If you tune into ESPN2 Monday-Friday at 10 a.m., you'll most likely find Skip Bayless and Stephen A. Smith engaging in some variation of "spirited debate" covering a wide range of sports topics. However, there is rarely much knowledge to be gained while watching.
ESPN's First Take, which first debuted as Cold Pizza in 2007, has seen a number of hosts and personality changes over its course. One aspect of the show remains constant, though: exceptional viewership. Last August, the debate show recorded its highest August viewership to date.
First Take is successful only because of us, the viewers. The ratings are so high that ESPN cannot not air the debate show. Understandably, though, Bayless and Smith do attract attention (not always for the right reasons; well, mostly for never the right reasons).
Bayless, 63, has no issue proclaiming to the world that he is a Dallas Cowboys fan. He's horrible on social media, too. Here's a few examples of his Twitter account dating back to early November:
I am not giving up on the Cowboys winning the division by default - they start to win as the other 3 keep losing. Not THAT farfetched.
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) November 16, 2015HOW BOUT THEM COWBOYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) November 22, 2015#ByeEaglesBye
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) November 26, 2015Dear ESPN, please ban Mr. Bayless from all social media.
Rarely do Bayless and Smith gain attention for their knowledge of sports. It's almost always due to some crazy-filled segment that is so far fetched that people just laugh. If you need proof, watch the video below from 2012.
Yeah, you heard that right. Bayless said that he would take Tim Tebow over Aaron Rodgers in a "one game scenario." In case you didn't know, Bayless has the world's biggest man crush on Tebow, and also stated that he "doesn't love Tim Tebow personally."
The other part of the dynamic First Take duo, Smith, isn't nearly as annoying as his partner, Bayless. In fact, Smith does offer the occasional opinion that makes sense, especially over matters covering race issues.
Smith always seems to know everybody as a "dear, dear friend." He is never afraid to use giant words that absolutely no one understands and doesn't shy away from showing Bayless that he could care less about what he's saying. For proof, see the video of Smith's greatest moments on First Take:
My personal favorite begins at 4:42. Here's a transcript of Smith's buffoonery (Smith and Bayless are making predictions for the Eastern Conference Finals in... does it really matter what year it is?):
Bayless: "I love Derrick Rose off the floor, I don't love him on the floor. I DO NOT love..."
Smith interrupts: "WHAT? WHAT? WHATTTTTTT? WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?"
Bayless continues: "...my point guard to be such a high volume shooter that he is."
Smith: "OH MY LORD. Oh my. You should be BANNED from talking basketball! Derrick Fis - Derrick Rose, oh, what, you're insane!
Bayless: "You know what, he shoots way too many three's. Especially in playoff games. He's going to jack it up 6 or 8, 10 times from three and he's going to make one of them." (See Smith's reaction at 5:16, its priceless).
Sometimes, their emotions can be quite comical as you can see here. However, is it really right that we have to watch two hours of this crap, and only get 30 minutes of Outside the Lines? That's the "Worldwide Leader in Sports" for you.
At the end of the day, we only have ourselves to blame. ESPN is a business, and they make way too much money to not air the show. And I'm sure they love any publicity, including articles like this one that rip the show apart.
