Other than a few former figures from Penn State University, ESPN analyst Skip Bayless is the most hated and disrespected man in sports. He doesn’t have a giant scandal, or a second family on the side and isn’t the face of the paparazzi. He just has an attitude problem. Every morning a rooster crows, and in the sports world that rooster is Bayless.
At 9 a.m. every day Bayless appears on ESPN’s First Take stating his opinions and then changing his mind 10 minutes later.
Take Lebron James, for instance. Since James was in high school, Bayless was convinced James was not as good as people would say. After all the hype and disappointment in Cleveland, James took his “talents to South Beach,” causing Bayless’s criticism and with Bayless becoming known as an instant Lebron hater.
After Miami and James finally won a championship, suddenly Bayless says that James is the best player in the game.
Bayless has a history of this hypocrisy, falling in love with certain players and judging other ones immediately.
All analysts will admit to this, but it certainly is the base of most of Bayless’ arguments.
Even from watching just a handful of his shows I can tell you a list of athletes Bayless does not like: Baltimore Ravens linebacker Terrell Suggs, Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Russell Westbrook, Los Angeles Dodgers third baseman Hanley Ramirez and sometimes Miami Heat star Lebron James.
Here’s a list of athletes Bayless does like: New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, New York Jets mascot Tim Tebow, Oklahoma City All-Star Kevin Durant and Los Angeles Lakers shooting guard Kobe Bryant. His biases at times make the show unwatchable.
But consequences come with having strong opinions and recently stars have been fighting back and have choice words for Bayless.
ESPN brought Terrell Suggs on the air to argue with Bayless. Watch that on youtube that and tell me Bayless doesn’t look like he is scared out of his mind.
Also, after a bad game from NBA All-Star Russell Westbrook, Bayless fired off about how Westbrook is a terrible point guard, does not pass well enough and is a lazy and spastic player. After hearing these words, Westbrook’s teammate Kevin Durant said in an interview that “Skip Bayless doesn’t know basketball.” Durant also was appalled from the comments and backed his teammate with full support. When this was brought to Bayless’s attention on his show, he was stunned that the player he has supported in arguments for years would betray him like this. Youtube that and tell me he doesn’t cry.
Really, the biggest scandal Bayless was ever involved in is what happened this last winter on his show. For almost a week, Bayless criticized Westbrook for his play and then criticized his style of being a point guard. He rattled off his high school basketball stats and reminisced on how when he played basketball he played very similar to Westbrook.
But he swore his coach demanded him to become a pass first point guard and went on to brag about his high school team’s success.
So, a former NBA player and now current ESPN basketball analyst Jalen Rose went on an investigation and found out Bayless was caught in a lie. It turns out Bayless averaged 1.4 points in high school and was not on the varsity roster until his senior year.
Rose exposed his detective work on national television and Bayless quickly confessed to his lie and furthermore, looked pretty stupid.
What really makes Bayless so hard to like is his attitude. I can only compare it to a sixth grade girl that just had her best friend kiss her boyfriend at recess. He’s arrogant and mean and has no limit to the hurtful things he will say. With that being sad, I understand that he is putting on a show so his television show will receive ratings.
But do you think it is really worth it? Check out his Twitter page. Every single day a different person will tweet him horrible things and call him nasty names.
I really don’t believe he watches every game he says he does. When it seems like he does not know what he is talking about, he becomes bashful and will have the last word of the argument by saying “I disagree.”
As an aspiring sports journalist, I just cringe at the way Bayless does his job. He has, what I believe, is the best job out there — sit behind a desk and talk about sports.
Most of the time though Bayless will bring a celebrity or famous rap artist on the show and shoot down whatever they will say. If I want sports opinions, I will watch a show with actual analysis, not rappers who only talk about their hometown team.
Skip Bayless is a very blunt and outrageous person. He has no limits on what he wants to say and will change his own opinions just so he can argue on television.
He is the most hated man in sports.
And you can hear this rooster crow every morning at 9 a.m.