It appears Curt Schilling will not be embracing debate anytime soon.
Stephen A. Smith called out Schilling on his SiriuxXM Mad Dog Radio show this week, saying the former Sunday Night Baseball analyst wasn’t fired for his political views, but his “ass is gone because you did not want to listen.” The boisterous First Take host said that he’d debate Schilling with the permission of ESPN.
“He’s the man who won’t back down vs. the man who won’t listen! Stephen A. Smith vs. Curt Schilling! Live! In Primetime! Be there!”
While that offer sure sounds enticing, Schilling quickly declined the offer and extended his own insults towards Smith, while appearing on WEEI’s Dennis and Callahan. The former Diamondbacks pitcher said he’s not going to waste his time with someone he doesn’t respect.
“What am I going to debate about? I have no interest,” Schilling said. “I’m 49 years old. I have had cancer, I’ve had a heart attack, I’m losing my hair. I’m not going to waste my time with people I don’t respect.”
“I don’t respect him. I think he’s a racist, I think he’s a bigot,” Schilling added of Smith. “There’s nothing to debate, No. 1., and No. 2, there’s not a chance in hell that I would do anything that would bring that station another viewer, ever.”
Schilling is still bitter about his departure from ESPN, but him not wanting to debate Smith makes sense. Since getting canned for using transphobic memes, one of Schilling’s first public remarks was during an appearance on SiriusXM’s Breitbart News Wednesday where he said ESPN employed “some of the biggest racists in sports.” He later told Newsday he took offense to Smith’s comments that Robert Griffin III “didn’t play quarterback for the Redskins because he’s black.” There’s clearly bad blood between the two. Smith wants to play up the feud while Schilling rightfully wants nothing to do with it.
As entertaining as a debate would be, ESPN execs are probably happy Schilling has no interest in doing it. While it would be must-watch television (sadly), it would cause nothing but trouble for the network. As for Schilling’s comments that Smith’s a racist, I can’t wait to see how Smith responds. I’m sure it will be a level-headed, measured response.
[NESN]
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