Thursday, December 6, 2007

Stephen A. Smith is an idiot

I’m really struggling to understand something. I read some commentary on an interview with Stephen A. Smith – some sports guy I’ve heard talk loud on ESPN. I couldn’t believe the excerpts I read in this commentary. I mean – I was shaking my head that such stupidity and arrogance could be all wrapped into one person. So I tracked to the original publication of his remarks.

I should say something up front. I’ve seen ESPN pump this guy like he was the Bill Gates of sports. I watched his show twice (I think) and found him to be substantially more mouth than intellect. I’m sure he knows basketball or whatever he was blabbing about, but he talks a lot faster than he can process thoughts. Maybe it was just the television shtick.

The two paragraphs that caught my eye are in full below, and were presented in the quotations marks and with the ellipses as shown. He was asked about whether he would consider working for a newspaper again (didn’t know he had - didn't think he could shut up long enough to type), and whether the newspaper industry was dying. I don’t care where he works, so follow the link if you do. On the death and dying part, he said newsprint needed to migrate better to the internet. Then he went off on the internet. Check out these statements (yeah, my commentary abounds):

"And when you look at the internet business, what’s dangerous (that’s a strong word, Stevie) about it is that people who are clearly unqualified (who set the standard, son? Who wrote and approved the qualifications?) get to disseminate their piece to the masses (as in, the “little people”?). I respect the journalism industry, and the fact of the matter is ...someone with no training (those pesky yet undefined “qualifications” again) should not be allowed (allowed? ALLOWED? But, Massa Stephen, I gots to make water …) to have any kind (?) of format whatsoever (?) to disseminate to the masses (?) to the level which they can. (Um, so that whole 1st Amendment thing about free speech, should have read, “Congress shall make no law … abridging the freedom of speech – until such time as said speech can be HEARD or READ by people outside the physical locale of the speaker or writer (except as may be needed for the newsprint industry or the yet to be invented television and radio industries).” Sound about right, Steve-A?) They are not trained. (you said that about 25 words ago. See what I mean, A? If you talked more slowly, you would think more about word choice, and not be so redundant) Not experts. (Ah, the “qualification” come again. So someone needs to be an “expert” before they can publish on the net. Are you an expert, Steve-A? My issue, son, is that an “expert” denotes familiarity with facts, yet the published items on the net are most clearly opinions. Does someone need to be a factually intensive “expert” in order to render their opinion? Really? I think Kobe is a rapist. I think his attorneys took advantage of the victim-shield laws by exploiting the Preliminary Hearing system (which allowed testimony under oath prior to indictment). They made that girl’s name known. She caved. Oh, yeah, I got a law degree and practiced criminal defense for a long time, then lectured it. What’s your response? “I know Kobe. He’s a friend. He’s no rapist.” Who’s got the biased opinion now, little man?) More important are the level of ethics and integrity (you must be joking. Dan Rather? CNN?) that comes along with the quote-unqoute (sic) profession hasn’t been firmly established and entrenched in the minds (that’s a good thing) of those who’ve been given that license (license? You mean like a privilege? Op cit., 1st Amendment, S-A. Speech is a right).

"Therefore, there’s a total disregard (I love it when people talk in absolutes. They are always wrong. Ironic, eh?), a level of wrecklessness (that’s not a word, btw) that ends up being a domino effect. And the people who suffer are the common (common? COMMON? Who are you referring to as “common,” boy?) viewers out there and, more importantly, those in the industry who haven’t been fortunate to get a radio or television deal and only rely on the written word (the poor, innocent people that cannot distinguish between an AP dateline and www.fred.com). And now they’ve been sabotaged. Not because of me (“Because I be an expert!”). Or like me (A little persecution complex happening?). But because of the industry or the world has allowed the average joe (so it’s because I’m not special? I’ve always been told I was special. That’s why they gave me a special football helmet to wear on the short bus) to resemble a professional (trust me, the last thing I want to look like is YOU) without any credentials whatsoever (those damn “qualifications” again!)."

Unqualified Opinion Alert: Stephen A. Smith is an idiot.

1 comment:

  1. I Love it! Stephen A. Smith is a friggin jackass!

    Like you said about his "speaking faster than his thoughts allow", that's a total truth btw, he can't seem to process any clear thoughts without his mouth getting in the way of getting that thought across... I totally believe that he should write things down and carefully rationalize an answer in his peon brain and then take the couple of extra nano-seconds to articulate, in English (not Ebonics/Street talk/Jive/Hood-speak or whatever they want to call Street Lingo these days - and "NO" I'm NOT being racist! I just don't "Talk the Talk" so I can't tall you what it is : ), a proper, well spoken, intelligent, hopefully intellectual response!

    Oh, wait, he's playing down to us "Commoners" (Aka.. The "Little People", "The Masses", "They", "Not Experts" etc.)... We, as fans, are not considered "Experts" because we are not "Special" like Stephen A. Smith (A for Asshole)...

    How does a Stephen A. Smith get a job at ESPN anyhow? Who in the hell is this clown? Did he get this job via the ESPN reality TV show they had? I'm not sure... Was he a "Walk On"? Does he know someone at ESPN? How does this happen? I saw the reference to "Worked in the print industry" in your blog and I have no clue where he came from... So I checked..

    Here is what I found out:

    1. He grew up in Hollis, Queens, NYC.. Ok, so he grew up on the street more than likely or so he probably claims (Everyone from NYC considers themselves a tough guy because they grew up in some neighborhood in, or on the outskirts of, NYC.. Granted, allot of men/women are but we all know that doesn't mean EVERYBODY! Especially not Stephen A. Smith!).. I think this may be the reason he runs his mouth so fast! He looks like a prison bitch to me! I bet he "Honed his skills" with his mouth by talking so fast as to confuse the bullies that were going to treat him like their prison bitch - day in and day out... This might also be why he can't formulate an intelligible sentence to save his life! He could have also hones his "Mouth Skills" doing other things like forming "O's" with his lips (would explain how he came about his job at ESPN! And NO that was not a play on words... haha)

    2. Attended college at Winston-Salem State University in NC. (Historically Black University).. He also played "some" Basketball there (I put "some" in quotes because that is what Wikipedia wrote - he played some Basketball) under a Hall of Fame coach by the name of Clarence Gaines..

    3. Smith, the new Mr.Controversy, first gained notoriety when he wrote an article for the College paper where he suggested that "Gaines retire due to health issues"... Now I'm sure that had nothing to do with Smith's playing time... Right? Smith probably thought he was the next Jordan and probably had issues w/the coach... Who knows... What we do know is that he wrote this article to be the center of attention - we know because we see what he does for attention now! He might as well have an Organ Grinder as his Manager - he may be more respected in that field!

    4. Along with the position he held with the Winston-Salem Journal, he also worked for Greenboro News and Record and the New York Daily News until 1993.

    5. 1993 he became a Sports Writer for the Daily News in NYC (not exactly a paper that well established in fact day in and day out! More like a semi respected National Enquirer as far as I'm concerned!).

    6. From 1994 to August 23, 2007 he worked for the Philidelphia Enquirer as their NBA columnist (how he can be an expert on Baseball, Football, Hockey and Basketball along with Soccer and any other sport Olympic or non Olympic is beyond me.. He played Basketball so he probably knows basketball more than likely).. Funny thing is that it doesn't say why he left the NY Daily News rag? Maybe they wouldn't tolerate his mouth? Who knows!

    7. April 11, 2005 he debuted on the Air Waves via ESPN (not only do we have to see him and read his garbage, we also have to listen to him on the AM/FM/Sirius Satellite dials! His show replaced the Dan Patrick show..

    8. 1999 he worked for CNN/SI television where, as Wikipedia puts it "he quickly adapted to a basic rule of television panel discussions: that the loudest, the most argumentative, even the rudest voice will get the most attention."... He didn't adapt - That's who he was!

    9. He's also been on TV in General Hospital (Feb. 2, 2007) and in the Chris Rock movie "I think I love my wife"... Hmmmm....

    10. Stephen A. Smith always makes references to racism... Aren't we done with this YET? We have a half black President for Christ's sake! WHY? WHY? WHY? Read this (it's the first paragraph about two College Basketball teams):

    "Let's be real: Not so long ago, whenever it came to thinking about college basketball, Davidson and Liberty never came to mind. It took work to find out that one college was located near Charlotte, N.C., the other in a Virginia town bearing the uncomfortable name of Lynchburg. Neither school had been a real national championship contender -- Davidson hadn't been in the top 10 since 1969 (and Liberty only joined Division I in 1988)."It took work to find out that one college was located near Charlotte, N.C., the other in a Virginia town bearing the uncomfortable name of Lynchburg."..

    "It took work"... Ok... Sounds bad but I get it.. But, he didn't know about a College in the State he went to College in? He just wanted to sound cool (to whom I have no idea!)...

    -- Did you notice anything (outside of mentioning Lynchberg as being a bad place because he thinks it references "Lynching"? Lynchberg is named after a PERSON! Not a friggin crime!)? Look at this sentence again: "

    ** Comment on IMDB about Smith's failed show and upgrade to Primetime ESPN:

    "That can be the only explanation for this guy to still be on TV. He's the only person to have a show fail, and be promoted to a prime time gig on Sportscenter. I guess they made this decision based on his open-minded and passive comments that are extremely insightful and educate the viewer.."

    ** A link to Stephen A. getting heckeld via Youtube (found this looking at IMDB for a reaction to his performance in "I think I love my wife"):

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAB5lOIl-2U

    ** Another:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UD6jMox_Nyw

    --

    Oi.... I could go on ALL DAY! I literally hate this guy and my hate runs very deep! Feel free to email me if you want to talk more..

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