This week marked Dianna Russini’s return to public life. The highly paid former NFL reporter, who blew up her career by publicly cuddling Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel, began her comeback from disgrace the way many notable people who can afford competent PR agencies do: with a blurred profile in People. The next phase of his comeback, the Wednesday premiere of his new weekly football show on BetUS TV, was not executed as competently.
THE People the article is about what you would expect. Russini opens up about how “heartbreaking” the last six months have been and how having to resign from The Athletic after going into intertwined fingers mode with Vrabel at an adults-only resort was a “nightmare.” Russini also appears to maintain his position that there was nothing inappropriate about his relationship with Vrabel, which included trysts at a bar, a casino and on a boat. She complained to People about all the “lies” that “got so out of hand.” The profile ended with Russini trying to reposition herself as an inspiration to women. “I really hope that I can be someone that other women see: You can pick yourself up and go back and not be afraid,” she said.
With that out of the way, it was time for the main event. The Russini reporta weekly one-hour web show about the NFL, debuted Wednesday. The show is hosted by BetUS, an offshore sports betting site headquartered in Costa Rica and regulated by the government of Curacao. I also feel obliged to tell you that the show that preceded The Russini report on the BetUS platform featured these three men, who I assume all know each other through a support group for strange people:
Would you be shocked to learn that this company encountered debilitating technical problems while trying to broadcast the first episode of Russini’s show?
The Russians Reportwhich was billed as a live show, was scheduled to begin at noon. Eager viewers who tuned in at that time were greeted by a looping video featuring a “The Show Starts Soon” graphic, rotating shots of Russini in various poses, as well as hold music.
For the next 40 minutes there were only people who wanted to watch The Russini report you had to look. Maybe she was too busy reporting to start the show on time? No, according to the show’s official Twitter account, the delay was due to the large number of people trying to tune in.
As the delay approached the 50-minute mark, the looping poses gave way to this disturbing graphic:
After refreshing the page several times, this graphic gave way to a working video player, in which the entire 53-minute first episode of The Russini report was available, which was rather strange, considering the show was supposed to be broadcast live.
Never mind. Russini began the show by thanking the troops, then spoke vaguely about how spending the last few months at home with her husband and two children has given her a new perspective on the kind of person she wants to become. Soon, Russini shared it all with his first guest, Damon Amendolara. He strikes me as someone who is a valuable guest to have on shows like these, given how easy it is to confuse his name with Danny Amendola’s when reading promotional material. His second guest was Philadelphia radio host and podcaster Spike Eskin. I was a little confused by the order in which the show aired, given that legendary former NFL coach Bill Parcells was given the top spot on all promotional material. Parcells, 85, finally made an appearance, via a garbled phone call, at the very end of the show. He and Russini chatted for about two minutes, with Parcells offering sleepy insights such as: “The most important thing in game management is timeouts and running out the clock.”
If this is the kind of pre-recorded information you think has been missing from the NFL media ecosystem over the past six months, then The Russini report is the place for you. Tune in next Wednesday, between 12:00 p.m. and 12:49 p.m. ET, to find out more.
Gn sports
