The Case Against Skip

ESPN has often had trouble creating A.M. programming for it's sister station, ESPN2. I remember the days of morning exercise sessions, and later Cold Pizza, which has been repackaged and called First Take.

First Take as a show, is compelling enough. The interviews are usually interesting and the hosts Jay Crawford and Dana Jacobson work well in their spots and are pleasant enough for the morning. The biggest eye/ear sore in the First Take lineup is the loudly irritating and useless segment 1st and 10 (a failed holdover from Cold Pizza, minus the good-natured humor of Woody Paige).

1st and 10 is a segment that pits Cold Pizza and First Take regular Skip Bayless against a "guest" debater, which more often than not is someone of the opposite sex/race (this often plays out for plenty of uncomfortable, subtle, racism/sexism as Skip routinely takes the majority/white male side of the argument).

(It should be noted that this post is not trying to accuse Skip Bayless of being a racist or a sexist, it is impossible to know if his views expressed on the show are actually his or just an attempt to create conflict and create the segment more watchable.)

There is a term in the radio for the way Skip acts on a regular basis...it is simply called playing radio. This is done essentially to anger listeners into calling in and voicing their disagreement, all the while increasing the entertainment value for the listener. In radio this works when used sparingly because if the listener is in a constant state of being pissed off he or she will eventually just find something else to listen to.

Playing radio does not work on TV, as much as Skip would like. He just ends up arguing with the same three people every week with the same broken record arguments. Pardon the Interruption works because it is a unique idea handled by two level-headed and intelligent personalities that DEBATE both sides of an argument rather than an emotionally-charged squabble.

Luckily for Skip, there isn't too much concern for ratings on a midday sports-show segment, so his job is pretty much secure as long as he doesn't do anything stupid outside of the studio. The rest of us will just have to continue taking Tylenol or watching ESPNEWS run over and over and over...