Earlier in the week, news was made official that Shannon Sharpe will be joining Stephen A. Smith on First Take every Monday and Tuesday. Smith made it no secret that he wanted Sharpe to join him on the show, stating as such on his eponymous podcast. Having been in the sports media business for over three decades, Smith did not want to say anything was official prematurely and waited for the contract to be signed to confirm the news.
“I love athletes sitting across from me debating, particularly ones who are as accomplished as he is, who is knowledgeable about the sport, who is as passionate about the sport as he is along with a plethora of other things,” Smith said on his podcast, The Stephen A. Smith Show, on Friday’s edition of the program. “Make no mistake about it – we’re going to bring the rain.”
Smith and Sharpe are both known for their sports acumen and ability to dexterously debate topics; however, they have both been portrayed as people who rely on being vociferous and loud in the way they give their opinions. Because of Smith’s commentary style, he has been given a pseudonym, “Screamin’ A. Smith,” something that perturbs him.
“It’s not that I don’t scream; it’s not that I’m loud [and] it’s not that I can’t be bombastic and demonstrative because I know that I can,” Smith said. “It’s just when white folks do it you all call it passionate, but when the brothers do it we’re screaming. I don’t like that; I don’t appreciate that, so on this particular day, while I’m going to be passionate and forceful and as piercing as I want to be, I’m going to make sure I’m minding my tone and my volume so nobody can use it as an excuse to not hear where the hell I’m coming from.”
Smith began his journey in sports media from his days attending Winston-Salem State University and worked his way up to be named a general sports columnist at The Philadelphia Inquirer. Based on estimates from various sources, Smith was the 21st Black man given the ability to express his opinion to an audience through this medium, something he did not take for granted. In reviewing today’s sports media beat, Smith feels the industry is in a place nearly beyond repair.
“Prior to that, there were only 20; everybody else was white,” Smith said. “I can assure you they were yelling — I’m not going to throw out names because I’m not trying to cast any aspersions onto anybody because I don’t think they did anything wrong by raising their voice, but nobody called them volatile; nobody called them Screaming whatever; nobody tried to denigrate them or accuse them of dissipating and diminishing the quality of the sports industry.”
While Smith can tell that the perception is that Undisputed is the competition to First Take, he defended the show in its previous format. Some sources have indicated that Bayless could be more subdued on the new edition of the show, which launches on Monday, Aug. 28, and if it is true, Smith will be somewhat disappointed.
“A couple of people wrote about it — how they’re modifying their approach to some degree and they’re going to be more agreeable and all of this other stuff,” Smith said. “The only thing that I would say about that [is] I’m lamenting the capitulation to the noise that’s saying there’s something wrong with their show.”
