I have thrown plenty of shots at ESPN in the past. Creating the Show ‘Get Up’ was a failure from the jump. The Monday Night Football broadcast turned into a joke. We had Jeremy Fowler going on National TV and lying about Le’Veon Bell on a weekly basis. We even had Adnan Virk getting his head chopped off for leaking company information. Then we have Stephen A Smith who is the face of the ESPN franchise.
When you think ESPN, you with Stephen A and vice versa. Stephen A had his moments this year. Stephen A talked about Hunter Henry making an impact in a game when he tore his ACL in the offseason. Stephen A basically called Dwayne Haskins “more of a runner, then a thrower” for the sole fact that he is a black quarterback. Stephen A makes his fair share of mistakes for two reasons.
1: His job is to run his mouth. It doesn’t matter if his opinion is totally incorrect. That does not matter. The words that come out of his mouth are inconsequential. His job is to yell at people and use different synonyms to make it as entertaining as possible.
The second reason is the reason that nobody talks about. Is Stephen A overworked? Is it affecting his work performance? Is ESPN treating him unfairly? If Stephen A Smith wanted to sue his employer for unfair working conditions, he may have a better case than you may think.
I do not watch ESPN unless there is a game on that I want to pay attention to. If the Celtics are on or I’m forced to mute Monday Night Football, then I’ll turn on ESPN. Again, only for necessity. Never for nonsense shows like First Take that are unwatchable to anyone that has an IQ over 20.
However, I was scrolling through Youtube today where I watch most of my TV if that’s what you want to call it. I found something interesting:
I want to walk you through this. On the bottom right, is a video of Stephen A Smith covering duties as a sideline reporter for the Lakers game. That means he made an appearance (I’m Guessing. That’s what normally happens) on SportsCenter or NBA Countdown prior to the game to say his piece. I’m going to assume that he should up at least an hour earlier to the Lakers game that started at 10:30 P.M. Eastern Time.
Again, I’m approximating here but the average NBA game lasts about two and a half hours. That takes us to 1:00 A.M. Eastern Time. After the game ends, then Stephen A is required to give his take on SportsCenter with SVP. By the time that takes place, you’re looking at 1:15 – 1:30 A.M. by the time he gets out of the arena.
Then the next morning, Stephen A has to prep for his show First Take. Not so fast, he also has to make an appearance on ‘Get Up’ because the show sucks so bad that they need him to save it for viewers. My guess is that he walks into the studio around 6:00 A.M. Eastern Time to prep for the show giving him maybe 3-4 hours of sleep if he’s lucky.
Again, using that screenshot from the Youtube page, Stephen A is on the second video of the Get Up section. I’m assuming he made his arrival on the show 30 minutes to an hour into the show. I don’t watch the show but I’m sure it changes every day. That takes us to 8:30 A.M. Eastern Time.
Then Stephen A goes on his main show First Take. His job is to win an idiot-off between him and Max Kellerman. Whether ESPN wants to admit it or not, Stephen A is the star of the show. Go to the Youtube page and looks who’s face is on the cover of the video more? It’s Stephen A 90 percent of the time. That takes us to Noon Eastern Time.
ESPN does give Stephen A a lunch break at Noon. What a great employer! While Stephen A may be tempted to take a nap during that one hour, the man hasn’t eaten for hours and needs to refuel because he’s not done working yet. At 1:00 P.M. Eastern Time, Stephen A then has to go back on the air to record the Stephen A Smith show. That show airs from 1:00 P.M. to 3:00 P.M. Despite the fact that he hasn’t gotten any sleep, despite the fact that he has to save ‘Get Up’, despite the fact that he has to scream at Max Kellerman for two hours, he then has to muster up enough energy to yell some more during his own show. To his credit, he usually gathers enough strength to do just that and provide some laughs along the way.
ESPN doesn’t just end his day there. He’s always on call. Breaking news in baseball? Don’t worry, call Stephen A. Big Boxing event? Yep, him and Teddy Atlas will go at it. Big NBA game? Oh, yeah… put SAS on the call. Cowboys have a big game? Fly him out to Dallas, put a Cowboy hat on him and make him walk out in a WWE style entrance. No big deal, according to ESPN.
I don’t know how the guy doesn’t lose his voice. He’s constantly working, not sleeping, and yelling all day. Is it herbal tea? Does he just have strong vocal cords? Does he drink cough syrup to numb the pain? They even poisoned his mind to make him believe that weed is bad for you so that he keeps yelling. What happens if Stephen A were to lose his voice? What about if he said something over the line but didn’t mean to because of a lack of sleep? What if he got into a car accident?
Is ESPN overworking Stephen A Smith? You bet your ass they are. If Stephen A Smith was a running back in the NFL, they would essentially be that team that gives him 450 carries a year and runs him into the ground until he doesn’t have anything left. Stephen A Smith isn’t just working 40 hour weeks. He’s probably working close to 120 hours a week. If that doesn’t prompt a lawsuit for excessive workload, then I don’t know what does.
Stephen A should sue ESPN because they wouldn’t know what to do without him. Imagine if FS1 was able to poach him and paired him back up with Skip Bayless? ESPN has chosen the path to become the loud idiot in the room and Stephen A Smith is the figure head of that. ESPN isn’t the world wide leader in sports. They are the world wide leader in abusive working environments.
