Bill Simmons on Today's First Take Segment: "Nobody Won. Everyone Lost. Including ESPN."
Posted by
Mejdy Jabr
on
Thursday, March 07, 2013
In case you missed it, Richard Sherman came onto First Take on ESPN earlier today and, amongst other statements, told Skip Bayless that he was "better at life" than everyone's most hated talking head, Skip Bayless.
Perhaps more interestingly, ESPNers are actually responding internally to the childish pissing contest that the nation witnessed today.
The topic was open for discussion earlier tonight on Hill and Schlereth on ESPN Radio, but that conversation mostly remained conducive to talking more about Richard Sherman the player with a very brief mentioning of Skip Bayless being not as awful as everyone makes him out to be.
Bill Simmons, however, pulled back no punches on Twitter tonight, slamming all parties involved.
Spin IT has made it clear that we don't really enjoy most of what ESPN has turned into over the last decade, which is the time that most of us were growing up. Along with Scott Van Pelt and maybe a couple of other guys and girls at ESPN, most of our writers are actually fans of Bill Simmons. We recently added Bill Plaschke to our small list of favored ESPNers. Jonathan Palazzolo met him during the Super Bowl and vouched for him.
I digress.
I couldn't disagree more with Simmons' sentiment in the first tweet. Why? It's simple, really. First Take's shenanigans are not just confined to a half an hour or even an hour of the day anymore. It's on the air between ESPN and ESPN2 for nearly 5 hours daily. And as if that weren't horrid enough, shows like Numbers Never Lie and even the morning SportsCenter have been modeled after the Bayless - Screamin' A circus.
"Well, if people don't like ESPN as a whole, don't watch the network."
Show me a valid alternative on basic cable, and I along with thousands will flock to it.
In regards to his second and third tweets, I think Simmons isn't accounting for context in a couple of facets. First of all, there are significant media figures who are solely scolding Sherman, so to act as if a couple hundred Redditors or 4chan board members celebrating a "victory" is something to lash out about is bogus. The one's with the power to sway the masses are mostly taking a similar stance to Florio and Simmons.
I'm a pretty well spoken guy, but in certain situations in which I feel like I'm doing or saying something audacious to somebody, especially if that somebody has an important title, my voice might get shaky, or I'll get nervous. Status is always arbitrary, but nerves can sneak up on all of us sometimes.
I think that Sherman went on with the intention of humiliating and exposing Bayless the way that Cuban did last summer. The difference is that Cuban had the confidence under the unfathomably bright lights of national television to shine. Sherman came off as a bitter athlete spouting off vapid insults at Bayless, who's withstood much worse attacks.
It's because of this that I don't think Sherman's taking any hits in regards to his reputation. Twitter and Reddit are saying he won because, whether Sherman stated it eloquently or not, he said what most sports fans would love to say to Bayless.
"Hey, you've wasted hours of my life, get paid more than I do to speak on a bigger platform than you deserve to every day, and have muscles, but you know what? You're despicable, and I'm better at life than you are."
That's the dream. Bayless actually came off as being a sympathetic figure to some, but he's the only person who should truly be embarrassed. He played his usual, unprofessional game of baiting/insulting his guest beforehand, and for once, somebody took it personally and fired back.
That's not on the athlete. That's entirely on Bayless.
And yes, both looked pretty stupid in the process, but the fact that "Bayless being Bayless" is actually starting to worm its way into the minds of the national discussion is extremely disturbing.
Who cares, though? He's shameless, has been called a douche on the show in the past, and really couldn't give two shits about any of the fallout from his comments and actions. Bayless is paid to troll. When guests feed the troll, First Take's segments are validated, their clips go viral, and Skippy and the gang have another topic of "debate" to "embrace" the next morning.
Richard Deitsch and John Koblin; where y'at?
Perhaps more interestingly, ESPNers are actually responding internally to the childish pissing contest that the nation witnessed today.
The topic was open for discussion earlier tonight on Hill and Schlereth on ESPN Radio, but that conversation mostly remained conducive to talking more about Richard Sherman the player with a very brief mentioning of Skip Bayless being not as awful as everyone makes him out to be.
Bill Simmons, however, pulled back no punches on Twitter tonight, slamming all parties involved.
It's amazing to me that people get so worked up about First Take. Who cares? Just don't watch it. There are like 800 TV channels.
— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) March 8, 2013
I am not defending this segment - youtu.be/j6x-O3kb1sI - I thought it was awful and embarrassing to everyone involved. Seriously.
— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) March 8, 2013
But what bothers me about the reaction to that segment is people saying Richard Sherman "won." Nobody won. Everyone lost. Including ESPN.
— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) March 8, 2013
I digress.
I couldn't disagree more with Simmons' sentiment in the first tweet. Why? It's simple, really. First Take's shenanigans are not just confined to a half an hour or even an hour of the day anymore. It's on the air between ESPN and ESPN2 for nearly 5 hours daily. And as if that weren't horrid enough, shows like Numbers Never Lie and even the morning SportsCenter have been modeled after the Bayless - Screamin' A circus.
"Well, if people don't like ESPN as a whole, don't watch the network."
Show me a valid alternative on basic cable, and I along with thousands will flock to it.
In regards to his second and third tweets, I think Simmons isn't accounting for context in a couple of facets. First of all, there are significant media figures who are solely scolding Sherman, so to act as if a couple hundred Redditors or 4chan board members celebrating a "victory" is something to lash out about is bogus. The one's with the power to sway the masses are mostly taking a similar stance to Florio and Simmons.
I'm a pretty well spoken guy, but in certain situations in which I feel like I'm doing or saying something audacious to somebody, especially if that somebody has an important title, my voice might get shaky, or I'll get nervous. Status is always arbitrary, but nerves can sneak up on all of us sometimes.
I think that Sherman went on with the intention of humiliating and exposing Bayless the way that Cuban did last summer. The difference is that Cuban had the confidence under the unfathomably bright lights of national television to shine. Sherman came off as a bitter athlete spouting off vapid insults at Bayless, who's withstood much worse attacks.
It's because of this that I don't think Sherman's taking any hits in regards to his reputation. Twitter and Reddit are saying he won because, whether Sherman stated it eloquently or not, he said what most sports fans would love to say to Bayless.
"Hey, you've wasted hours of my life, get paid more than I do to speak on a bigger platform than you deserve to every day, and have muscles, but you know what? You're despicable, and I'm better at life than you are."
That's the dream. Bayless actually came off as being a sympathetic figure to some, but he's the only person who should truly be embarrassed. He played his usual, unprofessional game of baiting/insulting his guest beforehand, and for once, somebody took it personally and fired back.
That's not on the athlete. That's entirely on Bayless.
And yes, both looked pretty stupid in the process, but the fact that "Bayless being Bayless" is actually starting to worm its way into the minds of the national discussion is extremely disturbing.
Who cares, though? He's shameless, has been called a douche on the show in the past, and really couldn't give two shits about any of the fallout from his comments and actions. Bayless is paid to troll. When guests feed the troll, First Take's segments are validated, their clips go viral, and Skippy and the gang have another topic of "debate" to "embrace" the next morning.
Richard Deitsch and John Koblin; where y'at?
Second Plaschke.
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