Skip Bayless...The Dumbest Person Alive?

To answer my own rhetorical question...yes!

Skip Bayless spews stupidity like a dragon on speed. He does this on a daily basis on ESPN and I'm just about convinced that ESPN pays him to act stupid and draw in more viewers, subscribing to the theory that people that can't stand him will watch "to see what he says next." He can't be this stupid can he?

Judge for yourself. Here's some of the dumbest things he's said in the calendar year:

The morning after Lebron James passed to a wide-open Donyell Marshall for a game-winning 3-pointer in Game 1 of the Conference finals against the Pistons, Skip blasted Lebron and said he doesn't have that clutch gene. He doesn't have the it factor. He also said that it's not fair to ever compare him to Michael Jordan. Okay, first let's analyze the clutch statement. James had almost single-handedly beat the 64-win Pistons by himself the year before taking that series seven games when most said the Cavs would be swept. he hit big shot after big shot in that series just as he did in the first round when the Cavs beat the Wizards. And what did idiot, excuse me, Skip use as his basis for this statement? The fact that James passed the ball. Never mind that he was double-teamed and that Marshall had hit six 3-pointers the previous game. And Skip is so stupid that had Marshall hit the shot he likely would have sang James praises and said that he is the anti-Jordan because he's unselfish. Anyway, we all know what happened next. James systematically carved up the Pistons, played one of the all-time great games in Game 5, and again, with the exception of Game 6, just about single-handedly beat a superior team after being down 2-0. And what about the Jordan comparison. You're right, Skip. I guess we can't compare James to Jordan because at this stage of their careers that's a disservice to James. Lebron got his team, which was awful when he got there and which has less talent on it than Jordan's Bulls had, to the finals in 4 years. Jordan didn't do that until his seventh year and he didn't even get to the conference finals until his fifth year. Jordan also lost three straight times to the Pistons and never beat them when the Pistons had home-court advantage. Nice call, Skip.

Moving to football, after the Colts edged the Patriots in the AFC championship they asked Skip if the Patriots were done. (They asked this same question after Denver snapped New England's bid to three-peat the year before and Skip said yes). Again, Skip says they likely are and that "Tom Brady isn't Tom Brady anymore." This is one of the dumbest things he's ever said and that's a bold statement. Brady had just taken a dump of a team that featured nobodies like Jabar Gaffney and Reche Caldwell to the brink of another super bowl and the previous week had led the Patriots back from an eight-point deficit on the road against the best team in football, the San Diego Chargers. The Pats scored 11 points in the last six minutes or so and won 24-21, snapping a nine-game winning streak. And the kicker is that Brady played pretty well in the AFC title game. It was 38-34 for crying out loud. Tom Brady doesn’t play defense Skip! I can only assume that Skip's idiotic comment was the result of his throwing a last-second interception as the Patriots were trying to make a miracle drive in the final seconds. So the guy is fighting a stacked deck and really for the first time in his career is unable to pull a rabbit out of his hat in the last seconds and all the sudden he's not the great anymore? Many would say that Brady, 12-2 in the playoffs, was at his best last year since he had so little help around him and yet got so close to the super bowl. Only an idiot would say what Skip said. But then again Skip doesn't know anything about sports. I imagine he never made it past water boy in any sport he played and tries getting revenge by bad-mouthing today's super stars.

On the topic of football, Skip and Woody Paige once were asked who is the greatest quarterback ever? Skip started off by saying Joe Montana which amazingly was a nice choice. Woody countered by choosing Johnny Unitas which also is a good choice. Skip's response? He goes off about how Unitas was overrated and really wasn't that great. His evidence? Skip points to super bowl V when Unitas was knocked out of the game that the Colts eventually one, giving Unitas his third world championship. Never mind that Unitas was about 100 years old in that game. Never mind that he was the best in the business in the late 50s and throughout most of the 60s. Never mind that he was an offensive coordinator on the field, was one of the toughest players around, set all kinds of records in an era where they didn't have the sissy, pro-passing rules that are in place today and almost everyone always puts him in the top 5 when discussing the all-time great quarterbacks. Nope, because he didn't have a great super bowl at the end of his career, Unitas isn't that good in Skip's eyes. To borrow a line from Full Metal Jacket, "Skip were you born stupid or did you have to work really hard at it?"

I could go on and on but I'll conclude with this. A while back Greg Anthony was a guest host on First Take and he just shredded Skip. He embarrassed him and exposed him for the moron he is. I don't watch the show every day but in the days that I have I have not seen Anthony back and it's probably because he was convincing America that Skip was mentally deficient and ESPN didn't want that secret getting out. But I digress. When Yao Ming was injured earlier this year, the Rockets won a few games without him. Naturally and moronically, Skip said the Rockets were better off without him. Anthony laid into him and said "you're the kind of guy that if the Heat would win a few games without Shaq would say the Heat are better off without Shaq." But Anthony said it all right before uttering that sentence. He smiled and said, "(Skip), you're knowledge of sports is amusing."

Finally, something intelligent said on First Take.
- posted by Chris @ 1:28 PM