first-take Page 3 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

LaVar Ball Vs. Stephen A. Smith Made For Some Profoundly Dumb TV
I suppose the logical apotheosis of the media tour that LaVar Ball, patron saint of loud sports dads, has embarked upon over the past month is an appearance on ESPN’s preeminent shouting match, First Take. This morning, Ball joined the program to discuss his series of outlandish public proclamations...

<i>First Take</i> Moved To ESPN As Skip Bayless Closes In<em></em>
Amid huge ratings declines, ESPN execs have decided to move First Take from ESPN2 to ESPN beginning in 2017, reports John Ourand. It will still occupy its 10:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m. ET time slot, meaning the 10:00 a.m. SportsCenter hosted by Hannah Storm and the 11:00 a.m. SportsCenter hosted by David Ll...

Skip Bayless Is Gaining On ESPN In A Ratings War That Doesn't Matter<em></em>
ESPN’s flagship shoutfest, First Take, has long and rightly been reviled for degrading everyone and everything it touches. Until co-host Skip Bayless departed earlier this year, that didn’t seem to matter at all to its loyal core audience, which happily tuned in each day no matter how repulsive or j...

Good Luck, Everybody
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Max Kellerman Replaces Skip Bayless On <i>First Take</i>
ESPN has officially announced that Max Kellerman will be Skip Bayless’s replacement on First Take, confirming weeks of reports that he was the leading contender for the job of sitting stone-faced while Stephen A. Smith yells. Kellerman will give up his radio show and duties on SportsNation to take t...

Stephen A. Smith Thinks Ayesha Curry Should Act More Like LeBron's Wife, And Be Quiet
Stephen A. Smith has weighed in on Ayesha Curry’s thoughts on the NBA being rigged. The First Take goon called her classless and said she shouldn’t bring attention to herself....

Skip Bayless Gets Emotional Over Leaving ESPN To Peddle His Shitty Takes Elsewhere
Today’s episode of First Take began with Skip Bayless addressing the news that he’ll be leaving ESPN after the NBA Finals. Bayless, Molly Qerim, and Stephen A. Smith took a couple of minutes to reminisce about all the stupid opinions generated by the two....

Stephen A. Smith Delivers Movie-Villain Monologue On <i>First Take</i>
Stephen A. Smith, ESPN’s professional unintelligible empanada truck, tried to drop exclusive information about Kevin Durant’s free agency last week. Durant scoffed, saying that he, his family, and his friends don’t talk to Smith. Smith had a rebuttal to that rebuttal, touting his supposed insider so...

Stephen A. Smith Floats The Theory That <i>Maybe</i> Chip Kelly Is A Racist
Listen. First Take is a trashy, cynical show that exists so that Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless, two of the widest talking sphincters in sports punditry, can take turns spouting fake and bad shit to the masses. Most of the time, it's so disingenuous that it's depressing, but sometimes, one of the...

Stephen A. Smith Melts Down Over NOW's Call For Goodell To Resign
Yesterday, the National Organization for Women released a statement calling for NFL commissioner Roger Goodell's resignation. "The NFL has lost its way. It doesn't have a Ray Rice problem; it has a violence against women problem," the statement read. ...

Shannon Sharpe: "Josh Gordon Is A Marijuana Junkie"
Shannon Sharpe was a guest co-host on this morning's episode of First Take and he had some weird things to say about Josh Gordon's year-long suspension from the NFL....

Stephen A. Smith Is Off ESPN For The Next Week
The statement from ESPN, which very specifically does not mention the word "suspension":...

ESPN's <em>First Take</em> Opens With Horseshit Apology From Stephen A. Smith
This morning's Very Special Edition of First Take began with a scripted and seemingly pre-recorded apology from panelist Stephen A. Smith regarding the very dumb things he said about domestic violence last week. It was ... unconvincing....

I Do Not Believe Women Provoke Violence, Says Stephen A. Smith, Who Has Said Women Provoke Violence
Earlier today, ESPN's Stephen A. Smith went on television and suggested that women should make sure not to provoke men into beating them. This was not well-received, so he took to Twitter and basically repeated what he'd initially said. This went poorly. So, he tried to issue something resembling an...

How <em>First Take</em> Poisoned ESPN
This is exactly what First Take was designed to do. That's not hyperbole. First Take's reason for existence is to reduce every subject, from the incredibly complex to the totally uncontroversial, down to a binary issue that can be debated. Is Tim Tebow a good quarterback? Is LeBron clutch? Should Ra...

Stephen A. Smith Doubles Down On Domestic Violence Comments
This morning, First Take panelist Stephen A. Smith said some very dumb things about domestic violence. He has now taken to his Twitter account to respond to the criticism that his comments sparked, essentially reiterating his original stance....

<em>First Take</em> Discusses A Woman's Responsibility To Avoid Being Beaten
First Take panelists Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless continued to discuss the Ray Rice suspension on this morning's episode, and Smith seized on the opportunity to say some deeply stupid things about the responsibility women have to not provoke men into violently attacking them....

How To Legitimize Bigotry: Embrace Debate
This morning, Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless shouted at each other about Tony Dungy's comments that Michael Sam's sexuality would be an overriding distraction in an NFL locker room, and whether it was a bigger distraction that Michael Vick's return from prison. I'm sorry, that's the worst sente...