ESPN's Quite Frankly: See Avery Johnson and Jerry Stackhouse LIVE in Studio!!

[ESPN's Quite Frankly]

ESPN2'S Quite Frankly March Madness!!!

Dallas Mavericks’ Fans

Join Quite Frankly for our Exclusive interview with…
Avery Johnson & Jerry Stackhouse

* Snacks, Prizes & Giveaways *

We would like to offer you FREE tickets to ESPN’s only sports talk show in NYC, where children 12 and older are invited to be a part of our All Star studio audience. Tickets are EXTREMELY limited to this show!
● Celebrities ● Interviews ● Sports News ●

Stephen A. Smith host of Quite Frankly, brings his journalistic experience, unique point of view and opinionated edge to ESPN’s only sports talk show with an interactive studio audience…


Show Day: Saturday, March 18th

Show Time: 5:00pm (Times subject to change)
Doors open at 3:30pm

Studio Location: Hotel Pennsylvania @ 15 Penn Plaza
Across from the world famous Madison Square Garden


Free Ticket Reservations:
# 212-715-6800 or FreeTickets@ESPN.com




Airs weeknights at 11:00pm on ESPN2
www.ESPN.com/QuiteFrankly

[Drbio]

Quite Frankly sucks ass quite frankly.

[raefformvp]

Originally Posted by Drbio

Quite Frankly sucks ass quite frankly.

I concur. Though it would be kind of cool to be there and watch Avery and Stack. Or maybe just Avery. I can never understand what comes out of Stack's mouth. Speaking of Stack, I read through the game day thread some on Sunday but not completely. I was trying to see if anyone mentioned Stack's little segment on NBA Nation Sunday morning where he identified himself as a superhero, Stackman. It was actually pretty funny. Wish he would play like a superhero!

[Drbio]

This person only posts here to publicize a shitty show not worth watching.

Avery and Stack will at least bring some class to their show.

[bernardos70]

Stephen A. Smith is perhaps the most annoying TV host ever in the existance of TV. I have a 700 Watt Surround Sound system, if I can't hear you I'll turn up the volume, no need to yell buddy.

[Dtownsfinest]

Have you guys watched Quite Frankly? I know people can't stand Stephen A but his show is actually pretty good. He doesn't ask his guests half ass questions. I remember catching an episode that had Samuel L. Jackson on there. I had no clue who was a covering crack addict and i've seen him on hundreds of shows being asked questions. Plus hearing him say Rasho Nestorovic is hilarious.

[Murphy3]

Nothing associated with Stephen A. Smith is 'pretty good'.

[WraithXx]

Originally Posted by Murphy3

Nothing associated with Stephen A. Smith is 'pretty good'.

Nothing associated with Murphy3 is "non-Dirk"

[Mavdog]

I was at the "quite frankly with stephen smith" interview with mark cuban, and it was a pleasure.

smith didn't give mark any softballs, and made several good points. he let cuban speak his mind, and if he disagreed with cuban smith made his point as well.

there's a lot worse sports columnist/interviewers than stephen smith imo.

[jthig32]

Originally Posted by WraithXx

Nothing associated with Murphy3 is "non-Dirk"

Bit of a stretch there. At least make it funny if you're going to attempt it.

[Dtownsfinest]

Originally Posted by Mavdog

I was at the "quite frankly with stephen smith" interview with mark cuban, and it was a pleasure.

smith didn't give mark any softballs, and made several good points. he let cuban speak his mind, and if he disagreed with cuban smith made his point as well.

there's a lot worse sports columnist/interviewers than stephen smith imo.

I agree and alot of them are on ESPN. He yells. Big deal. Does he put fear in your heart when he screams? That seems to be a reason why a lot of people don't like him.

[Carolina Blue]

Quite Frankly sucks ass quite frankly.

QFT

[Murphy3]

He's miserable at what he does. The only reason he is where he is is simply because he does yell and make an ass out of himself.

[Drbio]

Originally Posted by Murphy3

He's miserable at what he does. The only reason he is where he is is simply because he does yell and make an ass out of himself.

Exactly. A third grade Down's syndrome kid has more talent than Stephen Ahole Smith.

[orangedays]

[orangedays]

Introducing "Psychoanalyzing Stephen A. Smith" (Linkage)
October 28, 2005



Welcome to the first-ever edition of Psychoanalyzing Stephen A. Smith! This feature will run whenever Stephen A. writes a column we're just utterly baffled by.

Sometimes Stephen A. is a little confusing, and I'll be going behind his words to find out just what he's really trying to say. Is this really psychoanalysis? Beats me; it was just the first word that came into my mind.

A little background on Stephen A. Smith: Known by the derisive knickname "Screamin' A," the little mouth that could began as an Inquirer columnist before doing some guest work on television spots, notably on Comcast SportsNet during the 76ers' run to the finals in 2001.

Eventually, he became ubiqutous on ESPN, and now hosts his own low rated show, Quite Frankly with Stephen A. Smith. Now he writes only about two Inky columns a week, which he sometimes composes on a Blackberry. No, really.

Oh, and in 2003 Philadelphia Magazine named him Best of Philly™ for sportswriting.

Done laughing at that last fact? Okay, let's move on. After the jump, this week's psychoanalysis of Stephen A.

Today's column, which he may or may not have written on a blackberry, concerns Sheryl Swoopes, the WNBA star who came out in an ESPN Magazine article this week.

Stephen A.'s article today takes a different article that the "In other news, a baby was born today" jokes we've all been making the past 24 hours. It begins:

Sheryl Swoopes may be the story. But she is not the issue.

Not now. Not in this day and time. And especially not when an absence of professional ethics is so abundantly clear regarding Swoopes' partner, Alisa Scott, instead of her.


Woah! Wait, guh-wha?

Okay, we get it, Stephen A. You only write sparingly, so your column can't just be about Swoopes. Got it. Down with that, actually. I mean, if you're the big-shot columnist you have to be different. But the coaching ethics of her girlfriend? Is that really what the people want to read about?

I'm not even sure what the issue is here, yet. If you're going to write about a tangential issue to the big story -- and even claim it's bigger than the main story -- please explain what it is before the jump.

Swoopes' public acknowledgment of her lesbianism this week may not be welcomed or appreciated by the public at large, but the fact remains that she has a right to live her life the way she chooses.

If she wants to hug and kiss her partner in public, that's fine with me. Feel free to waste time debating how her relationship will affect her 8-year-old son, Jordan, or the WNBA, which can't possibly be happy with the headlines it is receiving.


How it will affect Michael Jordan? Do we reall--oh, oh, that's her son's name. I get it. Also, I wonder if Stephen A. called somebody at the WNBA (or NBA commish David Stern) to ask them how they feel?

But there are certain things that should never be debated or embraced, even in a day when supposedly 5 to 10 percent of the population is thought to be gay. Such a harsh sentiment should always be deemed appropriate when it is discovered that a player's coach also happens to be her lover.

Few people know much about Scott. According to Swoopes, she had never thought about another woman, never dreamed of being with another woman. At least not until her coach came into her life.

Now, far be it for me to wax eloquent over the sanctimonious arena of professional ethics. But if someone - anyone - even thinks of hiring Scott after Swoopes' coming-out party, an investigation should begin. Immediately.


Guh? What? Oh, oh, I get it. Stephen A. is mad because Scott used to be Swoopes' assistant coach. And coaches aren't supposed to have sex with players, let alone lesbian sex with players. I'm waiting for Stephen A.'s column on ex-national teamer Danielle Fotopoulos and her ex-coach husband.

Okay, so Swoopes and Scott has a secret relationship with she was an assistant coach. I guess that crosses the ethical line.

It's one thing if Swoopes were representing a team different from Scott's. It would be an entirely different situation if both were players. But Scott was an assistant coach on Van Chancellor's staff for the Houston Comets, supposedly a liaison between the head coach and the players, in a position of authority and influence.

As usual, the hype and hoopla supersede substance because we're all focusing on Swoopes. In the aftermath of her announcement, nobody's thinking about how Larry Eustachy got fired after being seen in pictures drinking and partying with students; how Mike Price lost the Alabama job for being inside a strip club; or the litany of other issues a male coach would be fired for in a split second.

That's college, not the pros. But that logic reeks of stupidity and convenient ignorance. When it comes to authority and influence, people should always be held accountable.


Let's open up our Stephen A. Moral Equivalence Scale here:

Drinking and partying with students = Being inside a strip club = Having a lesbian affair with a coach
Far be it from me to criticize any of those three activities. But something tells me a college coach drinking with students is a little different.

Also, I haven't done much research, but a female ex-soccer player friend I just e-mail responded to my "Don't women's soccer players marry their coaches a lot?" with "Yes. And I would say with some frequency."

I've now done the same amount of research as Stephen A. did for this column. (Ba-ZING!)

The appearance of impropriety, of compromising one's position and organization, is flagrant where Scott is concerned. And for those who dismiss Swoopes' five-time all-star status and her credentials as a three-time Olympic gold medalist, recognize that that has nothing to do with this issue.

"Homophobia in women's sports is huge," Pat Griffin, professor emeritus at the University of Massachusetts, said on my ESPN2 show, Quite Frankly.


I know, we haven't done much psychoanalysis here. That may be because I'm not quite sure what psychoanalysis is. But I can tell you this: the last sentence of the above selection is code for: "Oh my god, nobody's watching my show, I better plug it! QUITE FRANKLY WITH STEPHEN A. SMITH!"

"I think it's a reflection of a larger cultural issue," Griffin said. "There's a lot of misinformation out there. One of the things that's important about Sheryl Swoopes' coming out is... the more we have real lesbians out in the open about who they are, the more of a position we're in to deflate the level of skepticism, the amount of misconceptions, that exists out there about us."

That may be true.

It's also completely irrelevant.

Swoopes is not the issue. Scott is.

Scott was an assistant coach in Houston for seven years before resigning her post months ago. Were it not for their relationship, she may not have had any clout with Swoopes. But what about the rest of her less-than-marquee-caliber teammates?

Does everyone on the Houston Comets love Swoopes? If so, how did the Comets feel about Scott? Was locker-room talk kept in-house? How about what went on in Chancellor's office?


Oh, gee, I dunno, Stephen A., you're a reporter, how about you ask some people? People don't want to talk about it? Great. You're one of the biggest names in sports reporting. Keep digging at it. People will give you access. I know you're busy with Quite Frankly and all, but make some calls.

Stephen A.'s column is so far the equivalent of a City Hall reporter writing, "Wow, there was a bug in the mayor's office. Do you think that's important? I wonder if anybody will find out!"

The list of questions can go on and on.

Assuming that Scott's resignation was forced, that's the only answer that should matter.

Considering an NBC and USA Network survey that showed that 24 percent of respondents believed an openly gay athlete would hurt a team, that 68 percent believed it would hurt an athlete's career to be openly gay, Swoopes' in-the-closet behavior is perfectly understandable. The same doesn't apply to Scott.


Wait, what? Coaches can't have their sexuality private? Shit, I better go tell my dad, who coaches a youth soccer team, that he needs to tell his kids before every practice he has a wife and a kid. And that he likes woman.

I'm also so confused. What answer? What forced resignation? What am I reading here?

Coaches are held to a higher standard. Last checked, males don't monopolize that credo.

I could get into the negative effect this whole issue could end up having on the WNBA, which was doing everything in its power to disassociate itself from the homosexual label on its sport for years.

Then again, what sense would that make?


Okay, we get it, a coach had an affair with a player, and if this was a male-female thing, people would be more up in arms. This is like when the "liberal media" argument is made in a newspaper: "Oh wah wah wah nobody's covering this wah wah wah." Hello? You are part of the media, how about trying to change something if you're upset other than just whining about it?

Hey, Stephen A., you're a journalist, how about you do some, I dunno, journaling? Did it have a negative affect on the team? What do the other players think about it? Don't just complain that the media is focusing on two women gettin' it on.

When a coach violates issues of protocol, ethics and professional decency, what could possibly be said to a player?

Especially Swoopes, who is guilty of nothing but being honest. And trying to be happy.


Jesus. We now know that Stephen A. has never gotten it on with Inky Sports Editor Jim Jenks. Since he's so big on avoiding conduct violations. I hold my sports columnists up to high scrutiny, you know?

This concludes our first experiment, even if there wasn't much analyzing. Ah, well. We'll try better next time.