Like Bruce Springsteen and the St. Elmo Steak House Shrimp Cocktail , we have to imagine that most of the sports media world has an affinity for Breaking Bad .
Any Breaking Bad fan worth their weight in blue meth is well-versed in Percy Bysshe Shelley’s sonnet “Ozymandias.” The poem, which highlights the notion that all legacies, no matter how great in their time, eventually turn to dust and are forgotten, was a central thesis for the final season of the TV show.
“Ozymandias” was the first thing I thought of when I heard that Fox Sports had reportedly shuffled loose Skip Bayless from his debating coil . I don’t suppose many English majors would appreciate that comparison. When I think of Bayless, I don’t think of an ancient pharaoh, lording over everything he can see. But I do remember a time, not that long ago, when he was the star of the sports media world.
I’m not saying Bayless was liked. He was rarely, if ever, liked by most of his viewers. But he captured something, a certain je ne sais quoi that not only made people care what he had to say but react to it so intensely that he would become the story itself.
Those days were already long gone by the time his latest, and final , iteration of Undisputed . Hell, those days were pretty much over when he sat across from Shannon Sharpe, save for the few times that Sharpe made Skip matter, even briefly. Still, hate him as you like and ponder his fame as you may but it wasn’t so long ago that Fox Sports felt he was worth $24 million and then re-signed him for another $32 million (thanks to reports that ESPN wanted him back). They didn’t shell that out just to be nice to an old man.
All of which is to say that it can be hard to remember that there was a time when Bayless was ESPN’s star. Even when he shared the First Take studio with Smith, it took a long time before you could imagine Stephen A. going it alone. Bayless’s antics and angina-inducing opinions seemed inextricable from the “embrace debate” recipe they had perfected. Few people would admit to watching Bayless but those same people couldn’t resist but get caught in his net over whatever outlandish thing he had to say about LeBron James , Aaron Rodgers , or the Dallas Cowboys this week.
To modern sports media consumers, Bayless is a shell of that performer. His schtick was always hacky but it had a place in the conversation for longer than we all care to admit. Eventually, however, Bayless committed the ultimate sin. He got boring and stale . His act was predictable and his antics were obvious. You can only play the hits for so long until they’re no longer hits.
What’s next for Bayless? Who knows. With Smith and Sharpe dominating at ESPN , there’s no way he’d be welcomed back . There isn’t really another notable option available for him unless he wants to go to the podcast route or join a fledging sports gambling outfit desperate for attention. There’s also a world of conservative outlets out there who’d love to have someone like Bayless if he were willing to go that route.
At the moment, Stephen A. Smith is on top of that same world that Bayless used to dominate. Just like with Pat McAfee, it can feel like he’s untouchable at times . The notion that either of them might not be ratings and pop culture juggernauts forever seems unthinkable. But like Ozymandias, Walter White, and Skip Bayless before them, that day will come.
The bill always comes due eventually.
Smith has long positioned himself as essential to the ESPN experience. For the moment he probably is. But it’s worth wondering if SAS stops and thinks about how one day he’ll be the one unceremoniously dumped when his ratings tank and audiences tire of his routine. The same goes for McAfee, who will almost certainly cut and run from his deal with ESPN before tweaking the show. The day that he has to look in the mirror and wonder what happened and how it all went wrong is a long way away, but it’s out there. It comes for everyone .
For now, the two of them can bask in the financial bounties that ESPN has bestowed ( or is about to bestow ) upon them, secure in the knowledge that they are the stars people want to see. I do hope they take a moment, especially when they’re chastising their co-workers or punching down at their targets , to acknowledge that one day they’ll almost certainly be where Bayless is today, one way or another. When you’re more schtick than substance, it always runs out.
Chances are, Skip Bayless will keep debating, keep complaining, and keep shouting into the wind. Guys like that just don’t stop, even when they lose their platform. The void he left behind in the sports media conversation has already been filled by Smith, McAfee, and others. I just wonder if they’ll see the same fate coming when it eventually gets here.
The post Look on Skip Bayless’s works, Stephen A. Smith, and despair appeared first on Awful Announcing .
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