Professional TV troll Skip Bayless got a taste of his own medicine on Wednesday. And he tried his best to not take it.
At the conclusion of a segment on FS1’s Undisputed, during which Bayless questioned whether Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy’s weight undermines his ability to motivate pro athletes, host/moderator Jenny Taft chimed in. Skip clearly did not appreciate it.
“Criticizing his appearance?” Taft said. “I don’t know if I think that is a fair shot for Mike McCarthy. I’m gonna leave it at that.”
She then tried to get the broadcast to a commercial break. Bayless said, “Thanks, Jenny. I appreciate that.”
“I don’t think it is a fair shot,” she said.
“Well, I don’t think that’s a fair shot,” he replied.
They went back and forth a bit (Chad Ochocino posted the video), and eventually Shannon Sharpe (whose demeanor suggested that he both loved and hated the moment) chimed in when Bayless seemed to resent the fact that Taft expressed her opinion on the matter.
“C’mon guy,” Sharpe said. “We’re a team. We’re a team.”
Replied Bayless, “Uh, no. No.”
Said Sharpe as the clip ended, “Yes, yes.”
Instead of engaging her while still on the air, Skip should have just taken it, moved on, and raised after the show ended any concerns he had about the procedure that Taft employed for stating her thoughts on the matter in a way that wouldn’t have given Bayless a fair chance to respond. In his defense (I hate myself for typing that), Skip expressly said it wasn’t a shot at McCarthy but a personal preference. Ideally, that’s the moment Taft or Sharpe should have said to Bayless, “How can you take a shot and then try to say it’s not a shot?”
Then, they could have hashed it out during the segment.
I haven’t watched Undisputed nearly enough (it was the first time I’d seen it since Sharpe put Julio Jones on the air without first telling him) to understand their precise format. But if it’s the First Take knockoff that it’s always been sold as, it goes like this: (1) moderator tees up a topic; and (2) Skip and Shannon go back and forth with competing monologues that are supposed to simulate actual conversation.
What is the moderator’s role when it comes to chiming in with opinions? Should the moderator interject in the moment? Should the moderator add her own thoughts while putting a bow on the subject (as she did regarding McCarthy)?
Whatever the procedure may be, everyone at the desk and behind the scenes must be on the same page -- and everyone must treat everyone else with respect. Skip’s words and demeanor suggest that he didn’t respect Taft’s opinion and/or her method of articulating it. Taft’s reaction to Skip suggests that it’s not the first time he has treated her this way. Ultimately, these are concerns that are best left to communications that occur not on live TV, no matter how compelling the moment might be.
Ultimately, Skip got what he deserved. By choosing to engage Taft on her comments while the cameras were on and the mics were hot, Skip got called out for fat shaming McCarthy (while trying to say he wasn’t) and Skip also made himself look like a bad teammate with his openly dismissive attitude toward Taft.
FS1 should regard the whole thing as unfortunate. It likely won’t. People are taking about the show, and folks now have a reason to tune in tomorrow to see whether and to what extent the tension from Wednesday spills over into Thursday.
