I'm actually quite upset he's leaving. Stephen A & Skip are the perfect sports duo everybody seems to take them serious and hate on em but me? I like to relax and have a good time watching First Take.. it's entertainment ffs
Exactly how I feel As a semi-educated person, I find their entire telecast and presentation laughable, it seems like it is written by a bunch of 6 year olds. I literally have't been tuning into Sportscenter (or whatever other garbage they offer) since I was about 12 years old.
First Take and SAS/Skip were pretty much the only thing that was "cutting edge" on ESPN. With Skip gone, ESPN will have a difficult time finding a replacement with the same chemistry.
Cutting edge? WTF? Two idiots who aren't qualified to be on national TV spouting gibberish that was largely inaccurate most of the time? Much rather prefer PTI.. a show that's been on for 15 years, with the exact same format, and still is fresher than 98% of the garbage of ESPN.
I think Smith and Bayless are good together. Sure, they talk out their asses like any other sports fan, but that's what the show is. Sometimes they grate on the nerves and you have to change the channel, but they come across as typical sports fans talking about sports. It will be interesting to see who they hire to replace Bayless. Not everyone would be a good fit with the loudmouth Smith.
Sports has become very big business and ESPN simply didn't "innovate" or whatever buzzword well enough over the years and they are being attacked by streaming/web content and stronger Network opponents.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">From a reliable source: Fox Sports is paying Skip Bayless in neighborhood of $5.5 million per for four years, plus a $4M signing bonus.</p>— Richard Deitsch (@richarddeitsch) <a href="https://twitter.com/richarddeitsch/status/725694462463201282">April 28, 2016</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
What's with Fox collecting a bunch of white Dallas-type men to parade around on TV? Walk into any bar in Dallas and you'll find a Skip Bayless, Joe Buck and Troy Aikman inside, wearing a gold or silver watch, jeans or poor fitting slacks, and a striped or solid Brooks Brothers long sleeve button-up shirt, having a generic light beer, while their leased luxury vehicle sits out front. They're gonna hire Jerry Jones next to represent REALLY old Dallas.
Fox Sports knows that ESPN is faltering. They are going to make a big push this fall to establish a firm foothold as viable alternative to ESPN.
I still like Mike & Mike, and while I can't remember the last time I saw it, I always enjoyed PTI (I didn't have ESPN for 2 years and just recently got Sling). Outside the Lines and the Sports Reporters are also decent weekend watching. The internet has made Sportscenter worthless. Now it is so much easier to go look at only the headlines you care about. No more waiting an hour to find out the highlights you wanted get no highlights of your game.
What is this, the 10th time they've tried? I'm not even sure what channel Fox Sports is, or even if it's still a channel.
Not trying to be a jerk, but I'm just curious about people that watch the show. Are you a student, and in-between classes? Do you work at a bar where they have TVs going? Are you unemployed? I just don't understand people who are around and compelled to tune into basic cable at 11-whatever it is in the morning to watch sports talk. Like, who watches these shows? Who has the ability to sit down on a Tuesday morning and watch two idiots talk about the Raiders in March?
I DVR them and watch them on my days off. I'm actually sad he's leaving too, while i don't often agree with his takes I do find them entertaining. I feel like i won't watch First Take nearly as much without Skip.
ESPN is broke because they are over exposed trying to the the World Wide Leader In Sports. What this shows is that ESPN needs competition but FOX is and has been **** for sooo looonng. Fox hasn't been relevant since Best Damned.
Skip got paid. Bet he returns to ESPN in 4 years after he disappoints at Fox. He's not worth that amount of money, but you can understand why he took the offer.
