouting at the TV like they would do on a normal day, and that office is right by where the clubhouse is for the players, and those players very much heard it, just trying to make it normal, even staging it.”The two Reds announcers did not describe which game Francona and the coaching staff were watching. However, the only game that was being aired live on Sunday morning was the game between the Minnesota Vikings and Pittsburgh Steelers, which was being played in Dublin, Ireland.The Steelers would ultimately emerge victorious 24-21.Unfortunately, the Reds would not be quite as lucky to get a win of their own on Sunday. While the team got out to an early two-run lead, Milwaukee would ultimately come from behind to rack up four runs between the third and fourth innings, holding on for the remainder of the game to win 4-2.Still, a concurrent loss by the New York Mets against the Miami Marlins was enough to secure the Reds’ postseason hopes. This allowed Cincinnati to claim the last remaining National League wild card slot and enter into the postseason for the first time since 2020, and for the first full-length season since 2013.The Reds next take on the Los Angeles Dodgers in the first round of the playoffs at 9:08 p.m. on Tuesday at Dodger Stadium. The series is best-of-three, meaning that the Reds or Dodgers will need two wins to advance. The second game of the series will be held at 9:08 p.m. on Wednesday. A third game will also be played on Thursday if no winner has yet emerged from the first two games. A time has not been set yet for the potential Thursday game.

MILWAUKEE —

Reds manager Terry Francona is said to have staged a shouting match between coaching staff over an NFL game in an effort to reduce the tension being felt by his players over the team’s final regular-season game against the Milwaukee Brewers.

The news of the unusual tactic for calming his players’ nerves amid the Reds’ down-to-the-wire playoff push was shared during the middle of the broadcast of Sunday’s Reds-Brewers game on FanDuel Sports Network.

Reds announcers John Sadak and Jim Day described the moment during the bottom of the second inning.

“You mentioned the adrenaline for Spencer Steer,” said Sadak. “Jim Day, Terry Francona and the rest of the coaching staff tried their darndest to make it a normal day in the clubhouse.”

“Yeah, even staging something,” responded Day. “There was an NFL game this morning and he was in the office with other coaches watching the game and purposely got into a shouting match and purposely was shouting at the game, shouting at the TV like they would do on a normal day, and that office is right by where the clubhouse is for the players, and those players very much heard it, just trying to make it normal, even staging it.”

The two Reds announcers did not describe which game Francona and the coaching staff were watching. However, the only game that was being aired live on Sunday morning was the game between the Minnesota Vikings and Pittsburgh Steelers, which was being played in Dublin, Ireland.

The Steelers would ultimately emerge victorious 24-21.

Unfortunately, the Reds would not be quite as lucky to get a win of their own on Sunday. While the team got out to an early two-run lead, Milwaukee would ultimately come from behind to rack up four runs between the third and fourth innings, holding on for the remainder of the game to win 4-2.

Still, a concurrent loss by the New York Mets against the Miami Marlins was enough to secure the Reds’ postseason hopes. This allowed Cincinnati to claim the last remaining National League wild card slot and enter into the postseason for the first time since 2020, and for the first full-length season since 2013.

The Reds next take on the Los Angeles Dodgers in the first round of the playoffs at 9:08 p.m. on Tuesday at Dodger Stadium. The series is best-of-three, meaning that the Reds or Dodgers will need two wins to advance.

The second game of the series will be held at 9:08 p.m. on Wednesday. A third game will also be played on Thursday if no winner has yet emerged from the first two games. A time has not been set yet for the potential Thursday game.