Jalen Rose calls out Skip Bayless on air for his trumped up high school history (VIDEO)

[FanInAZ]

It's been well-established that ESPN's Skip Bayless is a workout fiend. He spends endless hours on the treadmill, and looks to be in fantastic shape for his age. It's also been well-established that Bayless is a fame-hungry sellout that will say anything on air (and formerly, before he realized it wasn't making him famous enough, in print) just to draw a reaction, and more eyes, and more ratings. Recently, Bayless criticized Oklahoma City point guard Russell Westbrook without the slightest bit of basketball smarts, or hint of nuance, much less research. OKC All-Star Kevin Durant rightfully took his obsessive brand of ignorance to task, and Bayless responded by pumping up his own credits as a high school point guard who finally learned that PGs should think "pass" 12 times before they fire away, on Twitter.

Bayless' ESPN co-host Jalen Rose, after a bit of research of his own, took on Skip after Bayless claimed that he started as a shot-happy point guard for a high school team that made the state finals in Oklahoma.

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nba-ball-dont-lie/jalen-rose-calls-skip-bayless-air-trumped-high-214530179.html

If ESPN demands any standard of excellence from his "expert" commentators, they'll fire Skip Bayless over this. However, rating trumps quality every time and conflict equals ratings. Therefore, the ESPN executives should be very please over this.

[Northman]

Meh, personally i dont care if he trumped it up or not. This reminds me of the guy (forget his name) that coached for Georgia Tech in football, got hired by Notre Dame and then found out he lied on his resume. But, the fact is even though he lied he was a solid coach and won some games for the Jackets. The guy wanted to have a shot at coaching and fibbed on his resume to get the opportunity. Bayless may not have all the creditials that Rose has or any other player that now commentates but Bayless still gets ratings for Espn. In other words, if he is doing a good enough job at what his job details than no harm no foul. Most commentators are blowhards anyway whether they actually played the game or not.

[EMB6903]

I cant believe this was worthy of somebody making an article on it.


The joke is on you, Kelly Dwyer.

[MOtorboat]

Skip Bayless is still an idiot.

[OrangeHoof]

Skip Bayless? I always do.

[Buff]

I am annoyed that this guy gets so much attention and that it's actually become a thing to go on there and debate him. He doesn't even have real opinions - he's just a contrarian for the sake of being a contrarian. But athletes continue to validate him by going on the show.

[Ravage!!!]

If ESPN demands any standard of excellence from his "expert" commentators, they'll fire Skip Bayless over this. However, rating trumps quality every time and conflict equals ratings. Therefore, the ESPN executives should be very please over this.

I personally don't think its something you fire him over. It seems that society today wants EVERYONE fired for everything. Who cares if Skip lied about his HS days?? Skip is going to be what he is, an idiot, anyway and firing him won't do anyone any good. It wont' give ESPN more validity, and its not going to make people watch because they fired him. I just don't think this isn't something you FIRE people over.

And Yes.... ESPN, just like EVERY OTHER COMPANY, is a TV station that is looking to make a profit. Viewers and ratings bring in profit. So the firing of Skip Bayless would mean absolutely nothing, just as the NON-firing of Bayless means absolutely nothing...because other than just a few people, no one would hear of this nothing story.

[sneakers]

Meh, personally i dont care if he trumped it up or not. This reminds me of the guy (forget his name) that coached for Georgia Tech in football, got hired by Notre Dame and then found out he lied on his resume. But, the fact is even though he lied he was a solid coach and won some games for the Jackets. The guy wanted to have a shot at coaching and fibbed on his resume to get the opportunity. Bayless may not have all the creditials that Rose has or any other player that now commentates but Bayless still gets ratings for Espn. In other words, if he is doing a good enough job at what his job details than no harm no foul. Most commentators are blowhards anyway whether they actually played the game or not.

George O'leary or something like that.

[MOtorboat]

Bayless just said Brandon Weeden should be the fourth pick in the draft :laugh:

[NightTrainLayne]

Bayless just said Brandon Weeden should be the fourth pick in the draft :laugh:

If Brandon Weeden were 5 years younger he might have a case.

Personally, I think Weeden gets dinged too much for his age. He has a maturity level due to his age and experience playing Major League Baseball that are big plusses in my book. Plus, playing all those years of baseball is not as hard on the body as an equal # of years of football.

In other words, his effective age may be lower than his real age, and his maturity level is much higher.