Skip Bayless isn't the only person who refuses to see the humanity of the athletes he covers, but he is one of the most prominent and a column from 2001 shows how little the man has changed.
I don’t follow Skip Bayless because I find his “takes” ridiculous and his personality, at best, unpleasant. I had to go look for the tweet as I haven’t used Twitter much since - well, you know. Anyway when I did find it I had to double check it was the right tweet because I didn’t really feel outraged. He’s a sports analyst, of course his comments will reference the game, but I think it’s clear he is intention was to say that compared to what had happened on the field, the game - even a critical game - was irrelevant. I can’t believe my hot take is that while Skip Bayless is a bad human and a bad analyst in general, this tweet is not as bad as people thought? What happened on the field felt different because it WAS different. I was heartened (and surprised) that the NFL did the right thing. So now that I’ve stuck up for Skip Bayless I’m going to take a shower to rid myself of the ick feeling and reevaluate my entire life, lol. Continued prayers for Damar and his friends and loved ones because what else do we do?
I agree with you, Cassie. I actually don't think Skip Bayless was saying what most people believed he was saying. I think it was awkwardly constructed, and placed an emphasis upon the scheduling concerns, but the conclusion "which suddenly seems so irrelevant" showed he was prioritizing Damar Hamlin's health.
I actually think Skip is right to say it has been misconstrued, but I also feel that over the course of his career, he's trained people how to read his content. And he's also a professional communicator, and he's made millions out of refusing to see situations with any nuance or show generosity so it's really hard for me to feel bad that the rage machine he's profited from has currently turned back on him. There's a part of me that feels this it's kind of like Al Capone getting hemmed up on tax charges after all the truly awful stuff he skated on.
During the debate over whether football should resume the weekend following 9/11, Tony Kornheiser pointed out that the Giants had a home game, and questioned whether people would be comfortable being there with the still-smoking WTC site in the distance. Sounds like Skip would've had no trouble with it, and might well have bemoaned why everyone seemed so gloomy.
I don’t follow Skip Bayless because I find his “takes” ridiculous and his personality, at best, unpleasant. I had to go look for the tweet as I haven’t used Twitter much since - well, you know. Anyway when I did find it I had to double check it was the right tweet because I didn’t really feel outraged. He’s a sports analyst, of course his comments will reference the game, but I think it’s clear he is intention was to say that compared to what had happened on the field, the game - even a critical game - was irrelevant. I can’t believe my hot take is that while Skip Bayless is a bad human and a bad analyst in general, this tweet is not as bad as people thought? What happened on the field felt different because it WAS different. I was heartened (and surprised) that the NFL did the right thing. So now that I’ve stuck up for Skip Bayless I’m going to take a shower to rid myself of the ick feeling and reevaluate my entire life, lol. Continued prayers for Damar and his friends and loved ones because what else do we do?
I agree with you, Cassie. I actually don't think Skip Bayless was saying what most people believed he was saying. I think it was awkwardly constructed, and placed an emphasis upon the scheduling concerns, but the conclusion "which suddenly seems so irrelevant" showed he was prioritizing Damar Hamlin's health.
I actually think Skip is right to say it has been misconstrued, but I also feel that over the course of his career, he's trained people how to read his content. And he's also a professional communicator, and he's made millions out of refusing to see situations with any nuance or show generosity so it's really hard for me to feel bad that the rage machine he's profited from has currently turned back on him. There's a part of me that feels this it's kind of like Al Capone getting hemmed up on tax charges after all the truly awful stuff he skated on.
Yes, great analogy. He’s guilty of so much worse than this, but if this is what he goes down for, sports as a whole will be better off.
During the debate over whether football should resume the weekend following 9/11, Tony Kornheiser pointed out that the Giants had a home game, and questioned whether people would be comfortable being there with the still-smoking WTC site in the distance. Sounds like Skip would've had no trouble with it, and might well have bemoaned why everyone seemed so gloomy.