"I hate him more than any person in the world."
– Charles Barkley on Skip Bayless

American sports fans love to be critical of commentators, announcers and analysts. We all believe we can somehow talk about the current game better than the dressed up guy on the screen. While every analyst gets picked on to some degree (Joe Buck, Matt Millen, Phil Sims), Skip Bayless of ESPN’s First Take is perhaps the most criticized in all of America, by fans and professionals alike. He has been accused of shock journalism, racism and being grossly underqualified to talk about sports on a national platform like ESPN.

It’s not a popular stance, but I’m here to disprove these claims.

There is a general feel in the sports blogging world that Skip is a lunatic who doesn’t deserve to be on one of ESPN’s most popular programs discussing hot topics every morning. I get that. But it couldn’t be further from the truth. TheStartingFive.net conducted a lengthy interview with him in 2009 about various topics, one of them being his background and how he got to his current status.

After graduating from Vanderbilt, Bayless began his career low on the Miami Herald totem pole but quickly rose up the ranks until the Los Angeles Times hired him. There, while covering various Los Angeles teams, he started to develop a reputation as a top-flight writer and was eventually recruited by the Dallas Morning News where his career took off.

While at the Morning News, Skip won the “Texas Sportswriter of Year” award three times and developed a reputation as the fearless beat reporter for the Dallas Cowboys. He went on a couple short stints at the Dallas Times Herald, Chicago Tribune and San Jose Mercury Tribune until he was hired full-time at ESPN in 2004.

So, as you can see by the amount of facts I just spewed out, Bayless has been there and done that. He’s an accomplished journalist who has worked hard to get where he is and clearly isn’t a lunatic. I mean, how can you win Texas Sportswriter of the Year three times and not know what you’re talking about?

Another thing people accuse Bayless of is “shock journalism,” where the journalist makes ridiculous claims in order to boost internet page views or TV ratings.

The most common thing people point to is Skip’s take on LeBron James. Skip routinely says on First Take that LeBron went to Miami so “Dwyane Wade could win him a ring” because LeBron can’t do it as his team’s leader. He also states often that LeBron has no “clutch gene” and can’t finish games (namely playoff games) like say Michael Jordan or Kobe Bryant.

Now that you’re hearing this without Bayless yelling about it on television, don’t his claims have some merit? LeBron has yet to win a ring, and he clearly deferred to Dwyane Wade when it was crunch time in the 2011 NBA Finals. Seems like evidence to me.

Skip’s problem is that sometimes he’s “too passionate” on television and that can shove viewers the wrong way, often getting to the point where the viewer isn’t even listening to the point he’s trying to get across anymore. Bayless calls himself a “sports nut,” and sometimes that can go too far.

The last point critics drive home about Bayless is that he is a racist.

Wow, that’s quite the statement to make. People get this idea because 90% of the time he is debating sports with a black columnist/analyst and he’s from Oklahoma. That’s it.

Saying Skip Bayless is a racist is totally false. Why does he always have a black debate partner?  “a day rarely passes without a racial component to a sports issue, and our show never shies away from tackling the most controversial of these issues. It is obviously impossible to have a credible, healthy discussion or debate without both sides represented. Sometimes I’ll defend the Black perspective — see Barry Bonds — and sometimes a Black debater will defend the White perspective — as happened recently with Stephen Bardo taking up for Michael Phelps and me continuing to criticize him as a role-model fraud.”

Saying Bayless has a prejudice against black people is totally irresponsible and false. It’s not even worth discussing anymore.

Whatever opinion you have of Skip Bayless, just know that he’s not a knucklehead. He knows his stuff and has experience, doesn’t use “shock journalism,” and he is not a racist. Some people frown on him because they believe he makes a bunch of ludicrous statements. The reality is that he speaks the truth, and sometimes that’s not what we always want to hear.

Read TheStartingFive.net’s full interview of Skip Bayless here.

--Nathan Parsons (@NathanParsons98)

Next June, a former classmate of mine at Seattle Prep, Kristen Burrows will climb Mount Denali (also known as Mount McKinley). Leading up to her climb up the tallest mountain in North America, Burrows is raising money for the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center to fight Breast Cancer.

Burrows, an aspiring mountaineer has already climbed Kiliminjaro and Rainier. Being able to raise money for cancer research and climb Denali at the same time was a no-brainer for her.

She is looking to raise $12,500 for the Fred Hutch center — an ambitious goal to say the least. Since everyone is in a general merry and cheery mood at this time of year, I thought it'd be a good time to ask anyone who reads this blog to consider helping Kristen's cause. 

To donate and help Kristen reach her goal, head over to her fundraising website here. So far she's raised a little over $7,500 and needs all the help she can get.

You can also follow her progress and story leading up to the climb at her blog.

--Kevin Cacabelos ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it )

Every Tuesday, Brian Elsner (Wait For It Seattle) and I will be answering questions from readers. These questions will vary from sports specific to awesome specific. Keep them coming. Send all questions to our Facebook pages at Wait For It Seattle or SeaTown Sports. Or leave us a comment here.

Best nickname you've ever heard in sports? And I don't mean ever - since neither of you is old enough to remember back all that far. Just those that you've been alive to know and appreciate. – Luis A.

Kevin: Funny you’ve asked, since the summer I’ve been compiling Seattle sports nicknames and planned on putting a post out in the near future. I’d say King Felix is a pretty awesome nickname, mostly because a blog, USS Mariner, gave the nickname to Felix Hernandez. I’m happy the Mariners have embraced the nickname, says a lot about their connection with the fan base.

Brian: Immediately my mind went to Jeffrey Leonard, former Seattle Mariners clean up hitter. His nickname was “The Hackman”. In the fourth grade, I made this wood engraving at camp. I had to choose something to engrave, so I chose the Mariners line up naturally. Instead of writing Leonard at clean up, I wrote Hackman. How awesome is that name? It represented him so well. He hit bombs or struck out. He hacked. In looking at his stats, apparently he wasn’t that good. In 1989, first year with the M’s, he hit 24 bombs for someone nicknamed “The Hackman”. He hit 10 the next year and then was done playing. Oh well, I still love 00. Yep, he wore 00 as a number. Even better.

Every Tuesday, Brian Elsner (Wait For It Seattle) and I will be answering questions from readers. These questions will vary from sports specific to awesome specific. Keep them coming. Send all questions to our Facebook pages at Wait For It Seattle or SeaTown Sports. Or leave us a comment here.


Husky FB expectation question. Not suprising the Dawgs lose to Oregon & USC. If they win out (no jinx intended) and go 8-4 should the fan base be happy? I’m concerned they didn’t beat any quality teams this year…. – Justin F.

Kevin: If they go 9-4 I think the fanbase should be satisfied with a hinge of disappointment. The capability of this offense was on display at the start of the season, but has failed to perform these past couple of weeks right when the defense started to play better. An upward trend is a positive sign, and that’s what the Huskies have accomplished these past three seasons. I’d start being unhappy once the Huskies stop climbing and are at a static position.

Brian: 8-4 should make us happy. This is where we need to be at this point. Think about it – Sark takes them from 0-12 to 5-7 to 6-6 to 8-4. That is great progress. Next year they will need to compete with Oregon, Stanford and USC – not just be on the field with them. If that happens, we know the Dawgs are headed in the right direction. Now, if the Huskies trip up against either Oregon State or WSU and then lose the Bowl Game, we should feel very disappointed. We need progress, not the status quo.

• The Huskies crushed the Portland Pilots 93-63, and ended their three-game stretch in The World Vision Classic with a 3-0 record. Terrence Ross dropped 24 points and a career-high six three-pointers. Washington's next game is on the road at St. Louis.

• The Mariners are willing to include some cash for any team that is willing to take Chone Figgins. Jon Morosi of Fox Sports says that Cincinnati, Detroit and San Francisco are possible fits for Figgins. Alex Akita from Seattle Sportsnet has put together a CraigsList Ad. Hopefully someone is interested. 

• Jon Heyman from Sports Illustrated tweeted that the Mariners are hoping to be in the race for Prince Fielder. Lookout Landing makes sense of it all. There is definitely room in the budget, right? 

• Keeping with the Mariners theme, Pro Ball NW asks if it's time to trade Brandon League. It's been that time since the 2011 trading deadline in my opinion. Closers are an easy commodity to replace, and for a rebuilding team, I don't think it's necessary to have a top-notch one. League is expendable and it'd be a shame if the Mariners couldn't get anything in return for him. 

• Keith Price is looking doubtful for Saturday's game against the Beavers. Sark is ready to roll with Nick Montana if he has to. As long as Price is ready for the Cougs, I'm not too concerned. Thankfully Montana has seen the field more than once so far this season. 

--Kevin Cacabelos ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it )

Every Tuesday, Brian Elsner (Wait For It Seattle) and I will be answering questions from readers. These questions will vary from sports specific to awesome specific. Keep them coming. If you have a question for us, go to the Facebook page of Wait For It Seattle or SeaTown Sports. Or leave us a comment here.

Who finishes the season better, the Huskies or Gonzaga? --Alex W.

Brian: Let me start by stating that I do not like Gonzaga. I dislike them for no valid reasons whatsoever. I went to Santa Clara so it is not part of who I am. I personally really like Chris Sarbaugh as a person and player. I hope he gets some playing time this year as a walk on. But I still don’t like Gonzaga. They are a rival.

Ok, with that out of the way….these teams are both going to be very good. People are underestimating the Huskies at this point. Seth Davis of CBS Sports predicts the Dawgs to win the Pac-12, but they will have a tough go of it with UCLA, Arizona, Oregon, Stanford, and Cal all vying for that spot as well. The Huskies weakness is the Zags strength. Washington will be looking all year long for consistent production out of their posts. I am not sure Darnell Gant or Aziz N’Diaye can get the job done consistently from a scoring standpoint. Yet the Dawgs are as talented as anyone on the perimeter with the playmaking of Wroten and Abdul Gaddy, mixed with the shooting of C.J. Wilcox and Scott Suggs (when healthy). This doesn’t even mention the ridiculous upside of Terrence Ross. Not many teams in the country have that kind of talent on the perimeter.

Gonzaga has a great advantage in the post with the return of WCC studs Robert Sacre and Elias Harris. In many ways, not many teams around the country can match those two either. The Zags will rely on them a lot as they look at freshman Gary Bell, Jr to make an impact on the perimeter. He will join David Stockton and Marquise Carter in the starting line up most of the time. When it comes down to it, I think UW will make the tournament, as will Gonzaga. I think that Washington will surprise some people and make it to the Sweet 16. I think Gonzaga will be too young at the guard spots, and since the postseason comes down to guard play, they will bow out in the second round. Of course, that prediction comes with the understanding that Santa Clara will win the WCC and advance to the Elite 8. Obviously.

Kevin: Oregon and Stanford? I don’t think they have the impact players to compete with UCLA, Arizona, California and Washington. Those two teams won’t win the Pac-12 this season. I love the Huskies perimeter, but I don’t see this team winning the tough road games in northern and southern California and at Arizona. The lack of experience on this team will bite them on the road. Ideally, this team will learn and grow from their non-conference slate of games. Scoring in the post won’t be too much of a concern if Terrence Ross becomes a dependable go-to offensive option and if the rest of the Husky perimeter stays healthy.  Opposing teams will have a tough time dealing with Wroten, Gaddy and Ross in the backcourt.

Though I think the Huskies are the better team in terms of talent and athleticism,  I think Gonzaga will make it further in the NCAA Tournament. I disagree with Brian and think Gonzaga’s guards are better than he gives them credit for. Most coaches would kill to have David Stockton running their offense, Marquise Carter is an above-average scorer and Gary Bell Jr. will emerge as one of the better scoring point guards in the nation. Add these three guards with Robert Sacre and Elias Harris and you have a complete starting lineup. If Gonzaga’s offense runs through Sacre and the big guy can stay out of foul trouble, this team has the potential to go past the Sweet 16.

Discussing Suck For Luck, comparing Seattle, Cleveland and San Diego sports, Tony Wroten and UW Football recruiting after the jump.

Every Tuesday, Brian Elsner (Wait For It Seattle) and I will be answering questions from readers. These questions will vary from sports specific to awesome specific. Keep them coming. If you have a question for us, go to the Facebook page of Wait For It Seattle or SeaTown Sports. Or leave us a comment here.



After listening to Colin Cowherd  go on about East Coast passion for sports and slamming Seattle fans for not caring enough (and being to a number of Mariner games myself), are the Sounders the best fan group in Seattle right now? – Jared G.

Brian: This is a great question because I change my opinion on Seattle vs. the East Coast all the time. Generally, Colin Cowherd is correct. Yet there is a reason for the difference between East Coast fans having more passion than Seattle fans. First, the fans he references like the Red Sox, Yankees and Steelers are embedded with generations of families rooting for these teams. When Lincoln is my age, I bet you see a difference in the “care” of our fans. In fact, you already see it more. How many people were pissed when Griffey left? How many people are tired of Ichiro? How many people slammed the T-Jack acquisition? Tons and tons.

Second, the Mariners drew a lot of fans when they won, as do most teams. Between 2000-03, the M’s drew 40,000-43,000 fans on average (check the stats). They now draw 27,000 per game or so. For a comparison, the Red Sox drew 28,000 per game in 1996 when they were not a playoff team yet. They didn’t average over 30,000 until 1999 when they started to compete. This sold out every game mentality didn’t start until they began winning again. Let’s not pretend the Sox fans sold out every game when they weren’t competing for a playoff spot.

The Seahawks consistently sell out games and have the loudest home field advantage in the NFL so I don’t see a problem there (despite sucking for three straight seasons).

I will never say that Seattle fans have the same passion currently as East Coast fans, but I also won’t say that East Coast fans are die hard and always attend games. Pittsburgh Pirates? Same city as the Steelers. New York Mets? How about the Washington Nationals?

Finally, the Sounders are a different story. In many ways Jared is right – they do have the best fan base right now. They sell out every game. The fans are loud. They sold over 65,000 tickets to a regular season MLS game because it was Kasey Keller’s last. There are two factors for this ascension to fan greatness in Seattle. First, there is a community of soccer fans here who don’t really pay attention to a lot of other sports. They have been waiting to spend their money on soccer essentially (I would say the same in Portland). Second, people in Seattle like winning and the Sounders continue to win despite their playoff poopiness.

Kevin: Brian provided a complete answer, but I’d argue that the Seahawks have the best fan group in Seattle right now. If the Sounders start losing games and not putting together playoff seasons, I don’t envision them having the same amount of support as the Seahawks. While I worked for the Seahawks in high school, I was shocked to see the amount of people that still showed up to games and still supported the team so much despite their shortcomings on the field.

It may be the fact that football naturally has more fans than soccer, but when the Seahawks are competing, the whole city is involved as we saw during the Super Bowl run. I don’t think the city rallies around the Sounders as much as they would for the Seahawks if they were in the championship. The Sounders fan base has yet to prove that they can get more people that don’t like soccer to come to their games. On the other hand, the Seahawks have been able to cast a wider net over people that aren’t diehard football fans and still remain intensely passionate.

Talking about the Seahawks 2011 draft, potential Mariners free agent signings and our top three rappers of all-time after the jump.

Every Tuesday, Brian Elsner (Wait For It Seattle) and I will be answering questions from readers. These questions will vary from sports specific to awesome specific. Keep them coming. If you have a question for us, go to the Facebook page of Wait For It Seattle or SeaTown Sports. Or leave us a comment here.

Washington Huskies sophomore guard Terrence Ross is expected to lead the team in scoring this season.

2011-2012 Husky basketball - will they be a threat to advance past the Sweet 16? - Luis A.

Kevin: They'll always be a threat to advance past the sweet 16, but I don't think they have the necessary big bodies in front this year to make it to the Elite Eight. Darnell Gant probably won't average over six rebounds this season and Aziz N'Diaye probably won't average more than 8 points this season. That kind of production from your two forwards won't help you make it past the Sweet 16. With this said, both of those two guys can run in transition and if the Husky offense plays like Romar intends it to play, then this team can make it all the way to the Final Four depending on certain match ups. I think a better question would be, do you think the Huskies can win the Pac-12?

Brian: This is the most unpredictable Husky team in a long time. Romar has publicly stated that he loves this squad. They are coachable, work hard and are talented. Yet they lack the low post scorer as Kevin mentioned and they also lack the leader they had starting with Nate Robinson. Nate passed it to B-Roy who passed it to Brockman who passed it to Pondexter who passed it to Isaiah Thomas. Isaiah left early and there is no natural successor. I agree with Kevin, the threat is still there. With this squad, we just may not know how good they are until March. It could take a long time for them to figure it all out. Let’s just hope it isn’t too late this season.

Talking about the blowout loss to Stanford, mock turtlenecks and WCC basketball after the jump.

Complaining, whining and making excuses is the easiest way we deal with our problems. They momentarily distract us from confronting our real problems. They provide temporary relief to our pain.  And they give us a false sense of security.

Today, I had a below average day.

I took my Spanish midterm and I'm sure I did not do as well as I should have and then I retreated to the basketball court where I thought I could relax.

Instead I ended up on a team with a guy that was yelling at me telling me not to shoot and I ended up missing all eight shots that I took in that pick-up game at the Rec Center. It may not seem like a bad day, but those two things started bugging me to a point where I declared the day to be "bad."

A little later after my basketball ego took a shot to the gut, I read this Seattle Times story by Mason Kelley about Katie Collier. The 18-year-old Collier is currently being treated with promyelocytic leukemia. Collier, who should be preparing for her senior basketball season, is instead taking chemotherapy pills twice a day.

Before she was diagnosed with the sickness, she was courting offers from UW, UCLA and Gonzaga — all three have said their offers to the 6'3" post player are still on the table. Collier is facing adversity that most people won't face in their lifetime. How is she handling it? She's dealing with it. She's not complaining. She's not whining. And she's not making excuses.

After reading this article, I was reminded of Steve Kelley's article on Andrew Moritz last week. Moritz, a former walk-on Husky basketball player is continuing his fight against cancer despite one his doctors telling him there are no treatment options available that will save him. Three years ago Moritz was told he'd have only six months to live and today he's still fighting.

"I mean there's still so much I want to do. I've got to see some of my other sisters get married. I've got to see my buddies' kids grow up. I'd like to get married some day and have kids. The word 'no' just kept coming into my head. 'No, no, no,' and I started crying uncontrollably," said Moritz.

I'll let you take the time to read these two inspirational stories. Thinking of Collier and Moritz reminded me there are more important aspects of life to worry about than getting a bad grade or having a bad basketball game. Andrew Moritz isn't pitying himself. He isn't making excuses for himself, he isn't complaining about his condition and he definitely isn't whining.

The next time you start to feel bad for yourself, take a deep breath and be a little stronger and be a little more courageous — learn a lesson or two from the Andrew Moritzs and the Katie Colliers of this world that continue to fight for their lives.

Sportisphere is a weekly column on SeaTown Sports that covers what has happened over the week in sports across the nation, with a Northwest spin on it.

• Al Davis Death

On Saturday, Raiders owner and general manager Al Davis passed away at the age of 82. From 1966 until his death, Davis was the Raiders GM, the longest tenure as GM in NFL history. For as much crap as people seemed to give him about his drafting habits late into his career, as well as his overall management of the team, people seem to forget he brought the Raiders five AFC titles and three Super Bowl wins. In the 70's the Raiders won six division titles, 12 overall under his ownership. Davis was inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame in 1992 as a Team and League Administrator.In his lifetime, he presented nine Hall of Fame inductees in Canton, the most all-time.

• MLB Playoffs 

The ALCS and NLCS have been set, as the Cardinals and Brewers will be battling for the NL title and the Tigers and Rangers will play for the AL crown. This is the first time since 2007 where the Phillies, Yankees, or Red Sox have not been in the LCS. Some people contend that this is bad for visibility of the MLB, but as for true fans, this is what you should like to see. The Yankees ($202,689,028), Phillies ($172,976,379) and Red Sox ($161,762,475) have the three highest team payrolls in the MLB, but this year's playoffs proves that money can't buy you a championship; that the winner is the team who comes up in the clutch and prevails. The Brewers lead the Cardinals in the NLCS 1-0, and the Rangers lead the Tigers 1-0 in the series. 

• NCAA Football

This week was a boring one in terms of upsets, as exacty zero happened, at least within the top 25. Every higher-ranked team beat their lesser opponent, making for a very predictable, and frankly forgettable, weekend. 

• Seahawks

The Seahawks defeated the New York Giants by a score of 36-25 on Sunday afternoon, marking the first time they have won versus the Giants in New York since 1983. Seahawks wide receiver Doug Baldwin has emerged as their best receiver right now, as he reeled in 8 catches for 136 yards an a touchdown in the game Sunday. He leads the team with 20 receptions on the year. Tarvaris Jackson left the game in the third quarter, replaced by Charlie Whitehurst. Whitehurst was 11-16 for 149 yards and a touchdown. Marshawn Lynch rushed for 98 yards on 12 carries, which is over 8 yards a carry. The Seahawks defense really stepped up their game today, as they had five takeaways and a safety. This is about the best you can expect to see the Seahawks play all-around, as they seemed to have everything going well for them throughout the game.