Stephen A. Smith Hates Bloggers

I know the picture is small, but you can obviously read the bottom of the screen. “Can a Woman Be President?” This was a segment from the cancelled ‘Qutie Frankly,’ with Stephen A. Smith. Who was the panel?

S.A.S himself, Method Man, Syracuse University Professor Dr. Boyce Watkins, and some Tennis player called Vince Spadea discussed the issue. The only “qualified” person to discuss this was probably the good Doctor, but I would have loved to see the man who brought you lyrics such as (see below) give you his political opinions-

“I got, fat bags of skunk
I got, White Owl blunts
And I’m about to go get lifted
Yes I’m about to go get liftedI got, myself a forty
I got, myself a shorty
And I’m about to go and stick it
Yes I’m about to go and stick it”

Don’t get me wrong, M-E-T-H-O-D Man is one of my favorites, but I want his political opinions the same way I want John McCain to tell me his hottest rap albums of 2007. I don’t….but I am getting off topic.

ESPN worker, writer, actor, radio host, television host Stephen A. Smith took a shot at bloggers this week. It has been covered from almost every angle, but I figured I would give it a go as well. From Smith-

“And when you look at the Internet business, what’s dangerous about it is that people who are clearly unqualified get to disseminate their piece to the masses. I respect the journalism industry, and the fact of the matter is …someone with no training should not be allowed to have any kind of format whatsoever to disseminate to the masses to the level which they can. They are not trained. Not experts. More important are the level of ethics and integrity that comes along with the quote-unqoute profession hasn’t been firmly established and entrenched in the minds of those who’ve been given that license.

“Therefore, there’s a total disregard, a level of wrecklessness that ends up being a domino effect. And the people who suffer are the common viewers out there and, more importantly, those in the industry who haven’t been fortunate to get a radio or television deal and only rely on the written word. And now they’ve been sabotaged. Not because of me. Or like me. But because of the industry or the world has allowed the average joe to resemble a professional without any credentials whatsoever.”

Let’s break this ludicrous argument down piece by piece.

“…what’s dangerous about it is that people who are clearly unqualified get to disseminate their piece to the masses. I respect the journalism industry, and the fact of the matter is …someone with no training should not be allowed to have any kind of format whatsoever to disseminate to the masses to the level which they can.”

It’s dangerous to write about sports as a hobby? Irresponsible? More or less irresponsible than, say being a “professional” and taking personal shots at athletes because you have a national cable audience which to you suggests that your useless rants are more informed than anyone else’s.

As for training, I believe my educational background and writing speaks for itself…..sometimes. I am not the most eloquent writer, but from time to time I make a valid point or two. Which, coincidentally is one or two more valid points than the whole of ‘Quite Frankly.’

What “training” does the Sports Guy have? None, he is an unapologetic freelancer turned pro due to the popularity of his Internet website. Did he play professional sports, college sports, HS sports? No, no, yes. By his own admission, he was a marginal athlete at best during his high school days. He is now a wildly popular “professional” that makes some witty quips but also drones on endlessly about Boston sports and what a homer he is.

Adequate training did not stop George Bush from becoming President. He couldn’t even run a baseball team, does that make him a qualified leader of the free world?

As far as respecting the journalism industry, we are taking about sports writing. Commonly referred to as the “Toy Department” of news papers, professional sports writers are the lowest of the low in the journalism industry. Is Stephen A. Smith flying to Darfur to save the people? No, he is bitching about Isaiah Thomas and Rasheed Wallace. His true professional assets are speaking loudly and ranting about SPORTS. I can do that.

As for- “…someone with no training should not be allowed to have any kind of format whatsoever to disseminate to the masses to the level which they can. They are not trained. Not experts. More important are the level of ethics and integrity that comes along with the quote-unqoute profession hasn’t been firmly established and entrenched in the minds of those who’ve been given that license.” I’ll let some youtube clips let you determine what you think of these remarks.

These both reek of respect for journalism, unbiased opinion and professionalism.

“Therefore, there’s a total disregard, a level of wrecklessness that ends up being a domino effect. And the people who suffer are the common viewers out there and, more importantly, those in the industry who haven’t been fortunate to get a radio or television deal and only rely on the written word.”

Huh? What? Blogging is poison to the casual sports fan? Is it worse than rehashing the same stories over, and over with no new information? Worse than the Yankees getting more air time on ESPN than the Red Sox, even though the Sox were playing in the World Series? Aren’t fans sabotaged because the ESPN and other news outlets have forced fans to the Internet to learn about more than what ESPN deems as newsworthy?

The casual fan, (you can usually find them citing only what they digest from the worldwide leader) does not dig for information. They do not look for two sides to each story, they simply take everything at face value. Hitler used a platform to disseminate to the masses, Red China has an opinion, so did Communist Russia.

Apparently Smith wants everyone to breathe in his genius and regurgitate it to their friends so he can take credit for it.

Taking a shot at people with hobbies is like me calling out Model Train collectors. Their unprofessionalism is what is destroying the rail service in America these days of course. These so-called conductors could never operate a fully loaded 10 car rail train in America!

There, I did it. Take that unprofessionals.