I served/bartended twice for him (or, at least, him and his small group) in Chicago in 2002 or 2003 or so, and he was an absolute sweetheart. I didn't even know he was Skip Bayless' brother (Skip had THE WORST reputation in Chicago in the late 1990s as the city's worst hot take sports columnist, I hated him in high school) at the time. Rick was super nice, and my boss/co-workers told me he'd come in plenty of times before I worked at this club/theatre (this is when his show was on PBS, his restaurants were booming, books were out) and was incredibly kind and gracious in previous trips. Good luck on Channel "Only Look It Up to Watch the U.S. Open For Two Days A Year," Skip.
Insane, $4M signing bonus and over $5M a year to sit there, yell, and be wrong about what you're yelling about. Yet another example of how wrong the world is.
It's a shame that FS1 has stumbled through its first few years of existence, because I do think there is a bit of an opportunity for a sports TV network in that space, if the network offered something different. I'm certainly no expert in television programming, but I just can't see the network being all that successful essentially doing all of the same things ESPN is doing, but on a smaller scale and in a more expensive way. They're doubling down on "hot take" television years after ESPN popularized it and at an exponentially higher cost, what with all of the exorbitant salaries they're doling out to ex-ESPNers. On top of that, they've jumped headfirst into the rights fees game, and while Fox proper gets some big-time events (NFL football, MLB Saturday baseball, college football, etc.), FS1 is left really with just secondary packages (second-tier Big East basketball, undercard MLB games, for example). In short, it just feels like they're trying to go toe-to-toe with ESPN by recreating all of their exact successes, and I think that's proven to be a foolish move through the years. Just look at how many times networks (mostly Fox Sports, frankly) have tried to create a SportsCenter clone. Like I said, I do think there is a place for another sports network, but to me, that hypothetical network is one that goes all-in on analytics, eschews hiring ex-jocks and instead hires really smart statheads and those who think about sports from an outside-the-box perspective, and that hires legitimate hard-hitting journalists to do deep-dive, longform reporting.
If it's Will Cain, he is going to be very good. He's got an opinion that is analytic, and well thought out. He can hold his own and comeback after getting pasted. He's clear when making his point. And he seems to have broad world knowledge like Skip. The first episode here has been interesting as they work the rookie over and try to figure out the dynamic between the emotional SAS and Will's more analytic style. Think it's a good choice. I enjoyed. Molly seems to be ganging up on him with SAS, but that is only natural.
I'm gonna have to respectfully disagree. Will Cain annoys the crap out of me. You can tell Steven A. hates that pasty idiot.
Skip Bayless will be a huge miss. He was the one knowledgeable sports talk guy out there and he was the one of the few who believed and still believes in James Harden
[rquoter]Max Kellerman Joins ESPN2’s First Take July 25 A new era of First Take will begin Monday, July 25, when Max Kellerman takes a seat at the desk with Stephen A. Smith and Molly Qerim on ESPN2’s two-hour weekday morning (10 a.m. – noon ET) live debate show. “I’m thrilled to join the excellent team at First Take,” said Kellerman. “Years back, on-the-air and in the hallways of ESPN Radio New York, Stephen A. and I would engage in detailed and thoughtful discussions on sports and every other topic you can imagine. To do that again, now for the First Take audience, is going to be a lot of fun.” Kellerman will relinquish his roles on ESPN2’s Los Angeles-based studio show SportsNation and as co-host of Max & Marcellus on ESPNLA 710AM. His last day on ESPN Radio and his last appearance on SportsNation will both be Friday, July 15.[/rquoter] ...and Michelle Beadle is ‘pissed off’
I really enjoyed his afternoon rush hour show with Marcellus Whiley on ESPN LA. He'll do good on First Take.
Always loved Kellerman back in the days of the original Around the Horn. What a welcome change...might actually watch First Take
I've only seen Kellerman on boxing and on Sportsnation, which is more slapstick stuff, so let's hope he can deliver. I haven't found depth with him outside a superior knowledge of boxing, but I've really only seen him on Sportsnation and that's just a totally different thing.
