Skip Bayless Twitter has worked in the sports media industry for years, giving him the opportunity to observe firsthand how the sector has evolved. When he first began, debate shows, talk radio, and the internet didn’t really exist.
A listener questioned Bayless on his podcast, The Skip Bayless Show, about how sports coverage has changed from the time he started covering it to the present. He mentioned that he might eventually write a book on that topic, but he reflected on the time when he covered the Dallas Cowboys and how simple it was to speak with players at that time.
“Print predominated when I first entered the sports media industry. Daily newspapers ruled the world. It seemed like I was entering a multiplex of movies when I first started covering the Dallas Cowboys in 1979. I would walk out to their practice field during lunchtime when the players were available.I could watch movies wherever I wanted to…Every lunchtime, I would write in my notepad.
Newspapers being the only medium for the athlete to control their message and make statements was one of the factors that made it simple for Bayless.
“They were all happy to speak with me privately for as long as I wanted. Since you were the only outlet available to them, they would accommodate your request to meet up with them after practice or in the evening at their home. There was no Internet if they wanted to make a statement. They had to put the comment in your newspaper and hoped that you would report it accurately and the way they had intended. Your feature piece, the column you wrote on them, and your coverage of them can make or ruin them if they wanted to establish a public image. They were aware of it and accommodated it. Those were many of the best. I just had a choice. I could see a movie starring Charlie Walters, Too Tall Jones, Roger Staubach, or Drew Pearson, among others.
“Of course, the topic at hand is the Internet. Through the statements and images they share, participants may now carefully create their image and control their message. Newspapers are no longer used. Newspapers and reporting still have a position in society, but not as much as they once did.
When Bayless was a writer, he talked about the number of letters he would receive daily and how the majority of the feedback he got from readers was good.
“I used to receive 20–30 letters by snail mail each week. Because I was frank, I would receive more than everyone else. I would write each one of them a response.
In the age of social media, Bayless is aware of the backlash he faces for his comments, whether they come from his podcast or an appearance on FS1’s Undisputed. Although he doesn’t actively ingest all of it, he is aware of most of it.
I’ve since learned that Twitter cancellations happen every other night. My wife Ernestine, who does keep an eye on this, informed me that if I used up all the negative energy directed at me on different social networking sites. She occasionally reads me a few of them for our own enjoyment.
I don’t currently have any intentions to put myself in a straightjacket on a funny farm, but I would if I genuinely accepted into my head all the false information and outright lies she occasionally reads to me. I stay away from Twitter and the comments. While I tweet, I don’t read. I’ll eventually write a book about everything said above because I’m only scratching the surface now.
As a result of a reaction following a tweet by sports columnist Skip Bayless regarding the demise of Damar Hamlin, the co-host of their Fox Sports program skipped it.
Some Undisputed viewers think that co-host Shannon Sharpe skipped Tuesday’s episode because he was upset with Mr. Bayless, who is receiving harsh criticism for one of his tweets following Mr. Hamlin of the Buffalo Bills collapsing during a game on Monday night.
After passing out on the field, Mr. Hamlin was pulled off in critical condition and sent to the hospital.
“The NFL is undoubtedly thinking about postponing the remaining portions of this game, but how?” Prior to the game was eventually suspended on Monday night at 9.30 p.m., the Fox Sports pundit tweeted. “A game of this magnitude is crucial to the outcome of the regular season at this point in the season, which suddenly seems so irrelevant.”
As of Tuesday morning, Twitter reported that more than 115 million people had seen Mr. Bayless’ message.
One viewer said, “I respect Shannon Sharpe for not showing up to today’s Undisputed.”
Skip, the young man, is battling for his life. I’m relieved Shannon didn’t come. Another person remarked, “What Skip did last night was awful.
The incident involving Damar Hamlin last night “still has me shaken up,” Mr. Bayless admitted on the show on Tuesday morning.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that Mr. Bayless “just couldn’t bring himself to be completely human in the moments following the frightening injury,” Brian Lindner wrote for Penn Live. Mr. Bayless “has made his money by being a living, breathing troll who slings hot takes against the wall in the hope they might stick.”
Later, he said, “That young man’s health is the most important thing.”
That was the purpose of my most recent tweet. If I misinterpreted, I apologize, but his health is the only thing that counts. Everything else, once more, is unimportant. I prayed for him, and I will keep praying,” he continued.
“I don’t think so. You wouldn’t respond to this tweet the same way if no one commented underneath your previous one, Kaleb Earls said.
You’re a sick person, wrote Kendrick Perkins, a former NBA player and current ESPN analyst. Truth be told.
Tweeted “f*** you Skip Bayless” was former Cowboys WR Dez Bryant.
He said, “WE NEED TO CANCEL @RealSkipBayless ASAP!”
Prior to being carried off the field, 24-year-old Mr. Hamlin was given CPR for ten minutes.
A former NFL quarterback named Devlin Hodges wrote, “Skip Bayless is a Ducking Idiot man.”
Former NBA player Isaiah Thomas wrote to Mr. Bayless, “I hope they fire you buddy!!! It is quite unfortunate that you have even considered the game.
Kyle Sockwell referred to it as “one of the worst tweets in sports media history.”
Initially, Mr. Bayless said on Twitter: “Not sure precisely what happened to Damar Hamlin. Both sides’ players are rattled. Field ambulance on scene. administered CPR. I don’t recall ever having the playback paused for this long. I just prayed for him and his loved ones.
“I’ve witnessed countless horrifying accidents on football fields, but I’ve never witnessed a response like this. Every other circumstance I saw or covered involved the game moving along very rapidly. ‘Hey, that’s football,’ was the mentality.
