The Road From Bristol

Bayless.

Vote: Stuart Scott.

Bayless is hardly ever on television. If I have to pick one to fire, I'll take out the guy who infests dozens of hours of ESPN and ESPN2 every week, not the guy who's on for 10 minutes while most Americans are safely at work.

That Miles Cannon comment is hilarious, by the way.

I have to disagree with JoeyT. Its (lack of) quality over Quanity here. So I'ma voting for Skippy.

HOW DID SMITH LOSE!?!?!?
anyway i vote for bayless

im disgusted. this was a fix. STEPHEN A. was screwed, obviously, it was rigged for a white guy to win.

if i have to vote, bayless.

I disagree with both guys roughly 90% of the time. At least I can understand what Bayless says, though. Plus, he's a fellow Vandy alum. My vote goes to Scott.

Bayless

Here's the difference between the two: when Scott is on, I want to change the channel; when Bayless is on I want to put my fist through the TV in hopes that, somehow, he feels it, or, barring that, that I'm electrocuted and killed and never have to hear, see, or read him ever again.

All right, here goes:

Stuart Scott is a ghetto wannabe, and he's not very good at it, either (that's an understatement). He is, basically, the Colin Powell of ESPN, trying to relate to a group of people superficially even though he really isn't anything like them and he knows it. His eyeball is really freaky and he seems to be cloning himself, which is alarming, but the thing is, I really don't mind Scott that much. I've only voted for him once, I think, and I'm not going to here.

My vote goes to BAYLESS. I know this is a contest about TV, but what this guy writes negatively affects what I think of him on TV, so I guess that counts. His latest column on Little Leaguers and steroids was, to put it mildly, a fucking piece of dirty mindless shit. There, I saved my true potty mouth for the championship. Just because you were a puny little freakish loser in your day, Skip, does not mean today's children have to be. That was one of the most vindictive, poorly researched pieces of crap I have yet seen on ESPN.com. And his ability to make Woody Paige seem informative and engaging makes him a shoo-in.

Bayless.

This is simple, people.

Bayless is awful, horrible...agreed.

But Stu Scott is not only everywhere, but he's the official beginning of everything that went wrong with ESPN.

he may not win this tournament but he damned right deserves to.

My vote proudly goes to ole' lazy eyes himself, Stuart Scott.

Stuart Scott is harmless. Make no mistake, he sucks, but I can take him for the caricature he is.

Bayless, on the other hand, illicits a physical reaction. I've noticed myself actually grinding my teeth and clenching my fists when he's on camera.

FIRE BAYLESS, HIRE DAVID ALDRIDGE BACK

My vote is for Stuart Scott.

Bayless just doesn't exist in my universe; I've never seen "Nu Skool/Old School," and have witnessed the trainwreck that is Cold Pizza only once since Thea Andrews was run off. Maybe if I saw Bayless on a regular basis, I would see what you guys are seeing, but I don't.

Scott is just inescapable, and he's simply awful. He ought to be embarrassed to be in the same room as folks like Fred Hickman and Rich Eisen and doing the jobs at events that competent people like John Saunders, David Aldridge, and Suzy Kolber ought to be doing.

And the Urkel glasses just take the cake... now he looks like the cross-eyed mental reject in the back of the classroom, except he's inexplicably been promoted to teacher. The less said about Stubonics, the better. And then there's the whole UNC thing (we get it already).

He's not the worst person in the bracket--Stephen A. Smith was--but he's pretty damn close. Bayless may be the Antichrist himself, but he's an Antichrist that isn't affecting my life in any meaningful way. Stu is in my face on virtually every Sportscenter, shouting meaningless pseudo-street phrases and sucking up to every athlete under the sun ("Yo, Jim Sorgi, you the bomb, dog!"). And he hosts everything. Mark my words, if we don't act now, he and SAS will be in the booth at WSoP 2006 and the Great Outdoor Games next year... in addition to everything else he does.

Put Stu out of my misery. Vote Stuart Scott off the asylum.

SKIP BAYLESS!!! Boo-Yah!!!

Stuart Scott is the sand that initially irritated the oyster that is ESPN; Bayless is the festering pearl that has developed by allowing the sportscasters to develop schticks and personalities that take away from the reason why we watch ESPN in the first place, to get SCORES OF GAMES.

Scott to his credit at least likes sports; Bayless is hate incarnate, a shrilled man-woman elf thing that takes the devil's advocate because he is the DEVIL.

However, I vote for Stuart Scott only because if the origin of the problem is eliminated, maybe it's spawn will disappear.

I don't like Stuart Scott. His shtick gets more annoying with each utterance of one of his god-awful "catch phrases." I would not be sad to see him go. However, he's not even my least favorite SportsCenter personality. Granted that's not saying a ton, but it's just not enough compared to the man(Demon? prune?) I'm voting for, BAYLESS.

Really, what can be said about Bayless that hasn't been said before dozens of times here? He's hateful, bitter, moralistic, illogical, shallow, ugly, whiny, arrogant, pretentious, loud, slandering, obnoxious, joyless, senseless, clueless, basically talentless. He's also a crappy writer and quite possibly Satan. But the thing that really stands out for me in the above is his arrogance. There are others who are most of the things I just listed, but only Bayless seems to truly REVEL in it. He comes across as being PROUD that he's bitter and hateful, as if it makes him better and smarter and holier than the rest of us who actually like some things. Unlike Woody Paige, I don't get the sense that it's an act at all. Maybe there's a place for finding the negative side in anything imagineable, but it's definitely not where I'll come in contact with it. Bayless must go.

Stuart Scott gets my vote. He personally drove me away from watching ESPN and Sportscenter and getting my sports news from the internet. If he ever metastasizes into Baseball Tonight I will only be able to watch select actual sporting events on ESPN.

Skip Bayless isn't on enough to really annoy me and I got kinda inured to his brand of idiocy after reading him in the Chicago papers (and I have to admit it was fun to see him rip the Bears). I stopped watching sports reporters well before he grabbed a chair and I watched about 10 minutes of cold pizza when I was sick and home from work when it first came on. I thought "hey its the Today show for sports morons" and never thought of it again.

Stuart isn't really that bad. At one point, he was entertaining, and was a good anchor. Granted, he hasn't been good for years, and he was only entertaining for about two weeks, but he was watchable at one time.

but Stuart Scott has led ESPN into this state of being almost unwatchable. Every Sportscenter anchor now tries to be like him. I'm sure Skip Bayless and Stephen A. Smith try to be like him. It's not that he's a bad person, like Skip Bayless is, it's just his mentality doesn't belong on ESPN. I personally think Stuart Scott belongs on TV; he just needs to be on MTV or something, not ESPN.

My vote goes to Stuart Scott.

Must vote for Stuart Scott. Bayless sucks the will to live out of most people, but Scott has worked hard to bring down the entire channel.

There can be no rest until this man's ILK PASSES BY.

(yes, that's a vote)

Scott

I avoid SportsCenter and get any sports news I need from ESPNews. However, in the A.M. I turn on Cold Pizza and there he is...ruining my morning. So while I appreciate those voting for Scott, my vote will go to Bayless.

Vote goes to Stu Scott, who is on the short list of people who've absolutely ruined ESPN.

stuart scott.

skip bayless was never bad enough to get parodied on SNL.

Is is Bayless or Payless? Should be the latter.

Scott ruined all of ESPN. Sportscenter is unignorable, Cold Pizza is not.

Scott.

Bayless. He's that awful.

scott

THE reason i dont watch sportscenter

Bayless. Pure Evil trumps all.

Bayless. The embodiment of pure evil, who would find something negative to say about a cure for cancer or world peace.

Bayless. He is so bad that his taint goes even beyond ESPN.

That's a large taint.

Bayless

We are discussing who we would most like to see removed from ESPN, right? How can anyone not vote for Stuart Scott? I'd rather watch "Enema's for the World's Strongest Man" competition than listen to Stuart Scott make his appeal to the 16 and under ghetto crowd.

I honestly thought that it would be a Scott/Smith final, and I'm brokenhearted that it isn't. The only thing worse than a racist is a guy that gains fame an makes huge money by calling everyone else a racist - and both of them qualify. With qualified black journalists like Aldridge out there, giving either of these two a job is downright criminal.

Lastly, while making the brackets for next year, I DEMAND that we find out who the HR person at ESPN is. Whoever is responsible for hiring the likes of Scott, Smith, and Bayless absolutely has to be held accountable (and given the job of "Enema Insertion Technician" at the World's Strongest Man telecast.

Hate to be a playa hate-a, but " I hate you" Stuart Scott gets my vote.

Stu

scott

BillH, the person responsible for Scott, Smith, and Bayless HAS been held accountable.

He now has to work for Dan Snyder.

stuart scott - I'll admit the lazy eye freaks me out. Mix that with the street slang speaking that I think he just makes up to sound cool and you've got a winner.

I have to be consistent. I can't stand watching Stuart Scott, but if I had to meet one of these two, at least he'd likely be a nice guy in person. I can't say that about Bayless.

The winner will be deserving of it - no question in my mind.

Bayless.

Thinking about Bayless has so completely fried my brain, that I can't think of anything else to add to his evil.
I will say one thing though about the argument that Stuart Scott is the beginning or initial irritant of what went wrong at ESPN. Stuart Scott did not start infesting the airwaves of ESPN until 1993, by which point, Skip Bayless had already been a regular black spot on the Sports Reporters for 2 years and had completely destroyed a once decent show, so that argument just doesn't fly. So the vote must be for Ol' Scratch himself, Skip Bayless.

Stuart Scott. I simply cannot understand the appeal -- irritating nonsense catchphrases that pander to people who aren't even watching the show shouted on every show I actually would like to watch (i.e., not Cold Pizza or ATH or the rest of that non-sports crap), and one very disturbing eye.

If Bayless is annoying (and he really, really is, based on his Dallas Morning News columns), then avoid him. There's no way to avoid Stuie.

I said this about SAS, and I'll say it about Stuie too -- he could ruin lesbian porn.

Skip was going to visit New Orleans this week, but the Hurricane has forced him to change his plans. The people of New Orleans are greatful for Katrina's visit after hearing Bayless's change of plans.

Or maybe Skip used his darks powers to summon up the great storm. Either way...

Bayless

Stu Scott. I am reminded of my favorite Scott moment. When Duke won the NCAA title in 2001, he was on the Sportscenter after it (or the next day, I forget). He was trying to Stu it up like he usually does, but you could tell he wasn't into it at all.

Ok, this is another tough one. Stu Scott isn't responsible for starting the decline of ESPN (Berman started it for anchors and Vitale for commentators) but he's done his best to accelerate it. With Berman now reduced to Special Guest Star status, Scott has taken the torch and run with it. However, if you can actually sift through his "ghetto" talk he does manage to present the highlights in a below average fashion. Plus, there are some people who don't mind him.

Bayless, on the other hand, has no reedeming qualities and I have yet to meet or even hear about someone outside of ESPN actually liking the man. Everyone, and I mean everyone, hates him.

The Stu Scott experience is comparable to being given a wedgie twice a day. Bayless is like having someone kick you in the nuts once a day. I'll take the wedgie over the nutbuster.

Bayless

I still don't get how people can vote for Bayless. Lupica is ten times more annoying. And Bayless doesn't even host a show on ESPN! How many does Stuart (The Antichrist) Scott host?

Dream Job
Sportscenter
ESPN25
Teammates
ESPY's pre-show (Yes, this actually exists)
NFL Primetime
Monday Countdown

Seriously, how many hours of ESPN's programming does Stuart infect with his smarmy douchebagginess? Half these shows wouldn't even exist without Scott's unyielding stupidity? How can you possibly vote for Bayless when he's on ESPN ten minutes out of the day?

STU STU STU, dammit!

And, by the way, Stuart Scott has defended his style in interviews countless times by inferring that whoever doesn't like him is racist.

I hope whoever replaces Mark Shapiro smacks Stuey's other eye with a billy club.

Dammit People, Don't You See? If Stu is voted off, who is going to host Sportscenter? HINT: it ain't gonna be David Aldridge. Sportscenter will actually get worse with him gone, because we all know who comes next.

With Bayless gone, not only does ESPN have no one that even approximates him waiting to take over, kittens around the world will be saved from their gruesome fate.

A vote for Bayless is vote for a better ESPN, a worthier humanity, and a brighter tomorrow.

Lupica is 10 times more annoying than Bayless? While Lupica is no peach, that has got to be the stupidest statement ever made during this tournament and in and of itself a statement that would make drew m a worthy addition next bracket for basic worthlessness of opinion.

Hmm...I think I'm gonna have to vote for Stuart Scott. Yeah, Bayless is pure evil, but Scott just plain sucks and is much more ubiquitous on ESPN airwaves then El Diablo.

Yo, Stu-dawg! You've just won the ire of millions of TV viewers everywhere! What are you gonna do next? "Booyah! I ain't gonna say nothin', but that ain't right."

To me, this is much more of a tough decision than the SAS-Bayless semi-final, because Scott and Bayless represent two totally different tracks of poor quality broadcasting.

Bayless represents the cynical evil "journalist" wizened veteran sportswriter, envisioning himself as a latter day H.L. Mencken.

Scott represents the wannabe, like the little dog that yaps around the big bulldog in those old WB cartoons, pretending like he's just "one of da' boyz." As such, he's ubiqitous, annoying, and ultimately harmless.

That said, Scott deserves the vote. As others have mentioned, he's everywhere. He's inspired a generation of "cooler than the other side of the pillow" imitators who will be infecting your LOCAL TV SPORTSCASTS for years to come.

Bayless hasn't inspired anyone to imitate him, only to want to maim him.

For these reasons, I'm voting for Scott. Nip it. Nip it in the bud. Besides, it's not like you can really get rid of the prince of evil.

Stu Scott

Bayless is just an idiot. Stu Scott was a pardigm shift.

Vote: Scott

Maybe I exaggerated about Lupica being ten times more annoying, but he's a smug prick just like Bayless. Except that he's also a camera hog and thinks he is the voice of conscience for all of sports.

All I'm saying is that if I saw both of them in a dark alley, I'd beat Lupica to death first.

Skip Bayless

Would have voted for SAS, but I guess Stu Scott will have to do.

Skip Bayless is a bad, bad man. But his crimes against humanity have mostly been perpetrated in print and on the radio, though his "style" has spread like a cancer across the ESPN networks. While he is a deserving finalist, he is up against the face and voice of ESPN's current collective slink toward an inglorious end.

Stuart Scott is almost solely responsible for the devolution of SportsCenter from required viewing to coming across the show with trepidation and a finger quivering just above the remote control, ready to flee Scott or one of his imitators.

Think of it - a program dedicated to a simple premise - scores and highlights with a side of irreverential humor - now under the influence and seeming control of a slap-happy athlete worshipper whose goal in life is the hope that back-up NBA point guards will one day remember his name and return his calls after he is gone from the scene.

Yet it does not stop there. Instead of the campy brilliance of a network that featured Aussie Rules Football, Gaelic Games and other hokey sports that never get a sniff of the radar, we have programming such as "Teammates," "Stump the Overfed Virgin," "ESPN 25," and the unwatchable "Dream Job." All of these feature Stuart Scott holding court with his fake-ghetto drivel and navel-gazing attitude about the importance of being Stuart Scott and upholding the "integrity" of ESPN. Not only that, this clown holds a prominent place in ESPN's NFL coverage, further cementing the growing nationwide household policy of watching only actual games on ESPN and none of the other pure, unadulterated excrement.

As the representative and mouthpiece of the "new, hip" ESPN, Stuart Scott is the undisputed champion of all that has gone horribly wrong with the simple notion of bringing all sports all the time to the unwashed masses. As such, he should be the winner and champion of this worthy tournament and forever known as the most hated entity Bristol has produced.

Scott.

Though I have voted against Stuart on one occasion, and have established that Bayless, if not the devil, is one of his minions, I have to go with Stuart.

When reviewing the question: Who would I rather be gone from ESPN? While Bayless is painful, I think many people get an S&M pleasure out of being tortured and then retaliating against Bayless. The fact that he's only on ten minutes a day and writes columns allows people to indulge themselves briefly with an outlet for their anger. After all, he's avoidable, but it's obvious that a lot of people aren't avoiding him.

Stuart, on the other hand, is not all that hateable. He's just annoying and has helped ruin a network by being the pawn of an idiot. He's also spawned other pawns. He's level-headed enough to have people buy him. Bayless, I hope, is either a phase or stays at his low post.

Plus, I don't want to see Stuart back next year. Ripping on Bayless for several more rounds would be delightful.

Stuart

Considering how ESPN loves talking heads who garner attention and generate controversy, if Bayless wins this with under an hour of total daily ESPN airtime, and no solo time, you can be guaranteed he gets his own show.

I didn't know who Bayless was before this tournament started. I mean, once people talked about him, I recognized him as someone I had seen, but he wasn't even to name/face association until this thing. That's how insignificant he is. Voting for him just validates his existence.

I apologize in advance for this overstretched analogy

Hitler is to Stuart Scott as Saddam Hussien is to Skip Bayless.

The primetime audience is much bigger than the number of viewers subjected to Bayless.

Stuart Scott is more influential, has a bigger audience, and he receives my vote.

Stuart Scott

I never understood apologizing in advance for something you're about to say.

If you know you're going to be sorry, then why say it? If you're not going to be sorry, then why apologize in advance?

Play "It's A Wonderful Life" with both. What would ESPN be without Bayless? What would ESPN be like without Stuart Scott?

The vote goes to Stumanji.

drew m I apologize for saying your Mike Lupica and Skip Bayless comparison is the stupidest thing to ever be on these boards, as e has posted something 10 times as stupid.
While I disagree with your idea that Lupica differentiates himself from Bayless in being a camera hog (did you ever see the two of them on the same episode of the Sports Reporters? Bayless puts him to shame in the camera hog department), I understand being annoyed by the conciense of all sports (although I believe John Feinstein claims that more than Lupica).
e's analogy is just incredibly poor. If you are to compare the two finalists to evil dictators Hitler and Hussein are just terrible. First of all Hitler did much worse things than Hussein, while Bayless does much worse things to the athletes he covers and his audience than Scott, his audience is just more limited.
I'd say a much more apt analogy would be Scott is Mao Zedong, while Bayless is either Pol Pot or the Kim family of North Korea. Mao / Scott has done damage to his people, and because he had so many more people than others, his autrocities are more well-known and affected a larger portion of the world population. Skip / Kim's have done more damage to their respective populations and have committed more acts of irrational cruelty against their subjects and are just much more barbaric / evil in their treatment of their subjects, it's really a matter of what you prefer, quantity versus quality of evil acts.
I just find the Hitler/Hussein analogy offensive on how poorly it is constructed and how obviously uneducated e is on the history of the world.

If enough people hate Bayless that much that he outlasted Stephen a. Smith, then I must be like a Chicagoan and jump on the winners' bandwagon.
This vote is for Bayless. May God have mercy on our souls...

Schtu.

Interesting. I didn't expect to see this much support for Stuart. Those of you who are hoping that the removal of Stu Scott would somehow reverse the tide at ESPN are, I think, engaging in wishful fantasies. He's certainly a standing insult to every competent black journalist in the business, but I don't think he can compete with Bayless for sheer destructive power.

Vote for Skippy, the unholy love child of Satan and Howard Beale.

Maybe Scott should win it for the longevity factor...but screw it. Bayless all the way.

Bayless baby, Bayless

bayless, no question. lord all mighty bayless is nothing short of satan's minion.

My vote goes to Stuart Scott by default. I don't think I'd recognize Bayless if I saw or heard him. I only know him from his (really awful) print articles.

Not that Stu isn't deserving of my vote.

Stuart fucking Scott. How could you not vote for him? Bayless is pure evil, sure, but as many have already said he's pretty avoidable and stuyeah is everywhere. I'm not sure Skippy McHitler would win even a quality>quantity battle. At least he really is an evil prick and a not phoney douchebag like stuyeah.

If Bayless wins I will be pissed.

I've said it once and I'll say it again: Stuart Scott is mildly annoying and harmless and should've been ousted from this tournament in the second or third round.

Vote: Skip Bayless

Stuart Scott ruined my favorite show of all time. Skip Bayless came to it after the fact.

Burn in hell, Stuart. In hell, the other side of the pillow is also very fucking hot.

Scott.

Stu

Gotta be Stu. He's not as cool as the other side of the pillow.

Scott

For goodness' sake. Skip Bayless learned journalism (if you want to call it that) from the Rex Reed School of Feigned Contempt. Sure, he has yet to see a sporting event or athlete that he likes, but so what?

Stuart Scott is the world's second largest suck-up (right behind Steven Smith). He is a whining pussy that cries out to be liked by anyone that has ever worn a cleat. He intentionally butchers the King's English in an attempt to be liked by someone named Homey (whoever that person is), and his face (with that fucking eye) is just made for radio.

You can't even compare these two sphincters. I'd rather have my testicles laid on a countertop and hammered with a rolling pin than have to stand witness to the further decay of what once promised to be every sports fans favorite show.

PS - that line by EY - about "ruining lesbian porn" is the best line in this entire tournament. Kudos.

Bayless.

I've said it before, I'll say it again, I LIKE Stuart!

I'm going with Bayless. I just dislike him more than Scott. As for avoidability, if you like college football, NFL, college basketball, baseball, or the NBA, there are other shows besides SportsCenter that allow you to get your fill of those sports. I've primarily migrated to those shows and have actually ended up seeing more Bayless than Scott in recent weeks.

Scott. He's the alpha and the omega of the destruction of ESPN.

There are people that like Stuart Scott, say, Swankette.

Nobody likes Skip Bayless.

Because Skip Bayless is a sad and cranky little man with a sack the size of BB pellets.

Following up on what James G. said, I have not actually seen Stuart Scott on TV in over 2 years and my only exposure to him has been that abortion of a mini-column from his web-chats that I read in ESPN the Magazine that I got for 6-months before they actually wanted me to pay for that crap.

Scott. I can't top all the comments, so I'll just vote quietly and marvel at the carnage. Thanks, Mac and Alex, for letting us all vent a little (okay, a hell of a lot).

Scott.

Reading all the posts the past few weeks makes me believe the only people who hate Bayless are the people who frequent the Bravesbeat website. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing, this is after all, your pool. But folks I polled in my office this morning, all believe that Scott epitomizes the downfall of ESPN and should be tarred and feathered. Many don't know who Bayless is.

So as an outsider, I'll concede Bayless may win your little tournament, but the world hates Stuart Scott with the same passion that y'all hate Bayless. Maybe more so.

And, by the way, it hates Stephen A. Smith even more.

Bayless. Is there anyone who knows him that doesn't hate him with a burning passion? How such a hateful little man has the job that he has is completely beyond me. At least Stu Scott was at one time sort of okay at what he does.

As one of the leaders of the anti-Bayless brigade, I resent that comment as I never came to bravesbeat before and the fact that many votes for Bayless come from other readers of his in Chicago, who also have no reason to read bravesbeat, I'd say that your poll of your office is no more a good indicator of Scott or Bayless's lack of popularity than anything else, and relying on it to show the fact shows your ignorance. If anything, the bias is really about people who have a passion for sports coverage.
Those who are more casual sports fans will know, and thus hate Scott more, but those that take the time to vote, are not these casual fans. So call this tournament little if that's what makes you feel better about yourself, but don't think it has to do with braves fans not liking Bayless more than the rest of the sports population.

(already voted)

This final must, in some way, validate what Mac and Alex were shooting for. Stu Scott is definitely in line with the no-brain, old school asswipes that originally ruined EPSN - Berman, Vitale, Theismann, etc. Throughout the tournament, the voting has favored the recent additions to the ESPN coterie, with lower seeds like Paige and Mariotti knocking out the old standards. But yet, Stuart Scott, against seeming overwhelming odds, is demolishing the cloven-footed Bayless. That must feel good.

Still, I would like once more to pimp Bayless. He inflicts more slaughter before 9am than anyone else does all day. Hooo ahhh.

I voted Bayless each round. I've never visited this site until this tourney.

(I already voted).

This vote was always going to be about Stuart Scott. Then, I read Bryan's comments above, and it was even more certain that I was voting Scott. I, too, have noticed the Stu wannabes doing sports on my local news. This didn't happen back in the day, when it was just Berman ruining ESPN; this is definitely the spawn of Stuart Scott.

The original basis of my vote was an old stand-by: who has ruined more enjoyment for me. It's Scott without question. Has Bayless ever ruined anything I really enjoy watching? Nope. The guy barely exists in my universe, and I see no reason to seek him out. Scott, OTOH, actually invaded my living room, taking over things that I loved. That's enough to get my vote. Guess that makes me a racist, huh?

One last side note on the voting rather than the candidates: It's kind of sad that the longer the tournament has gone on, the more some voters have taken to attacking those with other opinions. It's like the venom that was initially aimed at the candidates just took over some people, so they were unable to participate in civil discourse. The work of Bayless' influence? Who knows, but it's really annoying and kind of pathetic.

After some deliberation, I realized the following - remove Stuart Scott, and he's most likely replaced by . . . Stephen A Smith? Could Skip Bayless's replacement be worse than Skip?

I think not.

Skip gets my vote and a hearty screw you Skippy.

Stuart Scott.... for Pookie, Ray-Ray and them.

stu

Stuey ruined the greatest contribution ESPN made to sports broadcasting: SportsCenter. I honestly don't know that I've ever had to endure Skip for more than a minute because when his segments come on, I change the channel. I'm a Phillies fan. If I want to see my 15 seconds of highlights, I have to watch at least 40 minutes of boo-ya, can I get a witness, and the lord said to rise up, cool as the other side of the pillow nonsense before I can find out which relief pitcher gave up a 3-run homer to a banjo-hitting shortstop to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

A vote for Stu for the sheer inescapability of his inanity.

Chris

Bayless.

I only wish he'd be mauled by Wild Wolves in the Alaskian Wilderness and have his body can run over in the middle of Times Square.

The World would be better off with his without hearing his verbal dirahea.

Bayless

How can one vote against the hellspawn? The evil venom that simply oozes from him at every opportunity is galling to us, but lo, it can be avoided. The evil only presents itself rarely, and with care, the righteous sports fan can easily be not afflicted. But the other, lesser evil though he may be, is far more insidious. It shows up when not looked for, on many occasions, in multiple settings. It has infected others with its 'attitude', and thus gained followers.

For the true plague that he represents, Stuart Scott, get thee gone!

Scott.

Stuart Scott.

Scott's pulling away. So much for that NFC Championship Game analogy. Even if Bayless wins in the end, it will be close, and Neil O'Donnell won't be throwing balls right at him.

Scott. I'd never heard of Bayless before this tournament. Scott, on the other hand, is the reason I watch Sportscenter on mute.

Bayless. Maybe we can get lucky and he'll rip out Paige's throat while being dragged out of the building.

(already voted)

The results so far are surprising to me, I honestly didn't think Stu had a chance against The Dark Lord. I wonder what the voting would be like if Screamin' A had andvanced, as most of the arguments for Scott don't center around him being worse than Bayless (everyone seems to agree that he's terrible) but rather that he's on TV more. Maybe Smith, who's on all the time now and is much worse than Stu would have had a better shot. I still stand by my Bayless vote in both rounds though, he crams in enough evil in the few times a week he's on to make up for the lack of exposure.

FWIW, I have voted for Bayless every round until this one (even over the SAS), but I had never heard of braves beat until this tourney.

(already voted)

By the way, I personally blame Scott for SportsCenter no longer showing full box scores in their game wrapups. They barely tell you anything about the games being played anymore.

I vote for Stu. Everything is his fault.

Though I must admit if this was between Stu and SAS, I'd have voted for SAS. I just hate SAS with every ounce of my body.

Bayless

Bayless. How can you not vote for him when his name rhymes so well with No Talent Having Assface Prick Bastard? Maybe it's just the way I pronounce it.

Skip Bayless

Skippy

Stuart Scott, Jock-Sniffer.

Scott.

How many of you read that ESPN article from Bayless where he was called out by Mark Tuinei for blasting Aikman in print and you didn't go 'Damnit, if only Tuinei...'

Skippy has no qualms ripping dead people. No class at all. But, I believe in karma, and one of these days, Skippy's heartless antics are going to catch up with him. He'll try to strangle a little kitten and determine it's really a cub and Momma is nearby. (Which is almost what happened with Tuinei and Skippy.)

But, there's no way Scott will ever leave ESPN on his own: he loves the 'playa' life too much when anyone else pulling the junk he does would be laughed out of town. For that, we must wake up and laugh him off the stage.

Your dream job just ended, playa. Peace.

Were skippy dead he would still be hateful and evil and his rotten corpse would start a plague.

Imagine the Griffin family watching SportCenter and Baby Stuey mistakes his namesake to be his father and heads for Bristol on a murderous rampage (it's not too far from Rhode Island). Best episode ever! That's a vote for Boo-yah, BTW.

If anyone else needs convincing, for your reading (dis)pleasure:
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Commencement Address
featuring Stuart Scott, ESPN "SportsCenter" Anchor
Kenan Stadium
May 20, 2001

Thank you. First word that comes to mind is "wow." I think the second is "surreal." I sat where you sit 14 years ago and listened to "then" baseball commissioner Peter Ueberoth. I don't remember what he said - and it wasn't because he was boring. He wasn't. It was probably because here I was about to graduate. I was scared, excited, hot, confused and jobless. I was also winded because my Mu Zeta Chapter of "A-Phi-A" frat brothers and I had just done an impromptu step show midfield here in Kenan Stadium. I say all that to say 14 years wasn't that long ago. I remember.

It's hot. You've been up most of the night before and days before gettin' your party on. The last thing you want is someone who's gonna take 45 minutes up here telling you "go forth and prosper." So I won't say that. In fact, I don't really want to tell you "what to do" so much as simply give you some things to think about. I am blessed to have gone to school here for four years. You are blessed for the same reason. You won't realize the depth of it until later in life, which is natural. There is something about this campus - the tradition here, the social life, the athletics, the academics, the pride of being a Tar Heel.

You know how the folks who reside eight miles down 15-501 wearing the wrong blue love to playa hate on UNC? Jealousy is an ugly emotion, isn't it? Speaking of Duke, did you all hear the news? Duke's Shane Battier has received special permission from the NCAA to return to school and play college basketball for as long as he wants. It's called ambassador status. That's good, 'cause Duke players don't do very well in the NBA. They're also gonna let Shane call his own fouls in college basketball. Says one NCAA official, "The refs do their best to help Shane, but as anyone could tell from the February 1st game with North Carolina, they're occasionally going to inhibit his game. So since Shane knows the game better than anyone, we feel it's best to let him be a 'player-ref.'

Anyway, back to reality and us. It's cool how Tar Heel alums realize the uniqueness of a shared bond. In my profession, I run into a lot of Carolina alums basically 'cause we dominate rosters of NBA, NFL, MLB and soccer. And all the alums always acknowledge it: "Yo, what up, Tar Heel." Well, all of them except Rasheed Wallace. I said, "What up, Tar Heel" to him, and he just stared at me. So I gave him two quick technical fouls and threw him out of the game. 'Sheed is different, and that's OK. It's one of the most important lessons you learn here at UNC. Different is cool - always has been here - it's the beauty of diversity. And you've probably had more diversity here than you will as you move on.

I know all of you want to do more than "get a job." I know you want to "make a difference." Keep this in mind as you do that. Remember the different walks of life you've seen here on campus, all colors, all races, all religions, all sexual make-ups, athletes, scholars, hippies, frat boys, sorority girls. I hope you've accepted whatever is different from you as simply what it is - just different.

We all know the "majority" in this world decides "who" is the "other." Discrimination wears a lot more masks than just "white" and "black." There's age. Most discrimination cases are age-related. There's discrimination because of physical abilities. "Aw, dog. He can't play no ball." Because of "mental" abilities. "I'm magna cum lauda." Uh well, "I graduated 'thank you lawdy'. " All those levels, and we make meaning from them. When you put those differences up on a wall, some you can see, others you can't. It's like a cube. You can see some of the sides. Others have more depth. Some, you can see parts of. Others, you can't see at all. People making a difference need to be aware of that paradigm.

Also be aware of stereotypical tendencies. We value height. Sometimes we equate it with influence. Not always true. Making a difference means taking prejudices we have, understand them, then figuring out how to check myself. Say I had a 3.8 GPA - I didn't but if I did. If I don't know how to talk to people, how to reach across the sphere and connect, my GPA, it's just for GP.

Given the way the world is changing, you absolutely cannot depend on stereotypes. Do that and you might lose money. Lose a customer. Lose constituents. Lose the faith of a child. Or worse: Have a child lose faith in you. Every time you speak, you're making someone else's reality. Especially in relationships. Your words have power.

Remember this, and this is important. When you get a girlfriend and/or a fiancé and/or a wife. Know this: We communicate differently. And guys, I know you're going to hate it because you're going to think, "I don't get her," "She doesn't make sense," and you're gonna try and talk to her like you talk to your boys. And when she doesn't understand you, you're gonna complain. You are in a relationship with a woman. You're not in a relationship with a man who looks like a woman. Do you want to be right, or do you want to get your point across? Do you want to be right, or do you really want to communicate?

Ladies, I'm talking to you, too. If you're talking to your boss or colleague or neighbor or child or spouse or potential spouse, use language that they understand. Don't force them to understand you. Right now, my wife is probably thinking, "Who is that man up there speaking" - I'm not good at it myself.

There is power in communication. Don't be afraid to use it. There's power of communicating to a diverse group of people or diverse groups. Don't be afraid to use it. Whether you're reaching out to five kids at a summer camp or whether you're addressing Congress.

There's also power in humility. One of the toughest things to do is saying, "I'm sorry." Either we don't say it or we say, "I'm sorry, but...." "But" takes the authority out of a true apology. If you mess up, look whoever in the eye and say, "I'm sorry." There's nothing else, really, they can say. You own the strength in that. Thinking like that and actually doing it. Two different things.

To learn how to gain inner strength, you have to first have enlightenment. How do you maintain that?? Several ways. Keep friends who keep you honest about what you're going to do when you say you're going to do it. Just having friends who will always agree with you can be divisive. Keep yourself grounded about reality and not just your own reality. You might think you look fine in that Spandex dress or those flat-fronted polyester pants. But, uh, you might want to run it across one of your more truthful friends before you go to the club. If you're going to make a difference, if you're going to grow, be honest with yourself - about yourself. And that's hard.

Come out of your comfort zone, which means talking to people you might not normally talk to. Someone new in your office or neighborhood. Talk with someone who intimidates you just by looking at them. Somebody you've got nothing in common with. Being honest with yourself also means self-reflection. Whether it's chillin' out with that Jill Scott CD, reading, keeping a journal, praying or just being in silence. It's funny. We often equate being alone with being lonely. It's not even close to being the same. Some of the times I've been loneliest is when there's a ton of people around.

When I first heard about the opposition to my speaking here, I was in my office with about four people. Talk about lonely. It was weird because I wasn't angry or even hurt. I felt alone because I felt like, "Here we go again - I gotta prove something, prove that I'm a journalist and not just an entertainer." Then I realized something that didn't hit me. Fourteen years ago, when a TV news director saw my resume tape and told me, "You suck. You'll never make it in this business" - and, yes, those were the words he used - back then I felt I had to prove something to him. Which is in part what fueled my drive, what continued to fuel it every time some magazine or newspaper critic slammed me. Because he or she didn't understand me, didn't know what I was talking about when I said, "Playa hatin'." What continued to fuel it when one of my colleagues gave me a hard time about making an Alpha Phi Alpha-Omega Psi Phi reference, saying I should have used an "Animal House" reference if I was going to talk about fraternities. I felt like, I gotta stand up on top of a mountain and shout "Hey. Your view of reality, your world, is not 'the' world.

Diversity means understanding. How you were raised, where you were raised, what shapes you is only a small slice of the pie. You don't have to understand or like every slice. You just have to accept there are more slices than you've known." Somewhere down the line, I realized I never have to prove anything to anyone but myself. And I'm secure in the knowledge that I do that every day.


So, about 10 minutes after I heard about the opposition to my speaking here, about the quote, "Is this entertainment or commencement?" didn't bother anymore. I can't prove to anyone I am deserving of this honor. I'll just get up there. Give them who I am and if that's good enough, fine. If not, I still got my two little girls to go home to. The thing is, one of the professors who came out, publicly, against me speaking. We ended up talking, and she explained it wasn't a personal thing. It was just some issues with the university and the athletic department. And she really was looking forward to me coming. It all works out.

For the record, I also agree with one Raleigh radio DJ. He said, "I'd rather go hear Stuart than some politician. Now if it's J-Lo, I'd rather go see J-Lo." Dog, I'm witcha. When you get to be 35 years old, you start appreciating things you woulda thought were silly or "soft" in college. And I might have my "macho-testosterone" card taken away from me for this, but I ran across some things that a guy named Paul Harvey suggested. Sort of like lessons for life. He said, "Learn humility by being humiliated," "Learn honesty by being cheated," "Get a black eye fighting for something you believe in," "See puppies being born" and "See your old dog put to sleep." It's all about perspective and appreciating your own perspective.

Here's something else I believe in, and it comes with being a parent. Teach your kids how to pray. Teach them to look both ways before they cross the street. Teach them not to talk to strangers. And then, you pray. You won't get it perfect. But you will get it.

The best thing about diversity, thinking about it, trying to learn from it, trying to grow from it, understanding how so many different people come together to create this world that you are about to walk head first into. You will make a difference, not in that "Hallmark card" way of making a difference but in the real way. With your kids or with somebody else's kids. Some clichés are true. Just as your parents and uncles and aunts raised you to shape the world, and you are about to, you will help raise the next generation to take over where you left off.

For those of you who don't know, by far (and there is no close second), the best thing about life are your kids. And their honesty. Somewhere along the way, people lose their greatest gift as they get older. As I said before, the ability to be honest with yourself, and by extension, others.


Two stories about my 6-year-old, then I'll get outta your hair. My wife and I were at a restaurant with an old couple across from us. And you know how old people like seeing the family unit. So the lady comes up and says, "You have such a nice family and such beautiful little girls." I said to my "then" 5-year-old, "Taelor, what do you say?" And Taelor is staring at her husband, who's probably 80, with some red discolorating his head. And she turns to the lady and says matter-of-factly, "You might want to take him to the doctor to see what that mark is on his head." My wife was mortified. I was doubled over in laughter. Love the honesty.

She even got me. I was working out of town on her fifth birthday. So I called that morning, and I was talking to her on the phone, feeling real emotional. She said, "Daddy, I'm eating breakfast. Can I talk to you later?" And I said, "Taelor, just give me a minute. I just want you to know that you and your sister, Sydni, are the most precious gifts God has ever given to me. I love you more than anything." I'm getting all choked up, and she interrupts me and says, "Daddy." I'm thinking, she's gonna say her usual: "I love you, too." Nope. She says, "Daddy, has it been a minute yet???" I said yes.

So before you ask me the same question - "Has it been a minute?" - I'll close. But before I do, second best thing other than kids and family: friends. Unconditional friends. Someone once said of "friendship" ... a friend is someone who knows the song in your heart and can sing it to you when you've forgotten the words. Someone else once said "Everyone hears what you say. Friends listen to what you say. Best friends listen to what you don't say." Love your friends. Understand the power in your words. Be aware, and embrace the world's diversity. Make a difference. Thank you.

Skip Bayless.

I think I'm gonna puke. Makes me glad - no elated - that I didn't graduate from North Carolina this year.

I keep going back to longevity. Stuart Scott arrived at ESPN back in 1993, that's a long time, a lot of sucking, I was 13 and he's everywhere but...

Skip Bayless has been a talentless shill since the early 1990s, he was sucking back in the ether. The man is a cruel and hateful. He should be banished to the far reaches where he will never be seen again. Proper words don't do him justice, vitriolic comes to mind. Is there any wonder why he's had jobs at five papers plus ESPN?

I can take screaming. I can take the inane booyah and hugs and hand pounds. I can even take Dickie V's screaming but the raw, viceral hatred. He wins the vote.

The vote: Skip Bayless

stu scott

Bayless.

Stu has annoying moments sometimes, but because of him, my wife will watch SportsCenter with me. I owe him that much, at least. Bayless...a pain.

Bayless. It's all about destiny.

Stuart Scott.

Willfully idiotic. I was going to say a symptom, but I think he is more a primary cause, of the entertainment-ization of ESPN. If I wanted to watch shit like Same-Sex-Newlywed-Game or Stump the Fat, Basement-Dwelling, Hey-My-Goat-Makes-Me-Cool Trivia Dork or some other rip-off of a game show I would watch the Game Show Network. At least then I stand a chance of seeing Match Game or Press Your Luck.

ESPN. Used to be my favorite channel. It was like having the Wide World of Sports 24 hours a day. Now its like the E! Channel but sports themed. I watched all the time. You'd discover new stuff, new sports. At least Fox Sports now has a Aussie Rules recap every week.

Speaking of Press Your Luck. ESPN could do that show in a sports-themed way if the button to push to stop the whammy was replaced by a Sportscenter anchor and each contestant had a big-Gallagher mallet to mash their heads when you wanted to "press your luck."

Fuck Stuart Scott and everything he represents. More than that Fuck you Mark Shapiro.

Stuart Scott.

There is some vitriol in that post. I had not realized how much I hate the current ESPN until this Road to Bristol started. I don't know if people those Sportscenter ads from 5 or so years ago when it showed people watching the different Sportscenters at different times - feeding a baby at O'Dark Thirty, the guy in a dorm eating cereal in the morning, etc. Even though the 5-years ago Sportscenter isn't like the one from the 80s/early 90s, it is still leaps and bounds better than the entertainment-driven shit that is on now. I just hate the current ESPN.

At least John Buccigross is still on. Is he the only decent guy left on ESPN? He is so much better than Karl Ravech on BBTN.

Skippytee-de-do-dah, skippytee-aaayy!
My-oh-my you ruin ESPN everyday,
Plenty of vitriol is headin' my way,
From Skippytee doo-dah, Skippytee-aaayyy!

Skippy Bayless - the scariest sights and sounds on any TV

Scott's act is tired. But the vote is for Bayless, for these reasons:

-Scott is a product of ESPN. If the higher-ups told him tomorrow to cut out all the catchphrases, he could do it. And if he were to leave, an exact duplicate would take his place.

-Bayless is a product of his own hate. He's been around for years, employed by various media outless in print, radio, and TV. ESPN asking him to be less hateful is like asking the water to be less wet. And if he were to leave, no one could match his contrarian smarminess.

-Scott is just as avoidable as Bayless. The only time I've seen him on TV in a long time is as a sideline reporter in the nba playoffs. And no one cares about sideline reporters. But what about sportscenter, you may ask...well, sc is unwatchable not because of the talking heads, but rather all the crap they have inserted into the show IMO. I hit mute now when watching hi-lites..after all, I'm watching to see the hi-lites, not hear people trying to be funny over them.

-Finally, the mission statement of this tourney is to find out who is "the most totally loathsome". When I hear Scott do hi-lites or work the sidelines, I just shake my head or hit the mute button. When I hear Bayless, I want to stab myself. Repeatedly.

So let me recap that speech (noting that I've already cast my vote for Bayless):

*You know how the folks who reside eight miles down 15-501 wearing the wrong blue love to playa hate on UNC?

*It's cool how Tar Heel alums realize the uniqueness of a shared bond. In my profession, I run into a lot of Carolina alums basically 'cause we dominate rosters of NBA, NFL, MLB and soccer. And all the alums always acknowledge it: "Yo, what up, Tar Heel." Well, all of them except Rasheed Wallace. I said, "What up, Tar Heel" to him, and he just stared at me. So I gave him two quick technical fouls and threw him out of the game.

*Most discrimination cases are age-related. There's discrimination because of physical abilities. "Aw, dog. He can't play no ball." Because of "mental" abilities. "I'm magna cum lauda." Uh well, "I graduated 'thank you lawdy'. "

*Fourteen years ago, when a TV news director saw my resume tape and told me, "You suck. You'll never make it in this business" - and, yes, those were the words he used - back then I felt I had to prove something to him. Which is in part what fueled my drive, what continued to fuel it every time some magazine or newspaper critic slammed me. Because he or she didn't understand me, didn't know what I was talking about when I said, "Playa hatin'."

*For the record, I also agree with one Raleigh radio DJ. He said, "I'd rather go hear Stuart than some politician. Now if it's J-Lo, I'd rather go see J-Lo." Dog, I'm witcha.

kelly from sd:

I completely agree on Buccigross, he's been great on bbtn (and he is possibly the best hockey writer going, on any media outlet)

But you may be losing him...this is from another board, it's an email Buccigross wrote: "ESPN executives have informed the 'hockey contingent' that our contracts will be re-evaluated within the next ten to fourten days and have asked us to be patient as this process takes place."

So he may be gone, and soon (if OLN is smart, they'd hire him post haste).

Bayless

For all the shtick and inanity, Scott actually seems to like sports. Sports seems to serve the same function for Bayless that Gerber's Strained Peas do for an infant - something to chew on, mangle, and turn into a substance that is foul, stench-ridden, and needs to be cleaned up by somebody else.

And the worst part is, Bayless isn't even good at it.

Jim Rome = Terrible
Stephen A. = Horrendous
Stu Scott = Just Bloody Awful
Skip Bayless = Ritualistic Suicide

Vote Skip!

I have to vote for Bayless. The reason is because his heart is filled with hate towards everything. If nothing else, Scott is cheerful and happy in his own faux ghetto sort of way.

Stuart Scott

Bayless all the way!

Wow. Take a long weekend and damn!

I vote for Stu Scott. He ruined sportscenter and continues to ruin sportcenter.
He is everywhere,though A.C. Slater getting the call for ESPN Hollywood must be making his blood boil(another brillant move ESPN, thanks jackasses why show sports when I can see what playstation2 game basketball players love).
He's a complete phony who beleives he's funny, which is just sad.
Even whose he truly believes he's an athlete.
His act is tired and old. He's much like Tara Ried. Once they both had potential, but now they are pathetic shells of human beings, too old to be acting they way they do,too wrapped up in themselves to see the path of destruction they are leaving in their wake, and both in need of a serious intervention.
Bring back my god damn Sportscenter ESPN.

Got to love my spelling of worse in the previous post. Terrible

I'm torn on this one, since I can't stand either of these guys. But as Bayless has shown the ability to get the boot on his own from multiple employers, I'm gonna have to go with Stu. For some reason ESPN can't seem to realize this guy sucks. So I guess they need some help...

Scott

Scott.

I don't see as much of Bayless so Scott gets my vote for total volume of unholy pollution of the airwaves.

That said, Bayless must be uber-awful to beat SAS.

Stu. The Bayless Wrecking Crew must be stopped and Stu's got a full sack of BOOYAH to do it with.

Bayless can be avoided. Stu can't, he's every freaking where.

Bayless has been on and off ESPN for more than a decade. Scott has been a steady force (with a slight interuption when he poked his eye out jock sniffing) during that time. I hate both but have to give it to Scott for ruining more TV than Bayless. And for lazy intro writing and his horrible catchphrases.

Skipshot Bayless left Dallas just as the angry hordes were gathering. Mayhem was to ensue, but we were denied. Now he must be banished for all eternity and we can wait not one day less. Rock me!

Not another vote, but if you don't hate Scott read this:

http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/sports/4379552.htm
Q. Back in the spring, you sustained a severe eye injury while filming a story about football minicamps with the Jets. Tell us what happened.

I had gotten in shape and (Jets coach) Herman Edwards gave me permission to go to minicamp with them. I was doing a feature for ESPN on what it's like to be in minicamp. But I was serious about it.

The day I was there, there were eight wideouts and the wide receiver coach said I was rated number six. I didn't have any delusions of grandeur. I was hoping I'd be good enough to be a scrub wide receiver or a practice wide receiver in the NFL. I found that out that day. I didn't disappoint myself and I didn't embarrass myself.

At end of practice all the wideouts went to the Jugs Machine, it's a machine that shoots balls out. I had never done that before. I had been catching everything that day in practice from the quarterbacks. I was probably a little close and the thing was fast and the thing was faster than I thought it was.

Q. The ball, coming out of the machine, hit you square in the left eye. How bad was it?

It was serious. I had emergency surgery that night and was out of work for a couple months. It was tough. I had some eye surgery before so I knew how severe it was. It was probably more scary that day, not knowing. The next day came and I knew it would be a long recovery back. I still need some more surgery. The eye is not great now. But I had some time off.

HE NEVER PLAYED COLLEGE BALL AND THINKS HE COULD HAVE MADE IT THROUGH AN NFL TRAINING CAMP. AND THIS GUY COVERS PRO FOOTBALL????!!!!

Bayless revels in the fact that people hate him. That alone should swing any vote toward Stu-yah. Throw in the lazy eye, every fist pound with the Schwab, and the irreparable damage he's done to everyone who's shared a studio with him, and there's no contest. (Memo to Scott Van Pelt: Use ebonics and worship Tiger all you want. You still belong on those cell phone "Poser Mobile" commercials. You're nothing more than Matthew Perry with lipo and a buzzcut. Expel the Stu and celebrate your inner honky.)

Vote: Scott. Congrats to UNC on another title.

Skip Bayless. I've used up all my venom and hatred; I can't even think of ways to insult him anymore. I need to pace myself better for the next tournament....

Skip Bayless, although Bill's story about Scott thinking he could play ball is compelling.

Bayless.

Scott.

I originally came here to vote for Joe Morgan all the way. Since he lost to Scott, I want him to lose to the winner. Or is it the loser? Either way, to hell with all of them.

Stuart Scott.

Bayless.

Who to vote for? Skip Scott? Stuart Bayless? Oh God, it all runs together after a while.

In this time of trouble, I turn to an ancient parable: To kill a 100-foot-long serpent, you must simply cut off the head.

If we are to think of ESPN as that 100-foot-serpent -- and I believe that's the only way we can think of it these days -- then surely, ubiquitous Stuart Scott is the head. Skip Bayless is merely the ass.

I vote for Stuart Scott.

Scott's annoying, but IMO he's not a bad human being or anything. Bayless, on the other hand, is just plain Evil. Simple as that. Hit the road, Skippy.

Gotta go with Bayless. There's a lot of near-convincing reasons here to vote for Scott, but I can tolerate him. I really can. Has he gotten tired/old/ESPN needs to find someone new? Yes. But at least it sounds like he LIKES his job, and he LIKES sports, and is passionate about a good play. He shows respect to the sports he covers, and to their players (whether it's faked or not, I'll leave that to people better than I.)

Skip is never happy about anything. He probably fell into this position when his career as a rock star fell apart. (Eew, that's one hell of a sight... *shudder*) Can you imagine him biting the head off of a bat? Actually, he does that daily, doesn't he?

My vote is for Skip Bayless. No love for the game. Any of them.

Skip Bayless is retarded, but Stuart Scott is the reason I don't have cable tv anymore.

My vote goes for Stuart Scott

A last attempt vote for Skippy Bayless.

I'm pretty saddened by this. If I could kick 20 people off ESPN's airwaves, Stu Scott wouldn't be one of them. Not that that is saying all that much, but I definitely didn't think he would win this thing.

Maybe that marathon against Stephen A. Smith was just too much, took the wind out of his sails and let a well rested Stu Scott come in and cut down the nets.

Well, I haven't voted for Stuart yet, AND my quote about rabid rats and Janet's boob shows up on the front page. So, Bayless it is.

You know, in reading these posts (and ladies and gentlemen, some quality analysis by all y'all), I think what this match-up comes down to is vitriol. Stuart Scott is annoying, but it wasn't his fault that Mark Shapiro fell in love with style over substance. I shouldn't like "Teammates" because it helped prove that ESPN didn't need hockey, but Stuart does a pretty good job hosting it. So I mean, he's annoying, but he's not that bad.

Skip Bayless on the other hand, just pisses me off. He's of the "Oh, this is the conventional wisdom, so I'll go in the opposite direction even if I don't believe it, but I'll fake it until I make it" camp of sports writing, in which we don't learn anything, but rather get to see how much the reporter thinks of his own opinion and ability. So, for that reason, I vote for Mr. Bayless.

And to the gentlemen who have put together this fine show, a round of applause. Having run similar tournaments myself over the years on my blog, I know it to be a labor of love, so a kudos to all of you. It's been fun.

Bayless

Interesting final: Someone who uses the term "player hater" (sic) versus an actual "player hater."

I actually find Bayless amusing, particularly on the radio.

Someone please banish Stuart Scott and his pillow to a Bed, Bath and Beyond.

One vote: Stuart Scott.

Well, I can't in good faith vote for Skip Bayless for Stuart Scott's imbecilic commentary convinced me long ago not to watch ESPN. Thusly, I haven't ever seen Bayless.

Stuya, this vote's for you, may you rot in the firey depths of blackest hell.

I'm voting for Stuart Scott - the bastard has ruined ESPN, sportscasting in general, and even worse, he has ruined my name...

Word to yo motha.. Biatch!! Once upon a time in the black part of the city.. just saw Stuart Scott looting in New Orleans.. Can I get a Witness?? In the witness program? Cool as the other side of my lazy eye.. How can he down the Man when he IS the Man.. Two words.. Uncle Tom.. 40 acres and a Booyah! Vanilla Ice called, he wants his life back... No hi-pro fade, just fade away.. Voodoo magic got him his job.. He casts spells behind those specs... Whoop Whoop!! Werent you Spike Lee? Its gotta be the Dookies! He's ghost like Casper, Cya!

Can a brotha get a vote for Stuart Scott up in here?

Booya!

"The day I was there, there were eight wideouts and the wide receiver coach said I was rated number six. I didn't have any delusions of grandeur. I was hoping I'd be good enough to be a scrub wide receiver or a practice wide receiver in the NFL. I found that out that day. I didn't disappoint myself and I didn't embarrass myself."

Bill, if that doesn't clinch this for Stuey, I don't know what does.

Better than TWO professional-quality borderline-NFL wideouts? TWO? That cracks me up. Can't he tell when he's being patronized?

Bayless. Avert your eyes children, he may take on other forms.

Skip Bayless...for the kids

A classic debate of limited dominance versus prolonged effectiveness.

While Scott is pretty annoying and does represent the decline of ESPN, Bayless is as negative as you can be in every possible way. He hates sports, he sucks the life out of everything, he's a moron, and he's ALWAYS WRONG. On a per minute basis, Bayless is THE worst thing on TV. I'd rather watch an episode of the O'Reilly Factor, The World According to Jim (or whatever that stupid Jim Belushi sitcom is called), a re-run of Becker, the Nanny, Blossom, Martin, Major Dad, or Designing Women, or a WNBA game, then sit through a half hour of Bayless spewing his mornic vitriol. All things being equal, Bayless over Scott in a walk.

But all things are not equal, are they. Bayless is on TV about an hour a day, Scott (seemingly) the other 23. Is Bayless five times as odious as Scott? It's close.

This is Koufax vs. Sutton. Pedro vs. Neikro. So who to pick?

You can't go wrong with either choice, but my vote is for Bayless.

This here is a shout-out to Stu Scott! Can I get a witness?

Bayless.

I can't stand either, and Bayless is Satan, but when it comes right down to it, I'd rather get rid of Stu. Vote for Scott.

As has been well established, Bayless is Satan. But as vile as he is, I must vote for Stu. I'm going to hell for saying this, but I just want to punch him until that damn eye goes straight. He's the reason we have people like Skippy, Mariotti, Woody and Stat Bitch on TV. A crime for which there is no forgiveness.

I was going to vote for Scott anyway, but that commencement address was so tooth-pullingly awful in every single respect that even if I'd been planning to vote for Skippy I'd have switched to Scott.

God I hate ESPN.

While I disagree with Mr. Juche, that is a damn fine post about why to vote for Scott. Can we put a moratorium on the use of Scott's catch phrases in the votes, those are almost as unclever and annoying as he is, the only guy who pulled it off is the guy whose first name was Booyah, now that was funny.

Bayless. Bayless. Oh lordy, Bayless. The absolute worst substitute host ever on PTI, a show that goes out of its way to get bad substitutes. He's Hitler to Stu Scott's Nietzsche... the atrocious end point of a flawed idea.

It's Bayless, people! Won't someone please think of the children?

(I mean, of course, the ones he eats every night as dessert...)

Bayless. He's come this far...

Wow. this is like choosing between death by fire or drowning. As soon as you decide on one, the other sounds so much better. My vote goes to Stu Scott.
The reason being that Bayless would actually enjoy winning this. It would be like vindication for him to steal the souls of a hundred babies in celebration.

Stuart Scott was a key player in the destruction of Sportscenter. I used to watch that show every night, religiously. Now I can't sit through 5 minutes of it. I want the old Sportscenter back, the one that actually showed highlights, instead of doing a bunch of stupid segments nobody cares about. I know booting Stuart wouldn't accomplish this goal, but it would send the right message.

Scott. Sportscenter's a flagship, and he's the biggest reason it went way downhill.

While driving through Times Square for the first time, I caught a glimpse of something called Mama Sbarro's. Being a sworn enemy of the smell of charred pizza dough under heatlamps, my immediate thought was: "if we kill the queen, they'll all die." How is this relevant? Well, compare. Bayless, for all his bluster, has all the personality of an ant. Single-minded focus on one thing, hate, a lack of anything else possibly entering his head, and a belly full of acid waiting to be plunged into whatever crosses his path. On the other hand, Stuart Scott is the queen (not a queen, the queen ant), exalted position within the colony(network), spitting out a constant series of mindless drones (imitators, programs), and propelling the colony's (network's) expansion, destroying everything in its path. One we can crush, one we have to get the chemicals out to exterminate. One only can damage one thing, one can destroy an entire property. It's that simple. Orkin Stu Scott Now!

Stuart Scott: One of the few people responsible for ESPN's rapid descent into hell.

this is a tough one, but half of the bullshit that Skip Brainless puts out makes me want to fly to NYC and beat him with a bat. He's just another sportswriter-turned-TV guy who never played any sport outside of gym class (which he probably failed in) and still thinks he knows more about sports than any athlete ever. He just happens to be the worse of all of them. I swear, the guy has to be on crack to create some of the shit he writes or says on TV. I don't know how Woody or that other guy (whatever the f*** his name is) don't just try to beat the hell out of him after he says something stupid. I don't even know if he believes half the crap he spews. Just get rid of him ESPN. PLEASE!!!!

(Already voted.)

Just now on Cold Pizza:
*Miles Brand, NCAA President, has said that the NCAA would be lenient in its rules when dealing with aid to students affected by Katrina.
*Skip Bayless used, among other things, the term "Pandora's Box", because of COURSE you have to be hardassed. The costliest hurricane in American history, ha! Like that's any excuse.
*Woody Paige audibly groaned and buried his face in his hands, like, did this guy get born to someone or did he spawn somewhere?

You know, most of my hatred for Skip can really be tied to a can you believe this idiot idea, and the whole devil thing has kind of been funny, but this thing with the Pandora's Box just really sickens me, anyone that can say that, even as an act, just doesn't even deserve to live.

Wait . . . I already voted . . . but what exactly did Skip say about Hurricane Katrina and how the NCAA was handling aid to students? Was it as bad as the blurb above suggests?

My fellow foolish mortals-
The evils of Bayh'less can never be stopped for good until Lord Jesus descends from Heaven and chains Skip down in the Lake of Fire at the End of All Things. Until then, voting to get him fired from ESPN will only result him going to FSN and using his infernal powers to increase the ratings of the Best Damn(ed) Sports Show.

We must concentrate our energies on what can be stopped. The many evils of Stuart Scott. So I vote.

Does Lebatard say we hate black people if Stu-yah wins or loses this competition?

Seriously-
If Skip really said the above about the NCAA on Cold Pizza he's more awful than I thought. Good heavens, the NCAA is being reasonable for once in a blue moon about its byzantine compensation rules and he's worried about schools exploiting it? We can survive some more exploitation in college sports, Skip. But he's still not vote worthy.

I don't believe that Stu Scott is evil. Skip clearly is. Skip, it's time to take you down to Chinatown.

Don't bring him here! Beat Skip elsewhere!

I had thought to come up with something right nasty to say in this matchup, but events this week have really taken my heart out of it.

Bayless

Skip Bayless

Bayless

I've met another member of the Scott family and believe that his TV persona is pretty much who Stu is. They were nice, but pretty creepy - as such, I'll vote for Scott.

Bayless.

Stuart Scott does not embody everything that is wrong with ESPN; remember, Chris Berman begat Stu Scott.

Satan begat Skip Bayless.

As much as I want to vote for stuart for trying to speak a certain way to the point that it is almost comically forced and for nearly going blind that time he tried out at wr for the jets and for that awful graduation speech and for torturing insomiacs everywhere, I just can't do it. I'm am convinced that skip bayless is or is at least closely related to satan.

He is unpleasant to look at, read, and listen to, truly an anti-triple crown threat in sports "journalism"/broadcasting. The man makes me wish post-birth abortion was legal, because he is just asking for it. He is just about the only person who can singlehandedly make me turn off PTI and it doesn't matter how little exposure or airtime he gets compared to stu scott, any skip is too much skip. ESPN needs to be bayless-less soon, if not to better their quality of programming then to better the welfare of mankind.

My vote, and deepest loathing, goes to bayless.

Stu is a good man--"Cooler than the other side of the pillow"--that's good stuff.

my vote is for Bayless

Both suck but Scott is everywhere. Peace out dawg.
My vote: Scott

Stu-effing-yah.
As opposed to most voters who simply think that the SS Boo-yah is merely a harmless vessel that washed up on the shores of Cape Bristol, I think he is far more evil than Skippy. Why? Because Skippy doesn't try to hide the fact he hates everyone and everything. Stu-monster tries to be everyone's buddy, but in fact has an ulterior motive of de-basing the entire paradigm of human communication that has evolved over many centuries. As evidence, check out his Chapel Hill commencement manifesto. He obviously wants human communication to be reduced to a series of tired, idiotic catchphrases. He and his kind (read:Berman) must be stop