Stephen A. Smith. I heard his name today on Mike and Mike in the Morning and thought – I haven’t heard that name in a long time. He was announced as an upcoming guest on the popular morning show, but for whatever reason, never came on. Then he was a guest on Outside the Lines this afternoon giving his opinion on the Kobe Bryant controversy. Hearing his name twice in one day got me thinking - whatever happened to him and why has he now suddenly reappeared?
A couple of years ago, the former Philadelphia Inquirer columnist was all over ESPN. He was a regular NBA contributor and studio analyst and I recall several passionate debates between him and Skip Bayless on 1st and 10. He even had his own show on ESPN2 called Quite Frankly.
Stephen A. was someone I loved to hate. He was everywhere and to be honest he got on my nerves. His loud, brash, overly-opinionated tone turned me off. But he also wasn’t afraid to tackle the tough, controversial topics and told the truth as he saw it – qualities I greatly respected. I often agreed with what he said, just not how he said it.
Then, all of a sudden, he disappeared. And over time I kind of forgot about him. So today, when I heard his name and saw he was back in typical Stephen A. form on Outside the Lines, I decided to do a little investigative reporting (i.e. Google him) to find out why he suddenly disappeared from ESPN and what he’s been up to the past couple of years.
I found out that his relationship with ESPN ended in May 2009, when apparently they couldn’t agree on contract terms. In his official statement posted on his blog, Stephen A. said his “desire to venture beyond sports into the world of news, politics and entertainment has grown.” So what happened next?
According to Wikipedia (as reliable a source as that is), after leaving ESPN, Stephen A. moved on to Fox Sports Radio and most recently was a morning show host there. He also had guest appearances on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, The Dylan Ratigan Show and The Ed Show.
But it seems the grass wasn’t greener on the other side. In February, Stephen A. Smith returned to ESPN as a columnist for ESPN.com and host of a weekday radio show airing on ESPN 1050 in New York and ESPN 710 in Los Angeles.
So that explains it. Now that it seems he’s back in the sports commentating limelight, we can resume our love/hate relationship.
Did you miss Stephen A. Smith? Are glad to see him back with ESPN?
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