We have officially reached the next iteration of Stephen A. Smith and Dan Le Batard’s ongoing back-and-forth. There doesn’t appear to be a feud or even bad blood between the two, but that hasn’t stopped either one from talking about the other constantly in a public forum.
The latest instance saw Smith calling out Le Batard on Wednesday’s First Take .
Smith accused The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz co-host of being in “cahoots” with the Miami Dolphins, Tua Tagovailoa and the NFL. While the fallout from Tagovailoa’s comments has focused mainly on the Dolphins quarterback referring to the now-Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator as a “terrible person,” Smith thinks there was something more sinister to the sit-down interview.
That somehow, Le Batard was involved in scheming up something more alarming than meets the eye than a sit-down interview with two of Miami’s more prominent figures in the sports world.
Le Batard responded on his show Thursday.
“I got genuine delight from what I believe to be a career achievement,” Le Batard said, “which is that Stephen A. Smith publicly accused me of being in cahoots with Tua, the Dolphins and the NFL. And I’ve never before been accused of being in cahoots before; I saw it in headlines, ‘Le Batard in cahoots.’ And I don’t know what it means, but I do know what it means. I don’t know where it started.
“I’d like to get more information on what it means, where it began, the first person to use the phrase, ‘Someone was in cahoots with someone else.’ But I’m also delighting in this and finding this to be a career achievement because I have no earthly idea what he’s accusing me of.”
For reference, here’s what Smith said via Awful Announcing’s Ben Axelrod:
“I don’t think it’s an accident that Tua said what he said when he said it. I don’t think it’s an accident that Dan Le Batard asked him when he asked him,” Smith said. “Dan Le Batard does his show in Miami. Dan Le Batard lives in Miami. Dan Le Batard is in Miami all day, every day, all the time. And now is when you ask that question? That ain’t no damn accident.”
Smith went on to clarify he didn’t know for certain that Le Batard and Tagovailoa had coordinated the question and response, he was just putting the pieces together based on his own experience.
“I could be wrong,” Smith admitted. “I don’t know. I’m speculating openly and openly admit that. I’m just watching it because as a scribe, as a reporter long before I became a pundit, I’ve been in this business for 30 years now. I’ve seen it. And I know most of the time, again you connect dots. And if you’re Miami and you’re in the NFL, even though Molly [Qerim] is absolutely right, both things can be true.
“When you got a case pending against you, you’re looking for an advantage. Tua provided it. Brian Flores didn’t knock it down. I’m saying that’s the reality. What comes of it? I have no idea. But that is the reality.”
And Le Batard has no earthly idea how the “cahoot mastermind plan” would begin. Somehow, that led to Chris Cote getting roasted for the rest of the segment, as Le Batard and his show members laughed off Smith’s baseless accusations.
To justify his accusation of Le Batard colluding with Tagovailoa, the Dolphins and the NFL, Smith claimed he was merely speculating based on his extensive experience in the industry. Smith has nothing to base this on besides the timing of these comments coming from Tagovailoa in conjunction with Flores’ lawsuit against the NFL.
But that seems like a stretch, at best.
In any event, Smith’s jab at Le Batard is a bit puzzling, considering they seemingly came to a truce last summer when Smith rebuked Le Batard’s incessant gripes about ESPN. But by griping about something that he can’t ultimately prove, Smith is only feeding into Le Batard’s narrative that he’s a sensationalist.
[ The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz ]
The post Dan Le Batard laughs off Stephen A. Smith saying he’s in cahoots with Dolphins appeared first on Awful Announcing .
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