supremebve Posted January 4, 2017 Share Posted January 4, 2017 20 minutes ago, Raziel403 said: I watched Whitlock's show one day while at a Dave and Busters with my kids (only thing on the TV's). That was about the last time I gave anyone on FS any of my time outside of an actual sporting event. Ironically, the only reason I ever turn on Fox Sports is to watch the UFC, and these dickheads are slandering their biggest star. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KidNatural Posted January 4, 2017 Share Posted January 4, 2017 FS is great for the fact that the three biggest reasons that I loathed ESPN are now neatly tucked away at a network I don't watch. If Screaming A. joins them it'll be bliss. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sabremike Posted January 5, 2017 Share Posted January 5, 2017 If ISIS declared jihad on awful sports hot take morons like Skip, Cowherd, Whitlock or Screamin A I would enthusiastically support them (as would just about all of humanity). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hammerva Posted January 5, 2017 Share Posted January 5, 2017 Quote Sports broadcasting legend Chris Berman, the six-time National Sportscaster of the Year who arrived at ESPN a month after the network launched in 1979 and became one of the industry’s most popular voices during his almost four decades with the company, will assume a new role for ESPN after the NFL season. Berman will make appearances on-air and will also serve in public-facing roles on behalf of the company, stepping away from his longtime position as the face of ESPN’s NFL studio coverage, NFL Draft and Major League Baseball’s Home Run Derby. Excuse me for a minute 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sabremike Posted January 5, 2017 Share Posted January 5, 2017 I don't care how bad he's become, Berman will ALWAYS get a pass from me because he is a proud Whalers fan who will always reference them on air when he gets a chance. I will always love him for that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supremebve Posted January 5, 2017 Share Posted January 5, 2017 48 minutes ago, sabremike said: If ISIS declared jihad on awful sports hot take morons like Skip, Cowherd, Whitlock or Screamin A I would enthusiastically support them (as would just about all of humanity). I don't know what this says about me, but I kind of like Stephen A. Smith. If we are going to have multiple shows where the hosts have ridiculous opinions and scream at each other, he's about as good at that as humanly possible. He is truly phenomenal at that particular brand of television. As long as he is talking about sports I have no issue with him whatsoever. My issue with most of those dudes are how they try to bridge the gap between sports and societal issues. Cowherd, Whitlock, and Smith have legit said some reprehensible things about people, and tried to relate them to society as a whole. The thing about Cowherd and John Wall legit made me sick to my stomach. Trying to say that John Wall was fundamentally flawed as a basketball player because his dad died is just a terrible thing to say. I've pretty much disregarded him as a human being since then. Stephen A. Smith is inching closer and closer with his Kaepernick takes. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Posted January 5, 2017 Share Posted January 5, 2017 I mostly just don't like supposed journalists/reporters yelling shit at the screen, seems like I'm at some kind of weird rally. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
odessasteps Posted January 5, 2017 Share Posted January 5, 2017 Erik Rydholm is the 21st century Dr Frankenstein, for what he created with PTI (and AtH). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burgundy LaRue Posted January 6, 2017 Share Posted January 6, 2017 It's time for Berman to go. It's been a great run, but no one is buying what he's selling anymore and haven't in a while. Wonder who will host NFL Sunday Countdown, which I found pretty enjoyable the few moments I watched it this season. Stephen A. Smith is a weird case for me. He's clearly knowledgeable about sports, particularly basketball, and is the most articulate among the hot-take guys. He doesn't come across as a total asshole like many of the others in his genre of sports talk. I can deal with him reasonably well. But as Supreme put it, he gets himself into trouble when he tries to mix social commentary with sports. That sort of thing is left for journalists with a more measured and nuanced approach to their opinions, not a professional loudmouth like Stephen A. But he's far from the worse in that regard. Even Bayless isn't bad compared to some. That guy is a troll and fully embraces it as a means to stay employed. I take a don't hate the hustler/hate the game stance with him most of the time. Cowherd and Whitlock are beyond redemption, though. That those two have a show together is no surprise whatsoever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
odessasteps Posted January 6, 2017 Share Posted January 6, 2017 Deitsch floated the idea Suzy Kolber could be the Countdown host. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Comedian Posted January 6, 2017 Share Posted January 6, 2017 I've hated Stephen A. Smith since he was the NBA beat writer for the Philadelphia Inquirer and started working heel in his columns after the Philly fan base turned on his beloved Kobe Bryant... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supremebve Posted January 6, 2017 Share Posted January 6, 2017 2 hours ago, The Comedian said: I've hated Stephen A. Smith since he was the NBA beat writer for the Philadelphia Inquirer and started working heel in his columns after the Philly fan base turned on his beloved Kobe Bryant... I think part of the reason I like Stephen A. is that he's in on the joke. In a world where we treat sports like they are sacred, it is fun to have someone who will work heel. He's as obnoxious as anyone in sports, but he is clearly having fun with his obnoxiousness. I honestly think Cowherd and Whitlock actually believe everything they say, Stephen A. believes about 75% and puts 25% of show business on it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burgundy LaRue Posted January 6, 2017 Share Posted January 6, 2017 Stephen A. and Bayless are self-aware for the most part. Cowherd and Whitlock aren't. It comes down to that, more or less. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elsalvajeloco Posted January 6, 2017 Share Posted January 6, 2017 11 hours ago, Burgundy LaRue said: Stephen A. Smith is a weird case for me. He's clearly knowledgeable about sports, particularly basketball, and is the most articulate among the hot-take guys. He doesn't come across as a total asshole like many of the others in his genre of sports talk. I can deal with him reasonably well. But as Supreme put it, he gets himself into trouble when he tries to mix social commentary with sports. That sort of thing is left for journalists with a more measured and nuanced approach to their opinions, not a professional loudmouth like Stephen A. But he's far from the worse in that regard. Even Bayless isn't bad compared to some. That guy is a troll and fully embraces it as a means to stay employed. I take a don't hate the hustler/hate the game stance with him most of the time. Cowherd and Whitlock are beyond redemption, though. That those two have a show together is no surprise whatsoever. That's my biggest problem with him as it comes to having a platform. Everything I've heard about him outside of the show hasn't been good. At one point (back when he had his own show), he was respected by people within the black community because he chose to take risks with some of the guests he had on. Plus, we understood that some of his act was indeed a gimmick. Nobody really had a problem with him even though he said some questionable things here and there. Then, he got suspended and that's when he turned into the gimmick. He's always been aware that he gets a check from the Mouse and realized jeopardizing that to actually articulate something that's more than the company message is not worth it to him. I heard from multiple folks that he is the guy that shows up to black events with a bunch of white women on his arm. That's fine and dandy. Live your life. Live it up etc etc. However, to feel like now you have to do a 180 and make every issue involving black people (serious issues every race has to deal with in great quantity) a problem they're directly responsible for because you got punked by Michelle Beadle (another person I can't stand TBH) and wouldn't stand your ground is something I am never going to agree with. That's the biggest flaw of the entire embrace debate idea. You can't look at the issue of something like domestic violence and just look at it as just a one sided issue. If that's what has been decided, then don't bring it up. If you're going to debate something, go ahead and debate it. That's why I feel like I can't talk about Joe Mixon on here because everyone has already decided they want to be on the right side of the argument to avoid scrutiny. You're entitled to your opinions and if you sincerely feel that way, then I am not going to change your opinion. However, I believe that's why incidents like this will continue to be an issue because people want to avoid getting to the heart of the issue. In order to avoid situations like that, discussion should be there as one of the means to resolve that issue. To simplify it as "well, men shouldn't hit women" or "well, he can just walk away" is downright troubling because that undermines how humans are engineered. If people understood that philosophy, we wouldn't be having these problems come up every week it seems like. Those are things that have been said for several decades now, and people are still getting popped in the face. I've never hit a woman, never plan to do that, and that's cool, but I also understand that's not how everyone was brought up. I also have an understanding of how fast stuff escalates, and that puts me at risk of being in that situation one day so I can never rule anything out. I'm saying all this to say that you can't say you're a solution oriented person (especially being one for black people that trots out stuff about accountability), and then not provide any rational solutions. I know everyday people who have done more work in the black community all around the country in a single month than what Stephen A has done his entire career at ESPN. Make your money and buy whatever, but don't be the guy launching criticism after criticism and then do nothing except be a puppet for your corporate overlords. Moreover, if you can't properly articulate how you feel about issues and know you need to promote the ESPN brand to keep getting raises and bragging about having Cartier sunglasses to people out on the street who are actually being productive, then you should definitely leave those issues to someone who can do that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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